Part 29

DYS'ENTERY is a disease of an acute type, due to the action of a bacillus, characterized by pain and frequent passage of blood and mucus. Owing to improved sanitation, dysentery has become less frequent. In temperate countries sporadic cases occur from time to time, and occasional epidemics break out, but in the tropics widespread epidemics occur, and the disease is a serious menace. It is a very frequent camp disease, and has been the scourge of all armies in tropical and semi-tropical regions. The bacilli are widely spread by the faeces of infected persons, and usually the infection takes place by the mouth. The onset is rapid, and marked by fever, pain in the abdomen, and frequent stools. At first mucus only is seen in the stools, but soon blood appears. In very acute cases the patient is seriously ill in forty-eight hours, and may die on the third or fourth day. Moderate cases may go on for several weeks, with resulting convalescence. Some cases become chronic in type, and a person may have chronic dysentery for years. Bismuth in large doses is given, and morphia is a most useful drug to relieve the pain and quieten the bowel. Normal saline solution is given by rectum after the acute stage, whenever possible. Chronic dysentery requires dietetic treatment for the persistent dyspepsia and irritability of the bowel. Amoebic dysentery, due to the _Amoeba dysenteriae_, is a distinct disease.

DYS'ODILE, a yellowish or greenish foliated carbonaceous substance found in Sicily originally, and derived from the decay of minute organisms. When ignited, it burns and emits a very unpleasant smell.

DYSON, Sir Frank Watson, F.R.S., LL.D.(Edin.), British astronomer, born at Ashby 8th Jan., 1868, the son of a Baptist minister. Educated at Bradford Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he became chief assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in 1894, and secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1899. Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1905, he was appointed Astronomer Royal for England in 1910. He was knighted in 1915.

DYSPEP'SIA, or GASTRITIS, may be either acute or chronic. _Acute dyspepsia_ may follow when more food is taken than the stomach can digest, or when unsuitable articles are taken. The symptoms are headache, depression, nausea, vomiting, with pain, varying from a feeling of discomfort in the abdomen to marked tenderness. The tongue is furred, and usually there is diarrhoea, while in the more severe attacks the onset is marked by chill and a rise of temperature. An attack may last from one day to four days. Treatment for mild cases is simply a dose of castor-oil (children) or blue pill (adults), but in severe cases vomiting should be promoted by warm water, or the stomach tube if necessary, and a dose of calomel (3 grains), followed by salts, should be given. Absolute rest to the stomach is necessary, and only small quantities of water allowed. Repeated attacks lead to the establishment of the chronic form. _Chronic dyspepsia_ is a condition of disturbed digestion due to the prolonged use of unsuitable, or improperly prepared, foods. Hot cakes, excess of tea, coffee, or alcohol, rapid and irregular meals are all common causes. It may also arise in the course of diseases like anaemia, chronic tuberculosis, gout, Bright's disease, chronic heart disease, cirrhosis, and in diseases of the stomach itself, as cancer, gastric ulcer, and gastric dilatation. The most common symptoms are a feeling of oppression after food, tenderness over the stomach, headache, nausea, flatulence, constipation, and occasionally vomiting. Treatment consists of dietetic measures, regulated exercises, change of air and surroundings, and avoidance of depression. Milk should be used freely, and in severe cases should be given alone till improvement sets in. Fats and greasy dishes should be avoided. Fruits are sometimes well borne, and at other times the reverse. Drugs do not play so important a r[^o]le, but bitter tonics, like nux vomica, quassia, gentian, &c., are the best. Constipation should be treated when necessary.

DYSPHO'NIA is difficulty in speaking, and is the result of some forms of laryngitis. The condition is aggravated by attempts to use the voice, and complete rest is necessary to bring about an early and satisfactory recovery. Tonics, moderate exercise, and a holiday hasten recovery.

DYSPNOEA (dis-pn[=e]'a) is difficult or laboured breathing. It is a symptom of diseases of the heart or lungs, and is produced by any condition which interferes with normal respiration. It is sometimes present in nervous disturbances.

DZE'REN, or DZE'RON, the Chinese antelope, a remarkably swift species of antelope (_Procapra guttur[=o]sa_) inhabiting the dry arid deserts of Central Asia, Tibet, China, and Southern Siberia. It is nearly 4-1/2 feet in length, and 2-1/2 feet high at the shoulder.

DZIG'GETAI, or KIANG (_Equus hemi[)o]nus_), a species of wild ass native to Central Asia, allied both to the horse and ass. Its head is large like that of the ass, but in form resembles that of the horse. The ears also resemble those of the horse. It runs with a rapidity exceeding that of the best Arabian horses.

DZOUNGARIA, or SUNGARIA, a Chinese territory in Central Asia, stretching from about 43deg to 48deg N. lat. and from about 82deg to 86deg E. long. It has an area of 147,950 sq. miles, and pop. 600,000. It is administratively connected with Kuldja, and since the surrender of Kuldja by the Russians in 1880 is again under Chinese rule. Dzoungaria, once the centre of an independent empire, was first conquered by the Chinese in 1757.

* * * * *

E

E, the second vowel and the fifth letter of the English alphabet. It occurs more frequently in English words than any other letter of the alphabet. Its long or natural sound in English coincides with the sound of _i_ in the Italian and French languages, as in _here_, _mere_, _me_. It has also another principal sound, a short one, heard in _met_, _men_. It has besides a sound like _a_ in _bare_, as in _there_, _where_, &c., and the obscure sound which is heard in _her_. As a final letter in English it is generally silent, but it serves to indicate that the preceding vowel is to have its long sound, as in _mane_, _cane_, _plume_. When two _e_'s come together the sound is generally the same as that of the single _e_ long, as in _deem_, _esteem_, _need_ (compare, however, _pre-exist_, &c.).

E, in music, is the third note or degree of the diatonic scale, answering to the _mi_ of the Italians and French.

EADIE ([=e]'di), John, D.D., a Scottish preacher and theologian, born 1810, died 1876. He was educated at Glasgow University, and entered the ministry of the Secession Church, becoming in 1843 professor of biblical literature in the Divinity Hall of the Church, a post which he continued to hold after the Secession body was merged in the United Presbyterian Church (in 1847). Among his works are _Biblical Cyclopaedia_; _Analytical Concordance to the Scriptures_; _Ecclesiastical Cyclopaedia_; _Commentary on the Greek Text of Ephesians_, and similar works on _Colossians_, _Philippians_, and _Galatians_; and _The English Bible_. He was one of the scholars engaged on the Revised Version of the New Testament.

EAD'MER, an English monk, the friend and biographer of St. Anselm. In 1120 he was chosen Bishop of St. Andrews; but as the Scottish king refused to recognize the right of the Archbishop of Canterbury to consecrate him, he returned to England and died a simple monk about 1124. Besides the life of St. Anselm, Eadmer wrote lives of St. Wilfrid, St. Dunstan, St. Odo, and other English saints, as well as a valuable history (_Historiae Novorum_) of events in England and the English Church from 1066 to 1122.

[Illustration: Imperial Eagle (_Aqu[)i]la mogilnik_)]

[Illustration: African Sea-eagle (_Halia[=e]tus vocifer_)]

EAGLE (Lat. _aquila_, Fr. _aigle_), the general name of raptorial birds that form a group or sub-family (Aquil[=i]nae) of the great family Falconidae, which includes the eagles, falcons, and hawks. The eagle is popularly regarded as the noblest and most courageous of the rapacious birds. It soars to a greater height than any other European bird, from which circumstance the ancients considered it as the bird or messenger of Jove. The genus Aqu[)i]la, which includes the most typical eagles, is distinguished by its long and powerful bill, the curve commencing at the cere, by its wings reaching to the tip of the tail, and by its tarsi being feathered to the toes. The imperial eagle (_A. mogilnik_) of Central Europe, North-East Africa, India, and China is probably the species to which the popular belief in the courage, strength, and nobleness of eagles is to be traced. _A. chrysaetus_, the golden eagle, is the chief British species. It measures over 6 feet from tip to tip of the expanded wings, and 3 feet from the beak to the end of the tail. The adults have the body brownish, becoming darker with age; the feathers of the head and neck pointed, and of a golden-red hue. This species is found all over the northern hemisphere. It was once common in the Highlands of Scotland, but is now becoming rare. The Kirghis and other tribes of Central Asia use the golden eagle to kill antelopes, foxes, and even wolves. Another British eagle is the erne or sea-eagle (_Haliaetus albicilla_) found near the sea-coast or lakes, and feeding largely on fish. The general colour is greyish-brown, the head pale-coloured, the tail white. The bald eagle (_Haliaetus leucoceph[)a]lus_), found in North America and North-East Asia, is the symbol of the United States, though Franklin deplores the selection on account of his mean and dishonest habit of robbing the industrious osprey of the fish caught by him. Like all members of the genus, his diet is less restricted than that of the true eagles; and he even takes carrion. See also _Harpy Eagle_.

[Illustration: Roman Standard]

EAGLE, as a symbol. The eagle first appears as a war standard amongst the Persians, through whom it reached the Egyptians. As the standard of the Roman armies it was first used by Marius, and afterwards took the place of all the other emblems at the head of the legions. It was first made of wood, then of silver, and finally, under Caesar and his successors, of gold. In the Mediaeval Ages the eagle became the heraldic emblem of the Holy Roman Empire, and was made double-headed in the fourteenth century. When the Holy Roman Empire fell to pieces in 1806, the double-headed eagle was retained by Austria. The double-headed eagle was assumed by Tsar Ivan III in 1472, and became the national military symbol of Russia; the single-headed eagle was assumed by the modern German Empire in 1871, and by the United States of America. The American eagle stands with outspread wings guarding a shield, with the motto _E pluribus unum_. The eagle was also the badge of several orders, the chief of which were the order of the _Black Eagle_, founded by the Elector of Brandenburg in 1701, and the highest order in Prussia; the order of the _Red Eagle_, also a Prussian order, and founded in 1705; and the Russian order of the _White Eagle_, originally Polish, and instituted in 1325.

EAGLE, a gold coin in the United States of the value of ten dollars, or L2 sterling, first coined in 1795. There are also half-eagles, quarter-eagles, and double-eagles.

EAGLE-HAWK, a name sometimes applied to small South American eagles (genus Morphnus), with short wings and long legs.

EAGLEHAWK, a gold-mining town in Victoria, Australia, 4 miles from Bendigo. Pop. 8130.

EAGLE-OWL, a name for several large horned owls, such as _Bubo ignavus_ (the great horned owl), little inferior in size to the golden eagle, found in many parts of Europe and sometimes in Britain. An allied species, the Virginian horned owl (_B. virginianus_), is common in the United States.

EALING, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Middlesex, the former a few miles west of London. Pop. 61,222.

[Illustration: Diagrammatic Section of Outer, Middle, and Inner Ear

P, Concha. E.C., External canal. D, Drum. H, Hammer. A, Anvil. E, Eustachian tube. S. Stirrup, S.C, Semicircular canals. C, Cochlea. Arrows denote the direction of vibration.]

EAR, the organ of hearing. In the higher vertebrates it is divided into the outer, middle, and inner ear. The external ear, which is a cartilaginous funnel for collecting the sound waves and directing them inwards, is composed of the _concha_, or projecting part, and of the _auditory canal_, which extends from the _concha_ to the membrane of the _tympanum_ or _drum_. This membrane is a partition stretched obliquely across the bottom of the auditory canal, which it separates from the middle ear or tympanum; it is semi-transparent and very delicate. It vibrates with the waves of sound which strike against it, and transmits the vibrations to certain little bones of the cavity of the tympanum. These bones, which have been named respectively the hammer (_malleus_), the anvil (_incus_), and the stirrup (_stapes_), transmit the vibrations to the internal ear, forming a chain communicating at one end with the membrane just mentioned, and at the other with the inner ear. The internal ear consists of a complicated system of tubes known as the _membranous labyrinth_, containing fluid in which waves are set up by the vibrations transmitted to it by the little bones from the drum membrane. The lower part of the labyrinth is coiled like a snail shell, and is called the _cochlea_. It is the real organ of hearing. The upper part consists of three _semicircular canals_, the function of which is to record the position and movements of the body in space. The middle ear communicates with the pharynx by the Eustachian tube, through which air from the mouth may be introduced into the tympanic cavity, so as to permit vibrations of the drum membrane. In the external auditory canal of the ear is produced the cerumen or ear-wax. The cut shows P the concha, E.C. the external canal, D the drum membrane partly removed, S the stirrup, A the anvil and H the hammer, the small bones communicating with the drum and vestibule, C cochlea, S.C semicircular canals, E Eustachian tube.--Cf. Sir Thomas Wrightson, _An Enquiry into the Analytical Mechanism of the Internal Ear_.

EAR-COCKLE, a disease in wheat caused by the presence in the grain of worms belonging to the genus Vibrio. It is called in some parts of England _purples_.

EARL (A.Sax. _eorl_; Dan. _jarl_), a degree of the British nobility between marquess and viscount, the title of highest antiquity in England. The title was made hereditary by William the Conqueror, and for a time was used interchangeably with that of _count_, the corresponding title on the Continent. The wife of an earl is still called a _countess_. The earl was the highest in rank of the nobility until Edward III created a duke in 1357, and Richard II a marquess in 1385. The first earl of England is the Earl of Arundel. An earl's coronet is composed of eight pearls raised upon points, with small leaves between, above the rim. See _Peer_.

EARLE, John, English bishop and writer, born about 1601, died 1665. He was educated at Oxford, and, after writing some short poems, gave to the world anonymously in 1628 _Microcosmographie, or a Piece of the World discovered in Essays and Characters_--a work full of wit, humour, and admirable character-painting. He was tutor to Charles II, accompanied him during his exile, and was held by him in the highest esteem. In 1662 he was consecrated Bishop of Worcester, and next year was translated to Salisbury.

EARLE, Rev. John, Anglo-Saxon scholar, was born in 1824, and died in 1903. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford, where he obtained first-class honours in classics, and was elected a fellow (1848). In the following year he took orders, and was appointed for five years university professor of Anglo-Saxon. In 1857 he became rector of Swanswick, near Bath, and in 1871, a prebendary of Wells. The five years' rule having been rescinded, he was re-elected professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in 1876, and continued to hold the position, together with the rectory of Swanswick, until his death. Among his contributions to the study of Anglo-Saxon and modern English are the following: _Two Saxon Chronicles Parallel_ (1865); _The Philology of the English Tongue_ (1871); _A Book for the Beginner in Anglo-Saxon_ (1877); _English Plant Names from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century_ (1880); _Anglo-Saxon Literature_ (1884), a very useful and informing little manual; _Handbook to the Land Charters and other Saxonic Documents_ (1888); _English Prose: its Elements, History, and Usage_ (1890); _The Deeds of Beowulf_ (1892), a translation of the well-known Anglo-Saxon epic; _The Psalter of 1539_ (1894); and _A Simple Grammar of English now in Use_ (1898). He also wrote a book on _Bath, Ancient and Modern_ (1864).

EARLESTOWN, a town of Lancashire, England, 14 miles east of Liverpool. There are here engineering-works, sugar-works, and other establishments. Pop. 9020.

EARL-MARSHAL, a great officer of England, who had, anciently, several courts under his jurisdiction, as the court of chivalry and the court of honour. He is the head of the College of Arms (Heralds' College), grants armorial bearings, and determines all claims in connection with them. Since 1672 the office is hereditary in the family of Howard (Dukes of Norfolk). There was also an earl-marshal of Scotland, the office being hereditary in the Keith family until 1716, when it was abolished.

EARLOM, Richard, English mezzotinto engraver, born 1743, died 1822. His engravings from Reynolds, Hogarth, Van Huysum, &c., and from Claude's _Liber Veritatis_, are exceptionally fine, and are standard works in their department.

EARLSTON (originally ERCILDOUN), a village of Scotland in Berwickshire. Near it are the ruins of the ancient tower, which belonged to the famous Thomas the Rhymer. Pop. 1749.

[Illustration: Early English Architecture

Peterborough Cathedral. Part of the West Front Lincoln Cathedral. Early English Pillars in the Eastern Transept]

[Illustration: Early English Capital, Salisbury]

EARLY ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE, the first of the Pointed or Gothic styles of architecture that prevailed in England. It succeeded the Norman in the reign of Richard I (1189), and continued to the end of the reign of Henry II in 1272, a period of 123 years, when it gradually merged into the Decorated style. One of the leading peculiarities in this style is the form of the windows, which are narrow in proportion to their height, and terminate in a pointed arch, resembling the blade of a lancet (and therefore often called the _Lancet_ style). Throughout the early period of the style they are very plain, particularly in small churches; but in cathedrals and other large buildings the windows, frequently combined two or more together, are carried to a great height, are richly and deeply moulded, and the jambs ornamented with slender shafts. On the eastern and western fronts of small churches the windows are often combined in this manner, with a circular window above and a richly moulded door below; but in large buildings there is often more than one range of windows, and the combinations are very various. Though separated on the outside, these lancets are in the interior combined into one design, thus giving the first idea of a compound window. The doorways are in general pointed, and in rich buildings sometimes double; they are usually moulded, and enriched with the tooth-ornament. The buttresses are often very bold and prominent, and are frequently carried up to the top of the building with but little diminution, and terminate in acutely pointed pediments, which, when raised above the parapet, produce in some degree the effect of pinnacles. In this style, likewise, flying-buttresses were first introduced (see _Buttresses_), and the buttresses themselves much increased in projection owing to the comparative lightness of the walls, which required some counter-support to resist the outward pressure of the vaulting. The roof in the Early English style appears always to have been high pitched, and the towers surmounted by lofty pointed spires, as at Salisbury Cathedral. In the interior the arches are usually lancet-shaped, and the pillars often reduced to very slender proportions. As if to give still greater lightness of appearance, they are frequently made up of a centre pillar, surrounded by slight detached shafts, only connected with the pillar by their capitals and bases, and bands of metal placed at intervals. These shafts are generally of Purbeck marble, the pillar itself being of stone, and from their extreme slenderness they sometimes appear as if quite inadequate to support the weight above them. The earliest example of Early English architecture is the choir of Canterbury, followed by the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, but some of the best examples are to be seen in Salisbury Cathedral. The architects of this style carried their ideas of lightness to the utmost limits of prudence, and their successors have been afraid to imitate their example. The abacus of the capitals is generally made up of two bold round mouldings, with a deep hollow between. The foliage is peculiar, generally very gracefully drawn, and thrown into elegant curves; it is usually termed _stiff-leaved_, from the circumstance of its rising with a stiff stem from the neck-mould of the capital. The trefoil is commonly imitated, and is very characteristic of the style. The mouldings of this style have great boldness, and produce a striking effect of light and shade. They consist chiefly of rounds separated by deep hollows, in which a peculiar ornament, called the _dog's-tooth_, is used, whenever ornament can be introduced. This ornament is as characteristic of the Early English as the zigzag is of the Norman. See _Dog's-tooth_.--Cf. F. Bond, _An Introduction to English Church Architecture, from the 11th to the 16th Century_.

EARNEST, in law, any sum paid in advance, to bind parties to the performance of a verbal agreement, or something given by a buyer to a seller as a pledge of adherence to a bargain. The party is then obliged to abide by his bargain, and is not discharged upon forfeiting his earnest. In England the general view is that the sum paid as earnest, however small, is part of the price.

EAR-RING, an ornament for the ear, consisting of a ring or hook passing through the lobe, with a pendant of diamonds, pearls, or other jewels frequently attached. Ear-rings were commonly worn amongst the Oriental nations, and by both sexes, especially in Babylonia and Assyria, from the earliest times. Amongst the Greeks and Romans the wearing of ear-rings was usually confined to women. In England the Romanized Britons and the Anglo-Saxons wore them, but the fashion declined in the tenth century, and was again introduced in the sixteenth century, in Queen Elizabeth's time.

EARSDON, an urban district or town of England, South Northumberland, several miles north-west of Tynemouth, with productive collieries. Pop. 10,568.