Eccentric-hook, n

( Mach.) See V-HOOK. "The ambition of the ecclesiastics destroyed the purity of the Church."-Bishop Burnet. Eccentricity, ( ek -sen-tris'i-ti,) n. [Fr. excentric ité.] State of having a centre differing from that of another circle; as, the sun's eccentricity to the earth. - Departure or deviation from that which is stated, regular, or usual; irregularity; oddne ; singularity; whimsical ne . "Swift was a man of undoubted ability, but of singular eccentricity." - Davies. (Astron.) The difference of the centre of a planet's orbit from the centre of the sun, or the distance between the centre of an ellipse and either of its foci. Eccentric-rod, n . ( Mach .) The rod connecting the eccentric-strap to the lever which moves the slide-valve. Eccentric-rod and Strap, n . ( Mach .) The rod, the strap-end of which encircles the eccentric-sheave, while the other end connects it with the quadrant, or rocking- shaft , according to the cla of a locomotive engine. In some engines the end is forked to go on the stud of the rocking - shaft , and opens out something like dotal manner; according to ecclesiastical rules and regulations. Ecclesiastical States, n. pl . ( Geog . ) See STATES OF THE CHURCH. to ecclesiology. gear. Eccentric-strap, n. ( Mach . ) A bra ring formed by two pieces bolted together, and fixed to the eccentric rod of a steam-engine; the ring fits a grooved part in the circumference of an eccentric. Ecclesiarch, (ek-le'zi- ark ,) n. [Fr. ecclésiarque , from Gr. ekklesia . An ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary. Eccle's iast, n. An ecclesiastic. Ecclesiastes, or THE PREACHER, ( ek - kle - ze - as'teez ,) n. ( Scrip .) The name of one of the canonical books of the Old Testament, placed after Proverbs and before the Song of Solomon. These names are a translation of the Hebrew title Koheleth , the former of the two being adopted from the Greek Septuagint. There is no room to doubt the canonicity of this book. It has occupied a place in the Jewish Canon from the earliest times, and has been universally received by the Christian Church. From some pa ages in the Talmud, however, some seem to have questioned the expediency of placing it among the Scriptures that were read publicly, on account of its containing "words tending to heresy," and "words contradictory to each other." According to tradition, this book was among the Scriptures which were not allowed to be read by any one under the age of thirty. Numerous questions have been started regarding the authorship, date, design, and plan of this book. Many critics contend that it could not have been written by Solomon, which is the generally received opinion, on account of numerous foreign and modern words that occur in it. In favor, however, of the common opinion, there is the unqualified testimony of the book itself, the author speaking of himself as the son of David, king of Israel, and the greatest po e or of wealth and wisdom in Jerusalem. The long intercourse of Solomon, too, with the representatives of foreign nations, and his foreign wives, would nece arily lead to the introduction of numerous foreign words and phrases in his writings. The book is generally believed to have been written in his old age, after he had experienced all the pleasures and follies of life, and was able to testify to their being all vanity and vexation of spirit. The plan and scope of the book are very obscure, and have given much trouble to commentators. Some have regarded it as a series of dialogues and disjointed narratives, rival poems, literary discu ions, ethical aphorisms, and unfinished practical e ays. The most plausible ground for regarding it as the work of a variety of authors arises from the frequency and abruptne of its transitions, and the apparent want of any fixed plan. The great theme of the book is the vanity of all earthly things and labor; with this it begins and with this it closes. It is as far removed as po ible from the character of a formal treatise, - being the confe ions of a man of wide experience, of his searches after truth and happine , of his many disappointments, and of his ultimate succe . Ecclesiastic, Ecclesiastical, a. [Gr. ekklēsias tikos , from eklesia , an a embly, a church, from ekha leo - ek or ez , out, out of, and kaleo , to call. See CALL.] Pertaining or relating to the church; not civil or secular; as, ecclesiastical affairs. "Is discipline an ecclesiastical matter or civil? "-Hooker. Ecclesiastic, n. A person consecrated to the service of the church and the ministry of religion; a person in holy orders; a priest; & divine; a clergyman. Ecclesiology, ( ek -kle-si-ol'o-je,) n. [Gr. ekklesia , church, and logos , discourse.] Science and doctrine of ecclesiastical architecture and decoration. Eccope, ( ek'ko - pē ,) n. [Gr.] ( Surg .) The cutting off of any part. Eccoprot'ic, a. [Fr. ecco prot i que.] ( Med .) Slightly purgative. (R.) -n. (Med.) An opening medicine, the operation of which is very gentle, such as manna, senna, . Eccrinology, n . [Gr. ekkrinein , to select, and logos , treatise.] ( Med . ) A treatise on the secretions of the human body. Ec'crisis, n. [Gr. ekkrisis .] ( Med .) A secretion of any kind. Ec'dysis, n. [Gr. ekdysis .] Act of moulting or putting forth, as pupӕ. Echacon'nee, or TOCHOCU'NO, in Georgia , a creek, tributary of the Ocmulgee River, which it enters at the S. extremity of Bibb co. Echacon'nee, in Georgia , a village of Bibb co., on Echaconnee Creek. Echelles (Les), ( ai - shel ' ,) a village of France, in Savoy, 12 m. from Chambéry. Here a road in the mountains was begun by Napoleon I., and finished by the king of Sardinia in 1817. The place takes its name from a flight of stairs [Fr. échelles ], formerly the only mode of communication with Chambéry, which this road replaced. Echelon, (ish'e-lon,) n. [Fr.] ( Mil .) In tactics, a term used to denote the position of an army, when the divisions of which it is composed are marched in parallel lines, but all differently advanced, with the object of bringing one part of them into action and reserving the others. Ech'iales, n . pl . ( Bot .) An alliance of Peryginous Exogen plants. DIAG. Dichlamydeous, monopetalous, symmetrical, or unsymmetrical flowers; uncamentaceous fruit consisting of one-seeded nuts, or of clusters of them separate or separable, and a large embryo with little or no albumen. - The E. are separated into the orders Jasmin ace a , Salvador aceæ , Ehretiacea , Nolana cer, Boraginacea , Brunoniacea , Lamiacea, Verbenacea , Myoporaceæ , and Selaginacea . Echidna, (e- kid'na .) ( Myth .) A celebrated monster, represented as a lovely woman to the waist, and with the form of a serpent below. By her union with the Typhon she is reported to have been the parent of all the fearful monsters that were afterwards sent by the gods to appall the wicked, and confound the guilty: such as the three-headed dog Cerberus; the water-snake, with her fifty heads, Hydra: the lion-headed dragon, the terror of the Lycian peasant, the Chimæra; the artful virgin with her azure wings hiding her wolfish stomach, and with her subtlety beguiled the Theban youth, the Sphinx; and all the grotesque, hideous, and disgusting monstrosities that the ancient poets have attached to the history of their heroes, are fabled to have sprung from Typhon and E. , like Milton's "yelling monsters, begot of Sin and Death. (Zool.) The Porcupine ant-eater, a curious animal, order Edentata , family Monotremata . It is a native of Australia, and is a striking instance of that beautiful gradation, so frequently observed in the animal king Fig . 902. PORCUPINE ANT-EATER, ( Echidna hystrix.) dom, by which creatures of one tribe or genus approach to those of a very different one. It has the external coating and general appearance of the porcupine, with the mouth and peculiar generic characters of the ant eaters. It is about a foot in length; the upper parts of the body and tail are thickly coated with strong and very sharp spines, of a yellowish white with black tips, and thicker in proportion to their length than those of a porcupine. The head, legs, and under parts of the body are of a deep brown, and thickly set with bristly hair; the tail is very short, and covered with spines pointing perpendicularly upwards. The snout is long and tubular, the mouth small, and the tongue long and lumbriciform, as in other ant-eaters. The legs are very short and thick, and are each furnished with five rounded, broad toes; on the forefeet are five very strong, long, and blunt claws; but on the hind feet there are only four claws, the thumb being destitute of a claw; the first claw on the hind feet is extremely long, rather curved, and sharp-pointed; the next shorter, but of similar appearance; the two remaining ones far shorter, and blunt; it has great strength, and burrows with wonderful celerity. Two species are known, E. hystriz (fig. 902), and E. setosa . Echinacea, n . [Gr. echinos , the hedge-hog; from the character of the palese.] ( Bot .) A genus of plants, ord. Asteracece. They are annual, herbaceous plants, with alternate leaves, rays purple, pendulous. Two species, E. purpure a , the Purple Cone-flower, or Comb-flower, and E. an gust i folia , are found in the S. and W. States. Echinades, now Kurzolari Islands ,) ( Anc . Geog.) a group of islands in the Adriatic, on the coast of A carn an i a, and opposite the mouth of the Achelous. According to Pliny they were 9, and to Ovid, 5 in number. They are actually of little importance. Ech'inate, Ech'inated, a. [Lat. ech in at us, set with prickles.] ( Zoöl . and Bot .) Set with spines or bristles, like a hedgehog; having the surface covered with pustules produced into spines. Echin'eis, n. (Zool.) See SUCKERS. Echin'idan, n. [Fr.fchinide.] ( Pal .) A fo il animal resembling the echinus. Echin'ital, a . Having the appearance or properties of an echinite. Echinite, ( ek'e -nit,) n. [Fr.] A fo il echinus. Ech i no cactus, n. [Gr. echinos , hedge-hog, cactus , a spiny plant.] ( Bot .) A genus of plants, ord. Cactacea. The stem is nearly globular, and is furrowed with longitudinal grooves, varying in number and depth. The flowers appear on the salient angles of the stem, in the centre of little tufts of bristles and spines. Many spe cies of this genus are in cultivation as stove or greenhouse plants. Echinoderm at a (e-kin-o-derma-tă), n. pl. [Gr. ech i nos, spine, and derma , skin.] (Zool.) A well-defined division of invertebrate animals, including seven cla es, known familiarly as the Sea Urchins, Starfishes, Sea IMG:content-0732.png:[graphic][merged small] Cucumbers, Battle Stars, Feather Stars, and the extinct Cystoidea and Blastoidea. They are characterized by po e ing a well-organized skin, under which, or attached to it, are frequently found plates of solid matter constituting a kind of skeleton. They have a digestive and a vascular system, and a circular nervous system has been detected in many of the species. A muscular system is constantly present. The nutritive apparatus of the E. is very simple, presenting in most of the family a single orifice, destitute of teeth, in the center of the lower surface of the body, performing the functions both of the mouth and anus; but in some presenting a digestive cavity, with an orifice for the evacuation of its contents, distinct from that by which the food is taken in. The muscular motion is generally present in these animals, but the organs of motion in them are various, the principal ones being the membranous tubes, which can be protruded at will through the ambulacral apertures, and which have been termed the feet. They are all marine animals, and are very widely distributed. See ANATOMY, COMPARATIVE. Echinodermatous, a. Belonging or having reference to the echinoderms. Ech'inoids, n. pl . (Zool.) An orde of the cla Echin odermata; the SEA-URCHINS, q. v. Echinoph'ora, n. ( Bot .) A genus of plants, order Apinceæ , including the Sea-parsnips. Echinospermum, n. [Gr. echinos, sea-urchin, and sperm a, seed.] ( Bot .) A genus of plants, order Bora ginaceæ. They are annual herbs, erect, leaves oblong or linear, racemes bracted, pedicels short, erect. One spe cies, E. lappula , the Burr-seed, is found in dry soils and along road-sides in the N. States. Echin'ulate, a. Covered with minute prickle-like proce es. IMG:content-0733.png:[graphic] Echinus, (o-ki'nus,) n.; pl . ECHINI. [Lat.] A hedge-hog. ( Bot .) The prickly head of a plant, or the cover of the seed. (Zool.) The SEA-URCHIN, q. v. ( Arch .) The egg and anchor, or egg and tongue ornament, found carved on the ovolo in cla ical architecture. Ech'ium, n. [Gr. ech is , a viper, from the spotted stem of some species.] ( Bot . ) A genus of plants, order Boragi nacea. They are annual herbs or shrubs; flowers irregular, in spicate, panicled racemes; corolla cyanic. The American species, E. vulgare , is a rough plant, with large, handsome violet-colored flowers, found in fields and waste grounds. Echmiadzin, (ek-me-ad- zin ',) the ecclesiastical capital of Armenia, in the Ru ian dominions, 25 m. from Mt. Ararat. It is the seat of the primate of the Armenian Church. Echo, ( ek'o .) ( Myth . ) A daughter of the Air and Tellus, who chiefly resided in the vicinity of the Cephisus. She was once one of Juno's attendants, but her loquacity displeased Jupiter, when she was deprived of the power of speech by Juno, and only permitted to answer the questions which were put to her. After she had been punished by Juno, she pined away through love of Narci us. "The schoed woes from distant rocks resound."-Prior. -To respond a entingly; to repeat, as by adoption. "Our separatists do but echo the same note."-Decay of Piety. v. n. [Gr. écheō.] To peal; to resound; to reflect sound; to be sounded back. "Her mitred princes hear the echoing noise."- Black more . Ech'o Canon, in Utah , a gorge of striking grandeur aud beauty, in Summit co., 975 m. from Omaha, and visible from the Union Pacific R.R. Echole (ek'-o-le ), a. Without echo or response. Ech'ols, in Georgia , a S. co., bordering on Florida. Area , abt. 400 sq. m. Rivers. Allapaha river. Surface , level; soil, sandy. Cap . Statenville. Pop . (1890) 3,079. Echom'eter, n. [Fr. échomètre .] ( Mus .) A sort of scale or rule, marked with lines which serve to measure the duration of sounds, and to ascertain their intervals and ratio. Echom'etry, n. [Fr. échometrie .] Act, art, or practice of measuring the duration of sounds. - Art of constructing vaults, ., in a manner to produce echoes. Ecija, a city of Spain, prov. of Seville, on the Zenil, 47 m. E.N.E. of Seville. Manuf . Coarse cloth, serges, camlets, friezes, and linen. Pop . abt. 30,000. Eck'ermann, JOHANN PETER, a German author, B. at Winsen, 1792. He is chiefly known through his intercourse with Gœthe. After the death of the patriarch of German literature, E. published his Gespräche mit Gathe (Conversations with Goethe), which have been translated into all European languages. D. 1854. Eckernförde, a town of Denmark, on an inlet in the Baltic, 10 m. from Schleswig; pop . 4,962, Eck'ford, in Michigan , a post-township of Calhoun county, about 45 miles South by West of Lansing. Pop . (1897) about 1,150. Eck'ley, in Ohio , a former P. O. of Carroll co. Eck'ley, in Pennsylvania , a post-village of Luzerne co., about 12 m. N.W. of Mauch Chunk. Eck'mansville, in Ohio , a post-village of Adams co., abt. 16 m. N. of the Ohio River. Eckmühl, ( ek'mool ,) a town of Bavaria, 13 miles from Ratisbon, celebrated for being the scene where the Austrians were defeated by the French in 1809. Davoust showed great bravery in this action, and was named by Napoleon Prince of Eckmühl. Eck'ung Choo, a river of Thibet, is supposed to be the head-stream of the Indus. It rises on the N. side of the Himalaya, near the sources of the Sutlej. The actual locality of its sources has been a igned to the Kailas Mountains, in Lat. 31° 25′ N., and Lon. 81° 40′ E. Flowing to the N.W., E. C. reaches Lon. 79° E. before it a umes the name of Indus. Eclairci ement, ( e -klarʼsis-mong,) n. [Fr.] An explaining or act of clearing anything that is obscure or mysterious. Eclaircize, ( e-klar's iz,) v. a. [Fr. éclaircir .] To make clear; to render lucid; to explain that which is obscure, vague, or mysterious. Eclamp'sy, n. [Lat. eclampsia , from Gr. eklampo , to shine.] ( Med .) A splendor, brightne , effulgence, flashing of light, scintillation. It is a flashing light, as those sparklings which strike the eyes of epileptic patients, or that very formidable of convulsions to which women are subject in cases of severe labor, or as a consequence of exce ive flooding after delivery. At whatever stage it arrives, or whether the result of irritation or exhaustion, E. is always a most alarming condition. Eclat, (e-klä',) n. [Fr.; O. Fr. esclater , to break forth; from Gr. klaõ , to break off in pieces.] A bursting forth, as of light; show; splendor; pomp; renown; as, the " eclat of Homer's battles." - Pope. -A burst of applause; acclamation; approbation; as, his speech was received with eclat . Eclectic, ( ek -lek'tic,) a. [Gr. eklektikos - ek or ex , and lego , to choose.] Selecting; choosing; relating to the Eclectics, certain philosophers of antiquity. "Cicero was of the eclectic sect." - Watts . -n. ( Phil . ) One of those philosophers who, without attaching themselves to any particular system, or forming one of their own, profe ed to select from the various existing systems what they believed to be true, and thus to construct a new and complete whole. The name originated with the Alexandrian philosophers, or NeoPlatonists, who profe ed to gather and unite into one body whatever was true in all the systems of philosophy. The chief representatives of this school are Plot in us, Porphyry, Iamb lich us, Proclus, and Clemens Alex an an drinus. Modern eclecticism is considered to have taken its rise in the 17th century with Bacon and Des Cartes; but it has in this century received a fresh impetus through the labors of the German philosopher Hegel, and of Victor Cousin, perhaps the most able and ingenious thinker of modern France. Eclectically, adv . By way of choosing or selecting; in the manner of the eclectic philosophers. Eclecticism, n . [Fr. éclectisme .] The art or practice of selecting from different systems; the doctrine of the Eclectics. side of the sun is covered by the moon, the eclipse is partial ; and when the disc of the moon does not cover the whole disc of the sun, but leaves a luminous ring around its own body, the eclipse is annular . The cone of pure shade of the earth or the moon is called the um bra ; those portions of space which receive light only from a part of the sun, one side of which is obscured by the disc of the opaque body, are called the penumbra . Owing to the varying distance of the moon from the earth, her umbra sometimes reaches the earth, and sometimes does not. In the former case, there is a total E. of the sun to all parts of the earth within it, and a partial E. to all parts within the penumbra. In the latter case there will be an annular eclipse in those places which are in the direction of the axis of the cone, and a partial eclipse to those which are only within the penumbra. E. of the sun can take place only when the moon is new , or in conjunction. "By reference to Fig . 904, the phenomena of E. can be readily understood. S represents the sun, E the earth, and M the moon, when in conjunction or new , and causing an E. of the sun. M', the moon, in opposition or full , and being herself eclipsed. In all other positions of the moon, M" M", her cone of shade is projected into space away from the earth and the sun, while the other halves are in the shade. The illuminat IMG:content-0734.png:[graphic] ing body is itself a sphere of much greater size. Not only, therefore, have the earth and the moon always one of their hemispheres dark, but each of these bodies throws behind it, in a direction opposite from the sun, a shadow of conical form, the length and diameter of which depend upon the distance and diameter of the illuminating body, and the diameter of the illuminated body." Rolfe & Gillet . - The breadth of the moon's umbra at the distance of the earth is about 160 miles. It is only within this narrow tract that a total eclipse of the sun can be seen; but owing to the rotation of the