zealousness

[Eng. zealous; -ne .] The quality or state of being zealous; zeal, ardor, en thusiasm, fervor. "The zealousne of our endeavors, and the applause that others entertain them with."-Boyle: Works, i. 296. zē-běc, zē ́-běck, s . [XEBEC.] zē-brą, subst. [The native name; according to Littré the word was originally Ethiopian.] Zoology : 1. A popular name for any of the striped forms of the genus Equus; thus embracing, the Quagga (q..v.), the True Zebra, and Burchell's Zebra. [2.] In all three the external characters are those of the A rather than of the Horse; the legs are without warts, the tail is furnished with long hairs only toward the extremity, the neck is full and arched, and the mane stiff and erect. All the species of this division are rapidly vanishing before advancing civilization, and in all probability will become extinct before very many years. "This family [Equide] comprises the Horses, A es, and Zebras." -Nicholson: Zoology (ed. 1878), p. 668. 2. Equus zebra , from the mountainous regions of South Africa. It stands about four feet and a half at the shoulder; ground tint white, with black stripes, vertical on body and horizontal on legs: limbs slender, head light, ears long and open. The zebra lives in small herds in secluded spots; its sense of hearing, sight, and smell is extremely acute, and on the least alarm the whole herd scampers off. When compelled to defend them selves zebras form a compact body with their heads in the center and their heels outward, and have been known to beat off the leopard with their kicks. The zebra has been domesticated, but its vicious temper renders it of little value as a beast of bur den. Burchell's Zebra ( Equus burchellii ) differs little from the True Zebra, except in the fact that the ground tint is yellow. "He who attributes the white and dark vertical stripes on the flanks of various antelopes to this proce [sexual selection], will probably extend the same view to the Royal Tiger and the beautiful zebra."-Darwin. Descent of Man , ch. xviii. zebra-opo um, s. [ZEBRA-WOLF.] zebra-plant, s. Bot.: Calathea zebrina . So named because the leaves have alternately dark and green stripes. zebra-poison, s. clouded with black, and each strongly contrasted, thus somewhat resembling the skin of a zebra. Called also Pigeon-wood. 2. The wood of Eugenia fragrans , variety cuneata . It is a shrub about eight feet high, growing in Jamaica. 3. The wood of Guettarda speciosa , a tree twenty five feet high, with scarlet-colored flowers, grow ing in the East Indies. zē'-brine, a. [Eng. zebr ( a ); suff. -ine.] Of or belonging to the striped division of the genus Equus (q. v.). "Many of them [the stripes] as they diverged from the spine became a little branched, exactly in the same manner as in some zebrine species."-Darwin: Variation of Anim. & Plants , i. 58. zē bū, s . [Native name.] Zoology : Any breed or individual of Bos indicus (which by some authorities is considered a variety of Bos taurus , the Common Ox). The Zebus attain their greatest development in India, but range east ward to Japan and westward to the River Niger. They vary greatly in size, some being larger than European cattle, while others are no bigger than a month-old calf. The horns differ in form; the dewlap is more or le developed; one hump is always present over the withers, sometimes there are two; color varying from light ashy-gray to pure white. At present they exist only in a domesticated condition, and must have been early reduced to subjection by man, since all the sculptures of cattle at Ele phanta, which are of high antiquity, represent the humped form. In many parts of India zebus are used as beasts of draught and burden, and occasionally for riding. In disposition they are gentle and docile, and are venerated by the Hindus, who consider it a sin to slaughter them, though they do not object to work them. White zebu bulls, which are held particularly Zebu. sacred by the Hindus, are branded with the image of Siva, relieved from all labor, and allowed wander at will, levying contributions on the stalls in the bazaars without let or hindrance. Their flesh is inferior to that of the Common Ox, except the hump, which is esteemed a delicacy. zebu-cattle, s. Zool.: The humped cattle of the eastern hemisphere. "In many domesticated quadrupeds, certain charac ters, apparently not derived through reversion from any wild parent-form, are confined to the males, or are more developed in them than in the females-for instance, the hump on the male zebu - cattle of India."-Darwin: Descent of Man , ch. xviii. Zech-a-ri-ah, Zăch-a-ri-as, subst . [Hebrew Zekhariyah = Zechariah (whom Jehovah remembers); Zakhar =to remember, and Yah -Jehovah: Sept. Zacharias ; Vulgate, Zacharius .] 1. Script . Biog.: The name of many ancient Hebrews, including two prophets [2], various priests, and Levites (1 Chron. ix. 21; xv. 24; xxvi. 14; Neh. xii. 35, 41), . 2. Old Testament Canon : The eleventh in order of the twelve minor prophetic books. The name prefixed to it is that of" Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet" ("the prophet" means Zechariah, not Iddo), Zechariah i. 1. In Ezra v. 1, vi. 14, he is called the son of Iddo, but son is sometimes used vaguely for lineal male descendant, and may easily signify grandson (cf. Gen. xi. 24-32; xxviii. 5; xxix. 13). When Cyrus permitted the Jews to return from Babylon he also accorded them permi ion to rebuild the temple (Ezra i. 3; vi.3-5), and the foundations of the edifice were at once laid (Ezra iii. 10-13). The jealousy of the neighboring tribes led to the stoppage of the work (Ezra iv. 1-24). At length, however, in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, permi ion was obtained to resume it (Ezra iv. 24, vi. 1-12), and building was recommenced with the patronage and active aid of Botany: Euphorbia arborea, a South African tree. Zerubbabel, the civil governor of Judea, Joshua IMG:content-1116.png:[blocks in formation] the High Priest, . Enthusiasm for the work was excited among the previously apathetic people by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra v. 1-2). The former seems to have been the senior in point of years, and commenced his addre es and predictions in the sixth month of the second year of Darius, while Zechariah did so in the eighth month. The book of Zechariah, in its present form, is naturally divided into three portions-chaps, i-viii., chaps. ix-xi., and chaps. xii-xiv. The first is uni versally admitted to be the work of Zechariah. The natural sections of it are (1) chap. i. 1-6, dated the second year of Darius' reign and the eighth month; (2) i. 7-vi. 15, dated the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the same year; and vii. 1-viii. 23, dated the fourth day of the ninth month of Darius' fourth regnal year. In the first the prophet counsels a return to Jehovah; in the second, which has in it various symbolic visions, he encourages the building of the temple, and, in answer to a query whether the fasts begun at Babylon should be continued, he directs that they should be transformed into joyous festivals The style of chapters ix. xi. differs from that of the first eight; and that of xii.-xiv. to a certain extent from both. In x. 6, the house of Judah requires to be strengthened, as if its government still continued; that of Joseph (the ten tribes) to be saved, as if it were gone; and in verse 11 is the prediction "the pride of As syria shall be brought down," as if it stood when the words were penned; whereas by the time of Darius Hystaspes it had forever pa ed away. Some, therefore, a ign these chapters to an earlier Zechariah, a contemporary of Isaiah (B. C. about 736). But if the Hebrew Javan in ix. 13 is correctly translated Greece, this would suggest a date late enough to be consistent with the best-known Zechariah's authorship, if not more recent still. Chaps. xii.-xiv. have been referred to some prophetic contemporary of Jeremiah, B. C. 607 or 606. The date of chaps. i.-viii. is admitted to be B. C. 520-518. Matt. xxvii. 9-10, nominally quoting Jeremiah, seems to refer to Zech. xi. 12-13, and unle Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, of whose death we know nothing, was martyred precisely in the same way as Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada (2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21), the reference in Matt. xxiii. 35 would seem to be to the latter. Of these difficulties various solutions have been given. Zech. xiii. 7 is quoted by Our Lord as Me ianic (Matt. xxvi. 31, Mark xiv. 27). In Matt. xxi. 5, Zech. ix. 9 is regarded as predictive of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. zech-in, subst. [Ital. zecchino; Fr. sequin.] A Venetian gold coin, more commonly written sequin (q. v.). zech-stein, subst. [Ger.=mine-stone; zeche=a reckoning, a score, a mine, and stein =stone.] Geol.: A German subdivision of the Permian, constituting the upper of the two groups, which have sometimes led to that formation being called Dyas (q. v.). It corresponds to the Middle Permian or Magnesian Limestone of Britain. It is wanting in France. Murchison considered it a center of Permian life.