Eristic, Eristical

[Gr. eristikos.] Con trover or in stores of erudition. Various portions of his works sial; relating to dispute or debate. (R.) Erlangen, a town of Bavaria, on the Regnitz, 10 m. N. of Nuremberg. It contains the Protestant university of Bavaria, founded in 1743. Erlau, (air'lou.) [Hung. Eger .] An episcopal city of Hungary, cap. of co. Heves, on both banks of the river Erlau, in a delightful valley skirted with vine-clad hills. The E. wine is the best red wine of Hungary. Pop. 18,244. Er'mel in, Er'mil in, n. Diminutive of ERMINE, q. v. Ermenonville, ( airm'nawng - veel ,) a village of France, dep. Oise, 5 m. from Senlis. It is celebrated for its beau- tiful and extensive parks, and as being the resting-place of Rou eau, for which reason it is much visited in sum- mer by strangers from Paris. Ermined, (er'mind,) a. Adorned with the fur of the ermine; as, "erm in'd pride." - Pope . Ern, Erne, n. [A. S. carn , eagle.) The name given in Scotland to the osprey, and also to the golden eagle. Erne, ( ern ,) a river of Ireland, rising in Lake Ganny, and after a course of abt. 60 m., during which it helps to form two lakes of the same name, distinguished as Upper and Lower, falling into Donegal Bay. RODENT.] To gnaw off or away; to eat in or away; to Errant, a. [Fr.; Lat. errans , from erro , to wander.) canker; to corrode. Erod'ed, a . Eaten away; gnawed; corroded. ( Bot .) With jagged edges, as if gnawed:- said of a leaf. Ero'dent, n. [See ERQDE.] ( Med . ) A substance that eats away or erodes. Ero'dium, n. [Gr. erodios , a heron; from the resem- blance of the beaked fruit to the heron's bill.] ( Bot . ) A genus of plants, order Geraniacea. They are annual herbs, with calyx 5-leaved; petals 5; scales 5, alternate with the filaments and nectariferous glands at the base of the stamens; filaments 10, the 5 alternate ones abor- tive; fruit rostrate, of five aggregate capsules, each tipped with the long spiral style, bearded inside. E. moschatum, the Musk Geranium, and E. ciconium , the Heron's-bill Geranium, both brought from Europe, are cultivated on account of the beauty of their flowers and the strong musky scent of their herbage. E'ros. [Gr., love.] ( Myth .) The Greek god of love, corre- sponding to the Roman Cupid. In Hesiod, E. is one of the great cosmogonic powers, along with Chaos, Gæa, and Tartar us. Latin poets describe him variously as a son of Hermes and Ares, of Artemus and Aphrodite. His chief characteristic is youthfulne and the power of inspiring the pa ion of love. In the "Veda," Eros ap- pears under the name Arusha , one of the most frequent epithets or names of the sun; but, as in the Greek my- thology, Arusha is represented as a child. He is the young sun, driving away the dark night, and awaken- ing the earth with his rays, which later poets converted into arrows, like the lances of Phœbus and Heracles. Erose', a . [Lat. eros us . See ERODE.] ( Bot . ) Eroded; hav- ing jagged edges. Ero's ion, n. [Lat. eros us , gnawed or worn away.] The act of gradually wearing away; the state of being grad- ually worn away. (Geol.) The term employed to distinguish those fea- tures which are the results of the slow destructive ac- tion of running water, glaciers, the waves, and other agents; thus, valleys of E. are those valleys which have been gradually cut out of the solid strata. Many ra- vines, glens, and river-channels are the results of E. , for whatever inequalities of surface may have originally directed the waters into their channels, all the subse- quent deepening, scooping out, and widening of the val- leys have been owing to the erosive force of running water, laden with sand, gravel, and other triturating débris. The destructive action of breakers is very re- mark able. All sea-cliffs, crags, and pinnacles of rock, may, as a general rule, be regarded as evidences of the E. and destruction of the formerly more widely extend- ed land by the moving surface of the sea. Just as actual sea-cliffs are proofs of the erosive action now in opera- tion, so in almost all cases, inland cliffs, crags, scars, and precipices, as well as valleys, ravines, gorges, and moun- tain-pa es, are proofs of the erosive action of the sea in times when the land stood at a lower level with respect to it. A still more wonder ful example of E. is frequently afforded in a low and gently undulating district, from which the very mountains themselves, that geologists can prove, once covered it, have been removed. The action of the Niagara River in excavating the deep gorge below the Falls is a striking example of E. Ero's ive, a . Having the property of gnawing, eating away, or corroding; corrosive. Eros'trate, a . [Lat. e, and rostrum, a beak.] ( Bot .) Without a beak. Eros trat us. See ERA TO STRATUS. Er'oteme, n. [Gr. erotem , question.] ( Rhet .) A note Erote's is, n. [Gr., from erotao , to ask.] ( Rhet .) A figure by which the speaker adopts the form of inter- rogation, not to expre a doubt, but to make a bold as- sertion of what he asked; as, "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?" ( Ps . xciv. 9.) - The vocation or employment of a knight-errant. Erra'ta, n . pl . of ERRATUM, q. v. Errat'ic, Errat'ical, a . [Fr. erratique ; Lat. err a tic us.] Wandering; having no certain course; roving about without a fixed destination; eccentric; as, an erratic individual. - Moving; not fixed or stationary; irregular; mutable; as, an erratic planet. Erra'tum, n. [Lat.] A term applied to those errors which have been overlooked in the composition or im- pre ion of a work. Erred, ( érd ,) imp . of ERR, q. v. Errhine, (er'rin,) a. [Gr. errhinon-en, and rhis, rhinos, the nose. See RHINOCEROS.] ( Med .) Affecting the nose, or to be snuffed into the nose; occasioning dis- charges from the nose; provoking sneezing. Er'rol, in New Hampshire , a post-township of Coos co., on Umbagogue Lake, abt. 30 m. N.E. of Lancaster; pop . abt. 250. Erro'neo us, a. [L. Lat. erroneus.] Wandering: un- settled; roving; deviating from a right course; mistak- ing; wrong; deviating by mistake from the truth; as, an erroneous step. - Irregular; deviating from the true course; as, "erroneous circulation of the blood." ( Ar- buthnot.)-Not conformable to truth; erring from truth or justice; false; mistaken; as, an erroneous opinion. Erroneously, adv . By mistake; not rightly. Erro'neousne , n . State of being erroneous, mis- taken, or false; inconformity to truth. Error, n. [Lat.; Fr. erreur .] A wandering or deviation from the truth, or any fixed standard; a mistake in judgment; misapprehension; fallacy; a blunder. "Error, wounded, writhes with pain." - Bryant. -Oversight; falsity; inaccuracy; a mistake made in writ- " Errors like straws upon the surface flow." - Dryden. -Deviation from law, justice, or right; mistake in con- duct; a fault; an offence; transgre ion; moral obli- quity.-Irregular course; deviation from an appointed way; as, "winds and errors of the sea.". Dryden. (Law.) See WRIT OF ERROR. kos , from erõs , erōtōs , love.] Pertaining to, or treating of, love; amatory. Erot'ic, n. An amatory poem; a warmly worded liter- ary composition. - This appellation is particularly ap- plied to a certain cla of Greek and Roman authors, both in prose and poetry, of whose writings love formed the principal theme. Of these the most distinguished are Achilles Tatius, Heliodor us, A nacre on, Sappho, Ovid, Tibullus, Pro pert i us, . Erotomaʼnia, n. [From Gr. eros , love, and mania ,