Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/664

 EPH

Epimera maligna, a malignant diary fever, as it generally deftroyed the patient in the fpace of one day. The fimple diary fever ufually feizes the patient without any preceding fhivering, and immediately is attended with a de- gree of heat of the flefh, which continues the fame without intermiffion or exacerbation, till the clofe. This is ufually not very violent, and is always attended with pains in the head, fometimes heavy and dull, fometimes pulfative and very acute. Such perfons as fall into this fever, from drinking large draughts of cold liquors while they are hot, as is very frequently the cafe, always have a pain in the right hypochondrium. The face is red, and inflated in this difeafe, and there is a laffitude and wearinefs in all the limbs, the pulfe is ftrong and quick, the urine is of a deep orange co- lour, and depofits a reddifh fediment. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 263.

This fever ufually goes off in a moderate fweat, and fome- times, tho' lefs frequently, by a haemorrhage at the nofc. It is ever of fhort duration, for, if it exceeds the firft day, it is always terminated, at the utmoft, on the fourth or fifth. There is either very little, or very bad deep, during the whole time. The patient often never clofes his eyes at all, or, if he fleeps a little, is never fcnfible himfelf that he hasflept. The perfons mod fubjeS to this fever, are young men, who have much blood, and feed heartily ; and fuch as have had any habitual difcharge of blood flopped upon them, whether natural, as in the hajmorrhoidal, or menftrual difcharges ; or artificial, fuch as frequent bleeding, cupping, and the like. And thofe who have thrown their blood into violent emotions, by the too free ufe of fpirituous liquors, too violent exercife, unufual watchings, long ftay by large fires, a fudden repref- fion of fweats by cold water, or by violent paflions, particu- larly anger.

Caufes of it. The principal general caufes of this fever, arc a plethoric difpofition, and a commotion of the blood ; the accidental ones are a high diet, and fedentary life, great heat of the body, from violent exercife, and from the fun in hot weather; violent fweating or heating medicines, inju- dicioufly adminifter'd ; and fudden chilling of the body when much heated.

Progmflicks in it. The fimple Ephemera, when wholly left to itfelf, is of no danger, if the perfon be kept warm, and in a ftate of reft ; and all that need be done, in common cafes, to affift nature in it, is the frequent drinking of warm diluting liquors. When it is improperly treated, or difturbed by a wron" regimen, it often has worfe confequences, and, in- deed,°the°do£tor often changes this into an inflammatory or fynochal fever, properly fo called. It is known, that mat- ters are properly managed, and that nature is taking her due courfe, if the urine and fweat are properly excreted. Method of Treatment. When the peculiar difpofition of the blood, or other accidents, render this fever worfe than it na- turally would be, the proper courfe is to attemperate the vio- lent emotions of the blood with nitrous, and the fixed anti-

" monial medicines, and occafionally, with the gentle acids, fuch as lemon juice, and the like : And indeed, in all cafes of this kind, the frequent ufe of warm and weak liquors, with lemon juice among them, is highly to be commended. The free eruption of the fweat, by which nature attempts to eafe herfelf of the difeafe, is to be promoted by the gentle fudo- rificks ; nitre, crabs-eyes, and a fmall quantity of juice of le- mons, juft enough to faturate the alkali of the crabs-eyes, prove an excellent medicine, to be repeated in fmall dofes every three or four hours ; and, toward night, the fudorificks fhould be joined to thefe, fuch as the contrayerva root, or the like. And when it is over, there fhould be given a few dofes of feme gentle purge, as an infufion of rhubard and fena, or the like. Bleeding is unncceffary in this fever. Juncker's Confp. Med. p. 264.

EPHEMERON, a name given by authors to a fmall Hy, called, by us, the day fly. It is an infect found about the mouths of the Rhine, and Tome other rivers in Germany, and feems a fort of middle fpecies between the may fly, common with us, and bred from the Cadew-worm, and the libella, or dragon fly. It has four wings, two long, and two fhort ; two fhort horns, fix legs, and two very long ftrait hairs, iffuing from the tail. They are feen flying about the furface of the water,

' about midfummcr, for three days, and no longer; they eat no- thing, and their only bufinefs is to drop their eggs on the fur- face'of the water, after they have copulated. Thefe eggs, finking to the bottom, produce a fort of worms, or maggots ; thefe foon hollow themfelves cavities in the clay, where they remain three years, growing every year about an inch in length. When the worm is come to its full growth, it rifes to the furface of the water, about fix o' clock in the morning, and there iffues from it this fly, which lays its eggs, and dies about fix o' clock the fame night ; fo that the life of the crea- ture, in the fly ftate, is only about twelve. Swammir- dam, Hift. Inf..

EPHEMERUM; in botany, the name of 1 genus of plants, the charaaers of which arc thefe : The flower is of the liliaceous form, and is compofed of three petals, and ftands on a three-

' leav'd cup. The piftil finally becomes an oblong fruit, di- vided into three cells, and ' containing feeds like grains of ^vheat.

E P I

The fpecies of Ephemerum-, enumerated by Mr. Tourneforf are thefe: I. The Virginian Ephemerum, with hrc-e K| u ' flowers. 2. The Virginian Ephcyncrum^ with lar flowers. 3, The Virginian Ephanermn, with large deep blue flowers. 4. The Virginian Ephemerum^ with ("mailer blue flowers. 5. The Virginian Epbemrru/n, with fihaUer pur- ple flowers* 6. The Virginian Ephemcrum^ with fmalk-r white flowers. 7. The Virginian Epheviemm^ with bluiih. white flowers. 8. The Virginian Ephemerum> with white, and violet-coloured flowers. 9. The American Ephancrurr, with cannacorus leaves, 10. The Indian Ephemerwn^ with arum leaves. Town. Inft. p. 367.

EPHIDROSIS, in the medical writings of the anttcntSj a word ufed to exprefs a fweat, fometimes flight, and not critical, and, at others, a fymptomatick one, appearing only on tire head, neck, and breafh Thefe are both bad fymptoms in many difeafes, tho' they are often miftaken, by the inju- dicious, for good hgns, and forwarded by hot medicines, to the deftruetion of the patient. See Sweat and Sweat- ing.

EPHIPPITES, in natural hiftory, the [addle forte, a name given* by authors, to a fort of foft ftone, with certain depref- fions, which give it the figure of a faddle. See Hippurites.

EPHYDOR, EpydW* in antiquity, an officer in the Athenian courts of jufticc, who was to provide the plaintiff" and defen- dant with equal water hour-glafles. When the glafs was run out, they were not permitted to fpeak any farther ; and there-. fore we find them very careful not to lofe or mifpend one droj> of their water. Whilft the laws, quoted by them, were re- citing, or if any other bufinefs happened to intervene, they gave order that the glafs fhould be flopped. Pott. Archseol, Gr.-ec. I. j. c. 21. T. 1. p. 118.

EPHYDRUM, Y.$vo;h^ in botany, a name given, by fome of the Greek writers, to the plant now called equifetum,- or horfe-tai*. It would have been well for the world, if the authors of anti- quity would have confined themfelves to fome one name, in regard to each pknt they have defcribed to us, fince wc theft fhould have had the advantage of all the knowledge they have left behind them j but, as it is* they call the fame plant by fo many names, and fome of thefe often fynonimous to other plants alfo, that it is not cafy to fay, of which they meant to [peak* We have no other plant, mentioned in them, under the name of Ephydrwn, but the horfetail ; and if they would therefore, have confined themfelves to this name, for this plant, we fhould always have underflood what they meant by their ac- counts of its virtues j but fome have called it Hippuris, and others from that word equifetum ; thefe alfo arefo appropriated to the plant, that they probably would not have been mifurr* derftood ; But when they have called it fymphytum and poly- gonum, the one the name of comfry, and the other of knot- grafs, though thefe names might be both as applicable to the* horfetail, for its agglutinating quality, and for the multitude of joints in the ftalk, as to the other plants defigned by them s yet, as they were before the received names of other plants, it might have been eafily forefeen, that mifhkes would arife from the confuted ufe of thefe words. See Pliny y Diofcorides, Thcopbrajhis.

Pliny has miffaken the meaning of the authors he takes his accounts from, on this occafion, and gives the characters of the horfetail and knot-grafs, two as different plants as well can be, in the fame defcription ; and confequently that de- fcription can fuit with no plant at all. Diofcorides feems alfo to have fallen into the fame error, in regard to the common name fymphytum, which was given to this plant, and to comfry and elecampane ; he recommends the horfetail in dif- ficulties of breathing, and feems to mean the elecampane, not the horfetail ; though in the manner in which the paflage ftands, it can only be conftrued of the horfetail. This plant, the comfry, and the elecampane, all were found to agree in the quality of agglutination, whence they had their name of fymphytum ; but their other virtues are fo very different, that the perfon who fhould give one for the other, would run into a very great error.

EPIALOS, in the medical writings of the antients, the name of a fever, in which the patient labours under a preternatural internal heat, while he at the fame time fhivers with cold. It has, by fome, been called the fhivering fever ; and the Ro- mans named it quereera. Galen fays it proceeds from a putri- fy'd acrid phlegm. The word is, by fome, alfo applied to any gentle fever, or feverifh complaint, and, by others, to the cold or fhivering fit preceding a fever. Hippocrates calls by this name that peculiar fever which attends young women, whofe menfes are flopped by taking cold, or other accidents.

EPIBATiE, Ew./3*7« (, among the Greeks, marines, or fol- diers who ferved on board the fhips of war. They were armed in the fame manner as the land forces, only that more of them wore full or heavy armour. Pott, Archffiol. Grsec T. 2. p. 140.

EPICAL YMMA, a word ufed by fome of the old writers on fhell-fifb, and not well underftood by their commentators. Ariftotle has the word in his treatife of animals, and gives a very good explication of its meaning. He fays that the buc- cinum, the purpura, and all the ftromboide fhells have a forC of covering with which they ftop up the orifice of the fhell at I plcafurcj