Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/634

 EAR

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EAS

Waters of Wells, or Springs of Rivers, and the Sea, it renders them very fenfibly hot.

lie acids, that though the Abyfs be liable to thefe Com- mctions-in all Parts j yet the Effects are no where very remarkable, except in thofe Countries, which are Moun- tainous, and confequcntly Stony and cavernous underneath; and cheekily where the Difpofition of the Strata is fuch, that thofe Caverns open into the Abyfs, and fo freely ad- mit, and entertain the Fire : which aSTembling therein, is the Caufe of the Shock h it naturally fleering its Courfe that Way, where it finds. the readied Reception, which is towards' thofe Caverns. Befides, that thofe Parts of the Earth, which abound with Strata of Stone, or Marble, making the Strongest Opposition to this Effort, are the meft furioufly Shatter'd ; and fuffer much more by it, than thofe which confiit of Gravel, Sand, and the like laxer Matter, which more eafily give Way, and make not fo great Refinance j but above all, thofe Countries which yield great Store of Sulphur, and Nitre, are, by far, the moft injured and incommoded by Earthquakes ; thofe Minerals consti- tuting in the Earth a kind of natural Gunpowder, which taking Fire upon this AfTemblage, and Approach of it, occa- sions "that murmuring Noife, that fubterraneous Thunder, which is heard rumbling in the Bowels of the Earth during Earthquakes, and by the AfTtHancc" of its explofive Power, tenders the Shock much more greater ; fo as fometimes to make miferable Havock and Destruction.

And it is for this Reafon, that Italy, Sicily, Anatolia, and fome Parts ot, Greece, have been fo long, and fo often alarm 'd and harafs'd by Earthquakes ; thefe Countries being all Mountainous and Cavernous, abounding with Stone, and Marble, and affording Sulphur and Nitre in great Plenty.

Further, that J£tna, Vesuvius, H<ecla, and the other Vol- cano's, are only fo many Spiracles, ferving for.theDifcharge of this fubterraneous Fire, when it is thus preternaturally aifem- bled. That where there happens to be fuch a Structure and Conformation of the interior Parts of the Earth, as that the Fire may pafs freely, and without Impediment from the Caverns, wherein it aSTembles unto thofe Spiracles ; it then readily and eaSily gets out, from Time to Time, without ■Shaking, or disturbing the Earth : But where Such Com- munication is wanting, or PafTage not fumciently large and open, fo that it cannot come at the Spiracles, it heaves up and Shocks the Earth, with greater or lefTer Impetuo- sity, according to the Quantity of Fire thus alfemblcd, till it has made its Way to the Mouth of the Yitlcano. That therefore there are fcarce any Countries much annoyed with Earthquakes, but have one of thefe fiery Vents 5 which are constantly in Flames, when any Earthquake happens • as difgorging that Fire, which, whilst underneath, was the Caufe of the DifaSter. Laftly, that were it not for thefe diverticula, it would rage in the Bowels of the Earth much more furiouily, and make greater Havock than it doth.

We have feen what Fire and Water may do ; and that either of them, in good Hands, are fuSHcient for all the Phenomena of Earthquakes : If they Should both fail, we have a third Agent, fcarce inferior to either of them : The Reader mult not be furprized when we tell him it is Air.

Monf. dmoutons, in the Memoires de PAcad. des Scien- ces, An. 1703. has an exprefs Difcourfe to prove, T'hat on the Foot of the new Experiments of the Weight and Spring of the Air, a moderate ^Degree of Heat mt.y bring the Air into a Condition, capable of caufing Earthquakes. It is Shewn, that at the Depth of 45528 Fathoms bjlow tiic ourtucc of the Earth, Air is only one fourth lefs heavy than Mercury. Now, this Depth of 43528 Fathoms is only a 74 th Parr of the Semidiameter of the Earth. And the valt Sphere beyond this Depth, in Diameter 645 1538 Fathoms, may probably be only filled with Air ; which will be here greatly condenfed, and much heavier than the heavieit Bodies we know of in Nature. Bur it is found by Experiment, that the more Air is comprefs'd, the more does the fame Degree of Heat increafe its Spring, and the more capable does it render it of a violent Effect : And that, ibr InStancc, the Degree of Heat of boiling Water increafes the Spring of the Air above what it has in its na:ural State, in our Climate, by a Quantity equal to a third of the Weight wherewith it is prefs'd. Whence we may conclude, that a Degree of Heat, which on the Surface of the Earth will only have a moderate Effect, may be capable of a very violent one below. And as we are af- fuied, that there are in Nature, Degrees of Heat, much more considerable than that of boiling Water : J Tis very ■possible there may be fome, whofe Violence, further af- filed by the exceeding Weight of the Air, may be more than fufticient to break and overturn this folid Orb of 43528 Fathoms $ whofe Weight, compared to that of the included Air, would be but a Trifle.

Artificial Earthquakes. Chymiftry furnimes us a Method of making Artificial Earthquakes, which Shall have all the great Effects of natural ones : Which, as it may illustrate the Procefs of Nature in the Production of thefe terrible Phenomena under Ground, we Shall here add.

To twenty Pounds of Iron Filings, add as many of Sul- phur : Mix, work, and temper the whole together with a little Water, fo as to form a Mafs, half mo iff, and half dry. This being buried three or four Foot under Ground, in fix or feven Hours Time, will have a prodigious Effect : The Earth will begin to tremble, crack and fmoak, and Fire and Flame burSt through.

Such is the Effect even of two cold Bodies, in the cold Ground: There only wants a fufficient Quantity ot this Mixture to produce a true J£t7ia. See Volcano. If it were fuppofed to burft out under the Sea, it would pro- duce a Spout. See Spout. And if it were in the Clouds, the Effect would be Thunder and Lightning. See Thun- der, &c.

EASE, in the Sea-Language, is rhe fame as let go flacker 5 thus they fay, Eafe the Bowling, Eafe the Sheet, that is, let it go flacker.

'EKSE'L-Pieces, among Painters, fuch fmall Pieces, ei- ther Portraits, or Landfkips, as are painted on the Eafel % i. e. the Frame whereon the Canvas is ftrain'd.

They are thus called, to distinguish, them from larger Pictures drawn on Walls, Ceilings, iSc.

EASEMENT, in Law, a Service, or Convenience, which one Neighbour has of another by Charter, or Prefcription, without Profit : As a way through his Ground, a Sink or the like. In the Civil Law, thefe are call'd Servitus

EAST, in AStronomy, Geography, ££c. one of the Car- dinal Points of the Horizon, being the Point wherein the prime Vertical interfects that Quarter of the Florizon the Sun rifes in. See Orient, Cart>in kh-Point, Ho- rizon, ££c.

To find the Eafi and Weft Line, Points, &c. Soe Me- ridian Line.

EAsr-Wind, is that which blows from the Eafi 'Point. See Wind.

The Word Eafi is German. In Italy, and throughout the Mediterranean, the Eafi Wind is called the Levante, In Greek, efmhta-my becaufe it comes from the Side of the Sun, cL-tt vhU. In Latin, Eurus.

East-25m/;,1 c ee JDial. Eastern, j (.Oriental.

E ast- Indies. See Indies.

E\sT-India Company. See Company.

EASTER, a Feaft of the Church, held in Memory of our Saviour's Refurrction. See Feast, &c.

The Latins, &c. call it "Pafcha, A Hebrew Word, Sig- nifying Paffage 5 applied to the Feaft of the Paffover, which is held among the Jews, much about the fame Time. See Passover.

In Englifh it is called Eafier, from the Saxon Cayren, a Goddefs, worShip'd with peculiar Ceremony in the Monti of April.

Eafier is one of the moft considerable Festivals in the Christian Calendar $ being that which regulates and deter- mines the Time of all the other moveable FeaSts.

The Rule for the Celebration of Eafier, flx'd by the Council of Nice, in the Year 325, is, that it be held on the Sunday after the Full Moon, next after the 2 lit of March, i. e. the Sunday following the firft full Moon after the Vernal Equinox : So that if the full Moon next after the Vernal Equinox, happen on a Sunday ; Eafier Sunday is deferr'd eight Days longer, viz. to the Sunday following.

The Reafon of which Decree was, that the Chriffians might avoid the celebrating their Eafier, at the fame Time with the Jewifij Paffover, which, according to the Insti- tution of Mojes, was held the very Day of the full Moon. See Eqvinox,

To find Eafier, agreeably to this Rule, the Method that obtain'd throughout all the Church, from the Time of Dionyfius exiguus, to that of the Reformation of the Calendar under Pope Gregory 5 and which Still obtains in England, Sweden, and among the Greeks, where the Gregorian Correction is not admitted ; is, by Means of the Golden Numbers, duly diftributed throughout the Julian. Calendar. See Calendar.

The Vernal Equinox, at the Time of the Nicene Coun- cil, happening on the 21 St of March, has been, upon Uionyfius\ Authority, affix'd to the fame Day of the Julian Year ever Since 5 fo that in the Julian Way of computing, no full Moon is Pafchal, but that immediately after the 21 St of March. Therefore Eafier can never hap- pen earlier than the 22 d of March, Now, by finding the full Moons, next after the 21 it of March, for the feveral

Golden