Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/686

 EPH

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EPH

The Word, and the following one, Ephemerides, are form'd of the Prepofition &£, de, fuper, apud, ob, in, fr<£ier, in E-iglip, of, on, at, for, in, by, near ; and jfcw^e, SHes, Day.

' Ei-HEM-'.RA, on Ephemeron, in Natural Hiflory, an Animal that .only lives five Hours : Within the Term whereof it is born, grows, and extends its Members, ap- pears young, breeds Eggs, cafts Seed, grows old, and dies.

Arijlotle, who gives the firft Account thereof, in his Book de Animal, gave it the Name tww&v, becaufe its Life was bounded within the Day. Aldrovandus, Jonjton and Clufius, fiirmfh us Accounts of the Ephemeron; and above all, Shammer dam, in an exprefs Work de Epheffl. Vit<e.

He calls it Ephemera, Hemerobios, and in Latin 2)iaria.

The Ephemeron is of the winged, or fly Kind ; and appears ufually about St. Johns Tide. It is born about Six a Clock in the Evening, and dies about Eleven.

It muft be ob r erved, however, that c're it affiimes this Figure, it has lived three Tears under that of a Worm, in' a clay Cell, or Cafe.

It never eats from the Time of its Change to its Death 5 nor is it furnilh'd with the Parts neceflary for the Re- ception and Concoction of Food. Its Change feems in- tended merely for the Sake of Generating and Multiplying its Kind.

Its Life is fumm'd up in a few Words. In the Begin- ning, it fheds his clay Coat; which done, and the poor little Animal thereby render'd light and agile, it fpends the reft of its fhort Life in frifking over the Waters. During which, the Female drops her Egg on the Waters, and the .Male his Sperm on them, to impregnate them. Thefe Eggs, thus impregnated, defcend to the Bottom of the Water by their own Gravity, and are hatch'd by the Warmth of rhe Sun into little Worms, which make them- felves Cafts in the Clay, and feed on the fame without any Need of parental Care : Till the Time of their Change, or Metempfychofis come.

Ephemera, is alfo applied among Botanifts, to a Kind of Flowers, which open, and expand themfelves at Sun-Riling, and wither and fade away again at his Set- ting. Such are the 1)ent de lion, vulgarly Dandelion, and divers others.

The Travellers into Arabia tell us of feveral Ephemeron Frees, which grow every Day, from Morn to Noon, and then difappear ; tho J 'tis not known, whether they wither away entirely, or fink back into the Sands among which they grow.

EPHEMERIDES, or EPHEMERIS, in Aflronomy, Tables calculated by Aftronomers, mewing the prefent State of the Heavens for every Day, at Noon; that is, the Places wherein all the Planets are found, at that Time. See Planet, Place, and Table.

'Tis from thefe Tables, that the Eclipfes, Conjunctions, and Afpects of the Planets, are determined ; Horofcopes, or Celeltial Schemes constructed, &c. See Calendar.

The Ephemerides of Origan, Kepler, Argoli, Heckerm, Mezzaracchis, Wing, de la Hire, 'Parker, &c.

Sig. Cajjini has made Ephemerides of the Sidera Medina, cr Satellites of Jupiter, which are of good Ufe in determining the Longitude. See Satellite, Eclipse.

EPHETA, in Antiquity, a Magistrate among the Athenians.

The Ephetee were instituted by King ^Bemophon, to take Cognizance of Murthers committed by Accident: Their Number was 100, whereof 50 were Athe?iia?is, and 50 Argians. They were not admitted to the Poll till upwards of 60 Years of Age.

'Draco extended their Authority. XJbo Emmius, de Rep. Athen. fays, he transferr'd Part of the Jurifdiction of the Areopagites upon 'em.

EPHIALTES, in Medicine, a Difeafe, by the Entfijb call'd the Night-Mare, and the Latins Incubus ; chiefly affecting Pcrfbns aileep, when laid on their Back, and having the Stomach loaded with Food of difficult Di- geffion. See Incubus.

In this State they are opprefs'd, as it were, with a huge Weight on the Breaft, and imagine fame Sneclre, or Demon, flopping their Breath.

This Difeafe does not arife, as was antiently imagined, from grofs Vapours filling the Ventricles of the Brain : But rather from a too great Repletion of the Stomach, which hinders the Motion of the Diaphragm, and of Con- sequence, the Dilatation of the Breafi neceflary for In- fpiration. Sec Respiration.

Etmuller obferves, that they are but rarely afl-ccled with this Diforder who ufe a laudable Diet, and fup fparinply : lying on the Side, with the Head pretty high, generally prevents it.

The Arabs call it, the No&urnaZ Epihpfy^ becaufe, when habitual, it ufually degenerates into the Epilepfy^ being the ufual Forerunner thereof, efpecially in young People. In old, it frequently terminates in an Apoplexy! Sec Epilepsy, ££V.

Menjoititis accounts for its being moft ufual in Boys, from their being too voracious, and eating more than they can digeft. Aureliamis afTures us, it has kill'd feveral ; adding from Silimachiis, that there was a conta- gious, or epidemic Incubus at Rome, which over-run Numbers like a Plague.

EPHIPPIUM, in Anatomy, a Part of the Sphenoide'^ call'd alfo Sella Equina, and Sella 'Turcica. See Sella. Equina.

EPHOD, a Sacerdotal Garment, in Ufe among the antient jews.

The Ephod is fuppofed to have been a Kind of Linncn Alb, or Surplice, by the Latins call'd Super-humerale : But 'tis very hard to fay precifely what it was; And there is Room enough for the Interpreters to be divided about it.

The only Point they are agreed upon is, that it was an upper Garment wore over all the reft, immediately under the Pectoral, or Brcafl-plate. Some hold it hadSleeves; others deny it. The Generality agree it was very fhort, tho' fome hold, that it hung down to the Feet behind.

There were two Kinds of Ephods ; the one, common to all who affifted in the Temple; being only made of common Linnen, mention'd in the \fi Book of Samuel, ii. 18. The other, peculiar to the High-Prieft, mention'd Exod. xxviii. 6, 15. to be made of Gold, of blue, and of Purple, of Scarlet, and fine twined Linnen, with cunning Work ; Having two Shoulder Pieces, with a curious Girdle of the fame Matter, whereon were two Onyx's, with the Names of the Children of Ifrael engraven thereon.

It is alfo exprefs'd, in the 11^ Book of Samuel, vi. 14. that upon the Removal of the Ark of the Cove- nant from the Houfe of Obed Edom, that Prince danced for Joy, girded with a Linnen Ephod ; whence fomc Authors have concluded, that the Ephod was alfo a Regal Garment on folemn Occafions.

The Word ^S« Ephod, is derived from -J^S" Aphad, a Hebrew Word, fignifying to cloath.

EPHORI, Magistrates cftabli/hed in ancient Sparta, to balance, and check the Power and Authority of the Kings; as, at Rome, there were Tribunes created to con-* troul the Power of the Confuls. See Tribune.

Lycurgus, being fenfible that a perfect Undemanding between the Prince and the People, was the Ban's and Foundation of both their Happinefs ; To maintain that good Undemanding, eftablifiYd Ephori, or Infpeclors, as a Kind of Mediators, who fhould have an Eye to the Meafures and Conduct of both Sides, and preferve fo equal a Ballance between 'era, that the Regal Power fliou'd never decline into Severity and Tyranny ; nor the Liberty of the People run into Licenfe and Rebellion.

The Authority of the Ephori was very great ; On certain Occafions, they expell'd, and even put to Death, the Kings ; and abolifhed, or fufpended the Power of the other Magistrates ; calling 'em to Account at Pleafure. Age- Jilaus, in the Height of all his Conqueifs, which even ftruck Terror on the great King of Perjia ; flopp'd, and turn'd back, out of Deference to the Ephori, when they recall'd him. Some Authors deny, that the Ephori were eftablifh'd by Lycurgus.

The Word is form'd of the Greek itpog/.v, intueri, form'd of the Prepofition <&*, and the Verb °e$*> to fee ; whence sh>oe??, Infycblor.

EPIBATERIAN, a Compofition of Poetry, in Ufe among the ancient Greeks.

When any Perfon of Condition and Quality, return'd Home after a long Abfence, or Journey, into another Coun- try; he call'd together his Friends, and Fellow-Citizens, and made 'em a Speech, or rehears'd them a Copy of Ver- fes, wherein he return'd folemn Thanks to the Immortal Gods, for his happy Return, and ended with an Addrcis, by way of Compliment, to his Fellow-Citizens.

This Copy of Vcrfes, is what the Greeks call E^San/fusj', Epibaterium, of frhpaivu, I return. At going away, they had another, call'd Apobaterium. See Afobaterium.

EPIC "Poem, call'd alfo EPOPEA 5 an hcroick Poem j or a Poem relating fome great and figr.al Tranfaction of a Hero. See Hero, £?c.

Such is the Iliad and OdyfTee of Homer, the JEneid of Virgil, the Gierufalemme of Tajjb, and the Paradife loft of Milton; which are the principal Poems of the Epic Kind. See Iliad, ./Eneid, &c.

The Epic Poem, is more accurately and Scientifically defined, by that excellent Critic, Fath. "Bojjtt in an exprefs. ■ Trcatife on that Subject., to be a Difcourfe invented with

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