Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/478

Rh 458 E P H E P H tubes in the mud or clay in which they live; others are found on or beneath stones ; while others again swim and crawl freely among water plants. It is probable that some are carnivorous, either attacking other larvoe or subsisting on more minute forms of animal life; but others perhaps feed more exclusively on vegetable matters of a low type, such as diatoms. When the aquatic insect has reached its full growth, it emerges from the water or seeks its surface ; the thorax splits down the back, and the winged form appears. But this is not yet perfect, although it has all the form of a perfect insect and is capable of flight ; it is what is variously termed a &quot;pseud-imago,&quot; &quot;sub-imago,&quot; or &quot;pro-imago.&quot; Contrary to the habits of all other insects, there yet remains a pellicle that has to be shed, covering every part of the body. This final moult is effected soan after the insect s appearance in the winged form ; the creature seeks a temporary resting-place, the pellicle splits down the back, and the now perfect insect comes forth, often differing very greatly in colours and markings from the condition in which it was only a few moments before. If the observer take up a suitable position near water, his coat is often seen to be covered with the cast sub-hnaginal skins of these insects, which had chosen him as a convenient object upon which to undergo their final change. In some few genera of very low type it appears probable that, at any rate in tho female, this final change is never effected, and that the creature dies a sub-imago. The winged insect differs considerably in form from its sub-aquatic condition. The head is smaller, often occupied almost entirely above in the male by the very large eyes, which in some species are curiously double in&quot; that sex, one portion being pillared, and forming what is termed a &quot; turban ;&quot; the mouth parts are aborted, for the creature is now incapable of taking nutriment either solid or fluid ; the antennas are mere short bristles, consisting of two rather large basal joints and a multi-articulate thread. The pro- thorax is much narrowed, whereas the other segments (especially the mesothorax) are greatly enlarged; the legs long and slender, the anterior pair often very much longer in the male than in the female ; the tarsi four- or five- jointed ; but in some genera (e.g., Oligoneuria and allies) the legs are aborted, and the creatures are driven help lessly about by the wind. The wings are carried erect : the anterior pair large, with numerous longitudinal ner- vures, and usually abundant transverse reticulation; the posterior pair very much smaller, often lanceolate, and frequently wanting absolutely. The abdomen consists of ten segments ; at the end are either two or three long multi articulate tails ; in the male the ninth joint bears forcipated appendages ; in the female the oviducts terminate at the junction of the seventh and eighth ventral segments. The sexual act takes place in the air, and is of very short duration, but is apparently repeated several times, at any rate in some cases. Ephemeridae are found all over the world, even up to high northern latitudes. Picter, Eaton, and others have given us valuable works or monographs on the family, but the subject still remains little understood, partly owing to the great difficulty of preserving such delicate insects ; and it appears probable they can only be satisfactorily investigated as moist preparations. The number of described species is less than 200, spread over many genera. From the earliest times attention has been drawn to the enormous abundance of species of the family in certain localities. Scopoli, writing more than a century ago, speaks of them as so abundant in one place in Carniola that in June twenty cart-loads were carried away for manure ! Polymitarcys virgo, which, though not found in England, occurs in many parts of Europe (and is common at Paris), emerges from the water soon after sunset, and continues for several hours in such myriads as to resemble snow show r ers, putting out lights, and causing incon venience to man, and annoyance to horses by entering their nostrils. In other parts of the world they have been recorded in multitudes that obscured passers-by on the other side of the street. And similar records might be multiplied almost to any exent. In Britain, although they are often very abundant, we have scarcely anything analogous. Fish, as is well known, devour them greedily, and enjoy a veritable feast during the short period in which any particular species appears. By anglers our common species of Ephemera (vulgata, and dania, but more espe cially the latter, which is more abundant) are known as the &quot; May-fly,&quot; but the terms &quot; Green Drake &quot; and &quot; Bastard Drake &quot; are applied to conditions of the same species. Useful information on this point will be found in Ronalds s Fly-Fisher s Entomology, edited by Westwood. A singular creature, with a carapace almost like that of a miniature tortoise, originally described by Latreille as a doubtful genus of Branchiopod Crustacea under the name of Prosopistoma, of which two species are known (one occur ring in France, the other in Madagascar), is now almost proved by Messrs E. &amp;lt;fe N. Joly to be the aquatic condition of some insect of this family Ephemeridse belong to a very ancient type of insects, and their fossil imprints are common, occurring even in the Carboniferous formation. (R. M L.) EPHESIANS, THE EPISTLE TO THE. Destination of the Epistle. The first and most important inquiry con nected with the epistle to the Ephcsians has reference to the persons to whom it was originally addressed; and this inquiry again depends so much upon the reading of the first verse of the epistle that, before proceeding further, it is necessary to determine as far as possible what that reading is. In the Authorized Version the epistle opens with the words, &quot; Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.&quot; &quot; At Ephesus &quot; is the expres- sion in dispute. The two words are omitted by the first hand of the Vatican and Sinaitic MSS., and by the second hand of 67, a cursive MS. of the 12th century, whose corrected text Griesbach considered much more valuable than the text as it originally stood; but they are found in all other MSS. and versions. Strong as is the evidence arising from the combination of the Vatican and the Sinaitic MSS., it would be difficult to resist the singular amount of authority opposed to them, were it not for passages from writers and fathers earlier than the earlie.it of our existing MSS., which show that the absence of the words was not only known to them, but was so far accepted, as at least probably correct, that they made it a ground of curious speculation with regard to the particular method of designating Christians then employed by the apostle. The earliest witness is Marcion, about Marcion, the middle of the 2d century, although he deals only with the fact. We gather Marciou s view from the language of Tertullian. In his treatise Contra Marcionem (v. 11, 17), the African father charges Marcion with having, contrary to the veritas ecclesice, given a false title to the epistle, designating it as the epistle to the Laodiceaus, quasi et in isto diligcntissimus explorator. 1 Had Marcion read &quot;at Ephesus &quot; in the first verse of the epistle, it would have been impossible for him to falsify the title, changing it into &quot; the epistle to the Laodiceans.&quot; The change would 1 The passages from. Tertullian, as well as from the other fathers to be subsequently quoted, will be found at length in most of the intro ductions to the New Testament in common use. We take them from the Conspectus of authorities in TiKchendorf s New Test., ed. viii. Extcrm evidenc t j ou&amp;gt;