Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/552

Rh 532 E R Y E R Z The treatment of erysipelas is best conducted on the ex pectant system. The disease in most instances tends to a favourable termination; and beyond attention to the condi tion of the stomach and bowels, which may require the use of some gentle laxative, little is necessary in the way of medicine. The employment of preparations of iron in large doses is strongly recommended by many physicians. But the chief point is the administration of abundant nourish ment in a light and digestible form. Of the many local applications which may be employed, hot opiate fomenta tions, such as a decoction of poppy heads, will be found among the most soothing. Dusting the affected part with flour or powdered starch, and wrapping it in cotton wadding, is also of use ; or collodion may be painted over the in flamed surface to act as a protective. With the object of preventing the spread of the inflamma tion, lines drawn with some caustic material (such as com mon lunar caustic) beyond the circumference of the inflamed part have been supposed to be of use, but this plan often fails. In the case of phlegmonous erysipelas complicating wounds, free incisions into the part are necessary, (j. o. A.) ERYTHR/E, one of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, was situated on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of Erythrae, at an equal distance from the mountains Mimas and Corycus, and directly opposite the island of Chios. In the peninsula excellent wine was produced. From the fact that, in the naval battle fought by the Ionian confederates before Miletus in 494 B.C., the Erythraeans had only eight ships engaged, it is conjectured that Erythrae could not have been a city of much importance. The Erythrseans appear to have owned for a considerable time the supremacy of Athens, but towards the close of the Peloponnesian war they threw off their allegiance to that city. Erythrae was the birth place of two prophetesses one of whom, Sibylla, is mentioned by Strabo as living in the early period of the city; the other, Athenais, lived in the time of Alexander. The site of the city has been accurately ascertained, and considerable remains of its most important buildings in cluding the acropolis, the theatre, and what is thought to be the ancient temple of Hercules have been discovered at the modern Ritri. ERYX, an ancient city and mountain in the west of Sicily, six miles from Drepana, and a short distance from the sea shore. On the summit of the mountain stood a celebrated temple of Venus, called from that circumstance Erycina, under which name the goddess is frequently mentioned by the Latin poets. See MONTE S. GIULIANO. ERZEROUM, ERZRCJM, or sometimes ARZEROUM, an important town of Turkish Armenia, at the head of an ex tensive vilayet of the same name, the residence of a pasha, and the seat of an Armenian patriarch and a Greek bishop, as well as the centre of the fourth army corps, and one of the main strategical points on the Turko-Russian frontier. It is situated 6200 feet above the level of the sea on the southern edge of a wide valley, surrounded by mountains of considerable elevation, about 4 miles from the Kara-Sit or western branch of the Euphrates, 140 miles S.S.E. of Trebizond. To the east lies the Devi-Boyun, upwards of 8000 feet in height, and to the south-east the Polan-Duken. the latter being the birthplace of a number of small streamlets, which, after meeting in the town, flow N. to the Kara-Su. The streets of the town are for the most part irregular, unpaved, badly drained, filthy, and infested with dogs ; and as the building material is mainly a dark- grey volcanic stone cemented with mud, the general appearance is dull and sombre. The roofs, with scarcely an exception, are flat or dome-shaped, and covered with a layer of earth and sward, on which it is no uncommon thing to see a donkey grazing. A considerable proportion, indeed, of the ordinary dwelling-houses are formed by making an extensive quadrangular excavation in the earth, and covering in the whole or a part of the area, so that the roof is almost on a level with the natural surface of the ground. The town is said to contain about thirty khans or caravansaries, about as many mosques, a number of Christian churches, and nineteen public baths ; but none of those buildings are of much architectural pre tension, except the Armenian cathedral and the Shifteh two graceful minarets near the citadel, belonging to an ancient and striking edifice, of which a detailed account may be found in Hamilton s Researches in Asia, 1842. A large number of circular towers with conical tops give a certain picturesqueness to the general view ; they are popularly reputed to be the tombs of holy men who died in the 14th century. The defences consist of an old brick- built citadel near the centre of ths town, an enceinte on Vauban s principles with dry ditch and dilapidated walls, several detached forts constructed since 1864, and a number of outlying earthworks of no great strength. The outer wall of the citadel having fallen into disrepair has been de molished. An excellent supply of water from Polan-Duken is distributed by wooden pipes to numerous fountains. Situated as it is on the main route between the Black Sea and Persia, Erzcroum has long maintained an extensive trade ; and though on account of the unsettled state of the country its commercial prosperity has declined since 1830, Persia, England, Russia, and Germany think it worth while to maintain consular agents in the town. The exports ar wheat, goat and sheep skins, mohair, and a lessening quantity of galls ; and tobacco from Persia, known as timbaki, furs from Russia, and Manchester goods are among the main items of the transit trade. Since 1860 the road from Trebizond has been greatly improved, and four-wheeled fourgons accomplish the distance in eight or nine days. The principal trades are tanning, morocco-dyeing, sheep skin dressing, and the making of horse-shoes, nails, and iron, brass, and copper utensils. In 1873 a building was erected by two Armenian Catholics, Shabanian by name, to be used as a distillery, soap-works, and a macaroni manufactory. A considerable number of the townspeople are owners of sheep-farms or flocks in the mountain pastures; and a still greater proportion keep sheep and cattle in the town, send ing them out daily under the charge of a common herdsman. To a stranger it is a remarkable sight to watch the regularity with which, as the herdsman passes in the morning, the separate flocks and herds join the main body, and the equal regularity with which in the evening they turn aside to their respective quarters. The climate is exceedingly severe, and snow lies on the ground for about six months in the year. As wood is scarce the usual fuel is tezek or dry cow- dung, the preparation of which is one of the most impor tant tasks of the farmer-citizen. In 1854 the population of Erzeroum was estimated at 50,000, of whom 30,000 were Turks, 5000 Orthodox Armenians, 2300 Catholic Armenians, 1200 Persians, 300 Greeks, 1200 Armenians, Georgians, and Jews claiming to be Russian subjects, and 10,000 soldiers. More recent estimates give 100,000, 60,000, and 50,000. Erzeroum is a town of great antiquity, and has been identified with the Armenian Garin Khalakh, the Arabic Kalikalah, and the Byzantine Theodosiopolis of the 5th century. Its present name, by some regarded as a corruption of Arx Romanorur,*, the &quot; citadel of the Romans, is more probably derived from Arsen-er-Rum, see ing that Arsen is known to have been the name of a town in the immediate vicinity. At the time of its capture by the Seljuks in 1201 Erzeroum must have been a mighty city, if the statement that it lost 140,000 of its inhabitants forms even an approximation to the truth. It came into Turkish possession in 1517. On July 9. 1829, it was captured by the Russian general Paskevitch, and the Russian occupation continued till the peace of Adrianople, 14th September. In 1859 a severe earthquake occurred, by which about 4500 houses were destroyed, 9 minarets levelled with the ground, and about 500 people killed. After suffering greatly from disease and death, the town capitulated to the Russians in February 1878.