Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/675

Rh U B E U 649 tioned place, however, gives evidence of a previous Phoeni cian settlement, for it is a corruption of Astarte, which is found in the form Astyra at several, laces on the coasts of the /Egean. The Phoenicians were attracted hither, as they were to other points on the shores of Greece, by the purple- mussel, which was obtained in the Euboic Sea. The popu lation at the present clay is made up of elements not less various, for many of the Greek inhabitants seem from their costumes to have immigrated, partly from the main land, and partly from other islands; and besides these, the southern portion is occupied by Albanians, who probably have come from Andros; in the mountain districts nomad Wallach shepherds are found; and at Chalcis there are a certain number of Turkish and Jewish families, who live quietly with the other inhabitants, and are not molested. The history of the island is for the most part that of its two principal cities, Chalcis and Eretria, the latter of which was situated about 15 miles S.E. of the former, and was also on the shore of the Euboic Sea. The neighbourhood of the fertile Lelantian plain, and their proximity to the place of passage to the mainland, were evidently the causes of the choice of site, as well as of their prosperity. Both cities were Ionian settlements from Attica, and their import ance in early times is shown by their numerous colonies in Magna Gra^cia and Sicily, and such as Cumae, Rhegium, and Xaxos, and on the coast of Macedonia, the projecting portion of which, with its three peninsulas, hence obtained the name of Chalcidice. In this way they opened new trade routes to the Greeks, and extended the field of civilization. How great their commerce was is shown by the fact that the Euboic scale of .weights and measures was in use at Athens and among the Ionic cities generally. They were rival cities, and at first appear to have been e jually powerful ; one of the earliest of the sea-fights men tioned in Greek history took place between them, and in this we are told that many of the other Greek states took part. It was in consequence of the aid which the people of Miletus lent to the Eretrians on this occasion that Eretria sjnt five ships to aid the lomans in their revolt against the Persians ; and owing to this, that city was the first place in Greece Proper to be attacked by Datis and Artaphernes in 490 B.C. It was utterly ruined on that occasion, and its inhabitants were transported to Persia. Though it was restored after the battle of Marathon, on a site at a little distance from its original position, it never regained its former eminence, but it was still the second city in the island. From this time its neighbour Chalcis, which, though it suffered from a lack of good water, was, as Strabo says, the natural capital from its commanding the Euripus, held an undisputed supremacy. Already, however, this city had suffered from the growing power of Athens. In the year 50G, when the Chalcidians joined with the Boeotians and the Spartan king Cleomenes in a league against that state, they were totally defeated by the Athenians, who established 4000 Attic colonists on their lands, and seem to have reduced the whole island to a con dition of dependence. Again, in 446, when Eubcea endea voured to throw off the yoke, it was once more reduced by Pericles, and a new body of settlers was planted at Histuea in the north of the island, after the inhabitants of that town had been expelled. This event is referred to by Aristophanes in the Clouds (212), where the old farmer, on being shown Eubcea on the map &quot; lying outstretched in all its length,&quot; remarks, &quot;I know; we laid it prostrate under Pericles.&quot; The Atlicnians fully recognized its im portance to them, both as .supplying them with corn and cattle, as securing their commerce, and as guaranteeing them against piracy, for its proximity to the coast of Attica renden&amp;gt;d it extremely dangerous to them when in other hands, so that Demosthenes, in the De Corona, speaks of a time when the pirates that made it their headquarters so infested the neighbouring sea as to prevent all navigation. But in the 21st year of the Peloponnesian war the island succeeded in regaining its independence. After this, we find it taking sides with one or other of the leading states, until, after the battle of Chieronea, it passed into the hands of Philip, and finally into those of the Romans. By the great Demetrius Poliorcetes, Chalcis was called one of the three fetters of Greece, Demetrias on the Gulf of Pagasai and Corinth being the other two. In modern history Euboea or Negropont comes once more prominently into notice at the time of the fourth crusade. In the partition of the Eastern empire by the Latins which followed that event, the island was divided into three fiefs, the occupants of which ere long found it expedient to placo themselves under the protection of the Venetian republic, which thenceforward became the sovereign power in the country. For more than two centuries and a half during which they remained in possession, it was one of the most valuable of their dependencies, and the lion of St Mark may still be seen, both over the sea gate of Chalcis (Xegropont), and in other parts of the town. At length in 1470, after a valiant defence, this well-fortified city wa-.r wrested from them by Mohammed II., and the whole island fell into the hands of the Turks. One desperate attempt to regain it was made by Morosini in 1G88, when the city was besieged by land and sea for three months ; but owing to the strength of the place, and the disease which thinned their ranks, the assailants were forced to withdraw. At the conclusion of the Greek War of Independence, in 1830, the island was delivered from the Turkish sway, and constituted a part of the newly established Greek state. The present population of Chalcis is about 5000 souls. (H. F. T.) EUBULIDES, a native of Miletus, was a philosopher of the Megaric school. The principal events in his personal history are quite unknown. Indirect evidence shows that he was a contemporary, whether older or younger is not certain, of Aristotle, whose philosophy he attacked with great bitterness, and that he numbered Demosthenes for ;i while among his pupils. He is not known to have written any independent work, and his name has been preserved chiefly on account of some celebrated, though false and captions, syllogisms of which he was the reputed author. There is reason to believe that some of these were due to others of the Megaric school, EUCALYPTUS, a genus of trees of the natural order Myrtaceie, mostly, if not all, indigenous to Australia an.l Tasmania. In Australia the Eucalypti are commonly called &quot;gum-trees,&quot; or &quot;stringy-bark trees,&quot; from their gummy or resinous products, or fibrous bark. The genus, from the evidence of leaf remains, appears to have been repre sented by several species in Eocene times (see Schimper, Traite de Paleontographie Vet/eiale, 1874). The leaves are leathery in texture, hang obliquely or vertically, and are studded with glands which contain a fragrant volatile oil, The flowers are apetalous, and resemble those of the myrtle, and the bud is closed by a lid, which is dis carded when the flower expands. Within the hardened calyx, which constitutes the fruit, very numerous minute seeds are contained. The Eucalypti are rapid in growth, and many species are of great height, K. amygdalina attaining to even as much as 480 feet, or 150 feet more than the highest specimen of the Wellingtonia (Sequoia) (/if/antea, with a diameter of 81 feet (see Jonrn. of Forestry, March, 1878). The Blue Gum-tree, E. glolnhis, Labill., is so called from the rounded form of its operculated calyx, The leaves of trees from three to five years of age are large, sessile, and of a glaucous-white colour, and grow horizon tally ; those of older trees are ensiform, 6-12 inches long, Yin. 82