Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/698

Rh 672 E U P E U R arrangement for a joint responsibility in raising the necessary funds, and it was on this money question that the whole scheme, and a great number of similar private schemes, fell through. It is pretty certain, indeed, that a railway of 1000 or 1200 miles through the Syrian and Mesopotamian deserts, dependent for its support entirely on the termini upon the two seas, can never be pecuniarily remunerative ;. and so long, therefore, as the British Government retains its hold on the Egyptian line it c,m hardly be worth its while to embark on so costly an under taking merely for its possible political advantages. If the Sublime Porte had retained its position in the political world, it might have been a sound and proper measure of domestic economy to have laid down a railway from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, with a view to develop ing the resources of the intermediate countries, and con solidating the power of tha central government. Midhat Pasha, indeed, the author of the Turkish constitution, had thus some years ago, when he was governor of Baghdad, actually completed the preliminary surveys for a line from Tripoli on the Mediterranean, across the desert to Tekrit on the Tigris, and thence by Baghdad to Bussorah; and if he had remained in office the project would have been pro bably executed; but under present circumstances, when Asiatic Turkey threatens to become yearly more hopelessly disorganized, there is no reasonable prospect of such a scheme being resumed under native auspices. It is only, indesd, in the possible event of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys falling into the hands of a European power that we can look with any hope to the construction of railways, or the scientific embankment of the rivers, or the excavation of canals, or any of those measures of internal improvement which, however, if executed with care and skill, would soon restore these now desolate regions to their former exceptional condition of populousness, wealth, and general prosperity. It may be of interest to add that the India Office has recently employed Captain Felix Jones, an accomplished officer of the late Indian navy, and one of the most experienced surveyors of that noble service, in constructing a map of the Euphrates and Tigris upon a large scale. All the charts and plans executed by Col. Chesney, Capt H. B. Lynch, and the various officers of the Indian navy who have been employed during the last 40 years on the survey of Mesopotamia, and most of whose memoirs have been pub lished in the current volumes of the Royal Geographical Society s Journal, have been utilized for the purpose, and the result has been the production of a map not less remarkable as a specimen of the highest cartographic skill than for its general scientific accuracy and its unusual fulness of detail. It is to be hoped that this map will be soon engraved, and thus rendered generally accessible to the public. /ii n EUPION (Greek, v, well, TTUOV, fat), a hydrocarbon of the paraffin series, discovered by Pieichenbaeh in wood-tar. It is a colourless and highly volatile and inflammable liquid, having at 20 C. a specific gravity of 65, and ex panding considerably when heated. It is unaffected by alkalies and mineral acids, and unites directly with the haloid elements. Eupion is formed in the destructive dis tillation of many substances, as wood, coal, caoutchouc, bones, resin, and the fixed oils. It is most conveniently prepared from rectified bone oil and rape and hemp seed oils, by treatment with sulphuric acid. Like other liquids of similar composition, it is employed for illuminatin&quot; pur poses, and, mixed with rape and cotton-seed oils for the lubrication of machinery. EUPOLIS, an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, and in the judgment of Horace, ranking, along with Cratinus and Aristophanes, as the greatest of that school, was the son of bosipohs and was born 445 B.C. Nothing whatever is known of his personal history. With regard to his deith, he is said to have been thrown into the sea by Alcibiades who had suffered from his attacks in the B^ra, Cicero however, points out that Eratosthenes mentions plays pro duced by Eupolis after the Sicilian expedition in which Alcibiacles is said to have taken this revenge. It is much more likely, therefore, and much more generally believed, that he fell at the battle either of Cynossema, 411 B.C., or of ./Egospotami, 408 B.C. To a lively and fertile fancy Eupolis added a sound practical judgment, which prompted him to a thorough mastery of the mechanical part of his art. The result of his studies was that lie was reputed to equal Aristophanes in the elegance and purity of his diction, and Cratinus in the command of the most bitter irony and pun gent sarcasm. Very curious and complicated relations subsisted between Eupolis and Aristophanes, who accused each other with the bitterest virulence, not only of imitation but of plagiarism. Some of these attacks will be found described in various parts of the scholia upon Aristophanes. The plays of Eupolis are said to have numbered in all seventeen, Meineke gives the names of fifteen which he considers genuine, and an analysis of tJiose whose subjects can be decided from the surviving fragments. EUPOMPUS, one of the most celebrated of Greek painters, was a native of Sicyon, and a contemporary of Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who nourished in the 4th century B.C. He was the head of the Sicyonian school of art, and was held in very high esteem by his countrymen. When Lysippus the sculptor was beginning his career, he con- suited Eupompus as to whom he should take for his model. &quot; Take nature herself for your model,&quot; replied Eupompus, &quot; and be not shackled by the trammels of any predecessor.&quot; No mention is made of more than a single piece by Eupom pus a victor in the games bearing a palm. EURE, a department in the north-east of France, one of the five formed out of the old province of Normandy, is bounded on the N. by the department of Seine Inferieure, W. by Calvados, S. by Orne and Eure-et-Loir, and E. by Seine-et-Oise and Oise. It has an area of 2420 square miles, and lies between 48 39 and 40 29 N. lat., and 15 and 1 45 E. long. The surface is flat, with some ranges of low hills, none of them exceeding 300 feet in height. The Seine flows from S.E. to N.W. through the department dividing it into two unequal parts, and after touching the frontier at two or three points forms near its mouth part of the northern boundary. All the rivers of the department flow into the Seine, on the right bank the Audelle and the Epte, and on the left the Eure with its tributaries the Avre and thelton, andtheRille with its tribu tary the Charentonne. The Eure, from which the depart ment takes its name, rises in Orne, and flowing first east and then west through Eure-et-Loir, falls into the Seine G miles below Louviers, after a course of 93 miles. The Rille likewise rises in Orne, and flows generally northward to its mouth in the estuary of the Seine. The climate is mild, but moist and variable. The soil is generally clayey, resting on a bed of chalk ; but along the Seine there are some barren sandy tracts quite incapable of cultivation. A great part of the department, however, is very fertile and well tilled. The chief cereal cultivated is wheat, but flax also is largely grown. There is a wide extent of pasturage on which are reared a considerable num ber of cattle and sheep, and especially those horses of pure Norman breed for which the department has long been celebrated. Fruit is very abundant, especially apples and pears, from which much cider and perry are made, and vine yards on the Seine, Eure, and Avre yield a considerable quantity of wine. Wild game, especially of the winged sorts, is very plentiful, and the rivers abound in fish. Iron ore is very abundant, and the department is noted for its mining and manufacturing industry. Cotton, linen, and woollen cloths of every kind are fabricated. There are large establishments for making copper ware of all kinds,