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EUCALYPTUS

631

EUREKA

has passed during historic times under the control of the Athenians, Macedonians, Romans, Turks and modern Greeks. In ancient times, when not dominated by Athens or Macedon, Euboea was shared among seven city-states, of which the chief were Eretria and Chalcis. It now has a population of over 100,000.

Eucalyptus. A genus of the myrtle family, containing about 140 species, which are known in general as gum-trees. The species are all natives of the Australasian region, excepting a few which belong to the East Indies. They are mostly trees, and sometimes are of great size, commonly rising from over 100 feet to more than 400 feet in height. The wood is very durable and much used in Australia. The name gum-tree has been given because the bark of certain species yields a resin from which tannin is obtained in commercial quantities. E.globulus has come under wide cultivation, being often planted in swamps and malarial regions, which it is said to assist in draining and rendering more healthful.

Euclid (u'kPid), a mathematician, the Father of Geometry, was a Greek, born at Alexandria in Egypt and living about 300

B. C.    Very little of his life is known except that he taught mathematics in the reign of Ptolemy   I,  who   died   in   283   B.   C.    He probably was the founder of the illustrious mathematical school at Alexandria. When Ptolemy asked him if  there were  not an easier way of learning geometry, he made the celebrated answer:    "There is no royal road   to   geometry." His  principal   work is  the Elements, in   13  books, portions of which are used in  schools as a text-book of elementary geometry. It has been translated into many languages, and is probably better known than any other mathematical work. The first printed edition was translated from Arabic in  1482. It is still in use as a text-book in Great Britain. Besides the Elements, Euclid wrote the Data, a collection of 100 propositions in geometry, a book much valued by Newton, and Phenomena  or   appearances   of   the   heavens. See  Euclid   and  His   Modern   Rivals,   by

C. L. Dodgson.

Eug&ne (u-jen'), Francois, Prince, called Prince Eugene of Savoy, was one of the greatest generals of his time. He was born at Paris, Oct. 18, 1663. Louis XIV refused him a commission in the army, and he entered the service of the emperor of Austria. He rose rapidly in rank, becoming field-marshal in 1693. He defeated the Turks in the battle of Zenta, Sept. n, 1697, which ended their power in Hungary. The War of the Spanish Succession, in 1701, found him in command of the Italian army, but his force was too small to achieve very much. As commander of the imperial army of Germany, he helped Marlborough to gain the victory of Blenheim (1704), and

later he shared in the glory of the' fields of Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). In the war against the Turks, in 1716, Eugene, with 64,000 men, defeated an army of 150,000, and. in 1717 carried Belgrade by assault, receiving in the bloody struggle his 13th wound. In times of peace he was prominent in the councils of the nation at Vienna, where he died on April 21, 1736. He was worshiped by his soldiers and has since been regarded as a hero in popular song. He served under three emperors, and used to say that in Leopold I he had a father, in Joseph I a brother and in Charles VI a master. See Prince Eugene of Savoy, by Malleson.

Eugenie (e'zhd-nef), Marie de Montijo, ex-empress of France, was born at Granada, Spain, May 5, 1826, of Spanish and Scotch descent. Her beauty won Napoleon III, emperor of France, to whom she was married in 1853. A wedding present, in value about $12,000, from Paris, she used in endowing a college for women, and also

fave to charities $20,000 out of her hus-and's gift. She made a voyage to Venice, Constantinople and Egypt, and was present at the opening of the Suez Canal. She was made regent when Napoleon was at the head of the army in 1870. When the news of his surrender at Sedan reached her, she fled after midnight with a few attendants, to England, where she was afterward joined by her son and husband. Her only son, Napol6on Eugene, was born on March 16, 1856, and was killed in the Zulu War in 1879.

Euphrates (u-frd'tez), the largest river of western Asia, rises in the heart of Armenia and flows south, breaking through the Taurus Mountains in a succession of rapids and cataracts for about 40 miles. At Kurna the Tigris joins it, and with the new name of Shatt-el-Arab it empties itself by several arms into the Persian Gulf, 1,700 miles from its source. It is navigable for small boats nearly 1,200 miles, and warships can ascend it for 120 miles. In ancient times, by a system of canals and embankments, the river was used for irrigating the country as the Nile is in Egypt; but the works are not kept up. The Euphrates is mentioned in the Bible as one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden. It is called the "great river." The city of Babylon was situated on its banks, and Nebuchadrezzar had locks and dikes made to enable large vessels to ascend it as far as the city. See The Euphrates Expedition, by W. F. Ainsworth.

Eureka, CaL, county-seat of Humboldt County, 225 miles nortrrwest of San Francisco. It is located in the famous redwood region, and its lumber interests are important. Near the city is Sequoia Park, a 4o-acre tract of redwood forest. The city has good schools, newspapers, gas