Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/398

 390 ECHO ECKFORD small obstacles varies inversely as the fourth power of the wave length. When therefore a composite note, such as those of the human voice, is echoed back from such a group of ob- jects, the notes of higher pitch will be returned in far greater proportion, and the general effect will be that the echo appears to be pitched in a higher key than the original. On the other hand, the direct wave, being shorn of its higher elements, will appear to be duller than the original, and may appear to have fallen an octave, since it is well known that pure tones are apt to be estimated too low. It is therefore evident that the sounds from any musical instrument, if echoed from a proper group of surfaces, will be shorn of the lower or fundamental tones and appear pitched a third, a fifth, &c., higher, as in the harmonic echoes above enumerated ; while on the other hand, if echoed from a plane surface studded with small obstacles, they may be deprived of those higher rates of vibration that constitute the peculiarities of timbre or quality, and be reduced to their fundamental vibrations, where- by the notes from the various instruments are made to sound more like each other, as in the case quoted above from Tyndall. If, on the other hand, a pure tone be echoed from a sounding board or other elastic surface, there are induced in the latter such subordinate harmonic vibrations as it may be capable of, and these communicated to the air return to the ear along with the fundamental note, thus producing an effect as to quality of tone pre- cisely the reverse of that observed by Tyndall. ECHO, in Greek mythology, an oread nymph, daughter of the earth and air. While Jupiter wantoned with the other nymphs, she detained Juno with endless speech. As soon as Juno understood the device, she changed the nymph into an echo. Thus transformed, Echo with- drew to the banks of the Cephissus, not far from Athens, at the foot of Mt. Pentelicus, and became so desperately in love with Narcissus, son of the river god, that she followed him through the forests, in the chase, to the dark- ness of grottoes, and to the borders of fountains, and ever repeated in solitary places the name of her beloved. Narcissus disdained her pas- sion ; and she retreated into the depths of the woods, and pined away in secret. Only her plaintive voice was always heard in the dis- tance, and it was said that her bones were changed into rocks, and her voice alone re- mained. She was avenged by Nemesis, who in- spired Narcissus with a passion for himself. El HOLS, a S. county of Georgia, border- ing on Florida and intersected by the Allapa- ha river; area, about 400 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,978, of whom 465 were colored. The sur- face is level, the soil sandy. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 41,814 bushels of Indian corn, 7,947 of oats, 16,957 of sweet potatoes, and 457 bales of cotton. Capital, Statenville. ECIJA (anc. Atigi a city of Andalusia, Spain, on the Genii, in the province and 47 m. E. N. E. of the city of Seville ; pop. about 30,000. There are several fine residences in the city, a pretty theatre, a handsome square, and a charming promenade outside the town. In the Plaza de Toros some of the best bull fights in Spain take place. From its excessive heat the town is called the sartenilla (frying pan) of Andalusia. Its industry consists chiefly in the manufacture of woollens, linen, silk, and oil, and tanning. Ecija was for a long time in the middle ages an important border town between the Moors and Christians, and the scene of many romantic adventures. Inscrip- tions and relics of antiquity still exist here. ECK, or Ei-kins, Johann Mayr von, a German theologian, born in Eck, Swabia, Nov. 13, 1486, died in Ingolstadt in 1543. The son of a peasant, he acquired, by a profound study of the Christian fathers and the scholastic philoso- phers, an erudition and skill in disputation which Luther and Melanchthon much admired. He was doctor of theology, canon of Eichstadt, and vice chancellor of the university of Ingol- stadt, when in 1518 he appeared as' an adver- sary of Luther by his notes upon the theses of that reformer. He met Luther and Carl- stadt in the conferences at Augsburg and Leip- sic, but failing to convince them, lie went to Rome to urge severe measures against them. He returned to Germany with a papal bull of condemnation, but at Leipsic the people had so warmly embraced the new doctrines that he saved himself from violence only by retreating to a convent. He subsequently labored fruit- lessly to reunite the divided church. ECKERMAM, Johann Peter, a German author, born at Winsen, Hanover, in 1792, died in Weimar, Dec. 3, 1854. He assisted Goethe in his last edition of his complete works, and was named in his will editor of his literary remains, which were published in 1832-3. In 1839-'40 he edited Goethe's works complete in 40 vol- umes ; but the work which won for him much reputation was his GesprdcJie mit Goethe (3 vols., Magdeburg, 1836-'48). Extracts of this work were translated into many foreign lan- guages, including the Turkish. The first En- glish translation was made by Margaret Fuller, and published at Boston in 1839. Another English translation by John Oxenford appeared in London in 1850. ECKERSBERG, Christoph Wilhelm, a Danish historical, marine, and portrait painter, born near Apenrade, Jan. 2, 1783, died in Copen- hagen, July 22, 1853. He studied at the Co- penhagen academy, and in Italy and France. Rising rapidly to considerable distinction, he was in 1817 made an academician, and almost immediately a professor at the academy. Among his important works are his picture of Moses commanding the Red sea to close after the passage of the Israelites, "Death of Baldur," a scene from Oehlenschlager's " Axel and Wai' purga," and " Roadstead of Helsingfors." ECKFORD, Henry, an American ship builder, born in Irvine, Scotland, March 12, 1775, died