Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/488

 480 EHRENBREITSTEIN EICHHORN mikroskopischen Organismen (1839); and espe- cially Mikrogeologie (1854). For some account of his discoveries and classification, see ANI- MALCULES. Among his works on other sub- jects is Ueber die naturwissenschaftlicJi und medicinisch vollig unbegrundete Furcht vor kdrperlicher Entkrdftung der Volker durcJi die fortsehreitende Oeistesentwickelung (Ber- lin, 1842). His latest publication is Mikrogeo- logische Studien als Zusammenfassung seiner Beobachtungen des kleinsten Lebens der Mee- restiefgrunde aller Zonen und uber dessen geo- logischen Einfluss (Berlin, 1872). EIIREXBREITSTEIN (i. e., the broad stone of honor), a town of Prussia, on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Coblentz, with which it is connected by bridges; pop. in 1871, 2,504, exclusive of the garrison. It is situated at the foot of a rocky height, upon which is the fortress. The fortress of Ehrenbreitstein was probably founded by the Romans under the Ehrenbreitstein. emperor Julian, was rebuilt in the 12th cen- tury by Hermann, archbishop of Treves, and became of great strategical importance during the thirty years' war. The French under Marshal Boufflers, aided by Vauban, in vain besieged it in 1688. They assailed it again at the end of the following century, but gained possession of it (January, 1799) only after a siege of 14 months, and after reducing the garrison to starvation. In 1801 they blew up its defences, but the fortress was subsequent- ly rebuilt by Prussia. The works will lodge 100,000 men, yet a garrison of 5,000 is deemed sufficient to defend them. The magazines are capable of containing provisions for 8,000 men for ten years. The escarped rocks and steep slopes on three sides of the fortress seem im- pregnable. The platform on the top of the rock serves as a parade ground, and covers vast arched cisterns capable of holding a three years' supply of water, which is obtained from springs without the walls. EIBENSTOCK, a town of Saxony, near the right bank of the Mulde, 16 m. S. E. of Zwick- au; pop. in 1871, 6,362. It has manufacto- ries of muslin, lace, chemicals, and tobacco; and in the vicinity are several tin mines, to which the town owed its foundation in the 12th century. EICHENDORFF, Joseph Karl Benedict, baron, a German author, born near Ratibor, Upper Silesia, Dec. 10, 1788, died at Neisse, Nov. 26, 1857. He fought as a volunteer in the last campaigns against Napoleon I., and held various offices under the Prussian government, retiring in 1844. He was a representative of the ro- mantic school, wrote many fine poems, novels, and plays, and translated Don Juan Manuel's El conde de Lucanor (Berlin, 1824) and Calde- ron's religious plays (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1846- '55). Among his critico-historical writings are Der deutscJie Roman des 18. Jahrhunderts in seinem Verhaltnisse zum CJiristenthum (1851), and Geschichte der poetischen Litera- tur DeutscJilands (1856). The 4th edition of his poetry and of his most popular novel, Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, appeared in Berlin in 1856. EICHHORN, Johann Gottfried, a German scholar, born at Doren- zimmern, in the prin- cipality of Hohenlohe- Oehringen, Oct. 16, 1752, died in Gottingen, June 25, 1827. He stud- ied theology at Gottin- gen, in 1775 was elected professor of oriental lan- guages in the university of Jena, and in 1788 was called to the same office at Gottingen, where he taught till near his death. He first proved the extent of his learning by treatises on the commerce of the East Indies prior to the time of Mohammed, and on the ancient history of the Arabs. At Gottingen he devoted himself especially to Biblical criticism, and published Repertorium fur biblische und morgenlandische Literatur (18 vols., Leipsic, l777-'86), and the Allge- meine Bibliothek der biblischen Literatur (10 vols., 1787-1801), which he prepared in con- nection with other learned men. He was especially influential in founding the interpre- tation of the Scriptures on a knowledge of Biblical antiquity and oriental modes of thought by his introductions to the Old and New Tes- taments, and his works on the Hebrew pro- phets and on the Apocalypse, besides many valuable papers in periodical works. Having conceived the plan of a full history of all branches of intellectual culture in Europe since the revival of letters, he associated him-