Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/489

 EICHSTADT tself with several scholars, and composed, as an introduction, the GeschicJite der Literatur von ihrem Anfange bis auf die neuesten Zeiten (6 vols., Gottingen, 1805-'12). Among his other writings are Urgeschichte (edited by Gabler, 2 vols., 1790-'93), in which he examined the Mosaic records of the creation and fall; and works on the French revolution (1797), on ancient history (2 vols., 1811-'13), and on the history of the last three centuries (6 vols., 3d ed., 1817-'18). His son KAEL FRIEDEIOH, born Nov. 20, 1781, professor of law at Berlin and elsewhere, Prussian state councillor, &c., was the author of works on German law and his- tory, and edited with Savigny and others from 1815 to 1838 the Zeitschrtft fur gescUchtliche RecJitswissenschaft. He died July 4, 1854. EICHSTADT, a town of Bavaria, on the river Altmuhl, 56 m. N. N. W. of Munich; pop. in 1871, 7,011. It is the seat of a bishop and has several schools and hospitals. Its manufactures are chiefly woollen and cotton fabrics, iron and stone ware, and beer. The most remarkable public buildings are the castle, the council house, and the cathedral, a fine Gothic edifice. The castle of Wilibaldsburg, which overlooks the town from a height of 1,200 ft., was for- merly the residence of the bishops, and is now used for barracks. Eichstadt was founded by the Anglo-Saxon St. Wilibald, created bishop about 745, whose statue is in one of the public squares. It increased in size through the pil- grimages made to the shrine of St. Walpurgis, whose remains were deposited there in 871, and whose church is still visited annually by thousands of pilgrims. Upon the death of Count Hirschberg, in 1305, the bishopric was endowed with his estates, and afterward it be- came one of the richest foundations of Ger- many. It was secularized in 1802, and erected into a principality, and in 1805 was incorpo- rated into Bavaria. The principality was in 1817 assigned with other territory to Eugene Beauharnais, duke of Leuchtenberg. It ceased to be a principality in 1854. The present bishopric of Eichstadt is under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Bamberg. EICHWALD, Edward, a Russian naturalist, born at Mitau, July 4, 1795. He studied at Berlin, spent several years in travel, and in 1823 was appointed professor of zoology and midwifery at Kazan. In 1827 he became professor of zo- ology and comparative anatomy at Wilna, and in 1838 of mineralogy and zoology at St. Pe- tersburg. From 1825 to 1827 he explored the Caspian sea and the Caucasus. In 1846 he made scientific excursions in the Tyrol, Italy, Sicily, and Algeria. He also made geological journeys through France, Switzerland, parts of Russia, and the Scandinavian countries. His numerous works, written in Latin, Ger- man, French, and Russian, relate chiefly to the "botany, natural history, geology, mineralogy, and paleontology of Russia. EIDER, a river of northern Germany, rising near Kiel, and flowing into the North sea not EIDER DUCK 481 far from Tonning. Its general course is W., and for a considerable distance it forms the boundary between Schleswig and Holstein. Its length is about 105 m., of which 70 are navigable. With the aid of a canal from Rends- burg to Kiel fiord, this river forms a communi- cation between the North and Baltic seas. EIDER DUCK (somateria mollissima, Leach), one of the fuligulince or sea ducks, well known for the remarkable softness of its down and the beauty of its plumage, and common, like other arctic species, to both hemispheres. The bill is elevated at the base, compressed behind the nostrils, divided in front by an acute angle of feathers, flattened at the tip, which is armed with a strong, broad, and hooked nail; the lamellae are moderate and far apart ; the wings are moderate, pointed, the first and second quills longest; the tail short and wedge- shaped; tarsi more than half as long as the middle toe; the toes long, united by a full web. The head is very large, the neck short, Eider Ducks (Somateria inollissima), Male and Female. the body bulky and much depressed ; the feet are short, and placed far behind. The plumage is short, dense, soft, and blended. The bill is pale grayish yellow, iris brown, feet dingy light green with dusky webs; upper part of head bluish black, with the central part white ; occi- put, upper part of hind neck, and sides of neck delicate pale green ; sides of head, throat, and neck white; lower neck and upper breast cream-colored or buff; rest of lower surface black, as are the tail coverts and middle of the rump ; rest of upper parts white, the scapulars tinged with yellow, except the secondaries, which are brownish black, and the primaries, grayish brown ; the length is 25 in., the extent of wings 42, the tail 4J, bill 2| ; the weight is from 4J- to 5 Ibs., greatest in winter. The female differs greatly from the male, being somewhat smaller, and having the general plumage brown barred with black, lighter on the head and neck ; secondaries and their cov- erts with white tips; the young in the first winter resemble the female. The eider is rare- ly seen south of New York ; east of Boston it