Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/912

* ELEPHANT SEAL. Fish Commission, Wasliington, 18S4), where fur- ther reforenees will lie found. ELEPHANT'S-EAR. The popular name of Colocasiu esculent a. ui, as it is known to the trade, Caladium esculentuni. a Hawaiian or Fiji plant with very large, bright-green leaves, used to give sub-tropieal elleet in bedding. The root- stoek is planted in good, moist soil out of doors, or started in a hotbed or greenhouse and trans- planted. In autunni it is stored where dampness and fro?t cannot reach it. ELEPHANT SHREW. An African shrew of the genus Mucruseelides. so callcil on acount of its proboseis-like nose, especially .Macroscelides typi- cus of Cape Colony, and a very similar species (.Macroscelides Rozeti) of the -Mediterranean bor- der, known in Algeria .as 'rat-a-triimpe.' See .lLMlMN(i SlIIiEW. ELEPHANT TORTOISE. The giant land tortoise of the Ijalapagos Island.s. See Tortoise and Extinct Animals. ELETZ, yt lets'. See Yeletz. ELEUSINE, el'yu-sl'ne (Neo-Lat., from Gk. 'EXeuffij.fc'icHSJs, a city of ancient Greece). A genus of grasses, most of which are annuals. Two of the species — Eleusine corocana and Eleusine strwta, generally called millets — are grown as grain crops in the warmer parts of Asia and in Africa. A sort of bread is made from the seed, but it has a rather bitter taste. A kind of beer is also brewed from it. The grasses arc of rapid growth, and are very pro- ductive in both grain and forage. Eleu.iiiiF indi- ca is a well-known species in the United States, especially in the South, where it is known as goose-grass and is considered a pest, infusions of the seeds and other parts have some reputation as domestic remedies for certain ailments. Popu- lar names for this grass are goose-grass and crab-grass. EL'EUSIN'IAN MYSTERLES (translation of Gk. 'EXeco-iVia /xi><rr^pia. Kl'tisiiiia mysteria). The sacred rites with which the annual festival of Denietcr was celebrated at Kleusis. The early Eleusiiiian tradition of their origin is preserved in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. According to this, the goddess, while wandering in search of Persephone, came to Eleusis in disguise, and was hospitably received by King Celeus. In ro- tvirn she directed the establishment of a temple and mystic rites in her honor, and showed to Tri])tolemus and other princes the tise of grain. T.atcr the.se rites seem to have been largely in- llucnced by the Orphic movement of the sixth century n.c, to which may be attributed the introduction of lacchus into the triad of Demeter, Kore, and Triptolennis, who seem to have been the earlier divinities. For the nature and cele- bration of this worship, see Mysteries; for the sanctuary, see Elei'sis. ELEU'SIS (Lat.. from Gk. 'EXewij, properly place of resort, from tXevais, vJcusis, a going, tXdaarOai, chiisesthai, to be about to go). A town in .ttica, near the northern shore of the f;ilf of Salaniis, not far from (he confines of Me- garis. It was the chief <cat of the worship of ncmeter. and the scene of (he celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries. (See !My.stertes.) The town was very ancient, and in early times a rival of .Athens, against whose supremacy in Altica it long held out, and finally sibmitted on terms 792 ELEVATION. which left it two priestly families — the Eumol- and its rites, though in later times the .State con- trolled the revenues of the temple. Until 18S2. excavations on this site had been few and un- renuinerative: but in that year the Greek Gov- ernment expropriated the site of the sanctuary, and the (ireek .rcha'(dogical Society began a series of excavations which have laid bare the entire sacred inecinct. The tenii)lc of the two god- desses — Demeter and Kore — has disappeared, and even its site is uncertain: but the two I'mpyhva erected in Roman times, the Sacred Well, when Demeter rested, lesser temples, a Boulcuterion, or council hall, and the great terrace on which stood the Telesterion in which the mysteries were celebrated, can be [ilainly traced. " Before the I'crsian War the (Jreat Hall was a rather small luiilding at the foot of the rocky hill which formed the ancient Acropolis. After the war this structure was enlarged by cutting back into the rock, and in the time of I'criclcs still further enlarged by building alongside another hall of about the same size. Probably these two halls had a common ujiper story, for both contain many large columns which nuist have been needed to sustain a heavy weight. In the fourth centurv B.C. the architect Philon of Eleusis added a great portico to the common front of these halls, and in Knnian times, pmlialily under Hadrian, the two buildings were tlirown into one great hall with forty-two interior culumns (seven rows of six columns each) . and a series of raised steps around the sides. Probably both lower and up]ier stories w-ere used in the celebration of the mysteries. The modern name for the little village on thi.s site is Levsina. Consult: (Jardner. .Yeif Chaftlcrs in Creek History (London, 1802) : Diehl, Excur- sions in Greece (London, 189.3) : Philios, Eleusis (French, .thens. ISO(i): Frazer. Pausanias (London, 1898). The reports of the excavations are to be found in the UpaKTiKi. of the Greek Ar- chaeological Society, and the 'E07;/xep!s '.pxaioXo- 7(K7); they are sunnnarized in the excellent guide- book by Philios, who directed the work for many years. ELETJTHERA. .--lu'th.'-n-i. One of the Baha- mas ((|.v.), Brili-li 'e*( Indies, lying to the east of Xas.sau, and next to New Providence the most populous island of the whole chain (Map: West Indies, K 2). .Area. 2.35 square miles. It is more fertile than most of its neighbors, surpassing all of them in the growth of fruit, such as the population of about 700(1. The chief town is (Jovernor's Harbor, with a fort and a good harbor. ELEUTHERA BARK, See Cascarilla. ELEUTHE'RIA. See Greek Festivals. ELEU'THERUS. Poi)e from 177 to 102. He is said to liave received a letter from Lucius, King of Britain, asking that missionaries be sent to his country to teach the Christian religion. The letter is found in the fJhrr Pnntipcalis. and in Bcde. Hisloria Ecrlesinstirn. iii., 2.5. It is generally thoiight to be a forgery. ELEVATED RAILWAYS. See Railways, section Ehiiitid li'iiilauys, ELEVA'TION (Lat. elcrntio. from elevare. to raise, from c. out -^ Icrarr. to raise, from Jeris^ light; connected with Lith. leiiriiriis. Gk. AoxiJi, cliiclii/s, Skt. Inghti, rnghu, light). In astronomy.
 * )iila' and Ceryces — in control of the sanctuary
 * iincapple, the orange, and the lemon. It has a