Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/219

* ERMAN. I s<) ERNE. tlio.se subjects. From 1810 to 1814 ho was sec- rotary of ilio class of physics and mathematics in the Academy of Berlin. ERMENONVILLE, ar'm'-nON'vel'. A village in the Department of Oise, France, 34 miles north- east of Paris (.Map: France, J .'!). Population, in 1901, 498. It is the sito of the chateau and beautiful grounds of the Girardin estate, the property of Prince Radziwil, and celebrated as the residence and burial-place of Rousseau in 1778. The remains of the philosopher were transferred to the Pantheon in 1794, whence they wore secretly removed after the Restoration, and are said now to rest in their original tomb on an island in the park. Ermenonville was also the residence of Gabrielle d'Estrees, mistress of Henry IV. The hunting tower which she inhab- ited is named after her. ERMENT. See Hebmonthis. ERMINE (OF. ermine, hermine, MHG., Ger. Hermelin, diminutive of OHG. harmo, AS. hear- vw, weasel, Lith. szermu, weasel; explained by popular etymology as mus Armenius, Armenian mouse). The name, in Europe, of the greater weasel, or stoat, in its white winter dress, when the fur is most highly prized. The term has no popular use in America as a name for the ani- mal, but is applied wholly to the fur. The pelts come to market from British America, Lapland, northern Russia, and Siberia, and are used not only for ladies' winter garments, but for the robes of kings and nobles, and for their crowns and coronets. Ermine has thus obtained a dis- tinct recognition in heraldry, whore the arrange- ment of black points represents the ornamental disposition of the black-tipped tails, which, in making up ermine fur, are inserted in a regular manner, so that their rich black shall contrast with the pure white of the rest of the fur. This came to be a matter for royal regulation in England from the time of Edward III., various ranks of officers being designated by the way the ermine tails were arranged. See Weasel; and Plate of Fir-Bearing Animals. ERMINE and ERMINOIS. Terms for furs used in heraldry (q.v. ). ERMINE MOTH (so called from its mark- ings). An English collector's name for sundry white moths marked with black spots, mostly tineids. ERMINE STREET. One of the four great Roman roads of England, leading north from London to Lincoln, where it was met by the Fosse and York, with an extension to Scotland. The lower portion of the road, through Epping and Hainault forests, did not exist until after Roman times. ERMINIA, er-me'ne-a. In i-Tasso's Oerusa- lemme Liberata, the daughter of the King of Antioch. She was liberated by Tailored and fell in love with him and nursed him when he was wounded. ERMLAND, erm'lant, or ERMELAND, or'mc-lant. A diocese in East Prussia, now in the District of Konigsberg. After Prussia had been occupied for Christianity by the Teutonic Order (1230). the Papal 'legates di- vided it into four bishoprics, of which Ermland was one. When Riga was confirmed by Alex- ander IV. in 1255 as the metropolitan* see of those regions, Ermland sat very loose to it- au- thority by virtue of its political independence, and was finally acknowledged to be exempt from its jurisdiction; nor could the later archbishops ol Gnesen succeed in drawing it into their power. Even the pallium and the archbishop - cross were conceded to it. prelates by Benedict XIV. in 1742. The early hi. Imps of Ermland wore sovereigns in their own district, and as such princes of the Empire from 1357, under a certain feudal rela- tion to the "rand master of the Teutonic Knights and from the Peace of Thorn l 1466) to the King of Poland. When the latter, however, wished to nominate to the bishopric, as in the rest of his dominions, the chapter vindicated its rights under the earlier concordat of a fr< lection. The most distinguished bishop, were /Eneas Syl- vius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius 1 1, i 1 157- 58), and Stanislaus Hosias (1551-79), who held his subjects to their allegiance to the Catholic Church when the Reformation spread through all the surrounding territory. From 1525 to 1772 the diocese shared the political fortunes of Po- land, and in the partition of the latter yea) was assigned to Prussia. Consult: Zeitschrifi fur Geschichte und Alterthumskunde Ermlands (7 vols., Braunsberg, 1858, sqq.) ; Hipler, Analecta Wai mil nsia i ib., 1872). ERN, or ERNE (AS. earn, OXorthum., OHG. am, eagle; connected with Gk. tpva, ornia, bird). The sea-eagle. The word is rarely heard now except in poetry, though occasionally used in or- nithology as a designation of a group differing from true eagles in having naked tarsi and in other minor features. See Eagle. ERNANI, Sr-na'ne. An opera by Verdi, named from its chief character and founded on Victor Hugo's drama Hernani. Ernani, a robber cap- tain, loves Elvira, the betrothed of Ruy Gomez, with whom he joins a league against Charles V. When on the point of marrying Elvira he is made to kill himself in accordance with an agreement with Gomez. The opera was produced at Venice in 1844 and subsequently on fifteen different stages within less than a year. ERNE, frn. A river and lake in the south- west of Ulster Province, Ireland (.Map: Ireland. D 2 ) . The river rises in Lough Gowna, runs north and northwest, merging in Lough Oughter, in Cavan County, and in Lough Erne in Fer- managh County, and passes Enniskillen and Bally- shannon, whence it is navigable for vessels of 12 feet draught to its outlet in Donegal Ray. It has a total course of 60 miles. Lough Erne, one of the finest in the kingdom, is the most attrac- tive feature of Fermanagh County, which it bi- sects. It extends 40 miles from southeast to northwest, and consists of two lake-, the upper and lower, joined by a narrower part 10 miles long, with Enniskillen midway between the two lakes. The upper lough is 12 by 4 miles in extent, 10 to 75 feet deep. 151 feet above the sea, and has 90 green hilly islets. The lower lough is 20 by 7% miles in extent, 100 to 266 feet deep, 148 feet above the sea, and has 109 similar islets. Salmon, trout, pike, bream, and eels abound. The scenery is singularly varied and beautiful, with the added attractions of interesting archae- ological features. Devenish, one of the largest of the islands, contains the ruins of an abbey, and a round tower, one of the most perfect specimens in Ireland. Consult Devenish. Lough Erne, Its