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* ERNST. 191 EROSION. ERNST, 1 1 1 i n i:i< ii Wii.iielm ( 1814-C5). An eminent Austrian violinist, born in Bruim, Mo- ravia. In the Vienna Conservatory he studied under Bohm, Seyfried, and Mayseder. lie aroused great enthusiasm at his first appearance in L830, and from 1832 until 1850 spent most of his time in concert tours in Europe ami Eng- land. His performances were characterized by brilliancy, vigor, and beauty of tone. Ernst's compositions have generally a bravura character, and include works for the violin and orchestra, quartets, etc. His Etegie is still a favorite work with violinists. His Carnaval de Vvnise (an imitation of Paganini's) and Otello fan- tasia, once very popular, reappear occasionally in the modern repertoire. ERNST, Oswald Hubert (1842—). An American soldier. He was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, studied tor two years at Harvard, and then entered West Point, where he graduated and was assigned to the corps of engineers in 1864. He slaved as assistant engineer of the Army of the Tennessee during the Atlanta campaign ; accom- panied the United States commission as an as- tronomer to observe the solar eclipse of December, 1870, in Spain; was instructor in military engi- neering, signaling, and telegraphing at West Point from 1870 to 1878, and from 1878 to 1880 had charge of the improvements of Western rivers. Afterwards he was superintendent of public buildings and grounds in Washington, D. C, from 1889 to 1893, was superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1893 to 1898, be- came lieutenant-colonel of engineers in 1895, was raised to the rank of brigadier-general of volun- teers in 1898, and during the Spanish War went to Porto Rico and had immediate command of the troops in the affair of Coamo (August 9, 1898), receiving the brevet of colonel in the United States Army. He was a member of the com- mission to report on the Isthmian Canal, and wrote a Manual of Practical Military Engineer- ing (1873). ERNST AUGUST (1771-1851). King of Hanover. He was born in London, the fifth son of George III. He pursued his studies at Got- tingen from 1780 to 1791, and entering the Han- overian army, fought against France (1793-95). In 1799 he was created Duke of Cumberland in England and became a leader of the High Tories. On the death of William IV. in 1837, Ernst Au- gust as the next male heir succeeded to the throne of Hanover. He immediately revoked the old constitution, promulgated a new one, which proved entirely unacceptable, and escaped dis- aster in 1848 only by timely concessions. His re- actionary measures and his opposition to the movement for German unity aroused great dis- satisfaction among the people, and he died in 1851 a very unpopular king. Consult Wilkinson, Reminiscences of King Ernest of Hanover (Lon- don, 1886). ERNST KASIMIR, ka'se-mer (1573-1632), Count of Nassau-Dietz. He entered the Dutch Army in 1594, and after fighting in many cam- paigns was made a field-marshal. In 1620 he be- came Governor-General of Friesland, and in 1625 assumed the same office in Groningen and Dren- the. In 1621 he fought anew against the Span- iards, conquered P.ergen op Zoom and Steeu- bergen (1622), and fell at Roermonde, June 5, 1632. ERNST LUDWIG (IStiS— .) Grand Duke of Hesse, lie was burn at Darmstadt, a son of the Grand Duke Ludwig IV. (1837-92). He suc- ceeded to the throne in 1892. In 1896 be was ap- pointed to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1894 he married Princess Victoria Melita, daugh- ter of Duke Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ERO'DIUM. See GERAS mm. EROICA (a-ro'e-ka) SYMPHONY, The. A famous symphony bj Beethoven, first given at Vienna in 1805. It was at first called Bonapm U , but was renamed Simfonia Eroica when Napoleon made himself Emperor. E'ROS. See Cupid. EROS (Lat.. from Gk.'Epoc, Cupid). The name of No. 133 in the list of planetoids (q.v. ). The special peculiarity of Eros consists in the fact that it approaches the earth much nearer than any other planetoid, or, indeed, nearer than any other known body in the heavens except our own moon, and possibly certain comets. EROSION (Lat. erosio, from erodere, to gnaw, from e, out + rodere, to gnaw; connected with radere, to scrape, Skt. rada, tooth), or Denudation. The process by which the surface forms of the earth are sculptured and worn down. The present features of the earth's surface, while they have the appearance of great stability, in reality represent a single stage of development that has been determined by the cooperation of various geological agencies working through long periods of time. Some of these agencies contrib- ute to the erosion or denudation of the land, carving out valleys in plateaus, wearing down mountains, dissecting plains, and generally low- ering the level to that of the sea. Rivers are most active in this process. The surface waters supplied by rain and by melting of snow wash the soil and disintegrated rock materials down the slopes of the land into the valleys, where the detritus is carried along by the streams and. deposited in their channels or borne to the sea. The solid particles suspended in water exert an abrasive action on the sides and floor of river channels, thus tending to widen and deepen them. A large amount of material is also held in solu- tion and transported in this manner to the sea. The rate at which rivers carry on the destruc- tive work varies in particular regions with the climate, slope of land, and character of rocks. Rainfall, sunshine, and frost, and the chemical action of the atmosphere by means of its car- bonic-acid gas. ammonia, and nitrous gases, greatly facilitate the breaking down of rocks, which is a preliminary step to their erosion and transport. Estimates of the sediment carried by the Mississippi each vear into the Gulf of Mexico reach a total of 7,500,000,000 cubic feet, an amount equivalent to the lowering of the whole Mississippi basin one inch in 500 years; while if the material removed in solution also be taken into count the reduction of level would be still greater. The Po is said to remove one foot of rock from its basin in 730 years. This wasting or destruction work of rivers, when continued through long periods of time, must produce great changes. Glaciers, like rivers, are denuding and transporting agents. The weight of the thick masses of ice gives them great erosive power, which is further increased by the rocks carried along the bottom of their beds. At present the occurrence of glaciers in the warmer zones is lim-