Part 3

ECUADOR (ek-w[.a]-d[=o]r') (_Republica Del Ecuador_), a republic of South America, situated under the equator, whence it takes its name, between Peru and Colombia. It is of triangular shape, its base resting on the Pacific, but the boundaries between it and its neighbours are not very definitely fixed; estimated area, about 116,000 sq. miles. The state has still a boundary dispute with Peru, that with Colombia having been settled by treaty in 1917. The country is divided into fifteen provinces, one territory--'El Oriente'--and the Archipelago of Galapagos, officially called 'Colon'. It falls, as regards the surface, into three sections: the comparatively narrow and low-lying coast regions, the mountain region, and the extensive plains on the east. The mountain region is formed by a double range of snow-clad mountains--several of them active volcanoes--which enclose a longitudinal valley or tableland, with a breadth of 20 to 40 miles, and varying in elevation from 8500 to 13,900 feet. The most elevated of these mountains are, in the western range, Chimborazo, Pichincha, and Cotacachi, Chimborazo being 20,703 feet high. In the eastern range are Cayambe, Antisana, and Cotopaxi (19,500 feet). The cultivated land and the population of Ecuador lie chiefly in this elevated region, which extends along between the summits of the Cordillera, and may be considered as divided by transverse ridges or dikes into the valleys of Quito, Hambato, and Cuenca. The chief towns here are Quito, the capital, with a pop. of 70,000, Riobamba, and Cuenca, all situated at a height of 9000 feet or more above the sea. The chief ports of Ecuador are Guayaquil and Esmeraldas. The most considerable rivers, the Tigre, Napo, Pastaza, &c., belong to the basin of the Amazon; and some of them, notably the Napo, are navigable for long distances. On the western slope of the Andes the chief rivers are the Esmeraldas and the Guayaquil. Ecuador is comparatively poor in Mammalia; although various kinds of deer as well as tapirs and peccaries are found in the forests. Parrots and humming-birds are also numerous, but perhaps the most remarkable of the birds in Ecuador is the condor, which dwells on the slopes of the Andes. Reptiles, including serpents, are numerous. The forests yield cinchona bark, caoutchouc, sarsaparilla, and vegetable ivory. The climate on the plains, both in the east and the west, is moist, hot, and unhealthy. In the higher regions the climate is rough and cold, but in great part the elevated valleys, as that of Quito, enjoy a delightful climate. Here the chief productions are potatoes, barley, wheat, and European fruits. In the lower regions are grown all the food-products of tropical climates, cocoa, coffee, and sugar. The foreign commerce is not large, the exports and imports being annually about L2,700,000 and L1,670,000 respectively. In 1919 the imports from Ecuador to the United Kingdom amounted to L1,257,350, and the exports to Ecuador to L373,346. Cocoa forms three-fourths (or more) of the whole export; the remainder is made up of tagua or ivory-nuts, rubber, straw hats, coffee, and gold. A little gold is mined, and Panama hats are made. The State recognizes no religion, but grants freedom of worship to all. A system of education was organized in 1897 and improved in 1912. There are three universities: the Central University, at Quito; the Guayas University, in Guayaquil; and the Azuay University, in Cuenca. There are schools for higher education and primary schools. The executive government is vested in a President elected for four years, who is assisted by a Council of State. The Congress is the legislative body, and consists of two Houses, one formed of Senators, two for each province, the other of Deputies, one for every 30,000 inhabitants, both elected by universal suffrage. The Congress has extensive privileges, and cannot be dissolved by the President. The seat of government is Quito. In 1920 both the revenue and expenditure amounted to nearly L2,000,000. The debt amounts to about L5,620,000. The monetary standard is gold, the gold _condor_ of ten _sucres_ being equivalent to a sovereign. The metric system of weights and measures is the legal one. Railways and telegraphs have made little progress.--Ecuador at the time of the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards formed part of the great empire of the Incas. As the Presidency of Quito it was long included in the Vice-Royalty of Peru. From 1710 it became part of the Presidency of New Granada (or Santa F['e] de Bogot['a]). In the revolutionary war against Spain, Ecuador, along with the neighbouring territories, secured its independence (1822), and was ultimately erected into a separate Republic in 1831. The present Constitution of the Republic was promulgated on 6th May, 1906. Of the present population, the aboriginal red race form more than half; the rest are negroes, mulattoes, mestizoes, a degenerate breed of mixed negro and Indian blood, and Spanish Creoles or whites. The last-named are the chief possessors of the land, but are deficient in energy. Pop. (estimated) 2,000,000.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Garcia-Calderon, _Latin America: its Rise and Progress_; C. R. Enock, _Ecuador_; T. H. Stabler, _Travels in Ecuador_.

ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, a general ecclesiastical council regarded as representing the whole Christian world or the universal Church; specially applied to the general councils of the early Christian Church, beginning with that of Nicaea in 325, and later to those of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the most recent was the Vatican Council at Rome in 1870.

EC'ZEMA is a skin eruption marked by the appearance of papules or vesicles and accompanied by irritation of the affected part, frequently very severe. The characteristic watery discharge of the disease is produced by the bursting of the vesicles. There is difference of opinion among dermatologists as to whether or not it is primarily caused by germs. Various predisposing causes, like digestive disturbances, anaemia, and nervous disorders are important factors in determining the course of the disease. Eczema may affect practically any part of the skin, but is most frequently seen on the scalp, ears, face, hands, nipples, armpits, and the genital regions.

ED'AM, a town of North Holland, near the Zuider Zee, 12 miles N.N.E. of Amsterdam, noted for its cheese markets; but 'Edam cheese' is mostly made elsewhere. Pop. 6623.

EDDA (meaning 'great-grandmother'), the name given to two ancient collections of Icelandic literature, the one consisting of mythological poems, the other being mainly in prose. The first of these collections, called the _Elder_ or _Poetic Edda_, was compiled in the thirteenth century, and discovered in 1643 by Brynjulf Sveinsson, an Icelandic bishop. For a long time an earlier date was given, the compiler being erroneously believed to have been Saemund Sigfusson, a learned Icelandic clergyman, who lived from about 1056 to 1133. It consists of thirty-three pieces, written in alliterative verse, and comprising epic tales of the Scandinavian gods and goddesses, and narratives dealing with the Scandinavian heroes. These poems are now assigned to a period extending from the ninth to the eleventh century. The _Prose Edda_, or _Younger Edda_, presents a kind of prose synopsis of the Northern mythology; a treatise on the Scaldic poetry and versification, with rules and examples; and lastly a poem (with a commentary) in honour of Haco of Norway (died 1263). In its earliest forms this collection is ascribed to Snorri Sturlason, who was born in Iceland in 1178, and was assassinated there in 1241 on his return from Norway, where he had been scald or court poet. Cf. S. Bugge, _Home of the Eddic Poems_.

EDDY, Mary Baker, founder of Christian Science (q.v.), born at Bow, New Hampshire, United States, 16th July, 1821, died 3rd Dec., 1910. She was married three times, to Mr. Glover, Mr. Patterson, and Mr. Asa Gilbert Eddy, all of whom she survived. She began to teach her system of psychotherapeutics in 1866, and founded the first Christian Science Church in Boston in 1879. In 1881 she established the Metaphysical College at Massachusetts. Her works, besides _Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures_, include: _Unity of God_, _No and Yes_, _Pulpit and Press_, _The First Church of Christ_, _Christian Science versus Pantheism_.--Cf. G. Milmine, _Life of M. B. G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science_.

EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, a lighthouse in the English Channel, erected to mark a group of rocks lying in the fair-way from the Start to the Lizard. The rocks are covered only at the flood. The first lighthouse was of wood, and built by Henry Winstanley in 1696. It was carried away in the storm of 1703. Another lighthouse, also of wood, was built in 1709 by Rudyerd, but was burned down in 1755. It was succeeded by one built by Smeaton between 1757 and 1759, a circular tower 85 feet high; but, as the foundations on which it stood became much weakened, a new structure, designed by Sir J. N. Douglass, was built between 1879 and 1882 on the neighbouring reef. Its light is visible 17-1/2 miles.

EDELWEISS ([=a]-d[.e]l-v[=i]s; Ger., 'noble white'), _Leontopodium alp[=i]num_, a composite plant inhabiting the Alps, and often growing in the most inaccessible places. Its flower-heads are surrounded by a spreading foliaceous woolly involucre, and its foliage is also of the same woolly character. It is not difficult to cultivate, but is apt to lose its peculiar woolly appearance.

E'DEN (Heb. _eden_, delight), the original abode of the first human pair. It is said to have had a garden in the eastern part of it, and we are told that a river went out of Eden to water this garden, and from thence it was parted into four heads, which were called respectively Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates (Phrat), but this does not enable us to identify the locality. It was not the whole of Eden that was assigned to man for his first habitation, but the part towards the east, to which the translators of the Authorized Version have given the name of the Garden of Eden, and which Milton, in _Paradise Lost_, calls Paradise, that word (originally Persian) having in its Greek form (_paradeisos_) been applied to the Garden of Eden by the translators of the _Septuagint_.

EDEN, a river in England, in Westmorland and Cumberland, falling into the Solway Firth after a course of 65 miles.--Also, a river in Fifeshire, Scotland.

EDENTA'TA ([=e]-), or TOOTHLESS ANIMALS, the name applied to a primitive order of mammals mostly native to the neotropical region, but also represented in South Africa and South Asia. The body is often covered by horny scales or bony plates, the digits are clawed, and the teeth either imperfect or absent altogether. I. New World forms.--(1) _Ant-eaters._ Toothless, with long narrow snout, and protrusible tongue. Covered with dense fur. The great ant-eater (_Myrmecoph[)a]ga jubata_) lives on the ground; the much smaller Tamandua and Cycloturus are arboreal. (2) _Sloths._ Toothed arboreal leaf-eaters, covered by coarse fur, and provided with very strong curved claws, by which they hang upside down from branches. The three-toed sloth (Bradypus) has three digits in the fore-limb, the two-toed sloth (Cholaepus) only two. (3) _Armadillos._ Burrowing forms protected by a strong carapace of bony plates, and possessing numerous imperfect teeth. (4) _Extinct types._ The so-called ground sloths were of large size, Megatherium being nearly as large as an elephant, and Mylodon not much smaller. Glossodon, allied to the latter, survived into the human period. Glyptodon resembled a gigantic armadillo. II. Old World forms.--(1) The _aard-vark_ (Orycteropus) is a burrowing African form about the size of a pig, covered with coarse hair; long ears and snout; 20 imperfect grinding teeth. (2) _Scaly ant-eaters_ or _pangolins_ (Manis), native to South Africa and South Asia, are toothless forms not unlike the American ant-eaters in build, but the body is covered dorsally and laterally by large overlapping scales.

EDES'SA, the name of two ancient cities.--1. The ancient capital of Macedonia, and the burial-place of its kings, now _Vodhena_. It is probably the same as the still more ancient Aegae. Philip II was murdered at Edessa in 336 B.C.--2. An important city in the north of Mesopotamia, which, subsequent to the establishment of Christianity, became celebrated for its theological schools. In 1098, in the first Crusade, Edessa came into the hands of Baldwin, but ultimately became part of the Turkish Empire. It is thought to be the modern Urfah or Orfa.

EDFU, or EDFOO' (ancient APOLLINOPOLIS), a village in Upper Egypt, province of Assouan, on the left bank of the Nile, with manufactures of cottons and pottery. Its ancient magnificence is attested by several remains, especially a temple, founded by Ptolemy Philopator (181-145 B.C.), the largest in Egypt after those of Karnak and Luxor. Pop. 12,594.

ED'GAR (_the Peaceful_), one of the most distinguished of the Saxon Kings of England, was the son of King Edmund I. He succeeded to the throne in 959, and managed the civil and military affairs of his kingdom with great vigour and success. In ecclesiastical affairs he was guided by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and he was a great patron of the monks. He died in 975, and was succeeded by his son Edward the Martyr.

EDGAR ATHELING, grandson of Edmund Ironside and son of Edward the Outlaw, was born in Hungary, where his father had been conveyed in infancy to escape the designs of Canute. After the battle of Hastings, Edgar (who had been brought to England in 1057) was proclaimed King of England by the Saxons, but made peace with William and accepted the earldom of Oxford. Having been engaged in some conspiracy against the king, he was forced to seek refuge in Scotland, where his sister Margaret became the wife of Malcolm Canmore. Edgar subsequently was reconciled to William and was allowed to live at Rouen, where a pension was assigned to him. In 1097, with the sanction of William Rufus, he undertook an expedition to Scotland for the purpose of displacing the usurper Donald Bane, in favour of his nephew Edgar, son of Malcolm Canmore, and in this object he succeeded. He afterwards took part in Duke Robert's unsuccessful struggle with Henry I, but was allowed to spend the remainder of his life quietly in England.

EDGEHILL, a ridge in Warwickshire, England, 7 miles north-west of Banbury, where was fought a fierce but indecisive battle on 23rd Oct., 1642, between the Royalists under Charles I and the forces of the Parliament under the Earl of Essex.

EDGEWORTH, Maria, Irish novelist, born at Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, 1st Jan., 1767, died 22nd May, 1849, at Edgeworthstown. She was the daughter of Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817) of Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland. Her first novel, _Castle Rackrent_, a tale of Irish life, published in 1800, immediately established her reputation. Her later works include: _Belinda_, _Moral Tales_, _Leonora_, _Popular Tales_, _Tales of Fashionable Life_, _Patronage_, _Harrington_, _Ormond_, and _Helen_, besides an _Essay on Irish Bulls_, and a work on _Practical Education_, largely based on Rousseau's _['E]mile_. Miss Edgeworth's characteristics are a simple and lucid style and considerable power of observation, but she was not a great creative artist.

ED'INBURGH, the metropolis of Scotland, and one of the finest as well as most ancient cities in the British Empire, lies within 2 miles of the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It is picturesquely situated, being built on three eminences which run in a direction from east to west, and surrounded on all sides by lofty hills except on the north, where the ground slopes gently towards the Firth of Forth. The central ridge, which constituted the site of the ancient city, is terminated by the castle on the west, situated on a high rock, and by Holyrood House on the east, not far from which rise the lofty elevations of Salisbury Crags, Arthur's Seat (822 feet high), and the Calton Hill overlooking the city. The valley to the north, once the North Loch, but now drained and traversed by the North British Railway, leads to the New Town on the rising ground beyond, a splendid assemblage of streets, squares, and gardens. The houses here, all built of a beautiful white freestone found in the neighbourhood, are comparatively modern and remarkably handsome. The principal streets of the New Town are Princes Street, George Street, and Queen Street. From Princes Street, which is lined by fine gardens adorned with Sir W. Scott's monument and other notable buildings, a magnificent view of the Old Town with its picturesque outline may be obtained. The principal street of the Old Town is that which occupies the crest of the ridge on which the latter is built, and which bears at different points the names of Canongate, High Street, Lawnmarket, and Castle Hill. This ancient and very remarkable street is upwards of one mile in length, rising gradually with a regular incline from a small plain at the east end of the town, on which stands the palace of Holyrood, and terminating in the huge rock on which the castle is built, 437 feet above sea-level. The houses are lofty and of antique appearance. Amongst the notable buildings are the ancient Parliament House, since the Union the seat of the supreme courts of Scotland; St. Giles' Church or Cathedral, an imposing edifice in the later Gothic style, dating from the fourteenth century and carefully restored between 1879 and 1883; the Tron Church; Victoria Hall (where the General Assembly of the Established Church meets), with a fine spire; and also John Knox's House, besides some of the old family houses of the Scottish nobility and other buildings of antiquarian interest. From this main street descend laterally in regular rows numerous narrow lanes called _closes_, many of them extremely steep, and very few at their entrances more than 6 feet wide; those which are broader, and admit of the passage of carriages, are called _wynds_. In these and the adjacent streets the houses are frequently more than 120 feet in height, and divided into from six to ten stories, or _flats_, the communication between which is maintained by broad stone stairs, winding from the lowest part of the building to the top. In the Old Town the most remarkable public building is the castle, an extensive mass, of which the oldest portion--and the oldest building in the city--is St. Margaret's Chapel, the private oratory of the Saxon princess Margaret, queen of Malcolm Canmore; another portion being a lofty range of old buildings, in a small apartment of which Queen Mary gave birth to James VI in 1566; while in an adjoining apartment are kept the ancient regalia of Scotland. Here is also the old Parliament Hall, restored during 1888 and 1889. The castle as a fortress contains accommodation for 2000 soldiers, and the armoury space for 30,000 stand of arms. An old piece of ordnance built of staves of malleable iron, cask fashion, and known as _Mons Meg_, stands conspicuous in an open area. The palace of Holyrood, or Holyrood House as it is more generally called, stands, as already mentioned, at the lower or eastern extremity of the street leading to the castle. No part of the present palace is older than the time of James V (1528), while the greater portion of it dates only from the time of Charles II. In the north-west angle of the building are the apartments which were occupied by Queen Mary, nearly in the same state in which they were left by that unfortunate princess. Adjoining the palace are the ruins of the chapel belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, founded in 1128 by David I. On the south side of the Old Town, and separated from it also by a hollow crossed by two bridges (the South Bridge and George IV Bridge), stands the remaining portion of the city, which, with the exception of a few unimportant streets, is mostly modern. Besides the buildings already noticed, Edinburgh possesses a large number of important edifices and institutions, chief amongst which are the Royal Institution (accommodating the Royal Society and other bodies), a beautiful Grecian building; the National (Picture) Gallery, another fine building in the Greek style, the two buildings standing on a conspicuous site between East and West Princes Street Gardens; the National Portrait Gallery, a building due to private munificence and accommodating also the National Museum of Antiquities; the Museum of Science and Art; the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Mary's, one of the largest religious edifices of modern times; the university buildings, including those of the medical department, standing apart from the others; the infirmary buildings; the high school, register office, and others. Amongst the more prominent educational institutions are the university, the high school, the academy, the United Free Church New College, the Edinburgh School of Medicine (connected with the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons), Medical College for Women, College of Agriculture, the Edinburgh Veterinary College, Fettes College, the Heriot-Watt College, normal schools, technical, commercial, and other institutions, and endowed secondary schools. The Advocates' Library, the largest in Scotland, contains upwards of 550,000 printed volumes and 3000 MSS.; the university library, 200,000; the library of Writers to the Signet, 100,000. There is also a rate-supported public library in a building erected at the expense of the late Andrew Carnegie. Printing, bookbinding, coach-building, type-founding, machine-making, the making of rubber goods, furniture-making, ale-brewing on a very large scale, and distilling are the principal industries. Edinburgh is the head-quarters of the book trade in Scotland, and the seat of the chief Government departments. It is a great resort of tourists and other travellers. On account of its picturesque and commanding situation and its literary fame, Edinburgh is often called the 'Modern Athens'. The origin of Edinburgh is uncertain. Its name is by many thought to be derived from Eadwinsburh, the Burgh of Edwin, a powerful Northumbrian king of the early seventh century, who absorbed the Lothians in his rule. The town was made a royal burgh in the time of David I; but it was not till the fifteenth century that it became the recognized capital of Scotland, and from that time it was the scene of many important events in Scottish history. The city is now governed by a council, which elects from its members a Lord Provost, a city treasurer, and seven bailies. It returns five members to Parliament, and within the municipal boundaries are included Portobello, Granton, Liberton, Duddingston, and since 1920 also the port of Leith. Pop. 420,281.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. B. Gillies, _Edinburgh, Past and Present_; M. O. Oliphant, _Royal Edinburgh, Her Saints, Kings, Prophets, and Poets_; W. H. O. Smeaton, _Edinburgh and its Story_; H. E. Maxwell, _Edinburgh: a Historical Study_.