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consisting of a piece of silk stretched between two ,trn tubes set atan angle; but these wings are so contrived as to turn edgewise ofthem elves when thev go in one direction. Several other methodshave been proposed'to direct balloons, as that of professor Dan-zei (Philosophical Magazine, vol. 4.); also of Mr. Martin, that ofproducing the effect by means of eagles trained for the purpose, orby a parachute reversed ; and it is remarkable that none of theseplans have been experimented. Contrivances, for giving the direc-tion, as it is given to a ship at sea, are not likely to succeed; for inthis case there is but one element, the circumambient air, which is atrest with respect to the machine. Much information on this subjectmay be obtained from Cavallo on Aerostation, Baldwin’s Aeropai-dia, M. Faujas St. Fond's Description des Experiences Aerostati-(jues, and the Phil. Mag. Nos. 50, 5t), 57, &c.

AERSHOT, a town in the Netherlands , 10 miles east of Ma-lines, or Mechline. Long. 4. 4y. E. I .at. 51. 1. N.

AERVA, a genus of the monadelpliia class, and decandria orderof plants; there is but one species which, according to La Marc,bears affinity to the amarantluis.

/ERUGlNOUS, something partaking of, or like the rust ofcopper, verdigris colour.

.ERUGO, in natural history, the rust of copper, whether naturalor artificial. The former is found in copper mines, and the latter,called verdigris, made by corroding copper-plates witli acids.The term is applied to the rust of any metal.

.F.rugo pkjeparata, prepared verdigris, termed, in the che-mical nomenclature, oxydum cupri viride per aciduin acetosum,being an excellent escharotic : it is made the basis of the unguen-tum aruginis, Phar. I.ond.

.ERUSCATOR ES, in antiquity, akind of mendicants, like ourgypsies, who drew monev from the credulous, by fortune-telling,Sec. Also oppressive collectors of the revenue.

AERY, or AIRY, among sportsmen, the nest of hawks, or eagles.

/ES, [pk, its, Jirc, light, ether,"] copper, Venus. It pro-perly denoted brass or copper; but as copper was the first metalused in coinage by the Romans, the word was used to signify mo-ney in general, as well as the particular coin made of thatmetal.

/Es Candidum, among the ancients, was different from thatwhich we call ivhitc brass; it was a purer and whiter kind ofmetal, found, it is said, under the veins of silver, somewhat ana-logous to Venetian talc. They had probably a method of makingcopper white, as well as yellow, equal, if not superior, to thatnow in use. The phrases of trichalcum album in Virgil, and ofJnvxjv among the Greeks, strictly signify white brass.

/Es CoRiNTHfUM, a precious metallic composition, of a muchfiner colour than common brass, and in its beauty little inferior togold. Pliny says, that it was an accidental mixture of metals atthe burning of Corinth, by L. Mummius , when the gold, silver,and brass statues, and all metallic substances, melting and minglingtogether, formed this mass.

/Es, few jes et libram, was a formula in the Roman law,whereby purchases and sales w ere ratified. Originally the phrasewas used in speaking of things sold by weight, and afterwards onother occasions. Ilence, in adoptions, tire formula expressed,tiiat the person adopted was bought per as et libram.

/Es uxorium, in antiquity, a sum paid by bachelors, as apenalty for living single after a certain age. First imposed in theyear of Rome 350.

/ESAl.ON, a species of hawk, called in English, the merlin . Itis about the size of the blackbird. It Iras a wreath of w hitish yellowfeathers behind its head; its back and wings art; of a dusky blackishbrown; its breast and bell)' of a whitish brown, variegated witliblackish brown spots.

/ESC IIIN ES, a celebrated Greek orator, born at Athens B. C.397; tltrough the influence of Demosthenes he was banished toRhodes. In his exile the orator repeated to the Rhodians what hehad delivered against Demosthenes ; and, after receiving great ap-plause, he was requested to read (he answer of his rival. It wasreceived with still greater marks- of approbation, when the oratorexclaimed, “IIow much more would your admiration have beenraised had you heard Demosthenes himself speak it!” lie died inthe 75th year of his age at Rhodes or Samos. The Frankfortedition of his works, w ith the annotations of Jerom Wolf, 16«4, ismost esteemed.

/ESCHYLUS, the tragic poet, was born at A then-, about the

63d Olympiad. He was at the sea light of Salamis, in which hisbrother Amynias commanded a squadron of ships, and signalizedhimself above all the Athenians . .Esclnlus being charged by theAthenians with blasphemy, in some of Ins pieces, w as condemnedto be stoned; but Amynias, throwing aside his cloak, showed hisarm without his hand, which he lost at the battle of Salamis , in de-fence of his country. The judges, moved by this sight, pardoned.Eschylus, Our poet, however, resented this indignity, andretired to Sicily . Of ninety-seven pieces composed by him,only seven remain. /Eschylus furnished his actors with masks,dressed them suitably to their characters, and introduced thebuskin, to make them appear like heroes, and was properly theinventor ofthe stage, or platform, on which the persons ihthe dramaact. He was killed in the 69th yearof his age, by an eagle lettingfall a tortoise upon his head as lie w as walking in the fields. Hehad the tvonourof a pompous funeral from die Sicilians, who buriedhim near the rver Gela. The best edition of his plays is that ofLondon, 1663, folio, with a Latin translation, and a learned com-mentary, by Thomas Stanley.

/ESCULAPII Axguis, a harmless species of serpent, com-mon in Spain and Italy , called also parosu.

/ESCULAPIUS, a name of the constellation Ophiuchus .

jEsculafius, in heathen mythology, the god of physic, son ofApollo and the nymph Coronis. He was educated by the cen-taur Chiron , who taught him physic. He cured the most des-perate diseases. But Jupiter, enraged at his restoring to life Hip-politus, who had been torn in pieces by his own horses, killed himwith a thunder-bolt. Cicero mentions three deities of tins name:1. The son of Apollo, inventor of the probe, and bandages forwounds, worshipped in Arcadia; 2. The brother of Mercury,killed by lightning: 3. The son of Arlsippus and Arsinoe , whofirst taught the art of tooth-drawing and purging. At Epidaurus ,/Esculapius’s statue was of.gold and ivory, with a long beard, hiehead surrounded with rays, holding in one hand a knotty stick,and the other entwined with a serpent,. His chief temples were atPergamus, Smyrna, Trica, and the isle of Coos; in all whichvotive tablets were hung up, shewing the diseases cured by hisassistance. But his famous shrine was at Epidaurus ; where,every five years, games were instituted to him, nine days after th*Isthmian games at Corinth .

/ESC ULUS, the Horse-chesnut, a genus of the monogyniaorder, and heptandria class of plants; natural order.Trihilats. Calyxsingle-leafed; corolla four or five-petaled; stamina subulated, de-clining, and the length of the corolla, leathery, roundish, trilocular;capsule three-valved; seeds two, subglobular. The species arethree; 1. /E. hippocastanum, or common horse-chesnut: theflowers are very beautiful; the nuts may be used as food forsheep, deer, and poultry. 2. jE. pavia, or scarlet horse-chesnut.3. jE. (lava, or yellow norse-chesnut.

.ESCYNOMENE, Bastard sensitive-plant a a genus ofthe decandria order, and diadelphia class of plants. Calyx, two-lipped; corolla papilionaceous; carina lunatcd and pointed;stamina simple; anthera:small; stylus subulated; pericarpium along compressed, unilocular jointed pod; seeds kidney-shaped,and solitary within each joint. It has nine species, natives ofwarm countries. It is propagated by seeds, which should be sownearly hi the spring, oua hot- bed. With us it is cultivated chieflyfor the beauty of its (lowers: only two species of it are niucilsensitive, the /E. sensitiva, and jE. Americana.

/ESOP, the fabulist ; a Phrygian, lived in the time of Solon,about the 50th Olympiad. lie was bort) a slave, and extremelydeformed. St. Jerom says he was unfortunate in his birth, condvtion in life, and death. His great genius, however, enabled himto support his misfortunes;, and to alleviate the hardships of servi-tude, he composed those entertaining and instructive fables whichhave acquired him so much reputalioi*. Though /Esop does notappear to have been the inventor of that kind of writing, yet lie cer-tainly improved this art to a very great degree; and hence it isthat he has been accounted by some the author of this sort ofproductions. He was first a slave at Athens; where it is proba-ble he acquired his purity in the Greek tongue. Here he hadseveral masters; and at length came uuder a philosopher, namedladmon, who gave him his lil>crty. Cruisus, nearing of his wis*dein, engaged him in his service, and afterwards sent him tooffei - a sacrifice to Apollo, at Delplios, mid to give a presentto each inhabitant: but a quarrel arising betwixt him and tfi*

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