ELA

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ELD

monodynia order, and letrandria class of plants; natural order,Calycistorx. No corolla; calyx canipanulated, quadritid, su-perior; drupe below the calyx. It has nine species.

EL.EOCARPUS, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order,and polyandria class of plants. Corolla pentapctalous, lacerated;calyx pentaphyllous ; drupe with a wrinkled kernel. It has sixspecies mostly natives of the East Indies.

EL/EODIvNDRUM, in botany, a genus of the monogyniaorder, and pentandria class of plants. Corolla five-petaled : drupeovate, with a two-celled nut. There are two species, of which E.orientate is a moderate-sized twiggy shrub, or tree, a native of theoriental regions.

ELJEO 1IIESIUM, in antiquity, the anointing room, or placewhere those, who were to wrestle or had bathed, anointed themselves.

ELAIS, in botany, a genus belonging to the natural order ofPalmas. Male calyx hexaphyllous ; corolla sexfid ; stamina six :female calyx hexaphyllous; corolla bexapetalous; stigmata three;drupe fibrous, with a three-valved kernel. It has one species.

ELAM, (aSy, Heb. i. e. a young man,] one of the sons of thepatriarch Shem.

Elam, in ancient geography, a country frequently mentionedin Scripture , lying S. E. ofShinar. In the time of Daniel (vii. 2.)Susiana seems (o have been part of it; and befoie the captivity,it does not appear that the Jews called Persia by another name.Elvina: and Elymais are. often mentioned by the ancients. Pto-lemy , though he makes Elymais a province of Media, placesElym.e m Susiana, near the sea-coast. Stephanus takes it to be apart of Assyria: but Pliny and Josephus more properly of Persia ,■whose inhabitants the latter tells us sprang from the Elamites.

ELAPiiEiiOLIA, [from a deer,] in Grecian antiquity,

a festival in honour of Diana the huntress. In the celebration acake was made in the form of a deer, and offered to the goddess.

ELAPHEBOLIUM, in Grecian antiquity, the ninth month ofthe Athenian year, answering to the latter part of February andbeginning of March. It consisted of 30 days; and took its namefrom the Elaphebolia, which was celebrated in it.

ELAST1CAL, ELASTIC, [from £shaving the nower ofreturning to the form from which it is distorted or withheld;springy : having the power of a spring.

ELASTIC FLUIDS. See Pneumatics,Electricity.Gas , &c.

ELASTICITY, a force in bodies, by which they endeavour to■restore themselves to the posture from whence they were displacedby any external force. The principal ph-.vnomena observable inelastic bodies are : 1. That a body perfectly clastic, endeavours torestore itself with the same force with which it is pressed or bent.2. An elastic body exerts i.ts force equally towards all sides. 3.Elastic bodies in what manner soever struck, or impelled, are, in-flected, and rebound after the same manner: thus a bell yieldsthe same musical sound, in what manner or on what side soever itbe struck ; the same of a tense or musical chord ; and a body re-bounds from a plane in the same angle in which it meets or strikesit, whether the intensity of the stroke be greater or less. 4. Theelastic properties of bodies seem to differ, according to their greateror less density or compactness, though not in an equal degree: thus,metals are rendered more compact ami elastic by being hammered:tempered steel is much more elastic than soft steel ; and the den-sity of the former is to that of the hitter as 7809 to 7738 : cold con-denses solid bodies, and renders them more elastic ; whilst heat, thatrelaxes them, has the opposite effect: but, on the contrary, air, andother elastic fluids, are expanded by heat, and rendered more elas-tic. For the cause of elasticity, and other phenomena of thisproperty of bodies, See Physics.

ELATE, in botany, a genus belonging to the natural order ofPalma:. Male, calyx three-toothed ; corolla three-petaled ; an-thers six, sessile. Female, calyx one-leafed ; corolla tlnee-petaled :pistils one ; stigmas three ; drupe one-seeded. There is but onespecies, viz. E. sylvestris, prickly-leaved elate, native of the EastIndies.

ELATER, in zoology, a genus of the class and order insectacoleoptera. Antenna* setaceous; an elastic spring or spine projects from the hinder extremity of the breast or under side of thethorax. By means of this kino of spring, the animal, when turnedupon his back, contrives to leap up into the air, and so turn itself.About 200 species arc enumerated, and divided in two sections,A. feelers hatchet-shaped ; B, feelers clavate, the club round ; ofthis division there are three species. When the insect is young and

newly metamorphosed, its elytra are of a beautiful deep red; butin a few days they change to a much darker hue, and are nearlyof achesnul colour. In the state of larva: it inhabits the trunks ofdecayed trees, and is there transformed. See Plate XXXVII.

ELATE RIUM, [Lat.] an inspissated juice, light, ofafriablctexture, and an acrid and pungent taste.

ELATE RIUM, a genus of the monandria order and

monoecia class of plants ; natural order, Cucurbitr.cea:. There isneither male nor female calyx; corolla salver-shaped; capsuleinferior, unilocular, and bivalved. It has tw o species.

ELATH, or ELOTH, in ancient geography, a part of Idumteasituated upon the Red Sea, which David in his conquest of Edom took, (2 Sam. viii. 14,) and there established a trade to all parts ofthe world. Solomon built ships in Elath, and sent them fromthence to Ophirfor gold, 2 Cliron. viii. 17, 18,

ELATIN’E, in botany, a genus of the tetragynia order, andoctandria class of plants: natural order, luundata\ Calyx four-leaved ; petals four; capsule four-celled, four-valved, flatted.Two species, annual aquatic herbs, very low and spreading.

EI.ATMA, a town of Russia, in the government of Tambov ,on the Oka, 132 miles N. of Tambov .

ELBA, an island in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Tus-canv, eight miles long and two broad, 36 miles W. of Cape Corso.

El.BASSANO, a town of European Turkey, in Albania ; 43miles S. E. of Durazzo . Lon. 20. 9. E. Lat. 41. 34. N.

ELBE, a large river in Germany, anciently called Albis , whichrising on the confines of Silesia, runs through Bohemia, Misnia ,Upper Saxony, Anhalt, Magdeburg , Brandenburg, and Dan-neberg ; and falls into the German ocean, about 70 miles belowHamburg . It is navigable for great ships higher than any otherriver in Europe .

Elbe, another river of Germany, in the Upper Rhine .

ELBERTON, a town in Effingham county, Georgia, on theN. E. bank of Ogeechee river. Lon. 80. 30. W. Lat. 32. 18. N.

ELBEUE, a town of France , in the department of the LowerSeine, 65 miles N. W. of Paris .

ELBIIMG, a cityin the duchy of Warsaw', and kingdom of Sax-ony, SO miles S. E. of Dantzick . Lon. 19. 35. E. Lat. 54. 9. N.

Elding, a river of the late Polish Prussia, in Marienburg .

ELBOGEN, a circle of Bohemia .

Klbogen, the capital of the above circle, with a citadel, 16miles N. E. of Egra. Lon. 13. 0. E. Lat. 50. 16. N.

El.BOW. That eminence whereon the arm rests, is by the Latinscalled cubitus, and the Greeksand ox«j«vov. See Anatomy.

Elbow is also used by architects, masons, & c. for an obtuseangle of a wall, building, or road, which diverts it from its rightline.

ELBURG, a town of Batavia or Holland late in the depart-ment of Yssel, and province of Gueiderland, 10 miles N. E. ofIlarderwick.

KLCAT1F, a sea-port of Arabia Felix, on the W. coast of theGulf of Persia . Lon. 53. 5. E. Lat. 26. 0. N.

ELCESAITES, in church history, a sect of heretics, who ap-peared in the reign of Trajan. They worshipped one God , ob-served the Jewish Sabbath , circumcision, and the other ceremoniesof the law; but they rejected the. Pentateuch , the prophets, andthe writings of the apostles, particularly those of St. Paul.

ELCHE, a town of Spain in Valencia , in a forest of palm-trees,olives, and vines, l.on. 0. 23. W. Lat. 38. 7. N.

ELDEN HOLE, a famous natural cavern in Derbyshire , threemiles from Buxton, ranked among the wonders of the Peak. It isa large and deep perpendicular chasm, of which the bottom hasnot yet been found, whence it is pretended to be unfathomable.Cotton says he sounded to the depth of 884 yards, yet the plummetstill drew.

ELDER, in botany. Sep Sambucus .

ELDERS, or SEN 1 OKS, in the ancient Jewish polity, were per-sons the most considerable for age, experience, and wisdom. Ofthis sort were the 70 men whom Moses associated with himself intlx: government; such, likewise, afterwards were those who heldthe first rank in the synagogue, as presidents.

Elders, in church history, were originally those who held thethe first place in the assemblies of the primitive Christians . Theword presbyter is often used iu the New Testament in this signi-fication: hence the first councils of Christians were called presby-leria, or council of elders.

Elders,