ELI
E L E
231
When a family removes from place to.place, the largest-tuskedmales put themselves at the head i and if they meet with a largeriver, are the first to pass it. On arriving on the opposite bank,they try whether the landing-place is safe : if it be, they give asignal of a note from the trunk, as if it were the sound of a trum-'pet, on which the remaining part of the old elephants swim over ;the little elephants follow, holding-one another by locking theirtrunks together; and the rest of the old ones bring up the rear.In the woods is often seen a solitary male elephant, wandering likean outlaw banished from the herd and all the race. In this solitarystate, as if in a state of desperation, they are very dangerous. Asingle man w,11 put to flight whole herds of social elephants : thesolitary one fears not his presence, hut will stand firm, putting hispower to defiance. Elephants are not domesticated in Africa, asin the more civilized parts of Asia , although they are much morenumerous. In some parts of Africa they swarm so, that the ne-groes are obliged to make their habitations under ground for fearof them. They are killed and eaten by the natives, and the trunkis said to be a delicious morsel. All the teeth are brought fromAfrica ; they are frequently picked up in the woods; so that it isuncertain whether they are shed teeth, or those of dead elephants.The African teeth which come from Mozambique are ten feetlong ; those of Malabar only three or four ; the largest in Asia arethose of Cochin China , which even exceed the size of the ele-phants of Mozambique . They are often so large as to weigh 150pounds each. The skin is thick, and, when dressed, proof againsta musket ball. The flesh, the gall, the skin, and the bones, aresaid to be used medicinally by the Chinese . Mr. Kerr says someelephants have been found so large as to weigh 4,500 pounds.They were formerly used for the purposes of war, but were fre-quently more formidable to (heir owners than to the enemy, and,when wounded, exhibited a scene nt extreme turbulence and con-fusion : and the invention of gunpowder appears to have preclud-ed that advantage from their efforts in actual combat, whichmight, in some instances, in former ages, be occasionally derivedfrom them. Both the Greeks and Romans soon discovered theway to prevent danger from these monstrous animals, they didnot attempt to hurt them, but opened their ranks, and sufferedthem to pass through, while they employed themselves in throw-ing darts, &c. at their guides.
ELEVATION, [from e/tro, I lift up,] the altitude of any thing.
Elevation, Angle of, in gunnery, that comprehended be-tween the horizon and the line of direction of a cannon or mortar,or it is that which the chase of a piece, or the axis of its hollowcylinder, makes with the plane of the horizon.
"Elevation, in architecture, the same with an orthographic, orupright draught of a building.
Elevation of the Host, in the church of Rome , that partof the mass where the priest raises the host above his head for the tpeople to adore. |
ELEVA'IOIl, in anatomy, the name of several muscles, so icalled from their serving to raise the parts of the body to which ithey belong. j
•ELEVATORY, in surgery, an instrument for raising depress- ied or fractured parts of the skull, to be applied after the integu- Iments and periosteum are removed. See Surgery. j
ELEUS1N1 A, in Grecian antiquity, a festival held in honourof Ceres, every fourth year by some states ; by others every fifth. I’I he Athenians celebrated it at Eleusis , whence the name. Ceres, i6a ys Isocrates , wandering in quest of her daughter Proserpine, |came into Attica, where some good offices were done her, which \it is unlawful for those who are not initiated to hear. In !return -4i e conferred two unparalleled benefits; to wit, the know-ledge ot agriculture, by which the human race is raised above jthe brute creation; and the mysteries, from which the par- jtakers derive sweeter hopes than other men enjoy, both as to jthe present life and to eternity. It was the popular opinion, that jthe Eleusiman goddesses suggested prudent counsel to their vo- jDries,' and influenced their conduct; that these were respected in .the infernal regions, and had precedence in the assemblies of the jblessed; wlnle the unhallowed wore in utter darkness, wallow-ing in mire, or labouring to till a leaky vessel. 'Pin; Athenians Jwere solicitous to secure these advantages to their children, by jhaving them initiated, as soon as was allowed. Ceres was sup- :posed to he particularly partial to Eleusis , and its vicinity. There !
VOL. ii.— no. 73. ' i
stood the memorials of her presence and of tier bounty; the well,Callichorus, by which she had rested, in the reign of Erectheus;the stone on which she sat, named the sorrowful; the Rharianplain, where barley was first sown ; and the threshing floor andaltar of Triptolemus , a herdsman whom she instructed in the cul-ture of that grain, the use of which succeeded to acorns. Hermysteries continued to possess a pre-eminence in holiness, and tobe accounted as much superior to all other religious festivals as thegods were to the heroes. Even the garments worn at the solem-nity were supposed to partake of their efficacy, and to be enduedwith signal virtues. It was usual to retain them until they weraperishing; and then to dedicate them in the temple, or to reservethem for enwrapping new-born children.
ELEUSIS , in ancient geography, a town in Attica betweenMegara and the Piraeus , celebrated tor the festivals of Ceres.
ELEUTHERA, or ALABASTER ISLAND, one of the Ba-hama islands. Lon. 76. 31. \V. Lat. 25. 14. N.
ELEUTliERIA, a festival celebrated at Plalaia, in honour ofJupiter Eleutherius, or the asserlor of liberty, by delegates fromalmost all the cities of Greece . Its institution originated from thevictory obtained by the Grecians under Pausanias , over Maf-donius the Persian general, in Plat:ea:an altar and statue wereerected to Jupiter Elutherius, who had freed the Greeks from thetyranny of the barbarians. It was further agreed upon in a gene-ral assembly, by the advice of Aristides the Athenian, that depu-ties should be sent every fifth year, from the different cities ofGreece , to celebrate Eleutheria, festivals of liberty. The Pla-ticans celebrated also an anniversary festival in memory of thosewho had lost their lives in that famous battle.
ELGIN, or MORR AYSI1IRE, a county of Scotland .
Elgin, or Elgyn, the capital of the above county, about 6 milesN. of the Spey, 30 E. of Inverness . Lon. 2. 25. W. Lat. 57. 40.N.
ELI, [<Sy, lieb. i. c. offering,] high priest of Israel , and thelast of the judges, except Samuel, succeeded Samson , about A. M.2865; and B. C. 1139. His piety, with the wickedness ef hissons, and the consequent misfortunes of his family and the com-monwealth, are recorded in I Sam. iv. xiv. and xxii. He diedin the fortieth year of his government, and ninety-eighth of his age,
A. M. 2905, and B. C. 1099.
ELTAS, or ELIJAH, [from Sr, God , and n*, the Lord,] aneminent prophet of Israel , who escaped the common lot of man-kind, by not suffering death ; being translated about A. M. 3108,
B. C. 896. Ilis miracles, persecutions, and final exit, are re-corded in 1 Kings xvii.—xxi. 2 Kings i. and ii. He appears fobe the first person on record who made use of that part of rhetoriccalled irony, 1 Kings xviii. 27.
ELICIT, [elicitus, Latin, ] in ethics, is applied to an act ofthe will immediately produced by, and of, the will, and receivedwithin the same : as to be willing, unwilling, loving, hating, tkc.Acts of which nature are termed elicit, because that, being beforein the power of th - will, they are now brought forth into act. Butthey are so far intrinsic, that some authors consider them as the willitself, and deny that they ought to be distinguished from it anymore than light is to be distinguished from the sun.
ELI HU, [from 'Sr, and Rin, Heb. i. e. he is my God, ] the sonof Barachel the Buzile, a descendant of Buz, the son ot Nahor,.Abraham ’s brother, and the youngest of Job’s friends who visitedhim in his affliction. His remarkable speech to Job and his seniorfriends, is recorded in the thirty-second and five following chap-ters. From some passages in that speech, particularly in chapterxxxiii. ver. 4 and 6, as well as from the propriety of the senti-ments expressed in it, and (he signification of the name Elihu, andmore especially from the Almighty himself being introduced asthe next speaker, some commentators have supposed that our Sa-viour is meant by tiiis personage. But the particular mention that ismade of Elihu’s parentage, and ancestors, seems to carry a de-cisive refutation of this conjecture. Another conjecture, thatElihu was, in fact, the author of the book of Job, appears to liemuch better founded, from the 15th and iCth verses of chapterxxxii. where he seems to speak of himself as the writer of thenarrative, and of the effect of his words upon Job’s three seniorfriends. These two verses are indeed evidently a parenthesis, andcannot, by any construction of language, be reckoned a part ofthe speech, which precedes and follows-them.
4 G
ELIOTT,