EVA

EVA

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Spanish and some other courts, to signify a particular account ofwhat is to be done daily in the king’s household, and in the chiefceremonies relating to it. The word is now chiefly used to de-note those forms that regulate the decorum of conduct towardspersons of various ranks and stations: a sense very different fromIts original meaning. i

ETNA, or :K1NA, a famous burning mountain in Sicily , and |tin* largest in Europe. See ./Etna .

FTOII.E, in fortification, a small fort, or redoubt, in the formof a'tar.

ETOl.lA, or T.TOElA.a country of ancient Greece , compre-hending all that tract now called the Despotut,- or little Greece .

It was separated on the east by the River Evanus, now the Fidarilroic. tin; Locivnses Uxolx: on the west from Acarnania , by the .Acheious ; on the north from the country of the Dorians amipart of Epirus ; and, on the south it extended to the bay of Co- Irihtli.

ETOLIANS, the ancient inhabitants of Etolia ; who arc saidto have been a restless and turbulent people, seldom at peaceamone, themselves, and ever at war with their neighbours. T hisis not improbable ; hut they are also represented as utterstrangersto ail sen.-e of friendship and principles of honour; ready to be-tray their friends upon the least prospect of reaping any advan-tage from their treachery ; in short, they were looked upon bythe other state-, of Greece 1 as outlaws and public robbers.

ETON, or EATON, a town of Bucks, 20 miles W. of Lon-don . See Eaton.

ET RURIA, or HETRURIA, in ancient geography, a cele-brated country of Italy , on the 'Fiber, bounded by that river, theMacra, the Apenniue,’ and the Tyrrhene Sea. The greater partof it is now included in the duchy of Tuscany .

ETTTNGEN, ETTLINGEN , or CETTlNGEN, a town ofGermany in the circle of Suabia , and margraviate of Baden.

ETYMOLOGY , [from true, and xoyia, discourse,! that

part of grammar which considers and explains the origin and deri-vation of words, in order to arrive at their primary signification. Itis styled by Cicero notatio ad veriloquium ; though Quintilian chooses ralhei to call it originatio. A judicious inquiry into ety-mologies is thought by some of considerable use; because nations"ho value themselves upon their antiquity', have always lookedon the antiquity of their language as one of the best titles theycould plead ; mid the etymologist, by seeking the true and originalreason of the notions and ideas fixed to each word and expression,may often furnish an argument from the traces remaining thereof,compared with the ancient uses. But a more profitable use is,that etymologies are necessary for the thorough understanding of alanguage. For, to explain a term precisely, there is often a ne-cessity for recurring to its first origin, in order to speak justly andsatisfactorily thereof. The force and extent of a w ord is generallybetter conceived when a person knows its origin and etymology, ftis objected, however, that the art is arbitrary, and built altogetherupon conjectures and appearances; and etymologists are chargedwith deriving their words from whence they please. Indeed, it isno easy matter to go back into the ancient British and Gaulish ages, and to follow, as it were, by the track, the various imper-ceptible alterations a language has undergone from age to age ;and as those alterations have sometimes been merely owing to ca-price, it is easy to take a mere conjecture for a regular analogy:so diet it is no wonder many should be prejudiced against a science" hich seems to stand on so precarious a footing. It must be own-ed that etymologies are often so far fetched, that one can scarce-ce any resemblance or correspondence therein.

EU, a sea-port of France , in the department of the Lower Seine,and late province of Normandy, IP miles N. E. of Dieppe , and-ft) of Rouen .

EVACUATION, in animal oeconomy, is the act of diminish-mg, attenuating, or discharging, the humours. The due evacua-tions of the body, and its proper nourishment, are equally neces-sary ; and it is an object of considerable importance, that nothingremam in the constitution which should he discharged; and thatwhatever is conducive to its preservation, may not Iv uselesslywasted. If the evacuations be disordered, the most rigid adher-ence to dietetic rules will not contribute to the continuance orrestoration of health; these rules, however, may often be dispensed> hit, 'irovided the evacuations be regular.

EVANDER, in fabulous history, a famous Arcadian chief, saidto have been the son of Mercury, on account of his eloquence, bythe prophetess Cannenta. Jle brought a colony of Ids peopleinto Italy , about sixty years belore the taking of Troy; whenFaunas, who then reigned over the Aborigines, gave him a largeterritory, in which lie settled with his friends.

EVANGELIST, is derived from the Greek, no'/Axicv, funnedof w, good, and sy/txof, angel or messenger. T his title was givenin the primitive church to such as preached the gospel in differentplaces, without being attached to any particular church. In thissense some interpreters think that Philip, cneot the seven deacons, iscalled the evangelist, in Acts xxi. 8. St. Paul writing to Timothy ,2 Eph. iv. 5, bids him do the work ot an evangelist: and in hisepistle to the Ephesians, iv. 11, lie ranks the evangelists alter theapostles and prophets.

EVAN 11) COLOURS are such as are of short duration, a*those in the rainbow, in clouds before and after sun-set, &c. Theyare also called fantastical and empbatical colours.

EVANSHAM, a town of Virginia , and capital of Wythecounty. 40 miles W. by S. of Chrisiiaiisburg, and 5k8 S. TV. byW. of Philadelphia .

EVANTES, in antiquity, the priestesses of Racchus, so called,,because in celebrating the orgia, they ran about as if distracted,,crying era#; / tn'an! old', ci'iin !

EVAPORATION,in chemistry, the setting of a liquor in a gentleheat or In the air, to discharge its superfluous humiditv, reduce itto a proper consistence, or obtain its dry remainder. Evaporation,though generally considered as the effect ol the heat and motion ofthe air, may be produced by a different cause. Fluids lo-e more,by evaporation in the severest frost than when the air is modeslately warm. Tims, in the great frost of 1708, it was found thatthe gn ater the cold the more considerable the evaporation. Iceitself loses much by evaporation.

Evaporation, in natural philosophy, is the conversion of wa-ter into vapour, which in consequence of becoming lighter thanthe atmosphere, is raised considerably above the surface of theearth, and afterwards hv a partial condensation forms clouds. Itdiffers from exhalation, which is properly a dispersion of dry par-tides from a body. We are indebted to the experiments ot Saus-sure and Deltic, for much of our knowledge ol the qualities of va-pour. It is an elastic invisible fluid like common air, but lighter;being to common air of the same elasticity, according to Saussure,as 10 to 14, or according to Kirwan, as 10 to 12. When water isheated to 212°, it boils, and is rapidly converted into steam ; andtliesame change takes place in much lower temperatures; but inthat case the evaporation is slower, and the elasticity of the streamis smaller. As a very considerable proportion of the earth’s sur-face is covered with water, and as this water is constantly evapo-rating and mixing with the atmosphere in the state of vapour, aprecise determination of the rate of evaporation must be of verygreat importance in meteorology. Accordingly, many experi-ments have been made to determine the point by different philoso-phers. No person has succeeded so completely as Mr. Dalton :but many curious particulars had been previously ascertained bvthe labours of Kichman, Lambert, 1 Wallenus, Leidenirost, Watson,Saussure, Deluc, Kirwan, and others.

E The evaporation is confined entirely to-the surface of thewater: hence it is in all cases proportional to tire surface ot thewater exposed to the atmosphere. Much more vapour, of course,rises in maritime countries, or those interspersed with lakes, thanin inland countries.

2. Much more vapour rises during hot weather than duringcold: hence the quantity-evaporated depends in some measureupon temperature. T he precise law has been happily discoveredby Mr. Dalton.' This philosopher took a cylindrical vessel of tin,whose diameter was 3*. inches, and its depth'?! inches, filledit withwater, and kept it just boiling for sometime. The loss of weightin a minute was 30 grains, when the experiment was tmde~ina close room without any draught of air; 35 grains when thevessel was placed over the fire in the usual fire-place, there beinga moderate, draught ot air, and the room, close ; 40 with a briskerlire and a stronger draught; and when the draught was verv strong,he supposes the evaporation might amount to t)0 grains in die mi-nute. At the temperature of ISO 9 , the quantity evaporated wasone half of what was lost-at 212°.

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