of the best known species.-The caracara, or Brazilian eagle, does not belong to the aquilina, but to the polyborina, a subfamily coming nearest to the vultures; this bird (polyborus tharus, Molina) is of various shades of brown, with streaks and mottlings of brownish black; wings barred with white, and the tail coverts dull white barred with dusky; tail grayish white, with 16 narrow bars and a terminal band of blackish brown; the length is about 2 ft. and the extent of wings 4 ft., the bill 24 in. It is found from Florida to Brazil, and it feeds on carcasses, small reptiles, and birds; it has the habits of the vultures, with the additional power of carrying prey in its talons; it walks like the turkey buzzard; its flight is rapid and graceful. The eagle, in mythology, is the sacred bird of the Hindoo Vishnu and of the Greek Zeus. In the Roman ceremony of apotheosis an eagle ascended from the burning catafalque, and was believed to bear the soul of the deceased to Olympus. In the Scandinavian mythology, it is the bird of wisdom, and sits in the boughs of the tree yggdrasill.-The Etruscans were the first who adopted the eagle as the symbol of royal power, and bore its image as a standard at the head of their armies. From the time of Marius it was the principal emblem of the Roman republic, and the only standard of the legions. It was represented with outspread wings, and was usually of silver till the reign of Hadrian, who made it of gold. The double-headed eagle was in use among the Byzantine emperors, to indicate, it is said, their claim to the empire both of the East and the West; it was adopted in the 14th century by the German emperors, and afterward appeared on the arms of Russia. The arms of Prussia are distinguished by the black eagle, and those of Poland bore the white. The white-headed eagle is the emblematic device of the United States of America, is the badge of the order of the Cincinnati, and is figured on coins. Napoleon adopted the eagle for the emblem of imperial France; it was not, however, represented in heraldic style, but in its natural form, with the thunderbolts of Jupiter. It was disused under the Bourbons, but was restored by a decree of Louis Napoleon (Jan. 1, 1852).

EAGLE, a gold coin of the United States, of the value of $10, first coined in 1795, as provided by the act of congress of April 2, 1792, of the fineness of 22 carats (916 thousandths), and weighing 270 grains, thus containing 247 grains of pure gold. The silver dollar contained at the same time 3711 grains pure silver, the ratio of valuation of silver to gold being as 15 to 1. An ounce of pure gold being worth more than 15 of silver in Europe, our gold coins continued to be exported until the act of June 28, 1834, substituted the ratio of 16 to 1 by reducing the fineness of the eagle to 899, thousandths, and its weight to 258 grains, being 232 grains pure gold. By the act of Jan. 18, 1837, the fineness of the eagle, as of all the other gold and silver coins, was

office, which was originally in the gift of the crown, and in recompense for his services received a part of the revenues of his province to his own use. Toward the close of the Saxon dynasty these provincial governors not only greatly enlarged their authority, but claimed the dignity as hereditary; and in the time of Edward the Confessor the whole kingdom was divided between five powerful earls, including Godwin and his sons Harold and Tosti, of whom Harold subsequently usurped the throne. After the Norman conquest the territorial possessions of the Saxon nobility were declared forfeited, and with many newly created fiefs were distributed among the chief followers of William the Conqueror, who thereupon severally assumed the title of count, from the Latin comes. But this title was very soon replaced by the old one of earl, while the territory from which the new dignitary received his name or over which he exercised jurisdiction was thenceforth called a county, instead of a shire as previously under the Saxons, and the consort of the earl became a countess. According to Cruise, there were three sorts of earldoms under the early Norman kings: the first and highest, where the dignity was annexed to the possession of a whole county, with the jura regalia, in which case the county became a county palatine, and the person created earl of it exercised all the authority of a sovereign; the next, where the earl was entitled to the third part of the revenues of the county court; and the third, where a tract of land was erected into a county and granted with civil and criminal jurisdiction to be held per servitium uzius comitatus. This statement, however, is open to controversy, and Sir Harris Nicolas is of opinion that the Norman earls, excepting in the counties palatine, possessed no jurisdiction Ofer the counties from which they were deaminated, the dignity being of a nature altogether personal. At present the title conveys no local jurisdiction or revenue, and is no longer confined to the names of counties, but may be derived from those of towns or villages, or of families. It remained the highest hereditary dignity in England until the reign of Edward III., when the first dukedom was created, and is now the third order of the British nobility, being next below that of marquis, and above that of viscount. The style of an earl is "right honorable," and he is officially addressed by the crown as "our right trusty well beloved cousin," an appellation attributed to Henry IV., who had his own reasons for flattering the powerful earls, with nearly all of whom he is said to have been allied by birth or marriage, by frequent allusions to the relationship. He bears also on some Occasions the title of "most noble and puissant prince." The coronet of an earl consists of a circle of gold chased as jewelled, upon which rise eight pyramidical points, gold, each point bearing a large silver ball, while between the points close to the rim of the coronet are straw

and

berry leaves of gold. The cap is of crimson velvet with turned ermine and a golden tassel. Earls are now created by letters patent, in place of the old practice by which the sovereign girded on the sword of the new earl and . invested him with mantle and coronet. In 1872 there were 110 earls (and one countess) in the peerage of Great Britain, including 32 Scotch and 21 Irish earls; besides which there were 34 earls in the Scotch and 20 in the Irish peerage; 9 Scotch and 10 Irish earls had seats in the house of lords as representative peers.The EARL MARSHAL is an officer of state in England, who directs important ceremonies, takes cognizance of matters relating to honor, arms, and pedigree, and proclaims the declaration of war or of peace. The office was established in the reign of Richard II., who conferred it upon Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham, and is now hereditary in the family of Howard, the head of which, the duke of Norfolk, is the present earl marshal of England.

EARLE. I. Pliny, an American inventor, born in Leicester, Mass., Dec. 17, 1762, died there, Nov. 19, 1832. In 1785 he became connected with Edmund Snow in the manufacture of machine and hand cards for carding cotton and wool. Mr. Earle at first made them by hand, but soon invented the machine still in use for their manufacture, by which the labor of a man for 15 hours could be performed in as many minutes. Aside from his inventive genius, he deserves a record for his extensive attainments in science and literature. II. Pliny, an American physician, son of the preceding, born in Leicester, Mass., Dec. 31, 1809. He was educated at the Friends' school in Providence, R. I., where he was subsequently employed as a teacher. He received his diploma of M. D. in 1837, and in 1840 was appointed resident physician of the insane hospital at Frankford, Pa., where he remained about two years. In 1844 he was appointed physician to the asylum for the insane at Bloomingdale, N. Y., where he remained till April, 1849, when he visited the insane hospitals of England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, and a part of those of France. In 1847 he declined an appointment of visiting physician to the New York city lunatic asylum, but accepted it in 1853. In 1841 he published a small volume of poems entitled "Marathon and other Poems;" and in the same year "Visit to thirteen Asylums for the Insane in Europe." In 1848 he published the "History, Description, and Statistics of the Bloomingdale Asylum." After his return from his second European tour, he published in the "American Journal of Insanity" a series of articles on institutions for the insane in Germany and Austria, which were subsequently collected in a volume. Another series of articles on "Bloodletting in Mental Disorders" was published in 1854. His other contributions to the medical and psychological journals are very numerous. III. Thomas, a writer on law, brother of the preceding, born

in Leicester, Mass., April 21, 1791, died in Philadelphia, July 14, 1849. In 1817 he removed to Philadelphia, and engaged in mercantile pursuits for a few years, and afterward became distinguished as a lawyer and journalist. He edited in succession the "Columbian Observer," "Standard," "Pennsylvanian," and "Mechanics' Free Press and Reform Advocate." In 1837 he took an active part in calling a convention to revise the constitution of Pennsylvania, was a prominent member of it, and is believed to have made the original draft of the new constitution. At this time he lost the support of the democratic party by advocating the extension of the right of suffrage to negroes. In 1840 he was the candidate of the liberty party for vice president. After that period he mingled little in political affairs, and devoted himself almost entirely to literary pursuits. His first published work was an Essay on Penal Law," which was followed by an "Essay on the Rights of States to alter and annul their Charters," a work which elicited the approbation of Thomas Jefferson; a "Treatise on Railroads and Internal Communications" (1830); a spelling book for schools; and a "Life of Benjamin Lundy." At the time of his death he had nearly completed a history of the French revolution.

EARL MARSHAL. See EARL. EARLY, a S. W. county of Georgia, bordering on Alabama, bounded W. by the Chattahoochee river; area, 500 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 6,998, of whom 4,172 were colored. The surface is a fertile plain, watered by Spring creek and several of its branches, and occupied by corn and cotton plantations, interspersed with forests of oak and yellow pine. The Chattahoochee is navigable along the border of the county by steamboats, and the smaller streams furnish good water power. On the bank of Colamoka creek is a remarkable ancient mound, 75 ft. high, with a level surface on the top 240 by 90 ft. in extent. The chief productions in 1870 were 129,092 bushels of Indian corn, 11,201 of oats, 22,614 of sweet potatoes, and 3,461 bales of cotton. The value of live stock was $193,961. Capital, Blakely.

EARLY, Jubal A., a general of the Confederate States, born in Virginia about 1815. He graduated at West Point in 1837, and was appointed a lieutenant of artillery, but soon resigned, studied and practised law, and was elected to the legislature of Virginia. During the Mexican war he was major of a regiment of Virginia volunteers. Upon the breaking out of the civil war he entered the confederate army, and commanded a brigade at Bull Run, Cedar | Mountain, and Fredericksburg. In May, 1863, he commanded the division which held the lines at Fredericksburg, while Lee was fighting the battle of Chancellorsville. He also commanded a division at Gettysburg. In 1864 he was sent to the valley of the Shenandoah, where his operations were at first very successful. In July he crossed the Potomac, gained several actions,

and even threatened Washington, but was obliged to retreat. Toward the end of the month a portion of his cavalry advanced into Pennsylvania as far as Chambersburg, which they burned. He was defeated by Sheridan on the Opequan (Sept. 19), at Fisher's Hill (Sept. 22), and at Cedar creek (Oct. 19); and in March, 1865, he was totally routed by Custer at Waynesborough. On March 30 he was dismissed by Lee from the command in the valley. After the close of the war he spent some time in Europe, and returning resumed the practice of law at Richmond. In 1867 he published "Memoirs of the Last Year of the War."

EAR SHELL (haliotis), a marine gasteropod mollusk, so called from its resemblance in shape to an ear. The spire is small and flat, the aperture large and without operculum, and the interior pearly and iridescent; the exterior is dull, of a brownish or mottled color. The outer angle is perforated by a series of holes, growing smaller toward the spire, where they are closed, forming tubercles; these are the openings for the respiratory currents, and also for the passage of tentacles. The genus includes about 75 living species, and a few have been found fossil in the middle tertiary epoch; they are met with in the temperate and tropical seas the world over, and are used in Japan and in the Channel islands for food, being made tender by beating. The common species (H. tuberculata) is often called the ormer. Some of the species are 6 to 8 in. long and 5 or 6 wide. They are used for inlaying and other ornamental purposes, and also for decorating houses, fixed in the plastered wall. They are usually found in deep water, and are obtained at low tide, adhering very firmly to rocks by means of the large foot, like the limpet.

EARTH, the globe on which we live, and the third planet in order of distance from the sun. The earth is a rotating globe, somewhat compressed or flattened at the poles. Its mean diameter is 7,912 m., its polar diameter 7,898 m., and its equatorial diameter 7,926 m. It travels in a nearly circular orbit around the sun, at a mean distance of about 91,500,000 m. When nearest to the sun the earth is about 90,000,000 m. from him, and when at her greatest distance about 93,000,000 m. She completes her circuit around him in 365 2564 days, rotating on her axis in 23h. 56m. 4s. of mean solar time.-It was supposed by the first astronomers and geographers that the earth was a vast fixed plane, probably circular, and that the heavenly bodies were carried around this fixed earth, passing alternately above and below its level. The discov ery that the earth is not a plane has been ascribed to Thales of Miletus (born about 640 B. C.), and it is said that he ascribed to it a spherical figure, but Anaximander judged it to be cylindrical. Gradually, as more and more of the earth became known through travels and explorations, its real figure and dimensions be