E.
Ear.
A small projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; as: — 1. The ear of a bucket or cooking-pot to which the bail is attached. The car or leg of a sugar or salt boiling kettle by which it is supported on the walls of the furnace. The ear of a shell is imbedded in the metal, and serves for inserting the hooks by which the projectile is lifted.2. (Music.) In the metallic mouth-pipe of an organ; one of the pair of soft metal plates at each end of the slit or mouth of the pipe, which may be bent more or less over the opening, to qualify the tone. 3. The canon of a bell, the part by which it is suspended.
4. (Printing.) A projection on the edge of the frisket; or one on the edge of the composing-rule. 5. The loop or ring on the ram of a pile-driver by which it is lifted. 6. One of the two projecting parts on the portions of an eccentric strap by which they are bolted together.
Ear, Arti-fi′cial.
An auricle having the shape of the natural ear, and worn as an ear-trumpet, to collect the waves of sound and conduct them by a tube to the meatus auditorius. Usually made of gutta-percha colored to resemble nature, and attached by clasps to the natural ear. See auricle.Ear-brush.
A toilet instrument for cleaning the ear. A bulb of sponge on a handle. An aurilave.Ear-cor′net.
A small auricle which is contained within the hollow of the outer ear and has a short tube to keep open the meatus auditorius in cases of contraction or the presence of polypi. An eartrumpet.E-lec′tro-mag-netic Bat′ter-y.
One in which the current is generated in the voltaic battery, as distinguished from the electric, the magneto-electric, or the thermal battery.Ear′ing.
（Nautical.) The rope which lashes the upper corner of a sail to its yard. The reef-carings are used to lash the ends of the reef-band to the yard.
Ear of Dio-nys′i-us.
An acoustic instrument named after the sound-conducting orifice in the roof of the dungeons where the old Sicilian tyrant kept his prisoners. It has a large mouth-piece to collect the sound, which a flexible tube conducts to the ear of the person. It is especially adapted for enabling the very deaf to hear general conversation, lectures, sermons, etc. See acoustic instruments.Ear-pick.
（Surgical.) A small scoop to extract hardened cerumen from the meatus auditorius, or foreign matters from the external ear.
Ear-spec′u-lum.
（Surgical.) An instrument for distending the exterior canal of the ear, in removing indurated wax, or other explorations and operations. An otoscope.
Ear-syr′inge.
An instrument for injecting the ear with a liquid or medicated vapor. An ordinary syringe may answer the usual purposes of cleanliness, softening indurated wax, etc., but the instrument shown has a farther capacity. a is an indiarubber air-bag, b a flexible tube, c a bulb of hardrubber, made in two pieces, which screw together and contain a sponge to hold chloroform or other liquid; d is the perforated bulb. It is particularly used in treating diseases of the middle ear. The sponge being previously moistened, the nozzle of the bulb is placed in one nostril, the other is closed by the finger of the surgeon, the mouth is also closed, and the patient, having previously taken a mouthful of water, is told to swallow, and, just as he is doing this, the surgeon compresses the air-bag, and sends the iodized air into the faucial orifice of the eustachian tube, and, if the drum be perforated, into the cavity of the tympanum. |
| Roosa ear-syringe. |
Earth.
（Telegraphy.) The ground in its relation to the circuit as the means of conducting the return current. The conductor is led to a buried ground-plate or to a gas or water main, which forms an admirable ground conductor.
Earth-bat′ter-y.
A large plate of zinc and a plate of copper, or a quantity of coke, buried at a certain distance asunder in damp earth. The moisture of the earth acts as the exciting fluid on this voltaic couple, and a feeble but constant current is produced.Earth-board.
The mold-board of a plow. |
| Earth-borer. |
Earth-bor′er.
A form of auger for boring holes in the ground, where the strata are sufficiently soft and loose. The shaft has a screw-point and a cutting-face. The twisted shank revolves inside a cylindrical case, which retains the earth till the tool is withdrawn. The valve opens to admit the earth, and closes as the tool is lifted. See auger.Earth-car.
A car for transporting gravel and stone in railway operations. See Dumpingcar.Earth-clos′et.
A commode or night-stool in which a body of earth receives the feces, or is dropped upon them to absorb the effluvia; the resultant is to be utilized as a fertilizer. A is a pan provided with an absorbent; when full, the lining and the contents are removed and buried, and another lining of earth placed in the pan by packing around the mold B. C has a seat a, which descends with the person and brings a charge of earth in readiness to fall upon the feces. As the person rises, the quantity of earth released by the former operation is dropped upon the feces in the pan below. b is the earth reservoir, and c the dumping-spout.Earth′en-pipe.
The Romans used earthen pipes where economy was an object. They preferred lead. The earthen pipes had a thickness of at least two inches, and the ends were respectively contracted and enlarged to fit into and to receive the [770] adjacent pipes. The joints of the pipes were luted with quicklime and oil. The thickness was increased at the bottom of a bend, as in crossing a valley or hollow, or the pipe at this part was “secured by ligatures or a weight of ballast” (Vitruvius). Earthen pipes are found in the walls of the baths and the Coliseum, of various diameters, none less than 2 inches diameter. The elaborate arrangement of pipes in the amphitheater of Vespasian has probably never been excelled. Fifty-six drains constructed within the thickness of the walls which supported the staircases of the ground-floor served to carry off the rainwater which fell in the building, and also the contents of the urinals in the third and fourth stories. The drains were cylindrical pipes of 12 inches diameter, hollowed out of freestone blocks 20 inches in hight. The drains were led down from the upper stories through pipes in the masonry of the stairs, and united with hundreds of other drains at the larger conduits, which conducted the water to the Cloaca Maxima. |
| Earth-closets. |
Earth′en-ware.
A general expression which covers all ceramic work, such as stone-ware, delft, porcelain, etc. See pottery. The term, as far as it may have a less general meaning, includes merely the commoner classes of clay-ware, otherwise known as crockery. The clay, having been properly tempered, is formed on the wheel and dried under cover until it has acquired considerable solidity. The glaze, of the consistence of cream, is then put on as evenly as possible by means of a brush. Small articles are glazed by pouring in the glaze and then pouring it out again, sufficient adhering for the purpose. The glaze consists of galena ground to powder and mixed with “slip” ; that is, a thin solution of clay. This is a clear glaze, and is made black and opaque by the addition of manganese: galena, 9; manganese, 1 part. The glaze having dried, the ware is piled in the kiln. A low heat, applied for twenty-four hours, drives off the moisture; an increased heat for another twenty-four hours, as high as can be borne without fusion, bakes the clay, drives off the sulphur from the galena, and causes the lead to form a glass with the clay to which it adheres. With increase of heat this glass spreads over the surface of the ware. After the furnace is cooled, the ware is removed. The glaze, consisting of oxide of lead, is soluble in acids, such as vinegar and those of fruit, and is destroyed, rendering injurious the food with which it combines. A more refractory clay admits the use of a less fusible glaze of a harmless character. Earthen-ware is found among almost all nations and tribes, though not all have the art of glazing, nor have all the art of baking. Drying is not baking, and it requires a good heat to make a good ringing article. The Egyptians and Etruscans had pottery at a date before the historic period. We know more of the former than of the latter at early periods. The resemblance of the Greek and Etrurian ceramic works is remarkable. Glazing came from China. Wedgwood's patents about 1762. See specific list under pottery and clay.Earth-plate.
（Telegraphy.) A plate buried in the earth, or a system of gas or water pipes utilized for the purpose, connected with the terminal or return wire at a station, so as to avail the earth itself as a part of the circuit, instead of using two wires, as was the practice previous to 1837.
Earth′quake-a-larm′.
An alarm founded on the discovery or supposition that a few seconds previous to an earthquake the magnet temporarily loses its power. To an armature is attached a weight, so that upon the magnet becoming paralyzed the weight drops, and, striking a bell, gives the alarm.Earth-ta′ble.
The lowest visible course of stone or bricks in a wall or building.Earth′work.
An engineering term applied to cuttings and embankments.Ear-trum′pet.
An instrument for the collection and conduction of sounds. By increasing the size of the auricle, a larger volume of sound is gathered than by the natural ear. The ear-trumpet for the assistance of the partially deaf is believed to have been invented by Baptista Porta about 1600. Kircher describes the funnel and tube for conveying sound, the device which is now so common for conveying intelligence between apartments and shops, in dwellings, warehouses, and factories. Dr. Arnott of England, who became partially deaf from a cold contracted in traveling, first devised the pair of shells or artificial ears which extend the surface displayed to gather the tremulous air. There are two qualities required in a speakingtube: that it shall concentrate a large amount of sound in a small space; and, secondly, that it shall not stifle the sounds within the tube itself. Guttapercha seems to answer the latter conditions better than any other material. The ear-trumpets are of several descriptions: — 1. The long ear-trumpet a, with a wide opening at the sound-reception end, and a small opening at [771] the delivery end. This is made portable and compact by bending. b has a rotatable section; c is a shorter trumpet; d d cane trumpets; e a short one. 2. The ear-cornet f is a small and neat affair, adapted to be worn on the head. 3. The paraboloid trumpet, in which the sound is echoed from a large concave receiver before it enters the tube. 4. The auditorium trumpet, which is adapted to collect the sound of a speaker's voice and convey it to one or more parts of the room where the partially deaf persons may be sitting. The uses of the acoustic tubes are various, forming means of communication between a captain and his engineer or steersman; a conductor and driver on a street-car; a conductor and engineer on a train; a messenger at the door and a doctor in his apartment; a housekeeper with the kitchen; an office with a factory; an editor with the compositor's room; a hospital office and the wards, etc. |
| Ear-trumpets. |
（Microcoustic.) An instrument to assist the hearing.
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| Easel. |
Eas′el.
A wooden frame for supporting a picture during its execution.Eave.
The lower edge of a roof overhanging the wall.Eave-board.
A feather-edge board, nailed above and across the lower ends of the rafters, to tilt up the lower edge of the lowest course of slates so that the next course may lie flatly upon them.Eave-lead.
（Building.) A leaden gutter inside a parapet.
Eave-mold′ings.
（Architecture.) Those immediately below the eaves, as a cornice.
Eave-trough.
A trough, usually of tinned iron, suspended beneath an eave to catch the drip. It is held by a strap or hanger, which may have means for the vertical adjustment of the trough, so as to give it the required fall in the length of the eave.Eb′on-ite.
Mr. Goodyear's name for what is generally known as hard rubber. It is a vulcanite with a larger proportion of sulphur and certain added ingredients. The proportion of sulphur is from thirty [772] to sixty per cent, and to this may be added certain amounts of shellac, gutta-percha, chalk, pipe-clay, sulphates of zinc, antimony, or copper. It is used of many colors, as may be gathered from the above list of ingredients, and of hardness and consequent facility for taking polish. The compound, mauger its name, may resemble horn, ivory, bone, wood, etc. |
| Eave-trough hangers. |
E-bul′li-o-scope.
An instrument for determining the strength of a liquid by ascertaining its boiling-point.Eccal-e-o′bi-on.
A chamber for hatching eggs by artificial heat. See incubator.Ec-cen′tric.
A disk or wheel a fixed upon a shaft at some distance from its geometric-center. Around it is placed a ring d, within which it is at liberty to turn; the ring, however, does not turn, but rotates around the axis of a, so as at its quarterly points to occupy the places indicated by the dotted circles, the effect of which is to rock the bellcrank lever g g. |
| Eccentries |
Ec-cen′tric-catch.
See eccentric-hook.Ec-cen′tric-chuck.
A chuck attached to the mandrel of a lathe, and having a sliding piece which carries the center. This piece is adjustable in a plane at right angles to the axis of motion by means of a set screw, and carries the center to one side of the axis of motion. By its means circular lines of varying size and eccentricity may be produced. No oval or ellipse is produced thereby, but circles on the face of the work with their centers at such distance from the axis of the mandrel as may be desired.Ec-cen′tric-cut′ter.
A cutting-tool placed upon the slide-rest, and having a rotation by means of a wheel and shaft, the cutter being attached to the end of the latter. The rotation is obtained by an overhead motion, and the eccentricity by fixing the cutter at different distances from the center by means of the groove and screw. The action of the eccentric-cutter differs from that of the eccentric-chuck in this: in the latter the work is rotated and the tool is stationary; in the former the work is stationary and the tool revolves. When the motions are used in conjunction, the patterns are capable of almost unlimited variation.Ec-cen′tric-en-grav′ing.
An arrangement of diamond tracers, operated by elaborate machinery, acting upon a varnished roller designed for calicoprinting. The effect is analogous to that produced by the rose-engine lathe. |
| Eccentric-fan. |
Ec-cen′tric-fan.
A fan-wheel with radial arms and vanes, and having an axis which is eccentric with the case in which it revolves. The case has a scroll form, and the effect is to make the discharge of air more perfect and avoid carrying a body of air around between the vanes.Ec-cen′tricgab.
See eccentric-hook.Ec-cen′tric-gear′ing.
Cog-wheels set on eccentric axes give a variable circular motion, as in the case of the eccentric contrate wheel and pinion, and the eccentric spur-wheel and intermediate shifting pinion. Links connect the axis of the pinion with those of the driver and driven wheels, and preserve the pinion at proper mashing distance, so as to engage with the motor and communicate the motion to the next wheel in series.Ec-cen′tric-hook.
（Steam-engine.) One used to connect the eccentric-rod with the wrist on the lever of the rock-shaft which actuates the valve; otherwise called a gab.
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| Eccentric-gears. |
Ec-centric-hoop.
The strap on the eccentric of an engine.Ec-cen′tric-pump.
A hollow cylinder in which is a revolving hub and axis eccentrically arranged. On the hub are flaps which act as pistons in the space between the hub and the case to expel the water, which enters at one opening and departs by another. The same construction is seen in rotary steam-engines, only that in one case the shaft revolves to force water, and in the other the steam passes through to drive the shaft.Ec-cen′tric-rod.
The rod connecting the eccentric strap to the lever which moves the slide-valve.Ec-cen′tric-strap.
（Machinery.) The ring inclosing an eccentric sheave and connecting by a rod to the object to be reciprocated; as, the slide-valve of a steam-engine. See eccentric.
