En´velopes, the paper covers that enclose letters or notes. They became common shortly after the introduction of the penny postage system; were at first made chiefly by hand, but are now not only shaped, but folded and gummed, by machinery.
Enver Pasha, Turkish soldier and politician, born at Constantinople in 1879. He entered the Turkish army in 1896, and in 1905 took part in the Young Turk movement at Salonica. He joined the revolutionaries in 1908, was for a short time military attaché in Berlin, but in 1909 returned to Salonica, and assisted in the deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid. He then took part in the Tripoli War and the second Balkan War, and recaptured Adrianople from the Bulgarians in July, 1913. After being Minister of War, Enver subsequently became one of the leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress. A staunch pro-German, he was to a great extent responsible for Turkey's entry into the European War as an ally of Germany. After the armistice of 1918, Enver Pasha fled to the Caucasus, and was active in inciting his countrymen to resist the terms of the Peace Treaty of 1920.
Environment, in biology, the surroundings of an organism, including non-living factors, such as climate and weather; and also other organisms. Plants and animals are more or less adapted to their surroundings, a good example being the mutual adaptations of flowers and insects, but there has been much controversy as to the way in which such adaptations have come about. Among all but unicellular organisms any individual consists of (1) a general body (soma), by which the life of the individual is maintained, and (2) germ cells, capable of becoming fresh individuals, and thus providing for the continuance of the species. According to a school of thought founded by some of the pre-Darwinian evolutionists, notably Buffon, Lamarck, and Treviranus, modifications of the soma (acquired characters) of an individual, brought about by the action of the environment (e.g. thickening of parts of the skin as the result of constant pressure), or by use and disuse (e.g. increased size of muscles; diminished wings of poultry), can be inherited, leading to increasing alteration capable of ending in the production of new species. Most living biologists, however, hold with Weismann that only germinal variations, i.e. variations in the substances of the germ-cells, are heritable. Much further research is necessary before it is possible to pronounce with certainty on many of the complex details involved in these theories. As to the part played by the environment, cases are known where this acts directly on the germ-cells, so as to influence their variation. But these are among some of the lower animals, in which the eggs develop outside the body of the parent, and we know hardly anything about the action of the environment on germs that develop internally. It has been suggested that modifications of the soma undoubtedly brought about by the influence of the surroundings may react upon the germ-cells and cause these to vary, but of this no proof has so far been forthcoming. Even if we admit that modifications of the soma are not inherited, they may nevertheless play a part in evolution by aiding the development of germinal variations that take the same direction. The whole subject is one of more than academic interest, especially in regard to the further evolution of human beings. Comparatively rapid advance, either in desirable or undesirable directions, would be possible if modifications acquired by the soma of an individual were capable of being inherited. So far as we know at present, acquired improvements in physique and mentality of individuals are not inherited by their offspring, which seems rather disappointing, but, on the other hand, undesirable modifications, including those due to disease, appear to be in the same case, and there is little reason to think that the children of parents possessing undesirable acquired characters are unduly handicapped from the very start. We must, of course, exclude cases of antenatal infection by the microbes of certain infectious or contagious diseases to which one or both parents have fallen victims, and also those of direct poisoning of germ-cells as the result of alcoholism.
En´voy, a person deputed by a Government to negotiate a treaty,or transact other business, with a foreign Government. We usually apply the word to a public minister sent for one particular purpose; hence an envoy is distinguished from an ambassador, and is of inferior rank.
Enzymes. See Fermentation, Physiological Chemistry.
E´ocene, in geology, a term applied to the lower division of the Tertiary strata, from Gr. ēōs, dawn, and kainos, recent, because remains of existing organic species first occur here. The Eocene beds are arranged in two groups, termed the Lower and Upper Eocene; the strata formerly called Upper Eocene being now known as Oligocene. They consist of marls, limestones, clays, and sandstones, and are found in the Isle of Wight and in the south-east of England and north-west of France, in Central Europe, Western
Asia, Northern Africa, and the Atlantic coast of North America.
Éon de Beaumont. See D'Éon de Beaumont.
E´os, among the ancient Greeks the goddess of the dawn. See Aurora.