Erdmann, Johann Eduard, German philosopher, born 1805, died 1892. He studied theology at Dorpat and Berlin; in 1829 became a clergyman, but in 1832 returned to Berlin and took his degree in philosophy. In 1836 he became professor extraordinary of philosophy at Halle, being appointed ordinary professor in 1839. He wrote numerous philosophical works, mostly characterized by Hegelian tendencies, including: Body and Soul, Nature and Creation, Outlines of Psychology, Outlines of Logic and Metaphysics, Psychological Letters, and Belief and Knowledge. His greatest work is his Outlines of the History of Philosophy, which has been translated into English (3 vols., 1889).
Er´ebus, in Greek mythology, the son of Chaos and Darkness, and father of Æther and Hemera (day). The name Erebus was also given to the infernal regions.
Er´ebus, Mount, a volcano of the antarctic regions in S. Victoria Land; height, 12,400 feet; discovered by Ross, 1841.
Erechtheus (e-rek´thūs), in Greek mythology, a mythical king of Athens to whom a fine temple, the Erechthēum, was built on the Acropolis. In some representations of him he is depicted as half snake, so that he was one of the autochthones, the earth-born ancestors of the Athenians.
Erection, Lords of, in Scots history, those private owners into whose hands the ecclesiastical estates belonging to the clergy had passed during the religious changes of the Reformation period.
Er´furt (Lat. Erfordia, ford of Erpe, its legendary founder), an important town in the Prussian province of Saxony, on the River Gera, formerly a fortress with two citadels, now given up as such. It has a fine cathedral dating from the thirteenth century and several handsome Gothic churches. The university, founded in 1378 and suppressed in 1816, was long an important institution. There is still an academy of science and a library with 60,000 volumes. The monastery (now an orphanage) was the residence of Luther from 1501 to 1508. Erfurt is a busy industrial town and is in a very flourishing condition. The industries are varied, including clothing, machinery, leather, shoes, ironmongery, and chemicals. Flower-growing is extensively carried on in the neighbourhood, plants and seed being produced for sale in great quantities. Pop. 123,550.
1, Spanish ergot. 2, Russian ergot.
Er´got, the altered grain of rye and other
grasses caused by the attack of an ascomycetous fungus called Claviceps purpurea. The grain is replaced by a dense fungoid tissue (sclerotium) largely charged with an oily fluid. In its perfect state this germinates and produces the Claviceps fructification. When diseased rye of this kind is eaten in food for some time, it sometimes causes death by a kind of mortification called dry gangrene. Ergot is used in obstetric practice to promote the contraction of the uterus.