the experience of our senses. It denies the existence of any a priori possibility of knowledge, and maintains that the mind is at first a tabula rasa, a clean slate, upon which all the characters are inscribed by experience. The term empiricism is, however, now applied to any philosophical system which finds all its material in experience. The philosophy of empiricism has been particularly developed by English writers of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, such as Locke, Hume, and J. S. Mill. John Locke was the first to express the view in a systematic form. Among more modern empiricists are William James and John Dewey.—Bibliography: Green, Prolegomena to Ethics; James, Essays in Radical Empiricism.
Employers' Liability Act, a British Act of Parliament passed in 1880, by which, within certain limits, an injured workman or, in event of his death, his relatives or representatives may claim from the employer compensation for injuries received in his service. The law on this subject was improved by the Workmen's Compensation Act (1897) and its amending Act (1900). These applied to those employed on, in, or about railways, factories, mines, quarries, engineering works, buildings, and to agricultural labourers. An Act of 1906 added other classes of workers, including domestic servants. The maximum compensation on death is three years' earnings or £150, whichever is larger, but not more than £300. Contracting-out is carefully safeguarded. The maximum weekly benefit was raised from £1 to £1, 5s. in 1917, and £1, 15s. in 1920, in cases of total incapacity. Recommendations by the Board of Trade Departmental Committee were made public in July, 1920. These suggest greater powers of Government control, compulsory insurance, and greatly increased compensation in cases of death and total incapacity.
Employment Bureaus were first established on a considerable scale in the United Kingdom by the Labour Exchanges Act, 1909. They were to some extent based upon the German public labour exchanges, which came into being after 1893 in most large towns, and were either municipal or maintained by voluntary associations and supported by the municipality. Their chief object was to put employers and work-people into touch with a view to employment. Before 1909 a few public employment bureaus had been established in Great Britain. An Act of 1905 established distress committees in boroughs and urban districts, which were given power to establish labour exchanges. These powers were in some cases exercised, either by taking over existing bureaus or establishing new ones. Only in London was the system of importance. The 1909 Act gave the Board of Trade power to establish labour exchanges; and, by regulations under the Act, the United Kingdom has been divided into divisions in each of which are a number of exchanges of different grades. The system is industrial and not eleemosynary, aiming solely at providing a recognized market-place for labour. No fees are charged, and use of the exchanges is voluntary. Work-people may register at an exchange between certain hours, and, when a suitable vacancy occurs, the applicant is sent to the employer. Applications for work-people are generally received by telephone, and are recorded if no suitable applicant is available. An important part of the work of the labour exchange is in connection with Unemployed Insurance, under Part II, National Insurance Act, 1911. This provided for payment of unemployed benefit in a limited number of occupations. Subsequent Acts (notably that of 1920) have extended the system to cover the majority of occupations. The scheme is contributory, but the State shares the cost with employers and work-people.—Bibliography: W. H. Beveridge, Unemployment; F. A. Keller, Out of Work: a study of unemployment.
Em´poli, a town in North Italy, on the left bank of the Arno, 16 miles W.S.W. of Florence; it has an old collegiate church with good paintings, and manufactures of straw-bonnets. Pop. 21,500.
Empo´ria, a town of the United States, in Kansas, on the Neosho River, with a normal school, and a good trade in grain and cattle. Pop. 9050.
Empyreu´ma, the smell arising from organic matter when subjected to the action of fire, but not enough to carbonize it entirely. The products of imperfect combustion, as from wood heated in heaps or distilled in close vessels, are frequently distinguished as empyreumatic.
Ems, or Bad Ems, a beautiful watering-place in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, on the River Lahn, not far from its confluence with the Rhine. Its mineral waters are warm—from 70° to 118° F.,—contain large quantities of carbonic acid gas, and are used in chronic catarrhs, pulmonary complaints, diseases of the stomach, gout, and some diseases of the urinary vessels. There are about 8000 visitors each season. Pop. 6850.
Ems, a river of North-West Germany, which flows north-west through Rhenish Prussia and Hanover, and falls into the Dollart Estuary near Emden; length 230 miles.
Emu. See Emeu.
Emul´sine, or Synaptase, originally the name given to the mixture of enzymes in bitter and sweet almonds. Emulsine has the property of being able to hydrolyse the glucoside amygdalin to glucose, benzaldehyde, and hydrocyanic acid.