Part 816

I will make it [Babylon] a possession for the ericius and pools of waters.

Is. xiv. 23 (Douay version).

E*ric"o*lin (?), n. (Chem.) A glucoside found in the bearberry (and others of the Ericaceæ), and extracted as a bitter, yellow, amorphous mass.

E*rid"a*nus (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, the Greek name of the River Po.] (Anat.) A long, winding constellation extending southward from Taurus and containing the bright star Achernar.

Er"i*gi*ble (r"*j*b'l), a. [See Erect.] Capable of being erected. [Obs.]

E"rin ("rn), n. [Ir. Cf. Aryan.] An early, and now a poetic, name of Ireland.

Er`i*na"ceous (?), a. [L. erinaceus hedgehog.] (Zoöl.) Of the Hedgehog family; like, or characteristic of, a hedgehog.

E*rin"go (?), n. The sea holly. See Eryngo.

Er"i*nite (?), n. (Min.) A hydrous arseniate of copper, of an emerald-green color; -- so called from Erin, or Ireland, where it occurs.

E*rin"ys (?), n.; pl. Erinyes (#). [L., fr. Gr. &?;.] (Class. Myth.) An avenging deity; one of the Furies; sometimes, conscience personified. [Written also Erinnys.]

E`ri*om"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; wool + -meter.] (Opt.) An instrument for measuring the diameters of minute particles or fibers, from the size of the colored rings produced by the diffraction of the light in which the objects are viewed.

||E*ris"ta*lis (?), n. [NL.] (Zoöl.) A genus of dipterous insects whose young (called rat-tailed larvæ) are remarkable for their long tapering tail, which spiracles at the tip, and for their ability to live in very impure and salt waters; -- also called drone fly.

{ E*ris"tic (?), E*ris"tic*al (?), } a. [Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to strive, wrangle, &?; strife.] Controversial. [Archaic]

A specimen of admirable special pleading in the court of eristic logic.

Coleridge.

Erke (?), a. [Cf. Irk.] Slothful. [Obs.] Rom. of R.

Erl"king` (?), n. [G. erlkönig, fr. Dan. ellekonge elfking.] A personification, in German and Scandinavian mythology, of a spirit or natural power supposed to work mischief and ruin, esp. to children.

Erme (?), v. i. [OE. ermen, AS. yrman. Cf. Yearn.] To grieve; to feel sad. [Obs.] Chaucer.

{ Er"me*lin (?), Er"mi*lin (?) }, n. (Zoöl.) See Ermine. Shenstone.

Er"min (?), n. [OF. Ermin, L. Armenius.] An Armenian. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Er"mine (?), n. [OF. ermine, F. hermine, prob. of German origin; cf. OHG. harmo, G. hermelin, akin to Lith. szarm&?;, szarmonys, weasel, cf. AS. hearma; but cf. also LL. armelinus, armellina, hermellina, and pellis Armenia, the fur of the Armenian rat, mus Armenius, the animal being found also in Armenia.] 1. (Zoöl.) A valuable fur-bearing animal of the genus Mustela (M. erminea), allied to the weasel; the stoat. It is found in the northern parts of Asia, Europe, and America. In summer it is brown, but in winter it becomes white, except the tip of the tail, which is always black.

2. The fur of the ermine, as prepared for ornamenting garments of royalty, etc., by having the tips of the tails, which are black, arranged at regular intervals throughout the white.

3. By metonymy, the office or functions of a judge, whose state robe, lined with ermine, is emblematical of purity and honor without stain. Chatham.

4. (Her.) One of the furs. See Fur (Her.)

Ermine is represented by an argent field, tufted with black. Ermines is the reverse of ermine, being black, spotted or timbered with argent. Erminois is the same as ermine, except that or is substituted for argent.

Ermine moth (Zoöl.), a white moth with black spots (esp. Yponomeuta padella of Europe); -- so called on account of the resemblance of its covering to the fur of the ermine; also applied to certain white bombycid moths of America.

Er"mine, v. t. To clothe with, or as with, ermine.

The snows that have ermined it in the winter.