Ergot

“ When ripe, the grain is of an elongated oval form, with a few hairs at the summit. When the ovaries of the plant become affected with a peculiar fungus (Claviceps purpurea) they become blackened and distorted, constituting ergot (q.v.) ”

“ It made me impatient to reach the age when I should be eligible to attend the class at school called 'Philosophy.' I did not wish to learn or do anything else there, but simply to exist and be guided entirely by the mind of Bergotte, and, if I had been told then that the metaphysicians whom I was actually to follow there resembled him in nothing, I should have been struck down by the despair a young lover feels who has sworn lifelong fidelity, when a friend speaks to him of the other mistresses he will have in time to come. ”

“ There was he nurtured by king Strophius, and Pylades the king's son loved him as a brother. So Aegisthus dwelt with Klytemnestra, reigning in Argos, where remained now of Agamemnon's seed Electra his daughter only. And these twain marked how Electra grew up in hate and scorn of them, indignant for her father's murder, and fain to avenge him. Wherefore, lest she should wed a prince, and persuade husband or son to accomplish her heart's desire, they bethought them how they should forestall this peril. ”

“ The door bursts open, and Orestes and Electra come forth in disorder. Attendants bring out the bodies of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
Leader.
Lo, yonder, in their mother's new-spilt gore
Red-garmented and ghastly, from the door
They reel. . . . O horrible! Was it agony
Like this, she boded in her last wild cry?
There lives no seed of man calamitous,
Nor hath lived, like this seed of Tantalus.
Orestes.
O Dark of the Earth, O God,
⁠Thou to whom all is plain;
Look on my sin, my blood,
⁠This horror of dead things twain:
Gathered as one they lie
Slain ”

“ Egkartes sprang at the monster, who seemed to recognize him, but without showing any fear, turned and coolly walked out of the house. It wounded the pride of the young champion to see the enemy treat him so indifferently. He returned to his men feeling disheartened. He could see no way of killing the monster. What could he do?
After many weeks of failure, Egkartes wandered to the king's garden and sat down near the entrance, where he found many other Greek youths who, like himself, aspired to the hand of the princess. ”

“ Two weeks after this Egkartes was taken to the palace, with a great flourish of trumpets, and was proclaimed the hero of the country. He knew that he had not killed the pig as they had told the king; but neither king nor people paid any attention to his explanations. All insisted that he had killed the monster and had a right to the great reward.
The princess of course was delighted, and said to Egkartes: "I do not care whether you have killed the monster or not. I shall have you and we shall live very happily together." ”

“ She is fighting tremulously, with all her flagging strength, against the thing she longs for. The whole point of the scene requires that one ray of hope after another should be shown to Electra, and that she should passionately, blindly, reject them all. That is what Euripides wanted the signs for.
But why, it may be asked, did he adopt Aeschylus' signs, and even his peculiar word? Because, whether invented by Aeschylus or not, these signs were a canonical part of the story by the time Euripides wrote. Every one who knew the story of Orestes' return at all, knew of the hair and the footprint. ”

“ EGORIEVSK, a town of Russia, in the government of Ryazañ, 70 m. by rail E.S.E. of Moscow, by a branch line (15 m.) connecting with the Moscow to Ryazañ main line. The cotton mills and other factories give occupation to 6000 persons. Egorievsk has important fairs for grain, hides, &c., which are exported. Pop. (1897) 23,932.
EGREMONT, EARLS OF. In 1749 Algernon Seymour, 7th duke of Somerset, was created earl of Egremont, and on his childless death in February 1750 this title passed by special remainder to his nephew, Sir Charles Wyndham or Windham, Bart. ”

“ Orestes.
⁠Thy mother stays
Unmoved 'mid all thy wrong?
Electra.
⁠A lover weighs
More than a child in any woman's heart.
Orestes.
But what end seeks Aegisthus, by such art
Of shame?
Electra.
⁠To make mine unborn children low
And weak, even as my husband.
Orestes.
⁠Lest there grow
From thee the avenger?
Electra.
⁠Such his purpose is:
For which may I requite him!
Orestes.
⁠And of this
Thy virgin life—Aegisthus knows it?
Electra.
⁠Nay,
We speak it not. It cometh not his way.
Orestes.
These women hear us. Are they friends to thee?
Electra. ”

“ British-killed Egrets (Ardea garzetta) .—In Loudon's 'Magazine of Natural History' for 1836, p. 599, Mr. J.C. Dale, of Glanvilles Wootton, in Dorsetshire, mentions that "at a sale of birds, &c., I attended in March, 1826, at Southampton, was an Egret (a fine specimen) , lot 38, sold for £5 5s., probably shot near that place." Possibly this is the same specimen alluded to by Mr. Newstead (ante, p. 70) , as the date is exactly the same, and the locality in Yorkshire may have been subsequently added to the label under the impression that it had been killed in that county. ”

“ He would have slain her; yet, how cruel soe'er,
Her mother saved her from Aegisthus' hand;—
A plea she had for murder of her lord,
But feared to be abhorred for children's blood:— 30
Wherefore Aegisthus found out this device:
On Agamemnon's son, who had fled the land,
He set a price, even gold to whoso slew;
But to me gives Electra, her to have
To wife,—from sires Mycenian sprung indeed 35
Am I, herein I may not be contemned; [1]
Noble my line is, I in this world's goods
Am poor, whereby men's high descent is marred,—
To make his fear naught by this spouse of naught. ”

“ But I will not despair. My wants and my weakness are not unknown, and a way will be found for me even out of this “Slough of Despond.”’
He was suddenly roused from his love-sick reverie by the sound of a low moaning, which seemed to pervade the surrounding atmosphere. Starting up on his couch, Egerton now perceived through the porthole that the sky had become dark, and the noise of the captain of the vessel shouting his orders through a speaking-trumpet, and the sailors rushing about to execute them, made him aware that something [203] was wrong. ”

“ In Aeschylus' Libation-Bearers, which deals with the same subject as the Electra, the scene is at Agamemnon's tomb. Orestes lays his tress there in the prologue. Electra comes bringing libations, sees the hair, compares it with her own, finds that it is similar "wing for wing" ( [Greek: homopteros] —the same word as here) , and guesses that it belongs to Orestes. She then measures the footprints, and finds one that is like her own, one not; evidently Orestes and a fellow-traveller! Orestes enters and announces himself ”

“ Even the snowy egret provides a little fun at times, although he doesn't mean it. He is very much in earnest, is the snowy egret, and objects, with long claws and a very sharp beak, to the earthly existence of all other living things. He has given up chasing the other birds about the inclosure, because he couldn't always catch the little ones, and sometimes the big ones caught him. ”

“ Straight yonder, where Aegisthus makes his prayer!
Electra.
Then seek my mother's presence, and declare
My news.
Old Man.
⁠Thy very words, child, as tho' spoke
From thine own lips!
Electra.
⁠Brother, thine hour is struck.
Thou standest in the van of war this day.
Orestes (rousing hirmelf) .
Aye, I am ready. . . . I will go my way,
If but some man will guide me.
Old Man.
⁠Here am I,
To speed thee to the end, right thankfully.
Orestes (turning as he goes and raising his hands to heaven) .
Zeus of my sires, Zeus of the lost battle,
Electra. ”

“ The train of this Egret, like that of other species, makes its appearance a few weeks previous to the love season, continues to grow and increase in beauty, until incubation has commenced, after which period it deteriorates, and at length disappears about the time when the young birds leave the nest, when, were it not for the difference in size, it would be difficult to distinguish them from their parents. ”

“ Egerton's confidence, and he may give you some verbal message besides a written reply. Egerton is [Pg 107] often over cautious and brief in the litera scripta."
Randal went first to Egerton's neighboring office—he had not been there that day. He then took a cabriolet and drove to Grosvenor Square. A quiet-looking chariot was at the door. Mr. Egerton was at home; but the servant said, "Dr. F. is with him, sir; and perhaps he may not like to be disturbed."
"What, is your master ill?"
"Not that I know of, sir. He never says he is ill. But he has looked poorly the last day or two." ”

“ He showed to thee, but darkness! Which do thou
Endure, as man must, chafing not. And now
Fare forth where Zeus and Fate have laid thy life.
⁠The maid Electra thou shalt give for wife
To Pylades; then turn thy head and flee
From Argos' land. 'Tis never more for thee
To tread this earth where thy dead mother lies.
Andy lo, in the air her Spirits, bloodhound eyes,
Most horrible yet Godlike, hard at heel
Following shall scourge thee as a burning wheel,
Speed-maddened. ”

“ Nay, 'tis not the latter; I wrong thee there, I am sure. Well, never mind, lad, I have other matters to think of for the moment. I purpose to make thee my esquire. What dost think of it?"
Edgar gave a start for sheer joy.
"Think of it, Sir John? It is all I could desire in all the world. I will serve thee--I do not say well, but as well as it is in my power to do."
"There are other things than fighting and riding to be done, Edgar. Thou mayst have to stay behind when I go campaigning, to look after the ladies and to see to my interests. For this I need a cool head and a devoted heart. ”

“ The Egrets, which are probably included under the generic title of Anâphah, are birds of passage, and at the proper season 474 are plentiful in Palestine. These pretty birds much resemble the heron in general form, and in general habits both birds are very much alike, haunting the marshes and edges of lakes and streams, and feeding upon the frogs and other inhabitants of the water. In countries where rice is cultivated, the Egret may generally be seen in the artificial swamps in which that plant is sown. The colour of the Egret is pure white, with the exception of the train. ”

“ IN WHICH ROGER EGREMONT MAKES HIS BOW TO THE WORLD THE fortunes of the House of Egremont had their first great bloom through the agency of a platter of beans; and through a platter of beans more than a hundred years later the elder branch was ousted from one of the greatest estates in England, became wanderers and gentlemen adventurers throughout Europe, fought in quarrels not their own, served sovereigns of foreign countries, knew the dazzling heights of glory, and fell into the mire of penury and disrepute. An Egremont had the ear of kings, and another Egremont mounted the gallows. ”

“ Now, more than heretofore, Electra, glows
Mine heart with joy. Thy fortune now, though late
Advancing, haply shall be stablished fair.
Electra.
Poor man, thou know'st thine house's poverty.
Wherefore receive these guests too great for thee? 405
Peasant.
How?—an they be of high birth, as they seem,
Will they content them not with little or much?
Electra.
Since then thou so hast erred, and thou so poor,
Go to the ancient fosterer of my sire,
Who on the banks of Tanaüs, which parts 410
The Argive marches from the Spartan land,
An outcast from our city, tends his flocks. ”

“ Having found a choice place in a stunted cypress, the egrets soon set about their nest building, choosing a site about forty feet above the swamp. Very affectionate and loving with each other are the egrets; whenever the male bird leaves the cypress, on his return he makes such a fuss over his mate, greeting her as joyfully and tenderly as though he had been gone a week. In fact, the egrets are gentle, trusting birds, and have few enemies among the wild. The father egret does most of the hard work too, for he gathers all the twigs for the nest, which the mother egret carefully builds. ”

“ Sometimes I am seized with a longing to put one on, and one evening last week Edgar and I dined in state all alone at seven. I wore my most ravishing gown, and made him put on evening clothes. He laughed a great deal, but seemed to enjoy it. My servant was a little awkward, but I felt a strange elation at my success. I have a desire to try it on a larger scale some time. Perhaps I shall some day. Who knows but what Edgar may be able, some time, to do all he hopes! To me it is no matter whether he does or not. Every day—every hour—he grows dearer to me. ”

“ This year king Egbert died; before he was king, Offa king of the Mercians, and Bertric, king of the West-Saxons, drove him out of England into France for three years; and Bertric assisted Offa, because he had his daughter for his queen. And Egbert reigned thirty-seven years and seven months: and Ethelwulf the son of Egbert succeeded to the kingdom of the West-Saxons; and he gave his son Athelstan the kingdoms of the Kentish-men, and of the East-Saxons, and of the men of Surrey, and of the South-Saxons. ”

“ As he reached the top of what seemed like a wooden chimney, he heard a dull rattle and roar in the distance.
"'Tis the drawbridge, Peter," he cried. "Where are we now?"
"At the top of the trunk of a hollow tree, Master Edgar. We are in the woods."
"Hold Sir John while I clamber down. Then lower him down to me, and, if I cannot reach him, let him drop. There is no time to think of a better plan."
Ere their pursuers had reached the edge of the woods Sir John had been safely lowered into Edgar's arms, and Peter, in his turn, had successfully clambered down. ”