Ebola \e-'bo-l3\ Virus responsible for a severe and often fatal hemor¬ rhagic fever. Outbreaks in primates, including humans, have been recorded. Initial symptoms are fever, severe headaches and muscle aches, and loss of appetite; blood clots and profuse uncontrollable hemorrhag¬ ing appear within days, followed by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Death occurs in 8-17 days; fatality rates range from 50% to 90%. There is no known treatment. It takes its name from the Ebola River in northern Congo (Zaire), where it first emerged in 1976. The virus appears as long filaments, sometimes branched or intertwined. The virus particle contains one molecule of RNA. How it attacks cells is unknown. It can be trans¬ mitted through contact with bodily fluids; unsanitary conditions and lack of adequate medical supplies have been factors in its spread.
ebony Wood of several species of trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), found widely in the tropics. The best is very heavy, almost black, and from heartwood only. Because of its colour, durability, hard¬ ness, and ability to take a high polish, ebony is used for cabinetwork and inlaying, piano keys, knife handles, and turned articles. The best Indian and Ceylon ebony is produced by D. ebenum, which grows in abundance west of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. Jamaica, American, or green ebony comes from Brya ebenus, a leguminous tree or shrub.
Ebro \'a- ,bro\ River ancient Iberus River, northeastern Spain. Rising in the Cantabrian Mountains and flowing 565 mi (910 km) in a south¬ easterly course to the Mediterranean Sea, between Barcelona and Valen¬ cia, the Ebro is the longest river wholly in Spain and the second longest in the Iberian Peninsula. It has the greatest discharge and the largest drainage basin of any Spanish river. It is navigable for only 15 mi (25 km) upstream from its delta.
Eca de Queiros Ve-sa-do-'ka-.riishN, Jose Maria de or Jose
Maria de Eca de Queiroz (b. Nov. 25, 1845, Povoa do Varzim, Port.—d. Aug. 16, 1900, Paris, France) Portuguese novelist. The illegiti¬ mate son of a magistrate, he began a career in law but turned to writing; later he held several diplomatic posts. He was associated with the Gen¬ eration of ’70, a group of intellectuals committed to social and artistic reform. His novels, in which he introduced naturalism and realism to Por¬ tuguese fiction, include The Sin of Father Amaro (1876), Cousin Bazilio (1878), and his masterpiece, The Maias (1888), a satire exploring the consequences of decadence in Portuguese society. He is often considered his country’s greatest novelist.
eccentric and rod mechanism Arrangement of mechanical parts used to obtain a reciprocating straight-line motion from a rotating shaft. It serves the same purpose as a slider-crank mechanism and is particularly
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592 I Ecdes ► Eckstine
useful when the required stroke of the reciprocating motion is small in comparison with the dimensions of the driving shaft. Because an eccen¬ tric can be attached anywhere along a shaft, it is unnecessary to form any part of the shaft into a crank. Eccentrics are seldom used to transmit large forces because friction loss would be high; they are commonly used to drive the valve gears of engines.
Eccles \'ek-3lz\, W(illiam) H(enry) (b. Aug. 23, 1875, Barrow-in- Furness, Lancashire, Eng.—-d. April 29, 1966, Oxford, Oxfordshire) English physicist. After receiving his doctorate from the Royal College of Science, he became an early advocate of Oliver Heaviside’s theory that an upper layer of the atmosphere reflects radio waves, enabling their transmission over long distances. In 1912 he suggested that solar radia¬ tion accounted for wave-propagation differences between day and night.
Ecclesia \3-'kle-ze-3\ (Greek, ekklesia : “gathering of those summoned”) In ancient Greece, the assembly of citizens in a city-state. The Athenian Ecclesia already existed in the 7th century; under Solon it consisted of all male citizens age 18 and older. It controlled policy, including the right to hear appeals in the public court, elect archons, and confer special privileges. After discussion, members voted by a show of hands; a simple majority determined the results. The body could not initiate new business, since motions had to originate in the boule. Ecclesias existed in most Greek city-states through Roman times, though their powers faded under the empire.
ecclesiastical heraldry Arms associated with the administrative and collegiate bodies of a church, particularly the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian churches. Abbeys, priories, and dioceses have their own arms, and high ecclesiastical functionaries have always added their per¬ sonal arms. See also coat of arms; heraldry.
Ecevit \,e-je-'vet\, Bulent (b. May 28, 1925, Constantinople, Tur.) Turk¬ ish poet, journalist, and politician. A writer for the newspaper of the Republican People’s Party (RPP), he was elected as a RPP member to the Turkish parliament in 1957. As minister of labour (1961-65), he made the strike a legal weapon for labour for the first time in Turkish history. He became head of the RPP in 1972 and served as prime minister of Turkey, first in the 1970s and later from 1999 to 2002. As head of government, he declared an amnesty for all political prisoners and in 1974 authorized Turkey’s military intervention in Cyprus after the Greek-led coup on that island.
Echegaray \,a-cha-ga-'rl\ (y Eizaguirre) , Jose (b. April 19, 1832, Madrid, Spain—d. Sept. 4, 1916, Madrid) Spanish dramatist. A math¬ ematics professor in his early life, he later held government positions, including minister of finance, and helped develop the Banco de Espana. His first play, The Checkbook, was not produced until he was 42 years old; from then on he wrote an average of two plays a year for the rest of his life. These melodramas, now forgotten, were very popular in his day, and he was admired for his fertile imagination and his skillful stage effects. With Frederic Mistral, he won the 1904 Nobel Prize for Literature.
echidna \i-'kid-n3\ or spiny anteater any of three species of egg- laying mammals (monotremes) of the family Tachyglossidae. Echidnas are stocky and virtually tailless. They have strong-clawed feet and spines on the upper part of the brownish body. The snout is narrow, the mouth very small, and the tongue long and sticky for feeding on termites, ants, and other invertebrates in the soil.
The short-beaked echidna common in Australia and Tasmania is 12-21 in. (30-53 cm) long. Two species of long-beaked echidna live only on the island of New Guinea. They are 18-31 in. (45-78 cm) long and have a prominent downward-pointing snout. They are valued for their meat and are declining in numbers. Echidnas exude milk from mammary openings on the skin, and the young lap it up. See also anteater; pangolin; hedgehog.
echinacea \,e-ki-'na-sh3, ,e-ki-'na-se-3\ Any member of the coneflower genus Echinacea. Commonly called the purple coneflower, echinacea is used as a border plant. The leaves and roots are used in herbal remedies to boost the immune system and in the treatment of colds and flu.
echinoderm \i-'kl-n3-,d3rm\ Any of various marine invertebrates (phy¬ lum Echinodermata) characterized by a hard spiny covering, a calcite skeleton, and five-rayed radial body symmetry. About 6,000 existing spe¬ cies are grouped in six classes: feather stars and sea lilies (Crinoidea), starfishes (Asteroidea), brittle stars and basket stars (Ophiuroidea), sea urchins (Echinoidea), sea daisies (Concentricycloidea), and sea cucumbers (Holothurioidea). Echinoderms are found in all the oceans, from the inter¬ tidal zone to the deepest oceanic trenches. Most species have numerous tube feet that are modified for locomotion, respiration, tunneling, sensory perception, feeding, and grasping. Movement of water through a water vascular system composed of five major canals and smaller branches con¬ trols extension and retraction of the tube feet. Most echinoderms feed on microscopic detritus or suspended matter, but some eat plants.