See F.W. Grossman,König Enzio(Göttingen, 1883); and H. Blasius,König Enzio(Breslau, 1884).
See F.W. Grossman,König Enzio(Göttingen, 1883); and H. Blasius,König Enzio(Breslau, 1884).
ENZYME(Gr.ἔνζυμος, leavened, fromá¼Î½, in, andζÏμη, leaven), a term, first suggested by Kühne, for an unorganized ferment (seeFermentation), a group of substances, in the constitution of plants and animals, which decompose certain carbon compounds occurring in association with them. See alsoPlants:Physiology;Nutrition, &c.
EOCENE(Gr.ἠώς, dawn,καινός, recent), in geology, the name suggested by Sir C. Lyell in 1833 for the lower subdivision of the rocks of the Tertiary Era. The term was intended to convey the idea that this was the period which saw the dawn of the recent or existing forms of life, because it was estimated that among the fossils of this period only 3½% of the species are still living. Since Lyell’s time much has been learned about the fauna and flora of the period, and many palaeontologists doubt if any of the Eocenespeciesare still extant, unless it be some of the lowest forms of life. Nevertheless the name is a convenient one and is in general use. The Eocene as originally defined was not long left intact, for E. Beyrich in 1854 proposed the term “Oligocene†for the upper portion, and later, in 1874, K. Schimper suggested “Paleocene†as a separate appellation for the lower portion. The Oligocene division has been generally accepted as a distinct period, but “Paleocene†is not so widely used.
In north-western Europe the close of the Cretaceous period was marked by an extensive emergence of the land, accompanied, in many places, by considerable erosion of the Mesozoic rocks; a prolonged interval elapsed before a relative depression of the land set in and the first Eocene deposits were formed. The early Eocene formations of the London-Paris-Belgian basin were of fresh-water and brackish origin; towards the middle of the period they had become marine, while later they reverted to the original type. In southern and eastern Europe changes of sea-level were less pronounced in character; here the late Cretaceous seas were followed without much modification by those of the Eocene period, so rich in foraminiferal life. In many other regions, the great gap which separates the Tertiary from the Mesozoic rocks in the neighbourhood of London and Paris does not exist, and the boundary line is difficult to draw. Eocene strata succeed Cretaceous rocks without serious unconformity in the Libyan area, parts of Denmark, S.E. Alps, India, New Zealand and central N. America. The unconformity is marked in England, parts of Egypt, on the Atlantic coastal plain and in the eastern gulf region of N. America, as well as in the marine Eocene of western Oregon. The clastic Flysch formation of theCarpathians and northern Alps appears to be of Eocene age in the upper and Cretaceous in the lower part. The Eocene sea covered at various times a strip of the Atlantic coast from New Jersey southward and sent a great tongue or bay up the Mississippi valley; similar epicontinental seas spread over parts of the Pacific border, but the plains of the interior with the mountains on the west were meanwhile being filled with terrestrial and lacustrine deposits which attained an enormous development. This great extension of non-marine formations in the Eocene of different countries has introduced difficulties in the way of exact correlation; it is safer, therefore, in the present state of knowledge, to make no attempt to find in the Eocene strata of America and India, &c., the precise equivalent of subdivisions that have been determined with more or less exactitude in the London-Paris-Belgian area.
It is possible that in Eocene times there existed a greater continuity of the northern land masses than obtains to-day. Europe at that time was probably united with N. America through Iceland and Greenland; while on the other side, America may have joined Asia by the way of Alaska. On the other hand, the great central, mediterranean sea which stretched across the Eurasian continents sent an arm northward somewhere just east of the Ural mountains, and thus divided the northern land mass in that region. S. America, Australia and perhaps Africamayhave been connected more or less directly with the Antarctic continent.
Associated, no doubt, with the crustal movements which closed the Cretaceous and inaugurated the Eocene period, there were local and intermittent manifestations of volcanic activity throughout the period. Diabases, gabbros, serpentines, soda-potash granites, &c., are found in the Eocene of the central and northern Apennines. Tuffs occur in the Veronese and Vicentin Alps—Ronca and Spelecco schists. Tuffs, basalts and other igneous rocks appear also in Montana, Wyoming, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado; also in Central America, the Antillean region and S. America.
It has been very generally assumed by geologists, mainly upon the evidence of plant remains, that the Eocene period opened with a temperate climate in northern latitudes; later, as indicated by the London Clay, Alum Bay and Bournemouth beds, &c., the temperature appears to have been at least subtropical. But it should be observed that the frequent admixture of temperate forms with what are now tropical species makes it difficult to speak with certainty as to the degree of warmth experienced. The occurrence of lignites in the Eocene of the Paris basin, Tirol and N. America is worthy of consideration in this connexion. On the other hand, the coarse boulder beds in the lower Flysch have been regarded as evidence of local glaciation; this would not be inconsistent with a period of widespread geniality of climate, as is indicated by the large size of the nummulites and the dispersion of the marine Mollusca, but the evidence for glaciation is not yet conclusive.
Eocene Stratigraphy.—In Britain, with the exception of the Bovey beds (q.v.) and the leaf-bearing beds of Antrim and Mull, Eocene rocks are confined to the south-eastern portion of England. They lie in the two well-marked synclinal basins of London and Hampshire which are conterminous in the western area (Hampshire, Berkshire), but are separated towards the east by the denuded anticline of the Weald. The strata in these two basins have been grouped in the following manner:—London Basin.Hampshire Basin.UpperUpper Bagshot Sands.Headon Hill and Barton Sands.MiddleMiddle Bagshot Beds and part of Lower Bagshot Beds.Bracklesham Beds and leaf beds of Bournemouth and Alum Bay.LowerPart of Lower Bagshot Beds, London Clay, Blackheath and Oldhaven Beds, Woolwich and Reading Beds, Thanet Sands.London Clay and the equivalent Bognor Beds, Woolwich and Reading Beds.The Thanet sands have not been recognized in the Hampshire basin; they are usually pale yellow and greenish sands with streaks of clay and at the base; resting on an evenly denuded surface of chalk is a very constant layer of green-coated, well-rounded chalk flint pebbles. It is a marine formation, but fossils are scarce except in E. Kent, where it attains its most complete development. The Woolwich and Reading beds (seeReading Beds) contain both marine and estuarine fossils. In western Kent, between the Woolwich beds and the London Clay are the Oldhaven beds or Blackheath pebbles, 20 to 40 ft., made up almost entirely of well-rounded flint pebbles set in sand; the fossils are marine and estuarine. The London Clay, 500 ft. thick, is a marine deposit consisting of blue or brown clay with sandy layers and septarian nodules; its equivalent in the Hampshire area is sometimes called the Bognor Clay, well exposed on the coast of Sussex. The Bagshot, Bracklesham and Barton beds will be found briefly described under those heads.Crossing the English Channel, we find in northern France and Belgium a series of deposits identified in their general characters with those of England. The anticlinal ridge of the English Weald is prolonged south-eastwards on to the continent, and separates the Belgian from the French Eocene areas much as it separates the areas of London and Hampshire; and it is clear that at the time of deposition all four regions were intimately related and subject to similar variations of marine and estuarine conditions. With a series of strata so variable from point to point it is natural that many purely local phases should have received distinctive names; in the Upper Eocene of the Paris basin the more important formations are the highly fossiliferous marine sands known as the “Sands of Beauchamp†and the local fresh-water limestone, the “Calcaire de St Ouen.†The Middle Eocene is represented by the well-known “Calcaire grossier,†about 90 ft. thick. The beds in this series vary a good deal lithologically, some being sandy, others marly or glauconitic; fossils are abundant. The Upper Calcaire grossier or “Caillasses†is a fresh-water formation; the middle division is marine; while the lower one is partly marine, partly of fresh-water origin. The numerous quarries and mines for building stone in the neighbourhood of Paris have made it possible to acquire a very precise knowledge of this division, and many of the beds have received trade names, such as “Rochette,†“Roche,†“Banc franc,†“Banc vert,†“Cliquart,†“Saint Nom;†the two last named are dolomitic. Below these limestones are the nummulitic sands of Cuise and Soissons. The Lower Eocene contains the lignitic plastic clay (argile plastique) of Soissons and elsewhere; the limestones of Rilly and Sézanne and the greenish glauconitic sands of Bracheux. The relative position of the above formations with respect to those of Belgium and England will be seen from the table of Eocene strata. The Eocene deposits of southern Europe differ in a marked manner from those of the Anglo-Parisian basin. The most important feature is the great development of nummulitic limestone with thin marls and nummulitic sandstones. The sea in which the nummulitic limestones were formed occupied the site of an enlarged Mediterranean communicating with similar waters right round the world, for these rocks are found not only in southern Europe, including all the Alpine tracts, Greece and Turkey and southern Russia, but they are well developed in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, and they may be followed through Persia, Baluchistan, India, into China, Tibet, Japan, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines. The nummulitic limestones are frequently hard and crystalline, especially where they have been subjected to elevation and compression as in the Alpine region, 10,000 ft. above the sea, or from 16,000, to 20,000 ft., in the central Asian plateau. Besides being a widespread formation the nummulitic limestone is locally several thousand feet thick.While the foraminiferal limestones were being formed over most of southern Europe, a series of clastic beds were in course of formation in the Carpathians and the northern Alpine region, viz. the Flysch and the Vienna sandstone. Some portions of this Alpine Eocene are coarsely conglomeratic, and in places there are boulders ofnon-local rocks of enormous dimensions included in the argillaceous or sandy matrix. The occurrence of these large boulders together with the scarceness of fossils has suggested a glacial origin for the formation; but the evidence hitherto collected is not conclusive. C.W. von Gümbel has classified the Eocene of the northern Alps (Bavaria, &c.) as follows:—Upper EoceneFlysch and Vienna sandstone, with younger nummulitic beds and Häring group.Middle EoceneKressenberg Beds, with older nummulitic beds.Lower EoceneBurberg Beds, Greensands with small nummulites.The Häring group of northern Tirol contains lignite beds of some importance. In the southern and S.E. Alps the following divisions are recognized.Upper EoceneMacigno or Tassello—Vienna Sandstone, conglomerates, marls and shales.Middle EoceneNummulitic limestones, three subdivisions.Lower EoceneLiburnian stage (or Proteocene), foraminiferal limestones with fresh-water intercalations at the top and bottom, theCosinabeds, fresh-water in the middle of the series.In the central and northern Apennines the Eocene strata have been subdivided by Prof. F. Sacco into an upper Bartonian, a middle Parisian and a lower Suessonian series. In the middle member are the representatives of the Flysch and the Macigno. These Eocene strata are upwards of 5500 ft. thick. In northern Africa the nummulitic limestones and sandstones are widely spread; the lower portions comprise the Libyan group and the shales of Esneh on the Nile (Flandrien), theAlveolinabeds of Sokotra and others; the Mokattam stage of Egypt is a representative of the later Eocene. Much of the N. African Eocene contains phosphatic beds. In India strata of Eocene age are extensively developed; in Sind the marine Ranikot beds, 1500 to 2000 ft., consisting of clays with gypsum and lignite, shales and sandstones; these beds have, side by side with Eocene nummulites, a few fossils of Cretaceous affinities. Above the Ranikot beds are the massive nummulitic limestones and sandstones of the Kirthar group; these are succeeded by the nummulitic limestones and shales at the base of the Nari group. In the southern Himalayan region the nummulitic phase of Eocene deposit is well developed, but there are difficulties in fixing the line of demarcation between this and the younger formations. The lower part of the Sirmur series of the Simla district may belong to this period; it is subdivided into the Kasauli group and the Dagshai group with the Subáthu group at the base. Beneath the thick nummulitic Eocene limestone of the Salt Range are shales and marls with a few coal seams. The marine Eocene rocks of N. America are most extensively developed round the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, whence they spread into the valley of the Mississippi and, as a comparatively narrow strip, along the Atlantic coastal plain to New Jersey.The series in Alabama, which may be taken as typical of the Gulf coast Eocene, is as follows:—Upper JacksonianWhite limestone of Alabama (and Vicksburg?).Middle ClaibornianClaiborne series,Buhrstone series.LowerChickasawan Sands and lignites.Midwayan or Clayton formation, limestones.The above succession is not fully represented in the Atlantic coast states.On the Pacific coast marine formations are found in California and Oregon; such are the Tejon series with lignite and oil; the Escondido series of S. California (7000 ft.), part of the Pascadero series of the Santa Cruz Mountains; the Pulaski, Tyee, Arago and Coaledo beds—with coals—in Oregon. In the Puget formation of Washington we have a great series of sediments, largely of brackish water origin, and in parts coal-bearing. The total thickness of this formation has been estimated at 20,000 ft. (it may prove to be less than this), but it is probable that only the lower portion is of Eocene age. The most interesting of the N. American Eocene deposits are those of the Rocky Mountains and the adjacent western plains, in Wyoming, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, &c.; they are of terrestrial, lacustrine or aeolian origin, and on this account and because they were not strictly synchronous, there is considerable difficulty in placing them in their true position in the time-scale. The main divisions or groups are generally recognized as follows:—MammalianZonal Forms.Upper1Uinta Group, 800 ft. (? = Jacksonian)Diplacodon.Telmatotherium.Middle2Bridger Group, 2000 ft. (? = Claibornian)Uintatherium.Lower3Wind River Group, 800 ft.Bathyopsis.4Wasatch Group, 2000 ft. (? = Chickasawan)Coryphodon.Basal5Torrejon Group, 300 ft.Pantolambda.6Puerco Group, 500 to 1000 ft.Polymastodon.1South of the Uinta Mts. in Utah.2Fort Bridger Basin.3Wind river in Wyoming.4Wasatch Mts. in Utah.5Torrejon in New Mexico.6Puerco river, New Mexico.The Fort Union beds of Canada and parts of Montana and N. Dakota are probably the oldest Eocene strata of the Western Interior; they are some 2000 ft. thick and possibly are equivalent to the Midwayan group. But in these beds, as in those known as Arapahoe, Livingston, Denver, Ohio and Ruby, which are now often classed as belonging to the upper Laramie formation, it is safer to regard them as a transitional series between the Mesozoic and Tertiary systems. There is, however, a marked unconformity between the Eocene Telluride or San Miguel and Poison Canyon formations of Colorado and the underlying Laramie rocks.Many local aspects of Eocene rocks have received special names, but too little is known about them to enable them to be correctly placed in the Eocene series. Such are the Clarno formation (late Eocene) of the John Day basin, Oregon, the Pinyon conglomerate of Yellowstone Park, the Sphinx conglomerate of Montana, the Whitetail conglomerate of Arizona, the Manti shales of Utah, the Mojave formation of S. California and the Amyzon formation of Nevada.Of the Eocene of other countries little is known in detail. Strata of this age occur in Central and S. America (Patagonia-Megellanian series—Brazil, Chile, Argentina), in S. Australia (and in the Great Australian Bight), New Zealand, in Seymour Island near Graham Land in the Antarctic Regions, Japan, Java, Borneo, New Guinea, Moluccas, Philippines, New Caledonia, also in Greenland, Bear Island, Spitzbergen and Siberia.
Eocene Stratigraphy.—In Britain, with the exception of the Bovey beds (q.v.) and the leaf-bearing beds of Antrim and Mull, Eocene rocks are confined to the south-eastern portion of England. They lie in the two well-marked synclinal basins of London and Hampshire which are conterminous in the western area (Hampshire, Berkshire), but are separated towards the east by the denuded anticline of the Weald. The strata in these two basins have been grouped in the following manner:—
Middle Bagshot Beds and part of Lower Bagshot Beds.
Bracklesham Beds and leaf beds of Bournemouth and Alum Bay.
Part of Lower Bagshot Beds, London Clay, Blackheath and Oldhaven Beds, Woolwich and Reading Beds, Thanet Sands.
London Clay and the equivalent Bognor Beds, Woolwich and Reading Beds.
The Thanet sands have not been recognized in the Hampshire basin; they are usually pale yellow and greenish sands with streaks of clay and at the base; resting on an evenly denuded surface of chalk is a very constant layer of green-coated, well-rounded chalk flint pebbles. It is a marine formation, but fossils are scarce except in E. Kent, where it attains its most complete development. The Woolwich and Reading beds (seeReading Beds) contain both marine and estuarine fossils. In western Kent, between the Woolwich beds and the London Clay are the Oldhaven beds or Blackheath pebbles, 20 to 40 ft., made up almost entirely of well-rounded flint pebbles set in sand; the fossils are marine and estuarine. The London Clay, 500 ft. thick, is a marine deposit consisting of blue or brown clay with sandy layers and septarian nodules; its equivalent in the Hampshire area is sometimes called the Bognor Clay, well exposed on the coast of Sussex. The Bagshot, Bracklesham and Barton beds will be found briefly described under those heads.
Crossing the English Channel, we find in northern France and Belgium a series of deposits identified in their general characters with those of England. The anticlinal ridge of the English Weald is prolonged south-eastwards on to the continent, and separates the Belgian from the French Eocene areas much as it separates the areas of London and Hampshire; and it is clear that at the time of deposition all four regions were intimately related and subject to similar variations of marine and estuarine conditions. With a series of strata so variable from point to point it is natural that many purely local phases should have received distinctive names; in the Upper Eocene of the Paris basin the more important formations are the highly fossiliferous marine sands known as the “Sands of Beauchamp†and the local fresh-water limestone, the “Calcaire de St Ouen.†The Middle Eocene is represented by the well-known “Calcaire grossier,†about 90 ft. thick. The beds in this series vary a good deal lithologically, some being sandy, others marly or glauconitic; fossils are abundant. The Upper Calcaire grossier or “Caillasses†is a fresh-water formation; the middle division is marine; while the lower one is partly marine, partly of fresh-water origin. The numerous quarries and mines for building stone in the neighbourhood of Paris have made it possible to acquire a very precise knowledge of this division, and many of the beds have received trade names, such as “Rochette,†“Roche,†“Banc franc,†“Banc vert,†“Cliquart,†“Saint Nom;†the two last named are dolomitic. Below these limestones are the nummulitic sands of Cuise and Soissons. The Lower Eocene contains the lignitic plastic clay (argile plastique) of Soissons and elsewhere; the limestones of Rilly and Sézanne and the greenish glauconitic sands of Bracheux. The relative position of the above formations with respect to those of Belgium and England will be seen from the table of Eocene strata. The Eocene deposits of southern Europe differ in a marked manner from those of the Anglo-Parisian basin. The most important feature is the great development of nummulitic limestone with thin marls and nummulitic sandstones. The sea in which the nummulitic limestones were formed occupied the site of an enlarged Mediterranean communicating with similar waters right round the world, for these rocks are found not only in southern Europe, including all the Alpine tracts, Greece and Turkey and southern Russia, but they are well developed in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, and they may be followed through Persia, Baluchistan, India, into China, Tibet, Japan, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines. The nummulitic limestones are frequently hard and crystalline, especially where they have been subjected to elevation and compression as in the Alpine region, 10,000 ft. above the sea, or from 16,000, to 20,000 ft., in the central Asian plateau. Besides being a widespread formation the nummulitic limestone is locally several thousand feet thick.
While the foraminiferal limestones were being formed over most of southern Europe, a series of clastic beds were in course of formation in the Carpathians and the northern Alpine region, viz. the Flysch and the Vienna sandstone. Some portions of this Alpine Eocene are coarsely conglomeratic, and in places there are boulders ofnon-local rocks of enormous dimensions included in the argillaceous or sandy matrix. The occurrence of these large boulders together with the scarceness of fossils has suggested a glacial origin for the formation; but the evidence hitherto collected is not conclusive. C.W. von Gümbel has classified the Eocene of the northern Alps (Bavaria, &c.) as follows:—
Flysch and Vienna sandstone, with younger nummulitic beds and Häring group.
Kressenberg Beds, with older nummulitic beds.
Burberg Beds, Greensands with small nummulites.
The Häring group of northern Tirol contains lignite beds of some importance. In the southern and S.E. Alps the following divisions are recognized.
Macigno or Tassello—Vienna Sandstone, conglomerates, marls and shales.
Nummulitic limestones, three subdivisions.
Liburnian stage (or Proteocene), foraminiferal limestones with fresh-water intercalations at the top and bottom, theCosinabeds, fresh-water in the middle of the series.
In the central and northern Apennines the Eocene strata have been subdivided by Prof. F. Sacco into an upper Bartonian, a middle Parisian and a lower Suessonian series. In the middle member are the representatives of the Flysch and the Macigno. These Eocene strata are upwards of 5500 ft. thick. In northern Africa the nummulitic limestones and sandstones are widely spread; the lower portions comprise the Libyan group and the shales of Esneh on the Nile (Flandrien), theAlveolinabeds of Sokotra and others; the Mokattam stage of Egypt is a representative of the later Eocene. Much of the N. African Eocene contains phosphatic beds. In India strata of Eocene age are extensively developed; in Sind the marine Ranikot beds, 1500 to 2000 ft., consisting of clays with gypsum and lignite, shales and sandstones; these beds have, side by side with Eocene nummulites, a few fossils of Cretaceous affinities. Above the Ranikot beds are the massive nummulitic limestones and sandstones of the Kirthar group; these are succeeded by the nummulitic limestones and shales at the base of the Nari group. In the southern Himalayan region the nummulitic phase of Eocene deposit is well developed, but there are difficulties in fixing the line of demarcation between this and the younger formations. The lower part of the Sirmur series of the Simla district may belong to this period; it is subdivided into the Kasauli group and the Dagshai group with the Subáthu group at the base. Beneath the thick nummulitic Eocene limestone of the Salt Range are shales and marls with a few coal seams. The marine Eocene rocks of N. America are most extensively developed round the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, whence they spread into the valley of the Mississippi and, as a comparatively narrow strip, along the Atlantic coastal plain to New Jersey.
The series in Alabama, which may be taken as typical of the Gulf coast Eocene, is as follows:—
The above succession is not fully represented in the Atlantic coast states.
On the Pacific coast marine formations are found in California and Oregon; such are the Tejon series with lignite and oil; the Escondido series of S. California (7000 ft.), part of the Pascadero series of the Santa Cruz Mountains; the Pulaski, Tyee, Arago and Coaledo beds—with coals—in Oregon. In the Puget formation of Washington we have a great series of sediments, largely of brackish water origin, and in parts coal-bearing. The total thickness of this formation has been estimated at 20,000 ft. (it may prove to be less than this), but it is probable that only the lower portion is of Eocene age. The most interesting of the N. American Eocene deposits are those of the Rocky Mountains and the adjacent western plains, in Wyoming, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, &c.; they are of terrestrial, lacustrine or aeolian origin, and on this account and because they were not strictly synchronous, there is considerable difficulty in placing them in their true position in the time-scale. The main divisions or groups are generally recognized as follows:—
The Fort Union beds of Canada and parts of Montana and N. Dakota are probably the oldest Eocene strata of the Western Interior; they are some 2000 ft. thick and possibly are equivalent to the Midwayan group. But in these beds, as in those known as Arapahoe, Livingston, Denver, Ohio and Ruby, which are now often classed as belonging to the upper Laramie formation, it is safer to regard them as a transitional series between the Mesozoic and Tertiary systems. There is, however, a marked unconformity between the Eocene Telluride or San Miguel and Poison Canyon formations of Colorado and the underlying Laramie rocks.
Many local aspects of Eocene rocks have received special names, but too little is known about them to enable them to be correctly placed in the Eocene series. Such are the Clarno formation (late Eocene) of the John Day basin, Oregon, the Pinyon conglomerate of Yellowstone Park, the Sphinx conglomerate of Montana, the Whitetail conglomerate of Arizona, the Manti shales of Utah, the Mojave formation of S. California and the Amyzon formation of Nevada.
Of the Eocene of other countries little is known in detail. Strata of this age occur in Central and S. America (Patagonia-Megellanian series—Brazil, Chile, Argentina), in S. Australia (and in the Great Australian Bight), New Zealand, in Seymour Island near Graham Land in the Antarctic Regions, Japan, Java, Borneo, New Guinea, Moluccas, Philippines, New Caledonia, also in Greenland, Bear Island, Spitzbergen and Siberia.
Organic Life of the Eocene Period.—As it has been observed above, the name Eocene was given to this period on the ground that in its fauna only a small percentage oflivingspecies were present; this estimation was founded upon the assemblage of invertebrate remains in which, from the commencement of this period until the present day, there has been comparatively little change. The real biological interest of the period centres around the higher vertebrate types. In the marine mollusca the most noteworthy change is the entire absence of ammonoids, the group which throughout the Mesozoic era had taken so prominent a place, but disappeared completely with the close of the Cretaceous. Nautiloids were more abundant than they are at present, but as a whole the Cephalopods took a more subordinate part than they had done in previous periods. On the other hand, Gasteropods and Pelecypods found in the numerous shallow seas a very suitable environment and flourished exceedingly, and their shells are often preserved in a state of great perfection and in enormous numbers. Of the Gasteropod generaCerithiumwith its estuarine and lagoonal formsPotamides,Potamidopsis, &c., is very characteristic;Rostellaria,Voluta,Fusus,Pleurotoma,Conus,Typhis, may also be cited.Cardium,Venericardia,Crassatella,Corbulomya,Cytherea,Lucina,Anomia,Ostreaare a few of the many Pelecypod genera. Echinoderms were represented by abundant sea-urchins,Echinolampas,Linthia,Conoclypeus, &c. Corals flourished on the numerous reefs and approximated to modern forms (Trochosmilia,Dendrophyllia). But by far the most abundant marine organisms were the foraminifera which flourished in the warm seas in countless myriads. Foremost among these are theNummulites, which by their extraordinary numerical development and great size, as well as by their wide distribution, demand special recognition. Many other genera of almost equal importance as rock builders, lived at the same time:Orthophragma,Operculina,Assilina,Orbitolites,Miliola,Alveolina. Crustacea were fairly abundant (Xanthopsis,Portunus), and most of the orders and many families of modern insects were represented.
When we turn to the higher forms of life, the reptiles and mammals, we find a remarkable contrast between the fauna of the Eocene and those periods which preceded and succeeded it. The great group of Saurian reptiles, whose members had held dominion on land and sea during most of the Mesozoic time, had completely disappeared by the beginning of the Eocene; in their place placental mammals made their appearance and rapidly became the dominant group. Among the early Eocene mammals no trace can be found of the numerous and clearly-marked orders with which we are familiar to-day; instead we find obscurely differentiated forms, which cannot be fitted without violence into any of the modern orders. The early placental mammals were generalized types (with certain non-placental characters) with potentialities for rapid divergence and development in the direction of the more specialized modern orders. Thus, the Creodonta foreshadowed the Carnivora, theCondylarthra presaged the herbivorous groups; but before the close of this period, so favourable were the conditions of life to a rapid evolution of types, that most of the greatordershad been clearly defined, though none of the Eocenegeneraare still extant. Among the early carnivores wereArctocyon,Palaeonictis,Amblyctonus,Hyaenodon,Cynodon,Provivera,Patriofelis. The primitive dog-like forms did not appear until late in the period, in Europe; and true cats did not arrive until later, though they were represented byEusmilusin the Upper Eocene of France. The primitive ungulates (Condylarths) were generalized forms with five effective toes, exemplified inPhenacodus. The gross Amblypoda, with five-toed stumpy feet (Coryphodon), were prominent in the early Eocene; particularly striking forms were theDinoceratidae,Dinoceras, with three pairs of horns or protuberances on its massive skull and a pair of huge canine teeth projecting downwards;Tinoceras,Uintatherium,Loxophodon, &c.; these elephantine creatures, whose remains are so abundant in the Eocene deposits of western America, died out before the close of the period. The divergence of the hoofed mammals into the two prominent divisions, the odd-toed and even-toed, began in this period, but the former did not get beyond the three-toed stage. The least differentiated of the odd-toed group were the Lophiodonts: tapirs were foreshadowed bySystemodonand similar forms (Palaeotherium,Paloplotherium); the peccary-likeHyracotheriumwas a forerunner of the horse,Hyrochinuswas a primitive rhinoceros. The evolution of the horse through such forms asHyracotherium,Pachynolophus,Eohippus, &c., appears to have proceeded along parallel lines in Eurasia and America, but the true horse did not arrive until later. Ancestral deer were represented byDichobune,Amphitragulusand others, while many small hog-like forms existed (Diplopus,Eohyus,Hyopotamus,Homacodon). The primitive stock of the camel group developed in N. America in late Eocene time and sent branches into S. America and Eurasia. The edentates were very generalized forms at this period (Ganodonta); the rodents (Tillodontia) attained a large size for members of this group,e.g.Tillotherium. The Insectivores had Eocene forerunners, and the Lemuroids—probable ancestors of the apes—were forms of great interest,Anaptomorphus,Microsyops,Heterohyus,Microchaerus,Coenopithecus; even the Cetaceans were well represented byZeuglodonand others.
The non-placental mammals although abundant were taking a secondary place;Didelphys, the primitive opossum, is noteworthy on account of its wide geographical range.
Among the birds, the large flightless forms,Eupterornis,Gastornis, were prominent, and many others were present, such as the ancestral forms of our modern gulls, albatrosses, herons, buzzards, eagles, owls, quails, plovers. Reptiles were poorly represented, with the exception of crocodilians, tortoises, turtles and some large snakes.
The flora of the Eocene period, although full of interest, does not convey the impression of newness that is afforded by the fauna of the period. The reason for this difference is this: the newer flora had been introduced and had developed to a considerable extent in the Cretaceous period, and there is no sharp break between the flora of the earlier and that of the later period; in both we find a mixed assemblage—what we should now regard as tropical palms, growing side by side with mild-temperate trees. Early Eocene plants in N. Europe, oaks, willows, chestnuts (Castanea), laurels, indicate a more temperate climate than existed in Middle Eocene when in the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and the adjacent portions of the continent, palms, figs, cinnamon flourished along with the cactus, magnolia, sequoia, cypress and ferns. The late Eocene flora of Europe was very similar to its descendant in modern Australasia.
See A. de Lapparent,Traité de géologie, vol. iii. (5th ed., 1906), which contains a good general account of the period, with numerous references to original papers. Also R.B. Newton,Systematic List of the Frederick E. Edwards Collection of British Oligocene and Eocene Mollusca in the British Museum(Natural History) (1891), pp. 299-325; G.D. Harris, “A Revision of our Lower Eocenes,â€Proc. Geologists’ Assoc.x., 1887-1888; W.B. Clark, “Correlation Papers: Eocene†(1891),U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. No. 83.For more recent literature consultGeological Literature added to the Geological Society’s Library, published annually by the society.
See A. de Lapparent,Traité de géologie, vol. iii. (5th ed., 1906), which contains a good general account of the period, with numerous references to original papers. Also R.B. Newton,Systematic List of the Frederick E. Edwards Collection of British Oligocene and Eocene Mollusca in the British Museum(Natural History) (1891), pp. 299-325; G.D. Harris, “A Revision of our Lower Eocenes,â€Proc. Geologists’ Assoc.x., 1887-1888; W.B. Clark, “Correlation Papers: Eocene†(1891),U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. No. 83.For more recent literature consultGeological Literature added to the Geological Society’s Library, published annually by the society.
(J. A. H.)
1BartonienfromBarton, England.Lutétienâ€Lutetia = Paris.Yprésienâ€Ypres, Flanders.Landénienâ€Landen, Belgium.Thanetienâ€The Isle of Thanet.Sparnacienâ€Sparnacum = Épernay.Laekenienâ€Laeken, Belgium.Bruxellienâ€Brussels.Panisélienâ€Mont Panisel, near Mons.Other names that have been applied to subdivisions of the Eocene not included in the table are Parisien and Suessonien (Soissons); Ludien (Ludes in the Paris basin) and Priabonien (Priabona in the Vicentine Alps); Heersien (Heer near Maastricht) and Wemmelien (Wemmel, Belgium); very many more might be mentioned.
1
Other names that have been applied to subdivisions of the Eocene not included in the table are Parisien and Suessonien (Soissons); Ludien (Ludes in the Paris basin) and Priabonien (Priabona in the Vicentine Alps); Heersien (Heer near Maastricht) and Wemmelien (Wemmel, Belgium); very many more might be mentioned.
EON DE BEAUMONT,Charles Geneviève Louise Auguste André Timothée d’(1728-1810), commonly known as theChevalier d’Eon, French political adventurer, famous for the supposed mystery of his sex, was born near Tonnerre in Burgundy, on the 7th of October 1728. He was the son of an advocate of good position, and after a distinguished course of study at the Collège Mazarin he became a doctor of law by special dispensation before the usual age, and adopted his father’s profession. Hebegan literary work as a contributor to Fréron’sAnnée littéraire, and attracted notice as a political writer by two works on financial and administrative questions, which he published in his twenty-fifth year. His reputation increased so rapidly that in 1755 he was, on the recommendation of Louis François, prince of Conti, entrusted by Louis XV. (who had originally started his “secret†foreign policy—i.e.by undisclosed agents behind the backs of his ministers—in favour of the prince of Conti’s ambition to be king of Poland) with a secret mission to the court of Russia. It was on this occasion that he is said for the first time to have assumed the dress of a woman, with the connivance, it is supposed, of the French court.1In this disguise he obtained the appointment of reader to the empress Elizabeth, and won her over entirely to the views of his royal master, with whom he maintained a secret correspondence during the whole of his diplomatic career. After a year’s absence he returned to Paris to be immediately charged with a second mission to St Petersburg, in which he figured in his true sex, and as brother of the reader who had been at the Russian court the year before. He played an important part in the negotiations between the courts of Russia, Austria and France during the Seven Years’ War. For these diplomatic services he was rewarded with the decoration of the grand cross of St Louis. In 1759 he served with the French army on the Rhine as aide-de-camp to the marshal de Broglie, and was wounded during the campaign. He had held for some years previously a commission in a regiment of dragoons, and was distinguished for his skill in military exercises, particularly in fencing. In 1762, on the return of the duc de Nivernais, d’Eon, who had been secretary to his embassy, was appointed his successor, first as resident agent and then as minister plenipotentiary at the court of Great Britain. He had not been long in this position when he lost the favour of his sovereign, chiefly, according to his own account, through the adverse influence of Madame de Pompadour, who was jealous of him as a secret correspondent of the king. Superseded by count de Guerchy, d’Eon showed his irritation by denying the genuineness of the letter of appointment, and by raising an action against Guerchy for an attempt to poison him. Guerchy, on the other hand, had previously commenced an action against d’Eon for libel, founded on the publication by the latter of certain state documents of which he had possession in his official capacity. Both parties succeeded in so far as a true bill was found against Guerchy for the attempt to murder, though by pleading his privilege as ambassador he escaped a trial, and d’Eon was found guilty of the libel. Failing to come up for judgment when called on, he was outlawed. For some years afterwards he lived in obscurity, appearing in public chiefly at fencing matches. During this period rumours as to the sex of d’Eon, originating probably in the story of his first residence at St Petersburg as a female, began to excite public interest. In 1774 he published at Amsterdam a book calledLes Loisirs du Chevalier d’Eon, which stimulated gossip. Bets were frequently laid on the subject, and an action raised before Lord Mansfield in 1777 for the recovery of one of these bets brought the question to a judicial decision, by which d’Eon was declared a female. A month after the trial he returned to France, having received permission to do so as the result of negotiations in which Beaumarchais was employed as agent. The conditions were that he was to deliver up certain state documents in his possession, and to wear the dress of a female. The reason for the latter of these stipulations has never been clearly explained, but he complied with it to the close of his life. In 1784 he received permission to visit London for the purpose of bringing back his library and other property. He did not, however, return to France, though after the Revolution he sent a letter, using the name of Madame d’Eon, in which he offered to serve in the republican army. He continued to dress as a lady, and took part in fencing matches with success, though at last in 1796 he was badly hurt in one. He died in London on the 22nd of May 1810. During the closing years of his life he is said to have enjoyed a small pension from George III. A post-mortem examination of the body conclusively established the fact that d’Eon was a man.
The best modern accounts are in the duc de Broglie’sLe Secret du roi(1888); Captain J. Buchan Telfer’sStrange Career of the Chevalier d’Eon(1888); Octave Homberg and Fernand Jousselin,Le Chevalier d’Eon(1904); and A. Lang’sHistorical Mysteries(1904).
The best modern accounts are in the duc de Broglie’sLe Secret du roi(1888); Captain J. Buchan Telfer’sStrange Career of the Chevalier d’Eon(1888); Octave Homberg and Fernand Jousselin,Le Chevalier d’Eon(1904); and A. Lang’sHistorical Mysteries(1904).
1But see Lang’sHistorical Mysteries, pp. 241-242, where this traditional account is discussed and rejected.
1But see Lang’sHistorical Mysteries, pp. 241-242, where this traditional account is discussed and rejected.
EÖTVÖS, JÓZSEF,Baron(1813-1871), Hungarian writer and statesman, the son of Baron Ignacz Eötvös and the baroness Lilian, was born at Buda on the 13th of September 1813. After an excellent education he entered the civil service as a vice-notary, and was early introduced to political life by his father. He also spent many years in western Europe, assimilating the new ideas both literary and political, and making the acquaintance of the leaders of the Romantic school. On his return to Hungary he wrote his first political work,Prison Reform; and at the diet of 1839-1840 he made a great impression by his eloquence and learning. One of his first speeches (published, with additional matter, in 1841) warmly advocated Jewish emancipation. Subsequently, in the columns of thePesti Hirlap, Eötvös disseminated his progressive ideas farther afield, his standpoint being that the necessary reforms could only be carried out administratively by a responsible and purely national government. The same sentiments pervade his novelThe Village Notary(1844-1846), one of the classics of the Magyar literature, as well as in the less notable romanceHungary in 1514, and the comedyLong live Equality!In 1842 he married Anna Rosty, but his happy domestic life did not interfere with his public career. He was now generally regarded as one of the leading writers and politicians of Hungary, while the charm of his oratory was such that, whenever the archduke palatine Joseph desired to have a full attendance in the House of Magnates, he called upon Eötvös to address it. The February revolution of 1848 was the complete triumph of Eötvös’ ideas, and he held the portfolio of public worship and instruction in the first responsible Hungarian ministry. But his influence extended far beyond his own department. Eötvös, Deák and Szechényi represented the pacific, moderating influence in the council of ministers, but when the premier, Batthyány, resigned, Eötvös, in despair, retired for a time to Munich. Yet, though withdrawn from the tempests of the War of Independence, he continued to serve his country with his pen. HisInfluence of the Ruling Ideas of the 19th Century on the State(Pest, 1851-1854, German editions at Vienna and Leipzig the same year) profoundly influenced literature and public opinion in Hungary. On his return home, in 1851, he kept resolutely aloof from all political movements. In 1859 he publishedThe Guarantees of the Power and Unity of Austria(Ger. ed. Leipzig, same year), in which he tried to arrive at a compromise between personal union and ministerial responsibility on the one hand and centralization on the other. After the Italian war, however, such a halting-place was regarded as inadequate by the majority of the nation. In the diet of 1861 Eötvös was one of the most loyal followers of Deák, and his speech in favour of the “Address†(seeDeák, Francis) made a great impression at Vienna. The enforced calm which prevailed during the next few years enabled him to devote himself once more to literature, and, in 1866, he was elected president of the Hungarian academy. In the diets of 1865 and 1867 he fought zealously by the side of Deák, with whose policy he now completely associated himself. On the formation of the Andrássy cabinet (Feb. 1867) he once more accepted the portfolio of public worship and education, being the only one of the ministers of 1848 who thus returned to office. He had now, at last, the opportunity of realizing the ideals of a lifetime. That very year the diet passed his bill for the emancipation of the Jews; though his further efforts in the direction of religious liberty were less successful, owing to the opposition of the Catholics. But his greatest achievement was the National Schools Act, the most complete system of education provided for Hungary since the days of Maria Theresa. Good Catholic though he was (in matters of religion he had been the friend and was the disciple of Montalembert), Eötvös looked with disfavour on the dogma of papal infallibility, promulgated in 1870, and when the bishop ofFehérvár proclaimed it, Eötvös cited him to appear at the capitalad audiendum verbum regium. He was a constant defender of the composition with Austria (Ausgleich), and during the absence of Andrássy used to preside over the council of ministers; but the labours of the last few years were too much for his failing health, and he died at Pest on the 2nd of February 1871. On the 3rd of May 1879 a statue was erected to him at Pest in the square which bears his name.
Eötvös occupied as prominent a place in Hungarian literature as in Hungarian politics. His peculiarity, both as a politician and as a statesman, lies in the fact that he was a true philosopher, a philosopher at heart as well as in theory; and in his poems and novels he clothed in artistic forms all the great ideas for which he contended in social and political life. The best of his verses are to be found in his ballads, but his poems are insignificant compared with his romances. It wasThe Carthusians, written on the occasion of the floods at Pest in 1838, that first took the public by storm. The Magyar novel was then in its infancy, being chiefly represented by the historico-epics of Jósiká. Eötvös first modernized it, giving prominence in his pages to current social problems and political aspirations. The famousVillage Notarycame still nearer to actual life, whileHungary in 1514, in which the terrible DozsaJacquerie(seeDozsa) is so vividly described, is especially interesting because it rightly attributes the great national catastrophe of Mohács to the blind selfishness of the Magyar nobility and the intense sufferings of the people. Yet, as already stated, all these books are written with a moral purpose, and their somewhat involved and difficult style is, nowadays at any rate, a trial to those who are acquainted with the easy, brilliant and lively novels of Jókai.
The best edition of Eötvös’ collected works is that of 1891, in 17 vols. Comparatively few of his writings have been translated, but there are a good English version (London, 1850) and numerous German versions ofThe Village Notary, whileThe Emancipation of the Jewshas been translated into Italian and German (Pest, 1841-1842), and a German translation ofHungary in 1514, under the title ofDer Bauernkrieg in Ungarnwas published at Pest in 1850.See A. Bán,Life and Art of Baron Joseph Eötvös(Hung.) (Budapest, 1902); Zoltan FerencziBaron Joseph Eötvös(Hung.) (Budapest, 1903) [this is the best biography]; and M. Berkovics,Baron Joseph Eotvos and the French Literature(Hung.) (Budapest, 1904).
The best edition of Eötvös’ collected works is that of 1891, in 17 vols. Comparatively few of his writings have been translated, but there are a good English version (London, 1850) and numerous German versions ofThe Village Notary, whileThe Emancipation of the Jewshas been translated into Italian and German (Pest, 1841-1842), and a German translation ofHungary in 1514, under the title ofDer Bauernkrieg in Ungarnwas published at Pest in 1850.
See A. Bán,Life and Art of Baron Joseph Eötvös(Hung.) (Budapest, 1902); Zoltan FerencziBaron Joseph Eötvös(Hung.) (Budapest, 1903) [this is the best biography]; and M. Berkovics,Baron Joseph Eotvos and the French Literature(Hung.) (Budapest, 1904).
(R. N. B.)
EPAMINONDAS(c.418-362), Theban general and statesman, born about 418B.C.of a noble but impoverished family. For his education he was chiefly indebted to Lysis of Tarentum, a Pythagorean exile who had found refuge with his father Polymnis. He first comes into notice in the attack upon Mantineia in 385, when he fought on the Spartan side and saved the life of his future colleague Pelopidas. In his youth Epaminondas took little part in public affairs; he held aloof from the political assassinations which preceded the Theban insurrection of 379. But in the following campaigns against Sparta he rendered good service in organizing the Theban defence. In 371 he represented Thebes at the congress in Sparta, and by his refusal to surrender the Boeotian cities under Theban control prevented the conclusion of a general peace. In the ensuing campaign he commanded the Boeotian army which met the Peloponnesian levy at Leuctra, and by a brilliant victory on this site, due mainly to his daring innovations in the tactics of the heavy infantry, established at once the predominance of Thebes among the land-powers of Greece and his own fame as the greatest and most original of Greek generals. At the instigation of the Peloponnesian states which armed against Sparta in consequence of this battle, Epaminondas in 370 led a large host into Laconia; though unable to capture Sparta he ravaged its territory and dealt a lasting blow at Sparta’s predominance in Peloponnesus by liberating the Messenians and rebuilding their capital at Messene. Accused on his return to Thebes of having exceeded the term of his command, he made good his defence and was re-elected boeotarch. In 369 he forced the Isthmus lines and secured Sicyon for Thebes, but gained no considerable successes. In the following year he served as a common soldier in Thessaly, and upon being reinstated in command contrived the safe retreat of the Theban army from a difficult position. Returning to Thessaly next year at the head of an army he procured the liberation of Pelopidas from the tyrant Alexander of Pherae without striking a blow. In his third expedition (366) to Peloponnesus, Epaminondas again eluded the Isthmus garrison and won over the Achaeans to the Theban alliance. Turning his attention to the growing maritime power of Athens, Epaminondas next equipped a fleet of 100 triremes, and during a cruise to the Propontis detached several states from the Athenian confederacy. When subsequent complications threatened the position of Thebes in Peloponnesus he again mustered a large army in order to crush the newly formed Spartan league (362). After some masterly operations between Sparta and Mantineia, by which he nearly captured both these towns, he engaged in a decisive battle on the latter site, and by his vigorous shock tactics gained a complete victory over his opponents (seeMantineia). Epaminondas himself received a severe wound during the combat, and died soon after the issue was decided.
His title to fame rests mainly on his brilliant qualities both as a strategist and as a tactician; his influence on military art in Greece was of the greatest. For the purity and uprightness of his character he likewise stood in high repute; his culture and eloquence equalled the highest Attic standard. In politics his chief achievement was the final overthrow of Sparta’s predominance in the Peloponnese; as a constructive statesman he displayed no special talent, and the lofty pan-Hellenic ambitions which are imputed to him at any rate never found a practical expression.