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552 ELMACINUS ELMORE than forms of the above. They grow on the poorest and most arid soils, but flourish best in a rich and moist ground. Michaux says that the wood of the hackberry (C. crassifolia, MX.) is fine-grained and compact, but not heavy. The planer tree (planera aquatica, Gmelin) has small leaves like those of elms ; the flowers are borne in small axillary clusters ; the fruit is nut-like. According to Michaux, it grows on wet banks in Kentucky and south- ward. He considers its wood as hard, strong, and proper for various purposes. It has not, however, been put to any use in this country, and is so little esteemed as to have received no popu- lar name. It is worthy of attempts at cultiva- tion northward, and can be readily propagated by grafting it upon the elm. ELMACIfiUS, Elmacin, or Almakin, George (known in the East by the name of Ibn Amid), an Ara- bian historian, born in Egypt in 1223, died in Damascus in 1273. He was a Christian, and held at the court of the sultans of Cairo the office of Tcetib or secretary. He wrote a history of the East, especially of the Arabs, from the creation of the world to the time of the cru- sades, a portion of which was published both in Arabic and Latin by Erpenius, at Leyden, in 1625 ; the Latin version was soon reprinted, and was followed by a French translation. A complete edition in Arabic remains in use among the Christians of the Levant. ELMES, James, an English architect, born in London, Oct. 15, 1782, died in 1862. He gained the silver medal in architecture at the royal academy in 1804, and was for some time sur- veyor and civil engineer of the port of London ; but loss of sight (which, however, he afterward partially recovered) caused him to relinquish the office in 1828. He published " Sir Chris- topher Wren and his Times " (4to, 1823) ; " Lec- tures on Architecture " (8vo, 1823) ; " General and Bibliographical Dictionary of the Fine Arts " (8vo, 1826) ; " On the Law of Dilapida- tions " (royal 8vo, 1826) ; " Treatise on Archi- tecturalJurisprudence " (8vo, 1827); "Survey of the Harbor and Port of London " (1838) ; " Horse VacivaB " (1851) ; and " Thomas Clark- son, a Monograph " (1854). ELMINA, or St. George da Mina, a British set- tlement on the Gold coast, Ashantee, Africa, at the mouth of the river Beyah, about 6 m. W. of Cape Coast Castle ; lat. 55'N., Ion. 1 20' W. ; pop. about 15,000. The native town is large, irregular, and very dirty. The inhabitants are chiefly fishermen, traders and their servants, and slaves employed as mechanics ; but there are a few mulattoes who are wealthy. In the neighborhood are some handsome country resi- dences and cultivated farms. The surround- ing country is undulating and thickly wooded. The town is defended by a castle built on a low rocky peninsula extending from the E. bank of the river. The point is surrounded by a bed of rocks, on which the sea breaks with great violence. The castle, the oldest European set- tlement on the Guinea coast, was begun by the Portuguese about 1481, and was 80 years in building; it is secure against an attack from any native force. There is another large de- fensive work, the fort of St. Jago, which com- mands the castle; but its climate is reputed to be fatal to Europeans. Elmina was cap- tured by the Dutch in 1637, and was ceded to them by Portugal in 1641. In 1872 it was transferred together with the other Dutch set- tlements on the coast to Great Britain. This transfer resulted in a war with the Ashantees in 1873; and on June 13 the native king's quarter of Elmina was bombarded and burned by the British, because the inhabitants had supplied the Ashantees with munitions of war. ELMIRA, a city and the capital of Chemung co., New York, situated on both sides of the Chemung river, near the mouth of Newtown creek, about 160 m. W. S. W. of Albany, and 175 m. W. N. W. of New York ; pop. in 1870, 15,863, of whom 3,391 were foreigners. It is handsomely laid out, in a broad and fertile val- ley. The Chemung canal connects it with Seneca lake, the Junction canal with central Pennsylvania, and the Erie and Northern Cen- tral railroads with New York, Philadelphia, &c. Newtown creek furnishes abundant water power. There are rolling mills and other iron works, flour mills, breweries, tanneries, and manufactories of boots and shoes, edge tools, agricultural implements, carriages, &c. The Elmira iron and steel works manufacture large quantities of rails, besides about 16,000 tons of locomotive and bridge iron annually. The railroad companies have extensive car shops here. There are four banks, a savings institution, 300 stores, a large number of warehouses, and several hotels. The city is governed by a mayor and a board of 12 alder- men, two from each ward. The fire depart- ment is under the charge of a chief engi- neer and two assistants. There are 31 public schools, including a high and a normal school, which in 1872 had 56 teachers and an average attendance of 2,295 pupils ; total expenditure for school purposes, $64,348, of which $31,- 037 were for teachers' wages. The Elmira female college (Presbyterian), organized in 1855, had in 1872 12 professors and instruc- tors, 123 students, a library of 3,000 volumes, and an endowment of $100,000. The Elmira free academy had 5 instructors and 128 pupils. There are two daily and two weekly newspapers, a quarterly periodical, a young men's Christian association, and 20 churches. Elmira was settled about 1790. It was in- corporated as a village under the name of Newtown in 1815, and received its present name in 1828. In 1864 a city charter was granted. Its use by the government during the civil war as a rendezvous for Union troops and as a depot for confederate prisoners ma- terially aided its prosperity. ELMORE, a S. E. county of Alabama, bound- ed E. and S. by the Tallapoosa river and inter- sected by the Coosa ; area, about 550 sq. m. ;