Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/596

588 EMPOLI presence or absence of cough. It is a very common disease, generally chronic in its nature, but sometimes acute and speedily fatal. It may be known by the occurrence of dyspnoea, without palpitations, disease of the heart, oede- ma, or fever, and often without any signs of catarrh. The principles of treatment are to guard against pulmonary congestion by proper depletives, to diminish the frequency of respira- tion by opium and other sedatives, to strength- en the weakened system by tonics, to relieve the obstructed bronchi by emetics and expec- torants, and to avoid all the exciting causes of catarrh and bronchitis, the most < frequent ori- ginators and aggravators of the disease. EMPOLI, a town of Italy, in the province and 16 m. S. W. of the city of Florence, on the left bank of the Arno ; pop. about 6,500. It is sit- uated in a fertile valley, and is surrounded by walls flanked with towers. The collegiate church, built at the close of the llth century, contains fine statuary and excellent pictures, including Giotto's "St. Lucia in the Cavern." The adjoining baptistery and the San Stefano and Santa Croce churches contain likewise sev- eral notable paintings. The principal manufac- tures are cotton, leather, glass, beaver hats, earthern vases, and the so-called Tuscan straw bonnets, the straw being a local product. EMS, a river of N. W. Prussia, rising in the province of Westphalia, near the S. E. extrem- ity of the Teutoburg forest, on the confines of Lippe-Detmold. It flows first S. W. and then 1ST. W. through Westphalia, and finally N. through Hanover, until it empties through the Dollart estuary into the North sea near the town of Emden and the boundary of Holland. Length of course, about 200 m. It is navigable for vessels of 200 tons to a distance of about 14 m. from its mouth ; for small vessels as far as the town of Eheine, about 75 m. from the sea, and a few miles S. of the Hanoverian boundary. Its chief affluents are the Hopster-Aa, Haase, and Leda on the right, and the Werse on the left. The Ems enters the estuary of Dollart by four streams, or "gats," separated by islands, the chief of which is that of Borkum. EMS, a market town and watering place of Prussia, province of Hesse-Nassau, in the valley of the Lahn, 7 m. S. E. of Coblentz; pop. in 1871, 5,438. It is one of the most famous re- sorts of Germany, its waters being used with great effect, especially against chronic nervous diseases, both for bathing and drinking. On July 13, 1870, the famous interview between King William of Prussia and the French am- bassador Benedetti took place here, which was followed by the declaration of war by France. EMSER, II icron) m us. a German theologian, born in Ulm, March 26, 1477, died Nov. 8, 1527. In 1502 he became professor at the university of Erfurt, and in 1504 established himself at Leipsic, where he lectured at the university, and in the year following Duke George of Saxony made him his secretary. With Luther and the theologians of Wittenberg generally he EMU was on good terms until the disputation of Leipsic in 1519, from which time he made, in union with Dr. Eck, incessant endeavors to op- pose the increasing influence of Luther and the progress of Protestantism. He attacked the German translation of the Bible by Luther as erroneous, whereupon it was forbidden in ducal Saxony by Duke George. Eraser then himself published a German translation of the New Testament, made from the Vulgate (Dresden, 1527). He also wrote Vita S. Bennonis. EMU (dromaius Novce, Hollandim, Latham), a bird closely allied to the ca'ssowary, a native of Australia and the adjacent islands. The emu differs from the cassowary in its broader bill, in its head covered with feathers above, and in its smaller and more obtuse claws ; as in the latter, the cheeks and sides of the neck are naked, the legs long and robust and protected by strong scales, and the wings and tail not Emu (Dromaius Novae Hollandise). apparent ; the middle toe is the longest, the in- ner the shortest. This bird was named emu by the English colpnists, who confounded it with the cassowary or emu of the Moluccas ; to dis- tinguish them, ornithologists call the present bird the New Holland emu. There is only one species of the genus, living in the eucalyptus and casuarina forests in the Australian islands. Its length is about 7 ft. ; its plumage is thick, and of a brownish color. The feathers are re- markable from their two central stems being united at the base, bearing simple barbs, and sometimes very short baronies. The form is thick and heavy, the back arched, the denuded neck of a violet color, and the feathers on the head are few, simple, and hair-like. The emu presents the closest analogy to the ostrich in ite anatomical structure ; a wide membranous sac is formed below the crop by a dilatation of the oesophagus, which ends in a slightly developed gizzard; the intestinal canal is about 16 ft. long ; the windpipe is very long, and at its 52d ring opens into an immense muscular sac, whose