This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopędia. 16 volumes complete..
Ekron, the most northern of the five Philistine cities, assigned in Joshua's distribution of territory to Judah. The ark was taken to Ekron after its capture by the Philistines. Beelzebub was called the god of Ekron, and was here worshipped, and the prophets made this city the burden of some of their most violent denunciations. Its site is occupied by the town of Akir, 10 m. from the Mediterranean, 15 m. S. E. of Jaffa, and 25 m. N. W. of Jerusalem. The present town is built of unburnt bricks; and as there are no ruins, the ancient city was probably constructed of the same materials.
I. The extreme W. county of Texas, bounded N. by New Mexico, touched on the N. E. by the Rio Pecos, and separated on the S. W. from Mexico by the Rio Grande; area, 9,450 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 3,671, of whom 306 were colored. More than nine tenths of the area consists of sandy plains without timber or water. Salt lakes are found in the N. part. It is crossed by several mountain ranges. The only cultivated portion is the narrow valley of the Rio Grande, which is productive when irrigated. Capital, Franklin. II. A central county of Colorado, bordering on the Rocky mountains, and containing Pike's peak; area, about 2,500 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 987. The surface is diversified. It is traversed by the Fontaine qui Bout, the valley of which is fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 11,455 bushels of Indian corn, 11,727 of oats, 8,876 of wheat, 760 tons of hay, and 16,900 lbs. of wool. There were 10,800 sheep; 2 flour mills, and 4 saw mills. Capital, Colorado City.
El-Arish, Or Kalat El-Arish,, a fortified town in Lower Egypt, on the Mediterranean near the mouth of the wady El-Arish; pop. about 2,000. It is the frontier town between Egypt and Syria, and as such a great centre of inland traffic between the two countries. Since the construction of railways through the Delta it has lost much of its maritime importance. The fortifications are insignificant. - At this place stood the ancient Rhinocorura or Rhinocolura, an Egyptian penal colony, which is said to have derived its name from the convicts having their noses cut off. Baldwin I., king of Jerusalem, returning from his Egyptian expedition, fell sick and died here in 1118. The French defeated here the Turks, captured the town, and reduced the fort in February, 1799. The place was retaken by the grand vizier in December. The convention for the evacuation of Egypt by the French was concluded here, Jan. 24, 1800, between Gen. Kleber, Sir Sidney Smith, and the grand vizier.
Elastic Curve, the curve assumed by a straight spring of uniform thickness when the ends are brought forcibly together. It embraces a variety of appearances, simple waves, overlapping waves, a figure of eight, retrograde loops or kinks, ordinary loops, and the circle. The fundamental law or equation of the curve is that the curvature of each point is directly proportional to its distance from a certain straight line on which the curvature is zero; so that when the curve crosses this line it reverses the direction of its curvature.
 
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