EYE STRAIN EYE STRAIlSr, the condition oc- casioned as a result of using the eyes where the light is bad or the conditions unfavorable. The adverse condition is often produced as a result of imperfect balance of the ocular muscles, and the results are sometimes serious. There is always a waste of nerve force and there is often headache; but where the condition is prolonged, convulsions, chorea, hysteria, and dementia may be among the consequences. The malady may be remedied by the use of proper glasses, and on the other hand it may be aggravated by the use of improper glasses. Where the painful condition is the result of constitutional defects, a normal condition mg.y be brought about by surgical operation. EYLAU (i'lou), a town of 3,600 in- habitants, 23 miles S. of Konigsberg by rail. Here Napoleon encountered the allies — Russians and Prussians — under Bennigsen, Feb. 8, 1807. Darkness came on while the contest was still undecided; but as Napoleon had a considerable force of fresh troops close at hand, the allies retired during the night on Konigsberg. Their loss is estimated at about 20,000; that of the French is set down at 10,000, but must have been considerably greater. The place is called Preussisch-Eylau, to distinguish it from Deutsch-Eylau, a town of about .5,000 inhabitants, 89 miles N. E. of Bromberg. EYRA (T'ra), in Scandinavian mythol- ogy, the physician of gods. EYSE, EDWARD JOHN (ar), an Australian explorer and colonial gover- nor; born in August, 1815. He emi- grated to Australia at the age of 17. In 1840 he failed in an attempt to explore the region between South and Western Australia, though he discovered Lake Torrens. He accomplished the task in 1841. In 1846 he became lieutenant-gov- ernor of New Zealand, and in 1854 of St. Vincent in the West Indies. In 1864 he was appointed governor of Jamaica, where in 1865 negro disturbances broke out. The outbreak was suppressed with rigid severity. A commission sent to in- quire, found that Eyre had acted unjust- ly in one case and he was recalled. On his return he was pi'osecuted by a committee of whom John Stuart Mill was the most prominent; Thomas Carlyle, Charles 82 EZRA, BOOK OF Kingsley, and Sir R. Murchison pro- moted the Eyre defense fund. The pros- ecutions could not, however, be sustained; and eventually in 1872 the government refunded to Eyre the costs of his defense. He died Dec. 1, 1901. EYRE, LAKE, a salt lake of South Australia, lying due N. of Spencer Gulf > at a depression of 38 feet, and with an area of 3,706 square miles. Except in the season of rains, this lake is generally a mere salt marsh. It was discovered in 1840 by Eyre. EZEKIEL, one of the greater prophets, to whom is attributed one of the larger prophetic books of the Old Testament, the visions and utterances which it con- tains being expressly attributed, in the work itself, to Ezekiel. He was the son of Buzi, a priest (i: 3). He was carried captive, in the time of Jehoiachin, 595 B. c, about 11 years before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem under Zedekiah (xl: 1). There is no direct quotation from Ezekiel in the New Testament, but there are a few allusions to his utterances, especially in the Book of Revelations. The genuineness and authenticity of the prophecies of Ezekiel have not been seri- ously impugned either in the Jewish or Christian Church. EZRA, BOOK OF, an Old Testament book. The name Ezra is by most persons held to denote that he was the author of the book. It may, however, signify no more than that the doings of Ezra are the main theme of the book, which is certainly the case. The illustrious per- sonage so designated was a priest de- scended from Phinehas, the son of Aaron. His immediate father was Seraiah. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. An exile in Persia, he so commended himself to the then reigning monarch (apparently Artaxerxes Longimanus), as to obtain from him a commission to lead the second expedition of Jews back to their own land. The enterprise be- gan about 458 B. C. Subsequently we find him again at Jerusalem, exercising only priestly functions under Nehemiah. Where he died is uncertain. The period which the book spans is about 80 years, viz., from the first of Cyrus, 536 B. C, to the eighth of Artaxerxes Longimanus, 456 B. c. Both Jews and Christians consider the work part of the Scripture canon.
