EBNER-ESCHENBACH

ebner-eschenbach, marie, freifrau von (1830- ), austrian novelist, was born at zdislavic in moravia, on the 13th of september 1830, the daughter of a count dubsky. she lost her mother in early infancy, but received a careful intellectual training from two stepmothers. in 1848 she married the austrian captain, and subsequent field-marshal, moritz von ebner-eschenbach, and resided first at vienna, then at klosterbruck, where her husband had a military charge, and after 1860 again at vienna. the marriage was childless, and the talented wife sought consolation in literary work. in her endeavours she received assistance and encouragement from franz grillparzer and freiherr von muench-bellinghausen. her first essay was with the drama _maria stuart in schottland_, which philipp eduard devrient produced at the karlsruhe theatre in 1860. after some other unsuccessful attempts in the field of drama, she found her true sphere in narrative. commencing with _die prinzessin von banalien_ (1872), she graphically depicts in _bozena_ (stuttgart, 1876, 4th ed. 1899) and _das gemeindekind_ (berlin, 1887, 4th ed. 1900) the surroundings of her moravian home, and in _lotti, die uhrmacherin_ (berlin, 1883, 4th ed. 1900), _zwei comtessen_ (berlin, 1885, 5th ed. 1898), _unsuehnbar_ (1890, 5th ed. 1900) and _glaubenslos?_ (1893) the life of the austrian aristocracy in town and country. she also published _neue erzaehlungen_ (berlin, 1881, 3rd ed. 1894), _aphorismen_ (berlin, 1880, 4th ed. 1895) and _parabeln, maerchen und gedichte_ (2nd ed., berlin, 1892). frau von ebner-eschenbach's elegance of style, her incisive wit and masterly depiction of character give her a foremost place among the german women-writers of her time. on the occasion of her seventieth birthday the university of vienna conferred upon her the degree of doctor of philosophy, _honoris causa_. an edition of marie von ebner-eschenbach's _gesammelte schriften_ began to appear in 1893 (berlin). see a. bettelheim, _marie von ebner-eschenbach: biographische blaetter_ (berlin, 1900), and m. necker, _marie von ebner-eschenbach, nach ihren werken geschildert_ (berlin, 1900). eboli (anc. _eburum_), a town of campania, italy, in the province of salerno, from which it is 16 m. e. by rail, situated 470 ft. above sea-level, on the s. edge of the hills overlooking the valley of the sele. pop. (1901) 9642 (town), 12,423 (commune). the sacristy of st francesco contains two 14th-century pictures, one by roberto da oderisio of naples. the ancient eburum was a lucanian city, mentioned only by pliny and in inscriptions, not far distant from the campanian border. it lay above the via popillia, which followed the line taken by the modern railway. some scanty remains of its ancient polygonal walls may still be seen. (t. as.) ebony (gr. [greek: ebenos]), the wood of various species of trees of the genus _diospyros_ (natural order ebenaceae), widely distributed in the tropical parts of the world. the best kinds are very heavy, are of a deep black, and consist of heart-wood only. on account of its colour, durability, hardness and susceptibility of polish, ebony is much used for cabinet work and inlaying, and for the manufacture of pianoforte-keys, knife-handles and turned articles. the best indian and ceylon ebony is furnished by _d. ebenum_, a native of southern india and ceylon, which grows in great abundance throughout the flat country west of trincomalee. the tree is distinguished from others by the inferior width of its trunk, and its jet-black, charred-looking bark, beneath which the wood is perfectly white until the heart is reached. the wood is stated to excel that obtained from _d. reticulata_ of the mauritius and all other varieties of ebony in the fineness and intensity of its dark colour. although the centre of the tree alone is employed, reduced logs 1 to 3 ft. in diameter can readily be procured. much of the east indian ebony is yielded by the species _d. melanoxylon_ (coromandel ebony), a large tree attaining a height of 60 to 80 ft., and 8 to 10 ft. in circumference, with irregular rigid branches, and oblong or oblong-lanceolate leaves. the bark of the tree is astringent, and mixed with pepper is used in dysentery by the natives of india. the wood of _d. tomentosa_, a native of north bengal, is black, hard and of great weight. _d. montana_, another indian species, produces a yellowish-grey soft but durable wood. _d. quaesita_ is the tree from which is obtained the wood known in ceylon by the name _calamander_, derived by pridham from the sinhalee _kalumindrie_, black-flowing. its closeness of grain, great hardness and fine hazel-brown colour, mottled and striped with black, render it a valuable material for veneering and furniture making. _d. dendo_, a native of angola, is a valuable timber tree, 25 to 35 ft. high, with a trunk 1 to 2 ft. in diameter. the heart-wood is very black and hard and is known as black ebony, also as billet-wood, and gabun, lagos, calabar or niger ebony. what is termed jamaica or west indian ebony, and also the green ebony of commerce, are produced by _brya ebenus_, a leguminous tree or shrub, having a trunk rarely more than 4 in. in diameter, flexible spiny branches, and orange-yellow, sweet-scented flowers. the heart-wood is rich dark brown in colour, heavier than water, exceedingly hard and capable of receiving a high polish. from the book of ezekiel (xxvii. 15) we learn that ebony was among the articles of merchandise brought to tyre; and herodotus states (iii. 97) that the ethiopians every three years sent a tribute of 200 logs of it to persia. ebony was known to virgil as a product of india (_georg._ ii. 116), and was displayed by pompey the great in his mithradatic triumph at rome. by the ancients it was esteemed of equal value for durability with the cypress and cedar (see pliny, _nat. hist._ xii. 9, xvi. 79). according to solinus (_polyhistor_, cap. lv. p. 353, paris, 1621), it was employed by the kings of india for sceptres and images, also, on account of its supposed antagonism to poison, for drinking-cups. the hardness and black colour of the wood appear to have given rise to the tradition related by pausanias, and alluded to by southey in _thalaba_, i. 22, that the ebony tree produced neither leaves nor fruit, and was never seen exposed to the sun.