ELIZABETH PETROVNA. 808 ELKESAITES. and a love of business ami allnweil herself to be guided by favorites, corruption reigning at her Court. In order to strengthen her position, she took pains to win over her nephew, the young Prince Peter, the son of her sister, the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp. She summoned him to Saint Petersburg in the year 1742 and proclaimed him her successor. She took part in tlic War of the Austrian Succession, and dispatched a large army to the assistance of Maria Theresa, thereby hastening the conclusion of the Peace of Aix-la- Chapelle in 1748. At the eonmiencement of the Seven Years' War she allied herself with Aus- tria and France, and invaded Prussia. Her troops won the battles of Grossjiigerndorf and Kunersdorf and raided Berlin, but without any decisive result. Elizabeth died January 5, 1762, before the expiration of the war. She founded the University of Moscow and the Academy of Arts at Saint Petersburg. Consult: Bain, The Daughter of Peter the (rreat (London, 189!)); Vandal, Louis XV. et Elisabeth de Russie (Paris, 1862) ; Weidmayer, Rcgne d'Elisabeth Petrovna (Saint Petersburg, 1849). ELIZABETH STUART (15961662). A t,lueen of Bohemia. Slie was the eldest daughter of .James VI. of Scotland, afterwards .fames I. of England, and was born at Falkland Castle in Fifeshire. August 19, 1596. After 1608 she re- sided at Court and took part in the life of the gayest circles. In 1613 she married Frederick V., Elector Palatine of the Rhine, who in 1619 was summoned by the Protestants of Bohemia to be their King. Frederick's forces were defeatwl by the Catholic Army at Prague, in 1620. and he was driven from his throne. The Palatinate was invaded in 1622 and taken from him. and the Diet of Ratisbon declared the electoral dignity forfeited. With her husband and children, Elizabeth sought refuge in Holland. Fred- ierick died in 16.32, but it was not until 1648 that the Palatinate was restored to Elizabeth's second son. Charles Louis, the eld- est, Frederick Henry, having died in 1620. She returned to England in 1661. but mingled very little in society, and died February 13. 1662. at the house of Lord Craven in Drury Lane, Lon- don. Of her other children, the most celebrated were Prince Ru])ert (q.v. ) and Prince Maurice. Her youngest daughter, Sophia, married Ernest Augustus of Brunswick-f.iincburg. later Elector of Hanover, and became the ancestress of the present reigning house of Great Britain. The best biography of Elizabeth is that by 'Mrs. Everett Green, in lArrs of the Princesses of Eng- land (London, 18.54), which has superseded Miss Benger's Memoirs of Elizabeth fftuart. Queen of Bohemia (London. 1824). ELIZABETHTOWN. . city and the county- seat of Hardin Counly, Ky.. 42 miles south of Louisville: on the Louisville and Nashville and the Illinois Central railroads (Map: Kentucky, E 3). It has flouring-mills and other industrial establishments, and carries on a considerable trade in live stock, grain, flour, fruit, brick, and tobacco. Hardin Countv is noted for its valuable deposits of asphalt. Population, in 1890, 2260; in 1900. 1861. ELIZABETPOL, y6-le's4-b6t-p61. See Ye- LrzAVETroi.. ELK (AS. elch, IccL elgr, OHO. elaho. elk, Ger. Elch, whence probably Lat. alces, Gk. iKri, uike, elk). (1) The greatest forest-deer {Alces nuilchis) of the northern regions of Europe. Asia, and America, and the largest existing representa- tive of the family. It is known in America as the moose, under which name its characteristics are described. In the Old World it formerly ranged throughout all the forested region north of the mountains from England to eastern Siberia, and it still occurs rarely in Scandinavia, eastern Prussia, Lithuania, and parts of Russia, while it remains fairly numerous in western .Siberia ; everywhere in Europe it is protected by laws, and in most cases is absolutely preserved on royal estates, where a hunt is organized at intervals of several years. It may easily be tamed, and has at various times been put to service, as when, many years ago, it was trained in Sweden to draw sledges in the Government's courier service. See JIoosE. (2) The American 'elk.' unfortunately so named by the early colonists of the United States, has no resemblance to the Eurpean broad-horned deer, juoperly so called (see above) but rather resendiles the red deer. ( See Deer. ) It is de- scril)ed under its suitable Indian name. See W.^J-ITI. (3) The Irish 'elk' (Cerrus or Megaceros gi- ganteus) is another misnamed deer, which be- came extinct apparently soon after the advent of man in Europe. lis remains are found not only in the bogs of Ireland, but in caves and super- ficial deposits of England. Scotland, and the middle parts of the Continent. It was closely allied to the fallow deer, but of much greater size, standing six feet in height, with unusually strong bones about the head and neck, suitable for carrying the enormous antlers which char- acterized it. These wore broadly palmated. and were so wide-spreading as to measure, in some known instances, almost eleven feet from tip to tip. Complete skeletons are possessed by most museums, and its bones have been found asso- ciated with the evidences of man's presence, showing that it survived his arrival, and that its extermination was probably completed by human agency. Another extinct species (Cerrus Ritfji). of central Europe, takes a place l>etwecn this species and the fallow deer. See Deer, and Plate of XnnTii Amekicax Deer. EL-KATIF, cl-ka-tef. A fortified seacoast town of El-Hasa, Arabia, situated on the western shore of the Persian tiulf, a short distance nortli- west of Bahrein Island. It has an old Portu- guese citadel. Population, abo<it 6000. ELKESAITES, el-kes'a-Its. or ELCESAITES (nnnuMl after their reputed foundi-r 'IWxaaai, ElrlKisai. 'EX«saf, Elkcsai. or 'll|af. Elxai : they themselves derived their name from Ileb. heil Aesoi, hidden might). Ebionites, of the second century, living around the Dead Sea and in the Lower .Tordan country. They held as the highest authority a work known as the Book of Elkcsai. which was known to Origen, Hippolytus, and Kpi[ihanius. The last reports that it was be- lieved to have been revealed by an angel, who was the Son of God. Their system seems to have been a mixture of Christian elements, .lewish legalism, and Essenian asceticism, with a strong taint of astrologv' and magic. Perhaps the object of the sect was to mingle .Tudaism and Christian- ity, so that the Hebrews of that day could em-
