EPIPHANIUS. 152 EPIRTJS. ents in Besanduke, a village near Eleutheropohs, Judea, about 315. He may have been educated among the Egyptian hermits. On his return home at the age of twenty he established a monastery and became its head. He was ordained a priest and rose to the rank of Bishop of Constantia (for- merly Salamis) in Cyprus, and continued in that office from SOT till his death, in 403. His monas- tic zeal covered the island with monasteries and his talents were conspicuously inani- fested ucain-t Origen (q.v.) . Among his writings important are the Ancoratus, a polemic against Origen; the Anacephakeosis, summaries of theology and ritual; and the Panarion, or cata- loinie of all heresies (80 in number). As an histo- rian Epiphanius was credulous and one-sided. His ..rk> are in Migne. Patrol, (irceca, xli.-xliii., and have also been edited by Dindorf (Leipzig. The Panarion is separately edited by F. Oehler (Berlin, 1859-G1) ; the Ancoratus and is are in German translation in the Kempten library of the Fathers. Consult Lip- -m-. Zur Quellenkritik ilea Epiphanius (Vienna, EPIPH'ANY (Lat. epiphania, from Gk. cxi-
- ,.,, epiphaneia, appearance, from eirupavyt,
phanes, evident, from iiufyaXvEiv, cpiphainein, tii appear, from t~i t epi, upon + tpaivctv, phainein, to be evident. Skt. bhan, to shine. Olr. bail,
hite ) . A festival held on the 6th of January by
the Roman Catholic, Eastern, and Anglican ( Ihurches in commemoration of the manifestation of Christ. Three different events are included in this celebration. As early as the third century at least it was observed as the commemoration of the baptism of Christ and His revelation to the world as the Son of God. Later, in the East it was also taken to commemorate the manifestation of divine power in Christ's first miracle at Cana in Galilee. In the Western Church the adoration of the .Magi was principally put forward, the bap- tism being specially mentioned in the service for the octave, and the miracle of Cana on the suc- ceeding Sunday. In both East and West the Epiph- anv lias always been a festival of the highest rank, and in the Eastern Church the privilege still remains of dispensation from abstinence should the day fall on a Friday, which in the Roman Catholic Church is now confined to Christ- mas. Many special observances are or have been connected with the day, which, under the name of Twelfth Day, Twelfth Night, was a time of spe- cial merry-making in England, and closed the Christmas festivities. By provision of the Coun- cil of Xica'a, the date of Easter for the year (then computed at Alexandria) was, and still is in the Roman Catholic Church, solemnly announced to the faithful on this day. In many places the blessing of water (frequently in rivers), and ill a e of houses, takes place on this day. Sover- eigns commonly offered gold, frankincense, and myrrh at the altar, a custom which was still untamed at the French Court in the fourteenth century, and which the King "i England observes to t n the i !ha i"'i Royal, Sa in( James's. 1 iiamat ic repi in of the events commemo rati in churches during mass; some remains .,f these, performed in private houses, still linger in Smith Germany ami Tyrol. For opular ob Bee Befana; Bean Kino's Fi oval, EPIPHE'GUS. Sec Canceb-Root. EPIPHYTE (Neo-Lat., from Gk. cttL, epi, upon + (fvrov, phylun, plant, from yveiv, phyein, to produce). A plant which is mechanically, but not physiologically, attached to another plant. Such a'plant derives its food chiefly from the air, getting no parasitic nutrition from the plants on which it grows, and hence it is often called an air-plant. Epiphytes are peculiarly character- istic of the tropical evergreen forests. Certain families, particularly orchids, ferns, and brome- lias. are rich in epiphytic forms, and many tree- trunks in the tropics are covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation; even the leaves are some- times clothed with lichens. In the temperate and cold regions of the globe, epiphytes are for the most part restricted to lower forms of plant life, that are able to endure cold or drought without injury, especially mosses, lichens, liverworts, and some forms of alga?. The adaptations of tropical epiphytes are among the most striking of the plant kingdom. There are all degrees of epiphytism, as there are of parasitism, and Schimper has named the va- rious types as follows: 'Protoepiphytes' are but little different from soil plants; in fact, they rep- resent soil plants that are often found growing on trees. 'Heniiepiphytes' are plants which are at first true epiphytes, but which later send down soil roots and become soil plants (like some spe- cies of Ficus). 'Nest epiphytes' are those which gather humus and water in various ways. 'Cis- tern epiphytes,' of which the bromelias are the type, are the most complete epiphytes of all, the roots being merely holdfast organs, so that all ab- sorption is through the leaves. Many forms, especially the orchids, have well-developed storage organs, consisting of the swollen stems. Indeed, not alone in these storage organs, but also in the thick skins and in the stomatal adaptations, do epiphytes resemble xerophytes (q.v.) in struc- ture. The illustrations on the plate of orchids give a good idea of the character of epiphytic growths. In each case a branch has become the home of a varied growth without in any way contributing to the food of these plants or suffering from their presence. See Orchid. EPI'RTJS (Lat., from Gk. ijweipo(, epeiros, mainland). The ancient name of the northwest- ernmost division of Greece. It was bounded on the east by Thessaly, on the south by the Am- bracian Gulf and .Etolia, on the west by the Ionian Sea, and on the north by Illyria and Macedonia. On the eastern border was the chain of the Pindus. The chief town was Dodona (q.v.), situated in the only fruitful and well- watered plain, called Hellopia (now Janina). The rivers Acheron, Oropus, Aracthus, and others flow through rocky valleys. Anciently Epinis was celebrated for its cattle and its breed of Molossiau dogs. The region was inhabit- ed by a number of tribes, probably belonging to the lllyrian races, and generally believed by the Greeks not to be of pure Hellenic blood. The (lucks first came ill contact with the chief coast tribes, the Thesprotians on the south and the Chaonians on the north. The third great tribe, the Molossians, in the interior, seem to have been but little touched by Creek influence before B.C. 400. About the beginning of the third century B.C., however, their King, Pyrrhus (q.v.), one of the most powerful princes of his time, succeeded in uniting Epirus under his rule. After his.
