EAR OF DIONYSIUS, a famous quarry near Syracuse, in which the slightest whisper was audible at a great distance. It was con nected by a secret passage to the palace of Dionysius, the Elder, who died 367 B.c.; also an acoustic instrument with a large mouthpiece to collect the sound, which a flexible tube con ducts to the ear. The cave was afterward used as a prison.
Primarily the ear-ring is a ring for adornment of the ear. More broadly it Implies any ear ornament. Usually the ring is attached to the ear by passing through its pierced lobe. A gracefully curved hook is often the attaching part where the ornament is composed of more than one piece (pendant). In modern times the ear-ring is frequently fastened to the ear by screwing firmly to a small plate at the back of the ear, thus avoiding the piercing of the lobe. Ear-rings date back to prehistoric times. In Homer's (Iliad' we read that Juno "put in her ears, skilfully pierced, ear-rings worked and ornamented with a triple precious stone." The ancient East Indians, Modes, Persians, Egyptians. Arabians and He brews wore ear-rings. The Egyptians wore them of various artistic forms. The Etruscans made gold ear-rings, showing a tendency to those of the Egyptians, of delicate filigree work and minute granulation. They took the form of flowers, fruits, vases, shields, rosettes, crescents, cornucopias, tassels, peacocks, swans. cocks, Medusa heads, etc. The Greeks excelled in the art of making gold ear-rings and gave them numerous beautiful forms; the simpler form was a ring and these were termed ellobia or enotia. Their stalagma were pendants in the form of drops of water, as the name implies; their crotalia were composed of little rows of pendant forms (usually pitcher shape) and their name was derived from the fact that they rattled as they struck one another on the motion of the wearer. Even the statues of the god desses (whether of stone, wood, ivory or precious metal) had golden ear-rings; the Athena of Phidias, ancient writers tell us, wore such adornment. Men did not wear ear-rings after adolescence. The Romans adopted the Greek fashion, hut their ear-rings were of a heavier, more elaborate form; the Roman ladies' insures were often gems of great value. Seneca (1st century A.D.) wrote scathingly of the fashion in his day: "Thy wife carries in her ears the revenue of a rich family." Elsewhere he says: "I see pearls, not one only for each ear; the ears are now strained to carry heavier weights. The pearls are in a cluster: they are superposing one another in rows. The folly of women never before so subdued the wish of men; it is two, it is three patrimonies that they suspend from their ears." The Republican Romans despised the use of ear-rings by men, and the comic poet Plautus rails at the Car thaginian men that wore one. Later, however, the men took to this adornment so popularly that the Emperor Alexander Severus (3d cen tury A.D.) had to forbid their use by men in an edict. The Byzantines appear to have abstained
from ear-rings, in spite of the strong influence of Asia. The ancient Gauls and Germans adorned themselves with bronze ear-rings after East Roman prototypes. At the time of the migration of the nations the wearing of ear rings had become a universal custom. The oldest car-ring extant, probably, is of gold pierced like filigree work; it is in the Germanic Museum at Nuremberg, where are also some East Gothic ear-rings reminding one forcibly of present-day pendants. A thin wire hoop (to thrust through the ear) has a richly or !lamented part attached, and a precious stone or pearl hangs from the centre. Superstition was attached to the ear-ring by the Northern races at least, for, as the sagas tell, ear-rings prevent evil sounds and malicious suggestions from entering the ear, hence their ornamenta tion with mysterious talismanic signs.
In the Middle Ages ear-rings were generally termed °rings for the ear," clearly indicating their form. Men wore them later on in one (the left) ear. Laborde quotes from 1452 thus: 'Gift of Monseigneur the Dauphin for two circlets of gold, which were hanging and at tached to the ears of Milton, the fool of Mon seigneur the Dauphin, 9 livres. Royal Ac counts." Later, the custom of wearing the hair over the ears caused ear-rings to fall into disuse, coming again into vogue in the 15th and 16th centuries. A change took place in jewelry by the 17th century, and ear-rings, like the rest, were valued for their precious stones more than the richness of their material and the beauty of their handwork which the Renaissance afforded.
Our great-grandmothers wore extremely long ear-rings with dangling tassel or pitcher forms, but we now restrict the ear-ring to diamonds, single gems or coral, mostly. Ear-rings for men had a short vogue at the court of Henry II of France, and have since never been popular. We see only gypsies, sailors and a few Latins (Italians and Spanish) yet wearing gold circlets in their ears. And the medical authori ties have renounced their former belief that piercing the ears was an aid to that organ.
Bibliography.—Hadacsek, Karl, 'Der Ohr schmuck der Griechen and Etrusker' (in Seminar der Universitat zu Wien,) Treatise V, 14, Vienna 1903) ; Hendley, T. H., Jewellery' (in Journal of Indian Art and Industry, Vol. XII, 1907) ; Kunz, George F., The Magic of Jewels and Charms' (Philadelphia 1915) ; Marshall, F. H., (Catalogue of the Jewellery, Greek, Etruscan and Roman, in the British Museum' (London 1901) ; Rucklin, R., 'Das Schmuckbuch' (Leipzig 1871) ; Smith, H. C., 'Jewellery' (New York 1908) ; Vernier, E., 'Note sur les boucles d'oreillesegyptiennes) (Bulletin Inst. francais d'Archeol. Orientale. Cairo 1911); Vernier, E., bijouterie et la ioaillerie egyptienne) (Vol. II, Paris 1907) ; Viollet-le-Duc, E. M., 'Dictionnaire raisonne du mobilier francais) (Vol. IV, Paris 1872).