EG S
ENCrCLOPJEDIA *Britannica,
D I C T I 6 NARY
O F
ARTS, SCIENCES, ■
AND
MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE;
Conftrudted on a Plan,
BY WHICH
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Are digefted into the Form of Diftin<5t
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according to the Latefl Difcoveries and Improvements;
and full EXPLANATIQNS given of the
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WHETHER RELATING TO
Natural and Artificial Objects, or to Matters Ecclesiastical,
Civil, Military, Commercial, Esfc.
Including Elucidations of the moft important Topics relative to Religion, Morals,
Manners, arid the Oegonomy of Life :
A Description of all the Countries, Cities, principal Mountains, Seas, Rivers, 6c.
throughout the World;
A General History, Ancient and Moderriy of the different Empires, Kingdoms, and States-;
An Account of the Lives of the moft Eminent Perfons in every Nation,
from the earlieft ages down to the prefent times.
Compilei frum tie ■writings of the htjl Authors, in federal languages ; the moft approved DiHionaries, as well of general fcience as of its parti¬
cular branches ; the 'TranJaBians, Journals, and Memoirt, of learned Societies, both at home and abroad: the MS. LeClures of
Eminent Prof offers on different faiences ; and a variety of Original Materials, furnfhed by an Extenfive Correfpendencc.
THE THIRD EDITION, IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES, GREATLY IMPROVED.
ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO COPPERPLATES.
VOL. IV.
INDOCTJ DISCANf ET A M R N T M t N l S S E P E K 1 TI.
EDINBURGH.
ftUNTED FOR A. BELL AND C. MACFARQU HARi
MDCCXCV1I.
Cntereti in |)aH in Cevms of M ^rparliament.
Encyclopedia Britannica
c a a
THE third letter, and fecond confonant, of the
j alphabet, is pronounced like k before the vowels
a, o, and ay and like s before f, i, andj>. C is formed,
according to Scaliger, from the k of the Greeks, by re¬
trenching the ftem or upri ' jline; though others de¬
rive it from the 3 of the Hebrews, which has in effe&
the fame form ; allowing only for this, that the He¬
brews, reading backwards., and the Latins, &c. for¬
wards, each have turned the letter their own way.
However, the C not being the fame as to found with
the Hebrew caph, and it being certain the Romans did
not borrow their letters immediately from the He¬
brews or other orientals, but from the Greeks, the de¬
rivation from the Greek * is the more probable. Add,
that F. Montfaucon, in hi-s Pakeographia, gives us
feme forms of the Greek *, which come very near that
of our C ; thus, for inllance, c: and Suidas calls the
C the Roman kappa. The fecond found of C refem-
bles that of the Greek 2$ and many inftances occur of
ancient inferiptions, in which 2 has the fame form with
our C. All grammarians agree, that the Romans pro¬
nounced their QJike our C, and their C like our K.
F. Mabillon adds, that Charles the Great was the fir ft
who wrote his name with a C; whereas all his prede-
cefibrs of the fame name wrote it with a K: and the'
fame difference is obferved in their coins.
As an abbreviature, C Hands for Caius, Carolus, Cas-
far, condemno. See. and CC for confulibus.
As a numeral, C fignifies ioo, CC 200, &c.
C, in mufic, placed after the cliff, intimates that the
mufic is in common time, which is either quick or flow,
as it is joined with allegro or adagio: if alone, it is
u'fually adagio. If the C be croffed or turned, the
firfl: requires the air to be played quick, and the laft
very quick.
CAABA, or Caabah, properly fignifies a fquare
{tone building j but is particularly-applied by the Ma¬
hometans to the temple of Mecca, built, as they pre¬
tend, by Abraham and Ilhmael his fon.
Before the time of Mahomet, this temple was a
place of worftiip for the idolatrous Arabs/and is faid to
have contained no lefs than 360 different images,
equalling in number the days of the Arabian year.
They were all deftroyed by Mahomet, who fandtified
the Caaba, and appointed it to be the chief place of
worfhip for all true believers. The temple is in length
from north to fouth about 24 cubits ; its breadth from
«aft to well is 23 ; and its height 27. The door,
which is on the call fide, Hands about four cubits from
the ground ; the floor being level with the bottom of
Vol. IV. Part. I.
C A A
the door. In the corner next this door is the b/aclJlone,
fo much celebrated among the Mahometans. On the
north fide of the caaba, within a femicircular inclofure
50 cubits long, lies the white Jlone, faid to be the fe-
pulchre of Ilhmael, which receives the rain-water from
the caaba by a fpout formerly of wood, but now of
gold. The black Hone, according to the Mahometans,
was brought down from heaven by Gabriel at the cre¬
ation of the world ; and originally of a white colour;
but contracted the blacknefs that now appears on it,
from the guilt of thofe fins committed by the fons of
men. It is fet in filver, and fixed in thq fouth-eaff
corner of the caaba, looking towards Bafra, about feven
fpans from the ground. This Hone, upon which there
is the figure of a human head, is held in the higheft
efiimation among the Arabs; all the pilgrims killing
it with great devotion, and fome even calling it the
right hand of God. Its blacknefs, which is only fuper-
ficial, is probably owing to the kiffes and touches of
fo many people. After the Karmatians had taken
Mecca, they carried away this precious Hone, and
could by no means be prevailed upon to reffore it;
but finding at laff that they were unable to prevent the
concomfe of pilgrims to Mecca, they fent it back of
their own accord, after having kept it 2 2 years.
The double roof of the caaba is fnpported within by
three oftagohal pillars of aloes-wood; between which,
on a bar of iron, liangfome filver lamps. The outfide
is covered with rich black damaik, adorned with an
embroidered band of gold, which is changed every
year, and was formerly fent by the khalifs, afterwards
by the fultans of Egypt, and is now provided by the
Turkilh emperors. The caaba, at fomediHance, isal-
moH furrounded by a circular inclofure of pillars, join¬
ed towards the bottom by a low ballufirade, and to¬
wards the top by bars of filver. JuH without this inner
inclofure, on the fouth, north, and weH fides of the
caaba, are three buildings, which are the oratories or
places where three of the orthodox fedts affemble to per¬
form their devotions. Towards the fouth-eaH Hands
an edifice which covers the well Zemzen, the treafury,
and the cupola of A1 Abbas. Formerly there was an¬
other cupola, that went under the name of the heml-
cycle, or cupola of Judaa: but whether or not any re¬
mains of that are now to be feen is unknown; nor is it
eafy to obtain information in this refpedl, all ChriHians
being denied accefs to this holy place. At a firall di-
llance from the caaba, on the eafi fide, is the Jlation
or place of Abraham ; where is another Hope much re-
fpecled by the Mahometans; and where they pretend
A to
C
C A B [2
Caaba to fliow the footfteps of the patriarch, telling us he ftood
tl on it when he built the caaba. Here the fourth fed
Ca^' of Arabs, viz. that of A1 Shafei, affernble for religious
purpofes.
The fquare colonnade, or great piazza, that at a
confiderable diftance inclofes thefe buildings, confifts,
according to A1 Jannabi, of 448 pillars, and has no
lefs than 38 gates. Mr Sale compares this piazza to
that of the royal exchange at London, but allows it
to be much larger. It is covered with fmall domes or
cupolas, from the four corners of which rife as many
minarets or fteeples, with double galleries, and adorn¬
ed with gilded fpires and crefcents aftgrfthe Turkiih
manner, as are alfo the cupolas which cover the piazza
and other buildings. Between the columns of both in-
clofures hang a great number of lamps, which are con-
ftantly lighted at night. The firlt foundations of this
fecond inclofure were laid by Omar the fecond khalif,
who built no more than a low wall, to prevent the court
of the caaba from being incroached upon by private
buildings ; but by the liberality of fucceeding princes,
the whole has been railed to that Hate of magnificence
in which it appears at prefent.
This temple enjoys the privilege of an afylum for all
forts of criminals; but it is moil remarkable for the
pilgrimages made to it by the devout muffelmans, who
pay fo great a v| aeration to it, that they believe a Angle
light of its facred walls', without any particular aft of
devotion, is as meritorious, in the fight of God, as the
moft careful difcharge of one’s duty, for the fpace c.r a
whole year, in any other temple.
CAAMINI, in botany, a name given by the Spa¬
niards and others to the fineft fort of Paraguayan
tea. It is the leaf of a flirub. which grows on the
mountains of Maracaya, and is ufed in Chili and Pe¬
ru as the tea is with us. The mountains where this
fiirub grows naturally are far from the inhabited parts
of Paraguay ; but the people of the place know fo well
the value and ufe of it, that they conilantly furnilh
themfelves with great quantities of it from the fpot.
They ufed to go out on thefe expeditions many thou-
fands together; leaving their country in the mean time
expofed to the infults of their enemies, and many of
themfelves perilhing by fatigue. To avoid thefe in¬
conveniences, they have of late planted thefe trees about
their habitations; but the leaves of thefe cultivated
ones have not the fine flavour of thofe that grow
wild. The king of Spain has permitted the Indians
of Paraguay to bring to the town of Saintfoy 12,000-
arobes of the leaves of this tree every year, but they
are nqt able to procure fo much of the wild leaves an¬
nually: about half the quantity is the utmoft they
bring of this: the other half is made up of the leaves
of the trees in their own plantations; and this fells at
a lower price, and is called palos. The arobe is about
25 pound weight; the general price is four piaftres;
and the money is always divided equally among the
people of the colony.
CAANA, or Kaana, a town in Upper Egypt,
feated on the eaftern banks of the river Nile, from
whence they carry corn and pulfe for the fupply of
"Mecca in Arabia. E. Long. 32. 23. N. Lat. 24/30.
Here are feveral monuments of antiquity yet remaining,
adorned with hieroglyphics.
CAB, an Hebrew dry meafure, being the fixth part.
] CAB
of a feah or fatum, and the i 8th part of an ephah. A Cabal
cab contained 2|-pints of our corn-meafure: a quarter - {J
cab was the meafure of dove’s dung, or more proper- a ^
ly a fort of chick-peafe called by this name, which
was fold at Samaria, during the fiege of that city, for
five (hekels. >
CABAL, an apt name currently given to the infa¬
mous miniftry of Charles II. compofed of five perfons,
Clifford, Afliley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lau¬
derdale ; the firft letters of whofe names, in this or¬
der, furnilhed the. appellation by which they were di-
ftinguilhed.
CABALIST, irr French commerce, a faftor or per-
fon who is concerned in managing the trade of an¬
other.
CABALLARIA, in middle-age writers, lands held
by the tenure of furnifliing a horfeman, with fuitable
equipage, in time of war, or when the lord had occa-
fion for him.
CABALLEROS, or Cavalleros, are Spanifh
wools, of which there is a piretty confiderable trade at
Bayonqe in France.
CABALLINE, denotes fomething belonging to
horfes : thus caballine aloes is fo called, from its being
chiefly ufed for purging horfes; and common brim-
ftone is called fulphur cabalimum for a like reafon.
CABALLINUM (anc. geqg), a town of the jEdui
in Gallia Celtica; now Challon fur "which fee.
CABALLINUS (anc. geog.), a very clear foun¬
tain of mount Helicon-in Boeotia ; called Hippocrene by
the Greeks, becaufe opened by Pegafus on ftriking the
rock with his hoof, and hence called Pegajius.
CABALLIO, or Caeeulio (anc. geog.), aj town
of the Cavares in Gallia Narbonnenfis, fituated on the
Druentia. One of the Latin colonies, in the Notitiae
called Civitas Cabe/licorum. Now Cavaillon in Pro¬
vence.
CABBAGE, in botany. See Brassica; and A-
gricuuture, n°40, and 169. In the Georgical effays,
we find this plant greatly recommended as an excellent
food for cattle, producing much dung, and being an
excellent fubftitute for hay. The author prefers the
Scotch kind, as being moft durable, and preferable on
all other accounts. He alfo recommends autumn-fowed
plants in preference to thofe fowed in the fpring; the
former producing a much more weighty crop than the
latter. The expence of raifing an acre of good cab¬
bages he values at and its produce at 34/.
CABBAGR-Tree, or True Cabbage-Palm. See A-
RECA.
Cabbage-bark Tree. See Gf.offrjEA.
CABBALA, according to the Hebrew ftyle, has
a very diftinft fignification from that wherein we un-
derftand it in our language. The Hebrew cabbala fig-
‘nifies tradition; and the Rabbins, who are called cab-
balijisy ftudy principally the combination of particular
words, letters, and numbers, and by this means pretend
to difeover what is to come, and to fee clearly into the
fenfe of many difficult paffages of feripture. There
are no fure principles of this knowledge, but it depends
upon fame particular traditions of the ancients; for
which reafon it is termed cabbala.
The cabbalifts have abundance of names which they
call facred; thefe they make ufe of in invoking of fpi-
rits, and imagine they receive, great light from them.
They
CAB C 3 ] CAB
Cabbala They tell us, that the fecfets of the cahbala were dif-
fl covered to Mofes on mount Sinai; and that thefe have
Cahenda. been deiivereci to them down from father to fon, with¬
out interruption, and without any ufe of letters; for
to write them down, is what they are by no means
permitted to do. This is likewife termed the oral laivt
becaufe it paffed from father to fon, in order to dif-
tinguifh it from the written laws.
There is another cabbala, called artificial, which
confifts in fearching for abftrufe and myiterious ligni-
fications of a word in Scripture, from whence they bor¬
row certain explanations, by combining the letters
which compofe it: this cabbala is divided into three
kinds, the gematrie, the notaricon, and the temura or
themurah. The firft whereof confifts in taking the
letters of a Hebrew word for ciphers Or arithmetical
numbers, and explaining every word by the arithmeti¬
cal value of the letters whereof it is compoled. The
fecond fort of cabbala, called notaricon, confifts in ta¬
king every particular letter of a word for an entire
diction; and the third, called themura, i. e. change,
confifts in making different tranfpofitions or changes
of letters, placing one for the other, or one before the
other.
Among the Chriftians, likewife, a certain fort of
magic is, by miftake, called cabbala ; which coniifts in
ufing improperly certain paffages of Scripture for ma¬
gic operatiofts, or in forming magic characters or fi¬
gures with ftars and talifmans.
Some vifionaries among the Jews believe, that Jefus
Chrift wroughtjiis miracles by virtue of the myfteries
of the cabbala.
CABBALISTS, the Jewifti doftors who profefs
the ftudy of the cabbala.
In the opinion of thefe men, there is not a word,
letter, or accent in the law, without fome myftery in
it. The Jews are divided into two general fefts; the
karaites, who refufe to receive either tradition or the
talmud, or any thing but the pure text of fcripture ;
and the rabbinifts, or tahnudifts, who, befides this, re¬
ceive the traditions of the ancients, and follow the
talmud.
The latter are again divided into two other feels;
pure rabbinifts, who explain the fcripture in its na¬
tural fenfe, by grammar, hiftory, and tradition ; and
cabbalifts, who, to difeover hidden myftical fenfes,
which they fuppofe God to have couched therein, make
ufe of the cabbala, and the myftical methods above
mentioned.
CABECA, or Cabesse, a name given to the fineft
filks in the Eaft Indies, as thofe from 15 to 20 per
cent, inferior to them are called barina. The Indian
workmen endeavour to pafs them off one with the o-
ther ; fc -which reafon, the morewxperienced Euro¬
pean merchants take care to open the bales, and to
examine all the ilcaines one after another. The Dutch
diftinguifti two forts of cabecas; namely, the moor ca-
beca, and the common cabeca. The former is fold at
Amfterdam for about 2iJ- fchellinghen Flemiih, and
the other for about 18^.
Cabeca de Vide, a fmall fea-port town of Alentejo
in Portugal, with good walls, and a ftrong caftle. W.
Long. 6. 43. N. Lat. 39. o.
CABENDA, a fea-port of Congo in Africa, fi-
tuated in E. Long. 12. 2. S. Lat. 4. 5.
CABES, or Gabes, a town of Africa, in the king¬
dom of Tunis, feated on a river near the gulf of the
fame name. E. Long. 10. 55. N. Lat. 33. 40.
CABEZZO, a province of the kingdom of Angola,
in Africa; having Oacco on the north, Lubold on the
fouth, the Coanza on the north-eaft, and the Reinba
on the fouth-weft. It is populous, and well ftored
with cattle, &c. and hath a mine of iron on a moun¬
tain from thence called the iron mountain, which yields
great quantities of that metal; and this the Portuguefe
have taught the natives to manufacture. This pro¬
vince is watered by a river called Rio Longo, and other
fmall rivulets, lakes, &c. The trees here are vaftly
large; and they have one fort not unlike our apple-trees,
the bark of which being fialhed with a knife, yields an
odoriferous relin of the colour and confiftency of wax,
and veiy medicinal in its nature, only a little too hot
for Europeans, unlefs qualified by fome cooling drug.
CABIDOS, or Cavidos, a long meafure ufed at
Goa, and other places of the Eaft Indies belonging to
the Portuguefe, to meafure ftuffs, linens, &c. and
equal to iths of the Paris ell.
CABIN, a room or apartment in a (hip where any
of the officers ufually rteiide. There are many of thefe
in a large fhip ; the principal of which is deligned for
the captain or commander. In ftups of the line this
chamber is furnifhed with an open gallery in the ftiip’s
ftern, as alfo a little gallery on each quarter. The
apartments where the inferior officers or common fail-
ors deep and mefs are ufually called Births ; which
fee.
The bed-places built up for the failors at the ftiip’s
fide in merchantmen are alfo called cabins.
CABINDA, the chief port of the kingdom of
Angoy in Loango in Africa. It is fituated at the
mouth of a river of the fame name about five leagues
north of Cape Palmerino, on the north fide of the
mouth of the river Zaire. The bay is very commo¬
dious for trade, wooding, and watering.
CABINET, the moft retired place in the fineft
part of a building, fet apart for writing, ftudying, or
preferring any thing that is precious.
A complete apartment confifts of a hall, anti-cham¬
ber, chamber, and cabinet, with a gallery on one fide-
Hence we fay, a cabinet of paintings, curiofities, &c.
Cabinet, alfo denotes a piece of joiner’s workman-
fnip, being a kind of prefs or cheft, with feveral doors
and drawers.
There are common cabinets of oak or of chefnut,
varniihed cabinets of China and Japan, cabinets of in¬
laid work, and fome of ebony, or the like fcarce and
precious woods. Formerly the Dutch and German
cabinets were much efteemed in France ; but are now
quite out of date, as well as the cabinets of ebony
which came from Venice.
Cabinet is alfo ufed in fpeaking of the more feledl
and fecret councils of a prince or adminiftration. Thus
we fay, the fecrets, the intrigues of the cabinet. To
avoid the inconveniences of a numerous council, the
policy of Italy and practice of France firft introduced
cabinet councils. King Charles I. is charged with
firft eftabliihing this ufage in England. Beiides his
privy council, that prince eredled a kind of cabinet
council, or junto, under the denomination of a council
of ftate ; compofed of archbifhop Laud, the earl of
A 2 Strafford,
Cabes
I!
Cabinet.
CAB [
Cabinet Strafford, and lord Collington, with the fecretaries of
ft ftate. Yet fome pretend to find the fubltance of a
C'i>ble’ cabinet council of much greater antiquity, and even
v ~ allowed by parliament, who anciently fettled a quo¬
rum of perfons molt confided in, without whofe pre¬
fence no arduous matter was to be determined; giving
them power to aft without confulting the reft of the
council. As long fince as the 28th of Henry III. a
charter paffed in affirmance of the ancient rights of the
kingdom ; which provided, that four great men, cho-
fen by common confent, who were to be confervators
of the kingdom, among other things, Ihould fee to the
difpofing of monies given by parliament, and appro¬
priated to particular ufes; and parliaments were to be
fummoned as they Ihould advife. But even of thefe
four, any two made a quorum ; and generally the chief
juftice of England, and chancellor, were of the num¬
ber of the confervators. Matth. Par. 28. Hen. III.
In the firft of Henry VI. the parliament provides, that
the quorum for the privy council be fix, or four at leaft;
and that in all weighty confiderations, the dukes of
Bedford and Gloucefter, the king’s uncles, Ihould be
prefent; which feems to be erefting a cabinet by law.
CABIRI, a term in the theology of the ancient
Pagans, fignifying great and powerful gods ; being a
name given to the gods of Samothracia. They were
alfo worlhipped in other parts of Greece, as Lemnos
and Thebes, where the cabiria were celebrated in ho¬
nour of them; thefe gods are faid to be, in number,
four, viz. Axieros, Axiocerfa, Axiocerfus, andCafmilus.
CABIRIA, feftivals in honour of the Cabiri, cele¬
brated in Thebes and Lemnos, but efpecially in Samo¬
thracia, an illand confecrated to the Cabiri. All who
were initiated into the myfteries of thefe gods, were
thought to be fecured thereby from ftorms at fea, and
all other dangers. The ceremony of initiation was
performed by placing the candidate, crowned with o-
live branches, and girded about the loins with a purple
ribband, on a kind of throne, about which the priefts,
and perfons before initiated, danced.
CABLE, a thick, large, ftrong rope, commonly of
hemp, which ferves to keep a fhip at anchor.
There is no merchant-lhip, however weak, but has at
leaft three cables ; namely, the chief cable, or cable of
the fheet-anchor, a common cable, and a fmaller one.
Cable is alfo faid of ropes, which ferve to raife
heavy loads, by the help of cranes, pullies, and other
^ engines. The name of cable is ufually given to fuch
as have, at leaft, three inches in circumference ; thofe
that are lefs are only called ropes, of different names ac¬
cording to their ufe.
Every cable, of whatfoever thieknefs it be, is com-
yofed of three ftrands; every ftrand of three ropes ;
and every rope of three twifts: the twift is made of
more or lefs threads, according as the cable is to be
thicker or thinner.
In the manufafture of cables, after the ropes are
made, they ufe fticks, which they pafs firft between
the ropes of which they make the ftrands, and after¬
wards between the ftrands of which they make the
cable, to the end that they may all twift the better,
and be more regularly wound together; and alfo, to
prevent them from entwining or entangling, they hang,
at the end of each ftrand and of each rope, a weight of
lead or of ftone.
4 1
CAB
The number of threads each cable is compofed of is
always proportioned to its length and thicknefs; and
it is by this number of threads that its weight and va¬
lue are afcertained: thus, a cable of three inches cir¬
cumference, or one inch diameter, ought to confift of
48 ordinary threads, and to weigh 192 pounds; and
on this foundation is calculated the following table,
very ufeful for all people engaged in marine commerce,
who fit out merchantmen for their owri account, or
freight them for the account of others.
table of the number of threads and weight of cables
of different circumferences.
Circumf.
3 inches
4
5
6
13
H
16
17
*9
Threads.
48
77
12 x
174
238
Si*
393
485
598
699
821
952
1093
1244
I4°4
1574
1754
1943
Weight.
192 pounds.
308
484
696
952
1244
1572
1940
2392
2796
32«4
3808
4372
4976
5616
6296
7016
7772
Cable
II
Cabot.
Sheet-Anchor Cable, is the greateft cable belonging
to a ftiip.
Stream Cable, a hawfer or rope, fomething fmaller
than the bowers, and ufed to moor the Ihip in a river,
or haven, fheltered from the wind and fea,. &c.
Serve or Plate the Cable, is to bind it about with
ropes, clouts, &c. to keep it from galling in the hawfe-
To fplice a Cable, is to make two pieces faft toge¬
ther, by working the feveral threads of the rope the
one into the other.
Pay more Cable, is to let more out of the ihip.
Pay cheap the Cable, is to to hand it out apace. Veer
more Cable, is to let more out, &c.
Cable’s Length, a meafure of 120 fathoms, or of
the ufual length of the cable.
CABLED, in heraldry, a term applied to a crofg
formed of the two ends of a ihip’s cable ; fometimes
alfo to a crofs covered over with rounds of rope; more
properly called a crofs corded*
Cabled Flute, in architefture, fuch flutes as are fil¬
led up with pieces in the form of a cable.
CABO de Istria, the capital town of the province
of Iftria, in the tesritory of Venice; and the fee of a
bifhop. It is feated on a fmall iiland in the gulf of
Venice, and is joined to the main land by draw-bridges.
E. Long. 14. 22. N. Lat. 45. 49.
CABOCHED, in heraldry, is when the heads of
beafts are borne without any part of the neck, full-faced.
CABOLETTO, in commerce, a coin of the repub¬
lic of Genoa, worth about 3 d. of our money.
CABOT (Sebaftian), the firft difcoverer of the con¬
tinent of America, was the fon of John Cabot a Ve¬
netian. He was born at Briftol in 1477; and was
taught by his father arithmetic, geometry, and cofmo
graphy.
CAB [ 5 ] CAB
Cabot, graphy. Before he was 20 years of age he made fe-
Cabra. vcral voyages. The firft of any confequence feems to
have been made with his father, who had a commiffion
from Henry VII. for the difcoveiy of a north-weft paf-
fage to India. They failed in the fpring of 1497; and-
proceeding to the north-weft they difcovered land,
which for that reafon they called Primavifta, or New-
found! ami. Another fmaller iiland they called St John,
from its being difcovered on the feaft of St John Bap-
tift; after which) they failed along the coaft of Ame¬
rica as far as Cape Florida, and then returned to Eng¬
land with a good cargo, and three Indians aboard.
Stowe and Speed aferibe thefe difeoveries wholly to
Sebaftian, without mentioning his father. It is pro¬
bable that Sebaftian, after his father’s death, made fe-
veral voyages to thefe parts, as a map of his difeove¬
ries, drawn by himfelf, was hung up in the privy gar¬
den at Whitehall. However, hiftory gives but little
account of his life for near 20 years; when he went to
Spain, where he was made pilot-major, and intrufted
with reviewing all projects for difeoveries, which were
then very numerous. His great capacity and approved
integrity induced many eminent merchants to treat writh
him about a voyage by the new found ftraits of Ma¬
gellan to the Moluccas. He therefore failed in 1525,
firft to the Canaries; then to the Cape Verd iflands ;
thence to St Auguftine and the ifland of Patos; when
fome of his people beginning to be mutinous, and re¬
futing to pafs through the ftraits, he laid afide the de-
fign of failing to the Moluccas; left fome of the prin¬
cipal mutineers upon a defart ifland; and, failing up
the rivers of Plate and Paraguay, difcovered, and built
forts in, a large traft of fine country, that produced
gold, filver, and other rich commodities. He thence dif-
patched meffengers to Spain for a fupply of provifions,
ammunition, goods for trade, and a recruit of men: but
his requeft not being readily complied with, after flay¬
ing five years in America, he returned home; where
he met with a cold reception, /the merchants being dif-
pleafed at his not having purfued his voyage to the
Moluccas, while his treatment of the mutineers had
given umbrage at court. Hence he returned to Eng¬
land; and being introduced to the Duke of Somerfet,
then lord protedtor, a new office was eredted for him :
he was made governor of the myftery and company of
the merchant-adventurers for the diftjovery of regions,
dominions, iflands, and places unknown; a penfion was
granted him, by letters-patent, of 166I. 13 s. 4 d. per
annum; and he was confulted in all affairs relative to
trade. 101522, by his intereft, the court fitted out
f6me ffiips for the difeovery of the northern parts of the
world. This produced the firft voyage the Englifh
made to Ruffia, and the beginning of that commerce
which has ever fince been carried on between the two
nations. The Ruffia company was now founded by a
charter granted by Philip and Mary; and of this com¬
pany Sebaftian- was appointed governor for life. He is
laid to be the firft xvho took notice of the variation of
the needle, and who published a map of the world.
The exadt time of his death is not known, but he lived
to be above 70 years of age.
CABRA, a town of the kingdom of Tombut in
Africa. It is a large town, but without walls; and is
feated on the river Niger, about 12 miles from Tom¬
but. The houfes are built in the fhape ef bells; and
the walls are made with flakes or hurdles, plaftered CaW,
with clay, and covered with reeds after the manner of Cabuliftan,
thatch. This place is very much frequented by negroes
who come here by water to trade. The town is very
unhealthy, which is probably owing to its low fitua-
tion. The colour of the inhabitants i? black, and their
religion a fort of Mahometanifm. They have plenty
of corn, cattle, milk, and butter; but fait is very fcarce.
The judge who decides controverfies is appointed by
the king of Tombut. E. Long. o. 50. N. Lat. 14.
21.
CABUL, or Gaboul, a city of Afia, and capital
of the province of Cabuliftan. It lies in E. Long. 68.15.
N. Lat. 33. 30. on the frontiers of Great Bukharia,
on the fouth fide of the mountains which divide the
territories of the Mogul from that part of Great Tar¬
tary. It is one of the fineft places in that part of the
world; large, rich, and very populous. As it is confi-
dered as the key of the great Mogul’s dominions on
that fide, great care is taken to keep its fortifications
in repair, and a numerous garrifon is maintained for its
fecurity. It lies on the road between Samarcand and
Labor; and is much frequented by the Tartars, Per-
fians, and Indians. The Ulbec Tartars drive there a
great trade in Haves and horfes, of which it is faid that
no fewer are fold than 60,000 annually. The Periians
bring black cattle and ffieep, which renders provifions
very cheap. They have alfo wine, and plenty of all
forts of eatables. The city Hands on a little river which
falls into the Indus, and thereby affords a fhort and
fpeedy paffage for all the rich commodities in the
country behind it, which, when brought to Cabul, are
there exchanged for Haves and horfes, and then con¬
veyed by merchants of different countries to all parts of
the world. The inhabitants are moft of them Indian
pagans, though the officers of the Mogul and moft of
the garrifon are Mahometans.
CABULISTAN, a province of Afia, formerly be¬
longing to the Great Mogul; but ceded in 1739 to
Kouli Khan, who at that time governed Perfia. It is
bounded on the north by Bukharia, on the eaft by Cafch-
mire, on the weft by ZaKuliftan and Candahar, and on
the fouth by Multan. It is 250 miles in length, 240
in breadth, and its chief town is Cabul. This country
in general is not very fruitful; but in the vales they
have good pafture-lands. The roads are much infefted
with banditti; which obliges the natives to have guards
for the fecurity of travellers. The religion of the Ca-
buliftans is pagan; and their extraordinary time of de¬
votion is the full moon in February, and continues for
two days. At this time they are clothed in red, make
their offerings, dance to the found of the trumpet, and
make vifits to their friends in. mafquerade dreffes. They
fay, their god Crufman killed a giant who was his e-
nemy, and that he appeared like a little child; in me¬
mory of which, they caufe a child to ffioot at the figure
of a giant. Thofe of the fame tribe make bonfires, and
feaft together in a jovial manner. The moral' part of
their religion confifts in chanty ; for which reafon, they
dig wells and build houfes for the accommodation of
travellers. They have plentyof pravifions, mines of iron,
myrabolans, aromatic woods, and drugs of many kinds,.
They carry on a great trade with the neighbouring
countries; by which means they are very rich, and arr
fupplicu with plenty of all things.
CABURNS, ■
€ A C [6
Caliurns, CABURNS, on /hip-board, are {mail lines made of
Cacalia. fpUn yarn) to bind cables, feize tackles, or the like.
^ ^ CACALIA, in botany ; a genus of the polygamia
squalls order, belonging to the fyngenelia clafs of
plants. The receptacle is naked ; the pappus hairy ;
the calvx cylindrical, oblong, and caliculated, or having
a fmalf calyx of very' ftiort fcales only at the bafe.
Species. I. The fuaveolens, with a herbaceous ftalk, is
a native of North America. It hath a perennial creep¬
ing root which fends out many ftalks, garnifhed with
triangular fpear-lhaped leaves fharply fa wed on their
edges, of a pale green on their under fide, but a deep
ihining green above, placed alternately. The ftalks rife
to the height of feven or eight feet, and are terminated
by umbels of white flowers, which are fucceeded by ob¬
long feeds covered with down. It flowers in Auguft,
and the feeds ripen in October. The ftalks decay in
• autumn, and new one rifes in the fpring. This plant
multiplies greatly by its fpreading roots, as alfo by the
feeds, which are fpread to a great diftance by the wind,
the down which adheres to them being greatly affifting
to their conveyance. The roots which have been caft
out of Chelfea garden, being carried by the tide to a
great diftance, have fixed themfelves to the banks of
the river, and increafed fo much, that in a few years
this fpecies may probably appear as a native of Eng¬
land. 2. The ficoides is a native of the Cape of Good
Hope. It rifes with ftrong round ftalks to the height
of feven or eight feet, woody at bottom, but foft and
fucculent upward, fending out many irregular branches,
garnilhed more than half their length with thick, taper,
fucculent leaves, a little compreffed on two fides, end¬
ing in points, covered with a whitifh glaucous farina,
which comes off when handled. Thefe, when broken,
emit a ftrong odour of turpentine, and are full of a vif-
cous juice; at the extremity of the branches the flowers
are produced in fmall umbels; they are white, tubu-
lous, and cut into five parts at the top. The leaves of
this plant are pickled by the French, who efteem them
much ; and in doing this they have a method of pre-
ferving the white farina upon them, which adds great¬
ly to the beauty of the pickle when brought to table.
3. The kleinia, with a compound ihrubby ftalk, grows
naturally in the Canary ifiands, but has long been culti¬
vated in the Englifti gardens. It rifes with a thick
flefhy Item divided at certain diftances, as it were, into
fo many joints. Each of thefe divifions fwell much
larger in the middle than they do at each end ; and the
ftalks divide' into many irregular branches of the fame
form, which, toward their extremities, are garnilhed
with long, narrow, fpear-lhaped leaves of a glaucous co¬
lour, Handing all round the ftalks without order. As
they fall off, they leave a fear at the place, which al¬
ways remains on the branches. The flowers are pro¬
duced in large clufters at the extremity of the branch¬
es, which are tubulous, and of a faint carnation colour.
They appear in Auguft; and September, but continue
jp-eat part of October, and are not fucceeded by feeds
in this country. There have been ftones and foffils
dug up at a very great depth in foine parts of England
having very perfect impreffions of this plant upon them ;
from whence Dr Woodward has fuppofed the plants
were lodged there at the univerfal deluge ; and finding
the impreffions of many other plants and animals which
are natives of thofe ifiands, he concludes that the wa¬
ter flowed hither from the fouth-weft. This,plant has
] C A C
been called the cahlage-tree, from the refemblance which Cacal
the ftalk of it has to the cabbage: others have intitled (I
it carnation-tree, from the fiiape of the leaves and the ac
colour of the flowers. Befides thefe, there are feven ^
other fpecies, viz. the alpina, with kidney-fliaped
leaves; the glabra, with fmooth leaves; the atriplici-
folia, with heart-lhaped finuated leaves ; the papillaris,
with a (hrubby ftalk guarded on every fide with Broken
rough footftalks ; the ante-euphorbium,with oblong oval
leaves; the fonchifolia, with lyre-fhaped indented leaves;
and the lutea, with leaves divided into five acute parts.
Culture. The three fpecies deferibed above are very
eafily propagated. The firft will propagate itfelf, as
already mentioned, either by roots or feeds. The fe-
cond is eafily propagated by cuttings during the fum-
mer months: Thefe ftiould be cut from the plants and
laid to dry a fortnight, that the wound may be healed
over before they are planted. Moll people plunge the
pots in which thdfe are planted into an hot-bed, to pro¬
mote their putting out roots; but if planted in June
or July, they will root as well in the open air. Even
branches broken off by accident have frequently put
out roots when fallen on the ground, without any care.
Thefe branches may be kept fix months out of the
ground, and will take root if planted. This Ihouldhave
a light fandy earth, and in winter be placed in an airy
glafs-cafe, where they may enjoy the fun and air in
mild weather, but mull be protected from froll. Du¬
ring the winter feafon the plants mull have but little
water; and in fummer, when they are placed in the
open air, it Ihould not be given to them too often, nor
in great quantity. The third is alfo propagated by
cuttings, and the plants require the fame culture ; but
mull have a dry warm glafs-cafe in winter, and very
little water, being fubjedl to rot with wet. In fummer
they mull be placed in the open air in a warm flickered
fituation, and in very dry weather refrelhed moderately
with water. With this management the plants will flower
annually, and grow to the height of eight or ten feet.
CACAO. See Theobroma.
CACCOONS. See Flevillea.
CACERES, a town of Spain, in the province of
Eftremadura, is feated on the river Saler, and noted
for the exceeding fine wool which the Iheep bear in the
neighbourhood. Between this town and Brocos, there
is a wood, where the allies defeated the rear-guard of
the duke of Berwick, on the 7th of Api'il 1706. E.
Long. 6. 47. N. Lat. 39. 15.
CACHALOT, in ichthyology. See Physeter.
CACHAN, or Cashan, a confiderable town of
Perfia in Irac Agemi, where they carry on an exten-
five trade in filks, filver, and gold brocades, and fine
earthen ware. It is fituated in a vail plain, 55 miles
from Ifaphan. E. Long. 50. 2. N. Lat. 34. 10.
CACHAO, a province of the kingdom of Tonquin
in Aliav fituated in the heart of the kingdom, and fur-
rounded by the other feven. Its foil is fertile, and in
fome places mountainous, abounding with variety of
trees, and particularly that of varnilh. Moll of thefe
provinces carry on fome branch of the filk manufadlure,
■but this moll of all. It takes its name from the capi¬
tal, which is alfo the metropolis of the whole kingdom,
though in other refpefts hardly comparable to a Chi-
•nefe one of the third rank.
Cachao, a city of the province of that name, in the
kingdom of Tonquin in Afia, fitua.ted in E. Long.
Joj.
c a c [ ;
Cachao. 105. 31. N. Lat. 22. 10. at about 80 leagues diftance
——y-——' from the fea. It is prodigioufly crowded with people,
infomuch that the ftreets are hardly paffable, efpecially
on market days. Thefe vaft crowds, however, come
moftly from the neighbouring villages; upon which
account thefe villages have been allowed their halls in
particular parts of the city, where they bring and dif-
pofe of their wares. The town itfelf, though the me¬
tropolis of the whole Tonquinefe kingdom, hath nei¬
ther walls nor fortifications. The principal .ftreets are
wide and airy, but the reft of them narrow and ill-
paved ; and except the palace royal and arfenal, the town
hath little elfe worth notice. The houfes are low and
mean, moftly built of wood and clay, and not above one
ftory high. The magazines and warehoufes belonging to
foreigners are the only edifices built of brick ; and
which, though plain, yet, by reafon of their height
and more elegant ftructure, make a coniiderable Ihow
among thofe rows of wooden huts. From the combuf-
tibility of its edifices, this city fuffers frequent and
dreadful conflagrations. Thefe fpread with fuch fur-
prifing velocity, that fome thoufands of houfes are of¬
ten laid in afhes before the fire can be extinguifhed.
To prevent thefe fad confequences, eyery houfe hath,
either in its yard or even in its centre, fome low build¬
ing of brick, in form of an oven, into which the inha¬
bitants on the firft alarm convey their moft valuable
goods. Befides this precaution, which every family
takes to fecure their goods, the government obliges
them, to keep a ciftern, or fome other capacious vefltl,
always full of water on the top of their houfe, to be
ready on all occafions of this nature ; as likewife a long
pole and bucket, to throw water from the kennel upon
the houfes. If thefe two expedients fail of fuppreffing
the flames, they immediately cut the ftraps which faf-
ten the thatch to the walls, and let it fall in and wafte
itfelf on the ground. The king’s palace Hands in the
centre of the city ; and is furrounded with a ftout wall,
within whofe cintture are feen a great number of apart¬
ments two ftories high, whofe fronts and portals have
fomething of the grand tafte. Thofe of the king and
his wives are embellilhed with variety of carvings and
gildings after the Indian manner, and all finely var-
niihed. In the outer court are a vaft number of fump-
tuoue ftables for the king’s horfes and elephants. The
appearance of the inner courts can only be conjectured ;
for the avenues are not only fhut to all ftrangers,
but even to the king’s, fubjetts, except thofe of the
privy couficil, and the chief minifters of ftate : yet we,
are told, that there are ftair-cafes by which people may
mount up.to the top of the walls, which are about 1.8
or 20 feet high 5 from whence they may have a dif-
tant view of the royal apartments, and of the fine par¬
terres and fifh-ponds that are between the cincture and-
them. The front wall hath a large gate well orna¬
mented, which is never opened but when the king goes
in an4 out; but at fome diftance from it on each fide.,
there are two pofterns, at which the courtiers and fer-
vants may go inland out. This cinCture, which is of
a vaft circumference, is faced with brick within and
without, and the whole ftruriture is terminated by wide
fpacious gardens; which, though ftored with great va¬
riety of proper ornaments, are deftitute of the gran- -
deur and elegance obferved in the palaces of European
princes. Befides this palace, the ruins of one Hill more
magnificent are to be obferved, and are c^Xit<l.Lilatvla.
$
> 1 C A C
The circumference is faid to have been betwixt fix and Cachao
feven miles : fome arches, porticoes, and other orna- II
ments, are ftill remaining ; from which, and fome of, 11 c ‘r:>8,
its courts paved with marble, it may be concluded to
have been as magnificent a ftrufture as any of the eaft-
ern parts can (how. The arfenal is likewife a large
and noble building, well ftored with ammunition and
artillery. The Engliih faitory is fituated on the north
fide of the city, fronting the river Song-lov. It is a
handfome low-built houfe, with a fpacious dining-room
in the centre; and on each fide are the apartments of
the merchants, factors, and fervants. At each end of
the building are fmaller houfes for other ufes, as ftore-
houfes, kitchen, &c. which form two wings with the
fquare in the middle, and parallel with the river, near
the bank of which Hands a long flag-ftaff, on which
they commonly difplay the Englifh colours on Sun¬
days and all remarkable days. Adjoining to it, on the '
fouth fide, is the Danilh fattory, which is neither fo
large nor fo handfome. On the fame fide of the river
runs a long dike, whofe timber and ftones are fo firmly
faftened together, that no part of it can be ftirred with¬
out moving the whole. This work was raifed on thofe
banks to prevent the river, during the time of their
vaft rains, from overflowing the city } and it has hi¬
therto anfwered its end ; for though the town Hands
high enough to be in no danger from land-floods, it
might yet have been otherwife frequently damao-ed, if
not totally laid under water, by the overflowing of that
river. Some curious obfervations have been commu¬
nicated to the royal fociety concerning differences be¬
tween the tides of thofe feas and thofe of Europe, viz..
that on the Tonquinefe coaft ebbs and flows but once
in 24 hours ; that is, that the tide is rifing during the
fpace of 12 hours, and can be eafily perceived during
two of the moon’s quarters, but can hardly be obfer¬
ved during the other two.- In the fpring tides, which .
laft 14 days, the waters begin to rife at the rifing of.
the moon ; whereas in the low tides, which continue
the fame number of days, the tide begins not till that,
planet is got below the horizon. Whilft it is paffing ;
through the fix northern figns,. the tides are obferved
to vary" greatly, to rife fometiraes very high, and fome-
times to be very low ; but when it is once got into the
fouthern part of the zodiac, they are then found to be
more even and regular.
CACHECTIC, fometh’ing partaking of the nature
of* or belonging to, a cachexy.
CACHEO, a town of Negroland in Africa, feated ,
on the river.St Domingo. It is fubjedl to the Portu-
guefe, who have three forts there, and carry on a great
trade in wax and flaves. W. Long. 14. 55. N. Lat.
12. o.
CACHEXY, in medicine, a vicious ftate of the
humours and whole habit. See (the Index fubjoined
to) Medicine.
CACHRYS, in botany: A genus of the digynra
order belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants ; and
in the natural method ranking under the 45th order, .
Umbellate. The fruit is fubovate, angled, and cork
or fpongy rinded.
There are five fpecies, viz. the trifida, with bipinna-
ted leaves j the ficula, with double winged leaves ; the
libanotis, with fmooth furrowed feeds; the linearia.
with plain channelled fruit; and the hungarica, with a
plain, fungous, channelled feed. All. thefe are per--
cunial I
C A C It
Cachunde ennial plants, rifing pretty high, and bearing large um-
' bels of yellow flowers, and may be propagated by feeds
Ca”U8, , which ought to be fown foon after they are ripe ; for
if they are kept out of the ground till the next fpring,
they often jaii'carry. They mult alfo be fown in a
flxady border where they are to remain : for the plants,
having long top-roots, will not bear tranfplanting fo
well as many others. The Hungarians in the neigh¬
bourhood of Erlavv, and thofe who border on Tran-
fylvania, Senna, See. eat the root of the fifth fpecies in
a fcarcity of corn for want of other bread.
CACHUNDE, the name of a medicine, highly ce¬
lebrated among the Chinefe and Indians, and made of
feveral aromatic ingredients, the perfumes, medicinal
earth, and precious itones : they make the whole into
a ftiff pafte, and form out of it feveral. figures accord¬
ing to their fancy, which are dried for ufe : thefe are
i principally ufed in the Eafl Indies, but are fometimes
brought over to Portugal. In China, the principal
perfons ufually carry a fmall piece in their mouths,
which is a continued cordial, and gives their breath a
very fweet fmell. It is a highly valuable medicine
alfo, in all nervous complaints; and is efteemed a
prolonger to life, and a provocative to venery, the two
great intentions of moll of the medicines in ufe in the
• Eaft.
CACOCHYLIA, or Cacochymia, a vicious flate
of the vital humours, efpecially of the mals of blood ;
arifing either from a diforder of the fecretions or exe-
cretions, or from external contagion. The word is
Greek, compounded of «//, and xv'u<Sr juice.
CACOPHONIA, in grammar and rhetoric, the
meeting of two letters, or fyllables, which yield an un¬
couth and difagreeable found. The word is compound¬
ed of evil, and ■?"►»> voice.
Cacophonia, in Medicine, denotes a vice or de¬
privation of the voice or fpeech ; of which there are
two fpecies, aphonia and dyfphonia.
CACTUS, in botany: A genus of the monogynia
order, belonging to the icofandria clafs of plants ; and
in the natural method ranking under the 13th or¬
der, Succulents. The calyx is monophyllous; fupe-
rior, or above the receptacle of the fruit imbricated;
the corolla polypetalous ; the fruit ah unilocular, poly-
fpermous berry. To this genus Linnaeus has added
the cereus and opuntia. There are 24 fpecies, all na¬
tives of the Weft Indies and Mexico.
' The cadti are plants of a Angular itrudlure, but e-
fpecially the larger kinds of them ; which appear like
a large, flelhy, green melon, with deep ribs, fet all
over with ifrong fharp thorns; and, when the plants
are cut through the middle, their infide is a foft, pale-
green, flefiiy fubftance, very full of moitture. The
fruit of all the fpecies is frequently eaten by the inha¬
bitants of the Weft Indies. The fruits are about three
quarters of an inch in length, of a taper form, drawing
to a point at the bottom toward the plant, but blunt at
the top where the empalement of the flower was iitua-
ted. The taile is agreeably acid, which in a hot coun¬
try muft render the fruit more grateful.
The cochineal animals are fupported on a fpecies
called coitus cocheniUifer.—The flower of the cadtus
grandiflora (one of the creeping cereufes) is faid to be
as grand and beautiful as any in the vegetable fyftem :
It begins to open in the evening about feven o’clock,
is in perfection about eleven, and fades about four in
No. 61.
] CAD
the morning ; fo that the fame flower only continues Cacus
in perfection about fix hours. The calyx when ex- II
panded is about a foot in diameter, of a fplendid yel- a ence'
low within, and a dark brown without; the petals are
many, and of a pure white ; and the great number of
recurved ftamina, furrounding the ftyle in the centre of
♦he flower, make a grand appearance, to which may
be added the fine feent, which perfumes the air to a
confiderable diftance. It flowers in July.
CACUS, in fabulous hiftory, an Italian fliepherd
upon mount Aventine. As Hercules was driving
home the herd of king Geryon whom he had flain,
Cacus robbed him of fome of his oxen, which he drew
backward into his den left they Ihould be difeovered.
Hercules at laft finding them out by their lowing, or
the robbery being difeovered to him, killed Cacus with
his club. He was Vulcan’s fon, of prodigious bulk,
and half man half fatyr.
CAD AN, a town of Bohemia, in the circle ofZats,
feated on the northern bank of the river Egra, in E.
Long. 13. 34. N. Lat. 50. 20.
CADARI, or Kadari, a feet of Mahometans, who
aflert free-will; attribute the adtions of men to men _
alone, not to any fecret power determining the will;
and deny all abfolute decrees, and predeftination. The
author of this feCt was Mabed ben Kaled A1 Gihoni,
who ftiffered martyrdom for it. The word comes from
the Arabic, vrp, cadara, power. Ben Ann calls the Ca-
darians the Magi, or Manichees of the Muffulmen.
CADE, a cag, calk, or barrel. A cade of her¬
rings is a veffel containing the quantity of 500 red her¬
rings, or 1000 fprats.
CADF. -J.amb, a young lamb weaned, and brought-up
by hand, in a houfe; called in the North, pet-lamb.
Cade-OU, in the Materia Medica, a name given to
an oil much in ufe in fome parts of France and Ger¬
many. The phyficians call it oleum cada, or oleum de
cada. This is fuppofed by fome to be the piflelaeum
of the ancients, but improperly ; it is made of the fruit
of the oxycedrus, which is called by the people of
thefe places cada.
CADE-Worm in zoology, the maggot or worm of a
fly called phryganea. It is ufed as a bait in angling.
See Phryganea.
CADEA, or The league of the house of God,
is one of thofe that compofe the republic of the Gri-
fons, and the moll powerful and extenlive of them all.
It contains the bilhopric of Coire, the great valley of
Engadine, and that of Bragail or Pregal. Of the 11
great, or 21 fmall communities, there are but two that
fpeak the German language; that of the reft is called
the Rhetic, and is a dialed; of the Italian. The Pro-
teftant religion is moll prevalent in this league, which
has been allied to the Swifs cantons ever lince the year
1498. Coire is the capital town.
CADENAC, a town of France in Querci, on the
confines of Rouergue, feated on the river Lot, in E.
Long. 2. 12. N. Lat. 44. 36.
CADENCE, or Repose, in mufic, (from the La¬
tin cadere to fall or defeend) ; the termination of an
harmonical phrafe on a repofe, or on a perfedt chord.
See Music, art. 73—76, and 132 —137.
Cadence, in reading, is a falling of the voice below
the key-note at the clofe of every period. In reading,
whether profe or verfe, a certain tone is aflumed which
is called the key-note ; and in this tone the bulk of the
5 words
CAD L
Cadence words arc founded ; but this note is generally lowered
|l _ towards the clofe of every fentence.
Ca[li- Cadence, in the manege, an ^qual meafure or pro-
v~ portion, obferved by a horfe in all his motions; fo
that his times have an equal regard to one another,
the one does not embrace or take in more ground than
the other, and the horfe obferves his ground regu¬
larly. *
CADENE, one of the forts of carpets which the
Europeans import from the Levant. They are the
worft fort of all, and are fold by the piece from one to
two piaftres per carpet.
CADENET, a town of France in Provence, and in
the Viguirie of Apt. E. Long. 5. 30. N. Lat. 43. 40.
CADES, or Kadesh, (anc. geog.) a town in the
'Wildernefs of Zin, in Arabia Petrsea ; the firft en-
9 ] GAD
are alfo judges of religious matters. Among the Moors,
cadis is the denomination of their higher order of
priefts or doftors, anfwering to the rabbins among the _
Jews. ,
CADIACI, the Turkilh name of Chalcedon. See
Chalcedon.
CADILESCHER, a capital officer of juftice among
the Turks, anfwering to a chief juftice among us.
It is laid, that this authority was originally confined
to the foldiery ; but that, at prefent, it extends itfelf
to the determination of all kinds of law-fuits; yet is
neverthelefs fubjett to appeals.
There are but three cadilefchers in all the grand fig-
nior’s territories: the firft is that of Europe ; the fe-
cond, of Natolia; and the third refides at Grand Cairo.
This laft is the moft confiderable : they have their feats
campment of the Ifraelites, after their departure from in the divan next to the grand vizir.
Eziongeber ; and from which the Wildernefs of Zin CADILLAC, a town of France in Guienne, and
was called Cades; the burial-place of Miriam, with in Bazadois, near the river Garonne, with a handfome
the rock and water of Meribah in it. Another Cades,
a town of the tribe of Judah, Joihua xv. 23. Cadef-
barnea, called alfo Cades.
CADESBARNEA, (anc. geog.) a town of the
Wildernefs of Paran, on the confines of Canaan, from
which the fpies were fent out; fometimes fimply called
Cades, but diftinft from the Cades in the Wildernefs of
Zin.
CADET, the younger fon of a family, is a term
caftle, fituated in W. Long. o. 15. N. Lat. 44. 37.
CADIZ, a city and port-town of Andalufia in Spain,
fituated on the ifland of Leon, oppofite to Port St
Mary on the continent, about 60 miles fouth-weft of
Seville, and- 40 north-weft of Gibraltar. W. Long. 6»
40. N. Lat. 36. 30.
It occupies the whole furface of the weftern extre¬
mity of the ifland, which is compofed of two large
circular parts, joined together by a very narrow bank
naturalized in our language from the French. At Pa- of fand, forming altogether the figure of a chain-lhot.
ris, among the citizens, the cadets have an equal patri- At the fouth-eaft end, the ancient bridge of Sua90,
mony with the reft. At Caux, in Normandy, the
cuftom, as with us, is to leave all to the eldeft, except
a final! portion to the cadets. In Spain, it is ufual for
one of the cadets in great families to take the mother’s
name.
Cadet is alfo a military term denoting a young gen¬
tleman who choofes to carry arms in a marching regi¬
ment as a private man. His views are, to acquire fome
knowledge in the art of war, and to obtain a com-
miffion in the army. Cadet differs from volunteer, as
the former takes pay, whereas the latter ferves without
pay
CADI, or Cadhi, a judge of the civil affairs in the
thrown over a deep channel or river, affords a commu¬
nication between the ifland and the continent; a ftrong
line of works defends the city from all approaches along
the ifthmus ; and, to render them ftill more difficult,
all the gardens and little villas on the beach were in
1762 cleared away, and a dreary fandy glacis left in
their room, fo that now there is fcarce a tree on the
whole ifland.
Except the Calle Ancha, all the ftreets are narrow,
ill-paved, and infufferably ftinking. They are all
dratvn in ftraight lines, and moft of them interfed each
other at right angles. The fwarms of rats that in the
nights run about the ftreets are innumerable ; whole
Turkiih empire. It is generally taken for the judge of droves of them pafs and repafs continually, and thefe
a town ; judges of provinces being diftinguilhed by the their midnight revels are extremely troublefome to
appellation of mollas. ' fuch as walk late. The houfes are lofty, with each a
We find numerous complaints of the avarice, ini- veftibule, which being left open till night, ferve paffen-
quity, and extortion, of the Turkifh cadis ; all juftice gers to retire to; this cuftom, which prevails through-
is here venal; the people bribe the cadis, the cadis bribe out Spain, renders thefe places exceedingly offenfive.
the moulas, the moulas the cadilefchers, and the cadi- In the middle of the houfe is a court like a deep well,
lefchers the mufti. Each cadi has his ferjeants, who under which is generally a ciftern, the breeding-place
are to fummon perfons to appear and anfwer complaints, of gnats and mofquitos ; the ground-floors are ware-
If the party fummoned fails to appear at the hour ap- houfes, the firft ftories compting-houfe or kitchen, and
pointed, fentence is paffed in favour of his adverfary. the principal apartment up two pair of flairs. The
It is ufually vain to appeal from the fentences of the roofs are flat, covered with an impenetrable cement,
cadi, fince the affair is never heard anew, butjudg- and few are without a miradvr or turret for the pur-
ment is paffed on the cafe as ftated by the cadi. But pofe of commanding a view of the fea. Round the
the cadis are often caftiiered and puniffied for crying in- parapet-wall at top are placed rows of fquare pillars,
juftice with the baftinado and mulfts; the law, how- meant either for ornament according to fome tradi-
ever, does not allow them to be put to death. Con- tional mode of decoration, or to fix awnings to, that
ftantinople has had cadis ever fince the year 1390, when fuch as fit there for the benefit of the fea-breeze may
Bajazet I. obliged John Paleologus, emperor of the be flickered from the rays of the fun ; but the moft
Greeks, to receive cadis into the city to judge all con- common ufe made of them, is to fallen ropes for drv-
troverfies happening between the Greeks and the Turks ing linen upon. High -above all thefe pinnacles,
fettled there. In fome countries of Africa, the cadis which give Cadiz a moft Angular appearance, Hands
Vol. IV. Part I. B ihr
CAD [ io ] CAD
the tower of frgnals. Here flags are hung out on the
firfl fight of a fail, marking the fize of the (hip, the
nation it belongs to, and, if a Spaniih Indiaman, the
port of the Indies it comes from. The (hips are ac¬
quainted with the proper fignals to be made, and
thefe are repeated by the watchmen of the tower : as
painted lifts are in every houle, perfons concerned m
commerce foon learn the marks.
The city is divided into twenty-four quarters, under
the infpeftion of as many commiffioners of police; and
its population is reckoned at one hundred and forty
thoufand inhabitants, of which twelve thoufand are
French, and at leaft as many more Italians. The
fquare of Saint Antonio is large, and tolerably hand-
fome, and there are a few fmaller openings of no
great note. The public walk, or Alameda, is pleafant
in the evening : it is fenced off the coach-road by a
marble rail. The fea-air prevents the trees from thri¬
ving, and deftroys all hopes of future ftrade.
From the Alameda, continuing your walk weft-
wards, you come to the Campofanto, a large efplanade,
the only airing-place for coaches ; it turns round molt
part of the weft and fouth fides of the ifland, but the
buildings are ftraggling and ugly ; the only edifice of
any ftipw is the new orphan-houfe; oppofite to it is
the fortrefs of St Sebaftian, built on a neck of land
running out into the fea. The round tower at the
extremity is fuppofed to have faved the city, in the
great earthquake of 1755, from being fwept away by
the fury of the waves. The building proved fufficient-
ly folid to withftand the ftiock, and break the immenfe
volume of water that threatened deftru&ion to the
whole ifland. In the narrow part of the ifthmus the
furge beat over with amazing impetuofity, and bore
down all before it; among the reft, the grandfon of
the famous tragic-poet Racine, who ftrove in vain to
efcape, by urging his horfe to the utmoft of his fpeed.
On St Sebaftian’s feaft, a kind of wake or fair is
held in the fort; an aftonifliing number of people then
paffmg and repafling, on a ftring of wooden bridges
laid from rock to rock, makes a very lively moving
pitture.
From hence to the wooden circus where they exhi¬
bit the bull-feafts, you keep turning to the left clofe
above the fea, which on all this fide dailies over large
ledges of rock ; the ftiore feems here abfolutely inac-
cefiible. On this ihore ftands the cathedral, a work
of great expence, but carried on with fo little vigour,
that it is difficult to guefs at the term of years it will
require to "bring it to perfection. The vaults are exe¬
cuted with great folidity. The arches, that fpring
from the cluttered pilafters to fupport the roof of the
church, are very bold ; the minute fculpture beftowed
upon them feems fuperfluous, as all the effect will be
loft from their great height, and from the ihade that
will be thrown upon them by the filling up of the in-
terftices. From the fea, the prefent top of the church
refembles the carcafe of fome huge monfter caft upon
its fide, rearing its gigantic blanched ribs high above
the buildings of the city. The outward cafings are to
be of white marble, the bars of the windows of bronze.
Next, croffing before the land-gate and barracks, a
fuperb edifice for ftrength, convenience, and cleanli-
nefs, you come down to the ramparts that defend the
city on the fide of the bay. If the profpeft to the
ocean is folemn, that towards the main land is ani¬
mated in the higheft degree ; the men of war ride in
the eaftern bofom of the bay ; lower down the mer¬
chantmen are fpread far and near; and clofe to the
town an incredible number of barks, of various fhapes
and fizes, cover the furface of the water, fome moored
and fome in motion, carrying goods to and fro. The
oppofite ftiore of Spain is ftudded with white houfes,
and enlivened by the towns of St Mary’s, Port-real,
and others, behind which, eaftward, on a ridge of hills,
ftands Medina Sidonia, and further back rife the moun¬
tains of Granada. Weft ward, Rota clofes the hori¬
zon, near which was anciently the ifland and city of
Tarteffus, now covered by the fea, but at low-water
fome part of the ruins are ftill to be difeerned. la
a large baftion, jutting out into the bay, they have
built the cuftom-houfe, the firft ftory of which is
level with the walk upon the walls. When it was re-
folved to erect a building fo neceffary to this great em¬
porium of trade, the marquis di Squillace gave orders
that no expence ftiould be fpared, and the moft intelli¬
gent architedls employed, in order to eretft a monument,
which by its tafte and magnificence might excite the
admiration of pofterity : the refult of thefe precautions
proved a piece of vile architecture, compofed of the
worft of materials.
The ftir here is prodigious during the laft months of
the ftay of the ftota. The packers poffefs the art of preff-
ing goods in great perfeftion; but, as they pay the
freight according to the cubic palms of each bale, they
are apt to fqueeze down the cloths and linens fo very
clofe and hard, as fometimes to renderthem unfit for ufe.
The exportation of French luxuries in drefs is enor¬
mous ; Lyons furniihes moft of them ; England fends
out bale goods; Brittany and the north, linens. E-
very commercial nation has a conful refident at Ca¬
diz ; thofe of England and France are the only ones
not allowed to have any concern in trade.
In 1596, Cadiz was taken, pillaged, and burnt by
the Englifh; but in 1702 it was attempted in conjunc¬
tion with the Dutch, without fuccefs.
CADIZADELITES, a fe& of Mahometans very
like the ancient ftoics. They ftnin feafts and diverfions,
and affeft an extraordinary gravity in all their a<5fions;
they are continually talking of God, and fome of them
make a jumble of Chriftianity and Mahometanifm; they
drink wine, even in the fall of the ramazan; they love
and protect the Chriftians; they believe that Mahomet
is the Holy Ghoft, pracrife circumcifion, and juftify it
by the example of Jefus Chrift.
CADMEAN Letters, the ancient Greek or Ionic
characters, fuch as they were firft brought by Cadmus
from Phoenicia; whence Herodotus alfo calls them
Phanician letters. According to fome writers, Cad¬
mus was not the inventor, nor even importer of the
Greek letters, but only the modeller and reformer
thereof; and it was hence they acquired the appella¬
tion Cadmean or Phanician letters ; whereas before that
time they had been called Pelafgian letters.
CADMIA. - See Calamine.
CADMUS, in fabulous hiftoiy, king of Thebes,
the fon of Agenor king of Phoenicia, and the brother
of Phoenix, Cilix, and Europa. He carried into
Greece the 16 fimple letters of the Greek alphabet;
and there built Thebes, in Bosotia. The poets fay,
2 that
Cadiz.
II
Cadmus.
GAD [
Cadmus tliat he left his native country in fearch of his fifter
if Europa, whom Jupiter had carried away in the form
Caduceus. of a bull. and that> inquiririg of the Delphic oracle
for a fettlement, he was anfwered, that he fliould fol¬
low the direction of a cow, and build a city where Ihe
lay down. Having arrived among the Phocenfes, he
was met by a cow, who conduced him through Boeo-
tia to the place where Thebes was afterwards built:
but as he was about to facrifice his guide to Pallas, he
fent two of his company to the fountain Dirce for wa¬
ter ; when they being devoured by a ferpent or dragon,
he flew the monfter, and afterwards, by the advice of
Pallas, fowed his teeth, when there fprung up a num¬
ber of armed foldiers, who prepared to revenge the
death of the ferpent; but on his calling a Hone among
thefe upftart warriors, they turned their weapons againll
each other with fuch animofity, that only five furvived
the combat, and thefe affilted Cadmus in founding his
new city. Afterwards, to recompence his labours,
the gods gave him Harmonia, or Hermione, the
daughter of Mars and Venus ; and honoured his nup¬
tials with prefents and peculiar marks of favour. But
at length refigning Thebes to Pentheus, Cadmus and
Hermione went to govern theEcclellenfes: wdien grown
old, they were transformed into ferpents ; or, as others
fay, fent to the Elyfian fields, in a chariot drawn by
ferpents. See Thebes.
Cadmus of Miletum, a celebrated Greek hifto-
rian, was, according to Pliny, the firft of the Greeks
who wrote hillory in profe. He flourilhed about 550
before Chrift.
CADORE, or Pieve de Cadore, a town of Italy,
in the territory of Venice, and capital of a dillridl
called Cadorino ; famous for the birth of Titian the
painter. E. Long. 13. 45. N. Lat. 46. 25.
CADORINO, a province of Italy, in the territory
of Venice ; bounded on the eaft by Friuli Proper, on
the fouth and wrell by the Bellunefe, and by the bi-
Ihopric of Brixen on the north. It is a very moun¬
tainous country, but pretty populous. The only towrn
is Pieve de Cadore.
CAD RITES, a fort of Mahometan friars, who
once a-week fpend a great part of the night in turn¬
ing round, holding each others hand, and repeating
inceffantly the word hai, which fignifies living, and is
one of the attributes of God; during which one of
them plays on a flute. They pever cut their hair, nor
cover their heads; and always go barefooted: they
have liberty to quit their convent w'hen they pleafe,
and to marry.
CADSAND, an illand on the coaft of Dutch
Flanders, fituated at the mouth of the Scheld, where-
■by the Dutch command the navigation of that river.
CADUCEUS, in antiquity, Mercury’s rod or
■fceptre, being a wand entwifted by two ferpenfs borne
by that deity as the enfign of his quality and office,
_given him, according to the fable, by Apollo, for his
feven-ltringed harp. Wonderful properties are afcribed
to this rod by the poets; as laying men afleep, railing
the dead, &c.
It was alfo ufed by the ancients as a fymhol of peace
and concord : the Romans fent the Carthaginians a
javelin and a caduceus, offering them their choice either
of w'ar or peace. Among that people, thofe wflio .de¬
nounced war were called Jeciaks ; and thofe wflio went
I ] C JE L
to demand peace, caduceatofes, becaufe they bore a Caduci
caduceus in their hand. N
The caduceus found on medals is a common fymbol, tX ia*'
figtiifying good conduft, peace, and profperity. The
rod expreffes power, the two ferpents prudence, and
the two wings diligence.
CADUCI, (from cado to “ fall”); the name of a clafs
in Linnseus’s calycina, confifting of plants whofe calyx
is a firfiple perianthium, fupporting a Angle flower or
fructification, and falling off either before or wflth the
petals. It Hands oppofed to the clafles perjijlentes in
the fame method, and is exemplified in multard and
ranunculus.
CADURCI, Cadurcum, Cadurcus, and Cadurx, ■■
(anc. geog.), a town of the Cadurci, a people of A-
quitania; fituated between the rivers Oldus, running
from the north, and the Tarnis from the fouth, and
falling into the Garumna : now Cahors, capital of the
territory of the Querci, in Guienne. A part of the
Cadurci, to the fouth next the Tarnis, were called E-
hulheri.
CADUS, in antiquity, a wine-veffel of a certain
capacity, containing 80 amphorae or firkins ; each of
which, according to the bell accounts, held nine gal
Ions.
CADUSII (anc. geog.), a people of Media Atro-
patene, fituated to the weft in the mountains, and
reaching to the Cafpian fea; between wdiom and the
Medes, perpetual w'ar and enmity continued down to
the time of Cyrus.
CECILIA, in zoology, a genus of ferpents be.-
longing to the amphibia clafs. The cascilia has no
fcales ; it is fmooth, and moves by means of lateral
rugae or prickles. The upper lip is prominent, and
fumiflied with two tentacula. It has no tail. There
are but two fpecies of this ferpent, viz. 1. The tenta-
culata, has 135 rugae. It is about a foot long, and an
-inch in circumference, preferving an uniform cylindri¬
cal fhape from the one end to the other. The teeth
are very fmall. It has fuch a refemblance to an eel,
that it may eafily be miftaken for one ; but as it has
neither fins nor gills, it cannot be claffed with the
fiflies. It is a native of America, and its bite is not
poifonous. 2. The glutinofa, has 340 rugae or prickles
above, and 10 below, the anus. It is of a brownifh
colour, with a white line on the fide, and is a native
of the Indies.
, CiECUM, or Goecum, the blind gut. See A-
natomy, N° 93.
CiELIUM (anc. geog.), an inland town of Peu-
cetia, a divifion of Apulia ; a place four or five miles
above Barium or Bari, and which ftill retains that
name.
CJELIUS Mons, (Itinerary); a town of Vindelicia,
on the right or weft fide of the Ilargus. Now Kcl~
munt%, a fmall town of Suabia, on the Uler.
Ca:lius Moivs at Rome. See Coelius.
Cselius (Aurelianus), an -ancient phyfician, and
the only one of the fed of the methodifts of whom we
have any remains. He was of Sicca, a town of Nu-
midia ; but in what age he lived, cannot be deter¬
mined : it is probable, however, that he lived before
Galen ; fince, though he carefully mentions all the
phyficians before him, he takes no notice of Galen.
He had read over very diligently the ancient phyft-
E 2 ciane
c j; r [12
Caen cians of all feels ; and we are indebted to him for the
!l knowledge of many dogmas which are not to be found
then'fh’Ve ^ut 'n books ds cekribus et tardis pq/jlonibus. He
» wrote, as he himfelf tells us, feveral other works; but
they are all perifhed.
CAEN, an handfome and confiderable town of
France, capital of Lower Normandy, with a celebrated
univerfity, and an academy of literature. It contains
60 ftreets, and 12 parities. It has a caftle with four
towers, which were built by the Engli/h. The town-
houfe is a large building with four great towers. The
royal fquare is the handfomeft in all Noifoandy, and
has fine houfes on three fides of it; and in the middle
is the ftatue of Louis XIV. in a Roman habit, Hand¬
ing on a marble pedeftal, and furrounded with an iron
balluftrade. It is feated in a pleafant country on the
river Orne, about eight miles from the fea. William
the conqueror was buried here, in the abbey of St
Stephen, which he founded. W. Long. o. 27. N.
Lat. 49. 11. *
CiERE, (anc. geog.), a town of Etruria, the royal
refidence of Mezentius. Its ancient name was Argylla.
In Strabo’s time not the leaft veftige of it remained,
except the baths called caret ana. From this town the
Roman cenfor’s tables were called carites tabula. In
thefe were entered the names of fuch as for fome mif-
demeanor forfeited their right of fuffrage, or were de¬
graded from a higher to a lefs honourable tribe. For
the people of Caere hofpitably receiving thofe Romans
who, after the taking of Rome by the Gauls, fled with
their gods and the facred fire of Vefta, were, on the
Romans recovering themfelves from this difafter, ho¬
noured with the privilege of the city, but without a
Tight of voting#
CiERITES tabula. See the preceding article.
CAERFILLY, a town of Glamorganfhire in South
Wales, feated between the rivers Taff and Rumney,
in a moorifli ground^among the hills. It is thought
the walls, now in ruins, were built by the Romans;
there being often Roman coins dug up there. W.Long.
3. 12. N. Lat. 5K 25.
CAERLEON, a town of Monmouthfhire in Eng¬
land, and a place of great antiquity. It was a Roman
town, as is evident from the many Roman antiquities
found here. It is commodioufly fituated on the river
Uflt, over which there is a large wooden bridge. The
houfes are generally built of ftone, and there are the
ruins of a caftle ftill to be feen. W Long. 3. o. N.
Lat. 51. 40.
CAERMARTHEN-shire, a county of Wales,
bounded on the north by Severn fea or St George’s
Channel, Cardiganftiire on the fouth, the {hires of
Brecknock and Glamorgan on the eaft, and Pembroke-
fhire on the weft. Its greateft length is between 30
and 40 miles, and its breadth upwards of 20. The air
is wholefome, and the foil lefs rocky and mountainous
than moft other parts of Wales, and confequently is
proportionally more fertile both in corn and pafture.
It has alfo plenty of wood, and is well fupplied with
coal and limeftone. The moft confiderable rivers are
the Towy, the Cothy, and the Tave ; of which, the firft
abounds with excellent falmon. The principal towns
are Caermarthen the capital, Kidwely, Lanimdovery,
&c. This county abounds with ancient forts, camps,
and tumuli or barrows. Near to Caermarthen, to-
] C iE R
wards the eaft, may be feen the ruins of Kaftelk Kar- Caermar-
rey, which was fituated on a fteep and inaccefiible rock; th^n
and alfo feveral vaft caverns, fuppofed to have been cop- Caernar-
per-mines of the Romans. Near this fpot is a four}- von.
tain which ebbs and flows twice in 24 hours like the —v—
fea.
Caermarthen, a town of Wales, and capital of
the county of that name. It is fituated on the river
Fowey, over which it has a fine ftone-bridge. It is of
great antiquity, being the Maridunum of Ptolemy* It
is a populous, thriving, and polite place, many of the
neighbouring gentry refiding there in the winter. It
is a corporation and county of itfelf, with power to
make by-laws. Here were held the courts of chancery
and exchequer for South Wales, till the whole was uni¬
ted to England in the reign of Henry VIII. Here
was born the famous conjurer Merlin; and near the town
is a wood called Merlin's grove, where he is faidto have
often retired for contemplation. Many of his pretend¬
ed prophecies are ftill preferved in the country. The
town gives the title of marquis to his grace the duke of
Leeds. It fends one member to parliament, and the
county another.
CAE RNARVON-s hire, a county of Wales, bound¬
ed on the north and weft by the fea, on the fouth by
Merionethftiire, and on the eaft is divided from Den-
bighftiire by the river Conway. It is about 40 miles
in length, and 20 in breadth ; and fends one member to
parliament for the {hire, and another for the borough
of Caernarvon. The air is very piercing; owing partly
to the fnow, that lies feven or eight months of the year
upon fome of the mountains, which are fo high that
they are called the Britijb Alps; and partly to the
great number of lakes, which are faid not to be fewerr
than 50 or 60. The foil in the valleys on the fide next
Ireland is pretty fertile, efpecially in barley; great
numbers of black cattle, flieep, and goats, are fed on the
mountains; and the fea, lakes, and rivers, abound with
variety of fifli. The higheft mountains in the county
are thofe called Snowdon hills, and Pen-maen-mawr,
which laft hangs over the fea. There is a road cut out
of the rock on the fide next the fea, guarded by a wall,
running along the edge of it on that fide ; but the tra¬
veller is fometimes in danger of being crufhed by the
fall of pieces of the rock from the precipices above.
The river Conway, though its courfe from the lake out
of which it iffues to its mouth is only 12 miles, yet is
fo deep, in confequence of the many brooks it receives,
that it is navigable by {hips of good burden for eight
miles. Pearls are found in a large black mufcle taken
in this river. The principal towns are Bangor, Caer¬
narvon the capital, and Conway. In this county is an
ancient road faid to have been made by Helena the
mother of Conftantine the Great; and Matthew of
Weftminfter aflerts, that the body of Conftantius the
father of the fame Conftantine was found at Caernar¬
von in the year 1283, and interred in the parifh-church
there by order of Edward I.
Caernarvon, a town of Wales, and capital of the
county of that name. It was built by Edward I. near
the fite of the ancient Segontium, after his conqueft of
the country in 1282, the fituation being well adapted
to overawe his new fubjefts. It had natural requifites
for ftrength ; being bounded on one fide by the arm.
of the fea called the Menai; by the eftuary of the
Seiont
CMS
Caernarvon Seiorrt on another, exa&Iy where it receives the tide
L . IJ . from the former; on a third fide, and a part of the
t 13 ]
c j: s
grows naturally in the warmeft parts of America, Csfalpimt*
from whence the wood is imported for the dyers, who Ca;far- ,
fourth, by a creek of the Menai; and the remainder ufe it much. The demand has been fo great, that
none of the large trees are left in any of the Bri-PlateCXV.
tifn plantations; fo that Mr Catefby owns him-
felf ignorant oT the dimenfions to which they grow.
The largeft remaining are not above two inches in
thicknefs, and eight or nine feet in height. The
forth within its walls Edward, firft prince of Wales of branches are flender and full of fmall prickles ; the leaves
the Englifh line. It was built within the fpace of one are pinnated ; the lobes growing oppofite to one ano-
year, by the labour of the peafants, and at the coft of ther, broad at their ends, with one notch. The flowers
the chieftains of the country, on whom the conqueror are white, papilionaceous, with many ftamina and yel-
impofed the hateful talk. The external Hate of the low apices, growing in a pyramidal fpike, at the end of
w alls and caftle, Mr Pennant informs us, are at prefent a long flender italk : the pods inclofe feveral fmall round
exaftly as they were in the time of Edward. The feeds. The colour produced from this wood is greatly
defended by numbers of round towers, and improved by folution of tin in aqua regia*. The fe- » gee c
'-a r~~:—   cond fortds a native of the fame countries with the firft,
but is of a larger fize. It fends out many weak irregu- and Dyeingi
lar branches, armed with fliort, ftrong, upright thorns.
The leaves branch out in the fame manner as the firft ;
but the lobes, or fmall leaves, are oval and entire.
The flowers are produced in long fpikes like thofe of
cullifes, and every requifite of ftrength. The towers the former, but are variegated with red. Thefe plants
are very beautiful. The Eagle tower is remarkably may be prppagated from feeds, which ftiould be fown
fine, and has the addition of three flender angular tur- in fmall pots filled with light rich earth early in the
rets iffuing from the top. Edward II. was born in a fpring, and plunged in a bed of tanner’s bark. Being
little dark room in this tower, not twelve feet long tender, they require to be always kept in the ftove, and
nor eight in breadth: fo little did, in thofe days, a to be treated in the fame manner as other exotics of
has the appearance of having the infulation completed
by art. Edward undertook this great wprk immedi¬
ately after his conqueft of the country in 1282, and
completed the fortifications and caftle before 1284;
for his queen, on April 25th in that year, brought
walls a
have two principal gates : the eaft, facing the moun¬
tains ; the w^eft, upon the Menai. The entrance in¬
to the caftle is very auguft, beneath a great tower, on
the front of which appears the ftatue of the founder,
with a dagger in his hand, as if menacing his new-
tcquired unwilling fubjedls. The gate had four port-
royal confort confult either pomp or conveniency.
The gate through which the affectionate Eleanor en¬
tered, to give the Welfti a prince of their own, who
could not fpeak a word of Englifli, is at the fartheft
end, at a vaft height above the outfide ground; fo
could- only be approached by a draw-bridge. The
quay is a moft beautiful walk along the fide of the Me¬
nai, and commands a moft agreeable view.
Caernarvon is deftitute of manufactures, but has a
briik trade with London, Briftol, Liverpool, and Ire¬
land, for the feveral neceffaries of life. It is the re-
that kind,
CJESALPINUS of Arezzo, profeffor at Pifa, and
afterwards phyfician to pope Clement VIII, one of the
capital writers in botany. See Botany, p. 419, 420.
CjESAR (Julius), the illuftrious Roman general
and hiftorian, was of the family of the Julii, who pre¬
tended they were defcended from Venus by iEneas.
The defcendants of Afcanius fon of JEneas and Creufa,
and furnamed Julius, lived at Alba till that city was
ruined by Tulms Hoftilius king of Rome, who carried
them to Rome, where they flouriflied. We do not find-
fidence of numbers of genteel families, and contains that they produced more than two branches. The firft
feveral very good houfes. Edward I. beftowed on this bore the name of Tullus, the other that of Ctefar. The
town its firft royal charter, and made it a free bo- moft ancient of the Caefars were thofe who were in pu-
rough. Among other privileges, none of the burgeffes blic employments in the xithyear of the firft Punic:
could be convicted of any crime committed between war. After that time we find there was always fome
the rivers Conway and Dyfe, unlefs by a jury of their of that family who enjoyed public offices in the com¬
own townfmen. It is governed by a mayor, who, by monwealth, till the time of Caius Julius Caefar, the fub-
patent, is created governor of the caftle. It has one jeft of this article. He was born at Rome the 12th of
alderman, two bailiffs, a town-clerk, and two ferjeants the month Quintilis, year of the city 653, and loft his
at mace. The reprefentative of the place is elected by father an. 669. By his valour and eloquence he foon
its burgefles, and thofe of Conway, Pwllheli, Nefyn, and acquired the higheft reputation in the field and in the
Crickaeth. The right of voting is in every one, refi- fenate. Beloved and refpefted by his fellow-citizens,
dent or non-refident, admitted to their freedom. The he enjoyed fucceffively every magifterial and military
town gives title of earl and marquis to the duke of honour the republic could beftow confiftent with its
Ghandos, and has a good tide-harbour. own free conftitution. But at length having fubdued
CAERWIS, a market-town of Flintfhire in North Pompey the great rival• of‘ his growing power, his-
Wales, fituated in W. Long. 3. 25. N. Lat. 53. 20. boundlefs ambition effaced the glory of his former ac-
C2ESALPINIA Brasiletto, or Brojil-wood: a ge- tions : for, purfuing his favourite maxim, “ that he
nus of the monogynia order, belonging to the decandria had rather be the firft man in a village than the fecond
clafs of plants; and in the natural piethod ranking un- in Rome,’’ he procured himfelf to be chofen perpetual
der the 33d order, Lomentacea. The calyx is quin- dictator; and, not content with this unconftitutional
quefid, with the loweft fegment larger in proportion, power, his faftion had refolded to raife him to the rm-
There are five petals, with the loweft mere beautiful perial dignity; when the friends of the civil liberties
than the reft. It is a leguminous plant. Of this- of the republic raftdy affafiinated him in the lenate-
there are three fpecies, the moft remarkable of which houfe, where they fhould only have feized him and
is. the. brafilienfis, commonly called Brafiktto,
It brought him to a legal trial for ufurpation. By this ;
impolitic:
C jE s
I ’4 ]
C ^ S
Caefar. Impolitic mcafnre they defeated their own purpofe, in- them the fuffrages and attention of men, have the Csefir,
 1 '   ~ ^ o f iIncrnpff imnnvtnnr'P in f i <=» c 1 .   - v.^—°
■ volving the city in confternation and terror, which pro-
ducea general anarchy, and paved the way to the revo-
higheft importance in degenerate times. The ladies '
of his age were charmed with the profpeA of ha¬
lation they wanted to prevent; the monarchial govern- ving a dictator whom they might fubdue by their at-
ment being abfolutely founded on the murder of Julius tractions.
In vain did the genius of Cato watch for fome
time to fuftain the liberty of his country. It was un-
a hiltory of his principal voyages, battles, and victo- equal to contend with that of Caefar. Of what avail
ries. The London edition in 1712, in folio, is pre- were the eloquence, the philofophy, and the virtue of
ferred. this republican^ when oppofed by a man who had the
The detail of Caefar’s tranfa&ions (fo far as is con- addrefs to debauch the wife of every citizen whofe in-
fiftent with the limits of this work) being given under tereft he meant to engage ; who, poffefiing an enthu-
the article Rome, we (hall here only add a portrait of fiafm for .glory, wept, becaufe, at' the age of 30, he
Csefar. He fell in the 56th year of his age, 43 years
before the Chriftian asra. His commentaries contain
* From the hhn as drawn by a philofopher
fhlh/b" “ ^ a^ter the lapfe of 18 centuries, the truth may
pbiqunoi be publifhed without offence, a philofqpher might, in
M? Ophel- the following terms, cenfure Caefar without calum-
Lt. niating him, and applaud him without exciting his
:blufhes.
“ Caefar had c
had not conquered the world like Alexander; and who,
with the haughty temper of a defpot, was more defi-
rous to be the firfl man in a village than the fecond in
Rome.
“ Caefar had the good fortune to exiit in times of
trouble and civil commotions, when the minds of men
predominant paffion : it was the are put into a ferment; when opportunities of great
dove of glory ; and he paffed 40 years of his life in feek- aftions are frequent; when talents are every tiling^ and
ing opportunities to fofter and encourage it. His foul, thofe who can only boall of their virtues are nothing,
entirely'abforbed in ambition, did not open itfelf to If he had lived an hundred years fooner, he would have
other impulfes. He cultivated letters ; but he did not been no more than an obfcure villain ; and, inftead of
love them with enthufiafm, becaufe he had not leifure giving laws to the world, would not have been able to
to become the firft orator of Rome. He corrupted the
•one half of the Roman ladies, but his heart had
produce any confufion in it.
“ I will here be bold enough to advance an idea,
concern in the fiery ardours of his fenfes. In the arms which may appear paradoxical to thofe who weakly
of Cleopatra, he thought of Pompey ; and this fingu- judge of men from what they atchieve, and not from
lar man, who difdained to have a partner in the empire the principle which leads them to aft. Nature formed
of the world, would have blulhed to have been for one in the fame mould Csefar, Mahomet, Cromwell, and
inftant the flave of a woman.
“ We muft not imagine, that Csefar was born a war-
Kouli Khan. They all of them united to genius that
profound policy which renders it fo powerful. They
rior, as Sophocles and Milton were born poets. For, all of them had an evident fuperiority over thofe with
if nature had made him a citizen of Sybaris, he would whom they were furrounded ; they were confcious of
have been the moft voluptuous of men. If in our days this fuperiority, and they made others confcious of it.
he had been born in Penfylvania, he would have been They were all of them born fubjefts, and became for-
the moft inoffenfiveof quakers, and would not have dif- tunate ufurpers. Had Csefar been placed in Perfia, he
turbed the tranquillity of the new world.
would have made the cqnqueftof India; in Arabia, he
‘ The moderation with which he condufted himfelf would have been the founder of a new religion; in Lon-
after his viftories, has been highly extolled ; but in this don, he would have fiabbed his fovereign, or have pro¬
be fiaowed his penetration, not the goodnefs of his cured his affaflination under the' fanftion of the laws..
heart. Is it not obvious, that the difplay of certain He reigned with glory over men whom he had reduced
virtues is neceffa-ry to put in motion the political ma- to be Haves; and, under one afpeft, he is to be confider-
chine ? It was raquifite that he Ihould have the appear- ed as a hero; under another, as a monfter. But it would
ance of clemency, if he inclined that Rome Ihould for- be unfortunate, indeed, for fociety, if the poffeffion of
give him his viftories. But what greatnefs of mind is fuperior talents gave individuals a right to trouble its
there in a generofity which follows
.of fupreme power ?
'* Nature, while it marked Caefar with a fublime cha-
the ufurpation repofe. Ufurpers accordingly have flatterers, but no
friends; ftrangers refpeft them; their fubjefts com¬
plain and-fubmit; it is in their own families that huma-
rafter, gave him alfo that fpirit of perfeverance which nity finds her avengers. Csefar was affafiinated by his
renders it ufeful. He had no fooner begun to refleftj
than he admired Sylla; hated him, and yet wilhed to
imitate him. At the age of 15, he formed the pro-
jeft of being diftator. It was thus that the prefident
fon, Mahomet was poifoned by hrs wife, Kouli Khan
was maffacred by his nephew, and Cromwell only died
in his bed becaufe his fon Richard was a philofopher.
“ Caefar, the tyrant of his country; Caefar, who
Montefquieu conceived, in his early youth, the idea of deftroyed the agents of his crimes, if they failed in ad-
the fpirit of laws.
drefs; Caefar, in fine, the hulband of every wife, and
Phyfical qualities, as well as moral caufes, contri- the wife of every hufband ; has been accounted a great
buted to give ftrength to his charafter. Nature, which man by the mob of writers. But it is only the philo-
had made him for command, had given him an air of fopher who knows how to mark the barrier between
dignity. He had acquired that foft and infinuating celebrity and greatnefs. The talents of this Angular
jeloquence, which is perfeftly fuited to feduce vulgar man, and the good fortune which conftantly attended
minds, and has a powerful influence on the moft culti- him till the moment of his aflafiination, have concealed
vated. His love of pleafure was a merit with the fair the enormity ofjiis aftions.”
fi x.; and women, who even in a republic can draw to Cesar, in Roman antiquity, a title borne by all
the
C JE S [
\CxCav the emperors, from Julius Caefar to the deftru&ion of
Lf nan- t^ie emP^re' ^ was u^e<^ as a title of diftindlion
| aJian • £or jijg intended or prefumptive heir of the empire,
as ting of the Romans is no w ufed for that of the Ger¬
man empire.
This title took its rife from the furname of the firll
emperor, C. Julius Csefar, which, by a decree of the
fenate, all the fucceeding emperors were to bear. Un¬
der his fuccelfor, the appellation of Auguflus being
appropriated to the emperors, in compliment to that
prince, the title C/efur was given to the fecond per-
fon in the empire, though ftill it continued to be given
to the firlt; and hence the difference betwixt Caefar
ufed fimply, and Caefar with the addition of Imperator
Auguftus.
The dignity of Caefar remained to the fecond of the
empire, till Alexius Comnenus having eledted Nice-
phorus Meliflenus Caefar, by contradt; and it being
neceffary to confer fome higher dignity on his own
brother Ifaacius, he created him Sebaftocrator, with
the precedency over Meliffenus; ordering, that in all
acclamations, &c. Ifaacius Sebaftocrator Ihould be
named the fecond, and Meliffenus Caefar the third.
Caesar (Sir Julius), a learned civilian, was de-
feended by the female line from the duke de Cefarini in
Italy ; and was born near Tottenham in Middlefex, in
the year 1557. He was educated at Oxford, and af¬
terwards ftudied in the univerfity of Paris, where, in
the year 1581, he was created dodtor of the civil law,
and two years after was admitted to the fame degree
at Oxford,' and alfo became dodtor of the canon law.
He was advanced to many honourable employments,
and for the laft 20 years of his life was matter of the
rolls. He was remarkable for his extenfive bounty and
charity to all perfons of worth, fo that he teemed to
be the almoner-general of the nation. .He died 1639,
in the 79th year of his age. It is veiy remarkable thiit
the manuferipts of this lawyer were offered (by the ex¬
ecutors of fome of his defendants) to a ch,eefemonger
for wafte-paper; but being timely infpedted by Mr
Samuel Paterfon, this gentleman difeovered their worth,
and had the fatisfadlion to find his judgment confirmed
by the profeffion, to whom they were fold in lots- for
upwards of 500/. in the year 1757.
Cm s'as Augujla or Ctefarea Augufa, (anc geog:),
a Roman colony fituated on the river Iberus in the
hither Spain, before called Salduha, in the territories
of the Edetani. Now commonly thought to be Sara-
gofa.
CAESAREA, the name of feveral ancient cities,
particularly one on the coaft of Phenice. It was very
conveniently fituated for trade > but had a very dange¬
rous harbour, fo that no Ihips could be fafe in it when
the wind was at fouth-weft. Herod the Great king
of Judea remedied this inconveniency at an immenfe
expence and labour, making it one of the moft con¬
venient havens on that coaft. He alfo beautified it
with many buildings, and beftowed 12 years in the
finifhing and adorning it.
CAESARIAN operation. See Midwifery.
CAESARIANS, Cafarienfes, in Roman antiquity*
were officers of minifters of the Roman emperors: They
kept the account of the revenues of the emperors; and
took poffeffion, in their name, of fuch things as de¬
volved or were connfcated to them.
5 1 c A F
CESARODUNUM (anc. geog.), a town of the C*farodti-
Turones in Celtic Gaul; now Tours, the capital of ““.T1 .
Touraine. See Tours. Caifa.
C.ESAROMAGUf? (anc. geog.), a town of the ——J
Trinobantes in Britain; by fome fuppofed to be
Chelmsford, by others Brentford, and by others Burflet.
CiESENA (anc. geog,), a town of Gallia Cifpa-
dana, fituated on the rivers Ifapis and Rubicon; now
CjEsena, which fee.
CaESIA sVava (anc. geog.), a wood in Germany,
part Of the great Sylva Hercynia, fituated partly in the
duchy of Cleves, and partly in Weftphalia between
Wefel and Kesfield.
CaESONES, a denomination given to fchofe cut out
of their mother’s wombs. Pliny ranks this as*an au-
fpicious kind of birth; the elder Scipio Africanus, and
the firft family of Caefars, were brought into the world
in this way.
CaESTUS, in antiquity, a large gantlet made of
raw hide, which the wreftlers made ufe of when they
fought at the public games.—This was a kind of lea¬
thern ftrap, ftrengthened with lead or plates of iron,
which encompaffed the hand, the wrift, and a part of
the arm, as well to defend thefe parts as to enforce
their blows.
CjESTus, or Caflum, was alfo a kind of girdle, made
of wool, which the hiifband untied for his fpoufe the
firft day of marriage, before they went to bed.
This relates to Venus’s girdle, which Juno borrowed
of her to entice Jupiter to. love her. See Cestus.
CaESURA, in the ancient poetry, is. when, in the
fcanning of a verfe, a word is divided fo, as one part
feems cut off, and goes to a different foot from the
reft; as,
Menti\ri no\li, nun\quam men\dacta \profunt.
where the fyllables ri, li, quam, and men, are cae-
fiiras.
CiEsuRE, in the modern poetry, denotes a reft or
paufe towards the middle of an Alexandrian verfe, by
which the voice and pronunciation are aided, and the
verfe, as it were, divided into two hemiftichs. See
Pause.
CaETERIS paribus, a Latin term in frequent ufa
among mathematical and phyfical writers. The words
literally fignify, the refl (or other things') being alike or
equal. Thus we fay the heavier the bullet, cateris
paribus, the greater the range ;. i. e. by how much the
bullet is heavier, if the length and diameter of the piece
and ftrength of the powder5 be the fame, by fo much
will the utmoft range or diftance of a piece of ordnance
be the greater. Thus alfo, in a phyfical way, we fay,
the velocity and quantity circulating in a given time
through any fedtion of an artery, will, cateris paribus,
be according to ils diameter, and nearnefs to or diftance
from the heart.
CaETOBRIX (anc. geog.)* a town of Lufitania,
near the mouth of the Tagus on the eaft fide; now ex¬
tinct. It had its name from its fiihery; and there
are ftill extant fiffi-ponds on the ffiore, done with plafter
of Paris, which illuftrate the name of the ruined city.
CAFFA, in commerce, painted cotton-cloths ma¬
nufactured in the Eaft Indies, and fold at Bengal.
Caffa, or Kajfa, a city and port-towm of Crim
Tartary, fituated on the fouth-eaft part of that penin-
fula. E. Long. 37.0. N. Lat. 44. 55.
.It
C A G [ 16 ] GAG
C&Mi Tt Is the moft confiderable town in the country, and
II gives name to the ftraits of Caffa, which runs from the
age' , Euxine or Black Sea, to the Palus Meotis, or fea of
Azoph.
CAFFILA, a company of merchants or travellers,
who join together in order to go with more fecurity
through the dominions of the Grand Mogul, and
through other countries on the continent of the Fall
Indies.
The Caffila differs from a caravan, at leafl in Per-
fia : for the caffila belongs properly to fome fovereign,
or to fome powerful company in Europe, whereas a
caravan is a company of particular merchants, each
trading upon his own account. The Englifh and
Dutch have each of them their caffila at Gambrow.
There are alfo fuch caffilas, which crofs fome parts of
the deferts of Africa, particularly that called the fea of
fandy which lies between the kingdom of Morocco and
thofe of Tombut and Gaigo. This is a journey of 400
leagues; and takes up two months in going, and as
many in coming back ; the caffila travelling only by
night, on account of the exceffive heat of that country.
The chief merchandize they bring back confifts in gold
dull, which they call atilar, and the Europeans tlbir.
Caffila on the coaft of Guzerat or Cambaya, fig-
s nifies a fmall fleet of merchant-fhips.
CAFFRARIA, the country of the Caffres or Hot¬
tentots, in the moft foutherly parts of Africa lying in
the form of a crefcent about the inland country of Mo-
nomopata, between 3 50 fouth latitude and the tropic of
Capricorn : and bounded on the eaft, fouth, and weft,
by the Indian and Atlantic oceans. See Hotten¬
tots.
Moft of the fea-coafts of this country are fubjeft to
the Dutch, who have built a fort near the moft fouthern
promontory, called the Cape of Good-Hope.
CAG, or Keg, a barrel or veffel, that contains from
four to five gallons.
CAGANUS, or Cacanus, an appellation anciently
given by the Huns to their kings. The word appears
alfo to have been formerly applied to the princes of
Mufcovy, now called c%ar. From the fame alfo, pro¬
bably, the Tartar title cham or can, had its origin.
CAGE, an inclofure made of wire, wicker, or the
like, interwoven lattice-wife, for the confinement of
birds or wild beafts. The word is French, cage, formed
from the Italian gaggia, of the Latin cavea, which fig-
nifies the fame : a caveis theatralilus in quibus include-
lantur fera.
Beafts were ufually brought to Rome ffiut up in oaken
or beechen cages, artfully formed, and covered or
{haded with boughs, that the creatures, deceived with
the appearance of a wood, might fancy themfelves in
their foreft. The fiercer fort were pent in iron cages,
left wooden prifons ffiould be broke through. In fome
prifons there are iron cages for the clofer confinement
of criminals. The French laws diftinguiffi two forts
of bird-cages, viz. high or finging cages, and low or
dumb-cages; thofe who expofe birds to fale are obliged
to put the hens in the latter, and the cocks in the for¬
mer, that perfons may not be impofed on by buying a
hen for a cock.-
Cages (cavea), denote alfo places in the ancient
amphitheatres, wherein wild beafts were kept, ready to
be let out for fport. The cavea were a fort of iron
F°6%. i
cages different from dens, which were under ground and Cage
dark ; whereas the cavea being airy and light, the i(
beafts rufhed out of them with more alacrity and fierce- a'~ iar1,
nefs than if they had been pent under ground.
Cage, in carpentry, fignifies an outer-work of tim¬
ber, encloftng another within it. In this fenfe we fay,
)he cage of a wind-mill. The cage of a ftair-cafe denotes
the wooden fides or walls which inclofe it.
CAGEAN, or Cagayan, a province of the ifland
of Lytzen, or Manila, in the Eaft Indies. It is the
largeft in the ifland, being 80 leagues in length, and
40 in breadth. The principal city is called New Se¬
govia, and 15 leagues eaftward from this city lies cape
Bajador. Doubling that cape, and coafting along 2Q
leagues from north to fouth, the province of Cagean
ends, and that of Ulocos begins. The peaceable
Cageans who pay tribute are about 9000; but there
arc a great many not fubdued. The whole province
is fruitful: the men apply themfelves to agriculture,
and are of a martial difpofition ; and the women apply
to feveral works in cotton. The mountains afford food
.for a vaft number of bees; in confequence of which wax
is fo plenty, that all the poor burn it inftead of oil.
They make their candles after the following manner:
they leave a fmall hole at each end of a hollow ftick
for the wick to run through ; and then, {topping the
bottom, fill it with wax at the top : when cold, they
break the mould, and take out the candle. On the
mountains there is abundance of brafil, ebony, and o-
ther valuable woods. In the woods are ftore of wild
beafts, as boars; but not fo good as thofe of Europe.
There are alfo abundance of deer, which they kill for
their fluns and horns to fell to the Chinefe.
CAGLI, an ancient epifcopal town of Italy, in
the duchy of Urbino, fituated at the foot of the Apen-
nine mountains. E. Long. 14. 12. N. Lat. 43. 30.
CAGLIARI (Paolo), called Paulo Veronefe, an ex¬
cellent painter, was born at Verona in the year 1532.
Gabriel Cagliari his father was a fculptor, and Anto¬
nio Badile his uncle was his mafter in painting. He
was not only efteemed the bell of all the Lombard
painters, but for his extenfive talents in the art was
peculiarly ftyled II pittor felice, “ the happy painter
and there is fcarcely a church in Venice where fome of
his performances are not to be feen. De Piles fays,
that “ his picture of the marriage at Cana, in the
church of St George, is to be diftinguilhed from his
other works, as being not only the triumph of Paul
Veronefe, but almoft the triumph of painting itfelf.”
When the fenate fent Grimani, procurator of St Mark,
to be their ambaffador at Rome, Paul attended him,
but did not ftay long, having left fome pieces at Ve¬
nice unfiniflied. Philip II. king of Spain, fent for him
to paint the Efcurial, and made him great offers ; but
Paul excufed himfelf from leaving his own country,
where his reputation was fo well eftabliftied, that moft
of the princes of Europe ordered their feveral ambaffa-
dors to procure fomething of his hand at any rate.
He was indeed highly efteemed by all the principal men
in his time ; and fo much admired by the great mailers,
as well his contemporaries as thofe who fucceeded
him, that Titian himfelf ufed to fay, he was the orna¬
ment of his profeffion. And Guido Reni being allied
which of the mailers his predeceffors he would choofe
to be, were it in bis power, after Raphael and Corre-
C A J [ 17 ] CAT
gio, named Paul Veronefe ; whom he always called his in repairing to Augihurg, yet he rendered all his pro- Caifong,
Paolino. He died of a fever at Venice in 1588, and ceedings ineffe&ual. Cajetan 'was employed in feveral, Cailtc- t
had a tomb and a ftatue of brafs erefted to his memory other negociations and tranfadtions, being as ready at' /-*“*
in the church of St Sebaftian. He left great wealth to bufinefs as at letters. He died in 1534. He wrote
his two fons Gabriel and Charles, who lived happily to- Commentaries upon Ariftotle’s philofophy, and upon
gether, and joined in finirtiing feveral of their father’s Thomas Aquinas’s theology ; and made a literal tranf-
lation of the Old and New Teftaments.
imperfedt pieces with good fuccefs.
Cag£iart, an ancient, large, and rich town, capital
of the ifland of Sardinia in the Mediterranean. It is
feated on the declivity of an hill, is an univerfity, an
archbifliopric, and the refidence of the viceroy. It has
an excellent harbour, and a good trade ; but is a place
of no great ftrength. It was taken, with the whole
ifland, by the Englifh in 1708, who transferred it to
the emperor Charles VI.; but it was retaken by the
Spaniards in 1717, and about two years afterwards
ceded to the duke of Savoy in lieu of Sicily, and hence
he has the title of king of Sardinia. E. Long. 9. 14.
N. Lat. 39. iz.
CAIFONG, a large, populous, and rich town of
Aiia, in China, feated in the middle of a large and well
cultivated plain. It hands in a bottom ; and when be-
fieged by the rebels in 1642, they ordered the dykes
of the river Hohangho to be cut, which drowned the
city, and deftroyed 300,000 of its inhabitants. E.Long.
113. 27. N. Lat. 35. o.
CAILLE (Nicholas Louis de la), an eminent ma¬
thematician and allronomer, was born at a fmall town
in the diocefe of Rheims in 1713. His father had fer-
ved in the army, which he quitted, and in Kft retire¬
ment ftudied mathematics ; and amufed himfelf with
CAGTJI, in zoology, a fynonyme of two fpecies of mechanic exercife*, wherein he proved the happy author
monkeys, viz. the jacchus and oedipus. See Si
CAHORS, a confiderable town of France,in Querci
in Guienne, with abilhop’s fee and an univerfity. It is
feated on a peninfula made by the river Lot, and built
partly on a craggy rock. The principal ftreet is very
narrow ; and terminates in the market-place, in which
is the town-houfe. The cathedral is a Gothic ftrudture,
and has a large fquare fteeple. The fortifications are
regular, and the town is furrounded with thick walls.
E. Long. 1.6. N. Lat. 44. 26.
CAHYS, a dry meafure for corn, ufed ift fome parts
of feveral inventions of confiderable ufe to the public.
Nicholas, almoil in his infancy, took a fancy to mecha¬
nics, which proved of fignal fervice to him in his ma-
turer years. He was fent young to fchool at Mantes-
fur-Seine, where he difcovered early tokens of genius.
In 1729, he went to Paris ; where he ftudied the daf¬
fies, philofophy, and mathematics. Afterwards he went
to ftudy divinity at the college de Navarre, propofing
to embrace an ecclefiaftical life. At the end of three
years he was ordained a deacon, and officiated as fuch
in the church of the college de Mazarin feveral years ;
of Spain, particularly at Seville and at Cadiz. It is- but he never entered into priefts orders, apprehending
near a bulhel of our meafure. that his aftronomical ftudies, to which he became moft
CAJANABURG, the capital of the province of affiduoufly devoted, might too much interfere with his
Cajania or Eaft Bothnia in Sweden, fituated on the religious duties. In 1739, he was conjoined with M. de
north-eaft part of the lake Cajania, in E. Long. 27. o. Thury, fon to M. Caffini, in verifying the meridian of
N. Lat. 63. 50. the royal obfervatory through the whole extent of the
CAIPHAS, high-prieft of the Jews after Simon, kingdom of France. In the month of November the
condemned Chrift to death ; and was put out of his fame year, whilft he was engaged day and night in the
place by the emperor Vitellius, for which difgrace he operations which this grand undertaking required, and
made away with himfelf.(
CAJAZZO, a town of the province of Lavoro in
the kingdom of Naples, fituated in E. Long. 15. o.
N. Lat. 41. 15.
CAICOS, the name of fome American iflands to
the north of St Domingo, lying from W. Long. 112.
10. to 113. 16. N. Lat 21. 40.
CAJEPUT, an oil brought from the Eaft Indies
refembling that of Cardamoms.
CAIETA, (anc.geog.), a port and town of Latium,
fo called from ./Eneas’s nurfe ; now Gaeta, which fee.
CAJETAN (Cardinal), was born at Cajeta in the
at a great diftance from Paris, he was, without any fe¬
licitation, ele&ed into the vacant mathematical chair
which the celebrated M. Varignon had fo worthily
filled. Here he began to teach about the end of 1740;
and an obfervatory was ordered to be erefted for his
ufe in the college, and furnilhed with a fuitable appa¬
ratus of the beft inftruments. In May 1741, M. de la
Caille was admitted into the royal academy of fciences
as an adjoint member for aftronomy. Befides the many
excellent papers of his difperfed up and down in their
memoirs, he publilhed Elements of geometry, mecha¬
nics, optics, and aftronomy. Moreover, he carefully
kingdom of Naples in the year 1469. His proper computed all theeclipfes of the fun and moon that had
name was Thomas de Vio ; but he adopted that of Ca- happened fince the Chriftian sera, which were printed
jetan from the place of his nativity. He defended the in a book publifhed by two Benedi&ines, entitled l’Art
authority of the Pope, which fuffered greatly at the de verefer les dates, &c. Paris, 1750, in 410. Befides
council of Nice, in a work entitled Of the power of the thefe, he compiled a volume of aftronomical epheme-
Pope ; and for this work he obtained the bifhopric of rides for the years 1745 to 1755 ; another for the years
Cajeta. He was afterwards raifed to the archiepifcopal 1755 to 1765 ; a third for the years 1765 to 1775 ;
fee of Palermo, and in 1517 was made a cardinal by an excellent work entitled AJlronom'ne fundamenta no-
Pope Leo X. The year after, he was fent as legate vijfimis folis et JleUarum olfervationibus Jlabilita; and
into Germany, to quiet the commotions raifed againft the moft correft folar tables that ever appeared. Ha-
indulgences by Martin Luther ; but Luther, under pro- ving gone through a feven years feries of aftronomi-
teftion of Frederic elector of Saxony, fet him at de- cal obfervations in his own obfervatory, he formed a
fiance ; for though he obeyed the cardinal’s fummons project of going to obferve the fouthern ftars at the
Von. IV. Part I. C Cape
Caille:
C A I [
Caille. Cape of Good Hope. This was highly approved by the
V——' academy, and by the prime minifter Comte de Argen-
fon, and very readily agreed to by the ftates of Hol¬
land. Upon this, he drew up a plan of the method he
propofed to purfue in his fouthern obfervations ; fetting
forth, that, befides fettling the places of the fixed ftars,
he propofed to ^determine the parallax of the moon,
Mars, and Venus. But whereas this required corre-
fpondent obfervations to be made in the northern parts
of the world, he fent to thofe of his correfpondents
who were expert in praftical aftronomy previous no¬
tice, in print, what obfervations he defigned to make
at fuch and fuch times for the faid purpofe. At length,
on the 21 ft of November 1750, he failed for the Cape,
and arrived there on the 19th of April 1751. He forth¬
with got his inftrumen.ts on fhore ; and, with the affift-
ance of fome Dutch artificers, ftt about building an
aftronomical obfervatory, in which his apparatus of in-
ftruments was properly difpofed of as foon as it was in
a fit condition to. receive them.
Tire iky at the Cape is generally pure and ferene,
unlefs when a fouth-eaft wind blows. But this is of¬
ten the cafe ; and when it is, it is attended with fome
ftrange and terrible effects. The ftars look bigger, and
feem to caper ; the moon has an undulating tremor ;
and the planets have a fort of beard like comets. Two
hundred and twenty-eight nights did our aftronomer
furvey the face of the fouthern heavens; during which
fpace, which is almoft incredible, he obferved more
than 1-0,000 ftars ; and whereas the ancients filled the
heavens with monfters and old-wives tales, the abbe de
la Caille chofe rather to adorn them with the inftru-
ments and machines which modem philofophy has
* See the made ufe of for the conqueft of nature*. With no
Planifpheie lefs fuccefs did he attend to the parallax of the moon,
in his tv, - Mars, Venus, and the fun. Having thus executed the
fftllif ra e Pur‘P°fe °f bis voyage, and no prefent opportunity of-
CrU"‘ fering for his return, he thought of employing the va¬
cant time in another arduous attempt; no lefs than
that of taking the meafure of the earth, as he had al¬
ready done that of the heavens. This indeed had,
through the munificence of the French king, been done
before by different fets of learned men both in Europe
and America ; fome determining the quantity of a de¬
gree under the equator, and others under the arftic
circle : but it had not as yet been decided whether in
the fouthern parallels of latitude the fame dimenfions
obtained as in the northern. His labours were re¬
warded with the fatisfa<5tion he wifhed for; having de-
terr fiaei a diftance of 410,814 feet from a place cal¬
led Kiip-Fontyn to the Cape, by means of a bafe of
38,802 feet, three times actually meafured : whence he
difcovered a new fecret of nature, namely, that the
radii of the pamllels in fouth latitude are not the fame
as thofe of the correfponding parallels in north lati¬
tude. About the 23d degree of fouth latitude he found
a degree on the meridian to contain 342,222 Paris feet.
He returned to Paris the aytbof September 1754 ; ha¬
ving in his almoft'four years abfence expended no more
than 9144 livres on himfelf and his companion ; and
at his coming into port, he refufed a bribe of too,000
livres, offered by one who thirfted lefs after glory than
gain, to be (barer in his immunity from cuftom-houfe
searches.
After receiving the congratulatory vifits of his more
18 J C A I
intimate friends and the aftronomers, he firft of all
thought fit to draw up a reply to fome ftriftures which Jl
profeffor Euler had published relative to the meridian,
and then he fettled the refults of the comparifon of his .—-y—
own with the obfervations of other aftronomers for the
parallaxes. That of the fun he fixed at g±" ; of the
moon, at 56' 56" ; of Mars in his oppofition, 36"; of
Venus, 38". He alfo fettled the laws whereby aftro¬
nomical refra&ions are varied by the different den-
fity or rarity of the air, by heat or cold, and drynefs-
or moifture. And, laftly, he (bowed an eafy, and by
common navigators prafticable, method of finding the
longitude at fea by means of the moon, which he illuf-
trated by examples felefted from his own obfervations
during his voyages. His fame being now eftablifiied
upon fo firm a bafis, the mod celebrated academies of
Europe claimed him as their own : and he was unani-
moufly elefted a member of the royal fociety at Lon¬
don ; of the inftitute of Bologna ; of the imperial aca¬
demy at Peterfburg ; and of the royal academies of
Berlin, Stockholm, and Gottingen. In the year 1760,
Mr de la Caille was attacked with a fevere fit of the;
gout; which, however, did not interrupt the courfe of
his ttudies ; for he then planned out a new and immenfe
work, no lefs than a hiftory of aftronomy through all
ages, with a comparifon of the ancient and modern ob»
fervations, and the conftru<ftion and ufe of the inftru-
ments employed in making them. In order to purfue
the talk he had impofed upon himfelf in a fuitable re¬
tirement, he obtained a grant of apartments in the
royal palace of Vincennes; and whilft his aftronomical
apparatus was erefting there, he began printing his
Catalogue of the fouthern ftars, and the third volume
of his Ephemerides. The ftate of his health was, to¬
wards the end of the year 1763, greatly reduced. His
blood grew inflamed; he had pains of the head, ob-
ftructions of the kidneys, lofs of appetite, with an op-
pletion of the whole habit. His mind remained un-
affefted, and he refolutely perfifted in his ftudies as
ufual. In the month of March, medicines were ad-
miniftered to him, which rather aggravated than al¬
leviated his fymptoms; and he was now fenfible, that
the fame diftemper which in Africa, ten years before,
yielded to a few Ample remedies, did in his native
country bid defiance to the heft phyficians. This in¬
duced him to fettle his affairs : his manufcripts he com¬
mitted to the care and difcretion of his efteemed friend
M. Maraldi. It was at laft determined that a vein
(hopld be opened; but this brought on an obftinate
lethargy, of which he died, aged 49.
CAIMACAN,or Caimacam,in the Turkifli affairs,
a dignity in the Ottoman empire, anfwering to lieute¬
nant, or rather deputy, amdngft us.
There are ufually two Caimacans ; one redding at
Conftantinople, as governor thereof 5 the other attend¬
ing the grand vizir in quality of his lieutenant, fecre-
tary of ftate, and firft minifter of his council, and gives
audience to ambaffadors. Sometimes there is a third
caimacan, who attends the fultan ; whom he acquaints
with any public difturbances, and receives his. orders
concerning them.
CAIMAN islands, certain American iflands lying
fouth of Cuba, and north-weft of Jamaica, between
8 x° and 86° of weft longitude, and in 21 of north la¬
titude. They ,are moft remarkable on account of the
6 fifliery
C A I t '!
Cain fifhery of tortoife, which the people of Jamaica catch
ji here, and carry home alive, keeping them in pens for
airns' food, and killing them as they want them.
CAIN, eldeft fon of Adam and Eve, killed his
brother Abel; for which he was condemned by
God to baniihment and a vagabond ftate of life.
Cain retired to the land of Nod, on the feaft of Eden ;
and built, a city, to which he gave the name of his fon
Enoch.
CAINITES, a fe£l of heretics in the 2d century, fo
called on account of their great refpeft for Cain. They
pretended that the virtue which produced Abel w'as of
an order inferior to that which had produced Cain, and
that this was the reafon why Cain had the viftory over
Abel and killed him; for they admitted a great number
of genii*, which they called virtues, of different ranks
and orders. They made profeffion of honouring thofe
who carry in Scripture the moft vifible marks of repro¬
bation; as the inhabitants of Sodom, Efau, Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram. They had, in particular, a
very great veneration for the traitor Judas, under pre¬
tence that the death of Jefus Chrift had faved mankind.
They had a forged gofpel of Judas, to which they paid
great refpeft.
CAIRNS, or Carnes, the vulgar name of thofe
heaps of ftones which are to be feen in many places of
Britain, particularly Scotland and Wales.—They are
compofed of ftones of all dimenfions thrown together
in a conical form, a flat ftone crowning the apex; (fee
Plate CXXVIL).
Various caufes have been affigned by the learned for
thefe heaps of ftones. They have fuppofed them to have
been, in times of inauguration, the places where the chief-
tain-eleft ftood to (how himfelf to beft advantage to the
people ; or the place from whence judgment was pro¬
nounced; or to have been erefted on the road-iide in ho¬
nour of Mercury; or to have been formed in memory of
fome folemn compaft, particularly where accompanied
by Handing pillars of ftones ; or for the celebration of
certain religious ceremonies. Such might have been
the reafons, in fome inftances, where the evidences of
ftone-chefts and urns are wanting : but thefe are fo
generally found, that they feem to determine the
moft ufual purpofe of the piles in queftion to have
been for fepulchral monuments. Even this deftina-
tion might render them fuitable to other purpofes;
particularly religious, to which by their nature they
might be fuppofed to give additional folemnity.—
According^to Toland, fires veere kindled on the
tops or flat ftones, at certain times of the year, par¬
ticularly on the eves of the ill of May and the ift of
November, for the purpofe of facrificing ; at which
time all the people having extinguiihed their domeftic
hearths rekindled themfrom thefacred fires of the cairns.
In general, therefore, thefe accumulations appear to
have been defigned for the fepulchral protection of
heroes and great men. The ftone-chefts, the repofi-
tory of the urns and afhes, are lodged in the earth be¬
neath: fometimes only one, fometimes more, are found
thus depoiited; and Mr Pennant mentions an inftance
of 17 being difcovered under the fame pile.
Cairns are of different fizes, fome of them very large.
Mr Pennant defcribes one in the ifland of Arran, 114
feet over and of a vaft height. They may juftly be
fuppofed to have been proportioned in fize to the rank
) 1 C A I
of the perfon, or to his popularity: the people of a Cairo,
whole diftrift affembled to fhow their refpeft to the
deceafed; and, by an aftive honouring of his me¬
mory, foon accumulated heaps equal to thofe that a-
ftonifh us at this time. But thefehonours were not mere¬
ly thofe of the day ; as long as the memory of the de¬
ceafed endured, not a paffenger went by without add¬
ing a ftone to the heap: they fuppofed it would be
an honour to the dead, and acceptable to his manes.
Quanquam fejlinas, non ejl mora longa: Ucebit,
Injetlo ter pulvere, curras.
To this moment there is a proverbial expreffion a-
mong the highlanders allufive to the old praffice: a
fuppliant will tell his patron, Curri mi clock er do
charne, “ I will add a ftone to your cairn;” meaning,
When you are no more, I will do all pofiible honour to
your memory.
Cairns are to be found in all parts of our iflands, in
Cornwal, Wales, and all parts of North Britain; they
were in ufe among the northern nations; Dahlberg,
in his 323d plate, has given the figure of one. In.
Wales they are called carneddau; but the proverb taken
from them there, is not of the complinjental kind:
Karn ar dy ben, or, “ A cairn on your head,” is a token
of imprecation.
CAIRO, or Grand Cairo, the capital of Egypt,
fituated in a plain at the foot of a mountain, in E.
Long. 32. o. N. Lat. 30. o. It was founded by Jaw-
har, a Magrebian general, in the year of the Hegira
358. He had laid the foundations of it under the ho-
rofcope of Mars; and for that reafon gave his new city
the name of Sll Kahirah, or the Victorious, an epithet
applied by the Arab aftronomers to that planet. In
362 it became the refidence of the kaliffs of Egypt,
and of confequence the capital of that country, and
has ever fince continued to be fo. It is divided into
the New and Old cities. Old Cairo is on the eaftern
fide of the river Nile, and is now almoft uninhabited.
The New, which is properly Cairo, is feafed in a fandy
plain about two miles and a half from the old city.
It Hands on the weftern fide of the Nile, from which
it is not three quarters of a mile diftant. It is ex¬
tended along the mountain on which the caftle is built,
for the fake of which it was removed hither, in order,
as fome pretend, to be under its prote&ion. How¬
ever, the change is much for the worfe, as wejl with
regard to air as water, and the pleafantnefs of the pro-
fpeft. Bulack may be called the port of Cairo ; for it
ftands on the bank of the Nile, about a mile and a half
from it, and all the corn and other commodities are
landed there before they are brought to the city.
Some travellers have made Cairo of a moft enormous
magnitude, by taking in the old city Bulack, and the
new; the real circumference of it, however, is not above
ten miles, but it is extremely populous. The firft
thing that ftrikes a traveller is the narrownefs of the
ftreets, and the appearance of the houfes. Thefe are
fo daubed with mud on the outfide, that you woufd
think they were built with nothing elfe. Befides, as
the ftreets are unpaved, and always full of people, the
walking in them is very inconvenient, efpecially to
ft rangers. To remedy this, there are a great number
of affes, which always Hand ready to be hired for a
trifle, that is, a penny a mile. The owners drive
C .2 them
CAT [2
them along, and give notice to the crowd to make way.
And here it may be obferved, that the Chriftians in
this, as well as other parts of the Turkiih dominions,
are not permitted to ride upon horfes. The number
of the inhabitants can only be gueffed at; but we may
conclude it to be very great, becaufe in fome years
the plague will carry off 200,000, without their being
much miffed. The houfes are from orte to two or three
ftories high, and flat at the top ; where they take the
air, and often deep all night. The better fort of thefe
have a court on the inflde like a college. The com¬
mon run of houfes have very little room, and even a-
mong great people it is ufual for 20 or 30 to lie in the
imall hall. Some houfes wull hold 300 perfons of both
flexes, among w'hom are 20 or 30 flaves, and thofe of
ordinary rank have generally three or four.
There is a canal called Halts, which runs along the
city from one end to the other, with houfes on each
fide, which make a large ftraight ftreet. Befides this,
there are feveral lakes, which are called birks in the
language of the country. The principal of thefe, which
is near the caftle, is 500 paces in diameter. The moft
elegant houfes in the city are built on its banks; but
what is extraordinary, eight months in the year it con¬
tains water, and the other four it appears with a charm¬
ing verdure. When there is water fufficient, it is al¬
ways full of gilded boats, barges, and barks, in which
people of condition take their pleafure towards night,
at which time there are curious fire-works, and variety
of mufic..
New. Cairo is furrounded with walls built with flone,
on which are handfome battlements, and at thediflance
of every hundred paces there are very fine towers, which
have room for a great number of people. The walls
were never very high, and are in many places gone to
ruin. The bafha lives in the caftle, which was builf
by Saladine feven hundred years ago. It Hands in the
middle of the famous mountain Moketan, which ter¬
minates in this place, after it had accompanied the
Nile from Ethiopia hither. This caftle is the only
place of defence in Egypt; and yet. the Turks take
no notice of its falling, infomuch that in procefs of
time it will become a heap of rubbifh. The principal
part in it is a magnificent hall, environed with* 12 co¬
lumns of granite, of a prodigious height and thicknefs,
which fuftain an open dome, under, which Saladine
diftributed juftice to his fubjedts. Round this dome
there is an infcription in relievo, which determines the
date and by whom it was built. From this place the
whole city of Cairo may be feen, and above 30 miles
along the Nile, with the fruitful plains that lie near it,
as well as the mofques, pyramids, villages, and gardens,
with which thefe fields are covered. Thefe granite
pillars were the work of antiquity, for they were got
out of the ruins of Alexandria. There are likewife in
the mofques and in the principal houfes no lefs than
40,000 more, befides great magazines, where all kinds
are to be had at very low rates. A janiflary happened •
to find five in his garden, as large as .thofe in the caf¬
tle; but could not. find any machine of ftrength fuffi-
cient to move them, and therefore had them fawed in
pieces to make mill-ftones. It is believed that there
have been 30. or 40,000 of thefe pillars brought from
Alexandria, where there ar e yet many more to be had.
0 ] C A I
The gates of Cairo are three, which are very fine and
magnificent.
There are about 300 public mofques in this city,
fome of w'hich have fix minarets. The mofque of A-
fhar hath feveral buildings adjoining, which were once
a famous univerfity, and 14,000 fcholars and Undents
were maintained on the foundation; but has now not
above 1400, and thofe are only taught to read and
write. All the mofques are built upon the fame plan,
and differ only in magnitude. The entrance is thro*
the principal gate into a large fquare, open on the
top, but wrell paved. Round this are covered galleries,
fupported by pillars; under which they fay their pray¬
ers, in the fhade. On one fide of the fquare there are
particular places with bafons of water, for the conve-
niency of performing the ablutions injoinedby the Ko¬
ran. The moft remarkable part of the mofque, befides.
the minaret, is the dome. This is often bold, well
proportioned, and of an aftonifhing magnitude. The
infide ftones are carved like lace, flowers, and melons.
They are built flo firm, and with fuch art, that they
will laft 600 or 700 years. About the outward cir¬
cumference there are large Arabic infcriptions, in re¬
lievo, which may be read by thofe who ftand below,
though they are fometimes of a wonderful height.
The khanes or caravanferas are numerous and large,
with a court in the middle, like their houfes. Some
are feveral ftories high, and are always full of people
and merchandifle. The Nubians, the Abyffinians, and
other African nations, which come to Cairo, have one
to themfelves, where they always meet with lodging.
Here they are fecure from infults, and their effefts are
all fafe. Befides thefe, there is a .bazar, or market,:
where all forts of goods are to be fold. This is in a
long broad ftreet; and yet the crowd is fo great, you
can hardly pafs along. At the end of this ftreet is a-
nother fnort one, but pretty broad, with (hops full of
the beft fort of goods, and precious merchandife. At
the end of this Ihort ftreet there is a great khane, where
all forts of white flaves are to be fold. Farther than.
this is another khane, where a great number of blacks,
of both flexes, are expofed to flak. Not far from the
beft market-place is an hofpital, and a mofque for mad
people. They alfo receive and maintain fick people
into this hofpital, but they are poorly looked after.
Old Cairo has flcarce any thing remarkable but the
granaries of Jofeph; which are nothing but a high
wall, lately built, which includes a fquare fpot of
ground, where they depofite. wheat, barky, and other
grain, which is a tribute to the baflia, paid by the
owners of land. This has no other covering but the
heavens, and therefore the birds are always fure to
have their lhare. There is likewife a tolerable hand¬
fome church, which is made ufe of by the Copts, who-
are Chriftians and the original inhabitants of Egypt.
Tofeph’s well is in the cattle, and was made by king
Mohammed about' 700 years ago. It is called jofeptis
well, becaufe they attribute every thing extraordinary
to that remarkable perfon. It is cut in a rock, and is
280 feet in depth. The water is drawn up to the top
by means of oxen, placed on platforms, at proper dif-
tances, which turn about the machines that, raife it.
The defcent is fo floping, that, though there are no
fteps, the oxen can. defcend and afeend with cafe.
The
C A I [
The river Nile, to which not only Cairo, but all
Egypt is fo much indebted, is now known to have its
rife in Abylfinia. The increafe of the Nile generally
begins in May, and in June they commonly proclaim
about the city how much it is rifen. Over againft
old Cairo the bafha has a Koufe, wherein the water
enters to a column, which has lines at the diftance of
every inch, and marks at every two feet as far as 30.
When the water rifes to 22 feet, it is thought to be of
a fufficient height; when it rifes much higher, it does
a great deal of mifchief. There is much pomp and
ceremony ufed in letting the water into the canal, or
hali, above-mentioned. The bafha gives the firft ftroke
towards the, removal of the dike or dam. When the
water has filled the -canal and lakes in the city, and
the numerous citterns that are in the mofques and pri¬
vate houfes, it is let into a vaft plain, to the north-
eaft ; the extent of which is 50 miles. When the
country is covered with water, it is no unpleafant fight
to view the tovVns appearing like little iflands, and the
people paffing and repaffing in boats.
The inhabitants of Cairo are a mixture of Moors,
Turks, Jews, Greeks, and Cophts, or Coptis. The
only difference between the habit of the Moors and
Coptis is their turbans ; thofe of the Moors being
white, and of the Coptis white ftriped with blue.
The common people generally wear a long black loofe
frock, fewed together all down before. The Jews
wear a frock of the fame fafhion, made of cloth ; and
their caps are like a high crowned hat, without brims,
covered with the fame cloth, but not fo taper. The
Jewifh womens are not very unlike the mens, but
more light and long. The Greeks are habited like
the Turks, only their turbans differ.
Provifions of all kinds are exceeding plenty;, for 2Q
eggs may be bought for a parrah or penny, and bread
is fix times as cheap as with us. They have almoft .
all forts of flefh and fifh ; and in particular have tame
buffaloes, which are very ufeful. They bring goats
into the ftreets in great numbers, to fell their milk.
Their gardens are well flocked with fruit-trees, of va¬
rious kinds, as well as roots, herbs, melons, and cu¬
cumbers. The moil common flefh meat is mutton.
The goats are very beautiful, and have ears two feet
in length; but their flefh is in no great efteem.
CAIRO AN, or Cairwan, a city of Africa, in the
kingdom of Tunis, feated .ih .a fandy barren foil, a-
bout five miles from the gulph of Capres.. It has.
neither fpring,. well, nor river ;; for which reafon they
are obliged to preferve rain-water in tanks and citterns.
It was.built by the Aglabites; and is the ancient Cy-
£ar_ rene*, but hath now loft its fplehdor. There is flill,
however, a very fuperb mofque, and the tombs of the
kings of Tunis are yet to be feen. E. Long. 9. 12.
N. Lat. 35. 40.
CAISSON, in the military art,, a wooden cheft,
into which feveral bombs are put, and fometimes
filled only with gunpowder: this is buried under.fome
work whereof the enemy intend to poffefs themfelves,
and, when they are mailers of it, is fired, in order to
blow them .up.
Caisson is alfo ufed for a wooden frame or. cheft
ufed in laying the foundations of the piers of a bridge.
CAITHNESS, otherwife called theJhire of Wick,
is .the. moft northern county of all Scotland ; bounded
ti 1 C A I
on the eaft by the ocean, and by Strathnaver and Suther¬
land on the fouth and fouth-weft •: from thefe it is di¬
vided by the mountains Grde^and a continued ridge of
hills as far as Knockfin, then by the whole courfe of
the river Hallowdale. On the north it is wafhed by the
Pentland or Putland frith, which flows, between this
county and the Orkneys. It extends 35 miles from
north to fouth, and about 20 from eaft to weft. The
coaft is rocky, and remarkable for a number of bays
and promontories. Of thefe, the principal are Sand-
fide-head to the weft, pointing to the opening of Pent- -
land frith; Orcas, now Holborn-head, and Dunnet
head, both pointing northward to the frith. Dunnet-
head, is a peninfula about a mile broad, and feven in ■
compafs; affording feveral lakes, good pafture, excel¬
lent mill-ftones, and a lead-mine. Scribifter bay, on
the north-well, is a good harbour, where (hips may
ride fecurely. Rice-bay, on the eaft fide, extends three
miles in breadth; but is of dangerous accefs, on ac¬
count of feme funk rocks at the entrance. At the bot¬
tom of this bay appear the ruins of two llrong cattles,.
the feat of the Earl of Caitjmefs, called Cafile Sinclair,
and Gernego, joined to each other by a draw-bridge.
Duncan’s bay, otherwife csMtdDunJby-head, isthenorth-
eall point of Caithnefs, and the extremeft.promontory
in Britain. At this place, the breadth of the frith does
not exceed 12 miles, and in the neighbourhood is the
ordinary ferry to the Orkneys. Here is likewife Clythe-
nefs pointing eaft, and Nolbead pointing north-eaft.
The fea in this place is very impetuous, being in con¬
tinual agitation from violent counter-tides, currents,
and vortices. The only illand belonging to this coun¬
ty is that of Stroma, in the Pentland frith, at .the di¬
ftance of two miles from the main land, extending a-
bout a mile in length, and producing good corn. The
navigation is here rendered very difficult , by conflicting
tides and currents, which at both ends of the ifland
produce a great agitation in the fea. 'At the fouth
end, the waves dance fo impetuoufiy, that the failorc
term them the merry men of May, alluding to the houfe
of one Mr May, on the oppofite Ihore. of Gaithnefs,
which ferved them as a land-mark, in the dangerous
paffage between the ifland and the continent. The pro¬
perty of this ifland was once difputed between the earls
of Orkney and Caithnefs; but adjudged to the latter,
in eonfequence of an experiment, by which it appeared,
that venomous creatures will live in Stroma, whereas
they die immediately if tranfported to. the Orkneys.
The county of Caithnefs, though chiefly, mountainous,.
flattens towards the fea-coaft, where the ground is a-
rable, and produces good harvefts of oats and barley, 4
fufficient for the natives, and yielding a furplus for
exportation. Caithnefais well watered with fmall rivers,
brooks, lakes, and fountains, and affords a few woods
of birch, but is in general bare of trees; and even thofe
the inhabitants plant are Hunted in their growth.
Lead is found at Dunnet, copper at Old Urk, and
iron ore at feveral places; but thefe advantages are not
improved. The air of Caithnefs is temperate, tho’ in
the latitude of 58, where the longeft day in fummer is
computed at 18 hours; and when the fun fets, he makes
fo fmall an arch of a circle below, the horizon, that the
people enjoy a twilight until he rifes again. The fuel
ufed by the inhabitants of Caithnefs confifts of peat and
turf, which the ground yields in great plenty. The
forefts
C A I [ 22
Caithnefs. forefts of Moravins and Berridale afford abundance of
' red-deer and roe-bucks: the country is well ftored
with hares, rabbits, growfe, heathcocks, plover, and
all forts of game, comprehending a bird called /now-
fleet, about the fize of a fparrow, exceedingly fat and
delicious, that comes hither in large flights about the
middle of February, and takes its departure in April.
The hills are covered with fheep and black cattlefo
numerous, that a fat cow has been fold at market for
4s. Sterling. The rocks along the coafts are frequented
by eagles, hawks, and all manner of fea-fowl, whofe
eggs and young are taken in vaft quantities by the na¬
tives. The rivers and lakes abound with trout, fal-
mon, and eels; and the fea affords a very advantageous
fifhery. Divers obelilks and ancient monuments appear
in. this dill rift, and feveral Romifh chapels are Hill
Handing. Caithnefs is well peopled with a race of
hardy inhabitants, who employ themfelves chiefly in
fiihing, and breeding fheep and black cattle : they are
even remarkably induftrious; for between Wick and
Dunbeath, one continued track of rugged rocks, ex¬
tending 12 miles, they have forced feveral little har¬
bours for their fifliing boats, and cut artificial fteps
from the beach to the top of the rocks, where they have
erefted houfes, in which they cure and dry the fiih for
.market.
According to Mr Pennant, this county is fuppofed to
fend out in fome years about 2 0,000 head of black cattle,
but in bad feafons the farmer kills and faits great num¬
bers for fale. Great numbers of fwine are alfo reared
here. Thefe are fhort, high-backed, long bridled,
fharp, flender, and long-nofed; have long ere ft ears,
and moft favage looks. Here are neither barns nor
granaries: the corn is threfhed out, and preferved in
the chaff in byks; which are flacks, in the fhape of bee¬
hives, thatched quite round, where it will keep good
for two years. Vaft numbers of falmon are taken at
Caftle-hill, Dunnet, Wick, and Thurfo. A miracu¬
lous draught at this lafl place is ftill talked of, not lefs
than 2500 being taken at one tide within the memory
of man; and Mr Smollet informs us, that, in the neigh-
' bourhood, above 300 good falmon have been taken at
one draught of the net. In the month of November,
grent numbers of feals are taken in the caverns that o-
pen into the fea, and run fome hundreds of yards un¬
der ground. The entrance of thefe caverns is narrow,
but the infide lofty and fpacious. The feal-hunters en¬
ter thefe in fmall boats with torches, which they light
as foon as they land, and then with loud fhouts alarm
the animals, which they kill with clubs as they attempt
to pafs. This is a hazardous employment; for fhould
the wind blow hard from fea, thefe adventurers are in¬
evitably loft. Sometimes a large fpecies of feals, 12
feet long, have been killed on this coaft ; and it is laid
'the fame kind are found on the rock Hiflcir, one of the
weftern iflands. During the fpring, great quantities
-of lump-fifh refort to this coaft, and are the prey of the
feals, as appears, from the number of fkins of thofe
fifties which at that feafon float afhore. At certain
times alfo the feals. feem to be viiited by a great morta¬
lity; for, at thofe-times, multitudes of them are feen
dead in the water. Much limeftone is found in this
/^country, which when burnt is made into a compofl
with turf and fea-plants. The common people are
i'-ept in great fervitude, and mcft pf their time is given
] CAT
to the lairds, an invincible impediment to the profpe-
rity of the country. The women are alfo condemned
to a fhameful drudgery ; it not being uncommon to fee
them trudging in droves of 60 or 70 to the fields with
bafkets of dung on their backs, which are filled at plea-
fure from the dunghills by their lords and mailers with
their pitchforks.
The lafl private war in Scotland was occafioned by
a difpute relating to this county. An earl of Breadal-
bane married an heirefs of Caithnefs : the inhabitants
would not admit her title, but fet up another perfon in
oppofition. The earl, according to the cuftom of thofe
times, defigned to affert his right by force of arms : he
raifed an army of 1500 men; but thinking the number
too great, he difmifled firft one 500, and then another.
With the remainder he marched to the borders of Caith¬
nefs. Here he thought proper to add ftratagem to
force. He knew that the enemy’s army waited for him
on the other fide of the promontory of Ord. He knew
alfo, that whifky was then the netlar of Caithnefs ; and
therefore ordered a fhip laden with that precious liquor
to pafs round, and wilfully ftrand itfelf on the fhore.
The directions were punctually obeyed; and the crew
in a feeming fright efcaped in the boats to the invading
army. The Caithnefs men made a prize of the fhip ;
but making too free with the freight, became an eafy
prey to the earl, who attacked them during their in¬
toxication, and gained the county, which he difpofed
of very foon after his conqueft.
CAIUS, Kaye, or Keye, (Dr John), the founder
of Caius college in Cambridge, was born at Norwich
in 1510. He was admitted very young a ftudent in
Gonville-hall in the above mentioned univerfity; and
at the age of 21 tranflated from Greek into Latin fome
pieces of divinity, and into Englifh Erafmus’s para-
phrafe on Jude, &c. From thefe his juvenile labours,
it feems probable that .he firft intended to profecute the
ftudy of divinity. Be that as it may, he travelled to
Italy, and at Padua ftudied phyfic under the celebrated
Montanus. In that univerfity he continued fome time,
where we are told he read Greek IcClures with great
applaufe. In-1543, he travelled through part of Italy,
Germany, and France; and returning to England com¬
menced doftor of phyfic at Cambridge. He pradtifed
firft at Shrewfbury, and afterwards at Norwich ; but
removing to London, in 1547 he was admitted fellow
of the college of phyficians, to which he was feveral
years prefident. In 1557, being then phyfician to
queen Mary, and in great favour, he obtained a licence
to advance Gonville-hall, where he had been educated,
into a college; which he endowed with feveral confi-
derable eftates, adding an entire new fquare at the ex¬
pence of 1834I. Of this college he accepted the ma-
fterfhip, which he kept till within a fnort time of his
death. Fie was phyfician to Edward VI. queen Mary,
and Queen Elizabeth. Towards the latter end of his
life he retired to his own college at Cambridge; where,
having refigned the mafterfhip to Dr Legge of Nor¬
wich, he fpent the remainder of his life as a fellow-
commoner. He died in July 1573, aged 63; and was
buried in the chapel of his own college. Dr Caius was
a learned, a&ive, benevolent man. In 1557, he erec¬
ted a monument in St Paul’s to the memory of the fa¬
mous Li nacre. In 1563, he obtained a grant for the
college of phyficians to take the bodies of two male-
faftors
CAL f 23 | CAL
Cake factors annually for diffedtion; and He was the inven-
|| _ tor of the infignia which diftinguifh the prefident from
Calabria. t].ie re{^ 0f fellows. He wrote, 1. Annals of the
' v"_‘"" college from 155^101572. 2. Tranflation of feveral
of Galen’s works. Printed at different times abroad.
3. Hippocrates de Medicamentis, firft difcovered and
publifhed by our author; alfo De ratione viElus, Lov.
1556, 8vo. 4. De medendi Methodo. Bafil, 1544, Lond.
1556, 8vo. 5. Account of the fweating ficknefs in
England. Lond. 1556. 1721. It is entitled De ephe¬
mera Britannica. 6. Hiftory of the univerlity of Cam¬
bridge. Lond. 1568, 8vo. 1574, 410. in Latin. 7.
thermis Britannicis. Doubtful whether ever printed.
8. Of fome rare plants and animals. Lond. 1570.
9. De car.nibus Britannicis, 1570, 1729. 10. Depro-
nunciatione Greecit et Latina Lingua. Lond. 1574. 11.
Delilrispropriis. Lond. 1570. Befides many other
works which never were printed.
CAKE, a finer fort of bread, denominated from its.
flat round figure..
We meet with different compofitions under the name
of cakes ; as feed-cakes, made of flour, butter, cream, fu-
gar, coriander and caraway feeds, mace, and other
fpices and perfumes baked in the oven; plum-cake, made
much after the fame manner, only with fewer feeds,
and the addition of currants; pan-cakes, made of a
mixture of flour, eggs, &c. fried; cheefe-cakes, made of
cream, eggs, and flour, with or without cheefe-curd,
butter, almonds, &c. oat-cakes, made of fine oaten flour,
mixed with yeft and fometimes without, rolled thin,
and laid on an iron or ftone to bake over a flow fire ;
fugar-cakes, made of fine fugar beaten and fearced with
the fineft flour, adding butter, rofewater, and fpices ;
rofe-cakes, placenta rofacea, are leaves of rofes dried and
prefled into a mafs, fold in the fhops for epithems.
The Hebrews had feveral forts of cakes, which they
offered in the temple. They were made of the meal
either of wheat or barley ; they were kneaded fome¬
times with oil and fometimes with honey. Sometimes
they only nibbed them over with oil when they were
baked, or fried them with oil in a frying pan upon the
fire. In the ceremony of Aaron’s confecration, they
facrificed a calf and two rams, and offered unleavened
bread, and cakes unleavened, tempered with oil, and
wafers unleavened anointed with oil; the whole made
of fine wheaten flour. Ex. xxix. 1, 2.
CAKET, a town of Afia, in Perfia, in the province
of Gurgiftan near Mount Caucafus. Its trade confiils
chiefly in filks. E. Long. 46. 15. N. Lat. 43, 32.
CALABASH, in commerce, a light kind of veffel
formed of the fhell of a gourd, emptied and dried, fer-
ving to put divers kinds of goods in, as pitch, roiin,
and the like. The word is Spanifh, Calabacca, which
fignifies the fame. The Indians alfo, both of the North
and South Sea, put the pearls they have fifhed in ca-
labalhes, and the. negroes on the coaft of Africa do the
fame by their gold-duft. The fmaller ealabafties are
alfo frequently ufed by thefe people as a meafure, by
U which they fell thefe precious commodities to the. Eu¬
ropeans. The fame veffels likewife ferve for putting
in liquors; and do the office of cups, as well as bottles,
for foldiers, pilgrims, &c.
CALABASH-Tree, in botany. See Crescentia.
African CALABASH-Tree. See Adansonia.
CALABRIA,, a country of Italy, in the kingdom
of Naples, divided into Calabria Ultra, and Calabria Calabria,^
Citra, commonly called Ulterior and Citerior, or Far- v
ther and Blither Calabria. Calabria Citerior is one of
the 12 provinces of the kingdom of Naples; and bound¬
ed on the fouth by Calabria Ultra, on the north by
Bafilicata, and on the well and call by the fea: Co-
fenfa is the capital. Calabria Ultra is walhed by the
Mediterranean fea on the call, fouth, and weft, and
bounded by Calabria Citra on the north. Reggio is
the capital town.
This country has been almoft entirely-defolated by
the earthquakes of 1783. The reiterated Ihocks ex¬
tended from Cape Spartivento to Amantea above the
gulf of St Eufemia, and alfo affetted that part of Sicily
which lies'oppofite to the fouthern extremity of Italy.
Thofe of the 5th and 7th of February, and of the 28th
of March, were the moft violent, and completed the
deftruftion of every building throughout the above-
mentioned fpace. Not one ftone was left upon another-
fouth of the narrow ifthmus of Squillace ; and what is
more difaftrous, a very large proportion of the inhabi¬
tants was killed by the falling of their houfes, near
40,006 lives being loft. Some perfons were dug out
alive after remaining a furprifing length of time buried
among the rubbifh. Meffina became a mafs of ruins;
its beautiful palazzata was thrown in upon the town,
and its quay cracked into ditches full of water.
Reggio almoft deftroyed ; Tropea greatly dama¬
ged ; every other place in the province levelled to the
ground.
Before and during the concuffion the clouds gather¬
ed, and then hung immoveable" and heavy over the
earth. At Palmi the atmofphere wore fo fiery an
afpedl, that many people thought part of the town was-
burning. It was afterwards remembered that an un-
ufual heat had affedled the Hein of feveral perfons juft
before the fhock; the rivers affumed a muddy afh-
coloured tinge, and a fulphureous fmell was almoft ge¬
neral. A frigate palling between Calabria and Lipari
felt fo fevere a (hock, that the fteerfman was thrown
from the helm, and the cannons were raifed up on their
carriages, while all around the fea exhaled a llrong
fmell of brimftone.
Stupendous alterations were occafioned in the face
of the country ; rivers choaked up by the falling in of
the hills, were converted into lakes, which if not fpeedily
drained by fome future convulsion, or opened by human
labour, will fill the air with pellilential vapours, and
deftroy the remnants of population. Whole acres of"
ground, with houfes and trees upon them, were broken
off from- the plains, and walhed many furlongs down
the deep hollows which the courfe of the rivers had
worn; there, to the allonilhment and terror of behold¬
ers, they found a. new foundation to fix upon, either
in an upright or an inclining pofition. In ihort, every
fpecies of phenomenon, incident to thefe deitructive
commotions of the earth, was to be feen In- its utmoll
extent and variety in . this ruinated country. Their
Sicilian majefties, with the utmoll expedition, difi-
patched veffels loaded with every thing that could be
thought of on the occafion for the relief and accommo--
dation of the diftrefled Calabrians; a general officer
went from Naples with engineers and troops to diredt
the operations of the perfons employed in clearing
away and rebuilding. the houfes,. and to defend the
property
GAL
property of the fufferers. The king ordered this offi¬
cer to take all the money the royal treafures could flip-
[ 24 1
CAL
and inhabitants of Calais having at length confumed all
their provifions, and even eaten all the horfes, dogs,s"
ply or borrow ; for, rather than it ihould be wanting cats, and vermin, in the place, the governor John de
on this preffing call, he was determined to part with
his. plate, nay, the very furniture of his palace. A
meffenger fent oft' from a town near Reggio on the
8th of February, travelled four days without fhelter,
and without being able to procure a morfel of bread ;
he fuppcrted nature with a piece of cheefe which he
had brought in his pocket, and the vegetables he was
lucky enough to find near the road. To add to all
their other fufferings, the Calabrians found themfelves
and the miferable wreck of their fortunes expofed to
the depredations of robbers and pirates. Villains
landed from boats and plundered feveral places, and
thieves went even from Naples in fearch of booty :
In order to ftrike a greater terror, they dreffed them¬
felves like Algerines; but were difcovered and driven
off. To this accumulated diftrefs fucceeded a moft in¬
clement feafon, which ohftru&ed every effort made to
alleviate it; and almoft daily earthquakes kept the in¬
habitants in continual dread, not of being deftroyed by
the fall of houfes, for none were left, but of being
fwallowed up by the fplitting of the earth, or buried
in the wa-ys by fome hidden inundation.
For further particulars concerning this dreadful ca-
taftrophe, and the phenomena attending it, fee Earth-
■QUAKE.
C A LADE, in the manege, the defcent or Hoping
declivity of a rifing manege ground, being a fmall ertli-
Vienne appeared upon the walls, and offered to capitu¬
late. Edward, greatly incenfed at their obftinate re-
fiftance, which had detained him eleven months under
their walls, at an immenfe expence both of men and
money, fent Sir Walter Manny, an illuftrious knight,
to acquaint the governor, that he would grant them no
terms; but that they muft furrender at difcretion.
At length, however, at the fpirited remonftrances of
the governor, and.the perfuafions of Sir Walter Manny*
Edward confented to grant their lives to all the garri-
fon and inhabitants, except fix of the principal bur-
geffes, who ftioujd deliver to him the keys of the city,
with ropes about their necks. When thefe terms
were made known to the people of Calais, they were
plunged into the deepeft diftrefs; and after all the
miferies they had fuffered, they could not think without
horror of giving up fix of their fellow'-citizens to cer¬
tain death. In this extremity, when the whole people
were drowned in tears, and uncertain what to do,
Euftace de Pierre, one of the richeft merchants in the
place, ftepped forth, and voluntarily offered himfelf to
be one of thefe fix devoted vi&ims. His noble exam¬
ple was foon imitated by other five of the moft wealthy
citizens. Thefe true patriots, barefooted and bare¬
headed, with ropes about their, necks, were attended
to the gates by the whole inhabitants, with tears, blef
fmgs, and prayers, for their fafety. When they v
nence, upon which we ride down a horfe feveral times, brought into Edward’s prefence, they laid the keys of
putting him to a fhort gallop, with his fore-hams in the city at his feet, and falling on their knees implored
the air, to learn him to ply or bend his haunches, and his mercy in fuch moving ftrains, that all the noble
form his ftop upon the aids of the calves of the legs, the fpeftators melted into tears. The king’s refentment
flay of the bridle, and the cavefon feafonably given. was fo ftrong for the many toils and Ioffes he had fuf-
CAL/aGORINA, or Calaguris, diftinguifhed by fered in this tedious liege, that he was in fome danger
the furname Nafic.d (anc. geog.), a city of the Vafcones of forgetting his ufual humanity; when the queen,
in the Hither Spain; now Calahorra.
CALAHORRA, an epifcopal town of Spain, in
Old Caftile, feated in a fertile foil, on the fide of a hill
which extends to the banks of the river Ebro. W. Long.
7. N. Lat. 42. 12.
CALAIS, a ftrong town of France, in Lower Pi¬
cardy, with a citadel and a fortified harbour. It is built
in the form of a triangle, one fide of which is towards
falling upon her knees before him, earneftly begged
and obtained their lives. This great and good princefs
conduced thefe virtuous citizens, whofe lives fhe had
faved, to her own apartment, entertained them honour¬
ably, and difmifled them with prefents. Edward took
poffeffion of Calais Auguft 4th; and in order to fecure
a conqueft of fo great importance, and which had coft
him fo dear, he found it neceflary to turn out all the
the fea. The citadel is as large as the town, and has ancient inhabitants, who had difcovered fo ftrong an
t*  1—~ 1—nr—„ attachment to their native prince, and to people it
with Englifh.
Calais remained in fubje&ion to England till the
reign of queen Mary, when it was retaken by the
duke of Guife. This general began the enterprife by
ordering the privateers of Normandy and Bretagne to
but one entrance. It is a trading place, with handfome
ftreets, and feveral churches and monafteries; the num¬
ber of inhabitants is reckoned to be 4000.
Calais was taken by Edward III. in 1347. Hither he
marched his victorious army from Crefcy, and invefted
’the town on the 8th of September. But finding that it
could not be taken by force without the deftraction of cruize in the channel, more efpecially in the very ftraits
great multitudes of his men, he turned the fiege into a
blockade ; and having made ftrong entrenchments to
fecure hxs army from the enemy, huts to protect them
from the inclemency of the weather, and ftationed a
fleet before the harbour to prevent the introduction of
provifions, he refolved to wait with patience till the
place fell into his hands by famine. The befieged,
difcovering his intention, turned feventeen hundred wo¬
of Calais : he then detached the duke of Nevers, with
a confiderable army, towards the country of Luxem-
burgh ; a motion which drew the attention of the
Spaniards that way: when all things were ready, he
procured an application from the people of Boulogne,
for a body of troops to fecure them againft the incur-
fions of the Spaniards ; he fent a ftrong detachment at
their requeft, which was followed by another, under
men, children, and old people, out of the town, to fave colour of fupporting them, then repaired thither ii
their provifions; and Edward had the goodnefs, after perfon, fecure that his officers would follow his in-
■cntertaining them with a dinner, and giving them two- ftru&ions; and thus, on the firft day of the new
pence a-piece, to fuffer them to pafs. The garrifon year, 1557, Calais was invefted. He immediately at-
N06u 3 tacked
CAL [ 25 I CAL
Calais, tacked fort St Agatha, which the garrifon quitted,
-—» ' and retired into the fort of Nieulai, which, together
with the Rifbank, the befiegers attacked at the fame
time, granted good terms to the officer who commanded
in the former, but obliged the garrifon of the latter
to furrender prifoners of war. By thefe means he
opened a communication with the fea ; and having
received from on board the ffiips an immenfe quantity
of hurdles, his infantry, by the help of them, paffed
the morafles that lie round the town. He then made
a falfe attack at the water-gate, which drew the atten¬
tion of the garrifon, who fatigued themfelves exceed¬
ingly in making entrenchments behind the breach; but
when they had finiffied their work, he began to lire
upon the caftle, where the walls were very old, and
had been negle&ed on account of the breadth of the
•ditch, which was alfo very deep when the tide was in;
but a great breach being made, the duke caufed it
to be attacked in the night, and during the ebb the
foldiers palling almoft up to the fhoulders. The place
was ealily carried, though the governor made three vi¬
gorous attacks before the break of day, in order to
clillodge them ; but the French, though they loft a
conliderable number of men, kept their polls. The
governor then faw that it was impracticable to de¬
fend the place any longer, and therefore made the
bell terms for himfelf that he could obtain, which,
however, wete not .very good: and thus in eight days
the duke of Guife recovered a fortrefs which colt the
victorious Edward III. a whole year’s fiege, and which
had been now 210 years in the poffeffion of the Eng-
lilh, without fo much as a fmgle attempt to retake it.
There are very different accounts given of this matter:
Some Englilh hiftorians fay, that king Philip pene¬
trated the defign of the French upon this fortrefs,
gave notice of it in England, and offered to take the
•defence of it upon himfelf; but that this, out of jea-
loufy, was refufed, it being believed to be only an ar¬
tifice to get a place 6f fuch confequence into’his own
hands. The truth of the matter feems to be this:
The ftrength of Calais confifted in its fituation and
outworks, which required a very numerous garrifon ;
but this being attended with a very large expence, the
bell part of the troops had been fent to join Philip’s
army, fo that the governor had not above 500 men,
and there were not more than 250 of the townfmen
able to bear arms. As to ammunition, artillery, and
provifions, the French found there abundance, but
with fo llender a garrifon, that it was impoffible to
make a better defence ; and therefore, when the lord
Wentworth, who was governor, and whom the French
call lord Dumfort, was tried by his peers for the lofs
•of this place, he was acquitted. The duke obliged
all the Englilh inhabitants to quit Calais; and be¬
llowed the government of it upon des Termes, who
was foon after made a marlhal of France.
The fortifications of Calais are good ; but its great-
eft ftrength is its fituation among the marffies, which
may be overflowed at the approach of an enemy. The
harbour is not fo good as formerly, nor will it admit
veffels of any great burden. In times of peace, there
are packet-boats going backward and forward twice
a week from Dover to Calais, which is 21 miles diftant.
E. Long. 2. 6. N. Lat. 50. 58.
Calais and Zetes, in fabulous hiftory, fons of Bo-
Vol.1V. Part L
reas and Orythla, to whom the poets attributed wings: Calamanni
they went on the voyage of Colchis with the Argo- QalaJ|1jne
nauts, delivered Phineus from the harpies, and were   
flain by Hercules.
CALAMANCO, a fort of woollen fluff manufac¬
tured in England and Brabant. It has a fineglofs ; and
is checkered in the warp, whence the checks appear
only on the right fide. Some calamancos are quite
plain, others have broad ftripes adorned with flowers,
fome with plain broad ftripes, fome with narrow ftripes,
and others watered.
CALAMARIjE, in botany, an order of plants in
the Fragment a methodi naturalis of Linnseus; in which
he has the following genera, viz. bobaitia, feirpus, cy-
perus, eriophorum, carex, fchamus, flagellaria, juncus.
See Botany.
CALAMATA, a confiderable town of Turky in
Europe, in the Morea, and province of Belvedera. It
was taken by the Venetians in 1685 ; but the Turks
retook it afterwards with all the Morea. It Hands oa
the river Spinarza, eight pules from the fea. E. Long.
22. 15. N. Lat. 37. 8.
CALAMINE, Calamy, Lapis Calaminaris, or Cad*
mi a FoffiHs, a fort of Hone or mineral, containing zinc,
iron, and fometimes other fubftances. It is confide-
rably heavy, and the more fo the better; mefderately hard
and brittle, or of a confiftence betwixt ftone and earth :
the colour is fometimes whitiffi or grey; fometimes
yellowilh, or of a deep yellow ; fometimes red; fome¬
times brown or blackifh. It is plentiful in feveral
places of Europe, as Hungary', Tranfylvania, Poland,
Spain, Sweden, Bohemia, Saxony, Goflar, France,
and England, particularly in Derbyfhire, Gloucefter-
ffiire, Nottinghamftire, and Somerfetffiire-, as alfo in
Wales, The calamine of England, however, is by
the beft judges allowed to be fuperior in quality to that
of moft other countries. It feldom lies very deep, being
chiefly found in clayey grounds near the furface. In
fome places it is mixed with lead-ores. It is the only-
true ore of zinc, and is ufed as an ingredient in making
of brafs.—Newmann relates various experiments with
this mineral, the only rditft of which was to fliow that
it contained iron as well as zinc. The moft remarkable
are the following. A faturated folution of calamine in
the marine acid, concentrated by evaporating part of the
liquor, exhibits in the cold an appearance of fine cry*
Hals, which on the application of warmth diffolve and
difappear. A little of this concentrated folution tinges
a large quantity of water of a bright yellow colour ;
and at the fame time depofits by degrees a fine, fpongy,
browniffi precipitate. Glue diffolved in.thisufolution,
and afterwards infpiffated, forms an extremely flippery
tenacious mafs, which does not become dry, and, were
it not too expenfive, might be of ufe for entangling
flies, caterpillars, &c. Sulphur boiled in the folution
feems to acquire fome degree*of tranfparency.—This
mineral is an article in the materia medica; but, before
it comes to the (hops, is ufually roafted or calcined, in
order to feparate fome arfenical or fulphureous matter
which in its crude ftate it is fuppofed to contain, and ‘
to render it more eafily reducible into a fine powder. In
this ftate it is employed in collyria againft defluxions
of thin acrid humours upon the eyes, for drying up
moift running ulcers, and healing excoriations. It is
the bafis of an officinal epulotic Ckrate.
D
Though
CAL [ 26 ] CAL
Calamint Though the lapis calaminaris is the only native ore
II of zinc, there is another fubftance from, which that
, Ca^my- ; f.mi-mctal is alfo obtained. This is called cadmia forna-
cum, or cadmia of the furnaces, to diftinguilh it from
the other. This is a matter fublimed when ores con¬
taining zinc, like thofe of Rammelfberg, are fmelted.
This cadmia confifts of the flowers of the femi-metal
{ublimed during the fufion, and adhering to the inner
furfaces of the walls of furnaces, where they fufler a
femi-fufion, and therefore acquire fome folidity. So
great a quantity of thefe are collected, that they form
very thick incruftations, which muft be frequently ta¬
ken off. The name of cadmia of the furnaces has alfo
been given to all the foots and metallic fublimates
formed by fmelting in the great, although there is cer¬
tainly a difference in thefe matters.
CALAMINT, in botany. See Melissa, and Men¬
tha.
CALAMUS, in botany; A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the hexandria clafs of plants;
and in the natural method ranking under the 5th
order, Tripelaloidete. The calyx is hexaphyllous,
there is no corolla, the fruit is a dry monofpermous
berry, imbricated backwards. There is but one fpe-
cies, the rotang. The ftem is without branches, has
a crown at top, and is every where befet with ftraight
fpines. This is the true Indian cane, which, is not
vifible on the outfide; but the bark being taken off
difcovers the fmooth flick, which has no marks of fpine
on the bark, and is exaftly like thofe which the Dutch
fell to us; keeping this matter very fecret, left travel¬
lers going by fliould take as many canes out of the
woods as they pleafe. Sumatra is faid to be the place
where moft of thefe flicks grow. Such are to be cho-
fen as are of proper growth between two joints, fuit-
able to the falhionable length of canes as they are then
worn: but fuch are fcarce.—The calamus rotang is
one of feveral plants from which the drug called Dra¬
gon’s-blood is obtained.
Calamus, in the ancient poets, denotes a Ample
kind of pipe or flftula, the mulkal inftrument of the
fliepherds and herdfmen; ufually made either of an
oaten ftalk or a reed.
Calamus Aromaticus, or Sweet-fcented Flag, in the
materia medica, a fpecies of flag called acorus by Lin¬
naeus. SeeAcoaus.
Calamus Scriptorius, in antiquity, a reed or rufh
to write with. The ancients made ufe of ftyles to write
on tables covered with wax; and of reed, or rulh, to
write on parchment, or Egyptian paper.
CAL AMY (Edmund), an eminent Prefbyterian di¬
vine, born at London in the year 1600, and educated
at Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where his attachment
to the Armenian party excluded him from a fellowftiip.
Dr Felton bilhop of Ely, however, made him his chap¬
lain; and, in 1639, he was chofen minifter of St Mary
Aldermary, in. the city of London. Upon the opening
ot the long parliament, he diftinguilhed himfelf in de¬
fence of the Prelbyterian caufe ; and had a principal
hand in writing the famous Smeclymnus, which, him-
fdf fays, gave the ftrft deadly blow to epifcopacy. The
authors of this trad were ftve, the initials of whofe
names formed the name under which it was publilhed ;
viz. Stephen Marlhal, Edmund Calamy, Thomas
Young, Matthew Newcomen, and William Sparftow.
He was after that an adive member in the affembly of Calamy.
divines, was a ftrenuous oppofer of fedaries, and ufed — v 
his utmoft endeavours to prevent thofe violences com¬
mitted after the king was brought from the ifle of
Wight. In Cromwell’s time he lived privately, but
was affiduous in promoting the Ling’s return ; for
which he was afterwards offered a biihopric, but re-
fufed it. He was ejeded for nonconformity in 1662;
and died of grief at the fight of the great Are of
London.
Calamy (Edmund), grandfon to the preceding (by
his eldeft fon Mr Edmund Calamy, who was ejeded out
of the living of Moxton in Effex on St Bartholomew’s
day 1662), was born in London, April cth 1671. Af¬
ter having learned the languages, and gone through a
courfe of natural philofophy and logic at a private
academy in England, he ftudied philofophy and civil
law at the univerAty of Utrecht, and attended the lec¬
tures of the learned Graevius. Whilft he refided here,
an offer of a prpfeffqr’s chair in the univerAty of Edin¬
burgh was made him by Mr Carftairs, principal of that
univerAty, fent over on purpofe to And a perfon pro¬
perly qualified for fuch an office. This he declined ;
and returned to England in 1691, bringing with him
letters from Grsevius to Dr Pocock canon of Chrilt-
church and regius profeffor of Hebrew, and to Dr Ber¬
nard Savilian profeflbr of aftronomy, who obtained
leave for him to profecute his ftudies in the Bodleian
library. Having refolved to make divinity his principal
ftudy, he entered into an examination of the contro-
verfy between the conformifts and nonconformifts;
which determined him to join the latter : and coming
to London in 1692, he was unanimoufly chofen affift-
ant to Mr Matthew Sylvefter at Blackfriars j and in
1694, he was ordained at Mr Annefly’s meeting-
houfe in Little St-Helena, and foon after was invited
to become afliftant to Mr Daniel Williams in Hand-
Alley. In 1702, he was chofen to be one of the lec¬
turers in Salter’s-hall ; and, in 1703, fucceeded Mr
Vincent Alfop as paftor of a great congregation in
Weftminfter. He drew up the table of contents to Mr
Baxter’s hiftory of his life and times, which was fent
to the prefs in 1696; made fome remarks on the work
itfelf, and added to it an index; and, reflefting on the
ufefulnefs of the book, he faw the expediency of con¬
tinuing it, for Mr Baxter’s hiftory came no lower than,
the year 1684. Accordingly he compofed an abridge¬
ment of it, with an account of many other minifters
who were ejefted after the reftoration of Charles II.;
their apology, containing the grounds of their non¬
conformity and practice as to ftated and occafional'
communion with the church of England ; and a con¬
tinuation of their hiftory till the year 1691. This work
was pubjifhed in 1702. He afterwards publifhed a mode¬
rate defence of nonconformity, in three tracts, in anfwer
to fome tradts of Dr Hoadley. In 1709, Mr Calamy
made a tour to Scotland; and had the degree of doct or
of divinity conferred on him by the univerfities of Edin-:
burgh, Aberdeen, and Glafgow. In 1713, he publilh-
ed a fecond edition of his. Abridgement of Mr Bax¬
ter’s hiftory of his life and times; in which, among
other additions, there is a continuation of the hiftory
through king William’s reign, and queen Anne’s,
down to the pafling of the occafional bill; and in the
clofe is fubjoined the reformed liturgy, which was
drawB
CAL [ i
Calandrc, drawn up and prefented to the bifhops in 1661, “ that
Galas, the world may judge (he fays in his preface) how fair-
v. jy tjjg ejected minifters have been often reprefented as
irreconcileable enemies to all liturgies.” In 1718, he
wrote a vindication of his grandfather, and feveral
other perfons, againft certain reflections caft upon
them by Mr Archdeacon Echard in his Hiitory of
England; and in 1728 appeared his Continuatiori
of the account of the miniiters, leCturers, mailers,
and fellows of colleges, and fchoolmafters, who were
ejefted, after the reftoration in 1660, by or before
the aCtof uniformity. He died June 3d 1732, great¬
ly regretted not only by the diflenters, but alfo by
the moderate members of the eftablilhed church, both
clergy and laity, with many of whom he lived in
great intimacy. Befides the pieces already mention¬
ed, he publilhed a great many fermons on feveral fub-
jeCts and occalions. He was twice married, and had
13 children.
CALANDRE, a name given by the French wri¬
ters to an infeCt that does vail mifchief in granaries.
It is properly of the fcarab or beetle clafs ; it has two
antennas or horns formed of a great number of round
joints, and covered with a foft and Ihort down ; from
the anterior part of the head there is thruft out a
trunk, which is fo formed at the end, that the crea¬
ture eafily makes way with it through the coat or fltin
that covers the grain, and gets at the meal or farina
bn which it feeds ; the infide of the grains is alfo the
place where the female depofits her eggs, that the
■ young progeny may be born with provifion about them.
When the female has pierced a grain of corn for this
purpofe, Ihe depolits in it one egg, or at the utmofl;
two, but Ihe molt frequently lays them fingle : thefe
eggs hatch into fmall worms, which are ufually found
with their bodies rolled up in a fpiral form, and after
eating till they arrive at their full growth, they are
changed into chryfales, and from thefe in about a
fortnight comes out the perfeCt calandre. The fe¬
male lays a confiderable number of eggs ; and the in-
creafe of thefe creatures would be very great: but na¬
ture has fo ordered it, that while in the egg Hate, and
even while in that of the worm, they are fubjeCt to be
eaten by mites; thefe little vermin are always very
plentiful in granaries, and they deftroy the far greater
number of thefe larger animals.
GALAS (John-), the name of a moll unfortunate
Proteftant merchant atThouloufe, inhumanly butchered
under forms of law cruelly proftituted to flicker the
fanguinary dictates of ignorant Popifti zeal. He had
lived 40 years at Thouloufe. His wife was an Englilh
woman of French extraction : and they had five fons ;
one of whom, Lewis, had turned Catholic through
the perfuafions of a Catholic maid who had lived 30
years in the family. In OCtober 1761, the family
confifted of Galas, his wife, Mark Anthony their fon,
Peter their fecond fon, and this maid. Anthony was
educated for the bar ; but being of a melancholy turn
of mind, was- continually dwelling on paffages from
authors on the fubjeCt of fuicide, and one night in
that month hanged himfelf on a bar laid acrofs two
folding doors in their {hop. The crowd collected by
the confufion of the family on fo Ihocking a difeovery,
-took it into their heads that he had been ilrangled by
the family to prevent his changing his religion, and
.7 ] G A L
that this was a common practice among protellants. Calaih,
The officers of juftice adopted the popular tale, and (-:alafl0,
were fupplied by the mob with what they accepted as v
evidences of the faCt. The fraternity of white peni¬
tents got the body, buried it with great ceremony,
and performed a folemn fervice for him as a martyr;
the Francifcans did the fame : and after thefe formali¬
ties no one doubted the guilt of the devoted heretical
family. They were all condemned to the torture, to
bring them to confeffion: they appealed to the parlia¬
ment ; who, as weak and as wicked as the Tubordinate
magillrates, fentenced the father to the torture ordi¬
nary and extraordinary, to be broken alive upon the
wheel, and then to be burned to alhes. A diabolical
decree ! which, to the Ihame of humanity, was actu¬
ally carried into execution. Peter Galas, the other
fon, was baniflied for life ; and the reft were acquitted.
The diftraCted widow found fome friends, and among
the reft M. Voltaire, who laid her cafe before the
council of ftate at Verfailles, and the parliament of
Thouloufe were ordered to tranfmit the proceedings.
Thefe the king and council unanimoufly agreed to an¬
nul ; the capitoul, or chief magiftrate of Thouloufe*
was degraded and fined; old Galas was declared to
have been innocent; and every imputation of guilt
was removed from the family, who alfo received from
the king and clergy confiderable gratuities.
CALASH, or Galesh, a fmall light kind of cha¬
riot or chair, with very low wheels, ufed chiefly for
taking the air in parks and gardens. The calalh is for
the moil part richly decorated, and open on all fides
for the conveniency of the air and profpeCt, or at moft
inclofed with light mantlets of wax-cloth to be opened
and Ihut at pleafure. In the Philofophical Tranfac-
tions we have a defeription of a new fort of calafti go¬
ing on two wheels, not hung on traces, yet eafier than
the common coaches, over which it has this further
advantage, that whereas a common coach will over¬
turn if one wheel go on a furface a foot and an half
higher than the other, this will admit of a difference
of 34- feet without danger of overturning. Add, that
it would turn over and over; that is, after the fpokes
being fo turned as that they are parallel to the hori¬
zon, and one wheel flat over the head of him that
rides in it, and the other flat under him, it will turn
once more, by which the wheels are placed in Jlatu
quo, without any diforder to the horfe or rider.
CALASIO (Marius), a Francifcan, and profefibr
of the Hebrew language at Rome, of whom there is
very little to be faid, but that he publilhed there, in
the year* 1621, a Concordance of the Bible, which
confifted of four great'volumes in folio. This work
has been highly approved and commended both by
Prpteftants and Papifts, and is indeed a moft admi¬
rable work. For befides the Hebrew words in. the
Bible, which are in the body of the book, with the
Latin verfion over againft them; there are, in the
margin, the differences between the feptuagint verfion
and the vulgate; fo that at one view may be feen
wherein the three Bibles agree, and wherein they dif¬
fer. Moreover, at the beginning of every article there
is a kind of dictionary, which gives the fignification
of each Hebrew word ; affords an opportunity of com¬
paring it with other oriental languages, viz. with the
Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee ; and is extremely ufeful
1 T) z for
CAL l il
Cahiim for determining more exa&ly the true meaning of the
. Hebrew words.
d a^na‘, CALASIRIS, in antiquity, a linen tunic fringed
at the bottom, and worn by the Egyptians under a
white woollen garment: but this laft they were ob¬
liged to pull off when they entered the temples, being
only allowed to appear there in linen garments.
CALATAJUD, a large and handfome town of
Spain, in the kingdom of Arragon ; fituated at the
confluence of the rivers Xalon and Xiloca, at the end
of a very fertile valley, with a good caltle on a rock.
W. Long. 2. 9. N. Lat. 41. 22.
CALATHUS, in antiquity, a kind of hand-balket
made of light wood or ruflies ; ufed by the women
fometimes to gather flowers, but chiefly, after the ex¬
ample of Minerva, to put their work in. The figure
of the calathus, as reprefented on ancient monuments,
is narrow at the bottom, and widening upwards like
that of a top. Pliny compares it to that of a lily.
The Calathus or work-baiket of Minerva is no lefs ce¬
lebrated among the poets than her dillaff.
Cai-athus was alfo the name of a cup. for wine,
ufed in facrifices.
CALATOR, in antiquity, a cryer, or officer ap¬
pointed to publifli fomething aloud, or call the peo¬
ple together. The word is formed from xotxfu, voco,
I call. Such minifters the pontifices had, whom they
ufed to fend before them when they went to facrifice
on ftr'ia or holidays, to advertiie the people to leave
ofl' work. The magiftrates alfo ufed calatores, to call
the people to the comitia, both curiata and centuriata.
The officers in the army alfo had calatores ; as had like-
wife many private families, to invite their guefts to
entertainments.
CALATRAVA, a city of New Caftile, in Spain,
fituated on the river Guadiana, 45 miles fouth of To¬
ledo. W. Long. 4. 20. N. Lat. 39. o.
Kwghts of GalatkavAi a military order in Spain,
inftituted under Sancho III. king of Caftile, upon the
following occafion. When that prince took the Itrong
fort of Calatrava from the moors of Andalufia, he gave
it to the templars, who, wanting courage to defend
it, returned it him again. Then Don Reymond, of
the order of the Ciftercians, accompanied with feyeral
perfons of quality, made an offer to defend the place,
which the king thereupon delivered up to them, and
inftituted that order. It increafed fo much under the
reign of Alphonfus, that the knights defired they
might have a grand mafter, which was granted. Fer¬
dinand and Ifabella afterwards, with the confent of
pope Innocent VIII. re-united the grand-mafterfhip of
Calatrava to the Spanifh crown ; fo that the kings of
Spain are now become perpetual adminiftrators there¬
of.
The knights of Calatrava bear a crofs gules, flower-
delifed with green, &c. Their rule and habit was
priginally that of the Ciftercians.
CALAURIA (anc. geog.), an ifland of Greece
in the Saronic bay, overagainft the port of Troezen,
at the diftance of 40 ftadia. Hither Demofthenes
went twice into banifhment; and here he died. Nep¬
tune was faid to have accepted this ifland from Apollo
in exchange for Delos. The city flood on a high
ridge nearly in the middle of the ifland, commanding
an extenfive view of the gulf and its coafts. There
S ] CAL
was his holy temple. The prieftefs was a virgin, who Ca
was difmiffed when marriageable. Seven of the cities
near the ifland held a congrefs at it, and facrificed ce
jointly to the deity. Athens, iEgina, and Epidaurus
were of this number, with Nauplia, for which place
Argos contributed. The Macedonians, when they had
reduced Greece, were afraid to violate the fandluary,
by forcing from it the fugitives, his fuppliants. An¬
tipater commanded his general to bring away the ora¬
tors, who had offended him, alive ; but Demofthenes
could not be prevailed on to furrender. His monu¬
ment remained in the fecond century, within the in-
clofure of the temple. The city of Calauria has been
long abandoned. Traces of buildings, and of ancient
walls, appear nearly level with the ground ; and fome
ftones, in their places, each with a feat and back,
forming a little circle, once perhaps a bath. The tem¬
ple, which was of the Doric order, and not large, as
may be inferred from the fragments, is reduced to an
inconfiderable heap of ruins. The ifland is now called
Poro. It ftretches along before the eoafl of the Mo-
rea in a lower ridge, and is feparated from it by a canal
only four ftadia or half a mile wide. This, which is
called Poro or the Ferry, in ftill weather maybe paffed
on foot, as the water is sot deep. It has given its
name to the ifland ; and alfo to the town, which con-
fifts of about 200 houfes, mean and low, with flat
roofs; rifing on the flope of a bare difagreeable rock.
CALCADA, or St Dimingo Calcalda, a town of
Spain, fituated in W. Long. 3. 5. N. Lat. 42. 36.
CALCAR, a very ftrong town of Germany, in the
circle of Weftphalia, and duchy of Clevcs. It belongs,
to the king of Pruffia, and is feated near the Rhine,
in E. Long. 5. 41. N. Lat. 51. 45.
Calcar, in glafs-making, the name of a fmall oven,
or reverberatory furnace, in which the firfl calcination
of fand and fait of pqtaihes is made for the turning
them into what is called frit. This furnace is made in
the fafhion of an oven, ten feet long, feyen broad in
the wudeft part, and two feet deep. On one fide of it
is a trench fix inches fquare, the upper part of which
is level with the calcar, and feparated only from it at
the mouth by bricks nine inches wude. Into this trench
they put fea-coal, the flame of which is carried into
every part of the furnace, and is reverberated from the
roof upon the frit, over the furface of which the fmoke
flies very black, and goes out at the mouth of the
calcar; the coals burn on iron-grates, and the allies
fall through.
Calcar ( John de), a celebrated painter, was the
difciple of Titian, and perfected himfelf by Undying
Raphael. Among other pieces he drew a nativity, re~
prefenting the angels around the infant Chrift ; and fo
ordered the difpolition of his pifture, that the light
all proceeds from the child. He died at Naples, in
1546, in the flower of his age. It was he who de»
figned the anatomical figures of Vefal, and the por¬
traits of the painters of Vefari.
CALCAREOUS, fomething that partakes of the
nature and qualities of calx, or lime. We fay, a cal¬
careous earth, calcareous ftone. See Chrmis-tr y-Index.
CALCEARIUM, in antiquity, a donative or 1 an¬
gel's bellowed on Roman foldiers for buying fhoes. In
monafteries, calcearium denoted the daily fervice of
cleaning the flioes of the religious.
5
CAL-
CAL C 29 ] CAL
CALCEOLARIA, in botany; a genus of the mo-
nogynia order, belonging to the diandria clafs of plants.
The corolla is ringent and inflated ; the capfule has
two cells, and two valves; the calyx four parted and
equal.
CALCHAS, in fabulous hiftory, a famous di¬
viner, followed the Greek army to Troy. He foretold
that the ficge would laft ten years ; and that the fleet,
which was detained in the port of Aulis by contrary
winds,"would not fail till Agamemnon’s daughter had
been facrificed to Diana. After the taking of Troy,
he retired to Colophon ; where, it is faid, he died of
grief, becaufe he could not divine what another of his
profcflion, called Mopfus, had difcovered.
CALCINATION, in chemiltry, the reducing of
fubftances to a calx by fire. See TRr-lndex.
CALCINATO, a town of Italy, in the duchy of
Mantua, remarkable for a victory gained over the Im-
pcrialifu by the French in 1706. E. Long. -9. 55.
N. Lat. 45. 25.
CALCULARY of a Pejh, a congeries of little
ftrong knots difperfed through the whole parenchyma
of the fruit. The calculary is molt obferved in rough-
tafted or choak-pears. The knots lie fhore continu¬
ous and compact together towards the pear where they
furround the acetary. About the italk they ftand
more diitant; but towards the cork, or itool of the
flower, they Hill grow clofer, and there at lall gather
into the firmnefs of a plumb-ftone. The calculary is
no vital or effential part of the fruit; the feveral knots
whereof it confifts being only fo many concretions or
precipitations out of the fap, as we fee in urines, wines,
and other liquors.
CALCULATION, the a& of computing feveral
fums, by adding, fubtrafting, multiplying, or divi¬
ding. See Arithmetic.
Calculation is more particularly ufed to fignify
the computations in afironomy and geometry, for ma¬
king tables of logarithms, ephemerides, finding the
time of eclipfes, &c. See Astronomy, Geometry,
and Logarithms.
CALCULUS, primarily denotes a little Hone or
pebble, anciently ufed in making computations, taking
of fuffrages, playing at tables, and the like. In after¬
times, pieces of ivory, and counters ftruck of filver,
gold, and other matters, were ufed in lieu thereof, but
ftill retaining the ancient names. Computifts were by
the lawyers called calculones, when they were either
flaves or newly freed men ; thofe of a better condition
were named calculatores or numera.ru: ordinarily there
was one of thefe in each family of diftindfion. The
Roman judges anciently gave their opinions by calculi,
which were white for abfolution, and black for con¬
demnation. Hence calculus alius, in ancient writers,
denotes a favourable vote, either in a perfon to be ab-
folved and acquitted of a charge, or elected to feme
dignity or port; as calculus niger did the contrary. This
ufage is faid to have been borrowed from the Thraci¬
ans, who marked their happy or pi ofperous days by
white, and their unhappy by black, pebbles, put each
night into an tun.
Befides the diverfity of colour, there were fome cal¬
culi alfo which had figures or charadters engraven on
them, as thofe which were in ufe in taking the fuffra¬
ges both in the fenate and at affemblies of the people.
Thefe calculi were made of thin wood, poliflied and
covered over with wax. Their form is iliil feen in
fome medals of the Caffian family ; and the manner of
cafting them into the urns, in the medals of the Lici-
nian family. The letters marked upon thefe Calculi
were U. R. for uti rogas, and A. for antique ; the firft
of which expreffed an approbation of the law, the lat¬
ter a rejedtion of if. Afterwards the judges who fat
in capital caufes ufed calculi marked with the letter A.
for alfolvo ; C. for condemno ; and N. L. for non liquet,
fignifying that a more full information was required.
Calculus is alfo ufed in ancient grammatic writers
for a kind of weight equal to two grains of cicer.
Some make it equivalent to the filiqua, which is equal
to three grains of barley. Two calculi made the ce-
ratium.
C.ucvLUS Differentialis is a method of differencing
quantities, or of finding an infinitely fmall quantity,
which, being taken infinite times, Jhall be equal to- a
given quantity: or, it is the arithmetic of the infinite¬
ly fmall differences of variable quantities.
The foundation of this calculus is an infinitely
fmall quantity, or an infinitefimal, which is a portion
of a quantity incomparable to that quantity, or that
is lefs than any afiignable one, and therefore account¬
ed as nothing; the error accruing by omitting it being'
lefs than any afiignable one. Hence two quantities^
only differing by an infinitefimal, are reputed equal.
Thus, in Ailronomy, the diameter of the earth is are
infinitefimal, in refpedt of the diftanee of the fixed
liars ; and the fame holds in abftradt quantities. The
term, infinitefimal, therefore, is merely refpedlive, and
involves a relation to another quantity'; and does not
denote any real ens, or being. Now infinitefimals are
called differentials, or differential quantities, when they
are coniidered as the differences of two quantities. Sir
Ifaac Newton calls them moments; confidering them
as the momentary increments of quantities, v. g. _of a
line generated by the flux of a point, or of a furface
by the flux of a line. The differential calculus, there¬
fore, and the doftrine of fluxions, are the fame thing-
under different names; the former given by M. Leib¬
nitz, and the latter by Sir Ifaac Newton : each oF
whom lay claim to the difeovery. There is, indeed, a
difference in the manner of expvefiing the quantities
refulting from the different views wherein the two au¬
thors confider the infinitefimals; the one as moments,,
the other as differences : Leibnitz, and moll foreigners,
exprefs the differentials of quantities by the fame let¬
ters as variable ones, only prefixing the letter d: thus
the differential of x is called d x ; and that of y, dy
now dx is a pofitive quantity, if x continually increafe;
negative, if it decreafe. The Englifh, with Sir Ifuac New¬
ton, inftead of dx write x (with a dot over it;.) for dy, y.
Sec. which foreigners objtfl againfl, on account of that
confufion of points, which they imagine arifes when,
differentials are again differenced; beiides, that the
printers are more apt to overlook a point than a letter.
Stable quantities being always expreffed by the firil let¬
ters of the alphabet da~o, db=o, dc—o ; wherefore d
(x-fy—a) = d x-\-d y, and d (x—yfa) d x—d y. So,
that the differencing of quantities is eafily performed,,
by the addition or fubt raft ion of their compounds.
To difference quantities that multiply each other ?
the rule is, firil, multiply the differential of one faftor
into the other faftor, the fum of the two faftors is the-
differential fought; thus, the quantities being x y, the
di£-
CAL [ 3° 1 C A T-
■Cdlculns. differential will be « dy-\-y d x, i. e. d (xy) z=x dy+y
*-—"•r~-—' (I x. Secondly, if there be three quantities mutually
multiplying each other, the faftum of the two mull
then be multiplied into the differential of the third:
thus, fuppofe vxy, let v x—t, then vxy—ty; confe-
quently d (v xy) ~t dy-\-y dt: but dt~v d jc+jc d v.
Thefe values, therefore, being fubilituted in the ante¬
cedent differential, t dy-\~y d t, - the refult is, d (vxy)
~v x dy-\-vy dx-\-xy dv. Hence it is eafy to appre¬
hend how to proceed, where the quantities are more
than three. If one variable quantity increafe, while
the other jy decreafes, it is evident jy dx—xdy will be
the differential of xy.
To difference quantities that mutually divide each
other ; the rule is, firft, multiply the differential of the
divifor into the dividend; and, on the contrary,- the
differential of the dividend into the divifor ; fubtradt
the laft product from the firft, and divide the remain¬
der by the fquare of the divifor; the quotient is the
differential of the quantities mutually dividing each
other.- Scc-Fluxions.
Calculus Exponentialis, is a method of differencing
exponential quantities, or of finding and fumming
up the differentials or moments of exponential quan¬
tities ; or at leaft bringing them to geometrical con-
ftrudtions.
By exponential quantity, is here underftood a power,
whofe exponent is variable; v. g. xx a*. xy. where the
exponent x does not denote the fame in all the points
of a curve, but in fome ftands for 2, in others for 3,
in others for 5, &c.
To difference an exponential quantity ; there is no¬
thing required but to reduce the exponential quantities
to logarithmic ones ; which done, • the differencing is
managed as in logarithmic quantities.—Thus, fuppofe
the differential of the exponential quantity x'1 re-
■quired, let
*y—z
Then will y l x—l z
lx dy’^~~~~~~~~~
, ,^y dx
s.1 x dy-\   ~d %
That is, xy Ixdy-yx1 1 dx—dz.
Calculus Integralis, or Summatorius, is a method of
integrating, or fumming up moments, or differential
.quantities ; i. e. from a differential quantity given, to
find the quantity from whofe differencing the given
differential refults.
The integral calculus, therefore, is the inverfe of
the differential one : whence the Englifti, who ufually
call the differential method jluxions, give this calculus,
which afcends from the fluxions, to the flowing or va¬
riable quantities : or, as foreigners exprefs it, from the
differences to the fums, by the name of the inverfe me¬
thod offluxions.
Hence, the integration is known to be juftly per¬
formed, if the quantity found, according to the rules
of the differential calculus, being differenced, produce
that propofed to be fummed.
Buppofe/the fign of the fum, or integral quantity.
then fydx will denote the fum, or integral of the dif- Calctdus,
ferential y d x. y.—j
To integrate, or fum up a differential quantity : It is
demonftrated, firft, thatfd.x—x; fecondly,/(d-x-\-dy)
s=x-\-y : thirdly, f (x d y-\-y d x) —xy : fourthly, f (m
.•cm—1 dx-xm: fifthly,/(« .- m) x-^dx-x^- •
fixthly,/ (y dx—x dy) : y"'—x :y. Of thefe, the fourth
and fifth cafes are the moft frequent, wherein the dif¬
ferential quantity is integrated, by adding a variable
unity to the exponent, and dividing the fum by the
new exponent multiplied into the differential of the
root; v. g. the fourth cafe, by m—(\-\-i) dx, i. e. by
m d x.
If the differential quantity to be integrated doth
not come under any of thefe formulas, it muft either
be reduced to an integral finite, or an infinite feries,
each of whofe terms may be fummed.
It may be here obferved, that, as in the au^lyfis of
finites, any quantity may be raifed to any degree of
power; but vice verfa,' the root cannot be extracted
out of any number required: fo in the analyfis of
infinites, any variable or flowing quantity may be dif¬
ferenced ; but vice verfa, any differential cannot be in¬
tegrated. And as, in the analyfis of finites, we are not
yet arrived at a method of extradting the roots of all
equations, fo neither has the integral calculus arrived
at its perfection : and as in the former we are obliged
to have recourfe to approximation, fo in the latter we
have recourfe to infinite feries, where we cannot at¬
tain to a perfedt integration.
Calculus Literalis, or Literal Calculus, is the fame
with fpecious arithmetic, or algebra, fo called from its
ufing the letters of the alphabet; in contradiftmdtion
to numeral arithmetic, which ufes figures. In the li¬
teral calculus given quantities are expreffed by the firft
letters, abed', and quantities fought by the laft zy x,
&c. Equal quantities are denoted by the fame letters.
Calculus Minervce, among the ancient lawyers, de¬
noted the decifion of a caufe, wherein the judges were
equally divided. The' expreffion is taken from the hi-
ftory of Oreftes, reprefented by iEfchylus and Euripi¬
des ; at whofe trial, before the Areopagites, for the
murder of his mother, the votes being equally divided
for and againft him, Minerva interpofed, and gave the
calling vote or calculus in his behalf.
M. Cramer, profeffor at Marpurg, has a difeourfe
exprefs, De Calculo Minerva; wherein he maintains,
that all the effedl an entire equality of voices can have,
is to leave the caufe inJlatu quo.
Calculus Tilurtinus, a fort of figured ftone, formed
in great plenty about the cataradls of the Anio, and
other rivers in Italy ; of a white colour, and in ftiape
oblong, round, or echinated- They are a fpecies of
the Jliria lapidea, and generated like them; and fo like
fugar-plums in the whole, that it is a common jell at
Rome to deceive the unexperienced by ferving them
up at deferts.
Calculus, in Medicine, the difeafe of the ftone in
the bladder, or kidneys. The term is Latin, and fig-
nifies a little pebble. The calculus in the bladder is
called lithiafis ; and in the kidneys, nephritis. See Me¬
dicine and Surgery.
Human calculi are • commonly formed of different
ftrata
C A L [ ■
A rata or- incruilations ; fometirae' fmooth and heavy
Kke mineral ftones ; but oftener rough, fpongy, light,
ai>d full, of inequalities or protuberances: chemically
analyfed, oi' diftilled in an open fire, they nearly yield
the fame principles as urine itfelf, or at leaft an empy-
reumatjc volatile u-inous matter, together with a great
deal of air. They never have, nor can have, naturally,
any foreign matter for a balls: but they may by acci¬
dent ; an inftance of which is related by Dr Percival*.
A bougie had unfortunately flipped into the bladder,
and upon it a ftone of a confiderable fize was formed
in lefs than a year.. This' ftone had fo much the ap¬
pearance of chalk, that the Dodtor was induced to try
whether it could be converted into quicklime. His
experiment fucceeded, both with that and fome other
calculi ; from which he conjectures, that hard waters
which contain calcareous earth may contribute to¬
wards the formation of thefe calculi.
CALCUTTA, the capital of the province of Ben¬
gal, and of all the Britilh pbfleflions in the Eaft Indies,
is fituated on the river Huguely, a branch of the
Ganges, about xoo miles from the fen, in N. Lat. 23.
and 88. 28. E. Long, from Greenwich. It is but a
modern city, built on the fite of a village called
Covindpour. The Engl fill firft obtained the Mogul’s
permiffion to fettle in this place in the year 1690;
and Mr Job Channock, the company’s agent, made
choice of the fpot on which the city ftands, on account
of a large fhady grove which grew there ; though in
other refpefts it was the worft he could have pitched
upon; for three miles to the north coaft, there is a
felt-water lake, which overflows in September, and
when the flood retires in December, leaves behind fuch
a quantity of filh and other putrefcent matter, as ren¬
ders the air very unhealthy. The cuftora of the Gen-
toos throwing the dead bodies of their poor people
into the river is alfo very difguftful, and undoubtedly
Contributes to render the place unhealthy, as well as
the caufe already mentioned.
Calcutta is now become a large and populua city,,
being fuppofed at prefent to contain 500,000 inhabi-
tans. It is elegantly built,, at leaft the part inhabited
by the Englifh ; but the reft, and that the greateft
part, is built after the fafhion of the cities of India in
general. The plan of all thefe is nearly the fame;
their ftreets are exceedingly confined* narrow, and
crooked, with a vaft number of ponds, refervoirs, and
gardens interfperfed. A few of the ftreets are paved
with brick. The houfes are built, fome with brick, others
with mud, and a ftill greater number with bamboes and
mats; all which different kinds of fabrics Handing in¬
termixed with one another, form a very uncouth ap¬
pearance. The brick houfes are feldom above two-
ftories high, but thofe of mud and bamboes are o.nly
one, and are covered with thatch. The roofs of the
brick hqufes are flat and terraced. Thefe, however,
are much fewer in number than the other‘two kinds ;
fo that fires, which often happen, do not fometimes
meet with a brick houfe to obltruet their progref^ in a
whole ftreet. Within thefe 20 or 25 years Calcutta has.
been greatly improved both in appearance and in the
falubrity of its air:- the ftreets have been properly
drained, and the ponds filled ; thereby removing a vaft
furface of ftagnant water, the exhalations of which
were particularly hurtful. The citadel is named Fort
i J CAL
William, and is fuperior as a fortrefs to any in India ;
but is now on too extenfive a fcale to anfwer the pur-
pofe for which it was intended, viz. the holding a poft
in cafe of extremity. It was begun on this extended
plan by lord Clive immediately after the battle of
Plaffey. The expence attending it was fuppofed to
amount to two millions Sterling.
Calcutta is the emporium of B'engal, and the refi-
dence of the governor-general of India. Its flourifh-
ing ftate may in a great meafure be fuppofed owing to
the unlimited toleration of all religions allowed here ;
, the Pagans being fuffered to carry -their idols in pro-
ceffion, the Mahommedans not being difcountenanced,
and the Roman Catholics being allowed a church.—
At about a miles diftance from the town is a plain-
where the natives annually undergo a very ftrange kind
of penance on the 9th of April; fome for the fins
they have committed, others for thofe they may com¬
mit, and others in confequence of a vow made by their
parents. This ceremony is performed in the follow¬
ing manner. Thirty bamboes, each about the height
of 20 feet, are eredted in the plain above mentioned,.
On the top of thefe they contrive to fix a fwivel, and
another bamboe of thirty feet qr more croffes it, at
both ends of which hangs a rope. The people pull
down one end of this rope, and the devotee placing
himfelf under it, the Brahmin pinches up a large piece
of (kin under both the fiioulderblades, fometimes ili¬
the breafts, and thrufts a ftrong iron hook through
each. Thefe hooks have lines of Indian grafs hanging'
to them, which the prieft makes fall to the rope at the
end of the crofs bamboe, and at the fame time puts a-
falh round the body of the devotee, laying it loofely
in the hollow of the hooks, left by the Ikin’s giving
way, he (hould fall to the ground. When this is done,
the people haul down the other end of the bamboe;
by which means the devotee is immediately lifted up
30 feet or more from the ground, and they run round-
as fall as their legs can carry them. Thus the de¬
votee is thrown out the whole length of the rope,-,
where, as he fwings, he plays a thoufand antic tricks;
being painted and dreffed in a very particular manner, >
on purpofe to make him look more ridiculous. Some
of them continue fwinging half an hour, others lefs.'
The devotees undergo a preparation of four days for
this ceremoney. On the firft and third they abftairr
from all kinds of food ; but eat fruit on the other
two. During this time of preparation they walk about
the ftreets in their fantaftical dreffes, dancing to the
found of drums and horns; and fome, to exprefs the
greater ardour of devotion, run a rod of iron quite
through their tongues* and fometimes through their
cheeks alfo.
Before the war of 1755, Calcutta was commonly
garrifoned by ,300 Europeans, who were frequently em--
ployed in conveying the company’s veffels from Patna,,
loaded with falf-petre, piece-goods, opium,' and raw
filk. The trade of Bengal alone fupplied rich cargoes
for 50 or 60 fliips annually,, befides what was carried
on in fmall veffels to the adjacent countries. It was-
this flourilhing ftate of Calcutta that probably was one
motive for the Nabob Surajah Dowla to attack it in
the year 1756.- Having had the fort of Coffimbuzar
delivered up to him^ he marched againft Calcutta with,
all his forces, amounting to 79,000 horfe and foot, .
with-*
Ca!
CAL r 32 T . CAL
Calcutta, with 400-.elephants, and inverted the place on the 15th only 5000I. in the fort, inftead of the immenfe trea-
w--■y-——'' of June. Previous to any hoftilities, however, he wrote fures he expected; and to this, as w'dl as perhaps to the ~
a leter to Mr Drake the governor, offering to with- refentment of the jemmidaars or officers, of whom
draw' his troops, on condition that he would pay him many \vere killed in the fiege, we may impute the ca-
his duty on the trade for 15 years part, defray the taftrophe that followed.
expence of bis armv, and deliver up the black mer- As foon as it was dark, the Englifh prifoners, to
chants who were in the fort. This being refufed, he the number of 146, were direfted by the jemmidaars
attacked one of the redoubts at the entrance of the who guarded them, to collect thcmfelves into one
town ; but was repulfed with great flaughter. On the body, and fit down quietly under the arched veranda,
16th he attacked another advanced port, but was like- or piazza, to the well ward of the black-hole prifon.
wife rtpulfed with great lofs. Notwithftanding this Befides the guard over them, another was placed a*-
difappointment, however, the attempt was renewed on . the fouth-end of this veranda, to prevent the efcape of
the 18th, when the troops abandoned thefe ports, and any of them. About 500 gunmen, with lighted
retreated into the fort; on which the Nabob’s troops matches, were drawn up on the parade ; and foon af-
entered the town, and plundered it for 24 hours. An ter the fa&ory was in flames to the right and left or
order was then given for attacking the fort ; for which the prifoners, who had’various conjectures on this ap-
purpofe a fmall breaft-work was thrown up, and two pearance. The fire advanced with rapidity on both
twelve pounders mounted upon it; but without firing Tides; and it was the prevailing opinion of the Englith,
oftener than two or three times an hour. The go- that they were to be fuffbcated between the two fires,
vernor then called a council of war, when the captain On this they foon came to a refolution of rufhing
of the train informed them, that there was not am- on the guard, feizing their fcymitars, and attacking
munition in the fort to ferve three days; in confe- the troops upon the parade, rather than be thus tanje-
cmence of which the principal ladies were fent on board ly roarted to death : but Mr Holwell advanced, and
the fhips lying before the fort. They were followed found the Moors were only fearching for a place to
by the governor, who declared himfelf a quaker, and confine them in. At that time Mr Holwell might
left the place to be defended by Mr Holwell the fecond have made his efcape, by the affiftance of Mr Leech,
in council. Befides the governor, four of the coun-. the company’s fmith, who had efcaped when the
cil, eight gentlemen in the company’s fervice, four Moors entered the fort, and returned juft us it was
officers, and 100 foldiers, with 52 free merchants, cap- dark, to tell Mr Holwell he had provided a boat,
tains of fhips, and other gentlemen, efcaped on board and would infure his eicape, if he would follow him
the fhips, where were alfo 59 ladies, with 33 of their through a paffage few were acquainted with, and by
children. The whole number left in the fort were about which he then entered. This might eafily have been
250, effedtive men, with Mr Holwell, four captains, accomplifhed, as the guard took little notice of it:
five lieutenants, fix enfigns, and five ferjeants; as alfo but Mr Holwell told Mr Leech, he was reiblved to
14 fea-captains, and 29 gentlemen of the factory. Mr fliare the fate of the gentlemen and the garriion ; to-
Holwell then having held a council of war, divided which Mr Leech gallantly replied, that “ then he was
three cherts of treafure among the difeontented fol- refolved to fhare Mr Holwell’s fate, and would not
diers ; making them large promifes alfo, if they her leave him.”
haved with courage and fidelity ; after which he bold- The guard on the parade advanced, and ordered
ly flood on the defence of the place, notwithftanding them all to rife and go into the barracks. Then, with
the immenfe force which oppofed him. The attack their mufkets prefented, they ordered them to go into
was very vigorous; the enemy having got pofleflion of the black-hole prifon; while others, with chibs and
the houfes, galled the Englirtr from thence, and drove fcymitars, preffed upon them fo flrong, that there was
them from the baftions ; but they themfelves were no refifting it; but, like one agitated wave impelling
feveral times diflodged by the fire from the fort, another, they were obliged to give way and enter;
whjch killed upwards of 12,000 men, with the the reft following like a torrent. Few among them,
lofs of only five Englifh foldiers the ftril day. The the foldiers excepted, had the leaf! idea of the di¬
attack, however, was continued till the afternoon menfions or nature of a place they had never feen ;
of the 20th ; when many of the garrifon being for if they had, they fhould at all events have rufhed
killed and wounded, and their ammunition almofl upon the guard, and been cut to pieces by their own
exhaufted, a flag of truce was hung out. Mr Hoi- choice as the lefler evil.
well intended to have availed himfelf of this oppor- It was about eight o’clock when thefe 146 unhappy
tunity to make his efcape on board the fhips, but they perfone, ’exhaufted by continual attion and jatigue,
had fallen feveral miles down from the fort, with- were thus crammed together into a dungeon about
out leaving even a fingle boat to facilitate the efcape eighteen feet fquare, in a clofe fultry night in Bengal;
of thofe who remained. In the, mean time, however, fhut up tb the eaft and fouth, the only quarters from
the back-gate was betrayed by the Dutch guard, and whence air could reach them, by dead walls, and by
the enemy, entering the fort, killed all they firfl met, a wall and door to the north; open only to the weft by
and took the reft prifoners. two windows, ftrongly barred with iron, from which.
The fort was taken before fix in the evening ; and, they could receive jfcarce any circulation of frfefh air.
in an hour after, Mr Holwell had three audiences of They had been but few minutes confined before
the Nabob, the laft being in the durbar or council, every one fell into a perfpiration fo pvofufe, that no
In all of thefe the governor had the moft pofitive af- idea can be formed of it. This brought on a raging
finances that no harm fhould happen to any of the thirft, which increafed in proportion as the body was
prifoners; but he was furprifed and enraged at finding drained of its moifture. Varioiu expedients were
NO 61, thought
GAL [ 33 1 CAL
Calcutta, thought of to give more room and air. Every man
— was ftripped, and every hat put in motion : they fe-
veral times fat down on their hams; hut at each
time feveral of the poor creatures fell, and were in-
ftantly fuffocated or trod to death.
Before nine o’clock every man’s third; grew into¬
lerable, and refpiration difficult. Efforts were again
made to force the door; but ftill in vain. Many in-
fults were ufed to the guards, to provoke them to fire
in upon the prifoners, who grew outrageous, and
many delirious. “ Water, water,” became the ge¬
neral cry. Some water was brought; but thefe fup-
plies, like fprinkling water on fire, only ferved to
raife and feed the flames. The confufion became ge¬
neral, and horrid from the cries and ravings for water;
and fome were trampled to death. This fcene of mi-
fery proved entertainment to the brutal wretches
without, who fupplied them with water, that they
might have the fatisfaftion of feeing them fight
for it, as they phrafed it; and held up lights to the
bars, that they might lofe no part of the inhuman di-
verfion.
Before eleven o’clock, moft of the gentlemen were
dead, and one third of the whole. Thirft grew into¬
lerable : but Mr Holwell kept his mouth moift by
fucking the perfpiration out of his fhirt-fleeves, and
catching the drops as they fell, like heavy rain, from
his head and face. By half an hour after eleven, moll
of the living were in an outrageous delirium. They
found that water heightened their uneafineffes; and
“ Air, air,” was the general cry. Every infult that
could be devifed againfi; the guard, all the opprobrious
names that the viceroy and his officers could be loaded
with, were repeated, to provoke the guard to fire upon
them. Every man had eager hopes of meeting the firft
fhot. Then a general prayer to heaven, to haften the ap¬
proach of the flames to the right and left of them, and
put a period to their mifery. Some expired on others ;
while a fleam arofe as well from the living as the dead,
which was very offenfive.
About two in the morning, they crowded fo much
to the windows, that many died ftanding, unable to
fall by the throng and equal preffure round. When
the day broke, the flench arifing from the dead bodies
was unfufferable. At that junfture, the Soubah, who
had received an account of the havoc death had made
among them, fent one of his officers to enquire if the
chief furvived. Mr Holwell was ffiown to him ; and
near fix an order came for their releafe.
Thus they had remained in this infernal prifon
from eight at night until fix in the morning, when
the poor remains of 146 fouls, being only 23, came
out alive ; but moft of them in a high putrid fever.
The<dead bodies were dragged out of the hole by the
foldiers, and thrown promifcuoufly into the ditch of
an unfinifhed ravelin, which was afterwards filled with
earth.
The injuries which Calcutta fuffered at this time,
however, were foon repaired. The place was retaken
by Admiral Watfon and Colonel Clive, early in
1757 ; Surajah Dowle was defeated, depofed, and put
to death ; and Meer Jaffier, who fucceeded him in
the Nabobfhip, engaged to pay an immenfe fum for
the indemnification of the inhabitants. Since that
time the immenfe acquifition of territory by the Bri-
Vol. IV. Part I. ’
tiih in this part of the world, with the conftant ftate of Caldarium
fecurity enjoyed by this city, have given an opportunity cJ^er
of embellifhing and improving it greatly beyond what W05(i'
it was before.—Among thefe improvements we may 1 - t— t
reckon that of Sir William Jones ; who, on the 1 y th
of January 1784, inf'fluted a fociety for inquiring
into the hiftory civil and natural, the antiquities, arts,
fcienccs, and literature of Afia; and thus the literature
of Europe, and along with it, it is to be hoped, the
arts of humanity, beneficence, and peace, have at
length obtained a footing in the rich empire of Indof-
tan, fo long a prey to the rapine and violence of ty¬
rants and ufurpers.
CALDARIUM, in the ancient baths, denoted a
brazen veffel or ciftern, placed in the hypocauftum, full
of hot water, to be drawn thence into the pifcina
or bath, to give it the neceffary degree of heat. In
this fenfe, the caldarium flood contradiftinguiffied from
the tepidarium and frigidarium.
Caldarium alfo denoted the ftove, or fudatory,
being a clofe vaulted room, wherein by hot dry fumes,
without water, people were brought to a profufe fweat.
In which fenfe, caldarium was the fame with what
was otherwife denominated vaporarium, fudatorium, and
laconium; in the Greek baths, hypocaujlum, '^naurov.
CALDERINUS (Domitius), a learned critic, born
at Calderia near Verona. He read lectures upon polite
literature at Rome with great reputation; and was the
firft who ventured to write upon the moft difficult of
the ancient poets. He died very young in 1477.
CALDERON, De la Barca, (Dorn. Pedro), a
Spanifh officer, who, after having fignalized himfelf in
the military profeffion, quitted it for the ecclefiaftical,
and then commenced dramatic writer. His dramatic
works make 9 vols in 410, and fome Spaniffi authors
have compared him to Shakefpeare. He flourifhed a-
bout the year 1640.
CALDERWOOD (David), a famous divine of
the church of Scotland, and a diftinguiflied writer in
behalf of the Prefbyterians, was defcended of a good
family in that kingdom; and bdng early defigned for
the miniftry, he applied with great- diligence to the
ftudy of the Scriptures in their original tongues, the
works of the fathers, the councils, and the beft wri¬
ters on church-hiftory. He was fettled about the year
1604 at Crelling near Jedburgh. King James I. of
Great Britain, being defirous of bringing the church
of Scotland nearer to a conformity with that of Eng¬
land, laboured earneftly to reftore the epifcopal autho¬
rity, and enlarge the powers of the bilhops who were
then in Scotland. This defign was very warmly oppo-
fed by many of the minifters, and particularly by Mr
David Calderwood; who, when Mr James Law, bi-
ftiop of Orkney, came to vifit the prefbyteries ol Merfe
and Teviotdale, declined his jurifdiftion by a paper
under his hand dated May 5th 1608. But the king ha¬
ving its fuccefs much at heart, fent the earl of Dunbar,
then high-treafurer of Scotland, with Dr Abbot after¬
wards archbiffiop of Canterbury, and two other divines,
into that kingdom, with inftruftions to employ every
method to perfuade both the clergy and laity of his
majefty’s fincere defire to promote the good of the
church, and of his zeal for the Proteftant religion.
Mr Calderwood did not affift at the general affembiy
held at Glafgow June 8th 1610, in which lord Dun-
E bar
Calder-
CAL [ 34 ] CAL
bar prefided as commiflioner ; and it appears. From his
writings, that he looked upon every thing tranfacted
in it as null and void. In May following, king James
went to Scotland; and on the 17th of June held a par¬
liament at Edinburgh : at that time the clergy met in
one of the churches, to hear ?■*,& advife with the bi-
fhops; which kind of affembly, it feems, was contri¬
ved in order to refemble the Englilh convocation. Mr
Calderwood was prefent at it, but declared publicly
that he did not take any fuch meetings to refemble a
convocation ; and being oppofed by Dr Whitford and
Dr Hamilton, who were friends to the bifhops, he took
lus leave of them in thefe words : “ It is abfurd to fee
men fitting in filks and fattins, and to cry poverty in
the kirk, when purity is departing.” The parliament
proceeded in the mean while in the difpatch of bufinefs;
and Mr Calderwood, with feveral other minillers,. be¬
ing informed that a bill was depending to empower the
king, with the advice of the archbifhops, bifliops, and
fuch a number of the miniftry as his Majefty fnould
think proper, to- confider and conclude as to matters
decent for the external policy of the church, not re¬
pugnant to the word of God; and that fuch conclu-
fions fhould have the ftrength and power of ecclefiafti-
cal laws : againft this they protefted, for four reafons.
I. Becaufe their church was fo perfeft, that, inftead
of needing reformation, it might be a pattern to others.
?. General affemblies, as now eftablilhed by law, and
which ought always to continue, might by this means
be overthrown. 3. Becaufe it might be a means of
creating fchifm, and diiturb the tranquillity of the
church. 4. Becaufe they had received affurances, that
no attempts fhould be made to bring them to a confor¬
mity-with the church of England. They defired there¬
fore, that, for thefe and other reafons, all thoughts of
palling fuch a law might be laid afide : but in cafe this
be not done, they protefl for themfelves and their bre¬
thren who fhall adhere to them, that they can yield no
obedience to this law when it fhall be enadted, becaufe
it is deftruftive of the liberty of the church ; and there¬
fore fhall fubmit to fuch penalties, and think themfelves
obliged to undergo fuch punifhments, as may be inflic¬
ted on them for difobeying that law. This proteft
was figned by Mr Archibald Simfon on behalf of the
members who fubfcribed another feparate roll, which
he kept for his juftification. This proteft was prefent-
ed to the clerk regifter, who refufed to read it before
the ftates in parliament. However, though not read,
it had its effeft ; for although the bill had the confent
of parliament, yet the king thought fit to caufe it to be
laid afide, and not long after called a general affembly
at St Andrew’s. Soon after the parliament was dif-
folved, and Mr Calderwood was fummoned to appear
before the high-commiffion court at St Andrew’s, on
the 8th of July following, to anfwer for his muti¬
nous and feditious behaviour. July 10th, the king
came to that city in perfon ; when Mr Calderwood, be¬
ing called upon, and refufing to comply with what the
king in perfon required of him, was committed to prifon.
Afterwards the privy council, according to the power
cxercifed by them at that time, directed him to ba-
nifh himfelf out of the king’s dominions before Michael¬
mas-next ; and not to return without licence. Having
applied to the king for a prorogation of his fentence
without fuccefs, becaufe he would neither acknowledge
his offence, nor promife conformity for the future, he Caldron
retired to Holland, where, in 1623, he publifhed his II
celebrated piece entitled sf//are Damafcenwn. Mr Cal- Ca!c!l~
derwood having in the year 1624 been affli&ed with
a long fit of fleknefs, and nothing having been heard
of him for fome time, one Mr Patrick Scot, as Cal¬
derwood himfelf informs us, took it for granted that
he was dead; and thereupon wrote a recantation in his
name, as if, before his deceafe, he had changed his
fentiments. This impofture being dete&ed, Scot went
over to Holland, and ftaid three weeks at Amfterdam,
where he made a diligent fearch for the author of Al-
tare Damafcenum, with a defign to have difpatched
him. But Calderwood had privately retired into his
own country, where he lived feveral years. Scot gave
out that the. kfng had furnifiled him with the matter
for the pretended recitation, and that he only put it
in order. During his retirement, Mr Calderwood col-
le&ed all the memorials relating to the ecclefiaftical af¬
fairs of Scotland, from the beginning of the reforma¬
tion there down to the death of king James; which
colleftion is ftill preferred in the univerfity library of
Glafgow ; that which was publifhed under the title of
“ The true hiftory of Scotland,” is only an extra<T
from it. In the advertifement prefixed to the laft edi¬
tion of his Altare Damafcenum mention is made of his
being minifter of Pencaitland near Edinburgh in 1638;
but we find nothing faid there, or any where elfe, of his
death.
CALDRON, a large kitchen utenfil, commonly
made of copper; having a moveable iron handle, where¬
by to hang it on the chimney-hook. The word is
formed from the French chaudron, or rather the Latin
caldarium.
Bolling in Caldrons, (caldarih decoquere), is a capi¬
tal punifhment fpoken of in the middle-age writers,
decreed to divers forts of criminals, but chiefly to de-
bafers of the coin. One of the torments inflicted on
the ancient Chriftian martyrs, was boiling in caldrons
of water, oil, &c.
CALDWALL (Richard), a learned'Englifh phy-
fician, bom in Staffordfhire about the year 1513. He
ftudied phyfic in Brazen-Nofe college Oxford; and
was examined, admitted unto, and made cenfor of, the
college of phyficians at London, all in one day. Six
weeks after he was chofen one of the clefts ; and in the
year 1570, was made prefident of that college. Mr
Wood tells us, that he wrote feveral pieces in his pro-
feffion ; but he does not tell us what they were, only
that he tranflated a-book on the art of furgery, written
by one Horatio More, a Florentine phyfician. We _
learn from Cambden, that Caldwall founded a chirurgi-
cal lefture in the college of phyficians, and endowed it
with a handfome falary. He died in 1585..
CALEA, in botany : A genus of the polygamia
aequalis order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
49th order, Compofita. The receptacle is paleaceous,,
the pappus hair)', and the calyx imbricated.
CALEB, one of the deputies fent by the Ifraelites
to take a view of the land of Canaan. He made a
good report of the country, and by this means revived'
the fpirits of the dejefted people; on which account,
he and Jofliua were the only perfons who, after their
leaving Egypt, fettled, in the land of Canaan. Caleb
CAL [ 35 1 CAL
:i
Ciled< nia. had, for his (hare, the mountains and the city of He-
‘‘■"■"V—~ bron, from which he drove three kings. Othoniel his
nephew having taken the city of Debir, Caleb gave
him his daughter Achfah in marriage ; and died, aged
114.
CALEDONIA, the ancient name of Scotland.
Erom the teftimonies of Tacitus, Dio, and Solinus, we
find, that the ancient Caledonia comprehended all that
country lying to the north of the rivers Forth and
Clyde. In proportion as the Silures or Cimbri advan¬
ced towards the north, the Caledonians, being circum-
fcribed within narrower limits, were forced to tranf-
migrate into the iflands which crowd the weftern coafts
of Scotland. It is in this period, probably, we ought
to place the firft great migration of the Britifh Gael
into Ireland; that kingdom being much neayer to the
promontory of Galloway and Cantire, than many of
the Scottilh ifles are to the continent of North Bri¬
tain.
To the country which the Caledonians poffeffed,
they gave the name of Ca'Sl-doch; which is the only ap¬
pellation the Scots, who fpeak the Gaelic language,
/ know for their own divifion of Britain. Gael-dock is
a compound, made up of Gael or Gael, the firll colo¬
ny of the ancient Gauls who tranfmigrated into Bri¬
tain, and dock, a diftr'ft or divifion of a country.
The Romans, by tranfpofing the letter / in Gael, and
by foftening into a Latin termination the ch of doch,
formed the well known name of Caledonia.
When the tribes of North Britain were attacked by
the Romans, they entered into affociations, that, by u-
niting their ftrength, they might be more able to re¬
pel the common enemy. The particular name of that
tribe, which either its fuperior power or military repu¬
tation placed at the head of the aflbciation, was the
general name given by the Romans to all the confede¬
rates. Hence it is that the Moeata, who with other
tribes inhabited the diflri&s of Scotland lying fouth-
ward of the frith, and the Caledonians, who inhabited
the weft and north-weft parts, have engrofied all the
glory which belonged in common, though in an infe¬
rior degree, to all the other nations fettled of old in
North Britain. It was for the fame reafon that the
name of Mceata was entirely forgotten by foreign wri¬
ters after the third century, and that of the Caledonians
themfelves but feldom mentioned after the fourth.
Britons, Caledonians, Maata, Barbarians, are the
names conftantly given to the old inhabitants of North
Britain, by Tacitus, Herodian, Dio, Spartian, Vopif-
cus, and other ancient writers. The fucceflors of thefe
Britons, Caledonians, Mceats, and Barbarians, are cal¬
led Pidts, Scots, and Attacots, by fome Roman wri¬
ters of the fourth century.
The origin of the appellation Scoti and Picli, intro¬
duced by latter Roman authors, has occafioned much
controverfy among the antiquarians of thefe days.
The difpute feems now to be fully decided by fome
learned critics of the prefent century, whofe knowledge
of the Gaelic language aflifted their inveftigation. See
Scotland, Picts, and Highlanders.
Caledonia, the name of a fettlement made by the
‘Scots on the weft fide of thegulph of Darien, in 1698;
out of which they were ftarved at the requeft of the
Eaft-India company : for the Englifli government pro-.
hibited the other colonies fending them any provifions; Caledon's,
fo they were obliged to leave it in 1700- ‘ *''r"
New Caledonia, an ifland in the fouth-fea, lately
difcovered by captain Cook, and, next to New Hol¬
land and New Zealand, is the largeft ifland that hath
yet been difcovered in that fea. It extends from 19.
37. to 22. 30. S. Lat. and from 163. 37. to 167. 14.
E. Long. Its length from north-weft to fouth-eaft is
about 80 leagues; but its greateft breadth does not ex¬
ceed ten leagues. This ifland is diverfified by hills and
valleys of various fize and extent. From the hills iffue
abundance of rivulets, which contribute to fertilize the
plains. Along its north-eaft fliore the land is flat; and
being well watered, and cultivated by the inhabitants
after their manner, appeared to great advantage to cap¬
tain Cook’s people. Was it not, indeed, for thole
fertile fpots on the plains, the whole country might be
called a dreary wafte: the mountains and higher parts
of the land are in general incapable of cultivation.
They confift chiefly of rocks, many of which are full of
mundic ; the little foil that is upon them is fcorched
and burnt up by the fun ; it is, however, covered with
■coarfe grafs and other plants, and here and there co¬
vered with trees and fhrubs. The country in general
bears a great refemblance to thofe parts of New South
Wales which lie under the fame parallel of latitude.
Several of its natural productions are the fame, and the
woods are without underwood as well as in that coun¬
try. The whole coaft feems to be furrounded by
reefs and Ihoals, which render all accefs to it extreme¬
ly dangerous ; but at the fame time guard the coafts
againft the attacks of the wind and fea; rendering it
eafily navigable along the coaft by canoes, and caufm^
it abound with fifli. Every part of the coaft feems to
be inhabited ; the plantations in the plains are Lid out
with great judgment, and cultivated with much labour.
They begin their cultivation by fetting fire to the grafs,
&c. with which the ground is covered, but have no
notion of preferving its vigour by manure ; they, how¬
ever, recruit it by letting it lie for fome years untouched.
On the beach was found a large irregular mafs of rock,
not lefs than a cube of ten feet, conlifting of a clofe-
grained ftone fpeckled full of granates fomewhat bigger
than pins heads, from whence it feems probable that
fome valuable minerals may be found on this ifland. It
differs from all the other iflands yet difcovered in the
South Sea, by being entirely deftitute of volcanic pro*
duftions. Several plants of a new fpecies were found
here ; and a few young breadfruit trees, not then fuf-
ficiently grown to bear fruit, feemed to have come up
without culture : plantains and fugar-canes are here
in fmall-quantity, and the cocoa-nut trees are fmall
and thinly planted. A new fpecies of pafiion-flower
was likewife met with, which was never known to grow
wild any where but in America. Several Caputi (Me¬
laleuca) trees were alfo found in flower. Mufquetos
here are very numerous. A great variety of birds were
feen of different claffes, which were for the moft part
entirely new; particularly a beautiful fpecies of par¬
rot before unknown to Zoologifts. A new fpecies of
fifli, of the genus called by Linnaeus tetraodon, was
caught here ; and its liver, which was very large, pre-
fented at fupper. Several fpecies of this genus being
reckoned poifonous, and the prefent fpecies being re-
E 2 markably
CAL [ 36 ] CAL
Caledonia, markably ugly, Meff. Forfters hinted their fufpicions
« ” of its quality; but the temptation of a frelh meal, and
the affurances of captain Cook that he had formerly
eaten this identical fort of fifh without harm, got the
better of their fcruples, and they eat of it. Its oili-
nefs, however, though it had no other bad tafte than
what proceeded from this, prevented them from taking
more than a morfel or two. In a few hours after they
had retired to reft, they were awakened by very alarm¬
ing fymptoms, being all feized with an extreme giddi-
nefs; their hands and feet were numbed, fo that they
were fcarcely able to crawl; and a violent langour and
oppreffion feized them. Emetics were adminiftered
with fome fuccefs, but fudorifics gave the greateft re¬
lief. Some dogs who had eaten the remainder of the
li ver were likewife taken ill; and a pig which had eaten
the entrails died foon after, having fwelled to an un-
ufual fize. The effefts of this poifon on the gentle¬
men did not go entirely off in lefs than fix weeks.—
Abundance of turtle was feen here. The natives had
not the leaft notion of goats, hogs, dogs, or cats, and
had not even a name for any of them.
The inhabitants are very flout, tall, and in general
well proportioned; their features mild; their beards
and hair black, and ftrongly frizzled, fo as to be
fomewhat woolly in fome individuals: their colour is
fwarthy, or a dark chefnut brown. A. few were feen
who meafured fix feet four inches. They are remark¬
ably courteous, not at all addicted to pilfering and
Healing ; in which character of honefty they are lin¬
gular, all the other nations in the South Sea being re¬
markably thievifh. Some wear their hair long, and tie
it up to the crown of their heads; others fuffer only a
large lock to grow on each fide, which they tie up in
clubs ; many others, as well as all the women, wear it
cropt fhort. They make ufe of a kind of comb made
of flicks of hard wood, from feven to nine or ten inches
long, and about the thicknefs of knitting needles ; a
number of thefe, feldom exceeding 20, but generally
fewer, ate faftened together at one end, parallel to and
near one tenth of an inch from each other; the ends,
which are a little pointed, will fpread out or open like
the flicks of a fan. Thefe combs they always wear in
their hair on one fide of their head. Some had a kind
of concave cylindrical ftiff black cap, -which appeared
to be a great ornament among them, and was fuppofed
to be worn only by the chiefs and warriors. A large
iheet of ftrong paper, whenever they got one in ex¬
change, was commonly applied to this purpofe. The
men go naked; only tying a firing round their middle,
and another round their neck. A little piece of a
brown cloth made of the bark of a fig-tree, fometimes
tucked up to the belt, and fometimes pendulous,
fcarcely deferves the name of a covering ; nor indeed
does it feem at all intended for that purpofe. This
piece of cloth is fometimes of fuch a length, that the
extremity is faftened to the firing round the neck; to
this firing they likewife hang fmall round beads of
a pale green nephritic ftone. Coarfe garments were
feen among them made of a fort of matting ; but they
feemed never to wear them, except when in their ca¬
noes and unemployed. The women feemed to be in a
fervile flate; they were the only perfons of the family
who had any employment, and feveral of them brought
bundles of flicks and fuel op their back ; thofe who
had children carried them on their backs in a kind of Caledo
fatchel. The women alfo were feen to dig up the earth ~—v
in order to plant it. They are in general of a dark
chefnut, and fornetimes mahogany brown; their fta-
ture middle-fized, fome being rather tall, and their
whole form rather flout, and fomewhat clumfy. Their
drefs is the moft disfiguring that can be imagined, and
gives them a thick fquat fhape ; it is a fhort petticoat
or fringe, confifting of filaments or little, cords,, about
eight inches long, which are faftened to a,very, long
firing, which they have tied feveral times round their
waift. The filaments, or little ropes,, therefore, lie a-
bove each other in feveral layers, forming a kind of
thick thatch all round the body,, but which does not
near cover the thigh ; thefe filaments, were fometimes
dyed black ; but frequently thofe on the outfide only
were of that colour, the reft, being of a dirty grey.
There was not a fingle inftance, during the flap’s flay
in this ifland, of the women permitting any indecent
familiarity with an European: they took pleafure in
praftifing the arts of a jilting coquette, but never be¬
came abfolute wantons. The general ornaments of both
fexes are ear-rings of tortoife fhells; necklaces, or amu¬
lets, made both of fhells and Hones; and bracelets made
of large fhells,, wlpch they wear, above the elbows.
The houfes., or huts, in New Caledonia, are circu¬
lar, fomething like a bee-hive, and full as clofe and
warm ; the entrance is by a fmall door, or long fquare
hole, juft big enough to admit a man bent double;
the fide-walls are about four feet and a half high; but
the roof is lofty, and peaked to a point at the top, a-
bove which is a poll or flick of wood, which is gene¬
rally ornamented either with carving or fhells, or
both. The framing is of fmall fpars, reeds, &c. and
both fides and roof are thick, and clofe covered with
thatch made of coarfe long grafs. In the iniide of the
houfe are fet up polls, to which .crofs fpars are faften¬
ed, and platforms made, for the conveniency of laying
afty thing on. Some houfes have two floors, one above
another; the floor is laid with dried grafs, and here
and there mats are fpread for the principal people to fit
or fleep on. In thefe houfes there was no paffage for
the fmoke but through the door; they were intolerably
fmoky, and fo hot as to be infupportable to thofe
unaccuftomed to them : probably the fmoke is intend¬
ed to drive out the mufquetos which fwarm here. They
commonly ereft two or three of thefe huts near each
other under a clufter of lofty fig-trees, whofe leaves are
impervious to the rays of the fun.
The canoes ufed here are very heavy clumfy veffels;
they are made of two trees hollowed out, having a
raifed gunnel about two inches high, and clofed at each
end with a bulk head of the fame height; fo that the ‘
whole is like a long fquare trough about three feet
fhorter than the body of the canoe. Two canoes thus
fitted are faftened to each other about three feet afun-
der, by means of crofs-fpars, which project about a
foot over each fide. Over thefe is laid a deck or heavy
platform made of plank and fmall round fpars, on which
they have a fire-hearth, and generally a fire burning ;
they are navigated by one or two latteen fails, extended
to a fmall latteen yard, the end of which is fixed in a
notch or hole in the deck.
Notwithilanding the inoffenfive difpofition of the in¬
habitants of New Caledonia, they are well provided
with
CAL
1 with, offenfive weapons ; as clubs, fpears, darts, and
flings for throwing ftones. Their clubs are about two
j feet and an half long, and varioufly formed; fome like
a fcythe, others like a pick-ax; fome have a head like
a hawk, and others have round heads; but all are
neatly made; many of their darts and fpears are no lefs
neat, and ornamented with carvings. The flings are
as Ample as poffible ; but they take fome pains to form
the ftones that they ufe into a proper fhape, which is
fomething like an egg, fuppofmg both ends to be
like the fmall one. They drive the dart by the af-
Aftance of fhort cords knobbed at one end and looped
at the other, called by the feamen beckets. Thefe
contain a quantity of red wool taken from the vam-
pyre, or great Indian bat. Bows and arrows are wholly
unknown among them.
Their language bears no affinity to that fpoken in
the' other South-fea iflands, the word arrekee and
one or two more excepted. This is the more extra¬
ordinary, as different dialefts of one language were
fpoken not only in the eafterly iflands, but at New
Zealand.
A^tuflcal inftrument, a kind of whiftle, was procu¬
red here. It was a little poliffied piece of brown wood
about two inches long, ftiaped like a kind of bell, tho’
apparently folid, with a rope Axed at the fmall end ;
two holes were made in it near the bafe, and another
near the infertion of the rope, all which communicated
with each other ; and by blowing in the uppermoft, a
ftirill found like whiftling was produced : no other in-
ftrument was feen among them that had the leaft re¬
lation to mufle.
I 37 1
CAL
one of the three parts of the duchy of Brunfwic, is Calendar
bounded on the north by the duchy of Verden, on the p ’
eaft by the principality of Zell, on the fouth by the a e° -ers;
principalities of Grubenhagen and Wolfenbuttle, and
on the weft by Weftphalia. It belongs to the ele&or
of Hanover..
CALENDAR, in aftronomy and chronology. See
Kalendar.
Calendar of prifohers, in law, a lift of all thepri-
foners names in the cullody of each refpedtive fiieriff*. * Seethe
CALENDARIUM Flora:, in botany, a calendararticle
containing an exadf regifter of the refpedtive times iaKa/,<,"'‘
which the plants of any given province or climate ger¬
minate, expand, and fhed their leaves and flowers, or
ripen and difperfe their feeds. For particulars on this
curious fubjeft, fee the articles Defoliatio, Efflo-
rescentia, Frondescentia, Fructescentia, and
Germinatio.
CALENDER, a machine ufed In manufactories to
prefs certain woollen and Aiken fluffs and linens, to
make them fmooth, even, and gloffy, or to give them
waves, or water them, as may be feen in Mohairs and
tabbies. This inftrument is compofed of two thick
cylinders or rollers, of very hard and well polifhed
wood, round which the fluffs to be calendered are
wound : thefe rollers are placed crofs-wife between two
very thick boards, the lower ferving as a Axed bafe, and
the upper moveable by means of a thick fcrew with a
rope faftened to a fpindle which makes its axis : the
uppermoft board is loaded with large ftones weighing
2o,o©olb. or more. At Paris they have an extraordi¬
nary machine of this kind, called the royal calender^.
Many of the New Caledonians were feen with pro- made by order of M. Colbert. The lower table or plank
digioufly thick legs and arms, which feemed to be af- is made of a block of fmooth marble, and the upper
feCled with a kind of leprofy ; the fwelling was found is lined with a plate of polifhed copper.—The alternate
to be extremely hard, but the fit in was not alike harfh
and fcaly in all thofe who were affliCled with the difor-
motion of the upper board fometimes one way and
fometimes another, together with the prodigious weight
der. The preternatural expanflon of the arm or leg laid upon it,, gives the fluffs their glofs and fmoothnefs
did not appear to be a great inconvenience to thofe who
fuffered it; and they feemed to intimate that they
very rarely felt any pain in it; but in fome the diforder
began to form blotches, which are marks of a great de¬
gree of virulence.
Here they bury their dead in the ground. The
grave of a chief who had been flain in battle here re-
fembled a large mole-hill, and was decorated with
or gives them the waves, by making the cylinders on
which they are put roll with great force over the un-
dermoft board. When they would put a roller from
under the calender, they only incline the undermoft
board of the machine. The dreffing alone, with the
many turns they make the fluffs and linens undergo
in the calender, gives the waves,, or waters them, as
the workmen call it. It is a miftake to think, as fome
fpears, darts, paddles, &c. all ftuck upright in the have afferted, and Mr Chambers among others, that
ground round about it. Lieutenant Pickerfgill was
fhowed a chief whom they named Tea-looma, and fly-
led \\xt\x arrekee ax king ; but nothing further is known
of their government, and nothing at all of their reli¬
gion.
CALEFACTION, the produdlion of heat in a
body from the action of Are, or that impulfe impref-
fed by a hot body on others around it. This word is
ufed in pharmacy, by way of diftin&ion from coftion,
which implies boiling;.whereas calefadlion is only heat¬
ing a thing.
CALENBERG, a caftle of Germany, in the duchy
of Brunfwic and principality of Calenberg. It is feated
i the river Leine, and is t c miles fouth of Hanover.
. „ . . „ ... . vr. ^ T
they ufe rollers with a fhallow indenture or engraving
cut into them.
'CALENDER of Monteith, a diftridl in the
fouth-weft corner of Perthfhire in Scotland, from which
a branch of the ancient family of Livingftsn had the
title of Earl. The chief feat of the family near Fal¬
kirk is alfo called Calender. Both eftate and title
were forfeited for being engaged in the rebellion
1715.
CALENDERS, a fort of Mahometan friars, fo call¬
ed from Santon Calenderi their founder. This S^nton
went bare-headed, without a fhirt, and with the fkin of
a wild beaft thrown over his flroulders. He wore a
kind of apron before, the firings of which were adorn;
It is fubje£l to the duke or Brunfwic Lunenburg, elec- ed with counterfeit precious ftones. His difciples are
tor of Hanover, and king of Great Britain. E. Long.
9. 43. N. Lat. 52. 20.
Calenberg, a principality of Lower Saxony, and
rather a feft'of Epicureans than a fociety of religious.
They honour a tavern as much as they do a mofque ;
and think they pay as acceptable worfhip to God by
the.
GAL
Calends the free ufe of his creatures, as others do by the great-
r Jl eft aufterities and afts of devotion. They are called, in
i - Ure' Perfia and Arabia, Abdals, or Abdallal, i. e. perfons
confecfated to the honour and fervice of God. Their
garment is a fingle coat, made up of a variety of pie¬
ces, and quilted like a rug. They preach in the mar¬
ket-places, and live upon what their auditors beftow on
them. They are generally very vicious perfons ; for
which reafon they are not admitted into any houfes.
CALENDS, in Roman antiquity. See Kalends.
CALENDULA, the marigold: A genus of the
polygamia neceffaria order, belonging to the fyngene-
lia clafs of plants and in the natural method ranking
under the 49th order, Compoftta. The receptacle is
naked, there is no pappus, the calyx is polyphyllous
and equal, the feeds of the diflc membranaceous. Of
this there are eight fpecies, none of them natives of
Europe. The common kind is fo wrell known as to
need no definition ; and none of the others merit any,
except the fruticofa, which hath lately been introdu¬
ced from the Cape of Good Hope. It hath a flender
t 38 1
CAL
places of delight, they are frequently loft. Vomiting,
bleeding, a fpare diet, and the neutral falts, are re¬
commended in this diforder ; a fingle vomit commonly
removing the delirium, and the cooling medicines com¬
pleting the cure.
CALEPIN ( Ambrofius), an Auguftin monk of Ca-
lepio, whence he took his name, in the 16th century.
He is author of a dictionary of eight languages, lince
augmented by Pafferat and others.
CALES (anc. geog.), a municipal city of fome
note in Campania, at no great diftance from Cafili-
num. The epithet Calenus is by Horace and Juvenal
applied to a generous wine which the territory pro¬
duced.
CALETES (anc. geog.), a people of Gallia Celti-
ca, on the confines of Belgica, fituated between the fea
and the Sequana. Now Called k Pais de Caux, in
Normandy.
CALETURE, a fort on the ifland of Ceylon, at
the mouth of a river of the fame name. The Dutch
became mafters of it in 1655; but were afterwards ob~
Ihrubby perennial ftalk, which rifes to the height-of liged to leave it. E. Long. 80. 51. N. Lat. 6. 38.
feven or eight feet, but requires fupport: this fends
out a great number of weak branches from the bottom
to the top, which hang downward unlefs they are fup-
ported: they are garni fhed with oval leaves, having
(hort flat footftalks; thefe are of a Aiming green co¬
lour on their upper fide, but paler underneath : the
flowers come out at the end of the branches, on ftiort
naked footftalks. This is eafily propagated by cut¬
tings; which may be planted at any time in fummer in
a fnady border, or otherwife ftiaded with mats in the
heat of the day: in five or fix weeks thefe will have
taken root, when they fhould be feparately taken up#
each put in a feparate pot, and placed in the ihade till
they have taken freih root; then they may be placed,
with other hardy exotic plants, in a flieltered fituation.
near the windows, that they may enjoy the free air;
for this plant only requires protection from froft. The
pril, where the plants are to remain ; and will require
-no other culture but to keep them clear of weeds, and
to thin the plants where they are too thick. The
flowers of the common marigold are fuppofed to be a-
perient and attenuating, as alfo cardiac, alexipharmac,
and fudorific; they are principally celebrated in uterine
obftrudtions, the jaundice, and for throwing out the
fmall-pox. Their fenfible qualities, however, give little
foundation for thefe virtues: they have fcarce any tafte,
and have no confiderable fmell. The leaves of the
plant difcover a vifcid fweetifhnefs, accompanied with a
more durable faponaceous pungency and warmth; thefe
feem capable of anfwering fome uTeful purpofes as a
ftimulating, aperient, and antifcorbutic medicine.
CALENTIUS (Elifius), a Neapolitan poet and
profe author. He was preceptor to Frederic the fon
of Ferdinand king of Naples, and the earlieft writer on
the illegality of putting criminals to death, except for
murder. He died in 1503.
CALENTLTRE, a feveriflv diforder incident to
failors in hot countries; the principal fymptom of upon them, and fo high above the ground that the u-
which is their imagining the fea to be green fields: rine may run off. They alfo bleed them once when
hence, attempting to walk abroad in thefe imaginary they are a month old, and a fecond time before they
3 - kill
Calepis
CALF, in zoology, the young of the ox kind.
There are two ways of breeding calves that are in¬
tended to be reared. The one is to let the calf run
about with its dam all the year round; which is the
method in the cheap breeding countries, and is gene¬
rally allowed to make the belt cattle. The other is to
take them from the dam after they have fucked about
a fortnight: they are then to be taught to drink flat
milk, which is to be made but juft warm for them, -it
being very dangerous to give it them too hot. The
beft time of weaning calves is from January to May :
they Ihould have milk for 12 weeks after; and a fort¬
night before that is left off, water Ihould be mixed with
the milk in larger and larger quantities. When the
calf has been fed on milk for about a month, little
where they may remain till the froft begins, when they whifps of hay ftiould be placed all about him in cleft
_ muft be removed into the green-houfe, placing them flicks to induce him to eat. In the beginning of A-
pril they fhould be turned out to grafs; only for a few
days they fhould be taken in for the night, and have
feeds of the common fort maybe fown in March or A- milk and water given them : the fame may alfo be gi-
'—"•1 " ““   J  ven them in a pail fometimes in the field, till they are
fo able to feed themfelves that they do not regard it.
The grafs they are turned into muft not be too rank,
but fhort and fweet, that they may like it, and yet get
it with fome labour. Calves fhould always be weaned
at grafs; for if it be done with hay and water, they of¬
ten grow big-belly’d on it, and are apt to rot. When
thofe among the males are felefted which are to be kept
as bulls, the reft fhould be gelt for oxen : the fooner
the better. Between 10 and 20 days is a proper age.
About London almoft all the calves are fatted for the
butcher. The reafon of this is, that there is a good mar¬
ket for them; and the lands there are not fo profitable
to breed upon as in cheaper countries. The way to
make calves fat and fine is, the keeping them very
clean ; giving them frefh litter every day; and the
hanging a large chalk-ftone in fome corner where they
can eafily get at it to lick it, but where it is out of the
way of being fouled by th^’r dung and urine. The
coops are to be placed fo as not to have too much fun
CAL [ 39 3 CAL
| Calf, kill them; which is a great addition to the beauty and
whitenefs of their flefh : the bleeding is by fome re¬
peated much oftener, but this is fuf&cient. Calves are
very apt to be loofe in their bowels; which waftes and
I • ■ very much injures them. The remedy is to give them
chalk fcraped among milk, pouring it down with a
i horn. . If this does not fucceed, they give them bole
armenic in large dofes, and ufe the cold bath every
|; morning’. If a cow w ill not let a ftrange calf fuck her,
the common method is to rub both her nofe and the
calf’s with a little brandy; this generally reconciles
them after a few fmellings.
Golden Calf, an idol let up and worlhipped by the
Ifraelites at the foot of Mount Sinai in their paffage
I through the wuldernefs to the land of Canaan. Our
; verfion makes Aaron fafltion this calf with a graving
j, tool after he had call it in a mould: the Geneva tranf-
I lation makes him engrave it iirft, and call it afterwards.
Others, wdth more probability, render the whole verfe
I thus : “ And Aaron received them (the golden ear-
I’ rings), and tied them up in a bag, and got them caft
into a molten calfwhich verfion is authorifed by the
different fenfes of the word tznr, which fignifies to tie
up or bind* as well -as to fliape or form ; and of the
• word cherret, which is ufed both for a graving tool
and a bag. Some of the ancient fathers have been of
opinion that this idol had only the face of a calf, and
the fhape of a man from the neck downwurds, in imi¬
tation of the Egyptian Ills. Others have thought it
was only the head of an ox without a body. But the
I moll general opinion is, that it was an entire calf in
s imitation of the Apis worfhipped by the Egyptians;
I among whom, no doubt, the Ifraelites had acquired
I their propenfity to idolatry. This calf Mofes is faid to
A have burnt 'with fire, reduced to powder, and lire wed
* upon the water which the people were to drink. How
| this could be accomplilhed hath been a queftion. Moft
| people have thought, that as gold is indeftrudlible, it
could only be burnt by the miraculous power of God;
but M. Stahl conjectures that Mofes diffolved it by
feee Cht- means of liVer of fulphur *. The Rabbins tell us that
\ryln- the people were made to drink of this water in order to
h • diftinguilh the idolaters from the reft; for that as foon
j as they had drunk of it, the beards of the former turn¬
ed red. The cabbalifts add, that the calf weighed’
; L25 quintals; which they gather from the HeBrew-
word majjeltch, whofe numerical letters make 125.
_ CjLF-Skivs, in the leather manufacture, are prepared
; and dreffed by the tanners, Ikinners, and curriers, who
t fell them for the ufe of the fhoe-makers, faddlers, book¬
binders, and other artificers, who employ them in their
I feveral manufaflures.
CjLF-Slin drejfed in fumach, denotes the fkin of this
animal curried black on the hair fide, and dyed of an
orange colour on the flefh fide, by means of fumach,
| chiefly ufed in the making of belts.
The Englifti calf-fl<in is much valued abroad, and
the commerce thereof very confiderable in France and
f other countries; where divers attempts have been made
\\ to imitate it, but hitherto in vain. What is like to
j baffle all endeavours for imitating the Englifli calf in
France is, the fmallnefs and weaknefs of the calves
& about Paris 5 which at fifteen days old are not fo big
as the Englifli ones when they come into the world.
Sea-C/tLF. See Phoca-
;
CALI, a town of Popayan in South America, feat* Calk ¬
ed in a valley of the fame name on the river Cauca. CaIll,er-
The governor of the province ufually refides there. W. y ™
Long. 78. 5. N. Lat. 3. 15.
CALIBER, or Caliper, properly denotes the dia¬
meter of any body ; thus we fay, two columns of the
fame caliber, the caliber of the bore of a gun, the cali¬
ber of a bullet, See.
Calibfx-Compajja, a fort of compaffes made with
arched legs to take the diameter of round or fwelling
bodies. See Compasses. <
Caliber-compaffes, are chiefly ufed by gunners, for
taking the diameters of the feveral parts of a piece of
ordnance, or of bombs, bullets, See. Their legs are
therefore circular ; and move on an arch of brafs, where¬
on is marked the inches and half inches, to ftrow how-
far the points of the compaffes are opened, afunder.
Some are alfo made for taking the diameter of the
bore of a gun or mortar.
The gaugers alfo fometimes ufe calibers, to em¬
brace the two heads of any cafk, in order to find its
length.
The calibers ufed by carpenters and joiners, is a piece
of board notched triangular-wife in the middle for the
taking of meafure.
CALiBKR-Rule, or Gunner’s Callipers, is an inftru-
ment wherein a right line is fo divided as that the firft
part being equal to the diameter of an iron or leaden,
ball of one pound weight, the other parts are to the
firft as the diameters of balls of two, three, four, &c.
pounds are to the diameter of a' ball of one pound.
The caliber is ufed by engineers, from the weight of
the ball given, to determine its diameter or caliber, or
vice verfa..
The gunner’s callipers confift of two thin plates of
brafs joined by a rivet, fo as to move quite round each
other: its length from the centre of the joint is be¬
tween fix inches and a foot, and its breadth from one
to two inches; that of the moft; convenient fize is
about nine inches long. Many feales, tables, and pro¬
portions, &c. may be-introduced on this inftrument;
but none are effential to it, except thofe for taking the
caliber of ftiot and cannon, and for meafuring the mag¬
nitude of faliant and entering angles. The moft com¬
plete callipers is exhibited Plate CXII. the furniture
and ufe of which we fhall now briefly deferibe. Let
the four faces of this inftrument be diftinguiftied by
the letters A, B, C, D : A and D confift of a.circular
head and leg; B and C confift only of a leg.
On the circular head adjoining to the leg of the face-
A are divifions denominated Jhot diameters; winch
ftiow the diftance in inches and tenths of an inch of the
points of the callipers when they are opened ; fo that
if a hall not exceeding, ten inches be introduced be¬
tween them, the bevil edge E marks its diameter a~
mong thefe divifions.
On the circular bevil part E of the face B is a fcale
of divifions diftinguiftied by lb. 'weight of iron foot.
When the diameter of any fliot is taken between the _
points of the cfdlipers, the inner edge of the leg A
fhows its weight in avoirdupoife pounds, provided it be
lb. 4-, 1, i4-, 2, 3, 4, 54, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16, 18, 24, 26,
32, 36, or 42 ; the figures neareft the bevil edge an-
fwering to the fhort lines in the fcale, and thofe be¬
hind them .to the longer ftrokes. This fcale is con--
ftrucled'
CAL [ 4® J CAL
■Chiller, ftm&ed on the following geometrical theorem, viz.
that the weights of fpheres are as the cubes of their
diameters.
On the lower part of the circular head of the face
A is a fcale of divifions marked tores of guns ; for the
ufe of which, the legs of the callipers are flipped acrofs
each other, till the fteel points touch the concave fur-
face of the gun in its greateft breadth ; then the bevil
cdfe F of the face B will 8i.it a divifion in the fcale
fhowing the diameter of the bore in inches and tenths.
Within the fcales of Jhot and bore diameters on the
circular part of A, are divifions markedthe
inner figures 3, 5^, 8, 12, 18, 26, 36, corre-
fpond to the longeft lines; and the figures 1, 2, 4, 6,
9, 16, 24, 32, 42, to the fhort ftrokes. When the
bore of a gun is taken between the points of the calli¬
pers, the'bevil edge F will either cut or be near one of
ttiefe divifions,,and fhow the weight of iron-fhot pro¬
sper for that gun.
‘On’the upper half of the circular head of the face A
are three concentric fcales of degrees ; the outer fcale
-confifting of x 80 degrees numbered from right to left,
To, 20, &c. the middle numbered the contrary way,
and the outer fcale beginning at the middle with o,
and numbered on each fide to 90 degrees. Thefe
fcales ferve to take the quantity of an angle, either
entering or faliant. For an entering or internal angle,
apply the legs of the callipers fo that its outward edges
coincide with the legs of the given angle, the degree
cut by the bevil edge F in the outer fcale ihows the
meafure of the angle fought: for a faliant or external
angle, flip the legs of the callipers acrofs each other,
fo that their outward edges may coincide with the
legs forming the angle, and the degree marked on the
middle fcale by the bevil edge E will fhow the meafure
of the angle required. The inner fcale will ferve to
determine the elevation of cannon and mortars, or of
any oblique plane. Let one end of a thread b£ fixed
into the notch on the plate B, and any weight tied to
the other end: apply the ftraight fide of the plate A to
the fide of the body whofe inclination is fought; hold
it in this pofition, and move the plate B, till the thread
falls upon the line near the centre marked Perp. Then
will the bevil edge F cut the degrees on the inner fcale,
ihowing the inclination of that body to the horizon.
On the face C near the point of the callipers is a
little table ihowing the proportion of troy and avoirdu-
poife weights, by which one kind of weight may be
eafily reduced into another.
Near the extreme of the face D of the callipers, are
two tables ihowing the proportion between the pounds
weight of London and Paris, and alfo between the
lengths of the foot meafure of England and France.
Near the extreme on the face A is a table contain¬
ing four rules of the circle and fphere ; and geometri¬
cal figures with numbers annexed to them : the firft is
a circle including the proportion in round numbers of
the diameter , to its circumference ; the fecond is a cir¬
cle infcribed in a fquare, and a fquare within that cir¬
cle, and another circle in the inner fquare: the numbers
28, 22, above this figure exhibit the proportion of the
outward fquare to the area of the infcribed circle; and
the numbers 14, 11, below it fhow the proportion be¬
tween the area of the infcribed fquare and the area of
its infcribed circle. The third is a cube infcribed in a
N°6i.
fphere ; aud the number 89-j- fhows that a cube of iron, Calllber
infcribed in a fphere of 12 inches in diameter, weighs . I(
Sqj-. The fourth is a fphere in a cube, and the num- , Callcl)f*
ber 243 expreffes the weight in pounds of a fphere 4
infcribed in a cube whofe fide is 12 inches : the fifth
reprefents a cylinder and cone of one foot diameter and
height: the number in the cylinder fhows, that an iron
cylinder of that diameter and height weighs 364.5 lb.
and the number 121.5 *n ^ cone expreffes the weight
of a cone, the diameter of whofe bafe is 12 inches, and
of the fame height: the fixth figure fhows that an iron
cube, vvhofe fide is x 2 inches, weighs 464 lb. and that
a fquare pyramid of iron, whofe bafe is a fquare foot
and height 12 inches, weighs 154^-lb. The numbers
which have been hitherto fixed to the four lafi figures
were not ftri&ly true ; and therefore they have been
correfted in the figurt here referred to ; and by thefe
the figures on any inftrument of this kind fhould be
corrected likewife.
On the leg B of the callipers, is a table fhowing the
weights of a cubic inch or foot of various bodies in
pounds avoirdupoife.
On the face D of the circular head of the callipers
is a table contained between five concentric fegments
of rings : the inner one marked Guns fhows the nature
of the gun or the weight of ball it carries ; the two
next rings contain the quantity of powder ufed for
proof and fervice to brafs guns, and the two outermoft
rings fhow the quantity for proof and fervice in iron
cannon.
On the face A is a table frxhibiting the method of
computing the number of Jhot or Jhells in a triangular,
fquare, or rectangular pile. Near this is placed a
table containing the principal rules relative to thz fall
of bodies y expreffed in an algebraic manner : nearer the
centre we have another table of rules for raifing water,
calculated on the fuppofition, that one horfe is equal
in this kind of labour to five men, and that one man
will raife a hogfhead of water to eight feet of height
in one minute, and work at that rate for fome hours.
N. B. Hogfheads are reckoned at fixty gallons.
Some of the leading principles in gunnery, relating
to floating in cannon and mortars, are expreffed on the
face B of the callipers. Befides the articles already
enumerated, the fcales ufually marked on the feftor
are laid down on this inftrument: thus, the line of
inches is placed on the edge of the callipers, or on
the ftraight borders of the faces C, D: the logarithmic
fcales of numbers, fines, verfed fines, and tangents,
are placed along thefe faces near the ftraight edges:
the line of lines is placed on the fame faces in an an¬
gular pofition, and marked Lin. The lines of plains
or fuperfices are alfo exhibited on the faces C and D,
tending towards the centre, and marked Plan. Fi¬
nally, the lines of folids are laid on the fame faces
tending towards the centre, and diftinguiihed by Sol.
CALICOULAN, or Qcjillon, a town of Afia, in
the Eaft Indies, on the coaft of Malabar, and in the
peninfula on this fide the Ganges, where the Dutch
have a faftory. E. Long. 75.21. N. Lat. 9. 5.
CALICUT, a kingdom of India, on this fide the
Ganges, upon the coaft of Malabar. It is about 63
miles long, and as much broad. It has many woods,
rivers, and marfhes, and is very populous ; but does
not produce much corn, abundance of rice being im-
2 ported
.r/.
■  
CAL r 4« 1 CAL
ported from Canara. The l^nd along the fea-coaft is California, or Vermilion Sea, on theeafl.; on the north, California,
low and fandy, and produces a number of cocoa-trees, by that part of the continent of North America which —y—
The higher grounds produce pepper and cardamoms is leaft known ; and on the weft and fouth, by the
of a very good quality. They have likewife timber for Pacific Ocean or great South Sea. The coafts, efpe-
building, white and yellow fanderS, caffia lignea, caf- daily towards the Vermilion Sea, are covered with in-
fia fiftula, nux vomica, and cocculus indicus. The habited illands, on fome of which the Jefuits have
woods abound with parrots and monkeys, as well as eftabliftied fettlements, fuch as St Clement, Paxaros,
different kinds of game. They have alfo plenty of St Anne, Cedars (fo called from the great number of
fiffi, feveral forts of medicinal drugs, and their moun- thefe trees if produces), St Jofeph, and a multitude of
tains produce iron. The famorin, or king, of Calicut, others. But the iflands beft known are three lying off'
was once mafter of all the coaft of Malabar ; but at Cape St Lucar, towards the Mexican coaft. Thefe are
his death, he left it by will among four of his nephews, called Les Tree Marias, “ the three Maries.” They
He who governs Calicut has a palace of ftone, and are but fmall, have good wood and water, fait pits, and
there is fome appearance of grandeur about his court, abundance of game ; therefore the Englilh and French
He carries on a confiderable trade, which makes the pirates have fometimes wintered there, when bound on
people of Calicut richer than their neighbours. In cruizes in the South Seas.
former times they had feveral ftrange cuftoms, fome As California lies altogether within the temperate
of which are ftill kept up; particularly the famorin’s zone, the natives are neither chilled with cold nor
wife muft be firft enjoyed by the high prieft, who may fcorched with heat; and indeed the improvements in
have her three nights if he pleafes. The nobles per- agriculture made by the Jefuits afford ftrong proofs of
xnit the other priefts to take the fame liberty, but the the excellency of the climate. In fome places the air
lower people cannot have that honour. A woman may is extremely hot and dry ; and the earth wild, rugged,
marry a number of hufbands ; each of whom has her and barren. In a country ftretching about 800 miles in
ten days or more by turns, as they agree among them- length, there muft be confiderable variations of foil and
felves ; and provides her all things neceffary during climate; and indeed we find, from good authority, that
that time. When ftie proves with child, flie names California produces fome of the moft beautiful lawns,
the father; who, after the child is weaned, takes care as well as many of the moft inhofpitable defarts, in the
of its education. Thefe people have no pens, ink, univerfe. Upon the whole, although California is ra-
or paper; but write with a bodkin on flags that grow ther rough and craggy, we are affured by the Jefuit
by the fides of the rivers. By this means the letters Vinegas, and other good writers, that with due culture
are in fome fenfe engraved ; and fo tough are the it furnifties every neceffary and conveniency of life
flags, that they will laft for a great number of years, and that, even where the atmofphere is hotteft, vapours
This was the firft land difeovered by the Portuguefe in rifing from the fea, and difperfed by pleafant breezes,
1498. render it of a moderate temperature.
Calicut, a town of Afia, in the kingdom of that The peninfula of California is now flocked with all
name on the coaft of Malabar. It contains a great forts of domeftic animals known in Sap in and Mexico,
number.of mean low houfes, each of which has a gar- Horfes, mules, affes, oxen, flieep, hogs, goats, and all
den. The Englilh had a factory here, but it is remo- other quadrupeds imported, thrive and increafe in this
ved to Tilicherry. E. Long. 76.4. N. Lat. 11. 21. country. Among the native animals is a fpecies of deer
C A LIDA, planta'. (from ca/or heat) ; plants that of the fize of a young heifer, and greatly refembling it
are natives of warm climates. Such are thofe of the in lhape ; the head is like that of a deer, and the horns
Eaft Indies, South America, Egypt, and the Canary thick and crooked like thofe of a ram. The hoof of the
Iflands. Thefe plants, fays Linnaeus, will bear a de- animal is large, round, and cloven, the fl<in fpotted, but
gree of heat which is as 40 on a fcale in which the the hair thinner and the tail lharper than thofe of a
freezing point is o, and 100 the heat of boiling water, deer. Its flefti is greatly efteemed. There is another
In the 1 oth degree of cold they ceafe to grow, lofe animal peculiar to this country, larger and more bulky
their leaves, become barren, are fuffocated, and perilh. than a flieep, but greatly refembling it in figure, and,
CALIDUCT, in antiquity, a kind of pipes or ca- like it, covered with a fine black or white wool. The
nal difpofed along the walls of houfes or apartments, flefli of this animal is nouriihing and delicious; and,
ufed by the ancients for conveying heat to feveral re- happily for the natives, it is fo abundant, that nothing
mote parts of the houfe from one common furnace. more is required than the trouble of hunting, as thefe
CALIFORNIA, the moft northerly of all the Spa- animals wander about in droves in the forefts and on
nifti dominions on the continent of America, is fome- the mountains. Father Torquemado deferibes a crea-
times diftinguiftied by the name of New Albion, and ture which he calls a fpecies of large bear, fomething
the IJlas Carabiras: but the moft ancient appellation is like a buffalo, of the fize of a fteer, and nearly of the
California; a word probably owing to fome accident, figure of a flag. Its hair is a quarter of a yard in
or to feme words fpoken by the Indians and mifunder- length, its neck long and aukward, and on its forehead
ftood by the Spaniards. For a long time California are horns branched like thofe of a. flag,. The tail is a
was thought to be an ifland ; but Father Caino, a Ger- yard in length and half a yard in breadth; and the
man Jefuit, difeovered it tobe a peninfula joining to the hoofs cloven like thofe of an ox. With regard to
coaft of New Mexico and the fouthern parts of Ame- birds, we have but an imperfedt account; only, in ge-
rica. This peninfula extends from Cape St Sebaftian, neral, Father Venegas tells us that the coaft is plen-
lying in north latitude 43. 30. to Cape St Lucar which tifully ftored with peacocks, buftards, geefe, cranes,
lies in north latitude 22. 32. It is divided from New and moft of the birds common in other parts of the
Mexico by the gulph, or as fome call it the lake, of world. The quantity of filh which refort to thefe
Vol. IV. Part I. F coafts
CAL [ 42 ] CAL
fornia. coalla are incredible. Salmon, turbot, barbel, Ikate,
v—-’ mackerel, &c. are caught here with very little trou¬
ble ; together with pearl oyfters, common oyfters,
lobfters, and a variety of exquifite fhell-iifh. Plen¬
ty of turtle are alfo caught on the coafts. On the
South Sea coafls are fome llaell-tifh peculiar to it, and
perhaps the moft beautiful in the world; their luftre
furpaffing that of the fineft pearl, and darting their
rays through a tranfparent varnifh of an elegant vivid
blue, like the lapis lazuli. The fame of California
for pearls foon drew forth great numbers of adventu¬
rers, whofearched every part of the gulph, and are ftill
employed in that work, notwithftanding fafhion has
greatly diminifhed the value of this elegant natural pro-
du&ion. Father Torquimado obferves that the fea of
California affords very rich pearl filheries; and that the
hojlias, or beds of oyfters, may be feen in three or four
fathom water, almoft as plain as if. they were on the
furface.
The extremity of the peninfula towards Cape StLu-
car is more level, temperate, and fertile, than the other
parts, and confequently more woody. In the more di-
ftant parts, even to the fartheft miffions on the eaft
coaft, no large timber hath yet been difcovered. A
fpecies of manna is found in this country, which, ac¬
cording to the accounts of the Jefuits, has all the fweet-
nefs of refined fugar without its whitenefs. The natives
firmly believe that this juice drops from heaven.
The Californians are well made, and very ftrong.
They are extremely pufilanimous, inconftant, ftupid,
and even infenfible, and feem extremely deferving of
the character given to the Indians in general, under
the article America. Before the Europeans penetra¬
ted into California, the natives had no form of reli¬
gion. The miffionaries indeed tell us many tales con¬
cerning them, but they fo evidently bear the marks of
forgery as not to be worth repeating. Each nation was
then an aflemblage of feveral cottages more or lefs nu¬
merous, that were all mutually confederated by alli¬
ances, but without any chief. They were ftrangers
even to filial obedience. No kind of drefs was ufed by
the men; but the women made ufe of fome coverings,
and were even fond of ornamenting themfelves with
pearls and fuch other trinkets as the country afforded.
What moftly difplayed their ingenuity was the con-
ftru&ion of their fifhing nets, which are faid by the Je¬
fuits to have even exceeded in goodnefs thofe made
in Europe. They were made by the women, of a
coarfe kind of flax procured from fome plants which
grow there. Their houfes were built of branches and
leaves of trees : nay, many of them were only inclofures
of earth and ftone, raifed half a yard high, without any
covering; and even thefe were fo fmall, that they could
not ftretch themfelves at length in them. In winter,
they dwelt under ground in eaves either natural or ar¬
tificial.
In 1526, Ferdinand Cortez having reduced and fet¬
tled Mexico, attempted the conqueft of California ; but
was obliged to return, without even taking a furvey
of the country, a report of his death having difpofed
the Mexicans to a general infurreftion. Some other
attempts were made by the-officers of Cortez, but thefe
were alfo unfuccefsful; and this valuable coaft was
long neglefted by the Spaniards, who, to this day,
have but one fettlement upon it. In 1595, a galleon
was fent to make difeoveries on the Californian fhore; California,
but the veffel was unfortunately loft. Seven years af- Caliga.
ter, the count de Monteroy, then viceroy of New v '
Spain, fent Sebaftian Bifcayno on the fame defign with
two fhips and a tender; but he made no difeovery of
importance. In 1684, the marquis de Laguna, alfo
viceroy of new Spain, difpatched two ftiips with a
tender to make difeoveries on the lake of California.
He returned with an indifferent account, but was a-
mong the firft that afferted that California was not an
ifland; which was afterwards confirmed by Father
Caino, as already related. In 1697, the Spaniards
being difeouraged by their Ioffes and difappointments,
the Jefuits folicited and obtained permiffion to under¬
take the conqueft of California. They arrived among
the favages with curiofities that might amufe them,
corn for their food, and clothes for which they could
not but perceive the neceffity. The hatred thefe peo¬
ple bore the Spanifh name could not fupport itfelf a-
gainft thefe demon ftrations of benevolence. Theytef-
tified their acknowledgments as much as their want of
fenfibility and their inconftancy would permit them.
Thefe faults were partly overcome by the religious in-
ftitutors, who purfued their projeft with a degree of
warmth and refolution peculiar to the fociety. They
made themfelves carpenters, mafons, weavers, and huf-
bandmen ; and by thefe means fucceeded in imparting
knowledge, and in fome meafure a tafte for the ufeful
arts, to this favage people, who have been all fuccef-
fively formed into one body. In 1745, compo-
fed 43 villages, feparated from each other by the bar-
rennefs of the foil and the want of water. The inha¬
bitants of thefe fmall villages fubfift principally on corn
and pulfe, which they cultivate; and on the fruits and
domeftic animals of Europe, the breeding of which
laft is an objeft of continual attention. The Indians
have each their field, and the property of what they
reap; but fuch is their want of forefight, that they
would fquander in a day what they had gathered, if
the miffionary did not take upon himfelf to diftribute
it to them as they ftand in need of it. They manu-
fa&ure fome coarfe fluffs; and the neceffaries they are
in want of are purchafed with pearls, and with wine
nearly refembling that of Madeira, which they fell to-
the Mexicans and to the galleons, and which experi¬
ence hath fliown the neceffity of prohibiting in Callb-
fornia. A few laws, which are very fimple, are fuffi-
cient to regulate.this riling ftate. In order to enforce
them, the miffionary choofes the moft intelligent per-
fon of the village; who is empowered to whip and im~
prifon ; the only punilhments of v/hich they have any
knowledge. In all California there are only two gar-
rifons, each confifting of 30 men and a foldier with
every miffionary. Thefe troops were chofen by the le-
giflators, though they are paid by the government.
Were the court of Madrid to pufh their intereft with
half the zeal of the Jefuits, California might become
one of the moft valuable of their acquifitions, on ac¬
count of the pearls and other valuable articles of com¬
merce which the country contains. At prefent the
little Spanilh town near Cape St Lucar is made ufe of
for no other purpofe than as a place of refrefhment for
the Manila Ihips, and the head refidence of the miffion¬
aries.
CALIGA, in Roman Antiquity, was the proper
fol-
CAL [ 43 ] CAL
Caligati foldier’s (hoe, made in the fandal fafhion, without up-
{! per leather to cover the fuperior part of the foot, tho’
11 otherwife reaching to the middle of the leg, and fa¬
ttened with thongs. The foie of the caliga was of
wood, like the fabot of the French peafants, and its
bottom ftuck full of nails; which clavi are fuppofed to
have been very long in the (hoes of the fcouts and fen-
tinels; whence thefe were called by way of dittinftion,
callga fpeculatoriie ; as if by mounting the wearer to a
higher pitch, they gave a greater advantage to the
fight: though others will have the caliga fpeculatoria
to have been made foft and woolly, to prevent their
making a noife. From thefe caliga it was that the
emperor Caligula took his name, as having been born
in the army, and afterwards bred up in the habit of a
common foldier.
According to Du Cange, a fort of caliga was alfo
worn by monks and bilhops, when they celebrated mafs
pontifically.
CALIGATI, an appellation given by fome ancient
writers to the common foldiers in the Roman armies,
by reafon of the caliga which they wore. The caliga
was the badge or fymbol of a foldier ; whence to take
away the caliga and belt, imported a difmiffing or
cafhiering.
CALIGO, or Caligatio, in Medicine, an opacity,
or cloudinefs of the anterior furface of the cryftalline,
caufing a dimnefs or fuffufion of fight.
CALIGULA, the Roman emperor and tyrant,
A. D. 37, began his reign with every promifing ap¬
pearance of becoming the real father of his people ;
but at the end of eight months he was feized with a
fever, which, it is thought, left a frenzy on his mind:
for his difpofition totally changed, and he committed
the moft atrocious a&s of impiety, cruelty, and folly;
fuch as proclaiming his horfe conful, feeding it at his'
table, introducing it to the temple in the vettments of
the priefts of Jupiter, &c. and caufing facrifices to be
offered to bimfelf, his wife, and the horfe. After ha¬
ving murdered many of his fubje&s with his own hand,
and caufed others to be put to death without any juft
caufe, he was affaflinated by a tribune of the people as
he came out of the amphitheatre, A. D. 41, in the
29th year of his age, and 4th of his reign.
CALIN, a compound metal, whereof the Chinefe
make tea-canifters, and the like. The ingredients feem
to be lead and tin.
CALIPH, or Khalif, the fupreme ecclefiaftical
dignity among the Saracens ; or, as it is othervvife de¬
fined, a fovereign dignity among the Mahometans, vett¬
ed with abfolute authority in all matters relating both
to religion and policy. In the Arabic it fignifies fuc-
cejfor or ulcar ; the caliphs bearing the fame relation to
Mahomet that the popes pretend -they do to Jefus
Chrift or St Peter. It is at this day one of the Grand
Signior’s titles, as fucceffor of Mahomet; and of the
Sophi of Perfia, as fucceffor of Ali. One of the chief
funftions of the caliph, in quality of imam or chief
prieft of Muffulmanifm, was to begin the public pray-
, ers eveiy Friday in the chief mofque, and to deliver
the khothbak or fermon. In after-times, they had af-
fiftants for this latter office ; but the former the caliphs
always performed in perfon. The caliph was alfo ob¬
liged to lead the pilgrims to Mecca in perfon, and to
march at the head of the armies of his empire. He
granted inveiliture to princes ; and fent fwords, ftand- Caliphate
ards, gowns, and the like, as prefents to princes of the ,
Mahometan religion ; who, though they had thrown d! a*
off the yoke of thfc caliphate, neverthelefs held of it as
vaffals. The caliphs ufually went to the mofque
mounted on mules'; and the fultans felgiucides, though
matters of Bagdad, held their ftirrups, -and led their
mule by the bridle fome diftance on foot, till fuch time
as the caliphs gave them the fign to mount on horfe-
back. At one of the windows of the caliph’s palace,
there always hung a piece of black velvet 20 cubits
long, which reached to the ground, and was called the
caliph's Jleeve ; which the grandees of his court never
failed to kifs every day, with great refpeft. After
the deftrudlion of the caliphate by Hulaku, the Ma¬
hometan princes appointed a particular officer, in their
refpeftive dominions, who fuftains the facred authority
of caliph. In Turky, he goes under the denomination
of mufti, z.n& in Perfia under that offadne.
CALIPHATE, the office or dignity of caliph:
See the preceding article. The fucceffion of caliphs
continued from the death of Mahomet till the 655th
year of the Hegira, when the city of Bagdad was ta¬
ken by the Tartars. After this, however, there were
perfons who claimed the caliphate, as pretending to be
of the family of the Abaffides, and to whom the ful¬
tans of Egypt rendered great honours at Cairo, as the
true fucceffors of Mahomet: but this honour was
merely titular, and the rights allowed them only in
matters relating to religion ; and though they bore the
fovereign title of caliphs, they were neverthelefs fub-
jects and dependents of the fultans. In the year of the
Hegira 361, a kind -of caliphate was ere&ed by the
Fatemites in Africa, and lafted till it wasfuppreffed by
Saladdin. Hiftorians alfo fpeak of a third caliphate
in Gemen or Arabia Felix, eredled by fome princes of
the family of the Jobites. The emperors of Morocco
affume the title ot grand cherifs ; and pretend to be the
true caliphs, or fucceffors of Mahomet, though under
another name.
CALIPPIC period, in chronology, a feries of
feventy-fix years, perpetually recurring ; which elapfed
the middle of the new and full moons, as its inventor
Calippus, an Athenian, imagined, return to the fame
day of the folar year. Meton, an hundred years be¬
fore, had invented the period, or cycle, of nineteen
years ; affuming the quantity of the folar year 365 d.
6 h. 18' 56" 503 314 341 ; and the lunar month, 29^.
\2 h. 45' 47" 26s 48* 30s: but Calippus, coniider-
ing that the Metonic quantity of the folar year was
not exaft, multiplied Melon’s period by 4, and thence
arofe a period of 76 years, called the Calippic. The
Calippic period, therefore, contains 2,7759 days : and
fince the lunar cycle contains 235 lunations, and the
Calippic period is quadruple of this, it contains 940
lunations. This period began in the third year of
the 112th Olympiad, or the 4384th of the Julian
period. It is demonftrated, however, that the Calip¬
pic period itfelf is not accurate; that it does not bring
the new and full moons precifely to their places :
8 h. 5' 52'' do"’, being the excefs of 940 lunations
above 76 folar years ; but brings them too late, by a
whole day in 2 2 5 years.
CALISTA, in fabulous hiftory, the daughter of
Lycaon king of Arcadia, and one of the nymphs of
F 2 Diana.
CAL [ 44 1 CAL
Calix Diana-. Being beloved by Jupiter, that god affumed
II the form of the goddefs of chaflity, by which means
a ' he debauched her : but her difgrace being revealed, as
the was bathing with her patronefs, the incenfed deity
turned her and the fon with which fhe was pregnant
into bears ; when Jupiter, in compaffion to her fuffer-
ings, took them up into the heavens, and made them
the conftellations Urfa Major and Urfa Minor
CALIX. See Calyx.
CALIXTINS, a name given to thofe, among the
Lutherans, who follow the fentiments of George Ca-
lixtus, a celebrated divine, and profeffor at Helmftadt,
in the duchy of Brunfwick, who died in 1656 : heop-
pofed the opinion of St Auguilin, on predellination,
grace, and free-will, and endeavoured to form an
union among the various members of the Romifh, Lu¬
theran, and reformed churches; or, rather, to join
them in the bonds of mutual forbearance and charity.
Calixtins alfo denote a fe£l in Bohemia, derived
from the Huffites, about the middle of the 15th cen-
tury, who afferted the ufe of the cup, as effential to
the eucharift. And hence their name j which is formed
from the Latin ai/ix, a cup.
The Calixtins are not ranked by Romanifts in the
lift of heretics, fmce in the main they ftill adhered to
the do&rine of Rome. The reformation they aimed
at terminated in the four following articles. 1. In re-
ftoring the cup to the laity, 2. In fubjefting the cri¬
minal clerks to the punifhment of the civil magiftrate.
3. In ftripping the clergy of their lands, lordfhips, and
all temporal jurifdi&ion. 4. In granting liberty to
all capable priefts to preach the word of God.
CALKA, a kingdom of Tartary, in Afia, to the
call: of Siberia.
CALKING. See Caulking.
CALKINS, the prominent parts at the extremities
of a horfe-lhoe, bent downwards, and forged to a fort
of point.
Calkins are apt to make horfes trip ; they alfo oc-
cafion bleymes, and ruin the back finews. If falhioned
in form of a hare’s ear, and the horn of a horfe’s heel
be pared a little low, they do little damage; whereas,
the great fquare calkins quite fpoil the foot.
Calkins are either Angle or double, that is, at one
end of the (hoe, or at both : thefe laft are deemed lefs
hurtful, as the horfes can tread more even.
CALL, among hunters, a leffon blown upon the
horn, to comfort the hounds.
Call, an Engliih name for the mineral called
Tungften or Wolfram by the Germans.
Call, among failors, a fort of whiffle or pipe, of
fdver or brafs, ufed by the boatfwain and his mates to
fummon the failors to their duty, and dire ft them in
the different employments of the fhip. As the call can
be founded to various drains, each of them is appro¬
priated to fome particular exercife; fuch as hoifting,
heaving, lowering, veering away, belaying, letting go
a tackle, See. The aft of winding this irtftrument is
called piping, which is as attentively ohferved by fail¬
ors as the beat of the drum to march, retreat, rally,
charge, &c. is obeyed by foldiers.
Call, among fowlers, the noife or cry of a bird,
especially to its young, or to its mate in coupling¬
time. One method of catching partridges is by the
natural call of a hen trained for the purpofe, which
drawing the cocks to her, they are entangled in a net.
Different birds require different forts of calls ; but they
are moft of them compofed of a pipe or reed, with a
little leathern bag or purfe, fomewhat in form of a
bellows; which, by the motion given thereto, yields a
noife like that of the fpecies of bird to be taken. The
call for partridges is formed like a boat bored through,
and fitted with a pipe or fwan’s quill, &c. to be blown
with the mouth, to make the noife of the cock par¬
tridge, which is very different from the call of the
hen. Calls for quails, &c. are made of a leathern purfe
in fhape like a pear, fluffed with horfe-hair, and fitted
at the end with the bone of a cat’s, hare’s, or coney’s
leg, formed like a flageolet. They are play’d, by
fqueezing the purfe in the palm of the hand, at the
fame time flriking on the flageolet part with the thumb,
to counterfeit the call of the hen-quail.
0/the Houfe. See Calling.
CALLA, Wake-robin, or Ethiopian Arum : A ge¬
nus of the polyandria order, belonging to the gynan-
dria clafs of plants ; and in the natural method ranking-
under the 2d order, Piperita. The fpatha is plain ; the
fpadix covered with florets; there is no calyx; no petals;
and the berries are monofpermous. Of this there is but
one fpecies. It hath thick, flefhy, tuberous roots,
which are covered with a thin brown fkin, and ftrike
down many flrong flefhy fibres into the ground. The
leaves have footftalks more than a foot long, which
are green and fucculent. The leaves are fhaped like
the point of an arrow; they are eight or nine inches
in length, ending in a fharp point, which turns back¬
ward ; between the leaves arife the footftalk of the
flower, which is thick, fmooth, of the fame colour as
the leaves, rifes above them, and is terminated by a
Angle flower, fhaped like thofe of the arum, the hood
or fpatha being twilled at bottom, but fpreads open at
the top, and is of a pure white colour. When the flow¬
ers fade, they are fucceeded by roundifh flefhy berries,
compreffed on two fides, each containing two or three
feeds. This plant grows naturally at the Cape of Good
Hope. It propagates very fail by offsets, which fhould
be taken off in the latter end of Auguft, at which time
the old leaves decay ; for at this time the roots are in
their mofl inaftive flate. They are fo hardy as to live
without any cover in mild winters, if planted in a
warm border and dry foil; but, with a little flicker in
hard frofl, they may be preferved in full growth very
well.
CALLA-Sufung, a town of Afia, in the ifland cf
Bouton in the Eafl Indies. It is feated about a mile
from the fea, on the top of a fmall hill furrounded
with cocoa nut-trees. See Bouton.
CALLAO, a flrong town of South America, in-
Peru. It is the port of Lima, from which it is dif-
tant about five miles. The town is built on a low flat
point of land on the fea-fhore. It is fortified ; but the
fortifications were much damaged by the laft great
earthquake, and have not fince been repaired. The
town is not above nine or ten feet above the level of
high-water mark; but the tide does not commonly
rife or fall above five feet. The ftrests are drawn in a
Kne; but are full of duft, which is very troublefome.
In a fquare near the fea-fide are the governor’s houfe,
the viceroy’s palace, the parifh-church, and a battery
of three pieces of cannon. On the north fide are the
ware-
CAL [ 45 1 CAL
$ Ga’le warehoufes for the merchandife brought from Chili,
M Mexico, and other, parts of Peru. The other churches
are buih with reeds, and covered with timber or clay,
but they look tolerably neat. There are five monafte-
ries and an hofpital, though the number of families
does not exceed 400. The trade of Callao is confi-
derable. From Chili they bring cordage, leather, tal¬
low, dried filh, and corn ; from Chiloe, cedar-planks,
woollen manufactures, and carpets; from Peru, fugars,
wines, brandy, mafts, cordage, timber for (hipping,
cacao, tobacco, and molaffes; from Mexico, pitch,
tar, woods for dyeing, fulphur, baifam of Peru both
white and brown, as well as commodities from China.
At the port of Callao the watering is eafy, but the
wood is a mile or two diftant. Earthquakes are very
frequent in thefe parts, which have done vaft mifchief
to Lima and Callao. W. Long, yb.'iij1. S. Lat.
12. 29.
CALLE (anc. geog.), a town of Hither Spain,
fituated on an eminence which hangs over the river
Durius; whofe port was at the mouth of the river.
Now Porto, Oporto, or Pert a Pert.
- CALLEN, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Kilkenny and province of Leinfter, about ten miles
fouth-weft of Kilkenny. W. Long. 7. 22. N. Lat.
52. 25.
CALLICARPA. See JohnsOnia.
CALLICO, in commerce, a fort of cloth refem-
bling linens made of cotton. The name is taken from
that of C alii cut, a city on the coll of Malabar, being
the firft place at which the Portuguefe landed when
they difovered the India trade. The Spaniards ftill
call it callicu.
Callicoes are of different kinds, plain, printed, paint¬
ed, ftained, dyed, chints, muflins, and the like, all in¬
cluded under the general denomination of callicoes.
Some of them are painted with various flowers of dif¬
ferent colours: others are not ftained, but have a ftripe
of gold and filver quite through the piece, and at each
end is fixed a tiffue of gold, filver, and filk, intermixed
with flowers. The printing of callicoes was firft fet on
foot in London about the year 1676.
CALLICRATES, an ancient fculptor, who en¬
graved fome of Homer’s verfes on a grain of millet,
made an ivory chariot that might be concealed under
the wing of a fly, and an ant of ivory in which all the
members were diftindt: but iElian juftly blames him
for exerting his genius and talents in things fo ufelefs,
and at the fame time fo difficult. He flourilhed about
the year 472 before Chrift.
CALLIGONUM, in botany : A genus of the digy-
nia order belonging to the polyandria clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the 12th or¬
der, Holoracea. Th^calyx is pentaphyllous, without
petals or ftyles; the fruit hifpid and monofpermous.
There is but one fpecies, which is found on- Mount
Arrarat.
CALLIGRAPHUS anciently denoted a copyift, or
fcrivener, who tranferibed fair, .and at length, what the
1 notaries had taken down in notes or minutes. The
word is compounded of *-a\xc(, beauty, and /
•write. The minutes of a As, &c. were always taken in
a kind of cypher, or Ihort-hand ; fuch as the notes
of Tyro in Gruter : by which means the notaries, as the
Latins called them, or the and
as the Greeks called them, were enabled to keep pace Calltgra-
with a fpeaker or perfon who diAnted. Thefe notes,
being underftood by few, were copied over fair, and Calliony-
at length, by perfons who had a good hand, for fale, mu;/
&c. Thefe perfons were called calligraphi; a name fre- -y—
quently met with in the ancient writers.
CALLIGRAPHY, the art of fair writing. Cal¬
licrates is faid to have written an elegant diilich on a
fefamum feed. Junius fpeaks of a perfon, as very ex¬
traordinary, who wrote the apoftles creed, and begin¬
ning of St John’s Gofpel, in the compafsof a farthing.
What would he have faid of our famous Peter Bale,
who in 1575 wrote the Lord’s prayer, creed, ten
commandments, and two Ihort prayers in Latin, with
his own name, motto, day of the month, year of the
Lord, and reign of the queen, in the compafs of a
Angle penny, inchafed in a ring and border of gold, and
covered with a cryftal, all fo accurately wrought as to
be very legible ?
CALLIMACHUS, a celerated architeA, painter,
and fculptor, born at Corinth, having feen by accident
a veffel about which the plant called acanthus had
raifed its leaves, conceived the idea of forming the Co¬
rinthian capital. (See Acanthus, and Plate XXXIV.
fig. 4.) The ancients affure us, that he worked in
marble with wonderful delicacy. He flourilhed about
540 B. C.
Callima. , a celebrated Greek poet, native of
Cyrene in Libya, flouriffied under Ptolemy Philadel-
phus and Ptolemy Evergetes kings of Egypt, about
280 years before Chrift. He palled, according to Quin¬
tilian, for the prince of the Greek elegiac poets. His-
ftyle is elegant, delicate, and nervous. He wrote a
great number of fmall poems, of which we have only
fome hymns and epigrams remaining. Catullus has
clofely imitated him, and tranllated into Latin vei-fe
his fmall poem on the locks of Berenice. Callimachus
wras alfo a good grammarian and a learned critic. There
is an edition of his remains, by Meff. le Fevre, quarto;
and another in twro volumes oAavo, with notes by
Spaahein, Graevius, Bently, Sec.
CALLING the House, in the Britilh parliament,
is the calling over the members names, every one an-
fwering to his own, and going out of the houfe, in
the order in which he is called: this they do in order
tadifeover whether there be any perfons there not re¬
turned by the clerk of the crown, or if any member
be abfent without leave of the houfe.
CALLINICUS of Heliopolis, inventor of a com-
pofition to burn in the water, called the Greek, and
fince Wild, Fire. See Grecian Fire.
CALLINGS of Ephefus, a very ancient Greek poet,
inventor of elegiac verfe ; fome fpecimensof w-hich are
to be found in the colleAion of Stobeus. He flourilh¬
ed about 776 years before Chrift.
CALLIONYMUS, the dr-agonet, in ichthyo¬
logy, a genus of fifties belonging to the order of ju-
gularies. The upper lip is doubled up the eyes are
very near each other; the membrane of the gills has -
fix radii ; the operculum is ihut; the body is naked ;,
and the belly-fins are at a great diftance from each other.
Thtyre are three fpecies of callionymus, viz. i.The ly-
ra, with the firft bone of the back-fin as long as the
body of the animal, and a cirrhus at the anus. It us
found as far north as Norway and Spitsbergen, and as
CAL [ 46 ] CAL
Calliope far fouth as the Mediterranean fea, and is not unfrequent
Calilia on t^e Scarborough coafts, where it is taken by the
’ , hook in 30 or 40 fathoms water. It is often found in
the ftomach of the cod-filh. 2. The dracunculus, with
the firft bone of the back-fm fhorter than its body,
which is of a fpotted yellow colour. It frequents the
fhores of Genoa and Rome. 3. The indicus has a
fmooth head, with longitudinal wrinkles; the lower
jaw is a little longer than the upper one ; the tongue
is obtufe and emarginated ; the apertures of the gills are
large : it is of a livid colour, and the anus is in the mid¬
dle of the body. It is a native of Afia.
' CALLIOPE, in the Pagan mythology, the mufe
who prefides over eloquence and heroic poetry. She
was thus called from the fweetnefs of her voice, and
was reckoned the firft of the nine fifters. Her diftin-
guifhing office was to record the worthy aftions of the
living; and accordingly Hie is reprefented with tablets
in her hand.
CALLIPjEDIA, the art of getting or breeding
fine and beautiful children. We find divers rules and
practices relating to this art, in ancient and modern
writers. Among the magi, a fort of medicine called
ermejia was adminiftered to pregnant women, as a means
of producing a beautiful iffue. Of this kind were the
kernels of pine-nuts ground with honey, myrrh, faf-
fron, palm-wine, and milk. The Jews are faid to have
been fo felicitous about the beauty of their children,
that care was taken to have fome very beautiful child
placed at the door of the public baths, that the women
at going out being ftruck with his appearance, and
retaining the idea, might all have children as fine as
he. The Chinefe take ft ill greater care of their breed¬
ing women, to prevent uncouth objects of any kind
from ftriking their imagination. Muficians are em¬
ployed at night to entertain them with agreeable fongs
and odes, in which are fet forth all the duties and com¬
forts of a conjugal and domeftic life ; that the infant
may receive good impreffions even before it is born,
and not only come forth agreeably formed in body,
but well difpofed in mind. Callipaedia, neverthelefs,
feems to have been firft eredted into a juft art by Claude
Quillet de Chinon, a French abbot, who, under the
fictitious name of Calvidus L/ttus, has publilhed a fine
Latin poem in four books, under the title of Callipadia,
Jtu de pulchra prolis habenda ratione; wherein are con¬
tained all the precepts of that new art. There is a
tranflation of it into Engliffi verfe by Mr Rowe.
CALLIPOLIS, (anc. geog.) the name of feveral.
cities of antiquity, particularly one upon the Hellef-
pont, next the Propontis, and oppofite to Lampfacus
in Afia. Now Gallipoli.
CALLIPPIC period. See Calippic.
CALLIRRHOE, (anc. geog), furnamed Ennea-
crunos, from its nine fprings or channels ; a fountain
not far from Athens, greatly adorned by Pififtratus,
where there were feveral wells, but this only the run¬
ning fpring. Callirrhoe was alfo the name of a very
fine fpring of hot water beyond Jordan near the Dead
Sea, into which it empties itfelf.
CALISIA, in botany: A genus of the monogy-
mia order, belonging to the triandria clafs of plants ;
and in the. natural method ranking under the 6th
order, Enfata. The calyx is triphyllous; the petals
are three 5 the anthero* are double 5 and the capfule Califtea
is bilocular. There is but one fpecies, a native of ^ P,
America. _
CALLISTEA, in Grecian antiquity, a Leftuan
feftival, wherein the women prefented thtmfelves in Ju¬
no’s temple, and the prize was affigned to the faireft.
There was another of thefe contentions at the feftival
of Ceres Eleulinia among the Parrhafians, and another
among the Eleans, where the moft beautiful man was
prefented with a complete fuit of armour, which he
confecrated to Minerva, to whole temple he walked in
proceffion, being accompanied by his friends, who ad¬
orned him with ribbons, and crowned him with a gar¬
land of myrtle.
CALLISTHENES the philofopher, difciple and
relation of Ariftotle, by whole defire he accompanied
Alexander the Great in his expeditions ; but proving
too fevere a cenfurer of that hero’s conduft, he was
put by him to the torture (on a fufpicion of a treafon-
able confpiracy), and died under it, 328 years before
Chrift.
CALLfSTRATUS, an excellent Athenian orator,
was banilhed for having obtained too great an autho¬
rity in the government. Demofthenes was fo ftruck
with the force of his eloquence, and the glory it pro¬
cured him, that he abandoned Plato, and refolved from
thenceforward to apply himfelf to oratory.
CALLITRICHE, or Star-grass, in botany: A
genus of the digynia order, belonging to the monondria
clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking under
the 12 th order, Hohracere.. There is no calyx, but tvyo
petals, and the capfule is bilocular and tetrafpermous.
CALLOO, a fortrefs in the Netherlands, in the
territory of Waes, on the river Scheld, fubjedt to the
houfe of Auftria. The Dutch were defeated here by
the Spaniards in 1638. E. Long. 4. 10. N. Lat.
51.15.
CALLOSUM corpus, in anatomy, a udritilh hard
fubftance, joining the twm hemifpheres of the brain,
and appearing in view when the two hemifpheres are
drawn back. See Anatomy, N° 132.
CALLOT (James), a celebrated engraver born at
Nancy in 1593. In his youth he travelled to Rome
to learn defigning and engraving ; and from thence
went to Florence, where the grand duke took him into
his fervice. After the death of that prince, Callot re¬
turned to his native country ; when he was very fa¬
vourably received by Henry duke of Lorrain, who fet¬
tled a confiderable penlion upon him. His reputation
being foon after fpread all over Europe, the infanta of
the Netherlands drew him to Bruflels, where he engra¬
ved the fiege of Breda. Louis XIII. made him de-
figu the fiege of Rochelle, and that of the ifie of Rhe.
The French king, having taken Nancy in 1631, made
Callot the propofal of reprefenting that new conqueft,
as he had already done the taking of Rochelle: but
Callot begged to be excufed ; and fome courtiers refol-
ving to oblige him to do it, he anfwered, that he would
fooner cut off his thumb than do any thing againftthe
honour of his prince and country. This excufe the
king accepted ; and faid, that the duke of Lorrain was
happy in having fuch faithful and affectionate fubjedts.
Callot followed his bufinefs fo clofely, that, though he
died at 43 years of age, he is faid to have left of his
5 own
Caltot,
Callu?.
CAL [ 47 1 CAL
own execution about 1500 pieces. The following are
a few of the principal. 1. The murder of the innocents, a
fmall oval plate, engraved at Florence. Callot engraved
the fame fubjeft at Nancy* with fome difference in the
figures on the back-ground. The former is the mod
rare: a fine impreffion of it is very difficult to be found.
2. The marriage of Cana in Galilee, from Paolo Veronefe,
amiddling-fized plate lengthwife. 3. Thepaffion of Chrifl,
on twelve very fmall upright plates: firft impreffions
very fcarce. 4. St 'John in the [[land of Palma, a fmall
plate., nearly fquare. 5. Th e temptation of St Anthony, a
middling-fized plate, lengthwile. He alfo engraved
the fame fubjeft larger ; which, though not the beft,
is notwithftanding the fcarceft print. There is a con-
fiderable difference in the treatment of the fubjedl in
the two prints. 6. The puni/hments, whetein.is feen the
execution of feveral criminals The marks of the beft
impreffions of this plate are, a fmall fquare tower
which appears above the houfes, towards the left, and a
very fmall image of the Virgin placed in an angle of
the wall, near the middle of the print. 7. The miferies
of war, ■eighteen fmall plates, lengthwife. There is
another fet on the fame fubjedt, confifting of feven
plates Id's thay the former. 8. The great fair of Florence,
fo called becaufe it was engraved at Florence. As
feveral parts of this plate were not equally bitten by
the aquafortis, it is difficult to meet with a fine im¬
preffion. Callot, on his return to Nancy, re-engraved
this plate without any alteration. The copy, howe-
cver, is by no means equal to the original. The firft
is diflinguilhed from the fecond by the words in Firen-
za, which appear below at the right hand corner of
the plate. The fecond has thefe words in the fame
place, ~Fe Florientis, & excudit Nancei. There is alfo a
large copy of this print, reverfed, publifhed by Savery;
but the difference is eafily diftinguifhed between it and
the true print. 9. The little fair, otherwife called the
players at bowls ; where alfo fome peafants are repre-
fented dancing. This is one of the fcarceft of Callot’s
prints ; and it is very difficult to meet with a fine im¬
preffion of it, for the diftances and other parts of the
plate failed in the biting it with the aquafortis. 10.The
tilting, or the new flreet at Nancy, a middling-fized plate,
lengthwife. u. The Garden of Nancy, where young
men are playing with a balloon, the fame. 12. View of the
Port Neuf, a fmall plate, lengthwife. 13. View of the
Louvre, the fame. 14. Four landfcapes, fmall plates,
lengthwife.
CALLUS, or Callosity, in a general fenfe, any
Cutaneous, corneous, or offeous hardnefs, whether na¬
tural or preternatural; but moft frequently it means
the callus generated about the edges of a fra&ure, pro¬
vided by nature to preferve the fractured bones, or di¬
vided parts, in the fituation in which they are replaced
by the furgeon. A callus, in this laft fenfe, is. a fort
of jelly, or liquid vifcous matter, that fweats out from
the fmall arteries and bony fibres of the divided parts,
and fills up the chinks or cavities between them. It
firft appears of a cartilaginous fubftance ; but at length
becomes quite bony, and joins the fraftured part fo
firmly together, that the limb will often make greater
refiftance to any external violence with this part than
with thofe which were never broken.
Callus is alfo a hard, denfe, infenfible knob, rifing
on the hands, feet, &c. by much fridtkm and prefiure
again ft hard bodies.
CALM, the ftate of reft which appears in the air
and fea when there is no wind ftirring. A calm is
more dreaded by a fea-faring man than a ftorm if he
has a ftrong ftup and fea-room enough ; for under the
line exceffive heat fometimes produces fuch dead calms,
that ftiips are obliged to ftay two or three months with¬
out being able to ftir one way or other. Two oppofite
winds will fometimes make a calm. This is frequently
obferved in the gulph of Mexico, at no great diftance
from the ftiore, where fome guft or land-wind will
fo poife the general eafterly wind, as to produce a per-
fe£t calm.
Calms are never fo great on the ocean as on the
Mediterranean, by reafon the flux and reflux of the
former keep the water in a continual agitation, even
where there is no wind ; whereas there being no tides
in the latter, the calm is fometimes fo dead, that the
face of the water is as clear as a looking-glafs ; but
fuch calms are almoft conftant prefages of an approach¬
ing ftorm. On the coafts about Smyrna, a long calm
is reputed a prognoftic of an earthquake.
It is not uncommon for the veffels to be calmed, or
becalmed, as the failors exprefs it, in the road of the
conftant Levantine winds, in places where they ride
near, the land. Thus between the two capes of Car-
tooche toward the main, and cape Antonio in Cuba,
the fea is narrow, and there is often a calm produced
by fome guft of a land-wind, that poifes the Levantine
wind, and renders the whole perfectly ftill for two or
three days. In this cafe, the current that runs here is
of ufe to the veffels, if it fets right; when it fets eafter¬
ly, a ihip will have a paffage in three or four days to
the Havannah; but if otherwufe, it is often a fortnight
or three weeks fail, the ftiip being embayed in the
gulf of Mexico.
When the weather is perfectly calm, no wind at all
ftirring, the failors try which way the current fets, by
means of a boat which they fend out, and which will
ride at anchor though there is no bottom to be found,
as regularly and well as if faftened by the ftrongeft an¬
chor to'the bottom. The method is this : they row
the boat to a little diftance from the (hip, and then
throw over their plummet, which is about forty pounds
weight; they let this fink to about two hundred fa¬
thom ; and then, though it never reaches the bottom,
the boat will turn head againft the current, and ride as
firmly as can be.
Calm Latitudes, in fea language, are fituated in the
Atlantic ocean, between the tropic of Cancer and the
latitude of 290 N. or they denote the fpace that lies
between the trade and variable winds, becaufe it is fre¬
quently fubjeft to calms of long duration.
CALMAR, a ftrong fea-port of Sweden, in the
province of Smaland, divided into two towns, the old
and the new ; but of the former there remains only the
church and a few houfes. The new town is built a
little way from the other, and has large handfome hou¬
fes. E. Long. 16. 15. N. Lat. 56. 48.
CALMET (Auguftine), one of the moft learned
and laborious writers of the 18th century, was born at
Mefnil le Horgne, a village in the diocefe of Toul in
France, in the year 1672, and took the habit of the
Calm
II
Cal met.
——v—
Bene-
CAL [ 4* ] CAL
Calmucks BenediAines in 1688. Among the many works he
c H publifhed are, I. A literal expofition, in French, of all
, ' ' the books in the Old Teftament, in nine volumes folio.
2. An hiftorical, critical, chronological, geographical,
and literal, dlftionary of the Bible, in four vols folio,
enriched with a great number of figures of Jewifh an¬
tiquities. 3. A civil and ecclefiaftical hillory of Lor-
rain, three vols folio. 4. A hiftory of the Old and
New Teftament, and of the Jews, in two volumes fo¬
lio, and feven vols duodecimo. 5. An univerfal facred
and profane hiftory, in feveral volumes quarto. He
died in 1757.
CALMUCKS. See Kalmucks.
CALNE, a town of Wiltfhire in England, feated
on a river of the fame name. It has a handfome church,
and fends two members to parliament. W. Long. 1.
59. N. Lat. 51. 30.
CALNEH, (anc. geog.) a city in the land of Shi*
nar, built by Nimrod, and the laft city mentioned
(Gen. x. 10.) as belonging to his kingdom. It is
believed to be the fame with Calno mentioned in Ifaiah
(x. 9.), and with Canneh in Ezekiel (xxvii. 23.) with
ftill greater variation. It is obferved, that it mull
have been fituated in Mefopotamia, fince thefe pro¬
phets join it with Haran, Eden, Aflyria, and Chilmad,
which carried on a trade with Tyre, It is faid by the
Chaldee interpreters, as alfo by Eufcbius and Jerom,
to be the fame with Ctefiphon, ftanding upon the
Tigris, about three miles diftant from Seleueia, and
that for fome time it was the capital city of the Par-
thians.
CALOGERI, in church-hiftory, monks of the
Greek church, divided into three degrees: the novices,
called archari ; the ordinary profefled, called microche-
mi ; and the more perfeft, called megalochemi: they are
likewife divided into ctenobites, anchorets, and reclufes.-
The csenobites are employed in reciting their offices
from midnight to fun-fet ; they are obliged to make
three genuflexions at the door of the choir, and, return¬
ing, to bow to the right and to the left, to their bre¬
thren. , The anchorites retire from the converfation of
the world, and live in hermitages in the neighbourhood
of the monafteries; they cultivate a little fpot of ground,
and never go out but on Sundays and holidays to per¬
form their devotions at the next monaftery. As for
the reclufes, they (hut themfelves up in grottos and ca¬
verns on the tops of mountains, which they never go
•put of, abandoning themfelves entirely to Providence;
they live on the alms lent them by the neighbouring
•monafteries.
.CALOMEL, or dulcified fublimate of mercury.
See Pharmacy, Index.
CALOPHYLLUM, in botany: A genus of the
monogynia order belonging to the polyandria clafs of
plants : and In the natural method clafled under thofe
called doubtful by Linnaeus. The corolla is tetrapeta-
lous; the calyx tetraphyllous and -coloured; the fruit
a globofe plum. There are two fpecies, both natives
of India.
CALOTTE, a cap or coif of hair, fattin, or other
fluff; an ecclefiaftical ornament in .moft Popifh coun¬
tries. See Cap.
Calotte, in architefture, a round cavity or •de-
preflure, in form of a cap or cup, lathed and plaftered,
ufed to diminiffi the rife or elevation of a moderate cha-
N° 62.
pel, cabinet, alcove, &c. which, without fuch an ex» Calpe
pedient, would be too high for other pieces of the r II
apartment. , CalvarT'
CALPE, a mountain of Andalufia in Spain ; at v
the foot of which, towards the fea, ftands the town of
Gibraltar. It is half a league in height towards the
land, and fo fteep that there is no approaching it on
that fide.
CALPURNIUS (Titus), a Latin Sicilian poet,
lived under the emperor Cams and his fon. We have
feven of his eclogues remaining.
CALQUING, or Calking, a term ufed in paint¬
ing, &c. where the back-fide of any thing is covered
over with a black or red colour, and the ftrokes or lines
traced through on a waxed plate, wall, or other mat¬
ter, by paffing lightly over each ftrok'e of the defign
with a point, which leaves an impreffion of the colour
on the plate or wall.
CALTHA, in botany : A genus of the monogy¬
nia order belonging to the polyandria clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the 26th or¬
der, Multifdiqu/e. There is no calyx ; there are five
petals; no neCtaria; the capfules are many, and polyfper-
mous. There is only one fpecies known, which grows
naturally in moift boggy lands in many parts of Eng¬
land and Scotland. There is a variety, with very
double flowers, which for its beauty is preferved in
gardens. It is propagated by parting the roots in au¬
tumn. It fhould be planted in a moift foil and ffiady
lituation; and as there are often fuch places in gardens
where few other plants will thrive, fo thefe may be al¬
lowed room, and during their feafon of flowering will
afford an agreeable variety. The flowers gathered
before they expand, and preferved in falted vinegar,
are a good fubftitute for capers. The juice of the
petals, boiled with a little alum, ftains paper yellow.
The remarkable yellownefs of the butter in fpring is
fuppofed to be caufed by this plant: but cows will not
eat it, unlefs compelled by extreme hunger ; and then,
Boerhaave fays, it occafions fuch an inflammation, that
they generally die. Upon May-day, the country
people ftrew the flowers upon the pavement before their
doors. Goats and fheep eat this plants horfes, cows,
and fwine, refufe it.
CALTROP, in botany. See Tribulus.
Caltrop, in military affairs, an inftrument with
four iron points, difpofed in a triangular form, fo that
. three of them are always on the ground, and the fourth
in the air. They are fcattered over the ground where
the enemy’s cavalry is to pafs, in order to embarrafs
them.
CALVARIA, in anatomy, the hairy fcalp crupper
part of the head, which, either by difeafe or old age,
grows bald firft.
CALVART (Denis), a celebrated painter, was
born at Antwerp in 155'2; and had for his mafters
Profpero Fontana and Lorenzo Sabbatini. He open¬
ed a fchool at Bologna, which became celebrated; and
from which proceeded Guido, Albani, and other great
mafters. Calvart was well fkilled in architecture, per-
fpeitive, and anatomy, which he confidered as necef-
fary to a painter, and taught them to his pupils. His
principal works are at Bologna, Rome, and Reggio.
He died at Bologna in 1619.
CALVARY, a term ufed in Catholic countries for
6 a
CAL [ 49 1 CAL
Calvary a kind of chapel of devotion raifed on a hillock near a
li. city, in memory of the place where Jefus Chrift was
a vm’ crucified near the city of Jerufalem. The word comes
from the Latin calvarium; and that from calvus, bald';
in regal'd the top of that hillock was bare and deftitute
of verdure: which is alfo fignified by the Hebrew word
gblgotha. Such is the Calvary of St Valerian near Paris;
which is accompanied with feveral little chapels, in each
of which is reprefented in fculptiire one of the myfteries
of the paffion.
Calvary, in heraldry, a crofs fo called, becaufe it
refembles the crofs on which our Saviour fuffered. It
is always fet upon fteps.
CALVERT (George), afterwards lord Baltimore,
was born at Kipling in Yorkfhire about the year 1582,
and educated at Oxford, where he took the degi'ee of
bachelor of arts, and afterwards travelled. At his re¬
turn, he was made fecretary to Sir Robert Cecil: he
was afterwards knighted, and in 1618 appointed one
of the principal fecretaries of ftate. But after he had
enjoyed that poll about five years, he willingly refigned
it; freely owning to his majefty that he was become a
Roman-catholic, fo that he muft either be wanting to
his truft, or violate his confcience in difcharging his
office. This ingenuous confeffion fo affefted king
James, that he continued him privy-counfellor all his
reign, and the fame year created him baron of Bal¬
timore in the kingdom of Ireland. He had be¬
fore obtained a patent for him and his heirs, for the
province of Avelon in Newfoundland: but that being
expofed to the infults of the French, he abandon¬
ed it, and afterwards obtained the grant of a country
on the north part of Virginia from Charles I. who call¬
ed it Maryland, in honour of his queen : but he died
in April 1632 (aged 50), before .the patent was made
out. It was, however, filled up to his fon Cecil Cal¬
vert lord Baltimore ; and bears date June 20th 1632.
it is held from the crown as part of the manor of
Windfor, on one very fingular condition, viz. to pre-
fent two Indian arrows yearly, on Eafter Tuefday, at
the caftle, where they are kept and fliown to vifitors.—
His lordfhip wrote, 1. A Latin poem on the death of
Sir Henry Upton. 2. Speeches in parliament. 3. Va¬
rious letters of ftate. 4. The anfwerofTom Tell-truth.
5. The practice of princes. And, 6. The lamentation
of the kirk.
CALVI, a town of the province of Lavoro, in the
kingdom of Naples, fituated near the fea, about fifteen
miles north of the city of Naples. E. Long. 14. 45.
N.Lat. 41.15.
Calvi is alfo the name of a fea-port in the ifiand of
Corfica, fituated on a bay, on the weft fide of the
ifiand, about 40 miles fouth-weft of Baftia. E. Long.
t). 5. N. Lat. 42. 16.
CALVIN (John), the celebrated reformer of the
Chriftian church from Romifh fuperftitions and doctri¬
nal errors, and founder of the fe6t fince called Calvinijis,
was born in 1509. He was the fon of a cooper of
Noyon in Picardy ; and his real name was Chauvin,
which he chofe to latinize into Calvinus, ftyling him-
lelf in the title-page to his firft work (a Commentary
on Seneca de dementia), “ Lucius Calvinus, Civis Roma-
nus;” an early proof of his pride, at about 24 years
of age. In 1529, he was redtor of Pont I’Eveque; and
in 1534 he threw upthisbenefi.ee, feparating himfelf
Vol. IV. Part I.
entirely from the Romifh church. The perfecution
againft the Proteftants in France (with whom he was
now afibciated) obliged him to retire to Bafle in Swit- ' ' 'v '
zerland : here he publifhed his famous Inftitutes of the
Chriftian religion in 1535. The following year, he
was chofen profeflbr of divinity, and one of the mini-
fters of the church, at Geneva. The next year, viz. 1537*
he made all the people folemnly fwear to a body of doc¬
trines; but finding that religion had not yet had any great
influence on the morals of the people, he, affifted by other
minifters, declared, that fince all their admonitions and
warnings had proved unfuccefsful, they could not cele¬
brate the holy facrament as long as thefe diforders
reigned; he alfo declared, that he could not fubmit to
fome regulations made by the fynod of Berne. Upon,
which the Syndics having fummoned the people, it
was ordered that Calvin and two other minifters (hould
leave the city within two days. Upon this Calvin re¬
tired to Straftmrg, where he eftablifhed a French
church, of which he was the firft minifter, and was al¬
fo chofen profeflbr of divinity there. Two years af¬
ter he was chofen to aflift at the diet appointed bv
the emperor to meet at Worms and at Ratifbon in order
to appeafe the troubles occafioned by the difference of
religion. He went with Bucer, and entered into a
conference with Melancton. The people of Geneva
now entreated him to return ; to which he confented,
and arrived at Geneva, September 13th 1541. He
began with eftablifhing a form of ecclefiaftical difei-
pline, and a confiftorial jurifdiclion, with the power of
inflidling all kinds of canonical punifhments. This
was greatly difliked by ma^y perfons, who imagined
that the papal tyranny would foon be revived. Calvin,
however, afferted on all occafions the rights of his
confiftory with inflexible ftriftnefs ; and he caufed Mi¬
chael Servetus to be burnt at the ftake for writing a-
gainft the doftrine of the Trinity. But though the
rigour of his proceedings fometimes occafioned great
tumults in the city, yet nothing could (hake his ftea-
dinefs and inflexibility. Amongft all the difturbances
of the commonwealth, he took care of the foreign
churches in England, France, Germany, and in Po¬
land ; and did more by his pen than his prefence, fend¬
ing his advice and inftmftions by letter, and writing
a great number of books. This great reformer died
on the 27th of May 1564, aged 55. His works were
printed together at Amfterdam in 1671, in nine vo¬
lumes folio: the principal of which are his Inftitutions,
in Latin, the belt edition of which is that of Robert
Stephens in 1553, in folio ; and his Commentaries on
the Holy Scriptures.—Calvin is univerfally allowed
to have had great talents, an excellent genius, and pro¬
found learning. His ftyle is grave and polite. Inde¬
pendent of his fpiritual pride, his morals were exem¬
plary ; for he was pious, fober, chafte, laborious, and
difinterefted. But his memory can never be purified
from the ftain of burning Servetus: it ill became a
reformer to adopt the moft odious practice of the cor¬
rupt church of Rome.
CALVINISM, the doftrine and fentiments of
Calvin and his followers. Calvinifm fublifts in its
greateft purity in the city of Geneva; and from thence
it was firft propagated mt0 Germany, France, the U-
nited Provinces, and England. In France it was abo-
lilhed by the revocation of the edi& of Nantz in 1685.
CAL L 5
Calvim’fm Jt has been the prevailing religion in the United Pro-
Calvlties v’nces ever ^ince t^le year I57I* The theological fyf-
. tem of Calvin was adopted, and made, the public rule
of faith in England, under the reign of Edward VI.
and the church of Scotland was modelled by John
Knox, the difciple of Calvin, agreeably to, the doc¬
trine, rites, and form of ecclefiaftical government, efta-
blifhed at Geneva. In England it has declined fince
the time of queen Elizabeth ; though it ftill fubfifts,
fome fay a little allayed, in the articles of the eftablilh-
ed church ; and in its rigour in Scotland.
The diftinguifhing theological tenets of Calvinifm, as
the term is now generally applied, refpeft the doc¬
trines of Predestination, or particular Election
and Reprobation, original Sin, particular Redemp¬
tion, effectual, or, as fome have called it, irrefiftible
Grace in regeneration, Justification by faith, Per¬
severance, and the Trinity. See each of thefe arti¬
cles.
Befides the do&rinal part of Calvin’s fyllem, which,
fo far as it differs from that of othey reformers of the
fame period, principally regarded the abfolute decree
of God, whereby the future and eternal condition of
the human race was determined out of mere fovereign
pleafure and free-will; it extended likewife to the dif-
cipline and government of the Chriftian church, the
nature of the Eucharift, and the qualification of thofe
who were intitled to the participation of it. Calvin
confidered every church as a feparate and independent
body, invefted with the power of legiflation for itfelf.
He propofed that it Ihould be governed by prelbyteries
and fynods, compofed of clergy and laity, without
bifhops, or any clerical fubordination ; and maintain¬
ed, that the province of the civil magiftrate extended
only to its protection and outward accommodation.
In order to facilitate an union with the Lutheran church,
he acknowledged a real, though fpiritual, prefence of
Chrift, in the Eucharift, that true Chriftians were uni¬
ted to the man Chrift in this ordinance, and that di¬
vine grace was conferred upon them, and fealed to
them, in the celebration of it; and he confined the
privilege of communion to pious and regenerate be¬
lievers. In France the Calvinifts are diftinguilhed by
the name of Huguenots; and, among the common people,
by that of Parpaillots. In Germany they are con¬
founded with the Lutherans, under the general title
Protejiants } only fometimes diftinguifhed by the name
Reformed.
CALVINISTS, in church-hiftory, thofe who fol¬
low the opinions of Calvin. See the two preceding
articles.
Crypto-CAlvinisrs, a name given to the favourers
®f Calvinifm in Saxony, on account of, their fecret at-
tachment to the Genevan doftrine and difcipline.
Many of them fuffered by the decrees of the convoca¬
tion of Torgaw, held in 1576. The Calvinifts in their
progrefs have divided into various branches, or leffer
fcdls.
CALVISIUS (Seth), a celebrated German chro-
nologer in the beginning of the 17th century. He
wrote Elenchus calendar'll Gregorian/, et duplex calendar'd
tneliorh forma, and other learned works, together with
fome excellent treatifes on mufic. He died in 1617,
aged 61.
CALVITIES, or Calvitium, in medicine, bald-
0 ] CAL
nefs, or a want of hair, particularly on the finciput, Calumet.,
occafioned by the moifture of the head, which Ihould ——v—
feed' it, being dried up, by fome difeafe, old age,
or the immoderate ufe of powder,, &c. .See Alo¬
pecia.
CALUMET, a fymbolical inftrument of great im¬
portance among the American Indians.—It is nothing
more than a pipe, whofe bowl is generally made of a
foft red marble : the tube of a very long reed, orna¬
mented with the wings and feathers of birds. No af¬
fair of confequence is tranfafted without the calumet.
It ever appears in meetings of commerce or exchanges?
in congrelfes for determining of peace or war; and
even in the very fury of a battle. The acceptance of the
calumet is a mark of concurrence with the terms pro¬
pofed ; as the refufal is a certain mark of rejehtion.
Even in the rage of a conflict this pipe is fometimes
offered; and if accepted, the weapons of deftru&ion
inffantly drop from their hands, and a truce enfues. It
feems the facrament of the favages; for no compact
is ever violated which is confirmed by a whiff from
this holy reed. When they treat of war, the pipe and
all its ornaments are ufually red, or fometimes red on¬
ly on one fide. The fize and decorations of the calu¬
met are for the moft part proportioned to the quality
of the perfons to whom they are prefented, and to the
importance of the occafion. The calumet of peace is dif¬
ferent from that of war. They make ufe of the for¬
mer to feal their alliances and treaties, to travel with
fafety, and to receive ftrangers; but of the latter to
proclaim war. It confifts of a red ftone, like marble,
formed into a cavity refembling the head of a tobacco-
pipe, and fixed to a hollow reed. They adorn it with
feathers of various colours ; and name it the calumet
of the fun, to which luminary they prefent it, in ex-
peftation of thereby obtaining a change of weather as
often as they defire. From the winged ornaments of
the calumet, and its conciliating ufes, writers compare
it to the caduceus of Mercury, which was carried by
the caduccatores, or meffengers of peace, with terms
to the hoftile ftates. It is lingular, that the moft re¬
mote nations, and the moft oppofite in their other
cuftoms and manners, (hould in fome things have,
as it were, a certain confent of thought. The Greeks
and the Americans had the fame idea, ^in the inven¬
tion of the caduceus of the one, and the calumet of the
other.
Dance of the Calumet, is a folemn rite among the
Indians on various occafions. They dare not walh
themfelves in rivers in the beginning of fummer, nor
tafte of the new fruits, without performing it; and
the fame ceremony always confirms a peace or precedes
a war. It is performed in the winter-time in their
cabins, and in fummer in the open fields. For this
purpofe they choofe a fpot among trees to lhade
them from the heat of the fun, and lay in the middle
a large mat, as a carpet, fetting upon it the monitor,
or god, of the chief of the company. On the right
hand of this image they place the calumet, as their
great deity, erehling around it a kind of trophy with
their arms. Things being thus difpofed, and the hour
of dancing come, thofe who are to fing take the moft
honourable feats under the lhade of the trees. The
company is then ranged round, every one, before he fits
down,; fainting the monitor, which is done by blowing
upon
CAL [ 5
Calurnet upon it the fmoke of their tobacco. Each perfon next re¬
ft ceives the calumet in rotation, and holding it with both
,l.ay ites. pan(j3) (jances to the cadence of the vocal mufic, which
is accompanied with the beating of a fort of drum.
During this exercife, he gives a lignal to one of their
warriors, who takes a bow, arrow, and axe, from the
trophies already mentioned, and fights him; the for¬
mer defending himfelf with the calumet only, and both
of them dancing all the while. This mock engage¬
ment being over, he who holds the calumet makes a
fpeech, in which he gives an account of the battles
he has fought, and the prifoners he has taken, and
then receives a cloak, or fome other prefent, from the
chief of the ball, l ie then refigns the calumet to an¬
other, who having acted a fimilar part, delivers it to a
third, who afterwards gives it to his neighbour, till at
laft the inftrument returns to the perfon that began the
ceremony, who prefents it to the nation invited to the
feaft, as a mark of their friendfhip, and a confirmation
of their alliance, when this is the occafion of the en¬
tertainment.
CALUMNY, the crime of accufing another falfely,
and knowingly fo, of fome heinous offence.
Oath of Calumny, fur amentum (or rather fusju-
randum) Galumnia, among civilians and canoniits, was
an oath which both parties in a caufe were obliged to
take; the plaintiff that he did not bring his charge,
and the defendant that he did not deny it, with a defign
to abufe each other, but becaufe they believed their
caufe was jufl and good; that they would not deny
the truth, nor create unneceffary delays, nor offer the
judge or evidence any gifts or bribes. If the plaintiff
refuted this oath, the complaint or libel was difmiffed;
if the defendant, it was taken pro confe/fo. This cuflom
was taken from the ancient athletas; who, before they
engaged, were to fwear that they had no malice, nor
would ufe any unfair means for overcoming each other.
The juramentum calumnm is much difufed, as a great
occafion of perjury. Anciently the advocates and proc¬
tors alfo took this oath; but of late it is difpenfed
with, and thought fufficient that they take it once for
all at their firft admiffion to pra&ice. See alfo Law,
Part III. n° clxxxiv. 7.
CALVUS ^Cornelius Licihius), a celebrated Ro¬
man orator, was the friend of Catullus ; and flouridied
64 B. C. -Catullus, Ovid, and Horace, (peak of him.
CA'LX properly fignifies /ww, but is alfo ufed by
chemifts and phyficians for a fine powder remaining
after the calcination or corrofion of metals and other
mineral fubftances. All metallic calces, at leaft all
thofe made by fire, are found to weigh more than the
metal from which they were originally produced- See
-th e article Fia e.
'Calx Nativa, in natural hiflory, a kind of marly
earth, of a dead whitifh colour, which, if thrown into
water, makes a confiderable bubbling and hiffing noife,
and has, without previous burning, the quality of ma¬
king a cement like lime or plafter of Paris.
Calx Viva, or Shuck-lime, that whereon no water
has been call, in contradillinftion to lime which has been
■flaked by pouring water on it.
CALYBITES, the inhabitant of a cottage, an ap¬
pellation given to divers faints on account of their
long refidence in fome hut, by way of mortification.
i ] CAL
The word is formed from x-ctwirva, tego, I cover; Calycan-
whence a little cot.—The Romifh church com- 'hemx,
memorates St John the calybites on the 15th of De- at^n'
cember. 1
CALYCANTHEMiE, in botany, an order of
plants in the Fragmenta methodi naturalis of Lin¬
naeus, in which are the following genera, viz. epilo-
bium, cenothera, juffiaea, ludivigia, oldenlandia, ifnar-
da, &c. See Botany, fe£t. vi. 17.
CALYCANTHUS, in botany: A genus of the
polygynia order, belonging to the icofandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method claffed with thofe
of which the order is doubtful. The calyx is mono-
phyllous, urceolate, or blown up; fquarrofe, or friz¬
zled with fmall coloured leaves, the corolla confiding
of the leaves on the calyx ; the ftyles are numerous, each
with a glandular ftigma; the feeds are many, each
with a train, within a fucculent calyx. There are two
fpecies; namely, 1. The prsecox, w'hich is not quite
inured to this climate ; and, 2. The flbridus, a flower¬
ing calycanthus, or Carolina allipice tree, a native of
Carolina. It feldom grows, at lead with us, to more than
five feet high. It divides into many branches irregularly
near the ground. They are of a brown colour, and
being bruifed emit a mod agreeable odour. The leaves
that garnifli this delightful aromatic are of an oval fi¬
gure, pointed: They are near four inches long, and
are at lead two and a half broad,' and are placed oppo-
fite by pairs on the branches. At the end of thefe
dand the flow'ers, of a kind of chocolate-purple colour,
and which are poflefled of the oppofite qualities of the
bark on the branches. They dand fingle on their fhort
footdalks, come out in May and June, and are fuc-
ceeded by ripe feeds in England. The propagation
of this Ihrub is not very difficult; though more than
common care mud be taken, after fmall plants are
obtained, to preferve them till they are of a fize to be
ventured abroad. The lad year’s fhoots, if laid in the
round, the bark efpefcially being a little bruifed, will
rike root within the compafs of twelve months, par¬
ticularly if the layers are fhaded, and now and then
watered in the dimmer’s drought. In the fpringthey
fhould be taken off, and planted in pots; and if thefe
are afforded a fmall degree of heat in a bed, they will
drike fo much the fooner and dronger. After they
have been in this bed a month or fix weeks, they fhould
be taken out. In the heat of the dimmer they fliould
be placed in the fhade ; and if the pots are plunged
into the natural ground, it will be fo much the better.
At the approach of the fucceeding winter’s bad wea¬
ther, the pots fhould be removed into the green-houfe,
or fome fhelter, and in the fpring may refume their old
dations: and this fliould be repeated till they are of a
proper fize and ffrength to be planted out to dand. If
the pots in which they w-ere fird planted were fmall,
they may be fhifted into larger a fpring or two after ;
and, when they have got to be pretty drong plants,
they may be turned out, mould and all, into the places
w’here they are to remain. By this care of potting
them, and houfing them during the fevere weather in
winter, the young crop will be preferved ; otherwife,
if they were planted immediately abroad, the fird hard
frod the enfuing winter would dedroy them all: Tan¬
ner’s bark about their roots _will be the mod proper
G 2 fecurityj
CAL [ 5* ] CAM
Calyctflorse fccurity ; as they are at heft, when full grown, but
„ II. tender plants, and muft have the warmeft fxtuation and
^ aniaieu. ^ f0y.
CALYCIFLORiE, in botany, the 16th order in
Linnaeus’s Fragmenta methndi naturalis, confilting of
plants which, as the title imports, have the ftamina
(the flower) inferted into the calyx. This order con¬
tains the following genera, viz. eleagnus, hippophae,
•fyris, and trophis. See Botany, fe£t. vi. 16.
CALYCISTvE (from calyx the flower-cup), fyfte-
matic botanifls, fo termed by Linnaeus, who have ar¬
ranged all vegetables from the different fpecies, ftruc-
ture, and other circumftances, of the calyx or flower-
cup. The only fyftems of this kind are the CharaMer
planlarum novus, a pofthumous work of Magnolius,
profefTor of botany at Montpelier, publiflied in 1720 ;
and Linnaeus’s Methodus calycina, publiftied in his
Glujfesplantarunty at Leyden, in 1738. See Botany,
p. ^25.
CALYDON, (anc. geog.), a town of ^Eolia, fitu-
ated leven miles and a half from the fea, and divided
by the river Evenus: the country was anciently called
Molls, from the iEolians its inhabitants. This country
was famous for the ftory of Meleager and the Calydo-
uian boar.
CALYPSO, in fabulous hiftory, a goddefs, who
was the daughter of Oceanus andTethys, or, as others
fey, of Atlas. She was queen of the ifland of Ogygia,
which from her was called the ifland of Calypfo. Ac¬
cording to Homer, Ulyfles fuffered Ihipwreck on her
• oail, and ftaid with her feveral years.
CALYPTRA, among botanifts, a thin membrana¬
ceous involucrum, ufually of a conic figure, which co¬
vers the parts of fructification. The capfules of moft
nf the mofles have calyptrae.
CALYX, among botanifts, a general term expref-
fing the cup of a flower, or that part of a plant which
furrounds and fupports the other parts of the flower.
The cups of flowers are very various in their ftruc-
ture, and on that account diftinguifhed by feveral
sames, as perianthium, involucrum, fpatha, gluma. See.
See Botany, p. 439.
CALZADA, a town of Old Caftile in Spain, feat-
£d on the river Leglera. W. Long. 2. 47. N. Lat.
42. 12.
CAMJEA, in natural hiftory, a genus of the femi-
pellucid gems approaching to the onyx ftru&ure, be¬
ing compofed of zones, and formed on a cryftalline
hafis ; but having their zones very broad and thick,
and laid alternately one on another, with no common
matter between; ufually lefs tranfparent, and more
debafed with earth, than the onyxes.
1. One fpecies of the camsea is the dull-looking
onyx, with broad black and white zones ; and is the
camsea of the moderns, and the Arabian onyx. This
fpecies is found in Egypt, Arabia, Perfia, and the Eaft
Indies. 2. Another fpecies of the camsea is the dull
broad zoned, green and white camaea, or the jafpi-
Cameo of the Italians: it is found in the Eaft Indies,
and in fome parts of America. 3. The third is the hard
camaea, with broad white and chefnut coloured veins.
4. The hard camaea, with bluifti, white, and flelh-co-
loured broad veins, being the fardonyx of Pliny’s time,
only brought from the Eaft Indies.
CAMAIEU, or Camay eu, a word ufed toexprefs
a peculiar fort of onyx; alfo by fome to exprefs a
ftone, whereon are found various figures, and repre- Camatei*
fentations of landfcape-s, &c. formed by a kind of lufus II
natural fo as to exhibit pi&ures without painting.Llm,rana-
The word comes from camehuia, a name the Orientals
give to the onyx, when they find, in preparing it, a-
nother colour ; as who fhould fay, afecondJlone. It is
of thefe camaieux Pliny is to be underftood when he
fpeaks of the manifold picture of gems, and the party-
coloured fpots of precious ftones : Gemmarum pifiura
tam multiplex, lapidumque tam difcolores macula.
Camaieu is alfo applied by others to thofe precious
ftones, as onyxes, cornelians, and agates, whereon the
lapidaries employ their art to aid nature, and perfect
thofe reprefentations. See Camaja.
Cam'aieu is alfo frequently applied to any kind of
gem, whereon figures may be engraven either indent-
edly or in relievo. In this fenfe the lapidaries of Pa¬
ris are called in their ftatutes, cutters of camayeux.
A fociety of learned men at Florence undertook to
procure all the cameos or camayeux, and intaglios in the
great duke’s gallery to be engraven ; and began to
draw the heads of divers emperors in cameos.
Camaieu is alfo ufed for a painting, wherein there
is only one colour ; and where the lights and fhadows
are of gold, wrought on a golden or azure ground.
When the ground is yellow, the French call it cirage ;
when grey, gri/faile. This kind of work is chiefly
ufed to reprefent baflb relievos: the Greeks call pieces
of this fort
CAMALDULIANS, Camaldunians, or Ca-
maldolites, an order of religious, founded by Ro¬
muald, an Italian fanatic, in 1023, in the horrible
defart of Camaldoli, otherwife called Campo-Malduli,
fituate in the ftate of Florence, on the Apennines,
Their rule is that of St Benedict ; and their houfesv
by the ftatutes, are never to be lefs than five leagues
from cities. The Camaldulians have not borne that.-
title from the beginning of their order ; till the clofe
of the eleventh century they were called Romualdins,
from the name of their founder. Till that time, Ca-
maldulian was a particular name for thofe of the defart'
Camaldoli; and D. Grandi obferves, was not given to
the whole order, in regard it was in this monaftery
that the order commenced, but becaufe the regulation
was beft maintained here.
Guido Grandi, mathematician of the great duke of.
Tufcany, and a monk of this order, has publilhed
Camaldulian Diflertations, on the origin and eftablifit¬
ment of it.
The Camaldolites were diftinguiftied into two claffes,.
of which the one were coenobites, and the other
EREMITES.
CAMALODUNUM (anc. geog.), a town of the
Trinobantes, the firft Roman colony in Britain, of
veterans, under the emperor. From the Itineraries it
appears to have flood where now Malden ftands. It
continued to be an open place under the Romans ; a.
place of pleafure rather than ftrength ; yet not un¬
adorned with fplendid works, as a theatre and a temple
of Claudius: which the Britons coniidered as badges
of flavery, and which gave rife to feveral feditions and
commotions. It ftands on a bay of the fea, at the
mouth of the Chelmer, in the county of Effex; the
modern name is curtailed from the-imeient.
CAMARANA, an ifland of Arabia, in the Red
Sea, whole inhabitants are little and black. It is the
belt
CAM L 53 I CAM
CunaiTei fceft of all the iflands in this fea, and here they fi(h for CAMBER, according to our monkifh hiflorians, Camber
r {| coral and pearls. N. Lat. 15. O. one of the three fons of Brute, who, upon his father’s Canj'bIet
camhayes. CAMASSEI, or CamAce, (Andrea), painter of death, had that part of Britain afligned him for his
hiftory and landfcape, was born at Bevagna, and atfirft (hare, called from him Cambria now Wales.
learned the principles of defign and colouring from CAMBRR-Beam, among builders, a piece of timber
Domenichino ; but afterwards he ftudied in the fchool in an edifice cut archwife, or with an obtufe angle in
of Andrea Sapchi, and proved a very great painter.
He was employed in St Peter’s at Rome, as alfo at
John Lateran ; and his works are extremely admired,
for the fweetnefs of his colouring, the elegance of his
thoughts and defign, andlikewife for the delicacy of his
pencil. Sandrart laments that the world was deprived of
fo promifing a genius, in the very bloom of life, when
his reputation was daily advancing. He died in 1657.
At St John Lateran are to be feen, the Battle of Con-
ftantine and Maxentius; and the Triumph of Con-
ftantine; which are noble and grand compofitions;
and they afford fufficient proofs of the happinefs of his
invention and the correftnefs of hiy execution. Alfo
at Wilton, the feat of the earl of Pembroke, there is a
pi&ure of Venus with the Graces, faid to be by the
hand of Camaifei.
CAMARCUM, (anc. geog.), the capital of the
Neivii, a people of Gallia Belgica, (Antonine, Peutin-
ger) 5 before whofe time no mention was made of it.
Now Cambray, capital of the Cambrefis, in French
Flanders. E. Long. 3. 15. Lat. 50. 15.
CAMARINA, (anc. geog.), a city of Sicily, built
by the Syracufans on an eminence near the fea, in
the fouth of Sicily, to the well of the promontory
PachynumV between two rivers, the Hipparis and
Oanus. Of fo famous a city nothing now remains but
its name and aftcient walls, a mile and a half in com-
pafs, with the flight remains of houfes: now called
Catnarana.
Camarina Palus, a marlh or lake, near the city Ca-
marina, and from which it took its name. In a time of
drought, the flench of the lake produced a peflilence }
upon which the inhabitants confulted the oracle, whether
theyfhould notquite drain it. The oracle diffuadedthem:
they notwithflanding drained it, and opened a way for
their enemies tar come and plunder their city : hence the
proverb, Ne mvaeas famarinatn, that is, not to remove
one evil to bring on a greater. Now Logo di Camarana,
fituate in a beautiful plain, under the very walls of Ca-
marina, and of a triangular form.
CAMAYEU. See Camaiev.
CAMBAIA, or Campay, a town of Afia, in In¬
dia, and in the peninfula on this fide the Ganges; ca¬
pital of a province of the fame name; but more com¬
monly called Guzarat. It is feated at the bottom of
a gulph of the fame name, on a fmall river ; is a large
place with high walls, and has a pretty good trade.
The product and manufattures are inferior to few
towns in India ; for it abounds in corn, cattle, and
filk ; and cornelian and agate flones are found in its ri¬
vers. The inhabitants are noted for embroidery ; and
fome of their quilts have been valued at 401. It is
fubjedl to the Great Mogul. -E. Long, 72. 15. Ni
Lat. 22. 30.
CAMBAYES, in commerce, cotton cloths made
at Bengal, Madras, and fome other places on the coaft
of Coromandel. They are proper for the trade of
Marfeilles, whither the Enghfh at Madras fend great
numbers of them. Many are alfo imported into Holland.
the middle, commonly ufed in platforms, as church-
leads, and on other occafions where long and ftrong
beams are required.
CAMBERED-decks, among fhip-builders. The
deck or flooring of a Ihip is faid to be cambered, or to
lie cambering, when it is higher in the middle of the
fhip’s length, and droops toward the ftem and ftern,
or the two ends. Alfo when it lies irregular; a circum-
fiance which renders the fhip very unfit for war.
CAMBERT, a French mufician in the 17th cen¬
tury, was at fit'll admired for the manner in which he
touched the organ, and became fuperintendant of the
mafic to Anne of Auftria the queen-mother. The
abbe Perrin aflbciated him in the privilege he obtained
of his majefly, of fetting up an opera in 1669. Cam-
bert fet to mufic two paftorals, one entitled Pomona,
the other Ariadne, which were the firft operas given in
France. He alfo wrote a piece entitled The pains and
pleafures of love. Thefe pieces pleafed the public; yet,
in 1672, Lully obtaining the privilege of the opera,
Cambert was obliged to come to England, where he
became fuperintendant of the mufic to king Charles II.
and died there in 1677.
CAMBIO, an Italian word which fignifies exchange %
commonly ufe.d at Province, and in feme other coun¬
tries, particularly Holland.
CAMBIST, a name given in France to thofe who
trade in notes and bills of exchange. The word cam-
bill, though a term of antiquity, is even now a technical
word, of fome ufe among merchants, traders, and bank¬
ers. Some derive it from the Latin cambium, or ra¬
ther cambio.
CAMBLET, or Chamblet, a fluff fometimes of
wool, fometimes filk, and fometimes hair, efpecially
that of goats, with wool or filk: in fome, the warp
is filk and wool twifted together, and the woof hair.
The true or oriental camblet is made of the pure
hair of a fort of goat, frequent about Angora, and
which makes the riches of that city, all the Inhabitants
whereof are employed in the manufa&ure and com¬
merce of camblets. It is certain we find mentioned in
middle-age writers fluffs made of camel’s hair, un¬
der the denominations of camektum and camelinum,
whence probably the origin of the term;. but thefe
are reprefented as ftrangely coarfe, rough, and prick¬
ly, and feem to have been chiefly ufed among the
monks by way of mortification, as the hair-lhirt of la¬
ter times.
We have no camblets made in Europe of the goats
hair alone ; even at Bruffels, they find it neceffary to
add a mixture of woollen thread.
England, France, Holland, and Flanders, are the
chief places of this manufa&ure. Bruffels exceeds them
all in the beauty and quality of its camblets: thofe of
England are reputed the fecond.
Figured-Camulets, are thofe of one colour, whereon
are {lamped various figures, flbwers, foliage, &c. by
means of hot irons, which are a kind of moulds, paffed
together with the-fluff, under a prefs. Thefe are chief-
¥
CAM C 54 J CAM
'CainMete Jy brought from Amiens and Flanders : the commerce
^ li of thefe was anciently much more confiderable than at
prefent.
Watered- Cambists, thofe which, after weaving, re*
ceive a certain preparation with water; and are after¬
wards paffed under a hot-prefs, which gives them a
fmoothnefs and luilre.
Waved-CAMBLETs, are thofe whereon waves are im-
prefled, as on tabbies; by means of a calender, under
which they are paifed and repaifed feveral times.
The manufafturers, &c, of camblets are to take care
they do not acquire any falfe and needlefs plaits ; it be¬
ing almoft impolfible to get them out again. This is
notorious, even to a proverb : we fay, a perfon is like
camblet, he has taken his plait.
CAMBODIA, a kingdom of Afia, in the Fail In¬
dies, bounded on the north by the kingdom of Laos,
on the eaft by Cochin-China and Chiapa, and on the
fouth 'and weft by the gulph and kingdom of Siam 5
divided by a large river called Mecon. The capital
town, is of the fame name-, feated on the weftern ihore
of the faid river, about 150 miles north of its mouth.
This country is annually overflowed in the rainy
feafon, between June and* Oftober; and its produc¬
tions and fruits are much the fame with thofe ufually
found between the tropics. E. Long. 104. 15. N. Lat.
12.40. «
CAMBODUNUM, (Itinerary); a town of the
Brigantes, in Britain ; now in ruins, near Almonbury,
in York-ihire. Weftchefter, (Talbot.) Alfo a town of
Vindelicia, on the-Cambus : now Kempten, in Suabia.
CAMBOG1A, in botany : A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the polyandriaclafsof plants;
and in the natural method ranking under the 38th or¬
der, Tricocca. The corolla is tetrapetalous ; the calyx
tetraphyllous; and the fruit is a pome with eight cells,
and Solitary feeds. There is but one fpecies, the gutta,
a native of India, which yields the gum-refin known by
the name gamboge in the flrops. -See Gamboge.
CAMBRASINES, in commerce, fine linen made
in Egypt, of which there is a confiderable trade at
Cairo, Alexandria, and Rofetta, or Rafchit. They
are called canibra/ines from their refemblance to cam¬
brics.
CAMBRAY, an archiepifcopal city, the capital of
the Cambrefis, in the Low Countries, feated on the
Scheld. It is defended by good fortifications, and
has a fort on the -fide of the river ; and as the land is
low on that fide, -they can lay the adjacent parts under
water by means of fluices. Its ditches are large and
deep, and thofe of the citadel are cut into a rock. Clo-
- dion became mailer of Cambray in 445. The Danes
burnt it afterwards ; fince which time it became a free
imperial city. It has been the fubjeft of conteft be¬
tween the emperors, the kings of Trance, and the earls
of Flanders. Francis I. let it remain -neutral during
the war with Charles-V. but this lafl took poiFeffion of
it in 1543. After this it was given to John of Mont-
luc by Henry III. of France, whom he created prince
of Cambray ; but the Spaniards took it from Montluc
I593» which broke his heart. It continued under
the dominion of the Houfe of Auftria till 1677, when
the king of France became mafter of it, in whole hands
it has continued ever fince.
The buildings of Cambray are tolerably handfome,
«nd the ftreets fine and fpacious. The place or fquare
for arms is of an extraordinary largenefs, and capable Cambray
of receiving the whole garrifon in order of battle. The II
cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary is one of the Cam^ri.ge*
fineft in Europe. The body of the church is very large,
and there are rich chapels, the pillars of which are a-
dorned with marble tombs that are of exquifite work¬
man ihip, and add greatly to the beauty of the place.
There are two galleries, one of which is of copper,
finely wrought. The door of the choir is of the fame
metal, and well carved. The'fteeple of this church is
very high, and built in the form of a pyramid ; and
from its top you have a view of the city, which is
one of the fineft and moft agreeable in the Low Coun¬
tries. There are nine pariihes, four abbeys, and fe¬
veral convents for both fexes. The citadel is very ad-
vantageoufly fituated on high ground, and commands
the whole city. Cambray is one of the moft opulent
and commercial cities in the Low Countries; and
makes every year a great number of pieces of cambric,
with which the inhabitants drive a great trade. E.
Long. 3. 20. N. Lat. 50. 11.
Cambray (M. de Fenelon, archbiftiop of). See
Fenelon.
C AMBRESIS, a province of France, in the Nether¬
lands, about 25 miles in length. It is bounded on the
north and eaft by Hainhalt, on the fouth by Picardy,
and on the weft by Artois. It is a very fertile and
populous country; and the inhabitants are induftrious,
active, and ingenious. The trade confifts principally
:n corn, ftieep, very fine wool, and fine linen cloth.
Cambray is the capital town.
CAMBRIA, a name for the principality of Wales.
CAMBRIC, in commerce, a fpecies of linen made
of flax, very fine and w-hite ; the name of which was
originally derived from the city of Cambray, where
they wrere firft manufa&ured. They are now made at
other places in France.
The manufacture of cambrics hath long fince proved
of extraordinary advantage to France. For many
years it appeared that England did not in this article
contribute lefs than 200,000/. per annum to the inte-
reft of France. This proved motive fufficient to in¬
duce the parliament of Great Britain to enaCt many
falutary laws to prevent this great lofs of our wealth.
See 18 Geo. II. c. 36. and 21 Geo. II. c. 26. See
alfo ftat. 32 Geo. II. c. 32. and 4 Geo. III. c. 37.
which regulates the cambric manufactory, not long
fince introduced into Winchelfea in Sufiex ; but very
foon aboliflied. The cambrics now allowed in this
country are manufafcured in Scotland and Ireland.
Any perfons convicted of wearing, felling (except for
exportation), or making up for hire any cambric or
French lawns, are liable to a penalty of 5 /. by the two
firft ftatutes cited above.
CAMBRIDGE, a town of England, and capital
of the county of that name. It takes the name of
Cambridge from the bridge over the Cam, which di¬
vides the town into two parts. Either it or a place in
the neighbourhood was ilyled Camboritum in the time
of the Romans. It fuffered much during the wars
with the Danes. Here was a caftle built by William
the Conqueror, of which the gatehoufe yet remains,
and is now the county goal. By Doqmfday-book it
appears, that it then had ten wards, containing 387
houfes. In William Rufus’s reign it was quite de-
ftroyed by Roger de Montgomery ; but Henry I. be¬
llowed
CAM f 55 I c A M
Cambridge, flowed many privileges upon it, particularly an exemp- two. The town is governed by a mayor, high-fteward,
\—- tion from the power of the (heriff, on condition of its recorder, 13 aldermen, of whom the mayor is one, 24
paying yearly into the exchequer 100 merks (equiva- common council men, a town clerk, and other inferior
lent to 1000 pounds now), and from tolls, laftage, officers. The mayor, when he enters on his office,
pontage, paffage, and ftallage, in all fairs of his -domi- takes an oath to maintain the privileges of the univer-
nions. There is a ditch hill called the king's ditch, fity. The town has 14 parilh-churches, and is pretty
made by Henry III. during the barons wars, to fecure large ; but the iltuation is low and dirty. George I.
it again It the rebels in the ifle of Ely. In the rebel- was created duke of Cambridge before he fucceeded to
lion of Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, iij the reign of the throne; which title has remained in the crown
Richard II. the univerfity records were burnt. The ever fince. E. Long. o. 7. N. Lat. yz. 15.
place now called the Jewry was formerly inhabited by CAMBRIDGESHIRE, a county of England,
Jews. The glory of Cambridge is its univerfity; but bounded on the eaft by Norfolk, on the fouth by Ef-
when it had its beginning is uncertain. At firft there fex and Hertforfhire, on the weft by Bedfbrdihire and
was no public provifion for the accommodation or Huntingdonlhire, and on the north by Lincolnfhire..
maintenance of the fcholars; but afterwards inns be- It is about 40 miles long, 25 broad, and 130 in cir-
gan to be erected by pious perfons for their reception, cumference. It lies in the diocefe of Ely ; and fends
and in the time of Edward I. colleges began to be fix members to parliament, two for the county, two-
built and endowed. for the univerfity, and two for the town of Cambridge.
The univerfity enjoys great privileges. It is go- The air is very different in different parts of the county,
verned by the chancellor, who is always fome noble- In the fens it is moift and foggy, and therefore not fo
man, and may be changed every three years, and has wholefome; but in the fouth and eaft parts it is very
a commiffary under him ; the high fteward, chofen by good, thefe being much drier than the other: but both,
the fenate; the vice-chancellor, chofen by the whole by late improvements, have been rendered very fruit-
body of the univerfity, out of two named by the heads ful, the former by draining, and the latter by cinque-
of the colleges; two prodlors chofen every year; two foil: fo that it produces plenty of corn, efpecially bar-
taxers, who, with the proilors, regulate the weights ley, faffron, and hemp, and affords-the richeft paftures.
and rneafures. The other officers are, a regifter or The rivers abound with filh, and the fens with wild,
keeper of the archives, three efquire-beadles, one yeo- fowl. The principal manufactures of the county are
man beadle, and a library-keeper. Each college has malt, paper, and balkets. The chief rivers are the
its fchools and library, as at Oxford, of which thofe Oufe, which divides the county into twTo parts, and is
of Trinity and St John are the moft confiderable. navigable from Cambridge to Lynn in Norfolk; the
King George I. purchafed for 1000/. the library of Cam, which in the Britilh fignifies crooked,, to denote
Dr Moor bilhop of Ely, corififting of 30,000 volumes, its winding ; the Welland, the Glene, the Witham,
and made a prefent of it to the Univerfity; which, out and that called Peterborough river, which is navigable
of gratitude, ere&ed, in 1739, a fine marble ftatue of to that city from Wifbech. The fens called Bedford
that prince in the fenate-hall of king’s-college. A level confift of about 300,000 acres of marfliy ground,
profeffor of modern languages and hiftory was alfo efta- lying in Cambridgefhire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hunting-
blilhed here and. at Oxford, with a falary of 400/. for donftiire, Northamptonftnre, and Lincolnfiiire, and fur-
himfelf and two to teach under him, by king George I. rounded on all hands, except towards the fea, with
in 1724. In 1728, a profefforlhip for natural phi- highlands. As it appears to have been, dry land for-
lofophy was erefted by Dr Woodward, a profeffor at merly, the great change it has undergone muft have
Grefham college London, with a falary of 150/. a- been owing either to a violent breach and inundation
year. The fame gentleman left them alfo his collec- of the fea or to earthquakes. As the towns in and
tion of foffils, and a part of his library. The mafter about the fens were great fufferers by the ftagnation of
and fellows of Catherine-hall are truftees of an hofpital the waters in fummer, and want of provifions in win-
for the cure of poor difeafed people gratis; for the ter, many attempts were made to drain them, but with-
building and furnifhing of which. Dr Addenbroke left out fuccefs, until the-time of Charles I. in which, and
4000/. Each college has its chapel for worlhip ; but that of his fon, the work was happily completed, and
public fermons are preached at St Mary’s church. The an aft of parliament paffed, by which a; corporation
following are the moft remarkable ftruftures: 1. The was eftablilhed for its prefervation and-government,
chapel of king’s-college, which for its contrivance and By the fame aft, 83,000 acres were veiled in. the cor-
extent, fine carved work in wood and ftone, and painted poration and 10,000 in the king.. In thefe fens are
windows, is hardly to be equalled in the world. It is a great many decoys, in- which incredible numbers of
entirely of free ftone, roof and all, without one pillar ducks, and other wild fowl, are caught during the
to fupport it. 2. Trinity-college and library, won- feafon.
derful both for the defign and execution. We muft New Cambridge, a town of New England about
not omit to obferve, that a fellowlhip was founded at three miles from Bofton, remarkable for an univerfity
Magdalen-college, called the travelling Norfolk fellow- confifting of three colleges. W. Long. 70. 4. N. Lat..
Jhip, becaufe it is appropriated to gentlemen of that 42. o.
country. Any perfon that is qualified, may borrow Cambridge Manufcript,. a copy ol \ls12 Gofpels and
whatever book he has occafion for from the libraries Afts of the Apoftles in Greek and Latin. Beza
at Cambridge: and any one that is qualified may ftudy found it in the monaftery of Irenseus at Lyons in the
in thofe of Oxford. The privilege of fending mem- year 1562, and gave it to the univerfity of Cambridge
bers to parliament was firft granted to the univerfity in 1382. It is a quarto fize, and written on.vellum;
by James I. and the town and univerfity together fend fixty-fix leaves of it are much torn and mutilated, ten
2 of
Cam-
bridge-
fliire.
C AM [ 56 ] CAM
Catiibyfes of which are fupplied by a later tranfcriber. Beza
Camden conje&ures» t^iat thi8 manufcript might have exifted fo
. early as the time of Irenseus: Wetftein apprehends,
that it either returned or was firft brought from Egypt
into France ; that it is the fame copy which Druth-
mar, an ancient expofitor who lived about the year
840, had feen, and which, he obferves, was afcribed to
St Hilary; and that R. Stephens had given a parti¬
cular account of it in his edition of the New Tella-
ment in 1550. It is ufually called Stevens's fecund
manufcript. Mill agrees with F. Simon in opinion,
'that it was written in the weftern part of the world by
a Latin fcribe, and that it is to a great degree inter¬
polated and corrupted : he obferves, that it agrees fo
much with the Latin Vulgate, as to afford reafon for
concluding, that it was correfted or formed upon a
corrupt and faulty copy of that tranflation. From
this and the Clermont copy of St Paul’s Epiftles, Beza
publifhed his larger Annotations in 1582.
CAMBYSES. See (HIJlory of) Persia.
CAMCHATKA. See Kamtchatka.
CAMDEN (William), the great antiquarian, was
■born in London in the year 1551. His father was a
native of Litchfield in Staffordlhire, who fettling in
London, became a member of the company of paintef-
ftainers, and lived in the Old Bailey. His mother was
of the ancient family of Curwen, of Wirkington in
’Cumberland. He was educated firft at Chrift’s hofpi-
tal, and afterwrards at St Paul’s fchool: from thence
he wras fent, in 1566, to Oxford, and entered fervitor
of Magdalen college ; but being difappointed of a de¬
my’s place, he removed to Broad-gate hall, and fome-
what more than two years after, to Chrift-church,
where he was fupported by his kind friend and patron
Dr Thornton. About this time he was a candidate for
a fellowfiiip of All-Souls college, but loft it by the in¬
trigues of the Popifh party. In 1570, he fupplicated
the regents of the univerfity to be admitted bachelor of
arts ; but in this alfo he mifearried. The following
year Mr Camden came to London, where he profecu-
ted his favourite ftudy of antiquity, ynder the patro¬
nage of. Dr Goodman, dean of Weftminfter, by whofe
intereft he was made fecond mafter of Weftminfter
fchool in 1575. From the time of his leaving the uni¬
verfity to this period, he took feveral journeys to diffe¬
rent parts of England, with a view to make obferva-
tions and colled! materials for his Britannia, in which
he was now deeply engaged. In 1581 he became inti¬
mately acquainted with the learned prefident Briffon,
■who w'as then in England; and in 1586 he publifhed
the firft edition of his Britannia. In 1593 he fucceed-
ed to the head mafterfhip of Weftminfter fchool on the
refignation of Dr Grant. In 1597 he publifhed his
Greek grammar, and the fame year was made Claren-
,ceux king at arms. In the year 1600 Mr Camden
-made a tour to the north, as far as Carlifle, accompa-
N° 62.
n|ed by his fiiend Mr (afterwards Sir Robert) Cotton. Camden,
In 1606 he began his correfpondence with the celebrated Camel.
prefident de Thou, which continued to the death of  
that faithful hiftorian. In the following year he pub¬
lifhed his laft edition of the Britannia, which is that
from which the feveral Englifh tranflations have been
made; and in 1608, he began to digeft his materials
for a hiftory of the reign of queen Elizabeth.- In
1609, after recovering from a dangerous illnefs, he
retired to Chiflehurft in Kent, where he continued to
fpend the fummer-months during the remainder of his
life. The firft part of fiis annals of the queen did not
appear till the year 1615, and he determined that the
fecond volume fliould not appear till after his death (a).
The work was entirely finifhed in 1617; and from
that time he was principally employed in collecting
more materials for the further improvement of his
Britannia. In 1622, being now upwards of 70, and
finding his health decline apace, he determined to lofe
no time in executing his defign of founding an hiftory-
lefture in the univerfity of Oxford. His deed of gift
was accordingly tranfmitted by his friend Mr Heather,
to Mr Gregory Wheare, who was, by himfelf, ap¬
pointed his firft profeffor. He died at Chiflehurft, in
1623, in the 73d year of his age ; and was buried
with great folemnity in Weftminfter-abbey in the
fouth aifle, where a monument of white marble was
erefted to his memory. Camden was a man of fingu-
lar modefty and integrity ; profoundly learned in the
hiftory and antiquities of this kingdom, and a judicious
and confcientious hiftorian. He was reverenced and
efteemed by the literati of all nations, and will be ever
remembered as an honour to the age and country
wherein he lived. Befides the works already men¬
tioned, he was author of an excellent Greek grammar,
and of feveral traits in Hearne’s collection.
CAMEL, in zoology. See Camelus.
Camel, in mechanics, a kind of machine ufed in
Holland for raifing or lifting ftiips, in order to bring
them over the Pampus, which is at the mouth of the
river Y, where the ftiallownefs of the water hinders large
(hips from paffing. It is alfo ufed in other places, parti¬
cularly at the dock of Peterfburg, the veffels built here
being in their paffage to Cronftadt lifted over the bar by
means of camels. Thefe machines were originally in¬
vented by the celebrated De Wit, for the purpofe a-
bove mentioned; and were introduced into Ruflia by
Peter the Great, who obtained the model of them
when he worked in Holland as a common fliipwright.
A camel is compofed of two feparate parts, whofe out-
fides are perpendicular, and whofe infides are concave,
ftiaped fo as to embrace the hull of a fhip on both fides.
Each part has a fmall cabin with fixteen pumps and
ten plugs, and contain twenty men. They are braced
to a fhip underneath by means of cables, and entirely
enclofe its fides and bottom ; being then towed to the
bar.
(a) The reign of queen Elizabeth was fo recent when the firft volume of the annals was publiftied, that
many of the perfons concerned, or their dependents, were ftill living. It is no wonder, therefore, that the
honeft hiftorian ftiould offend thofe whofe aiftions would not bear inquiry. Some of his enemies were clamo-
rous and troublefome ; which determined him not to publilh the fecond volume during his life ; but that po-
fterity might be in no danger of difappointment, he depofited one copy in the Cotton library, and tranfmitted
another to his friend Dupuy at Paris. It was firft printed at Leyden in 1625.
Plate CXIIJ .
CAM [ 57 ] CAM
Ganelford bar, the plugs are opened, and the water admitted until
, II ( - the camel finks with the Ihip and runs a-ground.
, ai"e‘us- Then, the water being pumped out, the camel rifes,
lifts up the veffel, and the whole is towed over the bar.
This machine can raife the fhip eleven feet, or, in
other words, make it draw eleven feet lefs water.
CAMELFORD, a borough town of Cornwall in
England, confifting of about 100 houfes, badly built;
• but the ftreets are broad and well paved. W. Long.
5. 4. N. Lat. 50. 40. It fends two members to par¬
liament ; and gives title of baron to Thomas Pittelder,
brother of the great earl of Chatham.
CAMELLIA, in botany: A genus of the polyan-
dria order, belonging to the monodelphia clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
37th order, Columniferte. The calyx is imbricated and
I"’ polyphyllous, with the interior leaves larger than the
exterior ones. Of this genus there is but one fpecies,
a native both of China and Japan. Thunberg, in his
Flora Japonica, defcribes it as growing every where in
the groves and gardens of Japan, where it becomes a
prodigioufly large and tall tree, highly efteemed by
the natives for the elegance of its large and very va¬
riable bloffoms, and its evergreen leaves; it is there
found with fingle and double flowers, which alfo are
white, red, and purple, and produced from April to
October. Reprefentations of this flower are frequently
met with in Chinefe paintings. With us, the Camellia
is generally treated as a ftove plant, and propagated
by layers ; it is fometimes placed in the greenhoufe ;
but it appears to us to be one of the properefi: plants
imaginable for the confervatory. At fome future time
it may, perhaps, not be uncommon to treat it as a Lauru-
Jlinus or Magnolia : the high price at which it has hither¬
to been fold, may have prevented its being hazarded
in this way. The blofibms are of a firm texture, but
apt to fall offlong before they haveloll their brilliancy;
it therefore is a practice with fome to ftick fuch deci¬
duous bl (Toms on fome frefli bud, where they continue
to look well for a confiderable time. Petiver confidered
this plant as a fpecies of tea-tree; and future obferva-
tions will probably confirm his conjecture.
CAMELODUM. See Camalodunum.
CAMELOPARDALIS, in zoology, the trivial
name of a fpecies of Cervus.
CAMELUS, or Camel, in zoology, a genus of
quadrupeds belonging to the order of pecora. The
characters of the camel are thefe: It has no horns;
it has fix fore-teeth in the under jaw ; the laniarii are
wide fet, three in the upper, and two in the lower
jaw; and there is a fiffure in the upper lip, refembling
a cleft in the lip of a hare. 1 The fpecies are :
1. The dromedarius, or Arabian camel, with one
bunch or protuberance on the back. It has four callous
protuberances on the fore-legs, andtwo on the hind ones.
This fpecies is common in Africa, and the warmer
parts of Afia ; not that it is fpread over either of the
continents. It is a common beaft of burden in Egypt,
and along the countries which border on the Mediter¬
ranean Sea ; in the kingdom of Morocco, Sara or the
Defert, and in Ethiopia : but no where fouth of thofe
kingdoms. In Afia, it is equally common in Turky
and Arabia ; but is fcarcely feen farther north than
Perfia, being too tender to bear a more fevere-climate.
India is deftitute of this animal,
y Vot. IV. Part I.
2. The BaClrianus, or BaClrian camel, has two bunches
on the back, but is in all other refpe&s like the pre¬
ceding; of which it feems to be a mere variety, rather
than a different fpecies; and is equally adapted for
riding or carrying loads. It is ftill found.wild in the
deferts of the temperate parts of Afia, particitlarly in
thofe between China and India. Thefe are larger and
more generous than the domefticated race. The Bac-
trian camel, which is very common in Afia, is ex¬
tremely hardy, and in great ufe among the Tartars and
Mongols, as a beaft of burden, from the Cafpian Sea
to the empire of China. It bears even fo fevere a cli¬
mate as that of Siberia, being found about the lake
Baikal, where the Burats and Mongols keep great
numbers. They are far lefs‘than thofe which inhabit
Weftern Tartary. Here they live during winter on
willows and other trees, and are by this diet reduced
very lean. They lofe their hair in April, and go
naked all May, amidft the frofts of that fevere climate.
To thrive, they muft have dry ground and fait marfhes.
There are feveral varieties among the camels. The
Turkman is the largeft and ftrongeft. The Arabian
is hardy. What is called the Dromedary, Maihary,
and Raguahl, is very fwift. The common fort travel
about 30 miles a day. The laft, which has a lefs bunch,
and more delicate fhape, and alfo is much inferior in
fize, never carries burdens; but is ufed to ride on.
In Arabia, they are trained for running-matches : and
in many places for carrying couriers, who can go a-
bove xoo miles a day on them ; and that for nine days
together, over burning deferts, unhabitable by any
living creature. The African camels are the moil
hardy, having more diftant and more dreadful deferts
to pafs over than any of the others, from Numidia to
the kingdom of Ethiopia. In Weftern Tartary there
is a white variety, very fcarce, and facred to the idols
and priefts. The Chinefe have a fwift variety, which
they call by the expreffive name of Fong Kyo Fo, or
camels with feet of the wind. Fat of camels, or, as
thofe people call it, oil of bunches, being drawn from
them, is efteemed in many diforders, fuch as ulcers,
numbnefs, and confumptions. This fpecies of camel
is rare in Arabia, being an exotic, and only kept by
the great men.
Camels have conftituted the riches of Arabia from
the time of Job to the prefent day. The patriarch
reckoned 6000 camels among his paftoral treafures,
and the modern Arabs eftimate their wealth by the
numbers of thefe ufeful animals. Without them great
part of Africa would be wretched ; by them the whole
commerce is carried through arid and burning tracts,
impaffable but by beafts which Providence formed ex-
prefsly for the fcorched deferts. Their foies are ad¬
apted to the fands they are to pafs over, their tough-
nefs and fpungy foftnefs preventing them from .crack¬
ing. Their great powers of fuftaining abftinence from
drinking, enables them to pafs over unwatered tracts
for many days, without requiring the leaft liquid,; and
their patience under hunger is fuch, ..that they .will
travel many days fed only with a few dates, or fome
fmall balls of bean or barley-meal, or on the miferabje
thorny plants they meet with in the deferts.
The Arabians regard the camel as a prefent from
heaven, a facred animal, without whdfe afliftance they
could neither fubfift, carry on trade, nor travel. ,Ca-
■H mePs
Caijjgfus.
CAM [ 58 ] CAM
Camelus. tnel’s milk is their common food. They alfo eat its
—- flefh, that of the young camel being reckoned highly
favoury. Of the hair of thofe animals, which is fine
and foft, and which is completely renewed every year,
the Arabians make fluffs for clothes, and other furni¬
ture. With their camels, they not only want nothing,
but have nothing to fear. In one day, they can per¬
form a journey of fifty leagues into the defert, which
cuts off every approach from their enemies. All the
armies of the world would perifh in purfuit of a troop
of Arabs. Hence they never fubmit, unlefs from
choice, to any power. With a view to his predatory
expeditions, the Arab inflrufts, rears, and exercifes
his camels. A few days after their birth, he folds
their limbs under their belly, forces them to remain on
the ground, and, in this fituation, loads them: with a
pretty heavy weight, which is never removed but for
the purpofe of replacing a greater. Inftead of allow¬
ing them to feed at pleafure, and ts drink when they
are dry, he begins with regulating their meals, and
makes them gradually travel long journeys, diminifh-
ing, at the fame time, the quantity of their aliment.
When they acquire fome.ftrength, they are trained;to
the courfe. He excites their emulation by the example
of horfes, and, in time, renders them more robuft. In
fine, after he is certain of the ftrength, fleetnefs,, and
fobriety of his camels, he loads them both with his
own and their food, fets off with them, arrives unper¬
ceived at the confines of the defert, robs the firft paf-
fengers he meets, pillages the folitary houfes, loads
his camels with the booty, and, if purfued, he is o-
bliged to accelerate his retreat. It is on thefe occa-
fions that he unfolds his own talents and thofe of the
camels. He mounts one of the fleeteft, conducts the
troop, and makes them travel night and day, with¬
out, almoft, either flopping,. eating, or drinking;,
and, in this manner, he eafily performs a journey of
three hundred leagues in eight days. During this pe¬
riod of motion and fatigue, his camels are perpetually
loaded, and he allows them each day, one hour only of
repofe, and a ball of pafte. They often run in this
manner nine or ten, days, without finding water; and
when, by chance, there is a pool at feme diftance,
they feent the Water half a league off. Thirft makes
them double their pace, and they drink as much at
once as ferves them for the time that is paft, and as
much to come; for their journeys often laft feveral
weeks, and their abftinehce continues an equal time.
Of all carriages, that by camels is the cheapeft and
moft expeditious. The merchants and other paffen-
gers unite in a caravan, to prevent the infiilts and rob¬
beries of the Arabs. Thefe caravans are,often very
numerous, and- are always compofed of more camels
than men. Each camel is loaded in proportion to his
ftrength'; and, when overloaded, he refufes to march,
and continues lying till his burden is lightened. The
large camels generally carry a thoufand, or even twelve
hundred pounds weight, and the fmalleft from fix to
feven hundred. In thefe commercial travels, their
march is not haftened: As the route is: often feven or
eight hundred leagues, their motions and journeys are
regulated. They walk only, and. perform about from
ten to twelve leagues each day. Every night they are
unloaded, and allowed to patture at freedom. When
in a rich country, or fertile meadow, they eat, in lefs.
than an hour, as much as ferves them to ruminate the Came Jus.
whole night, and to nourilh them during twenty-four —J
hours. But they feldom meet with fuch paftures; nei¬
ther is this delicate food neceffary for them. They
even feem to prefer wormwood, thiftles, nettles, broom,
cafiia, and other prickly vegetables,, to the fofteft her¬
bage. As long as they find plants to broufe, they eafily
difpenfe with drink. This facility of abftaining long
from drink proceeds not, however, from habit alone,
but is rather an effeA of their ftructure. Independent
of the four ftomachs, which are common to ruminating
animals, the camels have a fifth bag, which ferves them.,
as a refervoir for water,. This fifth ftomach is pecu¬
liar to the camel. It is fo large as to contain a vaft
quantity of water, where it remains without corrupt¬
ing, or mixing with the other aliments. When the
animal is ■preffed with thirft, and has occafion for wa¬
ter to macerate his dry food in ruminating, he makes .
part of this water mount into, his paunch, or even as -
high as the cefophagus, by a Ample contraction of cer¬
tain mufcles. It is by this Angular conftruftion that
the camel is enabled to pafs feveral days without
drinking, and to take at a time a prodigious quantity
of water, which remains in the refervoir pure and lim¬
pid, becaufe neither the liquors of the body, nor the
juices of digeftion, can mix with it. Travellers, when-
much oppreffed with drought, are fometimes obliged
to kill their camels in order to have a fupply of drink
from thefe refervoirs. Thefe inoffenfive creatures muft
fuffer much ; for they utter the moft lamentable cries,
efpecially when overloaded. But, though perpetually
oppreffed, their fortitude is equal to their docility.
At the firft fignal, they bend their knees and lie down
to be loaded, which faves their conduftor the trouble
of raifing the goods to a great height. As foon as
they are loaded, they rife fpontaneoully, and without
any affiftance. One of them is mounted by their con¬
ductor, who goes before, and regulates the irforch of
all the followers. They require neither whip nor fpur.
Btit; when they begin to be tired, their courage is
fupported, or rather their fatigue is charmed, by fing-
ing, or by the found of fome inftrument. Their con¬
ductors relieve each other in finging; and, when they
want to prolong the journey, they give the animals
but one hour’s reft ; after which, refuming their fong,
they proceed on their march: for feveral hours more, .
and the finging is continued till they arrive at another
refting place, when the camels again lie down ; and '
their loads, by unloofing the ropes, are allowed to
glide off on each fide of the animals. Thus they fieep ;
on their bellies in the middle of their baggage, which,.
next morning is fixed on their backs with equal quick—
nefs and facility as it had been detached, the evening
before.
Fatigue, hunger, thirft, and, meagrenefs, are not
the only inconveniencies to which .thefe animals are
fubjeded : To all thefe evils they are prepared by caf-
tration. One male is only left for eight or ten .fe¬
males ;. and the labouring camels are generally geld¬
ings. They are unqueftionably weaker than ..unmuti¬
lated males; but they are more traCtable, and at all
feafons ready for fervice. While the former are not
only unmanageable, but almoft furious, during the
rutting feafon, which lafts forty days, and returns an¬
nually in-the fpring. It is then faid, that they foam
con-
CAM [ 59 1 CAM
Camelus.* continually, and that one or tvt'o red veficles, as large The camel is the genuine treafure of Afia. He is
w v as a hog’g bladder, iflue from their mouths. In this more valuable than the elephant; for he may be laid
feafon they eat little, attack and bite animals, and to perform an equal quantity of labour at a twen-
even their own mailers, to whom at all other times tieth part of the expence. Befides, the whole fpecies
they are very fubmiffive. Their mode of copulating are under fubjeftion to man, who propagates and mul-
differs from that of all other quadrupeds ; for the fe- tiplies them at pleafure. But he has no fuch dominion
male, inftead of Handing, lies down on her knees, and over the elephants, wdiom he cannot multiply, and the
receives the male in the fame pofition that fhe repofes, individuals of whom he conquers with great labour
or is loaded. This pofture, to which the animals are and difficulty. The camel is not only more valuable
early accuftomed, becomes natural, fince they affume than the elephant, but is perhaps equal in utility to
it fpontaneoufly in coition. The time of geftation is the horfe, the afs, and the ox, when their povrers
near twelve months, and, like all large quadrupeds, are united. He carries as much as two mules; though
the females bring forth only one at a birth. Her he eats as little, and feeds upon herbs equally coarie
milk is copious and thick ; and, wdien mixed with a as the afs. The female furnifhes milk longer than the
large quantity of water, affords an excellent nourifh- cow. The ileffi of a young camel is as good and
ment to men. The females are not obliged to labour, wholefome as veal: The Africans and Arabs fill their
but are allowed to paflure and produce at full liberty, pots and tubs with it, which is fried with greafe, and
The advantage derived from their produce and their preferved in this manner during the whole year for
milk is perhaps fuperior to what could be drawn from their ordinary repafts : The hair is finer and more in
their working. In feme places, however, molt of the requefl than the heft wool. Even their excrements
females are caftrated, in order to fit them for labour ; are ufeful: for fal ammoniac is made of their urine ;
and it is alleged, that this operation, inftead of di- and their dung, dried in the fun and pulveri'fed, ferves
minifhing, augments their ftrength, vigour, and plump- for litter to themfelves, as well as to horfes, with
nefs. In general, the fatter camels are, they are the which people frequently travel in countries where no
more capable of enduring great fatigue. Their bunch- hay or ftraw can be had. In fine, their dung makes
es feem to proceed from a redundance of nourifh- excellent fuel, which burns freely, and gives as clear
ment; for, during long journeys, in which their con- and nearly as hot a flame as dry wood, which is of
du6tor is obliged to hufband their food, and where great ufe in the deferts, where not a tree is to be
they often fuffer much hunger and thirft, thefe bunch- found, and where, for want of combuftible materials,
cs gradually diminifh, and become fo flat, that the fire is as fcarce as water.
place where they were is only perceptible by the length 3. The Glama, Llama, or South-American camel-
of the hair, which is always longer on thefe parts than fheep, has an almoft even back, fmall head, fine black
on the reft of the back. The meagrenefs of the body eyes, and very long neck, bending much, and very
augments in proportion as the bunches decreafe. The protuberant near the jundlion with the body: in a tame
Moors, who tranfport all articles of merchandife from ftate, with fmooth fhort hair; in a wild ftate, with
Barbary and Numidia, as far as ^Ethiopia, fet out ,long coarfe hair, white, grey, and ruffet, difpofed in
with their camels well laden, which are very fat and fpots; with a black line from the head along the top
vigorous; and bring back the fame animals fo meagre, of the back to the tail, and belly white. The fpotted
that they commonly fell at a low price to the Arabs may poffibly be the tame, the .laft the wild, llamas,
of the Defert, to be again fattened. The tail is fhort; the height from four to four feet
We are told by the ancients, that camels are in a and a half; the length from th; neck to the tail, fix
condition for propagating at the age of three years, feet. The carcafe divefted of fkin and offals, accord-
This affertion is fufpicious; for, in three years, they ing to the editor of Mr Byron’s voyage, weighed 200lb.
have not acquired one half of their growth. The pe- In general, the fhape exadlly refembles a camel, only
nis of the male, like that of the bull, is very long, and it wants the dorfal bunch. It is the camel of Peru
very flender. During eredtion, it ftretches forward, like and Chili; and, before the arrival of the Spaniards,
that of all other quadrupeds; but, in its ordinary ftate, was the only beaft of burden known to the Indians,
the ffieath is drawn backward, and the urine is dif- It is very mild, gentle, and tractable. Before the in-
charged from between the hind legs; fo that both troduftion of mules, they were ufed by the Indians to
males and females urine in the fame manner. The plough the land : at prefent they ferve to carry bur-
young camel fucks his mother twelvemonths; but, dens of about 100 lb. They go with great gravity;
when meant to be trained, in order to render him and, like their Spanifh mafters, nothing can prevail
ftrong and robuft in the chace, he is allowed to fuck upon them to change their pace. They lie down to
and pafture at freedom during the firft years, and is the burden ; and when wearied, no blows can provoke
not loaded, or made to perform any labour, till he is them to go on. Teuillee fays, they are fo capricious,
four years old. He generally lives forty and fome- that if ftruck, they inttantly fquat down, and nothing
times fifty years, which duration of life is proportion- but careffes can make them arife. When angry, they
ed to the time of his growth. There is no foundation have no other method of revenging their injuries than
for what has been advanced by fome authors, that he by fpitting; and they can ejaculate their faliva to the
lives one hundred years. _ diftance of ten paces: if it falls on the Ain, it raifes
By. confidering, under one point of view, all the an itching and a reddifli fpot. Their flelh is eaten,
qualities of this animal, and all the advantages derived and is faid to be as good as mutton. The wool has a
from him, it muft be acknowledged that he is the moft flrong difagreeable feent. They are very fure-footedj
ufeful creature fubje&ed to the fervice of man. Gold therefore ufed to carry the Peruvian ores over the rug-
and filk conftitute not the true riches of the Eaft. gedeft hills and narroweft paths of the Andes. They
H 2 inhabit
Came!us.
CAM L 60 ] CAM
Camelas inhabit that vaft chain of mountains their whole length
C rlLra to t^le ^ra^ts Magellan ; but except where thefe
Lucida.a kills approach the fea, as in Patagonia, never appear
<■ - on the coafts. Like the camel, they have powers of
abftaining long from drink, fometimes for four or five
days like that animal, their food is coarfe and trifling.
—In a wild ftate, they keep in great herds in the
higheft and fteepeft parts of the hills ; and while they
are feeding, one keeps centry on the pinnacle of fome
sock : if it perceives the approach of any one, it
neighs; the herd takes the alarm, and goes off with
incredible fpeed. They outrun all dogs, fo there is
no other way of killing them but with the gun. They
are killed for the fake of their flefli and hair ; for the
Indians weave the laft into cloth. From the form of
the parts of generation in both fexes, no animal copu¬
lates with fuch difficulty. It is often the labour of a
day, antequam actum ipfum venereum incipiant, et abfolvant.
4. The Pacos, or fheep of Chili, has no bunch on
the back. It is covered with a fine valuable wool,
which is of a rofe red colour on the back of the ani¬
mal, and white on the belly. They are of the fame
nature with the preceding ; inhabit the fame places,
but are more capable of fupporting the rigour of froft
and fnow : they live in vaft herds ; are very timid,
and exceffively fwift. The Indians take the pacos in
a ftrange manner : they tie cords with bits of cloth' or
wool hanging to them, above three or four feet from
the ground, crofs the narrow pafles of the mountains,
then drive thofe animals towards them, which are fo
terrified by the flutter of the rags, as not to dare to
pafs, but, huddling together, give the hunters an op¬
portunity to kill with their flings as many as they
pleafe. The tame ones will carry from 50 to 751b.;
but are kept principally for the fake of the wool and
the flefh, which is exceedingly well tafted.
CAMERA iEonA, a contrivance for blowing the
fire, for the fufion of ores, without bellows ; by means
of water falling through a funnel, into a clofe veflel,
which fends from it fo much air or vapour as conti¬
nually blows the fire: if there-be the fpace of another
veflel for it to expatiate in by the way, it there lets
fall its humidity, which otherwife might hinder the
work. This contrivance was named camera JEolia by
Kircher,
Camera Lucida, a contrivance of Dr Hook for ma¬
king the image: of any thing appear on a wall in a light
room, either by day or night. Oppofite to the place
or wall where the appearance is to be, make a hole of
at Raft a foot in diameter, or if there be a high win¬
dow with, a cafement of this dimenfion in it, this will
do much better without fuch hole or cafement opened.
At a convenient diftance, to prevent its being per¬
ceived by the company in the room, place the object
or picture intended to be reprefented, but in an in¬
verted fituation. If the pifture be tranfparent, refleft
the fun’s rays by means of a looking-glafs, fo as that
they may pafs through it towards the place of fepre-
ientation ; and to prevent any rays from paffing afide
it, let the. picture be encompaffed with fome board or
cloth. If the objeft be a ftatue, or a living creature,
it mull be. much enlightened by calling the fun’s rays
on it, either by refle&ionj refra&ion, or both. Be¬
tween this objeft and the place of reprefentation put
a broad convex glafs, ground to fuch a convexity as
that it may reprefent the object diltindtly in fuch Camera
place. The nearer this is fituated to the objeft, the 0b*cura
more will the image be magnified on the wall, and the Camera-
further the lefs ; fuch diverlky depending on the dif- rms.
ference of the fpheres of the glafles. If the objedt y—J
cannot be conveniently inverted, there mull be two
large glafles of proper fpheres, fituated at fuitable dif-
tances, eafily found by trial, to make the reprefenta-
tions eredt. This whole apparatus of objedt, glafles,
&c. with the perfons employed in the management of
them, are to be placed without the window or hole,
fo that they may not be perceived by the fpedlators
in the room, and the operation itfelf will be eafily per¬
formed. Phil. Tranf. N° 3.8. p. 741, feq.
Camera Obfcura, or Dark Chamber, in Optics, a ma¬
chine, or apparatus, reprefenting an artificial eye;
whereon the images of external objedls, received thro’
a double convex glafs, are exhibited diltindlly, and in
their native colours, on a white matter placed within
the machine, in the focus of the glafs.
The firll invention of this inllrument is aferibed to
Baptilla Porta. See his Mdgla Naturalis, lib. xvii.
cap. 6. firft publilhed at Franckfort about the year
1589 or 1591 ; the firll four books of this work were
publilhed at Antwerp in 1560.
The camera obfeura affords very diverting fpcdlacles;
both by exhibiting images perfedlly like their objedls,
and each clothed in their native colours ; and by ex-
preffing, at the fame time, all their motions; which
latter no other art can imitate. By means of this in¬
llrument, a perfon unacquainted with defigning will
be able to delineate objedls with the greatell accuracy
and jullnefs, and another well verfed in painting will
find many things herein to perfedl his art. See the
conllrudlion under Dioptrics.
CAMERARIA, in botany: A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
30th order, Contort*. There are two horizontal fol¬
licles at the bafe of the feed-cafe. The feeds are in-
ferted into a proper membrane. Of this there are two
fpecies; the latifolia, and the angullifolia. The firll
is a native of the ifland of Cuba, and rifes with a
Ihrubby llalk to the height of 10 or 12 feet, dividing
into feveral branches, garnilhed with roundifh pointed
leaves placed oppofite. The flowers are produced, at
the end of the branches in loofe chillers, which, have
long tubes enlarging gradually upward, and at the top
are cut into five fegments, broad at their bafe, but end¬
ing in lharp points; the flower is of a yellowilh white
colour. The fecond fort has an irregular Ihrubby llalk,
which rifes about eight feet high, fending out many
branches which are garnilhed with very narrow thin
leaves placed oppofite at each joint. The flowers are
produced fcatteringly at the end of the branches,
which are lhaped like thofe of the former fort, but
fmaller. It is a native of Jamaica. Both thefe plants
abound with an acrid milky juice like the fpurge. They
are propagated, by feeds, which mull be procured from
the places of their growth. They may alfo be propa¬
gated by cuttings planted in a hot-bed during the
fummer-months : they mull have a bark-ftove, for they
are very tender plants; but in warm weather they
mull have plenty of air.
CAMERARIUS (Joachim), one of the moll learn¬
ed
©amera-
c7
CA M [ 61 J GAM
ed'writers of his time, was born in 1500, at Bamberg,
a city of Franconia ; and obtained great reputation by
his writings. He tranflated into Latin Herodotus,
Demofthenes, Xenophon, Euclid, Homer, Theocritus,
Sophocles, Lucian, Theodoret, Nicephorus, &c. He
publiihed a catalogue of the biihops of. the principal
fees ; Greek epiftles; Accounts of his journeys, in La¬
tin verfe ; a Commentary on Plautus ; the Lives of
Helius Eobanus Hefius, and Philip Melanfthon, &c.
He died in 1574.
Camerarius (Joachim), fon of the former, and a
learned phyfician, was born at Nuremberg in 1534.
After having finifhed his ftudies in Germany, he went
into Italy, where he obtained the efteem of the learned.
At his return he. was courted by feveral princes to live
with them ; but he was too much devoted to books,
and the ftudy of chemiftry and botany; to comply. He
wrote an. hortus medicus,. and feveral other works. He
died in 1798.
CAME RATED, among builders, the fame with
vaulted or arched.
CAMERET-bay, in the province of Brittany in
France, forms the harbour of Breft. See Brest.
CAMERINO, a town of the ecclefiaftieal ftate in
Italy, lituated in E. Long. 13. 7. N. Lat. 45. 5.
CAMERLINGO, according to Ducange, fignified
formerly the pope’s or emperor’s treafure : at prefent,
camerlingo is no where ufed but at Rome, where it de¬
notes the cardinal who governs the ecclefiaftical ftate
and adminifters juftice. It is the moft eminent office
at the court of Rome, becaufe he is at the head of the
treafury. During a vacation of the papal chair, the
cardinal camerlingo publiflies edicts, coins money, and
exerts every other prerogative of a fovereign prince ;
he has under him a treafurer-general, auditor-general,
and 12 prelates called clerks of the chamber.
CAMERON. (John), one of the moft famous di¬
vines among the Proteftants of France in the 17th
century, was born at Glafgow in Scotland, where he
taught the Greek tongue ; and having read lectures
upon that language for about a year, travelled, and be¬
came profeffor at feveral univerfities, and minifter at
Bourdeaux. He publifhed, 1. Theological lectures;
2. Icon jfohannis Cameronis; and fome mifcellaneous
pieces. He died in 1625, aged 60.
CAMERONIANS, a fedt or party in Scotland,
who feparated from the Prefbyterians in 1666, and
continued to hold their religious affemblies in tli**
fields.
The Cameronians took their denomination from
Richard Cameron, a famous field-preacher, who, refu-
fing to accept the indulgence to tender confciences,
granted by king Charles II. as fuch an acceptance
feemed an acknowledgment of the king’s fupremacy,.
and that he had before a right to filence them, made
a defedtion from his brethren, and even headed a re¬
bellion, in which he was killed. Hia followers • were-
never entirely reduced till the Revolution, when they
voluntarily fubmitted to king William.
The Cameronians adhered rigidly to the form of
government eftablifhed in 1648.
Cameronians, or Cameronites, is alfo the denomi¬
nation of a party of Calvinifts in France, who afferted
that .the will of man is only determined by the pradli-
cal judgment of the mind ; that the caufe of mens
doing good or evil proceeds from the knowledge which
God infufes into them ; and that God does not move'
the will phyfically, but only morally, in virtue of its
dependence on the judgment of the mind. They had
this name from John Cameron, a famous profeffor, firft
at Glafgow, where he was born, in 1580, and after¬
wards at Bourdeajux, Sedan, and S.aumur; at w'hich
laft place he broached his new doctrine of grace and
free-will, which was formed by Amyraut, Cappel, Bo-
chart, Daille, and others of the more learned among
the reformed minifters, who judged Calvin’s doftrines
on thefe points too harfh. The Cameronians are a
fort of mitigated Calvinifts, and approach to the opi¬
nion of the Armenians. They are alfo called Univer-
falijls, as holding the univerfality of Chrift’s death;
and fometimes Amyraldijls. The rigid adherents to
the fynod of Dort accufed them of Pelagianifm, and
even of Manicheifm. The controverfy -between the
parties was carried oh with a zeal and fubtilty fcarce
conceivable; yet all the queftion between them wras
only. Whether the will of man is determined by the
immediate aftion of God upon it, or by the interven¬
tion of a knowledge which God imprelfes into the
mind ? The fynod of Dort had defined that God not
only illuminates the underftanding, but gives motion
to the will by making an internal change therein. Ca¬
meron only admitted the illumination, whereby the
mind is morally moved, and explained the fentiment of
the fynod of Dort fo as to make the two opinions con-
fiftent.
GAMES, a name given to the fmall flender rods of
caft-lead, of which the glaziers make their turned lead.
Their lead being caft into flender rods of twelve or
fourteen inches long each, is called the came ; fome¬
times alfo they call each of J:hefe rods a came, which
being afterwards drawn through their vice, makes their
turned lead.
CAMILLUS (Marcus Furius) was the firft who
rendered the family of Furius illuftrious. He triumph¬
ed four times, was five times diftator, and was honour¬
ed with the title of the fecond founder of Rome. In a
word, he acquired, all the glory a man can gain in his
own country. Lucius Apuleius, one of the tribunes,
profecuted him to make him give an account of the
fpoils taken at Veii. Camillus anticipated judgment,
and baniflied himfelf voluntarily. During his baniflr-
ment, inftead of rejoicing at the devaftation of Rome
by the Gauls, he exerted all his wifdom> and bravery
to drive away the enemy; and yet kept with the ut-
moft ftriftnefs the facred law of Rome, in refufing to
accept the command which feveral private perfons of¬
fered him. The Romans, who were befieged in the
capitpl, created him diftator in the- year 363; in
which office he a died with fo much bravery and con-
dudt, that he entirely* drove the army of the Gauls out
of the territories of the commonwealth. He died in
the 8xft year of his age, 365 years before the Chriftian
sera.
CAMILLI and Camilla, .in antiquity, boys and
girls of ingenuous birth, who miniftered in the fa-
crifices of the gods ; and efpecially thofe who attended :
the flamen dialis, or prieft of Jupiter. The word feems
borrowed from the language of the ancient lietrurians, .
where ;
CA M [ 62
Camir.ha wliere it i'gnined minifter, and was changed from cqf-
Cimoers m^'us' Tufcans alfo gave the appellation Camil-
. M lus to Mercury, in quality of mini tier of the gods.
CAMINHA, a maritime town of Portugal, in the
province of Entre-Duero-e-Minho, with the title of a
duchy. It is fltuated at the mouth of the river Min-
ho, in W. Long. 9. 15. N. Lat. 41. 44. .
CAMIS, or Kamis, in the Japanefe Theology, de¬
note deified foiils of ancient heroes, who are fuppofed
flill to interefl themfelves in the welfare of the people
■ over whom they anciently commanded.
The camis anfwer to the heroes in the ancient Greek
and Roman theology, and are venerated like the faints
in the modern Romifh church.
Befides the heroes or camis beatified by the confent
of antiquity, the mikaddos, or pontiffs, have deified
many others, and continue ftill to grant the apotheofis
to new worthies ; fo that they fwarm with camis : the
principal one is Tenjto Dai Sin, the common father of
Japan, to whom are paid devotions and pilgrimages
extraordinary.
CAMISADE, in the art of war, an attack by fur-
prife in the night, or at the break of day, when the
enemy is fuppofed to be a-bed. The word is faid to
have taken its rife from an attack of this kind ; where¬
in, as a badge or fignal to know one another by, they
bore a fhift, in French called chemife, ox camife, over
'their arms.
CAMISARDS, a name given by the French to
the Calvinifls of the Cevennes, who formed a league,
4nd took up arms in their own defence, in 1688.
CAMLETINE, a flight fluff, made of hair and
coarfe filk, in the manner of camblet. It is now out
of fafhion.
GAMMA, and Gobbi, two provinces of the king¬
dom of Loango in Africa. Therinhabitants are con¬
tinually at war with each other. The weapons they
formerly ufed in their wars were the fliort pike, bows
and arrows, fword and dagger ; but fince the Euro¬
peans have become acquainted with that coaft, they
have fupplied them with fire-arms. The chief town
of Gobbi lies about a day’s journey from the fea. Their
■rivers abound with a variety of fifh ; but are infefled
with fea-horfes, which do great mifchief both by land
and water. The principal commerce with the natives
•is in logwood, elephants teeth, and tails, the hair of
which is highly valued, and ufed for feveral curious
purpofes.
CAMMIN, a maritime town of Germany, in Bran¬
denburg Pomerania, fltuated in E. Long. iy°. N. Lat.
CAMOENS (Louis de), a famousPortuguefe poet,
the honour of whofe birth is claimed by different cities.
But according to N. Antonio, and Manuel Correa, his
intimate friend, this event happened at Lifbon in 1517.
His family was of confiderable note, and originally
Spanilh. In 1370, Vafco Perez de Caamans, difgufl-
cd at the court of Caflile, fled to that of Lifbon, where
king Ferdinand immediately admitted him into his
council, and gave him the lordfhips of Sardoal, Pun-
nete, Marano, Amendo, and other confiderable lands;
a certain proof of the eminence of his rank and abili¬
ties. In the war for the fucceffion, which broke out
the -death of Ferdinand, Camoens Tided with the
] CAM
king of Caftile, tmd was killed in the battle of Alja- Camoens.
barota. But though John I. the victor, feized a great v" ^
part of his eflate, his widow, the daughter of Gonfalo
Tereyro, grand mailer of the order of Chrifl, and ge¬
neral of the Portuguefe army, was not reduced beneath
her rank. She had three fons who took the name of
Camoens. The family of the eldefl intermarried with
the firfl nobility of Portugal; and even, according to
Callera, with the blood royal. But the family of the
fecond brother, whofe fortune was flender, had the fu-
perior honour to produce the author of the Lufiad.
Early in his life the misfortunes of the poet began.
In his infancy, Simon Vaz de Camoens, his father,
commander of a veffel, was fhipwrecked at Goa, where,,
with his life, the greatefl part of his fortune was lofl.
His mother, however, Anne de Macedo of Santarene,
provided for the education of her fon Louis at the uni-
verfity of Coimbra. What he acquired there, his
works difeover'; an intimacy with the claffics, equal to
that of a Scaliger, but diredled by the tafle of a Mil-
ton or a Pope.
When he left the univerfity, he appeared at court.
He was handfome ; had fpeaking eyes, it is faid ; and
the finefl complexion. Certain it is, however, he was
a polifhed fcholar, which, added to the natural ardour
and gay vivacity of his difpofition, rendered him an
accomplifhed gentleman. Courts are the feenes of in¬
trigue ; and intrigue was fafhionable at Lifbon. But
the particulars of the amours of Camoens reft unknown.
This only appears: he had afpired above his rank, for
he was banifhed from the court; and in feveral of his
fonnets he aferibes this misfortune to love.
He now retired to his mother’s friends at Santarene.
Here he renewed his fludies, and began his poem on
the difeovery of India. John III. at this time prepared
an armament againft Africa. Camoens, tired of his in-
adrive obfeure life, went to Ceuta in this expedition,
and greatly diftinguifhed his valour in feveral rencoun¬
ters. In a naval engagement with the Moors in the
ftraits of Gibraltar, in the conflicl of boarding, he was
among the foremoft, and loft his right eye. Yet nei¬
ther hurry of adtual fervice nor the diflipation of the
camp could ftifle his genius. He continued' his Lufi-
adas, and feveral of his moft beautiful fonnets were
written in Africa, while, as he expreffed it.
One hand the pen, and one the fword, employ’d.
The fame of his valour had now reached the court,
and he obtained permiffion to return to Lifbon. But,
while he folicited an eftablilhment which he had merit¬
ed in the ranks of battle, the malignity of evil tongues,
as he calls it in one of his letters, was injurioufly pour¬
ed upon him. Though the bloom of his early youth
was effaced by feveral years refidence under the fcorch-
ing heavens of Africa, and though altered by the lofs
of an eye, his prefence gave uneafinefs to the gentle¬
men of fome families of the firft rank where he had
formerly vifited. Jealbufy is the charadleriftic of the
Spanifh and Portuguefe; its refentment knows no
bounds, and Camoens now found it prudent to banifh
himfelf from his native country. Accordingly, in
1553, he failed for India, with a refolution never to
return. As the fhip left the Tagus, he exclaimed, in
the words of the fepulchral monument of Scipio Afri-
canus. Ingrata putrid, non pojjidebis ojfa mea ! “ Ungrate¬
ful
CAM [ 63 ] C A. M
@amoen?. ful country, thou (halt not poffefs my bones!” But he
' knew not what evils in the Eaft would awake the re¬
membrance of his native fields.
When Camoens arrived in India, an expedition
was ready to fail td revenge the' king of Cochin on
the king of Pimenta. Without any reft on fhore after
his long voyage,- he joined this armament, and in
the conqueft of the Alagada iflands diiplayed his ufual
bravery.
In the year following, he attended Manuel de Vaf-
concello in an expedition to the Red Sea. Here, fays
Faria, as Camoens had no ufe for his fword, he em¬
ployed his pen. Nor was his aftivity confined in the
fleet or camp.. He vilited Mount Felex and the adja¬
cent inhofpitable regions of Africa,, which he fo ftrongly
pi&ures in the Lufiad, and in one of. his little pieces
where he laments the abfence of his mill refs.
When he returned to Goa, he enjoyed a tranquillity
which enabled him to beftow his attention on his Epic
Poem. But this ferenity was interrupted^, perhaps by
his own imprudence. He wrote fome fatires which gave
offence ; and, by order of the viceroy Francifco Barreto,
he was baniflied to China.
The accompli fitments and manners of Camoens foon
found him friends, though under the difgrace of banifit-
ment. He was appointed commiffary of the defunA in
the ifland of Macao, a Portuguefe fettlement in the bay
of Canton. Here he continued his Lufiad ; and here
alfo, after five years refidence, he acquired a fortune,
though fmall, yet equal to his wifites. Don Conftantine
de Braganza was now viceroy of India ; and Camoens,
defirous to return to Goa, refigned his charge. In a
(hip, freighted by himfelf, he fet fail; but was fivip-
wrecked in the gulpfi near the mouth of the river Me-
hon on the coaft of China. All he had acquired was
16ft in the waves: his poems,, which he held in one
hand, while he fwimmed with the other, were all he
found himfelf poffeffed of when he flood friendlefs on
the unknown fiiore. But the natives gave him .3 moft
humane reception : this he has immortalifed in the pro¬
phetic fong in the tenth Lufiad ; and in the feventh, he
tells us, that here he loft the wealth which fatisfied his,
w.iflies.
Agora da efferanqaja adquiridd, &t.
Now bleu wirh all the wealth-fond hope could crave,
Soon I heheld that wealth beneath the wave
For ever loft; 
My life, like Judah’s heaven-doom’d king of yore, .
By miracle prolong’d 
On the banks of the Mehon, he wrote his beautiful
paraphrafe of the pfalm, where the Jews, , in the fineft
ftrain of poetry, are reprefented as hanging their harps
on the willows by the rivers of Babylon, and weeping
their exile from their native country. Here Camoens
continued fome time, till an opportunity offered to carry
him to Gba. When he arrived at that city, Don Con¬
ftantine de Braganza, the viceroy, whofe charafteriftic
was politenefs, admitted him into intimate friendfiiip,
and Camoens was happy. till count Redondo affumed
the government. THofe who had formerly procured
the banifliment of the fatirift, were filent while'Con-
ilantine was in power ; but now they exerted all their
arts againft him. Redondo, when he entered on office,
pretended to be the friend of Camoens ; yet, with all
that unfeeling indifference with which he made his moft
3
horrible witticifm on the Zamorim, he fuflered the in- Camoens.
nocent man to be thrown into the common prifon.
After all the delay of bringing witneffes, Camoens, in
a public trial, fully refuted every accufation of his con-
duft while commiffary at Macao, and his enemies were
loaded with ignominy and reproach. But Camoens had
fome creditors; and thefe detained him in prifon a con-
fiderable time, till the gentlemen of Goa began to be
afhamed that a man of his Angular merit fhould expe¬
rience fuch treatment among them. He was fet at li¬
berty •, and again he affiimed the profeffion of arms,
and received the allowance of a gentleman volunteer, a
charadler at this time common in Pdrtuguefe India.
Soon after, Pedro Barreto, appointed governor of the
fort at Sofala, by high promifes, allured the poet to
attend him thither. The governor of a diftant fort, in
a barbarous country,, fhares in fome meafure the fate of
an exile. Yet, though the only motive of Barreto was,
in this unpleafant fituation-, to retain the converfation
of Camoens at his table, it was his leaftcare to render
the life of his gueft agreeable. Chagrined with his
treatment, and a confiderable time having elapfed in
vain dependence upon Barreto, Camo^ns refolved to re¬
turn to his native country. A.{hip, on the homeward
voyage, at this time touched at Sofala, and feveral gen¬
tlemen who were on board were defirous that Camoens <
fhould accompany them. But this the governor unge-
neroufty endeavoured to prevent, and charged him with
a debt for board. Anthony de Cabra, however, and
He&or de Sylveyra, paid the demand ; and Camoens,..
fays Faria, and the honour of Barreto, were fold to¬
gether.
After an abfence of 16 years, Camoens, in 1569, re¬
turned to Lifbon, unhappy even in his arrival, for the
peftilence then raged in that city, and prevented his ■
publication for three years. Atlaft, in 1572, he printed
his Lufiad, which, in the opening of the firft book, in
a moft elegant turn of compliment, he addreffed to his .
prince, king Sebaftian, then in his 18th year. The
king, fays the French tranflator, was fo pleafed with
his merit, that he gave the author a penfion of 400a
reals, on condition that he fhould refide at court. But
this falary, fays the fame writer, was withdrawn by car
dinal Henry, who fucceeded to the crown of Portugal,
loft by Sebaftian at the battle of Alcazar.
Though the great patron of one fpecies of literature,
a fpecies the reverfe of that of Camoens, certain it is,
that the author of the Lufiad was utterly neglefted by
Henry, under whofe inglorious reign he died in all the
mifery of poverty. By Lome, it is. faid, he died in an
alms-houfe. It appears, however, that he had not even
the certainty of fubfiftence which thefe houfes provide. .
He had a black fervant, who had grown old with him,
and who had long experienced his mailer’s humanity.
This grateful Indian, a native of Java, who, according
to fome writers, faved his mafter’s life in the unhappy
fhipwreck where he loft his effefts, begged in the ftreets
of Lifbon for the only man in Portugal on whom God
had bellowed thofe talents which have a tendency to
erefl the fpirit-of a downward age. To the eye of a
careful obferver, the fate of Camoens throws great light
on that of his country, and will appear ftridly connec¬
ted with it. The fame ignorance, the fame degenerated
fpirit, which fuffered Camoens to depend on his fhare
of. the alms begged in the ftreets by his old hoary fer-
vant3 .
CAM L 64 ] C A M
Camomile, vant, the fame fpirit which caufed this, funk the kinp^-
t‘ CamP- dom of Portugal into the mod abjtfl: vaflalage ever ex*
v perienced by a conquered nation. While the grandees
of Portugal were blind to the® ruin which impended
over them, Camoens beheld it with a pungency of
grief which haftened his exit. In one of his letters
he has thefe remarkable words: Em fim accaberey a
vida, e vcrratn todo's que fuy efeicoada a rninho patria,
&c. “ I am ending the courfe of my life, the world
will witnefs how I have loved my country. I have
returned, not only to die in her bofom, but to die with
her.”
In this unhappy fituation, in 1579, in his 6zd year,
the year after the fatal defeat of Don Sebaftian, died
Louis de Camoens, the greateft literary genius ever
produced by Portugal; in martial courage and fpirit of
honour, nothing inferior to her greateft heroes. And
in a manner fuitable to the poverty in which he died,
■was he buried.
CAMOMILE, in botany. See Anthemis.
CAMP, the ground on which an army pitch their
tents. It is marked out by the quarter-mafter general,
•who appoints every regiment their ground.
The chief advantages to be minded in chafing a camp
for an army, are, to have it near the water, in a coun¬
try of forage, where the foldiers may find wood for
drefling their vidtuals; that it have a free communica¬
tion with garrifons, and with a country from whence
it may be fupplied with provifions; and, if poffible,
that it be fituated on a rifing ground, in a dry gravelly
Toil. Befides, the advantages of the ground ought to
be confidered, as marfhes, woods, rivers, and inclofures;
and if the camp be near the enemy, with no river or
niarfh to cover it, the atmy ought to be intrenched.
An army always encamps fronting the enemy; and ge¬
nerally in two imes, running parallel about 500 yards
diftance ; the horfe and dragoons, on the wings, and
the foot, in the centre : fometimes a body of two, three,
or four brigades is encamped behind the two lines, and
is called the body of referve. The artillery and bread-
waggons are generally encamped in the rear of the two
lines. A battalion of foot is allowed 80 or 100 paces
for its camp ; and 30 or 40 for an interval betwixt one
battalion and another. A fquadron of horfe is allowed
30 for its camp, and 30 for an interval, and more if
the ground will allow it.
Where the grounds are equally dry, thofe camps are
always the moft healthful that are pitched on the banks
of large rivers ; becaufe, in the hot feafon, fituations
of this kind have a ftream of frefti air from the water,
ferving to carry off the moift and putrid exhalations.
On the other hand, next to marfhes, the worft encamp¬
ments are on low grounds clofe befet with trees; for
then the air is not only moift and huttful in itfelf, but
by ftagnating becomes more fufceptible of corruption.
However, let the fituation of camps be ever fo good,
they are frequently rendered infedtious by the putrid ef¬
fluvia of rotten ftraw, and the privies of the army ; more
efpecially if the bloody flux prevails, in which cafe the
beft method of preventing a general infedtion, is to leave
the ground with the privies, foul ftraw,-and other filth
of the camp, behind. This muft be frequently done,-if
confiftent with the military operations: but when thefe
render it improper to change the ground often, the pri¬
vies fhould be made deeper, than ufual, and once a-day
a thick layer of earth thrown into them till the pits are Gamp,
near full; and then they are to be well covered, and v-"
fupplied by others. It may alfo be a proper caution
to order the pits to be made either in the front or the
rear, as the then ftationary winds may beft'carry off
their effluvia from the camp. Moreover, it will be ne-
ceflary to change the ftraw frequently, as being not
only apt to rot, but to retain the infedfious fleams of
the fick. But if frefh ftraw cannot be procured, more
care muft be taken in airing the tents, as well as the
old ft raw.
The difpofition of the Hebrew encampment was at
firft laid out by God himfelf. Their camp was of a
quadrangular form, forrounded with an inclofure of the
height of 10 hands-breadth. It made a fquare of 12
miles in compafs about the tabernacle ; and within this
was another, called the Levites camp.
The Greeks had alfo their camps, fortified with gates
and ditches. The Lacedemonians made their camp of
a round figure, looking upon that as the moft: perfedt
and defenfible of any form ; we are not, however, to
imagine, that they thought this form fo eflential to a
camp, as never to be dilpenfed with when the eircum-
ftances of the place require it. Of the reft of the Gre¬
cian camps, it may be obferved, that the moft valiant
of the foldiers were placed at the extremities, the
reft in the middle. Thus we learn from Homer, that
Achilles and Ajax were polled at the ends of the camp
before Troy, as bulwarks on each fide of the reft of the
princes.
The figure of the Roman camp was a fquare divided
into two principal parts: in the upper parts were the
general’s pavilion, or prsetorium, and the tent of the
chief officers; in the lower, thofe of inferior degree
were placed. On one fide of the praetorium flood the
quaeftorium, or apartment of the treafurer of the army;
and near this the forum, both for a market-place
and the aflembling of councils. "On the other fide of
the prsetorium were lodged the legati; and below it
the tribunes had their quarters, oppofite to their re-
fpedlive legions. Afide of the tribunes were the pras-
fedli of the foreign troops, over againft their refpeftive
wings; and behind thefe were the lodgments of the
evocati, then thofe of-the extraordinarii and ablefti
equites, which concluded the higher part of the camp.
Between the two partitions was a fpot of ground called
prinapia, for the altars and images of the gods, and
probably alfo for the chief enfigns. The middle of the
lower partition was affignedtothe Roman horfe 5 next
to them were quartered the triarii; then the principes,
and clofe by them the haftati; afterwards the fsreign
horfe, and laftly the foreign foot. They fortified
their camp with a ditch and parapet, which they term-
ed fofft and vallum ; in the latter1 fome diftinguifh two
parts viz. the agger or earth, and the fudes or wooden
flakes driven in to fecure it. The camps were fome¬
times furrounded by walls made of hewn Hone; and
the tents themfelves formed of the fame matter.
In the front of the Turkilh camp are quartered the
janizaries and other foot, whofe tents encompafs their
-aga: in the rear are the quarters of the fpahis and
other horfemen. The body of the camp is pofleffed by
the {lately tents or pavilions of the vizer or general,
rais effendi or chancellor, kahija or fteward, the tefter-
dar balbayv or lord treafurer, and kapiflar kahiafee or
mailer
CAM [ 65 ] C A M
Camp tnafter oF the Ceremonies. In the middle of thefe tents
II . is a fpacious field, wherein are ere&ed a building' for
Campaign. ^ d;van> an(1 a hafna or treafury. When the ground
is marked out for a camp, all wait for the pitching of
the tent lailac, the place where the courts of juftice
are held ; it being the difpofition of this that is to re¬
gulate all the reft.
The Arabs ftill live in camps, as the ancient Scenites
did. The camp of the Aflyne Emir, or king of the
country about Tadmor, is defcribed by a traveller who
viewed it, as fpread over a very large plain, and pof-
fefiing fo vaft a fpace, that though he had the ad¬
vantage of a rifing ground, he could not fee the
utmoft extent of it. His own tent was near the mid¬
dle ; fcarce diftinguiftiable from the reft, except that
it was bigger, being made, like the others, of a fort of
hair-cloth.
Camp, is alfo ufed by the Siamefe, and fome other
nations in the Eaft Indies, as the name of the quarters
which they afiign to foreigners who come to trade with
them. In thefe camps, every.nation forms, as it were,
a particular town, where they carry on all their trade,
not only keeping all their warehoufes and Ihops there,
but alfo live in thefe camps with their whole families.
The Europeans, however, are fo far indulged, that at
Siam, and almoft every where elfe, they may live either
in the cities or fuburbs, as they ftiall judge moft con¬
venient.
Camt fight, or Kamp fight, in law writers, denotes
the trial of a caufe by duel, or a legal combat of two
champions in the field, for decifion of fome contro-
verfy.
In the trial by camp fight, the accufer was, with
the peril of his own body, to prove the accufed guilty;
and by offering him his glove, to challenge him to
this trial, which the other mull either accept of, or ac¬
knowledge himfelf guilty of the crime whereof he was
accufed.
If it were a crime deferving death, the camp fight
was for life and death : if the offence deferved only
imprifonment, the camp fight was accomplifhed when
one combatant had fubdued the other, fo as either to
make him yield or take him prifoner. The accufed
had liberty to choofe another to fight in his Head, but
the accufer was obliged to perform it in his own per-
fon, and with equality of weapons. No women were
permitted to be fpeftators, nor men under the age of
thirteen. The prieft and the people who looked on,
were engaged filently in prayer, that the vi&ory might
fall to him who had right. None might cry, Khriek,
or give the leaft fign ; which in fome places was exe¬
cuted with fo much ftriftnefs, that the executioner flood
ready with an axe to cut off the right hand or foot of
the party that fliould offend herein.
He that, being wounded, yielded himfelf, w’as at the
other’s mercy either to be killed or fuffered to live. But
if life were granted him, he was declared infamous by
the judge, and difabled from ever bearing arms, or ri¬
ding on horfeback.
CAMPAGNA. See Campania.
CAMPAIGN, in the art of war, denotes the fpace
of time that an army keeps the field, or is encamped.—
The beginning of every campaign is confiderably more
unhealthy than if the men were to remain in quarters.
After the firft fortnight or three weeks encampment,
yon. IV. Part. I. -
the ficknefs decreafes daily ; the moft infirm being by ^al’anacc!R
that time in the hofpitals, and the weather daily grow- H .
ing warmer. This healthy ftate continues throughout talrfan*a"
the fummer, unlefs the men get wet clothes or wet
beds ; in which cafe, a greater or lefs degree of the dy-
fentery will appear in proportion to the preceding
heats. But the moft fickly part of the campaign begins
about the middle or end of Auguft, whilft the days are
ftill hot, but the nights cool and damp, with fogs and
dews: then, and not fooner, the dyfentery prevails;
and though its violence is over by the beginning of
Odlober, yet the remitting fever gaining ground, con¬
tinues throughout the reft of the campaign, and never
entirely ceafes, even in winter-quarteis, till the frofts
begin. At the beginning of a campaign the ficknefs is
fo uniform, that the number may be nearly predi&ed
but for the reft of the feafon, as the difeafes are then
of a contagious nature, and depend fo much upon the
heats of fummer, it is impoffible to forefee how many
may fall fick from the beginning to the end of autumn.
It is alfo obferved, that the laft fortnight of a cam¬
paign, if protrafted till the beginning of a campaign,
is attended with more ficknefs than the firft two months-
encampment: fo that it is better to take the field a
fortnight fooner, in order to return into winter-quar¬
ters fo much the earlier. As to winter expeditions,
though fevere in appearance, fhey are attended with
little ficknefs, if the men have ftrong ftioes, quarters,
fuel, and provifions. Long marches in fummer are
not without danger, unlefs made in the night, or fo
early in the morning as to be over before the heat of
the day.
CAMPANACEiE, in botany, an order of plantsin * ®cc ^°m
the Fragmenta methodi naturalis of Linnaeus, in which
are the following genera, viz. convolvulus, ipomaea,
polemonium, campanula, roelhi, viola, &c. *
CAMPANELLA (Thomas,) a famous Italian
philofopher, born at Stilo in Calabria, in 1568.
He dillinguiflied himfelf by his early proficiency in
learning ; for at the age of 13 he was 2. perfeft matter
of the ancient orators and poets. His peculiar inclina¬
tion was to philofbphy, to which he at laft confined
his whole time and ftudy. In order to arrive at truth,
he ftiook off the yoke of authority; by which means
the novelty of fome of his opinions expofed him to
many inconveniences ; for at Naples he was thrown
into prifon, in which he remained 27 years, and du¬
ring this confinement wrote his famous work entitled
Athelfvms triumphatus. Being at length fet at liberty,
he went to Paris, where he was gracioudy received by
Louis XIII. and cardinal Richelieu ; the latter pro¬
cured him a penfion of 2000 livres, and often confulted
him on the affairs of Italy. Campanella paffed the re¬
mainder of his days in a monaftery of Dominicans at
Paris, and died in 1639.
CAMPANI (Matthew) of Spoletto, curate at
Rome, wrote a curious treatife on the art of cutting
glaffes for fpeftacles, and made feveral improvements
in optics, affiiled by his brother and pupil Jofeph. He
died after 1678.
CAMPANIA,a town of Italy, in the kingdom of
Naples, and in the farther principato, with a bifhop’s
fee. E. Long. 15. 30. N. Lat. 4c. 40.
Campania or Campagna di Roma, anciently La-
timn, a province of Italy, bounded on the weft by the
I Tiber
CAM r 66 1 CAM
Campania. Tiber and tbe fea, on the fouth-weft by the fea, on the
1 v ’ fouth by Terra di Lavoro, on the eaft by Abruzzo,
and on the north by Sabina. Though the foil is good,
it produces little or nothing, on account of the heavy
duties on corn ; and though the waters are good, the
air is unwholefome. It is fubjeft to the Pope, and is
about 6o miles in length on the Mediterranean fea.
It hath been generally thought that the air of this
Country hath fomething in it peculiarly noxious du¬
ring the furiimer-time; but Mr Condamine is of opinion
that it is not more unhealthy than any other marfhy
country. His account follows. “ It was after the in-
vafion of the Goths in the fifth and fixth centuries that
this corruption of the air began to manifeft itfelf. The
bed of the Tiber being covered by the accumulated
ruins of the edifices of ancient Rome, could not but
raife itfelf confiderably. But what permits us not to
doubt of this faft is, that the ancient and well-preferved
pavement of the Pantheon and its portico is overflowed
every winter; that the water even rifes there fometimes
to the height of eight or ten feet ; and that it is not
pofiible to fuppofe that the ancient Romans fliould
have built a temple in a place fo low as to be covered
with the waters of the Tiber on the leaft inundation.
It is evident, then, that the level of the bed of this river
is railed feveral feet; which could not have happened
without forming there a kind of dikes or bars. The
choaking up of its canal neceflarily occafioned the over¬
flow and reflux of its waters in fuch places as till then
had not been fubjeft to inundations: to thefe over¬
flowings of the Tiber were added all the waters that
efcaped out of the ancient acquedufts, the ruins of which
are ftill to be feen, and which were entirely broken and
deftroyed by Totila. What need, therefore, of any
thing more to infedt the air, in a hot climate, than the
exhalations of fuch a mafs of ftagnating waters, depri¬
ved of any difcharge, and become the receptacle of a
thoufand impurities, as well as the grave of feveral mil¬
lions both of men and animals ? The evil could not but
incre'afe from the fame caufes while Rome was expofed
to the incurfions and devaftions of the Lombards, the
Normans, and the Saracens, which lafted for feveral
centuries. The air was become fo infe&ious there at
the beginning of the 13th century, that Pope Inno¬
cent III. wrote, that few people at Rome arrived to
the age of forty years, and that nothing was more
uncommon there than to fee a perfon of fixty. A very
fhort time after, the popes transferred the feat of their
refidence to Avignon: during the feventy-two years
they remained there, Rome became a defert; the mo-
r.afteries in it were converted into ftables; and Gre¬
gory XI. on his return to Rome, in 1376, hardly
counted there 30,000 inhabitants. At his death began
the troubles of the great fchifm in the weft, which con¬
tinued for upwards of 50 years. Martin V. in whom
this fchifm ended in the year 1429, and his firft fuccef-
fors, were able to make but feeble efforts againft fo in-:
veterate an evil. It was not till the beginning of the
16th century that Leo X. under whom Rome began to
refume her wonted fplendor, gave himfelf fome trouble
about re-eftablifhing the falubrity of the air: but the
city, being fhortly after befieged twice fucceffively by
the emperor Charles V. faw itfelf plunged again into
all its old calamities; and from 85,000 inhabitants,
which it contained under Leo X. it was reduced under
Clement VIII. to 32,000. In fhort, it is only fince the Campart¬
time of Pius V. and Sextus V. at the end of the 16th f°rm
century, that the popes have conftantly employed the £am
neceffary methods for purifying the air of Rome and ^
its environs, by procuring proper difcharges for the
waters, drying up the humid and marfhy grounds, and
covering the banks of the Tiber and other places repu¬
ted uninhabitable with fuperb edifices. Since that time
a perfon may dwell at Rome, and go in or out of if at
all feafons of the year. At the beginning, however, of
the prefent century, they were ftill afraid to lie out of
the city in fummer, when they had refided there; as-
they were alfo to return to it, when once they had
quitted it. They never ventured to fleep at Rome, even
in broad day, in any other houfe than their own.
They are greatly relaxed at prefent from thefe ancient
fcruples: I have feen cardinals, in the months of July
and Auguft, go from Rome to lie at Frafcati, Tivoli,
Albano, &c. and return the next or the following days
to the city, without any detriment to their health : I
have myfelf tried all thefe experiments, without fuffer-
ing the leaft inconvenience from them : we have even
feen, in the laft war in Italy, two armies encamped
under the walls of Rome at the time when the heats
were moft violent. Yet, notwithftanding all this, the
greater part of the country people dare not ftill ven¬
ture to lie during that feafon of the year, nor even as
much as fleep in a carriage, in any part of the terri¬
tory comprehended under the name of the Campagna of
Rome.,>
CAMPANIFORM, or Campanulated, an appel¬
lation given to flowers refembling a bell.
CAMPANINI, a name given to an Italian marble
dug out of the mountains of Carrara, beeaufe, when it
is worked, it founds like a bell.
CAMPANULA, or bell-flower; A genus of
the monogynia order, belonging to the pentandria
clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking
under the 29th order, Campanacea. The corolla i»
campanulated, with its fundus clofed up by the valves
that fupport the ftamina; the ftigma is trifid; the cap-
fule inferior, or below the receptacle of the flower,
opening and emitting the feeds bylateral pores.
Species. Of this genus there are no fewer than 41
fpecies enumerated by botanical writers ; but the fol¬
lowing are the moft worthy of attention. 1. The pyra-
midalis hath thick tuberous roots filled with a milky
juice; it fends out ftrong, fmooth, upright ftalks,
which rife to the height of four feet, garnifhed with-
fmooth oblong leaves a little indented at the edges-
The flowers are produced from the fide of the ftalksr
and are regularly fet on for more than half their length,
forming a fort of pyramid ; thefe are large, open, and'
ftiaped like a bell. The moft common colour of the
flowers is blue, though fome are white, but the former
aremoft efteemed. 2. The decurrens, or peach-leaved*
bell-flower, is a native of the northern parts of Europe :•
of this there are fome with white, and fbme with blue
flowers, and fome with double flowers of both colours.
Thefe laft have of late been propagated in fuch abun¬
dance as to have almoft ban!(bed from the gardens
thofe with Angle flowers. 3. The medium, commonly-
called Canterbury bell-flower, is a biennial plant, which
psrifttes foon after it has ripened its feeds. It grows
naturally in the woods of Italy and Auftria; but is
eul—
CAM [ 67 ] CAM
Campsnifla, cultivated in the Britifh gardens for the beauty of its
v flowers, which are blue, purple, white, and ftriped, with
double flowers of all the colours. This fpecies hath ob¬
long, rough, hairy, leaves, i'errated on their edges :
from the centre of thefe rifes a ftiff, hairy, furrowed
ftalk, about two feet high, fending out feveral lateral
branches, garniihed with long, narrow, hairy leaves
fawed on their edges. From the fetting on of thefe
leaves proceed the footftalks of the flower; thofe which
are on the lower part of the ftalk and branches dimi-
nifhing gradually in their length upward, and thereby
forming a fort of pyramid. The flowers of this kind
are very large, fo make a fine appearance. The feeds
ripen in September, and the plants decay foon after.
4. The trachelium, with nettle leaves, hath a peren¬
nial root, which fends up feveral ftiff hairy, ftalks ha¬
ving two ribs or angles. Thefe put out a few fhort
fide-branches, garniflied with oblong hairy leaves deep¬
ly fawed on their edges. Toward the upper part of
the ftalks, the flowers come out alternately upon
fhort trifid foot-ftalks having hairy empalements.
The colours of the flowers are a deep and a pale blue
and white, with double flowers of the fame; the double-
flowered kind only merit a place in gardens. 5. The
latifolia, or greateft bell-flower, hath a perennial root,
compofed of many flefhy fibres that abound with a
milky juice. From thefe arife feveral ftrong, round
Angle ftalks, which never put out branches, but are
garnifhed with oval fpear-fhaped leaves (lightly indent¬
ed on their edges. Towards the upper part of the ftalk
the flowers come out fingly upon fhort foot-ftalks;
their colours are blue, purple, and white. 6. The
rapunculus, or rampion, hath roundifh flefhy roots,
which are eatable, and much cultivated in France for
fallads ; fome years paft it was cultivated in the Eng-
lifh gardens for the fame purpofe, but is now general¬
ly neglected. It is a native of Britain ; but the roots
of the wild fort never grow to half the fize of thofe
which are cultivated. 7. The fpeculum, with yellow
-eye-bright leaves, is an annual plant with (lender ftalks
rifing a foot high, branching out on every fide, and
garniflied with oblong leaves a little curled on their
edges ; from the wings of the leaves come out the
flowers fitting clofe to the ftalks, which are of a beau¬
tiful purple inclining to a violet colour. In the even¬
ing, they contract and fold into a pentagonal figure ;
from whence it is by fome called viola pentagonia, or
Jive-cornered violet. 8. The hybrida, or common Venus
looking-glafs. This feldom rifes more than fix inches
high, with a ftalk branching from the bottom upward,
and garnifhed with oval leaves fitting clofe to the
ftalks, from the bafe of which the branches are pro¬
duced, which are terminated by flowers very like the
former fort. This was formerly cultivated in the gar¬
dens: but fince the former kind hath been introduced,
it hath almoft fupplanted this; for the other is a much
taller plant, and the flowers larger, though of a lefs
beautiful colour. 9. The canarienfis, with an orach
leaf and tuberous root, is a native of the Canary iflands.
It hath a thick flefhy root of an irregular form; fome-
times running downward like a parfnip, at other times
dividing into feveral knobs near the top ; and when
any part of the root is broken, there iffues out a milky
juice at the wound. From the head or crown of the
^oot arife one, two, three, or more ftalks, in propor¬
tion to the fize of the root; but that in the centre xsCampamijaV
generally larger, and rifes higher, than the others. *
Thefe ttalks are very tender, round, and of a pale
green; their joints are far diftant from each other; and
when the roots are ftrong, the ftalks will rife to ten
feet high, fending out feveral lateral branches. At
each joint they are garnifhed with two, three, or four
fpear-fhaped leaves, with a (harp pointed beard on each
fide. They are of a fea-green ; and, when they firft
come out, are covered (lightly with an afh-coloured
pounce. From the joints of the ftalk the flowers are
produced, which are of the perfe£l bell-fhape, and
hang downward; they are of a flame-colour, marked
with ftripes of a brownifh red : the flower is divided
into five parts ; at the bottom of each is feated a nec-
tarium, covered with a white tranfparent fkin, much
refembling thofe of the crown imperial, but finaller.
The flowers begin to open in the beginning of O6I0-
ber, and there is often a fucceffion of them till March.
The ftalks decay to the root in June, and new ones
fpring up in Auguft.
Culture, &c. The firft fort is cultivated to adorn
halls, and to place before chimnies in the fummer when
it is in flower, for which purpofe there is no plant more
proper; for when the roots are ftrong, they will fend
out four or five ftalks which will rife as many feet
high, and are adorned with flowers a great part of their
length. When the flowers begin to open, the pots are
removed into the rooms, where, being (haded from the
fun and rain, the flowers will continue long in beauty;
and if the pots are every night removed into a more
airy fituation, but not expofed to heavy rains, the
flowers will be fairer, and continue much longer in
beauty. Thofe plants which are thus treated, are fel¬
dom fit for the purpofe the following feafon; therefore
a fupply of young ones muft be annually raifed. The
plant may be propagated either by dividing the roots
or by feeds, but the latter produce the moft vigorous
and beft flowering plants. The feeds muft be fown in
autumn in boxes or pots filled with light undunged
earth, and placed in the open air till the froft or hard
rains come on : then they muft be placed under a hot¬
bed frame, where they may be fheltered from both ;
but in mild weather the glaffes fhould be drawn off
every day, that they may enjoy the free air: with this
management the plants will come up early in the fpring,
and then they muft be removed out of the frame, pla¬
cing them firlt in a warm fituation; but, when the
feafon becomes warm, they fliould be fo placed as to
have the morning fun only. In September the leaves
of the plants will begin to decay, at which time they
fhould be tranfplanted; therefore there muft be one or
two beds' prepared, in proportion to the number of
plants. Thefe beds muft be in a warm fituation, and
the earth light, fandy, and without any mixture of
dung. The plants muft then be taken out of the
pots or cafes very carefully, fo as not to bruife their
roots; for they are very tender, and on being broken
the milky juice will flow out plentifully, which will
greatly weaken them. Thefe fhould be planted at a-
bout fix inches diftance each way, with the head or
crown of the root half an inch below the furface. If'
the feafon proves dry, they muft be gently watered
three or four days after they are planted; the beds
fhould alfo be covered with mats in the day time, but
i 2 which
CAM
Cimpanute. which fliould be taken off at night to let the dew fall
^ on the plants. Towards the end of November the beds
Ihould be covered over with fome old tanners bark to
keep out the frott; and where there is not conveniency
for covering them with frames, they ftiould be arched
over with hoops, that in fevere weather they may be
covered with mats. In the fpring the mats muft be re¬
moved, and, the following fummer, the plants kept
free from weeds. In autumn the earth fhould be ftirred
between them, fome frefh earth fpread over the beds,
and the plants covered in winter as before. In thefe
beds the plants may remain two years, during which
time they are to be treated in the manner before direc¬
ted. The roots will now be ftrong enough to flower;
fo, in September they ihould be carefully taken up, and
fome of the molt promifing carefully planted in pots;
the others may be planted in warm borders, or in a frelh
bed, at a greater diftance than before, to allow them
room to grow. Thofe plants which are potted fliould
be flickered in winter from great rains and hard frofts,
otherwife they will be in danger of rotting, or at leaft
will be fo weakened as not to flower with any ftrength
the following fummer;, and thofe which are planted in
the full ground, fhould have fome old tanners bark laid
round them to prevent the froft from getting at the
roots. The fecond, third, fourth, and fifth forts are
fo eaiily propagated by parting the roots, or by feeds,
that no particular directions for their culture need be
given. The fixth fort, which is cultivated for its efcu-
lent roots, may be propagated by feeds, which are to
be fown in a fhady border ; and when the plants are a-
bout an inch high, the ground fhall be hoed as is
pradlifed for onions, to cut up the weeds, and thin the
plants, to the diftance of three or four inches; and
when the weeds come up again they mult be hoed over
fo deftroy them : this, if well performed in dry wea¬
ther, will make the ground clean for a long time ; fo
that, being three times repeated, it will keep the plants
clean till winter, which is the feiifon for eating the
roots, when they may be taken up for ufe as wanted.
They will continue good till April, at which time
they fend out their (talks, when the roots become hard
and unfit for ufe.—The feventh and eighth forts are
eafily propagated by feeds, which they produce in plen¬
ty. If thefe, and the Venus navelwort, dwarf lych¬
nis, candy-tuft, and other low annual flowers, are pro¬
perly mixed in the border of the flower-garden, and
fown at two or three different feafons, fo as to have a
fucceffion of them in flower, they will make an agree¬
able variety. If thefe feeds are fown in autumn, the
plants will flower early in the fpring; but if fown in the
fpring, they will not flower till the middle of June ;
and if a third flowing is performed about the middle of
May, the plants will flower in Auguft; but from thefe,
good feeds muft not be expefted.—The ninth fort is
propagated by parting the roots, which muft be done
with caution : for if they are broken or wounded, the
milky juice will flow out plentifully; and if planted be¬
fore the wounds are fkinned over, it occalions their
rotting: therefore when any of them are broken, they
(hould be laid in the green-houfe a few days to heal.
Thefe roots muft not be too often parted, if they are
expedled to flower well; for by this means they are
weakened. The beft time for tranfplanting and part¬
ing their roots is in July, foon after the (talks are de-
C A M
cayed. They muft not be planted in rich earth, other- Campbell.
wife they will be very luxuriant in branches, and have  v
but few flowers. They fucceed beft in a light fandy
loam, mixed with a fourth part of fcreened lime-rub-
bi(h : when the roots are firft planted the pots (houli
be placed in the (hade, and unlefs the feafon is very dry
they (hould not be watered ; for during the time they
are inadtive, wet is very injurious to them. About
the middle of Auguft, the roots will begin to put out
fibres ; at which time, if the pots are placed under a
hot-bed frame, and, as the nights grow cool, covered
with the glaffes, but Opened every day to enjoy the free
air, it will greatly forward them for flowering, and in
creafe their ftrength: when the (talks appear, they
muft be now and then refrefhed with water; but it
muft not be given too often, nor in too great quantity.
The plants thus managed, by the middle of Septem¬
ber will have grown fo tall as not to be kept any
longer under the glafs frame; they muft, therefore, be
removed iato a dry airy glafs-cafe, where they may en¬
joy the free air in mild weather, but fcreened from the
cold. During the winter feafon they muft be fre¬
quently refrelhed with water, and guarded from froft;
and, in the-fpring, when the (talks begin to decay,
the pots (hould be let abroad in the (hade, and not wa¬
tered.
CAMPBELL (Archibald), earl and marquis of
Argyle,. was the fon of Archibald earl of Argyle, by
the lady Anne Douglafs, daughter of William earl of
Morton. He was born in the year 1598 ; and edu¬
cated in the profelfion of the Proteftant religion, ac- •
cording to the ftridteft rules of the church of Scotland,
as it was eftabliftied immediately after the reformation.
During the commonwealth he was induced to fubmit to
its authority. Upon the reftoration, he was tried for
his compliance; a crime common to him with the whole
nation, and fuch a one as the moft loyal and affec¬
tionate fubject might frequently by violence be induced
to commit. To make this compliance appear the
more voluntary and hearty, there were produced in
court letters which he had wrote to Albemarle, while
that general governed Scotland, and which contained
expreffions of the moft cordial attachment to the efta-
blifhed government. But, befides the general indig
nation excited by Albermarle’s difcovery of this private
correfpondence, men thought, that even the higheft
demonftrations of affedlion might, during jealous times,
be exadled as. a neceffary mark of compliance from a
perfon of fuch diftinftion as Argyle; and could not, by
any equitable conftru&ion, imply the crime of trea-
fon. The parhament, however, fcrupled not to pafs
fentence upon him, and he fuffered with great conftan-
cy and courage.
Campbell (Archibald), earl of Argyle, fon to the
former, had from bis youth diilinguifhed himfelf by his
loyalty and his attachment to the royal family. Tho’
his father was head of the covenanters, he himfelf re-
fufed to concur in any of their meafures; and when a
commiflion of colonel was given him by the convention
of dates, he forbore to aft upon it till it (hoidd be ra¬
tified by the king. By his refpeftful behaviour, as well
as by his fervices, he made himfelf acceptable to Charles
when that prince was in Scotland and even after the
battle of Worcefter, all the misfortunes which attended
the royal caufe could not engage him to defertit. Un-
t 68 ]
CAM [ 69 1 CAM
(pampbell. Jer Middeton he obitinately perfevered to harafs and
infell the viclorious Engliih; and it was not till he re¬
ceived orders from that general, that he would fubmit
to accept of a capitulation. Such jealoufy of his loyal
attachments was entertained by the commonwealth and
protector, that a pretence was foon after fallen upon to
commit him to prifon; and his confinement was rigo-
roufiy continued till the reftoration. The king, fen-
fible of his fervices, had remitted to him his father’s
forfeiture, and created him earl of Argyle ; and when
a moll unjuft fentence was pafled upon him by the Scots
parliament, Charles had anew remitted it. In the fub-
fequent part of this reign Argyle behaved himfelf du¬
tifully ; and though he feemed not difpofed to go all
lengths with the court, he always appeared, even in his
op jofition, a man of mild difpolitions and peaceable
deportment.
A parliament was fummoned at Edinburgh in fum-
mer 1681, and the duke was appointed commiffioner.
Befides granting money to the king, and voting the
hvdefeafible right of fuccefiion, this parliament enacted
a tell, which all perfons poffeffed of offices, civil, mili¬
tary, or ecelefiaftical, were bound to take. In this teft
the king’s fupremacy was afferted, the covenant renoun¬
ced, paffive obedience affented to, and all obligations
dilclaimed of endeavouring any alteration in civil or ec-
clefiaftical eftabliftiments. This was the Hate of the
teft as propofed by the courtiers; but the country par¬
ty propofed alfo a claufe of adherence to the Proteftant
religion, which could not with decency be rejected.
The whole was of an enormous length, confidered as
an oath ; and, what was worfe, a confeffion of faith
was there ratified which had been impofed a little after
the reformation, and which contained many articles
altogether forged by the parliament and nation. A-
mong others, the doftrine of refiftance was inculcated;
!o that the teft being voted in a hurry, was found on
examination to be a medley of abfurdity and contra-
diftion. Though the courtiers could not reject the
claufe of adhering to the Proteftant religion, they
propofed, as a requifite mark of refpedt, that all princes
of the blood fhould be exempted from taking that
oath. This exception was zcaloufly oppofed by Ar¬
gyle ; who obferved that the foie danger to be dreaded
for the Proteftant religion muft proceed from the
perverfion of the royal family. By infilling on fuch
topics, he drew on himfelf the fecret indignation of
the duke of York, of which be foon felt the fatal con-
fequences.
When Argyle took the teft as a privy counfellor, he
fubjoined, in-the duke’s prefence, an explanation which
he had before hand communicated to that prince, and
which he believed to have been approved by him. It
was in thefe words. “ I have confidered the teft, and
am very defirous of giving obedience as far as I can. I
am confident that-the parliament never intended to im-
pofe contradiftory oaths: therefore I think no man can
explain it but for himfelf. Accordingly I take it as far
as it is confiftent with itfelf and the Proteftant reli¬
gion. And 1 do declare that I mean not to bind my>
felf, in my ftation, and in a lawful way, from wishing^
and endeavouring any alteration, which I think to the
advantage of church or ftate, and not repugnant to the
Proteftant religion and my loyalty: and this I under-
ftand as a part of my oath.” The duke, as was natural.
heard it with great tranquillity: no one took the leaft Campbell,
offence : Argyle was admitted to fit that day in coun- v-—*
cil: and it was impoffible to imagine that a capital of¬
fence had been committed where occafion feemed not
to have been given fo much as for a frown or repri¬
mand.
Argyle was much furprifed a few days after, to find
that a warrant was iffued for committing him to pri¬
fon ; that he was indidted for high treafon, leafing-
making, and perjury; and that from the innocent words
abovementioned an accufation was extracted, by which
he was to forfeit life, honours, and fortune. It is nted-
lefs to enter into particulars, where the iniquity of the
whole is fo evidently apparent. Though the fword of
juftice was difplayed, even her femblance was not put
on ; and the forms of law were preferved to fandtify,
or rather aggravate, the oppreffion. Of five judges,
three did not fcruple to find the guilt of treafon and
leafing-making to be incurred by the prifoner: a jury
of 15 noblemen gave verdidt againft him; and the king
being confulted, ordered the fentence to be pronounced,
but the execution of it to be impended till further
orders. Argyle, however, faw no reafon to truft to
the juftice or mercy of fuch enemies: He made his e-
fcape from prifon, and till he could find a /hip for Hol¬
land he concealed himfelf during fome time in London.
The king heard of his lurking place, but would not
fuffer him to be arretted. All the parts, however, of
his fentence, fo far as the government in Scotland had
power, were rigoroufiy executed ; hiseftate confifcated,
his arms reverfed and torn. Having got over to Hol¬
land, he remained there during the remaining part of
the reign of Charles II. But thinking himfelf at li¬
berty, before the coronation of James II. to exert him¬
felf in order to recover the conftitution by force of arms,
he concerted meafures with the duke of Monmouth,
and went into Scotland, to affemble his friends : but
not meeting with the fuccefshe expedkd, he was taken
ptifoner ; and being carried to Edinburgh, was be¬
headed upon his former unjuft fentence, June 30, i68j\
He /bowed great conftancy and courage under his mii-
fortunes : on the day of his death he ate his dinner very
cheerfully : and, according to cuftom, llept after it
a quarter of an hour or more, very foundly. At the
place of execution, he made a fhort, grave, and religious
fpeech; and, after folemnly declaring that he for¬
gave all his enemies, fubmitted to death with great
firmnefs.
Campbell (Archibald), firft duke of Argyle, fon
to the preceding, was an adtive promoter of the re¬
volution. He came over with the Prince of Orange;
was admitted into the convention as Earl of Argyle, tho’
his father’s attainder was not reverfed ; and in the claim
of rights the fentence againft him was declared to be,
what mo ft certainly it was, a reproach upon the nation.
The eilablilhment of the crown upon the Prince and
Princefs of Orange being carried by a great majority
in the Scotti/h convention, the eari was fent from the
nobility, with Sir James Montgomery and Sir John
Dalrymple from the barons and boroughs, to ofter the
crown, in the name of the convention, to their Ma-
jellies, and tendered them the coronation oath ; for
which, and many other eminent fervices, he was ad¬
mitted a member of the privy council, and, in 1690,
made one of the Lorda of the Treafury. He was af¬
terwards
CAM [ 70 ] CAM
Campbell terwards made a colonel of the Scots horfe guards; and,
^     in 1694, one of the extraordinary Lords of Seffion,
He was likewife created Duke of Argyle, Marquis of
Kintyre and Lorn, Earl of Campbell and Cowell, Vif-
count of Lochow and Glengla, Lord Inverary, Mull,
Mbrvern, and Terrey, by letters-patent, bearing date
at Keftfmgton the 23d of June 1701. He lent over
a regiment to Flanders for king William’s fervice, the
officers of which were chiefly of his own name and fa¬
mily, who bravely diftinguifned themfelves through the
whole couffe »of the war. He married Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Lionel Talmafh of Helmingham in
the county of Suffolk, by Elizabeth duchefs of Lau¬
derdale his wife, daughter and heir of William Mur¬
ray earl of Dyfart, by whom he left iffue two fons and
a daughter; namely, John duke of Argyle, the fuhjedl
of the next ^article ; Archibald, who fucceeded his
brother as Duke.of Argyle ; and Lady Anne, mar¬
ried to James .Stuart, fecond earl of Bute, by whom fhe
■had the prefent earl.
Campbell (John), fecond duke of Argyle, andalfo
duke of Greenwich and baron of Chatham, fon to the
fubjeft of .the preceding article, was born on the xoth
of Odtober 1680; and, on the very day when his grand¬
father fuffered at Edinburgh, fell out of a window three
.pair of Hairs high without receiving any hurt. At
the age of i£, he had made a confiderable progrefs in
daffical learning. His father then perceived and en¬
couraged his militafy difpofition, and introduced him
to king William^ who in the*year 1694 gave him the
command of a regiment. In this fituation he remained
•till the death of his father in 1703 ; when becoming
duke of Argyle, he was foon after fworn of queen
Anne’s privy council, made captain of the Scotch horfe
guards, and appointed one of the extraordinary lords
of feffion. In 1704, her Majefty reviving the Scottiffi
order of the thiftle, his grace was inftalled one of the
knights of that order, and was foon after appointed
bigh-commiffioner to the Scotch parliament; where,
being of great fervice in promoting the intended union,
he was on his return created a peer of England, by the
titles of baron of Chatham and earl of Greenwich, and
in 1710 was made knight of the garter. His grace
firil diftinguifhed himfelf in his military capacity at the
battle of Oudenard; where he commanded as brigadier-
general, with all the bravery of youth and the con-
■du£t of a veteran officer. He was prefent under the
duke of Marlborough at the fiege of Ghent, and took
; poffeffion of the town. He had alfo a confxderable lhare
in the vi&ory obtained over the French at the battle of
- Malplaquet, by diflodging them from the wood of Sart,
and gaining a poll of great confequence. In this fharp
engagement, feveral mulket-balls paffed through the
duke’s clothes, hat, and peruke. Soon after this hot
aftion, he was fent to take the command in Spain ;
and after the reduction of Port Mahon, he returned to
England. His grace having now a feat in the houfe
of lords, he cenfured the meafures of the minillry with
fuch freedom, that all his places were difpofed of to
other noblemen : but at the acceffion of George I. he
recovered his influence. At the breaking out of the
rebellion in 1715, he was made commander in chief of
his majelly’s forces in North Britain ; and was the
principal means and caufe of the total extinction, at
that time, of .the rebellion in Scotland, without much
bloodffied. In direct oppofition to him, or that part of Campbell
the army he commanded, at the head of all his Camp-  
bells was placed Campbell earl of Braidalbin, of the
fame family and kindred, by fome. fatal error that
ever mifguided and milled that' unhappy family of»the
Stuarts and all its adherents. The confequence
was, that both fets of Campbells, from family affec¬
tion, refufed to ftrike a ftroke, and retired out of
the battle. He arrived at London March 6th 1716,
and was in high favour: but, to the furprife of peo¬
ple of all ranks, he was in a few months divelled of
all his employments; and from this period to the year
1718, he fignalized himfelf in a civil capacity, by his
uacorrupted patriotifm and manly eloquence. In the
beginning of the year 1719, he was again admitted
into favour, appointed lord-llewart of the houlhold,
and in April following was created duke of Green¬
wich. He continued in the adminiftration during all
the remaining part of that reign ; and, after his late
majefty’s acceffion, till April 1740 ; when he delivered
a fpeech with fuch warmth, that the minillry being
highly offended, he was again difmiffed from his em¬
ployments. Tothefe, however, on the change of the
minillry, he was foon reftored ; but not approving of
the meafures of the new minillry more than thofe of
the old, he gave up all his polls for the lall time, and
never after engaged in affairs of Hate. He now en¬
joyed privacy and retirement ; and died of a paralytic
diforder on. the 4th of O&ober 1743. To the me¬
mory of his grace a very noble monument was eredled
in Wellminller-Abbey, executed by the ingenious Rou-
billiac.
The duke of Argyle, though never firil miniller,
was a very able llatelman and politician, moll lleadily
fixed in thofe principles he believed to be right, and
not to be Ihaken or changed. His delicacy and ho¬
nour were fo great, that it hurt him to be even fuf-
pefled; witnefs that application faid to be made to
him by one of the adherents of the Stuart family be¬
fore the lall rebellion in order to gain his intereil,
which was confiderable both in Scotland and England.
He immediately fent the letter to the fecretary of Hate ;
and it vexed him much even to have an application
made him, leH any perfon Ihould think him capable of
afting a double part. When he thought meafures
wrong or corrupt, he cared not who was the author,
however great or powerful he might be ; witnefs his
boldly attacking the great duke of Marlborough in
the houfe of lords, about his forage and army con¬
trails in Flanders, in the very zenith of his power and
popularity, though in all other refpeils he was the
moll able general of his time. The duke of Argyle,
on all occafions, fpoke well, with a firm, manly, and
noble eloquence ; and feems to deferve the character
given of him by Pope :
Argyle the Hate’s whole thunder bom to wield.
And ffiake alike the fenate and the field.
In private life, the duke’s conduil was highly ex¬
emplary. . He was an affectionate hufband and an in¬
dulgent maffer. He feldom parted with his fervants
till age had rendered them incapable of their employ¬
ments ; and then he made provifion for their fubfiil-
ence. He was liberal to the poor, and particularly to
perfons of merit in diHrefs : but though he w;as ready
to patronize deferving perfons, he was extremely cau¬
tious
CAM [ ?i ] CAM
tious not to deceive any by lavifti promifes, or leading feffed confiderable parliameiitary abilities. He was Campbelf.
them to form vain expedtations. He was a ftridt ceco- likewife eminent for his Ikill in human nature, had v *
nomift, and paid his tradefmen pundtually every month; great talents for converfation, and had collefted
and though he maintained the dignity of his rank, he one of the moft valuable private libraries in Great Bri-
took care that no part of his income flrould be wafted tain. He built himfelf a very magnificent feat at In¬
in empty pomp or unnecdfary expences. He was verary. The faculties of his mind continued found
twice married; and left five daughters, but no male and vigorous till his death, which happened fiiddenly
iffue. The titles of duke and earl of Greenwich and on the 15th of April 1761, in the 79th year of his
baron of Chatham became extindft at his death ; but age. He was married, but had no iffue ; and was fuc-
in his other titles he was fucceeded by his brother Ar- ceeded in his titles and the eftates of the family by-
chibald earl of Ila, the fubjeft of the next article. John Campbell, fourth duke of Argyle, fon of the ho-
Campbell (Archibald), third Duke of Argyle, nourable John Campbell of Mammore, who was the fe-
brother to the fubjeft of the preceding article, was cond fon of Archibald the ninth earl of Argyle.
born at Hamhoufe, in England, in June 1682, and ' The family of Argyle was hertiable juftice-general
was educated ’at the Univerfity of Glafgow. He for Scotland till abolilhed by the jurifdidlion adl. They
afterwards applied himfelf to the ftudy of the law are ftill heritable mafters of the king’s houfhold in
at Utrecht; but, upon his father’s being created a Scotland, and keepers of Dunftaffnage and Carrick.
Duke, he betook himfelf to a military life, and CAMPBELL (John), an eminent hiftorical, bio-
ferved fome time under the duke of Marlborough, graphical, and political writer, was born at Edinburgh^
Upon quitting the army, in which he did not March 8, 1707-8. His father, Robert Campbell of
long remain, he applied to the acquifition of that Glenlyon, Efqi was captain of horfe in a regiment
knowledge which would enable him to make a commanded by the then earl of Hyndford ; and his
figure in the political world. In 1705, he was con- mother, Elizabeth, daughter of  Smith, Efq; of
ftituted treafurer of. Scotland, and made a confiderable Windfor in Berklhire, had the honour of claiming a
fi mre in Parliament, though he was not more than defcent from the poet Waller. Our author, their
twenty-three years of age. In 1706, he was appoint* fourth fon, was at the age of five years brought from
ed one of the commiflioners for treating of the Union $ Scotland to Windfor, where he received the firft prin-
and the fame year was created Lord Ornfay, Dunoon, ciples of his education ; and at a proper age, he was
and Arrois, Vifcount and Earl of May In 1708, he placed out as clerk to an attorney, being intended for
was made an extraordinary Lord of Sefiion ; and when the law. This profeflion, however, he never followed 5.
the Union was effe&ed, he was chofen one of the Six- but by a clofe application to the acquifition of know-
teen Peers for Scotland, in the firft Parliament of ledge of various kinds, became qualified to appear with
Great-Britain; and was conftantly elected to every fu- great advantage in the literary world. In 1736, be-
ture Parliament till his death, except the fourth. In fore he had completed his 30th year, he gave to the'
1710, he was made Juftice-General of Scotland. In public, in two volumes folio, “ The Military Hi-
1711, he was called to the privy council ; and upon ftory of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlbo-
the accefiion of George I. he was nominated lordregi- rough,” enriched with maps, plans, and cuts. The
fter of Scotland. When the rebellion broke out in reputation hence acquired, occafioned him. foon af-
1715, he again betook himfelf to arms, in defence of ter to be folicited to take a part in the “ Ancient
the houfe of Hanover, and by his prudent conduft in Univerfal Hiftory.” Whilft employed in this capital
the Weft Highlands, he prevented General Gordon, work, Mr Campbell found leifure to entertain the
at the head of three thoufand men, from penetrating world with other productions. In 1739, he publiftied
into the country, and railing levies. He afterwards the “ Travels and Adventures of Edward Brown,
joined his brother at Stirling, and was wounded at the Efq;” 8vo. In the fame year appeared his “ Me-
battle of Dumblain. In 1725, he was appointed keep- moirs of the Balhaw Duke de Ripperda,” 8vo, reprint-
er of the privy feal ; and, from this time, he was en- ed, with improvements, in 1743. Thefe memoirs werer
trufted with the management of Scottilh affairs. In followed, in 1741, by the “ Concife Hiftory of Spanilh
1734, upon his refigning the privy feal, he was made America,” 8vo. In 1742, he was the author of “ A
keeper of the great feal, which office he enjoyed till his Letter to a Friend in the Country, on the Publication-
death. Upon the deceafe of his brother, he became of Thurloe’s State Papers;” giving an account of their-
duke of Argyle, hereditary juftice general, lieutenant, difeovery, importance, and utility. The fame year
Iheriff, and commiffary of Argylelhire and the Weftern was diftinguilhed by the appearance of the ill and 2d
Ifles, hereditary great mafter of the houlhold, heredi- volumes of his “ Lives of the Englilh Admirals, and
tary keeper of Dunftaffnage, Carrick, and feveral other other eminent Britilh Seamen.” The two remaining'
caftles. He was alfo chancelor of the Univerfity of volumes were completed in 1744 ; and the whole, not
Aberdeen ; and laboured to promote the intereft of long after, was tranftated into German. This was the
that as well as of the other univerfities of Scotland, firft of Mr Campbell’s works to which he prefixed his*
He particularly encouraged the fchool of phyfic at name ; and it is a performance of great and acknow-
Edinburgh, which has now acquired fo high a reputa- ledged merit. In 1743, he publiffied “ Hermippus
tion. Having the chief management of Scotch affairs^ revived;” a fecond edition of which, much improved
he was alfo extremely attentive to promote the trade, and enlarged, came out in 1749, under the following
manufa&ures, and improvements of his country. It title: “ Hermippus Redivivus : or, the Sage’s Tri-
was by his advice that, after the rebellion in 1745, utnph over old Age and the Grave. Wherein a me -
the Highlanders were employed in the royal army. He thod is laid down for prolonging the life and vigour
was a man of great endowments both natural and ac- ofman. Including a Commentary upon an ancient
quired, well veiled in the laws of his country, and pof-'' Infcription, in which this, great fecret is revealed ;. fup-
I portedfc
CAM [7
Campbell ported by numerous authorities The whole interfper-
V——-J f£<j wjt^ a great variety of remarkable and well-atte'l-
ed relations.” This extraordinary tradl; had its origin
in a foreign publication ; but it was wrought up to
perfe&ion by the additional ingenuity and learning of
Mr Campbell. In 1744, he gave to the public in two
volumes folio, his “ Voyages and Travels,” on Dr
Harris’s plan, being a very diftinguilhed improvement
of that colleftion which had appeared in 1705, The
time and care employed by Mr Campbell in this im¬
portant undertaking, did not prevent his engaging in
another great work, the “ Biographia Britannica,”
which began to be publifhed in weekly numbers in
1 745, and extended to feven volumes folio ; but our
author’s articles were only in the firft four volumes ; of
which, Dr Kippis obferves, they conftinite the prime
merit.
When the late Mr Dodfley formed the defign of
“ The Preceptor,” which appeared in 1748, Mr
Campbell was to afiiil in the undertaking ; and the
parts written by him were the Introdudlion to Chro¬
nology, and the Difcourfe on Trade and Commerce,
both of which difplayed an extenlive fund of knowledge
upon thefe fubje&s In 1750, he publifhed the firft
feparate edition of his “ Prefent State of Europe a
work which had been originally begun in 1746, in the
“ Mufeum,” a very valuable periodical performance,
printed for Dodfley. There is no produdlion of our
author’s that hath met with a better reception. It
has gone through fix editions, and fully deferved this
encouragement. The next great undertaking which
called for the exertion of our author’s abilities and
learning, was “ The Modern Univerfal Hiftory.” This
extenfive work was publifhed, from time to time, in
detached parts, till it amounted to 16 volumes folio ;
and a fecond edition of it, in 8vo, began to make its
appearance in 1759. The parts of it written by Mr
Campbell were, the hiftories of the Portugueze, Dutch,
Spanifh, French, Swedifh, Danifh, and Oftend Set¬
tlements in the Eaft-Indies ; and the Hiftories of the
Kingdoms of Spain, Portugal, Algarve, Navarre, and
that of France, from Clovis to 1656. As our author
had thus diftinguifhed himfelf in the literary world, the
degree of LL.D. v/as very properly and honourably
conferred upon him, June 18, 1754, by the univerfity
of Glafgow.
His principal and favourite work was, “ A political
furvey of Great Britain,” 2 vol. 410, publifhed a fliort
time before his death ; in which the extent of his
knowledge, and his patriotic fpirit, are equally confpi-
cuous. Dr Campbell’s reputation was not confined to
his own country, but extended to the remoteft parts of
Europe. As a ftriking inftance of this, it may be
mentioned, that in the fpring of 1774, the emprefs of
Ruffia was pleafed to honour him with the prefent of
her pifture, drawn in the robes worn in that country
in the days of John Bafiliowitz, grand duke of Mufco-
vy, who was contemporary .with queen Elizabeth. To
manifeft the doftor’s fenfe of her imperial majefty’s
goodnefs, a fett of the “ Political Survey of Britain,”
bound in Morocco, highly ornamented, and accompa¬
nied with a letter deferiptive of the triumphs and feli¬
cities of her reign, was forwarded to St Peterfburg,
and conveyed into her hands by prince Orloff, who
bed refided fome months in this kingdom.
2 ] CAM
Dr Campbell in 1736 married Elizabeth, daughter Campbellij
of Benjamine Vobe, of Leominfter, in the county of Qam^e^
Hereford, gentleman, with whom he lived nearly 40
years in the greateft conjugal harmony and happinefs. 
So wholly did he dedicate his time to books, that he
feldom went abroad: but to relieve himfelf as much as
poffible from the inconveniences incident to a fedentary
life, it was his cuftom, when the weaiher would ad¬
mit, to walk in his garden ; or otherwife in fome room
of his houfe, by way of exercife. By this method,
united with the ftrifteft temperance in eating, and an
equal abftemioufnefs in drinking, he enjoyed a good
ftate of health, though his conftitution was delicate.
His domeftic manner of living did not preclude him
from a very extenfive and honourable acquaintance.
His houfe, efpecially on a Sunday evening, was the
refort of the moft diftinguifhed perfons of all ranks,
and particularly of fuch as had rendered themfelves e-
minent by their knowledge or love of literature. He
received foreigners, who were fond of learning, with
an affability and kindnefs which excited in them the
higheft refpeft and veneration; and his inftruftive and
cheerful converfation made him the delight of his
friends in general. He-was, during the latter part of
his life, agent for the province of' Georgia in North
America ; and died at the clofe of the year 1775, in
the 67th year of his age. The Doftor’s literary
knowledge was by no means confined to the fubjects
on which he more particularly treated as an author ;
he was well acquainted with the mathematics, and
had read much in medicine. It hath been with,
great reafon believed, that if he had dedicated his
.ftudies to the laft fcience, he would have made a
very confpicuous figure in the phyfical profef-
fion. He was eminently verfed in the different parts
of facred literature ; and his acquaintance with the
languages extended not only to the Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin among the ancient, and to the French, Ita¬
lian, Spanifh, Portuguefe, and Dutch, among the mo¬
dern ; but likewife to the Oriental tongues. He was
particularly fond of the Greek language. His attain¬
ment of fuch a variety of knowledge was exceedingly
aflifted by a memory furprifingly retentive, and which
indeed aftonifhed every perfon with whom he was con-
verfant. In communicating his ideas, he had an un¬
common readinefs and facility ; and the ftyle of his
works, which had been, formed upon the model of that
of the celebrated bifhop Sprat, was perfpicuous, eafy,
flowing, and harmonious. To all thefe accomplifh-
ments of the underftanding. Dr Campbell joined the
more important virtues of a moral and pious character.
His difpofition was gentle and humane, and his man¬
ners kind and obliging. He was the tendereft of huf-
bands, a moft indulgent parent, a kind mafter, a firm
and fincere friend. To his great Creator he paid the
confiant and ardent tribute of devotion, duty, and re¬
verence ; and in his correfpondences he fhowed that
fenfe of piety was always neareft his heart.
CAMPBELLTOWN, a parliament town of Ar-
gyle-fhire in Scotland# feated on the lough of Kilker-
ran, on the eaftern (bore of Kintyre or Cantyre, of
which it is the capital. It hath a good harbour ; and
is now a very coniiderable place, though within thefe
50 years only a petty fifhing town. It has in fiud;
been created by the fiftiery : for it was appointed the
5 place
CAM
t 73 1
CAM
Campden place of rendezvous for the bufles; and above 260 judgement, and'afiiduity. His fubjefts were landfcapes, Campian.
have been feen in the harbour at once. The inhabi-
aIfen Uy" tants are reckoned to be upwards of 8000 in number.
U—y—w W. Long. 5. 10. N. Lat. 54.
CAMPDEN, a fmall town of Gloucellerfhire in
England, containing about 200 houfes. It gives title
of Vifcount, by courtefy, to Earl of Gainfborough his
fon. W. Long. 1. 50. N. Lat. 52.
CAMPEACHY, a town of Mexico in South A-
merica, feated on the eaft coaft of a bay of the fame
name, on the weft of the province of Yucataro. It is
defended by a good wall and ftrong forts ; but is nei¬
ther fo rich, nor carries on fuch a trade, as formerly ;
it having been the port for the fale of logwood, the
place where it is cut being about 30 miles diftant. It
was taken by the Englifh in 1596 ; by the bucaneers
in 1678 ; and by the Flibufters of St Domingo in
1685, who fet it on fire and blew up the citadel. W.
Long. 93. 7. N. Lat. 19. 20.
Camtsachy-IVoo(1, in botany. See Htematoxylum.
CAMPEN, a ftrong town of Overyflel in the Uni¬
ted Provinces. It hath a citadel and a harbour ; but
the latter is almoft choked up with fand. It was ta¬
ken by the Dutch in 1578, and by the French in 1672;
but they abandoned it the following year. It is feated
near the mouth of the river Yffel and Zuider See. E.
Long. 5. 35. N. Lat. 52. 38.
CAMPESTRE, in antiquity, a fort of cover for
the privities, worn by the Roman foldiers in their field
exercifes ; being girt under the navel, and hanging
down to the knees. The name is fuppofed to be form¬
ed from campus, the field or place where the Roman
foldiers performed their exercifes.
CAMPHORA, or Camphire, a folid concrete
juice extrafted from the wood of the laurus comphora.
See Laukus, Chemistry, and Materia Medica.
Pure camphire is very white, pellucid, fomewhat
unftuous to the touch ; of a bitterifh aromatic tafte,
yet accompanied with a fenfe of coolnefs ; of a very
fragrant fmell, fomewhat like that of rofemary, but
much ftronger. It has been very long efteemed one of
the moft efficacious diaphoretics ; and has been cele¬
brated in fevers, malignant and epidemical diftempers.
In deliria, alfo, where opiates could not procure fleep,
but rather aggravated the fymptoms, this medicine has
often been obferved to procure it. All thefe effects,
moftly fmall, with ruinous buildings, huts of peafants, '
or views of villages on the banks of rivers, with boats
and hoys, and generally he reprefented them by moon¬
light. His pencil is remarkably tender and foft, his
colouring true nature and very tranfparent, and his ex-
pertnefs in perfpe&ive is feen in the proportional di-
ilances of his objects, which are excellently contrived,
and have a furprifmg degree of nature and truth. As
he left off painting at an age when others are fcarcely
qualified to commence artifts, few of his work are to
be met with, and they bring confiderable prices ; as
they cannot but give pleafure to the eye of every ob-
ferver. He painted his pi&ures with a thin body of
colour, but they are handled with fingular neatnefs
and fpirit. He practifed in his profeffion only till he
was 18 years of age, and being then recommended as
a tutor to the fons of the lord of Nieuport, he under¬
took the employment, and difcharged it with fo much
credit, that he was appointed fecretary to that noble¬
man. He excelled in drawing with a pen ; and the
defigns which he finiihed in that manner are exceed¬
ingly valued.
CAMPIAN (Edmund), an Englifh Jefuit, was bom
at London, of indigent parents, in the year 1540 ; and
educated at Chrift’s hofpital, where he had the honour
to fpeak an oration before queen Mary on her accef*
fion to the throne. He was admitted a fcholar of St
John’s college in Oxford at its foundation, and took
the degree of matter of arts in 1564. v About the fame
time he was ordained by a bifhop of the church of
England, and became an eloquent Proteftant preacher.
In 1566, when queen Elizabeth was entertained by
the univerfity of Oxford, he fpoke an elegant oration
before her majefty, and was alfo refpondent in the phi-
lofophy a£l in St Mary’s church. In 1568, he was
junior pro&o’r of the univerfity. In the following year,
he went over to Ireland, where he wrote a hiftory of
that kingdom, and turned papift ; but being found
rather too affiduous in perfuading others to follow his
example, he was committed to prifon. He foon, how¬
ever, found means to make his efcape. He landed in
England in 1571 ; and thence proceeded to Doway
in Flanders, where he publicly recanted his former he-
refy, and was created bachelor of divinity. He went
foon after to Rome, where, in 1573, he was admitted
however, Dr Cullen attributes to its fedative property, of the fociety of Jefus, and was fent by the general of
and denies that camphire has any other medicinal vir- that order to Vienna, where he wrote his tragedy cal-
tues than thofe of an antifpafmodic and fedative. He led NeBar et amlrqfia, which was a died before the em«
allows it to be very powerful, and capable of doing peror with great applaufe.
much good or much harm. From experiments made
on different brute creatures, camphire appears to be
poifonous to every one of them. In fome it produced
fleep followed by death, without any other fymptom.
In others, before death, they were awakened into con-
vulfions and rage. It feems, too, to a£l chiefly on
the ftomach ; for an entire piece fwallowed, produced
the abovementioned effedfs with very little diminution
of weight.
From Vienna he went to Prague in Bohemia, where
he refided in the Jefuita college about fix years, and
then returned to Rome. From thence, in 1580, he was
fent by Pope Gregory XIII. with the celebrated Father
Parfons, to convert the people of England. From Pitts
we learn, that, fome time before, feveral Engliffi priefts,
infpired by the Holy Ghoft, had undertaken to convert
their countrymen ; that 80 of thefe foreign feminaries,
befides feveral others who by God’s grace had been
CAMPHUYSEN, (Dirk Theodore Raphael), an converted in England, were actually engaged in the
eminent painter, was born at Gorcum in 1586. He
learned the art of painting from Diederic Govertze ;
and by a ftudious application to it, he very foon not
only equalled, but far furpaffed his matter. He had
an uncommon genius, and ftudied nature with care,
Vol. IV. Parti.
pious work with great fuccefs; that fome of them had
fuffered imprifonment, chains, tortures, and ignomini¬
ous death, with becoming conftancy and refolution :
but feeing at laft that the labour was abundant and
the labourers few, they folicited the affiftance of the
K Jefuits j
CAM [ 74 ] CAN
Jefuits; requefting, that though not early in the morn¬
ing, they would at leaft in the third, fixth, or ninth
hour, fend labourers into the Lord’s vineyard. In con-
fequence of this felicitation, the above two were fent
to England. • They arrived in an evil hour for Campian,
at Dover ; and were next day joyfully received by their
friends at London. He had not been long in England,
before Walfingham the fecretary of ftate, being in¬
formed of his uncommon affiduity in the caufe of the
church of Rome, ufed every means in his power to have
him apprehended, but for a long time without fuccefs.
However, he was at laft taken by one Elliot, a noted
priejl-taker, who found him in the houfe of Edward
Yates, Efq; at Lyford in Berkfhire, and conduced him
in triumph to London, with a paper on his hat, on
which was written Campian the Jefuit. He was im-
prifoned in the Tower; where, Wood fays, “ he did
undergo many examinations, abufes, wrackings, tor¬
tures exqulfififflmis cruciatibus tortus, fays Pitts. It
is hoped, for the credit of our reformers, this torturing
part of the ftory is not true. The poor wretch, how¬
ever, was condemned, on the ftatute 25 Ed. III. for
high treafon ; and butchered at Tyburn, with two or
three of his fraternity. Howfoever criminal in the eye
of the law, or of the Englifh gofpel, might be the zeal
of this Jefuit for the falvation of the poor heretics of
this kingdom, biographers of each perfuafion unite in
giving him a great and amiable chara&er. “ All wri¬
ters (fays the Oxford antiquary), whether Proteftants
or Popilh, fay, that he was a man of admirable parts;
an elegant orator, a fubtile philofopher and difputant,
and an exa£t preacher whether in Englifh or the Latin
tongue, of a fweet difpofition, and a well-polifhed
man.” Fuller, in his church-hiftory, fays, “ he was ct
a fweet nature, conftantly carrying about him the
charms of a plaufible behaviour, of a fluent tongue,
and good parts.” His Hiftory of Ireland, in two
books, was written in 1570; and publifhed, by Sir
James Ware, from a manufeript in the Cotton library,
Dublin, 1633, folio. He wrote alfo Chronologia uni-
verfalis, a very learned work ; and various other trafts.
CAMPICURSIO, in the ancient military art, a
march of armed men for feveral miles, from and back
again to the camp, to inftruft them in the military pace.
This exercife was nearly akin to the decurfio, from which
it only differed, in that the latter was performed by
horfemen, the former alfo by foot.
CAMPIDOCTORES, or CAMPiDucTOREs,in the
Roman army, were officers who inftrutted the foldiery
in the difeipline and exercifes of war, and the art of
handling their weapons to advantage. Thefe are alfo
fometimes called campigeni, and armidodores.
CAMPIDUCTOR, in middle-age writers, fignifies
the leader or commander of an army, or party.
CAMPION, in botany, the Englifh name of the
Lychnis.
Campion a town of the kingdom of Tanguth in
Tartary. It was formerly remarkable for being a
place through which the caravans pafl'ed in the road
from Bukharia to China. E. Long. 104. 53. N. Lat.
40. 25.
CAMPISTRON, a celebrated French dramatic
author, was born in 1656. Racine directed his poe¬
tical talents to the theatre, and affifted him in his firft
pieces. He died in 1723.
CAMPITjE, in church hiftory, an appellation gi¬
ven to the donatifts, on account of their affembling in
the fields for want of churches. For a fimilar reafon,
they were alfo denominated Montenfes and Rupitani.
CAMPLI, or Campoli, a town of Italy, in the
kingdom of Naples, and in the farther Abruzzo, fitu-
ated in E. Lqng. 13. 55. N. Lat. 42. 38.
CAMPO major, a town of the province of Alen-
tejo in Portugal. W. Long. 7. 24. N. Lat. 38. 50.
CAMPREDON, a town of Catalonia in Spain,
feated at the foot of the Pyrenean mountains. The
fortifications were demolifhed by the French in 1691,
W. Long. x. 56. N. Lat. 42. 20.
CAMPS (Francis de), abbot of Notre Dame at
Sigi, was born at Amiens in 1643 ; and diftinguifhed
himfelf by his knowledge of medals, by writing an hi¬
ftory of France, and feveral other works. He died at
Paris in 1723.
CAMPVERE, See Veer.
CAMPUS, in antiquity, a field or vacant plain in
a city, not built upon, left vacant on account of fhows,
combats, exercifes, or other ufes of the citizens.
Campvs Mali, in ancient cuftoms, an anniverfary
affembly of our anceftors held on May-day, when they
Confederated together for the defence of the kingdom
againft all its enemies.
Campus Martins, a large plain in the fuburbs of an¬
cient Rome, lying between the Quirinal and Capitoline
mounts and the Tiber, thus called becaufe confecrated
to the god Mars, and fet apajt for military fports and
exercifes to which the Roman youth were trained, as
the ufe and handling of arms, and all manner of feats
of aftivity. Here were the races rim, either with cha¬
riots or Angle horfes; here alfo flood the villa publica,
or palace for the reception of ambaffadors, who were
not permitted to enter the city. Many of the public
comitia were held in the fame field, part of which was
for that purpofe cantoned out. The place was alfo
nobly decorated with ftatues, arches, columns, porti¬
coes, and the like ft ruptures.
Campus Sceleratus, a place without the walls of an¬
cient Rome, where the Veftals who had violated their
vowts of virginity were buried alive.
CAMUL, a town of Afia, on the eaftern extremity
of the kingdom of Cialus, on the frontiers of Tangut.
E. Long. 98. 5. N. Lat. 37. 15.
CAMUS, a perfon with a low flat nofe, hollowed
in the middle.
The Tartars are great admirers of camus beauties.
Rubruquis obferves, that the wife of the great Jenghiz
Khan, a celebrated beauty, had only two holes for a
nofe.
Camus (John Peter), a French prelate bornm 1582.
He was author of a number of pious romances (the
tafte of his time), and other theological works, to the
amount of 200 vols. His definition of politics is re¬
markable : vlrs non tarn regendi, quam fallendi, homines ;
“ the art not fo much of governing, as of deceiving
mankind.” He died in 1652.
CAN, in the fea-language, as can-pump, a veffel
wherewith feamen pour water into the pump to make
it go.
CAN-Buoy. See Bouy.
Can-HooC, an inftrument ufed to fling a calk by the
ends of the ftaves ; it is formed by fixing a broad and
flat
Campita
CAN [ 75 J CAN
Cana, flat hook at each end of a (hort rope ; and the tackle
Canaan, by which the calk fo flung may be hoilted or lowered,
is hooked to the middle of the rope.
CANA (anc. geog.), a town on the confines of
the Upper and Lower Galilee: memorable for the
turning water into wine (John). The birth place of
Simeon, called Cananiu from this place, and of Na¬
thaniel.
CANAAN, the fourth fon of Ham. The irreve¬
rence of Ham towards his father Noah is recorded in
Gen. ix. Upon that occafion the patriarch curfed
him in a branch of his pofterity : “ Curfed,” fays he,
“ be Canaan ; a fervant of fervants {hall he be unto
“ his brethren.” This curfe being pronounced, not
againft Ham the immediate tranfgrefibr, but againft
his fon, who does not appear, from the words of Moles,
to have been any ways concerned in the crime, hath
occafioned feveral conjectures. Some have believed
that Noah curfed Canaan, becaufe he could not well
have curfed Ham himfelf, whom God had not long
before bleffed. Others think Mofes’s chief intent in
recording this prediction was to raife the fpirits of the
Ifraelites, then entering on a terrible war with the
children of Canaan, by the aflurance, that, in confe-
quence of the curfe, that people were deftined by God
to be fubdued by them. For the opinion of thofe who
imagine all Ham’s race were here accurfed, feems re¬
pugnant to the plain words of Scripture, which con¬
fines the malediction to Canaan and his pofterity; and
is alfo contrary tofaft. Indeed, the prophecy of Noah,
that Canaan “ fliould be a fervant of fervants to his
brethren,” feems to have been wholly completed in
him. It was completed with regard to Shem, not only
in that a confiderable part of the feven nations of the
Canaanites were made Haves to the Ifraelites, when
they took poffeflion of their land, as part of the re¬
mainder of them were afterwards enflaved by Solomon ;
but alfo by the fubfequent expeditions of the Aflyri-
ans and Perfians, who were both defcended from Shem;
and under whom the Canaanites fuffered fubjeftion, as
well as the Ifraelites; not to mention the conqueft of
part of Canaan by the Elamites, or Perfians, under
Chedorlaomer, prior to them all. With regard to Ja-
phet, we find a completion of the prophecy, in the
fucceflive conquefts of the Greeks and Romans in Pa-
leftine and Phoenicia, where the Canaanites were fet¬
tled ; but efpecially in the total fubverfion of the Car¬
thaginian power by the Romans; befides fome inva-
fions of the northern nations, as the pofterity of Tho-
garma and Magog ; wherein many of them, probably,
. were carried away captive.
The pofterity of Canaan were very numerous. His
eldeft fon was Sidon, who at leaft founded;and peo¬
pled the city of Sidon, and was the father of the Si-
donians and Phoenicians. Canaan had befides ten fons,
who were the fathers of fo many people, dwelling in
Paleftine, and in part of Syria ; namely, the Hittites,
the Jebufites, the Amorites, the Girgafites, the Hi-
vites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Ze*
marites, and Hamathites.
Land of Canaan, the country fo named from Ca¬
naan the fon of Ham. It lies between the Mediter¬
ranean fea and the mountains of Arabia, and extends
from Egypt to Phoenicia. It is bounded to the eaft
by the mountains of Arabia ; to the fouth by the wil-
dernefs of Paran, Idumaea, and Egypt; to the weft Canaan,
by the Mediterranean, called in Hebrew the Great Canacla-
Sea ; to the north by the mountains of Libanus. Its "
length from the city of Dan (lince called Cefarea
Philippi, or Paneadis, which ftands at the foot of thefe
mountains) to Beerftieba, is about 70 leagues; and its’
breadth from the Mediterranean fea to the eaftern
borders, is in fome places 30. This country, which
was firft called Canaan, from Canaan the fon of Ham,
whofe pofterity poflefled it, was afterwards called Pa¬
leftine, from the people which the Hebrews call Phi-
liftines, and the Greeks and Romans corruptly Palef-
tines, who inhabited the fea coafts, and were firft
known to them. It likewife had the name of the
Land of Promlfe, from the promife God made Abra¬
ham of giving it to him ; that of the Land of Ifrael,
from the Ifraelites having made themfelves matters of
it; that of Judah, from the tribe of Judah, which was
the moft confiderable of the twelve ; and laftly, the
happinefs it had of being fan&ified by the prefence,
adtions, miracles, and death of Jefus Chrift, has given
it the name of the Holy Land, which it retains to this
day.
The firft inhabitants of this land therefore were the
Canaanites, who were defcended from Canaan, and the
eleven fons of that patriarch. Here they multiplied
extremely; trade and war were their firft occupations;
thefe gave rife to their riches, and the feveral colonies
fcattered by them over almoft all the iflands and ma¬
ritime provinces of the Mediterranean. The meafure
of their idolatry and abominations was completed,
when God delivered their country into the hands of
the Ifraelites. In St Athanafius’s time, the Africans
ftill faid they were defcended from the Canaanites;
and it is faid, that the Punic tongue was almoft en¬
tirely the fame with the Canaanitifti and Hebrew lan¬
guage. The colonies which Cadmus carried into The¬
bes in Boeotia, and his brother Cilix into Cilicia, came
from the ftock of Canaan. The ifles of Sicily, Sar¬
dinia, Malta, Cyprus, Corfu, Majorca and Minorca,
Gades and Ebufus, are thought to have been peopled
by the Canaanites. Bochart, in his large work en¬
titled Canaan, has fet all this matter in a good light.
Many of the old inhabitants of the north-weft of
the land, of Canaan, however, particularly on the coaft
or territories of Tyre and Sidon, were not driven out
by the children of Ifrael, whence this trad feems to
have retained the name of Canaan a great while after
thofe other parts of the country, which were better
^inhabited by the Ifraelites, had loft the faid name.
The Greeks called this trad inhabited by the old Ca¬
naanites along the Mediterranean fea, Phoenicia; the
more inland parts, as being inhabited partly by Ca¬
naanites, and partly by Syrians, Syrophoenicia : and
hence the woman faid by St Matthew (xv. 22.) to be
a woman of Canaan, whofe daughter Jefus cured, is
faid by St Mark (vii. 26.) to be a Syrophoenician by
nation, as fhe was a Greek by religion and language.
CANADA, or the province of Quebec, an ex-
tenfive country of North' America, bounded on the
north-eaft by the gulph of St Lawrence, and St John’s
river; on the fouth-w,eft, by lands inhabited by the
favage Indians, which are frequently included in this
province ; on the fouth, by the provinces of Nova
Scotia, New-England, and New York; and on the
K 3 north-
CAN L 7<S ] CAN'
Canada, north-weft, by other Indian nations. Under the name
 of Canada, the French comprehended a very large
territory ; taking into their claim part of New Scot¬
land, New England, and New York on the eaft ; and
extending it on the weft as far as the Pacific Ocean.
That part, however, which was reduced by the Britifh
arms in the laft war, lies between 61 and 81 degrees
of weft longitude, and between 45 and 52 of north
latitude. The climate is not very different from that
of the northern Britifh colonies; but as it is much
further from the fea, and more to the northward, than
moft of thofe provinces, it has a much feverer winter,
though the air is generally clear ; and, like moft of
thofe American trafts that do not lie too far to the
northward, the fummers are very hot, and exceeding
pleafant. The foil in general is very good, and in
many parts extremely fertile ; producing many diffe¬
rent forts of grains, fruits, and vegetables. The mea¬
dow grounds, which are well watered, yield excellent
grafs, and breed vait numbers of great and fmall cattle.
The uncultivated parts are a continued wood, compofed
of prodigioufly large and lofty trees, of which there
is fuch a variety of fpecies, that even of thofe who
have taken moft pains to know them, there is not per¬
haps one that can tell half the number. Canada pro¬
duces, among others, two forts of pines, the white
and the red ; four forts of firs ; two forts of cedar and
oak, the white and the red ; the male and female ma¬
ple ; three forts of aft-trees, the free, the mungrel,
and the baftard ; three forts of walnut-trees, the hard,
the foft, and the fmooth; vaft numbers of beech-trees
and white wood; white and red elms, and poplars.
The Indians hollow the red elms into canoes, fome of
which made out of one piece will contain 20 perfons ;
others are made of the bark ; the different pieces of
which they few together with the inner rind, and daub
over the feams with pitch, or rather a bituminous mat¬
ter refembling pitch, to prevent their leaking ; the ribs
of thefe canoes are made of boughs of trees. In the
hollow elms, the bears and wild cats take up their
lodging from November to April. The country pro¬
duces alfo a vaft variety of other vegetables, particu¬
larly tobacco, which thrives well. Near Quebec is a
fine lead mine, and many excellent ones of iron have
been difcovered. It hath alfo been reported that filver
is found in fome of the mountains. The rivers are ex¬
tremely numerous, and many of them very large and
deep. The principal are, the Ouattauais, St John’s,
Seguinay, Defpaires, and Trois Rivieres ; but all thefe
are fwallowed up by the great river St Laurence. This
river iffues from the lake Ontario; and, taking its
courfe north-eaft, wafihes Montreal, where it receives
the Ouattauais, and forms many fertile iflands. It con¬
tinues the fame courfe, and meets the tide upwards of
400 miles from the fea, where it is navigable for large
veffels; and. below Quebec, 320 miles from the fea,
it becomes fo broad and fo deep, that ftiips of the line
contributed in the laft war to reduce that city. After
receiving in its progrefs innumerable ftreams, it at laft
falls into the ocean at cape Rollers, where it is 90
miles broad, and where the cold is intenfe and the fea
boifterous. This river is the only one upon which
any fettlements of note are as yet formed; but.it is
very probable, that, in time to come, Canada, and
thofe vaft regions to the weft, may be enabled of tbem-
3
felves to carry on a confiderable trade upon the great
lakes of frelh water which thefe countries environ.
Here are five lakes, the leaft of which is of greater ex¬
tent than the frefh-water lakes to be found in any other
part of the world : thefe are the lake Ontario, which
is not lefs than 200 leagues in circumference; Erie,
or Ofwego, longer, but not fo broad, is about the
fame extent. That of the Huron fpreads greatly in
width, and is about 300 leagues in circuit; as alfo is
that of Machigan, though like lake Erie it is rather
long, and comparatively narrow. But the lake Su¬
perior is larger than any of thefe, being not lefs than
500 leagues in circumference. All thefe are navigable
by any veffels, and they all communicate with each
other; but the paffage between Erie and Ontario is
interrupted by a moft ftupendous fall or cataradt,
called the falls of Niagara*. The river St Lawrence,
as already obferved, is the outlet of thefe lakes, by
which they difcharge themfelves into the ocean. The
French built forts at thefe feveral ftraits, by which the
lakes communicate with one another, and on that
where the laft of them communicates with the river.
* See A7-
By thefe, while the country was in their poffeffion,
they effectually fecured to themfelves the trade of the
lakes, and preferved an influence over all the Indian
nations that lie near them.
The moft curious and interefting part of the natural
hiftory of Canada is the animals there produced. Thefe
are flags, elks, deer, bears, foxes, martins, wild cats,
ferrets, weafels, large fquirrels of a greyilh hue, hares
and rabbits. The fouthern parts, in particular, breed
great numbers of wild bulls, divers forts of roe bucks,
goats, wolves, &c. The marflies, lakes, and pools,
with which this country abounds, fwarm with otters
and beavers, of which the white are highly valued,
as well as the right black kind. A vaft variety of birds
are alfo to be found in the woods ; and the river St
Lawrence abounds with fuch quantities of filh, that
it is affirmed by fome writers, this would be a more
profitable article than even the fur-trade.—There are
in Canada a multitude of different Indian tribes : but
thefe are obferved to decreafe in number where the
Europeans are moft numerous; owing chiefly to the
immoderate ufe of fpirituous liquors, of which they
are exceffively fond. Their manners and way of living
we have already particularly defcribedf. The principal j. see Ame-
towns are Quebec, Trois Rivieres, and Montreal. The rica, N° 90.
commodities required by the Canadians from Europe So.
are, wine, or rather rum ; cloths, chiefly coarfe; linen;
and wrought iron. The Indian trade requires rum,
tobacco, a fort of duffil blankets, gums, powder, balls,
and flints, kettles, hatchets, toys, and trinkets of all
kinds. While the country was in poffeffion of the
French, the Indians fupplied them with poultry ; and
the French had traders, who, like the original inha¬
bitants, traverfed the vaft lakes and rivers in canoes,
with incredible induftry and patience, carrying their
goods into the remoteft parts of America, and among
nations entirely unknown to us. Thefe again brought
the furs, &c. home to them, as the Indians were there¬
by habituated to trade with them. For this purpofe,
people from all parts, even from the diftance of 1000-
miles, came to the French fair at Montreal, which be¬
gan in June, and fometimes lafted three months. On.
this occafion many folemnities wej;e obferved, guards
were
CAN L 77 1 CAN
Canada, were placed, and the governpr afiifted to preferve order
——v  in fo great and various a concourfe of favage nations.
But fometimes great diforders and tumults happened ;
and the Indians frequently gave for a dram all that
they were poffeffed of. It is remarkable, that many
of thefe nations actually paffed by the Englilh fettle-
ment of Albany in New York, and travelled 200 miles
further to Montreal, though they could have purchafed
the goods they wanted cheaper at the former.
Since Britain became poffelfed of Canada, our trade
with that country has generally employed 34 (hips and
400 feamen ; their exports, at an average of three
years, in Ikins, furs, ginfeng, fnake-root, capillaire,
and wheat, amount to 150,000/. Their imports from
Great Britain are computed at nearly the fame fum. It
will, however, be always impoffible to overcome cer»
tain inconveniences arifing from the violence of the
winter. This is fo exceffive from December to April,
that the broadeft rivers are frozen over, and the fnow
lies commonly from four to fix feet deep on the ground,
even in thofe parts of the country which lie three de¬
grees fouth of London, and in the temperate latitude of
Paris. Another inconvenience arifes from the falls in
the river St Lawrence below Montreal, which prevent
flaps from penetrating to that emporium of inland com¬
merce. Our communication therefore with Canada,
and the immenfe regions beyond it, will always be in¬
terrupted during the winter-feafon, until roads are form¬
ed that can be travelled without danger from the Indians.
For thefe favage people often commit hoflilities againft
us, without any previous notice; and frequently, with¬
out any provocation, they commit the moft horrid ra¬
vages for a long time with impunity.
Canada was undoubtedly difcovered by Sebaftian
Cabot, the famous Italian adventurer, who failed un¬
der a commifiion from Henry VII. But though the
Englifh monarch did not think proper to make any ufe
of this difcovery, the French quickly attempted it; we
have an account of their fifhing for cod on the banks of
Newfoundland, and along the fea-coaft of Canada, in
the beginning of the 16th century. About the year
1506, one Denys, a Frenchman, drew a map of the'
gulph of St Lawrence ; and two years after, one Au-
bort, a fhip-mafter of Dieppe, carried over to France
feme of the natives of Canada. As the new country,
however, did not promife the fame amazing quantities
of gold and filver produced by Mexico and Peru, the
French for fome years neglected the difcovery. At.
laft, in the year 1523, Francis I. a fenfible and en-
terprifing prince, lent four Ihips, under the command
ofVerazani, a Florentine, to profecute difcoveries in
that country. The particulars of this man’s firft ex¬
pedition are not known. All we can learn is, that
he returned to France, and next year he undertook a
fecond. As he approached the coaft, he met with a vio¬
lent ftorm; however, he came fo near as to perceive the
natives on the (bore, making friendly figns to him to
land. This being found impracticable by reafon of the
furf upon the coaft, one of the failors threw himfelf in¬
to the fea; but, endeavouring to fwim back to the fhip,
a’furge threw him on ftiore without figns of life. He
was, however, treated by the natives with fuch care
and humanity, that he recovered his ftrength, and was
allowed to fwim back to the ft ip, which immediately
returned. to France. This is all we know of Vcra-
zani’s fecond expedition. He undertook a third, but Canada.
was no more heard of, and it is thought that he and all 
his company perifted before he could form any colony.
In 1534, one Jaques Cartier of St Maloesfet fail under
a commiffion from the French king, and on the 10th
of May arrived at Cape Bonavifta in Newfoundland.
He had with him two fmall ftips befides the one in
which he failed. He cruifed along the coafts of that
ifland, on which he difcovered inhabitants, probably
the Elkimaux. He landed in feveral places along the
coaft of the Gulf, and took poffeffion of the countiy in
the king’s name. On his return, he was again fent
out with a commiffion, and a pretty large force: he re¬
turned in 1535, aiid paffed the winter at St Croix; but
the feafon proved fo fevere, that he and his companions
muft have died of the fcurvy, had they not, by the ad¬
vice of the natives, made ufe of the decoilion of the
tops and bark of the white pines. As Cartier, how ¬
ever, could produce neither gold nor filver, all that he
could fay about the utility of the fettlement was difre-
garded ; and in 1540, he was obliged to become pilot
to one M. Roberval, who was by the French king ap¬
pointed viceroy of Canada, and who failed from France
with five veffels. Arriving at the gulph of St Lawrence,
they built a fort; and Cartier was left to command the
garrifon in it, while Roberval returned to France' for
additional recruits to his new fettlement. At laft, ha¬
ving embarked in 1549, with a great number of adven¬
turers, neither he nor any of his followers were heard
of more.
This fatal accident fo greatly difcouraged the court
of France, that, for 50 years, no meafure were taken
for fupplying with neceffaries the fettlers that w-ere left.
At laft, Henry IV. appointed the Marquis de la RocHe
lieutenant-general of Canada and the neighbouring
countries. In 1598 he landed on the ifle of Sable,
which he abfurdly thought to be a proper placeTor a.
fettlement, though it was without any port, and with¬
out produft except briars. Here he left about 40 ma¬
lefactors, the refufe of the French jails. After cruizing
for fome time on the coaft of Nova Scotia, without be¬
ing able to relieve theTe poor wretches, he returned to
France, where he died of a broken heart, His colony
muft have perifted, had not a French ftip been wreck¬
ed on the illand, and a few fteep driven upon it at the
fame time. With the boards of the ftip they eredted
huts; and while the fteep lafted they lived on them,
feeding afterwards on lift. Their clothes wearing out,
they made coats of feal-lkins; and in this miferable con¬
dition they fpent feven years, when Henry ordered
them to be brought to France. The king had the cu-
riofity to fee them in their feal-fkin dreffes, and was fo
moved with their appearance, that he forgave them all
their offences, and gave each of them 50 crowns tobe-
■gin the world anew.
In 1600,. one. Chauvin, a commander in the French
navy, attended by a merchant of St Malo, called Pont-
grave, made a voyage to Canada, from whence he re¬
turned with a very profitable quantity of furs. Next
year he repeated the voyage with the fame good for¬
tune, but died while he was preparing for a third. The
many fpecimens of profit to be made by the Canadian
trade, at laft induced the public to think favourably of
it. An armament was equipped, and the command of
it given to Pontgrave, with powers to extend his difeo-
verics.
CAN L 78 ] CAN
Canal, veries up 'tKe river St Lawrence. He failed in 1603, ha-
v;ng in his company Samuel Champlain, who had befcn
a captain in the navy, and was a man of parts and fpi-
rit. It was not, however, till the year 1608, that the
colony was fully eftablifhed. This was accompli (lied
by founding the city of Quebec, which from that time
commenced the capital of all the fettlements in Canada.
The colony, however, for many years continued in a
low way, and was often in danger of being totally ex¬
terminated by the Indians. As the particulars of thefe
wars, however, could neither be entertaining, nor in¬
deed intelligible, to many of our readers, we choofe to
omit them, and in general obferve, that the French not
only concluded a permanent peace with the Indians,
but fo much ingratiated themfelves with them, that they
could with the greateft eafe prevail upon them at any
time to murder and fcalp the Englifh in their fettle¬
ments. Thefe pra&ices had a conliderable (hare in
bringing about the lalt war with France, when the
whole country was conquered by the British in 1761.
The mod remarkable tranfadlion in this conqueft was
the liege of Qu ebec; for a particular account of which,
fee that article. And for the tranfactions here during
the late American war, fee America (United States
of), n° 195, 200—207.
CANAL of Communication, an artificial cut in
the ground, fupplied with water from rivers, fprings,
&c. in order to make a navigable communication be¬
twixt one place and another.
The particular operations neceffary for making arti¬
ficial navigations depend upon a number of circumftan-
ces. The fituation of the ground; the vicinity or con-
neftion with rivers; the eafe or difficulty with which a
proper quantity of water can, be obtained; thefe and
many other circumftances neceffarily produce great va¬
riety in the ftrufture of artificial navigations, and aug¬
ment or diminilh the labour and expence of executing
them. When the ground is naturally level, and uncon-
nefted with rivers, the execution is eafy, and the navi¬
gation is not liable to be difturbed by floods: but, when
the ground rifes and falls, and cannot be reduced to a
level, artificial methods of raififlg and lowering veflels
mull be employed ; which likewife vary according to
.circumftances.
A kind of temporary fluices are fometimes employed
for raifing boats over falls or Ihoals in rivers by a very
Ample operation. Two polls or pillars of mafon-work,
w ith grooves, are fixed, one on each bank of the river,
at fome dittance below' the Ihoal. The boat having paf-
fcd thefe polls, planks are let down acrofs the river by
pullies into the grooves, by wdiich the water is dammed
up to a proper height for allowing the boat to pafs up
the river over the Ihoal.
The Dutch and Fleemings at this day fometimes,
when obftrufled by cafcades, form an inclined plane or
rolling-bridge upon dry land, alongft which their vef-
fels are drawn from the river below thecafcade into the
river above it. This, it is faid, was the only method
employed by the ancients, and is Hill ufed by the Chi-
nefe, who are faid to be entirely ignorant of the nature
and utility of locks. Thefe rolling-bridges confift of
a number of cylindrical rollers which turn eafily on pi¬
vots, and a mill is fiommonly built near by, fo that the
fame machinery may ferve the double purpofe of work¬
ing the mill and drawing up veifels.
A Lock is a bafon placed lengthwife in a river or ca- Canal,
nal, lined with walls of mafonry on each fide, and ter- -v—"
minated by two gates, placed where there is a cafcade
or natural fall of the country; and fo conftrufled, that
the bafon being filled with water by an upper fluice to
the level of the waters above, a velfel may afcend thro’
the upper gate; or the water in the lock being reduced
to the level of the water at the bottom of the cafcade,
the veffel may defcend through the lower gate; for
wffien the waters are brought to a level on either fide,
the gate on that fide may be eafily opened. But as the
lower gate is ftrained in proportion to the depth of wa¬
ter it fupports, wben the perpendicular height of the
water exceeds 12 or 13 feet, more locks than one be¬
come neceflary. Thus, if the fall be 17 feet, two
locks are required, each having 84- feet fall; and if
the fall be 26 feet, three locks are neceflary, each
having 8 feet 8 inches fall. The fide-walls of a lock
ought to be very ftrong. Where the natural foun¬
dation is bad, they fliould be founded on piles and
platforms of w'ood: they fliould likewife flope out¬
wards, in order to refill the preflure of the earth from
behind.
Plate CXIV. fig. 1. A perfpe&ive view of part of
a canal: the vefiel L, within the lock AC.—Fig. 2.
Section of an open lock: the vefiel L about to enter.—
Fig. 3. Section of a lock full of water ; the veflel L
raifed to a level with the water in the fuperior canal.—
Fig. 4. Ground fedtion of a lock. L, a veflel in the
inferior canal. C, the under gate. A, the upper
gate. GH, a fubterraneous palfage for letting water
from the fuperior canal run into the lock. KF, a fub¬
terraneous pafiage for water from the lock to the infe¬
rior canal.
X and Y (fig. 1.) are the two flood-gates, each
of which confifts of two leaves, refting upon one an¬
other, fo as to form an obtufe angle, iu order the bet¬
ter to refill the preflure of the water. The firll (X)
prevents the water of the fuperior canal from falling
into the lock; and the fecond (Y) dams up and fu-
ftains the water in the lock. Thefe flood-gates ought
to be very ftrong, and to turn freely upon their hinges.
In order to make them open and fliut with eafe, each
leaf is furnilhed with a long lever A 6, A i; Cl>, Cb,
They ffiould be made very tight and clofe, that as little
water as poffible may be loft.
By the fubterraneous paflage G H (fig. 2, 3, & 4)
which defcends obliquely, by opening the lluice G, the
water is let down from the fuperior canal D into the
lock, where it is ftopt and retained by the gate C
when Ihut, till the water on the lock comes to be on a
level with the water in the fuperior canal D ; as repre-
fented, fig. 3. When, on the other hand, the wa¬
ter contained by the lock is to be let out, the paflage
G H mull be Ihut by letting down the fluice G, the
gate A mull he alfo fliut, and the paflage K F opened
by raffing the fluice K: a free paifage being thus gi¬
ven to the water, it defcends through K F, into the
inferior canal, until the water in the lock is on a level
with the water in the inferior canal B ; as reprefented,
fig. 2.
Now, let it be required to raife the veffel L (fig. 2 )
from the inferior canal B to the fuperior one D; if
the lock happens to be full of water, the lluice G mull
CAN [ 79 ] CAN
fo that the water in the lock may run out till it is on
a level with the water in the inferior canal B. When
the water in the lock comes to be on a level with the
water at B, the leaves of the gate C are opened by the
levers C b, which is eafily performed, the water on each
fide of the gate being in equilibrio ; the veflel then
fails into the lock. After this the gate C and the
fluice K are Ihut, and the fluice G opened, in order
to fill 'the lock, till the water in the lock, and con-
fequently the veffel, be upon a level with the water in
the fuperior canal D ; as is reprefented in fig. 3. The
gate A is then opened, and the veffel paifes into the
canal D.
Again, let it be required to make a veffel defcend
from the canal D into the inferior canal B. If the
lock is empty, as in fig. 2. the gate C and fluice K
muff be (hut, and the upper fluice G opened, fo that
the water in the lock may rife to a level with the wa¬
ter in the upper canal D. Then open the gate A,
and let the vcffel pafs thro’ into the lock. Shut the
gate A and the fluice G; then open the fluice K, till
the water in the lock be on a level with the water in
the inferior canal; then the gate C is opened, and the
veffel paffes along into the canal B, as was required.
It is almoft needlefs to fpend time in enumerating
the many advantages which neceffarily refult from ar¬
tificial navigations. Their utility is now fo apparent,
that moil nations in Europe give the higheft encou¬
ragement to undertakings of this kind wherever they
are practicable. The advantages of navigable canals
did not efcape the obfervation of the ancients. From
the moft early accounts of fociety we read of attempts
to cut through large ifthmufes, in order to make a
communication by water, either betwixt different na¬
tions, or diftant parts of the fame nation, where land-
carriage was long and expenfive. Herodotus relates,
that the Cnidiarts, a people of Caria in Afia Minor,
defigned to cut the ifthmus which joins that peninfula
to the continent; but were fuperftitious enough to give
up the undertaking, becaufe they were interdicted by
an oracle. Several kings of Egypt attempted to join
the Red-Sea to the Mediterranean. Cleopatra was
exceedingly fond of this projeft. Soliman II. empe¬
ror of the Turks, employed 50,000 men in this great
work. This canal was completed under the caliphate
of Omar, but was afterwards allowed to fall into difre-
pair ; fo that it is now difficult to difcover any traces
of it. Both the Greeks and Romans intended to
make a canal acrofs the Ifthmus of Corinth, which joins
the Morea and Achaia, in order to make a navigable
paffage by the Ionian fea into the Archipelago. De¬
metrius, Julius Caefar, Caligula, and Nero, made feve-
ral unfuccefsful efforts to open this paffage. But, as
the ancients were entirely ignorant of the ufe of water-
locks, their whole attention was employed in making
level cuts, which is probably the principal reafon why
they fo often failed in their attempts. Charlemagne
formed a defign of joining the Rhine and the Danube,
in order to make a communication between the ocean
and the Black Sea, by a canal from the river Almutz
which difcharges itfelf into the Danube, to the Reditz,
which falls into the Maine, and this laft falls into the
Rhine near Mayence : for this purpofe he employed a
prodigious number of workmen ; but he met with fo
many obftacles from different quarters, that he was oh- Canal,
liged to give up the attempt. y—■
The French at prefent' have many fine canals : that
of Briare was begun under Henry IV. and finilhed un¬
der the diredtion of cardinal Richelieu in the reign of
Louis XIII. This canal makes a communication be¬
twixt the Loire and the Seine by the river Loing. It
extends 11 French great leagues from Briare to Mon-
targis. It enters the Loire a little above Briare, and
terminates in the Loing at Cepoi. There are 42 locks
on this canal.
The canal of Orleans, for making another commu¬
nication between the Seine and the Loire, was begun
in 1675, and finilheJby Philip of Orleans, regent of
France, during the minority of Louis XV. and is fur-
nilhed with 20 locks. It goes by the name of the ca¬
nal of Orleans ; but it begins at tire village of Com-
bleux, which is a ftiort French league from the town
of Orleans.
But the greateft and moft ufeful work of this kind
is the junftion of the ocean with the Mediterranean by
the canal of Languedoc. It was propofed in the reigns
of Francis I. and Henry IV. and was undertaken and
finifhed under Louis XIV. It begins with a large re-
fervoir 4000. paces in circumference, and 24 feet deep,
which receives many fprings from the mountain Noire.
This canal is about 64 leagues in length, is fupplied
by a number of rivulets, and is furniflied with 104
locks, of about eight feet rife each. In. fome places it
paffes over bridges of vaft height; and in others it cuts
thro’ folid rocks for 1000 paces. At one end it joins
the river Garonne near Tholoufe, and terminates at the
other in the lake Tau, which extends to the port of
Cette. It was planned by Francis Riquet in the 1666,.
and finilhed before his death, which happened in the
1680.
In the Dutch, Auftrian,. and French Netherlands,
there is a very great number of canals ; that from Bru¬
ges to Oftend carries veffels of 200 tons.
The Chinefe have alfo a great number of canals ;
that which runs from Canton to Pekin extends about
825 miles in length, and was executed about 800 years
ago.
It would be an endlefs talk to defcribe the number-
lefs canals in Holand, Ruffia, Germany, &c. We {hall
therefore confine ourfelves to thofe that are either al¬
ready finilhed, or at prefent executing, in our own
country.
As the promoting of commerce is the principal in¬
tention of making canals, it is natural to expert that
their frequency in any nation Ihould bear fome propor¬
tion to the trade carried on in. it, providing the litua-
tion of the country will admit of them. The prefent
ftate of England and Scotland confirms this obferva¬
tion. Though the Romans made a canal between the
Nyne, a little below Peterborough, and the Witham,
three miles below Lincoln, which is now almott entire¬
ly filled up, yet it is not long fince canals were revived
in England. They are now however become very nu¬
merous, particularly in the counties of York, Lincoln,
and Chelhire. Moft of the counties betwixt the mouth
of the Thames and the Briftol channel are conne&ed
together either by natural or artificial navigations j
thofe upon the Thames and Ifis reaching within about
20
CAN fSol CAN
Canal. 20 m;ie3 Df thofe upon the Severn. The duke of
Bridgewater’s canal in Chefhire runs 27 miles on a per-
feft level; but at Barton it is carried by a very high
aquedudt bridge over the Irwell, a navigable river ; fo
that it is common for veflels to be paffing at the fame
time both under and above the bridge. It is likewife
cut fome miles into the hills, where the Duke’s coal¬
mines are wrought.
A navigable canal betwixt the Forth and Clyde in
Scotland, and which divides the kingdom in two parts,
was firft thought of by Charles II. for tranfports and
fmall (hips of war ; the expence of which was to have
been L. 500,000, a fum far beyond the abilities of his
reign. It was again projefted in the year 1722, and a
furvey made ; but nothing more done till 1761, when
the then Lord Napier, at his own expence, caufed
make a furvey, plan, and eftimate on a fmall fcale. In
1764, thetruftees for fifheries, &c. in Scotland caufed
make another furvey, plan, and eftimate of a canal five
feet deep, which was to coft L. 79,000. In 1766, a
fubfcription was obtained by a number of the moft re-
fpeclable merchants in Glafgow, for making a canal
four feet deep and twenty-four feet in breadth ; but
w hen the bill was nearly obtained in Parliament, it was
given up on account of the fmallnefs of the fcale, and
a new fubfcription fet on foot for a canal feven feet
deep, eftimated at L. 150,000. This obtained the
fandtion of Parliament; and the work was begun in
1768 by Mr Smeaton the engineer. The extreme
length of the canal from the Forth to the Clyde is 35
miles, beginning at the mouth of the Carron, and end¬
ing at Dalmure Butnfoot on the Clyde, fix miles be¬
low Glafgow, rifing and falling 160 feet by means of
39 locks, 20 on the eaft fide of the fummit, and 19
on the weft, as the tide does not ebb fo low in Clyde as
in the Forth by nine feet. Veflels drawing eight feet
water, and not exceeding nineteen feet beam and feven-
ty-three feet in length, pafs with eafe, the canal having
■afterwards been deepened to upwards of eight feet.
The whole enterprife difplays the art of man in a high
degree. The carrying the canal through mofs, quick-
fand, gravel, and rocks, up precipices and over valleys,
was attended with inconceivable difficulties. There
are eighteen draw-bridges and fifteen aqueduft bridges
of note, befides fmall ones and tunnels. In the firft
three miles there are only fix locks ; but in the fourth
mile there are no lefs than ten locks, and a very fine
aqueduft bridge over the great road to the weft of
Falkirk. In the next fix miles there are only four
locks, which carry you to the fummit. The canal
then runs eighteen miles on a level, and terminates a-
bout a mile from Glafgow. In this courfe, for a con-
fiderable way the ground is banked about twenty feet
high, and the water is fixteen feet deep, and two miles
of it is made through a deep mofs. At Kirkintulloch,
the canal is carried over the water of Logie on an
aqueduft arch of ninety feet broad. This arch was
thrown over in three ftretches, having only a centre of
thirty feet, which was (hifted on fmall rollers from one
llretch to another ; a thing new, and never attempted
-before with an arch of this fize ; yet the joinings are
as fairly equal as any other part, and admired as a very
fine piece of mafonry. On each fide there is a very con-
fiderable banking over the valley. The work was car¬
ried on till it came within fix miles of its iunftion with
N° 62.
the Clyde ; when the fubfcription and a fubfequent loan Camnniy
being exhaufted, the work was ftopt in 1775. The C'nara-
city of Glafgow, however, by means of a collateral " v
branch, opened a communication with the Forth, which
has produced a revenue of about L. 6000 annually;
and, in order to finilh the remaining fix miles, the go¬
vernment in 1784 gave L. 50,000 out of the forfeited
eftates, the dividends arifing from this fum to be ap¬
plied to making and repairing roads in the Highlands
of Scotland. Accordingly the work has been refum¬
ed ; and by contraft, under a high penalty, muft be
entirely completed is November 1789. The aqueduft
bridge over the Kilven (now finiftied, and fuppofed
the greateft of the kind in the world) confifts of
four arches, and carries the canal over a valley 65
feet high and 420 in length, exhibiting a very An¬
gular effort of human ingenuity and labour. To
fupply the canal with water was of itfelf a very great
work. There is one refervoir of 50 acres 24 feet deep,
and another of 70 acres 22 feet deep, into which many
rivers and fprings terminate, which it is thought will
afford fufficient fupply of water at all times. This
whole undertaking when finifhed will coft about
L. 200,000. It is the greateft of the kind in Britain,
and without doubt will be of great national utility ;
though it is to be regretted that it had not been exe¬
cuted on a ftill larger fcale, the locks being too (hort
for tranfporting large mafts.
Canal, in anatomy, a duft or pafiage through
which any of the juices flow.
CANANOR, a large maritime town of Afia, on
the coaft of Malabar, in a kingdom of the fame name,
with a very large and fafe harbour. It formerly be¬
longed to the Portuguefe, and had a ftrong fort to
guard it; but in 1683, the Dutch, together with the
natives, drove them away ; and after they became ma¬
ilers of the town, enlarged the fortifications. They
have but a very fmall trade ; but there is a town at
the bottom of the bay independent of the Dutch,
whofe prince can bring 20,000 men into the field.
The Dutch fort is large, and the governor’s lodgings
are at a good diftar ce from the gate ; fo that, when
there was a ikirmifli between the faftory and the na¬
tives, he knew nothing of it till it was over. E. Long.
78. 10. N. Lat. 12.-0.
Cananor, a fmall kingdom of Afia, on the coaft of
Malabar, whofe king can raife a confiderable army.
The natives are generally Mahometans ; and the coun¬
try produces pepper, cardamons, ginger, mirobolans,
and tamarinds, in which they drive a confiderable trade.
CANARA, a kingdom of Afia, on the coaft of
Malabar. The inhabitants are Gentoos, or Pagans ;
and there is a pagod, or temple, called Ramlrut, which
is vifited every year by a great number of pilgrims.
Here the cuftom of burning the wives with their huf-
bands had its beginning, and is praftifed to this day.
The country is generally governed by a woman who
keeps her court at a town called Baydor, two days
journey from thefea. She may marry whom (he pleafes;
and is not obliged to burn with her hulhand, like her
female fubjefts. They are fo good obfervers of their
laws, that a robbery or murder is fcarce ever heard of
among them. The Canarans have forts built of earth
along the coaft, which are garrifoned with 200 or 300
foldiers, to guard againit the robberies of their neigh¬
bours.
CAN [
.Canaria, hours. The lower grounds yield every year two crops
II of corn or rice ; and the higher produce pepper, betel
Gaiands"lf" nuts, fanders wood> iron> and The Portuguefe
■ ' , clergy here live very loofely, and make no fcruple of
procuring women for Itrangers*.
CANARIA (anc. geog.), one of the Fortunate
Ifiands, a proof that thefe were what are now called the
Canaries. Canaria had its name from its abounding with
dogs of an enormous fize, two of which were brought
to Juba king of Mauritania. See the following article.
Canaria, or the Grand Canary, an ifland in
‘the Atlantic Ocean, about 180 miles from the coaft
of Africa. It is about 100 miles in circumference, and
3 3 in diameter. It is a fruitful ifland, and famous for
the wine that bears its name. It alfo abounds with
■apples, melons, oranges, citrons, pomegranates, figs,
olives, peaches, and plantains. The fir and palm
trees are the molt common. The towns are, Canary
the capital, Gualdera, and Geria.
CANARY, or Cividad de Palmas, is the capital
of the ifland of Canaria, with an indifferent caftle, and
a bifhop’s fee. It has alfo a court of inquifition, and
the fupreme council of the reft of the Canary-iflands ;
as alfo four convents, two for men and two for wo¬
men. The town is about three miles in compafs, and
contains 12,000 inhabitants. The houfes are only one
ftory high, and flat at the top ; but they are well built.
The- cathedral is a handfome ftru&ure. W. Long.
15. 20. N. Lat. 28.4.
Cansir.r-IJlands) are fituated in the Atlantic ocean,
over againft the empire of Morocco in Africa. They
were formerly called the Fortunate JJlands, on ac¬
count of the temperate healthy air, and excellent
fruits. The land is very fruitful, for both wheat and
barley produce 130 for one. The cattle thrive well,
and the woods are full of all forts of game. The Ca¬
nary finging birds are well known all over Europe.
There are here fugar-canes in great abundance ; but
the Spaniards firft planted vines here, from whence we
have the wine called Canary or Sack.
Thefe iflands were not entirely unknown to the an¬
cients; but they were a long while forgot, till Johnde
Betencourt difcovered them in 1402. It is faid they
were firft inhabited by the Phoenicians, or Carthagi¬
nians, but on no certain foundation; nor could the in¬
habitants themfelves tell from whence they were deri¬
ved ; on the contrary, they did not know there was
any other country in the world. Their language,
manners, and cuftoms, had no refemblance to thofe of
their neighbours. However, they were like the people
on the coaft of Barbary in complexion. They had no
iron. After the difcovery, the Spaniards foon got pof-
feffion of them all, under whofe dominions they are to
this day, except Madeira, which belongs to the Portu¬
guefe. The inhabitants are chiefly Spaniards; though
there are fome of the firft people remaining, whom
they call Guanchesy who are fomewhat civilized by their
intercourfe with the Spaniards. They are a hardy, ac¬
tive; bold people, and live on the mountains. Their
chief food is goat’s milk. Their complexion is tawny,
and their nofes flat. The Spanilh veflels, when they
•fail for the Weft Indies, always rendezvous at thefe
iflands, going and coming. Their number is 12. 1.
Alegranza; 2. Canaria; 3. Ferro; 4. Fuerteventura;
5. Gomera; 6. Gratiofa; 7. Lancerotta; 8. Madeira;
. Vol. IV. Parti.
81 ] CAN
9. Palma; to. Rocca ; 11. Salvages; 12. Teneriff.' Canary-
Weft longitude from 12. to 21. north latitude from ^rd-
27. 30. to 29. 30. ——v—.
CANARY-Bird. See Fringilla. Thefe birds are
much admired for their finging, and take their name
from the place from whence they originally-came, w'z.
the Canary-iflands ; but of late years there is a fort of
birds brought from Germany, and efpecially from Tirol,
and therefore called German birds, which are much
better than the others ; though both are fuppofed to
have originally come from the fame place. The cocks
never grow fat, and by fome country people cannot be
diftinguiflied from common green-birds ; though the
Canary-birds are much luftier, have a longer tail, and
differ much in the heaving of the paffages of the throat
when they fing. Thefe birds being fo much efteemed
for their fong, are fometimes fold at a high price, ac¬
cording to the goodnefs and excellency of their notes ;
fo that it will always be advifable to hear one fing be¬
fore he is bought. In order to know whether he is in
good health, take him out of the ftore-cage, and put
him in a clean cage by himfelf; if he ftand up boldlv,
without crouching or flmnking in Ivis feathers, look
with a brifk eye, and is not fubjeft to clap his head
under his wing, it is a fign that he is in good health;
but the greateft matter is to obfervehis dunging: if he
bolts his tail like a nightingale after he has dunged, it
is a fign he is not in good health, or at lead; that he
will foon be fick ; but if his dung be very thin like
water, or of a flimy white without any blacknefs in
it, it is a fign of approaching death. When in per-
fedf health, his' dung lies round and hard, with a fine
white on the outfide, dark within, and dries quickly ;
though a feed-bird feldom dungs fo hard, unlefs he is
very young.
Canary-birds are fubjeft to many difeafes, particu¬
larly impofthumes, which affeft the head, caufe them
to fall fuddenly from the perch, and die in a fliort
time, if not fpeedily cured. The moft approved me¬
dicine is an ointment made of frdh butter and capon’s
greafe melted together. With this the top of the
bird’s head is to be anointed for two or three days,
and it will diffolve the impofthume : but if the medi¬
cine has been too long delayed, then, after three or four
times anointing, fee whether die place of his head be
foft; - and if fo, open it gently, and let out the matter,
which will be like the yolk of an egg ; when this is
done, anoint the place, and the bird will be cured. At
the fame time he muft have figs with his other food,
and in his water a flice or two of liquorice, with white ■
fugar-candy.
Canary-birds are diftinguiflied by different names at
different times and ages : fuch as are about three years
old are called runts ; thofe above two are named eriffs;
thofe of the firft year under the care of the old ones,
are termed branchers; thofe that are new-flown, and
cannot feed themfelves, pujhers ; and thofe brought up
by hand, nejilings.
The Canary-birds may be bred with us; and, if
treated with proper care, they will become as vigorous
and healthful as in the country from whence they
have their name. The cages in which thefe birds
are kept are to be made either of walnut-tree or
oak, with bars of wire ; becaufe thefe, being woods of
ftrength, do not require to be ufed in large pieces.
L The
Canary-
birds.
CAN [ 82 1 CAN
The common fhape of cages, which is cylindric, is
very improper for thefe birds; for this allows little
room to walk, and -without "that the birds ufually be¬
come melancholy. The moft proper of all fliapes is
the high and long, but narrow.
If thefe birds eat too much, they grow over-fat,
Jofe their fhape, and their finging is fpoiled ; or at
leatt they become fo idle, that they will fcarce ever
fing. In this cafe their viftuals is to be given them in
a much fmaller quantity, and they will by this means
be recovered by degrees to all their beauty, and will
fing as at firft.
At the time that they are about to build their nefts,
there mull be put into their cages fome hay, dried
thoroughly in the fun : with this mull be mixed fome
mofs dried in the fame manner, and fome flag’s hair}
and great care is to be taken of breeding the young,
in the article of food. As foon as the young birds
are eight days old, or fomewhat more, and are able to
eat and pick up food of themfelves, they are to be
taken out of the cage in which they were hatched, and
each put feparately into another cage, and hung up
in a room where it may never have an opportunity of
hearing the voice of any other bird. After they have
been kept thus about eight days, they are to be ex¬
cited to fing by a bird-pipe; but this is hot to be
blowed too much, or in too fhrill a manner, left they
fing themfelves to death.
For the firft fifteen days the cages are to be covered
with a black cloth, and for the fifteen days following
with a green one. Five leffons in a day from the pipe
are fufficient for thefe young creatures ; and they muft
not be difturbed with feveral founds at the fame time,
left they confound and puzzle them: two lefibns fhould
be given them early in the morning, one about the
middle of the day, and two more at night.
The genius and temper of the feveral birds of this
kind are very different. The males are almoft always
melancholy, and will not fing unlefs rttey are excited
to it by hearing others continually finging about them.
The male bird of this kind will often kill the female
put to him for breeding ; and when there are feveral
females together with the males, they will often do
the fame to one another from jealoufy. It is therefore
hot eafy to manage the article of their breeding well
in this particular, unlefs in this manner: let two female
birds be put into one cage, and when they have lived
together feme time, they will have contracted a fort of
love for one another, which will not eafily be diffolved.
Put a male bird into the cage with thefe two, and
every thing will go well; their friendfhip will keep
them from quarrelling about his favours, and from dan¬
ger of his mifchievous difpofition ; for if he attacks
one of them, in order to kill her, the other will imme¬
diately take her part; and after a few of thefe battles,
the male will find that they are together an over¬
match for him at fighting, and will then diftribute his
favours to them, and there will not fail of being a
young breed or two, which are to be taken away from
their parents, and educated as before direfted. Some
males watch the time of the female’s laying, and de¬
vour the eggs as fall as fhe depofits them; and others
take the young ones in their beak as foon as hatched,
and crufh them to death againft the fides of the cage,
er fome other way deftroy them. When a male has
been known once to have been guilty of this, he is to
be fnut up in a fmall cage, in the middle of the large
one in which the female is breeding her young, and
thus he will often comfort her with finging all day
long, while fhe fits upon the eggs or takes care of the
young ones ; and when the time of taking away, to
put them into feparate cages, is come, the male is to
be let out, and he will always after this live in friend-
fliip with the female.
Can calk
II
Cancer.
If the male become fick during the time of the fe¬
male’s fitting or bringing up her young, he muft be
removed immediately, and only brought to the fide of
her cage at certain times, that fhe may fee him, till he
is perfectly cured; and then he is to be fhut up again
in his cage in the middle.'
Canary-birds are various in their notes; fome having
a fweet fong, others a lowifh note, others a long fong,
which is beft, as having the greateft variety of notes :
but they fing chiefly either the titlark or nightingale
notes.. See Song of Birds.
CANCALLE, a town of France, in Upper Brit¬
tany, by the fea-fide, where there is a road. Here the
Britifli landed in 1758, in their way to St Maloes,
where they burnt a great number of fhips in the har¬
bour, and then retired without lofs. This town was in
their power; but they afted like generous enemies, and
did no hurt to this nor any other on the coaft. W.
Long. o. 13. N. Lat. 48. 41.
CANCELIER, in falconry, is when a light brown
hawk, in her ftooping, turns two or three times upon
the wing, to recover herfelf before fhe feizes.
CANCELLI, a term ufed to denote lattice windows,
of thofe made of crofs bars difpofed latticewife ; it is
alfo ufed for rails or ballufters inclofing the communion¬
table, a court of juftice, or the like, and for the network
in the infide of hollow bones.
CANCELLING, in the civil law, an adt whereby
a perfon confents that fome former deed be rendered
null and void. This is otherwife called refcifton. The
word comes from the Latin cavcellare to encompafs or
pale a thing round. In the proper fenfe of the word,
to cancel, is to deface an obligation, by pafllng the pen
from top to bottom, or acrofs it; which makes a kind
of chequer lattice, which the Latins call c««ce//i.
CANCER, in zoology, a genus of infedls belong¬
ing to the order of infefta aptera. The generic cha-
radfers are thefe: they have eight legs, (feldom ten or
fix), befidesthe two large claws which anfwer the pur-
pofe of hands. They have two eyes at a confiderable
diftance from each other, and for the moft part fup*-
ported by a kind of pedunculi or footftalks;' the eyes
are dike wife elongated and moveable ; they have two,
clawed palpi, and the tail is jointed. This genus in¬
cludes the lobfter, ftirimp, &c. There are no lefs than
87 fpecies of cancer, diftinguiflred principally by the
length of their tails and the margins of their breafts.
The following are the moft remarkable.
1. The gammarus, or common lobfter, with a fmooth Commott
thorax, (hort ferrated fnout; very long antennae; and j.
between them two ftiorter ones, bifid; claws and fangs
large, the greater tuberculated, the leffer ferrated on
the inner edge; four pair of legs; fix joints in the tail;
tail-fins rounded. It inhabits all the rocky ftiores of'
our ifland, but chiefly where there is a depth of wa¬
ter. In’Llyn in Gaernarvonlhire a certain fmall lob-
6 fter.
GAN [ 83 ] GAN
Cancer, fter, nothing different except in fize, burrows in the
—\ ' fand. They are brought in vail quantities from the
Orkney ifles, and many parts of the eaftern coaft of
Scotland, to the London markets. Sixty or feventy
thoufand are annually brought from the neighbourhood
of Montrofe alone.—The lobiter was well known to the
ancients, and is well defcribed by Ariftotle under the
name of arax®-. It is found as far as the Hellefpont;
and is called at Conftantinople lic%uda and licpuda.
Lobfters fear thunder, and are apt to caft their claws
on a great clap: it is faid that they will do the fame
on the firing of a great gun; and that, when men of
war meet a lobfter boat, a jocular threat is ufed, that,
if the mafter does not fell them good lobtters, they will
falute him.
The habitation of this fpecies is in the cleareft wa¬
ter, at the foot of rocks that impend over the fea. This
has given opportunity of examining more clofely into
the natural hiftory of the animal, than of many others
who live in an element that prohibits molt of the hu¬
man refearches, and limits the inquiries of the moft in-
quifitiye. Some lobfters are taken by hand; but the
greater quantity in pots, a fort of trap formed of twigs,
and baited with garbage ; they are formed like a wire
moufe trap, fo that when the lobllergets in, there is no
return. Thefe are fattened to a cord funk in the fea,
and their place marked by a buoy.—They begin to breed
in the fpring, and continue breeding moft part of the
fummer. They propagate more humane, and are ex¬
tremely prolific. Dr Batter fays he counted 12,444
eggs under the tail, befides thofe that remained in the
body unprotruded They depofit thofe eggs in the
fand, where they are foon'hatched.
Lobfters change their cruft annually. Previous to
their putting off their old one, they appear fick, lan¬
guid, and reftlefs. They totally acquire a new coat in
a few days ; but during the time that they remain de-
fencelefs, they feek fome very lonely place, for fear of
being devoured by fuch of their brethren as are not in
the fame fituation. It is alfo remarkable, that lobfters
and crabs will renew their claws, if by accident they
are torn off; and it is certain they will grow again in a
few weeks, though they never attain to the fize of the
firft. They are very voracious animals, and feed on
fea-weeds, garbage, and all foi ts of dead bodies. The
pincers of one of the lobfters large claws are furnifhed
with knobs, and thofe of the other are always ferrated.
With the former it keeps firm hold of the ftalks of
fubmarine plants, and with the latter it cuts and minces
its food very dexteroufly. The knobbed or numb claw,
as the fiftiermen call it, is fometimes on the right and
fometimes on the left fide indifferently. It is more
dangerous to be feized by them with the cutting claw
than the other; but, in either cafe, the quickeft way
to get difengaged from the creature is to pull off its
claw. The female or ben lobfter does not caft her fiiell
the fame year that fhe depofits her ova, or, in the
common phrafe, is in berry. When the ova firft appear
under her tail, they are fmall, and extremely black;
but they become in fuccellion almoft as large as ripe
elder-berries before they are depofited, and turn of a
dark brown colour, efpecially towards the end of the
time of her depofiting them. They continue full, and
.depofiting the ova in conftant fucctffion, as long as
any of that black fubftance can be found in their body.
which, when boiled, turns of a beautiful red colour, Cancer.
and is called their coral. Hen-lobfters are found in /—»w
berry at all times of the year, but chiefly in winter. It
is a common miftake, that a berried hen is always in
perfe&ion for the table. When her berries appear large
and browniih, (he will always be found exhaufted, wa¬
tery, and poor. Though the ova be caft at all times q£
the year, they feem only to come to life during the
warm fummer months of July and Auguft. Great num¬
bers of them may then be found, under the appearance
of tadpoles, fwimming about the little pools left by
the tides among the rocks, and many alfo under their
proper form from half an inch to four inches in length.
In calling their (hells, it is hard to conceive how the
lobfter is abfl‘ to draw the fiflt of their large claws out,
leaving the (hells entire and attached to the (hell of
their body, in which date they are conftantly found.
The filhermen fay, the lobfter pines before calling, till
the filh of its large claw is no thicker than the quill of
a goofe, which enables it to draw its parts through
the joints and narrow paffage near the trunk. The new
(hell is quite membranaceous at firft, but hardens by
degrees. Lobfters only grow in fize while their (hells
are in their foft (late. They are chofen for the table,
by their being heavy in proportion to their fize ; and
by the hardnefs of their (hells on their fides, which,
when in perfeftion, will not yield to moderate preffure.
Barnacles and other fmall fi(h adhering to them are
reckoned certain figns of fuperior goodnefs. Cock-
lobfters are in general better than the hens in winter;
they are diftinguiftied by the narrownefs of their tails,
and by their having a ftrong fpine upon the centre of
each of the tranfverfe proceffes beneath the tail, which
fupport the four middle plates of their tails. The filh
of a lobfter’s claw is more tender, delicate, and eafy of
digeftion, than that of the tail. In fummer, the lob¬
fters are found near the (hore, and thence to about fix
fathoms water; in winter, they are feldom taken in
lefs than 12 or 15 fathoms. Like other infe&s, they
are much more aftive and alert in warm weather than
in cold. In the water, they can run nimbly upon their
legs or fmall claws; and, if alarmed, can fpring, tail
foremoft, to a furprifing diftance, as fwift as a bird can
fly. The filhermen can fee them pafs about 30 feet;
and, by the fwiftnefs of their motion, fuppofe they may
go much further. Athenteus remarks this circumftance,
and fays, that “ the incurvated lobfters will fpring with
the adSivity of dolphins.” Their eyes are raifed upon
moveable bafes, which enables them to fee readily every
way. When frightened, "they will fpring from aconfi-
derable diftance to their hold in the rock, and, what is
not lefs furprifing than true, will throw themfelves into
their hold in that manner through an entrance barely
fufficient for their bodies to pafs.
2. The ftrigofus, or platedjobfter, with a pyra-Plate CXV,
midal fpiny fnout ; thorax elegantly plated, each plate
marked near its jundlion with (hort ftrite; claws
much longer than the body, thick, echinated, and
tuberculated; the upper fang trifid ; only three legs
fpiny on their fides; tail broad. The largeft of this
fpecies is about fix inches long. It inhabits the coalls
of Anglefea, under Hones and fuel. It is very adlive ;
and, if taken, flaps its tail againft the body with much
violence and noife.
3. The aftacus, or craw-filh, with a projedling fnout
L 2 (lightly
CAN [ 84 1 CAN
Cancer, fllghtly ferrated on the fides; a fmooth thorax ; back
fmooth, with two fmall fpines on each fide; claws
prawn, ‘ ’ large, befet with fmall tubercles; two firft pair of legs
fhrimp, &c. clawed, the two next fubulated ; tail confifting of five
joints; the caudal fins rounded. It inhabits many of
the rivers in England, lodged in holes which they form
in the clayey banks. Cardan fays, that this fpecies in¬
dicates the goodnefs of water; for in the belt water
they are boiled into the reddelt colour.
4. The ferratus, or prawn, with a long ferrated fnout
bending upwards; three pair of very long filiform
feelers; claws fmall, furnilhed with two fangs; fmooth
thorax; five joints to the tail; middle caudal fin fu¬
bulated, two outmoft flat and rounded. Jt is frequent
in feveral Ihores among loOfe Hones; fometimes found
at fea, and taken on the furface over 30 fathoms depth
of water; cinereous when frefli, of a fine red when
boiled.
5. The crangon, or fhrimp, with long flender feelers,
and between them two projefting laminae; claws with
a fingle, hooked, moveable fang ; three pair of legs;
feven,joints in the tail ; the middle caudal fin fubu¬
lated, the four others rounded and fringed, a fpine on
the exterior fide of each of the outmoft. It inhabits
the fhores of Britain in vaft quantities, and is the moft
delicious of the genus.
6. The fquilla, with a fnout like a prawn, but deeper’
and thinner; the feelers longer in proportion to the
bulk; the fob-caudal fins rather larger; is,- at full
growth, not above half the bulk of the former.—It in¬
habits the coafts of Kent; and is fold in London tin¬
der the name of the white Jhrimp, as it aflumes that
colour when boiled.
7. The atomos, or atom-lobfter, with a flender body ;
filiform antennae ; three pair of legs near the head ; be¬
hind which are two pair of oval veftculae ; beyond are
three pair of legs, and a flender tail between the laft
pair. It is very minute, and the help of the microfcope
is often neceffary for its infpeftion.
8. The pulex, or flea-lobfter, with five pair of legs,
and two claws, imperfeft ; with 12 joints of the body.
It is very common in fountains and rivulets; fwims
very fwifdy in an incurvated pofture on its back ; em¬
braces and protects its young between the legs ; does
not leap.
9. The locuft, or locuft-lobfter, with four antennae ;
two pair of imperfeft claws; the firft; joint ovated ;
body confifts of 14 joints, in which it differs from the
former. It abounds, in fummer, on the fhores, beneath
ftones and algae; leaps about with vaft agility.
Hermit- 10. The diogenes, foldier-crab, or hermit-crab, with
<crab, rough claws; the left claw is the longeft (this being
the only difference between the diogenes and lernardus) ;
the legs are fobulated, and ferrated along the upper
ridge ; the tail naked and tender, and furnifhed with a
hook by which, it fecures itfelf in its lodging. This
fpecies is parafitic ; and inhabits the empty cavities of
turbinated fhells, changing its habitation according to
its increafe of growth from the fmall nerite to the large
whelk. Nature denies it the ftrong covering behind,
which it hath given to others of this clafs; and therefore
direfts it to take refuge in the deferted cafes of other
. animals. They crawl very fall with the fhell on their
back ; and at the approach of danger draw themfelves
within the fhell, and, thrufting out the larger claw,
will pinch very hard whatever molefts them. Ariftotle Cancer,
defcribes it very exactly under the name of scafxmov. 1
By the moderns it is called the foldier, from the idea of
its dwelling in a tent; or the hermit, from retiring into
a cell.
It is very diverting to obferve this animal when
wanting to change its fhell. The little foldier is feen
bufily parading the fhore along that line of pebbles
and fhells which is formed by the extremeft wave ; Hill,
however, dragging its old incommodious habitation at
its tail, unwilling to part with one fhell, even though
a troublefome appendage, till it can find another more
convenient. It is feen flopping at one fhell, turning it,
and paffing it by ; going on to another, contemplating
that for a while, and then flipping its tail from its old
habitation to try on the new : this alfo is found to be
inconvenient, and it quickly returns to its old fhell
again. In this manner it frequently changes, till atlafl
it finds one light, roomy, and commodious; to this it
adheres, though the fhell be fometimes fo large as to
hide the body of the animal, claws and all. Yet it is
not till after many trials, and many combats alfo, that
the foldier is thus completely equipped; for there is
often a conteft between two of them for fome well-
looking favourite fhell for which they are rivals. They
both endeavour to take pofleffion; they ftrike with
their claws, they bite each other, till the weakeft is ob¬
liged to yield by giving up the objedl of difpute. It is
then that the viftor immediately takes poffeffion, and
parades it in his new conqueft three or four times back
and forward upon the ftrand before his envious anta-
gonifl. When this animal is taken, it fends forth a
feeble cry, endeavouring to feize the enemy with its
nippers; which if it faftens upon, it will fooner die than
quit the grafp.
The hermit-crabs frequent moftly thofe parts of the
fea-fhores which are covered with fhrubs and trees,
producing various wild fruits on which they fobfift;
though they will alfo feed on the fragments of fifh and
other animal fubftances caft on fhore. When roafted
in the fhell, they are efteemed delicate. The hermit-
crab, hung in the air, diffolves into a kind of oil,
which fpeedily cures the rheumatifm, if rubbed upon
the part.
1 1. The vocans, or fand-crab, is but of a fmall fize ;
its colour light brown, or dufky white. It has eight
legs, and two claws, one of which is double the fize
of the other: thefe claws ferve both to defend and
to feed themfelves with. The head has two fquare
holes, which are receptacles for its eyes; out of which
it thrufts them, and draws them in again at pleafore.
Their abode is only on the fandy fhores of Ilathera,
and many others of the Bahama iflands. They run
very faft, and retreat from danger into little holes they
make in the fand.
12. The grapfus, or red mottled crab, hath a round The pea-
body, the legs longer and larger than in other kinds ;crab-
the claws red ; except which, the whole is mottled in
a beautiful manner with red and white. Thefe crabs
inhabit the rocks hanging over the fea; they are the
nimbleft of all others, and run with furprifing agility
along the upright fide of a rock, and even under the
rocks that hang horizontally below the water. This
they are often neceflitated to do for efcaping the affaults
of rapacious birds that purfue them. Thefe crabs
never
CAN [
I Cancer, never go to land-; Jhut frequent mo illy tliofe parts of
* ' the promontories and iflands of rocks in and near the
fea, where, by the continual and violent agitation of
I the waves againft the rocks, they are always wet, con¬
tinually receiving the fpray of the fea, which often
waihes them into it ; but they inllantly return to the
rock again, not being able to live under water, and
yet requiring more of that element than any of the
ciultaceous kinds that are not fiih.
13. The granulatus, or rough-fhelled crab: thefe
crabs are pretty large, and are commonly taken from
the bottom of the fea in {hallow water ; the legs are
fmall in proportion to the body; the two claws are
remarkably large and flat. The whole {hell is covered
over with innumerable little tubercles like ihagreen :
the colour is brown, varioufly ftained with purple.
14. The cancer erythropus, or red-claw crab, is of
a fmall fize, and brown colour; it hath two.claws of
unequal bignefs, red at the ends; and eight legs, which
feem of lefs ufe to them than in other crabs; for when
on the ground, they crawl with flow pace, dragging
their bodies along ; but they are moftly feen grafping
with their claws, and hanging to fome fea-plant, or
other marine fubftance.
15. The pifum, or pea-crab, with rounded and
fmooth thorax, entire and blunt; with a tail of the fize
of the body, which commonly is the bulk of a pea.
It inhabits the mufcle, and has unjuftly acquired the
repute of being poifonous. The fwelling after eating-
of mufcles is wholly conftitutional; for one that is af¬
fected by it, hundreds remain uninjured. Crabs either
of this kind, or .allied to them, the ancients believed
to have been the confentaneous inmates of the Pinnae,
and other bivalves-; which, being too ftupid to per¬
ceive the approach of their prey, were warned of it by
their vigilant friend. Oppian tells the fable prettily.
In clouded deeps below, the pinna hides,
And through the filent paths obfcurely glides;
A ftupid wretch, and void of thoughtful care,
He forms no bait, nor lays the tempting fnare ;:
But the dull fluggard boafts a crab his friend,
Whofe bufy eyes the coming prey attend.
Gne room contains them, and the partners dwell
Beneath the convex of one Hoping {hell ;
Deep in the watry vaft the comrades rove,
And mutual intereft binds their conftant love ;
That wifer friend the lucky junfture tells,
When in the circuit of his gaping {hells
Fifti wand’ring enter ; then the bearded guide
Warns the dull mate, and pricks his tender fide ;
He knows the hint, nor at the treatment grieves,
But hugsth’ advantage, and the pain forgives ;
His clofing {hells the pinna hidden'joins,
And ’twixt the prefling fides his prey confines :
Thus fed by mutual aid, the friendly pair
Divide their gains, and all the plunder ftiare.
16. The masnas, or common crab, with three not¬
ches on the front; five ferrated teeth on each fide ;
claws ovated; next joint toothed; hint feetTubulated;.
dirty green colour; red when boiled. It inhabits all
our ftiores; and lurks under the algae, or burrows un¬
der the fand. Is fold, and eaten by the poor of our
capitals.
i 7., The pagurus, or black clawed crab, with a ere-
85 ] CAN
nated thorax ; fmooth body; quinque.dentated front; Cancer.
fmooth claws and black tips; hind feet fubulated. It   
inhabits the rocky coafts ; is the moft delicious meat
of any ; cafts its {hell between Chriftmas and Eafter.
The tips of the claws of this fpecies are ufed in medi¬
cine ; intended to abforb acidities in the ftomach and
bowels.
18. The velutinus, or velvet crab, with the thorax
quinquedentated; body covered with Ihort, brown,
velvet-like pile ; claws covered with minute tubercles;
fmall fpines round the top of the fecond joint; hind
legs broadly ovated—This is among the fpecies taken
notice of by Ariftotle on account of the broad feet,
which, he fays, aflift them in fwimming ; as web-feet
do the water-fowl. It inhabits the weftern coaft of
Anglefea.
19. The horridus, or horrid-crab, with a projefting
bifurcated fnout, the end diverging; body heart-
fliaped ; with the claws and legs covered with long and-
very {harp fpines.— It is a large fpecies, and inhabits
the rocks on the eaftern coafts of Scotland. It is com¬
mon to Norway and Scotland, as many of the marine
animals and birds are.
20. The ruricola, land-crab, or violet-crab, with vinlct*
a fmooth entire thorax, and the two laft joints of the crab,
feet armed with fpines. It inhabits the Bahama iflands,
as well as moft lands between the tropics; and feeds
upon vegetables.
Thefe animals live not only in a kind of orderly fo-
ciety in their retreats in the mountains, but regularly
once a year march down to the fea-fide in a body of
fome, millions at a time. As they multiply in great
numbers, they choofe the month of April or May to
begin their expedition.; and then fally out by thou-
fands from the ftumps of hollow trees, from the clefts
of rocks, and from the holes which they dig for them-
felves under the furface of the earth. At that time -
the whole ground is covered with this band of adventu¬
rers ; there is no fetting down one’s foot without treading
upon them. The fea is their place of deftination, and
to that they direft their march with right-lined pre-
cifion. No geometrician could fend them to their def-
tined ftation by a fliorter courfe ; they neitherturn to
the right nor left,, whatever obftacles intervene ; and
even if they meet with.a houfe, they will attempt to
fcale the walls to keep the unbroken tenor of their way.
But though this be the general order of their route, ,,
they, upon other occafions, are obliged to conform to
the face of the country ; and if it is interfected with
rivers, they are then feen to wind along the courfe of.
the ftream. The proceflion fets forward from the
mountains with the regularity of an. army under the
guidance of an experienced commander. They are
commonly divided into three.battalions ; of which the
firft confifts of the ftrongeft and boldeft males, that,
like pioneers, inarch forward to clear the route and
face the greateft dangers.. Thefe are often obliged to
halt Tor want of rain, and to go into tlxe moft conve¬
nient encampment till the weather changes... The main
body of the army is comppfed of females, which never
leave the mountains till the rain is fet in for fome time,
and then defeend in regular battalia, being formed into ■
columns of 50 paces broad, and three miles deep, and
fo clofe that they almoft cover the ground. Three
or four days after this, the rear-guard follows, a ftrag- -
AM f 86 1 GAN
gling undifciplined tribe, confifting of males and fe¬
males, but neither fo robuft nor fo vigorous as the
former. The night is their chief time of proceeding;
but if it rains by day, they do not fail to profit by the
occafion ; and they continue to move forward in their
flow uniform manner. When the lun fhines and is hot
upon the furface of the ground, they then make an u-
niverfal halt, and wait till the cool of the evening.
When they are terrified, they march back in a con-
fufed diforderly manner, holding up their nippers, with
which they fometimes tear off a piece of the ikin, and
then leave the weapon where they inflidted the wound.
They even try to intimidate their enemies ; for they
often clatter their nippers together, as if it were to
threaten thofe that come to difturb them. But tho’
they thus ftrive to be formidable to man, they are much
more fo to each other; for they are poffeffed of one
moll unfocial property, which is, that if any of them
by accident is maimed in fuch a manner as to be inca¬
pable of proceeding, the reft fall upon and devour it
on the fpot, and then purfue their journey.
When, after a fatiguing march, and efcaping a thou-
fand dangers, (for they are fometimes three months in
getting to the fliore), they have arrived at their def-
tined port, they prepare to call their fpawn. The
peas are as yet within their bodies, and not excluded
as is ufual in animals of this kind, under the tail; for
the creature waits for the benefit of fea-water to help
the delivery. For this purpofe the crab has no fooner
reached the (here, than it eagerly goes to the edge of
the water, and lets the waves wafh over its body two
or three times. This feems only a preparation for
bringing their fpawn to maturity ; for, without far¬
ther delay, they withdraw to feek a lodging upon land :
in the mean time the fpawn grows larger, is excluded
cut of the body, and fticks to the barbs under the flap,
or more properly the tail. This bunch is feen as big
as an hen’s egg, and exactly refembling the roes of
herrings. In this ftate of pregnancy they once more
feek the (bore for the laft time ; and thaking off their
fpawn into the water, leave accident to bring it to ma¬
turity. At this time, whole (hoals of hungry fiftr are
at the fliore in expedtaiion of this annual fupply ; the
fea to a great diftance feems black with them; and
about two thirds of the crabs eggs are immediately
devoured by thefe rapacious invaders. The eggs that
efcape are hatched under the fand ; and, foon after,
millions at a time of thefe little crabs are feen quit¬
ting the fliore, and flowly travelling up to the moun¬
tains. The old ones, however, are not fo adtive to
return; they have become fo feeble and lean, that they
Can hardly creep along, and the flefti at that time
changes its colour. The moft of them, therefore, are
obliged to continue in the flat parts of the country till
they recover, making holes in the earth, which they
cover at the mouth with leaves and dirtffo that no air
may enter. There they throw off their old ftiells,
which theydeave, as it were, quite whole ; the place
where they opened on the belly being unfeen. At
that time they are quite naked, and almoft without
motion for fix days together, when they become fo
fat as to be delicious food. They have then under
their ftomachs four large white itones, which gradually
decreafe in proportion as the flvRl hardens, and, when
they come to perfeclion, are not to. be found. It is Cancer,
at that time that the animal is feen flowly making its
way back; and all this is molt commonly performed in
the fpace of fix weeks.
This animal, when poffeffed of its retreats in the
mountains, is impregnable : for, only fubfifting upon
vegetables, it feldom ventures out; and its habitation
being in the moft inacceffible places, it remains for a
great part of the feafon in perfect fecurity. It is only
when impelled by the defire of bringing forth its
young, and when compelled to defeend into the flat
country, that it is taken. At that time the natives
wait for its defeent in eager expe&ation, and deftroy
thoufands ; but, difregarding their bodies, they only
feek for that fmall fpawn which lies on each fide of the
ftomach within the fhell, of about the thicknefs of a
man’s thumb. They are much more valuable upon
their return after they have call their fhell; for, being
covered with a flein refembling foft parchment, almoft
every part except the ftomach may be eaten. They
are taken in the holes by feeling for them with an in-
ftrument ; they are fought after by night, when on
their journey, by flambeaux. The inftant the animal
perceives itfelf attacked, It throws itfelf on its back,
and with its claws pinches moft terribly whatever it
happens to faften on. But the dexterous crab-catcher
takes them by the hinder legs in fuch a manner that
the nippers cannot touch him, and thus he throws them
into his bag. Sometimes alfo they are caught when
they take refuge in the bottoms of holes in rocks by
the fea-fide, by clapping a ftick at the mouth of the
hole, which prevents their getting out; and then foon
after, the tide coming, enters the hole, and the ani¬
mal is found, upon its retiring, drowned in its retreat-
Thefe crabs are of various fixes, the largeft about
fix inches wide ; they walk fide-ways like the fea-crab,
and are fliaped like them : fome are black, fome yel¬
low, fome red, and others variegated with red, white,
and yellow mixed. Some of thefe are poifonous;
and feveral people have died of eating 6f the crabs,
particularly of the black kind. The light-coloured are
reckoned beft ; and when full in flefh, are very well
tailed. In fome of the fugar iflands they are eat with¬
out danger; and are no fmall help to the negro (laves,
who, on mahy of thefe iflands, would fare very hard
without them.
Cancer, in medicine, a rOundifh, unequal, hard,
and livid tumour, generally feate.d in the glandulous
parts of the body, fuppofed to be fo called, becaufe
it appears at length with turgid veins ihooting out
from it, fo as to'refemble, as it is thought, the figure
of a crab-fifh; or, others fay, becaufe, like that
fifh, where it has once got, it is fcarce poffible to drive
tit away. See (the Index fubjoined to) Medicine.
Cancer, in aftronomy, one of the twelve figns, re-
:prefented on the globe in the form of a crab, and thus
marked (25 ) in books. It is the fourth conftellation
in the ftarry zodiac, and that from which one qua¬
drant of the ecliptic takes its denomination. The rea¬
son generally afligned for its name as well as figure, is
a fuppofed refemblance which the fun’s motion in this
fign bears to the crab-fifli. As the latter walks back¬
wards, fo the former, in this part of his courfe, be¬
gins to go backwards, or recede from us; though the
difpofi-
CAN t 87 ] CAN
Canchen- difpofition of ftars in this fign is by others fuppofed to
zaj'te- have given the firft hint to the reprefentation of a
Candahar. crajL‘ , . n t rr • 1 r
■ Tropic of Cancer, in aftronomy, a leller circle or
the fphere parallel to the equator, and paffing through
the beginning of the fign Cancer.
CANCHERIZANTE, or Cancherizato, in the
Italian mufic, a term fignifying a piece of mufic that
begins at the end, being the retrograde motion from
the end of a fong, &c. to the beginning.
CANCROMA, or Boat-bill, in ornithology, a
genus of birds belonging to the order of Gralla ; the
characters of which are : The bill is broad, with a keel
along the middle ; the noftrils are fmall, and lodged
in a furrow ; the tongue is fmall; and the toes are di¬
vided. There are two fpecies :
1. The Cochlearia, or Crefted Boat-bill, is of the
fize of a fowl; the length 22 inches. The bill is four
fnches lon£, and of a lingular form, not unlike a boat
with the keel uppermoft, or, as fome think, like the
bowls of two fpoons, placed with the hollow parts to¬
gether ; the upper mand - le has a prominent ridge at
the top, and on each fide of this a long channel, at
the bottom of which the noftrils are placed ; thefe are
oval, and fituated obliquely ; the general colour of the
bill is dulky, or in fome fpecimens dark brown; the
Ikin between the under jaw capable of diftenfion: from
the hind head fprings a long black creft, the feathers
which compofe it narrow, and end in a point; the
middle ones are fix inches in length, the others leflen
by degi-ees, the outer ones being not more than one
inch : between the bill and eye the flcin is bare and
dulky ; the plumage on the forehead white ; the reft
of the bird of a pale bluilh alh-colour ; acrofs the
lower part of the neck behind is a tranfverfe band of
brownilh black, which paffes forwards on each fide to¬
wards the breaft, ending in a point, but does not en-
compafs it : the fore part of the neck, and under parts,
are bluifh white, except the belly and thighs, which
are rufous: the feathers which hang over the breaft
are loofe, like thofe of the heron : the tail is three in¬
ches and a half long, and the wings, when dofed, reach
nearly to the end of it : the leg is three inches in.
length ; and the thigh, from its infertion to the knee,
four; the middle toe two inches and a half; the bare
part above the knee one inch and a Half: the colour
of the bare parts yellowifh brown; claws black : the
toes are connedfed at the bafe by a membrane, which,
as in the umbre, is deepeft in the outer one.—It in¬
habits Cayenne, Guiana, and Bfafil, and chiefly fre¬
quents fuch parts as are near the water: in fueli places
it perches on the trees which hang over the ftreams,
and, like the kings-filher, drops down , on the filh
which fwim beneath. It has been thought to live on
crabs likewife, whence the Linnxan name
PlateCXVI 2. The;Cancrophaga, or Brown Boat-bill, a diftinft
fpecies, according to Linnaeus, but which Mr Lathan
confiders as only a variety, is of the fize of the former;
the head and creft the fame; the upper parts, inftead
of alh-colour, are of a pale.rufous brown; the tail ru¬
fous alh ;. and the under parts wholly of a cream co¬
lour ; the bill and legs of a yellow brown- Its place,
and manners the famo' with thofe of the preceding.
CANDAHAR, a province of Perfia, bounded on
the north by the province of Balk; on the caft, by
that of Cabul; on the fouth, by Buchor and Sabieftari ; Candahar
and on the weft, by Sigeftan. There have been bloody Ca^d;a
wars between the Indians and Perfians on account of -- <
this province ; but in 1650 it fell to the Perfians. The
inhabitants are known by the name of Aghuans, or
AJfghans, who have often endeavoured to throw off the
yoke. But, in 1737, they were feverely punilhed for
fuch an attempt. See Persia.
Candahar,. the capital of the above province, is
feated on a mountain ; and being a place of great
trade, has a confiderable fortrefs. The caravans that
travel from Perfia and the parts about the Cafpian fea
to the pail Indies, choofe to pafs through Candahar,
becaufe there is no danger of being robbed on this
road, and provifiorls are very reafonable. The religion
is Mahometanifm, but there are many Banians and
Guebres. E. Long. 67. 5. N. Lat. 33. o.
CANDAULES, the laft king of Lydia, of the
family of the Heraclides. See Lydia.
CANDELARES (from candela a candle), the
name of an order in the former editions of Linnaeus’s
Fragments of a natural method, confifting of thefe
three genera, rhl-zophora, nyjfa, and mimufops. They
are removed, in the latter editions, into the order
Holoracete; which fee.
CANDIA, the modern name of the illand of Crete
(fee Crete). The word is a variation of Khunda,
which was originally the Arabian name of the metro¬
polis only,, but in time came, to be applied to the
whole ifland.
Candia. came into; the poflefiion. of the Venetians
by purchafe in the year 1194, as related under the
article Crete ; and foon began to flourifh under the
laws of that wife republic. The inhabitants, living
under the proteftion of a moderate government, and
being encouraged by their mafters, engaged. in com¬
merce and agriculture- The Venetian commandants
readily afforded to thofe travellers who vifited the
ifiand, that afiiftance which is neceffary to enable them
to extend and improve ufeful knowledge. Bclon, the
naturalift,. is lavifti in praife of their good offices, and
deferibes, in an interefting manner, the flourifhing ftate
of that part of the ifland which he vifited.
The feat of government was eftabliihed at Candia.
The magiftrates and officers, who compofcd the coun¬
cil, refided there. The provifor-general was prefident..
He poffeffed the chief authority; and Ins power ex¬
tended over the whole principality.. It continued in,
the poffeffion of the Venetians for five centuries and
an half. Cornaro .held the chief command at the time
when it was threatened with a ftorm, on the fide of
Conftantinople. The Turks, for the fpace of a year,
had been employed in preparing a vaft armament. They
deceived the Venetian, by affuring him that it was in¬
tended again ft Malta. In the year 1645, in the:
midft of.a folemn peace, they appeared unexpe&edly
before Crete with a fleet of 400 fail, having on board
60,000. land-forces, under the command of four pa¬
chas. The emperor Ibrahim, under whom this ex¬
pedition was undertaken, had no fair pretext to offer
in juftification of his enterprise.. He made ufe of all
that perfidy vvhich characterizes the people oftheeaft,
to impofe on the Venetian fenate. He loaded their
ambaffador with prefents, dire&ed his fleet to bear for-
Cape Matapan,mas if they had been going beyond the •
Arcliii
CAN [ 88 ] CAN
Archipelago; and caufed the governors of Tina and
Cerigna to be folemnly affured, that the republic had
nothing to fear for her pofl'effions. At the very inftant
when he was making thofe affurances, his naval ar¬
mament entered the gulf of Canea; and, palling be¬
tween that city and St Theodore, anchored at the
mouth of Platania.
The Venetians, not expefting this fudden attack,
had made no preparations to repel it. The Turks
landed without oppolition. The ifle of St Theodore
is but a league and an half from Canea. It is only
three quarters of a league in compafs. The Venetians
had erefted two forts there ; one of which, handing
on the fummit of the higheft eminence, on the coatt
of that little ifle, was called Turluru ; the other, on a
'lower lituation, was named St Theodore. It was an
important objeft to the Muffulmans to make them-
felves mailers of that rock, which might annoy their
fhips. They immediately attacked it with ardour.
The firft of thofe fortreflea, being deftitute of foldiers
and cannon, was taken without ftriking a blow. The
garrifon of the other confifted of no more than 60
men. They made-a gallant defence, and hood out till
the laft extremity ; and when the Turks at laft pre¬
vailed, their number was diminifhed to ten, whom the
captain-pacha cruelly caufed to be beheaded.
Being now mailers of that important poll, as well
as of Lazaret, an elevated rock, Handing about half
a league from Canea, the Turks invelled the city by
fea and land. General Cornaro was llruck, as with a
thunder-clap, when he learned the defeent of the ene¬
my. In the whole ifland there were no more than
a body of 3500 infantry, and a fmall number of ca¬
valry. The befieged city was defended only by 1000
regular troops, and a few citizens, who were able to
bear arms. He made hafte to give the republic notice
of his diftrefs; and polled himfelf off the road, that he
might the more readily fuccour the befieged city. He
threw a body of 250 men into the town, before the
lines of the enemy were completed. He afterwards
made feveral attempts to ftrengthen the befieged with
•other reinforcements; but in vain. The Turks had
advanced in bodies clofe to the town, had carried a
half-moon battery, which covered the gate of Retimo;
and were battering the walls night and day with their
numerous artillery. The befieged defended themfelves
with refolute valour, and the fmalleil advantage which
the befiegers gained coll them dear. General Cor-
naro made an attempt to arm the Greeks, particularly
the Spachiots, who boalled loudly of their valour. He
formed a battalion of thefe. But the sera of their va¬
lour was long pall. When they beheld the enemy,
and heard the thunder of the cannon, they took to
flight; not one of them would Hand lire.
While the fenate of Venice were deliberating on the
means to be ufed for relieving Canea, and endeavour¬
ing to equip a fleet, the Mahometan generals were
facrificing the lives of their foldiers to bring their en«
terprife to a glorious termination. In different en¬
gagements they had already loll 20,000 warriors ; but,
defending into the ditches, they had undermined the
walls, and blown up the moll impregnable forts with
explofions of powder. They fprung one of thofe mines
beneath the baltion of St Demetri. It overturned a
confiderable part of the wall, which crulhed all the
>To-6.3-
defenders of the baftion. That inllant the befiegers
fprung up with their fabres in their hands, and taking
advantage of the general conllernation of the befieged
on that quarter, made themfelves mailers of the poll.
The befieged, recovering from their terror, attacked
them with unequalled intrepidity. About 400 men af-
failed 2000 Turks already firmly polled on the wall,
and preffed upon them with fuch obllinate and daunt-
lefs valour, that they killed a great number, and drove
the reft down into the ditch. In this extremity,
every perfon in the city was in arms. The Greek
monks took up mulkets; and the women, forgetting
the delicacy of their fex, appeared on the walls among
the defenders, either fupplying the men with ammu¬
nition and arms, or fighting themfelves; and feveral
of thofe daring heroines loft their lives.
For 50 days the city held out againll all the forces
of the Turks. If, even at the end of that time, the
Venetians had fent a naval armament to it!! relief, the
kingdom of Candia might have been faved. Doubtlefs,
they were not ignorant of this well known faft. The
north wind blows ftraight into the harbour of Canea.
When it blows a little brilkly, the fea rages. It is
then impofiible for any fquadron of Ihips, however
numerous, to form in line of battle in the harbour, and
to meet an enemy. If the Venetians had fet out from
Cerigo with a fair wind, they might have reached
Canea in five hours, and might have entered the har¬
bour with full fails, without being expofed to one
cannon-lhot ; while none of the Turkifh (hips would
have dared to appear before them ; Or if they had ven¬
tured, mull have been driven back on the ftiore, and
dallied in pieces among the rocks. But, inftead of thus
taking advantage of the natural circumftances of the
place, they fent a few galleys, which, not daring to
double Cape Spada, coalled along the fouthern Ihore
of the ifland, and failed of accomplilhing the defign
of their expedition.
At laft, the Cancans, defpairing of relief from Ve¬
nice, feeing three breaches made in their walls, thro’
which the infidels might eafily advance upon them,
exhaufted with fatigue, and covered with wounds, and
reduced to the number of 500 men, who were obliged
to fcatter themfelves round the walls, which were half
a league in extent, and undermined in all quarters,
demanded a parley, and offered to capitulate. They
obtained very honourable conditions ; and after a glo¬
rious defence of two months, which coft the Turks
20,goo men, marched out of the city with the ho¬
nours of war. Thofe citizens, who did not chufe to
continue in the city, were permitted to remove; and
the Ottomans, contrary to their ufual praftice, faith¬
fully obferved their ftipulations.
The Venetians, after the lofs of Canea, retired to
Retimo. The captain-pacha laid liege to the citadel
ot the Sude, fituated in the entrance of the bay, on an
high rock, of about a quarter of a league in circum¬
ference. He raifed earthen-batteries, and made an in-
effedtual attempt to level its ramparts. At laft, de¬
fpairing of taking it by affault, he left fome forces to
block it up from all communication, and advanced to¬
wards Retimo. That city, being unwalled, was de- •
fended by a citadel, Handing on an eminence which
overlooks the harbour. General Cornaro had retired
thither. At the approach of the enemy, he advanced
5 from
GAN L 89 ] CAN
Clandla. from tlie city, and waited for tliem in tlie open field,
'v jn tiie aftion, inattentive to his own fafety, he en¬
couraged the foldiers, by fighting in the ranks. A
glorious death was the reward of his valour ; but his
fall determined the fate of Retimo.
The Turks having landed additional forces on the
ifland, they introduced the plague, which was almoft
a conftant attendant on their armies. This dreadful
pelt rapidly advanced, and, like a devouring fire, waft¬
ing all before it, deftroyed moft part of the inhabi¬
tants. The reft, fleeing in terror before its ravages,
■efcaped into the Venetian territories, and the ifland
was left almoft defolate-
The fiege of the capital commenced in 1646, and
was protra&ed much longer than that of Troy. Till
the year 1648, the Turks fcarce gained any advan¬
tages before that city. They were often routed by the
Venetians, and fometimes compelled to retire to Re¬
timo. At that period Ibrahim was folemnly depofed,
and his eldeft fon, at the age of nine years, was railed
to the throne, under the name of Mahomet IV. Not
fatisfied with confining the fultan to the horrors and
obfcurity of a dungeon, the partizans of his fon
ftrangled him on the 19th of Auguft, in the fame
year. That young prince, who mounted the throne
by the death of his father, was afterwards expelled
from it, and condemned to pafs the remainder of his
life in confinement.
In the year 1649, Uflein Pacha, who blockaded
Candia, receiving no fupplies from the Porte, was
-compelled to raife the fiege, and retreat to Canea.
The Venetians were then on the fea with a ftrong
fquadron. They attacked the Turkilh fleet in the
bay of Smyrna, burnt 12 of their fliips and 2 gallies,
nnd killed 6000 of their men. Some time after, the
Mahometans having found means to land an army On
Candia, renewed the fiege of the city with greater
vigour, and made themfelves mafters of an advanced
tort that was very troublefome to the befieged ; which
obliged them to blow it up.
From the year 1650 till 1658, the Venetians, con¬
tinuing mafteis of the fea, intercepted the Ottomans
every year in the ftraits of the Dardanelles, and fought
them in four naval engagements; in which they de¬
feated their numerous fleets, funk a number of their
caravels, took others, and extended the terror of their
arms even to the walls of Conftantinople. That capi¬
tal became a fcene of tumult and diforder. The Grand
Signior, alarmed, and trembling for his fafety, left
the city with precipitation.
Such glorious fuccefs revived the hopes of the Ve¬
netians, and deprefled the courage of the Turks. They
converted the fiege of Candia into a blockade, and
fuftered confiderabk Ioffes. The Sultan, in order to
exclude the Venetian fleet from the Dardanelles, and
to open to his own navy a free and fafe paffage, caufed
two fortreffes to be built at the entrance of the ftraits.
He gave orders to the Pacha of Canea to appear again
before the walls of Candia, and to make every poffible
effort to gain the city. In the mean time, the repub¬
lic of Venice, to improve the advantages which they
had gained, made feveral attempts on Canea. In 1660,
that city was about to furrender to their arms, when
the Pacha of Rhodes, hafteningto its relief, reinforced
the defenders with a body of 2000 men. He happily
Vol. IV. Part L
doubled the extremity of Cape Melee, though within Candia.
fight of the Venetian fleet, which was becalmed off -“Y”-
Cape Spada, and could not advance one fathom to
oppofe an enemy confiderably weaker than them¬
felves.
Kiopruli, fon and fucceffor to the vifir of that name,
who had long been the fupport of the Ottoman em¬
pire, knowing that the murmurs of the people againft
the long continuance of the fiege of Candia were
rifing to an height, and fearing a general revolt, which
would be fatal to himfelf and his mailer, fet out from
Byzantium about the end of the year 1666 at the
head of a formidable army. Having efcaped the Ve¬
netian fleet, which was lying off Canea with a view to
intercept him, he landed at Palio Cajlro, and formed
his lines around Candia. Under his command were
four Pachas, and the flower of the Ottoman forces.
Thofe troops, being encouraged by the prefence and
the promifes of their chiefs, and fupported by a great
quantity of artillery, performed prodigies of valour.
All the exterior forts were deftroyed. Nothing now
remained to the befieged but the bare line of the walls,
unprotected by fortreffes; and thefe being battered
by an inceffant difeharge of artillery, foon gave way
on all quarters. Still, however, what pofterity may
perhaps regard as incredible, the Cancans held out
three years againft all the, forces of the Ottoman em¬
pire. At laft they were going to capitulate, when
the hope of afiiftance from France reanimated their
valour, and rendered them invincible. The expefted
fuccours arrived on the 26th of June 1669. They
were conduced by the duke of Noailles. Under his
command were a great number of French noblemen,
who came to make trial of their Ikill in arlns againft
the Turks.
Next day after their arrival, the ardour of the Frencli
prompted them to make a general fally. The duke
of Beaufort, admiral of France, affumed the command
of the forlorn hope. He was the firft to advance
againft the Muffulmans, and was followed by a nume¬
rous body of infantry and cavalry. They advanced
furioufly upon the enemy, attacked them within their
trenches, forced the trenches, and would have com¬
pelled them to abandon their lines and artillery, had
not an unforefeen accident damped their courage. In
the midft of the engagement a magazine of powder
was fet on fire; the foremoft of the combatants loft
their lives ; the French ranks were broken ; feveral of
their leaders, among whom was the duke of Beaufort,
difappeared for ever; thefoldiers fled in diforder; and
the duke of Noailles, with difficulty, effedled a retreat
within the walls of Candia. The French accufed the
Italians of having betrayed them; and on that pretext
prepared to fet off fooner than the time agreed upon.
No intreaties of the commandant could prevail with
them to delay their departure ; fo they reimbarked.
Their departure determined the fate of the city. There
were now no more than five hundred men to defend
it. Morofini capitulated with Kiopruli, to whom he
furrendered the kingdom of Crete, excepting only the
Sude, Grabufa, and Spina-Longua. The grand vifir
made his entrance into Candia on the 4th of Oftober
1670; and flayed eight months in that city, infpedting
the reparation of its walls and fortreffes.
The three fortreffes left in the hands of the Vene-
M ' tians
CAN
[ 9° ]
CAN
tians by the treaty of capitulation remained long after kinds of thyme, favoury, wild thyme, and with a mu!- CaadU. ^
n their poffeffion. At laft they were all taken,
after another. In fhort, after a war of thirty years
continuance, in the courfe of which more than two
hundred thoufand men fell in the ifland, and it was
deluged with ftreams of Chriilian and Mahometan
blood, Candia was entirely fubdued by the Turks, in
whofe hands it ftill continues.
Of the climate of Candia travellers fpeak with rap¬
ture. The heat is never exceflive ; and in the plains
violent cold is never felt. In the warmeft days of
fummer the atmofphere is cooled by breezes from the
fea. Winter properly begins here with December and
ends with January ; and during that fhort period fnow
never falls on the the lower grounds, and the furface
©f the water is rarely frozen over. Moft frequently
the weather is as fine then as it is in Britain at the be¬
ginning of June. Thefe two months have received
the name of winter, becaufe in them there is a copious
titude of odoriferous and balfamic plants; the rivulets '
which flow down the vallies are overhung with myr¬
tles and laurel rofes; clumps of orange, citron, and
almond trees, are plentifully fcattered over the fields;
the gardens are adorned with tufts of Arabian jaf-
mine. In fpring, they are beftrewed with beds of
violets ; fome extenfive plains are arrayed in faffron }
the cavities of the rocks are fringed with fweet fmell-
ing dittany. In a word, from the hills, the vales,
and the plains, on all hands, there arife clouds of exqui-
fite perfumes, which embalm the air, and render it a
luxury to breathe it.
As to the inhabitants, the Mahometan men are ge¬
nerally from five feet and an half to fix feet tall. They
bear a ftrong refemblance to ancient ftatues ; and it
muft have been after fuch models that the ancient ar-
tifls wrought. The women alfo are generally beauti¬
ful. Their drefs does not reftrain the growth of any
fall of rain, the fky is obfcured with clouds, and the part of their bodies, and their fhape therefore ailumes
north winds blow violently; but the rains are favour- r - J—‘— —u:~u ’—J "r
able to agriculture, the winds chafe the clouds towards
the fummits of the mountains, where a repofitory is
formed for thofe waters which are to fertilize the
fields ; and the inhabitants of the plain fuffer no in¬
convenience from thefe tranfient blafts. In the month
of February, the ground is overfpread with flowers
and rifing crops. The reft of the year is almoft one
continued fine day. The inhabitants of Crete never
experience any of thofe mortifying returns of piercing
cold, which are fo frequently felt in Britain and even
more fouthern countries; and which, fucceeding fud-
denly after the chertfhing heats of fpring, nip the blof-
foming flowers, wither the open buds, deftroy half the
fruits of the year, and are fatal to delicate conftitutions.
The fky is always unclouded and ferene; the winds are
mild and refrefhing breezes. The radiant fun proceeds
in fmiling majefty along the azure vault, and ripens
the fruits on the lofty mountains, the rifing hills, and
the plains. The nights are no lefs beautiful; their
«oolnefs is delicious. The atmofphere not being
overloaded with vapours, the fky unfolds to the ob-
ferver’s view a countlefs profufion of ftars; thofe nu¬
merous ftars fparkle with the moft vivid rays, and
ftrew the azure vault in which they appear fixed,
with gold, with diamonds, and with rubies. Nothing
thofe admirable proportions with which the hand of
the Creator has graced his faireft workmanfhip on
earth. They are not all handfome or charming; but
fome of them are beautiful, particularly the Turkifh
ladies. In general, the Cretan women have a rifing
throat, a neck gracefully rounded, black eyesfparkling
with animation, a fmall mouth, a fine nofe, and cheeks
delicately coloured with the frefh vermilion of health.
But the oval of their form is different from that of
Europeans, and the chara&er of their beauty is pecu¬
liar to their own nation.
The quadrupeds belonging to the ifland are not of
a ferocious temper. There are no lions, tigers, bears,
wolves, foxes, nor indeed any dangerous animal here.
Wild goats are the only inhabitants of the forefts that,
overfpread the lofty mountains; and thefe have nothing
to fear but the ball of the hunter; hares inhabit the
hills and the plain ; fheep graze in fecurity on the
thyme and the heath; they are folded every night, and
the fhepherd fleeps foundly without being difturbed
with the fear that wild animals may invade and ravage
his folds.
The Cretans are very happy in not being expofed
to the troublefome bite of noxious infedfs, the poifon
of ferpents, and the rapacity of the wild beafts of the
defart. The ancients believed that the ifland enjoyed
can be more magnificent than this fight, and the Cre- thefe fingular advantages, on account of its having b<
n o *ar»irvtr I*-fVvf fiv mnnfVi c in tVip KirtVi-ntarp rtf limiter. »hp CVetans Mav TRlir
tans enjoy it for fix months in the year.
To the charms of the climate other advantages are
joined which augment their value: There are fcarce
any morafles in the ifland ; the waters never ftand here
xh a ftate of ftagnation; they flow in numberlefs ftreams
from the tops of the mountains, and form here and
there large fountains or fmall rivers that empty them-
felves into the fea; the elevated fituation of their
fprings caufes them to dafh down with fuch rapidity,
that they never Jofe themfelves in pcols or lakes ; cqn-
fequently infects cannot depofit their eggs upon them,
as they would be immediately hurried down into the
fea; and Crete is not infefted like Egypt with thofe
clouds of infects which fwarm in the houfes, and whofe
fling is infufferably painful ; por is the atmofphere here
loaded with thofe noxious vapours which rife from
marfhy grounds.
the birth-place of Jupiter. “ The Cretans (fay aElian)
celebrate in their fongs the beneficence of Jupiter, and
the favour which he conferred on their ifland, which,
was the place of his birth and education, by freeing it
from every noxious animal, and even rendering it unfit
for nourifiling thofe noxious animals that are introdu¬
ced into it from foreign countries.”
Dittany holds the firft rank among the medicinal
plants which are produced in Crete. The praifes be¬
llowed on the virtues of this plant by the ancients are
altogether extravagant; yet we perhaps treat the me¬
dicinal virtues of this plant with too much contempt.
Its leaf is very balfamic, and its flower diffufes around
it a delicious odour. At prefent the inhabitants of
the ifland apply it with fuccefs on. various occafions.
The leaf, when dried and taken in an infufion with a
little fugar, makes a very pleafant drink, of a finer fla-
The mountains and hills are overfpread with various vour than: tea. It. is there an immediate cure for a
weak
GAN [ 9« 1
weak ftomacTi, and enables it to recover its tone after a all favours beftowed
J bad digeftion.
Difeafes are very rare in a country whofe atmof-
pbere is exceedingly pure ; and in Candia, epidemical
difeafes are unknown. Fevers prevail here in fummer,
but are not dangerous ; and the plague would be wholly
unknown, had not the Turks deftroyed the lazarets
that were eftablifhed by the Venetians, for ftrangers to
do quarantine in. Since the period when thefe were
demoliflied, it is occafionally introduced by fhips from
Smyrna and Conftantinople. As no precautions are
taken againft it, it gains ground, and fpreads over the
ifland from one province to another; and as the colds
and heats are never intemperate, it fometimes conti¬
nues its ravages for fix months at a time.
CAN
an aga of the janiflaries, colonel*
general of the troops, who has the chief care of the re- ~
gulation of the police ; two topigi bachi; a defterdar,
who is treafurer-general for the imperial revenues ; a
keeper of the imperial treafury ; and the chief officers
of the army. This government is entirely military,
and the power of the pacha ferafquier is abfolute. The
juftice of his fentences is never called into qneftion ;
they are inftantly carried into execution.
The people of the law are the mufti, who is the re¬
ligious head, and the cadi. The firfl interprets thofe
laws which regard the divifion of the patrimony among
the children of a family, fucceffions, and marriages ;—
a word, all that are contained in the Koran ; and
u he alfo decides on every thing that relates to the cere-
This fine country is infelled with a difeafe fomewhat monies of the Muffulman religion. The cadi cannot
lefs dangerous than the plague, but whofe fymptoms
are fomewhat more hideous; that difeafe is the leprofy.
In ancient times, Syria was the focus in which it ra¬
ged with moft fury : and from Syria it was carried in¬
to feveral of the iilands of the Archipelago. It is in-
fe&ious, and is inftantaneoufly communicated by con-
ta£t. The victims who are attacked by it, are driven
from fociety, and confined to little ruinous houfes on
the highway. They are ftriftly forbidden to leave
thefe miferable dwellings, or hold intercourfe with any
perfon. Thofe poor wretches have generally befide.
their huts a fraall garden producing pulfe, and feeding
poultry^; and with that fupport, and wlrat they obtain
from paffengers, they find means to drag out a painful
life in circumftances of (hocking bodily dillrefs. Their
bloated (kin is covered with a fcaly cruft, fpeckled with
red and white fpots; which afflift them with intole¬
rable itchings. A hoarfe and tremulous voice iffues
from the bottom of their breads. Their words are
fcarce articulated; becaufe their diftemper inwardly
preys upon the organs of fpeech. Thefe frightful
fpedlres gradually lofe the ufe of their limbs. They
pronounce fentence on affairs connected with thefe
laws,-without firft taking the opinion of the mufti in
writing, which is named Faitfa. It is his bufmefs to
receive the declarations, complaints, and donations of
private perfons; and to decide on fuch differences as
arife among them. The pacha is obliged to confult
thofe judges when he puts a Turk legally to death ;
but the pacha, who is dignified with three tails, fets
himfelf above all laws, condemns to death, and fees his
fentence executed, of his own proper authority. All
the mofques have their Itam, a kind of curate, whofs
duty is to perform the fervice. There are fchoolma-
fters in the different quarters of the city'. Thefe per¬
fons are much refpe&ed in Turky, and are honoured
with the title of Effendi.
The garrifon of Candia confifts of forty-fix compa¬
nies, compofing a military force of about ten thoufand
men. All thefe forces do not refide conftantly in the
city, but they may be muftered in a very (hort time.
They are all regularly paid every three months, except¬
ing thejaniffaries, none of whom but the officers receive
pay. The different gradations of this military body do
continue to breathe till fuch time as the whole mafs of not depend on the pacha. The councilof each company
their blood is corrupted, and their bodies entirely in a
ftate of putrefa&ion. The rich are not attacked by
this diftemper : it confines itfelf to the poor, chiefty
to the Greeks. But thofe Greeks obferve ftriritly their
four lents ; and eat nothing during that time but fait
fifh, botorgo, falted and fmoked pickled olives, and
cheefe. They drink plentifully of the hot and muddy
■wines of the ifiand. The natural tendency of fuch a
regimen mull be, to fire the blood, to thicken the
fluid part of it, and thus at length to bring on a leprofy.
Candia is at prefent governed by three Pachas, who
refide refpe&ively at Candia, Canea, and Retimo. The
firft, who is always a Pacha of three tails, may be con-
fidered as viceroy of the ifland. He enjoys more ex-
tenfive powers than the others. To him the infpec-
•tion of the forts and arfenals is entrufted. He nomi¬
nates to fuch military employments as fall vacant, as
well as to the governments of the Sude, Grabufa,
Spina Longua, and Gira-petra. The governors of thefe
forts are denominated Beys. Each of them has a con-
ftable and three general officers under him : one of
whom is commander of the artillery; another of the
cavalry; and the third of the janiffaries.
The council of the pacha confifts of a kyaia, who is
the cliannel through which all orders are iffued, and
confiding of veterans, and of officers in actual fervice,
has the power of naming to them. A perfon can oc¬
cupy th£ fame poft for no longer than two years; bat
the poft of Sorbagi, or captain, which is purchafed at
Conftantinople, is held for life. The oufta, or cook,
is alfo continued in his employment as long as the
company to which he belongs is fatisfied with him.
Each company has its almoner, denominated imam.
The garrifons of Canea and Retimo, formed on a
fimilar plan, are much lefs numerous. The firft con¬
fifts of about three thoufand men, the other of five
hundred; but as all the male children of the Turks
are enrolled among the janiffaries as foon as born, the
number of thefe troops might be greatly augmented in
time of war ; but, to fay the truth, they are far from'
formidable. Moft of them have never feen fire, nor
are they ever exercifed in military evolutions.
The pachas of Canea and Retimo are no lefs abfo¬
lute, within the bounds of their refpeftive provinces,
than the pacha of Candia. They enjoy the fame pri¬
vileges with him, and their council confifts of the fame
officers. Thefe governors chief object is to get rich
as fpeedily as poffible ; and in order to accomplilh that
end, they pradtife all the arts and cruelties of oppref-
fion, to fqueeze-money from the Greeks. In truth,
M 2 thole
CAN
l 9Z i
CAN
thofe poor vsTetches run to meet the chains with which
they are loaded. Envy, which always preys upon them.
Continually prompts them to take up arms. If fome
one among them happen to enjoy a decent fortune,
the reft afliduoufly feek fome pretence for accufing him
before the pacha, who takes advantage of thefe dilfen-
tions, to feize the property of both the parties. It is
by no means aftonifhing, that under fo barbarous a go¬
vernment, the number of the Greeks is daily diminifhed.
There are fcarcely 150,000 Greeks
in the illand, fixty-five thoufand of
whom pay the carach..
The Turks have not poflefled the
ifland for more- than one hundred and
twenty years; yet, as they are not
expofed to the fame oppreffion, they
have multiplied in it, and raifed them-
felves upon the ruin of the ancient
inhabitants. Their number amounts
The Jews, of whom there are hot
many in the illand, amount only to
200,000 Turks.
Total Is
3.50,200 fouls.
Thi& fertile country is in want of nothing but in-
They have twelve bilhops as formerly, the firft of whom Candia.
affumes the title of Archbilhop of Gortynia. He re-   *
fxdes at Candia; in which city the metropolitan church
of the illand ftands. He is appointed by the patri¬
arch of Conftantinople ; and has the right of nomina¬
ting to all the other bilhoprics of the illand; the names
of which are, Gortynia, Cnoffou, Mirabella, Hyera,
Gira-petra, Arcadia, Cherronefe, Lambis, Milopotamo,
Retimo, Canea, Cifamo. Thefe bilhoprics are nearly
the fame as under the reign of the Greek emperors.
The patriarch wears a triple tiara, writes his lignatUre
in red ink, and anfwers for all the debts of the clergy,.
To enable him to fulfil his engagements, he lays im-
pofitions on the reft of the bilhops, and particularly on
the monafteries, from which he draws very handfoma
contributions. He is confidered as the head of the
Greeks, whom he protefts, as far as his flender credit
goes. The orders of government are dire&ed to him
on important occafions; and he is the only one of all
the Greeks in the illand who enjoys the privilege of
entering the city on horfeback.
Candia, is the capital of tire above illand, fituated
on its northern coaft, in E. Long. 25. o. N. Lat. 35.
30. It ftands on the fame fituation which was for¬
merly occupied by Heraclea,. and is the feat of govern-
duftrious hulbandmen, fecure of enjoying the fruit of ment under the Turks. Its walls, which are more
their labours. It might maintain four times its prefent
number of inhabitants.
Antiquity has celebrated the illand of Crete as con¬
taining an hundred populous cities ; and the induftry
of geographers has preferred their names and fituations.
Many of thefe cities contained no fewer than thirty
thoufand inhabitantsand by reckoning them, on
an average, at fix thoufand each, we lhall in all proba¬
bility be rather within than beyond the truth. This
calculation gives for an hundred cities 600,000
By allowing the fame number as inhabi¬
tants of the towns, villages, and all the reft
of the illand, 600,000
the whole number of the inhabitants
of ancient Crete will amount to 1,200,000
This number cannot be exaggerated. When Can¬
dia was in the hands of the Venetians, it was reckoned
to contain nine hundred fourfcore and fixteen vil¬
lages.
It appears, therefore, that when the ifland of CreSe
enjoyed the bieffing of liberty, it maintained to the
number of eight hundred and forty-nine thoufand eight
hundred more inhabitants than it does at prefent. But
lince thofe happier times, Ihe has been deprived of her
laws by the tyranny of the Romans ; has groaned un¬
der the deftruftive fway of the monarchs of the lower
empire ; has been expofed for a period of an hundred
and twenty years to the ravages of the Arabians; has
next palled under the dominion of the Venetians ; and
has at laft been fubje£ted to the defpotifm of the
Turks, who have produced a dreadful depopulation in
all the countries which have been fubdued by their arms.
than a league in compafs, are in good repair, and de¬
fended by deep ditches, but not prote&ed by any ex*
terior fort. Towards the fea, it has np attacks to
fear; becaufe the lhallownefs of the harbour renders it
inacceffible to Ihips. of war.
The Porte generally commits the government of
tbis ifland to a Pacha of three tails. The principal of¬
ficers, and feveral bodies of the Ottoman foldie’ry, are
ftationed here. This city, when under.the Venetians,
was' opulent, commercial, and populous; but it has
now loft much of its former ftrength and grandeur.
The harbour, naturally a fine bafon, in which Ihips are
fecurely Iheltered from every ftorm, is every day beco¬
ming narrower and Ihallower. At prefent it admits only
boats, and fmall Ihips after they have difcharged a part
of their freight. Thofe v.effels, which the Turks
freight at Candia, are obliged to. go almoft empty
to the ports of Standie, whither their cargoes are con¬
veyed to them in barks. Such inconveniences are
highly unfavourable to commerce ; and as government
never thinks of removing them, the trade of Candia is
therefore confiderably decayed.
Candia, which was embellilhed by the Venetians
with regular greets, handfome houfes, a fine fquare,
and a magnificent ciftern, contains at prefent but a
fmall number of inhabitants, notwithftanding the vaft
extent of the ai;ea inclofed within its walls. Several
divifions of the city are void of inhabitants. That in
which the market-place ftands is the only one which dif-
covers any ftir of bufinefa, or fhow of affluence. The
Mahometans have converted moft of the Chriftian
temples into mofques; yet they have left two churches
to the Greeks, one to the Armenians, and a fynagogue
The Turks allow the Greeks the free exercife of to the Jews. The Capuchins poffefs a fmall convent,
their religion, but forbid them to repair their churches
or monafteries 5 and accordingly they cannot obtain
permiffion to repair their places of worfhip, pr religious
houfes, but by the powerful influence of gold. From
this article the pachas derive very confiderable fums.
with a chapel in which the vice-conful of France hear*
mafs. At prefent he is the only Frenchman , who at¬
tends it, as the French merchants have taken up their
refidence at Canea.
Weft of the city of Candia is an extenfive range of
kills;
CAN t 93 ] CAN
Candiac hills, which are a continuation of mount Ida, and of
| I] . which the extremity forms the promontory of Dion.
^Candidati Qn ^ way to Diem, we find Palio Caftro, on the
* Jhore ; a name which the modern Greeks give indiffe¬
rently to all remains of ancient cities. Its fituation
correfponds to that of the ancient Panormus, which
ftood north-weft from Haraclea.
The river which runs weft of Candia was anciently
known by the name of Triton ; near the fource of
which Minerva fprung from the brain of Jove. Loaxus
is a little farther diftant. About a league eaft of that
city, the river Ceratus flows through a delightful vale.
According to Strabo, in one part of its courfe it runs
near by Gnoffus. A little beyond that, is another
river fuppofed to be Therenus, on the banks of which,
fable relates that Jupiter confummated his marriage
with Juno. For the fpace of more than half a league
round the walls of Candia there is not a Angle tree to
be feen. The Turks cut them all down in the time of
the fiege, and laid wafte the gardens and orchards.
Beyond that extent, the country is plentifully covered
with corn and fruit trees. The neighbouring hills
are overfpread with vineyards, which produce the
malmfey of mount Ida,—worthy of preference at the
table of the moft exquiflte connoifleur in wines. That
fpecies of wine, though little known, has a fine flavour,
a very pleafant relilh, and is highly efteemed in the
iiland.
CANDIAC (John Lewis), a premature genius,
born at Candiac in the diocefe of Nifmes in France, in
1719. In the cradle he diftinguiftied his letters: at 13
months, he knew them perfectly : at three years of
age, he read Latin, either printed or in manufeript: at
four, he tranfiated from that tongue : at fix, he read
Greek and Hebrew; was matter of the principles of
arithmetic, hiftory, geography, heraldry, and the fei-
ence of medals; and had read the beft authors on al-
moft every branch of literature. He died of a compli¬
cation of diforders, at Paris, in 1726.
CANDIDATE, a perfon who afpires to fome pub¬
lic office.
In the Roman commonwealth, they were obliged to
wear a white gown during the two years of their foli-
citing a place. This garment, according to Plutarch,
they wore without any other clothes, that the people
might not fufpeft they concealed money for purchafing
votes, and alfo that they might more eafily (how to the
people the fears of thofe wounds they had received in
fighting for the defence of the commonwealth. The
candidates ufually declared their pretenfions a year be¬
fore the time of eleftion, which they fpent in making
intereft and gaining friends. Various arts of popularity
were prattifed for this purpofe, and frequent circuits
made round the city, and vifits and compliments to all
forts of perfons, the procefs of which was called amll-
ins. See Ambitus.
CANDIDATI milites, an order of foldiers, a-
mong the Romans, who ferved as the emperor’s body¬
guards to defend him in battle. They were the talleft
and ftrongeft of the whole troops, and moft proper to
infpire terror. They were called candulati, becaufe
clothed in white, either that they might be more con-
fpicuous, or becaufe they were ,confidered in the way
of preferment.
CANDISH, a confiderable province of Afia, in the
dominions of the Great Mogul,' bounded by Chytor Candifli,
and Malva on the north, Orixa on the eaft, Decan on Cand!e‘ ,
the fouth, and Guzarat on the weft. It is populous
and rich ; and abounds in cotton, rice, and indigo.
Brampore is the capital town.
CANDLE, a fmall taper of tallow, wax, or fper-
maceti; the wick of which is commonly of feveral
threads of cotton, fpun and twitted together.
A tallow-candle,, to be good, muft be half fheep’s
and half bullock’s tallow ; for hog’s tallow makes the
candle gutter, and always gives an offenfive fmell, with
a thick black fmoke. The wick ought to be pure, fuf-
ficiently dry, and properly twifted; otherwife the candle
will emit an inconftant vibratory flame, which is both,
prejudicial to the eyes and infufficient for the diftinft
illumination of obje&s.
There are two forts of tallow-candles ; the one dip¬
ped, the other moulded : the former are the common
candles; the others are the Invention of. the fieur le
Brege at Paris.
As to the method of making candles fn general:
After the tallow has been weighed, and mixed in the
due proportions, it is cut into very fmall pieces, that
it may melt the fooner; for the tallow in. lumps, as it
comes from the butchers, would be in danger of burn¬
ing or turning black, if it were left too long over the
fire. Being perfedtly melted and flammed, they pour
a certain quantity of water into it, proportionable to
the quantity of tallow. This ferves to precipitate to
the bottom of the vefiel the impurities of the tallow
which may have efcaped the fliimmer. No water, how¬
ever, muft be thrown into the t.ahow defigned for the
three firft dips; becaufe the wick, being ftill'quite dry,
would imbibe the water, which makes the candles
crackle in burning, and renders them of bad ufe. The
tallow, thus melte<L is poured into a tub, through a
coarfe fieve of horkSigtir, to purify it ftill more, and
•may be ufed after havrSg ftood three hours. It will
continue fit for ufe 24 horns in fumraer and 15 in win¬
ter. The wicks are made oS^fpun cotton, which the
tallow-chandlers buy ia fkains, and which, they wind up
into bottoms or clues. Whence they are cut out, with
an inftrument contrived on purpofe, into pieces of the
length of the candle required; then put on the fticks or
broaches, or elfe placed in the moulds, as the candles-
are intended to be either dipped or moulded.
Wax-candles are made of a cotton or flaxen wick,,
(lightly twifted, and covered with white or yellow
wax. Of thefe, there are feveral kinds: fome of a
conical figure, ufed to illuminate churches, and in
proceffions, furneral ceremonies, &c. (fee Taper);
others of a cylindrical form, ufed on. ordinary occa-
fions. The firft are either made with a ladle or the
hand. 1. To make wax-candles with the ladle. The
wicks being prepared, a dozen of them are tied by
the neck, at equal diliances, round an iron circle, fuf-
pended over a large hafon. of copper tinned, and full
of melted wax : a large ladle full of this wax is poured
gently on the tops of the wicks one after another,
and this operation continued till the candle arrive at
its deftined bignefs ; with this precaution, that the
three firft ladles be poured on at the top of the wick,
the fourth at the height of J, the fifth at and the
fixth at J, in order to give the candle its pyramidal
form. Then the candles are taken down, kept warm.
CAN [ 94 ] CAN
'€”m I’e and rolled and fmoothed upon a walnut-tree table, with
a long fquare inftrument of box, fmooth at the bottom.
2. As to the manner of making wax-candles by the
hand, they begin to foften the wax, by working it fe-
veral times in hot water, contained in ja narrow but
deep caldron. A piece of the wax is then taken out,
and difpofed by little and little around the wick,
which is hung on a hook in the wall, by the extre¬
mity oppofite to the neck; fo that they begin with
the big end, diminilhing ilill as they defcend towards
the neck. In other refpefts the method is nearly the
fame as in the former cafe. However, it mull be ob-
ferved, that, in the former cafe, water is always ufed to
moiften the feveral inftruments, to prevent the wax from
flicking; and in the latter, oil of olives, or lard, for
the hands, &c. The cylindrical wax-candles are either
made as the former, with a ladle, or drawn. Wax-
candles drawn, are fo called, becaufe actually drawn
in the manner of wire, by means of two large rollers
of wood, turned by a handle, which, turning back¬
wards and forwards feveral times, pafs the wick
through melted wax contained in a brafs bafon, and at
the fame time through the holes of an inftrument likethat
ufed for drawing wire fattened at one fide of the bafon.
If any chandlers mix with their wares any thing de¬
ceitfully, &c. the candles fliall be forfeited. Stat. 23
Eliz. and a tax or duty is granted on candles, by 8
and g Anne, cap. 6. made for fale, of one penny a
pound, befides the duty upon tallow, by 8 Anne, cap.
9. And by 24 Geo. III. cap. 11. an additional duty
of an halfpenny a pound : and by the fame an addition¬
al duty of an halfpenny a pound is laid upon all candles
imported (except thofe of wax and fpermaceti,for which
fee WAx-Candles'), fubjeft alfo to the two additional
5 per cents, impofed by 19 and 22 Geo. III. befides
the duty of 2^d. formerly impofed by 2 W. fell. 2.
cap. 4. 8 Anne, cap. 9. and 9 Anne, cap. 6. And
every maker of candles, other than wax candles, for
fale, Ihall annually take out a licence at L. 1. The
maker of candles Ihall, in four weeks within the bills,
and elfewhere in fix weeks, after entry, clear off the
duties on pain of double duty : nor fell any after de¬
fault in payment on pain of double value; 8 Anne,
cap. 9. The makers of candles are not to ufe melting
houfes, without making a true entry, on pain of L. xoo,
and to give notice of making candles to the excife officer
for the duties; and of the number, &c. or {hall
forfeit L. 50, ftat. II. Geo. I. cap. 30. See alfo
23 Geo. II. cap. 21. and 26 Geo. II. cap. 32. No
maker of candles for fale ftiall begin to make candles,
without notice firft given to the officer, unlefs from
September 29th to March 25th yearly, between feven
in the morning and five in the evening, and from
March 25th to September 29th, between five in
the rtiorning and feven in the evening, on pain of
L. 10, 10 Anne, cap. 26. The penalty of obftrufting
the officer is L. 20, and of removing candles before
they are furveyed L. 20, 8 Anne, cap. 9. The pe¬
nalty of privately making candles is the forfeiture of
the fame and utenfils, and L. 100, 5 Geo. III. cap. 43.
And the penalty of mingling weighed with unweighed
candles, of removing them before they are weighed, or
of concealing them, is the forfeiture of L. 100, 11
Geo. cap. 30. Candles, for which the duty hath been
paid, may be exported, and the duty drawn back; but
no draw-back fliall be allowed on the exportation of
any foreign candles imported. 8 Ann. cap. 9. 23 Geo.'
II. cap. 21.
The Roman candles were at firft little ftririgs dipt
in pitch, or furrounded with wax ; though afterwards
they made them of the papyrus, covered likewife with
wax; and fometimes alfo of rallies, by ftripping off
the outer rind, and only retaining the pith.—For reli¬
gious offices, wax candles were ufed ; for vulgar ufes,
thofe of tallow. Lord Bacon propofes candles of divers
compofitions and ingredients, as alfo of different forts of
wicks; with experiments of the degrees of duration, and
light of each. Good houfewives bury their candles in
flour or bran, which it is faid increafes their lafting al-
moft half.
Experiments to determine the real and comparative value
of burning Candles of different forts andfixes.
Small wick.
-Large 1
pound-
7i
8
5i
Mould-
candles.
Sr
4
I’hetimeThetime
Itliat one
die latledi pound
will iaft.
O 14
o 13J
I5i
Si
The ,
Hr.Min
3 15
2 40
2 40
3 27
3 3<5
4 9
4 15
5 19
7 20
9 3
Hr. Min.
59 26
50 34
44 2
41 24
38 24
S2 12
34 °
3°
42 39
36 20
xpence
12 hoi
when candles
ire at 6d. per
dozen, which
dio fhows the
proportion of
he expence
it any price
per dozen.
Farthings and
ooth parts.
4.85
5.70
6-54
6.96
7.50
8.94
8.47
9-53
Mould-candl.
is per doz.
7.87
9.28
N. B. The time that one candle lafted was taken
from an average of feveral trials in each fize.
It is obfervable, in optics, that the flame of two
candles joined, give a much ftronger light than both
of them feparate. The obfervation was fuggefted by
Dr Franklin. Probably the union of the two flames
produces a greater degree of heat, whereby the vapour
is attenuated, and the particles of which light confifts
more copioufly emitted.
Lighting a Candle by a fmallfparh of eleBricity. This
method, which is an invention of Dr Ingenhoufz, is
recorded in the Phil. Tranf. vol. 68; It is done by
a fmall phial, having eight or ten inches of metallic
coating, or even lefs, charged with electricity, which
may be done at any time of the night by a perfon
who has an eleCtric machine in his room. “ When I
have occafion to light a candle,” fays he, “ I charge
a fmall coated phial, whofe knob is bent outwards, fo
as to hang a little over the body of the phial; then I
wrap fome loofe cotton over the extremity of a long
brafs pin or a wire, fo as to ftick moderately faft to
its fubftance. I next roll this extremity of the pin
wrapped up with cotton in fome fine powder of refin,
(which I always keep in readinefs upon the table for
this purpofe, either in a wide-mouthed phial or in a
1 loofe
CAN
die, loofe paper) ; this being done, I apply the extremity
tlie' of the pin or wire to the external coating of the char-
r}’ ged phial, and bring as quickly as poflible the other
extremity wrapped round with cotton to the knob :
the powder of refin takes fire, and communicates its
flame to the cotton, and both together burn long e-
nough to light a candle. As I do not want more than
half a minute to light my candle in this way, I find it
a readier method than kindling it by a flint and fteel,
or calling a fervant. I have found, that powder of
white or yellow refin lights eafier than that of brown.
The farina lycopoclii may be ufed for the fame purpofe :
but it is not fo good as the powder of refin, becaufe it
does not take fire quite fo readily, requiring a ftronger
fpark not to mifs : befides, it is foon burnt away. By
dipping the cotton in oil of turpentine, the fame ef-
fedt may be as readily obtained, if you take a jar fome-
what greater in fize. This oil will inflame fo much the
readier if you ftrew a few fine particles of brafs upon it.
The pin dull is the beft for this purpofe ; but as this
oil is fcattered about by the explofion, and when kind¬
led fills the room with much more fmoke than the
powder of refin, I prefer the laft.”
CANDLE-Bombs, a name given to fmall glafs bubbles,
having a neck about an inch long, with a very flender
bore, by means of which a fmall quantity of water is
introduced into them, and the orifice afterwards clofed
up. This ftalk being put through the wick of a burn¬
ing candle, the vicinity of the flame foon rarifies the
water into fleam, by the elaflicity of which the glafs
is broken with a loud crack.
Candle is alfo a term of medicine, and is reckoned
among the inftruments of furgery. Thus the candela
fumalis, or the candela pro fuJRtu odorata, is a mafs of
an oblong form, confifling of odoriferous powders,
mixed up with a third or more of the charcoal of wil¬
low or lime tree, and reduced to a proper confiftence
with a mucilage of gum tragacanth, labdanum, or tur¬
pentine. It is intended to excite a grateful fmell with¬
out any flame, to' correft the air, to fortify the brain,
and to excite the fpirits.
Medicated Candle, the fame with Bougie.
Candle. Sale or auftion by inch of candle, is when
a fmall piece of candle, being lighted, the byftanders
are allowed to bid for the merchandize that is felling ;
but the moment the candle is out, the commodity is
adjudged to the laft bidder.
There is alfo an excommunication by inch of can¬
dle ; when the finner is allowed to come to repentance
while a candle continues burning; but after it is con-
fumed, he remains excommunicated to all intents and
purpofes.
RuJh-CANDiES, ufed in different parts of England,
are made of the pith of a fort of nifties, peeled or ftrip-
ped of the ikin, except on one fide, and dipped in melt¬
ed greafe.
Candle-llrood, flips of pine about the thicknefs of a
finger, ufed in New England and other colonies to
burn inftead of candles, giving a very good light. The
French inhabitants of Tortuga ufe flips of yellow fan-
tal-wood for the fame purpofe, and under the fame de¬
nomination, which yields a clear flame though of a'
green colour.
CANDLEBERRY tree, in botany, the Englifti
name of the Myrica.
CAN
CANDLEMAS, a feaft of the church held on the Candlemas
fecond day of February, in honour of the purification H
of the Virgin Mary-. It is borrowed from the practice a'1 ■ ‘ .
of the ancient Chriftians, who on that day ufed abun¬
dance of lights both in their churches and proceflions,
in memory, as is fuppofed, of our Saviour’s being on
that day declared by Simon “ to be a light to lighten
the Gentiles.” In imitation of this cuftom, the Roman-
catholics on this day confecrate all the tapers and
candles which they ufe in their churches during the
whole year. At Rome, the Pope performs that ce¬
remony himfelf; and diftributes wax-candles to the
cardinals and others, who carry them in proceffion
through the great hall of the Pope’s palace. This
ceremony was prohibited in England by an order of
council in 1548.
Candlemas, (2d Feb.) is made one of the four
terms of the year for paying and receiving rents or- .
borrowed money, &c.—In the courts of law, Candle¬
mas terms begin 15th January, and ends 3d February.
CANDLESTICK, an inftrument to hold a candle,
made in different forms, and of all forts of matter.
The golden candleftick was one of the facred uten-
fils made by Mofes to be placed in the Jewifti taber¬
nacle. It was made of hammered gold, a talent in
weight. It confifted of feven branches fupported by
a bafe or foot. Thefe branches were adorned at equal
diftaaces with fix flowers like lilies, and with as many
bowls and knobs placed alternately. Upon the flock
and fix branches of the candleftick were the golden
lamps, which were immoveable, wherein- were put oil-
and cotton.
Thefe feven lamps were lighted every evening, and
extinguiftied every morning. The lamps had their tongs-;
or fnuffers to draw the cotton in or out, and dilhes
underneath them to receive the fparks or droppings of
the oil. This candleftick was placed in the antichamber
of the fanftuary on the fouth fide, and ferved to illu¬
minate the altar of perfume and the tabernacle of the
ftiew-bread. When Solomon had built the temple of
the Lord, he placed in it ten golden candleflicks of the
fame form as that deferibed by Mofes, five on the north
and five on the fouth fide of the holy place : But after rh<>
Babylortifh captivity, the golden candleftick was again
placed in the temple, as it had been before in the
tabernacle by Mofes. This facred utenfil, upon
the deftrudfion of the temple by the Romans,-
was lodged in the temple of peace built by Vefpalian ;
and the reprefentation of it is ftill to be feen on the
triumphal arch at the foot of mount Palatine, on which
Vefpalian’s triumph is delineated.
CANDY, a large kingdom of Afia, in the ifland
of Ceylon. It contains about a quarter of the ifland ;
and as it ft encompafled with high mountains, and co¬
vered with thick forefts, through which the roads and
paths are narrow and difficult, the king has them-
guarded to prevent his fiibje&s from going into other
countries. It is full of hills, from whence rivulets pro¬
ceed which are full of filh ; but as they run among the
rocks, they are not fit for boats : however, the inha¬
bitants are very dexterous , in turning them to water
their land, which is fruitful in rice, pulfe, and hemp..,
The king is abfolute-, and his fubjefts are idolaters,-
The capital town is of the fame name.
Candy, a town of Afia,. and capital of a kingdom-
of
[ os 3
Candy
II
Canea.
CAN [ 96
of the fame name, in the ifland of Ceylon, It has been v
often burnt by the Portuguefe, when they were mafters
z of thefe coafts. The houfes are very poor, low, and
badly furnilhed. E. Long. 79. 12. N. Lat. 7. 35.
Candt, or Sugar-Candy, a preparation of fugar made
by melting and cryftallizing it fix or feven times over, to
render it hard or tranlparent. It is of three kinds,
white, yellow, and red. The white comes from the
] CAN
was very eafy to launch the (hips built there into the CaneHs.
water. The Turks are fuffering that magnificent work
to fall into ruins.
The city of Canea is laid out on a fine plan. The
ftfeets are large and llraight; and the fquares adorned
with fountains. There are no remarkable buildings
in it. Moft of the houfes are flat-roofed, and have on¬
ly one ftory. Thofe contiguous to the harbour are
loaf-fugar, the yellow from the cafibnado, and the red adorned with galleries, from which you enjoy a de-
from the mufcavado. lightful profpect. From the windows you difcover
CANDYING, the aft of preferving fimples in fub- the large bay formed between Cape Spada and Cape
ftance, by boiling them in fugar. The performance of Melee, and all the fhips that are entering in or paf-
this originally belonged to the apothecaries, but is now fing out. The harbour, at prefent, receives ihips of
become .a part of the bufinefs of the confeftioner. 200 tons burden ; and it might be enlarged fo as to
CANE, in botany. See Arundo and Calamus. admit the largeft frigates. Its mouth is expofed to the
■Cane, denotes alfo a walking flick. It is cuftomary violence of the north winds, which fometimes fwell the
■to adorn it with a head of gold, filver, agate, &c.
.Some are without knots, and very fmooth and even ; 0-
thers are full of knots abouts two inches diftance from
one another. Thefe laft have very little elafticity, and
will not bend fo well as the others.
Canes of Bengal are the moft beautiful which the
Europeans bring into Europe. .Some of them are fo
fine, that people work them into bowls or veflels, which
being varniftied over in the infide, with black or yel-
billows above the ramparts. But, as it is narrow, and
the bottom is good, flaps that are well moored run no
danger. At the time when Tournefort vifited Crete,
Canea did not contain more than five or fix thoufand
inhabitants. But, at prefent, when the gates of Gira-
Petra, Candia, and Retimo are choaked up, the mer¬
chants have retired to Canea; and it is reckoned to
contain 16,000 fouls. The environs of the town are ad¬
mirable ; being adorned with forefts of olive-trees mix-
low lacca, will hold liquors as well as glafs or China ed with fields, vineyards, gardens, and brooks border-
ware does; and the Indians ufe them for that pur- ed with myrtle-trees and laurel-rofes. The chief re-
pofe.
Cane is alfo the name of a long meafure, which dif¬
fers according to the feveral countries where it is ufed.
At .Naples the cane is equal to 7 feet 3 lT inches Eng-
lifli meafure: the cane of Tholoufe and the Upper
Languedoc, is equal to the varre of Arragon, and
contains five feet 84- inches ; at Montpellier, Provence,
Dauphine, and the Lower Languedoc, to fix Englilh
feet 5x inches.
CANEA, a confiderable town of the ifland of Can¬
dia, where a baftiaw refides. It was built by the Ve¬
netians, and occupies part of the fite of the ancient
Cydonia. It is but about two miles in compafs ; en¬
circled on the land fide with a fingle wall, extremely
thick; and defended by a broad and deep ditch, cut
venue of this town confifts in oil-olive. E. Long. 24,
15. N. Lat. 35. 28.
CANELLA, in botany : A genus of the monogy ■
nia order belonging to the dodecandria clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the 12th or¬
der, Holoracea. The calyx is three lobed ; the petals
are five ; the anther® 16, growing to an urceolated or
tdadder-ftiaped neftarium ; and the fruit is a trilocular
berry, with two feeds. There is but one fpecies, the
alba; which grows ufually about 20 feet high, and
eight or ten inches in thicknefs, in the thick woods of
moft of the Bahama iflands. The leaves are narrow at
the ftalk, growing wider at their ends, which are broad
and rounding, having a middle rib only ; they are very
fmooth, and of a light fhining green. In May and
through a bed of rock, which extends all around the June the flowers, which are pentapetalous, come forth
wall. By cutting it ftill deeper, they might caufe the
fea to flow round its ramparts ; on which they have
railed high platforms, that their great guns might
command a wider extent of the adjacent plain. The
city has only one gate, the gate of Retimo, protedled
•by an half-moon battery, which is the only exterior fort.
The fide which faces the fea is the belt fortified. On
the left.of the harbour are four batteries,rifingoneabove
clufters at the ends of the branches : they are red,
and very fragrant, and are fucceeded by round berries,
of the fize of large peas, green, and when ripe (which
is in February) purple, containing two Ihining black
feeds, flat on one fide, otherwife not unlike in lhape pj_ q^VI.
to a kidney bean : thefe feeds in the berry are enve¬
loped in a flimy mucilage. The whole plant is very
aromatic, the bark particularly, being more ufed '
another, and planted with a number of large cannons diftilling, and in greater efteem, in the more northern
of call metal, marked with the arms of Venice. The
firft of thefe batteries Hands clofe on the brink of the
fea. The right fide of the harbour is defended only
by a ftrong wall, extending along a chain of pointed
rocks which it is dangerous for Ihips to approach. At
the extremity of this wall, there is an old caftle, falling
into ruins. Beneath that caftle, the Venetians had im-
menfe arfenals, vaulted with ftone. Each of thefe
vaults was of fufficient length, breadth, and height, to
ferve as a Work-lhop for building a (hip of the line.
parts of the world than in Britain.
The bark is the canella alba of the fliops. It is
brought to us rolled up into long quills, thicker than
c?nnamon, and both outwardly and inwardly of a whi-
tifti colour, lightly inclining to yellow. Infufions of
it in water are of a yellowifli colour, and fmell of the
canella; but they are rather bitter than aromatic.
Tinftures in reftified fpirit have the warmth of the
bark, but little of its fmell. Proof-fpirk diflblves the
aromatic as well as the bitter matter of the canella, and
The ground is floping, and the outermoft part of thefe is therefore the belt menftruum.
capacious arfenals is on a level with the fea ; fo that it The canella is the interior bark freed from an outward
N° 63. 2 thin
GAN [ 97 ] CAN
Canelle thin rough one, and dried in the fhade. The fhops diftxn-
11 guifh two forts of canella, differing from each other
i anes' in the length and thicknefs of the quills : they are
both the bark of the fame free; the thicker being
taken from the trunk, and the thinner from the branch-
es. This bark is a warm pungent aromatic, though
not of the moft agreeable kind: nor are any of the
preparations of it very grateful.
Canella alba is often employed where a warm ftimu-
lant to the flomach is neceifary, and as a corrigent of
other articles. It is now, however, little ufed in com-
polrtion by the London college ; the only official for¬
mula which it enters being the pulvis aloeticus : but
with the Edinburgh college it is an ingredient in the
tindlura amara, vinum amarum, vinum rhei, &c. It
is ufeful as covering the tafte of fome other articles.—
This bark has been confounded with that called Win¬
ter’s bark, which belongs to a very different tree. See
WtNTERA.
CANELLE, or Cane-Land, a large country in the
ifland of Ceylon, called formerly the kingdom of Cota.
It contains a great number of cantons, the principal of
which are occupied by the Dutch. The chief riches of
this country confift in cinnamon, of which there are
large forefts. There are five towns on the coafl, fome
forts, and a great number of harbours. The reft of
the country is inhabited by the natives; and there are
feveral rich mines, from whence they get rubies, fap-
phires, topazes, cats-eyes, and feveral other precious
ftones.
CANEPHORzE, in Grecian antiquity, virgins who,
when they became marriageable, prefented certain baf-
kets full of little curiofities to Diana, in order to get
leave to depart out of her train, and change their ftate
of life.
CANEPHORIA, in Grecian antiquity, a ceremo¬
ny which made part of a feaft, celebrated by the Athe¬
nian virgins on the eve of their marriage-day. At
Athens the canephoria conlifted in this ; that the maid,
conduced by her father and mother, went to the tem¬
ple of Minerva, carrying with her a bafket full of pre-
fents to engage the goddefs to make the marriage-
ilate happy ; or, as the fcholiaft of Theocritus has it,
the bafket was intended as a kind of honourable a-
mends made to that goddefs, the proteftrix of virgi¬
nity, for abandoning her party ; or as a ceremony to
• appeafe her wrath. Suidas calls it a feftival in honour
of Diana.
Ga'nephoria, is alfo the name of a feftival in ho¬
nour of Bacchus, celebrated particularly by the Athe¬
nians, on which the young maids carried golden baf-
kets full of fruit, which bafkets were covered, to con¬
ceal the myftery from the uninitiated.
CANES, in Egypt and other eaftern countries, a
“poor fort of buildings for the reception of ftrangers and
travellers. People are accommodated in thefe with a
room at a fmall price, but with no other neceffaries ;
fo that, excepting the room, there are no greater ac¬
commodations in thefe houfes than in the defarts, on¬
ly that there is a market near.
Canes Venatici, in aftronomy, the grey-hounds, two
new conftellations, firft eftablifhed by Hevelius, between
the tail of the Great Bear and Bootes’s arms, above
the Coma Berenices. The fxrft is called aflerion, be¬
ing that next the Bear’s tail; the other chara. They
Von. IV. Part. I.
comprehend 23 liars, of which Tycho only obferved
two. The longitudes and latitudes of each are given
by Hevelius. In the Britifh Catalogue they are 25.
CANETO, a ftrong town of Italy in the duchy
of Mantua, feated on the river Oglio, which was
taken by the Imperialifts in 1701, by the French
in 1702, afterwards by the Imperialifts, and then
by the French in 1705. E. Long. 10. 45. N. Lat.
Cancto
II
Cangiagio-
4°. 55- .
CANGA, in the Chinefe affairs, a wooden clog
borne on the neck, by way of punifhment for divers
offences. The canga is compofed of two pieces of
wood notched, to receive the criminal’s neck; the load
lies on his ffioulders, and is more or lefs heavy ac¬
cording to the quality of his offence. Some cangas
weigh 200lb; the generality from 50 to 60. The
Mandarins condemn to the punilhment of the canga.
Sentence of death is fometimes changed for this kind
of punifhment.
CANGE (Charles du Frefne fieur du), one of the
moft learned writers of his time, was born at Amiens
in 1601, and ftudied at the Jefuits college in that city.
Afterwards be applied himfelf to the ftudy of the law
at Orleans, and gained great reputation by his works;
among which are, x. The hiftory of the empire of
Conftantinople under the French emperors. 2 John
Cinnamus’s fix books of the hiftory of the affairs of
John and Manuel Comnenus, in Greek and Latin, with
hiftorical and philological notes. 3. Clojfarium ad Scrip*
tores media Eff infima Latinitatis.
CANGI, CeAngi, or Cangani, anciently a people
of Britain, concerning whofe fituation antiquaries have
been much perplexed. They are all the fame people.
Cambden difcovered fome traces of them in many dif¬
ferent and diftant places, as in Somerfetfhire, Wales,
Derbyfhire, and Chefhire; and he might have found
as plain veftiges of them in Devonfliire, Dorfetflrire,
Effex, Wiltfhire, &c. Mr Horfley and others are no
lefs perplexed and undetermined in their opinions on
this fubjeft. But Mr Baxter feems to have difcovered
the true caufe of all this perplexity, by obferving that
the Cangi or CeaUgi were not a diftirtft nation feated
in one particular place, but fuch of the youth of many
different nations as were employed in pafturage, in
feeding the flocks and herds of their refpedlive tribes.
Almoft all the ancient nations of Britain had their
ceangi, their paftoritia pubes, the keepers of their
flocks and herds, who ranged about the country in
great numbers, as they were invited by the fea-
fon and plenty of pafture for their cattle. This is
the reafon that veftiges of their name are to be found
in fo many different parts of Britain; but chiefly in
thofe parts which are moft fit for pafturage. Thefe
ceangi of the different Britifh nations, naturally brave,
and rendered ftill more hardy by their way of life,
were conftantly armed for the protedlion of their flocks
from wild beafts ; and thefe arms they occafionally em¬
ployed in the defence of their country and their liberty.
CANGIAGIO, or Cambiasi (Ludovico), one of
the moft eminent of the Genoefe painters, was born
in 1527. His works at Genoa are very numerous;
and he was employed by the king of Spain to adorn
part of the Efcurial. It is remarked of him, that he
was not only a moft expeditious and rapid painter,
but alfo that he worked equally well with both hands,;
N and
CAN [98] CAN
Canicula and by that umifual power he executed more defigns,
II. and finilhed mote grand works with his own pencil, in
. an‘ne- a much fhorter time, than molt other artifts could do
with feveral affiftants. He died in 1585.
In the royal colleftion at Paris, there is a Sleeping
Cupid, as large as life, and likewife Judith with her
attendant; which are painted by Cangiagio, and are
an honour to that mailer. And in the Pembroke col-
leftion at Wilton, is a pidlure, reputed the work of
Cangiagio, reprefenting Chrift bearing his Crofs.
CANICULA, is a name proper to one of the liars
of the cohllellation cams major, called alfo limply the
* See Sirius dog-Jlar; by the Greeks Jirius *. Canicula is
the tenth in order in the Britannic catalogue; in
Tycho’s and Ptolemy’s it is the fecond. It is fituated
in the mouth of the conllellation j and is of the iirft
magnitude, being the largeft and' brightell of all the
liars in the heavens. From the rifing of this liar not
cofmically, or with the fun, but heliacally, that is, its
emerfion from the fun’s rays, which now happens about
the 15th day of Auguft, the ancients reckoned their
dies caniculares, or dog-days. The Egyptians and E-
thiopians began their year at the rifing of the canicula,
reckoning to its rife again the next year, which is
called the annus canarius, or canicular year. This year
confilted ordinarily of 365 days, and every fourth year
of 366, by which it was accommodated to the civil
year. The reafon of their choice of the canicula be¬
fore the other liars to compute their time by, was not
only the fuperior brightnefs of that liar, but becaufe
fts heliacal rifing was in Egypt a time of Angular note,
as falling on the greateft augmentation of the Nile,
the reputed father of Egypt. Ephellion adds, that
from the afpedl and colour of canicula, the Egyptians
drew prognollics concerning the rife of the Nile ; and,
according to Florus, predi&ed the future Hate of the
year ; fo that the Aril rifing of this liar was annually
obferved with great attention.
CANICULUM, or Caniculus, in the Byzantine
antiquities, a golden ftandilh or ink-velfel, decorated
with precious Hones, wherein was kept the facred en-
caujlum, or rid ink, wherewith the emperors figned their
decrees, letters, &c. The word is by fome derived
from cants, or caniculus; alluding to the figure of a
dog which it reprefented, or rather becaufe it was fup-
ported by the figures of dogs. The caniculum was un¬
der the care of a particular officer of Hate.
CANINA, the north part of the ancient Epirus, a
province of Greece, which now belongs to the Turks,
and lies off the entrance of the gulph of Venice. The
principal town is of the fame name, and is feated on the
fea-coaft, at the foot of the mountains of Chimera. E.
Long. 19. 25. N. Lat. 40. 55.
CANINANA, in zoology, the name of a fpecies of
, ferpent found in America, and efteemed one of the lefs
poifonous kinds. It grows to about two feet long ; and
is green on the back, and yellow on the belly. It feeds
on eggs and fmall birds ; the natives cut off the head
and tail, and eat the body as a delicate dilh.
CANINE, whatever partakes of, or has any relation
to, the nature of a dog.
Canike Appetite, amounts to much the fame with
Bu 1.1MY
Can we Madnefs. See (the Index fubjoined to) Me-
eici-HE.
Canine Teeth, are two (harp edged teeth in each jaw ; Canine,
oneoneaeh fide,placed between the incifores andmolares. Cams.
CANINI (John Angelo and Marc Anthony,) bro- ^
thers and Romans, celebrated for their love of antiqui¬
ties. John excelled in defigns for engraving on Hones,
particularly heads ; Marc engraved them. They were
encouraged by Colbert to publifh a fucceffion of heads of
the heroes and great men of antiquity, defigned from
medals, antique Hones, and other ancient remains; but
John died at Rome foon after the work was begun: Marc
Anthony, however, procured affi[la»ce, finilhed and
publiflied it in Italian in 16^9. The cuts of this edition
were engraved by Canini, Picard, and Valet; and a cu¬
rious explanation is given, which difcovers the Ikill of
the Canini’s in hiHory and mythology. The French
edition of Amfferdam, 1731, is fpurious.
CANIS, or Dog, in zoology,, a genus of quadru¬
peds, belonging to the order of ferse. The charadlers
of the dog are thefe : he has fix fore-teeth in the upper
jaw, thofe in the fides being longer than the interme¬
diate ones, which are lobated ; in the under jaw there
are likewife fix fore-teeth, thofe on the fides being lo¬
bated. He has fix grinders in the upper, and feven in
the lower jaw. The teeth called dog-teeth are four, one
on each fide, both in the lower and upper jaw; they are
fliarp-pointed, bent a little inward, and Hand at a di-
ffance from any of the refi.
There are 14 fpecies of this genus, viz.
I.TheFAMiLiARis,orDomeflicDog, is difiinguiffied Domeftk
from the other fpecies by having his tail bent to the
left fide ; which mark is fo lingular, that perhaps the
tail of no other quadruped is bent in this manner. Of See Plates
this fpecies there are a great number of varieties. Lin- CXVII,
ngeus enumerates 11, and Buffon gives figures of ’
lefs than 27. The maffiff is about the fize of a wolf, a,1(j jjxX.
with the fides of the lips hanging down, and a full ro-
buH body. The large Danilh dog differs only from
the former in being fuller in the body, and generally
of a larger fize. The gre-hound is likewife the fame
with the mafiiff; but its make is more flender and de¬
licate. Indeed the difference betwixt thefe three dogs,
although perfectly difiingui{liable at fiiH fight, is not
greater than that betwixt a Dutchman, a Frenchman,
and an Italian. The fhepherd’s dog, the wolf-dog, and
what is commonly called the Siberian dog, to which may
be joined the Lapland dog, the Canada dog, and, in
general, all thofe which have Hraight ears and a pointed
fnout, are all one kind, differing only in thicknefs, the
roughnefs or fmoothnefs of their lkin, the length of their
legs and tails. The hound or beagle, the terrier, the
braque or harrier, and the fpaniel, may be confidered
as the fame kind: they have the fame form and the
fame inffindls; and differ only in the length of their
legs, and fize of their ears, which in each of them arft
long, foft, and pendulous. The bull-dog, the fmall
Danifh dog, the Turkifh dog, and the Iceland dog>
may like wife be confidered as the fame kind, all the va*
rieties in their appearance taking their rife merely from
climate. Fot inHance, the Turkifh dog, which has no
hair, is nothing elfe but the fmall Danilh dog tranf-
ported to a warm climate, which makes the hair fall off.
A dog of any kind lofes its .hair in very warm climates.
But this is not the only change which arifes from difi-
ference of climate. In fome countries, the voice is chan¬
ged;
CAN
ged ; In others, dogs become altogether filent. In fome
climates they lofe the faculty of barking, and howl'like
wolves, or yelp like foxes. Warm climates even change
their form and inilinfts: they turn ill-fhaped, and their
ears become ftraight and pointed. It is only in tem¬
perate climes that dogs preferve their natural courage,
ardour, and fagacity.
Dr Cains has left, among feveral other trafts relating
to natural hiftory, one written exprefsly on the fpecies
of Britilh dogs; befides a defcription of the variety
of dogs then exifting in this country, he has added a
fyftematic table of them, which we {hall here infert,
and explain by a brief account of each kind.
Synopsis of British Dogs.
Gaze-hound
Gr e-hound
Levintr, or Lyemmer
Tumbler
Spaniel
Setter
Water-fpaniel, or finder
Spaniel gentle, or comforter
Shepherd’s dog
Maftiff, or ban dog.
[ 99 1
Q C
Wappe
Turnfpit
Dancer.
i. a. The firft variety is the terrarius or terrier, which
takes its name from its fubterraneous employ ; being a
fmall kind of hound ufed to force the fox or other beafts
of prey out of their holes ; and, in former times, rab¬
bits out of their burrows into nets.
b. The leverarius, or harrier, is a fpecies well known
at prefent: it derives its name from its ufe, that of
CAN
gradus fit inter canes, “ the firft in rank among dogs:”
that it was formerly efteemed fo, appears from the fo- '
reft-laws of king Canute, who ena&ed that no one un¬
der the degree of a gentleman {hould prefume to keep
a gre-hound; and ftill more ftronglyfrom an old Welfh
faying which fignifies, that “ you may know a gentle¬
man by his hawk, his horfe, and his gre-hound.”
The variety called the Highland gre-hound, and now
become very fcarce, is of very great fize, ftrong, deep-
chefted, and covered with long rough hair. This kind
was much efteemed in former days, and ufed in great
numbers by the powerful chieftains in their magnificent
hunting-matches. It had as fagacious noftrils as the
blood-hound, and was as fierce. '
f. The third fpecies is the levindrius, or lorarius;
the leviner or lyemmer : the firft name is derived from
the lightnefs of the kind; the other from the old word
lyemme, a thong; this fpecies being ufed to be led in a
thong, and flipped at the game. Our author fays that
this dog was a kind that hunted both by fcent and
fight; and in the form of its body obferved a medium
between the hound and the gre-hound. This probably
is the kind now known among us by the name of the
Iri/h gre-hound, a dog now extremely fcarce in that
kingdom, the late king of Poland having procured from
them as many as poflible. They were of the kind called
by Buffon le grand Dctnois, and probably imported there
by the Danes who long poflefled that kingdom. Their
ufe feems originally to have been for the chace of wolves
with which Ireland fwarmed till the. latter end of the
laft century. As foon as thefe animals were extirpated,
the numbers of the dogs decreafed ; for, from that pe¬
riod, they were kept oply for ftate.
g. The vertagus, or tumbler, is a fourth fpecies ;
which took its prey by mere fubtilty, depending nei¬
ther on the fagacity of its nofe, nor its fwiftnefs: if it
came into a warren, it neither barked, nor ran on the
rabbits ; but by a feeming negleft of them, or atten¬
tion to fomething elfe, deceived the object till it got
within reach, fo as to take it by a hidden fpring. This
dog was lefs than the hound, more fcraggy, had prickt
up ears, and by Dr Caius’s defcription feems to anfwer
to the modern lurcher.
The third fubdiviiion of the more generous dogs com¬
prehends thofe which were fifed in fowling.
h. Firft, the Hifpanwlus, or fpaniel; from the name.
hunting the hare ; but under this head may be placed it may be fuppofed that, we were indebted to Spain for
the fox hound, which is only a ftronger and fleeter va¬
riety. applied to a different chace.
this breed. There were two varieties of. this kind : the
firft ufed to fpring the game, which are the fame with
The fanguinarius, blood-hound, or Jleut-hounde our ftarters. The other variety was ufed only for the net,
of the Scots, was a dog of great ufe, as already noticed and was called index or the fetter; a kind well known
at prefent. This kingdom has been long remarkable for
Under the article Bsoav-Hound. _ _
The next fubdivifion of this fpecies of dogs compre- producing dogs of this fort, particular care having been
bends thofe that hunt by the eye ; and whofe fuccefs taken to preferve the breed in the utmoft purity. They
depends either upon the quicknefs of their fight, their
fwiftnefs, or their fubtilty.
d. The agafteus, or gaze-hound, was the firft : it
chaced indifferently the fox, hare, or buck. It would
fekct from the herd the fatteft and faireft deer; purfue
it by the eye ; and, if loft for a time, recover it again
by its fingfilar diftinguifliing faculty ; nay, fhould the
beaft rejoin the herd, this dog would fix unerringly
on the fame. This fpecies is now loft, or at leaft un¬
known to us.
are ftill diftinguiflied by the name of Englifh Spaniels}
fo that, notwithftanding the derivation of the name, it
is probable they are natives of Great Britain.
i. The aquaticus, or finder, was. another fpecies ufed
in fowling; was the fame with our water-fpaniel; and
was ufed to find or recover the game that was {hot.
k. The Melitaus, or fotor, the fpaniel gentle or com¬
forter of Dr Caius (the'modern lap-dog), was the
laft of this divifion. The Maltefe little dogs were as
much efteemed by the fine ladies of paft times as thofe
:. The next kind is the leporarhts, or gre-hound. Dr of Bologna are among the modern. Old Hollingfhed
Caius informs us, that it takes its name quod prmcipui
is ridiculoufly fevere on the fair of his days for their
N 2 .exceffive
CAN C ioo ] CAN
Canls.
* The reign
cf Queen
Elizabeth,
Cynegeticon,
Jan, I]S'
exceffive paflion for tliefe little animals ; which is fuffi-
cient to prove that it was, in his time*, a novelty.
2. The fecond grand divifion of dogs comprehends
the rujllci, or thofe that were ufed in the country.
a. The lirft fpecies is the pajloralit, or fhepherd’s
dog ; which is the fame that is ufed at prefent, either
in guarding our flocks, or in driving herds of cattle.
This kind is fo well trained for thefe purpofes as to at¬
tend to every part of the herd, be it ever fo large; con
fine them to the road; and force in every ftragglef,
without doing it the leaft injury.
b. The next is the 'uillaticus, or calenarius; the
mafliff or ban dog; a fpecies of great fize and
llrength, and a very loud barker. Caius tells us that
three of thefe were reckoned a match for a bear; and
four for a lion: but from an experiment made in the
Tower of London, that noble quadruped was found an
unequal match to only three. Two of the dogs were
difabled in the combat, but the third forced the lion to
feck for fafety by flight. The Englifh bull-dog feems
to belong to this fpecies; and probably is the dog our
author mentions under the title of lanlarius. Great Bri¬
tain was fo noted for its maftiffs, that the Roman empe¬
rors appointed an officer in this ifland under the name
of procurator fynegii, whofe foie bufinefs was to breed,
and tranfmit from hence to the amphitheatre, fuch as
would prove equal to the combats of the place. Gra-
tius fpeaks in high terms of the excellency of the Bri-
tiih dog.
jitque ipfos libeat penetrare Britannos ?
0 quanta ejl merces, et quantum impendia fupra!
Si non ad fpeciem, mentiturofque decores
Protims: hac una eji catulis jaBura Britannis.
At magnum cum vend opus, promendaque virtus,
Ei ‘Vocat extremo praceps difcrimine Mamors.
Non tunc egregios tantum admirere Moloflbs.
If Britain's diflant coaft we dare explore,
How much beyond the coft the valued ftore ?
If fliape and beauty not alone we prize.
Which nature to the Britijh hound denies :
But when the mighty toil the huntfman warms.
And all the foul is rous’d by fierce alarms.
When Mars calls furious to th’ enfanguin’d field,
Even bold Molojfians then to thefe muft yield.
Strabo tells us that the maftiffs of Britain were trained
to war, and were ufed by the Gauls in their battles ;
and it is certain a well trained mailiff might be of ufe
in diftreffing fuch half-armed and irregular combatants
as the adverfaries of the Gauls feem generally to have
been before the Romans conquered them.
3. The lafi divifion is that of the degeneres, or curs.
a. The firft of thefe was the nvappe, a name derived
from its note ; its only ufe was to alarm the family by
barking, if any perfon approached the houfe. ■
b. Of this clafs was the merfator, or turn-fpit; and
laftly the, falitator or dancing-dog; or fuch as was
taught variety of tricks, and carried about by idle people
as a lhew. Thefe degeneres were of no certain fliape, be¬
ing mongrels or mixtures of all kinds of dogs.
M. de Buffon has given a genealogical table of all
the known dogs, in which he makes the chien ileberger,
or fhepherd’s dog, the origin of all, becaufe it is na¬
turally the moft fenfible. This table or tree is intend¬
ed not only to exhibit the different kinds of dogs, but
to give an idea of their varieties as arifing from a dege- Cams.
neration in particular climates, and from a commixture  *—•
of the different races. It is conftrudted in the form See Plate
of a geographical chart, preferving as much as poffible CXXXI.
the pofition of the different climates to which each va¬
riety naturally belongs. The fliepherd’s dog, as already
mentioned, is the root of the tree. '.This dog, when
tranfported into Lapland, or other very cold climates,
affumes an ugly appearance, and fhrinks into a fmallef
fize: but, in Ruffia, Iceland, and Siberia, where the
climate is lefs rigorous, and the people a little more
advanced in civilization, he feems to be better accom-
plifhed. Thefe changes are occafioned folely by the
influence of thofe climates, which produce no great
alteration in the figure of this dog; for, in each of
thefe climates, his ears are eredt, his hair thick and
long, his afpedt wild, and he barks lefs frequently, and
in a different manner, than in more favourable cli¬
mates, where he acquires a finer polifli. The Iceland
dog is the only one that has not his ears entirely eredt;
for their extremities are a little inclined; and Iceland,
of all the northern regions, has been longeft: inhabited
by half civilized men.
The fame fliepherd’s dog, when brought into tem¬
perate climates, and among a people perfedtly civilized,
as Britain, France, Germany, would, by the mere in¬
fluence of the climate, lofe his favage afpedt, his eredt
ears, his rude, thick, long hair, and affume the figure
of a bull dog, the hound, and the Irifli gre-hound.
The bull-dog and Irifh grey-hound have their ears ftill
partly eredt, and very much referable, both in their
manners and fanguinary temper, the dog from which
they derive their origin. The hound is fartheft remo¬
ved from the fhepherd’s dog ; for his ears are long and;
entirely pendulous. The gentlenefs, docility, and even
the timidity of the hound, are proofs of his great de-
generation, or rather of the great perfedtion he has
acquired by the long and careful education, beftowed
on him by man.
The hound, the harrier, and the terrier, conftitute
but one race ; for, it has been remarked, that in the
fame litter, hounds, harriers, and terriers, have been
brought forth, though the female hound had been co¬
vered by only one of thefe three dogs. I have joined
the common harrier to the Dalmatian dog, or harrier
of Bengal, becaufe they differ only in having more or
few'er fpots on their coat. I have alfo linked the turn-
fpit, or terrier with crooked legs, with the common-
terrier; becaufe the defedt in the legs of the former
has originally proceeded from a difeafe fimilar to the
rickets, with which feme individuals had been affected,
and tranfmitted the deformity to their defeendants.
The hound, when tranfported into Spain and Bar—
bary, where all animals have fine, long, bufliy hair,
would be converted into the fpaniel and water-dog.
The great and fmall fpaniel, which differ only in fize,
when brought into Britain, have changed their white
colour into black, and become, by the influence of cli¬
mate, the great and little King Charles’s dog: To
thefe may be joined the pyrame, which is only a King
Charles’s dog, black like the others, but marked with -
red on the four legs, and a fpot of the fame colour a-
bove each eye, and on the muzzle.
The Irifli gre-hound, tranfported to the north, is
become the great Danifli dog; and, when carried to
the fouth, was converted into the commoa gre-hound.
The
Caki s
CXVil.
Y/YtT//
'on/rra/ua/i:
ftswrui
CAN [ ioi ] CAN
Canis. The largeft gre-hounds come from the Levant, thofe
—r—i of a fmaller fize from Italy ; and thofe Italian gre-
hounds, carried into Britain, have been ftill farther di-
miniftied.
The great Danifh dog, tranfported into Ireland, the
Ukraine, Tartary, Epirus, and Albania, has been chan¬
ged into the Irifli gre-hound, which is the largeft of
all dogs.
The bull-dog, tranfported from Britain to Den¬
mark, is become the little Danilh dog; and the latter,
brought into warm climates, has been converted into
the Turkifh dog, Allthefe races, with their varieties,
have been produced by the influence of climate, joined
to the effedls of flicker, food, and education. The
other dogs are not pure races, but have proceeded
from commixtures of thofe already defcribed. I have
marked, in the table, by dotted lines, the double ori¬
gin of tkefe mongrels.
The- gre-hound and Irifli gre-hound have produ¬
ced the mongrel gre-hound, called alfo the gre-
hound with wolf’s hair. The muzzle of this mongrel
is lefs pointed than that of the true gre-hound, which
is.very rare in France.
The great Danifli dog and the large fpaniel have,
produced the Calabrian dog,' which is a beautiful ani¬
mal, with long bufliy hair, and larger than the Irifli
gre-hound.
The fpaniel and terrier have produced the dog cal¬
led burgos.
From the fpaniel and little Danifh dog has pro¬
ceeded the lion-dog, which is now very rare.
The dogs with long, fine, crifped hair, called the
boujfe dogs, and which are larger than the water-dog,
proceed from the fpaniel and water-dog.
The little water-dog comes from the water-dog and
fmall fpaniel.
From the bull-dog and Irifli gre-hoand proceeds
a mongrel called the majlijf, which is larger than the
bull-dog, and refembles the latter more than the Irifli
gre-hound.
The pug-dog proceeds from the bull-dog and fmall
Danifli dog.
All thefe dogs are Ample mongrels, and are produ¬
ced by the commixture of two pure races. But there
are other dogs, called double mongrels, becaufe they pro¬
ceed from the junction of a pure race with a mongrel.
The baftard pug-dog is a double mongrel from a mix¬
ture of the pug-dog with the little Danifli dog. The
Alicant dog is alfo a double mongrel, proceeding from
the pug-dog and fmall fpanieL The Maltefe, or lap-
tog, is a double mongrel, produced between the fmall
Ip iniel and little water-dog.
Laftly, there are dogs which may be called triple
mongrels, becaufe they are produced by two mixed ra¬
ces. Of this kind are the Artois and Iflois dogs,
which are produced by the pug-dog and the baftard
pug-dogto "which may be added the dogs.calledJlreet-
dogs, which refemble no particular kind, becaufe they
proceed from races which have previoully been feveral
times mixed.
The following is a fyftematic catalogue- of all the
known dogs, as arranged by Mr Pennant in his Hi¬
llary of Quadrupeds:
V Shepherd’s dog (Cams domefticus, Lin.. Le Chien
de Berger, Buff.); fo called, becaufe it becomes with- Can'*.
out difeipline almoft inftantly the guardian of the flocks, v—
keeps them within bounds, reduces the ftragglers to
their proper limits, and defends them from the attacks
of the wolves. We have this variety in England ; but
it is fmall and weak. It is the paftoralis of Caius
above mentioned. Thofe of France and the Alps are
very large and ftrong; fharp-nofed ; eredt and fliarp ear¬
ed; very hairy, efpecially about the neck; and havetheir
tails turned up or curled : and by accident their faces
often Alow the marks of their combats with the wolf.
Its varieties or neareft allies are : - a, Pomeranian
dog. b, Siberian dog. The other varieties in the in¬
land parts of the empire and Siberia noticed by Buffon,
are chiefly from the fliepherd’s dog: and there’ is a
high-limbed taper-bodied kind, the common dog of
the Calmue and independent Tartars, excellent for the
chace and all ufes.
2. The hound, or dog with long, fmooth, and pen¬
dulous ears. This is the fame with the blood-hound
in Caius’s Table, (le Chien courant. Buff. Cams fagax,
Lin.). It is the head of the other kinds with fmooth
and hanging ears: a, Harrier; b, Dalmatian, vulgarly
the Danifli, a beautiful fpotted dog; c, Turnfpit; d.
Water-dog, great and fmall.
From this ftock branches out another race with
pendent ears, covered with long hairs, and lefs in lize;
which form,
3- The Spaniel; [Canis avicularius, Lin.) Thofe of
this kind vary in iize from the fetting dog to the
fpringing fpaniels, and fome of the little lap-dogs ; as,
a. King Charles’s. Charles II. never went out ex¬
cept attended by numbers of this kind, b, Le pyrame
ot Buffon. For this fort, though common in Britain,
there is no Englifti name. It is black, marked on the
legs wkh red, and having a fpot of the fame colour
above each eye. c. The Shock-dog.
4. Dogs with ftiort pendent ears, and long legs and
bodies; as,
a, Irifli gre-heund; {k Matin, Buff.): a variety
once very frequent in Ireland, and ufed in the chace
of the wolf; now very fcarce. Probably the fame
with the leviner in Caius’s table, defcribed above.
b, Common gre-hound, defcribed above under Caius’s
table; (le Levrier et Schreber, Buff. Cams grains, Lin.).
Its varieties are, 1. Italian gre-hound, fmall and fmooth:
2. Oriental gre-hound, tall, flender, with very pendulous.,
ears, and very long hairs on the tail hanging down a-,
great length.
c, Danifli dog, of a ftronger make than a gre-hound:
the largeft of dogs.; (le Grand Lhnois, Buff.) Mr
Pennant thinks it probable, that of this kind were the
dogs of Epirus, mentioned by Ariftotle, lib. iii. c. 21 j-
or thofe of Albania, the modern Schinvan or Eaft
Georgia, fo beautifully defcribed by Pliny, lib. viii. c. 40.
Perhaps to this head may be referred the vaft dogs of
Thibet, faid by Marco Paolo to be. as big as affes, and'
ufed in that country to take wild beafts, and efpecially •
the wild oxen called Beyamini.
d, Maftiff, (le Hogue de* forte rare. Buff. Cams mo—
lojfus, Lin.) : Very ftrong and thick made; the head
large; the lips great, and hanging down on each fide;
a fine and noble countenance ; grows to a great fize::
A Britifh kind. See above under Dr Caius’s table.
5. Dogs with ftiort pendent, ears, fliort compadl
bodies^
CAN
■bodies, fhort nofes, and generally fbort legs. a. Bull¬
dog (le JDogue, Buff.), with a Ihort nofe, and under
jaw longer than the upper: a cruel and very fierce
kind, often biting before it barks; peculiar to England;
the breed fcarcer than it has been fince the barbarous
cuftom of bull-baiting has declined, b, Pug-dog, (le
Dogu'w, Buff.): A finall fpecies; an innocent refem-
blance of the laft. r, Ballard pug, (le Roquet> Buff.)
d, Naked, (le chieu Turc, Buff.): A degenerate fpecies
v/ith naked bodies; having loft their hair by the heat
of climate.
Dogs are found in the Society iilands, New Zea¬
land, and the Dow illands; there are alfo a few in
New Holland. Gf thefe are two varieties :
a, Refembling the lharp-nofed pricked-ear Ihepherd’s
c&r. Thofe of New Zeland are of the largeft fort. In
the Society illands they are-the common food, and are
fattened with vegetables, which the natives cram down
their throats as We ferve turkeys when they will volun¬
tarily eat no more. They are killed .by ftrangling,
and the extrarafated blood is preferved in cocoa-nut
fhells, and baked for the table. They grow very fat,
and are allowed, even by Europeans who have got
over their prejudices, to be very fweet and palatable.
But the tafte for the fielh of thefe animals was not
confined to the illanders of the Pacific ocean. The
ancients .reckoned a young and fat dog excellent food,
efpecially if it had been caftrated: Plippocrates placed
it on a footing with mutton and pork ; and in another
place fays, that the flelh of a grown dog is wholefome
and ftrengthening, of puppies relaxing. The Romans
admired fucking puppies: they facrificed them alfo to
their divinities, and thought them a fupper in which
the gods themfelves delighted.
by The barbet, whofe hair being long and filky, is
greatly valued by the New Zelanders for trimming their
ornamental drefs.. This variety is not eaten. The
illanders never ufe their dogs for any purpofes but
what we mention 5 and take fuch care of them as not
to fuffer them even to wet their feet. They are ex-
ceffively ftupid, have a very bad nofe for fmelling, and
feldom or never bark, only now and then howl. The
New Zelanders feed their dogs entirely with filh. (
The Marquefas, Friendly Iflands, New Hebrides,
New* Caledonia, and Eafter Ille, have not yet received
thofe animals.
Having thjus traced the varieties of the Dog, and
noticed the peculiarities of each, we lhall now give its
general natural hiftory.
From the ftru&ure of the teeth, it might be con¬
cluded a priori that the dog is a carnivorous animal.
He does not, however, eat indifcriminately every kind
of animal fubftance. There are fome birds, as the co-
lymbus arclicus, which the water-dog will lay hold of
with keennefs, but will not bring out of the water, be-
caafe its fmell is exceedingly offenfive to him. He
will not eat the bones of a goofe, crow, or hawk : but
he devours even the putrid flelh of moft other animals.
•He is poffeffed of fuch ftrong digeftive powers, as to
draw nourilhment from the hardeft bones. When flelh
cannot be procured, he will eat fifli, fruits, fucculertt
herbs, and bread of all kinds. When oppreffed with
licknefs, to which he is very fubjedt, dfpeeially in the
beginning of fummer, and before fill weather, in order
CAN
to procure a puke, he eats the leaves of the quicken* CanU.
grais, the bearded wheat-grafs, or the rough cock’s-' 
foot grafs, which gives him immediate relief. When
he Heals a piece of flelh, as confcious of the immorality
of the a&ion, he runs off with his tail hanging and
bent in betwixt his feet.
His drink is water, which he takes in fmall quanti¬
ties at a time, by licking with his tongue. He is in
fome meafure obliged to lick in this manner, otherwxfe
his nofe would be immerfed in the water.
His excrements are generally hard fcybals, which,
efpecially after eating bones, are white, and go by the
name of album gnecum among phjficians. This album
graecum was for a long time in great repute as a feptic;
but it is now entirely difregarded. He does not throw
out his excrements promifcuoufly upon every thing that
happens to be in the way, but upon Hones, trunks of
trees, or barren places. This is a wife inftitution of
nature ; for the excrements of a dog deftroy almoft e-
very vegetable or animal fubftance. They are of fuch
a putrid nature, that if a man’s Ihoe touches them
when recently expelled, that particular part will rot in
a few days. He obferves the fame method in making
his urine, which he throws out at a fide. It is re¬
markable', that a dog will not pafs a Hone or a wall a*-
gainft which any other dog has piffed, without follow¬
ing his example, although a hundred fhould occur in a
few minutes, in fo much that it is aftonifhing how fuch
a quantity can be fecreteckin fo fhort a time-
The dog is an animal not only of quick motion, but
remarkable for travelling very long journeys. He can
eafily keep up with his mafter, eitheron foot Or horfe-
back, for a whole day. When fatigued, he does not
fweat, but lolls out his tongue. Every kind of dog can
fwim; but the water-dog excels in that article.
The dog runs round when about to lie down, in or¬
der to difcover the moft proper fituation. He lies ge¬
nerally on his breaft, with his head turned to one fide,
and fometimes with his head above his two fore-feet.
He fleeps little, and even that does not feem to be very
quiet ; for he often Harts, and ‘feems to hear with
more acutenefs in fleep thati when awake. They
have a tremulous motion in fleep, frequently move
their legs, find bark, which is an indication of dream-
ing- . ‘
Dogs are poffeffed of the fenfation of fmelling in a
high degree. They edn trace their mafter by the fmell
of his feet in a church, or in the ftreets of a populous
city. This fenfation is not equally ftrong in every
kind. The hound can trace game, or his mafter’s
Heps, 24 hours afterwards. He barks more furioufly
the nearer he approaches the fowls, unlefs he be beat
aud trained to iilence.
The dog eats envioufly, with oblique eyes; is an
enemy to beggars; bites at aftone flung at it; is fond
of licking wounds; howls at certain notes in mufic, and
often urines on hearing them.
With regard to the propagation of dogs, the females
•admit the males before, they are 12 months old. They
remain in feafon 10, 12, or even 15 days, during which
time they will admit a variety of males. They come
•in feafon generally twice in the year, and more fre-
•quently in the cold than in the hot months. The male
difeovers the condition of the female by the fmell; but
•ftie feldom admits him the firft fix or feven days. 0ne
coitus
[ 1
CAN r 103 ] CAN
coitus will make her conceive a great mtmber of young;
but, when not reftrained, ihe will admit feveral dogs
every day :. fhe feems to have no choice or predilec¬
tion, except in favour of large dogs: from this circum-
ftance it fometimes happens, that a fmall female, who
has admitted a maftiff, perilhes in bringing forth her
young. During the time of copulation, thefe animals
cannot feparate themfelves, but remain united fo long
as the erection fubfilts. This is owing to the ft rupture
of the parts. The dog has not only a bone in his pe¬
nis, but in the middle of the corpus cavernofum there
is a large hollow, which is blown up in the time of e-
rettion to a coniiderable bulk. The female, on the
other hand, has a larger clitoris than perhaps any other
animal : befides, a large firm protuberance rifes in the
time of copulation, and remains perhaps longer than
that of the. male, and prevents him from retiring till it
fubiides: accordingly, after the aft of copulation is
over, the male turfis about in order to reft himfelf on
his legs, and remains in that pofition till the parts turn
flaccid.. The female goes with young about nine
weeks. They generally bring forth from fix to twelve
puppies. Thofe of a fmall fize bring forth five, four,
and fometimes but two. They continue to copulate
and bring forth during life, which lafts generally about
14 or x 5 years. The whelps are commonly blind, and
cannot open their eyes till the 10th or 12th day: the
males are like the dog, the females like the bitch. In
the fourth month, they lofe fome of their teeth, which
are foon fucceeded by others.
The dog has fuch a. ftrong refemblance to the wolf
and the fox, that he is commonly fuppofed to be the
produftion of one or other of thefe animals tamed and
civilized. Buffon informs us, that he kept a young
dog and a young wolf together till they were three
years of age, without their difcovering the leaft incli¬
nation to copulate. He made the fame experiment
upon a dog and a fox ; but their antipathy was rather
increafed when the female was in feafon. From thefe
experiments he concludes, that dogs, wolves, and foxes,
are perfeftly diftinft genera of animals. There has,
however, been lately an inftance to the contrary:
Mr Brooke, animal-merchant in Holborn, turned a
wolf to a Pomeranian bitch in heat ; the congrefs was
immediate, and as ufual between dog and bitch : ftie
produced ten puppies. Mr Pennant faw one of them
at Gordon Caftle, that had very much the-refemblance
of a wolf, and alfo much of its nature ; being flipped
at a weak deer, it inftantly caught at the animal’s
throat and killed it. “ I could not learn (fays Mr Pen¬
nant) whether this mongrel continued its fpeeies ;, but
another of the fame kind did, and flocked the neigh¬
bourhood of Fochabers, in the county of Moray
(where it was kept), with a multitude of curs of a molt
wolfilh afpeft.—There was lately living a mongrel
offspring of this kind. It greatly refembled its wolf
parent. It was firft the property of Sir Wolftein
Dixey ; afterwards of Sir Willughby Afton. During
day-it was very tame; but at night fometimesrelapfed
into fetocity. It never barked, but rather howled.;
when it came into fields where ftieep were it would
feign lamenefs, but if no one was prefent would in¬
ftantly attack them. It had been feen in copulation
with a bitch, which afterwards pupped : the breed was
imagined to refemble in many refpefts the fuppofed
fire. It died between the age of five and fix.—The
bitch will alfo breed with the fox. The woodman of
the manor of Mongewell, in Oxfordfhire, has a bitch,
which conftantly follows him, the offspring of a tame
dog-fox by a fhepherd’s cur; and (he again has had
puppies by a dog. Since there are fuch authentic
proofs of the further continuance of the breed, we
may furely add the wolf and fox to the other fuppofed
flocks of thefe faithful domeftics.”
With regard to the natural difpofition of the dog:
in a favage ftate, he is fierce, cruel, and voracious;
but, when civilized and accuftomed to live with men,
he is poffeffed of every amiable quality. He feems
to have no other defire than to pleafe and proteft his
mafter. He is gentle, obedient, fubmiffive, and faith¬
ful. Thefe difpofitions, joined to his almoft un¬
bounded fagacity, juftly claim the efteem of mankind.
Accordingly no animal is fo much careffed or refpefted:
he is fo duftile, and fo much formed to pleafe, that he
affumes the very air and temper of the family in which
he refides.
An animal endowed with fuch uncommon qualities .
muft anfwer many ufeful purpofes. His fidelity and
vigilance are daily employed to proteft our perfons, our
flocks, or our goods. The acutenefs of his fmell gains
him employment in hunting: he is frequently employ¬
ed as a turnfpit: at Bruffelsand in Holland he is train¬
ed to draw little carts to the herb-market ; and in the
northern regions draws a fledge with his mafter in it,
or leaden with provifions. The Kamfch'atkans, Ef-
quimaux, and Greenlanders, ftrangers to the fofter vir¬
tues, treat thefe poor animals with, great negleft.
The former, during fummer, the feafon in .which they
are ufelefs, turn them loofe to provide for themfelves ;
and recall them in Oftoher into their ufual. confinement
and labour: from that time till fpring they are fed
with filh-bones and opana, i. e. putrid fiih pyeferved in
pits, and ferved up to them mixed with .hot water.
Thofe ufed for draught are caftrated; and four, yoked;
to the. carriage, will draw five poods, or a hundred and
ninety Englifti pounds, befides the driverand thus
loaden, will travel 30 verfts, or 20 miles a-day ; or if
unloaden, on hardened fnow, on. Aiders,of. bone, a
a hundred and fifty verfts, or a hundred Englifti miles.
It is pretty certain, Mr Pennant obferves, that the
Kamfchatkan dogs ace of wolfifh defeent; for wolves
abound in that country, in all parts of Siberia, and even
under the arftic circle. ‘ If their mafter is flung out of his
fledge, they want the affeftionate fidelity of theEuropean ■
kind, and leave him to follow, never flopping till the
fledge is overturned, or elfe (lopped by fome impediment..
The great traveller of the 13th century, Marco Polo, had
knowledge of this fpecies of conveyance from the mer¬
chants who went far north to traffic for the precious
furs. He deferibes the fledges; adds, that,they were
drawn by fix great dogs.; and that they changed them
and the- fledges on the road, as we do at-prefent in go¬
ing poll. The Kamfchatkans make ufe- of the (kins
of dogs.for clothing, and,the long hair for ornament:
fome nations are fond of them as a food ; .and reckon
a fat dog a great delicacy. Both the Afiatic and ,
American favages ufe thefe animals in facrifices to their
gods, to befpeak favour or avert evil. When the Ko- -
reki dread any infeftion, they kill a dog, wind the in- -
teftines round two poles, and pafs between them.
6 Th e •
Cams.
CAN L 104 1 CAN
The Greenlanders are not better mafters. They
leave their dogs to feed on mufcles or berries; unlefs
in a great capture of feals, when they treat them with
the blood and garbage. Thefe people alfo fometimes
eat their dogs ; ufe the ikins for coverlets, for cloth¬
ing, or to border and feam their habits; and their bell
thread is made of the guts. Thefe northern dogs in
general are large ; and in the frigid parts at leaft have
the appearance of wolves: are ufually white, with a
black face ; fometimes varied with black and white,
fometimes all white ; rarely brown or all black: have
(harp nofes, thick hair, and fliort ears; and feldom
bark, but fet up a fort of growl or favage howl. They
Heep abroad ; and make a lodge in the fnow, lying
with only their nofes out. They fwim moil excellent¬
ly ; and will hunt in packs the ptarmigan, arftic fox,
polar bear, and feals lying on the ice. The natives
fometimes ufe them in the chafe of the bear. They
are exceffively fierce; and, like wolves, inftantly fly on
the few domeftic animals introduced into Greenland.
They will fight among themfelves even to death. Ca-
'nine madnefs is unknown in Greenland. Being to the
natives in the place of horfes, the Greenlanders fatten
to their fledges from four to ten; and thus make their
vifits in favage ftate, or bring home the animals they
have killed. Egede fays that they will travel over the
ice 15 German miles in a day, or 60 Englifli, with
fledges leaden with their mafters and five or fix large
Teals.
Thofe of the neighbouring ifland of Iceland have a
great refemblance to them. As to thofe of Newfound¬
land, it is not certain that there is any diftindf breed :
moft of them are curs, with a crofs of the maftiff:
fome will, and others will not, take the water, abfo-
lutely refufing to go in. The country was found un¬
inhabited, which makes it more probable that they
were introduced by the Europeans ; who ufe them, as
the factory does in Hudfon’s bay, to draw firing from
the woods to the forts. The favages who trade to
Hudfon’s bay make ufe of the wolfifli kind to draw
their furs.
It is Angular, that the race of European dogs fhow
as ftrong an antipathy to this American fpecies as
they do to the wolf itfelf. They never meet with
them, but they (how all pofiible figns of diflike, and
will fall on and worry them; while the wolfifli breed,
with every mark of timidity, puts its tail between its
legs, and runs from the rage of the others. This aver-
fion to the wolf is natural to all genuine dogs ; for it
is well known that a whelp, which has never feen a
wolf, will at firft fight tremble, and run to its matter
for protection: an old dog .will inftantly attack it.
Yet thefe animals may be made to breed with one an¬
other as above fliown ; and the following abftraft of a
letter from Dr Pallas to Mr Pennant, dated ■ October
5th 1781, affords a further confirmation of the faCt.
“ I have feen at Mofcow about twenty fpurious animals
from dogs and black wolves. They are for the moft
part like wolves; except that fome carry their tails
higher, and have a kind of hoarfe barking. They
multiply among themfelves : and fome of the whelps
are greyifh, rufty, or even of the whitifti hue of the
arCtic wolves; and one of thofe I faw, in fliape, tail,
and hair, and even in barking, fo like a cur, that was
it not for his head and ears, his ill-natured look, and
N° 63.
fearfulnefs at the approach of man, I (hould hardly Can'*.' |
have believed that it was of the fame breed.” v——*•
The dog is liable to many difeafes, as the fcab, mad¬
nefs, &c. and he feldom wants the txnia or tape-worm
in his guts, efpecially if he drinks dirty water.
II. The fecond fpecies of this genus is the Lupus, The Wold
or Wolf. He has a long head, pointed nofe, ears
ereCt and (harp, long legs well clothed with hair;
tail bulky and bending down, with the tip black;
head and neck afh-coloured; body generally pale brown
tinged with yellow: fometimes found white, and fome¬
times entirely black. The wolf is larger and fiercer
than a dog. His eyes fparkle, and there is a great
degree of fury and wildnefs in his looks. He draws
up his claws when he walks, to prevent his tread from
being heard. His neck is (hort, but admits of very j
quick motion to either fide. His teeth are large and
(harp; and his bite is terrible, as his ftrength is great.
The wolf, cruel, but cowardly and fufpicious, flies from
man ; and feldom ventures out of the woods, except
preffed by hunger: but when this becomes extreme,
he braves danger, and will attack men, horfes, dogs,
and cattle of all kinds ; even the graves of the dead
are not proof againft his rapacity. Thefe circum-
ftances are finely defcribed, in the following lines :
By wintry famine rous’d, 
Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave !
Burning for blood ! bony, and ghaunt, and grim I
Affembling wolves in raging troops defcend ;
And, pouring o’er the country, bear along,
Keen as the north-wind fweeps the gloffy fnow.
All is their prize. They fallen on the fteed,
Prefs him to earth, and pierce his mighty heart.
Nor can the bull his awful front defend.
Or (hake the murthering favages away.
Rapacious at the mother’s throat they fly.
And tear the fcreaming infant from her breaft.
The god-like face of man avails him nought.
Even beauty, force divine ! at whofe bright glance
The generous lion (lands in foften’d gaze,
Here bleeds, a haplefs undiftinguifli’d prey.
But if, appris’d of the fevere attack.
The country be (hut up, lur’d by the fcent.
On church-yards drear (inhuman to relate !)
The difappointed prowlers fall, and dig
The (hrouded body from the grave ; o’er which,
Mix’d with foul (hades and frighted ghofts, they howl.
Thomson’s Winter.
The wolf, unlike the dogi, is an enemy to all fo-
cietyr, and keeps no company even with thofe of his
own fpecies. When feveral wolves appear together,
it is not a fociety of peace, but of war; it is attended
with tumult and dreadful prowlings, and indicates an
attack upon fome large animal, as a (lag, an ox, or a
formidable maftiff. This military expedition is no
fooner finiflred, than they feparate, and each returns
in filence to his folitude. There is even little-inter-
courfe between the males and females : They feel the
mutual attractions of love but once a-year, and never
remain long together. The females come in feafon in
winter: many males follow the fame female; and thisaf-
fociation is more bloody than the former; for they growl,
chafe, fight, and tear one another, and often facrifice
3 him
I in///'a/!
%
CAN [ i
him that is preferred by''the female. The female com¬
monly flies a long time, fatigues her admirers, and
retires, while they deep, with the moll alert or moft
favourite male.
The feafon of love continues only twelve or fifteen
days; it commences with the oldeft females; the young
ones are not fo early difpofed. The males have no
marked period, but are equally ready at all times.
They go from female to female, according as they are in
a condition to receive them. They begin with the old
females about the end of December, and finifli.with
the young ones in the month of February or beginning
bf March. The time of geftation is about three
months and a half; and young whelps are found from
the end of April to the month of July. The wolves
copithte like the dogs, and have an offeous penis, fur-
rounded with a ring, which fvvells and hinders them
from feparating. When the females are about to bring
forth, they fearch for a concealed place in the inmoit
recefles of the foreft. ? After fixing on the fpot, they
make it fmooth and plain for a confiderable fpace, by
cutting and tearing up with their teeth all the brambles
and brufh-wood. They then bring great quantities of
mofs, and prepare a commodious bed for their young,
which are generally five or fix, though fometimes they
bring forth feven, eight, and even nine, but never
lefs than three. They come into the world blind, like
the dogs ; the mother fuckles them fome weeks, and
foon learns them to' eat flelh, which flje prepares for
them by tearing it iii£p fmall pieces. Some time af¬
ter. flie , brings thenv' field'-trficepvybiing -haresi par-
trfdges, and living fowls. The young wolves begin
by playing with thele animals, and at kill worry them;
then the mother pulls off the "feathers, tears them in
pieces, and gives a part to each of her young. They
never leave their den till the end of fix weeks or two
months. They then follow their mother, who leads
them to drink in the hollow trunk of a tree, or in
fome neighbouring pool. • She conduits them back to
the den,4>r, when any danger is apprehended, obliges
them to conceal themfelves elfewhere. Though, like
other females, the ftie-wolf is naturally more, timid
than the male ; yet when her young are attacked, ftie
defends them with intrepidity; fhe lofes all fenfe of
danger, and becomes perfectly furious. She never
leaves them till their education is finiihed, till they
are fo ftrorig as to need no affiltance or protection, and
have acquired talents fit for rapine, which generally
happens in ten or twelve months after their firft teeth
(which commonly fall out in the firft month) are re¬
placed. *
Wolves acquire their full growth at the end of two
or three years, and live 15 or 20 years. When old,
they turn whitifh, and their teeth are much worn.
When full, or fatigued, they fleep, but more during
the day than the night, and it is always a kind of
flight1 dumber. They drink often; and, in the time
of drought, when there is no water in the hollows, or
in the trunks of old trees, they repair, feveral times
in a day, to the brooks or rivulets. Though extreme¬
ly voracious, if fupplied with water, they can pafs
-four or five days without meat.
The wolf has great ftrength, efpecially in the ante¬
rior parts of the body, in the niufcles of the neck and
jaws. Fie carries a fheep in his mouth, and, at the
fame time, outruns the ftiepherds; fo that he can only
Vou IV. Part I.
os 1 CAN
be flopped or deprived of his prey by dogs. His bite Canis,
is cruel, and always more obftinate in proportion to
the fmallnefs of the refiftance; for when an animal
can defend itfelf, he is cautious and circumfpeCl. He
never fights but from necdlity, and not from motives
of courage. When wounded with a ball, he cries;
and yet, when difpatching him with bludgeons, he
complains not. When he falls into a fnare, he is fo
overcome with terror, that he may be either killed or
taken alive without refiftance: he allows himfelf to
be chained, muzzled, and led where you pleafe, with¬
out exhibiting the leall fymptom of refentment or dif-
content.
The fenfes of the wolf are excellent, but particular¬
ly his fenfe of fmelling, which often extends farther than
his eye. The odour of carrion ftrikes him at the di-
ftance of more than a league. He likewife fcents' live
animals very far, and hunts them a long time by fol¬
lowing their traft. When he iffues from the wood, he
never lofes the wind. Fie flops upon the borders of
the foreft, fmells on all fides, and receives' the emana¬
tions of living or dead animals brought to him from a
diftance by the wind. Though he prefers living to
dead animals; yet he devours the moft putrid carcafes.
He is fond of human flefh; and, if ftronger, he would
perhaps eat no other. Wolves have been known to
follow armies, to come in troops to the field of bat¬
tle, where bodies are carelefsly interred, to tear them
up, and to devour them with an infatiable avidity;
Ami, when once accuftomed to human flefh, thefe
wolves ever after attack men, prefer the fhepherd to the
flock, devour, women, and carry off children. Wolves
of this vicious difpofition are called Loups garoux
by the French peafants, who fuppofe them to be pof-
feffed with fome evil fpirits ; ana of this nature were
the were wulfs of the old Saxons.
The wolf inhabits the continents, of Europe, A-
fia, Africa, and America; Kamtfchatka, and even
as high as the arclic circle. The wolves of North A-
merica are the fmalleft; and, when reclaimed, are
the dogs of the mttives : the wolves of Senegal the
largeft and fierceft; they prey in company with the
lion. Thofe of the Cape are grey ftriped with black ;
others are black.—They are found in Africa as low as
the Cape ; and are believed to inhabit New Holland,
animals refembling them having been feen there by the
late circumnavigators. Dampier’s people alfo faw fome
half-ftarved animals in the fame country, which they
fuppofed to be wolves. In the eaft, and particularly
in Perfia, wolves are exhibited as fpedlacks to the
people. When young, they are learned to dance, or
rather to perform a kind of wreftling with a number of
men. Chardin tells us, that a wolf, well educated in
dancing, is fold at 500 French crowns. This fa£t
proves, that thefe animals, by time and reftraint, are
fufceptible of fome kind of education. M. Buffon
brought up feveral of them : “ When young, or du¬
ring their firft year (he informs us), they are very
docile, and even careffing; and, if well fed, neither
difturb the poultry nor any other animal: but, at the
age of 18 month% or two years, their natural ferocity
appears, and they muft be chained, to prevent them
from running off and doing mifehief. I brought up
one till the age of 18 or 19 months, in a court along
with fowls, none of which he ever attacked ; but, for
his firft effay, he killed the whole in one night, with-
O ©ut
CAN [ 106 ] CAN
<5an!s. out eating- any of them. Another, having broken
"—v his chain, run off, after killing a dog with whom he
had lived in great familiarity.”
Whole.countries are fometimes obliged to arm, in
order to deftroy the wolves. Princes have particular
equipages for this fpecies of hunting, which is both
ufeful and neceffary. Hunters dillinguifh wolves into
young, old, and very 6ld. They know them by the
tracks of their feet. The older the wolf, his feet is
the larger. The (he-wolf’s feet are longer and more
llender ; her heel is alfo imaller, and her toes thinner.
A good blood-hound is neceffary for hunting the wolf:
and, when he falls into the fcent, he muff be coaxed
and encouraged; for all dogs have an averfion from
the wolf, and proceed with coldnefs in the chace.
When the wolf is raifed, the gre-hounds are let
loofe in pairs, and one is kept for diflodging him, if
he gets under cover; the other dogs are led before as
a referve. The firft pair are let loofe after the wolf,
and are fupported by a man on horfe-back; then the
fecond pair are let loofe at the diftance of feven or
eight hundred paces ; and, laftly, the third pair, when
the other dogs begin to join and to teaze the wolf.
The whole together foon reduce him to the laft extre¬
mity ; and the hunters complete the bufinefs by ftab-
bing him with a dagger. The dogs have fuch a reluc¬
tance to the wolf’s flefh, that it muff be prepared and
ftafoned before they will eat it. The wolf may alfo
be hunted with beagles or hounds; but as he darts
always ftraight forward, and runs for a whole day
without flopping, the chaee is irkfome, unlefs the
beagles be fupported by grey-hounds, to teaze him,
and give the hounds time to come up.
Wolves are now fo rare in the populated parts of
America, that the inhabitants leave their flieep the
whole night unguarded : yet the governments of Pen-
fylvania and New Jerfey did fome years ago allow a
reward of twenty fhillings, and the laft even thirty
(hillings, for the killing of every wolf. Tradition in¬
formed them what a fcourge thofe animals had been
ter the colonies ; fo they wifely determined to prevent
the like evil. In their infant ftate, wolves came down
in multitudes from the mountains, often attracted by
the fmell of the corpfes of hundreds of Indians who
died of the fmall-pox, brought among them by the
Europeans: but the animals did not confine their in-
fults to the dead, but even devoured in their huts the
fick and dying favages.
Befides being hunted, wolves are deftroyed by pit-
falls, traps, or poifon. A peafant in France who kills
a wolf, carries its head from village to village, and col-
lefts fome fmall reward from the inhabitants: the
Kirghis-Coffacks take the wolves by the help of a large
hawk called berlut, which is trained for the diverfion,
and will faften on them and tear out their eyes. Britain,
a few centuries ago, was much infefted by them. It
was, as appears by Hollingfhed, very noxious to the
flocks in Scotland in 1577; nor was it entirely extir-
ated till about 1680, when the laft wolf fell by the
and of the famous Sir Ewen Cameron. We may
therefore with confidence affert the. non-exiftence of
thefe animals, notwithftanding M. de Buffon maintains
that the Englifh pretend to the contrary. It has
been a received opinion, that the other parts of thefe
kingdoms were in early times delivered from this peft ’
by the care of king Edgar. In Engl and he attempted
to effeft it, by commuting the punifhments of certain CamV.
crimes into the acceptance of a certain number of wolves ' 
tongues from each criminal; and in Wales by con¬
verting the tax of gold and filver into an annual tax
of 300 wolves heads. But, notwithftanding thefe his
endeavours, and the affertions of fome authors, his
fcheme proved abortive. We find, that fome cen¬
turies after the reign of that Saxon monarch, thefe
animals were again increafed to fuch a degree as
to become again the objeft of royal attention : ac¬
cordingly Edward I. iffued out his royal mandate to Pe¬
ter Corbet to fuperintend and affift in the deftruc-
tion of them in the feveral counties of Gloucefter
Worcefter, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford; and in
the adjacent county of Derby (as Cambden, p.902,
informs us), certain perfons at Wormhill held their,
lands by the duty of hunting and taking the wolves
that infefted the country, whence they were fty-
led ivolve-hunt. To look back into the Saxon times,,
we find, that in Athelftan’s reign wolves abounded fo
in Yorkfhire, that a retreat was built at Flixton in
that county, “ to defend paffengers from the wolves,
that they fhould not be devoured by them :” and fuch
ravages did thofe animals make during winter, parti¬
cularly in January, when the cold was fevereft, that
the Saxons diftinguifhed that month by the name of
the wolf-month. They alfo called an outlaw wulf’s-head,
as being out of the proteftion of the law, proferibed,
and as liable to be killed as that deftruftive beaft. Ire¬
land was infefted by wolves for many centuries after
their extinftion in England ; for there are accounts of
fome being found there as late as the year 1710, the
laft prefentment for killing of wolves being made in
the county of Cork about that time.
In many parts of Sweden the number of wolves has
been confiderably diminifhed by placing poifoned car-
cafes in their way: but in other places they are found
in great multitudes. Hunger fometimes compels them
to eat lichens: thefe vegetables were found in the
body of one killed by a foldier ; but it was fo weak,
that it could fcarcely move. It probably had fed on
the lichen vulpinus, which is a known poifon to thefe
animals. Madnefs, in certain years, is apt to feize
the wolf. The confequences are often very me¬
lancholy. Mad wolves will bite hogs and dogs, and
the laft again the human fpecies. In a Angle parifh
14 perfons were viftims to this dreadful malady. The
fymptoms are the fame with thofe attendant on the
bite of a mad dog. Fury fparkles in their eyes; a glu¬
tinous faliva diftils from their mouths; they carry their
tails low, and bite indifferently men and beafts. It is
remarkable that this difeafe happens in the depth of.
winter, fo can never be attributed to the rage of the
dog-days. Often, towards fpring, wolves get upon
the ice of the fea, to prey on the young feals, which .
they catch afleep : but this repaft often proves fatal to-
them; for the ice, detached from the fhore, carries
them to a great diftance from land, before they are
fenfible of it. In fome years a large diftrift is by this
means delivered from thefe pernicious beafts ; which
are heard Irowling in a moft dreadful manner, far in
the fea. When wolves come to make their attack on
cattle, they never fail attempting, to frighten away the
men by their cries ; but the found of the horn makes
them fly like lightning.
There is nothing valuable in the wolf .but his fkin,
whic
CAN C >07 ] CAN
Cants, vilueh makes a warm durable fur. His fiefli is 'fo
—~v~J bad, that it is rejecled with abhorrence by all other
quadrupeds; and no animal but a wolf will voluntarily
eat a wolf. The fmell of his breath is exceedingly of-
fenfxve. As, to appeafe hunger, he fwallows indif-
criminately every thing he can find, corrupted flefh,
bones, hair, fkins half tanned and covered with lime,
he vomits frequently, and empties himfelf oftener than
he fills. In fine, the wolf is confummately difagree-
able ; his afpedt is bafe and favage, his voice dreadful,
his odour infupportable, his difpofition perverfe, his
manners ferocious ; odious and deflrudtive when living,
and, when dead, he is perfeftly ufelefs.
Hysna. III. The Hyaena has a ftraight jointed tail, with the
hair of its neck eredl, fmall naked ears, and four toes
on each fpot. It inhabits Afiatic Turky, Syria, Per-
fia, and Barbary. Like the jackal, it violates the
repofitories of the dead, and greedily devours the pu¬
trid contents of the grave ; like it, preys on the herds
and flocks; yet, for want of other food, will eat the
roots of plants, and the tender (hoots of the palms:
but, contrary to the nature of the former, it is an un-
fociable animal; is folitary, and inhabits the chafms
of the rocks. The fuperftitious Arabs, when they
kill one, carefully bury the head, left it (hould be em¬
ployed for magical purpofes ) as the neck was of old
by the Theffalian forcerefs.
Vifcera non lynch, non dir a nodus hyanti
Defuit. Lucan, vi. 672.
The ancients were wild in their opinion of the hyaena;
they believed that its neck confifted of one bone with¬
out any joint; that it changed its fex ; imitated the
human voice; had the power of charming the (hep-
herds, and, as it were, rivetting them to the place
they flood on : no wonder that an ignorant Arab
fhould attribute preternatural powers to its remains.
They are cruel, fierce, and untameable animals, of a
moft malevolent afpeft ; have a fort of obftinate cou¬
rage, which will make them face ftronger quadrupeds
than themfelves. Ksempfer relates, that he faw one
which had put two lions to flight, regarding them
with the utmoft coolnefs. Their voice is hoarfe, a
difagreeable mixture of growling and roaring.
Mr Pennant defcribes a variety of this fpecies, un-
diftingui (hed by former naturalifts, which he calls the
fpotted hyena. It has a large and flat head ; fome long
hairs above each eye; vefy long whiflcers on each fide of
the nofe ; a (hort black mane ; hair on the body (hort
and fmooth ; ears (hort and a little pointed, their out-
fide black, infide cinereous; face and upper part of
the head black ; body and limbs reddifti brown, marked
with diftinft black round fpots; the hind legs with
black tranfverfe bars ; the tail fliort, black, and full
of hair. It inhabits Guinea, Ethiopia, and the Cape :
lives in holes in the earth, or cliffs of the rocks; preys,
by night; howls horribly ; breaks into the folds, and
kills two or three flieep ; devours as much as it can,
and carries away one for a future repaft ; will attack
mankind, fcrape open graves, and devour tire dead,
Bofman has given this creature the name of jackal; by
which Buffon being milled, makes it fynonymous with
the common jackal. This hyaena is called the tiger-
■nuolf by the colonifts at the Cape, where it is a very
common and formidable bead of prey. Of this ar-i-
mal, formerly but imperfeflly known, the following Cinf*.
account is given by Dr Sparmann in his voyage fo the V
Cape.
“ The night, or the dufk of the evening only, is
the time in which thefe animals feek their prey, after
which they are ufed to roam about both feparately and
in flocks. But one of the moft unfortunate properties
of this creature is, that it cannot keep its own coun-
fel. The language of it cannot eafily be taken down
upon paper ; however, with a view to make this fpe¬
cies of wolf better known than it has been hitherto, I
(hall obferve, that it is by means of a found fomething
like the following, aauae, and fometimes ooao, yelled
out with a tone of defpair (at the interval of fome mi¬
nutes between each howl), that nature obliges this,
the moft voracious animal in all Africa, to difcover it-
felf, juft as it does the moft venomous of all the Ame¬
rican ferpents, by the rattle in its tail, itfelf, to warn
every one to avoid its mortal bite. This fame rattle •
fnake would feem, in confequence of thus betraying
its own defigns, and of its great inaftivity (to be as
it were nature’s ftep-child), if, according to many-
credible accounts, it had not the wondrous property
of charming its prey by fixing its eye upon it. The
like is affirmed alfo of the tiger-wolf. This creature*
it is true, is obliged to give information againft itfelf;
but, on the other hand, is a&ually poffeffed of the pe*
culiar gift of being enabled, in fome meafure, to imi¬
tate the cries of other animals ; by which means this
arch-deceiver is fometimes lucky enough to beguile
and attraft calves, foals, lambs, and other animals.
Near fome of the larger farms, where there is a great
deal of cattle, this ravenous bead is to be found almoft
every night; and at the fame time frequently front
one hour to another betraying itfelf by its bowlings,
gives the-dogs the alarm. The peafants affured me,
that the cunning of the wolves was fo great (adding,
that the trick had now and then even fucceeded with
fome of them), that a party of them, half flying and
half defending themfelves, would decoy the whole pack
of dogs to follow them to the diftance of a gun-(hot 0 r
two from the farm, with a view to give an opportunity
to the reft of the wolves to come out from their am-
bufcade, and, without meeting with the leaft refin¬
ance, carry off booty fufficient for themfelves and their
fugitive brethren. As the tiger-wolf, though a much
larger and ftronger animal, does not venture, without
being drwen to the utmoft neceflity, to fneafure its
(Length with the common dog, this is certainly an
evident proof of its cowardice. Neither does this fame
voracious bead dare openly to attack oxen, cows,
horfes, or any- of the larger animals, while they make
the leaft appearance as if they would defend themfelves,
or even as long as they do not betray any figns of fear.
On the other hand, it has art enough to rufh in upon
them fuddenly and unexpeftedly, at the fame time
fetting up a horrid and ftrange cry, fo as to fet them
a running in confequence of the fright, that it may af¬
terwards keep ciofe to their heels with fafety, till it
has an opportunity with one bite or ftroke to rip up
the belly of its prey (even though it (hould be fo large
an animal as a draught-ox), or elfe give, it fome dan¬
gerous bite, and fo at one fingle bout make itfelf mafter
of its antagonift. On this account the peafants are
obliged to drive their cattle home every evening before
O2 it
CAN [ i°3 ] CAN
Cams it is dark, excepting the more confiderable droves of
draught-oxen, which they let roam about day and
night to feek their food unattended, by reafon that
they are ufed both to the country and the artifices of
the wolves, and can therefore the eafier depend upon
and defend each other.
“ Travellers,, on the other hand, v/ho are obliged to
keep on in their journey, frequently fuffer great Ioffes
by turning their cattle out at night; efpecially of the
young ones, which are eafieft feared. The Hottentots
informed me that it was Hill within the memory of
man, that the tiger-wolf was bold enough to Ileal
upon them and moleft them in their huts, particularly
by carrying off their children. This, however, is now
no longer the cafe ; a circumftance, perhaps, proceed¬
ing from the introduction of fire-arms into the coun¬
try, a circumftance wdiich, in thefe latter times, has
eaufed this, as well as other wild beafts, to Hand in
greater awe of man than it did formerly . I have heard
the following ftory of the tiger-wolf mentioned, as be¬
ing related in a certain treatife on the Cape, of which
I now cannot exactly remember the title. The tale is
laughable enough, though perhaps not quite fo pro¬
bable. ‘ At a feaft near the Cape one night, a trum¬
peter who had got his fill was carried out of doors, in
order that he might cool himfelf, and get fober again.
The feent of him foon drew thither a tiger-wolf, which
threw him on his back, and dragged him along with,
him as a corpfe, and confequently a fair prize, up to¬
wards Table-mountain. During this, however, our
drunken mufician waked, enough in his fenfes to know
the danger of his fituation, and to found the alarm
with his trumpet, which he carried fattened to his fide.
The w'ild heart, as may eafily be fuppofed, was not
lefs frightened in his turn.’ Any other befides a trum¬
peter would, in fuch circumftances, have undoubtedly
been no better than wolf’s meat.
“ In the mean while it is certain, that thefe wolves
are to be found almoft every dark night about the
ihambles at the Cape, where they devour the offals of
bones, Ikin, &c. which are thrown out there in great
quantities, and drag away with them what they cannot
eat. The inhabitants repay thefe good offices of the
hyaena with a free and unlimited privilege of accefs and
egrefs. The dogs too hereabouts, perfectly accuftomed
to their company, are faid never to throw any impe¬
diment in their way; fo that the be aft, entertained
and fed in the very heart of the town, has been feldom
known to do any mifehief there. It is likewife a well-
known faCt, that thefe wolves, in different parts of
Africa, exhibit different degrees of courage ; this,
however, may perhaps proceed from their being of
different fpecies in different parts.
“ Yet in this very greedinefs of the hyaena, and its
difpofition to confume every thing it can get at, the
provident economy of nature is abundantly evinced.
The flowery fields at the Cape would certainly foon
become hideous and disfigured with carcafes and Ikele-
tons, the relicks of the great quantity of game of all
forts which graze and die there in fucceffion, were not
the tiger-wolf manifeftly fubfervient to nature in the
regulation .of her police, by clearing her theatre from
them ; nay, I had almoft faid the wolf alone : for
lions and tigers, for example, never eat bones, and are
not-very fond, of carcafes. Thefe are. ferviceable in
another way. They make the other animals vigilant Cam’s,
and attentive to the functions for which nature has de-
figned them; and befides anfwering feveral other in¬
tentions of providence, they ferve, in conjunction with
mankind, to keep in a juft equilibrium the increafe of
the animal kingdom; fo that it may not exceed the
fupplies afforded it by the vegetable part of the crea¬
tion, and by this means prevent the neceffary renewal
of the latter by feeds, See. and thus, by defolating it
and laying it wafte, in the end impoveriffi. and deftroy
themfelves, and die moft wretched victims to want and
hunger ; fo that, notwithftanding the immenfe quanti¬
ties of game exifting in this country, there are very
feldom found any bones in the haunts they have left,
and never after the tiger, lion, jackal, wild cat, and
wild dog. Thefe latter animals, that they may not
encumber and litter the ground which nature has or¬
dained them to clear, never go out of their dens and
caverns when they find themfelves fick and difabled ;
but there, oppreffed with hunger and difeafe, await
the traniitory moment, when they mult pay obedience
to nature’s laft law.”
IV. The mexicanus has a fmooth crooked tail.The Mexi-
The body is alh-coloured, variegated with yellow fpots. canus.
It is a native of Mexico, and is called the mountain-cat
by Seba. It agrees with the European wolf in its
manners; attacks cattle, and fometimes men.
V. The Vulpes, or Fox, has a ftraight tail, white at The Fox,
the point. His body is yellowifh, or rather draw-co¬
loured ; his ears are fmall and ereCt; his lips are whi-
tilh, and his forefeet black. From the bafe of the tail
a ftrong feent is emitted, which to feme people is very
fragrant, and to others extremely difagreeable. The
fox is a native of almoft every quarter of the globe, and
is of fuch a wild and favage nature that it is impoffible
fully to tame him. He is efteemed to be the mod
fagacious and the moft crafty of all beafts of prey.
The former quality he Ihows in his method of pro¬
viding himfelf with an afylum, where he retires from
preffing dangers, where he dwells, and where he brings
up his young: and his craftinefs is chiefly difeovered
by the fchemes he falls upon in order to cateh lambs,
geefe,hens, and all kinds of fmall birds. The fox fixes his
abode on the border of the wood, in the neighbourhood
of cottages : he liftens to the crowing of the cocks and
the cries of the poultry. He feents them at a diftance;
he choofes his time with judgment; he conceals his
road as well as his defign ; he flips forward with cau¬
tion, fometimes even trailing his body, and feldom
makes a fruitlefs expedition. If he can leap the wall,
or get in underneath, he ravages the court-yard, puts
all to death, and then retires foftly with his prey,
which he either hides under the herbage, or carries off
to his kennel. He returns fin a few minutes for an¬
other, which he carries off, or conceals in the fame
manner, but in a different place. In this way he pro¬
ceeds till the progrefs of the fun, or fome movements
perceived in the houfe, advertife him that it is time to
fufpend his operations, and to retire to his den. He
plays the fame game with the catchers of thrufhes,
wood-cocks, &c. He vifits the nets and bird-lime very
early in the morning, carries off fucceffively the birds
which are entangled, and lays them in dift’erent places,
efpecially near the fides of high-ways, in the furrows,
under the herbage or bruflrwood, where they fometimes
lie
JartM/
■ firtW ^/fstr/su- / 'f^/lon.
C A X I S .
ffy/r/Mf’ &.
Plate ClviX ,
CAN [ 109 ] CAN
Canls. lie two or three days ; but he knows perfectly where
--V—' to find them when he is in need. He hunts the young
hares in the plains, feizes old ones in their feats, never
miffes thofe which are wounded, digs out the rabbits
in the warrens, difcovers the nefts of partridges and
quails, feizes the mothers on the eggs, and deftroys a
vaft quantity of game. The fox is exceedingly vora¬
cious ; befides flelh of all kinds, he eats, with equal
avidity, eggs, milk, cheefe, fruits, and particularly
grapes. When the young hares and partridges fail
him, he makes war againfi: rats, field-mice, ferpents, li¬
zards, toads, &c. Of thefe he deftroys vaft numbers ;
and this is the only fervice he does to mankind. He
is fo fond of honey, that he attacks the wild bees,
wafps, and hornets. They at firft put him to flight
by a thoufand flings; but he retires only for the pur-
pofe of rolling himfelf on the ground to Ofufti them ;
and he returns fo often to the charge, that he obliges
them to abandon the hive, which he foon uncovers, and
devours both the honey and wax. In a vyord, he eats
fifties, lobfters, grafs-hoppers, Sic.
The fox is not eafily, and never fully tamed he lan-
guifhes when deprived of liberty ; and^-if kept too long
in a domeftic ftate, he dies of chagrin. Foxes produce
but once a year; and the litter commonly confift of
four or five, feldom fix, and never lefs than three.
When the female is full, Are retires, and feldom goes
out of her hole, where ftie prepares a bed for her young.
She comes in feafon in the winter; and young foxes
are found in the month of April. When file perceives
that her retreat is difcovered, and that her young hqve
been difturbed, ftie carries them off one by one, and
goes in fearch of another habitation. The young are
brought forth blind; like the dogs, they grow 18
months, or two years, and live 13 or 14 years.—The
fox, as well as the congenerous wolf, will produce with
the dog-kind, as noticed above.
The fenfes of the fox are equally good as thofe of
the wolf; his fentiment is more delicate ; and the or¬
gans of his voice are more pliant and perfect. - The
wolf fends forth only frightful bowlings ; but the fox .
barks, yelps, and utters a mournful, cry like that of the -
peacock. He varies his tones according to the differ¬
ent fentiments with which he is affe&ed: he has an
accent peculiar to thechace, the tone of defire, of com¬
plaint, and of forrow. • He has another cry expreflive
of acute pain, which he utters only when he is fhot,
or has fome of his members broken ; for he never com¬
plains of any other wound, and, like the wolf, allows
himfelf to be killed with a bludgeon without complain¬
ing; but.he always defends himfelf to the laft with
great courage and bravery. His bite is obftinate and
dangerous; and the fevereft blows will hardly make
him quit his hold. His yelping is a fpecies of bark- -
ing, and confifts of a quick fucceffian of fimilar tones ;
at the end of which-he generally raifes his voice fimilar
to the cry of the peacock. In winter, and particular¬
ly during froft and fnow, he yelps perpetually ; ..but*
in fummer, he is almoft entirely filent, and, during this
feafon, he cafts his hair. He fleeps found, and may be
eafily approached without. wakening : lie fleeps in a
round form, like the dog ; but, when he only repofes -
himfelf, he extends his hind legs, and lies on his belly.
It is in this fituation that he fpies the birds along the
hedges, and meditates fchemes for their furprife. The
fox flies when he hears the explofion of a gun, or fmells
gun powder. He is exeedingly fond of grapes, and does
much mifchief in vineyards. Various methods are
daily employed to deftroy foxes: they are hunted with
dogs ; iron traps are frequently fet at their holes ; and
their holes are fometimes fmoked to make them run
out, that they may the more readily fall into the fnares,
or he killed by dogs or fire-arms.
The chace of the fox requires lefs apparatus, and is
more amufing, than that of the wolf. To the latter
every dog has great reludlance : but all dogs hunt the
fox fpontaneoufly and with pleafure; for, though his
odour be ftrong, they often prefer him to the flag or
the hare. He may be hunted with terriers, hounds,
&c. Whenever he finds himfelf purfued, he runs to
his hole ; the terriers with crooked legs, or turnfpits,
go in with moft eafe. This mode anfwers very well
when we want to carry off a whole litter of foxes, both
mother and young. While the mother defends her-
felf againft the terriers, the hunters remove the earth
above, and either kill or feize her alive. But, as the
holes are often under rocks, the roots of trees, or funk
too deep in the ground, this method is frequently un-
fuccefsful. The. moft certain and moft common me¬
thod of hunting foxes,- is to begin with /hutting up
their holes, to place a man with a gun near the en¬
trance, and then to fearch about with the dogs. Whea
they fall in with him, he immediately makes for his
hole; but, when he comes up to it, he is met with a
difeharge from the. gun.. If'he efcapes the /hot, he
runs with full fpeed, takes a large circuit, and returns
again to the hole, where he is fired upon a fecond time ; .
but, finding the entrance fliut, he now- endeavours to
tfcape by darting ftraight forward, with the defian of
never revifiting his former habitation. He is°theii
purfued by the hounds, whom he feldom fails to fa¬
tigue, becaufe he purpofely pafles through the thickeft:
parts of the foreft of places of the moft difficult accefs,
where the dogs are hardly able to follow him; and,
when he takes to the plains, he runs ftraight out, with
out flopping or doubling.
Of all animals the fox has the moft fignificant
eye, by which it exprefles every paffion of love,
fear, hatred, &c. It is remarkably playful; but,
like all favage creatures half reclaimed, will on the
leaft offence bite thofe it is moft familiar with. It
it a great admirer of its bufliy tail, with which it
frequently amufes and exercifes itfelf, by running
in circles to catch it: . and, in cold weather, wraps
it round its nofe. The fmell of this animal is in gene¬
ral very ftrong, but that of the urine is remarkably fe¬
tid. This feems fo offenfive even to itfelf, that it will
take the trouble of . digging a hole in the ground,
ft retching its body at full length over it; and there, af¬
ter depofiting its water, cover it over with the earth, as
the cat does its dung,: The fmell is fo obnoxious, that
it has often proved the means of the fox’s efcape from
the dogs ; who have fo ftrong an averfion at the filthy
effluvia, as to avoid encountering the animal it came
from. It is faid that the fox makes ufe of its urine as an
expedient to force the cleanly badger from its habita-
tation : whether that is the means, is rather doubtful;
but that the fox makes ufe of the badger’s hole is cer¬
tain : not through want of ability to form its own re- •
treat, but to.fave itfelf fome trouble; for after the ex-
jmlfiori .
e a n
ptiifion of the firft inhabitant, the fox improves
^ as enlarges it confiderably, adding feveral chambers,
and providently making feveral entrances to fecure a
retreat from every quarter. In warm weather, it will
quit its habitation for the fake of balking in the fun, or
to enjoy the free air; but then it rarely^ lies expofed,
l>ut choofes.fome thick brake, that it may reft fecure
from furprize. Crows, magpies, and other birds, who
confider the fox as their common enemy, will often,
by their notes of anger, point out its retreat.—The
Hr in of this animal is furuiihed with a warm loft fur,
which in many parts of Europe is ufed to make muffs
and to line clothes. Vaft numbers are taken in-Le V;d-
lais, and the Alpine parts of Switzerland. At Lau-
fanne there are furriers who are in poffeffion of be¬
tween 2000 and .3000 Heins, all taken in one winter.
Of the fox there are fever al varieties, derived from
colour; as,
110 ] CAN
well ny doublings and turnings; and when in danger of be- Canb,
ing taken, they emit fuch a fmell from their pofteriors \
that the hunters can hardly endure it.
VI. The Lagopus, or arftic fox, with a fharp nofej The ar<ftl«
Ihort rounded ears, almoft hid in the fur; long and Fox,
foft hair, fomewhat woolly; Ihort legs; toes covered
on all parts, like that of a common hare, with fur ; tail
Ihorter and more bulhy than that of the common fox,
of a bluilh grey or afh colour, fometimes white: the
young of the grey are black before they come to matu¬
rity : the hair much longer in winter than fummer, as
is ufual with animals of cold climates. It inhabits the
countries bordering on the Frozen Sea; Khamfchatka,
the ifles between it and America, and the oppofite
parts of America difcovered in captain Bering’s expedi¬
tion, 1741; is again found in Greenland, Iceland,
Spitzbergej, Nova Zembla, and Lapland. It bur¬
rows underground, forms holes many feet in length,
1. The field-fox, or alopex of Linnaeus, who makes and ftrews the bottom with mofs. la Greenland and
it a diftimft fpecies; but it is every way the fame with
the common fox, except in the point of the tail, which
is black.
2. The crofs-fox, with a black mark palling tranf-
verfely from Ihoulder to Ihoulder, with another along
the back to the tail. It inhabits the coldeft parts of
Europe, Alia, and North-America: a valuable fur,
thicker and fofter than the common fort; great num¬
bers of the Heins are imported from Canada.
3. The black fox is the moft cunning of any, and
its fkin the moft valuable; a lining of it is, in Ruffia,
efteemed preferable to the fineft fables: a fingle Hein
will fell for 400 rubles. It inhabits the northern parts
of Afia and North-America. The laft is inferior in
goodnefs.
4. The brant fox, as deferibed by Gefner and Lin¬
naeus, is of a fiery rednefs; and called by the firft
irand-fuebf, by the laft brandraef; it is fcarce half the
fize of the common fox : the nofe is black, and much
fharper; the fpace round the ears ferruginous; the
forehead, back, Ihoulders, thighs, and fides black mix¬
ed with red, alh-colour, and black; the belly yellowilh;
the tail black above, red beneath, and cinereous on its
fide. It is a native of Penfylvania.
5. The corfac-fox, with upright ears, foft downy
hair; tail bulky; colour in fummer pale tawney,
in winter grey : the bafe and tip of the tail black ; a
fmall kind. It inhabits the defarts beyond the Yaik :
lives in holes: howls and barks: is caught by the Kir-
gis, Caffacks with falcons and gre-hounds; 40 or
50,000 are annually taken, and fold to the Ruffians, at
the rate of 40 kopeiks, or 20 pence, each : the former
ufe their fid ns inftead of money: great numbers are
fent into Turky.
6. There are three varieties of foxes found in the
mountainous parts of Britain, which differ a little in
form, but not in colour, from each other. They are
<liftinguilhed in Wales by as many different names.
The mtlgi, or gre-hound-fox, is the largeft, talleft, and
boldeft; and will attack a grown ftieep or wedder : the
majltff-fox is lefs, but more ftrongly built: the corgi,
or cur-fox is the lead ; lurks about hedges, out-houfes,
&c. and is the moft pernicious of the three to the fea¬
thered tribe. The firft of thefe varieties has a white
tag or tip to the tail; the laft a black. When hunted,
they never run diredly forward, but make a -great ma-
Spitzbergen it lives in the cliffs of rocks, not being
able to burrow, by reafon of the froft: two or three
pair inhabit the fame hole. They are in heat about
Lady-day ; and during that time, they continue in the
open air, but afterwards take to their holes. They go
with young nine weeks: like dogs, they continue united
in copulation : they bark like that animal, for which
reafon the Ruffians call them pefzti, or dogs. They'
have all the cunning of the common fox ; prey on
geefe, ducks, and other water-fowl, before they can fiy;
on groufe of the country, on hares, and the eggs of
birds ; and in Greenland (through neceffity) on ber¬
ries, ffiell-fifti, or any thing the fea flings up. But their
principal food in the north of Afia and in Lapland is
the leming, or Lapland marmot: thofe of the countries
laft mentioned are very migratory', purfuing the leming
w'hich is a wandering animal: fometimes tbefe foxes
will defert the country for three or four years, probably
in purfuit of their prey ; for it is w’dl known that the
migrations of the leming are very inconftant, it ap¬
pearing in fome countries only once in feveral years.
The people of Jenefea fufpe& they go to the banks or
the Oby. Their chief rendezvous is on the banks of
the Frozen Sea, and the rivers that flow' into it, where
they are found in great troops. The Greenlanders
take them either in pitfalls dug in the fnow, and baited .
w'ith the capelin fifli; or in fprings made with whale¬
bone, laid over a hole made in the fnow', ftrewedover at
bottom with the fame kind of fifli; or in traps made
like little huts, with flat ftones, with a broad one by
way of door, which falls down (by means of a firing
baited on the infide with a piece of flefli) whenever
the fox enters and pulls at it. The Geeenlanders pre-
ferve the fkins for traffic; and in cafes of neceffity eat
the flefh. They alfo make buttons of the fleins; and -
fplit the tendons, and make ufe of them inflead of thread.
The blue furs are much more efteemed than the white.
VII. The Indica, or antarctic fox (the coyotl ofantarc.
Fernandez, the loup-renard of Bougainville), has fhorttic Fox.
pointed ears; irides hazel; head and body cinereous
browm ; hair more woolly than that of the common
fox, refembling much that of the ar&ic ; legs dafhed
with ruft-colour; tail dufky, tipped with white ; fhorter
and morebufhy than that of the common fox, to which
it is about one-third fuperior in fize. It has much the
habit of the wolf, in ears, tail, and ftrength of limbs.
The
fw
1 o(
^fia
^;E Bar-
lit^ Fox.
e Jackal.
CAN [ i
The French therefore call it loup-renarJ, or wolf-fox.
It,may be a wolf degenerated by climate. The largeft
are thofe of Senegal: the next are the European: thofe
of North America are ftill fmaller. The Mexican
wolves, which Mr Pennant apprehends to be this fpe-
cies, are again lefs; and this, which inhabits the Falk¬
land ides, near the extremity of South America, is
dwindled to the fize del’cribed. This is the only land
animal of thofe diftant ides: it has a fetid fmell, and
barks like a dog. It lives near the diores ; kennels like
a fox ; and forms regular paths from bay to bay, pro¬
bably for the conveniency of furprizing the water-
fowl, on which it lives. It is at times very meagre,
from want of prey; and is extremely tame. The
idands were propably docked with thofe animals by
means of mafles of ice broken from the continent, and
carried by the currents.
VIII. The Grey-fox of Catedry, &c. has a (harp
nofe ; (harp, long, upright ears ; legs long; colour
grey, except a little rednefs about the ears.—It inha¬
bits Carolina, and the wanner parts of North America:
It differs from the ardlic fox in form, and the nature
of its dwelling ; agrees with the common fox in the
fird, varies from it in the fed : It never burrows, but
lives in hollow trees ; it gives no diverfion to the fportf-
man ; for after a mile’s chace, it takes to its retreat; it
has no drong fmell; it feeds on poultry, birds, &c.
Thefe foxes are eafily made tame ; their ikins, when in
feafon, made ufe of for muffs.
IX. The Silver fox of Louifiana. It refembles
the common fox in form, but has a mod beautiful coat.
The diort hairs are of a deep brown ; and over them
fpring long filvery hairs, which give the animal a very
elegant appearance. They live in foreds abounding in
game, and never attempt the poultry which run at
large. The woody eminences in Louilfena are every¬
where pierced with their holes.
X. The Barbary fox, (Z? Chacal, Buff), or jackal¬
adive, has a long and flender nofe, fharp upright ears,
long buihy tail: colour, a very pale brown ; fpace above
and below the eyes, black ; from behind each ear, there
is a black line, which foon divides into two, which ex¬
tend to the lower part of the neck; and the tail is
furrounded with three broad rings. This fpecies is of
the fize of the common fox, but the limbs are (hotter,
and the nofe is more flender.—M. de Buffon informs
us, that Mr Bruce told him this animal was common
in Barbary, where it was called thalel. But Mr Pen¬
nant obferves, that Mr Bruce fliould have given it a
more didinguifhing name; for thalel, or taaleb, is no
more than the Arabic name for the common fox, which
is alfo frequent in that country.
XI. The Aureus, Schakal, or Jackal, as defcribed
by Mr Pennant, has yellowifli brown irides ; ears ereil,
formed like thofe of a fox, but (liorter and lefs pointed:
hairy and white within; brown without, tinged with
dulky : head (horter than that of a fox, and nofe blunt¬
er : lips black, and fomewhat loofe: neck and body
very much refembling thofe of that animal, but the
body more compreffed : the legs have the fame refem
blance, but are longer: tailthickeft in the middle, taper¬
ing, to the point: five toes on the fore feet; the inner
toe very (liort, and placed high : four toes on the hind
feet; all are covered with hair even to the claws The
hairs are much differ than thofe of a fox, but fcareely
11 ] GAN
fo ftiff as thofe of a wolf; (hort about the nofe ; on Cams,;
the back, three inches long; on the belly (horter.' *
Thofe at the end of the tail four inches long. Colour
of the upper part of the body a dirty tawny ; on the
back, mixed with black : lower part of the body of a
yellowiih white : tail tipt with black; the reft of the
fame colour with the back: the legs of an unmixed
tawny brown ; the fore legs marked (but not always)
with a black fpot on the knees; but on no part are
thofe vivid colours which could merit the title of
golden, bellowed on it by Kaempfer.—The length of
this animal from the nofe to the root of the tail is little
more than twenty-nine inches Englifti: the tail, to the
ends of the hairs, ten three quarters ; the tip reaching
to the top of the hind legs : the height, from the fpace
between the (boulders to the ground, rather more than
eighteen inches and a half; the hind parts a little
higher.—This fpecies inhabits all the hot and tem¬
perate parts of Afia, India, Perfia, Arabia, Great Tar¬
tary, and about Mount Caucafus, Syria, and the Holy-
land. It is found in mod parts of Africa, from Bar¬
bary to the Cape of Good Hope.
Profeffor Gueldenftaedtthe able defcriber-of this
long-loft animal, remarks, that the caecum entirelyXX°
agrees in form with that of a dog, and differs from
that of the wolf and fox. And Mr Pennant obferves*
that there is the fame agreement in the teeth with thofe
of a dog ; and the fame, variation in them from thofe of
the two other animals. Thefe circumftances ftrength-
en the opinion entertained by fome writers, that the
dogs of the old world did derive their origin from one
or other of them. The jackals have indeed fo much the
nature of dogs, as to give reafonable caufe to imagine
that they are at leaft the chief, (lock from which is
fprung the various races of thofe domeftic animals.
When taken young, they grow inftantiy tame ; attach
themfelves to mankind; wag their tails; love to be
ftroked; diftinguifti" their mailers from others; will
come on being called by the name given to them ; will
leap on the table, being encouraged to it: they drink,
lapping ; and make water fideways, with their leg held
up. Their dung is hard : odorat anum alterius, coheeret
copula junci us. When they fee dogs, inftead of flying,
they feek them, and play with them. They will eat
bread eagerly; notwithftanding they are in a wild (late •
carnivorous. They have a great refemblance to fome
of the Calmue dogs, which perhaps were but a fewde-
feents removed from the wild kinds. Our dogs are
probably derived from thofe reclaimed in the firft ages
of the world; altered by numberlefs accidents into the
many varieties which- now appear among us.
The wild fehakals go in packs of 40, ^oy and even
two hundred, and hunt like hounds in full- cry from
evening to morning. They deftroy flocks and poultry, ,
but in a lefs degree than the wolf or fox : ravage the
ftreets of villages and gardens near towns, and will even
deftroy children, if left unprotected. They will enter
ftables and outhoufes, and devour (kins, or any thing
made of that material. They will familiarly enter a
tent, and (leal whatfoever they can find from the (leep¬
ing traveller. In default of living prey, they will feed
on roots and fruits; and even on the mod infeftedcar¬
rion : they will greedily difinter the dead, and devour ’
the putrid carcafes; for which reafon, in many coun¬
tries the graves are made of a great depth. They at¬
tend :
GAN [ ii
tend caravans, and follow armies, in hopes that death
will provide them a banquet.
Their voice naturally is a howl. Barking, Mr Pen¬
nant obferves, is latently inherent; and in their Hate
of nature feldom exerted: but its different modifica¬
tions are adventitious, and expreffive of the new paf-
fions and affeftions gained by a domeftic (fate. Their
bowlings and clamours in the night are dreadful, and
fo loud that people can fcarcely hear one another
fpeak. Dellon fays, their voice is like the cries of a
great many children of different ages mixed together :
when one begins to howl, the whole pack join in the
cry. Ksempfer fays, that every now and then a fort
of bark is intermixed; which confirms what is above
afferted by Mr Pennant. Dellon agrees in the account
of their being tamed, and entertained as domeftic ani¬
mals. During day they are filent. They dig burrows
in the earth, in which they lie all day, and come out
at night to range for prey : they hunt by the nofe, and
are very quick of fcent. The females breed only once
a year; and go with young only four weeks; they
bring from fix to eight at a time. Both Mr Guelden-
ftaedt and Mr Bell contradldf the opinion of their being
very fierce animals.
This animal is vulgarly called the; Lion's Provider,
from an opinion that it rouzes the prey for that bad-
nofed quadruped. The fadf is, every creature in the
foreft is fet-in motion by the fearful cries of the jackals ;
the lion, and other beafts of rapine, by a fort of inftinA,
attend to the chace, and feize fuch timid animals as
betake themfelves to flight at the noife of this nightly
pack. The jackal is defcribed by Oppian, under the
name of 3»9o«, or yellow wolf; who mentions its
horrible howl. It may, as M. de Buffon conje&ures,
be the of Ariftotle, who mentions it with the
wolf, and fays that it has the fame internal ftrufture
as the wolf, which is common with congenerous ani¬
mals. The Thoes of Pliny may alfo be a variety of
the fame animal ; for his account of it ageees with
the modern hiftory of the fchakal, except in the laft
article : “ Thoes, Luporum id genus eft procerius
longitudine, brevitate crurum diffimile, velox faltu, ve-
natu vivens, innocuum homini lib. viii. c. 34.
XII. The Mesomelas, or Capefch of Schreber, the
Mefo- tenyte or ^enne 0f t[le Hotentots, has erett yellowifh
brown ears, mixed with a few fcattered black hairs:
the head is of a yellowifh brown, mixed with black and
white, growung darker towards the hind part: the
fides are of a light brown, varied with dufky hairs;
the body and alfo the back part of the legs are of a
yellowifh brown, lighteft on the body ; the throat,
breaft, and belly white. On the neck, fhoulders, and
back, is a bed of black ; broad on the fhoulders, and
growing narrower to the tail: when the hairs are
fmooth, the part on the neck feems barred with white ;
that on the fhoulders with white conoid marks, one
within the other, the end pointing to the back : when
the hairs are ruffled, thefe marks vanifh, or grow lefs
diftinft, and a hoarynefs appears in their Head. The
tail isbufhy, of a yellowifh brown ; marked on the up¬
per part with a longitudinal flripe of black, and to¬
wards the end encircled with two rings of black, and
is tipt with white. In length, the animal is two feet
three quarters, to the 'origin of the tail: the tail is one
Toot. This fpecies inhabits the countries about the Cape
,N° 6$.
GAN
of Gocd Hope, and probably is found as high as the Cams
line. II. j
XIII. The thous has a fmooth ciooked tail; the , Can‘c;?' ,
upper part of its body is grey, and its belly white. It-j.^ Thous
is about the fize of a large cat ; and, according to
Linnaeus, is found at Surinam; it is mentioned by no
other naturalift.
XIV. The Zerda. This animal has a very point- ,
ed vifage ; large bright black eyes; very large ears, e er 3*
of a bright rofe-colour, internally lined with long hairs;
the orifice fo fmall as not to be vifible, probably co¬
vered with a valve or membrane : the legs and feet
are like th®fe of a dog ; the tail is taper: colour be¬
tween a ftraw and pale brown. Length from nofe to
tail, ten inches ; ears, three inches and a half long ;
tail, fix ; height, not five. It inhabits the vaft defart
of Saara, which extends beyond mount Atlas : If bur¬
rows in the fandy ground, which fhows the neceffity of
the valves to the ears; and is fo exceffively fwift, that
it is very rarely taken alive. It feeds on infefts, efpe-
ciaHy locufts : fits on its rump : is very vigilant: barks
like a dog, but much mfiller, and that chiefly in the
night: never is obferved to be fportive. We are in¬
debted to Mr Eric Skioldebrand, the late Svvedifhcon-
ful at Algiers, for our knowledge of this lingular ani¬
mal. He never could procure but one alive, which
efcaped before he examined its teeth : the genus is very
uncertain: the form of its head and legs, and fome of
its manners, determined Mr Pennant to rank it in this
genus. That which was in poffeflion of Mr Skiolde¬
brand fed freely from the hand, and would eat bread
or boiled meat. Buffon has given a figure of this ani
mal ; but from the.authority of Mr Bruce afcribes to it
a different place,and different manners. He fays that it is
found to the fouth of the Palus Tritonides, in Libya ;
that it has fomething of the nature of the hare, and
fomething of the fquirrel; and that it lives on the
palm-trees, and feeds on the fruits.
Canis Major, the great dog in aftronomy, a conflel-
lation of the fouthern hemifphere, below Orion’s feet,
though fomewhat to the weftward of him ; whofe ftars
Btolemy makes 29 ; Tycho obferved only 13 ; Heve-
lius 21 ; in the Britannic catalogue they are 31.
Canis Minor, the little dog, in aftronomy, a conflel-
lation of the northern hemifphere; called alfo by the
Greeks, Procyon, and by the Latins Antecanis and Can¬
icula. The ftars in the conftellation canis minor, are
in Ptolemy’s catalogue 2 ; in Tycho’s, 5; in Hevelius’s,
13; and in the Britifh catalogue, 14.
CANISIUS (Henry), a native of Nimeguen, and
one of the moll learned men of his time, was profeffor
of canon law at Ingolftadt; and wrote a great number
of books ; the principal of which are, 1. Summa Juris
Canonici. 2. Antiqua Itcliones, a very valuable work. He
died in 1609.
CANITZ (the baron of), a German poet and
ftatefman, was of an ancient and illuftriojus family in
Brandenburg, and born at Berlin in 1564, five months
after his father’s death. After his early ftudies, he
travelled to France, Italy, Holland, and England ; and
upon his return to his country, was charged with im¬
portant negociations by Frederic II. Frederic III.
employed him alfo. Canitz united the ftatefman with
the poet; and was converfant in many languages, dead
5 a8
C A "NT I S .
Plate CXX.
CAN [n
•Canker gg well as living. His German poems were publidi-
Cannabis ec^ ^0r t^e tenth time, 1750, in 8vo. He is faid to
.. ‘ ^ave taken Horace, for his model, and to have written
purely and delicately. But he did not content him-
felf with barely cultivating the fine arts in him(elf; he
pave all the encouragement he could to them in others.
He died at Berlin, in 1699, privy counfellor of ftate,
aged 45- _
CANKER, a difeafe incident to trees, proceeding
chiefly from the nature of the foil. It makes the bark
rot and fall. If the canker be in a bough, cut it off;
in a large bough, at fome diflance from the ftem ; in a
Imall one, clofe to it : but for over-hot ftrong ground,
the ground is to be cooled about the roots with pond-
mud and cow dung.
Cankkk, among farriers. See Farriery, § xliv. 2.
C ANNA, in botany: A genus of the monogynia or¬
der, belonging to the monandria clafs of plants; and in
the natural'method ranking under the eighth order,
Scitaminea. The corolla is ere£t, and divided intq fix
parts, with a diftinift lip bipartite and rolled-bacic;
the -ftyle lanceolate, and growing to the corolla ; the
calyx is triphyllous.
Species. 1. The indica, or common broad-leaved
flowering cane, is a native of both Indies; the inha¬
bitants of the Britifh iflands in America call it Indian
Jhot, from the roundnefs and hardnefs of the feeds. It
hath a thick, flefliy, tuberous root, which divides into
many irregular knobs ; it fends out many large oval
leaves, without order. At their firft appearance the
leaves are like a twilled horn ; but afterwards expand,
and are near a foot long, and five inches broad in the
middle ; leffening gradually to both ends, and termi¬
nated in a point. The {talks are herbaceous, rifing four
feet high, and are encompaffed by the broad leafy foot-
Italks of the leaves ; at the upper part of the {talk the
flowers are produced in loofe fpikes, each being at firft
covered with a leafy hood, and turns to a brown co¬
lour. The flowers are fucceeded by a fruit or capfule,
oblong, rough, and crowned with the three-cornered
empalement of the flower which remains. When the
fruit is ripe, the capfule opens lengthwife into three
cells, filled with round, fliining, hard, and black feeds.
2. 'Fke latifolia, with a pale red flower, is a native of
Carolina, and fome other northern provinces of Ame¬
rica. 3. The glauca, with a very large flower, is a
native of South America. 4. The lutea, with obtufe
oval leave*, is lefs common in America than the other
foils. 5. The coccinea, hath larger leaves than any of
the other fpecies, and the (talks rife much higher. The
flowers are produced in large fpikes ; and are of a
bright crimfon, or rather fcarlet colour.
Culture. Thefe plants muff always be kept in pots
of rich earth, to be moved to (belter in winter. They
are propagated by feeds fown on a hot-bed, in the
fpring; and in fummer, when the plants are a little
advanced in growth, prick them feparately in fmall
pots of rich earth, plunging them alfo in the hot-bed,
giving (hade, water, and fiefh air; to which laft hard¬
en them by degrees, till they bear it fully. In Octo¬
ber they muff be removed into a very good ftove or
green houfe.
CANNABIS, in botany: A genus of the pentan-
dria order, belonging to the dioecia clafs of plants;
and in. the natural method ranking under the 53d or-
Vol. IV Part I.
3 ] CAN
der, Scabr'uh. The calyx of the male is quinquepartite, Cannabis,
with no corolla. In the female the calyx is monophyl- * *
lous, entire, and gaping at the fide ; there is no corol¬
la, but two ftyles ; the fruit is a nut, bivalved, within
the clofed calyx. Of this there is but one fpecies, viz.
the fativa. This is propagated in the rich fenny parts
of Lincolnfliire in great quantities, for its bark, which
is ufeful for cordage, cloth, &c. and the feeds abound
with oif. Hemp is always fown on a deep, moift,
rich, foil, fuch as is found in Holland, Lincolnihire, the
fens of the ifland of Ely, where it is cultivated to great
advantage, as it might be in many other parts of Eng¬
land where there is a foil of the fame kind; but it will
not thrive on clayey or ftiff cold land. The ground
on which hemp is defigned to be fown, ftiould be well
ploughed, and made very fine by harrowing. About
the middle of April the feed may be fown; three
buihels is the ufual allowance for an acre, but two are
fufficient. In the choice of the feed, the heavieft and
brighteft coloured ftiould be preferred ; and particular
care fliould be had to the kernel of the feed. For the
greater certainty in this matter, fome of the feeds
(hould be cracked, to fee whether they have the germ
or future plant perfect: for, in fome places, the male
plants are drawn out too foon from the female, i. e.
before they have impregnated the female plants with the
farina; in which cafe, though the feeds produced by
thefe females may feem fair to the eye, yet they will
not grow*, according to the do&rine of Linnaeus. * see i?»-
When the plants are come up, they fliould be hoed;.i»y,fe&.
out in the fame manner as is praCtifed for turnips, ‘h-
leaving them two feet apart; obferve alfo to cut down
all the weeds, which, if well performed, and in dry
weather, will deftroy them. This crop, however, will
require a fecond hoeing, in about fix weeks, after the
firft; and, if this is well performed, the crop will re¬
quire np further care. The firft feafon for pulling
hemp is ufually about the middle of Auguft, when,
they begin to pull what they call the Jimlle hemp, being
that which is compofed of the male plants; but it
would be the much better method to defer this for a
fortnight or three weeks longer, until thofie male
plants have fully filed their farina or duff, without
which the feeds will prove only empty hulks. Thefe
male plants decay foon after they have (hed their fari¬
na. The fecond pulling is a little after Michaelmas,
when the feeds are ripe. This is ufually called karle
hemp, and confifts of the female plants which were left.
This karle hemp is bound in bundles of a yard com-
pafs, according to ftatute meafure, which are laid in
the fun for a few days to dry ; and then it is (lacked
up, or houfed, to keep it dry till the feed can be threfli-
ed out. An acre of hemp, on a rich foil, will produce
near three quarters of feed, which, together with the
unwrought hemp, is worth from fix to eight pounds.
Hemp is efteemed very effectual for deftroying weeds;
but this it accomplifiies by impoverifliing the ground,
and thus robbing them of their nourifhment; fo that
a crop of it muff not be repeated on the fame fpot.
Some feeds of a large kind of hemp growing in
China were lately fent by the Eaft India Company to
the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufac¬
tures, and Commerce, who diftrjbuted them to the
members and other gentlemen who appeared likely to
cultivate them; and from experiments made in confe-
P quence.
CAN [ 114 1 CAN
Cannabis, qucnce, tile; plant has been found to fucceed perfectly
. Cannae. jn climate. The firft trials were rather unpro-
' v mifing, the hemp produced from the foreign feeds pro¬
ving of very little value* But the Reverend Dr Hin-
,ton of Northwold, who made the above trial in 1786,
having accidentally faved fome ripe feeds of that crop,
fowed them in May 1787 on a fpot of good land. They
came up wett, and attained as much perfection as ordi¬
nary hemp. The produce, when dreffed, weighed at
the rate of 95 ftone ^ pounds and 12 ounces per acre,
(being above 30 ftone more, he fays, than the ufual
crops of hemp in that neighbourhood)-; and at the
rate of three bufhels two pecks and half a pint of feed
per acre were faved. Dr Hinton fuppofes that the
feeds brought from China failed principally, if not en¬
tirely, by having been two years old, at which age
hempfeed feldom vegetates* Now that it is found to
ripen with us, frefti feeds can always be obtained. It
will yet, however, require a few years to determine
whether this fpecies will continue to retain its great
fize, or will degenerate and become the common hemp
of Europe.
From the leaves of hemp pounded' and boiled in
water, the natives of the Eaft Indies prepare an intoxi¬
cating liquor of which they are very fond. The plant,
when frefti, has a rank narcotic fmell; the water in
which the ftalks are foaked, in. order to feparate the
tough rind for mechanic ufes, is faid to be violently
poifonqus,. and to produce its effefts almoft as foon
as drank. The feeds alfo have fome fmell of the
herb, and their tafte is un&uous and fweetifh: they
are recommended, boiled in milk, or triturated with
water into an emulfion, againft coughs, heat of urine,
and the like. They are alfo faid to be ufeful in incon¬
tinence.of urine, and for reftraining venereal appetites-;
but experience does not warrant their having any vir¬
tues of that kind;
CANNiE, (ane. geog.) a town of Apulia in the
Adriatic, at the mouth of the river Aufidus, rendered
famous by a terrible overthrow which the Romans here
received from the Carthaginians under Hannibal. The
Roman confuls iEmilius Paulus and Terentius Varro,
being authorized by the fenate to quit the defenfive plan,
and ftake the fortunes of the republic on the chance of
a battle, marched from Canufmm, and encamped a few
miles eaft, in two unequal divifions, with the Aufidus
between them* In this pofitien they meant to wait for.
an. opportunity of engaging to advantage; but Hanni¬
bal, whofe critical fituation in a defokted country,
without refuge or allies, could admit of no delay, found
means to inflame the vanity of Varro by fome trivial
advantages in fkirmifties between the light horfe. The
Roman, elated with this fuccefs, determined to bring
matters to a fpeedy conclufion ;but, finding the ground
on the fouth fide too confined for the operations of fo
large an army, crofted the river ;. and Varro, refting
his right wing upon-the Aufidus, drew out his for-,
ces in the plain. Hannibal^ whofe head quarters were
at Cannae, no fooner- perceived the enemy in motion,
than he forded the water below, and roarftialled his
troops in a line oppofite to that of his adverfaries.,
The Romans were vaftly fuperior in number to the
Carthaginians ; but the latter were fuperior in cavalry.
The army of the former, confifting of 87,000 men,
was drawn up in the ufual manner; the hof}all in the
firft line, the princ'ipes in the fecond, and the triarn fa Canfisfc
the third. The cavalry were polled on the wings.
On the right, the Roman knights flanked the legio¬
naries ; in the left, the cavalry of the allies covered
their own infantry. The two confuls commanded the
two wings, Eroilius.the right, and Terentius the left
and-the two proconfols Servilius and Attilius the main
body. On the other hand, Hannibal, whofe army
confifted cf 40,009 foot and T 0,000 horfe, placed his
Gaulilh and Spanilh cavalry in his left wing, to face
the Roman knights ; and the Numidian horfe in his;
right, over againft the cavalry of the allies of Rome.,
As to his infantry, he divided the African battalions
into two bodies; one of which he polled near the Gaul¬
ilh and Spanilh horfe, the other near the Numidian..
Between thefe two bodieswere placed on one fide the
Gaulilh, on the other the Spanilh infantry, drawn up
in fuch a manner as to form an obtufe angle proje&ing
a confiderable way beyond the two wings. Behind
this line he drew up a fecond which had no projec¬
tion. Afdrubal commanded the left wing ; Maherbal
the right ;- and. Hannibal himfelf, with his brother
Mago, the main body. He had alfo taken care to poll
himfelf in fuch a manner that the wind Vuhurnust.
which rifes at certain Hated times, Ihould blow direftly
in the faces of the Romans during the fight, and Cover
them with dull. The onfet was begun by the light-
armed infantry ; the Romans difeharging their jave¬
lins, and the baleares their Hones, with pretty equal
fuceefs; neverthelefs, the oonful Emilius was wound¬
ed. Then the Roman cavalry in the right wing ad¬
vanced againft the Gaulilh and Spanilh in Hannibal’s
left. As they were ftmt in by the river Aufidus on
one fide, and by their infantry on the other, they did
not fight, as ufual. By charging and wheeling off, and
then returning to the charge ; but continued fighting
each man againft his- adverfary, till one of them was
killed or retired. After they had made prodigious
efforts on both fides to overbear each other, they all
on a .Hidden difmounted, and fought on foot with great
fury. In this attack, the Gauls and Spaniards foon -
prevailed ; put the Romans to the rout; and, purfu-
ing them along the river, ftrewedthe ground with their,
dead bodies, Afdrubal giving no quarter. This a&ion
was foarce over, when the infantry on both fides ad¬
vanced. The Romans firft fell upon the Spaniards
and Gauls, who, as already obferved, formed a kind of,
triangle proje<§ting beyond, the two wings* Thefe
gave ground, and, purfuant to Hannibal’s direftions^
funk into the void fpace in their rear; by which means
they infenfibly brought the Romans into the centre of.
the African infantry, and then the fugitives rallying,
attacked them in front, while the Africans charged
them in- both flanks. The Romans, being by this art¬
ful retreat drawn into the: fnare and furrounded, no
longer, kept their ranks, but formed feveral platoons
in order to face every way. Emilius, who was on the.
right wing, feeing the danger of the main body, at the
head of his legionaries a&ed the part both of a foldier
and general, penetrating into the heart of the enemy’s.:
battalions, and cutting great numbers of them in pieces.
All the Roman cavalry that were left, attended the
brave conful on foot; and, encouraged by his example,
fought like men in defpair. But, in the mean time,
Afdrubal, at the. head of .a detachment of Gaulifh and
Spanilh
CAN [ ns 1 CAN
Spanirti infantry brought from the centre, attacked
- iEmilius’s legionaries with fuch fury, that they were
forced to give ground and fly : the conful being all
covered with wounds, was at laft killed by feme of the
enemy who did not know him. In the irtain body,
the Romans, though invefted on all fides, continued to
fell their lives dear ; fighting in platoons, and making
a great flaughter of the enemy. But being at length
overpowered, and diflieartened by the death of the two
proconfuls Servilius and Attilius who headed them,
they difperfed and fled, fome to the right, and others to
the left, aS they could find opportunity 5 but the Nu-
midian horfe cut moft of them in pieces: the whole
plain was covered with heaps of dead bodies, infomuch
that Hannibal himfelf, thinking the butchery too ter*
rible, ordered his men to put a flop to it.—There is
a great difagreement among authors as to the number
of Romans killed and taken at the battle of Cannae.
According to Livy, the republic loft 50,000 men, in¬
cluding the auxiliaries. According to Polybius, of
6000 Roman horfe, only 70 efcaped to Venufia with
Terentius Varro and 300 of the auxiliary horfe. As
to the infantry, that writer tells us, that 70,000 of the
Roman foot died on the field of battle fighting like
brave men; and that 13,000 were made prifoners.
According to Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus, of 6000
horfe, only 370 efcaped the general flaughter, and of
■80,000 foot, 3000 only were left. The moft moderate
computation makes the number of Romans killed to
amount to 45,000. The feene of action is marked
out to pofterity, by the name of Pexzo di Sangue,
Field of Blood.”
Thefe plains have more than once, fince the Punic
war, afforded room for men to accomplifti their mutual
deftruftion. Melo of Bari, after raifing the ftandard
of revolt agaiaft the Greek emperors, and defeating
their generals in feveral engagements, was at laft rout¬
ed here in 1019, by the Catapan Bolanus. Out of
two hundred and fifty Norman adventurers, the flower
of Melo’s army, only ten efcaped the flaughter of the
day. In 1201, the archbifhop of Palermo and his re¬
bellious affociates, who had taken advantage of the
nonage of Frederic of Swabia, were cut to pieces at
Cannse by Walter de Brienne, fent by the pope to de¬
fend the young king’s dominions.
The traces-of the town of Cannse are very faint,
confifting of fragments of altars, cornices, gates, walls,
vaults, and under-ground granaries. It w'as deftroyed
the year before the battle ; but being rebuilt, became
an epifcopal fee in the infancy of Chriftianity. It was
again ruined in the fixth century, but feems to have
fubfifted in an humble ftate many ages later; for we
read of its contending with Barletta for the territoiy,
which till then had been enjoyed in common by them ;
,and in 1284, Charles I. iffued an edidt for divi¬
ding the lands, to prevent all future litigation. The
prosperity of the towns along the coaft, which increa-
fed in wealth and population by embarkations for the
Crufadoes and by traffic, proved the annihilation of the
great inland cities ; and Cannse was probably abandon¬
ed entirely before the end of the thirteenth century.
CANNEQUINS, in commerce, white cotton cloths
brought from the Eaft Indies. They are a proper
commodity for trading on the coaft of Guinea, parti¬
cularly about the rivers Senega and Gambia. Thefe
linens are folded fquare-vrife, and are about eight ells
Canael
Coal
CANNEL Coal. See Ampelites. Cannonade*
^CANNES, a town of France, in Provence, and in ^
the viguerie of Graffe, feated on the coaft of the Me¬
diterranean fea, w'ith a harbour and a caftle. E. Long.
7. 7. N. Lat. 43. 34.
CANNIBAL, a modern term for an anthropo-
phagus or man-eater, more efpecially in the Weft In¬
dies. See Anthropophagi.
CANNON, a military engine for throwing balls,
&c. by the help of Gunpowder.
The invention of brafs cannon is by Laney aferibed
to J. Owen: he fays, that they were firft known in
England in the year 1535 ; but yet acknowledges,
that, in 1346, there were four pieces of cannon in the
Englilh army at the battle of Creffy, and that thefe
wrere the firft that were known in France. And Me-
zeray relates, that king Edward, by five or fix pieces
of cannon, ftruck terror into the French army, it be¬
ing the firft time they had feen any of thefe thunder¬
ing machines; though others affirm that cannon were
known alfo in France at the fame time ; but that the
French king, in his hurry to attack the Englifti, and
in confidence of victory, left all his cannon behind him
as ufelefs incumbrances (See Artillery). The Ger¬
mans carry the invention farther back, and attribute
it to Albertus Magnus, a Dominican monk, about the
year 1250. Voflius rejefts all thefe opinions, and finds
cannon in China almoft 1700 years ago. According
to him, they were mounted by the emperor Kitey in
the year of Chrift 85. For further particulars of their
hiftory, &c. fee Gun and Gunnery.
For the cafting of cannon, fee Foundery. For
their different parts, proportions, management, ope¬
ration, and effects, fee Gunnery.
Cannon, with letter-founders and printers, the
name of the largeft fize of letters they ufe.
CANNONADE, the application of artillery to the
purpofes of war, or the direction of its efforts againft
fome diftant object intended to be feized or deftroyed,
as a (hip, battery, or fortrefs. See Gunnery.
Since a large fliip of war may be confidered as a
combination of floating batteries, it is evident that the
efforts of her artillery muft be greatly fuperior to thofe
of a fortrefs on the fea-coaft ; that is to fay, in gene¬
ral ; becaufe, on fome particular ocCafions, her fitua-
tion may be extremely dangerous, and her cannonading
ineffectual. Her fuperiority confifts in feveral circum-
ftances, as the power of bringing her different batte¬
ries to converge to one point; of ftiifting the line of
her attack fo as to do the greateft pofiible execution
againft the enemy, or to lie where ftie will be the leaft
expofed to his ftiot; and chiefly becaufe, by employ¬
ing a much greater number of cannon againft a fort
than it can poffibly return, the impreifion of her artil¬
lery againft ftone-walls foon becomes decifive and irre-
fiftible. Befides thefe advantages in the attack, flie is
alfo greatly fuperior in point of defence : becaufe the
cannon-fhot, palling with rapidity through her fides,
feldom do any execution out of the line of their flight,
or occafion much mifehief by their fplinters ; whereas
they very foon lhatter and deftroy the faces of a para¬
pet, and produce incredible havoc among the men by
the fragments of the ftones, &c. A Ihip may alfo re-
P 2 treat
CAN [ !
©annula treat when /he finds it too dangerous to remain longer
I) expofed to the enemy’s fire, or when her own fire ean-
Canoe' not produce the defired effect. Finally, the fiu&uating
fituation of a /hip, and of the element on which /he
refts, renders the effedls of bombs very uncertain, and
altogether deftroys the effeft of the ricochet, or rolling
and bounding /hot, which is fo pernicious and de-
ftniftive in a fortrefs or land engagement. The chief
inconveniency to which a /hip is expofed, on the con¬
trary, is, that the low-laid cannon in a fort near the
brink of the fea, may ftrike her repeatedly on or under
the furface of the water, fo as to fink her before her
cannonade can have any confiderable efficacy.
CANNULA, in furgery, a tube made of di/Ferent
metals) principally of filver and lead, but fometimes of
iron.
They are introduced into hollow ulcers, in order to
Facilitate a difcharge of pus or any other fubftance ; or
into wounds, either accidental or artificial, of the large
cavities, as the thorax or abdomen: they are ufed in
the operation of bronchotomy; and, by fome, after
cutting for the /tone, as a drain for urine.
Other Cannulas are ufed for introducing cauteries,
either a&ual or potential, into hollow parts, in order
to guard the parts adjacent to that to be cauterized,
from injury. They are of various figures; fome being
oval, fome round, and others crooked.
CANO, a kingdom of Africa, in Negroland, with
a town of the fame name. It is bounded by Zaara on,
the north, by the river Niger on the fouth, the king¬
dom of Agades on the weft, and that of Caffina on the
eaft. Some of the inhabitants are herdfmen, and o-
thers till the ground and dwell in villages. It produces
corn, rice, and cotton. Here are alfo many deferts,
and mountains covered with woods, in which are wild
citrons and lemon trees. The walls and houfes of the
town are made of clay, and the principal inhabitants
are merchants. E. Long. 16. 18. N. Lat. 21. 5.
Canobia, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Milan,
feated on the weftern bank of Lago Maggiore, or the
Greater Lake. E. Long. 8. 47. N. Lat. 45. 55.
CANOE, a fort of Indian boat or veffel, formed of
the trunk of a tree hollowed, and fometimes of feveral
pieces of the bark put together.
Canoes are of various fixes, according to the ufes
for which they may be defigned, or the countries
wherein they are formed. The largeft are made of the
cotton tree; fome of them will carry between 20 and
30 hogfheads of fugar or molaffes. Some are made to
carry fail: and for this purpofe are fteeped in water
till they become pliant; after which their fides are ex¬
tended, and ftrong beams placed between them, on
which a deck is afterwards laid that ferves to fupport
their fides. The other forts very rarely carry fail, un-
lefs when going before the wind : their fails are made
of a fort of ffiort filk grafs or ru/hes. They are com¬
monly rowed with paddles, which are pieces of light
wood fomewhat refembling a corn-fhovel; and, inftead
of rowing with it horizontally like an oar, they ma¬
nage it perpendicularly. The fmall canoes are very
narrow, having only room for one perfon in breadth,
and feven or eight lengthwife. The rowers, who are
generally American favages, are very expert in mana¬
ging their paddles uniformly, and in balancing the ca¬
noes with their bodies} which would be difficult for a
16 J CAN.
ftranger to do, how well accuftomed foever to the con- Canon.
du&ing of European boats, becaufe the canoes are ex-  v—
tremely light, and liable to be overturned. The Ame¬
rican Indians, when they are under the neceffity of
landing to avoid a water-fall, or of croffing the land
from one river to another, carry their canoes on their
heads, till they arrive at a place where they can
launch them again. This is the general conflruction of
canoes, and method of managing them : but fome .na-
tions have veffels going under the name of canoes,
which differ conliderably from the above ; as the inha¬
bitants of Greenland, Hudfon’s-bay, Otaheite, &c.
CANON, a perfon who poffeffes a prebend, or re¬
venue allotted for the performance of divine fervice,.
in a cathedral, or collegiate church.
Canons are of no great antiquity: Pafchier obferves,
that the name canon was not known before Charle¬
magne ; at leaft the firft we hear of are in Gregory
de Tours, who mentions a college of canons inftituted
by Baldwin XVI. archbi/hop of that city, in the time
of Clotharius I. The common opinion attributes the
inftitution of this order to Chredegangus, bi/hop of
Metz, about the middle of the eighth century.
Originally canons were only priefts, or inferior ec-
clefiaftics, who lived in community; reliding by the
cathedral church, to affift the biffiop ; depending en¬
tirely on his will; fupported by the revenues of the
bi/hopric ; and living in the fame houfe, as his domef-
tics, or counfellors, &c. They even inherited his
moveables, till the year 817, when this was prohibited
by the council of Aix-la-Chapelle, and a new rule fub-
ftituted in the place of that which had been appointed
by Chrodegangus, and which was obferved for the
moft part in the weft till the twelfth century. By de¬
grees, thefe communities of priefts, /baking off their
dependence, formed feparate bodies ; whereof the bi-
ftiops, however, were ftill heads. In the tenth cen¬
tury, there were communities or congregations of the
fame kind, eftabli/hed even in cities where there were
no biffiops: thefe were called collegiates, as they ufed
the terms congregation and college indifferently : the
name chapter, now given to thefe bodies, being much
more modern. Under the fecond race of the French
kings, the canonical, or collegiate life, had fpread it-
felf all over the country; and each cathedral had its
chapter, diftinrf from the reft of the clergy. They
had the name canon from the Greek Ktcvar, which fig-
nifies three different things ; a rule, a.penfion, or fixed
revenue to live on, and a catalogue or matricula ; all
which are applicable to them.
In time, the canons freed themfelves from their rules,
the obfervance relaxed, and, at length, they ceafed to
live in community : yet they ftill formed bodies ; pre¬
tending to other functions befides the celebration of
the common office in the church ; yet affuming the
rights of the reft of the clergy; making themfelves as
a neceffary council of the bi/hop ; taking upon them
the adminiftration of a fee during a vacancy, and the'
eleftion of a bi/hop to fupply it. There are even
fome chapters exempt from the jurifdiction of the bi-
ftiop, and owning no head but their dean. After the
example of cathedral chapters, collegiate ones alfo con¬
tinued to form bodies, after they had abandoned living
in community.
Canons are of various kinds ; as,
Cardinal
CAN [ n
Cardinal Canons, which are thofe attached, and, as
the Latins call it, incardinati to a church, as a prieft
is to a pariih.
Domicellary Canons, were young canons, who, not
being in orders, had no right in any particular chap¬
ters.
ExpeElative Canons, were fuch as, without having
any revenue or prebend, had the title and dignities
of canons, a voice in the chapter, and a place in the
choir; till fuch time as a prebend ihould fall.
Foreign Canons, were fuch as did not officiate in the
canonries to which they belonged. To thefe were op-
pofed maniionary canons, or canons refidentiary.
Lay or honorary Canons, are fueh among the laity
as have been admitted, out of honour and refpect, in¬
to fome chapter of canons.
Regular Canons, are canons that ftill live in com¬
munity ;• and who, like religious, have, in procefs of
time, to the practice of their rules, added the folemn
profeffion of vows. They are called regulars, to dif-
tinguiih iheTn from thofe fecular canons who abandon
living in community, and at the fame time the ob-
fervance of the canons made as the rule of the clergy,
for the maintenance of the ancient difcipline. The
canons fubfifted in their fimplicity till the eleventh,
fome fay the twelfth century, when fome of them, fe-
parating from the community, took with them the
name of canons, or acephalous priefts, becaufe they
declined to live in community with the bifhop; and
thofe who were left thenceforth acquired the denomi¬
nation of canons regular, and adopted moft of the pro-
feffions of the rule of St Auguftine. This order of re¬
gular canons of St Auguftine was brought into Eng¬
land by Adelwald, confeflbr to Henry I. who erefted
a priory at Noftel in Yorkfhire; and obtainefl for them
the church of Carlifle as an epifcopal fee, with the pri¬
vilege of choofing their own bifhop. They were An¬
gularly protected and encouraged by Henry I. who
gave them the priory of Dunftable in 1107, and by
queen Maud, who, in the following year, gave them
the priory of the Holy Trinity in London. It appears,
that under the reign of Edward I. they had 53
priories.
Tertiary Canons, thofe who had ortly the third part
of the revenues of the canonicate.
Canon, in an ecclefiaftical fenfe, is a law or rule,
cither of doctrine or difcipline, enafted efpecially by a
council, and confirmed by the authority of the fove-
reign.
C anons are properly decifions of matters of religion;
or regulations of the policy and difcipline of a church,
made by councils, either general, national, or pro-
vinciaL Such are the canons of the council of Nice,
or Trent, &c.
There have been various colledtions of the canons
of the Eaftern councils; but four principal ones, each
ampler than the preceding. The firft, according to
Ufher, A. D. 380, containing only thofe of the firft
oecumenical council, and the firft provincial orits: they
were but 164 in number. To thefe, Dionyfius Exi-
guus, in.the year 526, added the 50- canons of the
apoftles, and thofe of the other general councils. The
Greek canons in this fecond colleftion end with thofe
of the council of Chalcedon ; to which are fubjoined
thofe of the council of Sardica; and the African coun-
7 1 CAN
cils. The fourth and laft collection comes down as
low as the fecond council of Nice; and it is on this
that Balfamon and Zonaras have commented.
Apojlolical Canons, are thofe which have been ufu-
ally afcribed to St Clement. Bellarmin, Baronius, &c.
will have them to be genuine canons of the apoftles:
Cotelerius obferves, that they cannot be afcribed to the
apoftles or Clement, becaufe they are not received with
other books of fcripture, are not quoted by the wri¬
ters of the firft ages, and contain many things not a-
greeable to the apoftolical times : Hincmar, De Mar-
ca, Beveridge, &c. take them to be framed by the
biffiops who were the apoftles difciples in the fecond
or third century ; S. Bafnage is of opinion, that they
were collected by an anonymous writer in the fifth,
century ; but Daille, See. maintain them to have been
forged by fome heretic in the fixth century ; and S.
Bafnage conjectures, that fome of them are ancient,
and others not older than the feventh century. The
Greek church allow only 85 of them, and the Latins
only 50 ; though there are 84 in the edition given of
them in the Corpus Juris Canonici.
Canon is ?lfo ufed for the authorifed catalogue of
the facred writings. See Bible.
The ancient canqn, or catalogue of the books of the
Old Teftament, was made by the Jews, and is ordina ■
rily attributed to Ezra ; who is faid to have diftri-
buted them into the law, the prophets, and the ha-
giographa, to which our Saviour refers, Luke, chap,
xxiv. ver. 44. The fame divifion is alfo mentioned by
Jofephus, cont. Appion.
This is the canon allowed to have been followed by
the primitive church, till the. council of Carthage;
and, according to St Jerom, this confifted of no more
than 22 books; anfwering to the number of the He¬
brew alphabet; though at prefent they are claffed into
24 divifions, containing Genefis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Jofliua, Judges, Samuel,
Kings, Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the twelve minor
prophets, the Pfalms, the Proverbs, Job, Canticles,
Rutlx, Lamentations, Ecclefiaftes, Efther, Daniel,
Ezra, comprehending the book of Nehemiah and the
Chronicles. However, this order is not univerfally
obferved either among Jews or Chriftians : nor were
all the, books above enumerated admitted into the Ca¬
non in Ezra’s time. It is moft likely, fays Dr Pry-
deaux, that the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, Ne¬
hemiah, Efther, and Malachi, were added in the time
of Simon the Juft, when the canon was completed..
But that council enlarged the canon, very confiderably,
taking into it the books which we call apocryphal;
which the council of Trent has further enforced, en¬
joining all thefe to be received as books of Holy Scrip¬
ture, upon pain of anathema, and being attainted of
herefy. The Rothanifts, in defence of this canon, fay,
that it is the fame with that of the council of Hippo,
held in 393 ; and with that of the third council of
Carthage, in 397, at which were prefent 46 biftiops,
and, among the reft, St Auguftine ; who declared, that
they received it from their fathers.
Their canon of the New Teftament perfeftly agrees
with ours. It confifts of books that are well known
fome of which have been univerfally acknowledged ;
fuch are the four Gofpels, the Afts of the Apoftles,,
thirteen.Epiftles of St Paul, one Epiftle of St Peter,,
and!
CAN [ n
Canon, and one Epiftle of St John : and others, concerning
'—v which doubts were entertained, but which were after¬
wards received as genuine ; fuch are the epiftle to the
Hebrews, that of James, the fecond of Peter, the fe-
cond and third of John, that of Jude, and the Reve¬
lation. Thefe books were written at different times,
and they are authenticated, not by the decrees of oriun-
cils, or infallible authority, but by fuch kind of evi¬
dence as is thought fufficient in the cafe of any other
ancient writings. They were very extenfively diffufed;
they were read in every Chriftian fociety; they were
valued and preferved with care by the fir ft Chriftians ;
they were cited by Chriftian writers of the fecond,
third, and fourth century, as by Irenaeus, Clement the
Alexandrian, Tertullian, Origen, Eufebius, &c. and
their genuinenefs is proved by the teftimony of thofe
who were contemporary with the apoftles themfelves,
dnd by tradition. The four Gofpels, and moft of the
other books of the New Teftament, were collected
either by one of the apoftles, or fome of their difci-
ples and fucceffors, before the end of the firft century.
The catalogue of canonical books furnifhed by the
more ancient Chriftian writers, as Origen about the
year 210, Eufebius and Athanafius in 315, Epiphanius
in 3.70, Jerome in 382, Auftin in 394, and many o-
thers, agrees with that which is now received among
Chriftians. For the time of writing the feveral books
of the New Teftament, fee the titles of the books
themfelves; as the Gofpel of St Matthew, Mark,
&c.
Some of the fathers diftinguifh the infpired writings
into three claffes ; proto-canonical, deutero-canonical,
and apocryphal.
Pafchal Canon, a table of the moveable feafts, (bow¬
ing the day of Eafter, and the other feafts depending
on it, for a cycle of 19 years.
The pafchal canon is fuppofed to be the calculation
of Eufebius of Csefarea, and to have been done by or¬
der of the council of Nice.
Canon, in monaftic orders, a book wherein the re¬
ligious of every convent have a fair tranfcript of the
rules of their order, frequently read among them as
their local ftatutes. This is alfo called regula, as con¬
taining the rule and inftitution of their order.
The canon differs from the miffale, martyrologium,
and necrologium.
Canon, again, is ufed for the catalogue of faints
acknowledged and canonized in the Roman church.
Canon is alfo ufed, by way of excellence, in the
Romifti church, for the fecret words of the mafs, from
the preface to the Pater; in the middle of which the
prieft confecrates the hoft. The common opinion is,
that the canon of the mafs commences with Te igitur,
&c. The people are to be on their knees, hearing the
canon; and are to rehearfe it to themfelves, fo as not
to be heard.
Canon, in the ancient mufic, is a rule or method
of determining the intervals of notes.
Ptolemy, rejecting the Ariftoxenian way of meafu-
ring the intervals in mufic, by the magnitude of a tone
(which was fuppofed to be formed by the difference
between a diapente and a diateffaron), thought that
mufical intervals (hould be diftinguifhed, according to
the ratios or proportions which the founds terminating
thofe intervals bear to one another, when confxdered
8 1 CAN
according to their degree of acutenefs or gravity {
which, before Ariftoxenus, was the old Pythagorean
way. He therefore made the diapafon confift in a
double ratio; the diapente, in a fefquialterate ; the
diateffaron, in a fefquitertian ; and the tofte itfelf, in
a fefquioftave ; and all the other intervals, according
to the proportion of the founds that terminate them :
wherefore taking the canon (as it is called) for a de¬
terminate line of any length, he (hows how this ca¬
non is to be cut accordingly, fo that it may reprefent
the refpedtive intervals : and this method anfwers ex¬
actly to experiment, in the different lengths of mufical
chords. From this canon, Ptolemy and his followers
have been called Canonici; as thofe of Ariftoxenus
were called Mufici.
Canon, in modern mufic, is a kind of fugue, which
they call a perpetual fugue, becaufe the different parts
beginning one after another, repeat inceffantly the fame
air.
Formerly, fays Zarlino, ‘they placed, at the head of
perpetual fugues, particular directions which (bowed
how this kind of fugues was to be fung ; and thefe di-
reftions being properly the rules by which perpetual
fugues were compofed were called canoni, rules, or ca¬
nons. From this cuftom, others taking the title for the
thing fignified, by a metonimy, termed this kind of
compofition canon. Such canons as are compofed with
the greateft facility, and of confequence moft generally
ufed, begin the fugue either with the octave or the u-
nifon; that is to fay, that every part repeats in the fame
tone the melody of the preceding. In order to form a
canon of this kind, it is only neceffary for the compo-
fer to make an air according to his tafte ; to add in
fcore as many parts as he choofes, where the voices in
odtave or unifon repeat the fame melody; then forming
a (ingle air from all thefe parts fucceffively executed, to
try whether this fucceflion may form an entire piece
which will give pleafure, as well in the harmony as the
melody.
In order to execute fuch a canon, he who fings the
firft part begins alone, and continues till the air is fi-
nifhed; then recommences immediately, without any
fufpence of found or interruption of time : as foon as
he has ended the firft couplet, which ought to ferve
for the perpetual fubject upon which the whole canon
has been compofed, the fecond part begins and repeats
the fame couplet, whilft the firft who had begun pur-
fues the fecond : others in fucceffion begin, and pro¬
ceed the fame way, as foon as he who precedes has
reached the end of the firft couplet. Thus, by incef¬
fantly recommencing, an univerfal clofe can never be
found, and the canon may be repeated as long as the
fingers pleafe.
A perpetual fugue may likewife confift of parts which
begin with the intervals of a fourth or fifth; or, in other
words, every part may repeat the melody of the firft, a
fourth or a fifth higher or lower. It is then neceffary
that the whole canon (hould be invented di pr'ma in-
tenzione, as the Italians fay; and that (harps or flats
(hould be added to the notes, whofe natural gradations
do not anfwer exa6tly, by a fourth or fifth, to the me¬
lody of the preceding part, and produce the fame in¬
tervals with itfelf. Here the compofer cannot pay the
leaft regard to modulation; his only care is, that the
melody may be the fame, which renders the formation
of
CAN [ i
Jpanon. of a canon more difficult; for at every time when any
lffS" part refumes the fugue, it takes a new key; it changes
the tone almoft at every note, and what is ftill worfe,
| no part is at the fame time found in the fame tone with
another; hence it is that this kind of canons, in other
refpects far from being eafy to be purfued, never pro¬
duces a pleafing effedl, however good the harmony may
) ’ be, and however properly it may be fung.
There is a third kind of canon, but very fcarce, as
well becaufe it is extremely difficult, as becaufe it is for
the moil part incapable of giving pleafure, and can boaft
no other merit but the pains which have been thrown
away in its compofitiom, This may be called a double
canon inverted, as well by the inverfions which are prac-
tifed in it with refpedt to the melody of the parts, as
by thofe which are found among the parts themfelves,
in finging. There is fuch an artifice in this kind of ca¬
non, that, whether the parts be fung in their natural
order, or whether the paper in which they are fet be
turned the contrary way, to fing them backward from
the' end to the beginning, in fuch a manner that the
bafs becomes the upper part,, and the reft undergo a fi-
milar change, ftill you have pretty harmony, and' ftill
a regular canon. The reader may confult Rouffeau’s
Dictionary in this article, where he is referred to plate D
fig. 11. for two examples of canons of this fort extrac¬
ted from Bontempi, who likewife gives rules for their
compofition. But-he adds, that the true principle from
which this rule is deduced will be found at the word
Syjleme, in his account of the fyftem of Tartini, to which
we muft likewife once more refer the reader; as a quo¬
tation of fuch length muft have protracted our article
to an enormous extent.
To form a canon in which the harmony may be a
little varied, it is neceffary that the parts fliould not fol¬
low each other in a fucceffion too rapid, and that the
one fhould only begin a confiderable time after the o-
,/^her. When they follow one another fo immediately as
at the diftance of a femibreve or a minim, the duration
is not fufficient to admit a great number of chords, and
the canon muft of neceffity exhibit a difagreeable mo¬
notony; but it is a method of compofing, without-much
difficulty, a canon in as many parts as the compofer
choofes. For a canon of four bars only, will confift of
eight parts if they follow each other at the diftance of
half a bar; and by each bar which is added, two parts
■will conftantly be gained.
The emperor Charies VI. who was a great mufician,
and compofed extremely well, took much pleafure in
compofing and finging canons. Italy is ftill replete with
moft beautiful canons compofed for this prince, by the
beft mailers in that country. To what has been faid
By Rouffeau, we need only fubjoin, that the Engliih
catch and the Italian canon are much the fame; as any
intelligent reader may perceive, from comparing the
ftrudlure and execution of the Engliih catch with the
account of canons which has now been given.
Canon, in geometry and algebra* a general rule
jfbr the folution of all cafes of a like nature with the
prefent inquiry. Thus every laft ftep of an equation is
a canon; and, if turned into words, becomes a rule
to folve all queftions of the fame nature with that pro-
pofed.
CANON-Lavu, a cblle&ion of ecclefiaftical laws, fer-
ving as the rule and meafuje of church-government.
t9 ] CAN
The power of making laws was exercifed by the Canon
church before the Roman empire became Chriftian. A .
The canon-law that obtained throughout the Weft, till an^nica-
the 12th century, was the colleftion of canons made by
Dionyfius Exiguus in 520, the capitularies of Charle¬
magne, and the decrees of , the popes from Sircius to
Anaftafius.
The canon-law, even when papal authority Was at
its height in England, was of no force whenpt was found
to contradict the prerogative of the king, the laws, fta-
tutes, and cuftoms of the realm, or the doftrine of the
eftablifhed church.
The ecclefiaftieal jurifdiclion of the fee of Rome in
England was founded on the canon-law ; and this
created quarrels between kings and feveral archbifhops
and prelates who adhered to the papal ufurpation.
Befides the foreign canons, there were feveral laws
and conftitutions made here for the government of the
church : but all thefe received their force from the royal
affent; and if, at any time, the ecclefiaftical courts
did, by their fentence, endeavour to enforce obedience
to fucR canons, the courts at common law, upon com¬
plaints made, would grant prohibition. The autho¬
rity vefted in the church of England of making canons,
was afeertained by a ftatute of Henry VIII. commonly
called the aft- of the clergy’s- fubmifflon ; by which they
acknowledged, that the convocation had always been;
affembled by the king’s writ'; fo that though the
power of making canons refided in the clergy met in.
convocation, their force was derived from the au¬
thority of the king’s affenting to and confirming
them.
The old-canons continued' in-full force till the reign
of James I. when the clergy being affembled in conva¬
cation, the king gave them leave to treat-and confult
upon canons; which they did, and prefented them to
the king, who gave them the royal affent: thefe were
a collection out of the feveral preceding canons and in-
jundtions. Some of thefe canons are now obfolete. In
the reign of Charles I. feveral canons were paffed by
the clergy in convocation.
CANONESS, in the Romifh church; a woman who
enjoys a prebend, affixed, by the foundation, to maids,,
without their being obliged to renounce the world or
make any vows.
CANONICA, In philofophical hiftory, an appella¬
tion given by Epicurus to his dodtrine of logic. It
was called canonica, as confifting of a few canons or
rules for diredting the underftanding in the purfuit and
knowledge of truth. Epicurus’s canonica is reprefent-
ed as a very flight and infufficient logic by feveral of
the ancients, who put a great value on his ethics and
phyfics. Laertius even affures us, that the Epicureans
rejedled logic as a fuperfluous fcience; and Plutarch
complains that Epicurus made an unikilful and pre-
pofterous ufe of fyllogifms. But thefe cenfures feern
too fevere. Epicurus was not averfe to the ftudy of
logic, but even gave better rules in this art than thofe
philofophers who aimed at no glory but that of logics.
He only feems to have rejedled the dialedlics of the
ftoies, as full of vain fubtleties and deceits, and fitted
rather for parade and deputation than real ufe. The
ftrefs of Epicurus’s canonica confifts in his dodlrine of
the criteria of truth. All queftions in philofophy are
either.concerning words or things: concerning things,
VM,
GAN [ 120 ] CAN
we feek their truth ; concerning words, their fignifi-
cation : things are either natural or moral; and the
former are either perceived by fenfe or by the under-
ftanding. Hence, according to Epicurus, arife three
criterions of truth, wz. fenfe, anticipation or praeno-
■tion, and paffion. The great canon or principle of
Epicurus’s logic is, that the fenfes are never deceived ;
and therefore, that every fenfation or perception of an
appearance is true.
CANONICAL, fomething that belongs to, or par¬
takes of, the nature of a rule or canon.
Canonical Hours, are certain ftated times of the
day, configned, more efpecially by the Romilh church,
to the -offices of prayer and devotion. Such are matins,
lauds, Jixth, ninth, vifpers. In our country the canoni¬
cal hours are from eight to twelve in the forenoon, be¬
fore or after which man iage cannot be legally perform¬
ed in any parilh-church.
Canonical Obedience, is that fubmiffion which, by
the eccleiiaftical laws, the inferior clergy are to pay to
their bifhops, and religious to their fuperiors.
Canonical Sins, in the ancient church, thofe which
were capital or mortal. Such efpecially were idolatry,
murder, adultery, herefy, and fchifm.
Canonical Punifhments, are thofe which the church
may inflict; fuch as excommunication, degradation,
and penance, in Roman Catholic countries, alfo fall¬
ing, alms, whipping, &c.
Canonical Life, the method or rule of living pre-
feribed by the ancient clergy who lived in community.
The canonical life was a kind of medium between the
monaftic and clerical lives. Originally the orders of
monks and clerks were entirely diltinft; but pious per-
fons, in procefs of time, inftituted colleges of priefts
and canons, where clerks brought up for the miniftry,
as well as others already engaged therein, might live
under a fixed rule, which, though fomew’hat more eafy
than the monaftic, was yet more reftrained than the fe-
cular. This was called the canonical life, and thofe
who embraced it canons.—Authors are divided about
the founder of the canonical life. Some will have it to
be founded by the apoftles ; others aferibe it to pope
Urban I. about the year 1230, who is faid to have
ordered bilhops to provide fuch of their clergy as were
willing to live in community, with neceflaries out of
the revenues of their churches. The generality attri¬
bute it to St Auguftin ; who, having gathered a num¬
ber of clerks to devote themfelves to religion, inftitu¬
ted a monafteiy within his epifcopal palace, where he
lived in community with them. Onuphrius Panvinius
brings the inftitution fomewhat lower; according to
him, pope Gelafius I. about the year 495, placed the
firft regular canons of St Auguftin in the Lateran
church.
Canonical Letters, in the ancient church, were a
fort of teftimonials of the orthodox faith, which the
biftiops and clergy fent each other to keep up the ca¬
tholic communion, and diftinguifh orthodox Chriftians
from Arians and other heretics. They were denomi¬
nated canonical, either as being compofed according to
a certain rule or form, or becaufe they were given to
the cancnici, that is, thofe comprehended in the canon
or catalogue of their church. When they had occafion
to travel into other diocefes or countries, dimiflbry and
N° 63.
recommendatory letters, alfo letters of peace, &c. were
fo many fpecies of canonical letters.
Canonical is alfo an appellation given to thofe
epiftles in the New Teftament more frequently called
catholic or general epiftles. m
CANONICUM, in a general fenfe, denotes a tax
or tribute.
Canonicum is more particularly ufed in the Greek
church for a fee paid by the clergy to biftiops, arch-
biftiops, and metropolitans, for degrees and promo¬
tions.
Canonicum alfo denotes a due of firft-fniits, paid
by the Greek laity to their biftiops, or, according to
Du-Cange, to their priefts. The canonicum is afleffed
according to the number of houfes or chimnies in a
place.
The emperor Ifaac Comnenus made a conftitution
for regulating the canonicum of biftiops, which was
confirmed by another made in 1086, by his nephew
Alexis Comnenus. A village containing thirty fires,
was to pay for its canonicum one piece of gold, two of
filver, one ftieep, fix buftiels of barley, fix of wheat
flour, fix meafures of wine, and thirty hens.
CANONIST, a perfon flailed in or who makes pro-
feffion of the ftudy and practice of the canon law. Ca-
nonifts and civilians are ufually combined in the fame
perfons: and hence the title of doSor juris utriufque,
or legum doEtor, ufually expreffed in abbreviature,
L. L. D. or J. U. D.
CANONIZATION, a ceremony in the Romilh
church, by which perfons deceafed are ranked in the
catalogue of the faints. It fucceeds beatification.
Before a beatified perfon is canonized, the qualifica¬
tions of the candidate are ftri&ly examined into, in
fome confiftories held for that purpofe ; after which,
one of the confiftorial advocates, in the prefence of
the pope and cardinals, makes the panegyric of the
perfon who is to be proclaimed a faint, and gives a
particular detail of his life and miracles : which done,
the holy father decrees his canonization, and appoints
the day.
On the day of canonization the pope officiates in
white, and their eminences are dreft in the fame colour.
St Peter’s church is hung with rich tapeftry, upon
which the arms of the pope, and of the prince or ftate
requiring the canonization, are embroidered in gold
and filver. An infinite number of lights blaze all round
the church, which is crowded with pious fouls, who
wait with devout impatience till the new faint has made
his public entry as it were into paradife, that they may
offer up their petitions to him without danger of be¬
ing reje&ed.
The following maxim with regard to canonization is
now obferved, though it has not been followed above a
century, vise,, not to enter into the inquiries prior to ca¬
nonization, till 50 years, at leaft, after the death of the
perfon to be canonized. By the ceremony of canoni¬
zation, it appears that this rite of the modern Romans
has fomething in it very like the apotheofis or deifica¬
tion of the ancient Romans, and, in all probability,
takes its rife from it; at leaft: feveral ceremonies of the
fame nature are confpicuous in both.
CANONRY, the benefice filled by a canon. It dif¬
fers from a prebend, in that the prebend may fubfift
without
CAN [ i:
Canopus, without the canonicate: whereas the canonicate is infe-
Canofa. parable from the prebend: again, the rights of fuffra-
ges> and other privileges, are annexed to the canoni¬
cate, and not to the prebend.
CANOPUS, in aftronomy, a ftar of the firft mag¬
nitude in the rudder of Argo, a conftellation of the
fouthern hemifphere.
Canopus, in Pagan mythology, one of the deities
of the ancient Egyptians, and, according to fome, the
god of water. It is faid, that the Chaldeans, who
worfliipped fire, carried their fancied deity thro’ other
countries to try its power, in order that, if it obtained
the victory over the other gods, it might be acknow¬
ledged as the true object of worfhip; and it having ea-
fily fubdued the gods of wood, Hone, brafs, filver, and
gold, its priefts declared, that all gods did it homage.
This the priefts of Canopus hearing, and finding that
the Chaldeans had brought their god to contend with
Canopus, they took a large earthen veffel, in which
they bored feveral holes, which they afterwards Hop¬
ped with wax, and having filled the veffel with water,
painted it of feveral colours, and fitting the head of an
idol to it, brought it out, in order to contend with the
Chaldean deity. The Chaldeans accordingly kindled
their fii-e all around it; but the heat having melted the
wax, the water gufhed out thro’ the holes, and extin-
guiftied the fire; and thus Canopus conquered the god
of the Chaldeans.
Canopus, or Canobus, according to Strabo, had
been Menelaus’s pilot, and had a temple eredled to him
in a town called Canopus, near one of the mouths of the
Nile. Dionyfius mentions it:
Kai Tina®- ixrcpirv-ov A/u.vxMm oio Kxvx<0v.
There ftands Canobus’ temple known to fame ;
The pilot who from fair Awycla came.
Vcffius remarks, on this occafion, the vanity of the
Greeks, who, as he conjeftures, hearing of an Egyp¬
tian deity named Canopus, took from thence an oppor¬
tunity of deifying the pilot of Menelaus who bore the
fame name, and giving out that the Egyptian god Ca¬
nopus had been a Greek. F. Monfaucon gives feveral
reprefentations of this deity. One, in allufion to the
victory above mentioned, throws out water on every
fide through little holes.
Canopus, or Canobus, (anc. geog.) a town of
the Lower Egypt, on the Mediterranean, an hun
dred and twenty ftadia, or fifteen miles to the eaft of
Alexandria ; as old as the war of Troy, Canopus, or
Canobus, Menelaus’s fteerfman, being there buried.
Canoptm, the gentilitious name ; famous for their luxu¬
ry and debauchery, (Strabo, Juvenal.) See Aboukir.
CANOPY", in archite&ure and fculpture, a mag¬
nificent kind of decoration, ferving to cover and crown
an altar, throne, tribunal, pulpit, chair, or the like.
The word is formed from the barbarous Latin canopeum,
of a netfpread over a led to beep ojf the gnats, from"
Kiiv.jy, a gnat-
Canopies are alfo borne over the head in procefiions
■of Hate, after the manner of umbrellas. The canopy
of an altar is more peculiarly called Ciborlum.
The Roman grandees had their canopies, or fpread
veils, called thenfee, over their chairs*: the like were al¬
fo in temples over the ftatues cf the gods. The mo¬
dern cardinals ftill retain the ufe of canopies.
CANOSA, a town of Puglia in Italy, occupying
Vol. IV. Part. I.
!i ] CAN
part of the fite of the ancient Canufium. The old Canofj.
city was founded by Diomede, according to Strabo. It H
afterwards became a Roman colony, and one of the ant' ,
moft confiderable cities of this part of Italy for extent,
population, and magnificence in building. The asra of
Trajan feems to have been that of its greateft fplen-
dour; but this pomp only ferved to mark it as a capi¬
tal objeA for the avarice and fury of the Barbarians.
Genferic, Totila, and Autharis, treated it with ex¬
treme cruelty. The deplorable ftate to which this Swinburds
province was reduced in 590 is concifely but ftrongly 'travels in
painted by Gregory the Great, in thefe terms : “ On 0g
“ every fide we hear groans ! on every fide we behold " S
“ crowds of mourners, cities burnt, caftlesrafed to the
“ ground, countries laid wafte, provinces become de-
“ ferts, fome citizens led away captives, and others in-
“ humanly maffacred.” No town in Puglia fuffered
more than Canola from the outrages of the Saracens;
the contefts between the Greeks and Normans increa
fed the meafure of its woes, which was filled by a con¬
flagration that happened when it was ftormed by duke
Robert. In 1090, it was affigned, by agreement, to
Bohemund prince of Antioch, who died here in 1111.
Under the reign of Ferdinand the Third, this eftate
belonged to the Grimaldis. On their forfeiture, the
Affaititi acquired it, and ftill retain the title of mar¬
quis, though the Capeci are the proprietors of the fief.
The ancient city ftood in a plain between the hills
and the river Ofanto, and covered a large trad! of
ground. Many brick monuments, though degraded
and ftripped of their marble cafing, ftill atteft its ancient
grandeur. Among them may be traced the fragments
of aquedudls, tombs, amphitheatre baths, military co¬
lumns, and two triumphal arches, which, by their po-
fition, feem to have been two city gates. The prefent
town ftands above, on the foundations of the old cita¬
del, and is a moft pitiful remnant of fo great a city,
not containing above three hundred houfes. The
church of St Sabinus, built, as is faid, in the fixth cen¬
tury, is now without the inclofure. It is aftonilhing,
that any part of this ancient cathedral (hould have
withftood fo many calamities. Its altars and pave¬
ments are rich in marbles ; and in a fmall court ad¬
joining, under an o&agonal cupola, is the maufoleum
of Bohemund, adorned in a minute Gothic ftyle.
CANSO, a fea-port town of Acadia, or Nova Sco¬
tia, in North America, feated on a narrow ftrait which
feparates Nova Scotia from Cape Breton. Near this
town is a fine fifhery for cod. W. Long. 62. N. Lat.
46*
CANSTAT, a town of Swabia, in Germany, in the
cuchy of Wirtemberg, fituated on the river Neckar, in
E. Long. 9. 9. N. Lat. 48. 51.
CANT, a quaint affedted manner of fpeaking, ad¬
apted chiefly to the lower fort. Skinner racks his in¬
vention for the origin of this word ; which he fuccef-
fively deduces from the Geiman, Flemilh, and Saxon
tongues. According to the general opinion, Cantis
originally the proper name of a Cameronian preacher
in Scotland, who by exercife had obtained the faculty
of talking in the pulpit in fuch a tone and dialed! as was
underftood by none but his own congregation : fince
Andrew Cant’s time, the word has been extended to
fignify all fudden exclamations, and whining unmulical
tones, efpecially in praying and preaching. But this
origin
CAN [ 122 ] CAN
Cant, origin of the word has been difputed by others ; and
Cantabria. perhaps the true derivation is from the Latin cantare
v “ to fing.”
Cant is alfo applied to words and phrafes affe&ed
by particular perfons or profefiions for low ends, and
•See Can/-not authorifed by the eftablifhed language*. The
ing Lan- difference between cant and technical feems to be this :
guage. the former is reflrained to words introduced out of fol¬
ly, affe&ation, or impofture; the latter is applied to
fuch as are introduced for the fake of clearnefs, preci-
fion, and fignificancy.
Cant is alfo ufed to denote a fale by auftion. The
origin of the word in this fenfe is dubious ; it may
come, according to fome, from quantum, .how much;
according to others, from cantarej to fing or cry aloud;
agreeably to which, we fometimcs alfo call it an out-
cry.
Cant-'Timbers, in fhip-building, thofe timbers which
are fituated at the two ends of a {hip. They derive
their name from being canted, or raifed obliquely from
the keel; in contradiftin&ion from thofe whofe planes
are perpendicular to it. The upper ends of thofe on
the bow, or fore-part of the {hip, are inclined to the
flern; as thofe in the after, or hind part, incline to the
flern-poft above. See Ship-Building.
CANTABRIA, (anc. geog.), a diflrift of Terra-
conenfis, on the Oceanus Cantabricus or bay of Bif-
cay ; now Biscay. The inhabitants were famous for
their warlike charafter. In conjunftion with the A-
f See Ajtu- fturians f, they carried on defperate wars with the Ro-
ria. mans ; but were fubdued by them about 25 years be¬
fore Chrift. Being impatient, however, of a foreign
yoke, they in a few years revolted. Moft of their
youth had been already taken prifoners by the Romans,
and fold for {laves to the neighbouring nations : but
having found means to break their chains, they cut
the throats of their mailers ; and returning into their
own country, attacked the Roman garrifons with in¬
credible fury. Agrippa marched againft them with
great expedition ; but, on his arrival, met with fo vi¬
gorous a refiftance, that his foldiers began to defpair
of ever being able to reduce them. As the Cantabrians
had waged war with the Romans for upwards of 200-
years, they were well acquainted with their manner of
fighting, no way inferior to them in courage, and were
now become defperate; well knowing, that if they
were conquered, after having fo often attempted to re¬
cover their liberty, they mull expe& the moft fevere
ufage, and cruel flavery. Animated with this refledlion,
they fell upon the Romans with a fury hardly to be
exprefied, routed them in feveral engagements, and de¬
fended themfelves when attacked by the enemy with
fuch intrepidity, that Agrippa afterwards owned, that
he had never, either by fea or land, been engaged in a
more dangerous enterprize: That brave commander
was obliged to ufe intreaties, menaces, and to brand
fome of his legionaries with ignominy, before he could
bring them to enter the lifts with fuch a formidable
enemy. But having at laft, with much ado, prevailed
upon them to try the chance of an engagement in the
open field, he fo animated them by his example, that,
alter a moft obtlinate difpute, he gained a complete
victory, which indeed coft him dear, but put an end to
that deftru&ive war. All the Cantabrians fit to bear
arms were cut in pieces ; their caftles and ftrong holds
taken and rafed; and their women, children, and old Cantabria
men (none elfe being left alive), were obliged to aban- ^
don the mountainous places, and fettle in the plain. zenus?^
Dr Wallis feems to make the Cantabrian the ancient c—
language of all Spain : which, according to him, like
the Gaulifh, gave way to a kind of broken Latin called
romance, or roman/he; which by degrees was refined into
the Caftilian or prefent Spanifh. But we can hardly
fuppofei'that fo large a county, inhabited by fuch a
variety of people, fpoke all the fame language. The
ancient Cantabrian, in effedl, is ftill found to fubfift in
the more barren and mountainous parts of the province
of Bifcay, Afturias, and Navarre, as far as Bayonne,
much as the Britifh does in Wales; but the people
only talk it: for writing, they ufe either the Spanifh
or French, as they happen to live under the one or the
other nation. Some attribute this to a jealoufy of fo¬
reigners learning the myfteries of their language ; o-
thers to a poverty of words and expreffions. The
Cantabrian does not appear to have any affinity with
any other known language, abating that fome Spanifh
words have been adopted in it for things whofe ufe the
Bifcayens were anciently unacquainted with. Its pro¬
nunciation is not difagreeable. The Lord’s prayer,
in the Cantabarian tongue, runs thus : Cure aita cerve—
tan aicena, fantifica ledi hire icena, ethor hedi hire refuma,.
eguin bedi hire vorondatea cervan bee ala lurrean ere. See.
CANTABRICA, in botany : A fynonime of a
fpecies of Convolvulus.
CANTABRUM, in antiquity, a large kind of flag
ufed by the Roman emperors, diftinguiflied by its pe¬
culiar colour, and bearing on it fome words or motto
of good omen, to encourage the foldiers.
CANTACUZENUS (Johannes), of Conftanti-
nople, a celebrated ftatefman, general, and hiftorian,
was born in that city, of a very ancient and noble fami¬
ly. He was bred to letters and to arms, and admitted
to the higheft offices of the ftate. The emperor An-
dronicus loaded him with wealth and honour; made
him generaliffimo of his forces; and was defirous of
having him join him in the government, but this he
refufed. Andronicus dying in 1341, left to Clantacu-
zenus the care of the empire, till his fon John Paleo-
logus, who was then but nine years of age, fhould be
fit to take it upon himfelf. This truft he faithfully
difeharged ; till the emprefs dowager and her faction
forming a party againft him, declared him a traitor.
On this the principal nobility and the aimy befought
him to afeend the throne ; and accordingly he was
crowned on the 21ft of May 1342. This was follow¬
ed by a civil war, which lafted five years; when he ad¬
mitted John a partner with him in the empire, and
their union was confirmed by his giving him his
daughter in marriage. Sufpicions and enmities,
however, foon arifing, the war broke out again, and
continued till John took Conftantinople in 1355. A
few days after, Cantacuzenus, unwilling to continue
the effulion of blood, abdicated his {hare of the em¬
pire, and retiring to a monaftery, took the habit of a
monk, and the name of yoafaphas. His wife alfo re¬
tired to a nunnery, and changed her name of Irene for
that of Eugenia. In this retirement he lived till the
year 1411, when he was upwards of too years of agei.
Here he wrote a hiftdry of his own times, a Latin
tranflation of which, from the Greek raanufeript, was
CAN [ 123 ] CAN
■j Cantaliver* publlrtied by Pontanus at Ingolftadt, id 1603: and a
I II . fplendid edition was printed at Paris in 1645, in three
, .Calltemir volumes folio, of the original Greek, and Pontanus's
Latin verfion. He alfo wrote an apology for the Chri-
ftian religion againft that of Mahomet, under the name
of Chriflodulus.
I CANTALIVERS, in architecture, pieces of wood
framed into the front or fides of a houfe, to fufpend
the mouldings and eyes over it.
CANTAR, or Cantaro, an eaftern weight, of
different value in different places, equal at Acra in
Turky to 603 pounds, at Tunis and Tripoli to 114
pounds.
Cantar is alfo an Egyptian weight, which is de¬
nominated a quintal, and confifts of an hundred or of an
hundred and fifty rotolos, according to the goods they
are to weigh.
Cantaro is alfo an Egyptian weight, which at
■ Naples is equivalent to 25 pounds, at Genoa to 150
pounds. At Leghorn there are three kinds of contaros,
one weighing 150 pounds, another 151, and a third,
« 160 pounds.
Cantaro is alfo a Spanifh liquid meafure, in ufe
efpecially at Alicant, containing three gallons.
Cantaro is alfo a meafure of capacity, ufed at Co¬
chin, containing four rubies, the rubi 32 rotolos.
CANTAR1NI (Simon), a famous painter, called
the Pefarefe, from his being born at Pefaro, was the
difciple of Guido ; and copied the manner of his ma¬
iler fo happily, that it is often difficult to diftinguifh
between their works. He died at Verona in 1648.
CANTATA, in mufic, a fong or compofition, in¬
termixed with recitatives, airs, and different move¬
ments, chiefly intended for a Angle voice, with a tho¬
rough bafs, though fometimes for other inftruments.
The cantata, when performed with judgement, has
fomething in it very agreeable ; the variety of the
movement not clogging the ear, like other compoii-
tions. It was firfl ufed in Italy, then in France, whence
it paffed to us.
CANTAZARO, an epifcopal city of Italy, in the
kingdom of Naples, and in the territory of Calabria
Ulterior. It is the refidence of the governor of the
province, and isfeated near the fea, in E.Long. 17. o.
N. Lat. 38. 59.
CANTECROIX, a fmall territoiy of the Nether¬
lands, in Brabant, and in the quarter of Antwerp, with
the title of a principality ; there is a fmall town of the
fame name, but Lire is the capital.
CANTEMIR (Demetrius), fon of a prince of Mol¬
davia. Difappointed by not fucceeding his father in
that dignity, held under the Ottoman Port, he went
over with his army to the Czar Peter the great, againft
whom he had been fent by the Grand Signior: he fig-
nalized himfelf in the Czar’s fervice ; and in the repu¬
blic of letters, by a Latin hiftory of the origin and de¬
cline of the Ottoman empire, &c. Died in 1723.
Cantemir (Antiochus), efteemed the founder of
the Ruffian poetry, was the youngeft fon of the pre¬
ceding. Under the moft ingenious profeffors, whom
the czar had invited to Peterfburgh, he learned ma¬
thematics, phyfic, hiftory, moral philofophy, and po¬
lite literature ; without neglecting the ftudy of the
Holy Scriptures, to which he had a great inclination.
Scarce had he finiftied his academic courfe, when he
printed a Concordance to the Pfalms in the Ruffian- Cantemiiv
language, and was eledled member of the academy. c^nter-
The affairs of ftate in which he was foon after enga- J" ,
ged, did not make him neglect his literary purfuits.
In order to make himfelf ufeful to his fellow-citizens,
he compofed his fatires, to ridicule certain prejudices
which had got footing among them. When but 23
years of age, he was nominated minifter at the court
of Great Britain; and his dexterity in the management
of public affairs was as much admired as Ids tafte for
the fciences. He had the fame reputation in France,
whither he went in 1738, in quality of minifter ple¬
nipotentiary, and foon after was invefted with the
charaCler of ambaffador extraordinary. The wife and
prudent manner in which he conducted himfelf during
the different revolutions which happened in Ruffia du¬
ring his abfence, gained him the confidence and efteem
of three fucceffive princes. He died of a dropfy, at
Paris, in 1744, aged 44. Befides the pieces already
mentioned, he wrote, 1. Some fables and odes. 2. A
tranflation of Horace’s epiftles into Ruffian verfe. 3.
A profe tranflation of Fontenelle’s plurality of worlds ;
and, 4. Algarotti’s dialogues on fight. The abbe
Guafco has written his life in French, and tranflated
his fatires into that language.
CANTERBURY, a city of England, and capital
of the county of Kent, fituated in E. Long. 1. 15.
N. Lat. 51. 16. It had the names of Durovernum
and Darvernum given it by the Romans, and Durober-
nia by Bede, which are thought to be derived from
Durwhem, fignifying a rapid ftream, fuch as the Stour,
on which it Hands, is. The Britons call it Caer-Kent,
i. e. the city of Kent; and its prefent Englifh name
is of the fame import, derived from the Saxon. Modern
writers in Latin call it Cantuaria. Its great antiquity
appears not only from Antoninus’s itinerary, but from
the military way which has been difcovered here, and
the caufeways leading to Dover and Lymme, befides
the coins and other curiofities found about it. The
archiepifcopal and metropolitical dignity feems to have
been fettled here very early ; and to prevent its being;
removed, an anathema was decreed againft any who
fhould attempt it. After that, the city fiourifhed great-
fy; though it fuffered in common with other towns
during the Daniih invafions, and at other times by the
cafualties of fire. The city was given. entirely to the
bilhops by William Rufus, and was held in the utmoft
veneration in the Popifli times, efpecially after the
murder of Becket in the reign of Henry II. to whofe
ftirine fo great was the refort, and fo rich were the
offerings, that Erafmus, who was an eye-witnefs of its
wealth, fays the whole church and chapel in which he
was interred glittered with jewels ; • and at the diffolu-
tion, the plate and jewels filled two great chefts, each
of which required eight ftrong men to carry out. The
cathedral was granted by Ethelbert, king of Kent, up¬
on his converfion, to Auftin the monk, together with
his palace, and the royalty of the city and its territo¬
ries. This Auftin founded a monaftery for monks,
called from him AugujYine. After the cathedral had
been feveral times deftroyed by fire and rebuilt, the
prefent was begun about the year 1174, and augment¬
ed and embelliflied by the fucceeding archbiftiops, till
it was completed in the reign of Henry V. It is a
noble Gothic pile, and before the reformation had .37
Qjz altars
CAN [ 124 ] CAN
Canto- altars. A great many kings, princes, cardinals, and
biny. archbiftops, are buried in it. At the diffolution, Henry
4—VIII. feized all the revenues both of the church and
monaftery, except what he allotted for the maintenance
of a dean, 12 prebendaries, and fix preachers, whom
he eftabliflied in place of the monks. During the
grand rebellion, it fuffered much ; the ufurper Crom¬
well having made a liable of it for his dragoons. Af¬
ter the reftoration, it was repaired, and made what it
now appears.
Befides the cathedral and other churches, as well as
a monallery, the city had anciently a caftle on the
fouth-fide, and ftrong walls, with towers, a ditch, and
rampart; it had alfo a mint and an exchange. As to
its government, it feems to have been entirely fubjeA
to the archbimop, both in fpirituals and temporals ; at
leail from the time that William Rufus gave it folely
to bilhop Anfelm, till the reformation. It is now a
county of itfelf; and the corporation conllfts of a may¬
or, recorder, 12 aldermen, a Iheriff, 24 common-coun¬
cil-men, a mace-bearer, fword-bearer, and four ferjeants
at mace. Every Monday a court is held at Guildhall
for civil and criminal caufes; and every other Tuefday
for the government of the city. Here were formerly
2000 or 3000 French Proteftants employed in the filk
manufacture ; but this branch is now greatly decayed
in the place, fnxce Spitallields became fo Hour!thing.
Eefides the cathedral, it contains 15 parifh-churches,
feven hofpitals, a free-fcbool, a houfe of correction, a
gaol for criminals, and a fumptuous conduit for fupply-
ing the inhabitants with water. It conlilla of four
ftreets, difpofed in the form of a crofs, and divided in¬
to fix wards, which are about three miles in circumfe-
rence. It is furrounded on all hands with hop-grounds
much to its advantage, and is famed fop its excellent
brawn.
The diocefe of Canterbury contains 257 parifhes,
feefides chapels, in Kent, and about 100 more in other
diocefes. Thele are called Peculiar3 ; it being an an¬
cient privilege of this fee, that, wherefoever the arch-
bifnops had either manors or advowfons, the place was
exempted from the jurifdi&ion of the ordinary of the
diocefe where it was fituated, and was deemed in the
diocefe of Canterbury. This fee is valued in the king’s
books at L. 2816 : 17 : 9^, but is reckoned to produce
a clear revenue of L. 8000 a-year. The clergy’s tenths
come to L. 651 : 18 : 2^. This fee had many great
privileges in the time of Popery, fome of which it ftill
retains. The archbifhop is accounted primate and me¬
tropolitan of all England, and is the firfl peer in the
realm ; having the precedence of all dukes not of the
blood-royal, and all the great officers of Hate. In
common fpeech, he is flyled His Grace, and he writes
himfelf Div'tna Providentia; whereas other bifhops ftyle
therhfelves Divina PermiJJione. At coronations, he
places the crown on the king’s head; and, where-
ever the court may be, the king and queen are the
proper domeftic parifhioners of the archbifhop of Can¬
terbury. The bifhop of London is accounted his pro¬
vincial dean, the bilhop of Wincheller his fub-dean,
the bilhop of Lincoln his chancellor, and the bilhop of
Rochefter his chaplain. This fee hath yielded to the
church 1.8 faints ; to the church of Rome, 9 cardinals;
to the civil ftate of England 12 lord cluncellors, 4
lord treafurers, and 1 lord chief jullice; and 9 chan¬
cellors to the Univerfity of Oxford. To this fee be- Cantems
longs only one archdeacon, viz. of Canterbury. To Qan)jc]ev
the cathedral belongs an archbilhop, a dean, a chan-
cellar, an archdeacon, r t prebends, 6 preachers, 6 i,
minor canons, 6 fubftitutes, 12 lay clerks, 10 chorifters,
2 mailers, 50 fcholars, and 12 almfmen.
Cantb.rbukr-Bell, in botany : The Englilh name of
a fpecies of Campanula.
CANTERUS (William), an eminent linguift and
philologer, was born at Utrecht, in 1542. He ftudied
at Louvain and Paris; and gave furpriling proofs of
his progrefs in Greek aind Latin literature. He after¬
wards vifited the feveral univerfities of Germany and
Italy; and died at Louvain, in 1575, aged 33. He
underftood fix languages, belides that of his native
country; and, notwithftanding his dying fo young,,
wrote feveral philological and critical works, among
which are, Noire, Scholia, Emendationes, et Explicat tones,,
in Euripidem, Sophoclem, JEfchylum, Ciceronem, Proper-
iium, Aufonium, See. and many tranffations of Greek-
authors.
CANTHARIDES. See Cantharis and Meloe-
CANTHARIS, in zoology, a genus of infedts be¬
longing to the order of infecta coleoptera. The feel¬
ers of this genus are fetaceous ; the brealt is margina-
ted, and fnorter than the head; the elytra, or wing-
cafes, are flexile ; and the lides of the belly are plated
and papillous. Linnaeus enumerates 27 fpecies of the
eantharis, moll of them to be found in different parts
of Europe. The cantharis ufed in making bliliering
plaflers, is ranked under a different genus, viz. the
Meloe.
CANTHI, in anatomy, cavities at the extremities
of the eye-lids, commonly called the corners of the eye .-
the greater of them, or the greater canthue, is next the
nofe ; the leffer of them, or the little cunthus, lies to¬
wards the temple.
CANTICLES, a canonical book of the OldTella-
ment, otherwife called the Song of Solomon ; by the
Jews the Song of Songs, Canticum Canticorum. The
book of Canticles is ufually fuppofed to be an epitha-
lamium compofed by Solomon, on occaiion of his mar¬
riage with the king of Egypt’s daughter. But thofe
who penetrate further into the myftery, find in it the
marriage of Jefus Chrift with human nature, the church,,
and good men. On this principle the Canticles is held
to be a continued allegory, wherein, under the terms,
of a common wedding, a divine and fpiritual marriage
is expreffed. This fong contains the adventures of
feven days and feven nights ; the ex a 61 time allowed
for the celebration of marriage among the Hebrews.
The Jews themfelves, apprehending the book liable to
be underftood in a grofs and carnal manner, prohibited
the reading of it before the age of 30, and the fame
ufage anciently obtained in the Chriftian church. A-
mong the ancients, Theodore Mopfuetanus reje6led
the book of Canticles as not divine. Divers rabbins-
have alfo queftioned its being written by infpiratioru
It is alleged, that the name of God is not once found
in it. Mr Whiilon has a difeourfe exprefs to prove
that the Canticles is not a facred book of the Old
Teftament. He alleges it indeed to have been writ¬
ten by king Solomon the fon of David ; but afferts
that it was compofed at the time when that prince,
blinded by his concubines, was funk in luff and idola¬
try.
CAN r 125 ] CAN
; Cant’tn* try. This he chiefly infers from the general chara&er
I ro:‘s of vanity and diffolutenefs which reigns thro’ the Can-
jcantium. t*c^es ’ ln which there is not, according to Whitton,
 r  one thought that leads the mind towards religion, but
all is worldly and carnal, to fay no worfe. For the
myftic fenfe, he afferts it to be without foundation ;
and that the book is not cited as canonical by any
writer before the ddlruelion of Jerufalem. Mr Whif-
ton will have it to have been taken into the canon be¬
tween the years 77 and 128, when allegories came in¬
to vogue, and the rabbins began to corrupt the text of
Scripture. Grotius, Nierembergius, the Dutch di¬
vines who criticifed F. Simon, Menetrier, Bafnage, and
fome others, feem alfo to take the Canticles for a pro¬
fane compofnion, 0:1 a footing with the love-pieces of
Catullus or Ovid. But this opinion is refuted by Mi-
chaelis, Majus, Witlius, Nat. Alexander, Outrein,
Francius,- and others. Mr Whifkm’s arguments have
•been particularly confidered by Itchener, and alfo by
Dr Gill. R. Akibs finds the book of Canticles more
divine than the reft: the whole world, according to
this rabbin, is not worth that day when the Canticles
was given to Ifrael; for, whereas all the hagiographers
are holy,- the Canticles is the holy of holies.
CANTIMARONS, or Catimarons, a kind of
floats or rafts, ufed by the inhabitants of the coaft of
Coromandel to go a fifhing in, and to trade along the
coaft. They are made of three or four fmall canoes,
or trunks of trees dug hollow, and tied together with
cacao ropes, with a triangular fail in the middle, made
of matts. The perfons who manage them are almoft
half in the water, there being only a place in the mid¬
dle a little raifed to hold their merchandize ; which
laft particular is only to be underftood- of the trading
eantimarons, and not of thofe who go fiftu’ng.
CANTIN (Cape), a promontory of the coaft of
Morocco in Africa, lituated in W. Long. 10. 2. N.
Lat. 33. 9.
CANTING, a fea-phrafe, denotes the act of turn¬
ing any thing about.
Canting Language or dialed, is a myfterious fort
of jargon ufed by gypfies, thieves, and ftrolling beg-
gers, to exprefs their fentiments to each other, without
being underftood by the reft of mankind. This dia¬
led! is not founded on any rules : yet, even out of that
irregularity many -words feem to retain fomething of
fcholarfliip ; as togeman a gown, from toga in the La¬
tin ; pannam, bread, from panis •, cafart, cheefe, from
eafeus, &c. It is obfervable, that, even unknown to
eurfelves, we have adopted fome of their terms into our
vulgar language ; as bite and bilk, to cheat ; bounce, to
vapour; lowfe, ftrong drink; filch, to fteal ; flog, to
whip; rig, game or ridicule ; roafl, to rally ; rhino,
money. From the fame fource proceed the wordsJham,
banter, bubble, bully, Jharpcr, cutting, Jhuffling> palming, &c.
An anonymous author has given a canting di&ionary,
comprehending all the terms ufed by the feveral tribes
of gypfies, beggars, fhoplifters, highwaymen, foot¬
pads, and other clans of cheats and villains, with a
eolledtion of fongs in the canting dialedt; London,
1725, 8vo.
GANTIUM, (anc. geog.) a promontory of Bri¬
tain, literally denoting a head land ; giving name to
a terrritory called Cantium, now Kent; and to a peo¬
ple called Cantii, (Ca-far), commended for their great
humanity and politenefs. The promontory now the Cantium,
North Foreland. It is fuppofed that this was the firft , Cant0, „
diftric! in Britain which received a colony from the
continent; and that it had frequently changed its ma¬
tters, by new colonies coming over from time to time,
and driving the inhabitants further north. In the midft
of all theft; revolutions it ftill retained its ancient name
(which was fo agreeable to its ftiape and fituation),
and gave the fame name to all the fucceflive tribes
by which it was inhabited. Thofe who pofleffed it at
the time of the firft; Roman invafion were evidently of
Belgic origig, and had come over fo lately, that they
differed in nothing from their countrymen on the con¬
tinent. “ The inhabitants of Kent (fays Csefar) are
the moft civilized of all the Britons, and differ but
very little in their manners from the Gauls.” This
great refemblance between the people of Kent and
their neighbours on the continent, might be partly
owing to the fituation of their country, which be¬
ing neareft to the continent, was moft frequented
by ftrangers from thence. It was this fituation al¬
fo which expofed them to the firft affaults of the Ro¬
mans. For Casfar, in both his expeditions into this
ifland, landed in Kent; and therefore we may con¬
clude, that the Cantii had a great ft are in the vigo¬
rous oppofition that was made to his landing, and in
the feveral battles and Ikirmiftes which were fought
againft him after his landing; particularly, they made
a very bold, but unfuccefsful attempt, upon his naval
camp. The Cantii did not make the fame vigorous
refiftance to the Romans on their next invafion in the
reign of Claudius. For Aulus Plautius, the Roman ge¬
neral in that expedition, traverfed their country without
feeing an enemy; and as they now fubmitted to the
power of Rome without a ftruggle, fo they continued
in a ftate of quiet fubmiflxon to it to the very laft. The
fituation of Cantium occafioned its being much fre¬
quented by the Romans, who generally took their way
through it in their marches to and from the continent.
Few places in Britain are more frequently mentioned
by the Roman writers than Rutupium and Portus
Rutupenfis, moft probably Richborough and Stonar.
Rutupium was the fame in thofe times that Dover is
in ours; the ufual place of embarking for, and land¬
ing from, the continent. Before the final departure of
the Romans out of Britain, Portus Dubris, new Do¬
ver, had become a confiderable place, and a well-fre¬
quented harbour, where the third iter of Antoninus
ends, and from whence they often embarked for Gaul.
Portus Lemanus, fuppofed to be Lime near Weft
Hythe, was alfo a noted fea-port in thefe times, and
the termination of the fourth iter of Antoninus. Du-
robrivse and Durovernum, now Rochefter and Canter¬
bury, were both Roman towns and ftatians, and are
often mentioned in the itinerary and other books.
Befides thefe, there were feveral other Roman flations,
towns, and ports in Cantium, which need not be par¬
ticularly enumerated here. Cantium, in the moft per-
fecl ftate of the Roman government, made a part of
the province which was called Flavia Ctefarienfis.
CANTO denotes a part or divifion of a poem, an-
fwering to wlxit is otherwife called a book. The word
is Italian, where it properly fignifies Jong. Taffo, Ari-
ofto, and feveral other Italians, have divided their longer
or heroic poems into cantos. In. imitation of them,
Scarroa
CAN [ i
Scarron has alfo divided his Glgantomachia, and Boi-
' lean his Lutrin, into chants or fongs. The like ufage
has been adopted by fome Englifh writers, as Butler,
who divides his Hudibras, and Dr Garth his Difpen-
fary, into cantos. A late tranflator of part of Virgil’s
iEneid has even fubdivided a book of Virgil into feve-
ral cantos.
Canto, in the Italian mufic, fignifies a fong : hence
canto JimpTice is where all the notes or figures are equal,
and called alfo canto fermo ; canto jigurato, that where
the figures are unequal, and exprefs different motions.
Canto alfo fignifies the treble part of a fbng: hence
canto concertante, the treble of the little chorus ; canto
ripieno, the treble of the grand chorus, or that which
fings only now and then in particular places. Canto
fignifies the firft treble, unlefs fome other word be ad¬
ded to it, asfecondo ; in which cafe it denotes the fe-
cohd treble.
. CANTON, in geography, denotes a fmall diftric!
or country coiiftitifting a diftindt government: fuch
are the cantons of Switzerland.
Canton, Quang-tong, or Koanton, one of the fouth-
ern provinces of China; bounded on the north-eaft by
Fokien, on the north by Kiang-fi, on the weft by
Quang-fi and the kingdom of Tonking, and every
where elfe by the fea. The country is diverfified with
hills and plains, and the foil in general fo fertile that it
produces two crops annually. Befides many of the
fruits of Europe, and thofe common in other parts
of the Indies, the province of Canton produces fome
peculiar to itfelf. Abundance of valuable aromatic
woods are alfo to be met with in this province, as well
as eagle-wood, ebony, &c.; and in the mineral king¬
dom the province furnifhes gold, precious ftones, tin,
quickfilver, and copper. Silk and fugar are alfo cul¬
tivated here, and pearls are fiftied up on the coafts ; fo
that every thing which can contribute to the pleafure or
convenience of life is to be met with in Canton. “ One
begins (fays F. Premare) to have an idea of China, on
entering the river Canton. Both fides of it prefent
large fields of rice which refemble green meadows, and
extend beyond the reach of fight. They are inter-
feCted by an infinite number of fmall canals, in fuch a
manner that the barks which pafs and repafs in them
Teem at a diftance, while the water which carries them
is concealed, to glide along the grafs. Farther inland
the country appears covered with trees and cultivated
along the valleys ; and the whole fcene is interfperfed
with villages, rural feats, and fuch a variety of de¬
lightful profpehls, that one is never tired of viewing
them, and regrets to be obliged to pafs them To
quickly.
All the coafts of this province abound with fifh, and
furnifh vaft numbers of “crabs, oyfters, and tortoifes of
an immenfe fize. The inhabitants keep a prodigious
number of tame ducks, which they hatch in ovens or
dunghills, though it does not appear that they bor¬
rowed this cuftom from the Egyptians. The docility
of thele creatures exceeds what we fhould he apt at
firft to imagine. The inhabitants load a number of
fmall barks with them, and carry them in flocks to
feed on the fea-fhdre, where they .find ftirimps and
other animals proper for their nourifhment. But
though the ducks from the different barks are thus
unavoidably mixed together in the day-time, they are
e^ftly colleded by only beating on a bafon, on which
26 ] CAN
they'immediately collect themfelves into different flocks,
and each returns to its proper bark.
In this province the Chinefe have alfo a method of
preferving not only the flefli of their ducks in fuch a
manner that it lofes nothing of its original flavour,
but their eggs alfo. The latter operation is performed
by covering the eggs with a coat of clay mixed with
fait. When mixed in this manner, it feems that the
fait has the property of penetrating through'the pores
of the ftiell, and thus impregnating the fubftance in the
egg, which it could not do by Ample folution of water.
Canton, though it fuffered much in the Chinefe
wars, is at prefent one of the moft flourifhing provinces
of the empire; and being at a great diftance from
court, its government is ong of the moft important.
A great number of fortreffys, many of which are cities
provided with numerous garrifons, have been built
along the coafts for the fupprefiion of pirates and
robbers; for which purpofe alfo a certain number of
troops are kept properly polled in different parts of
the province. It is divided into ten diftridls, which
contain as many cities of the firft clafs, and 84 of the
fecpnd and third. The air in general is warm but
healthy, and the people are very induftrious. They
poffefs in an eminent degree the talent of imitation, fo
that if they are only fhown any European work they
can execute others like it with furprifing exa£lnefs. The
moft remarkable cities in the province befides Canton,
the capital are, I. Chao-tcheou-fou, chiefly noted for a
monaftery of the bonzes in its neighbourhood, to which
the adjacent country belongs, and the origin of which
is traced back for 8 or 900 years. It has under its
jurifdiction fix cities of the third clafs; near one of
thefe grows a reed of which feveral inftruments are
made, which cannot be diftinguilhed from real ebony.
The air of Chao-tclieou-fbu, -however, is unhealthy;
and great numbers of the inhabitants are carried off
annually by contagious diftempers,. which prevail from
the middle of October to the beginning of December.
2. Kao-tcheou-fou, fituatedin a delighful and plentiful
country. In the neighbourhood is found a lingular
kind of Hone much refembling marble, on which are
natural reprelentations of rivers, mountains, landfcapes,
and trees. Thefe ftones are cut into flabs, and made
into tables, &c. Crabs are alfo caught on the coafts
here, which very much refemble thofe of Europe; but,
fays M. Grofier, they have this Angularity, that when
taken out of the water, they become petrified without
loling any thing of their natural figure. 3. Kiun-
tcheou-fou, the capital -of the ifland of Hai-nan. See
Hai-nan.
Canton, a large, populous, and wealthy city of
China, capital of the province of that name, ftands on
the banks of the river Taa, or great river, which, near
the city, is wide and fpacious. The wall of the city
is pretty high, and about fix or feven miles in circum¬
ference, though not more than one-third of the ground
is occupied by buildings, the other parts being appro¬
priated to pleafure grounds or to fifh ponds. The
country is extremely pleafant, and towards the eaft
hilly, fq as to command a beautiful profpedl of the city
and fuburbs, the compafs of which, together, is about
ten miles.
The buildings of Canton are in general low, confifting
of one ftory and a ground flour, which is covered with
earth or red tiles in order to keep it cool; but the houfes
6 of
CAN [ i
(Canton, of the moft refpeftable merchants and mandarins are
comparatively lofty and well built. In different parts
of the cky and fuburbs are jofs houfes or temples, in
which are placed the images worfhipped by the Chi-
nefe ; before whom are placed, at particular feafons, a
vaft variety of fweetmeats, oranges, great plenty of
food ready dreffed, and alfo incenfe, which is kept per¬
petually burning.
The ftreets of Canton are lotjg and narrow, paved
with flint ftones, adorned at intervals with triumphal
arches, which have a pleafing effe<£t, and much crowded
with people. On both fides are (hops as in London,
appropriated to the fale of different commodities; apd
a kind of awning is extended from houfe tohoufe, which
prevents the fun’s rays from incommoding either inha¬
bitants or paflengers. At the end iof every ftreet is a
barrier, which, with the gates of the city, are fluit in
the evening. In China Street, which is pretty long
and confiderably wider than the reft, refide merchants;
whofe trade, fo far as refpetts China, lackered ware,
fans, &c. is wholly confined to Europeans. Moft of
them fpeak the foreign languages tolerably well, or at
leaft fuffieiently intelligible to tranfaft bufinefs. Be-
fides thefe merchants, there is a company of twelve or
thirteen, called the Cohong; who have an exclufive
right by appointment from authority to purchafe the
cargoes from the different (hips, and alfo to fupply
them with teas, raw filks, &c. in return. The efta-
bliftiment of the Cohong, though injurious to private
trade, is admirably well adapted for the fecurity of the
different companies with which they traffic; becaufe
each individual becomes a guarantee for the whole;
fo that if one fail, the others confider themfelves as re-
fponfible.
In Canton there are no carriages; all burdens are
carried by porters acrofs their ftioulders on bamboos;
as are alfo the principal people in fedan chairs, and the
ladies always. The ftreets of Canton may be traverfed
from morning till evening without feeing a woman,
thofe excepted who are Tartars, and even thefe but ve¬
ry feldom.
On the wharf of the river, which is commodious and
pleafant, ftand the fadfories of the different European
nations, viz. the Dutch, French, Swedes, Danes, Eng-
liftr, &c. In thofe refide the fupercargoes belonging
to their refpedfive companies, who are appointed to
difpofe of the cargoes brought to market; to fupply
the fhips with others for Europe in return ; and, du¬
ring their abfence, to contraft with the merchants for
fuch articles as may be judged neceffary for the next
fleet. Between the refidents of the fadlories the moft
perfedl cordiality fubfifts; in each a common and
fplendid table is kept at the company’s expence, and
vifits are reciprocally exchanged ; fo that nothing is
wanting to make refidence at Canton agreeable to an
European, but the pleafure naturally reflating from the
fociety of women.
The fide of the river next the city is covered with
boats, which form a kind of town or'ftreets, in which
live the poorer fort of the Chinefe, or rather the de-
fcendants of the Tartars. Some of the men come on
fhore in the morning td their refpe&ive employments,
and in thofe fampans or boats which are not ftation-
ary, the women and alfo the men carry paffengers
Irom place to place in the fame manner as is dune by
27 ] CAN
wherries on the Thames. On this river live many
thoufand fouls who never were permitted to come on
ffiore ; whofe only habitation is their boat; in which
they eat, drink, fleep, carry on many occupations,
keep ducks, &c. and occafionally a hog.
The manufa&ures of Canton are principally carried
on in the fuburbs; though it has been frequently fup-
pofed that they were confined to the city; and this, by
fome writers, has been given as a reafon why Euro¬
peans are not permitted to enter within the gates.
But this is a miftake; and perhaps the true reafon for this
very Angular reftraint is, that the houfes in which they
keep their women are chiefly within the city.
At Wampoa, a large commodious place for anchor¬
age, and which is about 12 or 14 miles from Canton,
the European veffels lie and unload their cargoes,
which are tranfmitted by lighters to the fadlories;
and by the fame conveyance, receive their refpe&ive
freights. Between this place and the city are three
floppo, or cuftom-houfes, at which the boats palling
and repaffing are obliged to flop, and undergo with its
paffengers an examination, in order to prevent fmug-
ling. The lighters juft mentioned, and alfo the cap¬
tain’s pinnace, are, however, excepted; the former
having proper officers on board for the purpofe,
and the latter being narrowly watched and examined
at the landing.
The weather at Canton Is, in fummer, extremely
hot; and in the months of December, January, and
February, cold: the country is neverthelefs pleafant
and healthful, abounding with all the neceffaries and
delicacies of life, which may be procured on terms much-
cheaper than in Europe. The number of inhabitants
has been eftimated at one million ; but later calcula¬
tions have made the number confiderably lefs. N. Lat.
23. 30. E. Long. 113. 20.
Canton (John), an ingenious natural philofopher,,
was born at Stroud, in Gloucefterlhire, in 1718; and
was placed, when young, under the care of a Mr Da¬
vis, of the fame place, a very able mathematician, with
whom, before he had attained the age of nine years, he
had gone through both vulgar and decimal arithmetic..
He then proceeded to the mathematics, and particularly
to algebra and aftronomy, wherein he had made a con-
fiderable progrefs, when his father took him from
fchool, and put him to' learn bis own bufinefs, which
was that of a broad cloth weaver. This circumftance
was not able to damp his zeal for the acquifition of
knowledge. All his leifure time was devoted to the
affiduous cultivation of aftronomical fcience ; and, by
the help of the Caroline tables, annexed to “ Wing’s
Aftronomy,” he computed eclipfes of the moon and
other phsenomena. His acquaintance with that fcience
he applied likewife to the conftrudting of feveral kinds
of dials. But the ftudies of our young philofopher
being frequently purfued to very late hours, his father,.
fearing that they would injure his health, forbad him
the ufe of a candle in his chamber any longer than for
the purpofe of going to bed, and would himfelf often
fee that his injunction was obeyed. The fon’s thirft
of knowledge was, however, fo great, that it made him
attempt.to evade the prohibition, and to find means of
fecreting his light till the family had retired to reft,
when he rofe to profecute undifturbed his favourite
purfuits. It was during this prohibition, and at thefe.
hours*
CAN r 128 1 CAN
Canton, hours, that he computed, and cut upon {lone, with no
better an inftrument than a common knife, the lines of
a large upright fun-dial, on which, befides the hour of
•the day, was ihown the rifing of the fun, his place in
the ecliptic, and feme other particulars. When this
was tinifted, and made known to his father, he permit¬
ted it to be placed againft the front of his houfe, where
it excited the admiration of feveral gentlemen in the
neighbourhood, and introduced young Mr Canton to
their acquaintance, which was followed by theofferof the
ufe of their libraries. In the library of one of thefe gen¬
tlemen, he found “ Martin’s Philofophical Grammar,”
which was the firfl: book that gave him a talle for na¬
tural philofophy. In the poffdfion ot another gentle¬
man, a few miles from Strotid, he lirft faw a pair of
globes; an object that afforded him uncommon plea-
fure, from the great eafe with which he could folve
thofe problems he had hitherto been accuftomed to
compute. The dial was beautified a few years ago at
the expence of the gentlemen at Stroud, feveral of
whom had been his fchool-fellows, and who continued
Hill to regard it as a very dittinguifiied performance.
Among other perfons with whom he became acquaint¬
ed in early life, was the late reverend and ingenious Dr
Henry Miles of Tooting, a learned and refpeftahle
member of the Royal Society, and of approved emi¬
nence in natural knowledge. This gentleman, per¬
ceiving that Mr Canton poffeffed abilities too promi-
fing to be confined within the narrow limits of a coun¬
try town, prevailed on his father to permit him to
come to London. Accordingly he arrived at the me¬
tropolis March 4, 1737, and reiided with Dr Miles at
Tooting till the 6th of May following ; when he ar¬
ticled himfelf, for the term of five years, as a clerk to
Mr Samuel Watkins, mafter of the academy in Spital-
fquare. In this iituation, his ingenuity, diligence,
and good conduft, were fo well difplayed, that on the
expiration of his clerkfhip in May 1742, he was taken
into partnerfhip with Mr Watkins for three years;
which gentleman he afterwards fucceeded in Spital-
fquare, and there continued during his whole life. In
1744, he married Penelope, the eldeft daughter of Me
Thomas Colbrooke, and niece to James Colbrooke,
Efq; banker in London.
Towards the end of 1745, ele&ricity, which feems
early to have engaged Mr Canton’s notice, received a
ve.-y _ 'oital improvement by the difeovery of the fa¬
mous Leyden Phial. This event turned the thoughts
of moft of the philofophers of Europe to that branch
•of natural philofophy ; and our author, who was one
of the firft to repeat and to purfue the experiment,
found his affiduity and attention rewarded by many
capital difeoveries. Towards the end of 1749, he was
concerned with his friend, the late Mr Benjamin Ro¬
bins, in making experiments in order to determine to
what height rockets may be made to afeend, and at
what dittance their light may be feen. In 1750 was
read at the Royal Society, Mr Canton’s “ Method of
making artificial magnets, without the ufe of, and yet
far fuperior to, any natural ones.” This paper procu¬
red him the honour of being elefted a member of the
Society, and the prefent of their gold medal. . The
fame year he was complimented with the degree of
M. A. by the univerfity of Aberdeen ; and, in 1751,
was ehofen one of the council of the Royal Society.
N° 64.
In 1752, our philofopher was fo fortunate as to be Can'on
the firil perfon in England, who, by attrafting the  V—
eleftric fire from the clouds during a thunder-fform,
verified Dr Franklin’s hypothefis of the fimilarity of
lightning and electricity. Next year, his paper in-
titled, “ Ele6lrical Experiments, with an attempt to
account for their feveral Phenomena,” was read at the
Royal Society. In the fame paper Mr Canton men¬
tioned his having difeovered, by a great number of ex¬
periments, that fome clouds were in a politive, and
fome in a negative, ttate of eleftricity. Dr Franklin,
much about the fame time, made the like difeovery in
/. merica. This circumitance, together with our au¬
thor’s conftant defence of the doctor’s hypothefis, in¬
duced that excellent philofopher, immediately on his
arrival in England, to pay Mr Canton a vifit, and gave
rife to a friendlhip which ever after continued without
interruption or dimunition. In the “ Lady’s Diary
for 1756,” our author anfwered the prize queftion that
had been propofed in the preceding year. The que¬
ftion was, “ How can what we call the {hooting of
ftars be beft accounted for; what is the fubftance of
this phasnomenon; and in what ftate of the atmofphere
doth it moft frequently (how itfelf?” The folution,
though anonymous, was fo fatisfactory to his friend,
Mr Thomas Simpfon, who then conducted that work,
that he fent Mr Canton the prize, accompanied with a
note, in which he faid, he was fure that he was not mif-
taken in the author of it, as no one befides, that he
knew of, could have anfwered the queftion. Our phi-
lofopher’s next communication to the public, was a
letter in the “ Gentleman’s Magazine for September
1759,” on the electrical properties of the tourmalin,
in which the laws of that wonderful ftone are laid down
in a very concife and elegant manner. On December
13th, in the fame year, was read at the Royal Society,
“ An attempt to account for the regular diurnal va¬
riation of the Horizontal Magnetic Needle ; and alfo
for its irregular variation at the time of an Aurora
Borealis.” A complete year’s obfervations of the di¬
urnal variations of the needle are annexed to the pa¬
per. On Nov. 5. 1761, our author communicated
to the Royal Society an account of the Tranfit of Ve¬
nus, June 6. 1761, obferved in Spital-fquare. Mr Can¬
ton’s next communication to the Society, was a letter
addreffed to Dr Benjamin Franklin, and read Feb. 4.
1762, containing fome remarks on Mr Delaval’s elec¬
trical experiments. On Dec. 16. in the fame year,
another curious addition was made by him to philofo¬
phical knowledge, in a paper, intituled, “ Experiments
to prove that water is not incompreflible.” Thefe ex-
eriments are a complete refutation of the famous
lorentine experiment, which fo many philofophers
have mentioned as a proof of the incompreffibility of
water. On St Andrew’s day 1763, our author was
the third time elefted one of the council of the Royal
Society ; and on Nov. 8. in the following year,. were
read, before that learned body, his farther “ Experi¬
ments and obfervations on the compreffibility of wa¬
ter, and fome other fluids.” The eftablilhraent of this
fadt, in oppofition to the received opinion, formed on
the hafty decifion of the Florentine academy, was
thought to be deferving of the Society’s gold medal.
It wras accordingly moved for in the council of 1764 ;
and after feveral invidious delays, which tenninated
5 much
CAN
[
Cantyre.
C«rjton much to the honour of Mr Canton, it wa« prefented
II to him Noy. 30. 1765.
The next communication of our ingenious author tcf
the Royal Society, which we (hall take notice of in
this place, was on Dec. 22. 1768, being “ An eafy
method of making a Phofphorus that will imbibe and
emit light like the Bolognian done ; with experiments
and obfervations.” When he firft (howed to Dr Frank¬
lin the inftantaneous light acquired by fome of this
phofphorus from the near difcharge of an eleftrified
bottle, the doctor immediately exclaimed, “ And God
faid, let there be light, and there was light.” The
dean and chapter of St Paul’s having, in a letter to the
prefident, dated March 6. 1769, requeued the opinion
of the Royal Society relative to the bed and mod ef-
fe£tual method of fixing eledtrical condu&ors to pre-
fervie that cathedral from damage by lightning, Mr
> Canton was one of the committee appointed to take
the letter into confideration, and to report their opi¬
nion upon it. The gentlemen joined with him in this
bufinefs were. Dr Watfon, Dr Franklin, Mr Delaval,
and Mr Wilfon. Their report was made on the 8th
of June following ; and the mode recommended by
them has been carried into execution. The lad paper
of our author’s, which was read before the Royal So¬
ciety, was on Dec. 21. 1769; and contained “ Expe¬
riments to prove that the Luminoufnefsof the Sea arifes
from the putrefaftion of its animal fubdances.” In
the account now given of his communications to the
public, we have chiefly confined ourfelves to fuch as
were the mod important, and which threw new and
riidinguifhed light on various objeCts in the philofophi-
cal world. Beildes thefe, he wrote a number of pa¬
pers, both in earlier and in later life, which appeared
in feveral different publications, and particularly in the
Gentleman’s Magazine.
The clofe and fedentary life of Mr Canton, arifing
from an unremitted attention to the duties of his pro-
feffion, and to the profecution of his philofophical en¬
quiries and experiments, probably contributed £0 (hort-
en his days. The diforder into which he fell, and
which carried him off, was a dropfy. His death hap¬
pened on March 22. 1772, in the 54th year of his age.
CANTONING, in the military art, is the allotting
didinft and feparate quarters to each regiment; the
town where they are quartered being divided into as
many cantons as there are regiments.
CANTRED, or Cantref, fignifies an hundred vil¬
lages. It is a Britifti word, compounded of the adjective
cmt, i. e., hundred; and tref, a town or village. In
Wales fome of the counties are divided into cantreds,
as in England into hundreds.
CANTYRE, (from Cantierre, fignifying a “ head¬
land); the fouthern divifion of the (hire of Argyle in
Scotland. It is a peninfula, ftretching 37 miles from
north to fouth, and feven miles in breadth. It is moft-
ly, plain, arable, and populous; inhabited promifcuoufly
•fey Highlanders and Lowlanders , the latter being in¬
vited to fettle in this place by the Argyle family, that
ihe lands might be the better cultivated. It gives the
title of marquis to the duke, and is by Lochfyn divi¬
ded from Argyle Proper. This loch is an inlet from
the fea, about 60 miles in length and four in breadth,
affording heretofore an excellent herring-fifliery. There
Vot. IV. Part I.
19 ] CAN
are many paltry villages in this country, but no town
of any confequence except Campbeltown.
Cantyre was granted to the houfe of Argyle after a
fuppreflion of a rebellion of the Macdonalds of the
Ides (and it is fuppofed of this peninfula) in the be-
ginning_of the laft century, and the grant was after¬
wards ratified by parliament. The ancient inhabitants
were the Mac-donalds, ‘Mac-eachrans, Mac-kays, and
Mac-maths.
Mull of Cjnttre, the fouth cape or promontory of
the peninfula. There is here a light-houfe 235 feet a-
bove the fea at high water, fituated on the rocks called
the Merchants, Lat. 55. 22. Long. 5. 42. well of Lon¬
don. The found of lila from the light-houfe bearing,
by the compafs, N. by E. diflant 27 miles ; the fouth
end of Ida N. N. W. diftant 25 miles; the north end
of Rathlin ifland, N. W. by W. one half W.; the
Maiden Rocks, S. by W. one half W. dillant 14 miles;
Copland light, S. by W. one half W. dillant 31
miles. The lanthorn is feen from N. N. E. i-ath E.
from S. by W. i-4th W. and intermediate points of
the compafs N. of thefe two points.
CANTZ, a town of Silefia in Germany. E. Long.
16. 36. N. Lat. 51.6.
CANVAS, in commerce, a very clear unbleached
cloth of hemp, or flax, wove regularly in little fquares.,
It is ufed for working tapeftry with the needle, by
pafling the threads of gold, filver, filk, or wool, through
the intervals or fquares.
Canvas is alfo a coarfe cloth of hemp, unbleached,
fomewhat clear, which ferves to cover womens (lays,
alfo to ftiffen mens clothes, and to make fome other of
their wearing apparel, &c.
Canvas is alfo ufed among the French for the mo¬
del or firft words whereon an air or piece of mufic is
compofed, and given to a poet to regulate and finifli.
The canvas of a fong contains certain notes of the
compofer, which (how the poet the meafure of theverfes
he is to make. Thus Du Lot fays, he has canvas for
ten fonnets againft the mufes.
Canvas is alfo the name of a cloth made of hemp,
and ufed for (hip-fails.
Canvas, among painters, is the cloth on which they
ufually draw their pictures ; the canvas being fmoothed
over with a flick-done, then fized, and afterwards
whited over, makes what the painters call their primed
cloth, on which they draw their firfl (ketches with coal
or chalk, and afterwards finifh with colours.
CANUSIUM (anc. geog.), a town of Apulia, on
the right or fouth fide of the Aufidus, to the wed of
Cannse; whither the Romans fled after the defeat fuf-
tained there. It was famous for its red (hining woe!;
whence thofe who wore clothes made of it'were called
Canujinati. Now called Canosa; which fee.
CANUTE, the fird Danifli king of England after
Ironfide. He married Emma widow of king Ethelred;
and put to death feveral perfons of quality who dood
in his way to the crown. Having thus fettled his power
in England, he made a voyage to his other kingdom of
Denmark, in order to refid the attacks of the king of
Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body
of the Englilh under the command of the earl of God ¬
win. This nobleman had here an opportunity of per¬
forming a fervice by which he both reconciled the
R king’s
CAN [ 130 ] C A O
Cant ta, king’s mind to the Englifh nation, and, gaining to
 v—himfelf the friendfhip of his fovereign, laid the founda¬
tion of that immenfe fortune which he acquired to his
family. He was ftationed next the Swedilh camp; and,
obferving a favourable opportunity which he was ob¬
liged fuddenly to feize, he attacked the enemy in the
night, drove them fuddenly from their trenches, threw
them into diforder, purfued his advantage, and obtained
a decifive viftory over them. Next morning, Canute,
feeing the Englifh camp entirely abandoned, imagined
that thefe difaffedted troops had deferted to the enemy;
and he was agreeably furprifed to find that they were
at that time engaged in purfuit of the difcomfited
Swedes. He was fo pleafed with this fuccefs, and the
manner of obtaining it, that he bellowed his daughter
in marriage upon Godwin, and treated him ever after
with the moll entire confidence and regard.
In another voyage which he afterwards made to
Denmark, Canute attacked Norway, and expelled
the juil but unwarlike Olaus from his kingdom, of
which he kept poffeffion till the death of that prince.
He had now by his conquells and valour attained the
utmoll height of his ambition; and having leifure from
wars and intrigues, he felt the unfatisfadtory nature of
all human enjoyments ; and, equally weary of the glory
and turmoils of this life, he began to call his view to¬
wards that future exillence which is fo natural for
the human mind, whether fatiated by profperity or
difgufted with adverfity, to make the objedl of its at¬
tention. Unfortunately the fpirit which prevailed in
that age gave a wrong direction to his devotion; and,
inltead of making atonement to thofe whom he had
formerly injured by his adts of violence, he entirely
employed himfelf in thofe exercifes of piety which
the monks reprefented as moll meritorious. He built
churches; he endowed monalleries; he enriched eccle-
fiallics; and he bellowed revenues for the fupport of
chantries at Affington and other places, where he ap¬
pointed prayers to be faid for the fouls of thofe who
had there fallen in battle againft him. He even under¬
took a pilgrimage to Rome, where he fojourned a con-
fiderable time; and, befides obtaining from the Pope
fome privileges for the Englifh fchool eredled there, he
engaged all the princes through whofe dominions he was
obliged to pafs, to defill from thofe heavy impofitions
and tolls which they were accullomed to exaft from the
Englifh pilgrims. By this fpirit of devotion, no lefs
than by his equitable and politic adminiftration, he
gained in a good meafure the affeftions of his fubjefls.
Canute, who was the greatell and moll powerful
prince of his time, fovereign of Denmark and Norway
as well as of England, could not fail to meet with
adulation from his courtiers; a tribute which is libe¬
rally paid even to the meanefl and weakell of princes.
Some of his flatterers breaking out one day in admi¬
ration of his grandeur, exclaimed, that every thing
was poffible for him: upon which the monarch, it is
faid, ordered a chair to be fet on the fea-lhore while
the tide was making ; and, as the waters approached,
he commanded them to retire, and to obey the voice
of him who was lord of the ocean. He feigned to fit
fome time in expeftation of their fubmiffion ; but when
the fea Hill advanced towards him, and began to wafh
him with its billows, -he turned to his courtiers, and
remarked to them. That every creature in the univerfe
was feeble and impotent, and that power refided with Car zone
one Being alone, in whofe hands were all the elements „
of nature, who could fay to the ocean, “ Thus far chout.*
flialt thou go, and no farther,” and who could level —v—^
with his nod the moft. towering piles of human pride
and ambition. From that time, it is faid, he never
would wear a crown. He died in the 20th year of his
reign; and was interred at Winchefter, in the old mo-
nattery.
CANZONE, in mufic, fignifies, in general, a fong,
where fome little fugues are introduced: but it is
fometimes ufed for a fort of Italian poem, ufuallv
pretty long, to which mufic may be compofed in the
ftyle of a cantata. If this term be added to a piece of
inftrumental mulic, it fignifies much the fame as can¬
tata : if placed in any part of a fonata, it implies the
fame meaning as allegro, and only denotes that the part
to which it is prefixed is to be played or fung in a brill;
and lively manner.
CANZONETTA, a diminutive of canzone, deno¬
ting a little fhort fong. The canzonette neapolitane
has two ftrains, each whereof is fung twice over, as
the vaudevilles of the French: The canzonette ficiliane
is a fpecies of jigg, the meafure whereof is ufually
twelve eighths, and fix eighths, and fometimes both, as.
rondeaus.
CAORLO, a fmall ifland in the gulf of Venice, on
the coall of Friuli, 20 miles fouth-wefl of Aquileia,
fubjeft to Venice. It has a town of the fame name,
with a biihop’s fee.
CAOUTCHOUC, Elastic Resin, or India Rub¬
ber, a fubftance produced from the fyringe-tree of
Cayenne and other parts of South America, and pof-
fefl'ed of the moil lingular properties. No fubftance is
yet known which is fo pliable, and at the fame time fo
elaftic; and it is farther a matter of curioiity, as being-
capable of refilling the aftion of very powerful men-
ftrua. From the account of M. de la Condamine, we
learn, that this fubilance oozes out, under the form of
a vegetable milk, from incifions made in the tree ;
and that it is gathered chiefly in time of rain, becaufe,
though it may be. collected at all times, it flows then
moil abundantly. The means employed to infpilTate
and indurate it, M. de la Borde fays, are kept a pro¬
found fecret. M. Bomare, and others, affirm, that it
thickens and hardens gradually by being expofed to
the air ; and as foon as it acquires a folid confiftence,
it manifefts a very extraordinary degree of flexibility
and elafticity. Accordingly the Indians make boots,
of it, which water cannot penetrate, and which,
when fmoaked, have the appearance of real leather.
Bottles are alfo made of it, to the necks of which
are faftened hollow reeds, fo that the liquor con¬
tained in them may be fquirted through the reeds
or pipes by preffure. One of thefe filled with wa¬
ter is always prefented to each of the guefts at their
entertainments, who never fail to make ufe of it be¬
fore eating. This whimfical cuftom led the Portu-
guefe in that country to call the tree that produces;
this refin poo di xirringa, and hence the name of Jeringat
is given both to the tree and to its re finous produ£tion.
Flambeaux, an inch and a half in diameter, and two
feet long, are likewife made of this refin, which give
a beautiful light, have no bad fmell, and burn twelve
hours. A kind of cloth is alfo prepared from it, which
C A O t i.
Caout- the inhabitants of Quito apply to the fame purpofes as
thouc. our oil-cloth and fail-cloth. It is formed, in Une, by
“—•r—-1 means of moulds, into a variety of figures for ufe and
ornament; and the procefs is faid to be thus :—The
juice, which is obtained by incifion, is fpread over
pieces of clay formed into the defired ftiape; and as
fail as one layer is dry, another is added, till the veffel
be of the proper thicknefs: the whole is then held over
a ftrong fmoke of vegetables on fire, whereby it hard¬
ens into the texture and appearance of leather; and
before the finifhing, while yet foft, is capable of ha¬
ving any impreffion made on the outfide, which re¬
mains ever after. When the whole is done, the in-
fide mould is picked out.
Ever fince this refin has been known in Europe, its
chemical qualities and other interefting properties
have been very diligently inveftigated. In particular,
it has been endeavoured to difcover fome method of
diiTolving it in fuch a manner that it would afl'ume dif¬
ferent figures with equal eafe as when in its original
Hate of milk. In the memoirs of the academy of
fciences for 1768, we have an account of feveral at¬
tempts for this purpofe, and hqw it may be effedted.
—The ftate of vegetable milk- in which the caoutchouc
refin is found when it comes from the tree, led Mr
Macquer to imagine that it was compofed of an oil
and a watery matter. From its wanting aromatic fla¬
vour, from its little volatility, and from its, being in¬
capable of folution in fpirit of wine, he concluded that
tire oil which entered its compofition was not an eflen-
tial, but a fatty, one. Hence he thought it probable
that it paffed from a fluid to a folid form by the eva¬
poration of the watery part, and that the oily folvents
would reduce it to a fpft ftate. The firft trials he
made for difiblving it were .with linfeed oil, effence
of turpentine, and feveral others. But all he could ob¬
tain by means of thefe menftrua was a vifcid fubftance
incapable of being hardened, and totally void of elafti-
city. The redtified eifential oil of turpentine was em¬
ployed feemingly with greater fuccefs. To feparate from
this menftruum the caoutchouc which it had diflblved,
Mr Macquer added fpirit of wine: but the confequence
was, that part only of the oil United with the fpirit;
the reft remaining obftinately attached to the re fin
which it had difiolved, and thus preventing it from af-
fuming a folid confidence. The author next endea¬
voured to diflblve it by means of heat in Papin’s digef-
ter. But neither water, nor fpirit of wine, although
in this way capable of diflblving the hardeft bones,
could produce any other effeft upon it than to render
it more firm than before. After this, he tried what ef-
feeft the milky juice of other vegetables would have up¬
on it. He ufed feveral kinds, particularly that of the
fig. But, in this way, he could obtain no folution.
From the great volatility of ether, he was next induced
to try it as a menftruum ; and, for this purpofe, he
prepared fome with great attention. The caoutchouc,
cut into little bits, and put into a proper veflel with
tis much ether as was fufficient to cover it, was per-
feCtly diffolved without any other heat than that of the
atmofphere. This folution was tranfparent and of an
amber colour. It ftill preferved the fmell of ether, but
mixed with the difagreeable odour of the caoutchouc,
audit was a little lefs fluid than pure ether. Upon its
being thrown into water, no milky liquor was produ-
!i ] C A O
ced; but there arofe to the furface a folid membrane Caou;--
which poffeffed the great elafticity and other peculiar c5louc-
properties of the caoutchouc. - He obferves, however,
that two pints of the beft ether, obtained by reclifying
eight or ten pints of the common ether by a gentle
heat, muft be ufed, in order to the fuccefs of the ope¬
ration.— The diftinguiftiing properties of this fub¬
ftance, viz. its folidity, flexibility, and elafticity, and
its quality of refilling the attion of aqueous, fpiri-
tuous, faline, oily, and other common folvents, ren¬
der it extremely fit for the conftru&ion of tubes, ca¬
theters, and other inttruments, in which thefe proper¬
ties are wanted. In order to form this refin into fmall
tubes, M. Macquer prepared a folid cylindrical mould
of wax, of the defired fize and fhape ; and then dip¬
ping a pencil into the etherial folution of the refin,
daubed the mould over with it, till he had covered it
with a coat of refin of a fufficient thicknefs. The
whole piece is then thrown into boiling water; by the
heat of which the wax is foon melted, and rifes to the
furface, leaving the relinous tube completely formed
behind.
A refin fimilar to this Was fome years ago difcover*
ed by M. Poivre, in the ilk of France ; and there are
various milky juices extra&ed from trees in America
and elfewhere, which by previous mixtures and prepa¬
rations are formed into an elaftic refin, but of an infe¬
rior quality to that of Cayenne : fuch, for inftance,
are the juices obtained from the Cecropia pehata, the
Ficus religiofa and indica, &c»
Of the genuine trees, thofe growing along the banks
of the river of the Amazons are deferibed by M. Con-
damine as attaining a very great height, being at the
fame time perfectly ftraight, and having no branches
except at top, which is but fmall, covering no more
than a circumference of ten feet. Its leaves bear fome
refemblance to thofe of the manioc : they are green on
the upper part, and white beneath. The feeds are
three in number, and contained in a pod confifting of
three cells, not unlike thofe of the ricinus or palma
Chrifii; and in each of them there is a kernel, which
being ftripped and boiled in water produces a thick oil
or fat, anfwering the purpofes of butter in the cookery-
of that country.
A method of diflblving this elaftic gum without e-
ther, for the purpofes of a varnifh or the like, is as fol¬
lows : Take one pound of the fpirit of turpentine, and
a pound of the gum cut into very fmall pieces ;
pour the turpentine into a long-necked matrafs, which
muft be placed in a fand-bath; throw in the gum,
not all at once, but by little and little according
as it is perceived to diflblve : When it is entirely dif¬
folved, pour into the matrafs a pint of nut or linfeed
oil, or oil of popies, rendered deficcative in the ufual
manner with litharge : Then let the whole boil for a
quarter of an hour, and the preparation is finifhed.
This would make an excellent varnifti for air-balloons,
were it not fo expenfive on account of the price of the
gum.—Another method, invented by Mr Baldwin, is
as follours. Take any quantity of the caoutchouc, as
two ounces avoirdupois: cut it into fmall bits with a
pair of feiflars. Put a ftrong iron ladle (fuch as plum¬
bers or glaziers melt their lead in.) over a common pit-
coal or other fire. The fire muft be gentle, glowing,
and w-ithout fmoke. When the ladle is hot, much be¬
ll 2 low
CAP [ i:
Caout- low a red heat, put a fmgle bit into the ladle. If
chouc, fmoke iffues, it will prdently flame and difap-
pear : or it will evaporate without flame : the ladle is
then too hot. When the ladle is lefs hot, put in a fe-
eond bit, which will produce a white fmoke. This
■white fmoke'will continue during the operation, and eva¬
porate the caoutchouc: therefore no time is to be loft J
but little bits are to be put in, a few at a time, till the
whole are melted. It ftiould be continually and gently
ftirred w'ith an iron or brafs fpoon. Two pounds, or
one quart, of the beft drying oil (or of raw linfeed oil
which, together with a few drops of neats foot oil,
has ftood a month, or not fo long, on a lump of quick¬
lime, to make it more or lefs drying) is to be put in¬
to the melted caoutchouc, and ftirred till hot: and the
whole poured into a glazed veflel, through a coarfe
gauze, or fine fieve. When fettled and clear, which
will be in a few minutes, it is fit for ufe, either hot
or cold.
The Abbe Clavigero informs us, that the elaftic
gum is called by the Mexicans Olin or Olli, and by the
Spaniards of that kingdom Ule: That it diftils from
the Olquahuitl, which is a tree of moderate fize; the
trunk of which is fmooth and yellowifh, the leaves
pretty large, the flowers white, and the fruit yellow
and rather round, but angular; within which there are
kernels as large' as filberds, and white, but covered
with a yellowifh pellicle : That the kernel has a bitter
tafte, and the fruit always grows attached to the bark
of the tree : That when the trunk is cut, the Ule which
diftils from it is white, liquid, and vifcous; afterwards
it becomes yellow; and laftly of a leaden colour,
though rather blacker, which it always retains. The
tree, he adds, is very common in the kingdom of Gua-
timala.
As to the genus of this tree, it does not feem to be
yet afcertained. Aublet, in his Hijioire des Plants de la
Guiane fp. S]!.), defcribes the tree, the fruit, and
manner of collefting the juice; but never faw the
flower: he calls it, however, Hevea Gulanenfis. In
Jacquin’s America, it is called Echites corymlofa. The
younger Linnaeus, in his Supplementum Plantarum
^p. 422), names it Jatropha elajlica; but acknowledges
that he only gives it this name from the ftru&ure of
the fruit having moft refemblance to that genus, his
dry fpecies wanting the flowers.
Of the above gum, it is faid, the Chinefe make ela¬
ftic rings for lafcivious purpofes.—Among us it is ufed
by furgeons for injecting liquids, ahd by painters for
rubbing out black-lead pencil marks, &c.
CAP, a part of drefs made to cover the head, much
in the figure thereof.
The ufe of caps and hats is referred to the year
1449, the firft feen in thefe parts of the world being
at the entry of Charles VII. into Rouen : from that
time they began to take place of the hoods, or cha-
peroons, that had been ufed till then. When the cap
was of velvet, they called it mortier; when of wool,
fimply bonnet. None but kings, princes, and knights,
were allowed tire ufe of the mortier. The cap was the
head-drefs of the clergy and graduates. Pafquier fays,
that it was anciently a part of the hood worn by the
people of the robe ; the fkirts whereof being cut off
as an incumbrance, left the round cap an eafy commo¬
dious cover for the head; which round cap being a£-
,2 1 CAP
terwardg affumed by the people, thofe of the gown
changed it for a fquare one, firft invented by a French¬
man, called Patrouillet: he adds, that the giving of
the cap to the ftudents in the univerfities, was to de¬
note, that they had acquired full liberty, and were no
longer fubjeft to the rod of their fuperiors ; in imita¬
tion of the ancient Romans, who gave vl pileus, or cap,
to their flaves, in the ceremony of making them free :
whence the proverb, Vocare fervos adpileum. Hence,
alfo, on medals, the cap is the fymbol of liberty, whom
they reprefent holding a cap in her right hand, by the
point.
The Romans were many ages without any regular
covering for the head: when either the rain or fun
was troublefome, the lappet of the gown was thrown
over the head ; and hence it is that all the ancient fta-
tues appear bareheaded, excepting fometimes a wreath,
or the like. And the fame utige obtained among the
Greeks, where, at leaft during the heroic age, no caps
were known. The fort of caps or covers of the head
in ufe among the Romans on divers occafions, were
the pitra, pilcus, cucullust galerus, and palliolum ; the
differences between which are often confounded by an¬
cient as well as modern writers.
The French clergy wear a fhallow kind of cap,
called calotte, which only covers the top of the head,
made of leather, fattin, worfted, or other ftuff. The
red cap is a mark of dignity allowed only to thofe who
are raifed to the cardinalate. The fecular clergy are
diftinguiftied by black leathern caps, the regulars by
knit and worfted ones.
Churchmen,- and the members of univerfities, ftu¬
dents in law, phyfic, &c. as well as graduates, wear
fquare caps. In moft univerfities doftors are dif¬
tinguiftied by peculiar caps, given them in affuming
the dodlorate. Wickliff calls the canons of his
time bfurcati, from their caps. Pafquier obferves,
that, in his time, the caps worn by the churchmen, &c,
were called fquare caps ; though, in effedf, they were
round yellow caps.
The Chinefe have not the ufe of the hat, like us ;
but wear a cap of a peculiar ftrudture, which the laws
of civility will not allow them to put off: it is diffe¬
rent for the different feafons of the year: that ufed in
fummer is in form of a cone, ending at top in a point.
It is made of a very beautiful kind of mat, much va¬
lued in that countiy, and lined with fattin : to this is-,
added, at top, a large lock of red filk, which falls all
round as low as the bottom ; fo that, in walking, the
filk fluctuating regularly on all fides, makes a graceful
appearance : fometimes, inftead of filk, they ufe a kind
of bright red hair, the luftre whereof no weather effa¬
ces. In winter they wear a plufh cap, bordered with
martlet’s or fox’s Ikin; as to the reft, like thofe for
the fummer. Thefe caps are frequently fold for eight or
ten crowns; but they are fo Ihort, that the ears arc
expofed..
The cap is fometimes ufed as a mark of infamy ; in
Italy the Jews are diftinguiihed by a yellow cap; at
Lucca by an orange one. In- France, thofe who had
been bankrupts were obliged ever after to wear a green ,
cap, to prevent people from being impofed on in any
future commerce. By feveral arrets in 1584, 1622,
1628, 1688, it was decreed, that if they were at any
time found without their green cap, their protection
ftiould
CAP [ 133 1 CAP
•Cap fliould be null, and their creditors impowered to call
'I „ them into prifon: but the fentence is not now exe-
Cap of Maintenance, one of the regalia, or ornaments
of ftate belonging to the kings of England, before
whom it was carried at the coronation and other great
folemnities. Caps of maintenance are alfo carried be¬
fore the mayors of the feveral cities in England.
Cap, in (hip building, a ftrong, thick, block of
wood, ufed to confine two mails together, when one
is erefted at the head of the other in order to lengthen
it. It is for this purpofe furnilhed with two holes
perpendicular to its length and breadth, and parallel
to its thicknefs: one of thefe is fquare, and the other
round ; the former being folidly fixed upon the upper
end of the lower mall, whilll the latter receives the
mall employed to lengthen it, and fecures it in this
pofition.
CAPACIO, an epifcopal town of Italy, in the
kingdom of Naples, and in the hither Principato. E.
JLong. 15. 18. N. Lat. 40. 40.
CAPACITY, in a general fenfe, an aptitude or
difpofition to hold or retain any thing.
Capacity, in geometry, is the folid contents of any
body ; alfo our hollow meafure for wine, beer, corn,
fait. See. are called tneafures .of capacity.
Capacity, in law, the ability of a man, or body
politic, to give or take lands or other things, or fue
adlions.
Our law allows the king two capacities; a natural,
and a political: in the firft, he may purchafe lands to
him and his heirs ; in the fecond, to him and his fuc-
celfors. The clergy of the church of England have
the like.
CAPARASON, or Caparison, the covering or
clothing laid over an horfe; efpecially a fumpter horfe,
or horfe of Hate. The word is Spanifh, being an aug¬
mentative of cape, caput, head.
Anciently the caparafons were a kind of iron ar¬
mour, wherewith horfes were covered in battle.
CAPE, in geography, an high land running out
with a point into the fea, as Cape-Nord, Cape-Horn,
the Cape of Good Hope, &c.
CAPE-Elk. See Cervus.
CAPE-Breton. See Breton.
CAPE-Coaji Cafle. See Coast.
Cape of Good Hope. See Good Hope.
Cape-Herd. See Verd.
CAPELL (Edward), a gentleman well knowm by
his indefatigable attention to the works of Shakefpeare,
was a native of the county of Suffolk, and. received his
education at the fchool of St Edmund’s Bury. In the
dedication of his edition of Shakefpeare, In 1768, to>
the duke of Grafton, he obferves, that “ his father
and the grandfather of his grace were friends, and to
the patronage of the deceafed nobleman he owed the
leifure which enabled him to beilow the attention of
20 years on that work.” - The office which his grace
bellowed on Mr Capell was that of deputy-infpeclor
of the plays, to which a falary is annexed of 200I. a-
year. So early as the year 1745, as Mr Capell him-
felf informs us, (hocked at the licentioufnefs of Han-
mer’s plan, he firll projected an edition of Shakefpeare,
of the. llridell accuracy, to be collated and publilhed,
in due time, ex fde cqdicum. He immediately pro- Cspell.
needed to colled and compare the oldell and fcarceft c™*
copies; noting the original excellencies and defeds of
the rarell quartos, and dillinguilhing the improve¬
ments or variations of the firll, fecond, and third fo¬
lios : and, after many years labour, produced a very
beautiful fmall odavo, in ko volumes, with “ an In-
trodudion.” There is not, the authors of the Monthly
Review obferve, among the various publications of the
prefent literary asra, a more lingular compofition than
that “ Introdudion.” In llyle and manner, it is more
obfolete and antique than the age of which, it treats.
It is Lord Herbert of Cherbury, walking the new
pavement in all the trappings of romance ; but, like
Lord Herbert, it difplays many valuable qualities ac¬
companying this air of extravagance, much found fenfe,
and appropriate erudition. In the title-page of “ Mr
William Shakefpeare his Comedies, Hillories, and
Tragedies,” it was alfo announced and promulgated,
“ Whereunto will be added, in fame other volumes,
notes critical and explanatory, and a body of various
readings entire.” “ The Introdudion” likewife de¬
clared, that thefe “ notes and various readings” would
be accompanied with another work, difclofing the
fources from which Shakefpeare “drew the greater part
of his knowledge in mythological and claffical matters,.
his fable, his hiltory, and even the feeming peculiari¬
ties of his language—to which,” fays Mr Capell, “ we
have given for title, The School of Shakefpeare.” No¬
thing furely could be more properly conceived than
fuch defigns, nor have we ever met with any thing
better grounded on the fubjed- of “ the learning of
Shakefpeare” than what may be found in the long note
to this part of Mr Capell’s Introdudion. It is more
folid than even the popular “ Effay” on this topic.
Certain quaintneffes of llyle, and peculiarities of print¬
ing and punduation, attended the whole of this pub¬
lication. The outline, however, was corred ; and the
critic, with unremitting toil, proceeded in his under¬
taking. But while he was diving into the claffics of
Caxton (to continue the Reviewers account), and
working his way underground, like tire river Mole, in
order to emerge with all his glories ; while he was
looking forward to his triumphs; certain other adive
fpirits went to work upon his plan, and, digging out ,
the promifed treafures, laid them prematurely before
the public, defeating the- effed of our critic’s difeove-
ries by anticipation. Steevens, Malone, Farmer, Percy,
Reed, and a whole holl of literary ferrets,. burrowed>
into every hole and corner of the warren of modern
antiquity, and over-ran all the. country, whofe map had
been delineated by Edward Capell. Such a- contin- •
gency nearly ilaggered the Heady and unlhaken perfe-
verance of our critic, at the very eve of the completion^
of his labours, and- as his editor informs us—for, alas!
at the end of near 40. years, the publication was pollhu-
mous, and the critic himfelf no more !—he was almoll
determined to lay the work wholly alide. He perfevered, -
however, by the encouragement of Lome noble and wor¬
thy perfons: and to fuch their encouragement, and his
perfeverance,the public was,in 1783,indebted for three
large volumes in 410, under the title of “ Notes and’
various readings of Shakefpeare ; together with the '
School of Shakefpeare, or Extracts from divers Englilk
Books**
  „ C A P t 134 3_ CAP
Caps.u Books, tkat were in print in the Author’s time ; evi- Italy, io called from Peter Caperole their founder, in Cape;
Ca er[,ians ^ent‘y lowing from whence his feveral Fables were the 15th century. 11
. I - taken, and fume parcel of his Dialogue. Alfo farther The Milanefe.and Venetians being at war, the en- ap*
Extrafts, which contribute to a due underftanding of mity occafioned thereby fpread itfelf to the very cloy-
his Writings,, or give a light to the Hiftory of his fters. The fuperiors of the province of Milan, of mi-
l.ife, or to the Dramatic Hiftory of his Time. By nor brothers, which extended itfelf as far as the ter-
Edw. Capell.”—Beiides the works already mentioned, ritories of the republic of Venice, carried it fo haugh-
Mr Capell was the editor of a volume of ancient poems tily over the Venetians, that thofe of the convent of
called “ Prolufions;” and the alteration of “Antony Brefcia refolved to drake off a yoke which was grown
and Cleopatra,” as afted at Drury Lane in 1758. He infupportable to them. The fuperiors, informed of
died January 24. 1781. this, expelled out of the province thofe whom they
CAPELLA, in aftronomy, a bright fixed ftar in confidered as the authors of this defign; the principal
the left fiioulder of the conftellation Auriga. of whom were Peter Caperole, Matthew de Tharvillo
CAPELLE, a town of France, in Picardy, and in . and Bonaventure of Brefcia. Peter Caperole, a man
the Tierache, eight miles from Guife. It was taken of an enterprifing genius, found means to feparate the
by the Spaniards in 16365 but retaken the year after, convents of Brefcia, Bergamo, and Cremona, from the
E. Long. 3. 59. N. Lat. 49. 58. . province of Milan, and fubjeft them to the conventuals.
CAPELLETS, in farriery. See there, § xxxvi. 4. This occafioned a law-fuit between the vicar-general
CAPELLUS (Lewis), an eminent French Pro* and thefe convents, which was determined in favour of
teftant divine, born at Sedan in Champagne about the the latter; and thefe convents, in 1475, by the autlic-
year 1579. He was author of fome learned works ; rity of Pope Sixtus IV. wrere eredled into a diftinft
but is chiefly known from the controverfy he engaged vicariate, under the title of that of Brefcia. This not
in with the younger Buxtorf concerning the antiquity fatisfying the ambition of Caperole, he obtained, by
of Hebrew points, which Capelins undertook to dif* the interpofition of the Doge of Venice, that this vi-
prove. His Criiica Sacra was alfo an elaborate work, cariate might be erefled into a congregation, which
and excited fome difputes. He died in 1658, having was called from him Caperolans. This congregation
made an abridgement of his life in his work De petite ftill fubfifts in Italy, and is compofed of j. convents,
■Capellcru - fituated in Brefcia, Bergamo, and Cremona.
CAPER, in botany. SeeCAPPARrs. CAPERQUIN, a town of Ireland, in the county
Caper alio denotes a veffel ufed by the Dutch for of Waterford, and province of Munfter, fituated on the
cruifing and taking prizes from the enemy ; in which river Blackwater. W. Long. 7. 50. N. Lat. 52. 5.
fenfe, caper amounts to the fame with privateer. Ca- CAPESTAN, a towm of France, in Lower Lan-
pers are commonly double-officered, and crowded with guedoc, in the diocefe of Narbonne, and near the
hands even beyond the rates of (hips of war, becaufe royal canal. E. Long. 3. 5. N.Lat. 43. 35.
the thing chiefly in view is boarding the enemies. CAPH, a Jewifli meafure of capacity for things
CAPERNAUM, a city celebrated in the gofpels, eftimated by Kimchi at the 30th part of the log, by
being the place where Jefus ufually refided during the Arbuthnot at the 16th part of the hin or 33d of the
time of his miniftry. This city is no where mention- feah, amounting to five-eighths of an Englifh pint,
ed in the Old Teftament under this or any other name The caph does not occur in Scripture as the name of
like it; and therefore it is not improbable that it was any meafure.
one of thofe towns which the Jews built after their CAPHAR, a duty which the Turks raife on the
return from the Babylonifh captivity. It flood on Chriftians who carry or fend merchandifes from Alep*
the fea-coaft, i. e. on the coaft of the fea of Galilee, in po to Jerufalem and other places in Syria,
the borders of Zebulon and Nephtalim (Matt. iv. 15.), This duty of caphar was firft impofed by the Chrf*
and confequently towards the upper part thereof. It ftians themfelves, when they were in pofleffion of the
took its name no doubt from an adjacent fpring of Holy Land, for the maintenance of the troops which
great repute for its clear and limpid waters; and were planted in difficult pafles to obferve the Arabs
which, according to Jofephus, was by the natives called and prevent their incurfions. It is ftill continued, and
Capernaum. As this fpring might be fome inducement much increafed by the Turks, under pretence of de-
to the building the town in the place where it flood, fending the Chriftans againft the Arabs; with whom,
fo its being a convenient wafting place from Galilee to neverthelefs, they keep a fecret intelligence, favouring
any part on the other fide of the fea, might be fome their excurfions and plunders.
motive to our Lord for his moving from Nazareth, and 'CAPHTOR (anc. geog.), a town or diftridl of
making this the place of his moft conflant refidence. Higher Egypt: and hence the people called Caphto-
Upon this account Capernaum was highly honoured, rim or Caphtoraei. ~ Caph tor is an ifland of Egypt,
and faid by our Lordhimfelf to be exalted unto heaven ; Ai Caphtor, (Jeremiah); probably one of thofe in the
but becaufe it made no right ufe of this fignal favour, Nile. Dr Wells fuppofes it to be Coptos, which flood
xt drew from him the fevere denunciation, that it in a fmall ifland. Thence came the Caphtorim or Caph-
fhould he brought down to hell (Matt. xi. 23.), which toraei, in Paleiline ; who with the Philiftines confpired
has certainly been verified : for, as Dr Wells obferves, to extirpate the Hevaci; and whofe name was fwal-
fo far is it from bemg the metropolis of all Galilee, as lowed up in that of the Philiftines.
it once was, that it confiftedlong fince of no more than CAPI-aga, or CAPi-Agqfli, a Turkifh officer who
fix poor fifhermens cottages, and may perhaps be now is governor of the gates of the feraglio, or grand mailer
totally defclate. of the feraglio.
CAPEROLANS, a congregation of religious in The capi-aga is the firft dignity among the white
eunuchs;
CAP F 135 ] .CAP
eunuchs: he is always near the perfon of the grand
fignior: he introduces ambafladors to their audience :
nobody enters or goes out of the grand fignior’s apart¬
ment but by his means. His office gives him the pri¬
vilege of wearing the turban in the feraglio, and of
going every where on horfeback. He accompanies
the grand lignior to the apartment of the fultanas, but
Hops at the door without entering. His appointment
is very moderate; the grand fignior bears the expence
of his table, and allows him at the rate of about fixty
French livres per day: but his office brings him in
abundance of prefents; no affair of confequence coming
to the emperor’s knowledge without palling through
his hand. The capi-aga cannot be balhaw when he
quits his poft.
CAPIAS, in law, a writ of two forts; one before
judgment in an atb’on, and the other after. That be¬
fore judgment is called capias ad refpondendum, where
an original is iffued out, to take the defendant, and
make him anfwer the plaintiff. That after judgment
is of divers kinds ; as,
Cavias ad Satisfaciendum, a writ of execution that
iffues on a judgment obtained,- and lies where any per¬
fon recovers in a perfonal atlion, as for debt, damages,
&c. in which cafes this writ iffues to the fheriff, com¬
manding him to take the body of him againft whom
the debt is recovered, who is to be kept in prifon till
he mak*' fi" fadtion.
Capias pro Fine is a writ lying where a perfon is
fined to the king, for fome offence committed- againft
a ftatute, and he does not difeharge the fine accord¬
ing to the judgment; therefore his body fhall be taken
by this writ, and committed to gaol till the fine is
paid.
Capias Utlegdtum, a writ which lies againft any one
outlawed, upon any adlion perfonal or criminal, by
which the Iheriff is ordered to apprehend the party out¬
lawed, for not appearing on the exigent, and keep him.
in fafe cuftody till the day of return, when he is or¬
dered to prefent him to the court, to be there farther
ordered for his contempt.
Capias in Withernam, a writ that lies for cattle in
withernamthat is, where a diftrefs taken is driven
out of the county, fo that the ffieriff cannot make de¬
liverance upon a replevin; then this writ iffues, com¬
manding the fheriff to take as many beafts of the dif-
trainer, &c.
CAPIGI, a porter or'door-keeper of the Turkifh
feraglio. There are about five hundred capigis or por¬
ters in the feraglio, divided into two companies ; one
confifting of three hundred, under a chief called Capigi-
Baffa, who has a flipend of three ducats per day ; the
other confifts of two hundred, diftinguifhed by the
name of Cuccicapigi, and their chief Cuccicapigi-Bajfa,
who has two ducats. The capigis have from feven to
fifteen afpers per day ; fome more, others lefs. Their
fcufinefs is to affift the janizaries in the guard of the
firft and fecond gates of the feraglio; fometimes all
together; as when the Turk holds a general council,
receives an ambaffador, or goes to the mofque; and
fometimes only in part; being ranged on either fide to.
prevent people entering with arms, any tumults being
made, &c. The word, in its original, fignifies gate.
CAPILLAMENT, in a general fenfe, fignifies a
haft; whence the word is applied to. feveral things,
which on account of their length or their finenefs re-
femble hairs : as,
Capillaments of the Nerves, in anatomy, the fine
fibres or filaments whereof the nerves are compofed.
CAPILLARY, in a general fenfe, an appellation
given to things on account of their extreme finenefs or
refembling hair.
Capillarp Fules, in phyfics, are fmall pipes of glafs,
whofe canals are extremely narrow, their diameter be¬
ing only a half, a third, or a fourth of a line.
The afeent of water, &c. in capillary tubes, is a phe¬
nomenon that has long embarraffed the philofophers :
for let one end of a glafs tube open at both extremities
be immerged in water, the liquor within the tube will
rife to a confiderable height above the external furface
or if two or more tubes are immerged in the fame fluid,
one a capillary tube, and the other of a larger bore,
the fluid will afeend higher in the former than in the
latter; and this will be in a reciprocal ratio of the dia¬
meters of the tubes.
In order to account for this phenomenon, it will be
neceffary firft to premife, that the attraction between
the particles of glafs and water is greater than the
attraction between the particles of waters themfelves ;
for if a glafs tube be placed in a pofition parallel to.
the horizon, and a drop of water be applied to the
under fide of the tube, it will adhere to it; nor will,
it fall from the. glafs till its bulk and gravity are fo
far increafed, as to overcome the attraction of the
glafs. Hence it is eafy to conceive how fenfibly fuch
a power muft aCt on the furface of a fluid, not vifeid,
as water, contained within the fmall cavity or bore of
a glafs-tube ; as alfo that it will be proportionably
ftronger as the diameter of the bore is fniailer ; for it
will be evident that the efficacy of the power is in the
inverfe proportion, of the diameter, when.it is confi-
dered, that fuch particles only as are in contaft with,
the fluid, and thofc immediately above the furface, can.
effeCt it.
Now thefe particles form a periphery contiguous to
the furface, the upper part of which attraCls and raifes
the furface, while the lower part, which is in contaCl
with it, fupports it: fo that neither the thicknefs nor
length of the tube is of any confequence here; the peri¬
phery of particles only, which is always proportionable
to the diameter of the bore, is the only aCting power.
The quantity of the fluid raifed will therefore be as the
furface of the bore which it fills, that is, as the dia¬
meter; for otherwife the effeCt would not be propor¬
tional to the caufe, fince the quantities are always as
the ratio of the diameters; the heights therefore to
which the fluids will rife, in.different tubes, will be in-
verfely as the diameters.
Some doubt whether the law. holds throughout, of
the afeent of the fluid being always higher as the tube
is fmaller ; Dr Hook’s experiments, with tubes almoft
as fine as cobwebs, feem to fhow the contrary. The :
water in thefe,, he obferves, did not rife fo high as one
would have expefted. The higheft he ever found it,,
was at 21 inches above the level of the water in the
bafon ;• which is much Ihort of what it ought to have
been by the law above mentioned. See Cohesion.
Cap ill art Veffels. Many fmall veffels of animal;
bodies have been difeovered by the modern invention
cf injeCIing the veffels of animals with a coloured fluid.’
which ^
GapiOa-
meuts,
Capillary,
CAP
Cai'illua winch upon cooling grows hard.
[ 136 ] CAP
But though moft printers, of beginning every fubftantive with a capital,
Capital anatomiits know the manner of filling the large trunks, is pow juflly fallen into difrepute ; being a manifeft
^ * .few are arniminted with the art of filUnp* the capillaries- oerverfion of the deficrn of eanitals. as well ac an nf.
j few are acquainted with the art of filling the capillaries.
Dr Monro, in the Medical EfTays, has given what af¬
ter many trials he has found moft fuccefsful. See In¬
jection.
CAPILLUS veneris. See Adianthum.
CAPILUPI, or Capilupus. (Camillas), a native
■of Mantua in the 16th century. He wrote a book,
entitled, The Stratagem; in which he relates not only
what was perpetrated at Paris during the maflacre on
St Bartholomew’s day, but alfo the artful preparations
which preceded that horrid maflacre. It is, however,
blended with a great number of falfities.
Capilupi (Lcelius), an Italian poet, brother to the
former, made himfelf famous by feme Centos of Virgil.
The manner in which he applied Virgil’s expreffions to
reprefent things which the poet never dreamt of, is ad¬
mired. His Cento againft women is very ingenious,
but too fatirical. The poems of Capilupi are inferted
in the Delicia Poet arum Italorum.
CAPISCOLUS, or Capischolus, in ecclefiaftical
writers, denotes a dignitary in certain cathedrals, who
had the fuperintendeney of the choir, or band of mufic,
anfwering to what in other churches is called chanter or
pre'centor. The word is alfo written, cabifcolus, and ca-
perverfion of the defign of capitals, as well as an of- u
fence againft beauty and diftin&nels.
Capital, in archite&ure, the uppermoft part of a
column or pilafter, ferving as the head or crowning,
and placed immediately over the (haft, and under the
entablature. See Architecture.
CAPITANA, or Captain Galley, the chief or prin¬
cipal galley of a ftate, not dignified with the title of a
kingdom. The capitana was anciently the denomina¬
tion of the chief galley of France, which the com¬
mander went on board of. But fince the fuppreffion
of the office of captain general of the gallics in 1669,
they have no capitana, but the firft galley is called reale,
and the fecond
CAPITANATA, one of the 12 provinces of the
kingdom of Naples, in Italy, bounded on the north by
the Gulph of Venice, on the eaft by the Terra di Bar-
ri, on the fouth by the Bafilicata and the Farther Prin-
cipato, and on the weft by the county di Molife and
a fmall part of Hither Abruzzo. It is a level country,
without trees; the foil fandy, the air hot: the land,
however, near the rivers, is fertile iri'paftures. The ca¬
pital town is Manfredonia.
CAPITANEATE, in a general fenfe, the fame
putfchola, q. d. the head of the fcfiool, or band of with capitania. Capitaneates, in Pruffia, are a kind
mufic.
The capifcolus is alfo called fcolajlicus, as having the
inftrudtion of the young clerks and chorifters, how to
perform their duty.
CAPITA, (diftributioit by), in law, fignifies the
appointing to every man an equal (hare of a perfonal
eftate ; when all the claimants claim in their own rights,
•as in equal degrees of kindred, and not jure repnefenta-
itonis.
Capita, (fucceffion by), where the claimants are
next in degree to the anceftor, in their own right, and tenant in capite, or chief.
of noble feuds, or eftates, which, befides their revenue,
raife their owners to the rank of noblility. They are
otherwife calledJlaroJlles.
CAPITANEI, or Catanei, in Italy, was a deno-
mitation given to all the dukes, marquiffes, and counts,
who were called capitanei regis. The fame appellation
was alfo given to perfons of inferior rank who were in-
vefted with fees, formerly diftinguiffied by the appella¬
tion valvafores majores.
CAPITANEUS, in ancient law writers, denotes a
not by right of reprefentatio
CAPITAL, of the Latin caput “ the head”, is
ufed on various occafions, to exprefs the relation of a
head, chief, or principal: thus,
Capital City, in geography, denotes the principal
city of a kingdom, ftate, or province.
Capital Stock, among merchants, bankers, and tra-
Capitaneus Ecclefue, the fame with advocate.’
CAPITANIA, in geography, appellation given
to the 12 governments eftablifhed by the Portuguefe in
the Brafils. .
CAPITATION, a tax or impofition railed on each
perfon, in proportion to his labour, induftry, office,
rank, Sffc. It is a very ancient kind of tribute. The
ders, fignifies, the fum of money which individuals Latins call it tributum, by which taxes on perfons are
bring to make up the common ftock of a partnerfhip diftinguifhed ftom taxes on merchandife, which were
when it is firft formed. It is alfo faid of the ftock called —K'*
•which a merchant at firft puts into trade for his account.
It likewife fignifies the fund of a trading company or
corporation, in which fenfe the word ftock is generally
added to it. Thus we fay, the capital ftock of the
bank, &c. The word capital is oppofed to that of pro¬
fit or gain, though the profit often increafes the capi¬
tal, and becomes of itfelf part of the
joined with the former.
Capital Crime, fuch a one as fubjefts the criminal
to capital punifliment, that is, to lofs of life*.
Capital Picture, in painting, denotes one of the fineft
and moft excellent pieces of any celebrated matter.
Capital Letters, in printing, large or initial letters,
wherein titles, &c. are compofed; with which all pe¬
riods, verfes, &c. commence; and wherewith alfo all
proper names of men, kingdoms, nations, &c. begin.
and Punijh-
Capitations are never pra&ifed among us but in exi¬
gencies of ftate. In France the capitation was intro¬
duced by Louis XIV. in 1695 ; and is a tax very dif¬
ferent from the taille, being levied from all perfons,
whether they be fubjeft to the taille or not. The clergy
pay no capitation, but the princes of the blood are not
ipital, when exempted from it.
CAPITE, in law, (from caput, i. e. rex; whence
tenere in capite, is to hold of the king, the head or lord
paramount of all the lands in the kingdom): An an¬
cient tenure of land, held immediately of the king, as
of his crown, either by knight’s feryice, or by foccage.
It is now abolifhed. See Tenure.
Capite Cenfi, in antiquity, the lowed rank of Ro¬
man citizens, who in public taxes were rated the lead
of all, being fuch as never were worth above 365 afles.
The praftice which, for fome time, obtained among our They were fuppofed to have been thus called, becaufe
JS°6^.' _ 1 they
OAP [ 137 l CAP
Capitol, tlicy vrere rather counted and marfhalled by their heads were celebrated every five years, and became fo famous,
Capitoline. ^3,, by tbei'r eftates. The capite cenft made part of the that, inftead of calculating time by luftra, they began
^ fixth clafs of citizens, being be’low theproletarii, who to count by Capitoline games, as the Greeks did by O-
formed the other moiety of that clafs. They were not lympiads. It appears, however, that this cuftom was
enrolled in the army, as being judged not able to fup- not of long continuance.
port the expence of war ; for in thofe days the foldiers CAPITOLINUS (Julius), an hiftorian in the be-
maintained themfelves. It does not appear, that be- ginning of the fourth age under Dioclefian, to whom
fore Caius Marius any of the Roman generals lifted he infcribed the Lives of Verus, Antoninus Pius, Clo¬
the cf«/? in their armies. dius Balbinus, Macrinus, the Maximins, and the Gor-
CAPITOL, Capitolium, in antiquity, a famous dians. He wrote other lives, which are moft of them
fort or caftle, on the Mons Capitol.’* us at Rome, where- loft.
in was a temple dedicated to Jupiter, theirce alfo deno- CAPITOUL, or Capitol, an appellation given
minated Capitolinus, in which the fenate anciently af- to the chief magiftrates of Tholoufe, who have the ad-
fembled; and which ftill ferves as the city-hall, or miniftration of juftice and policy both civil and mer-
town-houfe, for the meeting of the confervators of the cantile in the city. The capitouls at Tholoufe are
Roman people.—It had its name capital, from caput, a much the fame with the echevinsat Paris, and with the
man’s head, faid to have been found frelh, and yet confuls, bailiffs, burger-mafters, mayors, and aldermen,
bleeding, upon digging the foundation of the temple &c. in other cities. In ancient afts they are called
built in honour of Jupiter. Arnobius adds, that the capkularii or capitolim, and their body capitulum. From
man’s name was Tolus, whence caput-tolium.—The fir ft this laft come the words capitularii and capiiouls. The
foundations of the capitol were laid by Tarquin the appellative capitahni arofe hence, that they have the
Elder, in the year of Rome 139. His fucceffor Servius charge and cuftody of the town-houfe,. which was an-
raifed the walls; arid Tarquin the Proud finilhed it in ciently called capital.-
the year 221. But it was not confecrated till the third The office only lafts one year, and ennobles the bear-
year after the expulfion of the kings, and eftablifhment ers. In fome ancient afts they are called capitulum no-
of the confulate. The ceremony of the dedication of bilium Tolofa. Thofe who have borne it, ftyle them-
the temple was performed by the conful Horatius in felves afterwards burgeffes. They are called to all ge-
246. neral councils, and have the jar imaginum; that is, when
The capitol confifted of three parts; a nave facred the year of their adminiftration is expired, their pic-
to Jupiter; and two wings, the one confecrated to Juno, tures are drawm in the town-houfe ; a cuftom which
the other to Minerva: it was afcended to by flairs ; the they have retained from the ancient Romans, as may
frontifpiece and fides were furrounded with galleries, in be feen in Sigonius.
which thofe who were honoured with triumphs enter- CAPITOULATE, an appellation given to the
tained the fenate at a magnificent banquet, after the fa- feveral quarters or diftridis of the city of Tholoufe,
crifices had been offered to the gods. each under the diredtion of a capitoul; much like the
Both the infide and outfide were enriched with an in- wards of London, under their aldermen. Tholoufe is
finity of ornaments, the moft diftinguilhed of which now divided into eight capitoulates or quarters, which
was the ftatue of Jupiter, with his golden thunderbolt, are fubdivided into moulans, each of which has its
his fceptre, and crown. In the capitol alfo were a tithing-man, whofe bulinefs is to inform the capitoul
temple to Jupiter the guardian, and another to Juno, of what paffes in his tithing, and to inform the inha-
with the mint; and on the defcent of the hill was the bitants of the tithing of the orders of the capitoul.
temple of Concord. This beautiful edifice contained CAPITULAR, or capitulary, denotes an aft
the moft facred depofits of religion, fuch as the ancylia, paffed in a chapter, either of knights, canons, or re-
the books of the Sibyls, ligious.
The capitol was burnt under Vitellius, and rebuilt The capitularia, or capitulars of Charlemagne, Charles
under Vefpafian. It was burnt a fecond time by light- the Bald, &c. are the laws, both eccldiaftical and ci-
ning under Titus, and reftored by Domitian. vil, made by thofe emperors in the general councils
Anciently the name capitol was likwife applied to or affemblies of the people; which was the way in which
all the principal temples, in moft of the colonies the conftitutions of moft of the ancient princes were
throughout the Roman empire; as at Conftantinople, made; each perfon prefent, though a plebeian, fetting
Jerufalem, Carthage, Ravenna, Capua, That of his hand to them.
Tholoufe, has given the name of capitouls to its eche- Some diftinguifti thefe from h*ws ; and fay, they
vins or fheriffs. were only fupplements to law's. They had their name,
CAPITOLINE ga.mhs, annual games inftituted by capitulars, becaufe divided into capitula, chapters, or
Camillus, in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in com- fedtions. In thefe capitulars did the whole French
memoration of the capitol’s not being taken by the jurifprudence anciently confift. In procefs of time,
Gauls. Plutarch tells us, that a part of the ceremony the name was changed for that of ordonnances.
conjifted in the public criers putting up the Hetrurians Some diftinguifti three kinds of capitulars, according
to fale by au&ion : they alfo took an old man, and ty- to the difference of their fubjedl-matter : thofe on ec-
ing a golden bulla about his neck, expofed him to the clefiaftical affairs, are really canons, cxtradled from
public derifion. Feftus fays they alfo dreffed him in a councils; thofe on fecular affairs, real laws; thofe re-
pretexta.—Therewas another kind ofCapitolinc games, lating to particular perfons, or occafions, private re-
inftituted by Domitian, wherein there were rewards gulations.
and crowns bellowed on the poets, champions, orators, CAPITULATION, in military affairs, a treaty
hiftorians, and muficians. Thefe laft Capitoline games made between the inhabitants or garrifon of a place
Vol. IV. Pait. I. -g befieged
Capitolina*
II
Capitula-
CAP L 138 ] CAP
tula- befieged and the befiegers, for the delivering up the
place on certain conditions. The moft honourable and
ordinary terms of capitulation are. To march out at
the breach with arms and baggage, drums beating, co¬
lours flying, a match lighted at both ends, and fome
pieces of cannon, waggons and convoys for their bag¬
gage, and for their Tick and wounded.
Capitulation, in the German polity, a contraft
which the emperor makes with the eleftors, in the
name of all the princes and Hates in the empire, before
he is declared emperor, and which he ratifies before
he is raifed to that fovereign dignity. The principal
points which the emperor undertakes to oblerve are,
X. To defend the church and empire. 2. To obferve
the fundamental laws of the empire. And, 3. To
maintain and preferve the rights, privileges, and im¬
munities of the eleftors, princes, and other ftates of
the empire, fpecified in the capitulation. Thefe arti¬
cles and capitulations are prefented to the emperor by
the eleftors only, without the concurrence of the other
ftates, who have complained from time to time of fuch
proceedings; and in the time of the Weftphalian
treaty, in 1648, it was propofed to deliberate in the
following diet, upon a way of making a perpetual ca¬
psulation ; but the ek&ors have always found means
of eluding the execution of this article. In order, how¬
ever, to give fome fatisfa&ion to their adverfaries,
they have inferted in the capitulations of the empe¬
rors, and in that of Francis I. in particular, a promife
to ufe all their influence to.bring the affair of a per¬
petual capitulation to. a conclufion. Some German au¬
thors own, that this capitulation limits the emperor’s
power ; but maintain that it does not weaken his fo-
vereignty : though the moft part maintain that he is
not - abfolute, beeaufe he receives the empire under
conditions, which fets bounds,to an abfolute authority.
CAPITULUM, in the ancient military art, was a
tranfverfe beam, wherein were holes through which
paffed the firings whereby the arms of huge engines,
as baliftse, catapultse, and fcorpions, were played or
worked.
Capitulum, in ecclefiaftical writers, denoted part
of a chapter of the bible read and explained. In which
fenfe they faid, ire ad capitulum, to go to fuch a lec¬
ture. Afterwards the place or apartment where fuch
theological exercifes were performed was denominated
domus capituTi,
CAPNICON, in antiquity, chimney-money, or a
tax. which the Roman emperors levied for fmoke, and
which of confequence was due from all, even the
pooreft, who kept a fire. This was ,firft invented by
Nicephorus.
CAPNOMANCY, a kind of divination by means
©f fmoke, ufed by the ancients in their facrifices. The
word comes, fmoke, and divination.
The general rule was, when the fmoke was thin, and
light, and rofe ftraight up, .it was a good omen : if the
contrary, it. was an ill one. There was alfo another
fpecies of, capnomancy, confifting in the obfervatioa
of the fmoke rifmg from poppy and jeffamin-feed, caft
Upon lighted coals.
CAPO fino, a large barren rock in the territory
of the Genoefe, which has a caftle on its eaftern peak.
Near it is a fmall harbour of the fame name, 13 miles
eaft by fouth of Genoa.
Capo d'ljlrta, a confiderable town of Italy, in Iftria,
on the gulph of Triefte, with a bilhop’s fee, and fub-
je£t to the Venetians. The air is wholefome and tem¬
perate ; its principal revenue confifts in wine and fait. ‘
E. Long. 14. o. N. Lat. 45. 48.
CAPON, a cock-chicken, gelded as foon as left by
the dam, or as foon as he begins to crow. They are
of ufe either to lead chickens, ducklings, pheafants,
&c. and defend them from the kites and buzzards;
or to feed for the table, they being reckoned more de¬
licate than either a cock or a hen.
CAPONIERS, or Capponiere, in fortification, a
covered lodgement, funk four or five feet, into the
ground, encompaffed with a little parapet about two
feet high, ferving to fupport. feveral planks covered
with earth. The eaponiere- is large, enough to contain
15 or 40 foldiers ; and is ufually placed in the glacis
on the extremity of the counterfcarp, and in dry
moats; having little embrafures for the foldiers to fire
through.
CAPPADOCIA, an ancient kingdom of Alia,
comprehending all that country which lies between:
mount Taurus and the Euxine fea. It. was divided by
the Perfians into two fatrapies or governments ; by the
Macedonians into two kingdoms, the one called Cap¬
padocia ad Taurum ; the other, Cappadocia ad Pontum,
and commonly Pontus.; for the hiftory, &c. of which -
laft, fee the article Pontus.
Cappadocia Magna, or Cappadocia properly fo cal- ■
led, lies between the 38th and 41 ft degrees of north lati¬
tude. It was bounded by Pontus on the north, Lycao-
nia and part of Armenia Major on the fouth, Galatia
on the weft, and by Euphrates and part of Armenia
Minor on the eaft. The firft king of Cappadocia we
read of in hiftory was Pharnaces, who was preferred
to the crown by Cyrus king of Perfia, who gave him
his After Atoffa in marriage. This is all,we find re¬
corded of him, except that he. was killed in a war with
the Hyrcanians. After him came a fucceffion of eight
kings, of whom we know fcarce any thing but that
they continued faithful to the Perfian intereft. In the
time of Alexander the Great, Cappadocia was govern¬
ed by Ariarathes II. who, notwithftanding the vaft
conquefts and fame of the Macedonian monarch, con-,
tiriued unlhaken. in his fidelity to the Perfians. Alex¬
ander was prevented by death from invading his domi¬
nions; but Perdiccas marching againft him with a
powerful and well difciplined army, difperfed his for¬
ces, and having taken Ariarathes himfelf prifoner, cru¬
cified him, with all thofe of the royal blood whom he
could get into his power. Diodorus tells us that he
was killed in the battle. He is faid to have reigned
82 years. His fon Ariarathes III. having efcaped the
general flaughter of the royal family, fled into Arme¬
nia, where he lay concealed, till the civil diffenfions
which arofe among the Macedonians gave him a fair
opportunity of recovering his paternal kingdom. A-
myntas, at that time the governor of Cappadocia, op.
pofed him : but being defeated in a pitched battle, the
Macedonians were obliged to abandon all the ftrong
holds. Ariarathes, after a long and peaceable reign;
left his kingdom to his fon Ariaramnes II. He applied
himfelf more to the arts of peace than war, in confe¬
quence of which Cappadocia flourifhed greatly during
his reign. He was fucceeded by his fon Ariarathes IV,
who
CAP r 139 j CAP
Cappado- who proved a very warlike prince, and having over-
c‘a* come Arfaces, founder of the Parthian monarchy, con-
v fxderably enlarged his own dominions.
He was fucceeded by Ariarathes V. who marrying
the daughter ©f Antiochus the Great, entered into an
alliance with that prince againft the Romans ; but An¬
tiochus being defeated, the king of Cappadocia was ob¬
liged to fue for peace, which he obtained, after ha¬
ving paid 200 talents by way of fine, for taking up
arms againft the people of Rome. He afterwards af-
fifted the republic with men and money againft Perfeus
king of Macedon, on which account he was by thefe-
nate honoured with the title of the friend and ally of
the Roman people* He left the kingdom in a very flou-
rifiiing condition to his fon Mithridates, who on his ac-
cefiion took the name of Ariarathes VI.
This prince (furnamed Philopater, from the filial
refpeft and love he fhowed his father from his very in¬
fancy) immediately renewed the alliance with Rome.
Out of mere good-nature he reftored Mithrobuzanes fon
to Ladriades king of the LefTer. Armenia to his father’s
kingdom, though he forefaw that the Armenians would
lay hold of that opportunity to join Artaxias, who was
then on the point of invading Cappadocia. Thefe dif¬
ferences, however, were fettled before they came to
an open rupture, by the Roman legates ; and Ariarathes
feeing hxmfelf thus delivered from an impending war by
the mediation of the republic, prefented the fenate with
a golden crown, and offered his fervice wherever they
thought proper to employ him. The fenate in return
fent him a ftaff, and chair of ivory ; which were pre-
fents ufually beftowed on thofe only whom they looked
•upon as attached to their intereft. Not long before
this, Demetrius Soter king of Syria had offered Aria¬
rathes his fifter in maniage, the widow of Perfeus king
of Macedon : but.this offer the king of Cappadocia was
obliged to decline for fear of offending.lhe Romans; and
his fo doing was in the higheft degree acceptable to
the republic, who reckoned him among the chief of her
allies. Demetrius, however, being greatly incenfed
at the flight put upon his fifter, fet up a pretender to
the throne, one Orophernes, a fuppofititious, or, as
others call him, a natural fon of the deceafed king.
The Romans ordered Eumenes king of Pergamus to
affift Ariarathes with all his forces : which he did, but
to no purpofe ; for the confederates were overthrown by
Demetrius, and Ariarathes was obliged to abandon the
kingdom to his rival. This happened about 159 years
befoi-e Chrift, and the ufurper immediately difpatched
ambaffadors to Rome with a golden crown. The fe¬
nate declined accepting the prefent, till they heard his
pretenfions to the kingdom ; and this Orophernes, by
fuborned witneffes, made appear fo plain, that the fe¬
nate decreed that Ariarathes and he ftxould i-eign as
partners; but next year, Orophernes was driven put by
Atlalus brother to Eumenes, and his fucceffor to the
kingdom of Pergamus.
Ariarathes, being thus reftored, immediately de¬
manded of the Priennians 400 talents of gold which
Orophernes had depofited with them. They honeftly.
replied, that as they had been trufted with the money
by Orophernes, they could deliver it to none but him-
felf, or fuch as came in his name. Upon this, the king
entered their territories with an army, deftroying all
with fire and fword. The Priennians, however, ftill
3
perfevered in their integrity ; and though their city was Cappado
befieged by the united forces of Ariarathes and Atta- cia
lus, not only made an obftinate defence, but found ' " ^
means to reftore the fum to Oropheraes. At laft.they
applied to the Romans for affxftance, who enjoined the
two kings to raife the fiege, under pain of being de-,
dared enemies to the republic. Ariarathes immediate¬
ly obeyed ; and marching his army into Aflyria, joined
Alexander Epiphanes againft Demetrius Soter, by
whom he had been foi-merly driven out of his kingdom.
In the very fix-ft engagement Demetrius was flain, and
his army entirely difperfed, Ariarathes having on that
occafion given uncommon proofs of his courage and
conduft. Some years after, a war breaking out be¬
tween the Romans and. Ariftonicus who claimed the
kingdom of Pergamus in right of his father, Ariarathes
joined the former, and was flain in the fame battle in
which P. Craffus proconful of Afia was taken, and the
Roman army cut in pieces. He left fix fons by his
wife Laodice, on whom the Romans beftowed Lycao-
nia and Cilicia. But Laodice, fearing left her chil¬
dren, when they came of age, flxould take the govern¬
ment out of her hands, poifoned five of them, the
youngeft only having efcapad her cruelty by being con¬
veyed out of the kingdom. The queen herfelf was fooa
after put to death by her fubje&s, who could not bear
her cruel and tyrannical government.
Laodice was fucceeded by Ariarathes VII. who,
foon after his acceffion, married another Laodice,
daughter of Mithridates the Gi'eat, hoping to find in
that prince a powerful friend to fupport him againft Ni-
comedes king of Bithynia, who laid claim to part of
Cappadocia. But Mithridates inftead of aflifting, pro¬
cured one. Gordius to poifon his unhappy fon-in law;
and, on his death, feized the kingdom, under pretence
of maintaining the rights of the Cappadocians againft;
Nicomedes, till the children of Axiarathes were in a
condition to govern the kingdom. The Cappadocians
at firft fancied themfelves obliged to their new pro¬
tector ; but, finding him unwilling to refign the king¬
dom to the lawful heir, they rofe up in arms, and, dri¬
ving out all the garrifons placed by Mithridates, pla¬
ced on the throne Ariarathes VIII. eldeft fon of their
deceafed king.
The new prince found himfelf immediately engaged
in a war with Nicomedes ; but, being affxfted by Mi¬
thridates, not only drove him out of Cappadocia, but
ftripped him of a great part of his hereditary domi¬
nions. On the conclufion of the peace, Mithi-idates,
feeking for fgme px-etence to quarrel with Ariarathes,
infilled upon his" recalling Gordius, who had murdered
his father; which being rejefted with abhorrence, a war
enfued. Mithridates took the field fix-ft, in hopes of
over-running Cappadocia before Ariarathes could be in
a condition to make head againft him ; but, contrary
to his expectation, he was met on the frontiers by the
king of Cappadocia with an army no way inferior to
his own. Hereupon he invited Ariarathes to a con¬
ference ; and, in fight of both ai-mies, ftabbed him with
a dagger, which he had concealed under his garment.
This ftruck fuch terror into the Cappadocians, that
they immediately difperfed, and gave Mithridates an
opportunity of poffeflxng himfelf of the kingdom with¬
out the leaft oppofxtion. The Cappadocians, however,
not able to endure the tyranny of his prefedts; foon
S 2 fhook
CAP [ 140 ]' CAP
C’appado- fhook ofF the yoke ; and recalling the king’s brother,
^ who had fled into the province of Afia, proclaimed him
v king. He was fcarce feated on the throne, however,
before Mithridates invaded the kingdom at the head
of a very numerous army, and having drawn Ariara-
thes to a battle, defeated his army with great flaugh-
ter, and obliged him to abandon the kingdom. The
unhappy prince foon after died of grief; and Mithri¬
dates bellowed the kingdom on his fan, who was then
but eight years old, giving him alfo the name of Aria-
xathes. But Nicomedes Philopater king of Bithynia,
fearing left Mithridates, having now got pofleffion of
the whole kingdom of Cappadocia, Ihould invade his
territories, fuborned a youth to pafs himfelf for the
third fon of Ariarathes, and to prefent to them a peti¬
tion in order to be reftored to his father’s kingdom.
With him he fent to Rome Laodice, lifter of Mithri¬
dates, whom he had married after the death of her for¬
mer hulband Ariarathes. Laodice declared before the
fenate, that Are had three fons by Ariarathes, and that
the petitioner was one of them ; but that Ihe had
been obliged to keep him concealed, left he ihould un¬
dergo the fame fate with his brothers. The fenate .af-
fured him that they would at all events reinftate him
in his kingdom. But, in the mean time, Mithridates
having notice of thefe tranfaftions, difpatched Gordius
to Rome, to undeceive the fenate, and to perfuade
them that the youth to whom he had religned the king¬
dom of Cappadocia was the lawful fon of the late king,
and grandfon to Ariarathes who had loft his life in the
fervice of the Romans againft Ariftonicus. This un-
expefted embafly put the fenate upon enquiring more
narrowly into the matter, whereby the whole plot was
difcovered; upon which Mithridates was ordered to
refign Cappadocia, and the kingdom was declared
free. The Cappadocians, however, in. a fhort time
fent ambaffadors to Rome, acquainting the fenate that
they could not live without a king. This greatly
furprifed the Romans, who had fuch an averfion to
royal authority ; but they gave them leave to eledl a
king of their own nation. As the family of Pharna-
ces was now extindl, the Cappadocians chofe Ariobar-
zanes ; and their'choice was approved by the fenate,
he having on all occaftons Ihown himfelf a Heady friend
to the Romans,
Ariobarzanes had fcarce taken poffeflioa of his king¬
dom when he was driven out-by Tigranesking of Ar¬
menia ; who refigned Cappadocia to the fon of Mithri¬
dates, in purfuance of an. alliance previoufly concluded
between the two parties. Ariobarzanes fled to Rome;
and, having engaged the fenate in his caufe, he re¬
turned into Afia with Sylla, who was enjoined to re-
ftore him to, his kingdom. This was eafily performed
by Sylla, who, with, a fmall body of troops, routed
Gordius , who came to meet him on the borders of Cap¬
padocia at the head of a numerous army. Sylla, how¬
ever, had fcarce turned his back, when Ariobarzanes
was again driven out by Ariarathes the fon of Mithri¬
dates, on whom .Tigranes had beftowed the kingdom
of Cappadocia, This obliged Sylla to return into A-
fia, where he was attended with his ufual fuccefs, and
Ariobarzanes was again placed on the throne. After
the death of. Sylla, he.was the third time forced by
Mithridates to abandon his kingdom ; but Pompey,
haying entirely defeated Mithridates: near mount Stel¬
la, reftored Ariobarzanes to his throne, and rewarded Cappado-
him for his fervices during the war, with the provinces c‘a- ,
of Sophene, Gordiene, and great part of Cilicia. The v
king, however, being now advanced in years, and de-
firous of fpending the remainder of his life in eafe,
refigned the crown to his fon Ariobarzanes, in pre-
fence of Pompey ; and never afterwards troubled him¬
felf with affairs of ftate.
Ariobarzanes II. proved no lefs faithful to the Ro¬
mans than his father had been. On the breaking out
of the civil war between Csefar and Pompey, he fided
with the latter; but after the death of Pompey, he
was received into favour by Csefar, who even beftowed
upon him great part of Armenia. While Csefar was
engaged in a war with the Egyptians, Pharnaces king
of Pontus invaded Cappadocia, and ftripped Ariobar¬
zanes of all his dominions; but Csefar, having defeated
Pharnaces, reftored the king of Cappadocia, and ho¬
noured him with new titles of friendfinp. After the
murder of Caefar, Ariobarzanes, having refufed to join
Brutus and Caflius, was by them declared an enemy to
the republic, and foon after taken prifoner and put
to death. He was fucceeded by his brother Ario¬
barzanes III. who was by Marc Anthony deprived
both of his kingdom and life ; and in him ended the
family of Ariobarzanes.
Archelaus, the grandfon of that general of the fame
name who commanded againft Sylla in the Mithridatic
war, was by Marc Anthony placed on the throne of
Cappadocia, though nowife related either to the fa¬
mily of Pharnaces or Ariobarzanes. His preferment
was entirely owing to his mother Glaphyra, a woman
of great beauty, but of a loofe behaviour, who, in re¬
turn for her compliance with the defires of Anthony,,
obtained the kingdom of Cappadocia for her fan. In
the war between Auguftus and: Anthony, he joined the
latter; but at the interceflion of the Cappadocians,,
was pardoned by the emperor. He afterwards recei¬
ved from him Armenia the Leffer, and Cilicia Tra-
chaea, for having affifted the Romans in clearing the
fe?s of'pirates who greatly infefted the coafts of Afia,.
Pie Contracted a ilrict friendfhip with Herod the Great,.
king of Judaea; and even married his daughter Gla¬
phyra to Alexander,, Herod’s fon. In the reign of'
Tiberius, Archelaus, was fummoned to appear before
the fenate ; for he had always been hated by that em¬
peror, becaufe in his retirement at Rhodes he had paid,
him no fort of refpeft. This had proceeded from no
averfion in him to Tiberius, but from the warning gi¬
ven Archclaus to his friends at Rome. For Caius
Casfar, the prefumptive heir to the empire, was then
alive, and had been feht to compofe the differences of
the eaft, whence the friendfliip of Tiberius was then
looked upon as dangerous. But when lie came to the
empire,. Tiberius, remembering the difrefpeit ftiown
him by Archelaus, enticed the latter to Rome by
means of letters from Livia,, who promifed him her fon
Tiberius’s pardon, provided he came in perfon to im¬
plore it* Archelaus- obeyed the fumroons, and haften-
ed to Rome ; where he was received by the emperor
with great wrath and contempt, and foon after accu-
fed as a criminal in the fenate. The crimes of which
he was accufed were mere IRlions; but his concern at.
feeing himfelf treated as a malefacftor was fo great, that
he died foon after of grief, or, as others fay, laid vio-
Capra.
Plate CXXI
CAP [ i
|Cappado- Ient hands on himfdf. He is faid to liave reigned 50
On the death of Archelaus, the kingdom of Cappa¬
docia was reduced to a Roman province, and governed
by thofe of the equeftrian order. It continu'ed iubjeCt
to the Romans till the invafion of the ealtern empire
by the Turks, to whom it is now fubject, but has
no diilinguifhing modern name. In what was an¬
ciently called Cappadocia, however, the Turks have
four Beglerbeglics, called Siwas, Trdizond, Marajch,
and Cogni.
In the time of the Romans, the inhabitants of Cap¬
padocia bore fo bad a charadter, and were reputed fo
vicious and lewd, that, among the neighbouring na¬
tions, a wicked man was emphatically called a Cappa¬
docian. In after ages, however, their lewd difpoluion
was fo corredled and reftrained by the pure dodtrines
of Chrillianity, that no country whatever has produced
greater champions of the Chrillian religion, or given
to the church prelates of more unblemifhed charac¬
ters.
We have now no fyftem of the Cappadocian laws,
and fcarce wherewithal to form any particular idea of
them. As to their commerce, they carried on a con-
fiderable trade in horfes, great numbers of which were
produced in their country ; ~and we read of them in
.Scripture as frequenting the fairs of Tyre with this
commodity. As Cappadocia abounded with mines of
filver, brais, iron, and alum, and afforded great ftore of
alabaiter, cryftal, and jafper, it is probable that they
might fupply the neighbouring countries with thefe
commodities.
The religion of the ancient Cappadocians was much
the fame with that of the Perfians. At Comana there
was a rich and ftately temple dedicated to Bellona;
whofe battles the pi-ieiis and their attendants ufed to
teprefent on ftated days,, cutting and wounding each
other as if feized with an enthufxaftic fury. No lefs
famous and magnificent were the temples of Apello
Catanius, and of Jupiter : the laft of which had 3000
facred fervants, or religious votaries.' : The chief prieft.
was next in rank to that of Comana ; and, according
to Strabo, had an yearly revenue of 15 talents.. Diana
Perfica was wonhipped in a city called Cajlaballa,
where women, devoted to the worfnip of that goddefs,
were reported to tread barefooted on burning coals,
without receiving any hurt. The templet of Diana at
Djofpolis, and of Anias at Zela, were Jikewife held in
great veneration both by the Cappadocians and Arme¬
nians, who flocked to them from all parts. In the
latter were tendered all oaths in matters of confequenoe;
and the chief among the priefts was, no way inferior
in dignity, power, and wealth, to any in the kingdom j
having a royal attendance, and an unlimited authority
over all the inferior fervants and officers of the temple.
The Jlomams, who willingly adopted all the fuperfti-
tions and fuperftitious rites of the nations they com
quered, greatly increafed the revenues of this and o-
ther temple-s; conferring the, priefthood 0,1 fuch as
they thought molt fit for carrying on their defigns.—
We are told that human facrilices were offered at Co¬
mana ; and that this barbarous cuftom.was.brought by
Qrelles and his filler Iphigenia from Taurica Scythica,
where men aad women were immolated to Diana, -But.
4i 1 . c A p
this cuftom, if ever it obtained in Cappadocia, was a- Cappane*
bolilhed in the times of the Romans. r ft
CAPPANUS, a name, given by fome authors to a , ‘ j*
worm that adheres to and gnaws the bottoms of Ihips 4
to which it is extremely pernicious, efpecially in the
Eaft and Weft Indies: to prevent this, feveral Ihips
have lately been Iheathed with copper ; the firll trial
of which was made on his majelty’s frigate the Alarm..
CAPPARIS, in botany: A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the polyandria clafs of plants; .
and in the natural method ranking under the 25th or¬
der, Putaminea. The calyx is tetraphyllous and cori¬
aceous ; there petals are four; the llamina are • long ;
the fruit is a berry, carnous, unilocular, and pedunca- -
lated, or furnilhed with a foot-ftalk.
There' are feven fpecies. The fpinofa, or com¬
mon caper, is a low Ihrub, generally growing out
of the joints of old walls, the fiffures of rocks, and a-
mongft rubbilh, in moll of the warm parts of Europe :
it hath woody llalks, which fend out many lateral llen-
der branches; under each of thefe are placed two Ihort
crooked fpines, between which and the branches come
out the footllalks of the leaves, which are Angle, Ihort,
and fullain a round fmooth entire leaf.. At the inter-,
mediate joints, between the branches, come out the
flowers , on long footftalks ; before thefe expand, the
bud with the empaiement is gathered for pickling.
Thofe which are lall expand in form of a Angle rofe,,
having five large white petals, which are roundilh and
concave ; in the middle are placed a great number of
long llamina, furrounding a llyle which rifes above
them, and crowned with an oval germen, which after¬
wards becomes a capfule filled with kidney-lhaped 1
feeds.
Culture- This plant is very difficultly preferved in
Britain : it delights to grow in crevices of rocks, old
walls, &c. and always thrives bell in an horizontal po¬
ll u re ; fo that, when planted either-in pots or in the
full ground, they feldom thrive, though they may be
kept alive for fome years. They are propagated by
feeds in the warm, parts of Europe, but very feldom in-
Britain.
Ufes. The buds,, pickled with vinegar, &c. are ■
. brought to Britain annually from Italy and the Medi¬
terranean. They are fuppofed to excite appetite and -
affill digellion ; and to be particularly ufeful as deter¬
gents and aperients in obllructions of the liver , and
fpleen.
CAPRA, or Goat, a genus of quadrupeds belong- Plates--'
ing to the order of pecora. The horns are hollow,
turned upwards, ere cl, and fcabrous. There are eight ^xxni'
fore-teeth in the under jaw, and none in the upper; cXXIVv"
and they have na dog-teeth. This genus confiits of
14 fpecies, wz.
I. The hircus, or common goatvwith arched cari-
nated horns, and a long beard. It is a native of the
eaftern mountains.
The goat is an animal of more fagacity than the
fheep. Inftead of having an . antipathy , at mankind, .
they voluntarily mingle with them, and aroealily ta¬
med. Even in uninhabited countries, they betray no.;
favage difpofitiona. In the year 1698, an Englilh vef--
fel having put in to the illand of Bonavifta, two ne¬
groes. came aboard, and .effesed-gratis to the captaiij a« ;
many /
cap r 142 ] . c .A p
Capra, many goats as he pleafed. The captain expreffed his that of the he-goat is moft in requeft : the whited and
allonifhment.at this offer. But the negroes replied, cleareft is felefted from that which grows on the
that there were only 12 perrons in the ifiand; that haunches, where it is longeft and thickelt: a good Ikin
,the goats had multiplied to fuch a degree, that they well haired is fold for a guinea; though a fkin of bad
were become extremely troublefome; and that, inftead hue, and fo yellow as to baffle the barber’s fldll to
of having any difficulty in catching them, they follow- bleach, will not fetch above i8d. or 2s. The Welfh
ed the men wherever they went, and were fo obftinately goats are far fuperior in fize, and in length and fine-
officious, that they coiild not get quit of them upon nefs of hair, to thofe of other mountainous countries,
any account whatever. Their ufual colour is white: thofe of France and the
Goats are fenfible of careffes, and capable of a con- Alps are fhort-haired, reddifh, and the horns fmall.
fiderable degree of friendfhip. They are ftronger,' Bolfters made from the hair of a goat were in ufe in
more agile, and lefs timid, than (beep. They have a the days of Saul, as appears from 1 Samuel xix. 13.
lively, capricious, and wandering difpofition ; are fond The fpecies very probably was the Angora goat, which
of high and folitary places, and frequently deep upon is only found in the Fall; and whofe foft and filky hair
the very points of rocks. They are more eafily fup- fupplied a moft luxurious couch,
ported than any other animal of the fame fize ; for The fuet of the goat is in great efteem as well as the
there is hardly an herb, or the bark of a tree, which hair. Many of the inhabitants of Caernarvonlhire fuf-
they will not eat with pleafure. Neither are they fer thefe anipials to run wild on the rocks in winter as
liable to fo many difeafes as fheep : they can bear heat well as in fummer; and kill them in October for the
and cold with lefs inconvenience. The actions and fake of their fat, either by (hooting them with bullets,
movements of animals depend more upon the force and or by running them down with dogs like deer. The
variety of their fenfations than the ftrufture of their goats killed for this purpofe are about four or five years
bodies : the -natural inconftancy or fancifulnefs of goats old. Their fuet will make candles far fuperior in white-
is accordingly expreffed by the irregularity of their nefs and goodnefs to thofe made from that of the (heep
adlions : they walk, ftop fliort, run, jump, fhow and or the ox, and accordingly brings a much greater price
bide themfelves, as>it were by mere caprice, and with- in the market; nor are the horns without their ufe, the
cut any other caufe than what arifes from the natural country people making of them excellent handles for
vivacity of their temper. tucks and pen-knives. The Ikin is peculiarly well ad-
The buck will copulate when he is a year old, and apted for the glove manufa&ory, efpecially that of the
the female when ihe is feven months. But as this is kid : abroad it is dreffed and made into ftockings, bed-
rather premature, they are generally reftrained till ticks, bed-hangings, fheets, and even Hurts. In the
they be x 8 months or two years. The buck is bald, army it covers the horfeman’s arms, and carries the
beautiful, and vigorous ; one is fufficient to ferve 150 foot-foldier’s provifions. As it takes a dye better than
females. A buck for propagation Ihould be large, any other Ikin, it was formerly much ufed for hangings
bandfome, and about two years of age; his neck ftiould in the houfes of people of fortune, being fufceptible of
be fhort and flefhy ; his head flender; his ears pen the richeft colours, and when flowered and ornamented
dent; his thighs thick ; his limbs firm ; his hair with gold and filver became an elegant and fuperb fur-
black, thick, and foft; and his beard (hould be long niture.
and bulhy. The females are generally in feafon from The fleih is of great ufe to the inhabitants of'thofe
September to the end of November. At that time countries which abound with goats; and affords them
the males drive whole flocks of the females continually a cheap and plentiful provifion in the winter-months,
from place to place, and .fill the whole atmofphere when the kids are brought to market. The haunches
around them with their ftrong difagreeable odour ; of the goat are frequently falted and dried, and fupply
■which, though as difagreeable as afafoetida itfelf, yet all the ufes of bacon : this by the Wel/h is called cock
may be conducive to prevent many di{tempers, and to yr wden, or hung venifon. Tire meat of a fplayed goat,
cure nervous and hyfterical ones. Horfesare fuppofed of fix or feven years old (which is called hyfr) is reck-
to be much refreftied by it ; on which account many oned the beft; being generally very fat and fvveet. This
people keep a he-goat in their ftuds or (tables. makes an excellent pafty ; goes under the name of rock
Goats go with young four months and an half, and venifon ; and is little inferior to that of the deer,
bring forth from the latter end of February to the latter The milk of the goat is fweet, nourifliing, and me-
■end of April: having only.two teats,they generally bring dicinal. It is an excellent fuccedaneum for afs’s milk;
forth but one or two young; fometimes three; and in and has (with a tea-fpoonful of hartfhorn drunk warm
good warm paftures there have been inftances, tho’ rare, in bed in the morning, and at four in the afternoon,
of their bringing forth four at a time. They continue and repeated for fome time) been a cure for phthiiical
fruitful till they are feven years .of age ; but a buck people before they were gone too far. In fome of the
goat is feldom kept after he is five. Both young and mountainous parts of Scotland and Ireland, the milk i§-
old are affefted by the weather; a rainy feafon makes made into whey, which has done wonders in this and
them thin, a diy funny one makes them fat and other cafes where coolers and reftoratives are neceffary;
blithe: their exceffive venery prevents their longevity; and to many of thofe places there is as great a refort
for in our climate they feldom live above u or 12 years, of patients of all ranks, as there is in England to the
Though the food of this animal cofts next to no- Spas or baths. It is not furprifing that the milk of
thing, as it can fupport itfelf even upon the moft bar- this animal is fofalutary, as it browfes only on the tops,
jen mountains, their produce is valuable. The whiteft tendrils, and flowers, of the mountain (lirubs, and me-
«vigs are made of their hair; for which purpofe dicinal herbs; rejecting the groffer parts. The blood
CAP [ 143 1 CAP
©f the he-goat, dried, was formerly reckoned a fpecific
in pleurifies, and is even taken notice of by Dr Mead
for this purpofe ; but is now defervedly neglefted.
Cheefe made of goat’s milk is much valued in fome of
our mountainous countries, when kept to a proper age;
but has a peculiar tafte and flavour.
a. The Angora goat is a variety that is found only in
the tradi that furrounds Angora and Beibazar, towns
in Afiatic Turky, for the diftance of three or four
days journey. Strabo feems to have been acquainted
with this kind; for fpeaking of the river Halys, he
fays, that there are goats found near it that are not
known in other parts. In the form of their body they
differ from the common goat, being fhorter; their legs
too are fliorter, their Tides broader and flatter, and
their horns ftraighter; but the mofl: valuable character-
iftie is their hair, which is foft as filk, of a glofly
fxlvery whitenefs, and curled in locks of eight or nine
inches in length. This hair is the bafis of our fine
Gamlets, and imported to England in form of thread ;
for the Turks will not permit it to be exported raw,
for a reafon that does them honour ; becaufe it fup-
ports a multitude of poor, who live by fpinning it.
The goat-herds of Angora and Beibazar are extremely
careful of their flocks, frequently combing and walk¬
ing them. It is obferved, that if they change' their
climate and pafture, they lofe their beauty: we there¬
fore fufpect that the defign of Baron Alftroemer, a pa¬
triotic Swede, turned out fruitlefs, who imported fome
into his own country, to propagate the breed for the
fake of their hair.
b. The Capricorn of Buffon is another variety, ha¬
ving Ihort horns, the ends turned forwards, their [Tides
annulated, and'the rings more prominent before than
behind.
II. The ibex, or wild-goat, is the flock from whence
the tame fpecies fprung. It has large knotty horns re¬
clined upon its back,, is of a yellowilh colour, and its
beard is black. The females are lefs, and have fmaller
horns, more like thofe of a common fhe-goat, and with
few knobs on the upper furface: they bring one young
one, feldom two, at a birth. They inhabit the highell
Alps of the Grifon’s country and the Valais ; are alfo
found in Crete. They are very wild, and difficult tabs
Ihot, as they always keep on. the higheft points. Their
chace is exceedingly dangerous: being very flrong, they
often tumble the incautious huntfman down the preci¬
pices, except he has time to lie down, and let the ani¬
mals pafs over him. They are faid not to be long-
lived.
III. The mambrina, or Syrian goat, with reclined
horns, pendant ears, and a beard. It is a native of the
Ball. Their ears are of a vaft length; from one to two
feet; and fometimes fo troublefome,‘that the owners
cut off one to enable the animal to feed with more eafe.
Thefe animals fupply Aleppo with milk.
IV. The rupicapra, or chamois-goat, ha^ ereft and
hooked horns. The body is.of a dulky red colour; but
the front, top of the head, gullet, and infide of the ears,
are white ;. the under part of the tail is blackifh ; and
the upper lip is a little divided. It inhabits the Alps
of Dauphine, Switzerland, and Italy; the Pyrenean
mountains; Greece, and Crete: does not dwell To high
in the hills as the ibex,, and. is. found in greater num¬
bers. ,
The chamois is of the fize of a domeftic goat, and Capra,
his hair is as fhort as that of a hind. His vivacity is ——-v~—
delightful, and his agility truly admirable. Thefe ani¬
mals are very focial among thomfelves: We find them
going in pairs, or in little flocks of from three to twen¬
ty ; and fometimes we fee from 60 to i oo of them dif-
perfed in different flocks along the declivity of the fame
mountain. The large males keep at a diftance from
the reft, except in the rutting feafon, when they join
the females, and beat off all the young. At this pe¬
riod, their ardour is ft ill llronger -than that of the wild
bucks. They bleat often, and run from one mountain
to another. Their feafon of love is in the months of
Oftober and November, and they bring forth in March
and April. A young female takes the male at the
age of 18 mouths. The females bring forth one, but
rarely two, at a time. The young follow1 their mo¬
thers till Otlober, if not difperfed by the hunters or the
wolves. We are affured that they live between 2b and
30 years. Their flefti is very good. A fat chamois
goat will yield from 10 to 12 pounds of fuet, which is
harder and better than that of the goat. The blood of
the chamois is extremely hot, and it is faid to have
qualities and virtues nearly equal to thofe of the wild
goat. The hunters fometimes mix the blood of the
wild and chamois goats: At other times they fell the
blood of the wild goat for that of the chamois. The
voice of the chamois is a very low and almoft imper¬
ceptible kind of bleating, refembling that of a hqarfe
domeftic goat. It is by this bleating that they collect.
together, particularly the mothers and their young.
But, when alarmed, or when they perceive their enemy,,
or any thing the nature of which they cannot diftin-
guilh, they advertife one another by a kind of whift-
ling ncife. The fight of the chamois is very penetra¬
ting, and his fenfe of fmelling, is acute.- When he
fees a man diftinctly, he Hops for fome time, and flies
off when he makes a nearer approach. His fenfe of
hearing is equally acute as that of fmelling; for he
hears the fmalleft noife. When the wind blows in the:
direftion between him and a man, he will perceive the
feent' at the diftance of more than half a league. *
Hence, when he fmells or hears any thing which he
cannot fee, he whiffles or blows with fuch force, that
the rocks and forefts re-echoe the found.. If there are
many of them near, they all take the alarm. This
whiffling is as long as the animal can blow, without ta¬
king breath. Jt is at firft fharp, and turns flat at the
end. The chamois then ftops for a moment, looks
round on all fides, and begins whiffling afrefli, which
he continues from .time to time. His agitation is ex¬
treme. He ftrikes the earth with his feet; he leaps
upon, the higheft Hones he can find; he again looks
round, leaps from one eminence to another ; and, when
he difcovers any thing, he flies off. The whiffling of
the male is lharper than that of the female. This
whiffling is performed through the noftrils,. and con-
fills of a ftrong blowing, fimilar to the found which a
man may make by fixing his tongue to the palate, with
his teeth nearly Ihut, his lips open, and fomewhat ex¬
tended, and blowing long and with great force. The
chamois feeds on the fineft herbs. He feledls the moll
delicate parts of plants, as the flowers and the tender-
eft buds. He is very fond of fome aromatic herbs,
particularly of the carline thillle and genipay, which
are-
CAP [ 144 ] CAP
Capra. are the hotteft plants that grow in the Alps. When
he eats green herbs, he drinks very little. He is very
fond of the leaves and tender buds of fhrubs. He ru¬
minates like the common goat. The food he ufes
feems to announce the heat of his conftitution. This
. animal is admired for his large round eyes, whofe fize
correfponds with the vivacity of his difpofition. His
head is adorned with two fmall horns, from half a foot
to nine inches in length. Their colour is a fine black,
and they are placed on the front nearly between his
eyes; and, inftead of being feilected backward, like
thofe of other animals, they advance forward above
the eyes, and bend backward at the points, which are
extremely (harp. He adjuits his ears mod beautifully
to the points of his horns. Two tufts of black hair
defcend from his horns to the fides of his face. The
reft of the head is of a yellowifti white colour, which
never changes. The horns of the chamois are ufed
for the heads of canes. Thofe of the female are fmal-
ler and lefs crooked. The (kin of the chamois, when
dreffed, is very ftrong, nervous, and fupple, and makes
excellent riding-breeches, gloves, and vefts. Gar¬
ments of this kind laft long, and are of great ufe to
manufacturers. The chamois goats are fo impatient
of heat, that, in fummer, they are only to be found
under the (hades of caverns in the rocks, among maffes
of congealed fnOw and ice, or in elevated forefts on the
northern declivities of the mod fcdbrous mountains,
where the rays of the fun feldom penetrate. They
pafture in the mornings and evenings, and feldom du¬
ring the day. They traverfe the rocks and precipices
with great facility, where the dogs dare not follow
them. There is nothing more worthy of admiration
than to fee thefe animals climbing or defcending inac-
ceflible rocks. •They neither mount nor defcend per¬
pendicularly, but in an oblique line. When defcend-
ing, particularly, they throw themfelves down acrofs
a rock which is nearly perpendicular, and of 20 or 30
feet in height, without having a (ingle prop to fup-
port their feet. In defcending, they ftrike their feet
three or four times againft the rock, till they arrive at
a proper refting-place below. The fpring of their ten¬
dons is fo great, that, when leaping about among the
precipices, one would imagine they had wings inftead
of limbs. It has been alleged by feme, but without
foundation, that the chamois, in climbing and de¬
fcending rocks, fupports himfelf by his horns. It
is by the ftrength and agility of his limbs that the
chamois is enabled to climb and defcend rocks. His
legs are very free and tall; thofe behind are fome-
what longer, and always crooked, which favours their
fpringing to a great diftance ; and, when they throw
therrdelves from a height, the hind legs receive the
(hock, and perform the office of two fprings in break¬
ing the fall. * In great fnows, and during the rigour
of winter, the chamois goats inhabit the lower forefts,
and live upon pine leaves, the buds of trees, bufttes,
and fuch green or dry herbs as they can find by fcratch-
ing off the (now with their feet. The forefts that de¬
light them moft, are thofe which are very full of rocks
and precipices. The hunting ‘ of the chamois is very
difficult and laborious. The mode meft in ufe is to
kill them by furprife. The hunters conceal themfelves
behind rocks or large (tones, taking care that the wind
N° 64. 4
blows oppofite to them, and, when a favourable op-
po: tunity occurs, (hoot them with muiket-balls. They
are likewife hunted in the fame manner as (lags and
other animals, by pofting fome of the hunters in nar¬
row paffages, while others beat about to raife the
game. Men are preferable for this purpofe to dogs ;
for dogs too quickly difperfe the animals, who fly off
fuddenly to the diftance of four or five leagues.
V. The depressa is an African goat, with fmall
depreffed horfis, bent inwards, lying on the head. It
is about the fize of a kid; and the hair is long and pen¬
dulous.
VI. The reversa is likewife an African goat, with
eredl horns, and curved a little forwards. It is about
the fize of a kid of a year' old. It inhabits Juda
or Whidaw in Africa.
VII. The gazella has long, ereft, cylindrical
horns, annulated near the bafe. It inhabits Egypt, the
Cape, Arabia, the Levant, and India, dwelling in the
plains.
VIII. Tire CErvicapra, with plated cylindrical
horns, inhabits Barbary. The hair near the horns is
longer than in any other part of the body. The fe¬
males want horns. Mr Haffelquift gives the following
account of this fpecies: “ The cervicapra is larger,
fwifter, and wilder, than the common rock-goat, and
can fcarcely be taken without a falcon. It is met with
near Aleppo. I have feen a variety of this which is
common in the Eaft, and the horns appear different;
perhaps it is a diftimft fpecies. This animal loves the
fmoke of tobacco; and, when caught alive, will ap¬
proach the pipe of the huntfman, though otherwife more
timid than any animal. ' This is perhaps the only crea¬
ture, befides man, that delights in the fmell of apoifon-
ous and (linking plant. The Arabians hunt it with a
falcon (falco gentilis, Lin.) I had an excellent oppor¬
tunity of feeing this fport near Nazareth in Galilee.
An Arab, mounted on a fvvift courfer, held the falcon
in his hand, as huntfmen commonly do: when he efpied
the rock-goat on the top ©f a mountain, he let loofe
the falcon, which flew in a diredt line like an arrow,
and attacked the animal y fixing the talons of one of
his feet into the cheek of the creature, and the other
into its throat, extending his wings obliquely over the
animal; fpreading one towards one of its ears, and
the other to the oppofite hip. The animal, thus attack¬
ed, made a leap twice the height of a man, and freed
himfelf from the falcon : but being wounded, and lo-
fing his ftrength and fpeed,' he was again attacked by
’ the falcon; which fixed the talons of both its feet into
the throat of the animal, and held it faft, till the huntf¬
man coming up, took it alive, and cut its throat; the
falcon drinking the blood as a reyard for his labour.
A young falcon, which was learning, was likewife put
to the throat of the goat: by this means are young fal-
cops taught to fix their talons in the throat of the ani¬
mal, as being the propereft part; for (hould the falcon
fix them in the creature’s hip, or fome other part of the
body, the huntfman would not only lofe his game, but
his falcon alfq : for the animal, roufecl by the wound,
which could not prove mortal, would run to the de-
ferts and the tops of the mountains, whither its enemy,
keeping its hold, would be obliged to follow; and, be-
inq feparated from its mafter, muft of courfe perifh.”
IX. The
i
Captl.
'a/rusorri'.
u^/iey.
^7'eirutj!tL/*
' //tf/f
C AT Ti A .
Tlate CXXn .
CAP [
IX. The bezoartica, or bezoar goat, is bearded,
and has cylindrical, arched, and wholly ann dated horns.
It is a native of Perfia. The bezoar is found in one of
its ftomachs, called abomafus. See Bezoar andABO-
X. The Tartarica, or faiga of Buffon, has cylin¬
drical, ftraight, annulated horns; the points inclining
inward, the ends fmooth; the other part furrounded
with very prominent annuli; of a pale yellow colour,
and the greatefl. part femipellucid; the cutting teeth
are placed fo loofe in their fockets, as to move with
the leaft touch. The male is covered with rough hair
like the he-goat, and has a very ftrong fmell; the fe¬
male is fmoother. The hair on the bottom of the fides
and the throat is long, and refembles wool; that on
the fides of the neck and head is hoary ; the back and
fides of a dirty white ; the breaft, belly, and infide of
the thighs, of a fhining white. The females are defti-
tute of horns. Thefe animals inhabit all the deferts
from the Danube and Dnieper to the river Irtifh, but
not beyond. Nor are they ever feen to the north of
54 or 55 degrees of latitude. They are found there¬
fore in Poland, Moldavia, about Mount Caucafus, and
the Cafpian Sea, and Siberia, in the dreary open deferts,
where falt-fprings abound, feeding on the fait, the a-
crid and aromatic plants of thofe countries, and grow in
the fummer-time very fat: but their flefh acquires a
tafte difagreeable to many people, and is fcarcely eat¬
able, until it is fuffered to grow cold after dreffing. The
females go with young the whole winter ; and bring
forth in the northern deferts in May. They have but
one at a time; which is Angular, as the numbers of
thefe animals are prodigious. The young are covered
with a foft fleece, like new-dropt lambs, curled and
waved. They are regularly migratory. In the rut-
ting-feafon, late in autumn, they colleA in flocks of
thoufands, and retire into the fouthern deferts. In
the fpring they divide into little flocks, and return
northward at the fame time as the wandering Tartars
change their quarters.
They very feldom feed alone; the males feeding
promifcuoufiy with the females and their young. They
rarely lie down all at the fame time : but, by a provi¬
dential inftindl, fome are always keeping, watch ; and
when they are tired, they feemingly give notice to fnch
as have taken their reft, who arife inftantly, and
as it were relieve the centinels of the preceding hours.
They thus often preferve themfelves from the attack of
wolves, and from the furprize of the huntfmen. They
. are exceflively fwift, and will outrun the fleeteft horfe
or gre-hound ; yet partly through fear (for they are
tire mcft timid of animals), and partly by the flrortnefs
of their breath, they are very foon taken. If they are
but bit by a dog, they inftantly fall down, nor will
they even offer to rife. In running they feem to in¬
cline on one fide, and their courfe is fo rapid that their
feet feem fcarcely to touch the ground. In a wild
ftate they feem to have no voice. When brought up
tame, the young emit a fhort fort of bleating, like
fheep.
The males are moft libidinous animals: the Tartars,
who have fufficient time to obferve them, report that
they wdll copulate twenty times together; and that
this ability arifes from their feeding on a certain herb,
which has moft invigorating powers. When taken
Voi. IV. Part L
145 1 CAP
young, they may eafily be made tame; but if caught
when at full age, are fo wild and fo obftinate as to “
refufe all food. When they die, their nofes are quite
flaccid.
They are hunted for the fake of their flefh, horns,
and fkins, which are excellent for gloves, belts, &c.
The huutfmen always approach them againft the wind,
leaft they fhould fmell their enemy ; they alfo avoid
putting on red or white clothes, or any colours which
might attraft their notice. They are either fhot, or
taken by dogs ; or by the black eagle, which is trained
to this fpccies of falconry. Their beft feafon is in Sep¬
tember : at other times, the fkins are penetrated by
worms. The fat refembles that of mutton ; in tafte,
like that of a buck : the head is reckoned the moft de¬
licate part.
XL The Ammon,has femicircular, plain, white horns,
and no beard. It is about the fize of a ram, and is a
native of Siberia.
XII. The 4Eegagrus of Pallas, or Caucafan goat,
has fmooth black horns, fharply ridged on their upper
parts, and hollowed on their outward fides. No veftiges
of knots or rings, but on the upper furface are fome
wavy rifings ; bend much back, and are much hooked at
the end, approaching a little at the points. On the
chin is a great beard, dufky, mixed with chefnut. The
forepart of the head is black, the fides mixed with
brown ; the reft of the animal grey, or grey mixed with
ruft-colour. Along the middle of the back, from the
neck to the tail, is a black lift ; and the tail is black.
The female is either deftitute of horns, or has very
fhort ones. In fize it is fuperior to the largeft he-
goats, but in form and agility refembles a flag : yet
Monardus compares it to the he-goat, and fays that it
has the feet of the goat. They inhabit the lower
mountains of Caucafus and Taurus, all Afia Minor,
and perhaps the mountains of India. They abound
on the inhofpitable hills of Laar and Khorazan in Per¬
fia ; and according to Monardus are alfo found in
Africa. It is an animal of vaft agility. Monardus
was witnefs to the manner of its faving itfelf from in¬
jury by falling on its horns; for he faw that which he
defcribes leap from a high tower, precipitating itielf on
its horns; then fpringingon its legs, and leaping about,
without receiving the leaft. harm. This is one of the
animals which yields the once-valued alexipharmic, the
Bezoar-ftone; which is a concretion formed of many
coats, incrufting a nucleus of fmall pebble, ftones of
fruits, bits of ftraw, or buds of trees. The incrufting
coats are created from the vegetable food of the ani¬
mals, efpecially the rich, dry, and hot herbs of the Per-
lian and Indian mountains. Its virtues are now ex¬
ploded, and it is reckoned only an abfotbent, and that
of the weakeft kind.
XIII. TheGNOU, with fcabrous horns, and thick atthe
bale, bending forward clofe to the head, then fuddenly
reverting upwards. The mouth is fquaref the noftrils
covered with broad flaps. From the nofe, half way
up the front, is a thick oblong-fquafe brufh of long
fliff black hairs reflefted upwards, on each fide of which
the other hairs are long, and point clofely down the
cheeks. Round the eyes are difpofed in a radiated
form feveral ftrong hairs. The neck is fnort, and a
little arched. On the top a ftrong and upright mane,
reaching from the horns beyond the fhoulders. On
T the
Capra.
CAP C 146 ] CAP
the chin is a long white beard ; and on the gullet a
very long pendulous bunch of hair. On the breaft,
and between the fore-legs, the hairs are very long and
black. The tail reaches to the firft joint of the legs,
and is full of hair like that of a horfe, and quite white.
The body is thick; and covered with fmooth fhort
hair of a ruft brown colour tipt with white. The
le<rs are long, elegant, and flender, like thofe of a flag.
On each foot is only a Angle fpurious or hind hoof.—
It is a flrange compound of animals : having a vaft
head like that of an ox ; body and tail, like a horfe ;
legs like a ftag; and the finus lacrymalis of an ante¬
lope. The ordinary fze of it is about that of a
common galloway; the length of it being fome-
what above .five, and height of it rather more than
four feet.—Thefe animals inhabit in great numbers the
fine plains of the great Namacquas, far north of the
Cape of Good Hope, extending from S. lat. zy. to 28.
42. where Africa feems at once to open its vaft trea-
fures of hoofed quadrupeds. It is an exceedingly fierce
animal: on the fight of any body it ufually drops its
head, and puts itfelf into an attitude of offence ; and
will dait with its horns againft the pales of the inclo-
fure towards the perfons on the outlide; yet it will
afterwards take the bread which is offered. It will
often go upon its knees, run fwiftly in that Angular
pofture, and furrow the ground with its herns and legs.
The Hottentots call it Gnou from its voice. It has
two notes, one refembling the bellowing of an ox, the
ether more clear. It is called an ox by the Euro¬
peans.
XIV. The Dorcas, or antelope, has cylindrical an-
nulated horns, bent backward, contorted, and arifing
from the front between the eyes. It is a native of A-
frica and Mexico. Thefe animals are of a moft elegant
and active make ; of a refllefs and timid difpofition; ex¬
tremely watchful; of great vivacity ; remarkably fwift;
exceedingly agile ; and moft of their boundings fo light,
fo elaftic, as to ftrike the fpe&ator with aftoniftiment.
What is very Angular, they will ftop in the middle of
their courfe, for a moment gaze at their purfuers, and
then refume their flight.
As the chace of thefe animals is a favourite diverfion
with the eaftern nations, from that may be collefted
proofs of the rapid fpeed of the antelope tribe. The
gre-hound, the fleeteft of dogs, is unequal in the courfe ;
and the fportfman is obliged to call in the aid of the fal¬
con trained to the work, to feize on the animal and
impede its motions, to give the dogs time to overtake
it. In India and Perfia a fort of leopard is made ufe of
in the chaee: this is an animal that takes its ptey,
not by fwiftnefs of foot, but by the greatnefs of its
fprings, by motions fimilar to that of the antelope;
but ftiould tl>2 leopard fail in its firft effay, the game
efcapes.
The fleetnefs of this animal was proverbial in the
country it inhabited even in the earlieft times : the
fpeed of Afahel is beautifully compared to that of the
tzebi; and the Gadites were faid to be as fwift as the
roes upon the mountains. The facred writers took
their fimiles from fuch objefts as were before the eyes-
of the people they addreffed themfelves to. There
is another inftanee drawn from the fame fubjeA : the
difciple raifed to life at Joppa was fuppofed to have
been called Tabithax i. e.. Dorcas, or the Antelope, from
the beauty of her eyes; and this is ftill a common Capra,
comparifon in the eaft : Aim el Cxcixel, or, “ You have l~T-*~
eyes of an Antelope,” is the greateft compliment that
can be paid to a fine woman.
Some fpecies oftdie antelopes form herds of 2000 or
3000, while others keep in fmall troops of five or fix.
They generally rdide in hilly countries ; though fome
inhabit plains: they often browfe like the goat, and
feed on the tender (hoots of trees, which gives their flefii
an excellent flavour. This is to be underftood of thofe
that are taken in the chafe; for thofe that are fattened
in houfes are far lefs delicious. The flefh of fome fpe¬
cies are faid to tafte of mufle, which perhaps depends
on the qualities of the plants they feed on.
Mr Pennant makes the antek'pe a diftincf genus of
animals, forming a link between the goat and the deer;
with the firft of which they agree in the texture of the
horns, which have a core in them, and they never caft
them ; with the laft, in the elegance of their form, and
great fwiftnefs. He diftinguhhes feveral fpecies, among
which he ranks the ganelia, the ecrvicapra, the bezoar-
tica, ,and the tartarica of Linnseus, deferibed above,
vn. viix. ix. x. with the mofehus grimmia of the fame
author. See Moschus.
The other fpecies of antelopes diftinguilhed by zoolo-
gifts are :
1. Kevella of Pallas, or flat-horned antelope, has
hornk twelve inches long, flattened on their (ides, in¬
clining firft backwards, bending in the middle, and then-
reverting forwards at their ends, and aimuSated with
from fourteen to eighteen rings : the upper lide of the
body is reddiflt brown; lower part and buttocks are
white : the fize equal to a fmall roebuck. They ia-
habit Senegal; where they live in great flocks, are
eafily tamed, and are excellent meat.
2. The corine antelope, with very {lender horns, fix
inches long, iurrounded with circular ruga: on each
fide of the face is a white line ; beneath that, is one of
black : the neck, body, and flanks are tawny; belly
and infide of the thighs white: on the knees is a tuft of
hair. It is lefs than a roebuck, and inhabits Senegal.
3. The nagor, or red antelope, with horns 5 J inches;
long ; one or two flight rings at the bafe : ears much
longer than the horns: hair ftiff and bright; in all
parts of a reddifti colour, paleft on the cheft : tail very
fhort. Inhabits Senegal and the Cape j where it is
very frequent, and is a common food.
4. The dama or fwift antelope (le Nanguer, Buff.)1,,
with round horns, eight inches long, reverting at their
ends. The general colour is tawny ; but this fpecies
varies in that particular. It inhabits Senegal; and is
eafily tamed. It is very fwift : iElian compares its
flight to the rapidity of a whirlwind.
5. The elk-antelope of Sparman (Indian antelope of
Pennant), has thick ftraight horns, marked with two-
prominent fpiral ribs near two thirds of their lengthy
fmooth towards their end; fome above two feet long..
The head is ©f a reddifh- colour, bounded on the cheeks
by a dufky fine. The forehead is broad; the nofc
pointed. On the forehead is a ftripe of long Foofe
hairs; and on the lower part of the dewlap, a large
tuft of black hair. Along the neck and back, from
head to tail, is a black, fhort mane: the reft of the body
is of a bluifh grey, tinged with red. The tail does not
reach to the firft joint of the leg;, is covered with fhort
ci-
Capn.
CAP
cinereous hair; and the end tufted with long black hairs.
' The hoofs are fhort, furrounded at their junftion with
the legs by a circle of black hairs. The height to the
{boulders is five feet. It k thick bodied and ftrongly
made ; but the legs are {lender. It wants the ftnus
lachrymalis. The females are horned like the males.—
[ H7 1
CAP
duiky. The face, cheeks, nofe, chin, and throat, are
white. The whole upper fide of the neck, part of the "
lower, the back, iides, and outfide of the limbs, are of
a pale yellowiih brown. The cheft, belly, and infide
of the limbs, are white ; the fides and belly divided by
a broad band of chefnut, which runs down part of the
The Caffres call this fpecies empofos and pojfo. The (boulders. The tail reaches to the firft joint of the
Dutch of the Cape call it the eland or elk. M. de Buf-
fon, by miftake, calls this the condom, w-hich he ought
to have bellowed on his condoma. It inhabits India,
Congo, and the fouthern parts of Africa. They live
in herds; but the old males are often folitary. They
grow very fat, efpecially about the breaft and heart:
fo that they are eafily caught; and when purfued, will
leg ; the upper part white ; the lower black, and fur-
niihed with long hair. The buttocks are white ; and
from the tail half way up the back is a ftripe of white,
expanfible at pleafure. This elegant fpecies weighs
about fifty pounds, and is father lefs than a roebuck.
It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called
the fpring-bock, from the prodigious leaps it takes 0
fometimes fall dead in the chace. They are flow run- the fight of any body. When alarmed, it has the
tiers: whenroufed, always go againft the wind, nor can power of expanding the white fpace about the tail in-
the hunters (even if they front the herd) divert them to the form of a circle, which returns to its linear form
from their courfe. The flefh is fine-grained, very de- when the animal is tranquil. Thefe animals migrate
licious, and juicy. The hide is tough: the Hottentots annually from the interior parts in fmall herds, and
make tobacco-pipes of the horns.
6. The cervine antelope, or antelope lulalis of Pallas,
with horns bending outward and backward, almoft clofe
at their bafe, and diftant at their points; twilled and
annulated ; very fixong and black : the head is large,
and like that of an ox: the eyes are placed very high,
and near to the horns : the form of the body is a mix¬
ture of the flag and heifer ; height to the top of the
fhoulders four feet : the tail is rather more than a foot
continue in the neighbourhood of the Cape for two c
three months : then join companies, and go off in
troops confifting of many thoufands, covering the
great plains for feveral hours in their paffage. They
are attended in their migrations by numbers of lions,
hyaenas, and other wild beafts, which make great de*
fixuflion among them. They are excellent eating, and
with other antelopes are the venifon of the Cape. Mr
Mafon* informs us, that they alfo make periodical *
long, afinine, and terminated with a tuft of hair : the migrations, in feven or eight years, in herds ef many TV w
colour a reddifh brown; white about the rump, the hundred thoufands, from the north, as he fuppofes from vo''*xv*”
inner fide of the thighs, and lower part of the belly : a the interior parts of Terra cL Natal. They are com- I0^‘
dark fpace occupies the top of the back, the front of pelied to it by the exceffive drought which happens in
the upper part of the fore legs, and hinder part of the that region, when fometimes there does not fall a drop
thighs. It inhabits Barbary, and probably other parts of rain for two or three years. Thefe animals in their
of Africa, being alfd found towards the Cape of Good courfe defolate Caffraria, fpreadirig over the whole
Hope. It is the btkker el wajl} of the Arabs, accord- country, and not leaving a blade of grafs. Lions at-
Ing to Dr Shaw; who fays, that its young quickly tend them 5 where one of thofe beafts of prey are, his
grow tame, and herd with other cattle. Mr Forlkal place is known by the vaft void viiible in the middle of
mentions it among the Arabian animals of an uncer* the timorous herd.
tain genus, by the name of bakar nafch. This is the 8. The flriped antelope, has fmooth horns, twilled
bubalus of the ancients ; not the buffalo, as later wri- fpirally, and compreffed fideways, with a ridge on one
ters have fuppofed. The Dutch of the Cape call this fide following the wreaths: they confift of three bends ;
fpecies harteheejl. They go in great herds ; few only and are fometimes four feet and a half long meafured
are folitary. They gallop feemingly with a heavy in a ftraight line. They are naturally of a dufky co¬
pace, yet go fwiftly. They drop on their knees to lour, and wrinkled; but are generally brought over
fight like the white-footed antelope or nil-ghau, and highly polifhed. The females are deftitute of horns,
the bofch-bok, after-defcribed. The flefh is fine grained, In the upper jaw is a hard horny fubftance, difpofed in
ridges. The length of the animal is nine feet; the legs
are {lender: the general colour is of a reddifti cail, mixed
ith grey; and from the tail, along the top of the
but dry.—Mr Sparman informs us, that in this animal
there is a pore one line in diameter, an inch or an inch
and a half below and before the internal angle of the
eye. From this pore, which is the aperture of a carun* back, to the flioulders, is a white ftripe; from which
cle that lies below, there is fecreted a matter almoft as*? feven others, four pointing towards the thighs,
like ear-wax, which he obferved the Hottentots kept and three towards the belly; but they vary in number
in a piece of (kin as a rare and excellent medicine; of ftripes. On the upper part of the neck is a fhort
on the dried {kin of the animal, this pore is fcarcely to masse: beneath the neck, from the throat to the breaft,
be difceryed. This Mr Sparinan fuppoffes L the rea- are fomc long hairs hanging down. It inhabits the
fon why fo great and accurate a zoologift as M. Pallas Cape of Good Hope, where it is called coedoes, and is
•( who defcribes it in his Spicilegia under the denomina- faid to leap to a moil aftonifhing height. This fpecies
tion(of Sint'dope lubalis) makes no mention of this por^ Wants the Jinus lacrymalis.
;as!he made his defcriptioirs chiefly from the dried flcins ; 9. The bofch-bok, or wood-goat of the Cape, a
•of this animal. 'The ufe of this pore, which is alfo fpecies of antelope, according to Mr Sparman, un-
found in the deer, is Hr affording freer refpiration, a known to all the cultivators of natural hiftory, whether
ecireumllancefoeffential to beafts of chafe. SccCervus. ancient or modern, till he defcribed it in the memoirs
7. The fpringer, with {lender horns, annulated half of the Swedifli academy for the year 1780, quarter
way, and twice contorted. The ears very long and 3d, by the name of antilope Jyhatica. This animal
T 2 has
CAP '43 ] CAP
Capra, has obtained the name it goes by, in confequence of
?■—v—its being the only one among the gazels in Africa,
which may be properly faid to live in the woods and
groves-' In fize, the bofch-bok is fomewhat above two
feet and a half high. The horns are ten inches and a
half long ; the ears half the length of the horns, or
five inches.—The horns are black, in fome meafure
triangular, and at the fame time wreathed, fo that
both the fides and angles have fomewhat of a fpiral
turn. At bottom they are rather rough, in confe¬
quence of a fet of almoft innumerable wavy-rings;
which, however, are not elevated much above the fur-
face. At top they are conical and lharp-pointed, and
in that part as fmooth as though they had been polilh-
ed. The teeth of this animal are like thofe of other
antelopes. It has no fore teeth or incifores except in
the lower jaw, where it has eight.—There is no porus
ceriferus in this, as there is in fome other antelopes.
The hairs on the head are very Ihort and fine ; after¬
wards th£y become more rough and rugged, refem-
bling goats hair more than that of gazels or harts.
Forwards on the neck, breall, fides, and belly, they
are an inch and a half or two inches long. On the
ridge of the neck, and fo on all along that of the back,
they are three or four inches in length, fo as to form
a kind of mane there, terminating in a tail about a
finger’s breadth long. On the hind part of the thighs
and buttocks likewife, the hairs are eight inches long;
the legs and feet are flender, and covered with fhort
hairs; the fetlock-joints are fmall; the nofe and un¬
der-lip are decorated with black whiikers about an inch
long. The predominant colour in this animal is dark-
brown, which occupies the principal part of the fides,
the back, the upper part of the tail, the upper part
of the cheft and fore-ribs, and the fore-part of the
belly. A ftill darker brown, bordering upon black,
is difcoverable on the outfide of the Ihoulders, and
fome part of the fore-ribs. The fore-part of the nofe,
from the eyes to the muzzle, is of a foot colour. The
ears are likewife as black as foot on the outfide, but
on the infide grey ;■ and both outwards and inwards
covered with hairs it ill ihorter than thofe on the head;
excepting half the fore-part of the lower edge, where
the hairs are white and half an inch long. Divers
fmall white fpots, from nine to twelve in all, are feen
on each of the haunches and on the fides near them. A
narrow line of long white hairs extends from the neck
all along the back and tail, in the midit of the long
brown hairs already defcribed. From the chine of the
back to the fides run five white parallel ftreaks, which,
however, are only difcoverable by a clofe infpedtion.
This creature does much mifchief to the vineyards
and kitchen-gardens of the Cape colonifts ; and it
fhows a great deal of craft and artifice in avoiding the
fnares and traps fet for it, as well as the ambufcades
of the fportfmen. As the bofch-hok runs but /lowly,
it fometimes happens that he is caught by dogs.
"When he fees there is no other refource, he puts him-
felf in a pofture of defence ; and when he is going to
butt, kneels down, like the white-footed antelope and
the hartbeeft. The colonifts are not very fond of
hunting him in this manner, as the beaft on this occa-
fion generally fells his life at a very dear rate, by go¬
ring and killing fome of their bell and moft fpirited
hounds. This creature’s horns, which are its chief
defence, fometimes alfo prove its bane, by being en- Car
tangled in the buihes and fmall branches of trees, ^
which thus ftop the beaft in its flight. In fome mea¬
fure to avoiyPthis, it carries its nofe horizontally and
ftraight forward while it runs; fo that its horns lie, as it
were, diredlly on its neck : notwith(landing which,
their horns are generally worn away a little on the
fore part, and thus acquire fome degree of polilh.—
This fpecies of antelope is monogamous, or keeps in
pairs. It is fwifter in woodlands than the dogs, which
likewife fooner lofe fcent of him there. The female,
which is without horns, and on that account runs
about in the foreft more free and unimpeded, does not
fuffer herfelf fo eafily to be hunted out of the woods,
having there, as well as on the plains, a more certain
defence againft the dogs in her legs, than the male
has in his horns, efpecially as /he is not fo bulky and
heavy as the male. Her bread is faid to be very
plump and fle/hy, but the fle/h in general is not very
tender.
i o. The leucoryx with the nofe thick and broad,
like that of a cow ; the ears fomewhat flouching;
body clumfy and thick : The horns long, very /light¬
ly incurvated, flender, annulatedpart of the way; black,
pointed. The tail reaching to the. firft joint of the
legs, and tufted. The colour is in all parts a fnowy
whitenefs, except the middle of the face, fides of the
cheeks, and limbs, which are tinged with red.—This
fpecies is about the fize of a Welch runt; and inha¬
bits Gow Bahrein, an i/le in the gulph of Baflbra.
11. The pitta, white-footed antelope, or nyl-ghau ;
with /hort horns, bending a little forward; ears large*
marked with two black /tripes; a fmall black mane on
the neck, and half way down the back: a tuft of
long black hairs on the fore-part of the neck; above
that, a large fpot of white ; another between the fore¬
legs on the chett : one white fpot on each fore-foot ;
two on each hind-foot: the tail is long, tufted with
black hairs. The colour of the male is a dark grey.
The female is of a pale brown colour; with a mane,
tuft, and ftriped ears, like the male; on each foot
three tranfverfe bands of black and two of white : It
is deftitute of horns. The height to the top of the
/houlders is four feet and an inch; the length from the
bottom of the neck to the anus, four feet. The head
is like that of a flag; the legs are delicate.—Thefe ani¬
mals inhabit the diftant and interior parts of India, re¬
mote from our fettlements. They are brought down
as curiofities to the Europeans, and have of late years
been frequently imported into England. In the days
of Aurenge Zebe, they abounded between Delhi and
Labor, on the way to Cachemire. They were called
nyl-ghau, or blue or grey bulls ; and were one of the ob¬
jects of chace, with that mighty prince, during his
journey. They were inclofed by his army of hunters
within nets, which being drawn clofer and clofer, at
length formed a fmall precindt: into this the king,
his omrahs, and hunters, entered, and killed the beafts
with arrows, fpears, or mu/kets; and fo.netimes in fuch
numbers, that Aurenge Zebe ufed to fend quarters as
prefents to all his great people. They are ufually
very gentle and tame, will feed readily, and lick the
hands which give them food. In confinement they
will eat oats, but prefer grafs and hay; are very fond
of wheaten bread; and when thirfty, they will drink.
two
1
Plate CXmr.
y/?e ///</?■ t/j i // /^//
utvru
euro/'
CAP [H9l CAP
two gallons at a time. They are faid to be at
times very vicious and fierce. When the males fight,
they drop on their kne*s at a diftance from one
another, make their approaches in that attitude, and
when they come near, fpring and dart at each other.
They will often, in a ftate of confinement, fall into that
pofture without doing any harm. They will, not-
withftanding, attack mankind unprovoked. A la¬
bourer, who was looking over fome pales which inclo-
fed a few of them, was alarmed by one of the males
flying at him like lightning ; but he was faved by the
intervention of the woodwork, which it broke to
pieces, and at the fame time one of its horns.—They
have bred in England. They are fuppofed to go nine
months with young, and have fometimes two at a
birth.
12. The fcripta or harneffedantelope fleguib, Buff.),
has ftraight horns nine inches long, pointing back¬
wards, w'ith two fpiral ribs. The general colour is a
deep tawny ; but the fides are moil Angularly marked
with two tranfverfe bands of white, croffed by two
others from the back to the belly; the rump with
three white lines pointing downwards on each fide ;
and the thighs are fpotted with white. The tail is
ten inches long, covered with long rough hairs.— It
inhabits the plains and wroods of Senegal, living in
large herds. It is frequent at the Cape, where it is
called the bonte-bok, or {potted goat.
CAPRA-Saltans, in meteorology, a fiery meteor or
exhalation fometimes feen in the atmofphere. It forms
an inflected line, refembling in fome meafure the ca-
perings of a goat; whence it has its name.'
CAPRALA, an ifle of Italy, in the Tufcan fea, to
the north-eaft of Corfica, on which it depends. ’ It is
pretty populous, and has a ftrong caftle for its defence.
It is about 15 miles in circumference. E. Long. 11.
5. N. Lat. 43. 15.
CAPRARlA, in botany : A genus of the angio-
fpermia order, belonging to the didynamia clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
40th order, Perfonata. The calyx is quinquepartite ;
the corolla campanulated, quinquefid, with acute feg-
ments ; the capfule bivalved, bilocular, and polyfper-
mous. There is but one fpecies," the biflora, which is
a native of the warm parts of America. Being a
troublefome weed, and without beauty, it is never cul¬
tivated, except in botanic gardens Ibr the fake of va¬
riety.
CAPRAROLA, one of the moft magnificent pa¬
laces in Italy, feated on a hill, in Ronciglione, whofe
foot is watered by the river Tircia. It was built by
cardinal Farnefe ; and has five fronts, in the middle of
which is a round court, though all the rooms are fquare,
and well proportioned. It is 27 miles north-wett of
Rome.
CAPREiE. See Capri.
CAPREOLUS (Elias), an excellent civilian, and
learned hiftorian, born in Brefcia in Italy, wrote an
hiftory of Brefcia, and other wrorks : died in 1519.
CAPRI, (anciently Caprea), a city and ifland at the
entrance of the gulph of Naples, E. Long. 14. 50. N.
Lat. 40. 45.—The ifland is only four miles long and
one broad; the city is a bifliop’s fee, fituated on a
high rock at the weft end of the ifland. Caprese w^as
anciently famous for the retreat of the emperor Tibe¬
rius for feven years, during which he indulged himfelf Cap-i
in the moft fcandalous debaucheries*. Before Tiberius W
came hither, Capri had attracted the notice of Auguf- at^ln ca“
tus, as a moft eligible retreat, though in fight of popu-  - «
lous cities, and almoft in the centre of the empire. His * See 7j-
fucceffor preferred it to every other relidence ; and in beriut.
order to vary his pleafures, and enjoy the advantages
as wrell as avoid the inconveniences of each revolving
feafon, built twelve villas in different fituations, dedi¬
cated to the twelve greater gods : the ruins of fome
of them are ftill to be feen : at Santa Maria are exten-
five vaults and refervoirs; and on an adjoining brow
are the remains of a light-houfe ; two broken columns
indicate the entrance of the principal court. Ac¬
cording to Dion Caffius, this illand wras wild and bar¬
ren before the Csfars took it under their immediate
protcftion: at this day a large portion of its furface
is uncultivated and impracticable ; but every fpot that
will admit the hoe is induftrioufly tilled, and richly
laden with the choiceft productions of agriculture. The
odium attached to the memory of Tiberius proved fa¬
tal to his favourite abode; fcarce was his death pro¬
claimed at Rome, when the fenate iflued orders for the
demolition of every fabric he had raifed on the ifland,
which by way of punifhment was thenceforward de-
ftined to be a ftate prifon. The wife and After of
Commodus were banifhed to its inhofpkable rocksj
which were foon ftained with their blood. In the middle
ages Capri became an appendage of the Amalfitan re¬
public, and after the downfall of that ftate, belonged
to the duchy of Naples. There ftood a pharos on this
ifland, which, a few days before the death of Tiberius,,
was overthrown by an earthquake.
CAPRIATA (Peter John), a civilian and hiftorian,
was born at Genoa. He wrote, in Italian, the hiftory
of the wars of Italy ; an Englifh tranflation of which
was printed in London in 1663.
CAPRICORN, in aftronomy, one of tire 1-2 figns
of the zodiac. See Astronomy, n° 404.
The ancients accounted Capricorn the tenth fign ;
and when the fun arrived thereat, it made the winter
folftfce with regard to our hemifphere : but the ftars
having advanced a whole fign towards-the eaft, Capri¬
corn is now rather the nth fign; and it is at the fun’s
entry into Sagittary that the folftice happens, though,
the ancient manner of fpeaking is ftill retained.
This fign is reprefented on ancient monuments, me¬
dals, &c. as having the forepart of a goat and the hind-
part of a fiih, which is the form of an JEgipan ; fome¬
times Amply under the form of a goat.
Tropic of Capricorn, a lefler circle of the fphere,
which is parallel to the equinoctial, and at 230 30' di¬
ftance from it fouthwards ; paffing through the begin¬
ning of Capricorn.
CAPRIFICATION, a method ufed in-the Levant,
for ripening the fruit of the domeftic fig-tree, by means
of infedts bred in that of the wild fig-tree.
The moft ample and fatisfadlory accounts of this
curious operation in gardening are thofe of Tourne-
fort and Pontedera: the former, in-his Voyage to the-
Levant, and in a Memoir delivered to the academy of
fciences at Paris in 1705 ; the latter, in his Anthologiai
The fubftance of Tournefort’s account follows : “ Of
the thirty fpecies or varieties of the domeftic fig-trea
which are cultivated in France, Spain, and Italy, there.
ars
CAP [ 150 ] CAP
t apnfka- are but two cultivated in the Archipelago. The firft
tl0u- fpecies is called ornos, from the old Greek erinos, which
u v——• anfwers to capnfuus in Latin, and fignifies a wild fig-
tree. The fecond is the domeftic or garden fig-tree.
The former bears fucceflively, in the fame year, three
forts of fruit, called fornites, cratitires, and or n't; which,
though not good to eat, are found abfolutely neceffary
towards ripening thofe of the gardert*fig. Thefe fruits
have a fleek even flcin ; arc of a deep green colour;
and contain in their dry and mealy inlide feveral male
a nd female flowers placed upon diftindt foOt-llalks, the
former above the latter. The fornites appear in Auguft,
and continue to November without ripening : in thefe
are bred fmall worms, which turn to a fort of gnats
nowhere to be feen but about thefe trees. In Odtober
and November, thefe gnats of themfelves make a punc¬
ture into the fecor.d fruit, which is called cratitires.
Thefe do not fliow themfelves till towards the end of
September. The fornites gradually fall aw;*y after the
gnats are gone ; the cratitires, on the contrary, remain
on the tree till May, and inclofe the eggs depofited by
the gnats when they pricked them. In Mav, the third
fort of fruit, called- orni, begins to be produced by the
wild fig-trees. This is much bigger than the other
two ; and when it grows to a certain fize, and its bud
begins to open, it is pricked in that part by the gnats
of the cratitires, which are itrong enough to go from
one fruit to another to depofit their eggs. It fome-
tiines happens that the gnats of the cratitires are flow
to come forth in certain parts, while the orni in thofe
very parts are difpofed to receive them. In this cafe,
the hufbandman is obliged to look for the cratitires in
another part, and fix them at the ends of the branches
of thofe fig-trees whofe orni are in a fit difpofition to
be pricked by the gnats. If they mifs the opportuni¬
ty, the orni fall, and the gnats of the cratitires fly away.
None but tbofe that are well acquainted with the cul¬
ture know the critical moment of doing this ; and in
order to know it, their eye is perpetually fixed on the
bud of the fig ; for that part not only indicates the
time that the prickers are to ifiue forth, but alfo when
the fig is to be fuccefsfully pricked: if the bud is too
hard and compact, the gnat cannot lay its eggs; and
the fig drops when the bud is too open.
“ The ufe of all thefe three forts of fruit is to ripen
the fruit of the garden fig-tree, in the following
manner. During the months of June and July, the
peafants take the orni, at the time their gnats are ready
to break out, and cany them to the garden fig-trees:
if they do not nick the moment, the orni £tll; and the
fruit of the domeftic fig-tree, not ripening, will in a
very little time fall in like manner. The peafants are
fo well acquainted with thefe precious moments, that,
every morning, in making their infpeftion, they only
transfer to their garden fig-trees fuch orni as are well
conditioned, otherwife they lofe their crop. In this
cafe, however, they have one remedy, though an indif¬
ferent one ; which is, to ftrew over the garden fig-trees
another plant in whofe fruit there is alfo a fpecies of
gnats which anfwer the purpofe in feme meafure.”
The caprification of the ancient Greeks and Ro¬
mans, defcribed by Theophraftus, Plutarch, Pliny,
and other authors of antiquity, correfponds in every
circumftance with what is praftifed at this day in the
Archipelago and in Italy. Thefe all agree in decla¬
ring, that the wild fig-tree, caprificus, never ripened its
5
fruit ; but was abfolutely neceffary for ripening- that Capriflca-
of the garden or domdlic fig, over which the hulband- tion- ]
men fufpended its branches. The reafon of this fuc-' v—
cefs has been fuppofed to be, that by the punAures of
thefe infe&s the veffels of the fruit are lacerated, and
thereby a greater quantity of nutritious Juice derived
thither. Perhaps, too, in depofiting their eggs, the
goats leave behind them fome fort of liquor proper to
ferment gently with the milk of the figs, and to make
their fldli tender. The figs in Provence, and even at
Paris, ripen much fooner for having their buds pricked
with a ft raw dipped in olive-oil. Plums and pears"
likewife, pricked by fome infe&s, ripen much the faft-
er for it; and the flelh round fuch punfture is better
tafted than the reft. It is not to be difpnted, that
confiderable changes happen to the contexture of fruits
fo pricked, juft the fame as to parts of animals pierced
with any iharp inftrument. Others have fuppofed that
thefe infefts penetrated the fruit of the tree to which
they were brought, and gave a more free admiflion to
the air, and to the fun. Linnams explained the ope- '
ration, by fuppofing that the infe&s brought the farina
from the wild fig, which contained male flowers only,
to the domeftic fig, which contained the female ones.
Haffelquift, from what he faw in Paleftine, feemed to
doubt of this mode of fru&ification.. M. Bernard, in
the Memoirs of the Society of Agriculture, oppofes it
.more decidedly. He could never find the infecl in the
cultivated fig; and, in reality, it appeared to leave the
wild fig, after the ftamina were mature, and their pol¬
len difhpated : befides, hq adds, what they may have
brought on their wings muft be rubbed away, in the
little aperture which they would form for themfelves.
At Malta, where there are feven or eight varieties of
the domeftic fig, this operation is only performed on
thefe which ripen lateft : the former are of a proper
fize, fine flavour, and in great abundance without it;
fo that he thinks the caprification only haftens the
ripening. He examined the parts of fru&ification of
the fig ', and he obferves, if this examination be made
previous to the ripening, that round the eye of the
fig, and in the fubftance of its covering, may be
feen triangular dentated leaves, preffed one againft an¬
other ; and Under thefe leaves are the ftamina, whofe
pollen is deftined for the impregnation of the grains,
which fill the reft of the fruit. Thefe male organs are
much more numerous in the wild fig than in the do¬
meftic ; and the ftamina are found to contain a yellow
duft, which may be colle&ed when it is ripe. The
wild figs, when ripe, are not fucculent, and have no
tafte, though the grains are difpofed in the fame man¬
ner as in the other kind. The pith of the grain oF
the wild fruit ferves as food to a fpecies of the cynips,
whofe larva is white, till the moment of its transforma¬
tion ; and it is by an opening, in the direAion of the
piftil, that the infeft penetrates the grain. From this
account it is thought probable that the infect is only
communicated by accident to the domeftic fig, and
that the flowers of this genus are fometimes herma¬
phrodites. But the number of hermaphrodite flowers
being fewer on the cultivated than on the wild fig, the
feeds are fecundated more certainly and quickly by
the caprification ; and every botanill knows, that when
the impregnation is completed, the flower foon withers;
while, if by any accident it is delayed, it continues in
bloom much longer. This view of the fubject, there-
forCj
\
CAP Li
n irimul- fore, explains verycompletely the reafon why, in Malta,
• <| the caprification is pradhifed on the late kind of figs, be-
" '""v—caufe it battens the formation and maturity of the fruit.
CAPRIMULGUS, Goat-sucker, or Fern-owl,
in ornithology, a genus of birds belonging to the order
of pafieres. The beak is incurvated, fmall, tapering, and
i ii depreffed at the bafe; the mouth opens very wide.
i. The Europaeus, with the tubes of the noftrils
]: hardly vifible. It feeds on moths, gnats, dorrs, or
chaffers; from which Charleton calls it a dorr-hawk,
its food being entirely of that fpecies of beetle du¬
ring the month of July, the period of that infeft’s
flight in this country. This bird migrates. It makes
| but a iliort ttay w ith us: appears the latter end of
May ; and difappears, in the northern parts of our
ifland, the latter end of Auguft ; but, in ihe fouthern,
‘ i flays above a month later. It inhabits all parts of Bri¬
tain from Cornwall to the county of Rofs. Mr Sco-
poli feems to credit the report of their fucking the
teats of goats, an error delivered down from the days
I of Ariftotle. Its notes are rr oft lingular. The loud-
eft fo much referr.bles that of a large fpinning wheel,
[, that the Welfli call this bird aderyn y droell, or the
wheel-bird. It begins its fong moll pur.dlually on the
j ^ clofe of day, fitting ufually on a bare bough, witll the
I | head lower than the tail, the lower jaw quivering with
f the effcrt-ts. The noife is fo very violent, as to give a
fenfible vibration to any little building it chances to a-
light on and emit this fpecies of note. The other is a
ftiarp fqueak, which it repeats often ; this feems a note
of love, as it is obferved to reiterate it when in purfuit
of the female among the trees. It lays its eggs on
f the bare ground ; ufually two: they are of & long
form, of a whitilh hue, prettily marbled with reddifli
Jl’l brown. The length of this bird is io^ inches ; ex¬
tent 22. Plumage, a beautiful mixture of white, black,
I affi-colour, and ferruginous, difpofed in lines, bars,
and fpots. The male is diftinguiftied from the female
fcy a great oval white fpot near the end of the three
Crft quill-feathers, and another on the outmoft feathers
of the tail. This is the only one of the genus which is
found in Europe. A variety lefs in fize, being only
eight inches in length, inhabits Virginia, in fummer :
arrives there towards the middle of April, and fre¬
quents the mountainous parts, but will frequently ap¬
proach the houfes in the evening, where it fettles en a
rail or poll, and cries for feveral times together very
f loud, fomewhat like the word whiperiwhip, or whip-
poor-will, the lirft and laft fyllables pronounced the
loudeft. After continuing in one place for fome time,
it flies to another, and does the fame; fometimes four
or five cry all together : this noife it begins juft after
fun-fet, and continues at intervals till juft before fun-
rife. It does not catch infecls always on the wing; for
k frequently fits upon a convenient place, and leaps
up after them as they fly by, and returns to the fame
fpot again. It makes no nett, but lays the eggs, which,
are two in number,, and of a dull green with dulky
fpots and ftreaks, on the bare,ground in the open fields.
Kalm fays that the flefli is good to eat. Another va¬
riety, larger, inhabits Virginia and Carolina ; where it
is called the rain-bird, becaufe it never appears in the
day-time, except when the Iky, being obfeured with
clouds, betokens rain. It is laid to lay the eggs on
the ground, and that they are not unlike thofe of the
Lapwing.
51 ] CAP
2. The Americanus, has the tubes of the noftrils Caprioles
very confpicuous. It is a night bird, and is found in Capiicum
America.
There are feveral other fpecies or varieties inhabiting
different countries, and differently marked, but all
nearly fimilar in their manners.
CAPRIOLES, in the manege, leaps that a horfe
makes in the fame place without advancing, in fuch a
manner, that, when he is at the height of the leap, he
jerks out with his hinder legs even and near. It is the
moll difficult of all the high manege. It differs from
a erdupade, in this, that, in a croupade, a horfe does
not ihow his (hoes ; and from a ballotade, becaufe in
this he does not jerk out. To make a horfe work
well at caprioles, he mutt be put between two pillars,
and taught to raife firft his fore-quarters, and then his
hind-quarters while his fore ones are yet in the air t
for which end you mull give him the whip and the
poinfon.
. CAPSA (anc. geog.), a large and ftrong town of
Nnmidia, fituated amidft vafl defarts, wade, uncultiva¬
ted, and foil of ferpents, where Jugurtha kept his trea-
fure. In his time it was taken and rafed by Marius
the Roman general, who put to death.all the citizens
capable of bearing arms, and fold the reft for Haves.
It was, however, afterwards rebuilt by the RomanSj,
and ftrongly fortified ; but, on the decline of their em¬
pire, was taken and demoliihed a fecond time, by Oc-
cuba a famous Arab general. The walls of the cita¬
del are dill remaining, and are monuments of the an¬
cient glory and ftrength of Capfa. They are 24 fa¬
thoms in height, and five in thicknefs, built of large
fquare (tones, and have now acquired the folidity and.
firmnefs of a rock. The walls of the *own were re¬
built by the inhabitants fince their jirtt demolition
but were afterwards deltroyed by Jacob Almanzar,.
who fent a governor and troops into the province. In
Marmol’s time Capfa was very populous, and abound¬
ed with (lately mofques and other ihuftures of. fuperb
and elegant woikmanftup : but at prefent it is occu¬
pied by a poor and indigent people, fleeced and op-
preffed by the Timefe government. In the very centre
of the city (lands an inclofed fountain, which both
fupplies the people with drink, and affords them an a-
greeable bath. The adjacent country is now cultiva¬
ted, and produces feveral kind's of fruits; but the cli¬
mate is unhealthy. The inhabitants are remarkable^
for their peeviffinefs of temper. Both men and wo¬
men drefs handfomely except their feet, which they
cover with coarfe (hoes of bungling workmanffiip, and
made of the tough (kins of wild beads, equally incon¬
venient and unbecoming. E. Long. 9. 3. N. Lat. 33. IJ.
CAPSARTUS,, from capfd, fatchel, in antiquity,
a fervant who attended the Roman youth to fchool,
carrying a fatqhel with their books in it, fometirnes
alfo called librarius;
Capsarius was alfo an attendant at the baths, to
whom perfons committed the keeping of their clothes.
Capsarius (from capfa, “ a cheil,”), among the
Roman bankers, was-he who had the care of the mo-
ney-cheft or coffer.
CAPSICUM, or Guinea-pepper :. A genus of the
monogynia order, Belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
28th order, Luridte. The corolla is verticillated, and
the fruit a faplefs berry*.
Specks,
CAP [ 152 1 CAP
Ofepficum. Specks. I. The annuum, with oblong fruit, is the
common long-podded capficum commonly cultivated
in the gardens. Of this there is one kind with red,
and another with yellow fruit: and of thefe there are
feveral varieties, differing only in the fize and figure
of their fruit. 2. The tetragonum, commonly called
bell-pepper. The fruit of this is red, and is the only
kind proper for pickling, the Ikin being tender ;
whereas thofe of the other forts are thin and tough.
The pods are from an inch to an inch and half or two
inches long; are very large, fwelling, and wrinkled,
flatted at the top, where they are angular, and fome-
times Hand ereft, at others grow downward. 3. The
cerafiforme, with a round fmooth fruit, doth not grow
fo tall as the other forts, but fpreads near the ground;
the leaves come out in clufters, are of a ftiining green,
and ftand on long footftalks. The fruit is of a beau¬
tiful red, and of the fize of a cherry. 4. The pyra-
midale, is a native of Egypt, and hath much narrower
leaves than the other forts. The pods always grow
creft, and are produced in great plenty, fo that the
plants make a good appearance for three months in the
winter. 5. The minimum, commonly called llrd-ptp-
per, rifes with a ffirubby ftalk four or five feet high ;
the leaves are of a lucid green ; the fruit grows at the
divifion of the branches, handing ere61: thefe are fmali,
oval, and of a bright red ; they are much more ffiarp
and biting than thofe of the other forts. Befides thefe
fpecies, botanifts defcribe as many more ; viz. the cor-
diforme, with heart-ftiaped fruit ; the angulofum, with
angular heart-lhaped fruit; the olivafortne, with oval
fruit ; the conoide, commonly called hen-pepper, with
a conical red fruit growing erett ; and the fruitefcens,
with fmall pyramidal fruit growing eredl; commonly
called Barbary pepper. ’Thefe, however, have no re¬
markable properties different from the others.
Culture. The three firft fpecies are annual plants,
and muff‘be propagated by feeds fown on a hot-bed in
the fpring, and treated in the fame manner with other
exotics ; they will however -bear the open air, after
being inured to it by degrees. The plants of the fe-
cond fort, whofe fruit is ufed for pickling, fhould be
taken from the hot-bed, and planted in a rich fpot of
ground in a warm fituation about a foot and an half
afunder. They muff be fhaded till they have taken
root, and afterwards duly watered in dry weather, which
will greatly promote their growth and caufe them to
be more fruitful, and likewife enlarge the fize of the
fruit. By this management, three or four crops of
fruit for pickling may be obtained the fame year. The
other forts are more tender; and therefore muff be
planted in pots plunged in a moderate hot-bed, and
iheltered under a frame.
Ufis, hie. The fecond fort, as already obferved,
produces fruit fit for pickling ; for which purpofe they
muff be gathered before they arrive at their full fize,
while their rind is tender. They muff be flit down on
one fide to get out the feeds, after which they fhould
be foaked two or three days in fait and water ; when
they are taken out of this and drained, boiling vinegar
muff be poured on them in a fuffieient quantity to co¬
ver them, and clofely flopped down for two months;
then they fhould be boiled in the vinegar to make them
green ; but they want no addition of any fpice, and
are the wholefomefl and bell pickle in the world. The
64. 6
tenth fpecies is ufed for making what is called cayan- Capficunjj
butter, or pepper-pots, by the inhabitants of America, | 1
and which they efleem the bell of all thefpices. The CaP“alH|t
following is a receipt for making of a pepper-pot:
“ Take of the ripe feeds of this fort of capficum, and
dry them well in the fun ; then put them into an
earthen or flone pot, mixing flour between every flra-
tum of pods ; and put them into an oven after the
baking of bread, that they may be thoroughly dried:
after which they mutt be well cleanfed from the flour;
and if any of the flalks remain adhering to the pods,
they fhould be taken off, and’ the pods reduced to a
fine powder: to every ounce of this add a pound of
wheat-flour, and as much leaven as is fufficient for the
quantity intended. After this has been properly
mixed and wrought, it fhould be made into fmall cakes,
and baked in the fame manner as common cakes of the
fame fize : then cut them into fmall parts, and bake
them again, that they may be as dry and hard as bif-
cuit; which being powdered and fifted, is to be kept
for ufe.” This is prodigioufly hot and acrimonious,
fetting the mouth as it were on fire. It is by fome re¬
commended as a medicine for flatulencies; but it is
greatly to be doubted whether all thofe hot irritating
medicines are not produflive of more harm than good,
in this country' at leaft. If the ripe pods of capficum
are thrown into the fire, they will raife ftrong and
noifome vapours, which occafion vehement fneezing,
coughing, and often vomiting, in thofe who are near
the place, or in the room whefe they are burnt.
Some perfons have mixed the powder of the pods with
fnuff, to give to others for diverfion: but where it is
in quantity, there may be danger in ufing it; for it
will occafion fuch violent fits of fneezing, as may break
the blood-veffels of the head.
CAPSQUARES, ftrong plates of iron w'hich come
over the trunnions of a gun, and keep it in the car¬
riage. They are fattened by a hinge to the prize-
plate, that they may lift up and down, and form a
part of an arch in the middle to receive a third part of
the thicknefs of the trunnions : for two-thirds are let
into the carriage, and the other end is fattened by two
iron wedges called the fore-locks and keys.
CAPSTAN, or Cap stern, a ftrong maffy column
of timber, formed like a truncated cone, and having
its upper extremity pierced with a number of holes to
receive the bars or level's. It is let perpendicularly
down through the decks of a fliip; and is fixed in fuch
a ihanner, that the men, by turning it horizontally
with their bars, may perform any work which requires
an extraordinary effort.
A capftern is compofed of feveral parts, where A is piate
the barrel, b the whelps, c the drum-head, and d the OXXVII. (t
fpindle. The whelps rife out from the main body of
the capftern like buttreffes, to enlarge the fweep, fo
that a greater quantity of cable, or whatever rope en¬
circles the barrel, may be wound about it at one turn,
without adding much to the weight of the capftern.
The whelps reach downwards from the lower part of
the drum-head to the deck. The drum-head is a broad,
cylindrical piece of wood refembling a mill-ftone, and
fixed immediately above the barrel and whelps. On
the outfide of this piece are cut a number of fquare
holes parallel to the deck to receive the bars. The
fpindle or pivot d, which is food with iron, is the axis
or
;!i tXpftern
I
CAP [ .53 3 CAP
or foot upon which the capftern re Is, and turns round
' in the faucer, which is a fort of iron focket let into
a wooden ftock or ftandard called the Jlep, veiling upon
and bolted to the beams.
Befides the different parts of the capftern above ex¬
plained, it is furnifhed with feveral appurtenances, as
the bars, the pins, the pawls, the fwlfter, and the fau¬
cer, already defcribed. The bars are long pieces of
wood or arms, thrufl into a number of fquare holes in
the drum-head all round, in which they are as the radii
of a circle, or the fpokes in the nave of a wheel. They
are ufed to heave the capftern round,, which is done by
the men fetting their breafts againft them, and walking
about, like the machinery of a horfe-mill, till the opera¬
tion is finifhed,—The pins e, are little bolts of iron
thruft perpendicularly through the holes of the drum¬
head, and through a correfpondent hole in the end of
the bar, made to receive the pins when the bars are
fixed. They are ufed to confine the bars, and to pre¬
vent them from working out as the men heave, or when
the fhip labours. Every pin is faftened to the drum¬
head with a fmall iron chain ; and that the bars may
exactly fit their refpedtive holes, they are all numbered.
—The pawls/, n° i. are fituated on each fide the cap¬
ftern, being two fhort bars of iron, bolted at one end
through the eleck to the beams clofe to the lower part
of the whelps; the other end, which occafionally turns
round on the deck, being placed in the intervals of the
whelps, as the capftern turns round, prevents it from
recoiling or turning back by any fudden jerk of the
cable, as the fhip rifes on the fea, which might greatly
endanger the men who heave. There are alfo hanging
pawls gg, n° 3. ufed for the fame purpofes, reaching
from the deck above to the drum-head immediately
below it. The fwifter is a rope paffed horizontally
through holes in the outer end of the bars, and drawn
very tight; the intent of this is to keep the men fteady
as they walk round when the fhip rocks, and to give
room for a greater number to afftlt by pulling upon the
fwifter itfelf.
The moft frequent ufe of the Capftern is to heave in
the cable, and thereby remove the ihip or draw up the
anchor. It is alfo ufed to wind up any Weighty body,
as the mafts, artillery, &>e. In merchant-fhips it is
likewife frequently employed to difcharge or take in
the cargo, particularly when confifting of weighty ma¬
terials that require a great exertion of mechanical powers
to be removed.
There are comfrionly two capfterns in a man of war,
the main and the gear capftern ; the former of which
has two drum-heads, and may be called a double one.
This is reprefented in n° 3. The latter is reprefented
in n° 2.
Formerly the bars of the 'capftern went entirely thro’
the head of it, and cohfequently were more than double
the length of the prefent ones ; the holes were there¬
fore formed at different heights, as reprefented in n° 1.
But this machine had feveral inconveniences, and has
long been entirely difufed in the navy. Some of thefe
fort of capfterns, however, are ftill retained in mer¬
chant-fhips, and are ufually denomihated crabs. The
fttuation of the bars in a crab, as ready for heaving, is
reprefented in n°4.
To Rig the Capsterk, is to fix the bars in their re-
fpective holes, and thruft in the pins, in order to con-
Vol. IV. Part I.
fine them.—Surge the Catstern, is the order to fiacken Capfifte
the rope heaved round upon it, of which there ar^ ge- H .
nerally two turns and a half about the barrel at once, CaPta:n>,
and fometimes three turns.—To Heave the Capsterk, v
is to go round with it heaving on the bars, and draw¬
ing in any rope of which the purchafe is created.-—T0
Come-np the Capstern, is to let go the rope upon which
they had been heaving.—To Pawl the Capstern, is to
fix the pawls to prevent it from recoiling during any
paufeof heaving.
CAPSULE, in a general fenfe, denotes a receptacle
or cover in form of a bag.
Capsui.e, . among botanifts, a dry hollow feed-vef-
fel or pericarpium, that cleaves or fplits in fome de¬
terminate manner. See Pericarpium.
This fpecies of feed-veffel is frequently flefhy and
fucculent, like a berry, before it has attained maturi¬
ty ; but, in ripening, becomes dry, and often fo elaftic
as to dart the feeds from their departments with confi-
derable velocity. This elafticity is remarkably confpi-
cuous in wood-forrel; balfam, mpatiens; African fpinea,
diofma y fraxinella; jvjlicia; ruellia; barleria; lathraa;
and many others.—The general aptitude or difpofition
of this fpecies of feed-veffel to cleave or feparate for
the purpofe of difperfing its feeds, diftinguifhes it not
lefs remarkably than its texture from the pulpy or
fucculent fruits of the apple, berry, and cherry kind.
This opening of the capfule for difeharging its feeds
when the fruit is ripe, is either at the top, as in moft
plants; at the bottom, as in triglochin ; at the fide
through a pore or fmall hole, as in campanula and
orchis ; horizontally, as in plantain, amaranth us, and
anagallis; or longitudinally, as in convolvulus. All
fruit that is jointed opens at every one of the joints,
each of which contains a Angle feed. Capfules, in
fplitting, are divided, externally, into one or more
pieces, called by Linnseus valves. The internal di-
vifions of the capfules are called cells, loculamenta:
thefe, in point oft number, are exceedingly diverfified ;
fome having only one cell, as the pnmrofe; and
others many, as the Water-lily. Hence a capfule is
termed unilocular, bilocular, trilocular. See. according as
it has one, two, three, &c. cells or cavities.
Capsvljr Atrabiliar'ue, called z\{oglandules renales, and
renes fuccenturiati. See Anatomy, n° too.
CAPTAIN, a military officer, whereof there are
feveral kinds, according to their commands.
Captain of a Troop or Company, an inferior officer
who commands a troop ofhorfe or a company of foot,
under a colonel. The duty of this officer is to be care¬
ful to keep his company full of able-bodied foldiers; to
vifit their tents and lodgings, to fee what is wanting 5
to pay them well; to caufe them keep themfelves neat
and clean in their clothes, and their arms bright. He
has power in his own company of making (ferjeants,
corporals, and lanfpefades.
In the horfe and foot guards, the captains have the
rank of colonels.
Captain-General, he who' commands in chief.
Captain-Lieutenant, he who with the rank of cap¬
tain, but the pay of lieutenant, commands a troop or
company in the name and place of fome other perfon
who is difpenfed with on account of his quality from
performing the functions of his poll.
Thus the colonel being ufually captain of the firft
U company
CAP f 154 ] CAP
Captain, company of his regiment, that company is commanded
by his deputy under the title-of captain-lieutenant.
So in England* as well as in France, the king, queen*
dauphin, princes, &c. have ufually the title of captain
of the guards, gens d’amies, See. the real duty of wliich
offices is performed by captain-lieutenants..
Captain Reformed, one who, upon the reduction of
the forces, has his comini ffion and company fuppreffed;
yet is continued captain, either as fecond- to another,
or without any poll or command at all.
Captain of a Ship of War, the officer who com¬
mands a ffiip of the line of battle, or a frigate carrying
20 or more cannon. The charge of a captain in his
majefly’s navy is .very comprehenfiye,. in as much as
he is not only, anfwerable for- any bad conduct in
the military government, navigation, and equipment
of the 11; ip he commands, but alfo for any negledf of
duty or ill management in his inferior officers, whofe
feveral chargeSrhe is appointed tp fuperintend and re¬
gulate.
On his firft receiving information of the. condition
and quality of the ffiip he is appointed to command, he
mult attend her cojiftantly, and halien the neceflary.
preparations to fit her for fea. So, ftridt, indeed, are
the injunctions laid on him by the lord high admiral,
or commiffioners of the admiralty, that he is forbid
to lie out of his ffiip,. from his arrival on board to
the day of . his difeharge, unjeffi by particular leave
from the. admiralty or from his .commander in chief/
He is enjoined to ihow. a laudable example of honour
and virtue to the.officers and men; and to difeounte-
nance all diffolute, immoral, and diforderly practices,
and fuch as are contrary to the rules of fubordination
apd difeipline ; as well as to correCt thofe who are
guilty of fueh offences as. are puniffiable. according to
the ufage of the fe.a.. He is ordered particularly to fur-
vey all the military ftores which are fent on board, and
to return whatever is deemed unfit for fervice. His di¬
ligence and ;application are required to procure h\s
complemeat of men,; obferving carefully to enter only
fuch as are fit for the necefiary duty, that the govern¬
ment may npt be put' to. unneceffary expence. When
his ffiip is fully manned, he is expedled to keep the.
eftabliffied number of men complete, and fuperintend
the mufter himfelf if there is no clerk .of the check at-
the port. When his ffiip is employed on a cruizing
ftation, he is expeCted to keep the fea the whole length,
of time previoufiy appointed ; but if he is compelled
by fome unexpected accident, to. return to port foonei?
than the time limited, he ought to be very cautious in
the choice of a good fituation for anchoring, ordering
the mafter or other careful officers to found, and difeo-
ver the depths of water and dangers of the coaft. Pre¬
vious to any poffibility of an engagement with the;
enemy, he is to quarter the officers and men to the ne-
ceffary ftations according to their office and abilities,
and to exercife them in the management of the artil¬
lery, that they may be more expert in time of battle.
His ftation in the time of an engagement is on the
quarter-deck: at which time he is expected to take ail
opportunities of annoying his enemy, and improving
every advantage over him ; to exhibit an example of
courage and fortitude to his officers and crew ; and to
place his ffiip oppofite to his adverfary in fuch a poii-
tion as that every cannon, ihall do effeftual, execution.
At the time of his arrival in port, after his return from
abroad, he is to affemble his, officers, and draw up a
detail of the obfervations that have been made during
the voyage, of the qualities of the ffiip as to her trim,
ballaft, ftowage, manner of failing, for the information
and -diredlion of thofe who may fuCceed him in the
command : and this account is to be ligned by himfelf
and officers, and to be returned -to the refident com-
miffioner of the navy at the port where the ffiip is dif-
charged.
CAPTAiN'of a Merchant-fhip, he who has the direction
of the ffiip, her crew, and lading, &c.. In fmall ffiips
and ffiort voyages, he is more ordinarily called the
mafler. In the Mediterranean, he is called thepatroon..
—The proprietor of the veffel appoints the captain or-
mafter; and he is to form the crew, and choofe and
hire the pilots, mates, and feamen ; though, when the
proprietor and mafter reftde on the fame fpot, they ge¬
nerally a6f in concert together.
Captain Bafhaiu, or Capondan Rajhaw, in the-
polity of the,Turks, fignifies the Turkifh high admi¬
ral. He.poffeffes the third office of the empire, and
is invefted with the fame power at fea that .the vizir,
has on ffiore.- Soliman II. inftituted this office in fa-,
vour of the famous Barbaroffa, with abfolute autho--
rity over the officers of . the marine and arfenal, whom.-
he may puniffi, caffiier, or ppt to death, as foon as he.
is without the Dardanelles.. He commands in chief
in all the maritime countries, cities, caftles,. &c. and*
at Conftantinople, is the firft magiftrate of police in
the villages on the fide of the Porte, and the canal of the.
Black-Sea. The mark of his authority is a large In-,
dian cane, which he carries in his hand, both in the
arfenal and with the army.—The, captain-baffiaw en¬
joys two forts of revenues;, the one fixed, the other ca-
fuah The firft, 'arife from a capitation of the ifianda
in the Archipelago, and certain governments in Nato-
lia and Galipoli. The latter confift in the pay of the
men who die during a campaign; in a fifth of all prizes
made by the begs; in the profits accruing from the la¬
bour of the Haves, whom he hires as rowers to the grand
lignior; .and in the contributions he. exacts in all pla¬
ces where he paffes.
CAPTION, in Scots law, a writ iffuing under his-
majefty’s fignet, in his majefty’s name, obtained at the
inftance of a creditor in a.civil debt, commanding mef-
fengers at arms and other officers of the law to appre¬
hend and imprifon the perfon of the debtor until he
pay the debt.— It.is alfo the.name of a writ iffued by
the court of Seffion againft the agents of the court, to-
return papers belonging to proceffes , or law-fuits, or
other wife to go to prifon.
CAPTIVE, a flave, or a perfoh taken from the
enemy.
Formerly captives in war became the (laves of thofe
who took them ; and though (lavery, fuch as obtain¬
ed among the ancients, is- now abolifhed, fome ffia-
dow of it ftill remains in refpedt of prifoners of war,
who are accounted the property of their captors, and
have no right to liberty but by conceffion from them.
— The Romans ufed their captives with great feverity;
their necks were expofed to the foldiers to be trampled
on, and their perfons afterwards fold by public auc-,
tion. Captives were frequently burnt in the. funeral
piles of the ancient warriors, as a facrifice to the in¬
fernal
Captain'.
II
Captive.
'Captivity
c 11
CAP i 15; 1 . CAP
fernal geds. Thofe of royal or noble blood had their in Campania, and capital of that di(tried. It is fa- Capua,
heads (haven, and their hair fent to Rome to ferve as mous for the abode of Hannibal the Carthaginian ge- v ~ J
decorations for female toys, &e. They were led in neral after the battle of Cannae, and where Livy ac-
triumph loaded with chains through Rome, in the cufes him, but unjultly, of having enervated himfelf
emperor’s train, at lead as far as the foot of the Ca- with pleafures*. It (till retains the name, and is the ' Sea Car-
pitoline mount, for1 they were not permitted to afeend fee of an archbifhop. It is feated on the river Vultur-^**
the facred hill, but carried thence to prifon. Thofe no, in E. Long. 15. 5. N. Lat. 41. 7. The hiftory of
of the prime quality were honoured with golden chains Capua is thus (hortly deduced by Mr Swinburne. “ It
on their hands and feet, and golden collars on their was a fettlement of the Ofci known before the foun-
necks. If they made their efcape, or killed them- dation of Rome; as the amazing fertility of the land
felves, to avoid the ignominy of being carried in tri- and a lucrative commerce poured immenfe wealth upon
umph, their images or effigies were frequently carried its inhabitants, it became one of the mod extenfive
in their place. and magnificent cities in the world. With riches ex-
CAPTIVITY, in a general fenfe, the date or con- ceffive luxury crept in, and the Capuans grew info-
dition of a captive. lent; but by their effeminacy they foon lod the power
Captivity, in facred hidory, a puniffiment which of repelling thofe neighbouring nations which their
God inflidled upon his people for their vices and infi- infolence had exafpetated: For this reafon Capua was
delities. The fird of thefe captivities is that of Egypt, continually expofed to the neceffity of calling in fo-
from which Mofes delivered them ; after which, are reign aid, and endangering its fafety by the uncom-
reckonedfix during the government of the judges; but mon temptations it offered to needy auxiliaries. The
the greated and mod remarkable were thofe of Judah Roman foldiers fent to defend Capua were on the point
and Ifrael, which happened under the kings of each of of making it their prey, and often the voice of the '
thefe kingdoms. It is generally believed, that the ten Roman people was loud for a removal from the barren
tribes of Ifrael never came back again after their dif- unwholefome banks of the Tiber to the garden of
perfion ; and Jofephus and St Jerom are of this opi- Italy, near thofe of the Voltorno. Through well-
nion : neverthelefs, when we examine the writings of founded jealoufy of the ambition of Rome, or, as Livy
the prophets, we find the return of Ifrael from capti- and other partial writers term it, natural incondancy,
vity pointed out in a manner aimed as clear as that of the Capuans warmly efpoufed the quarrel of Carthage:
the tribes of Benjamin and Judah: See Flofea i. 10, 11. Hannibal made Capua his winter-quarters after the
Amosix. 14. The captivities of Judah are generally campaign of Cannse; and there, if we are to believe
reckoned four; the fouith and lad of which fell in the hidorians, his rough and hitherto invincible foldiers
year of the world 3416, under Zedekiah: and from were enervated by pleafure and indolence,
this period begins the 70 years captivity foretold by “ When through a failure of fupplies from Carthage
Jeremiah. Hannibal was under a neceffity of remaining in Bru-
Since the dedruftion of the temple by the Romans, tium, and leaving the Capuans to defend themfelves,
the Hebrews boad that they have always had their this city, which had been long inveded, was futren-
heads or particular princes, whom they call princes of dered at diferetion to the confuls Appius Claudius and
the captivity, in the ead and wed. The princes of the Q^Fulvius Flaccus. The fenators were put to death,
captivity in the ead gove rned the Jews that dwelt in the nobles imprifoned for life, and all the citizens fold
Babylon, Affyria, and Ferfia; and the princes of the and difperfed. Vibius, the chief of Hannibal’s friends,
captivity in the wed governed thofe who dwelt in Ju- avoided this ignominious fate, and efcaped from the
daea, Egypt, Italy, and in other parts of the Roman cruel vengeance of the Romans by a voluntary death,
empire. He who refided in Judaea commonly took up —When the mob infided upon the gates being thrown
his abode at Tiberias, and affumed the name of Rof- open to the enemy, Vibius affembled his deady affo-
rhabboth, “head of the fathers or patriarchs.” He ciates, and fat down with them to a fuperb banquet,
prefided in affemblies, decided in cafes of confcience, after which each of the gueds fwallowed a poifonous
levied taxes for the expences of his vifits, and had offi- draught, and expired in full poffeffion of their free-
cers under him who were difpatched through the pro- dom. The buildings were fpared by the victor ; and
vinces for the execution of his orders. As to the prin- Capua was left to be merely a harbour for the hulband-
ces of the captivity at Babylon, or the ead, we know men of the plain, a warehoufe for goods, and a gra-
neither the original nor fucceffion of them. It only ap- nary for corn ; but fo advantageous a fituation could
pears that they were not in being before the end of not long be neglefted; colonies were fent to inha-
the fecond century. . bit it, and jin procefs of time it regained a degree of
CAPTURE, a prize, or prey; particularly that of importance,
a (hip taken at fea. Captures made at fea were for- “ Genferic the Vandal was more. Cruel than the Roman
merly held to be the property of the captors after a conquerors had been; for he maffacred the inhabitants,
poffeffion of twenty-four hours; but the modern au- and burnt the town to the ground. Narfes rebuilt it ;
fhorities require, that before the property can be but in 841 it was totally dedroyed by an army of Sa-
changed, the goods mud have been brought into port, racens, and the inhabitants driven into the mountains,
and have continued a night iniraprtefdia, in a place of Some time after the retreat of thefe favage invaders,
fafe cudody, fo that all hope of recovering them was the Lombards ventured down again into the plain,
l°d* but not deeming their force adequate to the defence of
Capture alfo denotes an arred or feizure of a cri- fo large a circuit as the old city, they built themfelves
minal, debtor, &c. at land. a fmaller one on the river, and called it Capua.—They
CAPUA, (anc. geog.) a very ancient city of Italy, chofe the fite of Cafilinum, famous in the fecond Ph-
/' ' U 2 nic
CAP I 156 ] CAR
Capuchins nic war for the refiftance made by its garrifoa againft
|| Hannibal. Since the foundation of the new city, old
Caput 1..- CapUa has remained in ruins.
1 Plr “R1' , “ In 856 Landulph formed here an independent earl¬
dom difmembered from the duchy of Benevento, and
in the courfe of a few generations Capua acquired the
title of a principality. In the 1 ith century, the Nor¬
mans of Averfa expelled the Lombard race of princes,
and Richard their chief became prince of Capua ; the
grandfon of Tancred of Hauteville drove out the de-
fcendants of Richard, and united this ftate to the relt
of his poffeffions.
“ Capua is at prefent a neat little city, fortified ac¬
cording to the rules of modern art, and may be conii-
dered as the key of the kingdom ; though far remo¬
ved from the frontier, it is the only fortification that
really covers the approach to Naples.”
CAPUCHINS, religious of the order of St Francis
in its flri&eft obfervance ; deriving their name from ca~
puce, or capuchon, a fluff cap, or cowl, wherewith they
cover their heads. They are clothed with brown or
gjrey< always bare-footed ; are never to go in a coach,
nor ever fhave their beard.—The capuchins are a re¬
form made from the order of minors, commonly called
cordeliers, fet on foot in the 16th century by Matthew^
Bafchi, a religious obfervant of the monailery of Mon-
tehafcone; who, being at Rome, was advertifed fevc-
ral times from heaven, to praftife the rule of St Fran¬
cis to the letter. Upon this he made application to
pope Clement in j525 ; who gave him permifiion to
retire into a folitude, with as many others as chofe to
embrace the ftridl obfervance. In 1528, they obtained
the pope’s bull. In 1529, the order was brought into
complete form ; Matthew was ele&ed general, and the
chapter made conflitutions. In 1543, the right of
preaching was taken from the capuchins by the pope:
but in 1J45 it was reflored to them again with ho¬
nour. In 1578, there were already 17 general chap¬
ters in the order of capuchins.
CAPUT, the head. See Head.
Catvt baronia, the head of the barony, in ancient
cuftoms, denotes the ancient or chief feat or caflle of
a nobleman, where he made his ufual refidence, and
held his court; fometimes alfo called caput honoris, or
the head of the honour. The caput baroniae could
not be fettled in dowry; nor could it be divided
among the daughters, in cafe there were no fon to in¬
herit ; but was to defcend entire to the eldeft daughter,
caterisflialiis aliunde fathfaclis.
Caput gallinaginis, in anatomy, is a kind of fep-
tum, or fpongious border, at the extremities or
apertures of each of the veftcula feminales; ferving
to prevent the feed coming from one fide, from
ruihing upon, and fo flopping, the difcharge of the
other.
Caput lupinum. Anciently an outlawed felon was
laid to have caput lupinum, and might be knocked
on the head like a wolf, by any one that ihould meet
him ; becaufe, having renounced all law, he was to be
dealt with as in a ftate of nature, when every one that
fhould find him might flay him: yet now, to avoid
fuch inhumanity, it is holden that no man is intitled to
kill him wantonly and wilfully ; but in fo doing he is
guilty of murder, unlefs it is done in the endeavour to
apprehend him.
Caput Morluum, a Latin name given to fixed and Caput Mor-
exhaufted refidmuns remaining in retorts after diftilla- tu“m
tions. As thefe refiduums are very different, accord-
ing to the fubilances diftilled, and the degree of heat ' J
employed, they are by the more accurate modern che-
mifts particularly fpecified by adding a term denoting
their qualities ; as earthy refuiuum, charry rejiduum, fa~
line reftduum, See.’
CARABINE, a fire-arm ihorter than amuiket, car¬
rying a ball of 24 in the pound, borne by the light horfe,.
hanging at a belt over the left {boulder. The barrel
is two feet and an half long ; and is fometimes furrow¬
ed fpirally within, which is faid' to add to the range of
the piece.
CARABINEERS, regiments of light horfe, carry¬
ing longer carabines than the reft, and” fometimes ufed
on foot.
CARABUS, in zoology, a genus of infects be¬
longing to the order of coleoptera, or the beetle kind.
The feelers are briftly ; the breaft is ihaped like a heart,
and marginated; and the elytra are likewife marginated.
There are 34 fpecies of this genus, moftly diftinguiihed Plata
by their colour. The moft remarkable is the crepitans, CXXV-
or bombardier, with the breaft, head, and legs, fer¬
ruginous e>r iron-coloured, and the elytra black. It
keeps itfelf concealed among ftones, and feems to make
little ufe of its wings: when it moves, it is by a fort of
jump ; and whenever it is touched, one is furprifed to
hear, a noife refembling the difcharge of a muiket, in
miniature, during which a blue fmoke may be perceived
to proceed from its anus. The infedl may be made
at any time to play off its artillery, by feratchiag its
back with a needle. If we may believe Rolander, who
firft made thefe obfervations, it can give 20 difeharges
fncceffively. A bladder placed near the anus is the ar-
fenal whence it derives its ftore, and this is its chief
defence againft an enemy, although the fmoke emitted
feems to be altogether inoffenfive, except it be bycaufing
a fright, or concealing its courfe. Its chief enemy is
another fpecies of the fame genus, but four times larger:
when purfued and fatigued, the bombardier has recourfe
to this ftratagem, by lying down in the path of the
large carabus, which advances with open mouth and
claws to feize it; but, on this difcharge of the artillery,
fuddenly draws back, and remains a while confufed:
during which the bombardier conceals himfelf in fome
neighbouring crevice ; and if not happy enough to find
one, the large carabus returns to the attack, takes the
infeft by the head, and tears it off.
CARACALLA (M. Antoninus Baffianus), em¬
peror after his father Severus in 211, put the phyii-
cians to death for not difpatching his father as he would
have had them. He killed his brother Geta; and put
Papinianus to death, becaufe he would not defend nor
excufe his parricide. In {hart, it is faid that 20,opo
perfons were maffacred by his-order. He married Ju¬
lia, his father’s widow. Going to Alexandria, he flew
the inhabitants, and applied to the magicians and aftro-
logers. At laft, going from Edeffa to Mefopotamia,
one of his captains flew him, by order of Macrinus, who
fucceeded him. He died after he had reigned fome-
what more than fix j ears.
Caracalla, in antiquity, a long garment, having
a fort of capuchin, or hood a-top, and reaching to the
heels; worn equally among the Romans by the men
and
CAR [ 157 J CAR
and the women, in the city and the camp. Spartian
and Xiphilian reprefent the emperor Caracalla as the in¬
ventor of this garment, and hence fuppofe the appel¬
lation Caracalla was firft given him. Others, with
more probability, make the caracalla originally a Gal¬
lic habit, and only brought to Rome by the emperor
above mentioned, who firft enjoined the foldiery to
wear it. The people called it •antoninlan, from the
fame prince, who had borrowed the name of Antoni¬
nus* The caracalla was a fort of cafibck, or furtout.
Salmafius, Scaliger, and after them Dti-Cange, even
take the name cafaque to have been formed from that
of caraque, for caracalla. This is certain from St Je-
j-om, that the caracalla, with a retrenchment of the
capuchin, became an ecclefiaftical garment. It is
defcribed as' made of feveral pieces cut and fewed to¬
gether, and hanging down to the feet; but it is more
than probable there Were fome made fhorter, efpecially
out of Rome, otherwife we do not fee how it could
have fitted the foldiers .purpofes.
CARACCAS, a diftrift of Terra Firma in South
America, belonging to the Spaniards. The coaft is
rocky and mountainous, interfperfed with fmall fertile
valleys; fubjefted at certain feafons of the year to dry
north-weft winds, but bleffed in general with a clear air
and wholefome climate. A very great illicit trade is
carried on by the Englifhand Dutch with this province,
notwith(landing all the vigilance of the Spaniards, who
have fcouts perpetually employed, and breaft-works rai-
fed in all the valleys. A vaft number of cacao-trees
are cultivated in this province ; and it is reckoned that
the crop pf cacao produced here amounts to more than
100,000 fanegas of 11 o pounds each. The country of
Santa Fe confumes 20,000 ; Mexico a little more ; the
Canaries a fmall cargo ; and Europe from 50 to 60,000.
The cultivation of the plant employs 10 or 12,000. ne¬
groes. Such of them as have obtained their liberty
have built a little town called Nir^a, into which they
will not admit any white people. Th.e chief town is
likewife called Caraccar, and is fituated in N. Lat.
to. 10. Dampier fays it ftands at a confiderable dif-
tanpe from the fea; is large, wealthy, and papulous}
and extremely difficult of accefs, by reafon of the fteep
apd craggy hills over which an enemy muft take his
route. The commerce of this town, to which the bay
of Guaira at two leagues diftance ferves for a harbour,
was for a long time open to all the fubje&s of the
Spaniffi monarchy, and is ftill fo to the Americans;
but the Europeans are not fo well treated. In 1728
a company was formed at St Sebaftian, which obtained
an exclulive right of maintaining connexions with this
part of the new world. Four or five ffiips, which they
difpatch every year, fail from, thence, but they return
to Cadiz.
CARACCI, (Lewis, Auguftin, and Hannibal),
three celebrated painters of the Lombard fchool, all of
Bologna. Lewis was bom in 1555 ; and was coufin-
german to Auguftin and Hannibal who were brothers,
the fons of a taylor, who was yet careful to give them
a liberal education. They were both difciples of
their coufin Lewis. Auguftin gained a knowledge of
mathematics, natural philofophy, mufic, poetry, and
moil of the liberal arts; but, though painting was his
principal purfuit, he learned the art of engraving from
Cornelius Cert, and furpaffed all the mailers of bjs
time. Hannibal, again, never deviated from his pencil.
—Thefe three painters, at length, having reaped all
the advantages they could by contemplation and prac¬
tice, formed a plan of affociation, continued always to¬
gether, and laid tbe foundation of that celebrated
fchool which has ever fince been known by the came of
Caracci’s academy. Hither all the young ftudents, who
had a view of becoming mailers, reforted to be ioftruc-
ted in the rudiments of painting; and here the Ca-
racci taught freely, and without referve, all that came.
Lewis’s charge was to make a colleXion of antique
ilatues and bas-reliefs. They had defigns of the belt
mafters, and a collection of curious books on all fub-
jeXs relating to their art; and they had a ikilfid ana-
tomift always ready to teach what belonged to the
knitting and motions of the mufcles, Lfc. There were
often difputations in the academy; and not only paint¬
ers, but men of learned profeffions. propofed queftions,
which were always decided by Lewis. Every body
was well received; and though ftated hours were al¬
lotted to treat of different matters, yet improvements
might be made at all hours by the antiquities and the
defigns which were to be feen.
The fame of the Caracci reaching Rome, the cardinal-
Farnefe fent for Hannibal thither, to paint the gallery
of his palace. Hannibal was the more willing to go, be-
caufe he had a great defire to fee Raphael’s works, with
the antique ftatues and bas-reliefs. The gufto which
he took there from the ancient fculpture, made him
change his Bolognian manner for one more learned but
lefs natural in the defign and in the colouring. Au¬
guftin followed Hannibal, to affift him in his underta,-
king of the Farnefe gallery; but the brothers not
rightly agreeing, Farnefe fent Auguftin to the court
of the duke of Parma, where he died in the year 1602*.
being only 45 years of-age. His moft celebrated piece
of painting is that of the communion of St Jerom, in
Bologna.
In the mean while, Hannibal continued working in
the Farnefe gallery at Rome ; and, after inconceivable
pains and care, finiftied the paintings in the perfection
in which they are now to be feen. He hoped that the
cardinal would have rewarded him in fome proportion
to the excellence of his work, and the time it took him
up, which was eight years; but he was ftifappointed.
The cardinal, influenced by an ignorant Spaniard his
domeftic, gave him bu.t a little above 200I. though it
is certain he defer ved more than twice as many thour
fands. When the money was brought him, he was fo*
furprifed at the injuftice done him, that he could not
fpeak a word to the perfon who brought it. This con¬
firmed him in a melancholy to which his temper natu¬
rally inclined, and made him refolve never more to touch
his pencil; which refolution he had undoubtedly kept,-
if his neceffities had not compelled him to break it. It
is laid that his melancholy gained fo much upon him,
that at certain times it deprived him of the ufe of his*
fenfes. It did not, however, put a flop to his amours ;;
and his debauches at Naples, whither he had retired for
the recovery of his health, brought a diftemper upon
him of which he died in 1609, when he was 49 years'
of age. His veneration for Raphael was fe great, that
it was his deathbed requeft to b« buried in the fame
tomb with him ; which was accordingly done, in the
pantheon or rotunda at Rome. There are extant fe¬
veral
GAR [ 158 ] GAR
Caraeol 'veral prints of the bleffed Virgin, and fame other fub-
i! jeds etched by the hand of this incomparable artift.
Caratft. j^e js faj(j to ^3^ been a friendly, plain, honeft, and
open-hearted man; very communicative to his fcho-
bars; and fo extremely kind to them, that he general¬
ly kept his money in the fame box with his colours,
where they might have recotlrfe to either as they had
occafion.
While Hannibal CaraTci worked at 'Rome, Lewis
was courted-from all parts of Lombardy, efpecially by
the clergy, to make pictures in their churches ; and we
may judge of his capacity and facility, by the great
number of pictures he made, and by the preference
that was given him to other painters. In the midft of
thefe employments Hannibal folicited him to come and
afiift him in the Farnefe gallery ; and fo earnefily, that
he could not avoid complying with his requeft. He
went to Rome; corredted feveral things in that gallery;
painted a figure or two himfelf; and then returned to
Bologna,'vvhere he died in 1619, aged 64.
OARACOL, in the manege, the half turn which
an horfeman makes, either to the right or left—In the
army, the horfe always makes a caracol after each dif-
- change, in order to pafs the rear of the fquadron.
Caracol, in architedlure, denotes a ftair-cafe-in a
helix or fpiral form.
CARACOLI, a kind of metal of which the Carib-
bees, or natives of the Lefler Antilles, make a fort of
ornament in the form of a crefcent, which they alfo call
taracoli.—This metal comes from the main land ; and
the common opinion is, that it is a compound of filver,
copper, and gold, fomething like the Corinthian brafs
among the ancients. Thefe metals are fo perfectly
mixed and incorporated together, that the compound
■which refults from them, it is faid, has a colour that
never alters, how long foever it remains in the fea or
•under ground. It is fomewhat brittle ; and they who
work at it are obliged to mix a large proportion of
'gold with it, to make the compound more tough and
•malleable.
CARACT, or Carat, the name of that weight
which expreffes the degree of finenefs that gold is of.
The word is alfo written, carraEl, carrot, karrati, and
karrat. Its origin is contefted: But the moft pro¬
bable opinion is that of Kennet, who derives it from ca-
•re8a, a term which anciently denoted any weight, and
-came not till of later days to be appropriated to that
-which expreffes the finenefs of gold and the gravity of
•diamonds.
Thefe'carats are not real determinate weights, but
only: imaginary. The whole mafs, be the weight what
it will, is conceived to be divided into 24 carats; and
as many ’24th parte as it contains of pure gold, it is
•called gold of fo many carats, or fo many carats fine.
Thus, gold of 18 carats is a mixt, of which 18 parte is
pure gold, and the other fix an inferior metal, &c. This
is the common way of reckoning in Europe, and at the.
gold mines in the Spanifh Weft Indies, but with fome
■variation in the fubdivifion of the carat: among us, it
■is divided into four grains ; among the Germans, into
12 parts ; and by the French, according to Mr Helot,
into 32. The Chinefe reckon by a different divifion
called touches, of which the higheft number, or that
which denotes pure gold, is loo; fo that 100touches
=ccrrefpond to our 24 carats, &c.
CarAct is alfo a certain weight which goldfmiths Cara&acmi --■
and jewellers ufe wherewith to weigh precious ftones j| J
and pearls.—In this fenfe, the word is by fome fup- Caraites.
pofed to be derived from the Greek a fruit
which the Latins call ftliqua, and we carob bean ; each
of which may weigh about four grains of wheat,
■whence the Isa.tm frfiqua has been ufed for a weight of
fotir grains. This caradi weighs four grains, but they
are fomething liglrter than the grains of other weights.
Each of thefe grains is fubdivided in 4-, -J, 4, &c.
CARACTACUS, a renowned king of the ancient
Britifh people called Silures, inhabiting South'Wales.
Having valiantly defended his country feven years a-
gainft the Romans, he was at length defeated ; and
flying to Cartifmunda, queen of the Brigantes (inha¬
bitants of Yorkfliire), was by her treacheroufly deli¬
vered up to the Romans, and led inv triumph to the I
emperor Claudius then at York ; where his noble be¬
haviour, and heroic but pathetic fpeech, obtained him
not only his liberty, but the efteem of the emperor,
A. D. 52.
CARAGROUTH, in commerce, a filver coin of
the empire, weighing nine drachms. It goes at
Conftantinople for 120 afpers. There are four forts
of them, which are all equally current and of the fame
•value.
CARATTES, in the ecclefiaftical hiftory of the
Jews, a religious fedt among that people, whereof there
are ftill fome fubfiffing in Poland, Ruflia, Conftanti¬
nople, Cairo, and other places of the Levant ; whofe
diftinguifliing tenet and pradtice it is, to adhere clofe-
ly to the words and letter of the fcripture, exclufive of
allegories, traditions, and the like.
Leo of Modena, a rabbin of'Venice, obferves, that
of all the herefies among that people, before the de-
ftrudtion of the temple, there is none now left but that
of the Caram, a name derived from Micro, which fig- '
nifies the pure text of the bible ; becaufe of their keep¬
ing to the Pentateuch, obferving it to the letter, and
rejedting all interpretations, paraphrafes, and conftitu-
tions of the rabbins. Aben Ezra, and fome other
rabbins, treat the Caraites as Sadducees ; but Leo de
Juda calls them, more accurately, Sadducees reformed;
becaufe they believe the immortality of the foul, para-
dife, hell, refurredtion, &c. which the ancient Sadu-
cees denied. He adds, however, that they were doubt-
lefs originally real Saducees, and fprung from among
them.
M. Simon, with more probability, fuppofes them to
have rifen hence ; that the more knowing among the
Jews oppofing the dreams and reveries of the rabbins,
and ufing the pure texts of fcripture to refute their 1
groundlefs traditions, had the name of Caraim given
them ; which fignifies as much as the barbarous Latin,
Scripturarii; i. e. people attached to the text of fcrip¬
ture. The other Jews give them the odious name Sad¬
ducees, from their agreement with thofe fedtaries on
the head of traditions. Scaliger, Voffius, and Span-
heim, rank the Caraites among the Sabeans, Magi,
Manichees, and Muffulmans, but by miftake: Wolf¬
gang, Fabricius, &c. fay the Sadducees and Effeni
were called Caraites, in oppofition to the Pharifees :
others take them for the dodtors of the law fo often
mentioned in the gofpel: but thefe are all conjedtures.
Jofephus and Philo make no mention of them ; which
- fhows
C A R t 159 T GAR
Karaites. {Rows them to be more modern than either of thofe
authors. In all probability, this fe£l was not formed
till after the collection of the fecond part of the Tal¬
mud, or the Gemara ; perhaps not till after the com*
[„ piling of the Mifchna in the third century. The Ca-
raites themfelves pretend to be the remains of the ten
tribes led captive by Shalmanefer. Wolfxus, from the
Memoirs of Mardacheus, a-Caraite, refers their origin
to a maffacre among the Jewilh dottors, under Alex¬
ander Jannseus, their king, about 100 years before
Ghrift : becaufe Simeon, fon of Schetach, and the
queen’s brother,, making, his efcape into Egypt, there
forged his pretended traditions ; and, at his return to
Jerufalem, publilhed his vifions ; interpolating the law
after his own fancy, and fupporting his novelties on
the notices which God, he faid, had communicated
by the mouth of Mofes, whofe depofitary he was : he.
gained many followers; and was oppofed by others,
who maintained, that all which God had revealed to
Mofes was written. Hence the Jews became divided
into two fefts, the Caraites and Traditionaries : among,
the firft, Juda, fon of Tabbai, diftinguilhed himfelf;
among the latter, Hillel. Wolaus reckons not only
the Sadducees, but alfo the Scribes, in the number of
Garaites. But the addrefs of the Pharifees prevailed
againft them all; and the number of Caraites decreafed:
Anan, indeed, in the eighth century, retrieved their
credit a little; and rabbi Schalomoa in the ninth.-
They fucceeded pretty well till the fourteenth; but
fmce that time they harve beea declining.
The. Caraites are but little known; their works
coming only into very few hands, even among the
greateft Hebraifts. Buxtorf never favy more than one;
Selden two ; but Mr Trigland fays, he has recovered,
enough to fpeak of them with affurance. He afferts,
\ that foon after the prophets had ceafed, the Jews became
divided on the fubjedt of works, and fupererogafcion :
fome maintaining their neceffity from tradition ; whilft.
others keeping clofe to the written law, fet them afide;
and it was from thefe laft that Caraitifm commenced.
He adds, that after the return from the Babyloniih
captivity, the obfervation of the law being to be re-
eftablifhed, there were feveral practices found proper
for that end ; and thefe once introduced, were looked
upon as effential, and.appointed by Moles; which was
the origin of. Pharifaifm ; as a contrary party, conti¬
nuing to keep clofe to the letter, founded Caraitifm.
The modern Garaites, Leo of Modena obferves, have
their fynagogues and ceremonies ; they pretend to be
the foie proper Jews, or obfervers of the laws of Mo¬
fes ; calling the reft by the term Rallanim, or follow¬
ers of the Rabhins: thefe hate the Caraites mortally ;
refufing to ally or even cgnverfe with them, and treat¬
ing them as mamzerim, or baftards ; becaufe of their
rejecting the conllitutions of the rabbins relating to
marriages* repudiations, puriiications of women, &c.
This averfion is fo great, that if a Caraite would be¬
come a rabbinift, he would never be received by the.
other Jews.
The Caraites, however, do not abfolutely rejedt all
kind of traditions; but only fuch as do not appear
well-grounded. Selden, who is very exprefs on this
point, in his Uxor Hebraica, obferves, that befides the
mere text, they have certain interpretations, which
they call hereditary, and which arc proper traditions.
3
Their theology-only feems to differ from that of the Caramania
other Jews, in that it is purer, and clearer of fuperfti- 11
tion : they give no credit to the explications of the Caravan-
Cabbalifts, chimerical allegories, nor to any conftitu- '
tions of the Talmud, but what are conformable to the
fcripture, and may be drawn from it by juft and ne- •
ceffary confequences.
Peringer obferves of the Caraites in Lithuania, that
they are very different, both in afpedt, language, and
manners, from the rabbinifts, wherewith that country
abounds. Their mother tongue is the Turkilh ; and
this they ufe in their fchools and fynagogues.- In vi-
fage they refemble the Mahometan Tartars. Their
fynagogues are placed north and fouth ; and the rea-
fon they give for it is, that Shalmanefer brought'them
northward : fo that in praying, to look to Jerufalem,..
they muft turn to the fouth. He adds, that they ad¬
mit all the books, of the Old Teftament; contrary to
the opinion pf many of the learned, who hold that they
reject all but the Pentateuch.
Caleb, a Caraite, reduces the difference between them
and the rabbinifts to three points : 1. In that they de¬
ny the oral'law to come from Mdfes, and reje.dt the.
Cabbala. 2. In that they abhor the Talmud. 3. In
that they obferve the feafts, as. the fabbaths, &c. much
more rigoroufly than the rabbins do.. To this may
be. added, that they extend the degrees of affinity,,
wherein marrriage is prohibited, almoft to infinity.
CARAMANIA, a confiderable province of Turky, ,
in Afia, in the fouth part of Natolia. Bajazet united
this province to his empire about the year 1488, and
fince that time it has continued in the poffeffion of the
Turks. Satalia was the capital city, but. is now much
decayed.
CARAMANTA, a town of South America, and,
capital of a province-of the fame name in Terra Firma,
and in the audience of Santa Fe. W. Long. 72. 35.
N. Lat. 5. 18. The province of Caramanta is ex¬
tended on both fides the river Cauca ; and.is bounded .
on the north by the, diftrict of Carthagena,. on the
eaft by New Grenada, on the fouth by Popayan, and :
on the weft by Popayan and by the audience of Pana¬
ma, It is a valley furrounded on every fide by very
high mountains.
CARANGA, an -inconfiderable ifland near Bom¬
bay in the Eaft Indies. It affords nothing but fome •
rice, fowls, and goats, for that market.
CARANNA, or Karanna, a very fcarce gum -
which comes from New Spain. It is laid to poffefs .
many extraordinary medical virtues, but the prefent f
praftice takes n° notice of it.
CARANUS, the firft king of Macedon, and the
feventh of the race of the Heraclides. See Macedonia.
CARARA, a weight at Leghorn, and in other
parts of Italy, ufed in the fale of wool and cod-fifh,
equivalent to 60 pounds of that country.
CARAT. See Caract.
CARAVAGGIO (Michael Angelo da). See
Angelo.
CARAVAN, or Karavanne, in the eaft, fignifies
a company or affembly of travellers and pilgrims, and
more particularly of merchants, who, for their greater
feeurity, and in order to affift each other, march in a:
body through the deferts, and other dangerous places,
which are infefted with Arabs or robbers.
There
CAR [ 16° 1 CAR
CarV”’ Tiicre are f<)Ur regular caravans which go yearly to are obliged to carry almoft every thing with you i C
tera.aH* 'v^ecca ? the firft; from Damafcus, compofed of the there is never a caravanfera without a well, or fpring
pilgrims from Europe and Alia; the fecond from of water. Thefe buildings are Chiefly owing to the'
Cairo, for the Mahometans of Barbary ; the third charity of the Mahometans; they are efteemed facred *
from Zibith, a place near the mouth of the Red Sea> dwellings, where it is not permitted to infult any per-
where thofe of Arabia and India meet; the fourth fon, or to pillage any of the effefts that are depofited
from Babylon, where the Perfians affemble. Moll of there. There are alfo caravanferas where moft things
the inland commerce of the Eaft is carried on by Ca> may be had for money 5 and as the profits of thefe are
ravans. The late czar Peter the Great eftablilhed a confiderable, the magiftrates of the cities to whofe ju-
trade between Ruflia and China by means of a caravan. rifdi£Uon they belong, take care to ftore them well,
M. Bougnon, geographer to the duke of Lorrain, - There is an infpe&or, who, at the departure of each
has given a treatife of the caravans of merchants in caravan, fixes the price of the night’s lodging, from
Afia; wherein he (hows of what they are compofed, which there is no appeal.
how many forts there are, the feveral ufes of the dif- CARAVAN3ERASKIER, thefteward or keeper
ferent forts of animals in them ; the prices given for of a Caravansera. He keeps an account of all the
them, the officers and men appointed to conduft them, merchandifes 'that are fold upon truft, and demands
and the pay of each, with their manner of marching, the payments of the fums due to the merchants for
halting, fighting, retreating, &c. Caravans of this what has been fold in the caravanfera, on the feller’s
kind are large convoys of armed men, merchants, and paying two per cent.
travellers, with divers forts of animals for the carriage CARAVEL ; thus they call a fmall veflel on the
of their provifions. There are commonly four chief coaft of France, which goes to filh for herring on the
officers of a caravan, viz. the caravan bachi, or chief; banks. They are commonly' from 25 to 30 tons bur-
the captain-guide; captain of relt; and captain of den. Thofe which are defigned for the fame fiffiery
diftribution. The firlt has abfolute command over all in the Britifh channel are called by the French trm-
the reft : the fecond is abfolute in the march: the of- quarts : thefe are from 12 to 15 tons burden,
fice of the third only commences when the caravan CARAWAY, in botany.' See Carum.
ftops and makes a ftay: to the fourth it belongs to CARBONADE, or Carbonado, in cookery';
difpofe of every part of the corps, in cafe of an attack ftefh, fowl, or the like, feafoned and broiled on the
or battle ; he has alfo the infpeftion over the diftribu- coals.
tion of provifions, which is made under him by feveral CARBUNCLE, in natural hiftory, a very elegant
diftributors, who give fecurity to the mafter of the gem, whofe colour is deep red, with an admixture of
caravan, and have each of them a certain number of fcarlet.
perfons, elephants, dromedaries, &c. to take care of This gem was known among the ancients by' the
at their own peril. The treafurer of the caravan makes name of anthrax. It is ufually found pure and fault-
a fifth officer, wdio has under him feveral agents and lefs, and is of the fame degree -of hardnefs with the
interpreters, who keep journals of all that pafles, for fapphire : it is naturally of an angular figure; and is
the fatisfaftion of thofe concerned in fitting out the found adhering, by its bafe, to a heavy and ferrugi-
caravan. nous ftone of the emery kind : its ufual fize is near a
Any dealer Is at liberty to form a company, in or- quarter of an inch in length, and two thirds of that in
der to make a caravan. He in whofe name it is raifed, diameter in its thickeft parts : when held up againft
is confidered as the caravan bachi, or chief of the ca- the fun, it lofes its deep tirtge, and becomes exaftly
ravan, unlefs he appoint fome other in his place. If of the colour of a burning charcoal, whence the pro*
there are feveral merchants equally concerned, they priety of the name which the ancients gave it. It bears
cleft a caravan bachi; after which, they appoint offi- the fire unaltered, not parting wfith its colour, nor be*
cers to conduft the caravan and decide all controverfies coming at all the paler by it. It is found only in the
that may arife during the.journey. Eaft Indies, fo far as is yet known; and there but
There are alfo fea caravans ; eftabliihed on the fame very rarely,
footing, and for the fame purpofes: fuch is the cara- Carbuncle, or Anthrax, in medicine, an inflam-
van of veffels from Conftantinople to Alexandria. mation which arifes, in time of the plague, with a ve*
CARAVANSERA, or Karavansera, a place ficle or blifter almoft like that produced by burning,
appointed for receiving and loading the caravans. Carbuncle, in heraldry, a charge or bearing, con-
It is commonly a large fquare building, in the lifting of eight radii, four whereof make a common
middle of w hich there is a very fpacious court; and crofs, and the other four a faltier.
under the arches or piazzas that furround it there runs Some call thefe radii buttons, or ftaves, becaufe round,
a bank, raifed fome feet above the ground, wkere the and enriched with buttons, or pearled like pilgrim’s
merchants, and thofe wko travel with them in any ca- ftaves, and frequently tipped or terminated with flow’er-
pacity, take up their .lodgings as well as they can ; de-luces; others blazon them, royal feeptres, placed in
the beafts of burden being tied to the foot of the bank, faltier, pale and feffe.
Over the gates that lead into the court, there are fome- CARCASSE, or CarCus, in the art of war, an
times little rooms, which the keepers of the caravan- iron cafe, or hollow capacity, about the bignefs of a
feras let out at a very high price to fuch as have a bomb, of an oval figure, made of ribs of iron, filled
mind to be private. with combuftible matters, as meal-powder, faltpetre,
The caravanferas in the Eaft are fomething of the fulphur, broken glafs, fhavings of hom, turpentine,
nature of the inns in Europe ; only that. you meet tallow, &c. It has two or three apertures out of which
wuth little accommodation either for man or beaftybut the fire is to blaze ; and the delign of it is to be thrown
N° 64. 2 out
CAR [ i
Carcaf- out of a mortar, to fet houfes on fire, and do other exe-
fonne cution. It has the name carcaffe, becaufe the circles
Carceres Pa*'s ^rom one r,"n£ or P^ate t0 the other feem
l. . rceres- to reprefent the ribs of a human carcafe.
. CARCASSONNE, an ancient city of France, in
Lower Languedoc, with a bilhop’s fee. It is divided
into the upper and lower town. They are both fur-
rounded with walls; and though their fituations are
different, they are both watered by the river Aude. The
upper town is feattd on a hill, with a caftle that com¬
mands it, as well as the lower town. It is flrong, not
only by its fituation on a craggy rock, but alfo by fe-
veral large towers which are joined to its walls, and
which render it of difficult accefs. The cathedral
church is remarkable for nothing but its antiquity.
The lower town is large, and built after the modern
tafte. The ftreets are very ftraight, and lead to a large
fquare in the middle, from whence may be feen the four
gates of the town. There is here a manufacture of
cloth. The neighbouring country is full of olive-trees ;
and in -the mountains there is a fine marble, commonly
called marble of Languedoc. E. Long. 2. 25. N. Lat.
43. ti.
This place bore a confiderable fhare in that celebra¬
ted criifade undertaken againft the Albigenfes in the
beginning of the 13th century, and which forms one
of the moll aftonifhing. inftances of fuperltition and of
atrocious barbarity to be found in the annals of the
world. When the royal power was'ncarly annihilated,
during the reigns of the lafikings of the Carlovingian
race in France, moft of the cities of Languedoc ereft-
ed themfelves into little independent ftates, governed
by their own princes. Garcaffonne was then under the
dominion of vifcounts. At the time when Pope Inno¬
cent III. patronized and commanded the profecution
of hoflilities againft the Albigenfes for the crime of
herefy, Raymond the reigning vifcount was included
in that profcription. Simon de Montfort, general of
the army of the church, invefted the city of Carcafibnne
m 1209. The inhabitants, terrified at the fate of fe¬
deral other places where the moft dreadful maffacres
had been committed, demanded leave ta capitulate-;
but this adt of mercy was only extended to them under
a condition equally cruel, incredible, and unparalleled
in hiftory, if we were not compelled to believe it by
the unaniinous teftimony »f all the Cotemporary wri¬
ters. The people found in the place were all obliged,
without diftindtion of rank or fex, to evacuate it in a
Hate of nudity ; and Agnes the vifcountefs was not ex¬
empted, though young and beautiful, from this igno¬
minious and Ihocking punilhment. “ On les fit fortir
tout nuds de la vilie de Carcalfonne (fays an ancient
author) afin qu’ils receuffent de la honte, en montrant
ces parties du corps que la purete de la langue n’ex-
prime point, defquelles ils avoient abufd, et s’en dtoient
fervis dans des crimes execrablesT It feems by this
imputation that the Albigeois were accufed by their
enemies of feme enormities, probably unjuft, and fi-
milar to thofe which religious enmity and prejudice'
have attributed to the followers of Zinzendorf in the
prefent century.
CARCERES, inthe ancient Circenfian games, were
inclofures in the circus, wherein the horfes were reftrain-
ed till the fignal was given for ftarting, when, by an
admirable contrivance, they all at once flew open.
Vox.. IV. Parti.
61 ] CAR
CARCHEMISH (anc. geog.), a town lying upon Carchemiffi
the Euphrates, and belonging to the Aflyrians. Necho II
king of Egypt took it from the king of Affyria, ar^3, ,
2 Chr. xxxv. 20. Necho left a garrifon in it, which
was taken and cut to pieces, in the fourth year of Je-
hoiachan king of Judah, by Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, 2 Kings xxiii. 29. Ifaiah (x. 9.) fpeaks of
Carchemifh, and feems to fay, that Tiglath pilefer
made a conqueft of it, perhaps from the Egyptians.
This is thought to be the fame city with that called
Circelium by the Greeks and Latins.
CARCINOMA, in medicine; the fame with Can-
CkR.
CARD, among artificers, an inftrument' cocfifting
of a block of wood, befet with lharp teeth, ferving to
arrange the hairs of wool, flax, hemp, and the like 1
there are different kinds of them, as hand-cards, flock- f
cards, &c. They are mat^e as follows;
A piece of thick leather, of. the fize intended for
the card, is (trained in a frame for that purpofe ; and
then pricked full of holes, into which the teeth or pieces
of iron wire are inferted. After which the leather is
nailed by the edges to a flat piece of wood, in the form
of an oblong fquare, about a foot in length and half
a foot in breadth, with a handle placed in the middle
of one of the longer fides.
The teeth are made in the following manner. The
wire being drawn of the fize intended, a fkain or num¬
ber of wires are cut into proper lengths by means of a
gauge, and then doubled in a tool contrived for that
purpofe : after which they are bent into the proper
direction by means of another tool; and then placed in
the leather, as mentioned above.
Cards, among gamefters, little pieces of fine thin
pafteboard of an oblong figure, of feveral fizes; but
moft commonly, in Britain, three inches and an half
long and two and an half broad, on which are painted
feveral points and figures.
The moulds and blocks for making cards are exa&Iy
like thofe that were tifed for the firft printed books.
They lay a fheet of wet or moift paper on the block,
which is firft (lightly done over with a fort of ink made
of lamp-black diluted in water, and mixed with fonte
(larch to give it a body. They afterwards rub it off
with a round lift. The court-cards are coloured by
means of feveral patterns, (lyledJlane-fles. Thefe con-
fift of papers cut through with a penknife ; and in thefe
apertures they apply feverally the various colours, as
red, black, &c. Thefe patterns are painted with oil-
colours, that the brufties may not wear them out;
and-when the pattern is laid on the pafteboard, they
(lightly pafs over it a bru(h-full of colour, which, leav¬
ing it within the openings, forms the face or figure of
the card.
Among (harpers, divers forts of falfe and fraudulent
cards have been contrived; as, 1. Marked cards, where
the aces, kings, queens, knaves, are marked on the cor¬
ners of the backs with fpots of different number and
order, either with clear water or water tinged with
pale Indian ink, that thofe in the-fecret may diftinguifh
them. Aces are marked with fingle fpots on two cor¬
ners oppofite diagonally ; kings with two fpots at the
fame corners; knaves with the fame number tranfver-
fed. 2. Breef cards, thofe which are longer or broader
than the reft ; chiefly ufed at whift and piquet. The
X broad
CAR [ 162 ] CAR
Cards, broad cards are ufually for kings, queens, knaves, and
Cardamr.;e.aces. ^ jor)g for ^ re^._ Their defign is to direA the
v~ cutting,'to enable him in the fecret to cut the cards dif-
advantageoufly to his adverfary, and draw the perfon
unacquainted with the fraud to cut them favourably
for the lharper. As the pack is placed either endwife
or fidewife to him that is to cut, the long or broad
cards naturally lead him to cut to them. Breef cards
are fometimes made thus by the manufafturer ; but, in
defedt of thefe, (harpers pare all but the breefs with a
penknife or razor. 3. Corner bend^ denotes four cards
turned down finely at one corner, to ferve as a fignal
to cut by. 4. Middle lend, or Kingfton-bridge, is
■where the tricks are bent two different ways, which
caufes an opening or arch in the middle, to direft like-
wife the cutting.
Cards were invented about the year 1390, to divert
Charles VI. of France, who had fallen into a melan¬
choly difpofition. The inventor propofed, by the fi¬
gures of the four fuits or colours, as the French call
them, to reprefent the four claffes of men in the king¬
dom. By the cteurs (hearts) are meant the gens de choeur,
choir-men, or ecckfiaftics ; and ^therefore the Spa¬
niards, who certainly received theufe of cards from the
French, have copas, or chalices, inftead of hearts. The
nobility, or prime military part of the kingdom, are
reprefented by the ends or points of lances or pikes ;
and our ignorance of the meaning or refemblance of the
figure induced us to call them fpades: The Spaniards
have efpadas, fwords, in lieu of pikes, which are of
fimilar import. By diamonds are defigned the order of
citizens, merchants, or tradefmen, carreaux, (fquare
Hones, tiles, or the like): The Spaniards have a coin,
dincros, which anfwers to it; and the Dutch call the
French word carreaux ‘‘Jlreneen,” ftones and diamonds,
from the form. Trejle, the trefoil leaf, or clover-
grafs (corruptly called clubs), alludes to the hufband-
mCn and peafants. But how this fuit came to be called
clubs is not eafily explained; unlefs, borrowing the
game from the Spaniards, who have bajlos (Haves or
clubs) inftead of the trefoil, we give the Spanifh fig-
nification to the French figure.
The hiftory of the four kings, which the French, in
drollery, fometimes call the cards, are David, Alex¬
ander, Caefar, and Charles ; which names were then,
and ftill are, on the French cards. Thefe refpe&able
names reprefent the four celebrated monarchies of the
Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Franks under Charle¬
magne. By the queens are intended Argine, Efther,
- Judith, and Pallas (names retained in the French
cards), typical of birth, piety, fortitude, and wifdom,
the qualifications refiding in each perfon. Argine is an
anagram for rcgina, queen by defcent. By the knaves
■were defigned the fervants to knights (for knave ori¬
ginally meant only Jervant); but French pages and
valets, now indifcriminately ufed by various orders of
perfons, were formerly only allowed to perfons of qua¬
lity, efquires (efcuires), fhield or armour bearers. Ci¬
thers fancy that the knights themfelves were defigned
by thofe cards; becaufe Hogier and Lab ire, two
names on the French cards, were famous knights at
the time cards were fuppofed to have been invented.
Deceptions with Cards. See Legerdemain, fe£l. i.
CARD AMINE, in botany: A genus of the fili-
quofa order, belonging to the tetradynamia clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the Carda-
39th order, Slliquofa. The filiqua parts afunder with
a fpring, and the valves roll fpirally backward ; the *
lligma is entire, and the calyx a little gaping. Of this
there are 15 fpecies; but the moft remarkable is the
pratenfis, with a large purplilh flower. This grows
naturally in many parts of Britain, and is alfo called
cuckow-Jlower. There are four varieties, viz. the Angle,
with purple and white flowers, which are frequently in¬
termixed in the meadows; and the double, of both co¬
lours. The Angle forts are not admitted into gardens*
but the double deferve a place, as making a pretty ap¬
pearance during the time they are in flower. They
will thrive in a moift fhady border ; and are propagated
by parting their roots, which is beft performed in au¬
tumn. They delight in a foft loamy foil, not too ftiff.
By fome the plant is reckoned antifcorbutic.
CARDAMOM, in the Materia Medica. See Amo-
mum.
CARDAN (Jerom), ofie of the moft extraordinary
geniufes of his age, was born at Pavia on the 24th of
September 1501. As his mother was not married, fhe
tried every method to procure an abortion, but without
effeft. She was three days in labour, and they were
at laft obliged to cut the child from her. He was born
with his head covered with black curled hair. When,
he was four years old, he was carried to Milan ; his fa¬
ther being an advocate in that city. At the age of
20, he went to ftudy in the univerfity of that city; and
two years afterwards he explained Euclid. In 1524,
he went to Padua; and the fame year he was admitted
to the degree of mafter of arts: in the end of the fol¬
lowing year, he took the degree of doftor of phyfic.
He married about the year 1531. For ten years be¬
fore, his impotency had hindered himfromhaving know¬
ledge of a woman ; which was a great mortification to*
him. He attributed it to the evil influences of the
planet under which he was born. When he enume¬
rates, as he frequently does, the greateft misfortunes
of his life, this ten years impotency is always one. At
the age of 32, he became profeffor of mathematics afe
Milan. In 1539, he was admitted member of the
college of phyficians at Milan; in 15431 he read:
public le&ures of medicine in that city, and at Pavia
the year following ; but difeontinued them becaufe he
could not get payment of his falary, and returned to
Milan. In 1552, he went into Scotland, having heem
fent for by the Archbiihop of St Andrew’s, who had
in vain applied to- the French king’s phyficians, and
afterwards to thofe of the emperor of Germany. This
prelate, then 40 years old, had for ten years been af¬
flicted with a (hortnefs of breath, which returned every
eight days for the two laft years. He began to reco¬
ver from the moment that Cardan preferibed for him.
Cardan took his leave of him at the end of fix weeks
and three days, leaving him preferiptions which in two
years wrought a complete cure.
Cardan’s journey to Scotland gave him an oppor¬
tunity of vifiting feveral countries. He crofted France
in going thither* and returned through Germany, and
the Low Countries, along the banks of the Rhine. It
was on this occafion he went to London, and calculated
king Edward’s nativity. This tour took up about
four months : after which, coming back to Milan, he
continued there till the beginning of Odlober 1552 *
CAR [ 163 ] CAR
•'Cardan, and then went to Pavia, from whence he was invited
“■’“V”” to Bologna in 1562. He taught in this laft city till
the year 1570 ; at which time he was thrown into
prifon ; but fome months after he was fent home to
his own houfe. He left Bologna in 1571 : and went
to Rome, where he lived for fome time without any
public employment. He was, however, admitted a
member of the college of phyficians, and received a
penfion from the pope. Pie died at Rome on the 2 id
of September 1575, according to Thuanus. This ac¬
count might be fufficient to (how the reader that Car-
-dan was of a very fickle temper ; but he will have a
much better idea of his Angular and odd turn of mind
by examining what he himfelf has written concerning
his own good and bad qualities. He paid himfelf con¬
gratulatory compliments for not having a friend in this
world ; but that, in requittal, he was attended by an
nerial fpirit, emaned partly from Saturn and partly
from Mercury, who was the conftant guide of his ac¬
tions, and teacher of every duty to which he was bound.
He declared, too, that he was fo irregular in his man¬
ner of walking the ftreets, as induced all beholders to
point at him as a fool. Sometimes he Walked very
flowly, like a man abforbed in profound meditation;
then all on a fudden quickened his fteps, accompanying
them with very abfurd attitudes. In Bologna his de¬
light was to be drawn about in a mean vehicle with
three wheels. When nature did not vifit him with any
pain, he would procure to himfelf that difagreeable
fenfation by biting his lips fo wantonly, or pulling his
fingers to fuch a vehement degree, as fometimes to
force the tears from his eyes : and the reafon he affign-
ed for fo doing, was to moderate certain impetuous
fallies of the mind, the .violence of which was to him
by far more infupportable than pain itfelf; and that
the fure confequence of fuch a fevere difcipline was the
enjoying the pleafure of health. He fays elfewhere,
that, in his greateft tortures of foul, he ufed to whip
his legs with rods, and bite his left arm ; that it was a
great relief to him to weep, but that very often he
could not ; that nothing gave him more pleafure than
to talk of things which made the whole company un-
eafy ; that he fpoke on all fubje&s, in feafon and out
of feafon ; and he was fo fond of games of chance, as
to fpend whole days in them, to, the great prejudice of
his family and reputation, for he even flaked his furni¬
ture and his wife’s jewels.
Cardanus makes no fcruple of owning that he was
revengeful, envious, treacherous, a dealer in the black
art, a backbiter, a calumniator, and addi&ed to all the
-foul and deteftable excefies that can be imagined : yet,
notwithflanding (as one would think) fo humbling a
declaration, there was never perhaps a vainer mortal,
or one that with lefs ceremony expreffed the high opi¬
nion he had of himfelf, than Cardanus was known to
do, as will appear by the following proofs. “ I have
been admired by many nations: an infinite number of
panegyrics, both in profe and verfe, have been compo-
fcd to celebrate my fame. I was born to releafe the
world from the manifold errors under which it groaned.
What I have found out could not be difcovered either
by my predeceffprs or my cotemporaries ; and that is
■the reafon why thofe authors who write any thing wor¬
thy oLbeing remembered, fcruple not to own that they
are indebted to me for. it. I have compofed a book Cardan
on the dialeftic art, in which there is neither one fu- Car,jers
perfluous letter, nor one deficient. I finilhed it in feven '
days, which feems a prodigy. Yet where is there a
perfon to be found, that can boaft of his having become
matter of its dodlrine in a year ? And he that (hall have
comprehended it in that time, mutt appear to have been
inftrufted by a familiar daemon.”
The fame capricioufnefs obfervable in his outward
condutt is to be obferved in the compofition of his
works. We have a multitude of his treatifes in which
the reader is flopped almoft every moment by the ob-
feurity of his text, or his digreffions from the point in
hand. In his arithmetical performances there are feve-
ral difcourfes on the motions of the planets, on the
creation, and on the tower of Babel. Ini his dialedlic
work, we find his judgment on hiftorians and the wri¬
ters of epiflles. The only apology which he makes for
the frequency of his digreffions is, that they were pur-
pofely done for the fooner filling up of his fheet, his
bargain with the bookfeller being at fo much per (heet;
and that he worked as much for his daily fupport as
for the acquifition of glory. The Lyons edition of
his works, printed in 1663, confifls of ten volumes in
folio.
It was Cardanus who revived in latter times all the
fecret philofophy of the Cabbala or Cabbalifts, which
filled the world with fpirits ; a likenefs to whom, he
afferted, we might attain by purifying ourfelves with
philofophy. He chofe for himfelf, however, notwitb •
(landing fuch reveries, this fine device, Tempus menpof-
fejfio, tempus metis ager: “ Time is my foie poffeffion,
and the only fund I have to improve.”
In faft, when we confider the tranfcendent qualities
of Cardan’s mind, we cannot deny his having cultiva¬
ted it with every fpecies of knowledge, and his having
made a greater progrefs in philofophy, in the medical
art, in aftronomy, in mathematics, &c. than the great-
eft part of his cotemporaries who had applied their
minds but to one of thqfe fciences.
Scaliger affirms, that Cardan, having fixed the time
of his death, abttained from food, that his predi&ion
might be fulfilled, and that his continuance to live
might not difcredit his art. Cardan’s father, who viras
a do&or of medicine, and a profeffor of civil and ca¬
non law, died in the fame manner, in the year 1524,
having abftained from all fuftenance for nine days. His
fon tells us, that he had white eyes, and could fee in
the night-time.
CARDASS, a fort of card, proper for carding
flocks of filk, to make cappadine of it. It is alfo the
name which the French give to thofe flocks'of filk.
Cardasses, is alfo the name which, in the cloth
manufadlories of Languedoc, they give to a fort of
large card, which is ufed for carding the dyed wool,
deiigned for making cloth of mixed colours.
CARDERS, in the woollen manufactory, are per-
fons who prepare wool, See. for fpinning, &c.
Carders, fpinners, weavers, fullers, (heermen, and
dyers, not performing their duty in their occupations,
(hall yield to the party grieved double damages; to be
committed until payment. One juftice to hear and
determine complaints.
Carders, combers, forters, fpinners, or weavers,
X 2 con-
CAR t 164 1 CAR
Gardi conveying away, embezzling, or detaining any Wool CARDIGANSHIRE, a county of South Wales, Cardigan-
I] or yarn, delivered by the clothier, or any other perfon, bounded on the north by MerionetMhire and Mont- fl^re
Cart igan. ^ajj gjve party grJeVed fuch fatisfaftion, as twa gomeryfliire, on the -eaft by Radnorflrire and Breck- I!
juftices, mayor, &c. fhall think fit : if not able or will- nockfliire, on the weft by the Irifh Sea, and on the CardimM
ing to make fatisfaftion, for the firft offence to be fouth by Caermarthenfhire. Its length from north- ^ J
whipped, or fet in the ftocks in fome market-town, or weft to fouth-eaft is about 44 miles, and its breadth
ja any other town where the offence is committed : the near 20. The air, as in other parts of Wales, varies
fecond offence to incur the like, or fuch furt . .r punifh- with the foil, which in the fouthern and weftern parts
ment by whipping, &c. as juftices fnall think proper, is more upon a level than this principality generally is,-
Conviction by one witnefs on oath, or confeffion. which renders the air mild and temperate. But as
CARDI (Ludovico), bee Civoli. the northern and eaftern parts are mountainous, they
CARDIAC, in a general fenfe, fignifies all medi- are confequently more barren and bleak. However,
cines beneficial to the heart, whether internally or ex- there are cattle bred in all parts; but they have nei-
ternally applied. The word comes from the Greek ther wood nor coals of their own for fuel; they have
word cor; the heart being reputed the imme- .rich lead mines, and.fifh in plenty, with fowls both
diate feat of their operation. tame and wild. The principal rivers are the Teivy,
Cardiacs, in a more particular fenfe, denote medi- the Ridol, and the Iftwith. This county hath five
cines which raife the fpirits, and give prefent ftrength market-towns, v!%. Cardigan, Aberiftwith, Llanbad-
and cheerfulnefs; thefe amount to the fame with what arnvawn, Llanbedar, and Tregaron, with 77 parifhes ;
are popularly call' d cordials. Cardiacs are medicines and was formerly computed to have upward of 3000
anciently fuppofed to exert thernfelves immediately in houfes, and 520,000 acres of land. It fends two mem-
comforting and {Lengthening the heart : but the mo- hers to parliament; one for the county, and one for
dern phyficians rather hippofe them to produce the ef-. Cardigan.
fe& by putting the blood into a gentle fermentation, CARDINAL, in a general, fenfe, an appellation
whereby the fprings, before 'decayed, are repaired and given to things on account of their pre-eminence. The
invigorated, and the tone and elafticity of the fibres of word is formed of the Latin cardo, a hinge ; it being
the veffels reftored; the confequence of which is a on thefe fundamental points that all the reft of the
more eafy and bride circulation. fame kind are fuppofed to turn. Thus, juftice, pru-
CARDIALGIA, in medicine, a violent fenfation dence, temperance, and fortitude, are called the four
of heat or acrimony felt towards the upper or left ori- cardinal virtues, as being the bafis of all the reft,
fice of the ftomachj though feemingly at the heart; A/cwer, in botany. See Lobelia.
fometimes accompanied with palpitations of the heart. Cardinal Points, in cofmography, are the four in-
fainting, and a .propenfity to vomit: better known by terfeftions of the horizon with the meridian, and the
the name of cardiacpufjion, or heart-lam,' See {■Index prime vertical circle. Of thefe, two, viz. the inter-
Jubjoined to) Medicine. feftions of the horizon and meridian, are called North
CARDIFF, a town of Glamorgafiftiire, in South and South, with regard to the poles they are directed
Wales, feated on the river Tave, in a rich and fruitful to. The other two, viz. the interfections of the ho-
foil. It is a large, c6mpaft, well built town, having a rizon, and firft vertical, are ealled Pajl and IVeJl.
caftle, a wall, and four gates, built by Robert Fitz- The cardinal points, therefore, coincide with the
Hamon, a Norman, about the year 1100. It is go- four cardinal regions of the heavens; and are 90° di-
verr.ed by the conftable of the caftle, 12 aldermen, 12 ftant from each other. The intermediate points are
burgeffes, &c. and fends one member to parliament. cPHetd collateral points.
Here the affizes and fiffions are held, befides kveral Cardinal Points, in aftrology, are the rifing and
c ^1 rts. There is a handfome bridge over the river, to fetting of the fun, the zenith, and nadir,
which fmall veffels come to take in their lading. It has Cardinal Signs, in aftronomy, are Aries, Libra,
now only one church, St Mary’s having been long fince Cancer, and Capricorn.
thrown down by the undermining of the river. The Cardinal Winds, are thofe that blow from the car-
eaftle, though much decayed, makes a grand appear- dinal points.
ance even at this time ; and the walls of the town are Cardinal Numbers, in grammar, are the numbers
very ftrong and thick. The church has a fine- tower- one, two, three, &c. which are indeclinable ; in oppo»
fteeple, and the town-hall is a good ftrufture. The fitian to the ordinal numbers, firft, fecond, third,
magiftrates are ele&cd every year by the majority of fourth, &c.
the burgeffes. W. Long. 3. 20. N. Lat. 51. 30. Cardik-aj., an ecclefiaftjcal prince in the Romifh
Cardiff gives title of Britifti Baron, to 1:he family of church, being one who has a voice in the conclave at
Bute in Scotland, the election of a pope. Some fay the cardinals were .
CARDIGAN, the capital town of Cardiganfnhre, fo called from the Latin incardinaiio, which fignifies-
in South Wales, is feated near the mouth of the river the adoption in any church made of a prieft of a fo-
Teivy, on the Irifh channel. It is indifferently'large reign church, driven thence by misfortune ; and add,
and well-built, containing three wards, one church, and that the ufe of the word commenced at Rome and
the county-gaol, It is governed by a mayor, > 3 alder- Ravenna ; the revenues of the churches of which cities
men, 13 common-council-men? &c. Here are the ruins being very great, they became the common refuge of
of a caftle which was built by Gilbert de Clare, about , the unhappy priefts of all other churches,
the year 1 160. It fends ore member to Parliament; The cardinals compofe the pope’s council or fenate : .
apd has two markets, held on Tuefdays and Saturdays, in the Vatican is a conftitution of pope John, which
W, Long. 4. ^8. N, Lat. 52. 15. regulates the rights and .titles of the cardinals ; and ;
A. ‘ which.,
CAR
r 165 i
CAR
Cardinal, which declares, that as the pope represents Mofes, fo
J the cardinals reprefent the ieventy elders, who, under
the pontifical authority, decide private and particular
differences.
Cardinals, in their firfl inflitutipn, were only the
principal priefts, or incumbents of the pariftes of Rome.
In the primitive church, the chief prieft of a parifh,
who immediately followed the bifhop, was called pref-
byter car awaits, to'diflinguifh him from the other petty
priefts, who had no church nor preferment; the term
was firft applied to the’m in the year 150 ; others fay,
under pope Silvetter, in the year 300. Thefe cardi¬
nal priefts were alone allowed to baptize, and admira¬
fter the eucharift. When the cardinal priefts became
The title of tardkal is a!fa given to Some bifhops, Cardinal.
quatenus bdhops ; e. g. to thofe of Mentz and Milan :  w—*
the archbifhop of Bourges is aifo, in ancient writings,
called cardinal; and the church of Bourges, a cardinal
church. The abbot of Vendome calls himfelf cardknalU
natus.
The cardinals are divided into three clafTes or orders;
containing fix bifhops, fifty priefts, and fourteen dea¬
cons ; making in all feventy : which conftitute what
they call the facred college. - The cardinal biihops, who
are, as it were, the pope’s vicars, bear the titles of the
bifiiopricks affigned to them ; the reft take fuch titles
as are given them : the number of cardinal bifhops
has been fixed ; but that of cardinal priefts and dea-'
'bifhops, their cardinalate became vacant; they being cons, and confequently the facred college itfelf, i
.then fuppofed to be raifed to a higher dignity.—Un¬
der pope Gregory, cardinal priefts, and cardinal dea¬
cons, were only fuch priefts or deacons a? had a church
or chapel under their particular care : and this was the
original ufe of the word. Ueo IV. in the council of
Rome, held in 853, calls them -preJhyterQs fui cardinis ;
and their churches, parochias cardinales.
The cardinals continued on this footing till the
eleventh century : but as the grandeur and Rate of his
holinefs became then exceedingly augmented, he would
have his council of cardinals make a better figure than
the ancient priefts had done. It is true, they ftill
preferred their ancient title ; but the thing exprefied
by it was no more. It was a good while, however,
before they had the precedence over bifhops; or got
the eledfion of the pope into their hands : but when
they were once pofieffed of thofe privileges, they foon
had the red hat and purple ; and growing ftill in autho¬
rity, they became at length fuperior to the biftiops, by
the foie quality of being cardinals.,
Du-Cange obferves, that originally there were three
kinds of churches : the firft or genuine churches were
properly called par'ijhss ; the fecand, deaconries, which
were chapels joined to hofpitals, and ferved by dea¬
cons ; the third were fimple oratories, where private
mqffes were faid, and were difeharged by local and re-
fident chaplains. He adds, that, to diftinguifh the
principal or parifii churches from the chapels and ora¬
tories, the name cardinales was given to them. Ac¬
cordingly, parifh churches gave titles to cardinal priefts;
and fome chapels alfo, at length, gave the title of car¬
dinal deacons.
Others obferve, that the term cardhial was given not
only to priefts, but alfo to biihops and deacons who
were attached to certain churches, to diftinguifh them
from thofe who only ferved them en pqjfant, and by
commiflion.' Titular churches, or benefices, were a
kind of parifhes, i. e. churches affigned each to a cardi¬
nal prieft; with fome ftated dilirict depending on it,
and a font for adminiftering of baptifm, in cafes where
the bifliop himfelf could not adminifter it. Thefe
cardinals were fubordinate to the biihops ; and ac-
ordingly, in councils, particul 
a 868, fubferibed after them..
It was not, however, only at Rome, that priefts
bore this name ; for we find there were cardinal priefts
in France : thus, the curate of the parifh of St John
de Vignes is called in old charters the cardinalpriefi of
that parifh.
al¬
ways fluctuating. Till the year x 125, the college on¬
ly confifted of fifty-two or fifty-three : the council of
Conftance reduced them to twenty-four; but Sixtus
IV. without any regard to that reftriction, raifed them
again to fifty-three, and Leo to fixty-five. Thus, as •
the number of cardinal priefts was anciently fixed to
twenty-eight, new titles were to be eftablifhed, in pro¬
portion as new cardinals were created. As for the
cardinal deacons, they were originally no more than
feyen for the fourteen quarters of Rome ; but they
were afterwards increafed to* nineteen, and after that
were again diminifhed.
According to Onuphrius, it was pope Pius IV. who
firft enadted, in 1562, that the pope fhould be cihofea
only by the fenate of cardinals; whereas, till that time,
the election was by all the clergy of Rome. Some .
fay; the election of the pope relied in the cardinals, ,,
exclufive of the clergy, in. the time of Alexander III..
in 1160. Others go higher ftill, and fay, that Nicho¬
las II. having been elected at Sienna, in- ioyS, by the
cardinals alone," occafioned the right of election to be
taken, from the clergy and people of Rome ; only lea¬
ving them that of confirming him by their confent;
which was at length, however, taken from them. See
his decree for this purpofe, iffued in the Roman coun¬
cil of 1059, in Hardouin’s Adta Conciliorum, tom. vi.
pt. i. p. 1165. Whence it appears, that the cardinals
who.had the right of fuffrage in the election of his
fuccefibrs, were divided by this, pontiff into cardinal '
lijhops tunti cardinal clerks : meaning by the former the
feven bifhops who belonged to the city and territory
of Rome; and by the latter,' the cardinal prejbyters or
minifters of the twenty-eight Roman parifhes, or prin¬
cipal churches. To thefe’were added, in procefs of '
time, under Alexander III. and other pontiffs, ; new
members, in order to appeafe the tumults occaiioned .
by the edi£t of Nicholas II. .
At the creation, of a new cardinal-, the pope per¬
forms the ceremony of opening and fhutting his mouth;
which is dong in a private confiftbry. The fhutting
his mouth implies the depriving him of.the liberty of
giving his opinion in congregations ; and the opening
his mouth, which is performed 15 days after, fignifies «•
the taking off this reftraint. However, if the pope
happens to die during the time a cardinal’s mouth is -
fhut, he can neither give his voice in the election of a .
new pope, nor be. himfelf advanced to that dignity.
The drefs of a cardinal is a red foutanne, a rocket,,
a.fhort purple mantle, and.a red hat..
The.
CAR [ 166 ] C A R
-Cardinal Tlie cardinals began to wear tlie red bat at the
II , council of Lyons, in 1243. The decree of pope Ur-
. areetning' ban VIII. whereby it is appointed, that the cardinals
be addreffed under the title of eminence, is of the year
1630 ; till then, they were called iUuJhiJftmi.
When cardinals are fent to the courts of Princes, it
is in quality of legates a latore; and when they are ap¬
pointed governors of towns, their government is call¬
ed by the name of 'legation.
Cardinal has alfo been applied to fecular officers.
Thus, the prime miniilers in the court of the emperor
Theodofius, are called cardmahs. Caffiodorus, lib. vii.
formul. 31. makes mention of the cardinal prince of
the city of Rome ; and in the lift of officers of the
duke of Bretagne, in 1447, we meet with one Raoul
de Thorel, cardinal of Quillart, chancellor, and fervant
of the vifcount de Rohan: which Ihows it to have been
an inferior quality.
CARDIOTD, in the higher geometry, an algebrai¬
cal curve, fo called from its refemblanee to an heart.
CARDIOSPERMUM, in botany: A genus of the
■trigynia order, belonging to the odtandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
39th order, Tiihiltita. The calyx is tetraphyllous, the
petals four, the netlaiiirm .tetraphyllous and unequal;
the capfules three, grown together,and inflated. There
are two fpecies, both natives of the Eaft and Weft In¬
dies ; but have no great beauty, or any other remark¬
able property.
CARDIUM, or Cockle, in zoology, a genus of
infedls belonging to the order of vermes teftaceje. The
fhell confifts of two equal valves, and the fides are e-
qual. There are 21 fpecies of this genus. Common
on all Tandy coafts, lodged a little, beneath the fand ;
their place marked by a deprefled fpot. They are
wholefome and delicious food.
CARDONA, a handfome town of Spain, in Cata¬
lonia, with a ftrong caftle, and the title of a duchy.
Near it is an inexhauftible mountain of fait of feveral
colours, as red, white, carnation, and green : but when
walked, it becomes white. There are alfo vineyards
which produce excellent wine, and very lofty pine-
trees. It is feated on an eminence, near the river Car-
denero. E. Long. x. 26. N. Lat. 41. 42.
CARDUUS, in botany: A genus of the polyga-
xnia sequalis order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs tpf
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
49th order, Compofita. The calyx is ovate, imbricated
W'ith prickly fcales, and the receptacle hairy. Of this
genus there are 26 fpecies, ten of which are natives of
Britain, and being troublefome weeds require no de-
fcription.. Sume few of the exotic kinds are propaga¬
ted in gardens for the fake of variety; but even thefe
have neither beauty nor any other property to recom-.
mend them.
Cardvus BenediSus. See Cnicus.
CAREENING, in the fea-language, the bringing
a fliip to lie down on one fide, in order to trim and
caulk the other fide.
A fhip is faid to be brought to the careen, when, the
moft of her lading being taken out; fhe is hulled down
on one fide, by a fmall veflei, aslow as neceffary; and
there kept by the weight of the ballaft, ordnance, &c.
as well as by ropes, left her mafts fhould be ftrained
too much; in order that her fides and bottom may be
trimmed, feams caulked, or any thing that is faulty Career
under water mended. Hence, when a fhip lies on one II
fide when fhe fails, fhe is faid to fail on the careen. , arew'‘
CAREER, in the manege, a place inclofed with a
barrier, wherein they run the ring.
The word is alfo ufed for the race or courfe of the
horfe itfelf, provided -it do not exceed 200 paces.
In the ancient circus, the career was the fpace the
bigte, or quadrigae, were to run at full fpeed, to gain
the prize. See Circus.
Career, in falconry, is a flight or tour of the bird,
about 120 yards. If fhe mount more, it is called a
double career ; if lefs, life mi-career.
CARELIA, the eaitern province of Finland ; di¬
vided into Swedifh Carelia, and Mufcovite Carelia.
The capital of the latter is Povenza, and of the for¬
mer Weiburg. ^
CARELSCROON, a fea-port town of Sweden, in
Blekingia, or Bleking, on the Baltic Sea, with a very
good harbour defended by two forts. It was built
in 1679; and is very populouc, with arfenals for the
marine : the houfe of the uireiftor-general of the admi¬
ralty is in this town, and here the Swedes lay up their
royal navy. E. Long. xy. 5. N. Lat. 56. 15.
CARENTAN, a town of France in Lower Nor¬
mandy, and in the Contentin, with an ancient caftle.
W. Long. 1. 14. N. Lat. 49. 20.
CARET, among grammarians, a charafter marked
thus a, fignifying that fomething is ‘added on the
margin, or interlined, which ought to cqme in where
the caret ftands.
CAREW (George), born in Devonfhire in 1557,
an eminent commander in Ireland, was made prefident
of Munfter by queen Elizabeth ; when, joining his
forces with the earl of Thomond, he reduced the Infix
infurgents, and brought the earl of Defmond to his
trial. King James made him governor of Guernfey,
and created him a baron. As he was a valiant com¬
mander, he was no lefs a polite fcholar; and wrote
Pacata Hibernia, a hiftory of the late wars in Ireland,
printed after his death, in 1633. feveral
colleiftions for a hiftory of Henry V. which are digeft-
ei into Speed’s Hiftory of Great Britain. Befides
thefe, he collected materials of Irifh hiftory iin four
large MSS. volumes, now in the Bodleian library, Ox¬
ford.'
Carew (Thomas), defeended from the family of
Carew in Gloucefterfhire, was gentleman of the privy
chamber to Charles I. who always efteemed him one
of the moft celebrated wits of his court. He was much
refpe&ed by the poets of his time, particularly by Ben
Johnfon and Sir William Davenant; and left behind
him feveral poems, and a mafque called Caelum Britan-
nicum, performed at Whitehall on Shrove Tuefday
night, 1633, by the king, and feveral of his nobles
with their fons. Carew was affifted in the contrivance
by Inigo Jones, and the mufic was fet by Mr Henry
Lavves of the king’s chapel. He died in the prime of
life, about the year 1639.
Carew (Richard), author of the “ Survey of Corn¬
wall,” was the eldeft fon of Thomas Carew of Eaft
Anthony, and was born in 1551;. When very young,
he became a gentleman commoner of Chrill-ehurch
college, Oxford ; and at 14 years of age had the ho¬
nour of difputing, extempoie, with the afterwards fa¬
mous
CAR
Carew. mous Sir Philip Sydney, in the prefence of the ear’s
 * of Leieefter, Warwick, and other nobility. After
fpending three years at the univerfity, he removed to
the Middle Temple, where he refided the fame length
of time, and then travelled into foreign parts. Not
long after his return to England, he married, in 1577,
Juliana Arundel, of Trerice. In 1581, Mr Carew was
made juftice of the peace, and in 1586 was appointed
high-lheriff of the county of Cornwall; about which
time he was like wife queen’s deputy for the militia.
In 1589, he was elected a member of the college of
Antiquaries, a diflinflion to which he was intitled by
his literary abilities and purfuits. What particularly
’engaged his attention was his native county, his “ Sur¬
vey” of which was publifhed, in 4to, at London, in
1602. It hath been twice reprinted, firft in 1723,
and next in 1769. Of this work Cambden hath fpo-
ken in high terms, and acknowledges his obligations
to the author. In the prefent improved date of topo¬
graphical knowledge, and fince Dr Borlafe’s excellent
publications relative to the county of Cornwall, the
value of Carew’s “ Survey” mud have been greatly di-
minifhed. Mr Gough remarks, that the hiftory and
monuments of this county were faintly touched by
Carew ; but it is added, that he was a perfon extremer
ly capable of defcribing them, if the infancy of thofe
liudies at that time had afforded light and materials.
Another work of our author was a tranflation from the
Italian, intituled, “ The Examination of Men’s Wits.
In which, by difcovering the variety of natures, is
fhowed for what proftflion each one is apt, and how
far he (hall profit therein.” This was publifhed at
London in 1594, and afterwards in 1604; and tho’
Richard Carew’s name is prefixed to it, hath been
principally afcribed by fome perfons to his father. Ac¬
cording to Wood, Carew wrote alfo, “ The true and
ready Way to learn the Latin Tongue,” in anfwer to
a query, whether the ordinary method of teaching the
Latin by the rules of grammar be the heft mode of
inftrn&ing youths in that language ? This traft is in¬
volved in Mr Hartlib’s book upon the fame fubjeft,
and with the fame title. It is certain that Carew was
a gentleman of confiderable abilities and literature, and
that he was held in great eftimation by fome of the
moft eminent fcholars of his time. He was partic'u-
larly intimate with Sir Henry Spelman, who extols
him for his ingenuity, virtue, and learning.
Carew (George), brother to the fubjeft of the lad
article, was educated in the univerfity of Oxford, after
which he iludied the law in the inns of court, and then
travelled to foreign countries for farther improvement.
On his return to his native country, he was called to
the bar, and after fome time was appointed fecretary
to Sir Chriftopher Hatton lord chancellor of England.
This was by the efpecial recommendation of queen
Elizabeth herfelf, who gave him a prothonotarylhip in
the chancery, and conferred upon him the honour of
knighthood. In 1597, Sir George Carew, who was
then a mailer in chancery, was fent ambaffador to the
king of Poland. In the next reign,.he was one of the
commifiioners for treating with the Scotch concerning
an union between the two kingdoms ; after which he
was appointed ambafiador to the court of France, where
he continued from the latter end of the year 1605 till
CAR
1609. During his refidence in that country, he form- Carew,
ed an intimacy with Thuanus, to whom he commu- Carey,
nicated an account of the tranfadlions in Poland whilft y
he was employed there, which was of great fervice to
that admirable author in drawing up the ]2ift book
of his hiftory. After Sir George Carew’s return from
France, he was advanced to the important pod of ma¬
iler of -the court of Wards, which honourable fituation
he did not long live to enjoy; for it appears from a
letter written by Thuanus to Cambden in the fpring,
of 161 3, that he was then lately deceafed. Sir George
Carew married Thomafine, daughter of Sir Francis
Godolphin, great-grand father of the lord treafurer Go-
dolphin, and had by her two fons and three daughters.
When Sir George Carew returned, in 1609, from his-
French embaffy, he drew up, and addrefled to James I.
“ A Relation of the State of France, with the cha-
radlers of Henry IV. and the principal Perfons of that
Court.” The characters are drawn from perfpnal
knowledge and clofe ©bfervation, and might be of fer¬
vice to a general hiftorian of that period. The com-
pofition is perfpicuous and manly, and entirely free
from the pedantry which prevailed in the reign of
James I. but this is the lefs furprifing, as Sir George.
Carew’s tafte had been formed in a better sera, that of.
queen Elizabeth. The valuable tra<9; we are fpeaking.
of lay for a long time in MS. till happily falling into
the hands of the earl of Hardwicke, it was communi¬
cated by him to Dr Birch, who publiftied it, in 1 749,
at the end of his “ Hiftorical View of the Negocia-
tions between the Courts of England, France, and
Bruffels, from 1592 to 1617.” That intelligent and
induftrious writer juftly obferves, that it is a model
upon which ambaftadors may form and digeft their no¬
tions and reprefentations; and the late celebrated poet
Mr Gray hath fpoken of it as an excellent perform¬
ance.
CAREY (Harry); a man diftinguiftied by both'
poetry and mufic, but perhaps more fo by a certain,
facetioufnefs, which made him agreeable to every bo¬
dy. He publilhed in 1720 a little collection of poems y
and in 1732, fix cantatas, written and compofed by
himfelf. He alfo compofed fundry fongs for modern
comedies, particularly thofe in the “ Provoked Huf.
band he wrote a farce (called “ The Contrivances,”
in which were feveral little fongs to very pretty airs of
his own compofition : he alfo made two or three little
dramas for Goodman’s-fields theatre, which were very
favourably received. In 1729, he publifhed by fub-
feription his poems much enlarged : with the addition
of one intituled “ Namby Pamby,” in which Am-
brofe Philips is ridiculed. Carey’s talent, fays his hi¬
ftorian, lay in humour and unmakvolent fatire : to ri¬
dicule the rant and bombaft of modern tragedies he
wrote one, to which Be gave the ftrange title of
“ Chronophotonthologos,” afted in 1734. He alfo
wrote a farce called “ The Honeft Yorkfiiireman.”
Carey was a thorough Englifliman, and had an unfur-
mountable averfion to the Italian opera and the fingers
in it: he wrote a burlefque opera on the fubjeCl of
the “ Dragon of Wantleyand afterwards a fequei
tarifr,-intituled, “ The Dragonefs both which were
efteemed a true burlefque upon the Italian opera. His -
qualities being of the entertaining kind, he was led in*
[ 167 1
' Cargadors
CAR [-168] CAR
to more cxpences than his finances could hear, and weft longitude, and bettveeil 11 and 18 degrees of north CarihheS
thus was frequently-in diftrefs. -His friends however latitude. They lie in the form of a bow or femicircje,
were always ready to affitt him by their little fubferip- ftretching almoft from the coaft of Florida north, to
tions to his works : and encouraged by thefe, he re- near the river Oroonoque. Thofe that lie neareft the
publilhed, in 1740, all the fongs he had ever compd- eaft have been called the Windward IJlan.ls, the others
fed, in a colle&ion, intituled, “ The Mufical Century, the Leeward, on account of the winds blowing gene-
in 100 Englilb Ballads, See.” and, in 1743, his drama- rally from the eaftern point in thofe quarters. Abbe
tic works, in a fmall volume, 4to. With all his mirth Raynal conjedtures them to be the tops of very high
and good-humour, he feems to have been at times deep- mountains formerly belonging to the continent, which
ly affefted with the malevolence of fome of his own have been changed into iflands by fome revolution that
profeffion, who, for reafons that no one can guefs at, has laid the flat country under water. The direction
were his enemies : and this, with the preffure of his of the Caribbee iflands, beginning from Tobago, is
circumftances, is fuppofed to have occafioned his un- nearly north and N. N. W. This direction is conti-
timely end ; for, about 1744, in a fit of defperationj nued forming a line fomewhat curved towards the
he laid violent hands on himfelf, and, at his houfe in north-weft, and ending at Antigua. In this place the
Warnfer-ftreet, Cold-bath Fields, put a period to a line becomes at once curved ; and extending itielf in a
life, whioh, fays Sir John Hawkins, had been led with- ftraight direction to the welt and north-welt, meets in
out reproach. It is to be noted, and it is fomewhat its courfe with Porto-Rico, St Domingo, and Cuba,
Angular in fuch a ebaradter, that in all his fongs and known by the name of the Leeward IJlands, which are
poems on wine, love, and fuch kind of fubjefts, he feparated from each other by channels of various
feems to have mantfefted an inviolable regard for de- breadth?. Some of thefe are fix, others 15 or 20 leagues
cency and good manners. • broad ; but in all of them the foundings are from ico
CARGADORS, a name which the Dutch give to to i 20 or 150 fathoms. • Between Grenada and St Vin-
thofe brokers whole bufinefs is to find freight for fhips cent's thereis alfo a fmall archipelago of 30 leagues, in
outward bound, and to give notice to the merchants, which the foundings are not above ten fathom. The
who have commodities to fend by fea, of the (hips that mountains in the Caribbee iflands run in the fame direc¬
are ready to fail, and of the places for which they are tion as the iflands themfelves. The direction is fo re¬
bound. gular, that if we were to confider the tops of thefe
CARGAPOL, or Kargapol, the capital of a ter- mountains only, independent of their bafes, they might
ritory of the fame name, in the province of Dwina, in be looked upon as a chain of hills belonging to the
Mufcovy : E. Long. 36°. N. Lat. 63°. continent, of which Martinico would he the mofl north-
CARGO denotes all the merchandifes and effe&s wefterly promontory. The fprings of water which flow
which are laden on board a fliip. from the mountains in the Windward Iflands, run all
Super-CARGO, a perfoft employed by merchants to go in the weftern parts of thefe iflands. The whole eaftern
a voyage, overfee the cargo, and difpofe of it to the coaft is without any running watfer. No fprings come
beft advantage. down there from the mountains : and indeed they would
CARIA (anc. £eog.), a country of the Hither A- have there been ufelefs ; for after having run over a very
‘fia ; whole limits are extended by fome, while they are Ihort tradl of land, and with great rapidity, they would
-contrafted by others. Mela, Pliny, extend the mari- have fallen into the fea. In Porto Rico, St Domingo,
time Caria from jafus and Halicarnaffiis, to Calynda, and Cuba, there are a few rivers that difeharge them-
and the borders of Lycia. The inland Caria Ptolemy felves on the northern fide, and whole fources rife in the
extends to the Meander and beyond. Car, Carlates, mountains running from eaft to weft, that is, thro’ the
Cariaiis, Carijfa, and Cans, and Caira, are the genii- whole length of thefe iflands. From the other fide of
litious names; Carius and Car.’n.'j' the epithets. In the mountains facing the fouth, where the fea, flowing
Carepericulum, was a proverbial faying on a thing expo- with great impetuofity, leaves behind it marks of its
fed to danger, but of no great value. The Cares being inundations, feveral rivers flow down, the mouths of
the Swifs of thofe'days, were hired andplacedin-the front which are capable of receiving the largeft fliips. The
of the battle, (Cicero.) Cum Care Carina, denoted the foil of the Caribbees confifts moftly of a layer of clay
behaviour of clowns. The Cares came originally from or gravel of different thicknefs; under which is a bed
the iflands to the continent, being formerly fubjedt to of ftone or rock. The nature of fome of thofe foils is
Minos, and called Lcleges c this the Cretans affirm, and better adapted to vegetables than others. In thofe
the Cares deny, making themfelves aborigines. They places where the clay is drier and more friable, and
are of a common original with the Myfi and Lydi, mixes with the leaves and remains of plantj, a layer of
having a common- temple, of a very ancient Handing, earth is formed of greater depth than where the clay
at Melafla, a town of Caria, cn\\e.A Jovls Carii Detur is moifter. The fand or gravel has different properties
brum, (Herodotus.) liomer calls the Carians, barba- according to its peculiar nature; wherever it is lefs
rians in language. hard, lets compadt, and lefs porous, fmall pieces fepa-
CARIATI, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of rate themfiIves from it, which, though diy, preferve
Naples, and province of Hither Calabria, with a hi- a certain degree of coolnefs ufeful to vegetation. This
Ihop’s fee, and the title of a principality. It is two foil is called in America a pumice-Jlcne foil. Where-
miles from the gulf of Taranto, and 37 north-eaft of ever the clay and gravel do not go through fuch modi-
Cofensta. E. Long. 17. 19. N. Lat. 30. 38. fications, the foil becomes barren, as foon as the layer
CARIBBEE islands, a clufter of iflands fituated formed by the decompofition of the original plants is
in the Atlantic ocean between 59 and 63- degrees of deftroyed.—By a treaty concluded in January 166o,
N0* 65. between
CAR [169 ] CAR
Caribhce. between the French and Englifh, the Caribs were
confined to the-iflands of St Vincent’s and Domi¬
nica, wheie all the fcattered body of this people
were united, and at that time did not exceed in num¬
ber 6000 men. See St Vincent’s and Dominica.
A s the Caribbee iflands are all between the tropics,
their inhabitants are expofed, allowing for the varieties
refulting from difference of fituation and foil, to a per¬
petual heat, which generally increafes from the riling
of the fun till an hour after noon, and then declines in
proportion as the fun declines. The variations of the
temperature of the air feem to depend rather on the
wind than on the changes of the feafons. In thofe
places where the wind does not blow, the air is excef-
fively hot, and none but the eafterly winds contribute
to temper and refrefh it: thofe that blow from the
fouth and weft afford little relief; but they are much
lefs frequent and lefs regular than that which blows
from the eaft. The branches of the trees expofed to
the influence of. the latter are forced round towards the
weft : but their roots are ftronger, and more extended
under the ground, towards the eaft than towards the
weft; and hence they are eafily thrown down by ftrong
weft winds or hurricanes from that quarter. The eaft¬
erly wind is fcarce felt in the Caribbee iflands before
9 or 10 o’clock in the morning, increafes in proportion
as the fun rifes above the horizon, and decreafes as it
declines. Towards the evening it ceafes entirely to
blow on the coafts, but not on the open fea. It has
alfo been obferved, that it blows with more force,
and more regularity, in the dog-days than at any other
time of the year.
The rain alfo contributes to the temperature of the
Caribbee iflands, though not equally in them all. In
thofe places where the eafterly wind meets with no¬
thing to oppofe its progrefs, it difpels the clouds as
they begin to rife, and caufes them to break either in
the woods or upon the mountains. But whenever the
ftorms are too violent, or the blowing of the eafterly
wind is interrupted by the changeable and temporary
effeft of the foutherly and wefterly ones, it then be¬
gins to rain. In the other Caribbee iflands, where
this wind does not generally blow, the rains are fo fre¬
quent and plentiful, efpecially in the winter feafon,
which lafts from the middle of July to the middle of
O&ober, that, according to the moft accurate obfer-
vations, as much rain falls in one week as in our cli¬
mates in a year. Inftead of thofe mild refrefhing
fliowers which fall in the European climates, the rains
of the Caribbee iflands are torrents, the found of which
might be miftaken for hail, were not that almoft total¬
ly unknown under fo burning a iky. Thefe (bowers
indeed refrelh the air ; but they occafion a dampnefs,
the effefts of which are not lefs difagreeable than fatal.
The dead muft be interred within a few hours after
they have expired. Meat will not keep fweet above
24 hours. The fruits decay, whether they are gather¬
ed ripe or before their maturity. The bread muft be
made-up into bifcuits, to prevent it's growing mouldy.
Common wines turn four, and iron turns rufty, in a
day’s time. The feeds Can only be preferred by con-
ftant attention and care, till the proper feafon returns
for fowing them. When the Caribbee iflands were
firft difcovered, the corn that was conveyed there for the
fupport of the Europeans, was fo foon damaged, that it
Vol. IV. Fart. I.
became neceffary to fend it out in the ears. This ne-
ceffary precaution fo much enhanced the price of it,
that few were able to purchafe it. Flour was then
fubftituted in lieu of corn ; which lowered indeed the
expences of tranfport, but had this inconvenience, that
it was fooner damaged. It was imagined by a mer¬
chant, that if the flour were entirely feparated from
the bran, it would have the double advantage of being
cheaper and keeping longer. He caufed it therefore
to be fifted, and put the fmeft flour into ftrong cades,
and beat it clofe together with iron hammers, till it
became fo clofe a body that the air could fcarcely pe¬
netrate it. This method- was found to anfwer the pur*
pofe ; and if, by it, the flour cannot be preferved as
long as in our dry and temperate climates, it may be
kept for fix months, a year, or longer, according to the
degree of care taken in the preparation.
However troublefome thefe effeefts of the rain may
be, it is attended with fome others ftill more formi¬
dable ; namely, frequent and dreadful earthquakes.
Thefe happening generally during the time or towards
the end of the rainy feafon, and when the tides are
higheft, fome ingenious naturalifts have fuppofed that
there might be a connection between them. The wa¬
ters of the (ky and of the fea undermine, dig up, and
ravage the earth in feveral different way's! Among
the various (hocks to which the Caribbee iflands are ex¬
pofed from the fury of the boifterous ocean, there is
one diftinguifhed by the name of raz de mares, or whirl¬
pool. It conftantly happens once, twice, or thrice,
from July t6 October, and always on the weftern coafts,
becaufe it takes place after the time of the wefterly or
foutherly winds, or while they blow. The waves,
which at a diftance feem to advance gently within 400
Or 50O yards, fuddenly fwell againft the (bore, ds if
adted upon in an oblique direction by fome fuperior
force, and break with the greateft impetuofity. The
drips which are .then upon the coaft, or in the roads
beyond it, unable either to keep their anchors or to
put out to fea, are daflred to pieces againft the land,
and all on beard moft commonly periflr. The hurri¬
cane is another terrible phenomenon in thefe iflands,
by which incredible damage is occafioried ; but happily
it occurs not often.
The produce of the Caribbee iflarids is exceedingly
valuable to the Europeans, confiding of fugar, rum,
molaffes, indigo, &c. a particular account of which is
given under the names of the refpedtive iflarids as they
Occur in the order of the alphabet.
GARIBBIANA, or Caribiana, the north eaft
coaft of Terra Firmap in South America, otherrtdfe
called New Andalusian
CARICA, the papaw ; A genus of the decandria
order, belonging to the dioecia clafs of plants ; and in'
the natural method ranking under the 38th order, Tri-
eocca. The calyx of the male almoft none ; the corol¬
la is quinquefid and funnel-fhaped ; the filaments in the
tube of the corolla, a longer and fliorter one alternate¬
ly. The calyx of the female quinquedentated ; the co¬
rolla is pentapetalous, with five ftigmata; the fruit an
unilocular and polyfpenrious berry.
Species. I. The papaya rifes with a thick, foft, her¬
baceous ftem, to the height of 18 or 20 feet, naked
till within two or three feet of the top. The leaves
come out on every fide, upon very long footftalks,
Y Thofe
CAR [ 170 ] CAR
Carica. Thofe which are fituated undermoil are almoft hori-
cental, but thofe on the top are ere£l: thefe leaves in
full grown plants are very large, and divided into many
lobes deeply finuated. The ilem of the plant, and alfo
the footftalks of the leaves, are hollow. The flowers
of the male plant are produced from between the leaves
on the upper part of the plant. They have footftalks
near two feet long; at the end of which the flowers
ftand in loofe clufters, each having a feparate fhort
footftalk: thefe are of a pure white, and have an a-
greeable odour. The flowers of the female papaya al¬
fo come out from between the leaves towards the up¬
per part of the plant, upon very ftiort footftalks, fit¬
ting clofe to the Item: they are large, and bell-fhaped,
compofed of fix petals, and are commonly yellow ;
when thefe fall away, the germen fwells to a large
fleihy fruit, of the fize of a fmall melon. Thefe fruits
are of different forms: fome angular, and compreffed
at both ends ; others oval, or globular ; and fome py¬
ramidal. The fruit, and all the other parts of the
tree abound with a milky acrid juice, which is applied
for killing of ring-worms. When the roundiih fruit are
nearly ripe, the inhabitants of India boil and eat them
with their meat as we do turnips. They have fome-
what the flavour of a pompion. Previous to boiling
they foak them for fome time in fait and water, to ex¬
tract the corrofive juice ; unlefs the meat they are to
be boiled with fhould be very fait and' old, and then
this juice being in them will make it as tender as a
chicken. But they moftly pickle the long fruit, and
thus they make no bad fuccedaneum for mango. The
buds of the female flowers are gathered, and made into
a fweet-meat; and the inhabitants are fuch good ma¬
nagers of the produce of this tree, that they boil the
fhells of the ripe fruit into a repaft, and the iniides are
eaten with fugar in the manner of melons.—The ftem
being hollow, has given birth to a proverb in the
Weft-India illands; where, in fpeaking of a diffem-
bling perfon, they fay he is as hollow as a Popo.
2. The profopofa, differs from the other in having
a branching ftalk, the lobes of the leaves entire, the
flower of a rofe colour, and the fruit lhaped like a pear,
and of a fweeter flavour than the papaya.
Culture, &c. Thefe plants being natives of hot coun¬
tries, cannot be preferved in Britain unlefs conftantly
kept in a warm ftove, which fhould be of a proper
height to contain them. They are eafily propagated
by feeds, which are annually brought in plenty from
the Weft Indies, though the feeds of the European
plants ripen well. The feeds fhould be fown in a hot¬
bed early in the fpring: when the plants are near two
inches high, they fbould be removed into feparate
fmall pots, and each plunged into a hot-bed of tanners
bark, carefully fhading them from the fun till they
have taken root;, after which, they are to be treated
in the fame manner as other tender exotics. When
they are removed into other pots, care muft be taken
as much as poffible to preferve the ball of earth about
them, becaufe wherever their roots are laid bare they
feldom furvive. When they are grown to a large fize,
they make a noble appearance with their ftrong up¬
right ftems, garni Hied on every fide near the top with
large fhining leaves, fpreading out near three feet aft
round the ftem.: the flowers of. the male fort coming
out in clufters on every fide, and the fruit of the female Cancatur*
growing round the ftalks between the leaves, are fo Qa|-n
different from any thing of European production, as a”na' .
well to intitle thefe plants to a place in the gardens of
the curious. The fruit of the firft fpecies is by the
inhabitants of the Caribbee iflands eaten with pepper
and fugar as melons, but is much inferior to a melon
in its native country ; but thofe which have ripened in
Britain were deteftable: the only ufe to which Mr Mil¬
ler fays he has known them put was, when they were
about half grown, to foak them in fait water to get
out the acrid juice, and then pickle them for onangos,
to which they are a good fubftitute.
CARICATURA, in painting, denotes the conceal¬
ment of real beauties, and the exaggeration of blc-
mifties, but ftill fo as to preferve a refemblance of the
objedt. The, word is Italian; formed of carica, a
load, burden, or the like.
CARICOUS, an epithet given to fuch tumors as
refemble the figure of a fig. They are frequently found
in the piles.
CARIES, the corruption or mortification of a bone.
See Medicine and Surgery, Index.
CARIGNAN, a fortified town of Piedmont, fitua¬
ted on the river Po, about feven miles fouth of Turin.
E. Long. 7. 25. N. Lat. 44. 30. It was taken in 1544
by the French ; who demolifhed the fortifications, but
fpared the caftle. It was alfo taken, and retaken, in
1691.
CARILLONS, a fpecies of chimes frequent in the
low countries, particularly at Ghent and Antwerp,
and played on a number of bells in a belfrey, forming
a complete feries or fcale of tones and femitones, like
thofe on the harpfichord and organ. There are petal*
communicating with the great bells, upon which the
canlloneur with his feet plays the bafe to fprightly airs,
performed with the two hands upon the upper fpecies
of keys. Thefe keys are projedling fticks, wide enough,
afunder to be ftruck with violence and velocity by
either of the hands edgeways, without the danger
of hitting the neighbouring key. The player is
provided with a thick leather covering for the little
finger of each hand, to guard againft the violence of
the ftroke. Thefe carillons are heard through a large
town.
CARINA, a Latin term, properly fignifyingthe keel
of a ftiip ; or that long piece of timber running along
the bottom of the {hip from head to ftern, upon which
the whole ftrufture is built or framed.
Carina is alfo frequently ufed for the whole capa¬
city cr bulk of a fhip ; containing the hull or all the
fpace below the deck. Hence the word is alfo fome-
times ufed by a figure for the whole Ihip.
Carina is alfo ufed in the ancient architeflure. The
Romans gave the name carina to all buildings in form
of a fhip, as we ftill give the name nerve to the middle
or principal vault of bur Gothic churches; becaufe it
has that figure.
Carina, among anatomifb,. is ufed to denote the
fpma dorji; as likewife for the fibrous rudiments or.
embryo of a chick appearing in an incubated egg.
The carina confifts of the entire ’vertebra, as they appear
after ten or twelve days incubation. It is'thus called,
becaufe crooked in. form of the keel of a Ihip—Bota,
CAR L 171 1 CAR
Carinola nifts alfo, for the like reafon, ufe the word carina, to CARKE, denotes the 30th part of a SARPtAR of
If exprefs the lower petalum of a papilionaceous flower. wool.
, Canft°- Carinte were alfo weepers or women hired among CARLE. See Churl. u
v the ancient Romans to weep at funerals: they were CARLETON (Sir Dudley), was born m- Oxford-
thus called from Carla, the country whence moft of fnire, 1573, and bred in Chrift-church college., He
them came. went as fecretary to Sir Ralph Winwood into the Low
CARINOLA, an epifcopal town of Italy, in the Countries, when king James refigned the cautionary
kingdom of Naples, and Terra di Lavoro. E. Long, towns to the States ; and was afterwards employed for
15. 5. N. Lat. 41. ij. 20 years as ambaffador to Venice, Savoy, and the U-
CARINTHIA, a duchy of Germany, in the circle nited Provinces. King Charles created him vifcount
of Auftria, bounded by the archbifliopric of Saltzburg Dorchefter, and appointed him one of his principal fe-
on the north, and by Carniola and the Venetian terri- cretariesof ftate ; in which office he died in 1631. He
tories on the fouth, on the weft by Tyrol, and on the was efteemed a good ftatefman, though an honeftman;
eaft by Stiria. A part of this country was anciently and publiflied feveral political works,
called Carnla, and the inhabitants Garni; but the for- CARLINA, the carline thistle: A genus of
mer afterwards obtained the name of Carinthia, and the the polygamia sequalis order, belonging to the fynge-
latter Carantanl or Carlnthi. The air of this country nefia clafs of plants; and in the natural method rank-
is cold, and the foil in general mountainous and bar- ing under the 49th order, Compofita. The calyx is
ren ; but there are fome fruitful dales and valleys in it, radiated with long coloured marginal fcales. There
which produce wheat and other grain. The lakes, are feven fpecies, only one of which is a native of Bri*
brooks, and rivers, which are very numerous, abound tain, v'vz,. the vulgaris. The others are natives of the
with fifti; and the mountains yield lead and iron, and fouth of France or Italy ; and are very eafily propa¬
in many places are covered with woods. The river gated in this country by feeds; which muft be fown on
Drave, which runs acrofs the country, is the moft con- a bed of freffi undunged earth, where they are to re-
fiderable in Carinthia. The inhabitants are partly de- main, as they do not bear tranfplanting. When the
fcendants of the ancient Germans, and partly of the plants appear above ground, they ftiould be carefully
Sclavonians or Wends. The ftates are conftituted as weeded, and afterwards thinned, leaving them about
in Auftria, and their affemblies are held at Clagenfurt. ten inches or a foot afunder. The fecond year moft
The archbifhop of Saltzburg and the bifliop of Bam- of them will flower: but, unlefs the feafon proves dry,
berg have confiderable territories in this country. Chri- they rarely produce good feeds in this country, and
ftianity was planted here in the 7th century. The fome of the plants decay foon after they have flowered,
only profeffion tolerated at prefent is the Roman Ca- fo that it is pretty difficult to maintain them here,
tholic. The biihops are thofe of Gurk and Lavant, The roots are ufed in medicine, and for that purpofe
who are fubjedt to the archbilhop of Saltzburgh. This are imported from thofe countries where the plants
duchy was formerly a part of Bavaria: In the year grow naturally. As we receive them, they are about
1282, the emperor Rodolph I. gave it to Maynad an inch thick, externally of a rufty brown colour, cor-
count of Tyrol, on condition that when his male iflue roded as it were on the furface, and perforated with
failed, it fhould revert to the houfe of Auftria; which numerous fmall holes, appearing on the furface as if
happened in 1331. Carinthia has its particular go-- worm-eaten. They have a ftrong fmell, and a fub-
vernor or land-captain, as he is called ; and contributes acrid, bitteriffi, weakly, aromatic tafte. They are
annually towards the expence of the military eftablifh- looked upon to be warm alexipharmics and diapho-
ment 637,695 florins. Only one regiment of foot is reties. Frederic Hoffman the Elder relates that he
ufually quartered in it. has obferved a decoction of them in broth to occafion
CARIPI, a kind of cavalry in the Turkifh army, vomiting. They have been for fome time greatly
The caripi, to the number of about 1000, are not flaves, efteemed among foreign phyficians ; but never were
nor bred up in the feraglio, like the reft; but are gene- much in ufe in this country. The prefent practice
rally Moors or renegado Chriftians, who having follow- has entirely rejected them, nor are they often to be
ed adventures, being poor, and having their fortune to met with in the /hops.
feek by their dexterity [and courage, have arrived at CARLINE, or Caroline thistle. See Carli-
the rank of horfe-guards to the Grand Signior. na. It is faid to have been difeovered by an angel to
CARISSA, in botany: A genus of the monogyma Charlemagne, to cure his army of the plague ; whence
order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants; and its denomination.
in the natural method ranking under the 30th order, Carline, or Caroline, a filver coin current in the
Contorta. It has two many-feeded berries. Neapolitan dominions, and worth about 4d. of our
CARITAS.—The poculum caritatis, or grace-cup, money,
was an extraordinary allowance of wine or other liquors. Carlines, or Carlings, in a (hip, two pieces
wherein the religious at feftivals drank in commemo- of timber lying fore and aft, along from one beam to
ration of their founder and benefactors. another, diredtly over the keel; ferving as a founda-
CARISBROOK-castle, a caftle fituated in the tion for the whole body of the ftiip. On thefe the
middle of the ifle of Wight, where king Charles I. was ledges reft, whereon the planks of the deck and other
imprifoned. W. Long. 1. 30. N. Lat. 50.40. matters of carpentry are made faft. The carline ,
CARISTO, an epifcopal city of Greece, in the eaft- have their ends let into the beams called culver-tail-
era part of the ifland of Negropont, near Cape Loro. 'wife.
Long. 24. 15. N. Lat. 38. 6. Cariine-Knees, are timbers going athwart the Ihip,
Y 2 from
CAR !
Carlin).’ford from the fides to the hatch-way, ferving to fuflain the
Carlifle. deck on both fides.
' ' * CARLINGFORD, a port-town of Ireland, feated
on Carlingford bay, in the county of Louht, and pro¬
vince of Leinfter, 22 miles north of Drogheda. W.
Long. 6. 24. N. Lat. 24. 5.
CARLISLE, the capital cityof the county of Cum¬
berland, Rated on the fouth of the river Eden, and be¬
tween the Petterel on the eaft, and the Caude on the
weft. It is furro-unded-by a ftrong ftone-wall, and has
a pretty large caftle in the weftern part of it, as alfo a
citadel in the eafterh part, built by Henry VIII. It
ftouriftied in the time of the Romans, as appears from
the antiquities that are to be met with here, and the_
Roman coins that have been dug up. At the departure
of the Romans this city was ruined by the Scots and
Pifts; and was not rebuilt till the year 680, by Eg-
frid, who encimpaffed it with a wall, and repaired the
church. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the whole coun¬
try was again ruined, and the city laid defolate by the
ineurfions of the Norwegians and Danes. In this con¬
dition it remained till the time of William Rufus; who
repaired the wails and the caftle, and caufed the houfes
to be rebuilt. It was fortified by Henry I. as a bar¬
rier againft Scotland; he alfo placed a garrifon in it,
and made it an epifcopal fee. It was twice taken by
the Scots, and afterwards burnt - accidentally in the
reign of Richard II. The cathedral, the fuburbs, and
1500 houfes, were deftroyed at that time. It is at
prefent in a good condition -; and has three gates, the
Englilh on the fouth, the Scotch on the north, and
Irifh on the w’eft. It has two parifhes, and as many
churches^ St Cuthbert and St Mary’s, the laft of
which is the cathedral, and is feparated from the town
by a wall of its own. The eaftern part, which is the
neweft, is a durious pjece of workmanfhip. The choir
with the aides is 71 feet broad ; and has a ftately eaft
window 48 feet high and 30 broad, adorned w’ith cu¬
rious pillars. The roof is elegantly vaulted with wmod;
and is embellilhed w’ith the arms of England and
France quartered; as alfo with Piercy’s, Lucy’s, War-;
ren’s, Mowbray’s, and many others. In the choir are
the monuments of three bidiops who are buried there.
The fee was erected in 1133 by king Henry I. and
made fuffragan to the archbilhop of York. The ca¬
thedral church here had been founded a fnort time be¬
fore by Walter, deputy in thefe parts for king William’
Rufus, and by him dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He
likewife built ti monaftery, ami'filled it with canons
regular of St Auguftine. This foundation continued
till the diffolution of monafteries, when its lands were
added to the fee, and the maintenance of a dean, &c.
placed here in their room. The church was almoft
ruined by the ufurper Cromwell and his foldiers ; and
has never fince recovered its former beauty, although
repaired after the reftoration. This diocei'e contains
the greateft part of the counties of Cumberland and
Weftmoreland, in which are only 93 parilhes; but
thefe (as all the northern are) exceeding large; and of
them 18 are impropriations. Here is one archdeacon,
viz. of Carlifle. The fee is valued in the king’s books
at L. 530 : 4 : 1but is computed to be worth annu¬
ally L. 2800. The clergy’s tenth amounts only to
L. 161 : 1 : 7L To this cathedral belong a bifliop,
a dcaq, a chancellor, an archdeacon,, four prebendaries.
172 ] C A R
eight minor canons, &c. and other inferior officers and Carlodt
fervants. H
The Pifts wall, which was built acrofs the country ^ari cron ?
from Newcaftle, terminates near this place. Carlifle
was a - fortified place, and ftill has its governor and
lieutenant-governor, but no garrifon. It was taken by
the rebels, Nov. 15 1745; an<l was retaken by the
duke of Cumberland on the 1 oth of December follow¬
ing, and deprived of its gates. It is governed by a
mayor, twelve aldermen, two bailiffs, &c. and has a
coniiderable market on Saturdays. The manufa&ures
of Carlifle are chiefly of printed linens, for which near
3000/. per annum is paid in duties. It is alfo noted
for a great manufacture of whips, in which a great
number of children are employed. — Salmons appear in
the Eden in numbers, fo early as the months of De¬
cember and January ; and the London and even New¬
caftle markets are fupplied with early fifh from this
river: but it is remarkable, that they do not vifit the
Elk in any quantity till April; notwithftanding the
mouths of the two rivers are at a fmall diftanee from
each other.—Carlifle fends two members to parliament,
and gives title of Earl to a branch of the Howard
family.
CARLOCK, in commerce, a fott ofifinglafs, made
with the fturgeon’s bladder, imported from Archangel.
The chief ufe of it is for clarifying wine, but it is alft>
ufed by the dyers. The beft carlock comes from Allra-
can, where a great quantity of fturgeon is caught.
CARLOSTAD, or Carlstad, a town of Sweden
in Wermeland, feated on the lake Warmer, in E. Long.
14. 4. N. Lat. 59. 16.
Carlostad, or Carljiailt, a town of Hungary, ca¬
pital of Croatia, and the ufual refidence of the gover¬
nors of the province. It is feated on the river Kulph,
in E. Long. 16. 5. N. Lat. 45.34.
CARLOWITZ, a fmall town of Hungary, in Scla-
vonia, remarkable for a peace concluded here between
the Turks and Chriftians in 1669. It is feated on the
weft fide of the Danube, in E. Long. 19. 5. N. Lat.
45-25-
CARLSCRONA, Or Carlscroon, a Tea-port town
in the Baltic, belonging to Sweden. It derives its
origin and name from Charles XL who firft laid the
foundations of a new town in 1680, and removed the
fleet from Stockholm to this place, on account of its
advantageous fituation in the centre of the Swedifh
feas, and the fuperior fecurity of its harbour. The
greateft.part of Carlfcrona Hands upon a fmall rocky
ifland, which rifes gently in a bay of the Baltic; the-
fuburbs extend over another fmall rock, and along the
mole clofe to the bafon where the fleet is moored. The
way into the town from the main land is carried over
a dyke to an ifland, and from thence along two long
wooden bridges joined by a barren rock. The town
is fpacious, and contains about i8-,ooo inhabitants..
It is adorned with one or two handfome churches, and
a few tolerable houfes of brick ; but the generality of
buildings are of wood. The fuburbs are fortified to¬
wards the land by a ftone-wall. The entrance into-
the harbour, which by nature is extremely difficult
from a number of flioals and rocky iflands, is ftill fur¬
ther fecured from the attack of an -enemy’s fleet by-
two ftrong forts built on two iflands, under the batte¬
ries of which all veffels muft pafs.
Formerly
CAR [ i
Carlftadt Formerly veffels in this port, when careened and
I! repaired, were laid upon their fides in the open har-
, arnie ' hour, until a dock, according to a plan given by Pol-
v heim, was hollowed in the folid rock: it was begun
in 1714, and-finifhed in 1724; but as it was too
fmall for the admiffion of men of war, it has lately
been enlarged, and is now capable of receiving a ihip
of the firft rate. But new docks have been begun
upon a ftupendous plan worthy of the ancient Romans.
According to the original fcheme, it was intended to
conRruct 30 docks, for buildiag and laying up the
iargeft fhips, ’at the extremity of the harbour. A
large bafon, capable of admitting two men of war, is
defigned to communicate, by fluices, with two fmaller
bafons, from each of which are to extend, like the
radii of a circle, five rows of covered docks : each row
is to be feparated by walls of ftone ; and each dock to
be provided with fluice-gates, fo as to be filled or
emptied by means of pumps. Clofe to the docks,
magazines for naval ftores are to be conftrutied, and
the whole to be inclofed with a ftone-wall. The pro¬
ject was begun in 1757; but was much negledted until
the acceffion of his prefent majefty, who warmly pa¬
tronized the arduous undertaking. At the commence¬
ment of the works, L. 25,000 were annually expended
upon them '; which fum has been leffened to about
L.6000 per annum, and the number of docks reduced
to 20. The firft dock was finilhed in 1779, and it
was computed that the whole number would be exe¬
cuted in 20 years.
CARLSTADT, a town of Germany, in the circle
of Franconia, and bifhopric of Wurtlburg, feated on
the river Maine, in E. Long. 9. 51. N. Lat. 50. o.
CARLTON, a town in Norfolk held by this te¬
nure, that they fhall prefent 1000 herrings baked in
14 pies to the king, wherever he lhall be when they
firft come in feafon.
CARMAGNIOLA, a fortified town of Italy, in
Piedmont, with a good caftle. It was taken by the
French in 1691, and retaken by prince Eugene the
fame year. It is feated in a country abounding in
corn, flax, and filk, near the river Po, in E. Long.
7. 32. N. Lat 44. 43.
C ARMANI A (anc. geog.), a country of Afia, to
the eaft of Perfia, having Parthia to the north, Ge-
drofia to the eaft, to the fouth the Perfian Gulf or
Sea in part, and in part the Indian, called the Carma-
nlan Sea, diltinguifhed into Carmania Deferta, and Car-
manta Propria ; the former lying to the fouth of Par¬
thia ; and to the fouth of that, the Propria, quite to
the fea. Its name is from the Syriac, Carma, figni-
fying a “ vine,” for which that country was famous,
yielding clufters three feet long. Now Kerman, or
Carimania, a province of modern Perfia.
CARMEL,, a high mountain of Paleftine, Handing
on the fkirts of the lea, and forming the moil re¬
markable head-land on all that coaft. It extends eaft-
ward from the fea as far as the plain of Jezreel, and
from the city of that name quite to Caefarea on the
fouth. It feems to have had the name ol Carmel from
ks great fertility ; this word, according to the He¬
brew import, fignifying the vine of God, and is ufed
in fcripture to denote any fruitful fpot, or any place
planted with fruit trees. This mountain, we are af-
fured, was very fertile. Mr Sandys acquaints us, that,
73 1 ., CAR
when well cultivated, it abounds with olives, vines, Carmelites.
and variety of fruits and herbs both medicinal and aro- v 7
matic. Others, however, reprefent it as rather dry
and barren •, which perhaps may have happened from
the negledt of agriculture fo common in all parts of
the Turkifh empire, efpecially where they are expofed
to the incurfions of the Arabs. Carmel is the name
of the mountain, and of a city built on it; as well as
of a heathen deity worlhipped in it, but without either
temple or llatue: though anciently there muft have
been a temple, as we are told that this mountain was
a favourite retreat of Pythagoras, who fpent a good
deal of time in the temple, without any perfon with
him. But what hath rendered mount Carmel molt
celebrated and revered both by Jews and Chriftians,
is its having been the refidence of the prophet Elijah,
who is fuppofed to have lived there in a cave (which
is there Ihown), before he was taken up into heaven.
CARMELITES, an order of religious, making
one of the four tribes of mendicants or begging friars ;
and taking its name from mount Carmel, formerly in¬
habited by Elias, Eiifha, and the children of the pro- ’
phets; from whom this order pretends to defcend in
an uninterrupted fucceffion. The manner in which they
make out their antiquity has fomething in it too ridi"-
culous to be rehearfed. Some among them pretend
they are defcendants of Jefus Chrift ; others go further,
and make Pythagoras a Carmelite, and the ancient
druids regular branches of their order. Phocas, a Great
monk, fpeaks the moft reafonably. He fays, that in his
time, 1185, Elias’s cave was ftill extant on the moun¬
tain ; near which were the remains of a building which
intimated that there had been anciently a monallery ; :
that, fome years before, an old monk, a prieft of Ca¬
labria, by revelation, as he pretended, from the pro--
phet Elias, fixed there, and aflembled ten brothers.—In
X209, Albeit, patriarch of Jerufalem, gave the foli-
taries a rigid rule, which Papebroch has fince printed.
In 1217, or, according to others, 122.6, pope Hono-
rius III. approved and confirmed it. This rule con¬
tained 16 articles; one of which confined them to their
cells, and enjoined them to continue day and night in
prayer; another prohibited the brethren having any
property ; another enjoined falling from the feaft of the
holy.crofs till Eafter, except on Sundays; abftinence at
all times from flefh was enjoined by another article ;
one obliged them to manual labour ; another impofed a
ftridt filence on them from vefpers till the tierce the
next day.
The peace concluded by the emperor Frederic IL
with the Saracens,, in the year 1229, fo difadvantage •
ous to Chriftendom, and fo beneficial to the infidels,
occafioned the Carmelites to quit the Holy Land, un¬
der Alan the fifth general of the order. He firft fent
fome of the religious to Cyprus,, who landed there in
the year 1238, and founded a monaftery in the forell
of Fortania. Some -Sicilians, at the fame time, leaving
mount Carmel, returned to their own country, where
they founded a monaftery in the fuburbs of Meffina.
Some Engliflt departed out of Syria, in the year 1240,
to found others in England. Others of Provence, in the
year 1244, founded a monaftery in the defart of Ai-
gualates, a league from Marfeilles : and thus, the num¬
ber of their monafteries increafing, they held their Eu¬
ropean general chapter in the year 1245, at their mo¬
naftery
•Carmelites
iCamiina-
C A R [ 174 1 CAR
nailery of Aylesford in England.—This order is fo
much increafed, that it has, at prefent, 38 provinces,
befides the congregation of Mantua, in which are 54.
monalteries, under a vicar-general; and the congrega¬
tions of Barefooted Carmelites in Italy and Spain, which
have their peculiar generals.
After the eftablilhment of the Carmelites in Europe,
their rule was in fome refpe&s altered ; the firft time,
by pope Innocent IV. who added to the firft article a
precept of chaftity, and relaxed the 1 ith which enjoins
abftinence at all times from flefh, permitting them,
when they travelled, to eat boiled flelh : this pope like-
wife gave them leave to eat in a common refedtory, and
to keep affes or mules for their ufe. Their rule was
again mitigated by the popes Eugenius.IV. and Pius II.
Hence the order is divided into two branches, viz.
ihe Carmelites of the ancient obfervance, called the moderate
or mitigated; and thofe of the JlriH obfervance, who are
the barefooted Carmelites ; a reform fet on foot in 1540,
by S. Therefa, a nun of the convent of Avila, in
■Callile : thefe laft are divided into two congregations,
that of Spain and that of Italy.
The habit of the Carmelites was at firft white, and
the cloak laced at the bottom with feveral lifts. But
pope Honorius IV. commanded them to change it For
that of the Minims. Their fcapulary is a fmall woollen
habit of a brown colour, thrown over their fhoulders.
They wear no linen fhirts ; but inftead of them linfey-
.wolfey, which they change twice a-week in the fum-
mer, and once a-week in the winter.
If a monk of this order lies with a woman, he is pro¬
hibited faying mafs for three or four years, is declared
infamous, and obliged to difeipline himfelf publicly
once a-week. If he is again guilty of the fame fault,
his penance is doubled ; and if a third time, he is ex¬
pelled the order.
CARMEN, an ancient term among the Latins, ufed
In a general fenfe to fignify a verfe ; but more particu¬
larly to fignify a fpell, charm, form of expiation or exe¬
cration, couched in a few words placed in a myftic or¬
der, on which its efficacy depended. Pezron derives
the word carmen from the Celtic carm, the fhout of
joy, or the verfes which the ancient bards fung to en¬
courage the foldiers before the combat.—Carmen was
anciently a denomination given alfo to precepts, laws,
prayers, imprecations, and all folemn formulas couched
in a few words placed in a certain order, though writ¬
ten in profe. In which fenfe it was that the elder Cato
wrote a Carmen de morilus, which was not in verfe, but
in profe.
. CARMENTALIA, a feaft among the ancient Ro
mans, celebrated annually upon the I ith of January, in
honour of Carmenta, or Carmentis, a prophetefs of
Arcadia, mother of Evander, with whom fhe came in¬
to Italy 60 years before the Trojan war. The folem-
nity was alio repeated on the 15th of January, which
Is marked in the old calendar by Carmentalia relata.
This feaft was eftablilhed on occafion of a great fecun¬
dity amog the Roman dames, after a general reconci¬
liation with their hufbands, with whom they had been
at variance, in regard of the ufe of coaches being prohi¬
bited them by an edift of the fenate. This feaft was ce¬
lebrated by the women : he who offered the facrifices
was called facerdos carmentalis.
CARMINATIVES, medicines ufed in colics, or
other flatulent diforders, to difpel the wind.
The word comes from the Latin carm'mare, to card Carmine ,
or teaze wool, and figuratively to attenuate and difeufs H
wind or vapours, and promote their difeharge by perfpi- arn^a fj;
ration. Though Dr Quincy makes it more myfterious :
He fays it comes from the word carmen, taking'it in
the fenfe of an invocation or charm ; and makes it to
have been a general name for all medicines which ope¬
rated like charms, i. e. in an extraordinary manner;
Hence, as the moft violent pains were frequently thofe
arifing from pent-up wind, which immediately ceafe
upon difperfion ; the term carminative became in a pe¬
culiar fenfe applied to medicines which gave relief in
windy cafes, as if they cured by ihchantment: but this
interpretation feems a little too far drained.
CARMINE, a powder of a very beautiful red co¬
lour, bordering upon purple ; and ufed by painters in
miniature, though rarely on account of its great price.
The manner of preparing it is kept a fecret by the co¬
lour-makers ; neither do any of thofe receipts which
have for a long time been publilhed concerning the pre¬
paration of this and other colours at all snfwer the
purpofe. See Colour-Making*
CARMONA, a town of Italy in Frioli, and in the
county of Goritz, feated on a mountain near the river
IndrL It belongs to the houfe of Auftria. E. Long.
5. 37. N. Lat. 46. 15.
Carmoxa, an ancient town of Spain in Andalufia.
The gate towards Seville is one of the moft extraor¬
dinary pieces of antiquity in all Spain. It is feated in
a fertile country, ! 5 miles eaft of Seville. W. Long. 5.
37. N. Lat. 37. 24.
CARNATION, in botany. SeeDiANTHus.
Carnation-CoIow, among painters, is underftood
of all the parts of a picture, in general, which reprefent
flelh, or which are naked and without drapery. Titian
and Corregio in Italy, and Rubens and Vandyke in
Flanders, excelled incarnations.—In colouring for flelh,
there is fo great a variety, that it is hard to lay down
any general rules for inftru&ion therein ; neither are
there any regarded by thofe who have acquired a Ikill
this way : the various colouring for carnations may be
eafily produced, by taking more or lefs red, blue, yel¬
low, or biftre, whether for the firft colouring, or for
the finilhing: the colour for women Ihould be bluilh,
for children a little red, both frelh and gay; and for
the men it Ihould incline to yellow, efpecially if they
are old.
Carnation, among dyers. To dye a carnation, or
red rofe colour, it is dire&ed to take liquor of wheat
bran a fufficient quantity, alum three pounds, tartar
two ounces; boil them and enter twenty yards of
broad cloth ; after it has boiled three hours, cool and
walh it: take frelh clear bran liquor a fufficient quan¬
tity, madder five pounds; boil and fodden according
to art.—The Bow dyers know that the folution of ju-
piter, or delved tin, being put in a kettle to the alum
and tartar, in another procefs, makes the cloth, See.
attradl the colour into it, fo that none of the cochineal
is left, but the whole is abforbed by the cloth.
CARNEADES, a celebrated Greek philofopher,
was a native of Cyrene in Africa, and founder of the
third academy. He wTas fo fond of ftudy, that he not
only avoided all entertainments, but forgot even to eat
at his own table ; his maid-fervant Melifla was obliged
to put the vi&uals into his hand. He was an antago-
nift of the Stoics j and applied himfelf with great ea-
gernefs
CAR L *75 ] CAR
Carneades gernefs to refute the works of Chryfippus, one of the
H . moft celebrated philofophers of their feel. The power
, arnem. ej0qUence was <Jreac}ed even by a Roman fenate.
The Athenians being condemned by the Romans to pay
a fine of 500 talents for plundering the city of Oropus,
fent ambaffadors to Rome, who got the fine mitigated
to 100 talents. Carneades the academic, Diogenes
the Stoic, and Critolaus the Peripatetic, were charged
with this embafly. Before they'* had an audience of
the fenate, they harangued to great multitudes in dif¬
ferent parts of the city. Carneades’s eloquence was di-
ftinguiflied from that of the others by its ftrength and
rapidity. Cato the elder made a motion in the fenate,
that thefe ambaffadors fliould be immediately fent back,
becaufe it was very difficult to difcern the truth thro’
the arguments of Carneades. The Athenian ambaf¬
fadors (faid many of the fenators) were fent rather to
force us to comply wuth their demands, than to folicit
them by perfuafion; meaning, that it was impoffible
to refill the power of that eloquence with which Car¬
neades addreffed himfelf to them. According to Plu¬
tarch, the youth at Rome were fo charmed by the fine
orations of this philofopher, that they forfook their ex-
ercifes and other diverfions, and were carried with a kind
of madnefs to philofophy; the humour of philofophifing
fpreading like enthufiafm. This grieved Cato, who was
particularly afraid of the fubtilty of wit and ftrength of
argument with which Carneades maintained either fide
of a queftion. Carneades harangued in favour of juf-
tice one day, and the next day againft it, to the admi¬
ration of all who heard him, among whom were' Galba
and Gato, the greateft orators of Rome. This was
his element; he delighted in demolilhing his own work;
becaufe it ferved in the end to confirm his grand prin¬
ciple, that there are only probabilities or refemblances
of truth in the mind of man ; fo that of two things
diredlly oppofite, either may be ehofen indifferently.
Quintilian remarks, that though Carneades argued in
favour of injuftice, yet he himfelf a died according to
the Uriel rules of juftice. The following was a maxim
of Carneades : “ If a man privately knew that his ene¬
my, or any other perfon whofe death might be of ad¬
vantage to him, would come to fit down on grafs in
which there lurked an afp, he ought to give him no¬
tice of it, though it were in the power of no perfon
whatever to blame him for being filent.” Carneades,
according to fome, lived to be 85 years old; others make
him to be 90 : his death is placed in the 4th year of
the 16ad Olympiad.
CARNEDDE, in Britilh antiquity, denote heaps
of Hones fuppofed to be druidical remains, and thrown
together on occafion of confirming and commemora¬
ting a covenant. Gen. xxxi. 46. They are very com¬
mon in the ille of Anglefey, and were alfo ufed as
fepulchral monuments, in the manner of tumuli; for
Mr Rowland found a curious urn in one of thefe car-
nedde. Whence it may be inferred, that the Britons
had the cuftom of -throwing ftones on the deceafed.
Erom this cuftom is derived the Welch proverb, Karn
ardyben, “ ill betide thee.”
CARNEIA, in antiquity, a feftival in honour of
Apollo,. furnamed Carneus, held in moft cities of
Greece, but efpecially at Sparta, where it was firft in-
flituted.
The reafon of the name, as well as the occafion of
the inftitution, is controverted. It lafted nine days, Camel'
beginning on the 13th of the month Carneus. The Qar^ 0|a
ceremonies were an imitation of the method of living an‘10 a’f
and difeipline ufed in camps.
CARNEL.—The building of ffiips firft with their
timber and beams, and after bringing on their planks,
is called camel-work, to diftinguiih it from clinch-
work.
Veffels alfo which go with mizzen-fails inftead of
main-fails are by fome called camels.
CARNELIAN, in natural hiftory, a precious ftone,
of which there are three kinds, diitinguiftied by three
colours, a red, a yellow, and a white. The red is very
well known among us; is found in roundifh or oval
maffes, much like our common pebbles; and is gene¬
rally met with between an inch and two or three inches
in diameter: it is of a fine, compadl, and clofe tex¬
ture ; of a gloffy furface; and, in the feveral fpecimens,.
is of all the degrees of red, from the paleft fleffi-co-
lour to tire deepeft blood-red. It is generally free
from fpots, clouds, or variegations: but fometimes
it is veined very beautifully with an extremely pale
red, or with white ; the veins forming concentric cir¬
cles, or other lefs regular figures, about a nucleus, in
the manner of thofe of agates. The pieces of carne-
lian which are ajl of one colour, and perfedlly free from
veins, are thofe which our jewellers generally make
ufe of for feals, though the variegated ones are much
more beautiful. The carnelian is tolerably hard, and
capable of a very good poliffi : it is not at all affedled
by acid menftruums: the fire divefts it of a part of
its colour, and leaves it of a pale red ; and a ftrong,
and long continued heat will reduce it to a pale dirty
gray.
The fineft carnelians are thofe of the Eaft Indies ;
but there are very beautiful ones found in the rivers of
Silefia and Bohemia; and we have fome not defpicable
ones in England.
Though the ancients have recommended the carne¬
lian as aftringent, and. attributed a number of fanciful
virtues to it, we know of no other ufe of the ftone than
the cutting feals on it; to which purpofe it is excel¬
lently adapted, as being not too hard for cutting, and
yet hard enough not to be liable to accidents, to take
a good poliffi, and to feparate eafily from the wax.
CARNERO, in geography, a name given to that
part of the gulph of Venice which extends from the
weftern coaft of Iftria to the ifland of Groffa and the
coaft of Morlachia.
Carnero is likewife the name of the cape- to the-
weft of the mouth of the bay of Gibraltar.
CARNIEEX, among the Romans, tlie common
executioner. By reafon of the odioufnefs of his of¬
fice, the carnifex was exprefsly prohibited by the laws -
from having his dwelling-houfe within the city. Iir
middle age writers carnifex alfo denotes a butcher.
Under the Anglo-Daniffi kings, the carnifex was an
officer of great dignity; being ranked with the archbi-
ffiop of York, earl Goodw.in,,and the lordfteward. Flor.
Wigorn. aim. 1040. Rex Hardecanutus Alfricum Ebor.
Archiep. Goodwinnm comitem, Edricum difpeifalorem,
Throndfuum carnificem, & alios magna dignitatis viros-
Londinum mijit.
CARNIOLA, a duchy of Germany bounded on-
the fouth by the Adriatic fea, and that part of Iftria
- poffeffed i
C A R [ 176 J CAR
Carniola, poffeffed by the republic of Venice ; on the north, by'
•Carnival Cufinthia and Stiria ; on the eaft, by Sclavonia and
' v ' Croatia ; on the weft, by Friuli, the county of Gorz or
Goritz, and a part of the gulph of Venice ; extending
in length about no miles, and in breadth about 50.
It had its ancient name Carnia, as well as the modern
one Carniola, from its ancient inhabitants the Carni, a
tribe of Scythians, otherwife called Japides, whence
this and the adjacent countries were alfo caHit&japidla.
Carniola is full of mountains, fome of which are cul¬
tivated and inhabited, fome covered with wood, others
naked and barren, and others continually buried in
fnow. The valleys are very fruitful. Here are like-
wife mines of iron, lead, and copper ; but fait muft be
had from the fovereign’s magazines. There are fe-
veral rivers, befides many medicinal fprings and in¬
land lakes. The common people are very hardy,
going barefooted in winter through the fnow, with
open breafts, and fleeping on a hard bench without
bed or bolfter. Their food is alfo very coarfe and
mean. In winter, when the fnow lies deep on the
ground, the mountaineers bind either fmall balkets, or
long thin narrow boards; like the Laplanders, to their
feet, on which, with the help of a ftout ftaff or pole,
they defcend with great velocity from the mountains.
When the fnow is frozen, they make ufe of a fort of
irons or fkaits. In different parts of the country the
inhabitants, efpecially the common fort, differ greatly
in their drefs, language, and manner of living. In Up¬
per and Lower Carniola they wear long beards. The
languages chiefly in ufe are the Sclavonian or Wendiih,
and German ; the firft by the commonalty, and the
latter by people of faftiion. The duchy is divided in¬
to the Upper, Lower, Middle, and Inner, Carniola.
The principal commodities exported hence are, iron,
fteel, lead, quicl^filver, white and red wine, oil of olives,
•cattle, (heep, cheefe, linen, and a kind of woollen
fluff called mahalan, Spanilh leather, honey, walnuts,
and timber ; together with all manner of wood-work,
as boxes, difhes, &c.—Chriftianity was firft planted
here in the eighth century.—Lutheranifm made a con-
fiderable progrefs in it; but, excepting the Walachians
or Ulkokes, who are of the Greek church,, and ftyle
themfelves Staranerzi, i. e, old believers, all the inha¬
bitants at prefent are Roman Catholics. Carniola was
long a marquiTate or margravate ; but in the year 123 X
was ere&ed into a duchy. As its proportion towards the
^ maintenance of the army, it pays annually 363,171 flo¬
rins; but only two regiments of foot are quartered in it.
CARNIVAL, or Carnaval, a time of rejoicing,
a feafon of mirth, obferved with great folemnity by
the Italians, particularly at Venice, holding from the
twelfth day till Lent.
The word is formed from the Italian Carncmalle;
which Mr Du Cange derives from Carn-a-val, by rea-
fon the flefh then goes to pot, to make amends for the
feafon of abftinence then enfuing. Accordingly, in the
corrupt Latin, heobferves, it was called Carnelevamen,
and Carnifprivium; as the Spaniards ftill denominate it
carves tollendas.
Feafts, balls, operas, concerts of mufic, intrigues,
marriages, &c. are chiefly held in carnival time. The
carnival begins at Venice the fecond holiday in Chrift-
mas f Then it is they begin to .wear mafks, and open
t <5j. 5
their play-houfes and gaming houfes ; the place of Carnivo-
St Mark is *filled with mountebanks, jack-puddings, rou®;
pedlars, whores, and fuch like mob, who flock thi- C:ml',ilf A
ther from^all parts. There have been no lefs than
feven fovereign princes and 30,000 foreigners here to
partake of thefe diverfions.
CARNIVOROUS, an epithet applied to thofe a-
nimals which naturally feek and feed on flefh.
It has been a d.lpute among paturalifts, whether
man is naturally carnivorous. Thofe who take the
negative fide of the queftion, infill chiefly on the
ftrudlure of our teeth, which are moftly incifores or
molares; not fuch as carnivorous animals are fur-
nifhed with, and which are proper to tear flefh in
pieces: to which it may be added, that, even when
we do feed on flefh, it is not without a prepara¬
tory alteration by boiling, roafting, &e. and even then
that it is the hardeft of digeftion of all foods. To
thefe arguments Dr Wallis fubjoins another, which is
that all quadrupeds which feed on herbs or plants
have a long colon, with a ccecum at the upper end
of it, or fomewhat equivalent, which conveys the
food by a long and large progrefs, from the ftomach
downwards, in order to its flower paffage and longer
flay in the inteftines ; but that, in carnivorous ani¬
mals, fuch ccecum is wanting, and inftead thereof
there is a more fhort and flender gut, and a quicker
paffage through the inteftines. Now, in man, the
ccecum is very vifible : a rtrong prefumption that na¬
ture, who is ftill confiftent with herfelf, did not in¬
tend him for a carnivorous animal.—It is true, the
coecum is but fmall in adults, and feems of little or no
ufe ; but in a fcetus it is much larger in proportion :
And it is probable, onr cuflomary change of diet, as
we grow up, may occafion this fhrinking. But to
thefe arguments, Dr Tyfon replies* that if man had
been by nature defigned not to be carnivorous, there"
would doubtlefs have been found, fomewhere on the
globe, .people who do not feed on flefb^ which is not
the dtfe. Neither are carnivorous animals always
without a colon and coecum ; nor are all animals car¬
nivorous which have thofe parts: the opoffum, for
inftance, hath both a‘colon and ccecum, and yet feeds
on poultry and other flefh ; whereas the hedge-hog,
which has neither colon nor coecum, and fo ought to
be carnivorous, feeds only on vegetables. Add to
this, that hogs, which have both, will feed upon flefh
when they can get it; and rats and mice, which have
large ccecums, will feed on bacon as well as bread and:
cheele. Lailly, the human race are furnifhed with
teeth neceffary for the preparation of all kinds of foods ;
from whence it would feem, that nature intended we
fhould live on all. And as the alimentary duft in the
human body is fitted for digefting all kinds of food,
ought we not rather to conclude, that nature did not
intend to deny us any?
It is no lefs difputed whether mankind were carni¬
vorous before the flood. St Jerom, Chryfoftom, The-
odoret, and other ancients, maintain, thaUall animal
food was then forbidden ; which opinion is alfo ftre-
nuoufly fupported among the moderns by Curcellasus,
and refuted by Heidegger, Danzius, Bockhart, &c.
See Antediluvians.
CARNOSITY is ufed by fome authors for a little
flefhy
CAR [ t?7 1 CAR
-Caro, flediy excrefcence, tubercle, or wen, formed in the is fandy; but farther up, the country is fo fruitful Carolina.
Carolina. urethra, the neck of the bladder, or yard, which ftops that they have not yet been at the trouble to manure v
4”‘ v~“'~ the palfage of the urine.—Carnofities are very difficult their land. The grains moft cultivated are Indian corn
of cure : they are not eafily known but by introducing and rice, though any fort will thrive well enough; they
a probe into the paffage, which there meets with re- have alfo pulfe of feveral forts, little known in England,
liftance. They ufually arife from fome venereal ma- All kinds of garden Huff ufual in England are cultiva-
lady ill managed.
ted here, and may be had in great plenty. They
CARO (Annibal), a celebrated Italian poet, was export large quantities yearly of rice, pitch, tar, tin¬
horn at Civita Nuovo in 1507. He became fecretary
to the Duke of Parma, and afterwards to Cardinal
Farnefe. He was alfo made a knight of Malta. He
tranflated Virgil’s _<Eneid into his own language with
pentine, deer-lkins, and timber for building ; cyprefs,
cedar, faffafras, oak, walnut, and pine. Befides thefe
they alfo fend out beef, pork, tallow, hides, furs,
wheat, peas, potatoes, honey, bees-wax, myrtle-wax,
fuch propriety and elegance of expreffion, that he was tobacco, fnake-root, cotton, feveral forts of gums and
allowed by the bell judges to have equalled the origi- medicinal drugs. Indigo is alfo cultivated in this pro-
tial. He-alfo tranflated Ariftotle’s rhetoric, two ora- vince, but of an inferior quality to that which comes
torios of Gregory Nazianzen, with a difcourfe of Cy- from the Caribbee Hands. It hath been attempted
pnan. He wrote a comedy; and a mifcellany of his
poems was printed at Venice in 1584. He died at
Rome in 1566.
CAROLINA, a province of North America, com¬
prehending the moft wefterly part of Florida, and
lying between 29 and 36 degrees of N. Lat. It is
in vain to cultivate vines, and produce filk, in this
country ; for though the frofts here do not continue
long without intervals of warmer weather, they are
fufficient to check the growth of the vine, as well as
olives, dates, oranges, &c. The furs are bought oft/* Hlfl.
the Indians with vermilion, lead, gunpowder, coarfexxvi- 88=
bounded on the eaft by the Atlantic, and on the weft cloth, iron, and fpirituous liquors. As yet they have
by the river Miffifipi, on the north by Virginia, on not a fufficient number of handicraftfmen; which ren-
the fouth by Georgia, and to the fouth of Georgia by ders labour very dear, and a fupply of clothes from
the Floridas. Europe neceffary. The afpect of the country is very
This country is feated between the extremities of fine, being adorned with beautiful rivers and creeks,
heat and cold, though the heat is more troublefome in and the woods with lofty timber, which afford delight-
fummer than the cold in winter; their winters being ful and pleafant feats for the planters, and render the
very fliort, and the frofty mornings frequently fuc- fencing their lands very eafy. And as they have plenty
ceeded by warm days. The air is generally ferene of fifh, wild fowl, and venifon, befides other neceffaries
and clear the greateft part of the year; but in Fe- which this country produces naturally, they live eafy
bruary and March the inhabitants have a cuftom of and luxurioufly.
burning the woods, which caufes fuch a fmoke as to Their rivers are large, and navigable a great many
ftrangers would feem to proceed from a fog or thick- miles up the country. They rife near the mountains,
nefs in the air. The fmoke of the tar-kilns likewife and abound with delicate filh, befides water-fowl of
deceives ftrangers, and gives them an ill opinion of the different kinds. In fome there are Hands which yield
air of Carolina ; to which alfo conduces a cuftom of good pafture, without the annoyance of wild beafts.
the Indians of fetting fire to the woods in their hunt- The chief mountains are the Cherokee or Allegany
ings, for many miles round. The great rains are in mountains, which are fituated north and north-weft,
winter, though they are not without heavy (bowers at five or fix hundred miles diftant from the fea. They
midfummer ; add to thefe the conftant dews that fall are very high ; and abound with trees, plants, ftones,
in the night, which refrefli the ground and fupply the and minerals, of different kinds.
plants with moifture, In North Carolina, the north-
weft winds in the winter occafion very pinching wea¬
ther ; but they are not of long continuance. Wefter¬
ly winds bring very pleafant weather ; but' the fouth-
erly are hot and unwholefome, occafioning fevers and
other diforders. But this muft be underftood of fum-
mer, for in winter they are very comfortable. The
depth of winter is towards the latter end of February,
This country is divided into North and South Ca¬
rolina, and Georgia ; each of which, before the late
revolution, was under a particular governor. The
North is fubdivided into four counties, Granville, Col-
liton, Berkley, and Craven ; and South Carolina into
two, Clarendon and Albemarle. This laft is alfo di¬
vided into 14 parifties or townfhips, each of which has
a brick or timber church. The former likewife has
and then the ice is not ftrong enough to bear a man’s the fame number of parifhes. Charleftown is the capi-
v.-eight. In Auguft and September there are fome- tal of the whole country.
times great ftorms and fqualls of wind, which are fo
violent as to make lanes of 100 feet wide, more or lefs,
thro’ the woods, tearing up the trees by the roots. Thefe
ftorms generally happen once in about feven years ;
and are attended with dreadful thunder, lightning, and
•lieavy rains. They commonly happen about the time
Carolina was difcovered by Sebaftian Cabot, about
the year 1500, in the reign of Henry VII. but the
fettling of it being negle&ed by the Engliffi, a colony
of French Proteftants, by the encouragement of Ad¬
miral Cohgni, were tranfported thither; and named
the place of their firft fettlement v4rx Carolina, in ho¬
of the hurricanes which rage fo fatally among the nour of their prince, Charles IX. of France : but in
Hands between the tropics ; and feem to be occafioned a ftiort time that colony was deftroyed by the Spa-
by them, or to proceed from the fame caufe: but by niards ; and no other attempt was made by any Euro-
the time they reach Carolina, their force is much a- pean power to fettle there till the year 1664, when
bated ; and the farther north they proceed, fo much the 800 Englifti landed at Cape-Fear in North Carolina,
more do they decreafe in fury. The foil on the coaft and took poffeffion of the country. In 1670 Cha. II!
Vol. IV. Parti. Z of
CAR £ 178 ] CAR
Carolina, of Britain granted Carolina to the Lords Berkley,
“—» '' Clarendon, Albemarle, Craven, and Alhley, Sir George
Carteret, Sir William Berkley, and Sir John Colliton.
The plan of government for this new colony was drawn
up by the famous Mr Locke, who very wifely pro-
pofed an univerfal toleration in religious matters. The
only reftriftion in this refpeft was, that every perfon
claiming the prote&ion of that fettlement, fhould, at
the age of 17, regifter himfelf in fome particular com,,
munion. To civil liberty, however, our philofopher
was not fo favourable ; the code of Carolina gave to
the eight proprietors who founded the colony, and to
their heirs, not only all the rights of a monarch, but
all the powers of a legiflation. The court, which was
compofed of this fovereign body, and called the Pala¬
tine Court, was invefted with the right of nominating
to all employments and dignities, and even of confer¬
ring nobility; but with new and unprecedented titles.
They were, for inftance, to create in each county two
caciques, each of whom was to be poffefled of 24,000
acres of land; and a landgrave, who was to have
80,000. The perfons on whom thefe honours fliould
be bellowed were to compofe the upper houfe, and
their pofleffions were made unalienable. They had
only the right of farming or letting out a third part of
them at the moll for three lives. The lower houfe
was compofed of the deputies from the feveral counties
and towns. The number of this reprefentative body
was to be increafed as the colony grew more populous.
No tenant was to pay more than about a IhiHingper acre,
and even this rent was redeemable. All the inhabitants,
however, both Haves and freemen, were under an ob¬
ligation to take up anns upon the firlt order from the
Palatine court.
It was not long before the defedls of this conllitu-
tion became apparent. The proprietary lords ufed
every endeavour to eftablilh an arbitrary government;
and, on the other hand, the colonifts exerted them-
felves with great zeal to avoid fervitude. In confe-
quence of this ftruggle, the whole province, dillradled
with tumults and dilfentions, became incapable of
making any progrefs, though, great things had been
expected from its particular advantages of fituation.
Though a toleration in religious matters was a part of
the original conftitution, dilfentions arofe likewife on
that account. In 1705, Carteret, now Lord Gran¬
ville, who, as the oldeft of the proprietors, was foie
governor of the colony, formed a defign of obliging
all the non-conformifts to embrace the ceremonies of
the Church of England ; and this a6t of violence,
though difavowed and rejeffed by the mother-country,
inflamed the minds of the people. In 1720, while this
animofity was Hill fubfifting, the province was attacked
by feveral bands of favages, driven to defpair by a*
continued courfe of the moft atrocious violence and
injullice. Thefe unfortunate wretches were all put to
the fword: but, in 1728, the lords proprietors having
refufed to contribute towards the expences of an ex¬
pedition, of which they were to {hare the immediate
benefits, were deprived of their prerogative, except
Lord Granville, who Hill retained his eighth part.
The reft received a recompence of about 24,000!. The
colony was taken under the immediate protection of
the crown, and from that time began to flouriflv. The
dtvifioa into North and South Carolina now.took place,
and the fettlement of Georgia commenced in 1732. Caroline
See Georgia. ||
CAROLINE, See Carline. . CarP-
Caroline-BooIis, the name of four books, compofed "
by order of Charlemagne, to refute the fecond council
of Nice. Thefe books are couched in very harfh and
fevere terms, containing 120 heads of accufation againft
the council of Nice, and condemning the worfliip of
images.
CAROLOSTADIANS, or Carlostadians, an
ancient fed or branch of Lutherans, who denied the
real prefence of Chrift in the eucharift..
They were thus denominated from their leader An¬
drew Caroloftadius, who having originally been arch¬
deacon of Wittemberg, was converted by Luther, and;
was the firft of all the reformed ■ clergy who took a
wife ; but difagreeing afterwards with Luther, chiefly
in the point of the facrament, founded a fe£t apart.
The Caroloftadians are the fame with what are other-
wife denominated Sacramentarians, and agree in moft
things with the Zuinglians.
CAROLUS, an ancient Englifh broad piece of gold
ftruck under Charles I. Its value has of late been at
23 {hillings Sterling, though at the time it was coined
it is faid to have been rated at 20 {hillings.
Carduus, a fmall copper coin, with a little filver
mixed with it; ftruck under Charles VIII. of France.
The carolus was worth 12 deniers when it ceafed to-
be current. Thofe which are ftill current in trade in-
Lorrain, or in fome neighbouring provinces, go under -
the name of French fols.
CAROTIDS, in anatomy, two arteries of the
neck, which convey the blood from the aorta to the
brain; one called the right, and the other the left,.
carotid.
CARP,; in ichthyology, the Englifh name of a fpe-
cies of cyprinus. See Cyprinus ; alfo Carp-Fishing..
The carp is the moft valuable of all kinds of fi{h for
{locking of ponds. It is very quick in its growth,.
and brings forth the fpawn three times a-year, fo that
the inereafe is very great. The female does not begin
to breed till eight or nine years old; fo that in breed¬
ing-ponds a fupply muft .be kept of carp of that . age..
The beft judges allow, that, in flocking a breeding-
pond, four males fhbuld be allowed to twelve females.»
The ufual growth of a carp is two or three inches in.
length in a year ; but, in ponds which receive the fat¬
tening of common fewers, they have been known to -
grow from Eve inches to 18 in one year. A feeding-
pond of one acre extent will very well feed 300 carp
of three years old,. 300 of two years, and 400 of
one year old. Carp delight greatly in ponds that have
marley fides; they love alfo clay-ponds well {hifttered ,
from the winds, and grown with weeds and long grafs
at the edges, which they feed on in the hot months. .
Carp and tench thrive very fall in ponds and rivers near
the fea, where the water is a little brackilh ; but they
are not fo well tailed as thofe which live, in frefli wa¬
ter. Grains, blood, chicken-guts, and the like, may at
times be thrown into carp-ponds, to help to fatten the
fifli.' To. make them grow large and fat, the growth
of grafs under the water Ihould by all means pofiible
be encouraged. For this purpofe, as the water de-
creafes in the fummer, the fides of the pond left naked
and dry ftiould be well raked with an iron rake, to de-
3 ftr°y
C A R
Caipates ftroy all the weeds, and cut up the furface of the
II earth : hay-feed fhould then be fown plentifully in
Carpentry. t}lefe p]aces . and more ground prepared in the fame
* manner, as the water falls more and more away. By
this means there will be a fine and plentiful growth of
young grafs along the fides of the pond to the water’s
edge ; and when the rains fill up the pond again, this
will be all buried under the water, and will make a
feeding-place for the fifh, where they will come early
in the morning, and will fatten greatly upon what they
find there.
CARPATES,orALPEsBASTARNiCAE,(anc.geog.)
a range of mountains, running out between Poland,
Hungary, and Tranfylvania. Now called the Carpa¬
thian Mountains.
CARPATHIUM (Mare, Horace, Ovid) ; the fea
that wafhes the iflahd Carpathus.
CARPATHUS, an iflandon the coaft of Afia, two
hundred {India in compafs, and an hundred in length. Its
name is faid to be from its fituation on the coaft of
Caria. It lies between Rhodes and Crete, in the fea
which, from this ifland, is called the Carpathian Sea,
and has to the north the Ionian, to the fouth the
Egyptian, to the weft the Cretan and African feas.
It is two hundred furlongs in compafs, and a hundred
in length. It had anciently, according to Strabo, four
cities; according to Scylax only three. Ptolemy
mentions but one, which he calls Pofidium. This
ifland is now called Scarpanto.
CARPiEA, a kind of dance anciently in ufe among
the Athenians and Magnefians, performed by two
perfons, the one afting a labourer, the other a robber.
The labourer, laying by his arms, goes to ploughing
and flowing, ftill looking warily about him as if afraid
of being furprifed : the robber at length appears, and
the labourer, quitting his plough, betakes himfelf to
his arms, and fights in defence of his oxen. The
whole was performed to the found of flutes, and in
cadence. Sometimes the robber was overcome and
fometimes the labourer ; the viftor’s reward being the
oxen and plough. The defign of the cxercife was to
teach and accuftom the peafants to defend themfelves
againft the attacks of ruffians.
CARPENTER, a perfon who pradtifes Carpen¬
try. The word is formed from the French charpen-
tier, which fignifies the fame, formed of charpente,
which denotes timber; or rather from the Latin, rar-
pentarius, a maker of carpenta, or cai'riages.
Carpknter of a Ship, an officer appointed to exa¬
mine and keep in order the frame of a {hip, together
with her mails, yards, boats, and all other wooden
machinery. It is his duty in particular to keep the
fhip tight; for which purpofe he ought frequently to
review the decks and fides, and to caulk them when
it is neceffary. In the time of battle, he is to exa¬
mine up and down, with all poffible attention, in the
lower apartments of the fhip, to flop any holes that
may have been made by ffiot, with wooden plugs pro¬
vided of feveral fixes.
CARPENTRAS, an epifcopal town of Provence
in France, and capital of Venaiffin. It is fubjedt to
the pope ; and is feated on the river Aufon, at the
foot of a mountain. E. Long. 5. 6. N. Lat. 44. 4.
CARPENTRY, the art of cutting, framing, and
joining large pieces of wood, for the ufles of building.
CAR
It is one of the arts fubfervient to architedlure, and is Carpenttun
divided into houfe-carpentry and {hip-carpentry : the II
firft is employed in railing roofing, flooring of houfes,, ^'arph
SsV. and the fecond in the building of flrips *, barges, t ^ ^ .
CiV. The rules in carpentry are much the fame with ^^“
thofe of Joinery; the only difference is, that car¬
pentry is ufed in the larger and coarfer work, and
joinery in the fmaller and curious.
CARPENTUM, in antiquity, a name common to
divers forts of vehicles, anfwering to coaches as well
as waggons, or even carts, among us. The carpentum
was originally a kind of car or vehicle in which the
Roman ladies were carried ; though in after times it
was alfo ufed in war. Some derive the word from
carro ; others from Carmenta the mother of Evander,
by a converfion of the m into p.
CARPET, a fort of covering of {tuff, or other ma¬
terials, wrought with the needle or on a loom, which
is part of the furniture of a houfe, and commonly
fpread over tables, or laid upon the floor.
Perfian and Turkey carpets are thofe moft efteem-
ed ; though at Paris there is a manufaftory after the
manner of Perfia, where they make them little inferior,
not to lay finer than the true Perfian carpets. They
are velvety, and perfectly imitate the carpets which
come from the Levant. There are alfo carpets of
Germany, fame of which are made of woollen Huffs,
as ferges, is'e. and called fquare carpets: others are
made of wool alfo, but wrought with the needle, and
pretty often embelliflied with filk; and, laftly, there
are fome made of dogs hair. We have likewife' car¬
pets made in Britain, which are ufed either as floor-
carpets, or to cover chairs, &c. It is true, we are
not arrived at the like perfection in this manufaclure
with our neighbours the French ; but may not this be
owing to the want of a like public encouragement ?
Carpa r-Knights, a denomination given to gown-men
and others, of peaceable profeffions, who, on account
of their birth, office, or merits to the public, or the
like, are, by the prince, raifed to the dignity of knight¬
hood.
They take the appellation carpet, becaufe they ufually
receive their honours from the king’s hands in the
court, kneeling on a carpet. By which they are di-
ftinguiflied from knights created in the camp, or field
of battle, on account of their military prowefs. Car¬
pet-knights poffefs a medium between thofe called
truck, or dungkill-knights, who only purchafe or merit
the honour by their wealth, and knights-lachelors, wh@
are created for their fervices in the war.
CARPI, a principality of Modena in Italy, lying
about four leagues fromf that city. It formerly be¬
longed to the houfe of P10 ; the elder Tons of which
bore the title of Princes of St Gregory. In the be¬
ginning of the 14th century Manfroy was the firft
prince of Carpi; but in the 16th, the emperor Cha. V.
gave the principality to Alfonzo duke of Ferrara.
This nobleman, in recompence, gave to Albert Pio,
to whom the principality of Carpi belonged of right,
the town of Saffuolo and fome other lands. Albert
was, however, at laft obliged to retire-to Paris ; where,
being {tripped of all his eilates, he died in 1538, with
the reputation of being one of the belt and braveft men
of his age. The family of Pio is yet in being, and
continues attached to the French court. Some of
Z 2 them
l >79 3
CAR [ 180 ] CAR
Carpi, them have even been raifed to the purple, and ftill
Carpmus. make a figure in Europe.
v Carpi, a town of Italy in the duchy of Modena,
and capital of the laft mentioned principality. It has
a ftrong cattle, and is fituated in E. .Long. n. 12.
N. Lat. 44. 45.
Carpi, a town of the Veronefe in Italy, memorable
for a victory gained by the Imperialifts over the French
in 1701. It is fubjeft to the Venetians; and is fi¬
tuated on the river .Adige, in E. Long. 11. 39. N.
Lat. 45. 10.
CARPI (Ugo da),an Italian painter, of no very con-
fiderable talents in that art, but remarkable for being the
inventorof thatfpeciesof engraving on wood, diftinguifh-
ed by the name of chiaro-fcuro, in imitation of drawing.
This is performed by ufing more blocks than one;
and Ugo da Carpi ufually had three ; the firft for the
outline and dark fhadows, the fecond for the lighter
fhadows, and the third for the half tint. In that
manner he ftruck off prints after feveral defigns, and
cartons of Raphael; particularly one of the Sybil, a
Defcent from the Crofs, and the Hiftory of Simon
the Sorcerer. He died in 1500. This art was brought
to a ftill higher degree of perfection by Balthafar Pe-
ruzzi of Siena, and Parmigiano, who publiftied feveral
excellent defigns in that manner.
Carpi (Girolamo da), hiftory and portrait painter,
was born at Ferrara in 1501, and became a difciple of
Garofalo. When he quitted that mafter, he devoted
his whole time, thoughts, and attention, to ftudy the
works of Correggio, and to copy them with a moft
critical care and obfervation ; in which labour he fpent
feveral years at Parma, Modena, and other cities of
Italy, where the beft works of that exquifite painter
were preferved. He acquired fuch an excellence in
the imitation of Correggio’s ftyle, and copying his
pictures, that many paintings finifhed by him were- ta¬
ken for originals, and not only admired, but were ea¬
gerly purchafed by the connoiffeurs of that time. Nor
is it improbable that feveral of the paintings of Giro¬
lamo da Carpi pafs at this day for the genuine work
of Correggio himfelf. He died in 1556.
CARPINUS, the horn-beam, in botany: A ge¬
nus of the polyandria order, belonging to the monce-
cia clafs of plants ; and in the natural method ranking
under the 50th order, Amentacea. The calyx of the
male is monophyllous and ciliated ; there is no corolla,
but 20 ftamina The calyx of the female is monophyl¬
lous and ciliated ; no corolla ; two germens, with two
ftyles on each. The fruit is an egg-lhaped nut. There
are two fpecies, uiz.
1. The betulus, or common hornbeam; a deciduous
tree, native of Europe and America. Its leaves are of
a darkifh green, and about the the fize of thofe of the
beech, but more pointed and deeply ferrated. Itsbranch-
es are long, flexible, and crooked ; yet in theit general
appearance very much refemble thofe of the beech: in¬
deed there is fo great a likenefs between thofe two
trees, efpecially in the fhrubby and underwood ftate,
that it would be difficult to diftinguifh them at the firft
glance, were it not for that gloffy varnifh with which
the leaves of the beech are ftrongly marked. In the
days of Evelyn, when topiary work was the garden¬
er’s idol, the hornbeam might beconfidered as deferving
of thofe endearing expreffions which t^iat eathufiaftic
writer has been pleafed to lavifn upon it: neverthelefs, Carpimis.
as an ornamental in modern gardening it Hands low ; v  
and its prefent ufes are few. As an underwood it af¬
fords flakes and edders, fuel and charcoal: Its timber
ranks with that of the beech and the fycamore: and the
inner bark is faid to be much ufed in Scandinavia to
dye yellow. The only fuperior excellency of the horn*
beam lies in its fitnefs for Ikreen fences for ftieltering
gardens, nurferies, and young plantations from the fe-
verities of the winter feafon. It- may be-trained to
almoft any height, and by keeping it trimmed on the
fides it becomes thick of branches, and confequently
thick of leaves ; which being by their nature retamed
upon the plant aftei they wither, a hornbeam hedge
occalions a degree of ftielter nearly equal to that given
by a brick wall. Indeed, bemg lefs reflective than
that expenfive Ikreen, it affords a more uniform tem¬
perature of air to the plants which ftand near it. In
this point of view, too, the hornbeam is ufeful to be
planted promifeuoufly, or in alternate rows, amongft
more tender plants in expofed fituations, in the fame
manner as the birch ; to which it has more than one
preference: namely, it is warmer in winter,—and
Han bury fays, the hornbeam is peculiarly giateful to
hares and rabbits; confequently it may prevent their
injuring its more valuable neighbours : yet, like Eve¬
lyn, he feems to be of opinion that it is difaffe&ed by
deer. If this be really the cafe, the hornbeam may
upon many occafions be introduced into deer-parks
with lingular propriety.
Of this fpecies there are three varieties: The
Eaftern Hornbeam, Flowering Hornbeam, American
Hornbeam. The eaftern hornbeam arrives to the
leaft height of all the forts : about ten feet is the far-
theft of its growth, and it looks pretty enough with
trees of the fame growth. The leaves are by no means
fo large as the common fort; and as the branches are
always clofer in proportion to the fmallnefs of the
leaves, where a low hedge is wanted of the deciduous
kind, this would not be an improper tree for the pur-
pofe, either to be kept' ftieered, or foffered to grow in
its natural ftate. The bark of this fort is more fpotted
than that of the common. The flowering horn¬
beam is the moft free fhooter of any of the forts; and
will arrive to be the higheft, the common hornbeam
only excepted. It will grow to be thirty or forty
feet-high. The branches of this tree are lefs fpotted
with greyilh fpots than any of the other forts. The
leaves are very rough, of a dark-green colour, and are
longer than the common fort. The property which
the common hornbeam is poffeffed of, of retaining its
leaves all winter, does not belong to this fort, the leaves
of which conftantly fall oft in the autumn with other
deciduous trees. American hornbeam is a more elegant
tree than any of the former forts. The branches are
flender, covered with a brownifti fpeckled bark, and
are more fparingly fent forth than from any of the
others. The leaves are oblong, pointed, and of a
palifh green, and are not nearly fo rough as the com'-
mon hornbeam, though the flowers and fruit are pro¬
duced in the fame manner.
2. The oftrya, or hop-hornbeam, a native of Italy
and of Virginia. This is of taller growth than the
eaftern kind. It will arrive to the height of twenty
feet, or more. The leaves are nearly the fize of ths
commoo.
CAR [
Carpinus common fort, and fome people admire this tree on ac-
count of the Angular appearance it makes with its
3Tans4" ^ec^s’ before they begin to fall. There is a variety
^ which grows to thirty feet high, (hoots freely, has
long rough leaves like thofe of the elm, and longifii
yellow-coloured flowers, called the Virginian Jlo waing
hop-hornbeam.
Propagation. The common hornbeam may be pro¬
pagated either by layering (at almoft any time of the
year), or from feeds in the following manner : In the
autumn the feeds will be ripe ; when, having gathered
a fufficient quantity for the purpofe, let them be fpread
upon a mat a few days to dry. After this, they ihould
be fown in the feminary-ground, in beds four feet wide,
with an alley of about two feet, and from one to two
inches deep. In this bed they muft remain till the
fecond fpring before they make their appearance; and
all the fummer they lie concealed, the weeds fliould
conftantly be plucked up as foon as they peep ; for if
they are neglected, they will get fo ttrong, and the
fibres of their roots will be fo far ftruck down among
the feeds, as to endanger the drawing many feeds out
with them, on weeding the ground. After the young
plants appear, they fiiould conftantly be kept clear of
weeds during the next fummer ; and if they were to.
be now and then gently refreflied with water in dry
weather, it would prove ferviceable to them. In the
fpring following they may be taken out of thefe beds,
and planted in the nurfery, in which fxtuation they
may remain till they are of a fuflicient fize to plant
out for ftandards.
The other forts are to be propagated by layers >
for which purpofe a few plants for ftools muft be pro¬
cured. The ftools of the eaftern hornbeam fliould be
planted a yard, and the other forts a yard and a half
or two yards afunder. After thefe plants have made
fome young (hoots, they fhould be layered in the au-.
tumn, and by that time twelvemonth they will have
ftruck root ; at which time, or any time in the winter,
or early in the fpring, they fhould be taken off, and
planted in the nurfery-way, obferving always to. bruflr
up the ftool, that it may afford fine young (hoots, for
frefti layering by the autumn following. The diftance
the plants (hould be allowed in the nurfery need be mo
more than one foot, in rows that are two feet afunder;
and here they may (land, with the ufual nurfery care
of weeding and digging-the rows in winter, until they
are to be finally planted out; though the Virginian
hornbeam will frequently fend forth two fhoots, which
will feem to ftrive for maftery in the lead. When this
is obferved, the weakeft (hould always be taken away,
©therwife the tree will grow forked.
CARPOBALSAM, in the Materia Medica, the
fruit of the tree which yields the true oriental balfam.
The carpobalfam is ufed in Egypt, according to Prof-
per Alpinus, in all the intentions in which the balfam
itfelf is applied: but the only ufe the Europeans make
of it is in Venice treacle and mithridate; and in thefe
not a great deal, for cubebs and juniper-berries are
generally fubftituted in its place.
CARPOCRATIANS, a branch of the ancient
Gnoftics, fo called from Carpocrates, who in the fe¬
cond century revived and improved upon the errors of
-Simon Magus, Menander, baturninus, and other
.Si ] C A It
Gnoftics. He owned, with them, one foie principle Carpolithi
and father of all things, whofe name as well as nature 11
was unknown. The world, he taught, was created by Carral'a>,
angels, vaftly inferior to the firft principle. He op- '
pofed the divinity of Jefus Chrift ; making him a mere'
man, begotten carnally on the body of Mary by Jo-
feph, though poffeffed of uncommon gifts which fet
him above other creatures. He inculcated a commu¬
nity of women ; and taught, that the foul could not
be purified, till it had committed all kinds of abomi¬
nations, making that a neceffary condition of perfec-
fedtion.
CARPOLITHI, or Fruit-stone Rocks of the
Germans, are compofed of a kind of jafper, of the na¬
ture of the amygdaloides, or almond-ftones. Bertrand
afferts that the latter are thbfe which appear to be
compofed of elliptical pieces like petrified almonds,
though in truth they are only fmall oblong pieces of
calcareous ftone rounded by attrition, and fometimes.
fmall mufcle-fhells connefted by a ftony concretion.
The name of carpolithi, however, is given in general
by writers on foifils to all forts of ftony concretions
that have any refemblance to fruit of whatever kind.
CARPUS, the wrift. See Anatomy, N° 53.
CARR, a kind of rolling throne, ufedrin triumphs, -
and at the fplendid entries of princes. See Chariot.
The word is from the ancient. Gaulifh, or Celtic,
Carr; mentioned by Casfar, in his commentaries, un¬
der the name Carrus. Plutarch relates, that Camillas
having entered Rome in triumph, mounted on a carr
drawn by four white horfes, it was looked on as toa
haughty an innovation.
Carr is alfo ufed for a. kind of light open chariot.
The carr, on medals, drawn either by horfes, lions,
or elephants, ufually fignifies either a triumph or an
apotheofis fometimes a procelfion of the images of
the gods at a. folemn fupplication, and fometimes of
thofe of fome illuftrious family at a funeral. The carr
covered, and drawn by mules, only fignifies a confe-
cration, and thq honour done any one of having his
image carried at the games of the circus. See Con
SECRATION, &C.
CARRAC, or CARRACA,.a.name given by the Por-
tuguefe to the veffels they fend to Brafil and the Eaft-
Indies ; being very large,, round built, and fitted for
fight as well as burden. Their capacity lies in their,
depth, which is very extraordinary. They are nar¬
rower above than underneath, and have fometimes fe-
ven or eight floors^ they carry about 2000 tons, and
are capable of lodging 2000 men ; but of late they are
little ufed. Formerly they were alfo in ufe among
the knights of Rhodes, as well as among the Ge-
noefe, and other Italians. It is a cuftom among the
Portuguefe,' when the carracs returned from . India,
not to bring any boat or (loop for the fervice of the
(hip beyond the ifland of St Helena ; at which place
they fink them on purpofe, in order to take from the
crew all hopes or poffibility of faving themfelves, in
cafe of (hipwreck.
CARRARA marble, among our artificers, the
name of a fpecies of white marble, which is called mar-
mor lunenfe, and ligujlrium by the ancients ; it is dif-
tinguilhed from th.e Parian, now called the ftatuary
marble, by being harder and lefs bright.
CAR-
CAR [ 182 1 CAR
CARRAVEIRA, a town of Turkey in Europe,
with a Greek archbiihop’s fee. E. Long. 22. 25. N.
Lat. 40. 27.
CARRIAGE, a vehicle ferving to convey perfons,
goods, merchandizes, and other things, from one
place to another.
For the conftruftion and mechanical principles of
wheel-carriages, fee Mechanics.
Carriage of a cannon, the frame or timber work on
which it is mounted, ferving to point it for (hooting,
or to carry it from one place to another. It is made
of two planks of wood, commonly of one-half the
length of the gun, called the cheeks, and joined by
three wooden tranfums, ftrengthened with three bolts
of iron. It is mounted on two wheels, but on a
march has two fore-wheels with limbers added. The
principal parts of a carriage are the cheeks, tranfums,
bolts, plates, train, bands, bridge, bed, hooks, trun¬
nion holes, and capfquare.
Bleck-CA&RiAGE, a cart made on purpofe for carry¬
ing mortars and their beds from place to place.
fruck-CAicRiAGE, two (hort planks of wood, fup-
•ported on two axle-trees, having four trucks of folid
wood for carrying mortars or guns upon battery, where
their own carriages cannot go. They are drawn by
■men.
CAPvRICK, the fouthern divifion of the (hire of
Ayr in Scotland. It borders on Galloway; ftretches
32 miles in length ; and is a hilly country fit for paf-
turage. The chief rivers are the Stencher and Gir-
ven, both abounding with falmon ; here are alfo feve-
ral lakes and forefts ; and the people on the coaft em¬
ploy themfelves in the herring-fifhery, though they
have no harbour of any confequence. The only towns
of this diftrift are Bargeny and Maybole, two incon-
-fiderable villages, yet the firfi: gave the title (now ex-
tinft) of baron to a branch of the Hamilton family.
The prince of Wales, as prince of Scotland, is earl of
Carrick.
Garrick on the Sure, a town of Ireland, in the county
of Tipperary and province of Munfter. W. Long. 7.
14. N. Lat. 52. 16.
CARRiCK-Fergus,- a town of Ireland, in. the county
of Antrim and province of Ulfter. It is a town and
county in itfelf, and fends two members to parliament.
It is very rich and populous, with a good harbour ;
and is governed by a mayor, xecordei, and (heriffs.—It
has, however, been of far greater confequence than at
prefent, as appears from the mayor having been admi¬
ral of a confiderable extent of coaft in the counties of
Down and Antrim, and the corporation enjoying the
cuftoms paid by all veffcls within thefe bounds, the
creeks of Belfaft and Bangor excepted. This grant
was repurchafed, and the cuftom-houfe transferred to
Belfaft.—Here is the (keleton of a fine houfe built by
Lord Chichefter in the reign of James I. an old Go¬
thic church with many family monuments, and a very
large old caftle. The town was formerly walled round,
and feme part of the walls is ftill remaining entire—
Carrick-fergus is feated on a bay of the fame name in
the Irilh channel; and is noted for being the landing
place of king William in 1690. Here alfo Thurot made
a defcent in 1759, took poffeffion of the caftle, and car-
-ried away hoftages for the ranfom of the town ; but
being foon after purfued by commodore Elliot,his three Carrier,
(hips were taken, and he himfelf was killed.
CARRIER, is a perfon that carries goods for others
for hire. A common carrier, having the charge and
carriage of goods, is to anfwer for the fame, or
the value, to the owner. And where goods are de¬
livered to a carrier, and he is robbed of them, he
(hall be charged and anfwer for them, becaufe of the
■hire. If a common carrier who is offered his hire,
and who has convenience, refufes to carry goods,
he is liable to an action, in the fame manner as an
inn-keeper who refufes to entertain a gueft. See
Assumpsit.
One brought a box to a carrier, with a large fum of Jacol’*
money, and the carrier demanded of the owner what
was in it; he anfwered, that it was filled with filks,
and fuch like goods ; upon which the carrier took it,
and-was robbed, and adjudged to make it good ; but
a fpecial acceptance, as, provided there is no charge of
money, would have excufed the carrier.—A perfon de¬
livered to a carrier’s book-keeper two bags of money
fealed up, to be carried from London to Exeter, and
told him that it was L.200, and took his receipt for
the fame, with promife of delivery foi 1 o 3. per cent.
carriage and ri(k: though it be proved that there was
L.400 in the bags, if the carrier be robbed, he (hall
anfwer only for L. 200, becaufe there was a particu¬
lar undertaking for that, fum and no more ; and his re¬
ward, which makes him anfwerable, extends no farther.
If a common carrier lofes goods which he is intruded
to carry, a fpecial aftion on the cafe lies againft him,
on the cuftom of the realm, and not trover; and fo of
a common carrier by boat An a&ion will lie againft
a porter, carrier, or barge-man, upon his bare receipt of
the goods, if they are loft, through negligence. Alfo
a lighter-man fpoiling goods he is to carry, by letting
water come to them, aftion of the cafe lies againft him,
on the common cuftom.
CARRiER-Pigeon, or courier-pigeon, a fort of pigeon
ufed, when properly trained, to be fent with letters
from one place to another. See Columba.
Though you carry thefe birds hood-winked, 20,
30, nay, 60 or too miles, they will find their way in
a* very little time to the place where they were bred.
They are trained to this fervice in Turkey and Perfia;
and are carried firft, while young, (hort flights of half
a mile, afterwards more, till at length they will re¬
turn from the fartheft part of the kingdom. Every
Bafhaw has a balket of thefe pigeons bred in the fera-
glio, which, upon any emergent occafion, as an infur-
reftion, or the like, he difpatches, with letters braced
under their wings, to the feraglio ; which proves a more
fpeedy method, as well as a more fafe one, than any
other; he fends out more than one pigeon, however,
for fear of accidents. Lithgow affures us, that one of
thefe birds will carry a letter from Babylon to Aleppo,
which is 30 days journey, in 48 hours. This is al(o a
very ancient pra&ice ; Hirtius and Brutus, at the fiege
of Modena, held a correfpondence with one another by
means of pigeons. And Ovid tells us, that Tauro-
fthenes, by a pigeon ftained with purple, gave notice to
his father of his viAory at the Olympic Games, fend¬
ing it to him at iEgina.
In modern times, the mod noted were the pigeons of
Aleppo,
GAR [ 183 ] CAR
•amer, Aleppo, which ferved as couriers at Alexandretta and
t Cam»n. Bagdad.' But this ufe of them has been laid afide for
< the laft 30 or 40 years, becaufe the Curd robbers kill¬
ed the pigeons. The manner of fending advice by
them was this: they took pairs which had young ones,
and carried them on horfeback to the place from whence
they wifhed them to return, taking care to let them
have a full view. When the news arrived, the cor-
refpondent tied a billet to the pigeon’s foot, and let
her loofe. The bird, impatient to fee its young, flew
off like lightning, and'arrived at Aleppo in ten hours
from Alexandretta, and in two days from Bagdad. It
was not difficult for them to find their way back, fince
Aleppo may be difcovered at an imn\enfe diftance.
This pigeon has nothing peculiar in its form, except its
noftrils, which, inftead of being fmooth and even, are
fwelled and rough.
CARR’ON, a fmall but remarkable river in Scot¬
land, rifing about the middle of the ifthmus between
the friths of Forth and Clyde. Both its fource, and'
the place where it emptieth itfelf into the fea, are
within the fhire of Stirling, which it divides into two
nearly equal parts. The whole length of its courfe,
which is from weft to eaft, is not above ^4 miles.
It falls into the frith of Forth about three miles to the
north-eaft of Falkirk. The ft ream thereof is but
fmall, and fcarce deferves the notice of a traveller ;
yet there is no river in Scotland, and few in the
whole ifland of Britain, whofe banks have been the
fcene of fo many memorable tranfa&ions. When
the Roman empire was in all its glory, and had its
eaftern frontiers upon the Euphrates, the banks of
Carron were its boundaries upon the north-weft ; for
•*See ^nto-the wall of Antoninus *, which was raifed to mark the
siiitus'sPi^zll. limits of that mighty empire, ftood in the neighbour¬
hood of this river, and ran parallel to it for feveral
miles.
Near the middle of its courfe, in a pleafant valley,
ftand two beautiful mounts, called the Hills of Duni-
pace, which are taken notice of by moft of the Scot^
tifti hiftorians as monuments of great antiquity. The
whole ftrufture of thefe mounts is of earth ; but they
are not both of the fame form and dimenfions. The
more eafterly one is perfectly round, refembling an
oven, and about fifty feet in height: And that this is
an artificial work does not admit of the leaft doubt;
but we cannot affirm the fame, with equal certainty,.
of the other, though it has been generally fuppofed
to be fo too. It bears no refemblance to the eaftetn
one either in ftiape or fize. At the foundation it is
nearly of a triangular form ; but the fuperftnnSure is
quite irregular; nor does the height thereof bear any
proportion- to the extent of its bafe. Thefe mounts
are now planted with firs, which, with the parifti-
church of Dunipace ftanding in the middle between
them, and the river running, hard by, give this valley
a very romantic appearance. The common account
given of thefe mounts is* that they were ere&ed as
monuments of a peace concluded'in that place be¬
tween the Romans and the Caledonians, and that their
name partakes of the language of both people; Dun
fignifying a hill in the old language of this ifland, and
Pax “ peace” in the language of Rome. The com¬
pound word, Dumpace,{\gmfe& “ the hills of peace.”
And w.e find in hiitory, that no lefs than three treaties.
of peace were, at different periods, entered into between Carron.
the Romans and Caledonians; the firft, by Severus, v*~-“
about the year 210; the fecond, foon after, by his fon
Caracalla ; and the third, by the ufurper Caraufius,
about the year 280 ; but of which of thofe treaties
.Dunipace is a monument, we do not pretend to deter¬
mine. If the concurring teftimony of hiftorians and:
antiquaries did not agree in giving this original to thefe
mounts, we would be tempted to conjedture that they
are fepulchral monuments. Human bonts and urns
have been difcovered in earthen fabrics of this kind
in many parts of this ifland, and the little mounts or
barrows, which are fcattered in great numbers about
Stonhenge in Saliftiury plain are generally fuppofed to
have been the fepulchres of the ancient Britons. See.
Barrows.
From the valley of Dunipace, the river runs for
fome time in a deep and hollow channel, with fteep
banks on both Tides: here it pafles by the foundations
of the ancient Roman bridge; not far from which,,
as is generally thought, was the fcene of the memo¬
rable conference betwixt the Scottilh patriot William
Wallace and Robert Bruce, father to the king of that
name, which firft opened the .eyes of the latter to a
juft view, both of his own true intereft and that of
his country.
After the river has left the village and bridge of
Larbert, it foon comes up to another fmall valley,
through the midft of which it has. now worn out to
itfelf a ftraight channel; whereas, in former ages,
it had taken a confiderable compafs, as appears by
the traft of the old bed, which is ftill vifible. The
high and circling banks upon the fouth-fide, give to
this valley the appearance of a fpacious bay ; and,
according to the tradition of the country, there was
once an harbour here: nor does the tradition feem
altogether groundlefs j pieces of broken anchors having
been found here, and fome of them within the me¬
mory of people yet alive. The ftream-tides would,
ftill flow near the place, if they were not kept back
by the. dam-head built acrofs the river at Stenhoufe;
and there is reafon to believe, that the frith flowed
confiderably higher in former ages than it does at
prefent. In the near neighbourhood of this valley,
upon the fouth, ftand the ruins of ancient Camelon;
which, after it was abandoned by the Romans, was
probably inhabited,, for fome ages, by the natives of
the country.
Another ancient monument, called Arthur's Oven^
once ftood upon the banks of Carron ;_but was, with
a fpirit truly Gothic, entirely demoliftied about 40-
years ago. The corner of a fmall inclofure between
Stenhoufe and the Carron iron-works, is pointed out
as the place of its fituation. This is generally fuppo¬
fed to have been a Roman work ; though it is not
eafy to conceive what could be their motive for ereQ>
ing fuch a fabric, at fo great a diftance from any other
of their works, and in a fpot which, at that time, muff
have been very remote and unfrequented. The form
of it is faid to have been perfe&ly round, and rifing •
perpendicular for fome yards at firft, but afterwards
gradually contrafted, till it terminated in a narrow ori¬
fice at the top. Antiquaries are not agreed whether
it had been a temple, or a trophy, or a maufoleum ; but.
the moff common opinion is, that it had been a temple, ,
and,:.
CAR [ i
Carron. and, Buchanan thinks, a temple of Terminus. HeAor
Boetius fays, that there were benches of ftone all around
it, upon the infide ; and that there had been a large
ftone for facrificing upon, or an altar, upon the fouth
fide.
As Carron extends over the half of the ifthmus,
and runs fo near the ancient boundaries of the Ro¬
man empire, the adjacent country fell naturally to
be the fcene of many battles and rencounters. Hif-
torians mention a bloody battle fought near this river
between the Romans and the confederate army of the
Scots and Pifts in the beginning of the 5th century.
The fcenes of fome of Oftian’s poems were, in the opi¬
nion of the tranflator, upon the banks of this river.
Here Fingal fought with Caracal, the fon of the king
of the world, fuppofed to have been the fame with
Caracalla the fon of the Roman emperor Severus.
Here alfo young Ofcar, the fon of Offian, performed
fome of his heroic exploits. Hereabout was the
ftream of Crona, celebrated in the ancient compo-
fitions of the Gaelic bard ; poffibly that now called
the water of Bonny, which runs in the neighbour¬
hood of the Roman wall, and difchargeth itfelf into
Carron at Dunipace. In thofe poems, mention is
made of a green vale upon the banks of this river,
with a tomb handing in the middle of it, where
young Ofcar’s party and the warriors of Caros met.
We only take notice of this- as it ftrengthens the
conjefture hazarded above, that the mounts of Du¬
nipace, efpecially the more eatterly of them, were
fepulchral monuments.—About the diftance of half a
mile from the river, and near the town of Falkirk,
lies the field of that battle which was fought by Wil¬
liam Wallace and the Englifh in the beginning of the
) 4th century. It goes by the name of Graham's muir,
from the valiant John Graham, who fell there, and
whofe grave-ftone is Hill to be feen in the church-yard
of Falkirk.
The river Carron, though it hath long -fince ceafed
to roll its ftream amidft the din of arms, ftill preferves
its fame, by lending its aid to trade and manufa&ures;
(fee the next article.)—The river is navigable for fome
miles near its mouth, and a confiderable trade is carried
on upon it by fmall craft; for the convenience of which,
its channel has of late years been ftraightened and
• gee tjjg much ftiortened, and the great Canal * has its entrance
article Ca- from it.
f;“!• CsiRRON-lVorhs,3.\cirge iron-foundery,twomiles north
from Falkirk in Scotland. They are conveniently, fitu-
ated on the banks of the Carron, three miles above its
entry into the frith of Forth. Above 100 acres of
•land have been converted into refervoirs and pools, for
water diverted from the river, by magnificent dams built
about two miles above the works, which, after turning
13 large wheels for the feveral purpofes of the manu-
fadure, falls into a tide-navigation that conveys their
callings to the fea.
Thefe works are the greateft of the kind in Europe,
and were eftablilhed in 1760. At prefent, the build¬
ings are of vaft extent; and the machinery, conftruc-
ted by Mr Smeaton, is the firft in Britain, both in
elegance and eorrednefs: there are 1600 men em¬
ployed, to whom is paid weekly above 6501. Sterling ;
which has greatly enriched the adjoining country:
6500 tons of iron are fmelted annually from the
N° 65. ' z
$4 ] CAR
- mineral with pit-coal, and call into cannon, cylin- Carrot
ders, £5V.—In the founding of cannon, thele works II
have lately arrived at fuch perfe&ion, that they make Carrucate,
above 5000 pieces a-year, many of which are ex- v J
ported to foreign Hates; and their guns of new con-
Jlruftion are the lighteft and neateft now in ufe, net
excepting brafs guns; the 32 pounder flrip-gun
weighing 42 hundred-weight, the 6 pounder 8 hun¬
dred-weight and one half, and the other calibers in
proportion.
The prefent proprietors are a chartered company,
with a capital of 150,000!. Sterling, a common feal,;
IsV. but their ftock is confined to a very few indivi¬
duals.
CARRONADE, a Ihort kind of ordnance, capa¬
ble of carrying a large ball, and ufeful in clofe engage¬
ments at fea. It takes its name from Carron, the
place where this fort of ordnance was firft made, or
the principle applied to an improved conftrudlion. See
the article Gunnery, n° 45, 46.
CARROT, in Botany. See Daucus.
Deadly-CARROT. See Thapsia.
CARROUSAL, a courfe of horfes and chariots,
or a magnificent entertainment exhibited by princes
on fome public rejoicing. It confifts in a cavalcade of
feveral gentlemen, richly drefled and equipped after
the manner of ancient cavaliers, divided into fqua-
drons, meeting in fome public place, and pradlifing
jufts, tournaments, See. The laft carroufals were in
the reign of Louis XIV.—The word comes from the
Italian word carofello, a diminutive of carro, “ chariot.”
.Tertullian aferibes the invention of carroufals to Circej
and will Lave them inftituted in honour of the Sun, her
father ; whence fome derive the word from carrus or
currus foils. The Moors introduced cyphers, liveries,
and other ornaments of their arms, with trappings,
&c. for their horfes. The Goths added crefts, plumes,
&c. .
CARRUCA, in antiquity, a fplendid kind of carr,
or chariot, mounted on four wheels, richly decorated
with gold, filver, ivory, &c. in which the emperors,
fenators, and people of condition, were carried. The
word comes from the Latin carrus, or Britilh carr,
which is ftill the Irifh name for any wheel-carriage.
Carruca, or Caruca, is alfo ufed in middle-age
un-iters for a plough.
Carruca was alfo fometimes ufed for carrucata. See
Carrucate.
C ARUCAGE, (carucagium,) a kind of tax anciently
impofed on every plough, for the public fervice. See
Carrucate and Hidage.
Carrucage, Carucage, or Caruage, in huf-
bandry, denotes the ploughing of ground, either ordi¬
nary, as for grain, hemp, and flax ; or extraordinary,
as for woad, dyers weed, rape, and the like.
CARRUCATE, [carrucata,) in our ancient laws
and hiftory, denotes a plough-land, or as much arable
ground as can be tilled in one year with one plough.
In Doomfday Inquifition, the arable land is eftima-
ted in carrucates, the pafture in hides, and meadow in
acres. Skene makes the carrucata the fame with hilda,
or hida terra ; Littleton the fame with foe.
The meafure of a carrucate appears to have differ¬
ed in refpeft of place as well as time. In the reign
of Richard I. it was eftimated .at 60 acres, and in a-
CAR [ 185 ] CAR
'Carrying nother charter of the fame reign at 100 acres: in the
CarflLirs t™e Edward I. at 180 acres : and in the 23d of
1 Edward III. a carmcate of land in Burcefter contain¬
ed 112 acres, and in Middleton 150 acres.
By a ftatute under William III. for charging per-
fons to the repair of the highways, a plough-land is
rated at a fifty pounds ptr annum, and may contain
houfes, mills, wood, pafture, &c.
CARRYING, in falconry, fignifies a hawk’s fly¬
ing away with the quarry. Carrying is one of the ill
qualities of a hawk, which (lie acquires either by a
diflike of the falconer, or not being fufficiently broke
to the lure.
Carrying, among huntfmen. When a hare runs
on rotten ground (or even fometimes in a froft), and
it Iticks to her feet, they fay fhe, carries.
Carrying, among riding-mafters. A horfe is faid
to carry low, when having naturally an ill-thaped neck,
he lowers his head too much. All horfes that arm
tbemfelves carry low, but a horfe may carry low with¬
out arming. A French branch, or gigot, is preferibed
as a remedy againft carrying low. .
A horfe is laid to carry well, when his neck is rai¬
led, or arched, and he holds his head high and firm,
without conftraint.
Carrying Wind, a term ufed by our dealers in hor¬
fes to exprefs fuch a one as frequently toffes his nofe
as high as his ears, and does not carry handfomely.
This is called carrying wind; and the difference be¬
tween carrying in the wind, and beating upon the
hand, is this : that the borfe who beats upon the
hand, (hakes the bridle and refills it, while he (hakes
his head; but the horfe that carries in the wund puts
up his head without fhaking, and fometimes beats up¬
on the hand. The oppofite to carrying in the wind,
is arming and carrying low ; and even between thefe
two there is a difference in wind..
CARS, or Kars, a confiderable and ftrong town of
Alia, in Armenia, feated on a river of the fame name,
with a caftle almoft impregnable. E. Long. 43. 50.
N. Eat. 41. 30.
CARSE, or Carfe of Gowry, a diilriil of Perthfhire
in Scotland. It lies on the north fide of the Tay, and
extends 14 miles in length from Dundee to Perth, and
is from two to four in breadth. It is a rich plain
country, cultivated like a garden, and producing as
good harvefis of wheat as any in Great Britain. It
abounds with all the neCeffaries of life ; but from its
low damp fituation, the inhabitants are fubjedt to a-
gues, and the commonalty are in great want of firing.
In this diftridt, not far from the Tay, (lands the houfe
of Errol, which formerly belonged to the Earls of that
name, the chiefs of the ancient family of Hay, here¬
ditary conftables of Scotland,
CARSTAIRS (William), an eminent Scots Divine,
whofe merit and good fortune called him to adl in
great feenes, and to affociate w ith men to whofe fo-
eiety and intercourfe his birth gave him few preten-
fions to afpire. A fmall village, in the neighbourhood
of Glafgow, was the place 6f his nativity. His fa¬
ther, of whom little is known, exercifed the functions
of a clergyman.
Young Carftairs turned his thoughts to the profef-
fion of theology ; and the perfecutions and oppref-
fions of government, both in regard to civil and reli-
Vox-.IV. Part I,
gious liberty, having excited his (Irongeft indignation, Crrdairt.
it became a matter of prudence that he fliould profe- ——v—
cute his lludies in a foreign univerfity. He went ac¬
cordingly to Utrecht; and his induhry and attention
being diredted with (kill, opened up and unfolded thofe
faculties which he was about to employ with equal
honour to his country and himfelf.
During his refidence abroad, be became acquainted
with Penilonary Fagel, and entered with warmth in¬
to the intereft of the Prince of Orange. On his re¬
turn to Scotland to procure a licenfe to teach doc¬
trines wdiich he had (ludied with the greateft care, he
became difgufted with the proud and infolent condudl
of Archbifhop Sharp, and prepared to revifit Holland;
where he knew that religious liberty was refpedled,
and where he hoped he might better his condition by
the connedlions he had formed.
His expedlat/ons were not vain. His prudence, hit
referve, and his political addrefs, were ilrong recom¬
mendations of him to the Prince of Orange; and he was
employed in perfonal negociatioiw in Holland, England,
and Scotland. Upon the elevation of his mailer to the
Englifh throne, he was appointed the King’s chap¬
lain for Scotland, and employed in fettling the affairs
of that kingdom. William, who carried politics into
religion, was folieitoUs that epifcopacy (hould prevail
there as univerfally as in England. Carftairs, more
verfant in the affairs of his native country, faw all the
impropriety of this project, and the danger that would
arife from the enforcing of it. His reafonings, his re-
monftrances, his intreaties, overcame the firmnefs of
king William. He yielded to confiderations founded
alike in policy and in prudence; and to Carftairs, Scot¬
land is indebted for the full dlabliflunent of its church
in the Pre(byterian form of government.
The death of King William was a fever« affii&ion
to him ; and it happened before that Prince had pro¬
vided for him with the liberality he deferved. He
was continued, however, in the office of chaplain for
Scotland by Queen Anne; and he was invited to ac¬
cept the Principality of the Univerfity of Edinburgh.
Pie was one of the' minifters of the city, and four times
moderator of the general affembly. Placed at the
head of the church, he profecuted its intereft with
zeal and with integrity. Nor were his influence and
activity confined to matters of religion. They were
exerted with fuccefs in promoting the culture of the
arts and fciences. The univerfities of Scotland owe
him obligations of the higheft kind. He procured, in
particular, an augmentation of the falaries of their
profeffors ; a circumftance to which may be aferibed
their reputation, as it enabled them to cultivate with
fpirit the different branches of knowledge.
A zeal for truth, a love of moderation and order,
prudence and humanity, diftinguiftied Principal Car-
itairs in an uncommon degree. His religion had no
mixture of aufterity; his fecular tranfadtions were at¬
tended with-.no imputation of artifice; and the verfa-
tility of his talents made him pafs with eafe from a
court to a college, He was among the laft who fuf-
fered torture before the privy-council, in order to make
make him divulge the fecrets intruded to him, which
he firmly refilled; and after the revolution, that in¬
human inftrument the thumb-ferew was given to him
in a pTefent by the council.—This excellent perfon
A a died
CAR [ 186 ] CAR
Carfughi died In 1715 ; and in 1774 State-papers and Letters,
It with an account of his life, were publifhed in one vol.
t aUe~ . 410, by the Rev. Dr M'Cormick.
CARSUGHI (Rainier), a Jefuit, born at Citerna
in Tufcany, in 1647, was the author of a Latin poem,
entitled, sirs bene fcribendi, which is efteemed both for
the elegance of the ftyle and for the excellent precepts
it contains. He alfo wrote fome good epigrams. He
died in 1709.
CARTAMA, a town of Spain in the kingdom'of
Grenada, formerly very confiderable. It is feated at
the foot of a mountain, near the river Guadala-Me-
dina, in W. Long. 4. 28. N. Lat. 36.40.
, CART, a land-carriage with two wheels, drawn
commonly by horfes, to carry heavy goods, &c. from
one place to another. The word feems formed from
the French charrette, which figniiies the fame, or rather
the Latin carreta, a diminutive of carrus. See Carr.
■ In London and Weftminfter carts lhall not carry
more than twelve facks of meal, feven hundred and
fifty bricks, one chaldron of coals, &c. on pain of for¬
feiting one of the horfes, (6 Geo. I. cap. 6.) By the
laws of the city, carr-men are forbidden to ride either on
their carts or horfes. They are to lead or drive them
on foot through the llreets on the forfeiture of ten
(hillings, (Stat. 1 Geo. I. cap. 57.) Criminals ufed
to be drawn to execution in a cart. Bawds and other
malefactors are whipped at the cart’s tail.
Scripture makes mention of a fort of carts or drags
ufed by the Jews to do the office of threffiing. They
were fupported on low thick wheels, bound with iron,
which were rolled up and down on the (heaves, to
break them, and force out the corn. Something of
the like kind alfo obtained among the Romans, under
the denomination of plaujlra, of which Virgil makes
mention, (Georg. I.)
Tardaque Eleujma. matris volventla plauflra,
Tribulaque, traheaque. 
On which Servius obferves, that trahea denotes a cart
without wheels, and tribula a fort of cart armed on all
fides with teeth, ufed chiefly in Africa for threftiing
corn. The Septuagint and St Jerome reprefent thefe
carts as furnifhed with faws, infomuch that their furface
was befet with teeth. David having taken Rabbah,
the capital of the Ammonites, ordered all-the inhabi¬
tants to be cruffied to pieces under fuch carts, moving
©n wheels fet with iron teeth ; and the king of Da-
maicus is faid to have treated the Ifraelites of the land
©f Gilead in the fame manner.
CART-Bate, in law, fignifies wood to be employed
in making and repairing inftruments of huffiandry.
Carts of War, a peculiar kind of artillery anciently
in ufe among the Scots. They are thus defcribed in
an aft of parliament, A.D. 1456; “ It is thocht
fpeidfull, that the King mak requeifl. to certain of the
great burrous of the land that are of ony myght, to
mak carts of weir, and in ilk cart twa gunnis, and ilk
ane to have twa chahners, with the remanent of the
graith that effeirs thereto, and an cunnand man to
(hut thame.” By another aft, A. D. 1471, the pre¬
lates and barons are commanded to provide fuch carts
©f w ar againft their old enemies the Englifli.
CARTE (Thomas), the biftorian, was the fon of
Mr Samuel Carte prebendary of Litchfield, and born
in 1686. When he was reader in the abbey-church Carte,
at Bath, he took occafion, in a 30th of January fer- Carte!,
mon, 1714, to vindicate Charles I. with refpeft to
the Irifli maflacre, which drew him into a controver-
fy with Mr Chandler the diffenting minifter; and on
the acceffion of the prefent royal family he refufad
to take the oaths to government, and put on a lay
habit. He is faid to have afted as a kind of fecre-
tary to Bifhop Atterbury before his troubles ; and in
the year 1722, being accufed of high treafon, a re¬
ward of /coo /. was offered for apprehending him:
but Queen Caroline, the great patronefs of learned
men, obtained leave for him to return home in fecu-
rity. He publiflied, 1. An edition of Thuanus, in
feven volumes folio. 2. The Life of the firft Duke of
Ormond, three volumes, folio. 3. The Hiftory of
England, four volumes, folio. 4. AColleftionof Ori¬
ginal Letters and Papers concerning the affairs of Eng¬
land, two volumes oftavo ; and fome other works-
He died in April 1754.—His hifiory of England ends-
in 1654. His defign was to have brought it down
to the Revolution; for which purpofe he had taken
great pains in copying every thing valuable that could
be met with in England, Scotland, France, Ireland,
&c.—He had (as hehimfelf fays, p. 43. of his Vindi¬
cation of a full anfwer to a letter from a byftander),
“ read, abundance of colleftions relating to the time of
King Charles II. and had in his power a feries of me¬
moirs from the beginning to the end of that reign ; in
which all thofe intrigues and turns at court, at the
latter end of that king’s life, wdiich bifhop Burnet,
with all his gout for tales of fecret hiftory, and all his
genius forconjeftures, does not pretend to account for,
are laid open in the cleareft and moft convincing man¬
ner ; by the perfon who was moft affefted by them,
and had the belt reafoij to know them.”—At his
death, all his papers came into the hands of his widow,
who afterwards married Mr Jernegan, a member of the
church of Rome. They are now depofited in the Bod¬
leian library, having been delivered by Mr Jernegan to-
the univerfity, 1778, for a valuableconiideration. Whilft
they were in this gentleman’s poffeffion, the earl of
Hardwicke paid 200/. for the perufal of them. For
a coniideration of 300/. Mr Macpherfon had the ufe of
them ; and from thefe and other materials compiled
his hiftory and ftate-papers. Mr Carte was a man of.
a ftrong conftitution and indefatigable application-
When the ftudies of the day were over, he would eat
heartily ; and in converfation was cheerful and enter¬
taining.
Carte-Blanche, a fort of white paper, figned at
the bottom with a perfon’s name, and fometimes alfo
fealed with his feal, giving another perfon power tor
fuperfcribe what conditions he pleafes. Much like:
this is the French blanc Jtgne, a paper without wri¬
ting, except a fignature at the bottom, given by con¬
tending parties to arbitrators or friends, to fill up
with the conditions they judge reafonable, in order to
end the difference.
CARTEL, an agreement between two Hates for.
the exchange of their prifoners of war-
Cartel fignifies alfo a letter of defiance or a chal¬
lenge to decide a controverfy either in a tournament or
in a fingle combat. See Duel.
Cartel-Ship, a (hip commiffioned in time of war to
exchange
Cartes.
CAR [ 187 ] CAR
exchange the prifonersof any two hoftiie powers; alfo
to carry any particular requeft or propofal from one'to
another: for this reafon, the officer who commands
her is particularly ordered to carry no cargo, ammuni¬
tion, or implements of war, except a iingle gun for the
purpofe of firing fignals.
CARTES (Rene des), defeended of an ancient fa¬
mily in Touraine in France, was one of the moil
eminent philofophers and mathematicians in the 17th
century. At the Jefuits College at la Fleche, he
made a very great progrefs in the learned languages
and polite literature, and became acquainted with
Father Marfenne. His father defigned him for the
army ; but his tender conftitution then not permitting
him to expofe himfelf to fuch fatigues, he was fent
to Paris, where he launched into gaming, in which he
had prodigious fuccefs. Here Marfenne perfuaded
him to return to ftudy ; which he purfued till he went
to Holland, in May 1616, where he engaged as a vo¬
lunteer among the prince of Orange’s troops. While
he lay in garrifon at Breda, he wrote a treatife on mujic,
and laid the foundation of feveral of his works. He
was at the fiege of Rochelle in 1628; returned to
Paris; and, a few days after his return, at ah aflembly
of men of learning in the houfe of Monfignor Bagni
the Pope’s Nuncio, was prevailed upon to explain his
fentiments with regard to philofophy, when the nuncio
urged him to publiffi his fyftem. Upon this he went
to Amfterdam, and from thence to Franeker, where
he began his meiaphyfual meditations, and 'drew up his
difeourfe oh meteors. He made a ffiort tour to England ;
and not far from London, made fome obfervations
concerning the declination of the magnet. He re¬
turned to Holland, where he finifhed his treatife on the
world.
His books made a great noife in France ; and Hol¬
land thought of nothing but difearding the old philo¬
fophy, and following his. Voetius being chofen rec¬
tor of the univerfity of Utrecht, procured his philo¬
fophy to be prohibited, and wrote againft him ; but
he immediately published a vindication of himfelf. In
1647, he took a journey into France, where the king
fettled a penfion of 3000 livres upon him. Chriftina,
queen of Sweden, having invited him into that king¬
dom, he went thither, where he was received with the
greatelt civility by her majefiy, who engaged him to
attend her every morning at five o’clock, to inftrubt
her in philofophy, and defired him to revife and digeft
all his writings which were unpubliffied, and to form
a complete body of philofophy from them. She like-
wife propofed to allow him a revenue, and to form- an
academy of which he was to be the director. But
thefe defigns were broken off by his death in 1650.
His body was interred at Stockholm, and 17 years af¬
terwards removed to Paris, where a magnificent monu¬
ment was erected to him in the church of St Gene¬
vieve du Mont. The great Dr Halley, in a paper
concerning optics, obferves, that though fome of the
ancients mention refra&ion as an effect of tranfpa-
rent mediums, Des Cartes was the firtl who difeovered
the laws of refraction, and reduced dioptrics to a fei-
ence. As to his philofophy, Dr Keil, in his introduc¬
tion to his examination of Dr Burnet’s theory of the
earth, fays, that Des Cartes was fo far from applying
geometry to natural philofophy, that his whole fyfiem CirtcHaiTj,
is one continued blunder on account of his negligence Carth;i$>5'
in that point; the laws obferved by the planets in their v
revolutions round the fun, not agreeing with his theory
of vortices. His philbfophy has accordingly given way
to the more accurate difeoveries and demonitrations of
the Newtonian fyftem.
CARTESIANS, a feft of philofophers, who ad¬
hered to the fyftem of Des Cartes, founded on the
two following principles, the one metaphyfical, the
other phyfical. The metaphyfical one is, I think*
therefore I am: the phyfical principle is, that nothing
exifts but fubjlance. Subftance he makes of two kinds ;
the one a fubftance that thinks, the other a fubftance
extended; whence aftual thought, and adtual exten-
fion, are the effence of fubftance.
The effence of matter being thus: fixed in exten-
fion, the Cartefians conclude that there is no vacuum,
nor any poffibility thereof in nature ; but that the
univerfe is abfolutely full: mere fpace is excluded
by this principle; becaufe extenfion being implied in
the idea of fpace, matter is fo too. Upon thefe prin¬
ciples, the Cartefians explained mechanically how the
world was formed, and how the prefent celeftial phe¬
nomena came to take place. See Astronomy, n° 252.
CARTHAGE, a famed city of antiquity, the capi¬
tal of Africa Propria; and which, for many years,
difputed with Rome the fovereignty of the world.
According to Velleius Paterculus, this city was built w,ie*
65, according to Juftin and Trogus 72, according to founded,
others 100 or 140 years before the foundations of
Rome were laid. It is on all hands agreed that the
Phoenicians were the founders.
The beginning of the Carthaginian hiftory, like
that of all other nations, is obfeure and uncertain.
In the 7th year of Pygmalion king of Tyre, his fifter a
Elifa, or Dido, is faid to have fled, with fome of her FJifa, orDi-
companions and vaffals, from the cruelty and avarice do, efcapes
of her brother Sichaeus. from her
She firft touched at the ifland of Cyprus, where ihe bri>t}ieu
met with a prieft of Jupiter, who was’ delirous of
attending her; to which (he readily confented, and
fixed the priefthood in his family. At that time, it
was a cuftom in the ifland of Cyprus, for the young
women to go on certain ftated days, before marriage,
to the fea-iide, there to look for llrangers, that might
poffibly arrive on their coafts, in order to proftitute
themfelves for gain, that they might thereby acquire a
dowry. Out of thefe, the Tyrians felefted 80, whom
they carried along with them. From Cyprus they
failed dire&ly for the coaft of Africa ; and at lalt
fafely landed in the province called Africa Propria, not
far from Utica, a Phoenician city of great antiquity.
The inhabitants received their countrymen with great
demonftrations of joy, and invited them to fettle among
them. The common fable is, that the Phoenicians im-
pofed upon the Africans in the following manner:
They defired, for their intended fettlemenf, only as
much ground as an ox’s hide would encompafs. This
requeft the Africans laughed at: but were furprifed,
when, upon their granting it, they faw Elifa cut the
hide into the fmalleft ihreds, by which means it- fur-
rounded a large territory ; in which Ihe built the cita- „ .. f
del called Byrfi. The learned, however, are now un-g ®
A a 2 animous &. 4
Carthage.
She lulls
hat felt.
Spanifh
to the Car¬
thaginians.
CAR [i
aniraous in exploding tins fable 5 and it is certain that
the Carthaginians for many years paid an annual tri¬
bute to the Africans for the ground they poffefled..
The new city foon became populous and flourilhing,
by the accellion of the neighbouring Africans, who
came thither at hr it with a view of traffic. In a ihort
time it became fo confiderable, that Jarbas, a neigh¬
bouring prince, thought of making himfelf matter of
it without any effufion of blood. In order to this, he
defired that an embaffy of ten of the mott noble Car¬
thaginians might be lent him; and, upon their arrival,
propofed to them a marriage with Dido, threatening
war in cafe of a refufah The ambaffadors, being
afraid to deliver this meffage, told the queen that
Jarbas defired fome perfon might be fent him who
was capable of civilizing his Africans ; but that there
was no poflibility of finding any of her fubjects who
would leave his relations for the converfation of fuch
barbarians. For this they were reprimanded by the
qneen ; who told them that they ought to be afhamed
of refuiing to live in any manner for the benefit of
their country. Upon this, they informed her of the
true nature of their meffage from Jarbas; and that,
according to her own decifion, {he ought to facrifice
herfelf for the good of her country. The unhappy
queen, rather than fubmit to be the wife of fuch a
barbarian, caufed a funeral pile to be ere died, and put
an end to her life with a dagger.
This is Juftin’s account of the death of Queen Di¬
do, and is the moft probable ; Virgil’s ftory of her
amour with ./Eneas, being looked upon as fabulous,
even in the days of Macrobius, as we are informed
by that hiftorian. How long monarchical government
continued in Carthage, or what happened to this ttate
in its infancy, we are altogether ignorant, by reafon
of the Punic Archives being deftroyed by the Romans;
fo that there ia a chafm in the Carthaginian hittory
for above 300 years. . It, however, appears, that from
the very beginning, the Carthaginians applied them-
felves to maritime affairs, and were formidable by fea
in the time of Cyrus, and Cambyfes. From Diodorus
Siculus and Juftin, it appears, that the principal fup-
port of the Carthaginians were the mines of Spain, in
which country they feem to have eftablifhed themfelves
very early. By means of the riches drawn from thefe
mines, they were enabled to equip fuch formidable
fleets as we are told they fitted out in the time of
Cyrus or Cambyfes. Juftin infinuates, that thefiril
Carthaginian fettlement in Spain happened when the
city of Gades, now Cadis, was but of late Handing, or
even in its infancy. The Spaniards finding this new
colony begin to fleurifh, attacked it with a numerous
army, infomuch that the Inhabitants were obliged to
call in the Carthaginians to their aid. The latter
very readily granted their requeft, and not only repul-
fed the Spaniards^ but made themfelves matters of al-
moft the whole province im which their new city flood.
Jly this fuccefs, they were encouraged to attempt the
conqueft of the whole country: but haying to do with
very warlike nations, they could not pufh their con-
quefts to a?.y great length at firft; and it appears from
the accounts of Livy and Polybius, that the greatett
part of Spain remained unfnbdiied till the times of
Hamilcar, Afdrubal, and liannibal.
About. 50.3 years before,the birth of Chrift,: the.
88 ] CAR
Carthaginians entered into a treaty with the Romans. Cartilage.
It related chiefly to matters of navigation and com- v—
merce. From it we learn, that the whole ifland of . 6
Sardinia, and part of Sicily, were then fubjedt to between^
Carthage; that they were very well acquainted with Curthao-e
the coaits of Italy, and had made fome attempts up- and Rome,
on them before this time ; and that, even at this early
period, a fpirit of jealoufy had taken place between
the two republics. Some time near this period, the
Carthaginians had a mind to difeontinue the tribute
they had hitherto paid the Africans for the ground on
which their city flood. But, notwithttanding all their
power, they were at prefent unfuccefsful ; and at
laft were obliged to conclude a peace, one of the ar¬
ticles of which was, that the tribute fliould be conti¬
nued.
By degrees the Carthaginians extended their power ^jc;|^inva.
overall the iflands in the Mediterranean, Sicily ex-ried by-the
cepted ; and for the entire conquett of this, they made Carthagini-
vaft preparations, about 480 years before Chrift. Their ans*
army confifted of 300,000 men ; their fleet was com-
pofed of upwards of 2000 men of war, and 3000 train-
ports ; and with fuch an immenfe armament, they
made no doubt of conquering the whole ifland in a
Angle campaign. In this, however, they found them
felves miferably deceived. Hamilcar their general
having landed his numerous forces, invefted Himera,
a city of confiderable importance. He carried on his
attacks with the greatell affiduity ; but was at laft at¬
tacked in his trenches by Gelan and Theron, the ty¬
rants of Syracufe and Agrigentum, who gave the
Carthaginians one of the greatefl overthrows mention- g
ed in hiftory. An hundred and fifty thoufand were They a-e
killed in the battle and purfuit, and all the reft taken utterly de-
prifoners ; fo that of fo mighty an army, not a fingle Aroyed.
perfon efcaped. Of the 2000 (hips of war and 3000 .
tranfports, of which the Carthaginian fleet couiifted,
•eight fhips only, which then happened to be out at
fea, made their efcape : thefe immediately fet fail for
Carthage ; but were - all call away, and every foul
perifbed, except a few who were faved in a fmall boat,
and at laft reached Carthage with the difmal news of
the total lofs of the fleet and army. No words can
exprefs the contternation of the Carthaginians upon
receiving the news of fo terrible a difafter, Ambaf¬
fadors were immediately difpatched to Sicily, with
orders to conclude a peace upon any terms. They
put to fea without delay ; and landing at Syracufe,
threw themfelves at the conqueror’s feet. They beg- ^ n
ged Gelon, with many tears, to receive their city into c;ujc^
favour, and grant them a peace on whatever terms he.
(hould choofe to preferibe. He granted .their requeft :
upon condition that Carthage flvould pay him 2000
talents of iilver to defray the expences of the war ; that
they fhould build two temples, .where the articles of
the treaty fhould be lodged and kept as facred ; and ‘
that for the future they fhould abflain from human fa-
crifices. This was not thought a dear purchafe of a
peace for which there was fuch occafion ; and to (how
their gratitude for Gelon’s moderation,, the Cartha- •
ginians complimented his wife Dernarata with a crown
of gold worth 100 talents.
From this time-we find little mention of. the Car-,,
thaginians for 70 years. Some time during this per •
riod, however, they had greatly extended their do-
mi iuors .
Story of
G A R Li
Carthage, mfruofis In Africa, and likewife (lutken off the tribute
' which gave them fo much uneafinefs. They had
Difi'Ute warm difputes with the inhabitants of Cyrene the ca-
with the pital of Cyrenaica, about a regulation of the limits
, Cyreneans of their refpeftive territories. The confequence of
thefe difputes was a war, which reduced both nations
fo low, that they agreed firft to a ceffation of amis,
and then to a peace. At laft it was agreed, that
each ftate Ihould appoint two commiffaries, who
fhould fet out from their refpective cities on the fame
day, and that the fpot on which they met ihould be
the boundary of both ftates. - In confequence of this,
two brothers called Philani were fent out from Car¬
thage, who advanced with great celerity, while thofe
from Cyrene were much more flow in their motions..
Whether this proceeded from accident or defign, or
perfidy, we are not certainly informed ; but, be this
as it will, the Cyreneans finding themfelves greatly
outftripped by the Philseni, accufed them of breach
of faith, aflerting that they had fet out: before the
time appointed, and confequently that the convention
between their principals was broken. The Bhilseni
defined them to propofe fome expedient whereby
their differences might be accommodated; promifing
to fubmit to it, whatever it might be. The Cyreneans
then propofed, either that the Philseni ftiould retire
from the place where they were, or that they fliould be
buried alive upon the fpot. With this lail condition
the brothers immediately complied, and by,their, death
gained a large extent of territory to their country.
The Carthaginians ever after celebrated this as a moft
brave and heroic attion ; paid them divine honours;
and endeavoured to immortalize their names by- ereft-
ing two altars there, with fuitable infcriptions upon
them..
About*thi'er year before' Chrift 41 2, fbme difputes
’ happening between the Egeftines and Seiinuntines,
inhabitants of two. cities in Sicily, the former called
in the Carthaginians to their afliftance ; arid this occa-
iioned a new invafion of Sicily by that nation. Great
preparations were made for this war; Hannibal,
whom they had appointed general, was empowered to
raife an army equal to the undertaking, and equip a
ftlitable fleet. They alio appointed certain funds for
defraying all the expences of the war, intending to ex,
ert their whole force to reduce the ifland under their
fubjedtion. .
_ 1 The Carthaginian general having landed his forces,
iid Sdinus immediately marched for Selinus. In his way he took
taken. Emporium, a town fituated on the river Mazara ; and
having, arrived at Selinus, he immediately invefted.it.
The befieged made a very vigorous defence; but at
laft the city was taken by florin, and the inhabitants
were treated with the utmoft cruelty. All were maf-
facred by thefavage conquerors, except the women.who
fled to the temples ; and thefe efcaped, not through the
merciful difpofition of the Carthaginians, but becaufe
they were afraid, that f driven to defpair they would
fet fire to the temples, and by that means confume the
treafure thfey expefted to find in thofe places. Six¬
teen thoufand were maffacred ; 2250 efcaped to Agri-
gtsmtum ; .and the women and children, about 5000 in
number, were carried away captives. At the fame time
the temples were plundered, and. the city rafed to the
ground.
Etnpor’
89 ] GAR
After the reduftion of Selinus, Hannibal laid fiege Carthag*.
to Himera ; that city he defired above all things to be-v—J
come mafter of, that he might revenge the death of 14
his grandfather Hamilcar, who had heen flain before Ilkewi^e
it by Gelon. His troops, flufhed with their late fuc- imeia*
cefs, behaved with undaunted courage ; but finding his
battering engines not to anfwer his purpofe fufficient-
ly, he undermined the wall, fupporting it with large
beams of timber, to which he afterwards fet fire, and :
thus laid part of it flat on the ground. Notwithftand~
ing this advantage, however, the Carthaginians were
feveral times repul!ed with great. daughter ; but at laft
they became mafters of the place,.and.treated it in the®
fame manner as they had done Selinus. After this,,
Hannibal, difmifliug his Sicilian and Italian allies, re¬
turned to Africa.
The Carthaginians-were. now fo much elated, that
they meditated the reduction of the whole ifland. •
,But as the age and infirmities of Hannibal rendered
him incapable of commanding the forces alone, they
joined in commiffion with him Imilcar the ion of
Hanno, one oft the fame family. On the landing of
the Carthaginian army, ail Sicily was alarmed, and
the principal cities pul themfelves into the beft ftate ^
of defence they were able. The Carthaginians im-^gr;gen-.
mediately marched to Agrigentum, and began to bat- turn beii&» •
ter the walls with great fury. The belieged, how-Kecii
ever, defended themfelves with incredible refolution,
in a ially burnt all the machines railed againft their
city, and re pulled the enemy with great daughter. ' *
The Syracufrans in the mean time, being alarmed at
the, danger of Agrigdntum, fent an army to its re¬
lief. On their approach they were immediately at¬
tacked by the Carthaginians; but after a fharp dis¬
pute-the latter were defeated, and forced to fly to the
, very walls of Agrigentum, with the lofs of 6000 men.
Had the Agrigeutine commanders now fallied out, and
fallen upon the fugitives, in all probability the Car¬
thaginian army mull have been, deftroyed ; but either
through fear or corruption, they refufed to ftir^out of ^
the place, and this occafioned the lofs of it. ImmenfeAnd taken,,
booty was found in the city; and the Carthaginians
behaved with their ufual cruelty, putting all the inha¬
bitants to the fword, not excepting even thofe who had
fled to the temples.
The next attempt of the Carthaginians’ was defign-
ed againft the city of Gela r but the Geleans, being
greatly alarmed, implored the protection of Syracufe ;
and, at their requeil, Dionyfius was fent to aflift them
with 2000 foot and 400 horfe. The Geleans were
fo well fatisfied with, his conduct,. that they treated
him with the higheft marks of diftindtion ; they even .
fent ambaffadors to Syracufe to return thanks for the
important fervices done them by fending him thi¬
ther ; and foon after he was appointed generalillimo
of the Syracufian-forces and thofe of their allies againft
the Carthaginians. In the mean time Imilcar, having
rafed the city of Agrigentum, made an incurfion
into the territories of Gelt and Comarina; which
having ravaged in a dreadful manner, he carried off
fuch immenfe quantity of plunder, as filled his whole
camp. He then marched againft the city : but though Gchbefie*--
it was but indifferently fortified, he met with a veryged.
vigorous refiftance ; and the place held out for a long
time without receiving any affiftar.ee from its allies,.
4 3 At a
CAR [
Garthage. At laft Dionyfius came to its affiftance with an army
of 50,000 foot and 1000 horfe. With thefe he at¬
tacked the Carthaginian camp, but was repulfed with
great lofs ; after which, he called a council of war, the
refuk of whofe deliberations was, that fmce the enemy was
fo much fuperior to them in ftrength, it would be high¬
ly imprudent to put all to the iffue of a battle ; and
therefore, that the inhabitants fliould be perfuaded to
abandon the country, as the only means of faving their
lives. In confequence of this, a trumpet was fent to
Imilcar to defire a ceffation of arm,s till the next day,
in order, as was pretended, to bury the dead, but in
jg reality to give the people of Gela an opportunity of
Abandoned making their efcage. Towards the beginning of the
by its i iha-night the bulk of the citizens left the place ; and he
ktants. himfelf with the army followed them about midnight.
To amufe the enemy, he left 2000 of his light arm¬
ed troops behind him, commanding them to make
fires all night, and fet up loud Ihouts as though the
army Hill remained in town. At day-break thefe
took the fame route as their companions, and purfued
their march with great celerity. The Carthaginians
finding the city deferted by the greatell part of its
inhabitants, immediately entered it, putting to death
all who had remained ; after which, Imilcar having
thoroughly plundered it, moved towards Camarina.
The inhabitants of this city had been likewife drawn
' off by Dionyfius, and it underwent the fame fate with
^ Gela.
Peace^con- Notwithftanding thefe fuccefles, however, Imilcar
eluded. finding his army greatly weakened, partly by the ca-
fualties of war, and partly by a plague which broke
out in it, fent a herald to Syracufe to offer terms of
peace, His unexpe&ed arrival was very agreeable
to the Syracufians, and a peace was immediately con¬
cluded upon the following terms,-u/a. That the Car¬
thaginians, befides their ancient acquifitions in Sicily,
ftrould ftiil poffefs the countries of the Silicani, the Se-
linuntines, the Himereans, and Agrigentines ; that
the people of Gela and Camarina fhould be permitted
to refide in their refpeftive cities, which yet fhould
be difmantled, upon their paying an annual tribute to
the Carthaginians; that all the other Sicilians fhould
preferve their independency except the Syracufians,
who fhould continue in fubjeftion to Dionyiius.
Dionyfuis The tyrant of Syracufe, however, had concluded
•breaks the 'this peace with no other view than to gain time, and
treaty. to put himfelf in a condition to attack the Cartha¬
ginian territories with greater force. Having ac-
complifhed this, he acquainted the Syarcufians with
his defign, and they immediately approved ofit; upon
which he gave up to the fury of the populace the per-
fons and poffefTions of the Carthaginians who reixded
in Syracufe, and traded there on the faith of treaties.
As there were many of their fhips at that time in the
harbour, laden with cargoes of great value, the people
immediately plundered them ; and, not content with
this, ranfacked all their houfes in a moll outrageous
manner. This example was followed throughout the
whole ifland; and in the mean time Dionyiius dif-
patched a herald to Carthage with a letter to the fe-
.nate and people, telling them, that if they did not im
mediately withdraw their garrifons from all the Greek
cities in Sicily, the people of Syracufe would treat them
-as enemies. With this demand, however, he did not al-
190 ] CAR
low them to comply ; for without waiting for any an- Carthage.
fwer from Carthage, he advanced with his army to  
Mount Eryx, near which ftqpd the city of Motya, a
Carthaginian colony of great importance, and this he
immediately invefted. But foon after, leaving his bro¬
ther Leptines to carry on the attacks, he himfelf went
with the greateft part of his forces to reduce the cities
in alliance with the Carthaginians. He deftroyed
their territories with fire and fword, cut down all their
trees; and then he fat down before Egefta and Entella,
moft of the other towns having opened their gates at
his approach : but thefe baffling his utmoft efforts, he
returned to Motya, and pufhed on the liege of that
place with the utmoft vigour.
The Carthaginians, in the mean time, though alarm¬
ed at the meffage fent them by Dionyfius, and though
reduced to a miferable fituation by the plague which
had broke out in their city, did not dcfpondj but fent
officers to Europe, with confiderable firms, to raife troops
with the utmoft diligence. Ten gallies were alfo fent 21
from Carthage to deftroy all the fhips that were found
in the harbour of Syracufe. The admiral, according {1^^'
to his orders, entered the harbour in the night, with¬
out being difeerned by the enemy; and having funk
moft of the fhips he found there, returned without the
lofs of a man.
All this while the Motyans defended themfelves with ..
incredible vigour; while their enemies, delirous offc^by the
revenging the cruelties exercifed upon their country- Greeks,
men by the Carthaginians, fought like lions. At laft
the place was taken by ftorm, and the Greek foldiers
began a general maffacre. For fome time Dionyfius
was not able to reftrain their fury: but at laft he
proclaimed that the Motyans fhould fly to the Greek
temples ; which they accordingly did, and a flop was
put to the daughter; but the foldiers took care tho¬
roughly to plunder the town, in which theyfounda great
treafure.
The following fpring, Dionyfius invaded the Cartha- :
gtnian territories, and made an attempt upon Egefte;
but here he was again difappointed. The Carthagi¬
nians were greatly alarmed at his progrefs; but, next
year, notwithftanding a confiderable lofs fuftained in
a fea-fight with Leptines, Himilco their general land¬
ed a powerful army at Panormus, feized upon Eryx,
and then advancing towards Motya, made himfelf ma¬
iler of it, before Dionyfius could fend any forces to its
relief. He next advanced to Meffana, which he like-
wile befieged and took ; after which moft of the Siculi
revolted from Dionyfius.
Notwithftanding this defedlion, Dionyfius, Ending GreA« de-
his forces ftiil amount to 30,000 foot, and 3000 horfe, feared at 1'ca
advanced againft the enemy. At the fame time, Lep-by the Car-
tines was fent with the Syracufian fleet againft that of t!;aSinians*
the Carthaginians, but with poiitive orders not to
break the line of battle upon any account whatever.
But, notwithftanding thefe orders, he thought proper
to divide his fleet, and the confequence of this was a
total defeat; above too of the Syracufian galleys being
funk or taken, and 20,000 of their men killed in the
battle or in the purfuit. Dionyfius difheartened by thiss ra2^e
misfortune, returned with his army to Syracufe, being befieged 1-y
afraid that the Carthaginian fleet might become ma-the Cartha-
Iters of that city, if he Ihould advance to fight the land gmiar.s.
army. Himilco did not fail immediately 10 inveft the
6 capital;
Carthage.
Hamilco
obliged to
fetuni.
Another
invalion of
Sicily.
jSyracufians
2 Hided by
the Corin-
thians.
fbolidi con-
fed of the
parthagini-
adiuiral.
CAR [ I
capital; and had-certainly become mailer of it, and
confequently of the whole illand, had not a moft ma¬
lignant peftilence obliged him to defift from all farther
operations. This dreadful malady made great havock
among his forces both by fea and land ; and to com¬
plete his misfortunes, Dionyfius attacked him unexpec¬
tedly, totally ruined his fleet, and made himfelf mailer
of his camp.
Himilco finding himfelf altogether unable to fuftain
another attack, was obliged to come to a private
agreement with Dtonyfms; who for 300 talents con-
fented to let him efcape to Africa, with the lhattered
remains of his.fleet and army. The unfortunate ge¬
neral arrived at Carthage, clad in mean and fordid
attire, where he was met by a great number of peo¬
ple bewailing their fad and inaufpicious fortune. Hi¬
milco joined them in their lamentations; and being
unable to furvive his misfortunes, put an end to his
own life. He had left Mago in Sicily, to take care
of the Carthaginian interefts in the bell manner he
could. In order to this, Mago treated all the Sicilians
fubjedt to Carthage with the greateft humanity; and
having received a coniiderable number of fbldiers
from Africa, he at laft formed an army with which
he ventured a battle: in this he wa% defeated, and
driven out of the field, with the lofs of 800 men ;
which obliged him to defift from farther attempts of
that nature.
Notwithftanding all thefe terrible difafters, the Car¬
thaginians could not forbear making new attempts up¬
on the illand of Sicily; and about the year before
Chrift 392, Mago landed in it with an army of 80,000
men. This attempt, however, was attended with no
better fuccefs than before ; Dionyfius found means to
reduce him to fuch ftraits for want of provifions, that
he was obliged to fue for peace. This continued for
nine years, at the end of which the war was renewed
with various fuccefs. It continued with little interrup¬
tion till the year before Chrift 367, when, the Syra-
cufian ftate being rent by civil diflentions, the Car¬
thaginians thought it a proper time to exert them-
felves, in order to become mailers of the whole ifland.
They fitted out a great fleet, and entered into alliance
with Icetas, tyrant of Lecntini, who pretended to have
taken Syracufe under his protedlion. By this treaty,
the two powers engaged to aflill each other, in order to
expel Dionyfius II. after which they were to. divide
the ifland between them. The Syracufians applied for
fuccours to the Corinthians; and they readily fent
them a body of troops under the command of Timo-
leon an experienced general. By a ftratagem, he got
his forces landed at Taurominium. The .whole of
them did not exceed i.2QO in number: yet with
thefe he marched againft Icetas, who was at the
head of 5000 men ; his army he furprifed at fup-
per, put 300 of them to the fword, and took 600
prifoners. He then marched to Syracufe, and broke
into one part of the town before the enemy had any
notice of his approach: here he took poll, and defend¬
ed himfelf with fuch refolution, that he could not be
diflodged by the united power of Icetas and the Car¬
thaginians.
In this place he remained for fome time, in expec¬
tation of a reinforcement from Corinth ; till the arri¬
val of which, he did not judge it prafticable to extend
91 ] CAR
his conquefts —The Carthaginians being apprifed that Carthage,
the Corinthian fuccours were detained by tempeftuous —v *
weather at Thurium, polled a ftrong fquadron, under
Hanno their admiral, to intercept them in their paf-
fage to Sicily. But that commander, not imagining
the Corinthians would attempt a paffage to Sicily in
fuch a ftormy feafon, left his ftation at Thurium, and
ordering his feamen to crown themfelves with garlands,
and adorn their veflels with bucklers both of the Greek
and Carthaginian form, failed to Syracufe in a triumph¬
ant manner. Upon his arrival there, he gave the troops
in the citadel to underftand, that he had taken the fuc¬
cours Timoleon expe&ed, thinking by this means to
intimidate them to furrender. But, while he thus
trifled away his time, the Corinthians marched with
great expedition to Rhegium, and, taking the advan¬
tage of a gentle breeze, were eafily wafted over into
Sicily. Mago, the Carthaginian general, was no fooner Cowardice
informed of the arrival of this reinforcement, than he of Mago.
was ftruck with terror, though the whole Corinthian
army did not exceed 4000 men; and, foon after, fear¬
ing a revolt of his mercenaries, he weighed anchor, in
fpite of all the remonftrances of Icetas, and fet fail for
Africa. Here he no fooner arrived, than, overcome
with grief and lhame for his unparalleled cowardice, he
laid violent hands on himfelf. His body was hung up¬
on a gallows or crofs, in order to deter fucceeding ge¬
nerals from forfeiting their honour in fo flagrant a man-
ner. _ 3Q
After the flight of Mago, Timoleon carried all be- Exploits of
fore him. He obliged Icetas to renounce his alliance Umoleon*
with the ftate of Carthage, and even depofed him, and
continued his military preparations with the greateft
vigour. On the other hand, the Carthaginians pre¬
pared for the enfuing campaign with the greateft ala¬
crity. An army of 70,000 men was fent over, with a
fleet of 200 flaps of war, and 1000 tranfports laden
with warlike engines, armed chariots, horfes, and all
other forts of provifions. This immenfe multitude,
however, was overthrown on the banks of the Crime-
fus by Timoleon: 10,000 were left dead on the field
of battle ; and of thefe, above 3000 were native Car¬
thaginians of the bell families in the city. Above
15,000 were taken prifoners; all their baggage and
provifions, with 200 chariots, 1000 coats of mail, and
10,000 Ihields, fell, into Timoleon’s hands. The fpoil,
which confifted chiefly of gold and filver, was fo im¬
menfe,. that the whole Sicilian, army was three days in.
collecting it and ftripping the flain. After this fignal
victory, he left his mercenary forces upon the frontiers
of the enemy, to plunder and ravage the country;
while he himfelf returned to Syracufe with the reft of '
his army, where he was received with the greateft de-
monftrations of joy. Soon after, Icetas, grown weary
of his private ftation, concluded a new peace with the
Carthaginians ; and, having aflembled an army, ven¬
tured an engagement with Timoleon: but in.this he
was utterly defeated ; and himfelf, with Eupolemus
his fon, and Euthymus general of. his horfe, were
brought bound to Timoleon by their own foldiers.
The two firft were immediately executed as tyrants
and traitors, and the laft murdered in cold blood ; Ice-
tas’s wives and daughters were likewife cruelly put to
death after a public trial. In a fliort time after, Ma-
mercus, another of the Carthaginian confederates, was.
over
CAR
Carthage, overthrown by Timoleon, with the lofs of 2000
Tliefe misfortunes induced the Carthaginians to con-
Peace con- c^u<^€ a peace on the following terms : That all the
eluded. Greek cities Ihould be fet free ; that the river Halycus
fhould be the boundary between the territories of both
parties ; that the natives of the cities fubjeft to the
Carthaginians ihould be allowed to withdraw, if they
pleafed, to Syracufe, or its dependencies, with their
families and effe&s; and laftly, that Carthage flrould
not, for the future, give any affiftance to the Remain¬
ing tyrants againfl: Syracufe.
War^re- About 316 years before Chrift, we find the Car-
newed. thaginians engaged in another bloody war with the
Sicilians, on the following occafion. Sofiftratus, who
had ufurped the fupreme authority at Syracufe, having
been forced by Agathocles to raife the liege of Rhe-
gi.um, returned with his lhattered troops to Sicily.
But fbon after this unfuccefsful expedition, he was ob¬
liged to abdicate the fovereignty and quit Syracufe.
With him were expelled above 600 of the principal
citizens, who were fufpefted of having formed a de-
fign to overturn the plan of government which then
prevailed in the city. As Sofiftratus and the exiles
-thought themfelves ill treated, they had recourfe to
the Carthaginians, who readily efpoufed their caufe.
Hereupon the Syracufians having recalled Agathocles,
^ who had before been banilhed by Sofiftratus, appointed
lam commander in chief of all their forces, principally
on account of the known averfion he bore that tyrant.
The war, however, did not then continue long ; for
Sofiftratus and exiles were quickly received again
into the city, and peace was concluded with Carthage:
the people of Syracufe, however, finding that Aga¬
thocles wanted to make himfelf abfolute, exafted an
^ oath from him, that he would do nothing to the pre-
/ipsi'thoclesjudice:of fhe ftern'ocracy. But, notwithstanding this
raifes him- oath, Agathocles purfued his purpofe, and by a ge-
fclf to the ncraj maffacre of the principal citizens of Syracufe
hyxacufe. raifed himfelf Jo the throne. For fome time he was
.pbliged to keep the peace he had concluded with Car¬
thage ;-but’at laft finding his authority eftablifhed,
and that bis fubjefts were ready to fecond his ambiti¬
ous defigns, he paid no regard to his treaties, but im¬
mediately made war on the neighbouring States, which
■ he had exprel'sly agreed not to do, and then carried
his arms into the very heart of the ifland. In thefe
.expeditions he was attended with fuch fuccefs, that in
two years time he brought into fubjeftion all the
Tlreek part of Sicily. This being accomplished, he
committed great devastations in the Carthaginian ter¬
ritories, their general Hamflcar not offering to give
him -the leaft disturbance, This perfidious conduct
greatly incenfed the people of thofe driftriits againft
Hamilcar, whom they accufed before -the fenate. He
died, however, in Sicily; and Hamilcar the fon of
Gifco was appointed to fuccee-d him in the command
.of the forces. The laft place that, held out againft
Agathocles was Meffana, whither all the Syracufian
exiles had'retired. Pafiphilus, Agathocles’s general,
found means to cajole the inhabitants into a treaty ;
which Agathocles, according to cuftom, paid no re¬
gard to, but, as foon as he was in poffeffion of the
town, cut off all thofe who had oppofed his govern¬
ment. For, as he intended to prolecute the war with
the utmoft vigour againft Carthage, he thoyght it a
;N°
GAR
point of good policy to deftroy as many of his Sicilian Carthage,
enemies as poffible. v—
The Carthaginians in the mean time having landed .
a powerful army in Sicily, an engagement foon enfued,b/theCar-
in which Agathocles was defeated with the lofs of thaginmns,
7000 men. After this defeat he was obliged to fiiut and befie-
himfelf up in Syracufe, which the Carthaginians Sjr"
mediately invefted, and moft of the Greek Hates in the
ifland fubmitted to them.
Agathocles feeing himfelf dripped of almoft all his
dominions, and his capital itfelf in danger of falling
into the hands of the enemy, formed a defign which,
were it not attefted by writers of undoubted authority,
would feem abfolutely incredible. This was no lefs H; invades
than to transfer the war into Africa, and lay liege to Africa,
the enemy’s capital, at a time when he himfelf was
befieged, and only one city left to him in all Sicily.
Before he departed, however, he made all the necef-
fary preparations for the defence of the place, and ap¬
pointed his brother Antandrus governor of it. He alio
gave permiftion to all who were not willing to ft and
the fatigues of a liege to retire out of the city. Many
of the principal citizens, Juftin fays r6oo, accepted
of this offer ; but they were no fooner got out of the
place, than they were cut off by parties polled on the
road for that purpofe. Having feized upon their
eftates, Agathocles raifed a conliderable fum, which
was intended in fome rneafure to defray the expence
of the expedition ; however, he earned with him only
50 talents to fupply his prefent wants, being well af-
fured that he fhould find in the enemy’s countiy what¬
ever was neceffary for. his fubfiftence. As the Cartha¬
ginians had a much fuperior fleet, they for fome time
kept the mouth of the harbour blocked up : but at
laft a fair opportunity offered; and Agathocles hold¬
ing fail, by the activity of his rowers foon got clear
both of the port and city of Syracufe. The Cartha¬
ginians purfued him with all poffible expedition ; but,
notwithftanding their utmoft efforts, Agathocles got
his troops landed with very little oppofition. ^
Soon after his forces were lauded, Agathocles burnt He burn*
his fleet, probably that his foldters might behave with his Heat,
the greater refolution, as they faw no pofiibility of
flying from their danger. He lirft advanced to a place
called the Great City. This, after a feeble refiftance,
he took and plundered. From hence he marched to
Tunis, which furrendered on the firft fummons; and
Agathocles levelled both places with the ground.
The Carthaginians were at firft thrown intp the
greateft confternation ; but foon recoveviug themfelves,
the citizens took up arms with fo much alacrity, that
in a few days they had on foot an army of 40,000
foot and 1000 horft, with 2000 armed chariots. The 37
command of this army they enttufted to Hanno and Carthaym*.
Bomilcar, two generals between whom there fubfifted e ea "
a great animoiity. This occafioned the defeat of their
whole army with the lofs of their camp, though all
the forces of Agathocles did not exceed 14,000 in
number. Among other rich fpoils the conqueror found
many chariots of curious workmanfhip, which earned
20,000 pair of fetters and manacles that the enemy
had provided for the Sicilian prifoners. After this de-Their me-
feat, the Carthaginians, fuppofing themfelves to have 'hod of
fallen under the difpleafure of their deities on account
of their neglecting to facrilice children, of noble fami- t,es_
lies
[ 192 ]
39
Hatnikar
makes an
affault on
Syracufe.
He raifes
4t
Is defeated,
and taken
prifoner
and put
to death.
4*
Agrigen-
tempf the
fovereignty
of Sicily.
Succtfs of
Agathocles
in Africa.
CAR [ i
lies to them, refolved to expiate this guilt. Accord¬
ingly 200 children of the firit rank were facriliced to
their bloody gods, befides 300 other perfohs who vo¬
luntarily offered themfelves to pacify the wrath ofthefe
deities.
After thefe expiations, Hamilcar was recalled from
Sicily. When the meffengers arrived, Hamilcar com¬
manded them not once to mention the vidfory of A-
gathocles ; but, on the contrary, to give out among
the troops that he had been entirely defeated, his forces
all cut off, and his fleet deffroyed by the Carthagini¬
ans. This threw the Syracufians into the utmoft de-
fpair; however, one Eurymnon, an Etolian, prevailed
upon Antandrus, not to confent to a.capitulation, but,
to Hand a general affault. Hamilcar being informed
of this, prepared his battering engines, and made all
the neceffary preparations to florin the town without
delay. But while matters remained in this fituation,
a galley, which Agathocles had caufed to be built im¬
mediately after the battle, got into the harbour of Sy-
racufe, and acquainted the inhabitants with the cer¬
tainty of Agathocles’s vidtory. Hamilcar obferving
that the garrifon flocked down to the port on this oc-
cafion, and expecting to find the walls unguarded, or¬
dered his foldiers to erect fcaling-ladders, and begin
the intended affault. The enemy having left the ram¬
parts quite expofed, the Carthaginians mounted them
without being difcerned, and had almoft poffeffed them¬
felves of an entire part lying between two towers, when
the patrol difcovered them. Upon this a warm difpute
enfued ; but at laft the Carthaginians were repulfed
with lofs. Hamilcar, therefore, finding it in vain to
continue the fiege after fuch glad tidings had reftored
life and foul to the Syracufians, drew off his forces,
and fent a detachment of 5000 men to reinforce the
troops in Africa. He ,ftill entertained hopes, how¬
ever, that he might oblige Agathocles to quit Africa,
and return to the defence of his own dominions. He
fpent fome time in making himfelf matter of fuch ci¬
ties as fided with the Syracufians ; and after having
brought all their allies under fubjedtion, returned again
to Syracufe, hoping to furprife it by an attack in the'
night-time. But being attacked while advancing thro5
narrow paffes, where his numerous army had not room
to adffc he was defeated with great (laughter, and him-
fel£ taken prifoner, earned into Syracufe, and put to
death.
In the mean time the Agrigentines, finding that
the Carthaginians and Syracufians had greatly weak¬
ened each other by this war, thought it a proper op¬
portunity to attempt the fovereignty of the whole
ifland. They therefore commenced a war againft
both parties ; and profecuted it with fuch fuccefs, that
in a fiiort time they wrefled many places of note both
out of the hands of the Syracufians and Carthagi¬
nians.
In Africa the tyrant carried every thing before
him. Tie reduced moft of the places of any note in
the territory of Carthage ; and hearing that Elymas
king of Libya had declared againft him, he immedi¬
ately entered Libya Superior, and in a great battle
overthrew that prince, putting to the fword a good
part of his troops, and the general who commanded
them; after which he advanced again!! the Carthagi¬
nians with fuch expedition, that he furprifed and de-
Vot. IV. Part L
93 I . CAR
feated them, with the lofs of 2000 killed, and a great Carthage,
number taken prifoners.- Lie next prepared for the ~
liege of Carthage itfelf; and in order thereto advanced
to a poft within five miles of that city. On the other
hand, notwithftanding the great Ioffes they had al¬
ready fuftained, the Carthaginians, with a powerful
army, encamped between him and their Capital. In
this fituation Agathocles received advice of the defeat
of the Carthaginian forces before Syracufe, and the
head of Hamilcar their general. Upon this he imme¬
diately rode up to the enemy’s camp, and (howingthem
the head, gave them an account of the total deftruc-
tion of their army before Syracufe. This threw them
into fuch confternation, that in all human probability
Agathocles would have made himfelf matter of Car¬
thage, had not an unexpcfted mutiny arifen in his
camp, which gave the Carthaginians an opportunity
of recovering from their terror. 44
The year following an engagement happened, in He makes
which neither party gained any great advantage : butRn. alliance
foon after, the tyrant, notwithttanding all his vidto- ^9°^ 6 ^
ries, found himfelf unable to carry on the war alone ; 5
and therefore endeavoured to gain over to his intereft '■
Ophelias, one of the captains of Alexander the Great.
In this he perfectly fucceeded; and, to fuccour -his
new ally the more effedlually, Ophelias fent to Athens
for a body of troops. Having finiftied his military
preparations, Ophelias found his army to confift of
10,000 foot and 600 horfe, all regular troops, be¬
fides 100 chariots, and a body of 10,000 men, at¬
tended by their wives and children, as though he had
been going to plant a new colony. At the head of
thefe forces he continued his march towards Agatho¬
cles for 18 days ; and then encamped at Automolae,
a city about 3000 ftadia diftant from the capital of his
dominions. From thence he advanced through the
Regio Syrtica ; but found himfelf reduced to fuch ex¬
tremities, that his mmy was in danger of periftiing for
want of bread, water, and other proviiions. They
were alfo greatly annoyed by ferpents and wild beads,
with which that defert region abounded. The ferpents
made the greateft havock among the troops ; for, be¬
ing of the fame colour with the earth, and extremely
venomous, many foldiers, who trod upon them with¬
out feeing them, were Hung to death. At laft, after
a very fatiguing march of two months, he approached
Agathocles, and encamped at a fmall diftance from
him, to the no fmall terror of the Carthaginians, who
apprehended the moft fatal confequences from this ^
junction. Agathocles at firft careffed him, and ad- whom he
vifed him to take all poifible care of his troops thatweachef-
had undergone fo many fatigues ; but foon after cut mur*
him off By treachery, and then by fair words and pro-. ers‘
mifes perfuaded his troops to ferve under himfelf.
Agathocles now'finding himfelf at the head of a
numerous army, affumed the title of King of Africa,
intending foon to complete his conquefts by the re-
dudlion of Carthage. He began with the fiege of
Utica, which was taken, by affault. After this he
marched againft Hippo Diarrhytus, the Biferta of the
moderns, which was alfo taken by ftorm; and after
this moft of the people bordering upon theffea-coafts,
and even thofe who inhabited the inland parts of the ^
country, fubmitted to him. But in the midft of this [s obliged
career of fuccefs, the Sicilians formed an affociation in <0 return
B b favour home*
CAR [ 191 ] CAR
Canhage. favour of liberty ; which obliged the tyrant to return
1 home, leaving his fon Archagathus to carry on the
47 war in Africa.
Succefs of Archagathus, after his father’s departure, greatly
^r^haSa' extended the African conquefts. He fent Eumachus
*' at the head of a large detachment to invade fome of
the neighbouring provinces, while he himfelf, with
the greateft part of his army, obferved the motions
of the Carthaginians. Eumachus falling into Numi-
dra, firft took the great city of Tocas, and-conquer¬
ed feveral of the Numidian cantons. Afterwards he
bcfieged and took Phellina ; which was attended with
the fubmifison of the Afphodelodians, a nation, accor¬
ding to Diodorus, as black as the Ethiopians. He
then reduced feveral cities; and being at laft elated
with fitch a run of good fortune, refolved to penetrate
into the more remote parts of Africa. Here he at
firft met with fuccefs; but hearing that the barbarous
nations were advancing in a formidable body to give
him battle, he abandoned his conquefts, and retreated
with the utmoft precipitation towards the fea-coalts,
48 after having loll abundance of men.
He is redn- This unfortunate expedition made a great altera-
ced to the ^;on for Worfe in the affairs of Archagathus. The
Cartbaginians being informed of Eumachas’s bad fuc¬
cefs,. refolved to exert themfelves in an extraordinary
manner to repair their former Ioffes. They divided
their forces into three bodies: one of thefe they fent
to the fea-coafts, to keep the towns there in awe ;
another they difpatched into the Mediterranean parts,
to preferve the allegiance of the inhabitants there;
and the laft body they ordered to the Upper Africa,
to fupport their confederates in that country. Archa¬
gathus being apprifed of the motions of the Cartha¬
ginians, divided his forees likewife into three bodies.
One of thefe he fent to obferve the Carthaginian
troops on the fea-coafts, with orders to advance af¬
terwards into the Upper Africa ; another, tinder the
command of iEfchrion, one of his generals, he polled
at a proper diftance in the heart of the country, to
have an eye both on the enemy there and the barba¬
rous nations; and with the laft, which he led in per-
fon, he kept nearer Carthage, preferring a commu¬
nication with the other two, in order to fend them
fuccours, or recal them, as the exigency of affairs
Ihould require.—The Carthaginian troops fent into
the heart of the country, were commanded by Han-
no, a general of great experience, who' being inform¬
ed of the approach of iEfchrion, laid an ambufeade
for him, into which he was drawn and cut off with 4000
foot and 200 horfe. Himilco, who commanded the
Carthaginian forces in Upper Africa, having advice
of, Eumachus’s march, immediately advanced againll
him. An engagement enfued, in which the Greeks
wrere almoft totally cut off, or perilhed with third af¬
ter the battle, out of 8000 foot only 30, and of 800
horfe only 40, having the good fortune to make their
efcape.
Archagathus receiving the melancholy news of
thefe two defeats, immediately called in the detach¬
ments he had fent out to harafs the enemy, which
would otherwife have been inftantly cut off. He was,
however, in a fhort time hemmed in on all lides in
fitch a manner as to be reduced to the laft extremity
for want of provilions, and ready every moment to
5
be fwallowed up by the numerous forces which fur- Carthage.
rounded him. In this deplorable fituation Agathocles  
received an exprefs from Archagathus, acquainting
him of the Ioffes he had fullained and the fcarcity of
provifions he laboured under. , Upon this the tyrant,
leaving the care of the Sicilian war to one Leptines,
by a llratagem got 18 Etrufcan Ihips that came to
his affiftance out of the harbour ; and then engaging
the Carthaginian fquadron which lay in its neighbour¬
hood, took five of their fhips, and made all their
men prifoners. By this means he became mafter of
the port, and fecured a paffage into it for the mer¬
chants of all nations, which foon reftored plenty to
that city, where the famine before had begun to make
great havock. Supplying himfelf, therefore, with a
fufficient quantity of neceffaries for the voyage he
was going to undertake, he immediately fet fail for
Africa. 49
Upon his arrival in this country, Agathocles re- Agathocles
viewed his forces, and found them to confift of 6ooo arriVCS in
Greeks, as many Samnites, Celtes, and Etrufcans; Alnca-
hefides 10,000 Africans, find 1500 horfe. As he
found his troops almoft in a ftate of defpair, he thought
this a proper time for offering the enemy battle. The
Carthaginians, however, did not think proper to ac¬
cept the challenge 5 efpecially as by keeping clofe in
their -camp, where they had plenty of every thing,
they could ftarve the Greeks to a furrender without so
linking a flroke. Upon this Agathocles attacked the Attacks the
Carthaginian camp with great bravery, made a con- camP of the
fiderable impreffion upon it, and might perhaps have^f^
carried it, had not his mercenaries deferted him almoft ft,cct:fs.
at the firft onfet. By this piece of cowardice he was
forced to retire with precipitation to his camp, whither
the Carthaginians purfued him very clofely, doing
great execution in the purfuit. SJ
The next night, the Carthaginians facrificed all the Dlfafter
prifoners of diftinftion as a grateful acknowledgment in the C rr-
to the gods for the vidlory they had gained. While thaSinian
they were employed in this inhuman work, the wind,cain^’
fuddenly rifing, carried the flames to the facred ta¬
bernacle near the altar, which was entirely confumed,
as well as the general’s tent, and thofe of the princi¬
pal officers adjoining to it. A dreadful alarm took
place through the whole camp, which was heightened
by the great progrefs the fire. made. For the foldidrs
tents confifting of very combuftible materials, and the
wind blowing in a moil violent manner, the whole
camp was almoft entirely laid in afhes; and many of
the foldiers endeavouring to carry off their arms-, and
the rich baggage of their officers, perifhed in the
flames. Some of thofe who made their efcape met
with a fate equally unhappy: For, after Agathocles
had received the laft blow, the Africans deferted him,
and were in that inftant coming over in a body to the
Carthaginians. Thefe, the perfons who were flying
from the flames took to be the whole Syracufian ar¬
my advancing in order of battle to attack their camp.
Upon this a dreadful confufion enfued. Some took
to their heels ; others fell down in heaps one upon
another; and others engaged their comrades, mif-
taking them for the enemy. Five thoufand men loft:
their lives in this tumult, and the reft thought proper
to take refuge within the walls of Carthage; nor
could the appearance of day-light, for fome time, dif-
fipate
CAR [ 195 ] CAR
Carthage, fipate their terrible apprehenfions. In the mean
time, the African deferters, obferving the great con-
. ^ . fufion the Carthaginians were in, and not knowing
that of A- t"6 meaning or it, were io terrified, that they thought
gaihocles. proper to return to the place from whence they came.
The Syraculians feeing a body of troops advancing
•towards them in good order, concluded that the ene¬
my were marching to attack them, and therefore im¬
mediately cried out “To arms.” The.flames afcend-
ing out of the Carthaginian camp into the air, and
the lamentable outcries proceeding from thence, con¬
firmed them in this opinion, and greatly heightened
their confufion. The confequence was much the
fame as in the Carthaginian camp ; for coming to
blows with one another inftead of the enemy, they
fcarce recovered their fenfes upon the return of light,
and the inteftine fray was fo bloody, that it cofl Aga-
^ thocles 4000 men.
He efcapes This lafi: difafter fo difheartened the tyrant, that he
privately, immediately fet about contriving means for making
his efcape privately; and this he at laft, though with
great difficulty, effected. After his departure, his
two fons were immediately put to death by the fol-
diers, who, choofing a leader from among themfelves,
made peace with the Carthaginians upon the following
conditions : 1. That the Greeks fhould deliver up all
the places they held in Africa, receiving from them
300 talents; 2. That fuch of them as were willing to
ferve in the Carthaginian army ffiould be kindly treat¬
ed, and receive the ufual pay; and, 3. That the reft
fliould be tranfported to Sicily, and have the city of
Selinus for their habitation.
Caufes of From this time, to that of their firft war with the
the firft Romans, we find nothing remarkable in the hiftory
pumc War. of the Carthaginians. The firft Punic war, as it is
commonly called, happened about 256 years before
Chrift. At that time, the Carthaginians were poffef-
fed of txtenfive dominions in Africa ; they had made
confiderable progrefs in Spain ; were mailers of Sar¬
dinia, Corlica, and all the iflands on the coaft of Italy;
and had extended their conquefts to a great part of
Sicily. The occafion of the firft rupture between the
two republics was as follows. The Mamertines be¬
ing vanquiffied in battle, and reduced to great ftraits
by Hiero king of Syracufe, had refolved to deliver up
Meffina, the only city they now pofleffed, to that
prince, with whofe mild government and fttidl pro¬
bity they were well acquainted. Accordingly, Hiero
was advancing at the head of his troops to take pof-
feffion of the city, when Hannibal, who at that time
commanded the Carthaginian army in Sicily, prevent¬
ed "him by a ftratagem. He came to meet Hiero,
as it were to congratulate him on his vidtory; and
amufed him, while fom-e of the Carthaginian troops
filed off towards Meffina- Hereupon the Mamer¬
tines, feeing their city fuppofted by a new reinforce¬
ment, were divided into feveral opinions. Some
were for accepting the protedlion of Carthage; others
were for furrendering to the king of Syracufe; but
the greater part were for calling in the Romans to
their affiftance. Deputies were accordingly difpatch-
ed to Rome, offering the poffeffion of the city to the
Romans, and in the moft moving terms imploring
protection. This, after fome debate, was agreed to ;
and the conful Appius Claudius received orders to at- Carthage,.
tempt a paffage to Sicily, at the head of a powerful  y~“~'
army. Being obliged to ftay fome time1 at Rome,
however, one Caius Claudius, a perfon of great intre¬
pidity and- refolution, was difpatched with a few vef-
fels to Rhegium. On his arrival there, he obferved
the Carthaginian fquadron to be fo much fuperior to
his own, that he thought it would be little better than
madnefs to attempt at that time to tranfport forces to
Sicily. He eroded the ftraits, however, and had a
conference with the Mamertines, in which he prevail¬
ed upon them all to accept of the protection of Rome;
and on this he made the neceffary preparations for
tranfporting his forces. The Carthaginians being in¬
formed of the refolutions of the Romans, fent a ftrong 55
fquadron of gallies Under the command of Hanno, to Hanno in¬
intercept the Roman fleet; and accordingly the Car- 'ercePts die
thaginian admiral, coming up ■with them near the fie°e^an
coaft of Sicily, attacked them with great fury. Du¬
ring the engagement, a violent ft«rm arofe, which
daflied many of the Roman veffels againft the rocks,
and did a vaft deal of damage to their fquadron ; by
which means Claudius was forced to retire to Rhegium,
and this he accompliffied with great difficulty. Han¬
na reftored all the veffels he had taken ; but ordered
the deputies fent with them, to expoftulate with the
Roman general upon the infra&ion of the treaties fub-
lifting between the two republics. This expollulation,
however juft, produced an open rupture ; Claudius
foon after poffeffing himfelf of Meffina. ^
Such was the beginning of the firft Punic war, Carthagini-
which is faid to have lafted 24 years. The firft year,ans and sy_
the Carthaginians and Syracuiians laid fiege to Medina; defeated bv
but, not afting in concert as they, ought to have done, the Ro-
were overthrown by the Conful Appius Claudius; and mans,
this defeat fo much difgufted Hiero with the Cartha¬
ginians, that he foon after concluded an alliance with
the Romans. After this treaty, having no enemy to
contend with but the Carthaginians, the Romans made
themfelves mailers of all the cities on the weftern coaft
of Sicily, and at the end of the campaign carried back
moft of their troops with them to take up their win¬
ter-quarters in Italy. 57
The fecond year, Hanno the Carthaginian general Agrigcn-
fixed his principal magazine at Agrigentum. This
place was very ftrong by nature, had been rendered nuns,
ahnoft impregnable by the new fortifications raifed by
the Carthaginians during the preceding winter, and
was defended by a numerous garrifon commanded by
one Hannibal, a general of great experience in war.
For five months the Romans attempted to reduce the
place by famine, and had adlually brought the inhabi¬
tants to great dillrefs, when a Carthaginian army of
-50,000 foot, 6000 horfe, and 60 elephants, landed at
Lilybseum, and from thence marched to Heraclea,
within 20 miles of Agrigentum. There the general
received a deputation from fome of the inhabitants of
Frbeffa, where the Romans had their magazines, offer¬
ing to put the town into his hands. It was according¬
ly delivered up; and by this means the Romans be¬
came fo much diftreffed ; that they had certainly been
obliged to abandon their enterprize, had not Hiero
fupplied them with provifions. But all the affiftance
he was able to give could not long have fupported
B b 2 : them,
CAR [ 196 ] CAR
Carthage, them, as their army was fo much weakened by difor-
ders occafioned by famine, that, out of 100,000 men of
whom it originally coniifted, fcarce a fourth part re¬
mained fit for fervice, and .could no longer fubfift on
fuch parfimdnious fupplies. But in the mean time
Hannibal acquainted Hanno' that the city was reduced
to the utmoit diftrefs ; upon which he refolved to ven¬
ture an engagement, which he had before declined.
In this the Romans were victorious, and the city fur-
rendered at difcretion, though Hannibal with the
greateft part of the gamfon made their efcape. This
ended the campaign ; and the Carthaginians being
greatly chagrined at their bad fuccefs, fined Hanno
cf an immenfe fum of money, and deprived him of his
command, appointing Hamilcar to fucceed him in the
command of the land army, and Hannibal In that of
the fleet.
The third year, Hannibal received orders to ravage
the coafts of Italy ; but the Romans had taken care
to poll detachments in fuch places as were moll pro-
58 per to prevent his landing, fo that the Carthaginian
They build found it impolfible to execute his orders. At the fame
a fleet, time, the Romans, perceiving the advantages of being
mailers of the fea, fet about building 120 galleys.
While this was doing, they made themfelves mailers of
moll of the inland cities, but the Carthaginians redu¬
ced or kept Heady in their interell moll of the mari¬
time ones ; fo that both parties were equally fuccefs-
ful during this campaign.
The fourth year, Hannibal by a llratagem made
himfelf mailer of 17 Roman galleys ; after which he
committed great ravages on the coaft of Italy, whither
he had advanced'to take a view of the Roman fleet.
And defeat But he was afterwards attacked in his turn, loll the
the Cartha- greatell part of his Ihips, and with great difficulty
gxmans at made his own efcape. Soon after he was totally de¬
feated by the conful Duillius, with the lofs of 80 ffiips
taken, thirteen funk, 7000 men killed, and as many
taken prifoners. After this victory Duillius landed
in Sicily, put himfelf at the head of the land forces,
relieved Segella befieged by Hamilcar, and made him¬
felf mailer of Macella, though defended by a nume-
g0 rous garrifon.
Siciliansde- The fifth year, a difference arofe between the Ro-
feated by mans and their Sicilian allies, which came to fuch an
the Cartha- }ieight, that they encamped feparately. Of this Ha-
gunans. milcar availed himfelf, and attacking the Sicilians in
their entrenchments, put 4000 of them to the fword.
He then drove the Romans from their polls, took fe-
veral cities from them, and over-ran the greatell part
of the country. In the mean time, Hannibal, after
his defeat, failed with the lhattered remains of his fleet
to Carthage : but in or/ler to fecure himfelf from pu-
nilhment, he fent one of his friends with all fpeed, be¬
fore the event of the battle was known there, to ac¬
quaint the fenate, that the Romans had put to fea
with a good number of heavy ill-built veffels, each
of them carrying fome machine, the ufe of which
the Carthaginians did not underlland; and alk-
ed whether it was the opinion of, the fenate that
Hannibal ffiould attack them. Thefe machines were
the corvi, which were then newly invented, and
by means of which, chiefly, Duillius had gained the
victory. The fenate were unanimous in their opinion,
that the Romans Ihould he attacked ; upon which the
meffenger acquainted them with the unfortunate event Cat tbage.
of the battle. As the fenators had already declared v-—'
themfelves for the engagement, they fpared their ge¬
neral’s life, and, according to Polybius, even continued
him in the command of the fleet. In a fhort time,
being reinforced by a good number of galleys, and at¬
tended by fome officers of great merit, he failed for the
coall of Sardinia. Pie had not been long here, before
he was furprifed by the Romans, who carried off many
of his Ihips, and took great numbers of his men pri¬
foners. This fo incenfed the relt, that they feized
their unfortunate admiral, and crucified him ; but who
was his immediate fucceffor does not appear. ' ('1
The lixth year, the Romans made themfelves ma- Corfica and
Hers of the Hands of Corfica and Sardinia. Hanna, aai€iima re*
who commanded the Carthaginian forces in the. latter, fh^Re/
defended himfelf at a city called Olbia with incredible mans,
bravery ; but being at lall killed in one of the attacks,
the place was furrendered, and the Romans foon be¬
came mallei s of the whole Hand.
The feventh year, the Romans took the town of The Ro-
Mytellratum, in Sicily, from whence they marchedman arnT
towards Camarina, but in their way were furrounded
in-a deep valley, and in the moll imminent danger of al‘£,er‘
being cut off by the Carthaginian army. In this ex.- j,
tremity, a legionary tribune, by name M. Calpurnius ,he bravery
Flamma, defired tjie general to give him 300 chofen of a legio-
men ; promiling, with this fmall company, to findnary tri_
the enemy fuch employment as fliould oblige them to june*
leave a paffage open for the Roman army. He per¬
formed his promife with a bravery truly heroic ; for,
having feized, in fpite of all oppolition, an eminence,
and entrenched himfelf on it, the Carthaginians, jea¬
lous of his defign, flocked from all quarters to drive
him from his poll. But the brave tribune kept their
whole army in play, till the eonful, taking advantage
of the diverfipn, drew his army out of the bad li-
tuation in which he had imprudently brought it.
The legions were no fooner out of danger, than they
haftened to the relief of their brave companions : but
all they could do was to fave their bodies from the in-
fults of their enemies; for they found them all dead
on the fpot, except Calpurnius, who lay under an heap
of dead bodies all covered with wounds, but Hill
breathing. His wounds were immediately dreffed,
and it fortunately happened that none of them proved
mortal; and for this glorious enterprife he received a
crown of gramen. After this the Romans reduced fe-
veral cities, and drove the enemy quite out of the
territory of the Agrigentines ; but were repulfed with
great lofs before Lipara. ^
The eighth year, Regains, who commanded the Carthagini-
Roman fleet, obferving that of the Carthaginians lying alls defeat-
along the coail in dilorder, failed with a iquadron °f "he'ko- ^
ten galleys to obferve their number and ftrength, or- nians-
dering the reft of the fleet to follow him with all ex¬
pedition. But as he drew too near the enemy, he
was furrounded by a great number of Carthaginian
galleys. The Romans fought with their ufual bravery;
but, being overpowered with numbers, were obliged to
yield. The conful, however, found means to make
his efcape, and join the reft of the fleet; and then
had his full revenge of the enemy, 18 of their fhips
being taken, and eight funk.
The ninth year, the Romans made preparations for
invading
Cafthngini-
confterna-
67
Succefs of
Reg ulus.
ierpei
CAR [ 1
• invading Africa. Their fleet for this purpofe confift-
J ed of 330 galleys, each of them having on board 120
foldiers,and 30b rowers. The Carthaginian fleet con¬
i’ lifted of 360 fail, and was much better manned than
that of the Romans. The two fleets met near Ecno-
mus, a promontory in Sicily ; where, .after a bloody
engagement which lafted the greater part of the day,
the Carthaginians were entirely defeated, with the
lofs of 30 galleys funk, and 63 taken with all their
men. The Romans loft only 24 galleys, which were
all funk.—After this viftory, the Romanshaving re¬
fitted their fleet, fet fail for ^he coaft of Africa with
all expedition. The firft land they got fight of was
Cape Hermea, where the fleet lay at anchor for fome
time waiting till the galleys and tranfports came up.
From thence they coafted along till they arrived be¬
fore Clupea, a city to the eaft of Carthage, where
they made their firft defcent.
No words can exprefs the confternation of the Car¬
thaginians, on the arrival of the Romans in, Africa.
The inhabitants of Clupea were fo terrified, that, ac¬
cording to Zonaras, they abandoned the place, which
the Romans immediately took pofieffion of. Having
left there a ftrong garrifon to fecure their flapping,
and keep the adjacent territory in awe, they moved
nearer Carthage, taking a great number of towns ;
they likewife plundered a prodigious number of vil¬
lages, laid vaft numbers of noblemens feats in aflres,
and took above 20,000 prifoners. In fhort, having
plundered and ravaged the whole country, almoft to
the gates of Carthage, they returned to Clupea loaden
with the immenfe booty they had acquired in the ex¬
pedition.
The tenth year, Regulus pulhed on his conquefts
with great rapidity. To oppofe his progrefs, Hamil-
car was recalled from Sicily, and with him Boftar and
Afdrubal were joined in command. Hamilcar com¬
manded an army juft equal to that of Regulus. The
other two commanded feparate bodies, which were
to join him or 'a<ft apart as occafion required. But,
before they were in a condition to take the field, Re¬
gulus, purfuing his conquefts, arrived on the banks of
the Bragada, a river which empties itfelf into the fea
at a fmall diftance from Carthage. Here he had a
monftrous ferpent to contend with, which, according
to,.the accounts of thofe days, infetted the waters of
the river, poifoned the air, and killed all other ani¬
mals with its breath alone. When the Romans went
to draw water, this huge dragon attacked them; and,
twilling itfelf round their bodies, either fqueezed them
to death, or fwallowed them alive. As its hard and
thick fcales were proof againft their darts and arrows,
they were forced to have recourfe to the baliftas, which
they made ufe of in fieges to throw great ftones, and
to beat down the walls of befieged cities. With thefe
they difcharged fliowers of huge ftones againft this
new enemy, and had the good luck, with one of them,
to break his back-bone ; which difabled him from
twilling and winding his immenfe body, and by that
means gave the Romans an opportunity of approach¬
ing and difpatching him with their darts. But his
dead body corrupted the air and the water of the ri¬
ver ; and fpread fo great an infection over the whole
-country, that the Romans were obliged to decamp.
We are told that Regulus fent to Rome the ikin of
97 ] CAR
this monfter, which was 120 feet long; and that it Carthage,
was hung up in a temple, where it was preferved to * '
the time of the Numantine war. 69
Having pa fled this river, he befieged Adis, or Adda, l11,®
not far from Carthage, which the enemy attempted^.1 a8IIU"
to relieve ; but as they lay encamped among hills and ’
rocks, where their elephants, in which the main ftrength
of their army confifted, could be of no ufe, Regulus
attacked them in their camp, killed 17,000 of them,
and took 5000 prifoners, and 18 elephants. Upon
the fame of this victory, deputations came from all
quarters, infomuch that the conqueror in a few days
became mailer of 80 towns; among which were the 70
city and port of Utica-, This increafed the alarm at And redu-
Cartfiage; which was reduced to defpair, when the m'mofiT
gulus laid liege to Tunis, a great city about nine milesdefpair,
from the capital.. The place was taken in fight of the
Carthaginians, who, from their walls, beheld all the
operations of the fiege, without making the leaft at¬
tempt to relieve it. And to complete their misfor¬
tunes, the Numidians, their neighbours, and impla¬
cable enemies, entered their territories, committing
every where the moft dreadful devaftations, which foon
occafioned a great fcarcity of provifions in the city.
The public magazines were foon exhaufted : and, as
the city was full of felfilh merchants, who took ad¬
vantage of the public diftrefs, to fell provifions at an
exorbitant price, a famine enfued, with all the evils
which attend it. 71
In this extremity Regulus advanced to the very Jdk propo*
gates of Carthage ; and having encamped under the peac° re_
walls, fent deputies to treat of a peace with the fe-jeft^,
nate. The deputies were received with inexpreffible
joy ; but the conditions they propofed were fuch that
the fenate could not hear them without the greateft
indignation, They were, 1. That the Carthaginians
ftiould rtlinquiih all claims to Sardinia, Corfica, and
Sicily. 2. That theyglhould reftore to the Romans
all the prifoners they had taken from them fince the
beginning of the war. 3. That if they cared to re¬
deem any of their own prifoners, they fhould pay fo
much a-head for them as Rome ftiould judge reafon-
able. 4. That they ftiould for ever pay the Romans
an annual tribute. 5. That for the future they ftiould
fit out but one man of war for their own ufe, and 50
triremes to ferve in the Roman fleet, at the expence
of Carthage, when required by any of the future con-
fuls. Thefe extravagant demands provoked the fe-
nators,4 who loudly and unanimoufty rejected them;
the Roman deputies, however, told them that Regu¬
lus would not alter a Angle letter of the propofals,
and that they muft either conquer the Romans or
obey them.
In this extreme diftrefs, fome mercenaries arrived Xarthippns
from Greece, ^mong whom was a Lacedemonian, by appointed
name Xanthippus, a man of great valour and experi-to coni'
ence in war. This man, having informed himfelf o^CarthaVini-
the circumftances of the late battle, declared publicly, an ariny.
that their overthrow was more owing to their own
mifconduft than to the fuperiority of the enemy. This
difcourfe being fpread abroad, came at laft to the
knowledge of the fenatc ; and by them, and even by
the defire of the Carthaginian generals themfelves,
Xanthippus was appointed commander in chief of their
forces. His firft care was to difcipline his troops in a
proper
CAR [ 198 1 CAR
n
The Ro¬
mans utter¬
ly defeated,
and Regu-
ius taken.
He is cruel¬
ly ufed.
obliged t
abandon
Africa.
proper manner. He taught them how to march, en¬
camp, widen and clofe their ranks, and rally after the
.Lacedemonian manner under their proper colours.
He then took the field with 12,000 foot, 4000 horfe,
and 100 elephants. The Romans were furprifed at
the fudden alteration they obferved in the enemy’s
conduct; but Regulus, elated with his lail fuccefs,
came and encamped at a fmall diftance from the Car¬
thaginian army in a vaft plain, where their elephants
and horfe had room to adt. The two armies were
parted by a river, which Regulus boldly paffed, by
which means he left no room for a retreat in cafe of
any misfortune. The engagement began with great
fury; but ended in the total defeat of the Romans,
who, except 2000 that efcaped to Clupea, were all
killed or taken prifoners, and among the latter was
Regulus himfelf. The lofs of the Carthaginians fcarce
exceeded 800 men,
The Carthaginians-remained on the field of battle
till they had dripped the llain ; and then entered their
metropolis,-which was almod the only place left them,
in great triumph. They treated all their prifoners
with great humanity, except Regulus ; but as for him,
he had fo infulted them in his profperity, that they
could not forbear fhewing the highed marks of their
refentment. According to Zonaras and others, he
was thrown into a dungeon, where he had only fude-
nance allowed him barely fufficient to keep him alive.
Nay, his cruel madefs, to heighten his other torments,
ordered an huge elephant (at the fight of which ani¬
mal, it feems, he was greatly terrified) to be condantly
placed near him ; which prevented him from enjoying
any tranquillity or repofe.
The eleventh year of this war, the Carthaginians, e-
lated with their viftory over Regulus, began to talk in
a very high drain, threatening Italy itfelf with an in-
vafion. To prevent this, the Romans took cafe to
garrifon all their maritime towns, and fitted out a new
fleet. In the mean time, the Carthaginians befieged
Clupea and Utica in vain, being obliged to abandon
their enterprize, upon hearing that the Romans were
equipping a fleet of 350 fail. The Carthaginians ha¬
ving with incredible expedition refitted their old vef-
fels, and built a good number of new ones, met the
Roman fleet off Cape Hermc-a. An engagement en-
fued, in which the Carthaginians were utterly defeated;
104 of their (hips being funk, 30 taken, and 15,000
of their foldiers and rowers killed in the aft ion. The
Romans purfued their courfe to Clupea, wberb they
were no fooner landed, than they found themfelves at¬
tacked by tbe Carthaginian army, under the two
Hanno’s, father and fon. But, as the brave Xanthip-
pus no longer commanded their army, notwithflanding
the Lacedemonian difcipline he had introduced among
them, they were routed at the very firft onfet, with
the lofs of 9000 men, and among them many of their
chief lords.
Notwithftanding all their viftories, however, the
Romans found themfelves now obliged, for want of
provifions, to evacuate both Clupea and Utica, and
abandon Africa altogether. Being defirous of figna-
lizing the end of their confulate by fc>me important
conqueft on Sicily, the confuls fleered for that ifland,'
-contrary to the advice of their pilots, who reprefented
their danger, on account of the feafon being fo far ad¬
vanced. Their obftinacy proved the deftruftion of Carthage,,
the whole fleet; for a violent florm arifing, out of ~~~J
370 veffels, only 80 efcaped (hipwreck, the refl beingThcfefleet
fwallowed up by the fea, or dafhed againft the rocks, totally de-
This was by far the greateft lofs that Rome had ever ftroyed by
fuitained; for befides the (hips that were call awaya ^ona‘
with their crews, a numerous army was deftroyed,
with all the riches of Africa, which had been by Re¬
gulus amaffed and depofited in Clupea, and were now
from thence tranfporting to Rome. The whole coaff
from Pachinum to Camerina was covered with dead
bodies and wrecks of (hips ; fo that hiftory can fcarce
afford an example of fuch a dreadful difaffer.
The twelfth year, the Carthaginians hearing-of this
misfortune of the Romans, renewed the war in Sicily
with frefli fury, hoping the whole ifland, which was
now left defencelefs, would fall into their hands. Car-
thalo, a Garthagihian commander, befieged and took 78
Agrigentum. The town he laid in a flies and demo- Agrigen-
liflied the walls, obliging the inhabitants to fly to O- tui“ taken
lympium. Upon the news of this fuccefs, Afurubal (^r0yej"hy
was fent to Sicily with a large reinforcement of troops, the Cat tha-
and 150 elephants. They likewife fitted out a fqua- ginians.
dron, with which they retook the ifland of Cofyra,
and marched a ftrong body of forces into Mauritania
and Numidia, to puniflr the people of thofe countries
for (hewing a difpofition to join the Romans. In Si¬
cily the Romans poffeffed themfelves of Cephalodium
and Panormus, but were obliged by Carthalo to raife
the fiege of Drepanum with great lofs. ^
The 13th year, the Romans fent out a fleet of 260 The Ro-
galleys, which appeared off Lilybaeum in Sicily ; butmins Atout
finding this place too ftrong, they fleered from thence a new ^eet»
to the eaftevn coaft of Africa, where they made feve-
ral defcents, furprifed fome cities, and plundered feve-
ral towns and villages. They arrived fafe at Panormus,
and in a few days fet fail for Italy, having a fair wind g0
till they came off Cape Palinurus, where fo violent a Which Is
ftorm overtook them, that 160 of their galleys and" a again de¬
great number of their tranfports were loft; upon which Aroyed*
the Roman fenate made a decree, that, for the future,
no more than 50 veffels (hould be equipped ; and that
thefe (hould be employed only in guarding the coaft
of Italy, and tranfporting the. troops into Sicily.
The 14th year, the Romans made themfelves ma¬
tters ,of Himera and Lipara in Sicily ; and the Car¬
thaginians conceiving new hopes of conquering that
ifland, began to make frefli levies in Gaul and Spain,
and to equip a new fleet. But their treafures being
exhaufted, they applied to Ptolemy king of Egypt,
intreating him to lend them 2000 talents : but he be¬
ing refolved to (land neuter, refufed to comply with
their requeft; telling them, that he could not with¬
out breach of fidelity aflift one friend againft another.
However, the republic of Carthage making an effort,
equipped a fleet of 200 fail, and raifed an army of
30,000 men, horfe and foot, and 140 elephants, ap¬
pointing Afdrubal commander in chief both of the g,
fleet and army. The Romans then finding the great They fit
advantages of a fleet, refolved to equip one notwith-°ut an<^
Handing all former difafters ; and while the veffels t”eu
were building, two confuls were chofen, men of va¬
lour and experience, to fuperfede the afting ones in
Sicily. Metellus, however, one of the former con¬
fuls, being continued with the title of proconful, found
mean*
CAR ( :
Carthage, means to draw Afdrubal injto a battle on difadvan
 ' tageous terms near Panormus, and then fallying out
. . upon him, gave him a moft terrible overthrow,
atfs utterly" Twenty thoufand of the enemy were killed, and
defeated, many elephants. An hundred and four elephants
were taken with their leaders, and fent to Rome,
where they were hunted and put to death in the
83 circu*
Lilybaeum The 15th year, the Romans befieged Lilybaeum ;
befieged by and the fiege continued during the reft of the firft
the Ro- panjc warj and Was the only thing remarkable that
mans. happened during that time*. The Carthaginians,
* See Ztly- on news Gf its being befieged, fent Regulus
‘eu,y>‘ with fome deputies to Rome to treat of a peace : but
inftead of forwarding the negociation, he hindered it ;
and notwithftanding he knew the torments prepared
for him at Carthage, could not be prevailed upon to
84 flay at Rome, but returning to his enemies country,
They are was put to a moft cruel death. During this fiege,
defeated at Roman fieet under Claudius Pulcher was utterly de-
Carthagi- feated by Adherbal the Carthaginian admiral. Ninety
nians. of the Roman galleys were loft in the aftion, 8000 of
their men either killed or drowned, and 20,000 taken
and fent prifoners to Carthage ; and the Carthaginians
gj gained this fignal victory without the lofs of a fingle
A Roman fhip, or even a fingle man. Another Roman fleet met
fleet utterly wjth a ftiJl feverer fate. It confifted of 120 galleys,
by aftorm ^00 tranfports, and was laden with all forts of military
ftores and provifions. Every one of thefe veffels were
loft by a ftorm, with all they contained, not a fingle
plank being faved that could be ufed again ; fo that
the Romans found themfelves once more deprived of
^ their whole naval force.
"Hanri'car 1° the mean time, the Carthaginian foldiery having
Barcas fent fhown a difpofition to mutiny, the fenate fent over
aiuo Sicily. Hamilcar Barcas, father of the famous Hannibal, to
Sicily. He received a charte blanche from the fenate
to aft as he thought proper ; and by his excellent
conduft and refolution, ftiowed himfelf the greateft
general of his age. He defended Eryx, which he had
taken by furprife, with fuch vigour, that the Romans
would never have been able to make themfelves matters
of it, had they not fitted out a new fleet at the ex¬
pence of private citizens, which, having utterly defeat¬
ed that of the Carthaginians, Hamilcar, notwithftand-
87 ing all his valour, was obliged to yield up the place
Peace with which he had fo long and fo bravely defended. The
tfle Ro- following articles of a peace were immediately drawn
‘*wni‘ up between the two commanders. 1. The Carthagi¬
nians ftiall evacuate all the places which they have in
Sicily, and entirely quit that ifland. 2. They lhall,
in 20 years, pay the Romans, at equal payments every
year, 2200 talents of filver, that is, L. 437,250 Ster¬
ling. 3. They {hall reftore the Roman captives and
deferters without ranfom, and redeem their own pri¬
foners with money. 4. They {hall not make war up¬
on Hiero king of Syracufe, or his allies. Thefe ar¬
ticles being agreed to, Hamilcar furrendered Eryx u-
pon condition that all his foldiers ihould march out with
him upon his paying for each o.f them 18 Roman denarii.
Hoftages were given on both fides, and deputies were
fent to Rome to procure a ratification of the treaty
by the fenate. After the fenators had thoroughly
informed themfelves of the ftate of affairs, two more
articles were added, viz. 1. That 1000 talents Ihould
99 ) C A R
be paid immediately, and the 2200 in the fpace of 10 Carthage,
years at equal payments. 2. That the Carthaginians' v—
Ihould quit all the little iflands about Italy and Sicily,
and never more come near them with {hips of war, or
raife mercenaries in thofe places. Neceffity obliged
Hamilcar to confent to thefe terms; but he returned ,
to Carthage with an hatred to the Romans, which he
did not even fuffer to die with him, but tranfmitted
to his fon the great Hannibal. 8?
The Carthaginians- were no fooner got out of this Caufes of
bloody and expenfive war, than they found themfelves
engaged in another which was like to have proved fa-mercen?.-
tal to them. It is called by ancient hiftorians the Li- ries,
by an war, or the war with the mercenaries. The prin¬
cipal occafion of it was, that when Hamilcar returned
to Carthage, he found the republic fp much impover-
ifiied, that, far from being able to give thefe troops
the largeffes and rewards promifed them, it could not
pay them thefr arrears. He had committed the care
of tranfporting them to one Gi/co, who, being an of¬
ficer of great penetration, as though he had forefeen
what would happen, did not fhip them off all at once,,
but in fmall and feparate parties, that thofe who came
firlt might be paid off and fent home before the arrival
of the reft. The Carthaginians at home, however, did
not aft with the fame prudence. As the ftate was al-
moft entirely exhaufted by the laft war, and the im-
menfefum of money, in confequence of the peace, paid
to the Romans, they judged it would be a laudable ac¬
tion to fave fomething to the public. They did not
therefore pay off the mercenaries in proportion -as they
arrived, thinking it more proper to wait till they
all came together, with a view of obtaining fome
remiffion of their arrears. But being foon made fen-
fible of their wrong conduft on this occafion, by
the frequent diforders thefe barbarians committed in
the city, they with fome difficulty prevailed upon
the officers to take up their quarters at Sicca, and
canton their troops in that neighbourhood. To in¬
duce them to this, however, they gave them a fum
of money for their prefent fubfiftence, and promifed
to comply with their pretenfions when the remainder
of their troops arrived from Sicily. Here, being whol¬
ly immerfed in idlenefs, to which they had long been
ftrangers, a negleft of difcipline enfued, and of courfe
a petulant and licentious fpirit immediately took place.
They were now determined not to acquiefce in recei¬
ving their bare pay, but to infift upon the rewards Ha¬
milcar had promifed them, and even to compel the
ftate of Carthage to comply with their demands by „
force of arms. The fenate being informed of the impri^jent'
mutinous difpofition of the foldiery, difpatched Han-conduct of
no, one of the fuffetes, to pacify them. Upon his Hanno,
arrival at Sicca, he expatiated largely upon the po¬
verty of the ftate, and the heavy taxes with which
the citizens of Carthage were loaded ; and therefore,,
inftead of anfwering their high expeftations, he de-
fired them to be fatisfied with receiving part of their
pay, and remit the remainder to ferve the preffing
exigencies of the republic. The mercenaries being
highly provoked, that neither Hamilcar, nor any
other of the principal officers who commanded them
in Sicily, and were the b^ft judges of their merit,
made their appearance on this occafion, but only
Hanno, a perfon utterly unknown, and above all
others
CAR [ 200 ] CAR
Cartilage, others utterly difagreeable to them, immediately had
' recourfe to arms. Affembling therefore in a body
to the number of 20,000, they advanced to Tunis,
and immediately encamped before that city.
The Carthaginians being greatly alarmed at the
approach of fo formidable a body to Tunis, made
large concefiions to the mercenaries, in order to bring
them back to their duty: but, far from being foften-
ed, they grew more infolent upon thefe conceffions,
taking them for the effedts of fear ; and therefore
were altogether averfe to thoughts of accommoda¬
tion. The Carthaginians, making a virtue of ne-
ccflity, {bowed a difpofition to fatisfy them in all
points, and agreed to refer themfelves to the opinion
of fome general in Sicily, which they had all along
defired ; leaving the choice of fuch commander entire¬
ly to them.^ Gifco was accordingly pitched upon to
mediate this affair, the mercenaries believing Hamilcar
to have been a principal caufe of the ill freatment they
met with, fince he never appeared among them, and,
according to the general opinion, had voluntarily re-
figned his commiffion. Gifco foon arrived at Tunis
with money to pay the troops; and after conferring
with the officers of the feveral nations apart, he ha¬
rangued them in fuch a manner, that a treaty was
upon the point of being concluded, whenSpendius and
Mathos, two of the principal mutineers, occafioned a
tumult in every part of the camp. Spendius was by
nation a Campanian, who had been a flave at Rome,
and had fled to the Carthaginians. The apprehen-
fions he was under of being delivered to his old mafter,
by whom he was fure to be hanged or crucified,
prompted him to break off the accommodation. Ma¬
thos was an African, and free born ; but as he had
been active in raifing the rebellion, and was well ac¬
quainted with the implacable difpofition of the Car¬
thaginians, he knew that a peace muff infallibly prove
his ruin. He therefore joined with Spendius, and in-
finuated to the Africans the danger of concluding a
treaty at that jun&ure, but which could not leave them
fingly expofed to the rage of the Carthaginians. This
fo incenfed the Africans, who were much more nu¬
merous than the troops of any other nation, that they
immediately affembled in a tumultuous manner. The
foreigners foon joined them, being infpired by Spen¬
dius with an equal degree of fury. Nothing was now
to be heard but the moft horrid oaths and impre¬
cations again ft Gifco and the Carthaginians. Who¬
ever offered to make any remonftrance, or lend an ear
to temperate counfels, was ftoned to death by the en¬
raged multitude. Nay, many perfons loft their lives
barely for attempting to fpeak, before it could be
known whether they were in the inteieft of Spendius
or the Carthaginians.
In the midft of thefe commotions, Gifco behaved
with great firmnefs and intrepidity. He left no me¬
thods untried to foften the officers and calm the
minds of the foldiery ; but the torrent of fedition was
now fo ftrong, that there was no poffibility of keeping
it within bounds. They therefore feized upon the
military cheft, dividing the money among themfelves
in part of their arrears, put the perfon of Gifco un¬
der an arreft, and treated him as well as his attend¬
ants with the utmoft indignity. Matho.s and Spen¬
dius, to deftroy the remoteft hopes of an accommo-
N°65. 2
dation with Carthage, applauded the courage and re- Carthage,
folution of their men, loaded the unhappy Gifco and v—*
his followers with irons, and formally declared warTf1e9n°er
againft the Carthaginians. All the cities of Africa Birje^^c'
to whom they had fent deputies to exhort them toclare war.
recover their liberty, foon came over to them, ex¬
cept Utica and Hippo Diarhytus. By this means
their army being greatly increafed, they divided it
into two parts, with one of which they moved to¬
wards Utica, whilft the other marched to Hippo, in
order to befiege both places. The Carthaginians, in
the mean time, found themfelves ready to fink under
the preffure of their misfortunes. After they had
been haraffed 24 years by a moft cruel and deftruc-
tive foreign war, they entertained fome hopes of en¬
joying repofe. The citizens of Carthage drew their
particular fubfiftence from the rents or revenues of
their lands, and the public expences from the tribute
paid from Africa ; all which they were not only de¬
prived of at once, but, what was worfe, had it diredftly
turned againft them. They were deftitute of arms
and forces either by fea or land; had made no pre¬
parations for the fuitaining of a fiege, or the equip¬
ping of a fleet. They luftered all the calamities in¬
cident to the moft ruinous civil war ; and, to com¬
plete their mifery, had not the leaft profpedt of re¬
ceiving affiftance from any foreign friend or ally.
Notwithftanding their deplorable fituation, however,
they did not defpond, but purfued all the meafures
neceffary to put themfelves into a poflure of defence.
Hanno was appointed commander in chief of all their
forces ; and the moft ftrenuous efforts were made, not
only to repel all the attempts of the mutineers, but e-
ven to reduce them by force of arms.
In the mean time Mathos and Spendius laid fiege
to Utica and Hippacra at once; but as they were
carried on by detachments drawn from the army for
that purpofe, they remained with the main body of
their forces at Tunis, and thereby cut off all commu¬
nication betwixt Carthage and the continent of Afri¬
ca. By this means the capital was kept in a kind of
blockade. The Africans likewife haraffed them by
perpetual alarms, advancing to the very walls of Car¬
thage by day as well as by night, and treating with
the utmoft cruelty every Carthaginian that fell into
their hands.
Hanno was difpatched to the relief of Utica with a The;, are ‘
good body of forces, 100 elephants, and a large defeated by
train of battering engines. Having taken a view 0fHanno'
the enemy, he immediately attacked their intrench-
ments, -and, after an ©bftinate difpute, forced them.
The mercenaries loft a vaft number of men; and con-
fequently the advantages gained by Hanno were fo
great, that they might have proved decifive, had he ^
made a proper ufe of them: But becoming fecure af- He is in his
ter his victory, and his troops being eyery where offfurndefeat-
their duty, the mercenaries, having rallied their for-e<*'
ces, fell upon him, cut off many of his men, forced the
reft to fly into the town, retook and plundered the
camp, and feized all the provifions, military ftores, &c.
brought to the relief of the befieged. Nor was this
the only inftauce of Hanno’s military incapacity.
Notwithftanding he lay encamped in the moft advanta¬
geous manner near a town called Gor%a, at which
place he twice overthrew’ the enemy, and had it in his
power
CAR [20
Cat thage. power to have totally ruined them, he yet neglected to
'“’’"V—improve thofe advantages, and even fuffered the mer¬
cenaries to poffefs themfelves of the ifthmus which
joined the peninfnla on which Carthage Hood, to the
continent of Africa.
Harnikar Thefe repeated miftakes induced the Carthaginians
Barcas ap- once more to place Hamilcar Barcas at the head of
command0 t^e'r forces. He marched againft the enemy with
againft 10,000 men, horfe and foot; being all the troops the
them. Carthaginians could then affemble for their defence ; a
full proof of the low ftate to which they were at that
time reduced. As Mathos, after he had polTeffed
himfelf of the ifthmus, had polled proper detachments
in two paffes on two hills facing the continent, and
guarded the bridge over the Bagrada, which through
Han no’s negledl he had*K\ken, Hamilcar faw little
probability of engaging him upon equal terms, or in¬
deed of coming at him. Obferving, however, that
on the blowing of certain winds the mouth of the ri¬
ver was choaked up with fand, fo as to become paf-
fable, though with no fmall difficulty, as long as thefe
winds continued ; he halted for fame time at the
river’s mouth, without communicating his defign to
any perfon. As foon as the wind favoured his intend¬
ed project, he paffed the river privately by night, and
immediately after his palfage he drew up the troops
in order of battle, and advancing into the plain where
his elephants were capable of adting, moved towards
Mathos, who was polled at the village near the
bridge. This daring adlion greatly furprifed and in¬
timidated the Africans. However, Spendius recei¬
ving intelligence of the enemy’s motions, drew a bo¬
dy of 10,000 men out of Mathos’s camp, with which
he attended Hamilcar on one fide, and ordered 15,000
from Utica to obferve him on the other, thinking by
this means to furround the Carthaginians, and cut
He defeats them all off at one ftroke. By feigning a retreat,
diem. Hamilcar found means to engage them at a difad van¬
tage; and gave them a total overthrow, with the lofs
of 6000 killed and 2000 taken prifoners. The reft
fled, fome to the town at the bridge, and others to
the camp at Utica. He did not give them time to
recover from their defeat, but purfued them to the
town near the bridge before mentioned; which he
entered without oppofition, the mercenaries flying in
great confufion to Tunis ; and upon this many towns
fubmitted of their own accord to the Carthaginians,
whilft others were reduced by force.
Notwithftanding thefe difafters, Mathos pulhed on
the liege of Hippo with great vigour, and appointed
Spendius and Autaritus, commanders of the Gauls, with
a ftrong body, to obferve the motions of Hamilcar.
Thefe two commanders, therefore, at the head of a
choice detachment of 6000 men drawn out of the
camp at Tunis, and 2000 Gallic horfe, attended the
Carthaginian general, approaching him as near as
they could with fafety, and keeping clofe to the Ikirts
of the mountains. At laft Spendius, having received
a ftrong reinforcement 6f Africans and Numidians,
and poffeffing himfelf of all the heights furrounding
the plain in which Hamilcar lay encamped, refolved
not to let flip fo favourable an opportunity of attack¬
ing him. Had a battle now enfued, Hamilcar and
his army mull in all probability have been cut off;
Vol. IV. Part I.
i ] GAR
but by the defertion of one Naravafus, a young Nu- Carthage,
midian nobleman, with 2000 men, he found himfelf “
enabled to offer his enemies battle. The fight was Mei.^n;l
obftinate and bloody ; but at laft the mercenaries were r;es agajB
entirely overthrown, with the lofs of 10,000 men kill-defeated,
ed and 4000 taken prifoners. All the prifoners that
were willing to inlift in the Carthaginian fervice, Ha¬
milcar received among his troops, fupplying them with
the arms of the foldiers who had fallen in the engage¬
ment. To the reft he gave full liberty to go where
they pleafed ; upon condition that they fhould never
for the future bear arms againft the Carthaginians; in¬
forming them at the fame time, however, that as
many violators of this agreement as fell into his hands
mull expeft to find no mercy. 96
Mathos and his affociates, fearing that this affefted Tbt y put
lenity of Hamilcar might occafion a defeftion among
the troops, thought,that the beft expedient would be
to put them upon fome adlion fo execrable in its na- foners. *
ture that no hopes of reconciliation might remain. By
their advice, therefore, Gifco and all the Carthagi¬
nian prifoners were put to death; and when Hamil¬
car fent to demand the remains of his countrymen, he
received for anfwer, that whoever prefumed hereafter,
to come upon that errand, fhould meet with Gifco’s
fate : after which they came to a refolution to treat
with the fame barbarity all fuch Carthaginians as
fhould fall into their hands. In return for this enor¬
mity, Hamilcar threw all the prifoners that fell into
his hands to be devoured by wild beafts; being con¬
vinced that compaffion ferved only to make his ene¬
mies more fierce and untraftable.
The war was now carried on generally to the ad¬
vantage of the Carthaginians; neverthelefs, the male-
contents ftill found themfelves in a capacity to take
the field with an army of 50,000 men. They watch¬
ed Hamilcar’s motions; but kept on the hills, care¬
fully avoiding to come down into the plains, on ac¬
count of the Numidian horfe and Carthaginian ele¬
phants. Hamilcar, being much fuperior in fkill to
any of their generals, at laft fhut them up in a poll
fo fituated that it was impoffible to get out of it. Here
he kept them ftridlly befieged : and the mercenaries,
not daring to venture a battle, begaa to fortify their
camp, and furround it with ditches and intrenchments. ^
They were foon preffed by famine fo forely, that they They are
were obliged to eat one another: but they were driven befeged ,jy
defperate by the confcioufnefs of their guilt, and there- Hamilcar.
fore did not defire any terms of accommodation. At
laft, being reduced to the utmoft extremity of mifery,
they infifted that Spendius, Autaritus, and Zarxas,
their leaders, fhould in perfon have a conference with
Hamilcar, and make pi opofals to him. Peace was
accordingly concluded upon the following terms, v'rz.
That ten of the ringleaders of the malecontents fhould
be left entirely to the mercy of the Carthaginians; and
that the troops fhould all he difarmed, every man re¬
tiring only in a Angle coat. The treaty was no fooner
concluded, than Hamilcar, by virtue of the firft article,
feized upon the negociators themfelves, and the army
being informed that their chiefs were under arreft, had
immediately recourfe to arms, as fufpefting they were 0
betrayed; but Hamilcar; drawing out his army in or-40)oooof
der of battle, furrounded them, and either cut them to them de-
Cc pieces, ftr°yed*
CAR [ 202 1 CAR
Cartilage, pieces, or trod them to death with his elephants. The rations, Hamilcar, after having greatly enlarged the Carthtgg.'
v——v  number of wretches who perifhed on this occafion a- Carthaginian dominions in Africa, entered Spain, » J:
mounted to above 40,000. where, he. commanded nine years, during which time
After the deftruftion of this army, Hamilcar in- he fubdued many warlike nations, and amafled an im-
vefted Tunis, whither Mathos had retired with all menfe quantity of treafure, which he diftributed partly
his remaining forces. Hamilcar had another general, amongft his troops, and partly amongft the great men
named Hannibal, joined in the command with him. at Carthage; by which means he fupported his interefts ,
Hannibal’s quarter was on the road leading to Car- with thefe two powerful bodies. At laid, he was 1Qi
thage, and Hamilcar’s on the opppfite fide. The killed in a battle, and was fucceeded by his fon-in-law HI; ikathi
army was no fooner encamped, than Hamilcar caufed Afdrubal. This general fully anfwered the expebta-
Spendius, and the reft of the prifoners, to be led out tions of his countrymen ; greatly enlarged their do-
in the view of the befieged, and crucified near the minions in Spain; and built the city of New Carthage,,
walls. Mathos, however, obferving that Hannibal did now Carthagena. He made fuch progrefs in his cbn-
not keep fo good a guard as he ought to have done, quells, that, the Romans began to grow jealous. They
made a fally, attacked his quarters, killed many of his did not, however, choofe at prefent to come to an open
IJanmbal men, took feveral prifoners, among whom was Hanni- rupture, on account of the? apprehenfions they were
taken and bal himfelf, and plundered his camp. Taking the under of an invafion from the Gauls. They judged .
crucified by gody of Spendiqs from the crofs, Mathos immediately it moft> proper, therefore, ,to have recourfe to milder
pathos, fubftituted Hannibal in its room ; and 30 Carthagi- methods ; and prevailed upon Afdrubal to conclude a AfdrubaTs
nian prilbners of diftindlion were crucified around him. new, treaty with them. The articles of it were, Wl&
Upon this difafter, Hamilcar immediately decamped; 1. That the Carthaginians ftiould not pafs the Iberus. m®n3 0'
and polled himfelf along the fea-coaft, near the mouth. 2. That the Saguntines, a colony of Zacynthians, and
of the river Bagrada, a city fituated between the Iberus and that part of
The fenate, though greatly terrified by this^unexr Spain fuhjedt to the Carthaginians, as well as the other
petled blow, omitted no means necelfary for their Greek colonies there, Ihould enjoy their ancient rights
prefervation. They fent 30 fenators, with Hanno and privileges. . T04
at their head, to confult with Hamilcar about the Afdrubal, after having governed the Carthaginian He is mur-
proper meafures for putting an end to this unnatural dominions in Spain for eight years, was treacheroully dered.
war, conjuring, in the moll preffing. manner, Hanno murdered by a Gaul whofe mailer he had put to death,
to be reyonciled to Hamilcar, and to facrifice his pri- Three years before this happened, he had written to
vate refentment to the public benefit.- This, with . Carthage, to defire that young Hannibal, then twenty-
fome difficulty, was effected : and the two generals two years of age, might be fent to him. This requeft
came to a full refolution to aft in concert for the was complied with, notwithftanding the oppofition of '
good of the public. The fenate, at- the fame time, Hanno : and from the firft arrival of the young man ,
ordered all the youth capable of bearing arms to be in the camp, he became the darling of the whole army,
preffed into the fervice:. by which mearia.a ftrong rein-' The great refemblance he bore to Hamilcar, rendered :
100 forcement being fent to Hamilcar, he foon. found him- him extremely agreeable to the troops. Every talent
uVIathos er.-felf in a condition to aft offenfively. He now defeat* and qualification he feemed to poffefs that can con-.
tnvly de- cc] the enemy in all rencounters, drew Mathos into fre- tribute towards forming a great man.. After the
taken pri- quent ambufeades, and gave him one notable over- death of Afdrubal, he was faluted. general by the I0^
loner. throw near Leptis. This reduced , the rebels to the army with the higheft demonftrations of joy. Tie im-Succeeded
neceffity of hazarding a decifive battle, which proved mediately put himfelf in motion : , and, in the firft by Hanni-
fatal, to them. The mercenaries fled almoft at the firft campaign? conquered the Olcades, a nation feated near
onfet ; moft of their army fell in the field of battle, the Iberus. The next year he fubdued the Vaccaei,-conqaefts
and in the purfuit. Mathos, with a few, efcaped to a another nation in that neighbourhood. Soon after, in Spain,
neighbouring town, where he was taken alive, carried the Carpsetani, one of the moft powerful nations in
to Carthage, and executed ; and then, by the reduc- Spain, declared againft the Carthaginians, Their ar-
tion of the revolted cities, an end was put to this war, my confifted of 100,000 men,, with which they pro-
which, from the exceffes of cruelty committed in it, pofed to . attack Hannibal on his return from the
according to Polybius, went among the Greeks by the Vaccsei; but by a ftratagem they were utterly defeat-
name of the inexpiable war. ed, and the whole nation obliged to fubmit.
During the Lybian war, the Romans, upon fome Nothing now remained to oppofe the progrefs of '
ahfurd pretences, wrefted the ifland of Sardinia from the Carthaginian arms but the city of Saguntum. ,
T^t the Carthaginians ; which the latter, not being able to Hannibal, however, for fome time, did not think pro-
Ramilcar’s refill, w«jre obliged to, fubmit to. . Hamilcar finding per to come to a rupture.with the Romans by attack-
fcheme to his country not in. a condition to enter into an imme- ing that place. At kill he found means to embroil
equal Car- diate war with Rome, formed a foheme to put it on, a fome of the neighbouring cantons, efpeeiaily the Tur* iofi
Rome l^vel iW^th that haughty republic. This was. by making detani, or, as Appian calls them, the Tor Mete, with He attacks
an entire conqueft of Spain, by which means the Car- the Saguntines, and thus furnilhed himfelf with a pre ■ Saguntum,
thaginians migb.t have troops capable of coping with- tence to attack their city. Upon the commencement
the Romans. In order to facilitate the execution of of the fiege, the Roman fenate difpatclled two am-
this fcheme, he infpired both his fon-in-law Afdrubal, baffadors to Hannibal, with orders to proceed to Car-
and his fon Hannibal, with an implacable aver lion to thage in cafe the general refufed to give them fatisfac-
the Romans, as the- great oppofers of his country’s tion.. They were fcarce landed, when Hannibal, who
grandeur.. Having completed all the neceffary prepa- was carrying on.the fiege of Saguntum with great.
3 vigour,
CAR [ 203 ] CAR
Carthage, vigour, fcnt them word that he had fomcthing elfe to
do than to give audience to ambaffadors. At la ft,
however, he admitted them ; and, in anfwer to their
remonftrances, told them, that the- Saguntines had
drawn their misfortunes upon themfelves, by commit¬
ting hoftilities againfl: the allies of Carthage ; and at
the fame time defired the deputies, if they had any
complaints to make of him, to carry them to the fe-
nate of Carthage. On their arrival in that capital,
they demanded that Hannibal might be delivered up
to the Romans to be punifhed according to his deferts;
and this not being complied with, war was immedi¬
ately declared between the two nations.
The Saguntines are faid to have defended them-
felves for eight months with incredible braver)7. At
Andtakes however, the city was taken, and the inhabitants
it. were treated with the utmoft cruelty. After this con-
queft, Hannibal put his African troops into winter-
quarters at New Carthage ;, but in order to gain their
affection, he permitted the Spaniards to retire to their
refpedtive homes.
The next campaign, having taken the neceffary
meafures for fecuring Africa and Spain, he paffed the
Iberus, fubdued all the nations betwixt that river and
10g the Pyrenees, appointed Hanno commander of all the
He fets out new conquered diftrict, and immediately began his
for Italy, march for Italy. . Upon muftering his forces, after
they had been weakened by fieges, defertion, morta¬
lity, and a detachment of 10,000 foot and 1000 horfe
left with Hanno to fupport him in his new poft, he
found them to amount to 50,000 foot and 9000 horfe,
all veteran troops, and the beft in the world. As
they had left their heavy baggage with Hanno, and
were all light armed, Hannibal eafily crofted the Py¬
renees ; pafied by Rufcino, a frontier town of the
Gauls; and arrived on the banks of the Rhone with¬
out oppofition. This river he pafled, notwithftand-
ing of feme oppofition from the Gauls ; and was for
fome time in doubt whether he ftiould advance to en¬
gage the Romans, who, under Scipio, w’ere bending
their march that way, or continue his march for Italy.
But to the latter he was foon determined by the ar¬
rival of Magilus prince of the Boii, who brought rich
prefents with him, and offered to conduct the Cartha¬
ginian army over the Alps. Nothing could have hap¬
pened more favourable to Hannibal’s affairs than- the
arrival of this prince, finee there was no room to doubt
the fincerity of his intentions. For the Boii bore an
implacable enmity to the Romans, and had even come
to an open rupture with them upon the firft news that
Italy was threatened with an invafidn from the Car¬
thaginians.
He crofles H is not known with certainty where Hannibal
the Alps, began to afeend the Alps. As foon as he began his
march, the petty kings of the country affembled their
forces in great numbers ; and taking poffeffion of the
eminences over which the Carthaginians muft neceffa-
rily pafs, they continued haraffing them, and were no
fooner driven from one eminence than they feized on
another, difputing every foot of land with the enemy,
and deftroying great numbers of them by the advan¬
tage they had of the ground. Hannibal, however,
having found means to poffefs himfelf of an advanta¬
geous poft, defeated and difperfed the enemy; and'
foon after took their capital city, where he found the
prifoners, horfes, See. that had before fallen into the Carthage^
hands of the enemy, and likewife corn fulHcient to ~ v 1 ’"J
ferve the army for three days. At laft, after a molt
fatiguing march of nine days, he arrived at the top of
the mountains. Here he encamped, and halted two
days, to give his wearied troops fome repofe, and to
wait for the ftragglers. As the fnow was lately fallen
in great plenty, and covered the ground, this fight ter¬
rified the Africans and Spaniards, who were much af-
ferited with the cold. In order the refore to encourage
them, the Carthaginian general led them to the top of
the higheft rock on the fide of Italy, and thence gave
them a view of the large and fruitful plains of Infu-
. bria, acquainting them that the Gauls, whofe country
they faw, were ready to join them. He alfo pointed
out to them the place whereabout Rome ftood, telling
them, that by climbing the Alps, they had fealed the
walls of that rich metropolis; and having thus anima¬
ted his troops, he decamped, and began to defeend the
mountains. The difficulties they met with in their
defeent were much greater than thofe that had occurr
red while they afeended. They had indeed no enemy
to contend with, except fome fcattered parties that came
to fteal rather than to fight; but the deep fnows, the
mountains of ice, craggy rocks, and frightful preci¬
pices, proved more terrible than any enemy. After they
had for fome days marched through narrow, fteep, and
flippery ways, they came at laft to a place which nei¬
ther elephants, horfes, nor men, could pafs. The way
which lay between two precipices was exceeding nar¬
row ; and the declivity, which was very fteep, had be¬
come more dangerous by the falling away of the
earth. Here the guides flopped ; and. the whole ar¬
my being terrified, Hannibal propofed at firft to march
round about, and attempt fome other way : but all
places round him being covered with fnow, he found
himfelf reduced to the neceflity of cutting a way into
the rock itfelf, through which his men, horfes, and
elephants, might defeend. This work was accom-
pliftied with incredible labour; and then Hannibal,
having fpent nine days in afeending, and fix in de-
feending, the Alps, gained at length Infubria; and,
notwithftanding all the difafters he had met with by
the way, entered the country .with all the boldnefs of
a conqueror.
Hannibal, on his entry into Infubria, reviewed his
army, when he found that of the 50,000 foot with
whom he fet out from New Carthage five months and
15 days before, he had now but 20,000, and that his
9000 horfe were reduced to 6000. Kis firft care,
after he entered July, was to refrefn his troops; who
after fo long a march, and fuch inexprefiible liard-
fliips, looked like as many ikeletons raifed from the
dead, or favages born in a defert. He did not, how¬
ever, fuffer them to languiflr long in idlenefs; but,
joining, the Infubrians, who were at war with the Taurinuc*
Taurinians, laid fiege to Taurinum, the only city in iaken.
the country, and in three days time became mafter of
it, putting all who refifted to the fword. This ftruck
the neighbouring barbarians with fuch terror, that of
their own accord they fubmitted to the conqueror, and
fupplied his army with all forts of provifions.
Scipio, the Roman general, in the mean time, who
had gone in quell of Hannibal on the banks of the
Rhone, was furprifed to find his antagonift had crof-
C c 2 C(i
CAR [ 204.
Carthage, fed the Alps and entered Italy. He therefore return-
.v ~ '' ed vyith the utmoft expedition. An engagement en-
The^o- fuec* near river Ticinus, in which the Romans
mans de- were defeated. The immediate confequence was, that
feated near Scipio repalfed that river, and Hannibal continued his
the Ticinus. march to the banks of the Po. Plere he ftaid two
] CAR
aftory. Hannibal in the mean time kept on, {till Carthage,
advancing towards Rome, having Cortona on the * *
left hand, and the lake Thrafymenus on the right;
and at laft, having drawn Flaminius into an atnbu--
fcade, entirely defeated him. The general himfelf,.
with 15,000 of his men, fell on the field of battle.
days, before he could crofs that river over a bridge of A great number were likewife taken prifoners, and
boats. He then fent Mago in purfuit of the enemy, a body of 6000 men, who had fled to a town in Etru-
who having rallied their fcattered forces, and repaffed ria, furrendered to Maherbal the next day. Hanni-
the Po, were encamped at Placentia. Afterwards bal loft only 1500 men on this occafion, moft of
having concluded a treaty with feveral of the Gallic whom were Gauls; though great numbers, both of
They, a
gain ’
ed,
cantons, he joined his brother with the reft of the
army, and again offered battle to the Romans : but
this they thought proper to decline ; and at laft the
conful, being intimidated by the defertion of a body
of Gauls, abandoned his camp, paffed the Trebia, and
polled himfelf on an eminence near that river. Here
he drew lines round his camp, and waited the arrival
of his Colleague with the forces from Sicily.
Hannibal being apprifed of the conful’s departure,
fent out the Numidian horfe to harafs him on his
march ; himfelf moving with the main body to fup-
port them in cafe of need. The Numidians arriving
before the rear of the Roman army had' quite paf¬
fed the Trebia, put to the fword or made prifoners
all the ftragglers they found there. Soon after, Han¬
nibal coming up, encamped in fight of the Roman
his foldiers and of the Romans, died of their wounds.; T ,4
Being foon after informed that the conful Servilius had. A Roman
detached a body of 4000, or, according to Appian, detachment
8006 horfe from Ariminum, to reinforce his colleague
in Etruria, Hannibal fent out Maherbal, with all the jaken.
cavalry, and fome of the infantry, to attack him.
The Roman detachment eonfifted of chofen men, and
was commanded by Centenius a Patrician. Maher¬
bal had the good fortune to meet with him, and after
a ftiort difpute entirely defeated him. Two thoufand
of the Romans were laid dead on the fpot; the reft,
retiring to a neighbouring eminence, were furround-
ed by Maherbal’s forces, and obliged next day to fur-
render at difcretion ; and this difafter, happening
within a few days after the defeat at the lake Thrafy¬
menus, almoft gave the finifhing ftroke to the Romaii.
t- army, on the oppofite bank. Plere having learned affairs,
the character of the conful Sempronius lately arrived, The (
he foon brought him to an engagement, and entirely with a fcorbutic diforder, owing to the unwholefome
defeated him. Ten thoufand of the enemy retired encampments they had been obliged to make, and
to Placentia ; but the reft were either killed or taken the moraffes they H'’  u ^ :u-'1
prifoners. The Carthaginians purfued the flying Ro- found it abfolutely
mans as far as the Trebia, but did not think pro¬
per to repafs that river on account of the exceffive cold.
Hannibal, after this action upon the Trebia, or¬
dered the Numidians, Celtiberians, and Lufitanians,
to make incurfions into the Roman territories, where
the moraffes they had paffed through, that Hannibal.
iceffary to repofe them for fome
time in the territory of Adria, a moft pleafant and
fertile country. In his various engagements with the
Romans, he had taken a great number of their arms,”
with which he now armed his men after the Roman,
manner. Being now likewife mailer of that part of,
they committed great devaftations. During his Hate the country bordering on the fea, he found means to,
of ina&ion, he endeavoured to. win the affections of fend an exprefs to Carthage with the news of the gio-
the Gauls, and likewife of the allies of the Romans ; rious progrefs of his arms. The citizens received
declaring to the Gallic and Italian prifoners, that he this news with the rooft joyful acclamations, at the
had no intention of making war upon them, being fame time conting to a refolution to reinforce their ar-
determined to reftore them to tlieir liberty, and pro- mies both in Italy and Spain with a proper number of
tect them againll the Romans: and to confirm them troops. try
in their good opinion of him, he difmiffed them .all The Romans being now in the utmoft confterna- FaMus Ma-
S|». without ranfom. tion, named a dictator, as was their cuftom in times
They are Next year, having eroffed the Apennines, and pe- of great danger. The perfon they chofe to this of-1 a''
utterly de- netrated into Etruria, Hannibal received- intelligence lice was Fabius, Maximus, furnamed V.errmojm; a
the )akeear t^lat t^e new conful Flaminius lay encamped with man as cool and cautious as Sempronius and Flaminius
Thrafyme- the, Roman army under the walls o£ Arretium. Ha- were warm and impetuous. He fet out with a defign ,
mis., ving learned the true character of- this general, that not to engage Hannibal,,but only to watch his motions,.
he was of an haughty, fierce, and ralh difpofition, he and cut off his provifions, which he.knew was the moft
doubted not of. being foon. able to bring him to a- proper way to deftroy him . in a country fo far from ,
battle. To inflame the impetuous fpirit of Flami- his own. Accordingly.he followedhimthroughUm-
nius, the Carthaginian general took the road to Rome, hria and Picenum, into the territory of Adria, and;,
and, leaving the Roman army behind him, deftroyed then through the territories of the Marrucini and Fren--
all the country through; which he paffed with fire and tani into Apulia. When the enemy marched, he fol-:
fword; and as that part of. Italy abounded with all lowed them; when they encamped, he did the, fame ;
* the elegancies as well as neceffaries of life, the Ro-. hut,for.the. moft part on eminences, and at fome dif-:
mans and their allies fuffered an incredible lofs. on tance from their camp, watching all their motions,,
this occafion. The rafli conful was inflamed with cutting off.their llragglers, and keeping them in 3 con-,
the utmoft rage on Teeing,the ravages committed by tinual alarm. This cautious method of. proceeding,
the Carthaginians ; and therefore immediately ap- greatly diftreffed the Carthaginians, but at the fame
pfoached. them with great temerity, as. if certain of time raifed dhconteiitS/in his own army. But neither;
thefe
CAR [ 205 ] CAR
Garthnge. thefe difcontents, nor the ravages committed by Han- him. Then the two armies uniting, advanced in good Carthage^
, ' V ' nibal, could prevail upon Fabius to alter his meafures. order to renew the fight: but Hannibal, not caring v—
The former, therefore, entered Campania, one of the to venture a fecond adtion, founded a retreat, and re-
fineft countries of Italy. The ravages he committed tired to his camp; and Minucius, being alhamed of
there, railed fuch complaints injdie Roman army, that his ralhnefs, refigned the command of the army to
the didfator, for fear of irritating his foldiers, was Fabius. Ifg
obliged to pretend a defire of coming to an engage- The year following, the Romans augmented their The Ro-
ment. Accordingly he followed Hannibal with more army to 87,000 men, horfe and foot; and Hannibalnians ‘“er-
expedition than ufual; but at the fame time avoided, being reduced to the greateft ftraits for want of pro- ^ Cann»»
under various pretences, an engagement with more viiions, refolved to leave Samnium, and penetrate
care than the enemy fought it. Hannibal finding he into the heart of Apulia. Accordingly he decamped
could not by any means bring the didfator to a battle, in the night; and by leaving fires burning, and tents
refolved to quit Campania, which he found abound- ftanding in his camp, made the Romans believe for
ing more with fruit and wine than corn, and to re- iome time that his retreat was only feigned. When
turn to Samnium through the pafs called Eribanus. the truth was difcovered, Atmilius was againft pur-
Fabius concluding from his march that this was his fumg him: but Terentius, contrary to the opinion of
defign, got there before him, and encamped on Mount all the officers in the army, except the proconful Ser-
Callicula, which commanded the pafs, after having vilius, was obftinately bent on following the enemy ;
placed feveral bodies in all the avenues leading to and overtook them at Cannae, till this time an obfcure
, it. village in Apulia*. A battle enfued in this place, as * See Cat.. \
I jjeL* out- Hannibal was for fome time at a lofs what to do ; memorable as any mentioned in hiltory ; in which the
I wittedby but at-laft contrived the following ftratagem, which Romans, though almoit double in number to the Car-
| Hannibal. Fabius could not forefee nor guard againlt. Being thaginians, were put to flight with moft terrible flaugh-
encamped at the foot of Mount Callicula, he ordered ter; at leaft 45,000 of them being left dead on the
Afdrubal to pick out of the cattle taken in the coun- field ol battle, and 10,000 taken prifoners in the aftion
try, 2000 of the itrongeft and nimbleft oxen, to tie pr purfuit. The night was fpent in Hannibal’s camp.,
faggots to their horns, and to have them and the in i'eafling and rejoicings, and next day in ftripping
herdfmen ready without the camp. After fupper, the dead bodies of the unhappy Romans; after which
when all was quiet, the cattle were brought in good the victorious general invefted their two camps, where
order to the hill, where Fabius had placed fome Ro- he found 4000 men.
man parties in ambufti. to flop up the pafs. Upon a -i-'b*-’imme(fiate confequence of this victory, as Han-nonfe?uen„ .
fignal given, the faggots on the horns of the oxen nibal had forefeen, was a difpoiition of that part of I-cesofthis .
were fet on fire; and the herdfmen, fupported by taly called the Old province, Magna Grecia, Taren-:vi<Soly«
fome battalions armed with fmall javelins, drove them turn, and part of the territory of Capua, to fubmit to
on quietly. The Romans feeing the light of the bins. The neighbouring provinces likevvife difcovered
fires, imagined that the Carthaginians were marching. an inclination to ihake off the Roman yoke, but want-*
by torch light. However, Fabius kept clofe in his ed brfi tu lee whether Hannibal was able to protedl
camp, depending on the troops he had placed in am- them. His firfl: march was into Samnium, being in-
bufeade ; but when the oxen, feeling the fire on their formed that the Hirpini and other neighbouring na-
heads, began to run up and down the hills, the Ro- tions wete difpofed to enter into an alliance with the
mans in ambufli thinking themfelves furrounded on all Carthaginians. He advanced .to Compfa, which opened -
fides, and climbing the ways where they faw leaft; its gates to him.. In this place he left his heavy bag-
light, returned to their camp leaving the pafs open to gagei as well as the immenfe plunder he had ac-
Hannibal. Fabius, though rallied by his foldiers for quired. After which he ordered his brother Mago
being thus over-reached by the Carthaginian, ftill con- whh a body of troops deftined for that pprpofe to pof-
tinued to purfue the fame plan, marched diredfly after fefs.himfelf of all the fortrefles in Campania, the moft
Hannibal, and encamped on fome eminences near delicious province of Italy. The humanity Hannibal
him. had all along ihown the Italian prifoners, as well as •
Soon after this, the diStator was recalled to Rome ; tbe fame, of the complex vidtory he had lately obtain.-
and as Flannibal, notwithftanding. the terrible ravages ed> wrought fo powerfully upon the Lucani, Brutii, .
he had committed,, had all along fpared the lands of and Apulians, that they exprefled an eager delire of
Fabius, the latter was fufpedted of holding a fecret cor^ being taken under his protedtion. Nay, ..even the
refpondence with the enemy. In his abfence, Minur Campanians themlelves, a nation, more obliged to the
cius, the general of the horfe, gained fome advantages, Romans than any in Italy, except the Latins, difeo^
which greatly tended to increafe the difeontent with vered an inclination to abandon their natural friends,
the dictator, infomuch that before his return Minur Of this the Carthaginian general receiving-intelligence,. ra
cius was put upon an equal footing with himfelf. The be bent his-march towards Capua, not doubting, .butmics ro
general of the horfe propofed that each ftiould comr thnt, by means of the popular fadtion. there, he fno.uld Elannibak-
mand his day; but the didtator chofe rather to divide ealily make himfelf mailer of it; which accordingly
the army, hoping by that means to fave atleaft a part happened. Soon after this place had made its. fub-
Aiip’uciusiripf it* Hannibal foon found means to draw Minticius million, many cities of the Brutii opened their gates
t dan- to an engagement, and, by his mafterly flcill in laying t0 Hannibal, who ordered , his brother Ma?o to take
isre- ambufhes, the Roman general was furrounded on eve- poffdfion of them. Mago was then difpatched to
ry fide, and would have been cut off with all his troops, Carthage, with the important news of the vidtory at
had not Fabius battened, to his affiftance, and relieved Cannte, and the .canfequeuces attending it. Upon
his..>
CAR [ 206 T C A R
■ liis arrival there, he acquainted the fenate, that Hanni- 20,000 foot and 4000 hoife there. Had this ample Carthage.
^ bal had defeated hx Roman generals, four of whom fupply been fent with proper expedition, it is by no r—**
were canfuls, one di&ator, and the other general of means probable that the Romans would have had any
’ horfe to the diftator: that he had engaged fix con- occafion to refleft upon Hannibal’s conduct at Capua.
Hannibal’s fular armies, killed tjvo confuts, wounded one, and That general would undoubtedly have obliged the
iucceft. driven another out of the field with fcarce 50 men to haughty republic'to fubmit to the fuperior force of his
attend him: that he had routed the general of the arms the next campaign. But, notwithlianding the
horfe, who was of equal power with the cortfuls; and influence of the Barcinian faftion at Carthage, Hanno
that the dictator was efleemed the only general fit to and his adherents found means not only to retard the
command an army, merely becaufe he had not the march of the fupplies intended, but even to diminifll
courage to engage him ; and as a demonftrative proof their number. Magb, through the artifices of that
of what he advanced, he produced, according to fome infatuated party, could obtain an order for only
authors, three bufhels and an half of gold rings, taken 12,000 foot and 2500 horfe, and even with this incon-
from knights and fenators who had been killed in the fiderable body of troops he was fent into Spain. Han-
U! various engagements. nibal being thus deferted by his country, found him-
■ Hannibal Hitherto we have feen Hannibal furprifingly vi£to- felf obliged to aft on the defenfive ; his army amount-
fuperior to r;ous. indeed, if we confider what he had already ing to no more now than 26,000 foot and 9000 horfe.
neneral *erdone, we {hall find his exploits fuperior to thofe of But though obliged to aft in this manner, he was
mentioned any other general, either ancient or modern. Other only hindered from conquering ; the utmoft efforts of
foi hiftory. commanders have been celebrated for viftories gained the whole Roman power not being able to drive this
over barbarous and uncivilized nations. Alexander fmall army out of Italy for more than 14 years.
the Great invaded and over-ran the empire of Perfia ; The Romans, though greatly reduced, were not Meafures
but that kingdom was then funk in floth and effemi- yet exhaufted. They were able Hill to fend two con-taken by
nacy, fo as to be an eafy conqueft: but had the fular armies into the field, fully recruited and in good
great commander turned his arms again!! the weflern order; and as neither'the Gauls nor Italians were na-
nations, who were of a more martial difpofition, it is tural allies of the Carthaginians, they did not fail to
more’than probable he had not conquered fo eafily.
Hannibal, on the other hand, lived at a time when
•the Romans were not only die moil powerful, but the
mod warlike nation in the whole world. That nation
he attacked with an army of only 26,000 men, with¬
out refources either for recruits, money, or provi-
fions, except what he could procure in the enemies
country. With thefe he had for three years refilled
the Roman armies, which had been hitherto invinci¬
ble by all other nations. Their armies had been com¬
manded by generals of different tempers, difpofitions,
and abilities: the Ioffes they fuftained are by the
Roman writers imputed to the faults of the generals
themfelves; but experience had abundantly fhown.
abandon them on the firft reverfe of fortune. After
the Romans had recovered from the confternation in¬
to which they were thrown by the defeat at Cannae,
they chofe a diftator, and recalled Marcellos, the con¬
queror of Syracufe, from Sicily. All the young Ro¬
mans, above 17 years of age, of what rank foever,
were obliged to inlift themfelves ; as were alfo thofe
who had already ferved their legal time. By this means
four legions and 10,000 horfe were foon raifed in the
city. The allies of Rome, the colonies, and the mu-
nicipia, furnifhed the contingence as ufual. To thefe
were added 8000 of the youngeft and ftrongeft flaves
in the city. The republic purchafed them of their
matters, hut did not oblige them to ferve without their
that thefe commanders, with all their faults, were able own confent, which they gave, by anfwering Voloj,
to conquer the moft warlike nations, when command- “ I am willing ;” whence they were called'Wonej, to
ed by another than Hannibal. In the battles fought diftinguifh them from the other troops. As the Ro-
with the Romans he had deftroyed 200,000 of their
men, and taken 50,000 prifoners; yet from the time
of the battle of Cannae, the affairs of this great man
Caufe of totally declined. The reafon of this is, by the Roman
the decline hiftorians, faid to be, that when he put his army into
ofhisaf- winter-quarters in Capua, he fo enervated himfelf and
fairs. jjj-g army by debaucheries in that place, that he be¬
came no longer capable of coping with the Roman
forces. But this feems by no means to have been the
cafe ; for the Roman hiftorians themfelves own, that,
after the battle of Cannae, he gave their armies many
mans, after the lofs of fo many battles, had no fwords,
darts, or bucklers, left In their magazines, the ’polones
were fupplied with the arms which had been formerly
taken from the enemy, and hung up in the public
temples and porticoes. The finances of Rome were
no lefs exhaufted ; but this defeft was fupplied by the
liberality of her citizens. The fenators (howing the ex¬
ample, were followed firft by the knights, and after¬
wards by all the tribes; who ftripping themfelves of
all the gold they had, brought it to the public trea-
fury. The fenators only referved their rings, and the
and terrible defeats, and took a great number of towns lulhe about their childrens necks. As for the filver
in their fight. coin, it was now, for the firft time, alloyed with cop-
The true reafon of that reverfe of fortune which per, and increafed in its value. Thus the finances
Hannibal-now experienced, was his not having fuf- were put into a good condition, and a competent army
ficiertt refources for recruiting his army. On the firft raifed.
news, indeed, of his fuccefs at Carthage, a body of This was plainly the laft effort the Romans could
4000 Numidian cavalry, 40 elephants, and 1000 talents make; and could Hannibal have procured a fufficient
of filver, were granted by the fenate. A large de- fupply of men and money to enable him to cope with
tachment of Spanifli forces was alfo appointed to fol- this army, and to break it as he had done the others
low them ; and that thefe laft might be ready in due before, there could have been no more refiftance made
time, Mago fet out immediately for Spain to raife on their part. He began, however, to be in want of
money •
CAR
Garthsge. money ; and to procure it, gave the Roman prifoners
—v leave to redeem themfelves. Thefe unhappy men a-
greed to fend ten of their body to Rome to negoeiate
115 their redemption ; and Hannibal required no other fe-
< They refufe curity for their return but their oath. Carthalo was
fent at the head of them to make propofals of peace;
C 207 ]
CAR
pronius, who defeated and killed him, with 2000 of Carthage,
his men. It was now found, that Hannibal had con- ^ ’
eluded a treaty of alliance, offenfive and defenfive, with
Philip king of Macedon ; but to prevent any diftur-
bance from that quarter, a Roman army was fent to ,-0
Macedon. Soon after this Marcellas defeated Han- He is
®f peace, but upon the firll news of his arrival, the diftator fent nibal in a pitched battle, having armed his men with fea!et'
long pikes ufed generally at fea, and chiefly in board- MarcCl l:Sr'
ing of (hips; by which means the Carthaginians were
pierced through, while they wete totally unable to ■
hurt their adverfaries with the fliort javelins they car¬
ried. Marcellus purfued them clofe; and, before they
got to their camp, killed 5000, and took 600 pri¬
foners; lofmg himfelf about 1000 men, who were trod
down by the Numidian horfe, commanded by Han-
li&or to him, commanding him immediately to de¬
part the Roman territory; and it was refolved not to
redeem the captives. Upon this Hannibal fent the
moft conflderable of them to Carthage ; and of the
reft he made gladiators, obliging them to fight with
one another, even relations with relations, for the en-
I56g tertainment of his troops-
Afdrubal All this time Cneius and Publius Scipio had car-
defeated by ried on the war in Spain with great fuccefs again ft nibal in perfon. After this defeat the Carthaginian ^
manfin" the Carthaginians. Afdrubal had been ordered to en- general found himfelf deferted by 1200 of his beft ^ p^rty of
Spain.in ter Jtaly with his army to affift Hannibal; but being horfe, partly Spaniards, and partly Numidians, who horfe/
' ’ defeated by the Romans, was prevented. The difta- had crofled the Alps with him. This touched him fo
tor and fenate of Rome, encouraged by this news, fenfibly, that he left Campania, and retired into A-•
carried on the preparations for the next campaign pulia.
with the greateft vigour, whilft Hannibal remained in- The Romans ftill continued to increafe their forces;
aftive at Capua. This ina&ion, however, feems to and Hannibal, not having the fame refources^ found it
have proceeded from his expe&ation of fuccours from impofiible to a<fl againft fo many armies at once. Fa-
Africa, which never came, and which delay occafioned bius Maximus advanced into Campania, whither Han-
his ruin. The Roman diftator now releafed from nibal was obliged to return in order to fave Capua,
prifon all criminals, and perfons confined for debt, He ordered Hanno, however, at the head of 17,000
who were willing to inlift themfelves. Of thefe he foot and tyoo horfe, to feize Beneventum ; but he Tst
formed a body of 6000 foot, armed with the broad was utterly defeated, fcarce 2000 of his men being left He again
fwords and bucklers formerly taken from the Gauls, alive. Hannibal himfelf, in the mean time, advanced defeated',
Then the Roman army, to the number of about to Nola, where he was again defeated by Marcellos, j/j0fg£ms
—J- -1- 17 began to lofe ground; the Romans retook
25,000 men, marched out of the city, under the com¬
mand of the didlator; while Marcellus kept the re¬
mains of Varro’s army, amounting to about 15,000
men, at Cafilinum, is readinefs to march whenever
there fliould be occafion.
Hen
Cafihnum, Accua in Apulia, Arpi, and Aternum;&
but the city of Tarentum was delivered up to him by
its inhabitants. The Romans then entered Campa¬
nia, and ravaged the whole country, threatening Ca-
Thus the Roman forces were ftill fuperior to thofe pua with a fiege. The inhabitants immediately ac-
of Hannibal; and as they now faw the neceffity of quainted Hannibal with their danger; but he was fo -
following the example of Fabius Maximus, no engage- intent upon reducing the citadel of Tarentum, that he
ment of any_ confequence happened the firft year after could not be prevailed upon to come to their afiirtance;
the battle of Cannas. Hannibal made a fruitlefs at- In the mean time Hanno was again utterly defeated by
tempt upon Nola, expe&ing it would be delivered up Fulvius, his camp taken, and he himfelf forced to fly
Marcellus to him ; bnt this was prevented by Marcellus, who had into Brutium with a fmall body of horfe. The con-
gams an ad- entered that city, and Tallying unexpe&edly from three fuls then advanced with a defign to beflege Capua in
ve^Hanu'i-Sate8 uPon the Carthaginians, obliged them to retire form. But in their way, Sempronius Gracchus, a
HL in great confufion, with the lofs of 5000 men. This man of great bravery, and an excellent general, was
was the firft advantage that had been gained by the betrayed by a Lucanian and killed, which proved a ,
Romans where Hannibal had commanded in perfon, very great detriment to the republic. Capua, how- Capua be. •
and raifed the fpirits of the former not a little. They ever, was foon after invefted on all fides; and the be- CeKer' by
were, however, greatly deje&ed, on hearing that the fieged once more fent to Hannibal, who now came to1:11,2 Ro'
conful Pofthumius Albinus, with his whole army, had their afllftance with his horfe, his light-armed infantry,manS‘
been cut off by the Boii, as he was croffrng a foreft. and 33 elephants. He found means to inform the be- rU
Upon this it was refolved to draw all the Roman for- fieged of the time he defigned to attack the Romans ^annibaI»'
ces out of Gaul and other countries, and turn them ordering them to make a vigorous fally at the fame attempts to
againft Hannibal; fo that the Carthaginian ftood daily time. The Roman generals, Appius and Fulvius relieve it.
more and more in need of thefe -fupplies,. which yet upon the firft news of the enemy’s approach, divided
^Hannibal never arrived from Carthage. He reduced, however, their troops, Appius taking upon him to make head
Itakesfeve- the cities of Nuceria, Cafilinum, Petelia, Confentia,
iral cities. Croton, Locri, and feverak others in Great Greece,
before the Romans gained any advantage over him, ex¬
cept that before Nola already mentioned. . The Cam¬
panians, who had efpoufed the Carthaginian intereft,
raifed an army of 14,000 of their own nation in fa¬
vour of Hannibal, and put one Marius Alfius at the
againft the garrifon, and Fulvius to defend the L
trenchments againft Hannibal. The former found no
difficulty in repulfing the garrifon ; and would have
entered the city with them, had he not beep wounded
at the very gate, which prevented him from purfuing
hie defign. Fulvius found it more difficult to with-
ftand Hannibal, whofe troops behaved themfelves with
head of it j but he was furprifed by the conful Sem- extraordinary refolution. A body of Spaniards and
Numidians
i
CAR [ 208
Carthage. Numidians had even the boldnefs to pafs the ditch,
and, in fpite of all oppofxtion, climbing the ramparts,
penetrated into the Roman camp ; but not being pro¬
perly feconded by the reft, they were all to a man cut
in pieces. The Carthaginian general was fo difheart-
ened at this, efpecially after the garrifon was repulfed,
,34 that he founded a retreat, which was made in good
He marches order. His next attempt for the relief of Capua was
60 Rome. - to march to Rome, where he hoped his approach
would ftrike fo much terror, that the armies would be
called from before Capua; and that the Capuansmight
not be difheartened by his fudden -departure, he found
means to acquaint them with his defign. The news
of his approach caufed great confternation in the me¬
tropolis. Some of the fenators were for calling all the
armies in Italy into the neighbourhood of Rome, as
thinking nothing lefswas able to refill the terrible Car¬
thaginian. But Fabius told them that Hannibal’s de¬
fign was not to take Rome, but relieve Capua ; upon
which Fulvius was recalkd to Rome with 15,000 foot,
135 and 1000 horfe ; and this obliged Hannibal again to
Heturprlfc5 retire. He then returned before Capua fo fuddenly
pa s tjiat furprifed Appius in his camp, drove him out
of it with the lofs of a great number of men, and ob-
1
CAR
and defeats
Appius.
lus himfelf; the confequence of which was, that the Carthage.
Romans were obliged to raife the fiege of Locri, with v 1 f
the lofs of all their military engines. X41
Hitherto the Carthaginians, though no longer the Carthagini-
favourites of fortune, had loft but little ground; butana||*irs
now they met with a blow which totally ruined their
affairs. This was the defeat of Afdrubal, Hannibal’s defeat of
brother, who had left Spain, and was marching to his Afdrubal.
affiftance. He croffed the Pyrenees without any dif¬
ficulty ; and, as the filver mines had fupplied him
with a very confiderable quantity of treafure, he not
only prevailed upon the Gauls to grant him a palTage
through their territories, but likewife to furnifh him
with a confiderable number of recruits. Meeting with
many favourable circumflances to expedite his march,
he arrived at Placentia fooner than the Romans, or
even his brother Hannibal, expedled.- Had he conti¬
nued to ufe the fame expedition with which he fet
out, and haftened to join his brothe*-, it would have
been utterly impoffible to have Caved Rome ; but, fit¬
ting down before Placentia, he gave the Romans an
opportunity of aflembling all their forces to attack
him. At laft he was obliged to raife the fiege, and
began his march for Umbria. He lent a letter to ac-
liged him to entrench himfelf on Come eminences, quaint his brother of his intended motion : but the.
136 where he expedled to be foon joined by his colleague
m^u/the ^'u^v‘us' '^-s Hannibal, howe ver, now expedled to
Etonians ^ have all the Roman forces upon him, he could do no¬
thing more for the relief of Capua, which was, of con¬
fequence, obliged to fubmit to the Romans.
meffenger was intercepted ; and the two confuls, join¬
ing their armies, with united forces fell upon the
Carthaginians. As the latter were inferior both in
numbers and refolution, they were utterly defeated,
and Afdrubal was killed. About the fame time, Han-
A little before the furrender of Capua, Hannibal nibal himfelf is faid to have fuffered feveral defeats.
137 came up with a Roman army commanded by one M.
Centenius Centenius Penula, who had fignalized himfelf on many
featedV^" oeca^ons as a centurion. This rafh man, being intro-
Hannibal diiced to the fenate, had the aifurance to tell them,
and was retired to Canufium: but, on the fatal news
of his brother’s defeat and death, he was filled with
defpair, and retired to the extremity of Brutium-;
where, affembiing all his forces, he remained for a
that if they would truft him with a body of only 5000 confiderable time in a ftate of inadtion, the Romans
:n, he would give a good account of Hannibal. They
gave him 8000, and his army was foon increafed to
double that number. He engaged the Carthaginians
on Hannibal’s firft offering him battle; hut after an
138 engagement of two hours, was defeated, himfelf and
Asalfothe all his men being flain, except about IOOO. Soon
prffitor after, having found means to draw the praetor Cneius
Fulvius into an ambufcade, Hannibal cut in pieces
almoft his whole army, confiding of 18,000 men.
In the mean time Marcellus was making great pro-
grefs in Samnium. The city of Salapia was be¬
trayed to him ; but he took other two by aiTault. In
the laft of thefe he found 3000 Carthaginians, whom
■Fulvius,
daring to difturb him, fo formidable did they
efteem him alone, though every thing about him went
to wreck, and the Carthaginian affairs feemed not
far from the verge of deftruflion. Livy tells us, that
it was difficult to determine whether his condudl was
more wonderful in profperity or in adverfity. Not-
withftandlng which, Brutium being but a fmall pro¬
vince, and many of its inhabitants being either forced
into the fervice, or forming themfelves into parties of
banditti, fo that a great part of it remained unculti¬
vated, he found it a difficult matter to fubfift there,
efpecially as no manner of fupplies were fent him from
Carthage. The people there were as felicitous about
he put to the fword; and carried off 240,000 bufliels preferving their poffeffions in Spain, and as little con-
And^the wheat, and jio,oco of bailey. This, however, cerned about the fituation of affairs in Italy, as if Han-
pro-conful was by no means a compenfation for the defeat which nibal had met with an uninterrupted courfe of fuccefs,
Fulvius Hannibal foon after gave the proconful Fulvius Cen- and no difafter befallen him fince he firft entered that
Centuma- tumalus, whom he furprifed and cut off, with 13,000 country. 144
V5* of his men. All their folicitude, however,. about the affairs of The great
After this defeat, the great Marcellus advanced with Spain, was to no purpofe ; their generals, one after scH^Ahi-
his army to oppofe Hannibal. Various engagements another, were defeated by the Romans. They had CanuS,
happened without any thing decifive. In one of them indeed cut off the two Scipios 5 but found a much
140
Marcellt
an ambuf¬
cade and
killed. '
the Romans are faid to have been defeated, and
other Hannibal; but, notwithftanding thefe, it was
neither in the power of Marcellus, nor any other Ro-
more formidable enemy in the young Scipio, after¬
wards furnamed Africanus. He overthrew them in
conjunction with Mafiniffa king of Numidia ; and the
man- general, totally to defeat or difperfe the army latter, thereafter, abandoned their intereft. Soon af-
commanded by Hannibal in perfon. Nay, in the
eleventh year of the war, Hannibal found means to de¬
coy into an ambufeadej and cut off, the great Marcel-
N°66.
ter, Syphax, kiug of the Mafaefylii, was likewife per-
fuaded to abandon their party. Scipio alfo gave the
Spanifh Reguli a great overthrow; and reduced the
cities
Car
Carthage, cities of New Carthage, Gades, and many other im-
U““v portant places. At laft the Carthaginians began to
open their eye$ when it was too late. Mago was or-
143 dered to abandon Spain, and fail with all expedition
Mago landsto He landed on the coafl: of Liguria with an
iu Italy. army of 12,000 foot and 2000 horfe ; where he fur-
prifed Genoa, and alfo feized upon the town and port
of Savo. A reinforcement was fent him to this place,
and new levies went on very brifldy in Liguria; but
the opportunity was paffed, and could not be recalled.
Scipio; having carried1 all before him in Spain, pafied
144 over into Africa, where he met with no enemy cap-
fr able °PP0^'1g' h'5 progrefs. The Carthaginians
nca' then, feeing themfelves on the brink of deftruftion,
were obliged to recal their armies from Italy, in or¬
der fave their city. Mago, who had entered Infu-
bria, was defeated by the Roman forces there; and ha-
145 ving retreated into the maritime parts of Liguria,
Mago and met a courier who brought him orders to return
recalled*1 to Carthage. At the fame time, Hannibal
was likewife recalled. When the meffengers acquaint¬
ed him with the fenate’s pleafure, he expreffed the ut-
moft indignation and concern, groaning, gnalhing his
teeth, and fcarce refraining from tears. Never banilh-
ed man, according to Livy, ftiowed fo much regret in
quitting his native country, as Hannibal did at going
,46 out of that of the enemy.
Hannibal’s The Carthaginian general was no fooner landed
proceed- {n Africa, than he fent out parties to get provifions
Idfarrival ^or t^le arrn?’ an^ ^or^es to remount the cavalry,
in Africa. He entered into a league with the Regains of the
Areacidse, one of the Numidian tribes. Four thoufand
of Syphax’s horfe came over in a body to him ; but
as be did not think proper to repofe any confidence
in them, he put them all to the fword, and diftri-
buted their horfea among his troops. Vermina, one
of Syphax’s fons, and Mafetulus, another Numidian
prince, likewife joined him with a confiderable body
of horfe. Moft of the fortrefles in, Mafiniffa’s king¬
dom either furrendered to him upon the firft fummons,
or were taken by force. Narce, a city of confider¬
able note there, he made himfelf mafter of by firata-
gem. Tychaeus, a Numidian Regulus, and faithful
ally of Syphax, whofe territories were famous for an
excellent breed of fiorfes, reinforcing him alfo with
2000 of his beft cavalry, Hannibal advanced to Zama,
a town about five days journey diftant from Carthage,
where he encamped. He thence fent out fpies to
obferve the pofture of the Romans. Thefe being
brought to Scipio, he was fo far from inflicting any
puniihment upon them, which he might have done by
the laws of war, that he commanded them to be led
about, rhe Camp, in order to take an exad furvey of
He has an it. and then difmiffed them. Hannibal, admiring the
interview noble affurance of hie rival, fent a meffenger to dtfire
with Scipio. an interview with him ; which, by means of MafinifTa,
he obtained. The two generals, therefore, efcorted by
equal detachments of horfe, met'at Nadagara, where,
by the afliftance of two interpreters, they held a pri¬
vate conference, Hannibal flattered Scipio in the moft
reftned and artful manner, and expatiated upon all
thofe topics which he thought could influence that ge¬
neral to grant his nation a peace upon tolerable terms;
amongft other thing's, that the Carthaginians would
willingly confine themfelves to Africa, fince fuch was
Vol. IV. Part. I.
[ 209 1
CAR,
the will cf the gods, in order to procure a lafting peace, Canhage.
whilft the Romans would be at liberty to extend their
conqueft to the remoteift nations. Scipio anfwered,
that the Romans were not prdmpted by ambition, or
any finifter views, to undertake either the former or
prefent war againft the Carthaginians ; but by juftice,
and a proper regard for their allies. He alfo obferved,
that the Carthaginians had, before his arrival in Africa,
not only made him the fame propofals, but likewife
agreed tb pay the Romans ycoo talents/of filver, re-
ftore all the Roman prifonei s without ranfom, 'and de¬
liver up all their galleys. He infifted on the perfidious
condudf of the Cai thaginians, who had broke a truce
concluded with them ; and told him, that, fo far from
granting them more favourable terms, they ought to
expedl more rigorous ones; which if Hannibal would
fubmit to, a peace would eafue ; if not, the decifion of
the difpute muft be left to the fword. I4g
This conference, betwixt two of the greateft gene-The batt’c
rals the world ever produced, ending without fuc-H-Zama.
cefs, they both retired to their refpe&ive camps;
where they informed their troops, that not only the
fate of Rome and Carthage, but that of the whole
■world, was to be determined by them the next day.
An engagement eufued*, in which, as Polybius in-*See
forms us, the furprifing military genius of Hannibal
displayed itfelf in an extraordinary manner. Scipio
likewife, according to Livy, paffed an high encomium
upon him, on account of his uncommon capacity in
taking advantages, the excellent arrangement of his
forces, and the manner in which he gave his orders
during the engagement. The Roman general in¬
deed, not only approved his condudl, but openly de¬
clared that it was fuperior to his own. Neverthelefs,
being vaftly inferior to the enemy in horfe, and the
ftate cf Carthage obliging him to hazard a battle with
the Romans at no fmall difadvantage, Hannibal was Hannibal
utterly routed, and his camp taken. He fled firft tototally
Thon, and afterwards to Adrumentum, from whenceroucec1,
he was recalled to Carthage ; where being arrived,
h^ advifed his countrymen to conclude a peace with
Scipio on whatever terms he thought proper to pre-
feribe. _ Tj0
Thus was the fecond war of the Carthaginians with Peace con«
the Romans concluded. The conditions of peace clut‘eT
were very humiliating to the Carthaginians. They
were obliged to deliver up all the Romans deferters,
fugitive flaves, prifoners of war, and all the Italians^
whom Hannibtl had obliged to follow him. They
alfo delivered up all their {hips of war, except ten
triremes, all their tame elephants, and were to train
up no more of thefe animals for the fervice. They
were not to engage in any war without the confent
of the Romans. They engaged to pay to the Ro¬
maics, in 50 years, 10,000 Euboic talents, at equal
payments. They were to reftore to Mafiniffa all
they had ufurped from him or his anceftors, and to
enter into an alliance with him. They were alfo to
aflift the Romans both by fea and land, whenever
they were called upon fo to do, and never to make
any levies either in Gaul or Liguria. Thefe terms
appeared fo intolerable to the populace, that they
threatened to plunder and burn the houfes of the
nobility ; but Hannibal having affembled a body of.
6000 foot and 500 horfe at Marthama, prevented an
D d infur-
CAR
Carthage, infurreftion, and by his influence completed the accom-
1 v modation.
_ .’l 1 ■ • The peace between Carthage and Rome was fcarce
ans oppref- fl^ned, when Mafinifla unjuftly made himfelf mafter
fed by Ma- of part of the Carthaginian dominions in Africa, un-
finilTa. der pretence that thefe formerly belonged to his fa¬
mily. The Carthaginians, through the villanous me¬
diation of the Romans, found therafelves under a ne-
ceffity of ceding thefe countries to that ambitious prince,
and of entering into an alliance with him. The
good underftanding between the two powers continued
for many years afterwards ; but at laft Mafinifla vio¬
lated the treaties fublifting betwixt him and the Car¬
thaginian republic, and not a little contributed to its
fubverfion.
After the conclufion of the peace, Hannibal ftill
kept up his credit among his countrymen. He was
intruded with the command of an armv againtt fome
neighbouring nations in Africa ; but this being difa-
greeable to the Romans, he was removed from it, and
raifed to the dignity of praetor in Carthage. Here
he continued for fome time, reforming abufes, and
putting the affairs of the republic into a better condi¬
tion ; but this likewife being difagreeable to the Ro-
Hannibil man8> was obliged to fly to Antiochus king of Sy-
flies to An- ria- After his flight, the Romans began to look up-
tiochus. on the Carthaginians with a fufpicious eye ; though,
to prevent evety thing of this kind, the latter had or¬
dered two (hips to purfue Hannibal, had confifcated
his effe&s, rafed his houfe, and by a public decree
153 declared him an exile. Soon after, difputes arifing
Iniquitous between the Carthaginians and Mafinifla, the latter,
inrsofMa notw^^an^'nS t^le manifeft iniquity of his proceed-
fiinffa and**‘nSs’ was ^PPortefl by the Romans. That prince,
the Ro- grafping at further conquefts, endeavoured to embroil
mans. the Carthaginians with the Romans, by aflerting that
the former had received ambaffadors from Perfeus
king of Macedon ; that the fenate aflembled in the
temple of iEfculapius in the night-time in order to
confer with them ; and that ambafladors had been dif-
patched from Carthage to Perfeus, in order to con¬
clude an alliance with him. Not long after this, Ma-
finiffa made an irruption into the province of Tyf-
ca, where he foon pofleffed himfelf of 70, or, as Ap-
pian will have it, 50 towns and caftles. This obliged
the Carthaginians to apply with great importunity to
th. Roman fenate for redrefs, their hands being fo
tied up by an article in the lail treaty, that they could
not repel force by force, in cafe of an invafion, with¬
out tiieir confent. Their ambafladors begged, that
the Roman fenate would fettle once for all what do¬
minions they were to have, that they might from
thenceforth know what they had to depend upon ;
or if their ftate had any way offended the Romans,
they begged that they would punifh them themfelves,
rather than leave rhem expofed to the infults and vex¬
ations of fo mercilefs a tyrant. Then proftrating
themfelves on the earth, they burft out into tears.
Rut, notwuhftanding the impreffion their fpeech made,
the matter was left undecided ; fo that Mafinifla had
liberty to purfue his rapines as much as he pleafed.
But whatever villanous defigns the Romans might
have with regard to the republic of Carthage, they
.affc&ed to fhow a great regard to the principles of
juftiee and honour. They therefore fent Cato, a man
CAR
famous for committing enormities under the fpecious Carthage.
pretence of public, fpii it, into Africa, to accommodate  ^
all differences betwixt Mafiniffa and the Carthagini¬
ans. The latter very well knew their fate, had they
fubmitted to fuch a mediation ; and therefore appeal¬
ed. to the treaty concluded with Scipio, as the only
rule by which their condudl and that of their adver-
fary ought to be examined. This unreafonalk appeal
fo incenfed the righteous Cato, that he pronounced
them a devoted people, and from that time refolvul
upon their deitrudtion. For fome time he was oppo-
fed by Scipio Nalica; but the people of Carthage,
knowing the Romans to be their inveterate enemies,
and refle£ling upon the iniquitous treatment they had
met with from them ever fitice the commencement of
their difputes with Mafinifla, were under great ap-
prehenfions of a vifit from them. To prevent a rup¬
ture as much as poffible, by a decree of the fenate,
they impeached Afdrubal general of the army, and
Carthalo commander of the auxiliary forces, together
with their accomplices, as guilty of high treafon, for
being the authors of the war againft the king of Nu-
midia. They fent a deputation to Rome, to difeover
what fentiments were entertained there of their late
conduct, and to know what fatisfadion the Romans
required. Thefe mefl'engers meeting with a cold re¬
ception, others were difpatched, who returned with
the fame fuccefs. This made the unhappy citizens of
Carthage believe that their d .uruftion was refolved
upon ; which threw them into the utmoft defpair.
And indeed they had but too juft grounds for fuch a
melancholy apprehenfion, the Roman fenRte now dif-
covering an inclination to-fall in'with Cato’s meafures.
About the fame time, the city of Utica, being the fe-
cond in Africa, and famous for its immenfe riches, as
well as its equally commodious and capacious port,
fubmitted to the Romans. Upon the poffeffion of fo
important a fortrefs, which, by reafon of its vicinity
to Carthage, might ferve as a place of arms in the at- War decla-
tack of that city, the Romans declared war againft the 'ed by the
Carthaginians without the leaft hefitation. In confe-R >rnan8 a_
quence of this declaration, the confuls M. Manlius Ne-f?
pos, and L. Marcius Cenforinus, were difpatched with “
an army and fleet to begin hoftilities with the utmoft
expedition. The land forces conliiled of 80,000 foot
and 4000chofen horfe; and the fleet of 50 quinqueremes,
befides a vaft number of tranfports. The confuls had
fecret orders from the fenate not to conclude the ope¬
rations but by the deftmftion of Carthage, without
which, it was pretended, the republic could not but
look upon all her poffeffions as infecure. Purfuant to
the plan they had formed, the troops were firft landed
at Lilybaeum in Sicily, from whence, after receiving a
proper refreftiment, it was propofed to tranfport them
to Utica. ije
The anfwer brought by ,the laft ambafladors to Car- Ambaffa-
thage had not a little alarmed the inhabitants of that 10
city. But they were not yet acquainted with the re-
folutions taken at Rome. They therefore fent frefh
ambafladors thither, whom they invefted with full
powers to aft as they thought proper for the good
of the republic, and even to fubmit themfelves with¬
out referve to the pleafure of the Romans. But the
moft fenfible perfons among them did not expeft any
great fuccefs from this ctmdefcenfion, fince the early
6 fub-
[ 210 ]
CAR [ 211 ] C A R
156
The Ro¬
mans de¬
mand 300
Carthage fubmifiion of the Uticans had rendered it infinitely
lefs meritorious than it would have been before. How¬
ever, the Romans feemed to be in fome meafure fatis-
fied with it, fince they promifed them their liberty,
the enjoyment of their laws, and in fhort every thing
that was dear and valuable to them. This threw them
into a tranfport of joy, and they wanted words to ex¬
tol the moderation of the Romans. But the fenate
immediately dafhed all their hopes, by acquainting
them, that this favour was granted upon condition
that they would fend 300 young Carthaginian noble¬
men of the firft dillinftion to the praetor Fabius at
Lilybaeum, within the fpace of 30 days, and comply
with all the orders of the confuls. Thefe hard terms
filled the whole city with inexprefiible .grief: but the
holtages were delivered ; and as they arrived at Lily*
bamm before the 30 days were expired, the ambafia-
dors were not without hopes of foftening their hard¬
hearted enemy. But the confuls only told them, that
upon their arrival at Utica they (hould learn the far¬
ther orders of the republic.
The minifters no fooner received intelligence of the
Roman fleet appearing off Utica, than they repaired
thither, in order to know the fate of their city. The
confuls, however, did not judge it expedient to com¬
municate all the commands of their republic at once,
left they {hpuld appear fo harfli and fevere, that the
•Carthaginians would have refufed to comply with them.
I-?7 They firft, therefore, demanded a fufficient fupply of
Carthaeini-corn ^or t^ie lubfiftence of their troops. Secondly,
an arms. That they fhould deliver up into their hands all the
triremes they were then mafters of. Thirdly, That
they fhould put them in poffeffion of all their military
machines. And fourthly, That they fhould immediate¬
ly convey all their arms into the Roman camp.
As care was taken that there fhould be a conve¬
nient interval of time betwixt every one of thefe de¬
mands, the Carthaginians found themfelves enfnared,
and could not rejedft any one of them, though they
fubmitted to the laft with the utmoft reludtance and
concern. Cenforinus now imagining them incapable
of fuftaining a fiege, commanded them to abandon
tirdeftn)6"1 their city, or, as Zonaras will have it, to demolifh it;
permitting them to build another 80 ftadia from the
fea, but without walls or fortifications. This terrible
decree threw the fenate and every one elfe into defpair;
and the whole city became a fcene of horror, madnefs,
and confufion. The citizens curfed their anceftorsfor
not dying glorioufly in the defence of their country,
rather than concluding fuch ignominious treaties of
peace, that had been the caufe of the deplorable con¬
dition to which their pofterity was then reduced. At
length, when the firft commotion was a little abated,
the fenators affembled, and refolved to fuftain a fiege.
They were ftripped of their arms and deftitute of pro-
vifions; but defpair raifed their courage, and made
them find out expedients. They took care to fhut
the gates of the city ; and gathered together orr the
ramparts great heaps of ftones, to ferve them inftead of
arms in cafe of a furprife. They took the malefabtors
out of prifon, gave the flaves their liberty, and incor¬
porated them in the militia. Afdrubal was recalled,
who had been fentenced to die only to pleafe the Ro¬
mans ; and he was invited to employ 20,000 men he
had raifed agaipft his country, in defence of it. An-
military
riucs’
158
They '-c
fiege.
other Afdrubal was appointed to command in Car- Carthage,
thage ; and all feemed refolute, either to fave their city —>r—i
or perifh in its ruins. They wanted arms ; but, by j6o
order of the fenate, the temples, porticoes, and all They malm
public buildings, were turned into workhoufes, where nevy artne‘
men and women were continually employed in making
arms. As they encouraged one another in their work,
and loft no time in procuring to themfelves the necef-
faries of life, which were brought to them at ftated
hours, they every day made 144 bucklers, 300 fwords,
xooo darts, and-500 lances and javelins. As to ba-
liftae and catapultae, they wanted proper materials for
them ; but their induftry fupplied that defeft. Where
iron and brafs were wanting, they made ufe of filver
and gold, melting down the ftatues, vafes, and even
the utenfils of private families; for, on this bccafion,
even the moft covetous became liberal. As tow and
flax were wanting to make cords for working the ma¬
chines, the women, even thofe of the firft rank, freely
cut off their hair and dedicated it to that ufe. With¬
out the walls, Afdrubal employed the troops in getting
together provifions, and conveying them lafe into Car¬
thage ; fo that there was as great plenty there as in
the Roman camp.
In the mean time the confuls delayed drawing near
to Carthage, not doubting but the inhabitants, whom
they imagined deftitute of neceffaries to fuftain a fiege,
would, upon cool reflection, fubrait; but at length,
finding themfelves deceived in their expectation, they
came before the place and invefted it. As they were
ftill perfuaded that the Carthaginians had no arms,
they flattered themfelves that they fliould eafily carry The city at-
the city by affault. Accordingly they approached tacked by
the walls in order to plant their fcaling-ladders ; buttlle Ro'
to their great furprife they difeovered a prodigious
multitude of men on the ramparts, (Inning in the ar- fed, *
mour they had newly made. The legionaries were fo
terrified at this unexpefted fight, that they drew back,
and would have retired, if the confuls had not le'd
them on to the attack : which, however, proved un-
fuccefsful; the Romans, "in fpite of their utmoft ef¬
forts, being obliged to give over the enterprize, and
lay afide all thoughts of taking Carthage by affault.
In the mean time Afdrubal, having colle&ed from all
places fubjeft to Carthage a prodigious number of
troops, came and encamped within reacl^ of the Ro¬
mans, and foon reduced them to great (traits for want
of provifions. As Marcias, one of the Roman con¬
fuls, was pofted near a marfli, the exhalations of the
ftagnating waters, and the heat of the feafon, infected
the air, and eaufed a general ficknefs among his men,
Marcius, therefore, ordered his fleet to draw as near
the (bore as poffible, in order to tranfpert his troops
to an healthier place. Afdrubal being informed of
this motion, ordered all the old barks in the harbour
to be filled with faggots, tow, fulphiir,, bitumen, and
other combuftible materials ; and then taking advan- Part of the
tage of the wind, which blew towards the enemy, let Roman fleet
them drive upon their (hips, which were for the moft oefti0)e<*'
part confumed. After this difafter, Marcius was call¬
ed home to prefide at the ele&ions; and the Cartha¬
ginians looking upon the abfence of one of the con¬
fuls to be a good omen, made a brifk fally in thenight;
and would have furprifed the conful’s camp, had not
JEmilianus, with fome fquadrons, marched out of the
D d 2 gate
CAR [ 2X2 ] CAR
Carthage, gate oppofite to the place where the atttack was made,
n t ' an(j^ comjng round, fell unexpectedly on their rear,
and obliged them to return in dilorder to the city.
Afdfubal had polled himfelf under the walls of a
city named Nepheris, 24 miles dillant from Carthage,
and fituated on an high mountain, which feemed inac-
ceflible on all Tides. From thence he made incurfions
into the neighbouring country, intercepted the Roman
convoys, fell upon their detachments fent out to forage,
and even ordered parties to infult the confular army in
their camp. Hereupon the conful refolved to drive
the Carthaginian from this advantageous poll, and fet
©ut for Nepheris. As he drew near the hills, Afdru-
bal fuddenly appeared at the head of his army in order
of battle, and fell upon the Romans with incredible
fury. The confular army fullained the attack with
great refolution ; and Afdrubal retired in good order
,gj to his poll, hoping the Romans would attack him
The Ro- there. But the conful being now convinced of his
nran army, danger, refolved to retire. This Afdrubal no fooner
darker*'is Ptrct''ved> than he rulhed down the hill, and falling
foved by upon the enemy’s rear,-cut a great number of them in
Scipio JE- pieces. The whole Roman army was now faved by
Hiilianus. the bravery of Scipio iEmilianus. At the head of 300
horfe, he fuilained the attack of ajl the forces com¬
manded by Afdrubal, and covered the legions, while
they palled a river in their retreat before the enemy.
Then he and his companions threw themfelves into
the llream, and fwam acrofs it. When the army had
croffed the river, it was perceived that four manipuli
were wanting; and foon after they were informed that
they had retired to an eminence, where they refolved
, to fell their lives as dear as poluble. Upon this news
■ yEmilianus, taking with him a chofen body of horfe,
and provifions for two days, crolfed the river, and flew
to the affillance pf his countrymen. He feized an
hill over agairdl that on which the four manipuli were
polled ; and, after fome hours repofe, marched againll
the Carthaginians who kept them invelled, fell upon
them at the head of his fquadron with the boldnefs of
a man determined to conquer or die, and in fpite of
all oppofition opened a way for his fellow-Toldiers to
efcape. On his return to the army, his companions,
who had given him over for loll, carried him to his
quarters in a kind of triumph; and the manipuli he
had faved gave him a crown of gramen. By thefe and
fome other exploits, iEmilianus gained fuel) reputation,
that Cato, who is faid never to have commended any
body before, could not refufe him the praifes he defer-
ved; and is faid to have foretold that Carthage would
never be reduced till Scipio .ZEmilianus was employed
in that expedition.
The next year, the war in Africa fell by lot to the
conful L Calpurnius Pifo ; and he continued to em¬
ploy dimilianus in feveral important enterprifes, in
which he was attended with uncommon fuccefs. He
over the took feveral caltles ; and in one of his excurfions, found
Carthagini-means to have a private conference with Phameas, ge-
fhorfe™1 nera^ under Afdrubal, of the Carthaginian cavalry,
01 e‘ and brought him over, together with 2200 of his
horfe, to the Roman interell. Under the conful Cal¬
purnius Pifo himfelf, however, the Roman arms were
unfuccefsful. He invelled Clupea ; but was obliged
to abandon the enterprife, with the lofs of a great
number of men killed by the enemy in ^their fallies.
>64
of horfe.
From this place he went to vent his rage on a city Carthage,
newly, built, and thencd called Neapolis, which pro- v *
fefled a llri£l neutrality, and had even a fafeguard from
the^ Romans. The conful, however, plundered the
place, and llripped the inhabitants of all their elfedls.
After this he laid fiege to Hippagreia, which employed
the Roman fleet and army the whole fummer; and,
on the approach of winter, the conful retired to Utica,
without performing a Angle a£tion worth notice during
the whole campaign.
The next year Scipio Atmilianus was chofen conful, Is c!?0,"
, . , J . .u . ’ fen coulul.
and ordered to pals into Atnca ; and upon his arrival,
the face of affairs was greatly changed. At the time
of his entering the port of Utica, 3500 Romans were
in great danger of being cut in pieces before Carthage.
Thefe had feized Megalia, one of the fuburbs of the
city : but as they had not furnifhed themfelves with
prbvifionsjio fubfift there, and could not retire, being
clofely invefted on all fides by the enemy’s troops, the
pnetor Maneinus, who commanded this detachment,
feeing the danger into which he had brought himfelf,
difpatched a light boat to Utica, to acquaint the Ro¬
mans theve with his fituation. AJmilianus received this
letter a few hours after his landing ; and immediately
flew to the relief of the befieged Romans, obliged the
Carthaginians to retire within their walls, and fafely
conveyed his countrymen to Utica. Having then
drawn together all the troops, Almilianus applied him¬
felf wholly to the fiege of the capital.
His firft attack was upon Megalia ; which he car¬
ried by affault, the Carthaginian garrifon retiring into
the citadel of Byrfa. Afdrubal, who had commanded 166
the Carthaginian forces in the field, and was now go- Cruelties of
vernor of the city, was fo enraged at the lofs of Me- Afdru'5at*
galia, that he caufed all the Roman captives taken in
the two years the war lafted, to be brought upon the
ramparts, and thrown headlong, in the fight of the
Roman army, from the top of the wall; after having,
with an excefs of cruelty, commanded their hands and
feet to be cut. off, and their eyes and tongues to be
torn out. He was of a temper remarkably inhuman,
and it is faid that he even took pleafure in feeing fome
of thefe unhappy men flayed alive. uEmilianus, in the
mean time, was bufy in drawing lines of circumvalla-
tion and contravallation crofs the neck of land which
joined the iilhmus on which Carthage flood to the
continent. By this means, all the avenues on the land- Carthage
fide of Carthage being ftmt up, the city could receive blocked uj»
no proviiions that way. His next care was to raife a^y fea and
mole in the fea, in order to block up the old port, the,and’
new one being already fhut up by the Roman fleet;
and this great work lie effected with immenfe labour.
The mole reached from the weftern neck of land, of
which the Romans were mailers, to the entrance of the
port; and was 90 feet broad at the bottom and 80 at
the top. The befieged, when the Romans firft began
this furprifing work, laughed at the attempt; but
were no lefs alarmed than furprifed, when they beheld
a vaft mole appearing above water, and by that means
the port rendered inacceifible to ihips, and quite ufe-
lefs. Prompted by defpair, however,, the Carthagi-TheIbef
nians, with incredible and almoft miraculous induftry, ed dig a ^
dug a new bafon, and cut a paflage into the fea, by new bafom
which they could receive the provifions that were fent
them by their troops in the field. With the fame di¬
ligence
169
They fet
fire to the
Vaft fiaugh
Carthagi-
CAR [2
Ilgence and expedition^ they fitted out a fleet of 50
triremes; which, to the great furprife of the Romans,
appeared fuddenly advancing into the fe'a through this
new canal, and even ventured to give the enemy battle.
The aftion lafted the whole day, with little advantage
on either fide. The day after, the conful endeavoured
to make himfelf mafter of a terrace which covered the
city on the fide next the fea ; and on this occafion the
befieged Signalized themfelves in a moft remarkable
manner. Great numbers of them, naked and unarmed,
went into the water in the dead of the night, with un¬
sighted torches in their hands ; and having, partly by
fwimming, partly by wading, got within reach of the
Roman engines, they ftruck fire, lighted their torches,
and threw them with fury againft the machines. The
fudden appearance of thefe naked men, who looked
like fo many monfters ftarted up out of the fea, fo ter,
rifled the Romans who guarded the machines, that
they began to retire in the utmoft confufion. The
conful, who commanded the. detachment in perfon,
and had continued all night at the foot of the terrace,
endeavoured to flop his men, and even ordered thofe
who fled to be killed. But the Carthaginians, per¬
ceiving the confufion the Romans were in, threw them¬
felves upon them like fo many wild beafts ; and having
put them to flight only with their torches, they fet
fire to the machines, and entirely confumed them.
This, however, did not difcourage the conful: he re¬
newed the attack a few days after, carried the terrace
by aflault, and lodged 4000 men upon it. As, this
was an important poft, becaufe it pent in Carthage on
the fea-fide, fEmilianus took care to fortify and fe-
cure it 'againft the failles of the enemy; and then,
winter approaching, he fufpended ail further attacks
upon the place till the return of good weather. Du¬
ring the winter feafon, however, the conful was not
inactive. The Carthaginians had a very numerous
army under the command of one Diogenes, ftrongly
encamped near Nepheris, whence convoys of proviflons
were fent by fea to the befieged, and brought into the
new bafon. To take Nepheris, therefore, was to de¬
prive Carthage of her chief magazine. This vEmili-
anus undertook, and fucceeded. in the attempt- He
"firft forced the enemy’s entrenchments, put 70,000 of
them to the fword, and made 10,000 prifoners; all
the inhabitants of- the country, who could not retire
to Carthage, having taken refuge in this camp. After
this, he laid fiege to Nepheris, which was reduced in
22 days. Afdrubal being diiheartened by the defeat
of the army, and touched with the mifery of the be¬
fieged now reduced to the utmoft extremity for want
of provifions, offered to fubmit to what conditions the
Romans pleafed, provided the city was fpared ; but
this was abfolutely refufed.
Early in the fpring, iEmilianus renewed the fiege
of Carthage ; and in order to open himfelf a way into
the city, he ordered Laelius to attenfpt the reduction
of Cotho, a fmall ifland which divided the two ports.
TEmilianus himfelf made a falfe attack on the citadel,
in order to draw the enemy thither. This ftratagem
had the defired effect; for the citadel being a place of
the greateft importance, moft of the Carthaginians
haliened thither, and made their utmoft efforts to re-
pulfe their aggreffors. But in the mean time Laelius
having, with incredible expedition, built a wooden
I3 ] C A. R
bridge over the channel which divided Cotho from the Carthage,
ifthmus, entered the ifland, fcaled the walls of ths ’ c—^
fortrefs which the Carthaginians had built there, and
made himfelf mafter of that important poft. The pro-
conful, who was engaged before Byrfa, no fooner un-
derftood, by the loud Ihouts of the troops of Laelius,
that he had made himfelf mafter of Cotho, than he
abandoned the falfe attack, and unexpedledly fell on Ror^anS en_.
the neighbouring gate of the city, which he broke ter the city,,
down, notwithftanding the (bowers of darts that were
inceffantly difcharged upon his men from the ramparts.
As night coming on prevented him from proceeding
farther, he made a lodgment within the gate, and
waited there for the return of day, with a defign to
advance through the city to the citadel, and attack it
on that fide which was but indifferently fortified. Pur-
fuant to this defign, at day-break he ordered 4000
frelh troops to be fent from his camp, and, having fo-
lemnly devoted to the infernal gods the unhappy Car¬
thaginians, he began to advance at the head of his
men, through the ftreets of the city, in order to at¬
tack the citadel. Having advanced to the market¬
place, he found that the way to the citadel lay through
three exceeding fteep ftreets. The houfes on both
fides were very high, and filled with Carthaginians,
who overwhelmed the Romans as they advanced with
darts and ftbnes; fo that they could not proceed till
they had cleared them. To this end Atmilianus in
perfon, at the head of a detachment, attacked the firft
houfe, and made himfelf mafter of it fword in hand.
His example was followed by the officers and foldiers,.
who went on from houfe to houfe, putting all they
met with to the fword. As faft as the houfes were
cleared on both fides, the Romans advanced in order of
battle towards the citadel; but met with a vigorous re-
. fiftance from the Carthaginians, who on this ’occafion
behaved with uncommon refolution. From the market¬
place to tlie citadel, two bodies of men- fought their
way every ftep, one above pn the roofs of the houfes,.
the other below in the ftreets. The (laughter was in-
expreffibly great and dreadful. The air rung with
(hrieks and lamentations. Some were cut in pieces,.
others threw themfelves down from the tops of the
houfes; fo that the ftreets were filled with dead and
mangled bodies. But the deft ruction, was yet greater,
when the proconful commanded fire to be fet to that fet on fire,
quarter of the town which lay next to the citadel.
Incredible multitudes, who had efcaped the fwords of
the enemy, periflied in the flames,.or by the fall of the
houfes. After the fire, which lafted fix days, had de-
molifhed a fufficient number of houfes, iEmilianus or¬
dered me rubbifli to be removed, and a large area to
be made, where all his troops might have room to
aft. Then he appeared with his whole army before
Byrfa ; which fo terrified the Carthaginians, who had
fled thither for refuge, that firft of all 25,000 women,
and then 30,000 men, came out of the gates in fuch
a condition as moved pity. They threw themfelves
proftrate before the Roman general, aflcing no favour
but life. This was readily granted, not only to them,
but to all that were in Byrfa, except the Roman de-
ferters, whofe number amounted to 900. Afdrubal’s I74
wife earneftly untreated her hu(band, to fuffer her to.Cruelty and-
join the fuppliants, and carry with her to the pro-cowardice
conful her two fons, who were as yet very young ; Afiii u-
but
CAR [214 ] CAR
Canliage "but the barbarian denied her raped, and rejefted her quired on fiich occafions : lie firft facriiided to the Carthage.
1 'i remonttrances with menaces. The Roman deferters gods, and then caufed a plough to be drawn round    '
feeing themfelves excluded from mercy, refolved to die the walls of the city. After this, the towers, ramparts, 177
fword in hand, father than deliver themfelves up to the walls, and all the works which the Carthaginians had Al^ uuer“
vengeance of their countrymen. Then Afdrubal, find- raifed in the courfe of many ages, and at a vaft ex-
ing them all refolved to defend themfelves to the lad pence, were levelled with the ground ; and ladly, fire
breath, committed to their care his wife and children; was fet to the edifices of the proud metropolis, which
after which he, in a mod cowardly and mean-fpirited confumed them all, not a fingle houfe efcaping the
manner, came and privately threw himfelf at the con- flames. Though the fire began in all quarters at the
•queror’s feet. The Carthaginians in the citadel no fame time, and burnt with incredible fury, it con-
fooner underdood that their con\mander had abandoned tinned for 17 days before all the buildings were con-
the place, than they threw open the gates, and put filmed.
the Romans in poffeffion of Byrfa. They had now Thus fell Carthage,' about 146- years before the
no enemy to contend with but the 900 deferters ; who, birth of Chrid ; a city whofe dedrudtion ought to be
being reduced to delpair, retreated into the temple of attributed more to the intrigues of an abandoned fac-
iEfoulapius, which was as a fecond temple within the tion, compofed of the mod profligate part of its citi-
firfl. There the proconful attacked them; and ihefe zens, than to the power of its rival. The treafure
unhappy wretches, finding there was no way to efcape, ^Emilianus carried oft', even after the city had been
fet fire to the temple. As the flames fpread, they re- delivered up to be plundered by the foldiers, was un¬
treated from one part of the building to another, till menfe, Pliny making it to amount to 4,470,000 pounds
they got to tile roof. There Aidrubal’s wife appeared weight of lilver. The Romans ordered Carthage ne-
in her bed apparel, and having utteredThe molt bitter ver to be inhabited again, denouncing dreadful im-
imprecations againlt her hulband, whom Ihe faw dand- precations againd thofe who, contrary to' this pro-
ing below with iEmilianus,. “ Bafe coward (faid Ihe), hibition, Ihould attempt to rebuild any part of it, e-
the mean things thou had done to lave thy life ihall fpecially Byrfa and Megalia. Notwithdanding this, I-^_
not avail thee : thou (halt die this indant, at lead in however, about 24 years after, C. Gracchus, tribune Rebuilt,
thy two children.” Having thus fpoken, (he dabbed of the people, in order to ingratiate himfelf with them,
both the infants with a dagger; and while they were undertook to rebuild it; and, to that end, Conduced
yet drugglirtg for life, threw them both from the top thither a colony of 6000 Roman citizens. The work-
of the temple, and then leaped down after them into men, according to Plutarch, were terrified by many
the flames. unlucky omens at the time they were tracing the limits
ALmilianus delivered up 'the city to be plundered, and laying the foundations of the new city ; which
but in the manner preferibed by tire Roman military the fenate being informed of, would have fufpended
law. The foldiers were allowed to appropriate to the attempt. But the tribune, little a fleeted with fuch
themfelves all the furniture, utenfils, and brafs money, prefages, continued to carry on the work, and finiftied
they (hould find in private houfes : but all the gold it in a few days. From hence it is probable that only
and filver, the ftatues, pictures, &c. were referved to a flight kind of huts were erefted; but, whether
be put into the hands of the quseftors. On this occa- Gracchus executed his defign, or the work wastentire-
iion the cities of Sicily, which had been often plundered ly difeontinued, it is certain, that Carthage was the
by the Carthaginian armies, recovered a number of firft Roman colony ever fent out of Italy. According
ftatues, pictures, and other valuable monuments: a- to fome authors, Carthage was rebuilt by Julius Ceefar;
mong the reft, the famous brafen bull, which Phalaris and Strabo, who flourifhed in the reign of Tiberius, _
had ordered to be call, and ufed as the chief inftru- affirms it in his time to have been equal if not'fupe-
ment of his cruelty, was reftored to the inhabitants of rior to any other city in Africa. It was looked upon
Agrigentum. As Amilianus was greatly inclined to as the capital of Africa for feveral centuries after the
ipare what remained of this ftately metropolis, he wrote commencement of the Chriftian sera. Maxentius laid
to the fenate on the fubjeft, from whom he received it in allies about tire lixth or feventh year of Conftan-
the following orders: 1. The city of Carthage, with tine’s reign. Geuferic, king of the Vandals, took it Utterly de-'
Byrfa, and Megalia, fhall be entirely deftroyed, and A. I). 439; but about a century afterwards it was by
no traces of them left. 2. All_ the cities that have re-annexed to the Roman empire by the renowned'ara"
lent Carthage any affiftance ihall be difmantled. 3. Beliiarius. At laft the Saracens, under Mohammed’s
The territories of thofe cities which have declared for fuccdfors, towards the clofe of the feventh century,
the Romans, {hail be enlarged with lands taken from fo completely detlroycd it, that there are now fcarce
the enemy. 4. All the lands between Hippo and any traces remaining.
Carthage {hall be divided among the inhabitants of At the commencement of the third Punic war,
Utica. 5. Ail tire Africans of the Carthaginian ftate, Carthage appears to have been one of the firft cities in jg0
both men and women, {hall pay an annual tribute to the world.—It was feated on a peninfula 360 ftadia or its ancient
the Romans at fo much per head. 6. The whole 45 miles in circumference, joined to the continent by graudear.
country, which was fubjedt to the Carthaginian ftate, an ifthmus 23 ftadia or thrt'e miles and a furlong in
{hall be turned into a Roman province, and be governed breadth. On the weft fide there projected from it a
by a praetor, in the fame manner as Sicily. Laftly, long traft of land half a ftadium broad ; which ftioot-
Rome fhall fend commilfioners into Africa, there to ing out into the fea, feparated it from a lake or mo-
fettle jointly with the proconful the ftate of the new rafs, and was ftrongly fortified on all fides by rocks and
province. Before Amilianus deftroyed the city, he a fingle wall. In the middle of the city ftood the ci-
performed thofe religious ceremonies which were re- tadel of Byrfa, having on the top of it a temple facred
175
APlrubal’
{troys her
{elf and tv
children.
Ca thage,
.plundered,
CAR [21
Carthr.ge. to jSEfculapms, feated upon rocks on a very high hill,
to which the afeent was by 60 fteps. On the fouth
fide the city was furrounded by a triple wall, ?o cu¬
bits high ; flanked all round by parapets and towers,
placed at equal diftances of 480 feet. Every tower
had its foundation funk 32 feet deep, and was four
ftories high, though the walls were but two: they
were arched; and, in the lower part, correfponding
in depth with the foundations above mentioned, were
ftalls large enough to hold 300 elephants with their
fodder, &c. Over thefe were Halls and other conve¬
niences for 4000 horfes; and there was likewife room
for lodging 20,000 foot and 4000 cavalry, without
in the leaft incommoding the inhabitants. There were
two harbours, fo difpofed as to have a communication
with one another. They had one common entrance
70 feet broad, and flmt up with chains. The firil was
appropriated to the merchants ; and included in it a
vdt number of places of refreihment, and all kinds of
accommodations for feamen. The fecond, as well as
the ifland of Cothon, in the midft of it, was lined
. with large keys, in which were diitinet receptacles for
fecuring and Iheltering from the weather 220 (hips of
war. Over thefe were magazines of all forts of naval
ftores. The entrance into each of thefe receptacles
was adorned with two marble pillars of the Ionic or¬
der ; fo that both the harbour and ifland reprefented
on each fide two magnificent galleries. Near this
ifland was a temple of Apollo, in which was a ftatue of
the god all of maffy gold; and the iniide of the temple
all lined with plates of the fame metal, weighing 1000.
talents. The city was 23 miles in circumference, and
at the time we fpeak of contained 700,000 inhabitants.
Of their power we may have fome idea, by the quan¬
tity of arms they delivered up to the Roman cgnfuls.
The whole army was afloniihed at the long train of
carts loaded with them, which were thought fufficient
to have armed all Africa. At leaft it is certain, that
on this occafiorr were put into the fiands of the Ro¬
mans, 2000 catapultae, 200,000 complete fuits of ar¬
mour, with an innumerable quantity of fwords, darts,
javelins, arrows, and beams armed with iron which
were thrown from the ramparts by the baliftre.
The chara&er tranfmitted of the Carthaginians is
extremely bad;, but we have it only on the authority
of the Romans, who being their implacable enemies
cannot be much relied upon. As to their religion,
manners, &c. being much the fame with the Phoeni¬
cians of which they were a colony, the reader is re¬
ferred for an account of thefe things to the article
Phoenicia.
On the ruins of Carthage there now Hands only a
fmall village called Metcha. The few remains of Car¬
thage confift only of fome fragments of walls and 17
citterns for the reception of rain-water.
There are three eminences, which are fo many- maf-
fes of fine marbles pounded together, and were in all
probability the lites of temples and other diftinguifh-
ed buildings.' The prefent ruins are by no means the
remains of the ancient city deftroyed by the Romans ;
who after taking it entirely erafed it, and ploughed up
the very foundations: fo truly they adhered to the
well-known advice perpetually inculcated by Cato the
Elder, Delenda ejl Carthago. It was again rebuilt by
: the Gracchi family, wdio conduced a colony to re-
people it; and continually increafing in fplendour, it
5 ] CAR
became at length the capital of Africa under the Ro-New-Cir-
man emperors. It fubiifted near 700 years after its Carthae-eir
firft demolition, until it was entirely deftfbyed by the , ‘.
Saracens in the beginning of the 7 th century.
It is a Angular circumltance that the two cities of
Carthage and Rome fhould have been built juft op-
pofite one to the other;.the bay of Tunis and the
mouth of the Tiber being in a direct line.
lAttora I'ittoribus ccntraria, Jlufiilnis unda:,
Arma annis. Virg. JEn. i. 4.
New-Carthage, a-confiderable town of Mexico, in
the province of Coftarica. It is a very rich trading,
place. W. Long. 86. 7. N. Lat. 9. 5.
CARTHAGENA, a province of South America, -
and one of the moft confiderable in New Callile, on
account of the great trade carried on by the capital;
for the country itfelf is neither fertile, rich, nor popu¬
lous. The capital city, culled likewife Carthagena, is
fituated in W. Long. 77. N. Lat. 11, on a fandy illahd,
by molt w'riters called a pdninfula ; w-hich, forming a
narrow paffage on the - fouth-weft, opens a communi¬
cation with that called Tierra Bomba, as far as Bvcca.
Chica. The little ifland which now joins them was
formerly the entrance of the bay ; but it having been
filled up by orders of the court, Bocca Chica'becamc
the only entrance : this, however; has been filled up
fmee the attempt of Vernon and Wentworth, and the
old paffage again opened. On the north fide the
land is fo narrow, that, before the wall was begun,,
the diftance from fea to fea was only 35' toifes ; but
afterwards enlarging, it forms another ifland on this
fide; fo that, excepting thefe two places, the whole
city is entirely furrouitded by falt-water. - To the eaft-
ward it has a communication, by means of a wooden -
bridge, with a large fuburb called Xemani, built on.
another ifland, which is alfo joined tx> the continent
by a bridge of the fame materials. The fortifications,
both of the city and fuburbs- are built after the mo- ■
dern manner, and lined with free-ftone ; and, in time
of peace, the garrifon confifts of ten companies of 77
men each, befides militia. The city and fuburbs arc-
well laid out, the ftreets ilraight, broad, uniform, and.
v/ell paved. AH the houfes are built of ftone or brick,
only one ftory high, well contrived; neat, and furnifli-
ed with balconies and lattices of wood, which is more,
durable in that climate than iron, the latter being fooir.
corroded by the acrimonious quality of the atmo-
fphere. The climate is exceedingly unhealthy. The-
Europeans are particularly fubjefit to the terrible dif-
eafe called the black vomit, which fweeps off multitudes '
annually op the arrival of the,, galleons. It feldom
continues above three or four days ; in which time the
^patient is either dead or out of danger, and.if he reco¬
vers is never fubjeft to a return of the fame diftemper.
—This- difeafe Iras hitherto foiled all the art of the
Spanifli phyficians ; as has alfo the leprofy, which is>
very common here. At Garthagena, likewife, that
painful tumour in the legs, occalioned by the entrance
ol the Dracunculus or Guinea-worm, is very common
and troublefome. Another diforder-peculiar to this
country, and to, Peru, is occaikmed by a little infect
called Nigua, fo extremely minute, as fcarce to be vi--
fible to the naked eye. This infefl breeds in the dull,,
infinuates itfelf into the foies of the feet and the legs,
piercing the fkin with fuch fubtilty, that there is no*
being;
CAR [ 2-
Carthagcnr,being aware of it, before it has made its way to the
Canhamus if it is perceived in the beginning, it is extra&ed
w.- y-— wjt-i1 iittie pain,. l)Ut having once lodged its head, and
pierced the flcin, the patient mud undergo the pain of an
incifion, without which a nodus would be formed, and
a multitude of infefts ingendered, which would foon
overfpread the foot and leg. One fpecies of the nigua
is venomous; and when it enters, the toe, an inflam¬
matory fwelling, greatly rtfemblinga venereal bubo, takes
place in the groin.
Carthagena, a fea-port town of Spain in the
kingdom of Murcia, and capital* of a territory of the
fame name; built by Afdrubal, a Carthaginian general,
and named after Carthage. It has the beft harbour
in all Spain, but nothing elfe very confiderable ; the
bilhop’s fee being transferred to Toledo. In 1706
it was taken by Sir John Leak; but the Duke of
Berwick retook it afterwards. W. Long. 0.58. N.
Lat. 37. 36.
CARTHAMUS, in botany: A genus of the or¬
der of polygamia sequalis, belonging to the fyngenefia
clafs of plants, and in the natural method ranking un¬
der the 49th order, Compofita. The calyx is ovate,
imbricated with fcales, clofe below, and augmented with
fubovate foliaceous appendices at top.—Of this genus
there are nine fpecies ; but the only remarkable one is
the tinftorius, with a faflFron-colotired flower. This
is a native of Egypt and fome of the warm parts of
Afia. It is at prefent cultivated in many parts of Eu¬
rope, and alfo in the Levant, from whence great quan¬
tities of it are annually imported into Britain for the
purpofes of dyeing and painting. It is an annual
plant, and rifes with a fliff ligneous ftalk, about two
feet and a half or three feet in height, dividing up¬
wards into many branches, garnifhed wutfi oval point¬
ed leaves fitting clofe to the branches. The flowers
grow Angle at the extremity of each branch ; the heads
of the flowers are large, inclofed in a fcaly empalement;
<ach fcale is broad at the bafe, flat, and formed like
a leaf of the plant, terminating in a (harp fpine. The
lower part of the empalement fpreads open ; but the
fcales above clofely embrace the florets, which are of
a fine faffron colour, and are the part ufed for the
purpofes above mentioned. The good quality of this
commodity is in the colour, which is of a bright faf¬
fron hue : and in this the Britifh carthamus very oft¬
en fails ; for if there happens much rain during the
time the plants are in flower, the flowers change to
a dark or dirty yellow, as they likewife do if the
flowers are gathered with any moifture remaining upon
them.—The plants are propagated by feeds, which
fliould be fown in drills, at two feet and a half diftance
from one another, in wdiich the feeds (hould be fcat-
tered fingly. The plants will appear in lefs than a
month ; and in three weeks or a month after, it will
be proper to hoe the ground ; at which time the plants
fliould be left fix inches diftant: after this they will
require a fecond hoeing ; when they mull be thinned
to the diftance at which they ate to remain. If after
this they are hoed a third time, they will require no
farther care till they come to flower; when, if the
fafflower is intended for ufe, the florets (hould be cut
off from the flowers as they come to perfedlion : but
this muft be* performed when they are perfe&ly dry ;
and then they fliould be dried in a kiln with a mode¬
rate fire, in the fame manner as the true faffron. But
N 5
.6 ] CAR
in thofe flowers which are propagated for feeds, the Carthu-am
florets muft be cut off, or the feeds will prove abor- M
live.—The feeds of carthamus have been celebrated as arton* ,
a cathartic ; but they operate very (lowly, and for the
moft part diforder the ftomach and bowels, efpecially
when giveii in fubftance : triturated with diftilled aro¬
matic waters, they form an emuHion lefs offenfive, yet
inferior in efficacy to the more common purgatives.
They are eaten by a fpecies of Egyptian parrot, which
is very fond of them ; to other birds or beads they
would prove a mortal poifon.
CARTHUSIANS, a religious order founded in
the year 1080, by one Brudo. The Carthufians, fo
called from the defert of Chartreux, the place of their’
inftitution, are remarkable for the aufterity of their
rule. They are not to go out of their cells, except to
church, without leave of their fuperior; nor fpeak to
any perfon without leave. They muft not keep any
portion of their meat or drink till next day; their beds
are of draw, covered with a felt; their cloathing two
hair-cloths, two cowls, two pair of hofe, and a aoke,
all coarfe. In the refeftory, they are to keep their
eyes on the dilh, their hands on the table, tkeir atten¬
tion on the reader, and their hearts fixed on God.
Women are not allowed to come into their churches.
It is computed that there are 172 houfes of Carthu¬
fians ; whereof five are of Nuns, who praetife the fame
aufterities as the Monks. They are divided into 16
provinces, each of which has two vifitors. There have
been feveral canonized faints of this order, four cardi¬
nals, 70 archbifliops and biftiops, and a great many
very learned writers.
CjRTHVsiAN-Po'wder, the fame with kermes-minerak
See Kermes.
CARTILAGE, in anatomy, a body approaching
to the nature of bones; but lubricous, flexible, and
elaftic. See Anatomy.
CARTILAGINOUS, in ichthyology, a title given
to all fifh whftfe mufcles are fupported by cartilages Brit. Zool.
inftead of bones ; and comprehends the fame genera HI 70.
of • fifh to which Linnseus has given the name of am-
phiiia nantes : but the word amphibia ought properly'
to be confined to fuch animals as inhabit both ele¬
ments ; and can live, without any inconvenience, for
a confiderable time, either on land or in water ; fuch
as tortoifes, frogs, and feveral fpecies of lizards ; and,
among the quadrupeds, hippopotami, &.c. &c.
Many of the cartilaginous fifh are viviparous, being
excluded from an egg, which is hatched within them.
The egg confifts of a white and a yolk; and is lodged
in a cafe formed of a thick tough fubftance, not unlike
foftened horn : fuch are the eggs of the ray and flark
kinds. Some again differ in this refpeft, and are ovi¬
parous ; fuch is lYic fluryeon, and others.
They breathe either through certain apertures be¬
neath, as in the rtiys ; on their fides, as in the Jharks,
&c.; or on the top of the head, as in the p‘pe-jifh :
for they have not covers to their gills like the bony
fifh.
CARTMEL, a town of Lancaihire in England.
It is feated among the hills called Carmel-fells, not far
from the fea, and near the river Kent; adorned with
a very handfome church, built in the form of a crofs
like a cathedral. The market is well fupplied with
corn, (beep, and fifh. W. Long. 2. 43. N. Lat. 54. 15.
CARTON, or Cartoon, in painting, a defign
drawn
CAR ( 217 ) CAR
Carton, -drawn on ftrong paper, to be afterwards calked through,
| Cartouche. an(j transferred on the fre(h plafter of a wall to be
^__v painted in frefco. It is alfo ufedfor a defign coloured,
for working in mofaic, tapeflay, cSc. The word is
From the Italian Cartoni, {carta “ paper,” and oni
' . “ large,”) denoting many iheets of paper palled on
canvas, on which large defigns are made, whether co¬
loured or with chalks only. Of thefe many are to be
feen at Rome, particularly by Domenichino. Thofe by
Andrea Mantegna, which are at Hampton Court, were
made for paintings in the old#ducal palace at Mantua.
But the molt famous performances of this fort are,
The Cartoons of Raphael, fo defervedly applauded
throughout Europe by all authors of refined taile, and
j all true admirers of the art of defign, for their various
and matchlefs merit, particularly with regard to the
invention, and to the great and noble expreffion of
fitch a variety of charafters, countenances, and moil
exprefiive attitudes, as they are differently affedted and
properly engaged, in every compofition. Thefe car¬
toons are feven in number, and form only a frttall part
Iof the facred hiltorical defigns executed by this great
artill, while engaged in the chambers of the Vatican
under the aufpices of Popes Julius II. and Leo X.
When finilhed, they were fent to Flanders, to be co¬
pied in tapeftry, for adorning the pontifical apartments:
which tapeftries were not fent to Rome till feveral
years after the deceafe of Raphael, and even in all
probability were not finilhed and fent there before the
terrible fack of that city in the time of Clement VII.
when Raphael’s fcholars were fled from thence, and
none left to enquire after the original Cartoons, which
lay negle&ed in the ftore-rooms of the manufadtory.
The great revolution alfo which followed in the Low
Countries prevented their being noticed amidll the en¬
tire negledl of the works of art. It was therefore a
moll fortunate circumllance that thefe feven efcaped
the wreck of the others, which were torn in pieces,
and remain difperfed as fragments in different collec¬
tions. Thefe feven were purchafed by Rubens for
Charles I. and they have been fo roughly handled
from the firll, that holes were pricked for the weavers
to pounce the outlines, and other parts almoft cut
through in tracing alfo. In this Hate perhaps they as
fortunately efcaped the fale amongft the royal collec¬
tion, by the difproportioned appraifement off thefe
feven at 3001. and the nine pieces, being the Triumph
of Julius Caefar, by Andrea Mantegna, appraifed at
10001. They feem to have been taken fmall notice
of till King William built a gallery, purpofely to re¬
ceive them, at Hampton Court; whence they were
moved, on their fuffering from damps, to the Queen’s
Palace. They are now at Windfor Caftle, and open
to public infpedlion.
CARTOUCHE, in architedlure and fculpture, an
ornament reprefenting a fcroll of paper. It is ufually
a flat member, with wavings, to reprefent fome in-
fcription, device, cipher, or ornament of armoury.
They are, in architedture, much the fame as modil-'
lions ; only thefe are fet under the cornice in wainf-
cotting, and thofe under the cornice at the eaves of a
Iioufe.
Cartouche, in the military art, a cafe of wood,
about three inches thick at the bottom, girt with mar¬
lin, holding about four hundred mulket-balls, befides
Vol. IV Part I.
fix or eight balls of iron, of a pound weight, to be Cartridge
fired out of a hobit, for the defence of a pafs, Ss’c. It
A cartouche is fometimes made of a globular form, arver' ,
and filled with a ball of a pound weight; and fome¬
times it is made for the guns, being of a ball of half
or quarter a pound weight, according to the nature of
the gun, tied in form of a bunch of grapes, on a tom-
pion of wood, and coated over. Thefe were made in
the room of partridge-fhot.
CARTRIDGE, in the military art, a cafe of pafte*
board or parchment, holding the exaft charge of a
fire-arm. Thofe for muflcets, carabines, and piftols,
hold both the powder and ball for the charge ; and
thofe of cannon and mortars are ufually in cafes of
palleboard or tin, fometimes of wood, half a foot long,
adapted to the caliber of the piece.
Cartridge-Box, a cafe of wood or turned iron, co¬
vered with leather, holding a dozen mulket-cartridges.
It is wore upon a belt, and hangs a little lower than
the right pocket-hole.
CARTWRIGHT (William) an eminent divine
and poet, born at Northway, near Tewklbury, in
Gloucetterfhire, in September i6x 1. He finiflied his
education at Oxford; afterwards went into holy or¬
ders, and became a moft florid preacher in the univer-
fity. In 1642, he had the place of fuccentor in the
church of Salifbury ; and, in 1643, was chofen junior
prodlor in the univeriity. He was alfo metaphyfical
reader there. Wit, judgment, elocution, a graceful
perfon and behaviour, occafioned that encomium of
him from dean Fell, “ That he was the utmoft that
“ man could come to.” He was an expert linguift ;
an excellent orator ; and at the fame time was elleem-
ed an admirable poet. There are extant of hisx four
plays, and fome poems. He died in 1643, aged 33.
CARVAGE, carvaglum, the fame with Carku-
CAGE.
Henry III. is faid to have taken carvage, that is
two marks of filver of every knight’s fee, towards the
marriage of his filler Ifabella to the emperor. Car¬
vage could only be impofed on the tenants in capite.
Carvage alfo denotes a privilege whereby a man
is exempted from the fervice of carrucage.
CARUCATURIUS, in ancient law books, he that
held land in foccage, or by plough tenure.
CARUCATE. See Carrucate.
CARVER, a cutter of figures or other devices in
wood. See Carving.
Carvers anfwer to what the Romans called fculptores,
who were different from ccdatorts, or engravers, as thefe
laft wrought in metal.
Carver is alfo an officer of the table, whofe bufi-
nefs is to cut up the meat, and diftribute it to the
guefts. The word is formed from the Latin carptor,
which fignifies the fame. The Romans alfo called
him carpus, fometimes fc'ffor, fcindendi magifer, and
Jlruclor.
In the great families at Rome, the carver was an
officer of i'ome figure. There were mailers to teach
them the art regularly, by means of figures of animals
cut in wood. The Greeks alfo had their carvers, cal¬
led SiXTpoi, q. d. da-ihitores, or dijlributors. In the pri¬
mitive times, the mailer of the feall carved for all his
guells. Thus in Homer, when Agamemnon’s ambaf-
fadors were entertained at Achilles’s table, the hero
E e himfelf
CAR [2i
Garuj himfelf carved the meat. Of later times, the fame of-
Carum ^ce on f°lemn occafions was executed by fome of the
arum' chief men of Sparta. Some derive the cuftom of dif-
tributing to every gueft his portion, from thofe eaily
ages when the Greeks firft left off feeding on acorns,
and learned the ufe of corn : The new diet was fo
great a delicacy, that to prevent the guefts from quar¬
relling about it, it was found neceffary to make a fair
diftributioh.
In Scotland, the king has a hereditary carver in the
family of Anflruther.
CARUI, or CArvi, in botany. See Carum.
CARVING, in a general fenfe, the art or aft of
cutting or fafhioning a hard body, by means of fome
fharp inftrument, efpecially a chiffel. In this fenfe
carving includes ftatuary and engraving, as well as cut¬
ting in wood.
Carving, in a more particular fenfe, is the art of
engraving or cutting figures in wood. In this fenfe
carving, according to Pliny, is prior both to ftatuary
and painting.
To carve a figure or defign, it muft be firft drawn
or pafted on the wood ; which done, the reft of the
block, not covered by the lines of the defign, are to
be cut away with little narrow-pointed knives. The
wood fitteft for the ufe is that which is hard, tough,
and clofe, as beech, but efpecially box : to prepare
it for drawing the defign on, they wafh it over with
white-lead tempered in water; which better enables
it either to bear ink or the crayon, or even to take
the impreffion by chalking. When the defign is to
be pafted on the wood, this whitening is omitted, and
they content themfelves with feeing the wood well
planed. Then wiping over the printed fide of the fi¬
gure with gum tragacanth diffolved in water, they clap
it fmooth on the wood, and let it dry ; which done,
they wet it flightly over, and fret off the furface of the
paper gently, till all the ftrokes of the figure appear
diftin&ly. This done, they fall to cutting or car¬
ving, as above.
CARUM, in botany: A genus of thedigynia order,
belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants ; and in
the natural method ranking under the 45th order,
Umbellata. The fruit is ovate, oblong, and ftriated ;
the involucrum monophyllous; the petals are carinated
or keel-lhaped below, and emarginated by their in¬
flexion.
Species, &c. x. The carui, or caraway of the (hops,
grows naturally in many places of Britain. It is a bien¬
nial plant, which rifes from feeds one year, flowers the
next, and perilhes foon after the feeds are ripe. It
hath a taper root like a parfnip, but much fmaller,
which runs deep into the ground, fending out many
fmall fibres, and hath a ftrong aromatic tafte. From
the root arifes one or two fmooth, folid, channelled
ftalks, about two feet high, garnifhed with winged
leaves, having long naked foot-ftalks. 2. The hif-
panicum is alfo a biennial, and is a native of Spain.
It rifes with a ftronger ftalk than the former, which
feldom grows more than a foot and half high ; but is
clofely garnilhed with fine narrow leaves like thofe of
dill. Both thefe plants are propagated by feeds,
which ought to be fown in autumn. Sheep, goats,
and fwine, eat this plant; cows and horfes are not
fond of it. Parkinfon fays, the young roots of cara-
8 ] CAR
way are better eating than parfnips. The tender Caruneuk
leaves may be boiled with pot herbs. The feeds have II
an aromatic fmell, and a warm pungent tafte. They ■
are ufed in cakes, incrufted with fugar, as fweet-meats,
and diftilied with fpirituous liquors, for the fake of the
flavour they afford. They are in the number of the
four greater hot feeds ; and frequently employed, as a
ftomachic and carminative, in flatulent colics and the
like.
CARUNCULA, or caruncle, in anatomy, a term
denoting a little piece of flelh, and applied to feveral
parts of the human body. Thus,
Carunculas: Myrtiformes, in anatomy, flelhy knobs
about the fize of a myrtle-berry, fuppofed to owe their
origin to the breaking of the hymen. See Anatomy,
n° 108.
Caruncles in the urethra, proceeding from a go¬
norrhoea, or an ulceration of the urethra, may be re¬
duced by introducing the bougie.
CARUS, a fudden deprivation of fenfe and motion,
affeXing the whole body- See (the Index fubjoined to)
Medicine.
Carus (Marcus Aurelius), was raifed from a low
ftation, by his great merit, to be emperor of Rome in
282. He (bowed himfelf worthy of the empire ; fub-
dued its enemies ; and gave the Romans a profpeX of
happy days, when he was unfortunately killed by light¬
ning in 284.
CARWAR, a town of Afia, on the coaft of Mala¬
bar in the Eaft Indies, and where the Eaft India com¬
pany have a faXory, fortified with two baftions. The
valleys about it abound in corn and pepper, which
lad is the beft in the Eaft Indies. The woods on
the mountains abound with quadrupeds, fuch as ty-
gers? wolves, monkeys, wild hogs, deer, elks, and a fort
of beeves of a prodigious fize. The religion of the
natives is Paganifm; and they have a great many
llrange and fuperftitious cuftoms. E. Long. 73. 7.
N. Lat. 15. o.
CARYA-AE, (Stephanus); flri«n,(Paufanias);
a town of Laconia, between Sparta and the borders of
Meffenia : where ftood a temple of Diana, thence call¬
ed Caryatis, idis; whofe annual feftival, called Carya,
orum, was celebrated by Spartan virgins with dances.
An inhabitant, Caryates, and Caryatis ; Caryatis apis, a
Laconian bee, (Stephanus.)
CARYAE-arum, (anc* geog.), a place in Arcadia, to¬
wards the borders of Laconia. Whether from this
of Arcadia, or that of Laconia, the Columna Carya¬
tides of Vitruvius and Pliny (which were ftatues of
matrons in doles or long robes) took the appellation,
is difputed.
CARY (Lucius), Lord vifcount Falkland, was bom
in Oxfordftiire, about the year 1610 ; a young noble¬
man of great abilities and accomplifliments. About
the time of his father’s death in 1633, he was made
gentleman of the privy chamber to king Charles I.
and afterwards fecretary of date. Before the affem-
bling of the long parliament, he had devoted himfelf
to literature, and every pleafure which a fine genius,
a generous difpofition, and an opulent fortune, could
afford : when called into public life, he ftood foremoft
in all attacks on the high prerogatives of the crown ;
but when civil convulfions came to an extremity, and
it was neceffary to choofe a fide, he tempered his zeal.
CAR [2
Cary, and defended the limited powers that remained to mo-
, Caryates. narchy. Still anxious however for his country, he
i”~v feems to have dreaded equally the profperity of the
royal party, or that of the parliament ; and among
his intimate friends, often fadly reiterated the word
peace. This excellent nobleman freely expofed his per-
fon for the king in all hazardous enterprizes, and was
killed in the 34th year of his age at the battle of New¬
berry. In Welwood’s memoirs we are told, that whilft
he was with the king at Oxford, his majefty went one
day to fee the public library, where he was fhown a-
mong other books a Virgil, nobly printed, ancCrxqui-
fitely bound. The lord Falkland, to divert the king,
would have his majelly make a trial of his fortune by
the Sortes Virgilianae, an ufual kind of divination in
ages part, made by opening a Virgil. The king open¬
ing the book, the palfage which happened to come up,
was that part of Dido’s imprecation againft JEneas,
iv. 615, &c. which is thus tranflated by Dryden.
“ Opprefs’d with numbers in th’ unequal field,
“ His men difcOurag’d, and himfelf expell’d ;
“ Let him for fuccour fue from place to place,
“ Torn from his fubjedls and his fon’s embrace,” &c.
King Charles feeming concerned at this accident, the
lord Falkland, who obferved it, would likewife try his
own fortune in the fame manner ; hoping he might fall
tipon fome paffage that could have no relation to his
cafe, and thereby divert the king’s thoughts from any
impreffion the other might make upon him: but the
place lord Falkland ftumbled upon was yet more fuit-
ed to his deftiny than the other had been to the king’s;
being the following expreffions of Evander, upon the
untimely death of his'fon Pallas, iEn. xi. 152.
“ O Pallas! thou haft fail’d thy plighted word.
“ To fight with caution, not to tempt the fword,
“ I warn’d thee, but in vain : for well I knew
“ What perils youthful ardour would purfue;
“ That boiling blood would carry thee too far;
“ Young as thou wert in dangers, raw to war.
“ O curft effay of arms, difaft’rous doom,
“ Prelude of bloody fields and fights to cornel”
He wrote feveral things, both poetical and political;
and in fortie of the king’s declarations, fuppofed to be
penned by lord Falkland, we. find the firft regular de¬
finition of the Englifti conftitution that occurs in any
compofition publiftied by authority. His predeceffor,
the firft vifcount Cary, was ennobled for being the firft
who gave king James an account of queen Elizabeth’s
death.
Cary (Robert), a learned Enlifh chronologer, born
in Devonfhire -about the year 1,615- On the refto-
ration, he was preferred to the archdeaconry of Exe¬
ter; hut on fome pretext was ejefted in 1664, and
fpent the reft of his days at his re&ory of Portle-
mouth, where he died in 1688. He publifhed Pa/a-
logia Chronica, a chronology of ancient times, in three
parts, dida&ical, apodeidiical, and canonical; and
tranflated the hymns of the church into Latip verfe.
CARYATES, in antiquity, a feftival in honour of
Diana furnamed Caryatis, held at Cary um, a city of La¬
conia. The chief ceremony was a certain dance faid
to have been invented by Caftor and Pollux, and . per-
19 ] CAR
formed by the virgins of the place. During Xerxes’s Caryatides
invafion, the Laconians not daring to appear and cele- „ ' , ,
brate the cuftomary folemnity, to prevent incurring
the anger of the goddefs by fuch an intermiffion, the u—j
neighbouring fwains are faid to have aflembled and
fung paftorals or bucollfnii, which is faid to have been
the origin of bucolic poetry.
CARYATIDES, or Caraites. See Architec¬
ture, n° 56.
CARYL (Jofeph), a divine of the laft century, bred
at Oxford, and fome time preacher to the fociety of
Lincoln’s inn, an employment he filled with much ap-
plaufe. He became a frequent preacher before the
long parliament, a licenfer of their books, one of the-
aflembly of divines, and one of the triers for the ap¬
probation of minifters; in all which capacities he
ihowed himfelf a man of confiderable parts and learn¬
ing, but with great zeal againft the king’s perfon
and caufe. On the reftoration of Charles II. he was
filenced by the a6t of uniformity, and lived privately
in London, where, befides other works, he diftinguifh-
ed himfelf by a laborious Expofition of. the Book of Job;
and died in 1672.
CARYLL (John), a late Englifti poet, was of the
Roman Catholic perfuafion, being fecretary to queen
Mary the wife of James II. and one who followed the
fortunes of his abdicating mafter ; who rewarded him,
firft with knighthood, and then with the honorary
titles of earl Caryll and baron Dartford. How long
he continued in that fervice is not known ; but he
was in England in the reign of queen Anne, and re¬
commended the fubjeft of the “ Rape of the Lock”
to Mr Pope, who at its publication addrefled it to him.
He was alfo the intimate friend of Pope’s “ Unfor¬
tunate Lady.” He was the author of two plays :
1. “ The Englifh Princefs, or the Death of Richard
III. 1667,” 4to.; 2. “ -Sir Salomon, or the Cautious
Coxcomb, 1671,” 410. ; and in 1700, he publifhed
“ The Pfalms of David, tranflated from the Vulgat,”
izmo. In Tonfon’s edition of Ovid’s Epiftles, that
of “ Brifeis to Achilles” is faid to be by Sir John
Caryll; and in Nichols’s Seled Colle&ion of Mif-
cellany Poems, vol. II. p. 1. the firft Eclogue of Vir¬
gil is tranflated by the fame ingenious poet. He was
living in 1717, and at that time muft have been a very
old man. See three of his letters in the “ Additions
to Pope,” vol. II. p. 1 14.
_ CARYOCAR, in botany : A genus of the tetragy-
nia order, belonging to the polyandria clafs of plants.
The calyx is quinquepartite, the petals five, the ftyles
more frequently four. The fruit is a plum, with
necleufles, and four furrows netted.
CARYOPHYLLiEI, in botany, the name of a ve¬
ry numerous family or order in Linnaeus’s fragments of
a natural method : containing, befides the clafs of the
fame name in Tournefort, many other plants, which
from their general appearance feem pretty nearly al¬
lied to it. The following are the genera, ni'vz. Agro-
ftema, Cucubalus, Dianthus, Drypis, Gypfophila,
Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Velazia, Alfine, Arenaria,
Bufonia, Ceraftium, Cherleria, Glinus, Holofteum,
Loeftingia, Moehringia,Polycarpon, Sagina, Spergula,
Stellaria, Minuartia, Mollugo, Ortegia, Pharnaceum,
Queria. All the plants of this order are herbaceous,
E e 2 and
CAR [ 220 ] CAS
Caryophyl. and mo illy annual. Some of the creeping kinds do
. luH’ not rife an inch, and the tallell exceed not feven or
' eight feet. See Botany, feft. vi. 22.
CARYOPHYLLUS, the pink, in .botany. See
Dianthus.
Caryophyllus, the clove-tree, in botany : A
genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the poly-
andria clafs of plants ; and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 19th order, Hefperlde/e. The corolla is
tetrapetalous ; the calyx tetraphyllous ; the berry
monofpermous below the ‘receptacle of the flower.
Of this there is but one fpecies, viz. the aroma-
ticus, which is a native of the Molucca iflands, par¬
ticularly of Amboyna, where it is principally cul¬
tivated. The clove-tree refembles, in its bark, the
olive ; and is a^out the height of the laurel, which it
alfo refembles in its leaves. No verdure is ever feen
under it. It has a great number of branches, at the
extremities of which are produced vaft quantities of
flowers, that are firft white, then green, and at laft
pretty red and hard. When they arrive at this de¬
gree of maturity, they are, properly fpeaking, cloves.
As they dry, they aflame a dark yellowifh caft ; and,
when gathered, become of a deep brown. The fea-
fon for gathering the cloves is from October to Fe¬
bruary. The boughs of the trees are then ftrongly
fliaken, or the cloves beat down with long reeds.
Large cloths are fpread to receive them, and they are
afterwards either dried in the fun or in the fmoke of
the bamboo-cane. The cloves which efcape the no¬
tice of thofe who gather them, or are purpofely left
upon the tree, continue to grow, till they are about an
inch in thicknefs ; and thefe falling off, produce new
plants, which do not bear in lefs than eight or nine
years. Thofe which are called mother-cloves are infe¬
rior to the common fort; but are preferved in fugar
by the Dutch ; and, in long voyages, eat after their
meals, to promote digeftion.
The clove, to be in perfedlion, mufl be full fized,
heavy, oily, and eafily broken ; of a fine fmell, and of
a hot aromatic tafte, fo as almoft to burn the throat.
It (hould make the fingers fmart when handled, and
leave an oily moiflure upon them when prefled. In
the Eaft Indies, and in fame parts of Europe, it is fo
much admired as to be thought an indifpenfable ingre¬
dient in almoft every difh. It is put into their food,
liquors, wines, and enters likewife the compofition of
their perfumes. Confidcred as medicines, cloves are
very hot, ftimulating^ aromatics ; and poflefs in an
eminent degree the general virtues of fubftances of
this clafs. Their pungency refides in their refin ;
or rather in a combination of refin with effential oil:
for the fpirituous extradl is very pungent; but if the
oil and the refin contained in this extradl are fepa-
rc.ed from each other by diftillation, the oil will be
very mild ; and any pungency which it does retain,
proceeds from fame fmall portion of adhering refin,
and the remaining refin will be infipid. No plant, or
part of any plant, contains fuch a quantity of oil as
eloves do. From 16 ounces Newman obtained by di-
flillation two ounces and two drams, and Hoffman
obtained an ounce and an half of oil from two ounces
of the fpice. The oil is fpecifically heavier than wa¬
ter. Cloves acquire weight by imbibing water ; and
this they will do at fome coufiderable diffance. The
Dutch, who trade in cloves, make a confiderable ad Caryota
vantage by knowing this fecret. They fell them al- , II
ways by weight ; and when a bag of cloves is order- ^ a-Nova.
ed, they hang it, for feveral hours before it is fent in,
over a veffel of water, at about two feet diftance from
the furface. This will add many pounds to the weight,
which the unwaiy purchafer pays for on the fpot.
This is fometimes pra&ifed in Europe, as well as in
the fpice iflands : but the degree of moifture mull be
more carefully watched in the latter ; for there a bag
of cloves will, in one night’s time, attract fo much wa¬
ter, that it may be preffed out ox them by fqueezing
them with the hand.
The clove tree is never cultivated in Europe. At
Amboyna the company have allotted the inhabitants
4000 parcels of land, on each of which they were at
firll allowed, and about the year 1720 compelled, to
plant about 125 trees, amounting in all to 500,000.
Each of thefe trees produces annually on an average
inore than two pound's of cloves ; and confjsquently
the colle&ive produce muff weigh more than a mil¬
lion. The cultivator is paid with the fpecie that is
conflantly returned to the company, and receives fome
unbleached cottons which are brought from Coroman¬
del.
C A RYOT A, in botany: A genus belonging to the
natural order of Palma The male calyx is, common,
the carolla tripartite ; the ftamina very numerous: the
female calyx the fame; the corolla tripertite; one
pellil, and a difpermous berry.
CASA, in ancient and middle-age writers, is ufed
to denote a cottage or houfe.
Casa Santa, denotes the chapel of the holy virgin at
Loretto.—The Santa Cafa is properly the houfe, or
rather chamber, in which the blefled virgin is faid to
have been born, where fhe was betrothed to her fpoufe
Jofeph, where the angel faluted her, the Holy Ghofl:
overfhadowed her, and by confequence where the Son
of God was conceived or incarnated. Of this building
the Catholics tell many wonderful ftories too childilh
to tranferibe. The Santa Caja or holy chamber con-
fifts of one room, forty-four fpans long, eighteen
broad, and twenty-three high. Over the chimney, in
a niche, Hands the image called the great Madona or
Lady, four feet high, made of cedar, and, as they fay,
wrought by St Luke, who was a carver as well as a
phyfician. The mantle or robe fhe has on, is covered
with innumerable jewels of ineftimable value. She
has a crown, given her by Louis XIII. of France, and
a little crown for her fon.
CASAL, a ftrong town of Italy in Mountferrat,
with a citadel and a bifhop’s fee. It was taken by
the French from the Spaniards in 1640; and the duke
of Mantua fold it to the French in 1681. In 1695 it
was taken by the allies, who demolifhed the fortifica¬
tions ; but the, French retook it, and fortified it
again. The king of Sardinia became mafter of it in
1706, from whom the French took it in 1745 ; how¬
ever, the king of Sardinia got poffeflion again in 1746.
It is feated on the river Po, in E. Long. 8. 37. N. Laf.
54- ?• ;
CASAL-Magglore, a fmall ftrong town of Italy, in-
the duchy of Milan, feated on the river Po. E. Long.
11. 5. N. Lat. 45. 6.
CASA-NOVA (Marc Antony), a Latin poet, born
1 at
CAS [ 221 1 CAS
Cafan at Rome, fucceeded particularly m epigrams. The
! r poems he compofed in honour of the illuftrious
. °n’ men of Rome are alfo much efteemed. He died in
1527.
CASAN, a confiderable town of Afia, and capital
of a kingdom of the fame name in the Ruffian em¬
pire, with a ftrong caftle, a citadel, and an archbi-
ihop’s fee. The countiy about it is very fertile in all
forts of fruits, corn, and pulfe. It carries on a great
trade in furs, and furnifhes wrood for the building of
fhips. The kingdom of Cafan is bounded on the'north
by Permia, on the eaft by Siberia, on the fouth by the
river Wolga, and on the weft by the province of Mof-
cow. E. Long. 53. 25. N. Lat. 55. 38.
CASAS (Bartholomew de las), biffiop of Chiapa,
diftinguiftied for his humanity and zeal for the conver-
fion of the Indians, was born at Seville in 1474; and
went with his father, who failed to America with
Chnftopher Columbus in 1493. At his return to
Spain he embraced the ftate of an ecclefiaftic, and ob¬
tained a curacy in the ifland of Cuba; but fame time
after quitted his cure in order to procure liberty for
the Indians, whom he faw treated by the Spaniards
in the moft cruel and barbarous manner, which natu¬
rally gave them an unconquerable averfion to Chrifti-
anity. Bartholomew exerted himfelf with extraor¬
dinary zeal, for 50 years together, in his endeavours
to perfuade the Spaniards that they ought to treat the
Indians with equity and mildnefs ; for which he fuf-
fered a number of perfecutions from his countrymen.
At laft the court, moved by his continual remon-
ftrances, made laws in favour of the Indians, and gave
orders to the governors to obferve them, and fee
* See the them executed *. He died at Madrid in 1566, aged
1 ^ticle 92. He wrote feveral works, which breathe nothing
I Mexico. {jut humanity and virtue. The principal of them are,
1. An account of the deftruftion of the Indies. 2. Se¬
veral treatifes in favour of the Indies, againft Dr Se¬
pulveda, who wrote a book to juftify the inhuman bar¬
barities committed by the Spaniards. 3. A very curi¬
ous, and now fcarce, work in Latin, on this queftion,
“ Whether kings or princes can, confiftently with
confcience, or in virtue of any right or title, alienate
their fubjedts, and place them under the dominion of
another fovereign i”
CASATI (Paul), a learned Jefuit, born at Placentia
in 1617, entered early among the Jefuits; and, after
having taught mathematics and divinity at Rome, vras
fent into Sweden to queen Chriftina, whom he pre¬
vailed on to embrace the popiffi religion. He wrote,
I. Vacuumprofcriptum. 2. Terra machims mota. 3. Me-
chanicorum, Ubri 0S0. 4. De Igne Dlflertatimcs ; which
is much efteemed. 5. De Angells Dlfputatio Theolog.
6. Hydrojlatica Difertat tones. 7. Optica Difputationes :
It is remarkable that he wrote this treatife on optics
at 88 years of age, and after he was blind. He alfo
wrote feveral books in Italian.
CASAUBON (Ifaac), was born at Geneva in 1559;
and Henry IV. appointed him his library-keeper in
II 1603. After this prince’s death, he went into Eng¬
land with Sir Henry Wotton, ambaffador from King
James I. where he was kindly received and engaged
in writing againft Baronius’s annals: he died not long
after this, in 1614; and was interred inAVeftminfter-
abbey, where a monument was ere&ed to him. He Cafaubon
was greatly ikilled in the Greek, and in criticifm ; c^
publiftied feveral valuable commentaries; and recei- ... ^  j
ved the higheft elogiums from all his cotemporaries.
Casaubon (Meric), fon of the preceding, was born
at Geneva in 1599. He was bred at Oxford, and
took the degree of mailer of arts in 1621. The fame
year he publiftied a book in defence of his father againft
the calumnies of certain Roman Catholics; which
gained him the favour of King James I. and a conii-
derable reputation abroad. He was made prebendaiy
of Canterbury by archbiftiop Laud. In the beginning
of the civil war he loft all his fpiritual promotions, but
ftill continued to publifli excellent works. Oliver Crom¬
well, then lieutenant-general of the parliament’s forces,
would have employed his pen in writing the hiftory of
the late war ; but he declined it, owning, that his
fubject would oblige him to make fuch refledlions as
would be ungrateful, if not injurious, to bis lordftiip.
Notwithftanding this anfwer, Cromwell, fenfible of his
worth, ordered three or four hundred pounds to be
paid him by a bookfeller in London whofe name was
Cromwell, on demand, without requiring from him
any acknowledgment of his benefadlor. But this offer
he rejected, though his circumftances were then mean.
At the fame time it was propofed by his friend Mr
Greaves, who belonged to the library at St James’s,
that, if Cafaubon would gratify Cromwell in the re-
queft above mentioned, all his father’s books which
were then in the rpyal library, having been purchafed
by King James, ftiould be reftored to him, and a pen-
fion of 300 /. a-year paid to the family as long as the
youngeft fon of Dr Cafaubon fhould live; but this alfo
was refufed. He likewife refufed handfome offers
from Chriftina queen of Sweden, being determined to
fpend the remainder of his life in England. At the
reftoration he recovered all his preferments, and con¬
tinued writing till his death in 1671. He was the au¬
thor of an Englifti tranflation of Marcus Aurelius An¬
toninus’s meditations, and of Lucius Florus; editions
of feveral of the claffics, with notes j a treatife of ufe
and cuftom; a treatife of enthufiafm : with many
other works; and he left a- number of MSS. to the
univerfity of Oxford.
CASAURINA, in botany: A genus of the mo-
nandria order, belonging to the monoecia clafs of
plants. The male has the calyx of the amentum; the
corolla a bipartite fmall feale. The female has a calyx
of the amentum, no corolla ; the ftyle bipartite.
CASCADE, a fteep fall of water from a higher in¬
to a lower place. The word is French, formed of the
Italian cafcata, which fignified the fame ; of cafe are.
to fall; and that from the Latin cade re..
Cafcades are either natural, as that at Tivoli, &c.
or artificial, as thofe of Verfailles, &c. and either fai¬
ling with gentle defeent, as thofe of Sceaux; or in
form of a buffet, as at Trianon ; or down fteps, in
form of a perron, as at St Clou; or from bafon to
bafon, &c.
CASCAIS, a town of Eftremadura in Portugal, fi-
tuated at the mouth of the river Tagus, 17 miles eaft
of Liibon. W. Long. 10. 15. N. Lat. 38.40.
CASCARILLA. See Clutia and Croton.
CASE, among grammarians, implies the different
inftedtiors
c A s. , . 1- 22
Cafe inflexions or terminations of nouns, ferving to ex-
II prefs the different relations they bear to each other,
Cai e ' and to the things they reprefent. See Grammar.
Case alfo denotes a receptacle for various articles ;
as a cafe of knives, of lancets, of piftdls, &c.
Case, in printing, a large flat oblong frame pla¬
ced aflope, divided into feveral compartments or little
•fquare cells; in each of which are lodged a number of
types or letters of the fame kind, whence the compofi-
tor takes them out, each as he needs it, to compofe his
matter. See Printixg.
Case is alfo ufed for a certain numerous quantity
of divers things. Thus a cafe of crown-glafs contains
ufually 24 tables, each table being nearly circular,
and about three feet fix-inches' diameter; of Newcaftle
glafs, 35 tables ; of Normandy glafs, 25.
Ca&r-Hardenmg cf Iron, is a fuperficial converfion
of that metal into fteel, by the ordinary method of
.converfion, namely by cementation with vegetable or
animal coals. This operation is generally praftifed
upon fmall pieces of iron wrought into tools and in-
ftruments to which a fuperficial converfion is fufficient;
and it may be performed conveniently by' putting the
pieces of iron to be cafe-hardened, together with the
cement, into an iron box, which is to be clofelyfliut and
expofed to a red heat during fome hours. By this
cementation a certain thicknefs .from the furface of
the iron will be converted into fteel, and a proper hard-
mefs may be afterwards given by hidden extinction of
the heated pieces of converted iron in a cold fluid.
See Steel.
Case-SIoI, in the military art, mufkct-balls, ftones,
old iron, &c. put into cafes, and ftiot out of great
guns.
CASEMENT, or Casemate, in architeXure, a
hollow moulding, which fome architeXs make one-
fixth of a circle, and others one-fourth.
Casement is alfo ufed in building, for a little
moveable window, ufually within a larger, being made
to open or turn on hinges.
CASERN, in fortification, lodgings built in garri-
fon-towns, generally near the rampart, or in the wafte
places of the town, for lodging foldiersof thegarrifon.
There are ufually two beds in each cafern for fix fol-
diers to lie, who mount the guard alternately; the
third part being always on duty.
CASERTA, an epifcopal town of Italy in the king¬
dom of Naples, and in the Terra di-Lavoro, with the
title of a duchy, feated at the foot of a mountain of
the fame name, in E. Long. 15. 5. N. Lat. 41. 5.
CASES (Peter-James), of Paris, the moft eminent
painter of the French fchool; the churches of Paris
* and of Verfailles abound with his works. He died in
1754> aged 79-
CASH, in a commercial ftyle, fignifies the ftock or
ready money which a merchant or other perfon has in
his prefent difpofal to negociate; fo called from the
French term cai/fc, i. e. cfx/l or coffer for the keeping
of money.
M. Savary fhows, that the management of the cafh
of a company is the moft confiderable article, and that
whereon its good or ill fuccefs chiefly depends.
CASH-Book. See Book-keeping.
CASHEL, or Cashil, a town of Ireland in the
County of Tipperary, and province of Munfter, with
2 ] CAS
an archbifhop’s fee. The ruins of the old cathedral Calhel
teftify its having been an extenfive as well as handfome :i ;
Gothic ftruXure, boldly towering on the celebrated Caflinnre.
rock of Cafliel, which taken together form a magni- v
ficent objeX, and bear honourable teftimony to the la¬
bour and ingenuity, as well as the piety and zeal, of
its former inhabitants. It is feen at a great diftance,
and in many direXions. Adjoining it are the ruins
of the chapel of Cormac M‘Culinan, at once king and
archbifhop of Cafliel, fuppofed to be the firft ftone
building in Ireland ; and feems, by its rude imitation
of pillars and capitals, to have been copied after the
Grecian architeXure, and long to have preceded that
which is ufually called Gothic. Cormac M‘Culinan
was a prince greatly celebrated by the Irifli hiftorians
for his learning, piety, and valour. H^ wrote, in his
native language, a hiitoiy oflreland, commonly called
the Pfalter of Cajhel, which is ftill extant, and contains
the moft authentic account we have of the annals of
the country to that period, about the year goo. On the
top of the rock of Cafliel, and adjoining the cathedral,
is a lofty round tower, which proudly defied the too
fuccefsful attempts of archbifliop Price, who in this
century unroofed and thereby demoliflied the ancient
cathedral founded by St Patrick. In the choir are
the monuments of Myler Magrath, archbifliop of this
fee, in the reign of queen Elifabeth, and fome other
curious remains of antiquity. Cafliel was formerly the
royal feat and metropolis of the kings of Munfter;
and on the afcent to the cathedral is a large ftone on
which every new king of Munfter was, as the inhabi¬
tants report from tradition, folemnly proclaimed. Ca-
ftiel is at prefent but fmall to what we may fuppofe it
to have been in ancient days. The archbifliop’s pa¬
lace is a fine building. Here is a very handfome mar¬
ket houfe, a felfions houfe, the county infirmary, a
charter fchool for twenty boys and the fame number
of girls, and a very good barrack for two companies of
foot. The prefent archbifliop Dr Agar hath finiflied
a very elegant church begun by his predeceflbr. W.
Long. 7. 36. N. Lat. 52. 16.
CASHEW-nut. See Anacardium.
CASHIER, the cafli-keeper ; he who is charged
with the receiving and paying the debts of a fociety.—
In the generality of foundations, the caihier is called
treafurer.
Cashiers of the Bank, are officers who fign the notes
that are iffued out, examine and mark them when re¬
turned for payment,"Jsfr.
CASHMIRE, a province of Afia in the dominions
of the Mogul. It is fituated at the extremity of Hin-
doftan, northward of Lahore, and is bounded on the
one fide by a ridge of the great Caucafus, and on the
other by the little Tartarian Thibet and Moultan.
The extent of it is not very confiderable; but being
girt in by a zone of hills, and elevated very confider-
ably above an arid plain, which ftretches many miles
around it, the fcenes which it exhibits are wild and
piXurefque. Rivers, hills, and valleys, charmingly di-
verfify the landfcape. Here, Mr Sullivanf informs us,f PLilofo-
a cafcade rurties from a foaming precipice; there zphh.il
tranquil ftream glides placidly along; the tinkling rill,Rhapfi-
too, founds amidft the groves ; and the feathered cho-dlts'
lifters fing the fong of love, clofe flickered in the
glade.
At
CAS [ 223 1 CAS
Caflimire At what time Cafhmire came under the dominion
A of the Mogul government, and how long, and in what
: a il’g‘ manner it was independent, before it was annexed to the
territories of the houfe of Timur, are points that are
beyond our prefent purpofe. Though inconfiderable as
to its revenues, it was uniformly held in the higheft
eftimation by the emperors of Hindoftan. Thither
they repaired, in the plenitude of their greatnefs, when
the affairs of Hate would admit of their abfence ; and
there they divefted themfelves of form and all the op-
preffive ceremony of ftate. The royal manner of tra¬
velling to Cafhmire was grand, though tedious and un¬
wieldy, and fhowed, in ah eminent degree, the fplen-
dour and magnificence of an eaftern potentate. Au-
rungzebe, we are told, feldom began his march to
that country, for a march certainly it was to be cal¬
led, without an efcort of 80,000 or 100,000 fighting
men, befides the gentlemen of his houfehold, the at¬
tendants of his feraglio, and moft of his officers of
ftate. Thefe all continued with him during the time
he was on the road, which generally was a month :
but no fooner was he arrived at the entrance of thofe
aerial regions, than, with a feledt party of friends, he
feparated from the reft of his retinue, and with them
afcended the defiles which led him to his Eden.
The temperature of the air of Cafhmire, elevated
as it is fo much above the adjoining country, together
with the ftreams which continually pour from its moun¬
tains, enables the hufbandman to cultivate with fuccefs
the foil he appropriates to agriculture ; whilft the gar¬
dener’s labour is amply repaid in the abundant produce
of his fruit. In fhort, nature wears her gayeft cloath-
ing in this enchanting fpot. The rivers fupply the in¬
habitants with almoft every fpecies of fifh; the hills
yield fweet herbage for the cattle ; the plains are co¬
vered with grain of different denominations.; and the
woods are ftored with variety of game. The Cafh-
mireans, according to our author, feem a race diftindt
from all others in the Eaft : their perfons are more
elegant, and their complexions more delicate and more
tinged with red.
On the decadence of the Mogul powrer in Hindo¬
ftan, Cafhmire felt fame of the ravages of war. It is
now however in peace ; and the inhabitants are defi-
rous of keeping it fo. They are fprightly and inge¬
nious ; and have feveral curious manufadfures much
valued in India. They are all Mahometans <jr Idolaters.
Cafhmire is the capital town.
CASIMIR, the name of feveral kings of Poland.
See (Hijlory of) Poland.
Casimir (Matthias Sorbiew'fki), a Polifh Jefuit,
born in He was a moft excellent poet; and
is, fays M. Baillet, an exception to the general rule
of Ariftotle and the other ancients, wdiich teaches us
to expedt nothing ingenious and delicate from northern
climates. His odes, epodes, and epigrams, have been
thought not inferior to, thofe of the fineft wits of
Greece and Rome. Dr Watts lias t ran flawed one or
two of his fmall pieces, which are added to his Lyric
Poems. He died at Warfaw in 1640, aged 43. There
have been many editions of his poems, the bell of which
is that of Paris, 1759.
CASING of Timber-work, among builders, is
the plaftering the houfe all over the outfide with mor¬
tar, and then ftriking it while wet by a ruler, with
the corner of a trowel, to make it referable the joints Calk
of free-ftone. Some diredt it to be done upon heart- II
laths, becaufe the mortar would, in a little time, de- Ca^°n‘ f
cay the fap-laths; and to lay on the mortar in two
thickneffes, a fecond before the firft is- dry.
CASK, a piece of defenfive armour wherewith to
cover the head and neck; otherwife called the head-
piece and helmet*. The word is French, cafque, from ' See
caficum or cajftcust a diminutive of cajjis a helmet. Helmed
Gendre obferves, that anciently, in France, the gens
d’arms all wore m/L. The king wore a ca/k gilt; the
dukes and counts filvered ; gentlemen of extraction
polifhed Heel; and the reft plain iron.
The calk is frequently feen on ancient medals, where
we may obferve great varieties in the'form and fafhion
thereof; as the Greek fafhion, the Roman fafhion, &c.
F. Joubert makes it the moft ancient of all the co¬
verings of the head, as well as the moft univerfah
Kings, emperors, and even gods themfelves, are feen
therewith. That which covers the head, of Rome has
ufually two wings like thofe of Mercury 1 and that of
fome kings is furnifhed with horns like thofe of Jupiter
Ammon; and fometimes barely bulls or rams horns, to
exprefs uncommon force.
Cask, in heraldry, the fame with helmet. See
Heraldry, n° 43'.
Cask, a veffel of capacity, for preferving liquors of
divers kinds; and fometimes alfo dry goods, as fugar,
almonds, &c.— A calk, of fugar is a barrel of that
commodity, containing from, eight to eleven hundred
weight. A calk of almonds is about three hundred
weight.
CASKET, in a general fenfe, a little coffer or ca¬
binet. See Cabinet.
Caskets, in the fea language, are fmall ropes made
of linnet, and faftened to gromets, or little rings upon
the yards; their ufe is to. make'fall the fail to the yard
when it is to be furled.
CASLON (William), eminent in an art of the Bio?. Brit.
greateft confequence to literature, the art of letter-and 'inec~'
founding, was born k 1692, in that part of the town g^ver
of Hales Owen which is fituated in Shropfhire. Tho’ by Mi- *
he juftly attained the character of being the Coryphas- chols.
us in .that employment, he was not brought up to the
bufinefs > and it is pbferved by Mr Mores, that this
handy-work is fo concealed among the artificers of it,
that he could not difcover that any one had taught it
to another, but every perfon who had ufed it had
learned it of his own genuine inclination. Mr Gallon,
ferved a regular apprenticelbip to an engraver of orna¬
ments on gun-barrels; and after the expiration of his
term, carried on this trade in Vine-ftreet, near the
Minories. He did not, however, folely confine his,
ingenuity to that inftrument; but employed himfelf
likewife in making tools for the book-binders, and for
the chafing of fiKer plate. Whilft he was engaged in
this bufinefs, the elder Mi Bowyer accidentally faw, in
a bookfeller’s fhop, the letteiing of a book uncom¬
monly neat; and inquiring who the artill was by whom
the letters were made, was hence induced to feek an
acquaintance with Mr Cafton. Not long after, Mr
Bowyer took Mr Caflon to Mr James’s foundery, in
Bartholomew-clofe. Gallon had never before that time
feen any part of the bufinefs; and being alked by his
friend, if he thought he could undertake to cut types,,
i ’ he
CAS [22
lie requeued a fingle day to confider the matter, and
then replied that he had no doubt but he could. Upon
this anfwer, Mr Bowyer, Mr Bettenham, and Mr Watts
had fuch a confidence in his abilities, that they lent
him 500!. to begin the undertaking, and he applied
bimfelf to it with equal affiduity and fuccefs. In 1720,
the fociety for promoting Chriftian knowledge, in con¬
sequence of a reprefentation from Mr Solomon Negri,
a native of Damafcns in Syria, who was well Ikilled in
the Oriental tongues, and had been profefibr of Ara¬
bic in places of note, deemed it expedient to print, for
the ufe of the Eaftern churches, the New Teftament
and Pfalter in the Arabic language. Thefe were in¬
tended for the benefit of the poor Chriftians in Palef-
tine, Syria, Mefopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, the
conftitution of which countries did not permit the ex-
ercife of the art of printing. Upon this occafion Mr
Cafion was pitched upon to cut the fount; in his fpe-
cimens of which he diftinguilhed it by the name of
Engliih Arabic. Under the farther encouragement of'
Mr Bowyer, Mr Bettenham, and Mr Watts, he pro¬
ceeded with vigour in his employment; and he arri¬
ved at length to fuch perfeftion, that he not only
freed us from the neceffity of importing types from
Holland, but in the beauty and elegance of thofe made
by him he fo far exceeded the produftions of. the beft
artificers, that his workmanlhip was frequently export¬
ed to the Continent. In fhort, his foundery became,
in procefs of time, the moft capital one that exifts in
this or in foreign countries. Having acquired opu¬
lence in the courfe of his employment, he was put into
the commiffion of the peace for the county of Middle-
fex. Towards the latter end of his life, his eldeft fon
being in partnerfhip with him, he retired in a great
meafure from the adtive execution of bufinefs. His
death happened in January 1766.
CASPIAN sea, a large lake of falt-water in Afia,
bounded by the province of Aftrakan on the north,
and by part of Perfia On the fouth, call, and weft.
It is upwards of 400 miles long from fouth to north,
and 300 broad from eaft to weft. This fea forms fe-
veral gulfs, and embraces between Aftrakan and A-
llrabad an incredible number of fmall iflands. Its bot¬
tom is mud, but fometimes mixed with fhells. At the
diftance of fome German miles from land it is 500 fa¬
thoms deep ; but on approaching the fhore it is every
where fo (hallow, that the fmalleft vefiels, if loaded,
are obliged to remain at a diftance.
When we confider that the Cafpian is inclofed on
all fides by land, and that its banks are in the neigh¬
bourhood of very high mountains, we eafily fee why
the navigation in it (hould be perfectly different from
that in every other fea. There are certain winds that
domineer over it with fuch abfolute fway, that vefiels
are often deprived of every refource ; and in the whole
extent of it there is not a port that can truly be called
fafe. The north, north-eaft, and eaft winds, blow moft
frequently, and occafion the moft violent tempefts. A-
long the eaftern (hore the eaft winds prevail; for which
reafon vefiels bound from Perfia to Aftrakan always di-
reft their courfe along this (hore.
Although the extent of the Cafpian Sea is immenfe,
the variety of its productions is exceedingly fmall.
This undoubtedly proceeds from its want of communi¬
cation with the ocean, which cannot impart to it any
N° 66.
4 ] CAS
portion of its inexhauftible (tores. But the animals Cafy’a
which this lake nouriftres multiply to fuch a degree,‘-•’’■v—
that the Ruffians, who alone are in condition to make
them turn to account, jirftly confider them as a never
failing fource of profit and wealth. It will be under-
flood that we fpeak of the fifh of the Cafpian and of
its fiflreries, which make the foie occupation and prin¬
cipal trade of the people inhabiting the banks of the
Wolga and of the Jai'k. This bufinefs is diftinguifhed
into the great and lefler fiftreries. The fiftr compre¬
hended under the firft divifion, fuch as the fturgeon and
others, abound in all parts of the Cafpian as well as in
the rivers that communicate with it, and which they
afcend at fpawning-time. The fmall fifties, fuch as the
falmon and many others, obferve the general law of
quitting the fait waters for the frefti, nor is there an
inftance of one of them remaining conftantly in the
fea.
Seals are the only quadrupeds that inhabit the Caf¬
pian ; but they are there irf fuch numbers as to afford
the means of fubfiftence to many people in that coun¬
try as well as in Greenland. The varieties of the fpe-
cies are numerous, diverfified, however, only by the
colour. Some are quite black, others quite white ;
there are fome whitifh, fome yellowifti, fome of a moufe-
colour, and fome ftreaked like a tjger. They crawl by
means of their fore-feet upon the iflands, where they
become the prey of the fiftiermen, who kill them with /
long clubs. As foon as one is difpatched, he is fuc-
ceeded by feveral who come to the affiftance of their
unhappy companion, but come only to (hare his fate.
They are exceedingly tenacious of life, and endure
more than thirty hard blows before they die. They
will even live for feveral days after having received
many mortal wounds. They are moft terrified by fire
and fmoke ; and as foon as they perceive them, retreat
with the utmoft expedition to thk. fea. Thefe animals
grow fo very fat, that they look rather like oil-bags
than animals. At Aftrakan is made a fort of greyfoap
with their fat mixed with pot-afhes, which is much va¬
lued for its property of cleanfing and taking greafe
from woollen fluffs. The greateft numbers of them are
killed in fpring and autumn. Many fmall veffels go
from Aftrakan merely to catch feals.
If the Cafpian has few quadrupeds,'it has in pro¬
portion (till fewer of thofe natural productions which
are looked upon as proper only to the fea. There
have never been found in it any zoophytes, nor any
animal of the order of molufca. The fame may al-
moft be faid of (hells; tlfle only ones found being three
or four fpecies of cockle, the common mufcle, fome
fpecies of fnails, and one or two others.
But to compenfate this fterility, it abounds in birds
, of different kinds. Of thofe that frequent the (hores
there are many fpecies of the goofe and duck' kind,
of the ftork and heron, and many others <)f the wader
tribe. Of birds properly aquatic, it contains the
grebe, the crefted diver, the pelican, the cormorant,
and almoft every fpecies of gull. Crows are fo fond
of fi(h, that they haunt the (hores of the Cafpian in.
prodigious multitudes.
The waters of this lake are very impure, the great
number of rivers that run into it, and the nature of its
bottom, affe&ing it greatly. It is true, that in general
the waters are fait; but though the whole weftern (hore
extends
CAS [ 125 ] CAS
Caftan, extends From the 46th to the 35th degree of north lati-
‘"•""v ' tude, and though one might Conclude from analogy
that thefe waters would contain a great deal of fait,
yet experiments prove the contrary: and it is certain
that the faltnefs of this fea is diminiihed by the north,
north-eaft, and north-weft, winds; although we may
with equal reafon conclude, that it owes its faltnefs to
the mines of fait which lie along its two banks, and
which are either already known or will be known to
pofterity. The depth of thefe waters alfo diminiihes
gradually as you approach the fltores, and their faltnefs
in the fame way grows left in proportion to their proxi¬
mity to the land, the north winds not unfrequently
caufing the rivers to difcharge into it vaft quantities of
troubled water impregnated with clay. Thefe varia¬
tions which the lea is expofed to are more or left con-
fiderable according to the nature of the winds ; they
afFe£t the colour of the river waters to a certain dift-
ance from the ftrore, till thefe mixing w'ith thofe of the
fea, which then refume the afcendency, the fine green
colour appears, which is natural to the ocean, and to
all thofe bodies of water that communicate with it.
It is well known, that bdides its fait tafte, all fea-
water has a fenfible bitternefs, which muft be attri¬
buted not only to the fait itfelf, but to the mixture of
different fubftances that unite with it, particularly to
different forts of alum, the ordinary effe£t of different
combinations of acids. Befides this, the waters of the
Cafpian have another tafte, bitter too, but quite di-
ftinft, which affefts the tongue with an impreffion
funilar to that made by the bile of animals; a property
which is peculiar'to this fea, though not equally fen¬
fible at all feafons. When the north and north-weft
winds have raged for a confiderable time, this bitter
tafte is fenfibly felt; but when the wind has been fouth,
very imperfe&ly. We ftiall endeavour to account for
this phenomenon.
The Cafpian is furrounded on its weftern fide by the
mountains of Caucafus, which extend from Derbent
to the Black Sea. Thefe mountains make a curve
near Aftrakan, and direfting their courfe towards the
eaftern fhore of the Cafpian, lofe themfelves near the
mouth of the JaVk, where they become fecondary
mountains, being difpofed in llrata. As Caucaftis is
an inexhauftible magazine of combuftible fubftances, it
confequently lodges an aftontfiiing quantity of metals
in its bowels. Accordingly, along the foot of thisim-
menfe chain of"*mountains, we fometimes meet with
warm fprings, fometimes fprings of naphtha of dif¬
ferent quality; fometimes we find native fulphur,
mines of vitriol, or lakes heated by internal fires. Now
the foot of mount Caucafus forming the immediate
weftern fhore- of the Cafpian Sea, it is very eafy to
- imagine that a great quantity of the conftituent parts
of the former muft be communicated to the latter:
but it is chiefly to the naphtha, which abounds fo much
in the countries which furround this fea, that we muft ,
‘ attribute the true caufe of the bitterneft peculiar
to its waters ; for it is certain that this bitumen flow's
from the mountains, fometimes in all its purity, and
fometimes mixed with other fubflances which it ac¬
quires in its paffage through fubterranean channels,
from the moft interior parts of thefe mountains to the
fea, where it falls to the bottom by its fpecific gravity.
It is certain too, that the north and north-weft winds
Von. IV. Pakt I.
detach the greateft quantitieiof this naphtha ; whence Cafpiati
it is evident that the bitter tafte muft be moll fenfible Calyana
when thefe winds prevail. We may alfa comprehend ,
why this tafte is not fo ftrong at the furface or in the
neighbourhood of the (bore, the waters there being
left impregnated with fait, and the naphtha which is
united wuth the water by the fait, being then either
carried to a diftance by the winds or precipitated to the
bottom.
But it is not a bitter tafte alone that the naphtha
communicates to the waters of the Cafpian : thefe wa¬
ters werq analyfed by M. Gmelian, and found to con¬
tain, befides the common fea-fait, a confiderable pro¬
portion of Glauber-falt, intimately united wfith the
former, and which is evidently a produ&ion of the
naphtha.
As the waters of the Cafpian have no outlet, they
are difcharged by fubterranean canals through the
earth, w'here they depofit beds of fait; the furface of
w'hich correfponds with that of the level of the fea.
The two great defarts which extend from it to the call
and weft are chiefly compofed of a faline earth, in
which the fait is formed by efflorefcence into regular
cryftals ; for which reafon fait (bowers and dews are
exceedingly common in that neigbourhood. The fait
of the marlhes at Aftrakan, and that found in efflore¬
fcence in the defarts, is by no means pure fea-falt, but
much debafed by the bitter Glauber fait we mentioned
above. In many places indeedit is found with cryftals
of a lozenge fiiape, which is peculiar to it, without
any cubical appearance, the form peculiar to cryftals of
fea-falt.
A great deal has been written on the fuccefllve aug¬
mentation and decreafe of the Cafpian fea, but with
little truth. There is indeed to be perceived in it a
certain rife and fall of its waters; in which, however,
no obfervation has ever difeovered any regularity.
Many fuppofe (and there are ftrong prefumptions in
favour of the fuppofition), that the (bores of the Caf¬
pian were much more extenfive in ancient times than
they are at prefent, and that it once communicated
with the Black Sea. It is probable too, that the level
of this laft fea wrasonce much higher than it is at pre¬
fent. If then it be allowed, that the waters of the
Black Sea, before it procured an exit by the Straits of
Conftantinople, rofe feveral fathoms above their pre¬
fent level, w'hich from many concurring circumftances
may eafily be admitted; it will follow, that all the
plains, of the Crimea, of the Kuman, of the Wolga,
and of the Jaik, and thofe of Great Tartary beyond
the lake of Arat, in ancient times formed .but one fea,
which embraced the northern extremity of Caucafus
by a narrow ftrait of little depth ; the veftiges of which
are ftill obvious in the river Mantyfeh.
CASSADA. SeejATROPHA
CASSANA (Nicolo), called Nicoletto, an emi¬
nent Italian painter, was born at Venice in 1659, and
became a difciple of his father Giovanni Francefco
Caffano, a Genoefe, w ho had been taught the art of
painting by Bernardino Strozzi. He foon diftinguiffl-
ed himfelf not only by the beauty of his colouring,
but by the gracefulnefs of his figures in hiftorical com-
pofitions, as well as in portrait. The moft eminent
perfonages folieited him to enrich their cabinets with
feme of his performances ; and were more particularly
r f defirous
CAS r 226 1 CAS
Caffana. defirous to obtain their portraits, becaufe in that branch
   he excelled beyond competition. The Grand Duke of
Tufcany, who was an excellent judge of merit in all
profeffions, and as liberal an encourager of it, invited
Nicoletto to his court; and he there painted the por¬
traits of that prince and the princefs Violante his con-
fort. Thofe performances procured him uncommon
applaufe, as well as a noble gratuity, and he was em¬
ployed and carefled by the principal nobility of Flo¬
rence. Befide feveral hiftorical fubjedts painted by
this matter while he redded in that city, one was a
very capital defign : The fubjeft of it was the Confpl-
racy of Catiline ; it confifted of nine figures as large as
life, down to the knees; and the two principal figures
were reprefented as with one hand joined in the pre¬
fence of their companions, and in their other hand hold¬
ing a cup of blood. Some of the Englilh nobility on
their travels fat to him for their portraits; which being
fent to London, and highly admired, Nicoletto was
invited to England, with ftrong affurances of a ge¬
nerous reception ; and on his arrival he experienced
the kindnefs, the refpeft, and the liberality, fo peculiar
to the natives of that kingdo^. He had the honour
of being introduced to the prefence of queen Anne,
and to paint her portrait; in which he fucceeded fo
happily, that the queen diftinguifhed him by many
marks of favour and honour ; but he had not the hap-
pinefs to enjoy his good fortune for any length of
time, dying in London, univerfally regretted, in the
year 1713.
Cassana (Giovanni Agoftino), called L’Abate Caf-
fetnay was brother to the preceding, and born in
1664. He was educated along with him by their fa¬
ther Francefco Caflana ; and he finished his ftudies at
Venice, where his brother Nicolo refidedfor fome time.
Although he compofed and defigned hiftorical fubje&s
with expertnefs, and with a corre&nefs of outline equal
■ to his brother ; yet from prudence and fraternal affec¬
tion, he declined to interfere with him, and chofe
therefore to defign and paint all forts of animals and
fruits. In that ftyle he arrived at a high degree of
excellence, imitating nature with exaeftnefs, beauty,
and truth; expreffing the various plumage of his birds,
and the hairs of the different animals with fuch tender-
nefs and delicacy as rendered them eftimable to all
judges and lovers of the art. His works were admit¬
ted into the colleftions of thofe of the firft rank, and
accounted ornaments of thofe repofitories of what is
curious or valuable. He alfo painted fruits of thofe
kinds which were the moft uncommon, or naturally of
odd and Angular colours ; and fuch fillies as feemed
worthy to excite admiration by their unufual form,
colour, or appearance. But befides thofe fubjefts, he
fometimes painted the portraits of particular perfons
of diftinftion, which he defigned, coloured, and touch¬
ed, with the fame degree of merit that was vifible in all
his other performances. At laft he determined to
vifit Genoa, where his family had lived in efteem; and
took with him feveral pictures which he had already
finifhed. His intention was to difplay his generofity,
and to appear as a perfon of more wealth and of great¬
er confequence than he really was; and to fupport that
chara&er, he beftowed his pictures to feveral of the
principal nobility of that city. But, unhappily, he
experienced no grateful return for all that prodigal
munificence ; he reduced himfelf by that vain liberality Caffander
to the moft neceflitous circumftances ; was deprived of W
the means to procure for himfelf even the common ne- Ca“eI' ,
ceffaries of life ; and wafted away the remainder of his ,'~v"
days in the bitternefs of poverty, mifery, and negleft.
CASSANDER, king of Macedon after Alexander
the Great, was the fon of Antipater. He made fe¬
veral conquefts in Greece, abolifiied democracy at
Athens, and gave the government of that ftate to
the orator Demetrius. Olympias, the mother of Alex¬
ander, having caufed Aridseus and his wife Euridyce,
with others of Caffander’s party, to be put to death ; ,
he befieged Pydne, whither the queen had retired, took
it by a ftratagem, and caufed her to be put to death.
He married Theffalonica the fitter of Alexander the
Great; and killed Roxana and Alexander, the wife
and fon of that conqueror. At length he entered into
an alliance with Seleucus and Lyfimachus, againft An-
tigonus and Demetrius ; over whom he obtained a
great victory near Ipfus in Phrygia,. 301 years before
the Chriftian aera, and died three years after, in the 19th
year of his reign.
CASSANDRA, "In fabulous hiftory, the daughter
of Priam and Hecuba, was beloved of Apollo, who
promifed to beftow on her the fpirit of prophecy, pro¬
vided fhe would confent to his love. Caffandra feemed
to accept the propofal; but had no fooner obtained
that gift, than ftie laughed at the tempter, and broke
her word. Apollo, being enraged, revenged himfelf
by caufing no credit be given to her predi£tions;
hence fhe in vain prophefied the ruin of Troy. Ajax,
the fon of Oileus, having ravifhed her in the temple of
Minerva, he was ftruck with thunder. She fell into
the hands of Agamemnon, who loved her to diftrac-
tion ; but in vain did fhe predift that he would be af-
faffinated in his own country. . He was killed, with
her, by the intrigues of Clytemneftra; but their death
was avenged by Oreftes.
CASSANO, a town of Italy in the duchy of Milan,
tendered remarkable by an obftinate battle fought
there between the Germans and French in 1705. It
is fubjeft to the Houfe of Auftria, and is feated on the
river Adda, in E. Long. 10. o. N. Lat. 45. 20.
CASSANO, a town of Italy in Calabria citerior, in
the kingdom of Naples, with a bifhop’s fee. E. Long.
16. 30. N. Lat. 39. 55.
CASSAVI, or Cassada. See Jatropha.
CASSEL, a town of Trench Flanders, and capital
of a chatellany of the fame name: It is feated on a
mountain, where the terrace of the-cattle Is ftill to
be feen ; and from whence there is one of the fineft
profpefts in the world ; for one may fee no lefs than
32 towns, with a great extent of the fea, from whence
itisdiftant 15 miles. E. Long. 2. 27. N. Lat. yo. 48.
Cassel, the capital city of the landgravate of
Heffe-caffel, in the circle of the Upper Rhine in Ger¬
many ; (fee FIesse-cassel). It is divided into the
Old, New, and High towns. The New Town is beft
built, the houfes being of ftone, and the ftreets broad.
The houfes of the Old Town, which is within the
walls, are moftly of timber ; but the ftreets are broad,
and the market-places fpacious. The place is ftrongly
fortified, but the fortifications are not regular. It con¬
tains about 32,000 inhabitants, of whom a great pro¬
portion are French Proteftants. Thefe have eftablifh-
ed
CAS [ 227 ] CAS
ed fevcral manufactories in the place, particularly in
the woollen branch. It is feated on the declivity of a
hill near the river Fulva, in E. Long. 9. 20. N. Lat.
51. 20.
CASSIA, in botany: A genus of the monogynia
order, belonging to the decandria clafs of plants; and
in the natural method ranking under the 33d or¬
der, Lomentacca. The calyx is pentaphyllous ; petals
five; antheras upper, three barren; lower, three-beaked:
a leguminous plant. There are 30 fpecies, all of them
natives of warm climates. The moft remarkable are,
1. The fiftula or purging cafiia of Alexandria. It
is a native of Egypt and both Indies, where it rifes to
the height of 40 or 50 feet, with a large trunk, di¬
viding into many branches, garnifhed with winged
leaves, compofed of five pair of fpear-fhaped lobes,
which are fmooth, having many tranfverfe nerves from
the midrib to the border. The flowers are produced
in long fpikes at the end of the branches, each Handing
upon a pretty long foot-llalk; thefe are compofed,
like the former, of fine yellow concave petals, which
are fucceeded by cylindrical pods from one to two
feet long, with a dark brown woody fliell, having a
longitudinal feam on one fide, divided into many cells
by tranfverfe partitions, each containing one or two
oval, fmooth, compreffed feeds, lodged in a blackifli
pulp, which is ufed in medicine. There are two forts
of this drug in the {hops ; one brought from the Eaft
Indies, the other from the Weft : the canes or pods of
the latter are generally large, rough, thick-rinded, and
the pulp iiaufeous; thofe of the former are lefs,
fmoother, the pulp blacker, and of a fweeter tafte ;
this fort is preferred to the other. Such pods fliould
be chofen as are weighty, new, and do not make a
rattling noife (from the feeds being loofe within them.)
when (haken. The pulp fliould be of a bright finning
■black colour, and a fweet tafte, not harfti, which hap¬
pens from the fruit being gathered before it has grown
fully ripe, or fo.urifii, which it is apt to turn upon keep
ing: it fnould neither be very dry nor very moift, nor
at all mouldy ; which, from its being kept in damp
cellars or moiftened, in order to increafe its weight, it
is very fubject to be. Greateft part of the pulp dif-
folves both in water and in rectified fpirit; and may
be extracted from the cane by either. The fhops em¬
ploy water, boiling the bruifed pod therein, and after¬
wards evaporating the folution to a due confiftence.
This pulp is a gentle laxative medicine, and frequently
given, in a dofe of fome drams, in coftive habits. Some
diredt a dofe of two ounces or more as a cathartic, in
inflammatory cafes, where the more acrid purgatives
have no place ; but in thefe large quantities it gene¬
rally nauieates the ftomach, produces flatulencies, and
fometimes gripings of the bowels, efpecially if the caflia
be not of a very good kind : thefe effe&s may be pre¬
vented by the addition of aromatics, and exhibiting it
in a liquid form. Geoffrey fays, it does excellent fer-
vice in the painful tenfion of the belly, which fome¬
times follows the imprudent ufe of antimonials ; and
that it may be advantageoufiy acuated with the more
acrid purgatives, or antimonial emetics, or employed to
abate their force. Vallifnieri relates, that the purga¬
tive virtue of this medicine is remarkably promoted
by manna ; that a mixture of four drams of caffia and
two of manna, purges as much as twelve drams of cafiia
or thirty-two of manna alone. Sennertus obferves,
that the urine is apt to be turned of a green colour
by the ufe of cafiia: and fometimes, where a large
quantity has been taken, blackifli. This drug gives
name, to an officinal eleftuary, and is an ingredient alfo
in another.
2. The cafiia fenna is a ftirubby plant cultivated in
Perfia, Syria, and Arabia, for the leaves, which form a
confiderable article of commerce. They are of an ob-
long figure, (harp-pointed at the ends, about a quarter
of an inch‘broad, and not a full inch in length, of, a
lively yellowifii green colour, a faint not-very difagree-
ble fmell, and a fubacrid, bitterifii, naufeous tafte.
They are brought from the above places, dried and
picked from the ftalks, to Alexandria in Egypt, and
thence imported into Europe. Some inferior forts are
brought from Tripoli and other places; thefe may
eafily be diftinguiftied by their being either narrower,
longer, and (harper pointed; or larger, broader, and
round pointed, with fmall prominent veins; or large
and obtufe, of a frefli green colour, without any yellow
caft. Senna is a very ufeful cathartic, operating mild¬
ly, and yet effectually ; and, if judicioufiy dofed and
managed, rarely occafioaing the ill confequences which
too frequently follow the exhibition of the (Longer
purges. The only inconveniences complained of in
this drug are, its being apt to gripe, and its naufeous
flavour. The griping quality depends upon a refinous
fubftance, which, like the other bodies of this clafs, is
naturally difpofed to adhere to the coats of the intef-
tines. The more this refin is divided by fuch matters
as take off its tenacity, the lefs adhefive, and confe*
quently the lefs irritating and griping it will prove;
and the lefs it is divided, the more griping: hence
fenna given by itfelf, or infufions made in a very fmall
quantity of fluid, gripe leverely, and purge lefs than
when diluted by a large portion of fuitable menftruum,
or divided by mixing the infufion with oily emulfions.
The ill flavour of this drug is faid to be abated by the
greater wat'er-figwort: but we cannot conceive that
this plant, whofe fmell is manifeftly fetid and its tafte
naufeous and bitter, can at all improve thofe of fenna :
others recommend bohea tea, though neither has this
any confiderable effedt. The fmell of fenna refides in
its more volatile parts, and may be difcharged by
lightly boiling infufions of it made in water : the li¬
quor thus freed from the peculiar flavour of the fenna,
may be eafily rendered grateful to the tafte, by the
addition of any proper aromatic tindture or diftiHed
water. The colleges both of London and Edinburgh
have given feyeral formula: for the exhibition of this
article, fuch as thofe of infufion, powder, tindture, and
eledluary. The dofe of fenna in fubftance, is from a
fcruple to a dram : in infufion, from one to three or
four drams. It has been cuftomary to rejedt the pe¬
dicles of the leaves of fenna as of little or no ufe:
Geoffroy however obferves, that they are not much in¬
ferior in efficacy to the leaves themfelves. The pods
or feed-veffels met with among the fenna brought to
us, are by the college of Bruffels preferred to the leaves:
they are lefs apt to gripe, but proportionably lefs pur¬
gative.
CassiA-Lignea. See Laurus.
CASSIDA, in botany. Scutellaria.
C assida, in zoology, a genus of infedts belonging
F f 2 to
CAS 1 228 ] CAS
^Caffim er tG the order of coleoptera. The feelers are like threads,
Caffine ^ut t^*cker on the outfide; the elytra are marginated;
and'the head is hid under the thorax ; from which lall
p[ate circumftance is derived the name of the genus. Fo-
CXVI. reign countries afford many fine fpecies of them.
Thofe we meet with in thefe parts have fomething
Angular. Their larva, by the help of the two prongs
which are to be found at its hinder extremity, makes
itfelf, with its own excrements, a kind of umbrella,
that flickers it from the fun and rain. When this
umbrella grows over-dry, it parts with it for a new one.
This larva calls its flough feveral times. Thillles and
verticillated plants are inhabited by thefe infe£ts. There
is one fpecies, of which the remarkable chryfalis re-
fembles an armorial efcutcheon. It is that which pro¬
duces our variegated caffida, and is a very lingular one.
Numbers of them are found on the fide of ponds, up¬
on the wild elecampane.
CASSIMER, or Casimer, the name of a thin tweel-
ed woollen cloth, much in falhion for fummer ufe.
CASSIMIRE or Cashmire. See Cashmire.
CASSINE, in botany: A genus of the trigynia or¬
der, belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants; and
rn the natural method ranking under the 23d order,
Dumofa. The calyx is quinquepartite ; the petals are
five ; and the fruit is a trifpermous berry. There are
three fpecies, all of them natives of warm climates.
Of thefe the moll remarkable is the yapon, which is
a native of the maritime parts of Virginia and Caroli¬
na. It riles to the height of ten or twelve feet, fend¬
ing out branches from the ground upward, garnifiied
with fpear-lhaped leaves placed alternately, which con¬
tinue green through the year. The flowers are pro¬
duced in clofe whorls round the branches, at the foot-
italks of the leaves ; they are white, and divided into
five parts, almoll to the bottom. The berries are of
a beautiful red colour, and as they continue moll part
of the winter upon the plants without being touched
by the birds, we may reafonably conclude that they are
polfelfed of a poifonous quality ; as few of the whole-
fome innocent fruits efcape their depredations.^. The
Indians, however, have a great veneration for this
plant, and at certain feafons of the year come in great
numbers to fetch away the leaves. On fuch occalions
their ufual cullom, fays Miller, is to make a fire upon
the ground, and, putting on it a great kettle full of
water, they throw in a large quantity of yapon leaves;
and when the water has boiled fufficiently, they drink
large draughts of the decoftion out of the kettle ;
which feldom fails to vomit them very feverely. In
this manner, however, they continue drinking and vo¬
miting for three days together, until they imagine
themfelves fufficiently cleanfed ; they then gather eve¬
ry one a bundle of the flirub, and carry it home with
them.— In the operation of thefe leaves by vomiting,
thofe who have tailed of them fay, that there is no
uneafy fenfation or pain. The matter difcharged
comes away in a full ilream by the mouth, without
any violence, or fo much as difpofing the patient to
reach, or decline his head. The Spaniards who live
near the gold mines of Peru, are frequently obliged to
drink an infufion of this herb in order to moillen their
breails; without which they are liable to a fort of
fuffocation, from the ilrong metallic exhalations that
are continually proceeding from the .mines- In Para¬
guay, the Jefuits make a great revenue by importing Caffinl
the leaves of this plant into many countries under the „ .
name of Paraguay or South-fea tea, which is there <~'a ‘Qp613^
drank in the fame manner as that of China or Japan
is with us. It is with difficulty preferved in England.
CASSINI (Johannes Dominicus), a moll excellent
aftronomer, born at Piedmont in 1635. His early
proficiency in aflronomy procured him an invitation
to be mathematical profeffor at Bologna when he was
no more than 15 years of age: and a comet appear¬
ing in 1652, he difcovered that comets were not ac¬
cidental meteors, but of the fame nature, and proba¬
bly governed by the fame laws, as the planets. In
the fame year he folved a problem given up by Kep¬
ler and Bullialdus as infolvable, which was, to deter¬
mine geometrically the apogee and eccentricity of a
planet from its true and mean place. In 1663, he
was appointed infpetlor-general of the fortifications of
the callle of Urbino, and had afterwards the care of
all the rivers in the ecclefiaftical Hate : he kill however
profecuted his aftronomical ftudies, by difcovering the
revolution of Mars round his own axis ; and, in 1666,
publiftied his theory of Jupiter’s fatellites. Caffini
was invited into France by Louis XIV. in 1669, where
he fettled as the firil profeffor in the royal obferva-
toiy. In 1677 he demonflrated the line of Jupiter’s
diurnal rotation ; and in 1684 difcovered four more
fatellites belonging to Saturn, Huygens having found
one before. He inhabited the royal obfervatory at
Paris more than forty years ; and when he died in
1712, was fucceeded by his only fon James Caffini.
CASSIODORUS (Marcus Aurelius), fecretary of
Hate to Theodoric king of the Goths, was born at Squib
lace, in the kingdom of Naples, about the year 470.
He was conful in 514, and was in great credit under
the reigns of Athalaric and Vitiges; but at feventy
years of age retired into a monailery in Calabria, where
he amufed himfelf in making fun-dials, water hour-
glafles, and perpetual lamps. Fie alfo formed a libra-:
ry ; and compofed feveral works, the beft edition of f
which is that of father Garet, printed at Rouen in .
1679. Thofe moll efteemed are his Divine Inftitu-
tions, and his treatife on the Soul. He died about the
year 562.
CASSIOPEIA, in fabulous hillory, wife .to Ce--
pheus king of Ethiopia, and mother of Andromeda.
She thought herfelf more beautiful than the Nereides,..
who deiired Neptune to revenge the affrontfo that -
he fent a fea-monlter into the country, which did much .
harm. To appeafe the god,- her daughter Androme¬
da was expofed to the moniler, but was refcued.by
Perfeus; who. obtained of Jupiter, that Caffiopeiai
might be placed after his death among the.liars-hence
the conilellation of that name..
Cassiopeia, in allronoiny, one ©f the conitellations
of the northern hemifphere, fituated next to Cepheuss
In 1572, there appeared a new liar in this conHella*
tion, which at firll furpaffed in .magnitude and bright*
nefs Jupiter himfelf; but it diminilhed by degrees, and
at laft difappeared, at the end of eighteen1 months. It
alarmed all tire aftronomers of that age, many of whom
wrote differtations on it; among the reft Tycho Brahe,
Kepler, Maurolycus, Lycetus, Gramineusj &c. Beza*
the landgrave of Heffe, Rofa, &c. wrote to prove it a
comet, and the fame which appeared to . the Magi .-at
CAS [ 229 ] CAS
Caflis the birth of Jefus Chrift, and that it came to declare CASSUMBAZAR, a town of India, in Afia, fi- Caffumba
" his fecond coming : they were anfwered on this fub*
8 J rTiar' ieA'by Tycho. The ftars in the conilellation Caffio-
in Ptolemy’s Catalogue, are thirteen ; in Heve-
UtisiKthirty-feven; in Tycho’s, forty-fix; but in the Bri¬
tannic Catalogue, Mr Flamftead makes them fifty-five.
CASSIS, in antiquity, a plated or metalline helmet;
different from the galea, which was of leather.
CASSITERIA, in the hiftory.of fofiils, a genus
of eryitals, the figures of which are influenced by an
admixture of fome particles of tin.
The cafliteria are of two kinds; the whitilb pellu-'
cid caffiterion, and the brown cafliterion. The finl
is a tolerably bright and pellucid cryftal, and feldom
fiubjt£t to the common blemifhes of cryfial: it is of a
perfect and regular form, in the figure of a quadrila¬
teral pyramid; and is found in Devonfhire and Cornwall
principally. The brown caffiterion is like the former in
figure; it is of a very fmooth and glofly furface, and is
alfo found in great plenty in Devonihire and Cornwall.
CASSITERIDES (anc. geog.), a duller of iflands
to the weft of the Land’s End ; oppofite to Celtiberia,
(Pliny); famous for their tin, which he calls candldum
plumbum; formerly open to none but the Phoenicians;
who alone carried on this commerce from Gades, con¬
cealing the navigation from the reft of the world,
(Strabo). The appellation is from Gafliteros, the
name for tin in Greek. Now thought to be the Scii-
ly lllands, or Sorlings, (Camden).
CASSIUS (Spurius), a renowned Roman general
and conful, whole enemies accufing him of afpiring to
royally, he was thrown down from the Tarpeian rock,
485 years before Chrift; after having thrice enjoyed
the confular dignity, been once general of the horfe
under the firft diftator that was created at Rome, and
twice received the honour of a triumph.
Cassius (Longinus), a celebrated Roman lawyer,
flourifhed 113 years before Chrift. Hs was fo in¬
flexible a judge, that his tribunal was called the Rock
of the impeached. It is from the judicial feverity of
this Caffius, that very fevere judges have been called
CaJJiani.
Cassius (Caius), one of the murderers of Julius
Caefar : after his defeat by Mark Anthony at the bat¬
tle of Philippi, he ordered one of his freed-meu to put
him to death with his own fword, 41 years before
Chrift. See Rome.
CASSOCK, or Cassula, a hind of robe or gown,
wore over the reft of the habit, particularly by the
clergy. The word cafTock comes from the French
Cafaque, an horfeman’s coat.
CASSONADE, in commerce, calk fugar, or fugar
put into caflts or chell&, after the firft purification, but
which has not been refined. It is fold either in pow¬
der or in lumps ; the whiteft, and that of which the
lumps are largeft, is the heft. Many imagine it to
fweeten more than loaf fugar; but it is certain that it
yields a great deal more fcum.
CASSOWARY, in ornithology. See Struthio.
CASSUMAR, in the Materia Medica, a root ap¬
proaching to that of zedoary.
It is cardiac and fudorific, and famous in nervous
•cafes ; it is alfo an ingredient in many compofitions,
and is prefcribed in powders, bolufes, and infufions.
its dofe is from five to fifteen grains.
tuated on the river Ganges, in the province of Benoral. zar
E. Long. 37. and N. Lat. 24. ° M
CAST is peculiarly tiled to denote a figure-or fmall *'
ftatue of bronze. See Bronze.
Cast, among founders, is applied to tubes of wax
fitted in divers parts of a mould of the fame matter ;
by means of which, when the wax of the mould is re¬
moved, the melted metal is conveyed into all the parts
which the wax before pofieffed.
Cast, alfo denotes a cylindrical piece of brafs or
copper, flit in two, lengthwife, ufed by the founders
in land, to form a canal or conduit in their moulds,
whereby the metal may be conveyed to the different
pieces intended to be caft.
Cast, among plumbers, denotes a little brazen fun*
nel at one end of a mould, for calling pipes without
foldtring, by means of which the melted metal is pour¬
ed into the mould.
Cast, or Caflle, In fpeaking of the eaftern affairs,
denotes a tribe, or number of families, of the lame
rank and profeffion. The divifion of a nation into
calls chiefly obtains in the dominions of the Great
Mogul, kingdom of Bengal, ifland of Ceylon, and the
great pemnlula oppofite thereto. In each of- thefe
there are, according to father Martin, four principal
calls, swis. the caft of the bramint, which is the firft
and moll noble 5 the caft of the rajas, or princes, who
pretend to be defcended from divers royal families;
the caft of the choutres, which comprehends all the
artificers ; and that of the parias, the lowelt and moft
contemptible of all: though Henry Lord, it mull be
obferved, divides the Indians about Surat into four
fome what differently from Martin, viz into bramins,
or priefts ; cutlery, or ioldiers ; Jhuddery, which we call
banians, or merchants; and tuyfe, the mechanics or
artificers. Every art and trade is confined to its pro¬
per cajl, nor is allo wed to be exercifed by any but thofe
whole fathers profeffed the fame. Sc that a taylor’s
fon can never rife to be a painter, nor a painter’s fon
fail to be a taylor; though there are fome employ¬
ments that are proper to all the calls, e. g. every body
may be a foldier, or a merchant There are alfo di¬
vers calls which are allowed to till the ground, but not
all. The caft of parias is held infamous, in fo much
that it is a difgrace to have any dealings or converfa-
tion with them ; and there are fome trades in the call
of choutres, wdrich debafe their profeffors almoll to the
fame rank. Thus Ihoemakers, and .all artificers in lea¬
ther, as alfo filhermen, and even ftrepheids, are reputed
no better than parias,
CASTAGNO( Andrea Dal), hiftorical painter, was
born at a Imall village called Caftagno, belonging to
the territory of Tufcany, in 1419; and being depri¬
ved of his parents, was employed by his uncle to at¬
tend the herds of cattle in the fields ; but, having ac¬
cidentally feen an ordinary painter at work in the
country, he obferved him for fome time with furprife
and attention, and afterwards made fuch efforts to imi¬
tate him, as aftonilhed till who faw his produ&ions.
The extraordinary genius of Andrea became at laft a
common topic of difcourfe in Florence; and fo far
excited the curiofity of Bernardetto de Medici, that
he fent for Andrea ; and perceiving that he had pro
mifing talents, he placed him under the care of the
F f 3 belt
CAS [ 230 ] CAS
Caftagno, teft mailers who were at that time in Florence. An- CAST ALIUS fons, (Strabo, Paufanias) ; Cqfla- Caftallu*
. Caftall°- drea diligently purfued his ftudies, devoted himfelf en- lia, (Pindar, Virgil) : A fountain at the foot of mount II
v tirely to practice under the direftion of his inftruclors, Parnaffus, in Phocis, near the temple of Apollo, orCa e 0 lt*
became particularly eminent in defign, and in a few near Delphi; facred to the Mufes. thence called
years made fo great a progrefs, that he found as much titles. Its murmurs were thought prophetic, (Nomiasy
employment as he could poffibly execute. He painted Lucian.)
only in diftemper, and frefco, with a manner of colour- CASTANEA, in botany. See Fagus.
ing that was not very agreeable, being rather dry and , CASTANETS, Castagnettes, or Castanet-
liard; till he learned the fecret of painting in oil from tas, a kind of mufical inftrument, wherewith the
Domenico Venetiano, who had derived his knowledge Moors, Spaniards, and Bohemians, accompany their
of that new difeovery from Antonello da Meflina. An- dances, farabands, and guittars. It confifts of two
drea was the fir ft of the Florentine artiils who painted little round pieces of wood dried, and hollowed in
in oil; but although he was in the higheil degree in- manner of a fpoon, the concavities whereof are placed
debted to Domenico for difclofing the fecret, yet he on one another, faftened to the thumb, and beat from
fecretly envied the merit of the man who taught him time to time with the middle finger, to diredl their
the art ; and becaufe his own works feemed to be motion and cadences. The cajlanets may be beat eight
much lefs admired than thofe of Domenico, he deter- or nine times in the fpace of one meafure, or fecond
mined to aflaffinate his friend and benefadlor. He of a minute.
executed his defign with the utmoft ingratitude and CASTANOVITZ, a town of Croatia, fituated on
treachery (for Domenico at that time lived with him, the river Unna, which divides Chriftendom from
and painted in partnerfhip with him), and he ftabbed Turkey. E. Long. 17. 20. N. Lat. 45. 40. It is
him at a corner of a ftreet fo fecretly, that he efcaped fubject to the Houfe of Auftria.
unobferved, and unfufpetted, to .his own houfe, where CASTEL (Lewis Betrand), a learned Jefuit, was
he compofedly fat down to work ; and thither Dome- born at Montpellier in 1688, and entered among the
nico was foon after conveyed, to die in the arms of his Jefuits in 1703. He lludied polite literature in his
murderer. The real author of fo inhuman a tranfac- youth; and at length applied himfelf entirely to the
tion was never difeovered, till Andrea, through re- ftudy of mathematics and natural philofophy. He
• morfe of confcience, difclofed it on his death-bed, in diftinguifhed himfelf by writing on gravity ; the ma-
1480. He finifhed feveral confiderable works at Flo- thematics; and on the mufic of colours, a very whim-
rence, by which he gained great riches, and as great a fical idea, which he took great pains to reduce to
reputation; but when his villanousmifeondudt became pradlice. His piece on gravity, entitled Traite de la
public, his memory was ever after held in the utmoll Penjateur univerfelle, .was printed at Paris, in 1724.
deteftation. The moil noted work of this mailer is He afterwards publilhed his Mathematlquc univerfelle;
in the hall of jullice at Florence, reprefenting the which occafioned his being unanimoufly chofen a fel-
execution of the confpirators againft the houfe of low of the Royal Society of London, without the
Medici. leall felicitation. He was alfo a member of the aca-
•CASTALIO (Sebaftian), was born at Chetillon, demies of Bourdeaux and Rouen: but his Clavecin
on the Rhone, in the year 1515. Calvin conceived oculaire made the moll noife ; and he fpent much
fuch an efteem and friendfhip for him, during the Hay time and expence in making an harpfichord for the
he made at Stralburg in 1540 and 1541, thathelodg- eye, but without fuccefs. Fie alfo wrote for and a-
ed himfome days at his houfe, and procured him are- gainft Sir Ifaac Newton, and publilhed feveral other
gent’s place in the college of Geneva. Callalio, after works; the principal of which are, Le Plan du Ma-
continuing in this office near three years, was forced thematique abregee, and a treatife entitled Optique des
to quit it in the year 1544, on account of fome parti- Colours. He led a very exemplary life, and died in
cular opinions which he held concerning Solomon’s 1757.
fong, and Chrill’s defeent into hell. He retired to CASTEL AM A R A, a town of Italy, in the king-
Bafil, where he was made Greek prole {Tor, and died dom of Naples, and in the hither Principato, with a
in that place in 1564, aged 48. He incurred the bilhop’s fee, and a good harbour. E. Long. 14. 25.
high difpleafure of Calvin and Theodore Beza, for N. Lat. 41. 40.
differing with them concerning predellination and the CASTEL-aragonese, a llrong town of Italy, in
punilhment of heretics. His works are very confide- the ifland of Sardinia, with a bilhop’s fee, and a good’
rable, both on account of their quality and number, harbour. It is feated on the N. W. coallof the ifland,,
In 1545, he printed at Bafil four books of dialogues, in E. Long. 8. 57. N. Lat. 40. 56.
containing the principal hillories of the bible in ele- CASTF.L-Branco, a town of Portugal, and capital
gant Latin ; fo that youth might thereby make a pro- of the province of Beira ; feated on the river Lyra,
ficiency in piety and in the Latin tongue at the fame 35 mile N. W. of Alcantara. W. Long. 8. o. N. Lat.
time. But his principal work is a Latin and French 39.35. .
tranflation of the feriptures. He began the Latin CASTEL-Franco, a very fmall, but well-fortified fron-
tranflation at Geneva in 1542, and finifhed it at Bafil tier town of the Bolognefe, in Italy, belonging to
in 1550. It was printed at Safil in 1551, and dedi- the Pope.
cated by the author to Edward VI. king of England. Castf.l-de- Vide, a fmall flrong town of Alentejo.
The French verfion was dedicated to Flenry II. of It was taken, by Philip V. W. Long. 6. 25. N. Lat.
France, and printed at Bafil in 1555. The fault wffiich 39.15.
has been moll generally condemned in his Latin tranf- Castel-FoUi, a town of Spain, in Catalonia, feat-
lation, is the affedlation of ufing only claffical. terms. ed on an inaceffible eminence, between Gironne and
CampredoO),
CAS [ *31 J CAS
Cartel Gan- Campredon, about 15 miles from each, and near the
doJpbo rjver Fulva>
Caftellatio. CdSTEi-GanJolpho, a town of Italy, in the 'terri-
u—y—' tory of the church, with a caftle, to which the Pope
retires in the fummer feafon ; 10 miles S. by E. of
Rome. E. Long. 12. 46. N. Lat. 41.44. _
Castel-Novo, a ftrong town of Dalmatia, fubjehl
to the Venetians; feated on the gulph of Cataio, in
E. Long. 18. 45. N. Lat. 42. 25.
CASTEL-Rodrigo, a town of Portugal, in the pro¬
vince of Tra-los-Montes, in W. Long. 7. 1. N.41. o.
CASTFL-Novo-dc-Carfagnana, a town of Italy, in the
Modenefe, with a ilrong fortrefs. It is the capital of
the valley of Carfagnana; and feated on the river Ser-
chio, 17 miles above Lucca.
Cast el del Ovo, a fmall ifland in the Tufcan Sea,
, in the gulph of Naples, near a town of that name, to
which it is joined by a ftone bridge. The fortrefs is
called Caftel del Ovo, in which there is always a good
garrifon.
CASTELBAR, a town of Ireland, in the county
of Mayo, and province of Connaught, 35 miles N. of
Galway. W. Long. 9. 25. N. Lat. 53.45.
CASTELL (Edmund) D- D. a learned Englilh di¬
vine of the 17th century, diftinguifhed by his Ikill in
the eaftern languages. He was educated at Cam¬
bridge ; where he was mailer of Catharine hall, and
Arabic profeifor ; and was at length canon of Canter¬
bury. He had the greateil fhare in the Polyglott bible
of London; and wrote the Heptaglotton pro feptem Orien-
talilus, &c. On this excellent work, which occupied
a great part of his life, he bellowed incredible pains
and expence, even to the breaking of his conilitution,
and exhaufting of his fortune, having expended no
lefs than 12,000/. upon that work. At length; when
it was printed, the copies remained unfold upon his
h^nds. He died in 1685; and lies buried in the
church-yard of Higham Gobyon in Bedfordihire, of
which he was rector. It appears from the infeription
on his monument, which he ere&ed in his lifetime,
that he was chaplain to Charles II. He bequeathed
all his oriental manuferipts to the univeriity of Cam¬
bridge, on condition that his name fhould be written
on every copy in the collection.
CASTELLA, a town of the Mantuan, in Italy,
about five miles north-eail of the city of Mantua. E.
Long. 11.15. N. Lat. 45. JO-
CASTELLAN, the name of a dignity or charge
in Poland : The caftellans are fenators of the king-
dom* but fenators only of the lower clafs, who, in
diets, fit on low feats, behind the palatines, or great
fenators. They are a kind of lieutenants of provin-
• ces, and command a part of the palatinate under the
palatine.
CASTELL ANY, the territory belonging to any
city or town, chiefly ufed in France and Flanders:
Thus we fay, the caftellany of Liile, Ypres, &c.
CASTELLARIUS, the keeper, or curator, of a
cailellum. Gruter gives an ancient fepulchral inferip¬
tion in memory of a cajlellarius.
CASTELLATIO, in middle age writers, the
aft of building a callle, or of fortifying a houfe,
and rendering it a caille/—By the ancient Engliih
laws, caftellation was prohibited. without the king’s,
efpecial licence.
CASTELLI (Bernard), an Italian painter, was Cartelfi
born at Genoa in 1557; and excelled in colouring andp H
in portraits. He was the intimate friend of Tafib, 1 ]g l0n<y
and took upon himfelf the tafle of defigning and etch¬
ing the figures of his Jerufalem Delivered. He died
at Genoa in 1629.
Valerio Caftelli, one of his fans, was born at Ge¬
noa in 1625, and furpafled his father. He particu¬
larly excelled in painting battles; which he compofed
with fpirit, and executed them with fo pleafing a va¬
riety, and fo great freedom of hand, as gained him
univerfal applaufe. His horfes are admirably drawn,
thrown into attitudes that are natural and becoming,
full of motion, adtion, and life. In that ftyle of’
painting he (bowed all the fire of Tintoretto, united
with the fine tafte of compofition of Paolo Veronefe.
He died in 1659. The works of this mailer are not
very frequent; but they are defervedly held in very
high efteem. It . is believed that a greater number of
his eafel pictures are in the colledtions of the nobility
and gentry of England, than in any other part of
Europe.
CASTELLORUM operatio, callle-work, or fer-
vice and labour done by inferior tenants for the build¬
ing and upholding of callles of defence; toward which
fome gave perfonal affiltance, and others paid their
contributions. This was one of the three neceflary
charges to which all lands among the Anglo-Saxons
were exprefsly fubjeft.
CASTELVETRO (Lewis), a native of Modena,
of the 16th century, famous for his Comment on Arl-
Jlotk’s Poetics. He was profecuted by the inquifition
for a certain book of Melandlhon, which he had tranf-
lated into Italian. He retired to • Bafil, where he
died.
CASTIGATION, among the Romans, thepunifli-
ment of an offender by blows, or beating with a wand
or fwitch. Cafligation was chiefly a military puniflx-
ment; the power of inflifting which on the foldiery
was given to the tribunes. Some make it of two kinds;
one with a Hick or cane called fujiigatio; the other
with rods, called jlagellatio : the latter was the moll
dilhonourable.
CASTIGATORY for Scolds. A woman indic¬
ted for being a common fcold, if convifted, (hall be
placed in a certain engine of correftion, called the
trebuchet, cajligatory, or cucking-Jlool; which, in the
Saxon language, fignifies the fcolding-Jlool; though now
it is frequently corrupted into the ducking-Jlool; be-
caufe the refidue of the judgment is, that, when (he
is placed therein, Ihe (hall be plunged in water for her
punilhment.
CASTIGLIONE (Giovanni Benedetto), a cele¬
brated painter, was born at Genoa in 1616. His
firll mailer was Gio-Battifta Paggi. Afterwards he
lludied under Andx-ea Ferrari; and lallly perfected him*
felf from the inllruftions of Anthony Vandyck, who
at that time refided at Genoa. He painted portraits,
hillorical pieces, landfcapes, and callles: In the latter of
which he is faid chiefly to have excelled; as alfo in fairs,
markets, and all kinds of rural feenes. ’ By this mailer
we have alfo a great number of etchings, which are all .
fpirited, free, and full of talle. The effeft is, in general,
powerful and pleafing ; and many of them have a more
harmonized and.finiftied appearance, than is ufual from
the
C A S
' Gtfliglionc the point, fo little affilled by the graver. His draw-
_ n J, . inof of the naked fisrure, thoutrh by no means correct,
Caftile-de- . & ^ a j - a i .1, . ■ r ^
2J2 1
CAS
or0 is notwithftanding managed in a ftyle that indicates dom of Granada.
Proper Carthagena, St Martha, Rio de la Hacha, Caftiflan
Venifuela, New Andalufia, Popayan, and the new king-
Caflin?.
the hand of the mafter.
His fon, Francejco, was bred under himfelf, and
excelledinthe fame fubjedfs; and it is thought that many
good paintings which are afcribed to Benedetto, and
are frequently feen at fales, or in modern colledlions,
are copies after him by his fon Francefco, or perhaps
originals of the younger Caftiglione.
Castiglione, a fmall, but ftrong town of Italy,
in Mantua, with a cattle. It was taken by the Ger¬
mans in 1701, and the French defeated the Im-
perialifts near it in 1706. E. Long. 10. 29. N. Lat.
43- 23*
CASTIGLIONI (Balthazar), an eminent Italian
nobleman, defcended from an illuftrious and ancient
family, and born at his own villa at Cafalico in the
■duchy of Milan in 1478. . He ftudied painting, fculp-
ture, and architedture, as appears from a book he
wrote in favour of thefe arts; and excelled fo much
in them, that Raphael Urbino, and Buonaroti, though
incomparable artifts, never thought their works com¬
plete without the approbation of Count Caftiglioni.
When he was 26 years of age, Guido Ubaldo, Duke
of Urbino, fent him ambaffador to Pope Julius II.
He was fent upon a fecond embafly to Louis XII. of
France, and upon a third to Henry VII. of England.
After he had difpatched his bufxnefs here, he return¬
ed, and began his celebrated work intitled the Cour¬
tier ; which he completed at Rome in 1516. This
work is full of moral and political inftruftion ; and if
we feek for the Italian tongue in perfection, it is laid
to be nowhere better found than in this performance.
A verfion of this work, together with the original I-
talian, was publilhed at London in 1727, by A. P.
Caftiglioni, a gentleman of the fame family, who re¬
sided there under the patronage of Dr Gibfon bifhop
of London. Count Caftiglioni was fent byClementVII.
to the court ©f the Emperor Charles V. in quality of
legate, and died at Toledo in 15 29.
CASTILE (New),or The Kingdom of Toledo,
a province of Spain, bounded on the north by Old
Caftile, on.the eaft by the kingdoms of Arragon and
Valencia, on the fouth by that of Murcia and Anda¬
lufia, and on the well by the kingdom of Leon. It
is divided into three parts,; Argaria to the north,
Mancha to the eatt, and Sierra to the fouth. Madrid
is the capital. Both thefe provinces are very well wa¬
tered with rivers, and the air is generally pure and
healthy ; but the land is mountainous, dry, and uncul¬
tivated, through the lazinefs of the inhabitants. The
north part produces fruits and wine, and the fouth
good paftures and line wool. Thefe provinces are di¬
vided by a long chain of mountains, which run from
eaft to weft.
CASTILLAN, or Castillane, a gold coin, cur¬
rent in Spain, and worth fourteen rials and fixteen
deniers.
Castillan is alfo a weight ufed in Spain for weigh-
ing gold. It is the hundredth part of a pound Spa-
nifti weight. What they commonly call a weight of
gold in Spain, is always underftood of the caftillan.
CASTILLARA, a town of the Mantuan in Italy,
fituated fix miles north-eaft of the city of Mantua.
E. Long. 11. 25. N.-Lat. 45. 20.
CASTILLON, a town of Perigort, in the pro¬
vince of Guienne in France, fituated on the river Dor-
donne, 16 miles eaft of Bourdeaux. W. Long. 2.40.
N. Lat. 44. 50.
CASTING, in foundery, the running a metal into
a mould, prepared for that purpofe.
Casting of Metals, of Letters, Bells, &c. See the
article Foundery.
Casting in Sand or Earth is the running of metals be¬
tween two frames, or molds, filled with fand or earth,
wherein the figure that the metal is to take has been
imprefled en creux, by means of the pattern.
Casting, among fculptors, implies the taking of
cafts and impreflions of figures, butts, medals, leaves, &c.
The method of taking of cafts of figures and bufts
is moft generally by the ufe of plafter of Paris, i. e.
alabafter calcined by a gentle heat. The advantage of
ufing this fubftance preferably to others, is, that not¬
withftanding a flight calcination reduces it to a pul-
verine ftate, it becomes again a tenacious and cohering
body, by being moiftened with water, and afterwards
fuffered to dry ; by which means either a concave or
a convex figure may be given by a proper mold or
model to it when wet, and retained by the hardnefs
it acquires when dry : and from thefe qualities, it is
fitted for the double purpofe ©f making both cafts, and
molds for forming thofe cafts. The particular manner
of making cafts depends on the form of the fubjeft to
be taken. Where there are no projefting parts, it is
very Ample and eafy ; as likewife where there are fuch
as form only a right or any greater angle with the
principal furface of the body : but where parts project
in lefler angles, or form a curve inclined towards the
principal furface of the body, the work is more difficult.
The firft ftep to be taken is the forming the mold.
In order to this, if the original or model be a bafs re¬
lief, or any other piece of a fiat form, having its fur¬
face firft well greafed, it muft be placed on a proper
table, and furrounded by a frame, the fides of which
muft be at fuch a diftance from it as will allow a pro¬
per thicknefs for the fides of the mold. As much
plafter as will be fufficient to cover and rife to fuch a
thicknefs as may give fufficient ftrength to the mold,
Castile (Old), a province of Spain, with the title of as alfo to fill the hollow betwixt the frame and the
a kingdom. It is about 192 miles in length, and 115
in breadth ; bounded on the fouth by New Caftile,
on the eaft by Arragon and Navarre, on the north by
Bifcay and Afturia, and on the weft by the kingdom
of Leon. Burgos is the capital town.
CASTiLF.-de-Oro, a large and fertile countiy in
South America, lying to the weft of Oroonoko. It
comprehends eight governments; viz. Terra Firma,
NJ 66. 4
model, muft be moiftened with water, till it be juft
of fuch confiftence as will allow it to be poured upon
the model. This muft be done as foon as poffible ;
or the plafter would concrete or fet, fo as to become
more troublefome in the working, or unfit to be ufed.
The whole muft then be fuffered to remain in this
condition, till the plafter has attained its hardnefs;
and then the frame being taken away, the preparatory
call
CAS [ 233 ] CAS
Cafling. cad or mold thus formed may be taken off from the that where under-workings, as they are called, occurs Carting,
fubjeft entire, that is, wherever a ftraight line drawn from the bafis
Where the model or original fubjeft is of a round or infertion of any proje&ion, would be cut or croffed
or ereft form, a different method muff be purfued ; by any part of fuch projection, fuch part cannot be
and the mold muff be divided into feveral pieces: or taken off without a diviffon ; which muff be made ei-
if the fubjeCt confifts of detached and projecting parts, ther in the place where the projection would crofs the
it is frequently mbit expedient to call fuch parts fepa- ftraight line ; or, as that is frequently difficult, the
rately, and afterwards join them together. whole projection muft be feparated from the main
Where the original fubjeCt or mold forms a round, body, and divided alfo lengthwife into two parts : and
or fpheroid, or any part of fuch round or fpheroid, where there are no projections from the principal fur-
more than one half the plafter muft be ufed without faces, but the body is fo formed as to*render the fur-
any frame to keep it round the model; and muft be face a compofition of fuch curves, that a ftraight line
\ tempered with water to fuch a conliftence, that it may being drawn parallel to the furface of one part would
be wrought with the hand like very foft pafte ; but be cut by the outline, in one or more places, of ano-
though it muft not be fo fluid as when prepared for ther part, a diviflon of the whole ftiould be made, fo
flat figured models, it muft yet be as moift as is com- as to reduce the parts of it into regular curves, which
patible with its cohering fufficiently to hold together : muft then be treated as fuch.
and being thus prepared, it muft be put upon the mo- In larger maffes, where there would otherwife be a
del, and compreffed with the hand, or any flat inftru- great thicknefs of the plafter, a corps or body may be
merit, that the parts of it may adapt themfelves, in the put within the mold, in ■order to produce a hollow in
moft perfeCt ntanner, to thofe of the fubjeCt, as' well the call; which both faves the expence of the plafter,
as be compaCt with refpeCt to themfelves. When the and renders the call lighter.
model is fo covered to a convenient thicknefs, the This corps may be of wood, where the forming a
whole muft be left at reft till the plafter be fet and hollow of a ftraight figure, or a conical one with the
firm, fo as to bear dividing without falling to pieces, bafis outward, will anfwer the end : but if the cavity
or being liable t@ be put out of its form by flight vio- require to be round, or of any curve, figure, the corps
lence ; and it muft then be divided into pieces, in or- cannot be then drawn while entire ; and confequently
der to its being taken off from the model, by cutting fhould be of fuch matter as may be taken out piece-
it with a knife with a very thin blade 5 and being di- meal, in this cafe, the corps is beft formed of clay;
vided, muft be cautioufly taken off, and kept till dry : which muft be worked upon wires to give it tenacity,
but it muft be always carefully pbferved, before the and fufpended in the hollow of the mold, by crofs
feparation of the parts be made, to notch them crofs wires lying over the mouth ; and when the plafter is
the joints, or lines of the divifion, at proper diftances, fufficiently fet to bear handling, the clay muft be
that they may with eafe and certainty be properly con- picked out by a proper inftrument.
joined again ; which would be much more precarious Where it is defired to render the plafter harder, the
and troublefome without fuch directive marks. The water with which it is tempered fhould be mixed with'
art of properly dividing the molds, in order to make parchment fize properly prepared, which will make it
them feparate from the model, requires more dexterity very firm and tenacious.
and fliill than any other thing in the art of calling ; In the fame manner, figures, bulls, Bk. may be
and does not admit of rules for the moft advantageous call of lead, or any other metal, in the molds of pla-
conduA of it in every cafe. Where the fubjeA is of Her: only the expence of plafter, and the tedioufnefs
a round or fpheroidal form, it is beft to divide the of its becoming fufficiently dry, when in a very large
mold into three parts, which will then eafily come off mafs, to bear the heat of melted metal, render the ufe
from the model; and the fame will hold good of a of clay, compounded with fome other proper materials,
cylinder or any regular curve figure. • preferable where large fubje&s are in queftion. The
The mold being thus formed, and dry, and the clay, in this cafe, Ihould be wafhed over till it be per-
parts put together, it muft be firfl greafed, and placed fe&ly free from gravel or ftones ; and then mixed with
in fuch a pofition that the hollow may lie upwards, a third or more of fine fand to prevent its cracking;
and then filled with plafter mixed with water, in the or, inftead of fand, coal-afhes fifted fine may be ufed.
fame proportion and manner as was direfted for the Whether plafter or clay be employed for the calling in
calling the mold: and when the call is perfectly fet metal, it is extremely neceffary to have the mold per-
and dry, it muft be taken out of the mold, and re- fe&ly dry ; otherwife the moifture, being rarified, will
paired where it is neceffary ; which finifties the ope- make an explofion that will blow the metal out of the
ration. mold, and endanger the operator, or at leaft crack the
This is all that is required with refpeA to fubjedts mold in fuch a manner as to fruftrate the operation,
where the furfaces have the regularity above men- Where the parts of a mold are larger, or pi ojetl much,
tioned: but wlrere they form curves which interfeet and confequently require a , greater tenacity of the
each other, the condirA of the operation muft be va- matter they are formed of to keep them together,
ried with refpeft to the manner of taking the call of flocks of cloth, prepared like thofe defigned for pa-
the mold from off the fubjedl or model; and where per-hangings, or fine cotton plucked or cut till it is
there are long projedling parts, fuch as legs or arms, very fliprt, ftiould be mixed with the allies or fand be-
they ffiould be wrought in feparate cafts. The operator fore they are added to the clay to make the comppfi-
may eafily judge from the original fubjeAs, what parts tion for the mold. The proportion Ihould be accord-
will come off together, and what require to be fepa- ing to the degree of cohefion required : but a fmall
rated : the principle of the whole confifts only in this, quantity will anfwer the end, if the other ingredients
Vot. IV. Part L G g of
CAS 23+ ) CAS
Cafting. 0f compofition be good, and the parts of the mold
properly linked together by means of the wires above
direfted.
There is a method of taking calls in metals from
fmall animals, and the parts of vegetables, which may
be praftifed for fome purpofes with advantage: par¬
ticularly for the decorating grottoes or rock-work,
where nature is imitated. The proper kinds of animals
are lizards, fnakes, frogs, birds, or infefts; the calls
of which, if properly coloured, will be exa£t reprefen-
tations of the originals.
This is to be performed by the following method.
A coffin or proper cheft for forming the mold being
prepared of clay, or four pieces of boards fixed toge¬
ther, the animal or parts of vegetables mull be fufpend-
ed in it by a firing; and the leaves, tendrils, or other
detached parts of the vegetables, or the legs, wings,
fcV. of the animals, properly feparated and adjufied
in their right pofition by a fmall pair of pincers : a due
quantity of plafter of Paris and calcined talc, in equal
quantities, with fome alumen plumofum, mull then
be tempered with water to the proper confifience for
calling; and the fubjeft from whence the call is to
be taken, as alfo the fides of the coffin, moillened
with fpirit of wine. The coffin or chell mull then be
filled with the tempered compofition of the plafter
and talc, putting at the fame time a piece of firaight
Hick or wood to the principal part of the body of the
fubjeft, and pieces of thick wire to the extremities of
the other parts, in order that they may form, when
drawn out after the matter of the mold is properly
fet and firm, a channel for pouring in the melted me¬
tal, and vents for the air ; which otherwife, by the
rarefaftion it would undergo from the heat of the me¬
tal, would blow it out or burft the mold. In a Ihort
time the plafter and talc will fet and become hard,
when the Hick and wires may be drawn out, and the
frame or coffin in which the mold was call taken away:
and the mold mull then be put firll into a moderate
heat, and afterwards, when it is as dry as can be ren¬
dered by that degree, removed into a greater; which
may be'gradually increafed till the whole be red-hot.
The animal, or part of any vegetable, which was in¬
cluded in the mold, will then be burnt to a coal; and
may be totally calcined to afties, by blowing for fome
time gently into the channel and paffages made for
pouring in the metal, and giving vent to the air, which
will, at the fame time that it deftroys the remainder
of the animal or vegetable matter, blow out the afties.
The mold mull then be fuffered to cool gently; and
will be perfeft ; the deftru&ion of the fubftance of the
ainimal or vegetable having produced a hollow of a
figure correfpondent to it: but it may be neverthelefs
proper to fhake the mold, and turn it upfide down,
as alfo to blow with the bellows into each of the air-
vents, in order to free it wholly from any remainder of
the afties; or, where there may be an opportunity of
filling the hollow with quickfilver without expence, it
will be found a very effedlual method of clearing the
cavity, as all dull, afties, or fmall detached bodies will
receffarily rife to the furface of the quickfilver, and be
poured out with it. The mold being thus prepared, it
rouft-be heated very hot whenufed, if the call be made
with copper or brafs : but a lefs degree will ferve for
lead or tin: and the matter being poured in, the mold
mull be gently ftruck : and then fuffered to reft till it Carting,
be cold : at which time it mud be carefully taken from ——•v—■*'
the caft, but without the leaf! force; for fuch parts of
the matter as appear to adhere more ftrongly, muft be
foftened by foaking in water, till they be entirely loofen-
ed, that none of the more delicate parts of the caft may
be broken off or bent.
Where the alumen plumofum, or talc, cannot eafi-
ly be procured, the plafter may be ufed alone ; but it
is apt to be calcined by the heat ufed in burning the ani¬
mal or vegetable from whence the caft is taken, and to
become of too incohering and crumbly a texture : or,
for cheapnefs, Sturbridge or any other good clay, waftt-
ed over till it be perfedlly fine, and mixed with an equal
part of fand, and fome flocks cut fmall, may be employ¬
ed. Pounded pumice-ftone and plafter of Paris, taken
in equal quantities, and mixed with wafhed clay in the
fame proportion, is faid to make excellent molds for this
and parallel ufes.
Calls of metals, or fuch fmall pieces as are of a fimi-
lar form, may be made in plailer by the method directed
for bafs relievos.
Indeed there is nothing more required than to form
a mold by laying them on a proper board ; and having
furrounded them by a rim made of a piece of a card, or
any other pafteboard, to fill the rim with foft tempered
plafter of Paris; which mold, when dry. will ferve for
feveral calls. It is neverthelefs a better method to form
the mold of melted fulphur; which will produce a
(harper impreffion in the caft, and be more durable than
thofe made of plafter.
The cafts are likewife frequently made of fulphur,
which being melted muft be treated exactly in the fame
manner as the plafter.
For taking cafts from medals, Dr Lewis recom-
mends a mixture of flowers of brimftone and red Commerce
lead: equal parts of thefe are to be put over the fire®/ Arts.
in a laddie, till they foften to the confidence of pap;
then they are kindled with a piece of paper, and ftir-
red for fome time. The veffel being afterwards co¬
vered clofe. and continued on the fire, the mixture
grows fluid in a few minutes. It is then to be poured
on the metal, previoufly oiled and wiped clean. The
cafts are very neat; their colour fometimes a pretty
deep black, fometimes a dark grey : they are very du¬
rable ; and when foiled, may be wafhed clean in fpirits
of wine.
.Dr Letfom recommends tin-foil for taking off cafts
from medals. The thinned kind is to be ufed. It Companion.
fhould be laid over the fubje£t from which the impref¬
fion is to be taken, and then rubbed with a brufh, the
point of a (kewer, or a pin, till it has perfedly re¬
ceived the impreffion. The tin-foil (hould now be
pared clofe to the edge of the medal, till it is brought
to the fame circumference : the medal muft then be
reverfed, and the tin-foil will drop off into a chip-box
or mold placed ready to receive it. Thus the con¬
cave fide of the foil will be uppermoft, and upon this
plafter of Pairs, prepared in the ufual manner, 'may
be poured. When dry, the whole is to be taken
out, and the tin-foil flicking on the plafter will give
a pcrfeft reprefentation of tfie medal, almoft equal in
beauty to filver. If the box or mold is a little larger
than the medal, the plafter running round the tin-foil
will give the appearance of a white frame or circular
border $
CAR [ 235 ] CAS
Caft'ng. border ; whence the new made medal will appear more
*OT,V~* neat and beautiful.
Calls may be made likewife with iron, prepared
in the following manner: “Take any iron-bar, or
piece of a fimilar form; and having heated it red-
hot, hold it over a veffel containing water, and
touch it very flightly with a roll of fulphur, which
will immediately diffolve it, and make it fall in drops
into the water. As much iron as may be wanted
being thus diffolved, pour the water out of the vel-
fel; and pick out the drops formed by the melted
iron from thofe of the fulphur, which contain little
or no iron, and will be dillinguilhable from the other
by their colour and weight.” The iron will, by
this means, be rendered fo fufible, that it will run
with lefs heat than is required to melt lead ; and may
be employed for making calls of medals, and many
other fuch purpofes, with great convenience and ad¬
vantage.
Impreffions of medals, having the fame effeft as
calls, may be made alfo of ilinglafs glue, by the fol¬
lowing means. Melt the ifinglafs, beaten, as when
commonly ufed, in an earthen pipkin, with the ad¬
dition of as much water as will cover it, (lining it
gently till the whole is diflblved : then with a brulh
of camel's hair, cover the medal, which (hould be
previoufly well cleanfed and warmed, and then laid
horizontally on a board or table, greafed in the part
around the medal. Let them reft- afterwards till the
glue be properly hardened; and then, with a pin,
raife the edge of it; and feparate it carefully from
the medal: the caft will be thus formed by the glue
as hard as horn ; and fo light, that a thoufand will
fcarcely weigh an ounce. In order to render the re¬
lief of the medal more apparent, a fmall quantity of
carmine may be mixed with the melted ifinglafs 5 or
the medal may be previoufly coated with leaf-gold
by breathing on it, and then laying it on the leaf,
which will by that means adhere to it: but the ufe of
leaf-geld is apt to impair a little the (harpnefs of the
impreflion.
Impreffions of medals may be likewife taken in
putty; but it {hould be the true kind made of calx of
tin, and drying oil. Thefe may be formed in the
molds, previoufly taken in plafter or fulphur; or
molds may be made in'its own fubftance, in the man¬
ner diiefted for thofe of the plafter. Thefe impref¬
fions will be very (harp and hard; but the greateft
difadvantage that attends them, is their drying very
(lowly, ar*i being liable in the mean time to be da¬
maged.
Impreffions of prints, or other engravings, may be
taken from copper-plates, by cleanfing them thorough¬
ly, and pouring plafter upon them : but the effedt in
this way is not ftrong enough for the eye ; and there-
_ fore the following method is preferable, where fuch
impreffions on plafter are defired.
Take vermilion, or any other coloured pigment, fine¬
ly powdered, and rub it over the plate: then pafs a
folded piece of paper, or the flat part of the hand, over
the plate, to take off the colour from the lights or parts
where there is no engraving : the proceeding muft then
be the fame as where no colour is ufed. This Sad
method is alfo applicable to the making of impreffions
of copper-plates on paper with dry colours: for the
plate being prepared as here dire&ed, and laid on the
paper properly moiftened, and either paffed under the ——y—*®
rolling-prefs, or any other way ftrongly forced down
on the paper, an impreffion of the engraving will be ob¬
tained.
Impreffions may be likewife taken from cop¬
per-plates, either on plafter or paper, by means of
the fmoke of a candle or lamp : if, inftead of rub¬
bing them with any colour, the plate be held over
the candle or lamp till the whole furface become
black, and then wiped off by the flat of the hand, or
paper.
Thefe methods are not, however, of great ufe in the
cafe of copper-plates, except where impreffions may¬
be defired on occafions where printing-ink cannot be
procured : but as they may be applied likewife to the
taking impreffions from fnuff-boxes, or other engraved
fubjefts, by which means deligns may be inftantly bor¬
rowed by artifts or curious perfons, they may in fuch
inftances be very ufeful.
The expedient of taking impreffions by the fmoke
of a candle or lamp may be employed alfo for bota¬
nical purpofes in the cafe of leaves, as a perfefl and
durable reprefentation of not only the general figure,
but the contexture and difpofition of the larger fibres,
may be extemporaneoufly obtained at any time. The
fame may be neverthelefs done in a more perfect man¬
ner, by the ufe of linfeed oil, either alone, or mixed
with a fmall proportion of colour, where the oil can be
conveniently procured : but the other method is valu¬
able on account of its being pra6licable at almoft all fea-
fons, and in all places, within the time that the leaves
will keep frefh and plump. In taking thefe impreffions,
it is proper to bruife the leaves, fo as to take off the
projeftipns of the large ribs, which might prevent the
other parts from plying to the paper.
Leaves, as alfo the petals, or flower-leaves, of
plants, may themielves be preferved on paper, with
their original appearance, for a confiderable length of
time, by the following means. — Take a piece of paper,
and rub it over with ifinglafs glue treated as above di-
refted for taking impreffions from medals; and then
lay the leaves in a proper pofition on the paper. The
glue JLaid on the paper being fet, brufh over the leaves
with more of the fame ; and that being dry likewife,
the operation will be finiflied, and the leaves fo fecured
from the air and moifture, that they will retain their
figure and colour much longer than by any other treat¬
ment.
Butterflies, or other fmall animals of a flat figure,
may alfo be preferved in the fame manner.
Casting is alfo fometimes ufed for the quitting,
laying, or throwing afide any thing ; thus deer caft
their horns, fnakes their (kins, lobfters their (hells,
hawks their feathers, &c. annually.
Cajllng of feathers is more properly called moulting or
mewing.
A horfe cajls his hair, or coat, at leaft once a-year,
viz. in the fpring when he cads his winter coat; and
fometimes, at the clofe of autumn, he cafts his fummer
coat, in cafe he has been ill kept. Horfes alfo fome¬
times cajl their hoofs, which happens frequently to
coach-horfes brought from Holland : thefe, being bred
in a moift marfhy country, have their hoofs too flabby:
fo that coming into a drier foil, and lefs juicy proven-
G g 2 der,
CAS ' [ 236 ] CAS
CafKng, tier, their hoofs fall off, and others that are firmer fuc-
, Cattle. ^ ceed.
v Casting a Colt, denotes a mare’s proving abor¬
tive.
CASTiNG-Net, a fort of fi(hing-net fo called, becaufe
it is to be cafl, or thrown out; which when exaftly
done, nothing efcapes it, bir weeds and ^every thing
within its extent arc brought away.
CASTLE, a fortrefs, or place rendered defenfible
either by nature or art. It frequently fignifies with
us the principal manfion of noblemen. In the time
of Henry II. there were no lefs than 1115 caftles in
England, each of which contained a manor.
Castles, walled with Hone, and defigned for refi-
dence as well as defence, are, for the moll part, ac¬
cording to Mr Grofe, of no higher antiquity than the
eonquell: for although the Saxons, Romans, and even,
according to feme writers on antiquity, the ancient
Britons, had caftles built with ftone ; yet thefe were
both few in number, and, at that period, through ne-
gleft or invafions, either deftroyed, or fo much decayed,
that little more than their ruins were remaining. This
is aflerted by many of our hiftorians and antiquaries,
and affigned as a reafon for the facility with which
William made himfelf mailer of this country.
Groffs An- This circumftance was not overlooked by fo good
tiquitiesof a general as the Conqueror ; who, cffeftually to guard
England againft invafions from without, as well as to awe his
newly acquired fubje&s, immediately began to ereft
Preface. Caftles all over the kingdom, and likewife to repair and
augment the old ones. Befides, as he had parcelled
out the lands of the Englilh amongft his followers,
they, to protect themfelves from the refentment of
thofe fo defpoiled, built ftrong-holds and caftles on
their eftates. This likewife caufed a confiderable in-
creafe of thefe fortreffes ; and the turbulent and un¬
fettled ftate of the kingdom in the fucceeding reigns,
ferved to multiply them prodigioufly, every baron or
leader of a party building caftles; infomuch, that to¬
wards the latter end of the reign of king Stephen,
they amounted to the almoft incredible number of
1115.
As the feudal fyftem gathered ftrength, thefe caftles
became the heads of baronies. Each eaftle was a ma¬
nor: and its caftelain, owner, or governor, the lord of
that manor. Markets and fairs were dire£led to be
held there; not only to prevent frauds in the king’s
duties or cuftoms, but alfo as they were efteemed places
where the laws of the land were obferved, and as fuch
had a very particular privilege. But this good order did
not long laft : for the lords of caftles began to arrogate
to themfelves a royal power, not only within their
caftles, but likewife its environs ; exercifing judicature
both civil and criminal, coining of money, and arbitra¬
rily feizing forage and provifion for the fubfiftence of
their garrifons, which they afterwards demanded as a
right : at length their infolence and opprelfion grew
to fuch a pitch, that, according to William of New¬
bury, “ thete were in England as many kings, or ra¬
ther tyrants, as lords of caftles and Matthew Paris
ftyles them, very nefts of devils and dens of thieves.
Caftles were not folely in the pofiTeffion of the crown
and the lay barons, but evervbifhops had thefe fortreffes ;
though it teems to have been contrary to the canons,
from a plea made ufe of in a general council, in favour
of king Stephen, who had feized upon the ftrong Cartle.
caftles of the bithops of Lincoln and Salifbury. This
prohibition (if fuch exifted) was however very little
regarded ; as in the following reigns many ftrong
places were held, and even defended, by the ecclefia-
ftics : neither was more obedience afterwards paid to
a decree made by the Pope at Viterbo, the fifth of
the kalends of June 1220,. wherein it was ordained,
that no perfon in England thould keep in his hands
more than two of the king’s .caftles.
The licentious behaviour of the garrifons of thefe
places becoming intolerable, in the treaty between king
Stephen and Henry II. when only duke of Normandy,
it was agreed, that all the callles built within a certain
period fhould be demolifhed ; in confequence of which
many were adlually razed, but not the . number ilipu-
lated.'
The few caftles in being under the Saxon govern¬
ment, were probably, on occafion of war or invafions,
garrifoned by the national militia, and at other times
(lightly guarded by the domeftics of the princes or
great perfonages who refided therein ; but after the
conqueft, when all the eftates were converted into ba¬
ronies held by knight’s fervice, caftle-guard coming
under that denomination, was among the duties to
which particular tenants were liable. From thefe*
fervices the bifhops and abbots, who till the time of
the Normans had held their lands in frank almoign,
or free alms, were, by this new regulation, not exempt¬
ed ; they were not indeed, like the laity, obliged to
perfonal fervice, it being fufficient that they provided fit
and able perfons to officiate in their Head. Thiswashow-
ever at firft ftoutly oppofed by Anfelm archbifhop of
Canterbury ; who being obliged to find fome knights to
attend king William Rufus in his wars in Wales, com¬
plained of it as an innovation and infringement of the
rights and immunities of the church.
It was no uncommon thing for the Conqueror and
the kings of thofe days, to grant eftates to men of ap¬
proved fidelity and valour, on condition that they
fhould perform caftle-guard in the royal caftles, with a
certain number of men, for. fome fpecified time; and
fometimes they were likewife bound by their tenures
to keep in repair and guard fome particular tower or
bulwark, as was the cafe at Dover caftle.
In procefs of time thefe fervices were commuted for
annual rents, fometimes ftyled ward-penny, and wayt-
fee, but commonly cajlle-gnard rents, payable on fixed
days, under prodigious penalties called furfixes. At
Rochefler, if a man failed in the payment of his rent of
caftle-guard on the feaft of St Andrew, his debt was
doubled every tide during the time for which the pay¬
ment was delayed. Thefe were afterwards reftrained
by an a£t of parliament made in the reign of king
Henry VIII. and finally annihilated, with the tenures
by knight’s fervice, in the time of Charles II. Such,
caftles as were private property were guarded either by
mercenary foldiers, or the tenants of the lord or owner.
Caftles which belonged to the crown, or fell to it
either by forfeiture or efeheat (circumfiances that fre¬
quently happened in the diftradted reigns of the feudal
times), were generally committed to the cuftody of feme
trufty perfon, who feems to have been indifferently ftyled
governor and conftable. Sometimes alf© they were
put into the poffeffion of the fheriff of the county, who
often
C'ASTLtt .
Plate cxxvir.
CAS [ :
Caftle. often converted them into prifons. That officer was
“~v then accountable at the exchequer, for the farm or
produce of the lands belonging to the places entrufted
to his care, as well as all other profits: he was like-
wife, in cafe of war or invafion, obliged to victual and
furniih them with munition put of the iflues of his
county; to which he was dire&ed by writ of privy
feal.
The materials of which cailles were built, varied
according to the places of their ereftion ; but the
manner of their conitruftion feems to have been pretty
uniform. The outfides of the walls were generally
built with the ftfcnes neareft at hand, laid as regularly
as their fiiapes would admit; the infides were filled up
with the like materials, mixed with a great quantity
of fluid mortar, which was called by the workmen
grout-work. -
The general fliape or plan of thefe caftles depended
entirely on the caprice of the architefts, or the form
of the ground intended to be occupied : neither do
they feem to have confined themfelves to any particular
figure in their towers; fquare, round, and poligonal,
oftentimes occurring in the original parts of the fame
building.
The fituation of the caftles of the Anglo-Norman
kings and barons, was moft commonly on an eminence,
and near a river; a fituition on feveral accounts eli¬
gible. The whole file of the caftle (which was fre¬
quently of great extent and irregular figure) was fur-
rounded by a deep and broad ditch, fometimes filled
with water, and fometimes dry, called the fojje. Be¬
fore the great gate was an outwork, called a barlacan,
or antemural, which was a ftrong and high wall, with
turrets upon it, defigned for the defence of the gate
and draw-bridge. On the infide of the ditch flood the
wall of the caflle, about eight or ten feet thick, and
between 20 and 30 feet high, with a parapet, and a
kind of embrafures, called crennels, on the top. On
this wall at proper diftances fquare towers of two or
three ftories high were built, which ferved for lodging
fome of the principal officers of the proprietor of the
caftle, and for other purpofes; and on the infide were
eredted lodgings for the common fervants or retainers,
granaries, ftorehoufes, and other neceflary offices. On
the top df this wall, and on the flat roofs of thefe
buildings, flood the defenders of the caftle, when it
was befieged, and from thence difcharged arrows, darts,
and flones, on the befiegers. The great gate of the
caftle flood in the courfe of this wall, and was ftrongly
fortified with a tower on each fide, and rooms over the
paflage, which was elofed with thick folding-doors of
oak, often plated with iron, and with an iron portcullis
or grate let down from above. Within this outward
wall was a large open fpace or court, called, in the
largtft and moft perfeft caftles, the outer bayle, or bal¬
lium, in which flood commonly a church or chapel.
On the infide of this outer bayle was another ditch,
wall, gate, and towers, inclofing the inner bayle or
court, within which the chief tower or keep was built.
This was a very large fquare fabric, four or five ftories
. high, having fmall windows in prodigious thick walls,,
which rendered the apartments within it dark and
gloomy. This great tower was the palace of the prince,
prelate, or baron, to whom the caftle belonged, and the
refidence of the conftable or governor. Under ground
37 1 CAS
were difmal dark vaults, for the confinement of prifon-
ers, which made it fometimes be called the dungeon.
In this building alfo was the great hall, in which the
owner difplayed his hofpitality, by entertaining his
numerous friends and followers. At one end of the
great halls of caftles, palaces, and monafteries, there
was a place raifed a little above the left of the floor,
called the dels, where the chief table flood, at which
perfons of the higheft rank dined. Though there was
unqueftionably great variations in the Itrufture of
caftles, yet the moft perfedt and magnificent of them
feem to have been conftrudfed nearly on the above plan.
Such, to give one example, was the famous caftle of
Bedford, as appears from the following account of the
manner in which it was taken by Henry III. A. D.
1224. The caftle was taken by four affaults. “ In
the firft was taken the barbican ; in the fecond the
outer ballia ; at the third attack, the wall by the old
tower was thrown down by the miners, where, with
great danger, they poffdTed themfelves of the inner ba-
lia, through a chink ; at the fourth aflault the miners-
fet fire to the tower, fo that the fmoke burft out, and
the tower itfelf was cloven to that degree, as to Ihow
vifibly fome broad chinks: whereupon the enemy fur-
rendered.” See a reprefentation of a caftle in Plate
CXXVII. where r is the barbacan, 2 the ditch or
moat, 3 the wall of the outer balliutn, 4 the outer bal-
lium, 5 the artificial mount, 6 the wall of the inner bal-
lium, 7 the inner ballium, 8 the keep or dungeon.
Before the acceflion of James VI. to the throne of
England, the fituation of Scotland was fuch, that eve¬
ry baron's houfe was more or lefs fori-’f j, according
to the power and confequence of its k or according*
to the fituation of the caftle. Near Edinburgh or
Stirling, where the inhabitants were more polilhed in-
their manners, and overawed by the feat of government,
no more was neceflary than towers capable of refitting
the curfory attack of robbers and thieves, who never
durft flop to make a regular inveftment, but plundered
by furprife, and, if repulfed, inftantly fled away. Such
was Melville Caftle. It anciently confifted of a ftrong
built tower of three ftories, embattled at the top, and
was fufficiently ftrong to refill a fudden attack, unaid¬
ed by artillery, or other engines of war. But, when
further removed, as in Perthlhire, Invernefslhire, or
Aberdeenlhire,then it was necefiary to be better defend¬
ed, and the aids of a peel or dungeon, with outer walls,,
moat, and wet ditch, barnakin, &c. added to enable
the powerful lord to refift the formidable attack of
his powerful adverfary. The hiftory qf Scotland,
fo late as the reign of the Stuart family, affords a num¬
ber of melancholy inftances of inveterate feuds among
the greater and Idler barons of that period ; by which-
every mode of fortification then in ufe was feldom ad¬
equate to the defence of the caftle againft the ftorm
or blockade of the enraged chieftain. The caftle of
Doun feems to anfwer this-defcription of fortification,
and has made feveral gallant defences, in the annals of
Scotland. The third kind of fortreffes we meet with
in Scotland are thole fituated on the borders of Eng¬
land, or on the fea-coafts of the kingdom, and in the
weftern ifles, and very remote places. Many of the old
eaftles in Scotland were fituated on an ifland, in a deep
lake, or on a peninfula, which by a broad deep cut was
made an ifland. Of this, kind was-Lochmaben, in the
ftewartry
CAS 1 238 1 CAS
ftewartry of Annandale, the caftle of Clofeburn in the Castle (Edmund). See Castel. Caftle
(hire of Nithfdale, the cadle of the Rive, fituated on CASTLE-Bar, a borough and market-town, capital II
the river Dee, in the flure of Galloway, Lochleven of the county of Mayo in Ireland, is a well-inhabited Caftor' ,
callle, and many others. place, and carries on a brifk trade : it has a barrack
This kind of fortrefs was only acceffible in a hard fora troop of horfe ; and there is here a charter-fchool
froft, or by boats which were not eafiiy tranfported, capable of receiving fifty children, and endowed with
by a people deftitute of good roads and wheel carriages, two acres of land, rent-free, by the Right Honour-
In fact, they could only be taken by furprife or block- able Lord Lucan, who has alfo granted a leafe of
ade ; the firft very difficult, the fecond vdry tedious ; twenty acres more at a pepper-corn yearly,
fo that, before the ufe of artillery, they might be deem- CAsriE-Cary, a remarkable Roman ftation about
ed almoil impregnable. On that account, their fitua- four miles welt from Falkirk on the borders of Sta¬
tion was very defirable irvthe inland parts of Scotland. lingfhire in Scotland. It comprehends feveral acres
On the-fea-coafts of Scotland we generally find the , of ground, is of a fquare form, and is furrounded
ftrongell and molt ancient, as well as the molt impreg- with a wall of Hone and mortar : all the fpace within
nable caftles. Thefe had to defend themfelves from the walls has been occupied by buildings, the ruins of
the invafion of the foreign enemy, as well as the at- which have railed the earth eight or ten feet above
tacks of the domellic foe. Thus we find the barons, its natural furface; fo that the fort now feems like an
whofe lands extended to the fea-coll, perched, like the hill-top furrounded with a funk fence. In 1770, fame
eagle, on the moll inaccelfible rocks that lay within workmen employed in fearching for Hones for the
their poffelfions. Of this kind were Slains callle, Tan- great canal which paffes very near it, difcovered fe-
tallon, and Dunotteron the eall coall, and Dunvegan in veral apartments of Hone; and in one of them a great
the ille of Sky, with Dunolly on the well coall. Thefe number of Hones about two feet in length, and fiand-
mufihave been moH uncomfortable retreats, except to ing eredl, with marks .of fire upon them, as if they
a barbarous people, or when a prelfing danger forced had been employed in fupporting fome veflel under
the baron to leek his fafety in the only pofiible retreat which fire was put. In a hollow of the rock near this
left him. place, in 1771, a confiderable quantity of wheat quite
Castle, in ancient writers, denotes a town or vil- black with age was found, with fome wedges and ham-
lage funounded with a ditch , and wall, furnilhed with mers fuppofed to be Roman.
towers at intervals, and guarded by a body of troops. CASTi.E-RiJtng, a borough-town of Norfolk in Eng-
The word is originally Latin, cajlellum, a diminutive land, which fends two members to parliament. E.
from cajlrum. Caftellum originally feems to have figni- Long. o. 40. N. Lat. 52. 46.
fied a fmaller fort for a little garrifon : though Sueto- CASTLE-work, fervice or labour done by inferior te¬
nuis ufes the word where the fortification was large nants, for the building and upholding cafiles of de*
enough to contain a cohort. The c aft el In, according fence, toward which fome gave their perfonal affifi-
to Vegetius, were often like towns, built on the bor- ance, and others paid their contributions. This was
ders of the empire, and where there were confiant one of the three neceffary charges to which the Anglo-
gtxards and fences againfi the enemy. Horlley takes Saxons were exprefsly fubjeft.
them for much the fame with what were otherwife CASTLETOWN, the capital of the ifle of Man,
denominated Jiations. feated on the fouth-well part of the ifland. It has a
Castle, or CaJlle-Jleed, is alfo an appellation given Hrong cafile ; but of no great importance, on account
by the country-people in the north to the Roman caf- of its diflahce from the. rocky and fhallow harbour.
tella, as difiinguiflied from the cajlra Jlativa which W. Long. 4. 39. N. Lat. 53. 30,
they ufually call chejlers. Horlley reprefents this as CASTOR, the Beaver, in zoology, a genus of
an ufeful criterion, whereby to difcover dr dillinguilh quadrupeds belonging to the order of glires. The
a Roman camp or Hation. There are feveral of thefe fore-teeth of the upper jaw are truncated,., and hollow-
cafiella on Severus’s wall: they are generally 60 feet ed in a tranfverfe angular direction. The tops of
fquare ; their north fide is formed by the wall itfelf the fore-teeth of the lower jaw lie in a tranfveTe di-
which falls in with them ; the intervals between them redlion; and the tail is deprefled. There are three
are from fix furlongs and an half to feven ; they feem fpecies of caHor, viz.
to have Hood HofeH where the Hations are widefl. 1. The fiber, or common beaver, with a plain ovated
The neighbouring people call them cajiles or cajtte- tail, is found on the banks of the rivers in Europe, Alia,
Jieeds, by which it feems probable that their ancient and America. It has Ihort ears hid in the fur; a blunt
Latin name had been cajlellum. Some modern writers nofe ; the fore-feet fmall, the hinder large : its length
call them m'lk-cajlles, or military cajhlle : Horlley from nofe to tail about three feet, tail about one foot. It Plate
fometimes exploratory cajiles. ' In thefe cafidla .the a- is from the inguinal glands of this animal that the caf- CX.XXI.
ream had their Hations, who were an order of men tor is obtained; it is contained in cods or pouches re-
whofe bufinefs was to make incurfions into the ene- fembliug a dog’s teHicles. Nothing equals the art
mies country, and give intelligence of their motions. with which thefe animals conHrudl their dwellings.
. Castle, in the fea language, is a part of the Ihip, They choofe a level piece of ground, with a fmall ri-
cf which there are two : the forecaHle, being the ele- vulet running through it. This they form into a
ration at the prow, or the uppermoH deck towards the pond, by making a dam acrofs ; firfi by driving into
mizen, the place where the kitchens are. Hindcafile the ground Hakes of five or fix feet in length, placed
is the elevation which, reigns on the Hern, over the in rows, wattling each row with pliant twigs, and fil-
lafi deck, where the officers cabins and places of af- ling the interHices wuth clay, ramming it down dole,
fembly are. 6 The fide next the water is Hoped, the other perpendi¬
cular ;
CAS [ 239 ] CAS
cular; the bottom is from ten to twelve feet thick ;
but the thicknefs gradually diminifhes to the top,
which is about two or three : the length of thefe dams
is fometimes not lefs than 100 feet.
Their houfes are made in the water collected by
means of the dam,, and are placed near the edge of
the fhore. They are built on piles ; are either round
or oval; but their tops are vaulted, fo that their in-
fide refembles an oven, the top a dome. The walls
are two feet thick, made of earth, ftones, and ft>cks,
molt artificially laid together ; and the walls within
as neatly plaftered as if with a trowl. In each houfe
are two openings, the one into the water, the oth^r
towards the land. The height of th'efe houfes above
the water is eight feet. They often make two or
three ftories in each dwelling, for the convenience of
chano-e in cafe of floods. Each houfe contains from
2<D to 30 beavers; and the number of houfes in each
pond is from io to 25. Each beaver forms its bed
of mofs ; and each family forms; its magazine of win¬
ter provifions, which confift of bark and boughs of
trees. ' Thofe they lodges under water, and fetch in¬
to their apartments as occafion requires. Lawfon
fays, they are fondeft of the faffafras, afh, and fweet
gum. Their fummer food is leaves, fruits, and fome¬
times crabs and craw fifti; but they are not fond of lifli.
To effedt thefe works, a community of two or
three hundred affembles; each bears his (hare in the
labour; fome fall to gnawing with their teeth trees
of great fize, to form beams or piles; others roll the
pieces along to the water ; others dive, and with
their feet fcrape holes in order to place them in ;
while others exert their efforts to rear them in their
proper places: another party is employed in collec¬
ting twigs to wattle the piles with ; a third in collec¬
ting earth, ftohes, and clay ; a fourth is bufied in
beating and tempering the mortar; others in carry¬
ing it on their broad tails to proper places, and with
the fame inftrument ram it between the piles, or plaf-
ter the infide of their houfes. A certain number of
fmart ftrokes given with their tails, is a fignal made
by the overfeer for repairing to fuch and fuch places,
either for mending any defeats, or at the approach of
an enemy ; and the whole fociety attend to it with
the utmoft. aifiduity. Their time of building is early
in fummer; for in winter they never ftir but to their
magazines of provifions, and daring that feafon are very
fat. They breed once a-year, and bring forth at the
latter end of the winter two or three young at a birth.
Befides thefe affociated beavers, is another fort call¬
ed terriers, which either want induftry or fagacity to
form houfes like the others. They burrow in the
banks of rivers, making their holes beneath the
freezing depth of the water, and work up for a great
number of feet. Thefe alfo form their winter ilock
of proviflon.
Beavers vary in their colours; the fineft are black,
but the general colour is a chefnut brown, more or
lefs dark : fome have been found, but very rarely,
white. The flrins are a prodigious article of trade,
being the foundation of the hat-manufa£tory. 101763
were fold, in a Angle fale of the Hudfon’s bay com¬
pany, 54,670 Ikins. They are diftinguiflied by dif¬
ferent names. Coat-beaver is what has been worn as
Coverlets by the Indians: Pankmmt-beaver, becaufe.
the lower fide refembles it: Stage-beaver is the worft,
and is that which the Indians kill out of feafon, on
their ftages or journeys.
In hunting the beavers, the favages fometimes (hoot
.them, always getting on the contrary fide of the wind;
for they are very fliy, quick in hearing, and of a keen
feent. This is generally done when the beavers are at
work, or on fliore feeding on poplar bark. If they
hear any noife when at work, they immediately jump
into the water, and continue there fome time; and
when they'rife, it is at a diftance from the place where*
they went in.
They fometimes are taken with traps : thefe are n ■-
thing but poplar flicks laid in a path near the wa¬
ter; which when the beaver begins to feed upon, they
caufe a large log of wood to fall upon their necks,
which is put in motion by their moving of the flicks,
and confequently requires an ingenious contrivance.
The favages generally prefer this way of taking them,
becaufe it does not damage their flrins.
In the winter-time they break the ice in two pla¬
ces at a diflance from the houfe, the one behind the
other. Then they take away the broken ice writh a
kind of racket, the better to fee where to place their,
flakes. They fallen their nets to thefe, which have
large melhes, and fometimes are eighteen or twenty
yards in length. When thefe are fixed, they pro¬
ceed to demolilh the houfe, and turn a dog therein ;
which terrifying the beaver, he immediately leaves it,,
and takes to the water; after which, he is foon en¬
tangled by the net.
2. The mofehatus, with a long, compreffed, lan-
ceolated tail, and palmated feet. It has a long flen-
der nofe like that of a flirew-moufe ;' no external
ears, and very fmall eyes. Length from nofe to
tail, feven inches ; of the tail, eight. It is the water-
rat of Clufius; and inhabits Lapland, Ruffia, the
banks of the rivers Wolga and the Yaick. It never
wanders far from the fides ; is very flow in its pace;,
makes holes in the cliffs, with the entrance far be¬
neath the loweft fall of the water ; works upwards, but
never to the furface, only high enough to be beyond
the higheft flow of the river: feeds on filh; is devour¬
ed by the pikes andJiluri, and gives thofe filh fo flrong.,
a flavour of mufk as to render them not eatable ; has
the fame feent as the former, efpecially about the.
tail, out of which is exprefled a fort of mufk very
much refembling the genuine kind. The fleins arer
put into chefts among clothes, to drive away moths.
At Orenburgh the flrins and tails fell for 15 or 20 co»
pees per hundred. They are fo common near Niz-
ney Novogorod, that the peafants bring 500 a-piece
to market, where they are fold for one ruble per him-,
dred. The German name for thefe animals is. btefem-
rat-ze ; the Ruffian, wychov&hol.
3. The zibethicus, or mufk-rat, with a long, com-
preffed,, lanceolated tail, and the toes of-the feet fepa—
rated from each other. Length from nofe to tail,
one foot; of the tail, nine inches. This fpecies in- -
habits North America, breeds three or four times in
a year, and brings from three to fix young ones at a
tima: during fummer the male and female confort
together: at the approach of winter they unite in -
families, and retire into fmall round edifices covered ,
with a. dome, formed of herbs and reeds cemented'
with
CAS [ 240 1 CAS
Caftor. with clay: at the bottom are feveral pipes through
v ' which they pafs in fearch of food; for they do not
form magazines like the beavers: during winter their
habitations are covered many feet deep with fnow
and ice ; but they creep out and feed on the roots be¬
neath : they quit their old habitations annually, and
form new ones: the fur is foft and much efteemed:
the whole animal, during fummer, has a moil exqui-
fite fmell of mufk, which it lofes in winter: perhaps
the fcent is derived from the calamus aromaticus, a
favourite food of this animal. Lefcarbot fays they
are very good to eat.
, CASTOR, in aftronomy, a moiety of the conftel-
lation Gemini ; called alfo Apollo. Its latitude
northwards, for the year lyoo^according to Hevelius,
was io° 4' 23" ; and its longitude, of Cancer, 16° 4'
14". It is alfo called Rafalgenze, Apollo, Aphellan,
Avellar, and Anelar.
Castor and Pollux, in Pagan mythology. Jupiter
having an amour with Leda, the wife of Tyndarus
king of Sparta, in the form of a fwan, {he brought
forth two eggs, each containing twins. From that
Impregnated by Jupiter proceeded Pollux and Helena,
who were both immortal; from the other Caftor and
Clytemneftra, who being begot by Tyndarus were
both mortal. They were all, however, called by the
common name of Pytularidte. Thefe two brothers en¬
tered into an inviolable friendfliip : they went with the
other noble youths of Greece in the expedition to
Colchis, and, on feveral occafions, fignalized them-
felves by their courage ; but Caftor being at length
killed, Pollux obtained leave to fhare his own immor¬
tality with him ; fo that they are faid to live and die
alternately every day : for, being tranflated into the
Ikies, they form the conftellatioh of gemini, one of
which ftars rifes as the other fets.
A martial dance, called the Pyrrhic or Cajlorlan
dance, was invented in honour of thofe deities whom
the Cephelenfes placed among the Dii Magni, and of¬
fered to them white lambs. The Romans alfo paid
them particular honours on account of the affiftance
they are faid to have given them in an engagement
again ft the Latins; in which, appearing mounted on
white horfes, they turned the fcale of viftory in their
Favour, for which a temple was erected to them in
the forum.
Castor and Pollux, a fiery meteor, which at fea ap¬
pears fometimes flicking to a part of the fhip, in form
of one, two, or even three or four fire-balls: when
one is feen alone, it is more properly called Helena;
two are denominated Caftor and Pollux, and fometimes
Tyndaridae. Caftor and Pollux are called by the Spa¬
niards, San Elmo; by the French, St Elme, St Ni¬
cholas, St Clare, St Helene; by the Italians, Fler-
mo ; by the Dutch, Vree Vuuren.
Caftor and Pollux are commonly judged to portend
a ceflation of the ftorm, and a future calm ; being
, rarely feen till the tempeft is nigh fpent. Helena
alone portends ill, and witneffes the fevereft part of
the ftorm yet behind. When the meteor flicks to the
mails, yards, &c. they conclude, from the air’s not
having motion enough to diflipate this flame, that a
profound calm is at hand j if it flutter about, it indi¬
cates a ftorm.
N°66.
CASTOREUM, in the Materia Medica, castor ; Caftoreum
the inguinal glands of the beaver. The ancients hadJCaftratlonj
a notion that it was lodged in the tefticles; and that ' A '
the animals, when hard preffed, would bite them off,
and leave them to its purfuers, as if confcious of what
they wanted to deftroy him for.. The bell fort of
caftor is what comes frbm Ruffia.' So much is Ruf¬
fian caftor fuperior to the American, that two gui¬
neas per pound is paid for the former, and only 8s. 6d.
for the latter. The Ruffian caftor is in large hard
round cods, which appear, when cut, full of a brittle,
red, liver-coloured fubftance, interfperfed with mem¬
branes and fibres exquifitely interwoven. An inferior
fort is brought from Dantzic, apd is generally fat and
moift. The American caftor, which is the worft of
all, is in longifh thin cods. Rufiia caftor has a ftrong
difagreeable fmell; and an acrid, bitteriih, and iiaufe-
ons tafte. Water extracts the naufeous part, with
little of the finer bitter; reftified fpirit extradls this
laft without much of the naufeous ; proof-fpirit both :
water elevates the whole of its flavour in diftillation;
redlified fpirit brings over nothing. Caftor is looked
upon as one of the capital nervine and antihyfteric
medicines : fome celebrated pradlitioners, neverthe-
lefs, have doubted its virtues ; and Newman and Stahl
declare it infignificant. Experience, however, has
fhown that the virtues of caftor are confiderable, tho’
lefs than they have been generally fuppofed.
CASTRATION, in furgery, the operation of
gelding, e. of cutting off the tefticles, and putting
a male animal out of a capacity of generation.
Caftration is much in ufe in Alla, efpecially among
the Turks, who pradlife it on their flaves, to prevent
any commerce with their women. The Turks often
make a general amputation.
Caftration alfo obtains in Italy, where it is ufed with a ,
view to preferve the voice for finging. See Eunuch.
The Perfians, and other eaftern nations, have di¬
vers methods of making eunuchs, different from thofe
which obtain in Europe : we fay, of making eunuchs,
for it is not always done among them by cutting, or
even collifion. Cicuta and other poifonous herbs do
the fame office, as is {hewn by Paulus zEgineta. Thofe
eunuchifed in this manner are called thllbhe. Befides
which there is another fort named thlajhg, in whom the
genitals are left entire, and only the veins which ffiould
feed them are cut; by which means the parts do in¬
deed remain, but fo lax and weak, as to be of no ufe.
Caftration was for fome time the punifliment of
adultery. By the laws of the Viiigoths, fodomites
underwent the fame puniffiment.
By the civil law, it is made penal in phyficians and
furgeons to caftrate, even with confent of the party,
who is himfelf included in the fame penalty, and his
effedls forfeited. The offence of Mayhem by caftra¬
tion is, according to all our old writers, felony ; tho’
committed upon the higheft provocation. See a re¬
cord to this purpofe of Henry III. tranferibed by Sir
Edward Coke, 3 Inft. 62. or Blackftone’s Com. vol.
iv. p. 206.
Caftration is fometimes found neceffary on medicinal
confiderations, as in mortifications, and fome other
difeafes of the tefticles, efpecially the farcocele and va¬
ricocele. Some have alfo ufed it in maniac cafes.
S
Cas-
CAS .. I 2
'C’aftration Castration is alfo in fome fort praftifed on wo-
'Caftruccio. men. Athenseus mentions, that king Andramytes
w  was the firft who caftrated women. Hefychius and
Suidas fay Gyges did the fame thing. Galen obferves,
that women cannot be caftrated without danger of
life : and Dalechampius, on the forementioned paffage
of Athenaeus, holds, that it is only to be underftood
of limple padlocking.
Castration, in refpeft of brutes, is called Geld¬
ing and Spaying.
Castration alfo denotes the art of retrenching, or
cutting away any part of a thing from its whole.—Caf-
trating a book, among bookfellers, is the faking out
fome leaf, fheet, or the like, which renders it imper-
fedf and unfit for fale. The term is alfo applied to
the taking away particular paffages, on account of
their obfcenity, too' great freedom with refpect to go¬
vernment, &c.
Castration, among botanifts, a term derived from
the fancied analogy betwixt plants and animals. The
caftration of plants confifts in cutting off the anther a,
or tops of the ftamina, before they have attained ma¬
turity, and difperfed the pollen or fine duff contained
within their fubftance. This operation has been fre¬
quently praftifed by the moderns, with a view to efta-
blilh or confute the doctrine of the fexes of plants; the
anthers or tops being confidered by the fexualifts as
the male organs of generation. The experiment of
caftratipn fucceeds principally on plants which, like
the melon, have their male flowers detached from the
female. In fuch as have both male and female flowers
contained within the fame covers, this operation can¬
not be eafily performed without endangering the neigh¬
bouring organs. The refult of experiments on this
fubjeift by Linnaeus, Alfton, and other eminent bota¬
nifts, may be feen under the article Botany, feft. iii.
CASTREL, a kind of hawk refembling the lanner
in ftiape, but the hobby in fize. The caftrel -is alfo
called keftrel, and is of a flow and cowardly kind; her
game is the grous, though flie will kill a partridge.
CASTRES, a city of Languedoc in France, about
35 miles eaft of Thouloufe. E Long. 2. and N. Lat.
43. 40. It is a bifhop’s fee.
CASTRO, the capital of the ifland of Chiloe, on
the coaft of-Chili in South America. W. Long. 82.
S. Lat. 43.
■ Castro is alfo the capital of a duchy of the fame
-name in the Pope’s territories in Italy, fituated on the
•confines of Tufcany. E. Long. 12. 35. N. Lat.
42. 30,
Castro (Pietro de), a celebrated painter, who
fiouriftied about the middle of the 17th century. The
fubje&s which this great artift chofe to paint, were what
are diftinguiftied by the name of ftill life ; vafes, ftiells,
mufical inftruments, gems, veffels of gold, filver, and
cpyftal, books, and rich bracelets ; and in thofe fub-
je&s his choice and difpofition were elegant, and his
execution admirable.
CASTRUCCIO (Caftracani), a celebrated Italian
general, was born (nobody knows of whom) at Luc¬
ca in Florence in 1284, and left in a vineyard cover¬
ed with leaves, where he was found by Dianora a
widow lady, the filler of Antonio, a canon of St Mi¬
chael in Lucca, who was defcended from the illuftri-
•Vol. IV. Part I.
.1 ] CAS
ous family of the Caftracani. The lady having no Caftruccicn
children, they refolved to bring him up, and educated '*—•>  
him as carefully as he had been their own. They in¬
tended him for a prieft ; but he was fcarcely 14 years
old when he began to devote himfelf to military fports,
and thofe violent exercifes which fuited his great
ftrength of body. The fadftions named the Gudfs and
Gibdlnes then fliared all Italy between them ; divided
the popes and the emperors ; and engaged in their dif¬
ferent interefts not only the members of the fame town,
but even thofe of the fame family. Francifco, a con-
fiderable perfon on the fide of the Gibelines, obfer-
ving Caftruccio’s Uncommon fpirit and great qualities,
prevailed with Antonio to let him turn foldier; on
which Caftruccio foon became acquainted with every
thing belonging to that profefiion, and was made a
lieutenant of a company of foot by Francifco Guinigi.
In his firft campaign he gave fuch proofs of his cou-
rage-and condudt as fpread his fame all over Lombardy;
and Guinigi, dying foon after, committed to him the
care of his fon and the management of his eftate. Still
diftinguilhing himfelf by his exploits, he filled his com¬
mander in chief with fuch jealoufy and envy, that he
was imprifoned by ftratagem in order to be put to
death. But the people of Lucca foon releafed him,
and afterwards chofe him for - their fovereign prince.
The Gibelines confidered him as the chief of their
party; and thofe who had been baniftied from their
country fled to him for proteftion, and unanimoufly
promifed, that if he could reftore them to their eftatea,
they would ferve him fo effectually that the fovereign-
ty of their country ftiould be his reward. Flattered
by thefe promifes, he entered into a lea'gue with the
prince of Milan. He kept his army conftantiy on
foot, employing it as beft fuited his own defigns. For
fervices he had done the pope, he was made fenator of
Rome with more than ordinary ceremony ; but while
there, received news which obliged him to haften back
to Lucca. The Florentines entered into a war with
him, but Caftruccio fought his way through them ;
and the fupreme authority of Tufcany was ready to
fall into his hands, when a period was put to his life.
In May 1328, he gained a complete viftory over his
enemies, who amounted to 30,000 foot and 10,000
horfe; in which 22,000 of them were flain, with the
lofs of not quite 16,000 of his own men : but as he
was returning from the field of battle, tired with the
action, and covered with fweat, he halted a little, in
order to thank and carefs his foldiers as they paffed ;
when, the north wind blowing upon him, he was im¬
mediately feized with an ague, which he at firft ne¬
glected, but it carried him off in a few days, in the
44th year of his age.
Machiavel, who has written the .life of Caftruccio,'
fays, that he was not only an extraordinary man in his
own age, but would have been fd in . any other. He
was of a noble afpedt, and of the moft winning addrefs.
He had all the qualities that make a man great; was
grateful to his friends, juft to his fubjeCts, .terrible to
his enemies. No man was more forward to encounter
dangers; no man more careful to efcape them. He
had an uncommon prefence of'mind, and often made
rapartees with great fmartnefs. Some of them are re¬
corded, which difcover a Angular turn of humour ;
•H h and,
CAS [ 242 1 CAT
Gaftruccio and, for a fpecimen, we (hall mention three or four of
Caf'alt t^em*—Faffing one day through a ftreet where there
v a “a ty'. was a houfe of bad fame, he furprifed a young man,
who was juft coming out, and who, upon feeing him,
was all over blufties and confufion: “ Friend, you
ftiould not be alhamed when you come out, but when
you go in.”—One alking a favour of him with a thou-
fand impertinent and fuperfluous words : “ Hark you,
friend ; when you would have any thing with me for
the future, fend another man to afk it.”—Another
great talker having tired him with a tedious difcourfe,
excufed himfelf at laft, by faying, he was afraid he had
been troublefome. “ No indeed, (replied he), for I
did not mind one word you faid.”—He was forced to
put a citizen of Lucca to death, who had formerly
been a great inftrument of his advancement; and being
reproached by fomebody for having dealt fo feverely
with an old friend, replied, “ No, you are miftaken,
it was with a new foe.”^-One of. his courtiers, defi-
rous to regale him, made a ball and invited him to it.
Caftruccio came, entertained himfelf among the ladies,,
danced, and did other tilings which did not feem to
comport with the dignity of his rank. One of his
friends intimating that fuch freedoms might diminifh
the reverence that ought to be paid him : “ I thank
you for your caution ; but he who is reckoned wife all
the day, will never be reckoned a fool at night.”
CASTRUM doloh-is, in' middle-aged writers,
denotes a catafalco, or a lofty tomb of ftate, ere&ed
in honour of fome perfon of eminence, ufually in the
church where his body is interred; and decorated with:
arms, emblems, lights, and the like.
Ecclefiaftical writers fpeak of a ceremony of confe-
crating a cqftrum doloris; the edifice was to be made
to reprefent the body .of the deceafed, and the prieft
and deacon were to take their polls, and fay the pray¬
ers after the fame manner as if the corpfe were actually
prefeftt.
CASTS. See Casting.
CASU consimili, in law, a writ of entry granted
where a tenant, by courtefy or ./or life, aliens either
in fee, in tail, or for the term of another’s life. It is
brought by him in reverfion againft the perfon to.
whom fuch tenant .does fo alien to the prejudice of the
reverfioner in the tenant’s life-time.
CAsu-Promfo, in law, a writ of entry founded on the
ftatute of Gloucefter, where a tenant in dower aliens
the lands (he fo holds in fee, or for life ; and lies for.
the party in reverfion againft the alienee.
CASUAL, fomething that happens fortuitoufly,
without any defign, or any meafures taken ,to bring it
to pafs.
Casual-Revenues, are th’ofe which arife from for¬
feitures, confifcations,, deaths, attainders, &c.
Casual-Theology, a denomination given to what is
more frequently called Casuistry.
CASUALTY, in a general fenfe, denotes an acci¬
dent, or a thing happening by chance, not defign. It
is particularly ufed for an accident producing unna¬
tural death.
Casualty, in Scot’s law. Cafualties of a fuperior,
are thofe duties' and emoluments which a fuperi¬
or has right to demand out of his vaffal’s eftate, over
and befides, the conftant yearly duties eftablifhed
by the reddendo of his charter upon certain cafual Cafualty
events. II
Casualty, in Metallurgy. See Causalty, Cat-gut.
CASUIST, a perfon who propofes to refolve cafes v
of confcience. Efcobar has made a colleftion of the
opinions of all the cafuifts before him. M. Le Feore,
preceptor of Louis XIII. called the books of the ca¬
fuifts the art of quibbling with God ; which does not.
feem far from truth,.by reafon of the multitude of di-
ftimftions and fubtleties they abound withal. Mayer
has publifhed a bibliotheca of cafuifts, containing an
account of all the writers on cafes of confcience, ran¬
ged under three heads, the firft comprehending the
Lutheran, the fecond the. Calvinift, and the third the,
Romifii, cafuifts.
CASUISTRY, the dodlrine and fcience of con-*
feienee and its cafes, with the rules and principles of
refolving the fame ; drawn partly from natural reafon
or equity;; partly from authority of feripture, the ca¬
non law, councils, fathers, &c. To cafuiftry belongs
the decifion of all difficulties arifing about what a man
may lawfully do or not do ; what is fin or not fin ;
what things a man is obliged to do in . order to dif-
charge his duty, and what lie may let alone without-
breach of it.
CASUS a m 1 s s 1 on is, in Scots law, in adlions pro¬
ving, the tenor of obligations inextinguifiiable by the
debtors retiring or cancelling them, it is neceffary for
the puifuer, before he is allowed a proof of the tenor,
to condefeend upon fuch a cafus amljfionis, or accident
by which the writing was deftroyed, as (hows it was
loft while in the writer’s pofieffion.
CAT, in zoology^ See Felis.
Cat, in fea-affairs, a fhip employed in the coal-
trade, formed from the Norwegian model. It is dif-
tinguiihed by t narrow Hern, projecting quarters, a
deep ivaifle, and by having ornamental figures on the
prow. Thefe veffels are generally built remarkably
ftrong, and carry from four to fix hundred tons, or,
in the language of their own mariners, from 20 to 30
keels of coals.
Cat, is alfo a fort of ftrong tackle, or combination .
of pullies, to hook and draw the anchor, perpendicu¬
larly Up to the cat-head. See Cal-Heads.
Cat’s Eye, or Sun-Jlone of the. Turks, a kind of gem
found chiefty in Siberia. Cat’s-eye is by the Latins .
called occulus cati, and fometimes onycopalus^ as having
white zones or rings like the onyx; and its colours-
variable like opal, from which laft it differs chiefly by
its fuperior hardnefs. It is very hard, and femitranf--
parent, and has different points, from whence the light 1
is reftedled with a kind of yellowifh radiation fome-
what fimilar to the eyes of cats, from whence it had .
its name. The belt of them are very fearce, and.
jewellers cut them round to the greateft advantage.
One of thefe ftones, .an inch in diameter, was in the
poffeifion, of the duke of Tufcany.
CAT-Fi/h, in ichthyology. See Squalus.
CAT-Gut, a denomination given .to fmall ftririgs for
fiddles, and other.inilruments, made of the inteftines
of fheep or-lambs, dried and twilled together, either
fingly, or feveral together. Thefe are fometimes co¬
loured red, fometimes blue, but are commonly left
whitifii or brownifti, the natural colour of the gut.
They.
CAT [ *43 J CAT
Cat-harp- They are alfo ufed by watch-makers, cutlers, turners,
inp and other artificers. Great quantities are imported
Catacomb. into England, and other northern countries, from Ly-
ty - ■ ons and Italy.
Cat-Harpings, a purchafe of ropes employed to
brace in the Ihrowds of the lower mafts behind their
yards, for the double purpofe of making the fhrowds
more tight, and of affording room to draw in the
yards more obliquely, to trim the fails for a fide-wind,
when they are faid to be clofe hauled.
Cat-Heads, two ftrong ihort beams of timber, which
projeft almoft horizontally over the fhip’s bows on
each fide of the bow-fprit; being like two radii which
extend from a centre taken in the dire&ion of the
bow-fprit. That part of the cat-head which refts upon
the forecaftle, is fecurely bolted to the beams: the
other part projetts like a crane as above deferibed, and
carries in its extremity two or three fmall wheels or
Jheaves of brafs or ftrong wood, about which a rope
called the cat-fall pafies, and communicates with the
cat-block, which alfo contains three Iheaves. The
machine formed by this combination of pullies is called
the Cat, which ferves to pull the anchor up to the cat¬
head, wnthout tearing the ftiip’s fides with its flukes.
The cat-head alfo ferves to fufpend the anchor clear of
the bow, when it is neceffary to let it go : it is fup-
ported by a fort of knee, which is generally ornament¬
ed with fculpture. See Plate CXXVIII.
The cat-block is filled with a large and ftrong hood,
which catches the ring of the anchor when it is to be
drawn up.
CAT-Mint, v See Mentha.
CAT-Salt, a name given by our fait-workers to a
very beautifully granulated kind of common fait. It
is formed out of the bittern, or leach-brine, which runs
from the fait when taken out of the pan. When they
draw out the common fait from the boiling pans, they
put it into long wooden troughs, with holes bored at
the bottom for the brine to drain out; under thefe
troughs are placed veffels to receive this brine, and a-
•crofs them fmall fticks to which the cat-falt affixes it-
felf in very large and beautiful cryftals. This fait
contains fome portion of the bitter purging fait, is
very {harp and pungent, and is white when powder¬
ed, though pellucid in the mafs. It is ufed by fome
foi the table, but the greateft part of what is made
of it is ufed by the makers of hard-foap.
CAT-Silver. See Mica.
CATAC MJSTICcurves, in thehigher geometry,
that fpecics of cauftic curves which are formed by re¬
flection. See Fluxions.
CATACHRESIS, in rhetoric, a trope which bor¬
rows the name of one thing to exprefs another. Thus
Milton, deferibing Raphael’s defeent from the empy¬
real heaven to paradife, fays,
“ Down thither prone in flight,
“ He fpeeds, and through the vaft etherial Iky
“ Sails between worlds and worlds.”
CATACOMB, a grotto, or fubterraneous place for
the burial of the dead.
Some derive the word catacomb from the place where
{hips are laid up, which the modern Latins and Greeks
call cumba. Others fay, that cata was ufed for ad, and
mtacumlas for adtumbas ; accordingly, Dadin fays, they
anciently wrote catatumhas. Others fetch the word Catacombs,
from the Greek and Kv/tG®-, a hollow, cavity, or
the like.
Anciently the word catacomb was only underftood
of the tombs of St Peter and St Paul; and M. Chafte-
lain obferveS, that, among the more knowing of the
people of Rome, the word catacomb is never applied to
the fubterraneous burying-places hereafter mentioned,
but only to a chapel in St Sebaftian, one of the feven
ftational churches; where the ancient Roman kalen-
dars fay the body of St Peter was depofited, under
the confulate of Tufcus and Baffus, in 25S.
Catacombs of Italy ; a vaft affemblage of fubter¬
raneous fepulchres about Rome, chiefly at about three
miles from that city in the Via Appia; fuppofed to
be the fepulchres of the martyrs ; and which are vifi-
ted accordingly out of devotion, and relics thence ta¬
ken and difperfed throughout the catholic countries,
after having been firft baptized by the pope under the
name of fome faint. Thefe catacombs are faid by ma¬
ny to be caves or cells wherein the primitive Chri-
ftians hid and aflembled themfelves together, and where
they interred fuch among them as were martyred.
Each catacomb is three feet broad, and eight or ten
high; running in form of an alley or gallery,, and
communicating with others : in many places they ex¬
tend within a league of Rome. There is no mafonry
or vaulting therein, but each fupports itfelf: the two
fides, which we may look on as the parietes or walls,
were the places where the dead were depofited; which
were laid length wife, three or four rows over one an¬
other, in the fame catacomb, parallel to the alley. They
were commonly clofed with large thick tyles, and
fometimes pieces of marble, cemented in a manner in¬
imitable by the moderns. Sometimes, though very
rarely, the name of the deceafed is found on the tyle:
frequently a palm is feen, painted or engraven, or the
cipher Xp, which is commonly read pro Chnjlo. The
opinion held by many Proteftant authors is, that the
catacombs are heathen ftpulchres, and the fame with the
puticuli mentioned by Feftus Pompeius ; maintaining,
that whereas it was the practice of the ancient Ro¬
mans to burn their dead, the cuftom was, to avoid
expence, to throw the bodies of their (laves to rot
in holes of the ground; and that the Roman Chri-
ftians, obferving, at length, the great veneration paid
to relics, refolved to have a ftock of their own : enter¬
ing therefore the catacombs, they added what ciphers
and inferiptions they pleafed; and then Amt them up
again, to be opened on a favourable occafion. Thofe
in the fecret, add they, dying or removing, the con¬
trivance was forgot, till chance opened them at laft. But
this opinion has even lefs of probability than the former.
Mr Monro, in the Philofopbical Tranfactions, fuppofes
the catacombs to have been originally the common fc-
pulchres of the firft Romans, and dug in confequence
of thefe two opinions, vise.. That (hades hate the light;
and that they love to hover about the places where the
bodies are laid.
Though the catacombs of Rome have made the
greateft noife of any in the world, there are fuch be¬
longing to many other cities. Thofe of Naples, ac¬
cording to biftiop Burnet, are much more noble and
fpacious than the catacombs of Rome. Catacombs
H h a have
CAT [ 244 1 CAT
Catacombs, have alfo been difcovered at Syracufe, and Catanea in
—*  Sicily, and in the ifland of Malta. The Roman cata¬
combs take particular names from the churches in their
neighbourhood, and feem to divide the circumference
of the city without the walls between them, extending
their galleries every where under, and a vail way from
it; fo that all the ground under Rome, and for many
miles about it, fome fay 20, is hollow. The largell,
and thofe commonly Ihown to ftrangers, are the cata¬
combs of San Sebaftiano, thofe of Saint Agnefe, and
the others in the fields a little off Saint Agnefe. Wo¬
men are only allowed to go into the catacombs in the
church-yard of the Vatican on Whitfun-Monday, un¬
der pain of excommunication. There are men kept
conllantly at work in the catacombs. As foon as thefe
labourers difcover a grave with any of the fuppofed
marks of a faint upon it, intimation is given to the
cardinal Comerlingo, who immediately fends men of
reputation to the place, where finding the palm, the
monogram, the coloured glafs, IsV. the remains of the
body are taken up with great refpeft, and tranflated to
Rome. After the labourers have examined a gallery,
they Hop up the entry that leads to it; fo that moll
of them remain thus clofed up ; only a few being
left open to keep up the trade of Ihowing them to
ftrangers. This they fay is done to prevent people
from lofing themfelves in thefe fubterraneous labyrinths,
which indeed has often happened ; but more probably
to deprive the public of the means of knowing whither
and how far the catacombs are carried.
The method of preferving the dead in catacombs,
feems to have been common to a number of the ancient
nations. The catacombs of Egypt are Hill extant
about nine leagues from the city of Grand Cairo, and
two miles from the city of Zaccara. They extend
from thence to the pyramids of Pharaoh, which are:
about eight miles diftant. They lie in a field covered
with a fine running fand, of a yellowilh colour. The
country is dry and hilly ; the entrance of the tomb is
choaked up with fand ; there are many open, but more,
that are ftill concealed.
The bodies found in catacombs, efpecially thofe of
EgVpt, are called mummies ; and as their fldh was for¬
merly reckoned an efficacious medicine, they were much
fought after. In this work the labourers were often
obliged to clear away the fand for weeks together,
without finding what they wanted. Upon coming to
a little fquare opening of about 18 feet in depth, they
defcend into it by holes for the feet, placed at proper
intervals ; and there they are fure of finding a mummy.
Thefe caves, or tvells as they call them there, are hol¬
lowed out of a white free-ftone, which is found in all
this country a few feet below the covering of fand.
When one gets to the bottom of thefe, which are
fometimes 40 feet below the furface, there are feveral
fquare openings on each fide into paflages of 10 or 15
feet wide ; and thefe lead to chambers of 15 or 20 feet
Xquare. Thefe are all hewn out in the rock ; and
in each of the catacombs are to be found feveral of
thefe apartments communicating with one another.
They extend a great way under ground, fo as to be
under the city of Memphis, and in a manner to under¬
mine its invirons. In fome of the chambers the walls
are adorned with figures and hieroglyphics; in others
the mummies are found in tombs, round the apart- Catacomb®
ment hollowed out in the rock, Catale fis
The Egyptians feem to have excelled in the art of V
embalming and preferving their dead bodies; as the
mummies found in the Egyptian catacombs are in a
better ftate than the bodies found either in*the Italian
catacombs or thofe of any other part of the world. See
Embalming and Mummy.
Laying up the bodies in caves, is certainly the ori¬
ginal way of difpofing of the dead ; and appears ta
have been propagated by the Phoenicians throughout
the countries to which they fent colonies: the inter¬
ring as we now do in the open air or in temples was>.
firft introduced by the Chriftians,. When.an ancient
hero died or was. killed in a foreign expedition, as his-
body was liable to corruption, and for that reafon un¬
fit to be tranfported entire, they fell on the expedient
of burning, in order to bring home the afhes, to oblige
the manes to follow.; that fo his country might not be.
deftitute of the benefit of his tutelage. It was thus-
burning feems to have had its original; and by degrees*
it became common, to all who could bear the expences-
of it, and took, place of the ancient burying: thus.
catacombs became difufed among the Romans, after
they had borrowed the manner of burning from the
Greeks, and then none but Haves were laid in the.
ground. See Burial,LtV.
CATALAUNI, called alfo Durocatalauni, a town,
of Gallia Belgica: Catalauni, the people. A name
rather of the lower age than of claffical antiquity.
Now Chalons fur Marne, in Champaign. E. Long.
4. 35. N. Lat. 48. 55.
CATADROMUS (from and Iran), In
antiquity, a ftretched Hoping rope in the theatres, down-
which the funamluli walked to ffiow their hill. ^
Some have taken the word to fignify the hippodrome
or decurforium wherein the Roman knights ufed to-
exercife themfelves in running and fighting on horfe-
back. But the rnoft natural meaning is that of a rope.
fattened at one end to the top of the theatre, and at
the other to the bottom, to walk or run down, which
was the higheft glory of the ancient fchdnobates or fu-
nambuli. Elephants were alfo taught to run down the
catadromus. Suetonius fpeaks of the exploit of a Ro¬
man, knight, who paffed down the catadrornus mounted
on an elephant’s back.
CATAGOGION, a heathen feftival at Ephefus,
celebrated on the 22d of January, in which the devo¬
tees run about the ftreets, drefled in divers antic and
unfeemly manners, with huge cudgels in their hands,
and carrying with them the images of their gods ;
in which guife they raviffied the women they met
with, abufed and often killed the men, and committed
many other diforders, to which the religion of the day
gave a fandlion.
CATAGRAPHA, In antiquity, denote oblique
figures or views of mens faces; anfwering to what
the moderns call profiles.
Catagrapha are faid to be the invention of Simon
Cleomeus, who firft taught painters to vary the looks
of their figures, and fometimes dire& them upwards,
fometimes downwards, and fometimes fidewards or
backwards.
CATALEPSIS, or Catalepsy, in medicine, a
kind
CAT
Catalogue, kind of apoplexy or a drowfy difeafe wherein the patient
'■*—^ is taken fpeechlefs, fenfelefs, and fixed in the fame
pofture wherein the difeafe ill'll feized him ; his eyes
open, without feeing or underilanding. See Medi-
. C i n E-Index.
CATALOGUE, a lift or enumeration of the names
of feveral books, men, or other things* difpofed ac¬
cording to a certain order.
Catalogues of books are digefted in different man¬
ners, fome according to the order of the times when
the books were printed, as that of Mattaire ; others
according to their form and fize, as the common book-
fellers-catalogues; others according to the alphabetical
order of the authors -names, as Hyde’s catalogue of
the Bodleian library ; others according to the alpha¬
betical order of matters or fubjects, which are called real
or cld/Jical catalogues, as thofe of Lipenius and Draudius;
Lilly, others are digefted in a mixed method, partaking
of feveral of the former, as de Seine’s catalogue of cardi¬
nal Slufius’s library , which is firft divided according to
the fubjedls or fciences, and afterwards the books in
each are recited alphabetically.
The moil applauded of all catalogues is that of Thu-
[ ns ]
CAT
fervations of Timocharis and Ariftyllus for about 180 Catalogue,
years before him. Ptolemy retained Hipparchus’s ca- Catalonia.
talogue, containing 1026 fixed ftars ; though he him- v—
felf made abundance of obfervations, with a view to a
new catalogue, A. D. 140. About the year of Chrift
880, Albategni, a Syrian, brought down the fame to
his time. Anno 1437, Ulugh Beigh, king ofParthia
and India, made a new catalogue of 1022 fixed ftars,
fince tranflated out of Perfian into Latin by Dr Hyde.
The third who made a catalogue from his own obfer¬
vations was Tycho Brahe, who determined the places
of 777 liars for the year 1600, which Kepler from
other obfervations of Tycho afterwards increafed to
the number of 1000 in the Rudolphine tables; adding
thofe of Ptolemy omitted by Tycho, and of other au¬
thors, fo that his catalogue amounts to above 1160.
At the fame time, William landgrave of Heffe, with
his mathematicians Chrillopher Rothmannus and Ju¬
lius Byrgius, determined the places of 40b fixed ftars
by his own obfervations, with their places redlified for
the year 1593 ; which Hevelius prefers to thofe of
Tycho’s. Ricciolus, in his AJlronomia Reformata, de¬
termined the places of 101 ftars for the year 1
anus’s library, in which are united the advantages of from his own obfervations: for the reft he followed
all the reft. It was firft drawn up by the two Puteani
in the alphabetical order, then digefted according to
the fciences and fubjedls by Ifhm. Bullialdus, and
publifhed by F. Quefnel at Paris in 1679 ; and re¬
printed, though incorredlly, at Hamburg, in 1704.
The books are here ranged with juftnefs under their
feveral fciences and fubjedts, regard being ftill had tO'
the nation, fedl, age, &c. of every writer. Add, that
only the beft and choiceft books in every fubjedl
are found here, and the moft valuable editions. Yet
Tycho’s catalogue ; altering it where he thought fit.
Anno 1667, Dr Halley, in the Hand of St Helena,
obferved 350 fouthern ftars not vifible in our horizon.
The fame labour was repeated by F. Noel in 1710,
who publifhed a new catalogue of the fame ftars con-
ftrudled for the year 1687.-
Bayer, in his Uranometria, publifhed a catalogue of
it 60 ftars, compiled chiefly from Ptolemy and Tycho,
in which every ftar is marked with fome letter of the
Greek alphabet ; the biggeft ftar in any conftellation
the catalogue of M. le Telliers archbifhop of Rheim’s being denoted by the firft letter, the next by the fe-
library, made by M. Clement, is not inferior to any cond, &c. and if the number exceeds the Greek alpha-
publiftied in our age, either on account of the number bet, the remaining ftars are marked by letters of the
and choice of the books, or the method of its difpo- ” 11 ' ' 1 • > *
fition. One advantage peculiar to this catalogue is,
the multitude of anonymous and pfeudonymous authors
detected in it, fcarce to be met with elfewhere. Some
even prefer it to Thuanus’s catalogue, as containing a:
. greater variety of claffes and books on particular fub-
jefts.
The conditions required in a catalogue are, that it
indicate at the fame time the order of the authors and
of the matters, the form of the book, the number,
of volumes, the chronological order of the editions,
the language it is written in, and its place in the li¬
brary ; fo as that all thefe circumftances may appear at
once in the fhorteft, cleareft, and exadleft manner pof-
fible . In this view, all the catalogues yet made will
be found to be defective.
An anonymous French writer has laid , down a new
plan of a catalogue, which ftiall unite all the advan¬
tages, and avoid all the inconveniences of the reft.
The Jefuits of Antwerp has given us a catalogne of the year 1726.
Roman alphabet, which letters are preserved by Flam-
ftead, and by Senex on his globes. The celebrated
Hevelius compofed a catalogue of 1888 ftars, 1553 of
which were obferved by himfelf; and their places
were computed for the year 1660.
The laft and greateft is the Britannic catalogue,
compiled from the obfervations of. the accurate Mr
Flamftead; who for a long feries of years devoted
himfelf wholly thereto. As there was nothing want¬
ing either in the obferver or apparatus, we may
look on this as a perfect work fo far as it goes. It is
to be regretted the imprefiion had not paffed through
his own hands: that now extant, was publifhed by
authority, but without the author’s conient: it con¬
tains 2734 ftars. There was another publifhed in
1725, purfuant to his teftament; containing no lefs
than 3000 ftars, with their places redlified for the year
1689 : to which is added Mr Sharp’s catalogue, of the
fouthern ftars not vifible in our hemifphere, adapted to
the popes; which makes what,they call their Propylaum.
Catalogue of the Stars, is a lift of the fixed ftars,
difpofed in their feveral conftellations ; with. the lon¬
gitudes, latitudes, &c. of each.
The firft who undertook to reduce the fixed ftars
into a catalogue was Hipparchus Rhodius, about 120
years before Chrift; in which he made ufe ef the ob-
CATALONIA, a province of Spain, bounded on
the north by the Pyrenean mountains, which divide
it from France ; by the kingdom of Arragon and Va- ■
lencia on the weft; and by the Mediterranean fea on
the fouth and eaft. It is 155 miles in length, and 100
in breadth. It is watered by a great number of rivers;
the principal ef which are the Lobregat, the Ter, and
ihe-.-
CAT [ 2+6 ] CAT
the Segra. The air is temperate and healthy; but plant is a pretty ornament in gardens, and is eaiuy Catar.es,
the land is mountainous, except in a few places. It kept within bounds. w—y—.
produces, however, corn, wine, oil, pulfe, flax, and CATANEA, or Catania, a city of Sicily, feated
hemp, fufficient for the inhabitants. The mountains on a gulph of the fame name, near the foot of Mount
are covered with large forefts of tall trees, fuch as the -/Etna or Gibel. It was founded by the Chalcidians
oak, the ever-green oak, the beech, the pine, the fir, foon after the fettlement of Syracufe, and enjoyed
the chefnut, and many others; with cork-trees, flirubs, great tranquillity till Hiero I. expelled the whole body
and medicinal plants. There are feveral quarries of of citizens; and after replenifhing the town with a new
marble of all colours, cryftal, alabafter, amethyfts, and ftock of inhabitants, gave it the name of JEtna; im-
lapis lazuli. Gold dull has been found among the mediately after his deceafe, it regained its ancient
hands of one or two of the rivers ; and there are mines name, and its citizens returned to their abodes. Ca-
of tin, iron, lead, alum, vitriol, and fait. They like- tania fell into the hands of the Romans, among their
wife fi(h for coral on the eailern coaft. The inhabi- earlieft acquifitions in Sicily, and became the refidencc
tants are hardy, courageous, active, vigorous, and good of a p ns tor. To make it worthy oh fuch an honour*
foldiers, but apt to be difcontented. The miquelets it was adorned -vyith fumptuous buildings of all kinds,
are a fort of foldiers which guard the pafles over the and every convenience was procured to fupply the na-
mountaius, and ought to protect travellers; but if they tural and artificial wants of life. It was ddtroyed by
are not paid to their minds, they feldom fail -to pay Pompey’s fon, but reftored with fuperior magnificence
themfelves. The river Lobregat divides Catalonia in- by Auguftus. The reign of Decius is famous in the
to two parts, the eaft and weft, according to their fi- hiftory of this city for the martyrdom of its patronefs
tuation. This province comprehends 17 vigueries or St Agatha. On every emergency her interceffion is
territories ; two of which are in Roufillon, and belong implored. She is pioufly believed to have preferved
to the French. The reft are fubjedt to the Spaniards. Catania from being overwhelmed by torrents of lava,
The principal towns are Barcelona the capital, Tarra-. or fhaken to pieces by earthquakes ; yet its ancient
gona, Tortofa, Lerida, Solfonia, Cardona Vich, Gi- edifices are covered by repeated ftreams of volcanic
rona, Seu d’Urgel, Pui Cerda, and Cervera. Cata- matter; and almoft every houfe, even her own church,
Ionia was the laft province in Spain which fubmitted has been thrown to the ground. In the reign of Wil-
to Philip in the fucceffion-war. liam the Good, 20,000 Catanians, with their paftor at
CATAMENIA, in medicine. See Menses. their head, weredeftroyed before the facred veil could
CATAMITE, a boy kept for fodomitical prac- be properly placed to check the flames. In the laft
tices. century the eruptions and earthquakes raged with re-
CAT ANA, or Catina (anc. geog.), a town of Si- doubled violence, and Catania was twice demolifhed.
eily, fituated oppofite to -Etna, to the fouth-caft ; one See -Etna.
of the five Roman colonies: anciently builj: by the The prefent prince of Bifcari has been at infinite
people of Naxus feven years after the building of Sy- pains, and fpent a large fum of money, in working
racufe, 728 years before Chrift. It was the country of down to the ancient town, which on account of the
Charondas, the famous lawgiver. The town is ftill called numerous torrents of lava that have flowed out of
Catanea. See Cat ant. a. Mount -Etna for thefe laft thoufand years, is now to be
CATANANCHE, Candia lions-foot: A genus fought for in dark caverns many feet below the pre-
of the polygamia sequalis order, belonging to the fyn- fent furface of the earth. Mr Swinburne informs us
genefxa clafis of plants ; and in the natural method that he defcended into baths, fepulchres, an amphithe-
ranking under the 49th order, Compojita. The recep- atre, and a theatre, all very much injured by the va-
tacle is paleaceous; the calyx imbricated ; the pappus rious cataftrophes that have befallen them. They were
furnifhed with awns by a caliculus of five ftiff hairs, erefted upon old beds of lava, and even built with
There are three fpecies, of which the cerulea is the fquare pieces of the fame fubftance, which in no in-
moft remarkable. This fends out many long, narrow, ftance appears to have been fufed by the contaft of
hairy' leaves, which are jagged on their edges like thofe new lavas : The fciarra or ftones of cold lava, have
©f the buckihorn plantain, but broader; the jags are conftantly proved as ftrong a barrier againft the flow-
deeper, and at greater diftances: thefe lie flat on the ing torrent of fire as any other ftone could have been,
ground, turning their points upwards. Between the though feme' authors were of opinion that the hot
leaves come out the flower ftalks, which are in num- matter would melt the old mafs and incorporate with it.
ber proportionable to the fize of the plants; for, from This city has been frequently defended from the
an old thriving root, there are frequently eight or ten, burning ftreams by the folid mafs of its own ramparts,
while young plants do not fend out above two or three, and by the air comprefled between them and the lava;
"Thefe ftalks rife near two feet high, dividing into as appears by the torrent having ftopt within a fmall
many fmall branches upward, garniflied with leaves diftance of the walls, and taken another direction,
like thofe below, butfmaller, and without jags on their But when the walls were broken or low, the lava col¬
edges ; each of thefe fmaller branches are terminated ledled itfelf till it rofe to a great height, and then
by Angle heads of flowers, of a fine blue colour. This poured over in a curve. A fimilar inftanc^ is feen at
is a perennial plant, and may be propagated by feeds the Torre del Greco near Naples, where the ftream of
or flips. The feeds may be fown in the fpring on a liquid fire from Vefuvius divided itfelf into two branch-
bed of common earth ; and in the autumn following es, and left a church untouched in the middle. There
the plants may be removed to the places where they is a well at the foot of the old walls of Catania, where
are to remain. The feeds ripen in Auguft. This the lava, after running along the parapet, and then
3 falling
CAT [ 247 ] CAT
Catanea faHirig forwards, has produced a very complete lofty
il arch over the fpring.
®ata^rac' The church here is a noble fabric. It is accounted
1, the largeft in Sicily, though neither a porch nor cu¬
pola has been erefted, from a doubt of the folidity of
the foundations, which are no other than the bed of
lava that ran out of iEtna in 1669, and is fuppofed to
be full of cavities. The organ is much efteemed by
connoiffeurs in mufical inftruments.
Catania, according to Mr Swinburne’s account, is
reviving with great fplendor. “ It has already (he
fays) much more the features of a metropolis and
foyal refidence than Palermo; the principal ftreets are
wide, ftraight, and well paved with lava. An obelilk
of red granite, placed on the back of an antique ele¬
phant of touchftone Hands in the centre of the great
fquare, which is formed by the town-hall, feminary,
and cathedral. The cathedral ere&ed by the abbot
Angerius in the year 1094, was endowed by earl Roger
with the territories of Catania and iEtna, for the
fmall acknowledgment of a glafs of wine and a loaf
of bread offered once a-year. It has fuffered fo much
by earthquakes, that little of the original ftru&ure re¬
mains, and the modern parts have hardly any thing ex¬
cept their materials to recommend them. The other re¬
ligious edifices of the city are profufely ornamented, but
iii a bad tafte. The fpirit of building feems to have feized
upon this people, and the prince of Bifcari’s example
adds frelh vigour. It were natural to fuppofe men would
be backward in eredting new habitations, efpecially with
any degree of luxury, on ground fo often lhaken to its
centre, and fo often buried under the afhes of a volca¬
no ; but fuch is their attachment to their native foil,
and their contempt of dangers, they are habituated to,
that they rebuild their houfes on the warm cinders of
Vefuvius, the quaking plains of Calabria, and the black,
mountains of Sciarra at Catania; it is however furprifing
to fee fuch embelliihments lavifhed in fo dangerous a
fituation. There is a great deal of activity in the
difpofition of this people : they know by tradition
that their anceftors carried on a flourifhihg commerce;
and that, before the fiery river filled it up, they had a
fpacious convenient harbour, where they now have
fcarce a creek for a felucca: they therefore with to
reftore thofe advantages to Catania, and have often ap¬
plied to government for affiftance towards forming a
mole and port, an undertaking their ftrength alone is
unequal to ; but whether the refufal originates in the
deficiencies: of the public treafury or the jealoufy of
other cities, all their projedts have ended in fruitlefs
applications. The number of inhabitants dwelling in
Catania amounts to 30,000 ; the Catanians make it
double : A confiderable portion of this number apper¬
tains to the univerfity, the only one in the ifland, and
the nurfery of all the lawyers.” E. Long. 15.19.
N. Lat. 37.30..
CATANZARO, a city in the kingdom of Naples,
the capital of Calabria Ulterior,. with a bifhop’s fee.
It is the ufual refidence of the governor of the pro¬
vince, and is feated on a mountain, in E.Long. 18. 20.
N. Lat. 38. 58.
CATAPHONICS, the fcience which confidersthe
properties of reflefted founds. See Acoustics.
CATAPHORA, in medicine, the fame as Coma.
CATAPHRACTA (from x*?*, and I for¬
tify or arm), in the ancient military art, apiece ofCataphrao
heavy defenfive armour, formed of cloth or leather,
fortified with iron fcales or links, wherewith fome- Cataplaf-
times only the breaft, fometimes the whole body, and ma.
fometimes the horfe too, was covered. It was in ufe s——y—-0
among the Sarmatians, Perfians, and other Barbarians.
The Romans alfo adopted it early for their foot; and,.
according to Vegetius, kept to it till the time of Gra-
tian, when the military difcipline growing remifs, and
field exercifes and labour difcontinued, the Roman -
foot thought the cataphrafta as well as the helmet too
great a load to bear, and therefore threw, both by,
choofing rather to march againft the enemy bare-
brealled ; by which, in the war with the Goths, mul¬
titudes were deitroyed.
Cataphractje Naves, fliips armed and covered in
fight, fo that they could not be eafily damaged by thd
enemy. They were covered over with boards of
planks, on which the foldiers were placed to defend!
them ; the rowers fitting underneath, thus fcreened
from the enemy’s weapons.
CATAPHRACTUS, denotes a thing defended or
covered on all fides with.armour—
Cataphractus, or Cataphractariust more particu¬
larly denotes a horfeman, or even horfe, armed with a
cataphrafta. The cotaphraSa equites were a. fort of
cuirafiiers, not only fortified with armour themfelves,
but having their horfes guarded with folid plates of
brafs or other metals, ufually lined with Ikins and
wrought into plumes or other forms. Their ufe was
to bear down all before them, to break in upon the
enemies ranks, and fpread terror and havock wherever
they came, as being themfelves invulnerable and fecure
from danger. But their difadvantage was their un-
wieldinefs, by which, if once unhorfed or on the
ground, they were unable to rife, and thus fell a prey
to the enemy..
CATAPHRYGIANS, a fed in the fecond cen¬
tury, fo called as being of the country of Phrygia..
They were orthodox in every thing, fetting afide this,,
that they took Montanus ibr a prophet, and Prifcilla ■
and Maximilla for true propheteffes, to be confulted in
every thing relating to religion ; as fuppofing the Holy
fpirit had abandoned the church. See Montan ist.
CATAPLASMA, a poultice ; from *«UivRa<nrat
i/lino, to fpread like a plafter. Cataplafms take their
name fometimes from the part to which they are ap¬
plied, or effefts they produce ; fo are called anacollema,,
frontak, eptcarpjum, epifpajlicum, vefcatorium ; and when,
muftard is an ingredient, they are calledJinapifms.
Thefe kind of applications are fofter and more eafy
than plafters or ointments. They are- formed of dome
vegetable fubftances, and applied of fuch a confiftence
as neither to adhere nor run : they are alfo more ufe-
ful when the intention is effe&ed by the perpetuity of.
the heat or cold which they contain, for they retain
them longer than any other kind of compolition.
When defigned to relax, or to promote fuppura-
tion, they Ihould be applied warm. Their warmth,,
moifture, and the obft.rud.tion they give to perfpira-
tion, is the method of their anfwering that end.. The
proper heat; when applied warm, is no more than to
promote a kindly pleafant fenfation ; for great heat
prevents the defign for which they are ufed. They
fliould be renewed as often as they cool. For relaxing
CAT r 248 ] CAT
Catapult* and fuppurating, none excel the white-bread poultice,
made with the crumb of an old loaf, a fufficient quan¬
tity of milk to boil the bread in until it is foft, and
a little oil; which laft ingredient, befides preventing
the poultice from drying and flicking to the fkin,
alfo retains the heat longer than the bread and milk
alone would do. To preferve the heat longer, the
poultice, when applied, may be covered with a llrong
ox’s bladder. y
When defigned to repel, they fhould be applied cold,
and ought to be renewed as oft as they become warm.
A proper compofrtion for this end is a mixture of oat¬
meal and-vinegar.
CATAPULTA, in antiquity, a military engine
- contrived for the throwing of arrows, darts, and ftones
upon the enemy.—Some oPthefe engines were of fuch
force that they would throw ftones of an hundred
weight. Joiephus takes notice of the furprifmg effe£ls
of thefe engines, and fays, that the ftones thrown out
of them beat down the battlements, knocked off the
angles of the towers, and would level a whole file of
men from one end to the other, was the phalanx ever
fo deep. This was called the
Battering Catapvlta, and is reprefented on Plate
CXXVII. This catapulta is fuppofed to carry
a ftone, &c. of an hundred weight, and therefore
a defcription of it will be fufficient to explain the
doftrine of all the reft; for fuch as threw ftones of
500 and upwards were conftru&ed on the fame prin¬
ciples.
The bafe is compofed of two large beams 2, 3. The
length of thofe beams is fifteen, diameters of the boi e
of the capitals 9. At the two extremities of each
beam, two double mortifes are cut to receive the
eight tenons of two crofs beams, each of them four of
the diameters in length. In the centre of each of
the beams of the bafe, and near two thirds of their
length, a hole, perfedtly round, and 16 inches in diame¬
ter, fliould be bored : thefe holes mult be exadtly op-
pofite to each other, and ffiould increafe gradually to
the infide of the beams, fo that each of them, being
,16 inches on the outfide towards the capitals 9,
ihould be 174- at the opening on the infide, and the
edges carefully rounded off. The capitals 9 are, in
a manner, the foul of the machine, and ferve to twill
and ftrain the cordage, which forms its principle or
power of motion.
The capitals are either of call brafs or iron ; each
• confifting of a wheel with teeth, C 10, of 2~ inches
thick. The hollow or bore of thefe wheels fhould be
11^ inches in-diameter, perfeftly round, and the edges
fmoothed down. As the fri&ion would be too great,
if the capitals rubbed againft the beams, by the extreme
ftraining of the cordage, which draws them towards
thefe beams, that inconvenience is remedied by the
means of eight fri&ion-wheels, or cylinders of brafs,
about the 13th of an inch in diameter, and an inch
and one fixth in length, placed circularly, and turning
upon axes, as reprefented at D 13, B 12. One of
thefe friftion-wheels at large with its fcrew, by which
it is fattened into the beam, is reprefented at A.
Upon this number of cylindrical wheels the capitals
f) mull be placed in the beams, 2, 3, fo that the cylin¬
ders do not extend to the teeth of the wheels, which
jnuft receive a ftrong pinion 14. By the means of this
,N° 67. 2
pinion the wheel of the capital is made to turn for Catapuhv,
ftraining the cordage with the key 15. The capital •—“v-—^
wheel has a ftrong catch 16, and another of the fame
kind may be added to prevent any thing from giving
way through the extreme and violent force of the
ftrained cordage.
The capital-piece of the machine is a nut or crofs-
pin of iron, 17, feen at C, and hammered cold into
its form. It divides the bore of the capitals exadlly in
two equal parts, and fixed in groves about an inch
deep. This piece, or nut, ought to be about two in¬
ches and one-third thick at the top 18, as reprefented
in the fedlion at B ; and rounded off and polifhed as
much as poffible, that the cords folded over it may not
be hurt or cut by the roughnefs or edges of the iron.
Its height ought to be eight inches, decreafing gra¬
dually in thicknefs to the bottom, where it ought to be
only one inch. It muft be very exadlly inferred in the
capitals.
After placing the two capitals in the holes of the
two beams in a right line with each other, and fixing
the two crofs diametrical nuts or pieces over which
the cordage is to wind, one end of the cord is reeved
through a hole in one of the capitals in the bafe, and
made fail to a nail within-fide of the beam The
other fide of the cord is then carried through the hole
in the oppofite beam and capital, and fo wound over
the crofs pieces of iron in the centre of the two capi¬
tals, till they are full, the cordage forming a large
fkain. The tenfion or ftraining of the cordage ought
to be exaftly equal, that is, the feveral foldings of the
cord over the capital-pieces ffiould be equally ilrained,
and fo near each other as not to leave the leaft fpace
between them. As foon as the firft folding or (kain of
cord has filled up one whole fpace or breadth of the
capital pieces, another muft be carried over it; and fo
on, always equally ftraining the end till no more will
'pafs through the capitals, and the Ikain of cordage en¬
tirely fills them, obferving to rub it from time to time
with foap.
At three or four inches behind the cordage, thus
wound over the capital pieces, two very ftrong upright
beams 21 are railed : thefe are polls of oak 14 inches
thick, crofted over at top by another of the fame foli-
dity. The height of the upright beams is 74- diame¬
ters ; each fupported behind with very ftrong props
25, fixed at bottom in the extremities of the bafe 2, 3.
The crofs beam 24 is fupported in the fame manner by
a prop in the centre.
The tree, arm, or ftylus 22, ihould be of found
alh. Its length is from 15 to 16 diameters of the bore
of the capitals. The end at the bottom, or that fixed
in theaniddle of the Ikain, is 10 inches thick, and 14
broad. To ftrengthen the arm or tree, it Ihould be
wrapped round with a cloth dipped in ftrong glue like
the tree of a faddle, and bound very hard with waxed
thread of the fixth of an inch in diameter from the
large end at bottom, almoft to the top, as reprefented
in the figure.
At the top of the arm, juft under the iron-hand or
receiver 27, a ftrong cord is faftened, with two loops
twilled ene within another, for the greater ftrength.
Into thefe two loops the hook of a brafs pulley 28 is
put. The cord 29 is then reeved through the pulley,
and faftened to the roll 3.0. The cock or trigger 31,
which
CAT [ 249 ] CAT
Cafapnlta wWc4i rervef! as a flay, is then brought to it, and
II made faft by its hook to the extremity of the hand
.Catarrh. 2,^ jn ^he body to be difcharged is placed.
v The pulley at the neck of the arm is then unhooked ;
and when the trigger is to let it off, a ftroke muft be
given upon it with an iron-bar or crow of about an
inch in diameter; on which the arm flits up with a
force almoft equal to that of a modern mortar. The
cufhion or ftomacher 23, placed exactly in the middle
of the Crofs beam 24, should be covered with tanned
ox-hide, and Huffed with hair, the arm flriking againft
it with inconceivable force. It is to be obferved, that
the tree or arm 2z deferibes an angle of 90 degrees,
beginning at the cock, and ending at the ftomacher or
cufhion.
C At awl ta for Arrows, Spears, or Darts. Some of
the fpears, £sY. thrown by thefe engines, are faid to
have been 18 feet long, and to have been thrown with
fuch velocity as to take fire in their courfe.
Fig. 2. A BCD is the frame that holds the darts or ar¬
rows, which may be of different numbers, and'placed
in different direftions. E F is a large and ftrong
iron fpring, which is bent by a rope that goes over
three pullies, I, 1C, L ; and is drawn by one or feveral
men ; this rope may be faftened to a pin at M. The
rope, therefore, being fet at liberty, the fpring muft
ftrike the darts with great violence, and fend them,
with furprifing velocity, to a great diftance. This in-
ftrument differs in feme particulars from the defeription
we have of'that of the ancients; principally in the
throwing of feveral darts at the fame time, one only
being throwm by theirs.
CATARACT, in hydrography, a precipice in the
channel of a river, caufed by rocks, or other obflacles,
flopping the courfe of the ftream, from whence the
water falls with a greater noife and impetuofity. The
word comes from Karafpxiraa, “ I tumble down with
violence compounded of *< down,” and paw-,
dtpclo, “ I .throw down.”—Such are the catarafts of
the Nile, the Danube, Rhine, &c. In that of Niagara,
. the perpendicular fall of the water is 137 feet: and
in that of Piftill Rhaiadr, in North Wales, the fall
of water is hear 240 feet from the mountain to the
lower pool.
Strabo calls that a cataraB which we call a cafedtk;
find what we call a cataraB, the ancients ufually called
a catadufa. Herminius has an exprefs differtation,
“ De admirandis mundi Catara&is fupra et fubter-
raneis;” where he ufes the word in a new fenfe ;
fignifying, by cataraft, any violent motion of the
dements.
Cataract, in medicine and furgery, a diforder
-of the humours of the eye, by which the pupilla,
that ought to appear tranfparent and black, looks
opaque, blue, grey, brown, &c. by which vtfion is
varioufly impeded, or totally deftroyed. See Sur¬
gery.
CATARO, a town of Dalmatia, and capital of the
territory of the fame name, with a ftrong caftle, and
a bifhop’s fee. It is fubje& to Venice, and feated on
a gulph of the fame name. E. Long. 19. 19. N. Lat.
42. 27.
C AT A R ACTES, in ornithology, the trivial name
-of a fpecies of Larus.
CATARRH, in medicine, a diftiilation or defluxion
Vol. IV. Part L
from the head upon the mouth and afpera arteria, and Catafhfit
through them upon the lungs. See (the Index fab- CatechvO*.
joined to) Medicine. ra ^ ‘ ,
CATASTASIS, in poetry, the third part of the
ancient drama ; being that wherein the 'intrigue, or
a&ion, fet forth in the epitafis, is fupported, carried on,
and heightened, till it be ripe for the unravelling in
the cataftrophe. Sealiger defines it, the full growth of
the fable, while things are at a ftand in that confufion
to which the poet has brought them.
CATASTROPHE, in dramatic poetry, the fourth
and laft part in the ancient drama ; or that immediate*
ly fucceeding the cataftafis: or, according to others,
the third only { the whole drama being divided into
protafis, epitafis, and cataflrophe 5 or in the terms of
Ariftotle, prologue, epilogue, and exode.
1 he cataftrophe clears up every thing, and is nothing
elfe but the difeovery or winding up of the plot. It
has its peculiar place : for it ought entirely to be con¬
tained, not only in the laft aft, but in the very conclu-
fion of it; and when the plot is finifhed, the play
fhould be fo alfo. The cataftrophe ought to turn upon
a Angle point, or Hart up on a fudden.
The great art in the cataftrophe is, that the clear¬
ing up of all difficulties may appear wonderful, and yet
eafy, Ample, and natural.
It is a very prepoflerous artifice of fome writers to
fhow the cataftrophe in the very title of the play. Mr
Dryden thinks that a cataftrophe refulting from a mere
change in the fentiments and refolutions of a perfon,
without any other machinery, may be fo managed as to
be exceedingly beautiful.
It is a difpute among the critics, whether the cata-
ftrophe fhould always fall out favourably on the fide of
virtue or not. The reafons on the negative fide feem
the flrongeft. Ariftotle prefers a (hocking cataftrophe to
a happy one —The cataftrophe is either fimple or com¬
plex. The firft is that in which there is no change in
the ftate of the principal perfons, nor any difeovery
or unravelling, the plot being only a mere paffage out
of agitation into quiet repofe. In the fecond, the
principal perfons u: dergo a change of fortune, in the
manner already defined.
CATCH, in the mufical fenfe of the word, a fugue
in the umfon, wherein, to humour fome conceit in the
words, the melody is broken, and the fenfe interrupted
in one part, and caught again or fupported by another; as
in the catch in Shakefpeare’s play of theTwelfth-night,
where there is a catch fung by three perfons, in which the
humour is, that each whofings, calls and is called knave
in turn : Or, as defined by Mr Jackfon, “ a catch is a
piece for three or more voices, one of which leads, and
the others follow in the fame notes. It muft be fo
contrived, that refts (which are made for thatpurpofe)
in the mufic of one line be filled up with a word or
two from another line; thefe form a crofs purpofe, or
catch, from whence the name.”
CAtcH-Fly, in botany. See Lychnis.
Catch-Pole, (quafi one that catches by the pole), *
term ufed, by way of reproach, for the bailiff’s follow¬
er or affiftant.
CATCH-JVord, among printers, that placed at the bot¬
tom of each page, being always the firft word of the fol¬
lowing page.
CATECHESIS, in a general fenfe, denotes an in-
I i ftruction
CAT [ 250 ] CAT
Cattchetic ftruftioH given any perfon in the firit rudiments of an
Catechu art or ^c*ence > ^ut more particularly of the Chritlian
religion. In the ancient church, catechefis was an
t——y——/ inftruftion given viva voce, either to children, or adult
heathens, preparatory to their receiving of baptifm. In
this fenfe, catechejis Hands contradiftinguhhed from
myjlagogica, which were a higher part of inftruftion
given to thofe already initiated, and containing the
myfteries of faith. Thofe who give fuch inflruftions
are called catechljls ; and thofe who receive them, cate¬
chumens.
CATECHETIC, or Catechetical, fomething
that relates to oral inftruftion in the rudiments of Chri-
ftianity.—Catechetic fchools were buildings appointed
for the office of the catechift, adjoining to the church,
and called catechumena : fuch was that in which Origen
and many other famous men read catechetical ledlures
at Alexandria. See Catechumen.
CATECHISM, in its primary fenfe, an inftruc-
tion, or inftitution, in the principles of the Chriftian
religion, delivered viva voce, and fo as to require fre¬
quent repetitions, from the difciple or hearer, of what
has been faid. The word is formed from a
compound of x*™ and q. d. circumfono, alluding
to the noife or din made in this fort of exercife, or to
the zeal and earnettnefs wherewith things are to be in¬
culcated over and over on the learners.—Anciently the
candidates for baptifm were only to be inftrudted in
the fecrets of their religion by tradition viva voce,
without writing; as had alfo been the cafe among the
Egyptian priefts, and the Britidi and Ganlifh druids,
who only communicated the mylleries of their theo¬
logy by word of mouth.
Catechism is more frequently ufedin modern times
for an elementary book, wherein the principal articles
of religion are fummarily delivered in the way ©f quef-
tion and anfwer.
CATECHIST, xart^imf, eatecheta, he that cate-
chifes, i.e. he that inftructs novices in the principles
of religion.
Catechist more particularly denotes a perfon ap¬
pointed by the church to inftruct thofe intended for
baptifm, by word of mouth, in the fundamental ar¬
ticles of the Chrillian faith.—The catechifts of churches
were minifters ufually diftindl from the bilhops and
prelbyters, and had their auditories or catechumena
apart. Their bufinefs was to inftruft the catechu¬
mens, and prepare them for the reception of baptifm.
But the catechifts did not conftitute any diftindf or¬
der of the clergy, but were ehofen out of any other
order. The bifhop himfelf fometimes performed the
office ; at other times prefbyters, or even readers or
deacons, were the catechifts. Origen feems to have
had no higher degree in the church than reader, when
he was made catechift at Alexandria, being only 18
years of age, and cqnfequently incapable of thedeacon-
Ihip.
CATECEIU, in the materia medica, the name of a
troche confifting of japan earth and gum arable, each
two ounces, and of fugar of rofes fixteen ounces,
beat together with a little water. It is recommended
as a mild reftringent, &c.
CATECHUMEN, a candidate for baptifm, or one
who prepares himfelf for the receiving thereof.
The catechumens, in church-hiftory, were the low¬
ed: order of Chriftians in the primitive church. They Categorical
had fome title to the common name of Chriftian, being
a degree above pagans and heretics, though not con- Cal;eriaria*f
fummated by baptifm. They were admitted to the v
ftate of catechumens by the impofition of hands, and
the iign of the crofs. The children of believing pa¬
rents were admitted catechumens, as foon as ever
they were capable of inftruction: but at what age
thofe of heathen parents might be admitted, is not fo
clear. As to the time of their continuance in this
ftate, there were no general rules fixed about it; but
the praftice varied according to the difference of times
and places, and the readinefs and proficiency of the
catechumens themfelves.
There were four orders or degrees of catechumens;
the firft were thofe inftrutted privately without the
church, and kept at a diftance for fome time from the
privilege of entering the church, to make them the
more eager and defirous of it. The next degree were
the audientes, fo called from their being admitted to
hear fermons, and the feriptures read in the church,
but were not allowed to partake of the prayers. The
third fort of catechumens were the genu-fledentes, fo
called becaufe they received impofition of hands kneel¬
ing. The fourth order was the compelentes & eledi, de¬
noting the immediate candidates for baptifm, or fuch
as were appointed to be baptized the naxt approach¬
ing feftival; before which, ftrict . examination was
made into their proficiency under the feveral ftages of
catehetical exercifes.
After examination, they were exercifed for twen¬
ty days together, and were obliged to falling and
confeffion : fome days before baptifm they went veil¬
ed ; and it was cuftomary to touch their ears, fay¬
ing, Ephatha, i. e. Be opened; as alfo to anoint their
eyes with clay; both ceremonies being in imitation of
our Saviour’s pradlice, and intended to fhadow out to
the catechumens their condition both before and after
their admiffion into the Chriftian church.
CATEGORICAL, in a general fenfe, is applied
to thofe things ranged under a Category.
Categorical alfo imports a thing to be abfolute,
and not relative ; in which fenfe it Hands oppofed to
hypothetical. We fay, a categorical propofition, a ca¬
tegorical fyllogifm, Iffc.
A categorical anfwer denotes an exprefs and per¬
tinent anfwer made to any queHion or objeclion pro-
pofed.
CATEGORY, in logic, a feries or order of all the
predicates or attributes contained under any genus.
The fchool-philofophers diflribute all the objects of
our thoughts and ideas into certain genera or claffes,
not fo much, fay they, to learn what they do not
know, as to communicate a diftinft notion of what
they do [know ; and thefe clafles the Greeks called
categories, and the Latins predicaments.
Ariftotle made ten categories, viz. quantity, qua¬
lity, relation, aftion, paffion, time, place, fituation, '
and habit, which are ufually expreffed by the follow¬
ing technical diftich:
Arbor, fex, fervos, or dore, refrigerat, tt/los.
Rare eras Jlabo, nec tunicatus era.
CATEK. See Bengal, h° 15. .
CATENARIA, in the higher geometry, the name
of a curve-line formed by a rope hanging freely from
6 two
CAT
r 2ji ]
C A T
Cathartics.
CATERPILLAR, in zoology, the name of all CATERVA, in ancient military writers, a term ,
winged infefts when in their reptile or worm-ftate. ufed in fpeaking of the Gauliih or Celtiberian armies,
See Eruca. denoting a body of 6060 armed men. The word ca-
Method of Defraying Catervillars on ’Trees.—- term a, or catervarius, is alfo frequently ufed by ancient
Take a chafing difh with lighted charcoal, and pla- writers to denote a party or corps of foldiers in difor¬
cing it under the branches that are loaded with ca- der oivdifarray : by which it Hands diftingfliihed from
terpillars, throw fome pinches of brimftone upon the cohort or turma, which were in good order,
coals. The vapour of the fulphur,- which is mortal CATESBJEA, the lily-thorn : A genus of the
to thefe infe&s, will not only deftroy all that are on monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandria clafs of
the tree, but prevent -it from being infelled with plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
them afterwards. A pound of fulphur will clear as 28th order, Lurida. The corolla is monopetalous, fun-
many trees as grow on feveral acres. This method nel-fhaped, very long above the receptacle of the fruit;
has been fuccefsfully tried in France. In the Journal the ftamina are within its throat; the fruit a polyfper-
Oeconomique, the following is faid to be infallible a- mous berry. There is only one fpecies, viz. the fpinofa,
gainfl; the caterpillars feeding on cabbage, and per- which was difcovered in the ifland of Providence by
haps may be equally ferviceable again!! thofe that in- Mr Catelby, who gathered the feeds, and brought
fell other vegetables. Sow with hemp all the bor- them to England. It rifes to the height of ten or
ders of the ground where you mean to plant your twelve feet, and is covered with a pale ruffet bark ;
cabbage ; and, although the neighbourhood is infefted the branches conde out alternately, and are garnifhed
with caterpillars, the fpace inclofed by the hemp will with fmall leaves refembling thofe of the box-tree,
be perfectly free, not one of the vermin will approach coming out in clufters all round the branches at cer-
it. tain diftances ; the flowers hang downward, and come
CATERFiLLAR-Eaters, a name given by fome au- out from the fide of the branches: they are tubulous
thors to a fpecies of worms bred in the body of the and near fix inches long, very narrow at their bale,
caterpillar, and which eat its flefli: thefe are owing but widening upwards towards the top, where it is
to a certain kind of fly that lodges her eggs in the divided into four parts which fpread open, and are re¬
body of this animal, and they, after their proper flexed backward. They are of a dull yellow colour,
changes, become flies like their parents. This plant is propagated by feeds which muft be pro-
Mr Reaumur has given us, in his hiltory of infecls, cured from the country w here it grows. The feeds
fome very curious particulars in regard to thefe little muft be fown on a hot-bed, and are to be treated in
worms. Every one of them, he obferves, fpins itfelf the fame manner as other tender exotics,
a very beautiful cafe of a cylindric figure, made of a CATHiERETICS, in pharmacy, medicines of a
very ftrong fort of filk ; thefe are the cafes in which cauftic nature, ferving to eat off proud fle!h.
this animal fpends its ftate of chryfalis ; and they have . CATHARINE, Knights of St Catharine of Mount
a mark by which they may be known from all other Sinai, an ancient military order, ereCfed for the affift-
animal productions of this kind, which is, that they ance and protection of pilgrims going to pay their
have always a broad ftripe or band furrounding their devotions to the body of St Catharine, a virgin of A-
middle, which is black when the reft of the cafe is lexandria, diftinguiftied for her learning, and faid to
white, and w hite w>hen that is black. Mr Reaumur have fuffered martyrdom under Maximin. The body
has had the pains and patience to find out the reafon of the martyr having been difcovered on mount Sinai,
of this Angularity, which is this: the whole fliell is caufed a great concourfe of pilgrims; and travelling
fpun of a filk produced out of the creature’s body ; being very dangerous, by reafon of the Arabs, an or-
this at firft runs all white, and towards the end of der of knighthood was ereCted in 1063, on the mo-
the fpinning turns black. The outfide of the cafe del of that of the holy fepulchre, and under the pa-
muft neceffarily be formed firft, as the creature works tronage of St Catharine: the knights of which ob-
from within : confequently this is truly white all over, liged themfelves by oath to guard the body of the
but it is tranfparent, and ftioVs the laft fpun or black faint, keep the roads fecure, obferve the rule of St
filk through it. It might be fuppofed that the whole Bafil, and obey their grand mafter. Their habit was
inllde of the Ihell fhould be black ; but this is not the white, and on it were reprefented the inftruments of
cafe : the whole is faftiioned before this black filk martyrdom whereby the faint had fuffered ; viz. a half-
comes; and this is employed by the creature, not to wheel armed with fpikes, and traverfed with a fword
line the whole, but to fortify certain parts only ; and ftained wdth blood.
therefore is all applied either to the middle, or to the Catharine, Fraternity of St Catharine at Sienna, a
two ends omitting the middle ; and fo gives either a fort of relig-n.us fociety inftituted in that city, in
black band in the middle, or a blacknefs at both ends, honour of St Catharine, a faint famous for her re¬
leaving the white in the middle to appear. It is not velations, and for her marriage with Jefus Chrift,
unfrequent to find a fort of fmall cafes, lying about whofe wedding ring is ftill preferved as a valuable re¬
garden-walks, which move of themfelves; when thefe lick. This fraternity yearly endows a certain num-
are opened, they are found to contain a fmall living ber of deftitute virgins, and has the privilege of re¬
worm. This is one of the fpecies of thefe caterpillar- deeming annually two criminals condemned for mur-
eaters; which, as foon as it comes out of the body of der, and the fame number of debtors, by paying their
that animal, fpins itfelf a cafe for its transformation debts.
long before that happens, and lives in it without food CATHARTICS, in medicine, remedies which pro-
li 2
;mote
CAT
fathecu mote evacuation by ftool. See Materia Medica.
I. CATHECU, in botany. SccAreca.
a erine. CATHEDRA, in a general fenfe, a chair.—The
word is more particularly ufed for a profeflbr’s chair,
and a preacher’s pulpit.
Cathedra is alfo ufed for the biihop’s fee, or
throne, in a church.
CATHEDRAL, a church wherein is a bifliop’s
fee or feat: See Church, and Bishop. The word
comes from the Greek xa9i<f?«, chair,” of
ftdeoy “ I fit.” The denomination cathedral feems to
have taken its rife from the manner of fitting in the
ancient churches, or affemblies of primitive Chriftians:
in thefe, the council, i. e. the elders and priefts, was
called Prejbyterium ; at their head was the bifhop, who
held the place of chairman, Cathedralis, or Cathedra-
t'mis i and the preihyters, who fat on either fide, were
alfo called by the ancient fathers, AJfeJfores Epifcoporum.
The epifcopal authority did not refide in the bilhop
. alone ; but in all the prefbyters, whereof the biihop
was prefident. A cathedral therefore, originally, was
different from what it is now; the Chriftians, till the
time of Conftantine, having no liberty to build any
temple ; by their churches they only meant their affem¬
blies; and by ca hedrals, nothing more than confiftories.
CATHERINE Parr. See Parr.
Catherine I. Emprefs of Ruffia, a moft extraor¬
dinary perfonage, whofe hiftory deferves to be given
in detail. She was the natural daughter of a country
girl; and was born at Ringen, a fmall village upon the
lake Virtcherve, near Dorpt, in Livonia. The year
of her birth is uncertain; but, according to her own
account, ftie came into the world on the 5th of April,
1687. Her original name was Martha, which the
changed for Catherine when ihe embraced the Greek
religion. Count Rofen, a lieutenant-colonel in the
Swedifti fervice, who owned the village of Ringen,
fupported, according to the cuftom of the country,
both the mother and the child ; and was, for that rea-
fon, fuppofed by many perfons to have been her fa¬
ther. She loft hep mother when {he was but three
years old; and, as count Rofen died about the fame
time, fhe was left in fo dellitute a fituation, that the
parifh-clerk of the village received her into his houfe.
Soon afterwards Gluck, Lutheran minifter of Marien-
burgh, happening, in a journey through thofe parts,
to fee the foundling, took her under his protedlion,
brought her up in his family,. and employed her in at¬
tending his children. In 1701, and about the 14th
year of her age, ftie efpoufed a dragoon of the Swedifti
garrifon of Marienburgh. Many different accounts
are given of this tranfaction : one author of great cre¬
dit affirms that the bride and bridegroom remained to¬
gether eight days after their marriage; another, of
no lefs authority, afferts, on the contrary, that on the
morning of the nuptials her hu/band being fent with a
detachment for Riga, the marriage was never con-
fummated. Thus much is certain, that the dragoon
was abfent when Marienburgh furrendered to the Ruf¬
fians ; and Catherine, who was referved for a higher
fortune, never faw him more.
General Bauer, upon the taking of Marienburgh,
faw Catherine among the prifoners ; and, being fmit-
tea with her youth and beauty, took her to his houfe.
CAT
where fhe fuperlntended his domeftic affairs, and was Cathenwi
fuppofed to be his miftrefs. Soon afterwards fhe was  
removed into the family of prince Menzikof, who was
no lefs ftruck with the attra&ions of the fair captive.
With him fhe lived until 1704; when, in the 17th
year of her age, fhe became the miftrefs of Peter the
Great, and won fo much upon his affe&ions, that he
efpoufed her on the 29th of May 1711. The cere¬
mony was fecretly performed at Jawerof in Poland,
in the prefence of General Bruce ; and on the 20th of
February 1712, it was publicly folemnized with
great pomp at Peterfburgh.
Catherine, by the moft unwearied affiduity and un-
remitrtd attention, by the foftnefs and complacency
of her difpofition, but above all by an extraordinary
livelinefs and gaiety of temper, acquired a wonderful
afcendency over the mind of Peter. The latter was
fubject to occafional horrors, which at times rendered
him gloomy and fufpicious, and raifed his paffions to
fuch an height as to produce a temporary madnefs.
In thefe dreadful moments Catherine was the only per-
fon who durft venture fo approach him ; and fuch was
the kind of fafeination fhe had acquired over his fenfes,
that her prefence had an inftantaneous effect, and the
firft found of her voice compofed his mind and calmed
his agonies. From thefe circumftances fhe feemed ne-
ceffary, not only to-his comfort, but even to his very
exiftence ; fhe became his infeparable companion on
his journeys into foreign countries, and even in all his -
military expeditions.
The peace of Pruth, by which the Ruffian army
was refeued from certain deftruftion, has been wholly
attributed to Catherine, though fhe was little more
than an inftrument in procuring the confent of Peter. *
The latter, in his campaign of 1711 againft the Turks,,
having imprudently led his troops into a difadvantage-
ous fituation, took the defperate refolution of cutting
his way through the Turkifh army in the night. With
this refolution he retired to his tent in an agony of
defpair, and gave pofitive orders that no one fhould be.
admitted under pain of death. In this important
juncture the principal officers and the vice-chancellor
Shaffirof affembled in the prefence of Catherine, and,
drew up certain preliminaries in order to obtain a truce
from the grand vizir. In confequence of this de¬
termination, plenipotentiaries were immediately dif-
patched, without the knowledge of Peter, to the grand
vizir, and a peace obtained upon more reafonable
conditions than could have been expected. Withthefe
conditions Catherine, notwithftanding the orders if-
fued by Peter, entered his tent, and prevailed upon
him to fign them. Catherine, by her conduit on this >
occafion, acquired great popularity ; and the emperor
particularly fpecifies her behaviour at Pruth,as-one of
the reafons which induced him to crown her publicly
at Mofcow with his own hand. This ceremony was
performed in 1724; and although defigned by Peter,
only as a proof of his affeition, was the principal caufe
of her fubfequent elevation.
Her influence continued undiminiftied: until a fhort
time before the death of the emperor, when fome circum¬
ftances happened which occafioned fuch a cooliiefs be¬
tween them as would probably have ended in a total rup¬
ture,, if ,his death had not fortunately intervened. The
[ 252 ]
CAT [ 253 ] CAT
fathetine. ©n'ginal caufe of this mifunderftanding' arofe from the
*"—v  following difcovery of a fecret connection between Ca-
tfierine and her f.rft chamberlain, whofe name was
Mons. The emperor, who was fufpicious of this con¬
nection, quitted Peterlburgh under pretence of remo¬
ving to a villa for a few days, but privately returned
to his winter palace in the capital. From thence he
occafionally fent one of his confidential pages with a
complimentary meffage to the emprefs, as if he had
been in the country, and with fecret orders to obferve
her motions. From the page’s information the em¬
peror, on the third night, furprized Catherine in an
arbour of the garden with her favourite Mons ; while
his lifter, Madame Balke, who was firft lady of the
bed-chamber to the emprefs, was, in company with a
page, upon the watch without the arbour.
Peter, whofe violent temper was inflamed by this
difcovery, ftruck Catherine with his cane, as well as
the page, who endeavoured to prevent him from en¬
tering the arbour, and then retired without uttering
a Angle word either to Mons or his filter. A few days
after this tranfaction thefe perfons were taken into
cuftody, and Mons was carried to the winter palace,
where no one had admiffion to him but Peter, who-
himfelf brought him his provifions. A report was at
the fame time circulated, that they were imprifoned
for having received bribes, and making their influence
over the emprefs fubfervient to their own mercenary
views. Mons being examined by Peter, in the pre¬
fence of major-general Ufchakof, and threatened with
the torture, confefled the corruption which was laid
to his charge.- Fie was beheaded ; his filter received
five ftrokes of the knout, and 'was banifhed into Sibe¬
ria ; two of her fons, who were chamberlains, were
alfo degraded, and fent,as common foldiers among the
Ruffian troops in Perfia., On, the day fubfequent to
the execution of the fentence, Peter conveyed Cathe¬
rine in an open carriage, under the gallows, to which
was nailed the head'of Mons* The emprefs, without
changing colour at this dreadful fight, exclaimed,
“ What a pity it is that there is fo much, corruption
among courtiers!”
This event happened in - the latter end of the year
1724; and as; it was foon .followed by Peter’s death,
and Catherine- upon her acceffion recalled Madame
Balke, it has been fufpe&ed that Ihe ffiortened the
days of her hulband by poifon. But notwithftanding
the critical lituation for Catherine in which he died,,
and her.fubfequent elevation, this charge is totally de-
ftitutes of the leaft lhadcw of proof: for the circum-
ftances of Peter’^ diforder were too well known, and
the peculiar fymptoms of his laft illnefs fufficiently ac¬
count for his death, without the neceffity of recurring
to poifon.
While Peter was yet lying in the agonies of death,-
feveral oppoftte parties were caballing to difpofe of the
crown. ' At a confideiable meeting of many among
the principal nobility, it was fecretly determined, on
the moment of his djfiblution, to arreft Catherine, and
to place Peter Alexievitch upon the throne. Baflevitzy
apprized of this refolution, repaired in perfon to the
emprefs, although.it was already night. “ My grief and
confternation,” replied Catherine, “ render me inca¬
pable of a&ing myfelf: do you and prince Menzikof
confult together, and. I. will embrace the meafures -
which you (hall approve in my name.” Baflevitz, find- Catherine.
ing Menzikof afleep, awakened and informed him of *  
the preffing danger which threatened the emprefs and
her party. As no time remained for long deliberation,
the prince inftantly feized the treafure, fecured the
fortrefs, gained the officers of the guards by' bribes
and promifes, alfo a few of the nobility, and tlte prin¬
cipal clergy. Thefe partizans being convened in the
palace, Catherine made her appearance : fhe claimed
the throne in right of her coronation at Mofcow; fhe
expofed the ill effects of a minority ; and promifed,
that, “ fo far from depriving the great-duke of the
crown, fhe would receive ft only as a facred depofit,
to be reftored to him when fhe fliould be united, in a-
nother world, to an adored hufband, whom. fhe was
now upon the point of lofing.”
The pathetic:manner with which fhe uttered this
addrefs,. and-the tears which accompanied at, added to
the previous diftribution of large fums of money and
jewels, produced the delired effect: at the clofe of this
meeting the. remainder of the night was employed in
making the neceffary preparations to -infure her accef- -
fion in cafe of the emperor’s-death.-
Peter at length expired in the morning of the 28th
of January 1725. This event being made known,
the fenate, the generals, the principal’ nobility and i
clergy, haftened to the palace to proclaim the. new fo-
vereign. The adherents of the great-duke-feemed fe-
cure of fuccefs, and the friends of Catherine were
avoided as perfons doomed to deftru&ion. At this
juncture Baflevitz whifpeied one of tlte 'oppoiite
party, “ The emprefs is- miftrefs of the treafure
and the fortrefs-;, file has gained over the guards and
the fynod, and many of the chief nobility ; even here
fhe has more followers than you imagine; advife there¬
fore your friends to -make no oppofition as they value
their heads.” This information - being rapidly circu¬
lated, Baffevitz gave .the appointed lignal, and the two
regiments of .guards, who.had been gained by a largefs
to declare for Catherine, and had already furrounded
the palace, beat, to arms. “ Who has dared (ex¬
claimed prince Repnin, the commander in chief) to
order out the troops without my knowledge ?” “ I,
(returned general 'Batterlin), without pretending to
difpute your authority, in obedience to the commands
of my moft gracious miftrels.” This fhort reply-was
followed by a dead filence. In: this- moment of fuf-
pence and anxiety .Menzikof entered, preceding Ca¬
therine, fupported by the duke of Holftein, She at¬
tempted to fpeak, but was prevented by fighs and tears
from giving utterance to her words: at lengthy reco--
vering herfelf, “ I come (fhe laid), notwithftanding
the grief which now overwhelms mey to affure you, that,,
fubmiffive to the will of my departed hufband, whofe
memory will be ever dear to me, ,1 am ready to devote
my day s .to the painful'occupations of government un¬
til Providence fhall fummon me to follow him.” Then,,
after a fhort paufe, fhe artfully added, “ If the great-
duke will profit by my inftruritions, perhaps I fhall i
have the eonfolation, during my wretched. Widowhood,
of forming for you an emperor worthy of the blood ■
and the name of him whom you have now irretrievably
loft.” " “ As this crifia (replied Menzikof.) is a mo¬
ment of fuch importance to the good of. t he empire, ,
and requires the moft mature deliberation, your ma-
4.
CAT [ 254 J CAT
lefty will permit us to confer, without rdlraint, that fcattered amongft them handfuls of money. Thus Catherine,
this whole affair may be tranfadled without reproach, (fays a contemporary) the emprefs was raifed to the
as well in the opinion of the prefent age as in that of throne by the guards, in the fame manner as the Ro-
pofterity.” “ Afting as I do (anfwered Catherine), man emperors by the praetorian cohorts, without el-
more for the public good than for my own advantage, ther the appointment of the people or of the legions.
I am not afraid to fubmit all my concerns to the judg- The reign of Catherine may be confidered as the
ment of fuch an enlightened afiembly : you have not reign of Menzikof, that emprefs having neither incli-
only my permiflion to confer with freedom ; but I lay nation or abilities to direct: the helm of government;
my commands upon you all to deliberate maturely on and ftie placed the moft implicit confidence in a man
this important fubject, and I promife to adopt what- who had been the original author of her good for¬
ever may be the refult of your decifions.” At the tune, and the foie inftrument of her elevation to the
conclufion of thefe words the affembly retired into throne.
another apartment, and the doors were locked. During her ftiort reign her life was very irregular ;
It was previoufly fettled by Menzikof and his party (he was extremely averfe to bufinefs ; would frequently,
that Catherine (hould be emprefs; and the guards, when the weather was fine, pafs whole nights in the
who furrounded the palace with drums beating and open air ; and was particularly intemperate in the ufe
•colours flying, effedlually vanquifhed all oppofition. of tokay-wine. Thefe irregularities, joined to a cancer
The only circumftance, therefore, which remained, and a dropfy, haftened her end ; and (he expired oh
was to give a juft colour to her title, by perfuading the the 17th of May 1727, a little more than two years
affembly that Peter intended to have named her his after her acceffion to the throne, and in about the
.fucceffor. For this purpofe Menzikof demanded of 40th year of her age.
■that emperor’s fecretary, whether his late mafter had As the deaths of fovereigns in defpotic countries are
left any written declaration of his intentions? Thefe- feldom imputed to natural caufes, that of Catherine
•cretary replied, “ That a little before his laft journey has alfo been attributed to poffon ; as if the diforders
to Mofcow he had deftroyed a will; and that he had which preyed upon her frame were not fufficient to
frequently expreffed his defign of making another, bring her to her grave. Some affert, that (he was
but had always been prevented by the reflection, that poifoned in a glafs of fpirituous liquor ; others, by a
if he thought his people, whom he had raifed from a pear given her by general Diever. Sufpicions alfo
ftate of barbarifm to an high degree of power and fell upon prince Menzikof, who, a (hort time before
.glory, could be ungrateful, he would not expofe his her deceafe, had a trifling mifunderftanding with her,
final inclinations to the infult of a refufal; and that and who was accufed of haftening her death, that he
if they recollected what they owed to his labours, they might reign with (till more abfolute power during the
would regulate their conduCt by his intentions, which minority of Peter II. But thefe reports deferve not
he had difclofed with more folemnity than could be the leaft credit; and were merely dictated by the fpi-
mauifefted by any writing.” An altercation now be- rit of party or by popular rumour,
gan in the affembly; and fome of the nobles having Catherine was in her perfon under the middle-fize,
the . courage to oppofe the acceffion of Catherine, and in her youth delicate- and well-formed, but incli-
Theophanes archbifhop of Plefcof called to their re- ned to corpulency as (he advanced in years. She had
collection the oath which they had all taken in 1722 a fair complexion, dark eyes, and light hair, which
to acknowledge the fucceffor appointed by Peter; and (he was always accuftomed to dye with a black colour,
added, that the fentiments of that emperor delivered She could neither read nor write: her daughter Eli-
by the fecretary were in effeCt an appointment of Ca- zabeth ufually figned her name for her, and particu-
therine. The oppofite party, however, denied thefe larly to her laft will and teftament; and coun*t Ofter-
fentiments to be 10 clear as the fecretary chofe to in- man generally put her fignature to the public decrees
finuate ; and infifted, that as their late monarch had and difpatches. Her abilities have been greatly ex-
failed to nominate his heir, the eleCtion of the new aggerated by her panegyrifts. Gordon, who had fre-
fovereign (hould revert to the ftate. Upon this the quently feen her, feems, of all writers, to have repre-
archbiihop farther teftified, that the evening before fented her character with the greateft juftnefs, when
the coronation of the emprefs at Mofcow, Peter had he fays, “ She was a very pretty wcil-look’d woman,
declared, in the houfe of an Englifli merchant, that of good fenfe, but rtot of that fublimity of wit, or
he (hould place the crown upon her head writh no other rather that quicknefs of imagination, which fome peo-
view than to leave her miftrefs of the empire after his pie have believed. The great reafon why the czar was
dcceafe. This atteftation being confirmed by many fo fond of her, was her exceeding good temper ; (he
perfons prefent, Menzikof cried out, “ What need never wras feen peevilh or out of humour ; obliging
•have we of any teftament! A refufal to conform to and civil to all, and never forgetful of her former con-
the inclination of our great fovereign, thus authenti- dition ; withal, mighty grateful.” Catherine main-
cated, would be both unjuft and criminal. Long live tained the pomp of majefty with an air of £afe and
the emprefs Catherine!” Thefe words being inftan- grandeur united ; and Peter ufed frequently to exprefs
taneouily repeated by the greateft part of thofe who his admiration at the propriety with which (lie fup-
W’ere prefent, Menzikof, faluting Catherine by the ported her high ftation, without forgetting ■ that fhe
title of emprefs, paid his firft obeifance by killing her was not born to that dignity.’
hand ; and his example was followed by the wdiole af- The following anecdotes will prove that (he bore
fembly. She next prefented herfelf at the window to her elevation meekly ; and, as Gordon afferts, was
the guards, and to the people, who (houted acclama- never forgetful ef her former condition. When
tions of “Long live Catherine!” while Menzikof Wurmb, who had been tutor to Gluck’s children at
the
CAT [ 255 1 CAT
Catherine the time that Catherine was a domeftic in that cler-
Cathetu gyman’s fam^y> prefented himfdf before her after her
. a us' marriage with Peter had been publicly folemnized,
(he recollected and addreffed him with great compla¬
cency, “ What, thou good man, art thou llill alive !
I will provide for thee.” And (he accordingly fettled
upon him a penfion. She was no lefs attentive to the
family of her benefadtor Gluck, who died a prifoner
at Mofcow: (he penfioned his widow ; made his fon
a page ; portioned the two eldeft daughters ; and ad¬
vanced the youngett to be one of her maids of honour.
If we may believe Weber, fhe frequently enquired af¬
ter her firft hufband ; and, when the lived with prince
Menzikof, ufed fecretly tq fend him fmall fums of mo¬
ney, until, in 1705, he was killed in a ikirmifh with
the enemy.
But the moft noble part of her character was her
peculiar humanity and compaflion for the unfortunate.
Motraye has paid an handfome tribute to this excel¬
lence. “ She had, in fome fort, the government of
all his (Peter’s) paffions; and even faved the lives of
a great many more perfons than Le Fort was able to
do : (he infpired him with that humanity, which, in
the opinion of his fubjefts, nature feemed to have de¬
nied him. A word from her mouth in favour of a
wretch, juft going to be facrificed to his anger, would
difarm him ; but if he was fully refolved to fatisfy that
paflion, he would give orders for the execution when
fhe was abfent, for fear fhe Ihould plead for the viftim.”
In a word, to life the expreffion of the celebrated Mu¬
nich, “ Elle eto'it proprement la mediatrice entre k rao-
narque et fes fujets.”
Catherine (Order of St), in modern hiftory, belongs
to ladies of the ftrft quality in the Ruffian court. It
was inftituted in 1714 by Catherine wife of Peter the
Great, in memory of his fignal efcape from the Turks
in 1711. The emblems of this order are a red crofs,
fupported by a figure of St Catherine, and faftened to
a fcarlet firing edged with filver, on which are infcri-
bed the name of St Catherine, and the motto, Profde
et patria.
CATHERLOUGH, a town of Ireland, in the coun¬
ty of Catherlough, and province of Leiniler; feated
on the river Barrow, 16 miles N. E. of Kilkenny.
W. Long. 7. 1, N. Lat. 52. 45.
Catherlough, a county of Ireland, about 28 miles
in length, and eight in breadth ; bounded on the eaft
by Wicklow and Wexford, on the weft by Queen’s-
county, on the north by Kildare, and on the fouth and
fouth-weft by Wexford. It contains 5600 houfes, 43
parifhes, five baronies or boroughs, and fends fix mem¬
bers to parliament, viz. two for the county, two for
Catherlough, and two for Old Leighlen.
CATHETER, in furgery, a fiftulous inftrument,
ufually made of filver, to be introduced into the blad¬
der, in order to fearch for the ftone, or difcharge the
urine when fupprefled. See Surgery.
CATHETUS, in geometry, a line 01 radius falling
perpendicularly on another line or furface 4 thus the
catheti of a right-angled triangle, are the two fides
that include the right angle.
Cathetus of Incidence:, in catoptrics, a right line
drawn from a point of the objedt, perpendicular to
the refledting line.
Cathetus of Reflexion), or of the Eye, a right line
drawn from the eye perpendicular to the reflecting Cathetus
plane. II
Cathetus of Obliquation, a right line drawn perpen- aL0*
dicular to the fpeculum, in the point of incidence or
reflexion.
Cathetus, in architecture, a perpendicular line,
fuppofed to pafs through the middle of a cylindrical
body, as a ballufter, column, iEc.
CATHNESS. _ See Caithness.
CATHOLIC, in a general fenfe, denotes any things
that is univerfal or general.
Catholic Church. The rife of herefies induced thi
primitive Chriftian church to aflame to itfelf the appel¬
lation of catholic, being a charadteriftic to diftinguilh it¬
felf from all fedts, who, though they had party names,
fometimes fiieltered themfelves under the name of
Chriftians.
The Romifti church diftinguifhes itfelf now by the
name of catholic, in oppofition to all thofe who have,
feparated from her communion, and whom fhe confi-
ders as heretics and fchifmatics, and herfelf only as the
true and Chriftian church. In the ftridt fenfe of the
word, there is no catholic church in being, that is, no
univerfal Chriftian communion.
Catholic King, is a title which has been long here¬
ditary to the king of Spain. Mariana pretends, that
Reccarede firft received this title after he had deftroy-
ed Arianifm in his kingdom, and that it is found in
the council of Toledo for the year 589. Vafce-afcribes
the origin of it to Alphonfus in 738. Some allege
that it has been ufed only fince the time-of Ferdinand
and Ifabella. Colombiere fays, it was given them on
cccafion of the expulfion of the Moors. The Bollan-
difts pretend it had been borne by their predeceflbrs
the Vifigoth kings of Spain ; and that Alexander VI.
only renewed it to Ferdinand and li'abella.. Others
fay, that Philip de Valois firft bore the title; which
was given him after his death by the ecclefiaftics, on
account of his favouring their interefts.
In lome epiftles of the ancient popes, the title catho~
lie is given to the kings of France and of Jerufalem,.
as well as to feveral patriarchs and primates,
CATHOLICON, in pharmacy, a kind of Toft-pur¬
gative eledtuary, fo called, as being fuppofed. an uni¬
verfal purger of all humours.
CATILINE (Lucius), a Roman of a noble family,,
who having ipent his whole fortune in debauchery,,
formed the defign of opprelfing his country,, deftroy-
ing the fenate, feizing the public treafury, fetting
Rome on fire, and ufurping a fovereign power over his
fellow-citizens. In order to fucceed in this defign, he
drew fome young noblemen into his plotwhom he
prevailed upon, it is faid, to drink human blood as a
pledge of their union. His confpiracy, however, was
difeovered by the vigilance of Cicero, who was then
conful. Upon which, retiring from Rome, he put
himfelf at the head of an, army, with feveral of the
confpirators,. and fought with incredible valour againft
Petreius, lieutenant to Anthony, who was colleague
with Cicero in the coufuiftnp ; but was defeated and
killed in battle. See (Hifiory of) Rome.—Salluft hae-
given an excellent hiftory ot this conipiracy.
CATO (Marcus Pbrtius), the Cenfor, one of the
greateft men among the ancients, was born at Tufcu-
lum in the year of Rome 519, about the 2.3 2d before
Chrift,
Cato.
V-
CAT f
Chrift. He began to bear arms at J * ; and, on all oc-
; cafions, (bowed extraordinary courage. He was a man
of great fobriety, and reckoned no bodily exsrdfe un¬
worthy of him. He had but one horfe for himfelf and
his baggage, and he looked after and dreffed it him-
felf. At his return from his campaigns, he betook
himfelf to plough his ground ; not that he was with¬
out Haves to do it, but it Was his inclination. He
drefled alfo like his Haves, fat down at the fame table
with them, and partook of the fame fare. He did
not in the mean while negledt to cultivate his mind,
efpecially in regard to the art of fpeaking; and he em¬
ployed his talents, which were very great, in gene-
foufly pleading caufes in the neighbouring cities with>
out fee or reward. Valerius Flaccus, who had a coun¬
try-feat near Cato, conceiving an eReem for him, per-
fuaded him to come to Rome ; where Cato, by his own
merit, and the influence of fo powerful a patron, was
foon taken notice of, and promoted. He was firft of
all ele&ed tribune of the foldiers for the province of
Sicily. He was next made queflor in Africa under
Scipio. Having in this laft office reproved him for his
profufenefs to his foldiers, the general anfvvered, that
“ he did not want fo exaft a queRor, but would make
war at what expence he pleafed ; nor was he to give
an-account to the Roman people of the money he
fpent, but of his enterprifes, and the execution of
,lhem.” Cato, provoked at this anfwer, left Sicily, and
returned to Rome.
Afterwards Cato was made praetor, when he fulfilled
the dpties of his office with the ftridlefi juflice. He
conquered:Sardinia, governed with admirable modera¬
tion, and was created conful Being tribune in the
war of Syria,- he gave difiinguiflied proofs of his va¬
lour againfi Amtiochus.the Great ; and at his return
Rood candidate for'the office of cenfor. But the no¬
bles, who not-only envied-him as a miv man, but
dreaded his feverity, fet up againR him feven power¬
ful competitors. Valerius Flaccus, who had introdu¬
ced him into public life, and had been his colleague in
the confulHiip, was a ninth.candidate, and thefe two
united their interefts. On this occafion Cato, far from
employing foft words to the people, or giving hopes of
gentlenefs or complaifance in the execution of his of¬
fice, loudly declared from the roftra, with a threaten¬
ing look and voice, “ That the times required firm
and vigorous magiRrates to put a flop to that growing
‘luxury which menaced the republic with ruin ; cenfors
who would cut up the evil by the roots, and refiore
the rigour of ancient difeipline ” It is to the honour
of the people of Rome, that, uotwithftanding thefe ter¬
rible intimations, they preferred him to all his com¬
petitors, who courted them by promifes of a mild
and eafy adminittration : the comitia alfo appointed
his friend Valerius to be his colleague, without whom
he had declared that he could not hope to compafs the
reformations he had in view. Cato’s merit, upon the
'whole, was fuperior to that of any of the great men
who flood againfi him. He was temperate, brave, and
indefatigable ; frugal of the public money, and not to
be corrupted. There is fcarce any talent requifite for
public or private life which he^ad not received from
nature, or acquired by induflry. He was a great fol-
dier, an able ftatefman, an eloquent orator, a learned
Jbifloriarr, and very knowing in rural affairs. Yet, with
67.
;S ] CAT
all thefe accorttptifltmcnts, he had very great faults.
His ambition being poifofred with envy, diiturbed both
his own peace and that of the whole city as long as he
lived. Though he would not take bribes, he was un¬
merciful and unconfcionable hr amaffing wealth by all
fuch means as the law did not punifh.
The firll adt of Cato in his new office, was naming
his colleague to be prince of the fenate i after which
the cenfors (truck out of the lifi of the fenators the
names of feven perfons; among whom was Lucius the
brother of T, Flaminius. Lucius, when conful, and
commanding in Gaul, had with his own hand mur¬
dered a Boian of diftirtdfion, a deferter to the Romans;
and he had committed this murder purely to gratify
the curiofity of his pathic, a young Carthaginian, who
longing to fee fome body die a violent death, had re¬
proached the general for hanging him away from
Rome juft when there was going to be a fight of gla¬
diators. Titus Flaminius, full of indignation at the
dilhortour done t© his brother, brought the affair be¬
fore the people ; and infilled upon Cato’s givmg the
reafon of his proceeding. The cenfor related the (lo¬
ry ; and when Lucius denied the fadl, put him to h:s
oath. The accufed, refilling to fwear, was deemed
guilty ; and Cato’s cenfure was approved. But no
part of the cenfor’s conducl feemed fo cruel to the
nobles and their wives as the taxes he laid upon luxu*
ry in all its branches ; drefs, houfehold furniture, wo»
mens toilets, chariots, (laves, and equipage. Thefe
articles were all taxed at three of tne real va¬
lue. The people, however, in general, were pleafed
with his regulations; infomuch that they ordered a
ftatue to be eredled to his honour in the temple of
Health, with an infeription that mentioned nothing of
-his vidlories or triumph, but imported only that by his
wife ordinances in h:s eenforffiip he had reformed the
manners of the republic. Plutarch relates, that be¬
fore this, upon fome of Cato’s friends exprefling their
furprife, that while many perfons without merit cr
reputation had ftatues, he had none ; he anfwered,
“ I had much rather it (hould be afleed why the people
have not erected a ftatue to Cato, than why they
have.” Cato was the occaiion of the third Punic war.
Being difpatched to Africa to terminate a difference
between the Carthaginians and the king of Numidia,
on his return to Rome he reported, that Carthage was
grown excelfively rich and populous, and he warmly
exhorted the fenate to deftroy a city and republic, du¬
ring the exiftence of which, Rome could never be fafe.
Having brought from Africa fome very large figs, he
(bowed them to the confcript fathers in one of the lap¬
pets of his gowm. “ The country (fays he) where
this fine fruit grows, is but a three days voyage front
Rome.” We are told, that from this time he never
fpoke in the fenate upon any fubjedt, without conclu¬
ding with thefe words, “ I am alio of opinion, that
Carthage ought to be deftroyed.” He judged, that,
for a people debauched by profperity, nothing was
more to be feared than a rival (late, always powerful,
and now from its misfortunes grown wife and circum-
fpedt. He held t neceffary to remove all dangers that
could be apprehended from without, when the republic
had within io many diftempers threatening her dellruc-
tion.
From the cenfor dignified and fevere, the reader
will
CAT
Catr>. will not perhaps be difpleafed to turn his view upon
v ~j Cato fociable and i-elaxed. For we Ihould have a falfe
notion of him, if we imagined that nothing but a fad
aufterity prevailed in his fpeech and behaviour. On
the contraiy, he was extremely free 5 and often with
his friends at table intermixed the converfation with
lively difcourfes and witty fayings. Of thefe Plutarch
has collected a pretty large number ; we ill all relate
Oeuvres di- but one, and make ufe of Balzac’s paraphrafe, and the
x>crfes,Y>. 49. prefa&e with which he introduces it. “ The very
cenfors, though fadnefs feemed to be one of the func¬
tions of their office, did not altogether lay afide rail¬
lery. They were not always bent upon feverity ; and
the firft: Cato, that troublefome and intolerable honeft
man, ceafed fometimes to be troublefome and intole¬
rable. He had fome glimpfes of mirth, and feme in¬
tervals of good humour. He dropped now and then
fome words that were not unpleafant, and you may
judge of the reft by this. He had married a very hand-
fome wife; and hiftory tells us that ftie was extremely
afraid of the thunder, and loved her huftmnd well.
Thefe two paffions prompted her to the fame thing ;
{he always pitched upon her hufband as a fanctuary a-
gainft thunder, and threw herfelf into his arms at the
firft noife (he fancied ffie heard in the fley. Cato, who
was well pleafed with the ftorm, and very willing to
be carefled, could not conceal his joy. He revealed
that domeftic fecret to his friends ; and told them one
day, fpeaking of his wife, “ that ffie had found out
a way to make him love bad weather ; and that he ne¬
ver was fo happy as when Jupiter was angry.” It is
worth obferving, that this was during his cenforffiip ;
when he degraded the fenator Manlius, who would
probably have been cenfnl the year after, only for gi¬
ving a kifs to his wife in the day-time, and in the pre¬
fence of his daughter.
Cato died in the year of Rome 604, aged 85. He
wrote feveral works. I. A Roman Hiftory. 2. Con¬
cerning the art of war. 3. Of rhetoric. 4. A trea-
tife of huffiandry. Of thefe, the laft only is extant.
Cato (Marcus Portius), commonly called Cato Mi¬
nor, or Cato of Utica, was great grandfon of Cato
the Cenfor. It is faid, that from his infancy he difeo-
vered by his fpeech, by his countenance, and even his
child!ffi fports and recreations, an inflexibility of mind ;
for he would force himfelf to go through with what¬
ever he had undertaken, though the tafk was ill fuited
to his ftrength. He was rough towards thefe that
flattered him, and quite intraftable when threatened ;
was rarely feen to laugh, or even to finile ; was not
eafily provoked to anger ; but if once incenfed, hard
to be pacified. Sylla having had a friendffiip for the
father of Cato, fent often for him and his brother,
and talked familiarly with them. Cato, who w'as then
about 14 years of age, feeing the heads of great men
brought there, and obferving the fighs of thofe that
were prefent, aiked his preceptor, “ Why does no body
kill this man l” Becaufe, faid the other, he is more
feared than he is hated. The boy replied, Why then
did you not give me a fword when you brought me
hither, that I might have ftabbed him, and freed my
country from this flavery ?
He learned the principles of the Stoic philofophy,
which fo well fuited his chara&er, under Antipater of
Tyre, and applied himfelf diligently to the ftudy of
Vot. IV. Part I.
1 2.57 1
CAT
it. Eloquence he likewife ftudied, as a necdTary means
to defend the caufe of juftice, and he made a very
confiderable proficiency in that fcience. To increafe
his bodily ftrength, he inured himfelf to fuffer the ex¬
tremes of heat and cold ; and ufed to make journeys
on foot, and bare-headed in all feafons. When he was
Tick, patience and abftinence were his only remedies:
he fliut himfelf up, and would fee no body till he wTas
well. Thotigh remarkably fober in the beginning of
his life, making it a rule to drink but once after {up¬
per, and then retire, he infenfibly contracted a habit
of drinking more freely, and of fitting at table till
morning. His friends endeavoured to excufe this, by
laying that the affairs of the public engroffed his at¬
tention all the day ; and that, being ambitious of
knowledge, he paffed the night in the converfation of
philofophers. Caefar wrote that Cato wras once found
dead drunk at the corner of a ftre&t, early in the morn¬
ing, by a great number of people who were going to
the levee of fome great man ; and that when, by un¬
covering his face, they perceived who it was, they
bluffied for ffiame : “ You would have thought (added
Casfar), that Cato had found them drunk, not they
him.” Pliny obferves, that by this refleftion Cae far
praifes his enemy at the fame time that he blames him.
And Seneca, bis extravagant panegyrift, ventures to
affert, that it is eafier to prove drunkennefs to be a
virtue, than Cato to be vicious. He affected fingu-
larity, and, in things indifferent, to a<ft diredtly con¬
trary to the tafte and faffiions of the age. Magnani¬
mity and conftancy are generally aferibed to him ; and
Seneca would fain make that haughtinefs and contempt
for others which, in Cato, accompanied thofe virtues, a
matter of praife. Cato, fays Seneca, having received a
blow in the face, neither took revenge nor was angry; he
did not even pardon the affront, but denied that he had recei¬
ved it. His virtue railed him fo high, that injury could
not reach him. He is reputed to have been chafte in
his youth. His firft love wras Lepida ; but when the
marriage was upon the point of being concluded, Me-
tellus Scipio, to whom ffie had been ptomifed, inter¬
fered, and the preference was given to him. This af¬
front extremely exafperated our Stoic. He w’as for
going to law with Scipio ; and when his friends had
diverted him from that defign, by ffiowing him the ri¬
dicule of it, he revenged himfelf by making verfes up¬
on his rival. When this firft flame fubfided, he mar¬
ried Attilia the daughter of Sen-anus, had two children
by her, and afterwards divorced her for her very in-
difereet conduft.
He ferved as a volunteer under Gallius in the war
of Spartacus; and when military rewards wrere offered
him by the commander, he refufed them, becaufe he
thought he bad no right to them. Some years after,
he went a legionary tribune into Macedonia under the
praetor Rubrius: in which ftation he appeared, in his
drefs, and during a march, more like a private foldier
than an officer : but the dignity of his manners, the
elevation of his fentiments, and the fuperiority of his
views, fet him far above thofe who bore the titles of
generals and proconfuls. It is faid, that Cato’s defign
in all his behaviour was to engage the foldiers to the
love of virtue ; whofe affe&ions he engaged thereby to
himfelf, without his having that in his intention.
“ For the fmcere love of virtue, (adds Plutarch), im-
K k plies
e a t [2.58
plies an affefHon for the virtuous. Thofe who praife
the worthy without loving them, pay homage to their
glory; but are neither admirers nor imitators of their
virtues.” When the time of his fervice expired, and
he was leaving the army, the foldiers were all in tears ;
fo effeftually had he gained their hearts by his conde-
fcending manners, and {haring in their labours. After
his return home, he was chfofen to the queftoWhip ;
and had fcarce entered on his charge, when he made a
great reformation in the queftor’s office, and particu¬
larly with regard to the regifters. Thefe regifters,
whofe places were for life, and through whofe hands
patTed inceffantly all the public accounts, being to aft
under young magiftrates unexperienced in bufinefs, af-
fumed an air of importance ; and, inftead of alking or¬
ders from the queftors, pretended to direft and govern
as if they themfelves were the queftors. Cato redu¬
ced them to their proper fphere.
One thing by which Cato extremely pleafed the
people, was his making the affaffins to whom Syllahad
given confiderable rewards out of the treafury, for
murdering the profcribed, difgorge their gains. Plu¬
tarch tells us, that Cato was fo exaft in difcharging
the duties of a fenator, as to be always the firft who
came to the houfe, and the laft who left it; and that
he never quitted Rome during thofe days when the
fenate was to fit. Nor did he fall to be prefent at
every affembly of the people, that he might awe thofe
who, by an ill-judged facility, bellowed the public mo¬
ney in largeffes, and frequently, through mere favour,
granted remiffion of debts due to the (late. At firft.
his aufterity and ftiffnefs difpleafed his colleagues ;
but afterwards they were glad to have his name to
oppoTe to all the unjuft folicitations, again!! which
they would have found it difficult to defend them¬
felves. Cato very readily took upon him the talk of
refufing.
Cato, to keep out a very bad man, put in for the
tribunate. He fided with Cicero again!! Catiline,
and oppofed Caefar on that occafion. His enemies
fent him to recover Cyprus, which Ptolemy had for¬
feited, thinking to hurt his reputation by fo difficult
an undertaking ; yet none could find fault with his
conduft.
Cato laboured to bring about an agreement between
Casfar arid Pompey ; but feeing it in vain, he fided
with the latter. When Pompey was {lain, he fled to
Utica; and being purfued by Csefar, advifed his
friends to be gone, and throw themfelves on Caefar’s
clemency. His. fon, however, remained with him ;
and Statilius, a young man, remarkable for his hatred
to Caefar.
The evening before the execution of the purpofe
he had formed with regard to himfelf, after bathing,
Ke fupped with his friends and the magiftrates of the
city. They fat late at fable, and the converfation
was lively. The difcourfe falling upon this maxim of
the Stoics,that “-the wife man alone is free, and that
the vicious are (laves;” Demetrius, who was a Peripa¬
tetic, undertook to confute it from the maxims of his
fchool. Cato, in anfwer, treated the matter very am¬
ply ; and with fo much earneftnefs and vehemence of
voice, that he betrayed himfelf, and confirmed the fu-
fpicions of his friends, that he defigned to kill himfelf.
When he had done fpeaking, a melancholy filence en*
] CAT
fued ; and Cato perceiving it, turned the difcourfe to
the prefent fituation of affairs, expreffing his concern
for thofe who had been obliged to put to fea, as well
as for thofe who had determined to make their efcape
by land, and had a dry and fandy defart to pafs. After
flipper, the company being difmifled, he walked for
fome time with a few friends, and gave his orders to
the officers of the guard : and going into his chamber,
he embraced his fon and his friends with more than
ufual tendernefs, which farther confirmed the fufpi-
cions of the refolution he had taken. Then laying
himfelf down on his bed, he took up Plato’s Dialogue
on the immortality of the Soul. Having read for fome
time, he looked up, and mifling his fword, which his
fon had removed while he was at flipper, he called a
flave, and a!ked who had taken it away; and receiving
no pertinent anCwer, he refumed his reading. Some
time after, he aflced again for his fword ; and, without
Ihowing any impatience, ordered it to be brought to
him : but, having read out the book, and finding no¬
body had brought him his fword, he called for all his
fervants, fell into a rage, and ftruck one of them on the
mouth with fq much violence, that he very much hurt
hisownhand,ctyingoutinapaffionatemanner, “What!
do my own fon and family confpire to betray me,
and deliver me up naked and unarmed to the enemy ?”
Immediately his fon and friends rufhed into the room ;
and began to lament, and to befeech him to change
his refolution. Cato railing himfelf, and looking fierce¬
ly at them, “ How long is it,” faid he, “ fince I have loft
my fenfes, and my fon is become my keeper ? Brave
and generous fon, why do you not bind your father’s
hands, that when Casfar comes, he may find me un¬
able to defend myfelf ? Do you imagine that without
a fword I cannot end my life ? Cannot I deftroy my¬
felf by holding my breath for fome moments, or by
ftriking my head again!! the wall ?” His fon anfwer-
ed with his tears, and retired. Apollonides and De¬
metrius remained with him, and to them he addreffed
himfelf in the following words: “ Is it to watch over
me that ye fit filent here ? Do you pretend to force
a man of my years to live ? or can you bring any
reafon to prove, that it is not bafe and unworthy of
Cato to beg his fafety of an enemy ? or why do you
not perfuade me to unlearn what I have been taught,
that, rejefting all the opinions. I have hitherto de¬
fended, I may now, by Csefar’s means, grow wifer,
and be yet more obliged to him than for life alone ?
Not that I have determined any thing concerning my¬
felf ; but I would have it in my power to perform
what I (hall think fit to refolve upon : and I (hall not
fail to a!k your counfel, when I have occafion to aft
up to the principles whidh your philofophy teaches.
Go tell my fon, that he ftiould not compel his father
to what he cannot perfuade him.” They withdrew,
and the fword was brought by a young flave. Cato
drew it, and finding the point to be (harp; “ Now,
(faid he), I am my own matter:” And, laying it
down, he took up his book again, which, it is re¬
ported, he read twice over. After this he flept fo
foundly that he was heard to fnore by thofe who were
near him. About midnight he called two of his freed-
men, Cleanthes his phyiician, and Butas whom he
chiefly employed in the management of his affairs.
The laft he fent to the port, to fee whether all the.
Romans
Cato,
259
C A T O P
Romans were gone ; to the phyfician he gave his
hand to be dreffed, which was fwelled by the blow he
had given his Have. This being an intimation that
he intended to live, gave great joy to his family. Bu-
tas foon returned, and brought word that they were
all gone except Craffus, who had ftaid upon fome bu«
finefs, but was juft ready to depart. He added, that
the wind was high, and the fea rough. Thefe words
drew a figh from Cato. He fent Butas again to the
port, to know whether there might not be fome one,
who, in the hurry of embarkation, had forgot fome
neceiTary provifions, and had been obliged to put back
to Utica. It was now break of day, and Cato flept
yet a little more, till Butas returned to tell him, that
all was perfectly quiet. He then ordered him to fhut
his door ; and he flung himfelf upon his bed, as if he
meant to finifti his night’s reft; but immediately he
took his fword, and ftabbed himfelf a little below his
cheft ; yet not being able to ufe his hand fo well by
reafon of the fwelling, the blow did not kill him. It
threifr him into a convulfion, in which he fell from his
bed, and overturned a table near it. The noife gave
TRIGS.
the alarm ; and his fon, and the reft of the family,
entering the room, found him weltering in his blood,
and his bowels half out of his body. The furgeon,
upon examination, found that his bowels were not cut;
and was preparing to replace them, and bind up the
wound, when Cato, recovering his fenfes, thruft the
furgeon from him, and, tearing out his bowels, imme¬
diately expired, in the 4.8th year of his age.
By this rafti aft, independent of all moral or reli¬
gious confiderations, he carried his patriotifm to the
higheft degree of political frenzy: for Capo, dead,
could be of no ufe to his country ; but had he prefer-
ved his life, his counfel might have moderated Casfar’s
ambition, and (as Montefquieu obferves) have given a
different turn to public affairs.
CATOCHE, or Catochus, a difeafe, by which
the patient is rendered in an inftant as immoveable as
a ftatue, without either fenfe or motion, and continues
in the fame pofture he was in at the moment of his
being feized. See (the Index fubjoined to) Medi-
CATOPTRICS.
CAtoptrjcs is that part of optics which explains
the properties of reflefted light, and particularly
that which is reflefted from mirrors.
As this and the other branches of Optics are fully
treated under the colleftive word, we lhall, in the pre-
fent article, \jl. Juft give a fummary of the principles
of the branch, in a few plain aphorifms, with fome pre¬
liminary definitions; and, idly, Infert a fet of enter¬
taining experiments founded upon them.
Sect. I. Definitions.
Definitions. j. Every poliftied body that reflefts the rays of
light is called a mirror, whether its furface be plane,
fpherical, conical,: cylindric, or of any other form
whatever.
Plate 2* mirrors there are three principally ufed in
CXXVIII. optical exPeriments: The plane mirror, G H I, (fig.
1.) ; the fpherical convex mirror, GHI, (fig. 2.);
and the fpherical concave mirror, GHI, (fig. 3.)
3. Th6 point K, (fig. 2, 3.) round which the re-
flefting furface of a fpherical mirror is deferibed, is
called its centre. The line KH, drawn from its cen¬
tre perpendicular to its two furfaces, is the axis of the
mirror ; and the point H, to which that line is drawn,
is its vortex.
4. The diftance between the lines AG and BG,
(fig. 1.) is called the angle of incidence, and the di¬
ftance between BG and CG is the angle of refleftion.
Sect. II. Aphorifms.
Mn a plain . 11 (mage (fig- !•) will appear as far be-
tiuaor. hind the mirror, as the objeft AC is before it.
2. The image will appear of the fame fize, and in
the fame pofition as the objeft.
3. Every fuch mirror will refleft the image of an
objeft of twice its own length and breadth.
4. If the objeft be an opaque body, and its rays fall
on the mirror nearly in direft lines, there will be only
one image vifible, which will be reflefted by the inner
furface of the glafs. But,
5. If the objeft be a luminous body, and its rays
fall very obliquely on the mirror, there will appear, to
an eye placed in a proper pofition, feveral images; the
firft of which, reflefted from the outer furface of the
glafs, will not be fo bright as the fecond, reflefted from
the inner furface. The following images, that are pro¬
duced by the repeated refleftions of the rays between
the two furfaces of the glafs, will be in proportion lefs
vivid, to the eighth or tenth, which will be fcarce vi¬
fible.
1. The image DF, (fig. 2.) will always appear be-n. in a
hind it. fpherical
2. The image will be in the fame pofition as thec<?nvex
objeft. mirror-
3. It will be lefs than the objeft.
4. It will be curved, but not, as the mirror, fpheri¬
cal.
5. Parallel rays falling on this mirror will have the
focus or image at half the diftance of the centre K,
from the mirror.
6. In converging rays, the diftance of the objeft
muft be equal to half the diftance of the centre, to
make the image appear behind the mirror.
7. Diverging rays will have their image at lefs than
half the diftance of the centre. If the objeft be placed
in the centre of the mirror, its image will appear at
one-eighth of that diftance behind it.
1. That point where the image appears of the fameIIf f
dimenfions as the objeft, is the centre of that mirror, fpherical
2. Parallel rays will have their focus at one half the concave
diftance of the centre. mirror.
3. Converging rays will form an image before the
mirror.
4. In diverging rays, if the objeft be at lefs than
one half the diftance of the centre, the image will be
behind the mirror, ereft, curved, and magnified, as
K k 2 DEF,
260 CATO
DEF, (fig. 3.) but if the diltance of the objeit be
greater, the image will be before the mirror, inverted
and diminilhed, as DEF, (fig. 4.)
5. The fun’s rays falling on a concave mirror, and
being parallel, will be collected in a focus at half the
diltance of its centre, where their heat will be aug¬
mented in proportion of the furface of the mirror to
that of the focal fpot.
6. if a luminous body be placed in the focus of a
concave mirror, its rays being refie&ed in parallel lines
will ftrongly enlighten a Ipace of the fame dimenfion
with the mirror, at a great diilance. If the luminous
objedt be placed nearer than the focus, its rays will di¬
verge, and confequently enlighten a larger ipace. It
is on this principle that reverberators are conftruc-
ted.
IV. In all plane and fpherical mirrors the angle of
incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
Sect. III. Entertaining Experiments.
I Cati-o ^ 0Ur *e!1^es ^le fight h* certainly fubjeft to
ticalfilufU the greatefi iliufion. The various writers on optics
•axis. have defcribcd a great number of inftances in which
it deceives us, and have conilantly endeavoured to in-
veiugatc the caufes, to explain their effects, and to re¬
concile appearance with reality. We every day dif-
eover new phenomena, and doubtlefs many more are
referved for pofterity. It frequently happens, more¬
over, that a difcovery which at firft feemed of little
eonfequence, has led to matters of the higheit import¬
ance.
Take a glafs bottle A (fig. 14.) and fill it with wa¬
ter to the point B ; leave the upper part BC empty,
and cork it in the common manner. Place this bottle
oppofite a concave mirror, and beyond its focus, that
it may appear reverfed, and before the mirror (fee
feet. ii. aphor. 4: of a fpher. concave mirror,) place
yourfelf ftill further diftant from the bottk, and it will
appear to you in the fituation, a, b, c, (fig. 15.)
Now it is remarkable in this apparent bottle, that
the water, which, according to all the laws of catop¬
trics, and all the experiments made on other objects,
fhould appear at a b, appears on the contrary at b c,
and confequently the part a b appears empty.
If the bottle be inverted and placed before the mir¬
ror (as in fig. 16.), its image will appear in its natu¬
ral, ereft pofition ; and the water, which is in reality
at BC, will appear at a b.
If while the bottle is inverted it be uncorked, and
the water run gently out, it will appear, that while the
part BC is emptying, that of a ^ in the image is fill¬
ing ; and what is likewife very remarkable, as foon as
the bottle is empty the illufion ceafes, the image alfo
appearing entirely empty. If the bottle likewife be
quite full there is no illufion.
If while the bottle is held inverted, and partly emp¬
ty, fome drops of water fall from the bottom A to¬
wards BC, it feems in the image as if there were form¬
ed at the bottom of the part a b, bubbles of air that
rofe from a to b ; which is the part that feems full of
water. AH thefe phenomena conftaatly appear.
The remarkable circumftances in this experiment,
are, firft, not only to fee an obje& where it is not, but
alfo where its image is not; and fecondly, that of two
P T R I C S.
objects which are really in the fame place, as the fur-
face of the bottle and the water it contains, the one is
ken at one place, and the other at another ; and to
fee the bottle in the place of its image, and the winter
where neither it nor its image are. ^
II. Conftrudl a box AB, of about a foot long, eight II. Appear-
inches wide, and fix high ; or what other dimenfion ance of a
you ftiall think fit, provided it does not greatly vary boundlefs
from thefe proportions. a'
On the infide of this box, and againft each of its lg’
oppofite ends A and B, place a mirror of the fame
fize. Take off the quickfilver from the mirror that
you place at B, for about an inch and an half, at the
part C, where you are to make a hole in the box of
the fame fize, by which you may eafily view its infide.
Cover the top of the box with a frame, in which mult
be placed a trail [parent glafs, covered with gauze, on
the fide next the inner part of the box. Let there be
two grooves at the parts E and F to receive the two
painted feenes hereafter mentioned. On two pieces of
cut pafteboard let there be ikilfully painted on both
fides (fee fig. 6. and 7.) any fubjett you think pro¬
per ; as woods, gardens, bowers, colonades, £sV. and
on twro other paffeboards, the fame fubjetls on one fide
only ; obferving that there ought to be on one of them
fome objeft relative to the fubjebt placed at A, that
the mirror placed at D may not refleft the hole at C
on the oppolite fide.
Place the two boards painted on both fides in the
grooves E and F; and thofe that are painted on one
fide only, againft: the oppofite mirrors C and D ; and
then cover the box with its tranfparent top. This
box Ihould be placed in a ftrong light to have a good
effett.
When the eye is placed at C, and views the objefts
on the infide of the box, of which fome, as we have
faid, are painted on both fides, they are fucceffively
refletted from one mirror to the other; and if, for
example, the painting confifts of trees, they will ap¬
pear like a very long vifta, of which the eye cannot
difeern the end : for each of the mirrors repeating the
objects, continually more faintly, contribute greatly to
augment the illufion.
III. Take a fquare box ABCD, of about fix inch- m of»
es long, and twelve high 5 cover the infide of it with fortification
four plane mirrors, which muff be placed perpendicu- i»imeii$e
lar to the bottom of the box CHFD. '»
Place certain objects in relief on the bottom of this ^
box ; fuppofe, for example, a piece of fortification,
(as fig. 9.) with tents, foldiers, &c. or any other fub-
je6t that you judge will produce an agreeable effeft by
its difpofition when repeatedly reflected by the mir¬
rors.
On the top of this box place a frame of glafs, in
form of the bottom part of a pyramid, whofe bafe
AGEB is equal to the fize of the box : its top ILN,
muff form a fquare of fix inches, and ftiould not be
more than four or five inches higher than the box..
Cover the four fides of this frame wfith a gauze, that
the infide may not be viiible but at the top 1LN,
which ftiould be covered with a tranfparent glafs.
When you look into this box through the glafs
ILN, the mirrors that are diametrically oppofite each
other, mutually reflecting the figures inclofed, the eye
beholds a boundlefs extent, completely covered with
thefc
C A T O P
thefe obje&s; and if they are properly difpofed, the
illufion will occafion no fmall furprize, and afford great
ehtertaiment.
Note, The nearer the opening ILN is to the top of
the box, the greater will be the apparent extent of the
fubjett. The fame will happen if the four mirrors
i placed on the fides of the box be more elevated. The
obje&s, by either of thefe difpofitions will appear to be
repeated nine, twenty-five, forty-nine times, &c. by
taking always the fquare of the odd numbers of the
arithmetical progreffion 3, 5, 7, 9, £sV. as is very eafy
to conceive, if we remember that the fubject enclofed
iif the box is always in the centre of a fquare, compo-
fed of feveral others, equal to that which forms the
bottom of the box.
Other pieces of the fame kind (that is viewed from
above) maybe contrived, in which mirrors may be
placed perpendicular on a triangular, pentagon, or
hexagon, (that is, a three, five, or fix-fided) plane.
All thefe different difpofitions, properly directed, as
well with regard to the choice as pofition of the ob-
jedts, will conftantly produce very remarkable and
pleafing illufions.
If inltead of placing the mirrors perpendicular, they
wrere to incline equally, fo as to form paft of a rever-
fed pyramid, the fubject placed in the box would then
have the appearance of a very extenfive globular or
many-fided figure.
IV. Surpri- IV. On the hexagonal or fix-fided plane ABCDEF
ting multi- draw fix femi-diameters GA, GB, GC, GD, GE,
plication of GF ; and on each of thefe place perpendicularly two
objedts, plane'mirrors, which muft join exactly at the centre
g 10. ancj placed back to back muft be as thin as
poffible. Decorate the exterior boundary of this piece
(which is at the extremity of the angles of the hexa¬
gon) with fix columns, that at the fame time ferve to
fupport the mirrors, by grooves formed on their inner
fides. (See the profile H). Add to thefe columns their
entablatures, and cover the edifice in fuch manner as
you fhall think proper.
In each one of thefe fix triangular fpaces, contained
between two mirrors, place little figures of pafteboard,
in relief, reprefenting fuch objects as when feen in an
hexagonal Form will produce an agreeable effect. To
thefe add fmall figures of enamel; and take particular
care to conceal, by fome objedfc that has relation to
the fubjedt, the place where the mirrors join, which,
as wc have faid before, ail meet in the common centre
G.
When you look into any one of the fix openings of
this palace, the objects there contained being repeated
fix times, will feem entirely to fill up the whole of
the building. This illufion will appear very remark¬
able ; efpecially if the objects made choice of are pro¬
perly adapted to the effect that is to be produced by
the mirrors.
Note, if you place between two of thefe mir¬
rors part of a fortification, as. a curtain and two demi-
TRIG S. *5»
bullions, you will fee an entire citadel, with its fix ba-
ftions. Or if you place part of a ball-room, ornament¬
ed with chandeliers and figures in enamel, all thofe ob¬
jects being here multiplied, will afford a very pleafing
profpetl. . .9
V. Within the cafe ABCD, place four mirrors, V. Opaque
O, P, Q, R, fo difpofed that they may each of them bodies
make an angle of forty-five degrees, that is, that they
may be half way inclined from the perpendicular, as tranfparentj
in the figure. In each of the two extremities AB, fig. n.
make a circular overture, in one of which fix the tube
GL, in the other the tube MF, and obferve that in
each of thefe is to be" inferted another tube, as I I
and 1(a).
Furnifh the fiift of thefe tubes with an objedt-glafs
at G, and a concave eye-glafs at F. You are to ob¬
ferve, that in regulating the focus of thefe glaffes, with
regard to the length of the tube, you are to fuppofe
it equal to the line G, or vifual pointed ray, which
entering at the overture G, is reflefted by the four
mirrors, and goes out at the other overture F, where
the ocular glafs is placed. Put any glafs you will into
the two ends of the moveable tubes H and I; and
laftly place the machine on a Hand E, moveable at the
point S, that it may be elevated or depreifed at plea-
fuve.
When the eye is placed at F, and you look through
the tube, the rays of light that proceed from the object
T, pafiing through the glafs G, arc fueceffively reflect¬
ed by the mirrors, O, P, Q, and R, to the eye at F,
and there paint the objefit T, in its proper fituation,
and thefe rays appear to proceed directly from, that
objeCt.
TL? two moveable tubes H and I, at the extremi¬
ties of each of which a glafs is placed, ferve only the
more to difguife the illufion, for they have no commu¬
nication with the interior part of the machine. This,
inftrument being moveable on the Hand E, may be
direded to any objeCt; and if furniihed with proper
glaffes will anfwer the purpofe of a common perfpec-
tive.
The two moveable tubes H and I being brought
together, the machine is direCted toward any objeCt,
and defiring a perfon to look in at the end F, you aflt
him if he fee diltinCtly that objeCt. You then fepa-
rate the two moveable tubes, and leaving a fpace be¬
tween them fufficient to place your hand, or any other
folid body, you tell him that the machine has the pow¬
er of making objeCts viiible through the molt opaque
body ; and as a proof you defire him then to look at
the fame objeCt, when, to his great furprize, he will
fee it as diitinCt as when there was no folid body placed
between the tubes.
Note, This experiment is the more extraordinary^
as it is very difficult to conceive how the effeCt is pro¬
duced. The two arms of the cafe appearing to be
made to fupport the perfpeCtive glafs ; and to what¬
ever objeCt it is direCted, the effeCt is Hill the fame.
VI-
(a) Thefe four tubes muff terminate in the fubltance of the cafe, and not enter the infide, that they may not
hinder the effeCt of the mirrors. The fourfold rqSeCtion of the rays of light from the mirrors, darkens in fome
degree the brightnefs of the objeCt; fome light is alfo loft by the magnifying power of the perfpeCtive : If,
therefore, inftead of the obj.eCt-glafs at G, and concave eye-glafs at F, plain glaffes were fubftituted the mag¬
nifying power of the perfpeCtive will be taken away, and the objeCt will appear brighter.
iSa C A T O I
xo VI. In the partition AB, make two overtures, CD,
nv'^cLn'^6 a,,d a f°rt kigh, and ten inches wide, and
niirTors * ahout a foot diftant from each other. Let them be
rfig. xj. at the common height of a man’s head ; and in each
of them place a tranfparent glafs, furrounded with a
frame, like a common mirror.
Behind this partition place two mirrors H and I,
inclined to it in an angle of forty-five degrees: that
is, half-way between a line drawn perpendicular to the
ground and its furface : let them be both 13 inches
fquare : let all the fpace between them be inclofed by
boards or pa Reboard painted black, and well clofed, that
no light may enter: let there be alfo two curtains to
cover them, which may be drawn afide at pleafure.
When a perfon looks into one of thefe fuppofed
mirrors, inRead of feeing his own face, he will per¬
ceive the object that is in front of the other : fo that
if two perfons prefent themfelves at the fame time
before thefe mirrors, inRead of each one feeing himfelf,
they will reciprocally fee each other.
Note, There Riould be a fconce with a candle placed
on each fide of the two glafies in the wainfcot, to en¬
lighten the faces of the perfons who look in them,
otherwife this experiment will have no remarkable ef-
feft.
This experiment may be confiderably improved by
placing the two glafies in the partition in adjoining
rooms, and a number of perfons being previoufly pla¬
ced in one room, when a Rranger enters the other,
you may tell him his face is dirty; and defire him to
look in the glafs, which he will naturally do; and on
feeing a Rrange face he will draw back : but return¬
ing to it, and feeing another, another, and another,
like the phantom kings in Macbeth, what his i /'prize
will be is more eafy to conceive than exprefs. After
this, a real mirror may be privately let down on the
back of the glafs ; and if he can be prevailed to look
in it once more, he will then, to his further afionifh-
ment, fee his own face ; and may be told, perhaps per-
fuaded, that all he thought he faw before was mere
imagination.
How many tricks, lefs artful than this, have pafied
in former times for forcery ; and pafs at this time, in
fome countries, for apparitions ?
Note, When a man looks in a mirror that is pla¬
ced perpendicular to another, his face' will appear
entirely deformed. If the mirror be a little inclined,
fo as to make an angle of 80 degrees (that is, one-
ninth parts from the perpendicular^, he will then fee
all the parts of his face, except the nofe and forehead.
If it be inclined to 60 degrees (that is, one-third part),
he will appear with three nofes and fix eyes: in firort,
the apparent deformity will vary at each degree of in¬
clination ; and when the glafs comes to 45 degrees
(that is, half way down), the face will vanifii. If, in¬
Read of placing the two mirrors in this fituation, they
are fo difpofed that their junftion may be vertical,
their different inclinations will produce other effefts ;
as the fituation of the objeft relative to thefe mirrors
is quite different. The effefts of thefe mirrors, though
remarkable enough, occafionS but little furprife, as
there is no method of concealing the caufe by which
they are produced.
VII. Make a box of wood, of a cubical figure,
ABCD, of about 15 inches every way. Let it be
‘TRIGS.
fixed on the pedeflal P, at the ufual height of a man’a
head. In each fide of this box let there be an open¬
ing of an oval form, of ten inches high, and feven
wide.
In this box place two mirrors A, D, with their
backs againR each other ; let them crofs the box in a
diagonal line, and in a vertical pofition. Decorate
the openings in the fides of this box with four oval
frames and tranfparent glaffes, and cover each of them
with a curtain, fo contrived that they may all draw
up together.
Place four perfons in front of the four fides, and at
equal diRances from the box, and then draw up the
curtains that they may fee themfelves in the mirrors ;
when each of them, inflead of his own figure, will
fee that of the perfon who is next him, and who, at
the fame time, will feem to him to be placed on the
oppofite fide. Their confufipn will be the greater, as
it will be very difficult for them to difcover the mirrors
concealed in the box. The reafon of this phaenome-
non is evident; for though the rays of light may be
turned afide by a mirror, yet, as we have before faid,
they always appear to proceed in right lines. ra
VIII. Provide a box ABCD of about two feet long, vitl. The,
15 inches wide, and 12 inches high. At the end perfpe<aivs
AC place a concave mirror, the focus of whofe paral- "lirror*
lei rays is at 18 inches from the reflecting furface. At41®'17”
IL place a paReboard blacked, in which a hole is cut
fufficiently large to fee on the mirror H the obje&
placed at BEFD.
Cover the top of the box, from A to I, clofe, that
the mirror H may be entirely darkened. The other
part IB, muR be covered with a glafs, under which
is placed a gauze.
Make an aperture at G, near the top of the fide E B;
beneath which, on the infide, place, in fuccefiion, paint¬
ings of different fubje&s, as viRas, landfcapes, fSr. fo
that they may be in front of the mirror H. Let the
box be fo placed that the objeft may be flrongly illu¬
minated by the fun, or by wax lights placed under the
enclofed part of the box AI.
By this Ample conffru£tion the objects placed at GD
will be thrown into their natural perfpedlive; and if
the fubje&s be properly chofen, the appearance will be
altogether as pleafing as in optical machines of a much
more complicated form.
Note, A glafs mirror fliould be always here ufed,
as thofe of metal do not reprefent the obje&s with
equal vivacity, and are befide fubjeft to tarnifir. It is
alfo neceffary that the box be fufiiciently large, that
you may not be obliged to ufe a mirror whole focus
is too ihort; for in that cafe, the right lines near, the
border of the pifture will appear bent in the mirror,
which will have a difagreeable effetf, and cannot be
avoided.
IX. The rays of a luminous body placed in the R>1X i,5-
cus of a concave mirror being refletted in parallel lines, to°a et
if a fecond mirror be placed diametrically oppofite the comWtible
firfi, it will, by colledfing thofe rays in its focus, fet body by the
fire to a combuRible bodyi refleftion of
Place two concave mirrors, A and B, at ahoutj^°p™cave
12 or 15 feet diflance from each other, and letpig, is!
the axis of each of them be in the fame line. In
the focus C of one of them, place a live coal, and
in the focus D of the other, fome gun-powder. With
1 a
£ig-13-
CATO?
a pair of double bellows, which make a continual blaft,
keep conftantly blowing the coal, and notwithftanding
the diftance between them, the powder will presently
take fire.
It is not neceffary that thefe mirrors be of metal
or brafs, thofe made of wood or pafteboard, gild¬
ed, will produce the e^plofion, which has fometimes
, taken effeft at the diftance of 50 feet, when mirrors
of 18 inches, or two feet diameter, have been
ufed.
This experiment fucceeds with more difficulty at
great dtftances; which may proceed from the moi-
fture in a large quantity of air. It would doubtlefs
take effeft more readily, if a tin tube, of an equal dia¬
meter with the mirrors, were to be placed between
them.
T4 X. Behind the partition AB, place, in a pofition
erea aP* oblique, the concave mirror EF, which muft
fig.be at leatt ten inches m diameter, and its diitance rrom
the partition equal to three-fourths of the diftance of
its centre.
In the partition make an opening of feven or eight
inches, either fquare or circular : it muft face the mir¬
ror, and be of the fame height with it. Behind this
partition place a ftrong light, fo difpofed that it may
not be feen at the opening, and may illumine an ob-
jeft placed at C, without throwing any light on the
mirror.
Beneath the aperture in the partition place the ob-
je& C, that you intend ftiall appear on the outfide of
the partition, in an inverted pofition; and which we
will fuppofe to be a flower. Before the partition,
and beneath the aperture, place a little flower-pot D,
the top of which ftiould be even with the bottom of
the aperture, that the eye, placed at G, may fee the
flower in the fame pofition as if its ftalk came out of
the pot. *
Take care to paint the fpace between the back part
of the partition and the mirror black, to prevent any
reflexions of light from being thown on the mirror;
in a word, fo difpofe the whole that it may be as little
enlightened as poffible.
When a perfon is placed at the point G, he will
perceive the flower that is behind the partition, at the
top of the pot at D, but on putting out his hand to
pluck it, he will find that he attempts to grafp a ftia-
dow.
If in the opening of the partition a large double
convex lens of a ftibrt focus be placed, or, which is not
quite fo well, a bottle of clear water, the image of the
flower refleXed thereon will appear much more vivid
and dift'inX..
Gb/irvatlcn. The phenomena that may be produced by means
of concave mirrors are highly curious and aftoniftring..
By their aid, fpeXres of various kinds may be exhi-
• bited. Suppofe, for example, a perfon with a drawn
fwerd places himfelf before a large concave mirror, but
farther from it than its focus ; he will then fee an in¬
verted image of himfelf in the air, between him and
the mirror, of a lefs fize than himfelf. If he fteadily
prefent the fword towards the centre of the mirror,
an image of the fword will come out therefrom towards.
TRIGS. 262,
the fword in his hand, point to point, as it were to
fence with him ; and by his pufhing the fword nearer,
the image will appear to come nearer him, and almoft
to touch his breaft, having a ftriking effeX.upon him.
If the mirror be turned 45 degrees, or one eighth
round, the reflefled image will go out perpendicular to
the direXion of the fword prefented, and apparently
come to another perfon placed in the direXion of the
motion of the image. If that perfon is unacquainted
with the experiment, and does not fee the original
fword, he will be much furprifed and alarmed.—This
experiment may be another way diverfified, by telling
any perfon, that at fuch an hour, and in fuch a place,
he fliould fee the apparition of an abfent or deceafed
friend (of whofe portrait you are in pofleffion). In
order to produce this phantom, inftead of the hole in
the partition AB in the laft figure, there muft be a
door which opens into an apartment to which there is
a confiderable defcent. Under that door you are to
place the portrait, which muft be inverted and ftrongly
illuminated, that it may be lively refleXed by the mir¬
ror, which muft be large and well polilhed. Then ha¬
ving introduced the incredulous fpeXatof at another
door, and placed him in the proper point of view, you
fuddenly throw open the door at AB, when, to his
great aftonifhment, he will immediately fee the appa¬
rition of his friend.
It will be objeXed, perhaps, that this is not a per-
feX apparition, becaufe it is only vifible at one point,
of view, and by one perfon. But it fhould be remem¬
bered, that it was an eftablilhed maxim in the l^ft cen¬
turies, that a fpeXre might be vifible to one perfon and
not to others. So Shakefpeare makes both Hamlet
and Macbeth fee apparitions that were not vifible to
others, prefent at the fame time. It is not unlikely,
moreover, that this maxim took its rife from certain ap¬
paritions of this kind that were raifed by the monksj
to ferve fome purpofes they called religious; as they
alone were in pofleffion of what little learning there
then was in the world.
Opticians fometimes grind a glafs mirror concave in
one direXion only, as it is laid longitudinally ; it is in
faX a concave portion of a cylinder, the breadth of
which may be confidered that of the mirror. A per¬
fon looking at his face in this mirror, in the direXion
of its concavity, will fee it curioufly diftorted in a very
lengthened appearance ; and by turning the cylin¬
drical mirror a quarter round, his vifage will appear di¬
ftorted another way, by an apparent increafe in width
only. Another curious and Angular property attends
this fort of mirrors: If in a very near fituation before
it, you put your finger on the right-hand fide of
your nofe, it will appear the fame in the mirror; but
if in a diftant fituation, fomewhat beyond the centre
of concavity, you again look at your face in the mirror,
your finger will appear to be removed to the other cm
left-hand fide of your nofe. This, though fomething
extraordinary, will in its caufe appear very evident from
a fmall confideration of the properties of fpherical con¬
cave mirrors.
CATOPTF OMANCYj-,
CAT [ *64 ] CAT
C.tv fro- CATOPTROMANCY, a kind of
inancy ^JvJnation among the ancients ; fo called, becaufe con-
Cattivel- filing in the application of a mirror. The word is
isuni formed from ^«Toa-V,> fpeculum, “ mirror,” and
v~—-' T^«i dlvlnatio, “divination.” Paufanias fays, it was
in life among the Achaians ; where thofe who ware
fick, and in danger of death, let down a mirror, or
looking-glafs fattened by a thread, into a fountain be¬
fore the temple of Ceres; then, looking in the glafs,
if they faw a ghattly disfigured face, they took it as a
fare fign of death : on the contrary, if the flefli ap¬
peared frefli and healthy, it was a token of recovery.
Sometimes glaffes were ufed without water, and the
images of things future reprefented in them. See
Gastromancy.
CATROU (Francis), a famous Jefuit,born at Paris
in 1659. He was engaged for 12 years in the
Journal de Trevoux, and applied himfelf at the fame
time to other works, which diftinguifiied him among
the learned. He wrote a general Hittory of the
Mogul empire, and a Roman hiftory, in which he was
affitted by Father Rouille a brother Jefuit. Catrou
died in 1737 ; and this laft hiftory was continued by
Rouille, who died in 1740.
CATTERTHUN, a remarkable Caledonian poll,
a few miles north of the town of Brechin in the county
of Angus in Scotland. Mr Pennant defcribes it as of
uncommon ttrength. “ It is (fays fie) of an oval
form, made of a ftupenduous dike of loofe white ftones,
whofe convexity, from the bafe within to that with¬
out, is 122 feet. On the outfide a hollow, made by
the difpofition of the ftones, furrounds the whole.
Round the bafe is a deep ditch, and below that about
too yards, are veftiges of another, that went round
the hill. The area within the ftony mound is flat;
the axis, or length of the oval, is 436 feet, the tranf-
verfe diameter 200. Near the eaft fide is the foun<-
dation of a retliangular building; and on moft parts
are the foundations of others fmall and circular: all
which had once their fuperftrudlures, the fhelter of the
pofiefibrs of the poft : there is alfo a hollow, now al-
moft filled with ftones, the well of the place.” There
is another fortification, but of inferior ftrength, in the
neighbourhood. It is called the Brown Catterthun,
from the colour of the ramparts which are compofed
only of earth. It is of a circular form, and confifts of
various concentric dikes. On one fide of this rifes a
fmall rill, which, running down the hill, has formed a
deep gully. From the fide of the fortrefs is another
rampart, which extends parallel to the rill, and then re¬
verts, forming an additional poft or retreat. The mean¬
ing of the word Catter-thun is Camp-town; and Mr
Pennant thinks thefe might probably be the polls occu¬
pied by the Caledonians before their engagement at the
foot of the Grampian Mountains with the celebrated
Agricola. See (Hi/lory of) Scotland.
CATTI, a people of Germany, very widely fpread,
on the eaft reaching to the river Sala, on the north to
Weftphalia; occupying, befides Heffe, the Wetterau,
and part of the traeft on the Rhine, and on the banks
of the river Lohne. The Hercynian foreft began and
ended in their country.
CATTIVELLAUNI, anciently a people of Bri¬
tain, feated in the country which is now divided into
the counties of Hertford, Bedford, and Bucks. The
N° 67- 5
name of this ancient Britifti people is written in feveral Cattle
different ways by Greek and Roman authors, being ca(l[lju#
fometimescalled Catti, Caffii, Catticuclani, Cattidudani,
Catticludani, iffc. That they were of Belgic origin
cannot be doubted, and it is not improbable, that they
derived their name of Catti from the Belgic word
Katten, which fignifies illuftrious or noble, and that
the addition of Vellauni, which means on the banks
of rivers, might be given them after their arrival in
Britain, as deferiptive of the fituation of their coun¬
try. However this may be, the Cattivellauni formed
one of the moft brave and warlike of the ancient Bri¬
tifti nations when Casfar invaded Britain, and long af¬
ter. Cafiibelanus, their prince, was made commander
in chief of the confederated Britons, not only on ac¬
count of his own perfonal qualities, but alfo becauCe he
was at the head of one of their braveft and moft power¬
ful tribes. In the inverval between the departure of
Ctefar and the next invafion under Claudius, the Cat¬
tivellauni had reduced fieveral of the neighbouring ftates
under their obedience ; and they again took the lead
in the oppofition to the Romans at their fecond inva¬
fion, under their brave but unfortunate prince Carac-
tacus. The country of the Cattivellauni was much
frequented and improved by the Romans, after it came
undertheirobedience. Verulamium, their capital,which
flood near where St Alban’s now ftands, became a place
of great confideration, was honoured with the name
and pivileges of a municipium or free city, and had
magiftrates after the model of the city of Rome. This
place was taken and almoft deftroyed by the infurgents
under Boadicia ; but it was afterwards rebuilt, reftored
to its former fplendor, and furrounded with a ftrong
wall, fome veftiges of which are ftill remaining. Du-
rocobriv;E and Magiavintum, in the fecond iter of An¬
toninus, were probably Dunftable and Fenny-Stratford,
at which places .there appear to have been Roman
ftations. The Salente of Ptolemy, a town in the coun¬
try of the Cattivellauni, was perhaps fituated at Salndy,
in Bedfordftrire, where feveral Roman antiquities have
been found. There were, befides thefe, feveral other
Roman forts, ftations, and towns in this country, which
it would be tedious to enumerate. The territories of
the Cattivellauni made a part of the Roman province
called Britannia Prima.
CATTLE, a colledlive word, which fignifies the
fouifooted animals, which ferve either for tilling the
ground, or for food to men. They are. diftinguilhed
into large, or black cattle ; and into fmall cattle: of
the former are horfes, bulls, oxen, cows, and even
calves and heifers; amongil the latter are rams, ewes,
ftieep, lambs, goats, kids, Cattle are the chief
ftock of a farm: they who deal in cattle are flyled
graziers.
CATULLUS (Cains Valerius), a Latin poet, boro
at Vorona, in the year of Rome 666. The harmony
of his numbers acquired him the efteem and friend-
fhip of Cicero, and other great men of his time. Ma¬
ny of his poems, however, abound with grofs obfeeni-
ties. He wrote fatirical verfes againft Czefar, under
the name of Marmoro. He fpent his whole life in a
ftate of poverty ; and died in the flower of his age, and
the height of his reputation. Jofeph Scaliger, Paf-
ferat, Muret, and Ifaac Voffius, have written learned
notes on this poet.
CATZ
C AT O I*
Plate CXXVHI.
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tJfr/. /e.
J* V
]>^W
^<7.
yy-
CAT [ 265 ] G A V
Cau CATZ (James), a great civilian, politician, and
^avakarte ^utc^ Poet> was born at Browerfliaven, in Zealand,
l— _^ in the year 1577. After having made feveral voy¬
ages, he fixed at Middleburg; and acquire 1 by his
pleadings fuch reputation, that the city of Dort chofe
him for its penfionary; as did alfo, fome time after,
that of Middleburg. In 1634, he was nominated pen¬
fionary of Holland and Well Friefland ; and in 1648,
he was defied keeper of the feal of the fame ftate, and
ftadtholder of the fiefs : but fome time after, he re-
figned thefe employments, to enjoy the repofe which
his advanced age demanded. As the poll of grand
penfionary had been fatal to almoll all thofe who had
enjoyed it,-from the beginning of the republic till that
time, Cat2 delivered up his charge on his knees, be¬
fore the whole alfembly of the Hates, weeping for
joy, and thanking God , for having prefervad him from
the inconveniences that feemed attached to the duties
of that office. But though he was refolved to fpend
the reft of his days in repofe, the love of his country
engaged him to comply with the defires of the ftate,
who importuned him to go on an embalfy to England,
■ in the delicate conjuncture in which the republic found
itfelf during the protedorate of Cromwell. At his
return, he retired to his fine country feat at Sorgvliet,
where he lived in. tranquillity till the year 1600, in
which he died. He wrote a great number of poems
in Dutch ; moll of which are on moral fubjeds, and
fo dleemed, that they have been often printed in all
the different fixes ; and next to the Bible, there is no
work fo highly valued by the Dutch.
CATZENELLIBOGEN, a town of Germany, in
the lower part of the upper circle of the Rhine, with
a ftrong caft’e. It is capital of a county of the fame
name. E. Long. 7. 38. N. Lat. 5<3. 20.
CAVA, in anatomy, the name-of a vein, the lar¬
ged in the body, terminating in the right ventricle of
the heart. See Anatomy, p. 751. col. 2.
Cava, a confiderable and populous town of Italy,
in the kingdom of Naples, and in the Hither Princi-
pato, with a bifhop’s fee. It is fituated at the foot
of Mount Metelian, in E. Long. 15. 5. N. Lat. 40.
40.
CAVAILLAN, a town of France in Cental Ve*
naiffin, with a biftibp’s fee. It is fituated on the river
Durance, in a fertile and pleafant country. E. Long,
4..17. N. Lat. 43. 52.
CAVALCADE, a formal pompous march orpro-
ceffion of horfemen, equipages, &c. by way of parade,
or ceremony, as a grace to a triumph, public entry,
er the like.
CAVALCADOUR, or Cavalcadeur, ancient¬
ly denoted a riding-mafter; but at prefent is difufed
in that fenfe, and only employed to denote a fort of
equerries or qfficers who have the diredlion of princes
ftables. The French fay, ecuyer cavalcadeur of the
king, the duke of Orleans, &c. Menage writes it ca-
■valcadour, and derives it from the Sipanilh canjalgador,
<a horfeman.
CAVALC ANTE (Guido), a nobleman of Florence
in the 13th century, who having followed the party
of the Guelfes, experienced the changeablenefs of for¬
tune. He ffiowed great ftrength of mind in his mis¬
fortunes, and never neglected to improve. his talents.
He wrote a treatife in Italian concerning ftyle, and
• Vol. IV. Part I.
fome verfes which are efteemed. His poem on the
love of this world, has been commented on by feve¬
ral learned men. ,
CAVALIER, a horfeman, or perfdn mounted on
hoffeback ; efpecially if he be armed withal, and have
a military appearance.
Anciently,' the word was reftrained to a knight,
or miles. The French Hill ufe Chevalier in the fame
fenfe.
Cavaher, confidered as a fadlion. See Britain,
n° 109.
Cavalier, in fortification, an elevation of earth of
different ffiapes, fituated ordinarily in the" gorge of a
baftion, bordered with a parapet, and cut into more
or lefs embrafures, according to the capacity of the
cavalier. Cavaliers are a double defence for the faces
of the oppofite baftion : they defend the ditch, break
the befiegers galleries, command the traverfes in dry
moats, fcour the faliant angle of the counterfcarp,
where the befiegers have their counter-batteries, and
enfilade the enemies trenches, or oblige them to mul¬
tiply their parallels: they are likewife very fervice-
able in defending the breach and the retrenchments
of the befieged, and can very much incommode the en¬
trenchments which the enemy make, being lodged in
the ballion.
Cavalier, in the manege, one that underftands
horfes, and is pradlifed in the art of riding them.
CAVALIERI (Bonaventure), an eminent mathe¬
matician in the 17th century, a native of Milan, and
a friar of the order of the Jefuati of St Jerome, was
profeffor of mathematics at Bologna, where he pub-
lifhed feveral mathematical books, particularly the
Method of Indivisibles. He was a fcholar of Galileo.
His DireBorium generate Uranometricum contains great
variety of mod ufeful practices in trigonometry and
aftronomy. His trigonometrical tables in that work
are excellent.
CAVALRY, a body of fbldiers that charge on
horfeback. The word comes from the French, ca*
’valerie, and that from the corrupt Latin, cal alius, a
horfe.
The Roman cavalry confifted wholly of thofe cal¬
led equites; or knights, who were a diHindi order in
the diftribution of citizens.—The Grecian cavalry were
divided into cataphratta and non cataphrattee, i. e. into
heavy and light armed.—Of all the Greeks, the Thef-
falians excelled mod in cavalry. The Lacedemonians.,
inhabiting a mountainous country, were but meanly
furniffied with cavalry, till, carrying their arms into
other countries, they found great occafion for horfes
to fupport and cover their foot. The Athenian ca¬
valry, for a confiderable time, confided only of 96
horfemen : after expelling the Periians out of Greece,
they increafed the number to 300 ; and afterwards to
1200, which was the higheft pitch of the Athenian
cavalry. The Turkiffi cavalry confifts partly of Spa-
his, and partly of hsrfemen raifed and maintained by
the Zaims and Timariots.
The chief ufe of the cavalry is to make frequent
excurfions to difturb the enemy, intercept his con¬
voys, and deftroy the country : in battle to fupport
and cover the foot, and to break through and difor-
der the enemy; alfo to fecure the retreat of the foot.
Formerly, the manner of the fighting of the cavalry
L1 was
Cavalier
Cavalry.
GAY [ 266 ] CAY
Cavan was, after firing their piftols or carabines, to wheel off,
!l to give opportunity for loading again. Guftavus A-
Camky. j0|pjms ;s fa:j t0 have firft taught the cavalry to charge
through, to march ftraight up to the enemy, with the
fword drawn in the bridlehand, and each man having
fired his piece, at the proper diftance, to betake him-
felf to his, fword, and charge the enemy as was found
moft advantageous.
CAVAN, a town of Ireland, and capital of a coun¬
ty of the fame name, in the province of Ulfter, fitua-
ted in W. Long. 7. 32. N. Lat. 5. 04.
Cavan, a county of Ireland, 47 miles in length,
and 23 in breadth; is bounded on the call by Monag¬
han, and on the fouth by Longford, Weft-Meath,
and Eaft-Meath. It has but two towns of any note,
viz. Cavan and Kilmore. It fends five members to
parliament; two for the county, two for Cavan, and
one for Kilmore. It contains upwards of Booohoufes,
3 7 parifhes, feven baronies, and two boroughs.
CAUCA SUS, the name of a very high mountain of
Alia, being one of that great ridge which runs between
the Black and Cafpian feas. Sir John Charindin de-
fcribes this as the higheft mountain, and the moft dif¬
ficult to pafs, of any he had feen. It has frightful
precipices, and in many places the roads are cut out
of the folid rock. At the time he paifed it, the moun¬
tain was entirely covered with fnow; fo that, in many
places, his guides behoved to clear the way with (ho¬
vels. The mountain is 36 leagues over, and the fum-
mit of it eight leagues in breadth. The top is perpe¬
tually covered with fnow; and our traveller relates,
that the two laft days he feemed to be in the clouds,
and was not able to fee 20 paces before him. Excep¬
ting the very top, however, all the parts of Mount
Gaucafus are extremely fruitful ; abounding in honey,
corn, fruits, hogs, and large cattle. The vines twine
about the trees, and rife fo high, that the inhabitants
cannot gather the fruit from the uppermoft branches.
There are many ftreams of excellent water, and a
vaft number of villages. The inhabitants are for the
moft part Chriftians of the Georgian Church. They
have fine completions, and the women are very
beautiful.—In the winter they wear fnow-ftiows in
the form of rackets, which prevent their finking in.
the fnow, and enable them to run upon it with great
fwiftnefs. '
CAUDEBEC,a rich, populous, and trading town in
Normandy, and capital of the territory of Caux. It
is feated at the foot of a mountain near the river
Seine, in E. Long. q. 46. N. Lat. 40. 30^
CAUDEX, by Malphigi and other botanifts, is u-
fed to fignify the ftem or trunk of a tree: by Linme-
us, the (lock or body of the root, part of which a
fcends, part defcends. The afcending part raifes it-
felf gradually above ground, ferving frequently for a
trunk, and correfponds in fome meafure to -the cauckx-
ef former writers: the defcending part ftrikes gradu¬
ally downward into the ground, and puts forth ra¬
dicles or fmall fibres, which are the principal and e£-
fential part, of every root. The defcending caudex
therefore coiTefpond3 to the radix of other botanifts.
Agreeably to this idea, Linnaeus confiders trees and
(hrubs as roots above ground; an opinion which is
confirmed by a well-known faft; that trees, when in¬
verted, put-fprth leaves from the dofccnding caudex.,.
and radicles or roots from the afcending. For the va- Caudium,
rieties in the defcending caudex, fee the article Ra- Cave-
dix. ' * ~f-
CAUDIUM (anc. geog.), a town of Samnium, on
the Via Appia, between Calatia and Beneventum:
Caudinus, the epithet. The Caudinae Funae, or Fur-
culae, were memorable by the difgrace of the Ro¬
mans ; being fpears difpofed in the form of a gallows
under which prifoners of war were made to pafs, and
gave name to a defile or narrow pafs near Caudium,
Livy; where the Samnites obliged the Roman army
and the two confuls to lay down their arms and pafs
under the gallows, or yoke, as a token of fubjec-
tion.
CAVE, any large fubterraneous hollow. Thefe
were undoubtedly the primitive habitations, before
men began to build edifices above ground- The pri¬
mitive method of burial was alfo to repbfite the bodies
in caves, which feems to have been the origin of cata¬
combs. They long continued the proper habitations
of (hepherds. Among the Romans, caves (antra)
ufed to be confecrated to nymphs, who were wor-
fhipped in caves, as other gods were in temples. The
Perfians alfo worlhipped their god Mithras in a na¬
tural cave confecrated for the purpofe by Zoroafter.
The cave of the nymph Egeria is (till (hown at
Rome. Kircher, after Gaftarelius, enumerates divers
fpecies of caves ; as divine, natural, &c.— Of natu¬
ral caves fome are poffefied of a medicinal virtue, as
the Grotto de Serpente ; others are poifonous or me¬
phitical ; fome are replete with metalline exhalations,
and others with waters. Divine caves were thofe
faid to affeft the human mind and paffions in various
ways, and ever to infpire with a knowledge of future
events. Such were the facred caverns at Delphi which
infpired the Pythia; the Sibyl’s cave at Cumae, ftill
(hown near the lake Avernus; the cave of Tropho-
nius, &c.
Cave (Dr William), a learned Engli(h divine born
in 1.637, educated in St John’s college Cambridge;
and fucceffively minifter of Hafely in Oxfordlhire, AU-
hallows the Great in London, and of Ifiington. He be¬
came chaplain to Charles II. and in 1684 was inftalled
a canon of Windfor. He compiled the Lives of the
primitive Fathers in the three fir ft centuries of the church,,
which is efteemed a very ufeful work; and Hifloria Li-
teraria. See. in which he gives an exaft account of all
who had written for or againft Chriftianity, from the
time of Chrift to the 14th century : which works pro¬
duced a warm controverfy between Dr Cave ami M. Le
Clerc,. who was then writing his Bibliotheque Univer--
felle in Holland, and who charged the doctor with par¬
tiality. Dr Cave died in 1713..
CAVE (Edward), printer, celebrated as the pro-,
jeftor of the Gentleman’s Magazine,—the firft publi¬
cation of the fpecies, and fince
The friiitiul mother of a thoufand more,
was born in 169.1. His father being ddappointedbf fome .
fmall family-expe&ations, wasreduced to followthe trade,
of a (hoemaker at .Rugby in Warwickftiire. The free,
fchool of this place, in which his foa had, by the rules
of its foundation, a right to be inftrQcbed, was then in,
high reputation, under the Rev. Mr Holyock, to whofe
care moft of the neighbouring families, even of the
higheft rank, eatrufted their fons. He had judgment
C A V l 267 ] C A V
Cave, to difcover, and for fome time generality to encourage,
—v the genius of young Cave; and was fo well pleafed
with his quick progrefs in the fchool, that he declared
his refolution to breed him for the univerfity, and re¬
commend him as a fervitor to fome of his feholars of
high rank. But profperity which depends upon the
caprice of others, is of fhort duration. Cave’s fupe-
riority in literature exalted him to an invidious fami¬
liarity with boys who were far above him in rank and
expectations ; and, as in unequal afibciations it always
happens, whatever unlucky prank was played was im¬
puted to Cave. When any mifchief, great or fmall,
was done, though perhaps others boafted of the ftrata-
gem when it was fuccefsful, yet upon detection or mif-
carriage, the fault was fure to fall upon poor Cave.
The harfh treatment he experienced from this fource,
and which he bore for a while, made him at laft leave
the fchool, and the hope of a literary education, to
feek fame other means of gaining a livelihood.
He was firft placed with a colleftor of the excife :
but the infolence of his miftrefs, who employed him in
fervile drudgery, quickly difgufted him, and he went
up to London in quell of more fuitable employment.
He was recommended to a timber-merchant at the
Bankfide : and while he was there on liking, is faid to
have given hopes of great mercantile abilities: but
this place he foon left, and was bound apprentice to
Mr Collins, a printer of fome reputation, and deputy
alderman. - This was a trade for which men were for¬
merly qualified by a literary'- education, and which was
pleafing to Cave, becaufe it furnilhed fome employ¬
ment for his fcholaftic attainments. Here, therefore,
he refolved to fettle, though his mailer and miltrefs
lived in perpetual difcord, and their houfe was there¬
fore no comfortable habitation. From the inconve¬
niences of thefe domellic tumults he was foon releafed,
having in -only two years attained fo much Ikill in his
art, and gained fo much the confidence of his mailer,
that he was fent without any fuperintendant to con-
du£l a printing-houfe a&Norwich, and publilh a weekly
paper. In this undertaking he met with fome oppo-
lition, which produced a public contraverfy, and pro¬
cured young Cave the reputation of a writer.
His mailer died before his appre.nticelhip was ex¬
pired, and he was not able to bear the perverfenefs of
his millrefs. He therefore quitted her houfe upon a
ftipulated allowance, and married a young widow with
whom he lived at Bow. When his apprenticelhip was
over, he worked as a journeynaan at the printing-houfe
•of Mr Barber, a,man much diftinguilhed and employ¬
ed by the Tories, whofe principles had at that time fo
much prevalence with Cave, that he was for fome
years, a writer in Mill’s Journal. He afterwards ob¬
tained by his wife’s interell a fmall place in the poll-
office ; but Hill continued, at his intervals of attend¬
ance, to exercife his trade on to employ himfelf with
fome typographical bufinefs. He corredled the Gra-
dus ad Parnajfum : and was liberally rewarded by the
company of llationers. H<? wrote an Account of the
Criminals, which had for fome time a confiderable fale;
and publilhed many little pamphlets that accident
brought into his hands, of which it would be very dif¬
ficult to recover the memory. By the correfpondence
which his place in the poll-office facilitated, he pro¬
cured a country news-paper, and fold their intelligence
to a journalill in London for a guinea a week. He
was afterwards raifed ter the office of clerk of the
franks, in which he adled with great fpirit and firm-
nefs; and often Hopped franks which were given by
members of parliament to their friends, becaufe he
thought fuch extenfion of a peculiar right illegal. This
raifed many complaints; and the influence that was
exerted againll him procured his ejectment from office.
He had now, however, collected a fum fufficient for the
purchafe of a fmall printing-office, and began the Gen¬
tleman’s Magazine; an undertaking to which he owed
the affluence in which he palled the lall 20 years of his
life, and the large fortune which he left behind him.
When he formed the projedl, he was far from expecting
the fuccefs which he found ; and others had fo little
profpedt of its confequence, that though he had for fe-
veral years talked of his plan among printers and
bookfellers, none of them thought it worth the trial.
That they were not (fays Dr Johnfon) rellrained by
their virtue from the execution of another man’s defign,
was fufficiently apparent as foon as that defign began
to be gainful; for in a few years a multitude of maga¬
zines arofe, and perilhed: only the London Magazine,
fupported by a powerful affociation of bookfellers, and
circulated with all the art and all. the cunning of trade,
exempted itfelf from the general fate of Cave’s inva¬
ders, and obtained though not an equal yet a confider¬
able fale.
Cave now began to afpire *to popularity ; and be-
ing a greater lover of poetry than any other art, he
fometimes offered fubjedts for poems, and propofed
prizes for the bell performers. The firlt prize was
501. for which, being but newly acquainted with
wsalth, and thinking the influence of 50I. extremely
great, he expedled the firft authors of the kingdom to
appear as competitors; and offered the allotment of
the prize to the univerfities. But when the time came,
no name was feen among the writers that had been ever
feen before ; the univerfities and feveral private men
rejedted the province of affigning the prize. The de¬
termination was then left to Dr Cromwell Mortimer
and Dr Birch; and by the latter the award was made,
which may be feen in Gent. Mag. Vol. VI. p. 59. •
Mr Cave continued to improve his Magazine, and
had the fatisfadlion of feeing its fuccefs proportionate
to his diligence, till in 175; 1 his wife died of ah afthma.
He feemed not at firft much affedled by her death, but
in a few days loft his deep and his appetite, which
he never recovered. After having lingered about
two years, with many viciffitudes of amendment and
relapfe, he fell by drinking acid liquors into a diar¬
rhoea, and afterwards into a kind of lethargic infenfi-
bility; and died Jan. 10. 1754, having juft concluded
the 23d annual colleftion.
CAVEARE. See Caviare.
CAVEAT, in law, a kind of procefs in the fpiri-
tual courts, to Hop the proving of a will, the grant¬
ing tithes of adminiftration, &c. to the prejudice of
another. It is alfo ufed to ftop the inllitution of a
clerk to a benefice.
CAVEATING, in fencing, is the fliifting the
fword from one fide of that of your adverfary to the
other.
CA-
ru
C A V [ 268 ] C A V
eJo, CAVEDO, in commerce, a Portuguefe long mea-
£llre> equal to 2 7tVA Englifii inclies.
' “ CAVENDISH (Thomas), of Suffolk, the fecond
Englilhman that failed round the globe, was defcended
from a noble family in Devonfhire. Having diffipated
his fortune, he refolved to repair it at the expence of
the Spaniards. He failed from Plymouth with two
fmall Ihips in July 1586; paffed through the ftraits of
Magellan ; took many rich prizes along the coafts of
Chili and Peru ; and near California poffeffed himfelf
of the St Ann, an Acapulco fhip, with a cargo of im-
menfe value. He completed the circumnavigation of
the globe, by returning home round the Cape of Good
Hope, and reached Plymouth again in September
1588. On his arrival, it is faid, that his foldiers and
failors were clothed in filk, his fails were damialk, and
his topmaft was covered with cloth of gold. His ac¬
quired riches did not laft long: he reduced himfelf, in
1591, to the expedient of another voyage ; which was
. far from being fo fuccefeful as the former ; he went
no farther than the ftraits of Magellan, where the
weather obliging him to return, he died of grief on the
coaft of Brazil.
Cavendish (Sir William), defcended of an ancient
and honourable family, was born about the year 1505,
the fecond fon of Thomas Cavendilh, of Cavendilh in
Suffolk, clerk of the pipe in the reign of Henry VIII.
Having had a liberal education, he was taken into the
family of the great cardinal Woolfey, whom he ferved
in the capacity of gentleman-ulher of the chamber,
when that fuperb prelate maintained the dignity of a
prince. In 1527, he attended his mafter on hisfplen-
did embaffy to France, returned with him to England,
and was one of the few who continued faithful to him
in his difgrace. Mr Cavendilh was with him wheu
he died, and delayed going to court till he had per¬
formed the laft duty of a faithful fervant by feeing his
body decently interred. The king was fo far from
difapproving ofjiis condudt, that he immediately took,
him into his houfehold, made him treafurer of his
chamber, a privy-counfellor, and afterwards conferred
on him the order of knighthood. He was, alfo ap¬
pointed one of the commiffioners for taking the fur-
render of religious houfes. In 1540 he was nominated
one of the auditors of the court of augmentations, and
foon after obtained a grant of feveral confiderable
loi dlhips in Hertfqrdlhire. In the reign of Edward VI.
his eftates were much increafed by royal grants in feven
different counties; and he appears to have continued
in high favour at court during the reign of queen
Mary. He died in the year 1557* He was the foun¬
der of Chatfworth, and anceftor of the dukes of De-
vonlhire. He wrote “ The life and death of cardinal
Woolfey:” printed at London 1667; reprinted in
1706, under the title of “ Memoirs of the great fa¬
vourite cardinal Woolfey.”
Cavendish (William), duke of Newcaftle, grand-
fon of Sir William Cavendilh, was born in 1592. In
x6io, he was made knight of the bath; in 1620,
raifed to the dignity of a peer, by the title of baron
Ogle, and vifeount Mansfield; and in the third year
of king Charles I. created earl of Newcaftle upon
Tyne, and baron Cavendilh of Bolefover. He was
after this made governor to the prince of Wales, af¬
terwards Charles 11. When the firft troubles broke
out in Scotland, and the king’s treafury was but indif- Cavendilh.
ferently provided, he contributed ten thoufaad pounds; * *'
and alfo raifed a troop of horfe, confifting of about
two hundred knights and gentlemen, who ferved at
their own charge, were commanded by the earl, and
honoured with the title of the prince's troop. He had
after this the command of the northern counties ; and
was conftituted general and commander in chief of all
the force-s that might be raifed north of Trent, and of
feveral counties fouth of that river. He afterwards
raifed an army of eight thoufand horfe, foot, and dra¬
goons ; with which he took fame towns, and gained-
feveral important vidlories. On this he was advanced
to the dignity of marquis of Newcaftle: but his ma-
jefty’s affairs being totally ruined by the ralhnefs of,
prince Rupert, he, with a few of the principal officers
of the army, Went abroad, and ftaid for fome. time at,
Paris; where, notwithftanding the vaft eftate he had
when the civil war broke out, his circumftances were
now fo bad, that himfelf and wife were reduced to the
neceffity of pawning their clothes for a dinner. He
afterwards removed to Antwerp, that he might be
nearer his own country ; and there, though under
great difficulties, refided for feveral years : but, not¬
withftanding his diftreffes, he was treated, during an
exile of eighteen years, with extraordinary marks of.
diftinftion. Qn his return to England at the reftora-
tion, he was advanced to the dignity of earl of Ogle
and duke of Newcaftle. He fpent his time in a coun¬
try retirement, and was the patron of men of merit.
His grace died in 1679, aged 84. He wrote a trea-
tife on horfemanlhip, which is efteemed; and fome co¬
medies, which are not.
Mr Granger obferves, that he was mafter of many ,
accomplilhments, and was much better qualified for a
court than a camp : that he underftood horfemanlhip,
mufic, and poetry ; but, was a better horfeman than
mufician, and a better mufician than poet.
Cavendish (Margaret), duchefs of Newcaftle, fa¬
mous for her voluminous productions, was born about •
the latter end of the reign of James I, and was the
youngeft filter of Lord Lucas of Colchefter. She
married the duke of Newcaftle abroad in 1645; and
cn their return after the reftoration, .fpent the remain¬
der of her life in writing plays,, poems, with the life
of her hulband, to the amount of about a dozen of
folios. “ What gives the belt idea of her unbounded
paffion for fcribbling (fays Mr Walpole), was herfel-
dom revifing the copies of her works, left, as Ihe faid,,
it. fhould difturb her following conceptions.” She
died in 1673.
Cavendish (William), the firft duke of Devonlhire,
and one of the molt diftinguilhed patriots in the Bri-
tilh annals, was bom in 1640. In 1677, being them
member for Derby, he vigoroully oppofed the venal
meafures of the court; i and, the following year, was
one of the committee appointed to draw up articles of
impeachment againft the lord treafurer Danby. In
1679, being re-eledbed to ferve for Derby in a new
parliament, Charles II. thought fit to make him a
privy counfellor; but he foon withdrew from the hoard,
with his friend lord Ruffel, when he found that popiih
intereft prevailed. He carried up the articles of im¬
peachment to the houfe of lords, againft lord chief
juftice Scroggs, for his arbitrary and illegal proceed-
ings
C A V [ 269 ] C A V
Cavendifli mgs in the court of king’s bench ; and when the king
v are declared his refolution not to fign the bill for exelud-
■ av^are ing the Duke of York, (afterwards James IL), he mo¬
ved the houfe of commons, that a bill might be brought
in for the affociation of all his majefty’s proteftant fub-
je£ts. He alfo openly named the king’s evil counfel-
Jjors, and voted for an addrefs to remove them from
his prefence and councils for ever. He nobly appear¬
ed at lord Ruffel’s trial, in defence of that great man,
at a time when it was fcarce more criminal to be an
accomplice than a witnefs for him. The fame forti¬
tude, aftivity, and love of his country, animated this
illuftrious patriot to oppofe the arbitrary proceedings
of James If. 5 and when he faw there was no other
method of faving the nation from impending flavery,
he was the foremoft in the afibciation for inviting over
the prince of Orange, and the firft nobleman who ap¬
peared in arms to receive him at his landing. He
was created Duke of Devon (hire in 1694, by William
and Mary. His laft public fervice was in the union
with Scotland, for concluding of which he was appoint¬
ed a commiffioner by queen Anne. He died in 1707,
and ordered the following infcription to be put on his
monument.
Willielmus Dux Devon,
Bonorum Prtncipum Fidelis Subditus,
Jnimicus et Invifus Tyramus.
William Duke of Devonfhire,
Of good Princes the faithful Subject,
The Enemy and ^kverlion of Tyrants.
Befides being thus eftimable for public virtues, his
grace was diftinguilhed by his literary accomplifhments.
He had a poetical genius, which Ihowed itfelf particu¬
larly in two pieces, written with equal fpirit, dignity,
and delicacy : thefe are, an ode on the death of queen
Mary ; and an allufion to the archbifhop of Cambray’s
fupplement to Homer. He had great knowledge in
the languages, was a true judge in hiltory, and a critic
in poetry; he had a fine hand in mufic, an elegant
tafte in painting, and in architefture had a Ikill equal
to any perfon of the age in which he lived. His pre-
deceffor, Sir John Cavendilh, was the perfon who kill¬
ed the famous Watt Tyler in 1381.
CAVETTO, in archite&ure, a hollow member, or
round concave moulding, containing a quadrant of a
circle, and having a quite contrary effe& to that of a
quarter round : it is ufed as an ornament in cornices.
CAVEZON, in the manege, a fort of nofe-band,
either of iron, leather, or wood, fometimes flat, and
at other times hollow or twifted, clapt upon the nofe
of a horfe to wring it, and fo forward the fuppling
and breaking of the horfe.
CAVIARE, a kind of food lately introduced into
• See A- Britain. It is made of the hard roes of fturgeon.*,
sipenfcr. formed into fmall cakes, about an inch thick and three
or four inches broad. The method of making it is,
by taking out of the fpawn • all the nerves or firings,
then wafhing it in white-wine or vinegar, and fpread-
ing it on a table. It is then failed and preffed in a
fine bag; after which it is cafed up in a veffel with a
hole at the bottom, that if any moifture is left it may
run out. This kind of food is in great requeft among
the Mofcovites, on account of their three lents, which
they keep with a fuperftitious exa&nefs ; wherefore
the. Italians fettled at Mofcow drive a very great trade
in this commodity throughout that empire, there being
a prodigious quantity of fturgeon taken at the mouth Cavidci®
of the Wolga and other rivers which fall into the Cal- II
pian fea. A pretty large quantity of the commodity C3l“’rines-,
is alfo confumed in Italy and France. They get the v " ^
caviare from Archangel, but commonly buy it at fe-
cond hand of the Englilh and Dutch.—According to
Savary, the bell caviare brought from Mufcovy is pre¬
pared from the belluga, a filh eight or ten feet long,
caught in the Cafpiau fea, which is much preferable
to that made of the fpawn of fturgeon. A kind of
caviare, or rather faufage, is alfo made from the fpawn
of fome other fifties ; particularly a fort of mullet
caught in the Mediterranean. See Mug in and Eo-
TARGO.
fnjerf Caviare. See Axayacatl.
CAVIDOS. See Cabidos.
CAVIL, (cavillatio), is defined by fome a fallacious
kind of reafon, carrying fome refemblance of truth,
which a perfon, knowing its falfehood, advances in dif-
pute for the fake of victory. The art of framing fo-
phifms or fallacies is called by Boethius cavillatoria.
CAUK, or Cawk. See Terra Ponderosa, and
Chemstry, Index.
CAUKINCr, or Caulking, of a Jhip, is driving 3
quantity of oakum, or old ropes untwifted and drawn
afunder, into the feams of the planks, or into the in¬
tervals where the planks are joined together in the
Ihip’s decks or fides, in order to prevent the entrance
of water. After the oakum is driven very hard into
thefe feams, it is covered with hot melted pitch or
rofin, to keep the water from rotting it.
Among the ancients, the firft who made ufe of pitch
in caulking, were the inhabitants of Phoeacia, after¬
wards called Corfica. Wax and rofin appear to have
been commonly ufed previous to that period ; and the
Poles at this time ufe a fort of unctuous clay for the
fame purpofe, on their navigable rivers.
Caulking-Ironsr are iron.chifiels for that purpofe.
Some of thefe irons are broad, fome round, and others
grooved. After the feams are flopped with oakum,
it is done over with a mixture of tallow, pitch, .and tar,
as low as the fhip draws water.
CAUL, in anatomy, a membrane in the abdomen,
covering the greateft part of the guts; called, from its
ftrudlure, Reticulum, but moft frequently Omentum. See
Anatomy, n° 90.
Caul is likewife a little membrane, found on fome
children, encompaffing the head when born.
Drelincourt takes the caul to be only a fragment off
the membranes of the foetus; which ordinarily break
at the birth of the child. Lampridius tells us, that
the midwives fold this caul at . a good price to the ad¬
vocates and pleaders of his time ; it being an opinion,
that while they had this about them, theyfhould carry
with them a force of perfuafion which no judge could
withftand: the canons forbid the ufe of it; becaufe
fome witches and forcerers, it feems,.had abufed it.
CAULIFLOWERS, in gardening, a much efteem-
ed fpecies of cabbage. See Brassica.
GAURIS, in natural hiftory, a name given by fome
to the genus of fliells called, .by the generality of wri¬
ters, por«i/a»a, and concha venerea. It is from a falfe
pronunciation of this word cauris that we call thefe
(hells ^■c'zer/Vj'. See Porcelain-SI'cII.
CAURSINES, (Coutftni), were Italians that came
into England about the year 1235, terming themfelves,
C A U
Caufa the Pope’s merchants, but driving no other trade than
_ H letting out money ; and having great banks in Eng-
, Ca” e~ land, they differed little from Jews, fave (as hiflory
fays) they were rather more mercilefs to their debtors.
Some will have them called Courfitzes, quad Caufa Ur-
Jtni, bearifh and cruel in their caufes; others Caorfmi
or Corfini, as coming from the iile of Corfica ; but
Cowel fays, they have their name from Caorjium, Caorft,
a town in Lombardy, where they firft pra&ifed their
arts of ufury and extortion ; from whence, fpreading
themfelves, they carried their infamous trade through
moft parts of Europe, and were a common plague to
every nation where they came. The then bifhop of
London excommunicated them ; and king Henry III.
baniihed them from this kingdom in the year 1240.
But, being the pope’s folicitors and money-changers,
they were permitted to return in the year 1250 ; tho’
in a very fhort time they were again driven out of the
kingdom on account of their intolerable exaftions.
CAUSA matrimonii frjelocuti, in common
law, a writ that lies where a woman gives land to a man
in fee to the intent he fhall marry her, and he refufes
to do it in a reafonable time, being thereunto required
by the woman ; and in fuch cafe, for not performing
the condition, the entry of the woman into the lands
again has been adjudged lawful.
The hufband and wife may fue this writ againft a-
nother who ought to have married her.
CAUSALITY, among metaphyficians, the adfion
or power of a caufe in producing its effect.
CAUSALTY, among miners, denotes the lighter,
fulphureous, earthy parts of ores, carried off in the o-
'peration of wafhing. This, in the mines, they throw
in heaps upon banks, which "n fix or feven years they
find it worth their while to v, m k over again.
CAUSE, that from whence any thing proceeds, or
by virtue of which any thing is done : it Hands oppo-
fed to effeft. We get the ideas of caufe and effedt
from our obfervation of the viciffitude of things, while
we perceive Tome qualities or fubftances begin to exift,
and that they receive their exiftence from the due ap¬
plication and operation of other beings. That which
produces, is the caufe; and that which is produced,
the effeft: thus, fluidity in wax is the effedt of a cer¬
tain degree of heat, which we obferve to be conflantly
produced by the application of ftich heat.
.%e!don the Ariflotle, and the fchoolmen after him, diftinguifh-
AftwePoiv- ed four kinds of caufes ; the efficient, the material, the
ers of Man. formal} antl the final. This, like many of Ariftqtle’s
diflindiions, is only a diftinftion of the various mean¬
ings of an ambiguous word ; for the efficient, the mat¬
ter, the form and the end, have nothing common in
their nature, by which they may be accounted fpecies
of the fame genus; but the Greek word, which we
tranflate caufe, had thefe four different meanings in
Ariflotle’s days, and we have added other meanings.
We do not indeed call the matter or the form of a
thing its caufe ; but we have final caufes, inftrumental
caufes, occafional caufes, and many others. Thus the
word caufe has been fo hackneyed, and made to have
fo many different meanings in the writings of philo-
fophers, and in the difeourfe of the vulgar, that its
original and proper meaning is loft in the crowd.
With regard to the phenomena of nature, the im¬
portant end of knowing their caufes, befidesgratifying
C A U
our curiofity, *s, that we may know when to expett
them, or how to bring them about. This is very' often
of real importance in life ; and this purpofe is ferved,
by knowing what, by the courfe of nature, goes be¬
fore them and is connedfed with them; and this, there¬
fore, we call the caufe of fuch a phenomenon.
If a magnet be brought near to a mariner’s compafs,
the needle, which was before at reft, immediately be¬
gins to move, and bends its courfe towards the magnet,
or perhaps the contrary way. If an unlearned failor
is afked the caufe of this motion of the needle, he is at
no lofs for an anfwer. He tells you it is the magnefi
and the proof is clear ; for, remove the magnet, and
the effedt ceafes ; bring it near, and the effedt is again
produced. It is, therefore, evident to fenfe, that the
magnet is the caufe of this effedi.
A Cartefian philofopher enters deeper into the caufe
of this phenomenon. He obferves, that the magnet
does not touch the needle, and therefore can give it
no impulfe. He pities the ignorance of the failor. The
effedt is produced, fays he, by magnetic effluvia, or
fubtile matter, which pafles from the magnet to the
needle, and forces it from its place. He can even
{how you, in a figure, where thefe magnetic effluvia
iffiie from the magnet, what round they take, and
what way they return home again. And thus he thinks
he comprehends ptrfedlly how, and by what caufe,
the motion of the needle is produced.
A Newtonian philofopher inquires what proof can
be offered for the exiftence *>f magnetic effluvia, and
can find none. He therefore holds it as a fiction, a
hypothefis ; and he has learned that hypothefes ought
to have no place in the philofophy of nature. He
confeffes his ignorance of the real caufe of this motion,
and thinks that his bufinefs as a philofopher is only
to find from experiment the law's by which it is regu¬
lated in all cafes.
Thefe three perfons differ much in their Sentiments
with regard to the real caufe of this phenomenon ; and
the man w'ho knows moft is he who is fenfible that he
knows nothing of the matter. Yet all the three fpeak
the fame language, and acknowledge that the caufe
of this motion is the attractive or repulfive power of
the magnet.
What has been faid of this, may be applied to every
phenomenon that falls within the compafs of natural
philofophy. We deceive ourfelves, if we conceive
that we can point out the real efficient caufe of any
one of them.
The grandeft difeovery ever made in natural philo¬
fophy, was that of the law of gravitation, which opens
fuch a view of our planetary fyltem, that it looks like
fomething divine. But the author of this difeovery
was perfedly aware that he difeovered no real caufe,
but only the law or rule according to which the un¬
known caufe operates.
Natural philofophers, who think accurately, have a
precife meaning to the terms they ufe in the Science ;
and when they pretend to {how the caufe of any phe¬
nomenon of nature, they mean by the caufe, a law of
nature of w'hich th.at phenomenon is a neceffary con-
fequence.
The whole objeCt of natural philofophy, as Newtort
exprefsly teaches, is reducible to thefe two heads: firft,
byjuft indudion from experiment and obfervation, to
3 difeover
l 27° 1
Caufe •
C A U [ 271 1 C A U
f’aufe, difcover the laws of nature ; and then to apply thofe
Cauffeway. jaws to the folution of the phenomena of nature. This
'~^v was all that this great philofopher attempted, and all
that he thought attainable. And this indeed he at¬
tained in a great meafure, with regard to the motions of
our planetary fyltem, and with regard to the rays of
light.
But fuppofing that all the phenomenawhich fall with¬
in the reach of our fenfes were accounted for from ge¬
neral laws of nature juftly deduced from experience ;
that is, fuppofing natural philofophy brought to its
utmoft perfe&ion ; it does not difcover the efficient
caufe of any one phenomenon in nature.
The laws of nature are the rules according to which
the effects are produced; but there mull be a caufewhich
operates according to thefe rules. The rules of navigation
never navigated a Ihip. The rules of architecture never
built a houfe.
Natural philofophers, by great attention to the courfe
of nature, have difcovered many of her laws, and have
very happily applied them to account for many pheno¬
mena: but they have never difcovered the efficient caufe
of any one phenomenon; nor do thofe who have dillinft
notions of the principles of the fcience make any fuch
pretence.
Upon the theatre of nature we fee innumerable ef-
fefts, which require an agent endowed with aftive
power ; but the agent is behind the fcene. Whether
it be the Supreme Caufe alone, or a fubordinate caufe
or caufes ; and if fubordinate caufes be employed by
the Almighty, what their nature, their number, and
their different offices may be ; are things hid, for wife
reafons, without doubt, from the human eye.
Cause, among civilians, the fame with action. See
Action.
Cause, among phyficians. The caufe of a difeafe
is defined by Galen to be that during the prefence of
which we are ill, and which being removed the difor-
der immediately ceafes. The doCtrine of the caufes
#f difeafes is called Etiology.
Phyficians divide caufes into procatarclic, antece¬
dent, and continent.
Procataraic Cause, «‘t<« called alfo
primitive and incipient caufe, is either an occafion which
of its own nature does not beget a difeafe, but, hap¬
pening on a body inclined to difeafes, breeds a fever,
gout, IsA (fueh as are watching, faffing, and the like);
or an evident and manifeft caufe, which immediately
produces the difeafe, as being fufficient thereto, fuch
as is a fword in refpedt of a wround.
Antecedent Cause, a latent difpofition
of the body , from whence fome difeafe may arife ; fuch
as a plethora in refpedl of a fever, a cacochymia in re-
fpe£l of a fcurvy.
Continent, ConjunB, or Proximate Cause, that-princi¬
ple in the body, which immediately adheres to the
difeafe, and which being prefent, the difeafe is alfo
prefent; or, which being removed, the difeafe is taken
away : fuch is the.ftone in a nephritic patient.
CAUSEWAY, or Causey, a maffive conftruclion
of ftone, ftakes, andfafcines ; or an elevation of fat,
vifcous earth, well beaten ; ferving either as a road in
wet marffiy places, or as a mole to retain the waters
of a pond, or prevent a river from overflowing the
lower grounds. See RoADp—The word.comes from.
the French Chaujfee, anciently wrote Chaulfee; and Caufe way,
that from the Latin Calceata, or Calcata ; according ranfticit),‘
to Somner and Spelman, a cajcando. Bergier rather 'l’~ '
takes the word to have had its rife a peditum calceis,
quibus teruntur. Some derive it from the Latin calx,
or French chaux, as fuppofing it primarily to denote a
way paved with chalk-ftones.
Causeway, calcetum, or calcea, more ufually de¬
notes a common, hard railed way, maintained and re¬
paired with Hones and rubbifli.
Devil's Causeway, a famous work of this kind,
which ranges through the county of Northumberland,;
commonly fuppofed to be Roman, though Mr Horfley
fufpedls it to be of later times.
Giant’s Causeway, is a denomination given to a
huge pile of ftony columns in the diftridt of Coleraine
in Ireland. See Giant’s Caufeway.
CAUSSIN (Nicholas), furnamed the Juft, a French
Jefuit, was born at Troyes in Champagne, in the year
1580 ; and entered into the Jefuits order when he was:
26 years of age. He taught rhetoric in feveral of
their colleges, and afterwards began to preach, by
which he gained very great reputation. He incrcafed
this reputation by publifhing books, and in time was
preferred to be confeffor to the king. But he did not
difeharge this office to the fatisfaftion of Cardinal
Richelieu, though he difeharged it to the fatisfadlion of
every honeft man ; and therefore, it is not to be won¬
dered at that he came at length to be removed. He
died in the Jefuits convent at Paris in 1651. None of
his works did him more honour than that which he
entitled La Cour Sainte. It has been printed a great
many times ; and tranflated into Latin, Italian, Spa-
nilh, Portuguefe, German, and Englilh. He publifti-
ed feveral other books both in Latin and French.
CAUSTICITY, a quality belonging to feveral fub-
ftances, by the acrimony of which the parts of living
animals may be corroded and deftroyed. Bodies which
have this quality, when taken internally, are true poi-
fons. The caufticity of fome of thefe, as of arfenic,
is fo deadly, that even their external ufe is prolcribed
by prudent phyficians. Several others, as nitrous acid,,
lapis iufernalis or lunar cauftic, common cauftic, butter
of antimony, are daily and fuccefsfully ufed to confume
fungous flefti, to open iffues, fsV. They fucceed very-
well when properly employed and Ikilfully managed.
The caufticity of bodies depends entirely on the-
Hate of the faline, and chiefly of the acid, matters they
contain. When thefe acids happen to be at the fame
time much concentrated,, and flightly attached to the
matters with which they are combined, they are then.
capable of a&ing, and are corrolive or cauftic.. Thus
fixed and volatile alkalies, although they are themfelves
cauftic, become much more fo by being treated with
quicklime; becaufe this fubftance deprives them of
much fat and .inflammable matter, and all their fixed
air, which binds and reftrains the aftion of their faline
principle. By this treatment, then, the faline prin¬
ciple is more difengaged, and rendered more capable pf
aftion. Alfo all combinations of metallic matters with
acids form falls more or lefs corrofive, becanfe thefe
acids are deprived of all their fuperabundant water,
and are befides but imperfe£lly faturated with the me¬
tallic matters. Neverthelefs, fome other circumftance
is neceffary to conftitute the caufticity of thefe faline.
metalline-
C A U ( 272 ) C A U
Cauftscity. metalline matters. For the fame quantity of marine
 ' acid, which, when pure and diluted with a certain
quantity of water, would be produft’ive of no harm,
fhall, however, produce all the effects of a corrofive
poifon, when it is united with mercury in corrofive fub-
Umate, although the fublimate fhali be diffolved in fo
much water that its caufticity cannot be attributed to
the concentration of its acid. This effeft is, by fome
chemifts, attributed to the great weight of the metal¬
lic matters with which the acid is united; and this
opinion is very probable, feeing its caufticity is nothing
but its dilfolving power, or its difpofition to combine
with other bodies ; and this difpofition is nothing elfe
than attraftion.
On this fubjeA Dr Black obferves, that the com¬
pounds produced by the union of the metals with acids
are in general corrofive. Many of them applied to the
fkin deftroy it almoft as fait as the mineral acids; and
fome of the moft powerful potential cauteries are made
in this way. Some are reckoned more acrid than the
pure acids themfelves; and they have more powerful
effefts when taken internally, or at leaft feem to have.
Thus we can take 1 o or 12 drops of a foffil acid, dilu¬
ted with water, without being diflurbed by it; but
the fame quantity of acid previoufly combined with
filver, quickfilver, copper, or regulus of antimony,
will throw the body into violent diforders, or even
prove a poifon, if taken all at once.
This increafed activity was, by the mechanical phi-
lofophers, fuppofed to arife from the weight of the
metallic particles. They imagined that the acid was
compofed of minute particles of the fhape of needles or
wedges; by which means they were capable of enter¬
ing the pores of other bodies, feparating their atoms
from each other, and thus difiblving them. To thefe
acid fpiculte the metallic particles gave more force; and
the momentum of each particular needle or wedge was
increafed in proportion to its increafe of gravity by the
additional weight of the metallic particle. But this
theory is- entirely fanciful, and does not correfpond
with fafts. The a&ivity of the-.compound is not in pro¬
portion to the weight of the metal; nor are the com¬
pounds always pofleffed of any great degree of acri¬
mony : neither is it true that any of them have a
greater power of deftroying animal fubftances than the
pure acids have.
There is a material difference between the powers
called fimuti and corrqftves. Let a perfon apply to
any part of the fkin a fmall quantity of lunar cauftic,
and likewife a drop of ftrong nitrous acid, and he will
find that the acid a&s with more violence than the
cauftic; and the diforders that are occafioned by the
compounds of metals and acids do not proceed from a
cauficlty in them, but from the metal affefting and
proving a flimulus to the nerves : and that this is the
cafe, appears from their affefting fome particular nerves
of the body. Thus the compounds of regulus of
antimony and mercury with the vegetable acids, do not
fuow the fmalleft degree of acrimony; -but, taken inter¬
nally, they produce violent convulfive motions over the
whole body, which are occafioned by the metallic
matter having a power of producing this effeft; and
the acid is only the means of bringing it into a diflbl-
ved Hate, and making it capable of afting on the ner¬
vous fyftem. In general, however, the compounds of
N° 67.
metallic fubftances wuth acids may be confidered as Cauftks
milder than the acids in a feparate ftate ; but the acid
is not fo much neutralized as in other compounds, for "xa’
it is lefs powerfully attrafted by the metal; fo that al- '   ^
kaline falts, abforbent earths, or even heat alone, will
decompound them ; and fome of the inflammable fub¬
ftances, as fpirit of wine, aromatic oils, &c. will "t-
tra& the acid, and precipitate the metal in its metallic
form; and the metals can be employed to preci¬
pitate one another in their metallic form ; fo that the
cohefion of thefe compounds is much weaker than
thofe formed of the fame acids with alkaline falts or
earths.
CAUSTICS, in phyfics, an appellation given to me¬
dicines of fo hot and fiery a nature, that, being ap¬
plied, confume, and as it were-burn, the texture of the
parts, like hot iron.
Cauftics are generally divided into four forts; the
common ftronger cauftic, the common milder cauftic,
the antimonial cauftic, and the lunar cauftic. See
Pharmacy and Chemistry.
Caustic Curve, in the higher -geometry, a curve
formed by the concourfe or coincidence of the rays of
light reflected from fome other curve.
CAUSUS, or Burning Fever, a fpecies of con¬
tinual fever, accompanied with a remarkable inflam¬
mation of the blood.
CAUTERIZATION, the aft of burning or fear¬
ing fome morbid part, by the application of fire either
aftual or potential. In fome places they cauterize
with burning tow, in others with cotton or moxa, in
others with live coals; fome ufe Spaniih wax, others
pyramidal pieces of linen, others gold or filvef; Se¬
verinus recommends flame blown through a pipe ; but
what is ufually preferred among us is a hot iron.
Cauterizing irons are of various figures ; fome flat,
others round, fome curved, £sV. of all which we find
draughts in Albucafis, Scultetus, Ferrara, and others.
Sometimes a cautery is applied through a capfula, to
prevent any terror from the fight of it. This method
was invented by Placentinus, and is defcribed by Scul¬
tetus. In the ufe of all cauteries, care is to be taken
to defend the neighbouring parts, either by a lamina,
defenfive plafter, or lint moiftened in oxyerate. Some¬
times the hot iron is tranfmitted through a copper can¬
nula, for the greater fafety of the adjoining parts.
The degrees and manners of cauterizing are varied
according to the nature of the difeafe and the part
affefted.
CAUTERY, in furgery, a medicine for burning,
eating, or corroding any folid part of the body.
Cauteries are diftinguiihed into two clafles; aftual
and potential: by aftual cauteries are underftood red
hot inftruments, ufually of iron ; and by potential cau¬
teries are underftooa certain kinds of corroding medi¬
cines. See Pharmacy.
CAUTION, in the civil and Scots law, denotes
much the fame with what, in the law of England, is
called Bail.
CAUTIONER, in Scots law, that perfon who be¬
comes bound for another to the performance of any
deed or obligation. As to the different kinds and ef-
fefts of Cautionry, fee Law, Part III. NJ clxxv. 19.
GAWK. SccCauk.
C AXA, a little coin made of lead mixed with fome
fcoria
CAY [ 273 1 CAY
Caxamaka fcoria of copper, {truck in China, but current chiefly
II at Bantam in the ifiand of Java, and fome of the neigh-
.Cayenne. j>our;ng. JflandR. See (the Table fubjoined to) Money.
CAXAMALCA, the name of a town and diftrift
of Peru in South America, where there was a moft
fumptuous palace belonging to the Incas, and a mag¬
nificent temple dedicated to the fun.
CAXTON (William), a mercer of London, emi¬
nent by the works he publifhed, and for being reputed
the firlt who introduced and pra&ifed the art of print¬
ing in England: as to which, fee {the Hijlory of) Print¬
ing.
CAYENNE, a rich town and ifland of South Ame¬
rica, and capital of the French fettlements there, is
bounded on the north by the Dutch colonies of Suri¬
nam, and fituated in W. Long. 53. 10. N. Lat. 50.
This fettlement was begun in 1635. rcPort had
prevailed for fome time before, that, in the interior
parts of Guiana, there was a country known by the
name of del Dorado, which contained immenfe riches
in gold and pYecious ftones ; more than ever Cortez and
Pizarro had found in Mexico and Peru 5 and this fa¬
ble had fired the imagination of every nation in Eu¬
rope. It is fupjrofed that this was the country in queft
of which Sir Walter Raleigh went on his laft voyage ;
and, as the French were not behind their neighbours
in their endeavours to find out fo defirable a country,
fome attempts, for this purpofe, were like wife made
by that nation much about the fame time ; which at
laft coming to nothing, the adventurers took up their
refidence on the ifland of Cayenne. In 1643, fome
merchants of Rouen united their ftock, with a defign
to fupport the new colony ; but, committing their af¬
fairs to one Poncet de Bretigny, a man of a ferocious
difpofition, he declared war both againft the colonifts
■and favages, in confequence of which he was foon maf-
facred. This cataftrophe entirely extinguifhed the ar¬
dour of thefe aflbciates ; and in 1651 a new company
was eftabliftied. This promifed to be much more con-
fiderable than the former-; and they fet out with fuch
a capital as enabled them to colleft 700 or 800 colo¬
nifts in the city of Paris itfelf. Thefe embarked on
the Seine, in order to fail down to Havre de Grace ;
but unfortunately the Abbe de Marivault, a man of
great virtue, and the principal promoter of the under¬
taking, was drowned as he v'as ftepping into his boat.
Another gentleman, who was to have afted as general,
was aflaffinated on his paflage ; and 1 z of the principal
adventurers, who had promifed to put the colony into
a fiouriftiing fituation, not only were the principal per¬
petrators of this fa<ft, but uniformly behaved in the
fame atrocious manner. At laft they hanged one of
their own number; two died ; three were baniftied to
a defert ifland; and the reft abandoned themfelves to
every kind of excefs. The commandant of the citadel
deferted to the Dutch with part of his garrifon. The
favages, roufed by numberlefs provocations, fell upon
the remainder ; fo that the few who were left thought
themfelves happy in efcaping to the Leeward Iflands
in a boat and two canoes, abandoning the fort, am¬
munition, arms, and merchandife, fifteen months after
they had landed on the ifland.
In 1663, a new company was formed, whofe capital
amounted only to L. 8750. By the afiiftance of the
miniftry they expelled the Dutch, who had taken pof-
Vgl. IV. Part I.
fefiion of the ifland, and fettled themfelves much more Cayenne,
comfortably than their predecefibrs. In 1667 the ifland Cayiua.
was taken by the Engliflr, and in 1676 by the Dutch, 'r~~J
but afterwards reftored to the French ; and fince that
time it has never been attacked. Soon after fome pi¬
rates, laden with the fpoils they had gathered in the
South Seas, came and fixed their refidence at Cayenne;
refolving to employ the treafures they had acquired in
the cultivation of the lands. In 1688, Ducafle, an able
feaman, arrived with fome fhips from France, and pro-
pofed to them the plundering of Surinam. This pro-
pofal exciting their natural turn for plunder, the pirates
betook themfelves to their old trade, and almoft all the
reft followed their example. The expedition, however,
proved unfortunate. Many of the aflailants were kill¬
ed, and all the reft taken prifoners and fent to the
Caribbee Iflands. This lofs the colony has never yet
recovered.
The ifland of Cayenne is about 16 leagues in cir¬
cumference, and is only parted from the continent by
two rivers. By a particular formation, uncommon in
iflands, the land is higheft near the water fide, and low
in the middle. Hence the land is fo full of morafles,
that all communication between the different parts of
it is impoflible, without taking a great circuit. There
are fome fmall trafts of an excellent foil to be found
here and there ; but the generality is dry, fandy, and
foon exhaufted. The only town in the colony is de¬
fended by a covert way; a large ditch, a very good mud
rampart, and five baftions. In the middle of the town
is a pretty confiderable eminence, of which a redoubt
has been made that is called the fort. The entrance
into the harbour is through a narrow channel; and (hips
can only get in at high water through the rocks and
reefs that are fcattered kbout this pafs.
The firft produce of Cayenne was the arnotto; from
the produce of which, the colonifts proceeded to that
of cotton, indigo, and laftly fugar. It was the firft of
all the French colonies that attempted to cultivate
coffee. The coffee-tree was brought from Surinam in
1721, by fome deferters from Cayenne, whopurchafed
their pardon by fo doing. -Ten or twelve years after
they planted cocoa. In the year 1752, there were ex¬
ported from Cayenne 260,541 pounds of arnotto,
80,363 pounds of fugar, 17,919 pounds of cotton,
26,881 pounds of coffee, 91,916 pounds of cocoa,
618 trees for timber, and 104 planks.
CAYLUS (Count de), Marquis de Sternay, Baron
de Branfac, was born at Paris in 1692. He was the
eldeft of the two fons of John count de Caylus, lieu¬
tenant-general of the armies of the king of France,
and of the Marchionefs de Villete. The count and
countefs his father and mother, were very careful
of the education of their fqn. The former inftrufted
him in the profefiion of arms, and in bodily exercifes i
the latter watched over and foftered the virtues of
his mind ; and this delicate talk flie difeharged with
Angular fuccefs. The countefs was the niece of
Madam de Maintenon, and was remarkable both
for the folidity of her underftariding and the charms
of her wit. She was the author of that agreeable
book intitled, “ The Recolle&ions of Madam de
Caylus,” of which Voltaire lately publifhed an elegant
edition. The amiable qualities of the mother appeared
in the fon ; but they appeared with a bold and mi-
M in litary
CAY [ 274 1 CAY
Caylus. 1,'tary air. In his natural temper he was gay and
  fprightly, had a tafte for pleafure, a ftrong paffion for
independence, and an invincible averfion to the fervi-
tude of a court. Such were the inllruftors of the
Count de Caylus. He was only twelve years of age
when his father died at Bruflels in 1704. After ii-
nifhing his exereifes, he entered into the corps of the
Moufquetolres; and in his firft campaign in the year
1 709, he diftinguifhed himfelf by his valour in fuch a
manner, that Louis XIV. commended him before all
the court, and rewarded him with an enfigncy in the
Gendarmerie. In 1711 he commanded a regiment of
dragoons, which was called by his own name ; and
he fignalized himfelf at the head of it in Catalonia. In
1713, he was at the fiege of Fribourg,' where he was
expofed to imminent danger in the bloody attack of
‘ the covered way. The peace of Railade having left
him in a (late of Tnaftivity ill-fuited to his natural tem¬
per, his vivacity foon carried him to travel into Italy ;
and his curiofity was greatly excited by the wonders
of that country, where antiquity is ftill fruitful, and
produces fo many obje&s- to improve tafte and to ex¬
cite admiration. The eyes of the count were not yet
learned ; but he was ftruck with the fight of fo many
beauties, and foon became acquainted with them. Af¬
ter a year’s abfence, he returned to Paris with fo
ftrong a pafiion for travelling, and for antiquities, as
induced him to quit the army.
He had no fooner quitted the fer.vice of Louis, than
he fought for an opportunity to fet out for the Levant.
When he arrived at Smyrna, he vifited the ruins of
Ephefus. From the Levant he was recalled in Fe¬
bruary 1717 by the tendernefs of his mother. From
that time he left not France, but to make two excur-
fions to London. The academy of painting and fculp-
ture adopted him an honorary member in the year
1731; and the count, who loved to realize titles, tpa-
red neither his labour, nor his credit, nor his fortune,
to inftruft, aflift, and animate the artifts. He wrote
the lives of the moft celebrated painters and engra¬
vers that have done honour to this illuftrious academy;
and, in order to extend the limits of the art, which
deemed to him to move in too narrow a circle, he col-
k&ed, in three different works, new fubjefts for the
painter, which he had met with in the works of the
•ancients.
Such was his pafiion for antiquity, that he wifiied
to have had it in his power to bring the whole of it
to life again. He faw with regret, that the works
of the ancient painters, which have been difcovered
in our times, are effaced and deftroyed almoft as foon
as they are drawn from the fubterraneous manfions
where they were.buried. A fortunate accident fur-
nifhed him with the means of fiiowing us the compo-
fition and the colouring of the pi&ures of ancient
Rome. The coloured drawings which the famous
Pietro Sante Bartoli had taken there from antique
pi&nres, fell into his hands. He had them engraved ;
and, before he enriched the k;ng of France’s cabinet
with them, he gave an edition of them at his own ex¬
pence. It is perhaps the moft; extraordinary book of
antiquities that ever will appear. The whole is paint¬
ed with a purity and a precifion that are inimitable :
we fee the livelinefs and the freffrnefs of the colouring
that charmed the Csefars. There were only 30 copies
publiftred ; and there is no reafon to expe£t that there Caylus*-
will hereafter be any more.  v ^
Count de Caylus was engaged at the fame time in
an enterprife fttll more favourable to Roman gran¬
deur, and more interefting to the French nation.
Colbert had framed the deiign of engraving the Ro¬
man antiquities that are ftill to be feen in the fouthera
provinces of France. By his orders Mignard the ar¬
chitect had made drawings of them, which count de
Caylus had the good fortune to recover. He refolved
to finifti the work begun by Colbert, and to dedicate
it to that great minifter; and fo much had he this en¬
terprife at heart, that he was employed in it during his
laft illnefs, and warmly recommended it to M. Ma-
riette.
In 1742, Count Caylus was admitted honorary
member of the"academy of belles lettres ; and then
it was that he feemed to have found the place for
which nature defigned him. The ftudy of literature
now became his ruling paffion ; he confectated to it
his time and his fortune; he even renounced his plea-
fures to give himfelf wholly up to that of making fome
difeovery in the field of antiquity. But amidft the
fruits of his refearch and invention, nothing feemed
more flattering to him than his difeovery of encauftie
painting. A defeription of Pliny’s, but too concife a
one to give him a clear view of the matter, fuggefted
the idea of it. He availed hjmfelf of the friendfhip
and fkill of M. Magault, a phyfician in Paris, and an
excellent chemift ; and by repeated experiments found
out the fecret of incorporating wax with divers tints
and colours, and of making it obedient to the pencil;
Pliny has made mention of two kinds of encauftis
painting praftifed by the ancients; one of which wan
performed with wax, and the other upon ivory, with
hot punches of iron. It was the former that Count *
Caylus had the merit of reviving ; and M. Muntz af¬
terwards made many experiments to carry it to per*
fe&ion.
In the hands of Count Caylus, literature and ths
arts lent each other a mutual aid. But it would be
endlefs to give an account of all his works. He pu*
blifhed above 40 differtations in the Memoirs of the
Academy of Belles Lettres. The,artifts he was parti¬
cularly attentive to ; and to prevent their falling into
miftakes from an ignorance of coftume, which the
ableft of them have fometimes done, he founded a
prize of 500 livres, the objeft of which is to explain,
by means of authors and monuments, the ufages of an¬
cient nations. In order that he might enjoy with the
whole world the treafures he had colledled, he caufed
them to be engraved, and gW a learned defeription
of them in a work which he embellilhed with 800 cop¬
perplates.
The ftrength of his conftitution feemed to give him
hopes of a long life : but a humour fettling in one of
his legs, which entirely deftroyed his health, he expi¬
red on the 5th of September 1 765, and by his death
his family is extinft. The tomb erefted to the ho¬
nour of Count Caylus is to be feen in the chapel of
St Germain-l’Auxerrois, and deferves to be remark¬
ed- It is perfeftly the tomb of an antiquary. This
monument was an ancient fepulchral antique, of the
moft beautiful porphyry, with ornaments in the E-
gyptian tafte. From the moment he procured it, he
had
C E A [ 275 ] C E C
Cayfter had defined it to grace the place of his interment, are thin, flexible, and of a reddifh colour, which may Ceanothi':*
Ceanothus While he availed the fatal hour, he placed it in his have occafioned this tree to go by the name of Red ^
1-  ‘ garden, where he ufed to look upon it with a tranquil Twig. The leaves which ornament thefe branches , ec‘1
but thoughtful eye, and pointed it out to the-infpec- ftand on reddifli pedicles, about half an inch in length. 'r~
tion of his friends. They are oval, ferrated, pointed, about two inches and
The charafter of Count Cayhis is to be traced in
the different occupations which divided his cares and
his life. In fociety, he had all the franknefs of a foh
a half long, are proportionably broad, and have three
nerves running lengthwife. From the footftalk to the
point they are of a light green colour, grow irregular-
dier, and a politenefs which had nothing in it of de- ly on the branches, and not oppofite by pairs, as has
ceit or circumvention. Born independent, he applied been afferted. They are late in the fpring before they
to ftudies which fuited his tafte. His heart was yet flioot. The flowers grow at the ends of the twigs in
better than his abilities. In his walks he ufed frC'
quently to try the honefty of the poor, by fending
them with a piece of money to get change for him.
In thefe cafes he enjoyed their confufion at not find¬
ing him ; and then prefenting himfelf, ufed to com¬
mend their honefty, and give them double the fum.
He faid frequently to his friends, “ I have this day
loft a crown ; but I was forry that I had not an op-
clufters: They are of a white colour, and when i
blow give the flirub a moft beautiful appearance. In¬
deed, it feems to be almoft covered with them, as there
is ufually a clufter at the end of nearly every twig;
and the leaves which appear among them ferve as or¬
naments only, like myrtle in a diftant nofegay : nature
however has denied them fmell. This tree will be in
blow in July; and the flowers are fucceeded by fmall
portunity of giving a fecond. The beggar ought not brownifh fruit, in which the feeds will fometimes ri¬
pen in England.
This plant is propagated by layering ; or from feeds
to want integrity.
CAYSTER, or Caystrus, (anc. geog.), a river of
Ionia, whofie mouth Ptolemy places between Colophon fown in pots of compoft, confifting of two parts virgin
and Ephefus; commended by the poets for its fwans, earth well tempered and one part fand, about a quar-
which it had in great numbers. Its fource was in the ter of an inch deep; being equally careful to defend
Montes Cilbiani, (Pliny). Cayjlrtus Campus was a the young feedlings from an extremity of cold in win-
part of the territory of Ephefus. Campi Cayjlriam of ter, as from, the parching drought of the fummer
Eydia, were plains lying in the middle between the in- months. The beft time of layering them is in the
land parts and mount Tmolus. fummer, juft before they begin to flower: At that
CAZEROM, or Cazeron, a city of Afia in Per- time lay the tender twigs of the fpring ftioots in the
fia, fituated in E. Long. 70. N. Lat. 29. ly. earth, and nip off the end which would produce the
CAZIC,or Cazique, a title given by the Spaniards flowers. By the autumn twelvemonth fome of them
to the petty kings, princes, and chiefs, of the feveral will be rooted. At the ftools, however, the plants
countries of America, excepting thofe of Peru, which ihould remain until the fpring, when they fhould be
are called curatas. The French call them cafiques, a taken off, and the beft rooted and the ftrongeft may
denomination which they always give to the Tarta- be planted in the riurfery-way, or in a dry foil and well
rian hords.—The cazics, in fome places, do the office Iheltered place, where they are to remain ; while the
of phyficians, and in others of priefts, as well as of bad-rooted ones and the weakeft fttould be planted in
captains. The dignity of cazic among the Chiites, pots ; and if thele are plunged into a moderate warmth
a people of South America, does not defeend to chil- of dung, it will promote their growth, and make them
dren, but muft be acquired by valour and merit. One good plants before autumn. In the winter theyfhould
of the prerogatives annexed to it is, that the cazic be guarded againft the frofts ; and in the fpring they
may have three wives, while the other people are al- may be planted out where they are to remain,
lowed only one. Mexico comprehended a great num- CEBES, of Thebes, a Socratic philofopher, author
ber of provinces and iflands, v/hich were governed ot ihz z&mivtA Table of Cebesor “ Dialogues on the
by lords called dependent on and tributary to birth, life, and death of Mankind/* He flouriihed
the emperor. Thirty of thefe vaffals are faid to have
been fo powerful, that they were able, each of them,
to bring an army of 100,000 men into the field.
CAZIMIR, a handfome'town of Poland, in the
about 405 years before Chrift.—The above piece is
mentioned by fome of the ancient writers, by Lucian,
D. Laertius, Tertullian, and Suidas : but of Cebes
himfelf we have no account, fave that he is one
palatinate of Lublin, fituated on a hill covered with tioned by Plato, and once by Xenophon. The for-’
trees, in E. Lon?. 3. 10. N. Lat. 51.5.
CEA. See Ceos.
CEANOTHUS, New-Jersey Tea, in botany :
A genus of. the monogynia order, belonging to the
mer fays of him, in his “Thasdo,” that he was a fa-
gacious inveftigator of truth, and never affenttd with¬
out the moft convincing reafons: the latter, in his
Memorabilia,^ ranks him ariiong the few intimates
pentandria clafs of plants ; and in the natural method of Socrates, who excelled the reft in the innocency of
ranking under the 4 ^d order, Dumofa. There are their lives. Cebes’s Tabula is ufually printed with-
five petals, pouched and atched. The fruit is a dry, Epiftetus’s Manuale.
triiccular and trifpermous berry. There are three fpe- CECIL (William), Lord Burleigh, treafurer of
cies, of which the moft remarkable is the Americanus, England in the reigfa of queen Elizabeth, wns the fon
a native of moft parts of North America, from whence of Richard Cecil, Efq; mailer of the robes to king
great plenty of the feeds have been imported into Eu-fcHenry VIII. He was born in the houfe of his grand
rope. In England, this plant feldom rifes more than 'father, David Cecil, Efq; at Bourn in Lincolnfhir**
three feet high. The Hem, which is of a pale-brown in the yearY520; and received,the rudiments of his
colour, fends out branches from the bottom. Thefe education in the grammar-fehool at Grantham. • From
M m 2 thence
C E C t 276 ] C E C
Cecil, thence he was removed to Stamford; and about-the
u—v-—' year was entered of St John’s College, Cam¬
bridge. Here he began his ftudies with a degree of
enthufiaftic application very uncommon in young gentle¬
men of family. At the age of 16 he read a fophif-
try lecture, and at 19 a voluntary Greek lefture,
which was the more extraordinary as being at a time
when the Greek language was by no means univer-
fally underftood. In 1541 he went to London, and
became a member of the fociety of Gray’s-Inn, with
an intention to fludy the law; but he had not been
long in that fituation, before an accident introduced
him to king Henry, and gave a new bias to his pur-
fuits. O’Neil, a famous Irilh chief, coming to court,
had brought with him two Irifh chaplains, violent bi¬
gots to the Romifti faith ; with thefe Mr Cecil, vifit-
ing his father, happened to have a warm difpute in
Latin, in which he difplayed uncommon abilities.
The king, being informed of it, ordered the young
man into his prefence, and was fo pleafed with his
converfation, that he commanded his father to find a
place for him. He accordingly requelted the rever-
fion of the cuftos bremum, which Mr Cecil afterwards
pofleffed. About this time he" married the lifter of
Sir John Cheke, by whom he was recommended to
the earl of Hertford, afterwards duke of Somerfet and
protestor.'
Soon after king Edward’s acceffion, Mr Cecil came
into the poffeffion of his office of cujlos brevium, worth
about L. 240 a-year. His firft lady dying in 1543,
he married the daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, direc¬
tor of the king’s ftudies. In 1547, he was appointed
by. the protestor, mafter of requefts; and foon after,
attended his noble patron on his expedition againft
the Scots, and was prefent at the battle of Muffel-
burgh. In this battle, which was fought on the xoth
of September 1547, Mr Cecil’s life was miraculoufly
preferved by a friend, who in pulhing him out of the
level of a cannon, had his arm fhattered to pieces.
The fight and judgment of his friend mull have been
as extraordinary as his friendfhip, to perceive the pre-
cife direftion of a cannon ffiot; unlefs we fuppofe,
that the ball was almoft quite fpent ; in which cafe
the thing is not impoffible. The ftory is told in his
life by a domeftic. In the year 1548, Mr Cecil was
made fecretary of ftate ; but in the following year,
the duke of Northumberland’s faction prevailing, he
fuffered in the difgrace of the proteftor Somerfet, and
was fent prifoner to the Tower. After three months
confinement he was releafed; in 1551 reftored to
his office ; and foon after knighted, and fworn of
the privy council. In 1553 he was made chancellor
of the Order of the Garter, with an annual fee of
loo merks.
On the death of Edward VI. Mr Cecil prudently
refufed to have any concern in Northumberland’s at¬
tempt in favour of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey ;
and when queen Mary acceded to the throne, he was
gracioufiy received at Court; but, not ehoofing to
change his religion, was difmifled from his employ¬
ments. During this reign, he was twice ele&ed knight
of the ffiire for the county of Lincoln; and often fpoke
in the houfe of commons, with great freedom and
firmnefs, in oppofition to the miniftry. Neverthelefs,
though a protfcftant and a patriot (that is, a courtier
out of place), he had the addrefs to fteer through a Cecil,
very dangerous fea without (hipwreck. —-y—i
Queen Elizabeth’s acceffion in the year 1558 im¬
mediately difpelled the cloud which had obfcured his
fortunes and minifterial capacity. During the horrid
reign of her filler, he had conftantly correfponded
with the princefs Elizabeth. On the very day of her
acceffion, he prefented her with a . paper containing ,
twelve articles necelfary for her immediate difpatch;
and, in a few days after, was fworn of the privy-
council, and made fecretary of ftate. His firft advice
to the queen was, to call a parliament; and the firft
bufinefs he propofed after it was alfembled, was the
eftablilhment of a national church. A plan of refor¬
mation was accordingly drawn up under his imme¬
diate infpeftion, and the legal eftablilhment of the
church of England was the confequence. Sir Wil¬
liam Cecil’s next important concern, was to reftore
the value of the coin, which had in the preceding
reigns been confiderably debafed. In 1561, he was
appointed mafter of.the wards; and, in 1571, created
baron of Burleigh, as a reward for his fervices, par¬
ticularly in having, lately ftifled a formidable rebellion
in the north. The following year he was honoured -,
with the garter, and railed to the office of Lord High.
Treafurer of.England. From this period we find him;
the primum mobile of every material tranfaclion during
the glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth. Notwith--
Handing the temporary influence of other favourites,
Lord Burleigh was, in faft, her prime minifter, and the
perfon .in whom lire chiefly confided in matters of real
importance. Having filled the higheft and moll im--
portant offices of the ftate for 40 years, and guided
the helm of government during the molt glorious per
riod of Englilh hiftory, he departed this life on. the
4th of Auguft 1598, in the 78th year of his age.
His body was . removed to Stamford, and there depo-
fited in the family vault, where a magnificent tomb
was eredted to his memory.—Notwithilanding his .
long enjoyment of fuch lucrative employments, he left
only an eftate of L. 4000 per annum, ,L. 11,000 in
money, and effedls worth about-L. 14,000., He lived,.
indeed, in a manner fuitable to his highxank.and im¬
portance. He had four places of relidence, viz. his .
lodgings at court, his houfe in the Strand, his feat
at Burleigh-Park near Stamford, and his feat at
Theobalds. The laft of thefe'was his favourite place
of retirement, where he frequently entertained the
queen at a vaft expence.
Lord Burleigh, was doubtlefs a man of lingular abi¬
lities and prudence ; amiable in his private character,
and. one of the moll able, upright, and indefatigable
minifters ever recorded in the annals of this king¬
dom. His principal works are, 1. La Complainte de
I’ame pecherejfe, or the Complaint of a finful Soul, in
French verle, in the king’s library. 2. Materials for
Patten’s Diarium exped. Scolica, London 1541, i2mo.
3'. Slanders and lies malicioufly, grofsly, and impu¬
dently vomited out, in certain traiterous books and
pamphlets, againft two counfellors, Sir Francis Ba¬
con and Sir William Cecil. 4. A fpeech in parlia¬
ment, 1562, Strype’s Mem. vol. iv. p. 107. 5. Pre¬
cepts or directions for the well ordering of a man’s
life, 1637, Hark Cat. vol. ii. p. 755. 6. Meditations
on the death of his lady, BaUard’s Mem. p. 184. 7.
Meditations
Cecilia.
C E C [ 277 1 CEL
Meditations on the itate of England during the reign
of queen Elizabeth, mamifcript. 8. The execution
of juftice in England for the maintenance of public
and Chriftian peace, &c. Lond. 1581, 1583, Somer’s
trails, 4th coileft. vol. i. p. 5. 9. Advice to queen
Elizabeth in matters of religion and ftate, ib p. 101.
16. iq. A great number of letters. See Peck’s
Dejiderata Curiofa, Howard’s colle&ions, &c. 11.
Several pedigrees,, fome of which are preferved in the
archbiihop of Canterbury’s library at Lambeth, n° 299,
747-
CECILIA (St), the patronefs of mufic, has been
honoured as a martyr ever fince the fifth century.
Her ftory as delivered by the notaries of the Roman
church, and from them tranfcribed into the Golden
Legend and other books of the like kind,. fays, that
file was a Roman lady born of noble parents, about
the year .225. That, notwithttanding fhe had been
converted to Chriftianity, her parents married her to
a young pagan nobleman named Valerianus; who go¬
ing to bed to her on the wedding night, as the cujlom
is, fays the book, was given to underftand by his
fpoufe, that die was nightly viflted by an angel, and
at he mull forbear to approach her, otherwife the
angel would cieftroy him. Valerianus, fome what trou¬
bled at thefe Words, defired that he might fee his ri¬
val the angel; but his fpoufe told him that was impof-
fible, unlefs he would confent to be baptized and be¬
come a Chriftian. This he confented to; after which,
returning to his wife, he found her in her clofet at
prayer, and by her fide, in the fhape of a beautiful
young man, the angel clothed with brightnefs. After
fome converfation with the angel, Valerianus told him
that he had a brother named Tiburtius, whom he
greatly wilhed to fee a partaker of the grace which he
hhnfelf had received. The angel told him that his
defire was granted, and that they fhouldhe both crown¬
ed with martyrdom, in a fhort time. Upon this the
angel vanifhed,. and was not long In fhowing himfelf
as good as his- word; Tiburtius was converted, and
both he and his brother Valerianus were beheaded.
Cecilia was offered her life upon condition that fhe
would facrifice to the deities of the Romans; but fhe
refufed :: upon which fhe was thrown into a caldron
of boiling water, and fcalded to death: others fay
that fhe was ftifled in a dry bath, i. e...an inclofure, from
whence the air was excluded, having a flow fire un¬
derneath it; which kind of death was fometimes in-
Sifted by the Romans upon women of quality who
were criminals. Upon the fpot where her boufe flood,
is a church faid to have been built by pope Urban I.
who adminiftered baptifm to her hiifband and his bro¬
ther : it is the church of St Cecilia at Traftevere;
within is a moil curious painting of the faint, as alfo
a ftately monument with a cumbent flatue of her with
her face downwards. There is a tradition of St Ce¬
cilia, that fhe excelled in mufic; aud that the angel
who was thus enamoured of her, was drawn from the
eeleftial regions by the charms of her melody : this has
been deemed authority fufficient for making her the
patronefs of mufic and mufiieians. The legend of St
Cecilia has given frequent occafion to painters and
fculptors to exercife their genius in reprefentations of
her, playing on the organ, and fometimes on the
harp. Raphael has painted her finging with a re>
gal in her hands ; and Domenichino and Mignard, Cecrop*
finging and playing on the harp. il
CECROPS, the founder and firft king of Athens, Ce,^na3>
about the time of Mofes the lawgiver of the He- *
brews. He was the firft who eftablifhed civil govern¬
ment, religious rites, and marriage among the Greeks;
and died after a reign of 50 years. See Attica,,
no 4.
CEDAR, in botany. See Juniperus and PiNus.
The fpecies of cedar famous for its duration, is
that popularly called by us the cedar of Lebanon
(Pinus cedrus),by the ancientscedrus magna,orthe great
cedar alfo ccdrelate, EtJ/>sx«T>i. See the article Pinus.
CEDRENUS (George), a Grecian monk, lived
in the nth age, and wrote “ Annals, or an abridged
Hiftory, from the Beginning of the World to the
Reign of Ifaac Comnenus emperor of Conftantinople,
who fucceeded Michael IV. in 10.57.,. This work is no
more than an extradl. from feveral hiftorians. There
is an edition of it, printed at Paris in 1647, with the
Latin verfion of Xylander, and the notes of father
Goar a Dominican..
* CEDRUS, the cedar-tree, mahogany, &c>
See Juniperus, Pinus, and Swietenia.
CEILING* in architecture, the top or roof of a
lower room ; or a covering of plafter, over laths nail¬
ed on the bottom of the joifts that bear the floor of
the upper room; or where there is no upper room, on
joifts for the purpofe ; hence called ceiling joijls. The
word ceiling anfwers pretty accurately to the Latin lacu"
nan, “ every thing over head.”
Plaftered ceiling, are much ufed in Britain, more
than in any other country: nor are they without their
advantages, as they make the room lightfome ;’ are
good in cafe of fire ; flop the paffage of the dull; lef-
fen the noife over head; and, in fummer, make the
air cooler.
Ceiling, in fea-language, denotes the infide planks
of a (hip.
CEIMELIA, from “ to be laid up,” in anti¬
quity, denotes choice or precious pieces of furni¬
ture or ornaments, referred or laid up for extraordi¬
nary occafions andufes; in which fenfe, facred gar¬
ments, veffels, and the like, are reputed of the cei-
melia of a church. Medals, antique Hones, figures,
manufcripts, records, &c. are the ceimelia of men of
letters.
CEIMELIARCHIUM, the repofitory or place
where ceimelia are preferved.
CEIMELIOPHYLAX, (from and
1 keep), the keep-r or curator of a collection of cei¬
melia; fometimes alfo denominatedThe
ceimeMarcha, or ceimeliophylax, was . an officer in the
ancient churches or monafteries, anfwering to what,
was otherwife denominated chartophylax, and cujlos an-
cbivorutn.
CELiENiE (anc, geog.), the capital of Phrygia
Magna, fituated on a cognominal mountain, at the
common fources of the Maeander and Marfyas. The
king of Perfia had a ftrong palace beneath the citadel,
by the fprings of the Marfyas, which rofe in the mar¬
ket-place, not lefs in fize than the Maeander, and:
flowed through the city. Cyrus the younger had alfo -
a palace there, but by the firings of the Mseander,
which river palled likewife through the city. He
had,..
CEL [ 278 ] CEL
Celandine had, moreover, an extenfivc paradife or park, full of
Celaftrus beafts, which lie hunted on ^diorfeback for exer-
« ^ cife or amufement; and watered by the Maeander,
which ran through the middle. Xerxes was faid to
have built thefe palaces and the citadel after his return
from his expedition into Greece.
Antiochus Soter removed the inhabitants ofCelsenae
into a city, which he named from his mother, Apa-
rnea ; and which became aftenvards a mart inferior
only to Ephefus. See Apamea.
CELANDINE, in botany. See Chelidonium.
CELANO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of
Naples, in Farther Abruzzo. It is feated a mile from
■ the lake Celano, anciently called Fucinus. E. Lon.
13. 39. N. Lat. 41. 56.
CELARENT, among logicians, a mode of fyllo-
gifm, wherein the major and conclufion are univerfal
negative propofitions, and the minor an univerfal af¬
firmative.
„ E, gr. cE None whofe underftanding is limited can
be omnifeient.
1A Every man’s underftanding is limited.
rEnt Therefore no man is oipnifcient.
CELASTRUS, in botany : A genus of the mo-
nogynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
43 d order, Dumofa. The corolla is peutapetalous and
patent; the capfule quinquangular and trilocular ; the
feeds veiled. There are 11 fpecies j two of which are
enured to our climate.
1. The bullatus, an uncertain deciduous fhrub, is
a native of Virginia. It is about four feet in growth,
rifing from, the ground with feveral ftalks, which di¬
vide into many branches, and are covered with a
brownifir bark. The leaves are of a fine green colour,
and grow' alternately on the branches. They are of
an oval figure, and have their edges undivided. The
flowers are produced in July, at the ends of the
branches, in loofe fpikes. They are of a white co¬
lour, and in their native countries are fuceeeded by
very ornamental fcarlet fruit; but w ith us this feldom
happens. It is eafily propagated from feeds fowm, a-
bout an inch deep, in beds of good frefli mould made
fine. They feldom come up until the fecond, and
fometimes not before the third fpring. It is alfo pro¬
pagated by layers ; which work muft be .performed on
the young wmod, in the autumn, by a flit at the joint.
Theft layers may be expedled to flrike root by the
autumn following; when they may be taken up and
planted in the nurfery-ground. This fhrub muft have
a weli-fheltered fituation, otherwife the leaves are apt
to fall off at the approach of frofty weather. And
Millar fays, that, growing naturally iu moift places,
it will not thrive well in a dry foil.
2. The fcandens, or baflard euonymus, with woody,
-twining ftalks, rifing by the help of neighbouring trees
or bailies to the height §f 12 feet. The leaves are ob¬
long, ferrated, of a pleafant green colour, pale, and
veined underneath,andgrow alternately on the branches.
The flowers are produced in finall bunches, from the
fldes of the branches, near the ends. They are of a
greenilh colour, appear in June ; and are fucceeded by
roundith, red, three-cornered capfules, containing
ripe feeds, in the autumn. This fpecies is exceeding
hardy, and makes a beautiful appearance among other
trees in the autumn, by„ their beautiful red berries, Celaftrut,
which much refemble thofe of the Spindle-tree, and Ceifcbes~.
will be produced in vaft profufibn on the tops of other v '
trees, to the height of which fthefe plants by their
twifting. property afpire. They fbould not be planted
near weak or tender trees, to climb on ; for they em¬
brace the ftalks fo clofely as to bring on death to any
but the hardieit trees and fhrubs. It is propagated,
1. By laying down the young (hoots in the fpring.
By the autumn they will have ftruck root, and may
then'be taken off and fet in the places where they are
defigned to remain. 2. By feeds; which fhould be
foon fown after they are ripe, otherwife they will be
twm and fometimes three years before they come up.
When they make their appearance', nothing more need
be done than keeping them clear from weeds all furti-
mer and the winter following ; and in the fpring the
ftrongeft plants may be drawn out, and fet in the nur-
fery for a year, and then removed to the places where
they are defigned to remain ; whiift the w'eakeft, be¬
ing left in the feed-bed one ■ year more,- may undergo
the fame difeipline.
In Senegal the negroes ufe the pow'der of the root
as a fpecific againlt gonorrhoeas, which it is faid to
cure in eight or fometimes in three days. An infu-
fion of the bark of a fpecies of ftaff-tree, which grow'S
in the Me of France, is faid to poffefs the fame vir¬
tues.
CELEBES, an ifland in the Indian fea, -feated
under the equator, and called by fome Macaffar. The
length and breadth has not been accurately computed;
but the circumference, at a medium, is about Boo
miles. It had formerly fix kingdoms, which are re¬
duced to one. The air is hot and moift ; and fubjeft
to great rains during the north-weft winds, w'hich blow
from November to March, at w'hich time the country
is overflowed, and for this reafon they build their
houfes on piles of wood 10 feet high. The moft health¬
ful time is during the northern monfoons, which fel¬
dom fail blowing regularly in one part of the year.
The chief vegetables are rice and cocoas; but they
have ebony,' fanders, &c. Their fruits and flow'ers
are much the fame as in the neighbouring parts of the
Indies.. They have pepper, fugar, betel, areca, the
fineft cotton, and opium. The natives have bright
olive completions, and the women have fhining black
hair. They are thought to be very handftfme by the
Dutch and Chinefe, who often purchafe them for bed¬
fellows. The men are induftiious, robuft, and make
excellent foldiers. Their arms are fabres, and trunks,
from whence they blow poifoned darts, which are
pointed with the tooth of a fea-fifh. Some likewife
ufc poifoned daggers. They were the laft of the In¬
dian nations that w'ere enflaved by the Dutch, w-hich
could not be effected till after a long war. They teach
their children to read and write, and their charafters
have fome refemblance of the Arabic. Their religion
being Mahometan, the men indulge themfelves in many
wives and concubines. The employment of the w-o-.
men is fpinniog, cookery, and making their own and
their hufbands cloaths. The men w'ear jewels in their
ears, and the women gold chains about their necks.
The inhabitants in general go half naked, without any.
thing .011 their head, legs, or feet, and fome have no¬
thing but a cloth about their middle. The ftreets of-
$ ‘ the
CEL [ 279 ]
€t feres, tlie tows Macaffar are fpacious, and planted wi'jh trees of trees,
i every fide. It {lands by the fide of the only large the firft lowing will be fit to tranfplant for blanch-
C E L
The middle of May, fome of the plants of Csle?L
river they have in the ifland. The Dutch have a fort
here, mounted with 40 guns, and garrifoned with 700 The manner of tranfplanting it is as follows : after
There is only one other town of note, called having cleared the ground of weeds, you mult dig a
Jampandam, where they alfo have a fort. The ifland
is not near fo populous as when the Dutch conquered
it; the men being hired for foldiers in moft of the
neighbouring countries.
The religion of thefe iflands was formerly idolatry.
They worfhipped the, fun and moon. They facrificed
to them in the public fquares, having no ^materials
which they thought valuable enough to be employed
in raifing temples. About twro centuries ago, fome
.Chriftians and Mahometans having brought their opi¬
nions to Celebes, the principal king of the country
took a diflike to the national worlhip. Having con¬
vened a general affembly, he afcended an eminence,
when, fpreading out his hands towards heaven, he
told the Deity, that he would acknowledge for truth
that doctrine whofe minifiers fhould firft arrive in his
dominions, and, as the winds and waves were at his
command, the Almighty would have himfelf to blame
if he embraced a falfehood. The affembly broke up,
determined to wait the orders of heaven, and to .obey
the firft .miffionaries that ftrould arrive. The maho-
metans were the moft active, and their religion ac¬
cordingly prevailed,
trench by a line about 1 o_ inches wide, and 8 or 9
inches deep, loofening the earth in the bottom, and
laying it level; and the earth that comes out of the
trench ftiould be equally laid on each fide the trench,
to be ready to draw in again to earth the celeri as it
advances in height. Thefe trenches ftiould be made at
three feet diftance from each other ; then plant your
plants in the middle of the trench, at about four or
five inches diftance, in one ftraight row, having before
trimmed the plants, and cut off the tops of the long
leaves : and as they are planted, you mull obferve to
clofe the earth well to their roots with your feet, and
to water them plentifully until they have taken new
root. As thefe plants advance in height, you muft
obferve to draw the earth on each fide clofe to them,
being careful not to bury their hearts, nor ever to do
it but in dry weather; otherwife the plants will rot.
When your plants have advanced a conliderable height
above the trenches, and all the earth, which, was laid
on the fides thereof, hath been employed in earthing
them up, you muff then make ufe of a fpade to dig
up the earth between the trenches, which muft alfo be
made ufe of for the fame purpofe, continuing from '
CELERES, in Roman antiquity, a regiment of time to time to earth it up until it is fit for ufe. The
body-guards belonging to the Roman kings, eftabliftred
by Romulus, and compofed of 300 young men, cho-
fen out of the moft illuftrious Roman families, and ap¬
proved by the fuffrages of the curiae of the people,
each of which furniflied ten. The name comes from
lail crop Ihould be planted in a drier foil, to prevent
its being rotted with too much wet in the winter.
You will do well to cover your ridges of celeri with
fome peai'e-haulm, or fome fuch light covering,,
when the froil is very hard, which-will admit the air
eekr, “ quick, ready and was given them becaufe of to the plants ; for if they are covered too. clofe, they
r.V,P,r fV,*, IriVn- will be very fubjcdl to rot: by this means you will
preferve your celeri till fpring; but you muft remember
to take off the covering whenever the weather will
permit, otherwife it will be apt to caufe the celeri to
pipe, and run to feed. The celeri, when full blanched,,
will not continue good above three weeks or a month
before it will rot or pipe ; therefore, in order-to con¬
tinue it good, you ftiould have, at leaft, fix or feven
different feafons of planting, proportioned to the con-
fumptibn.
eThe other fort of celeri, which is commonly called
celeriac, is to be managed in the fame manner; ex¬
cepting that this Ihould be planted on the level ground,
or in very {hallow drills : for this plant feldom grows
above eight or ten inches high, fo requires but, little
earthing up ; the great excellency of this being in the
fize of the root, which is often as large as ordinary
turnips.
The heft method to fave tide feed of celeri, is to
make choice of dome long good roots of the upright
celeri, which have not been too much blanched, and
plant them out, at about a foot afunder, in a moift
foil, early iu the fpring; and when they run up to
their promptnefs to obey the king.
The celeres always attended near the king’s perfon,
to guard him, to be ready to carry his orders, and to
execute them. In war, they made the van-guard in
the engagement, which they always began firft; in
retreats,- they made the rear-guard.
Though the celeres were a body of horfe, yet they
ufually difmounted, and fought on foot; their com¬
mander was called tribune, or prefecl_ of the celeres.
They were divided into three troops, of 100 each,
commanded by a captain called centurio : their tribune
was the fecond perfon in the kingdom.
Plutarch fays, Numa broke the celeres; if this be
true, they were foon re-eftabliflied ; for we find them
under moft of the fucceeding- kings : witnefs the
great Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins, and who
was the tribune of the celeres.
CELERI, in botany, the Englifti name of a va¬
riety of the Apium Graveolens.
The feed of celeri ftiould be fown at two or three
different times, the better to continue it for ufe thro’
the whole feafon without running up to feed. The
firft flowing ftiould be in the beginning of March, up¬
on a gentle hot-bed ; the fecond may be at the end of feed, keep them fupported with ftakes, to prevent
the fame month, which ought to be in an open {pot
of light earth, where it may enjoy the benefit of the
fun ; the third time of flowing ftiould be in the latter
end of April, or beginning of May, on a moift foil;
and if expofcd to the morning-fun only, it wall be fo
much the better, but it ftiould not be under the drip
their being broken down with the wind : and in J uly,
when the feed begins to be formed, if the feafon.{hould
prove very dry, it will be proper to give fome water
to the plant, which will greatly help .its producing
good feeds. In Auguft thefe feeds will be ripe, at
which time it {hould be cut up, in a dry time, and
fpread
CEL (
fpread upon cloths in the fun to dry; then beat out
the feeds, and preferve it in bags for ufe.
, Celeri, wild, (slpium anlarclicum), was found in
confiderable quantities by Mr Banks and Dr Solander,
on the coaft of Terra del Fuego. It is like the garden
celeri in the colour and difpofition of the flowers, but
the leaves are of a deeper green. The tafte is between
that of celeri and parfley. It is a very ufeful ingre¬
dient in the foup for feamen, becaufe of its antifcor-
butic quality..
CELERITY, in mechanics, the fwiftnefs of any
‘body in motion. It is alfo defined to be an affedtion
Of motion, by which any moveable body runs through
a given fpace in a given time.
CELESTINS, a religious order fo called from their
founder Peter de Meuron, afterwards railed to the
•pontificate under the name of Celeitin V. This Peter,
who was born at Ifernia, a little town in the kingdom
of Naples, in the year 1215, of but mean parents, re¬
tired, while very young, to a folitary mountain, in
order to dedicate himfelf wholly to prayer and morti¬
fication. The fame of .his piety brought feveral, out
of curiofity, to fee him ; fome of whom, charmed
with his virtues, renounced the world to accompany
him in his folitude. With thefe he formed a kind of
community in the year 1254; which was approved
by Pope Urban IV. in 1264, and erefted into a dif-
tindl order, called the hermits of St Damien. Peter de
Meuron governed this order till 1286, when his love
of folitude and retirement induced him to quit the
charge, in July 1294, the great reputation of his
fanftity raifed him, though much againft his will, to
the pontificate. He then took the name of Celeftin V.
and his order that of Celejlins from him. By his
bull he approved their conftitutions, and confirmed all
their monalleries to the number of 20. But he fat too
fliort time in the chair of St Peter to do many great
things for his order; for having governed the church
five months and a few days, and confidering the great
burden he had taken upon him, to which he thought
himfelf unequal, he folemnly renounced the pontificate
in a confiftory held at Naples.
After his death, which happened in 1296, his order
•made great progrefs not only in Italy, but in France
likewife; whither the then general Peter of Tivoli
fent 12 religious, at the requeil of king Philip the
Fair, who gave them two monafteries ; one in the to-
reft of Orleans, and the other in the foreft of Com-
peigne at mount Chartres. This order likewife paffed
into feveral provinces of Germany. They have about
96 converts in Italy, and 21 in France, under the
title of priories.
The Celeftins rife two hours after midnight, to fay
matins. They eat no fleth at any time, except^ when
they are fick. They faft every Wednefdayand Friday,
from Eafter to the feaft of the exaltation of the holy
crofs; and, from that feaft to Eafter, every day. As
to their habit, it confifts of a white gown, a capuche,
and a black fcapulary. In the choir, and when they
go out of the monaftery, they wear a black cowl
with the capuche : their Hurts are of ferge.
CELETES, or Celet^:, (from * aracc-horfe,)
in antiquity, denote Angle or faddle-horfes ; by way
• of contradiftin&ion from thofe yoked or harneffed to¬
gether, called ligarii, quadrigarii, &c. The fame de-
N° 67.
> ) CEL
nomination is alfo given to the cavaliers or riders on Celeufma
horfeback ; and hence fome deduce -celeres, the name p . J
of Romulus’s guard. _ _ J .,
GELEUSMA, or Celeuma, in antiquity, the
ihout or ay of the feamen, whereby they animated
each other in their work of rowing. The word is
formed from to call, to give thefignal.
Celeusma was alfo a kind of fong or formula, re-
hearfed or played by the mafter, or others, to direct
the ftrokes and movements of the mariners, as well as
to encourage them to labour. See Celeustes.
CELEUSTES, in ancient navigation, the boat-
fwain or officer appointed to give the rowers the fig-
nal, when they were to pull, and when to ftop. He
was alfo denominated epopeus, and by the Romans
portifcuius; fometimes Amply hortator.
CELIBACY, the ftate of unmarried perfons. Sca-
liger derives the word from the Greek “ bed,”
and linquo, “ I leaveothers fay it is formed
from cceli heatitudo ; q. d. the llejfednefs of heaven.
The ancient Romans ufed all means imaginable to
difcourage celibacy. Nothing was more ufual than
for the cenfors to impofe a fine on bachelors. Diony-
fius Halicarnaflenfis mentions an ancient conftitution
whereby all perfons of full age were obliged to marry.
But the firft law of that kind, of which we have any
certainty, is that under Auguitus, called lex Julia de
maritandis ordinibus. It was afterwards denominated
Papia Poppeea, and more ufually Julia Papia, in re¬
gard of fome new fanftion and amendments made to
it under the confuls Papius and Poppaeus. By this
law, divers prerogatives were given to perfons who had
many children ; penalties impofed on thofe who lived
a Angle life, as that they fhould be incapable of re¬
ceiving legacies, and not exceeding a certain pro¬
portion.
CELIBATE, the fame with celibacy; but it is
chiefly ufed in fpeaking of the Angle life of the Popiih
clergy, or the obligation they are under to abftain
from marriage. In this fenfe we fay the law of celibate.
Monks and religious take a vow of celibate ; and what
is more, of chattity.
The church of Rome impofes an univerfal celibacy
on all its clergy, from the pope to the lowed deacon
and fubdeacon. The advocates for this ufage pretend,
that a vow of perpetual celibacy was required in the
ancient church as a condition of ordination, even from
the eatlieft apoftolic ages. But the contrary is evi¬
dent from numerous examples of bifhops and archbi-
Ihops, who lived in a ftate of matrimony, without any
prejudice to their ordination or their function. It is
generally agreed that moft of the apoftles were mar¬
ried. Some fay all of them, except St Paul and St
John. Others fay St Paul himfelf was married, be¬
caufe be writes to yokefellow, whom they inter¬
pret his wife. Be this as it will, in the - next ages
after the apoftles, we have accounts of divers mar¬
ried bifhops, prefbyters, and deacons, without any re¬
proof or mark of difhonour fet on them ; e. g. Valens,
prefbyter of Philippi, mentioned by Polycarp ; and
Chieremon. bilhop of Nilus. Novatus was a mam d
prefbyter of Carthage, as we learn from Cyprian ; who
hi ml elf was alfo a married man, as Pagr confeffes;
and fo was Caecilius the prefbyter who converted him j
and Numidius another prefbyter of Carthage. Tne
4
CEL [ 281 ] CEL
'Celibate
reply which the Romariifts give to this is, that all mar¬
ried perfons, when they came to be ordained, promi-
fed to lived feparate from their wives by confent, which
anfwered the vow of celibacy in other perfons. But
this is not only faid without proof, but againfl it. For
Novatus prefoyter of Carthage, was certainly allowed
to cohabit with his wife after ordination ; as appears
from the charge that Cyprian brings againft him, that
he had ftruck and abufed his wife, and thereby caufed
her to mifcarry. There feems indeed to have been,
in fome cafes, a tendency towards the introdu&ion of
fuch a law, by one or- two zealots; but the motion
was no fooner made, than it was quafhed by_ the au¬
thority of wifer men. Thus Eufebius obferves, that
Pinytus, bifhop of Gnoflus in Crete, was for laying
the law of celibacy upon his brethren ; but Dionyfius
biihop of Corinth wrote to him, that he Ihould conli-
der the weaknefs of men, and not impofe that heavy
burden on them. In the council of Nice, anno,$2^,
the motion was renewed for a law to oblige the cler¬
gy to abftain from all conjugal fociety with their wives,
whom they had married before their ordination : but
Paphnutius, a famous Egyptian bilhop, and one who
himfelf never was married, vigoroufly declaimed a-
gainfl: it, upon which it was unanimoufly reje&ed. So
Socrates and Sodomen tell the llory; to which all
that Valefius, after Bellarmin, has to fay, is, that he
fufpe&s the truth of it. The council in Trullo, held
in'692, made a difference in this refpeft between bi-
fhops and prefbyters ; allowing prefbyters, deacons, and
all the inferior orders, to cohabit with their wives after
ordination ; and giving the Roman church a fmart re¬
buke for the contrary prohibition, but at the fame time
laying an injun&ion upon bifhops to live feparate from
their wives, and appointing the wives to betake them-
felves to a monaftic life, or become deaconeffes in the
church. And thus was a total celibate eftablifhed in
the Greek church, as to bifhops, but not any others.
In the Latin church, the like eftablifhment was alio
made, but by flow fleps in many places. For in Africa,
even bifhops themfelves cohabited with their wives
at the time of the council of Trullo. The celibacy
of the clergy, however, appears of an ancient Hand¬
ing, if not of command and neccffity, yet as of coun-
fel and choice. But as it is clearly neither of divine
nor apoflolical inftitution, it is, at firft, hard to con¬
ceive from what motive the court of Rome perfifted
fo very obftinately to impofe this' inflitution on the
clergy. But we are to obferve that this was a lead¬
ing Hep to the execution of the project .formed of
making the clergy independent of princes, and ren¬
dering them a feparate body to be goverened by their
own laws. In effeft, while priefls had children, it was
very difficult to prevent their dependence on princes,
whofe favours have fuch an influence on private men ;
but having no family, they were more at liberty to ad¬
here to the Pope.
CELIDOGRAPHIA, the defeription of the fpots
which appear on the furfaces of the fun and planets.
.See Astronomy, n° 58, &c.
'CELL, cella, in ancient writers, denotes a place
or apartment ufually under ground, and vaulted, in
which were Hored up fome fort of necefiaries, as wine,
honey, and the like; and according to which it was
Vol. IV. Part I.
called Cella Vmaria, Olearia, Mellarla, &c. The word
• is formed from the Latin celare, to conceal.
Cella was alfo ufed for the lodge or habitation of
a common proHitute, as being anciently under ground,
hence alfo denominated fornix.
Intravit calidum •veteri centone lupanar,
Et cellam vacuum. Juv. Sat. vi. ver. 121.
On which place an ancient fcholiaH remarks, that the
names of the whores were written on the doors of their
feveral cells; by which we learn the meaning of is-
feripta cella in Martial, lib. xi. ep. 46.
Cella was alfo applied to the bed-chambers of do-
meHics and fervants ; probably as being low and nar¬
row.—Cicero, inveighing againH the luxury ofAntony,
fays, the beds in the very cell® of his fervants were fpread
with pompous purple coverlets.
Cella is alfo applied to the members or apartments
of baths. Of thefe there were three principal, called frigh-
daria, tepidaria, and caldaria; to which may be added
a fourth, called cella a/)a, and fometimes fudatoria.
Cella like wife figmfied the adyta,, ox inmoH and
moH retired parts of temples, wherein the images of
the gods to whom the edifices were confecrated were
preferred. In this fenfe we meet withcAz jfovis, cella
Concordia, &c.
Cell is alfo ufed for a lefler or fubordinate fort of
miniHer dependent on a great one, by which it was
eredted, and continues Hill to be governed. The great
abbeys in England had moH of'them cells in places
diHant from the mother abbey, to which they were ac¬
countable, and from which they received their fupe-
riors. The alien priories in England were cells to
abbeys in Normandy, France, Italy, £sV. The name re#
was alfo given to rich and confiderable monaHeries not
dependent on any other.
Cell fignifies alfo a little.apartment or chamber,
fuch as thole wherein the ancient monks, folitaries, and
hermits, lived in retirement. Some derive the word
from the Hebrew n'xs, i, e. “ a prifon, or place where
any thing is Hurt up.”
The fame name is Hill retained in divers monafleries.
The dormitory is frequently divided into fo many ceils
or lo ges. The Carthuflans have each a feparate houfe,
which ferves them as a cell. The hall wherein the
Roman conclave is held, is divided, by partitions, into
divers cells, for the feveral cardinals to lodge in.
Cell is alfo a name given to the little divifions in
honey-combs, which are always regular hexagons. See
Bee.
Cell, in botany, is applied to the hollow places be¬
tween the partitions in the pods, hulks, and other feed-
veflels of plants ; according as there is one, two, three,
&c. of thefe cells, the veffei is faid to be unilocular, bi¬
locular, trilocular, &-c.
Cells, in anatomy, little bags, or bladders, where
fluids or other matters are lodged ; called loculi, cellula,
&c. Thus the eellula adipofa are the little cells where
the fat is contained; cellula in the colon, are fpaces
wherein the excrements are detained till voided,
&c.
CELLAR (Cellarium), in ancient writers, denotes
the fame with cella, viz. a confervatory of eatables, or
drinkables.
Cella
II
Cellar.
Nn
Cellar
CEL [ 282 ! CEL
Cellar differs from vault, as the latter is fuppofed to
be deeper, the former being frequently little below the
furface of the ground. In which fenfe, cellanum only
differed from perns, as the former was only a ttore -houfe
for feveral days, the latter for a long time. Thus it
is, the baftroperata:, a fort of ancient Cynics, are faid
by St Jerome to carry cellar about with them.
Cellarium alfo denoted an allowance of bread, wine,
oil, or other provilion, furnifhed out of the cella, to
the ufe of the governor of the province and his officers,
&c. In which fenfe, the word amounts to much the
fame with annona.
Cellars, in modern building, are the loweft rooms
in a houfe, the ceilings of which ufually lie level with
the furface of the ground on which the houfe is built; or
they are fituated under the pavement before the houfe,
efpecially in ftreets and fquares.
Cellars, and other places vaulted under ground, were
called by the Greeks bypogaa; the Italians ftill call
them fundi delle cafe.
CELLARER, or Cellerer,^Cellerarias or Cella-
riusJ, an officer in monafteries, to whom belong the
care and procurement of provifions for the convent.
The denomination is faid to be borrowed from the Ro¬
man law, where cellarius denotes an examiner of ac¬
counts and*expences. Ulpian defines it thus : ‘ Cel-
lerarius, id eff, ideo praspofitus ut rationes falvse fint.”
The cellerarius was one of the four obedientiarii, or
great officers of monafteries : under his ordering was
the pijlrinum or bakehoufe, and the bracinum, or brew-
houfe. In the richer houfes there were particular
lands fet apart for the maintenance of his office, called
in ancient writings ad cibum monachorum. The celle¬
rarius was a great man in the convent. His whole
office in ancient times had a refpeft to that origin:
he was to fee his lord’s corn got in, and laid up in
granaries; and his appointment confifted in a certain
proportion thereof, ufually fixed at a thirteenth part
of the whole together with a furred gown. The
office of cellarer then only differed in name from thofe
of bailiff and minftrel; excepting that the cellarer had
the receipt of his lord’s rents through the whole extent
of his jurifdi&ion.
Cellarer was alfo an officer in chapters, to whom
belonged the care of the temporals, and particularly
the diftributing of bread, wine, and money to canons,
on account of their attendance in the choir. In fome
places he was called cellarer, in others burfer, and in
others currier.
CELLARIUS (Chriftopher), was born in 1638,
at Smalcade in Franconia, of which town his father was
minifter. He was fucceffively reftor of the colleges
at Weymar, Zeits, and Merfbourg ^ and the king of
Pruffia having founded an univerfity at Hall in 1693,
he was prevailed on to be profeffor of eloquence and
hiftory there, where he compofed'the greateft part of
his works. His great application to ftudy haftened the
infirmities of old age ; for it is faid, he would fpend
whole days and nights together at his books, without
any attention to his health, or even the calls of nature.
His works relate to grammar, geography, hiftory, and
the oriental languages, and the number of them is
amazing. He died in 1707.
CELLINI (Benvenuto), an eminent ftatuary, who
was bred a jeweller and goldfmith, but feems to have Cellular
had an extraordinary genius for the fine arts in gene- ji
ral He was cotemporary with Michael Angelo, and Ce^us'
Julio Romano, and was employed by popes, kings,
and other princely patrons of fciences and arts, fo
highly cultivated in the days of Leo X. and Charles V.
fome of his productions being efteemed moft exqui-
fite. He lived to a very, confiderable old age; and
his life, almoft to the Lift, was a continued Icene of
adventure, perfecution, and misfortune, truly won¬
derful. He wrote his own hiftory, which was not,
however, publifhed till the year 1730, probably on ac¬
count of the exceffive freedom with which he therein
treated many diftinguiftied perfonages of Italy and other
countries. It was tranjlated into Englifh by Dr Nu¬
gent in 1771, to which the reader is referred, as it
will not admit of an abridgement fuitable to the defign
of this work.
CELLULAR, in a general fenfe, is applied to any
thing conlifting of fingle cells.
Cellular Membrane. See Anatomy, n°83 etfeq.
CELOSIA, cocks-comb: A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants;
and in the natural method ranking under the 54th or¬
der, Mifcellanea. The calyx is triphyllous; the corolla
is five-petalled in appearance; the ftamina are conjoined
at the bafe to the plaited neftarium; the capfule gaping
horizontally. There are eight fpecies, of which the
moft worthy of notice is the crifiata, or common cocks¬
comb, fo called on account of its crefted head of flowers,
refembling a cock’s comb ; of thefe there are a great
variety of fpecies. The principal colours of their
flowers are red, purple, yellow, and white ; but there
are fome whofe heads are variegated with two or three
colours. The heads are fometimes -divided like a plume
of feathers, and are of a beautiful fcarlet colour. Thefe
plants are very tender exotics, and require a great deal
of care to cultivate them in this country. Three hot¬
beds muft be prepared; a fmall one in March, on
which to raife the plants an inch or two in height;
a fecond in April, of larger dimenfions, in which to
tranfplant them when proper; and a third in May for
a large frame, to receive them tranfplanted into pots,,
to remain till the end of June or beginning of July to
grow to full fize : all of which hot-beds muft be cover¬
ed with frames and glaffes, and have five or fix inches
depth of fine rich light earth for the reception of the
feed and plants; and in the fecond and third, hot-bed,
the frames muft occafionally be raifed or augmented,
according as the plants ffiall rife in height.
CEL SI A, in botany: A genus of the angiofpermia
order, belonging to the tridynamia. clafs of plants; and
in the natural method ranking under the 28th order,.
Lurida. The calyx is quinquepartite: the corolla
wheel-ffiaped; the filaments bearded or woolly; the
capfule bilocular.
CELSUS (Aurelius Cornelius), a celebrated phyfi-
cian of the firft • century, w'hp wrote eight books on
medicine, in elegant Latin. He was the Hippocra¬
tes of the Latins, and Quintilian gives him a high eu-
logium. The great Boerhaave tells us, that Celfus is
one of the beft authors of antiquity for letting us into
the true meaning and opinions of Hippocrates; and
that, without him, the writings of this father in phy¬
tic
CEL
Celfus, fo would be often unintelligible, often mlfunderftood
by us. He (bows us alfo how the ancients cured dif-
""" tempers by fri&ion, bathing, &,c. His eight books
de Medicina have been feveral times printed. The El-
zivir edition* in the year 1650, by Vander Linden, is
the bell, as being entirely corrected from his manu-
fcripts.
Celsus, an Epicurean philofopher, in the fecond
century. He wrote a work againll the Chriftians, en¬
titled, The true Difcourfe; to which Origen, at the de¬
lire of Ambrofe his friend, wrote a learned anfwer. To
this philofopher Lucian dedicated his Pfeudomanies.
CELT^E, or Celtes, an ancient nation, by which
moll of the countries of Europe are thought to have
been peopled. The compilers of the Univerfal Hi-
ftory are of opinion, that they are defcended from
Gomer the eldelt fon of Japhet, the fon of Noah.
They think that Gomer fettled in the province of
Phrygia in Afia : Adikenaz his eldeft fon, or Togar-
tnah his youngeft, or both, in Armenia, and Riphath
the fecond fon in Cappadocia. When they fpread
themfelves wider, they feem to have moved regularly
in columns without interfering with or dilturbing
their neighbours. The defcendants of Gomer, or the
Celts, took the left hand, infenfibly fpreading them¬
felves weftward towards Poland, Hungary, Germany,
France, and Spain ; while the defcendants of Magog,
Gomer’s brother, moving ealhvard, peopled Tartary.
In this large European trail, the Celtes began to
appear a powerful nation under a regular monarchy,
or rather under feveral confiderable kingdoms. Men¬
tion is made of them indeed in fo many parts of Eu¬
rope, by ancient geographers and hiftorians, that Or-
telius took Celtica to be a general name for the con¬
tinent of Europe, and made a map of it bearing this
title. In thofe parts of Afia, which they poffefled, as
well as in the different parts of Europe, the Celtes
went by various names. In Leffer Afia they were
known by the names of Titans and Sacks ; in the nor¬
thern parts of Europe, by thofe of Cymmerians, Cym-
hrians, &c. ; and in the fouthern parts they were called
Celtes, Gauls, or Galatians.
With refpeit to the government of the Celtes we
are entirely in the dark. All we know is, that the
«uretes, and afterwards druids and bards, were the
interpreters of their laws; judged all caufes whether
criminal or civil; and their fentence was reckoned fo
facred, that whoever refufed to abide by it was by
them excluded from afiifting at their facred rites ; af¬
ter which no man dared converfe with him ; fo that
this punifiiment was reckoned the moll fevere of all,
even feverer than death itfelf.
They neither reared temples nor ftatues to the dei¬
ty, but deftroyed them wherever they could find them,
planting in their ftead large fpacious groves; which
being open on the top and fides, were, in their opi¬
nion, more acceptable to the divine Being, who is ab-
folutely unconfined. In this their religion feems to
have refembled that of the Perfees and difciples of
Zoroafter, The Celtes only differed from them in
making the oak inftead of the fire the emblem of the
deity; in choofing that tree above all others to plant
their groves with, and attributing feveral fupernatural
virtues both to its wood, leaves, fruit, and mifsletoe ;
all which were made ufe of in their facrifices and
CEL
other parts of their worlhip. But after they had adopt- Ctlts,
ed the idolatrous fuperllition of the Romans and other Celtes‘
nations, and the apotheofis of their heroes and prin- ~ •r~‘
ces, they came to worftiip them much in the fame
manner: as Jupiter under the name of Taran, which
in the Celtic fignifies thunder: Mercury, whom fome
authors call Heus or Hefus, probably from the Celtic
huadh, which fignifies a dog, and might be the Anubis
latrans of the Egyptians. But Mars was held in the
greatefl veneration by the warlike, and Mercury by
the trading part of the nation. The care of religion
was immediately under their curetes, fince known by
the name of druids and bards. Thefe were, as Cse-
far tells us, the performers of facrifices and all reli¬
gious rites, and expounders of religion to the people.
They alfo inltructed youth in all kinds of learning,
fuch as philofophy, allronoray, ailrology, &c. Their
doftrines were taught only by word of mouth, elite ru¬
ing them too facred to be committed to writing.
Other more common fubje&s, fuch as their hymns to
their gods, the exploits of princes and generals in time
of war, and efpecially before a battle, were couched
in elegant verfe, and recited, or rather fung, on all
proper occafions ; though even thefe were alfo kept
from vulgar eyes, and either committed to memory,
or if to writing, the whole was a fecret to all the
laity. The latter indeed feems the moll probable, if
what Cazfar hints be true; namely, that thefe poetic
records were increafed in his time to fuch a bulk, that
it took up a young bard near 20 years to learn them
by heart. Diodorus tells us farther, that thefe poets
ufed to accompany their fongs with inllrumental mufic,
fuch as that of organs, harps, and the like ; and that
they were held in fuch veneration, that if, in the time
of an engagement between two armies, one of thefe
bards appeared, both fides immediately ceafed fighting.
The reafon of this was, that they were univerfally be¬
lieved to be prophets as well as poets ; fo that it was
thought dangerous as well as injurious to difobey what
they fuppofed came from their gods. Thefe prophe¬
tic philofophers kept academies, which were reforted
to not only by a great number of their own youth,
but alfo of thofe from other countries, infomuch that
Arillotle fays, their philofophy palled from thence in¬
to Greece, and not from Greece thither. Diodorus
likewife quotes a paffage from Hecateus, which is
greatly in their praife ; viz. that the druids had fome
kind of inllruments by which they could draw diltant
objects nearer, and make them appear larger and
plainer ; and by which they could difeover even feas,
mountains, and valleys, in the moon. But whatever
might be'their learning, it is certain, that in procefs
of time they adopted feveral very barbarous cuftoms,
fuch as facrificing human victims to their gods as more
acceptable to them than thofe of any other animals.
And Diodorus tells us of another inhuman cultom they
ufed in their divinations, efpecially in great matters,
which was done by killing fome of their (laves, or
fome prifoners of war, if any they had, with a feime-
tar, to draw their augury from the running of his
blood from his mangled limbs.
For the hillory, &c. of the different Celtic nations
fee the article Gaul, &c.
Celtes, certain ancient inllruments of a wedge¬
like form, of which feveial have been difeovered in
N JJ 2 different
C 283 ]
CEL [2
Celtibena, different parts of Great Britain. Antiquarians have
, Ce^tis- generally attributed them to the Celts; ; but, not a-
reeing as to their ufe, diftinguifhed them by the a-
ove unmeaning appellation. But Mr Whittaker makes
it probable that they were Britiih battle-axes. See
BAT'rLF.-Ax.
CELTIBERIA (anc. geog.), a county of the Hi¬
ther Spain, along the right or fouth-weft fide of the
river Iberus; though fometimes the greateft part of
Spain Was called by the name of Celt Iberia. The peo¬
ple were denominated Celtiberi, or the Celts feated on
the Iberus. They were very brave and warlike, their
cavalry in particular was excellent. They wore a
black and rough cloak, the fhag of which was like
goats hair. Some of them had light bucklers like the
Gauls; other hollow and round ones like thofe of o-
ther nations. They all wore boots made of hair, and
iron helmets adorned with crefts of a purple colour.
They ufed fwords which cut on both lides, and poi-
aards of a foot long. Their arms were of an admi¬
rable temper, and are faid to have been prepared in
the following manner : they buried plates of iron un¬
der ground, where they let them remain till the ruft
had eaten the weakeft part of the metal, and the reft
was confequently hard and firm. Gf this excellent iron
they made their fwords, which were fo ftrong and
well tempered, that there was neither buckler nor
helmet that could refift their edge. The Celtiberians
were very cruel towards their enemies and malefac¬
tors, but fhowed the greateft humanity to their guefts.
They not only cheerfully granted their hofpitality to
ftrangers who travelled in their country, but were
defirous that they fhould feek protection under their
roof.
CELTIS, in botany: A genus of the moncecia
order, belonging to the polygamia clafs of plants; and
in the natural method ranking under the 53d order,
Scabr'ule. It is an hermaphrodite plant: The female
calyx is quinquepartite ; there is no corolla ; there are
five ftamina, and two ftyles. The fruit is a monofper-
mous plum. In the male, there is no calyx : the co¬
rolla is hexapetalous ; there are fix ftamina, and an
embryo of a piftillum. There are three fpecies, all of
them deciduous, viz.
1. The Auftralis or Southern Celtis, a deciduous tree,
native of Africa and the South of Europe. 2. The
Occidentalis or Weftern Celtis, a native of Virginia.
And 3. The Orientalis or Eaftern Celtis, a native of
Armenia. The two firft fpecies grow with large, fair,
ftraight Items; their branches are numerous and dif-
fufe ; their bark is of a darkifh grey colour ; their
leaves are of a pleafant green ; three or four inches
long, deeply ferrated, end in a narrow point, nearly
refemble the leaves of the common ftinging-nettle,
and continue on the trees till late in the autumn : So
that one may eafily conceive what an agreeable variety
thefe trees would make. -Add to this, their fhade is
admirable. The leaves are late in the fpring before
they fhow themfelves ; but they make amends for this,
.by retaining their verdure till near the clofe of autumn,
and then do npt refemble moft deciduous trees, whofe
leaves fhow their approaching fall by the change of
their colour ; but continue to exhibit themfelves of a
pleafant green even to the laft. Hanbury fpeaks high¬
ly of the celtis as a timber-tree : he fays, “ The wood
84 ] CEL
of the Lote-tree is extremely durable. In Italy they Celtis,
make their flutes, pipes, and other wind-inftruments
of it. With us the coachi-makers ufe it for the frames
of their vehicles.” Millar mentions alfo the wood of
the Occidentalis being ufed by the coach-makers. The
third fpecies will grow to about twelve feet; and the
branches are numerous, fmooth, and of a greenifh co¬
lour. The leaves are fmaller than thofe of the other
forts, though they are of a thicker texture, and of a
lighter green. The flowers come out from the wings
of the leaves, on {lender footftalks : They are yeliow-
ifh, appear early in the fpring, and. are fucceeded by
large yellow fruit.
Propagation, &c. All the fpecies are propagated
from feeds, which ripen in England, if they have a fa¬
vourable autumn ; but the foreign feeds art the molt
certain of producing a crop. Thefe feeds fhould be
fown, foon after they are ripe, either in boxes, or in a
fine warm border of rich earth, a quarter of an inch
deep ; and in the followings fpring many of the young
plants will appear; though a great part often lie till
the fecond fpring before they fhow their heads. If
the feeds in the beds fhoot early in the fpring, they
fhould be hooped, and protected by mats from the
frofts, which would nip them in the bud. When all
danger from frofts is over, the mats fhould be laid a-
fide till the parching beams of the fun get powerful;
when, in the day-time, they may be laid over the hoops
again, to fereen the plants from injury. The mats
fhould be conftantly taken off every night, and the
young plants fhould never be covered either in rainy,
or cloudy weather. During the whole fummer, thefe
fcedlmgs fhould be frequently watered in dry weather,
and the beds kept clean of weeds, &c. In the autumn,
they muft be protected from the frofts, which often
come early in that feafon, and would not fail to de-
ftroy their tops. The like care fhould be continued
all winter to defend them from the fame enemies. In
this feminary they may remain, being kept clean of
weeds and watered in dry weather, till the end of
June, when they fhould be taken out of their beds,,
and planted in others at fix inches diftance. And here
let no one (continues Hanbury) be ftartled at my re¬
commending the month of June for this work ; for I
have found by repeated experience, that the plants
will be then almoft certain of growing, and will con •
tinue their fhoots till the autumn ; whereas I have e-
ver perceived, that many of thofe planted in March
have frequently perifhed, and that thofe which did
grow made hardly any fhoot that year, and fhowed the
early figure of a ftunted tree. In June, therefore, let
the ground be well dug, and prepared for this work ;
and let the mould be rich and good: But the opera¬
tion of removing muft be deferred till rain comes; and
if the feafon fhould be dry, this work may be poftpon-
ed till the middle of July. After a fhower, therefore,,
or a night’s rain,, let the plants be taken out of their>
beds, and pricked out at fix inches diftance from each
other. After this, the beds in which they are planted
fhould be hooped, and covered with mats when the fun
fhines; but thefe muft always he taken away at night,
as well as in rainy or cloudy weather. With this ma¬
nagement, they will have fhot to a good height by the
autumn, and have acquired fo much hardinefs and
ftrength as to need no farther care than to be kept
dear
C E M
Cement, clear of weeds for two or three years ; when they may
"■“■v  be planted out in places where they are to remain, or
fet in the nurfery, to be trained up for large ftandards.
The beil feafon for planting out thefe ftandard trees
is the latter end of Odlober, or beginning of Novem-
. ber; and in performing that operation, the ufual rules
mull be obferved with care. The foil for the lote-tree
fhould be light, and in good heart; and the fituation
ought to be well defended, the young (hoots being very
liable to be deftroyed by the winter’s frofts.
CEMENT, in a general fenfe, any glutinous fub-
ftance capable of uniting and keeping things together
in clofe cohefion. In this fenfe the word cement com¬
prehends mortar, folder, glue, but has been gene¬
rally reltrained to the compofxtions ufed for holding
• together broken glaffes, china, and earthen ware. For
this purpofe'the juice of garlic is recommended as ex¬
ceedingly proper, being both very ftrong, and, if the
operation is performed with care, leaving little or no
mark. Quicklime and the white of an egg mixed
together, and expeditioufly ufed, are alfo very proper
for this purpofe. Dr Lewis recommends a mixture
of quicklime and cheefe, in the following manner ;
“ Sweet cheefe fhaved thin and ftirred with boiling
hot water, changes into a tenacious dime which does
not mingle with the water. Worked with frefh par¬
cels of hot water, and then mixed upon a hot ftone
with a proper quantity of unllaked lime, into the con-
fiftence of a pafte, it proves a ftrong and durable ce¬
ment for wood,.ftone, earthen-ware, and glafs. When
thoroughly dry, which will be in two or three days, it
is not in the leaft afted upon by water. Cheefe barely
beat with quicklime, as directed by fome of the che-
mifts for luting cracked glaffes, is not near fo effica¬
cious.” A compofition of the drying oil of linfeed
and white-lead is alfo ufed for the fame purpofes, but
is greatly inferioh
Cement in building, is ufed to denote any kind of
mortar of a ftronger kind' than ordinary. The cement
commonly ufed is of two kinds; hot, and cold. The
hot cement is made of rofin, bees wax, brick-duft, and
chalk, boiled together. The bricks to be cemented
are heated, and rubbed one upon another, with cement
between them. The cold cement is that above de-
fcribed for cementing china, 13c. which is fometimes,
though rarely, employed in building.
The ruins of the ancient Roman buildings are found
to cohere fo ftrongly, that moft people have imagined
the ancients were acquainted with fome kind of mor¬
tar, which, in comparifou of ours, might juftly be call¬
ed cement ; and that to our want of knowledge of the
materials they ufed, is owing the great inferiority of
modern buildings, in their durability. In 1770, one
M. Loriot, a Frenchman, pretended to have difcover-
ed the fecret of the ancient cement, which, according
to him,, was no more than a mixture of powdered quick¬
lime with lime which had been long flaked and kept
under water. The flaked lime- was firft to be made
up with fand, earth, brick-duft, &c. into mortar after
the common method, and then about a third part of
quick-lime in powder was added to the mixture. This
produced an almoft inftantaneous petrification, fome-
thing like what is called the Jetting of alabafter, but in.a
much ftronger degree; and was poffeffed of many won¬
derful qualities needlefs here to relate, feeing it has never
C E M
been known to fucceed with any other perfon who tried
it. Mr Anderfon, in his effays on agriculture, has
difcuffed this fubjedt at confiderable length, and feem-
ingly with great judgment. He is the only perfon
we know, who has given any x-ational theory of the
ufes of lime in building, and' why it comes to be the
proper balls of all cements. His account is in fub-
ftance as follows:
Lime which has been flaked and mixed with fand,
becomes hard and confiftent when dry, by a procefs-
fimilar to that which produces the natural Jlalaltites-
in caverns. Thefe are always formed by water drop¬
ping from the roof. By fome unknown and inexpli¬
cable procefs of nature, this water has diffolved in it a
fmall portion of calcareous matter in a caujiic ftate.
As long as the water continues covered from the air,
it keeps the earth diffolved in it; it being the natural
px-operty of calcareous earths, when deprived of their,
fixed air, to diffolve in water. But when the fmall
drop of water comes to be expofed to the air, the cal¬
careous matter contained in it begins to attract the
fixable part of the atmofphere. In proportion as it
does fo, it alfo begins to feparate from the water, and
to reaflume its native form of limeftone or marble.
This procefs Mr Anderfon calls a cryjiallization ; and
when the calcareous matter is perfectly cryjlall'vzed in
this manner, he affirms that it is to all intents and
purpofes limeftone or marble of the fame confifteace as
before; and “ in this manner (fays he), within the
memory of man, have huge rocks of marble been form¬
ed near Matlock in Derbyfhire.” If lime in a cauftic
ftate is mixed with water, part of the lime will be dif¬
folved, and will alfb begin to cryftallize. The water
which parted with the cryftallized lime, will then be¬
gin to act upon the remainder, which it could not dif-
lolve before ; and thus theproceft will continue, either
till the lime be all reduced to an ejfete, or (as he calls
it) cryjlailine ftate,. or fomething hinders the aftion o£
the water upon it. It is this cryftallization which is
obferved by .the workmen when a heap of lime is mix¬
ed with water, and left for fome time to macerate. A
hard cruft is formed upon, the furface, which is igno¬
rantly called frojling, though it takes place in fummer
as well as in. winter. If therefore the hardnefs of the
lime, or its becoming a cement, depends entirely on
the formation of its cryftals,. it is evident, that the per-
fedlion of the cement mult depend on the perfection
of the cryftals, and the hardnefs. of the matters which.
are entangled among them. The.additional fubftances
ufed in making of mortar,, fuch as fand, brick-duft, or
the like, according to Mr Andexfon,. ferve only for a
purpofe fimilar to what is anfwered by fticks put into
a veffel full of anyfaline folution, namely, to afford the
cryftals an opportunity of faftening themfelves upon it.
If therefore the matter intex-pofed between the cryftals
of the lime is of a triable, brittle natux-e, fuch as brick
dull or chalk, the mortar will be of a weak and imper¬
fect kind ; but when the particles are hard, angular,.
and ve'ry difficult to be broken, fuch as thofe of river
or pit-fand,. the mortar turns' out exceedingly good
and ftrong.., Sea-fand is found to be an improper ma¬
terial for mortar, which Mr Anderfon afcribes to its
being lefs angular than the other kinds. That the
cryftaflization may be the more perfect, he alfo recom¬
mends a large quantity of water, that the ingredients
be.
[ 285 ]
C E M
[ 286 T
C E N
Cement:. perfeiTtly mixed together, and that the drying be as ceives fo much of the pitch as will ftick round it; then Cement
flow as pollible. An attention to thefe circumftances, ftrewing fome finely powdered amber over the pitch ((
he thinks, would make the buildings of the moderns when growing cold, adding a mixture of three pounds Cenfer-,
equally duiable with thofe of the ancients; and from of hnfeed oil, and one of oil of turpentine, covering
what remains of the ancient Roman works, he thinks the veffel and boiling them for an hour over a gentle,
a very ftrong proof of his hypothelis might be adduced, fire, and grinding the mixture as it is wanted with as
The great thicknefs of their walls neceffarily required much pumice-ftone in fine powder as will reduce it to
'aft length of time to dry. The middle of them the confidence 'of paint. The filh being wiped dry.
was compofed of pebbles thrown in at random, and
which have evidently had mortar fo thin as to be pour¬
ed in among them. By this means, a great quantity water again, without any danger of the gold coming
the mixture is fpread upon it; and the gold leaf being
then laid on, the filh may be immediately put into
of the lime would be diflblved, and the cryftallization
performed in the moft perfect manner ; and the inde¬
fatigable pains and perfeverance for which the Romans mentation of metals.
off, for the matter quickly grows hard in the water.
CEMENT-Potif are thofe earthen pots ufed in the ce-
were fo remarkable in all their undertakings, leave no
room to doubt that they would take care to have the
ingredients mixed together as well as poffible. The
eonfequence of all this is, that the buildings formed in
this manner are all as firm as if cut out of a folid rock;
the mortar being equally hard, if not more fo, than
the ftones themfelves.
CEMENTATION, the adl of corroding or other-
wife changing a metal by means of a Cement.
CEMETERY ( Kai^mpiov, from Kot^u to “Jlcep
a place fet apart or confecrated for the burial of the
dead.
Anciently none were buriecLin churches or church¬
yards : it was even unlawful to inter in cities, and the
Notwithftanding the bad fuccefs of thofe who. have cemeteries were without the walls. Among the pri-
,   . 1  ^ HT T  • 1 ' _ /->i    r 11 • 0 V
attempted -to repeat M. Loriot’s experiments, how¬
ever, Dr Black informs us, that a cement of this kind
is certainly pratticable. It is done, he fays, by pow¬
dering the lime while hot from the kiln, and throwing
it into a thin pafte of fand and water; which, not
mitive Chriftians thefe were held in great veneration.
It even appears from Eufebius and Tertullian, that, in
the early ages, they affembled for divine worihip in the
cemeteries. Valerian feems to have coniifcated the ce¬
meteries and other places of divine worfliip, but they
king immediately, abforbs the water from the mortar were reftored again by Gallienus. As the martyrs
by degrees, and forms a very hard mafs. “ It is plain ~1— ' r ’
(he adds) that the ftrength of this mortar depends on
ufing the lime hot or freih from the kiln.”
By mixing together gypfum and quick-lime, and
then adding water, we may form a cement of tolerable
hardnefs, and which apparently might be ufed to ad¬
vantage in making troughs for holding water, or lining
fmall canals for it to run in. Mr Wiegleb fays, that
a good mortar or cement, which will not crack, may be
obtained by mixing three parts of a thin magma of
flaked lime with one of powdered gypfum; but adds.
were buried in thefe places, the Chriftians chofe them
for building churches on, when Conftantine eftablifhed
their religion ; and hence fome derive the rule which
ftill obtains in the church of Rome, never to confecrate
an altar without putting under it the relics of fome
faint. The practice of confecrating cemeceries is of
fome antiquity. The biftiop walked round it in pro-
ceffion, with the crozier or paftoral ftaff in his hand,
the holy water-pot being carried before, out of which
the afperfions were made.
CENCHRUS, in botany: A genus of the moncecia
that it is ufed only in a dry fituation. A mixture of order, belonging to the polygamia clafs of plants ; and
^ 1: - -- n , J in the natural method ranking under the 4th order,
Gramina. The involucrum is laciniated, and echina-
ted, or befet with fmall prickles, and biflorous. The
calyx is a biflorous glume, with one floret-male, and the
other hermaphrodite. The hermaprodite corolla is a
pointlefs glume ; there are three ftamina ; one feed :
the male corolla a pointlefs glume; with three ftamina.
CENEGILD, in the Saxon Antiquities, an expia¬
tory mulft, paid by one who had killed a man, to the
kindred of the deceafed. The word is compounded
of the Saxon cinne, i. e. cognatio, “ relation”, ’ ’*
tarras with flaked lime acquires in time a ttoney hard¬
nefs, and may be ufed for preventing water from en¬
tering. See Mortar and Stucco.
Cement, among engravers, jewellers, &c. is the
« See the fame with the hot cement ufed in building * ; and is
foregoing- ufed for keeping the metals to be engraven firm to the
article. block, andalfo for filling up what is to be chiffeled.
Cement, in cher*ftry, is ufed to fignify all thofe
powders and paftes with which any body is fur-
rounded in pots or crucibles, and which are capable by
the help of fire of producing changes upon that body.
They are made of various materials ; and are ufed for folutio, “ payment’
different purpofes, as for parting gold from filver, con- CENOBITE. See Coenobite.
verting iron into fteel, copper into brafs: and by ce¬
mentation more confiderable changes can be effected
CENOTAPH, in antiquity, an empty tomb, ereft-
ed by way of honour to the deceafed. It is diftinguifti-
r r : u:_i. - _ a- , .
upon bodies, than by applying to them liquids of any ed from a fepulchre, in which a coffin was depolited.
kind; because the active matters are then
of vapour, and affifted by
heat.
Cement which quickly hardens in Water. This is de-
feribed in the pofthumous works of Mr Hooke, and
is recommended for gilding live craw-fiffi, carps, £sr.
a ftate Of thefe there were two forts ; one for thole who
very confiderable degree of had, and another for thofe who had not, been honour¬
ed with funeral rites in another place.
The fign whereby honorary lepulchres were diftin-
guiflied from others, was commonly the wreck of a
ihip, to denote the deceafe of the perfon in fome -fo-
■without injuring the fiih. The cement for this pur- reign country,
pofe is prepared, by putting fome Burgundy pitch in- CENSER, in antiquity, a vafe containing incenfe
to a new earthen pot, and warming the veffel till it re- to be ufed in facrifices. Cenfer is chiefly ufed m fpeak-
1 »ng
GEN [ 2
ing of the Jewiili worfhip. Among the Greeks and
Romans it is more frequently called thuribulum,
■nr, and acerra.
The Jewifh cenfer was a fmall fort of chafing-difh,
covered with a dome, and fyfpended by a chain. Jo-
fephus tells us, that Solomon made twenty thoufand
gold cenfers for the temple of Jerufalem, to offer per¬
fumes in, and fifty thoufand others to carry fire in.
CENSIO, in antiquity, the act or office of the cen-
for. See Census.
Cenfio included both the rating or valuing a man’s
eftate, and the imp'ofing mulcts and penalties.
Crnsjo hajlaria, a punifhment inflicted on a Roman
foldier for fome offence, as lazinefs or luxury, where¬
by his hqjla or fpear was taken from him, and confe-
quently his wages and hopes of preferment flopped.
CENSITUS, a perfon cenfed, or entered in the
eenfual tables. See Census.
In an ancient monurrftnt found at Ancyra, con¬
taining the actions of the emperor Oflavins, we read,
Quo luflro ctvium Romanorum
Cenjlta funt capita quadragies
Centum millia cS*fexaginta tria.
Ce ns ITU's is alfo ufed in the civil law for a fervile
fort of tenant, who pays capitation to his lord for the
land he holds of him, and is entered as fuch in the
lord’s rent-roll. In which fenfe, the word amounts to
the fame with capite cenfus, or capite cenjitus. See Ca-
pite Cenft.
CENSOR, (from cenfere to “ fee” or “ perceive”),
one of the prime magiilrates in ancient Rome.—Their
bufinefs w»as to regiiler the effefts of the Roman citi¬
zens, to impofe taxes in proportion to what each man
poffeffed, and to take cognizance or infpeftion of the
manners of the citizens. In confequence of this laft
part of their office, they had a power to cenfure vice
or immorality by inflicting fome public mark of igno¬
miny on the offender. They had even a power to
create the princeps fenatus, and to expel from the fe-
nate fuch as they deemed unworthy of that office.
This power they fometimes exercifed without fuffi-
cient grounds ; and therefore a law was at length
paffed, that no fenator fhould be degraded or difgra-
ced in any manner, until he had been formally accu-
fed and found guilty by both the cenfors. It was alfo
a part of the cenforian jurifdidtion, to fill up the va¬
cancies in the fenate, upon any remarkable deficiency
in their number; to let out to farm all the lands, re¬
venues, and cuiloms, of the republic ; and to contract
with artificers for the charge of building and repairing
all the public works and edifices both in Rome and
the colonies of Italy. In all parts of their office, how¬
ever, they were fubjeft to the jurifdiftion of the peo¬
ple ; and an appeal always lay from the fentence of the
oenfors to that of an affembly of the people.
The firft two cenfors were created in the year of
Rome 311, upon the fenate’s obferving that the con-
fuls were fo much taken up with war, as not to have
time to look into other matters. The office continued
to the time of the emperors, who affumed the cenfo-
rial power, calling themfelves morum preefeEli; though
Vefpafian and his fons took the title of cenfors. De-
oius attempted to reltore the dignity to a particular
87 ] C E N
raagiftrate. After this we hear no more of it, till Cenfbr
Conilantine’s time, who made his brother cenfor, and ii
he feems to have been the laft that enjoyed the office. us’
The office of cenfor was fo confiderable, that for a
long time none afpired to it till they had paffed all
the reft ; fo that it was thought furpriiing that Craffus
fhould be admitted cenfor, without having been either ‘
conful or prsetor. At firft the cenfors enjoyed their
dignity for five years, but in 420 the dictator Mamer-
tinus made a law reftraining it to a year and an half,
which was afterwards obferved very ftrifljy. At firft
one.of the cenfors was elected out of a patrician, and
the other out of a plebeian family ; and upon the
death of either, the other was difeharged from his of¬
fice, and two new ones elefted, but not till the next
luftrum. In the year of Rome 622, both cenfors were
chofen from among the plebeians; and after that time
the office was fhared between the fenate and people.-
—After their election in the Comitia Centurialia, the
cenfors proceeded to the capitol, where they took an
oath not to manage either by favour or. diiaffedtion,
but to aft equitably and impartially throughout the
whole courfe of their adminiftration.
The republic of Venice ftill has a cenfor of the
manners of their people, whole office lafts fix months.
Censors of Books, are a body of doftors or others
eftablifhed in divers countries, to1 examine all books
before they go to the prefs, and to -fee they contain
nothing contrary to faith and good manners.
At Paris, the faculty of theology claim this privi¬
lege, as granted to them by the pope ; but, in 1624,
new commiffions of four doftors were created, by let-
ters-patent, the foie cenfors of all books, and anfwer-
able for every thing contained therein.
In England, we had formerly an officer of this kind,
under the title of licenfer of the prefs : but, fince tha
revolution, our prefs has been laid under no fuch re-
ftraint.
CENSORINUS, a celebrated writer in the third
century, well known by his treatife De Die Natali.
This treatife, which was written about the year 238,
Gerard Voffius calls a little book of gold; and de¬
clares it to be a moft learned work of the higheft uie
and importance to chronologers, fince it connefts and
determines, with great exaftnefs,. forne of the princi¬
pal seras in pagan hiftory. It was printed at Cam¬
bridge, with the notes of Lindenbrokius, in 1695.
CENSURE, a judgment which condemns fome
book, perfon, or aftion, or, more particularly, a repri¬
mand from a fuperior. Ecclefiaftical cenfures are pe¬
nalties by which, for fome remarkable mifbehaviour,
Chriftians are depfived of the communion of the church,
or prohibited to execute the facerdotal office.
CENSUS, in Roman antiquity, an authentic decla¬
ration made before the cenfors, by the feveral fubjefts
of the empire, of their refpeftive names and places of
abode. This declaration was regiftered by the cen¬
fors ; and contained an enumeration, in writing, of all
the eftates, lands, and inheritances they poffelfed; their
quantity, quality, place,, wives, children,, domeftics,
tenant s, . Haves. In the provinces the cenfus ferved not
only to difeover the fubftance of each perfon, but
where, and in what manner and proportion, taxes *
might be beft impofed. The cenfus at Rome is common-
C E N
fcnfus, ly thought to have been held every five years ; but Dr
Ccllt' Middleton hath fhown, that both cenfus and luftrum
* were held irregularly and uncertainly at various inter¬
vals. The cenfus was an excellent expedient for dif-
covering the ftrength of the ftate : for by it they dif-
covered the number of'the citizens, how many were
fit for war, and how many for offices of other kinds ;
how much each was able to pay of t :xes, &c. It
went through all ranks of people, though under differ¬
ent names : that of the common people was called
cenfus ; that of the knights, cenfus, recenfo, recognitio ;
that of the fenators, leffio, reletlio.—Hence alfo cenfus
came to fignify a perfon who had made fuch a declara¬
tion ; in which fcnfe it was oppofed to incenfus, a per-
fon who had not given in' his eftate, or name, to be
regiftered.
The cenfus, according to Salmafms, was peculiar to
the city of Rome. That in the provinces was proper¬
ly called/ro/^o and But this diflindtion is
not every where obferved by the ancients themfelves.
Census was alfo ufed for the book or regifter where¬
in the profieffions of the people were entered: In which
fenfe, the cenfus was frequently cited and appealed to,
as evidence in the courts of juftice.
’ Census is alfo ufed to denote a man’s whole fub-
' fiance or eftate.
Csnsvs Senatorius, the patrimony of a fenator, which
was limited to a certain value ; being at firft rated at
eight hundred thoufand fefterces, but afterwards, un¬
der Auguftus, enlarged to twelve hundred thoufand.
Census Equejier, the eftate or patrimony of a knight,
rated at four hundred thoufand fefterces, which was
required to qualify a perfon for that order, and with¬
out which no virtue or merit was available.
Census was alfo ufed for a perfon worth an hun¬
dred thoufand fefterces, or who was entered as fuch in
the cenfual tables, on his own declaration. In which
fenfe, cenfus amounts to the fame with clqfficus, or a
man of the firft clals ; though Gellius limits the eftate
of thofe of this clafs to an hundred and twenty-five
thoufand affes. By the Voconian law, no cenfus was
allowed to give by his will above a fourth part of what
he was worth to a woman.
Census was alfo ufed to denote a tax or tribute im-
pofed on perfons, and called alfo capitation. See Ca¬
vite Cenfi.
Census Dommcatus, in writers of the lower age,
denotes a rent due to the lord.
Census DupTicatus, a double rent or tax, paid by
vaflals to their lord on extraordinary or urgent occa-
fions; as expeditions to the Holy Band, &c.
Census Ecclefue Romance, was an annual contribution
voluntarily paid to the fee of Rome by the feveral
princes of Europe.
CENT, fignifies properly an hundred, being an a-
bridgement of the word centum ; but is often ufed in
commerce to exprefs the profit or lofs arifing from the
fiale of any commodity : fo that when we fay there is
lO per cent, profit, or to per cent, lofs, upon any mer¬
chandize that has been fold, it is to be underftood, that
the feller has either gained or loft ten pounds on every
hundred pounds of the price at which he bought that
merchandize;"which is of profit, or VV 1°^; up¬
on the total of the fale.
N°68-
88 ] C E N
CENTAUREA, in botany : A genus of the poly- Centaurea
gamia fruftanea order, belonging to the fyngenefia clafs Cen^ejIa
of,plants; and in the natural method ranking under , L ^ ’f
the 49th order, Compofita. The receptacle is briftly ;
the pappus Ample; the corollulae of the radius funnel*
fhaped, longer than thofe of the difk, and irregular.
CENTAUR, in aftronomy, a part or moiety of a
fouthern conftellation, in form half-man half-horfe;
ufually joined with the wolf. The word comes from
xitravpoc, formed of , pungo ; and ravpa^ bull; q. d.
bull-pricker. The ftars of this conftellation, in Ptole¬
my’s Catalogue are 37; in Tycho’s 4; and in the
Britannic Catalogue, with Sharp’s Appendix, 35.
CENTAURS, in mythology, a kind of fabulous
monfters, half men and half horfes. —The poets pre¬
tend that the centaurs were the fons of Ixion and a
cloud ; the reafon of which fancy is, that they retired
to a caftle called which fignifies a “ cloud.”-—
This fable is differently intUrpreted : fome will have
the centaurs to have been a body of ihepherds and
herdfmen, rich in cattle, who inhabited the mountains
of Arcadia, and to whom is attributed the invention
of bucolic poetry. Palsephsetus, in his book of incre-
dibles, relates, that under the reign of Ixion, king of
Theffaly, a herd of bulls on mount Theffaly riin mad,
and ravaged the whole country, rendering the moun¬
tains inacceffible; that fome young men who had
found the art of taming and mounting horfes, under¬
took to clear the mountains of thefe ammals, which
they purfued on horfeback, and thence obtained the
appellation of Centaurs. This fuccefs rendering them
infolent, they infulted the Lapithae, a people of Thef¬
faly : and becaufe when attacked they fled with great
rapidity, it was fuppofed they were half horfes and
half men.—The Centaurs in reality were a tribe of
Lapithas, who inhabited the city Pelethronium adjoin- -
ing to mount Pelion, and firft invented the art of
breaking horfes, as is intimated by Virgil.
CENTAUREA, greater centaury: A genus
of the polygamia fruftanea order, belonging to the fyn¬
genefia clafs of plants 5 and in the natural method
ranking under the 49th order, Compojlta. The recep¬
tacle is briftly, the pappus Ample, the corolluloe of the
radius fimnel-fhaped, longer than thofe of the dilk, and
irregular There are 61 fpecies. The root of one of
them cdXz&glaJlifoUa, is an article in the materia medi-
ca. It has a rough, fomewhat acrid tafte, and abounds
with a red vifcid juice. Its rough tafte has gained it
fome efteem as an aftringent; its acrimony as an ape¬
rient ; and its glutinous quality as a vulnerary : but
the prefent practice takes very little notice of it in any
intention. Another of the fpecies is the cyanus or
blue bottle, which grows commonly among corn.
The expreffed juice of this flower ftains linen of a
beautiful blue colour, but is not permanent. Mr Boyle
fays, that the juice of the inner petals, with a little alum,
makes a beautiful permanent colour, equal to ultrama¬
rine.
Lejfer Centaurt. See Gentiana.
CENTELLA, in botany: A genus of the tetran-
dria order, belonging to the moncecia clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the nth or¬
der, Sarmentacea. The male involucrum is tetraphyl-
lous and quinqueflorous, with four petals; the female
c E N L 289 ] C E N
Crnftnarl- involucrum is diphyllous and uniflorous ; the petals
“s four ; the germen inferior; two ftyles ; and a bilocu-
Centiloqui-lar feed-cafe.
um. CENTENARIUS, or Centenario, in the middle
—- age, an officer who had the government or command,
with the adminiftration of juftice, in a village. The
centenarii as well as vicarii were under the jurifdic-
tion and command of the court. We find them among
the Franks, Germans, Lombards, Goths, &c.
Centenariur was alfo ufed for an officer who had
the command of 100 men; moll; frequently called a
Centurion.
Centenarius, in monafteries, was an officer who
had the command of 100 monks.
CENTENINUM ovum, among naturalifts, de¬
notes a fort of hen’s egg much fmaller than ordinary,
vulgarly called a cock’s egg; from which it has been
fabuloufly held that the cockatrice or bafililk is produ¬
ced. The name is taken from an opinion, that thefe
are the lall eggs which hens lay, having laid 100 be¬
fore ; whence centeninum, q. d. the hundredth egg.—
Thefe eggs have no yolks, but in other refpects dif¬
fer not from common ones ; having the albumen, cha-
lazes, membranes, &c. in common with others. In
the place of the yolk is found a little body like a fer-
pent coiled up, which doubtlefs gave rife to the fable
of the bafilifk’s origin from thence. Their origin is
with probability afcribed by Hervey to this, that the
yolks in the vitellary of the hen are exhaufted before
the albnmina.
CENTER, or Centre, in a general fenfe, fignifies
a point equally dillant from the extremities of ,a line,
figure, or body. The word is formed from the Greek
xevt/jovj a. point.
- . ^ Center of Gravity, in mechanics, that point about
; which all the parts of a body do in any fituation ex-
. aCtly balance each other.
Center of Motion, that point which remains at reft,
while all the other parts of a body move about it.
. Center of a Sphere, a point in the middle, from
which all lines drawn to the furface are equal.
Hermes Trifmegiftus defines God an intelle&ual
fphere, whofe center is every where, and circumference
no where.
CENTESIMA usura, that wherein the intereft in
an hundred months became equal to the principal; i.e.
where the money is laid out at one percent, per month;
anfwering to what in our ftyle would be called 12 per
cent., for the Romans reckoned their intereft not by the
year, but by the month.
CENTESIMATION, a milder kind of military
puniihment, in cafes of defertion, mutiny, and the like,
when only every hundredth man is executed.
CENTILOQUIUM, denotes a colle&ion of 100
fentences, opinions, or fayings.
The centiloquium of Hermes, contains 100 apho-
rifms, or aftrological fentences, fuppofed to have been
written by fome Atab, falfely fathered on Hermes
Trifmegiftus. It is only extant in Latin, in which it
has feveral times been printed.—The centiloquium of
Ptolomy is a famous aftrological piece, frequently con¬
founded with the former, confifting Kkewife of 100
fentences, or do&rines, divided into fkort aphorifms,
inti tied alfo in Greek a$ being the fruit or re-
Vou IV. Part L
fult of the former writings of that celebrated aftrono- Centipe*
mer, viz. his quadripartitum and almagefum ; or rather, nt,jvre
by reafon that herein is fhown the ufe of aftrological Lgnt nrei
calculations.
CENTIPES, in zoology. See Scolopendra.
CENTIPED worm, a term ufed for fuch worms
as have a great many feet, though the number does
not amount to 100, as the term feems to import.—
M. Maloet relates the hiftory of a man, who, for
three years, had a violent pain in- the lower part of
the forehead near the root of the nofe : at length he
felt an itching, and afterwards fomething moving with¬
in his noftril, which he brought away with his finger;
it was a worm of the centiped kind, an inch and an
half long, which run fwiftly. It lived five or fix days
among tobacco. The patient was free 'of his pain e-
ver after. MrjLittre mentioned a like cafe in 1708,
of a larger centiped voided at the noife, after it had
thrown the woman, in whofe frontal finus it was, into
convulfions, and had almoft deprived her of her rea¬
fon.
CENTLIVRE (Sufanna), a celebrated comic wri¬
ter, was the daughter of Mr Freeman of Holbeach,
in Lincolnftiire; and had fuch an early turn for poe¬
try, that it is faid {he wrote a fong before file was
feven years old. Before (he was twelve years of age,
fhe could not only read Maliere in French, but enter
into the fpirit of all the characters. Her father dying,
left her to the care of a ftep-mother; whofe treatment
not being agreeable to her, fhe determined, though al¬
moft deftitute of money and every other neceflary, to
go up to London to feek a better fortune than what
{he had hitherto experienced. As (he was proceeding
on her journey on foot, (he was met by a young gen¬
tleman from the univerfity of Cambridge, the after¬
wards well-known Anthony Hammond, Efq; who was
fo extremely ftruck with her youth and beauty, that
he fell inftantly in love with her ; and inquiring into
the particulars of her ftory, foon prevailed upon her
unexperienced innocence to feize on the protection he
offered her, and go with him to Cambridge. After
fome months cohabitation, he perfuaded her to come
to London ; where, in a fhort time, file was married
to a nephew of Sir Stephen Fox. But that gentleman
not living with her above a twelvemonth, her wit and
beauty foon procured her a fecond hufband, whofe
name was Carrol, and who was an officer in the army;
but he having the misfortune to be killed in a duel a-
bout a year and an half after their marriage, (he be¬
came a fecond time a widow. For the fake of fupport
(he now applied to her pen, and became a votary of
the mufes; and it is under this name of Carrol that
fome of her earlier pieces were publifhed. Her fifft
attempt was in tragedy, in a play called the Perjured
Hujband; yet her natural vivacity leading her afterwards
to comedy, we find but one more attempt in the buf-
kin, among- 18 dramatic pieces which (he afterwards
wrote.
In 1706, (he wounded the heart of one Mr Jofeph
Centime, yeoman of the mouth, or in other words
principal cook to her Majefty, who married her; and,
after paffing feveral years happily together, fhe died
at his houfe in Spring-Garden, Charing-Crofs, in De¬
cember 1723.
This
C E N C 290 1 C E N
Centner. This lady lor many years enjoyed the intimacy and
efteem of the moil eminent wits of the times, viz. Sir
Richard- Steele, Mr Rowe, Budgell, Farquhar, Dr
Sewell, &c.sand very few authors received more tokens
of efteem and patronage from the great. With regard
to her merit as a writer, it muft be allowed that her
plays do not abound with wit, and that the language
of them is fometimes even poor, enervate, incorreft,
puerile ; but then her plots are bufy and well conduc¬
ted, and her charadlers in general natural and well
marked.
CENTNER, or Docimastic Hundred, in metal¬
lurgy and aflaying, is a weight divifible, firft into an
hundred, and thence into a greater number of other
fmaller parts ; but though the word is the fame both
with the affayers and metallurgifts, yet it is to be un-
derftood as exprefling a very different quantity in their
different acceptation of it. The weights of the metal¬
lurgifts are eafily underftood, as being of the common
proportion, but thofe of the aflayers are a thoufand
times fmaller than thefe, as the portions of metals or
ores examined by the aflayers are ufuafly very fmall.
The metallurgifts, who extraft metals out of their
ores, ufe a weight divided into ah hundred equal parts,
each part a pound; the whole they call a centner or
hundred weight the pound is divided Into thirty-two
parts, or half ounces: and the half ounce into two
quarters of ounces, and thefe each into two drams.
Thefe diviflons and denominations of the metallur¬
gifts are eafily underftood ; but the fame words, tho’
they are equally ufed by aflayers, with them exprefs
very different quantities; for as the centner of the
metallurgifts contains an hundred pounds, the centner
©f the affayers is really no more than one dram, to
which the other parts are proportioned.
As the aflayers weights are divided into fuch an ex¬
treme degree of minutenefs, and are fo very different
from all the common weights, the aflayers ufually
make them themfelves in the following manner, out of
fmall filver, or fine folder plates, of fuch a fize, that the
mark of their weight, according to the divifion of the
dram, which is the dochnujlic or aflaying centner, may
be put upon them. They firft take for a bafis one
weight, being about two-thirds of a common dram
this they mark (64/^.) Then having at hand fome
granulated lead, wafhed clean, well dried, and lifted
very fine, they put as much of it into one of the fmall
difhes of a fine balance as will equipoife the (64$.),
as it is called, juft mentioned : then dividing this gra¬
nulated lead into very nice halves, in the two. fcales,
after taking out the firft filver weight, they obtain a
perfeft equilibrium between the two fcales; they then
pour the granulated lead out of one difh of the fcalesr
and inftead of it put in another filver weight, which
they make exaftly equiponderant with the lead in the
other fcale, and mark it (32/^.) If this fecond weight,
when firft put into the fcale, exceed by much the
weight of the lead, they take a little from it by a very
fine file ; but when it comes very near, they ufe only a-
whetftone to wear off an extremely fmall portion at a
time. When it is brought to be perfectly even and
equal to the lead, they change the fcales to fee that no
error has been committed, and then go on in the fame
manner till they have made all the divifiohs, and all
ft
the fmall weights. Then to have an entire centner or Cento
hundred weight, they add to the (64/^.) as they call Jl
it, a 32/3. and a 4$. and weighing againft them one enJ*{ U"
fmall weight, they make it equal to them, and mark it .—
(100.) This is the docimaftical, or affaying centner,
and is really one dram.
CENTO, in poetry, a work wholly compofed of
verfes or paffages promifcuoufly taken from other au¬
thors, only difpofed in a new form and order.—Pro-
ba,i7alconia has written the life of Jefus Chrift in cen¬
tos taken from Virgil. Alexander Rofs has done the
like in his Chriftrados, and Stephen, de Pleure the
fame.
CENTONARII, in antiquity, certain of the Ro¬
man army, who provided different forts of fluff called,
centones, made ufe of to quench the fire W’hich the
enemies engines threw into the camp.
Thefe centonarii kept with the carpenters and other
officers of artillery.
CENTRAL forges, the powers which caufe a
moving body to tend towards, or recede from, the
center of motion.. See Mechanics.
Central Rule, a rule difcovered by Mr Thomas
Baker, whereby to find the centre of a circle ddigned1
to cut the parabola in- as many points as an equation
to be conftrufted hath real roots. Its principal ufe
is in the conftru&ion of equations, and he hath applied
it with- good fuccefs as far as biquadratics.
The central rule is chiefly founded on this property^
of the parabola, that, if a line be infcribed in that
curve perpendicular to any diameter, a re&angle
formed of the ferments of the infcript is equal to the
rectangle of the intercepted diameter and parameter of
the axis.
The central rule has the advantage over Cartes and
De Latere’s methods of conftrufting equations, in
that both thefe are fubjeft to the trouble of preparing
the equation by taking away the fecond term.
CENTRIFUGAL force, that force by which all
bodies that move round any other body in a curve en¬
deavour to fly off from the axis of their motion in a
tangent to the periphery of the curve,, and that in.
every part of it. See Mechanics.
Centrifugal-Machine, a very curious, machine, in¬
vented by Mr Erlkine, for railing water by means of
a centrifugal force combined with the preffure of the
atmofphere.
It confifts of a large tube of copper, csV. in the form
of a crofs, which is placed perpendicular in the water,
and refts at the bottom on a pivot. At the upper
part of the tube is a horizontal cog-wheel, which
touches the cogs of another in a vertical pofition ; fo
that by the help of a dpuble winch, the whole ma¬
chine is moved round with very great velocity..
Near the bottom of the perpendicular part of the
tube is a valve opening upwards ; and: near the two
extremities,.but on the contrary fides of the arms, or
crofs part of the tube, are two other valves opening
outwards. Thefe two valves are, by the affiftance
of fprings,,kept fhut till the machine is put in motion,,
when the centrifugal velocity of the water forces,
them open, and difcharges itfelf into a ciftern or refer-
voir placed there for that purpofe.
On the upper part of the arms are two holes, which
are
C E N t 291 1 C E N -
Centrifu- are clofed by pieces fcrewing into tlie metal of the
gal- tube. Before the machine can work, thefe holes muft
be opened, and water poured in through them, till
the whole tube be full: by this means all the air will
be forced out of the machine, and the water fupport-
ed in the tube by means of the valve at the bottom.
The tube being thus filled with water, and the
holes clofed by their fcrew caps, it is turned round by
means of the winch, when the water in the arms of
the tube acquires a centrifugal force, opens the valves
near the extremities of the arms, and flies out with a
velocity nearly equal to that of the extremities of the
faid arms.
The above defcription will be very eafily underftood
by the figure we have added on Plate CXXXVI.
which is a perfpe&ive view of the centrifugal machine,
erefled on board a {hip. ABC is the copper tube.
I), a horizontal cog-wheel, furniflied with twelve cogs.
E, a vertical cog-wheel, furniflied with thirty-fix cogs.
F, F, the double winch, a, the valve near the bot¬
tom of the tube, t, b, the two pivots on which the
machine turns, e, one of the valves in the crofs-piece;
the other at d, cannot be feen in this figure, being on
the other fide of the tube, e, e, the two holes through
which the water is poured into the machine. GH, the
ciftern or refervoir. I, I, part of the (hip’s deck.
The diftance between the two valves, c, d, is fix feet.
The diameter of thefe valves is about three inches;
and that of the perpendicular tube about feven inches
If we fuppofe the men who work the machines can
turn the winch round in three feconds, the machine
will move round its axis in one fecond ; and confe-
quently each extremity of the arms will move with a
velocity of 18.8- feet in a fecond. Therefore a column
of water of three inches diameter will iffue through
each of the valves with a velocity of 18.8 feet in a fe¬
cond: but the area of the aperture of each of the valves
is 7.14 inches.; which being multiplied by the velocity
in inches == z25.6, gives 1610.784 cubic inches, the
quantity of water difcharged through one of the aper¬
tures in one fec®nd; fo that the whole quantity dif¬
charged in that fpace of time through both the aper¬
tures {3=3221.568 inches ; or 193294.08 cubic inches
in one minute. But 6081 2 cubic inches make a tun,
beer-meafure; confequently, if we fuppofe the centri¬
fugal machine revolves round its axis in one fecond, it
will raife nearly 3 tuns 44 gallons in one minute: but
this velocity is certainly too great, at leaft to be held
for any confiderable time ; fo that, when this and o-
ther deficiencies in the machine are allowed for, two
tuns is nearly the quantity that can be railed by it in
one minute.
It will perhaps be unneceffary to obferve, that as
the water is forced up the perpendicular tube by the
preffure of the atmofphere, this machine cannot raife
water above 32 feet high.
An attempt was made to fubftitute this machine in
place of the pumps commonly ufed on fliip-board, but
the labour of working was found to be fo great as to
render the machine inferior to the chain-pump. A
confiderable improvement, we apprehend, would be, to
load with a weight of lead the ends of the tubes thro’
which the water ifiues, which would make the machine
turn with a great deal more eafe, as the centrifugal
force of the lead would in fome me^fure a£t the part Centripetal
of a fly. H .
CENTRIPETAL force, that force by which a Cetu"non-.
body is every where impelled, or any how tends, to¬
wards fome point as a centre. See Mechanics.
CENTRISCUS, in ichthyology, a genus of fiflies
belonging to the order, of amphibia nantes. The head
gradually ends in a narrow fnout, the aperture is broad
and flat; the belly is carinated ; and the belly-fins u-
nited. There are two fpecies, <vl%. 1. The fcutatus
has its back covered with a fmooth bony flrell, which
ends in a fliarp fpine under which is the tail; but the
back fins are between the tail and the fpine. It is a
native of the Eaft Indies. 2. The fcolopax has a rough
fcabrous body, and a ftraight extended tail. It has
two belly-fins, with four rays in each, and has no teeth.
It is found in the Mediterranean.
CENTRONIA, in natural hiftory, a name by which
the echini marini have been lately diftingpifljed. Dr
Hill makes them a diftinit clafs of animals living under
the defence of flielly coverings formed of one piece,
and furniflied with a vaft number of'fpines moveable at
the creature’s pleafure-
CENTUMCELLAL, (anc. geog.), Trajan’s villa
in Tufcany, on the coaft, three miles from Algae; with
an excellent port, called Traj anus Portus, (Ptolemy) ;
and a fa&itious ifland at the mouth of the poit, made
with a huge block of ftorte, on which two turrets rofe,
with two entrances into the bafon or harbour, Rutilius.
Now Civita Necchia. E. Long. 12. 30. N. Lat. 42.
CENTUMVIRI, in Roman antiquity, judges ap¬
pointed to decide common caufes among the people :
they were chofen, three out of each tribe ; and though
five more than an hundred, were neverthelefs called
centwnviri, from the round number centum, an hundred.
CENTUNCULUS, in botany: A genus of the
monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
20th order, Rotacea. The calyx is quadrifid; the
corolla quadrifid, and patent ; the ftamina are ftiort;
the capfule is unilocular, cut round, or parting hori¬
zontally.
CENTURION, among the Romans, an officer in
the infantry, who commanded a century, or an hun¬
dred men.
In order to have a proper notion of the centurions,
it muft be remembered, that every one of the thirty
manipuli * in a legion was divided into two ordlnes, or * See Ms-
ranks ; and confequently the three bodies of the ha- n'!P^us'
ftati, principes, and triarii, into 20 orders a piece, as
into 10 manipuli. Now, every manipulus was allowed
two centurions, or captains, one to each order or cen¬
tury : and, to determine the point of priority between
them, they were created at two different eleftions.
The 30 who were made firlt always took the precedency
of their fellows ; and therefore commanded the right-
hand orders, as the others did the left. The triarii,
or pilani, fo called from their weapon the pilum, being
efteemed the moff honourable, had their centurions e-
le&ed firft, next to them the principes, and afterwards
the haftati; whence they were called primus et fecundus
pilus, primus et fecundus princeps, primus et fecundus hajla*
tus ; and fo on. Here it may be obferved, that prime
ordines is fometimes ufed in hiftorians for the centu-
0 0 2 rions
C E N
Sfenhirion rions of tbefe orders ; and the centurions are fome-
c ^ times ftyled principes ordinum, and prlncipes centurionum.
1 r  J' We may take notice too what a large field there lay
for promotion : fir ft through all the orders of the ha-
ftati; then quite through the principes; and afterwards
from the laft order of the triarii to the primipilus, the
moft honourable of the centurions, and who deferves
to be particularly defcribed. This officer, befides his
title of primipilujfc went under the feveral titles of dux
kgionis, prefeilus legionts, primus centurionum, and primus
ecnturio; and was the firft centurion of the triarii in
every legion. He prefided over all the other centu¬
rions, and generally gave the word of command by or¬
der of the tribunes. Befides this, he had the care of
the eagle, or chief ftandard, of the legion t hence,
aquilt praejje, is to bear the dignity of primipilus;
and hence aquila is taken by Pliny for the faid office.
Nor was this ftation only honourable, but very profit¬
able too : for he had a fpecial ftipend allowed him, pro¬
bably as much as a knight’s eftate ; and, when he left
that charge, was reputed equal to the members of the
equeftrian order, bearing the title of primipilarius, in
the fame manner as thofe who had difcharged the
greateft civil offices were ftyled ever after, confulares,.
cenforii, &c.
CENTURIPiE, Centoripa, or Centuripe,
(anc. geog.), a town in the fouth-weft of the territory
of Etna, on the river Cyamaforus: Now Centorbi, or
Centurippi. It was a democratical city, which, like
Syracufe, received its liberty from Timoleon. Its in¬
habitants cultivated the fine arts, particularly fculpture
and engraving. In digging for the remains of antiqui¬
ties, cameos are no where found in fuch abundance as
at Centurippi and its environs. The fituation of the
place is romantic: it is built on the fummit of a vaft
group of rocks, which was probably chofen asthe moft
difficult of accefs, and confequently the propereft in
times of civil commotion. The remains ftill exifting
' of its ancient bridge are a proof of its having been a
confiderable city. Cicero fpeaks of it as fuch. It was
taken by the Romans, plundered and oppreffed by
Verres, deftroyed by Pompey, and reftored by O&a-
vius, who made it the refidence of a Roman colony.
CENTURY, in a general fenfe, any thing divided
into, or confifting of, an hundred parts.
The marquis of Worcefter publilhed a Century, of
inventions, (for a fpecimen of which, fee Acoustics,
n° 27.); and Dr Hooke has given a decimate of inven¬
tions, as part of a Century, of which he affirmed him-
felf mafter. It is remarkable, that both, in the cen¬
tury of the former, and the decimate of the latter, we
find the principle on which Savary’s fire or fteam en¬
gine is founded. See SrEAM-Engine.
Century in antiquity. The Roman people, when
they were affembled for the ele&ing of magiftrates,
enatfting of laws, or deliberating upon any public af¬
fair, were always divided into centuries, and voted by
centuries, in order that their votes might be the more
eafily collected, whence thefe affemblies were called
eomitia centuriata. The Roman cohorts were alfo di¬
vided into centuries. See Centurion and Cohort.
Century, in chronology, the fpace of one hundred
years. This method of computing by centuries is ge¬
nerally obferved in church, hiftory, commencing, from
C E O
the time of our Saviour’s incarnation : .in which fenfe Centner
we fay the firft century, the fecond century, life.
Centuries of Magdeburg, a famous ecclefiaftical hi-, ^ ' .
ftory, ranged into 13 centuries, carried- down to the
year 1298, compiled by feveral hundred proteftants of
Magdeburg, the chief of whom was Flacius Illyrieus,.
CENTUSSIS, in Roman antiquity, a coin contain¬
ing 100 affes.
CENTZONTLI, in ornithology, the Mexican
name of the Eurduspolyglottus. See Turdus.
CEODES, in botany.: A genus of the dioecia or¬
der, belonging to the polygamia clafs of plants. There
is no calyx ; the corolla is monopetalous, with a ftrort
turbinated tube; the ftamina are ten Tubulated fila¬
ments ; the antherae roundilh.
CEORLES, the name of one of the clafies or or¬
ders into which the people were diftinguiffied among
the Anglo-Saxons. The ceorles, who were perfons
completely free, and. defcended from a long race of
freemen, conftituted a middle clafs between the la¬
bourers and. mechanics (who were generally Haves,, or
defcended from Haves), on the one hand, and the no¬
bility on the other. They might go where they plea-
fed, and purfue any way of life that was moft agreeable
to their humour; but fo many of them applied to a-
grieulture, and farming the lands of the nobility, that
a ceorl was the moft common name for a hufbandman
or farmer in the Anglo-Saxon times. Thefe ceorlsj,
however, feem in general to have been a kind of-gentle-
men farmers; and if any one of them profpered fo
well as to acquire the property of five hydes of land)
upon which he had a church, a kitchen, a bell-houfe,
and great gate, and obtained a feat and office in the
king’s court, he was efteemed a nobleman or thane-
If a ceorl applied to learning, and attained to prieft’s
orders, he was alfo confidered as a thane; his were-
gild, or price of his life, was the fame, and his tefti-
mony had the fame weight in a court of juftice. When
he applied to trade, and made three voyages beyond
fea, in a (hip of his own, and with a cargo belonging
to himfelf, he was alfo advanced to the dignity of a
thane. But if a ceorl had a greater propenfity to arms
than to learning, trade, or agriculture, he then became
the fithcundman, cr military retainer, to fome potent
and warlike earl, and was called the hufcarle of fuch an
earl. If one of thefe hufcarles acquitted himfelf fo
well as to obtain from his patron either five hydes of
land, or a gilt fword, helmet, and breaftplate, as a re¬
ward of his valour, he was likewife confidered as a
thane. Thus the temple of honour flood open to thefe
ceorls, whether they applied themfelves to agriculture,
commerce, letters, or arms, which were then the only
profeffions efteemed worthy of a freeman.,
CEOS, Cea, Cia, or Cos, (anc. geog.), one of the
Cyclades, lies oppofite to the promontory of Achaia
called Sunium, and is 50 miles in compafs. This ifland
is commended by the ancients for its fertility and rich-
nefs of its paftures. The firft filk fluffs, if Pliny and
Solinus are to be credited, were wrought, here. Ceos
was particularly famous for the excellent figs it pro¬
duced. It was firft peopled by Ariftaeus, the fon of
Apollo and Cyrene, who, being grieved for the death
of his fon Adlaeon, retired from Thebes, at the per-
fuafion of his mother, and went over with fome The-
bans
[ 292 ]
CEP [ 293 ] CEP
Ceos bans to Ceos, at that time uninhabited. Diodorus Si-
I* cuius tells us, that he retired to the ifland of Cos; but
the ancients, as Servius obferves, called both thefe
_ iflands by the name of Cos. Be that as it will, the
ifland of Ceos became fo populous, that a law prevail¬
ed there, commanding all perfohs upwards of fixty to
be poifoned, that others might be able to fubfift; fo
that none above fixty were to be feen in the ifland,
being obliged, after they arrived at that age, either to
fubmit to the law, or abandon the country, together
With their effe&s. Ceos_had, in former times, four fa¬
mous cities, viz. Julis, Carthsea, Coreffus, and Prse-
effa. The two latter were, according to Pliny, fwal-
lowed up by an earthquake. The other two flouriflred
in Strabo’s time. Carthaea flood on a riling ground,
at the end of a valley, about three miles from the fea.
The fituation of it agrees with that of the prefent town
©f Zia, which gives name to the whole ifland. The
ruins both of Carthtea and Julis are ftill remaining;
thofe of the latter take up a whole mountain, and are
called by the modern inhabitants Polis, that is, the city.
Near this place are the ruins of a ftately temple, with
many pieces of broken pillars, and ftatues of moft ex-
quilite workmanlhip. The walls of the city were of
marble, and fome pieces are flill remaining above 12
feet in length. Julis was, according to Strabo, the
birth-place of Simonides, Bacchylides, Erafiftratus,
and Arifto. The Oxford marbles tell us, that Simo¬
nides, the fon of Leoprepis, invented a fort of artificial
memory, the principles of which he explained at A-
thens, and add, that he was defcende&of another Si¬
monides, who was a poet no lefs renowned than him-
felf. One of thefe two poets invented thofe melan¬
choly verfes which were fung at funerals, and are cal¬
led by the Latins ntenia. Strabo fays, that the Athe¬
nians, having befieged the city of Julis, raifed the
fiege,, upon advice that the inhabitants had refolved to
murder all the children under a certain age, that ufe-
ful perfons might not be employed in looking after
them. Ceos was, with the other Greek iflands, fub-
dued by the Romans, and bellowed upon the Athe¬
nians by Mare Antony the triumvir, together with
JEgina, Tinos, and fome other adjoining iflands, which
were all reduced to one Roman province by Vefpaiian.
The ifland is now called Zea.
CEPA, the onion. SeeAcLiuM.'
GEPHALANTHUS, button-wood A genus
of the monogynia order, belonging to the tetrandria
clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking
under the 48th order, Aggregcita. There is no com¬
mon calyx ; the proper one is fuperior, and funnel-
fhaped; the receptacle globofe and naked, with one
"downy feed.. There is only one fpecies, the Occidenta-
lis ; a deciduous Ihrub, native of north America. It
grows to about, five or fix feet high ; and is not a
very bufhy plant, as the branches are always placed
thinly in proportion to the fixe of the leaves, which
will grow more than- three Inches long, and one and a
half broad, if the trees are planted in a foil they like.
The leaves ftand oppofite by pairs on the twigs, and
alfo fometimes by threes, and are. of a light-green
colour: Their upper furface is fmooth ; they have
a ftrong nerve running from the footftalk to the
point, and feveral others from that on each fide to the
borders: Thefe, as well as the fcotftalks, in the au¬
tumn dye to a rcddiflr colour. The flowers, which Cephalic
are aggregate flowers, properly fo called, are produ-
ced at the ends of the branches, in globular heads, in . f ^  .
July. The florets which, compofe thefe heads are fun-
nei-fhaped, of a yellow colour, and faftened to an axis
which is in the middle.—The cephalanthus is propa¬
gated from feeds, which we receive from America.
Thefe fhould be fown as foon as they arrive, and there
will be a chance of their coming up the firft fpring;
though they often lie till the fpring after before they
make their appearance. They may be fown in good
garden mould of almoft any foil, if fomewhat moift
the better, and fhould be covered about a quarter of
an inch deep. This ihrub is alfo propagated by lay¬
ers. If the young fhoots are laid in. autumn, they,
will have ftruek good root by the autumn following,,
and may be then taken up, and fet in the places where-
they are defigned to remain. Cuttings of this tree,,
alfo, planted in the autumn in a rich, light, moift
foil, will grow: and by that means alfo plenty of thefe
plants may be foon.obtained..
CEPHALIC, in a general meaning, fignifies any
thing belonging to the head.
Cephalic Medicines, are remedies for diforders of
the head. Cordials are comprehended herein, as are
alfo whatever promotes a free circulation of the blood
through the brain.
Except when the diforder arifes from excefs of heat,
or an inflammatory difpofition in the head, moift to»
picals fhould never be ufed; but always dry, ones.-
To rnb the head-after it is fhaved proves an inftan-
taneous cure for a cephalalgia, a fluffing of the head,
and a weaknefs of the eyes, arifing from a weak and
relaxed ftate of the fibres. And as by every frefh
evacuation of the humours their quantity is not only
leflened, but alfo their recrementitious parts derived
thither, the more frequently the head is fhaved, the
larger quantity of humour is difeharged fo that the
frequent fhaving of the head and beard is likewife a?
perpetual blifter and in as much as itis ufeful, it is
a cephalic.
CFPHAgtc Vein, in anatomy, creeps along the arm
between the fkin and the mufcles, and divides it into
two-branches: the external goes down, to the wrift,
where it joins the.bafilica, and turns up to the back of
the hand ; the internal branch, together with a fmall
one of the bafilica, makes the mediana.
The ancients ufed to opwi this vein for diforders of
the head, for which reafon it bears this name ; but 3
better acquaintance with the circulation of the blood
informs us, that there is no,foundation for fuch a no¬
tion.
CEPHALENIA, or Cethallenia,, an ifland of
the Ionian fea between Ithaca and Zacynthus, known,
in Homer’s time by the names of Samus and Epirus
Melaena, is about eighty miles in length, forty in¬
breadth, and a hundred and thirty in compafs. It had
anciently four cities, one of which bore the name of
the ifland. Strabo tell us, that in his time there were
only two cities remaining but.Pliny fpeaks of three;
adding, that the ruins of Same, which had been de- -
ftroyed by the Romans, were, ftill in being. Same
was the metropolis of the ifland, and is fuppofed to
have flood in the place which the Italians call Porto
Guifcardo. The names of the four cities were, accord*
, ing:
C E R [ 294 ] C E R
Cei’halonla Ing to Thucydides, Same, Prone, Cranii, and Palae.
It. This idand was fubdued by the Thebans, under the
conduct of Amph tryo, who is faid to have killed Pte-
t 1— - relas, who then reigned here. While Amphitryo
.was carrying on the war in Cephalenia, then called
Samos, one Cephalus, a man of great diftin&ion at
Athens, having accidentally killed his wife Procris in
Shooting at a deer, fled .to Amphitryo, who, pitying
his cafe, not only received him kindly, but made
him governor of the ifland, which thenceforth was
called Cephalenia. After it had been long in fubjec-
tion to the Thebans, it fell under the power of the
Macedonians, and was taken from them by the iEto-
lians, who held it till it was reduced by M. Fulvius
Nobilior, who, having gained the metropolis after a
four months fiege, fold all the citizens for flaves,
adding the whole island to the dominions of his repub¬
lic. Now called Cephalonia.
CEPHALONIA, the capital of an ifland of the
fame name, Situated in the Mediterranean, near the
coaft of Epirus, and fubjedt to the Venetians. E. Long.
21. N. Lat. 30. 30.
CEPHEUS, in fabulous hiftory, a king of Arcadia,
6n whofe head Minerva faflening one of Medufa’s
hairs, he was rendered invincible.
Cepheus, in aftronomy, a conftellation of the nor¬
thern hemifphere. See Astronomy, n°4o6.
CERAM, an ifland in the Indian ocean, be¬
tween the Molucca iflands on the north, and thofe
of Ambona and Banda on the fouth, lying be¬
tween E. Long. 126. and 129. in S. Lat. 3. It is
about 150 miles long, and 60 broad ; and here the
Dutch have a fortrefs, which keeps the natives in
fubjedtion.
CERAMBYX, in zoology, a genus of infedts of
the beetle kind, belonging to the order of infedta co-
leopatera. The antennae are long and fmall; the
breaft is fpinous or gibbous ; and the elytra are li¬
near. There are no lefs than 83 fpecies enumerated
by Linnaeus, principally distinguished by the figure of
the breaft.
CERASTES, in zoology, the trival name of a
fpecies of Anguis and Coluber.
CERASTIUM, mouse-ear: A genus of the pen-
tagynia order, belonging to the decandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
22d order, Caryophyllea. The calyx is pentaphyllous j
the petals are bifid ; the capfule is unilocular, and
opening at the top. There are 16 fpecies, but none
ti them poffefied of any remarkable property.
CERASUS, in botany. See Prunus.
CERATE, in pharmacy, a thiekilh kind of oint¬
ment, applied to ulcerations, excoriations, &c. See
Pharmacy, Index.
CERATION, the name given by the ancients to
the fmall feeds of Ceratonia, ufed by the Arabian phy-
ficians as a weight to adjuft the dofes of medicines ;
as the grain weight with us took its rife from a grain
of barley.
CeRATON, or ceratium, was alfo a filver coirt, equal
to one third of an obolus.
CERATOCARPUS, in botany : A genus of the
monandria order, belonging to the moncecia clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
I2th order, Holoracea. The male calyx is bipartite j
there is no corolla ; the filament is long! The female CenUoala
calyx is diphyllous, and grown to the germen; there II .
is no corolla ; the ftyles are two; the feed is two- erattnia’
horned and compreffed.
CERATONIA, the Carob Tree, or St John's-
bread: A genus of the polysecia order, belonging to
the polygamia clafs of plants ; and in the natural me¬
thod ranking under the 33d order, Lomentacea. The
calyx is hermaphrodite and quinquepartite ; there is no
corolla ; the ftamina are five; the Ityle is filiform; the
legumen coriaceous and polyfpermous. It is alfo dioeci¬
ous, or male and female diltindt on different plants. There
is but one fpecies, the filiqua, a native of Spain, of fome
parts of Italy, and the Levant. It is an evergreen ;
and, in the countries where it is native, grows in the
hedges. It produces a quantity of long, flat, brown-
coloured pods, which are thick, meqlly, and of a
fweetifh tafte. Thefe pods are many times eaten by
the poorer fort of inhabitants when there is a fcarcity
of other food; but they are apt to loofen the belly, and
caufe gripings of the bowels. They are called St
John’s-lread, from an ill-founded affertion of fome
writers on Scripture, that thefe pods were the locufts
St John eat with liis honey in the wildernefs. The
tree may be propagated in this country from feeds,
which are to be fown in a moderate hot-bed, and the
plants inured to the open air by degrees.
CERATOPHYLLUM, in botany: A genus of
the polyandria order, belonging to the monoecia clafs
of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
15th order, Intrndatie. The male calyx is multipartite;
no corolla ; ftamina from 16 to 20: The female calyx
is multipartite ; no corolla ; one piftil; no ftyle ; one
naked feed.
CERAUNIA, Ceraunias, or Ceraunius La¬
pis, in natural hiftory, a fort of flinty ftone, of no
certain colour, but of a pyramidal or wedge-like fi¬
gure; popularly fuppofed to fall from the clouds in the
time of thunder-ftorms, and to be pofleffed of divers
notable virtues, as promoting fleep, preferving from
lightning, &c. The word is from the Greek *■ ?' uv@',
thunderbolt. The ceraunia is the fame with what is
otherwife called the thunder-ftone, or thunder-bolt;
and alfo fometimes fagitta, or arrow’s-head, on ac¬
count of its fhape. The ceraunise are frequently con¬
founded with the ombrias and brontiae, as being all
fuppofed to have the fame origin. The generality
of naturalifts take the ceraunia for a native ftone,
formed among the Pyrites, of a faline, concrete, mi¬
neral juice. Mercatus and Dr Woodward aflert it to
be artificial, and to have been fafhioned thus by tools.
The ceraunia, according to thefe authors, are the heads
of the ancient weapons of war, in ufe before the in¬
vention of iron; which, upon the introduftion of that
metal, growing into difufe, were difperfed in the fields
through this and that neighbouring country. Some
of them had poffibly ferved in the early ages for axes,
others for wedges, others for chi/Tel s; but the greater
part for arrow-heads, darts, and lances. The cerau¬
nia is alfo held by Pliny for a white or cryftal-coloured
gem, that attracted lightning to itfelf. What this
was, is hard to fay. Prudentius alfo fpeaks of a yel¬
low ceraunia; by which he is fuppofed to mean the
carbuncle or pyropus.
CERBERA, in botany: A genus of the monogy-
C £ R [ 295 ] C E R
Cerberus nia order, belonging to the pentandria elafs of plants ;
n . and in the natural method ranking under the 30th
L Ce'~C19' , order, Contort*. The fruit is a monofpermous plum.
The moft remarkable fpecies is the atroucir, a na¬
tive of the warm parts of America. It rifes with
an irregular item to the height of eight or ten feet,
fending out many crooked diffuftd branches, which
towards their tops are garnifhed with thick fucculent
leaves of a lucid green, fmooth, and very full of a
milky juice. The flowers cOme out in loofe bunches
at the end of the branches ; they are of a cream co¬
lour, having long narrow tubes, and at the top are
cut into five obtufe fegments, which feem twilled, fo
as to Hand oblique to the tube. The wood of this
tree ftinks molt abominably, and the kernels of the
nuts are a deadly poifon to which there is no antidote;
fo that the Indians will not even ufe the wood for
fuel.
CERBERUS, in fabulous hiftory, a dreadful three¬
headed maftiff, born of Typhon and Echidna, and pla¬
ced to guard the gates of hell. He fawned upon thofe
who entered, but devoured all who attempted to get
back. He was, however, maftered by Hercules, who
dragged him up to the earth, when, in ftrugglihg, a
foam dropped from his mouth, which produced the
poifonous herb called aconite or ivolf’s-bane.
Some have fuppofed that Cerberus is the fymbol of
the earth, or of all-devouring time ; and that its three
mouths reprefent the prefent, pall, and future. The
victory obtained by Hercules over this monller, de¬
notes the COnqueft which this hero acquired over his
paffions. Dr Bryant fuppofes that Cerberus was the
name of a place, and that it fignified the temple of
the Sun; deriving it from K,ir-Alor, the place of light.
This temple was alfo called Tor-Caph-El, which was
changed to rpixu^xoc; and hence Cerberus was fup¬
pofed to have had three heads. It was likewife called
Tor-Keren, Turns Regia; ■whence TF‘ from ■ f!‘>
three, and xa^vov, head.
CERCELE, in heraldry: a crofs cercele is a crofs
which, opening at the ends, turns round both ways like
a ram’s horn. See Cross.
CERCIS, the Juda's-tree : A genus of the mo-
ftogynia order, belonging to the decandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under
the 33d order, Lomentace/e. The calyx is qinque-
dentated, and gibbous below ; the corolla papiliona¬
ceous, with a fhort vexillum or flag-petal under the
wings or fide-petals; a leguminous plant. There are
enly two fpecies, both deciduous.
r. The filiquallrum, common Judas-tree, or Ita¬
lian cercis, a native of Italy and other parts of the
fouth of Europe.^—Thefe differ in the height of their
growth in different places: In fome they will arrive
to be fine trees, of near twenty feet high ; whilll in
ethers they will not rife to more than ten or twelve
feet, fending forth young branches irregularly from
the very bottom. The Hem of this tree is of a dark-
greyifh colour, and the branches, which are few and
irregular, have a purplifll caff. The leaves are fmooth,
heart-lhaped, and roundifh, of a pleafant green on
their upper furface, hoary underneath, and grow al-
-jternately on long footftalks. The flowers are of a
fine purple : They come out early in the fpring, in
•fullers,, from the fide of the branches, growing upon
fliort footftalks 5 and in fome fituations they are fuc- Cercis.
ceeded by long fiat pods, containing the feeds, which,
in very favourable feafons, ripen in England. Some
people are fond of eating thefe flowers in fallads, on
which account alone in fome parts this tree is propa¬
gated. The varieties of this fpecies are, x. The
Fie fix-coloured; 2. The White-flowered ; and, 3. The
Broad-podded Judas-tree.
2. The Canadenfis, or Canadian cercis, will grow
to the fize of the firft fort in fome places. The branch¬
es are alfo irregular. The leaves are cordated, downy,
and placed alternately. The flowers ufually are of a
palilh red colour, and ihow themfelves likewife in the.
fpring, before the leaves are grown to their fize.
Thefe too are often eaten in fallads, and afford an ex¬
cellent pickle. There is a variety of this with deep
red, and another with purple flowers. The pleafure
which thefe trees will afford in a plantation may be
eafily conceived, not only as they exhibit their flowers
in clufters, in different colours, early in the fpring,
before the leaves are grown to fuch a fize as to hide
them; but from the difference of the upper and lower
furface of the leaves ; the one being of a fine green,
the other of a hoary call; fo that on the fame tree,
even in this refpedl, is fliown variety ; an improve¬
ment whereof is made by the waving winds, which:
will prefent them alternately to view.
Propagation. As thefe fpecies will not take root by
layers, they muft be propagated by feeds, which may
be had from abroad. They are generally brought us
found and good, and may be fown in the months of
February or March. Making any particular compoft
for their reception is unneceffary ; common garden
mould, of almoft every forty will do very well: And
this being well dug, and cleared of all roots, weeds,
&c. lines may be drawn for the beds. The mould'be-
ing fine, part of it fhould be taken out, and fifted
over the feeds, after they are fown, about half an inch
thick. Part of the feeds will come up in the fpring,
and the others will remain until the fpring following ;
fo that whoever is defirous of drawing the feedlings
of a year old to plant out, muff not deftroy the bed,
but draw them carefully out, and after that there will
be a fucceeding crop. However, be this as it will,
the feeds being come up, they muft be weeded, and
encouraged by watering in the dry feafon ; and they
will require no farther care during the firfl fummer.
In the winter alfo they may be left to themfelves,
for they are very hardy ; though not fo much but that
the ends of the branches will be killed by the froft,
nay, fometimes to the very bottom of the young plant,
where it will (hoot out again afrdh in the fpring.
Whoever, therefore, is defirous of fecuring his feedling-
plants from this evil, (hould have his beds hooped, in;
order to throw mats over them during the hard frofts..
Toward the latter end of March, or beginning of A-
pril, the plants having been in the feed-bed one or
two years, they (hould be taken out, and planted in
the nurfery : The diftance of one foot afunder, and
two feet in the rows, (hould be given them. Hoeing
the weeds down in the fummer muft alfo be allowed,
as well as digging between the rows in the winter.
Here they may (land until they are to be removed
finally; but they muft be gone over in the winter
with the knife, and fuch irregular branches taken off
a?
CEE. I 2
Cercnpi- as are produced near the root; by which management
the tree may be trained up to a regular ftem. Such,
Cereatia. continues Hanburry, is the culture of the fpecies of
u»—y—. cercis ; forts that are not to be omitted where there
are any pretenfions to a colledtion. Befides, the
wood itfelf is of great value; for itpoliflies exceedingly
well, and is admirably veined with black and green.
CERCOPITHECI, in natural hiftory, the name gi¬
ven by Mr Ray to monkeys, or the clafs of apes with
long tails. See Ape and Si mi a.
CERDA (John Lewis de la), a learned Jefuit of
Toledo, wrote large commentaries on Virgil, which
have been much efteemed; alfo feveral other works.
He died-in j643, aged 80.
CERDONIANS, ancient heretics, who maintained
moft of the errors of Simon Magus, Saturninus, and
the Manichees. They took their name from their
leader Cerdon, a Syrian, who came to Rome in the
time of pope Hyginus, and there abjured his errors :
but in appearance only ; for he was afterwards con¬
victed of perfifting in them, and accordingly caft out
of the church again. Cerdon afferted two principles,
the one good and the other evil: this laft, according
to him, was the creator of the world, and the god that
appeared under the old law. The firft, whom he call¬
ed unknown, was 'the father of Jefus Chrift ; who, he
taught, was incarnate only in appearance, and was
not born of a virgin ; nor did he fuffer death but in ap¬
pearance. He denied the refurrection ; and rejefted
all the books of the Old Teftament, as coming from
an evil principle. Marcion, his difciple, fucceeded
him in his errors.
CEREALIA, in antiquity, feafts ofCeres, inftituted
by Triptolemus, fon of Celeus king of Eleuline in At¬
tica, in gratitude for his having been inftructed by
Ceres, who was fuppofed to have been his nurfe, in
the art of cultivating corn and making bread.
There were two feafts of this kind at Athens; the
one called Eleufima, the other Thejmophoria. See the
article Eleusima. What both agreed in, and was
common to all the cerealia, was, that they were cele¬
brated with a world of religion and purity ; fo that
it was efteemed a great pollution to meddle, on thofe
days, in conjugal matters. It was not Ceres alone
that was honoured here, but alfo Bacchus. The vic¬
tims offered were hogs, by reafon of the wafte they
make in the produtts of the earth : whether there
was any .wine offered or not, is matter of much de¬
bate among the critics. Plautus and Jdacrobius feem
to countenance the negative fide ; Cato and Virgil the
pofitive. Macrobius fays, indeed, they did not offer
wine to Ceres, but mulfum, which was a compofition
of wine and honey boiled up together: that the fa-
xrifice made on the 2 ift of December to that goddefs
and Hercules, was a pregnant fow, together with
cakes and mulfum ; and that this is what Virgil means
by Mili Baccho. The cerealia paffed from the Greeks
to the Romans, who held them for eight days fuccef-
fively ; commencing, as generally held, on the fifth
of the ides of April. It was the women alone who
were concerned in the celebration, all dreffed in white:
the men, likewife in white, were only fpeftators.
They eat nothing till after fun-fet ; in memory of
Ceres, who in her fearch after her daughter took no
repaft but in the evening.
N° 68.
96 1 C E R
After the battle of Cannae, the defolation was fo CeieaHa
great at Rome, that there were no women to cele- II
brate the feaft, by reafon they were all in mourning; Coremony,j
fo that it was omitted that year. •r-—t
Cere alia, in botany, from Ceres the goddefs of
corn ; Linnaeus’s name for the larger efculent feeds of
the grades : thefe are rice, wheat, rye, barley, oats,
millet, panic grafs, Indian millet, holcus, zizania, and
maize. To this head may be likewife referred darnel,
(lolium); which, by preparation, is rendered efculent.
CEREBELLUM, the hinder part of the head.
See Anatomy, n0 133.
CEREBRUM, the brain. Its ftrufture and ufe
are not fo fully known as fome other parts of the
body, and different authors confider it in various man¬
ners. However, according to the obfervations of thofe
moft famed for their accuracy and dexterity in anato¬
mical inquiries, its general ftru&ure is as given in
Anatomy, n° 132.
Dr Hunter obferves, that the principal parts of the
medullary fubftance of the brain in ideots and mad¬
men, fuch as the ihalami nervorum opticorum, and me¬
dulla oblongata, are found entirely changed from a me¬
dullary to a hard, tough, dark-coloured fubftance,
fometimes refembling white leather.
CEREMONIAL (ceremoniale), a book in which is
prefcribed the order of the ceremonies to be obferved
in certain actions and occafions of folemnity and pomp.
The ceremonial of the Roman church is called ordo
Romams- It was publifhed in 1516 by the biftiop of
Corcyra ; at which the college of cardinals were fo
fcandalized, that fome of them voted to have the au¬
thor as well as book burnt, for his temerity in expofing
the facred ceremonies to the eyes of profane people.
Ceremonial is alfo ufed for the fet or fyftem of
rules and ceremonies which cuftom has introduced for
regulating our behaviour, and which perfons praftife
towards each other, either out of duty, decency, or ci¬
vility.
Ceremonial, in a more particular fenfe, denotes
the manner in which princes and ambaffadors ufe to
receive and to treat one another. There are endlefs
difputes among fovereigns about the ceremonial: fome
endeavouring to be on a level, and others to be fupe-
rior; infomuch that numerous fchemes have been pro-
pofed for fettling them. The chief are, 1. to accom¬
modate the difference by .compromife or alternation,
fo that one (hall precede now, the other the next
time ; or one in one place, and the other in another:
2. By feniority'; fo that an elder prince in years ftiall
precede a younger, without any other diftimftion.
Thefe expedients, however, have not yet been ac¬
cepted of by any, except fome alternate princes, as
they are called, in Germany.
Caremonial is more particularly ufed in fpeaking
of the laws and regulations given by Mofes relating
to the worfhip of God among the ancient Jews. In
this fenfe it amounts to much the fame with what is
called the Levitical law, and Hands contradiftinguiftied
from the moral as well as judicial law.
CEREMONY, an affemblage of feveral actions,
forms, and circumftances, ferving to render a thing
more magnificent and folemn.
In 1646, M. Ponce publifhed a hiftory of ancient
ceremonies, tracing the rife, growth, and introduction
2 of
*
Mifter.oF
the Cere¬
monies
C E R L 297 ] € E R
of each rite into the church, and its gradual advance¬
ment to fuperftition therein. Many of them were
borrowed from Judaifm; but more feemingly from Pa-
ganifm. Dr Middleton has given a fine difcourfe on
the conformity between the pagan and popifh cere¬
monies, which he exemplifies in the ufe of incenfe,
holy water, lamps, and candles, before the ihrines of
faints, votive gifts or offerings round the fiirines of
the deceafed, <Scc. In effedt, the altars, images, croffes,
proceffions, miracles, and legends; nay, even the very
hierarchy, pontificate, religious orders, <3tc. of the pre-
fent Romans, he (hows, are all copied from their hea¬
then anceftors.—We have an ample and magnificent
account of the religious ceremonies and cuftoms of all
nations in the world, reprefented in figures defigned by
Picart, with hiftorical explanations, and many curious
differtations.
Mqjlcr of the Ceremonies, an officer inttituted by
king James I. for the more honourable reception of
ambaffadors and ftrangers of quality. He wears about
his neck a chain of gold, with a medal under the
crown of Great Britain, having on one fide an em¬
blem of peace, with this motto, Beati pacific! ; and on
the other, an emblem of war, with Dieu et man droit ,•
his falary is 300/. per annum.
Affiant Majler of the Ceremonies, is to execute the
employment in all points, whenfoever the mafter of
the ceremonies is abfent. His falary is 141 /. 13 j. and
4 J. per annum.
Marfhall of the Ceremonies is their officer, being
fubordinate to them both. His falary is 100/. per
annum.
CERE^ZA, a town of Italy in the kingdom of
Naples, and in the Hither Calabria, with a bifhop’s
fee. It is feated on a rock, in E. Long. 17. 5. N. Lat.
39- 23*
CERES, a Pagan deity, the inventor or goddefs of
corn ; in like manner as Bacchus was of wine.
According to the poets, Ihe was the daughter of Sa¬
turn and Ops, and the mother of Proferpine, whom
(he had by Jupiter. Pluto having ftolen away Pro-
ferpihe, Ceres travelled all over the world in quell of
her daughter, by the help of a torch, which the had
lighted in Mount ^Etna.
As Certs was thus travelling in fearch of her daugh¬
ter, (he came to Celeus king of Eleufis, and under¬
took to bring up his infant fon Triptolemus. Being
dtfirous to render her charge immortal, the fed him
in the day-time with divine milk, and in the night co¬
vered him with fire. Celeus obferving an unufual
improvement in hrs fon, refolved to watch his nurfe,
to which end he hid himfelf in that part of the houfe
where (he ufed to cover the child with fire but when
he faw her put the infant under the embers, he cried
out and difcovered himfelf. Ceres punilhed the cu-
tiofity and indifcretion of the father with death. Af¬
terwards (he taught the youth the art of fowing corn
and other fruits, and mounted him in a chariot drawn
by winged dragons, that he might traverfe. the world,
anditeach mankind the ufe of corn and fruits. After
this, having difcovered, by means of the nymph Are-
thufa, that Proferpine was in the infernal regions, (he
applied to Jupiter, and obtained of him that Profer¬
pine fhould be reftored, on condition that (he had tailed
nothing during her flay in that place • but it being
Von. IV. Part I.
difcovered, by the information of Afcalaphus, that, as
(he was walking in Pluto’s orchard, (he had gathered
an apple, and had tailed of fame of the feeds, (he was
for ever forbidden to return. Ceres, out of revenge,
turned AfcalaphuA into an owl. At length, Jupiter,
to mitigate her grief, permitted that Proferpine (hould
pafs one half of the year in the infernal regions with
Pluto, and the other half with her mother on earth.
Cicero fpeaks of a temple of Ceres at Catanea in
Sicily, where was a very ancient llatue of that god¬
defs, but entirely concealed from the fight of men,
every thing being performed by matrons and virgins.
CERET, a towm of France in Rouffillon, with a
magnificent bridge of a (ingle arch. It is feated near
the river Tec, in E. Long. 2.46. N. Lat. 42. 23.
CEREUS, in botany. See Cactus.
CERIGO, an ifland in the Archipelago, anciently-
called Cytherea ; noted for being the birth-place of
Helen, and, as the poets fay, of Venus. At prefent,
there is nothing very delightful in the place ; for the
country is mountainous, and the-foil dry. It abounds
in haret, quails, turtle, and excellent falcons. It is
about 50 miles in circumference, and had formerly
good towns ; but there is now none remaining but
that which gives name to the illand. This is llrong
both by art and nature, it being feated on a craggy
rock. The inhabitants are Chriftian Greeks, and fub-
jetl to the Venetians, who keep a governor there,
whom they change every two years.
CERINES, a town in the illand of'Cyprus, with a
good caftle, an harbour, and a biflrop’s fee. E. Long.,
33. 35. N. Lat. 35. 22.
CERINTHE, moneywort.: A genus of the mo-
nogynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
4ill order, Afper folia. The limb of the corolla is a
ventricofe tube with the throat pervious; and there
are two bilocular feeds. There are three fpecies, na¬
tives of Germany,. Italy, and the Alps. They are
low annual plants with purple, yellow, and red flowers,
which may be propagated by feed fown in autumn, in
a warm fituation.
CERINTHIANS, ancient heretics, who denied
the deity of Jefus Chrllt.—They took their name
from Cerinthus, one of the firft herefiarchs in the
church, being cotemporary with St John. See Ce-
RINTHUS.
They believed that Jefus Chrift was a mere man,
born of Jofeph and Mary; but that, in his baptifm,
a celeltial virtue defeended on him in form of a dove ;
by means whereof he was confecrated by the holy
fpirit, and made Chrift. It was by means of this ce-
leftial virtue, therefore, that he wrought fo many mi¬
racles ; which, as he received it from heaven, quitted
him after his p'affion, and returned to the place whence
it came ; fo that Jefus, whom they called a pure man,
really died and rofe again ; but that Chrift, who was
diftinguilhed from Jefus, did not fuller at all. It was
partly to refute this fed, that St John, wrote his go-
fpel. They received the gofpel of St Matthew, to
countenance their doctrine o£circumcifian,fromChrill’s
being circumcifed ; but they omitted the genealogy.
They difearded the epiftles of St Paul, becaufe that
apoftle held circumcifior. abolilhed.
CERINT.HUS, a herefiarch,.cotemporary with the
Pp apoftles,
C E R [ 298 ] C E R
reropeeia, spoflles, afcrihed the creation not to God, but to an-
Certhia. taught that Jefus Chrift was the fon of Jo-
' ’ feph, and that circumcifion ought to be retained under
the gofpel. He is looked upon as the head of the
converted Jews, who raifed in the church of Antioch
the tumult of which St Luke has given the hiitory in
the 15th chapter of the Adis. Some authors afcribe
the book of the apocalypfe to Cerinthus; adding, that
be put it off under the name of St John, the better to
authorife his reveries touching Chrift’s reign upon
earth : and it is even certain that he publifhed fome
works of this kind under the title of Apocalypfe. See
Apocalypse.
CEROPEGIA, in botany: A genus of the mono-
gynia- order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
30th order, Contorta. There are two eredl follicles ;
the feeds plumofe or covered with a feathered pappus;
the limb of the corolla connivent or clofing at top.
CXXV CERTH1A, in ornithology, the creeper or ox-
‘ eye, a genus belonging to the order of picse. The
beak is arched, flender, fharp, and triangular; the
tongue is lharp at the point; and the feet are of the
walking kind, i. e. having the toes open and uncon-
nedled. Of this genus near 50 fpecies have been enu¬
merated by ornithologills ; but Mr Latham fuppofes
that many now deferibed as fpecies, will be found
hereafter to be mere varieties; which, he adds, is no
wonder, fince many creepers do not gain their full
plumage till the third year’s moult. The following
are a few of the moil .remarkable :
1. The familiaris, or common ox-eye, is grey above,
and white underneath, with brown wings and ten
white fpots on the ten prime feathers. This bird is
found in moft parts of Europe, though it is believed
no where fo common as in Britain. It maybe thought
more fcarce than it really is by the lefs attentive ob-
ferver; for, fuppoling it on the body or branch of
any tree, the moment it obferves any one, it gets to
the oppofxte fide, and fo on, let a perfon walk round
the tree ever fo often. The facility of its mnning on
the bark of a tree, in all diredlions, is wonderful:
This it does with as much eafe as a fly on a glafs vvin-
dow. Its food is principally, if not wholly, infedls,
which it finds in the chinks and among the mofs of
trees. It builds its nell in fome hole of a tree, and
lays generally five eggs, very rarely more than feven:
thefe are afli-coloured, marked at the end with fpots
andftreaksof a deeper colour; and the Ihell is obferved
to be pretty hard. It remains in the places which it
frequents daring the winter, and builds its neft early
in the fpring.
2. The hook-billed green creeper has a bill an inch
and three quarters long, and bent quite in the fhape
of a femicircle ; the plumage in general is olive green,
paled beneath, and fomewhat inclined to yellow: the
quills and tail are dufky ; the legs duiky brown ; and
the feathers juft above the knee, or garter, white. It
inhabits the Sandwich Iflands in general, and is one
of the birds wliofe plumage the natives make ufe of in
eondrudting their feathered garments ; which, having
thefe olive-green feathers intermixed with the beautiful
fcarlet and yellow ones belonging to the next fpecies,
•'See Me- and yellow-tufted Bee-eater*, make fome of the moil
beautiful coverings of thefe iflanders.
3. The hook-billed red Creeper has the bill fome¬
what lefs hooked than the laft fpecies; the genera! co¬
lour of the plumage is fcarlet ; wings and tail black.
In fome birds the forehead is of a buff-colour; and the
parts about the head and neck have both a mixture of
buff and dufky black, which are fufpecied to be the
birds not yet arrived at their full plumage.
4. The pufilla, or brown and white creeper, ac¬
cording to Edwards, is not above half the fize of our
European creeper. The upper part of the body is
brown, with a changeable glofs of copper: the under
parts are white ; the quills brown, edged with glofly
copper ; the tail blackiih, the outer feather tipped with
white. The bird from which Edwards drew his fi¬
gure had a label tied to it, by the name of Honey-
thief. And that they are fond of honey is manifelt,,
from thofe who keep birds at the Cape of Good Hope
having many forts in large cages, and fupplying them
with only honey and water; but befides this, they
catch a great many flies, which come within the reach
of their confinement ; and thefe two make up their
whole fubfiftence; indeed, it has been attempted to
tranfport them further, but the want of flies on board
a fliip prevented them living more than three weeks ;
fo neceffary are infefls to their fubfiftence.
5. The Loteni, or Loten’s creeper, has the head,
neck, back, rump, fcapulars, and upper tail-coverts,
of green gold : beneath, from the breaft to the vent,
of velvet black, which is feparated from the green on
the neck by a tranfvcrfe bright violet band, a line and
half in breadth : the Idler wing coverts are of this laft,
colour; the middle coverts are green gold ; and the
greater coverts are very fine black, edged with green
gold on the outer edge : the quills are of the fame co¬
lour, as are alfo the tail feathers. The female differs
in having the breaft, belly, fides, thighs, under wing
and tail coverts, of a dirty white, fpotted with black ;
and the wings and tail not of fo.fine a black. It in¬
habits Ceylon, and Madagafcar ; and is called Angala-
dian.
Buffon tells us, that it makes its neft of the down
of plants, in form of a cup, like that of a chaffinch.,
the female laying generally five or fix eggs ; and that
it is fometimes chafed by a fpider as large as itfelf,.
and very voracious, which feizes on the whole brood,
and fucks the blood of the young birds.
6. The ccerulea, or blue creeper, has the head of a;
moll elegant blue; but on each fide there is a ftripe of
black like velvet, in which the eye is placed : the chiu
and throat are marked with black in the fame manner;
the reft of the body violet blue. It inhabits Cayenne-
Seba fays, that it makes its neft with great art. The
outfide is compofcd of dry ftalks of gral's, or fuchlike;
but within of very downy foft materials, in the ftiape
of a retort, which it fufpends from fome weak twig,
at the end of a branch of a tree ; the opening or mouth
downwards, facing the ground : the neck is a foot in
length, but the real neft is quite at the top, fo that
the bird has to climb up this funnel-like opening to
get at the neft. Thus it is fecure from every harm ;
neither monkey, fnake, nor lizard, daring to venture
at the end of the branch, as it would not ftead'ly
fupport them.
7. The cardinal creeper, {Lev. Muf.), has the head,
neck, and breaft, of crimfon colour ; down the middle
of
Certfiia,
C E R L 299 ] C E li
Certificate, of the hack is a ftripe of the fame colour to the rump:
l~—v  the re 11 of the body is black ; and the wings and tail
are black. It inhabits the cultivated parts of the
ifland of Tanna ; is there called Kuyameta, and lives
by fucking the nedlar of flowers.
8. The mocking creeper is of the fize of the lelfer
thrufli. On the cheeks is a narrow white fpot: the head,
efpecially on the crown, is inclined to violet: the plu¬
mage in general is olive green, inclining to yellow on
the under parts: the quills are brown ; the fecondaries
edged with olive : the colour of the tail is like that of
the fecondaries, and fomewhat forked : the legs are
dufky blue, and the claws black. It inhabits both the
iflands of New Zealand. It has an agreeable note in
general ; but at times fo varies and modulates the voice,
that it feems to imitate the notes of all other birds ;
hence it was called by the Englilh the Mocking-bird.
This bird being fond of thrufting its head into the
bofom of flowers which have a purplifli-coloured fa¬
rina, much of it adheres to the feathers about the
head and bill, and in courfe gives the appearance
above mentioned; but this in time rubs off, and the
colour of the head appears the fame with the reft of
the plumage.
CERTIFICATE (Trial by), in the law of Eng¬
land, a fpecies of trial allowed in fuch cafes where-
the evidence of the pcrfon certifying is the only proper
* See Trial, criterion of the point in difpute.#. For when the faff
in queftion lies out of the cognizance of the court, the
judges muft rely on the folemn averment or infonna-
Blackjt tion of perfons in fuch a ftation as affords them the
Comment, moft clear and competent 'knowledge of the truth. As
therefore fuch evidence, if given to a jury, muft have
been conclufive, the law, to fave trouble and circuity,
permits the fadt to be determined upon fuch certificate
merely. Thus, 1. If the iffue be whether A was ab-
fent with the king in his army out of the realm in time
of war, this fhall be tried by the certificate of the ma-
refchal of the king’s hoft in writing under his feal,
which fhall be fent to the juft-ices. 2. If, in order to
avoid an outlawry, or the like, it was alleged that
the defendant was in prifon, ultra mare, at Bourdeaux,
or in the fervice of the mayor of Bourdeaux, this fhould
have been tried by the certificate of the mayor; and
the like of the captain of Calais. But when this was
law, thofe towns were under the dominion of the
crown of England. And therefore, by a parity of
reafon, it fhould now hold, that in fimilar cafes arifing
at Jamaica or Minorca, the trial fhould be by certifi¬
cate from the governor of thofe iflands. We alfo find
that the certificate of the queen’s meflenger, fent to
fummon home a peerefs of the realm, was formerly
held a fufficient trial of the contempt in refufing to
obey fuch fummons. 3. For matters within the realm ;
the cuftoms of the city of London fhall be tried by
the certificate of the mayor and aldermen, certified by
the mouth of their recorder ; upon a furmife from the
party alleging it, that the cuftom ought to be thus
tried : elfe it muft be tried by the country. As, the
cuftom of diftributing the effedts of freemen deceafed 5
of enrolling apprentices; or that he who is free of
one trade may ufe another ; if any of thefe, or other
fimilar points come in iffue. 4. The trial of all cuf¬
toms and pra&ife of the courts fhall be by certificate
from the proper officers of thofe courts refpedlively 5
and what return was made on a writ by the flieriff or Cert:orau
under-fheriff, fhall be only tried by his own certi- M
ficate. CerrtMaI
CERTIORARI, in law, a writ which iffues out Ve
of the chancery, directed to an inferior court, to call *
up the records of a caufe there depending, in order
that juftice may be done. And this writ is obtained
upon complaint, that the party who feeks it has re¬
ceived hard ufage, or is not like to have an impartial
trial in the inferior court. A certiorari is made re¬
turnable either in the king’s bench, common pleas, or
in chancery.
It is not only iffued out of the court of chancery,
but likewife out of the king’s bench, in which laft
mentioned court it lies where the king would be cer¬
tified of a record. Indiftments from inferior courts,
and proceedings of the quarter-fefiions of the peace,
may alfo be removed into the king’s bench by a cer¬
tiorari : and here the very record muft be returned,
and not a tranfeript of it; though ufually in chancery,
if a certiorari be returnable there, it removes only the
tenor of the record.
CERTITUDE, confidered in the things or ideas
which are the objects of our underftanding, is a ne-
ceflary agreement or difagreement of one part of our
knowledge wuth another: as applied to the mind, it
is the perception of fuch agreement or difagreement;
or fuch a firm w'ell-grounded aflent, as excludes not
only all manner of doubt, but all conceivable poflibility
of a miftake.
There are three forts of certitude, or affurance, ac¬
cording to the different natures and circumftances of
things. 1 .Aphyficalor natural certitude, which depends
upon the evidence of fenfe ; as that I fee fuch or fuch
a colour, or hear fuch or fuch a found ; no body quef-
tions the truth of this, where the organs, the medium,
and the objedl, are rightly difpofed. 2. Mathematical
certitude is that arifing from mathematical evidence ;
fuch is, that the three angles of a triangle are equal
to two right ones. 3. Moral certitude is that founded
on moral evidence, and is frequently equivalent to a
mathematical one ; as that there was formerly fuch an
emperor as Julius Casfar, and that he wrote the com¬
mentaries which pafs under his name; becaufe the hif-
torians of thefe times have recorded it, and no man
has ever difproved it fince : this affords a moral certi¬
tude, in common fenfe fo great, that one would be
thought a fool or a madman for denying it.
CERTOSA, a celebrated Carthulian monaftery,
in the territory of the Pavefe, in the duchy of Milan,
four miles from Pavia ; its park is furrounded with a
wall 20 miles in circumference ; but there are feveral
fmall towns and villages therein.
CERVANTES. See Saavedra.
CERVERA, a town of Spain, in Catalonia, feated
on a fmall river of the fame name, in E. Long. 1. 9.
N. Lat. 41. 28.
CERVIA, a fea-port town of Italy, in Romagna;
with a bifhop’s fee, feated on the gulph of Venice, in
E. Long. 13. 5. N. Lat. 44. 16.
CERVICAL nerves, are feven pair of nerves, fo
called, as having their origin in the cervix, ©r neck.
Certical Vejfels, among anatomifts, denote the ar¬
teries, veins, &c. which pafs through the ver drx and
mufcles of the neck, -up to the fludl.
P p 2
CERVIX,
C E R t 300 ] C E R
Cervix CERVIX, in anatomy, properly denotes the hind
II part of the neck ; as contradilfinguifhed from the fore
_ er iS' part, which is jugulum, or the throat.
Cervix of the Scapula,, denotes the head of the
fhoulder-blade, or that upper procefs whofe fmus re¬
ceives the head of the humerus.
Cervix of the Uterus, the neck of the uterus, or that
oblong canal, or paffage between the internal and ex¬
ternal orifices, which receives and inclofes the. penis
like a fheath, whence it is alfo called Vagina.
CERUMEN,. a thick, vifeous, bitter, excremen-
titious humour,. feparated from the blood, by proper
glands placed in the nwatus. anditorius, or outer paffage
of the ear.
CERUSS., white-lead, a fort of calx of lead,
made by expofing plates of that metal to the vapour
of vinegar. See C h e m i s t a y-Index.
Cerufs, as a medicine,: is ufied externally either
mixed in ointments,,or by fprinkling it on old gleeting
and watery ulcers, and. in many difeafes of the Ikin.
If, when it is reduced:, into , a fine powder, it . is re¬
ceived in vvith the breath in infpiration, and carried
down into the lungs,, it caufes incurable a Mimas. In-
ftances of the very pernicious effefts of this metal are
too often feen among thofe perfons who work lead
in any form, but particularly, among the workers in
white-lead.
The painters ufe. it in great quantities; and that it
may be afforded cheap to. them, it is generally adul¬
terated with common whiting.
Plate CERVUS, or Deer, ia zoology, a genus of qua-
CXXiX, drupeds belonging to .the order of Pecora. The horns
^and^* are brittle, covered with a hairy Ikin, and
CXXXI. growing from the top ; they likewHe fall off and are
renewed annually. There are eight, fore-teeth, in the
under jaw, and they have, no dog-teeth. The fpecies
of this genus enumerated by Linn*us are. fevers in%.
1. Tire Camelopardalis, or Giraffe, with fimple or
unbranched horns, ftraight, about fix inches long,
covered with hair, and truncated at the end and tufted ;
in the forehead a tubercle, about two inches high, re*
fembling a.third horn. The fore legs are not much
longer than the hind legs; but the Moulders.are of a
vaft length, which gives the difproportionate height
between the fore and hind parts : the head is like that
of a flag : the neck is fiender and elegant, , and on the
upper fide is a Ihort mane : the ears are large : tail is
long, with.ftrong hairs at the end:, the colour of the
whole animal a dirty white,, marked wiih large broad
ruffy fpots. This is an uncommon animal, few of them
having been ever feen. in Europe.. It inhabits the fo-
refts of Ethiopia, and other interior parts of: Africa,
almolt as high as Senegal; but is not found in Guinea,
or any of the weftern parts; nor farther fouth than
iibout lat. 28. 10. It is very timid, but not fwift;.
and has been reprefented as living only by browfing
the trees, being unable from the difproportionate length
of its fore legs to graze or feed from the ground.
When it would leap, it lifts up its fore legs and then
its hind, like a horfe whofe fore legs are tied. It runs
very badly and aukwardly, and is very eafily taken.
The lateft and belt defeription of this extraordinary
quadruped is given'in the 16th number of a work en¬
titled, “ A Defeription of the uncommon Animals
and remarkable Produdions in the Cabinet and Me¬
nagerie of his Serefte Highnefsthe Prince of Orange ;55' Cervus,
by M. Vofmaer, Diredor of his Highnefs’s Collec-  v  
tions of Natural Hiffory. His account of the giraffe
is compofed partly from the notices of M. Vaillant and
Mr Gordon of the Cape of Good Hope, and partly,
from his own obfervations on the lie ins of four of thefe
animals, together with a.complete Ikeleton, in the ca- •
binet of curiofities under his care.
All the accounts we have of the giraffe, agree in
reprefenting its hind quarters as about z\ feet lower
than ks withers: but from obfervations made by the.
late profeffor Camper on the above mentioned Ikele¬
ton, it. would appear that naturaliffs have been greatly
miftaken in this, particular. That its fore legs are
longer than its hind legs,, is indeed true ; but the dif¬
ference is not more than feven inches, which, in a
height of feven. feet, is no great matter. It may, ,
however (the profeffor obferves), be rendered appa¬
rently more, coniiderable by the obliquity of the thigh--
bone with refped.to the tibia,- when compared with,
that of. the humerus to the radius.
The giraffe has always been celebrated for the.
gentienefa of its difppfition. Antonius Conffantius, a.
writer of the 15th century, in a letter to Galeas Man^
fredi. Prince of Faenza, dated Fano, 16th December
i486, gives an account of a giraffe which he faw-
there. He fays; it. was fo gentle, that it would eat
bread, hay, or fruit, out of the hand of a child ; and
that, when led through the ftreet, it would take what¬
ever food of this kind, was offered tp it by the fpetta-
tors at tire windows, as - it paffed along. Tins cha-»
rafter is confirmed by Mr Gordon,, who relates, that
a giraffe, whi^ia he had wounded, fuffered him to ap¬
proach it as it lay on the ground, without offering to -
Itrike with its horns, or Mowing any inclination to re¬
venge itfelf: he even ftroked it over its eyes feveral
times, when, it only clofed them, without any figns of
refentment. Its throat was afterwards cut. for the
fake of its ikin ; and,when, in the pangs of death, it
Muck the ground with its feet with a force much ,
exceeding that, of any other animal, and thefe feem to
be its principal means of deience. M. Vofmaer oh-
ferves, that both the male and female are furniihed
with horns,, which, from their fize and form, feem .
intended merely for ornament: they appear to be ex-
crefcences of tire os frontis, and therefore, are probably
not deciduous. Tire notion, of fome writers, that the
giraffe cannot feed from the ground, is confuted by
the teftimony of M. Vaillant, who afferts, that it can
even drink from a river, the furface of. which is lower
than the bank on which it Hands- M.. Vofmaer ob-
ferves, that this account is confirmed by confidering.
the ftrufture of the neck, the vertebras of which are
connefted with thofe of the back by a very ftrong
ligament.
The giraffe here deferibed, which Mr Gordon,, who
diffefted it, fays, was the largeft he had ever feen,. was
15 feet 4,inches Rhinland meafure (about 15 feet id
inches EngliM) from the ground to the top of its
head ; the length of the body, from the cheit to the
rump, was 5 feet 7 inches Rhinland meafure. M.
Vaillant afferts, that he has feen feveral which were at
leaft 17 feet high; and M. Vofmaer declares, that he
has been affured by fome very refpectable inhabitants
of the Cape, that they had feen and killed giraffes,
which.
C E R [sot ] C E R
wKfch, including the horns, were 22 Rhinland feet in
height.
The giraffe was known to the Romans in early
times. It appears among the figures in the affemblage
of eaftevn animals oh the celebrated Prasneftine Pave¬
ment, made by the dir eft ion of Sylla ; and is repre-
fented both grazing and browfing, in its natural at¬
titudes. It was exhibited at Rome by the popular
Ox fir, among other animals in the Circaean games.
2. The Alces, Elk, or Moofe Deer, has palmated
horns, without any proper flem, and a fleihy protu¬
berance on the throat. The neck is much fhorter
than the head, with a fhort, thick, upright mane, of
a light brown colour. The eyes are fmall; the ears
a foot long, very broad and douching; noftrils very
largethe upper lip fquare, hangs greatly over the
lower, and has a deep fulcus in the middle, fo as to
appear almcft bifid. This is the bulkieft animal of the
deer kind, being fometimes 17 hands high,.and weigh¬
ing above 1200 pounds. The female is lefs than the
male, and wants horns. The elks inhabit the ifie of
Gape Breton, Nova Scotia, and the weftern fide of
the bay of Fundy; Canada, and the country round
the great lakes, almoft as far fouth as the river Ohio.
Thefe are its prefent northern and fouthern limits. In
all ages it affefted the cold and'woody regions in Eu¬
rope, Afia, and America. They are found in all the
woody tracts of the temperate parts of Ruffia, but not
on the Arftic flats, nor yet in Kamtfchatka. In Si¬
beria they are of a monflrous-fize*. particularly among
the mountains* The; elk and the moofe,, according
to Mr Pennant, are the fame fpecies ; the laft derived
from tnu/u, which in the Algonkin language fignifies
that animal.. The Englifh ufed to call it the black
moofe, to diflinguifh it from the flag, which they
named thee grey moofe. The French call it Vorig-
nal.
Thefe animals refide amidft forefts, for the conve-
niency of browfing the boughs of trees, becaufe they
are prevented from grazing with any kind of eafe, by
reafon. of the fliortnefs of their necks and length of
their legs. They often, have recourfe to water-plants,
which they can readily get at by wading. M. Sarra-
fxn fays, that they; are veiy fond of the anagyris fee-
tida,', or {linking bean trefoil,.. and will uncover the
fnow with their feet in order to get at it. In palling
through the woods, they raife their heads to a hori¬
zontal pofition, to prevent their horns from being en¬
tangled in the branches. They have a lingular gait;
their pace is a-lhambling trot, but they go with great
fwiftnefs. In their common walk they lift their feet
very high, and will without, any difficulty Hep over
a-gate five feet high. They feed principally in the
night.. If they graze, it is always againft. an afeent;
an advantage they u£e for the reafon -above afligned.
They ruminate like the ox. They go. to rut in au¬
tumn ; are at that time very furious, feeking the fe¬
male by fwimming from ifie to ille. They bring two
young at a Birth, in the month of April, which follow
the dam a whole year. During the fummer they keep
in families. In deep fnows they colleft in numbers in
the forefts of pints, for proteftion. from the incle-
ihency of the weather under the flicker of thofe ever¬
greens. They are very inoffenfive, except in the rut-
Ar
ting-feafon 5 or except they are wounded, when they Cervus.
will turn on the alfailant, and attack him with their v
horns, or trample him to death beneath their great
hoofs.
The flefli of the moofe is extremely fweet and nou-
rilhing. The Indians fay, that they can travel three
times farther aftei a meal of moofe, than after any '
other animal food. The tongues are excellentbut
the nofe is perfeft: marrow, and efteemed the greateil
delicacy in Canada. The fkin makes excellent buff
being llrong, foft, and light. The Indians drefs the>
hide, and, after foaking it for fome time, llretch and
render it fupple by a lather of the brains in hot water.
They not only make their fnow-lhbes of the Ikin, but
after a, chafe form the canoes' with it: they few the
Ikins neatly together, cover the feams with an unftu--
ous earth, and. embark in them with their fpoils to;
return home. The hair on the neck, withers, and
hams of a full-grown elk, is of much- ufe in making
matttelTes-and faddles; being by its great length well
adapted for thofe purpofes. The palmated parts of
the horns are farther excavated by the favages, and.
converted into ladles, which will hold a pint.
It is not ftrange that fo ufeful an animal Ihould be
a principal objeft of chafe. The favages perform it
in different ways. The fix'll, and the more Ample, is
before the lakes or rivers are frozen. Multitudes af-
femble. in their canoes,, and form with. them a vail
crefcent, each horn touching the Ihore. Another
party perform their lhare of the chafe among the -
woods they furround an exteniive traft, let loofe their
dogs, and prefs towards the water with , loud cries ,
The animals, alarmed with the noife, fly before the -
hunters, and plunge into the lake, where they are
killed by the perfons in the canoes, prepared for their
reception,. with lances or clubs. The other method
is more artful. The favagea inclofe a large Xpace with
Hakes hedged with branches of trees, forming two
lides of a triangle : the bottom opens into a fecond in-
clofure, completely triangular. At the opening are
hung numbers of fnares, made of flips of raw hides.
The Indians, as before, affemble in great troops, and
with all kinds of noifes drive into the firft inclofure
not only the moofes, but tire other fpecies of deer
which abound in that country : fome, in forcing their
way into the farthell triangle, are caught in-tlie, fiiares- -■
by the neck or horns; and thofe which, efcape- the.
fnares, and pafs the little-opening, find their fate from
the arrows of the hunters, direfted. at them, from all
quarters. They are often killed with the gun.' When
they are firfl.-unharboured, they fquat with their hind
parts and make water, at which inltant the fpprtfman -
fires ; if he miffes, the moofe fets.-off.in a moll rapid
trot, making, like the rein-deer, a prodigious rattling
with its hoofs, and will.run for- 20.or 30. miles.before
it comes to bay or takes the water. But the ufual,
time for this xliverfion is the winter. The hunters
avoid entering on the chafe till the fun is ftrong enough
to melt the frozen ct ull . with . which the fnow is co¬
vered, otherwife the animal can run over the firm fur-
face: they wait till it becomes foft enough to impede
the flight of the moofe ; which finks up to the Ihould- -
ers, flounders, and gets on with gx-eat difficulty. The.
fportfman purfues at his cafe on his broad rackets^ or
fnow*
C E R ' L 302 1 C E R
fnow-fhoes, and makes a ready prey of the diftrefled
’ animals.
As weak again ft the mountain heaps they pufh
Their beating bread in vain, and piteous bray,
He lays them quivering on. th’ enfanguin’d fnows.
And with loud (bouts rejoicing bears them home.
Thompson.
The opinion of this animal’s being fubjeft to the
epilepfy feems to have been univerfal, as well as the
cure it finds by fcratehing its ear with the hind hoof
till it draws blood. That hoof has been ufed in Indian
medicine for the falling-ficknefs ; they apply it to the
heart of the afflicted, make him hold it in his left
hand, and rub his ear with it. They ufe it alfo in the
colic, pleurify, vertigo, and purple fever; pulverifing
the hoof, and drinking it in water. The Algonkins
pretend that the fleffl imparts the difeafe ; but it is no¬
torious that the hunters in a manner live on it with
impunity. The favages efteem the moofe a bead of
good omen ; and are. perfuaded that thofe who dream
often of it may flatter themfelves with long life.
The elk was known to the Romans by the name of
Alee and Machlis : they believed that it had no joints
in its legs; and, from the great fize of the upper lip,
imagined it could not feed without going backward
as it grazed.
3. The Elaphus, or Stag, with long cylindrical
ramified horns bent backwards, and flender (harp brow
antlers. The colour is generally a reddifh brown with
fome black about the face, and a black lid down the
hind part of the neck and between the (houlders.
Stags are common to Europe, Barbary, the north of
Afia, and America. In fpring, they died their horns,
which fall off fpontaneouily, or by rubbing them
gently againd the branches of trees. It is feldom that
both horns fall off at the fame time, the one generally
preseding the other a day or two. The old dags cad
their horns fird, wdiich happens about the end of Fe¬
bruary or beginning of March. An aged dag, or one
in his feventh year or upwards, does not cad his horns
before the middle of March ; a (tag of fix years (beds
his horns in April; young dags, or thofe from three
to five years old, (bed their horns in the beginning,
and thofe which are in their fecond year, not till the
middle or end of May. But in all this there is much
variety ; for old dags fometimes cad their horns
fooner than thofe which are younger. Beiides, the
(bedding of the horns is advanced by a mild, and re¬
tarded by a fevere and long winter.
As foon as the dags cad their horns, they -feparate
from each other, the young ones only keeping toge¬
ther. They no longer haunt the deeped recedes of
the fored, but advance into the cultivated country,
and remain among brufliwood during the fummer, till
their horns are renewed. In this feafon, they walk
with their heads low to prevent their horns from rub¬
bing againd the branches ; for they continue to have
fenfibility till they acquire their full growth. The
horns of the oldeff dags are not half completed in the
middle of May, and acquire their full length and hard-
nefs before the end of July. Thofe of the younger
dags are proportionally later both in (bedding and
being renewed. But as foon as they have acquired^
their full dimenfions and folidity, the dags rub them
againd the trees, in order to clear them of a (kin Cerv
with which they are covered.
Soon after the dags have poliffled their horns, they
begin to feel the imprefiions of love. Towards the
end of Augud or beginning of September, they leave
the coppice, return to the foreds, and fearch for the
hinds. They cry with a loud voice ; their neck and
throat fwell; they become perfectly redlefs, and tra-
verfe in open day the fields and the fallow grounds;
they drike their horns againd trees and hedges ; in a
word, they feem to be tranfported with fury, and run
from country to country till they find the hinds or
females, whom they purfue and compel into compli¬
ance ; for the female at fird avoids and flies from the
male, and never fubmits to his embraces till (he be
fatigued .with the purfuit. The old hinds likewife
come in feafon before the younger ones. When two
dags approach the fame hind, they mud fight before
they enjoy. If nearly equal in drength, they threaten,
paw the ground, fet up terrible cries, and attack each
other with fuch fury, that they often inflidt mortal
wounds with the drokes of their horns. The combat
never terminates but in the defeat or flight of one of
the rivals. The conqueror lofes not a moment in en¬
joying his vidtory, unlefs another rival approaches,
whom he is again obliged to attack and repel. The
olded flags are always maders of the field ; becaufe
they are ilronger and more furious than the young
ones, who mud wait patiently till their fuperiors tire,
and quit their midreffes. Sometimes, however, the
young dags accomplifti their purpofes when the old
ones are fighting, and, after a haffy gratification, fly
off. The hinds prefer the old dags, not becaufe they
are mod courageous, but becaufe they are much more
ardent. They are likewife more inconflant, having
often feveral females at a time ; and when a dag has
but one hind, his attachment to her does not conti¬
nue above a few days: He then leaves her, goes in
quefl of another, with whom he remains a dill fhorter
time; and in this manner paffes from one to ano¬
ther till he is perfedtly exhauded.
This ardour of love lads only three weeks, during
which the flags take very little food, and neither deep
nor red. Night and day, they are either walking,
running, fighting, or enjoying the hinds. Hence, at
the end of the rutting feafon, they are fo meagre and
exhauded, that they recover not their drength for a
confiderable time. They generally retire to the bor¬
ders of the foreds, feed upon the cultivated fields,
where they find plenty of nourifliraent, and remain
there till their drength is re-effabliflied. The rutting
feafon of old dags commences about the beginning,
and ends about the 20th day of September. In thole
of fix or feven years old, it begins about the 1 oth of
September, and concludes in the beginning of October.
In young dags, or thofe in their third, fourth, or fifth
year, it begins about the 20th of September, and ter¬
minates about the 15 th of October; and at the end
of October, the rutting is all over, excepting among
the prickets, or thofe which have entered into their
fecond year; becaufe they, like the young hinds, are
lated of coming into feafon. Hence, at the begin¬
ning of November, the feafon of love is entirely finiffled ;
and the dags, during this period of weaknefs and laf
fitude, are eafily hunted down. In feafons when acorns
'
C E R [ 303 1 C E R
Cervns. and other nuts are plentiful, the ftairs foon recover artifice to encourage and deceive him. In general, he
their ftrength, and a fecond rutting frequently hap- is lefs afraid of men than of dogs, and is never fufpi-
pens at the end of October ; but it is of much fhorter cious, or ufes any arts of concealment, but in propor-
duration than the fir ft. tion to the difturbances he has received. He eats flow,
- In climates warmer than that of France, the rutting and has a choice in his aliment; and after his fto-
time, like the feafons, is more forward. Ar.ftotle mach is full, he lies down, and ruminates at leifure.
informs us, that, in Greece, it commences in the He feems to ruminate with lefs facility than the ox.
beginning of Auguft, and terminates about the end It is only by violent (hakes that the fl ag can make
of September. The hinds go with young eight months the food rife from his firft ftomach. This difficulty
' and fome days, and feldom produce more than one proceeds from the length and direction of the pafiage
fawn. They bring forth in May or the beginning of through which the aliment has to go. The neck of
June, and fo ' nxioufly conceal tlieir fawns, that they the ox is ffiort and ftraiglit, but that of the flag is
often expofe thcmfelves to he chafed, with a view to long and arched ; and therefore greater efforts are nc-
draw off the dogs, and afterwards return to take care ceffary to raife the food. Thefe efforts are made by
-» of their young. All hinds are not fertile ; for fome a kind of hiccup, the movement of which is apparent,
of them never conceive. Thefe barren lauds are groffer and continues during the time of rumination. His
and fatter than thofe which are prolific, and alfo come voice is ftronger, and more quivering, in proportion as
fooneft in feafon. The young are not calk'd fawns or he advances in years. The voice of the hind is (liorter
calves after the lixth month : The knobs of their horns and more feeble. She never bellows from love, but
then begin to appear, and they take the name of from fear. The flag, during the rutting feafon, bel-
knoblers till their horns lengthen into fpears.% and then lows in a frightful manner: He is then.fo' transported,
they are called brocks or /laggards. During the firft that nothing difturbs or terrifies him. He is there-
feafon, they never leave their mothers. In winter, the fore eafily furprifed ; as he is Loaded with fat, he
flags and hinds, of all ages, keep together in flocks, cannot keep long before the dogs. But he is dan<'-e-
which are always more numerous in proportion to the rous when at bay, and attacks the dogs with a fpeeies
rigour of the feafon. They feparate in fpring : The of fury. He drinks none in winter nor in fpring,
hinds retire to bring forth ; and, during this period, the dews and tender herbage being then fufficient to
the flocks confiil only of knobbers and young flags, extinguifh his third ; but, during the parching heats
In general, the flags are inclined to affociate, and no- of fummer, to obtain drink, he frequents the brooks,,
thing but fear or neceflity obliges them to difperfe. the marfhes, and the fountains ; and in the feafon of
The life of the flag is fpent in alternate plenty and love, he, is fo over-heated, that he fearches every where
want, vigour and debility, health and ficknefs, with- for water, not only to fatisfy his immoderate third,
out having any change introduced into his conflitution but to bathe and refrefh his body.. He then fwims
by thefe oppofitc extremes. He lives as long as other eafier than at any other times on account of his fat-
animals which are not fubjected to fuch viciffitudes. nefs. He has been obferved croffingvery large rivers.
As he grows five or fix years, be lives feven times that It has even been alleged, that, attracted by the odour
number, or from 35 to 40 years. What has been re- of the hinds, the dags, in the rutting feafon, throw
ported concerning the longevity of the flag merits no themfelves into the fea, and pafs from one ifland to
credit. It is only a popular prejudice which prevailed another at the diflance of feveral leagues. They leap
in the days of Ariftotle, and which that philofopher Hill more nimbly than they fwim ; for, when purfued,
confidered as improbable, becaufe neither the time of they eafily clear a hedge or a pale fence of fix feet
geftation, nor of the growth of the young flag, indi- high. Their food varies in different feafons. In au-
cated long life. This authority ought to have abolifhed tumn, after rutting, they fearch for the buds of green
the prejudice ; but it has been renewed, in the ages fbrubs, the flowers of broom or heath, the leaves of
of ignorance, by a fabulous account of a flag taken by brambles, &c. During the fnows of winter, they feed
Charles VI. in the forefl of Senlis, with a collar upon upon the bark, mofs, &c. of trees; and in mild
which was written this infeription, Cerfar hoc me dona- weather, they browfe in the wheat-fields. In the be-
to>. The love of the marvellous inclined men to be- ginning of fpring, they go in quell of the catkins of
lieve that this animal had Jived 1000 years, and had the trembling poplar, willow, and hazel-trees, the
his collar from a Roman emperor, rather than to fup- flowers and buds of the cornel tree, <?;c. In (ummer,
pofe that he came from Germany, where all the em- when they have great choice, they prefer rye to all'
perors take the name of Crfar. other grain, and the black berry-bearing alder to all
The flag appears to have a fine eye, an acute fmell, other wood. The flefli of the fawn is very good : that
and an excellent ear. When liflening, he raifes his of the hind and knobber not abfolutely bad ; but that
head, eredls his ears, and hears from a great diftance. of the Hag has always a ftrong and difagreeable tafle.
When he is going into a coppice, or other half covered The fkin and the horns are the moll ufeful parts of
place, he flops to look round him on all fides, and this animal. The llcin makes a pliable and very
feents the wind, to difeover if any object is near that durable leather. The horns are ufed by cutlers*,
might difturb him. He is a fimple, and yet a curious fword-flippers, &c. and a volatile 1’pirit, much em-
and crafty animal. When hided or called to from a ployed in medicine, is extracted fiom them by the
diftance, he flops fhort, and looks fledfaftly, and with chymifts.
a kind of admiration, at carriages, cattle, or men; In America, flags feed'eagerly on the-broad-leaved
and if they have neither arms nor dogs, he moyes on kalmia ; yet that plant is a poifbn to all other horned
unconcernedly, and without flying. He appears to animals: their inteftines are found filled with it chi-
liflen, with great tranquillity and delight, to the fhep- ring winter. If their entrails are given to dogs, they
herd’s pipe; and the hunters fometimes employ this become flupifud,. and as if drunk, and often are fo ill
Cervus.
C E R [ 304 ] C E R
as hardly to efcape with life. The American flags
grow very fat: their tallow is much efleemed for ma¬
king of candles. The Indians ihoot them. As they
.are very fhy animals, the natives cover theinfelves with
•a hide, leaving the horns ere6l; under fhelter of which
■they walk within reach of the herd. De Brie, in the
25th plate of the Hiflory of Florida, gives a very'cu¬
rious reprefentation of this artful method of chafe,
when it was vifited by the French in 1564. Their
jkins are an article of commerce imported by the Hud-
fon’s Bay company ; but brought from the diflant
’parts far inland by the Indians, who bring them from
-the neighbourhood of the lakes. In moil parts of
North America they are called the grey moofe, and
sthe elk; this has given occafion to the miflaken no¬
tion of that great animal being found in. Virginia and
/other fouthern provinces.
Tni Britain the flag is become lefs common than for-
.merly ; its exetffive vicioufnefs during the rutting fea-
fon, and the badnefs of its flefh, induce moil people to
■ part with the fpecies. Stags are dill found wild in the
•Highlands of Scotland, in herds of four or five hundred
■together, ranging at full liberty over the vafl hills of
the north. Formerly the great Highland chieftains
-ufed to hunt with the magnificence of an eaftern mo¬
narch, alTembling four or five thoufand of their clan,
.-who drove the deer into the toils or to the ftations
-the lairds had placed themfelves in, t but as this pre¬
tence was frequently ufed to colleft their vaffals for
• rebellious purpofes, an aft was psffed prohibiting any
laffemblies of this nature. Stags are likewife met with
on the moors that border on Cornwal and Devonfhire;
•and in Ireland on the mountains of Kerry, where they
■add greatly to the magnificence of the romantic fee-
.nery to the lake of Killarny. The Hags of Ireland
-during its uncultivated date, and while it remained an
. aimed boundlef&traft of Tored, had an exaft agree¬
ment in habit with thofe that range at prefent
-through the wilds of America. They were lefs in
body, but very fat; and their horns of a fize far fu-
perior to. thofe of Europe, but in form agreed in all
-points.
The chace of the dag has been formed into an art,
and requires a.fpecies of knowledge which can only
fbe learned by experience: It implies a royal alfem-
rblage of men, horfes, and dogs, all fo trained, prac-
tifed, and difeiplined, that their movements, their re-
fearches, and their Ikill, mud concur in producing one
common end. The huntfman Ihould know the age
and the fex of the animal} he ihould be able to di-
flinguiih with precifion, whether the dag he has har¬
boured with his hound be a knobber, a young dag,
in his fixth or feventh year, or an old flag. The chief
marks which convey this intelligence is derived from
the foot, and the excrement. The foot of the dag is
better formed than that of the hind, or female. Her
leg is more grofs and nearer the heel. The imprefiions
4>f his feet are rounder, and farther removed from each
other. He moves more regularly, and brings the hind
■foot into the impreffion made by the fore-foot. But
the didance between the deps of the hind are ihorter,
and her hind-feet ftrike not fo regularly the track of
the fore feet. As foon as the dag acquires his fourth
-horns, he is eafily diltinguiihed ; but to know the
Toot of a young flag from that of a hind, requires re-
N° 68-
peated experience. Stags of fix, feven, See. years, Canros.
are dill more, eafily known ; for their foie-foot is " 'J~~m
much larger than ihe Tiind foot; the older they are,
the fides of their feet are the more worn ; the didaace
of their deps are more regular than thofe of young
flags; they always place their hind-foot exaftly in the
track of the fore-foot, excepting, when they filed their
horns, the old dags mifplace, at this feafon, nearly as
often as the young ones; but in this they are more re¬
gular than the hind or young dag, placing the hind foOt
alwavs at the fide of the fore-foot, and never beyond or
within it. When the huntfman, from the drynefs of the
feafon, or other circumdances, cannot judge by the foot,
he is obliged to trace the animal backwards, and en¬
deavour to find his dung. This mark requires, per¬
haps, greater experience than the knowledge of the
foot; but without it the huntfman would be unable
to give a proper report'to the company. After the
report of the huntfman, and the dogs are led to the
refuge of the flag, he ought to encourage his hound,
and make him red upon the track of the dag, till the
animal be unharboured. Indantly the alarm is given
to uncouple the dogs, which ought to be enlivened by
the. voice and the horn of the huntfman. He fhould
alfo diligently obferve the foot of the dag, in order to
difeover whether the animal has darted, and fubdituted
.another in his place. But it is then the bufinefs of the
hunters to feparate alfo, and to recal the dogs which
have gone, adray after falfe game. The huntfman
.fhould always accompany his dogs, and encourage,
without preffing them too hard. He fhould affifl
them in detefting all the arts of efcape ufed by the
flag ; for this animal has remarkable addrefs in de¬
ceiving the dogs. With this view, he often returns
twice or thrice upon his former deps; he endeavours
to raife hinds or younger dags to accompany him, and
draw off the dogs from the objeft of their purfuitr
he then flies with redoubled fpeed, or fprings off at
fide, lies down on his belly, and conceals himitlf. In
this cafe, when the dogs have loft his foot, the huntf-
men, by going backwards and forwards, aflifl them in
recovering it. But if they cannot find it, they fup-
pofe that he is refting within the circuit they have
made, and go in queft of him. But if they are Hill
unable to difeover him, there is no other method left,
but, from viewing the country, to conjefture where he
may have taken refuge, and repair to the place. As
foon as they have recovered his foot, and put the dogs
upon the track, they purfug with more advantage, be-
caufe they perceive that the flag is fatigued. Their
ardour augments in proportion to his feeblenefs; and
their feent becomes more diftinft as the animal grows
warm. Hence they redouble their cries and their
fpeed ; and though the flag praftifes flill more arts of
efcape than formerly, as his fwiftnefs is diminifhed, his
arts and doublings become gradually lefs effeftual. He
has now no other refource but to fly from the earth
which he treads, and get into the waters, in order to
cut off the feent from the dogs. The bmitfmen go
round thefe waters, and again put ti e dogs on the
track of his foot. The flag, after taking to the wa¬
ter, is incapble of running far, and is foon at bay.
But he ft ill attempts to defend his life, and often
wounds the dogs, and even the hunt fmen when too for¬
ward, by blows with his horns, till one of them cuts his
hams
SET3.YUS .
Tlate CXXX.
G E R [ 305 ] C E R
hams to make him fall, and then puts an end to his
life by a blow of a hanger. They now celebrate the
death of the flag by a flour i(h of their horns; the dogs
are allowed to trample upon him, and at laft partake
richly of the victory by devouring his fleih.
4. The Tarandus, or Rein-deer, is' a native of
Lapland, and the northern parts of Eprope, Alia, and
America. The horns are large, cylindrical, branched,
and palmated at the tops. Two of the branches hang
over the face. He is about the fize of a buck, of a
dirty whitiih .colour ; the hairs of his ikin are thick and
firong. To the Laplanders this animal is the fubftitute
of the horfe, the cow, the goat, and the iheep; and
is their only wealth: the milk affords them cheefe;
the fldh, food; the ikin, cloathing ; the tendons, bow-
firings ; and when fplit, thread; the horns, glue;
the bones, fpoons. During the winter it fupplies the
want of a .horfe, and draws,their fledges with ama¬
zing fwiftnefs over the frozen lakes and rivers, .or
over the fnow, which at that time covers the whole
country. A rich Laplander is poffeffed of a herd of
1000 rein deer. In autumn they feek the higheft hills,
to avoid the Lapland gad-fly, which at that time de-
pofits its eggs in their fkin ; it is the peft of thefe ani¬
mals, and numbers die that are thus vifited. The
moment a Angle fly appears, the whole herd inilantly
perceives it; they fling up their heads, tofs about
their horns, and at once attempt to fly for {belter
amidft-the fnows of the loftieff Alps. In fummerthey
feed on feveral plants; but during winter on the rein¬
liverwort, which lies far beneath the fnow, which
they remove with their feet and palmated brow ant¬
lers, in order to get at their beloved food.
The Samoieds, lefs intelligent than the Laplanders,
confider them in no other view than as animals of
draught, to convey them to the chafe of the wild reins;
which they kill for the fake of the fkins, either to
clothe themfelves, or to cover their tents. They know
not the cleanly delicacy of the milk or cheefe; but
prefer for their repaft the inteftines of beads, or the
half-putrid flefti of a horfe, ox, or (beep, which they
find dead on the high road.—The Koreki, a nation
of Kamtfchatka, may be placed on a level with the
Samoieds. They keep immenfe herds of reins ; fome
of the richeft to the amount of 10 or 20 thoufand;
yet fo fordid are they as to eat none except fuch as
they kill for the fake of the fkins; an article of com¬
merce with their neighbours the Kamtfchatkans;
otherwife they content themfelves with the flefh of thofe
which die by difeafe or chance. They train them in
the fledge, but negleA them for every dome flic pur-
pofe. Their hiftorian fays, they couple two to each
carriage ; and that the deer will travel 150 verfts in a
"day, that is, 112 Engliflt miles. They caftrate the
males by piercing the fpermatic arteries, and tying the
fcrotum tight with a thong.—The favage and unin¬
formed Efkimaux and Greenlanders, who poffefs, amidft
their fnows, thefe beautiful animals,' negleft not only
the domeftic ufes, but even are ignorant of their advan¬
tage in the fledge. Their element is properly the wa¬
ter ; their game the feals. They feem to want powers
to domefticate any animals except dogs. They are at
enmity with all; confider them as an objedt of chafe,
and of no utility till deprived of life. The flelh of the
rein is the moft coveted part of their food; they eat it
Vol.TV. Part L >
raw, dreffed, and dried and fmoked .with the fnow
lichen. The wearied hunters will drink the raw blood ;
but it is ufually dreffed with the berries of the heath;
they eagerly devour the contents of the ftomach, but
ufe the inteftines boiled. They are very fond of the
fat, and will not lofe the leaft bit. The {kin, fome-
times a part of their cloathing, dreffed with the hair
on, is foft and pliant; it forms alfo the inner lining
of their tents, and moft excellent blankets. The ten¬
dons are their bow-ftrings, and when fplit are the
threads with which they few their jackets.
The Greenlanders, before they acquired the know¬
ledge of the gun, caught them by what was called
the clapper-hunt. The women and children furrounded
a large fpace, and, where people were wanting, fet up
poles capped with a turf in certain intervals, to terrify
the animals; they then with great noife drove the
reins into the narrow defiles, where the men lay in wait
and killed them with harpoons or darts. But they are
now become very fcarce.
The rein-deers are found in the neighbourhood of
Hudfon’s Bay, in moft amazing numbers, columns of
eight or ten thoufand are feen annually palling from
north to fouth in the months of March and April,
driven out of the woods by the mulketoes, feeking re-
freftiment on the fttore, and a quiet place to drop their
young. They go to rut in September, and the males
foon after filed their horns; they are at that feafon
very fat, but fo rank and mufky as not to be eatable.
The females drop their young in June, in the moft fe-
queftered fpots they can find ; and then they likewife
lofe their horns. Beafts of prey follow the herds:
firft, the wolves, who fingle out the ftragglers (for they
fear to attack the drove), detach and hunt them down ;
the foxes attend at a diftance, to pick up the offals left
by the former. In autumn the deer with the fawns re¬
migrate northward. The Indians are very attentive
to their motions ; for the rein forms the chief part not
only of their drefs but of their food. They often kill
multitudes for the fake of their tongues only; but ge¬
nerally they feparate the flefti from the bones, and pre-
ferve it by drying it in the fmoke ; they alfo fave the
fat, and fell it to the Englifti in bladders, who ufe it
in fr ying inftead of butter. The {kins are alfo an ar¬
ticle of commerce, and ufed in London by the
Breeches-makers. The Indians flioot them in thewinter.
The Englifti make hedges with ftakes and boughs of
trees along the woods for five miles in length, leaving
openings at proper intervals befet with fnares, in which
multitudes are taken. The Indians alfo kill great
numbers during the feafons of migration, watching in
their canoes, and fpearing them while paffing over the
rivers of the country, or from ifland to ifland ; for they
fwim moft admirably well.
5. The Dama or Fallow-deer, Buck and Doe ; with
horns branched, compreffed, and palmated at the top.
The colour is various ; reddifti, deep brown, white or
fpotted. This fpecies is not fo univerfal as the ftag :
rare in France and Germany. It is found in Greece,
the Holy Land, and the north of China. They are
very numerous in England; but, except on a few
chafes, confined in parks. None originally in Ame¬
rica. They are eafily tamed; and their flefti, which
goes by the name of venifon, is in high efteem among
the luxurious. During rutting-time they will contend
Qjq with
Cervus.
Ceryos*
C E R t 306 I C E R
with each other for their millrefs, but arelefs fierce than in difpofition, temperament, manners, and almofl every
the flag; during that feafon, the male will form a hole natural habit. Inftead of affociating in herds, they'
in the ground, make the female lie down in it, and live in feparate families. The father, mother, and
then often walk round and fmell at her. Moore fpeaks young, go together, and never mix with Grangers,
of a fpecies found on the banks of the Gambia, in the They are conffant in their amours, and never unfaith-
interior parts of Africa, near Barracunda, called Ton- ful like the flag. As the females generally produce
cong, which he fays differed not in form from the two fawns, the one male and the other female, thefe
Englifh fallow-deer; only that its fize was equal to young animals, brought up and nourilhed together, ac-
that of a fmall horfe, and weighed 300 lb. It had alfo quire fo ftrong a mutual affe&ion, that they never quit
on its neck an ereft black mane, four or five inches each other, unlefs one of them meets with a misfortune,
long.—Mr White, in his Natural Hiftory of Pelbora, which never ought to feparate lovers. This attach-
mentions, as a piece of information to naturalifts, that ment is more than love ; for though always together,
if fome curious gentleman would procure the head of they feel the ardour of the rut but once a year, and it
a fallow deer, and have it diffedted, he would find it continues only fifteen days, commencing at the end of
furniihed with twoor breathing-places, be- Odtober, and ending before the fifteenth day of No-
fides the noftrils ; probably analogous to ii\c puniia vember. They are not then, like the flag, overloaded
in the human head. When deer are thirity with fat: they have no ftrong .fmell, no fury, in a-
they plunge their nofes, like fome horfes, very deep word, nothing that can change the date of their bodies,
under water, while in the adt of drinking, and con- During this period, they indeed fuffer not their fawns
tinue them in that fituation for a confiderable time ; to remain with them. The father drives them off, as
but, to obviate any inconveniency, they "can open two if he meant to oblige them to yield their place to thofe
vents, one at the inner corner of each eye, having a which are to fuceeed, and to form new families for
communication with the nofe. This feems, as our themfelves. However, after the rutting feafon is paft,
author obferves, to be an extraordinary provifion of the fawns return to their mother, and remain with her
nature ; for it looks as if thefe creatures could not be fome time; after which they feparate for ever, and
fuffocated, though their mouths and noftrils were both remove to a diftance from the place which gave them
flopped. This curious formation of the head, he far- birth.
ther remarks, may be of lingular fe'rvice to beafts of The female goes with young five months and a half,
chafe, by affording them free refpiratton ; and no doubt and brings forth about the end of April or beginning
thefe additional noftrils are thrown open when they are of May. She produces two at a time, which fhe is
hard run. Mr Pennant has obferved the fame curious obliged to conceal from the buck while very young,
organization in the antelope. See Capra. In 10 or 12 days they acquire ftrength fufficient to en-
6. The Capreolus, or Roe buck, has ere&, cylindri- able them to follow her. When threatened with
cal, branched horns, and forked at the top. His fize danger, fire hides them in a clofe thicket, and, to pre-
is only three feet nine inceslong, two feet three inches ferve them, prefents herfelf to be chaced. But not¬
high, before, and two feet feven inches high behind: withftanding all her care and anxiety, the young are
weight from 50 to 60 lb. Though the leaft of the deer- .fometimes carried off by men, dogs, or wolves,
kind, his figure is moft elegant and handfome. His Roe-bucks prefer a mountainous woody country to a
eyes are more brilliant and animated than thofe of the plain one. They were formerly Very/common in Wales*
ftag. His limbs are more nimble, his movements in the north of England, and in Scotlasd ; but at pre-
quicker, and he bounds, feemingly without effort, with fent the fpecies nowhere exifts in Great Britain except
equal vigour and agility. His coat, or hair, is always in the Scottifti highlands. In France they are more
clean, fmooth, and gloffy. He never wallows in the frequent; they are alfo found in Italy, Sweden, and
mire like the ftag. He delights in dry and elevated Norway ; and in Afia they are met with in Siberia,
lituations, where the air is pureft. He is likewife The firft that are met with in Great Britain are irv
more crafty, conceals himfelf with greater addrefs, is the woods en the fouth fide of Loch-Rannoch, in
more difficult to trace, and derives fuperior refources Perthftiire: the laft in thofe of Longwal,on the fouthern
from inftindl: for though he has the misfortune to leave borders of Caithnefs ; but they are moft numerous in
behind him a ftronger fcent than the ftag, which re- the beautiful forefts of Invercauld, in the midft of the
doubles the ardour and appetite of the dogs, he knows Grampian hills. They are unknown in Ireland. Wild
how to withdraw himfelf from their purfuit, by the roes, during fummer, feed on grafs ; and ate very fond
rapidity with which he begins his flight, and by his of the rubus faxatilis, called in the Highlands the roe-
numerous doublings. He delays not his arts of defence buck berry ; but in the wintertime, when the ground is
till his ftrength fails him ; but, as foon as he finds that covered with fnow, they browfe on the tender branches
the firft efforts of arapidchace have been unfuecefsful, of the fir and birch.
he repeatedly returns on his former fteps; and after 7. The Guineenfis, about the fize of a cat, is of a
confounding, by thefe oppofite movements, the direc- grayifh colour, and black underneath. It is a native
tion he has taken, after intermixing the prefent with of Guinea, and the fize and figure of its horns have not
the paft emanations ftom his body, he rifes from the been hitherto defcribed with any preeifion..
earth by a great bound, and,_ retiring to a fide, he lies 8. The Axis, or Speckled Deer, has flender trifur-
down fiat on his belly ; and in this immoveable fitua- cated horns j the firft branch near the bafe, the fecond
tion, he allows the whole troop of his deceived enemies near the top, each pointing upwards. This fpecies is
to pafs very near him. about the fize of the fallow-deer; of a light red co-
Ihe roe-deer differs from the ftag and fallow-deer lour j the body beautifully marked with white fpots ;
along
C E R [ 307 1 C E il
along tbe lower part of the Gdes, next the belly, is a
line of white : the tail long, as that of a fallow-deer;
red above, white beneath.—They are common on the
banks of the Ganges, and in the ifle of Ceylon. Pliny
defcribes them well among the animals of India, and
adds that they were facred to Bacchus. They will
bear our climate; and have bred in the prince of
Orange’s menagery near the Hague. They are very
tame, and have the fenfe of fmelling in an exquifite
degree. They readily eat bread, but will refufe a
piece that has been breathed on : many other animals
of this, the antelope and goat kind, will do the
fame.
9. The Porcine or Hog Deer, has flender trifurcated
horns, 13 inches long : His body is thick and clumfy;
his legs are fine and flender: The upper part of the
neck, body, and fides, are brown ; belly and rump, of a
lighter colour.—They are found in Bengal; and call¬
ed, from the thicknefs of their body, hog-deer. The
fame fpecies is alfo found in "Borneo. They are taken
in fquare pit-falls, about four feet deep, covered with
fome flight materials. Of their feet, as well as thofe
of the leffer fpecies of mufks and antelopes, are made
tobacco-ftoppers.
10. The Virginiana, or Virginian Deer, has flender
horns, bending very much forward ; numerous branches
on the inteiior fides; no brow antlers. It is about
the fize of the Englifh fallow-deer ; of a light colour,
cinereous brown. A quite diftfnft fpecies, and pecu¬
liar to America. It inhabits all the provinces fouth of
Canada, but in greateft abundance in the fouthern ;
but efpecially the vafl: favannas contiguous to the Mif-
fifippi, and the great rivers which flow into it. They
graze in herds innumerable, along with the flags and
buffaloes. This fpecies probably extends to Guiana,
and is the laieu of that country, which is faid to be
about the fize of a European buck, with fliort horns,
bending at their ends. They are capable of being
made tame; and when properly trained, are ufed by
the Indians to decoy the wild deer (efpecially in the
rutting feafon) within fhot. Both bucks and does
herd {from September to March; after that they fe-
parate, and the does fecrete themfelves to bring forth,
and are found with difficulty. The bucks from this
time keep feparate till the amorous feafon of Septem¬
ber revolves. The deer begin to feed as fioon asmight
begins; and fometimes, in the rainy feafon, in the day;
otherwife they feldom or never quit their haunts. An
old American fportfman has remarked, that the bucks
will keep in the thickets for a year, or even two.
Thefe animals are very reftlefs, and always in motion,
coming and jgoing continually. Thofe which live
•near the fliores are lean and bad, fubjeflt to worms in
their heads and throats, generated from the eggs de-
pofited- in thofe parts. Thofe that frequent the hills
and favannas are in better cafe, but the venifon is dry.
In hard winters they will feed on the long mofs which
hangs from the trees in the northern parts.
Thefe and other cloven-footed quadrupeds of Ame¬
rica are very fond of fait, and refort eagerly to the
places impregnated with it. They are always feen in
great ni -Abers in the fpots where the ground has been
torn by torrents or other accidents, where they are feen
licking the earth. Such fpots are called licking-places.
The huntfmen are fare of finding the game there 5
for notwithftanding they are often difturbed, the buf¬
faloes and deer are fo paffionately fond of the favoury
regale, as to bid defiance to all danger, and return in
droves to thefe favourite haunts.
The deer are of the firft importance to the favages.
The Ikins form the greateft branch of their traffick,
by which they procure from the colonifts, by way of
exchange, many of the articles of life. To all of them
the flelh is the principal food throughout the year ; for
drying it over a gentle but clear fire, after cutting it
into fmall pieces, it is not only capable of long pre-
fervation, but is very portable in their fudden excur-
fions, efpecially when reduced to powder, which is fre¬
quently done.
Hunting is more than an amufement to thefe people.
They give themfelvcs up to it not only for the fake
of fubfiftence, but to fit themfelves for war, by habitu¬
ating themfelves to fatigue. A good huntfman is an
able warrior. Thofe who fail in the fports of the field
are never fuppofed to be capable of fupporting the
hardfhips of a campaign; they are degraded to ig¬
noble offices, fuch as dreffing the Ikins of deer, and
ocher employs allotted or.ly to (laves and women.
When a large party meditates a hunting-match,
which is ufually ~at the beginning of winter, they
agree on a place of rendezvous, often 500 miles
diftant from their homes, and a place perhaps that
many of them had never been at. They have no other
method of fixin&r on the fpot than by pointing with
their finger. The preference is given to the eldeft, as
the moft experienced. When this matter is fettled,
they feparate into fmall parties, travel and hunt for
fubfiftence all the day, and reft at night; but the
women have no certain refting-places. The favages
have their particular hunting countries ; but if they
invade the limits of thofe belonging to other na¬
tions, feuds enfue, fatal as thofe between Percy
and Douglas in the famed Chevy Chace. As
foon as they arrive on the borders of the hunting coun¬
try (which they never fail doing to a man, be their
refpedlive routes ever fo diftant or fo various), the cap¬
tain of the band delineates on the bark of a tree his
own figure, with a rattlefnake twined round him with
diftended mouth ; and in his hand a bloody tomahawk.
By this he implies a deftruftive menace to any who are
bold enough to invade their territories, or to interrupt
theirdiverfion.—The chafe is carried on indifferent ways.
Some furprife the deer by ufing the ftale of the head,
horns, and hide; but the general mefhod is performed by
the whole body. Several hundreds difperfe in a line, en-
compaffing a vaft fpace of country, fire the woods, and
drive the animals into fome ftrait or peninfula, where
they become an eafy prey. The deer alone are not the
objed ; foxes, raccoons, bears, and all beafts of fur, are
thought worthy of attention, and form articles of com¬
merce with the Europeans.
The number of deer deftroyed in fome parts of
America is incredible ; as is pretended, from an abfurd
idea which the favages have, that the more they de-:
ftroy, the. more they fhall find in fucceeding years.
Certain it is that multitudes are deftroyed ; the tongues
only preferved, and the carcafes left a prey to wild
beafts. But the motive is much more political. The
Qjl 2 favages
C E II r 308 ] C E S
Cervus favages w§U difcern, that fnould they oveeftock the
Ceffion m3r^et> they would certainly be over-reached by the
. European dealers, who take care never to produce
more goods than are barely fufficient for the demand of
the feafon, eflablifhing their prices according tor the
quantity of furs brought by the natives.
Curvvs Vdans, in natural hiftory, a name given by
authors to the Hag-fly, or horned beetle, a very large
fpecies of beetle with horns Hoped, and fomething like
' thofe of the flag.
CERYX, in antiquity. The ceryces were a fort of
public criers appointed to proclaim or publifh things
aloud in aflemblies. The ceryx among the Greeks an-
fwered to the pr<eco among the Romans. Our criers
have only a fmall part of their office and authority.
There were two kinds of ceryces, civil and /acred.
The former were thofe appointed to call aflemblies
and make filence therein ; alfo to go on meffages, and
do the office of our heralds, &c. The facred ceryces
were a fort of priefts, whofe office was to proclaim fl-
lence in the public games and facrifices, publiffi the
names of the conquerors, proclaim feafts, and the like.'
The priefthood of the ceryces was annexed to a parti¬
cular family, the defcendants of Ceryx, fon of Eumol-
phus. To them it alfo belonged to lead folemn vic¬
tims to {laughter. Before the ceremonies began, they
called filence in the aflembly, by the formula, Euw-!‘Te
<ny» «ra< cr« xsa?; anfwering to the favete Unguis of the
Romans. When the fervice was over, they difmifled
the people with this formula, he mij/a ejl.
CESARE, among logicians, one of the modes of
the fecond figure of fyllogifins; the minor propofition
of which is an imiverfal affirmative, and the other two
univerfal negatives: thus,
Ce No immoral books ought to be read ;
Sa But every obfeene book is immoral;
Re Therefore no obfeene books ought to be read.
CECENA, a town of Romagna in Italy, with a
biffiop’s fee, fubjedt to the pope,, and feated on the
river Savio, in E. Long. 12. 46. N. Lat. 44. 8.
CESPITOSiE PLANTS (from ce/pes, turf or fod),
are thofe plants which produce many ftems from one
root, and thence form a clofe thick carpet on the fur-
face of the earth.
Cespitosjb Paludes, turf-bogs.
CESSATION, the aft of intermitting, difeontinu-
ing or interrupting the courfe of any thing, work, ac¬
tion, or the like.
Cessation 0/ Arms, an armiftice or occafional truce.
See Truce.
When the commander of a place finds things redu¬
ced to an extremity, fo that he mufi either furrender,
or facrifice the garrifon and inhabitants to the mercy
of the enemy, he plants a white flag on the breach,
or beats the chamade ; on which a ceffation of arms
and hoftilities commences, Jo give room for a capitu¬
lation.
CESSIO eonqxum, in Scots law, the name of that
aftion by which an infolvent debtor may apply for li¬
beration from prifon^ upon making over his whole real
and perfonal eftate to his creditors.
CESSION, in law, an aft by which a perfon furren-
ders and tranfmits to another perfon a right which
belonged to himfelf. Ceffion is more particularly ufed
in the civil law for a voluntary furrender of a performs Centoi*
effefts to his creditors, to avoid imprifonment. See £eJul;
the article Bankrupt. , ‘ 
In feveral places the ceffion carried with it a mark
of infamy, and obliged the perfon to wear a green
cap or bonnet; at Lucca, ah orange one : to negleft
this Was to forfeit the privileges of the ceffion. This
was originally intended to fignify that the ceffionary
was become poor through his own folly. The Italian
lawyers deferihe the ceremony of ceffion to confift in
linking the bare breech three times againil a Hone,
called Lapis Vituperu, in prefence of the judge. For¬
merly it confitted in giving up the girdles and keys in
court: the ancients ufing to carry at their girdles the
chief utenfils wherewith they got their living ; as the
ferivener his eferitoire, the merchant his bag, &o.
The form of ceffion among the ancient Gauls and Ro¬
mans was as follows: The ceffionary gathered up dull
in his'left hand from the four corners of the houfe, and
{landing on the threfliold, holding the door-poft in his
right hand, threw the dull back over his ihoulders $
then flapping to his Ihirt, and quitting his girdle and
bags, he jumped with a pole over a hedge; hereby
letting the world know, that be had nothing left, and
that when he jumped all he was worth was in the
air with him. This wfas the ceifion in criminal mat¬
ters. In civil cafes, it was fufficient to lay a broom, a
fwitch, or a broken ftraw, on the threfliold : this was
called chrenecruda per durpillum et fejlucam.
Cession, in the ecclefiaftical law, is when an ec-
clefiaftical perfon is created a bilhop, or when a par-
fon of a parifli takes another benefice, without difpen-
fation, or being otherwife qualified. In both thefe
cafes their firft benefices became void by ceffion, with¬
out any refignation ; and to thofe livings that the per¬
fon had, who was created bifliop, the king may pre-
fent for that time, whofoever is patron of them ; and
in the other cafe the patron may prefent: but by dif-
penfation of retainder, a bifliop may retain fome or all
the preferments he was intitled to before he was made
bifliop.
CESTRUM, bastard jasmine: A genus of the
monogynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
28th order, Lurida. The corolla is funnel-ftiaped ;
the {lamina each fending out a little tooth about the
middle of the infide. There are fix fpecies, all of them
natives of the warmeft parts of America ; fo cannot
be preferved in this country without artificial heat.
They are flowering ftirubs, rifing in height from five
to twelve feet, with flowers of a white, herbaceous, or
pale yellow colour. The flowers of one fpecies com¬
monly called Badmington Ja/mine, have the property of
fending out a ftrong feent after funfet. They may be
propagated either by feeds or cuttings.
CESTUI, a French, word, fignifying he or him,
frequently ufed in the Englifli law writings. Thus, ,
Cejlai qui trujl, a. perfon who has lands, &c. commit¬
ted to him for the benefit of another; and if fuch per- -
fon does not perform his trull, he.is compellable to it
in chancery. Cejlui qui vie, one for whofe life any
lands, &c. are granted. Cejlui qui ufe, a perfon to
whofe ufe any one is infebffed of lands or tenements. ,
Formerly the feoffees to ufes were deemed owners of
the
Llate CXXX1
Za nsl \{ &lyne£
[AW/t.t.
Ceftus
II
Cette.
•See
Zoology.
C E S [ 309 ] GET
the land, but now the poffeffion i$ adjudged in cejlui
qul ufe.
CESTUS, among ancient poets, a fine embroidered
girdle faid to be worn by Venus, to which Homer
afcribes the power of charming and conciliating love.
The word is alfo written cejlum and cejlon : it comes from
xc ro:, a girdle, err other thing embroidered or wrought
with a needle ; derived, according to Servius, from
Y-evTw, pungere; whence alfo incrjtus, a term ufed at fir it
for any indecency by undoing the girdle, &c. but now
rellrained to that between perfons near akin. See
Incest.
CETACEOUS, an appellation given to the fifhes
of the whale kind; the characters of which are : they
have no gills; there is an orifice on the top of the
head, through which they breathe and eject water;
and they have a flat or horizontal tail.
Nature on this tribe hath beftowed an internal ft rue-
ture in all refpedts agreeing with that of quadrupeds;
and in a few others the external parts in both are fi-
milar. Cetaceous fifh, like land animals, breathe by
means of lungs, being deftitute of gills. This obliges
them to rife frequently on the furface of the water to
refpire, to fleep on the furface, as well as to perform
feveral other fundtidns. They have the power of ut¬
tering founds, fuch as bellowing and making other
noifes denied to genuine fifh. Like land animals they
have warm blood, are furniftied with organs of genera¬
tion, copulate, bring forth, and fuckle their young,
{•howing a ftrong attachment to them. Their bodies
beneath the fkin are entirely furrounded with a thick
layer of fat (blubber), analogous to the lard on hogs.
The number of their fins never exceed three, was. two
pe&oral fins, and one back fin ; but in fome fpecies
the laft is wanting. Their tails are placed horizon¬
tally, or flat in refpedt to their bodies; contrary to
the diredlion of thofe of all other fifti, which have them
in a perpendicular fite. This fituation of the tail en¬
ables them to force themfelves fuddenly to the furface
of the water to breathe, which they are fo frequently
conftrained to do. Many of thefe circumftances in¬
duced Linnseus to place this tribe among his mamma¬
lia, or what other writers call quadrupeds *. To have
preferved the chain of beings entire, he fliould in this
cafe have made the genus of phoca or feats, and that of
the trkhecus or manati, immediately precede the whale,
thofe being the links that conneft the mammalia or
quadrupeds with the fifti: for the feal is, in refpeft to
its legs, the moft imperfeCl of the former clafs ; and in
the manati the hind feet coalefce, affuming the form
of a broad horizontal tail.
Notwithftanding the many parts and properties
which cetaceous fifti have in common with land ani¬
mals, yet there ftill remain others which render it
more natural to place them, with Ray, in the rank of
fifti: the form of their bodies agrees with that of fifti;
they are entirely naked, or covered only with a fmooth
Ikin ; they live conftantly in tlie water, and have alls
the aftions of fifti.
CETE, the name of Linnseus’s feventh order of
mammalia, comprehending the Monodon, Baljena,
Physeter, and Delphinus.
CETERACH, in botany, the trivial name of a
fpecies of Asplenium.
CETTE, a maritime town of France, in Langue¬
doc, feated at the place where the canal of Languedoc <
begins, between Montpellier and Agde, on the bay of (
Maguelona in the Mediterranean fea. E. Long. 3. 15. _
N. Lat.43.25.
CETUS, in aftronomy, the whale ; a large con-
ftellation of the fouthern hemifphere, under Pifces, and
next the water of Aquarius. The ftars in the conftel-
lation Cetus, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are twenty-two ;
in Tycho’s twenty-one ; in Hevelius’s forty-five; in
the Britannic catalogue ninety-feven.
Cetus is reprefented by the poets, as the fea-mon-
fter which Neptune, at the fuit of the nymphs, fent to
devour Andromeda for the pride of her motherland
which was killed by Perfeus. In the mandible of ce¬
tus is a variable ftar which appears and difappears
periodically, pafling through the feveral degrees of
magnitude both increafing and diminiftiing, in about
333 days. See Astronomy, n°45.
CEVA, a ftrong town of Pieduj|pt in Italy, feated
on the-river Tanero, with a ftrong fort, in E. Long,
8. 8. N. Lat. 44. 20.
CEVENNES, mountains of Languedoc in France,
remarkable for the frequent meetings of the Prote-
ftants there as a place of fecurity^againft the tyranny of
their governors. In queen Anne’s reign there was an
attempt made to affift th^m by an Englifti fleet in the
Mediterranean; but to no purpofe, for the French had
occupied the paflages.
CEUTA, a maritime town of Barbary in Africa,
and in the kindom of Fez, feated on the ftraits of
Gibraltar, oppofite that place, in W. Long 6. 25. N.
Lat. 36. 35. John king of Portugal took it from the
Moors in 1415, but it now belongs to Spain. In 1697, •
it fuftained a vigorous fiege by the Moors.
CEYLON, a large ifland in the Eaft Indies, about
250 miles in length and 200 in breadth. It abounds
in trees and fhrubs, valuable both on account of their
timber and the gums or fpices they produce. Among
thefe Mr Ives enumerates the euphorbium, tulip-tree,
ebony, red-wood, caflia, cocoa-nut, cotton, lime, man-
goe, citron, coffee ; the trees producing balfam of ca-
pivi, gum gamboge, lac, and cenquenomale. This laft is
as yet unknown in Europe ; but, according to the in¬
formation of a Dutch furgeon, an oil or balfam is pro¬
duced from it by diftillation, which is of great ufe in
paralytic complaints. There is alfo another gum named'
badule, which has been but lately, difeovered, and of .
which the ufe is as yet unknown. Here is alfo the
black and yellow teak, the wood of which is of a moft
beautiful grain, but fo hard that the cutting of it proves
very deftructive to the carpenters tools. But the moft
remarkable, .as well as the moft ufeful, of the vegetable
productions of: Ceylon, is the cinnamon-tree, which
grows wild in every.wood on the fouth-weft part of the
ifland. The very young trees are - not fit for rinding,
and the old ones are cut down for firewood. The
common flowering ftirubs, of which the whole ifland is
full, fend forth a moft agreeable fragrance every morn¬
ing and evening. It abounds with high hills, between
which the foil is a fat red earth * and the valleys are
extremely pleafant, having a clear rivulet running thro’
almoft every one of them. Thus the fineft fruits grow
in vaft plentyj and may be had at • the moft trifling
rates; a pine-apple b.eing bought for lefs than a penny,
and fo of the reft. Other provifions are almoft equally
cheap.-;
GET r ,,
clieap ; a dozen of fowls or five docks being fold for a
rupee, not quite half-a-crown of Englifh money. Here
the Dutch fhow a poifonous fruit called by them
AJan?s apple. In fliape it refembles the: quarter of an
apple cut out, with the two iniides a little convex, and
a continued ridge along the outer edges ; and is of a
beautiful orange colour. Pepper, ginger, and carda¬
moms, are alfo produced here ; as well as live kinds of
rice, which ripen one after another.
Ceylon produces alfo topazes, garnets, rubies, and
other precious hones, which are difcovered by wafhing
the foil wherein they grow. It has likewife'ores of
copper, iron, and probably of tin, with veins of black
cryftal."
Common deer are found in this ifland in great abun¬
dance, as well as Guinea-deer; but the horned cattle
are' both very fmall and fcarce, fix of them weighed,
all together, but 714 pounds, and one of thefe weigh¬
ed only 70 pounds. They have, however, the largeft
and heft elephants in the world ; and their woods are
infefted by tygers, the moft. terrible of all ravenous
beafts. They abound alfo with fnakes of a monftrous
fize, one of which has been known to deftroy a tyger
and devour him at one meal. Mr Ives faw one 15
feet long and 30 inches in circumference. Spiders,
centipedes, and fcorpions, alfo grow here to an enor¬
mous fize. Our author law a fpider here as large as
a toad, with brown hair upon it, and legs as thick as
the Ihank of a large tobacco-pipe. A fcorpion, taken
out of a piece of wood, was eight inches long, from
head to tail, exclufive of the claws ; the fiiell was as
hard as that of a crab : and our author killed a centi¬
pede more than feven inches long. Here the mantis
or creeping leaf is met with ; which our author fup-
pofes to be a fpecies of grafshopers, having every mem¬
ber we fee in common infefts, though in Ibape and ap¬
pearance it greatly refembles a leaf. It is of a green
colour. The fea-coalls abound with fi(h, which are to
be had very cheap. Neither barp-fhells nor ventle-
traps are to be met with here: but there are abun¬
dance of painted cockles, and others commonly called
panama Jhells.
“ The natives of this ifland (fays our author) are
the ftouteft Indians I ever faw. Mr Knox in his hi-
ftory reports many ftrange things of their religion and
cuftoms, none of which I had any opportunity of fee¬
ing. He fays ‘ that they have various ways of treating
their dead. Some burn them, which is not uncom¬
mon in India ; while others throw their limbs up into
the forks of ti-ees.’ This may be true, becaufe when
our wood-cutters were once hewing down a flick of
timber, there fell from it the Ikull and many bones of
a human body; and I alfo faw here a human body
hanging on a tree. Other hiftorians relate, that the
natives of Ceylon feed on human flefli; nay, that they
eat the bodies of their deceafed parents, imagining
that no other fepulchre is fo fit for them as their own
bowels, fince thereby they think they are changed into
their own fubftance, and live again in themfelves.
This fhocking cuftom is reported of the ancient Scy¬
thians, and poffibly might have been ufed by the inha¬
bitants of Ceylon, but is now in both countries entire¬
ly aboliihed; and yet even at this day thefe illanders
are faid to make cups of their parents Ikulls, with a
0 ] GEY
view, that in midfl of their mirth and jollity they may
be fare to preferve a refpedtful remembrance of them.”
The Ceylonefe make ufe of boats hollowed out of
the trunks of trees, which are about 12 or 14 feet
long, but only as many inches broad within. The tree
part in the bottom is much larger ; but when the boat,
on account of the fize of the tree, is too fmall, they
make a trough on the top of it fquaie at both ends.
Some boats, however, are much larger, being built
between two trees; and with thefe they coafl along
Ihore ; the others are for fifliermen. It lies from E.
Long. 78° to 82°, and from N. Lat. 6° to 10.
The conquefl of this ifland was the firft attempt of
Albuquerque the celebrated Portuguefe admiral. He
found it well peopled, and inhabited by two different
nations, the Bedas inhabiting the northern, and the
CinglajJ'es who dwelt in the fouthern parts. The for¬
mer were very barbarous, but the latter a good deal
more polifhed. Befides the advantages already men¬
tioned, which thefe nations derived, from their mines
of precious ftones, they carried on the greatefl pearl-
fifliery in the Eaft. Thefe nations the Portuguefe con¬
quered, and tyrannized over in fuch a manner, that
they aflifted the Dutch in expelling them from the
ifland; and by their united efforts this was accompliih-
ed in 1658, after a bloody and obftinate war. All
the Portuguefe fettlements fell into the hands of the
Dutch Eafl India company, who ftill keep pofieflion
of them, excepting a fmall diftridl on the eaftern
coaft without any port, from whence the fovereign of
the country had his fait. Thefe fettlements formed
a regular track, extending from two to twelve leagues
into the inland parts of the ifland. The company
have appropriated all the produftions of the ifland.
The feveraT articles of trade are, 1. Amethyfts, fap-
phires, topazes, and rubies; the laft are very fmall,
and very indifferent. The Moors who come from
the coafl: of Coromandel buy them, paying a moderate
tax: and when they are cut, fell them at a low price
in the different countries of India. 2. Pepper, which
the company buy for aboTit qd. per pound; coffee, for
which they only pay 2d. and cardamom, which has no
fixed price. Thefe articles are all of an inferior qua¬
lity, and through the indolence of the inhabitants will
never turn to any account. 3. An hundred bales of
handkerchiefs, pagnes, and ginghams, of a fine red
colour, which are fabricated by the Malabars at Jafra-
napatan. 4. A fmall quantity of ivory, and about 50
elephants, which are carried to the coafl of Coroman¬
del. 5. Areca, which the company buys at about
8 s. 9d. the ammonan, and fells on the fpot at L. 1,
13 s. to the merchants of Bengal, Coromandel, and the
Maldives; who give in return rice, coarfe linen, and
cowries. 6. The pearl-fifliery, which was formerly
of,great confequence; but is now fo much exhaufted
as not to bring in more than L. 8,750 per annum.
7. After all, the great objetfi of the company is cin¬
namon. They purchafe the greateft part of their cin¬
namon of the Indians who are fubjeefl to them, and,
all expences dedufted, it does, not colt them above 6d.
per pound. The annual expences of the colony may
amount to about L. 96,250 ; their revenues and fmall
branches of commerce produce only about L. 87,500.
—This deficiency mull be fupplied out of the pro-
Ceylon.
CUM [
Chacc fits arifing from the cinnamon trade ; and they are ob-
Chseronea t0 Prov^e ^or t^le expences of the wars in which
. ^ they are frequently engaged with the king of Candy,
who is at prefent the foie fovereign of the iiland. Thefe
are very detrimental to the interefts of the Holland¬
ers ; for which reafon they endeavoured to engage
the good will of this monarch by fliowing him all ima¬
ginable civilities. The harmony, however, has been
often interrupted. In a bloody war which terminated
on the 14th of February 1766, the Ceylonefe monarch
was driven from his capital, fo that the Dutch made a
very advantageous treaty. Their fovereignty was
acknowledged over all that part of the country they
pofleffed before the troubles broke out; and that part
of the coafls held by the natives was ceded to them.
They were allowed to gather cinnamon in all the
plains; and the court was to fell 'them the belt fort,
which is produced in the mountains, at the rate of
L. 1 : 16: 1, for 18#. The government engaged to
have no conne&ion with any-foreign power ; and
even to deliver up any Europeans who might happen
t? ftray into the iiland. In return for fo many concef-
ftons, the king was to receive annually the value of
the produce of the ceded coafts t and from thence his’
fubjedts were to be furnilhed gratis with as much fait
as they had occafion for. The Ceylonefe are in the
moft miferable fituation: they are in a Hate of. total
inadlivity ; live in huts without any furniture; and
fubfift upon fruits: thofe who are the moft affluent
have no other covering than a piece of Coarfe linen
wrapt about their waift.
CHACE. See Chase.
CHACO, a large country of South America fitua-
ted between 19 and 370 S. Lat. It belongs to the
Spaniards, by whom it was conquered in 1536. It is
not naturally fruitful; but abounds in gold mines, which
are fo much the more valuable that t]iey are eafily
worked. The works are carried on by about 8000
blacks, who deliver every day to their mafters a cer¬
tain quantity of gold ; and what they can colledl
above this, belongs to themfelves; as well as what
they find on thofe days that are confecrated to religion
and reft, upon condition that during the feftival they
maintain themfelves. This enables, many of them to
purchafe their liberty ; after which they intermarry
' with the Spaniards.
CHADCHOD, in Jewifh antiquity. Ezekiel men¬
tions chadchod among the feveral merchandizes which
were brought to Tyre. The old interpreters, not
very well knowing the meaning of this term, con¬
tinued it in their tranflation. St Jerom acknowledges
that he could not difeover the interpretation of it.
The Chaldee interprets it pearls; others think that
the onyx, ruby, carbuncle, eryftal, or diamond is
meant by it.
CHjERONEA, (anc. geog.), the laft town, or
rather the laft village, of Bceotia, towards Phoeis ; the
birthplace of Plutarch : famous for the fatal defeat- of
the confederate Greeks by Philip of Macedon. This
place was confidered by Philip as well adapted to the
operations of the Macedonian phalanx; and the ground
for his encampment, and afterwards the field of battle,
were chofen with equal fagacity: having in view on
one fide a temple of Hercules, whom the Macedonians
3 H ] CUM
regarded as the author of their royal houfe, and the Chatronea.
high protedor of their fortune ; and on the other the  v——
banks of the Thermodon, a fmall river flowing into
the Cephiflus, announced by the oracles of Greece as
the deftined feene of defolation and woe to their un¬
happy country. The generals of the confederate Greeks
had been much lefs careful to avail themfelves of the
powerful fandions of fuperltition. Uurtftrained by
inaufpicious facrifices, the Athenians had left their city
at the exhortation of Demofthenes, to wait no other
omen but the caufe of their country. Regardlefs of
oracles, they afterwards advanced to the ill-fated Ther¬
modon, accompanied by the Thebans, and the fcanty
reinforcements raifed by the Hands and ftates of Pelo-
ponnefus which had joined their alliance. Their army
amounted to 30,000 men, animated by the nobleft
caufe for which men can fight, but commanded by the
Athenians Lyficles and Chares; the firft but little, and
the fecond unfavourably, known; and by Theagenes
the Theban, a perfon ftrongly fufpeded of treachery i
all three creatures of cabal and tools of fadion, flaves
of intereft or voluptuoufnefs, whofe charaders (efpe-
cially as they had been appointed to command the only
ftates whofe ftiame, rather than virtue, yet oppofed the
public enemy) are alone fufficient to prove that Greece
was ripe for ruin.
When the day approached for abolifhing the totter¬
ing independence of thofe turbulent republics, which
their own internal vices, and the arms and intrigues of
Philip, had been gradually u-ndermining for 22 years,
both armies formed in battle array before the rifing of
the fun. The right wing of the Macedonians was
headed by Philip, who judged proper to oppofe in
perfon the dangerous fury of the Athenians. His fon
Alexander, only 19 years of age, but furrounded by
experienced officers, commanded the left wine, which
faced the Sacred Band of the Thebans. The auxi¬
liaries of either army were pofttd in the centre. In
the beginning of the adrion, the Athenians charged
with impetuofity, and repelled the oppofing divifions
of the enemy ; but the youthful ardour of Alexander
obliged the Thebans to retire,, the Sacred Band being-
cut down to a man. The activity of the young prince
completed their diforder,. and purfued the fcattered
multitude with his Theffalian cavalry..
Meantime the Athenian gerffcrals,. too much elated
by their firft advantage, loft the opportunity to im¬
prove it; for having repelled the centre and right wing
of the Macedonians, except the phalanx, which was
compofed of ehofen men,- and immediately commanded
by the king, they, inftead of attempting to break this
formidable body by attacking it in flank, preffed for¬
ward again ft the fugitives, the infolent Lyficles ex¬
claiming in vain triumph, “ Purfue, my brave country¬
men! let us drive the cowards to Macedon.” Philip ob-
ferved this ralh folly with contempt; and faying to
thofe around him, “■ Our enemies know not how to con¬
quer,” commanded his phalanx, by a rapid evolution,
to gain an adjacent eminence, from which they poured
down, firm and colle&ed, on the advancing Athenians,,
whofe confidence of fuccefs had rendered them totally
iufenfible to danger. But the irrefiftible fhock of the-
Macedonian fpear converted their fury into defpair.
Above a thoufand fell, two thoufand were taken pri-
loaeis^
5
C II M
r i
C H A
«Toners; the red efcaped by a precipitate and {hameful
flight. Of the Thebans more were killed than taken.
Few of the confederates periflied, as they had little
fliare in the a&ion, and as Philip, perceiving his vic¬
tory to be complete, gave orders to fpare the vanquifh-
ed, with a clemency unufual in that |age, and not lefs
honourable to his underftanding than his heart; fince
his humanity thus fubdued the minds, and gained the
affeftions, of his conquered enemies.
According to the Grecian cuftom, the battle was
followed by an entertainment, at which the king pre-
fiding in perfon, received the congratulations of his
friends, and the humble fupplications of the Athenian
deputies, who craved the bodies of their flain. Their
Antipater, the mod trufted of his mimders, to offer Cb*m»
them peace on fuch favourable'terms as they had little Phyhum
reafon to expe&. They were required to fend depu- chfff
ties to the Ilthmus of Corinth, where, to adjuft their eutter.
refpective contingents of troops for the Perfian expe-  
dition, Philip purpofed aflembling early in the fpring
a general convention of all the Grecian dates: they
were ordered to furrender the ifle of Samos, which
aftually formed the principal dation of their fleet, and
the main bulwark and defence of all their maritime or
infular poffefiions ; but they were allowed to enjoy, un-
moleded, the Attic territory, with their hereditary
form of government.
CHiEROPHYLLUM, Chervil: A genus ofthe
requed, which ferved as an acknowledgment of their digynia„ order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of
defeat, was readily granted; but before they availed plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
themfelves of the permiffion to carry off their dead,
Philip, who with his natural intemperance had pro-
trailed the entertainment till morning, iffued forth
with his licentious companions to vifit the field of bat¬
tle ; their heads crowned with fedive garlands, their
minds intoxicated with the infolence of wine and vic¬
tory ; yet the fight of the flaughtered Thebans, which
fird prefented xtlelf to their eyes, and particularly the
facred band of friends and lovers, who lay covered with
honourable wounds on the Ipot where they had been
drawn up to fight, brought back thefe infolent fpeila-
tors to the fentiments of reafon and humanity. Philip
beheld the awful fcene with a mixture of admiration
and pity ; and, after an affefting filence, denounced a
folemn curfe againd thofe who bafely fufpe&ed the
friendfirip of rich brave men to be tainted with crimi¬
nal and infamous paffions.
But this ferious temper of mind did not lad long ;
for having proceeded to that quarter of the field where
theykthenians had fought and fallen, the king aban¬
doned himfelf to all the levity and littlenefs of the mod
petulent joy. Indead of being imprefied with a deep
ienfe of his recent danger, and with dutiful gratitude
.to Heaven for the happinels of his efcape and the im¬
portance of his vi&ory, Philip only compared the
boadful pretenfions with the mean performances of his
Athenian enemies; and, druck by this contrad, re-
thearfed, with the infolent mockery of a buffoon, the
pompous declaration of war lately drawn up by the ar¬
dent patriotifm and too fanguine hopes of Demof-
henes. It was on this opcafion that the orator De-
mades at once rebuked the folly, and flattered the am-
45th order, Umbellate. The involucrum is reflexed-
concave; the petals inflexed-cordate ; the fruit oblong
and fmooth. There are feven fpecies, two of which,
called cow-weed and wild chervil, are weeds common
in many places of Britain. The roots of the fird have
been found poifonous when ufed as parfnips: the
rundles afford an indifferent yellow dye; the leaves
and dalks a beautiful green. Its prefence indicates a
fertile and grateful foil. It ought to be rooted out
from all padures early in the Iprxng, as no animal
but the al's will eat it. It is one of the mod early
plants in drooting, fo that by the beginning of April
the leaves are near two feet high. The leaves are
recommended by Geoffrey as aperient and diuretic,
and at the fame time grateful to the palate and do-
mach. He even afferts, that dropfies which do not
yield to this medicine can fcarcely be cured by any o-
ther. He directs the juice to be given in the dofe of
three or four ounces every fourth hour, and continued
for fome time either alone, or in conjunftion with
nitre and fyrup of the five opening roots.—The other
fpecies of chserophyllum are not poffeffed of any remark¬
able property.
CHiETODON, in ichthyology, a genus of fillies
belonging to the order of thoraci. The teeth are ve¬
ry numerous, thick, fetaceous, and flexile ; the rays of
the gills are fix. The back-fin and the fin at the a-
nus are fleftiy and fquamous. There are 23 fpecies,
didinguilhed from each other principally by the figure
of the tail, and the number of fpines in the hack-fin.
The mod remarkable is the rodratus, or diooting-fifli,
having a hollow, cylindrical beak. It is a native of
bition, of Philip, by afleing him, Why he affumed the the Ead Indies, where it frequents the fides of the
diara&er of Therfites when fortune afligned him the
part of Agamemnon?
Whatever might be the effeft of this (harp reprimand,
it is certain that the king of Macedon indulged not,
on any future occafion,a vain triumph over vanquidied.
When advifed by his generals to advance int® Attica,
and to render himfelf mader of Athens, he only re¬
plied, “ Have 1 done fo much for glory, and fhall I
dedroy the theatre of that glory ?” His fubfequent
conduit correfponded with the moderation of this
fentiment. He redored without ranfom the Athe¬
nian prifoners; who, at departing, having demanded
their baggage, were alfo gratified in this particular ;
the king pleafantly oblerving, that the Athenians
feemed to think’he had not conquered them in earned.
fea and rivers in fearch of food, from its lingula*
manner of obtaining which it receives its name. When
it fpies a fly fitting on the plants that grow in (hal¬
low water, it fwims on to the didance of four, five,
or fix feet; and then, with a furprxfing dexterity, it
ejects out of its tubular mouth a fingle drop of wa¬
ter, which never fails driking the fly into the water,
where it foon becomes its prey.
CHAFF, in hulbandry, the hulks of the corn, fe-
parated by fereening or winnowing it. It fignifies al¬
fo the rind of corn, and draw cut fmall for the ufe of
cattle.
CHAFF-Cutter, a machine for making chaff to feed
horfes.-—The advantages of an eafy and expeditious
method of cutting draw into chaff by an engine
Boon afterwards he dilpatched his fon Alexander, and which could be ufed by common labourers have been
N° 68. 1 long
C H A [ 3«3 ] OH A
Chaff-cut* long acknowledged, and various attempts have been
t|r made to bring fuch an engine to perfeftion. But the
Chaffery. objeftions to moft of them have been their com-
t—-v—plicated ftrufture, their great price, and the noife they
make in working ; all which inconveniences feem to
have been lately removed by an invention of Mr James
Pike watchmaker of Newton Abbot in Devonfhire.
Of his engine, which is of a fimple and cheap con-
ftruftion, the following defcription, and figure refer¬
red to, are extradted from the Tranfadtions of the So¬
ciety of Arts for 1787.
The engine is fixed on a wood frame, which is fup-
ported with four legs, and on this frame is a box for
containing the ftraw, four feet fix inches long, and
about ten inches broad ; at one end is fixed acrofs the
box two rollers inlaid with iron, in a diagonal line
about an eighth of an inch above the furface ; on the
ends of thefe rollers are fixed two ftrong brafs wheels,
which takes one into the other. On one of thefe
wheels is a contredt wheel, whofe teeth take in a worm
, on a large arbour ; on the end of this arbour is fixed
a wooden wheel, two feet five inches diameter and three
inches thick ; on the infide-part of this wheel is fixed
a knife, and every revolution of the wheel the knife
paffes before the end of the box and cuts the chaff,
which is brought forward between the rollers, which
are about two inches and a half afunder ; the ftraw is
brought on by the worm taking one tooth of the
wheel every round of the knife ; the ftraw being fo
hard preffed between the rollers, the knife cuts off the
chaff with fo great eafe, that twenty-two bulhels can
fye cut within the hour, and makes no more noife than
is caufedby the knife palling through the chaff.
A is the box into which the ftraw is put. B, the
CXXXVI uPPer r°Uer> w>th its diagonal projedting ribs of iron,
the whole moving by the revolution of the brafs wheel
C on the axis of which it is fixed. Z>, a brafs wheel,
having upon it a face wheel, whofe teeth take into the
endlefs fcrew on the arbor E, while the teeth on the
edge of this wheel enter between thofe on the edge of
the wheel C. On the axis of the wheel Z) is a roller,
with iron ribs fimilar to Z, but hid within the box.
E, the arbor, one? of the ends of which being made
fquare and palling through a mortife in the centre of
the wooden wheel F, is faftened by a ftrong fcrew and
nut; the other end of this arbor moves round in a hole
within the wooden block G. //, the knife, made faft
by fcrews to the woodert wheel A, and kept at the di-
ftance of nearly three quarters of an inch from it by
means of a ftrip of wood of that thicknefs, of the form
of the blade, and reaching to within an inch of the
edge. /, the handle mortifed into the outfide of the
wooden wheel F.
CHAFFER, in zoology, a fpecies of beetle. See
Scaraba;us.
CHAFFERCONNERB, in commerce, printedlif
nens manufaftured in the Great Mogul’s dominions.
They are imported by the way of Surat; and are of
the number of thofe linens prohibited in France.
CHAFFERY, in the iron-works, the name of one
of the two principal forges. The other is called the
Jinery. When the iron has been brought at the fi¬
nery into what is called an ancony, or fquare mafs,
hammered into a bar in its middle, but with its two
ends rough, the bufinefs to be done at the chaffery is
Vot. IV. Part I.
the reducing the whole to the fame lhape, by ham- Chaffinch
mering down thefe rough ends to the lhape of the
middle part. '’am' ■
CHAFFINCH, in ornithology, the Englilh name
of a fpecies of Fringilla.
C HAG RE, a fort of America in the province of
Darien at th mouth of a river of the fame name. It
has been taken feveral times by the buccaneers, and
laft of all by Admiral Vernon in 1740. W. Long.
82. 7. N. Lat. 9. 50.
CHAIN (Catena), a feries of feveral rings, or links,
fitted into one another.
There are chains of divers matters, fizes, forms, and
for divers ufes.—Ports, rivers, ftreets, See. are clofed
with iron chains: rebellious cities are punilhed by ta¬
king away their chains and barriers.
The arms of the kingdom of Navarre are. Chains
Or, in a field Gules. The occafion hereof is referred '
to the kings of Spain leagued againft the Moors ;
who having gained a celebrated victory againft them
in 1212, in the diftribiition of the fpoils the magni¬
ficent tent of Miralmumin fell to the king of Navarre,
as .being the firft that broke and forced the chains
thereof.
A gold Chain, is one of the ornaments or badges
of the dignity of the chief friagiftrates of a city, as the
mayor of London, the provoft and bailies of Edin¬
burgh, &c.—Something like-this obtained among the
ancient Gauls : the principal ornament of their per-
fons in power and authority was a gold chain, which
they wore on all occafions; and even in battle, to dif-
tinguilh them from the common foldiers.
Chain alfo denotes a kind of firing, of twilled
wire ; ferving to hang watches, tweezer-cafes, and o-
ther valuable toys upon. The invention of this piece
of curious work is owing to the Englilh ; whence, in
foreign countries, it is denominated the Englifh chain.
Thefe chains are ufually either of filvdt or gold, fome
of gilt copper; the thread or wire of each kind to
be very fine. For the fabric, or making of thefe
chains : a part of the wire is folded into little links
of an oval form ; the longeft diameter about three
lines ; the Ihorteft, one. Thefe, after they have been
exactly foldered, are again folded into two ; and then
bound together or intervove, by means of feveral e-
ther little threads of the fame thicknefs ; fome where¬
of, which pafs from one end to the other, imitate the
warp of a fluff; and the others, which pafs tranfverfe,
the woof. There are at leaft four thoufand little links
in a chain of four pendants ; which are by this means
bound fo equally, and withal fo firmly together, that
the eye is deceived, and takes the whole to confift of
one entire piece.
Chain is alfo a kind of meafure in France, in the
trade of wood for fuel. - There are chains for wood
by tale, for wood by the rope, for faggots, for cleft
wood, and for round Hicks. There are alfo chains
for meafuring the Iheaves of all forts of corn, particu¬
larly with regard to the payment of tithes; for mea¬
furing pottles of hay, and for meafuring horfes. All
thefe are divided into feet, inches, hands, &c. accord¬
ing to the ufe they are defigned for.
Chain, in furveying, is a meafure, confifting of a
certain number of links of iron wire, ufually a hun¬
dred ; ferving to take the dimenfioHS of fields, &c.
R r This
C H A [ 314 ] C H A
(Shains. Tin's is what Merfenne takes to be the arvipendium of
the ancients.
The chain is of various dimenfions, as the length or
number of links varies: that commonly ufed in mea-
furing land, called Gunter’s chain, is in length four,
poles or perches; or fixty-fix feet, or a hundred links;
each link being feven inches xml- Whence it is eafy
to reduce any number of thofe links to feet,, or any
number of feet to links.
This chain is entirely adapted to Englifh meafures;
and its chief convenience is in finding readily the num¬
bers contained in a given field. Where the propor¬
tions of fquare feet and acres differ, the chain, to have
the fame advantages as Gunter’s chain, mull alfo be
varied. Thus in Scotland, the chain ought to be of 74
feet, or 24 Scotch ells, if no regard be had to the
difference between the Scotch and Englilh foot; but
if regard be had to- this difference, the Scotch chain
ought to confift of 74-|- Englilh feet, or 74 feet 4
inches and 4 of an inch. This chain being divided
into an hundred links, each of thefe will be
inches.
That ordinarily ufed for large diftances,. is in length-
a hundred feet; each link one foot. For fmall par¬
cels, as gardens, &c. is fometimes ufed a fmall chain
of one pole, or fixteen feet and a half length ; each
link one inch
Some in lieu of chains ufe ropes.; but thefe are
liable to feveral irregularities ; both from the different
degrees of moifture, and of the force which ftretches
them. Schwenterus, in. his Praftical Geometry, tells
us, he has obferved a rope fixteen feet long, reduced
to fifteen in an hour’s time, by the mere falling of a
hoar froft. To obviate thefe inconveniences, Wolfius
directs, that the little ftrands whereof the rope confifts
be twilled contrary ways, and the rope dipped in boil¬
ing hot oil; and when dry, drawn through melted
wax. A rope thus prepared, will not get or lofe
any thing in length, even though kept under water
all day.
CuAiN-Pump. See Pump'.
CnAiN-Shot, two bullets with a chain between them.
They are ufed at fea to {hoot down yards or mafts,
and to cut the flirouds or rigging of a Ihip.
’Top-CHAiN, on- board a ffiip, a chain to fling the
fail-yards in time of battle, in order to prevent them
from falling down when the ropes by which they are
hung happen to-be {hot away or rendered incapable
of fervice.
Plate Chain-Wales, or Channels, of a fhip, porteloiffoirs,
CXXXVI. are broad and thick planks projedling horizontally from
the {hip’s outfide, abreaft of and fomewhat behind
the mafts. They are formed to extend the Ihrouds
from each other, and from the axis or middle line of
the {hip, fo as to give a greater fecurity and fupport
to the mafts, as well as to prevent the Ihrouds from
damaging the gunwale, or being hurt by rubbing a-
gainft it. Every mall has its chain-wales, which are
either built above or below the fecond deck-ports in
a {hip of the line : they are ftrongly connected to the
fide by knees, bolts, and ftandards, befides being con¬
fined thereto by the chains whofe tipper ends pafs
through notches on the outer edge of the chain-wales,
fo as to unite with the ffirouds above.
Chains, in {hip-building, are ftrong links or plates
of iron, the lower ends of which are bolted through Chains
the ftiip-fide to the timbers. Chairman
Hanging in Chains, a kind of puniihment inflidled ^
on murderers. By ftat. 25. Geo. II. c. 37. the judge
{hall diredl fuch to be executed on the next day but
one, unlefs Sunday intervene ; and their bodies to be
delivered to the furgeons to be diffedted and anatomi¬
zed: and he may direft them afterwards to be hung
in chains. During the interval between fentence and.
execution, the prifoner {hall be kept alone, and fui-
tained only with bread and water. The judge, how
ever, hath power to refpite the execution, and relax
the other reftraints of the a61.,
CnAiN-IJland, an ifland lately difeovered by captain
Wallis in the South-fea. It. feemed to be about five
miles long and as- much broad, lying in the dire&ion
of north-weft and fouth-eaft. It appeared to be a,
double range of woody iflands joined together by.
reefs, fo as to cqmpofe one ifland of an oval figure,,
with, a lake in the middle. The trees are large ; and
from, the fmoke that iffued from the woods, it ap¬
peared to he inhabited. W. Long. 145. 54. S. Lat.
1,7.23.
CHAJOTLI, or Chayoti, a Mexican fruit of a
round Ihape, and fimilar in the hulk with which it is
covered to the chefnut, but four or five times larger^
and of a much deeper green colour. Its kernel is of
a-greenifti white, and has a large ftone in the middle,,
which is white, and like it in lubftance. It is boiled,
and the ftone eat with it. This fruit is produced by
a twining perennial plant, the root of which is alfo,
good to eat. See Plate CXXXVIII.
CHAIR, (Cathedra), was anciently ufed for the
pulpit, or fuggeftum, whence the prielt fpoke to the
people.
It is ftill applied to the place whence profeffors and
regents in univerfities deliver their lectures, and teach
the fciences to their pupils-: thus, we fay, the. profefi-
fbr’s chair, the doctor’s chair, &e.
Curule Chair, was an ivory feat placed on a car,
wherein were feated the prime magiftrates of Rome,,
and thofe to whom the honour of a triumph had been
granted.
Sedan Chair, a vehicle fupported by poles, wherein
perfons are carried; borne by two men. There are
two hundred chairs allowed by aft of parliament; and
no perfpn is obliged to pay for a hackney-chair more
than the rate allowed by the aft for a hackney-coach,
driven two third parts of the faid diftance.. 9 Ann. c;
23.$ 8. Their numberis fince increafed, by 10 Ann.
c. 19. and t2 Geo. I. c. 12. to four hundred. See
Hackney-Co A ches-
Chair is alfo applied by the Romanifts to certain
feafts, held anciently in. commemoration of the tranf-
lation of the fee, or feat of the vicarage of Chrift, by
St Peter.
The perforated chair, wherein the new-elefted pope
is placed, F. Mabillon obferves, is to be feen at
Rome: but the origin thereof he does not attribute,
as is commonly done, to the adventure of Pope
Joan ; but fays.there is a myftery in it; and it is in¬
tended, forfooth, to explain to the pope thofe words
of feripture, that God draws the poor from out of the dufl
and mire.
CHAIRMAN, the president, or fpeaker of an
affembly.
c tt A C 3^5 ] ' C H A
'€!Kaife afrembly, Company, &c. We fay, the chairman of a
committee, See.
, ny> CHAISE, a fort of light open chariot, or calafli.
u—yl—^ Aurelius Victor relates, that Trajan firll introduced
the ufe of polt-chaifes : but the invention is generally
aferibed to Auguftus ; and was probably only impro¬
ved by Trajan, and fucceeding emperors.
CHALAZA, among naturalifts., a white knotty
fort of firing at each end of an egg, formed of a plexus
of the fibres of the membranes, whereby the yolk and
White are connected together. See Egg.
CHALCAS, in botany : A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the pei ttandria clafs of plants.
The -calyx is quinquepartite ; the corolla campanula-
ted, with the petals heeled ; the fligma round-headed
and warty.
CHALCEDON, or Calcedon, anciently known
by the names of Pfocerajlis and Collufa; a city of Bi-
thynia, fituated at the mouth of the Euxine, on the
north extremity of the Thracian Bofphorus, over againfl
Byzantium. Pliny, Strabo, and Tacitus, call it 57ie
City of the Blind; alluding to the anfwer which the Py¬
thian Apollo gave to the founders of Byzantium, who,
tonfulting the oracle relative to a place where to build
a city, were direfted to choofe that fpot which lay
dppofite “ to the habitation of the blind 5” that is, as
was then underftood, to Chalcedon: the Chalcedo-
ftians Well deferving that epithet for having built their
city in a barren and fandy foil, without feeing that ad¬
vantageous and pleafant fpot on the oppofite fhore,
which the Bvzantines afterwards chofe.—Chalcedon,
in the Chriftian times, became famous on account of
the council which was held there againfl Eutyches.
The emperor Valens caufed the walls of this city to be
levelled with the ground for fiding with Procopius, and
the materials to be conveyed to Gonflantinople, where
they were employed in building the famous Valentinian
aqueduft. Chalcedon is at prelent a poor place, known
to the Greeks by'its ancient name, and to the Turks
by that of Cadiaci, or “ the judges town.”
CHALCEDONY, in natural hiflory, a genus of
the femipellucid gems. They are of an even and re¬
gular, not tabulated ftnnfture; of a femi-opaque cryflal-
line bafis; and variegated with different colours, but
thofe ever difpofed in form of mifls or clouds, and, if
hicely examined, found to be owing to an admixture
of various coloured earths, but imperfe&ly blended in
the mafs, and often vifible in diflintt moleculse.—It has
been doubted by fome whether the ancients were at all
acquainted with the flone we call chalcedony} they ha¬
ving deferibed a Chalcedonian carbuncle and emerald,
tieither-of which can at all agree with the chara&ers
of our flone; but we are to confider that they have
alfo deferibed a Chalcedonian jafper which feems to
have been the very fame flone as they deferibe by the
word turbida, which extremely well agrees with our
Chalcedony.
There are four known fpecies of the chalcedony.
*1. A bluifh white one. This is the mofl common of
all, and is found in the fhape' of our flints and pebbles,
in maffes of two or three inches or more in diame¬
ter. It is of a whitifh colour, with a faint cloud of
v blue diffufed all over it, but always in the greatefl de¬
gree near the furface. This is a little lefs hard than
the oriental onyx. The oriental chalcedonies are ths
only ones of any value; they are found in vafl abiin- Chakeda-
dance on the (bores of rivers in all parts of the Eafl In- ?T’
dies, and frequently come over among the ballaft of ^ a ene;
the Eafl India (hips. They are common in Silefia and
Bohemia, and other parts of Europe alfo ; but with
us are lefs hard, more, opaque, and of very little va¬
lue. 2. The dull milky-veined chalcedony. This is
a flone of little value; and is fometimes met with a-
mong our lapidaries, who rnillake it for a kind of ne¬
phritic flone. It is of a fomewhat yellowifh white or
cream colour, with a few milk-white veins. This is
principally found in New-Spain. 3. The third is a
browriifh, black, dull, and cloudy one, known to the
ancients by the name of fmoky jafper, or jafpis capni-
tis. This is the lead beautiful flone of all the clafs t
it is of a pale brownifh white, clouded all over with a
blackilh mill, as the common chalcedony is with a
blue. It is common both in the Eafl and Weft Indies,
and in Germany ; but is very little valued, and is fel-
dom worked into any thing better than the handles of
knives. 4. The yellow and red chalcedony is great¬
ly fuperior to all the reft in beauty ; and is in great
repute in Italy, though very little known. among us.
It is naturally compofed of an admixture of red and
yellow only, on a clouded cryftalline bafis; but is fome¬
times found blended with the matter of common chal¬
cedony, and then is mixed with blue. It is all over
of the mifty hue of the common chalcedony. This is
found only in the Eaft Indies, and there not plentiful¬
ly. The Italians make it into beads, and call thefe
tajfidonies; but they are not determinate in the ufe
of the word, but call beads of feveral of the agates
by the fame name.—All the chalcedonies readily give
fire with fteel, and make no effervefcence with aqua¬
fortis.
CHALCIDENE, or Chalcidice, (anc. geog.)
an inland country of Syria, having Antiochis of
Seleucia to the weft, Cyrrheftica to the north,
to the fouth Apamene and Coelefyria, and to the
eaft Chalybonitis; being fo called from its principal
city Chalcis. This province, one of the moft fruft>
ful in Syria, was feized by Ptolemy the fon of Men-
naeus during the troubles of Syria, and by him
made a feparate kingdom. Ptolemy himfelf is ftyled
by Jofephus and Hegefippus only Prince of Chalcis,
but his fon Lyfanias is honoured both by Jofephus and
Dio with the title of King. Upon the death of An-
tiochus Dionyfius king of Syria, Ptolemy attempted
to make himfelf mailer of Damafcus and all* Ccelefyria;
but the inhabitants, having an utter averfion to him
on account of his cruelty and wickednefs, chofe rather
to fubmit to Aretas king of Arabia, by whom Anti-
ochus and his whole army had been cut off. He op-
pofed Pompey on his entering Syria; but was by him
defeated, taken prifoner, and fentenced to death;
which, however, he efcaped by paying a thoufand ta¬
lents, and was left alfo in the poffeffion of his kingdom.
After Ariftobulus king of Judaea had been poifoned by
the friends of Pompey, and Alexander his fon behead¬
ed at Antioch, he lent Philippion his fon to Afcalon,
whither the widow of Ariftobulus had retired with her
other children, to bring them all to Chalcis; propo-
fing, as he was in love with one of the daughters named
Alexandria, to maintain them in his own kingdom in
a manner luitable to their rank : but-Philippion like-
R. r 2 wife
C H A f 3'
Chalcidic wife being in love with Alexandria, married her on the
il way; for which prefumption Ptolemy put him to death
*138° 5'on his return, and then took her to wife. On account
«-— y of this affinity, he fupported to the utmoft of his power
Antigonus the younger fon of Ariltobulus, who took
the field at the head of a confiderable army, b.ut on
his entering Judsea was entirely defeated by Herod.
Ptolemy foon after died, and was fucceeded by his fon
Lyfanias ; who, efpoufing the caufe of the Afmonsean
family with great warmth, promifed to Barzapharnes
who commanded the Parthian troops in Syria, and to
Pacorus the king’s fon, a thoufand talents and five hun¬
dred women, provided they ihould put Antigonus in
pofleffion of the kingdom of Judaea, and depofe Hy.r-
canus. He w’as not long after put to death by Marc
Antony, at the inftigation of Cleopatra ; who, in or¬
der to have his dominions, accufed him falfely of ha¬
ving entered into an alliance with the Parthians.
CHALCIDIC, Chalcidicum, or Chalcedoni-
um, in the ancient archite&ure, a large magnificent
hall belonging to a tribunal or court of juftice.—Feftus
fays, it took its name from the city Chalcis; but he does
not give the reafon. Philander will have it to be the
court or tribunal where affairs of money and coinage
were regulated; fo called from x***0' brafs, and
juflice. Others fay, the money was ftruck in it; and
derive the word from xaK*-a(, and houfe. In Vi¬
truvius, it is ufed for the auditory of a bafilica ; in
other of the ancient writers for a hall or apartment
where the. heathens imagined their gods to eat.
CHALCIDICE, (anc. geog.) an eallern diflrift
of Macedonia, ftretching northwards between the Sinus
Toronseus and Singiticus. Formerly a part of Thrace,
but invaded by Philip of Macedon. Named from the
city Chalcis near Olynthus.
CHALCIDIUS, a famous platonic philofopher in
the third century, who wrote a commentary, wffiich is
efteemed, on the Timaeus of Plato. This work has
been tranflated from the Greek into Latin.
CHALCIS, a city of Chalcidice. See Ch-alcidice.
(anc. geog.)—Another of jEtolia, near the mouth of
the river Evenus, on the Ionian Sea, at the foot of a
cognominal mountain ; and therefore called by fome
Hypochalcis.—rAnother of Euboea (Strabo), on the
Euripus, the country of Lycophron the poet, one of
the feven which formed the conltellation Pleiades. Now
Negroponte. E. Long. 24. 30. Lat. 38. 30.—A fourth,
the capital of Chalcidene in Syria; diilinguiffied by
the furnames ad Belutn, a mountain or a riverand ad
Ltbanum, from its fituation (Pliny).
CHALCITIS, one of the divifions or diftri&s of
Mefopotamia, to the fouth of Anthemufia, the moil
northern diftriA, next to Armenia, and fituated between
Eddfa and Came. CJ:alcitis (Pliny), an ifland oppo-
fite to Chaleedon.
CHALCONDYLAS(Demetrius), a learned Greek,
born atConfiantinople, left that city after its being ta¬
ken by the Turks, and afterwards taught Greek in
feveral cities in Italy. He compofed a Greek gram¬
mar ; and died at Milan in 1513.
Chalcondylas (Laonicus), a famous Greek hi-
iloria* of the 15th century, was born at Athens ; and
, wrote an excellent hiftory of the Turks, from Ottoman,
who reigned about the year 1300, to Mahomet II. in
*463.
6 ] C H A
CHALDEA (anc. geog.), taken in a larger fenfe, Chaldea-
included Babylonia ; as in the prophecies of Jeremiah U
and Ezekiel. In a reftrifted fenfe, it denoted a pro-, C a f
vince of Babylonia, towards Arabia Deferta ; called in
Scripture The land of the Chaldeans.- Named from
Chafed the fourth fon of Nahor. See Babylonia.
CHALDEE language, that fpoken by the Chal¬
deans, or people of Chaldea. It is a dialed! of the
Hebkew.
Chaldee Paraphrafe, in-the rabbinical- ftyle, is called
Targum. There are three Chaldee paraphrafes in
Walton’s Polyglot; viz., that of Onkelos, that of Jo¬
nathan fon of Uziel, and that of Jerufalem.
CHALDRON, a dry Englifh meafure, confifting
of thirty-fix bufhels, heaped up according to the heal¬
ed buffiel kept at Guildhall, London :, but on ffiip-
board, twenty-one chaldrons of coals are allowed to
the fcore. The chaldron fhould weigh two thoufand-
pounds.
CHALICE, the cup or veflel ufed to adminifter the
wine in the facrament, and by the Roman Catholica
in the mafs.
The ufe of the chalice, or communicating in both
kinds, is by the church of Rome denied to the laity,,
who communicate only in one kind, the clergy alone
being allowed the privilege of communicating in both
kinds.
CHALK, Creta,. is a white earth found plentifully
in Britain, France, Norway, and other parts of Eu¬
rope, faid to have been anciently dug chiefly in the
ifland of Crete, and thence to have received its name
of Greta. They have a very eafy way of digging
chalk in the county of Kent in England. It is there
found on the fides of hills; and the workmen under¬
mine it fo far as appears proper ; then digging a.
trench at the top as far diftant from the edge as the
undermining goes at bottom, they fill this with water,
which foaks through in the fpace of a night, upon
which the whole flake falls down at once. In other
parts of the kingdom, chalk generally lies deeper, and;
they are forced to dig for it at confiderable depths,
and draw it up in buckets.
Chalk is of two kinds; hard, dry, and firm, or foft
and un&uous; both of which are adapted to various^
purpofes. The hard and dry kind is much the pro-
pereft for burning into lime ; but the foft and unc¬
tuous chalk is belt for ufing as a manure, for lands.
Chalk, whether burnt into lime or not, is in fome
cafes an excellent manure. Its mode of operating on
the foil is explained under the article Agriculture,
n° 20, 25, &c.
Pure chalk melts eafily with alkali and flint into a
tranfparent colourlefs glafs. With alkaline ialts it
melts fomewhat more difficultly, and with borax
fbmewhat more eafily, than with flint or fand. It re¬
quires about half its weight of borax, and its whole
weight of alkali, to fufe it. Sal mirabile, and fandi-
ver, which do not vitrify at all with the cryflalline
earths, form, with half their weight of chalk, the firft
a yelknviffi black, the latter a greenilh, glafs. Nitre,
on the other hand, one of the moft adtive fluxes for
flint, does not perfe&ly vitrify with chalk. This
earth notably promotes the vitrification of flint; a mix¬
ture of the two requiring lets alkali than either of them
feparately. If glals made from flint and alkali is fur-
,3> theiL
c H A [3
Ghalk.' ther faturatei with the flint, fo as to be incapable of
bearing any further addition of that earth without
becoming opaque and milky, it will ftill in a ftrong
fire take up a confiderable proportion, one-third or
one-fourth of its weight, of clhalk, without injury to its
tranfparency; hence chalk is fometirnes made ufe of
in compoiitions for glafs, as a part of the fait may
then be fpared. Chalk likewife has a great effedt in
melting the ftony matters intermixed with metallic
ores, and hence might be of ufe in fmelting ores ;
as indeed limeftone is ufed for that purpofe. But
it is remarkable, that chalk, when deprived of its
fixed air, and converted into limeitone, lofes much of
its difpoiition to vitrify. It is then found to melt
very difficultly and imperfedtly, and to render the glafs
opaque and milky.
Chalk readily imbibes water; and hence mafles of
it are employed for drying precipitates, lakes, earthy
powders that have been levigated with water, and
other moiff preparations. Its ceconomical ufes in
cleaning and polifliing metalline or glafs utenfils are
well known. In this cafe it is powdered and waffled
from any gritty matter it may contain, and is then
called 'whiting.-— In medicine it is one of the moll
ufeful abforbents, and is to be looked upon Amply as
fuch. The aftringent virtues which feme have attri¬
buted to it have no foundation, unlefs in as far as the
earth is faturated with an acid, with which it compofes
a faline concrete manifeftly fub-aftringent. For the
further properties of chalk, fee Chemistry, Index.
Black. Chalk, a name given by painters to a fpecies
of earth with which they draw on blue paper, &c.
It is found in pieces from two to ten feet long,
and from four inches to twenty in breadth, gene¬
rally flat, but fomewhat riling in the middle, and
thinner towards the edges, commonly lying in large
quantities together. While in the earth, it is moift.
and flaky: but being dried, it becomes confiderably
hard and very light; but always breaks in fome par¬
ticular dir^ition ; and if attentively examined when
frelh broken, appears of a firiated texture. To the
touch it is foft and fmooth, flams very freely, and by
virtue of its fmoothnefs makes very neat marks. It is
eafily reduced into an impalpable foft powder with¬
out any diminution of its blacknefs. In this ftate it
mixes ealily with oil into a fmooth pafte ; and being
diflufed through water, it flowly fettles in a black flimy
«r muddy form; properties which make its ufe very
convenient to the painters both in oil and water co¬
lours. it appears to be an earth quite different from
common chalk, and rather of the flaty bituminous kind.
In the fire it becomes white wdth a reddilh catt, and
very friable, retaining its flaky ftrudture, and looking
much like the white flaky maffes which fome forts of
pit-coal leave in burning. Neither the chalk nor thefe
afhes are at all affedtSd by acids.
The colour-fhops are fupplied with this earth from
Italy or Germany; though fome parts of England af¬
ford fubftances nearly, if not entirely, of the lame qua¬
lity, and which are found to be equally ferviceable
both for marking and as black paints. Such particu¬
larly is the black earth called killow, faid by Dr Merret
iu his Pinax Rerum Britannicanum to be found in Lan
eafliire y and by Mr Da Cotta, in his hiftory of foffffs,
17 1 c h A
to be plentiful near the top of Cay Avon, an high kill Chalk,
in Metionethftiire. Challenge.
Red Chalk, an earth much ufed by painters and ar-
tificers, and common in the colour-ihops. It is pro¬
perly an indurated clayey ochre; and is dug in Ger¬
many, Italy, Spain, and France, but in greatett quan¬
tity in Flanders. It is of a fine, even, and firm tex¬
ture; very heavy, and very hard ; of a pale red on the
outfide, but of a deep duflty chocolate colour within.
It adheres firmly to the tongue, is perfedfly infipid to
the tafte, and makes no effervefcence with acids.
CnALK-Land. Barley and wheat will fucceed very
well on the better fort of .chalky land, and oats gene¬
rally do well on any kind of it. The natural produce
of this fort of land in weeds, is that fort of fmall vetch-
called the tine-tare, wjth poppies, may-weed, &c. Sain¬
foin and hop-clover will generally fucceed tolerably well
on thefe lands ; and, where t-hey are of the better fort,,
the great clover will do. The belt manure is dung,
old rags, and the Iheep-dung left after folding them-
CnALK-Stones, in medicine, fignify the concretions-
of calcareous matter in the hands and feet of people
violently afflided with the gout. Leeuwenhoek has
been at the pains of examining tkefe by the micro-
fcope. He divides them into three parts. The firtt
is competed of various fmall parcels of matter looking,
like white grains of fand ; this is harder and drier,,
and alfo whiter, than the reft. When examined with
large magnifiers, thefe are found to be compofed of
oblong particles laid clofely and evenly together
though the whole fmall ttones are opaque, thefe com¬
ponent parts of them are pellucid, and refemble pie¬
ces of horfe-hair cut fliort, only that they are fome¬
what pointed at both ends. Thefe are fo extremely
thin, that Mr Leeuwenhoek computes that icoo of
them placed together would not amount to the fize of
one hair of our heads. The whole ftones in this harder
part of the chalk are not compofed of thefe particles,
but there are confufedly thrown in among them fome
broken parts of other fubftances, and in a few places
fome globules of blood and fmall remains of other
juices. The fecond kind of chalky matter is lefs hard
and lefs white than the former, and is compofed of
fragments or irregular parts of thofe oblong bodies
which compofe the firft or hardeft kind, and thefe are
mixed among tough and clear matter, interfperfed.
with the fmall broken globules of blood difcoverable
in the former, but in much greater quantity. The
third kind appears red to the naked eye ; and, when-
examined with glaffes, is found to be a more tough and.
clammy white matter, in which a great number of
globules of blood are interfperfed; thefe give it the red;
appearance it has.
CHALLENGE, a cartel or invitation to a duel or
other combat *. A challenge either by word or let-» gee
ter, or to be the bearer of fuch a challenge, is punish¬
able by fine and imprifonment on indidlment Or infor¬
mation.
Challenge, among hunters. When hounds or
beagles, at firft finding the feent of their game, pre-
fently open and cry, they are faid to challenge.
Challenge, in the law of England, is an excep¬
tion made to jurors f ; and is either in civil or crimi- f gee the
nal cafts. ankle Truf
,L In
c H A [3
Cl.alienee. J. Jn civil cafes challenges are of two forts; chal-
lenges to the array, and challenges to the poll.
1. Challenges to the array are at once an exceptioa
to the whole panel, in which the jury are arrayed, or
fet in order by the flieriff in his return ; and they may
be made upon account of partiality or fome default in
the fheriff or his under officer who arrayed the panel.
Alfo, though there be no perfonal objeftion againfl.
the IherifF, yet if he arrays the panel at the nomina¬
tion, or under the direction of either party, this is
good caufe of challenge to the array. Formerly, if a
lord of parliament had a caufe to be tried, and no
■knight was returned upon the jury, it was a caufe of
challenge to the array : alfo by the policy of the an-,
tnent law, the jury was to come de vicineto, from the
neighbourhood of the vill or place where the caufe
of aftion was laid in' the declaration : and therefore
fome of the jury were obliged to be returned from
the hundred in which fuch vill lay ; and, if none
were returned, the array might be challenged from
defedt of hundreders. For, living in the neighbour¬
hood, thefe were fuppofed to know beforehand the
characters of the patties and witneffes ; and therefore
they better knew what credit to give to the fafts al¬
leged in evidence. But this convenience was over¬
balanced by another very natural and almoft unavoid¬
able inconvenience; that jurors coming out of the im¬
mediate neighbourhood, would be apt to intermix
their prejudices and partialities in the trial of right.
And this the law was fo fenfible of, that it for a long
time has been gradually relinquiffiing this praftice ;
the number of neceffary hundreders in the whole pa¬
nel, which in the reign of Edward III. were conftantly
fix, being in the time of Fortefcue reduced to four;
afterwards by ftatute 27 Eliz. c. 6. to two ; and at
length, by ftatute 4 and 5 Anne, c. 16. it was en¬
tirely abolilhed upon all civil aClions, except upon pe¬
nal ftatutes; and upon thofe alfo by the 24 Geo. II.
c. 18. the jury being now only to come de corpore co-
mitatus, from the body of the country at large, and not
de vicineto, or from the particular neighbourhood.
The array by the ancient law may alfo be challenged^
if an alien ke party to the fuit, and, upon a rule ob¬
tained by his motion to the court for a jury de'medie-
tate lingua, fuch a one be not returned by the fheriff
purfuant to the ftatute 28 Edward III. c. 1 3. enforced
by 8 Hen. VI. c. 29. which enaCls, that where either
party is an alien born, the jury fhall be one half deni¬
zens and the other aliens (if fo many be forthcoming
in the place), for the more impartial trial: A privi¬
lege indulged to ftrangers in no other country in the
world ; but which is as ancient in England as the time
of King Ethelred, in whofe ftatute de monticolis Wallia
(then aliens to the crown of England), c. 3. it is or¬
dained, that “ duodeni legales homines, quorum fex
Walli et fex Angli erunt, Anglis et Wallis jus di-
cunto.”
2. Challenges to the polls, in capita, are exceptions
to particular jurors; and feem to anfwer the recufatio
judicis in the civil and canon laws; by_,the conftitutions
of which, a judge might be refufed upon any fufpi-
cion of partiality. By the laws of England alfo, in
the times of Brafton and Fleta, a judge might be re¬
fufed for good caufe ; but now the law is otherwife,
and it is held that judges or juftices cannot be challen-
18 ] C H A
ged. For the law will not fuppofe a poffibility of bias Challeirge
or favour in a judge who is already fworn to admini- 
tier impartial juftice, and whofe authority greatly de¬
pends on that prefumption and idea. And, fhould the
fa£t at any time prove flagrantly fuch, as the delicacy
of the law will not prefume beforehand, there is no
doubt but that fuch mifbehaviour would draw down a
heavy cenfure from thofe to whom the judge is ac¬
countable for his conduff. But challenges to the
polls of the jury (who are judges of fad) are reduced
to four heads by Sir Edward Coke : propter honoris re-
fpeclum; propter defe3um; propter ajfeclum; and propter
deli Bum. \. P ropter honoris refpeBum; as, if a lord of
parliament be impanelled on a jury, he may be chal¬
lenged by either party, or he may challenge himfelf.
2. Propter defeBum; as, if a juryman be an alien born,
this is defed of birth ; if he be a flave or bondman,
this is defed of liberty, and he cannot be a liber et le-
galis homo. Under the word homo alfo, though a name
common to both fexes, the female is however exclu¬
ded, defedum fexus: except when a widow feigns
herfelf with child in order to exclude the next heir,
and a fuppofititious birth is fufpeded to be intended;
then, upon the writ de ventre infpiciendo, a jury of wo¬
men is to be impanelled to try the queftion whether
with child or not. But the principal deficiency is de¬
fed of eftate fufficient to qualify him to be a juror,
which depends upon a variety of ftatutes*. 3. Jurors *see
may be challenged propter affeBum, for fufpicion of bias./Wj Com.'
or partiality. This may be either a principal chab111-
lenge, or to the favour. A/riwriprj/challenge is fuch,
where the caufe affigned carries with it, prim a facie,
evident marks of fufpicion either ;of malice or favour ;
as, that a juror is of kin to either party within the
ninth degree ; that he has an intereftin the caufe; that
there is an adion depending between him and the par¬
ty ; that he has taken money for his verdid, £sV. which,
if true, cahnot be overruled, for jurors mull be omne
exceptione majores. Challenges to the favour, are where
the party hath no principal challenge ; butobjeds only
fome probable circumftances of fufpicion, as acquaint¬
ance, and the like ; the validity of which mull be left
to the determination of triors, whofe office is to decide
whether the juror be favourable or unfavourable. 4.
Challenges propter deliBum, are for fome crime or mif-
demeanour that affeds the juror’s credit, and renders
him infamous i As for a convidion of treafon, felony,
perjury, or confpiracy; or if, for fome infamous of¬
fence, he hath received judgment of the pilory or the
like.
II. In criminal cafes, challenges may be made either
on the part of the king, or on that of the priloner;
and either to the whole array, or to the feparate polls,
for the very fame reafons that they may be in civil
caufes. For it is here at leaft as neceffary as there,
that the fheriff or returning officer be totally indiffer¬
ent; that, where an alien is indided, the jury (hould
be de medietate, or half foreigners, if fo many are found
in the place (which does not indeed hold in treafons,
aliens being very improper judges of the breach of al¬
legiance ; nor yet in the cafe of Egyptians under the
ftatute 22 Hen. VIII. c. 10.); that on every pannel
there {hould be a competent number of hundreders;
and that the particular jurors fhould be omni exceptions
majores, not liable to objedions either propter honoris re¬
fpeBum,
C H A
•feallenge^^fom, propter defedum, propter affefti
, Ch^!"n .
Challenges on any of the foregoing accounts are ftyled
challenges for caufe; which may be without Hint in both
civil and criminal trials. But in criminal cafes, or at lead
in capital ones, there is, in favorem •vita, allowed to the
priioner an arbitrary and capricious fpecies of challenge
to a* certain number of juiors, without (howing any
eaufe at all; which is called a peremptory challenge :
a provifion full of that tendernefs and humanity to pri-
foners for which our Ifiws are juftly famous. This is
grounded on two reafons: i. As every one muft be
fenlible what fudden impt effions and unaccountable pre¬
judices we are apt to conceive upon the bare looks and
geftures o£ another; and how neceflary it is, that a
prifoner, when put to defend his life, fhould have a
good opinion of his jury, the want of which might to¬
tally difconcert him; the law wills not that he fhould
be tried by any one man agatnft whom he has concei¬
ved a prejudice even without being able to affign a rea-
fon for fuch his diflike. 2. Becaufe upon challenges
[ 519 ] G H A
or propter de- between two fine meadows on the rivers, Marne, Mau, Chaloner.
and Nau, in E. Long. 4. 37. N. Lat. 48. 57. ‘ y—a
CHALONER (Sir Thomas), a ftatefman, foldier,
and poet, defcended from a good family in Denbigh-
in Wales, was born at London about the year 1515.
Having been educated in both univerfities, but chiefly
at Cambridge, he was introduced at the court of Hen¬
ry VIII. who fent him abroad in the retinue of Sir
Henry Knevet ambaffador to Charles V. and he had
the honour to attend that monarch on his fatal expedi-
tion again ft Algiers in 1541. Soon after the fleet left,
that place, he was fliipwrecked on the coaft of Bar¬
bary in a very dark night: and having exhaufted his
ftrength by fwimming, he chanced to ftrike his head
againft a cable, which he had the prefence of mind to
catch hold of with his teeth ; and, with the lofs of fe-
veral of them, was drawn up by it into the fhip to
which he belonged. Mr Chaloner returned foon after
to England, and was appointed firft clerk of the coun¬
cil, which office he held during the reft of that reign.
On the acceffion of Edward VI. he became a favourite
for caufe Ihown, if the reafon affigned prove infuffi- of the Duke of Somerfet, whom he attended to Scot-
cient to fet afide the juror, perhaps the bare queftion-
ing his indifference may fometimes . provoke a refent-
ment; to prevent all ill confequences from which, the
prifoner is ilill at liberty, if he pleafes, peremptorily
to fet him afide.
land, and was knighted by that nobleman after the
battle of Muflelburgh, in *547. The prote&or’s fall
put a flop to Sir Thomas Chaloner’s expeftations, and
involved him in difficulties. During the reign of queen
Mary, being a determined proteftant, he was in fome
This privilege of peremptory challenges, though danger; but having many powerful.friends, he had the
granted to the prifoner, is denied to the king by the
ftatute 33 Edward I. flat. 4. which ena&s, that the
king ftiall challenge no jurors without affigning a caufe
certain to be tried and approved by the court. How¬
ever, it is held that the king need not affign his caufe
of challenge till all the panel is gone through, and un-
kfs there cannot be a full jury without the perfons fo
challenged. And then, and not fooner, the king’s
counfel muft (how the caufe : otherwife the juror fhall
be fworn.
The peremptory challenges of the prifoner "muft,
however, have fome reafonable boundary ; otherwife
he might never be tried. This reafonable boundary is
fettled by the common law to the number of 35; that
is, one under the number of three full juries. For the
law judges, that 35 are fully fufficient to allow the
moft timorous man to challenge through mere caprice;
and that he who peremptorily challenges a greater
number, or three full juries, has no intention to be
tried at all. And therefore it deals with one who pe¬
remptorily challenges above 35, and will not retra&
his challenge, as with one who ftands mute or refufes
his trial; by fentencing him to the peine forte et dure in
felony, and by attainting him in treafon. And fo the
law ftands at this day with regard to treafon of any
kind. But by ftatute 22 Hen. VIII. c. 14. (which,
with regard to felonies, ftands unrepealed), no perfon
arraigned for felony can be admitted to make more than
20 peremptory challenges.
CHALLON-sur-Saone, an ancient town of
France, in Burgundy,, and capital of the Challonnois,
with a citadel and bilhop’s fee. It is feated on the ri¬
ver Saone, in E. Long. 5. 7. N. Lat. 46. 47.
CHALLONS-Sur-Marne, a large epifcopal town of
good fortune to etcape. On the acceffion of queen
Elizabeth, he appeared again at Court; and was fo
immediately diftinguiihed by her Majefty, that ffie Ap¬
pointed him ambaffador to the emperor Ferdinand L .
being the firft ambaflador Ihe nominated. His com-
miffion was of great importance ; and the queen was
fo well fatisfied with his conduit, that, foon after his
return, ffie fent him in the fame capacity to Spain:
but Sir Thomas was by no means fatisfied with this in-
ftance of her majefty’s confidence : the courts of Eng¬
land and Spain being at this time extremely diflatisfied
with each other, he forefaw that his fituation would
be very difagreeable ; and fo it proved; but Elizabeth
muft be obeyed. He embarked for Spain in 156
and returned to London in 1564, in conlequence of a
requeft to his fovereign, in an elegy written in imita¬
tion of Ovid. After his return, he refided in a houfe
built by himfelf in Clerkenwell-clofe, where he died in
the year 1565, and was buried in St RauPs- Sir Wil¬
liam Cecil aflifted as chief mourner at his funeral.
So various were the talents of Sir Thomas Chaloner,
that he excelled in every thing to which he applied'
hirolelf. He made a confiderable figure as a poet. His
poetical works were publiffied by William Malim, ma¬
iler of St Paul’s fchool, in <579- His capital work
was that “ Of reftoring the Engliffi republic, in ten
books,” which he wrote when he was ambaffador in
Spain. It is remarkable, that this great man, who
knew how to tranfaft as well as write upon the moft
important affairs of ftates and kingdoms, could defcendv
to compofe a didionary for children, and to tranflate
from the Latin a book Of the ofjice of Servants, merely
for the utility of the fubje&s.
Chaloner (Sir Thomas) the younger,, though in-
France, in Champagne. It carries on a confiderable confiderable as an author, deferves to be recorded
trade in ffialloons, and other woollenituffs. It is feated Ikilful naturalift, in an age. wherein natural hiftory u
C H A [ 320 ] C H A
Chalone^ very little underftood in this or any other country ; and ing, that in the north they fay kan, lonnen, Imge, Ion-
Cham particularly as the founder of the alum-works in York-
■ ^ (hire, which have fince proved fo exceedingly advan¬
tageous .to the commerce of this kingdom. He was
the only fon of Sir Thomas Chaloner mentioned in the
laft article, and was born in the year IJ59- Being
very young at the time of his father’s death, the lord
treafurer Burleigh taking charge of his education, fent
him to St Paul’s fchool, and afterwards to Magdalen
ning. See. The term chant is alfo applied, among the
Perfians, to the great lords of the court, and the go¬
vernors of provinces,
Cham, in geography, a town of the Bavarian pala¬
tinate, (ituated on a river of the fame name, about
25 mites north-eaftof Ratifbon; E. Long. 13. N. Lat.
49- '?•
CHAMA, in zoology, a genus of (hell-fifli belong-
•college in Oxford, where, like his father, he difeo- ing to the order of vermes tellaceae. The fhell is thick,
-vered extraordinary talents for Latin and Englifh and has two valves; it is an animal of the oyfter kind.
poetry. About the year 1580, he made the tour of
Europe, and returned to England before 1584; for,
in that year, we find him a frequent attendant in the
court of queen Elizabeth. About this time he mar¬
ried the daughter of Sir William Fleetwood, recorder
of London. 101591 he was knighted; and, fome
time after, difeovered the alum-mines on his eftate at
■Gilborough, near the river Tees in Yorkfhire (a).
Towards the latter end of the queen’s reign, Sir
Thomas vifited Scotland; and returning to England in
the retinue of king James I. found fuch favour in the
fight of his majetty, that he was immediately appointed
governor to prince Henry, whom he conftantly at¬
tended, and, when his royal pupil vifited Oxford, was
honoured with the degree of mafter of arts. How he
was employed after the death of the prince is not
known. Some years before that event, he married
a fecond wife, the daughter of Mr William Blount of
London, by whom he had fome children. He died in
the year 1615, and was buried at Chifwnck in Middle-
fex- His eldeft fon William was created a baronet in
the 18th of James anno 1620. The title was extimft
in t68l. He wrote, 1. Dedication to Lord Burleigh
of his father’s poetical works, dated 1579. 2. The
virtue of nitre, wherein is declared the fundry cures by
the fame effedled. Lond. 1584, qto.
CHALYBEAT, in medicine, an appellation given
to any liquid, as wine or water, impregnated with
particles of iron or Heel. See Mineral Waters.
CHALYBES (anc. geog.), an ancient people of
the Hither Afia. Their fituation is differerttly afiign-
ed ; Strabo placing them in Paphlagonia, to the call
of Synope ; Apollonius Rhodus and Stephanus, on
the eaft of the Thermodon, in Pontus; called Halt-
nones by Homer. They either gave their name to, or
took it from, their iron manufadfures, (Xenophon,
Val. Flaccus), their only fupport, their foil being bar¬
ren and ungrateful, (Dionyfius Periegetes).
CHAM, or Kh- •’ -
princes of Tartary.
The ^vord, in the Perfian, fignifies mighty lord; in
the Sclavonic, emperor. Sperlingius, in his Differta-
tion on the Danifh term of Majejly, honing, king, thinks
the Tartarian chant may be well derived from it; add-
N° 68.
Linnaeus enumerates 14 fpecies, principally diftinguifh-
cd by the figure of their Ihells.
CHAMADE, in war, a certain beat of a drum,
or found of a trumpet, which is given the enemy as a
fignal to inform them of fome propofition to be made
to the commander, either to capitulate, to have leave
to bury their dead, make a truce, or the like.—^Menage
derives the word from the Italian chiamata, of daman
to “ cry.”
CHAMPEDRYS, in botany. See Veronica.
CHAMELEON, in zoology, the trivial name of
a fpecies of Lacerta.
CHAMAPITYS, in botany. See Teucrium.
CHAMiERQPS, in botany: A genus of the na¬
tural order of palmse. The hermaphrodite calyx is
tripartite ; the corolla tripetalous ; there are fix ftami*
na, three piftils, and three monofpermous plums. The
male, in a diftinft plant, the fame as the hermaphro¬
dite. There are two fpecies, the mod remarkable of
which is the glabra, a native of the Well Indies,, and
warm parts of America, alio of the correfponding la¬
titudes of Afia and Africa. It never rifes with a tall
ftem; but when the plants are old, their leaves are five
or fix feet long, and upwards of two feet broad ; thefe
fpread open like a fan, having many foldings, and at
the top are deeply divided like the fingers of a hand,
This plant the Americans call thatch, from the ufe to
which the leaves are applied.—Under the name of pal¬
metto, however, Mr Adanfon deferibes a fpecies of
palm which grows naturally at Senegal, whofe trunk
rifes from 50 to 60 feet in height: from the upper e'hd
of the trunk iffues a bundle of leaves, which, in turn¬
ing off, form a round head ; each leaf reprefents a fan
of five or fix feet in expanfion, fupported by a tail of
the fame length. Of thefe trees, fome produce male
flowers, which are confequently barren ; others are fe¬
male, and loaded with fruit, which fucceed each other
uninterruptedly almoft the whole year round. The
the title given to the fovereign fruit of the large palmettos, Mr Adanfon affirms to be
of the bignefs of an ordinary melon, but rounder: it is
inveloped in two fkins as tough as leather, and as thick
as ftrong parchment; within the fruit is yellowifh, and
full of filaments faftened to three large kernels in the
middle. The negroes are very fond of this fruit,
which,
(a) Sir Thomas, during his refidence in Italy, being particularly fond of natural hiflory, fpent fome time at
Puzzoli, where he was very attentive to the art of producing alum. Tins •attention proved infinitely ferviceable
to his country, though of no great benefit to himfelf or his family, his attempt being attended with much dif¬
ficulty and expence. It was begun about the year 1600, in the reign of queen Elizabeth; but was not brought
to any degree of perfection till fome time in the reign of Charles I. by the affillance of one Ruffel a Walloon,
and two other workmen brought from the alum works at Rochelle. By one of the arbitrary a<fts of Charles,
it was then < ‘ med a mine-royal, and granted to Sir Paul Pindar. The long parliament adjudged it a mono¬
poly, and juftly reftored it to the original preprietors.
C H A [ 321 ] C H A
Chamanim which, when baked under the aihes, is faid to tafle
Cbamhe' ^ a quince.
. ia"1 The little palmetto may be eafily raifed in this coun¬
try from feeds brought from America; but, as the
plants are tender, they muft be conllantly kept in a
bark-ftove.
CHAMANIM, in the Jewilh antiquities, is the
Hebrew name for that which the Greeks call Pyreia or
Pyraterias and St Jerom in Leviticus has tranflated
Simulachra, in Ifaiah, delubra. Thefe chamanim were,
according to Rabbi Solomon, idols expofed to the fun
upon the tops of houfes. Abenezoa fays they were
portable chapels or temples made in'the form of cha¬
riots, in honour of the fun. What the Greeks call
Pyreia, were temples confecrated to the fun and fire,
wherein a perpetual fire was kept up. They were
built upon eminences ; and were large inclofures with¬
out covering, where the fun was worihipppd. The
Guebres, or worfliippers of fire, in Perfia and the Eall
Indies, have Hill thefe Pyreia. The word chamanim is
derived from Chaman, which fignifies to warm, or
burn.
CHAMARIM, a word which occurs in feveral
places of the Hebrew bible, and is generally tranflated
the priejts of the idols, or the priejls clothed in black, be-
caufe charnar fignifies “ black,” or “ blackiiefs.” St
Jerom, in the fecond book of Kings, renders it aru-
fpices. In Hofea and Zephania, he tranflates it tsdi-
tui or church-wardens. But the bell commentators
are of opinion, that by this word we are to underlland
the priefts of the falfe gods, and in particular the wor-
Ihippers of fire ; becaufe they were, as they fay, dref-
fed in black ; or perhaps the Hebrews gave them this
name in derifion, becaufe, as they were continually em¬
ployed in taking care about the fuel, and keeping up the
fire, they were always as black as fmiths or colliers.
We find priefts, among tkofe of Ifis, called melancphori,
that is to fay, that wear black ; but whether this may
be by reafon of their drelfing in black, or whether it
were becaufe they wore a certain Ihining black veil in
the procefiions of this goddefs, is not certain. Ca-
mar, in Arabic, fignifies the “ moon.” Ifis is the
fame deity. Grotius thinks the Roman priefts, called
carmlli, came from the Hebrew chamarim. Thofe a-
mong the heathens who facrificed to the infernal gods
were drefled in black.
CHAMBER, in building, a member of a lodging,
or piece of an apartment, ordinarily intended for lleep-
ing in ; and called by the Latins cubiculum. The
word comes from the Latin camera ; and that, accor¬
ding to Nicod, from the Greek *«■(*■*(*,,vault or curve j
the term chamber being originally confined to places
arched over.
A complete apartment is to confift of a hall, anti¬
chamber, chamber, and cabinet.
Privy-Chamber.. Gentlemen of the privy-chamber,
are fervants of the king, who are to wait and attend
on him and the queen at court, in their diverfions, £5V.
Their number is forty-eight, under the lord-chamber¬
lain, twelve of whom are in quarterly waiting, and two
of thefe lie in the privy-chamber.
In the abfence of the lord-chamberlain, or vice-cham¬
berlain, they execute the king’s orders: at corona¬
tions, two of them perfonate the dukes of Aquitain
and Normandy; and fix of them, appointed by,the
Vo*,. IV. Parti.
lord-chamberlain, attend ambaflaciors from crowned Chamher,
heads to their audiences, and in public'entries. The   y™—■'
gentlemen of the privy-chamber were inftituted by
Henry.VII.
Chamber, in policy, the place where certain af-
femblies are held, alfo the affemblies themfelves. Of
thefe fome are eftabliflied for the adminiftration of jus¬
tice, others for commercial affairs.
Of the firft kind are, 1. Star-chamber, fo called,
becaufe the roof was painted with ftars; the autho¬
rity, power, andjurifdicdion of which, are abfolutely a-
boliftred by the ftatute 17 Car. I. 2. Imperial cham¬
ber of Spire, the fupreme court of judicatory in the
empire, eredted by Maximilian I. This chamber has
a right of judging by appeal; and is the laft refort of
all civil affairs of the Hates and fubjeCts of the empire,
in the fame manner as the aulic council of Vienna.
Neverthelefs it is reftrained in feveral cafes: it takes
no notice of matrimonial caufes, thefe being left to
the pope ; nor of criminal caufes, which either belong
to particular princes or towns in their refpedtive terri-
tories, or are cognizable by all the ftates of the empire
in a diet. By the treaty of Ofnaburg, in 1648, fifty
affeffors were appointed for this chamber, whereof 24
were to be Proteftants, and 26 Catholics ; befides five
prefidents, two of them Proteftants, and the reft Ca¬
tholics. 3. Chamber accounts, a fovereign court in
France, where accounts are rendered of all the king’s
revenues, inventories, and avowals thereof regiftered ;
oaths of fidelity taken, and other things relating to
the finances tranfacted. There are nine in France,
that of Paris is the chief; it regifters proclamations,
treaties of peace, naturalizations, titles of nobility, &c.
All the members wear long black gowns of velvet, of
fattin, or damaik, according to their places. 4. Ec-
clefiaftical chambers in France, which judge by appeal
of differences about collecting the tythes. 5. Cham¬
ber of audience, or grand chamber, a jurifdiction in
each parliament of France, the counfellors of which
are called jugeurs, or judges, as thofe of the chamber
of inquefts are called raporteurs, reporters of proceffes
by writing. 6. Chamber qf the edi£t, or miparty, a
court eftablifhed by virtue of the edi£t of pacification .
in favour of thofe of the reformed religion. This
chamber is now fuppreffed. 7.' Apoftolical chamber
of Rome, that wherein affairs relating to the revenues
of the church and the pope are tranfacted. This
council confifts of the cardinal-camerlingo, the gover¬
nor of the rota, a treafurer, an auditor, a prefident, one
advocate-general, a folicitor-general, a commiffary,
and 12 clerks. 8. Chamber of London, an apartment
in Guildhall, where the city money is depofited.
Of the laft fort are, the chambers of commerce; the
chambers of affurance; and the royal or fyndical
chamber of bookfellers in France.
1. The chamber of commerce is an affembly of mer¬
chants and traders, where the affairs relating to trade
-are treated of. There are feveral eftablifhed in moil
of the chief cities of France ; and in our own coun¬
try’', we have lately feen chambers of this kind erefted,
particularly in London, Edinburgh, and Glafgow.
2. Chamber of affurance in France, denotes a fociety
of merchants and others for carrying on the bufineL
ofinfuring : but in Holland, it fignifies a court of juf-
tice, where caufes relating to infurances are tried,
,S s 3. Cham-
G H A L 322 ] G H A
Chamber, g. CHamber of bookfellers in Paris, an affembly con-
Ch1aa^ibcr‘ lifting of a fyndic and affiftants, elefted by four dele-
» gates from the printers, and twelve from the book¬
fellers, to vifit the books imported from abroad, and
to fearch the heufes'of fellers of marbled paper, print-
fellers, and dealers in printed paper for hangings, who
are prohibited from keeping any letters proper for
printing-books. In the vifitation of books, which
ought to be performed by three perfons at leaft from,
among the fyndic and afliftants, all libels againft the
honour of God and the welfare of the Hate, and all
books printed "either within or without the kingdom
in breach of their regtdations and privileges, are llopt,
even with the merchandifes that may happen to be in
the bales with fuch libels or other prohibited books.
The days appointed for this chamber to meet, are
Tuefdays and Fridays, at two o’clock in the after¬
noon.
Chamber, in military affairs. I. Powder-cham¬
ber', or bomb-chamber; a place funk under ground
for holding the powder, or bombs, where they may
be out of danger, and fecnred from the rain. T. Cham¬
ber of a mine ; the place, moil commonly of a cubical-
form, where- the powder is confined. 3. Chamber
of a mortar ; that part of the chafe, much narrower
than the reft of the cylinder, where the powder lies.
It is of different forms; fometimes like a reverfed
cone ; fometimes globular* with a neck for its commu¬
nication with the cylinder, whence it is- called a bot¬
tled chamber; but moft commonly cylindrical, that
being the form which is found by experience to carry
the ball to the greatell diftance.
CHAMBERLAIN, an officer charged with the
management and direction of a chamber. See Cham¬
ber, in policy.
There are almoft as many kinds of chamberlains as
chambers, the principal whereof are as follows.
Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain^ the fixth' great
officer of the crown ; to whom belongs livery and
lodging in the king’s court:; and there are certain
fees due to him from each archbiffiop or biffiop when
they perform their homage to the king, and from all
peers at their creation or doing their homage.. At
the coronation of every king, he is to have forty ells
of crimfon velvet for his own robes. This officer, on
the coronation-day, is to bring the king his ffiirt, coif,
and wearing clothes ; and after the king is dreffed, he
claims his bed, and all the furniture of his chamber,
for his fees: he alfo carries, at the coronation,.the coif,
gloves, and linen, to be ufed by the king on that occa-
fton ; alfo the fword and fcabbard, the gold to be of¬
fered by the king, and the robes-royal and crown: he
dreffes and undreffes the king on that day, waits on
him before and after dinner, £sV. To this officer be¬
longs the care of providing all things in the houfe of
lords, in the time of parliament; to him alfo belongs
the government of the palace of Weftminfter: he dif-
pofes likewife of the fword of ftate, to be carried be¬
fore the king, to what lord he pleafes.
The great chamberlain of Scotland was ranked by
King Malcolm as the third great officer of the crown,
and was called Camerarius Domini Regis. Before there
was a treafurer appointed, it was his duty to colleft
the revenue of the crown, and he difburfed the money
neceffary for the king’s expences, and the maintenance
of the king’s houfehold. From the time that a tfea-
furer was appointed, his province was limited to the
boroughs throughout the kingdom, where he was a
fort of juftice-general, as he had a power for judging
of all crimes committed within the borough, and of
the crime of foreftalling. He was to hold chamber-
lain-ayreS every year. He was fupreme judge ; nor
could any of his decrees be queftioned by: any inferior,
judicatory. - His fentences were put in execution by
the magiftrates of the boroughs. He alfo regulated
the prices of provifions within the borough, and the
fees of-the workmen in the mint-houfe. His falary
was only L. 200 a-year. The fmallnefs of his falary,
and his great powers, had no doubt been the: caufes
of much oppreffionin this officer, and the chamberlain-
ayre was called rather a legal robbery than a court of
juftice; and when the combined lords feized king
James VI. Auguft 24, 1582, andcarried.him to Ruth-
ven -Caftle,. they dffued. a .proclamation in-the king’s
name, difcharging the chamberlain-ayres to be kept.
The chamberlain had great fees arifing from the pro¬
fits of efcheats, fines, tolls, and cufto ms. This office
was granted heritably to the family of Stuart, duke
of Lenox; and when their male line failed, kin-*
Charles II. conferred it in like manner upon his natu¬
ral fbn, whom he created duke of Monmouth, and on
his forfeiture.it went to the duke of Lenox; but that,
family furrendered the office to the crown in 1703.
Lord Chamberlain of the Houfhold, an officer who >
has the overfight and direction: of all officers belonging
to the king’s-chambers, except the precinct of the
king’s bed-chamber.
He has the overiight of the officers of the wardrobe
at all his majefty’s houfes, and of the removing ward¬
robes, or of beds, tents, revels, mufic, comedians, hunt¬
ing, meffengers', &c. retained- in the king’s fervice.:
He moreover has the o.verfight and direction of the fer-
jeants at arms, of all phyficians, apothecaries, furgeons,
barbers, the king’s chaplains, &c. and adminifters the
oath to all officers above flairs.
Other chamberlains, are thole of the king’s courts
of exchequer, of North Wales, of Chefter, of the city
of London, &c. in which cafes this officer is generally
the receiver of all rents and revenues belonging, to
the place whereof lie.is chamberlain*
In the exchequer there are two chamberlains, who
keep a controbnent of the pells of receipts and exitus,.
and have certain keys of the treafury, records, Lfr,
Chamberlain- of London keeps the city money,
which is. laid up in the chamber of London : he alio
prefides over the affairs of matters and apprentices, and
makes free of the city ,: C5V.
His office lafts only a year:; but the cuftom ufually
obtains to re-cKufe the fame perfon, unlefs charged
with any mifdemeanor in his office.
CHAMBERLAYNE (Edward), defcended from
an ancient family, was born in- Gloucefterfhire 1616,
and made the tour of Europe during the diftraftions
of the civil war. After the reftoration, he went as
fecretary with the earl of Carliile, who carried the or¬
der of the Garter to the king of Sweden; was ap¬
pointed tutor to the duke of Grafton, natural fon of
Charles II. and was afterwards pitched on to inftruct
prince George of Denark in the Englifh tongue. He
died in 1703, and was buried in a vault in-Chelfea
4 church-
Chamber-
lain,
Chamber-
layne.
G H A [ 323 ] C H A
■ Chamber- chuic'n-yard : his monumental infeription mentions
iayne plx jjQQ^g 0f his writing; and that he was defirous of
Chambers, doing fervice to pofterity, that he ordered fome copies
u—y  of his hooks to be covered with wax, and buried with
him. That work by which he is beft known, is his
Anglia Notitia, or the prefent Jlate of England, which has
been often fince printed.
Chamberlayne (John), fon to the authors otThe
Prefent State of England,” and continuator of that ufe-
ful work, was admitted into Trinity College, Oxford,
1685; but it doth not appear that he took any degree.
Befide the Continuation juft mentioned, he was author
of “ Diflertations hiftorical, critical, theological, and
moral, on the moft memorable events of the Old
and New Teftaments, with Chronological Tables •”
one vol. folio ; and tranflated a variety of works from
the French, Dutch, and other languages^ He like-
wife was F. R. S. and communicated fome pieces,
inferted in the Philofophical Tranfadtions. It was faid
of him that he underftood fixteen languages ; but it is
certain that he was mafter of the Greek, Latin, French,
High and Low Dutch, Portuguefe, and Italian.
Though he was qualified for employment, he had none
" but that of Gentleman-Ulher to George Prince of
Denmark. After a ufeful and well-fpent life, he died
in the year 1724. He was a very pious and good
man, and earneft in promoting the advancement of re¬
ligion, and the intereft of true Chriftianity; for which
purpoie he kept a large correfpondence abroad.
CHAMBERRY, a confiderable and populous town
of Italy, in Savoy, with a callle. It is capital of the
'duchy, and well built, but has no fortifications. It is
watered by feveral ftreams, which have their fources
in St Martin’s-hill, and run through feveral of the
ftreets. There are piazzas under moft part of the
houfes, where people may walk dry in the worft wea¬
ther. It hath large and handfome fuburbs; and in
the centre of the town is the royal palace. The par¬
liament meet here, which is compofed of four prefi-
dents, and a pretty large number of fenators, being
the fupreme tribunal of the whole duchy. The. prin¬
cipal church is St Leger, and the Jefuits college is the
•moft magnificent of all the monalteries. E. Long. 5.
50. N. Lat. 45. 35'.
CHAMBERS (David), a Scots hiftorian, prieft,
and lawyer, was born in the {hire of Rofs, about the
year 1530, and educated in the univerfity of Aber-
•deen. From thence he went to France and Italy,
where;he,continuedfometime,particularly at Boulogne,
•where, in 1556, he was a pupil of Marianus Sozenus.
After his return to Scotland, he was appointed, by
queen Mary, parfon of Suddy and chancellor of Rofs.
He was foon after employed in digefting the laws of
Scotland, and was principally concerned in publifhing
the a£ls of parliament of that kingdom by authority
in 1566. He was alfo appointed one of the lords of
feffion, and continued her majefty’s faithful fervant
till her declining fortune obliged her adherents to feek
for refuge in other kingdoms. Chambers went firft
to Spain, where he was gracioufly received by king
Philip ; jfiid thence he travelled to Paris, where he
was no lefs kindly received by Charles IX. of that
kingdom, to whom, in 1572, he prefented his hiftory
of Scotland, He died at Paris in the year 1592,
much regretted (fays Mackenzie) by all who knew
him. His writings were ohiefly calculated to a (lift Chambers.
his royal miftrefs, and to extol the wifdom of the Scots v—*
nation.
Chambers (Ephraim), author of the feientifie
Didlionary which goes under his name, was born at
Milton, in the county of Weftmoreland. His parents
were diffenters of the Prelbyterian perfuafion ; and his
education no other than that common one which is in¬
tended to qualify a youth for trade and commerce.
When he became of a proper age, he was put appren¬
tice to Mr Senex the globe-maker, a bufinefs which
is connected with literature, and efpecially with aftro-
nomy and geography. It was during. Mr Chambers’s
refidence with this Ikilful mechanic, that he contradted
that tafte for fcience and learning which accompanied
him through life, and diredted all his purfuits. It was
even at this time that he formed the defign of his
grand work, the “ Cyclopaedia;” and fome of the firlt
articles of it were written behind the counter. Ha¬
ving conceived the idea of fo great an undertaking, he
juftly concluded that the execution of it would not
confift with the avocations of trade ; and therefore he
quitted Mr Senex, and took chambers at Grav’s-Inn,
where he chiefly refided during the reft of his days.
The firft edition of the Cyclopadia, which was the re-
fult of many years intenfe application; appeared in
1728, in two vols. fob It was publifhed by fubferip-
tion, the price being 4I. 4 s. and the lift of fubferibers
was very refpedtable. The dedication, which was to
the king, is dated Oftober 15. 1727. The reputation
that Mr Chambers acquired by his execution of this
undertaking, procured him the honour of being ele£t-
ed F. R. S. Nov. 6. 1729. In lefs than ten years
time, a fecond edition became neceflary; which accor¬
dingly was printed, with correftions and additions, in
1738; and was followed by a third the very next
year.
Although the Cyclopaedia was the grand bufinefs of
Mr Chambers’s life, and may be regarded as almoft
the foie foundation of his fame, his attention was not
wholly confined to this undertaking. He was con¬
cerned in a periodical publication, intituled, “ The
Literary Magazine,” which was begun in 1735. In
this work he wrote a variety of articles, and particu¬
larly a review of Morgan’s “ Moral Philofopher.”
He was engaged, likewife, in conjunction with Mr
John Martyn, F. R. S. and profeffor of botany at
Cambridge, in preparing for the prefs a tranflation and
abridgment of the “' Philofophical Hiftory and Me¬
moirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, or
an Abridgment of all the Papers relating to Natural
Philofophy which have been publifhed by the Mem¬
bers of that illuftrious Society.” This undertaking,
when completed, .was comprifed in five volumes 8vo,
which did not appear till 1742, fome time after our
author’s deceafe, when they were publiftied in the
joint names of Mr Martyn and Mr Chambers. Mr
Martyn, in a fubfequent publication, hath palled a fe-
vere cenfure, upon the fliare which his fellow-labourer
had in the abridgment of the Parifian papers. The
only work befides, that we find aferibed to Mr Cham¬
bers, is a tranflation of the Jefuit's Perfpedive, from
the French; which was printed in 4to, and hath gone
through feveral editions. Mr Chambers’s clofe and un¬
remitting attention to hisftuaiesat length impaired his -
C H A [ 324 ] C H A
Chambers health, and obliged him ^ccalionally to take a lodg-
Chamos at Canonbury-houfe, Iflington. This not having
^ greatly contributed to his recovery, he made an excur-
fion to the fouth of France, but did not reap that be¬
nefit from it which he had himfelf hoped, and his
friends wiftied. Returning to England, he died at
Canonbury-houfe, and was buried at Weftminfter;
where the following infcription, written by himfelf, is
placed on the north fide of the cloyfters of the Abbey:
Multis pervulgatus,
Paucis notus;
Qui vitam, inter lucem & umbram,
Nec eruditus, nec idiota.
Uteris deditus, tranfegit; fed ut homo
Qui human! nihil a fe altenum putat.
Vita fimul, & laboribus funbtus,
Hie requiefeere voluit,
Ephraim Chambers, R. S. S.
Obiit xv Maii, mdccxl.
After the author’s death, two more editions of his
Cyclopaedia were publilhed. The proprietors after¬
wards procured a fupplement to be compiled, which
extended to two volumes more : And in the year 1778
began to be publilhed in weekly numbers, an edition
of both, improved, and incorporated into one alphabet,
by Dr Rees, which has been lately completed in four
volumes folio, and forms a very valuable work.
CHAMBRE (Martin Cureau de la), phyfician in
ordinary to the French king, was diftinguilhed by his
knowledge in medicine, philofophy, and polite learning.
He was born at Mons; and was received into the
French academy in 1635, and afterwards into the aca¬
demy of fciences. Fie wrote a great number of works,
the principal of which are, 1. The chara&ers of the
paffions. 2. The art of knowing men. 3. On the
knowledge of beafts, &c. He died at Paris in 1669.
CHAMELEON. See Lacerta.
CHAMFERING, in architedlure, a phrafe ufed
for cutting any thing aflope on the under fide.
CHAMIER (Daniel), an eminent proteftant di¬
vine* born in Dauphine. He was many years preach¬
er at Montellimart; from whence he went in 1612 to
Montaubon, to be profeffor of divinity in that city,
and was killed by a cannon-ball during the fiege in
1621. The moft confiderable of his works is his Pan-
Jlratia Catholica, or “ Wars of the Lord,” in four vo¬
lumes folio ; in which he treats very learnedly of the con-
troverfies between the Proteftants and Roman Catholics.
CHAMOIS, or Chamois-goat, in zoology. See
Capra.
CHAMOMILE. See Anthemis.
CHAMOS, or Chemosh, the idol or god of the
Moabites.
The name of chamos comes from a root which, in
Arabic, fignifies to make hqfle ; for which reafon many
believe chamos to be the fun, whofe precipitate courfe
might well procure it the name of fwift or fpeedy.
Others have confounded chamos with the god Hammon,
adored not only in Libya and Egypt, but alfo in A-
rabia, Ethiopia, and the Indies. Macrobius {hows
that Hammon was the fun; and the horns, with which
he was reprefented, denoted his rays. Calmet is of
opinion, that the god Hamonus, and Apollo Chomeus,
'mentioned by Strabo and Ammianus Marcellinus, was
the very fame as chamos or the fun. Thefe deities Chamou'nT.
were worftiipped in many of the eaftern provinces, ■'—v——*
Some who go upon the refemblance of the Hebrew
term chamos, to that of the Greek cotnos, have believed
chamos to fignify the god Bacchus the god of drunk-
ennnefs, according to the fignification of the Greek
comos. St Jerom, and with him moft: other interpre¬
ters, take Chamos and Peor for the fame deity. But
it feems that Baal-Peor was the fame as Tammuz or
Adonis; fo that Chamos muft be the god whom the
heathens call the Sun.
CHAMOUNI, one of the elevated valleys of the
Alps, lituated at the foot of Mount Blanc. • See Alps
and Blanc.
The firft ftrangers whom a curiofity to vifit the gla¬
ciers drew to Chamouni (M.Saffure obferves), certainly
confidered this valley as a den of robbers; for they
came armed cap-a-pee, attended with .a troop of do-
meftics armed in the fame manner: they would not
venture into any houfe; they lived in tents which they
had brought along with them ; fires were kept burning,
and centincls on guard the whole night over. It was
in the year 1741 that the celebrated traveller Pocock,
and another Englifh gentleman called Wyndham, un¬
dertook this interefting journey. It is remembered by
the old men of Chamouni, and they Hill laugh at the
fears of the travellers, and at their unnecefiary precau¬
tions. For 20 or 25 years after this period, the journey
was made but feldom, and then chiefly by Englhh-
men, who lodged with the curate : for, when I was
there in 1760, and even for four or five years after¬
wards, there was no habitable houfe except one or two
miferable inns, like thofe in villages that are little fre¬
quented.' But now th^t this expedition has gradually be-*
come fo fafhionable, three large and good inns, which
have been fucceffively built, are hardly fufficient to con¬
tain the travellers that come during the fummer from all
quarters.
This concourfe of ftrangers, and the money they
leave behind them at Chamouni, have fomewhat affec¬
ted the ancient fimplicity of the inhabitants, and even
the purity of their manners. Nobody, however, has
any thing to fear from them : the moft inviolable fide¬
lity is obferved with refpe&.to travellers; they are on¬
ly expofed to a few importunate folicitations, and fome
fmall artifices, didfated by the extreme eagernefs with
which the inhabitants offer their fervices as guides.
The hope of obtaining this employment brings to¬
gether, round a traveller, almoft all ihe men in every
village through which he paffes, and makes him believe
that there are a great many in the valley; but there
are very few at Chamouni in fummer. Curiofity, or
the hope of making money, draws many to Paris and
into Germany: btfides, as the fheperds of Chamouni
have the reputation of excelling in the making of
cheefe, they are in great requeft in the Tarentaife, in
the valley of Aofte, and even at greater diftances; and
they receive there, for four or five months in fummer*
very confiderable wages. Thus the labours of the field
devolve almoft entirely on the women, even fuch as in
other countries fall iblely on the men ; a» mowing,
cutting of wood, and threflring: even the animals of
the fame fex are not fpared, for the cows there are yo¬
ked in the plough.
6 The '•
C H A [ 325 ] G H A
Chamouni. The only labours that belong exclufively to the men
are the feeking' For rock cryftal, and the chace. Hap¬
pily they are now lefs employed than formerly in the
firft of thefe occupations. I fay happily, for many of
them pet ilhed in this purfuit. The hope of enriching
themfelves quickly by the difeovery of a cavern filled
with fine cryllals, was fo powerful a motive, that they
expofed themfelves in the fearch to the moft alarming
dangers; and hardly a year palfed without fome ei them
perifhing in the fnows, or among the precipices.
The principal indication of the grottos, or cryftal
ovens, as they are here called, are veins of quartz, which
appear on the outfide of the rocks of granite, or of the
laminated rock. Thefe white veins are feen at a dif-
tance, and often at great heights, on vertical and inac-
ceffible places. The adventurers endeavour to arrive
at thefe, either by fabricating a road acrofs the rocks,
or by letting themfelves down from above fufpendedby
ropes. When they reach the place, they gently ftrike
the rock; and if the ftone returns a hollow found, they
endeavour to open it with a hammer, or to blow it up
with powder. This is the principal method of fearch-
ing: but young people, and even children, often go in
queft of thefe cryftals over the glaciers, where the rocks
have lately fallen down. But whether they confider
thefe mountains as nearly exhaufted, or that the quan¬
tity of cryftal found at Madagafcar has too much lower¬
ed the price of this foflil, there are now but few people
that go in fearch of it, and perhaps there is not a
Angle perfon at Chamouni th?,t makes it his only
occupation. They go however occafionally, as to a
party of pleafure.
But the chace of the Chamois goat, as dangerous,
and perhaps more fo than the feeking for cryftal, ft ill
occupies many inhabitants of the mountains, and car¬
ries off, in the flower of their age, many men whofe
lives are moft valuable to their families. And when
we are informed how this chace is carried on, we will
be aftonifhed that a courfe of life, at once fo laborious
and perilous, (hould have irrefiftible attra&ions for thofe
who have been accuftomed to it.
The Chamois hunter generally fets out in the night,
that he may reach by break of day the moft elevated
paftures where the goats come to feed, before they ar¬
rive. As foon as he difeovers the place where he hopes
to find them, he furveys it with his glafs. If he finds
none of them there, he proceeds always afeending:
whenever he deferies any, he endeavours to get above
them, either by flealing along fome gully, or getting
behind fome rock or eminence. When he is near
enough to diftinguiih their horns, which is the mark
by which he judges of the diftance, he refts his piece
on a rock, takes his aim with great compofure, and
rarely mifles. This piece is a rifle-barrelled carabine,
into which the ball is thruft, and thefe carabines often
contain two charges, though they have but one barrel ;
the charges are put one above another, and are fired
in fucceffion. If he has wounded the chamois, he runs
to his prey, and for fecurity he hamftrings It; then he
confiders his way home : if the road is difficult, he
fkins the chamois, and leaves the carcafe; but, if it is
pra&icafcle, he throws the animal on his flioulders, and
bears him to his village, though at a great diftance,
and often over frightful precipices : he feeds his fa¬
mily with the flefli,.. which is excellent, efpecially
when the creature is young, and he dries the Ikins for Cfiamouni.
fale. . . ^
But if, as is the moft common cafe, the vigilant
chamois perceives the approach of the hunter, he im¬
mediately takes flight among the glaciers, through the
fnows, and over the moft precipitous rocks. It is par¬
ticularly difficult to get near thefe animals when there
are feveral together; for then one of them, while the
reft are feeding, ftands as a centinel on the point of
fome rock that commands a view of the avenues lead¬
ing to the pafture ; -and as foon as he perceives any ob¬
ject of alarm,,he utters a fort of hiis, at which the
others inftantly gather round him to judge for them¬
felves of the nature of the danger: if it is a wild beaft,
or a hunter, the moft experienced puts himfelf at the
head of the flock ; and away they fly, ranged in a line,
to the molt inacceffible retreats.
It is here that the fatigues of the hunter begin : ipr
ftigated by his paflion for the chace, he is infenfible to
danger; he paffes over fnows, without thinking of the
horrid precipices they conceal; he intangles himfelf
among the moft dangerous paths, and bounds from
rock to rock, without knowing how he is to return.
Night often furprifes him in the midft of his purluit;
but he does not for that reafon abandon it ; he hopes
that the fame caufe will arreft the flight of the chamois,
and that he w ill next morning overtake them. Thus
he paffes the night, riot at the foot of a tree, like the
hunter of the plain ; not in a grotto, foftly reclin¬
ed on a bed of mofs, but at the foot of a rock,
and often on the bare points of (haltered fragments,
without the fmalleft fhelter. There, all alone, with¬
out fire, without light, he draws from his bag a
bit of cheefe, with a morfelof oaten bread, which make
his common food: bread fo dry, that fie is fotnedmes
obliged to break it between two . Hones, or with the
hatchet he carries with him to cut out fteps in the
ice. Having thus made his folitary and frugal repaft,
he puts a ftone below his head for a pillow, and goes
to fleep, dreaming on the rout which the chamois may
have taken. But foon he is awakened by the freflinefs
of the morning; he gets up, benumbed with cold;
furveys the precipices which he mull traverfe in order
to overtake his game ; drinks a little brandy, of which
he is always provided with a fmall portion, and fets out
to encounter new dangers. Hunters fometimes re¬
main in thefe folitudes for feveral days together, during
which time their families, their unhappy wives in par¬
ticular, experience a ftate of the moft dreadful anxiety :
they dare not go to reft for fear of feeing their hulbands
appear to them in a dream ; for it is a received opinion
in the country,, that when a man has perifhed, either
in the fnow, or on fome unknown rock, he appears by
night to the perfon he held moft dear, deferibes the
place that proved fatal to him, and requefts. the per¬
formance of the laft duties to his corpfe.
“ After this pifture of the life which the cha- Foyags
mois hunters lead, could one imagine that this chace aWiL
Would be the objefi of a paflion abfolutely unfur- ^/"> P0*'
mountable ? I knew a well-made, handfome man, who Saf~
had juft married a beautiful woman :—‘ My grand-^om’. iiu
father, faid he to me, loft his life in the chace; fo did
my father ; and I am perfuaded, that I too ftiall die in
the fame manner: this bag which I carry with me
when I hunt I call my grave-cloaths, for I am fure T
will.
C H A [ -326 ] G H A
Chamouni. will have no other; yet if you (hould offer to make
kj.-'- vr~*—' my fortune on condition of abandoning the chace
of the chamois, I could not confent. I made fome
excurfions on the Alps with this man: his ftrength
and addrefs were aftonilhing;. but his temerity was
greater than his ftrength ; and I have heard, that,
two years afterwards, he miffed a ftep on the brink
of a precipice, and met with the fate he had ex-
pefted.
“ The few who have grown old in this employment
bear upon their faces the marks of the life they have
led. A favage look, fomething in it‘haggard and wild,
makes them be known in the midft of a crowd, even
•when they are not in their-hunting drefs. And un¬
doubtedly it is this ill look vthich makes fome fuper-
ftitious peafants bdieve that they are forcerers, that
they have dealings with the devil in their folitudes,
and that it is he who throws them down the rocks.
■What then can be the paffionate inducement to this
courfe of life ? It is not avarice, at leaft it is not
an avarice confident with reafon : the moft beautiful
chamois is never worth more to the perfon that kills
it than a dozen of francs, even including the value of
its flefh ; and now that the number is fo much dimi-
■nifhed, the time loft before one can be taken is much
more than its value. But it is the very dangers that
attend the purfuit, thofe alternations of hope and fear,
the continual agitation and exercife which thefe emo¬
tions produce in the mind, that inftigate the hunter:
they animate him as they do the gamefter, the warrior,
the failor, and even to a certain degree, the naturalift
of the Alps; whofe life, in fome meafure, pretty much
refembles that of the hunter whofe manners we have
defcribed.”
But there is another kind of bunting, which is nei¬
ther dangerous nor laboiious, nor fatal to any one but
to the poor animals that are the objefts of it.—Thefe
are the marmots, animals that inhabit the high moun¬
tains ; where in fummer they fcoop out holes, which
they line with hay, and retire to at the beginning of
.autumn: here they grow torpid with the cold, and
remain in a fort of lethargy, till the warmth of the
fpring returns to quicken their languid blood, and to
recal them to life. When it is -fuppofed that they
have retired to their winter abode, and before the fnow
has covered the high paftures where their holes are
made, people go to unharbour them. They are found
from 10 to 12 in the fame hole, heaped upon one an¬
other, and buried in the hay. Their fleep is fo pro¬
found, that the hunter often puts them into his bag,
and carries them home without their awaking. The
fefli of the young is good, though it taftes of oil, and
fmells fomewhat of mufk ; the fat is ufed in the cure
of rheumatifms and pains, being rubbed on the parts
affefted:; but the fkin is of little value, and is fold for
no more than five or fix fols. Notwithftanding the
little benefit they reap from it, the people of Chamouni
•go in queft of this animal with great eagernefs, and its
numbers accordingly diminiih very fenfibly.
It has been faid, that marmots, in order to tranfport
the hay into their holes, ufe one of their number laid
on his back as a cart; but this is fabulous, for they are
fetn carrying the hay in their mouths. Nor is it for
food that they gather it, but for a bed, and in order to
ihut out the cold, and to guard the avenues of their re¬
treat from enemies. When they are taken in autumn, Chamouni.
their bowels are quite empty, and even as clean as if  v
they had been waftied with water; which proves that
their torpidity is preceded by a fail, and even by an
evacuation : a wife contrivance of Nature for prevent¬
ing their accumulated faeces from growing putrid, or
too dry, in the long lethargy they are expofed to*
They alfo continue a few days after their revival with¬
out eating, probably to allow the circulation and di-
geftive power to recover their a&ivity. At fir ft, lea¬
ving their holes, they appear ft upid and dazzled with
the light: they are a£ this time killed with fticks, as
they do not endeavour to fly, and their bowels are then
alfo quite empty. They are not very lean when they
awake, but grow more fo for a few days after they firft
come abroad. Their blood is never congealed, how¬
ever profound their fleep may be ; for at the time that
it is deepeft, if they are bled, the blood .flows as if they
were awake.
In thefe countries the period is fo fhort between the
diffolution of the fnow and its return, that grain has
hardly time to come to maturity. Mr Saffure men¬
tions a very ufeful and ingenious praftice, invented by
mountaineers of the Argentiere, for enlarging this pe¬
riod. “ I obferved (fays he), in the middle of the val¬
ley, feveral large fpaees where the furface of the fnow
exhibited a Angular appearance, fomewhat refembling
a piece of white cloth fpotted with black. While I
was endeavouring to divine the caufe of this phenome¬
non, I difeovered feveral women walking with mea-
fured pace, and fovving fomething in handfuls that was
black ; and which being fcattered, regularly diverging,
on thefurface of the fnow, formed that fpotted ap¬
pearance that I had been admiring. I could not con-
ceive what feed {hould be fown on fnow fix feet deep;
But my guide, aftoniftred at my ignorance, informed
me, that it was black earth fpread upon the fnow to
accelerate its melting; and thus to anticipate, by a
fortnight or three weeks, the time of labouring the
fields and fowing. I was ftruck with the elegant fim-
plicity of a p raft ice fo ufeful, the effefts of which I al¬
ready faw very evidently in places which had not been
thus treated above three days.
“ As to the inhabitants of Chamouni, the men, like
thofe of moft high valleys, are neither well-made nor
tall: but they are nervous and ftrong, as are alfo the
women. They do not attain to a great age ; men of
So are very rare. Inflammatory difeafes are the moft
fatal to them ; proceeding, no doubt, from obftrufted
perfpiration, to which the inconftant temperature of the
climate expofes them.
“ They are in general honeft, faithful, and diligent in
the praftice of religious duties. It would, for inflance,
be in vain to perfuade them to go any where on a ho¬
liday before hearing mafs. They are economical, but
charitable. There are among them neither hofpitals
nor foundations for the poor; but orphans and old
people, who have no means of fubfiftence, are enter¬
tained by every inhabitant of a parifti in his turn. If
a man is prevented by age or infirmities from taking
charge of his affairs, his neighbours join among them-
felves and do it for him.
“ Their mind is aftive and lively, their temper gay,
with an inclination to raillery: they obferve, with An¬
gular acutenefs, the ridiculous in ftrangers, and turn
it
G H A ' [
it into a fund of very facetious merriment among
themfelves; yet they are capable of ferious thinking:
n many of them have attacked me on religious and me-
* taphyfical fubjefts; not as profeffing a different faith
from theirs^ but on general queftions, which {bowed
they had ideas independent of thofe they were taught.”
CHAMPAGNE, a confiderable province of France,
about 162 miles in length, and 112 in breadth, bound¬
ed on the north by Hainhalt and Luxemburg, on the
eaft by Lorrain and the Franche-Comte, on the fouth
by Burgundy, and on the weft by the ifle of France
and Soiffonnois. It has a great number of rivers, the
principal of which are the Meufe, the Seine, the Marne,
the Aube, and the Aine. Its principal trade confifts
in excellent wine, all forts of corn, linen cloth, woollen
fluffs, cattle, and fheep. It is alfo divided into the
higher and lower, and Troys is the capital town. Its
fub-divifions are Champagne Proper, and Rhemois, the
Retelois, the Pertois, the Vallage, Bafigni, the Se-
nonois, and the Brie Champenois.
Champagne Proper, is one of the eight parts- of
Champagne, wLich comprehend the towns of Troys>
Chalons, St Menehold, Eperney, and Vertus.
CHAMPAIN, or Point Champain, in heraldry, a
mark of difhonour in the coat of arms of him who
kills a prifoner of war after he has cried quarter,
CHAMPERTRY, in law, a fpecies of mainte¬
nance, and punilhed in the fame manner; being a
bargain with the plaintiff or defendant campum par-
tire, “ to divide the land,” or other matter fued for
between them, if they prevail at law; whereupon
the champertror is to carry on the party’s fuit at his
own expence. Thus Ghampdrt, in the French law,
fignifies a fimilar divifion of profits, being a part of the
crop annually due to the landlord by bargain or cuitom.
In our fenfe of the word, it fignifies the purchafing of
a fuit, qr right of fuing; a practice fo much abhorred
by our law, that it is one main reafon w'hy a chofe in
aifion, or thing of which one hath the right but not
the poffeffion, is not affignable in common law ; becaufe
no man (hould purchafe any pretence to fue in another’s
right. Thefe pefts of civil fociety, that are perpetu¬
ally endeavouring to difturb the repofe of their neigh¬
bours, and officioufiy interfering in other mens quar¬
rels, even at the hazard of their own fortunes, were
feverally animadverted on by the Roman law; and
were punifhed by the forfeiture of a third part of their
goods and perpetual infamy. Hitherto alfo muft be
referred the provifion of the ftatute 32 Henry VIIA
Ci 9. that no one (hall fell or purchafe any pretended
right or title to land, unk'fs the vender hath received
the profits thereof for one whole year before fucb
grant, or hath been in aftual poffeffion of the land, - or
of the reverfion or remainder ; on pain that both pur-
chafer and vender fhall each forfeit the value of fueh
land to the king and the profecutor.
CHAMPION, a perfon who undertakes a combat
in the place or quarrel of another; and fometimes -the
word is ufed for him who fights in his own caufe.
It appears that champions,. in the juft fenfe of
the word, were perfons who fought inftead of thofe
that, by cuftom, were obliged to accept the duel, but
had a juft excufe for difpenfing with it, as^ being too
old, infirm, or being ecclefiaftics, and the like. Such
caufes as could not be decided by the courfe of com-
327 ] C H A
mon law, were often tried by fingle combat; and he Champion
who had the good fortune to conquer, was always re- II
puted to have juftice on his fide. See the article . iance' ,
Battel. _v~
Champion of the King, (campio regisj, is an an¬
cient officer, whofe office is, at the coronation of our
kings, when the king is at dinner, to ride armed
eap-a-pee, into Weftminfter-Hall, and by the proclama¬
tion of an herald make a challenge, “ That if any
man flsall deny the king’s title to the crown, he is
there ready to defend it in fingle combat, fsfc.” which
being done, the king drinks to him, and fends him a-
gilt cup with a cover full of wine, which the champion-
drinks, and hath the cup for his fee. This office, at
the coronation of king Richard IL when Baldwin
Freville exhibited his petition for it, was adjudged'
from him to his competitor Sir John Dymocke (both-
claiming from Marmion), and hath continued ever fince
in the family of the Dymockes; who hold the manor
of Sinvelfby in Lincolnfhire, hereditary from the Mar-
mions by grand ferjeantry, viz. that the lord thereof
fhall be the king’s champion as aforefaid. According¬
ly Sir Edward Dymocke performed this office at the
coronation of king Charles II. a perfon of the name
of Dymocke performed at the coronation of his pre-
fent majefty George the third—
CHAMPLAIN (Samuel de), a celebrated French'1
navigator, the founder of the colony of New France,,
or Canada. He built Quebec ; and was the firft go¬
vernor of the colony in 1603. Died after 1649. See
Quebec.
CHANANAEI (anc.geog.) the name of the ancient
inhabitants of Canaan in general, defcendants of Ca- -
naan ; but peculiarly appropriated to forae one branch ;
though uncertain which branch or fon of Canaan it
was, or how it happened that they preferred the com¬
mon gentilitious name to one more appropriated as de¬
fcendants of one of the fons of Canaan ; unlefs from •
their courfe of life, as being in the mercantile way,
the import of the name Canaan; and for which their
fituatron was greatly adapted, they living on the fea -
and about Jordan, and thus occupying the greater part
of the Land of Promife.
CHANCE^ a term we apply to eventSj to denote
that they happen without any neceffary or foreknown
caufe. See Cause.
Our aim is, to afcribe thofe things to chance, which
are not neceffarily produced as the natural effefts of
any proper caufe : but our ignorance and precipitancy
lead us to attribute effeils to chance^ which have a ne¬
ceffary and determinate caufe.
When-we fay a thing happens by chance, we really
mean no more than that its caufe is unknown to us : :
not, as fame- vainly- imagine, that chance, itfelf can be
the caufe of any thing.
The cafe of the painter; who, unable to exprefs-
the foam at the mouth of a horfe he had painted,
threw his fponge in defpair at the piece, and, by
chance, did that which he could not before do by de-
fign, is an eminent inftance of the force of chance;
yet, it is obvious, all we here mean by chance, is,,
that the painter was not aware of the effeft ; or that-
he did not throw the fponge with fuch a view: not but'
that he actually did every thing neceffary to produce
the effe£t; infomuch, that,, confidering the diredtioa -
wherein :
C H A [ 328 ] C H A
wherein he threw his fponge, together with its form,
fpecific gravity, the colours wherewith it was fmeared,
and the diilance of the hand from the piece, it wasim-
poffible, on the prefent fyftem of things, the effedt
fhould not follow.
Chance \s frequently perfonified, and eredted into a
chimerical being, whom we conceive as adling arbitra¬
rily, and producing all the effefts whofe real caufes do
not appear to us: in which fenfe the word coincides
with the fortuna, of the ancients.
Chance is alfo ufed for the manner of deciding
things, the conduftor dire&ion whereof is left at large,
and not reducible to airy determinate rules or meafures;
or where there is no ground for preference i as at cards,
dice, lotteries, &c.
For the Laws, of Chance, or the Proportion of Hazard
in Gaming, fee Game.
The ancient fortilege, or chance, M. Placette obferves,
was inftituted by God himfelf; and in the Old Tefta-
ment we find feveral Handing laws and exprefs com¬
mands which prefcribed its ufe on certain occafions :
hence the Scripture fays, “ The lot, or chance, fell on
Matthias,” when it was in queftion who Ihould fill Ju¬
das’s place in the apoftolate.
Hence alfo arofe the fortes fanUnrum ; or method of
determining things, among the ancient Chriltians, by
opening fome of the facred books, and pitching on the
firft verfe they call their eye on, as a fure prognoftic
of what was to befal them. The fortes Homeric#, Fir-
giliante, Prcenejlina, ?&c. ufed by the heathens, were
with the fame view, and in the fame manner. See
Sortes.
St Auguftin feems to approve of this method of de¬
termining things future, and owns that he had pra&ifed
it himfelf; grounded on this fuppofition, that God pfe-
fides over chance; and on Prov. xvi. 33.
Many among the modern divines hold chance-to
be conduced in a particular manner by Providence ;
and elteem it an extraordinary way which God ufes
to declare his will, and a kind of immediate revela¬
tion.
Chance-Medley, in law, is where one is doing a
lawful aft, and a perfon is killed by chance thereby ;
for if the aft be unlawful, it is felony. If a perfon
call, not intending harm, a ftone, which happens to
hit one, whereof he dies 5 or (hoots an arrow in an
highway, and another that paffeth by is killed there¬
with ; or if a workman, in throwing down rubbHh
from a houfe after warning to take care, kills a perfon;
or a fchoolmafter in correfting his fcholar, a matter
his fervant, or an officer in whipping a criminal in a
reafonable. manner, happens to occafion his death; it
is chance-medley and mifadventure. But if a man
throw (tones in a highway where perfons ufually pafs,;
or, (hoot an arrow, &c. in a market-place among a
great many people ; or if a workman call down rub-
bifh from a houfe in cities and towns where people are
continually patting ; or a fchooimafter, See. correft
his fervar.t or fcholar, &c. exceeding the bounds of
moderation ; it is manflaughter.: and if with an im¬
proper inftrument of coneftion, as with a fword or
iron bar, or by kicking, (tamping, &c. in a cruel
manner, it is murder. If a man whips his horfe in a
ftreet to make him gallop, and the hoffe runs over a
child and killsit, it is manflaughter: but if another whips
N° 69.
the horfe, it is manttaughter in him, and chance-medley Chancel,
in the rider. And if two are fighting, and a thiid Chanceb
perfon coming to part them is killed by one of them °r' |;
without any evil intent, yet this is murder in him, and
not manflaughter by chance medley or mifadventure.
In chance-medley, the offender forfeits his goods; but
hath a pardon of courfe.
CHANCEL, is properly that part of the choir of a
church, between the altar or communion-table and the
baluftrade or rail that inclofes it, where the minifter
is placed at the celebration of the communion. The
word comes from the Latin cancellus, which in the lower
Latin is ufed in the fame fenfe, from cancelli, “ lattices
or crofs bars,” wherewith the chancels were anciently
encompaffed, as they now are with rails. The right
of a feat and a fepulchre in the chancels is one of the
privileges of founders.
CHANCELLOR, was at firft only a chief notary
or feribe under the emperors ; and was called cancella-
rius, becaufe he fat behind a lattice (in Latin cancel¬
lus) to avoid being crowded by the people: though
fome derive the word from cancellare, “ to cancel” (See
Chancery). This officer was afterwards invefted
with feveral judicial powers, and a general fuperinten-
dency over the reft of the officers of the prince. -From
the Roman empire it patted to the Roman church,
ever emulous of imperial (late : and hence every bi(hop
has to this day his chancellor, the principal judge of
his confiftory. And when the modern kingdoms of
Europe were eftabliftied upon the ruins of the empire,
almoft every (late preferved its chancellor with differ¬
ent jurifdidfions and dignities, according to their dif¬
ferent conftitutions. But in all of them he feems to
have had the fupervifion of all charters, letters, and fuch
other public inilruments of the crown as were authen¬
ticated in the moft folemn manner: and therefore, when
feals came in ufe, he had always the cuftody of the king’s
great feal.
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord
Keeper of the Great Seal, is the higheft honour of the
long robe, being created by the mere delivery of the
king’s great feal into his cuftody; whereby he be-,
comes, without writ or patent, an officer of the greateit
weight and power of any now (Ubfilling in the kingdom.
He is a privy counfellor by his office ; and, according
to Lord Chancellor Ellefmere, prolocutor of the houle
of lords by prefeription. To him belongs the appoint¬
ment of all the juftices of the peace throughout the
kingdom. Being in former times commonly an eccle-
fiallic (for none elfe'were then capable of an office fo
converfant in writing), and prefiding over the royal
chapel, he became keeper of the king’s confoence ;
vifitor, in right of the king, of all hofpitals and col¬
leges of the king’s foundation ; and patron of all the
king’s livings under the value of L. 20 per annum in the
king’s books. He is the general guardian of all in¬
fants, ideots, and lunatics ; and has the general fuper-
intendance of all charitable ufes in the kingdom. And
all this over and above the vaft extenfive jurifdiftion
which he exercifes in his judicial capacity in the court
of chancery. He takes precedence of every temporal
lord except the royal famdy, and of all others except
the archbiffiop of Canterbury. See Chancery.
Chancellor, in Scotland, was the chief in matters
of juftice. In the laws of King Malcolm II. he is
placed
C H A
Chancellor, placed before all other officers ; and from thefe it ap-
pears, that he had the principal dire&ion of the Chan¬
cery, or Chancellary as it is called, which is his proper
office. He had the caftody of the king’s feal; and he
was the king’s moll intimate counfellor, as appears by
an old law cited by Sir James Balfour: “ The chan-
cellar fall at al tymes affift the king, in giving him
counfall mhir fecretly nor the reft of the nobility, to
quais ordinances all officiaris, als well of the realme as
of the kingis hous, fould anfwer and obey. The chan-
cellar fall be ludgit neir unto the kingis grace, for
keiping of his bodie, and the feill; and that he may
be readie baith day and nicht at the.kingis command.”
By having the cuftody of the great feal, he had an
opportunity of examining the king’s grants and other
deeds which were to pafs under it, and to cancel them
if they appeared againft law, and were obtained fur-
reptitioufly or by falfe fuggeftions.
King James VI. ordained the chancellor to have the
firft place and rank in the nation, ratione officii; by virtue
whereof he prefided in the parliament, and in all courts
of judicature. After the reftoration of King Charles II.
by a particular declaratory law, parliament firft, the
lord chancellor was declared, by virtue and right of his
office, prefident in all the meetings of parliament, or
other public judicatures of the kingdom. Although
this a6t was made to declare the chancellor prefident of
the exchequer as well as other courts, yet in 1663 the
king declared the treafurer to be prefident of that
court.
The office of lord chancellor was abolifhed by the
Union, there being no farther ufe for the judicial part
of this office; and, to anfwer all the other parts of the
chancellor’s office, a lord keeper of the great feal was
ere&ed, with a falary of L. 3000 a-year.
Chancellor of a Cathedral, an officer that hears
leffons and leftures read in the church, either by him-
felf or his vicar; to correft and fet right the reader
when he -reads amifs; to infpedt fchools ; to hear
caufes ; apply the feal; write and difpatch the letters
of the chapter ; keep the books; take care that there
be frequent preachings, both in the church and out
of it ; and affign the office of preaching to whom he
pleafes-
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancafier, an officer ap¬
pointed chiefly to determine controverfies between the
king and his tenants of the duchy-land, and otherwife
to dire& all the king’s affairs belonging to that court.
See Ducm-Court.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, an officer who prefides
in that court, and takes care of the intereft of the
crown. He is always in commiffion with the lord-
treafurer, for the letting of crown-lands, &c. and has
power, with others, to compound for forfeitures of
lands upon penal ftatutes. He has alto great authority
in managing the royal revenues, and in matters relating
to the firft-fruits.
Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, and other Mi¬
litary Orders, is an officer who feals the cornmiffions and
mandates of the chapter and affembly of the knights,
keeps the regifter of their proceedings, and delivers afts
thereof under the feal of their order.
Chancellor of an Univcrfity, is he who feals the
diplomas, or letters of degrees, provifion, &c. given
in the univerfity.
Vot. IV. Part I.
[ V9 1
C H A
The chancellor of Oxford is iifually one of the prime Chancellor
nobility, chofen by the Undents themfelves in convo- H
cation. He is their chief magiftrate ; his office is, .
durante •vita, to govern the univerfity, preferve and
defend its rights and privileges, convoke affemblies,
and do juftice among the members under his jurifdic-
tion.
Under the chancellor is the vice-chancellor, who is
ehofen annually, being nominated by the chancellor,
and ele&ed by the univerfity in convocation. He is
always the head of fome college, and in holy orders.
His proper office is to execute the chancellor’s power,
to govern the univerfity according to her ftatutes, to
fee that officers and ftudents do their duty, that courts
be duly called, &c. When he enters upon his office,
he choofes four pro-vice-chancellors out of the heads
of the colleges, to execute his power in his abfence.
The chancellor of Cambridge is alfo ufually one of
the prime nobility, and in moll refpedls the fame as
that in Oxford; only he does not hold his office duran¬
te vita, but may be eledled every three years. Under
the chancellor there is a commiffary, who holds a court
of record for all privileged perfons and fcholars under
the degree of mailer of arts, where all caufes are tried
and determined by the civil and ilacute law, and by the
cuftom of the univeriky.
The vice-chancellor of Cambridge is chofen annually
by the fenate, out of two perfons nominated by the
heads of the feveral colleges and halls.
Chancellor’s Court. See Unu'ersity-Courts.
CHANCE RON, in natural hiftory; a name given
by the French writers to the fmall caterpillar that eats
the corn, and does vaft mifchief in their granaries. See
the article CoRN-Buttefly.
CHANCERY, the high eft court of juftice in Britain
next to the parliament, and of very ancient inilitution.
It has its name chancery (cancellaria) from the judge
who prefides here, the lord chancellor, or cancellarius;
who, according to Sir Edward Coke, is fo termed «
cancellando, from cancelling the king’s letters patent
when granted contrary to law, which is the higheft
point of his jurifditlion. In chancery there are two
diftinft tribunals : the one ordinary, being a court of
common law; the other extraordinary, being a court
of equity.
1. The ordinary legal court holds pleas of recogni-
xances acknowledged in the chancery, writs of fcire
facias, for repeal of letters patent, writs of partition,
&c. and alfo of all pevfonal a&ions by or againft any
officer of the court. Sometimes a fuperfedeas, or Writ Blaslj}.
of privilege, hath been here granted to difeharge a Comment'
perfon out of prifon ; one from hence may have a ha*
beas corpus prohibition, &c. in the vacation ; and here
a fubpana may be had to force witneffes to appear in
other courts, when they have no power to call them.
But, in profecuting caufes, if the parties defeend to
iffue, this court cannot try it by jury; but the lord
chancellor delivers the record into the king’s bench to
be tried there ; and after trial had, it is to be remand*-
ed into the chancery, and there judgment given : tho*
if there be a demurrer in law, it fhali be argued in this
Court.
In this court is alfo kept the ojficina jujlitia; out of
which all original writs that pafs under the great feal,
all commiffions of charitable ufes, fewers, bankruptcy,
T t idiocy, •
C H A
C 338 1
C H A
• as well as the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic characters,
were formed from the ancient Hebrew, which fubilited
till the Babylonifh captivity ; for after that event the
character of the Affyrians, which is. the fquare Hebrew
now in ufe, prevailed, the ancient being only found on
except l, it fhowed the inclofed letter to be five times Chai*a<5terfi
its value : as w fifty, iui five hundred, IxT five thou- -v—
fand, ImI fifty thoufand.
The French Character ufed in the chamber of ac¬
counts, and by perfons concerned in the management
fome Hebrew medals, commonly called Samaritan me- of the revenue, is, properly fpeaking, nothing elfe than
dais. . It was in 1091 that the Gothic charadters, in¬
vented by Ulfilas, were abolifhed, and the Latin ones
eftablifiied in their room.
Medallifts obferve, that the Greek chara&er, con¬
fiding only of majufcule letters, has preferyed its uni¬
formity on all medals, as low as the time of Gallienus,
from which time it appears fomewhat weaker and
founder: from the time of Condantine to Michael we
find only Latin charadters : after Michael, the Greek,
charadters recommence ; but from that time they be¬
gan to alter with the language, which was a mixture
of Greek and Latin. The Latin medals preferve both,
their charadter and language as low as the trandation
of the feat of the empire to Condantinople : towards
the time of Decius the charadter began to lofe its,
roundnefs and beauty fome time after, it retrieved,
and fubfided tolerably till the time of Judin, when it:
degenerated gradually into the Gothic. The rounder*,
then, and better formed a charadter is upon, a medal,,
the fairer pretence it has to antiquity.
II. Numeral Characters, or charadters ufed to,
exprefs numbers, are either letters or figures*
The Arabic charadter, called alfo the common one,
becaufe it is ufed almod throughout Europe in all forts
©f calculations, confids of thefe ten digits 1, 2, 3, 4,.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, o.
The Roman numeral charadter confids of feven ma-
jjifcule letters of the Roman alphabet, viz. I, V, X,
L, C, D, M. The I denotes one, V five, X ten,
L fifty, C a hundred, D five: hundred, and M a thou¬
fand. The I repeated twice makes two, II; thrice*
three, III: four is expreifed thus, IV, as I before V
or X takes an unit from the number expreffed by thefe.
letters. To exprefs fix, an I is added to a V, VI ^
for feven, two, VI.I; and for eight,, three, VIII. nine
is epreffed by an I before X, thus IX. The fame
remark may be made of the X before L or C* except
that the diminution is by tens; thus, XL. denotes
forty, XC ninety, and LX fixty. The C before D
or M diminihes each by a hundred. The number
five hundred is fometimes expreffed by an I before a
C inverted, thus, 13 ; and indead of M, which figni-
fies a thoufand, an I is fometimes ufed between two
C’s, the one direft, and the other inverted,, thus ClD.
The addition of C and 0 before or after raifes ClD by
tens, thus, CCI33 cxpreffes ten,thoufand, CCCI033,.
a hundred thoufand. The Romans alfo expreffed any.
number of thoufands by a line drawn over any numeral
lefs than a thoufand.; thus V denotes five thoufand,
LX, fixty thoufand: fo likewife M is one million, MM
is two millions, &c.
The Greeks had three ways of exprefiing numbers:
1. Every letter, according fo its place, in the alphabet,
denoted a number, from one, to w, twenty-four.
2. The alphabet was divided into eight units, a. one;
@ two, three, into.-, eight tens, < ten, * twenty
A thirty, &c. ', and eight hundreds, g one hundred,
a two hundred, r three hundred,: fsV. 3. 1 flood for
-one, n five, A ten, H a hundred, X a thoufand, M ten
thoufand; and when the letter n inclofed any of thefe,
the Roman numerals, in letters that are not majufcule :
thus, inttead of expreffing fifty-fix by LVI, they de¬
note it by fmaller characters lyj.
III. Characters of Abbreviations, &c. in feveral
of the arts, are fymbols contrived for the more concife-
and immediate conveyance of the knowledge of things..
For thq
Characters ufed in Algebra. See Algebra, Intro-
duftion.
Characters ufed in AJlronomy, viz.
Of the Planets. See Plate LXII. fig. 19.
Of the Signs. Plate LXXVI. fig. r 5 8. & LXXXV*
fig. 204.
Of the afpefts.
cf or S Conjunction.
SS Semifextile
*• Sextile
Q^Quintile
□ Quartile
Td Tredecile
A Trine
Bq Biquintile
Vc Quincunx
00 Oppofition
Q Dragon’s head'
73 Dragon’s tail
Of time.
A. M. ante meridiem, before the fun comes upon the-
meridian.
O. or N. noon.,
P. M. pojl meridiem, when the fun is paft the meri¬
dian. -
Characters in Commerce.
D° ditto, the fame
N° numero, or number.
F° folio, or page
C or ^ hundred
weight, or x 12:
pounds
qrs quarters
S or s {hillings:
4 pence or deniers
lb pound weight.
Characters in Chemiflry.
Characters in Geometry and Trigonometry.
f| the character of pa- f_ equiangular,, o
R° recto ) r
V° vero \ f0ll°
£ or /. pounds fterling-
pr per, or by, as pr ann.
by the year, pr cent.
Rx rixdollar
Dc ducat x
P. S. poftfcript; &c.
See PI. cxxxii. & cxxxiif
fir
rallelifm. roilar
A triangle A equilateral:
□ fquare an angle
0 O re£tangle A. right angle
© circle _L perpendicular
o denotes a degree ; thus 450 implies 45 degrees.
' Denotes a minute ; thus 50', is 50 minutes. ", "V
"VDenote feconds, thirds, and fourths-: and the fame
ehara&ers are ufed where the progreffions are by tens,
as it is here by fixties.
Characters in Grammar, Rhetoric, Poetry, lAc.
D. D. do&or in divi-
() parenthefis
[J crotchet
- hyphen
’ apoftrophe
' emphafis or accent
breve
•• dialyfis
A caret and circumflex.,
f j; and * references
mty
V. D. M. minifter of
the word of God.
LL. D. do&or of laws
J. V. D. doftor of cir
vil and canon law
“ quotation
M. D. doctor in phyfic
C H A [ 339 1 C H A
■s- ^ fe&Ion or divifion A. M. mailer of arts
J paragraph A. B. bachelor of arts
F. R. S. fellow of the royal fopiety.
For the other characters ufed in grammar, fee Com¬
ma, Colon, Semicolon,
Characters among the ancient Lawyers, and in ancient
Jnfcriptions.
P. P. pater patriae
C. code
C. C. confides
T. titulus
P. P. D. D. propria
pecunia dedicavit
D. D. M. dono dedit
^ monumentum.
n Medicine and Pharmacy.
M. manipulus, a hand¬
ful
P. a pugil
P. vE. equal quanti¬
ties
S. A. according to
§ paragraphs
jfdigefts
Scto. fenatus con-
fulto
E. extra
S. P. R. fena¬
tus populufque
Romanus
Characters ii
R recipe
a, 'aa, or ana, of each
alike
lb a pound, or a pint
f an ounce
3 a drachm
9 a fcruple
gr. grains
il or fs half of any
thing
cong. congius, a gallon,
coch. cochleare, ;
fpoonful
Characters upon Tomb-Jiones.
S. V. Sifte viator, i. e. Stop traveller.
M. S. Memoriae facrum, i. e. Sacred to the me-
q. s. a fufficient quan¬
tity
q. pi. as much as you
pleafe
P. P. pulvis patrum, the
Jefuit’s bark.
J. H. S. Jefus.
X. P. a charafter found in the catacombs, about
the meaning of which authors are not agreed.
Characters ufed in Mujic, and of Mufical Notes with
their proportions, are as follow.
character of a large 8 f crotchet £
t a long 4 £ quaver t
a breve 2 £ kmiquaver tV
O a femibreve I %, demifemiquaver TV
^ a minim £
% character of a fharp note : this char after at the
beginning of a line or fpace, denotes that all the notes
in that line are to be taken a femitone higher than in
the natural feries; and the fame affefts all the oftaves
above and below', though not marked : but when pre¬
fixed to any particular note, it ftiow.s that note alone
to be taken a femitone higher than it would be with¬
out fuchcharafter.
[j ox b, charafter of a flat note : this is the contra¬
ry to the other above ; that is, a femitone lower.
1] charafter of a natural note: when in a line or
feries of artificial notes, marked at the beginning b or
%, the natural note happens to be required, it is de¬
noted by this charafter.
<£ charafter of the treble cliff.
charafter of the mean cliff.
Q: bafs cliff.
or 4 charafters of common duple time, fignify-
mg the meafure of two crotchets to be equal to two
notes, of which four make a femibreve.
G § charafters that diftinguifh the movements
of common time, the firft implying flow, the fecond Chara^er.
quick, and the third very quick. " 'v '
4-, -f> ip t> "fV> charafters of Ample triple time, the
meafure of which is equal to'three femibreves, or to
three minims.
4, y> or nr> charafters of a mixed triple time, where
the meafure is equal to fix crotchets, or fix quavers.
or •§■, or T\, or f, or f-, charafters of compound
triple time.
fs; -rr> 11, or yb-, or charafters of that fpecics
of triple time called the meafure of twelve times.
Character, inhuman life, that which is peculiar
. in the manners of any perfon, and diflinguifhes him
from all others.
Good Character is particularly applied to that con-
duft which is regulated by virtue and religion; in an in¬
ferior but very common fenfe, it is underflood of
mere honefly of dealing between man and man. The
importance of a good charafter in the commerce of
life feems to be univerfally. acknowledged. — To thofe
who are to make their own way either to wealth or
honours, a good charafter is ufually no lefs neceffary
than addrefs and abilities. To tranferibe the obfervation
of an elegant moralift : Though human nature is de¬
generate, and corrupts itfelf ftill more by its own in¬
ventions ; yet it ufually retains to the lafl an efleem
for excellence. But even if we are arrived at fuch an
extreme degree of depravity as to have loft our native
reverence for virtue ; yet a regard to our own intereft
and fafety, which we feldom lofe, will lead us to ap¬
ply for aid, in all important trahfaftions, to men
whofe integrity is unimpeached. When we choofe an
affiftant, a partner, a fervant, our firft enquiry is con¬
cerning his charafter. When we have occafion for a
counfellof of attorney, a phyfician or apothecary,
whatever we may be ourfelves, we always choofe to
truft our property and perfons to men of the bell cha¬
rafter. When we fix on the tradefmen who are to
fupply us with neceffaries, we are not determined by
the fign of the lamb, or the wolf, or the fox ; nor by
a'fhop fitted up in the moft elegant tafte, but by the
faireft reputation. Look into a daily newfpaper, and
you will fee, from the higheft to the loweft rank, how-
important the charafters of the employed appear to
the employers. After the advertifement has enume¬
rated the qualities required in the perfon wanted,
there conftantly follows, that none need apply who
cannot bring an undeniable charafter. Offer your-
felf as a candidate for a feat in parliament, be promo¬
ted to honour and emolument, or in any refpeft at-
traft the attention of mankind upon yourfelf, and, if
you are vulnerable in your charafter, you will be deep¬
ly wounded. This is a general teftimony in favour of
honefty, which no writings and no praftices can pof-
fibly refute.
Young men, therefore, whofe charafters are yet
unfixed, and who, confequently, may render them juft
fuch as they wifh, ought to pay great attention to the
firft fteps which they take on entrance into life. They
arc ufually carelefsand inattentive to thisobjeft. They
purfue their own plans with ardour, and negleft the
opinions which others entertain of them. By fome
thoughtiefs aftion or expreflion, they fuffe.r a mark to
be- impreffed upon them, which fcarcely any fubfequent
merit can entirely erafe. Every man will find fome per¬
il u 2 fans,
G H A E 340 1 C H A
Character, fons, who, though they are not profefled enemies, yet
u“"v—view him with an envious or a jealous eye, and who
will gladly revive any tale to which truth has given the
llighteft foundation.
In this turbulent and confufed fcene, where our
words and actions are often mifunderftood, and of-
tener mifreprefented, it is indeed difficult even for in¬
nocence and integrity to avoid reproach, abufe, con¬
tempt, and hatred. Thefe not only hurt our intereft
Und impede our advancement in life, but forely af-
fiift the feelings of a tender and delicate mind. It is
then the part of wifdom firft to do every thing in our
power to preferve an irreproachable character, and
then to let our happinefs depend, chiefry on the appro¬
bation of our own confciences, and on the advance¬
ment of our intereft in a world where liars ffiall not be
believed, and where flanderers lhall receive countenance
from none but him who, in Greek, is called, by way of
eminence, Diabolus, or the calumniator.
Character, in poetry, particularly the epopee and
drama, is the refult of the manners or peculiarities by
which each perfon is diftinguifhed from others.
The poetical character, fays Mr Boffu, is not pro¬
perly any particular virtue or quality, but a compoft-
tion of feveral which are mixed together, in a diffe¬
rent degree, according to the neceffity of the fable and
the unity of the aftion: there muff be one, however,
to reign over all the reft; and this muft be found, in
fonae degree, in every part. The firft quality in A-
chilles, is wrath ; in Ulyffes, diffimulation ; and in
iEneas, mildnefs: but as thefe characters cannot be
alone, they muft be accompanied with others to em-
bellifh them, as far as they are capable, either by
hiding their defeCts, as in the anger of Achilles, which
is palliated by extraordinary valour; or by making
them centre in fome folid virtue, as in Ulyffes, whofe
diffimulation makes a part of his prudence ; and in
JEneas, whofe mildnefs is employed in a fubmiffion to
the will of the gods. In the making up of which
union, it is to be obferved, the poets have joined to¬
gether fuch qualities as are by nature the moft com¬
patible ; valour with anger, piety with mildnefs, and
prudence with diffimulation. The fable required pru¬
dence in Ulyffes, and piety in iEneas; in. this, there¬
fore, the poets were not left to their choice : but Ho¬
mer might have made Achilles a coward without a-
bating any thing from the juftnefs of his fable: fo that
it was the neceffity of adorning his character that
obliged him to make him valiant: the character, then,
of a hero in the epic poem, is compounded of three
forts pi qualities ; the firft effential to the fable ; tire
fecond, embellifhments of the firft; and valour, which
fuftains tl^e other two, makes the third.
Unity of character is as neceffary as the unity of
the fable. For this purpofe a perfon fhould be the
fame from the beginning to the end: not that he is
always to betray the fame fentiments, or one paffion ;
but that be fhould never {peak nor aCt ineonfillently
with his fund a mental character. For inftance, the
weak may fometimes fally into a warmth, and the
breaft of the paffionale be calm, a change which often
introduces in the drama a very affeCting variety; but
if the natural dilpofition of the former was to be re-
prefented as boifterous, and that of the latter mild and
foft, they would both aCI out of character, and con¬
tradict their perfons.
True charaAers are fuch as we truly and really fee Ch&ra<5*r
in men, or may exift without any contradiction to Q^arade
nature: no man queftions but there have been men ., t
as generous and as good as iEneas, as paffionate and
as violent as Achilles, as prudent and wife as Ulyffes,
as impious and atheiftical as Mezentius, and as amo¬
rous and paffionate as Dido; all thefe characters,
therefore, are true,, and nothing but juft imitations
of nature. On the contrary, a character is falfe when
an author fo feigns it, that one can fee nothing like
it in the order of nature wherein he defigns it fhall
ftand; thefe characters fhould be wholly excluded
from a poem, becaufe tranfgreffing the bounds of pro¬
bability and reafon, they meet with no belief from the
readers; they are, fictions of the poet’s brain, not imi¬
tations of nature;. and yet all poetry confifts in an imi¬
tation of nature.
Character is atfp ufed for certain vifible qualities,
which claim refpeCt or reverence to thofe vefted there¬
with.—The majefty of kings gives them a character
which procures refpeCt from the people. A bifhop
fhould fuftain his character by learning and folid piety,
rather than by worldly luftre, &c. The law of na¬
tions fecures the character of an ambaffador from all
infults.
Character, among naturalifts, is fynonympus with
the definition of the genera of animals, plants, &c.
CHARACTERISTIC, in the general, is that
which charaCterHes a thing or perfon, i. e. cpnftitutes
its character, whereby it is diftinguifhed. See Cha¬
racter.
Characteristic, is peculiarly ufed in grammar,
for the principal letter of a word : which is preferved
in moft of its tenfes and mopds,. its derivatives and
compounds.
Characteristic of a Logarithm, is its index or ex¬
ponent. See Logarithm.
Characteristic Triangle of a Curve, in the high¬
er geometry, is a reCtilinear right-angled triangle, whofe
hypothenufe makes a part of the curve, not fenfibly
different from a right line. It is fo called, becaufe
curve lines are ufed to be diftinguifhed hereby. See
Curve.
CHARADE, the name of a new fpecies of compo-
fition or literary amufement. It owes its name to the
idler who invented it. Its fubjeft muft be a word of
two fyllables, each forming a diftinft word; and thefe
two fyllables are. to be concealed in an enigmatical
defcription, firft feparately, and then together. The
exercifc of charades, if not greatly inflruCiive, is at
leaft innocent and am.ufing. At all events, as it has
made its way into every fafhionable circle, and has
employed even Garrick, it will fcareely be deemed un¬
worthy of attention. The fillineffes indeed of moft. that
have appeared in the papers under this title, are not
only deftitute of all pleafantry in the ftating, but are
formed in.general of words utterly unfit for. the pur¬
pofe. They have therefore been treated with the con¬
tempt they deferved. In trifles of this nature, inac
curacy is without excufe. The following examples
therefore are at leaft free from this blemifh.,
I.
My frjl, however here abufed,
Defigns the fex alone ;
In Cambria, fuch is cuftom’s powhy
’Tis Jenkin, John, or Joan.
My
C H A
Charade, My fecand oft is loudly call’d,
Cnaradrius. When men prepare to fill it;
- * Its name delights the female ear;
Its force, may none refill it !
It binds the weak, it binds the ftrorrg,
The wealthy and the poor ;
Still ’tis to joy a paffport deem’d,
For fullied fame a cure.
It may infure an age of blifs.
Yet mif’ries oft attend it;
To fingers, ears, and nofes too.
Its various lords commend it.
My whole may chance to make one drink,
Though vended in a fifh-lhop;
’Tis now the monarch of the feas.
And has been an archbilhop. Her-ring.
II.
My firjl, when a Frenchman is learning Englilh,
ferves him to fwear by. My fecond, is either hay or
corn. My whole, is the delight of the prefent age,
and will be the admiration of polterity. Gar-rick.
III.
My firjl, is plowed for various reafons, and grain
is frequently buried in it to little purpofe. My fe¬
cond, is neither riches nor honours; yet the former
would generally be given for it, and the latter is often
taftelefs without it. My whole applies equally to fpring,
fummer, autumn, and winter ; and both filh and flelh,
praife and cenfure, mirth and melancholy, are the
better for being in it. Sea-fan.
IV.
My jirjl, with the moft rooted antipathy to a French¬
man, prides himfelf, whenever they meet, upon flick¬
ing clofe to his jacket. My fecond has many virtues,
nor is it its leaft that it gives name to my firft. My
whole, may I never catch ! Tar-tar.
V.
My jirjl is one of England’s prime boafts ; it re¬
joices the ear of a horfe, and anguilhes the toe of a
man. My fecond, when brick, is good; when Hone,
better; when wooden, heft of all. My whole is famous
alike for rottennefs and tin. Corn-wall.
VI.
My firjl is called bad or good.
May pleafure or oft’end ye ;
My fecond, in a thirfty mood.
May very much befriend ye.
My whole, tho’ ftyled a “ cruel wofd,’*'
May yet appear a kind one;
It often may with joy be heard,
With tears may often blind one. Fare-well.
VII.
Myfirft is equally friendly to the thief and the lover,
the toper and the ftudent. My fecond is light’s oppo-
fite : yet they are frequently feen hand in hand ; and
their union, if judicious, gives much pleafure. My
whole, is tempting to the touch, grateful to the fight,
fetal to the tafte. Night-Jhade.
CHARADRIUS, in ornithology, a genus belong¬
ing to the order of grail 32. The beak is cylindrical and
blunt; the nollrils are linear; and the feet have three
toes.
i. The Hiaticula, or Sea-lark of Ray, has a black
bread; a white ftreak along the front; the top of the
bead is brown; and the legs and beak are reddifh. It
is found on- the Ihores of Europe and America. They
[ 341 ] C H A
frequent our Ihores in the fummer, but are not nume- Charailrius.
rous. They lay four eggs, of a dull whitilh colour, ''“"■“v '' *
fparingly fprinkled with black: at the approach of win¬
ter they difappeav.
2. The Alexandrinus, or Alexandrian Dotterel, is
of a brownilh colour, with the forehead, collar, and
belly white ; the prime tail-feathers on both fides are
white ; and the legs are black. It is about the fize of
a lark, and lives upon infedts.
3. The Vociferus, or Noify Plover of Catefby, has
black ftreaks on the bread, neck, forehead, and cheeks;
and the feet are yellojv. It is a native of North Ame¬
rica.
4. The fEgyptius has a black dreak on the bread*,
white eye-brows, the prime tail-feathers dreaked with
black at the points, and bluidi legs. It is found in the
plains of Egypt, and feeds on infedls.
5. The Morinellus has an iron-coloured bread, a.
fmall white dreak on- the bread and eye-brows, and.
black legs. It is the Dotterel of Ray, and a native
of Europe. They are found in Cambridge (hire, Lin-
colnftiire, and Derbydiire : on Lincoln-heath, and on-
the moors of Derbylhire, they are migratory; appear¬
ing there in fmall docks of eight or ten only in the lat¬
ter end of April, and day there all May and part of
June, during which time they are very fat, and much
edeemed for their delicate flavour. In the months of
April and September, they are taken on the Wiltlhire
and Berkfhire downs : they are alfo found in the be¬
ginning of the former month on the fea-fide at Meales
in Lancalhire, and continue there about three weeks,
attending the barley fallows: from thence they re¬
move northward to a place called Leyton 'Haws, and
day there about a fortnight; but where they breed,
or where they refide during the winter* we have not
been able to difeover. They are reckoned very fool-
ifir birds, fo that a dull fellow is proverbially dyled a
dotterel. They were alfo believed to mimic the a£tiou
of the fowler, dretching out a wing when he dretches
out an arm, &c. continuing their imitation, regardlefs
of the net that is fpreading for them.
6. The Apricarius has a black belly ; the body is
brown, and variegated with white and yellow fpots ;
and the legs are afh-coloured. It is the fpotted Plover
of Edwards* and a.native of Canada.
7. The Pluvialis is black above, with green fpots,
white underneath, and the feet are alb-coloured. It
is the green plover of R.ay, and is a native of Europe.
They lay four eggs, fharply pointed at the leffer end,
of a dirty white colour, and irregularly marked, efpe-
eially at the thicker end, with blotches and fpots. It
breeds on feveral of our unfrequented mountains;
and is very common on thofe of the ille of Rum, and
others of the loftier Hebrides. They make a (brill
whiftling noife ; and may be enticed within a (hot by
a (kilful imitator of the note.
8. The Torquatus has a black bread,, and a white
front; the top of the head and the collar is black ;
and the beak and feet are bluilh. It is amative of St
Domingo.
9. The Calidris has black feet, and a black bill; the
rump is greyilh; and the body is pure white below.
It frequents the (bores of Europe.
10. The CEdicnemus dr Stone-curlew of Ray, is of
a grey colour, with two of the prime wing-feathers
black, but white in the middle; it has a (harp bill,
3; and.
C H A [ 342 1 C H A
Oharadrins and afh-coloured feet; and is about the fize of a crow.
^ I' In Hampftiire, Norfolk, and on Lincoln-heath, it is
. ‘)ar^im \ called the Hone-curlew, from a limilarity of colours to
the curlew. It breeds in fome places in rabbit-bur¬
rows ; alfo among ftones on the bare ground, laying
two eggs ©f a copper-colour fpotted with a darker.red.
The young run foon after they are hatched. Thefe
birds feed in the night on worms and caterpillars: they
will alfo eat toads, and will catch mice. They inha*
bit fallow lands and downs; affect dry places, never
being feen near any waters. When they fly, they ex¬
tend their legs l^raight out behind : are very fliy birds;
run far before they take to wing; and often fquat:
are generally feen fingle; and are elleemed very de¬
licate food.—Haffelquift informs us, that this bird is
slfo met with in Lower Egypt, in the Acacia groves,;
near the villages Abuiif and Sackhara, near the fepul-
chres of the ancient Egyptians, and in the defarts.
The Arabians call it Kervan. It has a flirill voice,
fomewhat refembling that of the black woodpecker,
which it raifes and lowers fucceflively, uttering a-
greeable notes. The Turks and Egyptians value it
much, if they can get it alive ; and keep it in a cage
for the fake of its finging. Its flelh is hard, and of a
very good tafte, inclined to aromatic. It is a very vo¬
racious bird, catching and devouring rats and mice,
■ which abound in Egypt. It feldom drinks; and
when taken young, and kept in a cage in Egypt, they
give it no water for feveral months, but feed it with
freih meat macerated in water, which it devours very
greedily. It is found in defarts, and is therefore ac-
cuftomed to be without water.
11. The Himantopus is white below, with a black
back, and a long black bill; the feet are red, and
very long. It is the autumnal dotterel of the Englifli
authors, and frequents the fea-fhores of Europe. It
is alfo found in the lakes of Egypt in the month of
October.
12. The Spinofus, armed Dotterel, or Lapwing, has
black breaft, legs, and wings; it has a creft on'the
hinder part of the head. It is of the fize of a pigeon ;
the French call it dominie anus, from the refemblance it
has to the drefs of a Dominican monk. It is a native
of Egypt.
13. The New-Zealand plover, has the forepart of
the head, taking in the eye, chin, and throat, black,
palling backwards in a collar at the hind head; all the
back part of the head, behind the eye, greenilh alh-
colour; thefe two colours divided by white : the plu¬
mage on the upper parts of the body is the fame co¬
lour as the back of the head: the quills and tail are
dulky : the laft order of coverts is white for fome part
of their length, forming a bar on the wing : the un¬
der parts of the body are white ; and the legs red. It
inhabits Queen Charlotte’s found ; where it is known
by the name of Doodooroa-attoo. See Plate CXXII.
There are 12 or 13 more fpecies.
CHARAG, the tribute which Chriftians and Jews
pay to the grand fignior.
It confifts of ten, twelve, or fifteen francs per annum,
according to the eftate of the party. Men begin to
pay it at nine or at fixteen years old; women are
difpenfed with, as alfo priefts, rabbins, and religious.
CHARAIMS, a feft of the Jews in Egypt. They
l:ve by themfelves, and have a feparate fynagogue ;
and as the other Jews are remarkable for their eyes, Charantla
fo are thofe for their large nofes, which run through • !!
all the families of this feet. Thefe are the ancient,C a‘xna *r
Effenes. They ftridtly obferve the five books of Mo-
fes, according to the letter; and receive no written
traditions. It is faid that the other Jews would join
the Char aims', but thofe not having obferved the ex*
aft rules of the law with regard to divorces, thefe
think they live in adultery.
CHARANTIA, in bdtany. See Momordica.
CHARBON, in the manege, thar little black fpot
or mark which remains after a large fpot in the cavity
of the corner teeth of a horfe: about the feventh or
eighth year, when the cavity fills up, the tooth , being
fmooth and equal, it is faid to be rafed.
CHARCAS, the fouthern divifion of Peru in
South America, remarkable for the filver mines of
Potofi.
CHARCOAL, a fort of artificial coal, or fuel, con¬
fining of wood half burnt; chiefly ufed where a clear
ftrong fire, without fmoke, is required ; the humidity
of the wood being here moftly diffipated, and exhaled
in the fire wherein it is prepared.
The microfcope difeovers a fiirprifing number of
pores in charcoal: they are difpofed in order, and
traverfe it length wife ; fo 'that there is no piece of
charcoal, how long foever, but may be eafily blown
through. If a piece be broken pretty fliort, it may be
feen through with a microfcope. In a range the 18th
part of an inch long, Dr Hook reckoned 150 pores;
whence he concludes, that in a charcoal of an inch dia¬
meter, there are not lefs than 5,724,000 pores. It is
to this prodigious number of pores, that the blacknefs
of charcoal is owing: for the rays of light ftriking on
the charcoal, are received and abforbed in its pores, in-
ftead of being reflefted ; whence the body muff of ne-
ceffity appear black, blacknefs in a body being no
more than a want of refleftion. Charcoal was ancient¬
ly ufed to diftinguifli the bounds of eftates and inheri¬
tances ; as being incorruptible, when let very deep
within ground. In effeft, it preferves itfelf fo long,
that there are many pieces found entire in the ancient
tombs of the northern nations. M. Dodart fays,
there is charcoal made of corn, probably as old as
the days of Casfar: he adds, that it has kept fo well,
that the wheat may be Hill diftinguiftied from the
rye; which he looks on as proof of its incorruptibi¬
lity.
The operation of charring wood, is performed in
the following manner: The wood intended for this
purpofe is cut into proper lengths, and piled up in
heaps near the place where, the charcoal is intended to
be made: when a fufficient quantity of wood is thus
prepared, they begin conftrufting their flacks, for
which there are three methods. The firft is this: They
level a proper fpot of ground, of about twelve or
fifteen feet in diameter, near the piles of wood; in,
the centre of this area a large billet of wood, fplit
acrofs at one end and pointed at the other, is fixed
with its pointed extremity in the earth, and two pieces
of wood inferted through the clefts of the other end,
forming four right-angles; againft thefe crofs pieces
four other billets of wood are placed,* one end on the
ground, and the other leaning againft the angles.
This being finilhed., a number of large and ftraight
billets
C H A
t Bar coal, billets are laid on the ground to form a floor, each be-
ls——v~—' ing as it were the radius of the circular area : on this
floor a proper quantity of bruftt or fmall wood is
ftrewed, in order to fill up the interftices, when the
floor will be complete ; and in order to keep the billets
in the fame order and pofition in which they were firft
arranged, pegs or flumps are driven into the ground '
[ 343 1
C H A
the workman to open vents in one part and Ihut them Charcoal,
in another. In this manner the fire mull be kept up '1 :
till the charcoal be fufficiently burnt, which will hap¬
pen in about two days and a half, if the wood be dry ;
but if green, the operation will not be finifhed in lefs
than three days; When the charcoal is thought to be
fufficiently burnt, which is eafily known from the ap-
the circumference of the circle, about a foot diftant pearance of the.fmoke, and the flames no longer if-
from one another: upon this floor a ftage is built with
billets fet upon one end, but fomething inclining to¬
wards the central billet; and on the tops of thefe
fuing with impetuofity through the vents;, all the aper¬
tures are to be clofed up very carefully with a mixture
of earth and charcoal-duft, which, by excluding ;""
another floor is laid in a horizontal direftion, but of accefs of the external air, prevents the coals from be-
fhorter billets, as the whole is, when finilhed, to form
i cone.
The fecond method of building the flacks for ma-
ing any further confumed, and the fire goes out of it-
felf. In this condition it is fuffercd to remain, till the
whole is fufficiently cooled ; when the cover is remo-
king charcoal is performed in this manner: A long ved, and the charcoal is taken away. If the whole
pole is ere&ed in the centre of the area above defcri-
bed, and fevcral fmall billets ranged round the pole on
their" ends: the interftices between thefe billets and the
pole is filled with dry brulh-wood, then a floor is laid,
on that a ftage in a reclining pofition, and on that a fe¬
cond floor, &c. in the fame manner as defcribed above;
but in the lower floor there is a billet larger and longer
procefs is lieilfully managed, the coals will exa&ly re¬
tain the figure of the pieces of wood: fome are faid.
to have been fo dexterous as to char an arrow without
altering even the figure of the feather.
There are confiderable differences in the coals of
different vegetables, in regard to their habitude to fire;,
the very light coals of linen, cotton, fome fungi, fife, ’
than the reft, extending from the central pole to fome readily catch fire from a fpark, and fopn burn out j
diftance beyond the circumference of the circle.
The third method is this : A chimney, or aperture
of a fquare form, is built with billets in the centre,
from the bottom to the top; and round thefe, floors
and inclined ftages are erefted, in the fame manner as
the more denfe ones of woods and roots are fet on fire,
more difficultly, and burn more (lowly: the coals of
the black berry-bearing alder, of the hazel, the willow,,
and the lime-tree, are faid to anfwer heft for the ma¬
king of gunpowder and other pyrotechnical compofi-
in the flacks above defcribed, except that the bafe of tions, perhaps from their being eafily inflammable : for
this, inftead of being circular like the others, is fquare ;
and the whole ftack, when completed, forms a pyra¬
mid.
The flack of either form being thus finilhed, is coat¬
ed over with turf, and the furface plaftered with a
the redu&ion of metallic calces thofe of the heavier
woods, as the oak and the beech, are preferable, thefe
feeming to contain a larger proportion of the phlogiftic
principle, and that, perhaps, in a more fixed ftate :
confidered as common fuel, thofe of the heavy woods:
mixture of earth and charcoal-duft well tempered to- give the greateft heat, and require the moft plentiful
gether.
The next operation is the fetting the ftack on fire.
In or-der to this, if it be formed according to the firft
conftru&ion, the central billet in the upper ftage is
drawn out, and fome pieces of very dry and combuf-
tible wood are placed in the void fpace, called, by
workmen, the chimney, and fire fet to thefe pieces.
If the ftack be built according to the fecond conftrucr
tion, the central pole is drawn out, together with the
large horizontal billet above deferibed ; and the void
fpace occupied by the latter being filled with pieces of with tripoli.
fupply of air to keep them burning; thofe of the light
woods preferve a glowing heat, without much draught
of air, till the coals themfelves, are confumed ; the bark;
commonly crackles and flies about in burning, which,
the coal of the wood itfelf very feldom does.
Mathematical-inftrument makers, engravers, SsV.,
find charcoal of great ufe to polilh their brafs and cop¬
per-plates after they have been rubbed clean with
powdered pumice-ftone. Plates of horn are polilhable:
in the fame way, and a glofs may be afterwards given
very dry combuftible wood, the fire is applied to it at
the bafe of the ftack. With regard to the third con-
ftruftion, the fquare aperture or chimney is filled with
fmall pieces of very dry wood, and the fire applied to
it at the top or apex of the pyramidal ftack. When
the ftack is fet on fire, either at the top or bottom,
the greateft attention is neceffary in the workman j
for in the proper management of the fire the chief
difficulty attending the art of making good charcoal
confifts. In order to this, care is taken, as foon as the
flame begins to iffue fome height above the chimney,
that the aperture be covered with a piece of turf, but
not fo clofe as to hinder the fmoke from paffing nut;.
and whenever the fmo^e appears to iffue very thick
from any part of the pile, the aperture muft be cover¬
ed with a mixture of earth and charcoal dull. At
the fame time, as it is neceffary that every part of the
ftack (hould be equally burnt, it will be requifite for
The coals of different fubftances are alfo ufed as
pigments; hence the bone-black, ivory-black, SsV. o£
the (hops. Moft of the paints of this kind, befides
their incorruptibility, have the advantage of a full co¬
lour, and work freely in all the forms in which pow-
dery pigments are applied ; provided they have been
carefully prepared, by thoroughly burning the fubjedt.
in a clofe veflel, and afterwards grinding the coal into
a powder of due finenefs. Pieces of charcoal are ufed.
alfo in their entire ftate for tracing the outlines of'
drawings, fflV.; in which intention they have an excel¬
lence, that their mark is eafily wiped out. For thefe
purpofes, either the finer pieces of common 'charcoaL
are picked out and cut to a proper drape ; or the pen¬
cils are formed of wood, and afterwards burnt into;
charcoal in a proper veffel well covered. The arlifts,
commonly make choice of the fmaller branches of the.
tree freed from the bark and pith; and the willow and
C H A t VM ] .. C H A
Charcoal, vine are preferred to all other*. This choice is con- meat. On boiling coals in powder with honey, the Charcoal.
v firmed by the experiments ofDr Lewis, who has found pure faccharine parts of the latter are faid to be fepa- ——v-***
Phlofoph. that the wood of the trunks of trees produces charcoal rated, and the honey to become a well-tafted fugar ;
MtH ™ a harder nature than their fmall twigs or branches; the purification of real fugar is alfo faid to be facili-
and the hard woods, fueh as box and guaiacum, pro- tated by the fame method. Thus alfo the mother-
duced coals very fenfibly harder than the fofter woods.
Willow he prefers to all others. The Ihells and Hones
of fruits yielded coals fo hard that they would fcarce
mark on paper at all; while the coals of the kernels of
water of the Pruliian alkali and of the tartareous acid
are made to cryflallize eafily; terra foliata tartari may
be made white without calcination, by previoufly di-
ftilling the vinegar from coals. Vinegar concentrated
^:a~ i  _r
fruits were quite foft and mellow. The feveral coals by freezing, and di Hi lied from a large proportion of
produced by the dodtor’s experiments were levigated
into fine powder, mixed both with gum-water and
oil, and applied as paints both thin and thick, and di¬
luted with different degrees of white. All of them,
when laid on thick, appeared of a ftrong full black,
nor could it be judged that one was of a finer colour
than another; diluted with white, or when fpread thin,
tbey had all fomewhat of a bluifh caft.
Horfts and the bones both of fifhes and land, animals,
gave coals rather gloffier and deeper-coloured than ve¬
getables ; and which, in general, were very hard, fo as
difficultly, or not St all, to fiain paper. Here alfo
the hardnefs of the coal feemed to depend on that of
the fubjcft from whence it was prepared ; for filk,
woollen, leather, blood, and the flefiiy parts of animals,
yielded foft coals. Some of thefe differed from others
very fenfibly in dolour: that of ivory is fuperior to all
the reft-, and indifputably the fineft of all the charcoal
blacks. The animal coals had much lefs of the bluifh
caft ift them than the vegetable, many of them inclining
rather to a brown. Charred pit-coal, on the other
hand, feemed to have this bluenefs in a greater ds-
gree.
Charcoal is not foluble in any of the acids; but may
powdered coal, is extremely ftrong, pure, and fragrant.
Corn fpirit merely-fliaken with coal lofes its bad fla¬
vour ; and if honey is added, it becomes a fweet and
pleafant liquor. Even when ardent fpirits are impreg¬
nated with any vegetable oils, the flavour is deftroyed
in this way ; and if the fpirit be diftilled, the refiduum
is faid not to be brown; fo that if the diflillation is
carried too far, no inconvenience enfues. With Peru¬
vian bark a clear decodfion was formed, and the refi¬
duum was a fait, in tafte like digeftive fall. Thefe ef¬
fects were produced by every kind of coal, whether fof-
fil or charred vegetable fubfiances.
Charcoal has lately been feparated from the pureft
fpirit of wine in the procefs for making ether* ; and * See C£t-
by M. Lavoifier is fuppofed to be one of the confli- In*
tuent parts or dements of that very volatile liquid. But C'LX‘
the mofi extraordinary modern difcovery concerning
this fubftance is that of Dr Prieftley, who has found
that feveral of the metals may be converted into char¬
coal by paffing the fleam of fpirit of wine over them
when red-hot; and this, by way of diilindlion^iie calls
the charcoal of metals.
This furprifing difcovery was made accidentally,
while the Do&or Was repeating the experiments by
be diffolved in confiderable quantities by a folution of which M. Lavoilier imagined water might be converted
kepar fulphuris, to which it communicates a green co¬
lour. Melted with colourlefs frits or glaffes, it gives
a pale yellow, dark yellow, reddifb, brownifh, orblack-
ifh colour, according as the inflammable matter is in
greater or lefs proportion ; the phlogifton, or inflam¬
mable matter of the coal feeming to be the direct
tinging fubftance. When the phlogiftic matter is thus
diffufed through glafs, it is no more affefted by conti¬
nued ftrong fire than charcoal is when excluded from
the air.
The vapour of burning charcoal is found to be highly
noxious, being no other than fxed air. How this af-
fefts the animal fyflem is explained under the article
Blood.
From forrie late experiments it appears, that char¬
coal pdfiefTes many extraordinary properties altogether
unfufpefted by former chemifts. It has particularly a
great attra&ion for what is called the phlogi/ton, or ra¬
ther for any kind of oily matter with which other fub-
ftances may be futlied ; fo that it now promifes to be
into air. Having tranfmitted the fteanysf water thro’
a copper tube, on which it had no effeft, he was will¬
ing to try the effe&s of that of other fluids; and for
this purpofe made choice of fpirit of wine, having be¬
fore procured inflammable air by fending the fame
fteam through a red-hot tobacco-pipe. Nofoonerhad
the vapour of this fluid, however, touched the red-hot
copper, than he was aftonifiied at the rapid production
of air from it, which refembled the blowing of a pair
of bellows ; and before four ounces of the fpirit were
expeftded, the tube was found to be perforated in two
or three places. In a moment afterwards it was fo far
deftroyed, that it fell to pieces on attempting to re¬
move it from the fire; the infide being filled with a
black matter refembling lamp-black. Having now re-
courfe to earthen tubes, the Doftor found that, by
melting copper and other metals in them, and tranfe
mitting the vapour of fp-’rit of wine in contact with
them while in a fiate of ignition, different fubftances
were formed according to the metals employed. On
very ufefnl in the arts in various ways never thought of fending three ounce-meafures of fpirit of wine over two
before. M. Lowits has found that it is ufeful in pre- ounces of copper, the metal loft 28 grains of its weight,
paring cryftals of tartar of a very white colour; and and 446 grains of charcoal were procured, chiefly in.
that the marine and nittofts acids are decompofed by the form of powder, though feme of it was in large
being diftilled upon it: the red juices of vegetable fruits flakes feveral inches long ; having feparated at once
are difcoloured, without lofing any of their acidity; from the furface of the melted metal. Thefe pieces
biown rancid oils are rendered fweet and clear by agi- were almoft quite black, and bore handling without any
tating them For fome days with charcoal in powder; it danger of being broken. In another experiment, 508
changes the fmell of putrid vegetables to that of a pure grains of charcoal were obtained from in grains of
volatile alkali, and it produces the fame effeft on frelh copper; but here the metal had been previoufly re-
■N° 69. tluctd
C H A
CtufwaJ. (lueed to thin plates, and they were not all converted
w"'v into charcoal, being fomething harder, and therefore
partially metallic in the middle.
Silver was found to be affefted very much as copper
had been ; but the larger maffes of charcoal procured
from this metal were much whiter than thofe from
copper. Only a fmall quantity of charcoal could be
procured from lead. Three ounce-meafures of fpirit
of wine and near four ounces of lead, gave only a
fmall quantity of whitifli powdery fubftance, though 58
grains of the lead were miffing ; but the infide of the
glafs-tube through which the air was tranfmitted be¬
came very black. The like quantity of fpirit of wine
fent over 360 grains of melted tin, and produced 26
grains of black duft,the metal not being diminiffied quite
four grains. -The vapour of two ounce-meafures of
fpirit of wine, fent over 960 grains of iron-fhavings,
diminiffied the metal only two grains ; but no charcoal
could be collefted, though the air was loaded with
black particles. The iron had acquired a dark blue
colour. Gold was not fenfibly changed or diminiffied
in weight; and it not only remained unalterable by the
procefs itfelf, but effedlually prote&ed a tenth-part of
•its weight of copper from the aftion of the fteam.
Spirit of turpentine was found to anfwer for the
produdfion of this charcoal, as well as fpirit of wine;
120 grains of the former being obtained from five of
t 345 ]
C H A
charcoal was indeftrudUble by any other means than Charcoal,
burning in an open fire, though of late it is found to- ~
tally diffipable and convertible into inflammable air, by
the heat of a burning lens in vacuo, at leaft with the
affiftance of a fmall quantity of water. By burning in
dephlogifticated air, it is found to convert almoft the
whole of it into fixed air. See Aerology, n° 110—
113, 129, 131. From the experiments there related,
it is now evident, that charcoal as fuch, and without
any decompofition, is an ingredient in both thofe ae¬
rial fluids, and is indeed the phlogiflon of Stahl fo
long fought in vain. This dilcovery, however, has
not by any means~put an end to the difputes betwixt
the Phlogijlians and Antiphlogljlians, though it cer¬
tainly ought to have done fo, and muft afluredly do
fo in a ffiort time. The experiments of Dr Prieft-
ley are not doubted ; and charcoal, the gravitating
matter of light inflammable air, and phlogijlon, are al- '
lowed to be the fame by the Antiphlogiftians as well as
by the oppofite party. “ The prefent controverfy (fays Higgins't
Mr Higgins) amongft philofophers depends upon the Comparative
following queftions: 1. Whether water be or be not le'w' u *
conjpofcd of dephlogifticated and light inflammable
air ? 2. Whether or no the condenfation of dephlo¬
gifticated air, or its union to different bodies, does not
depend upon one piinciple, common to all combu-
ftible bodies ? or, in other words, whether or no all bo-
p.j.
copper by means of the turpentine, notwithftanding a dies which burn or calcine, fuch as fulphur, phofpho-
very denie black fmoke which iffued from the end of rus, charcoal, oils, metals, phlogifticated air, &c. con-
the tube during the whole time of the operation. The tain the matter of light inflammable air as one of their
Doftor obferves, indeed, that in all thofe experiments, conftituent principles ? One ffiould fuppofe, if thefe
where the heat is very great, the minute divifion and ; fubftances were compofed of two principles, namely a
volatility of this charcoal is very extraordinary. See- peculiar bafis, and the matter of light inflammable
ing it iffue from the end of a tube in a denfe black air or phlogifton, that it would be polfible to refolve
cloud, he endeavoured to collect it in a large glafs re-
eeiver; but after having given the glafs a very thin
black coating, not diftinguiffiable in appearance from
foot, it iffued from the orifice like denfe fmoke, and
appeared to be altogether incoercible, even when feve-
ral adopters were connected with the receiver, and a
s tube, from whence it finally iffued, plunged deep into
water.
It is obferved, that charcoal of wood, when frefli
made, has a ftrong aUra&ion for air, and will conti¬
nue to abforb it for a confiderable time ; a property
which it has in common with fcveral other fubftances.
Dr Prieftley made fome experiments to afcertain the
quantity abforbed. For this purpofe, he left in an
open diffi, on the fourth of September, fome charcoal
freffi made from dry oak, and weighing 364 grains.
Two or three days after it weighed 390 grains ; on
the 24th of Odtober, 419 '; and on the 26th of A-
pril following it weighed 421 grains. By diftillation
in an earthen retort it yielded a quantity of air con-
fiderably phlogifticated, and then weighed 312 grains,
but the retort appeared to have been cracked. On
expofing it again to the open air for a whole year, it
weighed 371 grains. In another experiment, a quan-
them into thefe principles; more eipecially when we
confiderthe great attraction of the matter of light in¬
flammable air to fire; but the maintainers of phlogi¬
fton have not as yet been able to do this,” &c.
The limits of this work will not allow, us to enter
on a full difcufiion of this controverfy, nor can we pre¬
tend to be able to fettle the difputes on the fubjecft. It
neverthelefs feems fomewhat unnatural to call iron,
lead, copper, fulphur, phofphorus, &c. Ample and
unchangeable bodies, or if we pleafe elements ; as thus
the number of elementary bodies might be increafed
without number, and -water, which has generally been
reckoned a limple one, fuppofed to be almoft the only
compound body in nature. It is alfo certain, that Dr
Prieftley has made fome very ftriking and apparently
decifive experiments on the fubjecft of metals, to which
no proper reply has ever been made. In order to fee
the force of thefe experiments, however, we muft ftiH
obferve, that, according to the Phlogiftians, the calces
of metals are reduced, on the addition of charcoal,
not only by emitting thedephlogifticated air which ad¬
heres to them when in the forni of calces, but by the
admiffion of a quantity of the charcoal itfelf into their
fubftance. This the Antiphlogiftians deny ; and though
tityof charcoal which had yielded by a ftrong heat 336 they admit the neceffity of charcoal in the operation,
  r. ..c —j : -Cl- yet they affirm that it a&s only by attradring the dc-
phlogifticated air contained in the calx, with which it
forms fixed air; and hence they muft fay, that in all
metallic reduftions a quantity of fixed air is produced,
equivalent not only to the weight of the charcoal em¬
it has been generally fuppofed by chemifts, that ployed, but alfo to that of the dephlorifticated air
Vol. IV. Part I. X x ° con-
ounce-meafures of air, and weighed immediately after¬
wards 756 grains, Increafed in three days to 817 ; and
on expelling the air from it was reduced to 711
grains. In all'thefe experiments the air was worfe than
that of the atmofphere, and a part was fixed
C H A [ 346 ] C H A
Charcoal: containeci in the calx. The decifive experiment there-
’ fore would be, to expel from a metallic calx all the air
it contained, to weigh it exadtly in that ftate, and
then obferye whether it'gained any thing in weight by
being reduced to a metal. This, however, has not
been done ; and' the- Antiphlogiftians complain that
their adverfavies have net been able to produce a pure
metallic calx free from all kind of aerial vapour. But
though it is not pretended that any fuch calx has yet
been produced, if the Phlogiftians can Ihow the poffi-
bility of reducing a ealx without the production of fix¬
ed air, it would ifeem to be equally deftruCtive of the
antiphlogiftic doCtiine. This appears to have been done
By Dr Prieftley in the experiments above alluded to;
and it is even doubtful whether he did not obtaimthe
fo much defired calx, viz. one perfectly free from air
altogether. “ I put (fays he) upon a piece of brc*
ken crucible, which could yield no air, a quantity of
minium, out of which all air had been extracted ; and
placing it upon a convenient Hand, introduced it into,
a large receiver filled with inflammable air confined*by
water. As foomas the minium was-dry, by means of
the heat thrown upon it, I obferved that it became
black, and then ran in the form of perfeCt lead, at the
fame time that the air diminifhed at a great rate the
water afcending within the receiver.. Before this firft
experiment was concluded; I perceived, that if the
phlogifton in inflammable air had" any bafe, it muft be
very inconfiderable ; for the procefs went on till there
was no more room to operate without endangering the
receiver; and examining the air that remained, I
found that it could not be diftinguiflied from that in
which I began the experiment, which was air extracted
from iron by oil of vitriol.
“ I afterwards carefully expelled, from a quantity
of minium, all the phlogifton, and every thing elfe
that could have affirmed the form of air, by giving it a
red heat when mixed with fpirit of nitre ; and imme¬
diately tiling it in the manner mentioned above, I
reduced xor ounce-meafures of inflammable air. to
two. To judge of its degree of inflammability, I pre-
fented the flame of a fmall candle to the mouth of a
vial filled with it, and obferved; that it made 13- fe-
parate explofions, though weak ones (flopping the
mouth of the phial with my finger after each explo*
fion) ; when frdh-made inflammable air, in the fame
circumftancesj made only 14 explofions, though
ftronger ones. In this experiment, however; lover-
looked one obvious confideration, viz. that water, or
any thing foluble in water, might be the balls of in¬
flammable air. AH that could be abfolutely inferred
from the experiment was, that.this balls could not be
any thing that was capable of fubfifting in the form
of air. It will be feen, that I afterwards made the
experiment with air confined by mercury.”
In this-experiment it is to be regretted that the
DoCtor did not inform us whether the weight of his
calces was on the whole increafed or diminilhed by
the operation. As it ftands, though fufficient to over¬
throw the doCh-ine of the Antiphlogiftians, it is not.al¬
together fufficient to eftabllih that of their adverfdries.
Mr Higgins, however, though he does not reply to
this experiment, gives an account of another from Dr
Higgins, which he confiders as abfolutely decilive a-
gaiufl the Phlogiftians. “ Dr Higgins, (fays he) in¬
troduced fome pieces of weft-burned charcoal into a Charcoal,
deep crucible, and covered them over0an inch deep *
with powdered charcoal. Having luted on a cover, he
expofed them for two hours to heat fufficient to melt
filver ; he then placed the crucible in fuch a manner
that the powder might remain red hot for fome time
after the pieces next the bottom had cooled. This he
had done, as the charcoal muft imbibe fomething on
cooling, both to fupply it with inflammable air, and.
to. prevent a - communication with the external air,,
which the charcoal .would otherwife have imbibed.
“ One hundred and twenty grains of this charcoal
quickly powdered, were well mixed with 7680 grains •
of. litharge, which, had been previoufly fufed to fcpa-
rate any uncalcined lead it might contain. This mix¬
ture was charged into a coatedretort juft large enough
to contain it; fo that the common air muft have been
nearly fecluded. Being tlien placed in a reverberating,
furnace, and heat duly applied, it yielded by eftima-
tion, after cooling to the mean temperature of the at-
mofphere, 384 grains of fixable air, at the rate of 0.57
grains to a cubic inch, 8.704 of phlogifticated air,,
and 0.911 grains of dephlogifticated air, befides 49
grains of water. On breaking the retort, 3888 grains •
of revived lead were found, befides fome vitrified li¬
tharge ; but not an atom of charcoal was left, nor was
there a particle of inflammable air produced. Now, let
my reader confider the weight that 3888 grains of
lead acquire by its converfion to litharge, and the quan¬
tity of. inflammable air that 1.20 grains of charcoal will
afford (which, according to Dr Prieftley, is about 360
ounce-meafures), and he will find, making allowance
for the phlogifticated air, that thefe nearly correfpond
with the proportion of heavy inflammable air and
dephlogifticated air neceffary to the formation of fix-
able air by the ele&ric fpark. Hence we may con¬
clude,. that not a particle of charcoal entered into the-
conftitution of the revived lead,. hut muft have been
wholly converted into fixable air.”
To this experiment, however,,the Phlogiftians will-
reply, that fo far from being decifive on the. fubjedft,
no conclufion whatever can be drawn from it, on ac¬
count of its 'enormous inaccuracy. The quantity of
matter put into the retort was 7680+120, or 780a
grains, and the whole produce.was 3888+384+8.704
+0.9 ix+49 =-43 30.615 grains : a deficiency there¬
fore of no lefs than.3469.385 grains is to be accounted
for; and of this we hear not one word; fo that we
are at liberty to fuppofe that the vitrified litharge had
perforated the retort in fuch a manner as to admit the
fixed and phlogifticated air from without, as Dr Pridt-
ley found earthen retorts pervious to air from without;
and this, though coated, might by a corrolion of the
glafs (if it was a glafs one) be reduced to a limilat
lituation.
We do not mean that this ftiould be reckoned a for¬
mal anfwer to Dr Higgins’s experiment;, all we in¬
tend here, is to ftate the arguments fairly on both
fides, fo that the reader who has not’.an opportunity of
making experiments himfelf, may be able to judge on
which fide the truth lies.. Dr Prieftley informs usj.that
in his experiment, the calx of lead' abforbed a quan¬
tity of inflammable air without the extrication of fixed
air, or any thing elfe that could be perceived. Whe¬
ther or not have we reafon to conclude from thence,
4 that.
C H A [ 347 ] G H A
Charcoal, that the gravitating’, folid, or coally, part of the in-
flammable air was received into the calx, and became
part of the revived metal ? In Dr Higgins’s experi¬
ment a quantity of elaftic fluid was produced, and a
quantity of lead revived; but we neither know how
much of the calx went to this lead, how much the li¬
tharge had originally attracted from the air, nor whe¬
ther the elaftic fluids were certainly produced; or indeed
V'hether any of them, the fmall quantity of dephlo-
gifticated air alone excepted, came from the materials
or not. From fuch a ftate of the cafe then, have we
reafon to ‘‘ conclude, that not a particle of charcoal
entered into the conftitution of the lead ?”
We fliall next confider an experiment made by Mr
Higgins himfelf, and which he likewife confiders as
Higgins's decifive againft the Phlogiftians. “ I introduced (fays
Comparative he) feme iron nails, free from ruft, into ftrong vola-
fric«-,p 4ji vjtrj0i;c . when it flood for a few minutes, it
acquired a milky appearance, and the folution went on
without ebullition or extrication of air. On Handing
for a few hours, the folution acquired a darkifli co¬
lour, and a black powder was precipitated. This pow¬
der, when collected and wafhed, put on red hot iron,
burned partly like fulphur and partly like charcoal
duft, and the incombuftible reliduum was of a pur-
plifh colour. The filtered folution was perfectly neu-
tralifed, and free from the leaft fulphureous pungen¬
cy. Its tafte was ftrongly chalybeate, but not fo dif-
agreeable as that of the folution of iron in the perfect
vitriolic acid, or in any of the mineral acids. Nitrous
acid dropped into the folution inftantly produced a
cloudinefs, which immediately difappeared without e-
bullition, though volatile fulphureous acid was extri¬
cated in its utmoft degree of pungency. The vitrio¬
lic, marine, and acetous acids, decompofed this folu¬
tion, but caufed no turbidnefs, nor was any inflam¬
mable air produced.
“ In order to know whether the fulphur was dif-
ertgaged from the volatile fulphureous acid or the iron,
I poured marine acid on the fame nails, whenlight in¬
flammable air and hepatic air were copioufly produ¬
ced, and likewife fulphur was depofited in its crude
ftate; When I ufed vitriolic or the nitrous acid, no
Tulphur was produced. I tried different nails, and
likewife iron-filings, with the fame refult. Thefe fafts
•convinced me ’that the fulphur came from the iron ;
‘but that all forts of iron contain fulphur is what I can¬
not pretend to know, as I have not tried fteel, or va¬
rieties enough of malleable iron. However, I have
ftrong reafon to fufpett, that fulphur has more to do
in the different properties of iron than we are aware of.
That iron fhould contain -fulphur, notwithftanding the
different proceffes it muft neceffarily undergo before it
acquires malleability, confidering the volatility of ful¬
phur, points out the force of their attraftion to one
-another; and the feparatkm of this again by volatile
fulphureous acid, fhows likewife the greater attraction
of iron to fulphur and dephlogifticated air jointly.
That volatile fulphureous acid Ihould diffolve iron
without the extrication of inflammable air or phlogi-
gifton, is a very ilrong inftance of the fallacy of the
phlogiftic doctrine. A fmall quantity of inflammable
air is produced, but it is fo trifling comparatively
to what fliould be produced from the quantity , of iron
.djifolved, that it is hardly worth noticing ; and in my
opinion proceeds from a portion of perfect vitriolic Charcoal,
acid, which is generally infeparable from the volatile v ^
acid. If volatile vitriolic acid were a compound of
phlogifton, a certain bafis, and dephlogifticated air, a
greater quantity of inflammable air Ihould have been
difengaged during the fohltion of iron in this acid than
when the perfect vitriolic acid is ufed. Let us even
fuppofe volatile fulphureous acid to be compofed of
the bafis of fulphur, phlogifton, and dephlogifticated
air, which is the opinion of all the Phlogiftians, though
they differ with refpeft to the modification of thefe
three principles; and likewife iron to be compofed of
a certain bafis and phlogifton ; I would alk the Phlo¬
giftians, What becomes of the phlogifton of the iron
duiing its folution ?”
But however much Mr Higgins may be convinced,
from this experiment, of the fallacy of the phlogiftic
doftrine, his adverfaries, inftead of being filenced, will
urge his own experiment againft himfelf. He owns,
that during the folution fomething was feparated of
a black colour, and which burned like charcoal duft'.
Unlefs therefore Mr Higgins ihall prove the contrary,
they will fay, that this was the real phlogjlon or charcoal
which’entered into the fubftance of the metal; and that
it appeared in its native form, becaufe the volatile vi¬
triolic acid had not fpecific or latent heat fufficient to
convert it into inflammable air. At any rate, it was
incumbent on Mr Higgins to have accounted for the
coally part of his refiduum as well as the fulphureous
one ; yet he has been at conftderable pains to deduce
the latter from the iron, without fpeaking a word a-
bout the former. Indeed, whether he deduced this
from the iron or the vitriolic acid, it will make equally
againft him ; for his principles do not allow that the
volatile vitriolic acid contains any charcoal. That the
latter really does fo, however, appears from an experi¬
ment of Dr Prieftley, in which he reduced a cal^ of
lead by means of vitriolic acid air, the fame with the
vitriolic or volatile fulphureous acid. It is true, that
only a fmall quantity of metal was thus procured; but
however fmall this was, the Antiphlogiftians do not pre¬
tend that metals can be reduced to their metallic ftate
in any quantity, except by the mediation of char¬
coal.
Thus it appears, that with regard to metals.the dif-
pute is as yet far enough from being decided in fa¬
vour of the Antiphlogiftians. Their eaufe is equally
doubtful with regard to fulphur and phofphorus, both
of which Dr Prieftley has produced by heating vitrio¬
lic and phofphorie acid in inflammable air. Indeed, by
fome experiments on fulphur, the matter feems to be'
decided againft them. “ Perhaps (fays Dr Prieftley)
as deciftve a proof as any, of the real production of fix¬
ed air from phlogifton and dephlogifticated air, may be
drawn from the experiments in which I always found
a quantity of it when I burned fulphur in dephlogifti¬
cated air. In one of thefe experiments to which I
gave more particular attention, fix ounce-meafures and
an half of the dephlogifticated air were reduced to .about
two puncermeafures, and one-fifth of this was fixed
air.” Now, though the Do&or inferred from this, that
fixed air was compofed of phlogifton and dephlogifti¬
cated air, on the fuppofition of fulphur containing
phlogifton ; yet, admitting from other proofs, that
lixed air is compofed of thefe two principles, the expe-
X x 2 riment
C H A
Charcoal, riment unanfwerably proves, that fulphur contains phlo-
_v "1' gifton or charcoal, though indeed in a very fmall quan¬
tity : but if the fulphur contained none at all, and the
dephlogifticated air as little, as the AntipWogiilians
tvould have it, how is it poffible that a compound, of
which phlogifton makes a part, ihould refult from an
* See ^>-0-union of the two * ? Another experiment equally
hgy, n° in- deciiive, even with regard to metals, is that quoted
from Dr Priellley in the place juft referred to (a),
where he obtained pure fixed air from a mixture of red
precipitate and iron-filings. Now, according to the
antiphlogiftx doftrine, neither of thefe materials con¬
tained an atom of charcoal or phlogifton ; whence then
came tire phlogifton in the fixed air which iffued from
the mixture ?
Thus the Antiphlogiftians feem to be unanfwerably
refuted with regard to fulphur and metallic fubftan-
ces; for if the two experiments juft related be accu¬
rate, it is impofiible to invalidate them by any argu¬
mentation whatever. Their laft refource therefore is
the decompofition of water: and even here it is evi¬
dent they have little reafon to boaft. On this fuhjeft,
however, we are forry to obferve, that the opinions
have been fo many, fo various, and fo flu&uating, that it
is not only impofiible to fay what are the prevailing
ones, but even difficult to afcertain what are the fenti-
ments of any individual on the fubjeft. Untlerthe ar¬
ticle Aerology, n° 8i. we have quoted Dr Prieft-
ley as favouring the doctrine of the decompofition of
water ; and in Mr Higgins’s work we find him quoted
Comparative as oppofing it. “ Dr Prieftley (fays he) fuppofes
Vieavyjp. 3. the water produced by the condenfation of in¬
flammable and dephlogifticated air, is only what was fu-
fpended and attached to them in their elaftic ftate, and
that their refpe&ive gravitating particles form a diffe¬
rent compound, namely, the nitrous acid. To afcer¬
tain this, he confined his mixture of airs with dry fixed
alkali over mercury, in order to abftradl from it as
much water as poffible. Having thus prepared his
mixture of airs, he found, after exploding them, that
the product of water fell far fhort of the weight of
both airs ; and he obferved a denfe vapour after every
explofion, which foon condenfed, and adhered in a fo-
lid ftate to the fides of the veffel, which he found after¬
wards to.be the nitrous acid.” To this Mr Higgins
anfwers, that the airs ought to have been accurately
weighed after abftrafting the water from them, when
(he fuppqfes) the weight of water produced would
have equalled them. This indeed ought to have been
done ; but Mr Higgins, or fame Antiphlogiftian, ought
to have done fo before he decided pofitively in favour
of the oppofite do&rine. At any rate, it cannot be
pretended, that in any experiment, let the circumftan-
ces of it be what they would, the quantity of water
produced ever equalled that of the two airs. It is,evi¬
dent therefore, that till this fhall fome how or other
be cleared up, the matter muft remain uncertain. That
the pureft water we can obtain always contains phlo¬
gifton, is what no Phlogiftian denies; that it effehtially
belongs to it is doubtful, though indeed it muft be
C H A
probable, that it does fo until experiments fhow the Charcoal,
contrary. Mr Cavendtih fuppofes that dephlogifticated —'■v'—'
air and dephlogifticated water may be the fame; and in¬
deed this would feem to be almoft certain, were it not
for a circumftance taken notice of by Mr Higgins, viz.
that in the firing of iron in dephlogifticated air the
latter appears to be totally abforbed ; though it is cer¬
tain, that a quantity of undecomp'ofed water enters
into its compofition.
How far this circumftance throws any obfeurity on
the matter the reader muft determine. For a more full
inveftigation of the fubjeft, however, we muft refer to
the article Water ; and in the mean time {haUjdifmifs
the article with a few obfervations on the compoiition
of charcoal.
From the days of Stahl till very lately, the compo¬
nent parts of this fubftance have been reckoned a cer¬
tain kind of earth combined with what was called phlo¬
gifton. The late experiments of Dr Prieftley have
fliown, that this dodfrine is erroneous, and that char¬
coal is wholly diffipable into vapoUr. “ On the whole
(fays the tranflator of Wiegleb’s Ohemiftry), charcoal
appears, from the experiments of Davoifier and Bar-
thollet, to be an oil deprived of its inflammable gas.
But coal of wood (or common charcoal) likewife con¬
tains fixed alkali, which the foot, (or the coal of oil)
does not, but inftead of this exhibits volatile alkali.
The fixed alkali of the former proceeds from the plant
itfelf, and this, in the cafe of foot, is joined with in¬
flammable gas, and forms volatile alkali, the earthy-
part being left behind, as happens when this latter is
prepared from fixed alkali. Genuine charcoal, there¬
fore, confifts of this vegetable principle, united with a
little fixed alkali and part of the phlogifton that con-
ftituted the oil of the plant of which it is made : for
fome of this principle is carried off, together with the
hydrophloge (b), in the form of inflammable gas, if diftil-
led in clofe veffels; but if burned in the open air, the
hydrophloge unites with the pure part of the air, and
forms water. From thefe confiderations, as well as
from the experiments and obfervations of M. Berthcl-
let, in the Mem. de 1’Acad. des Sciences pour 1786,
p. 33. et feq. it appears, that common charcoal con¬
fifts of the vegetable principle, fome phlogifton, fix.ed
alkali, and no inflammable gas.”
On all this, however, we muft obferve, that it is en¬
tirely difproved by the experiments of Dr Prieftley, fo
often quoted, in which it was totally diffipated into in- 4
flammable air*. On this occafion indeed he acknow-^ e®0
ledges, that fome very minute particles of afhes were ob-
ferved, which could not have amounted to a Angle grain
from many pounds of wood. Even thefe, according
to what he obferves in the fame place, may be fuppo-
fed to have come from the fmall quantity of air in the
receiver; and it is to be vviffied that the Do&or would
repeat the experiment in one of thofe peifedft vacuums
through which the eledlric fluid cannot be made to
pafs. From undoubted experiments, however, it ap¬
pears, that charcoal cannot be decompofed by mere
heat; as-i« vacuo it is diffipated into inflammable air -r
[ 34s 1
(a) See Encycl. Vol. I. p. 169. col; 1, where, in lines 18, 19 from the top, readprecipitate tor charcoal.
(if) A word ufed by Mir Wiegleb, as far as we can comprehend the author’s meaning, for one of the compo¬
nent parts of water. See his General Syftem of Chemiftry, tranflated by Hopfon, p. 39.
C H A [ 349 ] C H A
Charcoal, and this, on prefen l ing a proper fubftance to attraft
V the foltd part, again difcovers itfelf, by its blacknefs, to
be real charcoal As little does it appear deftruftible
by burning in the open air; for though fome afhes are
left, it appears probable that thefe differ from the coal
itfelf in nothing but having a quantity of air attached
to them. By far the greateft part of it, even in the
common way of burning, is converted into fixed air ;
and from this it may again be feparated by taking the
eleftric fpark in that fluid, when it is refolved into very
pure dephlogifticated and inflammable air. The fame re¬
paration may be effefted by merely heating iron in fixed
air; in which cafe the dephlogillicated part will unite
to the iron, and the coaly part, together with part of
the phlogiftpn of the metal, be converted into inflam¬
mable air. From all thefe, and other confiderations,
• a fufpicion is induced, that the matter of charcoal is
not different from the element of earth itfelf; and that,
^ according to the different modifications of this fub-
ftance, it either appears as coal, afhes, earth of various
kinds, or even metals. This receives fome confirma¬
tion from the following experiments of Mr Watt, re¬
lated in the 74th volume of the Philofophical Tranfac-
tions ; “ I diffolved (fays he) magnelia alba, calca¬
reous earth, and rhinium, in nitroUsacid dephlogifticated
by boiling, and diluted with proper proportions of wa¬
ter. I made ufe of glafs-retorts coated with clay; and
I received the air in glafs-veffels, whofe mouths were
immerfed iu a glazed earthen bafon containing the
fmalleft quantity of water that could be ufed for the
purpofe. As foon as the retort was heated a little
above the degree of boiling water, the folutions began
to diftil watery vapours containing nitrous acid. Soon
after thefe vapours ceafed, yellow fumes, and. in fome
of the cafes, dark red fumes, began to appear in the
neck of the retort; and, at the fame time, there was
a production of dephlogifticated air, which was great-
. er in quantity from fome of thefe mixtures than from
others, but cotuinued in all of them until the fubftan-
ces were reduced to drynefs. I found in the receiving
water, &c. very nearly the whole of the nitrous acid
ufed for their folution, but highly phlogifticated, fo as
to emit nitrous air by the application of heat; and
there is realbn to believe, that with more precaution
the whole might have been obtained. As the quan¬
tity of dephlogifticated air produced by thefe pro-
cefles did not form a fufficient part of the whole
weight to-enable me to judge whether any of the real
acid entered into the compofition of the air I obtain¬
ed, I ceafed to purfue them further, having learned
from them the faft, that however much the acid and
the earths were dephlogifticated before the folution, the
acid always became highly phlogifticated in the pro-
cefs.
“ In order to examine whether this phloglfton was
furnifhed by the earths, fome dephlogifticated nitrous
acid was diftilled from minium till no more air or acid
came over. More of the fame acid was added to the
minium as foon as it was cold, and the diftilla-
tion repeated,, which pioduced the fame appear¬
ances of red fumes and dephlogifticated aih This
operation was repeated a third time on the fame mi¬
nium, without any fenfible variation in the phaeno-
mena. The procefs ftiould have been ftill farther re¬
peated, but the retort, broke about the end of the third
diftillation; the quantity of minium ufed was 120 grains, Chardin
and the quantity of - nitrous acid added each time was chJr
240 grains, of fucb ftrength that it could diflblve half. ^ ’ >
its weight of mercury by means of heat. It appears
from this experiment, that unlefs minium be fuppofed
principally to confift of phlogifton, the fource of the
phlogifton thus obtained, was either the nitrous acid
itlelf, or the water with which it was diluted; or elfe
that it came through the retort with the light; for the
retort was in this cafe red hot before any air was pro¬
duced. Yet this latter conclufion does not appear very
fatisfadtory, when it is confidered, that in the procefe
wherein the earth made ufe of was magnefia, the retort
was not red hot, or very obfeurely fo, in any part of
the procefs, and by no means luminous when the yel¬
low and red fumes firft made their appearance.”
To thefe experiments, however, the Antiphlogillians
will no doubt reply, that there was no phlogifton in
the cafe, and that the nitrous acid was only decornpo-
fed 5 and indeed the decifive experiment here would be,,
the entire diffipation of a quantity of earth into fome
kind of air, as may be done with charcoal ; but to do
this in the way of diftillation muft be attended with in¬
credible labour, though, as finally deciding this point,.,
it feems to be well worth purfuing.
A pretty ftrong proof of the identity of metallic..'
calces with charcoal, is their converfion into it in
the manner already related. Experiments, however^,
are yet wanting on the fubjedt; though it feems pro¬
bable from what Dr Prieltley has already done, that
they may thus be entirely diffipated into air aa-well as
common charcoal.
CHARDIN (Sir John), a celebrated traveller, was- .
born at Paris in 1643. His father, who was a jewel¬
ler, had him educated in the Proteftant religion; after
which he travelled into Perfia and India-. He traded
in jewels, and died at London in 1713, The account:
he wrote of his travels is much efteemed.
CHARENTON, the name of two towns of France,
the one upon the Marmaude in the Bourbonnois ; the.
other in the ifle of France, near the confluence of the
Marne with the Seine.
CHARES the Lydian, a celebrated ftatuary, was
the difciple ofLyfippu^ ; and made the famous Coloffus-
of the fun in the city of Rhodes. Flouriihed 288 years
before Chrift.
CHARGE, in gunnery, the quantity of powder and,
bait wherewith a gun is loaded for execution..
The rules for charging large pieces in war are, That
the piece be firft cleaned or fcoured, withinfide ; that
the proper quantity of powder be next driven in and-
rammed down; care, however, being taken, that the
powder, in ramming, be not bruifed, becaufe that
weakens its effedt: that a little quantity, of paper, hay,,
lint, or the like, be rammed over it; and that the ball
or fhot be intruded. If the ball be red-hot, a tompion,
or trencher of green wood, is to be driven in before
it. The common allowance for a charge of powder of
a piece of ordnance, is half the weight of the ball. In
the Britiih Navy, the allowance for 32 pounders is but
feven-fixteenths of the weight of the bullet. But ^ Ro'h's Pro-
late author is of opinion,.that if the powder in all fhip-^/i/ for in-
cannon whatever was reduced to one-third weight oi^ea/mg the
the ball, or even lefs, it would be of confiderable ad-
vantage, not only by laving ammunition, but by keep-* * "
iag.
G H A I 350 ] G H A
Charge ;ng the guns cooler and quieter, and at the fame time
Chirior more effedtually injuring the veflels of the enemy.
  ' • With the prefent allowance of powder the guns are
heated, and their tackle and furniture ilrained ; and
this only to render the bullets lefs efficacious: for a
bullet which can but juft pafs through a piece of tim¬
ber, and lofes almoft all its motion thereby, has a much
better chance of rending and fra&uring it, than if it
paffes through with a much greater velocity.
Charge, in heraldry, is applied to the figures re-
prefented on the efcutcheon, by which the bearers are
dtftinguiihed from one another ; and it is to be obfer-
ved, that too many charges are not fo honourable as
fewer.
Charge of Lead, denotes a quantity of 36 pigs. See.
Pig.
Lo Charge in the military language, is to attack the
enemy either with horfe or foot.
Charge, in law, denotes the inftru&ions given to
the grand jury, with refpeft to the articles of their in¬
quiry, by the judge who prefides on the bench.
Charge, in law, alio fignifies a thing done that
bindeth him avho doth it; and difeharge is the re¬
moval of that charge. Lands may be charged in
various ways ; as, by grant of rent out of it, by ita-
tutes, judgments, conditions, warranties, &c.
Charge of horning, in Scots law. See Horning.
Charge to enter Heir, in Scots law, a writing paf-
-fing under the fignet, obtained at the inftance of a cre-
■.ditor, either againft the heir of hia debtor, for fixing
-upon him the debt as reprefenting the debtor, which
is,called a general charge: or, againft the debtor him-
-felf, or his heir, for the purpofe of veiling him in the
right of any heritable fubjeifl to which he has made
up no title, in order the creditor may attach that fub-
.je£l for payment of his debt, in the fame manner as if
his debtor or his heir were legally veiled in it by fer-
vice or otherwife. This Jail hind is called a Jpecial
charge.
Charge, or rather Overcharge, in painting, is an
exaggerated reprefentation of any perfon ; wherein the
likenefs is preferved, but at the fame time ridiculed.
Few painters have the genius neceffary to fucceed in
thefe charges: the method is, to.feledt and heighten
fome.hing already amifs in the face, whether by way
of defeft, or redundancy : thus v. g. if Nature have gi*
ven a man a nofe a little larger than ordinary, the
painter falls in with her, and maizes the nofe extrava¬
gantly long : or if the nofe be naturally too fhort, in
the painting it will be a mere Hump; and thus of the
. Other parts.
CHARGED, in heraldry, a fliield carrying fome im-
prefs or figure, is faid to be charged therewith; fo alfo,
when one bearing, or charge, has another figure added
upon it, it is properly faid to be charged.
Charged, in eledlrical experiments, is when a vial,
paneof glafs, or other electric fubftance, properly coat¬
ed on both fides, has a quantity of electricity commu*-
nicated to it; in which cafe the one fide is always elec¬
trified pofuively, and the other negatively.
CHARIOT, a half coach, having only a feat behind,
with a (tool before. See Coach.
The chariots of the ancients, chiefly ufed in war,
vere called by the feveral names big a, trigte, &c. ac¬
cording to the number of horfes applied to draw them.
Every chariot carried two men, who were probably Chariot,
the warrior and the charioteer ; and we read of feve-' *
ral men of note and valour employed in driving the
chariot. When the warriors came to encounter irt
clofe fight,, they alighted out of the chariot, and fought
*on foot; but when they were weary, which often hap¬
pened by reafon of their armour, they retired into
their chariot, and thence annoyed their enemie*
with darts and miffive weapons. Thefe chariots were
made fo ftrong, that they lafted for feveral generations.
Beiides this fort, we find frequent mention of the
currus fakati, or thofo chariots armed with hooks, or
feythes, with which whole ranks of foldiers were cut
off together, if they had not the art of avoiding the
danger; thefe were not only ufed by the Perfians, Syri¬
ans, Egyptians, &c. but we find them among the an¬
cient Britons; and notwithftanding the imperfedt Hate
of fome of the molt neceffary arts among that nation
before the invafion of the-Romans, it is certain that they
had war-chariots in great abundance. By the Greek and
Roman hiftorians, thefe chariots are deicribed by the
fix following names ; viz. Benna, Petoritum, Currus
or Carrus, Covinus, Effediun,and Rheda. The benna
feems to have been a chariot defigned rather for travel¬
ling than war. It contained two perfons, who were
called combennones, from their fitting together in the
fame machine. The petoritum feems to have been a
larger kind of chariot than the benna ; and is thought
to have derived its name from the Britifh word ped*
•war, fignifying four >• this kind of cariage having four
wheels. The carrus or currus was the common cart .
or waggon. This kind of chariot was ufed by the an¬
cient Britons, in times of peace, for the purpofes of
agriculture and merchandife ; and, in time of war, for
carrying their baggage, and wives and children, who
commonly followed the armies of all the-Celtic nations.
The covinus was a war-chatiot, and a very terrible
inftrument of deilrudtion ; being armed with fliarp
feythes and hooks for cutting and tearing all who were
fo unhappy as to come within its reach. This kind of
chariot was made very flight, and had few or no men
in it befidcs the charioteer; being defigned to drive
with great force and .rapidity, and to do execution
chiefly with its hooks and feythes. The effedum and
rheda were alfo war-chariots, probably of a large fize,
and ftronger made than the covinus, defigned for con¬
taining a charioteer for driving it, and one or two
warriors for fighting. The far greateft number of
the Britifh war-chariots feem to have been of this kind.
Thefe chariots, as already obferved, were to be found
in great numbers among the Britons ; infomuch that
Caefar relates that Caffibelanus, after difmiffing all his
other forces, retained no fewer than 4000 of thefe
war-chariots about his perfou. The fame author re¬
lates, that, by continual experience, they had at lait
arrived at fuch perfection in the management of their
chariots, that “ in the mofl fteep and difficult places
they could flop their horfes upon full ftretch, turn them
which way they pleafe(>, run along the pole, reft on
the harnefs, and throw themfclves back into their cha¬
riots, with incredible dexterity."
Chariots, in the heathen mythology, were fome-
times confecrated to the fun ; and the feripture ob-
ferves, that Jofiah burnt thofe which had been offered
to the fun by the king’s predeceffors. This fuperfti-
tioUs
e H A [ 35* 1 C H A
Ghsrlot timis euftom was an imitation of the heathens, and
II. principally of the Perfians, who had horfes and cha-
Charity. r;-otg conft(»rated in honour of the fun. Herodotus,
” v " Xenophon, and Quintus Curtius, fpeak of white cha¬
riots crowned, wmch were confecrated to the fun,
among the Perfians, which in their ceremonies were
drawn by white horfes confecrated to the fame luminary.
Triumphal Chariot, was one of the _ principal orna¬
ments of the Roman celebration of a vi&ory.
The Roman triumphal chariot was generally made
of ivory, round like a tower, or rather of a cylindri¬
cal figure ; it was fometimes gilt at the top, and or¬
namented witli crowns ; and to reprefent a vi&ory
more natmally, they ufed to flain it with blood. It
was ufually drawn by four white horfes; but often¬
times by lions, elephants, tygers, bears, leopards,
dogs, &c.
CHARISIA, in the heathen theology, a wake, or
night-feftival, inftituted in honour of the graces. It
continued the whole night, moft of which time was
fpent in dancing ; after which, cakes made of yellow
flour mixed with honey, and other fweetmeats, were
* dillributed among the affiftants. — Charifia is alfo fome¬
times ufed to fignify the fweetmeats ufed on fuch oc-
eaiions.
CHARISIUS, in the heathen theology, a furname
given to Jupiter. The word is derived from
gratia, “ grace” or “ favour he being the God by
whofe influence men obtain the favour and affe&ion of
one another. On which account the Greeks ufed at
their meals to make a libation of a cup to Jupiter
Gharifius.
CHARISTIA, a feftival of the ancient Romans,
celebrated in the month of February, wherein the re¬
lations by blood and marriage met, in order to preferve
a good correfpondence ; and that if there happened
to be any difference among them, it might be the
more eafily accommodated, by the good humour and.
mirth of the entertainment. Ow/V/. Fajl. i. 617.
CHARISTICARY, commendatory, or donatory,,
a perfon to whom is givert the enjoyment of the reve¬
nues of a monaftery, hofpital, or benefice.
The charifticaries among the Greeks, were a kind
»f donatories, or commcndatories, who enjoyed ajl
the revenues of hofpitals and monalleties, without gi¬
ving an account thereof to any perfon.—The original
of this abufe is referred to the Iconoclaftas, particu¬
larly Conftantine Copronymus, the avowed enemy
of the monks, whofe monafteries he gave away to
Arrangers. In after times, the emperors and patriarchs-
gave many to people of quality, not by way of gift, to
reap any temporal advantage from them ; but to re¬
pair, beautify, and patronize them. At length avarice
crept in, and thofc in good condition were given away,
efpecially fuch as were rich ; and at laft they were all
given away, .rich and poor, thofe of men and of wo¬
men, and that to laymen and married men.
CHARITY, among divines, one of the three grand
theological virtues, confifting in the love of God and
of our neighbour, or the habit and difpofition of
loving God with all our heart, and our neighbour as
ourfelves.
Charity is alfo ufed for the effeft of a moral vir¬
tue, .which confifts in fupplying the neceffities of o-
thersjwhether wHhmoneyxcounfel,affiffance,orthe like.
As pecuniary relief is generally the moll efficacious, Charity,
and at the fame time that from which we are moft apt ’
to excufe ourfelves, this branch of the duty merits par¬
ticular illuftration ; and a better cannot be offered than
what is contained in the following extrafts (if we may
be permitted to make them) from the elegant Moral
Syjlem of Archdeacon Paley.
Whether pity be an initinfit or a habit, it is in fa£t'
a property of our nature, which God appointed : and
the final caufe for which it was appointed, ia to afford
to the miferable, in the compaffion of their fellow
creatures, a remedy for thofe inequalities and diftreffes
which God forefaw that many muff be expofed to, un¬
der every general rule for the diftribution of property.-
The Chriftian fcriptures are more copious and ex¬
plicit upon this duty than almoft any other.- The de-
fcription which Ghrift hath left us of the proceedings ■
of the laft day,-eftablifties the obligation of bounty be¬
yond controverfy. “ When the Son of man fhall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
lhall he fit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him fhall be gathered all nations ; and he fliall feparate
them one from another. Then lhall the king fay un¬
to them on his right hand, Come ye bleffed of my fa¬
ther, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world : For I was an hungered, and
ye gave me meat ; I was thirfty, and ye gave me
drink ; I was a ftranger, and ye took me in ; naked,
and ye clothed me ; I was fick, and ye vifited me ; I
was in prifon, and ye came unto me. And inafmuch
as ye have done it to one of the leaft of thefe my bre¬
thren, ye have done it unto me.” It is not neceffary
to underftand this paffage as a literal account of what
will actually pafs on that day. Suppofing it only a -
fcenical defcription of the rules and principles by
which the 'Supreme Arbiter of our deftiny will regu¬
late his decifions, ft conveys the fame ieffon to us; it
equally demonftrates of how great value and import¬
ance thefe duties in the fight of God are, and what
ftrefs will be laid upon them. The apoftles alfo de~
fcribe this virtue as propitiating the divine favour in-
an eminent degree. Arid thefe recommendations have
produced their effeft. It does not appear that, before
the times of Chriftianity, an infirmary, hofpital, or
public charity of any kind, exifted in the world
whereas moft countries in Chriftendom have long a-
bounded with thefe inflitutions. To which may be
added, that a fpirit of private liberality feems to flou-
rifh amidft the. decay of many other virtues: not to
mention the legal provifion for the poor, which ob¬
tains in this country, and which was unknown and
unthought of by the- moft polilhed nations of anti¬
quity.
St Paul adds upon the fubjedlan excellent, diredion 5 ,
and which is praflicable by all who have any thing to
give. “ Upon the firft day of the week (or any other
ftated time) let every one of you lay by in ftore, as
God hath profpered1 him.” B-y*which the apoftle may .
be tmderftood to recommend what is the very thing
wanting with moft men; the being charitable upon a plant -
that is, from a deliberate comparifon of our fortunes
with the reafonable expences and expectations of our
families, to compute what we can fpare, and to lay by.-
fo much for charitable purpofes, in fome mode or others
The mode will be a confideration. after wards. -
C H A [ 352 ] C H A
The effect, which Chriftiantiy £roduce3 upon fome beneficence. A guinea, for example, contributed to Chaney,
of its converts, was fuch as might be looked for from an infirmar)r, becomes the means of providing one pa- * ~’"t.
tient, at lead, with a phyfician, /urgeon, apothecary ;
with medicine, diet, lodging, and fuitable attendance ;
which is not the tenth part of what the fame affiftance,
if it could be procured at all, would coft to a fick per-
a divine religion coming with full force and miraculous
evidence upon the confciences of mankind. It over¬
whelmed all worldly confiderations in the expectation
of a more important exiftence. “ And the multitude
of them that believed were of one heart and of one, fon or family in any other fituation.
foul; neither faid any of them that aught of the 3. The laft, and, compared with the former, the
things, which he poflelTed, was his own ; but they had lowed exertion of benevolence, is in the relief of beg¬
ad things in common.—Neither was there any amotig gars. Neverthelefs, the indifcriminate rejeftion of all
them that lacked ; for as many as were poffeflbrs of who implore our alms in this way, is by no means ap-
lands or houfes fold them, and brought the'prices of proved. Some may peridi by fuch a condutb Men are
the things that were fold, and laid them down at the a- fometimes overtaken by didrefs, for which all other re-
podles’ feet ; and didribution was made unto every
man, according as he had need.” A&s iv. 32.
Neverthelcfs, this community of goods, however it
manifeded the lincere zeal of the primitive Chridians,
•is no precedent for our imitation. It was confined to
the church at Jerufalem ; continued not long there;
was never enjoined upon any (Afts v. 4.); and, al¬
though it might fuit with the particular circumftances
of a fmall and feleCi fociety, is altogether impracticable
in a large and mixed community.
The condud; of the apodles upon the occafion de-
ferves to be noticed. Their followers laid down their
fortunes at their feet: but fo far were they from ta¬
king advantage of this unlimited confidence to enrich
themfelves or edablith their authority, that they foon
after got rid of this bufinefs as inconfident with the
main objeft of their million, and transferred the cudo-
dy and management of the public fund to deacons,
elefted to that office by the people at large. (ACts vi.)
There are three kinds of charity, our author obferves,
which prefer a claim to attention.
1. The fird, and apparently one of the bed, is to
give dated and confiderable iums, by way of penfion
or annuity to individuals or families, with whofe beha¬
viour and didrefs we ourfelves are acquainted. In
lief would come too late. Befides which, refolutions
of this kind compel us to offer fuch violence to our
humanity, as may go near, in a little while, to fuffo-
cate the principle itfelf; which is a very ferious con-
fideration. A gOod man, if he do not furrender him-
felf to his feelings without referve, will at lead lend an
ear to importunities which come accompanied with
outward attedations of didrefs ; and after a patient
hearing of the complaint, will direCt himfelf by the
circumdances and credibility of the account that he
receives.
There are other fpecies of charity well contrived to
make the money expended go far; fuch as keeping
downuhe price of fuel or provifion in cafe of a mono¬
poly or temporary fcarcity, by purchafing the articles
at the bed market, and retailing them at prime cod,
or at a fmall lofs ; or the adding a bounty to a parti¬
cular fpecies of labour, when the price is accidentally
depreffed.
The proprietors of large edates have it in their
power to facilitate the maintenance, and thereby en¬
courage the edablifhment of families (which is one of
the nobled purpofes to which the rich and great can
convert their endeavours), by building cottages, fplit-
ting farms, ere&ing manufa&ures, cultivating wades.
fpeaking of confiderable fums, it is meant only, that embanking the fea, draining marfhes, and other expe-
| ’ -.1— r.— —•    — jr dients, which the fituation of each edate points out.
If the profits of thefe undertakings do not repay the
expence, let the authors of them place the difference
to the account of charity. It is true of almoft all
fuch projefts, that the public is a gainer by them,
whatever the owner be. And where the lofs can be
fpared, this confideration is fufficient.
It is become a quedion of fome importance, Under,
what circumdances works of charity ought to be done
in private, and when they uray be made public with¬
out detracting from the merit of the aCtion ; if indeed
they ever may, the Author of our religion having de¬
livered a rule upon this fubje&, which feems to enjoin
unfverfal fecrecy. “ When thou doed alms, let not
thy left hand know what thy right hand doth; that
five pounds, or any other fum, given at once, or di¬
vided amongd five or fewer families, will do more good
than the fame fum diftributed amongd a greater num¬
ber in (hillings or half crowns; and that, becaufe it is
more likely to be properly applied by the perfons who
receive it. A poor fellow, who can find no better ufe
for a (hilling than to drink his benefaCior’s health, and
purchafe half an hour’s recreation for himfelf, would
hardly break into a guinea for any fuch purpofe, or be
fo improvident as not to lay it by for an occafion of
importance, for his rent, his clothing, fuel, or dock of
winter’s provifion. It is a dill greater recommenda¬
tion of this kind of charity, that penfions and annui¬
ties, which are paid regularly, and can be expefted at
the time, are the only way by which we can prevent
part of :
poor man’s fufferings, the dread of thy alms may be in fecret, and thy Father which feeth
in fecret, himfelf (hall reward thee openly.” (Matth.
2. But as this kind of charity fnppofes that proper vi. 3, 4.) From the preamble to this prohibition, it
objeCts of fuch expenfive benefactions fall within our
private knowledge and obfervation, which does not
happen to all, a fecond method of doing good, which
is plain, that our Saviour’s foie defign was to forbid
ojitntation, and ail publiihing of good works which pro¬
ceeds from that motive. “ Take heed that ye do not
is in every one’s power who has the money to (pare, your alms before men, to le fern of them ; otherwife ye
is by fubfcription to public charities. Public charities have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven :
admit of this argument in their favour, that your mo- therefore, when thou doefi thine alms, do not found a
ney goes farther towards attaining the end for which trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the fy-
it is given, than it can do by any private and feparate nagogues and in the ftreets, that they may have glory of
jN0 69. 6 men.
c H A [ 353 ] c H A
■Charity, men. Verily I fay unto thee, they have their reward,”
'"■"-v-*—' v. 2. There are motives for the doing our alms in
public befide thofe of oftentation ; with which there¬
fore our Saviour’s rule has no concern : fuch as to tef-
tify our approbation of fome particular fpecies of cha¬
rity, and to recommend it to others; to take off the
prejudice which the want, or, which is the fame thing,
the fuppreffion, of our name in the lift of contributors,
might excite againft the charity or againft ourfelves.
And, fo long as thefe motives are free from any mix¬
ture of vanity, they are in no danger of invading our
Saviour’s prohibition : they rather feem to comply with
another dire&ion which he has left us: “ Let your
light fo ftiine before men, that they may fee your good
works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”
If it be neceffary to propofe a precife diftindtion upon
the fubjedt, there can be none better than the follow¬
ing : When our bounty is beyond our fortune or fta-
tion, that is, when it is more than could be expe&ed
from us, our charity Ihould be private, if privacy be
practicable; when it is not more than might be ex-
petfted, it may be public: for we cannot hope to in¬
fluence others to the imitation of extraordinary gene-
rofity, and therefore want, in the former cafe, the on¬
ly juftifiable reafon for making it public.
The pretences by which men excufe themfelves from
giving to the poor, are various; as,
1. “ That they have nothing to fpare i. e. no¬
thing, for which they have not fome other ufe ; no¬
thing, which their plan of expence, together with the
favings they have refolved to lay by, will not exhauft:
never refledling whether it be in their power, or that
it is their duty, to retrench their expences, and con-
traft their plan, “ that they may have to give to them
that needor rather that this ought to have been
part of their plan originally.
2. “ That they have families of their own, and
that charity begins at home.” A father is no doubt
.bound to adjuft his ceconomy with a view to the reafon-
able demands of his family upon his fortune ; and un¬
til a fufficiency for thefe is acquired, or in due time
probably will be acquired (for in human affairs pro¬
bability is enough), he is juftified in declining expenfive
liberality ; for to take from thofe who want, in order
to give to thofe who want, adds nothing to the ftock
of public happinefs. Thus far, therefore, and no far¬
ther, the plea in queftion is an excufe for parfimony,
and an anfwer to thofe who folicit our bounty.
3. “ That charity does not confift in giving money,
but in benevolence, philanthropy, love to all mankind,
goodnefs of heart,” fsfr. Hear St James. “ If a
brother or After be naked, and deftitute of daily food,
and one of you fay unto them, depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled, notwithftandingye^m? them not thofe
things •which arc needful to the body, what doth it profit?”
(James ii. 15, 16.)
4. “ That giving to the poor is not mentioned in
St Paul’s defcription of charity, in the 13th chap¬
ter of his firft epiftle to the Corinthians.” This is
not a defcription of charity, but of good nature ; and
it is not neceffary that every duty be mentioned in
every place.
j. “ That they pay the poor-rates.” They might
as well allege that they pay their debts ; for the poor
Vox. IV. Part I.
have the fame right to that portion of a man’s property,
which the laws affign them, that the man himfelf has
to the remainder.
6. “ That they employ many poor perfons:”—
for their own fake, not,, the poor’s—otherwife it is a
good plea.
7. “ That the poor do not fuffer fo much as wc
imagine ; that education and habit have reconciled
them to the evils of their condition, and make them
eafy under it.” Habit can never reconcile human na¬
ture to the extremities of cold, hunger, and thirft,
any more than it can reconcile the hand to the touch
of a red-hot iron : befides, the queftion is not, how
unhappy any one is, but how much more happy we
can make him.
8. “ That thefe people, give them what you will,
will never thank you, or think of you for it.” In the.
firft place, this is not true : in the fecond place, it was
net for the fake of their thanks that you relieved them.
9. “ That we are fo liable to be impofed upon.”
If a due enquiry be made, our motive and merit is the
fame : befide that, the diftrefs is generally real, what¬
ever has been the caufe of it.
10. “ That they Ihould apply to their pariihes.”
This is not always prafticable : to which we may add,
that there are many requifites to a comfortable fub-
fiftence, which parifti-relief does not always fupply;
and that there are fome who would fuffer almoft as
much from receiving parilh-relief as by the want of
it: and laftly, that there are many modes of charity',
to which this anfwer does not relate at all.
11. “ That giving money encourages idlenefs and
vagrancy.” This is true only of injudicious and in-
difcriminate generofity4
12. “ That we have too many obje&s of charity at
home to beftow any thing upon ftrangers; or that
there are other charities which are more ufeful, or
Hand in greater need.” The value of this excufe de¬
pends entirely upon the fa&, whether we a&ually re¬
lieve thofe neighbouring objedts, and contribute to
thofe other charities.
Befide all thefe excufes, pride, or prudery, or deli¬
cacy, or love of eafe, keep one half of the world out of
the way of obferving what the other half fuffer.
Charity Schools, are fchools eredted and maintained
in various pariihes by the voluntary contributions of
the inhabitants, for teaching poor children to read,
write, and other neceffary parts of education. See
School.
Brothers of Charity, a fort of religious hofpitallers,
founded about the year 1297, fince denominated Bil-
letins. They took the third order of St Francis, and
the fcapulary, making three ufual vows, but without
begging.
Brothers of Charity alfo denote an order of hofpi¬
tallers ft ill fubfifting in Romilh countries, whofe bufi-
nefs is to attend the fick poor, and minifter to them
both fpiritual and temporal fuccour.
They are all laymen, except a few priefts, for admi-
niftering the facraments to the fick in their hofpitals.
The brothers of charity ufually cultivate botany, phar¬
macy, furgery, and chemiftry, which they pradtife with
fuccefs.
They were firft founded at Granada, by St John de
Y y Dxeu;
Charity;
Charity
il
Charle-
C H A [ .354 ] C H A
Dteu; and a fecond eftablifliment was made at Madrid
in the year 1553 : the order was confirmed by Gre¬
gory XIII. in 1572 : Gregory XIV. forbad them to
take holy orders'; but by leave of PaulV. in 1609, a
few of the brothers might t e admitted to orders. In
1619 they were exempted from the jurifdiftion of the
bifhop. Thofe of Spain are feparated from the reft ;
and they, as well as the brothers of France, Germany,
Poland, and Italy, have their diftinft generals, who re-
fide at Rome. They were firft introduced into France
by Mary of Medicis in t6oi, and have fince built a
fine hofpital in the Fauxbourg St Germain.
Chav nr of St Hippolitus, a religious congregation
founded about the end of the 14th century, by one
Bernardin Alvarez, a Mexican, in honour of St Hip¬
politus the martyr, patron of the city of Mexico ; and
approved by Pope Gregory i^IIL
Charity of our Lady, in church-hiftory, a religi¬
ous order in France, which, though charity was the
principal motive of their union, grew in length of time
fb diforderly and irregular, that their order dwindled,
and at laft became extinft.
There is ftill at Paris a religious order of women,
called nuns hofpit alters of the charity of' our lady. The
religious of this hofpital are by vow obliged to admi-
nifter to the neceflities of the poor and the fick, but
thofe only women.
CHARLATAN, or Charletan, fignifies an em¬
piric or quack, who retails his medicines on a public
ftage, and draws people about him with his buffoone¬
ries, feats of a&ivity, &c. The Word, according to
Calepine, comes from the Italian ceretano ; of Cteretum,
a town near Spoletto in Italy, where thefe impoftors
are faid to have firft rifen. Menage derives it from
ciarlatano, and that from circutalorius, of circulator, a
quack.
CHARLEMAGNE, or Charles I. king of France
by fucceffioh, and emperor of the weft by conqueft in
800, (which laid the foundation of the dynaftjr of the
weftern Franks, who ruled the empire 472 years till
the time of Radolphus Aufpurgenfis, the founder of
the houfe of Auftria). Charlemagne was as illuftrious
in the cabinet as in the field; and, though he could
not write his name, was the patron of men of letters,
the reftorer of learning, and a wife legiflator: he Want¬
ed only the virtue of humanity to render him the moft
accompliihed of men; but when we read of his be¬
heading 4500 Saxons, folely for their loyalty to their
prince, in oppo^ng his conquefts, we cannot think he
merits the extravagant encomiums beftowed on him
by fome hiftorians. Fie died in 814, in the 74th year
of his age, and 47th of his reign.
France had nine fovereigns of this name, of whom
Charles V. merited the title of the wife, (crowned in
’1364, died in 1380)-: and Charles VIII. fignalized
himfelf in the field by rapid victories in Italy ; crown¬
ed 1483, died in 1498. The reft do not deferve
particular mention in this place. See (Hiflory of)
France.
CHARLEMONT, a town of the province of Na¬
mur in the Auftrian Netherlands, about 18 miles fouth
of Namur. E. Long. 4.40. N. Lat. 50. ro.
Charlemont is alfo the name of a town of Ire¬
land, fituated on the river Blackwater, in the county
of Armagh, and province of Ulfter, about fix miles Charfcrtsy,
fouth-eaft of Dungannon. W. Long. 6. 50. N. Lat. Charles. ^
50. 16.
CPIARLEROY, a ftrong town in the province of
Namur, in the Auftrian Netherlands, fituated on the-
river Sambre, about 19 miles weft of Namur. E. Long.
4. 20. N. Lat. 50. 30.
CHARLES Martel, a renowned conqueror in
the early annals of France. He depofed and reftored
Chilperic king of France ; and had the entire govern¬
ment of the kingdom, once with the title of mayor of
the palace, and afterwards as duke of France ,* but he
would not accept the crown. He died, regretted, in
741.
Charles le Gros, emperor of the weft in 881, king
of Italy and Suabia, memorable for his reverfe of for¬
tune ; being dethroned at a diet held near Mentz, by
the French, the Italians, and the Germans, in 887 ;
after which he was obliged to fubfift on the bounty of
the archbiftiop of Mentz. He died in 888.
Charles V. (emperor and king of Spain), was fon
of Philip I. archduke of Auftria, and of Jane queen of
Caftile. He was born at Ghent, February 24. 1500,.
and fucoeeded to the crown of Spain in 1517. Two-
years afterwards he was chofen emperor at Francfort
after the death of Maximilian his grandfather. He
was a great warrior and politician : and his ambitioft
was not fatisfied with the many kingdoms and pro¬
vinces he poffeffed ; for he is fuppofed, with reafon, to
have afpired at univerfal empire. He is faid to have
fought 60 battles, in moft of which he was victorious.
He took the king of France (Francis I.) prifoner, and
fold him his liberty on very hard termi: yet after¬
wards, when the people of Ghent revolted, he alkcd
leave to pafs through his dominions; and though the
generous king thus had him in his power, and had an
opportunity of revenging his ill-treatment, yet he re¬
ceived and attended him with all pomp and magni¬
ficence. He lacked Rome, and took the Pope pri¬
foner ; and the cruelties which his army exercifed
there are faid to have exceeded thofe of the northern
barbarians. Yet the pious emperor went into mourn¬
ing on account of this conqueft : forbad the ringing
of bells; commanded proceffions to be made, and prayers
to be offered up for the deliverance of the Pope his
prifoner ; yet did not inflift the leaft punifhment on
thofe who treated the holy father and the holy fee
with fuch inhumanity. He is accufed by fome Romilh
writers of favouring the Lutheran principles, which
he might eafily have extirpated. But the truth is, he
found his account in the divifions which that left oc-
eafioned; and he for ever made his advantage of them,
fometimes againft the Pope, fometimes againft France,,
and at other times againft the empire itfelf. He was
a great traveller, and made 50 different journeys into.
Germany, Spain, Italy, Flanders, France,. England,,
and Africa. Though he had been fuccefsful in many
unjuft enterprizes, yet his laft attempt on Metz, which
he befieged with an army of 100,000 men, was very
juft and very unfuecefsful.
Vexed at the reverfe of fortune which feemedr to
attend his latter days, and opjareffed by ficknefs, which
unfitted him any longer from Folding the reins of go¬
vernment with tteadinefs, or to guide, them with ad*
chefs,,
C H A r 355 1 c H A
Charles, drefs, he refigned his dominions to his brother Ferdi-
' ? " nand and his fon Philip ; and retreated to the mona-
Itery of St Julius near Placentia in Eftramadura.
When Charles entered this retreat, he formed fuch
a plan of life for himfelf as would have fuited a pri¬
vate gentleman of moderate fortune. His table was
neat, but plain; his domeftics few; his intercourfe
with them familiar; all the cumberfosne and ceremo¬
nious forms of attendance on his perfon were entirely
abolifhed, as dellruClive of that focial eafe and tran¬
quillity which he courted in order to footh the remain¬
der of his days. As the mildnefs of the climate, toge¬
ther with his deliverence from the burdens and cares
of government, procured him at firfl a conliderable
remiffion from the acute pains of the gout, with which
he had been long tormented, he enjoyed perhaps more
complete fatisfadlion in this humble folitude than all
his grandeur had <fver yielded him. The ambitious
thoughts and projects which had fo long engrolfed and
difquieted him, were quite effaced from his mind. Far
from taking any part in the political tranfadlions of
the princes of Europe, he rellrained his curiolity even
from an inquiry concerning them ; and he feemed to
view the bufy feene which he had abandoned with
all the contempt and indifference ariling from his
thorough experience of its vanity, as well as from the
pleafing refledtion of having difentangled himfelf from
its cares.
Other amufements, and other objedls, now occupied
him. Sometimes he cultivated the plants in his gar-'
den with his own hand; fometimes he rode out to
the neighbouring wood on a little herfe, the only one
that he kept, attended by a Angle fervant on foot.
When his infirmities confined him to his apartment,
which often happened, and deprived him of thefe more
adtive recreations, he either admitted a few gentlemen
who refided near the monallery to vifit him, and en¬
tertained them familiarly at his table ; or he employed
himfelf in ftudying mechanical principles, and in form¬
ing curious works of mechanifm, of which he had al¬
ways been remarkably fond, and to which his genius
was peculiarly turned. With this view he had enga¬
ged Turriano, one of the moll ingenious artills of that
age, to accompany him in his retreat. He laboured
together with him in framing models of the moll ufe-
ful machines, as well as in making experiments with
regard to their refpedlive powers ; and it was not fel-
dqm that the ideas of the monarch alfilted or perfedled
the inventions of the artift. He relieved his mind at
intervals with {lighter and more fantallic works of me¬
chanifm, in falhioning puppets, which, by the llrudture
of internal fprings, mimicked the geftiires and adlions
of men, to.the no fmali aftonHhment of the ignorant
monks, who, beholding movements which they could
not comprehend, fometimes dillrufleid their own fenfes,
and fometimes fufpefted Charles and Turriano of be¬
ing in compact with invifible powers. He was parti¬
cularly curious w ith regard to the conllruftion of clocks
and'watches ; and having found, after repeated trials,
that he could not bring any two of them to go exactly
alike, he reflefted, it is faid, with a mixture of fur-
prife as well as -regret on his own folly, in having be-
itow'ed fo much time and labour in the more vain at-
■tempt of bringing-mankind to a precife uniformity of
5
fentiment concerning the intricate and myllerious doc- Charles,
trines of religion.
But in what manner foever Charles difpofed of the
reft of his time, he conftantly referved a conliderable
portion of it for religious exercifes. He regularly at¬
tended divine fervice in the chapel of the .monaftery
every morning and evening; he took great pleafure
in reading books of devotion, particularly the works
of St Auguftine and St Bernard ; and converfed much
with his confeffor, and the prior of the monaftery,
on pious fubjefts. Thus did Charles pafs the firfl
year of his retreat in a manner not unbecoming a
man perfectly difengaged from the affairs of this pre-
fent life, and Handing on the confines of a future
world, either in innocent amufements which foothed
his pains, and relieved a mind worn out with excef-
five application to bufinefs ; or in devout occupations,
which he deemed neceffary in preparing for another
Hate.
But, about fix months before his death, the gout,
after a longer intermillion than ufual, returned with
a proportional increafe of violence. His lhattered cpn-
ftitution had not ftrength enough remaining to with-
fland fuch a Ihock. It enfeebled his mind as much as
his body ; and from this period we hardly difeern any
traces of that found and mafeuline underllanding which
diftinguilhed Charles among his cotemporarie. An
illiberal and timid fuperftition depreffed his fpirit. He
had no relilh for amufements of any kind. He endea¬
voured to conform, in his manner of living, to all the
rigour of monaftic aullerity. He defired no other
fociety than that of monks, and was almoft continu¬
ally employed in chanting with them the hymns of the
miffal. As an expiation for his fins, he gave himfelf
the difeipline in fecret with fuch feverity, that the
whip of cords which he employed as the inllrument
of his punilhment, was found, after his deceafe, tin¬
ged with his blood. Nor w7as he fatisfied with thefe
a£ls of mortification, which, however fevere, were
not unexampled. The timorous and diftruftful folici-
tude which always accompanies fuperftition, lliil con¬
tinued to difquiet him, and depreciating, all that he
had done, prompted him to aim at fomething extraor¬
dinary, at fome new and lingular act of piety, that
would difplay his zeal, and merit the favour of hea¬
ven. The aft on which he fixed was as wild and
uncommon as any that fuperftition ever foggelled to
a difordered fancy. He refolvcd to celebrate his own
obfequies before his death. He ord'ered his tomb to
be erefted in the chapel of the mpiiaftery. His do¬
meftics marched thither in funeral proceflion, with
black tapers in their hands. He himfelf followed in
his Ihroud. He was laid in his coffin with much fo-
lemnity. The fervice for the dead was chanted ; and
Charles joined in the prayers which were offered up
for the reft of his foul, mingled his tears with thofe
which his attendants ffied, as if they had been cele-.
brating a real funeral. The ceremony clofed with
fprinkling holy water on the coffin in the ufual form,
and, all the affiftants retiring, the doors of the chapel
were ffiut. Then Charles rofe out of the coffin, and
withdrew to his apartment, full of thofe awful fenti-
ments which fuch a Angular folemnity was calculated
to infpire. But either the fatiguing length of the ce-
Y y 2 remony,
C H A [ 356 ] C H A
remony, m- the impreffion which this image of death
left on his mind, affected him fo much, that next day
he was feized with a fever. His feeble frame could
not long refift its violence ; and he expired on the
2iff t>f September, after a life-of 58 years fix months
and 21 days.
Charles I. ') Kings .of Britain. See Britain,
Charles II. > n°49, ^254.
Charles XII. king of Sweden, was born in 1682.
By his father’s will, the adminiftration was lodged in
the hands of the queen-dowager Eleonora with five
fenators, till the young prince was 18 : but he was
declared major at 15, by the flates convened at Stock¬
holm. The beginning of his adminiflration raifed no
favourable ideas of him, as he was thought both by
Swedes and foreigners to be a perfon of mean capaci¬
ty. But the difficulties that gathered round him, foon
afforded him an opportunity to difplay his real charac¬
ter. Three powerful princes, Frederic king of Den¬
mark, Auguftus king of Poland and debtor of Saxony,
and Peter the Great czar of Mufcovy, prefuming on
his^ youth, confpired his ruin almoft at the fame in-
ftant. Their meafures alarming the council, they
were for diverting the ftorm by negociations ; but
Charles, with a grave refolution that aflonifhed them,
faid, “ I am refolved never to enter upon an unjuft
“ war, nor to put an end to a juft one but by the
“ deftrubtion of my enemies. My refolution is fix-
“ ed : I will attack the firft who fhall declare againft
“ me ; and when I have conquered him, I may hope
“ to ftrike a terror into the reft.” The old counfel-
lors received his orders with admiration; and were
flill more furprifed when they faw him on a hidden
renounce all the enjoyments of a court, reduce his
table to the utmoft frugality, drefs like a common fol-
dier, and, full of the ideas of Alexander and Csefar,
propofe thofe two conquerors for his models in every
thing but their vices. The king of Denmark began
by ravaging the territories of the duke of Holftein.
Upon this Charles carried the war into the heart of
Denmark ; and made fuch a progrefs, that the king
of Denmark thought it beft to accept of peace, which
was concluded in 1700. He next refolved to ad¬
vance againft the king of Poland, who had blocked up
Riga. He had no fooner given orders for his troops
to go into winter-quarters, than he received advice
that Narva, where count Horne was governor, was
befieged by an army of 100,600 Mufcovites. This
made him alter his meafures, and move toward the
Czar; and at Narva he gained a furprifmg vibtory,
which coft him not above 2000 men killed and wound¬
ed. The Mrifcovites were forced to retire from the
provinces they had invaded. He purfued his con-
quefts, till he penetrated as far as where the diet of
Poland was fitting; when he made them declare the
throne of Poland vacant, and elebl Staniflaus their
king : then making himfelf rnafter of Saxony, he ob¬
liged Auguftus himfelf to renounce the crown of Po¬
land, and acknowledge Staniflaus by a letter of con¬
gratulation on his acceffion. All Europe was furpri¬
fed with the expeditious finifhing of this great negocia-
tion, but more at the difintereftednefs of the king of
Sweden, who fatisfied himfelf with the bare reputa¬
tion of this, victory, without demanding an inch of
ground for enlarging his dominions, After thus re- Charter,
ducing the king of Denmark to peace, placing a new  >• ^
king on the throne of Poland, having humbled the
emperor of Germany, and protebled the Lutheran
religion, Charles prepared to penetrate into Mufcovy
in order to dethrone the Czar. He quickly obliged
the Mufcovites to abandon Pdfand, purfued them into
their own country, and won feveral battles over them.
The Czar, difpofed to peace, ventured to make fome
propofals ; Charles only anfwered, “ I will treat with
“ the Czar at Mofcow.” When this haughty anfwer
was brought to Peter, he faid, “ My brother Charles
“ ftill affebts to abt the Alexander, but I flatter my-
“ felf he will not in me find a Darius.” .The event
juftified him : for the Mufcovites, already beaten into
difcipline, and under a prince of fueh talents as Peter,
entirely deftroyed the Swedifh army at the memo¬
rable battle of Pultowa, July 8. 1709 ; on which de-
cifive day, Charles loft the fruits of nine years labour,
and of almoft 100 battles! The king, with a final!
troop, purfued by the Mufcovites, paffed the Borif-
thenes to Oczakow in the Turkiffi territories: and
from thence, through defert countries, arrived at Ben¬
der ; where the Sultan, when informed of his arrival,
fent orders for accommodating him in the beft man¬
ner, and apppintecbhim a guard. Near Bender Charles
built a houfe, and intrenched himfelf; and had with
him 1800 men, who were all clothed and fed, with
their horfes, at the expence of the Grand Signior. •
Here he formed a defign of turning the Ottoman
arms upon his enemies; and is faid to have had a pro-
mife from the Vizir of being fent into Mufcovy with
200,000 men. While he remained here, he infenfibly
acquired a tafte for books : he read the tragedies of
Corneille and Racine, with the works of Defpreaux,
whofe fatires he reliffied, but did not much admire his
other works. When he read that paffage in which
the author reprefents Alexander as a fool and a mad¬
man, he tore out the leaf. He would fometimes play
at chefs: but when he recovered of his wounds, he re¬
newed his fatigues in exercifing his men; he tired
three horfes a day ; and thofe who courted his favour
were all day in their boots. To difpofe the Ottoman
Porte to this war, he detached about 800 Poles and
Cofaques of his retinue, with orders to pafs the
Neifter, that runs by Bender, and to obferve what
paffed on the frontiers of Poland. The Mufcovite
troops, difperfed in thofe quarters, fell immediately
upon this little company, and purfued them even to
the territories of the Grand Signior. This was what
the king expebted. His minifters at the Porte ex¬
cited the Turks to vengeance ; but the Czar’s money
removed all difficulties, and Charles found himfelf in
a manner prifoner among the Tartars. He imagined
the Sultan was ignprant of the intrigues of his Grand
Vizir. Poniatolky undertook to make his complaints
to the Grand Signior. The fultan, in anfwer, fome
days after, fent Charles five Arabian horfes, one of
which was covered with a faddle aitd houfing of great
riches ; with an obliging letter, but conceived in fuch
general terms, as gave reafon to fufpebt that the mi-
nifter had done nothing without the fultan’s confent:
Charles therefore refuted them. Poniatolky had the
courage to form a defign of depofmg the Grand Vizir ,;
C H A [ 357 1 c H A
Charles, who accordingly was deprived of his dignity arid
wealth, and banifhed. The feal of the empire was
given to Numan Cuproughly: who perfuaded his ma¬
iler, that the law forbid him to invade the Czar, who
had done him no injury ; but to fuccour the king of
Sweden as an unfortunate prince in his dominions.
He fent his majefty 800 purfes, every one of which
amounted to 500 crowns, and advifed him to return
peaceably to' his own dominions. Charles rejedled
this advice, threatening to hang up the bafhaws, and
ihave the beards of any Janifaries who brought him
fuch meifages ; and fent word that he fliould depend
upon the Grand Signior’s promife, and hoped to re¬
enter Poland as a conqueror with an army of Turks.
After various intrigues at the Porte, an order was
fent to attack this head of iron, as he was called, and
to take him either alive or dead. He flood a fiege in
bis houfe, with forty domeflics, againft the Turkifh
army; killed no lefs than 20 Janifaries with his own
hand; and performed prodigies of valo,ur on a very
unneceffary and unwarrantable occafion. But the houfe
being fet on fire, and himfelf wounded, he was at
laft taken prifoner, and fent to Adrianople; where
the Grand Signior gave him audience, and promifed
to make good all the damages he had fuflained. At
lail, after a flay of above five years, he left Turkey ;
and, having difguifed himfelf, traverfed Wallachia,
Tranfylvania, Hungary, and Germany, attended on¬
ly by one perfon: and in 16 days riding, during which
time he never went to bed, came to Stralfund at mid¬
night, November 21. 1714. His boots were cut from
his fwollen legs, and he was put to bed ; where when
he had flept fome hours, the firfl thing he did was to
review his troops, and examine the flate of the forti¬
fications. He fent out orders that very day, to re¬
new ■ the war with more vigour than ever. But af¬
fairs were now much changed: Auguflus had recover¬
ed the throne of Poland; Sweden had loft many of its
provinces, and was without money, trade, credit, or
troops. The kings of Denmark and Pruffia feized the
ifland of Rugen; and befieged him in Stralfund,
which furrendered; but Charles efcaped to Carelfcroon.
When his country was threatened with invafion by
fo many princes, he, to the furprifc of all Europe,
marched into Norway with 20,000 men. A very
few Danes might have flopped the Swedifh army ;
but fuch a quick invafion they could not forefee. Eu¬
rope was yet more at a lofs to find the Czar fo quiet,
and not making a defcent upon Sweden, as he had
before agreed with his allies. This inadlion was the
confequence of one of the greateft defigns, and at the
fame time the moft difficult of any that were ever form¬
ed by the imagination of man. In fhort, a fcheme was
fet on foot for a reconciliation with the Czar; for re¬
placing Staniflaus on the throne of Poland; andfetting
James the fecond’s fon upon that of England, befide
reftoring the duke of Holftein to his dominions.
Charles was pleafed with thefe grand ideas, though
without building much upon them, and gave his mi-
niftef leave to aft at large. In the mean time, Charles
was going, to make a fecond attempt upon Norway in
1718 ; and he flattered himfelf with being mailer of
that kingdom in fix months: but while he was exa¬
mining the works at Eredericfhall, a place of . great
ftrength and importance, which is reckoned to be the 'Charles,
key of that kingdom, he was killed by a fhot from the '“T—
enemy, as has been generally believed; though it has
been alfo reported that he fell by the treachery, of one
of his own officers, who had been bribed for that pur-
pofe.
This prince experienced the extremes of profperity
and of adveriity, without being foftened by the one,,
or difturbed for a moment at the other; but was a man
rather extraordinary than great, and fitter to be ad¬
mired than imitated. He was honoured by the Turks
for his rigid abftinence from wine, and his regularity
in attending public devotion.
As to his perfon, he was tall and of a noble mienr
had a fine open forehead, large blue eyes, flaxen hair,
fair complexion, an handfome nofe, but little beard,
and a laugh not agreeable. His manners were harfh
and auftere, not to fay favage : and as to religion, he*
was indifferent towards all, though exterioufly a Lu¬
theran, and a ftrong believer in predeftination. A
few anecdotes will iiluftrate his charafter. No dan¬
gers, however great, made the leaft impreffion upon
him. . When a horfe or two were killed under him at
the battle of Narva in 1700, he leaped nimbly upon
frefh ones, faying, “ thefe people find me exercife.”
One day, when he was diftating letters to a fecretaiy,
a bomb fell through the roof into the next room of
the houfe, where they were fitting. The fecretary,
terrified left the houfe fhould come down upon them,,
let his pen drop out of his hand: “ What is the mat¬
ter,” fays the king calmly. The fecretary could only-
reply, “ Ah, Sir, the bomb.” “ The bomb (fays the
king)! what has the bomb to do with what I am dic¬
tating to you? Go on.”
He preferved more humanity than is ufually found
among conquerors. Once, in the middle of an aftion,
finding a young Swedifh officer wounded and unable
to march, he obliged the officer to take his horfe, and
continued to command his infantry on foot. The
princefs Lubomirfki, who was very much,in the intereft
and good graces of Auguftus, falling by accident into
the hands of one of his officers, he ordered her to be
fet at liberty ; laying, “ that he did not make war
with women.” One day, near Leipfic, a peafant threw
himfelf at his feet, with a complaint againft a grena¬
dier, that he had robbed him of certain eatables pro¬
vided for himfelf and his family. “ Is it true (faid
Charles fternly), that you have robbed this man
The foldier replied, “ Sir, I have not done near fo
much harm to this man as your majefty has done to
his mailer ; for you have taken from Auguftus a king¬
dom, whereas I have only taken from this poor fcoun-
drel a dinner.” Charles made the peafant amends,
and pardoned the foldier for his firmnefs : “ However,-
my friend (fays he to him), you will do well to recol-
left, that if I took, a kingdom- from Auguftus, I did
not take it for myfelf.”
Though Charles lived hardily himfelf, a foldier did
not fear to remonftrate to him againft fome bread,
which was. very black and mouldy, and which yet was
the only provifion the troops had. Charles called for
a piece of it, and calmly eat it up ; faying, “ that it
was indeed not good, but that it might be eaten.”
From the danger he was in-in Poland, when he beat
the;
c H A i; 358 ]
'Charles’s the Saxon troops in 1702, a comedy was exhibited at the men
r| „ ,c Marienburg, where the combat was reprefented to the
t ~‘difadvantage of the Swedes. “ Oh, (fays Charles,
hearing of it), I am far from envying them in this
pleafure. Let them beat me upon the theatres as long
as they will, provided I do but beat them in the field.”
He wrote fome obfervations on war, and on his own
campaigns from 1700 to 1709 ; but the MS.'was loft
at the unfortunate battle of Pultowa.
CHARLES’s-cape, a promontory of Virginia, in
North America, forming the northern head-land of
the ftrait that enters the- bay of Cheafepeak.
Charles's-Fort, a fortrefs in the county of Cork,
and province of Munfter, in Ireland, fituated at the
mouth of Kinfale harbour. W. Long. 8. 20. and N.
Lat. 51.21.
Charles’s-Town, or Charleftown, the capital of
South Carolina, in North America, fituated on a pe-
ninfula formed by Alhley and Cooper rivers, the for¬
mer of which is navigable for (hips twenty miles above
the town. W. Long. 79. o. and N. Lat. 32. 30.
Charles’s-Wain, in aftronomy, feven ftars in the
conftellation called urfa major or the Great Bear.
CHARLETON, an ifland at the bottom of Hud-
fon’s-bay, in North America, fubjedf to Great Britain.
W. Long. 80. o. and N. Lat. 52. 30.
Charletoh (Walter), a learned Englilh phyfician
born in 1619, was 'phyfician in ordinary to Charles I.
and Charles II. one of the firft members of the royal
fociety, and-prefident of the college of phyficians. He
wrote on various fubjefts; but at laft his narrow cir-
cumftances obliged him to retire to the ifland of Jer-
fey, were he died in 1707.
CHARLOCK, the Englilh name of the Rapha-
nus ; it is a very troubkfome weed among corn, be¬
ing more frequent than almoft any other. There are
two principal kinds of it; the one with a yellow flower,
the other with a white. Some fields are particularly
c h A
well made, and the women handfome ;
their cloathing is a kind of coarfe cloth, or matting,
which they faften about their middle.
Queen Charlotte’s Ijlands, a clufter of South-fea ■-
iflands difcovered in 1767 by captain Carteret. He
counted feven, and there were fuppofed to be many
The inhabitants of thefe iflands are defcribed
as extremely nimble and vigorous, and almoft as well
qualified to live in the water as upon land: they are
very warlike; and, on a quarrel with fome of captain
Carteret’s people, they attacked them with great re-
folution; mortally wounded the matter and three of
the failors ; were not at all intimidated by the fire¬
arms ; and at laft, notwithftanding the averfion of
captain Carteret to ftied blood, he was obliged to fe-
cure the watering places by firing grape-fliot into the
woods, which deftroyed many of the inhabitants.
Thefe iflands lie in S. Lat. 11 -. E. Long. 164°. They
are fuppofed to be the Santa Cruz of Mandana, who
died there in 1595.
CHARM, a term derived from the Latin carmen, a
“ verfe;” and ufed to denote a magic power, or fpell,
by which, with the afliftance of the devil, forcerers
and watches were fuppofed to do wonderful things,
far furpafling the power of nature.
CHARNEL, or Charnel-house, a kind of por¬
tico or gallery, ufually in or near a church-yard, over
which were anciently laid the bones of the dead, after
the flefh was wholly confumed. Charnel-houfes are
now ufually adjoining to the church.
CHARON, in fabulous hiftory, the fon of Erebus
and Nox, whole office was to ferry the fouls of the
deceafed over the waters of Acheron, for Avhich each
foul was to pay a piece of money. For this reafon
the Pagans had a cuftom of putting a piece of money
into the mouth of the dead, in order that they might
have fomething to pay Charon for their paflage.
CHARONDAS, a celebrated legiflator of the Thu-
fubjeft to be over-run with it, efpecially thofe which rians, and a native of Catanea in Sicily, flouriftied 446
have been manured with cow-dung alone; that being a
manure very favourable to the growth of it. The
farmers in fome places are fo fenfible of this, that they
always mix horfe-dung with their cow-dung, when
they ufe it for arable land. When barley, as is often
the cafe, is infefted with this weed to fuch a degree as
to endanger the crop, it is a very good method to
mow down the charlock in May, when it is in flower,
cutting it fo low' as juft to take off the tops of the
leaves of barley with it: by this means the barley will
get up above the ! weedand people have got four
quarters of grain from an acre of fuch land as would
have fcarce yielded any thing without this expedient.
Where any land is particularly fubjeft to this weed,
■the beft method is to fow it with grafs-feed, and make
,a pafture of it .; for then the plant will not be trouble-
fome, it never growing where there is a coat of grafs
upon the ground.
Queen CHARLOTTE’S Island, an ifland in the
South Sea, fii*ft difcovered by captain Wallis in the
Dolphin, in 1767, who took poffeffion of it in the
name of King George III. Here is good water, and
plenty of cocoa-nuts, palm-nuts, and fcurvy-grafs. The
inhabitants are of a middle ftature, and dark com¬
pletion, with long hair hanging over their flioulders;
before Chrift. He forbad any perfon’s appearing
armed in the public affemblies of the nation; but one
day going thither in hafte, without thinking of his
fwmrd, he was no fooner made to obferve his miftake
than he ran it through his body.
CHAROST, a tow n of France, in Berry, with the
title of a duchy. It is feated on the river Arnon,
E. Long. 2. 15. N. Lat. 46.56.
CHAROUX, a towm of France, in the Bourbon-
nois, feated on an eminence, near the river Sioulle. It
has two parifhes, which are in different diocefes.
E. Long. 3. 15. N. Lat. 46. 10.
CHARPENTIER (Francis), dean of the French
academy, was born in 1620. His early capacity in¬
clined his friends to educate him for the bar : but he
w'as much more delighted with the ftudy of languages
and antiquity than of the law; and preferred repofe
to tumult. M. Colbert made ufe of him in eftabliih-
ing his new academy of medals and infcriptioas; and
no perfon of that learned fociety contributed more
than himfelf toward that noble feries of medals which
were Itruck on the confiderable events that diftinguiih-
ed the reign of Louis XIV. He publiffied feveral
works, which were all well received; and died in
1702.
CHARR,
c H A L 359 ] C H A
Cfharr CHARR, in ichthyology. See Sat.mo.
II CHARRON (Peter), the author of a book intitled
Of Wifdom, which gained him great reputation, was
born at Paris in the year 1541. After being advocate
in the parliament of Paris for five or fix years, he ap¬
plied himfelf to divinity; and became fo great a
preacher, that the bifhops of feveral diocefes offered
him the higheft dignities in their gift. He died at
Paris, fuddenly in the ftreet, November 16. 1603.
CHART, or Sea-chart, an hydrographical map,
or a projedlion of fome part of the earth’s fuperficies
in piano, for the ufe of navigators.
Charts differ very confiderably from geographical
or land-maps, which are of no ufe in navigation. Nor
are fea-charts all of the fame kind, fome being what
we call plane-charts, others mercator-charts, and others
* globular charts.
Plane Chart, is a reprefentation of fome part of
the .fuperficies of the terraqueous globe, in which the
meridians are fuppofed parallel to each other, the
parallels of latitude at equal diftances, and confequent-
ly the degrees of latitude and longitude every where
equal to each other. See Plane Chart.
Mercator’s Chart, is that where the meridians are
flraight lines, parallel to each other, and equidiftant;
the parallels are alfo ftraight lines, and parallel to
eadh other: but the difiance between them increafes
from the equinoCrial towards either pole, in the ratio
of the fecant of the latitude to the radius. See Navi¬
gation.
Globular Chart, a meridional proje&ion, wherein
the diftance of the eye from the plane of the meridian,
upon which the proje&ion is made, is fuppofed to be
equal to the fine of the angle 450. This projeftion
comes the neareft of all to the nature of the globe, be-
eaufe the meridians therein are placed at equal dif¬
tances; the parallels alfo are nearly equidiftant, and
confequently the feveral parts of the earth have their
proper proportion of magnitude, diftance, and fitua-
tion, nearly the fame as on the globe itfelf. See Glo¬
bular ProjeBion.
Hydrographic Charts, fheets of large paper, where¬
on feveral parts of the land and fea are defcribed,
with their refpedfive coafts, harbours, founds, flats,
rocks, fhelves, fands, &c. together with the longitude
and latitude of each place, and the points of the com-
pafs. See Mercator’s Chart.
Selenographic Charts, particular defcriptions of the
Spots, appearances, and maculae of the moon. See As¬
tronomy, n°63. and 140.
Topographic Charts, draughts of fome fma’d parts
of the earth only, or of fome particular places, with¬
out regard to its relative fituatioii, as London, York,
&c.
CHARTA, or Carta, primarily fignifies a fort of
paper made of the plant papyrus or biblus. See Pa¬
per, and Charter.
Charta Emporetica, in pharmacy, &c. a kind of pa¬
per made very foft and porous, ufed to filter withal.
See Filtration, &c.
Charta is alfo ufed in our ancient cuftoms for a
charter, or deed in writing. See Charter.
Magna Charta, the great charter of the liber¬
ties of Britain, and the balis of our laws and privi-
&ges.
This charter may be faid to derive its origin from
king Edward the Confeflbr, who granted feveral pri¬
vileges to the church and ftate by charter: thefe liber¬
ties and privileges were alfo granted and confirmed by
king Henry I. by a celebrated great charter now loft ;
but which was confirmed or re-enadted by king Hen¬
ry II. and king John. Henry III. the fuccefibr of this
laft prince, after having caufed 12 men make inquiry
into the liberties of England in the reign of Henry I.
granted a new charter; w-hich was the fame as the pre~
fent magna charta. This he feveral times confirmed,
and as often broke ; till, in the 37th year of his reign,
he went to Weftminfter-hall, and there, in prefence of
the nobility and biihops, who held lighted candles in
their hands, magna charta was read, the king all the
time holding his hand to his breaft, and at laft folemn-
ly fwearing faithfully and inviolably to obferve all the
things therein contained, &c. Then the bifhops ex-
tinguifliing the candles, and throwing them on the
ground, they all cried out, “ Thus let him be extin-
guiftred, and ftink in hell, who violates this charter.’*
It is obferved, that, notwithftanding the folemnity of
this confirmation, king Henry, the very next year,
again invaded the rights of .his people, till the barons
entered into a war againft him ; when, after various
fuccefs, he confirmed this charter, and the charter of
the foreft, in the 5 2d year of his reign..
This charter confirmed many liberties of the churchy
and redrefled many grievances incident to feodal te¬
nures, of no fmall moment at the time; tho’ now, un-
lefs confidered attentively and with this retrofpeft, they
feem but of trifling concern. But, befides thefe feo¬
dal provifions, care was alfo taken therein to protect
the fubjedt againft other opprefiions, then frequently
ariling from unreafonable amercements, from illegal
diftrefles or other procefs for debts or fervices due to
the crown, and from the tyrannical, abufe of the pre¬
rogative of purveyance and pre-emption. It fixed the
forfeiture of lands for felony in the fame manner as it
ftill remains ; prohibited for the future the grants of
exclufive fifheries;. and the eredtion of new bridges fo
as to opprefs the neighbourhood. With refpecb to
private rights, it eftablilhed the teftamentary power
of the fubje& over part of his perfonal eftate, the reft
being diftributed among his wife and children ; it laid,
down the law of dower, as it hath continued ever
fince; and prohibited the appeals of women, unlefs after
the death of their hufbands. In matters of public po¬
lice and national concern, it enjoined an uniformity of
weights and meafures; gave new encouragements to
commerce, by the protedtion of merchant-ftrangers ;
and forbad the alienation of lands in mortmain. With,
regard to the adminiftratiom of juftice: befides prohi¬
biting all denials or delays of it, it fixed the court of
common-pleas at Weftminfter, that the fuitors might
no longer be harafled with following the king’s per-
fon in all his progrefles; and at the fame, time brought
the trial of iflues home to- the very doors of the free¬
holders, by diredling aflizes to be taken in the proper
counties, and eftabliftiing annual circuits : it alfo cor-
redied fome abules then incident to the trials by wager
of law and of battle; diredted the regular award¬
ing of inquefts for life or member; prohibited the
king’s inferior minifters from holding pleas of the.
crown, or trying any criminal charge, whereby many
C H A
forfeitures might othenv'fe have unjuflly accrued to
the exchequer ; and regulated the time and place of
, holding the inferior tribunals of juftice, the county-
court, fheriff’s torn, and court-leet. It confirmed and
eftablifired the liberties of the city of London, and all
other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports of the king¬
dom. And laftly (which alone would have merited
the title that it bears, of the great charter), it protec¬
ted every individual of the nation in the free enjoyment
of his life, his liberty, and his property, unlefs de¬
clared to be forfeited by the judgment of his peers or
the law of the land.
This excellent charter, fo equitable, and beneficial
to the fubjeft, is the moil ancient written law in the
kingdom. By the 25th Edward I. it is ordained, that
it lhall be taken as the common law; and by the 43d-
[ ?6o ]
C H A
ly for a part of the freight, or at moil only for the Chartohpy*'
voyage one way. 1®*
The prefent Boyer fays, the word comes from charlbdjs.
hence, that per medium charta incidebatur, ct fie Jiebat ^
charta partita; becaufe, in the time when notaries
were lefs common, there was only one inftrument made
for both parties : this they cut in two, and gave each
his portion; joining them together at their return,
to know if each had done his part. This he obfervea
to have feen prattifed in his time; agreeable to the
method of the Romans, who, in their ftipulations, ufed
to break a Haff, each party retaining a moiety thereof
as a mark.
CHARTOHPYLAX, the name of an officer of
the church of Conftantinople, who attends at the door
of the rails when the facrament is adminiftered, and
Edward III. all ftatutes made againft it are declared gives notice to the priefts to come to the holy table. He
to be void.
CHARTER, in law, a written inftrument, or evi¬
dence of things afted between one perfon and ano¬
ther. The word charter comes from the Latin charta,
anciently ufed for a public and authentic a<ft, a dona¬
tion, contra<9t, ’ " • ~ -
“ thick-paper”
were wont to be written. Britton divides charters into
thofe of the king, and thofe of private perfons. 1.
Charters of the king, are thofe whereby the king paf-
feth any grant to any perfon or body politic, as a char¬
ter of exemption of privilege, &c. ; charter of pardon,
whereby a man is forgiven a felony, or other offence
committed againft the king’s crown and dignity; char¬
ter cf the forefl, wherein the laws of the foreft are
comprifed, fuch as the charter of Canutus, &c. 2.
Charters of private perfons, are deeds and inftrumqnts
for the conveyance of lauds, &c. And the purchafer
of lands (hall have all the charters, deeds, and evi¬
dences, as incident to the fame, and for the mainte¬
nance of his title.
CHARTER-Governments in America. See Colony.
CHARTER-Land, fuch land as a perfon holds by char¬
ter ; that is, by evidence in writing, otherwife called
freehold.
CHARTERPARTY, in commerce, denotes the
infttument of freightage, or articles of agreement for
the hire of a veffel. See Freight, &e.
The charterparty is to be in writing; and to be fign-
ed both by the proprietor or the mafter of the fln’p,
and the merchant who freights it. It is to contain the
name and the burden of the veffel; the names of the
mafter and the freighter; the price or rate of freight;
and the time of loading and-unloading ; and the .other
conditions agreed on. It is properly a deed, or poli¬
cy, whereby the mafter or proprietor of the veffel
engages to furnifh immediately a tight found veffel,
well equipped, caulked, and flopped, provided with an¬
chors, fails, cordage, and all other furniture to make
the voyage required, as equipage, hands, vi&uals, and
other munitions ; in confideration of a certain fum to
he paid by the merchant for the freight. Laftly, the
•fhip with all its furniture, and the cargo, are refpec-
tively fubje&ed 'to the conditions of the charterparty.
The charterparty differs from a bill of lading, in that
•the firft is for the entire freight, or lading, and that
both for going and returning ; whereas the latter is on-
£9.
•eprefents the patriarch upon the bench, tries all eccle-
fiaftical caufes, keeps all the marriage regifters, affifts
at the confecration of bifhops, and prefents the biftrop
eledl at the folemnity, and likewife all other fubordinate
clergy. This office refembles in fome fhape that of the
the like; from the Greek %«f>r>v, bibliothecarius at Rome,
pafteboard,” whereon public afts CHARTRES, a large city of France, in the pro¬
vince of Orleanois, fituated on the river Eure, in
E, Long. 1. 32. N. Lat. 48. 47. It is a bifhop’s
fee.
CHARTREUSE, or Chartreuse-grand, a.ce-
lebrated monaftery, the capital of all the convents of
the Carthufian monks, fituated on a fteep rock in the
middle of a large foreft of fir-trees, about feven miles
north-eaft of. Grenoble, in the province of Dauphine
in France : E. Long. 5.5. N. Lat. 45.. 20. See Car¬
thusians.
From this mother-convent, all the others of the fame
order take their name; amongwhich was theChartreufe
of London, corruptly called the charterhoufe, now
converted into an hofpital, and endowed with a revenue
of 6001. per am.
Here are maintained 80 decayed gentlemen, not
under 50 years of age: alfo 40 boys are educated and-
fitted either for the univerfity or trades. Thofe fent
to the univerfity, have an exhibition of 20I. a-year for
eight years; and have an immediate title to nine church-
livings in the gift of the governors of the hofpital, who
are fixteen in number, all perfons of the firft diftindlion,
and take their turns in the nomination of penfioners
and fcholars.
CHARTULARY, Chartularius, a title given
to an ancient officer in the Latin church, who had the
care of charters and papers relating to public affairs.
The chartulary prefided in ecclefiaftical judgments, in
lieu of the pope. In the Greek church the chartulary
was called chartophylax ; but his office was there much
more confiderable ; and fome even diftinguiih the char¬
tulary from the chartophylax in the Greek church.
See Chartophylax
CHARYBD1S, (anc. geog.) a whirlpool in the
ftraits of Meffina, according to the poets; near Sicily,
and oppofite to Scylla, a n ek on the coaft of Italy.
Thucydides makes it to be only a ftrong flux and re¬
flux in the ftrait, or a violent reciprocation of the tide,
efpecially if the wind fets fouth. But on diving into
the Charybdis, there are found vaft gulphs and whirl¬
pools
C H A C 36t 1 C H A
ChaJfe. pools b«low, which produce all the commotion on the feems to have claimed his privilege, and mixed with Chafe,
'“—"v—- furface of the water, this fray fotne of the events of the battle of Otter-v~—
Charybdis is ufed by Horace to denote a rapacious bourne.
proftitute. “ When property became happily more divided
CHASE, or Chace, in law, is ufed for a driving of by the relaxation of the feodal tenures, thefe exten-'
cattle to or from any place; as to a diilrefs, or fort- five hunting-grounds became more limited j and as
let, £5V. tillage and hulbandry increafed, the hearts of chace
Chase, or Chace, is alfo a place of retreat for deer were obliged to give way to others more ufeful to the
' and wild hearts; of a middle kind between a foreft community. The vaft tra&s of land, before dedica-
and a park, being ufually lefs than a foreft, and not ted to hunting, were then contrafted ; and, in proper-
pofleffed of fo many privileges; but wanting, tion as the ufeful arts gained ground, either loft their
• See courts of attachment, fwainmote, and juftice feat *. original deftination, or gave rife to the invention of
Yet it is of a large extent, and Hocked both with a parks. Liberty and the arts feem coeval; for when
greater diverfity of wild beafts or game, and more once the latter got footing, the former protefted the
keepers than a park. Crompton obferves, that a fo- labours of the induftrious from being ruined by the li-
reft cannot be in the hands of a fubjeft, but it forth- centious fportfman, or being devoured by the objefts
with lofes it name, and becomes a chafe; in regard all of his diverfion : for this reafon, the fubjefts of a de-
thofe courts lofe their nature when they come into the fpotic government ftill experience the . incor.venien-
hands of a fubje& ; and that none but a king can make ces of vaft waftes and forefts; the terrors of the
a lord chiefjuftice in eyre of the foreft. See Justice neighbouring hufbandmen ; whi’e in mir well regu-
in Eyre. lated monarchy very few chaces remain. The Eng-
The following hiftory of the Englifh chafes is given lifli ftill indulge themfelves in the pleafures of hunting ;
Srltijb by Mr Pennant. “ At firft the beafts of chafe had this but confine the deer-kind to parks, of which England
Zool. i. 4a. whole illand for their range; they knew no other li- boafts of more than any other kingdom in Europe.
mits than the ocean, nor confefled any particular ma- The laws allow every man his pleafure ; but confine
fter. When the Saxons had eftablifhed themfelves in them in fuch bounds as prevent them from being in-
' the heptarchy, they were referved by each fovereign jurious to the meaneft of the community. Before the
for his own particular diverfion : hunting and war, in reformation, the prelates feem to have guarded fuffici-
thofe uncivilized ages,'were the only employ of the ently’-agairift this want of amufement, the fee of Nor-
great ; their adtive, but uncultivated minds, being fuf- wich, in particular, being pofTeffed, about that time, of
ceptible of no pleafures but thofe of a violent kind, fuch thirteen parks.”
as gave exercife to their bodies, and prevented the pain Chase, in the fea-language, is to purfue a fhip ;
©f thinking. which is alfo called giving chafe.
“ But as the Saxon kings only appropriated thofe Stern Chase, is when the chafer follows the chafed
lands to the ufe of forefts which were unoccupied, fo aftern diredfly upon the fame point of the compafs.
no individuals received any injury : but when the con- To lie with aJhip>s forefoot in a Chase, is to fail and
queft had fettled the Norman line on the throne, this meet with her by the neareft diftance ; and fo to crofs
paffion for the chace was carried to an excefs, which her in her way, or to come acrofs her fore-foot,
involved every civil right in a general ruin : it fuper- A fhip is faid to have a good chafe, when fhe is fo
feded the confideration of religion even in a ftiperfti- built foreward on, or a-ftern, that fhe can carry many
tious age : the village-communities, nay even the moft guns to fhoot forewards or backwards ; according to -
facred edifices, were turned into one vaft wafte, to which fhe is faid to have 3. good foreward, or good fern
make room for animals, the objefts of a lawlefs ty- chafe.
rant’s pleafure. The new foreft in Hampfhire is too CnASE-Guns, are fuch whofe ports are either in the
trite an inftance to be dwelt on ; fanguinary laws were head (and then they are ufed in chafing of others); or
ena&ed to preferve the game; and in the reigns of in the ftern, which are only ufeful when they are pur-
William Rufus, and Henry I. it was lefs criminal to fued or chafed by any other fhip.
deftroy one of the human fpeciesthan a heart; of chafe. Chase of a Gun, is the whole bore or length of a
Thus it continued while the Norman line filled the piece taken within-fide.
throne ; but when the Saxon line was reftored under Wild-goofe Chace, a term ufed to exprefs a fort of
Henry II. the rigour of the foreft laws was immedi- racing on horfeback ufed formerly, which refembled
ately foftened. the flying of wild-geefe ; thofe birds generally going
“ When our barons began to form a power, they in a train one after another, not in confufed flocks as
claimed a vaft, but more limited, traft for a diverfion other birds do. In this fort of race the two horfes,
that the Englifh were always fond of. They were after running twelve fcore yards, had liberty, which
very jealous of any encroachments on their refpeftive horfe foever could take the leading, to ride what
bounds, which were often the caufe of deadly feuds: ground the jocky pleafed, the hindmoft horfe being
fuch a one gave caufe to the fatal day of Chevy-chace; bound to follow him within a certain diftance agreed
a fa& which, though recorded only in a ballad, may, on by the articles, or elfe to be whipped^ in by the
from what we know of the manners of the times, be tryers and judges who rode by ; and whichever horfe
"founded on truth: not that it was attended with all could diftance the other, won the race. This fort of
the circnmftances which the author of that natural but racing was not long in common ufe ; for it was found
heroic compofition hath given it; for, on that day, inhuman, and deftruftive to good horfes, when two
neither a Percy nor a Douglas fell: here the poet fuch were matched together. For in this cafe neither
Vol. IV. Part I. Z z was
C II A
was able to diftance the other till they were both
ready to fink under their riders; and often two very
good horfes were both fpoiled, and the wagers forced
to be drawn at laft. The mifchief of' this fort of
racing foon brought in the method now in ufe, of run¬
ning only for a certain quantity of ground, and de¬
termining-the plate or wager by the coming in fir ft at
the poft.
Chasing of Gold, Silver, &c. See Enchasing.
CHASTE-tree. See Vitex.
CHASTITY; purity of the body, or freedom
from obfcenity.—The Roman law juftifies homicide
in defence of the chaftity either of one’s felf or rela¬
tions ; and fo alfo, according to Selden, ftood the law
in the Jewiih republic. Our law likewife juftifies a
woman for killing a man who attempts to ravilh her*
So the hulband or father may juftify killing a man who
attempts a rape upon his wife or daughter; but not
if he takes them in adultery by confent: for the one
is forcible and felonious, but not the other.
, Chaftity is a virtue univerfally celebrated. There is
indeed no charm in the female fex that can fupply its
place. Without it, beauty is unlovely, and rank is
contemptible; good breeding degenerates into wan-
tonnefs, and wit into impudence. Out of the nume¬
rous inftances of eminent chaftity recorded by authors,
the two following are feledted on account of the leftbn
afforded by the different modes of conduit which they
exhibit.
Lucretia was a lady of great beauty and noble ex.-
traition : the married Collatinus, a relation of Tar-
quinius Superbus, king of Rome* During the fiege
of Ardea, which lafted much longer than was expected,
the young princes paffed their time in entertainments
and diverfions. One day as they were at fupper *, at
Sextus Tarquin’s the, king’s eldeft fon, with Colla-
tinus, Lucretia’s hufband, the converfation turned on
the merit of their wives every one gave his own the
Flor. 1.iii. preference. “ What fignify fo many words?” fays
Collatinus; “ you may in a few hours, if you pleafe,
be convinced by your own eyes,, how much my Lucre¬
tia excels the reft. We are young: let us mount our
horfes, and go a<id furprife them. Nothing can bet¬
ter decide our difpute than the ftate we fhall find them
in at a time when moft certainly they will not expect
us.” They were a little warmed with wine : “ Come
on, let us go,” they all cried together. They quickly
galloped to Rome, which was about twenty miles from
Ardea, where they find the princeffes, wives of the
young Tarquins, furrounded with company, and every
circumftance of the higheft mirth and pleafure. From
thence they rode to Collatia, where they faw Lucretia
in a very different fituation. With her maids about
her, fhe was at work in the inner part of her houfe,
talking on the dangers to which her hufband was expo-
fed. The viftory was adjudged to her unanimoufly.
She received her guefts with all poffible politenefs and
civility. Lucretia’s virtue, which fhould have com-,
'manded refpeft, was the very thing which kindled in
the breaft of Sextus Tarquin a ftrong and deteftable
paffion. Within a few days he returned to Collatia;
and upon the plaufible excufe he made for his vifit, he
was received with all the politenefs due to a near rela¬
tion, and the eldeft fon of a king. Watching the fit-
1 362 ]
C H A
* Li-j. 1. i.
c. 56—60,
Dionyf. 1 ii
p. a6i—
377-
teft opportunity, he declares the paffion fhe had excited Chaftity.
at his laft vifit, and employed the moft tender intrea- l——y——^
ties, and all the artifices poffible, to touch a woman’s
heart ; but all to no purpofe. He then endeavoured
to extort her compliance by the moft terrible threat-
enings. It was in vain. She ftill perfifted in iier re-
folution ; nor could fhe-be moved, even by the fear of
death. But when the monfter told her that he would
firft difpatch her, and then having murdered a Have,,
would lay him by her fide, after which he would fpread
a report, that having caught them in the a<ft of adul¬
tery, he had punifhed them as- they deferved ; this -
feemed to fliake her refolution.. She hefitated, not
knowing which of thefe dreadful alternatives to take,
whether, by confenting, to difhonour the bed of her
hufband, whom fhe tenderly loved ; or, by refufing, to
die under the odious character of having proftituted
her perfon, to the lull of a Have. He faw the ftruggle
of her foul; and feizing the unlucky moment, obtain¬
ed an inglorious conqueft. Thus Lucretia’s virtue,
which had been proof againfl the fear ofdeath, could not
hold out againft the fear of infamy. The young prince,
having gratified his paffion, returned home as in tri¬
umph. On the morrow, Lucretia, overwhelmed with
grief and defpair, fent early in the morning to defire her
father and her hufband to come to her, and bring with
them each a trufty friend, affuring them there was no
time to lofe. They came with all fpeed, the one ac¬
companied with Valerius (fo famous after under the
name of Pubiicola), and the other with Brutus. The
moment fhe faw them come, fhe could not command
her tears; and when her hufband afked her if all was
well ? “ By no means,” faid fhe, “ it cannot be well
with a woman after fhe has loft her honour. Yes, Col¬
latinus, thy bed has been defiled by a ftranger : but
my body only is polluted ; my mind is innocent, as
my death fhall witnefs. Promife me only not to fuffer
the adulterer to go unpunifhed : it is Sextus Tarqui-
nius, who laft night, treacherous gueft, or rather cruel
foe, offered me violence, and reaped a joy fatal to me;
but, if you are men, it will be ftill more fatal to him.”
All promifed to revenge her; and, at the fame time,
tried to comfort her with reprefenting, “ That the
mind only fins, not the body; and where the confent
is wanting, there can be no guilt.” “ What Sextus
deferves,” replies Lucretia, “ I leave you to judge;
but- for me, though I declare myfelf innocent of the
crime, I exempt not myfelf from punifhment. No
immodeft woman fhall plead Lucretia’s example to
outlive her difhonour.” Thus faying, fhe plunged
into her breaft a dagger fhe had concealed under her
robe, and expired at their feet. Lucretia’s tragical
death has been praifed and extolled by Pagan writers,
as the higheft and moft noble aft1 of heroifm. The
gofpel thinks not fo : it is murder, even according to
Lucretia’s own principles, fince fhe punifhed with death
an innocent perfon, at leaft acknowledged as fuch by
herfelf. She was ignorant that our life is not in our own
power, but in his difpofal from whom we receive it.
St Auftin, who carefully examines, in his book De
Civitate Dei, what we are to think of Lucretia’s death,
coniiders it not as a courageous arition, flowing from
a true love of chaftity, but as an infirmity of a woman
too fenfible of worldly fame and glory ; and who, from
C H A I 363 ] C H A
•ChafHty, a dread of appearing in the eyes of men an accomplice
Chateau- 0f tjie vj[0lence {he abhorred, arid of a crime to which
Bnant~ , {lie was entirely a.ftranger, commits a real crime upon
herfelf voluntarily and defignedly. But what cannot
be fufficiently admired in this Roman lady is her ab¬
horrence of adultery, which Are feems to hold fo de-
teftable as not to bear the thoughts of it. In this
fenfe, {he is a noble example for all her fex.
Chiomara, the wife of Ortiagon, a Gaulifli prince,
was equally admirable for her beauty and chaftity.
Daring the war between the Romans and the Gauls,
A. R. 563, the latter were totally defeated on Mount
Olympus.' Chiomara, among many other ladies, was
taken prifoner, and committed to the care of a centu¬
rion, no lefs paffionate for money than women. He,
at firft, endeavoured to gain her confent to his infa¬
mous defires ; but not being able to prevail upon her,
and fubvert her conftancy, he thought he might em¬
ploy force with a woman whom misfortune had reduced
to flavery. Afterwards, to make her amends for that
treatment, he offered to reftore her liberty; but qot
• 'without ranfom. He agreed with her for a certain
ifum, and' to conceal this defign from the other Ro¬
mans, he permitted her to fend any of the prifoners fhe
fliould choofe to her relations, and affigned a place
near the river where the lady ihould be exchanged for
gold. By accident there was one of her own Haves a-
mongft the prifoners. Upon him fhe fixed ; and the
centurion foon after carried her beyond the advanced
polls, under cover of a dark night. The next evening
two of the relations of the priricefs came to the place
appointed, whether the centurion alfo carried his cap¬
tive. When they had delivered him the Attic talent
they hadimought, which was the fum they had agreed,
on, the lady, in her own language, ordered thofe who
came to receive her to draw their fwords and kill the
centurion, who was then amufing himfelf with weigh¬
ing the gold. Then, charmed with having revenged
the injury done her chaftity, Hie took the head of the
officer, yffiich fhe had cut off with her own hands, and
hiding it under her robe, went to her hufband Ortiagon,
wffio had returned home after the defeat of his troops.
As-foon as fhe came into his prefence, {he threw the
Centurion’s head at his feet. He was ftrangely fur-
pvifed at fuch a fight; and aflced her whofe head it
was, and what had induced her to do an aft fo un¬
common to her fex ? With a face covered with a hid¬
den bluffi, and at the fame time expreffing her fierce
indignation, Hie declared the outrage which had been
done her, and the revenge fhe had taken for it. Du¬
ring the reft of her life, ffie ftedfaftly retained the fame,
attachment for the purity of manners which confti-
tutes the principal glory of the fex, and nobly fuftain-
ed the honour of fo glorious, bold, and heroic an ac¬
tion.—This lady was much more prudent than Lucre-
tia, in revenging her injured honour by the death of
her ravilher, rather than by her own. Plutarch re¬
lates this faftj in his treatife upon the virtue and great
•aftions of women ; and it is from him we have the
name of this, which is well worthy of being tranfmit-
ied to pofterity.
The above virtue in men is termed continence. See
‘Continence.
CHATEAU-briant, a town of France in Brit¬
tany, with an old caftle. W. Long. 1. 20. N. Lat. Chateau
47. 40. chII
CHATEAu-Chinoti) a town of France in Nivernois, rauk. "
and capital of Morvant, with a confiderable manufafture u—y—_
of cloth. E. Long. 3. 48. N. Lat. 47. 2.
GHATEAu-Dauphin, a very ftrong caftle of Piedmont
in Italy, and in the marquifate of Saluces, belonging
to the king of Sardinia. It was taken by the com¬
bined army of France and Spain in 1744, and was re-
ftored by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
CHATEAu-du-Loir, a town of France in the Maine,
famous for fuftaining a fiege of feven years againft’the
Count of Mans. It is feated on the river Loir, in
E. Long. o. 25. N. Lat. 47. 40.
CHATEAU-Dun, an ancient town of France, and ca¬
pital of the Dunois, with a caftle and rich monaftery;
feated on an eminence near the river Loir, in E. Long.
1. 26. N. Lat. 48. 4.
CHATEAu-Neuf, the name of feveral towns of France,
v'vz,. one in Perche; another in Angumois, on the
river Charente, near Angoufeline ; a third in Berry,
feated on the river Cher; and feveral other Tmall
places.
Cha tf.au- Port ten, a town of France, in Champagne,
and in a diftrift called Portien, with a caftle built on
a rock, near the river Aine. E. Lone. 4.. 22. N.
Lat. 49. 35.
CHATEAu-Renaud, a town of France, in the Gate-
nois, where clothes are made for the army, and where
there is a trade in faffron. E. Long. 2. 25. N. Lat.
48. o. This is alfo the name of a town of Touraine,
in France, with the title of a marquifate. E. Long.
2. 41. N. Lat. 47. 22.
Chateav-Roux, a town of France, in Berry, with
the title of a duchy. It has a cloth-manufafture, and
is feated in a very large pleafant plain on the river-
Indre, in E. Long. 1. 47. N. Lat. 46. 49.
GHATEAv-Thierra, a town of France, in Champagne,
with the title of a duchy, and a handfome caftle on an
eminence, feated on* the river Maine, in E. Long. 3.
23. N. Lat. 49. 12.
CHATEAU-Filain, a town of France,' in Champagne,
with a caftle, and the title of a duchy ; feated on the
river Anjou. E. Long. 2. 59. N. Lat. 48. o..
CHATEL, or Chate, a town of Lorrain, in the
Vofque, feated on the river Mofelle, eight miles from
Mirecourt.
'CaA'iEL-Aillon, a hiaritime town of France, in Sain-
tonge, five miles from Rochelle ; formerly very confi¬
derable, but is now greatly decayed.
CHATEL-Chalon, a town of France, in Franche
Comte, remarkable for its abbey of benediftine, nuns.
E. Long. *5. 25. N. Lat. 46. 50.
CHATELET, a town of the Netherlands, in Na¬
mur, feated on the Sambre, in the bilhoprick of Liege.
E. Long. 4. 28. N. Lat. 50. 25'.
Chatelet, the name of certain courts of juftice
eftaFliHied in feveral cities in France. The grand
chatelet at Paris, is the place where the prefidial or
ordinary court of jufttceof the provoftof Paris is kept;
confifting of a prefidial, a civil chamber, a criminal
chamber, and a chamber of policy. The little chatelet
is an old fort, now ferving as a prifon.
CHATELLE R AU LT, a town of France, in Poi-’
Z z 2 tou.
C H A [ 364 1 C H A
Chatham tou, with the title of a duchy ; feated in a fertile and
, _ pleafant country, on the river Vienne, over which there
. at^er °n' is a handfome ttone-bridge. E. Long. o. 40. N. Eat.
46- 34-
CHATHAM, a town of Kent, adjoining to Ro-
chefter, and feated on the river Medway. It is the
principal (lation of the royal navy; and the yards and
magazines are furnifhed with all kinds of naval Itores,
as well as materials for building and rigging the largeil
men of war. The entrance into the river Medway
is defended by Sheernefs and other forts; notwith-
ftanding which, the 'Dutch fleet burnt feveral Ihips of
war here in the reign of Charles II. after the peace of
Breda had been agreed upon. In the year 1757, by
dirediion of the Duke of Cumberland, feveral addi¬
tional fortifications were begun at Chatham ; fo that
now the flips are in no danger of an infult either by
land or water. It has a church, a chapel of eafe, and
a flip ufed as a church for the failors. It has likewife
about 500 houfes, moftly low, and built with brick ;
the ftreets are narrow, and paved; and it contains
about 300c inhabitants. The principal employment of
the labouring hands is fhip-building in the king’s yard
and private docks. This town gave title of Earl to
that great ftatefman Vv iiliam Pitt in the reigns of
George II. and III. E. Long. o. 40. N. Eat. 51.
2 0.
CHATIGAN, a town of Afia, in the kingdom of
Bengal, on the moft eafterly branch of the river Gan¬
ges. It is but a poor place, though it was the firfl
the Portuguefe fettled at in thefe parts, and who Hill
keep a fort of poffeflion. It has but a few cotton ma-
nufadlures ; but affords the bed timber for building of
any place about it. The inhabitants are fo fufpicious
of each other, that they always go armed with a
fword, piftol, and blunderbufs, not excepting the prietts.
It is fubjedt to the Great Mogul. E. Long. 91. 10.
N. Lat. 23. o.
CHATILLON sur-Seine, a town of France, in
Burgundy, divided into two by the river Seine. It
is 32 miles from Langres, and 40 from Dijon; and
has iron works in its neighbourhood. E. Long. 4. 33.
N. Lat. 47.45.
CHATRE, a town of France, in Berry, feated on
the river Indres, 37 miles from Bourges. It carrries
on a confiderable trade in cattle. E Long. 1. 55.
N. Lat. 46. 35.
CHATTELS, a Norman term, under which were
anciently comprehended all moveable goods; thofe im¬
moveable being termed Jief, ox fee.
Chattels, in the modern fenfe of the word, are
all forts of goods, moveable or immoveable, except fuch
as are in the nature of freehold.
CHATTERER, in ornithology. See Ampeli^.
CHATTERTON (Thomas), a late unfortunate
poet, whofe fate and performances have excited in no
Imall degree the public attention, as well as given rife
to much literary controverfy. He was born at Briliol,.
Nov. 20. 1752; and educated at a charity-fehool on
St Auguftin’s Back, where nothing more was taught
than reading, writing, and accounts. At 14 years of
age, he was articled clerk to an attorney at Briftol, with
whom he eontflfiued about three years; yet, though his
education was thus confined, he difcovered an early
turn towards poetry and Englifli antiquities, and par¬
ticularly towards heraldry. How foon he began to be CWtertorv
an author is not known. In the Town and Country y"1^
Magazine for March 1769, are two letters, probably
from him, as they are dated from Briftol, and fubferi-
bed with his ufual fignature, D. B. that is, Dunhelmus
Br'ijlolienfs. The former contains ftrort extra&s from
two MSS, “ written 300 years ago by one Rowley a
monk,” concerning drefs in the age of Henry II. ; the
latter, “Ethelgar, a Saxon poem,” in bombaft profe. In
the fame magazine for May 1769, are three communi¬
cations from Briftol, with the fame fignature D. B. one
of them intitled “ Obfervations upon Saxon Heraldry,
with drawings of Saxon Atchievementsand in the
fubfequent months of 1769 and 1770, there are feveral
other pieces in the fame magazine, which are un¬
doubtedly of his compofition.
In April 1770, he left Briftol, difgufted with his
profeffion, and irreconcileable to the line of life ia
which he was placed ; and coming to London in hopes
of advancing his fortune by his pen, he funk at once
from the.fublimity of his views to an abiolute depen¬
dence on the patronage of bookfellers. Things, how¬
ever, feem foon to have brightened up a little with him 5.
for. May 14. he writes to his mother, in high fpirits,
upon the change of his fituation, with the following
farcaftic reflediion upon his former patrons at Briftol.
“ As to Mr  , Mr ■, Mr  , &c. &c. they
rate literary lumber fo low, that I believe an author,
in their eftimation, muft be poor indeed : but here
matters are otherwiie. Had Rowley been' a Londoner
inftead of a Briftowyan, I could have lived by copy¬
ing his works.” In a letter to his lifter, May 30, he
informs her that he is to be employed in writing a vo¬
luminous Hiftory of London, to appear in numbers the
beginning of next winter. Meanwhile,, he had written
fomething in praife of Beckford, then lord mayor*
which had procured him the honour of being prefented
to his lordftup; and, in the letter juft mentioned,,
he gives the tollowing account of his reception, with
certain obfervations upon political writing. “ The lord
mayor received me as politely as a citizen could but
the devil of the matter is, there is no money to be got
on this iide of the queftion.—However, he is a poor
author who cannot write on both tides.—Effays on the
patriotic lide will fetch no more than what the copy i*
fold for. As the patriots themlelves are fearching for
places, they have no gratuity to fpare.—On the other
hand, unpopular effays will not even be accepted, and
you muft pay to have them printed : but then you fel-
dom lofe by it, as courtiers are fo feriftble of their defi¬
ciency in merit, that they generoufly reward all who’
know how to daub them with the appearance of it.”
He continued to write inceffantly in various perio¬
dical publications. July r 1 th, he tells his fitter that
he had pieces laft month in feveral magazines ; in The
Gofpel Magazine, The Town and Country, The Court
and City, The London, The Political Regifter, &c.
But all thefe exertions of his genius brought in la little
profit, that he was foon reduced to the extremeft indi¬
gence ; fo that at laft, oppreffed with poverty and alfo
difeafe, in a fit of defpair he put an end to his exift-
ence, Aug. *770, with a dofe of poifon.. This un¬
fortunate perion, though certainly a molt extraordinary
genius, feems yet to have been a moft ungracious com¬
pofition. He was violent and impetuous to a ftrange
degree.
C H A [ 365 j C H A
Chatterton. degree. From the fir ft of the above-cited letters he
—r—-J Teems to have had a portion of ill-humour and fpleen
more than enough for a lad of 17 ; and the editor of
his Mifcellanies records, “ that lie poffefled all the vi¬
ces and irregularities of youth, and that his profligacy
was at leaft as confpicuous as his abilities.,,
In 1777 were publilhed,in one volume 8vo, “ Poems,
fuppoftd to have been written at Briftol, by Thomas
Rowley and others, in the 15th century: the greateft
part now firft publilhed from the moft authentic copies,
with an engraved fpecimen of one of the MSS To
which are added, a Preface, an introduftory Account
of the feveral Pieces, and a Gloffary.” And, in 1778,
were publilhed, in one volume 8vo, “ Miicellanies in
Profe and Verfe, by Thomas Chatterton, the fuppofed
author of the Poems publilhed under the names of
Rowley, See.”
Of Rowley’s Poems, we have the following account
in the preface, given in the words of Mr George Cat-
cot of Briftol, to whom, it is ,faid, the public is in¬
debted for them. “ The firft difeovery of certain MSS.
having been depofited in Redclift church above three
centuries ago, was made in the year 1768, at the time
of opening the new bridge at Briftol ; and w'as owing
to a publication in Farley’3 Weekly Journal, 061. ift,
containing an account of the ceremonies obferved at
the opening of the old bridge, taken, as it was faid,
from a very ancient MS. This excited the curiofity
of fome perfons to enquire after the original. The
printer, Mr Farley, could give no account of it, or of
the perfon who brought the copy ; but after much in¬
quiry it was difeovered, that this perfon was a youth
between 15 and 16 years of age, whofe name was
Thomas Chattertoni and whofe family had been fex-
tons of Riidclift church for near 150 years. His fa¬
ther, who was now dead, had alfo been mafter of the
free-lchool in Pile-ftreet. The young man was at firft
very unwilling to difeover from whence he had the ori¬
ginal : but, after many promifes made to him, was at
laft prevailed on to acknowledge that he had received
this, together with many other MSS. from his father,
who had found them in a large cheft in an upper room
over the chapel, on the north fide of RedcLift church.”
It is added, that foon after this Mr Catcot commenced
an acquaintance with Chatterton, and partly as pre-
fents, partly as purchafes, procured from him copies
of many of his MSS. in profe and verfe ; as other co¬
pies were difpofed of in like manner to others. It is
concluded, however, that whatever may have been
Chatterton’s part in this very extraordinary trsnfa&ion,
whether he was the author, or only (as he eonlfantly
afierted) the copier of allthefe produ6fions, he appears
to have kept the fecret entirely himfelf, and not to hive
put it in any one’s power to bear certain teftimony ei¬
ther of his fraud or of his veracity.
This affair, however, hath fince become the founda¬
tion of a mighty controverly among the critics, which
hath yet fcarcely fubfided The poems in quettion,
publifhed in 1777, were republifhed in 1778, with an
“ Appendix, containing fome obfervations upon their
language; tending to prove that they were written,
not by any ancient author, but entirely by Chatter¬
ton.” Mr Warton, in the third volume of his Hiftory
♦£ Englilh poetry, hath efpoufed the fame fide of the
queftion. Mr Walpole alfo obliged the world with a Ohx
Letter on Chatterton, from his prefs at Strawberry-hill.
On the other hand have appeared, “Obfervations” upon
thefe poems, “ in which their authenticity is afeertain-
ed,” by Jacob Bryant,Efq. 1781, zjvols 8vo; and another
edition of the “ Poems, with a Comment, in which their
Antiquity isconfideredand defended,byJeremiahMilles,
D-D. Dean of Exeter, 1782,” 4(0. In anfwertothefe
two works, we have had three pamphlets: 1. “ Curfory
Obfervations on the Poems, and Remarks on the Com¬
mentaries of Mr Bryant and Dr Milles ; with a falu-
tary propofal addreffed to the friends of thofe gentle¬
men.” 2. “ An Archaeological Epiftle to Dean Milles,
editor of a fuperb edition of Rowley’s Poems, &c.”
3. “ An Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems
attributed to Thomas Rowley, in which the Arguments
of the Dean of Exeter and Mr Bryant are examined,
by Thomas Warton and other pieces in the public
prints and magazines: All preparatory to the com¬
plete fettlement of the bufinefs in “ A Vindication of
the Appendix to the Poems called Rowley’s, in reply
to the Anfwers of the Dean of Exeter, Jacob Bryant,
Efq; and a third Anonymous Writer ; with fome fur¬
ther Obfervations upon thofe Poems, and an Examina¬
tion of the Evidence which has been produced in fup-
port of their Authenticity. By Thomas Tyrwhitt,
1782,” 8vo.
CHAUCER( SirGeofrey), an eminent Englifti poet
in the 14th century, born at London in 1328. After
he left the univerfity, he travelled into Holland, France,
and other countries. Upon his return he entered him-
feif in the Inner-temple, where he ftudied the muni¬
cipal laws of England. His firft ftation at court was
page to Edward III. and he had a penfion granted
him by that prince till he could otherwife provide for
him. Soon after we find him gentleman of the king’s
privy chamber; next year, fhield-bearer to the king.
Efteemed and honoured, he fpent his younger days in
a conflant attendance at court, or for the moft part li¬
ving near it, in a fqxrare ftone-houfe near the park-gate
at Woodftock, ftill called Chaucer’s Houfe.
Soon after, having got the Duke of Lancafter for
his patron, Chaucer began every day to rife in great-
nefs. In 1373, he was fent, with other perfons, to
the republic of Genoa to hire fhips for the king’s navy"
(our want of {hipping in thofe times being ufually fup-
plied by fuch means); and the king was fo well fatis-
fied with his negociation, that, on his return, he ob¬
tained a grant o{ a pitcher of wine daily in the port
of London, to be delivered by the butler of England;
and foon after was made comptroller of the cuftoms
for wool, wool-fells, and hides; an office which he
diicharged with great diligence and integrity. At this-
period, Chaucer’s income was about L. 1000 a-year ;
a fum which in thofe days might well enable him to
live, as he fays he did, with dignity in office, and ho-
fpitality among his friends. It was in this meridian
blaze of profperity, in perfedl health of body and peace
of mind, that he wrote his moft humorous poems.
His fatires againft the priefts were probably written to
oblige Eis patron the Duke of Lancafter, who favoured
the caufe of Wickliff, and endeavoured to expofe the
clergy to the indignation of the people. In the laffc
year of Edward- III, our poet was employed in a com*
miffiaa
3
G H A [ 366 ] C H A
Chaucer, miffion to treat with the French ; and in the begin-
ning of King Richard’s reign, he was in fome degree
of favour at court.
The Duke of Lancafter at laft finding his views
•checked, began to abandon Wickliffe’s party: upon
which Chaucer likewife, how much foever he had
efpoufed that divine’s opinions, thought it prudent to
■conceal them more than he had done. With the
Duke’s intereft that of Chaucer entirely funk ; and the
former palling over fea, his friends felt all the malice
of the oppolite party. Thefe misfortunes occafioned
his writing that excellent treatife The Tejlament of Love,
in imitation of Boethius on the confolation of philoi'o-
'phy. Being much reduced, he retired to Woodftock,
to comfort himfelf with ftudy, which produced his ad¬
mirable treatife of the jifirolalei
Tire Duke of Lancafter at laft furmounting his trou¬
bles, married Lady Catharine Swynford, fifter to Chau¬
cer’s wife ; fo that Thomas Chaucer, our poet’s fon,
became allied to moft of the nobility, and to feveral of
the kings of England. Now the fun began to Ihine
Upon Chaucer with' an evening ray ; for by the influ¬
ence, of the Duke’s marriage, he again grew to a con-
fiderable lhare of wealth. But being now 70, he re¬
tired to Dunnington-caftle near Newbury. He had
not enjoyed this retirement long before Henry IV. fon
of the Duke of Lancafter, aflumed the crown, and in
the firft year of his reign gave our poet marks of his
•favour. But however pleafing the-change of affairs
might be to him at firft, he afterwards found no fmall
inconveniences from it. The meafures and grants
•of the late king were annulled ; and Chaucer, in or¬
der to procure frelh grants of his penfions, left his re¬
tirement, and applied to court : where, though he
gained a confirmation of fome grants, yet the fatigue
of attendance, and his great age, prevented him from
enjoying them. He fell fick at London ; and ended
his days in the 7 2d year of his age, leaving the world
as though he defpifed it, as appears from his fong of
Flie from the Prefe. The year before his death he had
the happinefs, if ac his time of life it might be fo called,
to fee the fon of his brother-in-law (Hen. IV.) feated
on the throne. He was interred in Weftminfter abbey;
and in 1556, Mr Nicholas Bingham, a gentleman of
Oxford, at his own charge, esefted a handfome monu¬
ment for him there- Caxton firft; printed the Canter¬
bury Tales; but his works were firft collefted and pub-
liftied in one volume folio, by William Thynne, Lon¬
don, 1542. They were afterwards reprinted in 1561,
1598, 1602. Oxford, 1721.
Chaucer was not only the firft, but one of the beft
poets which thefe kingdoms ever produced. He was
equally great in every fpecies of poetry which he at¬
tempted ; and his poems in general poffefs every kind
of excellence, even to a modern reader, except me¬
lody and accuracy of meafure ; defeds which are to be
attributed to the imperfed fate of our language, and
the infancy of the art in this kingdom at the time when
he wrote. “ As he is the father of Englifli poetry (fays
Mr Dryden), fo I hold him in the fame degree of vene¬
ration as the Grecians held Homer, or the Romans Vir¬
gil. He is a perpetual fountain of good fenfe, learned in
all faiences, and therefore fpeaks properly on all fub-
jeds. As he knew what to fay, fo he knows alfo when
to leave off; a continence which is pradifed by few
writers, and fcarcely by any of the ancients, except Chaueft
Virgil and Horace.” This charader Chaucer cer- H
tainly deferved. He had read a great deal; and was chavez’
a man of the world, and of found judgment. He
was the firft Englifh poet who wrote poetically, as Dr
Johnfon obferves in the preface to his Didionary, and
(he might have added) who wrote like a gentleman.
He had alfo the merit of improving our language con-
fiderably, by the intrcdudion and naturalization of
words from the Provengal, at that time the moft po-
lilhed dialed in Europe.
CHAUCIS (anc. geog.), the country of the Chau*
ci, a people of Germany: divided into the
now Eajl Friefeland and the county of Oldenburg.; and
into the Majores, now the duchy of Bremen, and a part
of Lunenburg.
CHAUD-medlet, in law, is of much the fame im¬
port with Chance-Medley. The former in its etymo-
logy fignifies an affray in the heat of blood pr pafiion 5
the latter, a cafual affray. The latter is in common
fpeech too often erroneoufly applied to any manner of
homicide by mifadventure ; whereas it appears by the
flat. 24 Hen. VIII. c. 5. and ancient books (Staundf.
P. C. 16.), that it is properly applied to fuch killing as
happens in felf-defence upon fudden encounter.
CHAL, a town of the Eaft Indies, on the coaft of
Malabar, in the province of Blagana, and kingdom of
Vifapour, Its river affords a good harbour for fmall
veffels. The town is fortified, and fo is the ifland on
the fouth fide of the harbour. It had formerly a good
trade, but is now miferably poor. It was taken by the
Poituguefe in 1507, to whom it ftill belongs. It is 15
miles fouth of Bombay, and five miles from the fea.
E. Long. 72. 45. N. Lat. 18. 30,
CHAULIEU (William Amfrye de), abbe d’Amale,
one of the moft polite and ingenious of the French
poets, was born in 1639, and died at the age of 84.
The moft complete edition of his poems is that printed
in 2 vols 8vo in 1 733.
CHAUMONT, a town of France, in Champagne,
and in the diftrift of Bafiigni, of which it is the capi¬
tal. It is feated on a mountain near the river Marne.
E. Long. .5. 15. N. Lat. 48. 6.
CHAUNE, a town of France, in Picardy, and in
the diftridf of Sanfterre, with the title of a duchy. E.
Long. 2. 55. N. Lat. 49. 45.
CHAUNTRY. See Chantry.
CHAUNY, a town of France, in Picardy, feated
on the river'Oife, in Chantry. E. Long. 3. 17. N.
Lat. 49. 37.
CHAUVIN (Stephen), a celebrated minifterof the
reformed religion, born at Nifmes, left France at the
revocation of the edieft of Nantz, and retired to Rot¬
terdam, where he began a new Journal des Sgavans ;
and afterwards removing to Berlin, continued it there
three years. At this laft place, he was made profef-
for of philofophy, and difeharged that office with much
honour and reputation. His principal work is a phi-
lofophical di&ionary, in Latin, which he publiftred at
Rotterdam in / 692 ; and gave a new edition of it much
augmented, at Lewarden, in 1713, folio. He died in
1725, aged 85.
CHAVEZ, a ftrong town of Tralos-Montes in Por¬
tugal, is feated at the foot of a mountain on the river
Tamega. It has two fuburbs, and as many forts ;
one
Check.
C H A [ 367 ] CHE
Chazelles, one of which looks like a citadel. Between the town the crofs alone. In other refpedls they were Nefto-Cheafapeak
Chazmza- f„burb of Magdalena, is an old Roman ftohe-bridge rians ; and admitted two perfons in Jefus Chrift. Ni> II ,
1. rian>' , about gi geometrical paces long. W. Long. 7. 1. cephoms afcribes other Angularities to them ; partial-^
N. Lat. 41.45. larly their holding an annual feaft in memory of the
CHAZELLES (John Matthew), a celebrated dog of their falfe prophet Sergius, which they called
French mathematician and engineer, was born at Lyons drt%ibart%es.
in 1657. M. du Hamel, with whom he got acquaint- CHEASAPEAK bay, in North America, the en-
ed, finding his genius incline towards aftronomy, pre- trance between Cape Henry and Cape Charles, run-
fented him to M. Caffini, who employed him in his ob- ning up 30b miles between Virginia and Maryland,
fervatory. In 16H4, the Duke of Mortemar made ufe It is navigable almoft all the way for large fhips, and.
of Chazelles to teach him mathematics; and, the year has feveral navigable rivers that fall into it, by means-
after, procured him the preferment of hydrography of which Ihips go up to the very doors of the planters,,
profeffor for the galleys of Marfeillee, where he fet to take in their lading of goods.—Here was a fea-en-
up a fchool for young pilots defigned to ferve aboard ‘ gagement in 1781 between the Britifh fleet under Ad-
the galleys. In ib>86, the galleys made four little miral Graves confifting of 19 fhips of the line, and
campaigns, or rather four courfes, purely for exercife. the French fleet of 24 line-of-battle fhips under the
Chazelles went on board every time with them ; kept Count de Grafl'e, which ended in the Count’s keeping
his fchool upon the fea, and fhowed the practice of pofleffion of the Bay, by which Lord Cornwallis and
what he taught. In the year 1687 and 1688, he made his whole army were made prifoners of war at York-
two other fea-campaigns, in which he drew a great town, being invefted both by fea and,land by very fu-
many plans of ports, roads, towns, and forts, which perior numbers.
were lodged with the miniiters of ttate. At the be- CHEATS, are deceitful pra&ices in defrauding, or
ginning of the war, which ended with the peace of endeavouring to defraud, another of his known right,
Ryfwick, forne marine officers, and Chazelles among by means of forae artful device, contrary to the plain
the reft, fancied the galleys might be fo contrived as rules of cpmmos honefty : as by playing with falfe
to live upon the ocean ; that they might ferve to tow dice, or by caufing an illiterate perfon to execute a.
the men of war when the wind failed or proved con- deed to his prejudice, by reading it over to him in
tra'ry, and alfo help to fecure the coaft of France upon words different from thofe in which it was written,
the ocean. Chazelles was fent to the weft coafts in &c.— If any perfon deceitfully get into his hands or
July 1689, to examine the prafticablenefs of this poffeffion any money or other things of any other per-
fcheme ; and in 1690, fifteen galleys new built fet fail fon’s by colour of any falfe token, &c. being convidt-
from Rochefort, and cruifed as far as Torbay in Eng- ed, he lhall have fuch punilhment by imprifonment,
land, and proved ferviceable at the defcent upon Tin- fetting upon the pillory, or by any corporeal pain ex¬
mouth. After this, he digefted into order the ob- cept pains of death, as lhall be adjudged by the per-
fervations he had made on the coafts of the bcean ; fons before whom he fhall be convided.—As there are-
and drew diftind maps with a portulan to them, wa. frauds which may be relieved civilly, and not punilhed.
a large defcription of every haven, of the depth, the criminally ; fo there are other frauds which in a fpe-
tides, the dangets and advantages difcovered, &c. cial cafe may not be helped civilly, and yet.(hall be pu-
Thefe maps were inferted in the Neptune Frangoife, nilhed criminally. Thus if a minor goes about the
publilhcd in 1692, in which year Chazelhs was engi- town, and, pretending to be of age, defrauds many
r.eer at the defcent at Oneille. In 1693, Monfieur per fons by taking credit for a confiderable quantity of
de Pontchartrain, then fecretary of ftate for the ma- goods, and then infilling on his nonage, the perfons in¬
line, and afterwards chancellor of France, refolved jured cannot recover the value of their goods, but they
to get the Neptune Frangmfe carried on to a fecond may indicft and punilh him for a common cheat. Per-
volume, which was alfo to take in the Mediterranean, fons convidled of obtaining money or goods by falfe
Chazelles defired that he might have a year’s voyage pretences, or of fending threatening letters in order-
on this fea, for making aftronomical obfervations ; to extort money or goods, may be punifhed with fine
and the requell being granted, he paffed by Greece, or imprifonment, or by pillory, whipping, or tranfpor—
Egypt, and the other parts of Turky, with his qua- tation.
drant and telefcope in his hand. When he was in CHEBRECHIN, a town of Poland, in the province
Egypt he meafured the pyramids; and finding the of Ruffia and palatinate of Bellkow. It is feated on
fides of the largeft precifely facing the four cardinal the declivity of a hill, and the river Wierpi waters its
points, naturally concluded this pofition to have been walls, and afterwards falls into the river Bog. The
intended, and alfo that the poles of the earth and me- Jews there are very rich. E. Long. 23. 51. N. Lat..
ridians had not fince deviated. Chazelles likewife made 50. 35.
a. report of his voyage in the Levant, and gave the aca- CHECAYA, in Turkilh affairs, the fecond officer
demy all the fatisfadlion they wanted concerning the of the Janizaries,, who commands them under the aga,r
pofition of Alexandria: upon which he was made a and is otherwife calledpntfogen?.
member ot the academy in 1695. He died in 1710. There is alfo a checaya of the treafury, ftables, kit-
CHAZINZARIANS, a fedl of heretics who rofe chen, &c. the word fignifying as much ai lieutenant,
in Armenia in the feventh century. The word is or the fecond in any office.
formed of the Armenian chazus^ “ crofs.” They are. CHECK, or Chf.ck-RoII, a roll or book, wherein,
alfo called Jlaurolatra, which in Greek fignifies the are contained the names of fuch perfons as are attend-
fame as Chazinzarians in Armenian, viz. adorers of the ants and in the pay of the king, or other great per-
■ icicpfs; they being charged with paying adoration to fonages, as their houfehold fervants.
.ClerF-
CHE [ 368 ] CHE
Clicck Curb of the Check in the king's houfehold, has the
I! check and controlment of the yeomen of the guard,
* ^ , and all the ufhers belonging to the royal family, allowing
their abfence or derefls in attendance, or diminifhing
their wages for the fame, &c. He alfo, by himfelf or
deputy, takes the view of thofe that are to watch in the
court, and has the fetting of the watch, &c.
Clerk of the Check in the royal dock-yards, an officer
who keeps a mufter or regifter of all the men employed
.aboard his majefty's (hips and veffels, and alfo of all the
artificers and others in the fervice of the navy at the
port where he is fettled.
Check, in falconry, a term ufed of a hawk, when
(he forfakes her proper game, to fly at pyes, crows',
rooks, or the like, that crofs her in her flight.
CHECKY, in heraldry, is when the fliield, or abor-
dure, &c. is chequered, or divided into chequers or
fquares, in the manner of a chefs-board.
This is one of the moft noble and moil ancient figures
ufed in armoury ; and a certain author faith, that it
Ought to be given to none but great warriors, in token
of their bravery : for the chefs-board reprefents a field
of battle ; and the pawns placed on both fides repre-
fent the foldiers of the tWo armies, which move, attack,
advance, or retire, according to the will of the game-
fters, who are the generals.
This figure is always compofed of metal and colour.
But fome authors would have it reckoned among the
feveral forts of furs.
CHEEK, in anatomy, that part of the face fituated
below the eyes on each fide.
Cheeks, a general name among mechanics, for al-
moft all thofe pieces of their machines and inilruments,
that are double, and perfedlly alike. Thus, the cheeks
of a printing-prefs are its two principal pieces: they
are placed perpendicular, and parallel to each other;
ferving to fuftain the three fommers, viz. the head,
fhelves, and winter, which bear the fpindle, and other
parts of the machine. See PRiNTiNG-Pre/ir.
The cheeks of a turner's lathe, are two long pieces of
wood, between w'hich are placed the puppets, which
are either pointed or otherwife, ferving to fupport the
work and the mandrils of the workman. Thefe two
pieces are placed parallel to the horizon, feparated
from one another by the thicknefs of the tail of the
puppets, and joined w ith tenons to two other pieces
of wood placed perpendicularly, Called the legs of the
lathe.
Cheeks of the glazier's vice, are two pieces of iron
joined parallel at top and bottom ; in which are the
axis, or fpindles, little wheel, cufhions, &c. whereof
the machine is compofed.
The cheeks of a mortar, or the brackets, in artillery,
are made of ftrong planks of wood, bound with thick
plates of iron, and are fixed to the bed by four bolts ;
they rife on each fide of the mortar, and to ferve to
keep her at what elevation is given her, by the help of
ftrong bolts of iron which go chrough both cheeks,
both under and behind the mortar, betwixt which are
driven coins of Wood; theft bolts are called the brack¬
et-bolts, and the bolts which are put one in each end
of the bed, are the traverfe-bolts, becaufe with hand-
fpikes the mortar is by thefe traverfed to the right dr
left.
Cheeks, in fliip-building, are two pieces of tim-
N° 70.
ber, fitted ort each fide of the maft at the top, fer- Cheefe,
ving to ftrengthen the mails there. The uppermoft
bail or piece of timber in the beak of a Ihip, is called
the cheek. The knees which fatten the beak-head to
the Ihip, are called cheeks; and the fides of any block,
or the fides of a fliip’s carriage of a gun, are called
cheeks. -
CHEESE, a fort of food prepared of curdled milk
purged from the ferum or whey, and afterwards dried
for ufe.
Cheefe differs in quality according as it is made from
new or Ikimmed milk, from the curd which feparate*
fpontaneoufly upon Handing, or that which is more
fpeedily produced by the addition of runnet. Cream
alfo affords a kind of cheefe, but quite fat and butyra-
ceous, and which does not keep long. Analyzed che¬
mically, cheefe appears to partake much more of an
animal nature than butter, or the milk from which it
was made. It is infoluble in every liquid except fpirit
of nitre, and cauftic alkaline ley. Shaved thin, and
properly treated with hot water, it forms a very
llrong cement if mixed with quicklime *. When * gee Ce-
prepared with the hot water, it is recommended in msnt.
the Swedilh memoirs to be ufed by anglers as a bait:
it may be made into any form, is not foftened by the
cold water, and the fifties are fond of it. - As a food,
phyficians condemn the too free ufe of cheefe. When
new, it is extremely difficult of digeftion : when old,
it becomes acrid and hot; and, from Dr Percival’s ex¬
periments, is evidently of a feptic nature. It is a com¬
mon opinion that old cheefe digefts every thing, yet is
left undigefted itfelf; but this is without any folid
foundation. Cheefe made from the milk of ftieep di¬
gefts fooner than that from the milk of cows, but is lefs
nouriftiing; that from the milk of goats digeils fooner
than either, but is alfo the leaft nouriftiing. In general,
it is a kind of food fit only for the laborious, or thofe
whofe organs of digeftion are ftrong.
Every country has places noted for this commodity:
thus Chefter and Gloucefter cheefe are famous in Eng¬
land 5 and the Parmefan cheefe is in no lefs repute a-
broad, efpeciSlly in France. This fort of cheefe is
entirely made of fweet cow-milk: but at Rochefort in
Languedoc, they make it of ewe’s milk ; and in other
places it is ufual to add goat or ewe’s milk in a certain
proportion to that of the cow. There is likewife a
kind ©f medicated cheefe made by intimately mixing
the expreffed juice of certain herbs, as fage, baum,
mint, 6{c. with the curd before it is fafhioned into a
cheefe.—The Laplanders make a fort of cheefe of the
milk of their rein-deer; which is not only of great fer¬
vice to them as food, but on many other occaiions. It
is a very common thing in thefe climates to have a
limb numbed and frozen with the cold: their remedy
for this is the heating an iron red hot, and thrufting it
through the middle of one of thefe cheefes; they catch
what drops out, and with this anoint the limb, which
foon recovers. They are fubjedl alfa to coughs and
difeafes of the lungs, and thefe they cure by the fame
fort of medicine : they boil a large quantity of the
cheefe in the frefh deer’s milk, and drink the decoc¬
tion in large draughts warm feveral times a-day. They
make a lefs ftrong deco&ion of the fame kind alfo,
which they ufe as their common drink, for three or
four days together, at feveral times of the year. They
CHE [ 369 ] CHE
Ckeefe do this to prevent the mifchiefs they are liable to from
’"'"'Y'""'"'” their water, which is' otherwife their conftant drink,
and is not good.
The hundred weight of cheefe pays on importation
is. 3f^d. and draws back on exportation is. i^d. at
the rate of 6s. 8d.
Bejl methods of making Cheefe in England. The double
Gloucefter is a cheefe that pleafes almoft every palate.
The belt of this kind is made from new, or (as it is
called in that and the adjoining counties) covered milk.
An inferior fort is made from what is called half-cover¬
ed milk; though when any of thefe cheefes turn out to
be good, people are deceived, and often purchafe them
for the belt covered milk cheefe: but farmers who are
honeft have them damped with a piece of wood made in
the (hape of a heart, fo that any perfon may know them.
It will be every farmer’s intereft (if he has a fuffi-
cient number of cows) to make a large cheefe from one
meal’s milk. This, when brought in warm, will be
eafily changed or turned with the rennet; but if the
morning or night’s milk be to be mixed with that
which is frefh from the cow, it will be a longer time
before it turns, nor will it change fometimes without
being heated over the fire, by which it often gets dull
. or foot, or fmoke, which will give the cheefe a very
difagreeable flavour.
When the milk is turned, the whey fliould be care¬
fully drained from the curd. The curd fliould be bro¬
ken fmall with the hands ; and when it is equally* bro¬
ken, it muft be put by little at a time into the vat,
carefully breaking it as it is put in. The vat ihould
be filled an inch or more above the brim, that when
the whey is preffed out it may not {brink below the
brim; if it does, the cheefe will be worth very little.
But firft, before the curd is put in, a- cheefe-cloth or
drainer fliculd be laid at the bottom of the vat; and
this fliould be fo large, that when the vat is filled with
the curd, the ends of the cloth may turn again over
the top of it. When this is done, it fliould be taken to
the prefs, and there remain for the fpace of two hours;
when it ftiould be turned and have a clean cloth put
under it, and turned over as before. It muft then be
prefled again, and remain in the prefs fix or eight
hours; when it fliould again be turned and rubbed on
each fide with fait. After this it muft be prefled again
for the fpace of 12 or 14 hours more; when, if any
of the edges projeft, they fliould be pared off: it may
then be put on a dry board, where it ftiould be regu¬
larly turned every day. It is a good way to have three
or four holes bored round the lower part of the vat,
that the whey may drain fo perfectly from the cheefe
as not the leaft particle, of it may remain.
The prevailing opinion of the people of Gloucefter-
ihire and the neighbouring counties is, that the cheefes
will fpoil if they do not fcrape and wafti them when
they are found to be mouldy. But others think that
fuffering the mould to remain, mellows them, provided
they are turned every day. Thofe, however, who will
have the mould off, fliould caufe it to be removed
with a] clean dry flannel, as the wafliing the cheefes
is only a means of making the mould (which is a
fpecies of fungus rooted in the coat) grow again im¬
mediately.
Borne people fcald the curd : but this is a bad and
mercenary practice j it robs the cheefe of its fatnefs,
Vou. IV. Fart I.
and can only be done with a view to raife a greater Che*
quantity of whey butter, or to bring the cheefes for- '—“'v
ward for fale, by making them appear older than they
really are.
As moft people like to purchafe high-coloured,
cheefe, it may be right to mix a little annatto with the
milk before it is turned. No cheefe wull look yellow with¬
out it; and though it does not in the leaft add to the
goodnefs, it is perfedtly innocentunits nature and effefts.
It is not in the power of any perfon to make good
cheefe with bad rennet; therefore the following re¬
ceipt ftiould be attended to. Let the, veil, ma w, ren¬
net-bag (or by whatever name it is called), be perfefUy
fweet; for if it be the leaft tainted, the cheefe will ne¬
ver be good. When this is fit for the purpofe, three
pints or twm quarts of foft wuter (clean and fweet)
fliould be mixed with fait, wherein ftiouldbe putfweet-
briar, rofe leaves and flowers, cinnamon, mace, cloves,
and, in ftiort, almoft every fort of fpice and aromatic
that can be procured ; and if thefe are put into two
quarts of water, they muft boil gently till the liquor
is reduced to three pints, and care ftiould be taken that
this liquor is not fmoked. It fliould be {trained clean
. from the fpices. See. and when found to be not warmer
than milk from the cow, it fliould be ponced upon the
veil or maw. A lemon may then be fliced into it;
when it may remain a day or two: After which it
ftiould be ftrained again, and put in a bottle ; where,
if well corked, it will keqp good for twelve mbnths or
more. It will fmell like a perfume; and a fmall quan¬
tity of it wall turn the milk, and give the cheefe a
pleafing flavour. After this, if the veil be faked, and
dried for a week or two near the fire, it will do for the
purpofe again almoft as well as before.
Chedder cheefe is held in high efteem; but its
goodnefs is faid to be chiefly owing'to the land where¬
on the cows feed, as the method of making it is the
fame as is purfued throughout Somerfetlhir e, and the
adjoining counties.
Cheftiire clieefe is much admired; yet no people
take lefs pains with the rennet than the Cheftiire far¬
mers. But their cheefes are fo large as often to ex-
•ceed one hundred pounds weight each ; to this (and
the age they are kept, the richnfefs of the land, and the
keeping fuch a number of cows as to make fuch a
chetfe without adding a fecond meal’s milk) their ex¬
cellence may be attributed. Indeed they fait the curd
(which may make a difference), and keep the cheefes in
a damp place after they are made, and are very careful
to turn them daily.
But of all the cheefe this kingdom produces, none is
more highly efteemed than the Stilton, which is call¬
ed the Parmefan of England, and (except faulty) is
never fold for lefs than is. or is. 2d. per pound.
. The Stilton cheefes are ufually made in fquare vats,
and w'eigh from fix to twelve pounds each cheefe. Irp-.
mediately after they are made, it is neceffary to put
them into fquare boxes made exadlly to fit them; they
being fo extremely rich, that except this precaution be
taken they are apt to bulge out, and break afunder.
They ftiould be continually and daily turned in thefe
boxes, and muft be kept two years before they are pro¬
perly mellowed for fale.
Some make them in a net, fomewhat like a cabbage
net; fo that they appear, when made, not unlike an a-
3 A corn,
C H E t S'
corn. *But tliefe are never fo good as the other, having
a thicker coat, and wanting all that rich flavour and
rnellownefs which make them fo pleaflng.
It is proper to mention that the making of thefe
cheefes is not confined to the Stilton farmers, as many
others in Huntingdonfture (not forgetting Rutland and
Northamptonftiires) make a fimilar fort, fell them for
the fame price, and give all of them the name of Stil¬
ton cheefes.
Though thefe farmers are remarked for cleanlinefs,
they take very little pains with the rennet, as they in
general only cut pieces from the veil or maw, which
they put into the milk, and move, gently about with
the hand, by which means it breaks or turns it fo, that
they eafily obtain the curd. But if the method above
defcribtd for making rennet were put in practice, they
would make their cheefe ftill better; at leaf! they would
not have io many faulty and unfound cheefes ; for not-
withftanding their cheefes bear fuch a name and price,
they often find them fo bad as not to be faleable;
which is probably owing to their being fo carelefs a-
bout the rennet.
It has been alleged, that as good cheefe might be
made in other counties, if people would adhere to the
Stilton plan, which is this—They make a cheefe every
morning ; and to this meal of new milk they add the
cream taken from that which is milked the night be¬
fore. This, and the age of their cheefes, have been
fuppofed the only reafons why they are preferred to
ethers ; for from the niceft obfervation, it does not ap¬
pear that their land is in any refpedl fuperior to that
of other counties. \
Excellent cream cheefes are made in Lincolnfhire,
by adding the cream of one meal’s milk to milk which
comes immediately from the cow ; thefe are ■ preffed
gently two or three times, turned for a few days,
and are then difpofed of at the rate of is. per pound,
to be eaten while new with radifhes, failad, &c.
Many people give Ikimmed milk to pigs, but the
whey will do equally as well after cheefes are made
from this milk; fuch cheefes will always fell for at
leail 2d. per pound, which will amount to a large fum
annually where they make much butter. The pea-
fants and many of the farmers in the north of Eng¬
land never eat any better cheefe ; and though they ap¬
pear harder, experience hath proved them to be much
eafier of digeftion than any new milk cheefes. A
good market may always be found for the fale of them
at Briftol.
Account of the making of Parmefan Cheefe : by Mr
Zappa of Milan, in anfwer to queries from Arthur
Young, Efq.
“ Are the cows regularly fed in {tables ?”—From
the middle of April, or fooner if poflible, the cows
are fent to pafture in the meadows till' the end of No¬
vember ufuaSy.
“ Or only fed in {tables in winter?”—When the
ftafon is paft, and fnow comes, they are put into
Sables for the whole winter, and fed with hay.
“ Do they remain in the pafture from morning till
night ? or only in hot weather?”—Between nine and
ten in the morning the cows are fent to water, and
then to the paftures, where they remain four or five
hours at moft, and at three or four o’clock are driven
to the {tables if the feafon is frefti, or under porticos if
-o ] CHE
hot; where, for the night, a convenient quantity of hay Cheefe,
is given them. '——-y~-“
“ In what months are they kept at pafture the
whole day ?”—Mollly anfwered already ; but it might
be faid, that no owner will leave his cattle, without
great caufe, in uncovered places at night. It hap¬
pens only to the fliepherds from the Alps, when they
pafs, becaufe it is impoffible to find ftabies for all their
cattle.
“ What is the opinion in the Lodefan, on the heft
conduit for profit in the management of meadows ?”
—For a dairy farm of too cows, which yields daily a
cheefe weighing 70 to 75 lb. of 28 ounces, are wanted
1000 perticas of land. Of thefe about 800 are Hand¬
ing meadows, the other 200 are in cultivation for corn
and grafs fields in rotation.
“ Do they milk the cows morning and evening ?”
—Tbofe that are in milk are milked morning and
evening, with exception of fuch as are near calving.
“ One hundred cows being wanted to make a Lo¬
defan each day, it is fuppofed that it is made with the
milk of the evening and the following morning ; or of
the morning and evening of the fame day: how is it?”
—The 100 cows form a dairy farm of a good large
cheefe; it is reckoned that 80 are in milk, and 20
with calves fucking, or near calving. They reckon
one with the other about 32 boccalis of 32 oz. of milk..
Such is the quantity for a cheefe of about 70 lb. of 28
ounces. They join the evening with the morning
milk, becaufe fo it is frefher than if it was that of the
morning and evening of the fame day. The morning
milk would be 24 hours old when the next morning
the cheefe fliould be made.
“ Do they Ikim or not the milk to make butter
before they m^ke the cheefe ?”—From the evening
milk all the cream poflible is taken away for butter,
mafearponi (cream-cheefe), &e. The milk of the
morning ought to be ikimmed {lightly ; but every one
flams as much cream as he can. The butter is fold on
the fpot immediately at 24 fous ; the cheefe at about
28 fous. The butter lofes nothing in weight; the
cheefe lofes one-third of it, is fubject to heat, and re¬
quires expences of fervice, attention, warehoufes, &c.
before it is fold ; and a man in two hours makes 45 to
50 lb. of butter that is fold directly. However, it is
not pofiible to leave much cream in the milk to make
Lodefan cheefe, called grained cheefe ; becaufe if it is too
rich,* it does not laft long, and it is necefiary to confume
it while young and found.
“ Is Parmefan or Lodefan cheefe made every day
in the year or not ?”—With too cows it is. In
winter, however, the milk being lefs in quantity,,
the cheefe is of leffer weight, but certainly more de¬
licate.
“ After gathering or uniting the milk, either fleim-
med or not, what is exaftly the whole operation ?”—
The morning of the 3d of March 1786, I have feen;
the whole operation; having gone on purpofe to the
fpot to fee the whole work from beginning to end. At
16 Italian hours, or ten in the morning, according to
the northern way to account hours, the flamming of
that morning’s milk, gathered only two hours before,,
was finiftied. I did, meanwhile, examine the boiler or
pot. At the top it was eight feet (Englifli) diameter,
or thereabout; and about five feet three inches deep,
mad;
CHE t :7‘ 1 c H E
Cheefe. made like a bell, and narrowing towards the bottom was put before, in the fame linen it was taken from
~v 1 to about two one-half feet. They joined the cream the boiler; which boiler is turned again directly on
produced that morning with the other produced by the fire, to extraft the mafearpa (whey-cheefe) ; and
the milk of the evening before. That produced by is a fecond produ£t, eaten by poor people. After the
this laft milk was double in quantity to that of the palte^remained for a quarter of an hour in that recci-
morning milk, becaufe it had the whole night to unite, ver, it was taken out and turned into the wooden form
. and that of the morning had only two hours to do it, called fajfera, without any thing elfe made than the ro--
in which it could not feparate much. Of the cream tundity, having neither top or bottom. Immediate-
fome was deftined to make mafearponies (cream- ly after having turned it into that round wooden form,
cheefe), and they put the reft intc the machine for they put a piece of wood like a cheefe on it, putting
making butter. Out of the milk of the evening be- and increafing gradually weights on it, which ferve to
fore and of that morning that was all put together force out the remnant of whey ; and in the evening
after Ikimming, they took and put into the boiler 272 the cheefe fo formed is carried into the warehoufe,
boccali, and they put under it two faggots of wood ; where, after 24 hours, they begin to give the fait. It
-which being burnt, were fufficient to give the milk a remains in that warehoufe for 15 or 20 days ; but in
warmth a little fuperior to lukewarm. Then the boiler fummer only from 8 to 12 days. Meanwhile the air
being withdrawn from the fire, the foreman put into it and fait form the cruft to it ; and then it is carried in-
the rennet, which they prepare in fmall balls of one to another warehoufe for a different fervice. In the fe-
ounce each, turning the ball in his hand always kept cond .warehoufe they turn every day all the cheefes-
in the milk entirely covered ; and after it was perfect- that are not older than fix months ; and afterwards it
ly diffolved, he covered the boiler to keep the milk is enough if they are only turned every 48 or 60 hours,
^defended, that it might not fuffer from the coldnefs of keeping them clean, in particular of that bloom which
the feafon, in particular as it was a windy day. I is inevitable to them, and which, if neglefted, turns
went then to look on the man that was making maf- mufty, and caufes the cheefe to aquire a bad fmell.
carponies, &c. and then we went twice to examine if The Lodefan, becaufe it is a province watered, has a
the milk was fufficiently coagulated. At the 18 hours, great deal of meadows, and abounds with cows, its
according to the Italian clocks, or noon, the true ma- product being moftly in cheefe,. butter, £:c. How-
nufadtory of cheefe began. The milk was coagulated ever, the province of Pavia makes a great deal of that
in a manner to be taken from the boiler in pieces from cheefe; and we Milanefe do likewife the fame from
•the furface. The foreman, with a ftick that had 18 the fide of Porte Tofa, Romans, Ticinefe, and Ver-
points, or rather nine fmall pieces of wood fixed by cillina, becaufe we have fine meadows and dairy
their middle in the end of it, and forming nine points farms.
in each fide, began to break exaftly all the coagulated Chef.se-Rennet. See Gallium and Runnet.
milk, and did continue to do fo for more than half an CHEGOE, or Nigua, the Indian name of an in¬
hour, from time to time examining it to fee its ftate. feci common in Mexico, and alfo found in other hot
He ordered to renew the fire, and four faggots of countries where it is called/,-^, is an exceeding fmall
willow branches were ufed all at once : he turned the animal, not very unlike a flea, and is bred in the duft.
boiler that the fire might a£l; and then the underman It fixes upon the feet, and breaking infenfibly the cu-
began to work in the milk with a ftick like the above, tide, it nellies betwixt that and the true fkin, which alfo,
but with only four fmaller Hicks at the top, forming unlefs it is immediately taken out, it breaks, and pierces
eight points, four at each fide, a fpan long each point, at laft: to the flelh, multiplying with a rapidity almolt
In a quarter of an hour the foreman mixed in the incredible. It is feldom difeovered until it pierces the
boiler the proper quantity of faffron, and the milk was true Ikin, when it caufes an intolerable itching. Thefe
all in knobs, and finer grained than before, by the ef- infedts, with their aftoniflring multiplication, would foon
feci of turning and broking the coagulation, or curd* difpeople thofe countries, were it lefs eafy to avoid
continually. Every moment the fire was renewed or them, or were the inhabitants lefs dexterous in getting
fed; but with a faggot only at a time, to continue it them out before they begin to fpread. On the other
regular. The milk was never heated much, nor does hand, nature, in order to leffen the evil, has not only
it hinder to keep the hand in it to know the finenefs denied them wings,-but even that conformation of the
of the grain, which refines continually by the ftick- legs and thofe ftrong mufcles which are given to the flea
work of the underman. It is of the greateft confe- for leaping. The poor, however, who are in feme
quence to mind when the grain begins to take a con-, meafure doomed to live in the dull, and to a habitual
fiftence. ^ When it comes to this ftate, the boiler is negledl of their perfons, fuffer thefe infedls fomttimes
turned from the fire, and. the underman immediately to multiply fo far as to make large holes in their fle'h,
takes out the whey, putting it into proper receivers, and even to occafion dangerous wounds.
In that manner the grain iuBfides to the bottom of CHEIRANTHUS, stock-gillilower, or
the boiler ; and leaving only in it whey enough to flower: A genus of the 39'h natural order, SliU-
keep the grain covered a little, the foreman extending qiiofa •, and belonging to the tetradynamia clai’s of
Irimfelf as much as he can over and in the boiler, unites plants. The germen is marked with a glandulous den-
with his hands the grained milk, making like a body of tide on each fide ; the calyx is clofe, with two of its
pafte of it. Then a large piece of linen is run by him leaves -gibbous at the bale; the feeds plane. The fpecies
Under that pafte, wh le another man keeps the four cor- are 13 ; but the following threearemoil worthy of notice,
ners of it, and the whey is diredlly put again into the i.Thecheiri,orcommon wall-flower, with ligneous, long,
boiler, by which is facilitated the means of railing that tough roots ; an upright, woody, abiding ftalk, divided
pafte that is taken out of the boiler, and put for one into many eredl angular branches, forming a bulky
quarter of an hour into the receiver where the whey head from one to two feet high, cloftly garnilhed with
Cheefe
II '
Cheiran-
tbus.
CHE [ 372 ] CHE
Cbeiraii- fpear- fhaped, acute, fmooth leaves, and all tlie branches
th“* terminating in long ereft fpikes of numerous flowers,
Cheke which in different varieties are yellow, bloody, white,
y——2. The incanus, or hoary cheiranthus, with lig¬
neous, long, naked, white roots; and upright, ftrong,
woody, abiding ftem, from one to three feet high,
branchy at top, adorned with long, fpear-fhaped, ob-
tufe, hoary leaves ; and the top of the ftalk and all
the branches terminated by ereft fpikes of flowers
from one to two or three feet long, of different colours
in different varieties. 3. The annuus, or ten-weeks-
ftock, with an upright, woody, fmooth ftalk, divided
into a branchy head, 12 or 15 inches high, garnifhed
with fpear-fhaped, blunt, hoary leaves, a little indented,
and all the branches terminated by long eredt fpikes
of numerous flowers of different colours in different
van'eties.—The two fiift forts are very hardy ever¬
green biennials or perennials ; but the laft is an annual
plant, fo muft be continued by feed fown every year ;
and even the two firft, notwithftanding their being
perennial, degenerate fo much in their flowers after
the firft year, that it will be proper alfo to raife an
annual fupply of them. The feeds are to be faved on¬
ly from the plants with Angle flowers; for the double
ones bring no feeds to perfe&ion. The feeds are to
be chofen from fuch flowers as have five, fix, or more
”«.tals, or from fuch as grow near to the double ones.
They may be fown in the full ground in the fpring,
and may be afterwards tranfplanted. When fine doubles,
of the two. firft kinds are obtained, they maybe multi¬
plied by flips from the old plants.
CHEKAO, in natural hiftory, the name of an earth
found in many parts of the Eaft Indies, and fometimes
ufed by the Chinefe in their porcelain manufa&ures.
It is a hard and ilony earth ; and the manner of ufing
it is tin’s: they firft calcine it in an open furnace, and
then beat it to a fine powder. This powder they mix
with large quantities of water : then ffirring the whole
together, they let the coarfer part fubfide; and pouring
off the reft yet thick as cream, they leave it to fettle,
'and ufe the matter which is found at the bottom in
form of a foft pafte, and will retain that humidity a
long time. This fupplies the place of the earth called
hoache, in the making of ,that elegant fort of china-
ware which is all white, and has flowers which feem
formed by a mere vapour within its furface. The
manner of their ufmg it is this; they firft make the
veffel of the common matter of the manufa&ure ;
when this is altnoft dry, they paint upon it the flowers,
or whatever other figures they pleafe, with a pencil
dipt in this preparation of the chtkao ; when this is
thoroughly dry, they cover the whole veffel with the
varnifh in the common way, and bake it as ufual. The
confequence is, that the whole is white : but the body
of the vefi'el, the figures, and the varnifh, being three
different fubftances, each has. its own particular vvhiie;
and the flowers being painted in the fineft white of
all, ate diftin&ly feen through the varnifh upon the
veffel, and feem as if traced by a vapoitf only. The
hoache does this as well as the chekao; and has befides
his the quality of ferving for making the porcelain
ware either alone, or in the place of kaolin: the
ehekao has not this property, nor any other fubflance
befides this hoache, which appears to be the fame with
our fteatites or foap rock,
CHEKE (Sir John), a celebrated ftatefman, gram¬
marian, and divine,' of an ancient family in the ifle of Cheke,
Wight, was born at Cambridge in the year 1514, and Che-kyan*?.
educated at St John’s college in that univerfity; where, ^
after taking his degrees in arts, he was firft chofen
Greek lefturer, and in 1540 profeffor of that lan¬
guage, with a ftipend of 40 1. a-year. In this ftatioa
he was principally inftrumental in reforming the pro-,
nunciation of the Greek language, which, having been
much neglefted, was imperfedfly underftood. About
the year 1543 he was incorporated mafter of arts at
Oxford, where, we are told, he had ftudied for. fome
time. In the following year he was feat to the court
of king Henry VIII. and appointed tutor for the La¬
tin language, jointly with Sir Anthony Cooke, to prince
Edward, about which time he was made canon of the
college newly founded in Oxford; wherefore he muft
have now be^n in orders. On the acceflion of his
royal pupil to the crown, Mr Cheke was firft reward¬
ed with a penfion of 100 merks, and afterwards ob¬
tained feveral confiderable grants from the crown. In
] 550 he was made chief gentleman of the privy-cham¬
ber, and was knighted the following year ; in 1552,
chamberlain of the exchequer for life ; in 1553, clerk
of the council ; and foon after fecretary of iiate and
privy-councillor. But thefe honours were of fhort
duration. Having concurred in the meafures of the
duke of Northumberland for fettling the crown on the
unfortunate Jane Grey, and a&ed as her fecnetary
during the nine days of her reign, on the acceffion. of
queen Mary, Sir John Cheke was fent to the tower,
and ftript of the greateft part of his poffeflions. In
September 1554 he obtained his liberty, and a licence
from her majefty to travel abroad. He went firft to
Bafil, thence to Italy, and afterwards returned to
Strafburg, where he was reduced to the ntcellity of
reading Greek ledtures for fubfiftence. In 1556 he
fet out in an evil hour to meet his wife at Bruffels:
but, before he reached that city, he was feized by or¬
der of king Philip II. hoodwinked, and thrown into
a waggon ; and thus ignominioufly conduced to a
flrip, which brought him to the tower of London.
He foon found that religion was the caufe of his im-
prifonment; for he was immediately vifited by two
Romifh priefts, who pioufly endeavoured to convert
him, but without fucCefs. HotVever, he was at laft
vifited by Fleckenham; who told him from the queen,
that he muft either comply or burn. This powerful
argument had the defired effeft ; and Sir John Cheke
accordingly complied in form, and his lands, upon cer¬
tain conditions, were reftorcd: but his remorfe foon '
put an end to his life. He died in September 1557,
at the houfe of his friend Mr Peter Ofborne in Wood-
ftreet, London, and was buried in St Alban’s church-
He left three fons, the eldeft of whom, Henry, was
knighted by queen Elizabeth. He wrote 1. A Latin
tranllation of two of St Chryfoftom’s homilies. Lond- -
1543, 4to. 2. The Hurt of Sedition. Lond. <549,.
1576,1641. 3. Latin Tranflation of the Engliflt Com¬
munion Service. Printed among Bucer’s opufcula.
4. He pronunciatione Graecas. Bafil, 1555, 8vo. 5. Se¬
veral letters publiftied in his life by Strype; and a
great number of other books.
CHE-KYANG, or T-ghe-kiang, a maritime pro¬
vince of China, and one of the moft confiderable in
the empire ; is bounded on the fouth by Fo-kien ; on
the north and. weft, by Kiang-nan and Kiangfi; and
on
CHE L 373 ] CHE
Che-kyang. on the eaft by the fea. The air is pure and healthful,
'—"'v and the foil fertile, being watered by a number of ri¬
vers and canals, as well as fprings and lakes. The
chief produce is filk ; a vaft quantity of which is cul¬
tivated here, and for which the whole country is cover¬
ed wich mulberry trees. Thefe are purpofely check¬
ed in their growth by the natives, experience having
taught them, that the leaves of the fmalleft trees pro¬
duce the heft filk. The fluffs made in this province,
which are embroidered with gold and filver, are rec¬
koned the beft in the empire : and notwithftanding a
vaft exportation to the Japan and Philippine iflands, as
well as to every part of China, and to Europe, fuch an
abundance is left in the province, that a complete fait
of filk may be bought here as cheap as one of the
coarfeft woollen in France.
This province is alfo remarkable for a particular fpe-
cies of mufhrooms, which is exported to every part of
the empire. They are pickled, and then dried; when
they will keep good for a whole year. When ufed they
muft be foaked in water, which renders them as frefh
as at firft. Here alfo the tallow tree is met with ; and
the. province affords excellent hams, and thofe fmall
gold-fifties.wuth which the ponds are ufua'lly flocked.
Che kyang contains 11 cities of the firft clafs, 72
of the third, and 18 fortreffes, which, in Europe, would
be accounted large cities. The principal of thefe are,
1. Hang-tcheou-fou, the metropolis, accounted by the
Chinefe to be the paradife of the earth. It is four
leagues in circumference, exclufive of the fuhurbs ; and
the number of its inhabitants are computed at more
than a million, and 10,000 workmen are fuppofed to be
employed within its walls in manufacturing of filk. Its
principal beauty is a fmall lake, clofe to the walls on
the weftern fide, the water of which is pure and lim¬
pid, and the banks almoft every where covered with
flowers. Its banks are likewife adorned.with halls and
open galleries fupported by pillars, and paved with
large flag-ftones for the convenience of thofe who are
fond of walking ; and the lake itfelf is interfered with
caufeways cafed with cut-ftone, openings covered with
bridges being left in them for the paffage of,boats. In
the middle are two iflands with a temple and feveral
pleafure-houfes, and the emperor has a fmall palace in
the neighbourhood. The city is garrifoned by 3000
Chinefe and as many Tartars, and has under its jurif-
diClion feven cities of the third clafs. 2. Hou-tcheou-
fou is alio fituated on a lake, and manufactures an in¬
credible quantity of filk, infomuch, that the tribute of
a city under its jurifdiClion amounts to more than
500,000 ounces of filver. 3. Ning-po-fou, by Euro¬
peans called Liampo, is an excellent pqrt,.oppofite to
Japan. Eighteen or twenty leagues from it is an
ifland called Tcheou-chan, where the Englifh firft land¬
ed on their arrival at China. 4. Ning-po is remark¬
able for the filk manufactured there,, which is much
efteemed in foreign countries, efpecially Japan, wheie
it is exchanged for gold, filver, and copper. 5. Chao-
hing-fou, fituated in an extenfive and fertile plain, is re¬
markable for a tomb about half a league diftant, which
is faid to be that of Yu. The people of this province
are faid to be the moft verfed in chicanery of any in
China. 6. Tchu-tcheou-fou, remarkable for ha-
vn,g in its neighbourhood pines of an extraordinary
fize, capable of containing 4 omen iatheir trunks. The
4-
inhabitants are ingenious, polite, and courteous to Chelidonias
ftrangers, but very fuperflitious. I!
CHELIDONIAS, according to Pliny, an anniver-. chelfe3^
fary wind, blowing at the appearance of the fwallowsp
otherwife the Favonius, or Zephyrus.
CHELIDONIIJM, Celandine, and Horned or
prickly poppy : A genus of the monogynia order,
belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants ; and in the
natural method ranking under the 27th order, Rhaadex*.
The corolla is tetrapetalous, the calyx diphyllous, the
filiqua unilocular and linear. There are fix fpecies,
none of which are remarkable for their beauty;
but one of them, vi%. the majus, is an article in
the materia medica It grows on old walls, among;
rubbifh, and in wafte fhady places. The herb
is of abluifh green colour; the root^of a deep red ;
and,both contain a gold-coloured juice : their fmell is
difagreeable, the taile fomewhat bitterifh, very acrid,,
burning and biting the mouth ; the root is the moft.
acrid. The juice takes off warts; cures tetters,
ring-worms, and the itch; and, diluted'with milk,
it confumes opaque‘white fpots on the eye.— Horfes,
cows, goats, and fwine, refufe to eat the heib.
CHELIDONIUS lapis, in riatural hiftory, aftone
faid by the ancients to be found in the ftomachs of
young fwallows, and greatly- cried up for its virtues
in .the falling-licknefs; but, from their defcription, it
appears to be only a fpecies of lycodontes, or bufo-
nitae. See Lycodontes, and Bufonit^e.
CHELM, a town of Poland, capital of a palatinate
of the fame name. It is fituated in the province of
Red Ruffia. E. Long. 23.. 30. Ni Lat. 51. 25.
CHELfMSFORD, the county town ofEffex, fitua¬
ted on the river Chelmer, in E. Long. o. 30. N. Lat.
5,1. 40. It fends two members to parliament.
CHELONE, in botany : A genus of the angiofper-
mia order, belonging to due didynamia clafs of plants ;.
and in the natural method ranking under the 40th or¬
der, Perfonata. The calyx is quinquepartite; the rudi¬
ment of a fifth filament among the higheft’ftamina, the
capfule bilocular. There are three fpecies, thk. the Gla¬
bra, theHirfuta, and the Penftemon. They are natives of
North America; and are herbaceous flowery perennials,
with upright (talks two feet high, decorated with fpear-
(haped leaves, and beautiful fpikes of monopetalous, rin-
gent flowers, red, rofe-coloured, blue, and pmple. They
flower from September to November, and are fome-
times fucceeded by ripe feeds in this country. They
are very hardy plants, and may be propagated by feeds
fown in any foil or fituation; but the two firft multi¬
ply fa fa ft by their creeping roots,, that the feeds are
feldom regarded.
CHF^LSEA, a fine village fituated an the northern;
bank of the river Thames, a mile weftward of Weft-
minfter, remarkable for a magnificent hofpital of in¬
valids and old decrepit foldiers; and a pleafure-houfe, .
called Ranelagh, to which a great deal of fine com¬
pany refort in fummer ; and a noble botanic garden
belonging to the company of .apothecaries. The royal
hofpital of invalids was begun by Charles II. carried
on by James II. and .finifhed by king William. It
eonfifts of a vaft. range of buildings, that form three
large fquates, in which there is an uncommon air of
neatnefs and elegance obferved. It is under the di»
re&ion of commiffioners, who confift generally of the*
CHE [
Chelfea. officers of Hate and of v. ar. There is a governor with
' 500 h falary, a lieutenant governor with 400I. and
major, with 250 L befides inferior officers, ferjeants, coi
porals and drums, with about 400 men, who all d<
garrifon duty ; and there are above ic,^oo out peu
fioners wht receive an annuity of 7?. 12s. 6d. each}
all which expence is defrayed by ?. poundage dedufted
from the army, deficiences being made good by par¬
liament.—The botanic garden is very exteniive, en¬
riched with a vaft variety of dometlic and exotic
plants, the original (lock of which was given to
the apothecaries of London by Sir Hans Sloane.—
At Ranelagh Garden and amphitheatre the enter-
tainment is a fine band of mufic, with an organ-and
t74 3 CHE
fome of the belt voices, and the regale is tea and Chelten-
coffee. ham,
CHELTENHAM,orCHiLTENHAM,a markettown Chernifg;:
of Gloucefterfhire, feven miles north-eaft of Gloucefter.
W. Long. 2. 10. N. Lat. 51. 50. It is chiefly remark¬
able for its-mineral waters, of the fame kind with thofe
of Scarborough. See Scarborough.
CHEMISE, in fortification, the wall with which a
baftion, or any other bulwark of earth, is lined for its
greater fupport and ftrength : or it is the folidity cf
the wall from the talus to the ftone-row.
Fire-CaEMisE, a piece of linen cloth, fteeped in a
compofition of oil of petrol, camphor, and other combu-
flible matters, ufed at fea, to fet fire to an enemy’s vefl'el.
C H E M I S T R Y
■ Ti /T AY be defined, The ftudy of fuch phenomena
Definition. or properties of bodies as are difcovered by
varioufly mixing them together, and by expofing
them to different degrees of heat, -alone, or in mix¬
ture, with a view to the enlargement of our know¬
ledge in nature, and to the improvement of the ufeful
arts: or, It is the ftudy of the effefts of heat and mix¬
ture upon all bodies, whether natural or artificial, with
a view to the improvement of arts and natural know
a kdge.
Artiquity. The fcience of chemiftry is undoubtedly of very
high antiquity; and, like moft other fciences, its origin
cannot be traced. In fcripture, Tubal Cain, the 8th
from Adam, is mentioned as the father or intlruftor
of every artificer in brafs or iron. This, however,
does not conftitute him a chemift, any more than a
founder or blackfmith among us has a right to that
title. The name of chemift could only belong to him,
whoever he was, who firft difcovered the method of
extra fling metals from their ores ; and this perfon
mull neceftarily have lived before Tubal Cain, as eve¬
ry blackfmith or founder mud have metals ready pre¬
pared to his hand. Neverthelefs, as Tubal Cain
lived before the flood, and the fcience of chemiftry
mull have exifted before his time, fome have con-
jeftured, that the metallurgic part, on account of its
extreme ufefulnefs to mankind, was revealed to Adam
3 by God himfelf.
Science J3e as it will, S'phcas, an Egyptian, is confider-
ounded. ecj ^ ^ chem{ft3 as the founder of their fcience.
He was known by the Greeks under the name of
Hermes, or Mcrcurlus Trlfmegi/ius; and is fuppofed
to have lived more than 1900 years before the Chri-
ftian sera. A numerous lift of this philofopher’s works
is given by Clemens Alexandrinus ; but none of them
are now to be found, nor do any of them appear to
have been written profefTedly on chemiftry.
Two illuftrious Egyptians, of the name of Hermes,
are recorded by ancient authors. The elder fuppofed
to be the fame with M:%raim, the grandfon of Noah,
the Hermes of the Greeks, and Mercury of the Ro¬
mans. The younger Hermes lived a thoufand years
afterwards; and is fuppofed to have reftored the fci-
e.nces after they had fallen into oblivion, in confe-
qucnce of an inundation of the Nile. No Ids than
36,000 books are find to have been written under the
name of Hermes ; but, according to Ja'mblichus, a cu-
ftom prevailed of infcribing all books of fcience with
the name of Hermes. Some authors deny the exift-
ence of Hermes, and maintain that his hiftory is alle¬
gorical
As the fcience of chemiftry is fuppofed to have been Mofesfup*
well known to the Egyptians, Mofes, who was Ikilied pofe.l to be
in their wifdom, is thence ranked among the number m
of chemifts ; a proof of whofe fkill in this fcience J3chera'ftry*
thought to be, his diffidving the golden calf made by
the Ifraelites, fo as to render it potable.
Of all the Greeks who travelled into Egypt in or¬
der to acquire knowledge, Democritus alone was ad¬
mitted into their myfteries. The Egyptian priefts are
faid to have taught him many chemical operations ;
among which were the art of foftening ivory, of vi¬
trifying flints, and of imitating precious ftones. Dr
Black, however, is of opinion, that Democritus knew
nothing more of thefe arts than that < f making a coaife
kindofglai's, as no mention is particularly made of his
imitating any other precious ftone than the tm-al
whofe colour is green ; and the coarfer the glafs the
greener it is.
After the time of Democritus, we may know that
corffiderable improvements were made in chemiftry, as
phyflcians began to make ufe of metallic preparations,
as cerufe, verdegris, litharge, &c. Diofcorides de-
fcribesthe diftillation of mercuryfromcinnabarbymeans ^
of an emhic, from which, by adding the Arabic A!, nerivatlcn'’
comes the term Alembic. The art of diftillation, how-of the word
ever, at that time, was in a very rude ftate ; the o£e-Alanbic'
ration being performed chiefly by feparating the air,
and more fubtlepartof tar, from the reft of the matter.
This was done by putting the matter to be dillilled in¬
to a vefl'el, the mouth of which was covered v.hh aQ . ^ ^
wet cloth ; and by this the fleams of afeending va vf
pour were condenfed, which were afterwards procured drilling,
by wringing out the cloth. No other diftillation, be¬
fides this kind, is mentioned by Galen, Oiibafius, iEli-
an, or Paulus iEgineta.
The precife time is not known when the three mine¬
ral acids were firft difcovered; though, as no mention is
made of them by Geber, Avicenna, or Roger Bacon, it
is probable that they were not known in the 12th ceti-
6 tury.
Hiftory. C H E M
tury. Raymond’ Ltilly gives fome hints of his being
acquainted with the marine acid ; whence it is pro¬
bable, that it was difcovered towards the end of the
13th, or beginning of the 14th, century.
Pliny’s ao Several chemical fadfs are related by Pliny, particu-
eountof thelarly the making of glafsr which he afcribes to the fol-
ori) in of lowing accident. “ Some merchants in the Levant, who
plafs-rna- njtre on {j0ar(^ their (hip, having occafion to land,
lighted a fire on the fand in order to prepare their food.
To (upport their vefiels they took fome of the lumps
of nitre with which their fnip was loaded ; and the fire
afting on thefe, melted part of them along with the
fand, and thus formed the tranfparen: fubftance called
glafs, to the great furprife of the beholders.” But it
is probable, that the art of glafs-making was known
long before ; and it is by no means likely that it took
its rife from fuch an accident.
The next traces we find of chemiftry are to be ex¬
tracted from the extravagant purfuits of the Alchemijls,
g who imagined it pofiible to convert the bafer metals
Alchemy lnt0 or flyer- The firft mention we find of this
firft men- ftudy is by Julius Firmicus Maternus, who lived in the
tioned by beginning of the fourth century, and fpeaks of it as a
Fiiniicus well known purfuit in his time. ^Eneas Blafius, who
aternus. j;ve(j ;n century, likewife fpeaks of it ; and
Suidas explains the term by telling us, that it is the art
of making gold and filver. He tells us, that Diocle-
fian, when perfecuting the Chriftians, forbad all che¬
mical operations, left his fubje&s fhould difcover the art
of making gold, and thus be induced to rebel againft
©rgirfof him. He fuppofes alfo, that the Argonautic expe-
the fable ofdition was only an attempt to procure a fkin or parch-
rhe Argo- mert, on which was written the recipe for making
nauts. gold. It is a common pra&ice, however, in fome
places where gold is waftied down in fmall particles by
brooks and rivulets from the mountains, to fufpend in
the water the fkins of animalshaving wool or hair upon
them, in order to detain the heavier particles which
contain the gold^ and this proably gave rife to the fable
of the golden fleece. Suidas, however, who lived as
late as the tenth century, deferves very little credit,
efpecially as alchemy is not mentioned by any ancient
author.—The Arabian phyficians afford the moft clear
and diftindl evidence concering alchemy. Avicenna,
who lived in the tenth century, is laid by a difciple of
his to have wrote upon alchemy ; he mentions alfo
rofe-water, and fome other chemical preparations; and
in the rath century we hnd phyficians advifed to cul¬
tivate an acquaintance with the chemifts; and another
10 of the Arbian writers fay, that the method of pre-
ATchemy paring rofe-water, &c. was then well known.—From
^ j t(|lIPP0'this evidence of the exiften.ee of alchemy among the
derived Arabians, with the prefatory article Al, to denote
from the the greatnefs of the fcience, it has been conje&ured,
Arabians. the doftrine of the tranfmutation of metals firft
took its rife among the Arabians, and was introduced
into Europe by means of ihe Crufades, and by the ra¬
pid conquefts of the Arabians their.fdves in Eurepe
as well as in Afia and Africa. Europe at that time
had been in a ftate of the greateft barbarity from the
incurfions of the northern nations ; but the Arabians
contributed to revive fome of the fciences, and intro¬
duced alchemy among the reft, which continued till
the middle of the 17th century; at which time the
I S T RY. 375
extravagance of its profeffors rofe to the greateft
height. „
, Though the pretenfions of the alchemifts are now No credit
univerfally refuted, yet from fome of the difeoveries due to the
which have been made in chemiftry, we are even yetdo<a' ine
in dang«r of giving fome credit to the poffibility ofT^.mUta'
the procefs of tranfmutation. When we confider that
the metals are bodies compounded of parts which we
can take away and reftore, and that they are clofely
allied to one another in their external appearance, we
may be inclined to think favourably even of the pro-
jefts of the alchemifts. The very feparation of the
metals Aom their ores, the depriving them of their
duttility and malleability, and the reftoration of thefe
properties to them at pleafure, will appear very fur-
prifing to thofe who are unacquainted with chemiftry.
There are alfo proceffes of the more difficult kind, by I2
which quickfilver maybe produced from metals that Quickftlve?
are commonly folid, as from lead. Some of thefe weProdu«d
find in Boerhaave, Boyle, &c. authors of the greateft^rom ^ea^’
credit, who both ipeak of the operation and produft
as realities of which they were convinced by their own
experience. Thefe have been urged, not without fome
plaufibility, in favour of the tranfmutation of the im-
perfeft metals into gold; and hence the delufions of
alchemy were not confined to the vain, the ignorant,
and the ambitious part of mankind ; but many ingeni¬
ous and learned men, who took pleafure in the ftudy
of nature, have been feduced into this unhappy pur¬
fuit. This happened chiefly in Germany, where the-
variety of mines naturally turned the thoughts of che¬
mifts principally towards the metal?,, though the nu¬
merous failures of thofe who had attempted this art
ought to have taught them better.
About the beginning of the 16th century, the pre¬
tenders to alchemy were very numerous, and a multi¬
tude of knaves, who had beggared themfelves in the at¬
tempt, now went about to enfnare others, performing
legerdemain tricks, and caufing people believe that
they could aftually make gold and filver. _ A number
of the tricks they made ufe of are to be met with inLe -
mery. Many books, with the fame defign of impofing
upon mankind, were written upon the fubjedf of al¬
chemy. They affumed fi&itious names of the greateft
antiquity, and contained rules for preparing the philo-
fopher’s ftone ; a fmall quantity of which thrown into
a Safe metal ffiould convert the whole into gold. They
are wrote in a myfterious ftyle, without any diitintt
meaning ; and though fometimes proceffes are clearly
enougli deferibed, they are found to be falfe and deceit¬
ful upon trial, the products not anfwering the preten¬
fions of the authors- Their excufe was, that it was
vain to expeft plain accounts of thefe matters, or that
the books on tSefe fubjefts fhould be written diftindlly
and clearly ; that the value of gold was in proportion
to its fcarcity, and that it might be employed to bad
purpofes: they wrote only for the laborious- and judi¬
cious chemifts, who would underftand them provided
they made themfelves acquainted with the metals by
ftiidy and experience. But in fadf, no diftindl mean¬
ing has ever been obtained, and the books have only
ferved to delude and betray a great number of others
into the lofs of their lives.
But though the alchemifts failed in the execution of
their
376 C H E M
13 tlieir grand project, we mull {till own ourfelves indebt-
derivecl e<^ to t^em ^or many difcoveries brought to light du-
fome ad- r*nS t^le tlme ^7 vainly fpent their labour in the ex¬
vantages peftation of making gold. Some of thefe are the me-
-from the thods of preparing fpirit of wine, aquafortis, volatile
thTakhe^ a'kali, vitriolic acid, and gun-powder. Medicine too
mills. was indebted to them for feveral valuable remedies ;
whence alfo it appears that many, who had wafted their
time in the vain purfuit of the philofopher’s ftone,
thought of trying fome of their moft elaborate prepa¬
rations in the cure of difeafes; and meeting with fome
fuccefs, they prefumed that difeafes were only to be
cured by the afliftance of chemiftry j and that the moft
elaborate of all its preparations, the philbfopher’s ftone,
would cure all difeafes. Some cures they performed
did indeed awaken the attention of phyftcians; and
they introduced the ufe of opium, which had formerly
been accounted poifonous. They fucceeded alfo in the
cure of the venereal difeafe, which had lately made its
appearance, and baffled the regular phyficians; but
■the chemifts, by giving mercury, put a ftop to its ra¬
vages, and thus introduced this valuable article into the
14 materia medica.
Account The moft famous of the chemical profeffors wasPa-
of Paracel- racelfus, well known for his arrogance, abfurdity, and
Xus. profligacy. He was bred to the ftudy of medicine;
but becoming acquainted with the alchefnifts, travelled
about in the charafter of a phyfician, and was at great
pains to collect powerful medicines from all quarters.
'Thefe he ufed with great freedom and boldnefs. His
fuccefs in fome cafes operated fo upon the natural ar¬
rogance and felf-fufficiency of his difpofition, that he
formed a defign of overturning the whole fyftem of
medicine, and fupplying a new one from chemiftry:
and indeed he found but very wejik adverfaries in the
fubtle theories of Galen with the re’finements of the A-
rabian phyficians, which only prevailed in his time ;
and he no doubt had fome fliare in banifhing that ve¬
neration which had been fo long entertained for thefe
celebrated perfonages.
Hiftory of From the time of Paracelfus, chemiftry began eve-
chemiftry ry where to affume a new face. In our own country,
time 0^ Lord Verulam amufed himfelf at his leifure hours
Paracelfus. with forming plans for promoting the fciences in ge-
neral, efpecially thofe which related to the ftudy of
The fcienceTiature' He foon found that chemiftry might turn
fludied by out one of the moft ufeful and comprehenfive branches
Pord Ve of natural philofophy, and pointed out the means of its
rulam; improvement. A number of experiments were propo-
fed by him ; but he obferved, that the view's of che-
* mifts were as yet only adapted to explain their parti¬
cular operations on metals; and he obferved, that,
inftead of the abftrufe and barren philofophy of the
times, it wras neceflary to make a very large collec¬
tion* of fadts, and to compare them with each other
very maturely and cautioufly, in order to difeover the
.common caufes and circumttances of connedtion up¬
on which they all depend. He did not, however,
make any conjiderable diicoveries, and his works are
tedious and difagreeablc to the reader.
*7 A S uperior genius to Lord Verulam was Mr Boyle,
-Boyle5, V'ho was born the very day that the former died. • His
circumftances were opulent, his manners agreeable ; he
was endowed by naljiire with a goodnefs of heart; and
his inclination led him entirely to tie ftudy of nature.
iN° 70.
I S T R Y. Hiflory.
which he was beft pleafed with cultivating in the way
of experiment. He confidered the weight, fpring, and
qualities of the air ; and wrote on hydroftatics and
other fubjefts ; and was poffefted of that happy pene¬
tration and ingenuity fo well fuited to the making of
experiments in philofophy, which ferves to deduce the
moft ufeful truths from the moft fimple and feemingly
infignificant fafts. As chemiftry was Ins favourite
fcierice, he fpai ed no pains to procure from chemifts of
greateft note the knowledge of curious experiments,
and entertained a number of operators conftantly about
him. His difcoveries are related in an eafy ftyle ;*and
though rather copious, fuited to the tafte of the times
in wdiich he lived, and free from that abfurd and my-
fterious air which formerly prevailed in chemical wri¬
tings : nor does he betray a defign of concealing any
thing except fome particulars which were communica¬
ted to him under the notion of fecrecy, or the know¬
ledge of which might do more harm than good. It
is objefted.mdeed, that he betrays a good deal of cre¬
dulity with regard to fafts which are given on the
faith of others, and wdiich may feem incredible ; but
this proceeded from his candour, and his being little
difpofed to fufpeft others. He ftiowred the rieceffary
conneftion between philofophy and the arts; andfaid,
that by attending the ftiop of a workman, he learned
more philofophy than he bad done in the fohools for a
long time. Thus his writings {bowed an univerfal
tafte for the ftudy of nature, which had now made
fome advances in the other parts of the wrorld.
Agricola is one of the firft and beft authors on the 18
fubjeft of metallurgy. Being born in a village in Mif- Chemiftry
nia, a country abounding in mines and rnttallutgic
works, he deferibed them exactly and copioufly. He feurity.
was a phyfician, and cotemporary with Paracelfus, but
of a charafter very different. His writings are clear
and inftruftive, as thofe of Paracelfus are obfeure and
ufelefs. Lazarus Erker, Schinder, Schlutter, Henkel,
&c.. have alfo w'ritten on metallurgy, and deicribed
the art of affaying metals. Anthony Neri, Dr Mer-
ret, and the famous Kunkel (wdio difeovered thephof-
phorus of urine), have deferibed very fully the arts of
making glafs, enamels, imitations of precious ftqr.es,
&c.: but their writings, as well as thofe of fucceeding
chemifts, are not free from the illufions of alchemy; fo
true it is, that an obilinate and inveterate malady ne¬
ver difappears at once, without leaving traces behind-
In a (hort time, however, the alchemical phrenzy was
attacked by many'powerful antagonifts, yrho contri¬
buted to refeue the fcience of chemiftry fc-om an evil
which at once difgraced it and retarded its progrefs-
Among thefe, the moft diftinguifhed are Kircher a Je-
fuit, and Conringius a phyfician, who wrote with much
fuccefs and reputation.
About the year 1650 the Royal Society w*as form- ^
ed by a number of gentlemen wjro were unwilling tocjety how
engage in the civil wars; and being ftruck with the founded,
ex® 11 five view's of Lord Verulam and Mr Boyle, con¬
tributed to the expence of coftly experiments. This
example appeared fo noble, and the defign fo good,
that it has been followed by all the civilized ftates of
Europe, and has met with the proteftich of their re-
fpeftive fovereigns ; and from thefe chemiftry has re¬
ceived confiderable improvements. In France, Geof¬
frey, Lemery, Reaumur, fee. came'’ to be diftinguiftt-
Theory* C H E M T
ed ; and In Germany Margraaf, Pott, and others, have
made a confiderable figure in thofe focieties. Kunc-
• kei, Begar, Stahl, and Hoffman, &c. have done great
fervice to fociety, by introducing new arts, and the nu-
10 merous improvements they have made.
Of the im- The chemifts who have made a figure in Germany
provements and France are more in number than thofe whom our
different ^and has produced. In France, the fociety was en-
nations in couraged by the fovereign ; and in it they have diveft-
chemiftry. ed themfelves of that myflerious air which was affect¬
ed in former ages. In Germany, the richnefs of the
country, and the great variety of mines, by turning the
attention of chemifls to the metals, have given that
alchymiftical air to their writings which we obferve in
them. The number of thofe who have applied them-
Part I. THEORY
Perfect A Ccording to the definition we have given of this
Theory, fcience, the theory of it ought to confift in a
what. thorough knowledge of all the phenomena which refult
from every poffible combination of its objects with one
another, or from expofing them in all pofiible ways to
thofe fubftances which chemifts have found to be the
moft aftive in producing a change. So various, how¬
ever, and fo widely extended are the objefts of che-
miftry (comprehending all terreftrial bodies whatever),
that a knowledge of this kind is utterly unattainable by
man. The utmoft that can be done in this cafe is, to
give fome account of the phenomena which accompany
the mixtures of particular fubftances, or the appearances
they put on when expofed to heat; and thefe have been
already fo well afcertained, that they may now be laid
down as rules, whereby we may, with a good deal of
certainty, judge of the event of our experiments, even
before they are made.
, Here we muft obferve, that though the objefts of
Chemiftry, chemiftry are as various as there are different fubftan-
what. ces in the whole fyftem of nature, yet they cannot all
be examined with equal eafe. Some of thefe fub¬
ftances aft upon others with great violence ; and the
greater their aftivity, the more difficultly are they
themfelves fubjefted to a chemical examination. Thus,
, fire, which is the moft aftive body in nature, is fo
little the fubjeft of examination, that it hath hi¬
therto baffled the ingenuity of the greateft philofo-
phers to underhand its compofition. This fubftance,
therefore, though it be the principal if not the only
agent in chemiftry, is not properly an ohjecl of it, be-
caufe it cannot be made a fubjeft of any chemical ope-
ration.
Suppofition It hath been cuftomary to confider all bodies as com-
of elements pofed of certain peraianent and unchangeable parts
tifakhem' ca^e<^ ^ements > and that the end of chemiftry was to
d c - ‘refolve bodies into thefe elements, and to recompofe
them again by a proper mixture of the elements
when fo feparated. Upon this fuppofitioti the alche-
mifts went ; who, fuppofing that all bodies were cem-
pofed of fait, fulphur, and mercury, endeavoured to
find out the proportions in which thefe exifted in gold,
and then to form that metal by combining them in a
fimilar manner. Had they taken' care to afcertain the
real exiftence of their elements, and, by mixing them
together, compofed any one metal whatever, though
Vol. IV. Part I.
S T R Y. 377
felves to chemiftry is very fmall in England, owing to
the great improvements made by Sir Ifaac Newton in
the fciences of aftronomy and optics ; which, by turn¬
ing the general attention that way, has occafioned what
may be called a negleft of chemiftry. But if their
number be inconfiderable, they are by no means infe¬
rior in merit and fame. The name of Boyle has always
been held in the higheft efteem, as well as that of Hales,
for the analyfis he has made of the air. Sir Ifaac
Newton alone has done more to Hie eftablifhing a ra¬
tional chemical theory than ever was done before. Of
late, the tafte for the ftudy has became more general,
and many ufeful books have appeared ; fo that it is to
be hoped we fhall foon excel in this branch of fcience,
as we have done in all the reft.
of CHEMISTRY.
but a grain of lead, the leaft valuable of them all;
their pretenfions would have been very rational and
well founded; but as they never afcertained the exift¬
ence of fuch elementary bodies, it is no wonder that
their labours were never attended with fuccefs. ' 14
Another fet of elements which were as generally M.r P°^e 8
received, and indeed continue to be fo in fome mea-0^uuoa'
fure to this day, are fire, air, earth, and water.—
This doftrine of elements was ftrenuoufly oppofed by
Mr Boyle ; who endeavoured to prove, that fire was
not an element per ft, but generated merely from the
motion of the particles of terreftrial bodies among one
another; that air was generally produced from the fub¬
ftance of folid bodies ;• and that water, by a great num¬
ber of diftillations, was converted into earth. His ar¬
guments, however, concerning fire were not at all con-
clufive; nor does the expulsion of air from fixed bo¬
dies prove that any of their folid parts were employ¬
ed in the compofition of that air ; as later difcoveries
have ftiown that air may be abforbed from the external
atmofphere, and fixed in a great number of folid fub¬
ftances. His affertion concerning water deferves much
confideration, and the experiment is well worth re¬
peating ; but it does not appear that he," or any other
perfon, ought to have relied upon the experiment
which was intended to prove this tranfmutation. The
faft was this. Having defigned to try the pofiibility
of reducing water to earth by repeated diftillations,
he diftilled an ounce of water three times over himfelf,
and found a fmall quantity of earth always remaining.
He then gave it to another, who diftilled it 197 times.
The amount of earth from the whole diftillations was
fix drams, or -|ths of the quantity of water employed ;
and this earth was fixed, white, and infoluble in wa¬
ter. Here it is evident, that great fufpicions muft
lie againft the fidelity of the unknown operator, who
no doubt would be wearied out with fuch a number
of diftillations. The affair might appear trivial to
him ; and as he would perhaps know to which fide Mr
Boyle’s opinion inclined, he might favour if, by mix* ,
ing fome white earth with the water. Had the ex¬
periment been tried by Mr Boyle’s own hand, his
known charadter would havqjmt the matter beyond a
doubt.
The decompofition of water, however, in another
way, by the combination of one part of it with the
3 B phlo*
378
C H E M I
phlogiftic, and another with the earthy part of a metal,
is now well afcertained, and the experiments which
led to the difcovery are treated of under the articles
^ Aerology and Water.
Exiftenceof Even the exiftence of earth as an element appears
elements as dubious as that of the others; for it is certain that
difputed. there is no fpecies of earth whatever, from which we
can produce two diffimilar bodies, by adding their o-
ther component parts.—Thus, the earth of alum has
all the charadters cP fimplicity which we can defire in
any terreftrial fubftance. It is white, infipid, inodo¬
rous, and perfectly fixed in the fire ; neverthelefs, it
feems to be only an element of that particular body
called alum ; for though alum is compofed of a pure
earth and vitriolic acid joined together, and Epfom fait
and felenite are both compofed of a pure earth com¬
bined with the fame acid; yet by adding oil of vitriol
to the earth of alum, in any poffible way, we (hall ne¬
ver be able to form either Epfom fait or felenite. In
like manner, though all the imperfedt metals are com¬
pofed of inflammable matter joined with an earthy ba¬
lls ; yet by adding to earth of alum any proportion
we pleafe of inflammable matter, we {hall never pro¬
duce a metal; and what is ftill more mortifying, we
can never make the earthy bafis of one metallic fub¬
ftance produce any other metal than that which it ori-
ginally compofed.
Elements A little confideration upon the fubjedt of elements
neceffarily will convince us, not only that no fuch bodies have ever
inviiible. yet been difcovered, but that they never will; and for
this plain reafon, that they muft be in their own nature
invifible.—The component parts of any fubftance may
with propriety enough be called the elements of that
fubftance, as long as we propofe carrying the decom-
pofition no farther; bift thefe elements have not the
leaft property refembling any fubftance which they
compofe. Thus, it is found that the compound fait
called fal ammoniac, is formed by the union of an acid
and an alkali: we may therefore properly enough call
thefe two the elements of fal ammoniac; but, taken fe-
parately, they have not the leaft refemblance to the
compound, which is formed out of them. Both the
acid and alkali are by themfelves fo volatile as to be
capable of diffipation into an invifible vapour by the
heat of one’s hand; whereas, when joined together,
they are fo fixed as almoil to endure a red heat with¬
out going off. If, again, we were to feek for the ele¬
ments of the acid and alkali, we muft not’ expeft to
find them have any properties refembling either an acid
or an alkali, but others quite different.. Any com¬
mon element of all bodies muft therefore be a fubftance
which has no property fimilar to any other in the whole
fyftem of nature, and confequently muft be impercep •
tible.
Suppofitioa To the above-mentioned four elements, viz. fire,
concerning air, earth, and water, a kind of ffth element has ge-
jhlogifton. nerafly been added, but not ufually diftinguiflied by
that name, though it has apparently an equal, if not
a greater, right to the title of an element than any of
the others. This fubftance is called the phlogijlon, or
inflammable principle; on which the ignition of all
bodies depends. The exiftence of this element was fir ft
afferted by Stahl, and from him the opinion has been
derived to other chemifts but of late a new do&rine
was broached by M, Lavoifier, who denies the exift-
8 T R Y. Theory,
ence of phlogifton altogether. Though none of thefe of the
fubftances therefore are properly the objects of che-
miftry, yet as they have fo much ingroffed the atten- ' ]t
tion of modern chemifts, we {hail here give an ac¬
count of the moft remarkable theories that have ap¬
peared concerning them.
Sect. I. 0/ the Element of Fire.
The opinions concerning the element of fire may
be divided into two general claffes; the one Confidering ag
it as an effeft, the other as a caufe. The former is Two gene*
maintained by Lord Bacon, Mr Boyle, and Sir Ifaac theories
Newton ; whofe refpeftabk names for a long time gave 0* eat'
fuch a fanftion to this theory, that it was generally
looked upon as an eftabliflied truth. Some learned
men, however, among whom was the great Dr Boer-
haave, always diffented, and infilled that fire was a fluid
univerfally diffufed, and equally prefent in the frozen
regions of Nova Zembla as in a glafs-houfe furnace,
only that in the latter its motion made it confpicuous^
and by fetting it in motion in the coldeft parts of the
world, its previous exiftence there would be equally
demonftrable as in the furnace above-mentioned.
Lord Bacon defines heat, which he ufes as a fynony- Lord Ba-
mous term with fire, to be an expanfive undulatory mo- con’s defi-
tion in the particles of a body, whereby they tend with
fome rapidity towards the circumference, and alfo a
little upwards. Hence, if in any natural body you
can excite a motion whereby it {hall expand or dilate
itfelf, and can reprefs and diredt this motion upon it-
felf in fuch a manner that the motion fliall not proceed
uniformly, but obtain in fome parts and be checked in
others, you will generate heat or fire. ,0
The fame opinion is fupported by Mr Boyle in the Mr Boyle's]
following manner: “ The production of heat difcovers °P,luon*
nothing, either in the agent or patient, but motion, and
its natural effedts. When a fmith brifldy hammers a
fmall piece of iron, the metal thereby becomes exceed¬
ingly hot: yet there is nothing to make it fo, except
the motion of the hammer imprefling a vehement and
varioufly determined agitation on the. fmall parts of
the iron; which, being a cold body before, grows hot
by that fuperinduced motion of its fmall parts: firft, in
a more loofe acceptation of the word, with regard to-
fome other bodies, in comparifon of which it was cold
before ; then fenfibly hot, becaufe the motion in the
parts of the iron is greater than that in the parts of
our fingers ; at the fame time that the hammer and an¬
vil, by which the percuflion is communicated, may, on
account of their magnitude, remain cold. It is not
neceffary, therefore, that a body ftiould itfelf be hot
in order to communicate heat to another.” 31
The arguments made ufe of by Sir Ifaac Newton Sentiments
are not intended pofitively to eftablifti any kind of the-
ory relating to fire, but are to be found in a conjedlure,
publiftied at the end of his Treatife on Optics, con¬
cerning the nature of the fun and liars. “ Large bo¬
dies (he obferves } preferve their heat the longeft, their
parts heating one another ; and why may not great,,
denfe, and fixed bodies, when heated beyond a certain >
degree, emit light fo copioufly, as, by the emiflxbn and ‘
readlion of it, and the reflections and refraClions with¬
in the pores, to grow continually hotter, till they arrive
at fuch a period of heat as is that of the fun l Their
parts
Theory. C H E M
parts may be further preferred from fuming away, not
only by their fixity, but by the vail weight and denfity
of the atmofphere incumbent on them, ftrongly com-
prefiing them, and condenfing the vapours exhaled from
them. Thus we fee, that warm water, in an exhaufted
receiver, {hall boil as vehemently as the hotteft water
expofed to the air; the weight of the incumbent atmo¬
fphere in this latter cafe keeping down the vapours,
and hindering the ebullition till it has received its ut-
moit degree of heat. Thus alfo a mixture of tin and
lead, put on a red hot iron in vacuo, emits a fume and
flame; but the fame mixture in the open air, by reafon
of the incumbent atmofphere, does not emit the leaftfen-
fible flame.” In confequence of thefe experiments, Sir
Ifaac conje&ures, that there is no effential diftin&ion
betwixt fire and grofs bodies ; but that they may be
converted into one another. “ Fire (he fays) is a body
heated' fo hot as to emit light copioufly; for what
(fays he) is a red hot iron but fire
rite now The hypothefes of thefe great men produced long
generally violent difputes, which were never decifively fet-
bean ele-° : difeoveries in electricity, however, furniflied
ment fafe’ additional ftrength to the followers of Dr Boer-
haave, that fire is now believed to be an element and
fluid diftinCt from all others, by at leaft as many as e-
fpoufe the contrary fyftem; but the queftion is not de¬
cided, Whether the fire itfelf is to be confidered as the
agent ? or. Whether its aftion is to be derived from
the principles of attraction and repulfion, the na-
33 tural agents fuppofed to influence other material
'theoriesm' ^ub^ances • This has produced two other fyftems
itituted. " a kind of mixed nature, in which heat or fire
is confidered as a fubftance diftinft from all others,
but which acts in other bodies according to its
quantity. Thefe fyftems have been promulgated by
Dr Black of Edinburgh and Dr Irvine of Glafgow.
They differ from the opinions of Mr Boyle, Lord Ba¬
con, and Sir Ifaac Newton, in fuppofing heat to be a
fluid diftinCt from all other material fubftances ; and
they alfo differ from the hypothefis of Dr Boerhaave,
Lemery, and others, in fuppofing different terreftrial
fubftances to be hot according to the quantity ■ of fluid
contained, and not according to the forceWith which
it moves in them.
’General Dr Black is of opinion that heat, which he feems
account of t0 make fynonymous with fire, exifts in two different'
and Dt Ir- ^ates; in one of which it affefts our fenfes and the
vine’s the- thermometer, in the other it does not. The former
cry. therefore he calls fenjible heat, the latter latent heat. On
thefe principles he gives the only fatisfa&ory explana¬
tion of the phenomena of evaporation and fluidity that
• has yet appeared, as {hall afterwards be more fully
explained. At prefent we {hall only obferve, that, ac¬
cording to the theory of Dr Black, heat or fire it¬
felf feems to be the agent; but, according to that of
Dr Irvine, as far as we can gather it from the treatifes
of Dr Crawford and others, the principles of attrac¬
tion and repulfion are the agents by which heat, as
well as other bodies, is influenced. Thus,-on the princi¬
ples of Dr Black, we lay, that water is converted into
vapour by a quantity of heat entering into it in a la¬
tent ftate, and thereby rendering it fpecifically lighter
than the atmofphere : according to the principles of
Dr Irvine, we fay, that water is converted into vapour
by having its capacity for attrafting heat from the
i s T r Y.
379
In what
they dif¬
fer from
the for¬
mer.
atmofphere increafed. So that, according to the former, Of the
the abforption of heat is the caufe ; according to the
latter, the ejfed, of its converfion into vapour. .
Dr Crawford, in his Treatife on Heat, publifh- ^
ed in 1788, informs us, that heat, in the philo-Dr Irvine’s
fophical fenfe of the word, has been ufed to' ex- then’ y cx~
prefs what is frequently called the element of fre, in j^'chaw^
the abftract, without regard to the peculiar effedts for(j.
which it may produce in relation to other bodies. ^7
This, with Dr Irvine, he calls abfolute heat'; and the Ahfolutc
external caufe, as having a relation to the effects it!ieat Re¬
produces, he calls relative heat. “ From this view of
the matter (fays he), it appears, that abfolute heat ex-
preffes, in the abftradt, that power or element which,
when it is prefent to a certain degree,.excites in all am- 38
mals the fenfation of heat; and relative heat expreffes Relative
the fame power, confidered as having a relation to ^eat»
the effedts by which it is known and meafured.
“ The effedts by which heat is known and meafu- How di-
red are three ; and therefore relative heat may admit of i‘iRed.
three fubdivifions. 1. This principle is known by the
peculiar fenfations which it excites in animals. Con¬
fidered as exciting thofe fenfations, it is called fenjibls
heat. 2. It is known by the effedt which it produces
upon an inftrument that has been employed to meafurc
it, termed a thermometer. This is called the temperature
of heat in bodies. 3. It has been found by experiment,
that in bodies of different kinds the quantities of ab¬
folute heat may be unequal, though the temperatures
and weights be the fame. When the principle of heat
is confidered relatively to the whole quantity of it
contained in bodies of different kinds, but which have 40
equal weights and temperatures, I {hall term it com- Compara-
parative heat. If, for example, the temperatures and^J^^1
weights being the fame, the whole quantity of heat in “ 11
water be four times as great as that of antimony, the
comparative heats of thefe fubftances are faid to be as
four to one.” 4T
In order to have a proper conception of what isExperi-
meant by a difference in abfolute heat, when the tern- m'“nts bY
peratures are the fame, it will be neceffary to relate ^
fome experiments, by which Dr Black was firft led to iej to the
the difeovery of latent heat. He obferves, that when difeovery
two equal maffes of the fame matter, heated to diffe- late,!C
rent degrees, are mixed together, the heat of the mix- ea *
ture ought to be an arithmetical mean betwixt the two
extremes. This, however, only takes place on mixing
hot and cold water together; but if inftead of cold
water we take ice, the cafe is remarkably different.
Here the temperature of the mixture is much below A quantity
the arithmetical mean, and a quantity of heat is appa-ol'hcat lo{t
rently loft. Now we know that the temperature of!"
ice newly frozen is generally 32 degrees of Fahrenheit;1°
fuppofing therefore the temperature of the water
which diffolves it to be x 20', the arithmetical meat) is
71 ; but if the mixture indicates a temperature only ©f
6o°, then we muft fuppofe that the ice contained 11°
of heat lefs than was indicated by the thermometer;
and confequently, that water at 320 contains ii° more
of abfolute heat than ice at 3 2°. 43
The fame thing is made ftill more evident from the Great,
condenfation of vapour. The fluid of water is not ca- ^"^"^
pable of fuftaining a great degree of heat; and 212° produced
of Fahrenheit is the utmoft it can be made to bear, by the cqn-
without an extraordinary degree of preffure, as in Pa- dentation
3B2 pin’s ot vaP,lur’
CHEMISTRY.
pin’s digefter, or the admixture of faline fubftances:
the temperature of the fteam emitted by it therefore
never can exceed 212", except in the cafes juft men¬
tioned 5 and it is often capable of bearing a great de¬
gree of cold without being con :iifed. When the con-
denfation takes place at laft, however, a very confi-
derable degree of heat is always produced; and Dr
Black has Ihown, that, in the condenfation of fteam
by the refrigeratory of a common ftill, as much heat
is communicated to the water in the refrigeratory as
would be fuffxcient to make the water which comes
over as hot as red hot-iron, were it all to exift in a fen-
Dr Black’s hble ftate. His method of making the calculation is
method of very eafy. For, fuppofing the refrigeratory to con-
cakulating tajn 100 pounds of water, and that one pound has been
diftilled; if the water in the refrigeratory has received
10 degrees of heat, we know that the diftilled pound
has parted with 100O. If in paffing through the worm
. of the refrigeratory, it has been reduced to the tempera¬
ture of 50° of Fahrenheit, having been at 212° when it
entered it, then it has loft only 162°' of fenfible heat; all
the reft communicated to the water of the refrigerato¬
ry amounting to more than 8oo°, having been con-
4j tained in a latent ftate, and fuch as could not then af-
Mr Watt’s fe<ft the thermometer. This experiment was tried by
experiment jyfj. Watt in a manner ftill more ftriking, by a diftilla-
ftillation of t*CB* wat;er h* w-curi. Thus the fteam, freed from
water in the preffure of the atmofphere, could not conceive fuch
vacuo. a degree of fenfible heat as in the common method of di-
ftilling. Itcameoyerthereforewith a very gentle warmth,
fearce more than what the hand could bear; neverthe-
lefs it had abforbed as much heat as though the di-
ftiilation had been performed in the common way; for
the refrigeratory had 1000 degrees of heat communi-
46 cated to it.
riifference The difference of abfolute heat is likewife percep-
title betwixt any two bodies of different denfity, water
ferent;11 *" and mercury for inftance: and in comparing thefe, it will
fluids. always be found that the thinneft fluids contain the
47 greateft quantity of abfolute heat; as water more than
fl^idscon mercury> fpirit of wine more than water, ether more
tain the than fpirit of wine, and air more than any of them,
greateft ' Dr Black having brought equal bulks of mercury and
quantity water, the former to a temperature of 50 degrees high-
ol heat. er than the latter, found that, on mixture, there was a
gain of only 20 degrees above the original; but on rever-
fing the experiment, and heating the water 50 degrees
abovethe mercury, there was a gainof 30.degrees on the
Great dif- whole. “ Hence (fays Dr Cleghorn in his thefis
ferenrebe- de Igne) it appears, that the quantity of heat in water
twixt the . js t0 that in mercury, when both are of equal tempera-
ofDrs'cieg-tures’ as 3 to 2*” Dr Crawford, however, tells us,
b that “ the
Theory.
the organ of feeling; and therefore if a variation be pro- Of the
duced in the latter, the fenfible heat will be different, E*enient
though the temperature continue the fame. Thus water°f 'Fire' .
at the temperature of 62° of Fahrenheit appears cold to
a warm hand immerfed in it; but on the contrary, that
fluid will appear warm if a hand be applied to it which
has a lower degree of heat than 62“. For this reafon,
the thermometer is a much more accurate meafure of
heat than the fenfes of animals. As long, however,
as the organs remain unchanged, the fenfible heat is in
proportion to the temperature ; and therefore thofe
terms have generally been confidered as fynonymous. SQ
On this fubjerit Dr Reid obferves, that until the ratio Dr Reid’*
between one temperature and another be afcertained by obfervation
experiment and induction, we ought to confider tern- concerning
perature as a meafure which admits of degrees, but not |“^’era'
of ratios; -and confequently ought hot to conclude,
that the temperature of one body is double or triple to
that of another, unlefs the ratio of different tempera¬
tures were determined. Nor ought we to ufe the ex-
preffions of a double or triple temperature, thefe being
expreflions which convey no diftincl meaning until
the ratio of different temperatures be determined.”
In making experiments on the comparative quanti- Difffrence
ties of heat in different bodies, our author choofes ra- betwixt
ther to ufe equal •weights than equal bulks of the fub-1}16 cakula-
ftances to be compared. Thus he found the comPa* c°a^for
rative heat of water to be to that of mercury as 28 to anc; Cjac]t>
1 by weight, and 2 to 1 by bulk ; which differs very
conliderably from the condufion of Dr Black, who
makes it only as 3 to 2, as lias been already men¬
tioned.
From the differences obferved in the quantities of Capacities
abfolute heat contained in different bodies, our author for contain-
concludes, that “ there muft be certain effential diffe- ‘ng beat
rences in the nature of bodies ; in confequence 0f expriined.
which,yorw have the power of collecting and retaining
that element in greater quantity than others.” Thefe
different powers he calls the capacities for containing
heat. Thus, if we find by experiment that a pound
of water contains four times as much abfolute heat as
diaphoretic antimony, when at the fame temperature,
the capacity of water for containing heat is faid to be
to that of antimony as 4 to 1. ^
“ The temperature, the capacity for containing heat, How the
and the abfolute heat contained, may be diftinguifhedcapacity,
from each other in the following manner: turtfami
“ The capacity for containing heat, and the abfo- ai,foiute
lute heat contained, are diftinguiftied as a force diftinft heat, are
from the fubjed upon which it operates. When we tq he di-
fpeak of the capacity, we mean a power inherent in bhigulihed,
the heated body; when we fpeak of the abfolute heat,.
horn and that “ the fame quantity of heat which raifes a pound we mean an unknown principle which is retained in.
Crawford, of water one degree, will raife a pound of mercury 28
degrees; whence it follows, that the comparative heat
of water is to that of mercury as 28 to 1 : and confe¬
quently, the alterations which are produced in the
temperatures of bodies by given quantities of abfolute
heat, may properly be applied as a meafure of their
comparative heats ; the alterations of temperature and
the comparative heats being reciprocally proportional
to One,another.
Crawford’s “ Senfible heat (continuesDrCrawford) dependspart-
account of ty ob the ftate of the temperature,, and partly on that of
fenfible
the body by the operation of this power ; and when
we fpeak of the temperature, we confider the unknown
principle as producing certain effects upon the ther¬
mometer.
“ The capacity for containing heat may continue
unchanged, while the abfolute heat is varied without
end. If a pound of ice, for example, be fuppofed te*
retain its folid form, the quantity of its abfolute heat
will be altered by every increafe or diminution of its
fenfible heat: but as long as its form continues the
fame, its capacity for receiving heat is not affe&ed by
Theory. C H E M
Of the an alteration of temperature, and would remain un-
Element changed though the. body were wholly deprived of its
? Jne heat.’>
In the courfe of his work, Dr Crawford obferves,
Crawford’s that “ he has not entered into the inquiry which has
opinion been fo much agitated among the Englifh, the French,
heat In*the ant^ t^ie German philofophers, Whether heat be a fub-
abftradt. ^ fance or a quality ? Ih fome places indeed he has ufed
exprefiions which feem to favour the former opinion
but his foie motive for adopting thefe was, becaufe the
language feemed to be more Ample and natural, and
more confonant to the fafts which had been eftablifhed
by experiment. At the fame time, he is perfuaded
that it would be a very difficult matter to reconcile
many of the phenomena with the fuppofition that heat
is 9. quality. It is not eafy to conceive, upon this hy-
pothefis, how heat can be abforbed in the proceffes of
fufion, evaporation, combuftion ; how the quantity of
heat in the air can be diminiffied, . and that in the
blood increafed, by refpiration, though no fenfible heat
or cold be produced.
“ Whereas, if we adopt the opinion that heat is a di-
ftinft fubftance, or an element fui generis, the phenome¬
na will be found to admit of a Ample and obvious in-
- terpretation.
“ Fire will be conAdered as a principle ; which is
55 diftributed in various proportions throughout the dif-
Fire con- ferent kingdoms of nature. The mode of its union
tained in wjtjj bodies will refemble that particular fpecieS of
lyby its union, wherein the elements are combined by the joint
attra&ion forces of preffure and attraftion. Of this kind is the
to them, combination of Axed air and water; for Axed air is
a"d Pari.'y retained in water partly by its attraction for that fluid,
of thiTex-1^ and partly by the preflure of the external air; and if
ternal fluid, either of thefe forces be diminilhed, a portion of the
Axed air efdapes. In like manner, it may be con¬
ceived that elementary Are is retained in bodies, partly
by its attraftion to thefe bodies, and partly by the
adtion of the furrounding heat; and in that cafe a
portion of it will be difengaged, either by. diminiftnng
the attractive force, or by leflenihg the temperature of
the circumambient medium. If, however, Are be a
fubftance which is fubjeft to the laws of attraction,
the mode of its union with bodies feems to be diffe¬
rent from that which takes place in chemical-combi¬
nation: for, in chemical combination, the elements ac¬
quire new properties, and either wholly or in part lofe
rtiofe by which they were formerly characterized.
But we have no fufficient evidence for believing that
Are, in confequence of its union with bodies, does,
56 in any inftance, lofe its diftinguifhing properties.”
Dr Berkenhout, in his Firft Lines of the Theory
and PraCtice of Philofophical Ghemiftry, informs us,
cerninsr the that “ heat, or the matter of heat, is by Scheele and
nature of Bergman fubftituted for Are, which they believe to be
lleat- the adtion of heat when increafed to a certain degree.
The Arft of thefe celebrated chemifts believed this mat¬
ter of heat to be a compound of phlogifton and pure
air. He was certainly miftaken. It feems more phi¬
lofophical to conflder heat as an effect, of which Are is
57 the foie caufe.
His divi- “ Heat I confldef not as a diftinCt fubftance, but as
fmofoedre an effeCt of Are, Axed or volatile; in both which ftates
and vola- ^re ^eems to ex‘ft in all bodies, folid and fluid. Fixed
tile. Are I believe to be a conftituent part of all bodies,.
Dr Berlten-
hout’s opi-
I S T R Y. 3B1
and their fpeciAc heat to depend on the quantity of Of the
Axed Are in each. This Axed, this latent Are, cannot
be feparated from the other conftituent parts of bo-. CT.... ..
dies but by their decompofltion : it then becomes vo¬
latile and incoercible. If this hypothefis be true, Are
exifts, in all natural bodies that contain phlogifton, in
three different ftates: 1. In that volatile ftate in which
it perpetually fluctuates between one body and an¬
other. 2. Combined with an acid, probably, in the
form of Axed inflammable air or -phlogifton. 3. Un¬
combined and Axed, as a conftituent principle, deter¬
mining the fpeciftc heat of bodies.
“ Pure (or volatile) Are is diftinguifhed by the fol-Pure or vo~
lowing properties. 1. It is eflentiallyffiuid, inviflble,latile fire
and without weight. 2. It is the immediate caufe of^116^
all fluidity. 3. It penetrates and pervades all bodies
on the furface of the earth, and as far beneath the fur-
face as hath hitherto been explored. Water hath ne¬
ver been found in a congealed ftate in the deepefl:
mines. 4. It has a conftant tendency to diffufe itfelf
equally through all bodies, howfoever different in point
of denflty. A marble flab, a plate of iron, a decanter
of water, and a lady’s muff, at the fame diftance from
the Are, and other external circumftances, being equal,
poffefsan equal degree of heat, which is.precifely that
of the atmofphere in which they ftand. 5. It is per¬
petually in motion from one body to another, and
from different parts of the fame body, becaufe external
circumftances are cpntinually varying. 6. In fluctu¬
ating from one body to another, it produces a .conftant-
vibration of their conftituent parts; for all bodies ex¬
pand and contraCl in proportion to the quantity of
Are they contain. 7. Accumulated beyond a certain
quantity, it effeCts the diffolution of bodies, by forcing
their conftituent parts beyond the fphere of mutual
attraction, called the attraction of cohefwn, which is the
caufe of folidity. Hence the fovereign agency of Are
in chemical operations.”
Dr Crawford, befides the opinions already quoted, S9
tells us,, that Are, in the vulgar acceptation' of thej?^™^
word, expreffes a certain degree of heat accompanied finition .oT
with light; and is particularly applied to that heat fire,
and light which are produced by the inflammation of
combuftible bodies. But as heat, when accumulated
in a fufficient quantity, is cohftantly accompanied with
light; or, in other words, as fire is always produced
by the increafe of heat, philofophers have generally
confidered thefe phenomena as proceeding from the
fame caufe : and have therefore ufed the word fre to
exprefs that unknown, principle, which, when it iapre-
fent to a certain degree, excites the fenfation of heat
alone; but, when accumulated to a greater degree,
renders itfelf obvious both to the fight and touch, or
produces heat accompanied with light. In this fenfe,.
the element of Are fignifies the fame thing with, abfo-
lute heat.
Having premifed thefe general definitions and re¬
marks, he gives the properties of heat in the following
words:
“I. Heat has a conftant tendency to diffbfe itfelf over 60
all bodies till they are brought to the fame tempera-Heat has-a.
ture. Thus it is found by the thermometer, that if^Tdifflfe
two bodies of different temperatures are mixed toge-iifelf e-
ther, or placed contiguous, the heat paffes from the qually over-
one to the other till their temperatures become equal
and
182 C H E M I
rft!ie an^ ^iat inanimate bodies, when heated and placed
©fFire11 *n a co^ medium, continually lofe heat, till in procefs
, of time they are brought to the ftate of the funound-
ing medium.
“ From this property of heat it follows, that the va¬
rious clafles of bodies throughout the earth, if they were
not afted upon by external caufes, would at length
arrive at a common temperature when the heat would
become quieffcent; in like manner as the waters of the
ocean, if not prevented by the winds and by the at-
tradfions of the fun and moon, would come to an equi¬
librium, and would remain in a ftate of reft. But as
caufes continually occur in nature to difturb the balance
of heat as well as that of the waters of the ocean, thofe
61 elements are kept in a conftant flu&uation.
It is con- “ II. Heat is contained in confiderable quantities in
confider- bodies when at the common temperature of the at-
able quan- mofphere.
tity in all “ From the interefting experiments which were made
bodies. xm cold by Mr Wilfon, we learn, that at Glafgow, in
Createde ^ w,nter °f the year 1780, the thermometer on the
gree of cold ftnface of fnow funk 25 degrees below the beginning
at Glaf- of Fahrenheit’s feale.
gow, “ We are told by Dr Pallas, that in the deferts of
In Siberia ^'beraa> during a very intenfe froft, the mercury was
and at ’ foufid congealed in thermometers expofed to the atmo-
Hudfon’s fphere, and a quantity of that fluid in an open bowl
hay. placed in a fimilar fituation, at the fame time became
folid. The decifive experiments of Mr Hutchins at
Hudfon’s Bay prove, that the freezing point of mer¬
cury is very nearly 40° below the turo (or o°) of Fah¬
renheit. From which it follows, that at the time of
Dr Pallas’s obfervation, the atmofphere in Siberia muft
have been cooled to minus 40. By a paper lately
tranfmitted to the Royal Society we are informed,
that the fpirit-of-wine thermometer in the open air at
Hudfons Bay fell to — 42 in the winter of 1785 ;
and from the fame communication we learn, that by a
mixture of fnow and vitriolic acid, the heat was fo
much diminiftred, that the fpirit of wine funk to 80,
which is 112 below the freezing point of water.
“ Hence it is manifeft, that heat is contained in
64 confiderable quantities in alf bodies when at the com-
’Quantity mon temperature of the atmofphere. It is plain, how-
of heat li- eveE> that the ‘quantity inherent in each individual
all bodies, body is limited. This, I think, muft be admitted,
whatever be the hypothefis which we adopt concerning
the nature of heat,; whether we conceive it to be a
force or power belonging to bodies, or an elementary
principle contained in them. Tor thofe who confider
heat as an element, will notj fuppofe that an unli¬
mited quantity of it can be contained in a finite body ;
and if heat be confidered as a force or power, the fup-
pofition that .finite bodies are a&uated by forces or
(5^ powers which are infinite is equally inadmiflible.
Bodies uni- “To place this in another light, we know that bo-
verfally ex- dies are univerfally expanded by heat, excepting in a
Pan‘led very few inftances, which do not afford a juft objeftion
'ea ‘ to the general fail; becaufe, in thofe inftances, by the
action of heat a fluid is extricated that previoufly fepa-
rated the particles from each other. Since, therefore,
heat is found to expand bodies in the temperatures
which fall within the reach of our obfervation, we may
conclude that the fame thing takes place in all tempe-
ratures.”
S T R Y. Theory.
Our author, by a fet of very accurate and laborious Of the
experiments, determines that the expanfions in mercury
and fome other fluids are proportionable to the quan- ° ire‘
tities of heat applied; “from which ((ays he) it is
manifeft, that the quantities of heat in bodies are limi- Expanfion
ted, becaufe an infinite heat would produce an infinite of mercury,
expanfion. &c* P^opor-
“ It is manifeft, that the number of degrees of ^en- the1 decrees
Able heat, as meafured by the thermometer, and efti- 0f heat,
mated from the beginning of the fcale, muft be the
fame in all bodies which have a common temperature;
for by the firft general fail it is proved, that heat has
a conftant tendency to difiiife itfelf uniformly over
bodies till their temperatures become equal. From
which it may be inferred, that if a quantity of heat
were added to bodies abfolutely cold, the fame uniform
diffufion would take place ; and that if a thermometer,
altogether deprived of its heat, were applied to fuch
bodies, it would be equally expanded by them, the whole
of the fenfible heat which they had acquired being in¬
dicated by that expanfion. ^
“ III. If the parts of the fame homogeneous fub-Homoge-
ftance have a common temperatm e, the quantity of to-
abfolute heat will be proportional to the bulk or quan-
tity of matter. Thus the quantity of abfolute heat in perature,
two pounds of water is double that which is contained contain
in one pound when at the fame temperature. quantities
“ IV. The dilatations and cohtradtions of the fluid
in the mercurial thermometer are nearly proportional t0 tjjnfe Gf
to the quantities of abfolute heat which are communi- their mat*
cated to the fame homogeneous bodies, or feparated ter*
from them, as long as they retain the fame form. Thus
the quantity of heat required to raife a body four de¬
grees in temperature by the mercurial thermometer, is
nearly double that which is required to raife it two
degrees, four times that required to raife it one degree,
and fo in proportion.”
Thus we find, that Dr Black, Dr Irvine, Dr Craw¬
ford, and Dr Berkenhout, agree in fpeaking of fire or
heat as a fluid fubftance diftindl from all other bodies.
Mr Kirwan, in his Treatife of Phlogifton, agrees in the Mr Kir-
fame opinion. “ Some (fays he) have thought, that wan’s opi-
I fhould have included the matter of heat, or elemen-nion,con-
tary fire, in the definition of inflammable air; but as
fire is contained in all corporeal fubftances, to mention
it is perfectly needlefs, except where bodies differ from
each other in the quantity of it they contain.” On «,
the other hand, Mr Cavendifli, Phil. Tranf. Ixxiv. h;(Vc npff*
p. 141. tells us, that “he thinks it more likely that nion that
there is no Inch thing as elementary heatbut, as he k is. a
gives no reafon for this opinion, it feems probable that
the greater part of philofophers either pofitively be¬
lieve that heat is an elementary fluid diftinift from all
others, or find themfelves obliged to adopt a language
which neceffarily implies it. The only difficulty which Djgjculty
now remains therefore is, to affix a proper idea to the in defining
phrafe quantity of heat, which we find uniyerfally made the phrafe
ufe of, without any thing to determine our opinions °f
concerning it.
That we cannot fpeak of a quantity of fire or heat in ThJphrafc
the fame fenfe as we fpeak of a quantity of water orCani ot be
any other fluid is evident, • becaufe we can take away ufed in the
the quantity of water which any fubftance contains, comm°n
but cannot do fo with heat. Nay, it) many cafes weof'theword
are.fure, that a fubftance very cold to the touch does with regard
l yet to fire.
Theory,
C H E M
yet contain a very confiderable quantity of heat. The
, vapour of water, forinftance, may be made much colder
j^than the ufual temperature of the atmofphere without
being condenfed, when at the fame time we are certain
that it contains a great quantity of heat; and the
fame may be faid of water, which, in the aft of freezing,
throws out a great quantity of heat without becoming
colder; and in the aft of melting abforbs as much with¬
out becoming warmer. It is not therefore by the mere
prefence or abfence of this fluid that we can determine
the real quantity of this fluid ; nor does it appear that
the word quantity cart be at all accurately applied to
the element itfelf, becaufe we have no method of mea-
Turing it.
Dr Cleg- Dr Cleghorn, in his inaugural diflertation De Igne,
horn s opi- throws fome light on this fubjeft, by obferving, that
“ the thermometer (hows only the quantity of heat^o-
ing out of a body, not that which is really contained
in itand he alfo infifts, that “ we can neither aflent
to the opinion of Dr Boerhaave, who fuppofed that
heat was diftributed among bodies in proportion to
their bulks ; nor to the hypothefes of others, who
imagined that they Were heated in proportion to their
denflties.” But in what proportion, then, are they
heated; or how are we to meafure the quantity which
they really contain, feeing the thermometer informs us
only of what they part with?
The latent As this point is by no means afeertained, we cannot
heat of bo- form a direft idea concerning the abfolute quantity
dies cannot 0f contained in any body; and therefore when we
red.mea U" fpeak °f quantities of this fluid, we muft in faft, if we
mean any thing, think of the fenfible quantity flowing-
out of them ; and though we fhould fuppofe the whole
of this fenfible heat to be removed, it would dill be
impoffible for us to know how much remained in a la-
Dr Cleg- tent ^ate’ anc* couhl not he dlfilpated. This difficulty
horn’s hy- will Hill appear the greater, if with Dr Cleghorn and
pothefis others we fuppofe the fluid of heat to be fubjeft to the
concerning ]aws 0f attraftion and repulfion. This gentleman
re* fuppofes, that the particles of heat (like the particles
of eleftric fluid according to theFranklinian hypothefis)
are repulfive of one another, but attrafted by all other
fubftances. “ If any body (fays he),'heated beyond
the common temperature of the air, is expofed to it,
the heat flows out from it into the atmofphere, and
diffufes itfelf equally all around till the air becomes of
the fame temperature with itfelf. The fame happens
to bodies fufpended in vacuo. Hence it is juftly con¬
cluded, that there exifts between the particles of heat
a repulfive power, by which they mutually recede from
each other. Notwithftanding this repulfive power,
however, the quantities of heat contained in different
fubftances, even of the fame temperature, are found to
be altogether different; and from Dr Black’s experi¬
ments it now appears, that the quantity of heat is
fcarce ever the fame in any two different bodies : and
hence we may conclude, that terreftrial bodies have a
power of attrafting heat, and that this power is differ¬
ent in different fubftances.—From thefe principles it
evidently follows, that heat is diftrihuted among bodies
direftly in proportion to their attrafting powers, and
inverfely according to the repulfive power between the
Equili- particles of heat themfelves. Such is the diftribution
bnum of ©f heat among bodies in the neighbourhood of each
fined*16* ot^er> aEd which is called the equilibrium of heat, be-
i S T R Y. 383
caufe the thermometer fhows no difTerence of tempera-Of the
ture among them. For feeing the heat is diftributed
according to the attrafting power of each, the ther- ,
mometer having alfo a proper attraftion of its own,
can fhow no difference in the attrafting power of each;
for which reafon all bodies in the neighbourhood of
each other are foon reduced to the fame tempera¬
ture.”
If we affent to Dr Cleghorn’s hypothefis, the quan- The quan¬
tity of heat contained in any fubftance depends, in the of
firft place, on the attrafting power of that fubftance,
which is altogether unknown; and, in the fecond t,y this hyr
place, on the repulfive powers of the particles of heat pothefis.
themfelves, which are equally unknown. To deter¬
mine the. quantity, therefore, muft be impoffible. Nei¬
ther will the mixture of two different fluids, as in Dr
Black’s experiments, affift us in the leaft ; for though
water, heated more than mercury,communicatesagreat-
er heat to that fluid than the latter does to.water;
this only fhows that water more readily parts with
fome part of the heat it contains than mercury does,
but has not the leaft tendency to difeover the quantity
contained in either.
Dr Crawford, as we have already feen, calls the de¬
gree, or, if we may vary the phrafe, the quantity of
power or element (fluid, if we may fubftitute a fynony-
mous word) exifting or prefent in any body, its alfo-
lute heat; and lays down a rule for determining the pro- 77-
portional quantities of heat in different bodies. “ It Dr Craw-
will appear (fays he) from the experiments a^;er‘[^rj'S0^1<j"
wards recited, that if a pound of water and a pound
of diaphoretic antimony have a common temperature, the pi opor-
the quantity of abfolute heat contained in the for-tional quan--
mer is nearly four times that contained in the latter.” of
—The manner in which he illuftrates thii is as fol- a"
Fows.
” If four pounds of diaphoretic antimony at 20 be '
mixed with one pound of ice at 32, the temperature
will be nearly 26 : the ice will be cooled fix degrees,
and the antimony heated fix. If we reverie the expe¬
riment, the effeft will be the fame. That is, if we
take fix degrees of heat from four pounds of antimony,.
and add it to a pound of ice, the latter will be heated
fix> degrees. The fame quantity of heat, therefore,
which raifes a pound of ice fix degrees, will raife four
pounds of antimony fix degrees^
“ If this experiment be made at different tempera¬
tures, we ftiall have a fimilar refult. If, for example,
the antimony at 15, or at any given degree below the
freezing point, be mixed with the ice at 32, the heat
of the mixture will be the arithmetical mean between
that of the warmer and colder fubftance. And fince
the capacities of bodies are permanent as long as they
retain the fame form, we infer, that the refult would
be the fame if the antimony were deprived of all its -
heat, and were mixed with the ice at 32. But it is -
evident, that in this cafe; the ice would communicate
to the antimony the half of its abfolute heat. For if
200 below froft be conceived to be the point of total
privation, the antimony will be wholly deprived of its
heat when cooled to 200 degrees below 32, and the
heat contained in the ice when at 32 will be zoo’-
degrees.^ If we now fuppofe them to be mixed toge¬
ther, the temperature of the mixture will be half the
excefs of the hotter above the colder, or the ice will'
be •
384 C H E M
be cooled too degrees and the antimony heated 100,
The one half of the heat, therefore, which was con-
j tained in the ice previous to the mixture will be com¬
municated to the antimony ; from which it is manifeft,
that after the mixture the ice and antimony muft con¬
tain equal quantities of abfolute heat.
“ To place this in another light, it has been proved,
that the fame quantity of heat which raifes a pound of
ice fix degrees will raife four pounds of antimony fix
degrees. And as the capacities of bodies, while they
•retain the fame form, are not altered by a change of
temperature; it follows, that the fame quantity of heat
which raifes the ice 200 degrees, or any given number
of degrees, will raife the antimony an equal number of
degrees.
“ A pound of ice, therefore, and four pounds of
antimony, when at the fame temperature, contain
equal quantities of abfolute heat. But it appears from
the third general faft (n°67.), that four pounds of
antimony contain four times as much abfolute heat as
one pound of antimony; and hence the quantity of
abfolute heat in a pound of ice is to that in a pound of
antimony as four to one.”
Kis method From this quotation it is evident, that, notwith-
infufficient. Handing all the diftinftions which Dr Crawford has
laid down betwixt abfolute heat and temperature, it is
only the quantity of the latter that can be meafured ;
and all that we can fay concerning the matter is, that
when certain bodies are mixed together, fome of them
part with a greater quantity of heat than others; but
how much they contain muft remain for ever un¬
known, unlefs we can fall on fome method of meafu-
ring the quantity of heat as we do that of any other
79 fluid.
Nicholfon’s Mr Nicolfon, who has collefted the principal opi-
“tof "ions on the fubjeft of heat, feems undetermined whe-
ofheat^165^61't0 believe the do&rine of Boyle or of Boerhaave
on the fubjeft. “ There are two opinions (fays he)
Concerning heat. According to one opinion, heat
confifts in a vibratory motion of the parts of bodies
among each other, whofe greater or lefs intenfity oc-
cafions the increafe or diminution of temperature. Ac¬
cording to the other opinion, heat is a fubtile fluid that
eafily pervades the pores of all bodies, caufing them
to expand by means of its elafticity or otherwife. Each
of thefe opinions is attended wkh its peculiar difficul¬
ties. The phenomena of heat may be accounted for
by either of them, provided certain fuppofitions be al¬
lowed to each refpeftively ; but the want of proof of
the truth of fuch fuppofitions renders it very difficult,
if not impoffible, to decide as yet whether heat confifts
merely in motion or in fome peculiar matter. The
word quantity, applied to heat, will therefore denote
either motion or matter, according to the opinion
made ufe of, and may be ufed indefinitely without de-
g0 termining which.
Advanta- “ The chief advantage which the opinion that heat
gesof the is caufed by mere vibration pofiefles, is its great fimpli-
thath' a C't^' ^ *S probable, that all heated bodies
is canted have an inteftine motion, or vibration of their parts ;
by vibra- and it is certain that percuflion, friftion, and other
(ion. methods of agitating the minute parts of bodies, will
likewife ihcreafe their temperature. Why, then, it is
demanded, fhould we multiply caufes, by fuppofing
the exiftence of an unknown fluid, when the mere vi-
N° 70,
I S T R Y. Theory,
bration of parts which is known to obtain may be ap- Of the
plied to explain the phenomena?” • Element
To this the reply is obvious, that the vibration c£:t
parts is an efeB;. iot matter will not begin to move of ^ J
itfelf: and if it is an efifedt, we muft fuppofe a caufe for Anf.ver to
it; which, though we flrould not call it a fluid, would MrNichol-
be. equally unknown and inexplicable with that whofe lon’s argu-
exiftence is aflerted by thofe who maintain that fire is menga
a fluid perfe. Dr Cleghorn, however, in the differta-Dr elec¬
tion already quoted, aflerts, that “ heat is occafioned hom’sproof
by a certain fluid, and not by motion alone, as fome that heat is
eminent writers have imagined: becauTe, 1. Thofe£ccafi2n^
who have adopted the hypothefis of motion could ^3 U1
never even prove the exiftence of that motion for
which they contended; and though it Ihould be
granted, the phenomena could not be explained by
it. 2. If heat depended on motion, it would inftan-
taneoufly pafs through an elaftic body; but we fee
that heat pafles through bodies flowly like a fluid.
3. If heat depended on vibration, it ought to be com¬
municated from a given vibration in proportion to the
quantity of matter; which is found not to hold true
in faft. On the other hand, there are numherlefs argu¬
ments in favour of the opinion that hearproceeds from,
elementary fire. 1. Mr Locke hath obferved, that
when we perceive a number of qualities always exifting
together, we may gather from thence that there really
is fome fubftanCe which produces thefe qualities. 2. The
hypothefis of elementary fire is fimple and agreeable to
the phenomena: 3. From fome experiments made by
Sir Ifaac Newton, it appears, that bodies acquire heat
and cold in ’vatxio, until they become of the fame tem¬
perature with the atmofphere; fo that,heat exifts in
the abfence of all other matter, and is therefore a fub-
ftance by itfelf.”
But though thefe and other arguments feem clearly Difficulties
to eltablifti the point that fire or heat is a diftindl fluid, concerning
we are ftill involved in very great difficulties concern- th6 nature
ing its nature and properties. If it be fuppofed a ^
fluid, it is impoffible to aflign any limit^to its extent;
and we muft of neceffity likewife fuppofe that it per¬
vades the whole creation, and confequently conftitutes
an abfolute plenum, contrary to a fundamental princi¬
ple of the received fyftem of natural philofophy. But
it this is the cafe, it is vain to talk of its being abforb-
ed, accumulated, colle&ed, or attrafted by different
bodies, fince it is already prefent in all points of fpace;
and we can conceive of terreftrial bodies no otherwife
than as fponges thrown into the ocean, each of which
will be as full of fluid as it can hold. The different capa¬
cities will then befimilar to the differences between bits
of wood, fponge, porous ftones, &c. for containing
water; all of which depend entirely on the ftru&ure of
the bodies themfelves, and which, unlefs we could fe-
parate the water by preffure, or by evaporation, would
be for ever unknown. Suppofing it were impoffible
to collect this water in the manner we fpeak of, we
could only judge of the quantity they contained by the
degree to which they fwelled by being immerfed in it.
It is eafy to fee, however, that fuch a method of
judging would be very inadequate to the purpofe, as
fubftances might contain internal cavities or pores in
which water could lodge without augmenting ihe ex¬
ternal bulk. This would fuggeft another method
of judging of the quantity, namely, the fpecific gra-
5 vity;
Theory.
C H E M
fes itfelf
equally.
Element vity ; and wc might reafonably fuppofe, that fubftan-
f^ Fire' ces of the greateft fpecific gravity would contain the
fmalleft quantity of water, though ftill we could by
no means determine what quantity they did contain,
unlefs we could lay hold of the element itfelf.
This feems to be very much the cafe with elemen¬
tary fire, if we fuppofe it to be a fluid per fe. We
judge of its prefence by the degree of expanfion which
one heated body communicates to another: but this is
only fimilar to the calculation of the quantity of moi-
fture a fpcnge or any other body contains, by what
it communicates to wood when it comes into contadf
with it; which never could be fuppofed to carry the
lead pretenfions to accuracy, though we (hould afcer-
tain it with all imaginable exa&nefe. It is likewife
proibtble that the moft denfe bodies contain the fmalleft
quantity of fire, as they generally communicate lefs
when heated to an equal temperature than thofe which
are more rare, though we are far fiom.having any per-
fed knowledge in this refpedt.
^Difficulty But the greateft difficulty of all will be, on the fup-
arifingfrom pofition that heat is a fluid, and an omniprefent one
Ctkf'that (whioh it muft be, or there would be feme places
heat'diffu- w^ere bodies could not be heated), to anfwer the
queftion. Why are not all bodies of an equal tempera¬
ture, excepting only the differences arifing from their
fpecific denfities, which render fome capable of
containing a greater quantity than others ?—The dif¬
ficulty will not be leffened, though the omniprefence
of the fluid fhould be given up, if we fuppofe, as is
generally done, that heat has a tendency to diffufe it¬
felf equably every way. If it has this tendency, what
hinders it from doing fo ? Why doth not the heat
from the burning regions of the torrid zone diffufe it¬
felf equally all over the globe, and reduce the earth to
one common temperature ? This indeed might require
time; but the experience of all ages has fhown that
there is not the leaft advance towards an equality of
temperature. The middle regions of the earth con¬
tinue as hot, and the polar ones as cold, as we have any
reafon to believe they were at the creation of the
world, or as we have any reafon to believe they will be
while the world remains. This indeed is one of the
many inftances of the impropriety of eftablifhing gene-,
ral laws from the trifling experiments we are capable
of making, and which hold good only on the narrow
feales on which we can make them, but are utterly in-
fufficient to folve the phenomena of the' great fyftem
of nature, and which can be folved only by obferving
other phenomena of the fame fyftem undifturbed by
any manoeuvres of our own.
Again, fuppefing the objection already made could
be got over, and fat ^factory reafons fhould be given
why an equilibrium of temperature in the earth and its
aS o?7he atmofph ere fhould never be obtained, it' will by no
heat.° means be eafy to tell what becomes of the heat which
is communicated to the earth at certain times of the
Dr Craw- year- This difficulty, or fomething fimilar, Dr Craw¬
ford’s folu-ford Teems to have had in view when treating of the
effedts of the evolution and abforption of heat. Thus,
fays he, “ the Deity has guarded againft fudden viciffi-
tudes of heat and cold upon the furface of the earth.
“ For if heat were not evolved by the procefs of
congelation, all the waters which were expofed to the
influence of the external air, when its temperature was
Von. IV. Part I,
§5
Another
from the
jeemirg
tion.
I S T R Y. 3S5
reduced below 3 20, would fpeedily become folid} and, Element
at the moment of congelation, the progrefs of cooling F‘re'
would be as rapid as it was before the air had arrived ~ *
at its freezing point.
“ This is manifeft from what was formerly obferved
refpeiting the congelation of different fluids. It was
fhown, that if the velocities of the feparation of heat
were equal, the times of the congelation would be in
proportion to the quantities of heat which the fluids
gave off from an internal fource in the freezing pro¬
cefs. Whence it follows, that if no heat were evolved,
the congelation would be inftantaneous.
“ In the prefent ftate of things, as foon as the at-
mofphere is cooled below 320, the waters begin to
freeze, and at the fame time to evolve heat; in con-
feqoence of which, whatever may be the degree of cold
in the external air, the freezing mafs remains at 32®,
until the whole is congealed ; and as the quantity of
heat extricated in the freezing of water is confiderable,
the progrefs of congelation in large maffes is very
flow.—That the abforption and extrication of heat in
the melting and freezing of bodies has a tendency to
retard the progrefs of thefe proceffes, is remarked by
Mr Wilkie in his Effay on Latent Heat.—The fame
doftrine is likewife taught by Dr Black in his lec¬
tures. 87
“ In the northern and fouthern regions, therefore, Severity of
upon the approach of winter, a quantity of elementary
fire is extricated from the waters, proportional to theern re_
degree of cold that prevails in the atmofphere. Tbusgiom miti-
the feverity of the froft is mitigated, and its progrefs gated by
retarded ; and it would feem that, durwig this retaida
tion of the cooling procefs, the various tribes of animals ;ce c
and vegetables which inhabit the circumpolor regions
gradually acquire power of refifting its influence- gg
“ On the contrary, if, in the melting of ice, a quan-Inundation#
tity of heat were not abforbed, and rendered infen- Pre'’erlfed
Able, that fubftance, when it was expofed to a medium 4it°hW"
warmer than 3 s0, would fpeedily become fluid, and the which con-
procefs of heating would be as rapid as if no alteration gealed wa¬
in its form had taken place. If things were thus confti-ter ;
tuted, the vaft maffes of ice and fnow which are colleft-
ed in the frigid zones would, upon the approach of fum-
mer, fuddenly diffolve, and great inundations would an¬
nually overflow the regions near to the poles.
“ But by the operation of the law of the abforp¬
tion of heat when the ice and fnow upon the return of
fpring have arrived at 32% they begin to melt, and at
the fame time to imbibe heat: during this procefs, a
large quantity of elementary fire becomes infenfiblej
in confequence of which the earth is flowly heated,
and thofe gradual changes are produced which are
effential to the prefervation of the animal and vegetable
kingdoms. _
“ We may remark, in the laft place, that this law Equal di-
not only refifts fudden changes of temperature, butftributioa
that it likewife contributes to a more equal diftribu-0* heatpr^
tion of the principle of heat throughout the various P10^
parts of the earth, in different feafons and climates. t;on and”
Thus the diurnal heats are moderated by the evapora-evolution-
tion of the waters on the- earth’s furface, a portion of
the fire derived from the fun being abforbed and ex-
tinguifhed.by the vapours at the moment of their af-
cent. On the approach of night the vapours are again
condenfed, and falling in the form of dew, communicate
3 C to
386 C H E M !
Element to the air and to the tarth the fire which they had im-
^fFir_e‘ bibed during the day.
V_"'L' “ It was before fliown, that, in the regions near to
the poles, when the vernal and fummer heats prevail,
proviiion is made for tempering the feverity of the win¬
ter cold, a quantity of elementary fire, upon the dif-
fblution of the ice and fnow, being abforbed by the
waters, and depofited, as it were, in a great magazine
for the purpofe of mitigating the intenfity of the cold
when the froft returns.
Heat of the “ From the experiments of Hales, Halley,and Watfon,
torrid zone it appears, that vaft quantities of water are continually
thus miti- converte(j into vapout by the aftion of the folar rays up-
8 " ’ on the portion of the earth’s futface which is expofed to
the light; and by the celebrated difcovery of Dr Black,
it is proved, that, in the procefs of evaporation, much
elementary fire is abforbed. It is manifeft, that this
caufe will have a powerful influence in mitigating the
intenfity of the heat in the torrid zone, and in pro¬
moting a more equal diffufion of it through the earth.
For a confiderable portion of the heat, which is ex¬
cited by the a&ion of the folar rays upon the earth’s
furfaqe within the tropics, is abforbed by the aqueous
vapours, which being collefted in the form of clouds, are
fpread like a canopy over the horizon, to defend the
fubjacent regions from the diredl rays of the fun. A
great quantity of elementary fire is thus rendered in-
fenfible in the torrid zone, and is carried by the dif-
perfion of the vapours to the north and to the fouth,
where it is gradually communicated to the earth when
the vapours are condenfed.”
Thisfolu- That all this takes place, as the Do£lor has advanced,
tion totally cannot be denied ; but, by allowing it, the difficulty is
iufufikiem not removed in the final left degree, as will appear from
theddEc^l a ^ue confi^erat‘on tbe phenomena which he him-
tjl ' CUi felf has mentioned.—He owns that the fun communi¬
cates fire to the earth : the queftion is, What becomes
of it, feeing the emiffion is continual ? In fummer,
the air, the earth, and the water, are heated to a
certain degree. On the fun’s declining fouthward,
the air firft lofes its heat. Whither does it go ? It
does not afcend into the higher regions of the atmo-
fphere, forthefe areconftantly found colder than the parts
below. It does not defcend to the earth and water ; for
thefe give out the quantity they had ablorbed, as Dr
Crawford obferves. Neither does it go laterally to the
fouthern regions; for they are conftantly very hot,
and ought to impart their heat to thofe farther north,
inftead of receiving any from them. How comes it
then, that the atmofphere feems perpetually to receive
heat without ever being fatiated ? or if the heat cannot
be found going off either upwards, downwards, or
fideways, how are we to account for its difappear-
oa ance ?
He^t ■ ft This queftion feems to be altogether unanfwerable
probably on the fuppofition that heat is occafioned by the mere
of^an^m* Pre^ence a fluid; but if we fuppofe it to be only a
niprefent" particular mode of a&ion of an omniprefent fluid, the
fluid. whole difficulty vanifhes at once. — On this fuppofition
indeed thequeftion will naturally arife, Whence does this
93 motion proceed, or by what is its a&ion in general
Fire feems determined ? Dr Berkenhout, in enumerating the
^ravit^ard ProPerties matter> exempts fire from two of thofe
ufually afcribed to other material fubftances, viz.
gravitation and the vis inertia. “ According to the
S T It Y. Theory.
philofophers (fays he), matter cannot move without be- Element
ing either impelled or attra&ed. T doubt much whe-°^Cire'
ther this be true of fire, and whether, when uncom- "v
bined, motion be not one of its effcntial properties.-—
Gravitation feems alio to be no property of fire, which
moves with equal facility in all dire&ions, and may be
accumulated in hard bodies to any degree without in-
crcafing their weight. Fire, being the caufe of vola¬
tility, feems rather to be in conftant countera&ion to
gravity,”
But however effential we may fuppofe the motion of
fire to be to it, there cannot be any felf-exi'lent mo¬
bility in its parts, othervvife it would foon be diffufcd
equally throughout the univerfe, and the temperature of
the whole reduced to an equilibrium. According to Diftribm-
the prefent conftitution of nature, we fee that the diftri- tion of heat
bution of heat is principally owing to the* fun; and^^“^to
what we call its quantity, depends on the pofltton of the1 e un‘
fun with regard to terreftrial objefts and the length of 95
time they are expofed to his rays. Heat is not pro- How heat
duced while the rays have a direft paffage ; and there-
fore fluids through which they pafs eafily, as air, are^ ^ u 3
not heated by the rays of the fun. But when the rays
are impeded in their courfe, and reflected in confide¬
rable quantity, a degree of heat takes place, which is
always greater or lefs in proportion to the intenfity of
the rays.— In the reflecting fiibftance, the heat will be
comparatively greater in proportion to the quantity of
rays which are abforbed or ftopped in their courfe by
it; but in any fubftance interpofed betwixt the fun and
the reflecting body, the heat is proportionable to the
quantity of rays reflected.—Now ic is plain, that when
the particles of light fall upon any opaque fubftance,
and enter its pores, which by their extreme fubtilty
they are well calculated to do, they mull make an at¬
tempt to pafs direCtly through it in their natural courfe ;
but as this cannot be done, they,will pulh laterally,
and in all directions, in confequence of being perpe¬
tually urged by the impulfe of the light coming from
the fun : and thus an aCtion will be propagated in ail
directions as radii from a centre towards a circumfe¬
rence, which when it takes place in that fubtile fluid
always produces what we call heat.
In contemplating the fyftem of nature, we Perceive ^
three kinds of fluids of extreme fubtilty, and very the identity
much refembling one another, viz. fire, light, and dec- of fire,
tricity. That it fnouid be agreeable to vulgar con- and
ceptions to fuppofe thefe all to be ultimately the fame,6 e" nci
is not furprifing; and on examining the evidence of
their identity, it will certainly be found exceedingly
ftrong. They all agree in the property of exciting
the fenfation of heat in certain circumftances, and m
not doing fo in others. Fire, we know, in the com¬
mon acceptation of the word, always docs fo; but
when it affunles the latent and inviiible ftate, as in the
formation of vapour, it lays afide this feemingly effen-
tial property, and the vapour is cold to the touch.—.
Light, when coHefted into a focus by a burning-glafs,
i. e. when its rays converge towards a centre, and di¬
verge or attempt to diverge frojn one, produces heat alio;
and fo does the eleftric fluid ; for it has been found that
the aura converging from a very large condudtor to the
point of a needle, is capable of fetting on fire a fmafl car¬
tridge of gunpowder, or a quantity of tinder, furround- ^
ing it *. There feems alfo to be a conne&ion betwixt * See Elt*"
firetric,t?-
Theory. C i? £ M
Element fire and eleftricity in another way; For in proportion as
fire- heat is diminiflied, or the bodies ate cooled, ele&ricity
* v fucceeds in its place. Thus all eleftric bodies by heat
Connection become conductors of eleftricity, and cannot be ex-
between cited or made to fhow any figns of containing that
fire or heat fluid; but as foon as the heat is removed, their eleCtric
and eleCtri- pr0perty returns. Water is naturally a condufting
Clt^' fubftance: by being frozen its conducing power is lef-
fened, which fbows an approach to electricity ; and,
by being cooled down to 20° below o of Fahrenheit,
the ice actually becomes eleCtric, and will emit fpaiks
* See Ehc- by friction like glafs*. y The atmofphere is a natural
tricity. eleCtric : but by a certain degree of heat it lofes this
property, and becomes a conductor; nor is there any
93 doubt that its eleCtric properties are increafed in pro-
Exceffive portion to the degree of cold imparted to it. In the
electricity w;nter time, therefore, we muft confider the frozen fur-
rerionsTn^ k*ce of the earth, the water, and the atmofphere of the
winter. polar regions, as forming one eleCtrical machine of enor¬
mous magnitude; for the natural cold of thefe countries
is often fufficient to cool the water to more than 20°
below o, and confequently to render it an eleCtric.
That this is really the cafe, appears from the exceflive-
ly bright aurora borealis and other eleCtric appear¬
ances, far exceeding any thing obferved in this coun¬
try. In the fummer time, however, no fuch appear¬
ances are to be feen, nor any thing remarkable except
99 an exceffive heat from the long continuance of the fun
Heat in above the horizon. This quantity of heat then being
fummer be-fucceede<J by a proportionable quantity of eleCtricity
triTfluidln *n w*nter» h '8 itnpofible to avoid concluding that the
winter. heat in fummer becomes eleCtric fluid in winter, which,
going off through the celellial expanfe, returns again
to the grand fource of light and heat from which it
originally came; thus making roftm for the fucceeding
quantities which are to enliven the earth during the fol¬
lowing fummer.
Thus the difappearance of heat in winter, and of
100 ele&ricity in fummer, in thefe countries, will be very
Why thun- naturally and eafily accounted for. It is true, that the
der and phenomena of thunder and lightning (how the exill-
hghtning ence Df tfl{s flu{,j Jn vaft quantities during the fummer
in ftunmer ^ea^on : but thefe phenomena are only partial, and
and not in though formidable to us, are trifling in comparifon with
winter. the vafl. quantities of eleftric matter difeharged by the
continual flaftring of the aurora borealis, not to men¬
tion the fire-balls and meteors called f(tilingJiars, which
are very often to be feen in the northern countries. In
the fummer-time, the air which is an eleCtric, heated by
the rays of the fun, is excited or made to part with
the fluid to the Vapours contained in it; and it is the
unequal or oppofite eleCtricity of the clouds to one
another, or to the earth, which produces the lightning.
But in winter, when the air, earth, and vapours, all be¬
come eleCtric, they cannot difeharge (parks from one to
another as before; but the whole, as one conne&ed and
vaft ekCtrified apparatus, difeharges the matter almoft
ror in a continued ftream for many months.
Heat, light, from a confideration of thefe and other phenomena
told, and of nature, as well as of the heft experiments which
eleCtricity, have hitherto been made, we muft confider fire in the
of^ne uni a^^rai^ 38 art omniprefent fluid, of fuch fubtilty as to
Verfal fluid pervade all terreftrial fnbftances. When by any means it
is made to diverge every way as from a centre, there it
operates as heat; expands, rarefies, or burns, according
I S T R Y. 387
to the intenfity of its a&ion. Proceeding ia ftraight Nature of
and parallel lines, or fnch as diverge but little, it aCts
as light, and (hows none of that power difcoverable in v
the former cafe, though this is eafily difcoverable by
making it converge into a focus. In a quiefeent (late,
or where the motion is but little, it preffes on the fur-
faces of bodies, contraCls and dimirtiflies them every
way in bulk, forces out the expanding fluid within
their pores, and then aCfs as cold. In this cafe alfo,
being obliged to fuftain the vehement aCtion of that
part of the fluid Which is in motion, it flies with violence
to every place where the prefiiire is leflened, and pro¬
duces all the phenomena of Electricity.
§ 1. Of the Nature of Heat,
The manner in which the phenomena of heat may Particulai*
be folved and its nature, underftood, will appear from Elution of
the following propofitions. reenaof10*
1. It is in all cafes obferved, that when light pro-heat,
ceeds in confiderable quantity from a point, divermin a-
as the radii of a circle from its centre, there a confi¬
derable degree of heat is found to exift, if an opaque
body, having no great refledtive power, is brought near
that point.
2. This adlion of the light, therefore, may be ac¬
counted the ultimate eaufe bf heat, without having re-
courfe to any farther fuppofitions; becaufe nothing
elfe befides this aftion is evident to our fenfes.
3. If the point from which the rays are emitted ie
placed in a tranfparent medium, fuch as air or water,
that medium, without the prefence of an opaque body,
will not be heated.
4. Another caufe of heat, therefore, is the refin¬
ance of the parts of that body on which the light falls,
to the action mentioned in Prop. 1. Where this refift-
ance is weak, as in the cafes juft mentioned, the heat is
either nothing, or very little.
5. If a body capable of reflefting light Very CO- * See
pioufly is brought near the lucid point, it will not bethe article
heated *.
6. A penetration of the light, therefore, into the ° “
fubftance of the body, and likewife a confiderable de¬
gree of refiftance on the part of that body to the adtion
of the light, are the requifites to produce heat.
7. Thofe bodies ought to conceive the greateft de¬
grees of heat into whofe fubftance the light can bed
penetrate, i. e. which have the lead reflective power,
and which molt ftrongly refiftits adtion ; which is evi¬
dently the cafe with black and folid fubftances.
8. By heat all bodies are expanded in their dimen*
fions every way, and that in proportion to their bulk
and the quantity of heat communicated to them.
9. This expanfion takes place not only by an addi¬
tion offenftble heat, but likewife of that which is latent.
Of this laft we have a remarkable inftance in the cafe
of fnow mixed with fpirit of nitre. The fpirit of
nitre contains a certain quantity of latent heat, which
cannot be feparated from it without effedfing a change
on the fpirit itfelf; fo that, if deprived of this heat,
it would no longer be fpirit of nitre. —Befides this, it
contains a quantity of fenfible heat, of a great part of
which it may be deprived, and yet retain its charadter-
iftic properties as nitrous acid. When it is poured
upon fnow, the latter is-immediately melted by the ac¬
tion of the latent heat in the acid. The fnovv cannot
3 C 2 be
388
CHEMISTRY.
Heat^ or converted into water, without imbibing a
j quantity of latent heat, which it receives immediately
Theory?
them tending from a centre to a circumference, and Nature of
thus making an effort to feparate the paiticles ofHeat'
from the acid which melts it. But the acid cannot the body from each other, and thereby to change its
part with the heat without decompofition ; to,prevent
which, its fenlible heat occupies the place, of that
which has entered the fnow and liquefied it. The mix¬
ture then becomes exceedingly cold, and the heat
forces into it from all the bodies in the neighbour¬
hood ; fo that, by the time it has recovered that quan¬
tity of fenfible heat which was. loft, or arrived at the
temperature of the atmofphere around it, it will con¬
tain a conliderably larger quantity of heat than it o-
riginally did, and is therefore obferved to be expand-:
ed in bulk. Another inftance of this expanfive power
of latent heat is in the cafe of fteam, which always
occupies a much larger fpace than the fubftance from
which it was produced ; and this whether its tempe¬
rature is greater or lefs than the furrounding atmo?
fphere.
to. The difference between latent and fenfible heat,
then, as far as we can conceive, is, that the expanfive
power of the former is direfted only againft the particles
of which the body.is compofed ; .but that of the latter
is diredted alfo againft other bodies. Neither doth there
feem to be any difference at all between them farther
than in quantity. If water, for inftance, hath but a
fmall quantity of heat, its parts are brought near each
other, it contradts in bulk, and. feels cold., Still, how¬
ever, fome part of. the heat is detained among the a-
queous particles, which, prevents the fluid from
form or mode of exiftence. When this change is ef-
fedted, bodies are faid to he diffipated in vapour, cal¬
cined, vitrified,, or burnt, according te their different
natures..
13. Inflammable bodies are fuch as are eafily raifed
in vapours; that is, the fire eafily penetrates their
parts, and combines with them in fuch quantity, that, -
becoming exceedingly light, they are carried up by
the atmofphere. Every fucceeding , addition of heat
to the body increafes alio the quantity of latent heat
in the vapour, till at laft, being unable to refill its ac¬
tion, the heat breaks out all at once, the vapour is con¬
verted into flame, and is totally decompofed. See the
article Flame, and Prop. iq.
14. Uninflammable bodies are thofe which have their
parts more firmly connedied, or otherwife difpofed in
fuch a manner, that, the particles of heat cannot eafily
combine with them or raife them into vapour.
15. Heat therefore. being only a . certain mode of
the adtion of elementary fire, it follows, that the ca¬
pacity of a body for containing it, is only a certain
cpnftitution of the body itfelf, or a difpolition of its
parts, which can allow the elementary fire contained in
it to exert its expanfive power upon them without be¬
ing diffipated on other bodies. Thofe fubftances
which allow the expanfive power of the fire to operate
on their own, particles are faid to contain a great deal
gealing into, a folid raafs. But, by a continuation of of heat; but thofe which throw it away from them-
the contradting power of the cold, the particles of wa¬
ter are at laft brought fo near each other that the in¬
ternal or latent heat is forced out. By this difeharge
a quantity of air is alfo produced, the water is con¬
gealed, and the ice occupies a greater fpace than the
water did ; but then it is full of air-bubbles, which are
evidently the caufe of its expanfion.. The heat then
felves upon other bodies, though they feel very hot, yet
philofophically fpeaking they contain very little heat.
16. What is called the quantity of heat contained in
any fubftance, if we -would fpeak with the ftridleft
propriety, is only the apparent force of its adlion, ei¬
ther upon the parts of the body itfelf, or upon other
bodies in its neighbourhood... The expanfive force of
becomes fenf.bk, or, .as it were, lies on^the outfide of the elementary fire contained in any body upon the.
the matter; and confequently is eafily diffipated into
the air, or communicated to other bodies. Another
way in which the. latent heat maybe extricated is by a
conftant addition of fenfible heat. 1 In this cafe the bo- ty of fenfibh heat it contains.
parts of that body, is the quantity of latent heat contained
in it; and the expanfive force ®f the fire exerted upon
other bodies which touch or come near it, is the quanti¬
fy is firft raifed into vapour, which for fome time car¬
ries off the redundant quantity of heat. But as the
quantity of this heat is continually increafed, the tex¬
ture of the vapour itfelf la at laft totally deftroyed. It
becomes too much expanded to contain the heat,
which is therefore violently thrown out. on all fides into
the atmofphere, and the body is faid to burn, or be on
fire. See Combustion, Flame, and Ignition.
7. If what we call heat confifts only in a certain
aftion of that fluid called elementary fire, namely, its
expanfion, or acting from a centre to a circumference,
it follows, that if the fame fluid aft in a manner di-
reftly oppofite to the former, or prefs upon the par¬
ticles of a body as from a circumference to a centre,
it will then produce effefts direftly oppofite to thofe
of heat, i. e. it will then be abfolute cold) and produce all
1, .Hence it follows, that thofe bodies which have., the effefts already attributed to Cold. See that article.
the leaft fliare of latent heat, appear to have the
greateft-quantity of fenfible heat.; but this is only in
appearance, for, the great quantity they feem to con¬
tain is owing really to their inability to contain it..
Thus, if we can fuppofe a fubftance capable of tranf-
mitting heat through it as fail as it received it; if fuck.
If heat and cold then are only two different
modifications of the fame, fluid, it follows, that if a hot
body and a cold one are fuddenly brought near each
other, the heat of the one ought to drive before it a
part of the co'^l contained in the other, i. e. the two
portions of elementary fire afting in two oppofite ways,
a fubftance was fet over a fire, it would be as hot as. ought,in fome meafure to operate upon, one another
the fire itfelf, and yet the moment it was taken off, it as any two different bodies would when driven againft
■would be perfectly cool, on account of its incapacity each other. When a hot and a cold body therefore
to detain the heat,among the particles of which it was are brought near each other, that part of the cold
compofed. hodyfartheft from the hot one ought to become colder
12. The heat, therefore, in all bodies confifts in a than before, and that part of the hot body fartheft from ■
certain, violent, aftion of the elementary fire within the cold one ought to become hotter than before.
19
Theory. C H E M
GeneralEf- ig. For the fame rcafon, the greateft degree of cold
fefts of jn any body pught to be no obftacle, or at leall very
Peat~ little, to its conceiving heat, when put in a proper
fituation. Cold air, cold fuel, &c. ought to become
as intenfely heated, and nearly as foon, as that which
is hotter.
The two laft propofitions are of great importance.
When the firft of them is thoroughly eftabiifhed, it
will confirm beyond a doubt, that cold is a pofitlve^ as
well as heat; and that each of them has a feparate and
diftindt power, of which the action of its antagonilt
is the only proper limit j i. e. that heat can only limit
the power of cold, and vice verfa. A llrong confir¬
mation of this propofition is the experiment related by
M. Geoffroy; an account of which is given under the
article Cold. Another, but not fo Well authen¬
ticated, is related under the article Congelation.
—De Luc’s obfervation alfo, mentioned by Dr
Cleghorn, affords a pretty ftrong proof of it; for if
the lower parts of the atmofphere are cooled by the
paffage of the fun’s rays at fome diftance above, and
it hath been already {frown that they do not attra.3
the heat from the lower parts, it follows, that they
mult expel part of the cold from the upper regions.—
The other propofition, when fully eltablifhed, will
prove, that heat and cold are really convertible into
one another; which indeed feems not improbable, as
we fee that fires will burn with the greatell fiercenefs
during the time of intenfe frofts, when the coldeft air
is admitted to them; and even in thofe difmal regions
of Siberia, when the intenfe cold of the atmofphere is
fufficient to congeal quickfilver, it cannot be doubted
that fires will burn as well as in this country ; which
could not happen if heat was a fluid per fe, and capable
of being carried off; or abfolutely diminifiied in quan¬
tity, either in any part of the atmofphere itfelf, or in
fuch terrefiial bodies as are ufed for fuel..
§ 2. Oft he general Ejfedls of Heat..
Having faid thus much concerning the nature of
lipat in general, we come now to a particular explana¬
tion of its feveral effects, which indeed conffitute the
whole of the adtive part of chemiftry. —Thefe are,
I. Expanfon, or increafe of bulk in every direction.
This is a fneceffary confequence of the endeavour
which the fluid makes to efcape in all directions, when
made to converge into a focus. The. degree of expan-
fion is unequal in different bodies, but in the fame
body is always. proportionable to the degree of heat
fnftrunients applied. There are two different inftruments in ufe
for mcafu- for afcertaining the.degrees of expanfion ; and as we
nng the ex. have already fhown, that the degree, of heat can only
bodied ke known by the expanfion, thefe effects of heat upon
the inftrument are ufually taken for the degrees of
heat themfelves. Thefe inftruments are called, the
Thermometer and Pyrometer. The former is
compofed of a glafs tube, with a globe or rather oval
tube at one end, and exactly clofed at the other: it is
moft ufually filled with mercury or fpirit of wine; but
mercury is generally preferred on account of its ex-
p.anfions being more equable than thofe of any other
fluid. It has the difadvantage, however, of being
fubjedt to congdation; which is not the cafe with fpi¬
rit of wine, when very highly redtified. Spirit-of-wine
I s T II Y. 389
thermometers, therefore, ought not to be entirely dif-Gmeial Ef-
ufed, but feem rather a neceffary part of the chemi-
cal apparatus, as well as thofe made with mercury. Pe:it'
As no thermometer made with any fluid can mea- JO
fure either the degrees of heat about the point at Wedge-
which it boils, or the degrees of cold below which it wood’s ira-
congeals, inttruments have been contrived by which ProvemcGt
the expanfion of folid bodies, though much lefs than ^omaec^'
what is occafioned by an equal degree of heat in a '
fluid, may become vilible. Thefe were ufually called
Pyrometers ; but Mr Wedgewood has lately contrived '
a method of connedling the two together, in which
the higheft degree of heat, exceeding even that of a
glafs-houfe furnace, may be meafured as accurately as
the more moderate degrees by the common mercurial
thermometer. See Thermometer., ioy
Expanfion in Tome cafes does not appear to be theInftances
effect of heat, of which we have two remarkable in-
fiances, viz. of iron, which always . expands in cool- by^caidl'1*’
ing after it has been melted ; and of water, which ex¬
pands with prodigious force in the a£t of freezing.
The power with which iron expands in the a& of
palling from a fluid to a folid ftate, has never been
meafured, nor indeed does it feem eafy to do fo; but
that of freezing water has been accurately computed.
This was done by the Florentine Academicians, who Prodigious
having filled an hollow brafs ball of an inch diameter force exert>
with water, expofedl it to a mixture of fnow and fait, ^*5.
in order to congeal the water, and try whether its force *ing"
was fuflicient to burft the ball or not. The ball, being
made very ftrong, refilled the expanding force of the
water twice, even though a confiderable part of its
thicknefs had been pared off when it was perceived
too ftrong at firft. At the third time it burft; and by
a calculation founded on the thicknefs of the globe
and the tenacity of the metal, it was found that the
expanfive power of a fpherule of water only one inch
in diameter, was fufficient to overcome a reliftance of
more than 2.7,000 pounds, or 13 tons and an half. I07
A power of expanfion fo prodigious, little lefs than Ufed as an
double that of the moft powerful ffeam-engines, and argument,
exerted in fo fmall a body, feemingly by the force of the T"
cold, was thought to be a very powerful argument in c, a
favour of thofe who fuppofe cold to be a pofitive fub- pofitive
ftance as well as heat; and indeed contributed not a !uhftance-
little to embarrafs the oppofite party. Dr Black’s Ex j0.8 ,
difcovery of latent heat, however, has now afforded by Dr ^
a very eafy and natural explication of this phenome- Black’s the-
non. He has Ihown, that, in the aft of congelation, ory of l3*
water is not cooled more than it was before, but ra_tentheat*
ther grows warmer: that as much heat is difcharged,
and paffes from a latent to a fenfible Hate, as, had it
been applied to water in its fluid ftate, would have 10{)
heated it to 1350. In this procefs the expanfion is The expan-
occafioned by a great number of minute bubbles fud-fion 1 rodu-
denly produced. Thefe were formerly fuppofed to be ce^
formed of cold in the abftradt; and to be fo fubtile, ofiur-bub-
that, infmuating themfelves into the fubftances of the bles.
fluid, they augmented its bulk, at the fame time that,
by impeding the motion of its particles upon each
other, they changed it from a fluid to a folid. Dr
Black, however, has demonftrated, that thefe are only
air extricated during the congelation ; and to the ex.
trication of this air he very juftly attributes the prodi¬
gious expanfive force exerted by freezing water. The
only;
3§»
C H E M
means this air comes to be extricatedj and to take
j up more room than it naturally does in the fluid ? To
1I0 this we can fcarce give any other anfwer, than that
This air part of the heat which is difcharged from the freezing
extricated water combines with the air in its unelaftic ftate, and,
the*heat°f ^7 relloring its elafticity, gives it that extraordinary
contained f°rce' as we ^ee a^° 'n the cafe of air fuddenly extri-
?.n the wa- cated in the exploflon of gunpowder. Thus expan-
tcr. flon, even in the cafe of freezing, is properly an effect
of heat; and mult therefore be confidered as a pheno¬
menon uniformly and certainly attending the action of
Iri heat, and in all cafes to be aferibed to it.
Capacity of The only way in which the element or fluid of fire
a body for can be fuppofed to aft, and the way in which we can
heat^the^ have a rational idea of its being able to produce both
fa”e With heat and cold according to the diverfity of its aftion,
the a61 ion has been already explained fo fully, that it is needlefs
of heatup- at prefent to enter into any further difeuffion of the
on that bo- {^bjeft. It will eafily appear, that the capacity for
^ containing heat is nothing different from the aftion
• of heat upon that body in expanding; and at laft alter¬
ing its form in fuch a manner, as either to be able to
infinuate itfelf among the particles in much greater
quantity, than before, ftill retaining its internal ac¬
tion, though the external one becomes imperceptible;
or fcattering them in fuch a manner, that it breaks
forth in great quantity in its peculiar appearances of
fire and light; in the former cafe producing vapour or
fmoke, and in the latter flame, as fhall afterwards be
fmpnffibili- folly explained. It muff likewife appear, that
ty of deter-to determine the quantity of heat in any body is
mining the altogether impoffible : and with regard to the lowell
quantity of gegree 0f heat, or a total expulfion of that fluid, fo
body^on- ^ar from being able to determine what it is, the pro-
tains. bability muff be, that nature does not admit of any
fuch thing; for if heat confifts in the expanfive ac¬
tion of a certain fluid, and cold in its oppofite or
contraftile aftion, there is very little reafon to fup-
pofe that the conftitution of nature will allow any one
of thefe aftions entirely to ceafe, as it does not ap¬
pear by what means it could again be renewed. Cold,
as we have already feen, always tends to produce elec¬
tricity ; and the conneftion betwixt that and fire is fo
ftrong, that we cannot fuppofe the former to be car¬
ried to any great extreme without producing the lat¬
ter. Whatever we may therefore fuppofe concerning
the capacities of different bodies for containing heat,
or coticerning the point of total privation of heat, mutt
be altogether void of foundation. A rule, however,
lias been given by Mr Kirwan for finding the point of
total privation, which, together with its demonftra*'
tion, we fliall fubjoin ; and as it is neceffary for the
better underftairding of this, to call to remembrance
what has been faid concerning the difference between
the temperatures and fpecific heats of bodies, we ft)all
infert an epitome of the doftrine from Mr Nicholfon.
Mr Nichol- “ If two equal bodies of different kinds and tem-
fon’s ac- peratures be brought into contaft, the common tern-
count of perature will feldom, if ever, be the mean betwixt the
ties ofbo-" two or*ff‘na^ temperatures; that is to fay, thefurplus
dies for of heat in the hotter body will be unequally divided
containing between them, and the proportions of this furplus re¬
heat, &c. tained by each Jbody will exprefs their refpeftive dil-
pofitions, affinities, or capacities for heat.— If, there-
1 STR Y. Theory.
fore, a given fubftance, as for example fluid water, be GeneralEf-
taken as the ftandard of comparifon, and its capacity
for heat be called one, or unity, the refpeftive capa-. ea ' (
cities of their bodies may be determined by experi¬
ment, and expreffed in numbers in the fame manner
as fpecific gravities ufually are. And becaufe it is
eftabliftied as Well from reafon as experiment, that the
fame capacity for heat obtains in all temperatures of a
given body, fo long as its ftate of folidity, fluidity, or
vapour is not changed, it will follow, that the whole
quantities of heat in equal bodies of a given temperature
wall be as thofe capacities. And as the refpeftive
quantities of matter, in bodies of equal volume, give
the proportions of their fpecific gravities, fo the re¬
fpeftive quantities of heat in bodies of equal weight and
temperature give the proportions of their fpecific heats.
f‘ A greater capacity for heat, or greater fpecific
heat, in a given body, anfwers the fame purpofe with
refpeft to temperature as an increafe of the mafs;
or the quantity of heat required to be added or
fubdufted, in order to bring a body to a given
temperature, will be as its capacity or fpecific heat.
“ The capacities not only differ in various bodies,
but alfo in the fame body, according as it is either
in a folid, fluid, or vaporous ftate. All the experi¬
ments hitherto made confpire to (how, that the capa¬
city, and confequently the fpecific heat, is greateft
in the vaporous, lefs in the fluid, and leaft in the fo¬
lid ftate.
The quantity of heat that conftitutes the difference
between the feveral ftates, may be found in degrees of
the thermometer. Thus, if equal quantities of water
at 162° and ice at 3 2° of temperature be mixed, the
ice melts, and the common temperature becomes 320;
or otherwife, if equal quantities of frozen and fluid wa¬
ter, both at 2 30, be placed in a like fituation to acquire
heat from a fire, the water will become heated to 162°,
while the ice melts without acquiring any increafe of tem¬
perature. In either cafe the ice acquires 130° of heat,
which produces no other effeft than rendering it fluid.
Fluid water, therefore, contains not only as much more
heat than ice, as is indicated by the thermometer,
but alfo 130°, that is in fome manner or other em¬
ployed in giving it fluidity. And as fluid water can¬
not become ice without parting with 130° of heat be-
fides what it had above 32° in its temperature ; fo al¬
fo fteam cannot become condenfed into water with¬
out imparting much more heat to the matters it is
cooled by, than water at the fame temperature would
have done.
“ The heat employed in maintaining the fluid or
vaporous form of a body, has been called latent heat,
becaufe it does not affeft the thermometer. 114
“ From the confideration of the fpecific heats of Mr Kir-
the fame body in the two ftates of fluidity and folidi-^^
ty, and the difference between thofe fpecific heats, is fading the
deduced a method of finding the number of degrees p ur,t 0f tu-
which denote the temperature of any body immediate- val priva-
ly after congelation, reckoned from the natural zero,
or abfolute privation of heat. The rule is ; multiplynea *
the degrees of heat required to reduce any folid to a
fluid ftate, by the number expreffing the fpecific heat
of the fluid : divide this produft by the difference be¬
tween the numbers expreffing the fpecific heat of the -
body in each ftate ; the quotient will be the number
2 * of
Theory. C H E M I
General Ef-of degrees of temperature, reckoned from an abfolute
fedts of privation of heat.
Pear‘ « This theorem is Mr Kirwan’s, and may be proved
v thus. Let s reprefent the required temperature of .the
> body juft congealed, / — the number of degrees that
exprefs the heat required to reduce it to fluidity, n =
the fpeciflc heat of the folid, and m = the fpecific
heat of the fluid. Then s+l: s :: m Whence
s = -—-— — the temperature from the natural zero
in thermometrical degrees of the fluid. But becaufe
the actual fall of the thermometer is to be produced
by cooling the folid, mull pay attention to its capa¬
city. The quantity of heat required to produce a
given change of temperature in a body is as its capa¬
city; and confequently the changes of temperature,
when the quantity of heat is given, will be inverfely
In In
as the capacities: therefore, n: m: :m n~s'
which is the rule above mentioned.
“ If the data /, m, and n, be accurately obtained
by experiment, in any one inftance, and the difference
between the zero of Fahrenheit’s fcale and the natural
zero be thence found in degrees of that fcale, this
difference will ferve to reduce all temperatures to the
numeration which commences at the natural o. So
that s being known in all cafes, if any two of the
quantities /, m, or n, be given in any body, the other
S T R Y.
39i
may be likewife had. For/=—^—; and r
sm—hit
s—l
“ To give an example of this curious rule, let it be
required to determine how many degrees of refrigera¬
tion would abfolutely deprive ice of all its heat ? The
degrees of heat neceffary to melt ice are 130 ; and the
fpecific heats of ice and water are as 9 to 10. The
number 130 multiplied by 10, produces 1300, and
divided by the difference between 9 and 10 quotes
1300: therefore if ice were cooled 13.00 degrees be¬
low 320, or to—1268 of Fahrenheit’s fcale, it would
retain no more heat.”
II. Fluidity is another effeft of heat, and is capable
of taking place in all bodies hitherto known, when
the fire is carried to a certain pitch. Theories have
been invented, by which fluidity was aferibed to the
fmoothnefs and round figure of the particles whereof
bodies were compofed, and folidity to an angular or
irregular figure. It has alfo been aferibed to a ftrong-
er degree of attra&ion between the parts of folids
Fluidln to t^ian ^u^s* k)r Black, however, has ffiown, that
be aferibed in the cafe-of melting ice, we are certainly to aferibe
to the afi- the acquired fluidity of the water to the abforption of
forption of heat. This was determined by a decifive experiment,
C3t“ in which he expofed a Florence-flaik full of water to
the atmofphere in a warm room, when he found that,
the heat in the air evidently left it, to flow into the
ice in the bottle, and reduced it tv fluidity. The air
thus deprived of its heat, he felt fenfibly defeending
like a coldblaft from the bottle, and continuing to do
fo as long as any of the ice remained unthawed ; yet
after it was all melted, the temperature of the fluid
was no more than 320. Different degrees of heat are
requifite for converting different folids into fluids, for
which fee the Fable of Degrees of; He.at.
This theory receives an additional confirmation from General Ef-
the quantity of heat which is alw'ays known to be produ-
ced by the converfxon of a fluid into a folid. And that. e:U^
this is really the cafe appears, 1. From what happens in , ,5
the congelation of waters, it appears that ice is formed SenGble
very flowly, and with feveral circumftances which flip- heat produ-
port the theory.—Thus, if we expofe equal quantities
of water to the air, which is perhaps 10 ’ below froft, ^
and add to one of thefe a fmall quantity of fait or into a folii.
fpirit of wine, and obferve the cooling of each, we
(hall find them both grow gradually colder, until they
arrive at the temperature of froft; after which the wa¬
ter containing the fait will continue to grow colder,
until it has arrived at the temperature of the air, at
the fame time that only a fmall quantity of the other
water is converted into ice. Yet were the common
opinion juft, it ought all to have been congealed by this
time ; inftead of which, it is fcarce grown a degree -
colder during the whole time. Its remaining at’the
fame temperature for fo long time, fliows that it has
been communicating heat to the atmofphere ; for it is
impoffible that any body can remain in contact with
another that is colder, without communicating heat toil.
Whence then comes this heat ? There mull be fome
fource adding to the fenfible heat of the water, fo as to
keep up its temperature to the freezing point: and this •
fource of heat muff be very confiderable ; for it will
continue to aft for a very long time before the water
is changed into ice; during all which time, even to'.the
laft drop, the water is not a degree colder than 320 of f
Fahrenheit’s thermometer. This, therefore, is the
latent heat of the water, which had formerly entered into •
it during its tranfition from ice to a fluid ftate. .
A ftill ftronger argument is derived from the fol- A-Jument
lowing experiment; which evinces that the fluidity of in fupport
water really depends upon its latent heat, and that of the theo-
the fenfible heat is only a mean or condition to itsfrom
containing the latent heat. This experiment confifts mainimT
in expofing water contained in a covered beer-glafs to fluid tho’
the air of a cold frofty night; and when the atmo-cooled be-,
fphere is at the temperature of perhaps io° or 120 be- low
low froft, the water will acquire that temperature
without freezing: fo that the fluidity of tlA water
does not altogether depend on the quantity of fen¬
fible heat contained in it. The congelation, however,
may be brought on by touching it with a bit of ice,
with the extremity of a wire, by a (hock upon the
board, or otherwife difturbing it; and we then find
the temperature fuddenly raifed up to 3 20. This
ftiows plainly, that the water has a difpofition to re-
tain the quantity of latent heat, upon which its .flui¬
dity muff immediately and neceffarily depend; and it
retains it with a certain degree of force, fo as to keep
the water fluid in a temperature, below that in which <
it ufually parts with the latent heat and congeals. By
diffurbing it, however, we inftantly bring' on the con¬
gelation, which cannot take place without an extri¬
cation of the latent heat; which then, being changed
into the ordinary or moveable-heat, raifes the thermo¬
meter as ufual. . The quantity of heat , difeharged from •
the-firft fmall portion of ice formed in the water is ;
Sufficient to prevent any more latent heat from fepa-
rating, and confequently from any more ice being
produced till more of the fenfible heat is abftrafted.
This do&rine extends not only to fuch bodies as
are actually converted from a folid to a fluid, or from
3Q2 e H E M I
p“ier^ a fluid to a foltd ftatf, but to fuch as are in a kind of
Heat. middle (late betwixt folidity and fluidity; for every
> *v . degree of foftnefs depends on a certain degree of heat
ug contained in the body. Thus, for dnftance, melted
Heat the wax, allowed to cool flowly, foon becomes opaque and
caufe of the confiftent; but it mull be colder ftill before it attains
bodiesap- ^ts utm°ft degree of hardnefs. There is therefore a
rroaching certain degree of heat below which every body is folid,
to fluidity, and above which every one is fluid ; the former being
called the congealing, and the latter the melting, point of
i T9 bodies,
Abforption By making' experiments upon different fubftances,
univerfal I)o61or was convinced that latent heat is the uni-
eaufe of verfal caufe of fluidity ; and the dodtrine holds good in
fluidity. all the .experiments that have hitherto been made upon
Spermaceti, bees-wax, and Some of the metals. If
they are melted, allowed to cool flowly, and a thermo¬
meter be inimerfed into them, we find, that as long as
they continue fluid, their fenfible heat diminifhes very
faft ; but as foon as they begin to grow folid, the fen-
Sible heat continues greater than that of the air to
which they are expoftd ; and during all this time it is
communicating heat to the air, without having its fen¬
fible heat diminifhed : for the latent heat within the
'fluid gradually receives a fenfible form, and keeps up
the temperature, proving a fource of fenfible heat,
which is communicated to the neighbouring bodies as
well as the furrounding air. The foftnefs and du&ility
of bodies depend on this alfo.
III. Evaporation. A third efLct of the aftion of
heat is that of converting bodies into vapour, by which
Vapour they are rendered fpecifically lighter than the furround-
formed by ing atmofphere, and enabled to rife in it. To account
the abforp- for this, many theories have been invented ; but that of
ten” heat" ^ w^° accounts for it, as well as fluidity from
the abforption of latent heat, is now univerfally re¬
ceived. The circumftances by which he proves and il-
luftrates his do&rine are the following:
i. When we attend to the phenomena of boiling wa¬
ter, in a tea kettle for inftance, it may, when firft put up¬
on the fire, be about the temperature of 48°or 50°. In a
quarter of an hour it will become heated to 2120. It
then begins to boil, and has gained 162° of vapour in
that time. Now, if the converfion of it into vapour de¬
pended on the quantity of fenfible heat introduced, we
may alk how long it will be neceflary to raife it all in
vapour ? Surely another quarter of an hour fhould be
slI fufficient; but this is far from being the cafe. Dr
Eaperi- Black made fome experiments upon this fubjeft in
jnentsby conjun&ion with another gentleman. Having the op-
Dr Black portunity of what is called a kitchen-table or a thick
verfion'of'" P^ate ca^ *ron> one enc^ which was made fenfibly
water into red-hot, they fet upon this fome iron veflels with cir-
vapour. cular flat bottoms, of about four inches diameter, and
which contained a quantity of water. The tempera¬
ture of the water was noted, as alfo when it began to
boil; and when the whole of it was boiled away, it was
found, that when fet on the table its temperature had
been 54°-; in four minutes it began to boil, and in that
fpace of time received 158° degrees of heat. Had the
evaporation, therefore, depended merely on the quan¬
tity of fenfible heat introduced, it ought to have been
diffipated pntirely in a Angle minute more. It was,
however, 18 minutes in diffipating; and therefore had
received £07 degrees of heat before it was all evapo-
N° 70.
S T It Y. Theory.
rated. All this time, therefore, while the water coq- OencralEf-
tinued to boil, it was receiving a great quantity of heat,
which mult have been flowing equally faft out of it;. ea
for the -veflel was no hotter, and the iron plate conti¬
nued equally hot, the whole time. The veflels were
of different lhapes, fome of them cylindrical, fome co¬
nical, others widening upwards ; one of the defigns of
the experiment being to fhow how far the evaporation
was retarded by the particular form of the veffels. By
fufpending a thermometer in the mouth of one of the
evaporating veffels, the heat of the fteam was found to
be exaftly 212°; fo that as the great quantity of
heat abforbed was found neither to have remained in
the water, nor to have been carried away by the ftearti
in a fenfible manner, we have nothing left to fuppofe,
but that it flew off as one of the component parts of
the fteam in a latent ftate.
2. In an experiment to (how the fixednefs of the
boiling point of water, Dr Black inclofed fome of that
fluid in a ftrong vial having a thermometer in it, and
Hopped clofe with a cork. By the application of heat
he hoped now to be able to raife the thermometer fbme
degrees above the boiling point, which would be the.
natural confequence of the confinement of the fteam.
When this was done, he pulled out the cork, and fup-
pofed that the water would now all fly out in vapour:
but in this he was totally difappointed ; a fudden and
very tumultuous boiling enfued, which threw out fome
of the water; but though fome quantity of fteam like-
wife iffued, the quantity of water was not confiderably
diminiftied. The vial had been heated to 20° above
the boiling point, but almoft inftantly cooled down to
2120, when the cork was taken out.
3. Mr Watt, in making fome experiments on the
force of fteam, had occafion to ufe Papin’s digefter,
with a pipe proceeding from its fide ; the orifice of
which was (hut with a valve prefled down by one end
of a lever. Thus he heate.d fteam to 400° of Fahren¬
heit ; after which, having fuddenly ftruck off the lever,
a quantity of fteam flew out with confiderable noife,
and with fuch violence as to make an impreflion on the
ceiling of the room ; but this noife gradually diminilh-
ed, and after ten minutes ceafed entirely ; and upon
opening the machine, he found the grtateft part of the
water (till remaining. _
4. The change of fenfible into latent heat in the Boiling
formation of vapour, appears ftill more evident in the point of
boiling of water in vacuo. Mr Boyle took a quantity water ««
of water which had been previoufly boiled to purge it^erniined
of its air, and put it whilft hot under the receiver of an by Mr
air-pump. In confequence of this it began again to boil, Boyle,
and continued boiling till it was only lukewarm, and it
foon arrived at this temperature ; fo that in this cafe
alfo the heat had difappeared during the converfion of jjj
the fluid into vapour. Others have repeated the ex- And by _
periment, asBoerhaave, Mufchenbroek ; and Robinfon, ^
who lectures on chemiftry in Glafgow, fays that the
heat diminifties very faft till it comes to 90° or 95 >
which feems to be the boiling point of water in vacuo.
As a confiderable part of the heat thus difappears, and
is to be difeovered neither in the water nor in the va¬
pour, we muft conclude that it enters the latter as part
of its compofition.
5. Thus alfo we may underftand fome curious expe¬
riments made by Dr Cullen upon ether and other vo¬
latile
Theory.
General Ef-latile fluids.
feftsc"
Heat.
C H E M
He employed fome perfons to make ex-
e cold produced by evaporation ;
and willing to repeat them himfelf in vacuo, he put
I24 fome of the moft volatile liquors under the receiver
Dr Cullen’s of an air-pump. One of thefe was ether. It was
experimentscontained in a glafs, in which there was alfo placed
^“J<*Pro‘fome water. When the air was extra&ed, the ether
vaporation.'be£an t0 boil, and to be converted into vapour, till it
’ became fo very cold that it froze the water contained
in the veffel, though the temperature of the room was
about 50°. Here therefore there was a quantity of
heat which difappeared all of a fudden ; which it is
plain could net be owing to its having any communi¬
cation with that of the atmofphere or other cold bo¬
dies, as they tould not'render it colder than they were
themfelves. Ether therefore is to be confidered as a
fluid fo volatile, that were it not for the preflure of the
atmofphere it would be perpetually in the ftate of \n-
i*5 Pour’
Heat expel- 6. That this heat which enters' into the vapour rs
led in great not deftroyed, but remains in a latent ftate, is
V>antity br eafily proved ; for we find that a great quantity of
fatlonof va-^eat ‘s exPeHed from vapour when it is condenfed again
pour. to form the body it compofed originally. This is ea¬
fily afeertained by obferving the quantity of heat com¬
municated to the water in the refrigeratory of a ftill
by any given quantity of liquid which comes over.
Thus, if the refrigeratory contain loo pounds of
water, and the diftillation be continued till only one
pound has come over, fuppofing the water in the refri¬
geratory to have received 8° of heat; it is plain, that
if the whole of the quantity thus received could be
thrown into one pound of water, the latter would be
heated to 8o6°; which is fufficient to make an equal
fpace of iron red-hot. But that this quantity of heat
is received by the water in the refrigeratory has ap¬
peared from feveral experiments, which (how that wa¬
ter, by being converted into vapour, abforbs between
126 8oo° and 90c0 of heat.
Mr YVatt’s On this principle we may explain fome curious
e**experiments made by Mr Watt with regard to the
poiation ^evaporation of fluids in vacuo. That gentleman had
flirdsw formed a defign of converting vrater into fteam with
cuo. Jefs expence of fuel, which he imagined might be
. done by removing the preflure of the air from the
water, which he thought would thus require a much
fmaller quantity of fuel to convert it into vapour. Dr
Black, however, perceiving that only the fmall quan¬
tity of fenfible heat the fteam pofleffed could thus be
carried off, informed him beforehand that his projeft
would not be found attended with the advantages he
imagined. The experiment, however, was made in
the following manner: A ftill was procured of tinned
iron, the body of which refembled that of a retort,
with a veffel ferving as a condenfer ; the whole appa¬
ratus being clofe, excepting a little hole in the extre¬
mity of the condenfing veffel. He firft exhaufted this
veffel of air by holding the condenfer over the retort,
in which fome boiling water was contained, until it was
entirely converted into fteam. He then fuddenly
flopped the little hole, and removed the veffels from
the fire ; when, after they were cooled, there was a
pretty perfeft vacuum formed by the condenfation of
the fteam. The retort was then put on the fire, and
turned fo that the pipe and condenfing veffel Ihould
Vot. IV. Part I.
I S T R Y. 393
hang downward ; and plungmg them into cold water, General
heat was applied to the ftill till the water boiled, as Effe<^s
could be known by the noife. It was kept boiling, Heat‘ .
till a quantity of fteam was puflied over and condenfed ^
with a very gentle heat, the ftill feeling little warmer
than his hand. After a certain quantity had been
diftilled, the apparatus was removed, and he had noted
the heat of the water in the refrigeratory ; but though
the fteam all along came over with fo gentle a heat,
he found the quantity communicated to the water in
the refrigeratory to be furprifingly great, not lefs than
1000s ; fo that it would have been more than fufficient
to heat the quantity of liquor which came over red-hot. tij
IV. Ignition, or the caufing bodies to ftune or emit Ignition a
light in the dark. This may be confidered as a fpe-con!lant
cies of inflammation, and ftiall therefore be explained a”d
under that head : here we (hall only obferve, that ig-heat* °f
nition is a more fteady and conllant effedl of heat than
either the produdtion of fluidity or vapour; and ap-Al! ignited
pears not only to be the fame degree with regard tobo^iese’
any particular body, but the fame with regard to all‘lually hat*
kinds of matter. Dr Martin imagines, that a red-hot
piece of iron is hotter than a red hot piece of ftone ; but
if you put into a crucible an hundred different kinds of
matter, as metals, glafs, &c. that are capable of bearing
a red heat, they will all begin to appear luminous about
the fame time, and their brightnefs will increafe equal¬
ly as their heat increafes. But it is difficult to know
at what point this begins, as we have no way of afeer-
taining the beginning or loweft degree of ignition but
by the effeft it produces on our fight, and we cannot
be fure that we perceive the loweft degree of light;
for we know that other animals fee objects with iuch
light as appears perfedl darknefs to us. Sir Ifaac
Newton’s method of determining this has been already
mentioned.
Dr Boerhaave entertained a notion, that fome Metalfmay
metals, after being once brought into a ftate of fu-become
fion, could be made no hotter; and propofes the pof-vaftly hot*
Ability of this as a queftion, “ Whether the heat of^'c ’ ^
metals can be increafed after they are melted ?” There broueht in¬
is not, however, the leaft doubt but that their heat may to fufion.
be valily increafed after they are melted; and we know
certainly that fuch as are of eafy fufion may be
heated to a vaftly greater degree after being melted ;
and why may not thofe requiring ftronger heats be the
fame ? We are fure that this is the cafe with lilver,
which, after being melted, may be brought to fuch a
heat as to become too dazzling for the eye to bear it.
If Boerhaave’s opinion were juft, it would be impof-
fible to caft any metal into moulds, becaufe it mull lofe
a little heat in being removed from the fire and in en¬
tering the mould ; nor would they receive a proper
impreffion if they did not contain a greater quantity
of heat than was neceffary for their fufion.
Ignition appears to be univerfal; and all bodies1 ca-ignimm an
pable of fupporting it without being converted into an univerfal
elaftic vapour that cannot be confined, are affe&ed r^e<a °f
the fame way. Water, which in its ordinary ftate fire‘
feems very little capable of enduring this heat, may be Water1 may
confined in ftrong veffels fo as to become capable of be made J
melting lead, which is more than half way betwixt a fufficiently |
red heat and that of boiling water. Experiments with .hokto meIt
the eolipile ftiow alfo that it can be made red-hot
for when the fleam paffes through burning fuel, it can-
3 not
394
e M E M
General not mils of being made red-hot: Dr Black has alfo
fre<iuently ^een t^,e vapour of water heated by throw-
i ~.... i ing it into the afh-pit of a furnace, fo as to produce a
very large and transparent flame in rifing up through
the vent. There is reafon therefore to conclude, that
ignition is one of the more general effeCfs of heat, only
that fome bodies are incapable of it until they be re¬
duced to a ftate of vapour.
V. The laft of the effe&s of heat here to be taken
notice of is inflammation. It differs from ignition in
Difference this, that the bodies fubjeft to the latter gradually grow
betwixt ig- cooler as foon as they are taken out of the fire, with-
infbmmati out un(^erff0*ng any confiderable change; while thole
on. fubjeft to inflammation become continually hotter and
hotter, communicating a vaft quantity of heat to others,
and undergoing a kind of decompofition themfelves,
infomueh, that by this means they have been thought
to Be reduced to their constituent principles or ele-
J33 , ments. Some fubftances indeed feem to be an excep-
OH tkeom^'ti00 to as in the open air they burn totally away,
pounds hut without leaving any refiduum or producing any foot,
does not de- Thefe are fpirit of wine, fulphur, and efpecially inflam-
llroy bodiesmable air ; which laft, by a proper mixture with de-
phlogifticated air, may be fo totally confumed, that
fcarce a fiftieth part of the two will remain. On a
careful examination of thefe fubftances, however, we
find that there is by no means a total confumption, or
indeed, properly Ipeaking, any confumption at all, at
leaft if we meafure the quantity of matter by the weight
Spirit of* of the fubftance employed. Thus, if we are at pains
■wine yieldsto colled! the vapour of burning fpirit of wine, we will
a great find, that an aqueous dew is collefted, which fome-
waterby t'me3 equals the fpirit of wine itfelf in weight. With
being burn-regard to fulphur, the cafe is ftill more evident; for
ed. the vapour of this, when colle&ed, not only equals
but greatly exceeds the weight of the fulphur employ¬
ed ; and on burning dephlogifticated and inflam-
mable air together, as much water is found to be pro-
Watcr pro- duced as nearly equals the weight of both airs. In
duced by like manner, when we colled! the afhes, water, foot,
the defla- ancj 0;|} procured by burning any of the common in-
dephWifti-^amma^e fohftances, we will find, that they in gene¬
rated and ral exceed the weight of the matter employed. The
inflamma- great wafte of bodies by fire, therefore, is owing to the
ble air. diflipation of the volatile principles they contain, which
are carried off and rendered invifible by being mixed
j g with the atmofphere.
Of the ex- The procefs of inflammation has long been explain-
iflence of ed from the prefence of a fubftance called Phlogiflon in
phlogifton. thofe bodies which are fubjed! to it, and which is fup-
pofed to be the fame in all bodies belonging to this
clafs; the differences between them arifing from the
137 principles with which it is combined. This dodlrine,
Denied by which was firft introduced by Stahl, has given occa-
Lavoi- plon tQ varjous an(j difcordant theories, that the
exiftence of phlogifton has been lately denied altoge¬
ther by M. Lavoifier, who brought in a new method
of folving the phenomena of Are, heat, and ignition,
At * ments wlt^out anY affiftance from this principle,
againit it The foundation of M. Lavoifier’s dod!rine is the
drawn from increafe of weight in metals by calcination. This in-
the increa- creafe he finds to be precifely, or very nearly fo, pro-
of^metals1 Portionable to the decreafe of weight in the air
by calcina- which they are calcined. His theory, therefore,
tion. that in the ad! of calcination, the pure part of the a
I s T R Y. Theory,
which he calls the acidifying or oxygenom principle, General
unites with the metal, and converts it into a calx. In of
like manner, in fubftances truly inflammable, the heat
and flame are fuppofed to proceed from the union of ,39
the pure air, or the oxygenous principle, with the fob-His theory,
ftance, and converting it into thofe principles-which
are found to remain after inflammation. Thus the in- matlon*
creafed weight of the fubftance is ealily accounted for;
while the inflammation, in his opinion, is nothing more
than a combination of the inflammable body it¬
felf with pure air, which has an attradlion for it;
and in confirmation of this it is urged, that when com-
buftion is performed in empyreal or dephlogifticated
air, the whole of the latter is abforbed; but in com¬
mon atmofpherical air only one fourth, being the quan¬
tity of pure air contained in it. ,40
Other arguments in favour of this opinion are, that Arguments-
the calces of the perfed! metals may be reduced w,t^out
addition by the mere emiffion of the oxygenous principle, phi^ifton
(dephlogifticated air); by an union with which they af- tr.>mthere-
fome the form of a calx. Thus he evades a very du<aion of
ftrong argument ufed by the oppofite party ; who ad-
duced, as a proof of the exiftence of phlogifton, the mctais
ufe of charcoal in the redudlion of metals to their pro- without acU
per form. A difpute indeed took place betwixt M. dition.
Lavoifier and Dr Pi ieftley concerning the redudlion
the whole of a mercurial calx formed by an union twix^La-6*
with the nitrous acid without addition; the Dodlor votfier and.
maintaining, that the whole could not be reduced by Prieftley,
mere heat, but that a very perceptible quantity was
always loft: but on a thorough examination of the
fubjedl, the truth feemed rather to lie on M. Lavoi¬
fier’s fide. See Aerology.
Another theory, fome what fimilar to that of Lavoi-Dr Lub--
fier’s, has been publiftied by Dr Lubbock, fo. an Inau- buck’s thea.
gural Differtation in 1784. In this he foppofes twory*
kinds of matter to exift in the univerfe ; one he calls
the principium proprium, the other the principium for* ■
bile; and it is this latter, which, according to our au¬
thor, is the principle of mutability, or which, by be¬
ing united in various proportions with the other, forms -
bodies of all the different kinds we fee in nature. It
is this principle, therefore, which he foppofes to be ab¬
forbed in the calcination of metals, and not empyreal ’
air, as M. Lavoitier fuppofes; and he contends, that.,
this fame principle extends throughout the whole fy-
ftem of nature, even to the utmoft celeftial bounds.
It would exceed the limits of this treatife to give anDifputes
account of the various theories which have been invent- concerning
ed, and the arguments ufed for and again!! them ; nor Phlo£lfton
indeed is there any occafion for doing fo, as late expe- decided!”
riments have reduced the difpute into a much nanow-
er compafs than before, and fornifhed the moft deci-
five arguments in favour of the exiftence, of phlogifton. r44
The greateft objection to the belief of this prfo- obje&ions
ciple was, that it could neither be feen nor felt by our again!! the
fenfes dire&ly, nor difeover itfelf indiretlly by the e*lfte™:e 0*
weight it communicated to the bodies with which it
was united ; on the contrary, the latter always became vifibility
lighter in proportion to the quantity they contained : and fuppo-
fb that it was imagined, inftead of being poffeffed of^ 'yant of
any fpecific gravity of its own, to be a principle of po-®ravit**
fitive levity, foch as that of heat or light may be rea-
fonably foppofed. This objedlion, however, is now
entirely removed j and phlogifton in the abftrai! is
found
Theory.
C H E !Vi I
the fame.
General found to be no fubtile principle capable of eluding our
Effects of refearches, but one very common, and ealily met with,
ea ‘ being no other J:han common charcoal. In the laft
edition of this work, under the article Phlogiston,
Common it was flrown, that inflammable air, deprived of itsela-
eharcoalandfticity, and combined with metallic fubftances, is real-
! ly their phlogiftc'n ; and that in the inflammable bo¬
dies commonly ufed, what we call their pblogifton,
is really their oil; and that which exills in charcoal, and
cannot be driven off by diftillation, is part of the em-
pyreumatic or burnt oil of the fubjec* which adheres fo
obftinately. A fimilar doctrine foon'after appeared in
the Philofophical Tranfadtions foi i 782, and the iden¬
tity of phlogillon and inflammable air was clearly pro-
ved by Mr Kirwan. Still, however, it was infilled by
Decitive the French philofophers and others, that no faSs had
proofs of been adduced againft M. Lavoifier, nor any decifive
thiMtien u> proofs appeared Qf t})e exiftenct of phlogillon as a fub-
br"x ' -ir"   
r Prieft- flsnce per fe. Fafts of this kind, however, have now
ley.
Spirit of
divine and
been difcovered by Dr Prieftley, and are related under
the articles Aerology, Charcoal, Phlogiston,
&c. It is fufficient at prefect to mention, that he
has been able to' convert the pureft fpirit of wine,
and one of the hardeft metals, viz. copper, as well
as feveral others, into a fubftance entirely refem-
bling charcoal; that by means of the heat of a burn-
to charcoal, ing giafs in vacuo, he has diflipated this metallic char-
coal, as well as the common kind, entirely into inflam-
Charci al mahle air, with the afliftance only of a little water,
entirelydif-which feems neceffary to make it aflume the aerial
fipated by form, and perhaps is the true folvent of it; and by a
ii flamma- coinbination with the element of heat, with the aid of
ble air. the charcoal, is enabled to refill condenfation in the
* See Elaf- comrnon way*- This inflammable air, when abforbed by
tic Vapour, metallic calces, again reduces them to their metallic
149 form : fo that here is one faft by which the phlogifton
Metallic not only appears to our fenfes, but we are able to af-
cetTb rin-"certa*n *tS clua,lt‘ty w’ith the utmoft precifion. Nor can
flammable *t here be any obje&ion, that the reduced metal is
air. lighter than the calx; for this only proves that the
*5° metallic earth, while a calx, is united to a heavy ingre-
2^1'^client (the balls of depblogifticated air), and in the
iruhtfrrne- htter to a light one, viz. charcoal, the bails of inflam-
tallic than mable air.
in their cal- Another cafe in which the exiftence of phlogillon
deed nate. made equally evident to our fenfes, and where no
fuch objeftion can occur, is related under the article
D Wc T ■AEROLOGY>n0112’ It istherelhown, that “by thelofs
ticated°air" one grain of charcoal ofcopper,(formed by the union
Converted °f fpirh of wine with the metal), and which like com-
into. aerial moncharcoal was con fumed without having any rell-
’-'■id by _ duum, he reduced four ounce-meafures of dephlog.illi-
fcated air till only one-ninth remained ur.abforbed by
water; and, again, with the lofs of one grain and a
thalf of charcoal, fix and an half meafures of dephlogi-
Jlicated air were reduced till five and an half meafures
.were pure fixed air.”— Here, then, is an abfolute and
undeniable evidence, that fixed air is compofed of de-
.phlogifticated air, and charcoal or phlogillon, and ele¬
mentary fire. There were no other ingredients pre-
fent, and the charcoal muft either have been annihila¬
ted or difpofed of in the manner juft mentioned: but
the fuperior weight of the fixed air evidently Ihows
that fomc ingredient had been added to the dephlogi-
fticated air; and which incrcafe was more than we can
charcoal.
S T R Y. 395
fuppofe to arife from the condenfation of the dephlo- G ereral
gifticated air during the operation, for this fometimes
amounted to no more than one-thirtieth part. .
The ftrongeft objedlion which can be made againft x
the dofhrine of phlogifton may be drawn from the to- Objections
tal confumption of pure air in certain cafes of combu- drawn from
ftion, for inftance, in that of phofphorus, inflammablethe
air, and iron. It muft be obferved, however, that in nf'dephl'o-
no cafe whatever is the air totally confumed; and gifticated
in that of inflammable air water is produced by the air in fome
union of the balls of the latter, that is charcoal, ca^es*
with the bafis of dephlogifticated air, the oxygenous
principle of M. Lavoifier, and which appears to be
one of the component parts of Water. In the cafe
of phofphorus, the latter is converted into an acid;
and in all probability a quantity of water is alfo pro¬
duced, by which part of it is converted into cryitaliine 153
flowers. The cafe of the iron, therefore, alone re-L'ttie I’hl®"
mains to be confidered. Dr Prieftley’s experiments
on this fubjeft are related at length under the article fron by he-
Aerology, n° 67 et feq. In them the iron burnt ing burnt
brilkly in dephlogifticated air,' which, according to in depMo-
the common theory, Ihould have indicated the expul-icate®
lion of a great quantity of phlogifton ; yet the whole
reliduum, of which the fixed air, produced by the fup-
pofed union of the phlogifton or principle of inflamma¬
bility, was only a part, fcarce amounted fometimes to
one-fourteenth of the air originally employed. 154
This argument, however, inftead of contradi£ling The objcc-
the exiftence of phlogifton, only Ihows, that in fome^®jjl *”Con'
cafes the difiipation of a very fmall quantity of phlo¬
gifton is neceffary to inflammation ; or that the aerial
principle may combine with the iron in its metallic
ftate. In this cafe only a very little quantity of
the phlogifton of the iron was dilfipated; for it was *5S
not reduced to a calx, but to that kind of fcoriae fro,n 1S nr>t
which flies off in feales by beating the metal when ^cak'by°
red-hot with an hammer. A decifive proof of this burning in
was had by uniting iron thus combined with the deuhlogiiU-
bafis of dephlogifticated air with inflammable air.cated air*
By this the metal was indeed reduced to perfect
iron again ; but water was produced at the fame time ^eftin the
from the union of the bafis of the two airs, that of the reduction
inflammable air being capable of furnilhing a fuperflu-of it by in¬
cus quantity, which united with the other into the fl.amtnai>ie
form of a fluid. air*
The exiftence of phlogifton being thus proved, and Heat pro-
its nature afeertained, we may now proceed to deter duced in
mine the queftion. Whether the great quantity of heatthe 5om*
produced by the combuftion of inflammable bodies
proceeds from the bodies themfelves, or from the air ble bodies
which muft be admitted to them in order to make coming
them burn ? That the heat in this cafe proceeds from fr.0In
the atmofphere is evident; becaufe in all cafes of aur‘
combuftion there is a certain diminution undoubted¬
ly takes place by means of the converfion of the de¬
phlogifticated part of the atmofphere into fixed air.
It is proved, under the article Elastic Vapours, that
elementary fire is the univerfal caufe of elafticity in
fluids. By uniting a certain quantity of it with any
fubftance, the latter at length affumes an aerial or va¬
porous form; and it is this vapour alone which is in¬
flammable*. Different vapours no doubt contain dif- * See the
ferent quantities of thefe ingredients; but in all cafesarticle
the bafis of the dephlogifticated part of the atmofphere
3 D 2 mull
Too great
a quantity
160
Why the
folar heat
and that of
ele&ricity
are fo in-
teni'e.
C H E M
muft unite with the plilogifton of the inflammable
body, or with fomething elfe, fo that a decompofition
may enfue : and it is this decompofition which produces
the heat and light; for then the fire contained in the
atmofphere having no longer any thing to abforb it,
muft appear in its proper form. But in thofe cafes
where there is a great quantity of phlogifton, and con-
fequently much fixed air produced, the latter abforbs
fo much heat in a latent ftate, that the quantity
communicated to furrounding bodies muft be greatly
diminiftied ; and if by an excefs of this ingredient, not
only fixed air, but the phlogifticated kind and grofs
fmoke be alfo produced, this diminilhes the heat ftill
farther by the great abforption, and will even deftroy
it altogether. The remedy for this is either to dimi-
niih the quantity of phlogifton, or to augment the
quantity of air ; which, by furniihing a greater quan¬
tity of dephlogifticated bafis, affords an opportunity
for the evolution of a greater quantity of heat. On
the other hand, when the quantity of air is too great,
the phlogiftic matter cannot combine with the bafis of
the pure air in fufficient quantity to effedt a decompo¬
fition ; and therefore the heat is abforbed in a latent
ftate, and the fire goes out.
From this theory, which is further illuftrated under
the articles Fire, Flame, Heat, Phlogiston, &c.
we may not only have a rational idea of the manner in
which inflammation is generally accompliftied, but fee
why a fire may be put out both by too great a quan¬
tity of fuel, and by too great a quantity of air. We
may alfo fee why the folar beams and electric fluid,
which contain no phlogiftic matter, excite a much
more powerful heat than any we can raife in our hot-
teft furnaces. The difference between ignition and
inflammation will now likewife appear; fuch bodies
as are capable only of ignition containing little or no
phlogifton, but inflammable bodies a great deal.
The following table ftiows the moft remarkable de¬
grees of heat from the congelation of mercury to that
of Mr Wedgewood’s hotteft furnace.
Mercury freezes at - - 40
Weak fpirit of wine - - 32
Brandy at - - - 10
Cold produced by fnow and fait mixed o
Strong wine freezes at - 20
Vinegar freezes at - - 27
Water freezes at - - 32
Temperature of fpring and autumn 50
Ordinary fummer weather - 65
Sultry heat - - - 75
Heat of human blood - 97 to too
Feverilh heat - - - 108
Bees wax melts - - - 142
Serum coagulates - - 156
Spirit of wine boils - - 174
Water boils - - - 212
Tin melts ... 408
Bifmuth melts - - 460
Oil of vitriol boils - - 550
Oil of turpentine boils - 561
Lead melts - ~ 5%5
Quickfilver and linfeed-oil boil - 600
Iron begins to fhine in the dark 635
Iron ftiines brifldy in the dark - 750
Iron ihines in the twilight - 884
I S T R Y.
Iron red-hot from a common fire
Red heat fully vifible in day light ac¬
cording to Mr Wedge wood
Heat by which his enamel colours are
burnt on - - -
Brafs melts - -
Swedifti copper melts - ' -
Fine filver melts
Fine gold melts
Leaft welding heat of iron
Greateft ditto
Greateft heat of a common fmith’s
forge - ...
Call iron melts
Greateft heat of Wedgewood’s fmall
air-furnace
Extremity of the fcale of his thermo-
Theoryv
1077
1857
3807
4587
4717
5237
12777
I3427
l7917
21877
S_ect.II. Of the Doffrine of Elective dttrac-
ti072y and of the different Objects of Chemijiry.
Betore we proceed to give a general theory of the Chemical
changes which happen upon the mixtures of different ^uradioin.
bodies together, or expoiing them fingly to heat, we
muft obierve, that all depend on certain qualities
in bodies, by which fome of them are apt to join
together, and to remain united while they have an op¬
portunity. The caufe of thefe qualities is totally un-,
known; and therefore philofophers, after the example
of Sir Ifaac Newton, have expreffed the apparent ef¬
fect of this unknown caufe by the word attraction.
From them the word has been adopted by the che-
mifts, and is now generally ufed in fpeaking of the
phenomena which are obferved in the mixture of dif¬
ferent fubftances ; but to diftingiiifli it from other kinds,
it is ufually called EleBive.
This attraction is not equally ftrong between all fub-
ftances ; in confequence of which, if any body is com
pounded of two others, and another is prefented to it
which has a greater attraction for one of the compo¬
nent parts than they have for one another, the fub-
ftance will be decompounded. A new compound is then
formed by the. union of that third fubftance with one of
the component parts or elements (if we pleafe to call
them fo) of the firft. If the attraction between the
body fuperadded and either of the component parts of
the other is not fo Itrong as that between themfelves,
no decompofition will enfue; or if the third fubftance
is attracted by botlrthe others, a new compofition will
take place by the union of all the three. 163
The objeCts of chemiftry, as we have already ob-Objects of
ferved, are fo various, that an enumeration of them chemiftry
all is impoffible. To eafe the mind, therefore, when C a
fpeaking of them, and render more ufeful any thing
that is faid or wrote on chemiftry, it is neceffary to
divide them into different claffes, comprehending in
each clafs thofe bodies which have the greateft refem-
blance to one another, and to which one common rule
applies pretty generally.—The divifion formerly ufed,
was that of vegetables, animals, and minerals; but
this has been thought improper, as there are many
fubftances in each of thofe kingdoms which differ very
widely from one another, and which are by no means
fubjeCl to the fame laws. The moft approved me-
thod,
Theory. C H E M
Saks. thod, at prefent, of arranging the objefts of chemiilry,
v“~y   is into falls, earths, metals, inflammable fubftances,
waters, animal and vegetable fubilances.
Sect III. Salts.
Salts are eitherfifible, that is, capable of abiding
the fire, and melting in a ftrong heat, without being
diflipated ; or volatile, that is, being difperfed in va¬
pour with a fmall heat. Their other properties are,
that they are foluble in water; not inflammable, unlels
by certain additions; and give a fenfation of tafte
when applied to the tongue.
The moft general charidteriftic of falls is, that they
are all foluble in water, though fome of them with rruich
more difficulty than others. Moft of them have like-
wife the property of forming themfelves, in certain
eircumftances, into folid tranfparent maffes of regular
figures, different according to the different fait made
life of, and which are termed cryjlals of that fait. In
this ftate they always contain a quantity of water; and
therefore the utmoft degree of purity in which a fait
can be procured, is when it has been well cryftalhzed,
and the cryitals are freed of their fuperfluous moifture
by a gentle heat. They generally appear then in the
form of a white powder.
Phenomena In the folution of falls in water, the fir ft tiling ob-
attencbng fervable is, that the water parts with the air contain-
t'wn ^ ’ w'hich immediately rifes to the top in the
form of bubbles. This, however, is moft remarkable
when the fait is in the dry form we have juft now men¬
tioned, becaufe there is always a quantity of air en¬
tangled among the interftices of the powder, which ri¬
fes along with the reft; and this difcharge of air is
fometimes fo great, as to be miftaken for an effervef-
cence. From this, however, it is effentially different.
See Effervescence.
Another thing obfervable in the folution of falls is,
that a confiderable change happens in the temperature
of the water in which they are diffolved ; the mixture
becoming either a good deal warmer or colder than ei¬
ther the fait or the water were before. In general,
however, there is an increafe of cold, and fcarce any
fait produces heat, except when it has been made
very dry, and deprived of that moifture which it na¬
turally requires ; and thus the heating of falls by be¬
ing mixed with water may be explained on the fame
principle with the heat produced by quicklime. See
Quicklime.
After fait has been diffolved in a certain quantity
by water, no more of that fait will be taken up unlefs
the water is heated ; and as long as the heat continues
to increafe, the fait will be diffolved. When the wa¬
ter boils, at which time it has attained its greateft
heat, and will take up no more fait, it is then faid to
be faturated with that fait. This, however, does not
prevent it from taking up a certain quantity of another
fait, and after that perhaps of a third, or fourth, with¬
out letting go any of the firft which it had difiblved.
How far this property of water extends, has not yet
been afcertained by experiments.
To the above rule there is only one exception
known as yet; namely, common fea-falt: for water
difiblves it in the very fame quantity when cold as
when boiling hot. It has been faid by fome, that all
deliquefcent falls, or thofe which grow moift on being
I S T R Y. 397
expofed to the air, had the fame property : but this is Saks,
found to be a miftake. ' f
This property of folubility, which all the falls pof- Mimm-e
fefs in common, renders them eafily mifcible together; and fepara.
and the property by which moft of them ihoot in- tion of kits,
to cryftals, renders thofe eafily feparable again which
have no particular attraction for one another. This is
like wife rendered ftill more eafy by their requiring
different proportions of water, and different degrees
of heat, to fufpend them ; for by this they cryftailize
at different times, and we have not the trouble of
picking the cryftals of one out among thofe of the
other. l6^
The manner in which the folution of falls in water Hypothefis
is effected, is equally unaccountable with moft of the concerning ,
other operations of nature. Sir Ifaac Newton fup- folution.
pofed that the particles of water got between thofe0 a t8‘
of the fait, and arranged them all at an equal diftance
from one another : and from this he alfo accounts for
the regular figures they affume on palling into a cry-
ftalline form ; becaufe, having been once arranged in
an orderly manner, they could not come together in-
diforder, unlefs fomething was to difturb the water in-
which they were fufpended ; and if any fuch difturb-
ance is given, we find the cryftals are by no means fo
regular as otherwife they would have proved. Others-
have thought that thefe figures depend on a certain /o-
larity in the very fmall particles into which the fait is
refolved when in a ttate of folution. Thefe things,
however, are merely conjectural; neither is it a matter
of any confequence to a chemift whether they are right
or wrong. _ _ " ,f,8
Though folution is that operation w’hich falts un- Silts de-
dergo the moft eafily, and which ffiould feem to affect
them the leaft of any, a repetition of it proves never- foi
thelefs very injurious to them, efpecially if it is fol¬
lowed by quick evaporation ; and the fait, inftead of
being cryftallized, is dried with a pretty ftrong heat.
Newman relates, that a pound of fea-falt was reduced,
by 13 folutions and exficcations, to half an ounce; and
even, that was moftly earth. Where folution is requi¬
red, therefore, it ought always to be done in clofe vef-
fels, in which alfo the fubfequent evaporation Ihould
be performed, (fee Evaporation); and in all cafes
where cryftallization is practicable, it ought to be pre¬
ferred to violent exiiccation..
The two great divifions of falts are into acids and Acids.-
alkalies. The former of thefe are known by their pecu-^
liar tafte, which is called acid or four. They are not
found in a folid form; neither are any of them, except
the acids of vitriol, of tartar, of phofphorus, and of
borax, capable of being reduced to folidity. The o-
thers, when highly concentrated, that is, brought to
the utmoft degree of ftrength of which they are ca¬
pable, always become an inviiible vapour, permanently
elaftic, until it comes in contact with water, or fome
other fubftance with which they are capable of uni¬
ting.. For fuch acids the name of fairs .feems lefs pro¬
per, as we can fcarcely fay that vapour, which is al¬
ready much more fluid than water, can be diffolved in
that element.
The acids are divided into the mineral, the. vege¬
table, and the animal ; expreffing their different ori¬
gin, or where they are moft commonly to be found.
The mineral acids are commonly' reckoned three; the
jqB C H E M I
Salts. vitriolic, the mtrous, and the marine. To this the
0f borax ought to be added; but its weaknefs
makes it much lei's‘taken notice of as an acid than the
others. A Swedilh chemill, however, Mr Scheele,
hath lately added feveral others, which are afterwards
taken notice of.
The vegetable kingdom affords only two diftinfi fpe-
cies of acids, at leall without the affittance of fome
chemical operation. The one appears fluid, and when
concentrated to the utmoft degree becomes an invifible
vapour. This is produced from fermented liquors,
• under the name of vinegar. An acid limilar to this,
and which is thought not to be effentially different from
it, is extra&ed from riioft vegetables by diftillation
with a Itrong fire. The other is likewife a confe-
quence of fermentation ; and crufts on the bottom
and lides of cades in which wine is put to depurate
itfelf. In its crude ftate it is called tartar; and when
•afterwards purified, is called the cream, or cryftals, of
tartar. As for the various acids produced in the dif¬
ferent chemical proceffes to be afterwards related, we
. forbear to mention them at prefent, it being juftly
fufpected that fome of them ai-e artificial.
The animal acids, which have hitherto been difco-
vered, are only two ; the acid of ants, and that of
urine, which is alfo the acid of phofphorus. d he firft
of thefe is volatile; and confequently muftbe fuppofed
a vapour when in its ftrongelt ftate : the other is ex¬
ceedingly fixed; and will rather melt into glafs than
rife in vapours. Befides thefe, it is laid an acid is con¬
tained in blood, in wafps, bees, &c.: but no experi¬
ments have as yet been made on thefe to determine
this matter-with any degree-of precifion.
Alkalies. The.alkalies are of two kinds ; fixed and volatile.
The fixed kind .are fubdivided into two; the vege¬
table, andonineral or fulfil alkali. The vegetable is
. fo called, becaufe-i t is procured from the allies of burnt
s vegetables ; the foffile, becaufe it is found native in
i fome places-of the earth, and is the bafis of fea-falt,
which in fome places is dug out of mines in vaft quan¬
tity. They* are called /.W, .becaufe they endure a
very intenfe degree of heat without being diifipated in
vapour, fo as even to form a. part of the compofition
of glafs. The volatile alkali is generally obtained by
..diftillation from animal fubftances. -In its pure ftate
this alkali is perfectly ipvifible ; but affedls the fenfe
of fmelling to fuch a degree, as not to.be approached
jji 'with fafety.
/Different The, acids and alkalies are generally thought to be
a&ioii of entirely oppolite in their natures to one another,
"adds!” 3nd S°me» however, imagine them to be extremely limi-
* lar, and to be as it were parts of one fubftance vio¬
lently taken from each other. Certain it is, that when
feparated, they appear as oppofite to one another as
heat and cold. Their oppofite aftion indeed very much
refembles that of heat and cold, even when applied to
the tongue ; for the alkali has a hot, bitter, burning
tafte, while the acid, if not confiderably concentrated,
always gives a fenfation of coldnefs. In their adlion
too upon animal fubftances, the alkali diffolves, and
reduces the part to a mucilage ; while the acid, if not
very much concentrated, tends to preferve it uncor¬
rupted.
If an alkaline fait, and moderately ftrong acid in a
liquid ftate, be mixed together, they will immediately
17*
:Neutral
felts.
S T R Y. Theory.
unite ; and, provided the alkali has not been depri- <5a!rs-
ved of its fixed air, their union will be attended with ’ » *
a very confiderable effervefcence: (fee Aerology.)
If the alkali has been deprived of air, no effervefcence
will enfue, but they will quietly mix together; but
if a due proportion of each has been added, the li¬
quor will neither have the properties of an acid nor
an alkali, but will be what is called neutral. The bring¬
ing the liquor into this ftate, is called faturating the
acid or alkali, or combining them to the point of fa*
turation.
If the liquor after fuch a faturation be' gently eva¬
porated, a faline mafs will be,left, which is neither an
acid nor an alkali, but a nqw compound, formed by
the union of the two, and which is called a perfect neu¬
tral fait. The epithet perfed is given it, to make a
diftinftion between the falts formed by the union of
an acid and an alkali, and thofe formed by the union
of acids with earthy or metallic fubftances ; for thefe will
likewife unite with acids, and fome.©f the compounds
will cryftallize into regular figures; but,becaufe of their
weaker union with .thefe fubftances, the falts refulting
from combinations of this kind are called impel fed.
All acids, the volatile fulphureous one excepted,
change the blue infufions of vegetables, fuch as vio- coiour3
lets, to a red; and alkalies, as well as fome of the changed by
imperfedl neutrals, change them to green. This is the ac»ds and
niceft tell; of an acid or alkali abounding in any fub- a a les*
ftance, and feems the moft proper method of determi¬
ning whether a folution intended to be neutral really
is fo or not. ,
Though between every acid and alkali there is a D^cgnces
•very ftrong attraction, yet this is far from being the in the de¬
fame in all; neither is it the fame between the fame gree* °f at-
acid and alkali in different circumftances of the acid.
When the acids are in a liquid ftate, and as free as ,n,i nvn.v.,
poffible of inflammable matter, between which and
the nitrous and vitriolic acids there is a very ftrong
attraction, the vitriolic will expel any of the reft
from an alkaline bafis, and take its place. Thus, if
you combine the acid of fea-falt, or marine acid, to
the point of faturation, with the foffil alkali, a neu¬
tral fait will be formed, which has every property of
common fait: but, if you pour on a certain propor¬
tion of the vitriolic acid, the acid of fca-falt will im¬
mediately be expelled ; and the liquor, upon being e-
vaporated, will contain not the neutral fait formed by
an union of the marine acid with the alkali, but ano-‘
ther confifting of the vitriolic acid joined with that al¬
kali, and which has quite different properties from the
former.
When the acids and alkalies are applied to one ano¬
ther in a liquid ftate, the vitriolic acid always (hows
itfelf to be the moft powerful; but when applied in a
folid form, and urged with a violent heat, the cafe is
very much altered. Thus, the acid of borax, com¬
monly called fal fedativus, is fo weak as to be difen-
gaged from its bafis by every acid applied in a liquid
form, that of tartar alone excepted ; but if even the
vitriolic acid combined with an alkali be mixed with
this weak acid, then exficcated, and at laft urged
with a vehement fire, the vitriolic acid will be difen-
gaged from its bafis, and rife in vapours, leaving
the weaker acid in poffelfion of the alkali. The fame
tiling happens on adding the phofphorine or urinous
Theory. C H E M
Saks, acid, or the acid of arfenic, &c. to combinations of
the vitriolic or other acids with alkaline falts.—When
the acids are in a liquid (late, therefore the moil power¬
ful is the vitriolic; next the nitrous ; then the ma¬
rine ; then vinegar ; acid of ants ; and laftly the fal
fedativus and tartar, which feem to be nearly equal in
this refpecL —If they are applied in a folid form, the
moll powerful are the fal fedativus and phofphorine
acid; then the vitriolic, nitrous, marine, and vegetable
acids.
When they are reduced to vapour, the cafe is ex¬
ceedingly different; for then the marine acid appears
to be the moll powerful, and the vitriolic the leaft fo
of any. It is impoffible, however, to preferve the
vitriolic acid in the form of vapour, without combin¬
ing it with a certain quantity of inflammable matter,
which mull neceffarily deftroy its llrength. Dr Priell-
ley found, that the marine acid, when reduced to va¬
pour, was capable of difuniting the nitrous acid from a
fixed alkali.
Though the vitriolic acid fometimes affumes a folid
form, it is by no means eafy to reduce it to this Hate
by mere co-ncentration, without the affillance of ni¬
trous acid. Baldafart, however, pretends that he
difcovered, in the neiglibourhood of a -volcano, a pure -
and icy oil of vitriol, from which nothing, could be
precipitated by alkaline falts; though there is. cer¬
tainly very great reaforr to doubt the accuracy of this
obfervation. Of late the nitrous acid has alfo been
found capable of affuming a folid form. This was
firft obferved by M. Bernhard in diftilling a very large
quantity of the acid. At that time, he perceived a
white fait adhering to the infide of the receiver, which
on examination proved to be the acid of nitre in a con¬
crete form; being extremely corrofive, emitting red
vapours copioufly on being expofed to the air, and at
length totally evaporating in it. Its fpecific gravity,
however, was far inferior to that of the glacial ojh of
T7J vitriol.
Acids unite The acids have the property of'uniting themfelves
with phlo- to many other fubftances befides. fixed alkalies, and
forming neutral compounds with . them. Of thefe
the chief is the principle of inflammability or phlo-
gifton. In the vitriolic, nitrous^ and phofphorine a-
cids, the attraction for this principle is very ftrong ;
fo great, that the two former will even leave a fixed
alkali to> unite with it. In the marine acid it is lefs
perceptible ; in the liquid vegetable or animal acidftill
Idfs; and im the. acid of tartar, and fal fedativus, not-',
at all.
Befides this, all acids will diffolve metallic and car-
thy.fub(lances: with thefe, however, they do not in
general unite fo firmly with alkaline falts; nor do they
unite fo ftrongly with metals as with earths. .
Elective 8encra1, therefore, we may expecl, that after ha-
auradtions diflblved a metal in any acid whatever, if we add'
an-earthy fubftance to that folution,; the acid will quit
the metal, which it had before dilfolved,, to unite with
the earth. In this cafe the folution will not be clear-;
as before, but will remain muddy, and a quantity of
powder will fall to the bottom. This powder is the
metalline fubftance itfelf, but deprived of one of its
component parts; and in this cafe it is faid to precipitate
in the form of a calx.
If to this new folution of the earthy fubftance in an
acid liquor* a volatile alkaline fait, not deprived of-its
176
With me¬
tals and
earth.
1 8 T R Y. 399
fixed air, is added, the acid will quit the earth, and Sa'ts-
unite with the alkaline fait. The earth thus dif-
engaged will again precipitate, and lie at the bottom in
fine powder, while the volatile alkali and acid re¬
main combined together, and the liquor again becomes
clear.
The attraftion between volatile alkalies and acids is-
confiderably lefs than between fixed alkalies and the.
fame acids. If, therefore, a fixed alkali be now add¬
ed to the liquor, the volatile alkali will be feparated,'
and the acid wull unite with the fixed-alkali. The vo¬
latile alkali indeed, being perfedtly foluble in water,
cannot precipitate, but will difcover its feparation by
the pungent fmell of the mixture ; and upon evapora¬
ting the liquor, the volatile alkali will be difiipated, and
a faline mafs, confifting of the acid and fixed alkali,
will remain.- , 178
Laftly, If the acid employed was the nitrous, which Detonation
has a ftrong attraction for the principle of inflamma- of nitre*
bility,, if the faline mafs be mixed with a proper
quantity of inflammable matter, and expofed to a
ftrong heat, the acid will leave the alkali with vaft ra¬
pidity, combine with the inflammable matter, and be
dcltroyed in flame in a moment, leaving the alkali quite
pure. . 179
Though the above-mentioned effe£ls generally hap- Exceptions
pen, yet vve are not to expecl that they will invari- above
ably prove the fame whatever acid is made ufe of;
or even that they will .be the fame in all poffible va¬
riety of circumllanees in which the fame acid can be
ufed.—The acid of tartar is one exception^ where the
general rule is in a manner reverfed ; for this acid will
quit a fixed alkali for an earth, efpecially if calcined,
and even for iron. If lead, mercury, or filver, are dif-
folved in the nitrous acid, and a fmall quantity of the
marine acid-is added, it will feparate the ftronger ni¬
trous-acid,, and fall to the bottom with the metals in
form’ of a white powder.—The vitriolic acid, by it¬
felf, has a greater attraction for earthy fubftancea
than for metals ; and greater ftill for fixed alkaline
falts than for either of thefe : but if quickfilver is dif- -
folved in. the nitrous acid, and this folution is poured i
into a combination of vitriolic acid with fixed alkali, ,
the vitriolic acid will quit the alkali to unite with the
quickfilver. Yet quickfilver by itfelf cannot eafily be
united with, this acid. The reafon of all thefe. anoma¬
lies, however, is fully explained in the following fee-
tion..
§. I* Of the Operations of Solution and Precipitation.
The chemical folution of folid bodies in acid or other
menftrua, is a phenomenon which, though our familia¬
rity with it has now taken off our furptife, rnuft'un¬
doubtedly have occafioned the greateft admiration and ;
aftonifhment in thofe who firft obferved it. It-would •
far exceed the limits of this-treatife to fpeak particu- -
larly of all -the - various circumftances attending the -
folution of different, fubftances in every poflible men-
ftruum. The following are the moft remarkable, col- -
lefted from Mr Bergman’s -Biffertation on Metallic
Precipitates. ^
1. On putting a finaU piece of metal into any acid, Phenomena ;
it is diffolved fiametimes with violence, fometimes gent-atfen<hn!;
ly, according to the nature of the menftruum and 0f (i;e folution s
the metal to be diffolved. of a metai*'
2. The nitrous acid is the moft powerful in its ac-
4-v tion .
violent in
:s opera-
t8z
Vitriolic
.cid ads'
400 C II E M I
Solution tion upon metallic fubdances, when unaffilled by heat,
and Preci- gQ great indeed is the violence with which this acid
10 fometimes atls, that the metal, inftead of being diffol-
181 ved, feparates inftantaneoufly from it in the form of a
Ni'rou?a<.idcalx or powder fcarce foluble in any menftruum, at
the moft pame t;me tjie }ieat> effervefcence, and noxious
vapours ifliiing from the mixture, render it abfolutely
neceflary to moderate the atfion of the mendruum,
either by dilution or cold, or both. In other cafes,
however, as when put to gold or platina, the ni¬
trous acid has no eftedf until it be united with the ma¬
rine, when the mixture a&s upon thofe metals, which
neither of the acids fingly would touch. -
3. The adtion of the vitriolic acid, though in the
higheft degree of concentration, is more weak. It does
more weak-not readily attack filver or mercury unlefs aflifted by
a boiling heat, nor will-even that be fufficient to make
Marine a- ^ a& uPon gold or platina.
cid general- 4. Tlie aftion of marineacid,unlefs on fomeparticular
ly more fubilances, is dill more weak ; but when dephlogiftica-
either eT- tec^ or deprived of part of the phlogifton efiential to
cent when *ts conftitution as an acid, it adts much more power-
dephlogifti-fully, and difiblves all the metals completely,
cated. 5. The other acids, as thofe of fluor, borax, with
The reft of^uc^ as are o^^d from the animal and vegetable
the acids kingdoms, are much inferior in their powers as folvents,
much unld's in very few inftances.
weaker ftill. 6. Metals vary very much in their degrees of folu-
Different bd*1)' > fome yielding to almoft every menftruum, and
degrees of others, as has been already obferved, being fcarce ac-
folubility in ted upon by the moft powerful.
metals. 6. Zinc and iron are of the former kind, and gold
Solution and fdver of the latter, eluding the marine; and gold,
{< me times unlefs in one particular cafe, viz. when afiifted by heat
promoted in a clofe veffel, the adlion of the nitrous acid alfo.
by abftradt- Thefe metals, however, which in their perfeft ftate re-
a(c^jon 0f moft powerful menftrua, may be
diffolved much more readily when deprived of a cer-
j hlogifton. tain quantity of their inflammable principle. But
though the feparation of this principle in fome degree
jg7 renders metals more foluble, the abftradlion of too much
But is total-of it, particularly in the cafe of iron and tin, renders
ly prevent- thefe metals almoft entirely infoluble. Manganefe is the
cd oy ta- jnoft remarkable inftance of this power of the phlo-
torvtmich^ g*d'c principle, in depriving metals of their folubility
exemplified by its abfence, or reftoringit to them by its prefence ;
in manga- for this fubftance, when reduced to blacknefs, cannot
liefe. fcg diffolved by any acid without the addition of
fome inflammable matter ; but when by the addition of
phlogifton it has become white, may be difiolved in
any acid.
^ of 7- diffolution of metals by acids, even to their
medals at- very 13 atten<ied by a viflble eflfervefcence:
tended with this is more perceptible according to the quicknefs of
an effervef- the folution; but more cbfcure, and fearcely to be feen
<ence. at aii} when the folution proceeds (lowly.
Various ^ elaflic fluids extricated by thefe folutions
kinds of e- are various, according to the nature of the acid and of
laftic fluids the metal employed. With the nitrous, the-fluid pro-
extricated. duced is commonly that called nitrous air; with vitrio¬
lic and marine acids the produce is fometimes inflam¬
mable air, fometimes otherwife, according to the na¬
ture of the metal a&ed upon.
9. Heat in a greater or fmaller degree is always
produced during the diffolution of metak ; and the de-
N° 70. 6
npro-
S T R Y. Theory,
gree of it is in. proportion to the quantity of the mat- Solution
ter and the quicknefs of the folution ; and hence, in aud-Preci-
fmall quantities of metal, and when the folution pro- PItatljn'
ceeds very (lowly, the temperature of the mafs is fcarce-
ly altered. Hea?pro-
10. The calces of metals either yield no air at all, duced du-
or only the aerial acid, unlefs when urged by a violent rinS d16 dif-
heat almoft to ignition ; when, by means of vitriolic or folutioif °f
nitrous aeid, they yield a quantity of pure air, after
other elaftic fluids, fuch as vitriolic, nitrous, or phlo- Little air
gifticated air. None of the dephlogifticated air is ca.n °b-
ufually produced by the marine acid in conjundlion taine|1 ^10in
with metallic calces. whX'calci-
11. The folutions of fome metals are coloured, o-ned.
thers are not. The colour of the former is only that r9a
which is proper to the calx, but rendered more vivid c**
by the moifture. Thus folutions of gold and platina
are yellow ; thofe of copper, blue or green ; folutions ealeds.
of nickel of a bright green ; but thofe of cobalt are
red, although the calx is black. We may obferve that
even this red colour may be heightened to blacknefs.
Iron moderately calcined is green ; but this rarely con¬
tinues upon [further dephlogiftication. The white
calces of filver, lead, tin, bifmuth, arfenic, antimony,
and, manganefe, are diffolved without colour ; but re¬
lations of lead, tin, and antimony, are fomewhat yel¬
low, unlefs fufficiently diluted. Mercury, however,
forms a Angular exception to this rule ; for the orange-
coloured calx of this metal forms a colourlefs folution.
The metals yielding coloured folutions are gold, pla¬
tina, copper, iron, tin, nickel, and cobalt ; the reft, if
properly depurated, give no tinge. A folution of fil¬
ver is fometimes of a blue or green colour at firft, al¬
though there be no copper prefent; the vitriolic acid
becomes blue with copper ; the nitrous may be made
either blue or green at pleafure ; the marine varies ac¬
cording to the quantity of water with which it is di¬
luted. Manganeie, when too much dephlogifticated,
renders both the vitriolic and marine acids purple. 193
With regard to the caule of chemical folutions, our Bergman’s
author obferves, that though attraction muft be look-a£count l,f
ed upon as the fundamental caufe, yet we may alfo chemical
lay it down as a maxim, that no metal can be taken folutiou.
up by an acid, and at the fame time preferve the whole
quantity of phlogifton which was neceffary to it in its r94
metallic ftate. A certain proportionof the principle of Solut'on
inflammability therefore may be conlidered as ^in ob-imPe<|ed by
ftacle which mud be removed before a folution can to°l!reat a,
take place. Thus, of all the acids, the nitrous attradls phfogUh.nf
phlogifton the moft powerfully, and feparates it even 195
from the vitriolic. A proof of this may be had by de¬
boiling fulphur (lowly in concentrated nitrous acid.
At length all its .phlogifton may be feparated, and the trous^acid
vitriolic acid will remain, deprived of its principle of
inflammability. The extraordinary folvent powers of
this acid, therefore, is conformed to the peculiarity ot
its nature in this refpeft. For this menftruum diffolves
metals for folution with the greateft eafe, moft com¬
monly without any affillance from external heat; which p fo*5
in fome tnftances would be hurtful, by feparating toofom^metalr
much of phlogifton, as appears in the cafe of iron, tin, prepared by
and antimony ; all of which may be fo far dephlogifti- nitrous a-
cated by the nitrous acid, as to be rendered extremely
difficult of folution : for this reafon it is very often after-^
neceffary, as has already been obferved, to temper the wards.
adlivity
C II E M I S
Theory.
Solution aftivity of this menftnmm by water. The vitriolic
an.i l-’reci- ac;£j reqUJres a boiling heat before it can aft upon fil-
. rital:10“’ ver or mercury. The reafon of this is, that by means
197 of the heat, the watery part of the menftruum is dimx-
Why the nifhed, its power is thereby increafed, and the connec-
c'^cannof" t’on t^e met-allic earths with the inflammable prin-
a<a on ciple diminifliqd. Marine acid, which contains phlo-
Icad, fil- gifton as one of its conftituent principles, mull necef-
ver, &c. farily have little or no effeft on thofe metals which re-
withouc a ta|n (-bel,- principle of inflammability very obftinately.
heat. ° ®u!: *ts watery Par,: being diminiflred by boiling, it
198 affumes an aerial form, and powerfully attrafts a lar-
Why nia- ger quantity of phlogifton than before ; fo that in a va-
rine acid porous, flare it will diflblve metals, particularly filver
iome me- anc^ niercury, which in its liquid form it would fcarce
tab and not be brought to touch. When dephlogifticated as much
on others as poffible, it attradls phlogifton with prodigious avi¬
dity, diflblving all metals by its attraftion for their
phlogifton, and, uniting the inflammable principle to
itfelf, refumes the ordinary form of marine acid. When
dephlogifticated by means of nitrous acid in aqua re-
gis, it diflblves gold and platina. On the fame prin¬
ciples may we account for its inferiority in power to
199
the other acids.
n exhibited
f hy the ma-
e acid.
Why feme It has already been obferved that the metals differ
metals are much in their degrees of folubility, which is owing to
more fo- t}ie various degrees of force with which they retain
others.1311 their phlogifton. Thofe called perfeft metals effec¬
tually reiift calcination in the dry way. In this opera¬
tion, the lire on the one hand, the great caufe of the
volatility of bodies, fttenuoufly endeavours to expel the
phlogifton ; on the other hand, the bafts of the dephlo^
gifticated part of the atmofphere (the acidifying prin¬
ciple of M. Lavoifter, and the principium forbile of Dr
Lubbock) attrafts the calx ftrongly. Experience,
however, Ibows, that theft two forces united, cannot
decompofe gold, ftlver, or platina to any confiderable
degree. All the other metals yield to thefe forces
when united, but not fingly. Iron and zinc retain
their inflammable principle fo flightly, that any acid
immediately afts upon them; but if the other metals be
properly prepared for folution by being calcined to a
aoo certain degree, the acid will immediately take them up.
Why ni- Any further privation, however, would be injurious,
trous aciJ and precipitate what was before diffolved. Thus the
nitrous acid, when added to a folution of tin or anti-
of tin or roony in marine acid, by its extraordinary attraftion
antimony, for phlogifton carries off fuch a quantity of it, that
2CI the calces of the metals are immediately precipitated.
Different The various elaftic fluids which referhble air, and
hin is of which are produced in plenty during the diffolution of
air produ- metals,
may be reduced to the following, thofe ex-
thediiTo-S tricatc<l by the vitriolic, nitrous, and marine acids,
lution of fluor acid, vinegar, alkaline falls, and hepar fujphuris.
metals. Pure vitriolic acid expofed to a violent heat, is in-
1°2'. deed refolved into vapours, but of fuch a nature, that
triobe'a- w^en ,-Iie ^eat 18 gone> they condenfe again into an a-
cid cannot cid liquor of the fame nature as before. But if any
be reduced fubftance be added which contains phlogifton in a fe-
intoanae- pai-able ftate, an elaftic fluid is produced by means of
but byT ^re» w^‘c^ 's foarcely condenfible by the moft extreme
combina- cold, unlefs it comes in contaft with water. This is
tion with called the volatile fulphureous acid, or vitriolic acid
phlogifton. airj which may be totally abforbed by water. In this
Cafe the bond of union betwixt it and the phlogifton
Vol. IV. Part II.
TRY. 4^
is fo weak, that the latter foon flies off totally, and s^atl0n.
Common vitriolic acid is regenerated. Citation1
The nitrous acid undergoes a fimilar change in a ,..  1
more obvious manner. Let a piece of filver, for in- 293
fiance, be put into a dilute nitrous acid, and the fur-Nhro,iss-
face of the metal will inftantly be covered with
numerable bubbles, which arifing to the top of the li- chang’d,
quor, there burft ; and if collefted, are found to be ni- 204
trous air. The nitrous acid faturates itfelf with phlo- Why m«
gifton more completely than the vitriolic; therefore^
the elaftic fluid produced, or nitrous air, does not unite n;te w;. j,
with water, and fcarce retains any veftige of an acid water,
nature. The vitriolic acid, however, differs from the
nitrous in this refpeft, that the phlogifton is abforbed
by the latter even beyond the point neceffary to obli¬
terate its acid nature. In proof of this, our author
adduces the decompofition of hepatic by means of ni¬
trous air. joy
The marine acid exhibits different phenomena. Phenomena
It naturally contains phlogiflon, and therefore can er1--''-—
by its means be refolved into a kind of air fomewhat!’
fimilar to that produced by the vitriolic acid when ar¬
tificially united to the fame principle, and which has
the fame property, viz. that of remaining permanent¬
ly elaftic as long as it is kept from the contaft of wa¬
ter. But as the acid we fpeak of naturally contains
phlogifton, there is no neceflity of adding more to
produce this effeft. In the mean time, the marine as
well as nitrous air, when in its expanded ftate, attrafta
phlogifton, and that with wonderful avidity. 206
When the marine acid is dephlogifticated, it yields of^e
another elaftic fluid of a reddifh brown colour, l)avingficated^1
an odour like that of warm aqua regia. This does mar;ne a-
not unite with water, or only in very fmall quantity ;citl.
and by the addition of a proper proportion of phlogif¬
ton may be reduced again to common marine acid. It
is faid that the marine acid may be dephlogifticated
by lead as well as by manganefe, tffe nitrous acid, and
arfenic. ... 207
The fluor acid abounds with phlogtfton, and there-Of iheftuor
fore may, without any adventitious matter, be reduced aci(i-
to an . elaftic fluid. This air is eafily diftinguiftred
from all others by its corrofion of glafs whilft hot. 208
Vinegar alfo contains phlogifton; and for that rea-T'!le*
fon, when well dephlegmated, may be reduced without redude J in'5
addition into a permanently elaftic fluid, called acetous to airwith-
air. ^ out addr-
All thefe fluids feem to be nothing elfe, accordingtion’
to Mr Bergman, than the acids themfelves expanded 209
by phlogifton. “ Perhaps (fays he) the matter ofHeat antl
heat alfo enters their compofition.” The experiments ph1?*
lately made on thefe fubj :6ls, however, have put it be-join’dpV*'
yond all doubt, that the expanfive principle is notcfelafti-
phlogifton but heat ; neverthelefs, it feems highly pro-city*
bable, that thefe elaftic fluids do really confift of the
acid united to phlogifton, and expanded by heat. This
is alfo the cafe with the caullic volatile alkali, now
called alkaline air.
In the hepatic air, it has been ftrown by Mr Berg-s„iphur
man, that fulphur exifts which contains phlogiflon; andexifts in
there is little reafon to doubt that the expanfive hcPatic air*
power here is the fame as in other cafes. See Hepa¬
tic Air.
The heat generated during the folution of metals is
by Mr Bergman fuppofed to be owing to the matter
3E of
402 G H E M I
Solution of heat which had been fixed in the metals; but it
ai’.d p.reci* may with much more reafon be fuppofed to proceed
■ Plta“on' from the acid. Dr Black has demonftrated, that heat
aiI is univerfally the principle of fluidity; and all fluids,
Heat in fo-whether acid or not, are found to contain a great
lution moft quantity of it. It is not probable that folids, even the
probably moft inflammable, contain an equal quantity ; for it is
from the always obferved, that bodies in becoming fluid abforb
folvent li- heat, and throw it out again on becoming folid. Acids
quor. in all probability contain a much greater quantity than
what is neceflary to their fluidity; for we fee that the
nitrous acid, when poured upon fnow, parts with as
much heat as is neceflary to difiblve the fnow, at the
fame time that it ftill retains its fluidity. The cafe is
not fo with common fait, which is a folid : for though,
in a mixture of fait and fnow, the latter abforbs as
much heat from the fait as is neceflary for its own li-
quefa&ion ; yet the fait could not be held in folution
by a liquid of this temperature, were it not that an
additional quantity is perpetually abforbed from the
adjacent bodies, particularly the atmofphere. But
were it poflible to prevent this adventitious increafe of
heat, there is not the leaft reafon to believe that the
fait would be diflblved ; for the ftrongeft brine, when
reduced to the temperature of o of Fahrenheit, is
decompofed, the fait falling to the bottom in pow¬
der, and the water being converted into ice. Add to
this alfo, that the cold produced by fpirit of nitre and
fnow is much more intenfe than that produced by com¬
mon fait and fnow ; which undoubtedly fhows, that a
So) id'bo— f°fid does not readily part with as much heat as a fluid,
dies do not and confequently cannot be fuppofed to contain as
part with much. The folution of metals in acids alfo demon-
fo much ftrates, that the folid fubftance has not parted with
heat, but abforbed it; for as foon as the folution be¬
comes folid again, i. e. when it cryftallizes, the tem-
aI 3 perature becomes higher than before.
"Why little The calces of metals have not that quantity of phlo-
h? gifton that.is neceflary for their metallic ftate, but yet
obtained are not ent^rety deftitute of it; therefore, in their fo-
from me- lution, fcarce any elaftic fluid is generated, unlefs the
tallic cal- fire be continued after exficcation. Such as contain
ws. aerial acid, difcharge it immediately in the fame form
as they had received it. It is remarkable, that Dr
Prieftley mentions a calx of lead, which, with the acid
of phofphorus, produced an inflammable air. 'By means
of the nitrous acid and evaporation to drynefs, a pure
air is produced. Sometimes a fmall portion of vitriolic
acid air is obtained by means of a proper degree of
fire from vitriolic acid, but a far greater quantity of
pure air.
The folutions made by the menftrua above men¬
tioned, contain a metallic calx intimately united with
oak oAhe ^ie ac^’ t^e quantlty phlogifton left being va-
metal with rious according to the difference of the menftrua and
various de- 0f the temperature; but the performance of the opera-
grecs of t|on either with or without intenfe heat, frequently oc-
piogi on. caflons a remarkable difference. That metals are lefs
calcined by the marine than by the nitrous acid, ap¬
pears from pouring concentrated nitrous acid on tin or
antimony ; but the difference, if it aftually does take
place, is lefs vifible in other metals.
Some modern chemifts have denied this calcination
©f metals by folution. They have iniifted, that the
perfect metals ought to be excepted, as. they do not
S T R Y.
Theory,
2.T4
Metallic
folutions
ever, it may be obferved, i. That during their folu- a
tion nitrous air is always generated, and that of a very
perfedt kind, which cannot happen without phlogi-
fton ; but in this cafe there is nothing prefent which Reafbns
can yield phlogtfton except the metals. Therefore, fy btlii-
3. The metals, when precipitated from their menftrua
by fixed alkalis, both with refpect to their external calcine.Mr/
appearance and internal properties, appear to be cal-phlogifton.
cined. Thus the precipitate of gold refufes to unite
with mercury, and may be diffolved by marine acid and
other fimple menftrua, and that without the produc¬
tion of any elaftic fluid. 3. Glafs may be ftained by
thefe calces; but no metal in its perfeft ftate can be
taken up by glafs. 216
The common obje&ion is, that the calces of the Why the
perfect metals may be reduced by heat alone without ^alces ^
the addition of charcoal. Many theories have been
invented to folve this phenomenon. Some have fup- i,e re-
pofed, that the matter of heat and light are the fame duced w ith-
with the phlogifton, and that thus the calces are redu- °.ut a<icli*
ced in the fame manner as by charcoal or other fub-tI0!1‘
fiances ufually termed phlog'jlic. But in this cafe we
ought to find the calces of the imperfect metals alfo
reduced by a long continuance of heat, as well as the
more perfedft ; which, however, has never yet been
known to take place. Some, among whofe number
is Dr Lewis, have imagined, that the porofity of the
veffels, particularly thofe made of earthen ware, may
be fuch as to admit the paffage of phlogiftic vapours
through them ; and he inftances the revival of globules
of lead in the middle of pieces of glafs upwards of
an inch in thicknefs, and that where there was not the
leaft appearance of a crack. But from an experiment
of Mr Kirwan’s, to be afterwards related, it is much
more probable that the redu£lion is effe&ed by means
of the phlogifton contained in one part of the calx at-
traCled by another ; by which means the latter is re-
duced to a perfect metal, while the former becomes
fomewhat more dephlogifticated. In confequence of
this it appears, that the calx of the perfed metals is
never totally reduced: for if the operation be per¬
formed in a glafs retort, the bottom of it is always
ftained ; which indicates the exiftence of a calx, in
however little quantity. 3, j
The following fa£t, Mr Bergman fays, has been Difficulty
propofed to him as an inextricable dilemma. “ Silver c°!;cerm'ng
cannot amalgamate with mercury except when in ^sfAnAtion
metallic ftate, yet both falited and nitrated filver are^j fliver
taken up by mercury ; it is therefore not calcined by folved by
the acids, but adheres to them in its metallic form.” Ikrgxnan.
This, however, may be eafily folved in the following
manner. It is well known that the calx of copper,
diflblved in the vitriolic acid, is precipitated in its me¬
tallic form on the addition of iron, and that by means
of a double eleClive attraftion ; for the iron, diflblving
in the acid, would form an inflammable air by its
phlogifton, were not the copper prefent which takes
it up, and thereby becomes infoluble as long as it re¬
tains it; but mercury has a ftronger attraction for
acids than ftlver : if therefore falited or nitrated filver
be triturated with mercury, the iilver muft be preci¬
pitated in a metallic ftate, and the mercury be calcined
by being diffolved. This alfo takes place, provided'
there be moifture fuihcicnt to fuffer the ele&ive attrac¬
tions
the caufe
lie folu-
tions.
Theory. C H E M
Solution tions to operate. The fuperabundant mercury greedi-
and I’reei- jy Up the comminuted ftlver precipitate ; and the
. arbores Dianne are nothing more than fuch an amalgam
cryftallized. But although the acids cannot take up
any metal while it retains its full proportion of phlo-
gifton, various metallic falls are able to effedl that fo-
lution. Thus nitrated or falited mercury, boiled in
water together with the crude metal, can take up a
certain portion of it without dephlogiftication; and
the latter of thefe falts, even in the viaficca, becomes
a mercurtus dulcis, which contains at the fame time a
n? crude and a calcined mercury,
phlogifton Perfect folutions fhould in general be tranfparent;
bnt fome, as has been already mentioned, are diftin-
guifhed by a peculiar colour. That phlogillon is the
chief caufe of colour appears from hence, that the
black calx of manganefe tinges vitriolic acid of a red
colour; but on the addition of fugar the tinge is en¬
tirely deftroyed. Nitrous acid is rendered blue by
copper; but when the metal is added in confiderable
quantity, it becomes of a very deep green. The ma¬
rine acid, which dephlogillicates the copper lefs, is
yet made green; but by dephlegmation may be fo
condenfed as to become brown. Mr Bergman has
fometimes feen a folution of Hirer green, without the
prefence of the fmalleft particle of copper. This de¬
pends on the abforption of nitrous air: for let fmoking
nitrous acid be diluted, on the addition of a certain
quantity of water it will be of a deep green ; by a
greater, blue; and upon a ftill greater, becomes lim¬
pid. By means of the water, the nitrous air is ex¬
tended to a greater fpace ; and this attenuation gradu¬
ally increafed varies the colours. Hence we fee why
nitrous acid is made green by a large quantity of
copper.
Metals dephlogifticated by acid folvents powerfully
attrafl phlogifton ; nay, nitrated fdver and . mercury,
and falited antimony, corrode animal fubftances, in or-
c null’city, der, as our author fuppofes, to extract it. “ This
metallic caufticity (fays he), which is only to be mo¬
derated by phlogiilon, ought to be carefully diftin-
guilhed from the acid caufticity, which is reprefled by
alkalies, and the alkaline, which is mitigated by acids.
Colours vary according to the quantity of phlogifton
prefent; and fome experiments Ihow, that by a fuffi-
cient quantity all colour is entirely deftroyed.
All metals may be precipitated by alkaline falts;
which, by their fuperior power of attraction, feparate
them from, their menftrua ; but their difference with
regard to their nature and preparation alters the na-
taU t>y al- ture 0f the precipitate. With the cauftic fixed alkali
“a ,De ‘a ts. the calces fall almoft entirely pure, but loaded with
water. The weight is found to be increafed by the
water, and perhaps (fays Mr Bergman) by the matter
of heat; but yet lefs than by the aerial acid. With
the aerated fixed alkali, by means of a double decom-
pofition, the aerial acid unites to moft calces. The vo¬
latile alkali, which naturally contains phlogifton, fome¬
times phlogifticates the precipitate. It throws down
a black or white precipitate of mercury ; nay, it makes
the orange-coloured precipitate white. Gold receives
its fulminating quantity from this precipitant, as is af¬
terwards to be explained. The alkali, which is com¬
monly called phlogifticated, generally precipitates metals
with an increafe of weight.
Attraction
of )hlo-
jriftt't) the
caufe of
Phenome-
injr the
precipita-
I S T R Y. 403
The acids frequently cccafion precipitates, and that Solution
for various reafons. By means of eleftive attradlion, an.d pfeci*
mercury, filver, and lead, are taken from the nitrous ,
acid by the addition of the marine or vitriolic. Thefe 32I
acids form with tixe metals new compounds which are Precipitates
difficult of folution in water; they are therefore pre- )cca(irIied
cipitated in greater or leffer quantity according to cir-^f ac'^s>
cumftances, The nitrous acid is capable of decom-an w
pounding falited tin and antimony by dephlogiftica-
ting the calx of the metals too much ; for when thefe
are too much calcined, they cannot be diflolved in any
menftruum, as has been already obferved. in
Metallic folutions are fometimes difturbed by the B>'the Per-
neutral falts formed by an union of alkalies with acids. |f,”^neutta^
Thofe which contain the vitriolic or marine acids de-
compofe folutions of filver, mercury, or lead, in ni-„ a,3. .
trous acid, and precipitate the metals. By forming a fonanua'-1
triple combination, the vegetable as well as the vola- tiun.
tile alkali, though faturated with vitriolic, nitrous, or
marine acid, precipitate platina from aqua-regia ; but
when the balls is mineral alkali, the fait has no power 324
of this kind. Some metallic falts can decompofeSor?e rae*
others, and precipitate their bafes; which may hap-
pen whether the acid be different in the two falts or^h"^*0 *
not. Solution of gold affords an example of each of 225
thefe cafes. This is precipitated by martial vitriol; why f,!u"
the reafon of which will appear from confidering the .
nature of the precipitate : for this, when well walkedcipitated^”
and dried, not only Ihows many ftiining gold-coloured by green
particles, but alfo unites with mercury by trituration,vitrio1;
diffolves in aqua-regia, but not in marine acid alone, to¬
gether with other circumftances which evince a complete
refufeitation of the gold. Martial vitriol, in its ordina¬
ry (late, contains phlogifton, but very loofely adhering;
fo that the calx of gold may eafily take it from the
folution to fupply the lofs it had fuftained during the
folution. That this is the true foundation of the pro- 226
cefs, appears alfo from the following circumftances,But not by
that the weight of the gold is exaftly recovered, and nfalt
that dephlogifticated vitriol will not precipitate this phlogifti.
metal. The reafon that the furrounding aqua-regiacated.
leaves this precipitate untouched is, that the men¬
ftruum is diluted and weakened by a large quantity of
water ; for upon boiling it gently, fo as to expel jlart
of the water, the menftruum recovers its folvent power,
and takes up the precipitate again.
It is fomewhat more difficult to explain the reafon ■why^olu-
why the folution of gold in aqua-regia Ihould be preci-lution of
pitated by a folution of tin in the fame menftruum. kol.d “ Pre~
Here Mr Bergman firft fuppofed that the tin had at-
trafted a fuperabundance of acid, and taken it from tin. 10 V
the -gold ; which being therefore deftitute of its pro¬
per quantity, muft fall to the bottom: but on employ¬
ing a folution containing a fuperabundant aqua regia,
the fameprecigitation took place. The caufe is therefore
notin the menftruum. On examining the precipitate
itfelf, we find nothing like the metallic fplendor of 3Jg
gold, but that it-entirely refembles a calx. It is eafily Th:s pre¬
found by its weight, indeed, that it cannot confift en-ciP*tat'e
tirely of gold ; and in faft chemical examination
Ihows that it confifts partly of tin. It cannot be dif- tin? * °
folved by the marine acid alone, but is eafily taken up
by the addition of a little nitrous acid. It fcarcely
unites with mercury by trituration. Thefe properties
feem to indicate, that the gold has fo far received phlo-
3 E 2 gifton
4°4
Solution
ai'.d Preci¬
pitation.
«9
Precipita¬
tion of me¬
tals by one
anotlier,
owing to a
double e-
leiftive at¬
traction.
V ariations
in the or¬
der in
which the
metals pre¬
cipitate one
another.
Mineral al¬
kali why
preferred
jiitant by
Mr ilerg-
Hsw he
prepared
his cauftic
alkali.
Various
precipitate:
of gold.
C H E M
gofton as to refifl. the marine acid until it receive the
affiftance of the nitrous ; but its earthly appearance,
and difficulty of uniting with mercury, evince that it is
not in its complete metallic form. The following
therefore, according to our author,’feems to be the
moll eafy and rational explanation. The folution of
tin necelfary for this operation mull retain as much
phlogifton as it poffibiy can, in a confiftence with folu-
bility. This is dropped into a folution of gold very
much diluted; by which means the phlogifton remain¬
ing in the tin is more loofened, and of confequence
more eafily attra&ed by the gold calx, which is there¬
by brought to a ftate approximating to completion, fo
that it can no longer be retained by the menftruum;
and the fame happens to the tin, by means of the de-
phlogiftication ; they muft both therefore fall to the
bottom mixed -intimately with one another. It is
probable, fays he, that in this cafe it is the tin which
prevents the-matter from uniting with mercury.
The metals precipate one another after a certain or¬
der, which is the fame in all acid menftrua. This pre¬
cipitation is occafioned by a double elefttve attraction ;
for the metal to be precipitated exifts in the folution in
a calcined ftate ; but being reduced by the phlogifton
of the pr ecipitant falls to the bottom, while at the fame
time the precipitant becomes foluble by calcination-;
but if the precipitant has been calcined fo that a part
of it being inlolubie is mixed with the precipitate, the
metallic fplendor is wanting, and it puts on an earthy
appearance. A pure precipitate is of the fame weight
with the metal before folution. The mixed precipi¬
tates are lefs frequently met with, yet gold precipitated
by tin exhibits one of that kind.
Though the order in which the metals precipitate
one another is conftant and never inverted, yet there
are many anomalous circumftances wdiich occur in the
matter. Thus zinc conftantly prevails over iron;
iron over lead ; lead over tin ; tin over copper; cop¬
per over filver ; filver over mercury, &V. yet it fome-
times happens, that a metal which, according to the
general rule, precipitates another in its metallic ftate
from one menftruum, precipitates it from another in
form of a calx, and not at all from a third. Thus zinc
precipitates iron from marine acid in its metallic ftate,
but from the nitrous only in form of a calx. Tin is
precipitated by lead from the marine aied in its metal¬
lic ftate, but is not thrown down from the nitrous
acid ; and from the acetous is precipitated even by iron
and zinc in form of a calx ; folution of lead in vinegar
is not precipitated by iron.
In Mr Bergman’s experiments on this fubjedl he
employed the mineral alkali, as the degree of its fatu-
ration with fixed air was more conftant. When he
had occafion for a cauilic alkali, he prepared it by a
fmall quantity of burned lime kept in a clofe bottle;
and the gcodnefs of it was proved by its occafioning
no precipitation in lime water. Phlogifticated alkali,
or that by which Pruffian blue is prepared, was alfo
made ufe of. With thefe he made the following ob-
fervations. Gold diffolved in aqua regia is precipitated
by cauftic alkali almoft black ; by the aerated, yellow,
as well as by the phlogifticated, unlefs fome iron be
prefect, which frequently happens; but the whole of
the gold is fcarce. ever precipitated, fo that the weight
cannot be afeertaiaed.
I S T R Y. Theory*.
Neither the cautlic nor aerated mineral alkali pre- Solution
cipitate one half of platina diffolved in aqua regia ; the an^ p.rcc‘*
precipitate is of an orange colour, which on drying be- pitatl<'>11'|.
comes brown. An over-proportion of alkali redif- 234
folves the precipitate, and the liquor becomes more Mineral
dark; nay, the precipitation is fo imperfed, that the a'ka,.ie*
matter feems to be diffolved even by ’neutral falts. pferinifim-
The phlogiiUcated alkali does not precipitate thepeift<aiy.”
depurated folution, nor even make it turbid, but
heightens the colour in the fame manner as an excefs
of alkali. *3S
Solution of filver in nitrous acid lets fall a white
precipitate by the aerated alkali; brown by the cau¬
ftic, and of an obfeure yellow. By the nitrous and
marine acids it lets fail a white precipitate, which
with the former confifts of more diftindl panicles,
which grow black more flowly with the light of the
fun. ^
Sallted mercury lets fall a red precipitate, or ra- of nu-r-
ther one of a ferruginous colour, by aerated alkali; cury.
but of a more yellovviffi or orange colour by the can-
flic. Nitrated mercury prepared without heat, yields
a ferruginous precipitate with mineral alkali; a black
with cauilic : and when prepared with heat, it yields
to cauftic alkali an orange or reddifh yellow precipi¬
tate. By phlogifticated alkali it is precipitated from
all acids of a white colour; but turns of a brovvnifti
yellow when dry. Salited mercury is very fparingly
precipitated by this alkali. The precipitate by phlo¬
gifticated alkali is again diffolved, if too much of the
precipitant be made ufe of.—Corrofive fublimate muft
be very cautioufly precip'tated by cauftic, as well as
aerated fixed alkali; for the part feparated may again
be diffolved by a large quantity of rvater. When too
much alkali is ufed, a new compound arifes of a pecu¬
liar nature. ^
Solution of lead in fpirit of nitre is precipitated down Precipitates
white by aerated, cauftic, or phlogifticated alkali, cf lead;
By ufing too much alkali, the precipitate by the phlo¬
gifticated kind is diffolved with a brownifh yellow co¬
lour. Vitriol of lead and folution of lead in marine acid
are precipitated white.
Blue folution of copper in fpirit of nitre is precipi-of copper;
tated of a bright green by aerated fixed alkali; by the
cauftic of a greyifh brown, which grows reddiffi by age.
By phlogifticated alkali copper is precipitated of a
gfeenifh colour, which grows afterwards of a brownilh
red, and upon exficcation almoft black. The aerial acid
takes up a fmall quantity of copper during the preci¬
pitation, which is again depofited by the heat of boil-
ing.
Aerated fixed alkali precipitates iron of a green co- of iron-
lour from vitriolic and marine acid; but the precipi¬
tate becomes of a brownilh yellow, efpecially on ex¬
ficcation ; with the cauftic alkali it approaches more
to black. In the precipitation fome part is held in
folution by the aerial acid, when the mild akali
is ufed. With phlogifticated alkali a Pruffian blue is
formed. 34*
Tin is precipitated of a white colour by every alka- tini
line fait, even by the phlogifticated kind; but at
length fome blue particles appear in the mixture: fo
that the whole, when -colledted and dried, appears of a
light blue colour. That thefe blue particles are occa¬
fioned by iron appears by calcination ; for they become
ferru-
CHEMIST
Theory.
Sc^tioferruginous, and obey the mngnet. Our author has al¬
and Preci- wayS founcJ a proportion of iron in tin.
, piration. Bifmuth is thrown down of a fine white by water
24i. and alkalies, particularly the former; phlogiilioated al-
Precipitateskali throws down a yellow powder, which being mix-
efbiiaiuth ;e(j with blue particles occalioned by iron, at length 00-
pears green. This yellow fediment eafily diffoives in'
542 nitrous acid.
Of nickel; Nickel is precipitated of a whitifh green by fixed
alkalies; by the phlogiihicated alkali of a yellow ;
and by exficcation it is condenfed into a dark brown
*43 m3fs-
ofarfenic; Arfenic diffolved in acids, which prevent too great
dephlogiftication, may, to a certain degree, be precipi¬
tated white by the fixed alkali, even when phlogilti-
cated, but the fediment is found foluble in water;
yet nitrous acid, either alone, or joined with the ma¬
rine, generally dephlogilticates the arfenical acid, which
thereby becomes unfit for reparation. Arfenic dif-
dfolved in marine acid, with the affiftance of a little
nitrous acid', depoiited a white fediment on the addi¬
tion of a large quantity of phlogifticated alkali. The
fediment was mixed with Pruffian blue- This was
diffolved in water, and freed by frequent filtration from
the blue particles ; and at length, on evaporating to
344 drynefs, yielded a femipellucid mafs.
Of cobalt; Cobalt diffolved in acids is thrown down by fixed
alkali, whether aerated or caufiic, of a reddiih blue,
which grows darker on exficcation, efpecialiy when the
former alkali has been ufed. Phlogifficated alkali
throws down a powder of almoff the fame colour,
J45 which, upon exficcation, becomes of a reddiih brown.
Of zinc; Zinc is precipitated white by aerated and cauitic
fixed alkalies, as alfo by the phlogifticated alkali; but
this laft becomes of a citron colour on exficcation : a
fmall portion of aerial acid may eafily efcape during
Of a 4f t^e
luony •' Antimony is precipitated white by alkalies. When
’ the phlogifticated alkali is ufed, fame blue particles
are almoil always precipitated at the fame time, though
the regulus had been prepared without any iron. This
operation fhould be cautioufly conduced, left fome
347 part be taken up by the alkaline fait.
Of man- Manganefe procured by reduction from common
ganeie. magnefia nigra, generally renders menftrua brown,
and with aerated alkali yieldsi a yellovvifti brown fedi-
ment; with the cauftic, one ftill darker; with the phlo¬
gifticated, firft a blue, then a white, powder is fepara-
ted, the mixture of which renders the mafs a black
green. To obtain a pure and white calx of manga¬
nefe, we muft diffolve in pure vinegar the precipitate
thrown down by cauftic alkali; for there ftill remains
a quantity of iron which is taken up by the aerial a-
cid. This acetous folution contains little or nothing
of iron. That metal may alfo at firft; be feparated by
a fmall quantity of volatile alkali.
The common folution of the regulus is not per¬
fectly precipitated by the aerated alkali; and upon e-
vaporating the remaining liquor fpontaneoufly to dry¬
nefs, grains of a metallic fplendour, and not unlike
copper, are depofited on the glafs. The nitrous acid
attrafts thefe readily, though they are only partially
It Y. 4=5
diffolved by it 5 but on the addition of zinc, nothing Solution
falls befides the manganefe, though at firft it is a lit- an? p.rec‘-
tie reddifh. With phlogifticated alkali, we obtain a P*^'-100,,
yellow precipitate like pure manganefe, provided the
folution has depofited the iron when too much de-
phlogvfticated by age. But the new folution yields a
precipitate airnoft like that which is obtained from com¬
mon regulus. The yellow fediment may be diffolved
in water. 24g
The following is Mr Bergman’s table of the quan- On the
titles of precipitate of different metals, thrown down “u£e of
from various menftrua by the different alkalies. “ On variations*
comparing the weights (fays he), a queftion occurs in the
Concerning the caufe of fuch enormous differences; weight,of
and it is plain, that this caufe muft be fought for in Prcc,Pl*
the precipitates themfelves.—The fixed alkali fatura- Wte>'
ted with aeral acid, when added to the folution, is
taken up by the more powerful menftruum ; and the
weaker is of courie expelled, and is abforbed by the
calx as it falls, in greater or leffer quantity according
to circumftances. That this is actually the cafe is
eafily demonftrated :—Let a bottle containing a quan¬
tity of nitrous acid be accurately weighed. Let there
. be put into it, for inftance, 132 parts of lead precipi¬
tated by aerated alkali; and not only an effervefcence
will be obferved, which continues until the very laft
particle is diffolved, but when the folution is finiftied,
a deficiency of weight is difcovered, which amounts
nearly to 21, and which is undoubtedly owing to the
extrication of aerial acid. But 132—21 = 111; a
weight which ftill coniiderably exceeds that of the \
metal. Upon diftillation nearly eight of water are
difcovered. There yet remain therefore three, which
by violent heat are increafed by feven; for 132 of the
calx well calcined, yield no. The whole increment
of weight then does not depend on the water and aerial
acid. The fame thing is evinced by conlidering the
precipitate of lead by the cauftic alkali; in which cafe
there can be no aerial acid, nor does any effervefcence
accompany the folution. If we fuppofe the quantity
of water equal in both cafes, yet even on this fuppo-
fition the whole excefs of weight is not accounted
for; for 116—8=108. It is therefore probable,
that the matter of heat is attached to the calx (a).—In
proof of this opinion, and that cauftic alkalies contain
the matter of heat, our author adduces feveral argu¬
ments, of which the following is the ftrongeft “ Let AnjutLnt
the heat occafioned by the mixture of any acid and in favour
cauftic alkali be determined by a thermometer; let
then an equal portion of the fame menftruum be fatu- weikitu of
rated with a metal; afterwards, on the addition of an being aug-
equal quantity of cauftic ’ alkali, it will be found, e;- menced by-
ther that no heat is generated, or a degree very mUchtfie matter
leis than before.—Some of the matter of heat there-of'h<jat'
fore is taken up and fixed, which alfo. generally makes
the colours of the precipitates more obfcure ; and in
diftillation with fal-ammoniac, communicates to the vo¬
latile alkali the quantity that had Been taken away.”
In this inftance alfo, however, our author feems to
have been deceived. It has already been obferved,. [nfu^'f
that in all folutions generating heat, it moll: probably cicnt.
'•ornes from the fluid. Acids contain a quantity fuf-
ficient
(a) Thisincreafe of weight is with more probability to be afcribed to a remainder of the acid.
2J«
A quantity
of the men-
-flruuin re-
■t dned by
iome pre¬
cipitates.
iDifference
i'lthepre-
.cipitatcs
of mer-
.cuty.
Advanta¬
ges to be
dnived
from the
examina¬
tion of me¬
tallic pre¬
cipitates.
C H E M I
ficient not only for their own fluidity, but for ren¬
dering folid bodies fluid alfo. After they have dif-
folved the metal, however, this fuperfluous quantity
is employed; and when the cauftic alkali is added, if
in a folid form, it is again employed in giving fluidity
to the alkali; or if the alkali be already difl'olved, the
increafed quantity of fluid makes the heat extricated
lefs perceptible.
“ What has been faid of lead (continues our author),
is alfo true of the other metals, a few excepted,
which feem to take up little or no aerial acid ; fuch
are tin, antimony, gold and platina.—But fome pre¬
cipitates retain alfo a quantity of the menllruum.
Thus, corrolive mercury, precipitated by aerated al¬
kali, retains a portion of marine acid, which cannot
be walked off by water; but, by cauftic alkali, the
precipitate may be obtained, either free of the acid
altogether, or in a great meafure. In this cafe, as in
many others, the aerial acid feems to generate a triple
fait, fcarce at all foluble. The prefence of the marine
acid is eafdy difcovered by folution of filver in ni¬
trous acid, if the menftruum has been pure. Hence
we obferve another difference in mercury precipitated
from marine acid, according as we employ the aerated
or cauftic alkali; the latter, well walked, and put in¬
to volatile alkali, is fcarcely changed in colour; but
the former inftantly grows white, generating a fpe-
cies of fal-alembroth, but containing fo little marine
acid as not to he eafily foluble in water. The calces
w hich retain any of their former menftruum, generally
give over on diftillation a fmall portion of fublimate.
The mercurial calx juft mentioned, expofed to a fuf-
ftcient degree of heat, is partly reduced to crude mer-
.cury, partly to mercurius dulcis, by means of its re¬
maining marine acid. This mercurius dulcis did not
cxift in the precipitate ; for in that cafe it would be
.eafily difcovered by acids in which it is not foluble,
and would grow black with cauftic alkali, neither of
which take place, fo that it muft be generated during
the diftillation.”
Mr Bergman concludes his differtation, w ith an e-
nueration of the advantages refulting from the care¬
ful examination of metallic precipitates.—Thefe are,
i. That thus the theory of the operation wall be more
perfeftly underftood. 2. We may difcover the more
ufeful and remarkable properties. 3. A foundation is
thereby laid for effaying in the moift way, from the
bare knowdedge of the weights. “ It may be objec¬
ted (fays he), that the do&rine of the weights is very
fallacious; that they vary in different precipitates ;
that by imperfeft precipitation fomething remains
in the liquor ; and that fometimes extraneous matters
remain in them. All this is true ; but if the mode of
operation be the fame, the refults of the experiments
will be equally conftant. Thus, let us fuppofe that
a certain quantity of metal a, precipitated in a certain
manner, makes a weight i; if that fame manner be
exa&ly employed, we may fairly conclude, that a quan¬
tity of precipitate nb, occurring in any cafe, is corre-
fpondent to a quantity of perfedt metal na; though,
in the fundamental experiment, the precipitation is either
incomplete, or fome extraneous matter may be prefent.
4. The nature of metals is thus illuftrated. Platina,
nickel, cobalt, and manganefe, are fuppofed by fome to
derive their origin from a mixture of other metals. But
if iron neceffarily enters into the compofition of platina.
S T 11 Theory,
when the latter is difl'olved in aqua regia, it ought to Solution
yield a Pruffian blue on the addition of phlogifticated a':f5 ^re*
alkali; which indeed is the cafe when Common platina c’lutatl' a-
is employed, but not with that which is well depurated.
In like manner, if iron, adhering very obftinately to Platina is
nickel, formed a great part of the latter, the precipi-n<>t conq e-
tates obtained from it by alkalies could not differ a tijr
from martial precipitates fo much as they do in colour, °
weight, and other properties. The fame holds true Nor regu-
of cobalt and manganefe. The regulus obtained fromlus ofnic-
the latter contains about 0.08 of iron, which affeftskcl >
the mixture in the following manner. An hundred Co]^|t op
pounds diffolved in an acid menftruum, yields, by - anganefe.
treatment with phlogifticated alkali, a powder confifting 2,5 7
partly of blue, partly of browniflu yellow particles, (-lyantltK
equal in weight to 150 pounds ; but eight pounds
iron yield 48 of Prufiian blue, nearly -f of the whole mafs 1 ained
of precipitate: whence it follows, that 100 parts of pure horn man-
manganefe yield to phlogifticated alkali fcarcely 11 x ;
i. e. nearly lix times lefs than an equal weight of iron. ca. ed'al-"
“ Laftly, by this method of examining precipitates, kali
it may perhaps be poffible to determine the unequal 258
quantities of phlogifton in different metals; for a givenMewiscfn-
weight of precipitating metal does not yield an equal re!”tqu3e,i.
quantity of precipitate: thus, for inftance, copper is titles of
able to precipitate from nitrous acid four times its phlogiiton.
weight of filver.”
Silver,
Mercury,
Lead,
Copper
Iron,
’aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
martial vitriol
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
falited
vitnolated
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
vitri elated
aerated mineral alkali
■£ ; cauftic
phlogifticated
vitriolated
aerated mineral alkali
xauftic
phlogifticated
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
phlogifticated
pure water
aerated mineral alkali
cauftic
| phlogifticated
'■aerated mineral alkali
^ 9
Yielded ^leof
dry precip. dlffe'.e«
-
110
54
36
129
112
145
133
134
110
104
119
132
116
- 143
194
158
530
225
170
590
131
130
250
130
125
180
113
*35
128
250
Arfenic,
Theory,
C H
definition
of chemi¬
cal attrac¬
tion.
tt6r
Difference
betwixt
chemical
attraction
and that
cohe-
fion.
Geoffrey’s
rule for de¬
termining
the degree^
of chemi¬
cal attrac¬
tion.
263
Chemical
decompo-
fitions, tho’
LcstS
often dou¬
ble.
264
Force of
the attrac-
ers to be
determined
Sr”'
263
True me¬
thod of in-
veftigatint;
the quanti¬
ty of at¬
traction
each of the
acids has
for its dif¬
ferent ba-
E M
Yielded
dry pi ecip.
Arfen'c, rcauftic _ - - —
phlogifticated - 180
Cobalt, aerated mineral alkali - 160
cauftic - - 140
phlogifticated - 142
Zinc, 'g aerated mineral alkali - 193
cauftic - - 161
phlogifticated - 495
Antimony § aerated mineral alkali - 140
'cauftic - - 138
phlogifticated - 138
Mang. aerated mineral alkali - 180
cauftic - - 168
phlogifticated - 150
Mr Kirwan has made a great number of experi¬
ments on the attra&ive powers of the mineral acids to
various fubftances, and greatly illuftrated the opera¬
tions both of folution and precipitation. Chemical at-
tra&ion, he obferves, “ is that power by which the
invifible particles of different bodies intermix and u-
nite with each other fo intimately, as to be infeparable
by mere mechanical means.” Thus it differs from the
attraction of cohefion, as well as from that of mag-
netifm and eleftricity, as not adling with the indif¬
ference obferved to take place in thefe powers, but
caufing a body already united to another to quit that
and unite with a third ; whence it is called eleBive at-
tra&ion. Hence attra&ion of cohefion often takes
place betwixt bodies that have no chemical attraction
for each other ; as for inftance, bifmuth and regulus of
cobalt, which cannot be made to unite together by
fufion, though they cohere with each othev fo ftrong-
ly, that they cannot be feparated but by the blow of
a hammer.
To determine the degrees of attraction betwixt dif¬
ferent fubftances, M. Geoffroy laid it down as a gene¬
ral rule, that when two fubftances are united, and
either quits the other to unite with a-third, that which
thus unites to the third muft be faid to have a greater
affinity to it than to the fubftance it has quitted. In
many cafes, however, the feemingly fingle decompo-
fition is in truth a double one. Thus, when the vi¬
triolic acid expels the air from a fixed alkali, it does
not neceffarily follow, that the acid is more attracted
by the alkali than the fixed air; for here though the
latter refigns its place to the acid, yet the acid gives
out its fire to the air ; whence a decompofition might
take place, even though the attractive powers of both
the vitriolic and aerial acid to the alkali were equal.
To attain to any certainty in this matter, therefore;
it is- neceffary to determine the quantity and force of
each of the attractive powers, and denote it by num¬
bers. The neceffity of this has been obferved by Mr
Morveau and Mr Wenzel, who have both propofed
methods for anfwering the purpofe; but Mr Kirwan
has ffiowed that both are defective : and he tells us,
that, the difeovery of the quantity of real acid in each
of the mineral'acid liquors; with the proportion of real
acid taken up by a given quantity of each bafis at the
point of faturation, led him unexpectedly to what
feems the. true method of inveftigating the quantity of
attraction which each acid bears to the feveral bafes to
which it is capable of uniting : “ for it was impolEble
I S T R Y.
407
(fays he) not to perceive, 1. That the quantity of real Solution
acid neceffary to faturate a given weight of each bafis an^ Prct‘*
is inverfely as the affinity of each bafis to fuch acid. , ^
2. That the quantity of each bafis requifite to faturate
a given quantity of each acid is direCtly as the affinity
of fuch acid to each bafis. Thus 100 grains of each of
the acids require for their faturation a greater quantity
of fixed alkali than of calcareous earths, more of this
earth than of volatile alkali, more of this alkali than of
magnefia, and more of magnefia than of earth of
alum.
“ If an acid be united to lefs of any bafis than is
requifite for its faturation, its affinity to the deficient
part of its bafis is as the ratio which that deficient part
bears to the whole of what the acid can faturate. Thus,
if 100 grains of vitriolic acid, which can faturate no
of calcareous earth, he united only to 55, its affinity
to the deficient 55 parts ftiould be eftimated one half
of its whole affinity ; but its affinity to the retained
part is as its whole affinity.”
To explain the decompofitions in which thefe acids Method of
are concerned, we muft confider, firft, the Powers ^
which refift any decompofition, and tend to keep the p0flt;0ns a£-”
bodies in their prefent ftate; and, fecondly, the powers fedted by
which tend to effeft a decompofition and new union ; acids alone,
the former our author calls quiefeent affinities, the latter 267
d'vvellent. A decompofition will therefore always take Quiefeent
place when the fum of the divellent affinities is greater ancl
than the quiefeent ; and, on the contrary, no decom- a n*"
pofition will happen when the fum of the quiefeent
affinities is greater than that of the divellent. All we
have to do therefore is to compare the fums of each
of thefe powers. The method our author takes to
compare the affinities together is by the following
table ; in which the quantity of alkali, earth, &c. fa-
turated by 100 grains of each of the mineral acids, is
ftated.
V g fixed Mineral Calcar
alkali. alkali, earth.
Vitriolic acid 2x5 165 no
Nitrous acid 215 165 96
Marine acid 215 158 89
Thefe numbers he confiders as adequate expreffions
of the quantity of each of the affinities; Thus the af¬
finity of the vitriolic acid to fixed vegetable alkali is
to the affinity with which it adheres to calcareous
earth as 215 to no; and to that which the nitrous 269
acid bears to calcareous earth as 215 to 96, &c. Hence Exprelfive
we fum up the powers of affinity betwixt any number of the
of different fubftances, and account for their decom-
pofitions, as in the following example of the double, they have
decompofition, which takes place when a folution of tor each
vitriolated tartar and folution of lime or chalk in ni-of thefe
trous acid are mixed together. bafes.
26?
Vol. Mag- Earth of Quantity
alk. nefia a!uni. • f acid ta-
90- 80 ? - ken up by,
various ba-
g7 75 ^5 fes.
79 7i 55
* ^uiefeent Affinities.
Vitriolic, acid to vege¬
table fixed alkali, 215
Nitrous acid to calca¬
reous earth, 96
Sum of quiefeentQ
affinities ; ^
Dhsellent Affinities. Dec0^0.
Vitriolic acid to calca- firion of
reous earth,. , no vitriolated
Nitrous acid to vege- tartar by
table alkali, 215^^
Sum of divellent)
affinities 5
aith ex¬
plained.
Hence we fee that a double decompofition muft enfue.
The fame will be produced, if inftead of vitriolated
tartar we make life of Glauber’s falt; for the fum of
4cS C H E M T
Solution the quiefcent affinities is 261, of the divellent 275 ;
and T?reci- vitriolic ammoniac the fum of the quiefcent is
1 rita^lon- 186, of the divellent 195, See. In mixing vitriolated
tartar with folution of magnefia in nitrous or marine
^ acids, a double, decompolition takes place though in-
villbly, as the vitriolic Epfom fait is very foluble in wa¬
ter, and therefore cannot be precipitated like felenlte.
In the former cafe the fum of the quiefcent powers is
271 290, of the divellent 295 ; in the fecond 286 and
Coinci- 295.
dence of Other decompofitionstake place in the fame manner;
table^vith and from all the fad s which our author had occafion
experience. to obferve, he concludes, that the quantity of each af¬
finity, as determined in the above table, coincides ex-,
aftly with experience ; and that thefe decompolitions
are perfectly confident with the fuperior affinity which
has been hitherto ohferved in the vitriolic and nitrous
acids with fixed alkalies over the calcareous earths;
nor do they infringe in the leaft the known laws of
272 affinity, as has been infinuated by fome chemiils.
M.flakeof One fad only, mentioned in Dr Crell’s journal, feems
corrected to rePubrnant to what is here advanced ; and that is,
that if folutions of one part of alum and two of com¬
mon fait be mixed together, evaporated, and fet to
cryftallize, a Glauber’s fait will be formed ; though,
in this cafe, the fum of the quiefcent affinities is 233,
and that of the divellent only 223. Mr Kirwan re¬
peated this experiment without fuccefs ; and Dr Crell
himfelf owns that it will not fucceed but in the molt
intenfecpld. If it does fucceed at all, he fays die de-
compofition mull arife from a large excefs of acid in
the alum, which ailed upon and. decompofed the com¬
mon fait: and this explanation is confirmed by the
fmall proportion of Glauber’s fait faid to be obtained
by this procefs ; for from 30 lb. of common fait and
16 of alum, only 15 lb. of Glauber’s fait were produ¬
ced ; whereas, if the whole of the alum had been de-
compofed, there Ihould have been formed, according
to Mr Kirwan’s computation of the quantity of acid
in the different falts, 29!- lb, or, according to Mr Berg-
373 man’s, 22 lb. of Glauber’s fait.
Formation In fome cafes, the neutral falts have a power of
and^PJa uniting, without any decompofition, or with only a
druptefelts.ve,7 fnaall one, to a third fubftance ; thus forming
triple falts, and fometimts quadruple; which often
caufes anomalies that have not yet been fufficiently in-
Volatile al-veftigated. Volatile alkalies in particular are pofleffed
kalies par- of the power of uniting with neutral falts in this man-
ticularly ner> Hence they feem to precipitate magnelia from
ofThistS Epfom fait, even when perfectly cauilic; but this is
kind. owing to their combination with that fait, and form-
475 ing a triple one, which is infoluble in water,
falts'd^ ^eems extraordinary that, according to Mr Kir-
compofed wanX table, the three mineral acids fhould have the
by the ni- fame affinity to vegetable fixed alkalies, when it is well
trous and known that the vitriolic will expel either of the other
dds”16 a" tW° ^rom an a^a^ne bafis. In explication of this,
’ Mr Kirwan obferves, that nitre is decompofed by the
marine acid ; and that Glauber’s fait and vitriolic am-
176 moniac are decompofed by that of nitre ; and that
Thefe de- thefe falts, as well as cubic nitre and nitrous ammo-
tions'fu n'ac> are decompofed by the marine acid,
pofed to a- Kirwan is of opinion, that thefe decompofitions
rife from are the effedl of a double affinity, or at leaft of com-
compound pound forces. He fufpedled that they arofe from the
forces. No7i.
s T R Y. Theory.
different capacities of the acids for elementary fire ; Solution,
and to determine this matter, he made the following an^
experiments, in which the decompoiitions were not lutaa011' ,
difeovered by cryftallization, but by tefts. 377
■ 1. Having procured a quantity of each of the three Expert-
mineral acids containing the fame proportion of real ”,ei!t8 t0
acid, and reduced them to the temperature of 68° of
Fahrenheit, TOO grains of vitriolic acid, containing various de-
26.6 of real acid, was projected upon 48b grains of oil prees of
of tartar at the fame temperature, by which the ther-h.ea'<r*'
mometer was railed to 138°. _ __ mktunL
2. An hQndred. grains of fpirit of nitre, containing
alfo 26.6, projected on 480 grains of oil of tartar, pro-,
duced only I20°of heat.
3. An hundred grains of fpirit of fait, the fpecific
gravity of which was 1220, and which contained the
ufual proportion of real acid, raifed the thermometer
from 69 to 129. 2,g
“ Hence (fays he) it follows, that the vitriolic acid Vitriolic
contains more fpecific fire, or at leaft gives out moresyi"1 con*
by uniting with fixed alkalies, than either the nitrous J^e than"6
or marine; and therefore when the vitriolic acid comestpe n-,rous
in contadl with either nitre or fait of Sylvius, its fire p.nd ma-
paffes into thefe acids, which are thereby rarefied to a rine
great degree, and are thus expelled from their alka- 379
line bafis, which is then feized on by the vitriolic.”—.Difficulty
On this, however, it is obvious to remark, that, ac-m tils
cording to Mr Kirwan’s explanation, the marine acid,1 y'
as giving out more fpecific heat, ought to expel the
nitrous from an alkaline balls; which, however, is not
the cafe. Something elfe, therefore, befides the mere
quantity of fpecific heat, muft here be taken into conli-
deration. Mr Kirwan, however, goes on to prove the 2g0
truth of his theory by the following experiments. On the et-
4. To 400 grains of vitriolic acid, whofe fpecific puliPm of
gravity was 1.362, fixty grains of nitre were added; on nitrous
which the thermometer fell from 68s to 6o°. During1 He Ji-
the time of this defeent, the nitrous acid was not ex-iutej.
pelled,; for fome filings of copper, put into the mix¬
ture, were not adled upon in the leaft ; but in five
minutes afterwards they viiibly effervefeed, which
fiiowed that the nitrous acid began to be expelled; for
the vitriolic acid does not aft upon copper but by a
boiling heat. 381
5. Sixty grains of nitre were put to 400 of oil of Sythefame
vitriol, whole fpecifie gravity was 1.870; the ther-*cid
mometer inftantly rofe from 68° to 105°, and the ni-cen ra e
trous acid was expelled in a vifible fume.—“ Thefe
experiments (fays Mr Kirwan) prove, 1. That neu¬
tral falts are not decompofed by mere folution in an
acid different from their own. 2. That the nitrous
acid, being converted into vapour, had imbibed a ^
large quantity of fire. But as the vitriolic acid, in \\rith a
both thefe experiments, was ufed in much'larger quan-fmall quan¬
tity than was neceffary to faturate the alkali of the tity of,di7
nitre, fixty grains of the latter were put into 64 jic^ackl^*0*
the above mentioned dilute fpirit of vitriol, which con- ag3‘
tained the fame quantity of real vitriolic acid that the On the ex-
60 grains of nitre did of the nitrous; with the addi-l,ulf‘on ‘f
tion of 40 grains of water and a few copper-filings,
In lefs than two hours the copper was afted upon, C()ncentra_«
and confequently the nitrous acid was expelled. ted vitriu-
6. To 400 grains of oil of vitriol, of the fpe-lic*
cific gravity of 1.870, loo grains of common fak
were added. 'An effervefcence immediately enfued,
5 and
Theory,' C H E M
Solution, and the marine acid rofe In white vapours. A ther-
and Preci- mometer held in the liquor rofe only 4 degrees, but
, Plta*lon’ ;n the froth it afcended to io°, and fell again upon
ag4 being replaced in the liquor. Hence Mr Kirwan con-
Both the eludes, that the vitriolic acid gives out. its fire to the
nitrous and marine; and that this latter received more than it
marine a- abforb even in the ftate of vapour, and therefore
ceiv/fire communicated heat to the contiguous liquor. It ap-
from the pears to him alfo, that the nitrous and marine acids
vitriolic receive fire from the vitriolic, and are thrown into a
durji1|R^eIr vaporous ftate, or at leaft rarefied to fuch a degree as
expu on. expelle(j from their alkaline bafis, though their
affinity with that bafis may be equally ftrong with the
vitriolic.
On t c e- ^ T0 afcerta{n the manner in which variolated
fition of tartar and Glauber’s fait are decompofed by fpirit of
vitriolated nitre, 60 grains of powdered tartar of vitriol were
tartar by pUt into 400 of nitrous acid, whofe fpecific gravity
rurous a- wag and which contained about 105 grains of
real acid. The thermometer was not affedted by the
mixture ; but in 24 hours the vitriolic acid was in part
difengaged, as appeared by the acid mixture acting up¬
on regulus of antimony, which neither pure vitriolic
nor pure nitrous acid will do by themfelves. On put¬
ting the. fame quantity of vitriolated tartar into 400
grains of fpirit of nitre whofe fpecific gravity was
1.478, the thermometer rofe from 67° to 790; the vi¬
triolated tartar was quickly diflblved, and the regulus
^8(5 of antimony fliowed that the vitriolic acid was difen-
Acids unite gaged. Hence it appeared, that the nitrous acid, ha-
to alkalies ving the fame affinity with the bafis of vitriolated tar-
©ut'fire'^ tar as t^ie v^tri°l‘c> but giving out, during the folu-
and quit t,on» more fire than was neceffary to perform the folu-
them by tion, the vitriolic, receiving this fire, was difengaged :
receiving for as it cannot unite to alkalies without giving out
fire; fo when it receives back that fire, it muft quit
them. The reafon why the nitrous acid, which fpe-
cifically contains lefs fire than the vitriolic, gives out
fo much is, that its quantity in both thefe experi¬
ments is far greater than that of the vitriolic ; it be¬
ing in the firft as 105 to 17, and in the laft as 158 to
287 17.
Titnolated To 60 grains of fpirit of nitre, whofe fpecific
notUe de- gravIty was l‘355t Mr Kirwan added 1000 grains of
compofed water; and into this dilute acid put 60 grains of vitrio-
by diluted lated tartar, containing exaftly the fame quantity of real
nnrous a- ac;j that the 60 grains of nitrous acid did. In eight
days the vitriolated tartar was almoft entirely diffolved,
and without any fign of its decompofition ; and no
iiitre was found upon evaporating the liquor. Hence
he concludes, that the nitrous acid can never decom-
pofe vitriolated tartar, without the affiftance of heat,
but when its quantity is fo great that it contains con-
fiderably more fire, and by the aft of folution is de¬
termined to give out this fire. This fait is alfo de¬
compofed, in fimilar circumftances, by the marine a-
cid ; though ftill more flowly and with more difficulty
than by the nitrous, as appears by the following ex-
s88 periments.
Decompo- 9. Into 400 grains of fpirit of fait, whofe fpecific
fuion of gravity was 1.220, were put 60 grains of vitriolated
'tartar^by tartar* The thermometer was not affefted in the leaft,
marine a- an<l the fait diflblved very flowly. Some pulverized
rid, bifmuth was added to try whether the vitriol'c acid
Was difengaged ; and in 12 hours part of it was dif-
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 405
folved, fo that it could not be precipitated by water. Solution
This (bowed, that part of the vitriolic acid was dif- an.'11!rcci'
lodged ; for this femi-metal cannot be kept in folution P^non. ^
when much diluted with water, excepting by a mix¬
ture of marine and vitriolic acids. W89
In this experiment the quantity of marine acid was Requifites
much greater than that of the vitriolic ; and therefore
it was capable of diflodging it. This circumftance a- eXperi-
lone, however, is not fufficient; the acid muft be dif- mei#.
pofed to give out by folution that quantity of fire
which it is neceflary the vitriolic fliould receive in or¬
der to its quitting the bafis to which it is united; and
therefore when Mr Cornette added two ounces of fpi- 293
rit of fait to half an ounce of vitriolated tartar already Vitriolated
diflblved in water, no decompofition took place. The !r'r:a',
reafon of this was, that as the vitriolated tartar was al-^^,.
ready diflblved', no cold nor heat was generated by uot be de-
the mixture ; and therefore the fpirit of fait could not compofed
give out any fire. Glauber’s fait is more eafily decompo- ^1iari"€
fed by marine acid than vitriolated tartar, on account 1 an
of its being more eafily foluble in fpirit of fait; and
likewife becaufe its alkaline bafis takes up an equal
quantity of both acids: confequently the marine gives
out more fire in uniting to the bafis of Glauber’s fait
than on being united to that of vitriolated tartar. Vi¬
triolic ammoniac is alfo decompofed by means of ma-
rine acid ; but in all thefe cafes, the quantity of ma- Decompoc
rine acid muft greatly exceed that of the vitriolic of
contained in the fait to be decompofed ; and it muft v'tri ’lic.
be remarked, that according to the obfervations of Mr^d'oku-
Bergman, the decompofition of Glauber’s fait or vi-ber’sfalt
triolic ammoniac by this acid is never complete. by marine
On the fame principles the marine acid deeompofesacid never
falts which have the nitrous acid for their bafis. Mrcomf tte'
Cornette found, that cubic nitre was more eafily de- Nitrous
compofed by it than that which has vegetable alkali falts de¬
fer its bafis. Accordingly, during the folution ofcomP°f<:^
prifmatic nitre, only three degrees of cold were pro-
duced ; but fix by the folution of cubic nitre; which
(hows that the fpirit of fait gave out more fire in the
latter cafe than in the former; and its quantity mud
always be greater than that of the nitrous acid con¬
tained in the mineral alkaline bafis; becaufe this bafis
requires for its faturation more of the marine than of
the nitrous acid. The nitrous acid, however, in its Mamie
turn decompofes fait of Sylvius and common fait; but fans de-
it muft always be in greater quantity than the marine compofed
to produce that effeft. the ni-
10. Sixty grains of copimon fait being added to tToU*aci<i*
400 of colourlefs fpirit of nitre*, whofe fpecific gra¬
vity was 1.478, the mixture quickly effervefeed and
grew red, yet the thermometer rofe but two degrees $
which (bowed that the marine acid had abforbed the
greater part of the fire given out by that of nitre;
the decompofition was likewife haftened by the fupe-
rior affinity of the nitrous acid to the alkaline balls of
the fea-falt: hence the decompofition of fea-falt by
means of nitre takes place without any folutionf; but
fpirit of fait will not decompofe cubic nitre until it has
firft diflblved it. This mutual expulfion of the ni¬
trous and marine acids by each other, is the reafon why
aqua-regia may be made by adding nitre or nitrous
ammoniac to fpirit of fait, as well as by adding com¬
mon fait or fal ammoniac to fpirit of nitre.
Selenite cannot be decompofed either by nitrous or
3 F marine
*91
Metallic
falts info-
luble in
water
without an
excefs of
acids.
398
Quantities
of the dif¬
ferent me¬
tals taken
up by a-
cid,
1ST R Y. Theory.
in vain attempted to deprive thofe folutions of their Solution
excefs of acid by means of cauftic alkalies and lime- an.d L’yed-
water; for when depri ved of only part of it, many of Pltatlon- >
the metals were precipitated, and all of them would be ~ v ' *
fo if deprived of the whole. As the folution of filver,..
however, can be very much faturatedy Mr Kirwan
began with it, and found that 657 grains of this folu-
tion contained 100 grains of filver, and 31.38 grains
of real acid, after making the proper allowance for
the quantity diffipated in nitrous air. Nine grains of
this folution tinged an equal quantity of folution of
litmus as red as T8ff of a grain of real acid of fpirit of
nitre would have done ; whence our author concluded,,
that 9 grains of his folution of filver contained an ex¬
cefs of -ro °f a grain of real filver : according to
which calculation, the whole quantity ought to have
contained 5.6 grains; which deducted from 31.38,
leaves 25.78 grains for the quantity of acid faturated
by 100 grains of lilver.
As the vitriolic folutions of tin, bifmuth, regulus
of antimony, nickel, and regulus of arfenic, con¬
tain a large excefs of acid, Mr Kirwan faturated
part of it with cauftic volatile alkali before he tried.
them with the infufion of litmus ; and the fame me¬
thod was ufed with folutions of iron, lead, tin, and
regulus of antimony in the nitrous and marine acids.
The proportion of vitriolic and marine acid taken up
by lead, filver, and mercury, were determined by com¬
puting the quantity of real acid neceffary to precipi¬
tate thefe metals from their folutions in the nitrous a-
cid; which feemed to be the moft exact method of
determining this point.. The refult of all the expe¬
riments was, that xoo grains of each of thefe acids
take up at the point of faturation of each metallic fub-
ftance, dephlogifticated to fuch a degree as is necelfary
for its fqlution in each acid, the quantities marked in
the following table.
C H E M
marine acid ; becaufe it cannot be diflblved in either
’ without the afliftance of foreign heat. It muft like-
. wife be obferved, that in all decompofitions of this
kind, when the liquor has been evaporated to a cer¬
tain degree, the vitriolic acid expels in its turn the ni¬
trous or marine acid to which it had already yielded
its bafis. The reafon of this is, that the free part of
the weaker acids being evaporated, the neutral falts
begin to cryftallize, and then giving out heat, the vi¬
triolic abfqrbs it; and thus reacting upon them, expels
them from the alkali or earth to which they are united.
Mr Kirwan found much more difficulty in deter¬
mining the attra&ive powers of the different acids to
the metals than to alkaine falts or earths. Some of
the difficulties met with in this cafe arofe from the na¬
ture of metallic fubftances themfelves. Their calces
when formed by fire always contain a quantity of air,
which cannot be extracted from them without great
: difficulty, and is very foon re-abforbed ; and if formed
by folution, they as conftantly retain a part of their
folvent or precipitant; fo that the precife weight of the
metalline part can fcarce be difeovered. Our author,
therefore, and becaufe metallic calces are generally in-
foluble in acids, chofe to have the metals in their
perfeft ftate : and even here they muft lofe a part of
their phlogifton before they can be diffolved in acids,
and a confiderable part remains in the folution of the
acid and calx ; which laft quantity he endeavoured to
determine.
A new difficulty now occurred, arifing from the
impoffibility of finding the real quantity of acid ne¬
ceffary to faturate the metal, for all metallic folutions
contain an excefs of acid: the reafon of which is,
that the falts formed by a due proportion of acid and
calx are infoluble in water without a further quantity
of acid; and in fome cafes this quantity, and even its
proportion to the aqueous part of the liquor, muft be
very confiderable, as in folutions of bifmuth. It was
100 grains of Iron. Copper. Tin. Lead. Silver. Merc. Zinc. Bifmuth..Ni:kel. Cobalt. Reg. of ant. Reg. of arfen.,
^add^ } 270 260 138 412 390 432 318 3?o 320 360 200
Nss £ 255 255 120 365 375 416 304 290 300 350 194
^add I 26* 26* 130 400 420 438 312 250 275
320 310
37°
260
220
290
Though from this table, compared with the former,
we might fuppofe that metals, having a greater at-
traftion for acids than alkalies, could not be precipi¬
tated by them, yet Mr Kirwan obferves, that the com¬
mon tables, which poftpone metallic fubftances to al¬
kaline falts, are in reality juft, though there can fcarce
be any room to doubt that almoft all metallic fubftan¬
ces have a greater affinity with acids than alkalies have.
Metals The common tables, he fays, are tables of precipitation
have a rather than of affinity, as far as they relate to metallic
grearer af- fubftances. Thefe precipitations, however, are con-
"cidstha^ dantly the refult of a double affinity and decompofi-
alka'ics. tion; the precipitating metal yielding its phlogifton to
3®o the precipitated one, while the precipitated metal
Why aika- yields its acid to the other. Thus, though copper in
*Ttafe the lts meta^'c f°rm precipitates filver and mercury from
metals! 6 ,^ie n>tt°us acid, yet the calx will precipitate nei¬
ther.
The fuperior attra&ion the nitrous acid has to filver
rather than fixed alkali, appears from the following ex- N;trOUS a,
periment. If a folution of filver in nitrous acid becid att^dls
poured into a mixed folution of. alkali and fea-falt, filver more
the filver will be precipitated by the fea-falt into a luna‘,a°.
cornea, and not by the loofe alkali contained in the
liquor. “ Now (fays Mr Kirwan), if the nitrous
acid had a greater affinity to the free alkali than to
the filver, it is evident that the filver would be preci¬
pitated pure* and not in the ftate of lima cornea ; but
from its being precipitated in this ftate, it is plain,
that the precipitation was not accomplifhed by a fingle
but by a double affinity. Hence alfo the marine acid
appears to have a greater attradlion to filver than the
nitrous has to fixed alkalies. The refult is fimilar
when we make ufe of folutions of lead or mercury in
the nitrous acid. Mr Bayen has alfo Ihown, that vi¬
triol of lead and corrofive fublimate mercury cannot
be deprived of more than half their acid, even by cau¬
ftic fixed alkalies.
With
Theory.
CHEMISTRY.
3°a
Sea-falt de-
compofed
in various
ways by
means of
lead.
303
Acids at¬
tract me¬
tallic earth
ftrongly
tlian vola¬
tile alkali.
304
Why the
metallic
earths fel-
dom de-
cootpofc
falts ha¬
ving an
earth or al¬
kali for
their balls.
305
Decompo-
iition of
vitriolated
tartar by
folution <jf
filver ex¬
plained;
With regard to lead, if perfeftly dry fait be projeft
ed on this metal heated to ignition, the common fait will
be decompofed, and plumbum corneum formed. Nor
can we attribute this to the volatilization of the alkali
by heat; for the alkali is as fixed as the lead, and
mull therefore be eaufed by the fuperior attraction
which the calx of this metal, even when dephlogifti-
cated, has for the marine acid. Mr Scheele informs
us, that if a folution of common fait be digefted with
litharge, the common fait will be decompofed, and a
cauftic alkali produced. It may alfo be decompofed
frmply by letting its folution pafs flowly through a fun¬
nel filed with litharge ; and the fame thing happens
to a folution of calcareous earth in marine acid; which
fhows that the decompofition takes place merely by the
fuperior degree of attraction betwixt the acid and me¬
tallic calx (a). '
That acids have a greater attraction for metallic
earths than volatile alkalies, is fill more evident. Luna
cornea is foluble in volatile alkalies; but if this folution
be triturated with four times its weight of quickfilyer, a
mercurius dukis, and not fal ammoniac, is formed. The
reafon why alkalies and earths precipitate all metallic fo-
lutions is, that the metals are held in folution by an ex-
"cefs of acid. Even if the alkaline and earthy fubftance
did no more than abforb this excefs of acid, a precipi¬
tation muft neceffarily enfue; but they not only take up
this fuperabundant acid, but alfo the greater part of
that which is neceffary to faturate the metallic earth.
This they are enabled to do by means of a double af¬
finity ; for during the folution of metals, only a fmall
part of the phlogifton, comparatively fpeaking, efcapes,
the remainder being retained by the compound of acid
and calx. When therefore an alkali or earth is added
to fuch a folution, the phlogifton quits the acid, and
joins with the calx, while the greater part of the acid
reunites to the precipitate. Notwithftanding this great
affinity, however, of metallic earths to acids, there are
but few inftances of their decompofing thofe falts
which have an alkali or an earth for their bafts, by rea¬
fon of the inability of the acids, while combined with
thefe bafes, and thereby deprived of a great part of
their fpecific fire, to volatilize the phlogifton combi¬
ned with the metallic earths, which muft neceffarily
be expelled before an acid can combine with them: and
as to the metallic calces, they are generally combined
with fixed air, which muft alfo be partly expelled ; but
ammoniacal falts (containing much more fire, for they
abforb itduring their formation) forthatreafon aft much
more powerfully on metals. Allowing then the affini¬
ties of the mineral acids with metallic fubftances to be
as above, all double decompofitions, in which only falts
containing thefe acids united to alkaline, terrene, or
metallic bafes, are concerned, admit of an eafy explana¬
tion ; nay, fays Mr Kirwan, I am bold to fay, they
cannot otherwife be explained. Thus, if a folution
of tartar vitriolate, and of filver in the nitrous acid, be
mixed in proper proportion, nitre and vitriol of filver will
be formed; and this latter for the moil part precipitated.
Shiiefccnt Affinities.
Nitrous acid to filver, 375
Vitriolic acid to ve- )
getable alkali, 5 $
590
Dlvellent Affinities. a
Nitrous acid to ve- 1 ^
getable alkali, 5
Vitriolicacid to filver, 390
605
411
306
Thus alfo, if, inftead of a folution of tartar vitrio- And of
late, that of Glauber’s fait, or of vitriolic fal ammo-Gjauber’s
niac, felenite, Epfom fait, or alum, be ufed, the ba-
lance is conftantly in favour of the divellent powers; andnjac> &(._
a precipitation is the confequence, though but flight
when felenite or alum are ufed. 307
Solution of filver is alfo precipitated by the vitriolic In what ca-
folutions of iron, copper, tin, and probably by manyfes folution
other folutions of metals in the vitriolic acid ; for thisnf fi;lvfri*
reafon, among others undoubtedly, that they contain fecTby^o-
an excefs of acid : but if a faturated folution of filver ther me-
be mixed with a very faturated folution of lead ormer-tat*-
cury in the vitriolic acid, the filver will not be preci¬
pitated and in both cafes the balance is in favour of
the quiefeent affinities. 308
All the marine neutral falts, whether the bafis be al- C°nfiantly
kaline, terrene, or metallic, decompofe the nitrous folu-
tion of filver ; and thefe decompofitions are conftantly rine falts;
indicated by the balance of affinities already deferibed.
The fame thing alfo takes place with folution of filver
in the vitriolic acid, as is indicated alfo by the fame 3°9
table. The nitrous folution of lead is alfo decompo-
fed, and the metal for the moft part precipitated, un-|ea(j> °
lefs the folution be very dilute in the form of vitriol of
lead, by all the neutral falts containing either the vi¬
triolic or marine acid, excepting only the combination
of filver with marine acid, which precipitates it in no
other way than by its excefs of acid. • 310
Solution of lead in marine acid is decompofed by all^ut.10n0^
the neutral falts containing the vitriolic acid, excepting^V^ a_
only felenite and folution of nickel in oil of vitriol. Thefe cid decom-
can only precipitate it by virtue of an excefs of acid, pofed by
Nitrous folution of mercury is decompofed by all the'!itr‘oI'c
neutral falts containing the vitriolic acid, except vitriol13 ts;
of lead, which only decompofes it by an excefs of acid. Alfo ni-
All the falts containing marine acid decompofe the trous folu-
nitrous folution of mercury, excepting the combina-1*0115
tions of marine acid with filver and lead, which decom-merc“ry;
pofe it by excefs of acid. Ancj j,y
Thefe falts alfo decompofe vitriol of mercury, tho’ the falts
a precipitation dods not always appear, owing, as Mr cont.ain;h£
Kirwan fuppofes, to the facility with which a fmall quan- ™jjriue a*
tity of the marine fait of mercury is foluble in an excefs '3,3
of acid. Marine fait of filver, however,decompofes vitriol Vitriol of
of mercury only through its excefs of’acid. Hence we mercury
fee why luna cornea can never be reduced by fixed al-^^111^
kalies without lofs; and were it not that the aftion ofjdne acjd.
the alkali is affifted by heat, it never could be reduced 3*4
by them at all. Why luna
When oil of vitriol is mixed with a folution of cor- Cannot be
rofive fublimate, a precipitate falls ; but this, as Mr reduced
Bergman remarks, does not proceed from a decompo-without
3 F 2 f.tion“‘7
(a) Thefe expetiments have been repeated by many other chemifts without fuccefs; and Mr Wiegleb
informs, that none of thofe who have attempted to decompofe fea-falt by means of lead, ever found their me-
-ihods anfwer the purpofe.
CHEMISTRY. Theory.
fition of the mercurial fait, but from an abftraftion of drynefs ; and he found that, during the evaporation, Solution
* the water neceflary to keep the ftiblimate diflblved. about a quarter of a grain of the filver had been volati- “u.d Preci-.
j In the foregoing table two different affinities are af- lized. The dry refiduum was then diftilled, and kept ,'i'ltat'on' .
figned to the vitriolic acid _ with regard, to bif- an hour in a coated green-glafs retort heated almofl to v
muth and nickel; one fhowing the affinity which a white heat. Abundance of nitrous acid paffed off
- thefe acids bear to the metals when dephlogillica- during the operation, and a green and white fublimate
* ted only by folution in the acids; the other that rofe into the neck of the retort, fome of it even paf-
which the acids bear to them when more dephlo- fing over into the receiver. On breaking the retort, the
gifticated, as when they are diffolved in the nitrous infide was penetrated with a yellow and red tinge, and
acid. On the other hand, all the acids have lefs affi- partly covered over with an exceedingly fine filver pow-
nity with the calces, of iron, zinc, tin, and antimony, der, which could fcarcely be fcraped off. The re-
when they are dephlogiflicated to a certain degree ; mainder of the filver was white, and perfeftly free
but our author found himfelf unable to give any cer- from acid, but not melted into a button. On being
tain criteria of this dephlogiftication. collefted, it weighed 94 grains; confequently 26 grains
The moft difficult point to be fettled was the pre- had been loft either by fublimation or vitrification ;
cipitation of metals by each other from the mineral but of thefe 26.grains 9; were copper; for 100 grains
acids. To determine this it was neceffary to find the of ftandard filver contain 7^ of copper, therefore only
if quantity of phlogifton in each of them, not only in 17 grains of pure filver remained unr educed, being ei- 3it
1 their natural ftate, but according to their various de- ther volatilized or vitrified. The whole quantity of Quantity
grees of dephlogiftication by each of the acids.. The pure filver in 120 grains of ftandard filver amounts to of Pure me-
. fubftance he chofe for determining the abfolute quan- 111 grains ; then if 111 grains of pure filver lofe 17 (“jnc
tity of phlogifton in a metallic fubftance was regulus of by being deprived of its phlogifton, too grains of the ftandavd
arfenic. An hundred grains of this femimetal difibl- fame fhould lofe 15.3; and by the above table 15.3 filver.
^ ved in dilute nitrous acid yielded 102.4 cubic inches of grains of filver fliould contain 0.945 a grain of
^ nitrous air; which, according to his calculations on that phlogifton. Now, 100 grains of pure filver afford
- fubjedt, contain 6-86 grains of phlogifton and hence 14 cubic inches of nitrous air, which, according to our
he concluded that 10,0 grains of regulus of arfenic con- author’s calculation, contain 0.938 of a grain of
tain 6.86 grains of phlogifton. From this experi- phlogifton ; and this differs from 0.945 only by .007
ment, three times repeated with the fame fuccefs, our of a grain. “ In this experiment (fays Mr Kirwan)
author proceeded to form, by calculation, a table of only as much of the filver fublimed as could not regain
the abfolute quantity of phlogifton contained in me- phlogifton ; the remainder regained it from the nitrous
tals, the relative quantity having been, computed by air abforbed by the folution, and by that which remain-
Mr Bergman, and his calculations adopted by our au- ed in the acid and calx. If this were not fo, I do not
319
Table of
the quanti¬
ties of phlo¬
gifton in
different-
thor.
Thefe quantities are as follow.
Relative
Gold
Copper
Cobalt
Iron
Zinc
Nickel
Regulus of ?
antimony 5
Tin
Regulus of 7
arfenic y
Silver
Mercury
Bifmuth
Lead
Quantity.
39+
312
270
233
182
156
Experi¬
ments ex¬
plaining
the reduc¬
tion of
filver per
/'•
fee why the whole of the filver would not fublime.” 32^
Dr Prieftley having feveral times diffolved mercury Examina-
. „ in the nitrous acid, and revivified it by diftilling overti0?!??
100 grains 394 24. 2 that acid, conftantly found a confiderable portion of it experiment
unreduced. To try whether that proportion corre- concerning
fponded with his calculation, Mr Kirwan examined d12 revival
Dr Prieftley’s experiment, viz. that having diffolved
17 penny-weights 13 grains (321 grains) of mercuryCUrjr*
in nitrous acid, 36 grains remained unreduced. Ac¬
cording to Mr Kirwan’s calculation 56 grains fhould
have remained unreduced ^ for too grains of mercury
afford 12 cubic inches of nitrous air; of confequence
321 grains fhould afford 38.52, which contain 2.58
of phlogiftion and if, as according to the table, 4.561
grains of phlogiftion be neceffary to metallize 100
grains of mercury, 2.58 grains will be neceflary to
metallize 56 grains of the Tame metal; and our author
is fatisfied from his own trials, that more than 50
This point he-likewife endeavoured to afeertain by grains would have remained unreduced, if dephlogifti-
other experiments. As filver lofts a certain quantity cated nitrous acid had been ufed in diffolving the mer-
of phlogifton, which efcapes and feparates from it du- cury, and the folution performed with heat and a
ring its folution in nitrous acid, he concluded, that if ftrong acid : but that which the Doftor ufed was of Why fo
the folution was expofed to nothing from which it the fmoking kind, and confequentiy contained a con- much of
could reobtain phlogifton, and.this was diftilled to dry- fiderable quantity of phlogiftion already,, which UnTthe met.aI
nefs, and entirely feparated from the acid, as muchfil- doubtedly contributed to revive more of the metal ^ the
ver.fhould remain unreduced as correfponded with the than would otherwife have been done.. It is true, Do&or’s
quantity of phlogifton loft by it; and if this quantity Dr Prieftley. afterwards revived a great part of what experi-
correfponded with that in the above table, he then had had originally remained unreduced; but this happened meats,
good reafon to conclude that the table was juft; after it had been fome time expofed to the free air,,
For this purpofe 120 grains of ftandard filver were from which the calces of metals always attra& phlogif-
diffolved in dephlogifticated nitrous acid diluted with ton; as is evident in luna cornea, which blackens on be-
water, and he obtained from it 24 cubic inches of ni- ing expofed to the air.
trous air. This folution was gently evaporated to By another experiment of I)r Prieftley’s, it was
f- found}.
120
1J4
109
100
74
i7
43
Abfo'ute
Quantity.
24.82
19.65
17.OI
14.67
11.46
9.82
7.5.6
7.18
6.86
6.30.
4.56
3-59
2.70
Theory*.
CHEMISTRY.
4U
Solution found, that nearly five pennyweights of minium, from the quantity of phlogifton in any metal is, the fmaller Solution
^"tatio*1" w^ence *ts a*r was extrafted, that is, about 118 is the quantity of calx in a given weight of that me- an.dP.rea"
t1)1 a¥10n' grains, absorbed 40 ounce-meafures, or 75.8 cubic tal;” and, that “ the denfity which the pholgiflon ac- pitatl0n' .
3?4 inches of inflammable air, containing 2.65 grains of quires is as the fpecific gravity of the metal.,, This y "
Of the re- phlogiflon, by which they were-reduced. An hundred latter propofition, however, is not ftri&ly true, for
viv.ilof grains of minium, therefore, require for their reduc-
lead from t|on neariy 2 2 c grains of phlogifton. In another
inflam- experiment made with more care, he found, that 480
mable air. grains of minium abforbed 108 ounce-meafures of in¬
flammable air : fo that, according to this, too grains
this denfity is much greater; but its defe& is only fen-
fible with regard to thofe metals which contain a
confiderable quantity of phlogifton, as gold, copper,
cobalt, and iron. With regard to the reft, it is of no
importance. The fpecific gravity of the different me-
of minium require for their redu&ion 1.49 grains of tals, then, being as reprefented in the firft column of
phlogifton; and in two fucceeding experiments he the following table, the affinity of their calces, to phlo-
found the quantity ftill lefs. On this Mr Kirwan re- gifton will be as in the fecond; and the third ex-
Mr Kir-
the expe -
riments of
Dr Prieft-
ley.
marks, x. That the whole of the minium was not de-
phlogifticated; for it is never equally calcined, and
beftdes much of it muft have been reduced during the
expulfion of its air. 2. The quantity of phlogifton in
the inflammable air may have been greater, as this
varies with its temperature and the weight of the at-
mofphere: fo that on the whole thefe experiments con-
, firm the refults expeffed in the table.
Of the at- Mr Kirwan next proceeds to. confider the attra&ion
traction of of metallic calces to phlogifton. Inflammable air,
metallic when condenfed into a folid fubftance, he fuppofes not
phlo^ifton onty eclua^ but much fuperior, to any metallic calx in
P S‘ ' fpecific gravity; and therefore, if we could find the
fpecific gravity of any calx free both from, phlogifton
and fixed air, we would thus know the denfity which
phlogifton acquires by its union with fuch calx. It
preffes the affinities in numbers homogeneous with
thofe which exprefs the affinities of acids with their
bails.
Proportionable Real Affinities of Table of -
Gold
Mercury
Silver
Head
Copper
Bifmuth
Cobalt
Iron
Regulus of
Arfenic
Zinc
Tin
(Png has, however, hitherto proved impoffible to procure r,in , r-, ^
icific calces in fuch a ftate ; as, during their dephlogifti'ca- Regulus of? ^
Specific
Gravity.
J4
x 1.091.
ll-3S
8.8
9.6
7-7
7-7
[ 8-31
7.24
Affinities.
025
C.147.
o.u 8
0.116
0.109
0-°9i9*
0.092
0.090
0.089
0.0812
0.075
0.074
320'
Calx to Phlogift. the pro-
IO41
612
4.91
483
454
412
383
375
37°'
?38
312
308
portional
affinities o£
metallic
calces to
phlogiftoa.
Of findlnj, „ .
the fpecific calces in fuch a ftate ; as, during their dephlogiftlca- -^eguius-oi /
gravity of tion, they combine with fixed air or fome particles of Antimony 3
rent me* t^ie men^ruum’ whence their abfolute weight is in- From this table we way fee why lead is ufeful in Whylead
taHiV^al- creafed, and their, fpecific gravity diminifhed. Hence cupellation ; namely, becaufe it has a greater affinity is ufeful in
ees. it appears, that the fpecific gravity of the calces differs with phlogifton than the calces of any of the other cupe^at’on"
much lefs from that of their refpeftive metals, than the imperfedl metals confequently after it has loft its
fpecific gravity which the phlogifton requires by its own phlogifton, it attrafts that of the other metals
union with thofe calces from that which it poffeffes in with w’hich it is mixed,.and thus promotes their calci-
its uncombined ftate. Hence, inftead of deducing the nation and vitrification. ,
quantity of affinity betwixt phlogifton and metallic cal- The third point neceffary for the explanation of the Quantity of-
ces from the following propofition, that “ the affinity phenomena attending the folution of metals, and their phlogifton
of metallic calces to phlogifton is in a compound ratio precipitation by each other, is to determine the pro- ^
of its quantity and denfity in each metal,” he is obliged portion of phlogifton which they lofe by folution in calcination,
to deduce it from this other,, that “ the affinity of me- each of the acids, and the affinity which their calces
tallic calces to phlogifton is direftly as the fpecific hear to the part fo loft. Though our author was not
grees of'af-£rav*ty t^ie refpeftive metals, and inverfely as the able to determine this by any direft experiment, yet
Inity to quantity of calx contained in a given weight of thefe from various confiderations he was led to believe that
phiogifton metals.” This latter propofition is an approximation it was as follows:,
may be de- to the former, founded.on this truth, that “ the larger
termined. 0
328
Whence
their va
rious de-
By the vitriolic ?
acid }
By nitrous acid
By marine acid
Quantity of Phlogifton feparated
From li on, Copper, Tin, Lead, Silver, Mercury, Zinc, Bifmuth, Cobalt, Nickel, Reg. of Ant. Reg.ofArfi
Totr Tor
Entire
tW Entire
Toff Tff-s-
■fy;
Tffff Tffff to' Tff   •
affinity of The affinity of the calces to the deficient part of
calces to the their phlbgiftbn may now be cafily calculated ; for
deficient they may he confidered as acids, whofe affinity to the
P,ar!: op deficient part of their bafis is as the ratio which that
giftoiu Part bears to the whole. Thus the affinity of iron,.
thoroughly deprived of its phlogifton, being 375, as it
lofes two-thirds of its phlogifton by folution in the
vitrolic acid, the affinity of iron to thefe is two-
thirds of its whole affinity; that is, two-thirds of 375,
or 250.
Entire Entire Entire
"Toff Tff TW5
Tffff
Thus we may eafily conftruA a table of the affinities up/pf
of the phlogifton of different metals for their cal-thefe cal¬
ces ; and from this and that formerly given, by which culations
the affinities of the acids to the metallic calces was ex- f
preffed, we may guefs what will happen on putting one ;ng ^
metal in the folution of another. Thus if a piece of oW the phe-
copper he put into a faturated folution of filver, the nomena of
filver will be precipitated; for the balance is in fa-
vour of the divellent powers, as appears from the fol- 10n’
lowing calculation. ^
guiefeent
414 G H E M 1
Solution Qukfcent Affinities. Dh'ellent Ajffinitks.
aiV^>.rec‘'Nitroug acid to filvcr 375 Nitrous acid to copper 255
^ pita ion. Qa|x Qj- COpper tQ-o Qaix 0f fjiver t0 i
phlogifton 5 ^ * phlogifton 5 ^
Sum of the quief- ) _ Q Sum of the divel- ? _ r
354 cent affinities S ^ lent 1 ^
Of the ex- In making thefe experiments the folutions muft be
cefs of a- nearly, though not entirely, faturated. If much fu-
lutions^m-o Perfluous ac^ left> a large quantity of the added
per for ma-metal will be diflblved, before any precipitation can
lung thefe be made to appear; and when the folution is perfeft-
experi- ly faturated, the attradfion of the calces for one another
merits. begins to appear; a power which fometimes takes
335 place, and which has not yet been fully inveltigated.
whv the jn titis way the precipitating metals are more de-
more^de-6 pblogifticated than by direct folution in their re-
phlogifti- fpeftive menftrua; and are even difiblved by mea-
cated by ftrua which would not otherwife affedt them. The
piutwal pre* reafon Df this is, that their phlogifton is acted upon by
than^y di-two powers inftead of one : and hence, though copper
redt folu- be diredtly foluble in the vitriolic acid only when in
tion. its concentrated ftate, and heated to a great degree ;
336 yet if a piece of copper be put into a folution of filver.
Why cop- mercury, or even iron, though dilute and cold, and
per is dif- expofed to the air, it will be diflblved ; a circumftance
which has juftly excited the admiration of feveral emi-
■fiiver,°mer-nent chemifts, and which is inexplicable on any other
cury, or i- principles than thofe juft now laid down. From this
ron. circumftance we may fee the reafon why vitriol of cop¬
per, when formed by nature, always contains iron.
Mr Kirwan now proceeds to conftder the folu¬
tions of metallic fubftances in all the different acids.
Vitriolic acid, he obferves, diflblves only iron and
zinc of all the metallic fubftances, becaufe its affinity
iy metals to their calces is greater than that which they bear to
diffolvedby the phlogifton they muft lofe before they can unite
vitriolic a- w;th it.
338 Nitrous acid has lefs affinity with all metallic fub-
Nitrous a- fiances than either the vitriolic or marine ; yet it dif-
cid diflblves f0jves them all, gold, filver, and platina excepted,
though^it' though h has even lefs affinity with them than they
has lefs af- have with that portion of phlogifton which muft be
baity with loft before they can difiblve in any acid. The reafon
them than 0f this is, that it unites with phlogifton, unlefs when in
licorma”' t0° diluted a Hate ; and the heat produced by its union
rir.c. with phlogifton is fufficient to promote the folution of
339 the metal. On the other hand, when very concen-
Why it trated, it cannot difiblve them ; becaufe the acid does
folve°thcm not t^en conta*n f|re enough, to throw the phlogi-
when much ft°n i»to an aerial form, and reduce the folid to a li-
concentra- quid.
ted. The marine acid dephlogifticates metals lefs power-
In what fully than any other. It can make no folution, or at
cafes the leaft can operate but very flowly, without heat, in thofe
marine a- cafes where the metallic calx has a ftronger affinity
cid can dif- with that portion of the phlogifton which muft be loft,
tal^ and" t1llan t^ie ac^ • nor can ^ operate brifkly even where
when it the attraction is ftronger, provided the quantity of
cannot. acid be fmall; becaufe fuch a little quantity of acid.
does not contain fire enough to volatilize the phlogifton:
and hence heat is neceffary to affift the marine acid in
diffolving lead. When dephlogifticated, it aCts more
powerfully.
It has been obferved, that copper and Iron mutual-
Jy precipitate one another. If a piece of copper be
S T It Y. Theory.
put into a faturated folufion of iron frefti made, no Solution
precipitation will enfue for 12 hours, or even longer, an.d Preci*
if the liquor be kept clofe from the air ; but if the li- Pltao°n. ^
quor be expofed to the open air, the addition of vo- S4I
latile alkali will fhow, in 24 hours, that fome of the whyrop-
copper has been diffolved, or fooner, if heat be ap- per and 1-
plied, and a calx of iron is precipitated. The reafon Tn 1reci’
of this will be underftood from the following ftate of another^
the affinities.
Quiefcent. Divellent.
Vitriolic acid to calx of Vitriolic acid to cop-
iron - - 270 per - - 260
Copper to its phlogi- Calx of iron to phlo-
fton - - 360 gifton - - 250
630 510
In this cafe no decompofition can take place, be¬
caufe the fum of the divellent affinities is lefs than that
of the quiefcent; but in the fecond, when much of
the phlogifton of the iron has efcaped, the affinity of
the calx of iron to the acid is greatly diminiftied, at
the fame time that the affinity of the calx to phlogi¬
fton is augmented. The ftate of the affinities may
therefore be fuppofed as follows.
Quiefcent.
Vitriolic acid to calx
of iron - 240
Copper to its phlo¬
gifton - 360
337
Iron and
zinc the
Divellent.
Vitriolic acid to cop¬
per - 260
Calx of iron to phlo¬
gifton - 370
600 ^3° ma
The increafe of affinity of the calx of iron to phlo- increafe 0f
gifton is not a mere fuppofition ; for if we put fome the attrac-
frefh iron to a folution of the metal fo far dephlogifti- bon of
cated as to refufe to cryftallize, fo much of the phlo-
gifton will be regained that the impoverifhed folution Qon de-
will now yield cryftals. The reafon why the increafed monftra-
quantity of phlogifton does not enable the acid to re-te^*
aft upon the metal is, becaufe it is neither fufficiently
large, nor attrafted with a fufficient degree of force,
to which the accefs of air and heat employed contri¬
bute confiderably. The diminution of attraction in
calces of iron for acids is evident, not only from this
hub many other experiments; and particularly from
the neceffity of adding more acid to a turbid folution
of iron in order to re-eftablilh its tranfparency. 3^3
A dephlogifticated folution of iron is alfo precipita- Cakes of '
ted by the calces of copper. The fame thing happens copper pre-
to a folution of iron in nitrous acid ; only as the
predominates greatly in this folution, fome of the cop- cate<i f0]u.
per is diffolved before any of the iron is precipitated, tions of i»
Copper precipitates nothing from folution of iron in ron-
the marine acid, though expofed to the open air for
24 hours.
Solution of copper in the vitriolic acid is inftantly
precipitated by iron; the reafon of which is plain from
the common table of affinities: and hence the foun¬
dation of the method of extracting copper, by means Ma^j vj
of iron, from fome mineral waters. The precipitated trjol pr0CUI
folution affords a vitriol of iron, but of a paler kindml by pre-
than that commonly met with, and lefs fit for dyeing, cipitation
as being more dephlogifticated : the reafon of which j”-sCg[’P^'
is, that copper contains more phlogifton than iron : dyejnj?
old iron is alfo ufed which has partly loft its phlo- the com-
gifton. nion.
Theory.
Solution glfton.
CHEMISTRY.
415
Hence tLe iron is more dephlogiflicated by of a double affinity, but of the fingle greater affinity Solution.
and Preci- prec;pitating copper than by mere di[foliation in the
. , vitriolic acid ; and hence call iron, according to the
obfervations of Mr Schlatter, will fcarcely precipitate
Solution of a folution of copper; becaufe it contains lefs phlo-
copper gifton than bar-iron, as Mr Bergman has informed us.
fcarcely de- j^r Kirwan always found filver eafily precipitated
by means of iron from its folution in nitrous acid;
though Bergman had obferved that a faturated folution
of filver could not be thus precipitated without great
difficulty, even though the folution were diluted and
an excefs of acid added to it. What -precipitation
346 took place could only be accomplifhed by fame kinds
Sedt- °f iron. The reafon of this Mr Kirwan fuppofes to
lution of he, that the folution, even after it is faturated, takes
up fame of the filver in its metallic form ; which Mr
Scheele has alfo obferved to take place in quickfdver.
The laft portions of both thefe metals, when diffolved
in ftrong nitrous acid, afford no air, and confequently
are not dephlogifticated. This compound of calx,
therefore, and of filver in its metallic ftate, it may rea-
fonably be fuppofed cannot be precipitated by iron,
as the filver in its metallic form prevents the calx from,
coming into contaft with the iron, and extracting the
phlogiflon from it; and for the fame reafon iron has
been obferved not to precipitate a folution of mercury
the nitrous acid.
mpofed
by caft i-
filvei
fcarce be
precipita¬
ted by i-
of its menftruum to every other metallic earth. Me- andPreci-
tals precipitated from the nitrous acid by tin are af- ,
terwards rediffolved, becaufe the acid foon quits the 33I
tin by reafon of its becoming too much dephlogi- why me-
fticated. tab preci-
Lead precipitates metallic folutions in the vitriolic P^a^ ^
and marine acids but flowly, becaufe the firft portions terwai(j.
of lead taken up form falts very difficult of folution, rediffolved,
which cover its furface, and protett it from the fur- 35 2
ther aft ion of the acid ; at the fame time it contains ^^'PIta"
fo little phlqgiftdn, that a great quantity of it muff be jeacj_ y
diffolved before it will diffolve other metals. A folu¬
tion of lead very much faturated cannot be precipita¬
ted by iron but with difficulty, if at all. Mr Kirwan.
conjt clures that this may arife from fome of the lead
alfo being taken up in its metallic form, as is the cafe
with mercury ahd filver. Iron wall not precipitate
lead from marine acid; for though a precipitate ap¬
pears., the acid is ftill adhering to the metal. On the
contrary, iron is precipitated from its folution in this
acid by lead, though very flowly. 353
Mercury is quickly precipitated from the vitriolic Precipita-
acid by copper, though the difference between the fumtlons of ,
of the quiefeent and divellent affinities is but very ^
fmall. The precipitation, however, takes place, be¬
caufe the calx of mercury has a ftrong attrattion for
eMrafforTf ^*nc cannot precipitate iron, as Mr Bergman has phlogifton ; and a vCry fmall portion of what is con-
pne and until the folution of the latter lofes part of its tained in copper is fufficient to revive it.
Silver, however, is not able to precipitate mercury It cannot be
from the vitriolic acid, unlefs it contains copper; in prec-pna-
which cafe a precipitation will enfue : but on diftilling
filver and turpeth mineral, the mercury will pafs over vitriol a.,
in its metallic form ; which fliows that the affinity of cid.
the calx of mercury to phlogifton is increafed by heat,,
though the difference betwixt the divellent and quief¬
eent powers is very fmall.. 355-
                Mercury appeared to be precipitated by filver from Why mer-
tallic fubftances precipitated by iron from the nitrous the nitrous acid, though very flowly; but when the
acid are in fome meafure rediffolved fnortly after ; be- folution was made without heat, it was not at all Pr£- ci^itate^ne
caufe the nitrous acid foon dephlogifticates the iron too cipitated. On the other hand, mercury precipitates another
much, then lets it fall, reafts on the other metals, and' filver from this acid, not by virtue of the fuperiorityfioi
ie phlogifton. Hence we may underftand why Newmann
denied that iron can be precipitated by means of zinc.
Mr Kirwan, however, has found, that zinc does not
precipitate iron from the nitrous acid; but on the
contrary, that iron precipitates zinc. In a fhort time
the acid rediffolves the zinc and lets fall the iron,
owing to the calx of iron being too much dephlogifti¬
cated. Iron, however, will not precipitate zinc either
from the vitriolic or marine acids. Moft of the me-
of the ufual divellent powers, but by reafbn of the at-"“rous a'
traction of mercury and filver for each other; for they
form partly an amalgam and partly a vegetation,
fcarcely any thing of either remaining in the folu-•
H0”:,. 3 . . ran Corrofive-
Silver does not precipitate mercury from the folu-fl,i)ijm.ite
tion of corrofive fublimate ; but, on the contrary, cannot be
348 diffolves them.
Why cop- Dr Lewis obferves, that filver is fometimes not pre¬
times Tan" c'phated by copper from the nitrous acid; which hap-
not preci- Pens either when the acid is fuperfaturated with filver
pitace fil- by taking up fome in- its metallic form, or when the
ver- fjiver is not much dephlogifticated. In this cafe, the
remedy is to heat the folution and add a little more acid,
which dephlogifticates it further ; but the nitrous acid mercury precipitates filver from the marine acid : and Ff clPlta'
349 always retains a little filver. if a folution of luna cornea in volatile alkali be tritura-^r
Blue vi- It has commonly been related by chemical authors,’ ted with mercury, calomel will be formed ; yet on di- i-una’ cornea .
beTormed'1 t^'at blue vitriol Will be formed by adding filings Hilling calomel and filver together, the mercury will may be de-
by boiling coPPer to a boiling folution of alum. Mr Kirwan,. pafs in its metallic form, and luna cornea will be form- compofed
a folution however, has fliowed this to be an error: for after ed. The fame thing happens on diftilling filver and
of alum boiling a folution of alum for 20 hours with copper corrofive fublimate, the affinity of calx of mercury topuhi;’mate
'er filings ^'nSs’ not a Part‘cle of the metal was diffolved ; the phlogifton increafing with heat. by filver. In
350
Why tin
cannot be
liquor Handing even the teft of the volatile alkali. The Bifmuth precipitates nothing from vitriol of copper r^e dry
alum indeed was precipitated from the liquor, but ftill in 16 hours ; nor does copper from vitriol of bHmuth.
retained its faline form ; fo that the precipitation The two metallic fubftances, however, alternately pre-prccj, ,i a_
was occafioned only by the diffipation of the fuperflu.
ous acid.
No metal is capable of precipitating tin in its me¬
tallic form ; the reafon of which, according to Mr
Kirwan, is, becaufe the precipitation, is not the effedi
cipitate one another from the nitrous acid, which pro- tions of bif-
ceed from their different degrees of dephlogiftication. nn.th.
Nickel will fcarcely precipitate any metal except it
be reduced to powder. A black powder is precipi*^rjgC-l ita„
tated. by means of .zinc .from the foiutkuv of nickel ted 1.; zinc.
C H E M I
i the vitriolic and nitrous acids, which has be$n
fhown by Bergman to confift of arfetiic, nickel, and a
, little of the zinc itfelf. The latter, however, precipi-
tates nickel from the marine acid.
Iron and The fohitions of iron and nickel in the vitriolic acid
nickel will mutually adt upon thefe metals ; but neither of them
precipitate precipitate the other in 24 hours, though on re-
one a:;o- matning longer at rell iron feems to have the advan-
ther. tage. Iron, however, evidently precipitates nickel
from the nitrous acid; and though nickel feems to
precipitate iron, yet this arifes only from the gradual
360 dephlogiftication of the iron.
Ton'ofco" Copper is precipitated in its metallic form from the
per1 kad^"^triolic, nitrous, and marine acids, by nickel. The
and’bif- ’ vitriolic and nitrous folutions of lead feem to aft upon
muth, by it without any decompofition, the calces uniting to
nickel. each other. Lead feems for fome time to be afted
upon in the fame manner by the vitriolic and nitrous
■folutions of nickel, but at laft nickel feems to have the
advantage ; but a black precipitate appears whichever
of them is put into the folution of the other. How¬
ever, nickel readily precipitates vitriolic and nitrous
folutions of bifmuth ; but in the marine acid both
thefe femimetals are foluble in the folutions of each
other: yet nickel precipitates bifmuth very flowly, and
only in part; while bifmuth precipitates a red powder,
fuppofed by Mr Kirwan to be ochre, from the folution
3^! _ of nickel.
Cobalt is not precipitated by zinc either from the
vitriolic or nitrous acids, though it feems to have
fome effeft upon it when diffolved in that of fea-falt.
Iron precipitates cobalt from all the three acids,
vipitatedby yet muc^ °f the femimetal is retained in the vitriolic
iron. and- nitrous folutions of it, particularly the latter ;
_ 363 which, after letting fall the cobalt, takes it up again,
Nickel pre-an(j lets fall a dephlogillicated calx of iron. Nickel
fume'hete- a^°, though it does not precipitate cobalt itfelf, as
rogeneous appears by the remaining rednefs of the folution, yet
matterfrom conftantly precipitates fome heterogeneous matter from
**• it. Solution of cobalt in the marine acid becomes co-
Solutions lourkfs by the addition of nickel. Bifmuth is foluble
of cobalt in the vitriolic and nitrous folutions of cobalt, and
let fall a throws down a fmall white precipitate, but does not
white pow- affe& the metallic part. Nor can we attribute thefe
addition of f°lutions in vitriolic acid to any excefs in that acid, as
bifinuth or they are dilute and made without heat. Copper alfo
copper. .precipitates from the folution of cobalt a white powder
35j fuppofed to be arfenic.
Precipita- The regulus of antimony has no effeft on folution
• tions of and of copper in vitriolic acid, nor is precipitated by it
tSbmtCno- ft°m the fame acid ; but it diffolves flowly in vitriol of
Ky, antimony. With folution of vitriol of lead it becomes
redin 16 hours, but is fcarcely precipitated by lead
from the vitriolic acid. Powdered regulus alfo preci¬
pitates vitriol of mercury very flightly. Bifmuth nei¬
ther precipitates nor is precipitated by the regulus in
24 hours from the vitriolic acid. Tin precipitates the
regulus from the nitrous acid ; but if regulus be put
into a folution of tin in the fame acid, neither of the
A triple metals will be found in the liquid in 16 hours, either
fait formed by reafon of the dephlogiftication or of the union of the
by iron, re- calces to each other.
gulus of am Iron does not precipitate regulus of antimony en-
mrine’a-tb’fty from the marine acid; but feems to form a
tida triple fait, confifting of the add and b*th calces.
N° yx.
not preci¬
pitate co¬
balt.
36a
Cobalt pre-
S T R Y.
Theory,
The regulus may alfo be diffolved by marine fait of Solution
iron. _ andPreci-
Copper does not precipitate regulus of antimony i ltatlon- ^
from marine acid in 16 hours ; and if the regulus be ^
put into marine fait of copper, it will be diflblved, Another
and volatile alkalies will not give a blue, but a yellowifti formed by
white precipitate; fo that here alfo a triple fait is regulus of
formed.   * {““r*
Solution of arfenic in vitriolic acid afts upon iron, ?n(j
lead, copper, nickel, and zinc; but fcarce give any copper,
precipitate : neither is arfenic precipitated by iron 368
from the nitrous acid, though it is by copper, and
even filver gives a flight white precipitate. Regulus by arfenic.
of arfenic, however, precipitates filver completely in
16 hours : whcnce the former precipitate feems to be
a triple fait. Mgrcury alfo flightly precipitates arfenic
from the nitrous acid, and feems to unite with it,
though it is itfelf precipitated by regulus of arfenic in
24 hours. _ _ _ r . . P 369
Bifmuth flightly precipitates arfenic from fpint of Regulus of
nitre, but regulus of arfenic forms a copious precipi- arfenic pro¬
late in the nitrous folution of bifmuth ; fo that Mr ^
Kirwan is of opinion that the calces unite. It is not from tbe
precipitated from this acid by nickel, but the calces nitrous a-
unite. Though regulus of arfenic produces a copious dd;
precipitate in the folution of nickel in nitrous acid, yet
the liquor remains green ; fo that the nickel is certainly
not precipitated. The white precipitate in this cafe
feems to be arfenic flightly dephlogifticated. Regu¬
lus of arfenic alfo produces a white precipitate in the
nitrous folution of cobalt, but the liquor ftill continues
red.   .370
Regulus of arfenic is precipitated from the marine And by
acid by copper; but the precipitate does not ilrike a^ik^
blue colour with volatile alkali, becaufe the metalmadne "a-
unites with the arfenic. The arfenic is alfo precipi-dd.
tated by iron. Tin is foluble in marine folution of ar¬
fenic, but Mr Kirwan could not obferve any precipi¬
tation ; nor does regulus of arfenic precipitate tin.
Neither bifmuth nor regulus of arfenic precipitate each
other from marine acid in 16 hours. Regulus of an¬
timony is alfo afted upon by the marine folution of ar¬
fenic, though it caufes no precipitate, nor does the
regulus of arfenic precipitate it.
$2. Of the Quantities of Acid, All all, &c. contained
in different Salts, auith the Specific Gravity of the In¬
gredients,
It is a problem by which the attention of the heft
modern chemifts has been engaged, to determine the
quantity of acid exifting in a dry ftate in the various
compound falts, refulting from the union of acid with
alkaline, earthy, and metallic fubftances. In this way
Mr Kirwan has greatly excelled all others, and deter¬
mined the matter with an accuracy and precifion alto¬
gether unlocked for. His deciflons are founded on the
following principles.
1. That the fpecific gravity of bodies is their weight 37*
divided by an equal bulk of rain or diftilled water; the of
latter being the ftandard with which every other body bodies how
is compared. found.
2. That if bodies fpecifically heavier than water be
weighed in air and in water, they lofe in water part
of the weight which they were found to have in air;
and
Theory. C H E M
Contents, and that the weight fo loft is juft the fame as that of
&c. of the an eqUal bulk of water; and confequently, that their
falts' fpecific gravity is equal to their weight in air, or ab-
* folute weight divided' by their lots of weight in
water.
3. That if a folid, fpecifically heavier than a liquid,
be weighed firft in air and then in that liquid, the
weight it lofes is equal to the weight of an equal vo¬
lume of that liquid; and confequently, if fuch folid
be weighed firft in air, then in water, and afterwards
in any other liquid, the fpecific gravity will be as the
weight loft in it by fuch folid, divided by the lofs of
weight of the fame folid in water. This method of
finding the fpecific gravity of liquids, our author found
more exaft than that by the aerometer, or the compa-
rifons of the weights of equal meafures of fuch liquids
and water, both of which are fubject to feveral inaccu-
37a racies.
To find the 4. That where the fpecific gravity of bodies is al-
weight of ready known, we may find the weight of an equal
an equal bulk of water : it beintr as the quotient of their abfo-
bulk or wa- /. . . . . r . . i i •
ter where lute weight divided by their ipecinc gravities : and this
the fpecific he calls their lofs of weight in water,
gravity is Thus where the fpecific gravity and abfolute weight
known. 0p tjie ingredients of any compound are known, the
fpecific gravity of fuch compound may eafily be calcu¬
lated ; as it ought to be intermediate betwixt that of
the lighter and that of the heavier, according to their
Mr them a- feveral proportions: and this Mr Kirwan calls the ma-
tical fpeci- theniatlcal fpecific gravity. But in faft the fpecific
fic aravity gravity of compounds, found by actual experiment,
explained. fe]dom agrees with that found by calculation ; but is
often greater, without any diminution of the lighter'
Incre .fed ingredient. This increafe of denfity, then, Mr Kirwan
denfity of fuppofes to arife from a clofer union of the component
mixtures parts to each other than either had feparately with its
for°UIlteC* own integrant parts; and -this more intimate union
muft, he thinks, proceed from the attraction of thefe
parts to each other: for which reafon he fuppofed,
that this attraction might be eftimated by the increafe
of denfity or fpecific gravity, and was proportionable
to it; but foon found that he was miftaken in this
37J point.
Weights of With regard to the abfolute weights of feveral forts
(different of air, our author adheres to the computations of Mr
kinds cf air. Fontana, at whofe experiments he was prefent; the
thermometer being at 55°, and the barometer at 294-
inches, or nearly fo. Thefe weights were as follow:
0.385
0.570
0.654
°*399
0.778
0.2
0.03
Cubie inch of common air,
fixed air,
marine acid air,
nitrous air,
vitriolic acid air,
alkaline air, -
, inflammable air,
Method of Mr Kirwan begins his inveftigations with the marine
finding the acid ; endeavouring firft to find the exad; quantity of
quantity of pUre acid it Contains at any given fpecific gravity, and
contairedin t^en by means of it determining the weight of acid
fpirit of contained in all other acids. For if a given quantity
fait. of pure fixed alkali were faturated, firft by a certain
quantity of fpirit of fait, and then by determined
quantities of the other acids, he concluded, that each of
thefe quantities of acid liquor muft contain the fame
quantity of acid ; and this being known, the remaia-
Vol. IV* Part II.
I S T R Y. 4'7
der, being the aqueous part, ttluft alfb Be known. Contents,
This conclufion, however, refted entirely on the fup- ^cc* of tlic
pofition that the fame quantity of all the acids was t8'^ t
requifite for the faturation of J given quantity of fixed
alkali; for if fuch given quantity of fixed alkali might
be faturated by a fm after quantity of one acid than of
another, the conclufiort fell to the ground. The
weight of the neutral falls produced might indeed de¬
termine this point in fome meafure; but ftill a fource
of inaccuracy remained; to obviate which he ufed the
following expedient. 1. He fuppofed the quantities
of nitrous and vitriolic acids neceflary to faturate a
given quantity of fixed alkali exaftly the fame as that
of marine acid, whofe quantity he had determined ;
and to prove the truth of this fuppofition, he obferved
the fpecific gravity of the fpirit of nitre and oil of vi¬
triol he employed, and in which he fuppofed, from *
the trial with alkalies, a certain proportion of acid and
water. He then added to thefe more acid and water,
and calculated what the fpecific gravity fhould be on
the above fuppofition ; and finding the refult agreeable
with the fuppofition, he concluded the latter to be
exadt. The following experiments were made on the
marine acid. ^
Two bottles were filled nearly to the top with di- Method of
ftilled water, of which they contained in all 1399.9 finding the
grains, and fucceflively introduced into two cylinders ft.ec*ilc ?r.a*
filled with marine air ; and the procefs was renewed,
until the water had imbibed, in 18 days, about 794
cubic inches of the marine air. The thermometer did
not rife all this time above 5 50; nor link, iinlefs perhaps
at night, above 50°; the barometer Handing between
29 and 30 inches. This dilute fpirit of fait then
weighed 1920 grains; that is, 520.1 more than before;
the weight of the quantity of marine air abforbed.
The fpecific gravity of the liquor was found to be
1.225. Its weight in water (that is, the weight
of an equal bulk of water) fliould then be 1567.346
nearly j but it contained only, as we have feen, 1399.9
grains of water: fubtrafting this therefore from
I5^?*34^> tBe remainder (that is, 167.446) muft be
the lofs of 520.1 grains of marine acid; and conie-
quently the. fpecific gravity of the pure marine acid,
in fuch a condenfed ftate as when it is united to water,
muft be -r|4.*£3-» or 3.100.
Still, however, it might be fufpefted, that the den¬
fity of this fpirit did not entirely proceed from the
mere denfity of the marine acid, but in part alfo from
the attraction of this acid to water ; and though the
length of time requifite tp make the water imbibe this
quantity of marine acid air, naturally led to the fuppo¬
fition that the attraction was not very confiderable, yet
the following experiment was more fatisfaCtory. He
expofed 1440 grains of this fpirit of fait to marine acid *
air for five days, the thermometer being at 50°, or be¬
low ; and then found that it weighed 1562 grains, and
confequently had imbibed 122 grains more. Its fpeci¬
fic gravity was then 1.253, which was precifdy what
it fhould have been by calculation.
Being now fatisfied that the proportion of acid inTo |^ tjie
fpirit of fait was difcovered, our author determined to proportion
find it in other acids alfo. For this purpofe he took of pure air
180 grains of very ftrong oil of tartardeliquium, andin.ot.her
found that it was faturated by 180 grains of fpirit ac^*i‘luor6j
of fait, whofe fpeciiic gravity was 1.225; and by
3 G calculation
4i8 CHE M I
Contents, calculation it appeared, that 180 grains of this fpirit
j£tel"s°^th€ contained 48.7 grains of aciJ, and 131.3 of water.
, Hence he drew up a table of the fpecific gravities of
acid liquors containing-48.7 grains of pure acid, with
different proportions of water, from 50 to 410 parts ;
’ the liquor- with the firft proportion having a fpecific
gravity of 1.497, and the latter weighing only 1.074.
Mr'Baume had determined the fpecific gravity of the .
ftrongeft fpirit of fait made in the common manner to be
1.187, arK* Bergman 1.190; but we are told in the
Paris Memoirs for 1700, that Mr Homberg had pro¬
duced a fpirit whofe fpecific gravity was 1.300 ; and
that made by Dr Prieftley, by faturating water with
marine acid air, muff have been about 1.500. The
fpirit of fait, therefore, whofe fpecific gravity is 1.261,
has but little attraction for water, and therefore at¬
tracts none from the air ; for which leaibn alfo it does
not heat the ball of a thermometer, as the vitriolic
and nitrous acids do ; though Mr Cavallo found that
this alfo had feme effect upon the thermometer. Com¬
mon fpirit of fait, Mr Kirwan informs us, is always
adulterated with vitriolic acid, and therefore unfit for
379 thefe trials.
Quantities Mr Kirwan now fet about inveftigating the quanti-
ter^an’ua" ^ ac’^» water, and fixed alkali, in digeftive fait, or
kali in <!i- a combination of the marine acid with vegetable al-
j'eftive fait. kali. For this purpofe he took 100 grains of a folu-
tion of tolerably pure vegetable alkali, that had been
three times calcined to whitenefs, the fpecific gravity
of which was 1.097 ; diluting alfo the fpirit of fait
with different portions of water ; the fpecific gravity
of one fort being 1.015, and of another 1.098. He
then found that the above - quantity of folution of the
vegetable alkali required for its faturation 27' grains
of that fpirit of fait whofe fpecific gravity was 1.098,
and 23.35 grains of that whofe fpecific gravity was
1.115. Now, 2,7 grains of fpirit of fait, whofe fpe-
cific gravity is 1.098, contain 3.55 grains of marine
acid, as appears by calculation. The principles on
which calculations of this kind, are founded, our author
gives in the words of Mr Cotes.
How to find “ The data requifite are the fpecific gravities of the
the fpecific mixture and of the two ingredients. Then, as the
gravities of difference of the fpecific gravities of'the mixture and
thfdifferent t]le lighter ingredient is to the difference of the fpe-
sngre ei. s. gravit;es 0f the mixture and the heavier ingredi¬
ent ; fo is the magnitude of the heavier to the magni¬
tude of the lighter ingredient. Then, as the magni¬
tude of the heavier* multiplied into its fpecific gravity,
is to the magnitude of the lighter multiplied into its
fpecific gravity ; fo is the weight of the heavier to the
weight of the lighter. Then, as the fum of thefe
weights is to the weight of either ingredient; fo is the
weight given to the weight of the ingredient fought.”
Thus, in the prefent cafe, 1.098— 1.000 = .098 is the
magnitude of the heavier ingredient, viz. the marine
acid, and .098X3.100 = 0.3038 the weight of the ma¬
rine acid; and on the otherhand, 3.100— 1.098= 2.002,
the magnitude of the water; and 2.002X1.000=2.002
its weight; the fum of thefe weights is 2.3058 : then
if 2.3058 parts of fpirit of fait contain 0.3038 parts
acid, 27 grains of this fpirit of fait will contain 3.55
acid. In the fame manner it will be found, -.that
2 3-35 grains of fpirit of fait, whofe fpecific gravity is
1.115, contains 3.55 grains acid.
Our author deferibes very-particularly his method of
6
S T R Y. Theory,
making the faturation of the alkali with the acid ; Contents,
which, as it is always difficult to hit with precifion, we <^c- of tiie
ffiall here tranferibe. “ It was performed by putting a,t8
the glafs cylinder which contained the alkaline folu- ^
tion on the fcale of a very fenfible balance, and at the Mrki -
fame time weighing the acid liquor in another pair of'van’s me-
fcales; when the lofs of weight indicated the efcape of
. nearly equal quantities of fixed air contained in the aciiTand al-
folution. Then the acid was gradually added by dip-kali with
ping a glafs rod in it, to the top of which a fmall drop accuracy,
of acid adhered. With this the folution was ftirred,
and very fmall drops taken up and laid upon bits of
paper Rained blue with radifli juice. As foon as the
paper was in the lealt reddened, the operation was
completed ; fo that there was always a very fmall ex- "
cefs of acid, for which half.a grain was eonftantly al¬
lowed ; but no allowance was made for the fixed air,
which always remains in the folution. J3ut as on this
account only a fmall quantity of the alkaline folution
was ufed, this proportion of fixed air mult have been _
inconiiderable. If an ounce of the folution had been
employed, this inappretiable portion of fixed air would
be fufficient to caufe a fenfible error; for the quantity
of fixed air loft by the difference betwixt the weight
added to the 100 grains and the actual weight of the
compound was judged of; and when this difference
amounted to 2.2 grains, the whole of the fixed air was
judged to be expelled : and it was found to be fo ; as
100 grains of the alkaline folution,, being evaporated
to drynefs, in the heat of 300°, left a refiduum which
amounted to loh grains, which contained 2.2 grains
of fixed air.”
The refult of this experiment was, that 8.3 grains qAnt;ty of
of pure vegetable alkali, freed from fixed air and water, mild and
or 10.5 of mild fixed alkali, were faturated by 3.55 cauftic
grains of pure marine acid ; and confequently the re- J^aYlktu
fulting neutral fait Ihould, if it contained no water,
weigh 11.85 grains: but the falls refulting from thisi;ivei! *
union (the folution being evaporated to perfeft dry- weight of
nefs in a heat of 160 degrees, kept up for four hours) ne
weighed at a medium 12.66 grains. Of this 11.85 aU
grains were acid and alkali; therefore the remainder,
vi%. 0.81 grains, were water. An hundred grains of
perfe&ly dry digeftive fait contain 28 grains acid,
6.55 of water, and 65.4 of fixed alkali.
In his experiments on the nitrous acid, Mr Kirwan
made ufe only of the dephlogifticated kind, which ap¬
pears pure and colourlefs as water. “ This pure acid N tT-^
(fays he) cannot be made to exift in the form of air, as'Yhcn
Dr Prieftley has fiiown ; for when it is deprived ofpuie, can-
water and phlogifton, and furnifhed with a due pro-n t be
portion of elementary fire, it ceafes to have the Pro* j^a^C-t0an
perties of an acid, and becomes dephlogifticated air. aeria/form.
Its proportion therefore could not be determined in
fpirit of nitre as the marine acid had been in fpirit of
fait in the laft experiment.”—To determine the mat¬
ter, the following experiments were made. 3g4
x. To 1963.25 grains of dephlogifticated fpirit of How to de¬
nitre, whofe fpecific gravity was 1.419, he gradually to'mine
added 179.5 g^ras of diftilled water; and when it*heo^ua"*‘”
cooled, the fpecific gravity of the .mixture was found c^;^c
to be 1.389. tamed in
2. To 1984.5-of this 178.75 grains of water werefi iritof
then added, and the fpecific gravity of the mixture mtre‘
found to be 1.362.
3. An hundred grains of a folution of fixed vege¬
table
Theory, C H E M
Contents, table^alkali, ivhofe fpecific gravity was 1.097, the'fame
&c. ofthe t]lat jjgjj been fonnerly ufed in the experiments with
ts' fpirit of fait, was found to be faturated by 11 grains
of the fpirit of nitre, wbiofe fpecifie gravity was 1.4x9,
by 12 of that whofe fpecific gravity was 1.389, and by
13.08 of that whofe fpecific gravity was 1.362. Thefe
quantities were the medium of five experiments ; and
it was found necefiary to dilute the acid with a fmall
quantity of water. When this was negledted, part of
the acid was phlogifticated, and flew off with the fixed
air. Ten minutes were alfo allowed after each affu-
fion for the matters to unite; a precaution which was
like wife found to be abfolutely neceflary.
Proportion Upon the fuppofition, therefore, that a given quan-
of acid :n tity of vegetable fixed alkali is faturated by the fame
fpirit of ni- weight of both acids, we fee that 11 grains of fpirit of
tre to that nl't:rej whofe fpecific gravity is 1.419, contain the
falt^111 ^ fame quantity of acid with 27 grains of fpirit of fait,
wrhofe fpecific gravity is 1.098, or'3.55 grains. The
remainder of 11 grains, or 7.45 grains, is therefore
mere water ; and of eonfequence, if the denfity of the
acid and water had not been increafed by their union,
3g£ the fpecific gravity of the pure nitrous acid fliould be
To find the 11.8729. But the fpecific gravity of the nitrous, as
fpecific gra- well as of the vitriolic acid, is augmented by its union
vity °f the with water ; and therefore the lofs of its weight in
P“us water is not exactly, as it would appear by calculation
387 from the above premifes, according to the rules al-
How tode- ready laid down. To determine therefore the real
terminethe'fpmim gravity of the acid in its natural ftate, the
den/4y <>n flu^tby °f accrued denfity mutt be found, and fub-
rmxing fpi- tracked from the fpecific gravity of the fpirit of nitre,
rit of nir re whofe true mathematical fpecific gravity will then
with wa- appear. This our author' endeavoured to effect
tel* by mixing different portions of fpirit of nitre and
water, remarking the degree of diminution they fuf-
tained by fuch union ; but was never able to attain a
fufficient degree of exaftnefs in the experiment. He
had recourfe therefore to the following method, as af¬
fording more fatisfadtion, though not altogether accu¬
rate. Twelve grains of the fpirit of nitre, whofe fpe¬
cific gravity by obfervation was 1,389, contained, as
our author fuppofed from the former experiment, 3.55
grains of real acid, and 8.45 of water: then if the
„ fpecific gravity of the pure nitrous acid were 11.872,that
of this compound acid and water fliould be 1.371; for
the lofe of 3.55 fliould be 0.299, and thelofs of the water
I S T R Y. 419,
lofs of the 3.55 grains acid; and confeqtrently the true Contents,
fpecific gravity of the pure and mere nitrous add is^
3-55
3.405'
: 8.7654. This being fettled, the mathematicalu
749
r.371;
8.45, the fum of the Ioffes 8.749. Now, g-
but the fpecfFic gravity, as already mentioned, was
1.389 ; therefore the accrued denfity was at leaft q.i8.,
the difference betwixt 1.389 and 1.371. This calcu¬
lation indeed is not altogether exact; but our author
concludes, that 0.18 is certainly a near approximation
to the "degree of denfity that accrues to 3.55 grains of
acid by their union to 7.45 grains of water: there¬
fore, fubtrafting this from 1.419, we have nearly the
mathematical fp“cific gravity of that proportion of
acid and water, namely, 1.401.
Again, fince 11 grains of this fpirit of nitre contain
Yn. t! 3.55 grains acid, and 7.45 of water, its lofs of weight
ticaifpeci- p10Ul(i be  =7.855 ; and fubtrafting the lofs of
lie gravity I.40I ‘ J J °
o£ thu aud the aqueous part from this, the remainder 0.45 is the
e the
fpecific gravity and true increafe of denfity of the
above mixtures will be found. Thus the mathematical
fpecific gravity of 12 grains of that fpirit of nitre,
whofe fpecific gravity, by obfervation, was 1.389, mutt
be 1.355 5 fuppofing it to contain 3.5-5 grains acid
and 8.45 of winter. For the lofs of 3.55 grains acid
3*55
is g 7^ = 0.405, and the lofs of water 8.45; the
fum of thefe Ioffes is 8.855. Then-——= 1.355; an<^
8.855
confequentlythe a'ccrueddenfity is 1.389—1.355—.034.
In the fame manner it will be found that the mathe-
.matical fpecific gravity of 13.08 grains of that fpirit
of nitre, whofe fpecific gravity by obfervation was
1.362, mutt be 1.315; and'confequently its accrued
denfity .047. g
The whole of this, however. Hill refts on the fup-Experi-
pofition that each of thefe portions of fpirit of nitre nient to de-
contain 3.55 grains pf acid. To verify this fuppofi-|®rmjne
tion, our author exapiined the mathematical fpecificgra-t;ty of^eal
vities of the firtt mixture he had made of fpirit of nitre acid in fpi-
and water in fiarge quantities; for if the mathematicalrit of nitre,
fpecific gravities of thefe agreed exaftly wfith thofe of
the quantities he had fuppofed in fmaller portions of
each, he qould not but conclude that the fuppofitions of
fuch proportions of acid and water, as he had deter¬
mined in each, were juft. "
This being determined by proper calculations, MrTaWe of
Kirwan next proceeded to conftruft another table ofipecificgra-
fpecific gravities, continuing his mixtures till the ma-^'f5
thematical fpecific gravities found by obfervation
nearly coincided with thofe made by calculation. IaConftruc-
this table the fpirit of nitre was mixed with water in ted.
various proportions, but after a different manner from
that obferved with the fpirit of fait. Nine grains of
the fpirit containing 3.55 grains of pure acid were
mixed with 5.45 of water; the accrued denfity of the
mixture was found to be nothing, the mathematical
fpecific gravity 1.537, and the fpecific gravity by ob¬
fervation was found the fame. When 10 grains of
fpirit were mixed with 6.45 of water, the accrued den¬
fity was 0.009, the mathematical fpecific gravity
1.458, and the fpecific gravity by obfervation 1.467.
In this manner he proceeded until 38.90 grains of
water were mixed with 42.45 of fpirit. In tlris cafe
the accrued denfity was found to be 0.002, the mathe¬
matical fpecific gravity X.oSo; and the fpecific gravity
by obfervation 1.08 2.
The intermediate fpecific gravities, in a table of this
kind, may be found by taking an arithmetical mean be¬
twixt the fpecific gravities, by obfervation, betwixt which
the defired fpecific gravity lies, and noting how much it
exceeds or falls ftiort of fuch arithmetical mean ; and
then taking alfo an arithmetical mean betwixt the ma¬
thematical fpecific gravities betwixt which that fought
for mutt lie, and a proportionate excefs or defeft.
The fpecific gravity of the ftrongeft fpirit of nitre
yet made, is, according to Mr Baume, 1.500, and ac¬
cording to Mr Bergman 1.586.
Our author next proceeded to examine the propor-
3 G'2 tion
420 CHEMISTRY. Theory.
Contents, tlon of acid, water, and fixed alkali in nitre, in a man- dining to red. It 'contained fome wkitifh matter, as Contents,
&c, of the ner fim;iar to what he had already done with digeflive he perceived by its growing milky on the affufion of^ o{ the
^a*ts‘ fait; and found that too grains of perfeftly diy nitre pure diftilled water ; but he imagines it was as pure asSats^ f
jqj contained 38.48 grains of acid, 5.2 of water, and 66.32 the kind ufed in all experiments. ^
Quantity ofof fixed alkali. To 2519.75 grains of this oil of vitriol, whofe fpe-Exp’eri-
acid, water, Some experiments of the fame kind had been made cific gravity wras 1.819, ^,e gradually added 180 grains men' s on
snd alkali by ^1. Homberg} the refults of which our author com- of diltilled water, and fix hours after found its fpeci-°!f yi~
terminedf* Pared with thofe of his own. The fpecific gravity of fic gravity to be >.771-—To this mixture he again11'10'
39a the fpirit of nitre which M. Homberg made ufe of added 178.75 grains of water, and found its fpecific
Homberg’s was 1.349 ; and of this, he fays, one ounce two gravity, when cooled to the temperature of the atmo-
exp.eri- drachms and 36 grains, or 6e-i troy grains, are requi- fphere, to be 1.7'9, at which time it was milky. The
*ared with rc^ to faturate one French ounce (472.5 troy) of dry fame quantity of the oil of tartar above mentioned was
thofe of • fait of tartar. According to Mr Kirwan’s computa- then faturated with each of thefe kinds of oil of vitriol
Mr Kir- tion, however, 613 grains are fuffieient; for the fpeci- in the manner already defcribed. The faturation was
Wan. fic gravity lies between the fpecific gravities by obfer- effefted (taking a medium of five experiments) by 6.5
vation 1.362 and 1.337, and is nearly an arithmeti- grains of that w'hofe fpecific gravity was 1.819, by 6.96
cal mean between them. The correfponding mathe- grains of that whofe fpecific gravity was 1.771, and
matical fpecific gravity lies between the quantities by 7.41 of that whofe fpecific gravity was 1.719.
marked in Mr Kirwan’s table 1.315 and 1.286, being It was found neceffary to add a certain proportion0f
nearly r.300. Now the proportion of acid and water in of water to each of thefe forts of oil of vitriol; for0i]()fvi.
this is 2.629 of acid and 7.465 of water ; for 8.765— when they were not diluted, part of the acid wastriulwhy
1.300=7.465 of water, and 8.765X.300 = 2.62Q of phlogifticated, and went off with the fixed air; but
acid ; and the fum of both is 10.044. Now, fince knowing the quantity of water that was added, it
10.5 grains of mild vegetable alkali require 3.33 grains eafy to find by the rule of proportion the quantity or
of acid for their faturation, 472.5 will require 159.7; each fort of vitriol that wras taken up by the alkali,
therefore if 10.044 grains of nitre contain 2.629 Hence if was fuppofed, that each of thefe quantities
grains acid, the quantity of this fpirit of nitre requi- of oil of vitriol of different denfities contained 3-,55
fite to give 159.7 will be 613.2 nearly, and thus the grains of acid ; as they faturated the fame quantity of
difference wuth M. Homberg is only about eight grains, vegetable fixed alkali with 11 grains of fpirit of nitre,
Different Homberg fays he found his fait, when evapo- which contained that quantity of acid.
refultaof rated to drynefs, to weigh 186 grains more than be- It was next attempted to find the fpecific gravity ^ ^
Homberg fore; but by Mr Kirwan’s experiment, it fliould of the pure vitriolic acid, in a manner fimilar to that rj)ecjgCgra.
and Kir- weigh but 92.8 grains more than at firft ; the caufe of by which the gravity of the nitrous acid was found; viry of pure
— - which difference will be mentioned in treating of vi- as it cannot be had in the fhape of air, unlefs w-hen vitriolic
accounted triolated tartar, as it cannot be entirely attributed to united with fuch a quantity of plogiiton as quite alters its aci<i-
for. the difference of evaporation. properties. The lofs of 6.5 grains of oil of vitriol, whofe
He alfo afferts, that one ounce (472.5 Troy grains) . . 0 . 6.5
of this fpirit of nitre contains 141 grains of Troy of fpecihc gravity is 1.819, 18 3‘572 > but as
real acid. According to Mr Kii wan’s computation, tfiefe ^ gra;ns contained, befides 3.55 of acid,' 2.95
however, it contains only 123 08 grains of teal acid. 0f water, the lofs of this muff be fubtrafted from the
But this difference evidently proceeds from his neglect- ent;re i0fs. aiK} then the remainder, or 0.622, is the
ing the quantity of water that certainly enters into it)fs Qf the oure acid nart in that ft;
the compofition of nitre ; for he proceeds on this ana¬
logy, 621 : 186.6 :: 472 5 : 141.
Mr Kir- Our author obferves, that the proportion of fixed
lofs of the pure acid part in that ftate or denfity to-
which it is reduced by its union with water. The fpe¬
cific gravity, therefore, of the pure vitriolic acid, in
wan’? ex- alkali afiigned by him to nitre is fully confirmed by an this ftate of denfity, ia—=5.707. But to find,
confirmed experiment of MrFontana’s inferted in Rozier’s Jour- Jts naturaI f ;fic q' we muft find how much.
£ “ naU?.r ,7?8-. He decompofed two ounces of nitre by jts denfity is increafed by its UTlion with this quantity
rpciana. d!»! ‘"S 11 aftrong heat for !8 hours. After the ofwater^ and Jn OKler ;t0 obferve thiSj he prH0CeedL4
diflil ation there remained in theretort a fubftance ag bef<sre with the nitrous acid> 6 6 Ins of oil of;
purely alkaline, amounting to to French drachms and vitrlol whofe f dfic avit was I.77I> contained
22 grams. Now two French ounces contain 945 of add and water; then its fpecific gra-
grains Troy, and the alkaline matter 607 grains of dtyby calculation ftiould be 1.726; for the lofs of
the fame kindaccording to Mr Kirwan’s com- J J
putation the two ounces of nitre ought to contain 625
grains of alkali. Such a fmall difference he fuppofes.
t© proceed from the lofs in transferring from one vef-
fel to another, weighing, filtering,, evaporating,
Mr Kirwau alfo fhows in a very.particular manner the . „
agreement of his calculations with the experiments of. —1.726 = 0.45. Taking this therefore from 1.819,
M. Lavoifier on mercury diffolved in fpirit of nitre; but its mathematical fpecific gravity will be 1,774. Then
o*ir limits will not allow, us to infert an account of them, the lofs of 6.5 grains of oil of vitriol, whofe fpecific
When finding the quantity of pure acid contained gravity by obfervation is 1.819, will be found to be
ift.oil of vitriol, our author made ufe of fuch as was 6.5 ,, ^ , r
Dptidephlogifticated thopgh pale, yet a little in- 1.774 °3 > u 0 1S» 2-95 grains are e 0 %
4. cU
3-55
grains of water is 3.41; the fum of the Ioffes 4.032: then
"4 032" = 17'1 ^ > tlterefore the accrued denfity is 1.771
Theory.
C H E M
Contents, of the water it contains, and the remainder 0.714 are
&c. of the - - _
Salts the lofs of the mere acid part. Then  is near-
   . °"7I4
!y the true fpecific gravity of the pure vitriolic acid.
The fpecific gravity of the moft concentrated oil of
vitriol yet made, is, according to Mi Baume and Berg¬
man, 2.125.
Mr Kirwan now conflru&ed a table of the fpeciiic
gravities of vitriolic acids, of different ftrengths, in a
manner fimilar to thofe conftrufted for fpirit of fait
398 and fpirit of nitre; but for which, as well as the others,
Quan-ity of we muft refer to Phil. Tranf. vol. 71. He then pro-
and’v— I,ceeded t0 fnd the proportion of acid, water, and fix-
in vitriola- alkali, in vitriolated taitar, as he had before done
ted tartar in fal digeftivus and nitre.—He found the faits re¬
determined fidting from the faturation of the fame oil of tartar,
with portions of oil of vitriol, of different fpecific gra¬
vities, to weigh at a medium 12.45 grains. Of this
weight only n.8'5 grains were alkali and acid. The
remainder, therefore, was water, viz 0.6 of a grain.
Confequently 100 grains of perfectly dry tartar vitrio-
late contain 21.58 grains acid, 4.82 of water, and
66.67 of fixed vegetable alkali.—In drying this fait, a
heat of 240 degrees was made ufe of, to expel the
adhering acid more thoroughly. It was kept in this
heat for a quarter of an hour.
Difference According to Mr Homberg, one French ounce, or
with Mr 472.5 grains troy, of dry fait of tartar, required 297.5
accounted £ra'ns troy> °’l °f vitriol, whofe fpecific gravity
£or°u e was 1.674, to faturate it: but by Mr Kirwan’s calcu¬
lation, this quantity of fixed alkali would require 325
grains; a difference which, confidering the different
methods they made ufe of for determining the fpeci¬
fic gravities (Homberg’s method by . menfuration,
giving it always lefs than Mr Kirwan’s) the different
deficcation of their alkalies, &c. may be accounted in-
confiderable.
The fait produced, according to Mr Homberg,
weighed 182 grains troy above the original^weight of
the fixed alkali; but by Kirwan’s experiment, it fhould
weigh but 87.7 grains more. “ It is hard to fay (adds
Mr Kirwan) how Mr Homberg could find this great
excels of weight, both in nitre and tartar vitriolate;
unlefshe meant by the weight of the fait of tartar the
weight of the mere alkaline part diftinft from the fix¬
ed air it contained: and indeed one would be tempted-
to think he did make the diftihdtion ; for in that cafe
the excefs of weight would be nearly fuch, as he de¬
termined it.”
From Mr Homberg’s calculations, he inferred that
one ounce (472.5 grains) of oil of vitriol contains
291,7. grains of acid. Mr Kirwan computes the acid’
only at 213.3 grains; but Homberg made no allowance for
the water contained in tartar vitviolate; and imagined
the whole increafe of weight pi»ocee(}ed from the acid
that is united in it to the fixed alkali. Now the a-;
queous part in 560 grains of tartar vitriolate amounts,
to 37 grains ; the remaining difference may be attri¬
buted to the different degrees of defiecation, &c.
On the acetous acid Mr Kirwan did not make any
experiment ; but by calculating from thofe of ; Horn- .
berg, he finds that the fpecific gravity of the pure .
acetous acid, free from fiiperfluous water, fhould be
2.30. “ It is probable (fays Mr Kirwan), that its
affinity to water is not ftrong enough to caufe any ir¬
regular .increafe... in its denfity ; at leaft what can be.
400
Specific
gravity of
I S T R Y. 421
expreffed by three decimals : and hence Its proportionContents,
of acid and water may always be calculated from its t^c
fpecific quantity and abfolute weight.” r
An hundred parts of foliated tartar, or, as it
fhould rather be called, acetous tartar, contain, when
well dried, 32 of fixed alkali, 19 of acid, and 49 parts
of water.— The fpecific gravity of the flroftgeft con- 401
centrated vinegar yet made is 1.069. —It’s mnre dif-sPec‘fic
ficult to find the point of faturation with the vegetable
than with the mineral acids, became they contain amuci-ne<ra“
lage that prevents their immediate union with alkalies;
and hence they are commonly ufed in too great quan¬
tity : they fhould be ufed moderately hot, and fuffi-
cient time allowed them to unite. 40a
From all the experiments above related, Mr Kirwan Jegetahle
concludes, 1. That the fixed vegetable alkali takes up
an equal quantity of the three mineral acids, and pro-in tquab^
bably of all pure acids; for we have feen that. 8.3 quantity of '
grains of pure vegetable alkali, that is, free from fix- ail 'k*
ed air, take up 3.55 grains of each of thefe acids; andneraIatl Sf"
confequently 100 parts of cauflic fixed alkali would
require 42.4 parts of acid to faturate them. But Mr
Bergman has found that 100 parts of caultic fixed ve¬
getable alkali take up 47 parts of the aerial acid; which,
confidering that his alkali might contain fome water, •
differs but little from that already given. It fhould
feem, therefore, that alkalies have a certain deter- •
mined capacity ofuiniting to acids, that is, to a given
weight of acids; and that this capacity is equally fa-
tiated by a given weight of any pure acid indifcrimi--
nately. This weight is about 2.35 of'the vegetable
alkali. 403
' 2. That the three mineral acids, and probably all Quantity of
pure acids, take up 2.253 t'11168 their own weight oftiie
pure vegetable alkali, that is, are faturated by that^'J,^^^ .
quantity. acids.
3. That the denfity accruing to compound fub- 404
fiances, from the union of their compound parts, and Jncrcafe of
exceeding its mathematical ratio, increafes from a mi-compound
nimum, when the quantity of one of them is very fmallfubitanccs. .
in proportion to that of the other; to a maximum, when
their qualities differ lefs : but that the attraction, on
the contrary, of that part which is in the fmalleft .
quantity to that which is in the greater, is at its maxi,
mum when the accrued denlity is at its minimum; but 405
not reciprocally : and hence the point of. faturation is^^V de*
probably the maximum of denfity and the minimum 0f<?c,mP°fi“ -
fenfible attraftion of one of the parts. Hence no de-fome_
compofition operated by means of a fubftance that haseimes in-
a greater affinity with one part of a compound than-with complet e^»
the other, and than thefe parts have with each other, a’1.^other‘
can be complete, unlefs the minimum- affinity of this ■
third fubftance be greater than the maximum affinity Why the
of the parts already united. Hence alfo few decom-haM:orti ins ->
pofitions are complete, unlefs a double affinity inter-
venes; and hence the laft portions of the feparated[pi,lateiy'
fubftance adhere. fo obftinately to that with which adhere to .
it-was firft united, as all chemifts have obferved.— that with
Thus, though acids have a greater affinity to phlo-T^k^ ^
gifton than-the earths of; the different metals have to 6
it, yet they can . never totally dephlogifticate thefe Acids can ;
earths but only to a certain degree ; fo, though at- never totak -
mofpheric air, and particularly dephlogifticated air, at- ^ ,cleP^10""
tradts phlogifton more ftrongly than the nitrous acidn(gtaiq® !
does, yet not even fiephlogifticated air can deprive-.the earths,*
nitrous acid totally of its phlogifton; as.is evident.from
the;
432
Contents, the red eolpur. o£ the nitrous acid, when nitrous air and
dephlogiftica,ted air are mixed together. Hence mer-
cury precipitated from its folution in any acid, even
408 by llxed alkalies, conftantly retains a portion of the
Why } re- apid to . which it was originally united, as Mr Bayen
cipitates of lias (hown. Thus alfo the earth of alum, when preci-
andTluna l,1'tate<^ in hkeproanner from its folution, retains part
retain part °f tbe acid; aria thus feveral anomalous decompofi-
of the acid, tions may be explained.
409 4. That concentrated acids are in fome meafure phlo-
4 j gifticated, and evaporate by union with fixed alkalies,
cateconcen- 5* That, knowing the quantity of. fixed alkali in
trated acids, oil of tartar, we may determine the quantity of real
410 pure acid in arty other acid fubftance that is difficult-
Hovv to de-1 decompofed ; as the fedative acid, and thofe in ve-
ternunethe ^ , r ■ ,
•quantity of gctables and animals, r or 10.5 grains ot the mud
pure acid in alkali will always be faturated by 3.55 grains of real
,»ny fuh* acid ; and reciprocally, the quantity of acid in any
ance. 'acid liquor being known, the quantity of real alkali
in any vegetable alkaline liquor may be found.
Having thus determined the quantity of acid con¬
tained in the liquids of that kind ufually employed in
chemiftry, as well as the fpecific gravities of the acids
411 themfelves, Mr Kirwan became defirous of inveftiga-
Specific ting the gravity of fixed and volatile alkalies. But as
gravity of thefe fubftances are not ealily preferyed from uniting
fixed air themfelves with fixed air, he was led to confider the
neJ6””1* gnlvity -this in its fixed Hate, as an element necef-
’4I4 fary for the calculation of the quantities of the alkalies.
Specific To find the fpecific gravity of the fixed vegetable
gravity of alkali, our author proceeded in a manner fimilar to that
table afe” a^reac^y deferibed, excepting that he weighed it in
li invefti- ether in (lead of fpirit of wine. The refults of his expe-
gated riments are,
4i.t 1. That 100 grains of this alkali contain about 6.7
eartb'ctf ^grains °f earth ; which, according to Mr Bergman, is
tamed in it. fi^ceous* It paffes the filter along with it when the
alkali is not faturated with fixed air; fo that it feems
to be held in folution in the fame manner as in the //-
414 quor filicum.
fixed'air^'if 2' ^ fixe<^ a'r i1* °f tartar and dry
oil of tartar veSe^a^^e alkali is various at various times, and
and dry ve- in various parcels of the fame fait; but in the purer al-
getable fix- kalies it may be reckoned at a medium 2 1 grains in
td alkali. j00; and hence the quantity of this alkali may very
nearly be guefled at in any folution, by adding a known
weight of any dilute acid to a given weight of fuch a
folution, and then weighing it again; for as 21 is to
loo, fo is the weight loft to the weight of mild alkali
in fuch folution. The fpecific gravity of mild and per-
fe&ly dry vegetable fixed alkali, four times calcined,
free fromiiliceous earth, and containing 21 percent, of
fixed air, was found to be 5.052.7. When it contains
more fixed air the gravity is probably higher, except
when it is not perfeftly dry ; and hence the fpecific
gravity of this alkali, when cauftic, was fuppofed by Mr
Kir van to be 4.234. For this reafon the fixed alkalies.
When united to aer ial acid, are fpecifically heavier than
415 wh n united either t- the vitriolic or nitrous. Thus
Mr Wat- ]\IV R. Watfon, in the Philofophical TranfaClions for
cnvuVrifthe I770’ ,'nforrns us< that he found the fpecific gravity of
fpecific gra-dry fait of tartar, including the filiceous earth it natu-
vity of fait rally contains, to be 2.761 ; whereas the fpecific gravity
of tartar, 0f vitriolated tartar was only 2.636, and that of nitre
C’ 1.933. The reafon why nitre is fo much lighter than
Theory.
tartar vitriolate is, that it contains much more water, Contents,
and the union of the acid with the water is lefs intimate. &c t^8
Impure vegetable fixed alkalies, fuch aspearl-alh, pot- ts
aftles, &c. contain more fixed air than the purer kind. v 1 "J
According to Mr Cavendilh, pearl-afh contains 28-4 why*nitre
or zo.qper cent, of fixed air. Hence in lyes made from is fo much
thefe falts, of equal fpecific gravities with thofe of a lighter than
purer alkali, the quantity of faline matter will proba-VltnoIatC(i
bly be in the ratio of 28.4 or 28.7 to 2 1 ; but this ad-tana4’7
ditional weight is only fixed air. Much alfo depends Quantity of
on their age; the oldeft containing moft fixed air. Our fixed air in
author alfo gives a table of the fpecific gravities of differ- Pure v1e]^':*
ent folutionsof vegetable fixed alkali, in a manner fimilar [aes 4gtea"
to what he had done before with the acids. He begins mined by
with 64.92 grains of a folution containing 26.25Caven*
grains of fait, and 38.67 of water. The accrued den-4*1^*
iky he finds to be .050, the mathematical fpecific gra¬
vity 1.445, and the fpecific gravity by obfervation
1.495. By continually diluting the folution contain¬
ing the fame quantity of fait, he brings the abfolute
Weight of it at laft to 341.94 grains, of which 317.49
are water; the accrued denfity 0.01, the mathema¬
tical ipecific gravity i,.o61, and the fpecific gravity by
obfervation 1.062. 4,3
In a fubfequent paper on this fubjecl, Philofophical Quantity of
Tranfadlions, vol. 72, p. 179, our author corrects aaC!d takel?
fmall miftake concerning the quantity of acid taken upg^j^i^ali
by 10.5 grains of mild vegetable alkali. In Lis former exadtly de-
computations he had made no allowance for the fmall termiiied..
quantity of earth contained in this quantity of alkali ;
which, though inconfiderable in it, becomes of confe-
quence where the quantities are large. The error, how¬
ever, occafioned by thisomiffion, isfenfible in his calcula-
tions concerning the quantities of acid, alkali, &c. con¬
tained in the neutral falts, as well as in that concerning
the vegetable alkali. When the correction is properly
made, he fays, it will be found that too grains of fuch al¬
kali, free from earth, water, and fixed air, take up 46.77
pf the mineral acids, that is, of the mere acid part; and
100 grains of common mild vegetable alkali take up 4I^
36.23 graips of real acid. An hundred grains of per- Of the
fcdlly dry tartar vitriolate contain 30.21 of real acid, ^uant‘ey
64.61 of fixed alkali, and 5.18 of water. Cryftallized
tartar vitriqlate lofesonly ant percent, of water in a heat in luted tar*
which its acid is not feparated in any degree; and tar;
therefore contains 6.18 of water. An kundred grains
of nitre, perfeftly dry, contain 30.86 of acid, 66 of al¬
kali, and 3.14 of water; but in cryftallized nitre the
proportion of water is fomewhat greater ; for 100
grains of thefe cryftals being expofed to a heat of
18o° for two hours, loft three grains of their weight
without exhaling any acid fmell; but When expofed to
a heat of 200 degrees, the fmell of the nitrous acid is
di!lin£Uy perceived. Hence 100 grains pf cryftallized jn n^.°.
nitre contain 29.89 of mere acid, 63.97 of alkali, and
6.14 of water. An hundred grains of digeftive fait
perfedlly dry, contain 29.68 of marine acid, 63.47 of
alkali, and 6.85 of water. One hundred grains of
cryftallized digeftive fait lofe but one grain of tbein 42J
weight before the fmell of the marine acid is perceived; in digeftive
and hence they contain 7.85 grains of w;ater. fait.
Another miftake, more difficult to be corredled, was
his fuppofing the mixtures of oil of vitriol and water,
and fpirit of nitre and water, had attained their maxi¬
mum of denfity when they had cooled to the tempera¬
ture
C H E M I S T R Y.
Theory.
CHEMISTRY.
Contenrs, ture of the atmofphere; which at the time he made the
&c. of the eXperiment was between 50° and 6o° of Fahrenheit.
lS^ The mixure with oii of vitriol had been fuftered to Hand
fix hours; but when the acid was fo much diluted as
Time re- to occafton little or no heat, it was allowed to ftand on-
quired by ly for a very little time. Several months afterwards,
mixtures ofimwever, many of thefe mixtures were found much
ac-diTand ^enfer t^lan when he firll examined them ; and it was.
water to ac-difcovered, that at leaft twelve hours reft was necef-
quire their fary before concentrated oil of vitriol, to which even
utmoft den- twice its weight of water is added, can attain it^ ur-
moft denfity ; and ft ill more when a fmaller pro¬
portion of water is ufed. Thus when he made the
mixture of 2519.75 grains of oil of vitriol, whofe fpe-
cific gravity was 1.819, I^° water, he found its
denfity fix hours after 771. but after 24 hours it was
1.798 : and hence, according to the methods of cal¬
culating already laid down, the accrued denfity was at
leaft .064 inftead of .045. But by tiling oil of vitriol
ftill more concentrated, whofe fpecifie gravity was
1.8846, he was enabled to make a ftill nearer approxi¬
mation ; and found, that the accrued denfity of oil of
vitriol, whofe fpecific gravity is 1.819, amounts to
0.104, and confequently its mathematical fpecific gra¬
vity is 1.715. Six grains and a half of this oil of vi¬
triol contained, as has been already obferved, ^.55 of
mere acid, and the remainder was water. The weight
of an equal bulk of water is 3.79 grains ; and fubtrac-
ting from this the weight of the water that enters
into the compofition of the oil of vitriol, it will
be found, that the weight of a bulk of water equal to
the acid part is 0.84; and confequently the fpecific
gravity of the mere acid part is 4.226. Thus, by con-
ftantly allowing the mixtures to reft at leaft 1 2 hours',
until the oil of vitriol was diluted with four times its
weight of water, and then only fix hours before the
denfity of the mixtures was examined, he conftru&ed
another table, in which icoo grains of liquor contain¬
ed 612.05 of pure acid, 387.95 of water, the ac¬
crued denfity being .07, and the mathematical fpecific
gravity 1.877. Increafing the quantity of water till
the acid weighed 7000 grains, and the water 6387.95,
he found the accrued denfity .059, and the mathema¬
tical fpecific gravity 1.069. a fimilar corre&ion
of his experiments on the acid of nitre, he found its
denfity to be 5.530 ; a fimilar table was conftru&ed
for it, for which we refer our readers to the y2d vo-
lume of the Philofophical Tranfaftions.
Attetlarion Thefe experiments were made when the thermome-
of the dc!i- ter flood between 50° and 6o° of Fahtenheit; but, as
fity of acidsit might be fufpeefted that the denfity of acids is con-
deurees^of ^^era^y a^terecl at different degrees of temperature, he
heat. endeavoured to find the quantity of this alteration in
the following manner: To calculate what this denfity
would be at 55°, he took fome dephlogifticated fpirit
of nitre, and examined its fpecific gravity at different
degrees of heat ; which was found to be as follows.
Degrees Specific
of heat. gtavity.
3° 1-4653
46 D4587
86 1.4502
120 1-4123
The total ex-panfion of this fpirit of nitre, therefore,
from 30 to 120 degrees, that is, hypo0 of heat, was
o.ojzjjfor 1.4650=4123-{-.0527. By whichwefee,
423
that the dilatations are nearly proportional to the de- Contents
grees of heat: fot beginning with the firft dilatation ^s°f thc
from 30 to 46 degrees, that is, by 16 degrees of heat, .
we iind that the difference between the calculated and
obferved dilatations is only ; a difference of no
confequCnce in the prefent cafe, and which might arife
. from the immerlion of the cold glafs-ball filled with
mercury in the liquor. In the next cafe the differ- ‘
ence is ftill lefs, amounting only to
With another, and fomewhat ffrongtr fpirit of nitre,
the fpecific gravities were as follow :
Degrees Specific
of heat. gravity.
34 J-475°
49
150 1-3792
Here alfo the expanfions were nearly proportional to
the degrees of heat; for 11 b0 of heat, the difference
between 34 and 150, produce an expanfion of 0.0958;'
and 150 of heat, the difference between 34 and 49,
produce an expanfion of 0.0097 ; and by calculation
0.0123: which laft differs from the truth only by
Tc cToo- . ’ _ ,
From this experiment we fee, that the ftronger the Strong tpi*
fpirit of nitre is, the more it is expanded by the fame rit of nitre
degree of heat; for if the fpirit of nitre of the laft ex-more ex¬
periment were expanded in the fame proportion as in^afthan*
the former, its dilatation, by 116 degrees of heat, ^eak, and
ftiould be 0.0679 ; vvhereafs it was found to be 0.0958. why.
As the dilatatipn of the fpirit of nitre is far great¬
er than that of water by the fame degree of heat, and
as it confifts only of acid and water; it clearly follows,
that its fttperior dilatability muft be owing to the acid
part : and hence the more acid that is contained in
any quantity of fpirit of nitre, the greater is its dilata¬
bility. We might therefore fuppofe, that the dilata¬
tion of nitre was intermediate betwixt the quantity of
water it contains- and that of the acid. But there
exifts another power alfo which prevents this Ample re-
fult, viz. the attraction of the acid and water to each
other, which makes them occupy lefs fpace than the
fum of their joint volumes; and by this condenfation our '42?
author explains his phrafe of accrued denfity.. Taking Exa<a quan=
this into the account, we may confider the dilatation
of the fpirit of nitre as equal to thofe of the quail-fpirit of
tities of water and acid it contains, minus the con-mtre.
denfation they acquire from their mutual attra&ion;
and this r-ult liolds as to all other heterogeneous com¬
pounds. ... 426
To find the quantities of acid and water in fpirit of Of the
nitre, whofe fpecific gravity was found in degrees of<l':‘a"tities
temperature different from thofe for which the table
was conftru&ed, viz. 540, 550,. or 56° of Fahrenheit, tamed m ”
the fureft method is to find how much that fpirit of fpirit of
nitre is expanded or cotidenfed by a greater or leffer de-
gree of heat; and then, by the rule of proportion,
find what its denfity would be at 550. But if this
cannot be done, we fhall approach pretty near the truth,
if we allow for every 15° degrees of heat above or
below 550 of Fahrenheit, when the fpecific gravity
is between 1.400 and 1.500, and to’W when the fpe¬
cific gravity is between 1.400 and 1.500.—The di¬
latations of oil and fpirit of vitriol were found to be ex¬
ceedingly irregular, probably by reafon of a white
foreign matter, which is more or lefs fufpended or dif-
folved in it, according to its greater or leffer dilution
and.
424 C H E M I
Contents, and this matter our author did not feparate, as he in-
tended to try the acid in the (late in which it is com-
. monly ufed. In general he found that 150 of heat
caufed a difference of above r^g-3-in its fpecific gravity,
when it exceeds 1.800, and of when its fpecific
Dilatation gravity i® between i.400 and 1.300—The dilatations of
of fpirit of Spirit of fait are very nearly proportional to the degrees
fait by va- of heat, as appears by the following table,
rious de- Degi-"-
S T R Y.
Theory.
of Heat.
33
54
G; avity.
1.1916
t.i860
1.1820
128 11631
lienee ihould be added or fubtra&ed for every
2i° above or below 550, in order to reduce it to 51^,
the degree for which its proportion of acid and water was
calculated. The dilatability of this acid is much greater
than that of water, and even than that of the nitrous
acid of the fame denfity.
'f^Juantity of Our author next proceeds to confider the quantity of
pure acid pUre adjo taken up at the point of faturation by the
varidusfub- vari°us fubftances they unite with.—He begins with the
fiances mineral alkali. Having rendered a quantityof this eau-
4^9 ftic in the ufual manners and evaporating one ounce
Mineral al- 0p caun;c folution to perfeft drynefs, he found it
prepared t0 conta‘n 20.15 grains of folid matter. He was af-
for thefe fured, that the watery part alone exhaled during eva-
experi- poration, as the quantity of fixed air contained in it
menu. was very fmall, and to diffipate this a much greater
heat would have been requifite than that which he
tifed. This dry alkali was diffolved in twice its weight
of water; and faturating it with dilute vittiolic acid,
he found it to contain 2.25 grains of fixed air; that be¬
ing the weight which the faturated folution wanted of
being equal to the joint weights of water) alkali, and
Q fpirit of vitriol employed.
Quantityof The quantity of mere vitriolic acid neceffary to fa-
vitriolic turate 100 grains of pure mineral alkali was found to
acid necef- be 60 or gi grains; the faturated folution thus form-
tuxate^t*" ed being evaporated to perfect drynefs weighed 36.5
grains; but of this weight only 28.38 were alkali
and acid; the remainder, that is, 8.12 grains, there*,
fore, were water. Hence 100 grains of Glauber’s
_ 431 fait, perfeftly dried, contained 29.12 of mere vitriolic
ingredients ac^> 4^-6 of mere alkali, and 22.28 of water. But
in Giau- Glauber’s fait cryftallized contains a much larger pro¬
ber’s fait. portion of water 5 for too grains of thefe cryftals heat¬
ed red hot loft 55 grains of their weight; and this lofs
Mr Kirwan fuppofes to arife merely from the evapo¬
ration of the watery part, and the remaining 45 con¬
tained alkali, water, and acid,a in the fame propor¬
tion as the 100 grains of Glauber’s fait perfeftly dried
above mentioned. Then thefe 45 contained 13.19
grains of vitriolic acid, 21.87 of fixed alkali, and 9.94
of water : confequently 100 grains of cryftallized Glau¬
ber’s fait contain 13.19 of vitiiolic acid, 21.87 of al¬
kali, and 64.94 water.
Quantity of laturat>rig the mineral alkali with dephlogifti-
tnineral al- cated nitrous acid, it was found that 100 grains of the
kali taken alkali took up 57 of the pure acid in the experiment
UP hy de- he moft depended upon; though in fome others this
ted°mtrc.nT qua,)tity varied by a few grains: he concludes, there-
acid; lore, that the quantity of alkali taken up by this acid
nearly the fame as that taken up by the vitrio*
N°7i. ,
lie. Suppofing this quantity to be 5? grains* then 100 Contents,
grains of cubic nitre, perfe&ly dry, contain 30 of acid, &£' o{ th«
52.18 of alkali, and 17.82 of water; but cubic nitre.
cryftallized contains fomething more water ; for 100
grains of thefe sryftals lofe about four by gentle dry¬
ing ; therefore 100 grains of the cryftallized fait con¬
tain 28.8 of acid, 50 09 of alkali, and 21.11 of wa¬
ter.
An hundred grains of mineral alkali require from madne
63 to 66 or 67 grains of pure marine acid to faturate acid,
it; .but Mr Kirwan fuppofes that one reafon of this
Variety is, that it is exceeding hard to hit the true
point of faturation. Allowing 66 grains to be the
quantity required, then 100 grains of perfeftly dry
common fait contain nearly 35 grains of real acid,
53 of alkali, and 13 of water; but 100 grains of the
cryftaliized fait lofe five by evaporation : fo that 100
grains of thefe cryftals contain 33.3 of acid, 50 of al¬
kali, and 16.7 of water. ^
The proportion of fixed air, alkali, and water, was proportjoa
thus inveftigated ; 200 grains of thefe cryftals were of fixed air,
difiblved in 240 of water; the folution was faturated ai:d
by fuch a quantity of fpiiit of nitre as contained 40
of pure nitrous acid; whence it was inferred that by tins fatu-
thefe zoo grains of fah of foda contained 70 of pure ration,
alkaline fait. The faturated folution weighed 40
grains lefs than the fum of its original weight, and
that of the fpirit of nitre added to it ; confequently it
loft 40 grains of fixed air. The remainder of the ori¬
ginal weight of the cryftals therefore muft have been
water, viz. 90 grains. Confequently 100 grains of
thefe cryftals contained 35 of alkali, 20 of fixed air,
and 45 of water. This proportion differs confiderably
from that afligned by Mr Bergman and Lavoifier, which
our author imputes to their having made ufe of foda Bergman
recently cryftallized ; but Mr Kirwan’s had been made andLavoi-
for fome months, and probably loft much water andfierac‘
fixed air by evaporation, which altered theproportion 0f countedfor*
the w hole. According to the calculations of Bergman
and Lavoifier, 100 grains of this alkali take up 80
of fixed air. The fpecific gravity of the cryftallized
mineral alkali, weighed in ether, was found to be
* *4a 1 • ' ' ' 436
The proportion of the different ingredients in vo- Propor-
latile alkalies can only be had from the experiments tions 0f in*
lately made by Dr Prieftley concerning alkaline air. gradients
He informs us, that iTSo of a meafure of this, and one^a^g‘lc
meafure of fixed air, faturate one another. Then, fup-
pofing the meafure to contain 100 cubic inches,
1 85 cubic inches of alkaline air take up 100 of fixed
air ; but 185 cubic Inches of alkaline air weigh at a
medium 42.55 grains, and 100 cubic inches of fixed
air weigh 57 grains; therefore 100 grains of pure
volatile alkali, free from water, take up 134 of fix¬
ed air.
On expelling its aerial acid from a quantity of this
volatile alkali in a concrete ffate, and formed by fub-
limation, he found, that 53 grains of it were fixed
air: according to the preceding calculation, 100 grains
of it fhoiild contain 39.47 of real alkali, and 7.53 of
water, the reft being fixed air.—On fattirating a quan¬
tity with the Vitriolic, nitrous, and marine acids, 100
grains of the mere alkali were found to take up 106
of mere vitriolic acid, 115 of the nitrous, and 130 of
the marine acid* The fpecific gravity of the volatile
alkali
Theory. C H E M
Contents, alkali weighed in ether (b) was i.4076. The propor-
Saits^thC t'on water different ammoniacal falts could not
. ,L be found on account of their volatility ; but was fup-
pofed to be very fmall, as both volatile alkali and
fixed air cryflallize without the help of water when in
417 an aerial ftate.
Experi- ln making experiments on calcareous earth, it was
jnents on diffolyed Jn nitrous acid; and after allowing for
calcareous
earth. the lofs of hxed air and water, 100 grains of the pure
earth was found to take up 104 of nitrous acid; but
only 91 or 92 of mere vitriolic acid were required to
4-8 precipitate it from the nitrous folution.
Quantity Of the marine acid 100 grains of the pure calcare-
-0t cTfatu6 °US eart^ recIu're 112 f°r their folution. The liquor
rated by" at drft is colourlefs, but acquires a greenifh colour by
this earth. Handing.
439 Natural gypfum varies in its proportion of acid,
VnportJoH Water, and earth ; 100 grains of it containing from
n uurre- ^ to ^4 of acid and like wife of earth, .and from 26 to
32 of waiter. The artificial gypfum contains 32 of
earth, 29.44 of acid, and 38.56 of water. When
w ell dried, it lofes about 24 of water ; and therefore
contains 42 of earth, 39 of acid, and 19 of water, fer
hundred.
Nitrous felenite (folution of calcareous earth in ni¬
trous acid) carefully dried, contains 33.28 of acid, 32
of earth, and 34.72 of water.
The fame quantity of marine felenite (folution of
calcareous earth in marine acid), well dried, in fuch a
manner as to lofe no part of the acid, contain of the
latter 4^56, of earth 38, and of water 19.44.
Magnefia, when perfectly dry and free from fixed
air, cannot be diflblved in any of the acids without
heat. Even the ftrongeft nitrous acid did not aft up¬
as with on it in 24 hours in the temperature of the atmofphere;
out heat, but in a heat of 180°, the mineral acids, diluted with
four, or even fix, times their quantity of water, had a
very fenfible effeft upon it: but the quantity of acid
diffipated by heat rendered it impoflible to afeertain
how much was neceffary for folution, except by precipi¬
tation after it had been difiblved. For this purpofe
the cauftic vegetable alkali was employed ; by which
xt appeared that 100 grains of pure magnefia take up
125 of mere vitriolic acid, 132 of the nitrous, and 140
of the marine. All of thefe folutions appeared to con¬
tain fomething gelatinous ; but none of them reddened
vegetable blues ; and that in the marine acid became
443 greenilh on Handing for fome time.
Proportion An hundred grains of perfeftly dry Epfom fait con-
af the m- tain 45.67 of mere vitriolic acid, 36.54 of pure earth,
gredients in an(i 17.83 of water. Solution of common Epfom fait,
li>I(bm)fait • however, reddens vegetable blues, and therefore con-
^ 444 ’tains an excefs of acid. A like quantity of nitrous
In nitrous Epfom, well dried, contains 35.64 of acid, 27 of pure
Epfom earth, and 37.36 of water. The folution of marine
Cannot be Epfom cannot be tolerably dried without lofing much
found in of its acid together with the water. The fpecific gra-
marine Ep- vity of this earth is 2.3296.
fom. MoH writers on chemiHry have faid that earth of
Earth of a*um contains fcarce any fixed air ; but Mr Kirwan
alum con- Vol. IV. Part II.
tlins a
of ingre¬
dients in
natural
gypfum;
440
In nitrous
fclemte;
diffolve ir
I S T R Y. 425
found that it contained no lefs than 26per cent, though Contents,
it had been previoufly kept red-hot for half an hour. &ci' of ^
It diflblved with a moderate effervefcence in-acids un- a ts
til the heat was raifed to 220° ; after which the folu¬
tion was found to have loH weight in the proportion
above mentioned. ^
An hundred grains of this earth, deprived of the Quantity
fixed air, require 133 of the pure vitriolic acid to dif-'lf inSr.e*
folve them. The folution was made in a very dilute 1*'
fpirit of vitriol, whofe fpecific gravity was 1.093, and
in which the proportion of acid to the water was near¬
ly as 1 to 14. It contained a flight excefs of acid,
turning the vegetable blues to a brownifh red ; but it
cryflallized when cold, and the cryflals were of the
form of alum. Our author, therefore, is of opinion,
that this is the true proportion of acid and earth to be
ufed in the formation of that fait, though there was 448
not water enough to form large cryfials. Perceiving This fait al-
that the liquor contained an excefs of acid, more w?ys COn‘
earth was added; but thus it was found impoflible<4add"
to prevent it from tinging vegetable blues of a
red colour until a precipitation was formed: and
even when this was the cafe, though one part of
the fait fell in the form juH mentioned, yet the reH
would Hill redden vegetable blues as before ; though
here our author doubts whether this be a mark
of acidity. An hundred grains of alum, when dried,
contain 42.74 of acid, 32.14 of earth, and 25.02 of
wrater ; but cryHallized alum lofes 44 per cent, by defic-
cation : therefore 100 grains of it contain 23.94 of
acid, and 58.06 of water. An hundred grains of this Proportion
pure earth take up, as near its can be judged, 153 of of pure
pure nitrous acid. The folution Hill reddened vege-earth of
table blues; but after the above quantity of earth was ahl|n ta^eA
added, an infoluble fait began to precipitate. Thetrousarid•
folution, when cold, became turbid, and could not be
rendered quite clear by 500 times its quantity of wa¬
ter. An hundred and feventy-three grains of pure By marine
marine acid are required for the diflblution of 100 acid,
grains of earth of alum, but the liquor Hill reddened
vegetable blues. After this an infoluble fait was form¬
ed ; but it is difficult to afeertain the beginning of its
formation precifely both in this and the preceding
cafes. The fpecific gravity of pure argillaceous earth,
containing 25 per cent, of fixed air, is 1.9901. 451
In the experiments made by our author on metals, ExPe! i-
the acids employed were fo far dephlogifficated as to
be colourlefs; the metals were for the moH part redu- " e
ced to filings, or to fine powder in a mortar. They Beft me-
were added by little and little to their refpeftive men-t!lod of dif-
ftrua; much more being thus diflblved than if 'the
whole had been thrown in at once, and the folution
was performed in glafs vials with bent tubes.
An hundred grains of bar-iron, in the temperature Propsrtion
of 56°, require for their folution 190 grains of the real bon ta-
acid, whofe proportion to that of the water, with
which it ihould be diluted, is as 1 to 8, 10, or 12. acid.
It would aft on iron, though its proportion were
greater or leffer, though not fq yigoroufly ; but by
applying a heat of 200° towards the end, 123 grains
3 H of
(b) The fixed and volatile alkalies were weighed
water. .
ether on account of their great folubility in
mable
produced
45 J
Why vitr
produced
by diffol-
triol.
426 C H E M I
Content*, of real acid would be fufficient. The air produced by
Salts'^ ^ t^'s folution is entirely inflammable, and generally
. - *- amounts to 155 cubic inches.
45 4 , By the afiiltance of i ftrong heat, iron is alfo foluble
Quantity in the concentrated vitriolic acid, though in fmaller
of r.flam- quantity ; and in dead of inflammable air, a large quan-
tity of vitriolic air is produced, and a little fulphur is
fublimed towards the end. The reafon of this is, that
the concentrated vitriolic acid, containing much lefs
fpecific fire than the dilutg, kind, camtot expel the
-phlogifton in the form of inflammable air (which ab-
_ &  forbs a Vail quantity of fire), but unites with it when
in concen-' further dephlegmated by heat,' and thus forms both vi¬
tiated oil triolic air and fulphur. An hundred grains of iron
diffolved without heat afford more than 400 of vitriol;
and too grains of vitriol, when cryftallized, contain
25 of iron, 20 of real acid, and 55 of water. When
calcined nearly to rednefs, theie cryltals lofe about 40
^ g per cent, of water.
Solution of The calces of iron are foluble in. the vitriolic acid
the calces of according to the quantity of phlogifton they contain;
iron in vi- che more phlogifticated being more readily foluble, and
triohc acid, which are dephlogifticated lefs fo. The latter
not only require more real acid for theii folution, but
afford only a thick liquor or magma by evaporation,
That of the inftead of cryftals like the others. Hence alfo folu-
dephlogifh- tions of iron, when newly made, diminilh, and corife-
cf^nui're^ quently phlogifticate, the fuperincumbent air by their
£uf-ekt0 cry.gradual emilfion of phlogifton ; at the fame time that
ftallize. the calx, becoming more and more dephlogifticated,
gradually falls to the bottom, unlefs more acid be added
4^g to keep it in folution.
Proportion An hundred grains of iron require for their folution
of iron dif- in nitrous acid 142 grains of real acid, fo diluted that
iolved in jt3 pr0p01tion to water fliould be as 1 to 13 or 14;
acic)> and when , this Jaft proportion is ufed, the heat of a
candle may be employed for a few feconds, and the
accefs of common air prevented. Thus about 18 cubic
inches of nitrous air are produced, the reft being ab-
forbed by the folution, and no red vapours appear.
But if the proportion of acid and water be as 1 to 8
or 10, a much greater quantity of metal will be de-
• phlogifticated by the application of heat, though very
little of it be held in folution. Thus, from 100 grains
of iron Mr Kirwan has'obtained 83.87 cubic inches of
nitrous air ; and by diftilling the folution, a Hill greater
quantity may be obtained which had been abforbed.
The reafon that nitrous folutions of iron or other me-
. tals yield no inflammable air is, becaufe this acid has
flairnnablfe" a®raty to water, and more to phlogifton, than the
air is here vitriolic, and likewife contains much lefs fire than either
produced, that or the marine (fee n° 2 7 8); and therefore unites with
/L~ phlogifton, inftead of barely expelling it. Hence alfo
the vitriolic acid, though united with 30 times its
weight of water, will ftill vifibly a<ft on iron, and fepa-
a much rate inflammable air in the temperature of 550; where-
hiteflrte aS n*trous ac*^> diluted with' 15 times its weight of
than lA- water> ^as no perceptible effedt on the tnetal in that
trous. temperature. The calces of iron, if not too much de-
()l phlogixfticated, are alfo foluble in the nitrous acid.
Iron taken Two hundred and fifteen grains of real marine acid
up by the are required for the folution of 100 grains of iron,
marine acid. When the proportion of water to the acid is as four to
one, it effervefces rather too violently with the metal;.
S T R Y.
Theory.
Quantity '
of nitrous
ed from
this folu¬
tion.
460
461
Vitriolic
acid adts
and heat is rather prejudicial, as it volatilizes the acid. Contents,
No marine air flies off; and the quantity of inflam-the
mable air is exactly the fame as with diluted vitriolic d 8'^ f
acid. The calces of iron are alfo foluble in marine
acid, and may be diftinguiflred by their reddilh colour Calces of
when precipitated by fixed alkalies, while the precipi- iron preci-
tates of the metal are greenifh. puated of
An hundred and eighty-three grains of real vitriolic g0|oUr £rotn
acid are required to diffolve an hundred grains of cop- their foiu-
per ; the proportion of acid to that of water being as 1 tibn in ma-
to 1.5, or at leaft as 1 to 1.7 ; and a ftrong heat muftnne ac‘J*
alfo be applied. Mr Kirwari fays he never could diffolve pr0y6i-
the whole quantity of copper; but to diffolve a .given 0f copper
■quantity of it, aftill greater heat muff be employed in the dilfoived by
proportion of 28 to too ; but this refiduum alfo is fo- vftr'°hc
luble by adding more acid. Copper dephlogifticatedaci '
in this manner is foluble by adding warm water to the
mafs. 465
By treating 128 grains of copper in this manner, we Inflamma-
obtain 11 cubic inches of inflammable air and 65 0f ^ VI*
vitriolic acid air. When inflammable air was obtained, a;r
however, our author tells us the acid was a little more from fo:u-
aqueous. The reafon why copper cannot be dephlo-uon of eop-
gifticated by dilute vitriolic acid, or even by the con-
ceutrated kind without the affiftance of heat, is its 466a
ftrong attraction to phlogifton, and the great quantity why tins
it contains. metal can-
An hundred grains of vitriol of copper contain 27 be a£r*
of metal, 30 of acid, and 43 of water; 28 of which ^
laft are loft by evaporation or flight calcination. An triolic acid,
hundred grains of copper, when difl’olved, ai$n‘d 373 467
of blue vitriol. * ofTlt™
An hundred grains of copper require 130 qf pure
nitrous acid for their diffolution. If the acid be fo blue vi-
far diluted that its proportion of water be as 1 to 14, triol.
the afliftance of heat will be neceffary, but not other- ^
wife. This folution affords 67 k inches of nitrous c^per
air.—The calces of copper are foluble in the nitrous fblved by
acid. nitrous acid.
A like quantity of this metal requires 1190 grains 469.
of real marine acid, as well as the ailiftance of a mode- ^1™™*
rate heat, to diffolve them; the proportion of water
being as 4-f to 1. By employing a greater heat, more
of the acid will be requifite, as much more will be dif-
fipated: the concentrated acid a£ts more vigoroufly.—
Calces of copper are likewife foluble in the marine acid,
though lefs ealily than in the nitrous.
The vitriolic acid diffolves tin but in fmall quantity; A&ion of
an hundred grains of the metal requiring for their lo- t^le
lution 872 of real acid, whofe proportion to wateracit*in tin*
ftiould not be lefs than 1 to 0.9. A ftrong heat is alfo
required. When the action of the acid has ceafed,,
fome hot water fnould be added to the turbid folution,
and the whole again heated. The metal is foluble in
a more dilute acid, but not in fuch quantity.—The [nflamma-
folution above mentioned affords 70 cubic inches ef in-We air ob-
flammable air.—The cajces of tin, excepting that pre- ta,n5'<| frntn
cipitated from marine acid by fixed alkalies, are info/ e olUtlon*
luble in the vitriolic acid. 4^2
An hundred grains of tin require 1200 of real nii Tin diffol-
trous acid ; whofe proportion of water Ihould be atved in m'
leaft 25 to 1, and the heat employed not exceeding110115 acl *
6o°. The quantity of air afforded by fuch folution is
only 10 cubic, inches,, and it is not nitrous. The fo¬
lution
Theory. C H E M
Contents, lution is not permanent; for in a few days it depofites
&c. of the a whitii'h calx, and in warm weather burfts the vial.
.l1' 8‘ The calces of tin are infoluble in this acid.
473 Four hundred and thirteen grains of pure marine
In marine add are required to diffolve 100 grains of tin, the pro-
ecl1^ portion of water being as 4I- to x. The aflxftance of
a moderate heat is alfo required. About 90 cubic in¬
ches of inflammable, and 10 of marine air, are afford¬
ed by the folution; but the calces of tin are nearly
474. infoluble in this acid.
Lead with hundred grains of lead require 600 grains of
J‘!"ollc real vitriolic acid for their folution, the proportion
being not lefs than x of acid' to y\;- of water 5 and it
will {fill be better if the quantity of water be lefs: for
which reafon, as in copper, a greater quantity of me¬
tal fhould be employed than what is expe&ed to be
diflblved. A ftrong heat is alfo requilite; and hot
47? water fliould be added to the calcined mafs,-though in
Scarce fo- fmall quantity, as it occafions a precipitation.—This
luhle In metal is alfo foluble, but very fparingly, in dilute vi¬
triolic acid triolIc acid- Its calce3 are fomethi-nS more foluble'.
no ic aci . jiundre(j grajns 0f vitriol of lead, formed by precipita-
476 tion, contain 73 of lead, 17 of real acid, and 10 of water.
With ni- With fpirit of nitre, 78 grains of real acid are re-
trous acid qUjrecj for the folution of ico of lead, with the aflift-
ance of heat towards the end. The proportion of acid
to that of water may be about 1 to 11 or 12. This
folution produces but eight cubic inches of air, which
is nitrous. The calces of the metal are foluble in this
acid ; but lefs fo when much dephlogiilicated. An
hundred^rains of minium require 81 of real acid. An
hundred grains of nitrous fait of lead contain about 60
.477 of the metal.
With ma- gjx }lundred grains of the real marine acid are re-
xmeaci . for the folution of 100 grains of lead ; the fpe-
cific gravity of the acid being 1.141, though more
would be diflblved by a ftronger acid.—-The calces of
lead are more foluble in this acid than the metal itfelf.
An hundred grains of minium require 327 of real acid;
but white lead is much lefs foluble. The fame quan¬
tity of plumbum corneum, formed by precipitation,
478 contain 72 of lead, 18 of marine acid, and 10 of water. _
Silver with An hundred grains of fllver require 530 of real vi-
■vitriolic triolic acid to diffolve them ; the proportion of acid to
water being not lefs than as 1 to -r?o : and when fuch a
concentrated acid is ufed, it adds flightly even in the
temperature of 6o°; but a moderate heat is required
in order to procure a copious folution. The calces of
fllver formed by precipitation from the nitrous acid
with fixed alkalies are foluble even in dilute vitriolic
acid without the affiftance of heat. An hundred grains
of vitriol of filver, formed by precipitation, contain 74
479 grains of metal, about 17 of real acid, and 9 of water.
With m- An hundred grains of the pureft filver require for
trous acid, their folution 36 of nitrous acid, diluted with water
in the proportion of one part of real acid to fix of
Avater, applying heat only when the folution is almolt
faturated. If the fpirit be much more or much lefs
dilute, it will not aft without the afiiftance of heat.
The laft portions of filver thus taken up afford no
air. Standard filver rec;uires about 38 grains of real
acid to diffolve the fame proportion of it; and the fo¬
lution affords 20 cubic inches of nitrous air; whereas
100 grains of filver revived from luna cornea affoid
about 14.
I S T R Y. 427
Mr Kirwan has never been-able to, diffolve filver in Contents
the marine acid, though Mr Bayen fays he effected ttlc
the diffolution of three grains and a half of it by dige- ^^
ftion fpr fome days with two ounces of ftrong fpirit of 4g0
fait. Newmann informs us alfo, that leaf-filver is cor-of the dif-
roded by the concentrated marine acid. It is diffolved, f' 'lution of .
however, by the dephlogifticated fpitit of fait, as wellillver in
as by the phlogifticated acid when reduced to a ftate acjcj
of vapour. An hundred grains of luna cornea, contain
75 of filver, 18 of acid, and 7 of water. 4gr
Mr Kirwan found that kind of aqua regia to fucceed Belt kind
belt in the diffolution of gold, which was prepared by of aqua re¬
mixing together three parts of the real marine acidjT® ^
with one of the nitrous acid. Both of them ought
alfo to be as concentrated as pofiible; though, whenh .
this is the cafe, it is almoft impoffible to prevent a
great quantity from efcaping, as a violent effervefcence
takes place for fome time after the mixture. Aqua
regia made with common fait or fal ammoniac and
fpirit of nitre, is much lefs aqueous than that pro¬
ceeding from an immediate combination of both
acids; and hence it is the fitteft for producing cryftals
, of gold. Very little air is produced by the folution of
this metal, and the operation goes on very flow. It
is, however, better promoted by allowing it fufficient 482
time, than by applying beat. An hundred grains of Quantity
gold require for their folution 246 grains of real acid, of:Void ta-
the two acids being in the proportion above mentioned. ?
Though foluble in the dephlogifticated marine acid, it
is only in very fmall quantity, unlefs the acid be in a
ftate of vapour; for in its liquid ftate it is too aque-
ous. In vitriolic and nitrous acids it is infoluble, tho’ Cakes of
the calces are fomewhat foluble in the nitrous, more gold foluble
ealily in the marine, but fcarcely at all in the vitriolioin. tlle vl~
acid. Mr Kirwan fays, that gold in its metallic ftatc^j^"^
may be diffufed through the concentrated nitrous acid, acids,
tho’ not diffolved in it; contrary to the opinion of other 484
chemifts, who have affirmed that a true diffolution takes Go'd can*
place flot’ acc<lrd-
An hundred grains of mercury require for their fo-wan^bedif-
lution 230 grains of real vitriolic acid, whofe proper-folved in nt-
tion to that of water is as 1 to T8^. A ftrong heat is.trous arid,
alfo requifite, and the air produced is vitriolic. Pre- M
cipitate per fe is ftill lefs foluble.—An hundred grains with vkrio-
of vitriol of mercury, produced by precipitation, con- lie acid,
tain 77 of metal, 19 of acid, and 4 of water. ^
In fpirit of nitre, 100 grains of mercury are diffol-with flari*
Ved by 28 of real acid, whofe proportion to the water of nitre,
it contains is as 1 te 1 -rtfo•' I’1 this acid the folution
takes place without heat; but it may alfo be diffolved
in a much more dilute acid, provided heat be applied.
About 12 cubic inches of air are produced when heat
is not applied; but M. Lavoifier found the produce
much greater. This,-fays Mr Kirwan, was evidently,
caufed by his ufing red or yellow fpirit of nitre, which
already contains much phlogifton. Precipitate per fe is
much lefs eafily diffolved in the . nitrous acid, which
Mr Kirwan fuppofes to be owing to the attraction of
the aerial acid. 2d 486
The marine acid, in its common phl«gifticated ftate, With ma-
does not a6t on mercury, at leaft in its ufual ftate of1*116 ac‘d-
concentration ; though M. Homberg, in the Paris
Memoirs for the year 1700, affirms, that he diffolved'
it by feveral months digeftion in this acid. When de¬
phlogifticated, it certainly a£ts upon it, though very
3 H 2 weakly
/
428
acid;
CHE M I S T R Y. Theory,
Contents, weakly while in a liquid ftate. Precipitate p?r fc is a weaker acid requires it, and diffblvcs /lill lefs of the Contents,
Saks0 t C a^° foluble in the marine acid with the affiftance of metal. The calces of nickel are alfo foluble with dif- &c> of thc
> heat. An hundred grains of corrofive fublimate con- faculty in this acid. aalts-
tain 77 of mercury, 16 of real acid, and fix of water. Four hundred and fifty grains of real vitriolic acid, ~
The like quantity of mercurius dulcis contains 86 of whofe proportion to water is not lefs than i to Wmffna
metaland 14 of acid and water. . are required for the diffolution of too grains of co-rineacid;
Zinc, with 2'nc requires for its folution an equal quantity of halt, afhfted by a heat of 279° at leaf!:. A folution 4?6
vitriolic real vitriolic acid, whofe proportion to that of water is obtained by pouring warm water on the dephlo* ^ w*t^*
may be as 1 to 8, 10, or 12. Heat muil be applied gifticated mafs.—The calces of cobalt, however, are acid-1C
towards the end, when the faturation is almoft com¬
pleted. By the help of heat alfo this femimetal is fo¬
luble in the concentrated vitriolic acid, but a fmall
quantity of black powder remains in all cafes undif-
folved. An hundred cubic inches of inflammable air
are produced. An hundred grains of vitriol of zinc
contain 20 of zinc, 22 of acid, and 5.8 of water. The
calces of zinc, if not exceedingly dephlogifticated, are
alfo foluble in this acid.
With ni- An hundred and twenty-five grains of real nitrous
trous acid, acid, whofe pi-oportion to water is that of
more foluble; fo that even a dilute acid will ferve.—
In fpirit of nitre, the like quantity of cobalt requires witlub!-
2 20 grains of real acid, whofe proportion to water is rit of nitre '
as 1 to 4; giving a heat of 180 ' towards the end.—The
calces of the metal are foluble in the nitrous acid. — o
An hundred grains of fpirit of fait, whofe fpecific gra-With fpirit
vity is 1.178, diflblves, with the affiftance of heat, offak;
two grains and a half of cobalt; and a greater quanti¬
ty will be diflblved by an acid more highly concen¬
trated.—The calces of cobalt are more foluble.
An hundred grains of regulus of antimony require Regldus o£
for their folution 725 grains of real vitriolic acid, antimony
whofe proportion to •
4gp are required for the folution of 100 grains of this femi-
I.cfs mttal metal, applying heat flightly from time to time. A whofe proportion to water is as 1 to affiftedby": 
ciiffolved concentrated'acid diflblves lefs of the metal, as a a heat of 400°. A large quantity of regulus fhould °lic atui
trated5than Sreat quantity °f the menftruum efcapes during the be put into the acid; and the refulting fait requires
hy diluted effervefcence. No nitrous air can be procured, the much water to diffolve it, as the concentrated acid
nitrous acid, acid being partly decompofed during the operation, lets fall much when water is added to it. A lefs con-
The calces of zinc, if not too much dephlogifticated, centrated acid will likewife difiblve this femimetal,
490 are likewife diflblved by the nitrous acid. but in fmaller quantity. The calces of antimony, even
With ma- An hundred grains of zjnc require for their diflblu- diaphoretic antimony, are fomewhat more foluble. Nine with'r/
rine acid, tion 210 grains of real marine acid, the proportion of hundred grains of real nitrous acid are required for the trous acid,
it to the water being as x to 9. If a more concentra- folution of 100 grains of regulus; the proportion of
ted fpirit of fait be made ufe of, a confiderable part of acid to the water of the folvent being as 1 to 12, and
it will be diffipated during the effervefcence, and confe- affifted by an heat of 1 io° ; but the folution becomes
491
Bifmuth
icarce fo¬
luble in
vitriolic
acid.
49 a
Quantity
dilTolved '
quently more will be required for the folution. The
calces of zinc are alfo foluble in the marine acid.
Only three grains of bifmuth were diflblved by 200
of oil of vitriol, whofe fpecific gravity was 1.863,
though a ftrong heat was ufed at the fame time. A
greater quantity was indeed flightly dephlogifticated;
but when the gravity of the acid was reduced to 1.200,
only a Angle grain of the metal was diflblved by 400
of it. The calces of this femimetal are much more
foluble. Four cubic inches of vitriolic air were af¬
forded by the folution of three grains of bifmuth.
turbid in a few days. The calces are much lefs foluble
in this acid.—Only one grain of the regulus 13 dtf-Scarce fc-
folved by 100 of fpint of fait, whofe fpecific gravity lubie in the
was 1.220, with the affiftance of a flight heat; andmariue
that which is only 1.178 diflblves ftill lefs; but Mracic1,
Kirwan is of opinion that the concentrated acid would,
in a long time, and by the affiftance of a gentle heat,,
diffolve much more. The calces diffolve more eaiily
in the marine acid.
Eighteen grains of regulus of arfenic are diffolved Regukis of
in a heat of 250° by 200 grains of real vitriolic acid, arfenk with
In fpirit of nitre, 100 grains of real acid are only whofe fpecific gravity is 1.871. About feven of thefe vlff!olic
Ipirit of
required to diffolve 100 grains of the metal. The
proportion of water to the acid ought to be as 8 or 9
to 1 ; in which cafe a gentle heat may be applied.
The folution affords 44 cubic inches of nitrous air.
Scarcefo- ^lic calces of bifmuth are alfo foluble in this acid.—
Iub!e in ma-Only three or four grains of it were diffolved by 400
rine acids, of marine acid, whofe fpecific gravity was 1.220.
Nickel93 About four grains of nickel were diffolved in an
with vi- hundred of the concentrated vitriolic acid with the
triolicacid; affiftance of a ftrong heat; but its calces are much
more foluble.—An hundred grains of nickel require
for their folution 112 of real nitrous acid, whofe pro¬
portion to water is as 1 to 11 or 12. The product of
nitrous air is 79 inches. The calces are alfo foluble.
A moderate heat is neceffary for the diffolution of the
metal; but a concentrated acid adds fo rapidly, that,
much of it is diffipated.- Only four or five grains of
nickel are diffolved by 200 of fpirit of fait whofe fpe¬
cific gravity was 1.220. An acid of this degree of
flrength adts without the affiftance of heat, though
With n
is acid.
parts cryftallize on cooling, and are foluble in a large acid 1
quantity of water. The calces of arfenic are more
foluble in this acid.—An hundred and forty grains of
real nitrous acid are requrfite for the folutron of loa^us acid •
grains of regulus of arfenic ; the proportion of acid to
the water being as 1 to x 1. The folution affords 102
cubic inches of nitrous air, the barometer being at
30 and the thermometer at 60. Calces of arfenic are
likewife foPuble in this acid. ^04
An hundred grains of fprrrt of fait, whole, fpecific With fpint
gravity is 1.220, diffolve a grain, and an half of regu-0^^1*
lus of arfenic ; but the marine acid, in. its common
ftate, that is, when its gravity is under 1.17, does
not at all affedl it. The arfenrcal calces are lefs foluble
in this than in the vitriolic or nitrous acids.
3. Of the Quantity of Phlogifion contained in different
Subjlances.
Having gone through all the various bafes with
which acids are ufually combined, and afcertained the
quantity
Theory. C H E M
Quantity of quantity of different ingredients contained in the com--
Phlogifton p0un(ls refulting; from their union, we ought next to
in different 1 . ° c o m
Subftances. Sive an account of our authors experiments on phlo~
 j gifton; but as his fentiments on that fubjeft are taken
notice of elfewhere, we fhall content ourfelves with
briefly mentioning the' veiy ingenious methods by
which he difcovers the quantities of it contained in va-
rious kinds of air and in fulphur.
Quantity Haying proved that inflammable air, in its concrete
ol phlo- ftate, and phlogifton are the fame thing, Mr Kirwan
gi(lon con- proceeds to effimate the quantity contained in nitrous
tamed in ni*r. • , r n •
trous air. a,r ln t“e following manner.
“ An hundred grains of filings of iron, diffolved in
a fufficient quantity of very dilute vitriolic acid, pro¬
duced, with the affiftance of heat gradually applied,
155 cubic inches of inflammable air;,the barometer
being at Zp.J, and the thermometer between 50° and
6o°. Now, inflammable air and phlogifton being
the fame thing, this quantity of inflammable air a-
mounts to 5.42 grains of phlogifton.—Again, 100
grains of iron diflblved in dephlogifticated nitrous acid,
in a heat gradually applied and raifed to the utmoft,
afford 83.87 cubic inches of nitrous air. But as this
nitrons air contains nearly the whole quantity of
phlogifton which iron will part with (it being more
completely dephlogifticated by this than any other
means), it follows, that 83,87 cubic inches of nitrous air
contain at leaft 5.42 grains of phlogifton. But it may
reafonably be thought, that the whole quantity of
phlogifton which iron will part with is not expelled
by the vitriolic acid, but that nitrous acid may expel
and take up more of it. To try whether this was
really the cafe, a quantity of green vitriol was cal¬
cined until its bafis became quite infipid; after which,
two cubic inches of nitrous air were extracted from
64 grains of this ochre ; and confequently xoo grains
would yield 3.12 cubic inches of nitrous air. If 83.87
cubic inches of nitrous air contain 5.42 of phlogifton ;
then 3.12 cubic inches of this air contain 0.2 of phlb-
gifton. The nitrous acid, therefore, extra&s from
100 grains of iron two-tenths of a grain more phlo¬
gifton than vitriolic acid does. Therefore 83.87
cubic inches of nitrous air, containing nearly the
whole phlogifton of the iron, have 5.62 of this fub-
ftance. Hence 100 cubic inches of nitrous air contain
6.7 grains of phlogifton.”
Quaiitit* With regard to the quantity of phlogifton in fixed
©Tphloglf- air, after proving at length that it is compofed of
ton in fixed dephlogifticated air united to the principle of inflam-
air; mability, Mr Kirwan afeertains the quantity of the
latter in the following manner: “ Dr Prieftley, in the
fourth volume of his Obfervations, p.380, has fatis-
faftorily proved, that nitrous air parts with as much
phlogifton to common air, as an equal bulk of inflamma¬
ble does when fixed in the fame proportion of common
air. Now, when inflammable air unites with common
air, its whole weight unites to it, as it contains no¬
thing elfe but pure phlogifton. Since, therefore, ni¬
trous air phlogifticates common air to the fame de¬
gree that inflammable air does, it muft part with
a quantity of phlogifton, equal to the weight of a vo¬
lume of inflammable air, fimilar to that of nitrous air.
But too cubic inches of inflammable air weigh three
grains and a half; therefore 100 cubic inches of ni¬
trous air part with 3.5 grains of phlogifton, when
they communicate their phlogifton to as much common
I S T R Y. 429
air as will take it up. In this procefs, however, the Quantity of
nitrous air does not part with the whole of the phlo-
gifton it contains, as appears by the red colour it con- Suhfbnct-!
ftantly affumes when mixed with common or dephlo- ■ „ V *1
gifticated air ; which colour belongs to the nitrous
acid, combined with the remainder of its phlogifton,
whence the acid produced is always volatile.
“ One meafure of the pureft dephlogifticated air
and two of nitrous air occupy but of one meafure,
as Dr Prieftley has obferved. Suppofe one- meafure to-
contain 100 cubic inches, then the whole, very near¬
ly, of the nitrous air will difappear (its acid uniting to
the water over which the mixture is made), and 97
cubic inches of the dephlogifticated air, which is con¬
verted into fixed air by its union with the phlogifton-
of the nitrous air; therefore 97 cubic inches of de*
phlogifticated air take up all the phlogifton which
200 cubic inches of nitrous air will part with; and
this we have found to be feven grains: therefore
a weight of fixed air equal to that of 97 cubic inch¬
es of dephlogifticated air, and 7 of phlogifton, will
contain feven grains of the latter. Now, 9.7 cubic •
inches of dephlogifticated air weigh 40.74 grains; to
which adding 7, we have the whole weight of the fix¬
ed air, = 47.74 grains, = 83.755 cubic inches ; and con¬
fequently too cubic inches of fixed air contain 8.357
grains of phlogifton, the remainder being dephlogifti-
cated air. An hundred grains of fixed air therefore,
contain 14.661 of phlogifton, and 85.339 elemen¬
tary or dephlogifticated air. Hence alfo 100 cubic
inches of dephlogifticated air are converted into fixed
air by 7.2165 grains of phlogifton, and will be then
reduced to the bulk of 86.34 cubic inches. y06
To find the quantity of phlogifton in vitriolic acidIn vitriol:,;
air, our author purfued the following method. acid air,
t. He found the quantity of nitrous air afforded
by a given weight of copper, when diffolved in the
dephlogifticated nitrous acid, and by that means how
much phlogifton it parts with,
2. He found, the quantity of copper which a given
quantity of the dephlogifticated vitriolic acid could dif-
folve; and obferved, that it could not entirely faturate
itfelf with copper without dephlogifticating a further
quantity which it does not diflolve.
3. He found how much it dephlogifticates what it
thoroughly diffolves, and how much it dephlogifticates
what it barely calcines.
4. How much inflammable air a given quantity of
copper affords when diflblved in the vitriolic acid to
the greateft advantage.
5. He deducts from the whole quantity of phlogi¬
fton expelled by the vitriolic acid the quantity of it
contained irt the inflammable air ; the remainder fhows ■
the quantity of it contained in the vitriolic acid air.
The conclufion deduced, from experiments conduc¬
ed after this manner is, that 100 cubic inches of vi¬
triolic air contain 6.6 grains of phlogifton, and 71.2
grains of acid; and 100 cubic inches of this air weigh¬
ing 77.8 grains, 100 of it muft contain 8.48 grains
phlogifton, and 9X.52. of acid.
To find the . quantity of phlogifton in fulphur, Mr Quantity of.
Kirwan propofed to eftimate that of the fixed air pro- phlogifton
duced during its combuftion. For this purpofe he in Suhbuiv
firmly tied and cemented to the open top of a glafs-
bell a large bladder, deftined to receive the air ex¬
panded by combuftion, which generally efcapes when
this-
430 C H E M I
Quantity ofthJg precaution is not ufed. Under this bell, con-
indifferent ta'n’ng about 3000 cubic inches of air, a candle of
Subftances fulphur, weighing 347 grains, was placed; its wick,
' v  which was not confumed, weighing half a grain. It
508 was fupported by a very thin concave plate of tin, to
thocTy116* Prevent t^e l"l|ip^ur from running over during the corn-
burning ful- buftion ; and both were fupported by an iron wire fixed
phar. in a fhelf in a tub of water. As foon as the fulphur
began to burn with a feeble flame, it was covered with
the bell, the air being fqueezed out of the bladder.
The infide of the bell was foon filled with white fumes,
fo that the flame could not be feen ; but in about an
hour after all the fumes were thoroughly fyhfided, and
the glafs become cold, as much water entered the
Taell as was equal to 87.2 cubic inches; which fpace
our author concludes to have been occupied by fixed
air, and which muft have contained 7,2^7 grains of
phlogifton. The candle of fulphur being weighed was
found to have loft 20.75 grains; therefore 20.75
grains of fulphur contain 7.287 of phlogifton, befides
the quantity of phlogifton which- remained in the vi¬
triolic air. This air muft have amounted to 20.75—
7.287=13.463 grains, which,'as already fhown, con¬
tain 1.41 grains of phlogifton. Therefore the whole
quantity of phlogifton in 20.75 grains of fulphur is
8.428 ; of confequence too grains of fulphur contain
59.39 of vitriolic acid, and 40.61 of phlogifton.
■Quantity The quantity of- phlogifton contained in marine
of 1 hlogif- acid air was found by the following method.—Eight
ton in ma- grains of copper diflblved in colourlefs fpirit of fait
Tine acid affor(jed but 4.9 inches of inflammable air ; but when
the experiment was repeated over mercury, 91.28 cu¬
bic inches of air were obtained. Of thefe only 4.9
cubic inches were inflammable ; and consequently the
remainder, 86.38 inches, were marine air, weighing
56.49 grains.—Now, as fpirit of fait certainly does
not dephlogifticate copper more than the vitriolic acid
does, it follows, that thefe 4.9 cubic inches of inflam¬
mable air, and 86.38 of marine air, do not contain
more phlogifton than would be feparated from the
fame quantity of copper by the vitriolic acid ; and
fince 100 grains of copper would yield to the vitriolic
acid 4.32 grains of phlogifton, 8.5 grains of copper
would yield 0.367 grains of phlogifton. This there¬
fore is the whole quantity extrafted by the marine
acid, and contained in 91.28 cubic inches of.air; and,
deducing from this the quantity of phlogifton con¬
tained in 4.9 cubic inches of inflammable air =0.171
grains, the remainder, wz. 0.367—0.171=0.19^, is
all the phlogifton that can be found in 86.38 cubic
inches of marine air. Then 100 cubic inches of it
contain but 0.227 of a grain of phlogifton, 65.173
Why ma- grains being acid.—Hence we fee why it afts fo feebly
rine acid onoils, fpirit of wine, Sffc. and why it is notdiflodged from
adb fo any bafisby uniting with phlogifton, as the vitriolic and
wea nitrous acids are, its affinity to it being inconfiderable.
§ 4. Remarks on the Doflrines of the Quantity and fpe-
cijic Gravity above delivered.
Mr^Keir’s To this dodfrine of the fpecific gravity and quan-
objedtiom tity of acid contained in different fubftances, Mr Ktir
,to Kirwan’s has made feveral objeftions. 1. Mr Kirwan fuppofes,
dodtnnes. mar;ne acid gas is the pure and folid marine acid
divefted of all water and other matter. Its apparent
drynefs in this refpedf, however, is no argument that
S T R Y. Theory,
it really contains no water; for water itfelf, reduced Remarks
to a ftate of vapour, poffefies no moiftening property. on t^le
There is great reafou to believe that water is a coniti- ^fnreDoC"
tuent part of fome gafes, and it is certain that all of f ’ - t- *
them are capable of holding it in folution. As moift
materials, therefore, are employed in the preparation
of marine acid air, there fee:ns no reafon to believe, that
in any way in which Mr Kirwan could obtain it, there
was reafon to fuppofe it perfe&ly free of water; in
which cafe the denlity of the acid would be greater,
and its quantity fmallerthan he fuppofes.
2. A confiderable part of the denlity of the acid ab-
forbed in the experiment, probably arofe from the con-
denfation which always accompanies the union of a
concentrated acid with water. Mr Kirwan allows this
to be* the cafe with the nitrous and vitrolic acids, but
thinks it too inconfiderable to deferve notice in the ma¬
rine. His reafoning, however, does not appear fa-
tisfa&ory, or his experiments on the fubjeft conclu-
five. He oLferves, that the length of time taken
up in effe&ing an union between the marine gas and
water, is no argument againft their attra&ing one an¬
other ftrongly when once united ; and it is certain
that part of this acid gas is very quickly abforbed by
water. He alfo finds fault with his accuracy in cal¬
culation; and afferts, that if matters are fairly ftated,
the real denfity of the marine acid gas will be con-
fiderably lefs than Mr Kirwan makes it.
3. A great obftacle even to an approximation to¬
wards the real denfity of the acid, arifes from the con-
denfation which the water, as well as the acids, muft
fuffer in the procefs: and in this cafe, where a ge¬
neral condenfation takes place, he afks, “ How
ftiall we determine the part of the condenfation that
belongs to the water, and the part that the acid fuf-
tains ?” This, with other confiderations, makes Mr
Keir “ doubt of the poffibility of folving the queftion
concerning the actual denfity of pure and folid acids.”
The inveftigation of the queftion, indeed, he does not
confider as a matter of great confequence, as every ufe-
ful application may be obtained, by firft inveftigating
the comparative ftrengths of different portions of the
fame acid rendered more or lefs dilute ; and then by
finding out the ftrength of the vitriolic, nitrous, and
marine acids of known denfities, fo that they may be
compared together. “ Homberg (fays he) has the me¬
rit of making the firft effay towards this inveftiga¬
tion. Bergman and Wenzel have fupplied the de-
fed! of Homberg, by taking into confideration the gas
united with alkaline fubftances; and Mr Kirwan, by
ufing determinate quantities of acid liquors of known
denfities, has conliderably improved the method of
Bergman: and whoever fucceeds thefe able chemifts
in this inquiry, may avail himfelf greatly of their la¬
bours, particularly thofe of Mr Kirwan.” He con¬
cludes with ftating the refults of the inquiries made by
the chemifts above mentioned; on which he makes the
following remarks. 3d ?»o
“ The difcordancy of thefe refults is> very ftriking, Great dif-
and gives but an humiliating reprefentation of the pre-ferences in
ciiion of our prefent knowledge in chemiftry. A great
part of the difference arifes undoubtedly from the dif- t),fpT^nt
ferent views in which thefe authors confidered the dry- authors,
nefs or purity of the acids. Mr Kirwan, as we have
feen,.endeavoured to find their denfity and quantity in
5 a
Theory. CHEMISTRY.
Remarks a ftate of perfect drynefs and purity ; which he fup-
mer^D ^0r" P°^ec^ to ex^ t^ie marine ac*^ gas : with which he
trines' C" compared and inferred the denfities and quantities of
■ y ■ the nitrous and vitriolic acids, upon the •fuppofition
that equal quantities of thefe feveral acids are fatu-
rated by a given weight of fixed alkali. Befides the
uncertainty of his principles, from which he deduces
the denfity and quantity of the marine acid, his appli¬
cations from thence to deduce the denfities of the pure
nitrous and vitriolic acids, being founded on the above
fuppofition, muft partake of its defedfs. The alkali
which he happened to fix on as the ftandard by which
he compared the ftrengths of the different acid liquors,
in order to determine the quantity of real acid they
contained, and thence to determine their denfity in a
folid ftate, was the fixed vegetable. Having found
that i oo grains of his real marine acid could faturate
215 grains of this alkali, he infers, that the fame pro-
' portion is applicable to the other acids: and accord¬
ingly we find that 100 grains of each of the pure and
real mineral acids are faturatcd by an equal quantity,
viz.. 215 grains of this alkali. But if we examine the
other columns of his table, we fhall at once fee, that,
in other fubftances foluble by acids, this equality does
not exift; and that every fuch fubftance has a ratio
peculiar to itfelf, with refpedf to the proportions of
thefe acids necefiary for its faturation. It is evident,
therefore, that if Mr Kirwan had fixed on the mineral
alkali, the volatile alkali, lime, or any other fub¬
ftance, as a ftandard, inftead of vegetable alkali, his
determination of the denfities of the real vitriolic and
nitrous acids would have been different; and as no
reafon can be afixgned why the vegetable alkali or any
other fubftance fhould have the prerogative' over the
reft, it is obvious that there can be no fuch general
ftandard, but that each fubftance poffefles folely the
capacity of determining the proportions of the feveral
acids neceffary for its faturation.
“ The other chemifts were contented to confider as
the pure and dry acid, that which actually remains in
the neutral fait, after this has been rendered as dry as
pofiible by expofure to a- red heat: and having made
their alkalies as dry as they could, they fuppofed thefe
alkalies to retain the fame weight in the dried neutral
fait; and that the augmentation of the weight gained
by the alkali during the formation of the neutral fait
fhowed the weight of the dry acid. The uncertainty
which affefts this method arifes from the different ca¬
pacities which different neutral falts may poffefs of re¬
taining more or lefs water, either as a conftituent part
of the dry fait, or merely by the ftrength of adhefion
or affinity. Neverthelefs, this method being founded
folely on experiment, without any theoretical induc¬
tions, feems to furnilh fome approximation, not per¬
haps of the abfolute quantity of the acids in their
drieft poffible ftate,. but of-the acids as they actually
exift in thefe falts comparatively with each other.
Though the difagreements between Bergman’s and!
Wenzel’s refults are little in comparifon of the diffe¬
rence between them and Kirwan’s, yet as their expe¬
riments were made nearly in the fame manner, and
upon the fame grounds, there feems to be fufficient'
reafen to wiffi for a careful repetition of their experi¬
ments, or of others with the fame view, and lefs liable
to objections...
431
“ The only difference in the methods employed by Remarks
thefe two celebrated chemifts confifted in the mode of
faturation. Bergman probably ufed the common me-‘trjne,
thod, but Wenzel employed a very peculiar one. He i — v ■
added to his alkali a greater quantity of acid than was
neceffary for the faturation; and after the alkali was
difi’olved^ he added a lump of zinc, or of oyfter-ffiell, in
order to faturate completely the fuperfluous acid. By
obferving how much of the zinc or oyfter-ffiell the acid
diffoived, and knowing how much of thefe fubftances
was foluble in his acid by former experiments, he in¬
ferred the quantity of acid left for the faturation of
the alkali. Having thus afcertained the quantity ne¬
ceffary to faturate the alkali, he mixed together the
proper proportions of thefe, and formed his neutral
fait by evaporating the mixture and drying the fait
with a red heat. Perhaps the difference 'in the refults
obtained by thefe two chemifts might arife from their
different modes of faturation. The common method
of afcertaining the point of faturation by means of
litmus or other blue vegetable juices, appears fuffi-
ciently exadt, is fimpler, and therefore preferable to
that ufed by WenzeL
“ The ftandard for comparing the ftrengths of acids,
and likewife of alkalies with one another, may be ei¬
ther an acid or an alkaline fubftance ; and if we had
one of each, the proportion of whofe quantities requi-
fite for their mutual faturation were well afcertained,
the conveniency in making the experiments would be
obvious, and the certainty greater. Alkaline, and the
earthy fubftances that are foluble in acids, are feldom
pure enough for this purpofe. They gene'rally con¬
tain quantities, which are not conftant, of fixed air,
filiceous earth, magnefia, neutral falts, and inflammable
matter, which render any of thofe that are commonly
met with unfit for the purpofe without a very Ikiiful
and careful purification. The chemifts who have made
experiments to determine the proportions of acids and
alkalies requifite for each other’s faturation, have fcarce-
ly been explicit enough in explaining the means of pu¬
rifying the alkalies which they employed; for thofe in
commerce are quite uncertain in ftrength and purity :
and as to the general rules for making allowances for
any heterogeneous fubftances they may contain, they
are quite inapplicable to delicate experiments. No
other method feems proper for afcertaining the pu¬
rity of alkalies but that of cryftallization ; of which
both the vegetable and mineral alkalies are fufceptible,
efpecially the latter, which on account of its being
more eafily reducible into cryftals, is therefore prefer¬
able. Thefe alkaline cryftals, however, are not lit to
be ufed as a ftandard, becaufe they either are apt to
be infufficiently dried, or, upon expofure to air, to lofe
a part of the water of their cryftallization, and to fall,
into powder. Even if they (hould be taken, as is pof¬
fible with due care, at the exact ftate of dry but entire
cryftals, another uncertainty arifes from a property
which feems to be common to them all, namely,, that
of retaining a greater or fmaller quantity of water, ac¬
cording to the degree of heat in which they were
cryftallized; the colder the weather the greater quan¬
tity of water entering into the compofition of the cry- 4th ?ro
ftals. It feems poffible, however, to make a pretty Mr Keir’s -
accurate ftandard of mineral alkali in the following preparks
manner : Let the alkali be purified by repeated folu- an alkaline*
, tion ftandard, -
432 C H E M I
Remarks tion and cryftallization, ufing only Tuch as are formed
sviVr Doc'" an<^ rejecting the remaining liquors. Let the
trines. Pure cryftals be expofed to a dry air until they have
W—; completely efflorefced or fallen into a dry white pow¬
der ; which alteration may be facilitated by bruifmg
the cryitals, and changing the furface of the powder.
Let this powder be then expofed for a certain and de¬
terminate time to a conftant heat, as that of boiling
water for 12 hours ; letting the furface expofed be in
fome given proportion, fuppofe of a fquare inch to an
ounce of the powder of cryilals, and let it be ftirred
every two hours. When thus dried, let them be put
while hot into a bottle, and well Hopped. This pow¬
der I have found to .be an uniform and conftant ftand-
ard for afcertaining the ftrength of acids; andalfo, by
comparifon by means of acids, of other alkaline fub-
ftances.”
With regard to an acid ftandard, our author re¬
commends oil of vitriol; which, he fays, as it comes
from the hands of the Britilh manufacturers, is of the
fpecific gravity of about 1.846, but foon becomes
weaker, unlefs carefully kept from the external air;
and in general he rates it at 1.844. One part of this
acid mixed with nine of water, is of a very convenient
ftrength for ufe ; and as every ten grains of the mix¬
ture contain one of the ftandard acid, the computations
are thus rendered eafy: and by thefe ftandards, the
ftrength of all acids, alkalies, and fubftances foluble in
jth fio ac^s> may be meafured and compared together.
His method To determine the fpecific gravity of liquors with
of finding accuracy, our author recommends the method of weigh-
the fpecific ing them in a phial fitted with a glafs-ftopper, which
Sent°f can only enter a certain length into the neck. In
liquors, this way, he obferves, no other inconvenience can en-
fue than the flight one, that the glafs-ftopper, by very
frequent ufe, is apt to wear itfelf and the neck of the
phial alfo; fo that after a great number of experiments,
it will at laft diminiih, in fome meafure, the capacity
of the phial itfelf. This, however, is but very trifling,
and may be corre&ed at any time. Mr Keir has be-
fides found, that after fome hundreds of experiments,
the error amounted only to one quarter of a grain in
101 grains.
“ The methods hitherto pra&ifed (fays he) for af¬
certaining the quantities of acids and alkalies contain¬
ed in neutral falts, feem to be liable to feveral objec¬
tions befides thofe above mentioned, arifing from the
different proportions of water remaining in a neutral
fait, after expofure to a red heat, which heat is alfo
very indefinite. In boiling the faturated mixture of
acid and alkali to drynefs, and afterwards in expofing
this fait to a red heat, it has been fuppofed that nothing
but water is expelled ; and fome chemifts, who have
given the refults, have alfo determined the weight of
the alkali which enters into the neutral -mixture, by
evaporating to drynefs an equal quantity of the alka¬
line folution which had been employed in the Satura¬
tion, and weighing the dry folution, on the fuppofi-
fition that nothing is expelled but water. It is cer¬
tain, however, that in the evaporation both of alkalies
arid neutral falts, a confiderable portion of the faline
matter is elevated towards the end, when the liquor
becomes concentrated and acquires a degree of heat
qonfiderably above that of boiling water. The fol-
M° 71. a
S T R Y. Theory.
lowing method appears beft for determining the rela-Rmiark*
live quantities of acid and alkali, or other fubftance ' r J for*
exifting in neutral falts. _
“ To a given number of grains, fuppofe .100 of the * 'v- -
ftandard vitriolic acid, or to a proportionable quantity of
any other acid, add as much of the alkali or other fo¬
luble fubftance as is requifite for the faturation, and
note the quantity required, which fuppofe to be 150
grains. We have thus a folution of the neutral fait,
which is the objedt of the experiment; the quantities
of acid and bafis contained in which are known, and
the general proportion of the quantity of the acid to
its bafis in the neutral fait determined, viz. as 100
to 150. The next thing to be difcovered is the weight
of the dry neutral fait contained in this folution, in
order to know the proportion of the dry neutral fait
to its acid and bafis. For this purpofe, let a given
quantity of the fame neutral fait, either in the ftate
of cryftals or dried to any given degree, be diffolved in
water. Let this folution be brought to the fame den-
fity as the former, by adding water to the heavier of
the two : then, by knowing the weight of each folu-,
tion, and the quantity of dry neutral fait which was
actually diffolved in one of them, the quantity con¬
tained in the other may be deduced; and thence the
quantities of ftandard acid, or of other acid pro¬
portioned to it, and of the alkali employed, or
other foluble fubftance contained in a given quantity
of the neutral fait, are determined ; alfo the quantity
of water contained in the neutral fait, that is greater or
lefs than what is contained in the quantity of acid em¬
ployed, will be known, over and above any water that
may have been contained in the alkali or other bafis of
the neutral fait; the quantity of which water, if any,
cannot be determined. x
“ By this method may be afcertained the propor¬
tion of the acid, of the bafis, and of the neutral fait, to
each other; not indeed the quantity of acid and of al¬
kali deprived of all water, but the quantity of acid,
equal in intenfity of acidity to a known portion of
the ftandard acid ; and alfo the quantity of fuch alkali
or other foluble fubftance as was employed ; the rela¬
tive ftrength of which is known from its ratio to the
ftandard acid.”
The tranflator of Wiegleb’s Syftem of Chemiftry
totally difagrees with Mr Kirwan’s calculation of the to Kirwan's
quantity of phlogifton contained in fulphur; but as his calculation
objection feems to arife rather from an inclination to°/tlie^“^n“
the antiphlogiftic do&rine than a real difeuffion of the*1^®^ °
fubjeft, this can have but little weight. It is poffible fulphur.
indeed that Mr Kirwan may have over-rated the quan¬
tity of phlogifton this fubftance contains, which is in¬
deed larger than that allowed by other chemifts.
“ Brandt (fays the tranflator), who has been mpft ge¬
nerally followed, reckons it only at T3-; and it has al¬
ways appeared to me, that the weight of phlogifton in
fulphur is almoft infinitely fmall.” His objection pro¬
ceeds on a maxim which he thinks he has demonftra-
ted, viz. that fulphur is compofed, not of the vitriohe
acid and phlogifton, but of the bafe of vitriohe acid
and phlogifton. No experiments hitherto made, how¬
ever, have been able to (how this bafe diftinft from the
acid ; nor have we any reafon to fuppofe that the in-
creafe of weight in the vitriolic acid above the fulphur
from
Theory. C H E M
Earths, from which it is produced, arifes from any thing be-
1~~v—^ fides the acceffion of mere water, which the air parts
with during the combuftion. Hence, if the fulphur is
burnt in a very moift air, the quantity of acid obtained
will be four or five times the weight of the fulphur.
Sect. IV. Earths.
These are divided into five claffes : i. Abforbent,
alkaline, or calcareous earths : 2. Argillaceous earths
or clay: 3. The flinty: 4. The fufible earths : and,
5. The talks.
1. The fir ft clafs comprehends all thofe that are ca¬
pable of being converted into lime. They are found
of various degrees of hardnefs; but none of them are
capable of totally refifting the edge of a knife, or
ftriking fire with fteel. They are found to confift of a
very friable earth, joined with a large quantity of air
and fome water. They effervefee with an acid when
poured on them; by which they are diftinguifhed from
all other kinds of earth, except the argillaceous.
When calcined by a ftrong fire, they part with the
water and air which they contained, and then acquire
a great degree of caufticity, lofe their power of ef-
fervefeing with acids, and become what is a cal-
Quicklime rl,‘‘c^'tme- They are foluble in acids, but not equal¬
ly fo in all. The vitriolic and tartareous acids form
compounds with them very difficultly foluble ; the fe-
lenhes, formed by the vitriolic acid and calcareous
earth, requiring, according to'Mr Beaume, an ounce
of water to diffolve a Angle grain of it. The folubi-
lity of the tartareous felenite hath not yet been de¬
termined.—With the other mineral acids, the calca¬
reous earths become eafily foluble ; and by proper ma¬
nagement form concretes which appear luminous in the
,jra dark, and are called phofphori.
Argiliace- 2. The argillaceous earths differ from the calca-
ou*. reous, in not being convertible into quicklime. When
mixed into a pafte with water, and expofed to the
fire, they fhrink remarkably, crack in many places,
and become exceffively hard. By being gently dried
in the open air before they are turned, they do not
crack, and thus may be formed into veffels of any
fhape. Of this kind of earth are formed all the brown
fort of earthen ware. The pureft kind of argillaceous
earth naturally found,' is that whereof tobacco-pipes
are made.
All the argillaceous earths are foluble in acids. With
the vitriolic they diffolve into a gelatinous tough liquor
very difficultly cryftalhzable ; but which, on the addi¬
tion of fome fixed or volatile alkali, may be fhot into
cryftals of the fait called alum. With the other acids
they form aftringent falls of a fimilar nature.
The attraction between the argillaceous earths and
acids is very weak, yielding not only to alkaline falls
both fixed and volatile, but even to fome metals, par¬
ticularly iron ; but thefe earths have as yet been but
little the fubjeft of chemical examination in this way.
They have a remarkable property of abforbing the
colouring matter of cochineal, Brafil-wood, £sY. as have
alfo the calces of fome metals.
Both the calcareous and argillaceous, and indeed all
earths when pure, refill the utmoft violence of fire;
hut when mixed together will readily melt, efpecially
if in contact with the burning fuel. Dr Lewis having'
Vol. IV. Part II. 6
I S T R Y. 433
made covers to fome crucibles of clay and chalk mixed Earths,
together, found that they melted into a yellow glafs, ‘ y
before the mixtures in the crucibles were fufed in the
leaft. But though they melted thus readily when in
contaft with the fuel, it was with great difficulty he
could bring them to a tranfparent glafs when put into
a crucible.
The other fpecies of earths, viz. the flinty, fufiblc,
and talky, being no other way the fubjedls of che-
miftry than as they are fubfervient to the making of
glafs, all that can be faid of them wall moft properly
come under that article. For their different fpecies,
fee Mineralogy. 513
Befides the above mentioned fpecies of earths, there Anomalous
are others which may be called anomalous, as having eart*ls'
fome refemblance of the calcareous and argillaceous,
and yet being effentially different from them. Thefij
are the white earth called magnefta alba, the earth of
burnt vegetables, and that produced from burning a-
nimal fubftances.
Magnefia alba was at firft prepared from the thick MagneJia.
liquor remaining after the cryftallization of nitre ; jand
is now found to be contained in the liquor called bit¬
tern, which is left after the feparation of common fait
from fea-water. In the former cafe it was united with
the nitrous, in the latter with the vitriolic, acid. It
is alfo found naturally in the foft kind of ftone called
Jleaiites or “ foap ftone and in the concrete ufed for
taking fpots out of cloaths, called French chalk. It
differs from the calcareous earths, in not acquiring any
caufticity when deprived of its air, of which it con¬
tains fo large a quantity as to lofe two-thirds of its
weight when calcined. From the. argillaceous it dif¬
fers in not burning hard when mixed with water, nor
forming a tough ductile pafte. It is eafily foluble in
all the acids, even the vitriolic; with which it forms
the bitter purging fait commonly called Epfom fait,
from its being firft difeovered in the waters of Epfom.
With ail the other acids it likewife forms purgative
compounds, which are either very difficultly or not
at all cryftallizable.—Like other pure earths, it can¬
not be melted by itfelf; but, on proper additions, runs
into a beautiful green glafs. ^
The earth of burnt vegetables is thought by Dr Vegetable
Lewis to be the fame with magnefia alba; but on try-atl(l animal
ing the common wood afhes, they were found to beeart **
very different. This kind of earth is fufible, by rea-
fen of the alkaline falls contained in it. Animal earth
is both very difficult of folution in acids, and impoL
fible to be melted in the ftrongeft fire. It diffolves,
however, in acid liquors, though flowly; but the na¬
ture of the compounds formed by fuch an union are as
yet unknown. The fofter parts of animals, fuch as
blood, fiefn, <5c. are faid to yield a more foluble earth
than the others. Anifnal earth has lately been fup-
pofed to be compounded of calcareous earth and phof-
phoric acid; but this opinion is ftiown to be erroneous
under the article Bones. The phofphoric acid pro¬
duced from thefe, is with reafon fuppofed to be only
the vitriolic acid changed.
Sect.V. Inflammable Subflances.
These comprehend all vegetable, animal, and fomePhenomen®
mineral fubftances. They are diftinguiflied from allon^urniIJ£*
3 I others,
317
■On diftilla-
iion.
5i8
Treated
with diffe¬
rent acids.
produc¬
tions.
C H E M I
others, by emitting a grofs thick fmoke and flame,
when a certain degree of heat is applied. To this,
however, fpirit of wine and all preparations from it are
•exceptions. They burn without the leaft fmake ; and
if a glafs bell is held over the burning fpirit, no foot
is formed, only a quantity of water is found condenfed
on its fides. Even the grofleroils, if dowdy burnt with
a very fmall flame, will yield no foot; and an exceeding
great quantity of water, fully equal in weight and bulk
to the oil employed, maybe obtained from them. We
can fcarcely, however, credit, that fo great a quantity of
water comes from the oil; as this would be a real tranf
mutation; and we know that, befides water, the oils
contain alfo fome quantity of fixed air, as well as earth.
It is probable, therefore, that, as it is impofiible to
fuftain flame without a decompofition of that part of
the air which ruflres in to fupport it, part of the water
in this cafe comes from the air, which always contains
moifture in abundance.
Inflammable matters, on being burnt, generally leave
behind a fmall quantity of earthy matter called ajhes ;
but to this, fpirit of wine, camphor, the more volatile
oils, and the mineral oil called naptha, are exceptions.
Vegetable fuftances, when diftilled in clofe veffels, give
out a quantity of air, fome acid, and an empyreumatic
oil, leaving behind a black fpongy mafs called charcoal.
To this too there are a few exceptions, w's;. fpirit of
wine, and the preparations from it, camphor, and per¬
haps fome of the more volatile oils, or naphtha. Ani¬
mal fubftances yield only a very fetid empyreumatic
oil, and volatile alkali.
In general, all inflammable matters are afted upon
with fome violence by the vitriolic and nitrous acids,
excepting only camphor and naphtha. With the vi¬
triolic acid, when in a liquid fiate, they render it vola¬
tile and fulphureous; if in a dry ftate, they form ac¬
tual fulphtir. With the nitrous, they firft impart a high
colour and great degree of volatility to the acid ; then
a violent flame enfues, if the matter is attempted to
be dried. With fpirit of wine the effefts are confi-
derably different; and very volatile compounds are
formed, which are called ether, on account of their ex¬
ceeding great difpofition to rife in vapour. Similar
compounds are likewife produced, but with more dif¬
ficulty, from the marine acid and concentrated vine¬
gar. The fal fedativus of borax mixes with fpirit of
wine, and caufes it burn with a green flame ; but does
not feem to produce any other change upon it. How
the acid of phofphorus and of ants aft upon fpirit of
wine, is not exaftly known ; but that of tartar by di-
geftion with it, is converted into the acetous acid. With
any other inflammable matter, the phofporine acid re¬
produces phofphorus.
There are two Angularities obferved among the in¬
flammable fubftances. One is that bituminous matter
called amber, which yields a volatile fait of an acid
nature on diftillation: When combined with alkalies,
this acid is found to yield compounds fimilar to thofe
made with the acetous acid and alkali. The other is,
that gum called ben%oin, which is ufed as a perfume, and
yields by fublimation a kind of volatile fait in fine fhin-
ing cryftals like ‘ fmall needles, and of a moft grateful
odour. Thefe difiblve very readily in fpirit of wine ;
but not at all in water, unlefs it is made very hot; fo
that they feem to contain more oily than faline matter.
S T R Y. Theory.
Neither the nature of,thefe flowers, however,, nor that Metalline
of the fait of amber, is fully known. Subilaucta.^
Sect. VI. Metalline Suhfiances.
These are dlftinguiflied from all other bodies by
their great fpecific gravity, exceeding that of the moft
denfe and compaft ftones. The heavieflr of the latter
do not exceed the fpecific gravity of water in a greater
proportion than that of 4 to 1 ; but tia, the lightelbof
all the metals, exceeds the fpecific gravity of water in
the proportion of 7 to 1. They are alfo the moft
opaque of all known bodies, and refleft the rays of light
moft powerfully.
Metallic bodies pofiefs the quality of diffolving in Mefa!Rib¬
and uniting with acid falls, in common with earths luble in a-
and alkalies; but, in general, their union is lefs per-c‘d8>
feft, and they are more eafily feparable. They ef-
fervefee with acids, as well as calcareous earths and
alkalies ; but their effervefcence is attended with very
different appearances. In the effervefcence of acids
with alkalies, or with calcareous earths, there is a dif-
charge of the fluid called fixed air, which is fo far front,
being inflammable, that it willlmmediately extinguiflt
a candle, or other fmall flame immerfed in it. The
mixture alfo is notably diminifhed in weight. When
a metallic fubftance is diffblved in an acid, the weight
of the mixture is never very much diminifhed, and
fometimes it is increafed. Thus, an ounce of quick-
filver being flowly dropped into as much aquafortis as
was fufficient to diffolve it, and the folution managed
fo as to take up almoft a whole day, the whole was
found to have gained feveugrains. There is alfo are-
markable difference between the nature of the vapour
difeharged from metals and that from alkalies; the
former, in moft cafes, taking fire and exploding with
violence ; the latter,, as already obferved, extinguifhing
flame. ^.T
The metallic fubftances, at leaft fuch as we are able Their com-
to decompound, are all compofed of a certain kind of pofition.
earth, and the inflammable principle called phlogiflon.
The earthy part by itfelf, in whatever way it is pro¬
cured, goes by the name of calx. The other principle
has already been proved to be the fame with charcoal.
When thefe two principles are feparated from one an-
other, the metal is then faid to be calcined. The calx Calcination
being mixed with any inflammable fubftance, fuch asand fev‘v**
powdered charcoal, and urged with a ftrong fire, ^cat“>n’
melts into metal again ; and it is then faid to be re¬
duced, or revificated: and this takes place whether
the metal has been reduced to a calx by diffolution in an
acid, or by being expofed to a violent fire. If, how¬
ever, the calcination by fire has been very violent and
long continued, the calx will not then fo readily
unite with the phlogifton of the charcoal, and the re-
d.nftion will be performed with more difficulty. Whe¬
ther, by this means, ■y/s. a long continued and violent
calcination, metallic earths might entirely lofe their
property of combining with phlogifton, and be changed
into thofe of another kind, deferves well to be inquired
into. J23
When a metallic fubftance is diffolved in any kind of Calcination
acid, and an alkali or calcareous earth not deprived and'n-
of its fixed air is added, the alkali will immediately ^^t°v
be attrafted by the acid, at the fame time that the fix- a^s.
ed
Theory. C H E M I
Metalline ed air contained in the alkali is difengaged, and'the
gubftances, 0f metal, having now no acid to keep it dif-
f0lve(j) immediately joins with the fixed air of the al¬
kali, and falls to the bottom. Something fimilar to
this happens when metals are calcined by fire. In
this cafe, there is a continual decompofition of the air
which enters the fire ; and the fixed air contained in
it, being, by this decompofition, fet loofe, combines
with the calx ; whence, in both cafes, there is a confi-
derable increafe of weight. If the air is excluded from
a metal, it cannot be calcined even by the moil vio-
lent fire.
Tteafon of When a metal is precipitated by a mild alkali, or by
the increafe an uncalcined calcareous earth, the reafonofthein-
of weight in crea{-e 0f we;g!,t is very evident; namely, the adhe-
cakes Uie ^on tfie ^xcd a‘r to t}ie meta^‘ne c^x : but, though
fl * it is not fo much increafed when precipitated by cau-
ftic alkali, or by quicklime, there is neverthelefs a very
evident increafe, which is not fo eafily accounted for.
M. Lavoifier has mentioned fome experiments made
on mercury and iron difiblved in aquafortis, which
deferve to be taken notice of, as in a great meafure
accounting for the phenomenon already mentioned of
the folution of metalline fubflances gaining an addi¬
tion cf weight ; and likewife fhow the proportion of
increafe of weight with.the mild, or calcined calcareous
earth.
M.i!avoi- “ Exaftly 12 ounces of quickfilver (fays he) were
Tier’s expe- put into a matrafs, and 12 ounces of fpirit of nitre
riments. poured on it. Immediately a fpontaneous effervef-
cence enfued, attended with heat. The red vapours of
the nitrous acid arofe from the mixture, and the liquor
affumed a greenifh colour. I did not wait till the fo¬
lution was entirely accompliflied before I weighed it;
it had loft one drachm 18 grains. Three hours after,
the mercury was nearly all diffolved: but having again
weighed the foliation, I was much aftonilhed to perceive
that ,it had increafed inftead of being diminiihed in
weight; and that the lofs, which was one drachm 18
grains at firft, was now only 54 grains. The next
day the folution of the mercury was entirely finiihed,
and the lofs of weight reduced to 18 grains; fo that in
12 hours the folution, though confined in a narrow neck¬
ed matrafs, had acquired an augmentation in weight
of one drachm. I added fome diftilled water to my fo-
Ibtion, to prevent it from cryftallizing; the total weight
of it was then found to be 48 ounces 1 drachm and 18
grains.
“ I weighed feparately, in two veffels, 8 ounces
15 grains of the above folution, each of which por¬
tions, according to the preceding experiment, ought
to' contain 2 ounces of nitrous acid and 2 ounces of
quickfilver. On the other fide, I prepared 6 drachms
36 grains of chalk, and 4 drachms 36 grains of lime j
thefe proportions having been found by former ex¬
periments juft neceffary to faturate two ounces of ni¬
trous acid. I put the chalk in the one vefiel, and the
lime in the other.
“ An effervefcence attended the precipitation by
chalk, but without heat; the mercury precipitated in
a light yellow powder, at the fame time the chalk
was diffolved in the nitrous, acid. The precipitation
by the lime was effected without effervefcence, but
with heat ; the mercury was precipitated in a brovvniih
s T R Y. 43s
powder. When the precipitates were well fubfided, Metalline
I decanted off the liquors from them, and carefully Subftance^
edulcorated them. Aftef which, I caufed them to be ~y
dried in a heat nearly equal to that in which mercury-
boils.
“ The precipitate by the chalk weighed 2 ounces 2
drachms 45 grains'; that by the lime weighed 2 ounces
1 drachm 45 grains.
“ Sixteen ounces of the nitrous acid, the fame as
employed in the former experiments, were placed in
a matrafs, and fome iron filings gradually added. The
effervefcence was brifk, attended with great heat, red
vapours, and a very rapid difeharge of elaftic fluid ;
the quantity of iron neceffary to attain the point of
faturation was 2 ounces 4 vdrachms ; after which, the
lofs of weight was found to be 4 drachms 19 grains..
As the folution was turbid, I added as much diftilled
water as made the whole weight of the folution to be
exa&ly 6 pounds-
“ I took two portions, each weighing 12 ounces of
the above folution, and containing 2 ounces of nitrous
acid, and 2 drachms 36 grains of iron filings. I pla¬
ced them in two feparate veffels. To one were added
6 drachms 36 grains of chalk; and to the other 4
drachms 36 grains of flaked lime, being the quantities
neceffary to faturate the acid.
“ The precipitation was effefted by the chalk with
effervefcence and tumefaftion, that by the lime with¬
out either effervefcence or heat. Each precipitate
was a yellow brown ruft of iron. They were waflied
in feveral parcels of diftilled water, and then dried in
an heat foinewhat fuperior to that ufed in the laft ex¬
periment.
“ The precipitate by the chalk, when dried, was a
greyilh ruft of iron, inclining even to white by veins.
It weighed 6 drachms 35' grains. That by the lime was
rather yellower, and weighed 4 drachms 69 grains.
“ The refult of thefe experiments (fays M. La- Confequen-
voifier) are, x. That iron and mercury diffolved incesfromhii
the nitrous acid acquire a remarkable increafe ofexpeii-
weight, whether they be precipitated by chalk or bymcnts’
lime. 2. That this increafe is greater fn refpeft to
iron than mercury. 3. That one reafon for thinking
that the elaftic fluid contributes to this augmentation
is, that it is conftantly greater when an earth is em¬
ployed faturated with elaftic fluid, fuch as chalk, than
when an earth is ufed which has been deprived of it,
as lime. 4. That it is probable that the increafe of
weight which is experienced in the precipitation of
lime, although not fo great as that by chalk, proceeds
in part from a portion of the elaftic fluid which re¬
mains united to the lime, and which could not be fepa-
rated by the calcination.”
But though we are naturally enough inclined to Not well
think that the increafe of weight in the precipitates founded,
formed by lime proceeded from fome quantity of ela¬
ftic fluid or fixed air which remained combined with
the lime, it is by far too great to be accounted for in
this way, even according to the experiments men¬
tioned by M. Lavoifier himfelf, and which, from the
manner in which they are told, appear to have been
performed with the greateft accuracy. He found,
that 1 ounce 5 drachms and 36 grains of flaked lime
contained 3 draclims and 3 quarters of a grain of water,
3 I 2 and
436.
Metalline and only 16 grains and an half of elaftic fluid were fe-
,u ' parable from it. In the experiments above related,
where only 4 drachms and 36 grains were employed,
the quantity of elaftic fluid could not exceed 6 or 8:
grains. Yet the calx was increafed in mercury by no
lefs than 105 grains, and in iron by 203 grains; a
quantity quite unaccountable from the elaftic fluid or
fixed air which we can fuppofe to be contained in the
lime made ufe of. It is much more probable, that the
increafed weight of metallic precipitates, formed by
lime, arifes from an adhefion of part of the acid.
Metals are found to be compounded of a kind of
earth mixed with the inflammable principle or phlo-
gifton ; and, by a diflipation of the latter, all metallic
bodies, gold, filver, and platina excepted, are capable
530 of being reduced to a calx, but very different degrees
What me- 0f heat are required for calcining them. Lead and tin
•LiableC& fceg*n to calcine as foon as they are melted, long be-
•with what f°re they are made red-hot. The fame happens to the
degrees of femimetak bifmuth and zinc ; the latter indeed, being
hcat- combuftible, cannot bear a greater heat in open veflfels
than that which is barely fufficient to melt it. Iron
and copper require a red heat to calcine them ; though
the former may be made partly to calcine by being
frequently wetted in a degree of heat confiderably below
541 that which is fufficient to make it red.
Rufting of hloft metals undergo a kind of fpontaneous calcina-
meta s. tion in the open air, which is called their rujling; and
which has given occafion to various conjeftures. But
M. Lavoiiier has fhown, that this arifes from the fix-
able part of the atmofphere attaching itfelf to their
earthy part, and difcharging the phlogifton. Accord¬
ing to him, no metallic body can ruft: but where
there is an abforption of air ; and confequently metals
can be but imperfedtfy rutted when, kept under a re¬
ceiver.
FufibUity if tw0 metals are mixed together, the compound
of metal- generally turns out more fufible than either of them
lie com- was before the mixture. There are indeed great
pounds. differences in the degrees of heat requifite to melt
them. Thus, lead and tin melt below that degree of
heat which is required to make quick filver or linfeed-
oil boil. Silver requires a full red heat, gold a low
white heat, copper a full white, and iron an ex¬
treme "white heat, to make it melt. The femimetal
Great fuf[- called bifmuth melts af about 460° of Fahrenheit’s
bility of thermometer, and tin at-about 422°. When mixed
compounds, in. equal quantities, the compound melted at 283°.
biftivuth!^ When tf‘e t^n was double the bifmuth, it requited 3340
to melt it; with eight times more tin than bifmuth,
it did not melt under 3920. If to this compound lead
is added, which by itfelf melts in about 540°, the fu-
fibility is furprifingly increafed. Mr Homberg pro-
pofed for an anatomical injedtion a compound of lead,
tin, and bifmuth, in equal parts ; which he tells us
keeps in fufion with a heat fo moderate that it will
One fufible not fiuge paper. Sir Ifaac Newton contrived a mix-
by-the heat ture of the above-mentioned metallic fubftances, in
of boiling fuch proportions that it melted and kept fluid in a heat
wa.er. ffig fmaller, not much exceeding that of boiling water.
A compound of two parts of lead, three parts of tin,
and five of bifmuth,. did but juft ftiffen at that very
beat, and fo would have melted with very little more;
and when the lead, tin, and bifmuth, were to one ano-
Theoiy.
ther in the proportions of 1, 4, and 5, the compound Mctallins
melted in 246°. We have feen, however, a piece of Sfuftances.
metal compounded of thefe three, the proportions un- v"
known, which melted, and even underwent a flight
degree of calcination, in boiling water, and barely ttif-
fened in a degree of heat fo gentle that the hand could
almoft bear it.
A flight degree of calcination feems to give the Solubility
acids a greater power over metalline fubftances ; a metals
greater makes them lefs foluble ; and if long and vio- p^calcina*-
lently calcined, they are not ailed upon by acids at t on.
all. Of all the acids, the marine has the greateft at¬
traction for metallic calces, and volatilizes almoft every
one of them. ... 546
Sulphur readily unites with moft metals, deftroys Effedb of
their malleability, and even entirely diffolves them. fulPhu*0B
On gold and platina, however, it has no effeft, tillmeta8'
united with a fixed alkaline fait, when it forms the
compound called hepar fulphuru; which is a very
powerful folvent, and will make even gold and pla¬
tina themfelves foluble in water, fo as to pafs the
filter. This preparation is thought to be the means
by which Mofes diffolved and gave the Ifraelkes to-
drink the golden calf which they had idolatroufly fet
«P- ... . .
When a metal is diffolved in an acid, it may be
precipitated, not only by means of ^ calcareous earths
and alkalies, but alfo by fome other metals: for acids
do not attraft all metals with equal ftrength ; and it
is remarkable, that when a metal is precipitated by
another, the precipitate is not found in a calcined ftate,
but in a metallic one. The reafon of this is, that the
precipitating metal attrafts the phlogifton which is ex¬
pelled from that which is diffolving, and immediately
unites with it, fo as. to appear in its proper form. The
various degrees of attraction which acids have for the
different metals is not as yet fully determined. The
beft authenticated are mentioned in the Table of Affi¬
nities or Elective Attractions (SeCt. IX.); ^
Metalline fubftances are divided into metals and fe-Divifion in]
mimetals. The metals which are diftinguilbed from to metals
the femimetallic fubftances by their malleability or
ftretching under the hammer, are in number feven ;meta s*
gold, filver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and platina. To
thefe is added quickfilver ; which Mr Brown’s expe¬
riments have fhown to be a real malleable metal, as
well as others, but requiring fo little heat to keep it
in fufion, that it is always found in a liquid ftate. The
femimetak are bifmuth or tin-glafs, zinc, regulus of
antimony, and cobalt, nickel, and arfenic. This laft
fubftance is now difeoveredto be compounded of an acid Properties
of a peculiar kind and phlogifton ; and as the quantity °I arfenic.
of the latter is great or fmall, the arfenic affumes ei¬
ther a metallic or faline form. It likewife. unites with
fulphur, with which it forms a compound of a red or
yellow colour, according as more or lefs fulphur is
ufed. This compound is eafily fufible ; though the
arfenic, by itfelf, is fo volatile as to go all off in vapour
rather than melt. In common with the falts, it pof-
feffes the properties of diffolving in water, and uniting
itfelf to alkalies.. Water will diffolve about -PT of its
weight of pure arfenic; but if arfenic is boiled in a
ftrong alkaline lixivium, a much greater proportion
will be diffolved. Indeed ftrong alkaline lixivia will dif¬
folve
CHEMISTRY.
i
Plate CXXX11-
CHE^OS TRY.
CImnucai CharvLoters or Symbols.
^-A-Tm/y^k
£ A-fhes.
E ABatk
TPkferl’atJl.
AB Sam/ l>oAi.
VB Vapor Isatfi.
HLfAnHour
6, LI)ay.
(p. iJsSphl.
/. Mr 4, Month.
aay;^> i-ma/gam.
~SSz. -lo Suhhmo.
ko Irociptiate.
CrSABolort
XX. AntAlem/nc.
-b.^UCruM.
5 S S, Sfi-atttm Sy/por
Stratum.
C.O. Cornu Conn
JAarto/wni.
^^ABott/o.
^v.iA-Oram.
AiA. Srruplf.
A A)ram.
ZpAn Ounce. .
{hi. A Bonn A.
clwtA x’ennv-jvc/Ait ■
[S Fur.
A, hr.
^7 Wtrtcr.
^ Barth.
i A Fi.-rahle Air.
m. A Mphitic Air.
^Clar.
Y Apftin.
* a/oaroousFarth.
^B'CVjT Quicklime.
So lutr/piah/c, or
S ihccous FarlJ/s.
Fluor#, or
Fuphlt Barths.
Xs///-.
Affryyu,.
Fcguhij of jc ,£X Captic votAtlcah.
Antimony’. X/Qlbta/k.
QAA Arpmo. A: ^jAcAs.
^ Ityu/ur (pA r/on n: ^ JAnegar.
K R Cobalt. (B*c(B;Ftrio//cAou7.
X ^ VichrcL ($y*C(S)SVttrcusAcid.
S \fota//irSuh/iancco ^ArQ. Xfa?meAciA,
C. Fair. F;F;Api(po/t/s.
0=0 Orpimcni. "ExEApiaJtcgia.
^ Cinnabar. ^ tolSuphureou.? Arn
L .C JCapts Ca/amimink lb. Tho.phono An A.
<$ ‘luthr
(B Vitriol.
0; ddiSea Sa/t.
8;0-< Sal Com.
0 JVitre.
AS' @ Barth cpAhim. A; AitForar.
Sand.
O (to id.
AtASi/oor.
9 Copy or.
‘A Bin.
Tv Leaol.
Q Mercury-
6Iron. ‘
2$ Tino.
B ;W« Bijhmth.
An hm oni *.
S.S. Seda tire Salt
X, (DX;^ Sal Ammoniac.
O.Sh; Alh/m.
9 Tarlar
S %Alkaih.
0v; (B^FimedAllah.
0Aj Q^tblalileAlhali
m&rMihlfiveelAlleali.
C.0V Cau/Uo/lrod-
Allah.
m&Wh/hli rd. Allcah.
V
Spirit opTISn e.
Feeli/icl St.
JBj Filler.
'WFime /Frier
CJ Urine.
°o:®;
AE. o o'F/lenhal Oil.
V Fixed Oil
9 Snlphin:
He par of Sulphur
kFlofpJioi r/s.
vX logi/ton.
O Soap.
0 Fnlipiife.
3-0 C/a/}.
©/liprttSforhnini.
Theory. C H E M
Waters, &c. folve a part of almofl; every metalline fubilance, except
 1 gold, filver, and platina; but, excepting copper,
which may be formed into cryftals by means of the vo¬
latile alkali, none of them will a flume a cryflalline
form when united with alkalies- Arfenic, on the*
contrary, unites very readily with fixed alkalies, and
fhodts with them into a neutral fait. If it is mixed
with nitre, it unites itfelf to the alkaline bafis of that
fait, and expels the acid in very volatile fumes, which
are difficultly condenfed into a blue liquor. The rea-
fon of this is the great attraction between the nitrous
acid and phlogifton, which are always difpofed to unite
when a proper degree of heat is applied. Was the
phlogifton contained in large quantity in the arfenic,
and the heat fufficiently great, a violent deflagration
w'ould enfue; but as the acid of arfenic attracts the
alkaline part of the nitre, at the fame time that the ni¬
trous acid attracts the phlogifton, a double decompo-
fition enfues, in a lefs degree of heat than would other-
wife be necefiary ; and the nitrous acid arifes in a very
volatile ftate, as it always is when combined with phlo¬
gifton, which is the occafion of the bluenefs in aqua¬
fortis fo produced. The arfenic is alfo decompofed by
being deprived of its proper quantity of phlogifton ; in
confequence of which its acid attaches itfelf to the fix¬
ed alkali of the nitre, and forms a neutral arfenical
fait. For the extraftion of metallic fubftances front
their ores, and the various methods of refining them,fee
Metallurgy-
Sect. VII. Waters.
The pure element of water, like that of fire, is fo
much an agent in moft chemical operations, as to be it¬
felf very little the objeS of practical chemiftry. Some
late experiments, however, have fliown that this fluid
really confifts,. in part at leaft, of phlogifton, and an in-
vifible fubftance which forms the bafis of pure air; and
confequently water is generated, in the deflagration of
dephlogifticated air; but as the bafis of the former
cannot be perceived by itfelf, we can as yet fay nothing
545 about it. Waters, therefore, can only be the objects
Water, how of chemiftry, in confequence of the impurities they
£X2eac°ntain : an<^ as t^ie^e impurities are moft commonly
firy.CnU" ^le fa^ne ^iud, it is impoffible that any general theo¬
ry can be given of waters, diftindt from that of the
falts contained in, them ; which all depend on the ge¬
neral properties belonging to falts, and which we have
already mentioned. Any thing that can be faid with
regard to waters, then, muft be poftponed to the parti¬
cular confideration of the properties of each of the fa-
line bodies with which water is capable of being adul¬
terated. We {hall therefore refer entirely to the article
Water in the order of the alphabet, for what can be
faid on this fubj eel.
Sect. VIII. Animal and Vegetable Sub/lances.
Chemical The general chemical properties of thefe have been
preperties. already taken notice of under the name of inflammable
fubjlances. They agree in giving out .a very thick fe¬
tid oil, when diftilled by a ftrong fire; but in other
refpe&s they differ very confiderably. Moft kinds of
vegetables give out an acid along with the oil; but all
animal fubftances (ants, and perhaps fome other infecls,
excepted) yield only a volatile alkali. Some kinds of
1
1 5 T R Y. 437
vegetables, indeed, as muftaid, afford a volatile alkali Chemical
on diftillation, fimilar to that from animal fubftances ; ^haraaers,1
but inftances of this kind are very rare, as well as of v
animals affording an acid. Both animal and vegetable
fubftances are fufceptible of a kind of fermentation,
called putrefatt'wn, by which a volatile alkali is produ¬
ced in great plenty : there is, however, this remark¬
able difference between them, that many vegetable
fubftances undergo two kinds of fermentation be¬
fore they arrive at the putrefattive ftage. The firft is
called the vinous, when the ardent fpirits are produced,
which we have already mentioned when fpeaking of
inflammable fubftances. This is fucceeded by the ace~
tons, wherein the vegetable acid called vinegar is pro¬
duced in plenty : and laftly, the putrefactive ftage fuc-
ceeds when a volatile alkali is only produced; not the
fmalleft veftige either of ardent fpirits or of vinegar re¬
maining. On the other hand, animal fubftances feem
fufceptible only of the putrefactive fermentation ; no
inftance having ever occurred where there was the leaft.
drop, either of ardent fpirit or of vinegar, produced
from a putrified animal fubftance. (See Fermenta¬
tion and Putrefaction.).
Sect. IX Of the Chemical CharaBersy and Tables
of EleSliv-e Attraction.
The numerous marls or characters by which the an- Invention
cient chemifts ufed to denote many different fubftances,of marks
were invented rather from a fuperftitious and fantafti-or Charac»
cal principle than from any real necelfity ; or, perhaps,
like the enigmatical language ufed by the alchemifts,
they have thereby fought to conceal their myfteries
from the vulgar. In contriving thefe marks, they af-
fedted a great deal of ingenuity; intending them as
fymbols of the qualities poffeffed by each of the diffe¬
rent fubftances. A circle being fuppofed the moft; per
feci figure, was therefore ufed to reprefent the moft per-
fe£l metal in nature, that is, gold. Silver being likewife a
perfeCt and indeftruCtible metal, is placed next to gold;
but, on account of its inferiority, is expreffed only by a-
crefcent, as if but half gold. A circle was likewife ufed
to denote fait of any kind, as being fomething elaborate
and perfect. A crofs was ufed to denote acrimony of
any kind, and confequently employed for the acrimo¬
nious falts of vitriol, alkali, &c. Hence all the in¬
ferior metals have the crofs fome how or other com¬
bined with the marks defigned to reprefent them.
Thus, the mark for quickfilver denotes, that it hath the
fplendor of filver, the weight of gold, but its perfection
is hindered by an acrimony reprefented by the crofs at-'
bottom, &c. Fire is reprefented by an equilateral
triangle, having one of its angles uppermoft. This
may be confidered as a rude reprefentation of flame,
which is always pointed at top. Water, again, is re¬
prefented by a triangle, with an angle downwards,
fhowing the way in which that element exerts its
ftrength, &c. All thefe marks, however, as they
were of no real ufe at firft, fo they are now becoming
every day more and more negleded. Such of, them,
however, as may moft readily occur in chemical books,
are reprefented and explained on Plate CXXXII. ^ 4
The French chemifts have of late attempted to in- New che-
troduce a kind of new chemical language; and by a- mical ,an=-
dopting it themfelves, may perhaps make it at laft uni- Sua6®3
verfal,
438 C H E M I
Eletffva verfal, n§ it is now impofllble to underftand their wri-
Attraiftion. tjng3 without knowing it. See the Table at the end
of this article.
Of tables of Tables of affinities, or cldlive attraHhns, are but of
affinities, late invention. They are confequences of an impro- *
-ved Hate of chemiftry, when the different fubftances
were found to a& upon one another in moft cafes ac¬
cording to<a fixed and fettled rule. The moft appro-
ved table of this kind for a long time was that compo-
fed by Mr Geoffroy. It was, however, found to be
very incomplete, not only as to its extent, but like-
wife as heat and fome other circumftances were found
to vary the attraftions confiderably, and fometimes
even to reverfe them. Other tables have been conftruc-
ted by Mr Gellert, &c. but none hath yet appeared fo
complete bui that many additions may be made to it.
The following is that at prefent exhibited by Dr Black
in his courfe of chemiftry.
1. Vitriolic Acid.
Phlogifton
Terra ponderofa
Fixed alkali
Calcareous earth
Zinc
Iron
Tin
Copper
Quickfilver
Silver
Volatile alkali
Magnefia
Earth of alum.
2. Nitrous Acid.
Phlogifton
Fixed alkali
Calcareous earth
Zinc
Iron
Lead
Tin
Copper
Quickfilver
Silver
Volatile alkali.
3. Marine Acid.
Fixed alkali
Calcareous earth
Zinc
Iron
Lead
Tin
Copper
Regulus of antimony
Quickfilver
Silver
•Spirit of wine
Volatile oils
Gold.
4. Sulphur.
Fixed alkali
Calcareous earth
Iron
Nickel
Copper
Lead
Tin
Silver
Regulus of antimony
Quickfilver
Arfenic.
5. Hepar Sulphuris is
partially decompounded
by
Quickfilver
Solution of fixed alkali
Lime-water
Volatile alkali.
6. Fixed Air.
Calcareous earth
Fixed alkali
Magnefia
Volatile alkali.
7. Alkaline Salts.
Vitriolic acid
Nitrous acid
Marine acid
Acetous acid
Volatile vitriolic acid
Sedative fait
Fixed air
Sulphur '
Expreffed oils.
8. Calcareous Earth.
,Vitriolic acid
Nitrous acid
Marine acid
Acid of tartar
Acetotis acid
Sulphureous acid and fe-
dative fait
Sulphur.
9. Metallic Substan¬
ces, Lead and Regulus
of Antimony excepted.
Marine acid.
S T R Y.
Vitriolic aeld
Nitrous acid
Sulphur and acetous acid.
10. Lead.
Vitriolic acid
Marine acid
Nitrous acid
Acetous acid
Expreffed oils.
ti. Regulus of Anti¬
mony.
Vitriolic acid
Nitrous acid
Marine acid
Acetous acid.
12. Arsenic.
Zinc
Iron
Copper
Tin
Lead
Silver
Gold.
13. Regulus of Anti¬
mony with Metals.
Iron
Copper
Tin
Lead
Silver
Gold.
14. Quicksilver.
Gold
Lead and tin
Copper
Zinc, bifmuth, and regu¬
lus of antimony.
Lead
Coppi
Iron.
15. Silver.
16. Water.
Fixed alkali
Spirit of wine
Milk, alkaline falts, amd
fome neutrals.
17. Spirit of Wine.
Water
Oils and refins.
In confequence of heat, fedative fait and the other
folid acids decompound vitriolated tartar, nitre, and
fea-falt.
Double Ele&ive Attra&ions; which, in fome
cafes, may be confidered as exceptions to the
foregoing table.
I. Thofe which happen
fiances.
C Acids
1. < Calc, earths, orme-
(_ tallic fubftances
C Vitriolic or marine
2. < acids
C Alkalies or earths
f Lead
3. ■< Nitrous, marine,or
C acetous acids
C Silver
4. -s Vitriolic, nitrous,
C or acetous acids
5 Volatile alkali
£ Acids
r Nitrous, marine,or
6. < acetous acids
C Calcareous earths
n mixtures of watery fub*
Volatile alkali
Fixed air.
Mercury, filver, or lead.
Nitrous or acetous acids.
Vitriol acid
Alkalies, earths, or
M. S.
Marine acid
Alkaline falts, earths, or
M. S.
Fixed air
Fixed alkali.
Volatile alkali, magnefia,
or earth of alum
Vitriolic acid.
II. Thofe which happen in diftillations or fublima-
tions, and require heat.
5 Vol. alkali
1" i Acids
!Vol. alkali
Vitriol, acid
rVol. alkali
3. <Nitrous, marine,or
C vitriolic acids
Fixed air
Calcareous earths.
Nitrous, marine, 0
tous acids-
Fixed alkali.
Acetous acid
Fixed alkali, or abl
earths.
4-
Theory,.
C Reg. of antimon.
I Sulphur
C H
Marine acid
Quick filver.
E M
III. Thofe which happen in mixtures by fufion.
f Tin Iron
r- | Silver
C Copper
- I Gold
C M. S.
• I Gold
Lead.
Sulphur
Lead.
Sulphur
Reg. of ant.
The fird of thefe tables requires very little expla¬
nation. The names printed in fmall capitals, are thofe
of the fubftances which have the affinity witfv or at¬
tract thofe below them. Thus, vitriolic acid attracts
moft powerfully the phlogifton, or inflammable prin¬
ciple; next, fixed alkali ; then, calcareous earth ; and
fo on, in the order in which they are marked.—The
tables of double elective attractions cannot be made
quite fo diilinft ; though an explanation of one ex-
mple will make this likewife eafy to be underftood.
f S T R Y. 439
fible, to make ufe of glafs veflels, as not being liable Chemical
to be corroded by the moft powerful folvents ; and, PPer^tRns“
by their tranfparency, giving an opportunity of ob-
ferving what palfes within them during the operation.
But by thofe who praftife chemiftry with a different
view, thefe veffels ought, with equal care,, to be a-
voided, on account of their expence and brittlenefs.
This laft quality, indeed, is poffeffed by glafs in fo
eminent a degree, that glafs veffels. will fometimes
fly to pieces, and that with confiderable violence,
when Handing by themfelves, and nothing touching
them. The principal objects which a chemift ought
to have in view, in performing his operations, ought
to be to fave time and fuel, efpecially the former} and
for this purpofe, he would find himfelf a coafiderable
gainer, though he (hould be at much greater expence"
in his apparatus than he would otherwife have occa-
fion for.
On the fubje& of chemical veffels' Dr Black ob-Dr Black’s
ferves, that “ with regard to the material of which obferva-
Thus in Table L the firft cafe is, “ If a combination of thefe are compofed, we are very much at a lofs; and‘i0"® f".
.... , <• , n •  r..»U   :-l., : .  — cnenucat •
acids with calcareous earths or metallic fubftances is
mixed with a combination of volatile alkali and fixed
air, the acids will unite thertifelves to the volatile al¬
kali, and the fixed air to the calcareous earth or me¬
tallic fubftance.
Sect. X. Of the different Operations in Prac¬
tical Chemiftry, and the proper Injlruments for
performing each.
5S4
Operatt i
in chemi-
ffiy.
The moft remarkable operations in ehemiftry, and
by which the greateft changes are made upon thofe
bodies which are the objefts of: that fcience, may be
comprehended under the following names, i. Solu¬
tion. 2. Filtration. 3. Precipitation, or coagulation.
4. Evaporation. 5. Oryftallization. 6. Diftillation.
7.Sublimation. 8. Deflagration. 9.Calcination. 10. Fu¬
fion. 11 Maceration, or digeftion.- To which we
may add, 12. Trituration, or levigation.
Chemift?, Before we proceed to a particular account of each
how divid- 0f thefe operations, it is neceffary to take notice, that
e^’ there are two different things propofed by thofe who
enter on the p rail ice of chemiftry. Some have no¬
thing farther in view than the enlargement of their
knowledge, or making improvements in arts which
are to be praftifed by others for their own advantage.
Others defign to follow chemiftry as a trade, by which
they hope to enrich themfelves, or to get a comfortable
livelihood. But the apparatus and utenfils neceflary
for performing the very fame operations are exceed¬
ingly different when experiments only are to be made,
from what they muff be when thefe operations are
performed with a view to profit 3 and fo great is this
difference, than thofe who purfue chemiftry with a
view to advantage, will always find themfelves very
confiderable lefers if they follow the plan of. an appa¬
ratus or a laboratory defigned only for making expe¬
riments. Along with the apparatus, therefore, which
is commonly deferibed- in chemical books, and proper
only for experiments, we {hall alfo give that which is
neceffary for preparing great quantities of any chemi-
5^6 cal article in the way of trade.
Glafs vef- In general,' thofe who pradb’ce chemiftry merely
tobeufed. w,t^ an exFer'menta* Vitw> ought, as much as pof-
indeed there are no fuch materials in nature as are ca- vefi'ds.
pable of anfwering. the purpofes of chemifts in ahfo-
lute perfection.—The qualities are, 1. Tranfparency,
to allow us to fee the changes going on; 2. The power
of refilling the aftion of acids and corrofive fubftan¬
ces ; 3. That they bear fudden alterations of heat and
cold without breaking; 4. That they be ftrong, in order
to confine elaftic vapours ; and, 5. That they bear very
great heat without melting. As thefe qualities, how¬
ever, are not to be met with united in any one fub¬
ftance, the chemifts are obliged to have recourfe to
different-fubftances which poffefs fome of them dif-
ferently. Thefe are, g/af, metal, and earthen ware. Good and
Glafs is poffeffed of the two firft properties, but has bad quali-
the inconvenience, of being apt to crack and fly in t*es oi
pieces, on any fudden tranfition from heat to cold, or 'r;a| yor
from cold to heat. The bell method of remedying chemical
this defect, is to have the glafs made very thin, and veftels.
of a round figure, that it may be all heated as equally
as poffible ; as it is the unequal application of the heat
which caufes it break. Another requifite in the choice
of chemical glaffes, is that they be well annealed. If
this is not done, the glafs will either immediately fly Extreme
to pieces, or be liable to break on the frnalleil acci- h'gi'bty °f
dent. That fuch glaffes {hould be liable to be broken ^[j^neal-
on every flight occafibn, is a phenomenon that has hi- e(j-
therto received no explanation; If you touch them
with a diamond, with a piece of flint, glafs, &£. or
expofe them to the heat of the fun, -they break imme¬
diately. Dr Black has had great veffels of glafs, .
which broke immediately on his throwing a little fan d
into them to clean them. This manifeftl-y depends.upon
the fame principles as the qualities of what are called
glafs tears.
Glafs when well annealed is - univerfally to be pre- -
fierred, where great and fudden changes of heat, or
much ftrength, are not required. Flint-glafs is-the
belt; but the coarfer kinds, as bottle-glafs, are very
apt to break. 560
The metals have the third and fourth qualitiesG(l )d a' ^
in perfection, but are deficient in all the reft. The ^
moft ■ troublefome property is, that they are liable ^ mal
to be corroded by acids and other bodies, as ds theieria's f.-r '
cafe with iron and copper; though this is in feme chf’micaf:
4neaffirevdiUs'
44° C H E M
Chemical meafure remedied by tinning; which, though It wants
Operatior s. forne e£ qUai;t;es from its melting too foon, yet
refills the adtion of many acrid fubllances without be¬
ing fo readily injured by them ; but it is not entirely
free from this imperfedlion, and is liable to be fome-
what corroded and rufted. In nice operations, there¬
fore, recourfe is had to filver and even to gold' vef-
fels.
Of earthen Earthen ware poffelTes only the fifth quality in per-
ware. fedlion, vi%. that af bearing a violent heat without fu-
fion. The bafis of thefe veffels is clay, which, when
good, is very convenient for the formation of veffels,
and it has been ufed from the earlieft ages of chemi-
llry for this purpofe. The requifite qualities are, I.
A confiderable degree of toughnefs when mixed with
water. 2. A great degree of hardnefs when burnt in
the fire with a violent degree of heat. The bell kind
of clay thus contradls a degree of hardnefs fcarce in¬
ferior to flint, as is the cafe with that of which tobac¬
co-pipes are made; but moll other kinds, fuch as that
of which bricks are conftrufted, are apt to melt with
a ftrong heat into a fpongy matter. Clay, however,
can feldom be ufed alone; for when burnt to ex¬
treme hardnefs, the veffels are very liable to crack.
This is remedied by mixing fand reduced to a parti¬
cular /degree of finenefs, with the clay of which the
veffels are made. For this purpofe both the fineft
and the coarfell particles of the fand mull be thrown
56a awa)r-
Black lead Another fubllance known by the name of black'
a valuable lead, ufed in the making of pencils, refills the fire cx-
materialforceecjirlgiy.< This, however, does not contain an ore
- PUr" of lead, but fulphur, and fome mineral fubllances;
when mixed with clay, however, it makes it refill the
fire furprifingly. But there are fome particular cafes
in which neither fand nor black lead can be ufed as a
material; for the fand is eafily corroded by acrid mat¬
ters, and the black lead would produce other inconve¬
niences. Clay is therefore to be taken in its unburnt
Hate, reducing it to a powder like fand; then burn¬
ing this powder with a violent heat, fo as to convert it
into fand. Mixing it then with raw clay, it forms a
compofition, which anfwers very well for making che¬
mical veffels, and may be employed in thofe particular
cafes where fand would not anfwer. Pott of Berlin
has written upon the different kinds of earthen ware
proper to be employed in the conilruftion of chemical
, veffels. There is a French tranllation of it in four or
Porcelain ^ve v'dumes. In cafes where the utmoft. compa&nefs
veffelswhen of texture is required, porcelain veflels are to be cho-
to be ufed. fen ; which is compofed of the finell clay, mixed with
a ftoiiy matter, that has the quality of melting in a
violent heat, and gives more compa£lnefs to the clay
than it is naturally capable of receiving; but thefe gre
rather too coflly for moll operations. Reaumur has
taught a way of converting glafs into porcelain.
We {hall now proceed to a particular defcription
of each of the operations above mentioned.
I. Solution. By this is underftood the diflblving a
folid fubftance in a fluid, fo as that the folid {hall totally
difappear, and become part of a tranfparent liquor.
This operation applies particularly to falts, earths, and
metals; as well as to feveral undluous and inflammable
fubftances. For performing this operation in a fmall
way, common vials are in many cafes fufficient. Where
N° 71.
. 564
Solution.
I s T R Y. Theory.
the folution is attended with effervefcence and a dif-Chemical
charge of vapours, the long-necked glaffes called pP°ratio)i«.
matraffes, or bolt-heads, (fig. 5.}, are neceflary. Flo- ^ v
rence flaflcs are indeed exceedingly well adapted forcxxxiV
this operation, as being of the proper Ihape, and ca¬
pable of bearing heat fo well, that they may be filled
with any fluid, and fet on a common fire like a me¬
talline veffel. Solution is much promoted by agitating
the veflel, and by heat. In fome cafes, indeed, it will
not take place till the mixture becomes very hot; and
in fuch cafes it will be proper to make the fluid boil¬
ing hot by itfelf, and then flowly to add the fubllance
to be difiblved.
When large quantities of faline matter are to be
diflblved, metalline veflels mull be ufed: but before any
are made ufe of for this purpofe, it will be neceflary
to make an experiment whether the fait receives any
impregnation from the metal of which the veflcl in¬
tended to be made ufe of is formed; and if this is
found to be the cafe, it muft not be ufed. The me¬
tals moft liable to be corroded by faline bodies are
iron and copper; and indeed, unlefs it be for the Angle
purpofe of diflblving fixed alkaline falts, iron veflels
feem totally unfit for faline folutions of any kind. Cop¬
per veflels are alfo very liable to be corroded, and to
communicate very mifchievous qualities to the liquors
which corrode them ; for which reafon, they ought
never to be made ufe of for the purpofes of folution.
The metal lead liable to be corroded, next to gold and
filver, is lead ; and therefore a chemift ought rather to
provide himfelf with leaden veflels than thofe of any
other metal. But though lead is not apt to be corroded
by many kinds of falts, there are feme which are found
to adl upon it, and to form therewith a very dangerous
poifon. The vegetable acid of vinegar is particularly
apt to receive a dangerous impregnation from this me¬
tal; and therefore no folution of any fait containing this
acid ought to be made in leaden veflels. It appears to
be very little affedled by the vitriolic or marine acids;
and therefore any faline fubftance containing either of
thefe acids may be fafely enough diflblved in veflels
made of lead.
In order to fave time in making folutions, the vef¬
fels ought to be as large as poflible; though even in
this there muft be a certain limit: for two fmall vef¬
fels filled with water will fooner acquire the neceflary
degree of heat than one large one; and in proportion
as the veflel is made more capacious, the fides and bot¬
tom muft be thicker, which confiderably increafes the
expence. Fifteen or twenty Englifti gallons is the
utmoft capacity of which they ever will be required ;
and is rather above what will on moft occafions be
neceflary. They ought to be of a conical figure,
round at the bottom; and to have a- cover of thick
plate-iron all around that part which is expofed to the
a&ion of the fire, that the lead may not bend on the ap¬
plication of heat, which it would otherwife be very
apt to do. When the folution is to be made, the leaden
veflel is firft to be filled up with wafer fo far as to have
room for the quantity of fait intended to be diflblved :
a fire is then to be applied fo as to make it boil: and
then the fait is to be added {lowly, fo as fcarcely to
hinder the boiling ; for if a great quantity was thrown
in at once, fo as to cool the liquor very much, great
part of the fait would concrete on the bottom, in fuch
CHE MIS THY.
Chemical Characters or Symbo Is.
Plate CXX3M.
is-Acid of Fluor.
o+o Arseni c.
^c^Foracc.
+ @ Sugar.
Tartar.
Sorrel.
+<iZemon.
+ $A)enzoin.
+<35 Amber.
+ @ agar of Milk.
y Vinegar.
+ o>Milk.
A Aits.
+ @ Fat.
+£ Phosphorus.
A Aerial.
h Colouring vialler of
Pi'irjjlaiiFhie ; falsely
called an Acid.
SsPhlogislicnted vitn -
o he Ac A, the same wl
To/. SiSphnreomAcicL.
g Dep hlogis healed
Marine Acid.
&/Fioced vegetable.
Alkali.
&yMineral Alkali
^ Ponderous Earth.
A Pure Air.
QtPlahna.
^Manganese.
^Metallic calr.
Theory. C H E M
Chemical a manner as not only to be very difficultly foluble, but
Operations even to en(ianger the melting of the veffel. It is of
v '' fome confequence alfo to avoid the hot fleam which
proceeds from the boiling water, and which iffues with
great force from a narrow-mouthed veffel fuch as we
have been defcribing. That the operator may be out
of the reach of this, and likewife diflblve the fait in a
regular and gradual manner, without any danger of
its concreting on the bottom, it will be proper to
have a leaden, or even a wooden, veffel, with a long
handle; which is to be filled with the fubftance to
be diffolved, then immerfed in the boiling liquor,
and (haken about in it, till the fait is made into a kind
of thick pap, which will be in no danger of concre¬
ting. It will alfo be proper hot to faturate the water
perfe&ly with fait; for it will in that cafe be impof-
fible to hinder part of it from fettling on the bottom,
where it foon acquires fuch a degree of heat as to melt
the lead. Before any faline fubftance is put into water
for folution, it ought to be pounded and fifted through
a hair fieve.
Where large quantities of metal are to be diflblved
in acids, efpecially the nitrous acid, glafs veflels are in
a manner indifpenfable ; although the common ftone-
ware bottles, efpecially thofe made in Holland, will an-
fwer the purpbfe very well, as not being liable to cor-
rofion, and not fo apt to break as the glafs veflels are.
They may be got of fuch a fize as to hold three or four
gallons : but no veffel in which metalline folutions are
made ought ever to be above half full.
In folutions of oily and inflammable fubftances, call
iron veflels are pferhaps the moft proper of any ; though
copper ones are generally preferred. The copper is
cxceffively foluble in oil, efpecially if it is left to cool in
fuch a veflel; but iron is not foluble in any inflammable
matter except fulphur. Copper has, however, this ad¬
vantage over iron, that it is fooner cooled, as the veflels
made of copper are thinner than they can be made of
caft iron : fo that if too great heat is applied to.3 cop¬
per veflel, it may be eafily remedied by taking it off the
fire ; but in a call iron veffel the heat continues fo long
as may fometimes produce dangerous confequences,
. even after the fire is removed.
Dr Black’s obferves, that for the purpofe of folution,
dirc&ions if no particular nor uncommon confequence follow the
for foiution. application of the two bodies to each other, and if
none of them be very volatile, any glafs or porcelain
veffel that can refill the a&ion of the fubftances will an-
fwer the purpofe ; but it often happens that they break
out into violent ebullition, which produces fteam ; and
here a common veflel is not fo proper, as we would
wish to have the vapour confined'or condenfed. We
therefore choofe a clofe veffel that will bear the heat
fuddenly produced by the mixture, or the heat that
may be neceffary to promote the a&ion of fuch bodies
upon one another. Of this kind is the phial a chemica,
or matrafs, in which the vapours will have time to cir¬
culate and to be condenfed.again, without being allowed
to efcape. Where the matter is in fmall quantity,
fmaller vtffels fomewhat of the fame form are ufed, as
Florentine flalks, which bear bidden changes of heat
and cold remarkably well, on account of their thin-
nefs. In order to promote the a&ion of bodies, it is
forr.etimes neceffary to make the fluids boil; and for
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 441
this purpofe we mull have a matrafs with a large neck, Chemical
or apply another veffel to it that will receive thefe oPeratl0n>;
fteams, and give them ftill more room for their conden-
fation, and direft them to fall back again, when con¬
denfed, into the matrafs. This is called circulation, Mac: 566
qiier defcribes apother veffel called the pelican, which Pelican,
has been made ufe.of for this purpofe ; but it is hard- Fig- 6.
ly ever employed, on. account of its being fo trouble-
fome to procure and manage it; and the advantages
arifing from it may be obtained by a more Ample ap¬
paratus. ^
To this head we mull refer Papin’s digefter, which Papin’s dU
is reprefented Fig. 4. It is generally made of cop- gefter.
per, very thick and ftrong, open at the top, with
a lid fitted to it, which applies very exadtly. There
are ufually two projections on the fide, defigned
to make the lid go in a particular manner, but they
are unneceffary. There are other two, to which are
fitted the two fides of a crofs bar BB ; in which crofs
bar there is a ftrong fcrew D, by which the lid can be
preffed down very ftrongly. Ity ufe is to force wa¬
ter to bear a ftronger heat than it can do under the
Ordinary preffure of the atmofphere. It' is fometimes
furnifhed with an apparatus for letting out the fteam,
left it ihould be in danger of burfting the veffel. A pipe
is paffed through the lid which is fitted with a valve,
on which paffes a lever at a very fmall diftance from its
centre of motion 5 and this can be made to prefs on the
valve with different weights, according to the diftance
of thefe weights from the centre. In one conftrufted
by Dr Black, there was another pipe below, into which
a thermometer could be introduced, in order to mea-
fure the degree of heat to which the fteam was raifed.
This machine was pretty much employed fome time
ago, and its effefts were much admired ; but we find
that moft things which can be diffolved in this way,
can likewife be diffolved in the ordinary way by boil¬
ing water, provided it is continued for a longer time,
as animal bones, from which the gelatinous parts are
indeed extra&ed very quickly by this veffel; but the
fame change is produced by boiling them in water for a
long time in the ordinary degree of heat. ^
II. Filtration. This operation is generally the Filtration,
attendant of fqlution : very few fubftaneps, of the faline
kind efpecially, are capable of being diffolved without
leaving fome impurities, from which they mull be
freed ; and the doing of this, fo as to render the folu¬
tion perfectly tranfparent, is what is underftood by the
word jihration.
For purpofes merely experimental, a glafs funnel
and piece of paper are generally fufficient. The pa¬
per is formed into a conical cap, which being placed in
the funnel with its point downwards, the funnel is then
placed in the mouth of a vial; and the folmion or
other liquor to be filtered is poured into the paper cap,
through which the liquor paffes tranfparent, leaving its
impurities on the paper. For the purpofe of filtration,
paper has come into fuch general ufe, that a particular
kind of it is prepared under the name of filtering paper.
This is of a reddiih colour; but Dr Lewis prefers the
whitifti grey paper which comes from Holland about
the pill boxes, as not giving any colour to the folutions
which pafs through, it.
This operation, though apparently fo limp e and
3 K eafy.
442 CHE M :
Chemiial eafy, is neverthelefs attended with very troublefome
Operations. circurnftances, on account of the great time it takes
V v up. Even where very fmall quantities of liquor are to
be filtered, merely for experiment’s fake, the impuri¬
ties frequently fettle on the paper fo foon, and obftnnfk
its pores to fuch a degree, that the operator is often
quite wearied out: often, too, the paper breaks ; and
thus the whole is fpoiled, and the operation mult be
begun over again.
To avoid thefe inconveniences, another method of
filtration hath been propofed ; namely, to ufe a num¬
ber of cotton threads, the ends of which are to be im-
merfed in the liquor, and the other ends are to hang
over the fide of the veffel which contains it, and to
hang lower than the fnrface of the liqour. By this
means they will a£t as fo many capillary fyphons, (lee
Syphon) ; the liquor will arife in them quite pure, and
be difcharged from their lower extremities into a vefi'el
placed to received it. That the liquor may flow free¬
ly into the cotton, it will be proper to wet the threads
Before they are ufed.
In point of efficacy, no doubt, this method excels
every other; and where the operator has abundance
of time and patience, may be proper for experiments ;
but, in the way of trade, fuch a contrivance is evi¬
dently ufelefs. For filtering large quantities of liquor,
therefore, recourfe has been had to large funnels;
earthen cullenders, or bafons full of holes in the bot¬
tom, lined with filtering paper; and to conical bags of
flannel or canvas.
The inconveniences attending funnels, when ufed
only in the way of experiment, are much greater
when they are employed for filtering large quantities
of liquor; and therefore they are generally laid afide.
The earthen cullenders, too, do not anfwer any good
purpofe ; nor indeed does filtration through paper in
general fuccted wrell. The conical flannel or canvas
bags are greatly preferable: but they have this in¬
convenience, that the preffure of the liquor is diredted
chiefly againft one particular point, or a fmall part of
the bottom., and therefore the impurities are forcibly
driven into that place ; and thus the operation be¬
comes infufferably tedious.
The bell method of obviating the inconveniences
of filtration feems to be the following. Let a wooden
frame of about three feet fquare be made, having
four holes, one in each corner, about three quarters of
an inch in diameter. This frame is to be fupported
by four feet, the ends of which muft project an inch
or two through the holes. Thus the whole may be
occafionally fet up and taken down, fo as to go into
very little compafs; for if the feet are properly pla¬
ced, each with a little projection outwards, there will
be no danger of its falling. A fquare piece of can¬
vas muft alfo be procured, fomewhat lefs than the
wooden frame. On each corner of it there muft be
a very ftrong loop, which flips on one of the project¬
ing ends of the feet, fo that the canvas may hang a
little flack in the middle of the frame. The liquor to
be filtered is now poured into the canvas, and a vef¬
fel placed underneath to receive it. At firft it wall
pafs through very foul, but being returned two or
three times, will become perfectly tranfparent, and
will continue to run with great velocity, if the filter
is.kapt cpnftantly full. A filter of the fize juft now
[ S T R Y. Theory,
mentioned will contain ten gallons of liquid ; which is Chemical
a very great advantage, as the heat of fueh a quan- Operanon*.
tity of liquor is not foon diflipated, and every folution v
filters much fafter when hot than when allowed to
cool.
The advantages of a filter of this kind above others
arife from the preflure of the liquor being more equally
diffufed over a large fpace, by which the impurities
are not forced fo ftrongly into the cloth as to ftop it
up entirely. Yet even here, wdiere large quantities of
liquor require filtration, the cloth is apt to be fiopped
up fo as to make the operation not a little tedious and
difagreeable. It will be proper therefore to have feve-
ral cloths, that one may be applied as foon as another
is taken off.
To promote the operation of filtration, it is very
proper to let the liquors to be filtrated fettle for fome
time ; that fo their groffer feculencies may fall to the
bottom, and thus there will be the fewer to retard the
laft part of the operation. Sometimes, however, thefe
feculencies refufe to fettle till after a very long time ;
and wdiere this happens to be the cafe, a little pow¬
dered quicklime thrown into the boiling liquor remark¬
ably promotes the feparation. This, however, can
only be ufed in certain cafes.
In fome cafes, the difcovery of a ready way of fil- S hemes for
tering a large quantity of liquor would be a matter of filtering
great confequence ; as where a town is fupplied with !ai'«e quan-
river water, which is generally far from being clear, tUieso^wa"
and. often imparts a difagreeable colour to clothes
waflied with it. Some years ago, a fcheme was pro¬
pofed by a chemiit for filtering muddy water in any
quantity. His method was, to have a large calk co¬
vered over in the bottom wdth ftraw to the depth of
fome inches, and then filled up with fatid. This cafk
was entirely open at one end, and had a hole in the
other, which, by means of a leaden pipe, commu¬
nicated with a large refervoir of the water to be fil¬
tered, and which ftood confiderably higher than the
calk. The water which defcended through the pipe
into the calk, having a tendency to rife up to the fame
level with that in the refervoir, would prefs violently
againft; the fand, and, as he thought, run over the
mouth of the calk perfectly filtrated, and free from its
impurities. By this contrivance, indeed, a very vio¬
lent preffure was occafioned, if the height of the re¬
fervoir was confiderable : but the confequence was, not
a filtration, hut a greater degree of impurity in the wa¬
ter ; for the fand was forced out of the cafk along with
it, and, however confined, the water always rofe as mud¬
dy as it went in.
Where water is to be filtered in large quantity, as
for the purpofes of a family, a particular kind of foft
fpengy Hones, called Jiltering fcones, are employed.
Thefe,. however, though the water percolates through
them very fine, and in fufficient quantity at firft, are
liable to be obftrufted in the fame manner as paper,
and are then rendered ufelefs. A better method feems
to be, to have a wooden veffel, lined with lead, three
or four feet wide at top, but tapering fo as to end in a
fmall orifice at the bottom. The under part of the
veffel is to be filled with very rough fand, or gravel,
well freed from earth by walhing. Over this, pretty
fine fand may be laid to the depth of 12 or 14 inches,,
but which muft likewif? be well freed from earthy
particles.,.
Theofy* C H E M
Chemical particles. The veffel may then be filled up to the top
Operations w;th Water, pouring it gently at firft, left the fand
v 11' ftould be too much difplaced. It will foon filter thro’
the fand, and run out at the lower orifice exceeding¬
ly tranfparent, and likewife in very confiderable quan¬
tity. When the upper part of the fand begins to be
flopped up, fo as not to allow a free paffage to the
water, it may occafionally be taken off, and the earthy
matter wafhed from it, when it will be equally fervice-
570 able as before.
frecipta- HI. Precipitation, or Coagulation. This op<?-
fc ion. ration is the very reverfe of folution, and is the bringing
a body fuddenly from a fluid to a folid ftate. It differs
from cryftallization, in that it generally requires lefs
time ; and in cryftallization the fubftancc affumes re¬
gular figures, whereas precipitates are always in the
form of powders.
Precipitation is generally preceded by folution and
filtration: it is ufed for feparating earths and metals
from the acids which had kept them fufpended. When
a precipitation is made of the more valuable metals,
glafs veffels are to be ufed. When earths, or the
imperfect metallic fubftanees, are to be precipitated in
large quantity, wooden ones anfwer every purpofe.
If a metal is to be precipitated by an alkali, this fait
muft firft be diffolved in water, then filtered, and
gradually added to the metallic folution. If particular
eircumftances do not forbid, the fait for precipitation
fhould be chofen in its cauftic ftate, or deprived of its
fixed air, becaufe then a very troublefome effervef-
cence is avoided. To promote the operation alfo*
the mixture, if contained in a glafs, is to be fhaken ;
or if in any other veffels, to be well ftirred after every
addition of alkali. If an earth is employed to precipi¬
tate a metalj the mixture muft be in a manner con-
ftantly ftirred or fhaken, in order to promote the pre¬
cipitation : and if one metal is to be precipitated by
another, that wdiich is ufed as a precipitant muft be
beaten into thin plates, that fo they may be frequent¬
ly cleaned from the precipitating metal, wdiich would
otherwife very foon totally impede the operation.
Sometimes a precipitation enfues on the addition of
water or fpirit of wine : but in moft cafes care muft
be taken not to add too much of the fubftance which
is ufed to precipitate the other ; becaufe, in fuch a
cafe, the precipitate may be diffolved after it has been
thrown down. Thus, though volatile alkali will fe-
parate copper from aquafortis, it will as effectually
diffolve the precipitate, if too much of it is ufed, as the
acid itfelf. It is proper, therefore, to proceed cauti-
oufly, and examine a fmall quantity of the liquor from
time to time. If an addition of the precipitant throws
down any more, it will be proper to add fome more
571 to the whole folution.
Eduicora- It is ftldom or never that precipitation can be per-
t;on. formed fo perfectly, but that one or other of the in¬
gredients will prevail; and though they ftiould not, a
new compound, confifting of the acid united with the
alkali, or other fubftance ufed for precipitation, is
contained in the liquor through which the precipitate
falls. It is proper, therefore, to wafh all precipitates ;
otherwife they can never be obtained perfectly pure,
or free from a mixture of faline fubftances. This is
■beft done by pouring the whole into a filter, and let¬
ting the fluid part run off, as long as it will drop, w ith-
I S T R Y. 44;
out fiiaking the cloth, Some Water is then to be Cau- Chemical
tioufly poured all over the furface of the precipitate, 0Peratlom;
fo as to difturb it as little as poffible. This w'ater will ■V““J
pufh before it the faline liquor which is mixed with
the powder, and render it much purer than before.
A fecond or third quantity of water may be ufed, in
order to wafh off all the faline matter. This is called
edulcorating the precipitate. 57a
IV. Evaporation. This operation confifts in diffi-^vaPora*
pating the moft fluid or volative parts of any fubftancetl0n*
by means of heat. It moft generally fucceeds folu¬
tion and filtration, being a preparatory for the opera-,
tion of cryftallization.
For the evaporation of faline folutions, which have
been already filtered, and which it is of confequence
to preferve from even the leaft impurities, diftilling
veffels are unqueftionably the moft proper; both as,
by their means, the folution will be kept perfectly
free from duft, and as the quantity of liquor evaporated
can be known with certainty by meafuring that wdiich
comes over. This alfo is probably the moft expediti¬
ous method of evaporating, and which requires the leaft
fuel. (See the detached articles Evaporation and
Distillation). With regard to veffels for evapora¬
tion, the fame thing muft be applicable which was men¬
tioned above under Solution. No faline liquor muft be
evaporated in a veffel which would be corroded by it;
and hence iron veffels are abfolutely improper for eva¬
porations of any kind of faline liquor whatever.—
Lead is in this cafe the metal moft generally ufeful. It
muft only be ufed, however, where the evaporation
is not carried to drynefs; for, on account of the great
fufibility of this metal, nothing could be exficcated in
it without great danger of its melting. Where a fa¬
line liquor therefore is to be perfectly exficcated, the .
evaporation, if performed in lead veffels, muft be car¬
ried on fo far only as to form a faline pellicle on the
furface of the liquor. It is then to be drawn off; for
which purpofe, all evaporating veffels fhould have a
cock near the bottom. The liquor muft now be put
into a number of ftone-ware bafons, fet on warm fand,
w’here the exficcation may be finifhed.
V. Crystallization. This, though commonly ac-Cryhalisza-
counted one of the proceffes in chemiftry, is in reali- tion.
ty only a natural one, and which the chemift can only
prepare for, leaving the operation entirely in the hands
of nature.— By cryftallization is meant the fepara-
tion of a fait from the water in which it has been dif¬
folved, in tranfparent maffes regularly figured, and
differently formed, according to the different nature of
the falls.
This procefs depends upon the conftitution of the
atmofphere more than any other ; and therefore is
difficult to be performed, nor does it always fucceed
equally well; neither have there yet been laid down
any rules whereby beautiful and regular cryftals ca»
with certainty be formed at all times.
As the different falls affume very different figures
when cryftallized, they are not fubjeA to the fame ge¬
neral rules in cryftallization. Nitre, Glauber’s fait,
vitriol of iron, and many others, cryftallize beft on
having their folutions fet in a cold place after proper
evaporation. Sal polychreft, and common fait, require
the folution to be kept as hot as the hand can bear it
during the time of cryftallizing. Soluble tartar too,
3 K 3 and
444 C H E M
Chemical and otlier deliquefcent falls, require to be kept warm
Operations^ ^{jg operation is going on; and there are many
~ v ' faline fubftances, fuch as the combinations of calca¬
reous earths and magnefia with acids, which can fcarce-
ly be cryftallized at all.
Mr Beaum£ has difeovered, that when two or more
falts are diffolved in the fame quantity of water, when
one cryftallizes, the cryftals of that fait will not con¬
tain the leak quantity of any of the others ; neither,
although the liquor was acid or alkaline, will the cry¬
ftals for that reafon be either acid or alkaline, but will
itmain perfectly neutral; and the acid or alkaline li¬
quor which adheres to the outfide of the cryftals may
be abforbed by merely fpreading them on filtering pa¬
per.—Hence we are furnifhed with a better method
of (hooting falls into large and well formed cryftals than
merely by diffolving them in water; namely, by ad¬
ding to the folutions, when fet to cryftallize, a certain
quantity of acid or alkaline liquor, according to the
nature ox the falts themfelves. Thefe additions, how¬
ever, are not equally proper for all falls; and it is not
yet determined what kinds of falts ought to be cry-
ftall’zed in alkaline, and wdiat in acid liquors.—So¬
luble tartar and Seignette’s fait cryftallize ,beft when
the liquor is alkaline. Sal fedativus, fal Glauberi, and
fal polychreft, require an acid if cryftallized in the
cold ; but fal polychreft forms into very fine and large
cryftals when the folution is alkaline, and kept as hot
as the hand can eafily bear.
The beft general direction that can be given with
regard to the regular cryftallization of falts is, that
they ought to be fet to cryftallize in as large a quan¬
tity at once as poffible ; and this, as far as we have ob-
ferved, without any limit; for by this means, the cry¬
ftals are formed much larger and better figured than
they pofljbly can be by any other method hitherto
known.—As to the form of the veffels in which falts
are to be cryftallized, little can be faid with certainty.
They are generally flat, and wider at top than at the
bottom. The only proper material, in the large way,
,.74 is lead.
15iftilla- VI. Distillation. This is a kind of evaporation;
iion. only in fuch a manner, that the part of the liquor eva¬
porated is not diffipated in the air, but preferved by
making the fleam pafs through a fpiral pipe, which
goes through a large vefl'el full of cold water, or into
cold glafs receivers.
This is one of the moft common chemical opera¬
tions ; and as there are a variety of fubjefts which re¬
quire to be diftilled, there is confequently a confider-
able variety both in the form of the diftilling veffels
to be ufed on different occafions, and likewife in the
materials of which they are made, as well as the ma¬
nagement of the fire during the time of the opera¬
tion.
The moft Ample and eafily performed diftillation
CXXXIV ’s t;^at ^ t^le common copper ftill, (fig. 3). It con-
’ fills of two paits ; one called the body, and the other
the head. The body is a cylindrical veflel of cop¬
per, which is fometimes tinned over in the in fide ;
but where diftillation is performed without any re¬
gard to the refiduum, the tinning is ufelefs. The up¬
per part of the body terminates in a kind of arch, in
the middle of which is a circular aperture, about one
half, or fomething lefs,. in diameter, of the breadth of
: S T It Y. Theory.
the whole body.—Into this aperture, a round head, Chemical
made likewife of copper, is fitted, fo as to be remove- Operations,
able at pleafure. In the top, or fometimes in the fide v ^
of the head, is inferted a pewter pipe, which commu¬
nicates with a fpiral one of the fame metal, that paffes
through a large wooden veffel, called the refrigeratory^
filled with cold water; each of its ends projecting a
little above and below. The ftill is to be filled two
thirds full of the fubftance to be diftilled, the head put
on, and the junftures well doled with a mixture of
lintfeed meal and water, or common flour or chalk and
water will anfwer the fame purpofe. This mixture
is called the luting, or lute. A fire being kindled un¬
der the ftill, the vapours will arife; and, being con-
denfed by the cold water through which the fpiral
pipe called the worn paffes, will run in a ftream
more or lefs ftrong as the fire is more or lefs haftily
urged, and is catched in a receiver fet underneath.
This kind of diftilling veffels is proper for procuring
the effential oils of vegetables, vinous fpirits from fer¬
mented liquor, and for the re&ification of thefe after
they are once diftilled. Even the acetous acid may
be very conveniently diftilled in a copper veffel, pro¬
vided the worm and all the defeending pai ts of the
pipe which communicates with it be of pewter, other-
wile a mifehievous impregnation of copper would be
communicated to the diftilied vinegar. The reafon
of this is, that copper is not diffolved by vinegar, or
in very fmall quantity, when that acid is boiled in it ;
but if the metal is expofed to the a&ion of the acid
when cold, or to its vapours, a confiderable diffolu-
tion takes place. For this reafon, too, the ftill mull be
walhed out after the operation while it continues hot,
and mull be very carefully freed from the leaft remains
of acid, otherwife it will be much corroded.
Copper-ftills ought to be of as large a flze as pof¬
fible : but Dr Lewis very juftly obferves, that, in com¬
mon ones, the width of the worm is by no means pro¬
portionable to the capacity of the ftill: hence the va¬
pour which iffues from a large fur face being violently
forced through a fmall tube, meets with fo much re¬
finance as fometimes to blow oft' the ftill-head. This
inconvenience is ridiculoufly endeavoured to be pre¬
vented by ftrongly tying or otherwife forcing down
the head ; by which means, if the worm Ihould hap¬
pen to be choaked up, a terrible explolion would
enfue: for no ligatures, or any other obftacle what¬
ever, have yet been found ftrong enough to refill the
elailic force of fleam ; and the greater obftacle it has
to overcome, the greater would the explofion be—
Dangers of this kind might be totally avoided by ha¬
ving the worm of a proper degree of widenefs.
Sometimes, however, matters are to be diftilled, Mineial a-
fuch as mineral acid fpirits, which would corrode any dJs how
kind of metalline veffels ; and for thefe only .earth, or
the clofeft kind of ftone-ware, can be ufed. Thefe
are more eafily condenfed than the fleams of aqueous
or vinous liquors, and therefore do not require to be
paffed through a pipe of fuch a length as is ufed for
condenfing the fleams from the common ftill. In thefe
cafes, where a violent heat is not neceffary, and the
diftillation is to be performed in glafs veffels, the re-
tort is uled (fig. 4.) When a fluid is to be put into
this veffel, the retort muft be laid upon its back on
fund, or any. other foft matter that will fupport it
with-
Theory. C H E M
Chemical without breaking. A funnel nruft alfo be procured
Operations. wjt^ a jong an^ a crooked at the extremi-
v ty, that the liquor may pafs at once into the belly of
the retort, without touching any part of its neck ;
otherwife the quantity which adhered to the neck
would pafs into the receiver when the retort was pla¬
ced in a proper fituation for diftilling, and foul the
produce. When the veffel is properly filled, which
ought never to be above two thirds, it is to be fet in
a fand bath ; that is, in an iron pot, of. a proper thick-
nefs, and covered over in the bottom, to the depth
of one or two inches, with dry fand. When the re¬
tort is put in, fo as to Hand on its bottom, the pot is to
be filled up with fand, as far as the neck of the retort.
A glafs receiver is then to be applied, which ought to
be as large as poffible, and likrftvife pretty ftrong ; for
which reafon it will be proper not to let the capacity
of it be above what is neceffary to hold ten gallons.
In the hinder part of it fiiould be drilled a fmall hole,
which may be occafionally fhut by a fmall wooden peg.
The mouth of the receiver ought to be fo wide as to
let the nofe of the retort enter to the middle of it, or
very near to it ; for if the vapours are difcharged very
near the luting, they will aft upon it much more
Itrongly than when at a diflange. It is likewife pro¬
per to have the neck of the retort as wide as maybe;
for this has a very great effeft in the cofidenfation,
by prefenting a larger furface to the condenfing va-
sn Pour-
Ruling for The luting for acid fpirits ought to be very diffe-
aad fpirits. rent from that ufedin other diftillations; for thefe will
penetrate the common lutes fo as to make them liquid
and fall down into the receiver. Some have ufed re¬
torts, the necks of which were ground to the recei¬
vers with emery ; but thtfe are very difficult to be
procured, and are expen five, and confequently have
never come into general ufe. Various kinds of lutes
have been propofed, but the preference feems due to
a mixture of clay and fand. We are not to under-
ftand, however, that every kind of clay is fit for this
purpofe : it muff only be fuch as is not at all, or very
little, affected by acids; and this quality is only poflef-
fed by that kind of which tobacco-pipes is made. Trial
ought to be made of this before the diftillation is be¬
gun, by pouring a little nitrous acid on the clay in¬
tended to be made ufe of. If a violent effervefcence
is raifed, we may be fure that the clay is unfit for the
purpofe. Finely powdered alabader would anfwer
extremely well, had it the duffility of clay. As this
kind of lute remains foft for a confiderable time, it
ought to be farther fecured by a bit of rag fpread with
fonie ftrong cement, fuch as quicklime mixed with
the white of an egg, fsV. Matters, however, ought
to be managed in fuch a manner, that the luting may
give way, rather than the veflels burft ; which would
not only occafion a certain lofs of the materials, but
might endanger the perfons who were Handing by.
The iron pots commonly ufed for diftillations by the
Balneum a- fand-bath, or balneum arena, are commonly made very
tens. thick ; and are to be fold at large founderies, under
the name of fand-pots. The ftiape of thefe, however,
is by no means eligible : for, as they are of a figure
nearly cylindrical, if the retort is of fucb a fize as al-
moft. to fill their cavity, it cannot be put into the»i
I S T R Y. 445
when full, and often pretty heavy, without great dan- Chemical
ger of touching the fides of the pot; and in this cafe, Qeeratlon»j
touching and breaking are fynonymous expreffions. It ^
is much better, therefore, to have them in the figure
of a punch-bowl ; and the common call-iron kettles,
which may be had much cheaper than the fand-pots
ufually fold, anfwer extremely well. If the diftilling
veffel is placed in a pot filled with water, the diftilla¬
tion is laid to be performed in a water-bath, or bal~
neum maria-.
When the matter to be condepfed is very volatile,
a number of open receivers with two necks, called
adopters (fig. 7.), may be ufed, with a cloie receiver
at the end. Each of thefe adopters mull be luted with . .■**’9
as much care as when only a lingle receiver is iTiadea^g^rS0‘
ufe of. Veflels of a fimilar kind were formerly much
ufed by chemifts for particular fublimations, under the
name of aludels.
Formerly, inftead of retorts, a veflel called a cucurbit,
(fig. 5, and 6.) with a head like the common ftill, called
an alembic, were ufed ; but 'the more Ample figure of
the retort gives it greatly the preference. It is but
feldom that veflels of this kind are ufeful, which will
be taken notice of when deferibing the particular ope¬
rations : and if at any time an alembic head ftiould be
neceflary, its ufe may be fuperfeded by a crooked
glafs tube, which will anfwer the purpofe equally
well.
Sometimes a very violent fire is required in diftil¬
lations by the retort. Here, where it is poffible, glafs ,
or earthen veffels fhould be avoided, and iron pots fub-
ftituted in their Head. The haideil and heft call iron,,
however, will at lafl melt by a vehement heat; and
therefore there is a neceflity for ufing earthen ware,
or coated glafs. This lail is better than moll kinds
of earthen ware, as being lefs porous ; for when the
veflel is urged by a very intenfe heat, the glafs melts,
and forms a kind of femivitreous compound with the
inlide of the coating, fo that its figure is ftill prefer-
ved, and the accidental cracks in the luting are. filled
up. 5§0
For coating of vefltls, mixtures of coleothar of vi-Coating of:
trial, fand, iron filings, blood, chopped hair, &c. have gaffes,
been recommended. We cannot help thinking, how¬
ever, that the Ample mixture of tobacco-pipe clay and
fand is preferable to any other; efpecially if, as Dr
Black direfts, that part next the glafs is mixed with
charcoal duft.
The proportions recommended by the Do&or for
luting the joints of veffels, are four parts of fand and
one of clay ; but for lining the infides of furnaces, and,.
we fhould think, likewife for coating glafs veffels, he
diredts 6.or 7 of fand to x of clay ; that the contrac¬
tion of the clay in drying may thereby be the more
effedtually prevented. Belides this, he diredts a mix¬
ture of three parts of charcoal-duff with one of clay
to be put next the furnace itfelf, as being more apt to
confine the heat; but poffibly the firft compolition
might be fufficient for giaffes.
The coating of large giaffes muff be a very trouble-
fome and tedious operation ; and therefore coated
glafs is never ufed but in experiments. When large
diftillations are to be performed in the way of trade,
recourfe muff be had either to iron pots, or to. earthen,
ware*.
44^
Chemical ware. Of the moft proper kinds of earthen ware for
Operations, refift;ng violent heats, we fiiall take notice under the
»'" article Fufion.
In all diftillations by the retort, a confiderable quan¬
tity of air, or other incondenfible vapour, is extrica¬
ted ; and to this it is abfolutely neceffary to give vent,
or the veffels would be burft, or the receiver thrown
off. For this purpofe* Dr Lewis recommends an open
pipe to be inferted at the luting, of fuch an height as
will not allow any of the vapour to efcape ; but this
we cannot approve of, as by that means a conftant
communication is formed between the external atmo-
fphere and the matters contained in the retort and
receiver, which is at all times to be avoided as much
as poffible, and in fome cafes, as the diftillation of phof-
phorus, would be very dangerous. The having a
fmall hole drilled in the receiver, which is to be now
and then opened, muft anfvver the purpofe much bet¬
ter, although it takes more attendance; but if the ope¬
rator is obliged to leave the veffels for fome time, it
will be convenient either to leave the little hole open,
or to contrive it fo that the wooden peg may be pulh-
ed out with lefs force than is fufficient to break the
581 lute.
Eublihia- VII. Sublimatior. This, properly fpeaking, is only
uion. the diftillation of a dry fubftance; and therefore, when
volatile matters, fuch as fait of hartfhorn, are to be
fublimed, the operation is performed in a glafs retort
fet in a fand bath, and the fait paftes over into the re¬
ceiver. The cucurbit and alembic were formerly much
in ufe for this purpofe ; and a blind head, without any
fpout, was applied. A much Ampler apparatus, however,
is now made ufe of. A globe made of very thin glafs,
or an oblong veflel of the fame kind, anfwers the more
common purpafes of fublimation. For experiments;
-Florence flafks are excellent; as being both very
cheap, and having the neceffary fhape and thinnefs re-
quifite for bearing the heat without cracking. The
matter to be fubhmed rcuft not, on almoft any occa^
lion, take up more than a third part of the fubliming
veffel. It is to be fet in a fand-bath, that the heat
may be more equally applied than it could otherwife
be. The heat muft be no greater, or very little;'than
is neceffary for fublimation, or it will be in danger of
flying out at the mouth of the fubliming veffel, or of
choaking it up fo as to burft. The upper part of the
veffel, too, muft by no means be kept cool; but
flightly covered with fand, that the matter may fettle
in a kind of half-melted ftate, and thus form a com-
patt hard cake, which is the appearance fublimates
are expefted to have. Hence this operation re¬
quires a good deal of caution, and is not very ealily
58a performed.
Beflagra- VIII.Deflagration. Thisoperationis always per-
tion. formed by means of nitre, except in making the flow¬
ers of zinc. It requires open veffels of earth or irpn;
the latter are very apt to be corroded, and the former
to imbibe part of the matter; To perform this pro-
cefs with fafety, and without lofs, the nitre ought to
be mixed with whatever matter is to be deflagrated
with it, and thrown^ by little and little into the veffel
previoufly made red-hot. If much is put in at once,
a great deal will be thrown out by the violent commo¬
tion ; and to perform this operation in clofe veffels is
in a manner impoffible, from the prodigious quantity
Theory.
of elaftic vapour generated by the nitre. Care muft al- Chemical
fo be taken to remove the whole mixture to fome di- 0-peratloni;
ftance from the fire, and not to bring back any fpark
from the quantity deflagrating, with the fpoon which
puts it in ; otherwife the whole would irremediably be
eonfumed at once. „ ^
IX. Calcination. This is the fubjefting any rriat- Calcinanon1
ter to a heat fo violent as to diffipate fome part
of it, without melting what remains. It is often
pratlifed on metallic fubftances, particularly lead, for
obtaining the calx of that metal called minium, or red
lead.
This operation, as indeed all other chemical ones, is
beft performed in large quantities, where a particular
furnace is conftrudled on purpofe, and a fire kept on
day and night without interruption. The flame is made
to play over the furface of the metal, and it is conti¬
nually ftirred fo as to expofe different parcels of it to
the aftion of the heat.
X. Fusion. This is when a folid body is expofed Fuuoifi
to fuch a degree of heat as makes it pafs from a folid
to a fluid ftate ; and as different fubftances are poffef-
fed of very different degrees of fufibility, the degrees
of melting heat are very various.
Befides the true fufion, there are fome kinds of falts
which retain fo large a proportion of water in their
.cryftals, as to become entirely fluid upon being expo-
fed to a very fmall degree of heat. This is com¬
monly called the watery fufion ; but is really a folution
of the fait in that quantity of water retained by it in
its cryftalline form : for fuch falts afterwards become
folid by the evaporation of the water they contained ;
and then require a ftrong red heat to melt them tho¬
roughly, or perhaps are abfolutely infufible.
Of all known fubftances, umftuous and inflammable
ones become fluid with the leaft heat; then come the
more fufible metals, lead, tin, and antimony ; then
fome of the more fufible falts; and then the harder me¬
tals, lilver, gold, copper, and iron ; then the mix¬
tures for making glafs ; and laft of all, the metal call¬
ed plat'ma, which has hitherto been incapable of fu¬
fion, except by the violent aftion of the fun-beams in
the focus of a large burning glafs. This fubftance
feems to be the moft refraftory of all others, even the
hardeft flints melting into glafs long before it. (See
Platina.)
Fufion of fmall quantities of matter is ufually per¬
formed in pots called crucibles; which, as they are re¬
quired to ftand a very violent heat, muft be made of
the moft refraftory materials pofiible.
The making of crucibles belongs properly to the Crucibles,
potter: but as a chemijl ought to be the judge of their Pr0Per
compofition, we ftiall here give fome account of the teria^s
different attempts to make thefe veffels of the necef¬
fary ftrength.
All earthen veffels are compofed, at leaft partly, of
that kind which is called the argillaceous earth or clay,
becaufe thefe only have the neceffary du&iiity, and can
be formed into veffels of the proper form. Pure clay
is, by itfelf, abfolutely unfttfible ; but is exceedingly
apt to crack wThen expofed to hidden changes of heat
and cold. It is alfo very apt to melt when mixed
with other fubftances, fuch as calcareous earths, &c.
When mixed in a certain proportion with other
materials, they are changed by violent heat into
C H E M I 3 T R Y.
Theory. C H E M
Chemical a kind of half-melted fubftance, fuch as our ftone-
Operations. ]30ttles> They cannot be melted completely, however,
v by almoft any fire; they are alfo very compact, and
will contain the moil fufible fubftances, even glafs of
lead itfelf; but as they are very apt to crack from hid¬
den changes of heat and cold, they are not fo much
ufed ; yet, on particular occafions, they are the only
ones which can be made ufe of.
The more denfe any kind of veffels are, the more apt
they are, in general, to break by a fudden application
of heat or cold: hence crucibles are not, in general,
made of the greateft denfity poffible ; which is not at
all times required. Thofe made at Heffe, in Germany,
have had the belt reputation for a long time. Mr
Pott, member of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin,
hath determined the comp^fition of thefe crucibles to
be, one part of good refractory clay, mixed with tfwo
parts of fand, of a middling finenefs, from which the
fineft part has been fifted. By lifting the finer par¬
ticles from the fand, too great compactnefs is avoided :
but at the fame time this mixture renders them apt to
be corroded by vitrifying matters kept a long time in
fufion ; for thefe do not fail to act upon the land con¬
tained in the compofitipn of the crucible, and, forming
a vitreous mafs, at lail run through it.
This inconvenience is prevented, by mixing, inftead
of fand, a good baked clay in grofs powder. Of a
compofition of this kind are made the glafs-houfe pots,
which fometimes fuftain the violent heat employed in
making glafs for feveral months. They are, however,
gradually confumed by the glafs, and become con-
0, ftantly more and more thin.
Pladna a As the containing velfel, however, mult always be
deli.' able expoftd to a more violent heat than what is contained in
material, it, crucibles ought to be formed of fuch materials as
are not vitrifiable by the heat of any furnace whatever.
But from the attempts made to melt platina, it appears,
that of all knowmfubllances it would be the moll; defirable
for a melting velfel. Helfian crucibles,_glafs-houfe pots,
Sturbridge clay, in Ihort every fubftance which could
be thought of to refift the molt violent heat, were melt¬
ed in fuch a manner as even to Hop up the pipes of
large bellows, wh le platina was not altered in the
leaft ; and MelTrs Macquer and Beaume have Ihown,.
that though platina cannot be melted fo as to call vef¬
fels of it, it may neverthelefs be cupelled with lead fo
as to become malleable, and thus velfels might other-
A hard’s w'k ke made from that fubftance. The extreme fcar-
i method of city °f this mineral, however, leaves as yet little room
iakingcru- to hope for any thing from it, though Mr Achard has
found a method of forming crucibles from this refrac¬
tory fubftancei It confifts immoulding the precipitate
made with fal ammoniac into the form of a crucible,
and then applying a fudden and very violent heat, which
fufes this calx.
Mr Pott has made fo many experiments upon clays
mixed with different fubftances,that he has in a manner
exhauftedthe fubjedl. The bails of all his compofitions
was clay. Thishe mixed in different proportions with
metallic calces, calcined bones, calcareous earths, talcs,
amianthus, aibeftus, pumice-ftones, tripoli, and many
others ; but he did not obtain a perfedl compoilt on
from any of them. The heft crucibles, according
to Scheffer, cannot eafily contain metals diffolved by
fulphur, in the operation of parting by means, of ful-
cibles of
platina.
I S T R Y. 447-
phur. They may be made much more durable and Chemical
folid, by fteeping them a few days in linfeed-oil, and QPerations;
ftrewing powdered borax upon them before they are v 1
dried. 588
The refult of Mr Pott’s experiments are : 1. Cru- Yr p?u'*
cibles made of fat clays are more apt to crack when ex. diredtions,
pofed to fudden heat, than thofe which are made of
lean or meagre clays. Mtagre clays are thofe which
contain a confiderable quantity of fand along with the
pure argillaceous earth : and fat clays are thofe which
contain but little. 2. Some crucibles become porous
by long expofure to the fire, and imbibe part of the
contained metals. This may be prevented, by glazing
the internal and external furfaces; which is done by
moiftening thefe with oil of tartar, or by ftrewing up¬
on them, when wetted with water, powdered glafs off
borax. Thefe glazings are not capable of containing
glafs of lead. 3. Crucibles made of burnt clay grofs-
ly powdered, together with unburnt clay, were much;
lefs liable to crack by heat than crucibles made of the.
fame materials where the burnt clay was finely pow¬
dered, or than crucibles made entirely of unburnt clay..
4. If the quantity of unburnt clay be too great, the
crucible will be apt to crack in the fire. Crucibles
made of 10 ounces of unburnt clay, 10 ounces of grofs--
ly powdered burnt clay, and three drachms of cal¬
cined vitriol, are capable of retaining melted metals,
but are pervaded by glafs of lead. The following
compofition is better than the preceding : Seven oun¬
ces of unburnt clay, 14 ounces of grofsly powdered'
burnt clay, and one drachm of calx of vitriol. Thefe
crucibles may be rendered more capable of containing
glafs of lead, by lining their internal furfaces, before
they are baked, with unburnt clay diluted with water.
They may be further ftrengthened by makino- them
thicker than is. ufually done ; or by covering their ex¬
ternal furfaces with fome unburnt clay, which is called
arming them. 5. The compofition of crucibles moft Materials'
capable of containing the glafs of lead, was 18 partsmoft caPa-
of grofsly powdered burnt clay, as much unburnt clay, ^
and one part of fufible fpar. Thefe crucibles muft lead? 8 * °
not, however, be expofed too fuddenly to a violent
heat. 6. Crucibles capable of containing glafs of
lead very well, were made of 24 parts of unburnt clay,
four parts of burnt clay, and one part of chalk. Thefe
require to be armed. 7. Plume alum powdered, and.
mixed with whites of eggs and water, being applied,
to the internal furface of a Heffian crucible, enabled it
to retain for a long time glafs of lead in fufion..
8. One part of clay, -and two parts of. Spanifti chalk,,
made very good crucibles. The fubftance called Spa-
rifh chalk is not a calcareous earth, but appears to be a
kind of fteatites- 9. Two parts of Spanifti chalk, and.
one part of powdered tobacco-pipes, made good lining-
for common crucibles. 10. Eight parts of Spaniftx;
chalk, as much burnt clay, and one part of litharge,,
made folid crucibles. 1X. Crucibles made of black lead;
are fitter than Heffian crucibles for melting metals ; but
they are fo porous, that fufed falls pafs entirely thro’"
them. They are more tenacious than HdTian cru¬
cibles, are not fo apt to burft in pieces, and are.
more durable. 12. Crucibles placed with their bot¬
toms upwards, are lefs apt to be cracked .during tho;
baking, than when placed differently. 13. The pafte
of which crucibles are made, ought not to be.too#
4,
448 C H E M
• Chemical nioifl; elfe, when dried atjd baked, they will not
Opcrafions. be fuffiCiently compaft : hence they ought not to be
v fo moift as to be capable of being turned on a pot¬
ter’s lathe ; but they muft be formed in brafs orwood-
en moulds.
Dr Lewis’s On this fubjeft Dr Lewis hath alfo made feveral
obferva- obfervations; the principal of which are, i. Pure clay
tions. foftened to a due confidence for being worked, not
only coheres together, but fticks to the hands. In
drying, it contrails I inch or more in 12 ; and hence
it is very apt to crack, unlefs it is dried exceeding flow-
ly. In burning, it is fubjeit to the fame inconve¬
nience, unlefs very flowly and gradually heated. When
thoroughly burnt, if it has efeapedthofe imperfe&ions,
’it proves folid and compaft ; and fo hard as to ftrike
fire with fteel. Veffels made of it are not penetrated
by any kind of liquid ; and refift falls and glafles
brought into the thinned fufion, excepting thofe which
by degrees corrode and diiTolve the earth itfelf, as
glafs of lead ; and even this penetrating glafs is redd¬
ed by it better than by almod any other earth ; but, in
counterbalance to thefe good qualities, they cannot be
heated or cooled, but with fuch precautions as cam
rarely be complied with in the way of bufinefs, with¬
out cracking, or flying in pieces.
2. Clay that has been once expofed to any confider-
able degrees of ’heat, and then powdered, has no longer
any tenacity. Freih clay, divided by a due propor¬
tion of this powTder, proves lefs tenacious than by it¬
felf; not dicking to the hands, though cohering fuf-
ficiently together. It {brinks lefs in drying, is lefs
apt to crack, and lefs fufceptible of injury from alte¬
rations of heat and cold; but at the fame time is lefs
fol d and compaft. Confiderable differences are ob-
ferved in thefe refpedts; not only according to the
quantity of dividing matter, but according as it is in
finer or coarfer powder.
3. Veffels made with a moderate proportion of fine
powder, as half the weight of the clay, are compadl
and folid, but dill very apt to crack, from fudden
heat or cold : thofe with a larger proportion, as twice
or thrice the quantity of the clay, are free from that
imperfection, but fo friable as to crumble between the
fingers. Nor does there appear to be any medium be¬
tween a difpofition to crack and to crumble ; all the
compounds made of clay and fine powders having the
one or the other, or both imperfections. Coarfer
powders of the fize of middling , fand, form, with an
equal weight of clay, compounds fufficiently folid, and
much lefs apt to crack than the mixtures with fine
powders. Two parts of coarfe powder, and one of
clay, prove moderately folid, and but little difpofed to
crack : a mixture of three parts and one, tho’ heated
and cooled fuddenly, does not crack at all, but fuffers
very .fluid fubftances to tranfude through it ; folidity,
and refiftance to quick viciffxtudes of heat and cold,
feeming here alfo to be incompatible.
4. Pure clay, mixed with pure clay that has been
burnt, is no other than one Ample earth ; and is nei¬
ther to be melted nor foftened, nor made in any de¬
gree tranfparent with the mofl intenfe fires.
5. Mixtures of clay with gypfeous > earths bum
V'hiter than clay alone; in certain proportions, as two
parts of clay to three of gypfum, they become, in a
N° 72.
I S T R Y. Theory,
moderate fire, femi-tranfparent, and in a ftrong one Chemical
they melt. Operauoniu
6. Calcareous earths in fmall proportion bake to¬
lerably compact and white ; and added to other com-
pofitions, feem to improve their compactnefs. If the
quantity of the calcareous earth nearly equals that of
the clay, the mixture melts into a yellow glafs ; if it
confiderably exceeds, the product acquires the quali¬
ties of quicklime.
7. Veffels made from clay and fand, in whatever
proportion, do not melt in the ftrongeft fire ; but they
fometimes bend or foften, fo as to yield to the tongs.
Glaffes in thin fufion penetrate them by diffolving the
fand. If gypfeous or calcareous earths are urged in
fuch crucibles with a vehement heat, the veffels and
their contents run all into one mafs. In moderate
fires, thefe veffels prove tolerably compact, and retain
moft kinds of falls in fufion : but they are liable to
crack, efpcially when large ; and do not long fuftain
melted metals, being bur!! by their weight. Such are
the Heffian crucibles.
8. Mixtures of clay and black-lead, which feems a
fpecies of talc, are not liable to crack from alterna¬
tions of heat and cold; but are extremely porous.
Hence black-lead crucibles anfwer excellently for the
melting of metals, and ftand repeated fufions ; whilff
falls flowing thin, tranfude through them almoft as
water through a fieve : fulphureous bodies, as antimo¬
ny, corrode them.
9. Pure clay, foftened with water, and incruftated
on earthen veffds, that have been burnt, does not ad¬
here to them, or fcales off again upon expofure to
the fire ; applied to unburnt veltls, it adheres and in¬
corporates. Divided clay unites with them in both
ftates. Vitreous matters, melted in veffels of pure
clay, adhere fo firmly as not to be feparated; from
veffels of divided clay they may be knocked off by a
hammer.
10. The faline fluxes which promote the fufion of
clay, befides the common ones of all earths, alkali and
borax, are chiefly arfenic fixed by nitre, and the fufible
fait of urine; both which have little effect on the other
earths though mixed in a large proportion. Nitre,
which readily brings the cryltalline earths into fufion,
and Cal mirabile and fandiver, powerful fluxes for the
calcareous earths, do not perfectly vitrify with clay.
Burnt clay does not differ in thefe refpefts from fnch
as has not been burnt.; nor in that Angular property
of vitrifying with gypfeous or calcareous earths, with¬
out any faline or metallic addition ; the utmoft vehe¬
mence of fire feeming to deftroy only its dudtility, or
that power by which it coheres when its parts are
moiftened with water.
But though it feems impoffible to make perfeft
veffels from mixtures of clay in its two different ftates,
of burnt and unburnt, more is to be hoped from the
mixtures which are employed in making porcelain. Ma¬
nufactories of this kind of ware have been attempted per.
in different countries, (fee Porcelain) ; and in fomefeift veffels
places the ^qualities requifite for chemical veffels have he hoped
been given to it in a very furprifing degree. The countpJrCeiam.
de Lauraguais, a French nobleman, and member of the1^
academy of fciences, has diftinguifhed himfelf in a
very eminent manner by attempts of this kind. The
•6 tranflator
Theory. * C H E M
Chemical tranflator of the chemical di&ionary affures us, that he
Operations, ;t from a gentleman of undoubted veracity, that
 v_"' this nobleman having heated a piece of his porcelain
red hot, threw it into cold water, without breaking or
cracking it.
Mr Reau- The moft ufeful attempt, however, for the purpofes
mur’s por- cf chemiftry, feems to be the difcovery by Mr Reau-
celain. r i r • .
mur or converting common green glais into porce¬
lain. This was publifhed as long ago as the year
1739 ; yet'we have fcarce heard of any chemift, no not
Dr Lewis himfelf, who has made trial of chemical
veffels formed of this fort of porcelain, although the
very ufe to which Mr Reaumur thought the. prepara-
tion. could be applicable was that of bringing chemical
veffels to a degree of perfeftion which could not other-
wife de done. The following is the refult of Mr Reau¬
mur’s experiments.
Green glafs, furrqunded with white earthy matters,
as white fand, gypfum, or plafter of Paris, fs’r. and
expofed to a confiderable heat not ftrong enough to
alter its figure, as that of a potter’s furnace, acquires
different (hades of blue, and by degrees begins to
grow white. On breaking the glafs, the white coat
appears to be compofed of fine, white, gloffy, fatin¬
like fibres, running tranfverfely, and parallel to one ano¬
ther ; the glafs in the middle being fcarcely altered.
On continuing the cementation, the change proceeds
further and further, till at length the white fibrous
parts from both fides meet in the middle, and no ap¬
pearance of glafs remains. By this means, entire vef¬
fels of glafs may be changed into porcelain.
The fubfiance into which glafs is thus converted, is
epaque, compafl, internally of great whitehefs, equal
to that of the fined china-ware ; but, externally, of a
much duller hue. It is confiderably harder than glafs,
much lefs fufible in the fire, and fudains alterations of
heat and cold without injury. Veflels of it, cold, bear
boiling liquors ; and may be placed on the fire at once,
without danger of their cracking. “ 1 have put a vef-
fel of this porcelain (fays the author) into a forge,
furrounded it with coals, and kept vehemently blow¬
ing for near a quarter of an hour ; I have melted
glafs in this veffel, without its having fuffered any in¬
jury in its figure.” If means could be found of giving
the outfide a whitenels equal to the internal part, glafs
veffels might thus be converted into a valuable kind
of porcelain, fuperior to all that have hitherto been
made. Chemidry, fays he, may receive from this
difcovery, in its prefent (late, fuch veffels as have been
long wanted ; veffels which, with the compa&n'efs
and impenetrability of glafs, are alfo free from its in¬
conveniences.
The common green glafs bottles yield a porcelain
of tolerable beauty ; window-glaffes, and drxnking-
glaffes, a much inferior one ; while the finer kinds
of crydalline glaffes afforded none at all. With re¬
gard to the cementing materials, he found white fand
and gypfum, or rather a mixture of both, to anfwer
bed. Coloured earths generally make the external
furface of a deeper or lighter brown colour ; foot and
charcoal, of a deep black, the internal part being al-
59,, ways white.-
Dr Lewis’s The account of this kind of porcelain given by Mr
experi- Reaumur, induced Dr Lewis, who had alfo obferved
aients. farne changes on the bottom of glafs-retorts ex-
Vo l. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 449
pofed to violent heat in a fand-bath, to make further ChcmiwS
experiments on this matter; an account of which he ®P®'’atI0r‘s‘
has publidied in his Philofophical Commerce of Arts. ' v
The refults of his experiments were, 1. Green glafs,
cemented with white fand, received no change in a
Jieat below ignition. 2. In a low red heat, the change
proceeded exceeding flowly ; and in a drong red heat,
approaching to white, the thicked pieces of glafs
bottles were thoroughly converted in the fpace of
three hours. 3. By continued heat, the glafs fuffered
the following progreflive changes: fird, its furface
became blue, its tranfparency was diminifhed, and a
yellowilh hue was obfervable when it was held between
the eye and the light. Afterwards it was changed a
little way on both fides into a white fuhdancf, exter¬
nally dill bluifh; and, as this change advanced dill
further and further within the glafs, the colour of the
vitreous part in the middle approached nearer to yel¬
low : the white coat was of a fine fibrous texture, and
the fibres were difpofed nearly parallel to one another,
and tranfverfe to the thicknefs of the piece': by de¬
grees the glafs became white and fibrous throughout,
the external bluifhnefs at the fame time going off, and
beinp fucceeded by a dull whitidi or dun colour. By
a dill longer continuance in the fire, the fibres were
changed gradually from the external to the internal
part, and converted into grains; and the texture was
then not unlike that of common porcelain. The grains,
at fird fine and fomewhat gloffy, became by degrees
larger and duller ; and at lad the fubdance of theglafs
became porous and friable, like a mafs of white fand
(lightly cohering. 4. Concerning the qualities of tbi's
kind of porcelain, Dr Lewis obferves, that, while it
remained in the fibrous date,, it was harder than com¬
mon glafs, and more able to refid the changes of heat
and cold than glafs, or even porcelain ; but, in a mo¬
derate white heat, was fufible into a fubdance not fi¬
brous, but vitreous and fmooth, like white enamel:
that when its texture had become coarfely granulated,
it was now much fofter and unfufible : and ladly, that
when fome coarfely granulated unfufible pieces, which,
with the continuance of a moderate heat, would have
become porous and friable, were fuddenly expofed to
an intenfe fire, they were rendered remarkably more
compaft than before; the folidity of fome of them
being fuperior to that of any other ware.
It feems furprifing that this able chemid, who on Tiiisfub-
other occafions had the improvements of the arts foje&
much at heart, did not put fome veffels of this kind imPcr^e<a*
of porcelain to other fevere trials, befides attempting
to fufe it by itfelf with a violent fire : for though
pieces of it were abfolutely unfufible, we are not fure
but they might have been corroded by alkaline falts,
acids, calcareous earths, or glafs of lead ; nay, it (hould
feem very probable that they would have been fo: in
which cafe they would not be much fuperior to the
veffels made from eaithy materials. When a fird-
rate chemid publifhes any thing in an imperfect date,
inferior ones are difeouraged from attempting to finifh
what he has begun ; and thus, notwithdanding that
thefe experiments have been fo long publidied, no¬
body has yet attempted to invedigate the properties
of this kind of porcelain, by getting chemical veffels
made of it, and trying how they anfwer for crucibles,
or retorts.
3 L
All
450 C H E M I
Chemical 1 All t’aat has been faid concerning the proper mate-
Opeiatioas. rjajs for crucJbles, muft likewife be applicable to the
materials for retorts, which are required to ftand a
very violent heat. Mr Reaumur’s porcelain bids faireft
for anfwering the purpofe of retorts, as well as cru¬
cibles. The great difadvantage of the common earthen
ones, is, that they fuffer a quantity of volatile and
penetrating vapours to pafs through them. This is
very obfervable in the diftillation of phofphorus ; and
though this fubftance has not hitherto been ufed for
any purpofe in medicine, and very little in the arts,
its acid only being fometimes ufed as a flux, if veffels
could be made capable of confining all the fleams, and
at the fame time bearing the heat neceflary for its di¬
ftillation, phofphorus, perhaps, might be obtained in
fuch quantity, as to fhow that it is a preparation not
■*95 [596] altogether ufelefs.
vXr?- With regard to ftone-ware veffels, and all thofe in
roded. which the compofition of fand or flint enters, we fhall
only further obferve, that they will be corroded by
fixed alkaline falls, efpecially of the cauflic kind, in a
very moderate heat. Dr Black, having evaporated
fome cauftic ley in a ftone-ware bafon, and then
melted the dry fait in the fame veflel, found it fo
597 corroded, as afterwards to be full of fmall holes ; and
Wtdge- be found nothing to refift the action of this fait fowell
wood’s as fj]ver> On the fubjeft of chemical veffels, we have
ware' now, however, to add the improved earthen ware of
Mr Wedgewood; in which the properties of compaft-
nefs, infufibility, and the power of refifling fudden
changes of heat and cold, are faid to be united, fo
that it promifes to be a very valuable addition to the
Mac era- chemical apparatus.
eion. n. Maceration, or Digestion. This is the
mixing two bodies, generally a folid and a fluid, toge¬
ther, and then expofing them to a moderate degree
of heat for a confiderable length of time, that fo they
may have the better opportunity of acting upon one
another. Digeftion is ufually performed in the glafles
already mentioned, called matrajfes or bolt-heads; and
is done in a fand heat. When any of the fubftances
are very volatile, as fpirit of wine; or when the matter
requires to be heated fo confiderably that a quantity of
vapour will be raifed, the necks of the bolt-heads
ought to be pretty long ; or a tin pipe may be infert-
ed, of fufficient length to prevent the efcape of any
599 . part of the fleam.
i.evjgauon. I 2. Levigation. This is the reducing any body
to a very fine powder, which fliall feel quite foft be¬
tween, the fingers or when put into the mouth. It
is performed by grinding the fubftance upon a flat
marble ftone, with fome water, or by rubbing it in a
marble mortar. In the large way, levigation is per¬
formed by mills drawn by horfes, or driven by water;
fome of them are fo fmall as to be turned by the hand.
They confift of two fmooth ftones, generally of black
marble, or fome other ftone equally hard, having fe-
veral grooves in each, but made to run in contrary di¬
rections to one another when, the mill is fet in mo¬
tion. The matter being mixed with water, is put in
by a funnel, which is fixed into a hole in the upper
ftone, and turns along with it. The under milftone
has round it a wooden ledge, whereby the levigating
matter is. confined for fome time, and at length difr
S T R Y. Theory,
charged, by an opening made for that purpofe, when Chemical
it has accumulated in a certain quantity. Fuimcei^
In this operation, when the matters to be levigated *
are very hard, they wear off a part of the mortar, or
ftones on which they are levigated; fo that a fub¬
ftance perfectly hard, and which could not be worn
by any attrition, is as great a defideratum for the
purpofes of levigation, as one which could not be
melted is for thofe of fufion. Dr Lewis propofes the
porcelain of Mr Reamur as an improvement for levi¬
gating planes, mortars, CsV. becaufe, while in its fi¬
brous ftate, it is confiderably harder than glafs, and
confequently much lefs liable to abrafion by the hard¬
er powders.
In many cafes levigation is very much accelerated
by what is called elutriation. This is the method by
which many of the painters colours are prepared off
the requifite finenefs; and is performed by mixing any
fubftance, not totally reduced to the neceffary degree
of finenefs, with a fufficient quantity of water, and
ftirring them well together. The finer parts of the
powder remain fome time fufpended in the water,
while the groffer particles fall to the bottom. The
reparation is then eafily made, by pouring off the wa¬
ter impregnated with thefe fine parts, and commits
ting the reft to the levigating mill, when it may a-
gain be waffied ; and this may be repeated till all the
powder is reduced to the utmoft finenefs. Subftances
foluble in water cannot be levigated in this manner.
Of Chemical Furnaces.
The two general divifions we have already men¬
tioned of thofe who praftife ehemiftry, namely, thofe
who have no other view than mere experiment, and
thofe who wifh to profit by it, render very different
kinds of furnaces neceffary. For the firft, thofe fur¬
naces are neceffary which are capable of acting upon
a fmall quantity of matter, yet fufficient for all the
changes which fire can produce, from Ample digeftion
to the moft perfect vitrification. For the others, thofe
are to be chofen which can produce the fame changes
upon very large quantities of matter, that as much
may be done at once as poffible. $0C)
To avoid the trouble and expence of a number of Portable
furnaces, a portable one hath long been a defideratum furnace,
among thofe chemifts who are fond of making expe¬
riments. One of the bell of thofe, if not the very
bell, that hath yet appeared, is that defcribed in
Shaw’s edition of Boerhaave’s chemiftry, and repre-
fented fig. i. CXXXIV
This furnace is made of earth; and, as the work- v*
manlhip of a furnace requires none of the neatnefs or
elegancewhich is required in making potters veffels,
any perfon may eafily make a furnace of this kind for
himfelf, who has time and patience for fo doing. With
regard to the moft.proper materials, all that we have
faid concerning crucibles and retorts muft be appli¬
cable to the materials for conftrufting a furnace.; only
here we need not eare fo much for the porofity, or
difpofition to crumble, as when crucibles or other dif-
tilling veffels are. to be made.
Plate-iron is commonly direfted for the outfide cf
portable furnaces; blit we cannot help thinking this >
is a very needlefs expence, feeing the coating which
Theory,
C H E M
Chemical it neceiTarily requires on tlie infide may be fuppofed
Furnace*. t0 harden to fuch a degree as foon to fupport itfelf,
without any afliilance from the plate-iron. This will
be the lefs neceflary, if we confider, that, for the
thicknefs of the walls of any furnace where a confide-
rable heat is wanted, two or three inches are by no
means fufficient. When the in Me of a furnace is
heated, the walls, if very thin, are foon penetrated
by the heat, and great part of it by this means diffi-
pated in the air. If they are of a fufficient thicknefs,-
the heat cannot penetrate fo eafily; and thus the inner
part of the furnace preferves the heat of the fuel, and
communicates it to the contained veffel. In the con¬
struction of a portable furnace, therefore, it will be
convenient to have all parts of it fix inches thick at
leall. This will alfo give it a 'fufficient degree of
ftrength; and, as it is formed of feveral different
pieces, no inconvenience can follow from the weight
of each o£.them taken feparately.
In Boerhaave’s chemiftry, this furnace is reprefent-
ed as narrower at the bottom than at the top } but we
cannot fuppofe any good reafon for fuch a form, fee¬
ing a cylindrical one muft anfwer every purpofe much
better, as allowing a larger quantity of air to pafs
through the fuel, and likewife not being fo apt to be
overturned as it necefifarily mud be where the upper
pat t is confiderably heavier than the lower. We have,
therefore, given a reprefentation of it as of a cylindri¬
cal form.
The furnace confifls of five or more parts. C, re-
prefents the dome, or top of the furnace, with a fhort
earthen funnel E for tranfmitting the fmoke. B, B, B,
are moveable cylinders of earth, each provided with
a door D, D, D. In Boerhaave’s chemiftry thefe doors
are reprefented as having iron hinges and latchets;
but they may be formed to more advantage of fquare
pieces of earth, having two holes in the middle, by
which they may be occafionally taken out, by intro¬
ducing an iron fork. In like manner, the domes and
cylinders, in Boerhaave’s chemiftry, are reprefented
with iron handles ; but they may be almoft as eafily
taken off by the cheaper contrivance of having four
holes in each, two direftly oppofite to one another,
into which two ffiort forks may be introduced when
the parts are to be feparated.
In the lowermoft cylinder is to be placed an iron-
grate, a little below the door, for fupporting the
fire. In the under part is a fmall hole, big enough
for introducing the pipe of a pair of good perpe¬
tual bellows, when the fire is to be violently excited.
Dr Lewis prefers the organ-bellows to any other kind.
When the bellows is ufed, the whole muft: Hand
upon a clofe cylinder A, that the air may be confined,
and made to pafs through the fuel. By having more
bellows, the fire may be excited to a moft intenie
degree. In this cafe, the pipe of every one of them
muft ent r the cylinder B.
Each ^of the cylinders ffiould have, in its upper part,
around hole, oppofite to its door, for carrying off
the fmo ke, by means of a pipe inferted into it, when
the furnace is ufed for diftillations by the fand-bath.
Each cylinder ought likewife to have a femicircular
cut in the oppofite fides, both above and below, that
when the under cut of the upper cylinder is brought
direftly above the upper cut of the lower one, a per-
I S T R Y. 45 r
fed! circle may be formed. Thefe are for giving a Chemical
paffage to the necks of retorts, when diftillation by Furnaces,J
the retort is to be performed. The holes may be ~v '
occafionally filled with ftopples made of the fame ma¬
terials with the body of the furnace.
The moft convenient fituation for a furnace of this
kind would be under a chimney; the vent of which
might be eafiiy {topped up by a broad plate of iron,
in which a hole ought to be cut for the reception of
the earthen' tube of the dome. By this means the
ufe of a long tube, which at any rate muft be very
troublefome, might be eafily avoided, and a very
ftrong blaft of air would pafs through the fuel. If it
is found convenient to place the furnace at fome di-
ftance from the chimney, a plate-iron pipe muft be
procured to fit the earthen pipe of the dome, and
carry the fmoke into the chimney. This pipe will
alfo be of ufe, jvhen the furnace is ufed tor ditlilla-
tions by the fand-bath ; it muft then be inferted into
the hole oppofite to the door of any of the cylinders,
and will convey away the fmoke, while the mouth of
the cylinder is totally covered with a fand-pot. Cor
For portable furnaces, Dr Lewis greatly recom-Dr Ijew‘s,,i
mends the large black crucibles, marked n° 60, onF^^jS
account of their refilling a violent heat, and being
very eafily cut by a knife or faw, fo that doors, 8cc.
may be formed in them at pleafure. The bottom
of one of thefe large ones being cut out, a grate is to
be put into the narrow part of it. For grates, the
dodlor recommends caft-iron rings, having each three
knobs around them. Thefe knobs go into correfpond-
ing cavities of the outer rings, and the knobs of the
outermoft reft on the crucible, which is fo be indented
a little to receive them, that fo the grate may reft
the more firmly, and the furnace not be endangered
from the dwelling of the iron by heat. When this
is to be made ufe of as a melting-furnace, and a Vio¬
lent heat to be excited, another crucible muft be in¬
verted on that which contains the fuel, which ferves
inftead of the dome of the laft mentioned furnace : and
as whatever is faid of it muft likewife be applicable
to the two crucibles when placed above one another,
we need give no farther defcription of the dodtor’s
portable furnace. ^oz
No doubt, the great experience of Dr Lewis in Ohjedlion
chemical matters muft give very confiderable weight10 their ul<s
to any thing he advances ; and the warmth with which
he recommends thefe furnaces muft convince us, that0466*
he has found them abundantly anfwer the purpofes of
experiments. We cannot help thinking, however,
that where a very great and lading heat is to be given,
the thinnefs, and even the form, of thefe crucibles, is
fome objedtion to their ufe. It is certain that fuch a
permanent, or, as the workmen call it, a folid heat,
can never be given where the walls of a furnace are
thin, as when they are of fufficient thicknefs. They
are alfo very apt to burft with great heat; and, for
this reafon. Dr Lewis defires his furnace to be
ftrengthened with copper hoops. This difpofition to
burft proceeds from the inner parts, which are more
intenfely heated than the outer, expanding more than
thefe do, and confequently burlting them. Hence
the dodtor defires his furnace to be ftrengthened alfo
by putting it within another crucible of a larger fize,
and the intermediate fpace to be tilled up with a mix-
3 L 2 ture
451 C H E M
Chemical ture of fiftcd afhes and water. For moft. chemical
Furnaces ^ procefFes, where only a fmall degree of heat is requi-
~'r" iite, theie furnaces anfwer beyond any thing that has
hitherto been attempted. The whole is to be fup*
ad 6oa ported by an iron ring with three feet.
Dr Black’s Dr Black has contrived a furnace tn which all thefe
Tribed ^e’^nconven‘ences are avoided. Two thick iron plates,
above and belovv, are joined by a thinner plate, forming
the body of the furnace, which is of an oval form.
The upper part is perforated with two holes 5 the one,
A, pretty large, which is the mouth of the furnace,
and which is of a circular form; the other behind it, B,
of an oval form, and defigned for faftening the end of
the vent which is fcrewed down upon it. The under-
moft thick plate has only one large circular opening
G near to the middle, but not altogether fo, being
nearer to one fide of the ellipfe than the other, where
the round hole in the top is placedfo that a linepaf-
iing this circular hole has a little obliquity forwards.
The afh-pit HH islikewifc made-of an elliptical form,
and a very fmall matter widened ; fo that the bottom
of the furnace is received within the ellipfe. ' A little
below, there is a border E that receives the bottom of
the furnace; and except the holes of the darnping-plate
DD, the parts are all clofed by means of foft lute,
upon which the body of the furnace is prelfed down ;
by.which means the joining of the two parts, and of
all the different pieces, are made quite tight ; for the
body, fire-place, aih-pit, vent, and grhte, are all fepa-
rable from one another. As the furnace comes from
the workman, the grate is made to apply to the out-
lide of the lower part. It confifts of a ring laid on its
edge, and then bars likewife laid on their edges : and
from vhe outer ring proceed four pieces of iron, by
means of which it m ay be fcrewed down ; fo it is kept
out of the cavity of the furnace, and preierved from
the extremity of the heat. Thus it lafts much longer,
and is indeed hardly liable to any decay ; for by be¬
ing expofed to the cool air, it is kept fo cool, that it
is never hurt by the heat of the fuel. The fides,
which are made of plate iron, muft be luted within,
to confine the heat, and preferve them from its aftion.
How'adap- To adapt this to the various operations of chemi-
ted to the ftry, we may obferve, that for a melting furnace it is
various o- very convenient; we need only provide a cover for the
yerations open;no above, which is made the door ; and which,
Itry. being rmmediately over the grate, is convenient
for introducing the fubftances to be a died upon, and
for allowing us to look into the veffel and take it out.
This cover may be a piece of tile, or two bricks ren¬
dered flat and fquare. Dr Black commonly ufes a
kind of lid with a rim containing a quantity of lute ;
and to augment the heat, we may increafe the height
of the vent. It can be employed in moll operations
in the way of effaying ; and the fituation of the door
allows us to fee the fubftances very readily. It does
not admit the introduftion of the muffle ; but can be
employed in all thofe operations where the muffle is
made ufe of; and in Cornwall in England fuch a fur¬
nace is made ufe of for effaying of metals. To pre¬
ferve the fubftance from the contadl of the fuel, they
cut off about a third part of the length of a brick,
and then put it on cne end on the middle of the gratfc.
They choofe their fuel of large pieces, that the air
may have free paffage through it, and open a little of
I S T It Y. Theory.
the door, which occaftons a ftream of air to flow in ; Chemical
and this ftrikes upon, the fubftance and produces the Purnace9\
effeft defired : fo that it may be ufed in the calcina- "v "
tion of lead to convert it into litharge. It alfo an-
fwers very Well in operations for producing vapour.
If we defire to employ it in diftillations which require
an intenfe heat, the earthen retort is to be fufpended
by means of an iron ring having three branches Hand¬
ing up from it, and which hangs down about half a
foot from the hole ; fo that the bottom of the retort
refts upon the ring, and is immediately hung over the
fuel: and the opening between the mouth of the fur-
nace and retort is filled up with broken crucibles and
potfherds, which are covered over with allies that
tranfmit the heat very flowly; fo it anfwers for di¬
ftillations performed with the naked fire. Dr Black
has fometimes caufed them be provided with a hole in
the fide, from which the neck of the retort maybe made
to come out; and in this way has diftilled the phof-
phorus of urine, which requires a very ftrong heat.
For diftillations with retorts performed with the fand-
bath, there is an iron pot fitted for the opening of the
furnace* which is fet on and employed as a fand-pot.
The vent of the furnace then becomes the door; and
it anfwers very well for that purpofe 5 and is more
eafily kept tight than if it were in the fide, and may
be kept clofe with a lid of charcoal and day. In like
manner it anfwers well for the common ftill, which may
be adapted to it; part of it being made to enter the
open part of the furnace, and hang over the fire, as in
Plate CXXXIII. fig. 7. and 8. that the bottom part of
that ftill may be made to enter; and the vent become^
the door, by which frdh fuel may be added. Indeed it is.
feldom neceffary to add frefh fuel during any operation.
In the ordinary diftillations it is never neceffary ; and
even in diftilling mercury, phofpborus, &c. it generally
contains enough to finifh the operation; fo effectually
is the heat prefenred from Ms or diffipation, and fo
very flow is the cohfumptiort of the fuel. 604
For lutitig this and other furnaces, the doctor finds I-ufing pro-
nothing preferable to a limple mixture of fand and
clay. The proportions for Handing the violence of
fire are four parts of fand to one of clay ; but when
defign'ed for the lining of furnaces, he ufes fix or feven
of fand to one of clay, the more effeftually to prevent
the contraction of the latter; for it is known from ex¬
periments, that clay, when expofed to a ftrong heat,
contracts the more in proportion to its purity. The
fand fettles into lefs bulk when wet, and does not
contraCt by heat, which it alfo refifts as well as the clay
itfelf.
Befides this outfide lining next the fire, Dr Black
ufes another to be laid on next the iron of the furnace ;
and this confifts of clay mixed with a large proportion
of charcoal duft. It is more fit for containing the
heat, and is put next to the iron, to the thicknefs of foj
an inch and a half. That it may be pretty dry when Method of
fir ft put in, he takes three parts by weight of theaPP:ylng
charcoal duft, and one of the common clay, which1 elute*
muft be mixed together when in dry powder, other-
wife it is very difficult to mix them perfeftly. As
much water is added as will form the matter into balls;
and thefe are beat very firm and compaft by means of
a hammer upon the infide of the furnace. The other
lute is then fpread over it to the thicknefs of about half
5 an
Theory. C H E M
Chemical an inch, and this is alfo beat folid by hammering ; af-
^ Furnaces. ter which it i^ allowed to dry flowly, that all cracks
~ fiflures may be avoided: and after the body of the
furnace is thus lined, the vent is fcrewed on and lined
in the fame manner. It muft then be allowed to dry
-for a long time ; after which a fire may be kindled,
and the furnace gradually heated for a day or two.
The fire is then to be railed to the greateft intenfity ;
and'thus the luting acquires a hardnefs equal to that of
free-ftone, and is afterwards as lafting as any part of
6oj the furnace (a).
Melting When furnaces are ufed in the large way, they are
furnace. always built of brick, and each particular, operation
has a furnace allotted for itfelf. The melting-furnace,
where very large quantities of matter are not to be
melted at once, requires only to be built of brick in
fuch a form as we have already defcribed; only, as it
would perhaps be troublefome to procure a dome of
the proper figure, the forepart of it may be left en¬
tirely open for the admiffion of melting velfels. The
opening may be clofed up with bricks and earth du¬
ring the operation. There is no necefiity for having
the infide of a circular form ; a fquare one will anfwer
the purpofe equally well. According to the author
of the Chemical Dictionary, when the internal diame-
Plate ter D C of fuch a furnace is 12 or 15 inches, the dia-
CXXXIV. ineter C)f the tube GI 8 or 9 inches, and its height 18
g‘ 2' or 20 feet, and when the furnace is well fuppiied with
fuel, an extreme heat is produced; in lefs than an hour
the furnace will be white and dazzling like the fun ;
its heat will be equal to the ftrongeft glafs-houfe fur¬
nace ; and in lefs than two hours will be melted what¬
ever is fufible in furnaces. The hottell part is at HF,
4 or 6 inches above the grate. A plate-iron tube may
be advantageoufly fuppiied by a fhort chimney of
bricks, built under a pretty high vent, fo as the whole
may eafily be flopped, except that pafi'age which
tranfmits the fmoke of the furnace. By this means
a very ftrong current of air will be made to pafs
606 through the fuel.
Mr Pott’s On this fubje£t Dr Black informs us, that Mr
furnace de- ^ott ^>er1-,n employs one almoft fimilar to the above,
fenbed. ^or rna'k'ng experiments on earthen ware ; by which he
Ihowed that many fubftances formerly reckoned infu-
fiible, might neverthelefs be melted by fire raifed to a
very intenfe degree ; and that feveral of thefe bodies,
when mixed together, form compounds which may be
melted without any difficulty. From this a tube arifes
toy to fome height, and there is an additional tube which
Reafons for may be put on to the height of above 1 o feet. The
making the fire-place is narrow below, but widens towards the
fire-place ofan(ij contra(cfs ajrain at top, for the fake of the
form. vends which are put into it, and which are wider at
top than at bottom. Thus the veffel is equally heat¬
ed, and there is room above for containing a quantity
of fuel, which defeends as fall as it is confumed. Dif¬
ferent reafons have been affigned for tins form : thus
Dr Boerhaave imagines that the melting furnace ffiould
be made of a parabolic form, -and Macquer that it
fhould be in the form of an ellipfe ; and that the cru¬
cible Ihould be placed in one of the foci, where they
I S T H Y. 453
imagined the heat would be concentrated; but it is Chemical
very plain, that the materials are fuch as are not ca- ,Furnace^
pable of reflecting the rays of heat in a regular man- v "
ner; and even though they could do fo, it would
be to no purpofe, becaufe the heat and light do
not come from any fingle point, but from a great
number, linking the furnace in all poffible direc¬
tions, and which mull confequently be refledttd in
diredtions as numerous. The furnace is made of iron
lined with clay; and as it is difficult to beat out the iron
into this roundilh form, it may as well be made cylin-A
drical; and it is eafy to give the infide what form we
pleafe by means of a luting of clay ; neither rieed the
dome have the roundilh form, but may be Amply made
conical. The vent Ihould be made about two-thirds of
the diameter of the furnace, or fuch as will give an
area of about one-half the grate. A fmall portable
furnace of this kind is very convenient for ordinary
crucibles ; the largell of which are only about four or
five inches high; the widell part of the furnace may
be beat out about 10 inches diameter; and when
made of thin plate iron, and lined within, are very
convenient, and may be heated at very little expence
of fuel. But for heating much larger veffels, it is pro¬
per to conllnift them of brick, when they have pretty
much the fame form; only it is neceffary to make them
fquare, and round on the infide with a luting of fand and
clay. The top' is generally made flat, and covered over
with two or three bricks; the vent goes a little back¬
wards, and then is raifed to a proper height. Where
the velfel to be heated is very large, it is common to
leave the front open for putting in the velfel; and then
to build it up with bricks, clay, and fand ; which can
be eafily pulled down again when the operation is over. 6qB
There are fome cafes in which it is neceffary to When bel-
have a rapidity of inflammation even beyond what thisiows :.lre
Furnace can give ; and in thefe we'have recourfe to bcl-neccfiaT’
lows of various conftru&ions, by which the air can be
compreffed, and made to enter the fuel with great ve¬
locity. Thefe again are fometimes wrought by wa¬
ter ; but there is another machine which produces a
greater effeft, viz. the <water-blaji, defcribed by Lewis
in his Commercium Philofoph. Technicum. fog
The eolipile too may be employed for driving air in- In what
to fuel. The effect of this has been confide red as
proof that air a&s by its 'elallicity in animating fuel,
as an elaftic fluid vapour from the eolipile produces the made ufc
fame effedt. But when we contrive to fend fleam in- of.
flead of air, the fame effedl is not produced ; and the
true manner in which this inflrument increafes the in¬
flammation is by driving air through' thl: fuel; the
fleam from the veffel fpreading and mixing with the air,
and driving it before it, makes it flrike upon the fuel.
Chemills have generally believed that a wide and
high afh-hole greatly increafes the power of a melting
furnace; but this advantage is found ta be merely ima¬
ginary, as well as that of introducing the air through
a long tube to the afh-hole; unlefs where the furnace
is placed in a clofe room, fo that it is neceffary to fur-
nifh a greater blafl of air than can otherwife have ac-
cefs-
For
(a) Thefe furnaces, of different fizes, from 30s. to 50s. price, may be purchafed from John Sibbald fmith in
Edinburgh; who has had the advantage of making them under the immediate infpection of Dr Black,
454 C H E M I
Chemical For the form of the furnaces necefiary sn eflaying
.Furnace*. ancl fmelting of ores or making glafs, fee Essaying,
' Glass, and Smelting.
Stills fand- When large ftills, fand-pots, &c. are to be fixed
pots, &c. with a.view to daily ufe, it is a matter of no fmall
iiow to let. confequence to have them put up in a proper manner.
The requifites here tire, I. That the whole force, of
the fire ftiould be fpent on the diftilling vefiel or fand
pot, except what is neceflarily imbibed by the walls of
the furnace. 2. That the veflel flrould be fet in fuch
a manner as that they may receive heat even from the
furnace walls; for a ftill which contains any liquid
can never be made fo hot as a piece of dry brick. 3. It
is abfolutely neceflary that the force of the fire be not
allowed to collect itfelf upon one particular part of
the .veflel; otherwife that part will foon be deltroyed.
4. The draught of air into furnaces of this kind ought
to be moderate; only fo much as will prevent fmoke.
If a ftrong blaft of air enters, not only a great part of
the heat will be wafted by going up the chimney, but
the outfide of the veflel will be calcined every time the
fire is kindled, and thus muft be foon rendered unfit
for ufe.
There are few of the common workmen that are
capable of building furnaces properly; and it is very
jiecefiary for a chemift to know when they are pro¬
perly done, and to make the workmen a£t according
to his dire&ions. As the ft ill, or whatever veflel is to
be fixed, muft have a fupport from the furnace on
which it is built, it is evident the ’whole of its furface
.cannot be expofed to the fire. For this reafon many
of thefe veflels have had only their bottom expofed to
the fire, no more fpace being left for the aftion of
the heat, than the mere circular area of the ftill bot¬
tom ; and the fire, paflingdire&ly through a hole in the
back part of the building, which communicated with
a chimney, and confequently had a ftrong draught,
Xcarce fpent any of its force on the ftill, but went fu-
rioufly up the chimney. By this means an extraordi¬
nary wafte of fuel was occafioned; and that part of
the ftill-bottom which was next the chimney receiving
the whole force of the flame, was foon deftroyed.
Attempts were made to remedy this inconvenience,
by putting the fire fomething forward, that it might
be at a greater diftance from the chimney, and con¬
fequently might not fpend its force in the air. This
too was found to avail very little. A contrivance was
then fallen upon to make the vent pafs round the body
of the ftill in a fpiralform. This was a confiderable
improvement; but had the inconvenience of making
the fire fpend itfelf ufelefsly on the walls of the fur¬
nace, and befides wafted that part of the ftill which
touched the under part of the vent. A much better
method is to build the back part of the furnace entirely
clofe, and make the fire come out through a long nar¬
row opening before ; after which it pafles out through
a flue in the back and upper part of the furnance into
the chimney.
The only inconvenience of this form is, that the
vent muft either be very wide, or it is apt to choak
up with foot, which laft is a very troublefome circum-
ftance. If the vent is made very wide, a prodigious
draught of air ruflres through the fuel, and increafes
the heat to fuch a degree as to calcine the metal of
which the ftill is made j and, on the other hand, no-
S T R Y. Theory.
thing can be more difagreeable than to have the vent Chemical
of a furnace flopped up with foot. Thefe inconve- furru“-es.
niences, however, are totally avoided by making two ^ v "
fmall vents, one on each fide of the diftilling veflel,
which may communicate with a chimney by means of
two tubes either of plate-iron or formed with clay
or bricks, which may be occafionally taken off if they
happen to be choaked up. The veflel is to be fu-
fpended by three trunnions, fo that the whole furface
may be exppfed to the fire, excepting a ring the thick-
nefs of a brick all round; fo that a very ftrong heat
will be communicated although the furnace draws but
little. The two fmall vents on each fide will draw the
flame equally; and by this means the moft equable
heat can be preferved, and may be puflred fo far as to
make the whole bottom and fides of the veffel intenfe-
ly red. Such a conftrudlion as this is more efpecially
ufeful for fand-pots, and thofe which are ufed for diftil¬
ling alkaline fpirits from bones.
In the ufe of the furnaces hitherto defcribed, the at¬
tendance of the operator is neceffary, both for infpec-
ting the proceffes, and for fupplying and animating
the fuel. There are fome operations, of a flower
kind, that require a gentle heat to be continued for
a length of time; which demand little attendance in
regard to the operations themfelves, and in which, of
confequence, it is extremely convenient to have the at¬
tendance in regard to the fire as much as pofiible dif-
penfed with. This end has been anfwered by the fur¬
nace called athanor i but the ufe of it has been found
attended with fome inconveniences, and it is now gene¬
rally laid afide. 611
Sundry attempts have been made for keeping up a Lamp-fur-
continued heat, with as little trouble as in the athanor,nacc*
by the flame of a lamp; but the common lamp-fur¬
naces have not anfwered fo well as could be wifhed.
The lamps require frequent fnuffing, and fmoke much;
and the foot accumulated on the bottom of the veffel
placed over them, is apt, at times, to fall down and
put out the flame. The largenefs of the wick, the
irregular fupply of oil from the refervoir by jets, and
the oil being fuffered to fink confiderably in the
lamp, fo that the upper part of the wick burns to a
coal, appeared to be the principal caufes of thefe in¬
conveniences ; which accordingly were found to be
in great meafure remedied by the following conftruc-
tion.
The lamp confifts of a brafs pipe 10 or 12 inches Fig. 8.
long, and about a quarter of an inch wide, inferted at
one end into the refervoir of the oil, and turned up at
the other to an elbow, like the bole of a tobacco-pipe,
the aperture of which is extended to the width of near
two inches. On this aperture is fitted a round plate,
having 5, 6, or 7 fmall holes, at equal diftances, round
its outer part, into which are inferted as many pipes
about an inch long: into thefe pipes are drawn threads
of cotton, all together not exceeding what in the com¬
mon lamps form one wick : by this divifion of the wick,
the flame expofes a larger furface to the action of the
air, the fuliginous matter is confumed and carried off,
and the lamp burns clear and vivid.
The refervoir is a cylindric veffel, eight or ten
inches wide, compofed of three parts, with a cover
on the top. The middle partition communicates,
by the lateral pipe, with the wicks} and lias an up¬
right
C 11 E M I s T RY.
Plate CXXW.
Theory. C H E M I
«Chemical right open pipe foldered into its bottom, whofe top
j f reaches as high as the level of the wick; fo that,
lu"—v ‘ when this part is charged with oil, till the oil rifes up
to the wicks in the other end of the lamp, any fur¬
ther addition of oil will run down through the up¬
right pipe into the lower divifion of the refervoir.
The upper divifion is defigned for fupplying oil to the
middle one; and, for that purpofe, is furnifhed with
a cock in the bottom, which is turned more or lefs,
by a key on the outfide, that the oil may drop fall
enough to fupply the confumption, or rather fafter, for
the overplus is of no inconvenience, being carried off
by the upright pipe ; fo that the oil is always, by this
means, kept exactly at the fame height in the lamp.
For common ufes, the middle divifion alone may be
made to fuffice ; for, on account of its width, the fink¬
ing of the oil will not be confiderable in feveral hours
burning. In either cafe, however, it is expedient to
renew the wicks every two or three days; oftener or
feldomer according as the oil is more or lefs foul; for
its impure matter, gradually left in the wicks, occa-
fions the flame to become more and more dull. For
the more convenient renewing of them, there (hould be
two of the perforated plates; that when one is removed,
another, with wicks fitted to it, may be ready to fup¬
ply its place.
One of the black-lead pots, recommended by Dr
Lewis for his portable furnace, makes a proper fur¬
nace for the lamp. If one is to be fitted up on pur¬
pofe for this ufe, it requires no other aperture than
Part. II. PR.
8 T II Y. 455
one in the bottom for admitting air, and one in the Chemical
fide for the introduction of the elbow of the lamp. Furnaces.^
The refervoir Hands on any convenient fupport with- *   v
out the furnace. The Hopper of the fide aperture
confifls of two pieces, that it may be conveniently put
in after the lamp is introduced; and has a round hole
at its bottom fitting the pipe of the lamp. By thefe
means, the furnace being fet upon a trevet or open
foot, the air enters only underneath, and fpreads
equally all round, without coming in Hreams, whence
the flame burns Heady. It is not advifable to attempt
raifing the heat higher than about the 450th degree of
Fahrenheit’s thermometer; a heat fomewhat more than
fufficient for keeping tin in perfeft fufion. Some have
propofed giving a much greater degree of heat in lamp-
furnaces, by ufing a number of large wicks; but when
the furnace is fo heated, the oil emits copious fumes*
and its whole quantity takes fire. The balneum, or
other veflel including the fubjeft-matters, is fupported
over the flame by an iron ring, as already defcribed in
the fand-bath and Hill: a bath is here particularly ne-
ceflary, as the fubjeCl would otherwife be very un¬
equally heated, only a fmall part of the veflel being ex-
pofed to'the flame. Since the new invention of Ar-
gand’s lamps, which perfectly confume the oil, at¬
tempts have been made to conftruCt lamp-furnaces orv
their principles; though, on the whole, it is to bs
doubted whether they are preferable to the above con*
ftruCtion or not.
C T I C E.
Sect. I. Salts.
§ 1. Of the Vitriolic ^cid, and its Combinations.
614 r 1 'HE vitriolic acid is never found pure, but always
Kever J. united with fome proportion, either of phlogifton
found pure. or metajijc anj earthy fubftances. Indeed there is
fcarce any kind of earth which does not contain fome
portion of this acid, and from which it may always
fome way or other be feparable. When pure, the vi¬
triolic acid appears in the form of a tranfparent co-
lourlefs liquor. By diftilling in a glafs retort, the a-
queous part arifes, and the liquor which is left becomes
gradually more and more ackh This operation is ge-
nerally called the rectification, or dephlegmation, of the
Rc&ifica- acid. After the diflillation has gone on for fome time,
tion- the water adheres more ftrongly to what remains in
the retort, and cannot be forced over without eleva¬
ting part qf the acid along with it. The remain¬
ing acid, being alfo exceedingly concentrated, begins
to lofe its fluidity, and puts on the appearance of a
clear oil. This is the ftate in which it is ufually fold,
and then goes by the name of oil of ‘ •vitriol. If the
diftillation is ftill farther continued, with a heat be¬
low 5oo° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the acid gra¬
dually lofes more and more of its fluidity, till at laft
it congeals in the cold, and becomes like ice. In this
Hate it is called the icy oil of vitriol. Such exceedingly
great concentration, however, is only praftifed on this
acid for curiofity. If the heat be fuddenly raifed to
6oq°, the whole .of the acid rifes, and generally cracks
the receiver. Clear oil of vitriol is immediately turn*
ed black by an admixture of the fmalleft portion of in¬
flammable matter. 6r^.
The icy oil of vitriol, and even that commonly foId,.Attra<ft3
attra&s the moifture of the air with very great force, moiflure
Newmann relates, that having expofedan ounce of thisfrora t*ie
acid to the air, from September 1736 to September air*
1737, at the end of the twelvemonth it weighed fe-
ven ounces and two drachms; and thus had attrafted
from the air above fix times its own weight of moi¬
fture. This quantity, however, feems extraordi¬
nary; and it is probable, that in fo long a time fome
water had been accidentally mixed with it; for Dr
Gould, profeflbr at Oxford, who feems to have tried
this matter fully, relates, that thrfee drachms of oil of
vitriol acquired, in 57 days, an increafe only of fix
drachms and an half. The acid was expofed in a
glafs of three inches diameter ; the increafe of weight
the firft day was upwards-of one drachm ; in the fol¬
lowing days lefs and lefs, till, on the fifty-fixth, it
fcarce amounted to half a grain. The liquor, when
faturated with humidity, retained or loft part of its
acquired weight according as the atmofphere was in
a moift or dry Hate ; and this difference was fo fen-
fible as to afford an accurate- hygrometer. Hoffman
having expofed an ounce and two fcruples in an open
glafs diih, it gained feven drachms and a fcruple in
14 days. _ . . . 6rr
This acid, when mixed with a large quantity ofProdudlive
water, makes the temperature fomething colder than both of cold
before ; but if the acid bears any confiderable proper-anc* ^eul'
tion
45^
Vitriolic A-
616 '
Quantity oi
a kali fatu-
rated by it.
617
EfFedls on
the human
body.
618
Difficulty
of procu-
rinfl; it by
itfelf.
619
Pyrites,
where
found.
C H E M
tion to the water, a great heat is produced, fo as to
make the veffel infupportable to the hand ; and there¬
fore fuch mixtures ought very cautioufly, or rather
not at all, to be made in glafs veffels, but in the com¬
mon ftone-bottles, or leaden veflels, which are not apt
to be corroded by this acid. The greateft heat is pro¬
duced by equal parts of acid and water.
Though the vitriolic acid unites itfelf very ftrongly
with alkalies, both fixed and volatile, it does not fa-
turate near fo much of the latter as of the former. A
pound of oil cf vitriol will faturate two of the com¬
mon fixed alkali, but fcarce one of volatile alkali. The
fpecific gravity of good oihof vitriol is to water as t 7
to 8.
If the concentrated acid is applied {lightly and fu-
perficially to the Hein of a living animal, it raifes a
violent burning heat and pain ; but a larger quantity
preffed on, fo as to prevent the ingrefs of aerial moi-
fture, occafions little pain or erofion. If diluted with
a little water, it proves corrofive in either cafe. Large¬
ly diluted with water, this acid is employed medicinal¬
ly for checking putrefaflion, abating heat, and quench¬
ing thirft ; in debilities of the ftomach, and heart¬
burn. To perfons of weak and unfound lungs, to wo¬
men who give fuck, to hydropic or emaciated perfons,
it is injurious. Some recommend it as a collyrium
for fore eyes ; but as it coagulates the animal juices,
corroding and indurating the folids, it feems very un¬
fit for being applied to that tender organ.
I S T R Y.
Praftice.
metal; and hence they are called braJJ'ss by the work-Vitriolic a/
men. A very large quantity of thefe is collected, and * l
fpread out upon a bed of {tiff clay to the depth of three t;ons. " t
feet. After being fome time ex^ofed to the air, the s
uppermott ones lofe their metallic appearance, fplit,
and fall to powder.' The heaps are then turned, the
under part uppermeft, fo as to expofe frefii pyrites to
the air. When they are all reduced to powder, which
generally requires three years, the liquor, which is
formed by the rain-water running ifrom fuch a large
mafs, becomes very acid, and has likewife a ilyptic
vitriolic tafte. It is now conveyed into large cifterns
lined with clay, whence it is pumped into a very large
flat veffel made of lead. This veffel, which contains
about 15 or 20 tons of liquor, is fupported by call-iron
plates about an inch thick, between which and the
lead a bed of clay is interpofed. The whole refts
upon narrow arches of brick, under which the fire is
placed. Alongit with the liquor, about half a ton or
more of old iron is put into the evaporating veffel.
The liquor, which is very far from being faturated
with acid, afts upon the iron, and, by repeated filling
up as it evaporates, diffolves the whole quantity. By
the time this quantity" is diffolved, a pellicle is formed
on the furface. The fire is then put out; and as fuch
a prodigious quantity of liquor does not admit of filtra¬
tion, it is left to fettle for a whole day, and then is
let off by a cock placed a little above the bottom of
the evaporating veffel, fo as to allow the impurities to
The vitriolic acid is fo much ufed in different arts remain behind. It is conveyed by wooden fpouts ta
and manufactures, that the making of it has become
trade by itfelf; and the procuring it in plenty, and at
a large leaden ciftern, five or fix feet deep, funk in the
ground, and which is capable ,of containing the whole
a cheap rate, would be a veiy advantageous piece of quantity of liquor. Here the copperas cryftalliz«
knowledge to any perfon who could put it in practice.
This, however, is very far from being eafily done ;
for though it exifts in almoft every mineral fubftance,
the attraction kbetwixt this acid and the bafes with
which it unites, is found to be fo ftrong, that we can
only decompofe fuch combinations by prefenting ano¬
ther fubftance to the acid, to which it has a greater
attraction than that one wherewith it is joined. Thus
the firft combination is indeed diffolved, but we have
another from which it is equally difficult to extricate
the acid by itfelf. Thus, if we want to difengage the
vitriolic acid from any metallic fubftance, fiippofe iron,
this may be eafily done by throwing a calcareous earth
into afolution of green vitriol. We have now a com
on the fides, and on ftxcks put into , the liquor. The
cryftalli/.ation ufually takes up three weeks. The
liquor is then pumped back into the evaporating vef¬
fel ; more iron, and frefti liquor from the pyrites,
are added; and a new folution takes place.
Copperas is ufed, in dyeing, for procuring a black
colour; and is an ingredient in making .common ink.
It is alfo ufed in medicine as a corroborant, under the
name of fait of feel; but before it is ufed with this
intention, it is rediffolved in water, and cryftallized,
with the addition of a little pure oil of vitriol. Whe¬
ther it is at all mended by this fuppofed purification,
either in appearance or quality, is very doubtful.
This procefs furniihes us firft with a very impure
pound of vitriolic acid,with the calcareous earth, which vitriolic acid, which could not be applied to any ufeful
is known by the name of gyffum or felenites. If we
want to decompofe this, we muft apply a volatile or
a fixed alkali; and the refult of this will conftantly be
a new combination, which we are as unable to decom¬
pofe, and indeed more fo, than the firft. There are
two general methods which have been in ufe for pro¬
curing the vitriolic acid in fuch quantity as to fupply
the demands of trade. The one is from pyrites, and
the other from fulphur.
I. From Pyrites, with the making of Copperas, and
obtaining the pure Oil of Vitriol from it.
Pyrites are found in large quantity in the coal-mines
of England, where moft of the copperas is made.
They are very hard and heavy fubftanees, having
purpofe ; afterwards with an imperfect neutral fait,
called green vitriol, which is applicable to feveral pur-
pofes where the pure acid itfelf could not be ufed ;
but itill the acid by itfelf is not to be had without a
very troublefome operation. 6ro
Though this acid adheres very ftrongly to iron, it is Diftiilation
capable of being expelled from it by fire; yet not
without a very violent and long-continued one. If copperas,
we attempt to diftil green vitriol in a retort, it fwells "
and boils in fuch a manner by the great quantity of
water contained * in its cryftals, that the retort will al¬
moft certainly crack; and though it ffiould not, the fait
would be changed into an hard ftony mafs, which the
fire could never fufficiently penetrate fo as to extri¬
cate the acid. It muft ; therefore be calcined previous
to the diftillation. This is heft done in flat iron-pans.
kind of braffy appearance, as if they contained that fet over a moderate fire. The fait undergoes the v
N° 72. teiy
Praaice. C H E M
Vitriolic A* tery-'fufion, (Sec Fusion); after which it becomes
Combfna* 0PaSue an<^ wh*te* By a continuanae of the fire, it be*
lions. comes brown, yellow, and at lall red: For the pur-
pofes of diilillation, it may be taken out as foon as it
has recovered its folidity.
The dry vitriol, being now reduced to powder, is to
be put into an earthen retort, or rather long neck
(a kind of retort where the neck iffues laterally, that
the vapours may have little way to afcend), which it
may nearly fill. This retort muft be placed in a fur¬
nace capable of giving a very firong heat, fuch as the
melting furnace we have already defcribfed. A large
receiver is to be fitted on ; and a fmall fire made in
the' furnace, to heat the veffels gradually. White
fumes will foon come over into the receiver, which
will make the upper part warm. The fire is to be
kept of an equal degree of ftrength, till the fumes be¬
gin to difappear, and the receiver grows cool. It is
then to be increafed by degrees; and the acid will be¬
come gradually more and more difficult to be railed,
till at laft it requires an extreme red, or even white,
heat. When nothing more will come over, the fire
muft: be fuffered to go out, the receiver be unluted, and
its contents poured into a bottle fixed with a glafs
ftopper. A fulphureous and fuffocating fume will
6aI come from the liquor, which muft be carefully avoided.
Preferva- In the retort, a fine red powder will remain, which is
lives of ufed in painting, and is called eohothar vitriol. It
wo° ' is ufeful on account of its durability; and, when
mixed with tar, has been employed as a prefervative
of wood from rottitig ; but Dr Lewis prefers finely
powdered pit-coal. As a prefervative for mails of
{hips, he. recommends a mixture of tar and lamp¬
black; concerning which he relates the following anec¬
dote.
“ I have been favoured by a gentleman on board of
a vefiel in the Eaft Indies, with an account of a violent
thunder-ftorm, by which the main-mail wras greatly da*
maged, and whofe effedls on the different parts of the
mall were pretty remarkable. All the parts which
were greafed or Covered with turpentine were burft in
pieces : thofe above, between, and below the greafed
parts, as alfo the yard-arms, the round-top or fcaffold-
mg, coated with tar and lamp-black, remained un¬
hurt.”
Oil of vitriol, when diftilled in this manner, is al¬
ways of a black colour, and muft therefore be redli-
fied by diftillation in a glafs retort. When the acid
has attained a proper degree of ftrength, the black-
nefs either Hies off, or feparates and falls to the bot¬
tom, and the liquor becomes clear. The diftilljftion
is then to be difeontinued, and the clear acid which is
left in the retort kept for ufe.
This was the firft method by which the vitriolic
acid was obtained; and from its being diftilled from
vitriol has ever fince retained the name of oil ef 'vitriol.
Green vitriol is the only fubftance from which it is
practicable to draw this acid by diftillation ; when
combined with • calcareous earths, or even copper
(though to this laft it has a weaker attraction than to
iron), it refills the fire moft’obllinately. When diftil¬
lation from vitriol was'praClifed, large furnaces were
erefted for that purpofe, capable-of containing an
hundred long necks at once-: but as it has been difeo-
veie’d to be more Cafily procurable from fulphur, this
‘Voi. IV -'Part II.
I S T R Y.
rhethod has "been laid afide, and it
deferibe thefe furnaces.
621
Reitifka-
tion.
457
no\V needlefs to V'Onol'v A-
cid and its
Combioa*
II. To procure the Vitriolic Acid from Sulphur. tions-
This fubftanCe contains the vitriolic acid in fuch
plenty, that every pound of fulphur, ^cording to Mr f
Kirwan’s calculation, contains more than one-half of add in fid-
pure acid; which being in a ftate perfedlly dry, igphur.
confequently of a ftrength far beyond that of the moft
highly rectified oil of vitriol. Common oil of
requires to be diftilled to one-fourth of its quantity be¬
fore it will coagulate when cold ; and even in this ftate
it undoubtedly contains fome water. No method,
however, has as yet been fallen upon to condenfe all
the fteams of burning fulphur, at leaft in the large
way, nor is any other profitable way of decompofing*Quantfty.
fulphur known than that by burning ; and in this way produced
the moft fuccefsful operators have never obtained more fi°m it-
than 14 ounces of oil from a pound of fulphur. 625
The difficulties here are, that fulphur cannot be Methods o£
burnt but in an open veil'd; and the ftream of air,otlv,atiaS
which is admitted to make it burn, alio carries off the f,1, ^{$
acid which is emitted in the form of fmoke. Toproteft.
avoid this, a method was contrived of bi't-ning fulphur
in large glafs globes, capable of contaiining an hogf-
head or more. The fume of the burning fulphur was
then allowed to circulate till i^condenfed into an acid
liquor. A greater difficulty, however, occurs here ;
for though the fulphur burns very well, its fteams will
never condenfe. It has been faid, that the condepfa-
tion is promoted by keeping fome warm water conti*
nually fmoking in the bottom of the globe; and even
Dr Lewis has afferted this: but the ileam of warm
water immediately extinguiihes fulphur, as we have
often experienced ; neither does the fume of burning
fulphur feetn at all inclinable to join with water, even
when forced into contact with it. As it arifes from
the fulphur, it contains a quantity of phlogifton, which
in a great meafure keeps it from uniting with water;
and the defideratum is not fomething to make the ful*
phiir burn freely, but to deprive, the fumes of the
phlogifton they contain, and render them mifcible with
, «rater. For this purpofe nitre has been advantage-
oufly ufed. This confumes a very large quantity of
the phlogifton contained in fulphur, and renders the
acid eafily condenfible : but it is plain that few of the <
fumes, comparatively fpeaking, are thus deprived of
the inflammable principle ; for the veffel in which the
fulphur and nitre are burnt, remains filled with a vo¬
latile and moft fuffocating fume, which extingujflieS
flame, and iffues in fuch quantity as to render it high¬
ly dangerous to ftay near the place. It has been
thought that nitre contributes to the burning of the
fulphur in clofe veffels; but this too is a miftake.
More fulphur may be burnt in an oil of vitriol globe
without nitre than with it, as we have often experien¬
ced ; for the acid of the fulphur unites with the alkaline
bafis of the nitre, and forms therewith an uninflam¬
mable compound, which foon extinguifhes the flame,
and even prevents a part of the fulphur from being
burnt either at. that time or any other. ^
In the condenfalion of the fumes of fulphur by means Effervef-
cf nitre, a remarkable effervefcence happens, i\ hich cence be-
naturally leads us to think that the condenfation is'^6" t^e
produced by fome ftruggle between the vitriolic and "liphureous
3 M nitrous fumes.
45§
CHEMISTRY.
Practice,
VitiioHc A-nitrous acids.—Dr Lewis is of opinion, that the acid method is made ufe of, fome more alkali muil be added Vitriolic A-
Cid and its t}uls obtained is perfeftly free from an admixture of when it is fet to evaporate, for this fait cryftallizes bell a;4 Its
.v...   . u.... .—*— —■ m an alkaline liquor. tjong
Other methods, befides that above delcribed, have y
been recommended for preparing vitriolated tartar;
particularly that of uling green vitriol inltead of the 629 [ 630 ]
pure vitriolic acid. In this cafe the vitriol is decom- different
pofed by the fixed alkali: but as the alkali itfelf dif-
folves the calx of iron after it is precipitated, it is next vknokt'^l
to impoffible to procure a pure fait by fuch a procefs ; tartar,
neither is there occafion to be folieitous about the pre¬
paration of this fa.lt: by itfelf, as the materials for it are
kft in greater quantity than will ever be demanded, af¬
ter the dillillation of fpirit of nitre. 63*
Vitriolated tartar is employed in medicine as a Ufes.
purgative ; but is not at all fuperior to other falls
which are more eafily prepared in a cryllalline form.
It is very difficultly foluble in water, from which pro¬
ceeds the difficulty of cryftallizing it: for if the
acid and alkali are not very much diluted, the fait
will be precipitated in powder, during the time of fa¬
in greater proportions, turation.—It is very difficult of fuilon, requiring a
. ftrong red heat; but, notwithftanding its fixednefs in
a violent lire, it arifes with the fteam of boiling water
in fuch a manner as to be almoft totally diffipated along-
with it by Itrang boiling.—This fait has been ufed in,
making glafs; but with little fuccefs, as the glafs
wherein it is an ingredient always proves very brittle and
apt to crack of itfelf.
If, inftead of the vegetable fixed alkali, the vitriolic Glauber’s
acid is faturated with the foffile one called the fait of^-
Soda, a kind of neutral fait will be produced, having
very different properties from the vitriolated tartar..
This compound is called Glauber’s fait. It diflblves.
eafily in water, Ihoots into long and beautiful cryftals,.
which contain a large quantity of water, in confe
quence of which they undergo the aqueous fulion-
when expofed to heat. They are alfo more eafily fu-
fible than vitriolated tartar.—This kind of fait wasfor-
627
. Lead vef-
fels,
the nitrous acid : but in this he is certainly miftaken
for, on reftifying the acid produced by fulphur and
nitre, the firlt fumes that come over are red, after
which they change their colour to white. How the ni¬
trous acid Ihould exill in the liquor, indeed, does not ap¬
pear ; for this acid is totally dellruftible by deflagra¬
tion with charcoal: but it does not follow, that be-
the nitrous acid is deitroyed when deflagrated
with charcoal, it mull likewife be fo if dephlagrated
with fulphur. Indeed it certainly is not; for the
clyffus of nitre made with fulphur is very different from
that made with charcoal.
The proportions of nitre to the fulphur, ufed in the
large oil of vitriol works, are not known, every thing
being kept as fecret as poffible by the proprietors. Dr
Lewis reckons about fix pounds of nitre to an hun¬
dred weight of fulphur; but from fuch experiments as
we have made, this appears by far too little. An ounce
and an half, or two ounces, may be advantageoufly
ufed to a pound of fulphi
nitre feems prejudicial.
A very gt t improvement in the apparatus for
l* making oil of vitriol, lies in the ufing lead veffels in-
provemenu neacj 0f gjafs gfobeg. The globes are fo apt to be
broken by accident, or by the aflion of the acid upon
them, that common prudence would fugged the ufe
of lead to thofe who intend to prepare any quantity
of vitriolic acid, as it is known to have fo little effefl
upon the metal. The leaden veffels, according to the
bed accounts we have been able to procure, are cubes
of about three feet, having on one fide a door about
fix inches wide. The mixture of fulphur and nitre
is placed in the hollow of the cube, in an earthen fau-
cer, fet on a dand made of the fame materials. The
quantity which can be confumed at once in fuch a
veffel is about two ounces. To prevent the remains
from llicking to the faucer, it is laid on a fquare bit
of brown paper. The fulphur being kindled, the
door is to be clofe ffiut, and the whole let alone for
two hours. In that time the fumes will be condenfed.
The door is then to be opened ; and the operator mud
immediately retire, to efcape the fuffocating fumes
which iffue from the veffel. It will be an hour before
he can fafely return, and introduce another quantity
of materials, which are to be treated preeifely in the
fame manner.
Where oil of vitriol is made in large quantities, the
merly much recommended as a purgative, and fromits-
manifold virtues was intitled by its inventor fal mira~
bile. It is, however, found to poffefs no virtue diffe¬
rent from that of other purgative falls; and its ufe is,
in many places, entirely fuperfeded' by a fait prepared
from the bittern, or liquor which remains after the cry-
dallization of fea-falt, which ffiall be afterwards de-
feribed.
II. With volatile alkali. Take any quantity of vo- Glauber’s
latile alkaline fpirit; that prepared with quicklimefecret faIt
fiownefs of the operation requires a great number of is preferable to the other, on account of its railingaminon‘ac‘'
globes, and condant attendance day and night. Hence no effervefcence. Drop into this liquor, contained
in a bottle, diluted oil of vitriol, lhaking the bottle
after eveiy addition. The faturation is; known to.
be complete by the volatile fmell, of the alkali being
entirely dedroyed. When this happens, fome more
of the fpirit mud be added, that the alkali may
predominate a little, becaufe the excefs will dy off
during the evaporation. The liquor, on being fil¬
tered and evaporated, will ffioot into fine fibrous
plates like feathers. This fait, when newly pre¬
pared, has a fulphureous fmell, and a penetrating
the making of this acid is very expenfive : The appa¬
ratus for a large work ufually cods L. 1500.
. Vitriolic Acid combined,
Vitfiofated With Fixed Alkali. Dilute a pound of oil of vi¬
ta; tar. triol with ten times its quantity of water ; diffolve alfo
two pounds of fixed alkaline fait in ten pounds of wa¬
ter, and filter the folution. Drop the alkali into the
acid as long as any effervefcence arifes ; managing
matters fo that the acid may prevail. The liquor will
now be a folution of the neutral fait called vitriolated pungent tade. It readily diffolves in water, and in-
tartar, which may be procured in a dry form, either ereafes the coldnefs of the liquor; on danding for a
by txficcation or ayftallization. In cafe the •latter little time, it. begins to feparate from the water, and
3 v*S?>
Practice. C H E M
Vitriolic A-vegetate, or arife in efflorefcences up the fides of the
cia and its glafs. Jt eafily melts in the fire ; penetrates the com*
tio” ina" mon cruci^'es * an<i if fublimed in glafs veffels, which
., t - requires a very confiderable heat, it always becomes a*
cid, however exactly the faturation was performed.
This fait has been dignified with the names of Glau¬
ber’’s fecret fal ammoniac, or pbilofophlc fal ammoniac, from
the high opinion which fome chemifts have entertained
of its activity upon metals : but from Mr Pott’s expe¬
riments, it appears, that its effe&s have been greatly ex-
aggerated. It diffolves or corrodes in fome degree all
thofe metals which oil of vitriol diffolves, but has no
effect upon thofe on which that acid does not act by
634 itfelf.
Properties Gold is not touched in the leaft, either by the fait
the falts.]n fu(][on} or by a folution of it: the fait added to a
folution of gold in aqua-regia occafions no precipita¬
tion or change of colour. On melting the falts with
inflammable matters, it forms a fulphureous compound,
which diffolves gold in fufion, in the fame manner as
compofitions of fulphur and fixed alkaline fait. Melt¬
ed with filver, it corrodes it into a white calx, which
partially diffolves in water : it likewife precipitates fil¬
ver from its folution in aquafortis. It a<ffs more pow¬
erfully on copper; elevates a part of the metal in fub-
limation, fo as to acquire a bluifh colour on the fur-
face ; and renders the greateft part of the refiduum fo-
luble in water. This folution appears colourlefs, fo
that it cotild not be fuppofed to hold any copper; but
readily difcovers that it abounds with that metal, by
the blue colour it .acquires on an addition of volatile
alkali, and the green calx which fixed alkalies precipi¬
tate. In evaporation it becomes green without addi¬
tion. Iron is corroded by this fait irf fufion, and dif-
folved by boiling in a folution of it. Zinc diffolves
more freely and more plentifully. Lead unites with
it, but does not become foluble in water. Tin is cor¬
roded, and a part of the calx is foluble in boiling wa¬
ter. Of regulus of antimony alfo a fmall portion is
made foluble. Alkalies precipitate from the folution
a bluifli powder. Calcined bifmuth-ore treated with
its equal weight of the fait, partly diffolved in water
into a pale red liquor, which became green from heat,
in the fame manner as tinftures made from that ore by
aqua-regia. The undiffolved part yielded Hill, with
frit, a blue glafs. On treating manganefe in the fame
manner, aluminous cryftals were obtained: the un¬
diffolved part of the manganefe gave ft ill a violet colour
to glafs.
XU. With Calcareous Earth. This combination
^ m’ may be made by faturating diluted oil of vitriol
with chalk in fine powder. The mixture ought to
be made in a glafs; the chalk muft be mixed with
a pretty large quantity of water, and the acid drop¬
ped into it. The glafs muft be well fhaken after
every addition, and the mixture ought rather to be
over faturated with acid; becaufe the fuperfluous
quantity, may afterwards be waftied off; the felenite, as
it is called, or gypfum, having very little folubility in
water.
This combination of vitriolic acid with chalk or cal¬
careous earth, is found naturally in fuch plenty, that
it is feldomor never made, unlefsfor .experiment’s fake,
or by accident. Mr Pott indeed fays, that he found
I S T R Y. 459
fome flight differences between the natural and artifi- Vitiiolx A-
cial gypfum, but that the former had all the effentialT^ a!1-1 lt3
r , , Combina-
properties or the latter. tjijng
The natural gypfums are found in hard, femitran- • — <
fparent maffes, commonly called alalajler, or plajler of
Paris. (See Alabaster, Gypsum, and Plaster.)
By expofure to a moderate heat, they become opaque,
and very friable. If they are now reduced to fine
powder, and mixed with water, they may be caft in¬
to moulds of any ftiape : they very foon harden with¬
out ftuinking ; and are the materials whereof the com¬
mon white images are made. This property belongs
likewife to the artificial gypfum, if moderately calcined.
Mr Beaume has obferved, that gypfum may be dif- Beaume’s
folved in fome meafure by acids ; but is afterwards fe-ohferva-
parable by cryftallization in the fame ftate in which itt:on3-
was before folution, without retaining any part of the
acids. This compound, if long expofed to a pretty
ftrong heat, lofes great part of its acid, and is con¬
verted into quicklime. In glafs veffels it gives over
no acid with the moft violent fire. It may be fufed
by fuddenly applying a very intenfe heat. With clay
it foon melts, as we have obferved when fpeaking of
the materials for making crucibles. A like fufion takes
place when pure calcareous earth is mixed with clay ;
but gypfum bubbles and fwells much more in fufxon
with clay than calcareous earth.
From natural gypfum we fee that vitriolated tartar
may be made, in a manner fimilar to its preparation
from green vitriol. If fixed alkaline fait is boile^l with
any quantity of gypfum, the earth of the latter will be
precipitated, and the acid united with the alkali. If
a mild volatile alkali is poured on gypfum contained in
a glafs, and the mixture frequently fhaken, the gyp¬
fum will in like manner be decompofed, and a philofo-
phic fal ammoniac will be formed. With the cauftic vo¬
latile alkali, or that made with quicklime, no decom-
pofition enfues.
. IV. With Argillaceous Earth. The produce of Alum of
this combination is the aftringent fait called alum, the ancient*
much ufed in dyeing and other arts. It has its^^ouri
name from the Latin word alumen, called arvxroptx
by the Greeks; though by thefe words the ancients
expreffed a ftalaftitic fubftance containing very little
alum, and that entirely enveloped in a vitriolic mat¬
ter. The alum ufed at prefent was firft difeovered
in the oriental parts of the world ; though we know
not when, or on what occafion. One of the moft an- whence the
cient alum-works of which we have any account was name of
that of Roccho, now Edeffa, a city of Syria: and from rock alum
this city was derived the appellation of Roch-alum; an!S derived,
expreffion fo little underftood by the generality, that it
has been fuppofed to fignify rock alum. From this, and
fome works in the neighbourhood of Conftantinople, as
well as at Phocaea Nova, now Foya Nova, near Smyr¬
na, the Italians were fupplied till the middle of the
15th century, when they began to fet up works of a
fimilar kind in their own country. The firft Italian A]un^
alum-work was eftablifhed about 1459 by Bartholo-worifS fet
mew Perdix, or Pernix, a Genoefe merchant, who had up in Italy,
difeovered the proper matrix, or ore of alum, in the
ifland of Ifchia. Soon after the fame material was
difeovered at Tolfa by John de Caftro, who had vifit-
ed the alum manufaftories at Conftantinople. Ha-
3 M 2 ving
4<5o
CHEMISTRY.
Vitriolic A- v[ng obferved the ilex pquilifolium to grow in the neigh-
cul and ns bourhood of the 'rurkilh manufactories, and finding
tioiw'1Ua" t^e fame near Tolfa, he concluded that the materials
>■ for alum were to be found there alfo; and was quickly
confirmed in his fufpicions by the tafte of the ftonea in
the neighbourhood. Thefe alum-works profpered ex¬
ceedingly, and their fuccefs was augmented by an edi£t
of Pope Pius II. prohibiting the ui’e of foreign alum.
In the 16th century an alum nianufaftory was erec¬
ted at Alamaron, in the neighbourhood of Carthagena,
where it ftill continues. Several others were erefted in
Germany; and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth one
was erected in England by Thomas Chaloner. The
preparation of this fait was aot known in Sweden till
the iyth century.
The component principles of this fait were long un¬
known ; but at laft Meffrs Boulduc and Geoffroy dif-
covered, that it confided of argillaceous earth fuperfa-
I turated with vitriolic acid. This is confirmed by the
due and experiments of other chemifts. It is found to redden
Geuflfoy. the tincture and paper of turnfole ; and on taking away
g4a the fuperabundant acid, it lofes its folubility and all
Miftake of the other properties of alum. Mr Morveau, indeed,
Morveau wjU not admit of a fuperabundance of acid in alum,
Mf6 Khr ^ which he thinks would neceffarily be feparated by
W3n> ’ ' edulcoration and cryflallization ; and he is of opinion
with Mr Kirwan, that the turning vegetable juices red
is not any unequivocal fign of the prefence of an acid.
In the prefent cafe, however, we certainly know that
there is a fuperabundance of acid, and that a certain
portion of the vitriolic acid adheres to the clay lefs te-
Alum'de- nacioufiy than the remainder. If we put a piece of
640
In Spain,
England,
and Sw
den.
64«
Its compO'
firft dlfco-
vered by
Meff. Boul- '
prived o
its fbper-
fluous acid
inf' luble il
water.
into a folution of alum, it will attract this portion
of acid; and the vitriolated clay, when deprived of the
fuperfluous quantity, will fall down to the bottom in an
infoiuble powder.
Alum in its ordinary ftate contains a confiderable
quantity of water, and cryltallizes by proper manage¬
ment into oftohedral and perfectly tranfparent and co-
lourlefs cryftals. When expofed to a moderate fire,
it melts, bubbles, and fwells up ; being gradually
changed into a light, fpongy, white mafs, called burnt
alum. This, with the addition of feme vitriolic acid,
may be cryftallized as before. The principles it con¬
tains, therefore, are water, vitriolic acid, and argilla¬
ceous earth. The proportions may be afeertained in
an’s the following manner. 1. The water and fuperfluous
thod of vitriolic acid may be diflipated by evaporation, or ra-
finding the ther difiillation ; and the lofs of weight fuftained by
‘d161:13 the fait, as well as the quantity of liquid which comes
over into the receiver, {hows the quantity of aqueous,
phlegm and unfaturated acid. 2. By combining this
with as much cauftic fixed alkali as is fuflkient to fa-
turate the acid which comes over, we know its propor¬
tion to the water; and by rediftilling this new com¬
pound, we have the water by itfelf. 3. The earth may
obtain- be obtained by precipitation with an alkali in its cau-
g the pure ftic Hate, either fixed or volatile : but this part of the
irth of procefs is attended with confiderable difficulty ; for the
um' alkalies firft abforb the fuperfluous acid, after which
the earth combined to faturation with the acid falls to
the bottom, and the digeftion with the alkaline fait
muft be continued for a very confiderable time, before
the acid is totally feparated. By analyfing alum in
this manner, Mr Bergman determined the principles of
644
wgm
ami their
propor-
645
Difficulty
Pra&ice.
alum to be 38 parts of vitriolic acid, 18 of clay, and Vitriolic A-
44 of water, to 100 of the cryftallized fait. c;-1 a"d it3
It has been a queftion among chemifts, whether the ma‘
earth of alum is to be confidered as a pure clay or not. -"v—
The fait was extracted from common clay by Meifrs 646
Hellot and Geoffroy. The experiment was repeated Pi0i 0r' .
with fuccefs by Mr Pott; but he feemed to confider it
rather as the production of a new fubftance during the accor hn >■
operation, than a combination of any principle already to Mr B^r-
exifting with the vitriolic acid. Margraaf, however,man*
from fome very accurate experiments, demonftrated, Whether
that all kinds of clay coufift of two principles media-earth of'
.nicaSly mixed; one of which conftantly is the pure alum be a
earth of alum. This opinion is efpoufed by Bergman; l'ure
who concludes, that fince an equal quantity of it may Hr
be extrafted from clay by all the acids, it can only be Component
mixed with thefe clays; for if it was generated by the pans of all
menftrua during the operation, it muft be procured in kmdsof dav
different quantities, if not of different qualities alfo, ac- ^lv^1^atc®
cording to the difference of the folvents made ufe of. ,rraaf.
Notwithftanding this, the matter feems to be rendered 649
fomewhat obfeure by an experiment of Dr Lewis. Lewis’s
“ Powdered tobacco-pipe clay (fayshe) being boiled in
a eonfiderable quantity of oil of vitriol, and the boiling n,ow tjlat
continued to drynefs, the matter when cold difeovers clay under-..
very little tafte, or only a flight acidulous one. Ex-goes I '1}16
pofed to the air for a few days, the greateft part of
it was changed into lanuginous efflorefcences tailing verted into*
exactly like alum. The remainder, treated with frefh earth of
oil of vitriol, in the fame manner exhibits the fame alum*
phenomena till nearly the whole of the clay is convert¬
ed into an aftringent fait.” Hence he concludes, that
the clay is in fome degree changed before the alumi¬
nous fait is produced. Without this fuppofition, in¬
deed, it is difficult to fee why the fait fhould not be pro¬
duced immediately by the combination of the two ^50
principles. An hundred parts of cryftallized alum re- Solubility-
quires, according to Mr Bergman, in a mean heatof alum irJ
1412 parts of diftiiled water, but in a. boiling heat
only 75 of the fame parts for its folution. The fpeci-tcri
fic gravity of alum, when computed from the increafe
of bulk in its folution, is 2.071 when the air-bubbles
are abftradled ; but if they are fuffered to remain, it is
no more than 1.757. Thefe bubbles confiil of aerial
acid, but cannot be removed by the air-pump, though
they fiy off on the application of heat.
Theores from which alum is preparedfor fale, accord- Bergman’s
ingtoMr Bergman, are of two kindsj.one containing the account of
alum already formed, the other its principles united by*r®g 1
roafting. What he calls the aluminous fchift, is no-ai^j,.
thing butan argillacebus fchift impregnated withadried 631
petroleum, from whence the oil is eafily extracted by Compo-
diftillation ; but by applying proper menftrua it difeo- of th/alu*
vers feveral other ingredients, particularly an argilla- minous
ceous martial fubftance, frequently amounting to | of fchift..
the whole; a filiceous matter amounting to ^; and com¬
monly alfo a fmall proportion of oalcateous earth and .
magnefia ; the reft being all pyritous. By roafting How chan-,
this ore the bituminous part is deftroyed and the py-Redbyroalt--
rites dccompoled ; on which part of the vitriolic acidni^’
adheres.to the iron of the pyrites, and the reft to the
pure clay of the fchift, forming green vitriol with the
former, and alum with the latter. If any calcareous
earth ormagnelia are prefent, gypfum and Epfom fait
will be produced at the fame time. No fait is obtained.
by
Practice. - CHEMISTRY. 461
Vitriolic A- by lixiviating thi-j fchiil before calcination, though Mr heat in the open air. By long cxpofurc to the air, in-Y'tri°hc. A-
cid and its Bergman thinks nothing more is neceflary for theproduc- deed, the fame effedl; will follow; but unlefs the ore be _s
a" t‘on 0^' ^ie ^ but^the prefence of a pyrites. This, he of a particular kind, and loofe in texture, fo that the air tions
. tells us, is generally difperfed through the mafs in form can freely pervade it, the procefs we freak of cannot1 v.—■ ■*
654 of very minute particles, though it fometimes appears take place. The hard ores, therefore, cannot be 663
The pre- in'fmall nuclei. The goodnefs of the ore, therefore, treated in this manner ; and the earthy ores are notTxpohiret0
fence of depends on the proper proportion of the pyrites to the only unfit for fpontaneous calcination, but for roaft‘ng
neceffary clay, an^ ‘ts ctlual diftribution through the whole. The alfo, as they will not allow the air to pervade them and tpe fame
for the pro-moll denfe and ponderous is moil etleemed, while that extinguifh the fire. Such as are capable of fpontane-effect.
du<Slion of which contains fo much pyrites as to be vifible is re- ous calcination, ofhould be fupplied with feme quantity 664
alum. je&ed as having too much iron. The ore which pro- of water, and laid on a hard clay bottom, as for°reS
• cluces lefs than four pounds of alum from too of the for making green vitriol. The roafling is performed 0perr..
ore does not pay the expence of manufadluring in Swe- in Sweden in the following manner. Small pieces of tions.
den. Sometimes this kind of ore produces falts with- the ore are ftrewed upon a layer of burning Hicks to 665
out the application of fire ; but this mult be attributed the thicknefs of half a foot. When the flicks are
655 to a kind of fpontaneous calcination. confirmed, thefe are covered, nearly to the fame ore ;n gwe.
tahhn^111" That fpeerts of ore which contains the principles thicknefs, with pieces burned before and four times den.
r.lum'n.ady already united into alum, according to Mr Bergman, is lixiviated : Thus, ftrata are alternately laid of fuch a
formed, on-to be met with only in volcanic countries ; and of this thicknefs, and at fuch intervals of time, that the fire
Jy to be met kind are the principal Italian ores of alum, particu- may continue, and the whole mafs grow hot and
^kcoun’^’ly l^at crnPloyed at f'0^a near Cincelles, for boiling fmoke, but not break out into flame. The upper ftra-
tries the Roman alum. Mr Monnet, however, is of opinion, ta may fometimes be increafed to a double thicknefs
that even this ore does not contain alum perfeftly on account of the long continuance of the fire. When
for med, but a combination of nearly equal parts of eight ftrata are laid, another row is placed contiguous
clay and fulphur, which, by expofure to air during to the former; when this is finifhed, a third ; and fo-
calcination, is convetted into alum. He found a little on until the heap be of a proper fize, which rarely re-
656 martial earth alfo contained in it, to which he aferibes quires more than three rows. When the ore is once
Aluminous tjse re(Jdil!i colour of that alum. The aluminous ore roaited, it Hill contains fo much phlogifton that water 666
at Solfatara in Italy confills of old lava whitened by a£ts but little upon it 5 but after the operation is two How often-
the phlogifticated vitriolic acid. The clay thus be- or three times repeated, the ore yields its principles ^ °Pera"
comes a component part of the aluminous fait, and the more freely : the roafting may even be repeated to ad- 6
mafs efflorefees in the fame manner, and for the fame vantage till the whole be reduced to powder. The bi-
reafon, as the mafs left after boiling tobacco-pipe clay tumen keeps up the fire ; for which reafon alternate
in oil of vitriol mentioned by Dr Lewis. Mr Berg- layers of the crude ore are ufed ; and in rainy weather
man, who examined this ore, found, that icq pounds thefe layers of unburnt ore (hould be thicker. An heap,,
of it contained eight of puie alum, befides four of pure 20 feet broad at the bafe, two feet at the top, and con-
clay ; and that the remainder was filiceous. This pro- fifting of 26 rows, is finiflied in three weeks, but re¬
pot tion, however, muft be very variable, according to quires two or three months to be well burned, and
638 the quantity of rain which falls upon the ore., three weeks to cool. The greater pyritous nuclei tx-
Alummous ^ variety of aluminous ores are to be met with in plode like bombs. In this procefs the fulphur of the
Haiha Bc-d‘^erent Parts t^ie vvoldd- In Hafiia and Bohemia pyrites is flowly confumed, and the phlogiflicated acid,
hernia, and this fait is otetained from wood impregnated with bitu- penetrating the mafs, is fixed ; after which the re- 667
bcama. men. At Htlfingborg in Scania, a turf is found con- maining phlogifton is gradually difiipated. The chief D?l?8er of'
filling of the rootsof vegetables mixed with nuts, draw, art confifls in. moderating the heat in fuch a manner as
Italy!
657
Analyzed
by Mr
Bergman.
659
Alum iul-
phur and
vitriol ex¬
tracted
from the
fame ore,
660
and leaves, often covered with a thin pyritous cuticle, to avoid with fafety the two extremes; for too fmalljnu,.^
which, when elixated, yields alum : Even the fulphu- a fire would not be capable of forming the fait, while
reous pyrites is generally mixed with an argillaceous a heat too ftrong would deftroy it by melting the ore.
matter, which may be feparated by menftrua. In The fcoria are infoluble in water, and therefore thrown
fome places, fulphur, vitriol, and alum are extra&cd away as ufelefs. They are produced by violent winds,
fiom the fame material. The fulphur rifes by diftilla- or by a ftrong heat too much clofed up ; for it is ne-
tion ; the refiduum is expofed to the air till it efflo- ceffary to make holes in the red llrata, that the fire ■
refees, after which a green vitriol is obtained by lixi* may reach the black ftratum which is to be laid on..
•^"K*and' derable quantity of fnlphur ;. and therefore produces and after burning is boiled, and yields alum in the fame ^hyttau!1
Bergman’s a*um 011 princ*P^£ already mentioned. manner as the former. The heaps are formed in thek
directions Bergman has given very particular dire&ions following manner: Firft the fchift, burning from the
for the pre- for the preparation of this fait from its ores, and mi- furnace, is laid to the depth of four feet; if the lire be
pat-anon of nutely deferibes the feveral operations which they mull flow, then wood is added ; after that a thin llratum of
undergo. Thefe are, elixated fchift ; the third confifts of fchift not burned;
Ufe of l- Roasting. This is absolutely nectfiary in order and the fourth of elixated fchift a foot and a half thick;,
roafting the to deftroy the pyrites ; for on. this the formation of the after that the burning fchift, and fo on. This method,.
ere.. alum entirely depends; as the fulphur of the pyrites however, is attended with fome inconveniences. The
v ill not part with its phlogifton without. a burning vitriolic acid is partly diffipated by the fire, and. thus .
i. the.
462 ' C H E M
Vitriolic A-the quantity of alum isdiminiflied : fomuch fchift alfo
Combina-9 ’S reclul*'ltc t^’s method that it cannot all be elixa-
tioaa. tec^ 5 an(^ t^ius tlie ^eaP rni,ft t>e perpetually increafmg.
*   The hard ores containing bitumen, fuch as thofe of
669 Tolfa, are burned upon wood for feme hours like
hurnb?^the^me^one> unt'l t^ey become pervious to water, and
hard of« efflorefee. The fire is extinguilhed as foon as the
at Tolfa in flame becomes white, and the fmell of fulphure-
Italy. ous acid begins to be perceived. When the ore
cools, thofe particles which were nearefl. to the fire
are placed outermofl, and thofe which had beejii outer-
moft within, the fire being again lighted. The ore is
fufficiently burned when it can be broken with the
hands. It is then heaped up near certain trenches,
and wateied five times a-day, particularly when the
fun fhines clear} the operation being deftroyed by a
continued rain and cloudy fky. In fome places the
ore is firft burned and afterwards elixated ; neither is
there any way of knowing the proper methods of ma*
670 naging it but by experiment.
Method of 2. Elixation. This’is performed in fome places with
burneTore6*101’ an<^ at otAers with cold, water. At Garphyttan
at Garphyt*’n Sweden, where the latter method is chofen,.the re-
tan with ceptacles, in the year 1772, were of hewn flone, having
cold water, their joints united by fome cement capable of refilling
the liquor. Every fet confifted of four fquare recep¬
tacles difpofed round a fifth, which was deeper than
the reft. The firft receptacle is filled with roafted
fchift, and the ore lies in water for 24 hours; the wa¬
ter is then drawn off by a pipe into the fifth ; from
thence into the fecond, containing fchift not yet wafted;
from that, in like manner, after 24 hours, through the
fifth into the third, and fo into the fourth. The lixi¬
vium is then conveyed to the fifth, and allowed to
gyj Hand in it; and laftly, is drawn off into a veffel appro-
Other me- priated for its reception—In other places the~ water
thods. paffes over the fchift that has been walhed three times
for fix hours; then that which has been twice walhed,
circum- next wAat Aa® been once walhed, and laftly, the ore
fiance by which has been newly roafted. Thofe who fuperintend
which the the alum manufadlories are of opinion that the alum
is deftroyed by palling the water firft over the newly
cd. r°y* burnt ore, and then over that which has been previouf-
673 ly elixated.
Of the . t o- The lixivium, before boiling, ought to be as richly
, J'impregnated with alum as poflible, in order to fave
viumbefore^11^ tb°llgb this is frequently negledled. In fome
boiling. places the tafte is ufed as the only criterion 5 but in
others the weight of water which fills a fmall glafs
bottle is divided into 64 equal parts, each of which is
called in Sweden a panning i and the quantity by
which the fame bottle, full of lixivium, exceeds it when
filled with water, is fuppoftd to indicate the quantity
of fait diffolved.—This method may undoubtedly be
reckoned fufficiently accurate for work conduced on
a large fcale : and though Mr Bergman gives formulas
by which the matter may be determined to a ferupu-
lous exaftnefs, it does not appear that fuch accuracy
is either neceffary or indeed practicable in works con¬
duced in a great way.
Thofe who manage the alum manufactories affert,
that the cold lixivium ought to be made no richer than
when the weight of the bottle filled with lixivium
exceeds it when filled with water by 4t pannings,
I S T R Y. Pra£ice.
which fhows the water to be loaded with T*-r of its Vitriolic A-
weight of alum. If the overplus amounts to fix pan-
nings, which indicates its containing of fait, cry-ua*
ftals are then depofited.^Congelation is of no ufe '
to concentrate the aluminous lixivium; for water
faturated with alum freezes almoft as readily as pure
water. <574,
3. Boiling the ley tor chrystallization. TheConftruc-
ley being firft brought from the pits through canals madetion t^e
for the purpofe, is put into a leaden boiler, at the back^fej^111®
of which is a refervoir, out of which the lofs fuftained by
evaporation is conftantly fupplied, fo that the furface
of that in the boiler continues always nearly at the fame
height. Various figns are ufed by different manufac¬
turers to know when the ley is properly evaporated:
fome determining the matter by the floating of a new
laid egg; others by dropping a fmall quantity on a
plate, and obferving whether it cryftallizes on coding ;
and laftly, others weigh the lixivium in the bottle 673:
above-mentioned. The boiling is fuppofed to belt-Proper
nilhed if the increafe of weight be equal to 20 Pan‘
nings; that is, if the water be loaded with of^^jA0"
its own weight. It might, however, take up above yquor.
of its weight, or nearly 27 pannings; but as it has to
be depurated by Handing quiet before the cry ftals are
formed, the liquor mull not be fully faturated with
fait. 676
The lixivium, when fufficiently concentrated by Of the firft
evaporation, flows through proper channels into coolers, c.ryfi;’-lliza-
wftiere it is allowed to reft for about an hour to free it
from the groffer fediment; after which it is put into
wooden or ftone receptacles to cryftallize. In eight
or ten days the remaining liquor, commonly called
mother ley, or magijlral 'water, is let off into another vef¬
fel. A great number of cryftals, generally fmall and
impure, adhere to the bottom and fides of the veffel,
which are afterwards collected and wafhed in cold
water. _
When a fuffieient quantity of the fmall cryftals are Depuration
collected, they mult then be put into the boiler for de- °f the crX“
puration. They are now diffolved in as fmall a quan-
tity of water as poffible ; after which the lixivium is
poured into a great tub containing as much as the
boiler xtfelf. In 16 or 18 days the hoops of the tub
are loofed, and the aluminous mafs bound with an
iron ring; and in 28 days more the refiduum of the
folution is let out through a hole, and colledted in a
trench; after which the faline mafs, which at Gar¬
phyttan in Sweden amounts to 26 tons, is dried and fold
as depurated alum. The boiler emptied for the firft
cryftallization is next filled two-thirds full with the
magiftral lixivium ; and as foon as the liquor arrives
at the boiling point, the other third is filled with crude
lixivium, with which the evaporation is alfo conftantly
fupplied. A certain quantity of the aluminous im¬
purities left by waihing the falls, of the firft cryftalliza-
tion in water is then added, and the above deferibed
procefs repeated. Only the firft boiling in the fpring
is performed with the crude lixivium alone, the reft ^ ^
are all done as juft now related.—Mr Bergman re-Bergman>s
marks, that the time required for cryftallization may remarks in
undoubtedly be fhortened. The refervoirs ufed in J116 proper
Sweden for this purpofe (he fays), are deep, and nar- tT®
row at the top ; on which account they are not only
long
Pra<5Ucd. C H E M
Vitriolic A-long in cooling, but the evaporation, which is abfo-
ci<l and its Iutcly necefiary for the cryftallization, goes on very
tions ma' ^ow^y» excepting in extremely warm weather, at the
■ - y ■ fame time that the doors and windows are difpofed in
fuch a manner as to direft a current of air along the
furface. In Italy he tells us that conical refervoirs are
679 ufed with the wide part uppermoft.
Alum can- It is remarkable, that pure alum cannot be obtained
^l^mere* in Vel"^ con^^era^'e quantity by merely evaporating
J^porj. aud cooling the ley. The reafon of this is, that the
tin? and lixivium fometimes acquires fuch a confiftence, that it
cooling the both cryftallizes with difficulty, and produces im-
ley, on ac-
pure cryftals. The caufe was unknown till the time
theexcefs ^ Bergman, who has (hown that it proceeds
®f acid. from an excefs c,f vitriolic acid. Hence alfo we may
fee the reafon why alkaline falts, volatile alkali in its
pure ftate, or even putrefied urine, when added to this
thick fohition, produce good cryftals of alum when
This excefs they cannot be obtained otherwife. It is remarkable
cannot be that this impediment to cryftallization is not re-
removed by movecj mineral alkali, though it is fo by the ve-
kaiidhough getat>le and volatile alkalies, which is a phenomenon
it may be by hitherto unexplained. According to our author, how-
vegetable ever, an addition of pure clay, to abforbthe fuper-
and volatile abundant acid, is preferable to any other } and indeed
ancTbeh ^ it is reafonable to think fo, as the union of vitriolic
all by pure acid and pure clay forms the fait defired, which is not
clay. the cafe with any of the alkalies.—To afcertain this,.
£gt he made the following experiments.
Experiment *• diffolved 215 grains of pure alum in diftilled
fhowing water, in a fntall cucurbit, and evaporated it over the
that an ex- fire till the furface of the liquor ftood at two marks,
trlolhfacid indicated, in a former evaporation, that it was
impedes the ^or cryftallization. 2. Having poured out this into
ciyftalliza- a proper glafs veffel, he diffolved other 215 grains,
tion of a- and added to the folution -244- grains of concentrated
lum. vitriolic acid. 3. This folution being likewife poured
out, the experiment was repeated a third time, with
the addition of 53 grains of vitriolic acid ; and the
glaffes being at laft fet in a proper place for cryftal¬
lization, the firft yielded 155^, the fecond 130, and the
6S1 third too!- grains of alum.
Experiment This ffiows that an excefs of vitriolic acid impedes
n°blithe t^ie c7ftallization a^um > tut ta determine hdw
ufefulnefs ^ar tb>3 could be remedied by the addition of clay, far-
of adding ther experiments were neceffary. Having therefore
clay to the employed a magiftral refidutun, in which the excefs
ky- of acid was neatly in the proportion already related,
he added two drachms of clay in fine powder to a
kanne, or Swedifli cantharus, of the liquor : he boil¬
ed the mixture for ten minutes; and on feparating
the clay that remained, he found that 2j-4- grains were
diffolved, which indicates an increafe of 141 grains of
alum. On gently boiling the liquor for half an hour,
75 grains of the clay were diffolved, which indicated
an increafe of 416 grains of alum.
Advantages The addition of clay muft therefore be much pre-
ef ufmgclay ferable to that of alkaline faits, not only as the former
produces a confiderable increafe of alum, but alfo as
there is no danger of adding too much ; for we have
already fhown, that when the liquor is entirely de¬
prived of its fuperabundant acid, the neutralized clay
is infoluble in water. The earth itfelf, however, dif-
folves fo flowly, that there is not the leaft danger of
I S T R Y. 463
the acid being overfaturated by limply boiling them Vitriolic A-
together. C^mblra*
Alum, as'commonly made, though depurated by a _ ‘
fecond cryftalli/.ation, yet is almoff always found con-  v—
taminatedby dephlogiilicated vitriol; whence it grows 684
yellow, and depouts an ochre in folution when old. Alum gene*
This is equally ufeful in fome arts with the pureft kind, ^•patCe<>”|)a'
and is even To in dyeing where dark colours are re-
quired ; but where the more lively colours are wanted, cited vi-
every thing vitriolic muft be avoided. This is done trio!.
A. _ ..r   i-r  • A
heterogeneous matter. Nor is this contrary by the ad-
to the laws of chemical attraction ; for though iron is dkion of
diffolved by a folution of alum, and the earthy bafe of Pure c*ay*
alum precipitated, and though in a folution of vitriol
and alum the white earth falls firft on an addition of
alkali, and then the ochre; this happens only in confe-
quence of employing phlogifticated or metallic iron, or
fuch as is but very Httle dephlogifticated ; for if the
inflammable principle be any further diminifhed, the
attraiftion is thereby fo much weakened, that the
clay has a greater attraction for the vitriolic acid than
the iron. The truth of this may be proved in many
different ways. Thus, let a portion of alum be dif¬
folved in a folution of highly dephlogifticated vitriol,
and an alkali then added, the ochre of the vitriol will
be firft depofited, and then the clay: and provided
there be a fufficient quantity of the latter, the iron
will all be precipitated ; and hence we fee that an alu¬
minous folution mixed only with one of dephlogifti-
cated vitriol may readily be freed from it. 686-
But a folution of alum containing perfeft vi- Perfe<ft vi¬
triol cannot be freed from it effe&ually either by T10,1 ^nnot
clay or alkali; for the former effefts no ftecompo-gd by day?
fition, and the latter, although it can deftroy the vi¬
triol, will undoubtedly decompofe the alum in the
firft place. As long, therefore, as the folution is rich
in alum, it may be employed in the common manner;
but when the vitriolic fait begins to predominate, it
muft either be cryftallized in its proper form, or be
deftroyed in fuch a manner as to produce alum, which
may be accomplifhed in the following manner. Let How the
the lixivium be reduced to a tenacious mafs with clay, phlogifton
and formed into cakes, which muft be expofed in an maV be ab-
houfe to the open air. Thus the phlogifton, which ?ra<^etf
is powerfully attracted by the dephlogifticated part ofy™^' *
the atmofphere, by degrees feparates from, the iron,
while the clay is taken up by its fuperior attra&ion
for the acid. The calcination is accelerated by fire;
but it muft he cautioufly employed, left the acid Ihould
be expelled. ^ 688
In the alum manufaftories in Sweden, a confide- Epfom fjij
rable quantity of vitriolated magnefia, or Epfom fait, may be
is mixed with the alum. Mr Bergman directs this to produced
be feparated by means of an uncalcined calcareous
earth, which entirely deftroys both the alum and vi-
triol; falling down to the bottom with the acid m
form of a felenitic matter. This muft be added to the
boiling liquor gradually, left the effervefcence Ihould
eaufe the mafs to fwell and run over the top of the
veffel. A juft proportion deftroys both the alumi¬
nous and vitriolic fait, on being properly agitated and
heated; neither is there any danger of the Epfom,
fait
690
T-ifom fait.
C*H E M I S T R Y. Praaice.
fait bcirvg dccompofed in tins procefs, the uncalcined line matter.—According to MrScheelc’s experiments, Vitri .lie A-.
earth being unable to feparate the magnefia from the if a folution of Epfom and common fait be mixed tc- ^ a”^lts
acid."^ Were this method followed in the Swediih ma- gether, a double decompolition enfues, and tUe.mix-ti°™ lna*
nufattories, he is of opinion, that as much Epfom ture contains Glauber’s fait and a combination of mag- --t- j
fait might be produced from them as would fupply the nefia with marine acid. From this lixivium the Glau-
confumpt of that kingdom. ber’s fait may be cryltallized in winter, but not in
With regard to the quantity of fuperfluotis acid fummer; a great degree of cold being neceflary for
found in the magiftral lixivium, Mr Bergman informs this purpofe. From twelve pounds of Epfom fait and
us, that it amounted to five ounces in one kanne ; fo fix of common fait, Mr Sch'eele obtained, in a tempera-
that in a fingle 'boiler there is nearly 2501b. But vi- ture three degrees below the freezing point, fix pounds
triol, when well d^pldogifticated, retains its acid fo of Glauber fait; but in a degree of cold conliderably
loofely that it may be eafily feparated by fire. He has greater, the produce was feven pounds and three
no doubt, therefore, that if the furface of fuch a lixi- quarters. gpj
vium were firft increafed in order to let the phlogifton VI. tVith Sihet ' Oil of vitriol boiled on half its Withalver.
evaporate, the liquor might afterwards be advanta- weight of filver-filings, corrodes them into a faline ma!k.
geoufly committed to diltillation for the fake of its This fubftance is not ufed in medicine nor in the arts/
acid. The only remarkable property of it is, that it has a very
From what has been above delivered, the neceflity ftrong attraction for mercury ; coagulating and hard-
will be fufficiently apparent of not continuing the , ening as much quickfilver as the acid weighed at firft.
coCtion even with pure clay to perfect faturation of If the hard concrete be diluted with frefh acid, it
the liquor: and this is further confirmed by M. melts eafily in the fire, and does not part with the
Beaume, who relates, that having 'boiled four ounces mercury in the great eft heat that glafs veflels can fu-
of earth cf alum with two ounces of the fait, in a fuf- ftain. The vitriolic acid, by itfelf, ftrongly retains
ficient quantity of water, the acid became faturated to mercury, but not near fo much as when combined
fuch a degree with earth, that the liquor loft its alu- with filver.
minous tafte entirely, and aflumed that of hard fpring Silver thus corroded by the vitriolic acid, or preci-
water. After filtration and evaporation, only a few pitated by it from the nitrous, may in great part be
micaceous cryftals, very' difficult of folution, were form-- diftblved, by cautioufly applying a very little water at
a time ; and more effectually by boiling in frefh oil of
vitriol. s . . ' . 694
VII. IVlth Co{.)er. With this metal the vitriolic acid Copper,
cannot be combir.rd, unlefs in its concentrated ftate,
V. With Magnefra. The earthy fubftance called mag- and ftrongly herted. If pure oil of vitriol is boiled on
nefia alia is never found by itfelf1, and confequently this copper filings, or fmall pieces of the metal, it diffolves
combination cannot originally take place by art. The it into a liquor of a deep blue colour, which eafily
vitriolic acid, however, is found combined with magne, cryftallizes. The cryftals are of a beautiful blue co-
fia in great plenty in the bitter liquor which remains af- lour, and are fold under the name of blue vitriol or Ro-
terthe cryftallizationof common fait; from whence the man vitriol. ^
magnefia is procured by precipitating with a fixed'alkali. Where fulphur is found in great plenty, however, Blue vitriol,
If this liquor, which, when the common fait is extrac- Roman vitriol is made by ftratifying thin plates of cop- bow made,
ted, appears like clean oil of vitriol, is fet by for fome per with fulphur; and upon fiowly burning the fulphur,
time in a leaden veffel, a large quantity of fait fhoots, its acid corrodes the copper. The metal is then to be
verv much refembling Glauber’s fal mirabile. This boiled in water, that the faline part may be diffolved.
fait is in many places fold inftead of the true Glauber’s The operation is to be repeated till all the copper is
fait; and is preferred to it, becaufe the true fal mi- confumed; and all the faline liquors are to be evapo-
rabile calcines in dry air, which the fpurious kind does rated together to the cryftallizing point. By this
not. If after the firft cryftallization of the bittern, method, however, a great part of the acid is loft ; and
the remainder is gently evaporated farther, a frefh in Britain, where the fulphur muft be imported, we
quantity of Glauber’s fait will fhoot; and if the liquor fhould think the pure acid preferable for thofe who
is then haftily evaporated, a fait will ftill be cryftal- prepare blue vitriol. .
lized ; but inftead. of large regular cryftals, it will This fait, on being expofed to the fire, firft turns phenomena
concrete into very fiinali ones, having fomething of white, then of a yellowifh red colour. On urging it on diftilia-
the appearance of fnow when taken out of the liquid, with a ftrong fire, the acid flowly exhales, and a dark Uon«
Thefe falts are effentially the fame, and. are all ufed red calx of copper remains. The whole of the vi
in medicine as purgatives. The fait foot into fmall triolic acid cannot be expelled from copper by heat ':
cryftals is termed Epfom fait, from its being firft pro- as much of it ftill remains as to render a part of the
duced from the purging waters at Epfom in England, metal foluble in water. After this foluble part has
The bittern affording this kind of fait in fuch great been ektra&ed, a little acid is ftill retained, amounting
plenty, thefe waters were foon negle&ed, as they to about Aj of the calx.
yielded it but very fparingly, and the quantity pre- Vitriol of copper is employed in medicine as a cau- Ufes,
pared from them was infufficient for the demand, flic, in which refpe£t it is very ufeful ; but when ufed
Neumann fays, that having infpiffated 100 quarts of internally, is dangerous, as indeed all the preparations
Epfom water, he fcarce obtained half an ounce of fa- of copper are found to be. It has, neverthelefs, ac-
N° 72. cording
ed by letting the liquor Hand for fome months.—
Dr Sieffert informs us, that by boiling half an ounce
of alum with half a drachm of flaked lime, cubical
cryftals of alum may be obtained.
Pra&ice.
G H E M I
Cimbina-
696
69!?
Precippa
tion of ir
from the
▼itriolic
»cid.
•iolic cording to Neumann, been recommended in all kinds
Acid and its 0f intermittents, and the lepra.. The fmalleit por-
n tipn, he fays, occafions a fickttefs and naufea; a feme-
what larger, reaching and violent vomitings, accom¬
panied often with convulfions. If the quantity taken
has been confiderable, and is not foon difeharged by
vomiting, the ftomach and inteftines are corroded, in-
tenfe pains, inflammations, and death, fucceed.
VIII. fVi/A Iron. The vitriolic acid does not a£l up¬
on this metal till confiderably diluted* Common oil of
vitriol requires to be mixed with ten or twelve times its
quantity of water before it will aft brifkly on the me¬
tal. In this ftate it eflervefees violently with iron fi¬
lings, or fmall bits of the metak and a great quantity
of inflammable vapour is difeharged (fee Air). The
■ liquor a flumes a fine green colour 5 and by evaporation
, and flow cooling, very beautiful rhombpidal cryilals
galtyf keel, are formed. Thefe are named fait of feel, and are
ufed in medicine ; but for the fait made with the pure
acid and iron, the common copperas, made with the
impure acid extrafted from pyrites, is commonly fub-
ftituted. This is generally efteemed a venial fraud,
and no doubt is fo in medicinal refpefts ; but when
it is confidered, that, by this fubftitutioa, common
copperas is impofed on the ignorant, at the price
of 2 s. per pound, the affair appears in a different light.
Pure vitriol of iron is originally of a much more
1 beautiful appearance than common copperas, and re¬
tains its colour much better; the reafon of which
is, that the fait thus prepared has more phlogifton
than the copperas. If either of the kinds, however,
are expofed to the air for a fufficient length of time,
part of the acid is diflipated, and the vitriol becomes
yellowifh or brownifli. If the fait is now diffolved in
water, a brown precipitate falls, which is part of the
iron in a calcined ftate. If the liquor is feparated
from this precipitate by filtration, a fimilar one forms
in a fhort time, and by long Handing a confide! able
quantity fubfides. According to Dr Lewis, the pre¬
cipitation is greatly expedited by a boiling heat; by
which more of the metal feparates in a few minutes
than by {landing without heat for a twelvemonth. This
change takes place in no other metallic folutions.
The calx of iron, precipitated by quicklime from
houfepaint-green vitriol, appears, when dry, of a yellow colour;
mS- and is recommended in the Swedifli tranfaftions, in-
700 ftead of yellow ochre, as a colour for houfe-painting.
Freferva- Solutions of green vitriol are alfo recommended for
wood°r preferving wood, particularly the wheels of carriages,
from decay. When all the pieces are fit for being
joined together, they are direfted to be boiled in a
folution of vitriol for three or four hours ; and then
kept in a warm place for fome days to dry. By this
preparation, it is faid, wood becomes fo hard, that
moifture cannot penetrate it; and that iron nails are
not fo apt to rufi: in this vitriolated wood as might be
expefted, but laft as long as the wood itfelf.
-or IX. Tin. 'This metal cannot be diffolved in the
Tiii. .vitriolic acid, but in,the fame manner as filver; namely,
‘ ‘by boiling concentrated oil of vitriol to drynefs upon
filings of the metal. The faline mafs may then be
diffolvtd in water, and the folution will cryitallize.
The fait, however, formed by this union, is not ap¬
plied to any ufeful purpofe. A fait of tin, indeed,
Vol. IV. Part IL%
699
S T R Y. ' 465
formed by the union of vitriolic acid with this mcual, Vitriolic
has been recommended for fome medical purpofes, and lts
pvoceffes are given for it in the difpenfatoiies; but t;ons
they have never come much into praftice.  v— 4
X. With Lead. While lead is in its metallic ftate, 7°»
the vitriolic acid afts very little upon it, either in a di. bead,
luted or concentrated ftate; but if the metal is dif¬
folved in any other acid, and oil of vitriol added, a
precipitation immediately enfues, which is occafioned
by the combination of vitriolic acid with the lead.
' This precipitate will be more or lefs white as. the
metal is more or lefs deprived of its phlogifton by 703
calcination before folution. If a little ftrong fpirit of A beautiful
nitre is poured upon litharge, which is lead calcined to w^‘te co*
the greateft degree fallible without vitrification, the lour’
acid unites itfelf to the metal with confiderable ^f-
fervefeence and heat. Some water being now poured
on, and the phial containing the mixture lhaken, a
turbid folution of the litharge is made. If a little oil
of vitriol is then added, it throws down a beautifully
white precipitate ; and the acid of nitre, being left at
liberty to aft upon the remaining part of the litharge,
begins anew to diffolve it with effervefcence. When
it is again faturated, more oil of vitriol is to be drop¬
ped in, and a white precipitate is again thrown down.
If any of the litharge is ftill undiffolved, the nitrous
acid, being fet at liberty a fecond time, attacks it as
at firft; and by continuing to add oil of vitriol, the
whole of the litharge may be converted into a moft
beautiful and c irable white. Unfortunately this co¬
lour cannot be ufed in oil, though in water it feems
fuperior to any. If the procefs is well managed,
an ounce of fpirit of nitre may be made to convert
feveral pounds of litharge into a white of this kind. 0
XI. With £>uickflver. The diffolution of quickfilver yen' 1
in vitriolic acid cannot be performed but by a concen¬
trated oil and ftrong boiling heat. The metal is firft
corroded into a white calx, which may afterwards be
eafily diffolved by an addition of frefh acid. Every
time it is diffolved, the mercury becomes more and
more fixed and more difficult to dry. If the exficca-
tion and diffolution has been repeated feveral times,
the matter becomes at laft fo fixed as to bear a degree
of red heat. This combination is the bafis of a medi¬
cine formerly of fome repute, under the name of tur-
bith mineral. The procefs for making turbith mineral
is given by the author of the Chemical Diftionary as
follows: '
“ Some mercury is poured into a glafs retort, and Turbid*
upon it an equal quantity of concentrated oil of vitriol, mineral,
or more, according to the ftrength of the acid. Thefe
matters are to be diftilled together, in the heat of a
fand-bath, till nothing remains in the retort but a dry
faline mafs, which is s. combination of the vitriolic acid
and mercury. The acid which paffes into the re¬
ceiver is very fuffocating and fulphureous; which qua¬
lities it receives from the phlogifton of the mercury.
The white faline mafs which is left at the bottom of
the retort is to be put into a large yeffel; and upon
it are to be poured large quantities of hot water at
feveral different times. This water weakens the acid,
and takes it from the mercury ; which is then pre
cipitated towards the bottom of the veffel, in form
of a very ffiining yelldV powder. The water with
3 N ‘which
7o6
Dr Lewis'
diredioni
&egu!us c
. siB.umcny
CHEMISTRY. Pratfice.
whicti it is waflied contains the acid that was united phenomena alfo occur in this cafe as in making tur- Vitriolic
u'with the mercury, and likewife a little mercury ren- bith mineral; a very fuffocating fulphurcous acid rifes; Acid a.ntl h*
dered foluble by means of the very large quantity of and, as Mr Geoffroy obferves, a true fulphur fublimes^’™blua*
acid. into the neck of the retort; a white, faline, tumefied, 1°n3'>
Moft chemifts have believed, that a portion of vi- mafs remains in the veflel; and v/hen the veffels are
triolic acid remains united with the turbith mineral, unluted, a white fume ifiues, as in the fmoking fpirit
only too little to render it foluble in water. But Mr of libavius. See Combinations of marine acid with tin,
Beaume, having examined this matter, affirms, that infra. ^ro
turbith mineral contains no acid, when it has been XIV. With Regulus of Cobalt. From a combination of Regains of
fufficiently waffied ; and that, by frequently boiling the vitriolic acid with cobalt, a red fait may be obtained, cobalt.,
this preparation in a large quantity of dillilled water, To procure it, one part of cobalt, reduced to a verv
not a vcltige of acid will adhere to it.” fine powder, may be mixed with two or three of con-
Dr Lewis, who is of opinion that the whole of this centrated acid, diluting the liquor after it has been
mercurial calx is foluble in a very large quantity of digefted for 24 hours, and then filtering and evapora-
water, defires the water with v/hich it is wafiied to ting it.
be impregnated with i 'une alkaline fait; which makes XV. With Arfenic. Neumann relates, that powdered
the yield of turbith greater than when pure water is white arfenic being diitiiled in a retort with oil of vitriol,
ufed. The author of the Chemical Dictionary alfo a tranfparent fublimate like glafs arofe, which in a few
obferves, that the precipitate remains white till well days loft its tranfparency, and became opaque like the
freed from the acid; and the more perfetftly it is arfenic itfelf. The arfenic remaining in the retort
wafhed, the deeper yellow colour it acquires. fnftained an open fire without any fenlible alteration.
XII. With Zinc, This femimetal is not a tied upon The author of the Chemical Dictionary fays, that if a
by the vitriolic acid in its concentrated ftate; but, when concentrated vitriohe acid is diftilled from arfenic, the
diluted, is diffolved by it with effervefcence, and with acid which comes over fmells exactly like marine acid,
the extrication of an inflammable vapour in the fame When the folution is diftilled till no more acid rifes,
manner as iron. Neumann obferves, that, during the the retort is then almoft red-hot, and no arfenic is fub-
diffolution, a grey and blackilh fpongy matter fell to limed; but it remains fufed at the bottom of the re¬
tire bottom ; but, on Handing for fome days, was ta- tort; and, when cold, is found to be an heavy, com-
ken up, and diffolved in the liquor, nothing being left -pa& mafs, brittle and tranfparent as cryftal-glafs. This
but a little yellowiftr dull fcarcely worth mentioning, kind of affenieal glafs, expofed to the air, foon lofes
Six parts of oil of vitriol, diluted with an equal quan- its tranfparency from the moifture it attracts, which
tity of wrater, diflblves one part of zinc. diflblves and partly deliquiates it. This deliquium is
The product of this combination is white vitriol; extremely acid. — By digefting one part of arfenic with
which is ufed in medicine as an ophthalmic, and in two of concentrated oil of vitriol, diluting the folution
painting for making oil-colours dry quickly : what is with water, and then filtering and evaporating, w'e ob-
ufed for this purpofe, however, is not made in Bri- tain a yellowiih fait which fhoots into pyramidal, tran-
tain, but comes from Germany. It is made atGoflar fparent, and fhining cryftals. None of the three laft
by the following procefs. An ore containing lead mentioned combinations have been found applicable to
and filver, having been previoufly roafted for the ob- any ufeful purpofe.
taining of fulphur (fee Metallurgy), is lixivia- XVI. fT/V/6 0;7. The produdf of this combination is a
ted with water, and afterwards evaporated in leaden thick black fubftance, very much refembling balfam of
boilers, as for the preparation of green vitriol: but fulphur in colour and confiftence ; to which it is fome-
here a regular cryftallization is prevented ; for when times fubftituted. If this fubftance is diftilled with a
the fait has affumed any kind of cryftalline form, thefe gentle heat, great part of the acid becomes volatile,
cryftals are made to undergo the watery fufion in and evaporates fn white fumes, having a pungent fmell
copper caldrons. It is then kept conftantly ftirring refembling that of burning fulphur. This goes by the 7J3
till a confiderable part of the moifture is evaporated, name of volatile or fulphureous vitriolic acid; and a fait
and the matter has acquired the confiftence of fine fu- was formerly prepared from it by faturation with fixed
gar. White vitriol generally contains fome ferrugi- alkali, which was thought to poffefs great virtues. From
nous matter, from which it may be entirely freed by its inventor it was called the fulphureous fait of Stahl.
fome freffi zinc ; for this femimetal precipitates frpm The moft finglar property of this volatile acid is,
tlic vitriolic acid all other metallic fubftances; but not- that though the vitriolic in its fixed ftate is capable of
withftanding this ftrong attra&ion, the vitriolic acid is expelling any other acid from its bafis, the volatile
more eafily expelled by diftillatton from white than one is expelled by every acid, even that of vinegar,
green or blue vitriol. Towards the end of the di- It is very difficultly condenfible, ay we have already
ftillation of white vitriol, the acid arifes exceedingly taken notice ; and, when mixed with water, feems
concentrated, though fulphureous: fo that, if mixed fcarcely at all acid, but rather to have a bitterilh tafte.
with common oil of vitriol, it will heat it almoft as Several methods have been propofed for procuring
much as oil of vitriol heats water. this acid from burning fulphur, which yields it in its How pro-
f XIII. With Rcgnlus of Antimony. To combine vitriolic greateft degree of volatility, as well as concentration *Cyr^^
acid with regulus of antimony, the fame method muft be but the produce is fo exceedingly fmall, that none of 11
ufed, as diretled for uniting it with quickfilver, for them are worth mentioning. Dr Prieftley has given
making turbith mineral, viz. to employ a very con- very good directions for obtaining the volatile vitriolic
centrated acid, and to diftil in clofe veffels.. The fame acid in the form of air. His method was, to pour, on
fome
?t6
Sul; hur
prepared
Praflice. * G H E M
Vitriolic fome oil of vitriol contained in a phial, a very fmall
Acid and its qUantity of oil olive ; as much as was fufficient to co-
do^b‘nU" v<:'r t^en appl‘ed the proper apparatus for the re-
ception of air in quicklilver (fee Air) ; and, holding
a candle to the phial, the volatile vitriolic acid rufhed
out in great quantity. Had he received this air in wa¬
ter, inftead of quickfilver, the confequence would have
been, that fome part of it, at leaft, would have been
abforbed by the water, and a fulphureous acid liquor
produced. This feems indeed almoft the only method
of procuring the fulphureous vitriolic acid of any to¬
lerable ftrength ; but it is never required in the form
of a liquor, except for experimental purpofes. The
only ufeful property hitherto difcovered about this kind
of acid is, that it is remarkably deftru&ive of colours
of all kinds ; and hence the fumes of fulphur are em-
71j ployed to whiten wool, &c.
Charcoal. XVII. With Phlogifton of charcoal. If charcoal is mix¬
ed with concentrated vitriolic acidj andthe mixture diftil-
led, the fame kind of acid isat firftobtained, whichcomes
over when oil is ufed ; and towards the end, when the
matter begins to grow dry, a true fulphur fublimes.
The belt way, however, of producing fulphur from
the vitriolic acid is by combining it, when in a per-
feftly dry (late, with the phlogifton. By this means
fulphur may very readily be made at any time. The
procefs is generally directed to be performed in the
following manner.
Reduce to fine powder any quantity of vitriolated
tartar. Mingle it carefully with a 16th part of its
weight of charcoal-duft. Put the whole into a covered
luted tartar. crucjble fet in a melting furnace. Give a heat fuffi¬
cient to melt the fait; and when thoroughly melted,
pour it out on a flat ftone. The vitriolated tartar and
charcoal will now be converted into a fulphureous
mafs fimilar to a combination of alkaline falts with
fulphur. See Alkaline Salts, below.
. PI XVIII. With Spirit of voine. Therefultof this combi-
wine10 nation is one of the moft extraordinary phenomena in
chemiflry ; being that fluid, which, for its extreme de¬
gree of volatility, was firft diftinguiihed by the name of
ether : and now, fince a liquor of the like kind is dif¬
covered to be preparable from fpirit of wine by means
of other acids, this fpecies is diftinguiflied by the name
of vitriolic ether. The method of preparing this fubtle
liquor recommended by M. Beaume, feems to be the
718 beft of any hitherto difcovered.
Ether. Mix together equal parts by weight, of highly rec¬
tified fpirit of wine and concentrated oil of vitriol, or
fomewhat more than two meafures of fpirit of wine with
one of the acid. The mixture is to be made in a flint
glafs retort, the bottom and fides of which are very
thin, that it may not break from the heat which is
fuddenly generated by the union of thefe two fubftan-
ces. The fpirit of wine is firft put into the retort,
and then the acid is poured in by a glafs-funnel, fo
that the ftream may be directed againft the fide of the
glafs ; in which cafe it will not exert much of its force
on the fpirit, but will lie quietly below at the bottom.
The retort is now to be very gently ftiaken, that the
acid may mingle with it by little and little. When
the mixture is completed, very little more heat will be
necefiary to make'the liquor boil.
This mixture is to be diftilled with as brifk and
quick a heat aspoffible; for which reafon, immediately
6
I S T R Y.
467
after the acid and fpirit are mixed, the retort Ihould’Vitriolic
be put into a faud furnace heated as much as the m*K' Ormbma
ture is. The diftillation Ihould be continued only till t;’ons_ *
about one third of the liquor is come over; if it is 1 r - 11
continued farther, part of the vitriolic acid rifes in a
fulphureous ftate. In the retort a thick, black, acid
matter remains, which is fimilar to a combination of
oil of vitriol with any inflammable matter, and from
which a little fulphur may be obtained. Along with
the fulphureous acid, a greenilh oil, called oleum vi-
trioK dulcis, arifes, which has a fmell compounded of
that of the ether and fulphureous acid : and Mr Beaume
has flrown that it is compounded of ihefe two ; for if '
it is redtified with an alkali, to attract the acid, it is
changed into ether. If, after the diftillation of the
ether, fome water be poured into the retort, the li¬
quor by diftillation may be brought back to the ftate
of a pure vitriolic acid.
As the fteams of the ethereal liquor are exceedingly
volatile, and at the fame time a quick fire is neceflary
to the fuccefs of the operation, the receiver mull be
carefully kept cool with very cold water or with
fnow. Care muft alfo be taken to prevent any of
the fulphureous acid fteams from coming over ; but as
it is impoffible to prevent this totally, the liquor re¬
quires re&ification. This is the more neceflary, as a
part of the fpirit of wine always rifes unchanged.
From this acid the liquor is eafily fet free, by adding
a fmall quantity of alkaline fait, and re-diftilling with
a very gentle heat ; but as fpirit of wine is likewife
very volatile, the diftillation muft be performed in a
very tall glafs. Dr Black recommends a matrafs, or
bolt-head, with a tin-pipe adapted to the head, fo as
to convey the fteams at a right angle, to be conden-
fed in the receiver. When this fluid is to be prepa¬
red in great quantities, the ether, by proper manage¬
ment, may be made to equal half the weight of the
fpirit of wine employed. Mr Dollfufs has made many
important experiments on this fubjedt; of which the
following is an abftradl: 1. Two pounds of vitriolic
acid were mixed with as much of fpirit of wine, and
the mixture diftilled with a very gentle fire. The firft
ten ounces that came over conlifted of a liquor ftrong-
ly impregnated with ether, and of an agreeable odour.
This was put by itfelf and marked A. It was follow¬
ed by a ftronger ethereal liquor, of which a fmall quan¬
tity only would mix with water. Offthis there were
12 ounces, which were alfo put by themfelves, and
marked B. By continuing the procefs two ounces
more were obtained, which fmelled of fulphur, and
were marked C. The diftillation was now continued
with a view to concentrate the vitriolic acid, when
three drachms of a thicker kind of ether were found
fwimming on a weak fulphureous acid. This thick
liquid was not in the leaft volatile, and in confiftence
"refembled an exprefled oil. 2. Tw'enty-four ounces
of fpirit of wine were now added to the refiduum of the
former diftillation, and the procefs recommenced. The
firft feven ounces that came over were poured to the
dulcified fpirit marked A. Next palled over ten oun¬
ces of a tolerably pure ether, which was mixed with the
contents of B ; beiides two ounces that had a fulphu¬
reous fmell, which were mixed with C. By a repeat¬
ed dephlegmation of what remained in the retort were
obtained five ounces of a weak fulphureous.acid ; and
3 N 2 the
468 C H E M
the remainder being again mixed with 20 ounces of
Combina-^^P’1'’1 w‘ne> yielded firft fix ounces of the liquor
iiows. marked A ; then four ounces of pure ether put into
i-»--y*— that marked B ; and after that another ounce marked
C. By continuing the diftillation four ouaces of weak
fidphureous acid were obtained, on which floated a
little oil of wine. 3. The remainder, which was very
thick, and covered with a flight pellicle, was mixed
with 20 ounces of fpirit of wine, and yielded five oun¬
ces of dulcified fpirit marked A ; eight ounces of pure
ether marked B ; and at laid one ounce of the fame,
which had rather a fulphureous fmell. This was fol¬
lowed by a few drops of acid ; but the remainder fro¬
thed up with fuch violence, that an end was put to the
operation, in order to prevent its palling over into the
receiver.
By thefe four diftillations there were obtained from
fix pounds of fpirit of wine and two of oil of vitriol,
28 ounces of dulcified fpirit of vitriol and 38 of ether;
which laft, when rettified by diftillatiop over manganefe,
yielded 28 ounces of the bell ether At the end of
this diftillation were produced 1 3 dunces of weak ace¬
tous acid ; and the liquor of the laft running marked
G, afforded, by rectification, four ounces of good
ether. The fulphureous acid liquor yielded four oun¬
ces of weak acetous acid, and three drachms of naphtha
refembling a diftilled oil in confift’ence.
By thefe proceffes the vitriolic acid was rendered
quite thick and black ; its weight being reduced to 24
ounces. The blacknefs was found to be owing to a
powder which floated in the liquid, and could neither
be feparated by fubfiding to the bottom nor riling to
the top. The liquor was therefore diluted with eight
ounces of water, and filtered through powdered glafs ;
by which means the black fubftance was collected,
partly in powder, and partly in grains of difterent
fizes. It felt very foft between the fingers, and left a
{lain upon paper like Indian ink ; but though wafhed
with 24 ounces of water, ftill tafted acid. Half an
ounce of it diftilled in a retort yielded a drachm and
an half of weak acetous mixed with a little fulphureous
acid ; the refiduum was a black coal,.which by calci¬
nation in an open fire for a quarter of an hour, yielded^
25 grains of white afties, confifting of felenite, calcare¬
ous earth, and magnefia. A drachm of it digefted
with nitrous acid, which was afterwards diftilled from
it, and then diluted with diftilled water and filtered,
yielded a few cryftals, which appeared to be genuine
fait of tartar, an infoluble felenite being left behind.
On rectifying the vitriolic acid freed from the black
matter and diluted with eight ounces of water, nine
ounces of fulphureous acid were firll obtained, after
which followed an ounce of acid rather high-coloured,
and then the vitriolic acid quite colourlefs. It now
weighed only 1 g-J ounces, and its fpecific gravity was
but 1.723, while that of the acid originally employed
had been 1.989.
On repeating the procefs with fix pounds of fpirit
of wine to two of oil of vitriol, the firft 12 ounces
that came over were fpirit of wine almoft totally un¬
changed ; then two ounces fmelling a little qf ether ;
and afterwards two pounds, of which about one third
were ether. When about five pounds had been drawn
off, the di Hilling liquor began to fmell fulphureous;
and after nipe ounces more had been drawn off, the
4
S T R Y. ' Practice.
frothing up of the matter in the retort obliged him to Vitriolic
put an end to the operation. The acid was then aiMl *t9
filtered through pounded glafs as before, and after-ina'
wards committed to diftillation. The three firft -t ,<
ounces were a weak fulphureous acid; then followed,
an ounce more concentrated, and of a red colour ;
then another of a yellowifh call; after which the reft,
of the acid came over quite colourlefs. The. whole
weighed 27 ounces, and the fpecific gravity of it com--
pared with diftillcd water was as 1.667 t0' -ooo.
Ether is the lighteft of all known fluids, except Properties •
air; and is lb volatile, that in vacuo its.boiling point i»«f ether.
20° below o° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. If a fmall
quantity is poured out on the ground, it inftantly eva¬
porates, diffufing its fragrance all through the room,.
and fcarce perceptibly moiftening.the place on which
it fell. It difficultly mixes with water, as being of
an oily nature : ten parts of water, however, will take
up one part of ether. Its great volatility renders it
ferviceable in nervous difeafes, and removing pains,
when rubbed on with the hand, and kept from evapo¬
rating immediately. By fpontaneous evaporation, it
produces a great degree of cold. (See Evaporation
and Congelation). The moft extraordinary pro-,
perty, however, is, that if gold is diffolved in aqua-
regia (fee Metallic Subjlances, below), and ether add¬
ed to the folution, the gold wiil leave the acid and
permanently unite with the ether. The exceeding
great volatility of ether renders it very eafily inflam¬
mable even on the approach of flame; and therefore
it ought never to be diftilled, or even poured from
one veffel to another, by candle-light. If a lefs quan¬
tity of the vitriolic acid is added to the fpirit of wine
than what is fufficient to produce ether, the product
is called fpiritus vitrioli dulcis. The following experi¬
ment made by Wallerius, induced him and others to-
think, that the vitriolic acid was convertible into the
nitrous.
“ Some fait of tartar (fays he), being mixed with Experiment
the dulcified fpirit of vitriol, or perhaps with the in favour of
ether (for the anther expreffes himfelf a little ambi-
guoufly), the full bottle ftopt with a cork, tied over vj r-oj;c
With bladder, and laid on its fide ;. on Handing for four to nitrous
months, the greateft part of the fpirit was found to acid,
have efcaped, and the fait was fhot into hexangular
prifmatic cryftals refembling nitre. It tafted ftrongly
of the fpirit, but had no other particular tafte. Laid
on a burning coal, it crackled, exploded with a bright
fiaflr, and flew into the air. He afterwards found,
that by adding to the fprrit a drop or two of any acid,
the fait cryftaUizes the fooner ; that in this cafe it has
a fouriftr tafte, but in other refpebts is the fame with
that made without acid. This falt-petre (fays the au¬
thor) promifes, from the violence of its explofion, to
make the ftrongelt gun-powder in the world, but a
very dear one. Though the experiment flrould not
be applicable to any ufe in this way, it will probably
contribute to illuftrate the generation of nitre : as it
palpably ffiows nitre, that is, the acid or charafteriftic
part of nitre, produced from the vitriolic acid and
phlogifton.”
We cannot here help again regretting that chemifts No/conelte*
of fuperior abilities fhould fometimes leave very import- flvet
ant difcovertes only half finifhed, fo that chemifts of
an inferior rank know not what to make of them. Had
Wallerius,
t
Fra dree. C H E M
Y:trio!:i Wallerins, who feems more than once to have been in
Acid^andi- poffeffiojj 0f this fait, only poured on it a few drops of
tions * " the peculiar colour and fmell of the fumes
■ mull have been a much more convincing proof of the
reality of the tranfmutation than that of mere defla¬
gration ; becaufe the latter can be otherwife accounted
74 z for.
It is certain, that many fuftances, water itfelf not
excepted, will explode with great violence if fuddenly
application heated beyond what they are able to bear. If ipirit
of heat. of wine is confined in a clofe veil'd, it will alio by
means of heat burft it as effe&ually as water; and as
the vapours of this fubftance are inflammable, the ex-
plofion will be attended with a flaili if any flame is
near. In like manner ether, on the approach of a
candle, takes fire, and goes off in a flaih like lightning;
but this happens, not from any thing nitrous, but from
its great volatility and inflammability. If therefore the
Vapours of the ethereal liquor are confined, and heat
is applied fudderily to the containing veffel, their great
volatility will caufe them make an inftantaneous effort
againft the fides of it, which increafing with a fwift*
ncfs far beyond that of aqueous or fpirituous vapours,
will make a much quicker as well as a much ftronger
explolion than either of them ; and if a flaming fub¬
ftance is near, the explofion will be attended with a
bright fiafh like that of the ether itfelf.
In the experiment now before us, the fait tailed
ftrongly of the fpirit, or ether, from which it was
made. The fpirit was therefore confined in the cry-
ftals of fait; and his volatile liquor, which, even under
the preffure of the atmofphere, boils with the heat of
looc of Fahrenheit, was, in a confined ftate, fubjefted
to the heat of a burning coal; that is, to more than-
ten tipaes the degree of heat neoeifary to convert it
into vapour. The confequenee of this could be no
other, than that the particles of fait, or> perhaps the
air itfelf, not being capable of giving way foon enough
to the forcible expanfion' of the ether, a violent ex¬
plofion would happen, and the fait be thrown about;
which accordingly came to pafs, and might very reafen-
ably be expefted, without any thing nitrous contained
in the fait.
Mr-Cavallo defcribesan eafy and expeditious method
of purifying ether, though a very expenfive one ; as
out of a pound of the common kind fcarce three or
four ounces will remain of that which is purified. The
method of purifying it, he fays, was communicated
to him by Mr Winch chemift in London, and is to be
performed in the following manner. “ Fill about a
quarter of a llrong bottle with common ether, and
pour upon it twice as much water; then ftop the
bottle and give it a fhake, ,fo as to mix the ether for
feme time with the water. This done, keep the
bottle for fome time without motion, and the mouth
of it downwards, till the ether be feparated ■ from the
water, and fwims above itwhich it will do in three
or four minutes. Then opening the bottle with the
mouth ftill inverted, let the greateft part of the water
run out very gently ; after this, turn the bottle with
the mouth upwards ; pour more water upon the ether,
fhaking and feparating the water as before. Repeat
this operation three or four times; after which the
ether will be exceedingly pure, and capable of diffol-
ving elaftic gum, though it could not do fa before.
ad 74:4
Gavallo’s
method of
purifying
ether.
I S T R Y. ' 469
As great part of the ether undoubtedly remains Nitrous
mixed with the water after this procefs, our author lts
remarks, that it might be worth while to put the wa- t^ns_
ter into a retort and diltil the ether from it, which
will come iufiiciently pure for common ufe. He ob-
ferves alfo, that “ it is commonly believed that water
combines with the purdi part of the ether when the
two fluids are kept together ; though the contrary
feems to be eftabliflied by this procefs. According
to Mr Waftrumb, we may obtain from the refiduum
of vitriolic ether a refin containing vitriolic acid, vine¬
gar, Glauber’s fait, felenite, calcareous earth, lilex, .
iron, and phofphoric acid.
§,'2. Of the Nitrous Slcld and its Combinations.
This acid is far from being fo plentiful as the vitriolic.
It has been thought to exiit in the air ; and the expe¬
riments of Mr Cavendiih have Ihowny that it may be
artificially compofed, by taking the electric fpark in
a mixture of dephlogifticated and phlogiiticated air.
See Aerology, n° 77. 724
With regard to the preparation of nitre, Dr Black ob^ Of the pre-
ferves, that'it is made in great plenty in the more fouth- pafatiou i f
errt parts of Europe ; likewife in the fouthern parts of nltre‘
Perfia, in China, the Eaft Indies, and in North Ame-
ricav We have had no accounts of the dinner in:
which it is pr epared in the Ealt Indies, no per ion on the
fpot having taken particular notice of the manufacture; *
The general account is, that it is obtained from the
foil of certain diftridh; which are called faltpetre grounds }
where the foil is very cold, barren, and unhealthy*
The fait is there ready formed by nature. It is
only neceflary to gather large quantities of the earth,,
and to put it into a cavity through which a great
quantity of water iapoured, which dilfolves the nitre;
and the lixivium runs into an adjacent pit, out of
which it is lifted in order to be evaporated and obtain¬
ed in the form of cryftals. This account, however;
has been thought unfatisfaftory; becaufe there is hard¬
ly any pait of Europe in which it is found in this
manner. It is difeovered indeed in feme very large Difcovcre<fr
diitritts in Poland, particularly in Podolia, where the in fome
country is flat and fertile, and had been once very po- piacesinPo¬
pulous, but is now in a great meafure dtfevted. It isp^j^jj1.
there obtained from tumuli or hillocks, which are the *
remains of former habitations ; but thefe are the only
places in which it is found in any eonfiderable quan¬
tity. In Spain,, it is faid that the inhabitants ex- [n Sp* in-
trad! it from the foil after a crop of corn. It has been and Ame-
found in America in lime-ftone grounds, in the floors
of pigeon-houfes, tobaeco-houfes, or the ruins of old >
ftablcs, where a number of putrefying vegetables were
once coUedted- In general, however, it is extracted,
from artificial compounds or accidental mixtures, where .
animal and vegetable fubftances have been fully putre¬
fied by being expofed to the air with any fpongy or
loofe earth, efpecially of the. calcareous kind, and open
to the north or north-call wind, and more or lefs co-Re
vered from the heat or rains*. This daft particular is for ks for--
abfolutely neceflary to its formation in any quantity ; mation.
for the heat, by evaporating the moifture too much, 7^8
prevents it from being produced, and the rains walh it
away after it is already made. Cramer, an author of comp0ft
the greateft credit, informs us in his Docimallics, that for making;:
he made a little hut expofed to the frefh air of thenitre<
country,
47°
Nitrons
Acid and il
Combina-
731
C H E M I
country, with windows to admit the winds. In this
he put a mixture of garden mold, thfe rubbifh of lime,
and putrid animal and vegetable fubftances. This he
frequently moillened with urine ; and in a month or
two found his compofition very rich in nitre, yielding
at lea ft one-eighth part of its weight.
It is manufactured in Europe by making artificial
compounds with lefs trouble. In Hanover it is got
Hanover, ^y collecting the rakings of the ftreets; which are built
up into mud-walls that are allowed to remain a certain
■'time, when the furface is found covered with a white
faline efflorefcence. A perfon is employed to ferape
this off; and.putting it into a vefiel, it is wafhed with
.water to diffolve the nitre, and the remaining earthy
matter is again plaftered on the mud-walls, and freih
matter brought from the ftreets to renew them occa-
fionally : and by this 'Ample method a confiderable
^quantity is obtained. In Germany the peafants are
directed by law to build mud-walls of this kind with
the dung and urine of animals, and fome ftraw. After
they have flood for fome time, and the vegetable and
animal fubftances are rotten, they afford a confiderable
In France, quantity of nitre. In France it is obtained from ac¬
cidental collections of this kind ; as w'here loofe earth
has been long expofed to the contact of animal fub-
llances, the ruins of old {tables, pigeon-houfes, See.
Sometimes from the mould upon the ground where
dunghills have been lying. A particular fet of people
go about in fearch of thefe materials; and when, by
making a fmall effay, they find that they will turn to
account, they put the materials into a large tub with
a' perforated bottom, and another which is water-proof
put below it. Some ftraw is interpofed betwixt the
twm ; and on pouring water upon the materials, it
foaks through them, undergoes a kind of filtration in
paffing through the ftraw, and is then drawn off by a
cock placed in the under-tub, and boiled to a proper
confiftence for cryftalli/.ation. The cryftals are at firft
browrt and very impure, but by repeated diffolution
73a and cryftallization become pure and white.
Dr Brack’s From thefe particulars relating to the hiftory of falt-
conclufions petrej Dr Black concludes, that it is not properly a
the'nauirif ^°®1, being produced at the furface of the ground,
of fait- Margraaf difeovered a fmall quantity of it in the ana-
petre. lyfis of fome of the w aters about Berlin, and others have
found it in the wells about fome great cities: but no
true nitre has ever been found in fprings ; fo that this
nitrous fait may be fuppofed to have derived its origin
from the quantity of putrid matters with which all
cities abound. All rich and fertile foils are found to
contain it ; and in the hot countries, where the pro-
dufts of nature are numerous, and putrefaction carried
an very faft, they are often very rich in nitre. This
may happen in fome places from the conflux of wa¬
ters; which remainirg for fome time on the furface,
and afterwards exhaling, left tire faline particles be-
733 hind.
Stippofed to On the whole, Dr Black concludes, that neither
efFcdToDu n^tre nor ac'^ ^oes ex^ *n the air, becaufe it
trdadUon”* might eafily be deteCted there ; though many have
embraced this opinion from its being ufually found at
the furface of the ground. He is of opinion, that it
is the effeft of the Taft; ftage of putrefaftion of animal
and vegetable fubftances; and it ismever to be found
except where thefe or their effluvia are prefent, and
S T R Y. Practice.
never till the putrefa&ion is complete. It has been a Nitrous
matter of difpute, whether it exifted in thofe matters Acid wdjjf
before the procefs of putrefaClion, or was produced by Ina*
it. But it is pretty certain, fays the DoClor, that ^
it originated in them; for the fun-flower, tobacco, and
other plants, are found to contain it before putrefac¬
tion : and fome have even afferted, that plants placed
in the earth, deprived of all its faline fubftances, will
yield it. The compofitions recommended by Cramer
are the fitteft for producing a complete degree of pu-
trefadlion, provided they contain a moderate degree
of humidity, and that the quantity expofed to the air
be defended from too great a heat by the fun, which
w’ould dry up its moifture; and likewife from too great
a degree of cold, which likewife checks fermentation.
The importance of the calcareous earth in fuch a com-
polition would likewfife favour the conclufions juft nowr
drawn ; for the molt remarkable effedt of this earth is
to promote and perfedt the putrefadlion of thefe fub¬
ftances. It would feem, therefore, that the true fe-
cret of the produdtion of nitre is to mix properly to¬
gether animal and vegetable fubftances with earth,
particularly of the calcareous kind ; expo Ting them to
the air with a moderate degree of humidity, fufficient
to promote their putrefadlion in the moil effedlual
manner ; and when the putrefadlion is carried to the
utmofl height, we may then expedt that nitre will be
produced. 734
The diftinguifhing charadleriflic of the nitrous acid Dlftin-
is its great difpofition to unite with the phlogifton ;
and, when fo united, firfl to become exceedingly
latile, and at lafl to be diffipated in a very white bright nitro isacid,
flame : this is called its detonation or deflagration. In
the flrongefl Hate in which this acid is procurable in a
liquid form, it is of a reddifh yellow colour, and con¬
tinually exhales in denfe, red, and very noxious fumes ;
and in this Hate is called fmoiing, or, from its inventor,
Glauber's, fpirit of nitre.
I. To extradl the Nitrous Acid by means of the
Vitriolic.
Into a glafs retort put two pounds of good fait- Spih^of
petre, and pour upon it j8 ounces of concentrated oil nitre,
of vitriol; fet the retort in a fand heat, and lute on
a large receiver with the compofition already recom¬
mended, for refifling acid fumes; the mixture will grow
very warm, and the retort and receiver will be filled
with red vapours. A fmall fire is then to be kindled;
and c.’utioufly raifed till no more drops will fall from
the nofe of the retort. What comes over will be a
very flrong and fmoking fpirit of nitre. ' , j.
In this proceft, the nitrous acid is generally mixed RecWica-
with part of the vitriolic which comes over along with tion.
it, and from which it mufl be freed if defigned for
nice purpofes. This is moil effe£lually done by dif-
folving in it a fmall quantity of nitre, and rediftilling
the mixture. The vitriolic acid which came over in
the firft diflillation is kept back by the nitre in the fe¬
cund, combining with its alkaline bafts, and expelling
a proportionable quantity of the nitrous acid.
We have here direfted the pure vitriolic acid to be Different
ufed, in order to expel the nitrous one ; but for this methods of
purpofe any combination of the vitriolic acid with adiiUliiog.
metallic or earthy bafis may be ufed, though, not with
equal advantage. If calcined. vitriol is made ufe of.
Praaice. C H E M
Nitrous _ as much phloglfton is communicated by the calx of
Acid and i:sjron contained in that fait as makes the nitrous acid
tons ina" exceedingly volatile, fo that great part of it is loft.
. If calcined alum, or felenite, is made ufe of, the vitrio¬
lic acid in thefe fubftances immediately leaves the
earth with which it was combined, in order to unite
with the alkaline bafis of the nitre, and expels its
acid : but the moment the nitrous acid is expelled from
the alkali, it combines with the earth which the vitrio¬
lic acid had left; from which it cannot be driven
without a violent fire; and part of it remains obfti-
nately fixed, fo as not to be expelled by any degree
of heat. Hence the produce of fpirit, when nitre is
diftilled with fuch fubftaflces, always turns out confi-
derably lefs than when the pure vitriolic acid is ufed.
Alum is preferable to felenite, for the purpofes of
diftilling fpirit of nitre ; becaufe the acid does not ad¬
here fo ftrongly to argillaceous as to calcareous earth.
According to Weigleb, the nitrous acid may be ex¬
pelled not only by clay, gypfum, and other fubftances
containing the vitriolic acid, but even by various kinds
ofvitrifiable earth. Clean pebbles, quartz in the form of
fand, pieces of broken china and ftone ware, powdered
glafs, SssV. mixed with nitre in the proportion of fix to
one, always expel the acid, though imperfectly. In
France the acid is always extrafted by means of clay.
The reafon of thefe decompofitioris is, that the al¬
kaline bafis of the nitre attracts the filiceous earth,
whofe fixednefs in a vehement fire gives it an advan¬
tage over the volatile nitrous acid, in the fame manner
that the weak acid of phofphorus or arfenic will alfo
expel it by reafon of their fixednefs in the fire.
Even fpirit of fait, according to Margraaff’s experi¬
ments, may be ufed for diftilling the fpirit of nitre.
That celebrated chemift informs us, that on diftilling
nitre with eight or nine times its quantity of ftrong
marine, acid, a fpirit comes over which confifts chiefly
of the nitrous acid, but has alfo fome portion of that
of fea-falt. The reafoti of this is fhown in Mr Kir-
“See wan’s experiments on chemical attractions*. In the
&c3jx. piefent cafe, however, the decompofition may be faci¬
litated by the ftrong attraction of the nitrous acid for
phlogifton ; for it is well known, that on mixing the
nitrous and marine acids together, the latter is always
dephlogifticated. It feems therefore that in this cafe
a double decompofition takes place, the nitrous acid
uniting itfelf to the phlogifton of the marine, and the
latter attaching itfelf to the alkali of the nitre.
Ufes. Spirit of nitre is very ufeful in the arts of dyeing and
refining, where it is known by the name of aqua for¬
th-; and therefore an eafy and cheap method of pro¬
curing it is a valuable piece of knowledge. Many
difficulties, however, occur in this procefs, as well as
that for the vitriolic acid. Oil of vitriol, indeed, al¬
ways expels the nitrous acid with certainty ; and on
diftilling the mixture, a fpirit of nitre arifes: but if a
glafs retort is ufed for the purpofe of diftilling this a-
cid, the quantity of refiduum left in diftillation is fo
great, and fo infoluble in water, being no other than
vitriolated tartar, that the retort muft always be broken
in order to get it out ; and the produce of fpirit will
fcarce afford the breaking a retort. If earthen re¬
torts are made ufe of, they muft certainly be of that
kind called ftone-ware, and the price of them will be
I S T R Y. 47I
very little if at all inferior to that of glafs. Iron pots Nitrous
are faid to be made ufe of in the diftillation of common ^ctd andits
aquafortis in large quantities ; but they have the great ina*
inconvenience of making a quantity of the acid fo vo- (- j
latile, that it not only will not condenfe, but fpreads its
fuffocating vapours all around in fuch a manner as to
prove very dangerous to thofe who are near it. If an
iron veffel, therefore, is thought of for the purpofe of
diftilling aquafortis, it will be proper at leaft to at¬
tempt luting over the infide with a mixture of gyp-
feous earth and fand, to prevent as much as pofiible
the acid from attacking the metal.
Dephlogifticated fpirit of nitre is obtained by diftil¬
ling the fmoking kind with a gentle heat, until what
remains is as colourlefs as water. It is diftinguilhed
by emitting white and not red fumes like the other
kind, when fet in a warm place. It muft be kept
conftantly in the dark, otherwife it will again become
phlogifticated, and emit red vapours by the action of
the light; the fame thing will alfo. take place if it be
heated with too violent a fire.
II. To procure the Nitrous Acid by means of Arfenic.
Pulverife equal quantities of dried nitre and white Biu/aqua
cryftalline arienic ; mix them well together, and diftil forth,
in a glafs-retort with a fire very cautioufly applied ;
for the arfenic a<fts on the nitre with fuch a violence,
and the fumes are here fo volatile, that unlefs great
care is taken, a moft dangerous explofion will almoft
certainly happen. As, in this cafe, the nitrous fumea
arife in a perfectly dry ftate, fome water muft be put
into the receiver, with which they may unite and con¬
denfe. The aquafortis fo produced will have a blue
colour, owing to the inflammable principle feparated
from the arfenic, by which its extreme volatility is
likewife occafioned. If this blue aquafortis is expo-
fed to the air, its colour foon flies off If inftead of
the white arfenic we employ the pure arfenic acid,, the
diftilkd liquor will have no blue colour.
Nitrous Acid combined,
!• With V-getable fxed Alkali. This fait, combined g
with the nitrous acid to the point of faturation,-regene- 3 t
rates nitre. It is obfervablc,. however, according to
Neumann, that there is always fome diffimilarity be¬
tween the original and regenerated nitre, unlefs quick¬
lime is added. The regenerated fait, he fays, always
corrodes tin, which the original nitre does not; owing
probably to a quantity of phlogifticated acid remaining
in it. Boiling with quicklime deprives it of this quality,
and makes it exaftly the fame with original nitre.
II. With Foftle alkali. The neutrafeiak ariilug from Ciibafnitre,
a combination of the nitrous acid and fofiile alkali is
lomewhat different from common nitre; being moie
difficult to cryitallize, inclining to deliquate in the air,
and fhooting into cryftals of a cubical form, whence
it gets the name of cubic nitre. Its qualities are found
fomewhat inferior to the common nitre ; and therefore
it is never made, unlefs by accident, or for experi¬
ments.
Nitre is one of the moft fufible falls. It is liquefied Fufibkily ■
in a heat much lefs than what is neceffary to make it
red ; and thus remain in tranquil fufion-, without fwel-
ling. If nitre thus melted be left to cool and fix,
whe»-
47'2
CHEMISTRY.
Pradice.
rous _ whether it has been made red Hot or not in the fufion, the nitrous fal ammoniac has the property of defla-Nitrous
Combinalt8*t c°ag'dates into a white, femi-tranfparent, folid mafs, grating by itfelf without any addition of inflammable
tions. called mineral cryjlal, having all the properties of nitre matter; and this it does mere or lefs readily, asthetl(ms
- itfelf. By this fufion, Mr Beaumt? obferves that nitre volatile alkali with which it was made was more or t.
lofes very little, if any, of the water contained
cryftals, fince the weight of mineral cryltal is nearly
the fame with that of the nitie employed.
When nitre is kept in fufion with a moderate heat,
and at thefame time does not touch any inflammable mat¬
ter, nor even flame, it remains in that ftate without
fuffering any very fenfible alteration ; but if it is long
kept in fufion with a ftrong fire, part of the acid is de-
Itroyed by the phlogifton which penetrates the crucible;
and hence the nitre becomes more and more alka¬
line.
Nitre is of very extenfive ufe in different arts ; be¬
ing the principal ingredient in gun-powder ; and fer-
ving as an excellent flux to other-matters ; whence its
ufe in glafs making. (See Glass.) It is alfo poffef-
fed of a confiderable antifeptic power ; whence its ufe
in preferring meat, to which it communicates a red
lefs impure and oily. 746
The medical virtues of this kind of nitre have not Dl'Ward’s
been inquired into. It feems to have made the prin- w^itc
eipal ingredient in the famous Dr Ward’s white drop,
which was celebrated as an antifcorbutic ; with what
juftice, thofe who have tried, it mufl determine. 747
IV. With Calcareous Earths. Thefe the nitrous acid Calcareous
diflblves into a tranfparent colourlefs liquor; but for this wtrc•
purpofe it muft be very muck diluted, or the folution will
have a gelatinous confidence. Tifis compound is not ap¬
plicable to any ufeful purpofe. It has a very acrid
tafte; and, if infpiffated, attrafls moiftnre from the air.
If it is totally dried, it then refembles -an earthy mat¬
ter, which deflagrates very weakly. By diftillation
in a retort, almoft all :the acid may be expelled, and
what little remains flies off in an open fire. 748
Mr Pott, who has particularly examined the Com- Nitrous acid
colour. In medicine, nitre is ufed as a diuretic, fedh- bination of nitrous acid with quicklime, fays that the
tive, and cooler ; but very often fits Uneafy on the fto- acid fuffered remarkable alterations by diftillation from16 *
mach. The refemblance of the cryftals of nitre to :quicklime, and repeated cdhobations upon it. By
thofe of Glauber’s fait has fometimes been the ecca- thefe experiments he obtained a fait more fenfibly
fion of dangerous miftakes. Dr Alexander mentions fufceptible of eryftallization and detonation, than what
a fwelling over the whole body of a woman, occafioned -can be obtained by a fingle combination. From his
by her taking a folution of nitre inftead of ‘Glauber’s experiments it would feem, that nitrous acid, by this
fait. Two miftakes of the fame kind we have alfo treatment with quicklime, was capable of being en-
known. In one an ounce, and in the other upwards tirely decompofed.
of two ounces, of nitre were fwallowed. The fymp- If a folution of chalk in the nitrous acid be evapo-
toms occafioned were univerfal coldnefs and {hivering, rated to drynefs, and then gently Calcined, it acquires
•744
extreme debility and ficknefs at ftomach, cold fweats,
and faintings. Neither of the cafes proved mortal.
The cure was effefted by cordials and corroborants.
A procefs has obtained a place in-the difpenfatories
the property of finning in the dark, after having been
expofed to the fun’s rays, or even to the light of a
candle. This fubftance, from its inventor, js called phofpho^
Baldwin’s phofphorus } or, from its being necefiafy to rus.
*3 1 lincl -Tjc pi t/VCia nab ULiidincu pi.tv-c in tuc. va! uiuu'Lviri z jjuujyuuf u* y uiy jiiuiii uccciicti y tu
pm e a.|-Upp0fe(3 purification of nitre by means of flower keep it in a glafs hermetically fealed, phafphorus her-
of brimftone. A pound of falt-petre is to be melted
in a crucible, or fmall iron -veffel; and an ounce of
flowers of fulphur thrown upon it, by fmall quantities
at a time : a violent deflagration qnfues on each addi¬
tion ; and after the whole is put in, the fait is poured
out in moulds, and then called fal prunella. It has
been difputed whether the nitre was at all depurated
by this procefs; Dr Lewis thinks it is not. From
our own experience, however, we can affirm, that by
this means a fediment falls to the bottom, which car¬
ries with it any impurities that may have been in the
-pitre, and leaves the fluid fait clear and tranfparent as
meticus. (See Earths),
V. With Argillaceous Earths and Magnefia. All that is
known concerning the combinations of nitrous acid
with thefe earths is, that the firft produce aftringent,
and the fecond purgative, compounds, fimilar to alum
and Epfom fait, and which are not fufceptible of cry-
ftallization.
VI. With Gold.—Till very lately, it has been the opi¬
nion of chemifts, that the nitrous acid by itfelf was inca¬
pable of adfing upon this metal.—Dr Brandt, how¬
ever, produced before the Swedifh academy of faien¬
ces, a folution of gold in the nitrous acid, obtained
in parting, by that acid, a mixture of gold and filver.
—The mixed metal was boiled with aquafortis in a
glafs body fitted with a head and receiver, the liquor
745
.water. This precipitate is probably no other than a
vitriolated tartar formed by the union of the fulphu-
reous acid and alkali of the nitre, which being lefs fu- ^
fible than the nitre, fubfides in a folid form and ciari- poured off, and the cottion repeated with frefh parcels
fies it. of ftronger and ftronger nitrous fpirits, till all the fil-
Nirrmisam- III- With The nitrous acid feems pecu- ver was judged to be extra&ed. The laft parcel was
smoniac. liarly adapted to an union with volatile alkali; fatura- boiled down till the matter at the bottom looked like
ting as much, or rather mote of it than the ftrongeft vi- a dry fait; on boiling this in frefli aquafortis in dole
triolic acid is capable of doing. The produht is a very veffels, as befpre, a part of the gold was diffolved,
beautiful fait, called volatile nitre, or nitrous fal ammo- and the liquor tinged yellow. But though gold is by
niac. It very readily diflblves, not only in water, but this means truly foluble in the nitrous acid, the union
in fpirit of wine, which diftinguiflies it from the vitrio- is extremely flight; the gold being not only precipi-
lic and common kind of fal ammoniac. It alfo requires tated on the addition of filver, but likewife fpontane-
lefs heat for its fublimation: indeed care muft be ta- oufly on expofure to the air.— Dr Lewis very juftly
ken not to apply too great a heat for this purpofe, as obferves, that this folution may have been often made
,N'> 72* imknown.
Practice.
C H E M
Silver.
v isi
Lunar cai
flic.
Nitrous unknown to the chemlfts who did fo; and probably
Acid and oecafioned the miftakes which fome have fallen into,
nat^nT l" w^° thought that they were in pofleffion of aquafor-
i,„ . tis capable of tranfmuting filver into gold. Notwith-
ftanding thefe authorities, Mr Kirwan is of opinion
that the nitrous acid is in no cafe able to diffolve
gold ; the metal being only intimately mixed or dif-
fufed through it.
II. With Silver.—Pure fpirit of nitre will diffolve its
own weight of filver ; and (hoots with it into fine white
cryftals of a triangular form, confifting of very thin
plates joined clofely one upon another. Thefe cryftals
are fomewhat deliquefcent; of an extremely bitter,
pungent, and naufeous tafte; and, if taken internally,
are highly corrofive and poifonous. They melt in a
fmall heat, and form, on cooling, a dark-coloured mafs
j. ftill more corrofive, called lunar Cauftic or lapis infer-
nalis. They readily diffolve in water; and, by the
affiftance of warmth, in fpirit of wine. In the Attx
Natura Curioforum, tom. vi. there is a remarkable hi-
ftory of filver being volatilized by its combination with
the nitrous acid. Four ounces of filver being dif-
folved in aquafortis, and the folution fet to diftil in
an earthen retort, a white tranfpatent butter arofe in¬
to the neck, and nothing remaining behind ; by de¬
grees the butter liquefied, and paffed down into the
phlegm in the receiver. The whole being now pour¬
ed back into the retort, the filver arofe again along
with the acid. The volatilization being attributed to
the liquor having flood in a laboratory where charcoal
was bringing in, the experiment was repeated with a
frefti folution of filver, and a little powdered charcoal,
with the fame event.
Solution of filver in the nitrous acid ftains hair,
f bones, and other folid parts of animals, and different
of filver °n kind3 of wood, of all the intermediate (hades from a
light brown to a deep and lading black. The liquors
commonly fold for ftaining hair brown or black, are
no other than folutions of filver in aquafortis, fo far
diluted in water as not fenfibly to corrode the hair.
It gives a permanenb»ftain likewife to fundry ftones;
not only to thofe of the fofter kind, as marble, but to
fome of confiderable hardnefs, as agates and jafpers.
The folution for this purpofe fhould be fully faturated
with the metal; and the done, after the liquor has
been applied, expofed for fome time to the fun. M.
du Fay obferves (in a paper on this fubjedt in the
French memoirs for 1728), that if the folution be
repeatedly applied, it will penetrate in the whitifli
agate, or chalcedony, about one-twelfth of an inch :
that the tindture does not prove uniform, on account
of the veins in the ftone : that the colours, thus com¬
municated by art, are readily diftinguifhable from the
■natural, by difappearing on laying the ftone for a
night in aquafortis: that, on expofing it to the fun
afterwards for fome days, the colour returns : that
the folution gave fomewhat different tin&ures to dif¬
ferent ftones ; to oriental agate, a deeper black than
to the common chalcedony ; to an agate fpotted with
yellow, a purple ; to the jade ftone, a pale brownifti;
to the common emerald, an opaque black; to common
granite, a violet unequally deep ; to ferpentine ftone,
an olive ; to marble, a reddilh, which changed to pur¬
ple, and fixed in a brown: that on Hates, talcs, and
amianthus, it had no effedt.
Vol. IV. Part lb
1SI
Colours
produced
I S T R Y. 473
If a folution of filverbe diluted with pure water, aNierous
confiderable quantity of pure mercury added, and the ^C1fj an/1.
whole fet by in a cold place; there will form by de- nations'
grees a precipitation and cryftallization refembling a 1——,v ^
little tree, with its root, trunk, and brandies, called 754
arbor Diana or the philofophic filver tree. Another kind Arbor Dia-
of artificial vegetation may be produced by fpreading nas*
a few drops of folution of filver upon a glafs plate,
and placing in the middle a fmall bit of any of the
metals that precipitate filver, particularly iron. The
Giver quickly concretes into curious ramifications all
over the plate. ^
Like other metallic folutions, this combination of Solution of
the nitrous acid with filver is decompofed by fixed and dver de¬
volatile alkalies, calcareous earths, and feveral metals, comioled'
(fee the Table of Affinities); but with feveral pecu¬
liar circumttartces attending the precipitation. With
metals, the filver is readily and copioufly thrown down
at firft, but (lowly and difficultly towards the end.
The menftruum generally retains fome portion of the
filver, as the filver almoft always does of the metal
which precipitated it. For recovering the filver from
aquafortis after parting, the refiners employ copper.
The folution, diluted with water, is put into a cop¬
per veffel, or into a glafs one with thin plates of cop¬
per, and fet in a gentle warmth. The filver begins
immediately to feparate, from the liquor in form of fine
grey fcales, or powder; a part of the copper being
diffolved in its place, fo as to tinge the fluid more or
lefs of a bluifti green colour. The plates are now and
then (haken, that fuch part of the filver as is depo-
fited upon them may fall off, and fettle to the bottom.
The digeftion is continued till a frelh bright plate,
kept for fome time in the warm liquor, is no longer
obferved to contract any powdery matter on the fur-
face ; when the liquor is poured off, and the preci¬
pitate wa(hed with freffi parcels of boiling water. It
is obfervable, that though the acid in this procefs fa-
turates itfelf with the copper, in proportion as it lets
go the filver, yet the quantity of copper which it takes
up is not near fo great as that of filver which it de-
pofits. One drachm of copper will precipitate three
of filver, and faturate all the acid that held the three
drachms diffolved. .
Calcareous earths, as chalk or quicklime, throw Charavfter*
down a part of the filver, but leave a very confide- curioully
rable part fufpended in the liquor. If the earth be mariced on
moiftened with the folution into the confiftence of a^*in^pf
pafte, and expofed to the fun, it changes its white by niean$
colour to a dark purpliffi black; diftinft charadters of the fun’*
may be exhibited on the matter, by intercepting a
part of the fun’s light by threads, flit paper, bV. placed
on the outfide of the glafs. Culinary fire does not af-
fedt its colour : after the mafs has been exficcated by
this, it changes as before, on expofure to the fun.
Mild volatile alkaline fpirits, added to a folution of
filver, precipitate but little, and cauftic volatile alka¬
lies none. Pure fixed alkalies, and alkalies rendered
cauftic by quicklime, throw down the whole. Fixed al¬
kalies impregnated with inflammable matter by calci¬
nation with animal coals, occafion at firft a confide
table precipitation ; but if added to a larger quantity,
take up great part of the metal again. Mr Mar-
graaff relates, that edulcorated calces of filver totally
diffolve, both in a lixivium of thefe alkalies and in vo-
3 Q latile
474
latile fpirits; and that the marine acid precipitates the
I'tiTcombi- ^ver frotn the volatile, but not from the fixed, alka-
nations. line folution. Kunckel reports, that the calx precipi-
stated by volatile fpirits made with quicklime, fulmi-
nates or explodes in the fire; and that by infpiflating
a folution of pure filver, melting the dry refiduu n,
pouring it on fpirit of urine fuperfaturated with fait,
and fetting the mixture in a gentle warmth, a blood-
red mafs is produced, fo tough as to admit of being
757 wound about the fingers.
Copper. \\\. With Copper. The nitrous acid very readily dif-
folves this metal into a green-coloured and very caudic li¬
quor. The folution, if properly evaporated, will cry-
ftallize ; but the cryftals are deliquefcent, and there¬
fore difficult to be preferved, The only ufe of this
combination is for the preparation of the pigment cal-
Verditer. !ecl verditer. Of this there are two kinds, the blue and
green. The blue is by far the bright eft colour, and
confequently the moft valuable. It has been faid that
this is obtained by precipitating a folution of copper
by any calcareous earth ; and therefore is fold by the
refiners, who have large quantities of folution of cop¬
per accidentally made. The folution is faid to he pre¬
cipitated by chalk, or whiting ; and that the precipitate
is the beautiful blue colour called verditer. By this
method, however, only the green kind can be obtain¬
ed. The blue we have found to be of a quite different
nature,and formed by precipitation with a gentle heat
from a folution of copper in volatile alkali. See the
750 article 'Colour- making.
Jron. YV.WithIron. On this metal the concentrated nitrous
acid afts very violently, and plentifully corrodes, but
does not diffolve it; the calx falling almoft as fall as
dtifolved ; and when it is once let fall, frefh acid will
not take it up again. If the acid was diluted at firft,
it takes up a confiderable proportion, provided the
metal be leifurely added. If the folution is perform¬
ed with extreme flownefs, the colour will be green ;
but if otherwife, of a dark red. It does not cryftal-
lize; and, if infpiffated to drynefs, deliquates in the
■air'
T.n. V. With Tin. Concentrated nitrous acid atfts upon tin
with great force, but only corrodes the metal into a
white indiffoluble maf?. In order to obtain a perfect
folution of tin in the nirous acid, the metal muft be put
in by very little at a time, and a diluted aquafortis
made ufe of. This folution has been confiderably ufed
in dyeing, and is remarkable for heightening red co¬
lours of all kinds; but the folution made with aqua-
ifix reSts ‘3 preferable.
JLead. Ml. With Lead. Proof aquafortis, lowered with an e-
qual quantity of water, difiolves about half its weight of
lead. On diluting the folution with a large quantity
of water, it turns milky, and depofites great part of
, the metal. The folution {hoots, upon exhaling part of
the menftruum, into fmall pyramidal cryftals with Iquare
76a bafes, of an auftere fweet tafte.
Quickfilver la the memoirs of the French academy for 1733,
beextra&ed t^iere 38 a Particular account of an experiment, in which
from lead, mercury is faid to have been extracted from lead by
diflblving it in the nitrous acid. During the diffolu-
tion, there fell a precipitate, which is plainly proved
to be mercury, and was looked upon to be one of the
conftituent parts of the lead feparated by this Ample
procefs: it feems probable, however, that tire mercury
CHEMIST R Y.
in this cafe had been contained
Pra&ice*
s the aquafortis 5 for Nitrous
cipitate.    
The cryftals of lead in the nitrous acid, when —w
thrown into the fire, do not deflagrate as other com¬
binations of this acid with metallic or faline bafes;
but crackle violently, and fly around, with great dan¬
ger to the by-ftanders. If they are rubbed into very
line powder, they may then be melted without any
danger. By repeated difTolutions in frefh aquafortis,
they at laft form a thick fluid like oil, which cannot
be dried without great difficulty. This compofnion is not
adapted to any particular ufe, and is a violent poifon. 763
VII. With Quickfilver. Aquafortis, of fuch a degree Quii-kfil-
of ftrength as to take up half its weight of filver, dif-vcr*
folves with eafe above equal its weight of mercury in¬
to a limpid liquor, intenfely corrofive and poifonous,
which fpontaneoufly fhoots into white cryftals. Thefe
cryftals, or the folution exficcated, and moderately
calcined, affnme a fparkling, red colour; and are ufed
in medicine as an elcharotic, under the name of
precipitate. The precipitate has fometimcs been gi-
ven internally, it is £aid, in very large quantities;
even a whole drachm at one dofe. But this would
feem incredible ; and the prefent pra&ice does not
countenance the taking of red precipitate inwardly.
This folution feems to have been what gave the efficacy
to Ward’s white drop.
When red precipitate is prepared in quantity, it is
proper to diftil the mercurial folution; becaufe moil
of the aquafortis may then be faved. It is exceeding¬
ly pure, if by purity we mean its being free of any ad¬
mixture of vitriolic ®r marine acid; but is confiderably
tainted with the inflammable principle of the mercury
extricated during the diffolution. In confequence of
this, it is very volatile and fmoking ; which has gene¬
rally, though improperly, been taken as a fign of itrength
in the nitrous acid.
VIII. WithBifmutb. This femimetal is very readily aAed Btfmuth.
upon by the nitrous acid. Proof aquafortis diffolves
about half its weight of bifmuth. If the metal was ha-
ftily added, the folution proves of a greeniffi colour;
if othervvife, it is colourlefs and tranfparent. Unlefs
the acid was diluted with about an equal quantity of'
water, a part of the bifmuth cryftallizes almoft as fall
as it diflblves. The metal is totally precipitated both
by fixed and volatile alkalies. The laft, added in
greater quantities than are fufficient for precipitation,
take it up again. The liquor generally appears
greenifli; by alternate additions of the alkaline fpirit
and foist ion, it becomes bluifh or purple. Fixed alka¬
lies calcined with inflammable matter lifeewife diffolve
the bifmuth after they have precipitated it.
The only ufe of this compound is for the precipi- Magiftery
tate, which is ufed as a cofmetic, under the name of of bifmiuiu
magiftery of lifmuth. The common way of preparing
this is by diluting the folution very largely with water,
upon which it turns milky, and a fine white precipi¬
tate falls, which is to be well edulcorated with water,
and is then employed as a cofmetic both in waflies and
pomatums.
Concerning the preparation of this cofmetic, Neu¬
mann obferves, that there are fundry variations.—
“ Some (fays he) take aqua-regia for the. menftruum ;
and for the precipitant a folution of fea-falt, alkalies,
5 fpirit
Praaice. C H E M
Nitrout fpirit of wine, See. Some mix with the fotution of
UsTc mbi a folution of benzoin in fpirit of wine, and
nations. thus obtain a magiftery compounded of bifmuth and
y 1 benzoin. Others add a folution of chalk to the me¬
talline folution, and precipitate both together by al¬
kalies. I have made trial with a good number of dif¬
ferent precipitants; and found, that with common
fixed alkali and cauftic alkali, with watery and vinous
alkaline fpirits, the magiftery was white, and in con-
fiderable quantity ; the liquor, after the precipitation
with volatile fpirits, appearing blue. That oil of vi¬
triol threw down a white precipitate very copioufly :
but that with fpirit of fait, or fpirit of vitriol, the
precipitate was in very fmall quantity, in colour like
the foregoing ; diftilled vinegar making no precipita¬
tion at all. Common rectified fpirit of wane, and tar-
tarized fpirit, common water, and lime-water, gave
white precipitates. Solutions of nitre, vitriolated tartar,
fal mirabile, alum, borax, common fait, fal ammoniac,
the combination of marine acid with calcareous earth,
and terra foliata tartari, all precipitated the bifmuth
white. With a folution of gold in aqua-regia the ma¬
giftery proved grey; jwith a folution of the fame metal
in aqua-regia made with fpirit of fait, the precipitate
was likewife grey, and in fmall quantity ; with folu¬
tion of copper in aquafortis, white, and in very fmall
quantity, the liquor continuing blue ; with folution of
vitriol of copper, white ; with folution of mercury fub-
limate, white and plentiful; with folution of iron in
aquafortis, yellowilh ; with folution of lead in aqua¬
fortis, and of fugar of lead, white ; with folution of
zinc in aquafortis there was little precipitate; and with
folutions of filver, tin, regulus of antimony, and of
, mercury, in the fame acid, none at all.”
2inc. IX. IV'itbZivc. Upon this femimetal the nitrous acid
acts with greaterviolenee than anyotber, and will forfake
any other metallic fubftance for it. The whole is very
foon diffolved into a tranfparent colourlefs liquor. The
calces of flowers of zinc are likewife foluble in the
nitrous acid ; but neither the folution of the flowers,
nor of the metal itfelf, has been yet found applicable to
any ufeful purpofe. Neumann remarks, that on ex-
tracling with nitrous acid the foluble parts of calamine,
which is an ore of zinc, the folution, infpiflated to
drynefs, left a reddifh brown ihafs, which on digeftion
with fpirit of wine exploded and burft the vefifel.
Reguius of X. IVith Regulus of Antimony. The nitrous acid rather
antimony, corrodes than diffolves this femimetal. The corroded
powder forms a medicine formerly ufed under the
name of be%oar mineral, but now difregarded.
Regulus of XI. With Regulus of Cobalt. This femimetal difiblves
cobalt. readily in the nitrous acid, both in its metallic form
770 and when reduetd t© a calx. The folution is of a red
co^our- Hence the nitrous acid furniflies means of
difcovercdW difeovering this femimetal in ores after ftrong calci-
in ores. nation ; very few other calces being foluble in the ni¬
trous- acid, and thofe that are not influencing the
colour.
XII. With Nickel. This femimetal is eafily diffolved by
the nitrous acid into a deep green liquor; but neither
this folution, nor indeed the femimetal of which it is
made, has hitherto been found of any ufe.
XIII. WithArfenic. This fubftance is readilyMiffolved
by the nitrous acid; which abftracls the phlogifton,
I s T R Y. 475
and leaves the pure arfenical acid behind. See below Nitrous
Add of Arfenic. Aci^ an?.
XIV-. With Expreffed Oils. Thefe, as well as all other nat;f''
fatty or unttuous fubftances, are confiderably thickened '
and hardened by their union with the nitrous acid. 771
There is only one preparation where this combination Gib-
is applied to any ufe. It is the unguentum citrinum of 77*
the fhops. This is made by adding to fome quantity tun^
of melted hog’s-lard a folution of quickfilver in the num.
nitrous acid. The acid, though in a diluted Hate, and
combined with mercury, neverthelefs afts with fuch
force on the lard, as to render the ointment almoft of
the confiftence of tallow.
XV. With Vinous Spirits. If highly rectified fpirit of Spirit of
wine and ftrong fpirit of nitre are fuddenly mixed to- wine,
gether, the acid inftantly becomes volatile, and is dif-
fipated with great heat and effervefcence in highly
noxious red fumes. If the acid is cautioufly poured
into the fpirit, in the proportion of five, fix, or even
ten parts of fpirit to one of acid, and the mixture di¬
ftilled in a glafs retort fet in a w'ater-bath, an exceed¬
ingly fragrant and volatile fpirit comes over, ufed in
medicine as a diuretic and cooler, under the name ol
fpiritus.nhri dulcis. This liquor is not acid; nor has Spiritrs ni-
what remains in the retort any more the charafteriftics tri dulcis.
of nitrous acid, which feems to be entirely decompofed
in this procefs. {See the following article.) 775
With the nitrous acid and fpirit of wine, may alfo Nitrous e-
be made an exceedingly volatile liquor, called nitrous t'lcn
ether, to diftinguiftr it from the vitriolic above men¬
tioned. The proportions of nitrous acid and fpirit of
wine to each other for nitrous ether, are two of the acid
by weight to three of the fpirit. Dr Black’s procefs
for* making it is as follows. Take four ounces of
ftrong phlogifticated nitrous acid ; and having cooled
it by putting it into a mixture of fait and fnow, or
into water cooled very near the freezing point, by put¬
ting pieces of ice into it, he puts it into a phial,
and pours upon it an equal quantity of water, likewife
cooled very low, in fuch a manner that the water may
float as much as poflible on the furface of the fpirit.
Six ounces of ftrong fpirit of wane are then put in, fo
as to float in like manner on the furface of the water;
the phial is placed in a veffel containing cold water ;
and-fo great is the power of cold in reftraining the ac¬
tion of bodies, that if the mixture was too cold, no
ether would be produced; but at the temperature
juft mentioned, the ether begins to be formed in a few
hours, with fome little effervefcence, and an expulfion
of a fmall quantity of nitrous air. We muft provide for
the efcape of this elaftic fluid, by having an hole in the
cork, or the veffel would be broken. The _
whole of the ether will be formed in a few \ K A
days, and may be feparated from the reft p'
of the liquor by means of a funnel, fhaped | J
as in the margin. ^
To procure the nitrous ether in large quantities, Woulfe’s
Mr Woulfe recommends the following procefs. Put i i'<>cefs for
into a retort four pounds of nitre, then mix together ’ r?c’lr',rl?
four pounds of vitriolic acid, and three pounds five quaiujties.
ounces of fpirit of wine. Thefe are poured on the
nitre by adding only two ounces at a time : the vi¬
triolic acid acting on the nitre, produces a fufficient
degree of heat; and the acid of the nitre uniting with.
3 O 2 "the
778
Oils fired
by fpirit of
aitre,
Nitre alka¬
lized.
780
Clyffus of
aitre.
C H E M
the fp'nt, forms a nitrous ether, which flies off from
the mixture, and is condenfed in A number of vtiffels
placed in cold water.—To obtain good nitrous ether
j readily, and at one diitillation, Mr Dollfufs advifes to
diftil fbur*parts of nitre of manganefe, four of vitriolic
acid, and eight parts of fpirit of wine.
.. Macquer fuppofes that ether is the moft oily part
or quinteffence of fpirit of wine. But it cannot be
proved that ether contains any oil. And, befides, if
this were the cafe, thofe acids which have the ftrongeft
attraftion for water would produce the greateft quan¬
tity of ether ; which is found not to be the cafe: and it
is moft probable that ether .is produced by a combina¬
tion of fome part of the acid with a portion, particu¬
larly the inflammable part, of the fpirit of wine ; and
it has been fliown by chemical experiments, that every
kind of ether contains a part of the acid employed..
Dr Black himfelf has formed ether without any fpirit
at all, by expofing nitrous acid highly phlogifticated
for fome months to the light of the fun. This was
owing to the attraction of the principle of inflamma¬
bility; which it is well known that light has the power
of affording to bodies that attraft it with force,
s Nitrous Acid decomposed,,
I. I?y EJfcntial Oils. If equal quantities ©f ftrong
nitrous acid and oil of cloves are poured into the fame
veffel, the mixture inftantly takes fire both acid and
oil burning with great fury till only a light fpongy coal
remains. Dr Lewis obferves, that this experiment
does not always fucceed, and that there are but few
oils which can be fired with certainty,, without attend¬
ing to a particular circumftance firft difcovered by M.
Rouelle, and communicated in the French Memoirs
for the year 1747. “ On letting fall into the oil equal
its quantity of acid, the mixture effervefees, fwells,
and a light fungous coal arifes: a little more of the acid
poured upon this coal fets it inftantly on fire. By this
method almoft all the diftilled oils may be fired by fpi¬
rit of nitre of mocferate ftrength. Expreffed oils alfo
may be fet on fire by a mixture of the nitrous acid and
oil of vitriolthe ufe of which laft feems to be to ab-
forb the aqueous humidity of the fpirit of nitre.
Us. By Charcoal. By this fubftance the nitrous acid
cannot be conveniently decompofed, unlefs it is combi¬
ned with an alkaline.or metallic bafe. For the purpofe
of decompofing the acid, common faltpetre is moft
convenient. The proportions recommended by Dr
Lewis for alkalifating nitre, are four ounces of the fait
to five drachms of powdered charcoal. If thefe are
carefully mixed, and injected by little and little into a
tubulated retort made red hot, and fitted with a large
receiver and a- number of adopters, a violent deflagra¬
tion will enfue on every addition, attended with a great
quantity of air, and fome vapours which will circulate
for fome time, and then condenfe in the veffels. This
liquor is called clyffus of nitre. If fulphur is ufed inftead
of nitre, the clyffus is of a^different kind, confifting of
a- mixture of the nitrous and vitriolic acids. The re-
fiduum, when charcoal is ufed, is a very ftrong and pure
alkali; with fulphur it is vitriolated tartar. To pre¬
vent the lofs occafioned by the violent deflagration,
when this operation is performed in open veffels, Dr
Black recommends to have the materials fomewhatmoift.
Ill, By Vinous Spirits. In the procefs already men-
I S T R Y. Praftice*
tioned for making fpiritus nitri dulcis, a total decompo- Marine'
fkion of the acid feems to take place : for neither the anft
dulcified fpirit itfelf, nor the acid matter left in the re-
tort, Ihow any figns of deflagration with inflammable v“... f
matters, which is the peculiar charadteriftic of nitrous
acid.
Mr Pott has given an analyfis of the oleaginous re- p>eQjuIum
fiduum of the diftillation. Diftilled by a ftronger fire, 0f fpiritus
it gave over a yellow, acid, flightly empyreumatic nitri duicis
fpirit; which being faturated with fixed alkali, .the ty
liquor evaporated, and the dry neutral fait laid onlVl1 Pott*
burning coals, did not deflagrate. After this fpirit a-
rofe a red empyreumatic oil; and in the bottom of
the retort was left a firming black mafs like foot; which,
burnt in a crucible, left a white fixed earth, convert¬
ible by a vehement fire into glafs. Another parcel
of the above refiduum was evaporated to the confift-
ence of pitch. In this ftate it gave a yellow tindiure
to fpirit of wine, flamed vividly and quietly on burn¬
ing coals, and at laft fwelled up like bitumen. Ano¬
ther portion was faturated with alkaline ley, with
which it immediately effervefced, and then evapora¬
ted as the former. It gave, as before, a yellow colour
to redtified fpirit of wine, and a much deeper yellow to .
dulcified fpirit of nitre ; and in the fire difcovered no
footftep of detonation. M. Macquer fuppofes this acid
to have been not the nitrous, but the acetous, which
enters into the compofition of the fpirit of wine; and
his conjedture is now confirmed by late experiments.
5 3‘ th? Marine Acid and its Combinations.
This acid is never, at leaft very rarely, found but ;vfaniw»
in a ftate of faturation with the mineral alkali; in acid,
which cafe it forms the common fait ufed in food. Al¬
moft the only exception to this is human urine, and
perhaps that of fome other animals; for there the ma¬
rine acid is found faturated, not with the mineral, but
the common vegetable, fixed alkali. From being found
in fuch plenty in the waters of the ocean, it has the
name of marine acid.
It is commonly thought that this acid is no other
than the vitriolic, fomehow or other difguifed by the
inflammable principle; to wrhich fome have added ano¬
ther, called by them,a mercurial earth.
783.
The reafons given for this fuppofition, however, Marineja-
are but very flight, confifting chiefly in, the refem-c:cl thought
blance between the volatile vitriolic acid and the ma-
rine, both in the white, colour of their vapours, and t^e
likewife the great volatility of both. A s to the exift- lie.
ence of that principle called a mercurial earth,, it hath
never been proved; and, till that time, can never be
allowed to be an ingredient ih the compofition of any
fubftance whatever. As we do not remember to have
read of any experiments where the marine acid was
directly produced from that of vitriol, we fttall con¬
tent ourfelv.es with relating one very remarkable fail
which happened to fall under our own obfervation. 784
As vitriolated tartar, ,or Glauber’s fait, when fufed A tranftnu-
with charcoal-duft, is converted into an hepar lul,tatlon*
phuris, attempts have been made on this principle
to feparate the pure, alkali from the refiduum,of Glau-.
ber’s fpirit of nitre and fpirit of fait. In an attempt
of this kind, which, by the bye, proved unfuccefsfuk
as all others of the fame kind muft do,. 30 or 40
pounds
Practice. C H E M
Marine pounds of the mafs for Glauber’s fait were fufed in a
Acii and ftrong iron p0t, with a fufficient quantity of common
nations ^ coa* P0W(lered and fifted. As the quantity of pow-
 ^ ’ > dered coal was pretty large, the mafs was thereby
hindered from flowing into thin fufion ; and, that the
whole might be perfedily alkalifated, it was frequent¬
ly ftirred up with an iron ladle, and kept very intenfe-
ly heated for fome hours. The mafs w£s now taken
out by means of an iron ladles and laid on a flat ftone';
and, as it was but half fluid, every ladleful concreted
into a black irregular faline mafs, which had the ap¬
pearance of a cinder; but which, however, confifted
of an hepar fulphuris mixed with fome coal-duft. As
there was a confiderable quantity of this matter, and
the ladlefuls were thrown at random above one ano¬
ther, it fo happened, that between two or three of the
pieces, a kind of chimney was formed, fo that there
being a fmall draught of air through the interftices,
and the maffes containing a quantity of coal-duft, the
internal parts were in a ftate of ignition, while the ex¬
ternal were quite cold. From thefe ignited places a
white fume arofe ; which being collected on the colder
mafles, affumed the form of white flowers. Thefe were
found to be genuine fal ammoniac, compofed of a vola¬
tile alkali and marine acid; both of which we have
the greateft reafon to think were produced at that very
time, and that a double tranfmutation took place ;
namely, of the vitriolic acid into the marine, and of
the fixed alkali into the volatile. Our reafons for be¬
ing of this opinion are, i. That the matter had been
fubje&ed to' fuch an extreme and long continued heat,
that, had any fal ammoniac been -pre-exiftent in the
mixture, it muft have certainly been difiipated, as this
fait always fublimes with a degree of heat below ig¬
nition. 2. Though the matter was taken out of the pot
of a very intenfe red heat, fo that the faline part was
evidently melted, yet no ammoniacal fume ifiued from it
at that time, nor till the mafl’es had been for fomc time
expofed to the air, and were become cool, excepting
only thofe interftices where the air kept tip a burning
heat, by a fmall draught being formed from the fitua-
tion of the faline mafles. 3. In thofe ignited places,
when cool, the fixed fait was entirely decompofed,
neither alkaline fait, Glauber’s fait, fixed alkali, nor
fulphur remaining ; but the whole was confumed to a
kind of ferruginous allies. We are therefore of opi¬
nion, that the marine acid and volatile alkali are, in
fome cafes, mere creatures of the fire, and moft com¬
monly produced at the fame time, from the flow com-
buftion of mineral fubftances. Hence, where heaps
of hot cinders are thrown out, fmall quantities of the
true fal ammoniac are always formed, when the ignited
ones happen to fall in fuch a manner as to occafion a
_ fmall draught of air through them.
Dr Prieft- The marine acid, or fpiritof xalt, is weaker than
ley’s obfer- either the vitric lic or nitrousthough Dr Prieftley
nations on hath obferved, that, when concentrated to the utmoft
marine a- degree, in which ftate it was perfeftly invifible and
* ' elaftic as: air, it was then able to feparate the nitrous
acid from an alkali. In fome other cafes, too, it ap¬
pears, not only ftronger than the nitrous, but even than
the vitriolic; of which we Ihall take notice in courfe.
—Mr Berthollet fays, that he has been able alfo to
procure the marine acid in a folid ftate, by diftilling it
in Mr Wo.ulfe’s^apparatus, kept perfe&iy cool with ice.
I S T R Y. 477
The yellow colour of* the marine acid is fometimes Marine
owing to iron, which may be precipitated from it by 4C1<J an{*.
means of an alkali. In certain cafes, however, it is ^tionT
obferved to have a much darker and nearly a brown > ^ <
colour, without containing the fmallefl particje of this
metal.—Mr Dollfufs is of opinion, that the yellow co¬
lour of the marine acid is owing to a portion of de-
phlogifticated air which it generally contains. A pretty
ftrong proof that it emits this kind of air indeed is,
that a candle will burn longer in a bottle containing
fome marine acid, than it will in an equal quantity of
common air.
I. To procure the Marine Acid by means of the
trhlic.
786
Put any quantity of fea-falt into a tubulated glafs-Spirit of
retort, to which a large receiver is firmly luted, ha-^ea'^a^3
ving a quantity of water in it, more or lefs as you
want your fpirit of fait to be more or lefs ftrong.
Having placed your retort in a fand-bath, take of con¬
centrated oil of vitriol half as much as you put fait
into the retort. Through the aperture in the upper
part of the retort, pour a fmall quantity of the vitrio¬
lic acid; a violent effervefcence will immediately a-
rife, and white vapours will afcend, and come over into
the receiver. Thefe vapours are the marine acid in
its moft concentrated- ftate; and, as they are very,
greedy of moifture, they will unite with the water fn
a very ftiort time, unlefs too much oil of vitriol is put
in at once ; in which cafe, part of them will be diffi-
pated through the fmall hole in the receiver. When
you perceive the firft fumes condenfed, add a little more
oil of vitriol, taking care to Hop the aperture of the.
retort as foon as you drop in the vitriolic acid, that
the marine acid may not efcape. Continue this by¬
intervals, till your acid is all put in ; and then make,
a very gentle fire, that the retort may be no warmer
than the hand can bear. This degree of heat mult
be continued a long time, otherwife very, much of the
acid will be loft. To perform this operation perfectly,
no more acid ftiould be forced over, than what the wa¬
ter in the receiver can take up; and by this means
the operator’s patience will be rewarded with a vaftly.
larger produce pf acid than can be procured byriiafty-
diftillatron. When the vapours become a little more
fixed, a greater heat is neceflary, but nothing equal
to what the nitrous acid requires. For- diftilling fpi—
rit of fait, Mr Wiegleb recommends four pounds of
oil of vitriol to fix of common fait.—It may alfo be
obtained from the bittern remaining after the cry-
ftallization of common fait, by adding one pound of
oil of vitriol to five of bittern. It may even be ob¬
tained from this liquid by fimple diftillation without
any additional acid; but a violent fire will then be ne-
celTary, and it is almolt impoffible to prevent the li- ,
quor from fwelling and running‘over-the neck, of the
retort in the beginning of the procefs. yg7
The marine acid cannot he procured by means of Why diftil*-
combinations of the vitriolic acid with metallic and lation of
earthy bafes, as. the nitrous is ; for though, by means
of calcined vitriol, for inftance, the marine acid is ef-
feCiually expelled from , its alkaline bafis, yet it imme-not fuc-
diately combines with the calx of iron left by the vi- ceed.
triolic acid, and not only adheres obftinately, but even
fublijnes the metal; fo that what little fpirit can be
ob* -
478 CHEMISTRY.  rraflice.
Marina obtained, is never pure.' This inconvenience is not true dephlogifticated fpirit of fait, will pafs over, and
Acid and fo great wpen unca1cined copperas is made ufe of: communicate a yeliow colour to the air in the receiver
natbns " for the marine acid has a very ftrong attraction to after which the latter is to be feparated from the re-n."t;o^
  v  water; which partly diffolves its union with the me- tort. If the paper has been clofely applied, a quantity  J
talline calx. If gypfum is ufed, inftead of calcined of the air will now rufh out with fome violence; a cork
vitriol, not a drop of fpirit will be obtained. Alum muft therefore inilantly be put into it, and another re-
788
F fpirit \
and fal catharticus amarus anfwer better.
II. To procure the Marine Acid by means of the
Nitrons. '
applied, having in like manner two drachms of
water in it, which will alfo be filled in a fhort time;
and thus may feveral phials full of this aerial acid be
procured in a fhort time'. Care fhould be taken, that
Aqua regis. Take equal quantities of fea-falt and Glauber’s fpi- the retort he placed in fuch a manner as that any drops 1
rit of nitre ; put the fait into a retort, and pour on it
the nitrous acid; let them ftand for 10 or 12 hours;
then dliHl with a gentle heat; an acid liquor will come
over, which is a compound of the nitrous and marine
acids, called nqva-njh. When the diflillation is fi-
uifhed, and the vdfels cooled, pour back the diftilled
liquor on the mafs which is left on the retort, and
diilil again : the fecond produce will be more of the
nature of fpirit of fea-falt than the former. - Continue
to do this, pouring the diftilled liquor either on the
mafs left in the retort, or upon frefh fea-fah, till you
of liquid which chance to arife may fall down again in¬
to it. The water put into the receivers feems to con-
denfe the vaoours of the marine acid; and it is moft
proper to ufe fmall receivers, on. account of the great
quantity of vapour which is loll at every operation. ^
The effedls of this dephlogifticated marine acid, Progenies
which can fcarcely be condenied into a liquid, are, 1. oi dephlo-
The lute is corroded in dillillation, and the corks be-Pulcatt'<i
come yellow, as from aquafortis. 2. Paper coloured°
with laemus becomes nearly white, as wish as all vege¬
table red, blue, and yellow flowers ; and the fame
obferve that no nitrous acid arifes. No experiments change is likewife produced upon the green colour of -
have been made on this fpirit of fait, by which we can
judge whether it is different from that procured by the
vitriolic acid or not.
III. To procure the Marine Acid, by diftilling Salt
,8, ^
Spirit of fait Put into a retort any quantity of common fait which
ferfe. not ^een t]riecl> and chftil in a land heat till no¬
thing more will come over. In the receiver you will
have a liquor conliderably more acid than vinegar, in
weight about the fourth part of the fait employed.
On the dry fait left in the retort, pour fome water,
fomewhat lefs in quantity than the liquor which came
over. Let it ftand till the fait has thoroughly imbi¬
bed tbe moifture, and then dili.il again. You will again
have an acid, but weaker than the former. Repeat
this fix or feven times ; after which you will obtain
vegetables; nor can any of thefe colours be recovered
either by alkalies or acids. 3. Exprefled oils and ani¬
mal fats, expofed to the vapour, become as tenacious
as turpentine. 4. Cinnabar grew white on the fur-
face; and when it was wafned, a purefolution of corro*
five fublimate was obtained; but fulphur was not
changed. 5. Green vitriol became red and deliquef*
cent; but white and blue vitriol remained unchanged.
6. Iron filings were dilfolved ; and on evaporating the
folution to drynefs, common muriatic acid was obtain¬
ed by diftillation with marine acid. 7. In like man¬
ner all the metals, even gold itfelf, were diffolved;' and
by precipitation with volatile alkali, the folution of
gold yielded aurum fulminans. 8. The cauftic volatile
alkali produced a white cloud, and emitted a number
of air-bubbles, which on burfting difeharged an elaftie
vapour. 9. Fixed alkali was changed into common
more marine acid in this way. It has been thought fait, which decrepitated in the fire. 10. Arfenic be-
that fea-falt was capable of total decompofitibn by
means of moifture alone ; but that is found to be a
miftake. The reafon of any acid being procurable in
this way, is the impurity of the common fait, which is
always mixed with a quantity of fal catharticus ama¬
rus, and of marine acid combined with magnefia, from
eame deliquefeent, infedts died, and fire was
neoufly extinguiftied in the vapour.
Thefe phenomena pioceed from the ftrong attrac- Miftake of
tion of dephlogifticated marine acid for the phlogifton Stahl ac-
rt has loft; and which is one of the efiential parts of it, counted for.
without which it can fcarce at all be condenfed into a
Inch laft it is feparable by moifture. If a pure fait liquor. *‘ Perhaps (fays Mr Scheele) Stahl obtained
be formed by combining marine acid with fait of foda, fuch a dephlogifticated muriatic acid by means of iron;
no fpirit will be obtained. and from the yellow colour of the cork was led to fup-
TtT — , .n. , nr • * «• pofe that the muriatic acid had been changed into the
IV. To dephlogifticate the Marine Acid. ^trous. If you make a mixtnre 0f manganefe, muria-
The marine acid, when mixed either with that of tic acid, or diluted vitriolic acid, and alcohol; and af-
nitre or with manganefe, lofes that peculiar fmell by ter fome days digeftion diftil it by a gentle fire, no ef-
which it is ufually diftinguiflied, and acquires «ne much fervefcence enfues : but the fpirit of wine goes over ;
more volatile and fuftbeating. When mixed with the and, what is very remarkable, has a ftrong Imell of ni-
^ ^ f°rmer> the compound is called aqua-regia; when fub- trous ether. ^ 7^
manganeie. jefted to the action of manganefe, the product is called A new fait has been produced by Mr Bertholet from New fait
dephlogifticated fpirit of fait. The method of procuring the union of dephlogifticated fpirit of fait with vege- refembling
this acid recommended by Mr Scheele is as follows: table alkali. This appears to be of the nitrous kind,^ggrtho-
Scheele’s common muriatic acid in any quantity with levi- as having a cool tafte and detonating ftrongly in the let>
method of gatt‘d manganefe in a glafs retort; to which lute on fire. The compound was in very fmall quantity, and
dephl gif- with blotting paper a receiver capable of containing feemed to require more pure air for its compofition than
ticating it about 12 ounces of water. Put about two drachms of an eqnal bulk of acid. The greateft part of the fait
^ga- liquid into it; and in about a quarter of an hour, or produced was the common fait of Sylvius, or digeftive
t e' fomewhat more, a quantity of elaftic fluid, which is the fait, formed by acombination of the phlogifticated ma¬
rine
M 7'9° a
phlogifti¬
cated by
that of
’r by
Practice. C H E M
Marine ^ne aC1’^ ^ix parts of the dephlogifticated
Acid and acid are required to give their air to one of the fait,
its Combi- When the fixed alkali is employed, fome of the dephlo-
gifticated acid efcapes with the pure air ; and in gene-
^ ral, when not expofed to a bright heat, the fait we fpeak
of is formed. Some of the dephbgifticated acid re¬
mains in its proper form after the fait is made, and
may be feparated by the volatile alkali. It is to be
- obferved, that if the cauftic alkali be employed, and
the folution much concentrated, even though not un¬
der the influence of a bright light (for it is the light
which produces the extrication of the dephlogifticated
• See Ac- a'r#)* a great effervefcence will enfue, and a quantity
™%y,n°36,of dephlogifticated air efcape; whence, of confequence,
rt/cy. ’little fait can be obtained.
This fait is foluble in greater quantity in hot than
cold water'; and not only detonates like nitre, but
with much greater violence. The reafon is, that, like
nitre, it not only contains dephlogifticated air, but has
it in greater quantity; an hundred grains of fait giving
75 of air. Attempts have been made to procure gun¬
powder by means of this fait, but as yet they have
been attended with little fuccefs.
The other properties of this fait as yet difcovered
are, that it flroots into rhomboidal cryftals; it does
not precipitate mercury, filver, or lead, from their fo-
lutions ifi nitrous acid ; and it gives out its air again in
fuch a pure ftate as fcarcely to be paralleled in any
other fubftance.
With the mineral alkali the dephlogifticated acid
forms a deliquefcent fait, foluble in fpirit of wine; and
which, even in a fluid ftate, detonates with burning
charcoal. With lime, when fo far quenched that the
air in its interftiCes is feparated, the dephlogifticated
acid unites but weakly. It may be recovered from
the lime, however, provided the light be obfeure, with
■very little lofs, and almoft unchanged.
Marine Acid combined,
Sal With Vegetable Fixed Alkali. This combination is
vus fylvii. accidentally formed after the diftillation of volatile
falts, by means of fait of tartar {fez Alkaline Salts'). It
was formerly known by tlie name of fal digejlivus Syl-
vii; and a pi-ocefs for making it was inferted in the
difpenfatories, under the name of fpiritus falls tnarini
coagulatus ; but as it has been found to poffefs no vir¬
tues fuperior, or even equal, to common fait, it is fallen
into difnfe.
The cryftals of this kind of fait are not cubical, like
thofe of common fait, but parallelepipeds, and if thrown
into the fire crack and leap about with violence. They
are foluble in greater quantity by hot water than cold;
and therefore are cryftallized by evaporating the folu¬
tion to a pellicle, and then letting it cool.—It is very
remarkable, that though by a direct combination of
vitriolic acid with vegetable fixed alkali, the fait called
vitriolated tartar is formed ; yet if this alkali is once
faturated with fpirit of fait, fo as to form a fal digefli-
vus, upon the decompofition of this fait by means of
oil of vitriol, the refiduum eft' the diftillation will not
be a vitriolated tartar, but a fait eafily foluble in water,
and which bears a ftrong refemblance to Glauber’s
fait. Whether, by means of fpirit of fea-falt, the
vegetable alkali could be converted into the mineral,
or fait of foda, is a queftion well worthy of being folved.
I S T R Y. 479
II. With Mineral Alkali. This combination is the com- Marine
mon alimentary fait, and is never made but for expe- antl.
riment’s fake ; as the marine acid cannot be had but
from fea-falt. For the extraction of this fait from fea- -v‘ _■
water, fee the article Salt.
Ill- With Vblatile Alkali. The produce of this com- sal amnie-
bination is the common fal ammoniac, which is ufed niac,
in different arts, and which has the property of making
tin unite very readily with iron and copper, fo is much
ufed by copperfmiths and in the manufactory of tinned
iron.
Sal ammoniac is ufually fold in lar^e femi-tranfparent
cakes, which are again capable of being fublimed into
mafles of the like kind. If they are diffolved in water,
the fait very eafily Ihoots into fmall cryftals like fea¬
thers. Expofed to a moift air, it deliquates. It is one
of the falts which produces the moft cold by its folu-
tion; fo as to fink the thermometer 18 or 20 degrees,
or more, according to the temperature of the atmo-
fphere. According to Mr Gellert, a folution of fal
ammoniac has the property of dilfolving relins. Ac¬
cording to Neumann, the volatility of fal ammoniac is
fo much diminiihed by repeated fublimations, that at
laft it remains half fluid in the bottom of the fublime-
ing veffel. In its natural ftate, it fublimes with a de¬
gree of heat necefiary to melt lead. Pott fays, that a
fmall quantity of fal ammoniac may be produced by
diftilling fea-falt with charcoal, or with alum, or by
diltilling marine acid with Armenian bole. The fame
author affirms, that the inflammability of fulphur is
deftroyed by fubliming it with twice its quantity of
fal ammoniac. 796
The method of making this fait was long unknown; How matkr,
and it was imported from Egypt, where it was faid
to be prepared by fublimation from foot alone, or
from a mixture of fea-falt, urine, and foot. That it
fhould be produced from foot alone is very impro¬
bable ; and the other method, from the known prin¬
ciples of chemiftry, is abfolntely impoffible. The
compofition of this fait, however, being once known,
-there remained no other defideratum than a method
of procuring thofe component parts of fal ammoniac
fufficiently cheap, fo as to afford fal ammoniac made
in Britain at a price equally low with what was im¬
ported. The volatile alkali is to be procured in plenty
from animal fubftances or from foot; and the low
price of the vitriolic acid made from fulphur affords
an eafy method of decompofing fea-falt, and obtaining
its acid at a low rate. A fal-ammoniac work has, ac¬
cordingly, been eftabliihed for feveral yearspaft in Edin¬
burgh : the principal material made choice of for pro¬
curing the volatile alkali is foot; and though no per-
fons are admitted to fee the work, the large quantities
of oil of vitriol brought into it, and the quantities of
genuine fal' mirabile which are there made, evidently
(how that the procefs for making fal ammoniac alfo
produces Glauber’s fait, by the decompofition of com¬
mon fait by means of vitriolic acid. The method of
conducing the procefs is unknown; but it is plain
that there can be no other difficulty than what arifes
from the volatility of the vapours of the alkali and of
the marine acid. In the common way of diftilling thofe
fubftances, a great part ©f both is loft ; and if it is at¬
tempted to make fal ammoniac by combining thefe
two when diftilled by the common apparatus, the pro¬
duce
480
Marine
Acid and
Fixed fal
ammoniac.
798
Phofpho-
Solution of
gold in fpi-
rit of fait.
C H E M
duce will not pay the coft; a little ingenuity, how¬
ever, will eafily fuggeft different forms and materials
for diftilling-veflels, by which the marine acid and vo¬
latile alkali may be united without lofing a particle of
either.
If a folution of vitriolic or Glauber’s fecret fal am¬
moniac is mixed with fea-falt, the vitriolic acid feizes
the alkaline bafis of the fea-falt, and expels the ma¬
rine acid; which immediately unites with the volatile
alkali left by the vitriolic acid, and forms a true fal
ammonia?. If this folution is now evaporated to dry-
■tiefs, and the faline mafs fublimed, the fal ammoniac
rifes, and leaves a combination of vitriolic acid and
mineral alkali at the bottom. This fixed mafs being
diffolved, filtered, and evaporated, affords Glauber’s
falls. This has fometimes been thought a preferable
method of making fal ammoniac, as the trouble of di-
flilling the marine acid was thereby prevented ; but it
is found vaftly inconvenient on another account, name¬
ly, that when fal ammoniac is mixed with any fixed fait,
it is always more difficult of fu'blimation, and a part of
it even remains entirely fixed, or is deftroyed. The
tnafs of Glauber’s fait alfo, by reafon of the infiam-
mabl# and oily matter contained in impure volatile al¬
kalies, is partly changed into a fulphureous mafs, fo
that the folution refufes to cryflallize; at leaft the ope¬
ration is attended with intolerable trouble.
IV. With Earths. The combinations of this acid
with earths of any kind have never been found applica¬
ble to any purpofe, and therefore they are feldom made
Or inquired into. The combination with calcareous
earth is indeed.pretty frequently made accidentally, in
the diftillation of volatile alkali from fal ammoniac
by means of chalk or quicklime. When melted in
a crucible and cooled, it appears luminous when
ftruck, and has been called phofphorus fcintillans. See
Earths.
V. With Gold. The marine acid has no a&ion Oil
gold in its metallic ftate, in whatever manner the acid
be applied ; but if the metal is previoufly attenuated,
or reduced to a calx, either by precipitation from aqua
regis or by calcination in mixture with calcinable me¬
tals, this acid will then perfectly diffolve, and keep it
permanently fufpended. Gold, precipitated from aqua-
regis by fixed alkalies, and edulcorated by repeated
ablutions, may be diffolved even in a very weak fpirit
of fait by moderate digeftion. This folution appears
of the fame yellow colour as that made in aqua-regis 5
gives the fame purple ftain to the fldn, feathers, bones,
and other folid parts of animals ; the fame violet ftain
to marble ; and ftrikes the fame red colour with tin.
Even when common aqua-regia is made ufe of for the
tnenftruam, it feems to be chiefly by the marine acid
ie that compound liquor that the gold is held in folu¬
tion. In diftillation the nitrous acid arifes, and the
marine acid remains combined with the gold in a blood-
red mafs, foluble, like moft of the combinations of me¬
tallic bodies with this acid, in fpirit of wine. If, to¬
wards the end of the diftillation, the fire is haftily
raifed, part of the gold diftils in a high faffron-coloured
liquor ; and part fublimes into the neck of the retort
in clutters of long flender cryftals of a deep red colour,
fufible in a fmall heat, deliquating in the air, and eafily
foluble in water. By repetitions of this procefs the,
whole of the'gold may be elevated, except a fmall!
•N° 72.
I S T R Y. Pra&ice*,
quantity of white powder whofe nature is 'not known. Marine
—This red fublimate of gold is faid to be eafily fufible ficid aT|d
with the heat of one’s hand, and to be (hown by the
Papifts for the blood of St Januarius; the fublimate > "t ’ .
contained in a phial, being warmed by the hands of goo
the priefts who hold it, conftitutes the miracle of that Blood of St
faint’s blood melting on his birth-day. Januarius.
VI. With Silver. Strong fpirit of fait corrodes leaf- gfjygr
filver into a white powder, but has no eft'eft on filings
or larger mafles of the metal. If applied in the form
of vapour to maffes of filver, and ftrongly heated at the
fame time, it readily corrodes them. Thus, if filings,
grains, or plates, of filver are mixed with about twice
their weight of mercury fublimate, and expofed to a
moderate fire, in a retort, or other diftilling veffel, a
part of the marine acid in the fublimate will be fepa-
rated and unite with the lilver, leaving the mercury
to afife in the form of mercurius dulcis. Marine acid
is commonly fuppofed to be incapable of diflolving
filver into a liquid ftate; but Henckel relates, that if
red filver ore, which confifts of filver intimately mix¬
ed with red arfenit, be digeftedin fpirit of fait, the fil¬
ver will be extracted and kept permanently diflblved. goa,
The combination of marine acid with filver is called Luna cor-
luna cornea. The moft ready way of preparing it isnea*
by diflblving filver in the nitrous acid, and then ad¬
ding fpirit of fait, or a folution of fea-falt, when a
precipitation inftantly enfues; the marine acid expels
the nitrous, and, uniting with the filver, falls to the
bottom in form of a white powder. The fame pre¬
cipitation would take place, if a folution of filver was
made in the vitriolic acid. g
Luna cornea weighs one-fourth more than the filver its proper-
employed; yet, when peife&ly waffied, it is quite in-ties,
fipid to the tafte. It does not diflblve in water, fpi¬
rit of wane, aquafortis, or aqua-regis; but is in fome
fmall degree adted upon by the vitriolic acid. It
melts in the fire as foon as it grows red-hot; and, on
cooling, forms a ponderous brownifh mafs, which be¬
ing call into thin plates, becomes femitranfparent, and
fomewhat flexible, like horn ; whence its name luna
cornea. A ftronger fire does not expel the acid from
the metal, the whole concrete either fubliming entire,
or palling through the crucible. It totally diflblve? in
volatile alkaline fpirits without any feparation of the
metal. Expofed to the fire in a clofe copper veflel,
it penetrates the copper, and tinges it throughout of
a filver colour. Kunckcl obferves, that when care¬
fully prepared, melted in a glafs veflel, and fuffered to
cool llowly, to prevent its cracking,' it proves clear
and transparent 5 and may be turned into a lathe and
formed into elegant figures. He fuppofes this to be
the preparation which gave rife to the notion of malle¬
able glafs. gQ4
VII. With Copper. In the marine acid, copper dif- Copper,
folves but flowly. The folution, if made without heat,
appears at firft brown ; but, on Handing for fome time,
depofits a white fediment, and becomes. green. On
adding frelh copper, it becomes brown again, and now
recovers its greennefs more ilowly than before. «^The
white fediment, on being barely melted, provea'pure
and perfect copper of the fame colour as at firft. Cop¬
per calcined by fire communicates a reddiih colour to
this acid.
VIII. With Iron. .The marine acid ails upon iron lr°^
2 ‘ lefs ° ‘
Practice. CHEMISTRY.
481
807
Tindlura
mauls.
ad 808
Beftucliei'
tincture.
4th 8c8
I'rut me¬
thod cf pri
paring it.
lefs vehemently than the nitrous, and doe» not diffolve
fo much; neverthelefs, it attacks the metal brifkly, fo
as to raife confiderable heat and eiFervefcence, and dif¬
folve it into a yellow liquor. During the folution, an
inflammable vapour arifes as in the folutioh of this me¬
tal by vitriolic acid. This folution of iron does not
cryftallize. If it is evaporated, it leaves a greenilh
faline tnafs, which is foluble in fpirit of wine, and runs
-in the air into an aftringent yellow liquor. On di-
ftillation, fome of the acid feparates, and towards the
end of the operation the fpirit becomes yellow. This
is followed by a yellowifh, or deep reddilh fublimate,
which gliftens like the fcales of filhes; leaving be¬
hind a fubftance which confiits of thin, glofly plates,
like talc.
The folution of iron in fpirit of fait, with the addi¬
tion of fome fpirit of wine, is ufed in medicine as a
corroborant, under the name of tinctura mar'u. The
fublimate of iron is alfo ufed for the fame purpofe,
and called ens veneris, or flores martiales. It is com¬
monly direeled to be prepared by fubliming iron fi¬
lings and fal ammoniac together. In the procefs, the
fal ammoniac is partly decompofed, and a cauftic al-
-kaline liquor diltiis. Then the undecompofed fal am¬
moniac, and the martial fublimate above mentioned,
arife together. The fublimate has a deeper or lighter
yellow colour, according as it contains more or lefs iron.
The name ens veneris is improper. It was given by Mr
Boyle, who difeovered this medicine. He imagined it to
be a preparation of copper, having made ufe of a colco-
thar of vitriol containing both iron and copper. A me¬
dicine of this kind was lately fold with great reputation
s on the Continent, under the name of Bejluchef’s nervous
tincture. It was introduced byM. Beltuchef Field Mar-
fhal in the Ruffian fervice ; but not long after it came
into vogue in Bruffia and other northern kingdoms of
Europe: it made its appearance alfo in France, under
the name of General de la Matte’s golden drops. This
happened through the infidelity of Beftuchef’s opera¬
tor, who, for a fum of money, violated the oath of
fecrecy he had taken to Beftuchef, and difeovered the
fecret to de la Motte. To the latter it proved a very
• valuable acquifition ; for he not only procured a pa¬
tent for it from the king of France in 1730, with the
exclufive privilege of felling it, but had a'handfome
penfion fettled upon him; felling his medicine befides
a half a Louis d’or per phial.
The attention of the public was particularly drawn
to thefe drops, by their remarkable property of lofing
their yellow colour in the fun, and regaining it in
the fhade, which induced many fo believe that they
contained gold ; and in which opinion they were en¬
couraged by de la Motte. Even chemifts of no little
reputation were deceived by this appearance; and M.
Beaume, imagining he had difeovered the fecret, pub-
lifhed a preparation to the world as the true arcanum
of !a Motte’s drops. It confifted of a calx of gold
precipitated.from aqua-regia by means of fixed al¬
kali, and redilfolved in nitrous acid, to which was ad¬
ded a large quantity of fpirit of wine. Others, how¬
ever, who could find nothing but iron by an analyfis
of the drops, refufed their affent; and at -length, in
1780, M. Beaume’s miftake was made evident by the
■publication of the procefs at the defire of the emprefs
of Ruffia, who gave 3000 rubles for the receipt. The
original recipe is perplexed, tedious, and expenfive ;
. Vol. IV. Part II.
but when deprived of its fuperfluous parts, is nearly My.-me
as follows. Six pounds of common pyrites and twelve
of corrofive fublimate are to be triturated together, nation?*,
and then fubiimed fix or eight times till all the mer-
cury is expelled. The refiduum is to be boiled three
times with thrice its quantity of water, and as often
filtered, and laftly, diftiiled to drynefs. By increa-
fing the fire, a martial fait is at laft fubiimed into the
neck of the retort; to three drachms of which are to
' be added 12 ounces of highly re&ified fpirit of wine,
and the whole expofed to the rays of the fun. This is
the yellow tincture ; but there was alfo a white one,
which, however, feems to be but of little value. It is
made by pouring on the refiduum of the laft fublima-
tion twelve pounds of highly rectified fpirit of wine,
and drawing it off by a gentle diftillation after a few .tIl gog
days digeftibn.—Mr Klaproth imagines, from the fol- Suppofed to
lowing experiment, that Bsftuchef’s tih£lure abforbsa!)f°rb,
phiogifton from the rays of the fun. He poured a
few drops of a folution 'of tartar into tw o ounces of r2Y •
diftiiled water, and divided this into two parts. Into a ‘
one giafs having poured a few drops of the tin&ure
that had not been expofed to the fun, the iron was
precipitated in the ufual form of a yellow ©chre ; but
on treating in the fame manner a portion of the tinc¬
ture that had been expofed to the folar rays, the pre¬
cipitate fell of a bluilh green colour.
IX. With Tin. Thqtigh the concentrated marine acid Solution of
has a greater attraction for tin than any other acid, ittin-
does not readily diffolve this metal while the acid is in its
liquid ftate ; but may be made to diffolve it perfectly
by the addition of a fmall quantity of fpirit of nitre.
Neumann obferves, that an'ounce of fpirit of fait, with
only a fcruple of fpirit of nitre, diffolved tin perfectly:
but on inverting the proportions, and taking a fcruple
of marine acid to an ounce of the nitrous, four feru-
ples, or four and an half, of tin, were diffolved into a
thick pap; fome more of the marine acid being gra»
dually added, the whole was diffolved into- a clear li¬
quor. In making thefe folutions, a frnall quantity of
black matter ufually fublxdes.
The folution of tin is fometimes colourlefs; fame-
times of a bluifh, or yellow colour, according to dif¬
ferent circumftances of the procefs. It is of the
greateft confequence in dyeing, by not only heighten¬
ing the colours, but making them more .durable (See
Dyeing). It/hoots into fmall cryltals; and, if in-
fpiffated, deliquates in the air.
Marine acid in its concentrated ftate volatilizes tin, Smc W P-
and forms with it a thick liquor, which, from its in-quor ortU-
ventor, is called fmnking liquor of Libavius. To pre- k^*03'
pare this fmoking liquor, an amalgam muft be made
of four parts of tin and five of mercury. This amal¬
gam is to be mixed with an equal weight of corro¬
five mercury, by triturating the whole together in
a giafs mortar. The mixture is then to be put into a
giafs retort, and the diftillation performed with a fire
gradually increafed. A very fmoking liquor paffes
into the receiver; and towards the end of the diftil¬
lation, a thick, and even concrete matter. When
the operation is liniflied, the liquor is to be poured
quickly into a cryftal glafs-bottle, with a giafs ftopper.
When this bottle is opened, a white, copious, thick,
and poignant fume iffues-, which remains long in the
air without difappearing.
The acid in this liquor is far from being faturated,
3 P and
**3
Qulckfil-
814
Corrofive
fablimatc.
815
Bifferent
methods c
making.
C H E M
and j‘s capable of ftlli diifolving mticb tin in the ordi¬
nary way. From this imperfect faturation, together
with its concentration, proceeds partly its property of
fmoking fo confiderably: neverthelefs, fome other
caufe probably concurs to give it this property ; for
though it fmokes infinitely more than the molt con¬
centrated fpirit of fait, its vapours are, notwithlland-
ing, much lefs elaftic. It has all the other properties
of concentrated marine acid when imperfedtly faturated
with tin. If it is diluted with much water, moft of
the metal, feparates in light white flocks. In dyeing,
it produces the fame effects as folution of tin made in
the common way. If the diftillation is continued af¬
ter the'fmoking liquor of Libavius has come over, the
mercury of the corrofive fublimate will then arife in its
proper form.
X. With Lead. Marine acid, whether in its concen¬
trated or diluted ftate, has little effedf upon lead, unlefs
aflifted by hfeat. If fpirit of fait is poured on filings of
lead, and the heat is increafed fo as to make the li¬
quor boil and diftil, a part of the acid will be retained
by the metal, which will be corroded into a faline
mafs; and this, by a repetition of the procefs, may be
diffblved into a limpid liquor. If lead is diffolved in
aquafortis, and fpirit of fea-falt, or fea-falt itfelf, ad¬
ded, a precipitation of the metal enfues; but if fome
aqua-regia is added, the precipitate is rediflblved.
The combination of lead with marine acid, has,
when melted, fome degree'of tranfparency and flexi¬
bility like horn; whence, and from its refemblance to
luna cornea, it is called plumlum comeum. This fub-
fbince is ufed in preparing phnfphorus, according to
Mr MargraaPs method.
XI. With ShtickJU-ver. Marine acid in its limpid
ftate, whether concentrated or diluted; has no effedt
upon quickfilver, even when affifted by a boiling heat;
but if mercury is diffolved in. the vitriolic or nitrous
acids, and fea-falt, or its fpirit, is added to the folu¬
tion, it immediately precipitates the quickfilver in the
fame manner as it does filver or lead. If concentra¬
ted marine acid, in the form of vapour, and ftrongly
Ireated, meets with mercury in the fame ftate, a very
intimate union takes'place ; and the produce is a moft
violent eorrofive and poifonous fait, called corrofive
fublimate mercury. This, fait is foluble, thoug;h Ipa-
ringly, in water ; but is far from, being perfectly fatu¬
rated with mercury ; for it will readily unite with al-
moft its own weight of frefh quickfilver, and fublime
with it into a folid white mafs (which, when leviga¬
ted, affumes ayellowifti colour) called mcrcurius dulcis,.
aquila alba, or calomel.
There have been many different ways of preparing
f corrofive mercury, recommended by different chemifts.
Neumann mentions no fewer than ten. x. From.met'
cury, common fait, nitre, and vitriol. 2. From mer¬
cury, common fait, and vitriol. 3. Mercury, common
fait, and fpirit of nitre. 4. Solution of mercury in
aquafortis and fait. 5. Solution of mercury in a-
quafortis, and fpirit of fait, or the white precipitate.
6'. Meixury, common fait, nitre, "and oil of vitriol.
7. Edulcorated turbith mineral, and common fait. 8.
Red precipitate, common fait, and oil of vitriol. 9. E-
dulcorated turbith mineral, and fpirit of fait. 10 Mer¬
cury, fal ammoniac, and oil of vitriol.
From a view of thefe different methods, it is evi¬
dent, that the intention of them all is to combine the
I S T R Y. Pra&icc,
marine acid with quickfilver ; and as this combination Marine
can be effected without making ufe of the nitrous acid, an<j*.
the greateft chemifts have imagined that this acid, nations! ^
which is by far the moft expenfive of the three, might be 1 v f
thrown out of the procefs altogether, and the fublimate
be more conveniently made by diredtly combining ma¬
rine acid and mercury in a procefs fimilar to the di¬
ftillation of fpirit of fait. This method was formerly
recommended by Kunckel; then publilhed in the me¬
moirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1730 ; and has.
been adopted and recommended by Dr Lewis.
The procefs confifts in diffolving mercury in the vi¬
triolic acid, as direfted for making, turbith mineral.
The white mafs remaining ©n the exficcation of this,
folution is to be triturated with an equal weight of -
dried fait, and the mixture is then to be fublimed in
a fand-heat; gradually increafing the fire till nothing -
more arifes.
Neumann obferves, that there is a confiderable dif- Difference*
ference in the quality of fublimates made by the dif- of qualitw.
ferent methods he mentions; particularly in thofe
made with or without nitre. This we have alfo
found to be the cafe ; and that fublimate made with¬
out the nitrous acid is never fo corrofive-, or foluble in
water, as that which is made with it: nor will it af¬
terwards take up fo large a quantity of crude mercury
as it otherwife would, when it is to be formed into-
calomel. The above procefs, therefore, tho’ very con¬
venient and eafy, is to be reje&ed; and fome other
in which the nitrous acid is ufed, fubftituted in its
Head. The reafon of thefe differences is, that the fpi¬
rit of fait muft by fome means or other be dephlogi-
fticated before it can unite in fufficient quantity with
the metal, into the compound defired, which is accom-
plifhed by the addition of nitrous acid.
From TaChenius, Neumann gives us the following
procefs, which he fays was the method of making
fubljmate at London, Venice, and Amfterdam. Two
hundred and eighty pounds of quickfilver, 400 pounds
of calcined vitriol, 200 pounds of nitre, the fame
quantity of common fait, and 50 pounds of the caput
mortuum remaining after a' former fublimation, or
(in want of it) of the caput mortuum of aquafortis,
making, in all, 1130 pounds, are well ground, and
mixed together ; then fet to fublime in proper glaffes
placed in warm afhes, the fire is increafed by degrees,,
and continued for five days and nights. In the making
fuch large quantities, he fays, fome precautions are.
neceffary, and which thofe conftantly employed here¬
in are beft acquainted with. The principal are,
the due mixture of the ingredients, which in fome
places is performed in the fame manner as that of
the ingredients for gun-powder: that a head and:
receiver be adapted to the fubliming glafs, to fave
fome fpirit of nitre which will oome over. (Here
a bent tube of glafs will anfwer the purpofe, as al¬
ready mentioned). The fire muft not be raifed too
haftily. When the fublimate begins to form, the:
allies muft be removed ^ little from the fides of the
glafs, or the 'glafs cautibufly raifed up a little from
the afhes. (Thislaft, we think, is highly imprudent.)
Laftly, the laboratory muft have a good chimney, ca¬
pable of carrying off the noxious fumes. The above-
mentioned quantities commonly yield 360 pounds of
fublimate; the 280 pounds of quickfilver gaining 80,
from the 200 pounds of fca-falt. The makers of fub-
’ Innate
with arfe-
Pra<rtlce. C H E M
Marine limate in Erance, he fays, employ, in one "operation,
Acid and OI1ly 2o pounds -of mercury. This they diffolve in
nations' '* aquafortis, evaporate the folution to drynefs, mix the
■ dry matter with 20 pounds of decrepitated fea-fa!t
and 60 of calcined vitriol, and then proceed to fubli*
gl7 mation.
Obferva- The above proceffes, particularly the lad, are un-
tions on the exceptionable as to the produ&ion of a fublimate per-
jnetird1 feaiy corro^lve i ^ut t^e operation, it is evident, muft
be attended with confiderable dilHeulty, by reafon of
the large quantity of matter put into the glafs at once.
We muft remember, that always on mixing a volatile
fait with a quantity of fixed matter, the fublimation
of it becomes more difficult than it would have been
had no fuch matter been mixed with it. It is of
confiderable confequence, therefore, in all fublima-
tions, to make the quantity of matter put into the
glafs as little as poffibie. It would feem more pro¬
per, inftead of the calcined vitriol ufecl in the pro¬
ceffes laft mentioned, to diffolve the mercury in
the vitriolic acid, as diredled for tutbith mineral,
and fublime the dry raafs mixed with nitre and fea-
8,8 fait. v
Supvofeda- It has been faid, that corrofive fublimate mercury
dukeration was frequently adulterated with arfenic* and means
have even been pointed out for detecting this fuppo-
fed adulteration. Thefe means are, to diffolve a little
of the fufpe&ed fait in water, and add an alkaline
lixivium to precipitate the mercury. It the precipitate
was of a black colour, it was faid to be a certain fign
of arfenic. This, however, ffiaws nothing at all, but
that either the alkali contains fome inflammable mat¬
ter, which, joining with the precipitate, makes it ap¬
pear black ; or that the fublimate is not perfectly cor¬
rofive i for if a volatile alkali is poured on levigated
mercurius dulcis, the place it touches is inftantly turned
black.
Mercurius dulcis, or calomel, is prepared by mixing
equal parts, or at leaft three of quickfilver with four
of fublimate ; after being thoroughly ground together
in a glafs or ftone mortar, they are to be poured
through a long funnel into a bolt-head, and then fub-
limed. The medicine has been thought to be im¬
proved by repeated fublimations, but this is found to
be a miftake. Mr Beaume has found that mercii-
rius dulcis cannot be united with corrofive fublimate
in the way of fublimation ; the former, by reafon of
its fuperior volatility, always rifes to the top of the
veffel.
Zinc^yola XII. With Zinc. Tins femimetal diffolves readily in
tilized. the marine acid into a tranfparent colourlefs liquor.^Tt
is volatilized, as well as moft. other metallic fubftances,
by this combination, as appears from the following
procefs delivered by Neumann.
“ Equal parts of filings of zinc and powdered fal
ammoniac being mixed together, and urged with a
gradual fire in a retort; at foil arofe, in a very gentle
heat, an exceffively penetrating volatile fpirit, fo flrong
■as to ftrike a man down who ffiould inadvertently re¬
ceive its vapour freely into the nofe. This came over
in fubtile vapours, and was followed by a fpirit of fait
in denfe white fumes. In an open fire, white flowers
fucceeded ; and at length a reddifh and a black butter.
In the bottom of the retort was found a portion of the
819
Mercurius
dulcis.
I S T R Y. . 4S3
zinc in its metalline form, with a little ponderous and Marine ^
fixed butyraceous matter, which liquefied in the air.
The lump was far more brittle than zinc ordinarily is; nat;;)ns.
of a reddifli colour on the outfide, and blackiflr within, u—w
The bdttom of the retort was variegated with yellow
and red colours, and looked extremely beautiful. The
remaining zinc was mixed afrefh with equal its weight
of fal ammoniac, and the procefs repeated, A vola¬
tile alkaline fpirit and marine acid were obtained as at
firft ; and in the retort was found only a little black
matter. When the zinc was taken at firft in twice the
quantity of the fal ammoniac, .the part that preftrved
its metallic form proved lefs brittle than in the forego¬
ing experiment, and the retort appeared variegated in
the fame manner. On endeavouring to redtify the
butter, the retort parted in two by the time that one
half had diftilled.’, The nature of this combination is
unknown. g4t
XIII. With Regulus of Antimony. This femimetal can-Butter of
not be united with the marine acid unlefs the latter is.antimouy.
in its moft concentrated Hate, The produce is. an
exceffively cauftic thick liquid, called butter of antimo¬
ny. The procefs for obtaining this butter is fimilar
to that for diftilling the fmoking'Tpirit of Liba-
vtus. Either crude antiftiony, or its regulus, may
be ufed: for the fpirit of fait will attack the reguline
part of this mineral without touching the fulphureous.
Three parts of corrofive fublimate are to be'mixed
with one of crude antimony; the mixture to be di~
gefted in a retort fet in a fand heat; the marine acid
iii the fublimate will unite with the reguline part of
the antimony. Upon increafing the fire, the regulus
arifes, dilfolved in the concentrated acid, not into a li¬
quid form, but that of a thick undluous fubftance like
butter, from whence it takes its name. This fub-
fiance liquefies by heat, and requires the cautious ap¬
plication of a live coal to melt it down from the neck
of the retort. By rectification, or expofure to the
air, it becomes fluid like oil, but ftill retains the name
of butter. If water is added to butter of antimony,
either when in a butyraceous form, or when become-
fluid by rectification, the antimony is precipitated in a
white power called powder of algaroth, and improperly
mercurius vita:. This powder is a violent and very un-
fafe emetic. The butter itfelf was formerly ufed as a
cauftic; but it was totally fieglecled in the prefent '
practice, until lately that it has been recommended as
the moft proper material for preparing emetic tartar.
(See below.) Mr Dolfufs recommends the following
method as the beft for making butter pf antimony;
vi%. two ounces and a quarter of the grey calx of an¬
timony, eight ounces of common fait,-and fix of acid
of vitriol. By diftilling this mixture, ten ounces of
the antimonial cauftic were ^obtained ; and in order to
determine the ^quantity of metal contained in it, he
mixed two ounces of the cauftic with four ounces of
water; but thus fuch a ftrong coagulum was formed,
that he was not able to pour off any of the. water even
after Handing 24 hours. The precipitate, when care¬
fully dried, weighed 50 grains. The refult was much
the fame when glafs of antimony was ufed, only that
the precipitate was much more confiderable ; half an
ounce of the cauftic then yielding 60 grains, though at
another time only 50 grains were obtained. In the re-
3 P 2 fiduum
82a
Sympathe¬
tic ink.
824
Marine
ether.
C H E M I
fiduum of the former experiment he found 30 grains of
an earthy fubftance, chiefly a combination of calcare¬
ous earth with muriatic acid.
When the mercurius vitae precipitates, the union be¬
tween the marine acid and regulus is totally diflblved ;
fo that the powder, by frequent wafliings, becomes per-
fe&ly free from every particle of acid, which unites
with the water made ufe of, and is then called, very
improperly, philofophic fpirit of 'vitriol.
XIV. With Regulus of Cobalt. Pure fpirit of fait dif-
folves this femimetal into a reddifli yellow liquor, which
immediately becomes green from a very gentle warmth.
On Saturating the folution with urinous fpirits, the
precipitate appears at firft white, but afterwards'be¬
comes blue, and at length yellow. If the nitrous acid
is added to folutions of regulus of cobalt, they affume
a deep emerald green when moderately heated, and on
cooling become red as at firlt. Duly evaporated, they
yield rofe-coloured cryftals, which change their colour
hy heat in the fame manner. This folution makes a
curious fympathetic ink, the invention of which is
commonly afcribed do M. Hellot, though he himfelf
acknowledges that he received the firft hint of it from
a German chemift in 1736. Any thing wrote with
this folution is invifible when dry and cold; but af-
fumes a fine green colour when warm, and , will again
difappear on being cooled; but if the heat has been
too violent, the writing ftill appears. M. Hellot ob-
feryes, that if nitre or borax be added to the nitrous
folution, the characters wrote with it become rofe-
culoured when heated; and if fea-falt is afterwards
paffed over them, they become blue ; that with alkali
fufficient to faturate the acid, they change purple and
red with heat.—A blue fympathetic ink may be made
from cobalt in the- following manner. Tak#- of an
earthy ore' of cobalt, as free from iron as poffible, one
ounce. Bruife it, but not to too fine a powder. Then
put it into a cylindrical glafs, with 16 ounces of diftil-
led vinegar, and fet the mixture in hot fand for the
fpace of fix days, ftirring it frequently ; or elfe boil it
dire ft ly till there remain but four ounces. Filter and
evaporate it to one half. If your folution be of a rofe
colour, you may be certain that your cobalt is of the
right fort. A red brown colour is a-fign of the folu¬
tion containing iron ; in which cafe the proeefs fails;
To two ounces of the folution thus reduced, add two
■ drachms of common fait.—Set the whole in a warm
place to diffolve, and the ink is made.
XV. With Regulus of Arfenic. This fubftance is
foluble in* aH acids ; but the nature of the compounds
formed by fuch an union is little known. If half a
pound of regulus is diftilled with one pound of eon-a¬
live fublimate, a thin fmoking liquor and a butyrace-
ous fubftanee will be obtained, as in making the fmo¬
king liquor of Libavius. By repeated rectifications,
this butter maybe almoft all converted into fpirit. If
equal parts of the arfenic and fublimate are ufed, a pon¬
derous black oil comesover along with the fpirit, which
cannot fee mixed with.it. By reftification in a clean
retort, they will become clear, but ftill will not incor¬
porate. If they are ndw returned upon the red mafs
remaining in the firft retort, and again diftilled, a
much more ponderous oil than the former will be ob¬
tained.
XVI. With Inflammable Sulfancet. The acid of fea-
S T R Y. Practice,
fait is very little difpofed to contra£t any union with Marine
the phlogifton, while in a liquid ftate ; and much lefs Ac‘d
fo, even in its moft concentrated ftate, than either thendCio.ls
vitriolic or nitrous.' Mr Beaume, however, has found, v““—J
that a fmall quantity of ether, fimilar to that prepared
with the vitriolic and nitrous acids, may be obtained;
by caufing the fumes of the marine acid unite with
thofe of fpirit of wine. Others, and particularly fome
German chemifts, attempted to make this liquor, by
employing a marine acid previoufly combined with me¬
tallic fubftances, fuch as butter of antimony. The
fmoking liquor of Libavins' fucceeds beft. If equal
parts of this liquor and highly reftified fpirit of
wine are diftilled together, a confiderable quantity of
true ether is produced; but which, like the vitrio¬
lic and nitrous ether, muft be reftified in order to its
greater purity. The tin contained in the fmoking li¬
quor is feparated and precipitated in white powder. In
this procefs^ the acid is probably mure difpofed to
unite with the fpirit of wine, by having already be¬
gun to combine with the inflammable principle of the
metal.— For marine ether, Mr Dollfufs recommends to
put into a retort four ounces of digeftive fait previouf¬
ly well dried and powdered, and two ounces of man-
ganefe ; pouring upon this a mixture of five ounces of .
fpirit of wine and two of oil of vitriolthe firft five
ounces and a half of the diftilled liquor being poured
back on the reftduum, and the whole afterwards drawn
off by a gentle heat. The fpirit of fait thus obtained
had a very penetrating agreeable odour, fomewhat like
that of nitrous ether ; and at firft fwam upon the top
of water, but at length mixed with it on being agi¬
tated for a long time. Towards the end of the diftil-
lation a little oil was obtained, which did not mix
with the water; and by the addition of four ounces
more of fpirit of wine, more of the dulcified acid was
obtained. With regard to this kind of ether, however*
Mr Weftrumb denies that it can be made by any me¬
thod hitherto known; and infills, that all the liquids
as yet produced underlhe name of marine ether are in
reality dulcified fpirit of fait, and not true ether, which
will fwim on the top of water.
Dr Prieftley has obferved, that the pure marine ac'-> Attradion'
when reduced to an invifible aerial ftate, has a ftrongfor phlogi—
affinity with phlogift'on ; fo that it decompofes manyften.
fubftances that contain it, and forms with them an air
permanently inflammable. By giving it more time, it
will extraft phlogifton from dry wood, crufts of bread
not burnt, dry flefh ; and, what is ftill more-extraordi¬
nary, from flints. From what has been above related,
it appears that the dephlogifticated fpirit of fait has a
very ftrong attraftion for phlogifton.
Effential oil of mint abforbed the marine acid air
pretty fall, and prefently became of a deep brown co¬
lour. When taken out of this air, it was of the con-
fiftence of treacle, and funk in water, fmelling different¬
ly from what it did before; but ftill the fmell of the
mint was predominant. Oil of turpentine was allO
much thickened ; and became of a deep brown ’colour,
by being faturated with acid air. Ether abforbed the
air very" faft ; and became firft of a turbid white, and
then of a yellow and brown coloiir. In one night a
con fide rable quantity of ftrongly inflammable air was
produced.
Having once fainrated a quantity of ether with acid
air,
Pra&ice. C H E M
Marine air, he admitted bubbles of corrimon air to it, through
Acid and the quicklilvt^r by which it was confined, and ob-
nation§'bl" ^erve<^ t^at w^>te fumes were made in it, aLthe en-
■ J ' ^S trance of every bubble, for a confiderafcle time. Ha¬
ving, at another time, faturated a final! quantity of
ether with this kind of air, and the phial which contain¬
ed it happening to be overturned, the whole room
was infiantly filled with a white cloud, which had
very much the fmell of ether, but peculiarly offenfive.
Opening- the door and window of the room, this light
cloud filled a long paffage and another room. The
ether, in the mean time, was feemingly all vaniih-
ed : but, fometime after, the furface of the quickfil-
ver in which the experiment had been made was co¬
vered with a very acid liquor, arifing probably from
the moiilure in the atmofphere, attracted by the acid
vapour with which the ether had been impregnated.
This feems to ihow, that, however much difpofed
the marine acid may be to unite with phlogitlic mat¬
ters when in its aerial date, the attraftion it has for
them is but very flight, and ftili inferior to what it has
for water.
Camphor was prefently reduced into, a fluid ftate by
imbibing this acid air ; but there feemed to be fome-
•thing of a whitifh fediment in it?. After continuing
two days in this fituation, water was admitted to it,
upon which the camphor immediately refumed its for¬
mer folid ftate ; and to appearance was the fame fub-
ftance that it had been before.
Strong concentrated oil of vitriol, being put to ma¬
rine acid air, was not at ail affe&ed by it in a day and
a night. In order to try whether it would not have
more power in a condenfed ftate, it was compreffed
with an additional atmofphere ; but, on taking off this*
the air expanded again, and was not in the leaft di-
minifhed. A quantity of ftrong fpirit of nitre was alfo
put to it without any fenfible effed. From thefe laft
experiments it appears^ that the marine acid is not able
ad to diflodge the other acids from their union with water.
Kewac ! Befides the acids already mentioned, Mr Homberg
difeovercd j_r :i          u..  
by Mr
Hcinbeig.
defcribes an artificial one generated by mixing two
ounces and a half of luna cornea, with an ounce and
a half of tin calcined alone and without addition^ by-
means of fire.. The mixture is to be expofed to a
naked fire in a coated retort, of which two thirds ought
to be left empty ; when a browniih matter, an ounce
and a half in weight, will adhere to the neck of the
retort. This matter is tin combined with the marine
acid, and the refiduum is filver deprived of the fame
acid, which may therefore now _ be melted together
without any lofs. The fublimate, well powdered and
dried, is to he equally divided into two phials, and
fublimed ; by repeating which operation two or three
times, a volatile fait, of an acid nature, very white and
tranfparent, is obtained. The rdiduum of thefe fubli-
mations is always calx of tin.
$ 4. Of the Fluor Acid.
Firft dtfco- This acid was difovered fome time ago by Mr Mar-
vered by graaf, and more fully inveftigated. by Mr Scheele.
Mr Mar- The experiments by which it was originally produced,
and its properties afcertained, are as follows :
How pre- I- ounces of concentrated vitriolic acid were
pared. poured upon an equal quantity of fluor, which had been
1ST R Y. 485
previoufly pounded in a glafs mortar, and then put in-Fluor Acid
to a retort, to which a receiver was adapted, and the
junfture clofed with grey blotting-paper. On the lr‘a'
application of heat, the mals began to efFctvcfce and ——v—.j
fweil, invifible vapours penetrated every where through
the joining of the vcflels, and towards the end of the
procefs white vapours arofe, which covered all the in¬
ternal parts of the receiver with a vvhite powder.—
The mafs remaining in the retort was as hard as a
ftone, and could not be taken out without break*
ing the veflel. The lute was quite corroded and
friable.
II. The procefs was repeated exaftly in the fame
manner, excepting only that a quantity of diftilled wa- gig i
ter was put into the receiver. A white fpot foon be-Forrnsa
gan to form on the furface of the water, juft in the white ear-
centre, and immediately under the mouth of the re- th7 cfuft
tort. Tills fpot continually increafed, till at laft it co. w‘t^water»
vered the whole furface of the, water, forming a pretty
thick cruft, which prevented the communication of the
water with new vapours that came over. On gently agi¬
tating the receiver, the cruft broke, and fell to the bot¬
tom ; foon after which a new cruft like the former was
produced. At laft the receiver, and foon after the re¬
tort alfo, became white in the infrde. The veflels,
when cooled, were found much corroded internally. In .
the receiver .was an acid liquor-mixed with much white
matter j feparable by filtration.
III. This white matter when edulcorated and dried, which'has
flrowed itfelf to be filiceous earth, by the following the proper--
properties. 1. It was rare, friable, and white. 2. It ties of filt-
was not fenfibly foluble in acids. 3. It did not make ceous eart^1*
a tough pafte-with water, but was loofe' and incohe¬
rent after being dried. 4. It diltolved by boiling in
lixivium tartari, and the folution in cooling affumed -
a gelatinous confiftence. 5. In its pure ftate it fuffered
no change in the ftrongeft heat ; but when mixed'
with alkali, it boiled, frothed up, and formed a glafs
in a melting heat. 6. It difiblved in borax without
fwdlin£' . . 8<o
IV. To determine whether this earth was formed gch^cle’s
during the procefs, he poured vitriolic acid upon pow- experiment
dered fluor contained in a cylinder of brafs which was tn deter-
clofed exadtly with a cover, after having fufpended
over the mixture an iron nail and a bit of charcoal, thif earth,
On opening the veflel two hours afterwards, he found
the nail and charcoal unchanged} but on moiftening
them, he found both covered with a white powder in a
fhort.time. This powder had all the properties of fili¬
ceous earth; and as in the experiment he. had made no
ufe of glafs veflels, he concluded that it did not pro- -
ceed from the glafs veffels, as might have been fufpeft-
ed from their being fo much corroded, but was gene¬
rated in fome other way.. ^ ^
V. Having recompofed fltior by faturating the a-Artificial
cid with calcareous earth, he treated the compound in fluor yields
the fame manner as the natural fluor, with a fimilar a fimilar re-
refult; and repeating the experiment five times over, fu't*
he conftantly found the filiceous earth and acid dimi-
niftr confiderablyp fo that at laft fcarce any mark of
acidity was left. Thence he concluded, that all the
floor acid united itfelf by degrees with the vapours of *
the water, and thus formed the filiceous earth. “ It may
be objtfted ( fays Mr Scheele), that the fluor acid is per¬
haps already united by nature with a fine Uliceous pow¬
der, ,
4*86
CHEMISTRY.
I’lnor Acid der, which it volatilizes, and carries over in diftillation,
Combi'ia ^Ut: ^eaves ^ as ^oon as ^nc^s water to unite with,
tions. juft as muriatic acid parts with the regulus of antimo-
v—ny, when butter of antimony is dropped into water.
But if this was the cafe, the fluor acid would leave
the whole quantity of filiceous earth thus combined
with it in the firft diftillation, and therefore ftiow no
mark of its prefence in the following proceifes. When
I put fpirit of wine into the receiver inftead of water,
no liliceous earth was produced ; but the alcohol be¬
came four. When I put an unftuous oil into the re¬
ceiver, all the fluor acid penetrated through the crevi-
ces of the lute, and neither united with the oil, nor
Mr produced a filiceous earth. This happened alfo when
ScheeleV acid of vitriol was put into the receiver. If therefore
that die°n ^te ^‘ceou3 earth was not a produft of each diftillation,
earth pro- ^ut’ being previoufly contained in the acid, wasonly de-'
ceeds from pofited from it in confequence of the union of the acid
an union of with a third fubftance, I think the filiceous earth ought
with water eclua% t0 aPPear when alcohol was put into the recei-
‘ver, with which it unites, as well as with water ; but
as this does not happen, I conclude that not all the fi-
liceous earth which is depofited upon the furface of
water during the diftillation of the fluor acid, was pre-
„ vioufly diffolved in this acid.”
Contefted This opinion of Mr Scheele did not meet with ge-
by Meflrs neral approbation. M. Boullanger endeavoured to
Boul]aBger,{how, that the^ fluor acid is no other than the muria-
Monner, t;c JntJmately1 combined with fome earthy fubftance j
C* and Mr Monnet maintained that it is the fame with
that of vitriol volatilized by fome extraordinary con-
834
ne&ion with the fluor ; which opinion was alfo
Their opi- maintained by Dr Prieftley. Mr Scheele contefted
nionslhown thefe opinions, but found much greater difficulty in
to be erro- fUpp0rt;ng his own opinions than in overthrowing
Mr Scheele. thofe of his adverfaries. Boullanger infilled that fluor
acid precipitates the folutions of filver and quickfilver,
$35 producing luna cornea with the former, and mer-
Fluor acid curius dulcis with the. latter. Mr Scheele owns
proved to that fluor dcid precipitates both thefe metals, but
be different ^ prec;p;tate obtained is in very fmall quantity,
cffbaTalt an^ the little that is produced arifes only from a fmall
quantity of fea-falt with which the fluor, as well as
all other calcareous fubftances, is generally mixed. The
greateft part of the acid, therefore, will not precipitate
the folutious of thefe metals, which it ought to do up¬
on Mr Boullanger’s hypothefis. Mr Scheele then
proceeds to {how a method of feparating this fmall
quantity of marine acid from that of fluor. A folu-
tion of lilver made with nitrous acid is to be precipi-
thted with alkali of tartar, and as much acid of fluor
poured upon the edulcorated powder as is fufficient to
give an excefs of acid ; after which the folution is to
be filtered. This folution of filver in fluor acid is then
to be dropped into that acid we defire to purify, till no
more precipitation enfues; after which the acid is filter¬
ed through grey paper, and difiilled to drynefs in a
glafs retort. The aqueous part comes over firft, but is
foon followed by fluor acid, which covers the infide of
both the veffels, together wirh the furface of the water
in the receiver, with a thick filiceous cruft. The acid,
thus re&ified, does not precipitate folution of filver in
the leaft, nor otherwife ftiow the fmalleft fign of muri¬
atic acid.
That the fluor acid is different from that of vitriol.
PraSice.
Mr Scheele proved by the following experiment. Up- Fluor Acid
on one ounce of pure levigated fluor with alcohol, he and i£s
poured three ounces of concentrated oil of vitriol, and ('oml,ina*
diftilled the mixture in a fand-bath, having previoufly f
put 12 ounces of diftilled water into the receiver. He 835
then took other three ounces of the fame acid diluted And from
with 24 ounces of water, to which he afterwards ad- fh.51
ded lixivium tartari previoufly weighed, till he at-t!!u^
tained the exaft point of faturation. After the diftil¬
lation he weighed the remaining lixivium ; having kept
up fuch a degree of heat for eight hours as was not
fufficient to raife the vitriolic acid. Oir breaking the
retort, and reducing the mafs to powder, he boiled it
in a glafs veffel with 24 ounces of water for fome mi¬
nutes ; after which he added juft as much Ihcivium
tartari as he had found before to be requifite for the
faturation of three ounces of the vitriolic acid, and
continued the boiling for a few minutes longer. On
examining the folution, it was found to contain a vi-
triolated tartar perfectly neutralized, neither acid nor,
alkali prevailing in any degree ; which {bowed that no
vitriolic acid had paffed Into the receiver. The faline
matter being then extracted with hot water, the re¬
maining earth was found to weigh drachms. Two
drachms of this diffolved in muriatic acid, excepting
only a fmall quantity of matter which feemed to be
fluor undecompofed, and which on being dried weigh¬
ed only nfne grains. Into one part of this folution he
poured fome acid 0/ fugar, and into another vitriolic
acid. The former produced faccharated lime, and the
latter gypfum. A third part was evaporatedgto dry-
r.efs, and left a deliquefeent fait ; and the remaining
part of the earth burned in a crucible, produced a real
quicklime. g„.
Thus it appeared that the real bafis of fluor is quick- Quicklime
lime, and likewife that" the fluor acid is different from the Lafis of
that of vitriol, as appears further from the following fluor‘
confiderations : 1. Pure fluor acid does not precipitate
terra ponderofa, nor folution of lead in nitrous acid.
2. The fame acid, when faturated with alkali of tar¬
tar, evaporated to drynefs, and afterwards melted with
powdered charcoal, does not produce any hepar ful-
Phuris- . . g g
Mr Monnet, in order to fupport his hypothefis, de- Miftake of
nies that fluor contains any calcareous earth. In proof Mr Mon-
of which he adduces the following experiment: E- neton this
qual quantities of alkali and fluor were melted toge- ffihjeift.
ther, with little or no change on the mineral; for, af¬
ter having taken away by lixiviation the alkali em¬
ployed, he diffolved the fluor remaining on the filter
in nitrous acid, adding vitriolic acid to the folution ;
and becaufe he obtained no precipitate, -voncluded at
once, that fluor contains no calcareous earth. Mr
Scheele, on the contrary, affirms that all folutions of
fluor yield a precipitate of gypfum whenever vitriolic
acid is added to them. He explains Mr Monnet’s
failure, by fuppofing that he had diluted his folution
with too great a quantity of water.
Mr Wiegleb, diffatisfied with the hypothefis ofwie^ieb’s
Scheele, as well as others, concerning the fluor acid, experi-
began a new fet of experiments on the mineral. ^"ori0;!!
ving firft accurately repeated thofe made by Mr
Scheele, he proceeded to inquire into.the origin ofceousearth,
the filiceous earth, in the following manner: Having
firft weighed the retort deftined for the experiment in
Practice. C H E M I
Fluor Acid an accurate manner, and found that its weight was
two ounces and five drachms, he put into it two oun¬
ces of calcined fiuor in powder, adding, by means of
j a glafs tube, zi ounces of oil of vitriol. The retort
was then placed on the furnace; and a receiver, which
when empty weighed two ounces, two drachms, and
30 grains, and now contained two ounces of diftilled
water, was luted to it. The diftillation was conduc¬
ed with all poffible care, and at laft pulhed till the re¬
tort grew red hot ; but it was found impoffible to pre¬
vent a few vapours from penetrating tJiriiugh the lute.
Next day the retort, feparated from the receiver, was
found to weigh, together with its contents, five oun¬
ces, five drachms, and 30 grains; and confequently had
loll in weight one ounce, three drachms, and 30 grains.
The receiver, which, with the water, had originally
weighed four ounces, two drachms, and 30 grains,
now weighed five ounces and three drachms, and had
therefore gained one ounce and 30 grains. This gain,
compared with the lofs of the retort, fhows that the
retort loft more by three drachms, than the receiver
gained ; fo that thefe muft have undoubtedly paffed
through the luting in form of vapour.
To determine the point in queftion, the empty vef-
fels, with what had been put into them, were accurate¬
ly weighed; when the weights and lofs upon: the whole
were found to be as follows:
The empty retort
Calcined fluor . -
Oil of vitriol
Total weight before diftillation
After it
Lofs of retort
The empty receiver weighed
The water put into.it
Total weight before diftillation
Total weight after diftillatioa
0%. dr. gr.
250
2 0 O
2 4 0
7 1 6
5 5 3°
1 3 3°
2 2 30
200
4 2 30
5 3 0
Gain of receiver - r o 30
Deducing this gain of weight in the receiver from
the lofs of weiglit in the retort, we find, that three
drachms were wanting on the whole, which mult un¬
doubtedly, as already obferved, have been diffipated
in vapour. The retort being now broken, and the
dry’ earth both in its neck and arch feparated as accu¬
rately as poffible, it was found to weigh three drachms;
the refiduum in the retort weighed three ounces, two
drachms, and 40 grains. Now, as the mafs in the re¬
tort had originally weighed four ounces and four
drachms, it appeared, by deducting the refiduum, to
have fuffered, on the whole, a lofs of one ounce, one
drachm, and 20 grains. To determine the lofs more
accurately’, the following calculations were made :
oz. dr. gr.
The white earth feparated from the neck
and arch of the retort - 030
Gain of the receiver - - 1. o 30
Loft in vapour - - . -030
Total 1 6 30
Here Mr Wieglcb was furprifed to find, that the
3
s T R Y. 487
matter which came from the retort amounted to more fiuor Acid
by five drachms ten grains than the mafs in the retort ^!d
had loft of its original weight; to illuftrate which it '
w’as neceflary to weigh the retort and receiver by — ^—■>
themfelves. The pieces of the retort now weighed on¬
ly one ounce feven drachms and 50 grains ; whereas,
before the procefs, the weight of the retort was two
ounces five drachms. It appeared, therefore, that it
had loft five drachms ten grains, the very quantity
which had been gained by the receiver. This laft had
loft nothing of its original weight.
The fluid in the receiver was next diluted with four
ounces of diftilled water, and the whole poured out
on a filter,, in order to feparate the earthy matter
with which it was mixed, and frefh water poured up¬
on it to take out all the acid : after wdiich the earth
was dried, and found to weigh 57 grains. The clear
liquor was then diluted with more diftilled water, and
afterwards precipitated with fpirit offal ammoniac pre¬
pared with fixed alkali. A brifk efferyefcence took
place before any precipitate began to fall, but ceafed
loon after the precipitation took place. The whole mix¬
ture became gelatinous ; and the precipitate, when dry,
weighed two drachms. The whole quantity of earth,
therefore, obtained in this procefs amounted to five
drachms 47 grains, which is forty-feven grains more
than the retort had loft in weight. This excefs is, by
our author, attributed to part of the acid ft-ill adhering
to it, and to the acceffion of fome moifture from the
air ; to determine which he heated each of the parcels-
of earth red hot feparately, and thus reduced them to
four drachms 52 grains, which is lefs by 18 grains
than the lofs of the retort, and which, he is of opi¬
nion, muft have efcaped in the three drachms of va»
Pour- . _ g
From this experiment Mr Wiegleb concludes, that The earthy
the earth produced in the diftillafion of fluor proceeds eruft pro-
neither from the fpar nor from a combination of the c.eed* .fr0.,n
acid with water, but from the folution of the glafs by of the alits
the Iparry acid. .To his opinion alfo Dr Creil ac-diftilling.
cedes. “In diftilling fluor (fays he) with oil of vi-veflels.
trio!, I have found the retort as well as the receiver
very much corroded. I poured the acid obtained by
the piocefs into a phial furnifhed with 3 glafs ftopper,
and obferved after fome time a confiderable depofition.
I then poured the liquor into another phial like the
former ; and that it might neither on the one hand
attack the glafs, nor on the other compofe filiceous
earth with the particles oP water, according to Mr
Scheele’s hypothefis, I added highly reftified fpirit of
wine. I faw, however, after fome time, another confi¬
derable depofition. This feemed alfo to proceed from
the glafs that had been before diflolved, which the acid
let fall in confequence of the gradual combination with
the fpirit of wine ; otherwife we muft fupp.ofe, what
to me appears incredible, that the acid decompofes the
fpirit, attra&s the water, and forms the earth.” g
This Angular acid has been ftill further examined by MrMay-’r'f
Mr Meyer. He informs us, that, among Mr Scheele’s examina-
experiments, he was particularly ftruck by one intionofthr
which no earthy cruft was obtained, after putting fpi-fluor awd*
rit of wine into the receiver. Mr Meyer repeated this
experiment, hoping, that when but little fpirit was put
into the receiver, he might be able to procure a new
kindof ether. An ounce of finely powdered fluor, which,
had been previoufly heated red hot, was put into a
glafi
" T
4«8 C H EM I
Huor Acid glafs retort, to which was fitted a receiver contain*
Combiua- ^lree ounces of highly rectified French brandy,
tions. The diftillation was continued for three hours with
v-i— a gentle heat; when'the acid, having made its way-
through the bottom, put an end to the procefs. No
cruft could be perceived on the furface of the fpi-
rit; but in the place where it had been in con-
tail with the receiver there was a thin ring of tranfpa-
rent jelly. The fame mixture of oil of vitriol and fluor
■ was therefore again put into a retort of very ftrong
glafs, and the fame fpirit put into the receiver. The
diftillation wag conduiled two hours with a gentle, and
afterwards with a ftronger, heat. When it was half
over, the fpirit began to change into a thin jelly ; and
at the end of the procefs feme firmer pieces were found
at the bottom. Thefe were waftied with fpirit of
wine ; and in order to obtain the fpirit together with
the acid in a pure ftate, it was put into a large retort,
and again fubjedted to diftillation. As the retort grew
■warm, the opal-coloured fpirit became ckar and fwell-
■ed, what remained becoming again gelatinous ; a good
deal of earth remained behind, but did not adhere firmly
•to the retort, which was fmooth in theinfide, though full
•of ftiallowr.excoriations. It was alfo evident, that the
glafs was a&ually corroded, and that the earthy mat¬
ter is not a mere cruft adhering to the infide. The
jelly being thoroughly edulcorated, as well as the earth
that remained in the retort after the redtification, and
■that which was diffolved in the water precipitated by
fpirit of fal ammoniac, the whole quantity amounted
to two drachms. That which had feparated fpontane-
-oully was femitranfparent. “ As this earth (fays he)
■fhowed the properties of filiceous earth, and the glafs,
•which was fo much corroded, confifts in great meafure
of it, the greateft part of it might come from the glafs,
#42 and the reft of it perhapsbe a conftituent part of the fluor
5How to itfelf. In order to afeertain this, it was neceflary to ob-
acidfree”10 ta^n t^le ^uor ac*^ quite free fromfiliceousearth. I there-
ifrom filice- fore expoftd the ley, which I had procured by the pre-
,ods earth, cipitation of the earth with fal ammoniac, to a gentle
evaporation in a (lightly covered glafs vefl'el. The pro-
• duft was one drachm 56 grains of an ammoniacal fait;
the glafs did not appear to have been attacked. Half
.a drachm of this fait was fublimed in a frnall retort,
-which, towards the end of the operation, was laid on
the bare fire. No cruft appeared on the furface of the
water in the receiver. At the bottom of the retort
day a little flocculent earth of a light grey colour, above
which the internal furface was covered with a white
pellicle that refle&ed various colours ; and in the neck
•there was a fublhnate. The thin pellicle eafily fepa¬
rated in many places from the glafs, which was
fmooth beneath, though not without fome fmall fur¬
rows. I poured water both upon the ammoniacal fait
and cruft ; in confequence of which it acquired a very
four tafle, and coloured the timfture of turnfole red.
The white cruft that was left behind undifToIved weigh¬
ed five grains, and melted into a green glafs without
addition. This was nothing but the glafs that had
been corroded by the fluor acid ; but as this acid can
be fet loofe only by ftrong heat, it had done no more
than corrode the glafs, without palling over along with
it in the form of vapour, and then depofiting it again
on the water. For, upon pouring two drachms of oil
of vitriol upon half a drachm of this ammoniacal fait,
-N0 73.
5 T K Y. Practice.
a little moiftened, and placed in a glafs retort, a great Firm- Acid
foam arofe, and the thick vapours that afeended cover- aJ,(1 lts.
ed the water in the receiver with a wince cruft. A feru-
pie of the falc on folution, left behind a grain of earth, . .1^ - ,i
which, as I conjecture, it had taken up during the eva¬
poration in the glafs veffel.”
To prevent this, our author diflilled half an ounce
of fluor with an ounqe of oil of vitriol for flve hours.
The crufts were feparated fi-om the water; they weigh¬
ed, after being well wafhed and dried, eleven grains;
they were white and very flocculent; thirty-two grains
of filiceous earth were precipitated from the filtered
water: the ley was then evaporated in a leaden vefiel,
and yielded 80 grains of fait. As glafs veffels were no Expen-
longer to be trufted, a piece of a gun-barrel furnifhed mentsmade
with a cover, and terminated by a bent tube, intended to w‘th ar*
ferve iufttad of the neck of a retort, was afterwards!j™"
ufed; and with this apparatus the following experi- 0
ments were made,:
1. Half a drachm of the newly prepared fal-ammo¬
niac was diflilled for two hours with two drachms of
oil of vitriol, into a glafs receiver containing an ounce
of water. No veftige of a cruft could be perceived on
the water, but fome earth was perceived in the receiver,
•where the vapours having afeended through the tube,
-.came into contacft with the wet glafs; and here the
furface was become fenfibly rough. On the addition
-of volatile alkali, a few fiocculi of filiceous earth, a-
mo unting only to one-fourth of a grain, were thrown
down out of the water.
2. A drachm of pil of vitriol -was added to-a drachm
and an half of the fait; but a leaden receiver was now
uied, containing an ounce of water as before. The
water acquired an unpleafant fmell, but fhowed no
figns of a cruft. On the addition of fpirit of fal am-
moniac, a little grey earth weighing half a grain fell to
the bottom.
3. A fcruple of this fait, mixed with an equal qiian- cru^ ;
tity of white land in fine powder, and diftilled with a formed by
drachm and an half of oil of vitriol, into an ounce of mixin g
water in the leaden receiver, fhowed no fign of a cruft. 3
The water had a putrid fmell, and left on the filter tP;n;n,.
two grains and an half of grey earth, which ran under tluor acid,
the blow-pipe into a grain of lead. Volatile alkali
precipitated five grains of grey earth, which melted on
the addition of a little fait of tartar into a black glo¬
bule, though the blow-pipe alone made no change
in it. - ' - 845
4. To 13 grains of the fame ammoniacal fait a drachm But a great
of oil of vitriol and two fcruple’s of green glafs, broken one by
into fmall pieces, were added. The iron tube had^tn?h"'^'
fcarce become warm, when a great cruft of filiceousdere s a ^
earth was perceived on the furface of the water, and
the fame appearance on the moift fides of the veflei.
It did not, however, feem to increafe during the re¬
mainder of the diftillation. A grain and a quarter of
earthy matter remained on the filter, confiding partly
of white films, which ran under the blow-pipe into a
greenifh glafs.
5. To afeertain this matter ftill more clearly, a
different fpecies of mineral fl.uor was ufed, which be¬
ing diftilled with a double quantity of oil of vitriol,
and with a drachm of water in the receiver, yielded a
thin pellicle of the appearance of lead, but no filicecus
cruft. Volatile alkali threw down 2^ grains of grey
4 ' earth-
Pra&ice.
C H E M I S T R Y.
Bkior Acid earth-.—A drachm mixed with the fame quantity of
Pombiiia- Pu^ver’ze^ fand afforded a pellicle of lead interfperfed
tions. a ^ew particles of white cruft, which ran into
w—glafs under the blow-pipe. Volatile alkali precipitated
eight grains.—A drachm, mixed with an equal quan¬
tity of green glafs reduced to powder, fwelled a good
' deal, and yielded a thick fdiceous cruft.
6. To a drachm of green fluor that had been heat¬
ed and powdered were added two drachms of oil of
•vitriol, ft ill employing the iron tube. A piece of wet
charcoal was alfo fufpended in the infide, a cover fixed
on the tube, and the latter was heated for about 15
minutes in a fand' bath. Obferving now that the
charcoal was dry, and had no earth upon it, a fcruple
of fand in fine powder was added, the charcoal was
wetted and replaced, but nothing appeared. Some
bits of green glafs were then thrown into the mixture,
which inftantly foamed up,and ran over. The char¬
coal was not replaced in the tube, nor was it any
longer neceffary, as it gained a covering of white
powder by being held a very few moments over the
ifice.
Mr Scheele, in one of his experiments, obferves,
of Mr that he obferved the white powder on a piece of char-
Seheele’s coai {,een naoJftened and fufpended over fluor
exp aine . to ^^{j v;trj0];c ac{g was added. As this experi¬
ment was made in, metallic veflels, Mr Meyer conjec¬
tures, that the mortar ufed for reducing the fluor to
powder was of foft glafs, and that the phenomenon
was occafioned by the abrafion of fome particles of
P47 - s!afs-
Of-the 7- To determine whether the acid can carry up
quantity of much t more of the filiceous earth than is fufficient
fiikeous to faturate it, an ounce and an half of pure oil of vi-
ffiarth car- triol was added in a retort of glaft, and three ounces
withifluor of water put into the receiver. The retort was cor¬
roded through in an hour’s time, and the cruft on the
water weighed ten grains* The liquid being then
filtered and divided into two equal parts, one was pre¬
cipitated with cauftic volatile, and the other with mild
fixed vegetable, alkali. The former yielded 2 5 grains
of .filiceous earth, and the latter 68 grains of a preci¬
pitate, which flowed under the blow-pipe, ran into
846
An exper:
acid.
480
glafs retort with a drachm and an half of oil of vitriol, Finer Acid
produced no filiceous earth on the water in the re-Combina-
ceiver, or that with which the earth was edulcorated. tjons>
The ley of fluorated volatile alkali was mixed with a c—y—j
folution of chalk in nitrous acid till no more precipi¬
tation took place. The mixture was pafled through
nitrous acid, and the precipitate adulcorated. It weigh¬
ed, wdien dry, two drachms and 36 grains.
10. Two drachms of oil of vitriol being added to a
drachm of this precipitate contained in a glafs retort,
the precipitate was attacked in the cold, but no cruft
appeared ; the heat, however, was fcarce applied, when
the whole furface of the water was covered, and the
fame phenomena exhibited which are produced by the
natural fluor.
11. Mr Scheele having obferved that a mixture of Farther
fluor as tranfparent as mountain cryftal, and oil ofPrO0fsthas
vitriol in a metallic cylinder, produced no appearance of^^rt^
filiceous earth on a wet fponge fufpended in the infide, ceeds Jr'i-a.
at Mr Meyer’s requeft he made a new experiment, the glaft
by adding oil of vitriol to portions of fluor of this veft---
tranfparent kind placed in two tin cylinders; fome
filiceous earth was put into one, and a wet fponge
fufpended in both. The nes<t morning the fponge
that was fufpended over the cylinder which held the
filiceous earth, was covered with the white pow'der, but
no appearance of it was feen on the other. The expe¬
riment was repeated by Mr Meyer with the fame re-
fult, but the white cruft did not appear till after a
night’s Handing.
12. A drachm of fluor, mixed with two of oil of vi¬
triol, afforded, after a diftillation of two hours, a thin
film of lead ort the furface of the water in the receiver,
but no filiceous earth. The fame mixture was after¬
wards diftilled with the ufe only of a glafs receiver in-
ftead of a lead one. In the beginning of the diftilla¬
tion a fmall fpot appeared under the neck of the re¬
tort, and the neck itfelf was covered with white pow¬
der, but it foon difappeared ; and though the empty
part of the receiver was corroded, yet no ^more than
half a grain of earth was procured.
Thefe experiments fo clearly point out the origin
of the filiceous cruft on the furface of the fluor acid.
.848
Violent
tiuri of,
fluor acid. The reafon of this difference fhall be ex¬
plained, when we come to treat of filiceous earth.
the pores of charcoal, and gave out ftrong vapours of that its exiftence as a diftindt acid is now univerfally
n 1 j tu-- —b.- -c «.u:„ jru-u aftovyed, even by thofe who formerly .contended for its
being only the vitriolic or fome other acid difguifed.—- gf0
Experiments of a fimilar kind were made by Mr Wen- Mr Wen¬
zel, who performed his diftillatipn in a leaden retort, zel’s expe-
furnifhed with a glafs receiver. The water was covered rime“t.s 1!1
with a variegated cruft, and yielded a gelatinous preci-*^3 ente*
pitate with fixed alkali. On examiriing the receiver,
he found its internal furface corroded, fo that it ap¬
peared as if it had been rubbed with coarfe fand. By
fubftituting a leaden receiver, however, inftead of a glais
The experiment being repeated in a more capacious one, he obtained the acid entirely free from filiceous
retort, and the mixture thoroughly blended by agita- matter, and containing only a fmall quantity of iron
tion, it became a thick mats, and fwelled like dough and aluminou?earth. " 2d 8-0
in fermentation : the bottom of the retort grew very The fluor acid may alfo be procured by the nitrous, Fluor acid
hot, and the.filiceous cruft appeared on three ounces of muriatic, and phofphoric acids.—Mr Scheele d-iftilled procurable
8. To a mixture of half an ounce of fluor and the
fame quantity of glafs, in powder, 12 drachms of oil
of vitriol were put in a fmall retort, half filled with the
upon glafs. ipJxtuj-g. "The Ingredients afted upon each other fo
violently that they rofe up into the neck of the retort;
and the operation being intermitted on account of the
noxious vapqur they emitted, the retort was found next
day covered with fafciculated cryftals like hoarfroft.-—
water in the receiver. The diftillation being continu¬
ed for three Hours, 16 grains -of filiceous earth were
found on the furface, and the precipitate by volatile
idkali weighed 56 grains; the retort was much lefs cor-
ipded than ufual.
9. Thirty grains of this precipitate, diftilled in a
Vol. IV. Part II.
one pari of the mineral with two of concentrated ni- n.
trous acid. One part went over into the receiver ^d^phof-
along with the fluor acid, and a thick cruft was form- phorkacids,
ed on the water of the receiver. The mafs remaining
in the retort was calcareous earth faturated with ni¬
trous acid.
3 QL With
490 C II E M I S T R Y,
Fluor Adi With an equalqnaiitrty of marine acid, that of fluor
Comhina Pa^e<^ ove,‘ the receiver with a large quantity of
tions. the muriatic; the internal furface of the receiver, as
w—-y—— well as of the water contained in it, being covered
with a white emit. The refiduum was fixed fal am-
Pra&ice.
sd 850
Appear¬
ance and
properties
of fluor a-
«<!.
4th 850
Combined
with fixed
alkali.
3.;r
With vola¬
tile alkali.
%SZ
With
earths.
Phofphoric acid digefted with powdered fluor, dif-
folved a good deal of it; and on diftilling this folu-
tion, the fluor acid went over together with the watery
particles of the mixture ; the remaining mafs in the re¬
tort had the properties of the allies of bones.
The fluor acid procured in any of thefe ways is not
diftinguiihable by the ftnell from that of fea-falt: in
feme cafes it afts as muriatic acid, in others'like that
of tartar ; but in moll cafes it ihows properties peculiar
to itfelf.
With fixed alkali the fluor acid forms a gelatinous
and almoft infipid matter, which refnfes to cryltallize.
By evaporation a falifie niafs was obtained, which was
in weight only the iixth part of the fixed alkali d!f-
folved ; did not change the colour of fyrup of violets,
but precipitated lime water,, and likewife the folutions
of gypfum and Epfom fait. With mineral alkali
the lame phenomena were produced as with the ve¬
getable.
Volatile alkali with flnor acid formed likewife a
jelly, which when feparated from the liquor appeared
to be filiceous earth. The clear liquid tailed like vi¬
triolic ammoniac, and Ihot into very fmail cryftals,
which by i'uhHmation yielded firll a volatile alkali, and
then a kind of acid fal ammoniac. By diftillation with
chalk and water, all the volatile alkafi quickly came
over. Time water inllantly threw down a regenerated
fluor, which was the cafe alto with folutions of lime
in the nitrous'and muriatic acids.—Solution of filver
let fall a powder, which, before the blow-pipe, re¬
lumed its metallic form, the acid being diffipated, and
forming a white Ipot on the charcoal round the re¬
duced lilver. Solution of quicklilver in nitrous acid
was precipitated, and the powder was entirely volatile
in the fire ; but a folution of corrofive fublimate re¬
mained unchanged. Lead was- totally precipitated
from nitrous acid ; and a folution of Epfom fait was
rendered turbid. Oil of vitriol produced a fluor acid
by diflillation, which formed at the fame time a thick
cruil on the water of the receiver. The regenerated
fluor procured either by means of lime water or folu¬
tions of the earth in acids, was dtcompoftd by fixed,
but not by volatile alkali.
With lime, magnefia, and earth of alum, this acid
became gelatinous. Part of the two laft were dif-
foLed.
Gold was not touched by the fluor acid either alone
or mixed with that of nitre. Silver, in its metallic
Hate, underwent no change. Its calx, precipitated by
an alkali, was party dilfolved; but the remainder
formed an infoluble mafs at the bottom.^ Vitriolic
acid expelled the fluor acid in its ufual form. Quick-
ijlver was not diffolved, but its calx precipitated from
the nitrous folution was partially fo. The remaining
infoluble part of the calx united with the acid, and
formed a white powder, from which the fluor acid was
expelled by the vitriolic. The fame powrder formed,
by means of the blow-pipe, a yellowifh glafs ; which,
however, evaporated by degrees, leaving a fmail glo¬
bule of fix^d glafs behind. Lead was not diffolved, Fluor Add
but the acid formed a fweet folution with its calx;
from whence the latter could be precipitated by the tions
acids of vitriol, and fea-falt, as alfo by fal ammoniac.  v --.l
On dfgefting a quantity of acid with calx of lead,
which had been previoufly digetted in the fame, a
fpontaneous precipitation took place. The precipi¬
tate melted eafily before the blow-pipe, and ran into
metal; but part of the glafs remained fixed in the fire.
Copper was partially diffolved, as appeared by the
blue colour affumed by the liquid on the addition of
volatile alkali. The calx of copper was eafily foluble ;
and the liquor, though gelatinous, yielded blue cryllals,
partly of a cubic and partly of an oblong form, from
which the acid could not be feparaied but by heat.
Iron was violently attacked, and gave out inflammable
vapours during the folution. The liquor refufed to
cryftallize; but, by evaporation, congealed into aa
hard mafs after the moifture was diffipated ; and from
this mafs the fluor acid might be expelled as ufual by
oil of vittiol. The fame effed was alfo produced by
heat alone; the acid rifing in vapours, and leaving a
red ochre behind. Calx of iron was alfo diffolved, and
the folution tatted like alum ; but it could not be ie~
duced-to cryftals. Tin, bifmuth, and regulus of co¬
balt, were not attacked in their metallic Hate; but the
calces of all of them were foluble, Regulus of anti¬
mony and powdered antimony were not fenlibly afted
upon. Zinc produced the fame effefts as iron, ex¬
cepting that the folution feemed more inclined to cry-
ftallize.
The moil remarkable property of this acid, however,
is its readily diffolving glafs, and carrying it off in theroded by
form of vapour. This Angular property belongs not ffh acid, as
only to the pure acid, but allb to the arrunoniacal fait
formed by combining it with the volatile alkali. Mr j,y ;ts cotn.
Wiegleb informs us, that on evaporating to drynefs, in bination
a cup of Mifnia porcelain, a folution of this kind of"’'1*1 Vo^a*
ammoniac, which by its fmell ihowed an excefs of vo- a^a
latile alkali, the glazing of the inlide was entirely cor¬
roded, and the bottom left as rough as a file. During
the evaporation the cup was covered with white paper,
which when dry appeared full of fmail cryilals of an
acid tafte, eafily dittinguilhable by the naked eye.
Thefe, as well as the ammoniacal fait, powerfully at-
tradled the moifture of the air. „
This property of the fluor acid renders it extremely jt ;s very
difficult to be kept. Mr Meyer informs us, that difficult to
having kept fome upwards of a year in a glafs phial, be kept,
it corroded the glafs in many points furrounded with
concentric circles, depofiting a powder which adhered
to the bottom. He is of opinion that golden veffels Q0i(^a V€f_
would be moft proper for keeping this acid, as alfo forfe.s moft
making experiments on the fluor itfelf. A phial co-pq'per for
vered in the infide with wax and oil has been reconi-thl? l ar'
mended for the fame purpofe. po CgJ7
This acid, as well as thofe of vitriol, nitre, and fea- Dr Prieft-
falt, has been exhibited by Dr Pridtley in an aerial l«y’s expe-
form. Having put fome pounded fpar into a phial, riments.on
and ponred oil of vitriol upon it, adopting at the fame ^..
time the ufual apparatus for. obtaining air, he obferved to a kind 0$
that a permanent cloud was formed by the vapour air.
iffuing out from the mouth of the tube, which he at¬
tributed to the attachment of the acid to the aqueous
moifture of the atmofphere. The moment that water
came
oa glafs.
Pra&ice. C H E M I S T R T.
i?al Sedati- came in contact with this air, its furface became opaque
Cond'ina'8 an<^ w^“te ^7 a ft°ny fihn» which retarded the afcent of
tions. the water, till the air infmuating itfelf through the
i , pores and cracks of the cruft, the water neceftarily
rofe as the air diminifhed 5 and breaking the cruft, pre-
fented a new furface to the air, which was immediate¬
ly covered with another cruft. Thus one ftony in-
truftation was formed after another till every particle
of the air was united to the water; and the different
films being collected and dried, formed a white pow¬
dery fubftance, generally a little acid to the tafte ; but
when wafhed in much pufe water, perfedtly infipid.
The property of corroding glafs he found to belong to
the fluor acid air only when hot. From fome other
experiments he concluded, that the fluor acid air was
the fame with what he had formerly obtained from vi¬
triolic acid : but the experiments made fince that time
by various chemifts, have now convinced him that it is
2r] an acid of a nature entirely different from all others.
Method of By means of the fluor acid, a new art has been dif-
tngraving covered, viz. that of engraving upon glafs. For this
™ purpofe a looking-glafs plate is to be covered with
melted wax or maftie ; and when the coating becomes
hard, it is to be engraved upon by a very fharp-pointed
needle or other inftrument of that kind. A mixture
of oil of vitriol and fluor acid are then to be put upon
the plate, and the whole covered with an inverted
China veffel, to prevent the evaporation of the fluor
acid. In two days the glafs plate may be cleared of its
coating, when all the traces of the -needle will be found
upon it.
§ 5. Of the Sal Srdativus, or Acid of Borax.
8t8
Found in a This is a faline fubftance of a very Angular nature,
mineral in and till lately found no where but in borax itfelf. Its
Germany, or5gjn Jn different parts of the world is related under
- c‘ the article Borax ; but fmce that article was printed,
we have accounts of its being difcovered in a mineral
of a peculiar kind found at Lunenburg near Hartz.
This is frequently tranfparent, but fometimes alfo a
little opaque, and ftrikes fire flightly with fteeh It
has hitherto been found only in fmall cryftals inve-
loped in a gypfeous matter. Th efe generally affect
the cubical form, though they are fometimes irregular,
and from ,the truncatures frequently appear to be of dif¬
ferent kinds. One of them had fourteen faces, fix
fraall fquare planes, and eight hexahedral though all
thefe are modifications of cubes. Mr Weftrumb ana-
lized it with fome difficulty; but at laft found that
loo parts of the mineral contained 60 of fedative fak,
* ten of magnefia, and ten of calcareous earth ; of elay
■ and flint five parts, fometimes ten of iron, though fre¬
quently but five. The fame acid has alfo been dif¬
covered in Pern, and a little in Hungary from an ana-
lyfis of petroleum. This bitumen arifes from a rock,
between PeCklenicza and Mofeowina. It feems at firft
to be white, but foon grows black by expofure to the
air.. It was analyfed by profeflbr Winterl, who found
It to contain a tranfparent oil in a butyraceous form,
and a true fedativc fait, united with the oil by means
■of an excefs of phlogifton. The fedative fait was firft
difcovered by Bechr, and afterwards more' accurately
defcribed by Homberg; but its nature was at firft very
much mifunderftood, being named the narcotic fait of
491
'vitriol, on account of the vitriolic acid ufed in fepara- s»! Sedati-
ting it from the borax. From this it is feparable 7,UR ”n<! lt5
either by fublimation or cryftallization. The method ina'
by fublimation is that recommended by Homberg. —v— ,t
His procefs confifts in mixing green vitriol with borax, 2d 8;8
diffolving them in water, filtering the folution, and How pre¬
evaporating till a pellicle appears : the liquor is then Pa! e<i £rom
to be put into a fmaft glafs alembic, and the fublima- orax:'
tion promoted till only a dry matter remains in the
cucurbit. During this operation, the liquor, paffes
into the receiver ; but the internal furface of the capi¬
tal is covered with a faline matter forming very final],
thin, laminated cryftals, very flrining, and very light.
This is the fedative fait. The capital is then to lie
unluted, and the adheringJalt fwept off with a feather j
the part of the liquor which paffed laft into the re¬
ceiver, is to be poured on the dry matter in the cir-
curbit; and a new fublimation is to be promoted a*
before, by diftilling till the matter in the cucurbit is
dry. Thefe operations are to be frequently repeated
in the fame manner, till no more fedative fait can be
obtained.
To obtain the fedative fait by cryftallization, borax
is to be diffolved in hot water; and to this folution any
one of the three mineral acids is to be gradually added,
by a little at a time, till the liquor be faturated, and
even have an excefs of acid, according to Mr Beaumc’s
procefs. The liquor is then to be left in a cold place;
and a great number of fmall, flrining, laminated cry¬
ftals will be formed: thefe muft be waffled with a
little very cold water, and drained upon brown paper.
The fedative fait obtained by this procefs is fomewhat
denfer than that obtained by fublimation ; the latter
being fo light that 7 a grains are fufiieient to fill a
large phial.
Sedative fait, though thus capable of being once Fixed in
fublimed, is not, however, volatile ; for it arifes only the ^e.
by means of the water of its cryftallization; and when
it has once loft its water by drying, it cannot be rai-
fed into vapours by the moft violent fire, but remains
fixed, and melts into a vitreous matter like borax it¬
felf. This glafs is foluble in water, and then becomes
fedative fait again. A great quantity of water is re¬
quired to diffolve the fedative fait, and much more of
cold than of boiling water ; whence it is Cryllallizable
by cold, as it alfo is by evaporation; a Angular proper¬
ty, which fearce belongs to any other known fait. <^0
This fubftance has not an acid, but a fomewhat Ifs propcr-
bitterifti, tafte, accompanied with a flight impreffion ofrit*.
coolnefs. It neverthelefs unites with alkaline falts as
acids do, and forms with them neutral falts. It is fa¬
llible in fpirit of wine, to which it communicates’ the
property of burning with a green flame. It makes no
change on the blue colour of vegetables, as other acids
do. It expels the other acids from their bales, when
difrilled with a ftrong heat; though thefe are all ca¬
pable of expelling it in the cold, the add of vinegar
not excepted. .
The compofition of fedative fait is very much un- Mr Bour* ;
known, as no means fiifficient for its decompoiition cieli.n’s ‘
have hitherto been found out. Mr Bourdelin, who !1''r'rr,pr
made many experiments on this fait, found that it was
unalterable by treatment with inflammable matters,
with fulphur, with mineral acids difengaged, or united
with metallic fubftances, and with fpirit of wine. He
3 C^2 could
penments.
492 C H E M I
Sal Sedati- could only perceive feme nyarks of an inflammable mat-
C(rn^)ina*tStei"’ an<^ a mar>ne acid. The former difeovered
liens. " itfelf by its communicating a fulphureous fmell to the
w-—y—vitriolic acid employed; and the latter by a white
precipitate formed in a folution of mercury in the ni¬
trous acid, by the liquor which came over on diftilling
the fait with powdered charcoal. '
Mr Cadet’s Mr Cadet, in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy
experi- 0f Sciences for 1766, has given an account of fome -
agents. experiments made by him on borax and its acid: from
which he infers (1), That the acid contained in borax
itfelf is the marine, and not fedative, fait. (2.) That
it is the marine, he proves by having made a corrofive
fublimate with this acid andi merettrius precipitatus per
fe. That fedative fait does not enter the compoiition
of borax itfelf, he proves, by the impoffibility of recom-.
pofing borax from uniting the fedative fait with foflile
alkali. The fait fo produced, he owns, is very' like bo¬
rax, but unfit for the purpofes of foldering metals as
borax is. He therefore thinks, that, in the decompo-
fition of borax, the principles of the fait are fome what
changed, by the addition of that acid which extricates
the fedative fait; and that this fait is compofed of the
marine acid originally exilling in the borax, of the vi¬
triolic add employed in the operation, and of a vitref-
cible earth. (If this is true, then fedative fait either
cannot be piocured by any other acid than the vitrio¬
lic, or it muft have different properties according to the
acid which procures it. ) The vitrefcible earth, he fays,
. is that which feparates from borax during its folution
in water, and which abounds more in the unrefined than
refindd borax, and which he thinks confifts of a calx of
copper, having obtained a regulus of copper from it.
As he has never been able, however, to Compofe borax
by the union of thefe ingredients, his experiments are
by no means dccifive. Mr Beaume has aflerted that
it is always produced by rancid oils; but Dr Black
thinks his proofs by no means fatisfadlory.
Sedative Salt combined,
I. With Vegetable Alkali. This fait forms a com¬
pound very much refembling borax itfelf in quality;
but: in what refpefts it differs from, or how far it is ap¬
plicable to, the purpofes of borax, hath not yet been
determined.
Borax II* With Mineral Alkali. -This fait has generally been
orax. tforngH to recompofe borax: and though Mr Cadet
has denied this, yet as his experiments are hitherto im-
perfedt and unfupported, we fliall here give the hiltory
of that fait, as far as k is yet known.
1 This fait is prepared in the Eaft Indies. It is faid,
that from certain hills in thefe countries there runs a
green faline liquor, which is received in pits lined
with clay, and fuffered to evaporate with the fun’s
heat; that a bluilh mud which the liquor brings aleng
with it is’frequently ftirred tip, and a bituminous mat¬
ter, which floats upon the furfaee, 'taken off; that
when the whole is reduced to a thick confiftence,
fome melted fat is mixed, the matter covered with
vegetable fubltances and a thin coat of clay ; and that
when the fait has cryftallized, it is feparated from the
earth by a fieve. In the fame countries is found na¬
tive the mineral alkali in confiderable quantity ; fome-
times tolerably pure, at other times blended with he-
S T R Y. Pra&icei
terogeneous matters'of various kinds. This alkali ap- Sal Sedati-
pears to exift in borax, as a Glauber’s fait may be form-V!ls a‘1.c*lts'
ed from a combination of borax with vitriolic acid. ,na*
I’qpr a further account See Borax. .
Borax, when imported from the Eaft Indies, con¬
fifts of fmall, yellow,- and glutinous cryftals. It is re- 864
fined, fome fay, by diffolving it in lime-water ; others, Refined,
in alkaline lixivia, or in a lixivium of cauftic alkali,;
and by others, in alum-water. Refined borax, confifts
of large eight-4ided cryftals, each of which is compo¬
fed of fmall, foft, and bitterifh feales. It has been
faid that cryftals of this fize can by no means be ob¬
tained by diffolving unrefined borax in common water;
that the cryftals obtained in this way are extremely
fmall, and differ confiderably from- the refined borax
of the,fhops; infomuch that Cramer calls the large
cryftals, not a purified, but an adulterated borax.
When diffolved in lime-water, the borax fhoots into
larger cryftals ; and largeft of all, when the veflel is
covered, and a gentle warmth continued during the
cryftallization. All this, however, is denied by Dr
Black ; who fays, that in order to accomplifli the pu¬
rification, we have only to diffolve the impure borax
in hot water; to feparate the impurities bj filtration,
after which the fait flioots into the cryftals we com¬
monly fee. During the diffolution, borax-appears glu¬
tinous, and adheres in part to the bottom of the vef-
fel. From this glutinous quality, peculrar to borax
among the falts, it is' ufed by dyers for giving a glofs
to filks. 86j
All acids diffolve borax flowly, and without effer-Its proper#
vefcence. It precipitates from them moft, but not all,tie**
metallic fubftances ; along with which a coniiderable
part of the borax is generally depofited. It does not
abforb the marine acid of luna cornea, or of mercury
fublimate- It melts upon the furface of the former
without uniting, and fuffers the latter to rife unchanged :,
the borax in both cafes becomes coloured; in the firit,
milky -with red ftreaks ; in the latter, amethyft or
purple. Mixed with fal ammoniac, it extricates the
volatile alkali, and retains the acid; but mixed with
a combination of the marine acid with calcareous earths,
it unites with the earth, and extricates the acid. It
extricates the acid of nitre without • feeming to unite
with the alkaline bafts of that fait; nor does it mingle
in fufion with the common fixed alkaline falts, the
borax flowing diftinft upon their furface.. A mixture
of borax with, twice its .weight of tartar, diffolves in.
one iixth of the quantity of water that would be ne-
ceffary to diffolve them feparately : the liquor yields,
on infpiffation, a vifeous, tenacious mafs like glue;,
which refufes to cjyftallize, and which deliquates in
the air. Borax aftords likewife a glutinous compound,
with the other acids, except the vitriolic; whence
this laft is generally preferred for making the feda¬
tive fait. It proves moft glutinous with the vegetable,
and leaft with the marine. With oils, both expref-
fed and diftilled, it forms a milky/ femi-faponaceous -
compound. It partially diffolves in fpirit of wine.
In conjundlion with any acid, it tinges the flame of
burning matters green ; the precipitate thrown down .
by it from metallic folutions has this effect. It does
not deflagrate with- nitre. Fufed with inflammable
matters, it yields nothing fulphureous, as thofe'falts dp
which
Practice.
C H E M
Acetous A- which contain vitriolic, acid. By repeatedly moiften-
c'rnbfna'8 ^ w^en confiderably heated, it may be entirely
tions.1 " Sublimed.
> -1 —- Borax retains a good quantity of water in its cryftals;
by which it melts and fwells up in a heat infufficient
to vitrify it. It is then fpongy and light,' like calci¬
ned alum; but, on increafing the fire, it hows like wa¬
ter.
§ 6. Of the Acetous Acid and its Combinations.
How*pro- This acid is plentifully obtained from all vinous li-
eured, quors, by a fermentation of a particular kind, (lee
Fermentation, and Vinegar.) It appears hr ft in
the form of an acid liquor, more or lefs deeply co¬
loured, as the vinegar is more or lefs pure. By di-
ftillation in a common copper-flill, with a pewter head
and worm, this acid may be Separated from many of
its oily' and impure parts. Diftilled vinegar is a purer
but not a flronger acid than the vinegar itfelf; for
the acid is originally lefs volatile than water, though,
by certain operations, it becomes more fo. After vi¬
negar has been diftilled to about f~6 of its original bulk,
it is ftill very Hcid, but thick and black. This matter
continues to yield, by diftillation, a ftrong acid fpirit,
but tainted with an empyreumatic oil. If the diltil-
lation is continued, a thick black oil continues to come
over ; and at laft fome volatile alkali, as in the din il¬
lation of animal fubltances. The caput mortuum left
<. in the diftilling veffel, being calcined in an open fire,
and afterwards lixiviated, yields fome fixed alkaline
fait.
Acetous Acid combine©,
g.6£
Sal diureti- T bVkh V'igetahle Alkali. The produce qf this combi-
css. nation is the terra foliata tartarf or fal diureticus of
the {hops ; but to prepare this fait of.a fine white flaky
appearance, which is neceffary for fale, is a matter of
fome difficulty. The beft method of performing this
operation .is,, after having faturated the alkali with the
vinegar, which requires about 15 parts of common di-
ftilled vinegar to one of alkali, to evaporate the liquor to
drynefs; then melt the faline mafs which remains with
a gentle heat; after which it is to be diffolved in wa¬
ter, then filtered, and again evaporated to drymefs. If
it is now diflblved in fpirit of wine, and the liquid ab-
ftradted by diftillation, the remaining mafs being melted
a fecond time, will, on cooling, have the flaky appear¬
ance defined. • -
A good deal of caution is neceffary in the firft melt¬
ing ; for the acetous acid iseaiily djffipable, even when
combined with fixed alkali, by fire. It is proper,
therefore, that, when the fait is melted, a little fhould
be occafionally taken out, and put into water; and,
when it readily parts with its biacknefs to tlie water,
muff then be removed frem the fire. The. fait, when
made, has a very itrong attraction for water, infomuch
- that it is not eafiiy preferved, even when put into glafs
«► bottles. To keep it from deliquating* Dr Black,
therefore, recommends the corks to be covered with
fome bituminous matter ; otherwife, they' would tranf-
jw, mit moiiture enough to make the fait deliquate. . .
Acetoris a-' H. With Foffde Alkali. This alkali, combined with
cid with the acetous acid, forms a fait whofe properties are not
foffik aika- vvell known.. Dr Lewis affirms, that it is nearly fimilar.
I S T R Y. 49.3
to the terra foliata tartari. The author of the Chemical -Vet us A.
Di&ionary, again, maintains it tq be quite different:
particularly that it cryftallizes well, and is not delique-t|oris_
feent in the air 5 whereas the former cannot be cry- ——y—j
ftallized; and even when obtained in a dry form, un-
lefs great care is taken to exclude the air, will prefent-
ly' deliquate. 870
III. With Volatile Alkali. This combination produces Vegetable
a fait fo exceedingly deliquefeent, that it cannot be pro-ailuu'-,Iuac*
cured in a dry form without the. greate'ft difficulty. In
a liquid Hate, it is well known in medicine, as a fudo-
rific, by the name of fpirit us minclereri. It may, how¬
ever, he procured in a dry form, by mixing equal parts
of Vitriolic fal ammoniac and terra foliata tartari, and
fubliming the mixture with a very gentle heat. When
the fait is once procured, the utnioil care is requifite to
preferve it from the air. 87/
IV. With Earths. Combinations of this kind are but ^omalQiis
little known. With the calcareous and argillaceous b‘
earths compounds of an aftringent nature aie formed..
According to the author of the Chemical Dictionary,
the fait refliltiitg from a combination of vinegar with
calcareous earth eafiiy cryftallizes, and does not deli¬
quate. With magneiia the-acetous acid does not ery'-
itallize ; but, when infpiffated, forms a tough mafs, of
which two drachms, or two and a half, are a brifk pur-
gative. _ . 873.
V. With Copper. Upon this metal the acid of vine- p^ftaied
gar does not act brifkly, until it is partly at leaft oalci- verde-
ned. If the copper is previoufly diifolved in . a mineral V13,
acid, and l)hen precipitated, the calx will be readily dif-
lolved 'by the acetous acid. The folution is of a green
colour, and beautiful green ctyilals may be obtained
from it. The folution, however, is much more eafiiy
efledted, by employing verdegris, which is copper al¬
ready united with a kind of acetous or tartarecus acid,
and veryr readily diflblv.es in vinegar. The cryftals ob¬
tained by this procefs are ufed in painting, under the
name of dijlilkd verdegris.
The moft ready, and in all probability the cheapeft,
method of preparing the cryftals of verdegris is that
propofed by Mr Wenzel, by mixing together the fo-
lutions of fugar of lead and blue vitriol, when an ex¬
change of bales takes place ; the lead being inftantly
precipitated by the vitriolic acid, and the acetous acid
uniting with the copper. From 15 ounces and two
drachms of fugar of lead with twelve ounces ot blue
vitriol, five ounces of the cryftals were obtained. The
precipitate of lead, though wafhed feveral times with
water, never loft its green colour. It may either be -
ufed, he fays, in this ftate, as a green pigment, or it
may be nlade pcrfedftly white by digeftion in dilute ni¬
trous acid. 8»
VI. With Iron. Vinegar atfts very readily upon irori,jron
and diiTolves it into a very brown and almoft black ii- for printing
quor, which does not eafiiy cryftallize, but, if infpif-cloth.
fated, runs per deliquium. This liquor is employed
in the printing of linens, callicoes, &c. being found
to ftrike a finer black with madder, and to injure
the cloth lefs, than Solutions of iron'in the other acids.
VII. With Lead. The acetous acid dilfolves lead in T[/A
its metallic ftate very fparingly; but if the metal is
calcined, it a£ts upon it very ftrongly. Even after lead
is melted into glafs, the acetous acid will receive a ^
ftrong impregnation from it; and hence it is dangerous-
494 C H E M I
Acetous A-to put vinegar into fuch earthen veficls as are glazed
i wjtj1 jcacji jn j-]-^ metallic Hate, only a drachm of
lead can be difTolved in eight ounces of diftilled vine-
jgar.
If lead is expofed to the vapours of warm vinegar,
it is corroded into a kind of calx, which is ufed in
great quantities in painting, and is known by the name
of cerufs, or 'white lead. The preparation of this pig¬
ment has become a diftind! trade, and is practifed in
fome places of this kingdom where lead is procurable
at the loweft price. The procefs for making cerufs
is thus given by the author of the' Chemical Dictio¬
nary.
“To make cerufs, leaden plates rolled fpirally, fo^
. that the fpace of an inch (hall be left between each
circumvolution, rnuft be placed vertically in earthen
pots of a proper fize, containing fome good vinegar.
Thefe leaden rolls ought to be fo iupported in the pots
that they do not touch the vinegar, but that the acid
vapour may' circulate freely betwixt the circumvolu¬
tions. The pots are to be covered, and placed in a
bed of dung, or in a fand-bath, by which a gentle heat
may be applied. The acid of vinegar being thus redu¬
ced into vapour, eafily attaches itfelf to the furface of
thefe plates, penetrates them, and is impregnated with
the metal, which it reduces to a beautiful white pow¬
der, called cerufs. When a fufficient quantity of it
is colledted on the plates, the rolls are taken out of the
pots, and unfolded; the cerufs is then taken off, and
they are again rolled up, that the operation may be
repeated.
“ In this operation, the acid being overcharged with
lead, this metal is not properly in a faline Hate ;
lienee cerufs is not in cryftals, nor is foluble in water :
but a faline property would render it unfit for painting,
3,6 in which it is chiefly employed.”
Obfervi- Though this procefs may in general be juft, yet
tionson the there are certainly fome particulars necefiary to make
procefs for cerufs of
a proper colour, which this author has omit-
^ * ted; for though We have carefully treated thin plates
of lead in the manner he directs, yet the calx always
turned out of a dirty grey colour. It is probable,
therefore, that after the lead has been corroded by
the fteam of vinegar, it may be walhed with water
flightly impregnated with the vitriolic and nitrous
acids.
This preparation is the only white hitherto found fit
for painting in oil: but the difeovery of another would
be very deferable, not only from the faults of cerufs as
a paint, but affo from its injuring the health of perfons
employed in its manufacture, by affedting them with a
fevere colic; which lead, and all its preparations, fre-
quently occafion.
Sugar of If diftilled vinegar is poured on white lead, it will
lead. diflolve it in much greater quantity than either the lead
in its metallic form, or any of its calces. This folution
filtered and evaporated, fhoots into fmall cryftals of an
auftere fweetifh tafte, called fvgar of lead. Thefe are
ufed in dyeing, and externally in medicines. They
have been even given internally for fpitting of blood.
This they will very certainly cure ; but at the fame
time they as certainly kill the patient by bringing on
other difeafes. If thefe cryftals are repeatedly diifolved
in frelh acids, and the folutions evaporated, an oily
S T R Y. Practice,
kind of fubftance will at lall be obtained, which can Acetous A-
fcarcely be drkd. Its
From all the metallic combinations of the acetous ina"
acid, it may be recovered in an exceedingly concen-  ,, j
trated form, by fimple diftillation, fugar of lead only 878
excepted. If this fubftance is diftilled in a retort with
a ftrong heat, it hath been faid that an inflammable from'fugar
fpirit, and not an acid, comes over; but this is denied(lf lead,
by Dr Black. g79
VIII. With Tin. The combination of acetous acid
with tin is fo little known, that many have doubted whe¬
ther diftilled vinegar is capable of dilfolving tin or not.
Dr Lewis obferves, “ That plates of pure tin put into j>r x^ewb’s
common vinegar begun in a few hours to be corroded, experi-
without the application of heat. By degrees a por- mf"5s con"
tion of the metal was taken up by the acid, but did ^
not feem to he perfe&ly diflblved, the liquor appear- t;ni ’ *
ing quite opaque and turbid, and depofiting great part
of the corroded tin to the bottom, in a whitiih powder.
A part of the tin, if not truly diflblved, is exquifitely
divided in the liquor: for, after ftanding many days,
and after palling through a filter, fo much remained
fufpended as to give a whitilhnefs and%opacity to the
fluid. Acid juices of fruits, fubftituted to the vinegar,
exhibited the fame phenomena. Thefe experiments
are not fully conclufive for the real folubility of tin in
thefe acids, with regard to the purpofes for which
chemifts have wanted fuch a folution : but they prove
what is more important ; that tin, or tinned veffels,
however pure the tin be, will give a metallic impreg¬
nation to light vegetable acids luffered to Hand in them
for a few hours.”
With regard to other metallic fubftances, neither the
degree of attra&ion which the acetous acid has for
them, nor the nature of the compounds formed by the
union of it with fuch fubftances, arc known ; only, that
as much of the reguline part of antimony is diflblved
in this acid as to give it a violent emetic quality. See
Regulus of Antimony.
Concentration of the Acetous Acid.
88r
Common vinegar, as any other weak acid, may be Concentr**-
advantageoufly concentrated by froft ; as alfo may its ted vine-
fpirit or the diftilled vinegar of the fhops : but as the Sar‘
cold, in this country, is feldom or never fo intente as
to ft eeze vinegar, this method of concentration cannot
be made ufe of here. If diftilled vinegar be fet in a
water-bath, the moft aqueous part will arife, and leave
the more concentrated acid behind. This method>
however, is tedious, and no great degree of concentra¬
tion can be produced, even when the operation is car¬
ried to its utmoft length. A much more concentra¬
ted acid may be obtained by diftiliing in a retort the
cryftals of copper, mentioned (n° 872.) under the
name of di/filled verdegris. A very ftrong acid may
thus be obtained, which has a very pungent fmell,
almoft as fuftbeating as volatile fulphureous acid.
The Count de Lauragtiais dilcovered that this (pi-
rit, if heated in a wide-mouthed pan, would take '
fire on the contadf of flaming fubftances, and burn en¬
tirely away, like fpirit of wine, without any reliduum.
The fame nobleman alfo obferved, that this fpirit, 88i
when well concentrated, eafily ervftallizes without ad- Salt of vk
dition. ' neS“*
This
5
Fra&tce. C H E M
Acetous -V This may feem to be the mod proper method of ob-
cid and its taining the acetous acid in its greateft degree of (trength
ina’ and purity : but as the procefs requires a very ftrong
■ , - t heat to be ufed towards the end of the operation, it is
probable that part of the acetous acid may be by that
means entirely decompofed. It would feem preferable,
therefore, to decompofe pure terra foliata ta'rtari by
means of the vitriolic acid, in the fame manner as nitre
or fea-falt are decompofed for obtaining their acids.
In this cafe, indeed, the acetous acid might he a little
mixed with the vitriolic; but that could eafily be fe-
parated by a fecond difHllatxon. A ftill better me¬
thod of preparing this acid feems to be by diftilling
fugar of lead with oil of vitriol. Tire proportion ufed
by M. Lorenzen of Copenhagen, is three ounces of
vitriolic acid to eight of the fugar of lead. Mr Doll-
fufs recommends two parts of fugar of lead to one of
vitriolic acid.
Dr Pneft- who gives us feveral experiments on
ley’s expe- the vegetable acid when reduced to the form of air,
riments. mentions his being eafily able to expel it from fome
exceedingly ftrong concentrated vinegar, by means of
heat alone. This feems fomewhat contrary to the
count de Lauragnais’s obfervation of the difpofttion of
the fpirit of verdegris, as it is commonly called, to
cryftallize ; but a ftill greater difference is, that the
vegetable acid air extinguished a candle, when, accord¬
ing to the Counts obfervation, it otight to have been
inflammable. The moft curious property ebferved by
Dr Prieflley is, that the vegetable acid air being im¬
bibed by oil olive, the oil was rendered lefs vifeid, and
clearer, almojl like an ejfentlul oil. This is ar> ufeful
hint 5 and, if purfued, might lead to important difco-
Ve etable The only method yet known, of combining acetous
ether. acid with the principle of inflammability, is by mix¬
ing together equal parts of the ftrongly concentra¬
ted acid called fpirit of 'verdegris, and fpirit of wine.
The refuk is, a new kind of etlxr, fimilar to the vitri¬
olic, nitrous, and marine. This ether, however, re¬
tains fome of the acidity and peculiar fmell of the
* vinegar. By re&ification with fixed alkali, it may
fee freed from this acidity, and then fmells more like
true ether, but ftill retaining fomething of the fmell,
not of the acid, but the inflammable part of the vine¬
gar.
In this procefs a greater quantity of ether is obtain¬
ed than by employing the vitriolic acid ;, which ihows
that the vegetable acid is eiTentiaUy fitter to produce
ether than the vitriolic. For making the acetous ether
readily, Mr Dollfufs recommends eight ounces of fugar
of lead dried by a very gentle heat, until it lofcs the
water of cryfiallization, when it will weigh five ounces-
and fix drachms. It is then to be put into a glafs re¬
tort, and a ipixture of five ounces of vitriolic acid,
with eight of fpirit of wine, poured upon it, and the
whole diftilled with a very gentle fire. The firft ounce
that paffes over will be dulcified acetous acid, the next
aim oft all ether,, and the third ether in its pureft
ftate.
An ether may alfo be obtained from vinegar of
wood. To make it, the moft concentrated acid of this
kind is to be made ufe of. For this purpofe aii em-
Acetous acid combined with Inflammable Matter.
I S T R Y. 495
pyreumatic acid mull firil be diftilled from beech-wood, fdA of
and then re&ified by a fecond diftillation. Three
pounds, of this require for their faturation live ouncesnatj(,ris
of purified alkali, which by evaporation and fufion af- c—
fords three ounces and a quarter of terra foliata tartari.
From this, one ounce fix drachms of concentrated a-
cid are obtained; and this, on being mixed with an
equal quantity of alcohol, yields two ounces one
drachm and a half of genuine ether.
§7. Of the Acid of Tartar.
Tartar is a fub(lance thrown off from wine, after Tartan
it is put into cafks to depurate. The more tartar that
is feparated, the more fmooth and palatable the wine
is. This fubftance forms a thick bard cruft on the
fides of the cades: and, as part of the fine dregs of
the wine adhere to it, the tartar of the white wines
is of a greyifh white colour, .called white tartar; and
that of Ted wine has a red colour, and is called red
tartar. ... 886
When feparated from the cades on which it is form- Cream
ed, tartar is mixed with much heterogeneous matter ;tartar*
from which, for the purpofes of medicine and che-
miftry, it requires to be purified. This purification
is performed at Montpelier ; and confifts firft in boiling
the tartar in water, filtrating the folution, and allow¬
ing the fait to cryftailize, which it very foon does ; as-
tartar requires nearly twenty times its weight of water
to diffolve it.
The cryftala of tartar obtained by this operation,
are far from being perfe£Uy pure ; and therefore they1
are again boiled in water, with an’ addition of clay,
which abforbs the colouring matter ; and thus, on a
fecond cryftallizatiou, a very pure and white fait is ob¬
tained. Thefe cryftals are called cream, or cryflak,
of tartar; and are commonly fold under thd'e
names.
Dr Black obferves, that in the purification of tartar,,
it is neceffary to add fome earthy fubitances,in order to
abfiorb or carry down the colour. Macquer thinks that
thefe fubftances unite in part with the tartar, and render
it more foluble, but they have littk-difpofkion to unite
with acids ; they are the purer kinds of clay, and pro¬
mote the complete depofition of its impurities: ft>
that in the management of wines it is neceffary to add
certain powdery fubftances which have lome weight,
and fall to the bottom readily ; and which, in falling,
carry down a number of particles that would other-
wife float in the liquor for a long time, being fo light
that they could hardly be made to fubfide ; but the
particles of clay adhering to them increai'e their gravi¬
ty ;. and probably it anfwers the fame purpofe in the
refinement of tartar.
To obtain the pure Acid'of Tartar.
£87
For a long time the cream or cryftals of tartar Schede’a-
were confi-dered as the pureft acid which could be analyth <vf
obtained from this fubftance ; but, in the year 177©, "^™ 05
an analyfis of tartar was publiftied in the Swedifh
tranfa&ions, by Mr Scheele. His method of de-
compoling the fait was, to diffolve it in a fufficient
quantity of boiling water, then to add chalk in fine
powder till the effervefcence ceafed. A copious pre¬
cipitation enfued ; and the remaining liquor being eva¬
porated,,
496
C H E M I
pOrated, afforded, a folublc tartar. This proved, that
scLbbeream tartar *s not’ as was commonly fuppofed, an
ations. ac,c^ a peculiar kind, joined with a great deal of
—v——, earthy impurities ; but really
tainiog an alkali joined with
S TRY. Pradice.
recompofed from the pure acid and alkali in the fol- Acid of
Upon fixed vegetable alkali pour Tartar
^ffential
fait .of le¬
mons.
compound fait, con-
n acid ; and that the
alkali, produced,from burnt tartar is not generated.in
the fire, but pre-exillent in the fait.
The whole fediment obtained in this experiment, is
the calcareous earth combined with the acid of tartar,
■which may juftly be caWcA feknites tartareus. If fome
diluted vitriolic acid is poured upon this felenites tar¬
tareus, the vitriolic acid expels the acid of tartar, form¬
ing a. true felenite with the earth, while the liquor
contains the pure acid of tartar. By infpiffation this
acid may be made ftronger, and even formed into fmall
white cryftals, which do not deliquate in the air. A
particular fpecies of tartar extrafted from forrel hath
been fold for taking fpots out of cloths, under the name
of ejfential fait of lemons, and which is now difcoVered
to be the fame with the acid of fugar.
This experiment was foon after confirmed by Dr
Black ; who farther obferved,"that if quicklime was ufed
inftead of chalk, the whole acid would be abforbed by
.the lime, and the remaining liquor, inftead of being a
folution of foluble tartar, would.be a cauflic lixivium.
The moft ready method, however, of procuring the pure
acid of tartar feems to be that recommended by Mr
Schiller in the.Chemical Annals for 1787. One pound
of cream of tartar is to be boiled in five or fix pounds
of water, and a quarter of a pound of oil of vitriol
added by little and little, by which means a perfeft
folution will be obtained. . By continuing, the boiling,
all the vitriolated tartar is precipitated. When the li¬
quor is evaporated 10 one half, it muftbe filtered ; and
if, on the renewal of the boiling, anf thing farther is
precipitated, the filtration is to be repeated. The
clear liquor is then to be reduced to the confiftenCe
of a fyrup, and fet in a temperate, or rather a warm
place, when very fine cryftals will be formed, and as
much acid obtained as is Squal in weight to half the
cream of tartar employed. If too fmall a quantity of
vitriolic acid has been employed, the undecompofed
cream of tartar falls along with tlje vitrislated tartar.
Acid of Tartar combined,
889 • . .
Soluble tar- I. With Vegetable Alkali. If the pure acid of tartar
tar. be combined with this alkali to the point of faturation,
a neutral fait is produced, which deliquates in the air,
and is not eafily cryflallized, unlefs the liquor be kept
warm, and likewife be fomewhat alkaline. This fait,
called foluble tartar, is ufed in medicine as a purgative;
but as its dcliquefcence does not admit of its being
kept in a cryftalline form, it is always fold in powder.
Hence thofe who prepare foluble tartar, take no fur¬
ther trpuble than merely to rub one part of fixed alka¬
line fait with three of cream of tartar, which renders
the compound fufficiently neutral, and anfwers all the
purpofes of medicine. Dr Black informs us, that in
medical prefcriptions, where folubje tartar is ordered
as a purgative along with a decoftion of tamarinds,
the acid of the latter will decompofe the foluble tartar,
and thus the prefcription may perhaps be rendered in-
effe&ual. The faline mixture ufsJ in fevers is nothing
.but a tartarus folubilis in folution.
According to Mr Scheele, cream of tartar may be
N°..73-
lowing manner:
a folution of the acid of tartar.
Continue this till the n
effervefcCnce is over ; the fluid will then he tranfpa-
rent; but if more of the acid is added, it will become 890
turbid and white, and fmall cryftals like white fand Regenera-
will be formed in it. Thefe cryftals are a perfeft cream tend creani
of tartar. _ - oftartar*
Upon thefe principles, another method of decompo-
fing cream of tartar might be tried ; namely, adding
to it as much oil of vitriol as would faturate the alkali,
then diffolving and cryftallizirig the fait: but, by this
method, there would be danger of the acid being adul¬
terated with vitriolated tartar. g r
II. With Fojplc Alkali. The fait produced from an Seignette’s
union of cream of tartar with foffile alkali, has been or Rochelle
long known under the names of Seignette’s fait, fal Ru- ^a't‘
pelleifis, or Rochelle fait; but as the cream of tartar is
now difcovered to be not a pure acid, but adulterated
with a portion of foluble tartar,, pofiibly fome differen¬
ces might be obfprved if the pure acid was ufed..
Tliis fait Was firft invented and brought into vogue
by one Seignette, an apothecary at Rochelle, who kept
the compofition a fecret as long as he could. Meffrs
Boylduc and Geoffrey afterwards difcovered and pub-
liflied its compofition.
To prepare this fait, cryftals of mineral alkali are
to be diffolved in hot water, and powdered cream of
tartar thrown in as long as any effervefcence arifes.
For the better cryltallization of the fait, the alkali
ought to prevail. The liquor muft then be filtered
and evaporated, and'very fine large cryftals maybe
obtained by cold, each of which is the half of a poly-
go'nous prifm cut in the diredlion of its axis. This
feftion, which forms a face much larger than the reft,
is, like them, a regular rectangle, diftinguifhable from
the others, not only by its breadth, but alfo by two
diftinCt diagonal lines which interfedt each other in the
middle. The following method of preparing Seig¬
nette’s fait, recommended by Mr Scheele, feems pre-'
ferable to any other on account of its eafe and cheap-
nefs. Thirty fix ounces of cryftals. of tartar are to be
faturated with potafh, and eleven ounces of common
fait diffolved in the ley. When it is grown cold, and •
the vitriolated tartar lias fubfided to the bottom, it is
filtered and evaporated "till a pellicle appears; the two
firft cryftallizations yield a fine Seignette’s fait; the
third contains fome digeftive fait; and the fourth is
entirely compofed of it. The reafon of this formation
of Seignette’s fait is, that the vegetable alkali has a
greater attraction for acids than the mineral, and there¬
fore decompofes the fea-falt, whofe bafis is then at li¬
berty to combine withvthe acid of tartar; while the
ftrohger marine acid takes the vegetable alkali.,—-A
felt of the feme kind will be produced by adding Glau¬
ber’s felt inftead of common lea-felt. g9a
III. With Volatile, Akali. With regard to this com-.Cream of
bination, all we know as yet is, that if the alkali is tartar,
over-feturated with acid, a cream of tartar, almoft as
difficult of folution as that of fixed alkali, will be ob¬
tained. When the faturation has been pretty exaft, a
-beautiful felt, compofed of four lided pyramids,. and
which does not deliquate in the air, is produced.' It
is inftantly decompounded, and emits a pungent vola¬
tile fmell on being mixed with fixed alkali.
6
IV.
Pra&ice. C H E M
Acid of IV. IVith Earths,' All that is as yet known con-
Tartar and cern;ng thefe combinations, is, that with the calcareous
nations! l" eart^ a compound not eafily foluble in water is form*
» , - -v -- ■ ed. The other properties of this fubilance, and the
893 nature of combinations of tartareous acid with other
Selenites earths, are entirely unknown.
tartareous. y. Copper. In its me'tallic date, Cream of tar*
Afinegreentar ai^:s ^ut weakly on this metal,- but diffolves ver-
coloim degris much more perfectly than diililled vinegar can.
The folution with cream of tartar, being evaporated,
does.not cryffallize, but runs into a gummy kind of
matter; which, however, does not attract themoiflure
of the air. It readily diffolves in water, and makes
a beautiful bluilh green on paper, which has the pro¬
perty of always Ihining, as if covered with varnilh.
The effects of the pure acid on this metal have not yet
895 been tried.
ed^artar1" ^rm‘ The effefts of a combination of
e tartar. wJtli the pure acid have not hitherto been tried.
Cream of tartar diffolves this metal into a green liquor,
which being evaporated runs per deitquium. It has been
attempted to fubftitute a folution of this kind to the
liquor ufed in printing calicoes formed of iron and four
beer ; but this gave a very dull brownilh colour with
madder. Poffib’y, if the pure acid was ufed, the co¬
lour might be improved. In medicine, a combination
of cream of tartar with iron is ufed, and probably may
be an ufeful chalybeate.
VIL With Regulus of Antimony, See Seel. III.
986
§ 8. Of the Acid of Sugar.
Saccharine That fugar contains an acid, which on dillillation
acl by a ftrong fire arifes in a liquid form, in common with
that of molt other vegetable fubftances, has been ge¬
nerally known ; but how to obtain this acid in a con¬
crete form, and to appearance as pure and cryllal-
lizable as the acid of tartar, we were entirely ignorant,
till the appearance of a treatife intitled, Dilfertatio Che¬
mical de acido Sacchari, auctore Johanne Afzelio Arvidf-
fon, qto, Upfcdia.
Of the method of procuring, and the properties of,
this new acid, we have the following account in the
Edinburgh Medical Commentaries, vol.- iv.
“ 1. To an ounce of the fineft white fugar in pow¬
der, in a tubulated retort, add three ounces of ftrong
fpirit of nitre.
“ 2. The folution being finifhed, and the phlogifton
of thg fpirit of nitre moftly exhaled, let a receiver be
properly fitted to the retort and luted, and the liquor
then made to boihgently.
“ 3. When the folution has obtained a brownifh co¬
lour, add three ounces more of fpirit of nitre, and let
the ebullition be continued till the fumes of the acid
897 are almoft gone.
Chryftalsof « ^ The liquor being at length emptied into a /ar-
acid annS Ser Ved'eh mid expofed to a proper degree of cold, qua¬
drangular prifmatic cryftals are obferved to form ;
which being cdlledled, and dried on foft paper, are
found to weigh about 109 grains.
“ 5. The remaining liquor being agaimboiled in the
fame retort, with two ounces of frelh fpirit of nitre,
till the red vapours begin to difappear, and being then
in the fame manner expofed to cryftallize, about 43
grains of faline fpiculas are obtained.
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 497
“ 6. To the liquid that ftill remains, about two Acid of Su-
ounces more of fpirit of nitre being added, and after-
wards the whole being, both ly hailing and ••evaporation,
reduced to a dry mafs, a brown, faliue, gelatinous -—y —J
kind of fubftance is produced, which, when thorough¬
ly dry, is found to weigh about half a drachm,
“ In the fame manner, a fimilar acid, we are told,
may be obtained from different faccharine fubftances,
as gum-arabic, honey, &c.; but from none in fuch quan¬
tities, or fo pure, as from fine fugar.”
This fait poffeffes fome very Angular properties, of Prcfump*
which what appears to us the moll remarkable, and..f its
which we cannot help reading with fome degree vitr'olc
doubt, is, that it produces an effervefcence on being acpj
added to fuch alkaline, earthy, or metallic fuljlances, as
contain the vitriolic acid. From this we iliould be apt
to think, that this acid was capable of difiodging even
the vitriolic acid from its bafts.
Acid of fugar, being diftilied in a retort, gives over
about TV of its' weight of water. By an interife heat
it melts, and is partly fublimed; leaving in the retort
a dark grey mafs, of about the fifth part of the weight
of the cryftals made ufe of. The fublimed fait eafily
recovers its cryftalline form, and feems to have under¬
gone no further change by fublimation than being ren¬
dered more pure. During the diftillation a great quan¬
tity of elaftic vapour rufties out (about 100 cubic in¬
ches from half an ounce of the cryftals), which, from
the diftilled liquor’s precipitating lime-water, we may
judge to be fixed air. In a fecond fublimation, white
fumes are Tent over, which, when cold, appear to be
an acid, glaffy-coloured liquor, but cannot be again
cryftallized. “ Such parts of the falts as adhere to
the fides and necks of the veffels do not appear to be
in the leaft changed in the procefs.” On a third fub¬
limation, thefe parts produced fuch elaftic vapours as
burft the receiver.
This fingular fait has a confiderable acid power; Great acid
twenty grains of it giving a very confiderable degree Power-
of acidity to a large tankard of water. It diffolves in
an equal weight of diftilled water, but concretes on
the liquor’s growing cool. It is a!fo foluble in fpirit
of wine 5 100 parts of boiling fpirit of wine diffolving
56 of the faccharine ciyftals, but no more than 40
when cold. The folution in fpirit of wine foon be¬
comes turbid; and depofites a mucous fediment, in
quantity about ^ of the acid made ufe of." When cold,
irregular fcaly cryftals are formed, which when dry
are perfectly white.
With vegetable alkali, the acid of fugar can fcarcely
be formed into cryftals, unlefs either the alkali or acid
predominate. With mineral alkali, a fait very diffi¬
cult of folution is formed. The quantity of volatile QOO
alkali faturatedby this acid is incredible. “ Six parts Tncdr ’e
of a pure volatile alkali may be faturated with one of quantity of
the acid of fugar. The produce is a quadrangularvolatIlea1'
prifmatic fait. With lime this acid unites fo ftrongly,
as to be feparable by no other means than a ftrong *
heat. What kind of a fait refults from this combing
tion we are not told; but the author is of opinion, that
this fhows the ufe of lime in the purification of fugar,
in order to abforb the fuperftuous acid. Being fatu¬
rated with fome of the terra pohderofa, the acid of fu¬
gar immediately depofits a quantity of pellucid angu¬
lar cryftals, fearedy foluble in water. With magne-
3 R ° fia
498
CHEMISTRY.
902
Saccharine
ether.
Whether
this acid is
produced
from the
2d 903
, The fame
with the
acid of for-
i-fmthe fait appears in fotra of a white powder, foltable
s neither in water nor fpirit of wine, unlefs the acid
prevails. It has a ftronger affinity with magnefia than
- any of the alkaline falts. With earth of alum, no
cryftals are obtained; but a yellow pellucid mafs, of
a fweetiffi and fomewhat aft tin gent tafte ; which, in
a moift air, liquefies, and increafes two-thirds in
weight.
This acid acts upon all metals, gold, filver, platina,
1 and quickfilver, not excepted, if they have been pre-
vioufiy diffolved in an acid, and then precipitated.
Iron in its metallic ftate is diflblved in very large
quantity by the faccharine acid ; 45 parts of iron be¬
ing foluble in 55 of acid. By evaporation, the liquor
ffioots into yellow prifmatic cryftals, which are eafily
foluble in water. With cobalt, a quantity of yellow-
coloured cryftals are obtained, which being diflblved
in water, and fea-falt added to the folution, form a
fympathetic ink. The eleftive attra&ions of this
lingular acid are, firft, lime, then the terra ponde-
rofa, magnefia, vegetable alkali, mineral alkali, and
laftly clays. With fpirit of wine an ether was ob¬
tained, which cannot eafily be fet' on fire unlefs pre-
vioufly heated, and burns with a blue inftead of a white
flame.
Towards the conclufion of his differtation the au¬
thor obferves, that fome may imagine that the acid of
nitre, made ufe of in thefe experiments, may have a
confiderable {hare in the produ&ion of what he has
termed acid of fugar. But though he acknowledges
that this acid cannot in any way be obtained but by
the affiftance of fpirit of nitre, he is thoroughly convin¬
ced that it does not, in any degree, enter into its com-
pofition.
What occurs to us on this fubjeft is, that if the acid
really pre-exifts in the fugar, it muft give fome tokens
of its exiftence by mixing the fugar with other fubftan-
ces befides fpirit of nitre. The author himfelf thinks
that lime a&s upon the acid part of the fugar : from
whence we are apt to conclude, that by mixing lime,
in a certain proportion, with fugar, a compound ftiould
be obtained fomewhat fimilar to what was formed by
a direft combination of lime with the pure acid. In
this cafe, we might conclude that the nitrous acid pro¬
duces this fait, by combining with the inflammable part
of the fugar, becoming thereby volatile, and flying en¬
tirely off, fo as to leave the acid of the fugar pure. In
the diftillation of dulcified fpirit of nitre, however, we
have an inftance of the nitrous acid itfelf being very
much altered. This muft therefore fuggeft a doubt,
that the acid fait obtained in the prefent cafe is only
the nitrous acid deprived of its phlogifton, and united
with fome earthy particles.
In a treatjfe ‘lately publifhed by Mr Rigby, how¬
ever, we are informed that fugar itfelf may be recom-
pofed by uniting the acid of fugar with phlogifton ;
which affertion, if well founded, undoubtedly decides
the difpute in favour of the faccharine acid being ori¬
ginally contained in tlie fugar. Late experiments
have determined it to be the fame with that of forrel;
for which, as well as many other valuable acquifitions,
the fcience of chemiftry is indebted to Mr Scheele.
Having diffolved as much acid of fugar in cold water
m the liquor could take up, he added to this folution
Pra£Uce.
fome lixivium of tartar drop by drop, waiting a little Acid of
after each drop and found the mixture, during the phnfphom
effervefcence, full of fmall cryftals, which were genuine p 1,£?
fait of wood-forrel. M. Klaproth having precipitated tion!.'n3*
a nitrous folution of quickfilver with fait of wood-1——- - ■
forrel, perfectly neutralized by vegetable alkali, obtain- ()OJ
ed a white precipitate ; which, when edulcorated and Fu'mira-
dried, and gently heated in a teadpoon, fulminated quick-
with a noife not inferior to that of fulminating gold. • er*
Acid of fugar perfectly neutralized with vegetable al¬
kali, afforded the fame precipitate, and fulminated in
the fame manner.
§ 9. Of the Acid of Phosphorus.
This acid was firft difeovered by Homberg inphl^glic
Urine; afterwards by Margraaf in muftard and cruci-acid.
ferous plants : M. Bochante difeovered it in wheat ;
and laftly, M. Haffenfratz has traced it in the mineral
kingdom with great attention.—He has found that
phofphorated iron is contained in all the Pruffian blues,
when not purified; but that this acid is produced by
the coals employed in the procefs, and is no conftitu-
ent part of the tinging matter. According to him it
occurs almoft univerfally in the minerals of iron which
are found in the flimy ftrata of the earth, as well as
thofe which are undoubtedly modern, whether primary
or fecondary ; unlefs the iron be fo far of a metallic
nature as to be attradled by the ’magnet, or very near
that ftate. It is afforded by the ochry ftrata, and
thofe which contain hcematites as well as the {limy
kind. Into thefe it is fuppofed to have come by the
decompofition of vegetables; and to inveftigate this
matter he examined the. hibifeus paluftris, folidago,
virga aurea, antirrhinum, lunaria, folanum nigrum,
vulgatum, ftachys paluftris, artemifia Zeylandica,
ruta graveolens, lycopus Europeus, carex acuta; vinca
major, nepeta Pannonica, and noa Abyffina. All
thefe plants afforded the acid of wood-forrel and the
phofphoric acid. The quantity of the former varied
from two ounces two drachms 18 grains of acid fait
containing fome calcareous earth, to two drachms 24
grains in a pound of each plant; the quantity of cal¬
careous phofphoric fait being from one ounce fix
drachms 48 grains, to one drachm 12 grains.—M.
Haflenfratz alfo obferves, that the phofphoric acid is
procurable from all kinds of iron ; though in fome it
feems to proceed from that contained in the earth, and
in others from the coals employed in the reduction.
The phofphoric acid is alfo found by Dr Marquart
to be contained in the gaftric juice of animals. One
pound four ounces of the gaftric juice of oxen gave 10
grains of a lymphatic matter, exaftly like the blood
in its qualities ; 16 grains and fix-fevenths of phofpho¬
ric acid, which with a blow-pipe was changed into a
very pure and deliquefeent glafs of phofphorus; five
grains of phofphorated lime, two grains or refin, 14
grains of fal ammoniac, 29 grains of common fait, a
very fmall quantity of an extract: whofe nature was
difficult to afeertain; one pound three ounces fix
drachms and 674- grains of water; fo that the folid
contents were only 166th part of the bulk.
In {beep, the quantity of gaftric juice was about
eight ounces in quantity, of a deeper and brighter
green-
Praftice.
C H E M I
Acid of green than that of oxen or calves; but affording the
phofphorus fame ingredients, though in a different proportion ;
Combina- though no other acid than that of phofphorus could
tions. be difcovered. It was aifo more difpofed toputrefac-
' tion. Calves furnilhed from four , to fix ounces of
gaftric juice, which contained very little lymph, but
afforded fome quantity of dry jelly, though the whole
was not equal to the proper proportion of lymph.
The phofphorated lime was in the ufual quantity, but
the difengaged phofphoric acid in a very fmall propor¬
tion. The lacteal acid was found in great quantity ;
to which, along with that of phofphorus, our author
fuppofes the property of curdling the milk in the ani¬
mal’s ftomach to be owing.
The phofphoric acid has alfo been found in very
large quantity in the calcareous ftones of Andalufia ;
artd Mr Klaproth has found the fame combined with
calcareous earth in a kind of beryl, cryftallized in hexa-
hedral prifms, called by M. Verner apatit. Formerly
the belt method-of obtaining it was from urine, where
it is contained in very confiderable quantity in combi¬
nation with the volatile alkali, and forming a fait call¬
ed the microcofmic, or ejjential fait of urine,
Mimicof- To procure this, a large quantity of urine is to be
mic fait evapox-ated to the confidence of a thin fyrup ; which,
howprocu- being fet in a cold place, will yield, in three or four
red. weeks, foul brown-coloured cryllals, which are the
microcofmic fait, mixed with the marine, and other
falls of urine. Thefe cryftals are to be diffolved in
hot water; the folution filtered whilft it continues hot,
and fet to cryftallize again ; and the folution, filtra¬
tion, and cryftallization, repeated till the fait becomes
pure and white. In all the cryftallizations the micro-
♦ cofmic fait Ihoots firit, and is eafily diftinguilhed and
feparated from the others. If the urine which re¬
mains after the firft cryftallization be further evapo-
' rated, and again fet in the cold, it will yield more
cryftals ; but browner and more impure than the form¬
er ; and therefore requiring to be purified by themfelves.
From 20 gallons of urine may be obtained four ounces
of pure fait; a confiderable part being ftill left in the
refiduum.
In thefe operations the heat ought to be gentle,
and the veffels either of glafs or compact ftone-ware.
Urine being evaporated in a copper veffel, afforded on¬
ly a green folution of that metal.
MrMar- Concerning the nature of the microcofmic fait ob-
graaff’s ex- tained by the above procefs, Mr Margraaf gives the
periments. following account in the Berlin memoirs for x 746.
“ Sixteen ounces of the fait, diftilled in a giafs re¬
tort, in a heat gradually raifed, gave over eight oun¬
ces of a volatile urinous fpirit, refembling that made
from fal ammoniac by quicklime. The refiduum was
a porous brittle mafs, weighing eight ounces. This,
urged with a ftronger fire in a crucible-, bubbled and
frothed much, and at length funk down into the ap¬
pearance of glafs, without feeming to fuffer any fur¬
ther diminution of its weight in the moft vehement
heat.
The vitreous matter diffolved in twice or thrice its
quantity of water, into a clear, tranfparent, acid li¬
quor, fomewhat thick, not ill refembling in confiftence
concentrated oil of vitriol. This liquor totally cor¬
roded zinc into a white powder, which, being diluted
S T R Y. 49g
with water, appeared in great part to diffolve, fixed Acid of
alkalies occafioning a plentiful precipitation. It acted Phoh-horus
powerfully upon iron, with fome effervefcence 5 and c"mbTaa-
changed the metal into a kind of muddy fubftance in* tions.
dining tq bluifli, in part foluble in water like the pre- ——v——1
ceding. It diffolved likewife a portion of regulus of
antimony, and extracted a red tincture from cobalt. On
lead and tin it had very little action. Copper it cor-
foded but flighty. On bifmuth, filver, and gold, it
had no effeft at all, either by ftrong digeftion, or a
boiling heat. Nor did the adding of a confiderable
portion of nitrous acid enable it to act upon gold.
“ The vitreous fait in its dry form, melted with me¬
tallic bodies with a ftrong fire, a£ts upon them more
powerfully. In each of the following experiments,
two drachms of the fait were taken to two fcruples of
the metal reduced to fmall parts. (1.) Gold com¬
municated a purple colour to the vitreous fait; on
weighing the metal, however, its diminution was not
confiderable. (2.) Silver loft four grains, or x1^-; and
rendered the fait yellowifti, and moderately opaque.
(3.) Copper loft only two grains, or ^5-, though the
fait was tinged of a deep green colour. It feemed as if
a portion of the fait had been retained by the metal,
which, after the fufion, was found to be whiter and
more brittle than before. (4.) During the fufion with
iron, flafties like lightning were continually thrown out;
a phofphorus being generated from the combination of
the acid with the inflammable principle of the iron.
Great part of the mixture rifes up in froth; which,
when cold, appears a vitreous fcoria, covered on the
furface with a kind of metallic Ikin, which, on being
rubbed, changes its green colour to a yellowifh. The
reft of the iron remains at the bottom of the crucible,
half melted, half vitrified, and fpongy. (5.) Tin loft
x 8 grains, or nearly one-half its weight, and i-endered
the fait whitifti; the remaining metal being at the fame
time remarkably changed. It was all over leafy and
brilliant, very brittle, internally like zinc. Laid on
burning coals, it firft began to melt, then burnt like
zinc, or phofphorus. (6.) Lead loft 16 grains, and
gave the fame whitifti colour to the fcoria; that tin
does. The remaining lead was in like manner inflam¬
mable, but burnt lefs vehemently than the tin ; from
which it differed alfo in retaining its malleability.
(7.) Mercury precipitated from aquafortis, and well
edulcorated, being treated with the fait in a glafs re¬
tort, with a fire raifed to the utmoft, only 12 grains of
mercury fublimed ; 28 remaining united with the acid,
in a whitifti, femi-opaque mafs. A folution of this
mixed in diftilled water, depofited a quantity of a yel¬
lowifti powder; which, by diftillation in a glafs retort,
was in great part revived into running mercury. A
part alfo remained diffolved in the clear liquor ; for a
drop let fall on poliftied copper inftantly whitened it.
(8.) Regulus of antimony melted with the vitreous
fait, loft eight or nine grains, (about f) ; the regulus
affumed a fine, brilliant, ftriated appearance ; the fco-
riae were fomewhat opaque. (9.) Bifmuth loft eight
grains; the fcoria; were like the preceding, but the
bifmuth itfelf fuffered little change, (to.) Zinc, mix¬
ed with the fait, and diftilled in a glafs retort, yielded
a true phofphorus, which arofe in a very moderate heat.
The reliduum was of a grey colour, a little melted at
3 R 2 the
500 (THEM:
Acid of the bottom, in weight not exceedingtwo drachms ;fo that
^°,4two fcrtiplea had fublimed. This refiduum, urged further
Combina- *n a Heflian crucible to perfect fufion, emitted
tions. an infinity of phofphorine flalhes, with a kind of deto-
—V""-' nation. The matter, grown cold, looked like the fco-
rias of melted glafs. (xi.) White arfenic, mixed
with this fait, feparated in the fire, greatefi part of it
fubliming, and only as much remaining behind as in-
creafed the weight of the fait eight or nine grains.
This compound appeared at firft tranfpafent; but, on
being expofed to the air, became moift, and of an o-
paque whitenefs, much refembling cryfialline arfenic.
(12.) Cinnabar totally fublimed ; fuffering no change
itfelf, and occafioning none in the fait. Sulphur did
the fame. (13.) One part of the fait, mixed with ten
of manganefe, and melted in a clofe veffel, gave a femi-
tranfparent mafs, fome parts of which were bluiih.
The crucible was lined with a fine pui-ple glazing, and
the edges of the mafs itfelf appeared of the fame co¬
lour.
“ The vitreous fait diffolved alfo, in fufion, metal¬
lic calces and earths. Chalk, with one third its weight
of- the fait, formed a femitranfparent vitreous mafs:
calcined marble, with the fame proportion, flowed fo
thin as to run all through the crucible; gypfum, like-
wife, ran moftly through the crucible ; what remain¬
ed was femitranfparent. Lapis fpecularis ran entire¬
ly through the veflel. Spanilh chalk gave a femitran¬
fparent mafs, which fparkled on breaking; and fine
white clay, a fimilar one. Saxon topaz and flint were
changed into beautiful opal-coloured mafles; the earth
of alum into a femitranfparent mafs, and quicklime
into an opaque white one. The mafs with flints im¬
bibed moifture from the air; the others not.
“ Oil of vitriol, poured upon one-fourth its weight
of this fait in a retort, raifed an effervefeence, acquired
a browniftr colour, and afterwards became turbid and
white. On raifing the fire, the oil of vitriol diftilled,
and the matter in the bottom of the retort melted.
In the neck was found a little fublimate/ which grew
moift in the air; as did likewife the remaining fait,
which was opaque and whitifti. Concentrated fpirit
of nitre, diftilled with this fait in the above proportion,
came over unchanged; no fublimate appeared; the re¬
fiduum looked like glafs of borax. The diftilled fpirit
did not aft in the leaft upon gold, even by coftion.
Strong fpirit of fea-falt being diftilled in the fame man¬
ner, no fenfible change was made either in the-fpirit
or the fait.
“ Equal parts of the vitrified microcfomic fait and
fait of tartar being urged with the ftrongeft fire that
a glafs retort could bear, nothing fenfible came over,
nor did the mixture appear in thin fufion. Diflblved
in water, filtered, and duly evaporated, it afforded, very
difficultly, oblong cryftals, fomewhat alkaline pftie
quantity of alkali having been more than enough to fa-
turate the acid. A whitifti matter remained on the
filter, amounting to feven or eight grains, from two
drachms of the mixture ; this, after being waftied and
907 dried, melted before a blow-pipe, as did likewife the
Expels the cryftals.
triolate/1' “. This fait feems to extricate, in part, the acids of
tartar, vitriolated tartar, nitre, and fea-falt. (x.) On diftil-
nitre,and ling a mixture of it with an equal quantity of vitrio-
fea-fah. lated tartar, there came over fome ponderous^acid drops.
: S T R Y. Practice.
which, faturated with fixed alkali, formed a neutral fait Add of
greatly refembling the vitriolated tartar. The refidu- *>hofi>h°ru»
um readi: liffolved in water, and difficultly cryftalli- Combina-
zed. ' (2.) Nitre, treated with the fame proportion of ions,
the fait, began to emit red vapours. The refiduum -—v——^
was of a peach-bloffom colour, appeared to have melted
lefs perfeftly than the preceding, and diffolved more.dif¬
ficultly in water. The folutiou depofited a little earthy
matter; and, on being fiowly evaporated, ftiot into
cryftals, which did not deflagrate in the fire. (3.) Sea-
falt, diftilled in the fame manner, manifeftly parted with
its acid; the refiduum was whitifti, readily diifolved in
water, and afforded fome cubical cryftals. (4.) Sal am¬
moniac fuffered no change. (5.) Borax, with an equal
quantity of vitreous fait, run all through the crucibles.
“ Solutions of this fait precipitated the earthy part
of lime-water, of folution of alum, of flint diffolved in
fixed alkali, and the combination of marine acid with
chalk or quicklime. The precipitate from this laft
liquor is tenacious like glue, and does not diffolve
even in boiling water; expofed to-a ftrong fire, it froths
prodigioufly, and at laft melts into a thick fcoria.
“ Solutions of this fait precipitate alfo fundry me¬
tallic folutions ; as butter of antimony, folutions of
filver, copper, lead, iron, mercury, and bifmuth, in
the nitrous acid; and of tin in aqua regis. The pre¬
cipitate of iron from fpirit of fait is a tenacious mafs ;
that of filver from aquafortis, fometimes a white pow¬
der, fometimes tenacious. Copper from aquafortis is
fometimes thrown down in form of a white powder,'
and fometimes in that of a green oil, according to the
proportions and dilutenefs of the liquor. Silver is not
precipitated at all by this acid from its folution in vine¬
gar, nor gold from aqua regis,
“ An ounce of the vitreous Lit, well mixed with
half an ounce of foot, and committed to diftillation,
yielded a ,drachm of fine pkofphorus. The black refi¬
duum, being elixated with boiling water, and the li¬
quor paffed through a filter, there remained upon the
filter eight fcruples of a black matter; and, on eva¬
porating and cryftallizing the' liquor, about feven
drachms were obtained of oblong cryftals, which did not
deliquate in a moift air, but became powdery in a
warm one. Thefe cryftals, treated afrefh with inflam¬
mable matter, yielded no phofphorus. Before a blow¬
pipe they melted into a tranfparent globular mafs,
which, on cooling, became turbid and opaque. Dii-
foived in water, they precipitated folutions of filver,
mercury, copper, and of chalk ; though they did not
aft upon the latter fo powerfully, nor produce with it
a gluey mafs, as before they had been deprived of
their phofphorine acid.”
Mr Wiegleb informs us, that the phofphoric acid
exhibits Ids affinity with calcareous earth, in the moift
way, than the vitriolic ; though it cannot be fepara¬
ted from the ultimate refiduum of the calcareous earth
by that acid. It expels, however, all the liquid acids
from their bafis in the dry way. It precipitates iron
from a folution in vitriolic acid, of a perfeftly white
colour. For the ufes of this acid as a flux, fee the
article Blow-pipe.
$10. Of the Acid of Ants.
The acid may be obtained from thefe infefts either How i>ro-
cured.
Pra&ice. CHEMISTRY.
Add of by diitillation, or fxmple infufxon in water. From Add of
Phnfphorus tWenty-four ounces of ants, Neumann obtained eleven § n. Of the Acid of Amber. itTcombi ^
C'mbLa- ounces an(^ an half of acid as ftrong as good vinegar, ... nations
ri»n«. bv didillation in balneo mariae. • Of this acid, Mr Mar- The nature of this acid is as yet but little known,1
l-—.  graaff gives the following account in the Berlin Me-
p08 moirs for 1749.
Jt® proper- “ The acid of ants effervefces with alkaline falts,
ties. both fixed and volatile. With volatile alkalies it forms
a neutral irquOiywhidb, like that compofed of the fame
alkalies' and vinegar, yields ho concrete fait on diftilla-
tion. With fixed alkalies it concretes, upon proper
exhalation, into oblong cryftals, which deliquate in
the air’.f The cfyftals, or the faturated neutral li¬
quor uncryftalli/ed, on being diftilled with a fire
increafed till the retort began to melt, yielded a
liquor fcarce fenfibly acid, and afterwards a fmall
quantity of an urinous and partly ammoniacal liquor.
The remaining black matter, difi'olved in dilli:led
water, filtered and evaporated, {hot into large cryftals
which did not deliquate in the air, though they were
in tafte' ftrongly alkaline, cffervefced witli acids, and
had ali the other properties by which fixed alkalies are
diftinguifhed.
“ This acid diffolves, with great effervefcence, coral,
chalk, and quicklime; and concj-etes with them all into
cryftals which do notrdeliquate in the air.
“ It does not precipitate filver, lead, or mercury,
from the nitrous acid ; nor quicklime from the ma¬
rine. Hence it appears to have no analogy to the ma¬
rine or vitriolic acids ; the firft of which conftantly
precipitates the metallic folutions, and the other the
earthy.
“ It does not aft upon filings of filver; but (like
vegetable acids), it totally diflblves, by the affiftance of
heat, the calx of filver precipitated from aquafortis by
fait of tartar.
“ It does not difiblve calces of mercury (as vege¬
table acids do) ; but revives them into running quick-
filver.
“ It afts very weakly upon filings of copper ; but
perfectly diflblves copper that has been calcined. The
folution yields beautiful compaft green cryftals.
“ It diffolves iron-filings with violence ; the folu¬
tion, duly evaporated, {hoots into cryftals more readily
than that made in diftilled vinegar. It fcarcely afts at
all upon filings of tin.
“ It does not, according to Mr Margraaff, corrode
filings of lead; but diffolves, by the afliftance of heat,
the red calx of lead. The folution cryftallizes into a
faccharum faturni. In Mr Ray’s philofophical letter^
it is faid, that lead put into the acid fpirit, or fair wa¬
ter, together with the animals themfelves, makes a good
faccharum faturni; and that this faccharum, on be¬
ing diftilled, will afford the fame acid fpirit again,
which the faccharum faturni made with vinegar will
not do, but returns an inflammable oil with water,
but nothing, that is acid : and faccharum faturni made
with fpirit of verdegris doth the fame in this refpeft
with fpirit of pifmires.
“ It diffolves zinc with vehemence, and {hoots, up¬
on due evaporation, into inelegant cryftals, not at all
like thofe produced with diftilled vinegar. On bif-
muth, or regulus of antimony, it has little effeft, ei
ther when calcined or in their metalline ttate.”
and Mr Pott is the only chemift ’who feems to have
examined it with accuracy. We {hall therefore give
an abftraft .of the principal obfervatfons and experi¬
ments he has made on this fait.
“ Salt of amber requires a large quantity of water Mr Pott’*
for its folution. In the firft cryftallization (being experi-
much impregnated with the oil, which rifes from the1116013,
amber along with it), it {hoots into fpongy flakes, in
colour refembling brown fugar-candy; the cryftals
which fucceed prove darker and darker coloured. On
repeating the depuration, the cryftals appear at top
of a clear yellow' or whitifti colour, in form of long
needles or feathers ; at bottom, darker, and more ir- •
regular, as are likewife the cryftals which {hoot after¬
wards. The cryftals neither liquefy nor become pow¬
dery in the air: rubbed, they emit a pungent fmelllike
that of radilhes, efpecially if warmed a little ; their
tafte is acid, not in the leaft corrofive, but with a kind
of oily pungency.
“ This fait, kept in the heat of boiling water, lofes
nothing of its weight, and fuffers no alteration. In a
great heat it melts like oil; after which a little oily
acid arifes, then oily ftriae appear in the lower part of
the retort, and the fait fublimes into the neck, partly
in the form of a dark yellow butter, and partly in
that of feathers, a black coaly matter remaining at
bottom ; fo that, by this procefs, a part of the fait is
deftroyed.
“ Oil of turpentine has no aftion on this fait.
Highly reftified fpirit of wine gains from it a yellow
colour in the cold; and, on the application of heat,
diffolves a confiderable quantity, but depofites great
part of it on cooling. The fait thus depofitedis fome-
what whiter than before, but ftill continues fenfibly
yellow'. The dulcified fpirit of fal ammoniac diffolves
it readily, without effervefcence, into a yellow liquor;
if the' fait was foul, the folution proves of a red co¬
lour ; on burning of the vinous fpirit, a neutral liquor
remains.
“ A folution of fait of amber in water, faturated
with a pure alkaline lixivium, yielded, on infpiffation,
a faline matter, which would not cryftallize, and
which, when exiiccated by heat, deliquated in the air,
leaving a confiderable proportion of an earthy, unc¬
tuous matter. Being again gently infpiffated, it left
a brownilh fait, very foluble, weighing one half more
than the fait of amber employed. This fait effervef-
ced with the vitriolic and nitrous acids: the vapour,
which exhaled, was not acid, but oily and fulphureous.
On repeating the experiment, and fully faturating the
alkali with the fait of amber, the neutral falthnade no
effervefcence with thefe acids. This fait did not per-
feftly melt before a blow-pipe ; continued in the fire
for fome time, it effervefced with aquafortis. In dif-
tillation it yielded a bitter, oily, alkalefcent fpirit,
much refembling the fpirit of tartar ; and towards the
end, an empyreumatic oil. The refiduum elixated,
yielded the alkaline fait again of a brown colour.
“ Salt of amber effervefces ftrongly with volatile
alkalies; and, on faturation, forms with them an oily
502
Acid of
Amber and
its Combi¬
nations.
910
Extricates
the acids of
fa! ammo¬
niac and ni¬
tre.
911
Purified by
the marine
acid.
912
Effects of
fpirit of
nitre on it.
Of oil of
vitriol.
Of quick-
iiiver.
CHEMISTRY. Praflice.
ammoniacal liquor, which, in diftillation, totally arifes
in a fluid form, except that a fmall portion of a pe¬
netrating, oily, faline matter, concretes towards the
end.
“ On dxftilling fait of amber with an equal quanti¬
ty of commmon fal ammoniac, a marine acid fpirit
came over, of a ftrong fmell, and a brown colour:
afterwards, a little white fal ammoniac fublimed; at
length arofe fuddenly a large quantity of a fuliginous
or bituminous matter, leaving behind a fmall portion
of a like lliining black fubftance. The coaly matter
was confiderably more in quantity than the fait of am¬
ber employed. On treating it with nitre, red va¬
pours arofe, and the mixture detonated with vio¬
lence. A mixture of it with borax, frothed and fwell-
ed up much more than borax by itfelf; and, on rai¬
ling the fire, yielded only fome oily drops; the acid
being deftroyed by this fait, as by fixed alkalies and
quicklime.
.Spirit of fea fait, poured upon one-fourth irs
weight of fait of amber, made fcarce any folution in
the cold: on the application of heat, nearly the whole
coagulated into the confiftence of a jelly. In diftilla¬
tion, the fpirit of fait arofe firft; then almoft the whole
of the fait of amber, partly like firm butter, partly Hke
long ftriated plumous alum, very pur-e, and of a fine
white colour, its .oily matter being changed into a
coal at the bottom. The fait, thus purified, makes
no precipitation in the folution of filver, and confe-
queptly retains nothing of the marine acid; nor does
it precipitate folution of quicklime made in fpirit of
fait, and confequently contains nothing vitriolic. If
any of the mineral acids was contained in this fait, it
could nbt here efcape difcovery ; the oil, which in the
rough fait is fuppofed to conceal the acid, being in this
procefs feparated.
“ Aquafortis being poured upon one-fourth its
weight of fait of amber, extracted a yellowifli colour
from it in the cold, but diftolved little : on the appli¬
cation of heat, the whole diflblves into a clear liquor,
without any coagulation : if the fait is very oily, the
folution proves red. In diftillation, the greateft part a-
rifes in a liquid form, with only a very fmall quantity
of concrete fait. The fpirit does not upon gold,
but diflblves filver, and quickfilver, as at firft ; a proof
that it has received no marine acid from the fait of
amber.
“ Oil of vitriol being added to twice its weight of
fait of amber diluted with a little water, a moderate
fire elevated an acidulous liquor, which appeared to
proceed from the fait of amber ; for its making no
change in folution of fixed fal ammoniac, flrowed it
not to be vitriolic. On continuing the diftillation by
a ftronger fire, greateft part of the fait arifes unde-
ftroyed, and the oil of vitriol along with it; a black,
light, porous earth remaining.
“ Equal parts of quicklime and fait of ambei gave
over in diftillation only an acidulous phlegm; the refi-
duum, elixated with water, yielded a folution of the
lime in the acid of amber, refembling a folution of the
fame earth in vegetable acids, precipitable by alkaline
falls, and by the vitriolic acid. Lime, added to a wa¬
tery' folution of fait of amber, diflblves with fome ef-
fervefcence j after which, the whole coagulates into
the confiftence of a jelly : this, diluted with water,Acid of Ar-
proves fimilar to the foregoing folution. fane and its
“ Solution of fait of amber makes no precipitation ina*
in folutions of filver or quickfilver. It diflblves zinc, _— t
as all acids do : fixed alkalies precipitate the zinc: the 9x5
volatile do not; and when a fufficient quantity of the Effects ©f
volatile has been added, the fixed make no precipjta-
tion. It adls exceedingly flowly and difficultly upon ,C
copper; but corrodes calcined copper in a ffiorter time.
It foon corrodes iron, by codtion, into a crocus, and
diffolves a part into a liquid form r the folution has
little colour; but alkaline falls readily difeover that
it holds iron, by rendering it turbid and whitiffi, and
throwing down a confiderable quantity of a greeniflv
calx.’*
§ 12. Of the Add of Arsenic.
91®
Mr Scheele firft perceived, from fome experiments How firft
on manganefe, that arfenic contained phlogifton: from -fift'.verei.
whence he was led to an analyfis of this fubftance,
which produced an acid of a very lingular kind ; by
uniting of which with phlogifton in certain propor¬
tions,’ either white arfeuic or its regulus may be com-
pofed at pleafure. ‘ ^
White arfenic may be decompounded in two ways. Two way*
1. Put two ounces of it reduced to fine powder in aofdecom-
glafs mortar into a retort of the fame material; pour pou'mlmg
upon it feven ounces of pure muriatic acid, whofe fpe-ai enic’
cific gravity is to that of water as 10 to 8 ; and lute on
a receiver. The arfenic is quickly diffolved in a boil¬
ing heat, which mult be brought on as quickly as pof- p,g
fible. After the folution is accomplilhed, while the By means
liquor is ftill warm, three ounces and a half of nitrous ”1.nitrous
acid, of the fame fpecific gravity with the muriatic acit*‘
above-mentioned, is to be added, and the liquid which
had already gone over into the receiver poured back.
The receiver is then to be put on again, but not luted;
the mixture foon begins to effervefee, and red vapours
go over into the receiver. The diftillation is to be con¬
tinued till thefe vapours ceafe ; when an ounce of
finely powdered arfenic is again-to be added, the re¬
ceiver applied as before, and a gentle ebullition con¬
tinued until the fecond quantity of arfenic be diflblved.
An ounce and an half of nitrous acid is then to be
added, and the mixture diftilled to drynefs, increafing
the fire towards the end, fo as to make the retort red
hot. The acid which comes over into the receiver may
ferve again feveral times. The white mafs which re¬
mains in the retort is the dry acid of arfenic. It may
be reduced to a liquid form by pouring upon it, in
coarfe powder, twice its weight of diftilled water,, and
boiling for a few minutes, pouring back the liquor
which comes over, and afterwards filtering the folu¬
tion through blotting paper, which has been previoully
wafhed in hot water.
In this procefs the nitrous acid attacks the phlo¬
gifton of the arfenic, is volatilized in confequence of
its union with it, and leaves the. more fixed but lefs
powerful acid of arfenic behind. The nitrous acid
would alone be fufficient for this purpofe, could it ac¬
curately come into contact with the particles of arfe¬
nic ; but this cannot be done without folution, and
the nitrous acid is capable of diffolving arfenic only in
pro-
Practice.
C H E M I
919
By dephlc
eiftlcated
fpint of
fait.
Acid of Ar-.proportion to the water it contains. Too great a quan-
fsilcand W0U]<1 therefore be required were this acid to be
r nnoK,,,:.. hy itfelf; but by the ufe of muriatic acid for the
folution, a fmaller quantity of fpirit of niti-e is admit*
ted to intimate contaft with all the arfenical particles,
and has an opportunity of depriving them of their phlo-
giiton. A qua regia might be poured upon the arfenic
at once 5 but the great eft’ervefcence it excites would
throw the mineral up to the top in fuch a manner that
the menftruum could not aft upon it. By the opera¬
tion of- dephlogiftication, arfenic lofes a fifth part,
which is fuppofed to be pure phlogifton.
The other method of decompofing arfenic is, by
means of the dephlogifticated fpirit of fait. For this
purpofe, take one part of powdered manganefe, and
mix it with three of the muriatic acid above-mention¬
ed. Put it into a retort, of which it may fill one-
fourth ; a receiver containing one-fourth of powdered
arfenic, with one-eighth of diftilled water, is to be luted
on, and the retort put into a fand-bath. The dephlo-
g’dlicated muriatic acid, going over into the receiver,
N is inftantly abforbed by the arfenic ; which fome hours
afterwards will be diffolved, and two different liquid
ftrata, which cannot be m txed together, will be per¬
ceived in the receiver. This folution is now to be put
into a clean glafs retort, and diltilled to drynefs; in-
ereafing the fire- at laft to fuch a degree as to make
the whole red hot: and in this procefs alfo two dif¬
ferent liquids pafs over into the receiver which do not
unite together/
Here the manganefe attrafts the phlogifton of the
muriatic acid ; and as this dephlogifticated acid has a
very ftrong attraftion for phlogitton, it deprives the
arfenic of its phlogifton, and thus recompofes the or¬
dinary phlogifticated muriatic acid. This portion of
recompofed acid diffolves part of the arfenic, forming
with it what is called Lutter of arfenic. The other part
of the arfenic which has been decompofed, diffolves in
the water, and forms a liquid fpecifically lighter than
the butter, and therefore fwims above it. On refti-
fying the two liquids, the undecompofed portion of
the arfenic arifes along with the muriatic acid, and
goes over into the receiver in form of an heavy oil,
while the acid of arfenic remains behind in the retort.
The acid obtained ki this way is precifely the fame
with the former, and one would hardly believe that it
is an acid, becaufe it has no acid tafte; but after fome
days it grows moift in the air, and at laft deliquates,
affuming the appearance of oil of vitriol. As the de-
liquefcence, however, is very flow, it is proper to dif-
folve it in a certain quantity of water, when a fmall
quantity of white powder remains undiffolved, after
preparing it by the firft procefs, which is filiceous earth
derived from the retort. This ought to he carefully
feparated from the acid' by filtration ; and in order to
prevent the glue of the blotting-paper from mixing
with the acid, it was direfted to wafn the filter with
hot water previous to the operation.
Acid of ar- The firft experiment M. Scheele tried on this acid
/feme equal- after he had obtained it, was to difeover if it was as
ly j oiicm nOX;ous to animals as when combined with phlogifton.
the white Having mixed a little with honey, the flies that eat of
arfenic it- it died in an hour ; and eight grains reduced a cat to
felf. the point of death in two hours. ■ Some milk, how-
S T R .Y* ..... . 5°*
ever, being then given to the animal, it vomited vio- Acid of Ar-
lently, and ran away. _ Combina-t3
2. An ounce of dry acid of arfenic, heated in a fmall t;OIls>
phial to near the point of ignition, melts into a clear c-—j
liquid, which congeals when cold ; but if the heat be 911
increafed till the veflel begins to melt, the acid begins Eafiiy re-
to boil, refumes its phlogifton, and arfenic fublimes in^TTl/
greater quantity as the heat is longer continued. Af- 0 ’
ter fubjefting the acid to this violent heat in a retort
for an hour, the veffel melted, and the acid had rifen
up as high as the neck.
3. In a crucible the arfenic attrafts phlogifton in
greater quantity, and is entirely diffipated in arfenical
vapours ; a little clear and difficultly fufible glafs, con-
fifting of clay and the acid of arfenic, remaining in the
crucible. . 92a
3. With powder of charcoal the arfenical acid un-Takes fife
dergoes no change ; but if the mixture be put into aq^cschaf-
retort, the moifture all driven off, a receiver then luted.COal.
on, and the heat increafed till the bottom of the retort
becomes red hot, the whole mafs takes fire with vio¬
lence ; all the acid is reduced, and fublimed into the
neck of the retort y a fhining regains is obtained mixed
with a little arfenic and charcoal dull. A few drops
of water are found in the receiver, but they do not
contain a particle of acid. 923
4. The arfenical' acid, after fome days digeftion Appear-
with oil of turpentine, unftuous oil, and fugar, becomes
black and thick. If fome muriatic acid be diftilled.pcnt;ne# ”
from this, a little nitrous acid added,, and the diftilla- &c.
tion repeated, fome acid of arfenic is left behind. Spi¬
rit of wine undergoes no change either by digeftion. or
diftillation with arfenical acid. 924
5. Six parts of acid dfgefted with one of fulphur With ful-
fuffer no change ; but when the mixture is evaporated l1*1111’*
to drynefs, and then fubjefted to diftillation in a glafs
retort, the two unite with great violence at that de¬
gree of heat in which fulphur melts; and the whole
mafs rifes almoft in the fame inftant, in form of a red
fublimate ; a little fulphureous acid in the mean time
going over into the receiver.
6. Acid of arfenic, faturated with vegetable fixed Combined
alkali, forms a deliquefeent fait which does not cry-with vegc"x
ftallize, but turns fyrup of violets green, though it
produces no change on the tinfture of laemus. On
the addition of a little more acid, however, tvhen it
reddens laemus, but makes no alteration on the fyrup
of violets, the liquor will afford fine cryftals like Mr
Macquer’s neutral fait.of arfenic.. On keeping this fait
for an hour in fufion in a crucible covered with another
luted upon it, the infide of the veffel. was found co¬
vered with white glazing, and a fait remained, which
was ftill the fame arfenicated fait with excefs of acid. 926
7. On diftiliing this fait in a retort with fin eighth-This fait
part of tharcoal-duft, it began to boil very violently decsmP°*<i
as foon as the retort became red-hot, and a very fine^)aj * C *TI’
regulus of arfenic fublimed. The black reliduum
contained the alkali entirely feparated from the arfeni¬
cal acid.. pay
8. With mineral alkali the acid of arfenic forms <-'0!1tim:e.f
cryftals. when perfeftly neutralized, but not if added
to excefs. In that cafe, the mafs becomes deliquef¬
eent like the former when neutral.
928
9. With volatile alkali a fait, much refembling the With vo'i-
tils alkali-
Expels the
acid ol vt-
triolated
tartar by
I04. C H‘ E M
Arid of Ar- two former is produced, tt does not change lacmus,
ComWndaItSbut turns the fyrup of violets green. A gentle heat
tions. drives off part of its volatile alkali, and leaves the re-
—' maindei fuperfaturated with acid; in which cafe it
fhoots into long radiated and deliquefcent cryftais.
Thefe, urged by a ftr6rtger heat, part with the whole
of their alkali; which is partly decompofedt feme
arfenic is formed by the union of the phlogifton of
the alkali with part of the arfenical acid ; the remain¬
der of which affumes a milky colour, and lies in the
020 bottom of the retort.
10. Acid of arfenic diftilled with vitriolated tartar
expels the vitriolic acid in a violent heat, which comes
over in a concentrated but fulphureous .date, leaving
dry did ilia- the arfenical fait formed of the acid and alkali united,
tion. With Glauber’s fait the vitriolic acid alfo rifes, and with
930 lefs heat than when vitriolated tartar is made ufe of.
Acid of 11. One part of nitre diftilled with three of acid of
nitre; arfenic, yielded a fpirit of nitre, together with the neu-
^ tral arfenical fait already mentioned.
Of common 12. One part of common fait vn'th three of arfeni-
falt. ' cal acid, yielded fome fmoking fpirit of fait. The re-
fiduum diflblved in water gave cryftals of common
fait, and a thick magnum, which would not cryftal-
lize till the fuperfiuous arfenical acid was taken away
.by adding powdered chalk, when it yielded cryftals
932 fimilar to thofe produced by the acid and pure alkali.
Phenome- 13. With fal ammoniac the product was fir ft fuming
na with fal mur{atic acid, then volatile alkali in a liquid ftate, af-
ammomac. ter tjiat arfen;Cj ^nd laftly part of the arfenical acid
933 remained in the retort.
Decompo- 14. Spathum ponderofum, and gypfum, both part-
fes fpathum ed wJth their acids, which were become fulphureous.
and'gyp-11"1 The former did not yield its acid till the retort be-
fum. gan to melt.
934 15. One part of fludr mineral Was mixed with four
^ddi*eX" ac^ arl*en'c> and diftilled into a receiver having
fluor acid a btt^e water 'n When the retort grew red-hot,
firft a yellow and then a red fubftance fnblimed. Some
fulphureous acid, but none of the acid of fluor, went
over. A grey-coloured refiduum was left in the retort;
which being divided into two parts, one was mixed
• with charcol-powder and diftilled with a ftrong fire,
without the produftion of either arfenic or regulus ;
the other was mixed with four parts of acid of arfe-
nic, and fubje&ed to a fecond djftillation. When the
mafs grew dry, a little yellow fal-ammoniac was fub-
limed, and the water was covered with a cruft of fili-
ceous earth, as in the ufual diftillations of that mineral.
Precipitates 16. Arfenical acid precipitates lime-water, by uni-
Lme water t;ng with the calcareous earth diflblved in it. By the
addition of more acid, the precipitate is diflblved, and
the liquor yields fmall cryftals, which let fall a fele-
r.ite on the addition of vitfoilic acid.
Phenomena 17. On the addition of powdered chalk to arfenical
with chalk, acid diluted with water, the earth is at firft diffolved,
but by adding more chalk the whole is coagulated in¬
to fmall cryftals.
With^mag- 18. Magnefia diflblves in the arfenical acid, and the
nefia. folution coagulates when it comes to the point of fatu-
ration. On diffolving the coagulum in a larger quan¬
tity of water, it becomes 'gelatinous by evaporation;
and if the jelly be lixiviated with water, filtered, and
evaporated, a vifeid tnafs remains, which refufes to
cryftallize.
fT 73-
935
I S T R Y. Pra&lce.
19. Earth of alum precipitated by* alkali of tartar Acid of Ar-
is eafily foluble in arfenical acid, and coagulates asf'enic ^its
foon as it arrives at the point of faturation. Evapo-
rated to drynefs, mixed with fome charcoal powder, ' ^
and then fubjefted to ftrong diftillation, a little yellow 938
fublimate rifes into the neck of the retort, as like wife With earth
fome ftiining regulus, while a volatile fulphureous acid of
paffes over into the receiver. The refiduum diflblves
with difficulty in the vitriolic acid, though fome cry¬
ftals of alum will form in the fpace of two months. ^
20. Four parts of arfenical acid mixed with one With white
of powdered white clay, did not diflblve any part by c>ay-
digeftion for a fortnight. By diftillation in a retort
till the veflel began to melt, it was converted into a
thick flux, and a little arfenic fublimed. By mixing
the refiduum with a little powdered charcoal, a ftiining
regulas was fublimed.
21. Terra ponderofa diflblves readily in the acid ofwirh terra
arfenic, but precipitates again as foon as it has attained ponderofa.
the point of faturation. The folution is precipi¬
tated by acid of vitriol, and forms regenerated pon¬
derous fpar.
22. Gold is not aefted upon-by acid of arfenic, either Whhgold.
by digeftion or otherwife ; nor is its folution precipi¬
tated, though the retorts ufed in the operation were
ftained with red and yellow fpots, which could not be
taken off; nor is its abtion increafed by mixture with
muriatic or with nitrous acid.
23. Pura platina is not a&ed upon. Its folution piatina.
is not precipitated by the pure arfenical acid, but rea¬
dily by the arfenical falts. The precipitate is yellow,
and diflblves in a large quantity of water, but contains
no mark of arfenical acid. Addition of muriatic or of
nitrous acid makes no change in its effe&s. 9^
24. Pure filver is not abled upon by the arfenical Silver,
acid in digtftion. On augmenting the fire till the
acid melted, and keeping up this degree of heat for
half an hour, the metal diflblved, and on breaking the
retoft, a colourlefs glafly mafs, nearly tranfparent, was
found in it; the retort being covered with a flame-
coloured glazing, which could not be feparated from
it. By a great degree of heat the filver was reduced
without addition. Solution of filver is precipitated by
pure acid of arfenic, but more effectually by the
neutral arfenical falts: the precipitate is of a brown
colour, and by digeftion in muriatic acid is changed
into luna cornea; it is alfo foluble in fpirit of fal am¬
moniac prepared with quicklime. The action of the
arfenical acid upon filver is confiderably increafed by
mixing it with fpirit of fea-falt; the former attacking
the phlogifton of the metal, while the latter attacks
its earthy bafis. 944
25. Qmckfilver is not abted upon by digeftion with Quick-
arfenical acid. On putting the mixture into a retort, filver.
diftilh'ng to drynefs, and then increafmg the fire, the
mafs becomes yellow, quickfilver rifes into the neck of
the retort, with a little arfenic, and fome yellow fubli¬
mate ; but though the fire was augmented till the re¬
tort began to melt, the mafs could not be fufed. Three
drachms and an half of quickfilver were obtained out
of fix employed in the experiment; the arfenical acid,
therefore, contained two and an half. The mafs was
fomewhat yellow ; it diffolved very readily in muriatic
acid, but fcarcely at all in the nitrous or vitriolic; on
evaporation to dtynefs and diftillation, fome corrofive
fublimate
Pra&ice.
C H E M
947
With cop¬
per.
Acidvof Ar- fublimate rofe into the neck of the retort; the refidu-
fcnic and um> melted in a very itrong lire, proved to be acid of
itS ionslb ' ar^en‘c- Another portion of the mafs, diililled with
i ’ ^ two parts of common fait, yielded corrofive fubli-
945 mate.
With cor- 26. Acid of arfenic diililled with corrofive fubli-
ndivefub- mate undergoes no change; but by fublimation with
limatc. mercurius dulcis, a corrofive fublimate is obtained.
Some have afierted, that by fubliming arfenic with cor-
, rofive fublimate, abutter of arfenic is obtained; but
Butter of Mr Scheele informs us that this is a miftake ; and
arfenic is that, by diftilling this mixture, he conftantly obtained
not obtain- corrofive fublimate at firlt, and arfenic afterwards,
ed by this regulus of arfenic, however, a fmoking butter
of arfenic, mercurius dulcis, and fome quickfilver, are
obtained. The fame thing happens with a mixture
of orpiment and corrofive fublimate.
27. Arfenical acid diffolves copper by a digefting
heat. The foiution is of a green colour ; a quantity
of light blue powder is depofited, and attaches itfelf to_
the copper. This powder confifts of the acid of arfe-
nic and calcined copper. On mixing two parts of
dry acid of arfenic, in fine powder, with one of filings
of copper, and diftilling the mixture, fome arfenic
rofe into the neck, and the mafs melted and turned
blue. On boiling it with water, the foiution was fi-
milar to one made directly from acid of arfenic and
copper. A little copper remained in the bottom of
the retort, which was tinged with brown, red, and
yellow fpots, infoluble in any menftruum. The folu-
tions of this metal are not precipitated by arfenical
acid, but the acetous foiution is. Neutral arfenical
falls throw down a blue precipitate, which by expo-
fure to a ftrorig fire, turns brown and covers the iniide
of the containing veffel with a yellow enamel. On
mixing the fcoria in fine powder with a little lamp¬
black, fome fine regulus of arfenic fublimed, and the
copper in the refiduum was reduced.
28. With iron the acid of arfenic forms a gelati¬
nous foiution, which by expofure to the air grows fo
thick that in two hours time it will not flow out at
the mouth of a phial. "With alkali of tartar a whitifii
green powder is thrown down ; which being edulco¬
rated and diftilled in a glafs retort, yields fome arfenic,
and leaves a red ochre behind. On diftilling four
parts of arfenical acid with one of iron filings, the mafs
effervefced ftrongly towards the end; and when it be¬
came dry, took fire in the retort upon increafing the
heat, when both arfenic and regulus of arfenic were
fublimed. The refiduum was black, friable, and con¬
tained but little acid of arfenic; the retort was co¬
vered with yellovvifh brown fpots. Solutions of iron
in mineral acids are not precipitated by acid of arfe¬
nic,' but the acetous foiution lets fall a dark brown
powder. All the folutions are precipitated by the
arfenical neutral falts, the precipitates by a ftrong
fire, converted into black fcorite ; which mixed with
powdered charcoal, and calcined, yield copious va¬
pours of arfenic, and are afterwards attradtcd by.the
magnet.
29. Lead digefted with arfenical acid turns black
at firft, but in a few days is furrounded with a light
greyiih powder, containing fome arfenic which may
be feparated by fublimation.' On diftilling one part
of (havings of lead with two of dry acid of arfenic,
Vou IV. Part II.
With lead.
T S T R Y. 505
the lead was diffolved, the mafs flowed clear, and a Acid of Ar-
little arfenic rofe into the neck of the retort. A !'en'c; an.tl.
milky glafs was found in the bottom, which by boil-^t;0^ 1“
ing in diftilled water, let fall a quantity of white pow- ■ — v >
der, the fuperfluous acid being diffolved in the water ;
the edulcorated powder yielded regulus of arfenic by
diftillation with charcoal. Solutions of lead in ni¬
trous and muriatic acids are precipitated by arfenical
acid. .... . 950
30. Tin digefted with acid of arfenic becomes firft With tin.
black, then is covered with a white powder, and af¬
terwards becomes gelatinous. One part of tin filings
diftilled with two of acid of arfenic, took fire as foon
as the retort became red-hot, and immediately after
both arfenic and a little regulus were fublimed. The
tin was diffolved into a limpid liquor, which became
milky when cold.—By waihing in winter, a quantity
of white powder was feparated, infoluble in any acid,
and containing very little of that of arfenic.
31. Arfenical acid diffolves zinc with effervefcence. With ziae.
The metal grows black, and the tranfparency of the
acid is deftroyed by a quantity of black powder. This
powder edulcorated, dried, and put on an iron plate
heated nearly red hot, emits a blue flame and white
arfenical fmoke in the dark, leaving behind a white
powder; thus manifefting itfelf to be moftly regulus '
of arfenic. One part of filings of zinc diftilled with
two of acid of arfenic, took fire in the retort with a
very bright flame, and burft the veffel with an explo-
fion. Some regulus of arfenic and flowers of zinc
were found in the neck.
32. Bifmuth digefted with acid of arfenie is cover-With bit.
ed with a white powder ; water precipitates the folu-mutl1-
tion, and the precipitate confifts of calcined bifmuth
arid acid of arfenic. On diftilling one part of bifmuth
with three of arfenical acid, the mafs melted, the me¬
tal was calcined, but remained undiffolved in the bot¬
tom of the veffel; a little arfenic rofe into the neck ;
and after the retort became cool, water was poured
on the refiduum, which diffolved the acid, but the
calx of bifmuth remained unchanged. Solution of this
femimetal in the acid of nitre was precipitated by ar¬
fenical acid. This precipitate, as well as the calx,
are very difficult of fufion, but on adding a little pow¬
dered charcoal, the mixture inftantly melts, the arfe¬
nic goes off in vapours, and the bifmuth is reduced.
33. With regulus of antimony a quantity of white Regulus of
pov.rder is produced by digeftion, and the clear folu-antimony,
tion is likewife precipitated by dropping it into pure
water. This powder is foluble only by muriatic acid,
and may be precipitated again by the addition of wa¬
ter. One part of regulus of antimony diftilled with
three parts of arfenical acid, took fire as foon as the
mafs melted, and regulus of arfenic with a red matter
were fublimed; a little volatile fulphureous acid came
over into the receiver. On boiling the refiduum in
water, the acid was diffolved, a white Alining pow¬
der remained behind, which on being mixed with char¬
coal powder and diftilled, an ebullition took place,
feme regulus of arfenic rofe into the meek of the re¬
tort, and the antimony was reduced. Butter of an¬
timony was not precipitated by the pure acid, but
very readily by the arfenical falts. Acetous and tar-
tareous folutions of glafs of antimony are precipitated
by.arfenical acid.
3S
34-
joS
Acid of Ar
its Combi-
Witin COr
bajt.
With nic¬
kel
956
With man-
ganefe.
With regu-
lus of arfe-
nic.
st4d 957
phenome¬
non of ar-
fenic with
terra folia-
ta tartarl.
C H E M I
34. Cobalt is partially diffolvecf, and the folution
afTumes a rofe-colour; on putting the whole mafs in¬
to a retort, diftilling ofF the liquid, and then aug¬
menting the fire, the mafs melted, and a little arfenic
was fuhlimed. The refiduum when cold had a femi-
tranfparent violet colour. On pouring water upon it,
and putting it on hot fand, the acid was diffolved,
the violet colour difappeared, and the folutioa af-
fumed a dark-red colour. The bottom of the retort
had a blue tinge, which could not be taken off. Solu¬
tions of cobalt in mineral acids are readily precipitated
by the arfenical neutral falts. The precipitate is of a
rofe-coloar, but melts with difficulty into a dark blue
fcoria.
35. Nickel, with acid of arfenic, affames a dark
green colour, and lets fall a green powder containing
arfenic in fubfiance, which may be feparated from it
by a gentle heat. One part of nickel diftilled with
two of dry arfenical acid, melted with fome appear¬
ance' of inflammation, yielding fome arfenic at the
feme time. The mafs was yellowy with a number of
grey elevated ftreaks upon it, which appeared like ve¬
getation, and were formed during the dififflation. Oh.
boiling the yellow mafs in water, the acid was diflblved,
leaving a yellow powder behind; which, when treated
wath charcoal-powder, yielded regulus of arfenic, but
was not reduced itfelf. The foliations of nickel in
acids are not precipitated by arfenical acid, not even
that in vinegar, but the neutral arfenical felts throw
down a whitifh green powder.,
36. Manganefe in its natural fiate is diflblved only
in fmall part; but when phlogifticated it diflblves rea¬
dily and totally ; though, whenever the acid arrives at
the point of" faturation, the folution coagulates into
fmall cryftals.
37. Regulus of arfenic digefied with its own acid'
foon becomes covered with a white powder, which is
arfenic in fubftance.. On diftiliing one part of the re¬
gulus with two of the acid, the former fublimed, and
the latter melted., If fmall pieces of regulus of arfenic
be gradually added to the acid of arfenic in fufion,
an inflammation takes place, and arfenic is fublimed.
On diftilling a mixture of equal parts of terra folia-
ta tartari. and arfenie, a limpid liquor like water firfi
came over, fmelling ftrongly of garlic ; on changing
the receiver, a liquor of a brownifii red colour was col-
le&ed, which filled the receiver with a thick cloud,
emitting an intolerable fmell of arfenic. Oh pouring
this upon a filter,, hardly a few drops had pafled. when,
a very thick {linking fmoke fuddenly arofe as high as
the ceiling of the room ; an ebullition enfued towards
tire edge of the filtering-paper, and a-fine rofe-colour-
ed flame broke out, that lafted for fome moments..
§ 13. Of the Acid of Molybtdjena.
Howto We owe this, as-well as the fucceedlng acids, to
reduce the induftry of the late Mr Scheele. The fubftance
tnolybdas- from which he extracted it is named by Cronftedt mo-
der!°^0W" bbd<ena membranacea nrteni.-—As this fubfrance is of
a flaky nature,, and incapable of pulverization by it¬
felf, our author mixed fome pieces of vitriolated tar¬
tar along with it in a glafs. mortar ; by the attrition
of which it was at laft reduced to a fine powder, and
yfeich was afterwards freed froiq. the vitriolated tar-
S T R Y. Practice.
tar by wafhing with hot water. He then treated thlg Acid of
powder with all the known acids, but found none of
them to have anyeffe£t upon it excepting thofe of arfenic Combina-
and nitre. No fenfible effedl was perceived from the Ions.
acid of arfenic until the water was evaporated; after 1 v 
which, by increafing the fire, a little yellow orpiment 959
was fublimed in the neck of the retort, and fome ful-
phureous acid pafled over into the receiver. On pour-Qf a,.fenjc
ing two parts of concentrated nitrous acid upon one upon it.
part of powdered molybdaena, the mixture was fcarce ^60
warm in the retort, when it pafled all together into
the recipient with great heat, and in the form of dark ceHfrate^
red vapours. Had the quantity been larger, he had nitrous
no doubt that it would have taken fire ; for which rea- ^id upon
fon the experiment was repeated with diluted nitrous
acid. Six ounces of diluted nitrous acid being poured
on an. ounce and a half of powdered molybdasna, no
effect was perceptible till the liquor began to boil; after
which a great number of red elaftic vapours began to
appear, and the mixture fwelled confiderably. The
diftillation being continued to dirynefs, the refiduum.
appeared of a grey colour; the fame quantity of ni¬
trous acid was poured on, and the procefs repeated,
when the refiduum was whiter ; and on ftill repeating
the operation a fourth and fifth time, the remaining,
powder became at laft as white as chalk. This re¬
fiduum, after being edulcorated with hot water, was
quite taftelefs and infipid when dry. The limpid li¬
quor which ran from it, being evaporated to half an.
ounce, firft affumed a fine blue colour, and then,
grew thick. On being examined, it was found to
contain fome iron, and was otherwife chiefly acid of
vitriol. The colour difappeared on diluting the acid
with water.. . . 96p
The white powder juft mentioned is the true acid Add 0f.
of molybdaena, and* may be obtained by the help ofmolybdas*-
fire alone. A fmall piece of molybdsma expofed on a obtained
filver plate to the blow-pipe, makes a beautiful-appear-
ance, when the white vapours attach themfelves to the
plate in the form of fmall ftiining feales, in the direc¬
tion of the flame- This white fublimate becomes blue
whenever it is- in contact with the blue flame; but
changes to white whenever the point of the flame is
dire&ed againft it. An ounce- of powdered molyb¬
daena was mixed with four ounces of purified nitre,,
and detonated in a crucible heated thoroughly red hot.
Ths mafs thus obtained was of a reddifli colour. On
diffolving it in water, the folution Was clear and co-
lourlefs. A fmall quantity of red powder fell to the-
bottom of the veffel; which, when dry, weighed u,
grains, and {Rowed itfelf to be an iron ochre. By
evaporation vitriolated tartar and nitre were obtained;,
but a good deal of lixivium remained, which refufed to
cryftallize, though no mark of fuperfluous alkali re¬
mained. It was then mixed with lome water, to which,
diluted acid of vitriol was added, until no more pre¬
cipitate fell. The white powder which precipitated,
weighed three drachms ; but if too much acid be
added, the precipitate will be rediffolved, and the wa¬
ter itfelf retains a part of it in folution. A precipi¬
tate is likewife obtained by means of nitrous or muri¬
atic acid. 6s
The precipitate thus obtained, like thofe which re- |ts themi-
fult from the two former proceffes, is the true acid of cal proper*
molybds2na,.and has the following chemical properties, ^es.
Prafllce. G H E M
Acid of i. The foliation reddens lacmus, coagulates a folution
naamH** ^oaP» and precipitates hepar fulphuris- 2. If this
Combina- f0lut‘on he boiled with the filings of any of the im-
tions. perfedl metals, it affumes a bluiih colour. 3. By the
—V— "f addition of a little alkali of tartar, the earth becomes
foluble in greater quantity in water; and after evapo¬
ration fhoots into fmall confuted cryftals. 4. Under
the blow-pipe this earth is foon abforbed by charcoal;
but when placed on a filver plate fit melts, and evapo¬
rates with the fame phenomena as molybdaetra itfelf.
5. By the addition of alkali, the earth is deprived of
its property of being volatilized in thefiire. 6. The fo¬
lution, whilft hot, (hows its acid power more evidently
than when cold, and tinges lacmus of a deeper colour.
It effervefces with chalk, with magnefia, and with
earth of alum; with all of which it forms falts very
difficult of folution in water. 7. It precipitates, from
the nitrous acid, filver, quickfilver, and lead, as alfo
lead diffolved in marine acid. Thefe precipitates are
reduced on burning charcoal, and the melted metal
runs into the pores. Corrofive fublimate is not pre¬
cipitated ; neither are the folutions of the other me¬
tals. 8. Terra ponderofa is alfo precipitated from the
nitrous and marine acids; and the precipitate is foluble
in a large quantity of cold water. None of the folu¬
tions of the other earths are precipitated. 9. Fixed
air is alfo expelled by this acid from the fixed and vo¬
latile alkalies, and forms with them neutral falts which
precipitate all other metallic folutions. Gold, corro-
five fublimate, zinc, and manganefe, are precipitated
in form of a white powder; iron and tin, from their,
folution in marine acid, of a brown colour ; cobalt of
a rofe colour; copper of a blue ; the folutions of alum
and quicklime, white ; and if the ammoniacal fait form¬
ed by the earth of molybdaena and volatile alkali be
diftilled, the earth parts with its alkali in a gentle heat,
and remains in the retort in form of a grey powder.
IO. Concentrated vitriolic acid difiblves a great quan¬
tity of this earth by means of heat. The folution ac¬
quires a fine blue colour; which, however, difappears
on being heated, or by diluting the acid with water.
In a ftronger heat the acid flies off, leaving the earth
unaltered behind. This folution becomes thick on
cooling. 11. The nitrous acid has no effeft upon the
earth of molybdaana. 12. Boiled with the muriatic
acid it diffolves in confiderable quantity ; and, on di-
ftilling the mixture to drynefs, a dark-blue refiduum
remains. On increafing the heat, white flowers arife,
with a little blue fublimate, and a fmoking muriatic
acid is found in the receiver. The refiduum is of a
grey colour. Thefe flowers are only the earth of mo-
lybdasna volatilized by means of the muriatic acid,
■and therefore manifefts the fame properties. 13. If
one part of this earth be diftilled with two parts of
vitriolated tartar, a little vitriolic acid paffes over, at
leaft when the heat is very ftrong ; and the remaining
earth is more foluble in water than before. 14. With,
two parts of nitre it expels, by means of diftillation,
a ftrong nitrous acid ; the refiduum diffolved in water
is a neutral fait which precipitates all metallic folutions,
and is fimilar to that formed by a dire& union of the
acid and fixed alkali. 15. Diftilled with two parts of
pure common fait, the acid is expelled in a fmoking
ftate, and white, yellow, and violet-coloured flowers
arife, which become moift in the air, and when fprinkled
on metals give them a blue colour, Thefe flowers,
I S T R Y, So:
as has been already remarked, are only the acid ofAcid of
molybdsena volatilized by that of fca-falt. MolyM**
The blue colour acquired by this earth on the con- Comblna*
tadft of flame, alfo in the moift way in fome cafes, t;uns.
ffiows that it is capable of contradtiUg an union with —y—■.-<
the phlogifton. To reduce this to certainty, Mr 963
Scheele diffolved fome of the earth of molybdaena in Is capable
boiling water, with the addition of a little alkali. In-^.^11^
to this folution he poured fome drops of muriatic acid,g^ol^ .
and divided it into feveral parts, into each of whichb .
he put filings of feveral metals. The folutions foon
acquired a bluifli colour, which grew deeper and deep¬
er; and in an hour’s time, during which the bottle
was now and then (haken, the liquor affumed a fine
daik blue. That this colour depends on phlogifton,
he infers from the following circumftances: 1. If, in-
ftead of the metals themfelves, you take their calces,
no blue colour is produced. 2. If there be dropped
into the blue folution a few drops of acid of nitre, and
the folution be then put into a warm place, the colour
difappears. It is therefore no matter of furprife, that
both filver and quickfilver ffiould be attacked, fince a
double elective attra&ion takes place ; the muriatic
acid uniting with the metallic calx, and the earth of
molybdsena with the phlogifton of the metals. "Gold,
however, is not attacked in this way. 3. Too great
a quantity of muriatic acid produces not a blue but a
yellowiih colour, which at laft turns brown if the mix¬
ture be digefted ; but on adding this folution to a fo¬
lution of the earth of molybdaena, a blue colour as u-
fual is produced. 4. Lixivium fanguinis, in which
the acid prevails, throws down the earth of a brown
colour, and the infufion of galls of a dark brown.
The acid of molybdxna, treated with various fluxes, shows no
and with charcoal, ffiows no figns of containing any fign of coj>
metallic matter. Moiftened with oil-olive, and com-ta‘n‘ngauy
mitted to diftillation in a ftrong fire, it did not fub-nicta^
lime, but remained in the retort in form of a black
powder; which, on being calcined in a crucible, fub-
limed in white flowers as ufual. On inverting another
crucible into the former, and luting the jun<&ure, the
earth remained unchanged and of a black colour, with¬
out any fign of fufion. This black powder did not
diffolve in boiling water, nor even with alkali, which
on other occaiions fo readily diffolves fit; but when
mixed with a triple quantity of fait of tartar, a great
effervefcence enfued; the produce was a neutral fait
refembling that formed by the direft union of the acid
and alkali. ^
The earth of molybdasna, procured by nitre, re- Properties
quires much lefs water for its folution •; it does not oft,leacid
expel the acid from vitriolated tartar; is more eafily°|'tained ^
fufed, and does not fublime in an open crucible. When11 tre*
fufed with charcoal-powder, it affords a folution with
water, containing a neutral fait, which precipitates all ~
others. The reafon of thefe differences is, that it
contains a portion of alkali, though it be ever fo fre¬
quently purified by folution and cryftallization. That v
this is the cafe we know from the following experi¬
ments : 1. If to a folution of the nitrous earth of mo¬
lybdaena we add fome nitrous acid, the latter attacks
the alkali, and the greateft part of the diffolved earth
is precipitated. This, however, does not happen, ex¬
cept by long boiling. 2. The neutral fait obtained
by fufion proves the fame. This neutral fait is pro¬
duced ia the following manner. The earth which con-
3 S 2 tains
5o8 CHEMISTRY. Pratfice.
Acid of tains onry a fmall quantity of alkali operates as an acid, phlogiflicated alkali were added; by wliich about Ac>d of
Mclybdas- ag appears frpm Jts changing the colour of lacmus to three grains of Prufiian blue were precipitated. 5. The
red ; but the alkali prevents as much earth from enter- mixture was then faturated with cauftic volatile |ts Combi-
tion-:. ing into it as is necelTary to its fatqration with phlo- alkali; but as no precipitate appeared, a folution of-nations.
~v-“—' gifton ; for the acid of molybdasna has a greater at- fixed alkali was added, which threw down two —y——/
tratftion for alkali than for phlogifton. The charcoal fcruples and five grains of white earth of a mild
which remains after lixiviating the compound of acid calcareous kind. On adding fome nitrous acid to the
of molybdsena and charcoal, yields vapours in an open extra&s made by volatile alkali, a white powder was
crucible, and gives a fublimate containing the phlo- precipitated, which, on edulcoration, proved to be the
gifticated earth of manganefe. This alkali fixes the true acid of tungllen. pgp
earth in the open air; and hence we, fee alfo the rea- On treating tungften with a ftrong heat in the dry- Effeits of
fon why this earth does not expel the acid from vitri- way, the following appearances took place: i^One;eat “P00
dated tartar ; for its attraction for the alkali muft di- part of tungften mixed with four of alkali of tartar ^
minilh in proportion as it comes nearer the point of was melted in an iron crucible, and then poured out
faturation ; and as the pure earth contains no alkali, on an iron plate. Twelve times its height of boiling
966
fulphur
it attraCfs a little from the vitriolafed tartar ; and con-
fequently there can appear but a flight veftige of vi¬
triolic acid. This fmall quantity of acid likewife oc-
cafions its more eafy folubility in water.
water being then poured upon it, a white powder fub-
fided to the bottom, which diflblved in a great meafure
in nitrous acid. 2. The undiflblved part of the pow¬
der was tried ; and being again mixed with four parts
Molybdae- The pure acid of molybdaena recompofes that fub- of alkali, was melted as before : and the mafs being
na recom- fiance by being combined with fulphur. Mr Scheele alfo diflblved in water, and nitrous acid poured on
pofed by having mixed fome very fine powder of this earth with the refiduum, only a very fmall portion of grey pew-
add'wjth3 t^lree parts °f fulphur, and committed the mixture to der was left undiffolved. 3. The ley being faturated
diitillation in a glafis retort, the receiver was filled with with nitrous acid, grew thick by the precipitation of a
the fuperfluous fulphureous vapours, which had alfo white pow'der; which was afterwards waflied with cold
the fetid fmell of volatile fpirit of fulphur. In the water and dried, and then proved to be the fame acid
retort a black powder remained, which on every che¬
mical trial was found to be a true molybdasna ;To that
there is now no doubt of this fubftance being compo-
fed of a particular kind of acid united to fulphur..
f 14. Of the Acid-of Lapis Pond pros\
or Wolfram.
967
This fub¬
ftance
of tungften with that already deferibed. The folu¬
tion in nitrous acid precipitated with fixed alkali gave
a white precipitate, which was found to be calcareous
earth.
The properties of the acid of tungften are, 1. Un-jtschemi-
vsy, ‘Tungsten, der the blow-pipe it became firft of a reddifh yellow ca! proper-;
colour, then brown, and at laft black. It neitherties*
fmoked nor gave any figns of fufion. 2. With borax
it produced a blue, and with mrcrocofmic fait, a fea-
This: fubftance has been analyfcd both by Mr Scheele
!- and Mr Bergman, though the former has the merit of green glafs. 3. Boiled with a fmall portion of the
^^^f^difeovering the acid contained in.it; which the latter nitrous or marine acids, the powder becomes yellow,
earth by confiders, as well as the earth of molybdtena, not as and with the acid of vitriol bluilh. 4. On faturating
Mr Berg- truly acid, but as metallic earths. Mr Scheele’s ex- a folution of the acid with fixed alkali, a neutral fait in
man. periments for analyfing this fubftance were as follow : very fmall cryftals is obtained. 5. With volatile alkali
Scheele’s K one Part powdered tungften were pour- this acid forms an ammoniacal fait fliaped like the
method of e<1 two Parts of concentrated acid of vitriol. By di- points of fmall pins. On diftillation the alkali fepa-
analyfing ftillation the acid pafled over unchanged the relidu- rates in a cauftic Hate, the acid remaining behind in
it. ' um, which was of a bluifti colour, after being boiled the retort in form of a dry yellow powder. Op mix-
for a fttort time, and the liquor filtered off, depofited ture with a fclution of lime in fpirit Af nitre, a double
fome vitriolated lime or gypfum by ftanding. * 1 r'‘ ‘ ’ ’ '
Twelve fcruples of common nitrous acid.
' pure
aquafortis,, being poured on two of finely pow’dered
tungften, no effervefcence enfued; but on expo-
fing the mixture to a ftrong digefting heat, it af-
fumed a citron yellow colour. The acid was then
poured off into another phial, and the yellow powder
edulcorated with water. 3. On this yellow powder
eight fcruples of cauftic volatile alkali were poured,
and the phial expofcd to heat; on which the yel¬
low colour inftantly vanifhed, and the powder be¬
came white. This folution was in like manner
put into a feparate phial, and the powder edulco¬
rated ; and as the matter was fenfibly diminifhed by-
thefe operations, they were alternately repeated, till
at length the whole was diffolved, excepting three
grains, which feemed to be filiceous earth. The fame
elective attraction takes place, the acid of tungften:
uniting itfelf with the lime, and that of nitre with the
volatile alkali. 6. With magnefia the acid of tung¬
ften forms a fait very difficult of folution. 7. It pro¬
duces no change on folutions of alum or lime, but de-
compofes a folution of terra ponderofa in acetous acid,,
and the compound is totally infoluble in water. 8. It-
precipitates of a white colour folutions-of iron, zinc,-
and copper, in the vitriolic acid; filver, quiekfiber,
and lead, in that of nitre ; and lead in the acid of fea-
falt. Tin combined with the fame acid is thrown-
down of a blue colour; but corrofive fublimate and
folutions of gold undergo no change. 9. On calc
cining the acid of tungften in a crucible, it lofes its-
folubility in water, i o. It turns black by calcination
with inflammable matters and with fulphur, but in
other vefpe&s continues unaltered, n. Solution of
effefis enfued on treating this fubftance with muriatic hepar fulphuris is precipitated of a green colour by this
acid, only the folution was of a.deeper yellow colour, acid, and the phlogifticated alkali white ; the latter
4. I-he folutions made in. the foregoing manner with precipitate being foluble in water. On the addition-
nitrous acid all mixed together* fome drops of of a few drops of muriatic acid to a folution of the
acid.
Pra<5lice. C H EM
Acid of acid of tungften in water, and fpreading the liquor on
X^apis P051" poliflied iron, Zinc, or even tin, it acquires a bcailti-
fwConfbi- ^ ^ue cokur; and the fame thing happens when
rations thefe metals are put into the acid. 12. It differs from
1 -—'' the acid of molybdsena in-nct being volatile in the fire;
9? 1 in having little attraction for phlbgifton~or fulphur; in
Differences turning lime yellow, and forming an infoluble coin-
acids f C Poun<i with it, as well as with ponderous earth. It has
tunsd'ren alfo a ftronger attraction for lime than the acid ©f mo-
and mo- lybdaena; for if a combination of lime and acid of mo-
lybdsena. lybdsena be digeited in a folution of the ammoniacal
fait formed by uniting the acid of tungften with vola¬
tile alkali, the latter expels the former, and produces
regenerated tungften. 13. By uniting the acid of
tungften to a calcareous earth, a regenerated tungften
is conftantly procured.
Mr Bergman obferves, that the acid earth of tung¬
ften is nearly allied to that of molybdaena; and both are
a ftate much refembling that of white arfenic. “It
972
Ber(>mai
©pinion
concerning
is well known (fays he) that arfenic, in its femimetah
ften'a^d 's nothing but a peculiar acid faturated with
molybdfe- phlogifton; and that the white calx is an intermediate
m. ftate between acid and metal, containing juft phlogiftou
enough to coagulate the acid, but remaining ftill folii-
ble in water, , and fhowing figns of acidity. If a con-
dufion from analogy be admiffible, all the other metals
fhould confift in a eombination of the fame nature of
the'differe-nt radical acids, which with a certain quan¬
tity of phlogifton are coagulated to a dry earthy fub-
ftance ; and on full faturation are reduced to the ftate
of complete metals.”
Wh^ he The reafons which induced Mr Bergman to fuppofe
fuppoled that the acids in queftion are metallic earths, are as
the acids follow : I. They both fhow a ftriking refemblance to
talf6 me white arfenic in form, in producing effe&s like acids,
•ai ths and in their difficult folubility in water. 2. Their fpe-
cific gravity; that of arfenic being 3750, the earth of
molybdsena 3460, and the acid of tungften 3000.
3. Their precipitation with phlogifticated alkali; a
property hitherto deemed peculiar to metallic calces.
Arfenic alfo, properly diffolved in muriatic acid, gives,
with the phlogifticated alkali, a predpitate foluble in
water, in the fame manner as. the acid of tungften.
4. From their property of tinging vitreous matters ;
which, as well as that of precipitatingwith the phlogifti¬
cated alkali, is reckoned to be a peculiar property of
metals. The acid of tungften produces by itfelf fome
effervefcence with mineral alkali. With microcofmic
fait it produces a globule at firft of a light blue ; more
of the acid makes it a dark blue; but ftill it remains
free from rednefs by refra&ion. A further addition
makes it brown. Borax acquires a flight tinge of
blue, and with more of the acid becomes of a yellowifh
brown colour ; but remains tranfparent, provided no
further addition be made.. This ultimate brown, co-
Ibur cannot be driven off either by nitre or the point
©f the flame urged' by a blow-pipe. Acid of molyb-
dtena is no lefs powerful; for with microcofmic fait it
produces a beautiful green colour: borax well fatura-
ttd with it appears grey when viewed by the reflected
rays, but of a dark violet, by the redrafted.
$ 15. Of the And of Milk.
It is univerfally known, that in the fumme&time
I S T R Y. 509
milk grows four and thick in a few days, and that this Acid of
fournefs continues for fome time to increafe. It
ftrongeft after a fortnight has elapfed ; after which, natl0nS.
if the whey be filtered and evaporated to one half the  ^ J
quantity, a few curds will ftill fettle to the bottom. 974
By faturating the whey with volatile alkali, a fmall M'ik moft
quantity of animal earth precipitates; and the fame ftr.0,ng’.y
thing takes place on the addition ot lime-water. Un ;an,lin^a
the addition of a fmall quantity of acid of tartar, the fortnight,
latter foon becomes partially faturated with vegetable ^
alkali, and is converted into tartar. Thus’the acid bf Component?
milk, befides its proper acid part, contains animal earth pr ncipks
and vegetable alkali in a loofe ftate, and which is at-o! folir
trailed by the acid of tartar; befides all thefe, it hasw e^’
alfo a fmall quantity of the fame alkali faturated with
muriatic acid. It is no eafy matter to fepafate thefe
fubftances from one another; becaufe the acid is not
fufficiently volatile to rife in ciiftillation by a gentle
heat, nor are its principles fufficientlyfixed to bear the
a&ion of a ftrong fire. With the one therefore it
remains almoft entirely in the retort, and with the other
it is deftroyed. Mr Scheele therefore ufed the fol¬
lowing procefs.
He evaporated four whey till only one-eighth part ScheekV
remained; when the cheefy part being totally fepa-- method off
rated, he ftrained the acid; and in order to obtain the
animal earth, faturated the. liquor with lime, diluting acici 0f
the folution with a triple quantity of water. In or-milk,
der to feparate the lime, he employed the acid of fu-
gar, which has a ftronger attraction than any other for
lime. This earth therefore being feparated, the mat¬
ter was evaporated to the confiftence of. honey, and
highly rectified fpirit of wine poured upon it to diffolve
the acid part; which being accomplifhed, the other
faline fubftances were left by tbemfelves: and, laftly,.
the acid folution being diluted with pure water, and
the fpirit feparated by diftiliatiorr, the pure acid re¬
mained in the retort.
The properties of the acid of milk are, 1. Evapo1- pro
rated to the confiftence of a fyrup, it yields no cryftals-, 0f this acid;,
and when evaporated to drynefs, it deliquefces* 2. By
diftillation it yields firft water, then a weak acid like
fpirit of tartar; afterwards fome empyreumatie oil,
with more of the fame acid, fixed air, and inflammable
air; in the retort was left a fixed coal. 3. By fatu- -
ration with fixed vegetable alkali it yields a deliquef-
cent falt, foluble in fpirit of wine. 4. A fait of a fi-
milar kind is'obtained by combining it with mineral:
alkali. 5. With volatile alkali a deliquefcent fait is
produced, which by diftillation yields a great deal of
its alkali before the acid is deftroyed by heat; 6. It
forms deliquefcent falts with terra ponderofa^ lime, and
clay; but with magneiia it forms fmall cryftals, which,,
however, are again deliquefcent. 7. It has no effect
either by digeftion or boiling on biftnuth, cobalt, re-
gulus of antimony, tin, quickfilver, or gold. How-
ever, after digeftion with tin, it precipitated gold from
its folution in aqua-regia, in the form of a black pow¬
der. 8. It diffolves iron and zinc, producing inflam¬
mable air during the folution. The liquor produced
by the diffolution of iron was brown, and yielded no
cryftals ; but the folution of zinc cryftaffizes. 9-. Cop¬
per diffolved in this acid communicates to the liquor
firft a blue, then a green, and then a dark blue colour,,
without. cryftalliAag. 10. Lead was diffclved after
fomec
510 C H E M
ivr'it,t ^om? ^ays digeftion ; the folution had a fweet aftrin-
it- Combi- gent tafte* arS would not cryftallize. A fmall quan-
nations. tity of white matter fell to the bottom, which on exa-
k y  mination was found to be vitriol of lead.
978 “ From thefe experiments (fays MrScheele) it ap-
It feeaij to pears, that the acid of milk is of a peculiar kind ; and
acetous' though it expels the vinegar from the adetated vegeta-
kmd. hie alkali, yet it feems deftined, if I may fo fpeak, to
be vinegar; but from the want of fuch fubftances as,
> during fermentation, produce fome fpirituous matter,'it
feems not to be volatilized, though a portion of it in¬
deed arrives at this point, and really becomes vinegar:
for without a previous fpiritous fermentation, or with-
979 out brandy, there never arifes any vinegar. But that
Milk ca- the milk enters into a complete fermentation though
pable^of there be no fign of brandy prefent, appears from the
ferment a- following experiment; If a bottle full of frefh milk be
tion, inverted into a veffel containing fo much of the fame
liquor that the mouth of the bottle reaches below the
furface of the latter, and if you expofe this bottle to
a degree of heat a little greater than our fummer, you
will find, in the fpace of 34 hours, that the milk is not
only, coagulated, but in part expelled opt of the bottle;
and that in a couple of days afterwards, the aerial acid
extricated from the milk will have expelled the greater
part of it. It was faid above, that the acid of milk
cannot be converted into vinegar, from the want of fuch
ad 979 fubftances as during fermentation produce brandy 5
Converted -which appears to be evident from this : If to a kanne
gar Vme* you add five fpoonfuls of good brandy, and ex¬
pofe the veffel, well corked, in fuch a manner, however,
that you now and then give vent to the air developed
during fermentation, you will find in a month, fooner
or latter, that the whey will be changed into good vi¬
negar, which, ftrained through a cloth, may be kept in
980 bottles.”
Acid of The acid of fugar of milk is confiderably different
fngar of from that juft now deferibed. To pfocure it, Mr
milk how Scheie poured 12 ounces of diluted nitrous acid on
f “cure • four ounces of finely powdered fugar of milk con¬
tained in a glafs retort, to which a receiver was
adapted. The retort was placed in a fand-bath, and
as foon as the mixture acquired a certain degree of
heat, it began to effervefee violently; for which rea-
fon, the retort and receiver were taken away from
the fire. The mixture, however, continued to grow
hotter and hotter, with a great emiffion of dark red
vapours continually increafing, for half an hour. A
confiderable quantity of nitrous air and aerial acid
were extricated during that time. Care mull be ta¬
ken, therefore, to have the retort and receiver both of
a fufEcient fize, and not to make the luting too tight.
When the effervefeence had fubfided, the retort was
again placed in the fand bath, and the nitrous acid thus
diftilled off till the mafs acquired a yellowilh colour;
on which the retort was immediately taken away from
the fire. In two days time the folution feemed to
have undergone no remarkable change, nor was there
any appearance of cryftals. Eight ounces more of
the fame nitrous acid were therefore added, and the
whole expofed to the fame degree of heat as before.
When the mafs grew warm, another eftervefcence,
though weaker than the former, enfued; the yellow
colour difappeared, and the nitrous acid was again ab-
ftrafied, till the folution, which had been rendered
I S T R Y. Pra&ice.
opaque by the appearance of a white powder in it, A cut of
affumed a yellowilh colour, on which the retort was a- 8n‘l.
gain removed from the fand. After it was grown nation's!
cool, the mafs in the retort was found to be infpiffated;  — , /
it was rediffolved in eight ounces of water, and filtered.
Seven and a half drachms of white powder remained
on the filter; the folution which paffed through the
filter was very acid. It was evaporated to the con-
fiftence of a fyrup, four ounces more nitrous acid
poured upon it, and the evaporation repeated in a fand
heat- After the whole was cool, fome fmall long a-
cid cryftals were found, together with a fmall quanti¬
ty of white powder which was feparated from it, and
fome more nitrous acid poured on the remaining mafs,
and on evaporation, more fuch cryftals made their ap¬
pearance. The fame procefs was repeated feveral
times; by which means the whole mafs was at lall
changed into fuch cryftals, and weighed about five
dtachms, (howing in every refpedl the fame phenome¬
na produced by acid of fugar. The white powder,
weighing feven and a half drachms, was the true acid
of iugar of milk ; and its properties are, ^gr
1. It burns in a red hot-crucible like oil, without Properties
leaving behind it any mark or alhes. 2. It diffolves of this acid*
in boiling water in the proportion of one of fait to
60 of the liquid. 3. One fourth part of the diffol-
ved powder feparates from the liquid on cooling, in
form of very fmall cryftals. 4. Half an ounce of the
fait was diffolved in a glafs veffel in 3Q ounces of boil¬
ing water, and the folution filtered when cold. It had
a fourilh talle, reddened the tincture of laemus, and
effervefeed with chalk. 5. Two drachms of the fait
expofed to an open fire in a glafs retort, melted, grew
black, and frothed very much ; a brown fait was found
fublimed into the neck of the retort, which fmelled
like a mixture of fait of benzoin and fait of amber,
eleven grains of coal remaining in the retort. The
receiver contained a brown liquid without any mark
of oil, fmelling like the fublimed fait. It contained
alfo fome of the fait diffolved, which was feparated
from it by a gentle evaporation. The fublimed fait
weighed 35 grains, had a four talle, and was eafily
foluble in fpirit of wine, but with more difficulty in
water, and burned in the fire with a flame. 6. Con¬
centrated vitriolic acid, dillilled with this fait, became
very black, frothed much, and decompofed the fait
entirely. 7. Acid of fugar of milk, gradually added
to a hot folution of alkali, occafioned an effervefeence
and coagulation in confequence of the formation of ft
vail number of cryllals, which require eight times their
weight of water to diffolve them, and feparate again
in a great meafure from the liquid on cooling. The
fame phenomena took place with the mineral alkali,
only the fait was fomewhat more foluble, requiring
only five times its weight of water for folution. If
to a lolution of it a folution of alkali of tartar be
added, a number of fmall cryftals will foon be formed
at the bottom of the veffel, on account of the greater
attraftion of this acid with the vegetable alkali.
8. With volatile alkali it forms a kind of fal ammo¬
niac, which, after being gently dried, has a fourilh talle.
By dillillation, the volatile alkali is firll feparated, the
lime-water pi ecipitates, and the refiduum yields the
fame products by dillillation as the pure acid. 9. With
all the earths, acid of fugar of milk forms infoluble
falls.
Practice. C H E M
JLithifiac falts. If a folutlon of ponderous earth in muriatic or
^*Combi n‘trous ac*d be dropped into a folution of acid of fu-
natiofis. gar of milk, the former is inilantly decompofed, and
w—y  the earth falls to the bottom in combination with the
acid of faccharum la&is. ^ The fame phenomena take
place with folutions.of lime in the nitrous and marine
acids; but folution of gypfum is not decompofed.
The fame alfo takes place with folutions of magne-
fia in vegetable or mineral acids, and with earth of a-
lum ; a33 of which are decompofed by the neutral falts
above mentioned, to. The folution of this acid, by
reafon of the fnaall quantity diffolvable in water, has
no fenfibte effects on metals in their perfect ftate ; but
when they are reduced to Calces, it then a£ts upon
them, and forms falts, very little or not at all foluble
in water. Silver, mercury, and lead are precipitated
in form of a white powder ; blue, green, and white
vitriol, as well as manganefe combined with acid of
vitriol, are not precipitated ; but all metallic folutiona
are precipitated by the neutral falts.
§ 16. Of the LtTSIsiac Acts, s
Calculus.
Acid of the human
Calculi all The calculi examined by Mr Scheele, with a view
of the fame to difeover their conftkuent parts, were, as he informs
nature. us, all of the fame nature, whether flat and polifhed,
Or rough and angular. A fmall quantity of calculus
in powder was put into a retort, and fome diluted vi¬
triolic acid poured upon it. The powder was not
affe&ed by a digefting heat; however, it was diffolved
when the humidity was abftrafted by diftillation. Af¬
ter the diflipation of the acid, a black coal was left in
the retort, and the vitriolic acid which had paffed in¬
to the receiver was become fulphureous. The marine
acid, whether diluted or concentrated, had no effe&
upon the calculus, not even when boiled with it. The
nitrous acid diluted, or aquafortis, had fome effeft on
the calculus, even in the cold. On the application of
heat, an effervefeenee enfued with red vapdurs, and the
calculus was diffolved. Repeating the experiment in
a retort with lime-water, the latter was precipitated.
The folution of calculus is acid, though the men-
ftruum be boiled with a fuperabundant quantity of
pg, powder, fo that there may remain a portion- of it un-
Froperties diffolved. It produces deep red fpots on the Ikin in
•f the acid half an hour after it is applied ; and if the faturated
of calculus. folmJon be a little more evaporated, it affumes of it-
felf a blood-red colour, which,, however, difappears on
dropping in a Angle drop of nitrous acid. Terra pon-
derofa is not precipitated by it from the muriatic acid;
nor are metallic folutions fenfibly changed. With al¬
kalies it becomes fomewhat more yellow when the al¬
kali is fuperabundant. . The mixture, in a ftrong di~
gelling heat, affumes a rofe colour, and llains the Ikin
in the fame manner, without any fenfation of burning.
The mixture likewife precipitates metals of different
colours ; vitriol of iron, black ; of copper, green ; fo-
Intion of filver, grey ; corrofive fublimate, zinc, and
lead, of a white colour. Time water precipitates a
white powder foluble in muriatic and nitrous acids
without effervefeenee ; and though there be an excefs
©f precipitated powder, the folution will be acid.
This white powder, therefore, is the acid of the cal-
tulus itfelf, the exiftence of which is alfo confirmed
I S T R Y. sit
by Mr Bergman’s .experimenis. The farther analyfis Flowers of
of this is related under the article Calculus, below. Benzoin,
$ i*]. Of the Flowers of Benzoin, Acid of Lemons,
sp'ith other anomalous vegetable acids, and the refem-
blancc which the vegetable acids in general bear to one
another.
9?4
It has long been known, that the refmous fubftance, Flowers of
improperly called gum benzoin, yields by fublimatipn he'izoin ob»
with a gentle heat a quantity of fine faline matter
a molt agreeable odour, and flightly acid talle, called t;10n.
flowers of benzoin. Another method of obtaining 985^
this fubftance is by lixiviating’ the gum with water, hxivra-
and cryftallizing the fait. Mr Scheeie, determined tO'tIun‘^g(j
try what quantity of the flowers could be Obtained Quantities
from the refiri, found that, by fublimation, he was able obtained by.
to obtain from one pound of benzoin between nine me“
and twelve drachms of flowers. By lixiviation the’ 0 8*
quantity obtained was coniiderably lefs than the for¬
mer, owing to the faline particles being fo much cover¬
ed by the refin, that the Water could not have fuffi-
cient accefs to diffolve them all. It was next attempt- Attemptst©
ed to procure all the flowers which the benzoin was procure all
capable of yielding. This was firft done by boiling the flow-
pounded chalk and benzoin in water,, and then filter-S .tfie re-
ing the dccotftion; but no cryftals appeared. On pour- ^ "Yield¬
ing fome drops of vitriolic acid into the liquor, the fait in(r.
of benzoin foon afterwards precipitated (for this fait, 988
which is an acid, was united to the chalk) ; but the BoihnS
quantity of fait was no greater tkan that obtained by *
lixiviation. Alkaline ley was next tried, and the fo- *
lution faturated with an acid. Thus the fait of ben- And with
zoin was obtained by precipitation; but here this in- ‘•ikaiine
convenience was met with, that the powder of benzoin‘
ran together during the boiling, and floated on the
furface like a tenacious refin. One only method,.there- Boiling
fore, remained, to be tried, and that was to boil thewth lime-
benzoin with quick-lime ; and as the particles of lime,-,he heft
by interfperfing themfelves betwixt thofe of the ben- met
zoin, would prevent their running together, and lime
has likewife the property of a effing upon the refinouaf
particles, this feems to be the bell method of pro¬
curing the flowers of benzoin in the greateft quantity*
and alfo of the heft quality ; and thus we may obtain
from 12 to 14 drachms of flowers from a- pound of ^ ^r'
benzoin. Mr Scheele’s receipt for preparing them after fteeie’s
this new method, is as follows: “ Pour 12 ounces of receipt for
water upon four of unflaked lime, and after the ebul- rrePJnng
lition is over, add eight pounds (of 12 ounces each)
of water ; put then a pound of finely powdered refill by
of benzoin into a tinned pan, pour upon it firft about this rr.a-
fix ounces of the lime-water ahoVe mentioned; mix tbod.
them well together, and thus add aft the reft of the
lime-water in fucceffion- The reafon of adding the
lime-water thus by portions, is, that if it be poured in
all at once, it will not mix with the benzoin, which
will likewife coagulate and run together into a mafs.
This mixture mull be boiled over a gentle fire for half
an hour, agitating it conftantly ; then taking it from
the fire, let it Hand quiet for fome time to fettle, after
which the clear liquor is to be poured off into a glafs.
veffel. Pour then eight" pounds of water more upon
the lime in the veffel, and ufe this lime-water as before,,
repeating this procefs twice more, making four times.
3 ini
CHEMISTRY. Prance.
Flowers of in all; and laftly, putting all the refiduums together form; but when once produced, has the fame efiential Flowers of
Benzoin, on a filter, pour hot water upon them. During this qualities with the other ; whence it was naturally fup-®cnzoin*
fcc' procefs, the calcareous earth of the lime-water com- pofed, that all vegetable acids are at bottom the fame. c'
"ll" * bmes with the acid of benzoin, and feparates it from Chemifts, however, have been divided in their opinions ^
the refmous particles of this fubftance ; but a finall on this fubjeft; fome fuppofing that the acid of fugar or whether
quantity of refin is diffolved by the lime-water, and of tartar is the balls, and others that vinegar is the ba- the acid of
gives it a yellow colour. fis of them all. In proof of this latter hypothefis, itfuKaro/
« All thefe liquors being mixed together and boiled has been urged, that the acid of lemons may be cry-
down to two pounds, are then to be {trained into ano- llailized ; of which we have the following account in getnble
ther glafs veffel. They are infpiffated fo far, becaufe Scheele’s EiTays. “ The juice will not Ihoot into acids,
the fuptrfluous water would hold a great quantity of the cryllals by mere evaporation, even when thickened ^ 99^^
fait in folution ; and a little of the refin being foluble to the confiftence of a fyrup. This our author fuppo- ^tliod of
in a large quantity of lime-water, but not in a fmall, fed to proceed from the great quantity of mucilaginous ciythlii-
falls to the bottom on the liquor being infpiffated. matter with which.the juice abounds; for which rea-zing the a-
When the liquor has become cold, after being ftrained fon he mixed the infpifftted juice with ftrong fpirit ofc,cl of ie*
the lait time, add muriatic acid till the flowers be to- wine, which coagulated the whole : but even thus he1110118*
tally precipitated, which happens by reafon of the could obtain na cryftals by evaporation. He there*
ffronger attradtion of the marine acid for the calcare- fore employed the method ufed for procuring the pure
ous earth. The precipitated coagulum is then to be acid of tartar, and which is formerly defcribed. The
put upon a filter; and, after being well dried, to be lemon juice, while boiling, was faturated with pulve-
edulcorated fufficiently, by repeatedly pouring cold rifed chalk, and the compound immediately fell to the
water upon it, when it muff be dried with a gentle bottom,in a form nearly refembling tartarifed lime,
heat. As the water made ufe.of for this purpofe, how- To feparate the acid, a quantity of oil of vitriol, equal
 > is capable of diffclvipg a little of the fait of bes-
zoin, it ought to be evaporated, and afterwards fet to
cryftallize. In order to give this fait a fhining appear¬
ance, let it be diffolved in a fufficient quantity, fix
ounces, for inttance, of water by gentle:boiling; then
{train it immediately, while yet warm, through a cloth,
ight to the chalk employed, but diluted with ten
times, its weight of water was neceffary. This mixture
mail be boiied in a glafs yeffel for a few minutes ; and
when grown cold, the acid is to be feparated from the
gypfum by filtration. In order to cryitallize it, we mull
evaporate the whole to the confiftence of a thin fyrup;
into a glafs veffel which has been heated before ; and but great care is to be taken left any of the calcareous
thus a number of fine cryftals will.flioot as foon as the earth remain in the ^ evaporated liquor: to determine
folution is grown cold. The water is then to be which, a little of it is to be tried with frefh oil of vi-
ftrained ffrom the cryftals, and the reft of the fak fuf-
pended in. the water may be obtained by repeated eva¬
poration andcryftallization. In this method, however,
cryftal >
triol, which will throw down the remainder: and in
this cafe fome more muft be added to the whole quan¬
tity ; for the leaft particle of lime remaining prevents The ^
a great quantity of the flowers are loft by reafon of the cryftallization, while the fuperfluous quantity of lizutionprej
their volatility; it will therefore be more convenient oil of vitriol, if too much happens to be added, re-vented ^
, .i -i. - r r mains in the liquor. The cryftals fhoot equally wellof
in a hot as in a cold temperature, which is very urt- imw? ^ °
ufual.’,
It is very remarkable that this cryftallized fait ofsa!t.oflo
lemons cannot be converted into acid of fugar by mans can¬
to keep them in the form of their original precipitate,
which is always in fine powder. Cloth anfwers beft
for the filtration of the hot folution: when blotting
paper is ufed, the fait fometimes cryftallizes in the fil¬
ter,’and obftru&s it. The filtration itfelf might be . . „ .
omitted, were it not that about two grains of refin of means of that of nitre, though the extradl of the juice
benzoin remain united to the liquor, from whence it itfelf may. Sour cherries afford acid of fugar, and
ooa cannot be feparated but by the operation juft mention- another fait fuppofed to be tartar; and a kind of fu- gar.
•Flavour of ed.” - The properties of this fait as an acid are but gar may be obtained not only from roots of various
the flowers known. It has a moft agreeable flavour; which, kinds, but from fine raifins, and, as Dr Crell thinks,
maybe ta- however, ceafes as foon as it unites with calcareous from expreffed muft ; but whether the faccharine acid
and proriu- earth, but is .recovered again on being feparated by can be procured from this kind of fugar in equalquan-
ced at plea-any other acid. tity as from the common, or even whether it yields
fare. With regard to the other vegetable acids, they may the fame produfts with common fugar by dry diftilla-
be divided-into the effential, the fermented, and em- tion, as ftill a matter of doubt-
nnmalohis .   tj  _ • i ..r ^ 
vegetable ^ pyreumatic. The effential acids are pure,
acids how pjified in thofe of lemons, forrel, and forrel-dock ; or
divided. but little altered by the admixture of other matters,
r'nA as thofe of cherries, barberries, tamarinds, &c. In
fvveet fruits, they are generally fo much covered when
ripe as fcarce to be diftinguilhed : however, thefe la¬
tent acids become more evident, partly in fermentation,
and partly by dry diftillation. By the former method, all
flowers, excepting a few which bear cruciform flowers,
are made to yield vinegar; and by dry diftillation only
a very few yield a volatile alkali.
The acid which paffes over in dry diftillation is
exeni- Pure acid of tartar yields on diftillation per fe anProdu&of .
Of the ef-
. fentiai
acids.
995
Empyreu-
matic
empyreumatic acid, and a coal confiding of oi’y par-acid ofta
tides and calcareous earth. Dr Crell therefore afks,
May not the acetous acid be mere acid of tartar, which11 1
did not meet with alkaline fait and earth enough with
which it might combine and become more fixed ; but,
on the contrary, attracted more fubtile oily particles, roor
and thus became more vojatile ? In diftilling terra fo- Acetous
liata tartari in the dry way, the acid of vinegar which acld almo*
enters its c.ompofitipn is almoft entirely deftroyed,
only TToth of pure acid being obtained, the refiduum by
the retort, as well as the reft of that which comes
fcarce perceptible while the fubjed retains its natural over into the receiver, being entirely alkaline; and the
.N°73* 4
Practice.
C H E M
Identity of fame thing happens to the acid of tartar, the empy-
bk Acids'1" reumat*c ac^ above mentioned being extremely weak.
’ Mr Beaume likewife informs us, that if any calcareous
1 1 earth, egg-fhells, for inftance, be diffolved in vinegar,
and the cryllallized fait be diftilled, we obtain ^ of a
red and very fiery inflammable fluid, fmelling like em-
pyreumatic acetous ether, which reddens tin&ure of
turnfole. Muft, diftilled before fermentation, yields
only an empyreumatic acid refembling fpirit of tartar.
The conjecture therefore feems reafonable, that vine¬
gar and tartar have for their bafis the fame fpecies of
acid, which in the cafe of vinegar is combined with a
icoa greater proportion of oil, and in tartar with more
'Requifites earth. To bring vinegar therefore nearer the ftate of
for bring- tartar, we muft deprive it of its fine volatilizing phlo-
ing vinegar gifton, combine it with more fixed matter, and re-
nearer the fjore ;ts groffer 0J1. All this, however, is extremely
tar.6 ° tar difficult to be effe&ed. Mr Weftrumb, who attempt-
1003 ed it, added nitrous acid in various proportions, but
Mr Wef- could only produce a phlogiftication of the latter, and
unfwcef' dephlogiftication of the vinegar ; but as he could not
ful attempt, think of any method of feparating the two acids from
one another, he was unable to inveftigate the pro-
DrCfefl’s Perties of vinegar thus dephlogifticated. Dr Crell
opinion of is of opinion, that this might have been done by ve-
the pofTibi- getable alkali, lime, and terra penderofa. The ni-
tmnfmuta trous ac^» whh vegetable alkali, would have ftiot in-
tacn. to the ordinary hexangular cryftals of nitre : the ace¬
tous acid would have formed a compound not eafily
cryftallized, provided it had remained unchanged ; and,
though it had approached the nature of faccharirie.
acid, would ftill have formed a compound difficultly
cryftallizable. The effeCts of thefe acids, indeed, on
lime, are direCtly oppofite- to what they are on terra
ponderofa. With the former, nitrous acid forms a
liquor which can fcarce be cryftallized; with the lat¬
ter, it produces falls difficult to be diffolved: while
the acetous'acid, with terra ponderofa, forms deliquef-
cent falts ; with lime, fuch asefflorefee in the .air. But
if the vinegar, by means of the operation already men¬
tioned, had been made to , approach towards the na¬
ture of acid of fugar, tranfparent cryftaTs would im¬
mediately have fallen, by reafon of the ftrong attrac-
Method re- t^on °b this acid for lime. Dr Crell therefore recom-
-commended mends the following method. Let nitrous acid be fe-
by him for veral times diftilled off from vinegar; and when the
—^ t,n-° f°rmer> uPon being newly added, produces no more
ment. ** re<* vaP°urs, faturate the liquor with lime or terra
ponderofa, feparating the ley, which will not flioot,
from the cryftals. The nature of the fait which
does not contain nitrous acid, may be determined
from the figure of its cryftals, or from the effefts of
other falls in confequence of a double ele&ive at¬
traction. We might likewife add freffi nitrous acid
to the feparated fait, or to the whole mixture, with¬
out any feparatkm of the nitrous fait, till the earthy
fait, which does not contain any nifrous acid, be fatu-
rated. The vinegar, if unaltered by the operation,
would rife on diftilling the liquor; and if converted
into faccharine acid, would not be diflodged from lime
by fpirit of nitre. In like manner, diftilled vinegar
fhould be faturated with chalk, the compound redu¬
ced to cryftals, and then expofed to as ftrong a fire as
it «an bear without expelling the acid, in order to dif*
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. J13
fipate fome phlogiftic particles. Let it then be diffol- Identity of
ved, filtered, and cryftallized again; after which it^.lcYe?fta*
may be treated with nitrous acid as above directed. ^ c‘ s’
“ Perhaps (fays Dr Crell), the acetous acid may by    ■
this combination acquire more fixity; fo that the ni¬
trous acid fhall be able to produce a greater change.
Should it pafs over again in the form of acetous acid
’unchanged, let it be combined once more with calca¬
reous earth ; and let the foregoing experiment be re¬
peated, in order to try whether fome fenfible change
will not 'enfue. Should this method fail, .try the op¬
pofite ; that is, endeavour to add more grofs phlogi¬
ftic matter to the vinegar. Try to combine ftrong
vinegar, and that which has been diftilled, with unclu-
ous oils. Thus we, might perhaps bring it nearer to
tartar; and, again, by means of nitrous acid, convert it
into acid of fugar. IO05
In another differtation on this fubjeft, Dr Crell His at-
undertakes to fhow, that all the vegetable acids may ^mpts to
be converted into one, and that this is contained in aiuh^ve-
the pureft fpirit pf wine. The following are adduced getable a-
as proofs. cids may
1. If the refiduum of dulcified fpirit of nitre be!)C rcduc«<I
boiled with a large quantity of nitrous acid, care be- ° °^7
ing taken at the fame time to condenfe the vapours by From the
a proper apparatus; and if the liquid which has paf-refiduum of
fed over be faturated with vegetable alkali, nitre and^a,?fi^-
terra foliata tartari will be obtained; and on feparating jf-'J.g '"
the latter by means of fpirit of wine, the vinegar may
be had in the ordinary way of decompofing the fait.
2. On boiling the refiduum over again with nitrous
acid, the fame produ&s are obtained; and the more
frequently this procefs is repeated, the lefs acid of fu¬
gar is procured, until at length no yeftige of it is to
be met with. 10og
3. Pure acid of fugar, bpiled with 12 or 14 times its From -
quantity of nitrous acid, is entirely decompofed, and ticfomFft“
the receiver is found to contain phlogifticated nitrous ’ £ j- .
acid, vinegar, fixed air, and-phlogifticated air, while gar.
a little calcareous earth remains in the retort.
4. Acid of fugar is likewife decompofed by boiling
with fix times its quantity of vitriolic acid. In the
receiver we find vinegar, phlogifticated vitriolic acid, 1009 .
aerial acid; while pure vitriolic acid remains in the From tae
retort. of'acd^'f”
5. By faturating the refiduum of dulcified fpirit of tartar from
nitre with chalk, there is formed an infoluble fait, the rcfi-
which by treatment with vitriolic acid yields a realduum of
acid of tartar, conftituting a cream of tartar with veT
getable alkali. ^..rc.
6. On evaporating the liquor from which the tar- 1010
tareous felenite was obtained, a dark-coloured matter Fn,m
remains, yielding on diftillation an empyreumatic acid , Ion
of tartar, and a fpongy coa!(, Hence it would feem, reumatic
that fpirit of wine confifts of acid of tartar, of water, arid of tar-
and phlogifton ; fo that it is a native dulcified acid : tftr F',;m
and nitrous acid, on being mixed with it in moderate
quantity, diflodges the acid of tartar. On the addi- tartarous ’
tion ©f more nitrous acid, the acid of tartar is refol- felri.ite is
ved into acid of fugar and phlogifton; and bv a ftillhohed. ^
greater addition, the faccharine acid is changed into FromVh#
vinegar. _ , ; ■ . fohmonbf
7. On boiling one part of acid of fugar with one man^anefe
and an half of manganefe and a fufficient quantity of
3 T nitrous rift Jit4'
C H E M I
nitrous acid, the manganefe will be almoft entirely dif-
folved, and phlogifticated nitrous acid along with vine¬
gar will pafs over into the receiver.
8. On boiling together acid of tartar, manganefe,
and nitrous acid, we obtain a folution of the manga¬
nefe, with phlogiilicated nitrous acid and vinegar as be¬
fore.
9. If acid of tartar be boiled along with vitriolic
acid and manganefe, the latter will be diffolved, and vine¬
gar with vitriolic acid will pafs over into the re¬
ceiver.
10. On digeftihg acid of tartar and fpirit of wine
for feveral months, the whole is converted into vine¬
gar ; the air in the velfel being partly converted into
cretaceous acid, and partly into phlogifticated air.
11. On boiling fpirit of wine w7ith vitriolic acid and
manganefe, it will be converted into vinegar and phlo¬
gifticated air.
12. By diftilling fpirit of wine upwards of 20 times
from cauftic alkali, it was changed into vinegar, and
a confiderable quantity of water was obtained.
Hence it appears, fays Dr Crell, that the acids of
tartar, fugar, and vineg'ar, are modifications of 'the
fame acid, as it contains more or lefs phlogifton. The
acid of tartar has the greateft quantity, the acid of
fugar fomewhat lets, and vinegar the leait of all. In
thefe experiments, however, care muft be taken that
neither the'nitrous acid nor fixed alkali employed con¬
tain any marine acid, otherwife the refults will be un¬
certain.
$ 18. Of the Acid of Fat.
This may be obtained from fuet by means of
many repeated diftillations. A fmall quantity is fepa-
rated at each diftillation ; but by diftilling the empy-
reumatic oil into which the fuet is thus converted over
and over, a frelh quantity is always obtained. The
acid of fat in fome refpefts has a refemblance to that
of fea-falt; but in others is much more like the vege¬
table kind, as being deftru&ible in a ftrong fire, form¬
ing compounds which do not deliquefee with calcare-
36 1015 ous eart:^> an<^ uniting intimately with oily fubftances.
Its efleets With alkalies it forms falts entirely different from thofe
on alkalies, yielded by the other acids; with the volatile alkali,
&Cl particularly, it produces a concrete volatile fait. When
faturated with calcareous earth, it yields brown cry-
ilals; and a fait of the fame kind was obtained by Dr
Crell from a mixture of quicklime and fuet diltilled to
~ drynefs, and boiling up the refiduum with water. The
cryftals were hexagonal, and terminated by a plane
furface ; their tafte was acrid and faltifh ; they did
not deliquefee in the air, and were eafily and copioufly
diffblved in water. With magnefia and earth of alum
a gummy mafs is obtained, which refufes to cryftal-
OnVetak. With regard to the metals, Dr Crell informs us,
that the acid of fat copioufly diffolves manganefe into
a clear and limpid liquor. It diffolves the precipitate
of cobalt, but not the regulus. White arfenic is ail¬
ed upon but fparingly, and nickel not at all, though
it forms a green folution with the precipitate from ni¬
trous acid. Regulus of antimony, by the affiftance
of heat, is diffolved into a clear liquor, which be¬
came milky in the cold; it cryftallized on evaporation,
From the
folution of
the fame
With vitri¬
olic acid
and that of
tartar.
1013
From the
diyeftion of
acid of tar¬
tar with
fpirit of
ICI4
From the
folution of
olic acid
and fpirit
of wine,
10*5,
Fiom the
diftillation
of fpirit of
wine with
cauftic al¬
kali.
id 10X5
Flow pro¬
cured.
S T R Y. Pratfice,
and did not deliquate in the air. Zinc readily dif- Fixed Alka-
folved, and imparted a peculiar metallic tafte, falling
to the bottom in the form of a white powder on the combina-
addition of an alkali. Bifmuth in the metallic ftate t ons,
was not diffolved ; but the precipitate was. It a died  ^
upon mercury after being twice diflilled from it, and
poured afrefh upon the metal. The mercury could
not be entirely precipitated by common fait. It ailed
more vigoroufly upon a precipitate from corrofive fub-
limate ; from the folution of which a white fublimate
was obtained after the liquor had been drawn off by
diftillation. A gold-coloured folution was obtained
from platina by diftilling the acid from it to drynefs,
and then pouring it back again ; the precipitate of
this metal from aqua-regia by fpirit of wine was dif¬
folved in great abundance. Iron was very eafily dif¬
folved in it, and exhibited a liquor of an aftringent
tafte, which fhot into needle-like cryflals that did not
deliquefee in the air. Lead was corroded, and ren*-
dered the acid turbid. Minium was converted into a
white powder, and then difiblved with greater eafe.
The folutidn has a fweet tafte, and cannot be precipi¬
tated by fea-falt. Tin was corroded into a yellow calx,
and diffolved but in very fmall quantity. Copper was
diffclved, even in the cold, into a green liquor ; but
the folution was greatly promoted by heat. On eva¬
poration it fhowed fome difpofition to cryftallize, but
again attratiled moiflure from the air. Sdver-leaf was
attacked only in a very fmall degree ; however, fome
was precipitated by means of copper, and the marine
acid rendered the liquor turbid. The calx precipitated
from aquafortis was diffolved more copioufly. Silver
was precipitated of a white colour from aquafortis by
the pure acid itfelf, as well as by its ammoniacal fait.
Half an ounce of the acid diftilled four times almoft
to drynefs from fome gold leaves, and at length pour¬
ed back upon them, the precipitate of a dilute folu¬
tion of tin obtained by it, gained only a faint colour,
rather inclining to fed ; but a mixture of two parts of
acid with due of aquafortis, diffolved gold very rea¬
dily.
§ Of Fixed Alkaline Saits.
iot6
Of thefe there are two kinds; the vegetable and How pro¬
mineral. The former is never found by itfelf, and but cured,
rarely in combination with any acid; but is always
prepared from the afhes of burnt vegetables. It is
got in the greateft quantity from crude tartar; from
which, if burned with proper care and attention, we
may obtain one pound of alkali out of 2 of the tar¬
tar. The latter is found native in fome parts of the
earth. It is likewife found in very large quantities
combined with the marine acid, in the waters of the
ocean, and in the bowels of the earth; thus forming
the common alimentary fait. It is alfo produced from
the afhes of certain fea-plants, and of the plant called
kali; from whence both the mineral and vegetable al¬
kalies have taken their name.
The vegetable alkali difficultly affumes a cryftalline vegetable
form; nevcrthelefs, it may be partially united with alkali cry-
fome acids in fuch a manner as to cryftallize, and lofe ftallizeJ.
its property of deliquating in the air, without, at the
fame time, ceafing to be an alkali. Of this we have
an example in the acid of ants above mentioned. Some¬
thing
Pra&ice.
C H E M
Fixed Atka- thing of the fame kind we have obferved in treating
and their vegetabfc fixed alkali with fpirit of wine. A gallon
Combina- PrettY ftrong fpirit of wine being drawn over from
tions. a pound of fait of tartar* a black unftuous liquor was
c—v  left, which fliot into cryftals very much refembling vi-
triolated tartar, and which did not deliquate in the
air, but were neverthelefs ftrongly alkaline. Dr Black,
however, informs us, that the vegetable alkali may be
fiiot into fine cryftals; but which cannot be preferved,
on account of their great attraction for moifture, un-
lefs clofely ftnit up from the air. They have not fuch
a quantity of water as to undergo the aqueous fulion.
The mineral alkali in its natural ftate always affumes
a cryftalline form, fomewhat refembling that of fal
mirabile. It does not deliquate in the air, nor does it
feem to have fo ftrong an attraction for water, even
when in its moil cauftic ftate, as tlie vegetable alkali:
hence mineral alkali is preferable to it in making foap,
1018 whieh is always of a firmer confiftence with mineral
Change on than with vegetable alkali. If vegetable alkali iscom-
the vege- bined with fpirit of fait, fome change feems to be
table alkali, thereby induced upon it; as the fait produced by ex¬
pelling the marine acid by means of the vitriolic, and
then cryftallizing the mafs, cryftallizes differently from
vitriolated tartar. Whether the vegetable alkali might
by this means be entirely converted into the mineral,
deferves a further inquiry.
Difference Both mineral and vegetable alkalies, when applied
between to the tongue, have a very {harp, pungent, and uri-
vegetable nous tafte; but the vegetable confiderably more fo than
ralalkalies rn’nerah They both unite with acids, and form
different neutral falts with them: but the vegetable al¬
kali feems to have rather a greater attraclion for acids
than the other; although this difference is not fo great
as that a neutral fait, formed by the union of mineral
alkali with any acid, can be perfe&ly decompofed by
an addition of the vegetable alkali, unlefs in confider-
1020 able excefs.
Compofrd Both vegetable and mineral alkali appear to be
of a cauft'c compofed of an exceedingly cauftic fait united with'a
fait and fix-certain quantity of fixed air This may be increafed fo
ed air. £ar^ as to majie the vegetable alkali affume a cryftalline
form, and lofe great part of its alkaline properties: but
as the adhefion of great part of this air is very flight, it
eafily feparates by a gentle heat. Some part, however,
is obftinately retained ; and. the alkali cannot be de¬
prived of it by themoft violent caicination/erye. The
only method of depriving it entirely of its fixed air is,
by mixing an alkaline folution with quicklime.
Fixed Alkalies combined,
1021
Hqrar ful- 1. /Frffi Sulphur. The produce of this is the red
I U11S’ fetid compound called hepar fulpburij, or liver of ful-
phur. It may be made by melting fulphur with a
gentle heat, and ftirring into it, while melted, four
times its weight of dry alkaline fait. The whole
readily melts and forms a red mafs of a very fetid
fmell, and which deliquates in the air. If fulphur is
boiled in a folution of fixed alkaline fait, a like com¬
bination will take place.
In this procefs, when the hepar is made either in
the dry or the moift way, the fixed air of the alkali is
difeharged, according to Dr Prieftley’s obfervation.
Neither- does a fixed alkali, when combined with fixed
air, feem capable of uniting with fulphur; nor will
I S T R Y. 515
the union be accomplifhed withdut heat, unlefs the al- Fixed Aika-
kali is already in a cauftic ftate. Hence a cold folution fi”®
of hepar fulphuris may be decompounded, partly at Comluna
leaft, by fixed air. On adding an acid, however, the tions.
decompofition takes place much more rapidly; and the -—•——'
fulphur is precipitated to the bottom, in form of a „ IOil
white powder. . Dccom^..
During the precipitation of the fulphur from an al¬
kali, by means of acids, a thick white fmoke arifes, of
a moft fetid fmell and fuffocating nature. It burns
quietly, without explofion, on a candle’s being held in
it. Calces of filver, lead, iron, or bifmuth, are ren- I0I,
dered black by it. Hence, if any thing is wrote with Inflamriia-
a folution of lead, and a folution of hepar fulphuris is We vapour
pafl'ed Over it when dry, the writing, formerly invifible,‘n tIle j!e'
will immediately appear of a blackilh brown colour. ti0n of Tt.
Silver, in its metallic ftate, is prodigioufly blackened
either by the contaft of this vapour, or by being im-
merfed in a folution of the hepar fulphuris itfelf. Li¬
tharge is inftantly reftored to its metallic ftate, on
being immerfed even in a cold folution of hepar ful-
phuris. _ . 1024
By being united with an alkali, the acid of fulphur Phlniriftcm
feems very much difpofed to quit the phlogifton. If a °f fi'lpliur
folution of hepar fulphuris is expofed to the air for d,uffto
fome time, it is fpontaneoufly decompofed ; the phlo- *
gifton of the fulphur flying off, and the acid remaining
united with the alkali into a vitriolated tartar. This
decompofition takes place fo remarkably, when liver
of fulphur is diffolved in water, that, by a fingle eva¬
poration to drynefs, it will be almoft totally changed
into vitriolated tartar. If this fubftance, in a dry ftate,
be expofed to a moderate degree of heat, and the mafs
kept eonftantly ftirring, a like decompofition will fol¬
low ; the phlogifton of the fulphur will fly off, and the
acid unite with the alkali. 1025
Liver of fulphur is a great folvent of metallic mat- Metals and
ters ; all of which, except zinc, it attacks, particular- charcoal
ly in fufion. It feems to diffolve gold more effebtu-
ally than other metals This compound alfo diffolve* y
vegetable coals, even by the humid way ; and thefe
folutions, if fuffered to ftand in the open air, always
precipitate a black powder, no other than the coal
they had diffolved, in proportion to the quantity of
hepar fulphuris decompofed. When vegetable coal is
thus diffolved by liver of fulphur in fufion, it is of a
much deeper red than in its natural ftate. The folu¬
tion in water is of a green colour, ,
II. With Exprejfed Oils. The refult of this combi- goap,
nation is foap; for the preparation of which in large
quantities in the way of trade, fee Soap. The foap
which is ufed in medicine is prepared without heat,
in the following manner, according to the author of
the Chemical Di&ionary.
“ One part of quicklime, and two parts of good
Spanifti foda (the fait prepared from the allies of the
herb kali), are boiled together during a ftiort time in '
an iron caldron. This lixivium is to be filtered, and
evaporated by heat, till a phial, capable of containing
an ounce of water, {hall contain an ounce and 216
grains of this lixivium. One part of this lixivium is
to be mixed with two parts of oil of olives, or of fweet
almonds, in a glafs or ftone-ware veffel. The mixture
foon becomes thick and white; and muft be ftirred
from time to time with an iron fpatula. The combi-
3 T 2 nation
5i6 C H E M
Fixed Alka- nation is gradually completed, and in feven or eight
and fheir a ver^ w^^te an<^ ^rm ^oaP obtained.”
Combina- ^-n attempting combinations of this kind, it is abfo-
tions. ' \ lutely neceffary that the alkali be deprived of its fixed
‘■"“"“v—air as much as poflible ; otherwife the foap will be
quite undtuous and foft: for fixed alkalies have a great¬
er attra&ion for fixed air than for oil, and hence foap
is decompounded by blowing fixed air into a folution
of it in water. It may be made either with tallow,
wax, fpermaceti, butter of coeoa, the coarfer refinous
1027 fubftances, or animal oils.
Starkey’s III. With EJj'cntial Oils. The volatility of thefe oils
foap. m a great meafure hinders them from being added upon
by alkalies : neverthelefs, combinations of this kind
have been attempted ; and the compounds fo produced
have been called Starkey's foap, from one Starkey a
chemift, who endeavoured to volatilize fait of tartar by
Combining it with oil of turpentine. His method was
to put dry fait of tartar into a matrafs, and pour upon-
it effential oil of turpentine to the height, of two or
three fingers breadth. In five or fix months, a part
of the alkali and oil were combined into a white fa-
• ponaceous compound. This muft be feparated from
the mixture, and more of it will afterwards be formed
by the fame method.
Chemills, imagining this foap to be poiTeffed of con-
fiderable medical virtues, have endeavoured by various
methods to Ihorten this tedious procefs. Of thefe one
of the mod expeditious is that recommended by Mr
Beaume; which confifts in triturating, for a long time,
alkaline fait upon a porphyry, and adding oil of tur¬
pentine during the trituration. According to him, the
thick refinoHS part of the oil only can combine with
the fait; and, during the time this combination is ef¬
fected, the more fubtile and attenuated parts will fly
off. Hence he finds that the operation is confider
rably abridged by the addition of a little turpentine or
common foap. The moil expeditious of all, how¬
ever, is that mentioned by Dr Lewis; which confifts
in heating the alkali red hot, and then throwing it
into oil of turpentine, ftirring them well together ;
on which they immediately unite into a faponaceous
mafs.
This kind of foap is fubjeCt to great alterations from
keeping ; particularly the lofs of its colour, and a kind
of decompofition bccafioned by the extraction of an
acid from the oil of turpentine, which unites with the
alkali, and cryltallizes not only all over the furface,
but in the very fubftance of the foap. The nature of
this fait is unknown, but certainly deferves confideraT
tion.
Ph'cxHVca IV- With Phlogijlon. This combination is effected
ted alkalies* ky calcining them, with the charcoal either of vege¬
table or animal matters. The confequence is, that
they are greatly altered in their properties; fometimes
fo much as to be enabled to precipitate calcareous earths
from their Solutions in acids. Metallic folutions pre¬
cipitated by them in this ftate, affume different colours.
Differences obferved between Fixed Alkalies obtain¬
ed from different Vegetables.
Thefe differences we muft conceive to arife from
. fome proportion of the oily and phlogiftic matter of
the vegetable remaining in the afhes from whence the
felts are extracted ; for when reduced to their utmoft
I S T R Y. Pratflice;
purity, by repeated calcinations in a ftrong' fire, and F *ed Alka.
deliquations in the air, all of them, the marine alkaliiin®
excepted, appear to be the very fame. wimbina-
On this fubjeCt Mr Gmelin has given a great num- tions.
ber of experiments in the fifth volume of the Com- —v-—1
mentaria Petropolitana; and found very confiderable 1OJ9-
differences, not only between the alkaline felts, but ^ ^me-
likewife the pure vegetable earths obtained from dif-
ferent vegetables by burning. The felts of the feveral
plants examined were prepared with great care, and all
of them exaftly in the fame manner; each vegetable be¬
ing burnt in a feparate crucible, with the feme degree
of fire, till no remains of coaly matter could any longer
be perceived ; and the allies elixated in glafs veffels
with cold diftilled water. The felts, thus obtained,
were found to produce different colours on mixture
with certain liquors, and to effervefee in very diffe¬
rent degrees with acids: certain metallic folutions
were by fome precipitated, by others only rendered
thicker, by others both precipitated and rendered
thick ; whilft fome occafioned neither the one nor the
other of thefe changes, but left the fluid Hear and
tranfparent. Thus, with the vitriolic acid, the felts
of fouthernwood and fage ftruck a pale brown colour;
thofe of pine-tops and rue, a yellow; that of fern, a
reddilh yellow; and that of fanicle, a dark leek-green :
that of dill yielded a leek-green precipitate, with ele¬
gant green flakes floating in the liquor. This laft
felt alfo gave a greenifn precipitate with the marine
acid, and a red one with the nitrous. Solution of
corrofive fublimate was changed yellow by felt of
fouthernwood; of a brownifh colour, by that of coh’s-
foot; of a deep red, by that of wormwood ; and of a
pitch-colour, by that of dill. That of fern threw down
an opal-colour; of fage, a fulphur-yellow; of elder
flowers, a citron yellow; of fenicle, a faffron colour ;
and of milfoil, a deep-red precipitate. From folution
of filver, felt of carduus benedidus threw down a white ;
of camomile, a grey ; of hyfop, a brownifli; of dill, a
blackifh brown; of fcabious, a yellovyifh ; and that of
pine-tree tops, a fulphur yellow precipitate. Solution
of vitriol of copper was changed by felt of fouthern¬
wood to a bright fea-green; by that of dill, to an \\n-
fi^htly green; of agrimony, to a greeniih blue; and by
that of milfoil, to a bright iky-blue : the fait of pen¬
ny-royal made the liquor thick as well as blue, and
that of feverfew made it thick and green : the felt of
hyffop threw down a green precipitate, that offeurvy-
grafs a blue one, and that of fumitory a greeniih blue :
whilft the felt of fern made fcarcely any change either
in the colour or confiftency of the liquor.
§, 19.' Of Volatile Alkali. .
This is a kind of felt obtained from all animal,
fome vegetable, fubftances, from foot by diftilla- obtained,
tion with a ftrong heat, and from all vegetable fub¬
ftances by putrefaction. Though a volatile alkali is
procurable from all putrid animal fubftances by di-
ftillation, yet the putrefactive procefs does not teem
to prepare volatile alkali in all of thefe. Putrid urine,
indeed, contains a great quantity of alkali ready form¬
ed, whence its ufe in fcouring, lAc. but the cafe is
not fo with putrid blood or flefn. Thefe afford no a!-.
kali till after the phlegm has arifen; and this they
would
Praflice. C H E M
Volatile would do, though they had not been putrefied. Ac-
cording to Mr Wiegleh, volatile alkali is found in
nations1 U* Unieftone, lapis fuillus, chalk, marble, coals, turf,
i—loam, clay, and many other kinds of earth. Its exiil-
ence in thefe fubftances may be difcovered merely by
diftilling them with a brifk fire, but Hill better by the
addition of fome quantity of fixed alkali or quicklime
before the diftillation. — It has even been found in all
mineral falts and their acids, as vitriol, nitre, com¬
mon fait, and the acid liquors drawn from thefe fub-
" fiances, alfo in gypfum and fulphur; from all which
it may be feparated by means of quicklime.—In the
vegetable kingdom it is produced by dry diftillation
from muftard-feed, elder flowers and leaves ; the leaves
of the wild cherry tree, white water-lilies, tobacco,
' and fage; as well as from many other plants. Ac¬
cording to our author, the plaineft proof of its exill-
ing almoft univerfally in the vegetable^ kingdom, is,
that the fgot of our chimneys affords a volatile alkali
by dillillation, either with or without quicklime.
Volatile alkali, when pure, appears of a fhowy
whitenefs; has a very pungent fmell, without any dif-
agreeable empyreuma; is very eafily evaporaWe, with¬
out leaving any refiduum; effervefces with acids much
more ftrongly than fixed alkali; and forms with them
neutral compounds called ammoniacal falts, which we
have already defcribed, and which are different ac¬
cording to the nature of the acid made ufe of; for all
volatile alkalies, when perfectly purified, appear to be
the very fame, without the fmalleft difference.
Like fixed alkalies, thefe falts contain a great quan¬
tity of fixed air, on which their folidity depends;
and which may be fo increafed as perfectly to neu¬
tralize, and deprive them of their peculiar tafte and
fmell. When neutralized by fixed air, they have a
very agreeable pungent tafte, fomewdiat refembling
that of weak fermenting liquors. When totally de¬
prived of fixed air, by means of lime, they cannot be re¬
duced to a folid form; but are diffipated in an invifible
and exceedingly pungent vapour, calkd by Dr Prieflrey
alkaline air. When volatile alkaline fait is diffolved -
in water, the folution is called a volatile alkaline fpirit. •
Diftillation and Purification of Volatile Alkalies.
1031 * The materials moft commonly ufed for preparing vo-
Dift'fling Puile alkalies are the folid parts of animals, as bones,
veflel, and , „ , r , r . . r,
method of horns, l5c. I hefe are to be put into ap iron pot of the
performing fhape recommended for folution; to thismuft be fitted a
the opera- f]at head, having a hole in the middle about two inches
bon' diameter. From this a tubeofplate-ironmuftifliie,which
is to be bent in fuch a manner that the extremity of it
may enter an oil jar, through an hole made in its up¬
per part, and dip about half an inch under ibme water
placed in the lower part. The mouth of the jar is to be
fitted with a cover, luted on very exactly; and having
a fmall hole, which may be occafionally flopped with
a wooden peg. The junctures are to be all luted as
clofe as poflible, with a mixture of clay, fand, and
fome oil; and thofe which are not expofed to a burn¬
ing heat, may be further fecured by quicklime and
the white of an egg, or by means of glue. A fire be¬
ing now kindled, .the air contained in the diftilling
veflel is firft expelled, which is known by the bubbling
of the water; and to this vent muft be given by pull¬
ing out the wooden peg. A confiderable quantity of
phlegm will then come over, along with fome volatile
I S T R Y. 517
alkali, a great quantity of fixable air, and fonts oil. Volatile
The alkali will unite with the water, and likewife
fome part of the fixed air, the oil fwimming above.
A great many incoerciblc vapours, however, will —v *
come over, to which vent muft be given from time to
time, by pulling out the peg. The diftillation is to
be continued till all is come over; which may be
known by the ceffation, or very flow bubbling of the
water. The iron-pipe muft then be feparated from
the cover of the diftilling veffel, left the liquid in the
jar fhould return into it, on the air being condenfed
by its cooling. In the jar will be a volatile fpirit,
more or lefs ftrong according as there was lefs or more
water put in, with an exceedingly fetid black oil float-,
ing upon it. 1032.
The rectification of the volatile alkali is moft com- Kedbika-
modioufly performed at once by combining it with antlon‘
acid ; and, as fpirit of fait has the leaft affinity with
inflammable matter, it is to be chofen for this pur-
pofe, in preference to the vitriolic or nitrous. As
the fpirit is exceffively oily, though already much
weakened by the admixture of the water in the jar,
if a very large quantity was not originally put in, an
equal quantity of water may Hill be added, on draw¬
ing off the fpirit. That as little may be loft as pof-
fible, the fpirit ffiould be received in a ftone bottle
and the marine acid, likewife in a diftilled ftate, add¬
ed by little and little, till the effervefcence ceafes. The
liquor, which is now an impure folution of fal ammo¬
niac, is to be left for fome time, that the oil m<ty fe-
parate itfelf; it is then to be filtered, evaporated, and
cryftallized in a leaden veffel. If the cryftals are not
fufficiently pure at the firft, they will eafily become
fo on a fecond difiblution. 1033
From fal ammoniac thus obtained pure, the volatile Volaule fat
alkali may be extricated by diftillation with chalk, al-anunaluac.
kaline falts, or quicklime. Alkaline falts aft more
brifkly than chalk, and give a much ftronger volatile
alkali. The ftrength of this, however, we know
may be altered at pleafure, by adding to, or depriving
it of, its natural quantity of fixed air. Hence, per¬
haps, the beft method would be, to prepare volatile
alkalies altogether in a fluid ftate, by means of quick¬
lime ; and then add fixed air to them, by means of
an apparatus fimilar to that direfted by Dr Pricftley ,
for impregnating water with fixed air. To prevent
lime from adhering to the diftilling veffels in which it
is put, the tranflator of Wiegleb’s chemiftry recom¬
mends the putting in three ov four ounces.of common
fait along with the other ingredients.
Volatile alkalies combined, I0,^
L With Metals. There are only three metals, vi%. Cuprum^
copper, iron, and lead,, upon which, , while in their ° u“‘*
metallic form, volatile alkalies are capable of acting.
Copper-filings are diffolved by volatile alkali,. efpecial-
ly in its cauftic ftate, into a liquor of a moft admi¬
rable blue colour. It is remarkable, that this colour
depends entirely upon the air having accefs to the fo¬
lution : for if the bottle containing it is clofe ftopt,
the liquor becomes colourlefs ; but,- however, refumes
its blue colour on being expofed to the air. On eva¬
poration, a blue faline mafs is obtained, which, mix¬
ed with. fats, or others inflammable matters, tinges
their flame green, leaving a red calx of copper, fa¬
llible again in volatile fpirits asat firft. This faline fub-
ftance.
5*3
CHEMISTRY.' Pradice.
Volatile-
Alkali and
its Combi-
tingi
Sal volatile
olcofum.
ftance has been received into the laft edition of the E-
dinburgh Difpcnfatory, under the name of cuprum am-
moniacale, as an antiepileptic. -
The blue mixture of folution of copper, in aquafortis
with volatile, fpirits, yields .fapphire-coloured cryftals,
which diffolve in fpirit of wine, and impart their co¬
lour to it. If, inltead of cryftallization, the liquor
be totally evaporated, the remaining dry matter ex¬
plodes, in a moderate heat, like aurum fulminans.
This is given as a fadl by Dr Lewis; but hath not fuc-
ceeded upon trial by Dr Black. Various phenomena,
lays Mr Wiegleb, occur in the diffolution of copper
by the volatile alkali.—On faturating dilute fpirit of
fal ammoniac with copper-filings, cryflals are formed
of a dark-blue colour, but which, by expofure to the
air, fall to pieces and become green. Vinous fpirit
of fal ammoniac impregnated with copper, lofes in an
inftant its blue colour, on the affufion of an equal
quantity of faturated folution of fixed alkaline fait.
The copper is then taken up by the fixed alkaline
folution, which of confequence acquires a blue colour,
while the fpirit of wine, deprived of the metal, floats
clear on the top. When filings of copper are put into
a bottle, and that bottle quite filled with cauftic vola¬
tile alkali, and is immediately flopped up, no folution
takes place : but when the bottle is left open, only
for a fhort time, or an empty fpace is left in it, a
colourlefs folution is obtained, which in the air ob¬
tains a blue colour; but which may be deprived of
this colour as often as we pleafe, by fluitting it up ex¬
actly from the air, and letting it Hand, in this fitua-
tion, on frefli filings of copper.—From thefe pheno¬
mena Mr Wiegleb concludes, that copper does not
diffolve in volatile alkali until it has lofl part of its
phlogiflon, to which the air, by the attraction it ex¬
erts upon it, contributes its fhare. If this has taken
place only in a fmall proportion, and the farther ac-
cefs of air be prevented, the remainder will be dif-
folved without any colour; which, however, appears
in the inftant that, by a frefh ‘ acceffion of air, the
phlogiftori flill remaining finds means to efcape. The
diffolved copper is always precipitated when the fo¬
lution meets with phlogifticated copper. The colour¬
lefs folution is precipitated by zinc and vitriolic acid,
but not by iron. It tafles rather fweet, and does not
fmell very flrong of volatile alkali; while, on the con¬
trary, the blue folution has a pungent fmell, and is
precipitated by diftilled water.
On the other two metals the aclion of volatile alkali
is by no means fo evident; it diflblves iron very flowly
into a liquor, the nature of which is not known; and
lead is corroded by it into a mucilaginous fubflance.
II. With Inflammable Subflances. With exprefled
oils, the cauflic volatile alkali unites into a foft unc¬
tuous mafs, of a very white colour, imperfeftly fo-
luble in water, and which is foon decompofed fpon-
taneoufly. Compofitions of this kind are frequently
ufed for removing pains, and fometimes with fuccefs.
With effential oils, volatile alkalies may be united,
either in their dry or liquid form, by means of diflilla-
tion. The produce is called fal volatile oleofum ; it is
much more frequently ufed in a liquid than in a dry
form. The general method of preparation is by di-
flilling volatile alkali along with effential oils and fpi¬
rit of wine, or the aromatic fubflances from whence
the efiential oils are drawn. Thefe compofitions are Volatile
variable at pleafure ; but certain forms are laid down
in the difpenfatories, with which it is expedted that allnati0nS.
the chemifts fhould comply in the preparation of thefe 
medicines.
III. Eau de Luce. This is the name given t0 an snvo-
exceedingly volatile fpirit, which fume years ago was ia;ii;3 fucci-
pretty much in vogue; and indeed feems very wellnatus.
calculated co anfwer ail the purpofes for which volatile
alkalies can be ufed. It was of a thick white colour,
and frnelled fomewhat of oil of amber. A receipt ap¬
peared in Lewis’s Difpenfatory for the preparation of
this fluid, under the name of fpirit us volatilis fuccinatus.
The method there diredled, however, did not fucceed ;
beeaufe, though the alkaline fpiritps capable of keeping
a fmall quantity of oil of amber fufpended, the colour
is greatly more dilute than that of genuine eau de luce.
In the Chemical Didlionary we have the following re¬
ceipt: “ Take four ounces of re&ified fpirit of wine,
and in it diffolve 10. or i 2 grains of white foap ; filter
this folution; then diffolve in it a drachm of redtified oil
of amber, and filter again. Mix as much of this folu¬
tion with the (trongeii volatile fpirit of fal ammoniac,
as will be fufficient, when thoroughly fhaken, to give it
a beautiful milky appearance. If upon its furface be
formed a cream, fome more of the oily fpirit mull be
added.”
This receipt likewife feems infufficient. For the oil
of amber does not diffolve in fpirit of wine: neither
is it probable that the fmall quantity of foap made ufe
of could be of any fervice ; for the foap would diffolve
perfedlly in the alkaline fpirit, without fuffering any
decompofition. The only method which we have
found to anfwer is the following. Take an ounce, or
any quantity at pleafure, of balfamum Canadenfe ; place
it in a fmall china bafon, in a pan of boiling water, and
keep it there till a drop of it taken out appears of a
refinous confrllence when cold. Extradt a tindlure
from this refin with good fpirit of wine; and having
impregnated your volatile fpirit with oil of amber, la¬
vender, or any other effential oil, drop in as much of
the fpiritous tindlure as will give it the defired colour.
If the volatile fpirit is very llrong, the eau de luce will
be thick and white, like the cream of new milk ; nor is
it fubjedl to turn brown with keeping.
IV. With Volatile TinSure of Suiphur. This is a Vohni'le alj
combination of the caultic volatile alkali, or fpirit kali com-
of fal ammoniac, with fulphur. It is ufually di- fined with
redled to be made by grinding lime with the ful-
phur, and afterwards writh the fal ammoniac, and di-
Itilling the whole in a retort; but the produce is by
this method very fmall, and even the fuccefs uncer¬
tain. A preferable method feems to be, to impreg¬
nate the ftrongeff cauftic volatile fpirit with the va¬
pour which arifes in the decompofition of hepar ful-
phuris by means of an acid, in the fame manner as
diredted for impregnating water with fixed air. 1039
This preparation has a moll naufeous fetid fmcll,
which fpreads to a confiderable dillance ; and the ef- t‘c 111 *
fluvia will blacken filver or copper, if barely placed in
the neighbourhood of the unltopped bottle. This
property renders it capable of forming a curious kind
of fympathetic ink ; for if paper is wrote upon with
a folution of faccharum faturni, the writing, which
difappears when dry, will appear legible, and of a
browmlh
1
Pra&ice, C H E M
Phenomena brown I fh black, by barely bolding it near the mouth
from mix- 0f tjje bottle containing volatile tinfture of fulphur.
" r-^e vaP0Urs t^1’s tindure are fo exceedingly pe-
Sa'ts. ' netrating, that it is faid they will even penetrate
through a wall, fo as to make a writing with faccha-
rum.faturni appear legible on the other fide; but this
is much to be doubted. It is even faid that it cannot
penetrate through the fubftance of paper, but only in-
finuates itfelf betwixt the leaves ; and hence if the
edges of the leaves are glued together no black colour
will appear.
§2 0. Of the Phfnomkna refulting from different mix¬
tures of the Acid, Neutral, and Alkaline Salts, al¬
ready treated of.
Of mixm.jj t . If concentrated oil of vitriol is mixed with ftrong
the acid fpi-fpirit of nitre, or fpirit of fait, the weaker acid will
r tswithone become exceedingly volatile, and emit very elaftic
anot er. fu:rl€S . f0 tbat if a mixture of this kind is put into a
dole ftopt bottle, it will almoft certainly burft it. The
fame effeft follows upon mixing fpivit of fait and fpi-
rit of nitre together. , In this cafe, both acids become
furprifingly volatile ; and Touch of the liquor will be
diffipated in fumes, if the mixture is fuffered to Hand
for any confiderable time. Such mixtures ought
therefore to be made only at the time they are to
t04, be nfed.
Diffolving 2. If vitriolated tartar is difiblved in an equal quan-
vitriolic rity of ftrong fpirit of nitre, by heating them together
fahs m m- jn a matrafS} the ftronger vitriolic acid will be difpla-
marinea- cec^ by the weaker nitrous one, and the liqtior, on
cids. cooling, will (hoot into cryfials of nitre. The fame
thing happens alfo upon diffolving vitriolated tartar,
or Glauber’s fait, in fpirit of felt. This obfervation
we owe to Monf. -Beaurne, and the reafon of it has
1042 been already explained. See n° 285.
Decompcf!- If vitriolated tartar, or Glauber’s felt, is diflblved
^onofvitn-jn water, and this folution mixed with another con-
ftdutions of lifting calcareous earth, filver, mercury, lead, or
earth, &c. tin, diffolved in the nitrous or marine acids, the vitrio-
in nitrous lic acid will leave the fixed alkali with which it was
or marine combined, and, uniting with the calcareous earth or
*C1 s* metal, fall with it to the bottom of the veffel. This
decompofition takes place only when the vitriolic acid
meets with fuch bodies as it cannot eafily diffolve in¬
to a liquid, fuch as thofe we have juft now men¬
tioned ; for though vitriolated tartar is mixed with a
folution of iron, copper, &c. in the nitrous or marine
acids, no decompofition takes place. The cafe is not
altered, whatever acid is made ufe of; for the marine
acid will effe&ually feparate filvcr, mercury, or lead,
1043 from the vitriolic or nitrous acids.
By lime- 4. According to Dr Lewis, if a folution of vitriola-
water. ted tartar is dropt into lime-water, the acid will unite
with the lime, and precipitate with it in an indiflbluble
felenite, the alkali remaining in the water in a pure
and cauftic ftate.
Of green 5- ^ green vitriol is mixed with any folution con-
vitnol by taining fubftances which cannot be dilfolved into a li-
faccharum qUid by the vitriolic acid, the vitriol will be immedi-
faturm. a;;ejy decompofed, and the liquor will become a folu¬
tion of iron only. Thus, if green vitriol is mixed with
a folution of feccharum feturni, the vitriolic acid im¬
mediately quits the iron for the lead, and falls to the
I S T R Y. 519
bottom with the latter, leaving the vegetable acid ofPbenomena
the feccharum feturni to combine with the iron. tures of A
6. If folution of tin in aqua regia is mixed with fo-^jj glCt
lution of feccharum faturni, the marine acid quits the Salts-
tin for the lead contained in the faccharum ; at the  —1
feme time, the'acetous acid, which was combined with of
the lead, is unable to diffolve the tin which was be-0f tj‘n by.1
fore kept fufpended by the marine acid. Hence, both faccharum
the feccharum faturni, and folution of tin, are very ef- faturni.
feftualiy decompofed, and the mixture becomes en¬
tirely ufelefs. Dyers and callico-printers ought to at¬
tend to this, who are very apt to mix :hefe two folu-
tions together ; and no doubt many of the faults of
colours dyed or printed in particular places, arife from
injudicious mixtures of a fimilar kind. See Dyeing. ,046
7. If mild volatile alkali, that is, fuch as remains in Of caleare-
a concrete form, by being united with a large quan-°.u? f°fe*
tity of fixed air, is poured into a folution of chalk in v^_
the nitrous or marine acids, the earth will be preci-iAtj[e
pitated, and a true fel ammoniac formed. If the
whole is evaporated to drynefs, and a confiderable
heat applied, the acid will again part with the alkali,
and combine with the chalk. Thus, in the purifica¬
tion of volatile alkalies by means of fpirit of fait, the
fame quantity of acid may be made to fcrve a number
of times. This will not hold in volatile fpirits^prepa¬
red with quicklime. J047
8. If equal parts of fel ammoniac and corrofive fub- gal alem-
limate mercury are mixed together and fublimed, they broth,
unite in fuch a manner as never to be feparable from
one another without decompofition. The compound is
called fal alembroth ; which is feid to be a very power¬
ful folvent of metallic fubftances, gold itfelf not ex¬
cepted. Its powers in this, or any other refpedt, are
at prefent but iittle known. By repeated fublima.
tions, it is feid this felt becomes entirely fluid, and
refufes to arife in the ftrongeft heat. IQ4g
9. If vitriolic acid is poured upon any felt difficult Solution of
of folution in water, it becomes then very eafily fo- fahs pro-
luble. By this means, vitriolated tartar, or cream
tartar, may be diflblved in a very ftnall quantity of ^l° 18
water.
Sect. II. Earths.
The general divifions and chara&ers of thefe fnb-
ftances we have already given ; and moft of their
combinations with feline fubftances have been men¬
tioned, excepting only thofe of the terra ponderofa ;
a fubftance whole properties have been but lately in¬
quired into, and are not yet fufficiently inveftigated.
In this feftion, therefore, we have to take notice only
of their various combinations with one another, with
inflammable, or metallic fubftances, &c. As they do
not, however, aft upon one another till fubjeftcd to a
vitrifying heat, the changes then induced upon them
come more properly to be treated of under the article
Glass. Upon metallic and inflammable fubftances
(fulphur alone excepted), they have very little effeft ;
and therefore what relates to thefe combinations fhall
be taken notice of in the following feftions. We
fhall here confine ourfelves to fome remarkable altera¬
tions in the nature of particular earths by combination
with certain fubftances, and to the phofphoric quality
of others.
$1.
C H E M I
$ i. The Terra Ponderosa.
This earth is of the true calcareous kind, and capable
j of being converted into a very acrid lime; but in other
refpe&s is very different. It is moft commonly met with
in the veins of rocks, united with the vitriolic acid in a
t \ w'th*1" ma^s fo:new^atre^emt)^n.? gyp^um> ^ut muc^^eav‘eran^
the vitriolic more opaque; and from the great weight of this fubflance
acid. th« earth itfelf has its name, though when freed from
the acid it is by no means remarkable for this proper¬
ty. Its properties were firft taken notice of by the
foreign chemifls; but they have been more accurately
inveftigated by Dr Withering, who has publifhed his
Dr Withe 0^fervatl0ns ’n ^ 74th volume of the Philofophical
ring’s ex- Tranfa&ions. His experiments were not made on the
periment. gypfeous fubftance above mentioned ; but on a com¬
bination of the earth with fixed air, which is much more
uncommon, and like the other pofTeffes a very confider-
able degree of fpecific gravity. Both thefe combinations
have the general name offpathum ponder ofum, ox ponderous
/par ; the former being alfo called barofelenite, &c.
The fpar ufed by Dr Withering was got out of a
oTterral^d mine at Alfton moor in Cumberland. Its appear-
ponderofa ance was not unlike that of a lump of alum ; but on
with aerial clofer infpeftion it appeared to be compofed of flender
fcrlbed* fpicu'32 in cl°fe contad, more or lefs diverging, and
fo foft that it might be cut by a knife ; its fpecific
gravity from 4.300 104.338. It effervefced with acids,
and melted, though not very readily, under the blow¬
pipe. In a common fire it loft its tranfparency ; and
.on being urged with a ftronger heat in a melting fur¬
nace, it adhered to the crucible, and lhowed figns of
-fufion ; but did not appear to have loft any of its fix¬
ed air, either by diminution in weight, becoming cau-
ftic, or lofihg its power of effervefcing with acids.
Five hundred grains of this fpar, by folution in mu¬
riatic acid/ loft 104 grains in weight, and left an in-
foluble refiduum of three grains. In another experi¬
ment, 100 grains of fpar loft 21 ; and there remained
only 0.6 of a grain of infoluble matter.
On difiblving another hundred grains in dilute mu¬
riatic acid, 25 ounce-meafures of air were obtained,
which by proper trials appeared to be pure aerial acid ;
and, on precipitating the folution with mineral alkali,
100 grains of earth were again obtained ; but on dif-
-folving the precipitate in frelh muriatic acid, only 20
ounce-meafures of air were produced.
Predpita- Mild vegetable alkali precipitated a faturated folu-
ted hy mild tion of this fpar in marine acid, with the efcape of a
and caufbic quantity of fixed air ; and the fame effedt took place
a'lta" on t^le a^<^‘t‘on alkali; but with cauftic alka¬
lies there was no appearance of effervefcence, though
a precipitate likewife fell.
Fifty parts of fpar, difiblved in marine acid, loft
10-f-; and with cauftic vegetable alkali, a precipitate
weighing 454 was obtained. Phlogifticatcd alkali
precipitated the whole of the earth, as appeared by
the addition of mild fixed alkali afterwards, which oc-
cafioned no farther precipitation.
Convertible ^>art t'le Prec'P'tate thrown down by the mild
into bme alkali was expofed to a ftrong heat in a crucible, and
capable of then put into water. The liquid was inftantly con-
<lecompo- verted into a very acrid lime-water, which had the fol-
eiic jilts'" lowing remarkable properties: 1. The fmalleft portion.
of vitriolic acid, added to this water, occafioned an
M°73.
S T K Y. Pra&ice,
immediate and copious precipitation, which appeared Terra Poa
even after the liquid was diluted with 200 times its ,cler°fa ^ '
bulk of pure water. 2. A fingle drop let fall into a1_
folution of Glauber’s fait, vitriolated tartar, alum, vi-  y—~j
triqlic ammoniac, Epfom fait, or felenite, occafioned
an immediate and copious precipitate in all of them :
the reafon of which was the fuperior attraction of the
ponderous earth for the acid of thefe falls, which
forming with it an indilfoluble concrete, inftantly fell
to the bottom.
1056
Combina-
IOJ2
Effeds of
Treated
with ma-
sjne acid.
The precipitate thrown down by the cauftic vege-Infoluble
table alkali was put into water, but exhibited no fuch precipitate
appearances as the other : even the mixture was boiled ;
nor had it any acrimonious tafte. On adding the'Cauttic al-
three mineral acids to feparate portions of the preci-kali,
pitate itfelf, neither effervefcence, nor any fign of fo¬
lution, appeared. After Handing an hour,, water was '
added, and the acids were fuffered to remain another
hour, on the powder ; but on decanting them after-
wards, and adding foffile alkali to the point of fatura-
tion, no precipitate appeared.
The precipitate thrown down by the phlogifticated
alkali, mixed with nitre and borax, and melted with a
blow-pipe on charcoal, formed a black glafs ; on flint-
glafs, a white one ; and on a tobacco-pipe, a yellow-
ifh white one. Another portion, melted with foap and
borax in aTrucible, formed a black glafs. .
The fimalf quantity of infoluble refiduum formerly
mentioned, appeared to be the combination of ponde¬
rous earth with vitriolic acid, called heavy gypfum,
marmor metallicum, barofelenite, &e. la.y
From thefe experiments the Do&or concludes, that Analyfis
100 parts of this fpar contain 78.6 of pure ponderous an^ Pro*
earth, of a grain of marmor metallicum, and 2°-8
grains of fixed air. .2. The quantity of mild alkali ponderous
neceftary to faturate any . given portion of acid, con- fpar.
tains a greater quantity of fixed air than can be ab-
forbed by that quantity of terra ponderofa which the
acid is able to diffolve. 3. The terra ponderofa, when
precipitated by means of a mild alkali, readily burns
to lime ; and this lime-water proves a very nice tell of
the prefence of vitriolic acid. 4. In its native Hate
the terra ponderofa will not burn to lime ; when ur-
■ ged with . a ffrong fire, it melts and unites with the
crucible, without becoming cauftic ; nor can it be
made to part with its fixed air by any addition of
phlogifton. He conjectures, therefore, that as ’cauftic
lime cannot unite to fixed air without moifture, and
as this {par feems to contain no water in its compo-
fition, it is the want of water which prevents the
fixed air affuming its elaftic aerial Hate. “ This fup-
poiition (fays he) becomes ft ill more probable, if we
obferve, that when the folution of the fpar in an acid
is precipitated by a mild alkali, fpme water enters in¬
to the conjpofition of the precipitate ; for it has the
fame weight as before it was dkTolved, and yet pro¬
duces only to ounce-meafures of fixed air, while the!
native fpar contains 25 of the fame meafures : fo that
there is an addition of weight equal to five ounce-
meafures of air, or three one-half grains, to be account¬
ed for; and this can only arife from the water.
5. The precipitate formed by the cauftic alkali, taking
fome of the latter down with it, forms a fubftance
neither foluble in acids nor water. This infoluble
compound is alfo formed by adding the lime-water al-
X ready
Praaice. CHEMISTRY. 521
Ten a Pon-ready mentioned, to'a folution of cauftic vegetable, or Dr Withering having expo fed 100 grains of the Terra Pon-
k^cSmbf foifde fixed alkali, but not with volatile alkali. 6. Fix- marmor metallicum to a red heat for an hour, in a ^erofa anci
nations. ed vegetable as well as mineral alkali, and even vola- black crucible, found that it had loft five grains of its
>——v,  tile alkalies, whether mild or cauftie, are capable of weight; but as a fulphureous fmell was perceptible, he |-
feparating, terra ponderofa from any other acid ex- fufpe£ted that a decompofition had taken place, and ic6z
cepting the vitriolic ; , but from it neither mild nor
cauftic alkalies are capable of feparating this earth,
I05g excepting the vegetable fixed alkali, which will partly
Terra pon- do it by an intenfe heat in the dry way. 7. This
derofa a teft earth affords an excellent, method of purifying the ni-
eftfle Pre7 trous and marine acids from any portion of the vitri-
trioHcacId °^c ’ ^or t^ie attraction between terra ponderofa and
this acid is fo ftrong, that the leaft portion of the kt-
therefore expofed another portion to a limilar heat in Effects of
a tobacco-pipe, which had no fmell of fulphur, nor UP&11
was it diminifhed in weight. It melted with borax lt-
into a white opaque glafs, but was barely fufible by
itfelf under the blow pipe. It did not feem to diffolve May be
in water, nor in any of the acids, except the vitriolic,d flblved in
when by long boiling it had become very concentrated VLtT coa-
and almoft red hot. It then appeared perfectly dif- vkrioUc
ter will be inftantly detected by the lime-water above folved ; but feparated again unchanged on the addi- acid.
t-mentioned. The vitriolic acid, Dr Withering ob-
le^invitri''” ^erTe8»' 's commonty adulterated with a white powder,
olic acid * w^ic^1 difeovers itfelf by turning the liquor milky when ftals w'ere formed in it.
found to beThe ,acid is diluted with water; and this powder he
gypfum. finds to be gypfum, from the following properties :
tion of water. Qn expofing the vitriolic folutipn to
the atmofphere for fome days, beautiful radiated cry-
1=64
-On adding a folution of mild vegetable alkali to this Precipi-
vitriojic folution, a precipitate, appeared ; but it con-fated fro!M
_ . By repeated boiling in water, fix grains and a filled of marmor metallicum unchanged. An ouncre ^e”ni‘^lan'
half were reduced to two. 2.' By gentle evaporation of it in fine powder was then fufed vcith two of fait of getable'fix-
this folution afforded five grains of cryftals as hard and tartar until it ran thin, when fix drachms of a refidu- ed alkali,
taftelefs as felenite. 3. A precipitate was formed by um infoluble in water were left. On the addition of lod5
mild foffile alkali on adding it to a folution of thefe nitrous acid, only 52 grains were left, which appeared
cryftals in water. 4. On expofing this powder to a to be marmor metallicum unchanged. On faturating ;u the
pretty ftrong heat, and then putting it into water, the the alkaline folution with diftilled vinegar, and waftungway by fait
latter became acrid, and acquired the tafte of lime- the precipitate, the liquor was found to contain ter- of carl:ar-
water. 5. The infoluble part fuffered no change by ra foliata tartar, formed by the union of the acetous
boiling in nitrous acid : one half of it mixed with bo- acid with part of the alkali; and of vitriolated tar-
rax, and expofed to the blow-pipe upon charcoal, tar, formed by that of the alkali with the native acid
melted into glafs ; the other half, mixed with borax, ‘ of the marmor metallicum.
and expofed to the blow-pipe upon charcoal, did the The fait formed by the nitrous acid Ihot readily in- Nitrou* fo*
fame ; whence it appears, fays our author, that the to beautiful permanent cryftals of a rough bitteri(h tafte. luti°r‘
greater part of this fubftance was calx vitriolate or Some of the fait deflagrated with nitre and charcoal, j!’0015 into
fclenite ; the remainder a vitrifiable earth. He had left by walhing the terra ponderofa very white, capa-
before found, that the heavy gypfum, or marmor me- ble of being burnt into lime, and again forming an in-
tallicum, would difibive in concentrated vitriolic acid, foluble compound with vitriolic acid. An hundred
but always feparated upon the addition of water ; and grains of aerated terra ponderofa, diffolved in marine
from his experiments it now appears that felenite does acid, and precipitated by the vitriolic, were augment-
the fame. ed 17 grains in weight. Hence it appears, I067
Dr Withering next proceeds to give a fet of expe- 1. That the marmor metallicum is compofed of vi- Analyfis
riments on the heavy gypfum, marmor metallicum of triolic acid and terra ponderofa. 2. That this com- ,ncl ProPer*
metalli'1*101' ^-'ron^a^1:> or t^e Barofdenite of others, already men- pound has very little folubility in water. 3. That it
cum. l~ tioned. The fpecimens he obtained were from Kil- can only be diffolved in highly concentrated oil of vi- mctalli-
patrick hills near Glafgow, and a fort with fmaller triol, from which it feparates unchanged on the addi-cum.
cryftals found among the iron ore about Ketley in tion of water. 4. That it cannot be—decompofed in
Shroplhire, and in the lead-mines at Alfton-Moor. the moift way, by mild fixed alkali, though it may be
He deferihes it as white, nearly tranfparent, but with- fo in the dry. 5. That it may be decompofed by the
out the property of double refraction ; compofed of union of inflammable matter to its acid, by which ful-
laminse of rhomboidal cryftals, and decrepitating in phur is formed, though the acid cannot be difiipated
Jo6l the lire ; the fpecific gravity from 4.402 to 4.440. by mere heat. 6. Ap hundred parts of this fubftance
Defcription The fpecimens we have feen differ confiderably from contain 32.8 of pure vitriolic acid, and 67.2 of terra
of a kind this defcription, being compofed, to appearance, of ponderofa. The marmor metallicum, our author re-
Edinbunfti t^in ^am^n£e 5 which all together form a very opaque marks, may poffibly be tifeful in fome cafes where a
^ g white rnafs, which has not the leaft tranfpavency un- powerful flux is wanted; for having mixed fome of it
lefs fplit excefhvely thin. They are found about three with the black flux, and given the mixture a ftrong
miles to the fouthweft of Edinburgh, near Pentland heat in a crucible, it ran entirely through the pores
hills, and likewife betwixt Edinburgh and Leith. In of the veffel.
the former place they lie in fmall veins of a roek con- Dr Withering deferibes two other kinds of this Cauk a
filling of a kind of iron Hone, and fo clofely adhering fubftance, known by the name of cauk, and found in fubfta’nce of
to it, that it would feem either that the ftone is con- the mines-of Derbylhire, and other places. Thefe ^is kind,
verted into the Ipathum pondeiofum, or the latter in- differ from the other only in containing a fmall proper- ^urld j?.
to the ftone. It is therefore often intermixed with tion of iron. On the whole, he concludes, that “ the er ^ ire*
the reck fo intimately, that it is impoffible to feparate tetra ponderofa feems to lay claim to a middle place
them perfectly from each other. betwixt the earths and metallic calces. Like the for*
Vol. IV. Part II. 3 U mer
1060
Experi-
inents
ic/>9
Solution of
flint.
C H E M I S T R Y.
mer it cannot be reduced to a metallic form, though in elTential properties, “
like the latter it may be precipitated' by phlbgiftica-
J ted alkali. In many of its properties,it much- refera¬
ble s the calx of lead, and in others' the common cal¬
careous earth. Its moft remarkable properties are its
J decompofing the vitriolic neutral falls, and forming,
with the nitrous and marine, acids, cry Rais which do
not deliquefee.
§ 2. ‘Tranfmutation of Flints into art Earth folulle in
Acids.
This is effected by 'mixing powdered flints with
alkaline fait, and melting the mixture by a Rrong
fire. The melted mafs deliquates in the air, like
alkaline falts ; and if the flint is then precipitated,
it becomes foluble in acids, which it entirely refilled
before. . . . •
In this procefs the alkali, by its union , with the flint,
is deprived of its fixed air, and becomes, caulticv To
this cauRicity its folvent power is owing ; and there¬
fore the flint may be precipitated from the alkalij not
only by aeids, but by any fubRance capable of furnifb-
ihg fixed air ; fuch as magnefia alba or volatile alkali.
The precipitate in both cafes proves the fame ; but the
nature of it hath riot hitherto been determined. Some
have conjectured that the vitriolic- acid exifled in the
flint; in which cafe, the alkali made ufe of in this
procefs ought to be partly converted, into vitriolated
tartar.
Solubility The above procefs is delivered on the authority of
of this earth former chemiRs ; but Mr-Bergman, who has publilhed
denied by a differtation on this fubjedl, afferts that it cannot he'
Mr Berg- digolygd except by the fluor acid. The vitriolic, ni-
Bian' trous, or marine acids, have no effect upon it, even
when newly precipitated from the liquor of flints
walhed and Rill wet, and though a thoufand parts of
acid be added to one of the earth, and boiled upon it for
h??1 . an hour : but when three parts of alkaline fait are
thTinhlake mthed in a crucible with one of quartz, the fait dif-
of former folves at the fame time about feven hrundredth parts of
chexnifts. its own weight of the clay which compofes the crucible;
and the folubility of this has given occafion to the mif-
take above mentioned. If the fufion be performed in
an iron veffel, no foluble part will be obtained, except*-
ing the very fmall portion of clay which the quartz
contains ; and when this is once exhauRed by an acid,
no more can be. procured by any number of fufions
with alkali.
Cf ^ah of The fluor acid, he obferves, is never obtained en-
flirit artlfi- tirely free from filiceous earth, and confequently its
dally form-power as a menRrmim .muR be weakened in, propor-
ed by Mr tion to the quantity it contains. In order to obferve
Bergmi’.n. Jt:S folvent power, however, our author, in the year
1772, put fome quartz, very finely powdered, into a
bottle containing of- a kanne of fluor acid. The,
bottle was then flightly corked, and fet.by in the cor¬
ner of a room. Two. years afterwards it was exa¬
mined ; and on pouring out the liquor there were found
concreted at the bottom of the veffel, befides-innume¬
rable fmall prifmatic fpicube, 13 cryffals of the fize of
fmali peas, but moffly of an irregular form. Some of
thefe refemble'd cubes, whofe angles were all truncated,
fuch as are often found in the cavities: of flints. Thefe
were perfect filiceous cryRals, and very hard, but not
comparable with quartz, though they agreed with, it.
. Practice,
Poffibly (fays he) the length Tranfmu-
of a century may be neceffary, for them to acquire, by
exficcation, a fufficient degree of hardnefs. The an Earth
bottom itfelf, as far as the liquor had reached, was foluble ia
found covered with a very thin filiceous pellicle, which Acids,
was fcarcely vifible, but feparated on. breaking the v
bottle. It was extremely pellucid, flexible, and flrow-
ed prifmatic colours. Thefe-phenomena fhovv, that why the
much, filiceous matter is. diffolved and fufpended” (iniluor acid
the fluor acid). “Whether any of the quartz wasT11 not .
taken up in this experiment is uncertain ; but it
pears probable that little or none was diffolved ; fince,
by the help of heat during the dilliilation, the acid
had previoufly taken up fo much filiceous earth, that
upon flow evaporation it was. unable to retain it.
Hence appears, the origin of the cryRals and the pel¬
licle ; and hence appears the caufe which impedes the
adlion of fluor acid upon flint ; namely, that the acid
obtained fn.the ordinary way is already faturated with
. ... . I074
The volatile alkali precipitates filiceous earth moR Siliceous
completely from fluor acid : and thus we find, that one eartb nioft
part of it is contained in 600 of the acid, diluted to
fuch a degree, that its fpecific gravity is only 1.064. by volatile^
This precipitate has all the properties of pure flint ; alkali
but that precipitated either by vegetable or mineral lo75
fixed alkali does not afford a pure filiceous earth, but
a peculiar kind of triple fait, formed of the earth, prccipita-
fiuor acid, and fixed alkali, which diffolves, though tion with
with difficulty, in warm water, efpecially the earthfixe<* alkali*,
procured by vegetable alkali, but is eafily decompofed
by lime-water, and lets fall the mineral fluor regene¬
rated,.. _ > _ 1076
Fixed alkaline falts attack this earth by boiling, but Siliceous
not unlefs.it be reduced to very fine powder, and new- eanh dli-
ly precipitated from the liquor. Oil of tartar per de.-P’1^ drby
liquium takes up about one-fixth of its weig ht,andthefolu>n^-
liquor becomes gelatinous on cooling, though at firff alkali,
diluted with 16 times its weight of water. This fo-
lution is effe&ed only by the cauRic part; for when
fully faturated with fixed air, if cannot enter into any
union with it. Volatile alkali, even though cauRtc,
has. no effe<9t..
The attraction betwixt filiceous earth and fixed al- Has a?re-
kali is much more remarkable in the dry way ; for markable
thus it melts with one half its weight of alkali into an attr.a<^:°n.
hard, firm, and tranfparent glafs, the aerial acid and j,or ^
water going off in a violent effervefcence. In pro- ^ Wa^'
portion as the alkali is increafed, the glafs becomes
more foft and lax, until at laff it diffolves totally in i0^g
water, as has been already mentioned. The filiceous is very rare
matter thus precipitated is of a very rare and fpongy and fpongy
texture, and fo much fwelled by water, that its hulkwhen
when wet is at leaR twelve times greater than whencli>itate
dry ; nor does it contraft more though fuffered to re¬
main a long time in the water. Hence it is eafy to
reduce the liquor of flints to a jelly, by diluting it
with four or eight times it weight of water, and ad¬
ding a fufficient quantity of precipitate; but if an over-
proportion of water be ufed, for inftance, 24 times
the weight, the liquor will then remain limpid, though why jtcaD_
. we add as much acid as is fufficient for faturating the not fomc-
alkali. The reafon of this Mr Bergman fuppofes to tim« be
be, that the filiceous particles are removed to fuch aP^c^'Ita*
diRance from one another, that they cannot overcome acH with-
the out heat.
■Practice. CHEMISTRY. 523
Phofphoric the friction they muil neceflarily meet with in their From attending to the qualities of this done, and Phofphor c
'Earths. paffage downwards through the fluid ; but if the li- the requifites for making this phofphorus, we are na-
quor be boiled, which at once diminifheb its quantity turally led to think, that the Bolognian phofphorus is v
and tenacity, the filiceous matter is inlfantly fepara- no other than a compofltion of fulphur and quicklime. An'a'lyfis of
ted. • The ftone itfelf, in its natural ftate, evidently contains the phof-
10B0
Efqupr of
tlints dc-
compofed
Liquor of flints is alfo decompofed by too great a
quantity of water ; for by this the efficacy of the rnen-
by to'o great ftruum ,s weakened, and it is alfo partly faturated by
a quantity the aerial acid contained in the water. A precipitate
of water, alfo falls when the fluor acid is made ufe of; the rea-
fon of which is the fame as the precipitation by other
vitriolic acid, from its not effervefcing with acids of phorus
any kind. This acid cannot be expelled from earthy
fubftances by almoll any degree of fire, unlefs inflam¬
mable matter is admitted to it. In this cafe, part of
the acid becomes fulphureous, and flies off; while part
is converted into fulphur, and combines with the earth.
acids: in this cafe, however, the alkali makes part of In the above mentioned procefs, the inflammable mat-
io8r
Bolngnian
Hone.
ter is furpifhed by the coals in contaft with which the
cakes are calcined, and by the mucilage of gum tra-
gacanth with which the cakes are made up. A true
fulphur mufl. therefore be formed by the union'of this
inflammable matter with the vitriolic acid contained
in the ftone; and part of this fulphur muft remaih
united to the earth left in a calcareous ftate, by
the diffipatipn, or converfion into fulphur, of its
acid. .
„ _ , In the year 173.0, a memoir was publifhed by Mr All calcareS
difcovery, according to Lemery, was accidentally made du Fay; wherein he afferts, that all calcareous ftones,ous
the precipitate, as has been already obferved ; and there¬
fore the matter which falls is fufible before the blow¬
pipe,/and foluble in a fufficient quantity of water.
§ l- Of PifosPHORic Earths.
These are fo called from their property of fhining
in the dark. The moft celebrated and anciently known
of this kind- is that called \Xvi'Bolognum ftone, from
Bologna, a city in Italy, near which it is found. The
by a Ihoe-maker called Vincen%o Cafciarolo, who ufed
to make chemical experiments. This man, having
io8z
How ren¬
dered lu¬
minous.
whether they contain vitriolic acid or not, are capa according0*
Q ble of becoming luminous by calcination; with this to Mr df
been induced to think, from the great weight and luftre difference only, that the pure calcareous ftones require Fay.
of thefe Hones, that they contained ' filver, gathered a ftronger, or more freque'ntly repeated, calcination to
fome, and calcined them ; when carrying them into a "convert them into phofphorus; whereas thofe which
dark place, probably by accident, he obferved them contain an acid, as fclenites, gypfum, fpars, &c. be-
fliining like hot coals. come phofphoric by a flighter calcination. On the
Mr Margraaff defcribeS the Bolognian ftone to be contrary, Mr Margraaff afferts, that no other ftones
an heavy, foft, friable, and cryftallized fubitance, in- can be rendered phofphoric but thofe which are fatu-
capable of effervefcehce with acids before calcination
in contadl; with burning fuel. Thefe properties feem
to indicate this ftone to be of a felenitie dr gypfeous
nature.
When thefe ftones are to be rendered pbofphoric,
fuch of them ought to be chofen as are the ,cleaneft,
rated with an acid ; that purely calcareous ftones, fuch
as marble, chalk, limeftone, ftaladtites, &c, cannot be
rendered luminous, till faturated udth an acid previ-
oully to their calcination.
We have already taken notice, that the compounds
„ _ . formed by uniting calcareous earths with the nitrous
bed cryftallized, moll: friable^ and heavy; which ex- and marine acids become a kind of phofphori; the
foliate when broken, and which contain no heteroge- former of which emits light in the dark, after ha-
neous parts. They are to be made red hot in a cru- ving been expofed to the fun through the day; and ,cgf
cible ; and reduced to a very fine powder in a glafs- the latter becomes luminous by being ftruck. Signior Signior
mortar, or upon a porphyry. Being thus reduced to Beccaria found, that this phofphoric quality was ca- Beccaria’g
powder, they are to. be formed into a pafte with mu- pable of being given to almoit all fubftances in na- °.!’ferva*
cilage of gum tragacanth, and divided into thin cakes, ture, metals perhaps excepted. He found that ittlGn’
was widely diffufed among animals, and that even his
own hand and arm poffeffed it in a very cqnfiderable 1086
degree. In the year 1775, a treatife on this kind 0f Mr WiI“
phofphori was publifhed by B. Wilfon, F. R. S. and r?n,s expe''
Thefe are to be dried with a heat, which at laft is to
be made pretty coniiderable. An ordinary reverbe¬
rating furnace is to be filled to three quarters of its
height with charcoal, and the fire is to be kindled.
Upon this charcoal the flat furfaces of the cakes are member of the Royal Academy at Upfal. Inthistrea-1
to reft, and more charcoal to be placed above them,
fo as to fill the furnace. The furnace is then to be
covered with its dome, the tube of which is to remain
open ; all the coal is to be confumed, and the furnace
is to be" left to cool; the cakes are then to be cleanfed
from the aihes by blowing with bellows upon them.
When they have been expofed during fome minutes
to light, and afterwards carried to a dark place, they
will feem to Ihine like hot coals; particularly if the
"perfon obferving them has been fome time in the dark,
or have Ihut his eyes, that the pupils may be fufficient-
ly expanded. After this calcination through the coals,
if the ftones be expofed to a ftronger calcination, du¬
ring a full half hour, under a mufHe, their phofphoric
-quality will be rendered ftronger.
tife he Ihows, that oyfter-lhells, by calcination, ac¬
quire the phofphoric quality in a very great degree,
either when combined with the nitrous acid or with¬
out it.
The firft experiment made by our author was the
pouring fome aquafortis, previoufly impregnated with
copper, on a quantity of calcined oyfter-lhells, fo as
to form them into a kind of pafte ; he put this pafte
into a crucible, which was kept in a pretty hot fire for
about 40 minutes. Having taken out the mafs, and
waited till it was cool, he prefented it to the external
light. On bringing it back fuddenly into the dark, he
was furprifed with the appearance of a variety of co¬
lours like thofe of the rainbow, but much more vivid.
In confequence of this appearance of the prifmatic
3 U 2 colours.
524 C H E M
Vegetable colours, he repeated the experiment in various ways,
firch- combining the calcined oyfter-lhells with different me-
v tals and metallic folutions, with the different acids, al¬
kaline and neutral falts, as well as with fulphur, char¬
coal, and other inflammable fubftances; and by all of
thefe he produced phofphori, which emitted varioufly
1087 coloured light.
Surprifing What is more remarkable, he found that oyfler-
phofphoric fhells poffeffed the phofphoric quality in a furprifing de¬
quality of gree ; and for this purpofe nothing more was requilite
llieils! t^an Putt*ng them into a good fea-coal fire, and keep¬
ing them there for fome time. On fcaling off the in¬
ternal yellowiih furface of each (hell, they become ex¬
cellent phofphori, and exhibit the moft vivid and beau¬
tiful colours. As we know that neither the vitriolic
nor any other acid is contained in oyfler-fhells, we can¬
not as yet fay any thing fatisfaftory concerning the na¬
ture of this phofphorus.
$ 4. Of the Vegetable Earth.
1088
Dr Lewis’s This is produced from vegetables by burning, and,
opinion. when perfeftly pure, by lixiviating the afhes with wa¬
ter, to extradl the fait; and then repeatedly calcining
them, to burn out all the inflammable matter j and is
perhaps the fame from whatever fubftance it is ob¬
tained : in this ftate, according to Dr Lewis, it is of
the fame nature with magnefia. In the ftate, how¬
ever, in which this earth is procurable by fimply burn¬
ing the plant, and lixiviating the afhes, it is confide-
1080 rably different, according to the different plants from
Mr Gme- which it is obtained. The afhes of mugwort, fmall
lin’s expe- centaury, chervil, and dill, are of a brownifh grey ;
nments. goat’s beard and lungwort afford white afhes; thofe of
fanicle are whitifh; thofe of Roman wormwood of a
greenifh grey; thofe of rue, agrimony, faxifrage,
brown; thofe of tanfey, of a dufky green ; thofe of
dodder, of a fine green; eyebright, fouthern-Wood,
common wormwood, and fcabious, afford them grey ;
fcurvy-grafs, of a whitifh grey; hyffop, yarrow, and
fowbane, of a dufky grey ; melilot, and oak-leaves,
as alfo plantain, colts-foot, pine tops, and fumitory,
of a dulky brown ; penny-royal, of a pale brown,
with fome fpots of white; elder-flowers, fage, and
mother of thyme, afford yellow afhes ; thofe of ftraw-
berry-leaves are of a pale brimftone colour; thofe of
cat-mint, of a dufky red; of prunella, brick-coloured;
of honey-fucke, blue ; of fern, blackifh ; and thofe of
St John’s-wort, feverfew, origanum, and pimpernel,
all of a deep black. The only ufe to which this
kind of earth has yet been put, is that of glafs-making
and manure.
Sect. III. Of Metallic Subflance;.
§ 1. Gold.
This metal is reckoned of all others the moft
perfeft and indeftruftible. ' When in its greateft puri¬
ty, it has very little elafticity, is not fonorous, its co¬
lour is yellow, it is exceedingly foft and flexible, and
is more duftile than any other metal whatever. (See
Gold Leaf, and Wire-Drawing.) Of all bodies it
is the moft ponderous, except platina ; its gravity be¬
ing to that of water, according to Dr Lewis, as 19,2 805
I S T R Y. . Practice,
or 19,290, to one. For its fufion it requires a low de Gold,
gree of white heat, fomewhat greater than that in »
which filver melts. Whilft- fluid, it appears of a bluifli
green colour; when cold, its furface looks fmooth,
bright, and confiderably concave: it feems to expand
more in the a<3: of fufion, and to {brink more in its re¬
turn to folidity, than any of the other metals; whence
the greater concavity of its furface. Before fufion it
expands the lead of all metals, except iron. By hid¬
den cooling ir becomes, as well as other metals, brittle;
which effexft has been erroneoufly attributed to the con-
tadt of fuel during fufion. f09°
Gold amalgamates very readily with mercury,
mingles in fufion with all the metals. It i, remark- a}i'thc me-
ably difpofed to unite with iron; of which it diffolves tals.
many times its own weight, in a heat not much greater
than that in which gold itfclh-meks ; the mixture is of
a filver colour, very brittle and hard. All the metals,
except copper, debafe the colour of gold ; and, if their
quantity is nearly equal to that of the gold,, aimoft en¬
tirely conceal it. • r
The malleability of gold is impaired by all the me-gay t„ i0fe
tals, but lefs by copper and filver than any others, its mallea-
Tin has had a remarkably bad charadfer in this re-hil-tyre-
fpedt ; and it has been a received opinion among me-
tallurgifts, that the fmalleft quantity of this metal en¬
tirely deftroys the dudfihty of gold ; and Dr Lewis
tells us, that “ the moft minute portion of tin or lead,
and even the vapours which rife from them in the fire,
though not (ufficient to add to the gold any weight
fenfible on the tendereft b«lance, make it fo brittle, l0^
that it flies to pieces under the hammer.” On fo re-Mr AI-
fpe£tahle an authority, this continued to be believed chorne’s
as an undoubted fa£, until, in the year 1784, a pa-exPen'.
per appeared in the Philofophical Tranfa&ions by
Alchorne of the mint; in which it was clearly difpro-
ved by the following experiments :
1. Sixty Troy grains of pure tin were put into 12
ounces of pure gold in fufion ; after which the mix¬
ture was caft into a mould of fand, producing a flat
bar an inch wide, and an eighth of an inch thick..
The bar appeared found and good, fuffered flatting
under the hammer, drawing fevcral times between a
pair of fteel-rollers, and cutting into circular pieces of
near an inch diameter, which bore {lamping in the
money-prefs by the ufual ftroke, without fhowing the
leaft brittlenefs, or rather with much the fame ducti¬
lity as pure gold.
2. With 90 grains of tin the bar was fcarce diftin-
guifhable from the former.
3. With 120 grains it was rather paler and harder j
and on drawing between the rollers the edges weie a
little difpofed to crack.
4. With 140 grains, the palenefs, hardnefs, and dif-
pofition to crack, were evidently increafed ; neverthe-
lefs it bore every other operation, even ftamping under
the prefs, without any apparent injury.
5. With an ounce of tin the bar was lead-coloured
and brittle, fplitting into feveral pieces on the fitft
palling between the rollers. #
6. A fmall crucible filled with ftandard gold Gold not
was placed in a larger one, having in it an ounce of rendered
melted tin. The whole was covered with a large cru-brittle by
cible inverted, in order to direft the fumes of the tin^*^®68
downward upon the gold.. The metals were kept in
fufion
Praaice. C H E M I
Gold. Tufion for half an hour, during which time a full quar-
x—y—J ter of the tin was calcined ; yet the gold remained al¬
together unchanged.
7. The mixture of gold and tin produced in exp. r.
was melted a fecond time in a ftronger fire than at firil,
and kept in fufion for half an hour ; during which
time fix grains of weight were loft, but the gold re-
*094 mained equally perfeft as before.
Nor by ihe and o. The mixtures of exp. 2. and 4. viz. oo
addition if , y . r r 1 , 1 i-
copper. an“ I4° grains to 12 ounces or gold, were re-melted
feparately, and an ounce of copper added to each.
On being call as ufual, they bore all the operations of
manufa&uring as before, though fenfibly harder. The
laft cracked at the edges as it had done without the
copper, but bore cutting rather better than in its for¬
mer ftate.
10. and ir. A quarter of an ounce of the laft mix¬
ture, being tin 140 grains, and copper an ounce, and
gold 1 2 ounces, with as much of the bar from expe¬
riment 3. confifting of 140 grains of tin to 12 ounces
of gold, were each melted by a jeweller in a common
fea-coal fire, into fmall buttons, without any lofs of
weight. Thefe buttons were afterwards forged into
fmall bars, nealing them often with the flame of a
lamp, and afterwards drawn each hbout twenty times
through the apertures of a fteel plate, into fine wire,
with as much eafe as coarfe gold commonly paffes the
like operation.
12. Sixty grains of tin were added to 12 ounces of
ftandard gold 4-t fine ; and the compound pafled every
one of the operations already defcribed, without ftxow-
ing the leaft alteration from the tin.
Several other trials werg madexvith different mix¬
tures of copper, tin, and filver, with gold, even as
low as two ounces and a half of copper, with half an
ounce of tin, to twelve ounces of gold; all of which
bore hammering and flatting by rollers to the thinnefs
1095 of ftiff paper, and afterwards working into watch-
Malleabili- cafes, cane-heads, &c. with great eafe. They grew
*y g0ld more hard and harfii indeed in proportion to the quan-
fy regulus afi°y 5 but not one of them had the appear^
ofarfenic. ance of what workmen call brittle gold. MrAlchorne
therefore is of opinion, that when brittlenefs has been
occafioned by the addition of tin to gold, the former
has been adulterated with arfenic ; as he has found,
that by adding 12 grains of regulus of arfenic to as
many ounces of fine gold, the compound has been ren¬
dered altogether unmalleable.
When gold is ftruck during a certain time by a
hammer, or when violently compreffed, as by the wire-
drawers, it becomes more hard, elaftic, and lefs duc¬
tile ; fo that it is apt to be cracked and torn. Its duc¬
tility is, however, reftored by the fame means ufed
with other metals, namely, heating it red hot, and let¬
ting it cool flowly. This is called annealing metals ;
1096 anc^ feems to be more affedfted by this operation
Surprifing- than any other metal. The tenacity of the parts of
tenacity of gold is alfo very furprifing; for a wire of To of an
its par:s. jncj1 ;n d;ameter will fupport a weight of 500 pounds.
1097 Gold is unalterable by air or water. It never con-
Not liable trails ruft like other metals. The aition of the fier-
o ruft.
ceil furnace-fires occafions no alteration in it. Kunc-
kel kept gold in a glafs-houfe furnace for a month,
and Boyle kept fome expofed to a great heat for a
ftill longer time, without the lofs of a Angle grain.
8 T R Y. 525
It is faid, however, to be diffipable in the focus of a Gold,
large burning mirror. v ( 1 ~
Mr Boyle relates a very curious and extraordinary^1®^ >
experiment, which he thought was fufficient to prove experp
the total deftrudlibility of gold. About an eighth part ments fir
of a grain of powder, communicated by a ftranger, the <kftruc»
was proje&ed upon two drachms of fine gold in fu. t’^hy of
fion, and the matter kept melted for a quarter of®
an hour. During the fufion, it looked like ordi¬
nary gold;.except only once, that his affiftant ob-
ferved it to look exadfly of the colour of opal. When
cold, it was of a dirty colour, and, as it were, over-
caft with a thin coat, almoft like half-vitrified litharge :
the bottom of the crucible was overlaid with a vitri¬
fied fubftance, partly yellow, and partly reddilh brown ;
with a few fmall globules, more like impure filver than
gold. The metal was brittle, internally like brafs or
bell-metal; on the touchftone more like filver than
gold : its fpecific gravity was to that of water only
as 15y to" 1. There was no abfolute lofs of weight.
By cupellation, 60 grains of this mafs yielded 53 grains
of pure gold, with feven grains of a ponderous* fixed,
dark-coloured fubftance. 1099
We have already mentioned, that in certain cir-Solution in
cumftances gold is foluble in the nitrous and marine atllia reS!a>
acids feparately. It is, however, always foluble by
the two united, but diffolves flowly even then. The
moft commodious method of obtaining this folution
is, by putting the gold, either in leaves, or granulated,
or cut into fmall thin pieces, into a proper quantity
of aquafortis; then adding, by degrees, fome powder¬
ed fal ammoniac, till the whole of the gold is diffol-
ved. By this means a much fmaller quantity of the
menftruum proves fufficient, than if the fal ammoniac
was previoufly diffolved in the aquafortis; the conflidf,
which each addition of the fait raifes with the acid,
greatly promoting the diffolution. Aquafortis of mo¬
derate iirength will, in this way, take up about one-
third of its weight of gold ; whereas an aqua regis,
ready prepared from the fame aquafortis, will not take
up above one-fifth its weight. Common fait anfwers
bettqr for the preparation of the aqua regis than fal
ammoniac. 1I00
This folution, like all other metallic ones, is corro- Properties
five. It gives a violet colour to the fingers, or to any of the folu*
animal matters. If the folution is evaporated and1*011'*
cooled, yellow tranfparent cryftals will be formed:
but, if the evaporation is carried too far, the acids
with which the gold is combined may be driven from
it by heat alone ; and the gold w ill be left in the
ftate of a yellow powder, called calx of gold. 1Qj
Gold may be precipitated from its folution by thofe pre.
fubftances which commonly precipitate metals, fuch cipirated.
as alkaline falts and calcareous earths. It may alfofrom k.
be precipitated in a fine purple powder, by tin or its
folution.
When fixed alkalies are made ufe of, the precipi- ,
tate weighs about, one-fourth more than the gold em¬
ployed. With volatile alkalies alfo, if they are added
in no greater proportion than is fufficient to faturate
the acid, the quantity of precipitate proves nearly the
fame : but if volatile fpirit is added in an over-pro¬
portion, it rediffolves part of the gold which it had
before precipitated, and the liquor becomes again con-
fiderably yellow. The whole of the precipitate, how-
52C) C K E M
G'.ld. ever, could not be rediffolved, either by^be mild or
cauftic alkali; nor did either of thefe fpirits fenfibly
diffolve or extradh any tinge from precipitates of gold
which had been thoroughly edulcorated with boiling
water.
All the metallic bodies which diffolve in aqua regia,
precipitate gold from it. Mercury and copper throw
down the gold in its bright metalline form ; the
ucn others, in that of a calx or powder, which has no me-
Separated tallic afpedL Vitriol of iron, though it precipitates
from other gold, yet has no effedl upon any other metal; hence
vft Hoi o/ a^or<^3 an eafY method of fe pa rating gold from all
iron. other metals. "The precipitation with tin fucceeds
certainly only when the metal in fubtlance is ufed,
and the folutio'n of gold largely diluted with water.
It is obfervable, that though the gold is precipitated
from the diluted folution by tin, yet, if the whole is
fuffered to Hand till the water has in a great meafure
exhaled, the gold is taken up afrefh, and only a white
*^03 calx of tin remains.
Aurum ful- Gold precipitated from its folution /in aqua regia
minans. explodes by heat with much greater violence than any
Knowmin ot^tr fubftance in nature. This property was known
the 15th in the 15th century ; but whether the ancient alche-
century. mills knew any thing of it or not, is a matter of un-
iio5 certainty. Bafil Valentine firft gave any diftintf ac-
Hne'^dlrec"count of it. He diredls the gold to be diffolved in
tions for itsaqua regia made with fal ammoniac, and then preci-
prepara- pitated by vegetable fixed alkali,, to be twelve times
fc*011, w'afhed with water, and laftly dried in the open air,
where the fun’s rays cannot reach it. He forbids it
to be dried over a fire, as it explodes with a gentle
heat, and flies off with inconceivable violence.
Succeeding chemilts have performed this operation
with feme little differences; but the neccffity of em¬
ploying volatile alkali was but little regarded till the
beginning of the prefent century.
Weofvola- The calx of gold is always fomewhat increafed in
tile alkali weight by being converted into aurum fulminans 5 but
but lately authors are not agreed about the quantity of augmen-
knewn. tation. . Becher makes it heavier by one-fifth part ;
In create of Lemery by one fourth ; and Juncker by one-fourth,
the weight All agree, however, that it explodes with a violence
of gold by altnoll inconceivable. Crollius relates, that 20 grains
being chan-q£ this powder explodes with more force than half a
rum fulmi- pound of gunpovyder, and exerts its force downwards,
nans. thoug-h M. Teykmeyer frequently (bowed in his lec-
1108 tures that it would throw a florin upwards above fix
forie with8 e^s’ ^ £reat nutnher of experiments were made be-
which it f°re the Royal Society at Tondon, in order to deter-
•expjodes. mine the comparative forces of thefe two powders.
Equal parts of gunpowder and aurum fulminans were
included in iron globes placed among burning coals $
thofe which contained the former burff with great vio¬
lence, but the globes containing the aurum fulminans
Coes not remained perfectly filent. But though no explofion
explode in .takes place in dole veffels, the utmoll faution is ne-
clofe vef- ceffary in managing this fubftance in the open air, e-
'cls' fpecially when it is fubjefted to fridion, or to a (light
degree of heat; for fetch is the nature of the calx we
fpeak of, that it is not neceffary, in order to caufe it
1 no explode, to touch it with an ignited fubftance, or to
Heatrequi-make it red hot. The heat requifite for this purpofe
fite for the is> according to Dr Lewis, intermediate between that
#*plofion, 0£ boiling water and the heat which makes metals of
I S T R Y. Pra&Ict,
an obfeure red. With fri&ion, however, it feems dill Gold.
more dangerous; for in this Cafe it explodes with what 1 v-—
we (hould think fcarce fufficient to communicate any 1111
^degree of heat whatever. Offchal relates, that
powder ground in a jafper mortar, exploded with fuch gfetio^.Y
violence as to burft the veffel in a thoufand pieces ; ma
Dr Lewis gives an inftance of afimilar kind in England ; Jnftances of
and Dr Birch tells us of doors and windows torn tovoumefC^4*
pieces by the violence of this explofive matter. Mi fe(a3i
Macquer relates the following accident to which he
was witnefs. “ A young man, who worked in a la¬
boratory, had put a drachm of fulminating gold into
a bottle, and had neglected to wipe the inner furface
of the neck of the bottle, to which fome of the pow¬
der adhered. When he endeavoured to clofe the bot¬
tle, by turning round the glafs Hopper, the fri&ion
occafioned an explofion of part of the powder. By
this the young man was thrown fome fteps backward,
his face and hands wounded by the fragments of the
bottle, and his eyes put out; yet, notwithftanding
this violent explofion, the whole drachm of fulmina-
ting gold certainly did not take fire, as much of it
was afterwards found fcattered about the labora¬
tory.”
It has already been mentioned, that fome imagine the Fore”! the
force of this explofion to be directed downwards ; but explofion is
Dr Lewis is of opinion that it is equally diredted every not dhedt-
way. Certain it is, that the quantity of from 10 to
12 grains of aurum fulminans, exploded on a metalline "
plate, lacerates it; a fmaller quantity forms a cavity,
and a (till fmaller only fcratches the furface; effects
which are never produced by gunpowder in ever fo
large a quantity. A weight laid upon the powder is
thrown upwards in the moment of explofion. If it
be of fiber or copper, this weight is marked with a
yellowifh fpot, as the fupports will alfo be, if made
of either of thefe metals. A large grain, fays Mr
Bergman, brought near to the fide of the flame of a
candle, blows it, out with great noife; and a few oun¬
ces exploding together by incautious drying, has been
known to (hatter the doors and windows of the apart¬
ment : hence it is evident, that aurum fulminana ex¬
erts its force in all diredxons; yet it cannot be de¬
nied, that it itrikes bodies with which it is in contaft
more violently than thofe which are at a fmall dif-
tance, though in its vicinity : thus, if a ftnall portion
of it explodes in a paper box, it lacerates only the bot¬
tom, unlefs the top be preffed down clofe ; in which
cafe it perforates both the top and bottom. When
carefully and gradually exploded in a glafs phial or a
paper box, it leaves a purple foot, in which are found
many particles of (hining gold} and if the quantity
exploded be large, feveral grains remain tqtally un¬
changed, as it is only the lowcrmoft ftratum that is
inflamed. III4
Aurum fulminans, when moift, does not explode at Explofion
all; but as it dries, the grains go off in fuccdfion like of moift au-
the decrepitation of common fait.—In glafs veffels rum/ulm*'l
clofed, or with their mouths immerfed in water, jtnans*
explodes, but with a very weak report. An elaftic
vapour, in the quantity of feven inches, from half a
drachm of the powder, broke forth jn the.moment of
exploiion, which, by our author’s account, feems to
be phlogifticated air. In metallic veffels fufficiently
ftrong, the gold is filently reduced when they are per-
3 feftly
Praaice. C H E M
Gold, feftly found; but if they have any very fmall chinks in
' them, the vapour makes its way through them with
iit a hilling noife.
Gaui'e of The caufe of this extraordinary explofive force of
this exjdo- gold has been attributed chiefly to a faline principle,
fion attri- the combination of nitrous acid with Volatile al-
faline prin- ’ an<^ this opinion has been fupported by an af-
eiple. fertion, that the fulminating property is deltroyed by
treating the calx with vitriolic, acid or with fixed al-
Iir5 kali; the former expelling the nitrous acid, arid the
This opi- latter difengaging the volatile alkali..— Mr Bergman
mon thown allows, that fixed alkali deftroys the fulminating pro-
nerusb™* Per1T * ^ut affirms, th^t it acts only by feparating the
Mr Berg- particles when the two are triturated together; and
man. this might be done by many other fubltanees as welj.
as fixed alkali: but when the alkali, inftead of being
triturated in the dry way with the calx, was boiled in
water along with it, the. explofion not only took
place, but was much more violent than ufual. It
muft be obferved, however, that heat alone dtflroys
the fulminating property of this calx ; and therefore,
if the alkaline folution be made too flxong, the addi¬
tional heat which it then becomes capable of fuftain-
ing, is fufficient to deprave the calx of its fulminating
property.. The cafe is the fame, with the vitriolic
acid ; for this has no.effedt upon the calx, either by
digeflion in its concentrated flate, or by boiling in its
diluted fta^ei If it be boiled in its concentrated Hate
indeed with the fulminating calx*, the heat conceived
by the acid is fufficient to deftroy the fulminating
property of the former; and in like manner,, unlefs
the calx be in. fome meafure deftroyed, or reduced to
its metallic ftate, it can never be deprived of its ful-
JtT7 minating property-
Aurum ful- ft was further proved, that the fulminating proper-
mmans can ty did not depend on the prefence either of nitrous or
vv'thout marine acids, for it can be made without them. A
nitroue or ca^x of gold, not fulminating, diffolved in vitriolic
marine acid* mcl precipitated by cauftic volatile alkali, had
acids. acquired this property. A folution of the fame calx
in nitrous acid, let fall a precipitate by the addition
of pure water; and this precipitate edulcorated, and
digefted with volatile alkali, fulminated as if it had
been originally precipitated with that alkali. The ex¬
periment was repeated on other non-fulminating pre¬
cipitates with the fame fuccefs. Left any fufpicion,
however, fhould remain, that a fmall quantity of aqua-
regia might ftill be left, which, by. combining with
the volatile alkali, would make a proportionable quan¬
tity of nitrum flammans, the precipitate was digefted
24 hours in vitriolic acid, then wafhed in pure water,
andimmerfed in aqueous and fpirituous folutions of al¬
kali, both mild and cauftic; but the event was the
fame. Laftly, an inert calx of gold may always be
made to fulminate by digefting it with volatile alka¬
li ; nor can this property be communicated to it by
mS aHy means without the ufe of this alkali.
Fixed air It has been fuppofed by fome very eminent chemifts,
not the among whom we may number Dr Black, that fixed
caufe of the aJr is the caufe of the fulmination of gold: but it is
cxpL. ton. gyident that this cannot be the cafe; becaufe, i- Gold
fulminates as well when precipitated by the cauftic
volatile alkali, as by that which contains fixed air.
2. This metal does not combine, during precipitation,
with fixed atj, 3. Gold, when precipitated by mild
I S T R Y. J27
fixed alkali, does not fulminate, unlefs the menftruum Gold-
Contain volatile alkali.
The fulminating calx of gold may be prepared ei¬
ther with a compound aqua-regia of pure nitrous and
marine acids ;. of pure nitrous acid and fal ammoniac ; iTIt,
or of a compound of alum, nitre, and fea-falt. When Menftru-
tbis kind of liquor is made ufe of, the acid of theatl1 *!ne
alum expels the other two, and thus forms an aqua-1 re^‘ u‘'
regia. This was formerly called menjlruumfinejlrepl-
tu. By whatever method the gold is diflblved, it al¬
ways affords a yellow calx with alkalies, but the vo¬
latile alkali moft readily throws down the metal. De-
phlogifticated fpirit of fait very readily dilfolves gold,,
and produces a fulminating precipitate as. well as aqua-
regia- . . .
We ftiall conclude this account of aur.um fulminans Mr Berg—
with an abftraft of Mr Bergman’s theoiy o'f the ex"*an0f^"
plofion,.— He obferves, that volatile alkali contains 0f
phlogifton ; an undoubted proof of, which is given by explolioiw
Dr Prieftley, by converting alkaline into phlogifti-
cated air. This phlogifton, fays he, may be fepara-
ted by means of a fuperior attraftion; fo that the vo¬
latile alkali js decompofed, and the reftduum diflipa-
ted in form of an elaftic fluid, altogether firriilar to
that which is extricated during the fulmination : the
fource then from whence the elaftic fluid is derived
muft be obvious ; arid it only remains to examine the
medium by which the volatile alkali is dephlogiftica-
ted.
“ In thofe metals which are called perfect, fp great*
is the firmnefs of texture, and fo clofe the connec¬
tion of the earthy principle with the phlogifton, that,
by means of fire alone thefe principles cannot be dif-
united: but when diffolved by acid menftfua, they
- muft necefiarify lofe a portion of their phlogifton; and
therefore, when afterwards precipitated by alkalies,
which cannot fupply the lofs, they fall down in a cal-'
cined ftate, though they attract phiogiflon fo ftrong-
ly, that they can. be reduced to a- metallic {late*
merely by an intenfe heat-penetrating the veffels. It
may therefore be laid down as a fundamental pofition,,
that gold is calcined by foluticn. t [4r -
“ Let us now confider the confequence of expo-Volatile al-
fing the powder confifting of calx of gold and volatile ball the
alkali intimately united, to an heat gradually increa-
fed. The calx which is united with the volatile al-eX^ ° lon*
kali, by the affiftance of a gentle heat, feizes its phlo¬
gifton ; and when this is taken away, the refiduum
of the fait is.inftantaneoufly expanded into the form
of an elaftic fluid, which is performed with fo much ,
violence, that the air muft yield a very acute found.”
Our author proceeds to explain this phenomenon Volatile a!--
upon the principles affumed by him and’Mr Scheele, kali exhibits*
of heat being a compdlition of light, and the phlo-aflafllwhfn
gifton or principle of inflammability ; but as this hy-^°^.“uo'
pothefis is by no means fatisfadtory, we ftrall om;tc;]5iei
his reafoning founded upon it: That the volatile alkali,
however, is really capable of producing a flafh is eafily
proved, becaufe it exhibits one when thrown into a
hot crucible. A Angle cubic inch of gun-powder ge- Greatquan-
nerates about 244 of elaftic fluid; but the fame quam :ly of cla¬
rity of aurum fulminans yields at leaft four times as !fic
much; and hence we may eafily underltand the dif-i’roduce‘1
ference in their explofive force. ,
“ That, careful calcination ftiould deftroy the ful-
528 C H E M I
G '1<!- , minatlng property, is not to be wondered at, as the '
v volatile alkali is the indifpenfable material caufc ; but, the
Why'flight Pecu^ar alacrity which it acquires before the explofive
calcination force is totally extinguifiied, depends upon the nature of
ddlroys the the materials, and of the operation. Thus the heat,
propertW^en *n^er’or t0 necelfary for fulmination, adts
try- upon both the principles of the aurum fulminans, it
prepares the metallic'calx for a more violent attrac¬
tion for phlogifton ; it alfo adts upon the phlogilton
of the volatile alkali, andloofens its connedtion ; which
two circumftances mult tend to the union1 producing
the explofion. But this effedl has a maximum ; and at
this period the flighted fridtion fupplies the defedt of
neceffary heat, and produces the fulmination. The
calcined gold alfo feems to colledt and fix the matter
of heat, though dill infufficient by means of its phlo-
gidon, in a ceitain degree : fo that by means of fric¬
tion, though but very flight, it becomes capable of
v exerting its force; but when the heating is often repea¬
ted without producing its effedl, the volatile alkali is
by degrees diflipated, and at length fo much diminilh-
ed that the calx becomes inert.
Why it will “ But if aurum fulminans is capable of producing
not explode fuch a prodigious quantity of eladic fluid, how does
lnit happen that it remains mute and inert when reduced
ve “ s’ in clofe vefiels ? Of this the reafon may be, that every
eladic fluid, in the aft of breaking forth, requires a
fpace to expand in ; and if this be wanting, it remains
fixed. Taking this for granted, a calx of gold can¬
not be reduced in clofe veflels either by heat or by
the phlogidon of volatile alkali; for in either cafe it
mud evolve its eladic fluid, which by fuppofitionlt
cannot do. Nothing remains to folve this difficulty
but the ignition of the furrounding metal; by means
of which the calx, in virtue of its fuperior attraffion,
feizes the phlogidon of the metal, which that fub-
dance here, as well as in other indances, is capable
of lofing without the eruption or abforption of any
fluid whatever.”
M^Ber - Several chemids have aflerted, that the c&lces of
nra'n’s^pi- C0PPer or diver may be made to fulminate like that of
nion of rhegold. But Mr Bergman informs us, that thefe experi-
fulminationments never fucceeded with him ; “ fo (fays he) they
calces^ ^,ave e*t^ler been filent upon fome circumdances ne-
cefl'ary in the operation, or perhaps have been deceived
by the detonation of nitrum flammans, or fome other
accidental occurrence. It is not diffident for the vo¬
latile alkali to adhere to the precipitate ; for platina
thrown down by this alkali retains a portion of it very
obflinately, but yet does not fulminate on the ex-
pofure to fire.—Befides the prefence of volatile alkab,
it feems to be neceflary that 'the metallic calx ftrould
be reducible by a gentle heat, in order to decompofe
it; but every explofioo is not to be derived from the
fame caufes ; nay, in this refpedl, aurum fulminans,
gun-powder, and pulvis fulminans, differ very much,
though they agree in feveral particulars.” Of late,
however, it has been found that the calx of filver may
be made to fulminate in a manner dill more extraordi-
nary than that of gold. See the next article.
Solution of ^Ifgold is melted with an hepar fulphuris, compofed
gold by he-of equal parts of fulphur and fixed alkaline fait, the
par fulphu- metaj r€ad;
ly unites with it into an uniform mafs, ca¬
pable of diffolution in water without any reparation of
' N° 74.
S T R Y. PradHce.
its parts. The folution, befides a naufeous tade from Gold,
the fulphur, has a peculiar penetrating bitternefs, not
difcoverable in any other metalline folution made by
the fame means.
Though the compofitions of fulphur and alkali feem
to unite more intimately with gold than any other me¬
tal, their affinity with it is but flight; copper, or iron,
added to the matter in fufion, dilunite, and precipitate
the gold. The metal thus recovered, and purified by
the commonproceffes, prove remarkably paler-colour¬
ed than at firft. In an experiment related by Dr
Brandt, in the Swedifli Memoirs, the purified gold
turned out nearly as pale as lliver, without any diminu¬
tion of weight. nag
Gold has been thought to be poffeffed of many ex- Medicinal
traordinary virtues as a medicine; which, however,*'’^05
are long ago determined to be only imaginary. It isS°
not indeed very eafy to prepare this metal in fuch a
manner that it can he fafdy taken into the human bo¬
dy. The folution in aqua regia is poifonous ; but if
any effential oil is poured on this folution, the gold
will be feparated from the acid, and united to the ef¬
fential oil; with which, however, it contrafts no laft-
ing union, but in a few hours feparates in bright 1129
yellow film to the fides of the- glafs. Vitriolip ether Etherial fo
diffolves the gold more readily and perfedlly than the lution*
common effential oils ; and keeps it permanently fuf-
pended, the acid liquor underneath appearing colour-
lefs. The yellow ethereal folution poured off, and
kept for fome time in a glafs ftopt with a cork, fo that
the fpirit may flowly exhale, yields long, tranfparent,
prifmatic cryftals, in ffiape like thofe of nitre, and yel¬
low like topaz. What the nature of thefe cryftals is,
either as to medicinal effedls, or other purpofes, is as
yet unknown.
Redlified fpirit of wine mingles uniformly with the
folution of gold made in acids : if the mixture is fuffer-
ed to ftand for fome days in a glafs flightly covered,
the gold is by degrees revived, and arifes in bright
pellicles to the furface. Groffer inflammable matters,
wine, vinegar, folutions of tartar, throw down the
gold, in its metalline form, to the bottom. Gold is
the only metal which is thus feparable from its fo¬
lution in acids by thefe fubftances; and hence gold
may be purified by thefe means from all admixtures,
and fmall proportions of it in liquors readily difeo-
vered. _ 1130
When the colour of gold is by any means rendered Colour of
pale, it may be recovered again by melting it withg^drefl°*
copper, and afterwards feparating the copper; or byre ’
a mixture of verdigris and fal ammoniac with vi¬
triol or . nitre. The colour is alfo improved by fu¬
fion with nitre, injefting fal ammoniac upon it in the
fufion, quenching it in urine, or boiling it in a folu¬
tion of alum. When borax is ufed as a flux, it is
cuftomaty to add a little nitre or fal ammoniac, to
prevent its being made pale by the borax. Juncker
reports, that by melting gold with four times its
weight of copper, feparating the copper by aquafortis
unpurified, then melting the gold with the fame quan¬
tity of frefti copper, and repeating this procefs eight
or nine times, the gold becomes at length of a deep
red colour, which fuftains the adtion of lead, antimo¬
ny, and aquafortis.
2 §2.
1*3*
Du&ility
of iilver.
CHEMISTRY.
water aa will reduce them to the confidence of a thin
§2. S il r hr, pafle, for a quarter of a hour, or more; five parts of
pure quickfilver are then to be added, with a little
more water, and the triture to be continued for fome
hours- A fine amalgam will thus be obtained; which
is to be wafhed with frefii parcels of water, as long a»
any white powder feparates. Nearly the whole of the
filver is contained in the amalgam, and may be obtain¬
ed perfectly pure by diftilling off the mercury. The
white powder holds a finall proportion feparable by
gentle fublimation ; the matter which fublimes is near¬
ly fimilar to mercurius dulcis.
The colour of filver is debafed by all the metals,
and its malleability greatly injured by all but gold and
copper. The Englifh ftandard-filver contains one part
of copper to twelve and one-third of pure filver.
This metal difeovers in fome circumftances a great at- Aura
tradition for lead ; though it does not retain any of thatf°r ltaJ'
metal in cupellation. If a mixture of filver and cop¬
per he melted with lead in certain proportions, and
the compound afterwards expofed to « moderate fire,
the lead and filver will melt out together, bringing ve¬
ry little of the copper with them ; by this means fil¬
ver is often feparated from copper in large works.
The effect does not wholly depend upon the different
fufibility of the metals ; for if tin, which is ftill more
fufible than lead, be treated in the fame naanner with a
529
This, next to gold, is the moft perfeft, fixed, and
duftile of all the metals. Its fpecific gravity is to
that of water nearly as it to 1. A fingle grain has
been drawn into a.wire three yards long, and flat¬
ted into a plate an inch broad. In common fire it fuf-
fers no diminution of its weight; and, kept in the vehe¬
ment heat of a glafs-houfe for a month, it lofes no
more than one fixty-fourth. In the focus of a large
burning-glafs, it fmokes for a long while, then con-
trafts a greyirti a(h on the furface, and at length is to¬
tally diflipated.
Silver is fomewhat harder and more fonorous than
gold, and is fufible with a lefs degree of heat. The
tenacity of its parts alfo is nearly one half lefs than
that of gold ; a filver wire of T*^ of an inch diameter
being unable to bear more than 270 pounds.
Mercury unites very readily with filver-leaf, or
with the calx of filver precipitated by copper; but
does not touch the calces precipitated by alkaline
Effecfts of falts. The vapours of fulphureous folutions ftain fil-
fulphur on ver yellow or black. Sulphur, melted with filver,
lt> debafes its colour to a leaden hue, renders it more
eafily fufible than before, and makes it flow fo thin as
to be apt in a little time to penetrate the crucible :
136
in a heat juft below fullon, a part of the filver Ihoots mixture of filver and copper, the three ingredients are
up, all over the furface, into capillary efflorefcence.
Aquafortis does not a£t upon filver in this com¬
pound ; but fixed alkaline falts will abforb the ful-
phur, and form a hepar fulphuris, which, however, is
capable ef again diffolving the metal. If the ful-
phurated filver is m'xed with mercury fublimate, and
expofed to the fire, the mercury of the fublimate will
found to attra& one another fo ftrongly as to come all
into fufion together. Again, if fiber be melted with
iron, and lead added to the mixture, the filver will for-
fake the iron to unite with the lead, and the iron will
float by itfeif on the furface. U37
Silver is purified and whitened externally by boiling Whitened
folution of tartar and common fak. This is noexternaUy*
unite with the fulphur, and carry it up in the form of other than an extra&ion of the cupreous paitides from
cinnabar, whilft the marine acid of the fublimate u- the furface of the filver, by the acid of the tartar acu-
nites with the filver into a luna cornea, which re¬
mains at the bottom of the glafs. Fire alone is fuf-
ficient, if continued for fome time, to expel the fulphur
from filver.
From the bafer metals, filver is purified by cupel¬
lation with lead. (See Refining.) It always re¬
tains, however, after that operation, fome fmall por¬
tion of copper, fufficient to give a blue colour to vo¬
latile fpirits, which has been erroneoufly thought to
proceed from the filver itfelf. It is purified from this
admixture by melting it twice or thrice with nitre
and borax. The fcoria, on the firft fufion, is com¬
monly blue ; on the fecond, green; and on the third,
white, which is a mark of the purification being com¬
pleted.
The moft effe&ual means, however, of purify-
 /-.1  .•  • •  .. c  1  _ , /
„ ”35
Mr Mar-
graaft’s me
thod.
ated by the cpmmon fait. - ,,-^8
M. Berthollet has lately difeovered a method ofFulmina-
imparting to the calx of fiber a fulminating property, tiug fiber,
and that much more terrible than fulminating gold it¬
felf. His receipt for making it is, “ Take cupelled
filver, and diffobe it in the nitrous acid ; precipitate pared,
the filver from the folution by lime-water, decant the
clear liquor, and expofe the precipitate three days to
the open air. Mix this dried precipitate with the
cauftic volatile alkali, it will turn black; and whea
dried in the air, after decanting the clear liquor, is the
fulminating powder required.”
The properties of this powder are faid to be fo ex¬
traordinary, that it is impoffible to imagine how any
part of it can ever be feparated from the reft after it
is once prepared. To make this fulminate, it feems
ing filver, is by reviving it from luna cornea; be- no fenfible degree of heat is neceffary, the contact of ^
caufe fpirit of fait will not precipitate copper as it a cold body anfwering that purpofe as well as any other. toUCh 0f a-
does filver. The filver may be recovered from hi- After it is once made, therefore, it muft not be touch-ny fub-
na cornea, by fufion with alkaline and inflammable ed, but remain in the veffel in which it is dried; and^ance
fluxes; but, in thefe operations, fome Ms is always fo violent is the explofion, that it is dangerous to at-
occafioned by the diflipation of part of the volatile tempt it in larger quantities than a grain at a time,
calx, before the alkali or metal can abforb its acid. For the fame reafon it undoubtedly' follows, that no *I4r
more than a grain ought to be made at a time, or at ^an8erot3'5
leaft in one veffel, becaufe no part of it could ever af-^an'a1”01^
terwards be fepaiated from the reft. We are told, gra'n is ful-
that, “ the wind having turned over a paper contain- niinated at
ing forne atoms of this powder,” (we ought to have a t‘me’
3 X been
Mr Margraaff has difeovered a method of recovering
. the filver with little or no lofs; mercury aflitted by
volatile falts, imbibing it by trituration without heat.
One part of luna cornea, and two of volatile fait, are
to be ground together in a glafs-mortar, with fo much
Vot. IV. Part II.
530 C H E M
Silve-. been informed how the atoms came there, confidering
' v what we have juft now related,) “ the portion touch¬
ed by the hand fulminated, and of courfe that which fell
upon the ground. A drop of water which fell upon this
powder caufed it to fulminate. A fingle grain of ful¬
minating fdver, which was in a glafs cup, reduced the
1144 glafs to powder, and pierced feveral doubles of paper.
Fulmina- “ If the volatile alkali, which has been employed
cry- with the above powder, be put into a thin glafs ma-
ftals. trafs and boiled, then, on Handing in the cold, fmall
cryftals will be found fublimed on the interior fides of
the veffel, and covering the liquor. On touching one
of thefe cryftals the matrafs will be burft with eonli-
derable exploiion.
Cautions to “ The dangerous properties of this powder fuggeft'
be ufed in the neceflity of not preparing it but when the face is
preparing covered with a made with glafs eyes ; and to avoid the
rupture of the glafs cups, it is prudent to dry the ful¬
minating filver in fmall metalline veffels.” To this
we may add, that as the powder does not fulminate
when wet, it may in that ftate be put up in very fmall
quantities on paper, to be fulminated afterwards as
occafion offers. This will perhaps account for the ap¬
pearance of the few atoms above mentioned on the
j ,44 paper which the wind overturned.
Abfurd With regard to the caufe of this extraordinary ful-
^eorT°I mination we can/ay nothing fatisfactory ; the follow-
phlogif-" ing curious reafon is affigned by the antiphlogiftons ;
tons. which at once {hows the futility of their theory, and
fets in a very ridiculous light the hard words with
which they would obfeure the fcience of chemiftry.
“ The oxygenous principle*' (fay they) unites with
the hydrogenous principle f of the volatile alkali, and
t mu am- form water in a vaporous ftate. This water (in a va¬
luable air. porous ftate) being inftantaneoufly thrown into a Jlate
of vapour, poffeffing elafticity and expanfive force, is
the principal caufe of this phenomenon, in which the
} Phlogifti- azotic J air which is difengaged from the volatile al-
cated air. kali, with fts whole expanfile power, has a great {hare.”
Remarks On this, as well as other theories, in which elaftic
on this and fluids are alleged to be the caufe of explofions, it is
other theo- obvious to remark, that (hould we allow this to be the
ries. cafe, we are utterly at a lofs to find a fource of heat
fufficient to rarefy the vapour to fuch a degree as is
neceffary for producing the effedt aferibed to it. In
the prefent cafe, we can fcarce fuppofe a grain weight
of metalline calx, already dry, to contain as much ei¬
ther of fire or water as is neceffary to produce the ef¬
fect ; nor can we explain why the touch of any cold
body, and which may be fuppofed to contain lefs fire
than the calx itfelf, {hould produce fuch an effedt. As to
the oxygenous and hydrogenous principles, they were
there before the touch, and ought to have produced
their effecls, hot to mention that the water produced
by them could not have amounted to the thoufandth
The pheno- part of a grain. It is much more probable, therefore,
menon iro-that the whole is to be confidered as an effedf of elec-
^oOWc tricity, though we cannot tell how the fluid comes
tricity.6 eC" here to be excited in fuch a violent manner.
§ 3. Copper.
This is one of thofe metals which, from their de-
ftruftibility by fire, and contrafting ruft in the air,
are called imperfeS. Of thefe, however, it is the molt
perfeft and indeftruftible. It is of a reddilh colour
when pure j eafily tarnifhes in a moift air, and con-
* Dephlo-
gifticated
1146
I S T R Y. Pratflice.
trafts a green ruft. It is the moft fonorous of all the Copper,
metals, and the bardeft and molt elaftic of all but iron.
In fome of its ftates, copper is as difficultly extended ,,47
under the hammer as*'iron, but always proves fofter to
the file ; and is never found hard enough to ftrike a iron. M
fpark with flint or other {tones; whence its ufe for
duffels', hammers, hoops, tsV. in the gunpowder works.
When broke by often bending backwards and forwards,
it appears internally of a dull red colour without any
brightnefs, and of a fine granulated texture refem-
bling fome kinds of earthen ware. It is coniiderablv
duftile, though lefs fo than either gold or filver ; and
may be drawn, into wire as fine as hair, or beaten into
leaves almoft as thin as thofe of filver. The tenacity
of its parts is very confiderable ; for a copper wire of
■/t of an inch diameter will fupport a weight of 2994-
pounds without breaking. The fpecific gravity of this
metal, according to Dr Lewis, is to that of water as
8.830 to 1.
Copper continues malleable when heated red; in
which refpeft it agrees with iron ; but is not, like iron,
capable of being welded, or having two pieces joined
into one. It requires for its fufion a ftronger heat
than either gold or filver, though lefs than that requi-
lite to melt iron. ” When in fufion, it is remarkably
impatient of moifture the contaft of a little water
©ccaiioning the melted copper to be thrown about
with violence, to the great danger of the by-ftanders.
It is, neverthelefs, faid to be granulated in the brafs-
works at Briftdl, without explofion or danger, by let- ^ II4^
ting it fall in little drops, into a large ciftern of cold nu<^e^ra~
water covered with a brafs-plate. In the middle of
the plate is an aperture, in which is fecured with Stur-
bridge clay a fmall veffel, whofe capacity is not above
a fpo’onful, perforated with a number of minute holes,
through which the melted copper paffes. A ftream
of -cold water paffes through the ciftern. If fuffered
to grow hot, the copper falls liquid to the bottom,
and runs into plates.
Copper, in fufion, appears of a bluifti green colour, „ i”4 4
nearly like that/ of melted gold. Kept in fufion for a axine
long time, it becomes gradually more and more brittle ;
but does not fcorify coniidefably, nor lofe much of its
weight. It is much lefs deftruftible than‘any of the
imperfeft metals, being very difficultly fubdued even
by lead or bifmuth. If kept in a heat below fufion,
it contrafts on the furface thin powTdery feales ; which,
being rubbed off, are fucceeded by others, till the
whole quantity of the metal is thus changed into a
fcoria or calx, of a dark reddifh colour. This calx
does not melt in the ftrongeft furnace fires; but, in the
focus of a large burning mirror, runs eafily into a deep
red, and almoft opaque, glafs. A flaming fire, and
ftrong draught of air over the furface of the metal,
greatly promote its calcination. The flame being
tinged of a green, bluifti, or rainbow colour, is a mark
that the copper burns.
This metal is very readily foluble by almoft all fa- g0iu^i]lty.
line fubftances ; even common wnter, fuffered to ftand
long in copper-veflels, extrafts fo much as to gain a
coppery tafte. It is oBfervable, that water is much,
more impregnated wfith this tafte, on being fuffered
to ftand in tire cold, than if boiled for a longer time in
the veffel. The fame thing happens in regard to the
mild vegetable acids. The confeftioners prepare the
moft acid fyrups, even thofe of lemons and oranges,
bX
Altered by
tion with
nation
■with m
cury.
Practice. C II E M
Capper, by boillrig in clean copper-veflels, without the pr^pa-
^ v rations receiving any iii tafte from the metal; whereas,
either the juices themfelves, or the fyrups made from
them, if kept cold in copper veffels, foon become ini'*
pregnated with a difagreeable tafte, and with the per-
TTPI tiicious qualities of the copper.
■ By combination with vegetable acids, copper be¬
comes in fome refpefts remarkably altered. Verdi-
. gris, which is a combination of copper with a kind
acids' of acetous or tartareous acid, is partially foluble in
diftilled vinegar; the refiduum, on being- melted with
borax and linfeed oil, yields a brittle metallic fub-
ftance, of a whitifh colour, not unlike bell-metal. The
copper alfo, when revived from the diftilled verdigris,
was found by Dr Lewis to be different from the metal
before diiTolution ; but neither of thefe changes have
yet been fufficiently examined.
Copper, in its metallic ftate, is very difficultly amal¬
gamated with mercury ; but unites with it more eafily
•- if divided by certain admixtures. If mercury and
verdigris be triturated together with common fait,
vinegar, and water, the copper in the verdigris will
be imbibed by the mercury, and form with it, as Boyle
obferves, a curious amalgam, at firft fo foft as to re¬
ceive any impreffion, and which, on Handing, becomes
hard like brittle metals. Brafs leaf likewife gives out
its Copper to mercury, the other ingredient of the
brafs feparating in the form of powder.
6>s Eafier methods of amalgamating copper are publiffi-
ed by Dr Lewis in his notes on Wilfon’s Chemiftry,
p. 432. . His receipts are,—“ Diffolve fome fine cop¬
per in aquafortis : when the menftruum will take up
Ho more of the metal, pour it into an iron mortar,
and add fix times the weight of the copper, of mer¬
cury, and a little common fait : grind the whole well
together with an iron peftle ; and, in a little time,
the copper will be imbibed by the mercury, and an
amalgam formed, which may be rendered bright by
waffiing it well with repeated affufions of water.
‘ ‘ Another method. Take the muddy fubftance which
is procured in the polilhing of copper plates with a pu¬
mice ftone, and grind it well with a fuitable portion
of mercury, a little common fait, and fome vinegar,
in an iron mortar, (a marble one will do, if you make
ufe of an iron peftle), till you perceive the mercury
has taken Up the copper.” The copper recovered
from thefe amalgams retains its original colour, with¬
out any tendency to yellow. Even when brafs is
made ufe of for making the amalgam, the recovered
metal is perfedf -red copper 5 the ingredient from
which the brafs received its yellownefs being,' as a-
bove obferved, feparated in the. amalgamation.
w Copper is the bafis of feveral metals for mechanic
ufes'; as brafs, prince’s metal, bell-mttal, bath-metal,
white copper, Isfc. Brafs is prepared from copper
and calamine, with the addition of powdered char¬
coal, cemented together, and at laft brought into fu-
fion. The calamine is to be previoufly prepared by
cleanfing it from adhering earth, ftone, or other mat¬
ters ; by roafting, or calcining it; and by grinding it
•into a fine powder. The length of time, and degree of
heat, requifite for the calcination of the calamine,
are different according to the qualities of that mineral.
The calamine, thus calcined, cleahfed, and ground, is
to be mixed with about a third or fourth part of char-
ferafs, hov
■prepared.
I S T R Y.
coal dull, or powdered pit-coal, as is done in fome
parts of England. The malleability of the bafis is di-
minilhed by the ufe of pit-coal, which is therefore
only employed for the preparation of the coarfer
kinds. To this compofition of calamine and coal*
fome manufacturers add common fait, by which the
procefs of making brafs is faid to be haliened. In
Gollar, where the cadmia adhering to the infides of
the furnaces is ufed inftead of the native calamine, A
fmall quantity of alum is added, by which they pre¬
tend the colour of the brafs is heighteped. With this
compofition, and with thin plates or grains of copper,
the crucibles are to be nearly filled. The proportion
of the calamine to the copper varies according to the
richnefs of the former, but is generally as three to two.
The copper muft be difperfed throughthe compofition of
calamine and coal; and the whole muff be covered with
more coal, till the crucibles are full. The crucibles,
thus filled, are to be placed in a furnace funk in the
ground, the form of which is that of the fruftum of a
hollow cone. At the bottom of the furnace, or great¬
er bafis of the fruftum, is a- circular grate, or iron-
plate. This plate is covered with a coat of clay and
horfe-dung, to defend it from the action of "the fire ;
and pierced with holes, through which the air main¬
taining the fire paffes. The crucibles ftand upon the
circular plate, forming a circular row, with one in
the middle. The fuel is placed betwixt the crucibles,
and is thrown into the furnace at the upper part of it,
or the leffer bafis of the fruftum. To this upper part
or mouth of the furnace is fitted a cover made of
bricks 6r clay, kept together with bars of iron, and
pierced with holes. - This cover ferves as a regifter.
When the heat is to be increafed, the cover muft be
partly or entirely taken off, and a free draught is
permitted to the external air, which paffes along a
vault under-ground to the affi-hole, through the holes
in the circular grate or plate, betwixt the crucibles,
and through the upper mouth, along with the fmoke
and flame, into an area where the workmen ftand,
which is covered with a large dome or chimney,
through which the fmoke and air afeend. When the
heat is to be diminilhed, the mouth of the furnace
is clofed with the lid ; through the holes of which the
air, fmoke, and flame pafs. The crucibles are to be
kept red-hot during eight or ten hours ; and in fome
places much longer, even feveral days, according to
the nature of the calamine. During this time, the
zinc rifes m vapour from the calamine, unites with
the copper, and renders that metal confiderably more
fufible than it is by itfelf. _ To render the metal very
fluid, that it may flow into one uniform mafs at the
bottom, the fire is to be increafed a little before the
crucibles are taken out, for pouring off the fluid me¬
tal into molds. From 60 pounds of good calamine,
and 40 of copper, 60 pounds of brafs rr^y be obtain¬
ed, notwithftanding a confiderable quantity 6f the zinc
is diffipated in the operation. The quantity of brafs
obtained has been confiderably augmented lince the
introduction of the method now commonly practifed,
of granulating the Copper; by which means a larger
firface of this metal is expofed to the vapour of zinc,
and confequently lefs of that vapour efcapes. To
make the finer and more malleable kinds of brafs, be-
Tides the choice of pure calamine and pure copper,
.3X2 fome
532
CHEMISTRY. Practice.
Copper, feme mamifa&urers cement the brafs a iecond time
v— with calamine and charcoal; and fometimes add to it
old brafs, by which the new is faid to be meliorated.
Brafs is brittle when hot; but fo duftile when cold,
that it may be drawn into very fine wire, and beat
into very thin leaves. Its beautiful colour, malleabi¬
lity, and its fufibility, by which it may be eafily caft
into moulds, together with its being lefs liable to ruft
than copper, render it fit for the fabrication of many
utenfils.
Although zinc be fixed to a certain degree in brafs,
by the adhefion which it contracts with the copper;
yet when brafs is melted, and expofed to a violent fire,,
during a certain time, the zinc diffipates in vapours,
and even flames away, if the heat be ftrong enough ;
and if the fire is long enough continued, all the zinc
will be evaporated and deftroyed, fo that what remains
5di.j4 is copper.
princes me- Prince’s metal is made by melting zinc in fubftance
tai. -with copper ; and all the yellow compound metals
prepared in imitation of gold are no other than mix¬
tures of copper with different proportions of that fe-
mimetal, taken either in its pure flate, or in its na¬
tural ore calamine, with an addition fometimes of
iron-filings, &c. Zinc itfelf unites moft eafily with
the copper; but calamine makes the moft duftile com¬
pound, and gives the moft yellow colour. Dr Lewis ob-
ferves, that a little of the caiamine renders the cop¬
per pale ; that when it has imbibed about ^ its own
weight, the colour inclines to yellow ; that the yel-
lownefs increafes more and more, till the proportion
comes to ajmoft one half; that on further augmenting
the calamine, the compound becomes paler and paler,
and at laft white. The crucibles, in which the fufion
is performed in large works, are commonly tinged by
!X55 -the matter of a deep blue colour.
Bell-metal. Bell-metal is a mixture of copper and tin ; and tho’
both thefe metals fingly are malleable, the compound
proves extremely brittle. Copper is diffolved by
melted tin eafily and intimately, far more fo than by
lead. A fmall portion of tin renders this metal dull-
colotjred, hard, and brittle. Bell-metal is compofed of
about ten parts of copper to one of tin, with the ad¬
dition commonly of a little brafs or zinc. A fmall pro¬
portion of copper, on the other hand, improves the
colour and confifteacy of tin, without much injuring
its du&iiity. Pewter is- fometimes made from one
1,56 part pf copper and twenty or more of tia.
Dr Lewis’s It has long been obferved, that though tin is fpeei-
fically much lighter than copper, yet the gravity of
fpecifk gra- compound, bell-metal, is greater than that of the
■vity of The cop'per itfelf. The fame augmentation of gravity al-
metal. fo takes place where the lighter metal is in the greateft
proportion ; a mixture even of one part of tin with
two of copper, turning out fpecifieally heavier than
pure copper. Moft metallic mixtures anfwer to the
mean gravity of the ingredients, or fuch as would re-
fiilt from a bare appofition of parts. Of thofe tried by
Dr Lewis, fome exceeded the mean, but the greater
number fell ftiort of it; tin and copper were the only
ones that formed a compound heavier tlian the heavieft
7-157 of the metals feparately.
White cop- White copper is prepared by mixing together equal
D1* parts of arfenic and nitre, injefting the mixture into
a red-hot crucible, which is to be kept in a moderate
fire, till they fubfide, and flow like wax. One part
of this mixture is injected upon four parts of melted
copper, and the metal, as foon as they appear tho¬
roughly united together, immediately poured out. The
copper, thus whitened, is commonly melted with a
coniiderable proportion of filver, by which its colour
is both improved and rendered more permanent. The
white copper of China and Japan appears to be no
other than a mixture of copper and arfenic. Geoffroy
relates, that,, on repeated fuiions, it exhaled arfenical
fumes, and became red copper, lofing, with its white-
nefs,. one feventh pf its weight.
$ 4. Iron.
Iron is a metal of a greyifh colour; foon tarniih'ng
in the air into a dulky blackifh hue ; and in a fnort
time contracting a yellowifh, or reddifh. ruft. It is
the hardeft of all metals; the moft elaftic; and, except¬
ing platina, the moft difficult to be fufed. Next to Te-adfy of
gold, iron has the greateft tenacity of parts ; an iron ;t, part*,
wire, the diameter of which is the tenth part of an
inch, being capable of fuftaining 450 pounds. Next
to tin, it is the lighteft of all the metals, lofing betweeg
a feyenth and eighth part of its weight when -immerfed
in water. When very pure, it may be drawn into wire
as fine as horfe-hair; but is much lefs capable of being
beaten into thin leaves than the other metals, except¬
ing only lead.
Iron grows red-hot much fooner than any other
metal; and this, not only from the application of ac¬
tual fire, but likewife from ftrong hammering, fric¬
tion, or other-mechanic violence. It neverthelefs melts
tjie moil difficultly pf all metals except manganefe and
platina; requiring, in its moft fufible ftate, an in-
tenfe, bright, white heat. When perfe&ly malleable,
it is not fufible at all by the heat of furnaces, without
the addition or the immediate contact of burning fuel;
and, when melted, lofes its malleability : all the com¬
mon operations which communicate one of thefe qua¬
lities deprive it at the fame time of the other; as if
fufibility and malleability were in this metal incompa¬
tible. When expofed to the focus of a large burning
mirror, however, it quickly fufed, boiled, and emit¬
ted an ardent fume, the lower part of which was a
true flume. At length it was changed into a tflackilh
vitrified fcoria.
From the great wafte oecafioued by expofing iron Iran a com-
to a red but efpecially to a white heat, this metal ap- buOible
pears to be a combuftible fubftance. This combuftion fub^ance*
is maintained, like that of all other combuftible fub-
ftances, by contatl of air. Dr Hook, having heated
a bar of iron to that degree called white heat, he pla¬
ced it upon ap anvil, and blowed air upon it by means
of bellows, by which it burnt brighter and hotter..
Expofed to a white heat,, it contrails a femivitreous.
coat, which burfts at times, and flies off in fparkles.
No other metallic body exhibits any fuch appear¬
ance. On continuing the fire, it changes by de¬
grees into a dark red calx, which does not melt in
the moft vehement heat procurable by furnaces, and,
if brought into fufion. by additions, yields an opaque
black glafs. When ftrongly heated, it appears co¬
vered on the furface with a fcTt vitreous matter like
yarniffi. In this ftate, pieces of it cohere j and, on
Pradlice. C H E M :
Iron, being hammered together, weld or unite, without difco-
' 1 "' 1 ' vering a juncture. As iron is the only metal which ex-
vTheIoi'l> h'^61 th's appearance in the fire, fo it is the only one
metal capa-capable of being welded. Thofe operations which
ble of being prevent the fuperficial fcorification, deprive it likewife
welded. of this valuable property: which may be reftored again,
by fuffering the iron to refume its vitreous afpeft;
and, in fome meafure, by the interpofition of foreign
vitrefcible matters; whilft none of the other metals will
unite in the fmalleit degree, even with its own fcoria.
Jt6i Iron expands the leaf! of all metals by heat. In the
infufiofl5 3<^ ^u^orl» ohlead of continuing to expand, like the
0 ' other metarls, it fhrinks ; and thus becomes fo much
more denfe, as to throw up fuch part as is unmelted to
the furface; whilft pieces of gold, filver, copper, lead,
or tin, put into the refpe&ive metals in fufion, fink
freely to the bottom. In its return to a confiftent
ftate, inftead of ihrinking like the other metals, it
expands ; fenfibly riling in the veffel, and affuming a
convex furface, while the others become concave. This
property, firft obferved by Reamur, excellently fits it
for receiving impreffions from moulds. By the in-
creafe of bulk which the metal receives in congelation,
it is forced into the minuteft cavities, fo as to take
the impreffion far more exactly than the other metals
which (brink.
. Iron is difiblved by all the metals made fluid, ex-
Diffolved Cept lead; though none of them ail fo powerfully up-
tal/'exce^t on it as gold : but, as Cramer obferves, if the iron
lead at d contains any portion of fuiphur, it can fcjircely be made
mercury, to unite at all with gold.
Among the femimetallic bodies, it is averfe to an
union with mercury j no method of amalgamating thefe
two having yet been difcovered ; though quickfilver,
in certain circumftances, feems in fome fmall degree
to aft upon it. A plate of tough iron, kept immerfed
in mercury for fome days, becomes brittle; and mer¬
cury will often adhere to and coat the ends of iron
peftles ufed in triturating certain amalgams with faline
liquors. Mr Jones has alfp difcovered, that by plun¬
ging iron, while heated to an intenfe white, heat, into
mercury, the latter will adhere to the furface of the
iron, and completely filver it over.
Next to mercury, zinc is the moft difficultly com¬
bined with iron; not from any natural indifpofition to
unite, but from the zinc being difficultly made to fu-
ftain the heat requifite. The mixture is hard, fome-
what malleable, of a white colour approaching to that
of filver. Regains of antimony, as foon as it melts,
begins to aft on iron, and dilfolves a confiderable quan¬
tity. If the regulus be ftirred with, an iron rod, it
will melt off a part of it. Arfenic likewife eafily
mingles with iron, and has a ftreng attraction for it;
forfaking all the other metals to unite with this. It
renders the iron wrhite, very hard, and brittle..
T163 This metal is the bafis of the fine blue pigment, cal-
Pruflian from the place where it was firft difcoveied, £er-
ue' tin or PmJJian blue. This colour was accidentally dif¬
covered about the beginning of the prefent centu/y, by
a chemift of Berlin, who, having fucceffively thrown
upon the ground feveral liquors from his laboratory,
was much furprifed to fee it fuddenly ftained with a
beautiful blue colour. Recollecting what liquors he
bad thrown out, and obfeiving the fame effefts from
a fimilar mixture, he prepared the blue for tfie ufe of
■ S T R Y. 533;
painters; who found that it might be fubftituted to ul- I*on
tramarine, and accordingly have ufed it ever fince. v '
Several chemilts immediately endeavoured to dif- ^ ^cod
cover the compolition of this pigment; and in the year w.ir(j>s re,.
1724 Dr Woodward publifhed the following procefs, ce.pt for.!
in the Philofophical Tranfaflions, for making it. “ Al¬
kalize together four ounces of nitre, and as much tar¬
tar as is directed for charcoal (n° 779). Mix this alkali
well with four ounces of dried bullocks blood;, and put.
the whole in a crucible covered with a lid, in which
there is a fmall hole. Calcine with a moderate heat, till
the blood be reduced to a perfect coal; that is, till it e-
mits no more fmoke or flame capable of blackening any
white bodies that are expofed to it- Increafe the
fire towards the end, fo that the whole matter con¬
tained in the crucible (hall be moderately, but fen¬
fibly, red.
“ Throw into two pints of water the matter con¬
tained in the crucible, while yet red, and give it half
. an hour’s boiling: decant tins firft water ; and pour
more upon the black charry coal, till it becomes, ahnoft
iniipid. Mix together all thefe waters; and reduce
them, by boiling, to about two pines.
“ Diffolve alfo two ounces of martial vitriol, and
eight ounces of alum, in two pints of boiling water.
Mix thiafoluJtion when hot with the preceding lixivium
alfo hot. A great effervefcence will then be made:.
the liquors will be rendered turbid ; and will become
of a green colour, more or lefs blue ; and a precipi- .
tate will be formed of the fame colour. Filtrate, in-
order to feparate this precipitate ; upon which pour
fpirit of fait, and mix them well together ; by which'
means the precipitate will become of a fine blue colour-
It is neceffary to add rather too much of the fait than,
too little, and till it no longer increafes. the beauty of
the precipitate. The next day wafh this blue, till the
water comes off from it infipid; and then gently dry it.”
Mr Geoffro.y was the firft who gave any phafiblc Mr Qe(^
theory of tliis procefs, or any rational means of im-froy’stheo-
proviug it. He obferves, that the Pruffian blue is no ry-
other than the iron of the vitriol revived by the in¬
flammable matter of the alkaline lixivium, and per¬
haps a little Brightened by the earth of alum; that the
green colour proceeds from a part of the yellow fer¬
ruginous calx, or ochre, unrevived, mixing with the
blue; and that the fpirit of fait diffolves this ochre
more readily than the blue part; though, it will dif¬
folve that alfo by long Handing, or if ufed in too large
quantity. From thefe principles, he was led to in¬
creafe tire quantity of inflammable matter; that there
might be enough to revive the whole of the ferrugi¬
nous ochre, and produce a blue colour at once, with¬
out the ufe of the acid fpirit. In this he perfectly fuc-
-ceeded ; and found, at the fame time, that the colour,
might be rendered, of any degree ofdeepnefs, or light-
nefs, at pleafure. If the alkali is calcined witli twice:
its weight of dried blood, and the lixivium obtained-
from it poured into a folution of one part of vitriol to.
fix of alum,, the liquor acquires a very pale blue co¬
lour, and depofits as pale a precipitate. On adding
more and more of a frefh folution of vitriol, the co¬
lour becomes deeper and deeper,, almoft to blacknefs.
He imagines with great probability, that the blue pig¬
ment, thus prepared, will prove more durable in the
air, mingle mure perfectly with other colours, and be.
534 .. C H E M
Iron. Icfs apt to injilfe the luftre of fuch as are mixed with
 v  or applied in its neighbourhood, than that made in the'
common manner; the tarnifli to which common Pruf-
fian blue is fubjeft, feeming to proceed from the acid,
which cannot be feparated by any ablution.
Amu fin lie takes,notice of an amufing phenomenon which
phenome- happens upon mixture. When the liquors are well
non in the ftirred together; and the circular motion, as fo^n as
prepara- poflible, Hopped ; fome drops of folution of vitriol,
twn. (depurated by long fettling), let fall on different parts
of the furface, divide, fpread, and form-curious repre-
fentations of flowers, trees, fhrubs, flying iiife&s, See.
in great regularity and perfedtiom Thefe continue
10 or 12 minutes; and On {lining the liquor again,
and dropping in fome more of the folutiort of vitriol,
, are fucceeded by a new picture-.
Mr*Mac- This theory is confirmed by Mr MaCquer, in a Me-
quer’itheo-mpir printed in the year 1752. He obferves, that
*y. the quantity of phlogifton communicated to the iron
in this procefs is fo‘great, as not only to caufe the me¬
tal refill in a great meafure the a'Aion of acids, and
become totally unaffected by the magnet; but by a
flight calcination it becomes entirely fimilar to other
iron, and is at once deprived of its blue colour. He
further obferves, that fire is not the only means by
which Pruffian blue may be deprived of all the proper¬
ties which diftinguifli it from ordinary iron. A very
pure alkali produces the fame effedl. He has alfo dif-
covered, that the alkali which has thus deprived the
Prufiian blue of all the properties which diftinguifli
it from ordinary iron, becomes, by that operation,
entirely fimilar to the phlogifticated alkali ufed for
the preparation of Prufiian blue.
By a more particular examination, he found, that
the alkali might become perfectly faturated with the
Phi*? fib- coloutiog matter ; fo that, when boiled on Pruflian
catecf'nika-blue, it extracted none of its colour. When the fait
li lofes its was thus perfeftly fatUrated, it feemed no longer tb
■alkaline poffefsany alkaline qualities. If poUred into a folutioh
properties. 0pjron jn any acid, a fingle, homogeneous, and perfect
precipitate, was formed ; not green, as in Dr Wood¬
ward’s procefs, b,ut a perfect Prufiian blue ; which
needed no acid to brighten its colour. A pure acid
added to the alkali was not in the leaft neutralized,
nor in the leaft precipitated the colouring matter.
From hence MrMacquer concludes, that, in the making
of Prufiian blue, vitriol is dccompofed; becaufe the iron
has a ftrong attraftion for the colouring matter, as
Well as the acid for the alkali; and the fum of the at-
tradlion of the acid to the alkali, joined to that of the
iron for the Colouring matter, is greater than the fingle
attradlion of the acid to the metal. -
1169 Another Very important phenomenon is, that earths
notaTtrcT; ^iave not ^ fame attraction for this colouring matter
the colour- that metallic fubftances have. Hence, if an alkali fa-
ing matter, turated with this Colouring matter be poured into a fo-
> lution of aliim, no d^compofition is, effedted, Uor any
precipitate formed. The alum continues alum, and
the alkali remains unchanged.' From this experiment
Mr Macquer concludes that alum does not directly con¬
tribute to the formation of the Prufiian blue. The
purpofe he thinks it anfwers is as follows. Fixed al¬
kaline falts can never be perfedtly faturated with phlo-
;giftic matter by calcination; alkalies, therefore, though
calcined with inflammable fubftances, fo as to make a
I S T R Y. Praaice. ,
proper lixivium for Prufiian blue, remain ftili alka- *rcn.
line. Hence, when mixed with a folution of green v
vitriol, they form, by their purely alkaline part, a yel¬
low precipitate, fo much more copious, as the alkali
is lefs faturated with phlogfton. But nothing is more
capable of fpoiling the fine colour of the Prufiian blue,
than an admixture of this yellow precipitate : it is
therefore neceffary to add a quantity of alum, which
will take up the greateft part of the purely alkaline
fait; and of confequence the quantity of yellow fer¬
ruginous precipitate is much diminiflted. But the
earth of ahim, being of a fine ftiining white, does not
in the leaft alter the purity of the blue colour, but is
rather neceffary to dilute it. From all this it follows,
that it is a matter of indifference vvhether the green
precipitate is to be again diffolved by an acid, or the
alkaline part of the lixivium faturated with alum
or with an acid, before the precipitate is formed.
The latter indeed feems to be the moft eligible me¬
thod.
Moll alkalies obtained from the afhes of vegetables,
being combined, by their eombuftion, with a portion c;iqe |
of inflammable matter, are capable of furriiftiing aether alka- jl
quantity of Prufiian blue, proportionable to the quan- hes.
tity of colouring matter they contain, even without
the neceflity of mixing them with a folution of iron ;
becaufe they always contain a little of this metal dif¬
folved, fome of which may be found in almoft- all ve¬
getables ; therefore it is fufficien't to faturate them
with an acid. Flenckel obferved the production of
this blue in the faturation of the folfile alkali, and re¬
commended to cherfufts to inquire into its nature.
The theories of Geoffrey, Macquer, &c. however, Mt-Vch^cle
with refpeft to Pruflian blue, have now given place to (fifeovers
that of Mr Scheele; who has examined the fubftance the colour-
with the utmoft care, and found the colouring matter ing matter
to confift of an extremely volatile fubftance, capable of Dju^rulIlan
uniting with and neutralizing alkalies, but eafily ex¬
pelled from them by any other acid, even by that of
fixed air. He begins his differtation on this fubjeCt
by obferving, that the folution of alkali calcined with fangUin;s
dried blood, which he calls lixkuum fmguinis, by ex- lofes its co-
pofure to the air, lofes its property of precipitatinglour!ngPr°s'
the iron of a blue colour; and that the precipitate thus^^^
obtained is entirely foluble in the acid. In order to the air.
determine whether the dir had thus undergone any
change, he put fome newly prepared lixivium into a
glafs veffel well fealed with rofin ; but after fome time
finding no change on the lixivium or on the air con¬
tained in the veffel, he began to think that this might
be occafioned by the abfence of fixed air, which always T173
'abounds in the open atrnofphere, though not in any SuPP< fed
confined portion of it, at leaft in an equal proportion. r° ar‘fe
Having therefore filled a glafs veffel with fixed air, hefl”a;r ab-
poured into it a little lixivium fanguinis ; and next day f rbed front
found, that it threw down from green vitriol a preci- ‘l16 attiio-
pitate entirely foluble in acids. With other acids he^1'61’6,
obtained no precipitate.
On inverting the experiment, and mixing fome ^1174
green vitriol with lixivium fanguinis, the mixture grew £^3
yellow; and he found this addition capable of fixing addition of
the colouring matter fo, that neither the acid of fixed fome green
air nor any other could expel it from the alkali. For
having poured the mixture above mentioned into a fo-um< ’X1V 4
lution of green vitriol, and afterwards fuperfaturated
the
Practice.
C H E M
MTS
Calx of ii
foltible h
lixivium
fangviinis
1176
the lixivium with acid, he obtained a confiderable quan¬
tity of blue. To the fame lixivium fanguinis, in which
a fmall quantity of green vitriol was diffolved, he after¬
wards added of the other acids fomewhat more than
was neceffary for its faturation ; and though this was
done, a confiderable quantity of Pruffian blue was af¬
terwards'obtained. Again, having precipitated a fo-
lution of green vitriol with alkali, and boiled the pre¬
cipitate for fome minutes in lixivium' fanguinis, part
of it was diflblved: the filtered lixivittm underwent no
Change when expofed to the open air or to the aerial
acid, and precipitated the folution of vitriol of a blue;
and though the lixivium was fupevfaturated with acid,
and fome green vitriol added, a very beautiful Pruffian
  blue was obtained. This, however, will not hold when
when high-a perfeddy dephlogifticated calx of iron is employed,
^nfficated" nonc can be diffolved by the lixivium fangui¬
nis ; nor will any Pruffian blue be obtained by preci¬
pitating with lixivium fanguinis a perfectly dephiogi-
jj.y ilicated folution of iron in nitrous acid.
The colour- 'To determine what had become of the colouring
ing matter matter in thofe experiments where it feemed to have
b^thealr ^een diffipated, Come lixivium fanguinis was poured in-
afier it has to a ved'el filled with aerial acid. It was kept well
been expel-corked during the night, and next day a piece of pa¬
led by, a- , per dipped in a folution of green vitriol was^fixed to
c'^s* the cork, pencilling it over with two drops of a folu¬
tion of alkali in water. The paper was thus foon co¬
vered with precipitated iron ; and on being taken out
two hours afterwards, and^lipped in muriatic acid, be¬
came covered with molt beautiful Pruffian blue. The
fame thing happened when lixivium fanguinis fuperfa-
turated with vitriolic acid was employed; for in this
cafe alfo the air was filled with the colouring matter,
capable of being in like manner abforbed by the calx
of iron. But though from thefe experiments it is
plain that acids expel this colouring fubllance from the
lixivium, a given quantity of air is only capable of
receiving a certain quantity of it; for the fame mix¬
ture removed into another veffel imparts the colouring
property to the air it contains according to its quan¬
tity. On putting perfectly dephlogifticated calx of
iron upon the papers, no Pruffian blue was formed;
1178 but the muriatic acid diffolved the calx entirely.
The colour- Our author having now affured himfelf that acids
expelled"? rea^Y attra<^t the alkali more than the colouring mat-
diftillatiop ter> proceeded to try the effedts of dillillation. Ha-
with vitrio-ving therefore fuperfaturated fome lixivium fanguinis
lie acidi with vitriolic acid, he diftilled the mixture in a glafs
retort with a gentle fire. When about one-third had
paffed over, he changed the receiver, and continued
the operation till one-half was diftilled. The firft pro-
du& had a peculiar tafte and fmell; the air in the re¬
ceiver was filled, with colouring matter, and the aque¬
ous fluid was alfo ftrongly impregnated with it, as ap¬
peared by its forming a fine Pruffian blue with phlogi-
fticated calx of iron. Part of it being expofed to the
open air for fome hours, entirely loft its power, and the
product of the fecond operation was no other than wa¬
il 79 ter mAed with a little vitriolic acid.
Attempts The next ftep was to procure, if poffible, the co-
to procure louring matter by itfelf; and this he attempted to
the colour-0]-tain from the Pruffian blue, rather than the lixi-
bTitfdftCI v“un ftmgmnis, as he would thus not only avoid the
troublefome calcination of the alkali and blood, but
I S T R Y. 535
obtain the colouring matter in much larger quantity i
than could be done from the lixivium. On examining v
feveral kinds of this pigment, he found in them evi¬
dent marks of fulphur, volatile alkali, vitriolic acid, and
volatile Mphurebus acid ; all of which fubftances are to
be found in the lixivium fanguinis, as well as in that df
foot, and adhere to the precipitate in the preparation
of Pruffian blue. Finding, however, that he could not
obtain his purpofe by any kind of analyfis of thefe by
fire alone, he had recourfe to a neutral fait ufed by ug0
chemifts for difeovering iron in mineral waters. This Neutral
is formed by digefting cauftic fixed alkali on Pruffian fait for dif-
blue, which effectually-extra6ls the colour from it evencover!n£ .
in the cold, in a very ffiort time, and being neutralized, )ier.^ wa_ *
may eafily be reduced into a dry form. But it ismotters>
entirely to be depended upon for this purpofe,; for it
always contains fome iron, which indeed is the mediunv
of its connebtion with the alkali. The lixivium fan¬
guinis is preferable, though even this contains fome
iron, as well as the lixivium of foot; our author’s ex¬
periments, however, were made with the neutral fait,
for the reafons already mentioned. 1181-
i,. An ounce of the fait was diffolved in a glafs re- Effects of
tort in four ounces of water, afterwards adding three
drachms of concentrated vitriolic acid ;' and the mixr 0jj c|-
ture was diftilled with a gentle ‘fire. The mafs grew vitriol,
thick as foon as it began to boil; from a great quan¬
tity of Pruffian blue, a quantity of the colouring mat¬
ter appeared by the fmell to penetrate the lute ; and
part of it was abforbed by the air in the receiver, as in
former experiments. The diftillation was continued
till about an ounce had paffed into the receiver. The
blue mafs remaining in the retort was put into a fttain-
er, and a piece of green vitriol put into the liquid
which paffed through; but by this laft no Pruffian.
blue was produced. The blue which remained in the
filter was again treated with lixivium tartari; the fo-
lutibn freed from its ochre by filtration, and the clear
liquor committed a fecorid time to diftillation with vi¬
triolic acid. Pruffian blue was again feparated, though in
fmaller quantity than before, and the colouring matter
came over into the receiver. After one third of the
matter had paffed over, that which had been obtained
by the firft diftillation was added to it, the Pruffian
blue was feparated from the lixivium in the retort,
and extra&ed a third time. Some Pruffian blue was
formed again, though in much fmaller quantity ; whence
it is apparent that Pruffian blue may at laft be totally
decompofed by means of alkali. Lime, or terra pon-
derofa, likewife extracl the blue colour, and ftiow the
fame phenomena as alkali. n8y
With volatile alkali a compound, confrfting of the Colouring
alkali, iron, and colouring matter, is formed, whichma!ter l>-
ffiows the fame phenomena with that formed with
fixed alkali. By diftillation per R after it has been kali*.'C 3
.diffolved in. water, the liquor grows thick in confe-
quence of a feparation. of Pruflian blue, and volatile
alkali paffes over into the receiver. This volatile fpi-
rit is impregnated with the colouring matter : it is
not precipitated by lime-water ; but green vitriol is
precipitated by it ; and on adding an acid, Pruffian
blue is formed. If a piece of paper, dipped in a fo¬
lution of green vitriol, be expofed to the vapour of.
this alkali, it is foon decompofed ; and if the fame be
pencilled over with muriatic acid, it inftantly becomes
2- bhie-
536 C H E M I
blue. On expofing the liquor to the open air, it all
J evaporates, leaving pure water behind.
As in all the operations with vitriolic acid hitherto
related, fome fmall quantity of it pafles into the re¬
colouring ceiver, our author fhows how to deprive the colouring
riatter per-matter of that vitriolic taint. For this purpofe no-
its vkrfoliT th'ng more is necefl'ary than ^ put a little chalk into
taint. the matter, and redillil it with a very gentle heat; the
1184 acid unites with the chalk, and the colouring matter
How to goes over in its greatelt purity. In older to hinder,
efca^e of 38 muc^ as Rouble, the efcape of the volatile colour-
the^colour- matter through the lute, he makes ufe of a fmall
ing matter receiver, putting into it a little diftilled water, and
thro’ the placing it fo that the greater part (hall be immerfed
^ute’ in cold water during the operation. The water im¬
pregnated with this colouring matter has a peculiar
but not dilagreeable fmell, a tafte iomewhat approach¬
ing to fvveet, and warm in the mouth, at the fame
ng^ time exciting cough. When reftified as above direcl-
Thismatiered, it appears to be neither acid nor alkaline; for it
^eirtb^acid neither reddens paper dyed with lacmus, nor does it re-
iiiie. * ' ft°re t^le C0I°ur luch paper after it has been made
red ; but it renders tuibid the folutions of foap and
hepar fulphuris. The fame liquor mixed with fixed
alkali, though it contains a fuperabundancr of colour¬
ing matter, reftores the'blue colour of paper reddened
by an acid. By diftillation to drynefs, there goes
over a part of the colouring matter which difengages
itfelf from the alkali; the refiduum is foluble in water,
and has all the properties of the bell lixivium fangui-
nis ; but, like the true lixivium, it is decompofed by
all the acids, even by that of fixed air. With cauftic
volatile alkali it forms a kind of ammoniacal fait;
which, however, always fmells volatile, though the co¬
louring matter be in ever fo great proportion. By
diilillation the whole inftantly rifes, and nothing but
pure water is left in the retort.
Magnelia precipitated from Epfom fait by cauftic
volatile alkali, was diffolved in the colouring matter by
allowing them to ftand together for feveral days in a
warm clofe bottle. On expofure to the open air, the
magnefia feparated from it by its fuperior attiadlion
for aerial acid, and formed on the furface pf the
water a pellicle like that of cream of tartar. This
folution was likewife decompofed by alkalies and lime-
1188 water.
Very little The colouring matter diffolves but a very fmall
terra pon- quantity of terra ponderofa, which may be after-
derofa. wards precipitated by vitriolic and even by aerial
1189 ac^‘
Difloi . Pure clay, or the bafis of alum, is not attacked by
lime, but it. Lime is diffolved in a certain quantity. The fu-
uotciay. perabundant portion ftiould be feparated by filtration ;
and as the Liquor contains, befides the combined lime,
the portion which water itfelf is able to take up, in
order to free it from this, precifely the fame, quantity
of water impregnated with aerial acid is to be added
as is requifite for piecipitating an equal quantity of
lime-water. The colouring matter, thus fat mated
with lime, is to be filtered again, and then to be pre-
ferved in a well clofed bottle to prevent the accefs of
fixed air. This (blution is decompofed by all the
acids, and by the pure or cauftic alkalies. By diftilla¬
tion the colouring matter rifes, and nothing but pure
lime is left in the retort.—This folution of lime ap-
N*74. 4
TjSS
tnoniacal
felt with
volatile al¬
kali
(1187
Difiblves
magnefia
alba.
S T R Y. Praaice.
pears to our author to be fo perfectly faturated, that he 11
employed it in preference to any other in the experi- '
meats he made on metals, and which we are now about™, 1'9° .
« 1 he lo.uti-
to relate. _ . on of lime
From the trials made by Mr Scheele, it appears the mail
that the colouring matter has no efFe& upon any me- proper for
tal or metallic folution, excepting thole of filver and eKheri*
quickfilver in nitrous acid, and that of iron in fixed meta]3
air. The firft is precipitated in a white powder; the 119*
fecond in a black one; and the third aifumes a fea-Silver,
green colour, which afterwards turns to blue. With
metallic calces it produces the following phenomena. {,rec;j,;ta’e(j
r. Gold precipitated by aerated alkali becomes white, by the co-
2. The fixed air is difengaged from a precipitate of louring
filver with a flight effervefcence. 3. Calx of mercury matter^
is diflblved, and yields cryftals by gentle evaporation. I(s
4. The calx of copper precipitated by aerated alkali on metal-
effervefees, qnd aflumes a faint citron colour. 5. Calx of he calces;
iron precipitated from its folution in the vitriolic acid
by the fame alkali, effervefees, and affumes a dark blue
colour. 6. Precipitated cobalt fliows fome figns of
effervefcence, and changes into a yellowifh brown co¬
lour. The other calces are not afted upon.
The precipitating liquor above mentioned, poured ()n ”93^
into metallic folutions, produces the following appear- j;c “
ances by means of double ele&ive attraftion. 1. Goldtions.
is precipitated of a white colour, but by adding a fu-
perabundant quantity of the piecipitating liquor the
calx is rediffolved. The fecond folution is colourlefs
as water. ■ 2. Silver is precipitated in form of a white
fubftance of the confiftence of cheefe ; by adding more
of the liquor the precipitate is rediffolved, and the fo¬
lution is not decompofed either by fa'-ammoniac or
marine acid. 3. Corrofive fublimate apparently un¬
dergoes no change, though it is in reality decom¬
pounded ; the calx being diffolved in the colouring
matter. Mercury diffolved in the nitrous acid w ithout
heat, is precipitated in form of a black powrder. 4.
The folutions of tin and bifmuth are precipitated, but
the calx is not afted upon by the colouring matter.
5. The fame effedts are produced on the folution of
butter of antimony, as well as on that of .well de-
phlogifticated calx of iron. 6. Blue vitriol is preci¬
pitated of a yellow citron colour : if more of the pre¬
cipitating liquor be added, the precipitate is redif¬
folved into a colourlefs liquor ; and a colourlefs folu- .
tion of the fame calx is likewife obtained by volatile
alkali. On adding more of the folution of blue vi¬
triol, the folution likewife difappears, and the liquor
affumes a green colour.' Acids difi’olve a portion of
this precipitate, and the remainder is white. The
muriatic acid diffolves the precipitate completely, but
lets it fall again on the addition of water. 7. The fo¬
lution of white vitriol yields a white precipitate, w’hieh
is not rediffolved by addition of the precipitating li¬
quor, but is foluble in acids. Thefe folutions fmell
like the colouring matter, which may be feparated
from them by d ftillation. 8. Green vitriol is preci¬
pitated, firft of a' yellowifti brown colour, which foor>
changes to green, and then becomes blue on the fur-
face. Some hours afterwards the precipitate fubfides
to the bottom of the veffels, and then the whole mix¬
ture turns blue ; but on adding any acid the preci¬
pitate becomes inftantly blue. If a very fmall quanti¬
ty of green vitriol be put into the precipitating liquor.
bilir
colouring
mautr.
Pradice. C H E M I
Iron. the precipitate is entirely difTolved, and the whole af-
' fumes a yellow colour. 7. Solution of cobalt lets
fall a brown! (h yellpw precipitate, which is not dif-
folved by adding more of the precipitating liquor,
neither is it foluble in acids. By diftillation the co-
T194 louring matter goes over into the receiver.
Jnveftiga- Latfly, our author undertoak an inveftigatfon of the
tion of the conft{tuent parts of the colouring matter itfelf; and
part oTthe in this he fuccetded in fuch a manner as inuft do ho-
coi mring nour to his memory, at the fame time that it promifes to
matter, be a real and lafting improvement to fcience, by fhow-
ing a method of preparing this valuable pigment vvith-
1195 out that naufeous and horrid ingredient, blood, which
Inflamma- Js now ufecl Jn great quantities for that purpofe.—His
^^firft hint concerning this matter feems to have been
taken from an "obfervation of the air in his receiver
accidentally taking fire from tile neighbourhood of a
candle. It burned without any cxplofion, and he
■was able to inflame it feveral times fifcceffively. Wifli-
ing to know whether any fixed air was contained in
the colouring matter, he filled a retort half full of
the liquor containing the colouring matter, and ap-’
plying a receiver immediately after, gave-the x-etort
a brilk heat. As foon as the receiver was filled with
thick vapours of the colouring matter, he disjoined it,
and, inflaming the vapour by a little burning fulphur
introduced into the cavity, found that the air which
remained threw down a precipitate from lime-water.
“ Kence (fays he) it maybe concluded, that the aerial
acid (a) andphlogifton exiidin this colouring matter.”
It has been aflerted by feveral chemifls, that Pruf-
fian blue by dillillation always yields volatile alkalis—
To determine this, Mr Scheele prepared fome exceed-
icgly pure from the precipitating liquor above men¬
tioned and green vitriol; diltllling it afterwards in a
kali by di- glafs retort, to which he adapted a receiver contain-
itiliatiou. ing a little 4'ft-il'ed water. The operation was con¬
tinued till the retort became red-hot. In .the re¬
ceiver was found the colouring matter and volatile
alkali, but%no oil ; the air in the receiver was im¬
pregnated with aerial acid, and the fame colouring
matter; the refiduum was very black, and obeyed the
1198 magnet. On fubllituting,,inltead of the Prufiian blue,
Appea; an- {4ie precipitates of other metallic fubfbmces preci-
fHll'inj/o- pkaterd by the Pruflian alkali, the refults were :
ther preci*- 1 • The yellowiTh brown precipitate of cobalt yield-
pitates ed the very fame products with Pruflian blue it-,
thrown felf; the'refiduum in the retort was black. 2. The
Pruffiarf yellow precipitate of copper took fire, and emitted,
alkali. from time to time, fparks during the difdilation. It
produced little colouring; matter, but a greater quan¬
tity of aerial acid and volatile alkali than had been ob¬
tained by the former precipitates. A fublimate arofe
in the neck of the retort, but in too fmall a quantity
to make any experiment; the refiduum was reduced
copper. 3. The precipitate of zinc yielded the fame
with Pruflian blue. 4. That of filver yielded like-
vivife volatile alkali and fixed air , but chiefly colour¬
ing matter; a fublimate containing fome filver arofe
into the neck of the retort; the refiduum was reduced
Vol. IV. Part II.
1x96
Aerial a-
phlogift.
1'uppofed
Prtflii
blue y
volatile al-
S T R Y. 5,7
filver. 5. Calx of mercury eryflallizcd by means sf Iron,
the colouring matter, yielded fome of that matter, ——v—
but fcarce any mark of volatile alkali. Some mercury,
with a portion of the original compound, arofe in the
neck of the retort.. Ir^
From thefe experiments Mr Scheele concluded, that ingredients
the colouring matter of Pruffian blue was compofed contained
qf volatile alkali and an oily matter. He was con- !n ^ co“
firmed in this conje&ure, by obtaining Pruflian blue
from green vitriol and fpirit of hartlhorn recently di-
ftilled on the addition of muriatic acid. The fame
product was obtained by means of the volatile fpirit
drawn from ox’s blood ; fo that nothing now remain¬
ed, but to imitate thefe natural procefles by artificial¬
ly combining the two ingredients together. For I20e
this purpofe he diftilled a mixture of volatile fait UnfucceA-
and unctuous oil; admixture of the fame alkali with fu!attempts
animal fat, and with oil of turpentine ; a mixture
quick-lime, fal-ammoniac, and auxunge, with others jy,
of a fimilar kind; but in vain. He began therefore to
conclude, that as long as the volatile alkali contained
any water, it could not enter into an union fufficiently
intimate with the other principles to form the colour¬
ing matter; and finding alfo that the coal of blood,
mixes! with fait of tartar, yielded very good lixivium
fanguinis, he concluded that no oily matter was ne-
ceflary for the fuccefs of the experiment.
Thus was our author led to make the follow-True rac¬
ing decifive trials, which at once accomplifhed histhodof
purpofe, and fliowed the truth of the principles he had forming it.
affumed. Three table-fpoonfuls of charcoal powder
were mixed with an equal quantity of alkali of tar¬
tar, and the mixture put into a crucible. A fimilar
mixture was put into another crucible, and both put
into a fire, and kept red-hot for about a quarter of an
hour. One of them was then taken out, and the
contents thrown, while perfedfly red-hot, into eight
ounces of water. At the fame time he put into the
other quantity an ounce of fal-ammoniac-in fmall
pieces, agitating the whole brilkly together, and
taking care at the fame time to pufli the fal-ammo¬
niac down towards the bottom of the crucible, which
"he replaced in the fire. Obferving in two minutes af¬
ter, that no ammoniacal vapours arofe, the whole
mafs was thrown, when red-hot, into eight ounces
of water. The former lixivium, into which no fal-
ammoniac had been put, yielded no Pruflian blue; but
the latter fliowed the fame phenomena with the .belt
lixivium fanguinis, and produced a great quantity of
blue. By mixing plumbago with the alkali inftead
of charcoal, a tolerable lixivium was obtained.
“ From thefe experiments (fays Mr Scheele), it Volatile
appears, that the volatile alkali is capable of unitir.o- alkali ca-
with the carbonaceous matter, after it has been fub- ai>le
tilized by a firong beat ; that it thus acquires the fe- ^hh^lo-
markable property of combining fo firmly with fait ofgHton and
tartar as to be able to fuftain the moft violent degree alka-
pf beat; and when this lixivium is diffolved in water, |?’(^0.as tl>
there is obtained lixivium fanguinis, as it is called.— ^-eat'de1
It is now eafy to explain what happens in the diftil- free of
3 Y lation heat.
(a) This reafoning feems not to be fufficiently conclufive; for late experiments have Ihown that inflamma¬
tion is generally attended with the preduftion of fixed air, which could not be proved to have an exiftence ei¬
ther in the materials or common atmofphere before.
H04
Colo-uri^jj
rffiifg by
man^anefe.
1205
The ch-
ordy'mer-
cury and
filver from
their folii-
tion in ni-
tious acid.
1206 '
Nitie alka¬
lized by
tioy
Jyon filing!
an'1 ful, hn
take fire
fF. rane-
•ufly.
1208
Has very
little tena
cky.
G H E M I
lation of Pruffian blue, as well as in that of the other
above mentiorted metallic precipitates.—In the dillil-
lation of Pruflian blue, for inftance, the calx of iron
attradls a portion of phlogifton from the colouring
matter. The aerial acid being thus difengaged, muft
go over into'the receiver with the volatile alkali, which
is fet free at. the fame inftant ; but as the calx of iron
in the heat of this dillillation cannot unite with more
phlogifton, a portion of the colouring matter, not
decompofed, muft likewife arife. If the calx of iron
could combine with the whole of the phlogifton, there
would come nothing over into the receiver ‘but aerial
acid and volatile alkali. In order to prove this, I
diftilled a mixture of fix parts of manganefe finely
powdered, and one part of pulverized Prufiian blue,
and obtained nothing but aerated volatile alkali, with¬
out the lead mark of colouring matter.”
Mr Schetle further remarks, that this colouring -
matter may probably be obtained in an aerial form,
though he had not been able to do fo. It is alfo
worth notice, that, excepting the folutions of filver
and mercury in nitrous acid, the colouring matter of
Pruffian blue is hot able to dccompofe any other by a
fingle elective attraftion. Now, as we know that
Pruflian blue is not foluble in acids, it naturally fol¬
lows, that the colouring matter has a greater affinity
with iron than acids have, notwithftanding there is
no precipitation perceived when this matter is mixed
with the folution of vitriol of iron. “ It may not be
eafy (fays Mr Scheele) to give a fatisfaClory expla¬
nation of this phenomenon.”
Iron deflagrates with nitre, and renders the fait al¬
kaline and cauftic. A part of the iron is thus render¬
ed foluble, along with the alkalized fait. A mixture
of equal parts of iron filings and nitre, injected into a
ftrongly heated crucible, and, after the detonation,
thrown into water, tinges the liquor of a violet or
purplilh blue colour. This folution, however, is not
permanent. Though the liquor at firft pafles through
a filter, -without any feparation of the iron ; yet, on
Handing for a few hours, the metal falls to the bot¬
tom, in form of a brick-coloured powder. Volatile,
alkalies inftantly precipitate the iron from this fixed
alkaline folution.
Iron readily unites with fulphurp and when com¬
bined with it, proves much eafier of fufion than by
itfelf. A mixture of iron filings and fulphur, moiften-
ed with water, and prefled down clofe, in a few hours
fwells and grows hot; and, if the quantity is large,
burfts into flame.
By cementation, with inflammable matters, iron im¬
bibes a larger quantity of phlogifton ; and becomes
much harder, lefs malleable, and more fufible. It is
then callecl/fe?/. See METALL.URGY, and Steel.
$,5 . Lead.
Lead is a pale or livid-white metal, foon lofing its
brightnefs in the air, and contra&ing a blackiffi or
greyiffi afh-colour. It is the fofteft and moft flexible
of all metallic bodies ; but not dudfile to any great de¬
gree, either in the form,of wire or leaf; coming far
ffiort, in this refpecl, of ail other metals. It has alfo
the kaft tenacity of all metallic bodies;, a leaden wire
S T R Y. Practice.
of TV of an inch diameter being capable of fuppdrting Lead,
only apl- pounds. Lead has, however, a confiderable v**—'
fpecific gravity; lofmg, when immerfed in water, be¬
tween -rV and -iV of its weight. It is of all metals the ll0<)
moft fufible, excepting only tin and bifmuth. The Sheet-lead^
plumbers call thin ftieets of lead upon a table or mould,
covered with a woollen, and above this with a linen,
cloth, without burning or fcorching the cloths. The
melted lead is received in a wooden cafe without a
bottom ; which being drawn down the doping table'
by a man on each fide, leaves a fheet of its own width,
and more or lefs thin according to the greater or lefs
celerity of its defeent. For thick plates, the table is
covered over with moiftened fand, and the liquid me¬
tal conduced evenly over it, by a wooden ftrike,
which bears on a ledge at each fide. I2ro
Some have preferred, for mechanic ufes, the milled Advanta-
lead, or flatted fheets, to the call; as being more equal, ires of mil-
fmooth, and foiid. But whatever advantage of thisled
■kind the milled fort may appear to have at firft, they Preca i0US*
are not found to be very durable. When the lead
is ftretched between the rollers, its cavities muft ne-
cefiarily be enlarged. The particles of metal that
may be fqueezed into them can have no union or ad-
hefion with the contiguous particles; and, of confe-
quence, muft be liable, from bending, blows, jarrs,
&c. to ftart out again, and leave the mafs fpongy and
porous. 1211
Lead yields the dulleft and weakeft found of all .me-
tallic bodies. Reaumur obferves, that it is rendered fo»
norous by calling a fmall quantity into a fpherical or
elliptical fegment, as in the bottom of an iron-laddle;
from hence he conjedlures, that the found of the fo- ,
norous metals might be improved for the bells of
clocks, &c. by giving them a fimilar form.
Though this metal very foon lofes its luftre, and tar-
nifties in the air, it refills much longer than iron or
copper the combined aftion of air and water, before
it is decompofed or deftroyed; and hence it is exceed¬
ingly ufeful for many purpofes to which thefe metals I2rjt
can by no means be applied. When juft become fluid, Calcined,
lead looks bright like quickfilver; but immediately
contracts a varioufly coloured pellicle on the furface.
If this is taken off, and the fire continued, a frelh pel¬
licle will always be formed, till the metal is by degrees .
changed into a dufley powder or calx. The injection
of a little fat, charcoal-powder, or other inflammable
matter, prevents this change, and readily revives the
calx into lead again. It is faid, that lead, recovered
from its calces, proves fomewhat harder and whiter
than at firft, as well as lefs fubjeft to tarnifh in the
air.. . 1213
The blackiffi calx or allies of lead Become of a very Minium,
different appearance if the calcination is continued
with a fire fo moderate as not to melt them, and par¬
ticularly if expofed to flame. By this treatment it is
faid that they become firft yellow ; then they are call¬
ed majficot or yellow lead. This colour becomes gra¬
dually more and more intenfe, till at laft the calx is of
a deep red ; and then is called minium or red lead;
but it is certain, that by proper management this calx
never becomes yellow, alfuming a reddilh colour from.
'the beginning. Too great a heat make:, it irrecover¬
ably yellow. It can be more eafily piepared without
expofure
PradHce. C H E M
Lead, expofure to the flame. The degree of heat neceffary
' for converting it into minium is between 600 and 700
1214 of Fahrenheit.
Litharge. If, inftead of keeping this calx in a continued mo¬
derate heat, it be fuddenly fufed, the matter then puts
on a foliated appearance, changing to a dull kind
of brick-colour when powdered, and is then called li¬
tharge. Moft of this fubftance is produced by refining
filvcr with lead (fee Refining); and is of two kinds,
white and red. Thefe two are diftinguifhed by the
names of litharge of gold, and litharge of fiber. The
moft perfect is that called litharge of gold: the pale
fort contains a confidefable proportion of lead in its
metallic ftate ; and even the higheft coloured litharge
is feldom free from a little metallic lead, difcoverable
and feparable by melting the mafs in a crucible; when
1215 the lead fubfides to the bottom.
Phenome- Lead mingles in fufion with all the metals except
then me0* 'ron’ ^ refufes any degree of union as
ta^ long as the lead preferves its metallic form. On con¬
tinuing the fire, the lead, fcorifying or calcining, ab-
forbs the phlogiftic principle of the iron, and confe-
quently promotes the calcination of that metal; both
being at length reduced to calces. The fufible calx of
lead eafily unites with the calx of iron, and both melt
together into an opaque brown or blackifh glafs. Cop¬
per does not unite with melted lead till the fire is rai-
fed fo high as to make the lead fmoke and boil, and
of a bright red heat. Pieces of copper, now thrown
in, foon difiblve and difappear in the lead: the mix¬
ture, when cold, is brittle, and of a granulated -tex¬
ture. The union of thefe two metals is remarkably
flight. If a mixture of copper and lead is expofed
to a fire no greater than that in which lead melts,
the lead almoft entirely runs off by itfelf; a repa¬
ration of which no other example is known. What
little lead is retained in the pores of the copper, may
be fcorified, and melted out, by a fire confiderably lefs
than is fufficient to fufe copper. If any of the copper
is carried off by the lead, it fwims unmelted on the
furface.
Gold and filver are both diffolved by lead in a flight
red heat. They are both rendered extremely brittle
by the minuteft quantity of this metal; though lead is
rendered more duftile.by a fmall quantity of either of
them. In cupellation, a portion of lead is retained by
gold, but filver parts with it all. On the other hand,
in its eliquation from copper, if the copper contains
any of the precious metals, the filven will totally melt
out with the lead, but the gold will not. The attrac¬
tion of lead to' copper, however flight, is greater than
that of copper to iron : a mixture of copper and iron
being boiled in melted lead, the copper is imbibed by
the' lead, and the iron thrown up to the top. Silver
is in like manner imbibed from iron by lead; whilft
tin, on the contrary, is imbibed. from lead by iron.
If two mixtures, one of lead and tin, and another of
iron and filver, be melted together, the refult will be
two new combinations, one of the tin with the iron at
the top, the other with the lead and filver at the bot¬
tom : how carefully foever the matter be ftirred and
mixed in fufion, the two compounds, when grown
cold, are found diftindt, fo as to be parted with a blow.
This metal is foluble in alkaline lixivia and expref-
1 s r it Y.  J39
fed oils. Plates of lead boiled in alkaline lixivia, hm?e Tin.
a fmall part diffolved, and a confiderable quantity cor-l—-"v—^
roded : the folution ftains hair black. Lead, fufed
with fixed alkaline falts, is in part corroded into
dark-coloured fcoria, which partially diffolves in wa- 0ii3,
ter. Expreffed oils diffolve the calces of lead, by boil¬
ing, in fuch large quantities as to become thick and
confiftent: hence plafters, cements for water-works,
paint for preferving nets, &c. Acids have a greater
affinity with leads than oils have. If the common' pla-
fter, compofed of oil and litharge, be boiled in diftil-
led vinegar, the litharge will be diffolved, and the oil
thrown up to the top. The oil thus recovered, proves
foluble like effential oils in fpirit of wine; a pheno¬
menon firft taken notice of by Mr Geoffroy.
§6. Tin.
The colour of this metal refembles filver, but is
fomewhat darker. It is fofter, lefs elaftic, and fo-
norous, than any other metal except lead. When
bent backwards and forwards, it occalions a crackling
found, as if torn afunder. It is the lighteft of all the
malleable metals, being little more than feven times
fpecifically heavier than water. The tenacity of its
parts alfo is not very confiderable ; a tin wire of
of an inch diameter being able to fupport only 49!-
pounds. I3I7
Tin is commonly reckoned the leaft ductile of all Cipab.e of
metals except lead ; and certainly is fo, in regard to beat
ductility into wire, but not in regard to extenfibility
into leaves. Thefe two properties feem not to be fo
much connected with one another as is generally ima¬
gined. Iron and fteel may be drawn into very fine
wire, but cannot be beat into leaves. Tin, on the
other hand, may be beat into very thin leaves, but
cannot be drawn into wire: gold and filver poffefs
both properties in a very eminent degree; whilft
lead, notwithftanding its flexibility and foftnefs, can¬
not be drawn into fine wire, or beat into thin leaves. It
melts the moft eafily of all the metals; about the
430th degree of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. Heated
till almoft ready to melt, it becomes fo brittle that
large blocks may be eafily beat to pieces by a blow.
The purer fort, from its facility of breaking into long
fliining pieces, is called grain-tin. Melted, and nim¬
bly agitated at the inftant of its beginning to congeal,
it is reduced into fmall grains or powder. i2I’g
With the heat neceffary for fufion, it may alfo be Calcined,
calcined; or at leaft fo far deprived of its phlogifton
as to appear in the form of a grey calx, which may
be entirely reduced to tin by the addition of inflam¬
mable matter. The calcination of tin, like that of
lead, begins by the melted metal lofing its brightnefs,
and contracting a pellicle on its furface. If the fire is
raifed to a cherry-red, the pellicle fwells and burfts,
difcharging a fmall bright flame of an arfenical fmell.
By longer continuance in the fire, the metal is con¬
verted firft into a greyifli, and then into a perfectly
white calx, called putty, which is ufed for polilhing
glafs and other hard bodies.
The calx of tin is the moft refractory of all others.
Even in the focus of a large burning mirror, it only
foftens a little, and forms cryftalline filaments. With
3 Y 2 glafs
■V,' ■ ..-V
540
Tin.
Affinity of
tin with
arfcaic.
TliO
Arfenie fe-
TMI
Br Lewis’
©bferva-
tion.
CHEMISTRY.
Pradliee.
glafs of Infra nth, and the fimple and arfenicated glafles
of lead, it forms opaque milky compounds. By this
property it is fitted for making the bails of the im¬
perfect glaifes called enamels; (fee Glass and Ena¬
mel). The author of the Chemical Dictionary re¬
lates, u that having expofed very pure tin, fingly, to a
fire as ilrong as that- of a glafs-houfe furnace, during
two hours, under a muffle, in an uncovered teit, and
having then examined it, the metal was found covered
with an exceedingly white calx, which appeared to
have formed a vegetation; under this matter was a
reddiih calx, and an hyacinthine glafs ;■ and lailly, at
the bottom was a piece of tin unaltered. The expe¬
riment was feveral times repeated with the fame fuc-
cefs.”
Nitre deflagrates'with tin, .and haftens the calcina¬
tion of this as well as of other imperfeCt metals. The
vapours which rife from tin, by whatever method it
is calcined, have generally an arfenical fmelh Tin
melted with arfenic falls in great part into a whitiih
calx : the part which remains uncalcined proves very
brittle, appears of a white colour, and a fparkling pla¬
ted texture, greatly refembling zinc. The arfenic is
ftrongly retained by the tin, fo as fcarxely to be fepa-
r^ble by any-degree of fire ; the tin always difeover-
ing, by its augmentation in weight, that it holds a por¬
tion of arfenic, though a very intenfe fire jhas been
ufed. Hence, as the tin ores abound in arfenic, the
common tin is found alfo to participate of that mi¬
neral.
Henckel difeovered a method of Separating actual
arfenic from tin j namely, by flowly diifolving the tin
in eight times its quantity of an aqua regia made with
fal ammoniac, and fetting the folution to evaporate in
a gentle warmth: the arfenic begins to concrete whilit
the liquor continues hot, and more plentifully on its
growing cold, into white cryilals. M. Margraaf, in
the Berlin Memoirs for 1747, has given a more par¬
ticular account of this procefs. He obferves, that the
white fediment which at firft feparates during the dif-
folution, is chiefly arfenical; that Malacca tin, which
is accounted one of the pureft forts, yielded no lefs
than |th its weight of arfenical cryftals; that fome forts
yielded more,;, but that tin extracted from a particular
kind of ore, which contained no arfenic, afforded none.
That the cryftals were truly’ arfenical, appeared from
their being totally volatile; from their fubliming (a
little fixed alkaline fait being added to abforb the
acid) into a colourlefs pellucid concrete ; from the
fublimate, laid on a heated copper-plate, exhaling in
fumes of a garlic fmell; from its ftaining the copper
white; and -from its forming, with fulphur, a com¬
pound fimilar to the yellow or fulphurated arfenic.
He found that the arfenic was feparable alfo hy means
of mercury ; an amalgam of tin being long triturated
W'ith water, and the powder which was waffled off
committed to diftiilation, a little mercury came over,
and bright arfenical flowers arofe in the neck of the
sretort. Dr Lewis obferves, that the crackling noife
of tin in bending may poffibly arife from its arfenic;
as thofe operations which are faid to feparate arfenic
from the metal, likewife deprives it of this property.
Tin may be allayed, in any proportion, with all me¬
tals by fufion: but it abfulutely deftroys their ductility,
and renders them brittle, as in hell-metal; whence this Mercury
metal has obtained the name of diabolus metallorum. f,iv^Ulck*
Iron is diffolved by tin in a heat far lefs than that in 11 ver)
which iron itfelf melts ; the compound is white and I22J
brittle. Iron added to a mixture of lead and tin, takes Injurious t*
up the tin, leaving the lead at the bottom ; and, in like other me-
manner, if lead, tin, and filver, are melted together, tals‘
the addition of iron will abforb all the tin, and the tin
only. Hence an eafy method of purifying filver from
tin.
Tin, notwithftanding it is, like lead, foon deprived
of its luftre by expofure to the air, is neverthelefs e
much lels liable to ruft than either iron, copper, or
lead; and hence is advantageoufly ufed for covering
over the infides of other metalline veffels. The amal¬
gam of mercury and tin is employed to cover one of
the furfaces of looking-glaffes ; by which they are ren¬
dered capable of reflecting the rays of light. The ,
amalgam alio, mixed with fulphur and fal ammoniac, Auiuni
and let to fublime, yields a fparkling gold-coloured inofaicum,
fubftance called aurum inofatcum ; which is fometimes
ufed as a pigment. This preparation is commonly
made from quickfilvet and tin, of each two parts,
amalgamated together; and then thoroughly mixed
with iulphur and fal ammoniac, of each one part and
a half. The mercury and fulphur unite into a cinna¬
bar, which fublimes along with the fal ammoniac ;
and, after fublimation, the aurum mofaicum remains
at the bottom.
Sulphur may be united with tin by fufion; and forms
with it a brittle mafs, more difficultly fufible than pure
tin. Sulphur has, in this refpeCt, the fame effect up¬
on tin as upon lead. The allay of tin leffens the fufi-
bility of thefe very fufible metals; while it increafes
the fufihflity of other difficultly fufible metals, as iron
and copper.
$ 7. Mercury or Quicksilver.
Mercury is a fluid metallic fubftance, of a bright
filver colour, refembling lead or tin when melted; en¬
tirely void of tafte and fmell; extremely divifible ; and
congealable only in a degree of cold very difficultly
produced, in this country, by art (fee Cold and Con¬
gelation). It is the molt ponderous of all fluids, Heavier in
and of all known bodies, gold and platina excepted ; winter than
its fpecific gravity being to that of water nearly as iq'11 fummer.
to 1. It is found to be fpecifically heavier in winter
than in fummer by 25 grains in 11 ounces.
Neither air nor water, nor the united aClion of thefe
two, feem to make any impreffion upon mercury : nor
is it more fufceptible of ruft than the perfect metals.
Its furface, neverthelefs, is more quickly tarniffled
than gold or filver; •becaufe the dull which floats in
the air, quickly feizes on its furface. The watery va¬
pours alfo, which float in the air, feem to be attrac¬
ted by mercury.
From thefe extraneous matters, which only {lightly
adhere to it, mercury may be eafily cleanfed by paf- tion.
fing it through a clean new cloth, and afterwards
heating it : but if mixed with any other metal, no fe-
paration can be effected without diftiilation. In this
procefs, a fmall portion of fome of the metals gene¬
rally arifes along with the mercury. Thus, quick'lil-
5 xer
Practice. C H
'' v ver diililled from lead, bifmuth, or tin, appears lefs
Mercury bright titan before; ftains paper black; fonaetimes ex-
^ick- hibits a flcin upon the furface ; and does not run freely,
. ‘ or into round globules, Mr Boyle relates, that he has
obferved the weight of mercuiy fenfibly increafed
by diftiilation from lead, and this when even a very
moderate fire was made ufe of. By amalgamation
with ftellated regulus of antimony, and then being
diftilled after a few hours digeftion, mercury is faid to
jaa; become, by a few repetitions of the procefs, more
Curious ponderous, and more adtive. The animated, or phi-
mertunu* lofophic mercuries'of feme of the alchemiils, are fup-
by Boyle. p0fecJ to have been mercury thus prepared. By the
lame, or firniluf proceffes, feem to have been obtained
the curious mercuries which Boyle declared he was
pofietTcd of, and made himfelf; which were “ confi-
derably heavier in fpecie than common quickiilver,—
diffolved gold more readily,— grew hot with gold, fo
as to be offenfive to the hand, and-elevated gold in
diftiilation.” When quickfilver is to be diftilled, it is
proper to mingle it with a quantity of iron-filings;
which have the property of making it much brighter
than it can be oihervvife obtained, probably by furnifh-
ing phlogifton.
By digeftion in a ftrong heat for feveral months,
mercury undergoes a conliderable alteration, changing
into a powder, at firft afh-coloured, afterwards yel¬
low, at length of a bright red colour, and an acrid
Mercurius ta^e ’ Eln<^ *s t^en ca^e(^ mercurius precipitatus per fe.
piecipita-8 In this laft ftate it proves fimilar to the red precipi-
tus per fe. tate, prepared from a folution of mercury in nitrous
acid. This calx proves lefs volatile in the fire than
the mercury in its fluid ftate. It fupports for fome
time even a degree of red heat. In the focus of
a burning mirror, it is faid to melt into glafs when
laid upon a piece of charcoal, and to revive into
running mercury before it exhales. Evaporated by
common fire, it leaves a fmall portion of a light brown
powder; which, Boerhaave relates, bore a bhft-heat;
fwelled into a fpongy mafs ; formed with borax a vi¬
treous friable fubftance ; but vanifhed in cupellation.
M^rcw ^7 a long continued digeftion in a gentle heat, mercury
unalterable luffers Mtk change. Boerhaave digefted it in low
by a gentle degrees, of heat, both in open and clofe vefills, for
It M I S T R Y.
541
heat;
1230
Or by di.
fliliation.
15 years together, without obtaining any other re¬
ward for his labour than a fmall quantity of black pow¬
der ; which, by trituration, was quickly revived into
running mercury. Conftant triture, or agitation, pro¬
duce a change fimilar to this in a fhort time. Both
the black and red powders, by bare expofure to a fire
fufficient to elevate them, return into fluid mercury.
The red powder has been revived by Amply grinding
it in a glafs mortar.
In like manner, quickfilver remains unchanged by
diftillation. Boerhaave had the patience to diftil 18
mercurywas heated, it bur ft the box, and diffipatedWr
in invisible vapours.
Merctiry duToives or unites with all metallic bodies, ‘ ‘\
except three, vi-z. iron, arfenic, and nickel: in fome
cafes it will abforb metals, particularly gold and fdver, Ainalga-
from their folutions in acids or alkalies ; but does not mated w\tk
aft upon any metal when combined with fulphur, nor
on precipitates made by alkalies, nor on cakes by UJi ^
fire. Whatever metal it is united with, it conftantly
preferves its own white colour. It unites with any
proportion of thofe metallic fubftances with which it
is capable of being combined ; forming, with different
quantities, amalgams of different degrees of confift.„
ence. From the fluid ones, greateft part of the quick¬
filver may be feparated by colatiire. Bifmuth is fo
far attenuated by mercury, as to pafs through leather
with it in confiderable quantity. It aifo promotes the
aftion of quickfilver upon lead to a great degree; fo
that mercury united with j, i, or TV its weight of
bifmuth, diflblves maffes of lead in a gentle wrarmth,
without the agitation, triture, comminution, or melt¬
ing heat neceffary to unite pure mercury with lead.
From thefe properties, this folution of bifmuth in mer¬
cury becomes a proper folvent for pieces of lead lod¬
ged in the human body. 15
On triturating or digefting amalgams for a length SePai
of time, a blackifh or dufky-coloured powder ariks niaNama
to the furface, and may be readily wa fired off by wa- Kan,ai
ter. Some of the chemifts have imagined, that the
amalgamated metal was here reduced to its conftituent
parts .* but pure mercury is by itfelf reducible to a
powder of the fame kind ; and the metallic particles
in this procefs, united with the mercury, are found to
be no other than the metal in its entire fubftance.
Some metals feparate more difficultly than others;
gold and filver the moft fo. Boerhaave relates, that
if the powder which feparates from an amalgam of
lead be committed to diftiilation with vinegar in a
tall veffel, the mercury will rife before the vinegar
boils; that, by a like artifice, quickfilver may be made
to diftil in a lefs degree of heat than that of the hu¬
man body: but I>r Lewis, though he made many
trials, was never able to fucceed.
By amalgamation with gold, mercury may become ®ecoi (
exceedingly fixed; fo as not to be diffipable by the great-
eft heat. Concerning this, Dr Brandt relates the fol- tionwi
lowing curious experiment: “ Having amalgamated gold,
fine gold with a large proportion of quickiilver, and
ftrained off the fuperfluous mercury, he digefted the
amalgam in a clofe ftopped veilftjor two months with
fuch a degree of heat, that a part of the quicldjlvtr
fublimed into the neck of the glafs. The matter be¬
ing then ground with twice its weight of fulphur, and
urged with a gradual fire'in a crucible,, a fpongy calx
retr ained ; which being melted with borax, and after¬
wards kept in fufion by itfelf for half an hour, in a
1235
eparatioij
* of the a-
ma’gama-
ted metal.
12; 4
ounces of mercury upwards of 500 times over, with¬
out obferving any other change than that its fluidity very violent fire, ftill retained fo.much of the quick-
and fpecific gravity were a little increafed, and that filver as to become brittle under the hammer, and
Explofion fome grains of a fixed matter remained. The vapours appear internally of a leaden colour. The metal be-
bytheva- of mercury, like thofe of all ether volatile bodies, ing again amalgamated with freth mercury, the amal-
pours of caufe violent exploftons if confined. Mr Hellot gives gam again ground with fulphur, and expofed to an in-
^neremy. account Gf his being prefent at an experiment of tenfe fire, a fpongy calx remained as before. This
this kind: a perfon pretending to fix mercury, had calx being digefted in two or three frdh parcels o£
inclofed it in an iron box clofely welded. When the aqua regia, a fmall portion of whitilh matter remain¬
ed
542
CHEMISTRY. Pradlce
Mercury ed at laft undiffolved. The paper which covered the
cylindrical glafs wherein the digeftion was performed,
contrafted, from the vapours, a deep-green circular
fpot in the middle, with a imaller one at the fide ;
whereas the aqua regia digelled in the fame manner
by itfelf, or with gold, or with mercury, gave no (lain..
The firft folution, on the addition of oil of tartar per
•deliquium, grew red as blood; on ftanding, it depofi-
ted, firft, a little yellow calx, like aurum fulminans; af¬
terwards, a bright matter like fine gold ; and at laft, a
paler precipitate, inclining to green ; its own deep red
colour and tramparency remaining unchanged. Be¬
ing now committed to diftillation, a colourlets liquor
arofe ; and the refiduum, perfeftly exficcated, yield¬
ed, on edulcoration, a yellow calx of gold; which the
alkaline lixivium had been unable to precipitate. The
fecond folution turned green on the admixture of the
alkaline liquor, and let fall a white precipitate, which
f turned black and brown. The feveral precipitates
were calcined with twice their weight of fulphur, and
then melted with four times their quantity of flint, and
twelve of pot-alh, in a fire vehemently excited by bel¬
lows. The fcoria appeared of a golden colour, which,
on pulverization and edulcoration, vaniflied. At the
bottom was a regulus, which looked bright like the
. pureft gold ; but was not perfedtly malleable. Broken,
it appeared internally white ; and the white part a-
mounted to at leaft one-third its bulk. Befides this
lump of metal, there were feveral others, white like
fiber, and. foft as lead.”
Ruppofed to Wilfon's chemiftry, we have a procefs for con-
be convert-verting quickfilver into water, by dropping it by little
ible into and little into a tall iron veflel, heated almoft to a white
w-ater. jieat tyle bottom. Over the mouth of this veflel
were luted feven aludels ; and on the top, a glafs alem¬
bic head, with a beak, to which was fitted a receiver.
The mercury was put in fo flowly, that it required
16 hours for one pound. Every time that a little
quantity of mercury was put in, it made a great noife;
filling the aludel’s head and receiver with white
fumes. When the veffels were cooled, a little water
was found in each of the receivers, and in the firft
and ftcond fome grains of crude mercury. The
whole quantity amounted to 13 ounces and 6 drachms;
which w'as expedted to prove a powerful folvent of
gold and. fiber : but, on trial, was found to be in no
refpedt different from common water. On this ex-
, periment Dr Lewis has the following note.
Dr .Lewis’s “ P°fiibility of converting mercury into wa-
detedl'on ter, or at leaft of obtaining a great quantity of water
of the faife- from mercury, has not only been believed by feveral
lh‘sg^t men in the chemical art, but fome ;.have even
proce s. ventured to affert that they have actually made this
change. Yet, neverthelefs, they have delivered the
hiftory of this affair with Inch marks, as feem to make
the reality of the change extremely doubtful. Mr
Boyle (in his tradf of the produciblcnefs of Chemical
Principles^ annexed to Scept. Chemifl. p. 235.) fays,
“ that he once obtained water from mercury without
additament, without being able to make the like ex¬
periment fucceed afterwards.” M. Le Febure, who
is generally looked upon as an honeft pradlitioner,
diredls a procefs fimilar to that above (Wilfon’s), for
obtaining of this mercurial water. But it is to be fu-
•fpe&ed, as Mr Hales very v ell obferves (in his Sta¬
tical Experiments, p. 200.), that Mr Boyle and others Mercury
w'ere deceived by fome unheeded cii cumftance, when or QHJck"
they thought they obtained a water from mercury,fiivcr'
w'hich flrould feem rather to have arifen from the lute v
and earthen veffels made ufe of in the diftillation :
for Mr Hales could not find the leaft fign of any moi-
ftuie upon diftilling mercury in a retort made of an
iron gun-barrel, with an intenfe degree of heat; al¬
though he frequently cohobated the mercury which
ca ne over into the recipient. “ In a courfe of chemi¬
cal experiments, I repeated Mr Hales’s procefs, and
urged the mercury, which was let fall by little and
little, through an aperture made in the gun-barrel, with
a moft intenfe degree of heat, without obtaining any
water ; but it being fufpedted by a byftander, that the
mercury in this experiment came over before it had
been Sufficiently acted upon by the fire, by reafon of
the lownefs of the neck of the diftilling inftrument,
the experiment was varied in the following manner.
Sixteen ounces of mercury were heated in a crucible,
in order to evaporate any rnoifture that might have
been accidentally mixed with it; and an iron gun-
barrel of four feet in length, being placed perpendi¬
cularly in a good furnace, and a glafs-head and reci¬
pient fitted tp its upper part, the mercury was let fall
by little and little into the barrel, and the fire, urged
with bellows. After each inje&ion, the mercury
made a confiderable noife artd ebullition, and arofe
into the head ; where it foon condenfed and trickled
down, in the common form of running mercury, into
the recipient, without the leaft perceptible appear¬
ance of any aqueous humidity.”
Mercury is difficultly amalgamated with regulus offtovv to
antimony and copper ; for which fome particular ma- amalgate
noeuvres are required. Two of Dr Lewis’s receipts for with regu-
uniting quickfilver with copper, we have already givenlusofaRti’
(n° 1153.): with regulus of antimony, mercury, he fays, monD
may be perfe&ly united, by pouring a fmall ftream of
melted regulus into a conliderable portion of mercury,
made almoft boiling hot. Another method diretfted
by Henckel, is to put mercury into an iron mortar
along with fome water, and fet the whole over the
fire. When the water boils, a third or fourth part of
melted regulus is to be poured in, and the mafs
ground with a peftle, till the amalgam is completed.
The ufe of the water, as Dr Lewis obferves, is to
hinder the mercury from flying off by the heat of the
regulus: but as the two are by this means not put
together in fo hot a ftate, the union is more difficult,
and lefs perfedl. The lofs of the mercury, in the firft
procefs, may be prevented by ufing a large veffe], and
covering it with a perforated iron-plate, through the
hole in which the regulus is to be poured. This me¬
thod is likewife applicable to the amalgamation of
copper.
With fulphur, mercury unites very readily, form¬
ing by trituration, or Ample fufion, a black powder
or mafs, called Ethiops mineral; which, by careful fuh-
limation, becomes the beautiful red pigment called
'Vermillion. (See Sulphur, fe&. iv.). 1238
The extenfive ufe of mercurius dulcis in medicine Prepara*
has rendered it an objedl to chemifts to find out fometl0n5 *4
method of preparing it with lefs' expence and trouble, dulcis in
and with more certainty of its effefts, than it can be by the mci&
the methods hitbYrto mentioned. This is now accom-wa)r*
pliflied
Practice, C H E M
Met-airy pHfn-d through the induftry of Mr Scheele, to whom
che™(try ‘n genet^ haa been fo much obliged. His
, method is as follows:
“ Take half a pound of quickfilver, and as much
pure common aquafortis. Pour it into a fmall cucur¬
bit with a pretty long neck, Hop the mouth with a
little paper, and put it into warm fand. Some hours
aftei wards, when the acid appears no longer to a&
upon the quicklilver, the fire is to be augmented fo as
to make the folution nearly boil. This heat is to.be
continued for three or four hours, and the veficl now
and then to he fiiaken. Towards the end, regulate
the heat in fuch a manner that the felution fhall gently
boil for a quarter of an Jrour. In the mean time, dif-
folve 44 ounces of pure common fait in fix or eight
pounds of yater ; pour this folution, ftill boiling, in¬
to a glafs veil'd, and immediately afterwards mix with
it the above-mentioned folution of quickfilver, which
' alfo mull be boiling, in fmall quantities at a time, with
conftant agitation. When the precipitate has fettled,
decant off the clear liquor, and pour hot water again
on the precipitate, with which it is to he edulcorated,
till the water Handing upon it fhall be entirely tafle-
lefs. Put the whole obtained - by thefe means toge-
1239 ther, filter and diy it in a mild heat.”
How to On this procefs it is remarked, that when the quick-
perfeffHy filver no longer effervefees with the acid, one would
faturated imagine that a faturation had taken place. But this is
folution of far from being the cafe. By increafing the heat the
qukklilver. folution is ftill able to difiblve a great quantity ; with
this difference, however, that, whereas the quickfilver
in the beginning is calcined, a great deal of it after¬
wards, in a metallic form, is diffolved, as appears
from this, that not only no more elaftic vapours a-
feend j but alfo, that with fixed and volatile cauftic al¬
kalies a black precipitate is obtained ; othen* ife, when
the folution contains only calcined quickfilver, the
' precipitate is yellow. If the black precipitate be
gently diftiHed, quickfilver arifes, and there remains a
yellow powder, which is that part of the metal that
was calcined by the nitrous acid. The fire muft at
any rate be augmented, in order to keep the mercu¬
rial calx diffolved, the compound of this metal and
nitrous acid being extremely apt to cryftallize even in
the heat, There commonly remains fome undiffolved
quickfilver ; but it is always better to take too itiuch
than tod little ; for the more metal the mercurial folu¬
tion contains, the more mercurius dulcis is obtained at
laft. The quantity here mentioned ufualiy produces
84 ounces of mercurius dulcis. The mercurial folu¬
tion muft be cautioufiy poured into that of fea-falt,
that no mercury may follow. Two ounces of . fait
would be fufficient for the precipitation of all the
quickfilver; but when fo fmall a quantity is ufed, it
may eafily happen, that fome fuperabundant corrofive
fubiimate may adhere to the precipitate, which water
alone is incapable of entirely feparating. Among other
advantages this method of making mercurius dulcis
pofieffes, it is none of the leaft, that the powder is
much finer than any to which it can be reduced in the
common way by trituration, however long continued.
$ 8. Zinc.
%
This is a femimetal of a bloifti white colour. It is
I S T R Y. 543
the leaft brittle of any of the femimetals; and when Zinc,
amply fupplied with phlogifton, which may be done ,
by treating it in clofe veffels with inflammable mat¬
ters, it poffeffes a femidu&ility, by which it may be flat¬
tened into thin plates. When broken, it appears formed
of many flat fhining plates or facets, which are larger
when flowly than when haftily cooled. When heat¬
ed, it is very brittle ; and crackles like tin, only loud¬
er, when bent. Expofed to the air, it contrails in 1240
length of time a yellowifli ruft. Its fpeciflc gravity, ■
according to Dr Lewis, is to that of water as 7 ^ to 1.tl0n’
It begins to melt as foon as red-hot; but does not
flow thin till the fire is railed to a white heat. Then
the zinc immediately begins to burn with an exceed¬
ingly bright and beautiful flame'. Kept juft in fufion,.
it calcines flowly ; not only on the upper fnrface,
but likewife round the fides, and at the bottom of
the crucible. If feveral pieces are juft melted to¬
gether, the mafsf, when grown cold, may be broken
into-the fame number; their union being prevented
by a yeilowifti calx, with which each piece is covered'
over. M. Malouin relates, in the French Memoirs
for 1742, that a quantity of zinc being melted fix
times, and the fufion continued fifteen hours each
time, it proved, on every repetition, harder, more
brittle, lefs fuiible, and lefs calcinable : that after the
two firft fufions, its colour was grey; after the third,
brown ; and after the fourth, black : that the fifth
rendered it of a flate-blue; and the fixth of a clear
violet. _ _ _ i24r
So violent is the deflagration of zinc, that the whole Flowers o.C
of its calx is fublimed by it, in the form of light flocks, z‘nc*
or wool; which, however, are eafily reduced to a
fine powder. Thefe are ufed in medicine, and reck¬
oned an excellent remedy in epileptic cafes. When
once fublimed, they are by no means capable of be¬
ing elevated again by the moft violent heat. In if
heat far greater than that in which they firft arofe,
they fuffer no alteration ; in a very vehement one,
they melt, according to Henckel, into a femiopaque
green glafs. Vitrified with borax, they give a grey,..
or brownifli, glafs. From the brightnefs of the flame
of burning zinc, and the garlic fmell which it is faid
to emit, fome have concluded that zinc contained the
phofphorine acid; which, from fome other circum-
ftances, is not altogether improbable..
The flowers of zinc have been thought very diffi- metho^of 3
cultly, or not at all, reducible to their metallic form r .-lacing
by an addition of phlogifton. But. Dr Lewis obferves, them,
that this difficulty proceeds notfrom their unfitnefs tobe
reftored into the form of zinc, but from the volatility of
the femimetal, which occafions its being diffipated in
fumes, if the common methods are made ufe of. All
calces, thofe of iron excepted, require a greater heat
for their fufion than that in which the metal itfelf
meits ; and as a full melting heat is the greateft that
zinc can fuftain, it burns and calcines the inftant of
its revival, if the air is admitted ; and in clofe veffels
efcapes, in part at leaft, through their pores. On
mixing flowers of zinc with powdered charcoal, and
urging them with a ftrong fire in a crucible, a defla¬
gration and frefh fublimation enfue : fufficient marks
that the zinc has been reduced to its metallic form ;
for as long as it remains if* the ftate of calx, neither
of thefe effects can happen. If the veffel is fo con--
■ t rived':
544
CHEMISTRY.
Pra&ice.
7- i! -• trivet! as. to exdude tlie ait, and at the fame- time to
allow the reviving femimetal to run oft’ from the vehe¬
mence of the heat, into a receiver kept cool, the zinc
will there concrete, and be preferved in its metallic ftate.
It is kill more effectually detained by certain metallic
bodies, as copper* or iron; with which the zinc, when
thus applied, unites more readily and perfectly than
it can be made to do by any other means,
o; Tom Hornberg pretended to obtain an oil from the
powers of flowers of zinc, by diffolving .them in diftillcd vrne-
in. by Mr gar, and then diddling the folution in a glafs retort,
liomberg. x\t a quantity of phlegm arofe ; then the fuper-
fluous acid ; and at lad an empyreumatic oil. This
lad, which Homberg imagined to proceed from the
flowers of zinc, Newmann very jullly attributes to the
t244 diddled vinegar.
/inutiio, by An oil of another kind was obtained by Mr Hel-
hlr jot jpr^)rn above folution, by digeding the afh-co-
Inured refiduum, which remained after the diddla-
t ion, with the acidulous phlegm -which came over, for
eight or ten days ; diddling the tincture to drynefs ;
and repeating the extraction with the diddled liquor,
till the quantity of dry extract thus obtained was
very conliderable. This refin-like matter, diddled
in a retort with a dronger fire, yielded a yellowdh
liquor, and a white fublimate. The liquor difcovered
no mark of oil; but, upon being paffed upon the fub¬
limate, immediately diffolved it, and then exhibited
on the furface feveral drops of a reddifh oil. Some of
this oil was taken up on the point of a pencil, and ap¬
plied to gold and fdver-leaf. In twenty-four hours,
124^ the parts touched appeared, in both, equally diffolved.
Zinc with Zinc does not unite in fufion with bifmuth, or the
©*her me- femimetal called nickel. It unites difficultly with
tais. iron ; lefs fo with copper ; eafier with the other me¬
tals. It renders iron or copper more eafily fuiible ;
and, like itfelf, brittle whilft hot, though confiderably
malleable when cold., It brightens the colour of iron
almod into a Giver hue, and changes that of copper
1246 ' into a yellow or gold colour. It greatly debafes the
Manuals colour of gold ; and renders near an hundredth part of
for fpecula tbat mofl duftile metal brittle and untra&able. A
mixture of equal .parts of each is very hard, white,
and bears a fine polifh ; hence it is propofed by Mr
Hellot for making fpecula. It is not fubjeA to ruft
or tarnifh in the air, like thofe metals whole bafis is
copper. It improves the colour and luftre of lead and
tin, renders them firmer, and confequently fitter for
feveral mechanic ufes. Tin, with a fmall proportion
of zinc, forms a kind of pewter. Lead will bear an
equal weight, without loling too much of its malle¬
ability. Maoluin obferves, that arfenic,' which whi¬
tens all other metals, renders zinc black and friable;
that when the mixture is performed in clofe ve'ffels,
an agreeable aromatic odour is perceived on opening
them ; that zinc amalgamated with mercury, and af¬
terwards recovered, proves whiter, harder, and more
brittle than before, and no longer crackles on being
bent.
Defla^ra Mixtures of zinc with other metals, expofed to a
tinn of zinc ffrcmg fire, boil and deflagrate more violently than
whh other zinc by itfelf. Some globules of the mixture are ufu-
meuls. ally,.thrown off during the ebullition, and fome part of.
the metal calcined and volatilised by the burning zinc :
N° -74.
hence this fubftanee has been called metallic nitre, Bifmuth. .
Gold itfelf does not entirely refill its a&'on. It very —v—'
difficultly volatilizes copper ; and hence the fublimates A
obtained in the furnaces where brafs is made, or mix- - <: ‘
tores of copper and zinc melted, are rarely found to
participate of that metal. On melting copper and
zinc feparately, and then pouring them together, a 1248
violent detonation immediately enfues, and aboveCannot b®
half the mixture is thrown about in globules. fuLhur"
Zinc does not unite in the leaft with fulphur, or ^ lUr"
with crude antimony, which fcorify all other fib-
fiances except gold and- platina ; nor with compofi-
tions of fulphur and fixed alkaline falts, which diffolve
gold itfelf. With nitre it deflagrates violently. Its
flowers, do not fenfibly deflagrate ; yet alkalize double
their weight of the fait more readily thao the zinc
itfelf. The alkaline mafs appears externally greenifh, NbrTalka-
internally of a purple colour. It communicates a fine 1-zed by
purple to water, and a red to vinegar. The acetous !i.OWCi s
tin&ure infpiffated, leaves a tenacious fubftance which Zinc‘
foon runs in the air into a dark red cauftic liquor, the
alkaheft of fome'of the pretended adepts.
$ 9. Bismuth.
This femimetal, called alfo tin-glafs, and by fome
naturalifts marcafita officinarum, is fomewhat fimilar
to the regulus. of antimony.. It appears to be com-
pofed of cubes formed by the application of plates
upon each other. Its colour is lefs white than that of
regulus of antimony ; and has a reddifh tinge, parti¬
cularly when it is expofed to the air. In fpecific gra¬
vity it approaches to filver ; being nearly ten times
heavier than water. It has no degree of malleability ;
breaking under the hammer, and being reducible by
trituration to fine powder. It melts a little later than
tin, and feems to flow the thinneft of all metallic
fubftances. Bifmuth is* femivolatile, like all other
femimetals. When expofed to the fire, flowers rife cTvert-
from it ; it is calcined ; and converted into a litharge i!.!c into
and glafs nearly as lead is: (See Glass). It may litharge
even he employed, like that metal, in the purification and glafs.
of gold and filver by cupellation. (See Refining).
When in fulion, it occupies lefs volume than in its fo-
lid flate : a property peculiar to iron among the me¬
tals, and bifmuth among the femimetals. It emits
fumes in the fire' as- long as it preferves its metallic
form ; 'when calcined or vitrified, it proves perfe&ly
fixed.
Bifmuth mingles in fufion with all the metalline fub- pr0To?es
fiances, except regulus of cobalt and zinc. The ad- the fufum
dition of nickel, or regulus of antimony, renders it of all the
mifctble with the former, though not with the latter. I1'etu*s»
It greatly promotes the tenuity as well as facility of .
the fufion of all thofe metals with which it unites. It
whitens copper and gold, and improves the colour of
fome of the white metals: mixed in confiderable quan¬
tity, it renders them all brittle, and of a flaky firuc-
ture like its own. If mixed with gold or filver, a
heat that is but juft fufficient to melt the mixture, wUl
prefen,tly vitrify a 'part of the bifmuth ; which, ha¬
ving then no a&ion on thofe perfedl metals, feparates,
and glazes the crucible all round.
" § 10.
C H E M
Pra<f\ice.
J ^ io. Regulvs of jIntimony.
This femimetal, when pure, and well fufed, is of
a white Ihining colour, and confifts of laminae applied
to each other. When it has been well melted, and
not too haftily cooled, and its furface is not touched
by any hard body during the cooling, it exhibits the
perfeft figure of a ftar, confifting of many radii iffuing
from a cenfre. This proceeds from the difpofition that
the parts of this femimetal have to arrange themfelves
in a regular manner, and is fimilar to the cryftallization
of falts.
Regulus of antimony is moderately hard ; but, like
other femimetals, it has no dudtility, and breaks in
fmall pieces under a hammer. It lofes 4- of its -weight
in water. The a&ion of air and water defiroys its
luftre, but does not ruft it fo effedtually as iron or cop¬
per. It is fufible with a heat fufficient to make it red
hot; but when heated to a certain degree, it fumes
■Sublimable, continually, and is diffipated in vapours. Thefe fumes
form w’hat are called the argentine flowers of regulus
of antimony, and are nothing but the earth of this fe¬
mimetal deprived of part of its inflammable principle,
and capable of. being reduced to its reguline ftate by
12,54 an union with this principle.
Separation There are different methods of preparing the regu-
°hure/ m ^US antimonT > kut all of them confift merely in fe-
antimony1 parating the fulphur which this mineral contains, and
which is united with the regulus. It is plain, there¬
fore, that regulus of antimony may be made dry an ad¬
dition of any fubftance to crude antimony in fufion,
which has a greater attraction for fulphur than the re-
gulus itfelf has. For this purpofe, alkaline falts have
been employed, either previoufly prepared, or extem-
poraneoufly produced in the procefs, by a deflagration
of tartar and nitre. By this means, the fulphur was
indeed abforbed ; but the hepar fulphuris, formed by
the union of the fulphur and alkali, immediately dif-
folved the regulus, fo that very little, fometimes none
at all, was to be obtained diftinCt from the fcoria. Me¬
tals are found to anfvver better than alkaline falts, but
the regulus is feldom or never free from a mixture of
the metal employed. The way of obtaining a very
pure regulus, and in great quantity, is to calcine the
antimony, in order to difiipate its fulphur; then to
mix the calx with inflammable matters, fuch as oil,
^ foft foap, &c. which are capable of refloring the
principle of inflammability to it. This method was
invented by Kunckel. Another, but more expen-
five way of procuring a large yield of very .pure regu¬
lus, is, by digefling antimony in aqua regis, which dif-
folves the reguline part, leaving the fulphur untouched,
precipitating the folution, and afterwards reviving the
precipitate by melting it with inflammable matters.
There are confiderable differences obferved in the
Repukis ea-reSu^us antimony> according to the different fub-
filymifcible dances nrade ufe of to abforb the-fulphur. When
with mer- prepared by the common methods, it is found to be
cury. very difficultlyamalgamated with mercury; but MrPott
hasdifcovered, that a regulus prepared with two or five
parts of iron, four of antimony, and one of chalk, rea¬
dily unites with mercury info an hard amalgam, by
bare trituration with water. Marble and quicklime fuc-
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 545
ceed equally well with chalk; but clay, gypfum, or Regulus of
other earths, have no effea. ' AlmmonT
One earthy fubftance, found in lead-mines/and com¬
monly called cawk, has a very remarkable effea upon Kxtempo-
antimony. This is found in whitifh, moderately com-raneous re-
paa, and ponderous maffes; it is commonly fuppofedK’dus with
a fpar ; but differs from bodies of this kind, in not be-tawk-
ing aaed upon by acids, (fee n° 1068). If a lump of
cawk, of an ounce or two, be thrown red hot into 16
ounces of melted antimony, the fufion continued about
two minutes, and the fluid matter poured off, “ you
will have 15 ounces like polifhed fteel, and as the moil
refined quickfilver.” Phil. Tranf. n° 110. Dr Lewis
mentions his having repeated this experiment feveral
times with fuccefs: but having once varied it by mix¬
ing the cawk and antimony together at the firfl, a part
of the antimony was converted into a very dark black
vitreous matter, and part feemed to have fuffered little
change; on the fiirface of the mafs fome yellow flowers
appeared.
Regulus of antimony enters into the compofitions
for metallic fpeculums for telefcopes, and for printing-
types. It is alfo the bafis of number of medicinal prepa¬
rations; but many' of thefi, which vyere formerly much
efteemed, are found to be either inert, uncertain, or
dangerous in their operation. When taken in fub¬
ftance, it is emetic and purgative, but uncertain in its
operation ; becaufe it only a£ts in proportion to the
quantity of folvent matter it meets with in the fto-
mach ; and if it meets with nothing capable of acting
upon it there, the regulus will be quite inadtive. For
thefe reafons, the only two preparations of antimony
jiow retained, at leaft by fkilful practitioners, are the
infufion of glafs of antimony in wine and emetic tar¬
tar. For making the glafs of antimony we have the I2^7
following procefs. “ Take a pound of antimony; re- Glafs of an-
duce it to fine powder, and fet it over a gentle fire jtimony.
calcine it in an unglazed earthen pan, till it comes to be
of an afh colour, and ceafes to fume : you muft keep it
continually ftirring; and if it (hould run into lumps,
you muft powder them again, and then proceed to fi-
niih the calcination. When that is done, put the cal¬
cined antjmony into a crucible ; fet it upon a tile in a
wind-furnace ; put a thin tile on the top; and cover
it all over with coals. When it is brought into fufion,
keep it fo in a ftrong fire for an hour : then put into
it an iron rod; and when the melted antimony, which
adheres to it, is tranfparent, pour it upon a fmooth,
hot, marble; and when it is cold, put it up for ufe.
This is vitrum antimonii, or f ibium."
This preparation is more violent in its eflfe&s-than
the pure regulus itfelf; becaufe it contains lefs phlo-
gifton, confequently is fimilar to a regulus partially
calcined, and fo more foluble. Hence it is the moft
proper for infufion in wine, or for making the tartar
emetic. It is obvioufly, however, liable to great un¬
certainties in point of ftrength ; for as the antimony is
more or lefs ftrongly calcined, the glafs will turn out
ftronger or weaker in its operation, and confequently
all the preparations of it muft be liable to much uncer- ,^8
tainty. This uncertainty is very apparent in the Difference
ftrength of different parcels of emetic tartar: accord-of
ingly Mr Geoffroy found by examination of different
emetic tartars, that an ounce of the weakeft contain- *
3 Z ed
ia6o
Objeftion
546 * C H E M I
Keeuliis of fed from 30 to 90 grains of regulus ; an ounce of mo-
Antimony. derate ftrength contained about 168 grains ; and an
ounce of* the ftrongeft.kind contained 154 grains.
For thefe reafons, the author of the Chemical Dic¬
tionary recommends the pulvis algaroth as the moft
proper material for making emetic tartar ; being per-
125O fedtly foluble, and always of an equal degree of
PulvUal- ftrength. Emetic tartar, as he juftl'y obferves, ought
moft pro-6 a me';allic fait cOmpofed of cream of tartar fatu-
j er materi-rated with the regulus of antimony ; and M. Beaume
al for emc- has fhown fuch a fatufation to be poffible, and that the
tic tartar. neiltfal fait oryftallizes in the form of pyramids. They
are tranfparent while moift; but by expofure to a dry
air, they lofe the water of their cryftallization, and be¬
come opaque. The preparation of this fait, according
to M. Baume, cohfifts in mixing together equal parts
of cream of tartar, and levigated glafs of antimony:
thefe are to be thrown gradually into boiling water;
and the boiling continued till there is no longer any
effervefcence, and the acid is entirely faturated. The
liquor is to be filtered ; and upon the filter is obferved
a certain quantity of fulphureous matter, along with
fome undiflblved parts of the glafs of antimony. When
the filtered liquor is cooled, fine cryftals will be form¬
ed in it, which are a foluble tartar perfectly faturated
with glafs of antimony. He obferves, that the diflblu-
tion is foon over if the glafs is well levigated, but re¬
quires a long time if it is only grofsly pounded..
The trouble of kvigating glafs of antimony, as well
.Tufe* as the uncertainty of difTolving it, would render pal-
vh algaroth much preferable, were it not on account
of its price; which would be a temptation 'to thofe
1161 in ufe to prepare medicines, to fubftitute a cheaper
Scheele’s antimonial preparation in its place. This obje&ion,
theory of }lowever, is now in a great meafure removed by Mr
ofpu’lvisal- Scheele; who demonftrated that the pulvis algaroth.'
garoth. is no other than regulus of antimony half calcined by
the dephlogifticated marine acid in the corrofive fubli-
mate made ufe of for preparing the antimonial can-
ftic. If therefore we can fall upon any other method
of dephlogifticating the regulus, we fhall then be able
to combine the marine acid with it; and by feparating
them afterwards, may have the powder of algaroth as
good as from the butter of antimony itfelf. One of
the methods of dephlogifticating the regulus is by
nitre. Our author therefore’ gives the following re-
1262 eeipt for the powder in queftion.
His receipt “ Take of powdered crude antimony one pound ;
for making pawdered nitre, otie pound and an half; which, after be¬
st cheap. ]ng weH dried and mixed, are to be detonated in an iron
mortar. The hepar obtained in this manner is to be
powdered, and a pound of it to be put into a glafs
veffel, on which firft'a mixture of three pounds of wa¬
ter and 15 ounces of vitriolic acid is to be poured, and
afterwards 15 ounces of powdered common fait are to
be added; the glafs vefftl is then to be put in a fand
bath, and kept in digeftion for 12 hours, during
Which period the mafs is to be conftantly (lirred. The
folution, when cool, is to be ftrained through linen.
On the refiduum one third of the above menftruum
is to be poured, and the mixture digefted and ftrained.
From this folution, when it is diluted with boiling wa¬
ter, the pulvis algarothi precipitates, which is to be well
edulcorated and dried.”
As regulus of antimony, like other metallic fub-
3
S T R Y. Pra&ice.
ftances, is foluble in liver of fulphur, it happens, that, Arfenic.
on boiling antimony in an alkaline ley, the fait, uniting  v' -f
with the fulphur contained in that mineral, forms an I2;63
hepar fulphuris, which diffolves fome of the regnline ^hurTf a^'"
part. If the liquor is filtered, andfaturated with an acid, tlmony an l
the regulus and fulphur will fall together in.form of a yel- kermes mi-
lowifti or reddifh powder, called golden fulphur of antimony. “era^
If the ley is fuffered to cool, a like precipitation of a red
powder happens. This laft is called kerrhe^mineral. 1264
Nitre deflagrates violently with antimony, confum- Diaphore-
ing not onlyits fulphureous part, but alfo the phlogifton ^ antimc“
of the regulus : and thus reduces the whole to an inert
calx, called antimonium diaphoreticum. If equal parts
of nitre and antimony are deflagrated together, the
fulphureous part is confumed, as well as part of the
inflammable principle of the regulus. The metalline
part melts, and forms a femivitreous mafs, of a red- I2(^
diih colour, called crocus metallorum, or liver of anti- Crocus mo
many. It is a violent emetic, and was formerly ufed wilonun..
for making infufkms in wine fimilar to thofe of glafs
of antimony ; but is now difufed on account of its un
certainty in ftrength. It is full ufed by the farriers :
but the fubftance fold for it is prepared with a far lefs
proportion of nitre; and fometimes even .without any
alkaline fait being added to abforb part of the antimo¬
nial fulphur. This crocus is of a dull red colour; and,,
when powdered, aflumes a dark purple. -
$ 11. -Arsenic*
This fubftance, in its natural ftate, has no appearance
of a metal, but much more refembles a fait, which,
as has been already obferved, it really is when deprived ,255.
of its phlogifton. When united to a certain quantity Arfenic
of phlogifton, it affumes a metallic appearance; and ^'>un^ ,u"
in this ftate it is found, as Mr Bergman informs us, ^ nietailk
in Bohemia, Hungary, Saxony, Hercynia, and otherforln.
parts; particularly at Alfatia in the mines called
St Marieux. The maffes in which it is found are
frequently ftiapelefs, friable, and powdery ; but fome¬
times compact, and divided into thick convex lamelke,
with a needle-formed of micaceous furface: it-takes a
polifli, but foon lofes it again in the air. When frefli
broken, it appears cOmpofed of fmall needle-like grains
of a leaden colour, foon becoming yellow, and by de¬
grees blackilh ; exceeding copper in hardnefs, though
as brittle as antimony. I267
Reguline arfenic, whether found naturally or pre- Regulus of
pared by art, very readily parts with as much of its arfenic caf'1~
phlogifton as is fufficient to make it fly off in a white /^1^16
fmoke ; but this ftill retains a very confiderable quan- common
tity of phlogiftic matter, as is evident from its producing white kind,,
nitrous air by the affufion of nitrous acid, and from
the experiments already related of the preparation of the
acid of arfenic. This calx indeed is the form in which
arfenic is moft commonly met with. It is lefs volatile
than the regulus; and by fublimation in a glafs vefftl
affumes an opaque eryftalline appearance from be¬
coming white on the furface ; but that which cryftal-
lizes in the bowels of the earth does not appear to be
fubjeft to any fuch change. 1268
White arfenic, though a.true metalline calx, may be White ar-
mixed in fufion with the fame metals which will unite
with the regulus. This feems contrary u> the general other
rule of other calces, which cannot be united with any metals.
metal
acid.
Pra&lce. C II E M
Arfenic. metal in its metalline Rate; but it muft be remembered,
u“~v that by this operation the arfenical calx is reduced to a
regulusby the phlogifton of the metal: whence, in allfu-
fions of this kind, feme fcorise rife to the top, confiding
of the calcined metal and part of the white arfenic.
Solution of Eight parts of diftilled water diffolve, by means of
arfenic in moderate heat, one part of calcined arfenic, and by
water, boiling may be made to take up 15. The folution
changes fyrup*.of violet: green, but the tindbure of
turnfole red. It is not changed by neutral falts, but
fl.jwly precipitates the folutions of metals, the arfenic
united to the metalline calx falling to the bottom.—
“ It may be aiked (fays hlr Bergman), whether the
whple of the arfenic, or only the arfenical acid, unites
with the metallic calx, yielding the phlogiilon to the
menftruum of the other metal ?” Certainly fueh a
mutual commutation of principles does not appear im¬
probable, if we confider only thofe cafes in which the
menftruum is vitriolic or nitrous acid : but as iron,
for example, united with marine acid (which does not
attraft the phlogifton of white arfenic), as well as
w hen it is joined to the nitrous acid, is precipitated, it
would appear, that the whole of the arfenic is united,
1170 at leaft in certain cafes, to the metallic calces.
And in fpi- One part of arfenic is diflblved by 70 or 80 of boil-
rit la?'!1116 w‘ne*
in «ifr;„i,v Arfenic diffolves partially in concentrated vitriolic
acid, but concretes in the form of cryftalline grains on
cooling. Thefe diffolve in water with much greater
difficulty than the arfenic itfelf. On the blow-pipe
they emit a white fmoke, but form into a globule by
fufion, which at firft bubbles, but foon grows quiet,
and is but flowly confumed even in a white heat.
This fixity is occafioned by the acid carrying off the
phlogifton of the arfenic, and thus leaving a greater
proportion of its peculiar acid than what it naturally
contains ; and therefore the .more frequently the ope¬
ration is repeated, the more fixed the arfenic becomes,
though it is fcarce poffible to diffipate the arfenical
phlogifton as perfectly with this acid as with the ni¬
trous ; the effects of which have been already particu¬
larly mentioned.
The marine acid, which naturally contains phlo¬
gifton, diffolves about one-third of its weight of arfe¬
nic, a great part of which feparates fpontanpouffy on
cooling in a ftate of faturation with the acid. This fait,
which may be had in a cryftalline form, is much more
volatile than the former,, readily fubliming in a clofe
veffel with a moderate heat; but is foluble with diffi¬
culty in boiling water. It is of a fine yellow colour,
and fcarcely differs from butter of arfenic, except in
its degree of concentration. The nature of marine
acid prevents it from difengaging the arfenical acid
from the phlogifton of the femimetal, as will eafily ap¬
pear from what has been faid concerning that acid.
The arfenical acid, however* is eafily made to appear
by the addition of that of nitre, as will be underftood
from the direttions given by Mr Scheele for the pre-
Phltwfti- Parat‘on t^ie ac^ arfenic.
tatedFalkali Arfenic is not precipitated from its folution in vi-
cannot pre- triolic and nitrous acids by the phlogifticated alkali,
cipitate ar- which yet very readily precipitates all other metals.
feme excepi jnjm the marine acid, however, it is precipitated by its
rine acid. mcans of a white colour'; but unlefs the .folution be very
127a
In marine
acid.
I S T R Y. ,47
acid, the addition of mere water will throw down a Arfenic.
precipitate of the fame colour. ' v —*
Dephlogifticated, marine acid deprives arfenic of its ,a74
inflammable principle; fo that in the diftilling veffel,
we find water, acid of arfenic, and marine acid, rege-phlogifti-
nerated. cared ma-
Arfenic is diffolved by its, own acid, and forms cry- r‘ne ac'^*
ftalHne grains with it as well as with that of fluor and phenomena
borax. Saccharine acid diffolves it likewife, and with other
forms prifmatic cryftals; and a fimilar fait is ajfo acids,
formed by the acid of tartar. Vinegar, and the acids
of vinegar and phofphorus, form with it cryftalline
grains, which are fcarcely foluble in water. 1276
Solutions of fixed alkali diffolve arfenic; and, Liver of
when loaded with it, form a brown tenacious mafs,.ar^en‘c‘ .
called liver of arfenic. The arfenic is partly precipi¬
tated by mineral acids, though part of it gradually
lofes its phlpgifton, and adheres more tenacioufly. So¬
lution made with volatile alkali feems to effect this
decompofition more readily, as no precipitation is
made by acids. Limpid folution of faline hepar, drop¬
ped into a folution of white arfenic, floats upon the
furface in form of a grey ftratum, which at length di-
fturbs the whole liquor. T2^
By the affiftance of heat folutions of arfenic attack Effects o»
fome of the metals, particularly copper, iron, and zinc; metals,
the folutions of the two laft yielding cryftals by eva¬
poration. No alteration is made on thefe compounds
by alkaline falts or by acids : volatile alkali does not
difeover the copper by changing the colour of the fo¬
lution blue ; nor does the phlogifticated alkali throw
down any blue precipitate from the folution of iron.
The reafon of this is the fuperabundance of phlogifton
in the folutions ; for the arfenical acid takes up all
metals: when united with copper, it ftiows a blue co¬
lour with volatile alkali; and when united with iron,
it lets fall a Pruffian blue in the ufual way; but the
quantity of phlogifton which converts the acid into
white arfenic, prevents the appearance of thefe pheno¬
mena when the latter is made ufe of. ,a7g
Arfenic, either in its calcined or reguline ftate, may Unites eafl-
be united with fulphur; in which cafe it appears L 'viihfuil
either of a red or yellow colour, accordirig to the P^ur*
quantity of fulphur with which it is united. Thefe
compounds are fpontaneoufly produced by nature;
both pf them fometimes pellucid and cryftalline ; with
this difference, however, that the yellow feems to af-
fe<ft a lamellated, and the red a cryftalline, form. 1279
Thefe dre called red and yellow orpiment, or realgar and RcalgaranJ
orpiment; the fpecific gravity of realgar being aboutorP*men£*
3.225 ; of orpiment, 5.315. Both of thefe lublime
totally with a moderate heat, unlefs when they hap¬
pen to be mixed with other fubftances. They readily
unite with thofe metals which form an union with the
arfenic and fulphur of which they are compofed. Sil¬
ver mineralized by fufion with orpiment, forms a fub-
ftance fimilar to what is called the red ore of that me¬
tal. Iron, in conjunction with orpiment, affumes a
white, polilhed, and metallic appearance, fimilar to that
of the white or arfenical pyrites; and by various
combinations of thefe fubftances with metals of diffe¬
rent kinds, many of the natural metalline ores may be
produced.
Nitre, when treated with mineralized arfenic, de- wkh nb6"*
3 Z 2 ton ates trous acid.
548 C H E M I
Butter of
arfenic.
n8a
Can fcarce
be made
^ith'ma¬
rine acid.
1283.
Oil of ar-
tonates partly with the fulphur, and partly with the
phlogifton of the arfenic ; the alkaline bafis of the fait
either forming fal polychreft with the acid of the
fulphur, or uniting with the alkali, and forming the
neutral arfenical fait. By the addition of fixed al¬
kali in proper quantity, either to orpiment or realgar,
and then expofing the mixture to a fubliming heat,
nitre retains the fulphur, but lets go the greateft part
of the arfenic; the hepatic mafs, however, retains a
fmall quantity of the latter ; and if there is much al¬
kali, fcarce any of the arfenic arifes.
On diililling orpiment with twice or thrice its quan¬
tity of corrofive fublimate, two liquids arife which re-
fufe to unite ; and at length, on augmenting the heat,
a cinnabar arifes. A butter of arfenic is found at the
bottom of the receiver, of a ferruginous brown colour,
but pellucid : in the open air it firft fends forth a co¬
pious fume of a white colour, and then gradually at-
trafts the moillure of the atmofphere, by which it is
precipitated. It is remarkable that it unites fo fiowly
with marine acid, that they feem to repel one another;
nor can they be made to unite beyond a certain de¬
gree. By the affufiom of diftilled water, a white pow¬
der will be precipitated, which, though ever fo well
walhcd, retains fome acidity ; for a portion of butter
of antimony is produced by diftillation, as is likewife
true of the pulvis algaroth. The frrioke has a pecu¬
liar penetrating fmell, fomevvhat fimilar to that of
phlogifticated vitriolic acid, and lets fall white flow¬
ers. The liquor which fwims above, and which, by
chemical authors, has been compared to oil, is yellowifh
and pellucid, feparating a white arfenical powder by
the addition of water and fpirit of wine. It is not
affefted by the ftronger acids; but effervefces, and lets
fall a precipitate, with alkalies. On keeping it with a
cucurbit with a long neck unftopped, white flowers
gradually concrete round the orifice, which are lax,
and fometimes approaching to a cryftalline form. And
laftly, by fpontaneous evaporation, pellucid cryftals ap¬
pear at the bottom of the liquor, which are foluble in
water with great difficulty; but when diflblved, pre¬
cipitate filver from nitrous acid, and let fall fome ar¬
fenic on the addition of an alkali. When put into
lime water, a. cloud flowly furrounds them : on being
expofed to the fire, they totally fublime without any ar¬
fenical fmell, without decrepitation, or lofing their
tranfparency ; but if ignited phlogiftic matter comes
in contaft with them, the arfenical fmell inftantly ap¬
pears. No traces of mercury are to be found in this
liquor by treating it either with alkali or copper;
not the flighteft precipitation is made by it on be¬
ing dropped into a folution of terra ponderofa in the
marine acid: from all which it appears, that this liquor
is only a very dilute butter of arfenic, containing lefs of
the mercury on account of the quantity of water it
has. The butter contains the acid in its moft com
centrated ftate, and is therefore Ibaded with a larger
quantity of arfenic : the former liquor will therefore be
obtained in much larger quantity, by fetting the mix¬
ture of corrofive fublimate and arfenic to Hand a night
in a cellar, or moiftened with water, before it be fub-
jetted to diftillation. As the common marine acid
can diffolye only a. determined quantity of the butter,
it naturally follows, that what remains after complete
iatjiration ftiould totally refufe to mix. The acid,
4,
S T R Y. Practice.
however, when too much diluted, precipitates the but- Arfenic.
ter; but in proportion to its ftrength it diffolves a  ■ '
greater quantity. I2g4
Arfenic mineralized by fulpbur is not diflblved by Ai fenic mi-
water, but is affefted by the different acids, according nemlized
to the particular circumftances of each. Nitrous acid l'Y lu*i,hur-
and aqua-regia aft moft powerfully ; the former foon
deftroys the red colour of the realgar, and converts it
into yellow orpiment; its primary aftion being to cal¬
cine the arfenic, without affefting the yellownefs of
the fulphur. It makes no change on the colour of
orpiment. Aqua-regia, by long digeftion, takes up
the arfenic, and leaves the fulphur at the bottom; and
hence we may find out the proportions of the two in¬
gredients. Some dexterity, however, is neceffary in
performing this operation with accuracy; for if, on
the one hand, the menftruum be too weak, part of the
arfenic will remain undiffolved ; and if, on the other,
it be too ftrong, part of the fulphur will be decompo-
fed ; for ftrong nitrous acid is capable of decompofing
fulphur by long digeftion, having a greater attraftfon
for phlogifton than the vitriolic acid itfelf. The colour
of tHe refiduum ought to be grey ; for as long as any
yellow particles remain, it is a fign that fome of the
arfenic alfo remains. If any iron be prefent in the
compound, it is all diffolved, by reafon of the fupe-
rior attraftion of the acid for it, before any off the ar¬
fenic is taken up, unlefs it {hall have been calcined ei.r
ther by the accefs of air and heat employed in the
operation, or by the too great power of the menftruum. i -
The pure regulus of arfenic may be obtained artifi- pure ,-gga.
cially from white arfenic, either by fublimation with 'us of arfe-
oil, black flux, or other phlogiftic materials ; or bynic>how
melting it with double its weight of foap and potafhes; PrePared*
or laftly, by precipitation by means of fome other me¬
tal, from orpiment or fandarack melted with fulphur
and fixed alkali. By the firft of thefe methods it is
obtained in a cryftalline form, oftohedral, pyramidal,
or even prifmatic. Mr Bergman mentions a natural
regulus of arfenic, named mijpiclel, which along with jypfpickel,
fome fulphur contains a large quantity of iron united a natural
with the regulus into a metallic compound ; but tho’ i egulus of
the iron fometinies amounts to i or even y °f thearieniC*
whole, it neverthelefs remains untouched by the mag¬
net. When ignited, it fends forth an arfenical fmell,
and foon becomes obedient to the magnet, even though
the operation be performed on a tile without any ad¬
ditional phlogifton ; it melts eafilyin an open fire, and.,
in clofe veffels the greater part of the regulus fublimes,
leaving the iron at the bottom.
The pure regulus of arfenic is vaftly more volatile Great vo;a.
than any other metal, and therefore cannot be melted, ulity of this
It begins to fend forth a vilible fmoke in 180° of the tenumetal.
Swedifli thermometer, and is capable of inflammation;
but in order to inflame it, it muft be thrown into a
veffel previoufly heated to a fufficient degree, other-
wife it will be fublimed. The flame is of an obfeure
whitifh blue, diffuling a white fmoke and garlic fmell.
In clofe veffels it retains its metallic form, and.may be
fublimed of any figure we pleafe, ,4g8
Regulus of arfenie unites, with many of the metals, Effe<Ss of
but deftroys the- malleability of thofe with which- it reCuius °*
enters into fufion. It renders thofe more eafy of fu-
fion which are melted with difficulty by themfelves ;
but tin, the moft ealily fuiible of all the metals, be¬
comes
Pra&ice. C II E M
Arfenic. comes more refractory 'bj' being united with arfenic.
1 v  This metal acquires a permanent and Ihining white-
refs by its union with regulus of arfenic, and is able to
retain half its own weight of the arfenical metal. The
other white metals, become grey by fufion with this
femimetal, platina only excepted. Gold fufed in a
clofe veflel with regulus of arfenic, fcarcely takes up ^
of its weight; fiber ; lead j-; copper and iron more
thafi its own weight. The magnetic property of this
laft metal is deftroyed by a large quantity of regulus,
though the exaft proportion which deftroys it can
fcarcely be determihed, as fome of the iron is always
taken up by the fcoria ; but according to Mr Berg¬
man, lefs than an equal quantity is certainly fufficient.
Bifmuth retains of its weight; zinc -f; regulus of
antimony ; and manganefe an equal quantity. Nic¬
kel and regulus of cobalt take up a large quantity; but
how much cannot be determined, as it is next to im-
' poffible to procure any of thofe metals in a ftate of per-
feft purity. In a fufficient degree of heat, and by a
triture of feveral hours, regulus of arfenic takes up a-
bout of its own weight of mercury, forming an a-
g malgam of a grey colour.
May he ex- Regulus of arfenic, by reafon of its volatility, may
yelled by be expelled from all the metals with which it is unit-
heat from ed . kut) flying off, it generally carries along with
ta^with*" it fome of the metal with which it is united, gold and
which it is fiber not excepted, if the degree of heat be great and
nniied very fuddenly applied. Platina, however, pqrfeclly
refills the volatilization ; and, by reafon of its refrac¬
tory nature, even retains a portion of the arfenic.
Effefts°of This femimetal cannot be united by fufion with al-
if upon al- haline falls until the phlogillon is confiderably dimi-
kaiine falts nilhed, and the regulus approaches to the nature of
and nine, pure arfenical acid. By adding regulus therefore to
nitre in fulion, a detonation enfues, the phlogillon of
the former is totally deftroyed, and the acid uniting
with the alkali of the nitre forms a neutral arfenical
fait, limilar to that made with white arfenic and nitre.
By diltillation with dry acid of arfenic, the regulus
fublimes before it can be adled upon by the acid ; but
when thrown into the acid in fufion, foon takes lire,
and fends forth a white fmoke : for the acid, being in
this inftance deprived of its phlogifton, feparates that
principle from the regulus,, and unites with it in fuch
quantity as to regenerate white arfenic ; while, on the
other hand, the regulus, by this operation, is fo hir
deprived of its phlogifton as to’ appear in the form of
Decom- a ca^x‘ diftillation with corrofive fublimate, a
pol'es cor- fmoking butter, and fmall quantity of mercurius dub
relive fub cis and running mercury, are procured ; which happens
liwate. confequence of a double elective attraction ; the re¬
gulus of arfenic yielding its phlogifton to the bafe of
the corrofive fublimate, which being thus'really cal¬
cined, reduces the former to p.erfedt mercury, while
the marine acid takes up the calx of arfenic. The re¬
gulus of arfenic readily unites with fulphur, and forma
the fame red and yellow compounds that have already
been mentioned when fpeaking of white arfenic ; it is
foluble in, hepar fulphuris, but may be precipitated
i latyn by every other metal which can unite with the hepar.
sEonverted Regulus '6f arfenic is not affefted by the vitriolic a*
An to whfte cid, unlefs when concentrated and affifted by heat.
Ithcndtriorc Tke inflammable part of the regulus which phlogifti-
Wid. cates the acid flies off, fo that the remainder afiumes
I S r R Y. 54(
the nature of white arfenic, and exhibits the fame pro- Cobalt.
perties with menftrua as any other metallic calx : the  
fame bolds good with nitrous acid, except that it at¬
tracts the phlogifton more vehemently. Marine acid
has little or no effeft except when boiling..
Regulus of arfeiric precipitates certain metals drfibl- Effeits of
ved in acids, fuch as gold and platina diflblved in aqua- ^r!ie'
regia, as well as filver and mercury in vitriolic and ni- Tt|c °‘u'
trous acids. Silver generally appears in beautiful po-
libed fpiculse, like the arbor Dianas; but if the arfe¬
nic be fuffered to Hand long in the nitrous folution but
little diluted, the filver fpiculae are again diffolved, the •
arfenic in the mean time being dephlogiftieated. So¬
lutions of bifmuth and antimony are fcarcely rendered
turbid. Iron may be feparated from regulus of arfenic
by digeftion with marine acid, or with aqua-regia; nei¬
ther of which will touch the arfenic, as long as any
iron remains; but in order to fucceed in this opera¬
tion, fubtile pulverifation is neceffary as well as a juft-
quantity and ftrength of the menftruum. Heat muft
alfo be carefully avoided. The regulus is alfo diffolved
by hepar fulphuris and by fat oils, the latter forming
with it a black mafs like plafter.
§12. Cobalt.
Regulus of cobalt, or more properly pure cobalt
itfelf (what we have under the name of cobalt being
only a calx of the regulus), is a femimetal of areddifh
white colour, clofe-grained, fo as to be eaftly reducible
to powder, about 7.7 of fpecific gravity, and forming
itfelf into maffes of a needle-like texture, placed upon
one another. It is feldom or never found native, but
almoft always calcined and united with arfenic, the ar¬
fenical acid, fulphur, iron, &c. The zaffre ufed in ^
commerce is an impure and'grey calx of cobalt. When calx of ca-
mixed with three times its weight of pulverized‘flints, t> dt.
and expofed to a ftrong fire, it melts into glafs of a
dark blue colour, called fmalt, ufed in tinging other
glaffes, and in painting. With three times its weight gmatt^ hovv
of black flux, a fmall quantity of tallow and marine-produced,
fait, it affords the femimetal known by the improper
name of regulus of cobalt; but the reduction is very dif*
ficult. For this purpofe a large quantity of flux muft Rej.u usof
be made ufe of, and the crucible kept a confiderable cobalt dif-
time in a white-red heat, that the matter may become ^cua t0 r£"
very fluid, and that the fcoria may be completely fufed auce*
into a blue glafs; at which period the cobalt finks in
the form of a button to the bottom. .
Cobalt melts in a ftrong ted heat, is very fixed in pro, ert;e|,
the fiie, and it is uncertain whether it can be vola-of cobalt
tilized in clofe veffels. When fuffered to cool flowly, when ex«-
it Cryftallizes in needle-fhaped prjfms, placed one upon t0'
the other, and united in bundles, having a confider-1"
able refemblanee to maffes of bafaltes feparated from
each other: in order to fucceed in this cryftallization,
however, the cobalt muft be melted in a crucible till it
begins to boil, and, when the furfaceof the metal be¬
comes fixed on being withdrawn from the fire, the vef-
fel is then to be inclined ;..that which ftill remains fluid
runs out; and the portion adhering to the lumps form¬
ed by the cooling of the fur face isiound covered with
cryftals. . _ 1*98
This femimetal, expofed to the atmofphere, be-Calcines-
comes covered with a dull pellicle, and undergoes a
fpontaneous calcination ;.but it may eafily be calcinedm 1 8
1299
Its calx
beautiful
blue glafs
C H E M I
in any quantity by expofing it in powder in a (hallow
vefTel, under the muffle of a cupelling furnace, and
ftirring it now and then to expofe freffl furfaces to the
air. After being kept red hot for fome time, this
powder lofes its fplendor, increafqs in weight, and be¬
comes black, the calx being convertible, by a moft
violent heat, into a blue glafs. By fufion it combines
with vitrifiable earths, forming with them a beautiful
blue glafs extremely fixed in the fire ; whence it is of
the greateft ufe in enamel-painting, porcelain-painting,
&c. The afition of terra ponderofa, magneila, and
lime, on cobalt, is not known. Alkalies manifeftly
1300 alter ‘c 5 but in what refppd. is not known.
Phenomena Cobalt diffolves in concentrated vitriolic acid, when
with yitri- affifted by 3 boiling heat; the acid evaporating almoft
olic acid. ent;re]y in the form of fulphureous gas. The refi-
duum is then to be waffled; a portion of it diffolves in
the water, and communicates a greeniffl colour toil
when warm, which changes to a rofe colour when
cold. M. Beaume affirms, that by fufficiently eva¬
porating the vitriolic folution of cobalt, two foils of
cryftals are obtained ; one white, fmall, and cubical;
the other greeniffl, quadrangular, fix lines in length,
and four in breadth. Thefe laft he only confiders as
the true vitriol of cobalt; the former being produced
by certain foreign matters united to it. The cryftals
moft commonly obtained have the form of fmall needles,
and may be decompofed by fire, leaving a calx of co¬
balt not Reducible by itfelf. They may likewife be de¬
compofed by all the alkalies, by terra ponderofa, mag-
nefia, and lime. According to Fourcroy, 100 grains
of cobalt, diffolved in the vitriolic acid, afford, by pre¬
cipitation with pure mineral alkali, 140 grains of pre¬
cipitate ; by the fame alkali aerated, 160 grains. Di¬
luted vitriolic acid a&s on zaffre, and diffolves a part,
1301 w^b Which it forms the fait already defcribcd.
With ni- Nitrous acid afts upon the femimetal with that vio-
trousacid. lence which is its general chara&eriftic ; and the folu¬
tion, when nearly faturated, appears either of a rofy
brown or bright green colour. By ftrong evaporation it
yields a fait in fmall needles joined together; which is
very deliquefcent, boils upon hot coals without deto¬
nation, and leaves a calx of a deep red colour. It is
decompofed by the fame fubftances as the former, and
by excefs of alkali the precipitate difappears.
With^a Muriatic acid, affifted by heat, diffolves cobalt in
rine acid.* Part> '3Ut ^as no effe<^ uPon lt *n the co^# lt; a<^3
more ftrongly on .zaffre, forming a folution of a red-
diffl brown, which becomes green by being heated.
By evaporation it yields a very de.liquefcent fait in
fmall needles, which becomes green when heated, and
is foon after decompofed. Aqua-regia diffolves the
metal rather more eafily than the marine acid, but lefs
fo than the nitrous. The fjlution has been long known
j as a fympathetic Ink.
With the Cobalt is not diffolved direftly by the acid of borax j
skid of bo- but when a folution of this fait is mixed with a folu-
rax. tion of cobalt in any of the mineral acids, a double
decompofition takes place; the alkaline bafis of the
borax uniting with the acid which held the cobalt in
folution ; and the calx, combining with the fedative
fait, falls to the bottom in form of an infoluble pre¬
cipitate.
This femimetal is calcined by being heated to igni¬
tion with nitre. One part of cobalt, and two or three
S T R Y. Practice.
of dry nitre, well powdered and. mixed, when, thrown Nickel.
into a red-hot crucible, produce fmall fcintillations ; a  » J
portion ofi the cobalt being converted into a.calx of a,
red colour, more or lefs deep, and fometimes of a
gre<?n. Sal ammoniac is not deeompofed, by reafon Wl^0^[
pf the little attraction there is between the metal and'ammoniac.
muriatic acid. M. Bucquet, who made the experi 1305
ment with great care, could not obtain a particle of Wlth hd*
volatile alkali. Sulpirtr does not unite with it butpllur‘
very, difficultly, and the cpmbination is promoted by
liver of fulphur. Thus a kind of artificial ore may
be produced, the grain of which will be finer or clofer,
and its colour whiter or yellower, in proportion to the
quantity of fulphur in the mixture. M. Beaume ob-
ferves, that this compound cannot be decompofed by.
acids, and that fire cannot deftroy all the fulphur.
§ 13. Nickel.
This was firft difcovered to be a femimetal of a pe- Difcovcred
culiar kind,by Cronftedt, in the years 1751 and 1754, by Mr
who procured it in the form of regulus from its.ore, but Cronftedt.
without being able to reduce it to a fufficient degree of
purity; which,indeed has not yet been done by any che-
mift. M. Byrgman has laboured moft in this way,
though even he has not reduced it to the purity pf other
metallic fubftances. His experiments were made with
fome regulus made by M. Cronftedt, and whofe fpe-
cific gravity was to that of water exactly as 7.421 to I.
His attempts to purify it were made,
I. By Calcination and Scorification.
Nine ounces of powdered nickel were expofed f°r Efftdte'of
fix hours, in feveral portions, to a moft violent heat, cakination
under the dome of an affay furnace. Thus the arfe-with a vio-, 1
nic was firft diffipated with a fetid fmell, after which ^cnt
the odour of fulphur became perceptible ; after this a
white fmoke arofe without any fmell of garlic, and
which, according to our author, arofe probably from
the more dephlogifticated part of the arfenic which
now began to fublime. The heaps (we fuppofe after
the matter had been poured, out of the diffles, and yet
retaining a great deal of heat), when hot, began to fwell,
and green vegetations arofe from all the furface, re-,
fembhng fome kinds of mofs, or the filiform lichen;
a ferruginous affl-coloured powder remained at bot¬
tom ; and o. 13 of the whole were diffipated during the
operation. Half an ounce of this calx, fufed in a
forge for four minutes, along with three times its
weight of. black flux, yielded a regulus reticulated on
the furface ; the areola of a hexangular figure, with
very flender Arias, diverging from a centre, full of little
tubercles; it weighed 0.73 of half an ounce ; was obe¬
dient to the magnet ; and, when fcorified with borax,
left a blackiffl glafs.
By a fecond roafting the regulus again emitted a
garlic fmell; afterwards a vifible fume without any
fmell, with vegetations as before. The roafted pow¬
der, reduced with black flux as before, ftill emitted a
fmell of arfenic ; but, on repeating the fufion with the
calx and borax, nothing but fome obfcure figns of co¬
balt appeared. A third calcination feemed to have
much diffipated the arfenic, as it now emitted but
little of that kind of fmell; the vegetations were alfo
gone ; and the matter had rather a ferruginous than a
green.
Praaice. CHEMISTRY. 551
Nickel, greeto co’our. Nearly tTie fame pheftomenon appeared
v'-—"v  after reduftion in a fourth opf ration.
On performing the redhclion with lime and borax,
the regulus, when firft melted, loft much of its ferru-
pinews'matter, which adhered to the black febrise ; ft
foon acquired an hyacinthrne colour, without any re¬
markable mixture of. cobalt, was little- obedient to the
magnet, and its fpecific gravity Was fdmewhat diminifir-
ed, being now only 7.0828.
By a fifth calcination, gradually adding a quantity
of powdered charcoal while the matter continued red
hot, a prodigious quantity of arferiicy imperceptible be
fore, flew off in the form of vapour ; thearfenical dcitl
being thus furnilhed with as much phldgifton as wds
neceffary to make it rife in fume. The regulus was
treated in this mariner until no more arfenical Tmbke
could be perceived ; it was now of a lamellated and
tenacious texture when reduced, but ftill diffufed the
arfenical odour on being removed from the fire. The
wafting was therefore repeated a ftxth time-, and con¬
tinued for ten hours ; the addition of powdered char¬
coal continued to diffipate the arfenic in invrfible va¬
pours, which yet were perceptible by the fmell; the
colour of the metallic calx was obfeurely ferrugi¬
nous, with a mixture of green fcarcely vifible. On
reducing the regulus with equal parts of white flux,
lime, and borax, a femidudtile regulus was obtained,
highly magnetic, and foluble in nitfous acid, to which
it communicates a deep green colour; a blackifli mafs
remained, which afterwards became white, and when
laid on a burning coal, flies off without any remarkable
arfenical fmell. The regulus being then fix times fu-
fed with lime and borax, the fcoris refembled the hya¬
cinth in colour, and the metallic part was furrounded
with a green calx. The regulus, as before, was mag¬
netic and femi-malleable. Laftly, it was expoied for
14 hours to a very ftrong heat; when the powdered
charcoal was added by degrees without any diffipation
of arfenic or lofs of weight; the colour of the roafted
powder was ferruginous, with a very flight tinge of
green. On reduction,' a very fmall globule, ftill
magnetic, was found among the fcorise.
II. By Sulphur.
Effe&s of Eight hundred parts of Cronftedt’s regulus of nic-
fulphur and kel, fufed with fulphur and a fmall quantity of borax,
borax. yielded a mineralized mafs of a reddifh yellow, whofe
weight amounted to 1700. On expofing one half of
this to the fire, it began to grow black ; on which the
heat was augmented until vegetations appeared; the
remaining calx weighed 652. Melting this part with
borax, and the other which had not been exp'ofed to
the fife, a fulphurated regulus of a whitifh yellow co¬
lour was obtained, weighing 1102. The fame regulus,
calcined for four hours, was firft covered with egeta-
tions, and then, on the addition of powdered char¬
coal, diffufed an arfenical odour ; the metallic calx was
green, and weighed 1038. A whitifh yellow regulus
tvas obtained, femidudtile, highly magnetic, and ex¬
tremely refra&ory, weighing 594. By Fufibn with
fulphur a fecond time, it weighed 816; one half of
which roafted to greennefs, united by means of fire to
Ihe other half ftill fulphurated, weighed 509, and was
almoft deprived of its magnetic quality. A calcina¬
tion of four hours, during which phlogifton was ad¬
ded, djffipated a coufiderable quantity of arfenic ; the Nickel,
powder put on an afh-colour, fomewhat greenifh, was in *
weight 569 ; and by reduction yielded a regulus whofe
'furface was red, and which, on breaking, appeared of
a white afh-colour, veiy friable, and weighing 432 ;
the fpecifi’c gravity 7.173.
On mineralizing the regulus a third time with ful¬
phur, adding charcoal as long as any veftige of arfenic
remained, which required a violent calcination of 12
hours, the remaining powder was of an afh-green co¬
lour, add weighed 364; but the regulus obtained by
means of a redudb'oh effecleftby the moft violent heat in
a forge for three quarters of an hour, was fo refrac-
tOry, that it only adhered imperfectly to the fcoria,
which were of a diItinft hyacinthine colour ; not could
it be reduced to a globule by means of borax, though
urged by the fame vehemence of fire. The abfolute
gravity of this regulus was 180; its fpecific gravity
8.666. Its magnetic virtue was very remarkable ; for ,
it not only adhered ftrongly to the magnet, but to any
other piece of iron ; and the fmall -pieces of it attrac¬
ted' one another. It had a confiderable dudtility, was-
of a whitifli colour, mixed with a kind of glittering
red ; diffolved in volatile alkali, yielding 3. blue folu-
tipn, and a green one in nitrous acid..
Ah hundred parts of the fame regulus, beaten out
into thin plates, were covered, by a calcination of
four hours, with a cruft apparently martial, having un¬
der it a green powder, and within it a nucleus con-
fifting of reguline particles ftill unchanged ; the weight
being ina-eafed by 5. The friable matter, reduced to-
powder, put on a browniih-gfeeh colour ; and after a
calcination of four hours more, concreted at the bot¬
tom in form of a friable black cruft, ftrbngly magne¬
tic, and .weighing 100: No veftiges of arfenic were
difeovered by a fucceeding operation, in which char¬
coal was added; nor was the magnetic power deftroy-
ed, but the weight was increafed to 105, and the co¬
lour fomewhat changed. By fufion for an hour with
lime and borax, this powder yielded a regulus of an
angular ftructure, red, femiduftile, and altogether mag¬
netic ; the fpecific gravity being 8.875. The fame
globule, diffolved in aqua-regia, was precipitated by
green vitriol, as if it had been loaded with gold; but
the precipitate was readily foluble in nitrous acid.
Moft of the regtdi fhowed no figns of precipitation
with green vitriol.
III. With Hepar Sulpuris-
1309
Fifty-eight parts of regulus of nickel, which had ElFe<5h of
been fulphurated before, being fufed with 1800 parts !iePaI i-"^
of faline hepai fulphuris, then diffolvedin warm water, uru-
filtered through paper, and precipitated by an acid,
yielded a powder, which, by calcination till the ful¬
phur was driven off, appeared of an afti-colour, and
weighed 35. The infoluble refiduum, deprived" of it's
fulphur by means of fire, was likewife of an afti-colour,
and weighed 334. On reducing this regulus by means
of the black flux, a friable regulus was obtained, which
had a very weak magnetic property; but, on fufion
with borax, this quality was augmented. On mixing
and melting together equal parts of calx of nickel,
gypfum, colophony, and white flux, a powdery, fqua-
mous, and reguline mafs was produced ; which, by
fufion with borax, afforded a regulus poffeffing the pro¬
perties
552 C H E M I
Nickel, parties of nickel, but not entirely deftitute of cobalt,
which obeyed the magnet, and did not part with its
iron even after two folutions in the nitrous acid,
and various redu&ions by fufion with borax ; the ful-
phur was alfo retained with great obftinacy.
On diffolving regulus of nickel by fufion, in hepar
fulphuris made with fixed alkali, adding a quantity of
nitre fufficient only to deftroy a fmall part of the he¬
par, the regulus which had been fufpended by it was
feparated, and fell to the bottom. On examining this
regulus, it appeared more pure, and generally deprived
of cobalt, but ftill containing iron. In like manner
nickel is always very diftinftly precipitated by regulus
of cobalt, as this latter is attracted more powerfully by
the hepar fulphuris. When diffolved by fufion with he¬
par fulphuris, this femimetal may be precipitated by
adding iron, copper, tin, or lead, and even by cobalt:
the regulus obtained is indeed fcarcely ever attra&ed
by the magnet; but we are not from thence to con¬
clude that it does not contain any iron ; for when the
heterogenous matters, w'hich impede its atlion, are pro¬
perly removed, it then acknowledges the powder of the
magnet^ very plainly.
IV. By Nitre.
I3I®
©f nitre. One part of Cronftedt’s regulus was added to twelve
o{ nitre ignited in a crucible, and kept red-hot for
.about an hour. Some weak flaihes appeared firfl.;
then a large quantity of arfenic was emitted ; and,
laftly, the fides w'ere covered with a blue crull occafioned
(by the cobalt, a green matter remaining at bottom.
This, fufed again for an hour, with twelve parts of
.nitre, tinged the internal fides of the veffel of a green
colour; and, laftly, a brownifh green mafs, much lefs
in quantity than in the former operation, was left at
the bottom. This green matter, treated in the fame
way for two hours a third time, left a grey fcoria at the
bottom, w'hich yielded no' regulus with black flux.
Another portion of the fame regulus, treated in the
fame way with nitre, wasdiflblved, and became green;
yet on being freed by ablution from the alkaline fait,
it yielded no regulus with black flux, but only fcoria
of an hyacinthine colour mixed with blue, tinging ni¬
trous acid of a green colour, concreting into a jelly, and
on evaporation leaving a greenifli calx behind.
Another portion of Cronlledt’s regulus w'as kept
fome hours in the crucible with 16 parts of nitre ; by
which means all the arfenic was firfl; feparated ; then
the phlogifticated nitrous acid ; and, laftly, the fides
of the veffel were penetrated by a kind of green efflo-
refcences. The mafs, after being wraflied wuth water,
w'as of a dilute green colour, and tinged borax of a
greenifli brown. A green powder was ftill yielded,
after treating this in the fame manner with 12 parts of
nitre ; And on reducing it with one-half black flux,
one-eighth borax, and as much lime, a yellowifli
white regulus, both magnetic and malleable, was ob¬
tained, pofleffing all the properties of nickel. Its
• fpecific gravity was 9.000 ; the phlogiftic ingredient
13II was ufed in fmall quantity, that the iron might, if
ICitre ca- poflible, enter the fcoria.
pable of • It having appeared from this and fome other expe-
^ll the af r‘ments> t^lat nitre was capable of difeovering the
bait from fealkft quantity of cobalt contained in nickel, the
nickel. products of the former operations were now fubje&ed
N°74-
S T R Y.
Pra&ice.
to its adtion. The regulus produced by repeated fco-
rification thus became a little blue ; that diflblved in
volatile alkali (to be afterwards particularly mentioned)
difeovered a conliderable quantity of cobalt; nor W'as
there any one which did not thus difeover more or lefs
of that ingredient by this trial.
Nickel.
V. By Sal Ammoniac.
; - _ i.^ia
A calx of nickel, fo much freed from cobalt that it Effect of
did not tinge borax in the lead, mixed with twicefa.' amm*-
its weight of fal ammoniac, yielded, by fublimationniac’
wflth a ftrong red heat, twro kinds of flowers; one,
W'hich rofe higher than the other, was of an afh colour;
the other white. The bottom of the glafs was ftained
of a deep hyacinthine colour: the refiduum was divided
into two ftrata; the upper one yellow, fcaly, and
ihining like mofaic gold. With borax it afforded an
hyacinthine glafs, but not regulus ; and in a few days
liquefied in the air, acquiring a green colour and the
confiftence of butter. The refiduum fliow'ed the fame
properties with calx of nickel; and the green folution
(bowed no veftiges of iron with galls, but became blue
with volatile alkali; w'hich was alfo the cafe with the
flowers. The lower ftratum contained a calx, blackifh
on the upper part, but of a ferruginous brown in the
under, with a friable and fcarcely magnetic regulus, of
a reddifh white. The biackifn calx yielded an hya¬
cinthine glafs wuth borax. Part of this ffratum fub-
limed with twice its quantity of fal ammoniac; and
with the fame degree of heat as before, yielded flowers
of a very fine white, with a refiduum of ferruginous
brown, greenifli on the upper part towards the fides of
the veffel, the bottom being ftained of an hyacinthine
colour as before. Twenty parts of fal ammoniac being
added to a part of the inferior ftratum reduced, the
whole was fubhmed in a retort; a hlackifli powder re¬
mained, which became green by calcination, and of
an hyacinthine colour by fcorification, as did alfo the
bottom of the containing veffel. The fublimation be¬
ing twice repeated, ufing a double quantity of fal am¬
moniac each time, the calx became at length very green,
diffolving with the fame colour in the nitrous acid, and
yielding by reduction a white, brittle, and very little
magnetic regulus. In all thefe* fublimations, it .was
obferved, that the volatile alkali rofe firfl;; then fal
ammoniac ; and, laftly, a part of the marine acid was
forced over by the violence of the heat.
VI. With Nitrous Acid.
Having obtained a fait by cryftallization from nickel EffdJb'^f
diffolved in nitrous acid, part of this was calcined with antimony,
charcoal duff in a proper veffel, and during the opera¬
tion a large quantity of arfenic was diflipated ; a grey,
femidu&ile, and magnetic regulus being obtained after
reduction. A brittle regulus was obtained after a fe-
cond folution, precipitation, and reduction ; but by a
third operation it became again femiduthle and mag¬
netic. By repeating this procefs a fourth and fifth
time,‘the quantity became ib much diminilhed that it
could no longer be tried. In all thefe folutions, a
b’lackifli refiduum appeared; which, when fuffered to.
remain in the acid, grew white by degrees; but when
edulcorated and laid on a burning coal, exhaled a fnl-
phureous fmoke, and left a black powder foluble in
the nitrous acid,
VIL By
Practice. CHEMISTRY.
553
V VII. By Volatile Alkali.
Volatils^ Four hundred and eighty-feven parts of a calx of
alkali. nickel, produced by difiblving Cronlledt’s regulus in
nitrous acid, and precipitating the folution by a fixed
alkali, being immerfed for 24 hours in a quantity of
volatile alkali, yielded a refiduum of fifty, having a
blackifh green colour. The folution, which was blue,
by filtration and infpiffation yielded a powder of a light
blue colour, weighing 282 ; which, reduced with
black flux, produced a white, femidudlile, and highly
magnetic regulus, weighing 35, whofe fpecific gravity
was 7.OCO. The fcoriae were of a light red ; but
when mixed with borax, put on an hyacinthine colour,
and yielded a regulus weighing 30. The two re-
guli united together proved very refractory ; fo that
the mafs could not be melted by the blow-pipe, even
with the addition of borax. It fent forth neither an
arTenical nor fulphureous fmell on the addition of char-
coal-duft ; but, on a fucceeding reduction, yielded hy¬
acinthine fcorice ; and the remaining flocculi, diflblved
in nitrous acid, affording a very green folution, which,
on the addition of volatile alkali, yielded a powder of
the fame colour.
From 50 parts of the blackilh green refiduum, 13
of a clear white, brittle, fquamous, and little magne¬
tic regulus, were obtained, the fpecific gravity of which
was 9.333. At the bottom of the veffel was found a
fcoria of an obfcurely blue colour, with the upper part
hyacinthine. It was eafily fufed; and tinged borax,
firfl: blue, then of a hyacinth colour, upon which it
became more ftrongly magnetic. By the affiflance of
heat it diffolved in nitrous acid, forming a folution of
a beautiful blue colour. A black powder at firll float¬
ed in the liquor, but became white, and fed to the bot¬
tom. After edulcoration it was for the moft part dif-
fipated, with a fulphureous fmell, on being exposed to
the fire ; a little brown-coloured mafs, foiuble in vola¬
tile alkali, remaining at bottom. This folution was
precipitated by phlogifticated alkali, and a powder
thrown down of the colour of calx of nickel, which
13T5 foon grew blue with, volatile alkali.
Nickel can- From all thefe experiments it appears, that nickel
tained 'n'-l cannot e>btainefi in a ftate of purity by any means
ftate of i'u- hitherto known. From every other fubftance, indeed,
nty. it may be feparated, except iron ; but this refills all
the operations hitherto deferibed, and cannot be di-
minifhed beyond certain limits. The itragnet not only
readily difeovers its prefence, but fome portions of the
regu’us itfelf becomes magnetic; but the tenacity
and difficulty of fufion, which increafe the more in
proportion to the number of operations, plainly ihow
that there is no •■hope of feparating the whole quantity,
unlefs we fuppofe the regulus-of nickel itfelf to be at-
trafted by the magnet; and there is certainly a pof-
fibility that one other, fubftance befides iron may be
attracted by the magnet. The great difficulty, or ra¬
ther impoffibiiity, of obtaining it in a ftate of purity,
naturally raifes a fufpicion of its not being a diftincl
femimetal, but a mixture of others blended together ;
Bergman’s and on this fubjeft our author agrees in opinion with
opinion of thofe who luppofe it to be a compound of other me-
the cotnpo- tals. Indeed, Mr. Bergman is of opinion, that “ nic-
finon of kel, cobalt, ^and manganefe, are perhaps no other than
mckel- You IV. Part II.
modifications of iron.” And in order to afcertaln this, Nickel,
he made the following experiments. v‘ .
1. Equal parts of copper, of the gravity of 9.3243, I3J?
and iron of 8.3678, united by fufion with black dux»,hentsta
yielded a red mafs, whofe fpecific gravity was 8.5441; compofe
and which tinged nitrous acid firft blue, then green, nickel arti-
afterwards yellow, and at laft of an opaque brown.
2. Two parts of copper and one of iron had a fpecific
gravity of 8.4634 ; the mixture yielding firft a blue,
and then a green folution. 3. Equal parts of copper
and iron, of the fpecifie gravities already mentioned,
with another part of cobalt whofe gravity was 8.1500,
yielded a metal of the gravity of 8.0300, imparting a
brown colour to the folution. 4. Two parts of arfe-
nic of 4.000, added to one of copper and another of
iron, gave a brittle metal of 8.0468, which formed a
blue folution. 5. One part of copper, one of iron, .
two of cobalt, and two of white arfenic, gave a brittle
regulus of 8.4186 ; the folution of which was brownifti,
and feparated in part fpontaneoufly. 6. One part of
copper, one of iron, four of cobalt, and two of white
arfenic, formed a mafs of 8.5714. The folution was
fome what, more red than the former; and a fimilar
effeft took place on repeating the experiment, on¬
ly that the fpecific gravity of the metal was now
8.2941. 8. One part of iron and four of white arfe¬
nic formed a metal which diffolved with a yellow co¬
lour ; and, on the addition of Pruffian alkali, imme¬
diately let fall a blue fediment. 9. One part of cop¬
per, eight of iron, fixteen of white arfenic, and four
of fulphur, united by fire, on the addition of black
flux, yielded a mafs which, though frequently calci¬
ned and reduced, produced nothing but brown ol*
ferruginous calces. It acquired a greennefs with ni¬
trous acid, but on the addition of phlog'ifticated al¬
kali depofited a Pruffian blue. 10. One part of iron
was diffolved in fix of the nitrous acid, and likewife
feparated by one part of copper and one of the calcined
ore of cobalt, in the fame quantity of the fame acid.
The whole of the folution of iron was then mixed with
five parts of the folution of copper, whence’a green
and iaturated nickel colour was produced ; which,
however, on the addition of three parts of the folution
of cobalt, became evidently obfeured. The alkaline
lixivium dropped into this threw down at firft a ferru¬
ginous brown fediment, the folution ftill remaining
green : afterwards all the blue was precipitated; by _
which at firft all colour was deftroyed, but afterwards
a red appeared, occafioned by the cobalt diffolved in
the alkaline fait. The fediment, when reduced, yielded
a regulus fimilar to c.opper; and at the fame time duc¬
tile, which tinged both glafs and nitrous acid of a blue
colour. If a faturated felution of, nickel be mixed
with half its quantity of folution of cobalt, the green
colour is much obfeured; but four parts of the former,
on the addition of three of the latter, put off all ap¬
pearances of nickel. See the article Nickel.
§ 14.. Of Plating
The properties of this metal have not as yet been ph/he!!-
thoroughly inveftigated by chemifts, and there is there- vieft of all
fore fome difagreement concerning them. Formerly metals,
it was fuppofed to be inferior in' fpecific gravity to
4 A gold;
554 . C H E M
Platina. gold; but now is generally allowed to be fuperior in
that refpeft by little lefs than a fourth part ; being to
water in the proportion of 23 to 1 when perfectly
freed from all heterogeneous matters. Mr Berg-.
man fays that its colour is that of the piu'elt fib
ver. The very fmall globules of it are extremely mal¬
leable ; but when many of thefe are collected together,
they can fcarcely be fo perfectly fufed as to preferve
Infolubie fame degree of malleability. They are not affee-
except by ted by the magnet in the lealt, nor can they be dif-
dephlji- Jolved in any limple menftruum excepting dephlogi-
rine^cid!* fticated marine acid. As it is commonly met with,
1320 however, platina has the form of fmall grains, its
Found in plates of a bluifh black, whofe colour is intermediate
'nterm'xed8 ketV”Xt' ^hofe of filyer and iron. Thefe grains are
withforejgn mixed with many foreign fubftances, as particles of
fubftances. gold, mercury, and blackith ferruginous, fandy grains,
which by the magnifier appear, fcorified.. The grains,
themfclves, when examined by a magnifying glafs, ap¬
pear fometimes regular, fometimes round and flat,
like a kind of button. When beat on the anvil, moil
of them are flattened and appear dudlile; fame break
in pieces, and on being narrowly examined appear to
be hollow, and particles of iron; and a white powder
have been found within them : and to. thefe we mull
attribute the attradtion of platina by the magnet;
fince, as we have already obferved, pure platina is. not
attmdlcd hy it.
Mr^Ber - Bergman> who carefully examined this metal,
man’s expe- diffolved it firft in aqua.-regia compofed of the nitrous
riments on and marine acid. The folution at firft exhibits a
this metal, yellow colour, but on approaching to faturation be¬
came red, and, the rednefs increafes as the liquor be¬
comes more loaded with metal. Cryftals are produced
by evaporation of a deep red colour, generally in
finall angular and irregular grains, whofe true ft ape
cannot be difeovered,' Their appearance is fometimes
opaque and fometimes pellucid. After thefe are once
formed,, they, are extremely difficult of folution, re¬
quiring much more water than even gypfum itfelf for
this purpofe.—The folution is not precipitated by ve¬
getable fixed alkali, nor does the latter affect the cryftals,
except very faintly by digeftion with them in a cauftic
ftate. Aerated mineral alkali takes them up and grows
yellow, hut without, depofiting any thing, though it
IS-2, decompqfes them at laft;by evaporating to.drynefs.
^a^namay On the addition of a fmall quantity of vegetable
"fie*decora- fixed alkali, either mild or cauftic, fmall red cryftals
pofed by foluble in water, and fometimes of an oftohedral fi-
mineral but gUre> are depoiited. They are decompofed with
ble”fixedal- difficulty by the mineral alkali, but not at all by the.
kali. vegetable. If a larger quantity of fait is added at
firft, an infolubie fpongy matter of a yellow colour is
precipitated. Cryftalliue particles of the fame kind
are thrown down by an alkali faturated either with
the vitriolic, nitrous, marine, or acetous acids, though
all the platina cannot thus be feparated from the men-
ftruum.
Aqua-regia, compofed of nitrou? acid and common
fait, diffolved the metal with equal facility as the for-
rou» addmer ’ only t^e ftdution was more dilute, and a yel-
andthatof ^ow powder floated on the furface, a larger quantity
fea-f.Ut, being found at the bottom. On adding vegetable fix¬
ed alkali to the clear folution, a copious yellow pow¬
der, foluble in a large quantity of water, was depoiited.
13*3
Solution
aqua-re^
made
I S T R Y. Praaice.
A powder,, of a fimilar kind, wag precipitated, tho’ Platina.
more flowly, and more of a cryftalline nature; but —v—-*'
mineral alkali, though ufed in much larger quantity,
did not make any alteration. .The collected powder
was yellow, and agreed in property with that fepara¬
ted fpontarveoufty in a. former experiment. 1334
On repeating the/ experiment with nitre and,depu- In a liquor
rated fpirit of fait, inftead of nitrous acid and fea-falt, "’™^^^
the platina was diffolved into gold-coloured liquor, a,fpirit0£.
greenifli coloured granulated matter falling to^thefalt,
bottom, and the finer part of the fame rifing to the
top. After faturating the fupe'rfluous acid, a metal¬
lic calx, infolubie in water,, was thrown down by the
vegetable alkali. The green powder is foluble in wa¬
ter, and is of the fame nature with the precipitate
thrown down by the vegetable alkali,
Platina precipitated from aqua-regia by a fufficient
quantity of mineral alkali, the precipitate wafted andpOW^er
diffolved in marine acid, on the addition of vegetable al-pi ecipitatei
kali immediately lets fall a cryfttilline powder, as it does
alfo with nitre and other falts, having the vegetable1
alkali for their bafis. The cafe is the fame with calx ofiut;0n 0f ^5.
platina diffolved in vitriolic acid. Nitrous acid alfo calx in ma-
diffolves the calx of platina, but does not yield anynne ;
diftindl fafine precipitate without the affiftance of But not
rineacid,—The abdVe phenomena are likewife produ- fyom ^ p0,
ced by the precipitate thrown down by the vegetable lution in ni-
alkali after t;he faline powder has been depofited. trous acid.
From thefe experiments our author concludes, I* q-his^rcci-
That the precipitate which is firft thrown down, on ppate
the addition of vegetable alkali to folutions of platina, kind of tri-
is a faline fubftance, and different from the calx ofpk fdt.
the metal. 2. That this faline precipitate is compo¬
fed of calcined platina, marine acid, and vegetable al¬
kali. 3. By means of vitriolic acid, a precipitate ana¬
logous to this may be obtained, compofed oi calcined,
platina, vegetable alkali, and vitriolic acid. 4. The
whole folution of platina cat not be precipitated by
vegetable alkali in form of a triple fait; but after pafs-
ing a certain limit, a metallic calx in the ufual way
is produced..
As it has been denied by Margraaf and Lewis that ^^3
mineral alkali is capable of feparating platina from its ai aj_
acid, our author was induced to attend particularly toitai; can fe.
this circnmftance. Having therefore tried the com- parate
mon folution with mineral alkali, hefoundthat each drop g ^
excited a violent effervefcence, and at lalt that a yel- VC| ^
low fpongy matterj affording a genuine calx of pla¬
tina, was precipitatedt this was more fpeedily effetleff
by ufing the dry mineral alkali, which had fallen to
powder of itfelf. To determine, however, the dif¬
ference betwixt the two alkalies in a more accurate
manner, he divided, a very acid folation of platina in¬
to two equal parts. To one of thefe he added fmall
portions of the vegetable, and to the other an equal
weight of pieces of mineral alkali, waiting five mi¬
nutes after every addition, till the effervefcence ftould:
fully ceafe. After the firft addition, fmall cryftals ap- ^
peared ; in the former partly on the furface, and partly
in tire bottom 5 but in the latter no precipitate could times as
be obferved until 56 times the quantity of vegetable11111 h m>- _
alkali had beep added. The difference, however, was.“r^jr^^
even greater than what appears from this experiment rprecipkate*
for the vegetable alkali was cryftallized, and therefore pla-in?, as o£i
charged with the. water neceffary to its 'cryftalline rentable.
form a
.alkali.
3Pra£Uee. C H E M
Platina. form ; whereas the rnineral alkali was fpontaneoully
calcined : and though, in equal quantities of thefe two
alkalies, the purely alkaline parts are as 3 to 2, yet
three parts of vegetable alkali faturated only j.71 of
this aqua-regia, while two of the mineral alkali took
up about 2.6.
EfleJb'of The volatile alkali firfl throws down this metal in
the volatile a faline form; the grains fometimes diltindtly odto-
alkali. hedral. Tliei»colour is red when that of the folution
is fo, but yellow when the folution is more dilute.
After faturating the fuperabundant acid, the fame al¬
kali'precipitates the platina truly calcined. This pre¬
cipitate is diffolved in water, though with difficulty,
and may be reduced to more regular cryftals by eva¬
poration. Thefe are diffolved by the mineral alkali;
but hardly any figns of decompofxtion are to be ob-
I - ferved, unlefs the yellow folution, evaporated to dry-
nefs, be again diffolved in water; for then the metal¬
lic calx refts at the bottom, and the folution is de¬
prived of its yellow colour. The vegetable alkali has
fcarce any effedl in this way ; for, after repeated ex-
ficcation, the folution remains clear and yellow: but
here probably the fixed alkali takes the place of the
volatile ; for in larger quantities, and efpecially when
the cauftic vegetable alkali is made ufe of, the mixture
1331 fmells of volatile alkali.
Platina The volatile alkali, faturated with any acid, pre-
partly pre- dphates the platina in the fame manner as the vege*
neutral ^ table alkali, in combination with acids : but thefe neu-
fait3. tral falts precipitate only a determined quantity of pla¬
tina; for after their effedt has ceafed, the liquor lets
fall a pure calx of .platina on the addition of vegetable
or volatile alkali.
Triple falts The calx of platina precipitated by mineral alkali,
formed by and then diffolved in any fimple acid, fhows nearly the
this metal. fame phenomena with volatile alkali as with the vege-
* table alkali. “ Whence (fays Mr Bergman) we may
conclude, that platina diffolved in acids forms at firft,
both with the volatile and fixed vegetable alkali, a
triple fait, difficult of folution, and which therefore al-
moft always falls to the bottom unlefs the quantity of
water be very large.” Calcareous earth, whether ae¬
rated or cauilic, produces the fame phenomena as the
mineral alkali, without any cryftalline appearance.
Platina’the Platina has been remarkable ever 'fince its firfl: dif-
moft infu- covery for being the moft infufible fubftance in the
fible fub- World. Meffrs Macquer and Beaume kept it in the
worldm 1 £ moft violent heat of a glafs-houfe furnace for feveral
days without perceiving any other alteration than that
its grains,adhered flightly to each other ; but the adr
hefion was fo flight that they feparated even by touch¬
ing. In thefe experiments the colour of the platina
became brilliant by a white heat, but acquired a dull
grey colour after it had been heated for a long time.
They obferved alfo, that its weight was conftantly in-
creafed; which undoubtedly arofe from the calcination
of the iron it contained. Dr Lewis, after various at¬
tempts to, fufe platina, found himfelf unable to fuc-
1334 ceed even in a fire which vitrified bits of glafs-houfe
,) Pirft melt- pots and Heffian crucibles. Meffrs Macquer and
ed by a Beaume firft melted this refraftory metal with a large
mirrer^ burning-glafs, 22 inches diameter and 28 inches fo¬
cus. The pow'er of this fpeculum was almoft incre¬
dible, and far exceeded what is related of the lens of
Tfchirnhaufen or the mirror of Villette. Its general
1 s T R Y.
effedls are related under the article BuRmKG-Glafs. Pktma.
And as platina refifted this intenfe heat more than fix y-—J
times as long as the moft unfufible fubftances formerly
known, it appears to require a fire as many times
ftronger to melt it. It has been found, however, ca-v;_
pable not only of fufion but of vitrification by the e-trifled by
ledfric fire ; and that it may alfo be melted by fire ex* eledtric fire,
cited by dephlogifticated ai£ : but M. de Lifle was the
firft who was able to melt it with the heat of a com- ^
riron forge when expofed to the blaft of a double bel- Its pj^kp;.
lows in a double crucible. Thus its real fpecific gra-rate fuflble
vity began firft to be known. It muft be obferved, in a com -
however, that this fufion was not performed on com- mon for£e-
mon platina, but on fuch as had been diffolved in aqua-
regia and precipitated by means of fal ammoniac.
M. Morveau repeated the experiment, and from 72
grains of platina obtained a regulus weighing 50-j-;
which feemed to have undergone a very imperfedt fu¬
fion ; for it did not adhere to the crucible or take its
form, but feemed to be merely platina revived. Its ipe*
cific gravity was alfo found to be no more than 10.045 >
but it was nearly as malleable as filver; and when it
had been fufficiently hammered, its fpecific gravity
was augmented to no lefs than 20.170, which is more *337
than that of gold itfelf. M. Morveau found that he T*1’8 Preci*
could melt the precipitate with different fluxes, fuch gve^crude
as a mixture of white glafs, borax, and charcoal, and platina, fu-
a mixture of white glafs and neutral arfenical fait; CMe by the
and that the regulus thus obtained was more complete- *"‘^ance
ly fufed, but was not malleable, and obeyed the mag- uxe8"
net; but the regulus obtained without addition did
not fhow this mark of containing iron. He alfo found,
that by means of the above mentioned flux of white
glafs, borax, and charcoal, he could melt crude pla¬
tina. Since that time the fufioiqof platina has been
accompliflied by various chemifts, and with different
fluxes; and in proportion to the degree of purity to
which the met-al has been reduced, its fpecific gravity
has alfo increafecf; fo that it is now fettled at 23,
that of fine gold being 19.
Though Dr Lewis could not accomplifli the fulion ^ j,
of platina by the methods he attempted, he was ne- Dr°Le\vi/
verthelefs able to alloy it with other metals. Equal with other
parts of gold and platina may be melted together by metals,
a violent fire, and the mixed metal formed into an
ingot by pouring-it-into a mould. It is whitilh, hard,
and may be broken by a violent blow ; . but when
carefully annealed, is capable of confiderable extenfion _
under the hammer. Four parts of gold with one of
platina form a compound much more fufible than the .*339
former, and likewife more malleable ; fo that it mayWilh£0^*
be extended into very thin plates without being bro¬
ken or even fplit at the edges^ Dr Lewis remarks
alfo, that though in this cafe it be alloyed with fuch a
quantity of white metal, it neverthelefs appears no
paler than guineas ufually are, which contain only
one-twelfth of filver.
Equal parts of filver and platina melted together with filver.
with a violent fire, form a much harder and darker-
coloured mafs than filver, which has alfo a large grain,
though it preferves fome dudlility. Seven parts of
filver with one of platina form a compound much more
refembling filver than the other; but Hill coarfer-
grained and lefs white. From the experiments made
on filver, however, it appears that no perfect union is
4 A 2 formed
556 C H E M
Platina formed betwixt tbe two ; for after the mixture has
been kept in fufion for a confiderable time, moft of the
platina feparates and falls to the bottom. Lewis ob-
ferved, that filver melted with platina was thrown up
with an explofion againft the fides of the'crucible.
Silver did not appear to be in any degree meliorated
by its union with this metal, excepting by the fuperior
hardnefs communicated to it ; but copper feemed to
1341 be confiderably improved. A large proportion of pla-
Copper tina, indeed, as two-thirds or equal parts, produced an
aM^irn'ro- ^lar<^> brittle, and coarfe-grained compound; but when
ved! y a fmaller quantity of platina is added, as from £ to T'r,
union with or even Ids, a golden-coloured copper is produced,
platina. very malleable, harder, fufceptible of a finer polifh,
fmoother-grained, and much lefs fubjeft to calcina-
1342 tion and rullthan pure copper.
readT-with nietabic matters, however, vine moft readily
3;„c . unites with platina, and is moft effedually diffolved by
fufion. When the proportion of platina is confider¬
able, the metal is of a blulfh colour, the grain clofer,
without tarniftiing or changing colour in the air, and
they have not even the malleability of the femi-
*343 . metal..
And with Platina unites readily with the compound metals,
brafs formed of copper and zinc, and bronze made of
copper and tin. In the latter it was remarkable, that
the compound metal took up more platina than both
its ingredients feparately can do. This compound
was hard and capable of receiving a fine polilh, but is
1344 fubjed to tarnifh.
^our!d°af* Equal parts of brafs and platina formed a compound
braft and very hard, brittle, capable of receiving a fine polifh,
platina a and not fubjed to tarnifh. It is poffible therefore that
proper ma- it might be ufed to advantage as a material for fpecu-
, f''’" lums; all materials fob which, hitherto difeovered,
have the great inconvenience of tarniftring in the air,
and that very quickly.
Platina amalgamates with mercury, but with much
greater difficulty than gold, which will alfo feparate
the quickfilver after it has been united with the pla¬
tina. The amalgamation of platina does not fucceed
but by very long trituration of the metals with water,
as for inftance a week ; but if the trituration be per-
Mercury formed with a mixed metal compofed of gold and
teavesnlafi- . , , ,, -.P
pound ir
fpeculums. •
*345
Can fcarc
be united
1346
rm tcTuidte Putina, the mercury feizes the gold, and It
with gold, platina untouched. Dr Lewis propofes this as a me¬
thod of feparating gold from platina ; and it is that
ufed in Peru, where gold and platina are fometimes
naturally mixed in the ore ; but we do not know whe-
,347 ther this feparation be quite complete.
May be Mr Morveau fucceeded in uniting iron with platina,
united with though Dr Lewis could not accompliffi this. The
caifiron ■ ^atter fucceeded, however, in uniting it with call iron.
’ The compound was much harder and lefs fubjedt to
ruft than pure iron. It was alfo fufceptible of a
1348 much finer poliffi.
And with Platina may be alloyed with tin, lead, or bif-
biftnuth' 01 mutl1, but without any advantage. To lead and tin
it gives the property of affuming blue, violet, or pur¬
ple colours, by being expofed to the atmofpbere.
Dr Lewis could not fucceed in uniting platina with
I S T R Y. Practice.
arfenic ; but M. Scheffer affirms, that if only one- Piatina.
twentieth o* arfenic be added to platina when red hot '''
in a crucible, the two fubftances will be perfeftly ;via'v3^g
fufed and united into a brittle grey maiS. This expe^ melted by
riment did not fucceed with Mr Margraaf; for hey means of
having expofed to a violent fire during an hour a mix - arfetlie.
ture of an ounce of platina with a fufible glafs, com¬
pofed of eight ounces of minium, two ounces of flints,
and one ounce of white arfenic, obtained a regulus
of platina well united and fufed, weighing an ounce
and 32 grains; the furface of which was fmooth,
white, and fluffing, and the internal parts grey ; but
which neverthelefs appeared fufficiently white when
filed. The experiment fucceeded imperfectly alfo in the
hands of Dr Lewis; but M. Fourcroy informs us,
that “ it has fince been repeated, and that platina is
in fr.ft very fuiible with arfenic, but that it remains
brittle. In proportion as the arfenic is driven off by
the continuance of the heat, the metal becomes more
duftile ; and by this procefs it is that M. Achard and
M. de Morveau fucceeded in making crucibles of pla¬
tina by melting it a fecor.d time in moulds.” (a)
M. Fourcroy feems to deny that platina can bepourcroy
united with mercury, contrary to what is mentioned denies that
above.— “ Platina (fays he) does not unite with mer-P!atina can
cury, though triturated for feveral hours with that ^jrhme^-
metallic fluid. It is likewife known, that platina re-cuiy#
fills the mercury ufed in America to feparate the gold.
Many intermediums, fuch as water, ufed by Lewis and
Beaume, and aqua-regia by Scheffer, have not been -
fixind to facilitate the union of thefe two metals. In
this refpect platina feems to refemble iron, to whole
colour and hardnefs'it likewife in iome meafure ap¬
proaches.” This laft fentence, however, feems very
little to agree with what he himfelf had before told us
of M. Macquer’s experiment of melting platina. “The 134,
melted portions (fays he) were of a white brilhant Inco fiftent
colour, in the form of a button ; they could be cut to ^ ^f"}ts
pieces with a knife.” This furely was a very Imall ap- hardnds.
proach to the hardnefs of iron ; and gives us an idea '
rather of the conliftence of tin or lead. “ One of
thefe maffes was flattened on the anvil, and converted
into a thin plate without cracking or breaking, but it
became hard under the hammer.” In another expe¬
riment indeed the button of platina was brittle, and
fufficrently hard to make deep traces in gold, copper,
and even iron ; but this was obtained from precipita¬
ted platina urged for 3 5 minutes by a ftrong blaft fur¬
nace. In an experiment of this kind M. Beaume even precipitaw
fucceeded in melting the precipitate, along with cer- ted platina
tain fluxes, into a vitriform fubltanc£ by two different Vltrffiecl •’T
proceffes. The precipitate of platina, mixed withM ^caum<^
calcined borax, and a very fufible white glafs, was ex¬
pofed, for 36 hours, in the hotteft part of a potter’s
furnace; and afforded a greenifh glafs, inclining to
yellow, without globules of reduced metal. This glafs,
treated a fecond time with cream of tartar, gypfum,
and vegetable alkali, was completely melted, and ex¬
hibited globules of platina dil'perfed through its fub-
ftance. M. Beaume feparated them by wafliing, and
found them duftiie. The fame chemift afterwards, to¬
gether
(a) For a particular account of this procefs fee before n° 5,87.
Macqi
D"t to !:
perfctS.
Practice. C H E M
Platina. gether with M, Macquer, e'xpofed precipitate of pla-
^  tina to the fame burning mirror with which they had
fufed the metal: the precipitate exhaled a very thick
and luminous fume, with a ftrong fmell of aqua-regia :
it loft its red colour, refumed that of platina, and melt¬
ed into a perfeft brilliant button, which was found to
be an opaque vitreous fubftance, of an hyacinthine co¬
lour at its furface, and blackifti within ; and may be
confidered as a true glafs of platina. It may however
be obferved, that the faline matters with which it was
impregnated contributed doubtlefs to its vitrifica¬
tion.
“ The orange-coloured precipitate obtained by pour¬
ing a folution of fal ammoniac into a folution of pla-
tina, appears to be a faline fubftance entirely foluble
in water. This precipitate has a valuable property,
Precipitate (l'lrcovere^ M. de ITfle, viz. that it is fuiible without
by fa! am- addition in a good furnace or common forge-heat. The
mon'ac fu- platina melted by this procefs is a brilliant, denfe, and
iible in a clofe-^rained button ; but it is not malleable unlefs it
heat*^ °'^e^as keen expofed to a very.flrong heat. Macquer
thinks that this fufion, like that of the grains of
1354 platina alone, expofed to the adtion of a violent fire,
This fufion confifts only in the agglutination of the foftened par-
ftippofed hy tides ; which being exceedingly more divided and mi¬
nute than the grains of platin.a, adhere to and touch
each other in a greater number of points than the
grains; and in that manner render the texture of the
metal much more denfe, though no true fufion may
have taken place. It feems, however, that if platina
in grains be capable of fufion by the buming-glafs, and
of becoming confiderably duftile, the precipitate of
this metal formed by fal ammoniac may likewife be
fufed on account of its extreme divifion ; and that its
not being as dudtile as the button of platina fufed by
the folar heat, may perhaps depend on its retaining a
part of the matter it carried down with it in precipi¬
tation, of which it may be poffible to deprive it by
fire.”
>355 It being fo extremely difficult to bring platina itfelf
purtfy pla-°into one attempts to purify it was
tina by cu- by cupellation with lead. Thus the bafer metals would
Reflation, be fcorified ; and, running through the crucible along
with the lead, leave the platina in as great purity as
though it had been melted by itfelf. This operation,
however, was found almoft equally difficult with the
fufion of'the metal by itfelf. Lewis failed in the ex¬
periment, though he applied the molt violent heat of
the ordinary cupelling furnaces. The vitrification and
abforption of the lead indeed took place as ufual j
but in a fhort time the platina became fisted, and could
■not by any means be rendered fluid. Meffrs Macquer
and Beaume fucceeded by expofing an ounce of pla¬
tina with two ounces of lead in the hotteft part of a
porcelain furnace, where the fire is continued for 50
hours without intermiffiom At the end of the opera¬
tion the platina was flattened in the cupel; its upper
furface was dull and rough, and eafily feparated p but
its under furface was brilliant, and it was found eafily
to extend under the hammer ; and on every chemical
trial was found to be perftdtly purer without any mix¬
ture of lead. M. de Morveau likewife fueceeded in
cupelling a mixture of one drachm of platina and two
drachms of lead in M. Macquer's wind-furnace. The
operation lafted eleven or twelve hours,, and a button
S
I S T R Y.
of platina was obtained which did not adhere to the
cupel, was uniform, though rather rough, and Mu'"
colour refembling tin. Ic weighed exa&ly one drachm,
and was not at all afted upon by the magnet. Thus
it appears that platina may be obtained in plates or la-'
minte, which may be forged, and confequently may
be employed in making very valuable utenfils ; and this
the more efpecially as Mr Beauipe has obferved that
different pieces of it may be welded and forged like
iron. After having heated two pieces of pure cupel¬
led platina to vvhitenefs, he placed them one upon
the other, and ftriking them brilkly with a hammer,
found that they united together as quickly and firmly
as two pieces of iron would have done. ' 1 ,
The great fpecific gravity of platina has rendered it of the pof-
a v£ry defiiable matter tor fuch as with to adulterate fihility of
the precious metal, and can procure the platina eafily.af,uitera-
This, however, can only be done*in South America,
where platina is met with in plenty. In Europe the na> 1 *
fcarcity of platina renders it a more valuable objedl
than even the gold itfelf. Fears of this fraud, how¬
ever, have undodbtedly given occafion to the prohibi¬
tion of exporting it. There are gieat differences a-
mong chemifts concerning the quantity of platina that
can be mixed with gold without deltroying the colouc
of the latter. Dr Lewis, as has already been obfer¬
ved, informs us, that four parts of platina may be
mixed with one of gold, and yet the mixture be no>
paler than that for guineas ; while Fourcroy afferts,.
that “ it greatly alters the colour of the metal, unlefs
its quantity be very fmall; thus, for example, a 47th
part of platina, and all the proportions below that, do-
not greatly affetft the colour of the gold.” But whe¬
ther this be the cafe or not, chemiftry has afforded va¬
rious ways of feparating even the fmalleft propor¬
tion of platina from gold ; fo that there is now no
reafon to prohibit the importation of it to Europe,
more than that of any other metal with which gold
can be alloyed. The following are the methods by 1337
which the platina may be moft readily difcovered : Mtuhofts oF
I. By amalgamating thefufpedied metal with mercury,
and grinding the mixture for a confiderable time with if it ihoulL
water ; by which the platina will be left, and the gold be pra<5U-
remain united with the quickfilver. 2. By diffolving
a little of it in aqua regia, and precipitating with al¬
kaline fait ; the remaining liquor, in cafe the metal
has been adulterated with platina, will be fo yellow,
that it is fuppofed a mixture of one thoufandth part
would thus be found out. 3^. By precipitation with
fal ammoniac, which throws down the platina but not
the gold. If mineral alkali be ufed, the gold will be
precipitated, but not the platina, unlefs the precipitant
is in very large quantity. 4. By precipitation with
green vitriol,, which throws down the gold, and leaves
the platina united with the menftruum..
All thefc methods, however, are not only attendedp]atina
with a confiderable deal of trouble, but in fome cafes, moll eaffly,-
for inftance in fufpeded coin, it might not be eligible dllc‘,ver-'
to ufe them. The hydroftatic balance alone affords a ^
certain method of difcovering mixtures of metals with- 'gc gravity..'
out hurting the texture of their parts. The great
fpecific gravity of platina would very readily difeover
_ it if mixed with gold in any moderate quantity ; and
even in the fmalleft, the gravity of the mafs could ne¬
ver be lefs than that cf the pureft gold ; which cir-
cumftancc:
5;S C H E M
Mangar.en’.^umftance alone, as gold is' never worked without al-
}0y} would be fufficient to create a juft fufpicion ; af¬
ter which fame of the methods already mentioned
might be tried. It is pofiible, hawever, that the hard-
nefs and dii&ility of platina might render it more pro¬
per for alloying gold than even copper or filver, ufually
made ufe of for this purpofe.
§ 15. Of Manganese.
Newfenu- This fubftance is now difcovered to afford a femi-’
tnetal af- rnetal different from all others, and likewife to poffefs
forded by f0Tne properties of a very Angular kind. , Mr
mangane e. scheele has inveftigated its nature with' the utmoft
care; and the refult of his inquiries are as follows :
Properties 1 • Two drachms of levigated manganefe, digefted
of f^com- for feveral days in a diluted vitriolic acid, did not ap-
nron man- pear to be diffolved or diminifhed in quantity ; never-
ganefe trea- thelefs a yellowifh white precipitate was procured by
vitriolic1 faturating the acid with fixed alkali. The remaining
manganefe Was net atftcd upon by more of the fame
acid, but the addition of another half ounce nearly
deftroyed the acidity of the menftruum when boiled
upon it.
2. With concentrated vitriolic acid an ounce of
manganefe was reduced to a mafs like honey, and then
expoied to the fire in a retort till it became red-hot.
Some vitriolic acid came over into the receiver; and
after breaking the retort, a mafs was found in it
weighing 124- drachms, hard and white in the in-
fide, but red on the putfide. A great part of it difr
folved in diftilled water, on the affufion of which at
firft it became very hot. The refiduum after edulco-
ration weighed a drachm and an half, and was of a
grey colour. Being calcined in a crucible with con¬
centrated vitriolic acid till no more vapours arofe, it
was all diffolved by water excepting one drachm ;
which being again calcined with the fame acid, an in-
foluble refiduum of a white colour, and weighing on¬
ly half a drachm, remained. This white refiduum
effervefeed with borax, and melted into a tranfparent
brown glafs ; it likewife effervefeed with fixed alkali,
changing into a brown rcafs, which yielded an hepatic
fmell with acids, and became at the fame time gela¬
tinous. The folution obtained by calcination was eva¬
porated and fet to cryftallize. A few fmall cryftals
of felenite were firft depofited, and afterwards fome
very fine large cryftals of an oblique parallelepiped
form, whofe number increafed as long as there was
any liquid left. They tafted like Epfom fait, and Mr
WeftYeld fuppofes them to be alum ; but according to
Mr Scheele, they have no other refemblance to alum
1361 than that they contain the vitriolic acid.
'Entirely g. gy phlogifticated vitriolic acid the manganefe
by was entirely diffolved. To procure' this acid in puri-
tedvTtrio-' ty, Mr Scheele dipped fome rags in a folution of al-
Uc add. kali of tartar, and after faturating them with the
fumes of burning brimftone, put them into a retort,
pouring on them fome diffolved acid of tartar, luting
on a receiver which contained levigated manganefe and
water. After a warm digeftion of only one day, the
liquid of the receiver had become as clear as water,
and a little fine powder, confifting principally of fili-
ceous earth, fell to the bottom.
4. Two drachms of levigated manganefe, digefted
I S T R T. Fra & ice,
for feveral days with an ounce* of pure colpurlefs acid Mangandft*
of nitre, did not appear to have deprived the men-  v~-J
ftruum of its acidity, or have Been affe&ed by it
in any degree. The liquor being diftilled off, and the
produft of the diftiilation rpoufed back on the refi¬
duum, a fmall quantity of it was diffolved. By a
third diftillation, and pouring back the liquor on the
refiduum, a complete folution was effe&ed ^ and this
quantity of acid appeared capable of diffolving nine
drachms of the powder.
5. The folution ,of manganefe thus faturated, was pj.^p^g
filtered and divided into two equal portions. Into one and ciyflais
of thefe fome drops of vitriolic acid were poured, by obtained
which a fine white powder was thrown down,
however, did not fettle to the bottom for fome hours. ° u 10a*
It was foluble neither in boiling water nor in acids.
The limpid folution, by evaporation, yielded fome
fmall cryftals of felenite or gypfum.
6. From the other half of this folution, after eva¬
poration by a gentle heat, about ten 'grains of fmall
ftiining cryftals of a bitter tafte were obtained. On
pouring fome drops of vitriolic acid into the folution
infpiffated by a gentle heat, no precipitation, except¬
ing of a little, felenite, enfued; but as foon as it was
infpiffated to the confiftence of honey, fome fine aci-
cular cryft'als, verging towards the fame centre, began
to form, but grew foft, and deliquefeed in a few days
after.
7. Fhlogifticated nitrous acid diffolves manganefe jyia^^..eye
as readily as the phlogifticated vitriolic. A little le-diffolved by
vigated manganefe mixed with fome water was put in- phlo^iftica-
to a large receiver, to which a tubulated retort was te^nhrou3
luted. Some ounces of common nitrous acid were 1 ’
put into the retort, to which fome iron-filings were
added, taking care hi ways to clofe the orifice with a
glafs ftopple. The phlogifticated nitrous acid thus
paffed over into the receiver, and diffolved the man¬
ganefe in a few hours : the folution was as limpid as
water, excepting only a little fine filiceous earth. An¬
other white precipitate, fimilar to that produced' by
adding vitriolic acid to the folution in pure nitrous
acid, now began to fall; but in other refpe&s this fo¬
lution agreed with the former.
8. Ah ounce of purified muriatic acid was poured
upon half an ounce of levigated manganefe ; which, jt on ^
after ftanding about an hour, affumed a dark brown of fait,
colour. A portion of it was digefted ‘with heat in
an open glafs veffel, and fmelled like warm aqua regia.
In a quarter of an hour the fmell was gone, and the
folution became clear and colourlefs. The reft of the
brown folution being digefted, to fee whether the mu¬
riatic acid would be faturated with manganefe, an ef-
fervefcence enfued, with a ftrong fmell of aqua regia,
which lafted till next day, when the folution was found
to be faturated. Another ounce of acid was poured I3^S
upon the refiduum, which was followed by the fame ^
phenomenon, and the manganefe was entirely diffolved, ^ acic^ y
a fmall quantity of filiceous earth only remaining.
The folution, which was yellow, being now divided
into two portions, fome drops of vitriolic acid were
poured into the one, by which it inftantly became
white, and a fine powder, infoluble in water, was pre¬
cipitated. Some fmall cryftals of'felenite were form¬
ed by evaporation, and the refiduum exhibited the
fame phenomenon with thofe above mentioned with ni-
3 troua 0
'CHEMIST
Pra&ice,
Mauganef i trous acid. By evaporating the other half, fome fmall
v faining angular cryftals were obtained, fimilar to thofe
1366 Procured by means of the nitrous acid.
Scarce folu-
9. Very little manganefe was diiTolved by fluor acid,
ble infiuur even after feveral days digeftion. A great quantity
acid, was required to form a faturated folution. It had very
little tafte, and gave a fmall quantity of precipitate
with fixed alkali. But if a neutral fait, coinpofed of
fluor acid and fal ammoniac, be added, a double de-
compoiaon takes place, and the manganefe is preci¬
pitated along with the fluor acid.
i367 10. A drachm of phofphoric acid digefted with as
Or in phof- much powdered manganefe, diiTolved but little of it;
yhoiic acid. ancj) though evaporated to drynefs, the refiduum tailed
very acid ; but by adding more manganefe the acid
was at laft faturated. On adding microcofmtc fait to
a folution of manganefe, a decompofition takes place
fimilar to that effected by the combination of fluor
acid and volatile alkali.
1 xi. Pure acid of tartar diiTolved manganefe partly
lubie/n acid ,;'ne co^> and more effectually by means of heat,
of tartar. The whole, however, could not be diifolved, though
the acid was at laft faturated by adding, a great quan-.
tity of the mineral. On adding a folution of foluble
tartar, a double deeompbfition took.place..
With iiffi- 12' Tittle, was diffolved by diftilled vinegar, though
cult/ in the hoiled on manganefe ; but after diftifling fpirit of ver-
acetous. digris feveral times upon it, the acid at laft became
faturated. The folution, evaporated to drynefs, left a
deliquefcent mafs. Little or none of the remaining,
manganefe was di'Tolved by concentrated vinegar,
though repeatedly diftilled upon it.
Entirely 13* With acid of lemons the whole was diffolved
diffolved by with effervefcence, excepting only fome white earth,
acid of ie- 14. Water impregnated with fixed air likewife dif-
mons;^ folved manganefe, but parted with it on the addi¬
tion of alkali, or fpontaneoufly by expofure to the
air.
, „ From thefe experiments Mr Scheele concludes, that
vvith fixed manganefe has a ftrong elective attraction for.- all phlo-
air*i37a g-iftic fubitances; and that this attraction becomes
Has a ftrong ftronger, if there be prefentamenftruum which can unite
attraction with the phlogiiticated manganefe. Thus it attracts'
for phiogi- phlogifton more powerfully than even the nitrous acid.
oni3_3 itfelf in the moift way. By faturation with phiogi-■
becomes fton, manganefe has the property of lofing its black
white by colour, and affuming a white one, which is unufual,
faturation (lie phlogifton generally communicating a black or
dark colour to the fubftances with which it was
united.
That
And by
pregnated
phlogifton.
inganefe naturally contains fome phlogifton,
fome phlo- though but in fmall quantity, appears from evapora-
turaliy1''*" t,nS a f°lul-ion °f it in vitriolic acid to drynefs, and
then diftilling the mafs in a glafs retort in an open fire.
When the retort begins to melt, the acid parts fly off
from the'manganefe in a fulphureous ftate, leaving the
former of its natural black colour. By diftilling the
mafs remaining after evaporation of the nitrous folu¬
tion, a green volatile nitrous acid remains, and the
black calx of manganefe remains as before. A folu-
^ tion of this mineral in vitriolic or nitrous acid, preci-
Becornesin-pitated'by fixed alkali, retains its colour; but when
fbluble in calcined in the open fire, again becomes black,
pure acids^ By lo'fing its phlogifton, manganefe becomes info-
Jlhlogifton,
II Y. 555
above mentioned diftillations cannot be diffolved by Manganefe w-
addingmore of the vitriolic or niroufl acids : but if that
which has come over into the receiver be-poured back
into the retort, a folution-will again take place by rea-
fon of the manganefe refuming the pldogifton.it had
parted with to the acid. ^
On this principle our author explains the reafon of i->a: tfaif0iu.
the partial folutions of this mineral above mentioned, tious of
Part of it is diffolved, for inltance in the vitriolic acid, manganefe
while the remainder is found in foluble. This.happens exPiainecf
(fays he), “ becaufe the undiffolved portion has parted 18^nn"
with the little phlogifton it naturally poffeffed to that i
portion of manganefe which is taken up by the vitri¬
olic acid during the firft digeftion; for. without that
principle it is infoluble. ”
Manganefe attracts phlogifton more ftrongly when
combined with fome acid than by itfelf, as appears from
the following experiments. 13-77
1. Levigated manganefe, digefted or boiled with a Strobgnt-
folution of fugar, honey, gum Arabic, hartfhorn, j'pily, da&'un of:
&c. remains unchanged; but on mixing the pounded
mineral with-diluted vitriolic, or pure nitrous acid, and bined with
then adding fome of thefe fubftances, the whole is dif- acids for
folved, the black colour vaniihes by degrees, and the phlod'1^0^
folution becomes as limpid as water. So ftrong is the
attraction of manganefe for phlogifton in thefe circum.-
ftances, that metals, the noble ones not excepted, ren- r,g
der it foluble in thefe acids in a limpid form. Con- Why the
centrated vitriolic acid, indeed, diffolves 'manganefe concemra-
entirely without any phlogifton. “ It would be diffirtcd
cult (fays Mr Scheele) to comprehend ' whence riis folves man*
phlogifton in this cafe ihouid come, if we were not ganefe
certain, that feveral fubftances,, which have a great whiiout
attratlion for phlogifton, can attract it-in a red heat. addl--un*'
Quiekfilver and filyer, when diffolved in the pureft ni¬
trous acid, really lofe.their phlogiilon, which is a con-
ftituent part of thefe metals- This appears from the.
red vapours in which the acid arifes ; and the dif¬
folved metallic qarth cannot be again-reduced to its
metallic form, till it has acquired the loft phlogifton,,
which is effected either by precipitation with-complete
metals or by heat alone. Thus manganefe can attract
the quantity of phlogifton neceffary for its foiution by
means of concentrated vitriolic acid from heat. It is.
not probable that the concentrated-acid undergoes a
decompofition in'this degree of fire ; for if you fatu-
rate half an ounce of this acid with alkali of tartar,
and afterwards calcine in a retort, with a receiver ap¬
plied, an ounce and a half of powdered manganefe,,
with an equal quantity of the fame vitriolic acid, then.
diffolve the calcined- mafs in diftilledT water, and like¬
wife wafli well the receiver, which contains fome drops
of vitriolic acid, which are alfo to be added to the. lo-
lution, and laftly add the fame quantity of alkali,
there will be no mark of fuperab.undant acid or alkali.
Thence it may be concluded, that the phlogifton in-,
the vitriolic acid, if there really exifts any in it, con¬
tributes nothing to the foluticn. But the manganefe
precipitated by alkali contains a confiderable'quantity
of it; in confequence of which it. is afterwards entirely
foluble in acids without any addition.
“ The,effects of volatile fulphureous acid on manga- wh'? tL.
nefe, clearly prove what has been afferted. The man-volatile Vd-
ganefe attracts the phlqgifton contained in this acid, phureous
which is the caufe of its great volatility; and which “c,id d‘f-
0 J , folvesii..
readers
plained.
560 ' C H £ M
Manganefe. renders the former foluble in the new pure vitriolic
    v   acid. If this folution be mixed with concentrated vi¬
triolic acid and diftilled, no volatile fulphureous acid
is obtained; and if it be precipitated by means of fix--
ed vegetable alkali, vitriolated tartar is obtained;
which proves that manganefe has a Stronger attraction
1380 than vitriolic acid for phlogifton in the moift way.
Effe&s of “ The effe&s of nitrous acid on this fubftarice are
jucrofls acidfimilar to thofe-of vitriolic acid. Could fpirit of nitre
fuftain as great a degree of heat as the concentrated
vitriolic acid, it would alfo entirely diffolve the mari-
ganefe by means of the phlogifton attra&ed by heat;
but as this is not the cafe, it is neceffary to add phlo¬
gifton in the manner above mentioned. The manga¬
nefe decompofes phlogifticated nitrous acid, for the
fame reafon that it does the volatile fulphureous acid ;
and that the phlogifton of this acid really combines
with the manganefe,-is manifeft from this, that the af-
fufion of vegetable acid produces no fmeil of aquafortis
by difplacing the phlogifticated acid of nitre. By di-
ftillation with pure vitriolic acid alfo, the nitrous acid
is expelled, not in a fmoking„ftate, and of a yellow
colour, but pure and colourlefs.
“ In the folution of manganefe by means of gum ara¬
ble or fugar, a very confiderable effervefcence takes
place, owing to the extrication, or probably rather the
production, of fixed air from the mixture ; but with
phlogifticated acid pf nitre no fuch phenomenon takes
place, becaufe the mangariefe is combined with pure
phlogifton ; and if this fiiould be again feparated, there
is no caufe for the production of fixed air. This mi¬
neral is alfo diffolved without effervefeene'e, by uniting
it with nitrous acid and metals, arfenic cr oil of tur-
1381 pentine.”
Exiftenceof As muriatic acid difiblves manganefe without addi-
phlogifton tion, Mr Scheele is of opinion that this proves the
iTadd" cx'^ence °f phlogifton in that acid, as has already
been taken notice of. The manganefe digefted in
the cold with fpirit of fait aflumes a dark brown
colour; for it is a property of this fubftance that it
cannot be diflblved into a colourlefs liquor without
phlogifton, but has always a red or blue colour; but
with fpirit of fait the folution is more brown than red,
on account of the fine particles of the manganefe float¬
ing in the liquid. Here the mineral adheres but loofely
*384 to the acid, fo that it may be precipitated by water.
-Explana- The effeCls of acid of tartar and acid of lemons up-
adti m ('f6 °I1 manganefc are likewife explained on the principle
acid of tar- ak‘eady laid down, viz. the extreme attraction this
tar and fubftance has for phlogifton. Thus it attrads part of
add of le- that naturally contained in thefe acids, decompofing
'reQns‘ one part of them, and being diffolved by the other.
This deftruCtion of the acid is fimilar to that of - the
fugar, gum arabic, See. which render it foluble in
nitrous acid ; for if a proper quantity of thefe are
added, the manganefe will be diffolved, without a pof-
ftbility of recovering the fmalleft particle of the vege¬
table fubftances employed ; and if the folution be flow-
ly evaporated and calcined, there will not remain the
fmalleft mark of burned fugar or gum. During thi?
decompofition, a pungent vapour arifes, which, being
colle&ed, appears to be true vinegar. It is obtained
in its pureft ftate from diluted vitriolic acid, fugar, and
jjgj manganefe.
•Of fli:or Fluor acid diffolves but very little manganefe, owing
W to its precipitating a fait which envelopes the particles
poved.
I S T R Y, PratRice.
of manganefe, and prevents the further adlion of the hTanganef«.
menftruum. In all precipitations of manganefe, how- “ *
ever, by means of mild fixed alkalies, the full quantity
is not procured ; becaufe the fixed air, detached from
the mineral, diffolves part of it.
Though manganefe decompounds nitre, yet this Effects of
does not happen till the mixture becomes red-hot. If mansjanefa
phlogifticated manganefe be mixed with an equal quan- uu mtre-
tity of nitre, and diftilled in a glafs retort, the mix¬
ture begins to grow black before the retort becomes
red-hot, but no nitrous acid goes over. By lixivia-
tion, no mark of uncombined alkali is met with ; but
phlogifticated nitrous acid is extricated by the appli¬
cation of tamarinds, or any vegetable acid. Three
parts of phlogifticated raanganefe, nvxed with one part
of finely pounded nitre, yields no nitrous acid, though
the nitre is alkalized as foon as the mixture becomes
black in the retort.
Mr Scheele proceeds now to another let of experi- ,E Yf
ments upon manganefe united with phlogifton. In ments on
order to procure it in this ftate, the heft method is to manganefi
diffolve in diftilled water, and cryftallize the fait ob-u1rutei,(1w';fe
tained by folution of manganefe in vitriolic acid, and ^ 1 ^ ° 5'
then precipitate it with vegetable fixed alkali. In this
ftate it is white like chalk; but by calcination in an open
fire, the fuperfluous phlogifton flies off, and the calx
regains its ufual black colour. This change of colour
likewife happens when the precipitation is made with
cauftic alkalies, whether fixed or volatile. The pre¬
cipitate, indeed, in this cafe, is white when kept clofe
from the air, but affumes a brown colour when expo-
fed to it for any time : But when the precipitation is
made by mild alkali, the white colour is preferred by
the fixed air, which in this cafe it alfo contains. By
diluting the folution with a confiderablc quantity of
water, and precipitating with cauftic alkali, the pre¬
cipitate is brown from the very beginning, owing to
the air in the liquid attracting the phlogifton1 from the
manganefe. The precipitate formed by lime-water is
alfo brown ; but on adding more of a ftrong folut’on
of manganefe, and afterwards precipitating with cau¬
ftic alkali, the powder falls of a white colour ; becaufe
the air, being already faturated with phlogifton, can¬
not take up any more. The refults of Mr Scheele’s
experiments on this phlogifticated manganefe are, j
1. »An ounce of this fubftance diftdled by itfelfBydftilfa-
in a glafs retort? with a ftrong fire, yielded a great non /wye.
quantity of fixed air with fome drops of water. The
refiduum poured warm out of the retort grew red-hot,
and fet the paper on fire.
2. On repeating the experiment with only a drachm
of phlogifticated manganefe, and tying a bladder to
the neck of the retort, three ounce-meafures of air
came over: the refiduum was of a lighfgrey colour;
diffolved in acids without addition of any more phlo¬
gifton ; and took fire in that degree of heat in which
fulphur fmokes, but does not burn. From thefe. expe¬
riments, fays Mr Scheele, it is evident, that phlogifton
does not feparate from manganefe if the accefs of air be
prevented.
3. One part of finely powdered manganefe boiled *n BotLd with
four of oil-olive, effervefeed violently, and diffolved 0ii 0iive.
into a kind of falve. ^
4. On diftilling a mixture of finely powdered man- w, 4jft;na.
ganefe and charcoal, with an empty bladder tied to the tion with
mouth of the retort, a quantity of fixed air was ektri- charcoal.
cated
Pra&ice. CHEMISTRY.
561
Manga-
nele.
1389
With ful-
phur.
1390
By calcina¬
tion with
sicre.
139*
With the'
addition of
arfenic.
1.393
By diftilla-
tion with
pure ni¬
trous acid.
catcd when the retort began to melt and diftended the
bladder. The refiduum was mollly foluble in diluted
vitriolic acid.
5. On diililiing half an ounce of powdered manga-
nefe with two drachms of fulphur, the latter’partly
rofe into the neck of the retort, and fome volatile
acid vapours penetrated through the lute. The diftil-
lation was continued till the retort began to melt; and,
on cooling, the reiiduum was found to weigh 5 j-drachms.
It was of ayellowifh-grey colour; anddiffolved in fpirit
of vitriol with effervefcence, yielded an hepatic fmell,
fome fuiphur being alfo precipitated at the fame time.
By calcination in the open air, the fulphur was diffi-
pated ; but great part of the mafs was rendered foluble
on account of its having been penetrated by the acid
vapour, and {hot into cryltals as though it had been
formally diffolved in volatile fuiphureous acid; and by
repeating the calcination with njore fulphur, the whole
became at laft entirely foluble, and was reduced to
cryllals.
Finelypowdered manganefe, triturated with nitre, and
ftrongly calcined in a crucible, unites with the alkali
of the nitre, while the acid is diffipated in the air.
The mafs formed by the union of the manganefe and
alkali is of a dark green colour, and foluble in water,
communicating alfo a green colour to the liquid ; but
in a fhort time a fine yellow powder (an ochre of iron)
Falls to the bottom, leaving the liquor of a blue colour.
By the addition of water, this folution firft affumes a
violet colour, grows afterwards red, and a precipita¬
tion of the manganefe takes place, which refumes its
natural colour as foon as it has fallen. The fame pre¬
cipitation takes place on the addition of a few drops
of acid, or by expofure for fome days to the open air.
As for the dark red colour affumed by the folution
when the precipitate is about to fall, Mr Scheele con-
je&ures that the particles of manganefe may naturally
have a red colour, which becomes vifible when the fub-
ftance is difperfed through a menftruum without being
perfectly diffolved.
7. By the addition of finely powdered white arfe-
nic to the.alkaline mafs of nitre and manganefe, the
green colour difappears, and the whole becomes white;
phlogifticated manganefe being alfo precipitated on the
addition of water. This arifes from the more power¬
ful attraction of manganefe for the phlogifton of the
arfenic than that of the arfenical acid itfelf; and for
the fame reafon, if the mafs be calcined with charcoal,
or any other phlogiftic fubftance, a colourlefs folution
will be obtained.
8. Half an ounce of phlogifticated manganefe, di-
ftilled in a retort with an equal quantity of powdered
fal ammoniac, yielded firit a concrete volatile fait, after
which fome fal ammoniac undecompofed arofe in the
neck of the retort. Half an ounce of pure dephlogi-
fticated manganefe, mixed with two drachms of pow¬
dered fal ammoniac, yielded alkali in its cauftic ftate.
Both refiduums were foluble in water ; which fhows
that manganefe attracts phlogifton from the volatile
alkali.
9. On digtfting finely powdered manganefe for fome
weeks with pure nitrous acid and fome volatile alkali,
a great number of air-bubbles rife to the top, and the
volatile alkali is entirely decompofed; for though the
Vol. IV. Part IL
mixture be afterwards diftilled in a retort with the ad-Mmga-
dition of quicklime, not the lead urinous fmell can be nek' ,
perceived, This decompofition is effefted by the man- ,3^
ganefe attracting the phlogifton of the volatile alkali; Volatile
for that the nitrons acid has no (hare in this, is proved affdt de-
by the following experiment. man^neft
10. An ounce or well triturated mangancie was 01- attra6ling
{tilled with half au ounce of fal ammoniac ; and a li- its phlo-
quid alkali, fuch as that obtained from fal ammoniac ghtoa.
and quicklime, was procured. On repeating this ex¬
periment, with the variation only of a bladder inftead
of a receiver, the fame kind of air was obtained as that
which rifes to the top of the nitrous mixture. Though
the emiffion of this air indicated a deftruCtion of the
volatile alkali, our author explains the reafon of its
being ftill obtained in a cauftic ftate by the phlogi¬
fton taken from the alkali being more than fufficient
to render the alkali foluble in muriatic acid ; in confe-
quence of which, the fuperfluous quantity combines
with the manganefe, and enables it to decompofe the
fal ammoniac in the ordinary way. It muft be owned,
however, that his reafoning on this fubjeCt is not en¬
tirely fatisfaCtory, nor does the account he gives of his
experiments feem entirely confiftent with itfelf. See
Scheele s Chem. EJfays, Effay V. § xxxix. 139?
11. Powdered manganefe, diftilled with an equal diftllla-
quantity of white arfenic, underwent no change,
arfenic flying off in its proper form ; but with an equal
quantity of yellow orpiment, fome volatile fuiphureous
acid came over firft, then a yellow fublimate, and at
laft a little red fublimate arofe. On augmenting the
fire by degrees, the orpiment remained obftinately at¬
tached to it. Similar effeCts enfued on treating man*
ganefe with an equal quantity of antimony; which
likewife yielded a pungent fuiphureous acid, but no
fublimate. By calcination in the open air thefe com¬
pounds are decompofed; and- the martganefe, united
with vitriolic acid, becomes foluble in water. 1 6
12. On diftilling manganefe with an equal quantity With^in-
of finely pounded cinnabar, a volatile fuiphureous acid nabar.
came over firft ; then a little cinnabar was fublimed in*
to the neck of the retort; and at laft the quickfilver,
which had been the bafts of the cinnabar, began to
diftil: the refiduum, being a combination of manga¬
nefe and fulphur, was fimilar to the compounds al¬
ready deferibed. r
13. With an equal quantity of corrofive fublimate, With cor-
manganefe underwent no change; but when fublimedrofivefub-
with an equal quantity of mercurius dulcis, a corrofiveiimate’
fublimate, and then mercurius dulcis, arofe into the
neck of the retort. The reafon of this is, that the
mercurius dulcis contains a portion of phlogifton ; by
being deprived of which it ceafes to be mercurius dul¬
cis, and becomes corrofive fublimate: but by reafon
of the ftrong attraction of manganefe for phlogifton,
the mercurius dulcis parts with that portion which is
neccffary to keep it in its mild ftate, and thus is con¬
verted into corrofive mercury.
Sect.'IV. Inflammable Subjlanccs.
These may be divided into the following claffes:
1. Sulphurs. 2. Ardent fpirits. 3. Oils and fats, vlfion.
4. Refins. 5. Bitumens ; and, 6. Charcoal.
4B
§ I. Svt‘
C H E M
§ t. Sulphurs.
I S T R Y. Practice.
watery, and afterwards becomes ftronger ; along with Sulphur,
this acid more oil arifes. which becomes more and ^f
T400
Cryfialiiza-
tion.
1401
Decompo'
fed by a
fuperabun-
clance of
phlogiflon.
this acid more _ oil arifes, which becomes more and "
l. Common fulphur. For the extra&ion of this more thick towards the end of the diilillation ; and
fubftance from its ores, fee Sulphur. The artificial laftly, when the retort has been made red hot, nothing
compofition of it we have already related, n°7iy; remains but a fixed coal.
and have now only to take notice of a very few of its _ In this procefs we find, that both the fulphur and
properties, which come more properly under this fee- oil are decompofed. The acid of the fulphur leems
tion. to attack the watery principle of the oil, vyhile its
Sulphur, as commonly ufed in commerce and the phlogifton remains confounded with that of the oil, or
arts, is of a pale yellow colour, of a difagreeable and is diffipated in vapours. Hence, though the vitriolic
peculiar fmell, which is rendered more fenfible when acid in fulphur is concentrated to the utmoft degree,
it is hgated or rubbed. By rubbing, it receives very and perfedlly free from water, what rifes in this diftil-
curious electrical qualities : (See Electricity.) Its lation is very aqueous, by reafon of the water which
fpecific gravity is confidrrably greater than that of it attrafb from the oil.
water, though lefs than earths or ftones. In clofe Spirit of wine does not fenfibly act upon fulphur in Howfolu-
veffels, fulphur is incapable of receiving any alteration, its liquid date ; but if both the fpirit of wine and ful- ble in fyirit
It melts with a very gentle heat ; and then is fublimed, phur meet in the date of vapour, they will then u-of wine.
adhering to the capital in fmall, very fine, needle-like »ke, and a perfedt folution will take place. By me-
. crydals, calledjfower.r of fulphur. It may thus be fub- thods of this kind, many combinations might be ef-
limed many times without alteration. If fulphur is fedted, which have been hitherto thought impoffible. I40j
expofed to a heat barely fufficient to melt it, and very Pare fulphur unites eafily with all metals ; gold, Its union,
llowly cooled, it crydallizes in form of many needles platina, and zinc, excepted. The compounds, exceptWlt^
eroding one another. Some of thefe pointed crydals that with mercury, podefs a metallic ludre without ta^‘
may alfo be obferved in the interior parts of the lumps any ductility. . The fulphur may be feparated by ex-
of fulphur which have been melted, and cad into cy- pofing the mixture to a drong fire, (fee Metal-
lindrical moulds, as they are commonly fold; becaufe lurgy,) or by didolving the metalline part in acids,
the centre of thefe cylindrical rolls is more flowly The fulphur, however, defends feveral of the metals
cooled than the furface. Sulphur alfo gives this needle- from the action of acids ; fo that this didolution fuc-
like form to cinnabar, antimony, and many other mi- ceeds but imperfedtly. The reguline part of antimo-
nerals containing it. Sulphur may be decompofed in ny is more eafily feparated from fulphur by means of
feveral ways. The mod Ample is by burning; which acids than any other metalline fubdance. Alkaline
we have already taken notice of, n° 623. It may falts will feparate the fulphur from all metals in fufion,
alfo be very effectually decompofed by mixing it with but they unite wuth it themfelves, and form a corn-
iron filings and water. In this cafe the phlogidon is pound equally capable of diffolving the metal.
j'/t' ..j   ^ -1- ’ r Sulphur united with quickfilver forms the beauti-. j404
ful pigment called cinnabar, or vermilion ; which is fo Vermiliom
much ufed in painting, that the making of it is be¬
come a didindt trade. Neuman relates, that in the ma-
dilfipated, and the acid uniting wfith the iron forms a
green vitriol.
It is very remarkable, that though fulphur is com-
pofed of vitriolic acid and phlogidon, yet the addition
of more inflammable matter, fo far from making the king of cinnabar by the Dutch method, fix or eight
union dronger, weakens it to a great degree : and parts of quickfilver are made ufe of to one of fulphur.
hence we have another method of decompofing this The fulphur is firil melted, and then the quickfilver
fubdance ; namely, by combining it with a large quan- is dirred into it; upon which they unite into a black
tity of oil, and diddling the compound. mafs. In this part of the procefs the mixture is very
Sulphur is capable of being eafily diffolved in ex- apt to take fire ; of which it gives notice by fwelling
preffed oils, but very difficultly in effential ones. Thefe up to a great degree. The veffel mud then be imme-
compofitions are called balfams of fulphur i and are diately covered. The mafs being beaten to powder,
fometimes employed in medicine, but are found to be is afterwards to be fublimed in large earthen jars al-
of a very heating nature. They are much ufed by mod of an equal widenefs from end to end ; thefe are
farriers. According to Mr Beaume, fulphur cannot hung in a furnace by a drong rim of iron. When
be diffolved in oil, without a heat fufficient to melt it. the matter is put in, the mouth of the veffel is cover-
A larger quantity is kept diffolved when the mixture ed, the fire increafed by degrees, and continued for
is hot, than when cold ; and confequently the fulphur, feveral hours, till all the cinnabar has fublimed ; care
efpecially if it has been diffolved in a thin effential oil, being taken to introduce at times an iron rod to keep
crydallizes on cooling the mixture. The fulphur, thus the middle clear ; otherwife the cinnabar concreting
feparated from the oil, is found not to be altered in there, and dopping up the paffage, would infallibly
any refpeft from what it formerly was ; but if the burd the veffels.
mixture is expofed to a degree of heat capable of en- The quantity of fulphur directed in. the common
tirely decompofing the oil, the fulphur is decompofed receipts for making cinnabar is greatly larger than the
along with it, and the fame produdts are obtained by above ; being no lefs than one-third of the quantity
diddling this mixture to drynefs, as if a mixture of of quickfilver employed : accordingly it has been found,
pure oil of vitriol and oil were diddled. Thefe pro- that the fublimate, with fuch a large quantity of ful-
dudts are, firfl a portion of oil, when an effential oil phur, turned out of a blackifli colour, and required to¬
wns made ufe of in the compofition of the balfam; be feveral times fublimed before it became perfectly
then fome volatile fulphureous acid, which is at fird red; but we cannot help thinking, that by one gentle-
fublimation
Practice. C H E M
Sulphur, fublimation the fuperfluous fulphur might be feparated,
" and the cinnabar become perfectly pure the fecond
time. Hoffman gives a curious method of making
cinnabar without fublimation : by fhaking or digeft-
ing a little mercmy with volatile tinfture oF fulphur,
the mercury readily imbibes the fulphur from the vo¬
latile fpirit, and forms with it a deep red powder, not
inferior in colour to the cinnabar prepared in the com-
- mon manner. Dr Lewis has found the common folu-
tions of fulphur (by alkalies, or quicklime, to have a
fimilar effeft. This cinnabar will likewife be of a
darker or lighter colour, according as the folution
contains more or lefs fulphur.
iPulvis ful- Sulphur is a principal ingredient in gun-powder,
niinans. (fee Gun-powder.) It alfo enters the compofition
of the pul-vis fulminant. This confifts of three parts
of nitre, two of the dry alkali of tartar, and one part
of fulphur, well ground together. If a little quantity
of this powder is laid on an iron-fpoon or fhovel, and
flowly heated, it will explode, when it arrives at a cer¬
tain degree of heat, with aflonifhing violence and noife.
The moft probable opinion concerning this is, that the
fixed air contained in the alkali is, by the acid vapours
a'fting upon and endeavouring to expel it all at once,
driven off" with fuch force, that a loud explofion is pro-
1406 duced.
I'hofphorus 2. Phofphorus of Urine. This is a very inflammable
«f urine. fubfl.ance, compofed of phlogifton united with a cer¬
tain acid, the properties of which we have already ta¬
ken notice of, n° 904 et feq. The preparation of it
was long a fecret, and only perfeftly difcovered by
Mr Margraaff, who publifhed it in the Berlin Me¬
moirs in 1743. This procefs being by far the beft
and moft practicable, we ftiall content ourfelves with
inferting it alone.
Mr Mar- Two pounds of fal ammoniac are to be accurately
graaff’s mixed with four pounds of minium, and the mixture
procefs for diftilled in a glafs retort; by which means a very pe-
■"”king. netrating, cauftic alkaline fpirit will be obtained. The
refiduum, after the diftillation, is a kind of plumbum cor-
neum; n° 812. This is to be mixed with nine or
ten pounds of extract of urine, evaporated to the con¬
fidence of honey. (Seventy or eighty gallons of urine
are required to produce this quantity of extradt.) The
mixture is to be made flowly in an iron pot fet over
the fire, and the matter frequently ftirred. Half a
pound of powdered charcoal is then to be added, and
the evaporation continued till the whole is reduced
to a black powder. This powder is to be put into a
retort, and urged with a graduated heat, till it be¬
comes red hot, in order to expel all the volatile alkali,
fetid oil, and ammoniacal fait, that {may be contained
in the mixture. After the diftillation, a black friable
refiduum remains, from which the phofphorus is to be
extra died by a fecond diftillation and a ftronger heat.
Before it is fubjedted to another diftillation, it may be
tried by throwing fome of it upon hot coals. If the
matter has been well prepared, a fmell of garlic exhales
from it, and a blue phofphorical flame is feen undu¬
lating along the furface of the coals.
The matter is to be put into a good earthen retort,
capable of fuftaining a violent fire. Three quarters
of the retort are to be filled with the matter which is
to yield the phofphorus, and it is to be placed in a fur¬
nace capable of giving a ftrong heat. Mr Margraaff
I S T R Y. 563
divides the matter among fix retorts, fo that' if any Sulphur.
accident happens to one, the whole matter is not loft.  '
The retorts ought to be well luted to a receiver of a
moderate fize, pierced with a fmall hole, and half full
of water; and a fmall wall of bricks muft be raifed
between the furnace and receiver, in order to guard
this veffel againft heat as much as poffible. The re¬
torts are to be heated by flow degrees for an hour and
an half; then the heat is to be increafed till the veffels
are red hot, when the phofphorus afcends in luminous
vapours. When the retort is heated till between a
red and white, the phofphorus paffes in drops, which
fall and congeal in the water at the bottom of the re¬
ceiver. This degree of heat is to be continued till
no more comes over. When a retort contains eight
pints or more, this- operation continues about five
hours.
In the firft diftillation, phofphorus never paffes pure, Redtifici.
but is always of a blackifli colour, by reafon of its car- tion of
rying along with it fome part of the coal. From this, rhoffho-
however, it may be purified by re&ification in a fmall11'5'
glafs-retort, to which is luted a receiver half full of
water. A very gentle heat is fufficient; becaufe phof¬
phorus, once formed, is very volatile ; and as the fuli¬
ginous matter was raifed probably by the fixed air
emitted by the charcoal in the inftant of its union
with the phofphorine acid, none of it can arife in a
fecond diftillation.
The phofphorus is then to be divided into fmall cy¬
lindrical rolls, which is done by putting it in glais-
tubes immerfed in warm water; for the phofphorus
is almoft as fufible as fuet. It takes the form of the
glafs-tubes ; from which it may be taken out, when it
is cold and hardened. This muft be done under wa¬
ter, leaft the phofphorus fliould take fire.
This concrete continually appears luminous in a dark proc°k
place ; and by a very flight heat takes fire, and burns fometimes
far more vehemently than any other known fubftance. dangerous.
Hence it is neceflary to be very cautious in the diftil¬
lation of it; for if the receiver fliould happen to break
while the phofphorus is diftilling, and a little flaming
phofphorus fall upon the operator’s legs or hands, it
would burn its way to the bone in lefs than three mi¬
nutes. In this cafe, according to Mr Hellot, nothing
but urine will ftop its progrefs.
Though phofphorus takes fire very readily by itfelf,
-it does not inflame at all by grinding it w.th other in¬
flammable bodies, as camphor, gun-powder, or effen-
tial oils. In grinding it with nitre, fome luminous
flafties are obferved; but the mixture never burns, un-
lefs the quantity of phofphorus be large in proportion
to the nitre : rubbed pretty hard on a piece of paper or
linen, it fets them on fire if they are rough, but not if
they are fmooth. It fires written paper more readily
than fuch as is white, probably from the former ha¬
ving more afperities. On grinding with iron-filings, it
prefently takes fire.
Oils ground with phofphorus appear, like itfelf, L;
luminous in a temperately warm place ; and thus be- phufpho-
come a liquid phofphorus, which may be rubbed onrus.
the hands, &c. without danger. Liquid phofphorus
is commonly prepared by grinding a little of the folid
phofphorus with oil of cloves, or rubbing it firft with
camphor, and this mixture with the oil. A luminous
amalgam, as it is called, may be obtained, by digefting
4 B 2 a
Experl-
phofpht
X4I2
With eflc
tial oils and
adds.
1413
Mr Mar-
graaff’s ex¬
periments
with me¬
tals.
C H E M I
a fcruple of folid'pliofphorue with half an ounce of oil
of lavender, and, when the phofphorus begins to dil-
folve and the liquor to boil, adding a drachm of pure
quickfilver; then brifitly (haking the glafs for five or fix
minutes till they unite.
Redtified fpirit of wine, digefted on phofphorus, ex¬
tracts a part of it, fa as to emit luminous flafhes on be¬
ing dropt into water. It is computed that one part
of phofphorus will communicate this property to
600,000 parts of fpirit. The liquor is never obferved
to become luminous of itfelf, nor in any other circum-
llance except that above mentioned. By digeflion for
fome months, the undiflolved phofphorus is reduced to
a tranfparent oil, which neither emits light nor con¬
cretes in the cold. By wafliing with water, it is in fome
meafure revived ; acquiring a thicker confiftence, and
becoming again luminous, though in a lefs. degree than
at firft. During this digeftion, the glafs is very apt to
burft.
Phofphorus is partially diffolved by exprefied oils ;
and totally, or almoft. fo, in effential oils «and ether.
When effential oils -are faturated with it by heat, a
part of the phofphorus feparates, on Handing in the
cold, in a cryftalline form. Concentrated fpirit of fait
has no adtion on it. In diftillation, the fpirit rifes
firll, and the phofphorus after it unchanged. Spirit
of nitre diffolves it, and the diffolution is attended
with great heat and copious red fumes ; fo that great
part of the fpirit diftils without the application of any
external heat, and the phofphorus at laft takes fire,
explodes, and burfts the veffels. Oil of vitriol like-
wife diffolves phofphorus, but not without a heat
fufficient to make the acid diftil. The diftilled liquor
is white,' thick, and turbid ; the refiduum is a whitifti
tenacious mafs, which deliquates, but mot totally, in
the air. Phofphorus itfelf is refolved into an acid li¬
quor on being expofed two or three* weeks to the air,
its inflammable principle feeming by degrees to be dif-
fipated.
Phpfphorus has been reported to produce extraordi¬
nary effedls in the refolution of metallic bodies : but
from the experiments that have been made with this
view, it does not appear to have any remarkable ac¬
tion on them; at leaft on the precious ones, gold and
filver, for the refolution or fubtHization of which it has
been chiefly recommended. The following experi¬
ments were made by Mr Margraaff.
1. A fcruple of filings of gold were digefted with
a drachm of phofphorus for a month, and then com¬
mitted to diftillation. Part of the phofphorus arofe,
and part remained above the gold, in appearance re-
fembiing glafs: this grew moift on the admiffion of
air, and diffolved in water, leaving the gold unaltered.
Half a drachm of fine filver, precipitated by copper,
being digefted with a drachm of phofphorus for three
hours, and the fire then increafed to diftillation,
greateft part of the phofphorus arofe pure, and the fil¬
ver remained unchanged. Copper filings being treat¬
ed in the fame manner, and with the fame quantity of
phofphorus, the phofphorus fublimed as before ; but
the remaining copper was found to have loft its metal¬
lic brightnefs, and to take fire on the contaft of flame,
lion filings fuffered no change. Tin filings run into
granules, which appeared to be perfect tin. Filings
of lead did the fame. The red calx of mercury, called
S T R Y. Pra<5tice
precipitate per fe, treated in the fame manner, was to- Sulphur,
tally converted into running quickfilver. 2. Regu-
lus of antimony fuffered no change itfelf, but occafion-
ed a change in the confiftence of the phofphorus;
which, after being diftilled from this femimetal, refu-
fed to congeal, and continued, under water, fluid like
oil-olive. With bifmuth there was no alteration. A
drachm of phofphorus being diftilled and cohobated
with an equal quantity of zinc, greateft part of the
zinc fublimed in form of very light pointed flowers of
a reddiih-yellow colour : thefe flowers, injedled into
a red hot crucible, took fire, and run into a glafs re-
fembling that of borax. White arfenic, fublimed with
phofphorus, arofe along with it in form of a mixed red
fuhlimate. Sulphur readily unites with phofphorus
into a mafs which fmdls like hepar fulphuris. This
does not eafily take fire on being rubbed ; but expofed
to a moderate dry heat, it flames violently, and emits a
ftrong fulphureous fume. If phofphorus is burnt in an
open veffel, a quantity of acid remains behind ; and if
a glafs bell is held over it, an acid likewife fublimes in
the form of white flowers.
3. Mr Canton's phojphorus. This is a compofition 1414
of quicklime and common fulphur. The receipt for^’s^hoC-
making it is as follows. “ Calcine fome common oy- chorus,
fter-lhells, by keeping them in a good coal-fire for half*
an hour; let the pureft part of the calx be pulverized
and fifted. Mix with three parts of this powder one
part of flowers of fulphur. Let this mixture be ram¬
med into a crucible of about an inch and a half in
depth till it be almoft full; and let it be placed in
the middle of the fire, where it muft be kept red hot
for an hour at leaft, and then fet by to cool: when
cold, turn it out of the crucible ; and cutting or
breaking it to pieces, ferape off, upon trial, the
brighteft parts ; which, if good phofphorus, will be a
white powder. This kind of phofphorus fhines on be¬
ing expofed to the light of the fun, or on receiving an
electrical ftroke.
of Homierg. This fubftance, which -.
has the lingular property of kindling fpontaneoufly ph„™ ^oni*
when expofed to the air, was accidentally difeovered or pyr >pho-
by Mr Homberg, as he was endeavouring to diftil a’us*
clear flavourlefs oil from human excrements. Having
mixed the excrement with alum, and diftilled over as
much as he could with a red heat, he was much fur-
prifed at feeing the matters left in the retort take fire
upon being expofed to the air, fome days after the di¬
ftillation was over. This induced him to repeat the
operation, in which he met with the fame fuccefs ; and
he then publilhed a procefs, wherein he recommended
alum and human excrement for the preparation of the
phofphorus. Since his time, however, the procels has
been much improved; and it is difeovered, that almoft
every vitriolic fait may be fubftituted for the alum, and
moft other inflammable fubftances for the excrement;
but though alum is not abfolutely neceffary for the
fuccefs, it is one of the vitriolic falts that fucceed heft.
The following procefs is recommended in the Chemi¬
cal Di&ionary.
Let three parts of alum and one of fugar be mixed ^
together. This mixture muft be dried in an iron Iho-ofpre*
vel, over a moderate fire, till it be almoft reduced to paring,
a blackifi^powder or coal; during which time it muft
be ftirred with an iron fpatula. Any large mafles muft
be
Pra&ice, G H E M
Sulphur, be bruifed into powder ; and then it muft be put into
a gjap3 matrafSj the mouth of which is rather ftrait
than wide, and feven or eight inches long. This ma-
trafs is to be placed in a crucible, or other earthen vef-
fel, large enough to contain the belly of the matrafs,
with about a fpace equal to that of a finger all round
it. This fpace is to be filled with fand, fo that the
matrafs fhall not touch the earthen veffel. The appa¬
ratus is then to be put into a furnace, and the whole
to be made red hot. The fire mult be applied gra¬
dually, that any oily or fuliginous matter may be ex¬
pelled ; after which, when the matrafs is made red
hot, fulphureous vapours exhale : this degree of heat
is to be continued till a truly fulphureous flame, which
appears at the end of the operation, has been feen near¬
ly a quarter of an hour : the fire is then to be extin-
guilhed, and the matrafs left to cool, without taking
it out of the crucible ; when it ceafes to be red hot, it
inuft be flopped with a cork. Before the matrafs is
perfectly qold, it muft be taken out of the crucible,
and the powder it contains ponied as quickly as pof-
fible into a very dry glafs phial, with a glafs ftopper.
If we would preferve this phofphorus a long time, the
bottle containing it muft he opened as feldom as pof-
fible. Sometimes it kindles while it is pouring into
the glafs phial; but it may be then extinguiflied by
clofing the phial expeditioufly. A fmall quantity of
this pyrophorus laid on paper, and expofed to the
air, immediately takes fire, becomes red like burning
coals, and emits a ftrong fulphureous vapour greatly
refembling that which arifes on decompofing liver of
i4,7 fulphur.
fs not in- It has been generally alleged, that the common
jured by black phofphorus is impaired by being expofed to the
rofiireTo light; but MrCavallo has difeovered the fallacy of this
light. fuppofition by the following experiment. Some por¬
tions of the fame pyrophorus were inclofed in three
glafs tubes, and immediately fealed up hermetically.
On the 20th of May 1779, two of them were fu-
fpended. from a nail out of a window, and the third
, was wrapped up in paper and inelofed in a box, where
not the leaft glimmering of light could enter. In this
fituation they were left for more than a year; after
which one of thofe that had been kept out of the
window was broke, along with that which had been
kept in the dark, in the prefence of Mr Kirwan; when
the pyrophorus feemed to be equally good in each
tube, taking fire in about half a minute after it was
taken out of the tubes, and expofed to the air on a
i4,2 piece of paper.
Caufe of There are many different kinds of ^yrophori; fome
the accen- of the moft remarkable of which are deferibed under
Ikm. tpe art;cic Pyrophorus. Many theories have been
invented to folve the phenomenon of their accenfion on.
the contact of air. This has been thought owing to
the converfion of the earth of alum into lime, or to a
remainder of the vitriolic acid attracting moifture from
the atmofphere; but the formation of pyrophorus
without either alum or vitriolic acid, ftiows that nei¬
ther of thefe opinions can be juft. It is moft probable,
therefore, that the heat is occafioned by the total dif-
ftpation of that aqueous part which is effential to the
coUllitution of terreftrial fuhftances. In cqnfequence
of this, the water contained in the atmofphere is not
only attrafted with avidity, but decompounded by the
I S T R Y. SQS
matter reduced to fuch a ftate of extreme drynefs. By Oils,
thefe operations it gives out the latent heat contained —J
in it, and this produces the accenfion in queftion.
§ 2. Ardent Spirits.
See Fermentation and Distillation.
£ 3. Oils*
I. EJfenlial Oils. Thofe oils are called ejjcntialwhich ElTcntiai
have evidently the fmell of the vegetable from which oils,
they are drawn. For the method of procuring them,
fee Distillation. They are diftinguiftied from all
others by their fuperior volatility, which is fo great as
to caufe them rife with the heat of boiling water. All
thefe have a ftrong aromatic fmell, and an acrid, cau-
ftic tafte; in which refpeft alio they differ from other
oils. This tafte is thought to proceed from a copious Suppofed
and difengaged acid, with which they are all p.ene- caufe of
trated. The prefence of this difengaged acid in effen-tafte*
tial oils, appears from the imprefiion they make upon
the corks of bottles in which they are kept. Thefe
corks are always ftained of a yellow colour, and a little
corroded, nearly as they are by nitrous acid. The va¬
pour of thefe oils alfo reddens blue paper, and converts
alkalies into neutral falts.
This acid is likewife fnppofed to be the caufe of their ,of ^ ^
folability in fpirit of wane. They are not all equally ;n
foluble in this menftruum, becaufe they do not all con- fpirit of.
tain an equal quantity of acid. As this acid is much wine,
difengaged, they lofe a great deal of it by repeated di-
ftillations, and therefore they become lefs and lefs fo-
luble on being frequently diftilled. By evaporation
they lofe their moft volatile and thin part, in which
the fpecific fmell of the vegetable from , which they
are extrafted refides; by which lofs they become
thick, and acquire the fmell and confiftence of turpen¬
tine, and even of refins. In this ftate they are no
longer volatile with the heat of boiling water; and, if
diftilled with, a ftrongef fire, they give over an oil
which has neither fmell nor tafte of the vegetable
whence they were extracted, but is entirely empyreu-
matic, and fimilar to thofe oils procured by diftilling
vegetable or animal fubftances with a ftrong fire. See
Distillation..
To the clafs of effential oils, the volatile concrete r4IS
called camphor feems moft properly to belong. With CamPhor‘
them it agrees in its properties of inflammability, fo-
lubility in fpirit of wine, and a ftrong aromatic fla¬
vour. The only differences, between them are, that
camphor is always in a folid ftate, and is .incapable of
decompofition by any number of fublimations.
It has, however, been found poffible to decompofe De
it by diftillation with certain additions. By diftifting fed by fix-
it feveral times along with bole, we obtain a fluid ha- ftillatiou ,
ving the properties of an effential oil, .foluble. in water,?'''1111)ole'
and feparating again on the addition of fpirit of wine. ,4a4
On diftilling it eight times with dephlogifticated ni-With de-
trous acid, we obtain a fait having the form of a pa-phlogiftica-
rallelopiped, of an acid and bitter tafte, and'changing teW'Rrous.-
the juice of violets and turnfole red. This has theaC
properties of a true acid ; combines with fixed and vo¬
latile alkalies into neutral falts capable of being cry-
ftaliiztd; diffolves copper, iron, bifmuth, arfenic, and
cobalt.,
566 C H E M 1
Oi's. cobalt. With manganefe it forms regular cryftals, in
' fome meafure refembling bafaltes. It is diftinguifbed
from the acid of fugar by not precipitating lime from
its folution in marine acid, and by forming with mag-
nefia a white powder foluble in water.
According to Neumann, all the camphor made ufe
of is the produce of two fpecies of trees; the one
growing in Sumatra and Borneo, the other in Japan.
Of thefe, the Japan kind is the only one brought into
Europe. The tree is about the fize of a large lime,
the flowers white, and the fruit a fmall red berry. All
parts of the tree are impregnated with camphor ; but
the roots contain moft, and therefore are chiefly made
ufe of for the preparation of this commodity; though,
in want of them, the wood and leaves are fometimes
mixed.
The camphor is extrafted by diftillation with water
in large iron pots filled with earthen heads fluffed with
ftraw ; greateft part of the camphor concretes among
the flraw, but part paffes down into the receiver among
the water. In this ftate it is found in fmall bits like
grayr falt-petre, or common bay-falt; and requires to
be purified either by a fecond fublimation, or bydiflb-
lution in fpirit of wine, filtration, and exficcation. If
the firft method is followed, there will be fome diffi¬
culty in giving it the form of a perfett tranfparent
cake. A difficulty of this kind indeed always occurs
in fublimations; and the only way is to keep the upper
part of the glafs of fuch a degree of heat as may keep
the fublimate in a half-melted ftate. Dr Lewis re¬
commends the depuration of camphor by fpirit of
wine, and then melting it into a cake in the bottom of
a glafs.
Camphor poffeffes confiderable antifeptic virtues;
and is a good diaphoretic, without heating the confti-
tution ; with which intention it is often ufed in medi¬
cine. It is likewife employed in fire-works and feve-
ral other arts, particularly in making varniflies. See
1445 Varnish.
Soluble in This fubftance diffolves eafily and plentifully in vi-
ardent fpi- nous fpirits and in oils; four ounces of fpirit of wine
rits and oil. wni-diffolve three of camphor. On diftilling the mix¬
ture, the fpirit rifes firft, very little camphor coming
over with it. This (hows that camphor, however
volatile it may feem by its fmell, is very far from. ha¬
ving the volatility of ether, and confequently is impro¬
perly claffed with fubftances of that kind.
Ermm-eu- 2* ^mPyrcumatlc Oils. Under this name are com-
matic oils, prehended all thofe oils, from whatever fubftance ob¬
tained, which require a greater heat for their diftil¬
lation than that of boiling water. Thefe are partial¬
ly foluble in fpirit of wine, and become more and more
fo by repeated diftillations. The empyreumatic oils
obtained from animal fubftances are at firft more fetid
than thofe procured from vegetables ; but by repeated
diftillations, they become exceedingly attenuated and
volatile, becoming almoft as white, thin, and vola¬
tile, as ether. They then acquire a property of afting
upon the brain and nervous fyftem, and of allaying its
irregular movements, which is common to them with
all other inflammable matters when highly attenuated
and very volatile ; but this kind of oil is particularly
recommended in epileptic and convulfive affe&ions.
It is given from 4 to 10 or 12 drops : but, though
■prepared with the utmoft care, it is very fufceptible of
S T R Y. Pra£l5ce,
lofing its whitenefs, and even its thinnefs, by a fliort Oils,
expofure to air; which proceeds from the almoft in- v—J
ftantaneous evaporation of its more thin and volatile
parts, and from the property which the lefs volatile
remainder has of acquiring colour. To avoid this in¬
convenience, it mull be put, as foon as it is made, into
very clean glafs bottles with glafs ftoppers, and ex-
pofed to the air as little as poffible. ^
The moft important obfervations concerning the How re di-
method of making the pure animal oil are, firft to fled,
change the veffels at each diftillation, or at leaft to
make them perfectly clean; for a very fmall quantity
of the thicker and lefs volatile part is fufficient to fpoil
a large quantity of that which is more rectified. In
the fecond place, Mr Beaume has obferved, that this
opeiation may be greatly abridged, by taking care to
receive none but the moft volatile part in each diftil¬
lation, and to leave a large refiduum, which is to be
negledted, and only the more volatile part to be fur¬
ther rectified. By this method a confiderable quan¬
tity of fine oil may be obtained at three or Tour diftil¬
lations, which could not otherwife be obtained at fifty
or fixty.
3. Animal Fats. Though thefe differ confide rably
from one another in their external appearance, andfats>
probably in their medicinal qualities, they afford, on a
chemical analyfis, produdts fimilar in quality, and dif¬
fering but inconfiderably in quantity. They all yield
a large proportion of oil, and no volatile fait; in which
refpeef they differ from all other animal fubftances.
Two ounces of hog’s lard yielded, according to Neu¬
mann, two drachms of an empyreumatic liquor, and
one ounce five drachms and 50 grains of a clear brown-
coloured oil of a volatile fmell, fomewhat like horfe-
radiffi. The caput mortuum was of a fhining black co¬
lour, and weighed 10 grains.
Tallow being diftilled in the fame manner, two Tallow,
drachms of empyreumatic liquor were obtained from
two ounces of it; of a clear brown oil, fmelling like
horfe-radiffi, one ounce fix drachms and 12 grains.
The remaining coal was of a ftiining black colour, and
weighed 18 grains. A particular kind of acid is now
found to be contained in it. 1433
The marrow of bones differs a little from fats, Marrow,
when chemically examined. Four ounces of frefh
marrow, diftilled in the ufual manner, gave over three
drachms and a fcruple of a liquor which fmelled like
tallow ; two fcruples and an half of a liquor which had
more of an empyreumatic and a fourifli fmell; two
ounces and an half of a yellowifti-brown, butyraceous
oil, which fmelled like horfe-radifli; and fix drachms
and an half of a blackilh-brown oil of the fame fmell.
The caput mortuum weighed four fcruples.
All animal fats, when perfedtly pure, burn totally
away without leaving any feces, and have no particu¬
lar fmell. In the ftate in which we commonly find I43i
them, however, they are exceedingly apt to turn ran- RanJiK‘,01'*
cid, and emit a moft difagreeable and noxious fmell;p ”
and to this they are peculiarly liable, when long kept in
a gentle degree ofheat. In this ftate, too, an inflam¬
mable vapour arifes from them, which when on fire is
capable of producing explofions. Hence, in thofe
works where large bellows are ufed, they have been
often fuddenly burft by the inflammable vapours ari-
fing from the rancid oil employed for foftening the
leather.
iPra&ice.
C H E M
Refill? and
Salfams.
leather. The expreffed unftuous oils of vegetables
are fubje£t to the fame changes: but from this ranci¬
dity they may all be freed moil effeftually, by the Am¬
ple procefs of agitating them well with water; which
is to be drawn off, and frefh quantities added, till it
comes off at laft clear and-infipid, without any ill fmell.
The proper inftrument for performing this operation
in large is a barrel-churn, having in it four rows of
narrow fplit deals, from the centre to the circumfe¬
rence, each piece fet at obtufe angles to the other, in
order to give different dire&ions to the oil and water
as the churn turns round, thereby to mix them more
intimately. The churn is to be fwiftly turned round
for a few' minutes ; and muft then be left at reft, till
the oil and water have fully feparated ; which will be
in 15 or 20 minutes, more or lefs, according to the
fize of the churn. Whenthis water is drawn off, frefh
water is to be put in, and the churn again turned
round, and this Continued till the oil is perfeftly
fweet. If the oil and water are allowed to ftand to¬
gether for fome days, a gelatinous fubftance is found
between them, which is not very eafily mifcible either
with oil or water. Chalk, quicklime, and alkaline
falts, are found alfo capable of taking off the rancidity
from oils and fats ; but have the inconvenience of de-
ftroylng a part of their fubftance.
§ 4. Resins and Balsams.
■ *33
dentine
M
* fee.
These are commonly reckoned to be compofed of
an effential oil thickened by an acid ; as the effential
oils themfelves are found to be convertible into a fi-
milar fubftance, by the exhalation of their more vola¬
tile parts. True refins are generally tranfparent in a
confiderable degree, foluble in fpirit of wine, and pof-
feffed of a confiderable degree of flavour.
Refins are originally produced by infpiffating the
natural juices which flow from incifions made in the
Items of growing vegetables, and are in that ftate
called lalfams. The balfams may be confidered as ef¬
fential oils thickened by lofing fome of their odorife¬
rous principle, and of their fineft and moft volatile
part. There are feveral kinds of balfams, which, how¬
ever, differ from each other only in the fmell and de¬
gree of confiftence; and therefore all yield fimilar
products on diftiliation. An analyfis of turpentine
therefore will be fufficient as an example of the analy¬
fis and natural properties of all the reft.
The true turpentine-tyee is found in Spain and the
fouthein parts of France, as well as in the ifland of
Ohio and in the Indies. It is a middling-fized ever¬
green tree, with leaves like thofe of the bay, bearing
purplifti, imperfect flowers; and on feparate pedicles
hard unftuoUs berries like thofe of juniper. It is ex¬
tremely refinous ; and unlefs the refin is difeharged,
decays, produces fungous excrefcences, fwells, burfts,
and dies ; the prevention of which confifts wholly in
plentiful bleeding, both in the trunk and branches.
The juice is the Ohio or Cyprus turpentine of the ftiops.
This fort is quite‘of a thick confiftence, of a greenifh
white colour, clear and tranfparent, and of fcarcely
any tafte or fmell.
The kind now called Venice turpentine, is no other
than a mixture of eight parts of common yellow or
black rofin with five parts of oil of turpentine,. What
I S T R Y. 557
was originally Venice turpentine is now unknown. Refins ail<l
Neumann relates, that the Venice turpentine fold inBalljm3-
his country was no other than that prepared from the n——*
larix tree, which grows plentifully in fome parts of
France, as alfo in Auftria, Tyrol, Italy, Spain, &c.
Of this there are two kinds; the young trees yielding
a thin limpid juice, refembling balfam of copaiba; the
older, a yellower and thicker one. I4,^
The Strajburg turpentine is extracted from the filver-Stralburg.
fir. Dr Lewis takes notice that fome of the exotic
firs afford balfams, or refins, fuperior to thofe obtained
from the native. European ones ; as particularly that
called balm of Gileadfir, which is now naturalized to
our own climate. A large quantity of an elegant re
finous juice may be colle&ed from the cones of this
tree: the leaves alfo, when rubbed, emit a fragrant
fmell; and yield, with redtified fpirit, an agreeable re¬
finous extraft. 14-6
The common turpentine is prepared from different Common,
forts of the pine; and is quite thick, w'hite, and opaque.
Even this is often counterfeited by mixtures of rofin
and common expreffed oils. 14^
All the turpentines yield a confiderable proportion Phenomena
of eflential oil. From fixteen ounces of Venice tur-on diftilla-
pentine, Neumann obtained, by diftiliation with wa-^00,
ter, four ounces and three drachms of oil. The fame
quantity diftilled, without addition, in the heat of a
water-bath, gave but two ounces and an half; and
from the refiduum treated with water, only an ounce
could be obtained. The water remaining in the ftill
is found to have imbibed nothing from the turpentine;,
on the contrary, the turpentine is found to imbibe
part of the water; the refiduum and the oil amount¬
ing to a full ounce on the pound more than the tur¬
pentine employed. When turpentine is diftilled or
boiled with water till it becomes folid, it appears yel-
lowilh; when the procefs is further continued, of a
reddifh brown colour : in the firff ftate, it is called.
boiled turpentine ; and in the latter, colophony, or rofim.
On diftilling fixteen ounces of turpentine in a re¬
tort with an open fire, increafed by degrees, we ob¬
tain firft four ounces of a limpid colourlefs oil; then
two ounces and two drachms of a yellowifti one;
four ounces and three drachms of a thicker yellow-
oil; and two ounces and one drachm of a dark brown-
ifh red empyreumatic oil, of the confiftence of balfam,.
and commonly called balfam of turpentine.
The limpid effential oil called fpirit of turpentine, is’Effential
exceedingly difficult of folution in fpirit of wine; tho’ oil difficult
turpentine itfelf diffolves with great eafe. One partof Elution,
of the oil may indeed be diffolved in feven parts of
reftified fpirit; but on Handing for fome time, the
greateftpart of the oil fubfides to the bottom, a-much
greater proportion of fpirit being requifite to keep it
diffolved. _ _ 14^
2. Benzoin. This is a very brittle brownifh refin,. Benzuai,
of an exceedingly fragrant fmell. The tree which
produces benzoin is a native of the Eaft Indies ; par¬
ticularly of Siam and the ifland of Sumatra. It is ne¬
ver permitted to exceed the fixth year; being, after
this time, unfit for producing the benzoin. It is then
cut down, and its place fupplied by a young tree rai¬
led commonly from the fruit. One tree does not.
yield above three pounds of benzoin.
A tree fuppofed to be. the fame with that which a£-
fordi
563 C H E M
Bitumen#, f0vds benzoin in the Eaft Indies, is plentiful alfo in
Virginia and Carolina; from whence it has been
brought into England, where it grows with vigour in
the open ground. The bark and the leaves have the
fmell of benzoin ; and yield with reftified fpirit a re-
fin of the fame fmell; but no refin has been obferved
to iffue from it naturally in this climate ; nor has any
1440 benzoin been colledled from it in America,
f irit ofn Benzoin diffolves totally in fpirit of wine into a
wine. blood-red liquor, leaving only the impurities, which
commonly amount to no more than a fcruple on an
ounce. To water, it gives out a portion of fafine mat¬
ter of a peculiar kind, volatile and fublimable in the
fire. See 984 et feq.
The principal ufe of refins is in the making of lac¬
quers, varnifhes, &c. See Varnish.
$ 5. Bitumens.
These are inflammable mineral bodies, not fulphu-
reous, or only cafually impregnated with fulphur.
They are of various degrees of confiitency; and feem,
in the mineral kingdom, to correfpond with the oils
1441 and refins in the vegetable.
Origin of Concerning the origin of bitumens, chemifts are not
bitumens. at ajj agree(j. Some chemical writers, particularly
Mr Macquer, imagine bitumens to be no other than
vegetable refins altered in a particular manner by the
admixture of fome of the mineral acids in the earth ;
but Dr Lewis is of a contrary opinion, for the follow¬
ing reafons.
“ Mineral bitumens are very different in their qua¬
lities from vegetable refins : and, in the mineral king¬
dom, we find a fluid oil very different from vegetable
oils. The mineral oil is changed by mineral acids in¬
to a fubflance greatly refembling bitumens; and the
vegetable oils are changed by the fame acids into fub-
ftances greatly refembling the natural refins.
“ From bitumens we obtain, by dillillation, the mi¬
neral oil, and from refins the vegetable oil, diltinCt in
their qualities as at firft. Vegetable oils and refins
have been treated with all the known mineral acids;
but have never yielded any thing fimilar to the mine¬
ral bitumens. It feems, therefore, as if the oily pro¬
ducts of the two kingdoms were effentially and fpe-
cifically different. The laws of chemical inquiries at
leaft demand, that we do not look .upon them any
otherwife, till we are able to produce from one a fub-
ftance fimilar to the other. When this fhall be done,
and not before, the prefumption that nature effefts the
fame change in the bowels of the earth, will be of
fome weight.”
Naphtha. There is a perfectly fluid, thin bitumen, or mine¬
ral oil, called naphtha, clear and colourlefs as cryflal;
of a ftrong fmell; extremely fubtile; fo light as to fwim
on all known liquors, ether perhaps excepted; fpread-
ing to a vaft furface on water, and exhibiting rain¬
bow colours ; highly inflammable : formerly made ufe
of in the compofition of the fuppofed inextinguifhable
.443 greek fire.
Petroleum. Next to this in confiflence is the oleum petra, or pe¬
troleum ; which is groffer and thicker than naphtha,
©f a yellowifh, reddifh, or brownifh colour ; but very
light, fo as to fwim even on fpirit of wine. By di-
ftillation, the petroleum becomes thinner and more
N° 75.
I S T R Y. PraiHce.
fubtile, a grofs matter being left behind; it does not, Bitumens,
however, eafily arife, nor does it totally lofe its colour * “*
by this procefs, without particular managements or
additions.
Both naphtha and petroleum are found plentifully
in fome parts of Perfia, trickling through rocks or
fwimming on the furface of waters. Kempfer gives
an account of two fprings near Baku ; one affording
naphtha, which it receives in drops from fubterrane-
ous veins; the other, a blackilh and more fetid pe¬
troleum, which comes Lorn Mount Caucafus. The
naphtha is colleitcd for- making varnifhes ; the petro¬
leum is collefted in pits, and fent to different places for
lamps and torches.
Native petrolea are likewife found in many diffe¬
rent places, but are not to be had in the fhops; what . j
is fold there for petrpleum, being generally oil of tur¬
pentine coloured with alkanet root. The true naph¬
tha is recommended againft diforders of the nerves,
pains, cramps, and contractions of the limbs, &c. but
genuine naphtha is rarely or never brought to this
country.
There are fome bitumens, fuch as amber, amber-
greafe, pit-coal, and jet, perfectly folid; others, fuch as .
Barbadoes tar, of a middle confiftence between fluid
and folid. Turf and peat are likewife thought to be¬
long to this clafs. • J444
1. timber. This fubftance melts, and burns in the - Amber,
fire, emitting a flrong peculiar fmell. Diftilled in a
ftrong heat, it yields a phlegm, an oil, and a particu¬
lar fpecies of acid fait. The diftillation is performed
in earthen or glafs retorts, frequently with the addi¬
tion of fand, fea-falt, coals, &c. which may break the
tenacity of the melted mafs, fo as to keep it from
fwelling up, which it is apt to do by itfelf. Thefe
additions, however, make a perceptible difference in
the produce of the diftillation : with fome the fait
proves yellowifh and dry ; with others, brownifh or
blackifh, and undtuous or foft like an extradl: with
fame, the oil is throughout of a dark brown colour ;
with others, it proves externally green or greenifh;
with elixated afhes, in particular, it is of a fine green.
The quantity of oil and phlegm is greateft when coals
are ufed, and that of fait when fea-falt is ufed. I445
The moft advantageous method of diftiiling amber, Moll ad-|
however, is without any addition ; and this is the me- vantage-]
thod ufed in Pruffia, where the greateft quantities of n•
fait and oil of amber are made. At fh 11 a phlcgma- out ^cli¬
tic liquor diftils; then a fluid oil; afterwards one thattion.
is thicker and more ponderous; and laft of all, an oil
ftill more ponderous along with the fait. In order to
coliedl the fait more perfedtly, the receiver is fre¬
quently changed; and the phlegm, and light oil, which
arife at firft, are kept by themfelves. The fait is pu¬
rified, by being kept fome time on bibulous paper,
which abforbs a part of the oil: and changing the pa¬
per as long as it receives any oily ftain. For the bli¬
ther depuration as well as the nature of this fait, fee
Succinum. !446i
2. Ambergreaft. This concrete, which is only ufed Al"ber
as a perfume, yields, on diftillation, produ&s of agrea e*
fimilar nature to that of amber, excepting that the
volatile fait is in much kfs quantity. See Amber-
GREAiE. 144),,
3. Bit-coal. See the articles Coal .and Lithan- Pit-coal
v THRAX.
1448
Prad ice. C H E M
Bitumens, thrax. This futiilance yields by diftillation, ac-
cording to the tranflator of the Chemical Didlio-
' nary, i. phlegm, or water; 2. a very acid liquor ; 3.
a thin oil, like naphtha ; 4. a thicker oil, refembling
petroleum, which falls to the bottom of the former,
and which rifes with a violent fire; 5. an acid, con*
Crete fait ; 6. an unhiflammabk earth (we fuppofe he
means a piece of charred coal, or cinder) remains in
the retort. The fluid oil obtained from coals is fatd to
be exceedingly inflammable, fo as to burti upon the fur-
face of water like naphtha itfelf.
4. Peat. There are very confiderable differen¬
ces in this, fubftance* proceeding probably from the
admixture of different minerals i for the fubftance
of peat is plainly of vegetable origin; whence it is
found to anfvver for the fmelting of ores, and the re-
duftion of metallic calces, nearly in the fame manner
as coals of wood. Some forts yield, in burning, a very
difagreeable fmell, which extends to a great diflanee ;
whilft others are inoffenfive. Some burn into grey
or white, and others into red, ferruginous afites. The
aflres yield* on elixation, a fmall quantity of alkaline,
and fume neutral fait.
Pherome- fm°ke °f peat does not preferVe or harden
r,a on diftil-fiefh like that of Voo'd ; and the foot into which it
lation. condenfes is more apt to liquefy in moift weather. On
diftiliing peat in clofe veflels, there a rifes a clear in*
fipid phlegm; an acid liquor, which is fucceeded by an
alkaline one; and a dark-colomcd oil. The oil has a
very pungent tafle, and an empyreumatic fmell; lefs
fetid than that of animal fubftances, but more fo than
that of mineral bitumens. It congeals, in the cold,
into a pitchy mafs, which liquefies in a fmall heat: it
readily catches fire from a candle; but burns lefs vehe*
mently than other oils, and immediately goes out up*
on removing the external flame. It dilfolves almoft
totally in retSified fpirit of wine, into a dark, brownifli-
red, liquor.
$ 6. Charcoal.
This is the form to which all inflammable matters
between*”64 are reducible, ^7 being fubjedled to the moft vehe-
the coal* of ment aftion of fire in clofe veflels; but though all the
tlifferent coals are nearly fimilar to one another in appearance,
fubftances. there ;g neverthelefs a very confiderable difference
among them as to their qualities. Thus the charcoal
of vegetables parts With itti phlogifton very readily,
and is eafily reducible to white afhes ; charred pit-
coal, or, as it is commonly called, ccak, much more
difficultly; and the coals of burnt animal fubftances,
far more difficultly than either of the two. Mr MaC-
quer acquaints us, that the coal of bullock’s blood
parts with its phlogifton with the utmoft difficulty.
He kept it very red, in a flialiow crucible, furrounded
with 'charcoal, for fix hours and more, ftirring it con-
ftanfly that it might be all expofed to the air, without
being able to reduce it to white, or even grey allies.
It ft ill remained very black, and full of phlogifton;
The coals of pure. oils, or concrete oily fubftances,
and foot, which is a kind of coal railed during the in-
Uarnmation of oils, are as difficultly burnt as animal
coab. Thefe coals contain very little faline matter,
and their afhes furnifh no alkali. Thefe-coals, w'hich
are fo difficultly burnt, are alfo lefs capable of inflaming
With nitre than others more combuftible ; and fome -of
Vot. IV. Part II.
I ST R Y. 5C9
them, in a great meafure, refift even tile action of m* Vegetable
tre itfelf. . a :d Animal
Charcoal is the moft refra&ory fubftance in nature ; l"1'’ ^Kces,
no inftance having been known of its ever being
melted, or fliovving the leaft difpofition to fufion, ei-Charcoal
ther by itfelf, or with additions 1 hence, charcoal is'perfe&ly
found to be the moft proper fupport for fuch bodies as refra&0IY*i
are to be expofed to the focus of a large burning gbfs.
The only true folvent of charcoal is hepar fulphurh.
By the violent heat of a burning-glafs, however, it is
found to be entirely diffipable into inflammable air,
without having any refiduum. See Aerology, n° 129,
and Charcoal.
The different fubftances mixed with different coals,
render fome kinds of charcoal much lefs fit to- be ufed
in reviving metals from their calces, or in fmelting
them originally from their ores. The coals of yege*
table fubftances are found to anfwer beft for this pur*
pofe. See Metallurgy.
Sect. V. Vegetable and Animal Subfiances.
The only fubftances afforded by vegetables or ani¬
mals, which we have not yet examined, are the muci*
laginous, or gumtpy; and die colouring parts obtained
by infufion, or boiling in water; and the calculous Con¬
cretions found in the bodies of animals, chiefly in the
human bladder. The colouring matter is treated of under
the article Co 1 our-Making, to which we refer ; and in
this fe&ion fhall only conlider the nature of the others.
$ I. Mucilage or Gum.
1452
The mucilage of vegetables is a clear tranfpavent Mucilage,1
fubftance, which has little or no tafte or fmell, the
confiftence of which is thick, ropy, and tenacious,
when united with a certain quantity of fupera-
bundant water. It is entirely and intimately foluble in
water, and contains no difengaged acid or alkali.
When mucilage is diffolved in a large quantity of
water, it does not fenfibly alter the confiftence of the
liquor; but, by evaporation, the water grows more
and more thick; and, at la ft, the matter acquires the
confiftence of gum*arabic, or glue ; and this without
lofing its tranfparency, provided a heat Hot exceed¬
ing that of boiling water has been ufed. ,4^3
Gums, and folid mucilages, when well dried and Phetion c*
very hard, are not liquefied in the fire like refins, but1?* oft'1*"
fwell, and emit many fumes; which are, at firft, wa*ft*^aUon*
tery; then oily, fuliginous, and acrid. Diftilled
in clofe veffels, an aqueous acid liquor comes over,
along with an empyreumatic oil, as from other vege¬
table fubftances ; a confiderable quantity of coal re¬
mains, which burns to afhes with difficulty.
Mucilages and gums are not foluble either by oils,
fpirit of wine, alkalies, or acids, except in fo far as
they diffolve in thefe liquors by means of the water
in which the alkali or acid are difiblved. They are,
however, the moft effe&ual tneans of uniting oil with
water. Three parts of mucilage, poured upon one
part of oil, will incorporate with it by trituration or
agitation ; and the compound will be foluble in water.
. Vegetable gums are ufed in medicine, as well as the-
mechanic arts : but the particular ufes to which each
of them is applicable, will be mentioned under the
name of each particular gum.
4 C
The
Scheele’s
experi¬
ments on
the hu¬
man calcu¬
lus.
CHEMISTRY. Practice.
The mucilage obtained from animal fubftances, when
not too thick, is called jelly, or gelatinous matter ; when
farther infpiffated, the matter becomes quite folid in
the cold, and is called glue. If the evaporation is ftrll
further continued, the matter acquires the confiftence
of horn.
This gelatinous fubftance feems to be the only true
animal one ; for all parts of the body, by long conti¬
nued boiling, are reducible to a jelly, the hardeft
bones not excepted. Animal jelly, as well as vege¬
table mucilage, is almofl iafipid and inodorous; but,
though it is difficult to defcribe the difference betwixt
them when apart, it is very eafily perceived when
they are both together. Acids and alkalies, particu¬
larly the latter, diffolve animal jellies with great eafe f
but the nature of thefe combinations is not yet under-
ftood. The other properties of this fubftance are com¬
mon to it with the vegetable gums, except only that
the animal mucilage forms a much ftronger cement than
any vegetable gum ; and is therefore much employed
for mechanipal purpofes, under the name oiglue. See
Glue, and Isinglass.
$ 2. Of the Human Calculus.-
This fubftance has been repeatedly examined by the
moft eminent chemifts. Mr Seheele, as has been re¬
lated n° 982, dfeq. has been able to extract an acid from
it. His account of it in other refpedts is to the fol¬
lowing purpofe.
1. All the calculi examined, whether flat and po¬
liced, or r ough and angular, were of the fame nature,
and confifted of the fame conftitucnt parts.
2. The diluted vitriolic acid has no effect upon the
calculus, but the concentrated acid diffolves it, and by
abftraftion from it is converted into the fulphureous
kind, leaving a black coal behind.
3. Neither diluted nor concentrated fpirit of fait had
any effeft upon it.
4. By means of nitrous acid* a new one was produ¬
ced, and which is poffeffed of Angular qualities, as al¬
ready mentioned.
5. The folution of calculus in nitrous acid is not
precipitated by ponderous earth, nor are metallic foiu-
tions fenfibly altered by it.
6. It is not precipitated by alkalies, but grows
fomewhat yellower by a fuperabundance of the latter.
In a ftrong digefting heat the liquor becomes red, and
tinges the fkin of the fame colour. It precipitates
green vitriol of a black colour; vitriol of copper, green;
filver, grey; corrofive fublimate, zinc, and lead, white.
7. The folution is decompofed by lime-water, and
lets fall a white precipitate, foluble in the muriatic acid
without any effervefcence : but though there be an
excefs of precipitate, the liquor ftill remains acid; which
happens alfo with animal earth, and that of floor dif-
folved in the fame acids. On evaporation to drynefs,
the matter will at laft take fire ; but when heated on¬
ly to a dull red heat in a clofe crucible, it grows black,
fmells like burnt alum, and effervefees with acids; be¬
ing convertible before the blow-pipe into quicklime.
8. Neither this folution, nor tire alkaline mixture,
is changed by the acid of fugar.
9. The calculus is not changed by acid of tartar,
though it is diffolved even in the cold by alkali, when
reduced to fuch a ftate of caufticity as not to difeover
the kail mark of aerial acid. The folution is yellow,
and taftes fweetifli ; and is precipitated by all the Calculus,
acids, even by the aerial. It decompofes metallic fo- v-“—v-—^
lutions, but does not precipitate lime-water; and a
fmell of volatile alkali is pr oduced by a little fuperbun-
dance of alkali in the folution. Dry volatile alkali has
no effeft upon the calculus; but cauftie volatile alkali
difi’olves it, though a pretty large quantity is required
for this purpofe.
10. Calculus is likewife diffolved by digefting in
lime-water; and for this purpofe four ounces of lime-
water are required to twelve grains of the calculus;
but the latter is partly precipitated by adding acids to-
the folution. By this union the lime-water lofes its
cauftic tafte.
11. Calculus is alfo diffolved entirely by pure wa¬
ter ; but for this purpofe a large quantity of fluid is
required. Eight grains of calculus in fine powder
will diffolve by boiling for a fliort time in five ounces
sf water. The folution reddens tinfture of laemus.
but does not precipitate lime-water; and when it
grows cold, the greateft part of the calculus Separates
in fine cryftals.
12. On diftilling a drachm of calculus in a glafs
retort, a volatile liquor was obtained refembling hartf-
horn, but without any oil; and in the neck of the vef-
fel was a brown fublimate. On heating the retort
thoroughly red hot, and then leaving it to cool, a black
coal was left, weighing 12 grains, which retained its
black colour on a red hot iron in the open air. The
fublimate, which had fome marks of fufion, weighed
28 grains, and became white by a new fublimation.
Its talte was fomewhat fourifh, but it had no fmell; it
was fojuble both in water and in fpirit of wine ; but a
larger quantity of fpirit than of water was requifite for
this purpofe. It did not precipitate lime-water, and
feemed in fome refpe&s to agree with the fal fuccini. ,
From thefe experiments our author concludes, that eoncKs-
the human calculus is neither caleareous nor gyp- fions con-
feous ; but. confifts of an oily, dry, volatile acid, uni- cerning its
ted with fome gelatinous matter. The calculus is an c.omP',®,‘
oily fait, in which the acid prevails a little, finee it is
foluble in pure water; and this folution reddens the
tindfture of laemus. That it contains phlogifton, ap¬
pears from its folution in cauftic alkalies and lime-wa¬
ter, but efpecially from the effects of the nitrous acid,
by which it acquires quite different properties than
from lolution in alkalies; nor can it be precipitated
from this folution. The animal gelatinous fubftance ap¬
pears on diftillation, by which a liquor is obtained refem¬
bling fpirit of hartftiorn, and a fine coal is left behind. J4^
13. Calculus is found diffolved in all urine, even in Is found
that of children. On evaporating four kannes of frefh univerMy
urine to two ounces, a fine powder is depofiied as it m ur“‘e’
cools, and a part firmly adheres to the glafs. The
precipitated powder readily diffolves iq a few drops of
cauftic fixed alkali ; and has in other refpefts all the
properties of calculus. Of the fame nature is the late-
ritious fediment depofited by the urine of thofe who
labour under an ague. Mr Scheele fufpected at firft,
that there was in this urine fome unknown menftruum
which kept fuch a quantity of powder diffolved, and
which might afterwards evaporate by expofure to the
air; but altered his Opinion on perceiving that the fe¬
diment was equally depofited in dofe veffels.
14. All urine contains fome animal earth combined
with phofphoric acid; by the fupcrabuudaace of which
acid.
460
Bergman’s
Pra&icc, C II E M
Calculus- acid, the earth is kept diffolved; and by rearon of
—v ' this fuperabundarit acid freih mine communicates a red
1458 colour to lacmus. By faturation with cauftic volatile
W'y alkali a white powder is preciptated ; of which three
denflac-" drachms and an half are obtained from four kannes of
mus. urine. It is foluble in nitrous acid ; and on adding
the vitriolic, feme gypfum is precipitated. On evapo¬
rating the nitrous acid, another remained, which pre¬
cipitated lime-water; and when mixed with lamp-black,
afforded phofphorus by dilHllation ; whence it is evi¬
dent, that the white powder juft mentioned contained
1459 lime and phofphoric acid.
Salts, &e. 15. From thefe experiments Mr Scheele concludes,
contained tjlat ajj urjne contains, befides the fubftances already
in uime. j.nown faj ammoniac, common fait, digeftive fait,
Glauber’s fait, microcofmic fait, fal perlatum, and an
oily extiadlive matter), a concrete acid, or that of cal¬
culus, and animal earth. It is alfo remarkable, that the
urine of the lick is more acid, and contains more ani¬
mal earth than that of healthy perfons. With regard
to the fal perlatum, it was afterwards difeovered by Mr
Scheele not to be a peculiar acid, but only a phofpho¬
ric ac id difguifed by a fmall quantity of foffil alkali
united with it. The analyfis is confirmed by fynthe-
fis; for, by combining foffil alkali with phofphoric
acid, our author obtained a true perlate acid.
    ^ In a fupplement to Mr Scheele’s differtation on the
account of calculus, Mr Bergman obferves, that he could not fuc-
the ealeu- ceed in diffolving it entirely either in pure water or in
iu8• the nitrous acid, though the undiffolved part was the
kfs in proportion to the finenefs of the powder to
which the calculus was reduced. The undiffolved part
appears moft confpicuous, when fmall pieces, or fmall
calculi of a few grains weight only, are put into a fu-
perabundaiit quantity of menftruum, and kept in a de¬
gree of heat very near to that which makes water boil.
Here it will be obferved, that the greateft part of the
piece is diffolved; -but that at the fame time fome
frnall white fpongy particles remain, which are not af-
fedted either by water, fpirit of wine, acids, or cauftic
volatile alkali. If the liquor be made fully to boil,
thefe particles divide into white rare flocculi, and be¬
come almoft imperceptible, but without any entire dif-
folution. Mr Bergman could not collect a fufficient
quantity of them to determine their nature with accu¬
racy ; only he obferved, that when expofed to a ftrong
heat, they were reduced to a coal which burns flowly
to afhes, and is not foluble in diluted nitrous acid.
“ When calculus veficte (fays he) is diffolved in
nitrous acid, no precipitation enfues on adding the acid
ef fugar ; whence one is readily induced to conclude,
that there is no calcareous earth prefent, becaufe this
experiment is the fureft way to difeover it. But I
have found, in a variety of experiments concerning
elective attractions, that the addition of a third fub-
ftance, inftead of difuniting two already united, often
unites both very clofely. That the fame thing hap¬
pens here I had the more reafon to believe, becaufe the
acid of fugar contains fome phlogiftic matter, though
of fuch a fubtle nature, that, on being burned, it does not
produce any fenfible coal; and the event of my expe¬
riment has fhown, that I was not miftaken in my con¬
jecture. In order to afeertain this point, I burned
coals of the calculus to allies, wdiich were quite white,
and Ihowed in every refpeCt the fame phenomena as
lime ; caufed fome effervdcence during their folution
1 8 t n Y. 5yi
in acids,united with vitriolic acid into gypfum, were i Calculus.^
precipitated by the acid of fugar, and were partly fo-
luble in pure water, Sec. Notwithftanding this, there
remains about one-hundredth part of the allies info-
luble in aquafortis; being the remainder of the fub-
ftance above mentioned, which, together with the
concrete acid, conftitutes the calculus. If the calculus
be diffolved in nitrous acid, the folution filtered and eva¬
porated to drynefs, and the dry mafs calcined to white-
nefs, a calcareous powder is thus likewife obtained.” 1461
As pure vitriolic acid contains no phlogiftoij, ourCaIcareou*
author fuppofed, that by dropping it, in its concentra-
tedftate, into a folution of calculus in nitrous acid, the k by vitrio-
calcareous earth, if any exifted in it, would be difeover- Uc acid,
ed. In this he was not difappointed; for when the
folution was faturated, fome fmall cryftals were thus
immediately feparated. Thefe, on examination, were
found to be gypfum ; and, after being diffolved in dri
ftilled water, were precipitated by acid of fugar. When
the folutien of calculus was very much diluted, no
change appeared at firft on the addition of oil of vi¬
triol ; but after a little evaporation, the above men¬
tioned cryftals began to appear. Sortie calculi of the
bladder or kidneys at leaft certainly contain lime, but
feldom more than one half in an hundred parts, or one
in 200 parts.
By the affiftance of heat, concentrated vitriolic acid
diffolves the calculus with effervefcence, and the folu¬
tion is of a dark brown colour. On adding a little wa¬
ter, a kind of c®agulation takes place; but by adding
mere, the liquor again becomes clear, and affumes a
yellowiffi colour. Mr Bergman agrees with Mr
Scheele in fuppofing that the muriatic acid has no ef-
fe£t upon the calculus; but he is in doubt whether it
may not extraft fome part of the calcareous earth. l451
The red colour affumed by the folution of calculus Red colour
in aquafortis is remarkable. A faturated folution dif-of tllc ”1-
covers no fmell of nitrous acid, and if evaporated by t.rous
itfclf in a large open veffel, the liquor affumes at laft
a deep red colour, and fcarcely contains any nitrous for.
acid; for, on the one hand, paper tinged with lac¬
mus fcarce (hows any rednefs ; and, on the other, the
colour is deftroyed irrecoverably by the addition of
any acid. By quick evaporation the folution at laft
fwells into innumerable bubbles; the foam grows
redder and redder, and at laft becomes dark red after
it is quite dry. This dry mafs communicates its co¬
lour to a much larger quantity of water than before,
and diffolves very readily in all acids, even fuch as
have no a&ion on the calculus; but they entirely de-
ftroy the colour, and that the more quickly in pro¬
portion to their degree of ftrength; even alum has this
effeft on account of the fmall quantity of loofe acid it
contains. Cauftic alkalies alfo diffolve the colouring
matter, and deftroy it, but more (lowly.
Our author endeavours to account for this red co¬
lour produced by the nitrous acid, from the peculiar
nature of that acid, and the effect it has upon phlo-
gifton. In order to obtain it, a proportionable quan¬
tity of acid muft be made ufe of, and it ought to be
diluted, that there may be no danger of going be¬
yond the neceffary limit. If too much be ufed, it will
noc produce the proper effeft ; but, by reafon of its
fuperabundance, more or kfs, or even the whole, will
be deftroyed in proportion to the quantity. By pour¬
ing it in an undiluted ftate on powdered calculus, it i*
4 C 2 con
572 C H E M I
Calculus, converted in a few moments into mere foam. The
'““"''v 1 ' acid of calculus is the more eafily feparated from the
aquafortis by evaporation, as the latter is rendered
more volatile by the inflammable particles of the for¬
mer : alkali added to them both united does not pro¬
duce any precipitation ; a circumllance generally ob-
fer.ved where two acids are united. In this cafe both
the acids unite with the alkali, according to the dif¬
ferent laws of their attraftion. The red mafs obtain¬
ed after deficcation is, however, very different from
the concentrated acid, fuch as is contained in the cal¬
culus ; for it is of a darker colour, and very deliquef-
cent: the leaft particle gives a rofe .colour to a very
confiderable quantity of water; but the muriatic and
other ftrong acids always certainly deftroy it; and, in
a longer or fliorter time, produce a colourlefs folia¬
tion. This remarkable change depends, according
to our author, more on the a&ion of the nitrous acid
upon the inflammable part, than upon any “thing re¬
maining behind.—Such red fpots as are produced up¬
on the fkin by the folution, are likewife produced up¬
on bones, glafs, paper, and other fubflances j. but
more time is required for their becoming vifible,
though this too may be., a little accelerated by means
1463 of heat.
Hxped- The following is-an. ab ft raft of .Mr Higgins’s expe-
mems of riments upon this fubjedt.
gfns on’this I - Eight hundred and forty grains-of dry and well
fubjeCl. powdered calculus were introduced into 3 glafs retort.
It was taken from a laminated (tone with a finall nu¬
cleus, which was likewife laminated. The outward cruft
appeared very porous, but increafed in denfity towards
the centre. By the application of heat, an elaftic fluid
was firft flowly extricated; and which, on examination,
appeared to be compofed;of equal parts of fixed and
phlogifticated air. The la ft portions came over very
fail, and were attended with an urinous fmell; and,
by continuing the diftillation, it became evident that
fixed and alkaline air came over together without form¬
ing any union,, as they ought,, on the common prin¬
ciples of chemiftry, to have dene ; though our author
is at a lofs to know why they did not unite, unlefs
they were prevented by the fmall quantity of inflam¬
mable air which came over along with them.
From the beginning of the loth meafure, a black,
eharry, and greaify matter began to line the conical
tube and air-veffel adapted to the retort; and as the
piocefs went on, the proportion of alkaline air de-
cfeafed, while that of the inflammable air was aug¬
mented, until towards the end, when the laft nine
meafures were all inflammable; after which no more
would come over, though the letort was urged with
3 white heat. On breaking the diftilling ve&l, a
black powder weighing 95 grains was found in it. On
digefting this for an hour in ten ounces of diftilled wa¬
ter, and then filtering and evaporating it to two oun¬
ces, a yellowifh powder was precipitated, but no cry-
Hals were formed after Handing a whole night. This
powder was then feparated by filtration,,and the liquor
evaporated to one ounce; during which time more
powder was precipitated. It was then filtered a fe-
cond time, and the liquor evaporated to half an ounce;
when it began to depofit a white powder, and to emit
a fubacid aibingent vapour, not unlike that of vitrio¬
lic acid. This white precipitate,, when wafhed and
S T R Y, Praclice*
dried, amounted only to one grain, had a fliining ap- Calculus.
pearance, and felt very foft, not unlike mica in pow-  v—
der. It was not changed, but rather looked whiter
by expofmg it to a fierce heat for ten minutes. Ii
diffolved in diftilled water without being precipitated
by cauftic volatile alkali. Mineral alkali, acid of fu-
gar, and nitrated terra ponderofa, rendered the folu¬
tion turbid; whence our author inferred,, that the pow¬
der in queftion was felenite.
After the feparation of this powder, the remaining
folution was evaporated to drynefs with a gentle heat.
During the evaporation it continued to emit fubacid
vapours, leaving eleven grains of a powder of a dirty
yellow colour, having an aluminous tafte. To this
powder he added as much diftilled water as was nearly
fufficient to diffolve it; after which it was fet by for
three weeks. At the expiration of this term feveral'
fmall, tranfparent, and cubical cryftals appeared oft
the fide of the veffel above the furface of the folution ;
and thefe likewife had an aluminous tafte. The whole
was then diffolvtd in diftilled water, and the folution
filtered. Acid of fugar produced no. change in the
liquor for at leaft five minutes, but an immediate
cloudinefs took.place on a mixture with volatile alkali;
and on filtering the liquor it was again rendered turbid
by mineral alkali, though the cauftie alkali already
predominated. Nitrated terra ponderofa threw down
a copious precipitate, and Pruffian alkali difeovered a.
finall quantity of iron. This aluminous folution left
a yellow fubftance on the filter ; which, when col-
leiled and dried, weighed only half a grain : it dif¬
folved without effervtfcence in nitrous acid ; acid of
fugar caufed no precipitation, but cauftic volatile ab
kali threw down a precipitate which diffolved in dif-
filled water. This folution was rendered turbid by
the acid of fugar and. muriated terra: ponderofa, but
no effect was produced by cauftic volatile alkali or
lime-water.
The yellow powder firft depofited by the folution,
weighed two grains and a half, and by expofure to a.
ftrong heat acquired a deep orange colour. On di-
geftion with difiiiled water, the infoluble part was re¬
duced to three-fourths of a grain, and. appeared to bei
iron ; while the foluble pail was found to be nothing;
elfe but gypfum. Our author, however, is of opinion,,
that this iron is impregnated with a fmall portion of.
vitriolic acid, though not in fuch quantity as to ren--
der it foluble..
The charred matter remaining in the retort was.
reduced by lixiviation with water to 80 grains. Thefe
were calcined with a red heat in an open fire, but
could not. be reduced to a grey powder in lefs than,
three quarters of an hour. When thoroughly cal¬
cined and cold, it weighed only 21 grains, w hich com¬
municated to hot difliiled water a limy tafte, and gave
it the property of. turning fyrup of violets green. Di¬
luted vitriolic acid had no efleft upon it, but it was
rendered turbid by aerated volatile alkali and acid of.
fugar. The remainder when v/ell dried weighed i5
grains, which diffolved in nitrous acid at firft with a
little effervefcence ; and when this ceafed, the folution
went on very flowly, until the whole was taken up.
Acid of fugar made no change in the liquid, but the
whole was precipitated by cauftic volatile alkali. Pruf¬
fian alkali threw down a grain, or perhaps more, of
blue •
Pra&ice. C H E M I
Calculus, blue; the precipitatedigeftedwithdiftilled vinegar loft
a grain and an half, which was thrown down by cauftic
volatile alkali. The infoluble part being w'alhed and
hi gelled in diftilled water for half an hour, was partly
diffolved ; the folution was not a fie cl ed by cauftic vo-
1464 hatile alkali, but acid of fugar and nitrated terrra pon-
His account derofa caufed an immediate cloudinefs. Seven grains
ef its com- and an half of the powder, which was infoluble both in
poiunt acetous acid and diftilled water, were readily taken up
^arts’ by diluted vitriolic acid, and p'ecipitated by cauftic vo¬
latile alkali; the 16 grains lait treated, therefore, ap¬
peared to contain, of clay 7-f grains ; of felenite, fix
grains; magnefia, one and a half; and of iron, one grain.
The proportions of the different ingredients in the
whole calculus, therefore, according to Mr Higgins,
are as follow:
Iron
Selenite
Clay - •
Alum
Pure calcareous earth
Aerated magnefia
Gharry combuftible fubftance
Grains.
24
5
i-t
59
1465
94?
IxKt
n diftilla- •
In all
In this experiment,,a darkiih yellow fublimate adhe-
mcius on re^ t^e nec^ t^ie retort ; the inner part next the
the fubli- retort more compact, but the reft of a lamellar fpon-
mate ari- gy texture. This fublimate, when carefully collected,
1,; was found to weigh 425 grains, and readily diffolved-
in eight ouftces of hot diftilled water. A coally fub¬
ftance was feparated from,, this folution by filtration,
which, when wafhed and dried, weighed ten grains,
and when expofed to a red heat burned with a green-
ifh flame, emitting white fumes, which fmelled like vi¬
triolic fal ammoniac the refiduum- after calcination
weighed half a grain, and was of a. whitifti colour;
appearing infoluble in diftilled water, but diffolving
with effeivefcence in nitrous acid. Acid of fugar cau¬
fed a very fmall precipitation, which did not take place
until the mixture had ftood for fome time ; but cau¬
ftic volatile alkali inftantly threw down a precipitate,,
which was taken up, when wafted, by the acetous a-
eid. The quantity was too fmall to be examined with
greater accuracy ; but it feemed to poffefs the proper¬
ties of magnefia. The faline folution had the colour
©f fmall beer ; and, when evaporated to two ounces, did
not depofit any fediment, or yield any cryftals. The
black matter with which the conical tube and air vef-
fel were lined, weighed 2.8 grains,, and adhered fo fall
to the glafs, that it was xmpoflible to collect the whole
from the fragments of the glafs. When diffolved in
diftilled water and filtered, four grains of coals, fimi-
lar to that obtained from the former, were procured ;
but no figns of cryftallization were obferved after eva-
paration to one ounce, and fuffering the-liquor to Hand
all* night.
By this treatment the folution acquired the confill-
ence of treacle ; fo that it was plainly not cryftallizable,
and therefore its analyfis was plainly to be attempted
after a different method. It was now put into a tu¬
bulated glafs retort, together with fix ounces of di-
ftilied water to walh it down. By diftillation in a fand-
bath three, ounces of water were procured, which dif-
4
S.T R Y‘ ... . 573.
ffred in nothing fnJm common diftilled water, but in Calculus,
being coloured with a fmall quantity of the folution r-- f
from the neck of the retort. On changing the recei¬
ver, about half an ounce of liquor of the fame kind
came over, after which the diftillation began to be at¬
tended with an urinous fmell. This continued barely
perceptible for fome time ; but when about an ounce
and an half had paffed over, it became fo very pun¬
gent, that our author could no longer doubt of its;
being in a caufttc ftate. A. fmall quantity of mild al¬
kali, however, adhered to the lower part of the neck
of the retort, fome of which was wafted down by the
diftillation ; fo that the proportions betwixt the two*
could not be afeertained. The volatile alkaline folu¬
tion in the retort had the colour of fpirit of hartfhorn,
and like it became darker coloured by the contadt of
air; on account of the evaporation of part of the al¬
kali, and the reft becoming Ids capable of fufpending
the coaly matter mixed with it.
After all the liquor had; paffed over, and nothing
remained in the retort but a fmall quantity of black
matter, the fire was raifed ; and, as the heat increafedj^
this black fubftance acquired a white colour, with a
kind of arrangement on the furface, which was occa*
fioned by the heat applied to the bottom of the retort
being only fufficient to raife the fait to the top of the
matter in the retort; but as the fand became nearly
red-hot, white fumes began to appear, which conden—
fed on the upper part of the retort, and a little way
down the neck. The procefs lafted until the matter
was nearly red-hot, when the fumes ceafed, and no¬
thing more paffed over. The fublimate, When col-
ledled, was found to weigh .72. grains, a black poroua-
brittle fubftance remaining on the bottom of the re¬
tort, which weighed f 2; grains.. This refiduum, when
expofed to a ftrong heat, emitted white fumes, with-
a flight alkaline fmell; by which procefs it was redu¬
ced, with very little appearance of combuftion, to a
grey powder weighing three grains, which was acci¬
dentally loft.
Five grains of this purified fublimate, mixed with
as much quicklime, emitted no fmell of volatile alkali ;,
and, when thrown upon a red-hot iron, emitted white
fumes. The fame effedb was produced by a mixture
of equal quantities of vegetable alkali and fublimate.
The repainder, cor.fifting of 62 grains, was divided
into two equal parts; the one of which was mixed
with two ounces of dillilled water, and on the other
was poured 60 grains of vitriolic acid diluted with
half an ounce of water. Thefe two mixtures being
fuffered to remain for fix weeks,, feemed to be but.
little ailed upon. That with vitriolic acid was then
put into a fmall matrafs, and boiled on fand for half
an hour with two ounces of diftilled water,, when the:
whole was taken up. The folution looked clear, and .
depofited nothing on Handing. Mild mineral alkali,
had no effedt upon it ; but rrfld vegetable alkali threw
down a copious fediment in white flocculi, which was
rediffolved by cauftic alkali, lime-water, and partly by
mild mineral alkali. Phlogifticated alkali; acid of fu-
gar, and acid of tartar, had no effedl upon it. The
other portion of fublimate, which had been mixed
with diftilled water, was very little diffclved ; but in
pouring it into a matrafs fome fmall round lumps were
obfervable on the bottom of the glafs. Thefe were
574 CHE M I
Ga’cu’us. fix or feven in number, fame weighing a whole grain,
others not more than one-half. They were very hard
and compact, with a fmooth furface, and in figure re-
fembling the nucleus of the original calculus. The
whole was then put into a matrafs with about three
ounces of water. On boiling it on fand for three
quarters of an hour, about one-half of it was taken
up : the folutipn paffed the filter very clear whilft
hot; but on cooling became turbid, and at laft de-
pofited white flocculi, which were rediffolved on the
addition of cauftic volatile alkali and lime-water. It
turned fyrup of violets green ; which, however, our
author thinks might have been occafioned by its re¬
taining volatile alkali, though it had not the fmalleft
appearance of any fuch impregnation. He has never-
thclefs frequently obferved, that fometimes the pureft
vegetable alkali contains volatile alkali, notwithiland-
ing the various operations and degrees of heat it un¬
dergoes bePote it can be brought to the degree of pu¬
rity at which it is called fait of tartar.
On filtering the folution to feparate what had been
depofited by cooling, no change was produced in the
filtered liquor by mineral alkali; but mild vegetable
alkali produced a cloudinefs, which was inftantly taken
up on adding mineral alkali and lime-water. Neither
Pruffian alkali, nor the acids of arfenic, tartar, i'ugar,
or borax, nor any of the three mineral acids, had any
T466 upon it.
Xxperi- An hundred and twenty grains of the fame cal-
ments with cuius were put into a tubulated glafs retort, and half
nitrous a- an ounce of flrong nitrous acid poured upon it. An
ad’ effervefcence immediately enfued ; and fome part of
the extricated aerial fluid being preferved, appeared to
be fixed air mixed with a ftnall quantity of nitrous air.
When the effervefcence ceafed, a quarter of an ounce
more of nitrous acid was added. On digefting the
mixture upon hot fand for an hour, it emitted nitrous
vapour and nitrous air; but the latter in very fmall
proportion. When the folution was completed, the
whole was poured into a fmall matrafs, and gently boil¬
ed till the fuperabundant nitrous acid was nearly ex¬
pelled. The folution was of a deep yellow colour and
turbid ; but on adding five ounces more of water, and
digefting it for a quarter of an hour longer, it acqui¬
red the colour and confiftency of dephlogifticated ni¬
trous acid. On cooling it became fomewhat turbid,
and in a few days depofited a darkifh yellow powder ;
which, when feparated, waftied, and dried, weighed
little more than a quarter of a grain, and, on exami-
, nation, was found to be a calx of iron.
Cryftallizes Our author being defirous to know what effefl: the
•n expnfure fun would have upon it, placed it in a window where
to the fun. the fun fhone full upon it for four hours every day.
Here a little moifture feemed daily to exhale from it,
the weather being hot, and the matrafs, which had a
Ihort wide neck, being only covered with bibulous pa¬
per to keep out the dull. In this fituation, in the
courfe of a week, a few very fmall cryftals appeared
to float upon the furface. Thefe in time fell to the
bottom, where they adhered together fo as toTorm a
hard concretion, ftill retaining a cryftalline appearance,
but fo fmall and confufed, that it was impoflible to di-
ftinguifh their figure ; and this depofition of cryftals
continued for a month, after which it feemed to ceafe.
The folution was then filtered to feparate the fait j af-
S T R Y, Pra&icc.
ter which one-half of the liquor was evaporated away, Calculus,
and the reft fet in the ufual place for a fortnight long-
er, but no more cryftals appeared. The falt, which
weighed three grains, was then digefted in four ounces
of diftilled water ; but no part feemed to be diflolved.
Three ounces of the water were then decanted off, and
fix drops of vitriolic acid added to the remainder,
which by the help of digeftion feemed to diffolve the
fait flowly; but on adding half an ounce more diftil¬
led water, the whole was readily taken up. Acid of
fugar had no effeft on this folution ; but lime-water
rendered it turbid. The whole was then precipitated
with cauftic volatile alkali, and the folution filtered,
which likewife threw down the lime from lime-water.
The precipitate was then wafhed, and diftilled vinegar
poured upon it, which did not take it up > but it was
diflblved by marine acid. Phlogifticated alkali had no
efifeft upon it; and the acid of fugar occafioned very
little cloudinefs after Handing three or four hours;
from which cur author fuppofed that the matter was
phofphorated clay.
The folution, being now free from iron and phof¬
phorated clay, had a fubacid tafte, and looked clearer,
though ftill .retaining a yellow call. Acid of lugar
had no effe& upon it; but nitrated terra ponderofa
threw down a precipitate, as did likewife the cauftic
volatile alkali. Mild vegetable alkali caufed no preci¬
pitation ; which our author attributed to the folution
of the manganefe and clay by the fixed air extricated
from the alkali. Two-thirds of the folution were
then put into a fmall glafs retort, and two ounces di¬
ftilled off, which had no tafte, but fmelled very agree¬
ably, and not unlike rofe-water. After all the liquor
had paffed over, white fumes appeared in the retort,
and thefe were foon followed by an aerial fluid. On
collefting fome of this, a candle was found to burn in
it with an enlarged flame. Nitrous air did not dimi-
nifti it in the lead:; and it feemed to be that fpecies
of air into which nitrous ammoniac is convertible.
No more than 13 or 14 inches of this kind of air
could be obtained ; and as foon as it ceafed to come
over, cryftals were obferved in the lower part of the
neck of the retort. On augmenting the heat, a white
fait began to fublime and adhere to the upper part of
the retort; the operation was continued until the re¬
tort was red-hot; but, on breaking it, the quantity
of fublimate was fo fmall, that very little of it could
be colle&ed ; though, from the fmall quantity obtain¬
ed, our author was convinced of its being the fame in
quality with what was obtained in the former analyfis.
The fait which cryftallized in the neck of the retort
was nitrous ammoniac, as appeared from its detona¬
tion per fe, &c. A grey powder was left in the bot¬
tom of the retort, which hot diftilled water partly
diffolved : miniated terra ponderofa, acid of fugar,
and vegetable alkali, rendered this folution turbid ; but
cauftic volatile alkali had no effedl upon it. The re¬
maining part of the powder which was left by the di¬
ftilled water, readily diffolved with effervefcence in the
marine acid, and was precipitated by cauftic volatile
alkali; the part foluble in diftilled water appearing to
be gypfum, and that foluble in marine acid to be mag-
ijelia.
From all thefe experiments, Mr Higgins concludes
the compofition of the human calculus to be vaftly dif-
5 ferent
Pradice. C H E M
Calculus, ferent from what either Mr Scheele or Mr Bergman
*” have fuppofed it to be. “ It appears (fays he), that
ca^cu^us was compofed of the following different
account* of Compounds blended together ; viz. felenite, alum,
the confti- microcofmic fait, mild volatile alkali, lime, and cauftic
tuent parts volatile alkali, combined with oil, fo as to form a fa-
of calculus. ponaCeous mafs; calx of iron, magnefia combined with
aerial acid, clay enveloped by a faponaceous and oily
matter, and the fublimate already deferibed.” Confi-
dering this to be the true ftate of the calculus in the
bladder, the fmall proportions of clay, felenite, mag-
nefia, and iron, which are the moft infoluble ©f the
ingredients; the great folubility of microcofmic fait
and alum, and the mifeibility of lime, volatile alkali,
and oil, in water ; tend to {how, that the fublimate is
the cementing ingredient. Indeed, its infolubility in
water, and property of forming, nuclei out of the body,
as above obferved, leave no room to doubt it. The
proportion of the other ingredients, and very likely
their prefence, depend upon chance, volatile alkali and
oil excepted ; therefore this fublimate ftiould be the
, objedt of our inveftigation.
p.emarkson Mr Higgins concludes his differtation with fome
the reme- practical remarks concerning the remedies proper for
(dies proper diffolving the ftqne, for countera&ing that difpofition
sine it° * t^c k°cly which tends to produce it, and concern-
1 “ " ing the regimen proper for thofe who are to under¬
go the operation of cutting for it. “ The effect of
mild mineral alkali (fays he) on the fublimate, is
well worth the attention of thofe who may' have an
opportunity of trying its efficacy. Mild mineral al¬
kali may be taken in large dofes, and continued for
a length of time with impunity to the moft deli¬
cate conftitutions, only obferving a few circumftances;
but this alkali, in a cauftic ftate, muft very often be
attended with mifehievous confequences. Beftdes, if
we confider that it muft enter the mafs of blood before
any part can reach the bladder, and the fmall portion
of the dofe taken fecreted with the urine, and, laftly,
the action of cauftic alkali upon animal fubftances; we
ffiall be at a lofs to know on what principle cauftic
alkalies have been recommended in preference to mild.
. Soap itfelf might as well be recommended at once ;
for foon after cauftic alkali is taken, it muft be in a
faponaceous ftate. Fixed vegetable alkali fhould be
avoided, and the preference given to the other two al¬
kalies. As it is evident that alkalies have no real ac¬
tion on the ftone in the bladder, though their efficacy
has been experienced in alleviating the difeafe when
timely adminiftered, their mode of aftion is only ex¬
plicable in the following manner: They either prevent
the generation of the fublimate in the fyftem, or elfe
keep it in folution in the mafs of fluids; and being in
the utmoft degree of divifibility, its ultimate particles
are capable of palling through the moft minute emunc-
tories; by which means it is carried off by other feere-
tions as well as the urinary. Thus the urine, not be¬
ing faturated with this matter, a£ls as a folvent on the
flone ; and as the moft foluble parts are firft wafhed
away, it falls through time into fragments of irregular
furfaces, which by their fri&iorr irritate and inflame
the bladder, as has been obferved by federal practi¬
tioners.
“ Allowing that the fublimate is the cementing fub-
ftance in the calculus^ and judging, from the effeda of
[ S T R Y. S7S
alkalies upon it, their modus optrandi in the conftitu- Calculus,
tion, it remains now to inquire into the origin of the
calculus. Mr Scheele has found this fublimate in the
urine of different perfons; and hence inferred, that it
was a common fecretion : but it ftill remains to be af-
certained, whether there be a greater quantity of it
procured from the urine of patients who labour under
this diforder than in thofe who do not ? If this ffiould
not be the cafe, may not a deficiency of volatile alkali
in the conftitution be the caufe of concretions in the
kidneys, bladder, &c.; or, which muft have the fame
effed, too great a proportion of acid, which, uniting
with the alkali, may take up that portion which would
have kept the fublimate in folution until conveyed out
of the fyftem by the urinary and other fecretions ; and
may not this be the'phofphoric acid? If this fatter
fhould be the cafe, an increafe of microcofmic fait muft
be found in the urine; but if the former, a decreafe
of the volatile alkali, and no increafe of the neutral
fait. The fmall quantity of phofphoric acid found in
the calculus proceeds from the folubility of micro¬
cofmic fait. Do not volatile alkali and phofphoric
acid conftitute a great part of the human frame ? and
is there not a procefs continually carried on to gene¬
rate thefe in the fyftem ? and is not this procefs liable
to be retarded or checked by intemperance, &c. which
may vary their quantities and proportions ? and may
not a due proportion of thefe be neceffary to a vigo¬
rous and found conftitution? If fo, no wonder that an
increafe or deficiency in either or* both of thefe fiiouid
be pro duff ive of feveral diforders.”
On this fubject, however, our author has not had
fufficient leifure to make the experiments neceffary fol¬
ks elucidation. Indeed, it feems not eafy to do fo ;
as, in his opinion, at leaft 50O would be required for
the purpofe. “ That the urinary fublimate is prefent
in tubercles found in the lungs of perfons who die of
pulmonary confumptions, and like wife in what are Bf calcul **
vulgarly called chalk Jlones, is what I have experienced : found in
but in what proportion, or whether in quantities fuf-c.onfu!nP*
ficient to caufe the concretion, is what I cannot fay; tive'and
for I have had but a few grains of each to examine. £1™ 1 lJ’a”
I have every reafon to fufpeff, that eonfumptions and
fcorbutic complaints very frequently arife from a fu-
perabundance of this fublimate in the fyftem ; and that
it is chiefly the caufe of the gout and rheumatifm, and
- foltly the caufe of the ftone in the bladder. I make
no doubt but thefe diforders generally proceed from
obftrudtions; and it is probable, that either a preci¬
pitation of this fublimate in the fyftem, or elfe a de¬
ficiency of fome other fecretion, which would hold it
in folution until conveyed out of the body, may be the
chief caufe of thofe obftruetions; and likewife, that
different degrees of precipitation may produce different
fymptoms and diforders.
“ That mineral or volatile alkali and bark have
-been ufeful in the above diforders, has been affirmed’
by experienced phyficians ; and I know an inftance
myfelf of mineral alkali and nitrous ammoniac being
ferviceable in a pulmonary complaint of fome Hand¬
ing-
“ With refpeift to the ftone, when it acquires a cer¬
tain magnitude, it is abfurd to attempt to diffolve it
in the bladder, it waftes fo very flowly ; and during
this time the patient muft fuffer vaft pain, particularly
when.
CHEMISTRY. Prance.
when the llone acquires a rugged fnrface : therefore pofition in the habit. Patients who are cut for the Nitr<
cutting for it at once is much preferable. hone fhould, I think, take mineral alkali for fome time
“ Mineral alkali taken in the beginning of the com- when the wound is healed ; but not before, for fear
plaint, and before the Hone accumulates, will no doubt of bringing on a mortification.”
check its progrefs, and may in time change that dif*
E
N D
I
X
Containing fuch Discoveries as have appeared hnce the Compilation of the Article,
and which could not be inferted in their proper Places.
I. Vitriolic Ether,
Various "T\/T Pellktier formerly propcfed a method of rec-
methodscf TV JL » tifying this fluid by putting manganefe into
vitriolicf t^e velf^s > but as the vitnolated manganefe might
ether. ' perhaps communicate fome injurious quality, another
method is propbfed by M. Tingry. After fir ft draw¬
ing off the ether, he adds a diluted folution of Volatile
alkali, and avoids as much as poflible the diffipation
of the vapours : the ether is then rediftilled. It may
•afterwards in this way be waftied more fafely, and
with lefs lofs. The little proportion of the ether
"which is feparated in the water, may be again recover¬
ed, - or the water may be again employed for the fame
pivrpofe. M. Lunel propofes calcined magnefia for
this purpofe, as its fait is not foluble ; though perhaps
pure terra ponderofa might be better.
II. Ef it ROUS A C I D.
1474
$Ur Hig- On this fubjeft Mr Higgins has feveral curious and
gins’s ob- int;erefting obfei rations. “ It is not an eafy matter
eivations. ^fayS ^e), to afeertain exaftly the greateft quantity of
dephlogifticated air, which a given quantity of nitrous
acid may contain. I always found nitre to vary, not only
in its produft of phlogifticated and dcphlogillicated air,
‘but likewife in their proportion to one another. The
pureft nitre will yield, about the middle of the ptocefs,
dephlogifticated air fo pure as to contain only about
-jij- of phlogifticated air. In the beginning, and near¬
ly about the latter end of the procefs, air will be pro¬
duced about twice better than common air. On mix¬
ing the different produfts of a quantity of pure nitre,
it was found that, by expofure to liver of fulphur, im¬
part was left imabforbed ; and this was the utmoft
purity in which I obtained depblogifticated air from
nitre.
Account of “ According to M. Lavoifier, icq grains of nitrous
its confti- acid contain 79! of .dephlogifticated air, and 2o4- of
tuent parts phlogifticated air, which is not quite four to one. Bat
by M. La- jjjs experiments contradict this; for whatever mode he
voifier. adopted to decompofe nitrous acid, it appeared that the
proportion of dephlogifticated air was nearly as five to
,474 one of phlogifticated air.
By Mr Ca- “ Mr Cavendilh has proved, that nitrous acid may
vendifh. he formed by taking the eleCtric fpark in a mixture of
three parts of phlogifticated air, and feven of dephlo¬
gifticated air, which is but 4- tnore of dephlogifticated
air than nitrous air contains; which may apparently
contradi& M. LaVoifier’s, as well as my own, eftimation
of the proportion of the conllituent principles of ni-
N 75.
trous acid, when in its perfeCt ftate. The red nitrous
vapour contains three parts of nitrous air and one of
dephlogifticated air, or one of phlogifticated and three
of dephlogifticated air ; but nitrous vapour may be
formed with a lefs proportion of dephlogifticated air ;
and which, though it may not be io condenfible as a
more perfeCt nitrous vapour, yet will, when in contad
with pure alkali, unite with it, and form nitre, as was
the Cafe in the experiment of Mr Cavendiftr. The
'common ftraw-coloured nitrous acid contains more de¬
phlogifticated air than the red nitrous acid or vapour;
the proportion appears to be about four to one; but
the colon riels contains about five of dephlogiflicated
to one of phlogifticated air.
“ Having once a charge of nitrous and vitriolic acid Method of j
in a green glafs retort, I put it in a fand pot to di- obtaining 1
fiil; but the pot being fmall, the edge came too near c?Yul'e? j
the retort, about a quarter of an inch or more above CA
the charge ; which, before the procefs commenced,
and when it acquired more than the heat of boiling
water, cracked it all round in that dire&ion. Being
thus fituated, I was obliged to withdraw the fire, and,
before the charge got cold, to ladle it into an earthen
pan. On introducing it into a frelh retort, I obtained
from it nitrous acid nearly as colourlefs as water. The
vitriolic acid ufed in this proeefs not being very per-
feft, the- goodnefs of the nitrous acid was attributed to
the purity of the nitre from whence it was diftilled ;
but in another procefs, though the fame nitre was ufed
with much purer vitriolic acid, the produce was of an
high draw colour. On recollecting the above-men¬
tioned-circutnftance, the vitriolic acid and nitre were
next mingled in due proportion, and expofed in an
earthen pan fet in fand, to nearly the heat of boiling
water, for half an hour or more, continually expofing
frelh furfaces to the dir. When the charge was quite
cold, I introduced it into a retort, and diftilled as co¬
lourlefs nitrous acid as the former. As no nitrous.air
was emitted during digeftion, it muft have imbibed de-
phlogifticatcd air from the atinofphere.”
MrProuft found, that ftrong nitrous acid will fet fire pej-
to charcoal if it be rendered very dry. He likewife re-charc„al om
marked, that charcoal expofed to the air a few hours fu-by 1
after calcination, was unfit for the experiment. Char-1T;ea,ls j
coal, he obferves, attradls moifture very forcibly. The ^”jrous s*
firft effect of the charcoal on the nitrous acid, he ob-
ferves, is to withdraw a portion of its water from it;
by which it is rendered highly concentrated, at the
fame time that the condenfation of the water heats the
charcoal in a fmall degree, but fufficiently to volatilize
a nitrous vapour; which, as foon as it reaches that
portion of dry charcoal next the humid part, is con-
-denied
Pra&ice. G H E M
Nitre, denfed by it, and generates heat enough to promote
u.—.y——■/ the decompofition of the nitrous acid. Hence we fee
why the experiment will not fucceed if the acid be
poured on the furface of the charcoal.
EffeA^of The effedt of nitrous acid on blood, according to
nitrou? acid Mr Higgins, is very Angular. Two parts of blood
en blood, procured frefti at the butchers, one of ftrong nitrous
acid, and'about one fifth of the whole of water, were
digefted in the heat nearly of boiling watei (frefh
portions of water being occafionally added until the
whole of the acid was expelled), when it acquired
almoft the colour, and exadtly the tafte, of bile. When
mixed with a large quantity of water, it acquired a
fine yellow colour ; and, on Handing, depofited a fub-
ftance of a brighter yellow, though the fupernatant
liquor Hill retained a yellow colour and bitter tafie,
but not fo intenfely as when the precipitate was fu-
fpended in it. The different flages of this procefs
were well worthy of obfervation. No nitrous air was
produced, and the acid was expelled in the ftate of a
white vapour. The liquor was found to increafe in
bitternefs as the acidity vanifhed. About the middle
of the procefs, the folution firft tafted acid, but was
quickly fucceeded by a bitter fenfation. It appears
that the nitrous acid took dephlogifticated air from
the blood; for though red nitrous acid was ufed, it
was expelled in a perfedt Hate.
III. Nitre.
Though the artificial generation of the nitrous a-
cid, from a mixture of dephlogiflicated and phlogifti-
cated air, is now fufficiently underftood, yet we do not
well know in what manner nature performs the ope¬
ration. Some chemifts, particularly M. Thouvenal,
have found, that putrefaction favours the production
of nitrous acid. All animal fubflances, during their
decay, give out a vail quantity of phlogillicated air ;
therefore, if dephlogifticated air be prefent, it will u-
nite to the phlogifticated air in its nafcent ftate, and
form nitrous acid : but Mr Higgins has obferved, that
_ © nitrous acid may be generated in plenty where there is
Nitre gene-no putrid procefs going on. “ The chemical elabo¬
rated with-ratory at Oxford (fays he) is near fix feet lower than
out putre- the furface of the earth. The walls are jConftrudted
faction. wjth common limeftone, and arched over with the
fame ; the floor is alfo paved with ftone. It is a large
room, and very lofty. There are feparate rooms for
the chemical preparations, fo that nothing is kept in
the elaboratory but the neceflary implements for con¬
ducing experiments. There is an area adjoining it
on a level with the floor, which, though not very
large, is fufficient to admit a free circulation of air.
The allies and fweepings of the elaboratory are depo¬
fited in it. There is a good fink in the centre of this
area, fo that no ftagnated water can lodge there. Nct-
withftanding all this, the walls of the room afford
frelh crops of nitre every three or four months. Dr
Wall, who paid particular attention to this circum-
ftance, and who told me it contained fixed vegetable
alkali, requefted I would analyfe it, and let him know
what it contained. I found that two ounces of it con¬
tained fix drachms of nitrated fixed vegetable alkali, and
threeof calcareous nitre. The nitre firft appears in fmall
whitilh filaments as fine as cob-web, which, when they
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T R Y. 577
get a little larger, drop off; fo that they never acquire Marine
fufficient growth to diftinguifli their figure to a naked Acui-
eye. On finding that they contained fixed vegetable
alkali, I concluded that it proceeded from minute ve¬
getation ; but in this I was miftaken ; for I found
that they were foluble in water, and that they detona-
ted with charcoal at every ftage of their growth.
Having fwept this faline efflorefcence from the wall,
I dug deep into it, but could not obtain nitre from it.
When a part had been white-rvalhed, it yielded nitre,
but not fo abundantly as a neighbouring fput which
had not been treated in the fame manner. Hence it
is evident, that nitrous acid may be formed without
the affiftance of putrefcent procefles in a ftill damp
air, where there is a fubftance to attraft it when half
formed, whereby it is in time brought to perfection.
The above facts moreover prove, that fixed vegetable
alkali is a compound.”
IV. Marine Acid.
Mr Higgins informs us, that he has, with a view Unfuccefs-
to decompofe fea-falt, mixed it with manganefe in va-fuIattempts
rious proportions,and expofed them in a reverberating*”^^11'
furnace in a well clofed crucible for three hours, to a jj[t-
heat nearly fufficient to melt caft iron. In the fame man¬
ner he treated manganefe, fait, and charcoal, as well as
clay, fait, and charcoal,and fait and clay alone, with very
little fuccefs. He treated calcined bones, fait, and char¬
coal, and calcined bones and fait, as well as lime and
fait, in the fame manner, without effe&irig any appa¬
rent change in the fait. He was informed, however, by
Mr Robertfon, apothecary in Bifhopsgate-ftreet, that
he had partially alkalized it, by expofing it with clay
to a fierce heat; but that foon after it got into con-
ta& with air, it became neutral again. “ If common
fait and litharge be fufed (fays Mr Higgins), it is in
part decompofed ; the acid fuffers no decompofition,
but unites with the lead ; whereby it acquires, when
the faline matter is wafhed away, a yellow colour. It is
evident (adds he) from thefe fails, that the bafis of
marine acid is a combuftible body, and quite different
from light inflammable air, charcoal, or any known
inflammable fubftance ; and that it attracts dephlogif¬
ticated air with greater force than any fubftance hi¬
therto difcovered. Though charcoal will decompofe
all other acids, except a few, when united to bodies
which will fix them until they acquire a fufficient de¬
gree of heat, yet it has no effect on marine acid.”
According to Fourcroy, if alkaline air be confined
by mercury, and dephlogifticated marine acid air be
added to it (which muft be done quickly, as the acid
air would diffolve the mercury), each bubble produces
a flight detonation, and furnifhes a very amufing fpec-
tacle.
Though in this country the diftillation of fpirit of Method of
fait with clay has long been entirely laid afide for the difhlling
procefs with oil of vitriol, yet it is ftill pradlifed inh’irit of
other countries, and may be effedted in the following f:j!: Wlt^
manner: Having previoufly decrepitated the fait, and C
dried the clay, they are then to be ground, mixed, and
lifted together. The mixture is next to be worked
with a fpatula, and then with the hands, until it is
brought into a moderately ftiff and uniform mafs.
4 D This
578 CHE M
Marine This is to be divided into balls about the fize of a pi-
, Ac‘l1' geon’s egg, fo that they can pafs through the neck of
the retort ; but before they are put into the diftilling
veffel, it is proper to dry them thoroughly. The re¬
torts muft be of ftone ware, and carefully coated, in
order to prevent them from breaking with the intenfe
heat to which they are expofed. They are to be fil¬
led two-thirds full of materials, and the diftillation
muft be performed in a reverberatory furnace. The
receiver at firft is not luted on, becaufe that which
rifes in the beginning of the diftillation, being very a-
queous, is to be put by itfelf. When this has come
over, another receiver is then to be applied,, and ce¬
mented with fat lute, and covered with a cloth daubed
with a mixture of lime and the whites of eggs. The
heat is to be raifed until the retort is red-hot, and con¬
tinued in this degree until the diftillation ceafes.
Various proportions of clay and fait have been re¬
commended for this procefs; but it feems probable
that not lefs than ten parts of clay to one of fait, as
Pott has dire&ed, will be found neceftary. Inftead of
the clay, fame direct the ufe of bole ; but this is in¬
convenient, on account of the iron it contains. Pow¬
dered talc has alfo been recommended, but this is not
always free from iron ; and where a very pure fpirit is
wanted, there is a neceflity for having recourfe to oil
of vitriol, and glafs or ftone-ware vefiels. As the
marine acid cannot be feparated from the earthy mix¬
tures above mentioned, but by means of moifture,
MV Beaume advifes to moiften the refiduum, and
repeat the diftillation, by which more acid will be
1481 obtained.
Effeft of As marine acid has very little aft ion upon^phlogi-
marineacidftic matters, it cannot therefore affeft oils, either ex-
Tftic mar Pre^ec* or ehential, in a manner fimilar to the vitriolic
teis. a or K’i:rous- M. Marges, however, has obferved yellow
cryftals refembling amber formed in bottles, containing
a mixture of oils and marine acid of moderate ftrength,
which had ftood for feveral months. The little effeft
which the marine acid has upon thefe fubftances was
firft fuppofed to be owing to its want of pluogifton in
itfelf; but when it was afterwards found, that, by
' the application of certain fubftances which have a great
attraftion for phlogifton, the marine acid was render¬
ed capable of uniting very readily with inflammable
matters, the former theory was abandoned. It was now
aflerted, that the acid, inftead of containing no phlo¬
gifton, was naturally endowed with a very confiderable
quantity ; and that, in its new ftate, it was dephlo-
gifticated by the fubftances applied. On the other
hand, the antiphlogiftians aflerted, that no change was
thus made upon it, farther than adding a quantity of
pure air, which they fuppofe to be the bafis of all a-
cids. On this fubjeft, however, M. Cornette main¬
tains, that the marine acid feems to have fo little ac¬
tion upon inflammable fubftances, merely becaufe it is
weaker than the reft; and likewife that it is often
previoufly combined with fome inflammable matter,
by which its attraftion is prevented. He maintains,
that if the marine acid be concentrated in fuch
a manner as to render its fpecific gravity to that
of water as 19 to 16, it will then aft upon oils with
heat and effervefcence, reducing them to a black and
thick fubftance, and even burning them to a kind of
coal Some experiments have been made by Mr Haffe,
I S T R Y. Pra&ice.
with a view to inveftigate the aftion of the marine Marine
and vitriolic acids upon balfams and oils; for which Acui' ,
purpofe he mixed two drachms of fmoking fpirit of
fait with one of each of the oily fubftances to be tried.
The refults were, that Canada balfam gained, one
fcruple in weight; balfam of capivi 19 grains ; fto-
rax, and Venice turpentine, each' one fcruple ; afphal-
tum 18 grains ; but the efiential oils of anife-feed,
benzoin, bergamot, coriander, and many others, were
not altered in any degree. The aftion of this acid
upon inflammable matters, however, is augmented by
its being reduced into the form of air.
Gmelin relates, that, by diftilling a mixture of five
parts of fait, twelve of fpirit of wine, and four of vitrio¬
lic acid, to which he had previoufly added one or two
parts of water, he obtained a completely dulcified fpi¬
rit of fait, and an imperfeftly dulcified fpirit of vitriol,
upon reftifying the liquor.
Homberg found, that glafs was corroded by the Glafs cor-
marine acid: and his obfervation has been confirmed by rodedby it.
Dr Prieftley; who finds that its corrofive power is aug¬
mented by confining the acid in tubes hermetically
fealed. Its power is exerted not only on flint-glafs,
but even on common green glafs; though more power¬
fully on the former, where it chiefly attacks the red-
lead ufed in its compofition. By inclofing marine acid
gas for fome weeks in a glafs tube expofed to heat, an
incruftation was formed on the infide, while the air
was diminifhed to of its original bulk, one half of
which was abforbed by water; the other was phlogi-
fticated air. 1453
The marine acid is generally met with of a yellow Caufe of
or reddifh colour, which by Macquer is given as one of o|W
its charafteriftic marks. In general, however, this co- marine
lour is thought to proceed from iron ; but Dr Prieftley acid,
has found that it may be produced by many different
fubftances; and his obfervations have been confirmed
by Scheele and other chemifts. The Doftor is of opi¬
nion that it is occafioned for the moft part, if not al¬
ways, by a mixture of earth ; and he was able to com¬
municate it by means of calcined oyfter-ftiells, calcined
magnefia, pipe-clay, or pounded glafs ; but not by
wood-afhes, from whence the air had been expelled by
heat. It was effeftually difeharged by flowers of zinc,
a coal of cream of tartar, and by liver of fulphur ; but
he found, that the colour which had been difeharged
by liver of fulphur, would return by mere expofure of
the acid to the atmofphere, but not that which had
been difeharged by flowers of zinc.
Dephlogijlicated Spirit of Salt.
. . i4o4
When the aftion of this vapour upon any thing is Expeditious
to be examined, the fubftance muft be put into a bottle of
in fuch a manner as to remain in contaft with it; or in^
it may be put into a glafs tube, which is fufpended and
fixed to the ftopper, and thus introduced into the
bottle. From its property of deftroying all vegetable
colours, itpromifes to be of very confiderable ufe in the
arts, provided it could be had in fufficient quantity,
and cheap. It bleaches yellow wax, and when proper¬
ly applied to linen, will whiten it fufficiently, and with¬
out injury, in a few hours. This may be effefted by
fteeping the linen for that fpace of time in water im¬
pregnated with the dephlogifticated marine gas. It
unites with this fluid rather more eafily than fixed air.
Ber.
Practice.
G H E M
Marine Berthollet, in order to impregnate water with it with-
, A^u1' out expoiing the operator to the fume, which is ex¬
tremely difagreeable, put the mixture of marine acid
and manganefe into a retort. To this he applied firft
an empty bottle, and then feveral others filled with wa¬
ter, and communicating with each other by means of
bent tubes ; furrounding the whole with ice. When
' the water in the bottles was faturated, the gas became
concrete, and fell to the bottom; but with the fmalleit
heat it arofe to the top in bubbles. The fpecific gra¬
vity of the faturated water was to that of dittilled wa¬
ter, when the thermometer was only five degrees above
the freezing point, as 1003 to 1000. This impreg¬
nated water is not acid, but has an auftere tafte, and
has the fame adtion as .the gas, though in a weaker de¬
gree. Mr Berthollet has obferved, that the addition
of alkalies does not prevent, but rather promotes, the
difcharge of colours ; for which reafon he dire&s to
add a fixed alkali to the impregnated water in which
linen is to be fteeped for bleaching. This is the ex¬
peditious method hinted at under the article Bleach¬
ing ; but which has not hitherto come into ufe, prin¬
cipally through the high price of the dephlogifticated
gas-
The dephlogifticated marine acid does not difcharge
all colours with equal eafe. Thofe of litmus and fyrup
of violets are entirely deftroyed, and turned whfte.
The colouring matter of Brazil-wood, and fome green
parts of plants, retain a yellow tint. The leaves of
evergreen plants refift its aftion for a long time, and at
laft only acquire the yellow colour which they aflume
by long expofure to the air; and in general the changes
of Colour which vegetable matters fuffer from this gas,
are fimilar to thofe which take place on long expofure
to the air; and by this operation the gas is converted
l4g£ into common marine acid.
Effedtofrhe Oils and animal fats are thickened by this gas; and
dephlogifti- by thefe and other inflammable fubftances it is reduced
on ^hfo'f t0 ftate °f common marine acid. Light is faid to
ftic matter? produce the fame effedf. It unites with fixed alkalies
and calcareous earths, but without any fenfible effer-
vefcence; and thus they lofe their peculiar tafte and
colour. M. Berthollet having boiled in a retort, to
which a pneumatic apparatus was affixed, fome of the
dephlogifticated marine acid liquor with mineral alka¬
li, thus obtained a confiderabie quantity of elaftic
» fluid, compofed partly of fixed air, partly of the air
contained in the veffels, and partly of air confiderably
purer than that of the atmofphere. The refult of the
combination was common fait. On repeating the ex¬
periment with lime, no fixed air was obtained ; but
that which came over became gradually more and more
dephlogifticated. Volatile alkali, even when cauftic,
occafioned an effervefcence, and emitted a peculiar
kind of air, which was neither fixed nor dephlogiftica¬
ted, but of a peculiar kind.
Green vitriol is changed to a red by the dephlogifti¬
cated gas, but the colour of blue and white vitriols is
not affedted. By the affiftance of light, it adts upon
phofphorus, and the refult is phofphoric and common
marine acids. It does not difiolve ice nor cam¬
phor ; in which refpedts it differs from the. common
marine acid gas.
Marine mixing marine acid, manganefe, and fpirit of
ether. wine, and diftilling them with a very gentle heat, little
&c.
1 S T 11 Y* , 579
air of any kind is produced, but a quantity of ethereal, Aq.;a
liquor very flightly acid. The proportions ufed by ,
Pelletier were an ounce and a half of manganefe, five
ounces of concentrated marine acid, and three ounces
of fpirit of wine. “ In this procefs (fays Mr Keir),
the whole of the dephlogifticated acid feems to have
united with the fpirit of wine, and to have formed
ether. The difficulty of combining marine acid with
fpirit of wine, fo as to form an ether, is well known ;
and though there have been fome approximations to it,
yet the only inftances in which it has been completely
effefted, have fucceeded in confequence of the marine
acid being dephlogifticated; by which its aftion on
fpirit of wine, as well as on all inflammable matters, is
greatly increafed.”
M. Pelletier has obferved, that when we put a bit of
phofphorus into dephlogifticated marine gas, the for¬
mer is immediately diffolved, and a light is perceived,
the veffel being filled at the fame time with white va- ,4g7
pours. He has likewife obferved, that fea-falt, with Method of
an excefs of pure air, thrown into heated vitriolic a- procuring 4
cid, produces a fmall detonation. To make this fait
in quantity, take, for inftance, ten pounds of fea-falt, the acid in.
mixing it with from three to four pounds of manganefe, quantity,
pour on the mixture ten pounds of vitriolic acid, and di*
ftil with Woulfe’s apparatus. Pafs the difengaged
acid through a folution of fixed vegetable alkali, either
cauftic or otherwife. A little more than ten ounces of
the new marine fait with exccfs of pure air is obtained,
and a quantity of fait of Sylvius, or digeftive fait.
The fait with.excefs of pure air cryftallizes firft, and
by means of repeated cryftallizations, is entirely difen¬
gaged from the other.
V. A *iu a Regia.
. ' . 1488
This acid, wbich is named from its property of dif- Vario s
folving gold, is compounded of the nitrous and ma- '
rine acids. Gold and platina cannot be diffolved *n aqu^regfa.
any other menftruum, nor can regulus of antimony and
tin be fo ealily diffolved by any other as aqua re¬
gia. It may be made in various ways. 1. By adding
the two acids to each other directly. 2. By diffolving
in the nitrous acid fome fait containing marine acid,
particularly fal ammoniac and common fait. 3. By di¬
ftilling nitrous acid from either of thefe falts. And,
4. In Dr Prieftley’s method of impregnating marine
acid with nitrous acid vapour. 1489
The only difference between thofe liquors prepared Differences
by the methods above mentioned is, that when fal am- fh^acid
moniac or fea-falt are diffolved in the nitrous acid, the liquors,
aqua-regia contains a quantity of cubic nitre, or nitrous
ammoniac, which, tho’ it cannot much aftett the acid as
a folvent, may make a confiderabie difference in the na¬
ture of the precipitate. Thus, gold precipitated from
an aqua-regia formed by the pure nitrous and marine
acids, does not fulminate, though it does fo when
precipitated from one made with fal ammoniac. There
are no eftablfihed rules with regard to the proportions
of nitrous and marine acids, or of nitrous acid and fal
ammoniac, which ought to be employed for the pre¬
paration of aqua-regia. The common aqua-regia is
made by difiblving four ounces of fal ammoniac in 16
ounces of nitrous acid ; but thefe proportions muft be
varied, according to the nature o£ the intended folu-
4 D 2 tion.
C H E M I
tion. Piatina, for inflance, is diflolved in the greateft
quantity by equal parts of the two acids ; regulus of-
antimony by four parts of nitrous acid to one of mar
rine ; and, in general, the greater the quantity of ma¬
rine acid employed in the mixture, the lefs are the im-
perfedt metals, particularly tin, calcined or precipita¬
ted by it. A mixture of two parts of fpirit of nitre,
and one of fpirit of fait, diffolves nearly an equal weight
of tin into a clear liquor, without forming any preci¬
pitate ; but, for this purpofe, the operation muit be
eondudted {lowly, and heat avoided as much as pof-
fible.
VI. Borax.
In a memoir in Crell’s Chemical Annals, by M.
Tychfon, the author {hows, by different experiments,
^ ^ that it may fometimes be purified by folution, filtra-
Metl'ods of tion, and evaporation only; but that fometimes the
purifying operation is more eafy and effedhial by previous calei-
borax. nation ; but then the product is a little leffcned, efpe-
cially if the calcined mafs be not well powdered, and
then boiled fufficiently in water. Powder of charcoal,
he fays, may be fometimes advantageoufiy employed
in the purification; but in general there is no diffe¬
rence between the crude and purified borax, except
in the addition of extraneous matters; at leaft, as
the quantity of acid is the fame, the addition of mi¬
neral alkali is ufelefs: thefe extraneous matters are an
animal fat, and a fand compofed of clay, lime, and a
martial earth. If the oily matter of tartar be fepa-
rated by pafiing the lixivium through a ftratum of clay,
as is fuppofed in the preparation of the cryftals at
Montpelier, it would fuggeft a method of greatly a-
bridging the procefs of the purification of borax.
VII. Acid of Borax, or Sedatice Salt.
Method of On the preparation of this fait MrBeaume obferves,
preparing t}ult a little more acid ought to be added to the borax
fak f om*Ve than what is juft fufficient to faturate its alkaline ba-
borax. fis. Unlefs this be done, the fedative fait remains
confounded with the other faline matters in the folu¬
tion, and of confequence the cryftallization muft be dif-
turbed. The fait, though formed in an acidulated li¬
quor, is eafily deprived of its fuperfiuous acid by drain¬
ing upon paper. It does not cryftallize as foon as the
ftronger acid feparates it from its bafis, even tho’ the
folution of borax had been previoufly made as ftrong as
pofiible; but this delay is occafioned by the heat of
the liquor; for as foon as it cools, a confiderable quan¬
tity of cryftals is formed.
The acid of borax does not fall into powder when
expofed to the air, but rather attrafts a little moifture
Its proper- from it. Its tafte is at firft fomewhat fouriffi, then
ties. cooling and bitterilh ; and laftly, it leaves an agreeable
fweetnefs on the tongue. It makes a creaking found,
and feels a little rough between the teeth ; and when
vitriolic acid is poured upon it, exhales a tranfient o-
dour of mu fie. It is foluble, according to fome che-
mifts, in the proportion of one to 20 in cold water, or of
One to eight in boiling water. Wenzel informs us,
that 960 grains of boiling water diflblve 434 of the
fait; while, on the other hand, Morveau afferts, that
he could diffolve no more than 183 grains in a pound
S T R Y. Practice*
of diftilled water. Roufs informs us, that fixed air Acid of Bo-
prevents the folution of the fait in water; and ^orveau>
that its folubility is much augmented by cream of tar- t;ons-
tar. When previoufly made red hot, it difiblves in wa- ~—v— j
ter with a fmell of fafFron, and a grey powder of an
earthy appearance is precipitated, which is foluble in
vitriolic and marine acids, and may be again precipita¬
ted in the form of fedative fait.
Phlogifticated alkali makes no change on fedative
fait in folution ; but paper dipped in a folution of it in
■vinegar, and afterwards dried, burns with a green
flame. It is,capable of vitrification, though mixed
with fine powder of charcoal; and with foot unites in¬
to a black mafs like bitumen ; which, however, is eafi¬
ly foluble in water, and can fcarce be reduced to
a flies, but partly fublimes. By the affiftance of heat
it diffblves in oils, efpecially thofe of the mineral kind;
and with thefe it yields folid and fluid compounds,
which give a green colour to fpirit of wine. Rubbed
with phofphorus it does not prevent its inflammation ;
but a yellow earthy matter is left behind. It feems al-
fo to give to white and red arfenic a great degree of
fixity, fo as even to become vitrefcible in the fire ; and
this property it communicates alfo td cinnabar. When
mixed and heated with powder of charcoal, it forms no
liver of fulphur.
Sedative Salt combined,
1. fVit/j volatile alkali. The produce of this is a pe¬
culiar ammoniacal fait, which does not evaporate when
thrown on burning coals, or otherwife intenfely heated,
but melts into glafs of a greyifti colour, but tranfpa-
rent, W’hich cracks when expofed to the air; and, on
diflblution in water, {hoots into fmall cryftafs, which
appear to have loft none of their alkaline bafis. It may
be decompofed by the acetous as well as the mineral
acids, and by fixed alkalies and lime.
2. With magnefm this acid {hoots into irregular cry-
ftalline grains foluble in vinegar and acid of ants; in
which liquids they cryftallize like fmall needles joined
together at right angles. They are decompofed by all
other acids, and likewife by fpirit of wine. In the
fire, however, they melt eafily without any decompofi-
tion ; and in the dry way fedative fait decompofes all
the earthy falts formed by magnefia and any of the vo¬
latile acids.
3. With pure earth of alum, fedative fait forms a fait
very difficult of folution, when one part of earth is
ground with four times its weight of fedative fait and
water. The fame kind of earth, mixed with half its
weight of fedative fait, forms a hard grey mafs, refem-
bling pumice ftone; part of which is foluble in water,
and yields a mealy fediment, together with fome fe¬
dative fait unchanged.
4. With ftliceous earth the fedative fait does not unite
in the moift way; but, on melting one part of acid
with two of this earth, we obtain a frothy, hard, grey-
ilh-white mafs, from which, however, the acid may be
again procured.
5. Gold\% not afted upon in the wet way by acid of
borax; neverthelefs Roufs obferved, that when fedative
fait was melted with gold-leal, it did not vitrify, but
became frothy and hard, did not colour the flame of
fpirit of wine, and only a little of it was foluble in
water in which fedative fait had been cryftallized.
A
Pradtice. C H E M
Acid of Bo- A folution of borax in which fedative fait was diflblved,
Gonabina-5 n0t Prec\P'tate g0^1-
tions. ^ 6- Platina is not precipitated from aqua regia by feda-
w—y—— tive fait.
7. Silver is not affefted by melting with an equal
quantity of fedative fait; but the latter is vitri¬
fied in fuch a manner as to become infoluble in
water.
8. Mercury is not diffolved either in the dry or wet
way; but a folution of borax faturated with feda¬
tive fait precipitates it in a yellow powder from nitrous
acid.
' 9. With copper. On this metal fedative fait a&s but
weakly, even when the folution is boiling hot; ne-
verthelefs, as much of the metal is dilfolved, as gives
a little white precipitate on the addition of fixed
alkali ; but volatile alkali does not throw down a
blue precipitate, nor turn the folution of that co¬
lour. The folution of borax precipitates all folutions
of copper in acids, and then the fedative fait unites
with the copper in form of a light green jelly, which,
after drying, is of very difficult folution in water.
Bergman fays, it is of an agreeable green colour, which
it preferves after being dried ; and that, when expofed
to the fire, it melts into a dark-red vitreous fubftance.
Wenzel afferts, that by long continued trituration of
copper filings with fedative fait he obtained a folution
of the metal, which yielded cryflals on being evaporated.
With twice its weight of copper in a covered crucible,
an infoluble vitreous mafs was obtained.
10. Tin is not apparently a&edupon by boiling with
fedative fait; neverthelefs, the folution becomes turbid
on the addition of an alkali. By melting the calx
with half its weight of fedative fait, we obtain a black
mafs like the dark coloured tin ore. By rubbing for
a long time filings of tin with fedative fait and water,
and afterwards digefting the mixture with heat for one
day, an hard, fandy, and irregularly fhaped fait was
obtained, which, by diffolution in water, yielded
tranfparent, white, polygonous cryftals ; and a fait of
the fame kind was obtained from the flag produ¬
ced by melting equal parts of fedative fait and tin
filings.
1 x. Lead is not adled upon direftly ; but, on adding
a folution of borax to folutions of the metal in vitriolic,
nitrous, marine, or acetous acids, the fedative fait unites
with the lead. One part of fedative fait with two of
minium gives a fine, greenifh-yellow, tranfparent, and
infoluble glafs.
12. With iron. The acid of borax diflblves this
metal more eafily than anyother. The folution is amber-
coloured, and yields an ochry fediment, with clufters of
yellow cryftals containing a little iron. The metal is
precipitated by borax from its folutions in vitriolic, ni¬
trous, marine, and acetous acids, and the precipitates
are foluble in fedative fait. A folution of iron may
alfo be obtained by melting this fait with iron filings,
and lixiviating the mafs.
13. Zinc communicates a milky colour by digeftion
with folution of fedative fait. By evaporation it affords
a confufed faline mafs, and a w’hite earthy powder by
precipitation with alkali. Flowers of zinc, melted
with fedative fait, form a light green infoluble flag.
- t 4. Bifmuth, in its metallic ftate, is not afted upon by
fedative fait, but is precipitated by borax from a mix-
I S T R Y. 581
ture of vitriolic and marine acids, in form of a very Acid of Bo-
white powder, which keeps its colour when exP°fe^Q^n^l^tS
to air, and melts in the fire to a white, tranfparent, and t;ons,
permanent glafs. < /*—•»*
15. Regtdus of antimony is not adted upon diredtly, but
its calx is diffolved when precipitated by borax from
a folution in aqua regia.
16. White arfenic unites with fedative fait either in the
dry or moift way, and forms a cryftallizable compound,
forming either pointed ramifications, or a white, greyifti,
and yellowilh faline powder.
16. On regains of cohalt the acid has no direct aftion ;
but borax precipitates it from its folution, and the
calx melts with the fait into a flag of a bluilh-grey
colour; and this, by lixiviation and evaporation, affords
a fedative fait impregnated with cobalt, of a reddifti
white colour, and of a ramified form.
18. Nickel [5 precipitated from its folution, and the
fedative fait unites with it into a faline fubftance diffi¬
cult of folution.
A variety of opinions have been formed concerning
the nature of fedative fait. M. Beaume and M. Ca¬
det particularly have made a great number of experi¬
ments on the fubjeft; but as none of thefe have led to
any certain conclufion, we forbear to mention them at ,493
prefent. Thofe of Mtffrs Exfchaquet and Struve haveExperi-
indeed eftablilhed fome kind of relation between the me"tsma^c
acids of borax and phofphorus, and they have made
feveral attempts to analize the former, but with little nature 0f
fuccefs. The moft remarkable of thefe experiments the fedative
are the following. 1. They diftilled, with a ftrong
heat, two parts of phofphoric acid evaporated to the
confiftence of honey, one of fedative fait, and two of
water. Towards the end of the diftillation a very
acid liquor was obtained ; and the refiduum was a
white earth, in quantity above three-fourths of the fe¬
dative fait employed, and which, on examination, was
found to be the filiceous earth ; the liquor which paf-
fed over into the receiver being found to be the vo¬
latile phofphoric acid. If, in this experiment, too
much phofphoric acid be added, a greafy matter re¬
mains; and, if too little, a part of the fedative fait
will remain undecompofed. In their attempts to com-
pofe borax, they combined phofphoric acid with mi¬
neral alkali, the refult of which was a compound re-
fembling borax in many refpedls. When expofed to
the fire, it melts into a very fufible glafs, which has a
mild tafte, and feems neutral, but, on expofure to
the air, becomes moift and acid. On being faturated
with alkali a fecond time and vitrified, it again deli-
quefees and becomes acid ; and the more frequently
this operation is repeated, the greater is the refem-
blance it bears to borax. In this experiment they fup-
pofed that the alkali was decompofed, and converted
into an earth fimilar to that of fedative fait.
With earthy fubftances the refults were very re- •
markable. With earth of alum a cryftallizable fait
was obtained, which made paper bum with a green
flame. Fixed alkali added to a folution of this fait
precipitates an earth, and the fait then formed by
cryftallization refembles borax in feveral properties.—
In the dry way the earth of alum, with the phofpho¬
ric acid, melts into a glafs of the fame fufibility as
that of borax, and like it is fixed in the fire. The
fclution of this glafs did not cryftallize. Common;
day
5S2 C H E M I
Acid of clay djgelled R’lth phofphpric acid produces filky cry-
. -Anibt:r- i ftals refembling fedative fait. When dried with their
mother-water, thefe give a clear glafs, which, when
united with mineral alkali, has the talle of borax,
fmells in the fame manner, and has the fame effe£t up-
pon metals. With lime, magrtefia, and terra ponde-
rofa, this acid produces fufible glaffes, infoluble in
water, and which communicate a green colour to
flame. Earth of bones and felenite mixed with the
acid gave a white, hard, Ihining glafs, like the bell
cryftal, but as fufible as the glafs of borax, and which
continued flexible after it had ceafed to be red-hot.
Two parts of gypfum, with one of phofphoric acid,
gave a milk-white glafs fit for foldering metals and
enameling. In thefe experiments, however, it mult
be remembered, that unlefs the heat be raifed very
quickly, the phofphoric acid will be evaporated before
any fufion takes place.
VIII. Acid of Amber.
It was known to Agricola, that a particular kind
of fait could be obtained from amber by diftillation ;
but neither he, nor any fucceeding chemift for fome
time, afcertained its acid properties. On the contrary,
fome erred fo far as to imagine that it was a volatile al¬
kali; but, about the beginning of the prefent century, its
acidity began to be generally acknowledged. This
property indeed difcovers itfelf by the tafte, which is
mamfeftly acid and empyreumatic, along with the pe¬
culiar flavour of amber. According to Scheele, alfo,
the aqueous fluid which paffes over in the diftillation of
amber, is an acid refembling vinegar both in tafte and
chemical properties ; and which of confequence ought
not to be confounded with the true acid of amber,
1494 which manifefts qualities of a very different kind.
Methods The properties of fait of amber can hardly be in-
of purifying yeftigated until it has been purified 5 for which,' of
amber1 confecluence> various methods have been propofed.
Pott recommends cryftallization, after having filtered
the folution through cotton-wool, in order to retain
the oil. Cartheufer attempts the purification by dif-
folving the impure fait in fpirit of wine, then diluting
with fix times its quantity of water, and cryltallizing
the fait. Others recommend ftiblimation with com¬
mon fait or fand, and Bergman with pure clay.
The fait of amber diffolves, by the afiiftance of heat,
in nitrous and marine acids, and in the vitriolic with¬
out heat. In none of thefe combinations, however,
does it either alter the diffolving acids, or fuffer any
alteration itfelf, except that it becomes whiter; with
nitre it detonates and flies off; and if the quantity of
fait of amber has been greater than that of nitre, the
latter is alkalized. Stockar informs us, that it expels
the marine acid from fal ammoniac, and fublimes be¬
fore that fait j with which it does not form any union.
When fublimed from common fait, it does not alter the
latter in any other refpeft than giving it a darker colour.
It precipitates calcareous earth from its folution in vine¬
gar; and it decompofes fugar of lead; but the precipitate
differs from plumbum corneum. It does not prevent
the folution of lead in the acids fea-falt and nitre; nor
does it produce any fulphureous fmell by calcination
with charcoal. Hence it appears that it is neither a
vitriolic, nitrous, nor marine acid ; and M. Bourde-
S T It Y. Pradtice.
lin muft have been miftaken, when he affirms, that, Add of
after detonation of this fait with nitre, he obtained a^^^P^
refiduum, which tailed like common fait, decrepita-nat;ons
ted in the fire, yielded cryftals of a cubical form, pre-  
cipitated filver. and mercury from the nitrous acid ; and
thence concluded that it was the fame with acid of
fea-falt. It is very dear, as only about half an ounce
can be obtained from a pound of amber.
Acid of Amber combined,
1. With fixed vegetable alkali. By faturating fait of
amber with the fixed vegetable alkali, and then flow-
ly evaporating the folution, we obtain, according to
Wenzel, a light deliquefcent faline mafs; but, accord¬
ing to Stockar, whofe experiments are confirmed by
thofe of Mr Keir, the folution above mentioned affords
fhining white tranfparent cryftals of a triangular prif-
matic figure, with the terminating points truncated.
Thefe cryftals readily diffolve in water, deliquefce in
the air, and have a peculiarly bitter faline tafte. In
the fire they decrepitate, melt, and remain neutral ;
though Wenzel has obferved, that with an intenfe
heat they are decompofed and become alkaline. Thefe
cryftals do not change aquafortis into aqua-regia ; and
though they precipitate both the folutions of lead and
filver, the precipitates are neither plumbum corneum
nor luna cornea.
2. With mineral alkali. This combination produ¬
ces long three-fided columnar cryltals, intermixed
with fome that are foliated. Thefe cryftals do not de¬
liquefce in the air, and have a faline, bitter, and fmoky
tafte. They are lefs foluble than common fait, and
melt with more difficulty than nitre. They do not
become alkaline on burning coals, and, in their other
properties, refemble the former.
3. With volatile alkali. This fait /hoots into acicular
cryftals, having a /harp, faline, bitter, and cooling
ta/le ; when heated in a filver fpoon, they melt and
evaporate entirely ; in clofe veffels they fublime. They
do not precipitate folution of filver, nor change fpirit
of nitre into aqua-regis. A powerful antifpafmodic
remedy is prepared from reftified fpirit of hart/horn
and fait of amber.
4. With lime. This /hoots into oblong pointed cry¬
ftals, which do not deliquefce in the air, and are fo¬
luble with difficulty even in boiling water; nor, ac¬
cording to Mr Stockar de Neuforn, can they be de¬
compofed by diftillation either with acetous or marine
acids. They detonate by diftillation with nitrous acid;
and are decompofed, either in the moift or dry way,
by the vitriolic. When mixed with common fal am¬
moniac in the dry way, they fuffer a decompofition ;
the fuccinated ammoniacal fait flying off, and the com¬
bination of marine acid with lime remaining behind.
5. With magnefia. This yields a white, gummy,
frothy, faline mafs, which acquires a yellowifh colour
when dried by the fire; and, when cool, dehquates
in the air. It is deeompofed by alkalies and lime, as
well as by the vitriolic acid.
6. With clay. By uniting the acid of amber with
an edulcorated precipitate of alum with vegetable al¬
kali, Wenzel obtained prifmatic cryftals, which could
not be decompofed by alkalies.
7. Withfilver. The acid of amber has no effedl on
filver
I Fra&iee. C H E M
! A cid of filver in its metallic ftate ; but with its precipitate
1 nboerbTdforma t^n ob!onS cryftals> radiated and accumulated
I nation*1 l" uPon one another, from which the filver may be fepa-
i 1 - - rated by alkalies, by quickfilver, and by copper.
8. With copper. By a long digeftioa of copper with
acid of amber a green folution is obtained, \vhich by
mixture with common fait is rendered turbid, by vitri¬
olic acid white, and lets fall a green precipitate on the
addition of fixed alkali. Wenzel, however, could not
obtain this precipitation by alkalies. His folution
yielded groups of green cryftals, gave a cruft of cop¬
per to zinc, and was precipitated by liver of fulphur.
9. With iron. Wenzel diffolved a precipitate of this
metal in acid of amber, and from the folution obtain¬
ed imall, brown, tranfparent, and ftellated cryftals.
Zinc precipitated the metal, but not alkalies. From
a (lightly coloured folution of metallic iron, Pott ob¬
tained, by means of alkali, a white precipitate, which
fcon became yellow, and at length green, by pouring
water upon it.
10. With tin. Acid of amber diffolves tin when
precipitated by a fixed alkaliand the folution yields
thin, broad, and foliated tranfparent cryftals. Alka¬
lies throw down but little from this folution ; liver of
fulphur more ; and lead, iron, or zinc, nothing.
IX. With lead. Acid of amber whitens the furface
of lead in its metallic ftate, but does not diflblve it;
neither can lead be precipitated from its folutions in
nitrous and marine acids by fait of amber, though this
is denied by Pott. According to Stockar, however,
it forms a white precipitate with fugar of lead. This
metal precipitated by an alkali, and diffolved in acid
of amber, forms long foliated cryftals lying upon one
another ; from the folution of which the lead may be
precipitated by alkalies in the form of a grey powder,
and by zinc in its metallic Hate.
12. Zinc, in its metallic ftate, is readily diffolved by
the acid of amber ; and by a combination with the
precipitate formed by fixed alkali, we obtain long,
(lender, foliated cryftais, lying upon one another. The
folution lets fall a white precipitate on the addition of
fixed alkali; but this is denied by Stockar, who fays
that volatile alkali produces a red precipitate.
13. Bifmuth. By means of heat, Stockar obtained
a folution of this femimetal in acid of amber, which
was decompofed by alkalies. Wenzel obtained, from
a precipitate of bifmuth prepared by means of fixed
alkali, fmall, (lender, foliated, and yellow cryftals ;
which alkalies cannot decompofe, though black pre¬
cipitates are thrown down by lead and zinc.
14.. Regulus of antimony. Little or none of this fe¬
mimetal, in its reguline form, is diffolved in the acid
of amber; but it attacks the precipitate made with
fixed alkali. This folution is very copioully precipi¬
tated by liver of fulphur, but not by alkalies.
The combinations of this acid with gold, platina,
nickel, arfenic, and manganefe, have either been found
imprafticable, or not yet attempted ; all thofe above
defcribed are non-deliquefcent, and part with their
acid when expofed to fire. The elective attractions
of this acid, according to Bergman, are fingular, as
it adheres more ftrongly, not only to terra ponderofa
and lime, but to magnefia, than to fixed alkali.
On the origin of fait of amber, Mr Keir remarks,
that “ it deferves to: be confidered as a pure and di-
1ST R Y. 583
{limSt acid. No proofs have been adduced of its being Acid of
a modification either of the marine or vegetable acids, Amber and
as Mr Cornette and M. Hermbftadt have fuppofed. **
The former, having diftilled fpirit of fait with oil of -—
lavender, obtained an acid which fmelled like fait of 1495
amber, but on examination was found to retain the 0,1 the na«
properties of the.muriatic acid. He alfo relates, that, tuf® t!ie
when purifying a confiderable quantity of the fait of ^‘r> ° a
amber which he had prepared himfelf, fome fea-falt
was feparated, which in the diftillation had arifen along
with it. But this obfervation cannot be juftly applied
to (how any refemblance betwixt thefe two, any more
than the fmell in the former cafe could (how an analo¬
gy betwixt it and oil of lavender. This mixture of
fea-falt with acid of amber, however, may readily ex¬
plain the miftake of M. Bourdelin already mentioned.
M. Weftrumb and M. Hermbftadt have both laboured
in vain to convert the acid of amber into acids of fu¬
gar and tartar by frequent diftillations with fpirit of
nitre ; and their want of fuccefs confirms the account
already given, that the acids of nitre and amber have
no aftion upon each other, farther than that the for¬
mer is phlogifticated or changed into red -fumes, and
the latter becomes whiter. Neverthelefs, if Mr Scheele’s
obfervation of the identity of the acid liquor, which
comes over in the diftillation of amber with acetous
acid, holds good, we (hall have the beft reafon yet
given to afcribe the origin of this acid to the vegetable
kingdom ; and when we confider the very different
properties that are affumed by the vegetable acids,
which, however, are convertible into one another,
no reafon can be drawn from the diverfity of its pro¬
perties with thofe of other vegetable acids, againft its
having a common origin with them. Indeed the na¬
tural hiftory of amber, its fimilarity to gums and re¬
fins, and its involved infefts, afford pther arguments
in favour of the opinion.
IX. sicid of Arsenic.
1496-
M. Berthollet remarks upon Mr Scheele’s pro- M. Pelle*
cefs, that during the operation a great quantity offer’s mc-
dephlogifticated air is expelled from the acid. M. curin^The"
Pelletier has found another method of procuring the arfenseal
arfenical acid. He mixes common white asfenic with acid,
nitrous ammoniac, and diflils the mixture. At firft
phlogiilicated nitrous acid paffes over, then the vola¬
tile alkali, and laftly the arfenical acid remains in the
retort in form of a vitreous mafs, which deliquefces
into a very denfe acid liquor, reddening fyrup of vio¬
lets, and effervefcing with alkalies. M. Macquer had
formerly defcribed this procefs, and obferved, that the
nitrous acid paffes over firft, and then the volatile al¬
kali ; but was of opinion that the refiduum was no¬
thing but arfenic. He mentions a detonation which
took place in his experiment; but nothing of this kind"
was obferved by M. Pelletier t he only informs us,.
that the nitrous acid was driven over with great vio¬
lence, while that of arfenic united with the volatile al¬
kali. M. Berthollet, who has endeavoured to afeer-
tain the weight gained by the converlion of fulphur,.
phofphorus, and arfenic, into acids, determines ‘.hat.
of^trfenic to be about, one-ninth of the whole A t the
fame time he obferves, that this additional weight does
not dxfcover the whole weight,of the air contained in
£ the
5 94
G H E M I
Ad4ofMo» the arfenic, as it had that neeeffary to convert it into
lybdsna. cajx j3efore the operation of converting it into an acid
y was begun. On the other hand, M. Bergman alTerts,
that one-iifth of white arfenic is phlogifton, and that
this calx is converted into acid merely by being depri¬
ved of its phlogifton. Thus the faffs related by thefe
two celebrated chemifts differ enormoufly from one
another ; M. Berthollet affirming that the arfenic gains
a ninth of its original weight in the procefs of acidi¬
fication ; and M. Bergman, that it /ofes a fifth part of
the fame. M. Bei thollet endeavours'to reconcile this,
by fuppofing that Bergman had employed‘marine acid
for the preparation of his arfenical acid, which is well
known to carry off with it fome part of moft of thofe
fubftances with which it is capable of combining ; and
to this he attributes the lofs of weight in Bergman’s
procefs.
IX. Acid of Moltbdmnj.
1497
M. Pelle- The opinion of M. Bergman concerning the metal-
tier’s expe- fie nature of the acid of molybdasna has obtained fome
rimems. confirmation from the experiments of M. Pelletier.
He was not able indeed to obtain any regulus ; but by
means of oil alone he procured, by two hours vehe¬
ment heat, a fubftance flightly agglutinated with a
metallic luftre, containing fmall round grains of a grey
metallic colour, very vifible fey the help of a magnifier.
Thefe he fuppofes to have been a true regulus of mo-
lybdasna; which he found to poffefs the following pro¬
perties. 1. It is calculable by fire into white calx.
2. It detonates with nitre, and the refiduum is a calx
of molybdasna united with the alkali of the nitre. 3. It
is converted into a white calx by means of nitrous
acid. 4. It yields inflammable air when treated with
alkalies in the dry way, and forms peculiar compounds
with them. 5. It forms regenerated molybdaena with
fulphur. 6. It unites, and forms peculiar fubftances
with metals. By uniting it with filver, iron, and
copper, we have friable reguline maffes; and refractory
powders with lead and tin.
Our author, in confequence of his experiments, con-
fiders molybdsena as a metallic fubftance mineralized
by fulphur; and the earth called the acid of molyb¬
daena as a-calx much dephlogifticated, which has re¬
tained part of the air contained in the nitrous acid.
He obferves likewife an analogy betwixt molybdaena
and antimony in their chemical refults. Both of them
yield vitrifiable argentine flowers by fimilar operations,
and both are changed into white garths by nitrous
acid ; but they differ in the two following refpefts.
1. The latter eafily gives a fufible regulus; but the
ntolybdasna feems to be the moft refra&ory of all the
femimetals. 2. The calx of regulus of antimony is
foluble by alkalies in the moift way, but that of mo¬
lybdaena is not.
X. Acid of T’cngsten or IVolfr/im.
Properties h-R Luyart, who has examined this mineral, gives
of tungfter. the following account of it. 1. It is infufible by the
blow-pipe, though the angles of the pieces into which
it is broken are thereby rounded. 2. It effervefees
with mierocofmic fait, and melts before the blow-pipe
into a reddifh glafs. 3. With borax it effervefees;
N° 75.
S T R Y. Pra#ice;
and by the outward flame of the blow pipe is changed Acid of
into a reddilh glafs ; by the internal flame into a green- Tungfteii,
ilh one. 4. Heated by itfelf in a crucible, it fwelled, y
became fpongy, femivitrified, and was attradled by
the magnet. 5. With an equal part of nitre it deto¬
nated, or boiled up with a blue flame round the edges,
and nitrous vapours arofe. The mafs was foluble in
water, and let fall a white precipitate with acid. 5. It
melted readily with fixed alkali, leaving a kind of black
matter in the crucible, and a fmaller quantity of
lighter coloured fubftance on the filter. Thefe refi-
duums ftiowed a mixture of iron and manganefe. 6.
With nitrous acid the filtered folution let fill a white
precipitate, at firft fweet, but afterwards bitterifti and
ftiarp, and which caufed a difagreeable fenfation in the
throat; and the acidity of the folution of it was ma-
nifeft, by its turning the tinfture of turnfole red.
Having examined the fubftance by means of liquid*
in Mr Scheele’s way, they obtained the fame yellow
powder which he had charafterized as the acid of
tungften, along with a very fmall fefiduum, which ap¬
peared to contain a mixture of tin. Proceeding far¬
ther in the analyfis, they found that wolfram is com-
pofed of manganefe, calx of iron, the yellow matter
called the acid of tungjlen by Bergman and Scheele,
with a very little mixture of quartz and tin, and which
they confideted as accidental.
They now proceeded to examine the yellow matter, Of the yel-
fuppofed by the two celebrated chemifts juft mention- 'ow matter,
ed to be a fimple acid fait, but which turned out veiT acid b ^ Mr
different on their inquiries. In order to procure a gcheek,
quantity of it, they melted fix ounces of wolfram with
as much vegetable alkali, diffolved the mixture in di-
ftilled water, filtrated the liquor, and evaporated it to
drynefs. Thus they obtained a white fait; upon
which, when dry, they poured nitrous acid, and fet
it to boil in a fand-bath ; by which operation it be¬
came yellow. They then decanted the liquor, pour¬
ing frefh acid upon the refiduum ; and repeated the
operation a third time in order to deprive it of all the
alkali. The remaining powder was then calcined in a
cupelling furnace under a muffle, when it came out
quite pure and yellow. The properties of it were
then found to be as follow. 1. It is entirely infipid,
and of the fpecific gravity of 6.12. 2. Before the
blow-pipe, it continues yellow in the exterior flame
even though put on charcoal; but grows black and
fvvells, though it does not melt, in the internal flame.
3. In the internal flame it forms a blue tranfparent
glafs with microcofmic fait. The colour vaniflies in
the external flame, but appears again in the internal
one ; but by a continuance of this operation, it at laft
lofes its colour fo much that it cannot be recovered.
4. It effervefees, and forms a brownifli yellow tranf¬
parent glafs with borax, which keeps its colour in
both flames. 6. When triturated with water, it forms
an emulfion which paffes through filters without be¬
coming clear, and continues a long time without any
depolition. 7. It is infoluble in acids, but diffolves
readily in the vegetable alkali both in the moift and dry
way; though the produce has always an excels of alkali.
8. On adding nitrous acid in greater quantity than
what is neceffary to faturate this excefs, a white pow¬
der falls, which is the fame with the acid of tungften dif-
coveredby Mr Scheele ; but which Meffrs Luyarts will
IV a cl ice. C H E M
Acid of not allow to be a ilm^le aoid, though they admit that
Tu^gften. jj. containS one ; and affirm, that its properties are va-
‘ "‘v rious according to the circumftances of its precipita-
No fimple t‘on* The properties of it, as defcribed by them, are
acid procu- the following, i. It is fulible before the blow-pipe,
rabie from exhibiting the fame phenomena as the yellow matter,
tungftcn. 2- By calcination in a little pot or teft, it emits the
fmell of nitrous acid, and turns yellow ; but, on cool¬
ing, remains white, infipid, and infoluble; and this
refrduum melts by itfelf before the blow-pipe.' 3. A
yellow colour is produced either by vitriolic or marine
acids; and the filtrated liquor affords a neutral fait
with bafis of fixed alkali, according to the nature- of
the acid employed. If the vitriolic acid is employed,
and the operation performed in a retort, a quantity of
nitrous acid paffes over. 4. If, inftead of pouring .the
acid on the fait, it be poured upon its folution, no pre¬
cipitate will be formed, not even by making the liquor
boil, if the quantity of acid is fmall; only the folution
lofes its fweet tafte, and acquires more bitternefs. On
jxmring on a large quantity of acid, and caufing the
liquor boil, a yellow precipitate is formed in every
refpett fimilar to the yellow matter fo often mentioned,
jf. This fait is completely diffolved by boiling with
vinegar. On leaving the folution to cool, a white
waxy matter adheres to the fides of the veffel; which
being wafhed and kneaded with the fingers, forms an
adhefive mafs like bird-lime, having a fat and greafy
tafte. By expofure to the air it acquires a dark grey
colour, lofes its adhefive property, and becomes bitter.
It diffolves in water ; and gives it firft a fweet, then a
bitter tafte, making the tindfure of turnfole red. 6.
On evaporating the alkaline folution to drynefs, pour¬
ing acetous acid upon the refiduum, and then making
it boil, the. greater part of the refiduum was dif-
folved, and on cooling afforded feathery cryftals. Thefe
■ when edulcorated had a fweet tafte, though lefs ftrong
than that of the former fait, which afterwards be¬
came bitter. Their folution turned blue paper red;
was precipitated, and became like an emulfion with fpi-
rit of wine ; and the refiduum, which did not diffolve,
appeared to be of the fame nature. The cryftals dif¬
folved in frefh acetous acid, and communicated a blue
Colour to the acid ; but this gradually difappeared on
cooling, and a glutinous matter was depofited on the
fides of the veflel, which had the properties of the
former fubftance of that fort. If, in place of letting
the folution cool, it fhould be kept boiling, the blue
colour difappears, and nothing is precipitated. By ad¬
ding fpirit of wine when the liquor is almoft evapora¬
ted to drynefs, a white powder is precipitated ; which,
after being edulcorated with frefh fpirit of wine, taftes
exceedingly bitter, and is very foluble in water. This
Solution, howeyer, does not redden blue paper, nor
make a blue with vinegar. With vitriolic acid its
folution is blue; with vitriol of copper-it forms a white
precipitate. All thefe falts, by calcination, firft be¬
come blue, then yellow, and laftly white. 7. On
pouring a quantity of lime-water upon the-folutioii of
the precipitate formed by the nitrous acid, as well as
on thofe obtained by the acetous acid, white precipi¬
tates were formed, all of which were a true regenera¬
ted tungften. Having afterwards impregnated the li¬
quors with fixed air, and boiled them in order to pre¬
cipitate the lime more completely, they found in the
Vo l. IV. Part II.
I S TRY. S8S
folutions, after they were filtrated and evaporated to Acid of
drynefs, neutral falts formed of the precipitating acids, rui!gi:c«-
joined with alkaline and calcareous bafes. This pro- v '
ved, that both alkali and acid were concerned in the
precipitation. 8. On pouring the vitriolic folutions of
iron, copper, and zinc, as well as that of marine mercu¬
rial fait, alum, and Pruffian alkali, upon the folutian
of the precipitate formed by the nitrous acid, no pre¬
cipitation enfues, and the acetous falts of copper and
lead give white precipitates; but the Pruffian alkali
forms no precipitate with the acetous falts. Hence it
appears, that this fait is not a fimple acid, but rather
a fait compofed of the yellow matter, fixed alkali, and
the precipitating acid; and its compofition appears
more fully from the following experiments with the
volatile alkali.
1. The yellow powder diffolves entirely in volatile
alkali, but without any perfect faturation taking place,;
and the alkali always prevails. 2. The folution being
fet in a fand-bath, produced needle-like cryftals, which
had a fharp bitter tafte, exciting a difagreeable fen-
fation in the throat. Their folution turned the tinc¬
ture of turnfole red, and the liquor from which they
were cryftallized had the fame properties. 3. Having
repeated this operation with different quantities of the
fame cryftals, leaving fome longer on the fire than
others, folutions were obtained, whofe acidity was in
proportion to the time they had remained on the fire ;
but during the operation they all emitted the fmell of
volatile alkali. By calcination this alkali was entirely
diflipated, and the refiduum was a yellow powder, per-
fectly fimilar to that with which the operation was be¬
gun. On making ufe of a retort for the operation,
the remaining powder was blue. 4. This fait precipi¬
tates the vitriolic falts of iron, copper, zinc, and alum,
calcareous nitre, marine mercurial fait, the acetous
falts of lead and copper ; and with lime-water regene- -
rates tungften. The vitriolic acid decompounds it,
and forms a blue precipitate ; the nitrous aud marine
acids produce a yellow ; but no precipitate isoccafton-
ed by the Pruffian alkali.
Having poured nitrous acid upon a portion of the
folution with excefs of alkali, a white powder was pre¬
cipitated, which, after edulcoratiqn, had a tafte at firit
fweet, but afterwards fharp and bitter, and its folution
turned the tinfture of turnfole red. This, on exami¬
nation, appeared to be a triple fait formed of the
yellow powder, volatile alkali, and the precipitating
at:^* ... .
The following .experiments realize.the conjecture of A kind of
Bergman, that the acid of tungften is the bafts of a femimetal
particular femimetal. Pr0^u^ie
1. “ Having kept 100 grains of the yellow powder tUU^
(fays M. Luyart) in a Zamora crucible well covered,
and fet the whole in a ftrong. fire for half an hour, it
became a fpongy mafs of a bluifii black colour, the
furface of which was cryftallized into fine points, like
plumofe antimony, and the in fide compact, and of the
fame colour. It was too hard to be broken in pieces
by the fingers.; and, when ground, was reduced to
a dark-blue colour.
2. “ Having mixed 100 grains of the fame powder
with 100 of fulphur, and put the mixture in a Zamo¬
ra crucible on a ftrong fire for a quarter of an hour, it
came out a dark-blue mafs, which was eafily broke by
4 F. the
jSS C H E M 1
Acid of .the fingers ; and the infide prefented a cryflallization
Tungftcn. neeclles as the laft, but tranfparent, and of the
^ » colour of a dark lapis lazuli. This mafs weighed 42
grains, and when placed on burning coals yielded no
fmell of fulphur.
3. “ Having put another 100 grains of this powder
into a Zamora crucible, provided with charcoal, and
well covered, and placed it in a ftrong fire, where it
remained an hour and a half, we found, on breaking
the crucible after it was cool (a), a button, which fell
to powder between the fingers. Its colour was dark
brown ; and on examining it with a glafs, there was
feen a congeries of metallic globules, among which
fome were the bignefs of a pin’s head, and when broke
had a metallic appearance at the fra&ure in colour like
fteel. It weighed 60 grains; of courfe there was a di¬
minution of 40. Its fpecific gravity was 17.6. Having
calcined part of it, it became yellow, with increafe
of weight. Having put one portion of this fubilance
powdered, in digeffion with the vitriolic acid, and
another with the marine acid, neither of them fuffered
more diminution than of their weight; then de¬
canting the liquor, and examining the powder with a
glafs, the grains were ftill perceived of a metallic a-
fpeft. Both the acid liquors gave a blue precipitate
with the Pruffian alkali, which let us know that the
fmall diminution proceeded from a portion of iron
which the button had undoubtedly got from the pow¬
der of the charcoal in which it had been fet. The ni¬
trous acid, and aqua-regia, extracted likewife from two
other portions the ferruginous part ; but belides, they
converted them into' yellow powder, perfectly fimilar
to that which we ufed in this operation,
4. “ Having put 100 grains of gold and fifty of the
yellow powder in a Zamora crucible furniihed with
charcoal, and kept it in a ftrong fire for three quarters
of an hour, there came out a yellow button, which
crumbled in pieces between the fingers ; the infide of
which fhowed grains of gold, feparated from others of
a dark-brown colour. This demonftrated there had not
been a perfeA fufion, and likewife that this fubftance
was more refradlory with gold, fince the heat which it
endured was more than fufficient to have mdted it.
The button weighed 139 grains; of courfe there was a
diminution of 11 grains. Having put this button
with lead in the cupelling furnace, the gold remained
pure in the cupel; but this operation was attended
with confiderable difficulty.
5. “ Having made a mixture of platina and yellow
powder in the preceding proportions, and expofed it
to a ftrong fire, with- the fame circumftances, for an
hour and a quarter, it produced a button which crum¬
bled with eafe between the fingers, and in which the
grains of platina were obferved to be more white than
ufual, and fome of them changed fenfibly in their fi¬
gure. This button weighed 140 grains, and of con-
fequence there had been a lofs of 10 grains. When
calcined, it took a yellow colour, with very little in¬
creafe of weight; and after walking it to leparate the
platina, there remained li.8 grains of a black colour.
i S T It Y. Praaice.
Having placed this portion again to calcine over a Acid of
ftrong fire in a muffle, it fuffered no fenfible alteration Tungften.
in weight or colour ; for it neither grew yellow, nor v "f
took the brown colour of the platina, but kept the fame
b'acknefs as before it was calcined. It muft be attend¬
ed to, that in the walkings there was not fo much
care taken to colled! all the platina as to deprive it of
the yellow colour, and for this reafon the water car¬
ried off part of the fine black powder ; and confeqUent-
ly the increafe which the platina. preferved, after being
waffled and calcined the fecond time, ought to be com¬
puted more than the 18 grains which it Ihowed by its
weight.
“ Having mixed the yellow powder with other me¬
tals in the preceding proportions, and treated them in
the fame manner, the refult was as follows :
6. “ With filver it formed a button of a whitiffl-brown
colour, fomething fpongy, which with a few ftrokes
of a hammer extended itfelf eafily, but on continuing
them fplit in pieces. ' This button weighed 142 grains,. •
and is the moft perfedt mixture we have obtained,
except that with iron*
7. “ With copper it gave a button of a copperiffi
red, which approached to a dark, brown, was fpongy,
and pretty dudfile,. and weighed I33 grains.
8. “ With crude or caft-iron, of a white quality, it
gives a perfedbbutton, the fradlure of which was com-
padt, and of a whitiffl brown colour: it was hard,
harffl, and weighed 137 grains.
9. “ With lead it formed a button of a dull dark-
brown, with very little luftre ; fpongy, very dudlile,
and fplitting into leaves when hammered: it weighed.
L27 grains.
10. “The button formed with tin was of a lighter-
brown than the laft, very fpongy, fomewhat dudlile,.
and weighed 138 grains.
n.-“ That with antimony was of a dark-brown co¬
lour, fflining, fomething fpongy, harffl, and broke in
pieces eafily : it weighed 108 grains.
12. “ That of bifmuth prefented a fradlure, which,
when feen in one light, was of a dark-brown colour,
with the luftre of a metal ; and in another appeared
like earth, without any luftre : but in both cafes one
could diftinguiffl an infinity of little holes over the
whole mafs. This button was pretty hard, harfli, and
weighed 63 grains.
13, “ With manganefe it gave a button of a dark,
bluiffl-brown colour and earthy afpedl ; and on exa¬
mining the internal part of it with a lens, it refem-
bled impure drops of iron : it weighed 107 grains.”
XI. IdciD of Ants..
Etmuller is among the firft authors who mentions
the exiftence of this acid, and fpeaks of obtaining it
by diftillation. Nothing of its properties, however,,
was known, until Margraaf undertook to examine it;
of whofe experiments we have an. account in the.
Memoirs of the Berlin Academy for 1749. Since his
time anumbei of chemifts. have profecuted the fubjedt
to
(a) “ The firft time we made this experiment, we broke the crucible without letting it cool entirely; and
as foon as the matter was in contadf with the air, it took fire, and its dark bjrown colour turned inftantly yel-~
low.’*-
Practice. C H E M
Acid of to a confideraMy greater length ; but Mr Keir prefers
. Ants' the refearches of Arvidfon, Bucholtz, and Hermbftadt,
v to the reft.
The acid in queftion is a natural juice which the in-
fefts difcharge when irritated, and which is very pun¬
gent to the fmell as well as tafte. Thus it may in-
ftantly be perceived on turning up an ant-hill in fpring
or fummer. The formica rubra of Linnxus are-thofe
Different which have hitherto fupplied this acid. Mr Ar-
methods of vidfon advifes to collect them in the months of June
obtaining and July, by laying fome fniooth flicks upon an ant-
*his acid, jjjij . which being then difturbed, the ants will run
upon the flicks in great numbers, and may then be
fwept off into a veffel containing water until it be full.
Hermbftadt colledls them in the fame manner, but into
a dry bottle, to avoid the evaporation of the fuper-
fluous liquid. Bucholtz having moiftened the infide
of a narrow necked glafs bottle with honey and water,
funk it into a difturbed ant-hill until the mouth was
level with the ground; on which the infects, allured
by the fmell of the honey, went into the bottle, and
could ftot get out.
For obtaining the acid, Margraaf employed diftil-
lation, with the addition of frefli water. Thus he ob¬
tained, from 24 ounces of frefh ants, 11 ounces and
two drachms of acid, fome volatile alkali, empyreuma-
tic oil, and a refiduum containing earth and fixed fait.
Arvidfon made ufe of two methods : One confifted in
diftilling the ants when dry ; from a pound of which,
in this ftate, he obtained eight ounces of acid befides
the empyreumatic oil. His ether method was to in-
clofe, in a piece of linen, the ants previoufly cleaned
by wafhing in water, then to pour boiling water upon
them, and to repeat the operation until it could ex-
tradt no more acid; which is then obtained by fqueezing
the linen, mixing all the liquors, and filtering them.
Thus from a pound of ants he obtained a quart of acid
liquor, which tailed like vinegar, but was fpecifically
heavier. By diftillation Hermbftadt obtained from a
pound of dry ants ten ounces and a half of yellow em¬
pyreumatic liquor, which did not tafte more ftrongly
acid than the fpirit obtained by diftilling wood, on
which fwam three drachms of a brown.fetid oil, in all
refpe&s lik§ that of hartfhorn. In the retort was left
a black refiduum weighing one ounce fix drachms,
which exhibited figns of containing volatile alkali. By
diftilling a pound of ants with three of water, according
to Mr Margraaf’s method, he obtained an acid liquor
and fome oil in the receiver; and from the furface of
that which remained undiftilled, he collected a drachm
and an half of fat oil.
The fpecific gravity of the acid liquor obtained by
Mr Arvidfon’s maceration was 1.0011 ; that of the
fame liquor, when diftilled, x.ooyj; and of the acid
concentrated by freezing, 1.0453. According to
Bucholtz, the acid liquor thus obtained" by macera¬
tion did not grow in the leaft mouldy in the fpace of
fiuur weeks; during which it was allowed to reft in
order to free itfelf perfectly from the impurities it con¬
tained. Mr Hermbftadt, however, prefers MargraaPs
method of diftillation to that of Arvidfon’s macera¬
tions, not only as being a more perfedt analyfis, but as
lefs laborious ; though he finds fault alfo with Mar¬
graaPs method, as diluting the acid too much, and al¬
tering it fo that it has not the fmell of living ants. He
I S T R Y. 587
totally difapproves of the method of diftilling dried Acid of
ants, as the acid is thus in a great meafure decom- Ants-
pofed, and the remainder united with much oil. To ' ""J
avoid all thefe inconveniences, he contrived another
method, namely, to exprefs the juice of the infedls; by
which means he obtained at once a concentrated liquor
fit for diftillation. In this way he obtained from two
pounds of dried ants 21 ounces and two drachms of
juice, which had a pungent and highly acid fmell, re-
fembling the vapours of fluor acid ; in tafte refembling
concentrated vinegar and acid of tartar; to which laft it
might be compared for ftrength of acidity. By di¬
ftilling eight ounces of this expreffed liquor, he ob¬
tained fix ounces and a half of clear acid, equal in
ftrength to a very concentrated vinegar.
The acid, when thus procured in purity, has a pun- Properties
gent, not unpleafant fmell, a fharp, cauftiq tafte, andofthepurs
an agreeable acidity. It reddens blue paper, fyrup of
violets, and litmus; blackens ’the vitriolic acid, and
converts part of it into a fulphureous vapour. It is al¬
fo decompofed by diftillation with nitrous acid. Spirit
of fait likewife, when dephlogifticated, decoinpofes it,
but not in its ordinary ftate. It does not form fulphur
by an Union with phlogifton, but produces inflamma¬
ble vapours by ditTolving iron or zinc. By the af-
fiftaace of a gentle heat it diflblves foot, but oils with
much more difficulty, and powder of charcoal not at
all. It does not unite with vitriolic ether; but in di-
ftilling a mixme of this acid with fpirit of wine, Mr
Arvidfon faw fome traces of an ether, and M. Bu¬
choltz pcrfedlly fucceeded in making an ether by means
of it. It unites with fixed alkali, forming, according
to M. Margraaf, a neutral fait, confifting of oblong de-
liquefcent cryftals, from which very little acid could
be procured by diftillation per fe ; but on adding cqn-
centrated oil of vitriol, a very ftrong and pure acid was
obtained ; from a mixture of which with fpirit of wine,
M. Bucholtz readily obtained a true ether. With
mineral alkali it forms deliquefcent foliated cryftals of
a faline bitter taite, and foluble in twice their weight
of water. With volatile alkali it forms an ammonia-
cal liquor ; wdiich, according to Arvidfon, cannot be
brought into a dry ftate ; but Mr Arvidfon fays he
has obtained cryftals from it, though very thin and
deliquefcent. Margraaf obtained dry cryftals by uni¬
ting this acid with chalk or coral; and Arvidfon ob-
ferves that this fait is tranfparent, cubical, or rhom-
boidal, nondeliquefcent, foluble insight parts of water,
of a bitter tafte, and infoluble in fpirit of wine. No
acid can be obtained from it by diftillation per fe. From
a folution of magnefia in this acid, Mr Arvidfon ob¬
tained fome faline particles by depofition, and after*
wards an efflorefcence of tranfparent fait rifing tound
a faline mafs. This fait had fcarcely any tafte, was
foluble in 13 parts of water, and infoluble in fpirit of
wine. With ponderous earth the acid formed a du¬
ller of bitter needle-like cryftals, which did not deli-
quefce, were foluble in four times their quantity of
water infoluble in fpirit of wine, and when burnt gave
out a fmell like that of burnt fugar, leaving a coal
which effervefced with acid. It unites with diffi¬
culty to the earth of alum, and can fcaicely be
faturated with it. It does not precipitate iilver,
lead, or mercury, from their folution in nitrous
acid; whence it feems to have no affinity to the ma-
4 E 2 rine
583
G H E M I S T R Y. Pradice.
Acid of nne acid : and as it does not precipitate lime from the
, APP es- marine acid, it feems to have as little with the vitriolic.
jjo4 From his experiments, however, Margraaf concluded,
Has an affi- that the acid of ants, in many refpedts, though not in
nuy with hag a great affinity with the acetous acid. From
acid aCetSUSt^“s ^ is diftinguifhed by forming different compounds,
and likewife by having different affinities. It dif-
lodges the acetous acid alio in all inftances, and the
arfenieal acid from cobalt and nickel. It has a great¬
er attradlion for fixed alkalies than for lime.
Its effe&s Asa folvent it adds but weakly upon copper; not
on metals. at all, or very little, on filver, lead, tin, regulus of an¬
timony, or bifmuth, but ftrongly on iron or zinc. It
diffolves, however, the calces of copper, filver, zinc,
and lead, without affefting thofe of tin, regulus of an¬
timony, or bifmuth. The calx of quickfilver, accord¬
ing to Margraaf, is revived by it. According to Ar-
vidfon, it cryitallizes with iron, zinc, or lead; does
not aft upon the regulus of antimony, of arfenic, co¬
balt, or nickel ; though it diffolves, their calces as
well as the precipitate of manganefe. Gold, mercury,
and the calx of platina, are not affefted by it ; but it
cryffallizes with thofe of copper, filver, lead, bifmuth,
and mercury.
In its ftrength of attraction, the acid of ants ex-
1506 cec^s' thofe of vinegar, borax,.and the volatile fulphu-
Acid pro- reous and nitrous acids. InfeCIs armed with flings,
cured from as bees, wrafps,-and hornets, are likewife faid to dif-
vanousm- charge a very acid juice when irritated; and Mr Bon-
‘s' net hasobferved a very ftrong acid ejedled by a cater¬
pillar which he diftinguifhes by the name of grande che¬
nille du fauje a queu fcurchue. None of thefe,,. however,
* have, been as yet particularly examined..
XII. Acm of Apples.
1507
Atid of ci¬
trous how
procured.
T50S
acid procu¬
red from
the juice of
fi uiis.
Th at the juices of unripe fruits contain fome kind
of acid has been univcrfally known, and attempts to
inveftigafe the nature of it. have been made fome time
ago : but it is to Mr Scheele that we owe the difeo-
very of tire particular acid now treated of. He had
obferved that the juice of citrons contained a particur
lar acid ; which, by being united with lime, formed*a
fait very infcluble in water ; and which therefore by
means-of lime could be readily feparated; from the
mucilaginous part of the juice. By adding vitriolic
acid to this compound of lime with the acid juice, al-
moft in the fame manner in which he ufed to. procure
the acid of tartar, the lime was again, feparated, and
the pure acid of citrons obtained. Proceeding in the
fame manner with,other fruit, he found that, an acid,
agreeing in . every refpefb with that of citrons, could
be procured from the juice of the ribes grojfularui.
Examining the juice which remained after the re¬
paration - of the former, acid from the citrons, he
found that it ftill contained another acid;, which being
fiiturated with more, calcareous earth, formed a fait
ealily foluble in water, and therefore remaiuedfufpendT
ed in-the juice. To feparate this new fait, he added
fome fpirit of wine, by which the fait was precipita,
ted; but.finding that it.ftill contained much gummy
matter, he judged that it would be.proper to attempt a
feparation of this, gum before he precipitated the fait.
For this purpofe he evaporated fome of the juice of the
ilbes groffularia to the confluence, of honey, diffolving
the mafs afterwards in fpirit of wine. Thus the acids, Acid of
which are Toluble in the fpirit, were eafily feparated, APPles- t
by filtration from the infoluble gum. He then eva- v
porated the fpirit, adding to the remainder twice its
quantity of water, with as much chalk as was neceft
fary for the faturation. The liquor was next boiled
for two minutes ; during which the infoluble fait was
precipitated, and the liquor feparated from it by fil¬
tration contained the folution of chalk in the new
acid. To this folution he added fpirit of wine, which-
again precipitated the fait, while fome faponaceous
and faccharine matters remained diffolved in the fpi-
Havingthus at laft obtained the fait in a ftatt of pu-its proper—
rity, he proceeded to examine its nature ; and lound, ties.
1. That fome of it, fpread on,his nail, foon dried,
and affumed the appearance of varnifh. 2. It was
very foluble in water, and turned litmus red. 3. When
the folution had ftood fome days expofed to air, it was
found to have depofited a number of imall cryftals,
which could only be diffolved by, a quantity of boiling
water; and this fait was alto found to be completely
neutralized, fo that it yielded its calcareous earth to
a fixed alkali. 4. The fait was deebmpofed by heatr
ing per fe in a crucible, and left a mild calcareous
earth. 5. The acid was feparated from the earth by
adding oil of vitriol diluted with water until gypfum
was no longer precipitated, and the new acid was left
difengag.ed, lo that it could be ftparated by filtration.
6. By this operation, however, all the lime was not
precipitated, fo that the feparation of the acid was not
complete. 7. He obferved that the acid had a greater
attradlion for lead than for lime; and therefore made
ufe of the method, he had formerly difoovered for fe-
parating the acid of. forrel. To the acid he added a
folution of fugar of lead; by which the aeid was preen
pitated along with the lead, and the vinegar was left ,^10
in the liquor. To this precipitate, cleaned from How pro—
the acetous acid by filtration, he added vitriolic acid, cured in
which expelled the weaker vegetable one, and thusPI1"
left it quite pure and free frcip any heterogeneous™^*
mixture..
The juice ofi-apples^either ripe or-unripe, was found
to contain no acid of citrons, but a large quantity of
the.new acid; which,.being thus alone, he could more
eafily procure by a Angle operation. The heft method,
of procuring this he found to be by faturating the
juice of the apples with a folutipn of fixed vegetable
alkali, and pouring a folution of fugar of lead to that
of the-fait juft mentioned. The efledt.of this was-a
double decompolition, and a preciptate of lead com¬
bined with the new acid.. To the edulcorated pre¬
cipitate he then added a. dilute vitriolic acid till he
could no longer perceive any fweet talle in the liquor; ,
for the firft portions of the vitriolic acid diffolve a part
of the calx of lead, and impart a. fweetiflr tafie to the
liquor, which is fenfible, notwithilanding its acidity;:
but when the quantity of vitriolic acid is fufficient to
faturate the whole*of the calx, all the metal falls to the
bottom,.and. the fweetnefs ceales.; fo that the acid is at
once obtained pure.
The acid of apples is pofleffed of the following pro-Properties
perties. 1. It cannot be cryftallized, but always re-of it when
mains in a liquid ilate ; or, if much evaporated, at-, “gained
trafts.the moilluie of the air. 2. With fixed alkalies j,,ice of
of apples.
Pradice. C II E MIST Pv Y.
589
AcW of 0f all kinds it forms deli'qnefcent falts. 3. With cal-
, A-,'P careons earth it fdrn’-s fma'l irregularly fhaped cryftals,
which cannot be diffolved but in a large quantity of
boiling water ; but if the acid is fuperabundant, the
fait readily diflblvesin lime-water. 4. It is affefted by
ponderous earth in the fame manner as by lime,
c. Earth of alum forms, with the aoid of apples, a fait
not very foluble in water. 6. With magnetia the acid
forms a deliquefcent fait. 7. Iron is diffolved into a
brown liquor, which does not cryftallize. 8. The fo-
lutiorr of zinc affords fine cryftals, 9. On other me¬
tals it has no remarkable effedls. From the acid of-
citrons it differs. 1. The acid of citrons fhoots into
fine cryftals. 2. The acid of apples can be eafily con¬
verted into that of fugar, which Mr Scheele could not
accoroplifh with that of citrons; though Mr Weftrumb
has fince done it. 3. The fait formed with the citron
acid and lime is almoft infoluble in water ; but that
with acid of apples and lime is eafily foluble. 4. Acid
of apples precipitates mercury, lead, and filver, from
their folution in nitrous acid, and likewife the folution
of gold, when diluted with water; but the acid of
citrons does not alter any of thefe folutions. 5. The
acid of citrons feems to have a greater attraftion for
lime than that of apples.
Produced It is remarkable that this acid is the firft produced in
from fuoar the procefs for making fugar. If a diluted acid of
by of njtre be drawn off from a quantity of fugar until the
nitrous a- m[xture becomes a little brown, which is a fign that
all the* nitrous acid is evaporated, the fyrup will be
found to have acquired a fourifh tafte; and if, by
means of lime, we next feparate all the acid of fugar,
another will ftill remain, which diffolves the calcareous
earth. When this acid is faturated with chalk, and
the folution filtered and mixed with fpirit of wine, a
coagulation takes place; On feparating the curdled
part by means of a fieve, diffolving it in water, and
then adding fome vinegar of lead, the oalx of lead will
be precipitated-; and if - the new acid is then feparated
fronv the metal by means of diluted oil of vitriol, it
will be found to poffefs all the properties of the acid
of apples, and is indeed the fame. - The fpirit of wine,
which has been employed to precipitate the calcare¬
ous fait, leaves on evaporation a refiduum of a bitter
tafte, very ddiquefcent, and ffmilar to the faponaceoua
extract ofithe citron.
The following are the refults of Mr Scheele’s ex¬
periments with the nitrous acid upon different fub-
Fx-eri-^ fiances.. r. From gum Arabic he obtained both the
ments with acid of apples and of fugar. 2. The fame products
nitrous acid were; obtained from manna. 3. From fugar of milk
'?r!Y3'i|,us he obtained not only its own peculiar acid, but thole.
b ances. of apple3 and fugar. 4. Gum: tra^acanth, during its
folution in nitrous acids, lets fail a white powder,
which w'as found to be the acid of the fugar of milk.
This gum contained alfo the acid of apples and of fu-;
gar, and a fait formed'from lime and the acid of ap¬
ples. 5. Starch left an undiflblved matter ;, which be¬
ing feparated by filtration, and walhed, refembled a
thick oil like tallow, which, however, was found to be
very foluble in fpirit of wine. By diftillation he obtain¬
ed from this oily' matter an acid fimilar to that of vine^
gar, and an oil which has the fmell of tallow, and con¬
geals by.cold ;.and, befides theft fubltances, he found
that ftarch yielded the acids of apples and fugar. Acid of
6. From the root of lalep he obtained the acid of ap-, AP* *es~ ,
pies, with a large quantity of calcareous faccharine "■"V""*"”'
fak. 7. Extraift of aloes indicated the exillence of
the acids of fugar and apples, and loft the greateft'
part of its bitter tafte. During, the digeftion a refi-
nous matter was feparated, which fmelled like flowers
of benzoin, and took fin e on being heated 'in a re¬
tort. 8. Extrail of colocynth was converted by ni-
trous acid into a refinous .fubftance, and ftiowed fome -
figns of containing acid of fugar. 9. The extracts
of Peruvian bark and of the other plants examined by
Mr Scheele, gave both the acids of apples and fugar.
10. Thefe two acids wrere likewife obtained from an
infufion of roafted coffee^'evaporated to the confiftenco
of a fyrup. 11. The fame products were obtained
from an extradl of rhubarb, which yielded alfo a
refinous matter. 12. Juice of poppies afforded the
fame refuks. 13. Extrail of galls did the- fame. ■
14. The effential oils afforded little or hone of the
acids; but the oil of patfley feeds fc-emed to be
entiiely convertible into them. iy. With a very
concentrated acid he was able alfo to decompofe ani¬
mal fubftances. Erom glue he thus obtained fine
cry flak of acid of fugar, and afterwards acid of apples.
Ifinglafs, whites and yolks of eggs, afforded the fame-
produils. From all thefe fubftances, efpecialiy the
laft, a fat matter was feparated; but it waslemarkabie
that the gas, expelled during the procefs, was com-
pofed of a little fixed air, a great quantity of phlo-
gifticated air, and very little nitrous air; whereas no
phlogifticated air is obtained in the ufual piocefs for ■
preparing acid of fugar. He obferVed alfo, that in
the procefs for this acid, a finall quantity of vinegar
is found in- the receiver. He could not.obtain the.
acid of fugar from the faponaceous extrail of urine ;
but got inftead of it a fait, which, when completely-
purified, refembled exailly the flowers of benzoin.
The fame fait is precipitated in abundance .by adding,
to the extrait of urine a little vitriolic or marine
acid; and Mr Scheele had already remarked that the
fame fait is obtained in the diftillarioiKof fugar of milk.
From the various experiments which have-been made ,
on this acid, it .feems, according to Mr. Keir, to be in ture < f this ■
an intermediate ftate betwixt acid of tartar and acid.athl.
of fugar. This, however, ought. not to prevent it
from being accounted a feparate: and diftinfl aeid,
otherwife we< might confound all the vegetable acids
with one another. It approaches more nearly to the
nature, of acid of milk than of any other. ^ From this
alfo, however, it is diftinguifhed, becaufe the fait
formed by the union of acid of milk with lime is fo¬
luble in fpirit of wine, but not that, from lime and'
thy acid of apples. According..to Mr Hermbftadt, if:
three parts of fmoking nitrous acid be abftradted from
one part of fugar, and if the brown acid mafs -which -
remains in the retort be diluted with fix times its
weight of dillilled; water, and faturated wfith chalk,
two compounds will be formed ; .one confifting.of the
acids of tartar and lime, which will precipitate; and'
the other of lime and the acid of . apples, which wiil'
remain fufpended. If the calcareous earth be preci-
tated from this latter folution by adding acid of fu-
gai, a pure acid of apples will, be left in the liquor :
and:
590
Acetous A-
cryftallize
fpiritus
Mindereri.
t;i6
Salt from
the acetous
acid com¬
bined with
calcareous.
«arth.
w ' '
with mag-
nefia.
1518
With zinc.
C H E M I
• and he further Informs us, that this acid of apples may¬
be changed entirely into thofe of fugar and vinegar,
by means of ftrong nitious acid.
XIIT. Acetous Acits.
It is generally believed, that the combination of
this acid with volatile alkali is altogether incapable
of cryftallization 5 but Scheffer and Morveau informs
us, that it may be reduced into fmall needle-fha-
ped cryftnls, when the fpiritus Mindereri is evapo¬
rated to the confiftence of a fyrup, and left expofed
to the cold. The fait has a very fharp and burn¬
ing tafle, but a confiderable quantity is loft during
the evaporation. Weftendorf, by adding his concen¬
trated vinegar to volatile alkali, obtained a tranfparent
liquor which did not cryftallize. By diftiilation it
went over entirely into the receiver, leaving a white
fpot on the retort. A faline tranfparent mafs, how¬
ever, appeared in the receiver under the clear fluid.
On feparating it from the liquid, and expofing it to
a gentle heat, it melted, threw out white vapours,
and in a few minutes (hot into fharp cryftals refem-
bling nitre. Thefe remained unchanged in the cold ;
but when melted with a gentle warmth, fmoked and
evaporated. Their tafte was firft fharp" and then
fweet.
The fait formed by uniting acetous acid with cal¬
careous earth has a fharp bitter tafte, and fhoots in¬
to cryftals fomewhat refembling ears of corn. Thefe
do not deliquate in the air, unlefs the acid has been
fuperabundant. They are decompofed by diftiilation
per fe, the acid coming over in white inflammable va¬
pours fmelling like acetous ether, fomewhat empy-
reumatic, and condenfing into a reddifh brown li¬
quor. By reftification this liquor becomes very vo¬
latile and inflammable; on adding water, it acquires
a milky appearance, and drops of oil feem to fwim upon
the furface; a reddifh brown liquor, with a thick black
oil, remain after reftification in the retort. On mix¬
ing this calcareous fait with that of Glauber, a double
decompofition takes place; we have a gypfum and
the mineral alkali combined with acetous acid. By
calcination, the mineral alkali may be obtained from
this fait in a ftate of purity. This acetous calcareous
fait is not foluble in fpirit of wine.
On faturating this acid with magnefia, and evapo¬
rating the liquor, we obtain a vifcid faline mafs like
mucilage of gum arabic, which does not fhoot into
cryftak, but deliquefces in the air. It has a fweetifh
tafte at firft, but is afterwards bitter. It is foluble in
fpirit of wine, and parts with its acid by diftiilation
without addition.
Acetous acid diffolves zinc both in its metallic and
calciform ftate,' and even wdien mixed with other me¬
tals By concentrated vinegar the zinc is diflblved
with great heat, fulphureous fmell, and exhalation-of
irjlammable matter. By this union we obtain a con¬
gealed mafs, which on dilution with water fhoots into
oblong fharp cryftals at the firft cryftallization, and
afterwards into cryftals of a ftellated form. From this
liquor indeed cryftals of various forms have been ob¬
tained by different chemifts. Monnet obtained from
it a pearl-coloured fait in friable talky cryftals ; which
when thrown on the coals, fulminated a little at firft,
S T R Y« PradUcc.
and gave a bluifh flame, and then meltedT letting its Acetous A-
acid efcape, while a yellow calx remained. Hellot, ,
informs us, that this fait by diftillation per fe into wa- ~v
ter, affords an inflammable Jiquor, and an oil at firft
yellow and then green, with white flowers burning
with a blue flame. Weflendorf obtained no oil in this
diftillation, but fome acetous acid ; a fweet-tafted em-
pyreumatic liquor impregnated with zinc; fweet
flowers, or fublimate, foluble in water, and burning
with a green flame. On applying a ftronger heat,
the zinc was fubiimed in its metallic form, leaving a
fpongy coal at the bottom of the retort. The folu-
tion gives a green colour to fyrup of violets, lets fall
a white precipitate on the addition of alkalies or an
infufion of galls. It is not precipitated by common
fait, vifriolated tartar, vitriolic or marine acids, blue
vitriol, or corrbfive fublimate; but forms a red pre¬
cipitate when added to folution of-gold ; a white pre¬
cipitate with folution of filver; a cryftalline pearly
precipitate with folution of mercury; and cryftalline
precipitates with folutions of bifmuth and tin. Ac¬
cording to Bergman, it is decompofed by acid of ar-
fenic.
Though regains of 'arfenic is not foluble in this its pheno-
acid, its calx maybe diffolved either in common or arena with
diftilled vinegar. M. Cadet obtained a frnoking liquor arl®n‘c*
by diftillation from a mixture of white arfentc and
terra foliata tartari. This experiment has been re¬
peated by the chemifts of Dijon, and attebded with
the following curious circumitances. “ We digefted
(fay they), in a fand-bath, five ounces of diftilled vi¬
negar on white pulverized arfenic; the filtrated liquor,
was covered, during evaporation, with a white faline
cruft. Of this fubftance were formed 150 grains; on
which fixed alkali appeared to have no effedt, and
which was at firft confidered as pure arfenic. How¬
ever, a cat, which had fwallowed 72 grains of it, was
only affedted with vomitings that day and the next,
and afterwards perfedtly recovered. A fimilar dofe
was given to a little dog ; but as he ran away, thefuppofed to
effedl it had upon him could not be difeovered ; but he an anti-
lie returned afterwards in good health, and never dofteagainl*
fhowed any uneafinefs: whence it may be concluded,ar en,C'
that vinegar is in fome meafure an antidote againft the
pernicious qualities of arfenic.
“ On rediffolving this faline cruft in pure water,
filtering and mixing it with liquid alkali, an irregu¬
larly cryftallized fait was formed in it after a few days
Handing. By this fait a yellow precipitate was thrown
down from the nitrous folution of filver p whereas the
folution of arfenic and terra foliata tartari threw down
a white one.
“ Equal parts of terra foliata tartari and arfenic, di¬
ftilled in a retort, gave firft a fmall quantity of limpid
liquor with a penetrating fmell of garlic, and which
had the property of reddening fyrup of violets ; while
folution of arfenic in water turns that fyrup green.
The vinegar which now arofe was not faturated with
arfenic, but effervefeed ftrongly with fixed alkali, with
which it became turbid, but did not let fall any pre¬
cipitate. Oh .changing the receiver, there came over a
reddifh brown liquor, accompanied with thick vapours,
diffuling an intolerable fmell, in which that of arfenic
could fcarcely be diftinguifhed. On continuing the
operation, a black powder fubiimed into the neck of
the
Pra£Uce. C H E M
Acetous A-the retort, together with a little arfenlc In Its metal-
, a ;' , lie form, and a matter which took fire by a lighted
candle like fulphur.
“ The red liquor ftill prefefved its"property of fmo-
king though cold; diffufing at the fame time its pe¬
culiar and abominable fetor, from which the apart¬
ment could fcarcely be freed in feveral days. This
liquor does not alter the colour of fyrup of violets,
but effervefees flightly with fixed alkali, letting fall
at the fame time a yellow precipitate, which, however,
1511 difappeared on an attempt to feparate it by filtration.
Curious _ (( Cadet had obferved, that the fmoking liquor
Fiquor 0rlC ar^en,'c did not kindle at the approach of a lighted
candle; but that, on pouring it from the receiver into
another veffe!, it had kindled the fat lute with which
the junftures had been clpfed, and which had been
diied during the operation: but? we, being defirous
of examining more fully the nature of the red liquor
which cblle&s at the bottom, and has the appearance
of oil, having decanted that which fwims on the top,
and poured the remainder on a filter of paper,
before many drops had paffed, there arofe a thick
fmoke forming a column from the yeffel to the ceiling;
a flight ebullition was perceived at the fides of the vef¬
fe], and a beautiful rufe-cokmred flame appeared for
a few moments. The paper filter was burnt at one
fide, but moft of it was only blackened. After the flame
was extinguiflied, a fat redd ilk matter remained; which,
being melted on burning coals, fwelled confiderably,
emitting a white flame. It then funk, and left on the
coal a black fpot, which could not be effaced but by
the moll vehement fire.
“ At the time thefe obfervations were made, the
liquor had been diftilled for three weeks, and the bot¬
tle frequently opened. The inflammability could not
proceed from the concentration of the vinegar: for
the rofe-colour of the flame, the precipitation of the
fublimate, and the fixity of the fpot remaining on the
coal, evidently '(bowed that the two. fuhftances were in
a date of combination ; which rs alfo further evinced
by the lofs of the inflammable property when the li¬
quor was decompofed by fixed alkali.—The fmell of
the liquor, however, though fo intolerably fetid, was
attended with no other inconvenience than a difa-
greeable fenfation in the throat, which further
ftrengthens the fufpicion that vinegar is an antidote
againlt arfenic.
“ The faline brown mafs remaining in the retort
Was partly diflblved by hot water ; and the filtrated lixi¬
vium was very limpid, but emitted the peculiar fmell
of the phofphoric liquor. By evaporation it yielded
a fait which did not deliquefee in the air, of an ir¬
regular fhape ; and which being put on burning coals,
did not fmell fenfibly of arfenic ; loft its water of cry-
ftalligation ; and became mealy and white without be¬
ing diflipated by heat.. On expofing the refiduum to
the air, it was found next day refolved into a liquor;
whence it is probable that moft of it was compofed of
cryitallized alkali, having received from the decompo-
fition of the vinegar as much fixed air as was necef-
152a • fary for its cryftallization.”
^ This acid does not aft upon mercury in its metal-
icetotisiic ftate,but diffolves the mercurial calces, as red pre-
Kisfcuiy. cipitate, turbith mineral, and the precipitate formed
I S T R Y. 59i
by adding fixed alkali to a folutlon of mercury in ni- Acetous A-
trous acid ; with all which it forms white, (hining, cid~
fcaly cryftals, like thofe of fedative fait. v”" r
Vinegar does not aft- upon filver in its metallic ftate, 0n (,fv€r,
but readily diffolves the yellow calces precipitated
from its folution in nitrous acid by micrOcofmic fait
and volatile alkali. By the help of a boiling heat al¬
fo it very copioufly diffolves the precipitate obtained
by means of a fixed alkali. The laft mentioned folu¬
tion yields (hining, oblong, needle-fliaped cryftals,
which are changed to a calx by means of feveral acids,
efpecially the muriatic. The filver is thrown down in
its metallic form by zinc, iron, tin, copper,, and quick-
filver. . , i?24
Though the acetous acid has no effeft upon gold in On Gold,
its metallic ftate, yet a folution of this metal is de¬
compofed by crude vinegar, which produces both a
metallic precipitate and dark violet-coloured powder.
Diftilled vinegar throw's down the gold in its metallic
form. The precipitate by fixed alkali digefted wdth
acetous acid is of a purple colour. This, as well as
fulminating gold, is diffolved by Weftendorff’s con¬
centrated vinegar; the fulminating gold very eafily..
The folution is of a yellow colour; and with volatde.
alkali affords a yellow precipitate ; with lixivium fan-
guinis, a bluejrne ; both of which fulminate. The
dry fait of gold diffolves in the acetous acid, and pro¬
duces oblong yellow cry Hals.
This acid has no effeft on fat oils, farther than that, on inflam-
when diftilled together, feme mixture takes place, as mable fub-
the Abbe Rozier has obferved. Neither does diftil-dances,
led vinegar aft upon effential oils, though M. Weften-
dorff's diftilled vinegar diffolved about a fixth part of
oil of rofemary, and about half its weight of cam¬
phor. The latter folution was inflammable, and let
fall the camphor on the addition of water. The a-
cid diffolves all the true gums, and fome of thofe cal¬
led gum-refins, after being long digefted with them.
By long boiling, Boerhaave obferves, that it diftblves
the bones, cartilages, fleflr, and. ligaments of animals. ^
The concentration of this acid may be effefted by Concentra-
combining it with alkalies, earths, and metals. By non uf the
combining it with copper, and then cryftallizing and^.cetousa*
diftilling the compound, we obtain the acid in theci ‘
higheft ftate of concentration in which it is ufually
met with. To produce this ftrong acid, we have
only to diftill verdegris, or rather its cryftals in
a retort. The operation muft be begun by a very
gentle fire, which brings over an aqueous liquor. This
is to be fet afide, in order to procure the more con¬
centrated acid, w'hich comes over with a ftronger fire.
On changing the receiver, and augmenting the heat,
we obtain a very ftrong" acid, which comes over partly in.
drops, and partly in white vapours. It is called radical
vinegar, or fometimes fpirit of Venus, and has a very
pungent fmell, almoft as fuffocating as that of volatile
fulphureous acid. As the laft portions of it adhere
pretty ftrongly to the metal, we are obliged to raife
the heat to fuch a degree as to make the retort quite
red, in order perfeftly to feparate them. Hence fome
part of the metal is raifed along with the acid, which,,
diffolving in the receiver, gives the liquor a greenilh
colour; but from this it may be ealily freed by a fe-
cond diftillation, when it rifes with a very gentle heat,
3 ^
*527
- Of its cry-
• itallizatioV).
Iji8
^Difference
between r.i-
gaf and
common a-
cetous acid.
G H E M 'I
and becomes extremely white. Crylials of verdegrls
afford about one half their weight of radical vinegar ;
but verdegris itfelf much lefs, and of a more oily qua-
hty. _ ^
If this acid be heated in a wide-mouthed pan, and
fire applied to it, it will burn entirely away like fpirit
of wine. This obfervation we owe to the count de
Lauragais, who has likewtfe obferved, that it is capa¬
ble of cryftallization. This, however, takes place only
with the laft portions which come over, and the cryftals
appear in the form of plates or needles. The mar¬
quis de Courtrivon, who has repeated and confirmed
the experiment of the count de Lauragais, fuppofes
this phenomenon to be owing to a fulphur-like mixture
of acetous acid and phlogillon. Leonhardi fuppofes
an analogy between tilde cryftals and the white fait of
copper expelled at the end of the operation by the
count de Laffone. This fait was at firft very white,
and fixed on the neck of the retort pretty thick ; but
unlefs quickly collected, was Toon deftroyed by the
fucceeding vapours. When expofed to the air, it
attrafts moifturej and runs into a -greenilh liquid.
It is uncommonly light, and ic fitch fmall quantity,
that fcarce five or fix grains can be Colledted from a
poifhd of verdegrisi Its tafte is acid, auftere, very un-
:pleafant, and permanent. It readily and totally dif-
folves in water, and partially in fpirit of wine, leaving
a yellow powder totally foluble in volatile alkali, and
which burns with a green flame. From this fait, vola¬
tile alkali acquires a blue colour, and litmus a ltd
one; and thus it dife overs itfelf to bekompofed of
acetous acid and Copper.,
Experience has fhown ' that radical vinegar differs
' confiderably in its properties from the common acid.
It has a greater attraction for alkalies', forms with
.them more perfeft combinations, and is lefs volatile,
M. Berthollet obferves, that when vinegar concentra¬
ted by froft and radical vinegar, are reduced to-equal
'denfitieSjby adding water to the heavier of the two, they
differ very much both- in fmell and tafte. Laffone
found, that radical vinegar formed a cryftallizable
compound with volatile alkali; and Berthollet has ob¬
served the fame with regard to fixed vegetable alkali.
The cryftals of the latter with radical vinegar were
-flat, tranfparent, and flexible, flowly-deliquefcent in the
air. On comparing the falts formed by the two acids,
■he found, that the acetous fait rendered the fyrup of
violets green ; but its colour remained unaltered with
■that made with radical vinegar. The latter alfo re¬
quired a ftronger fife to expel part of its acid; it was
olfo whiter, and had a lefs acid tafte. On pouring
-radical vinegar on the acetous fait, the filiation afford¬
ed, by evaporation and cryftallization,^ fait perfeftly
•fimilar to that procured direct! y from radical vinegar
and fixed alkali. On diftilling the mixture, the radi¬
cal vinegar appeared to have expelled the common a-
' cetous acid, as the liquor which came over effervefeed
with vegetable alkali, and formed with it a terra foli-
ata tartari.
“ It feems probable (fays Mr Keir), that the radi¬
cal vinegar contains a larger poi “ion of the aerial prin¬
ciple than the common acetous acid; by which it un-
-dergoes a change fimilar to that of marine acid, when
.brought into that flate in which it is faid to be de-
■N°7i- 4
S T R Y. Fi'adice,
phlogiflicated. This air it may acquire from the me- Acetous A-
tallic calx, which being deprived of its air is reduced
to its metallic ftate. Thofe who believe in the phlo-
gifton of metals, may fay that the acid is dephlogifti-
cated by imparting its phlogifton to the metal, which
is thereby metallized. It appears, however, to be very
diftinct from common acetous acid, and deferves to 1
have its properties and compounds farther inveftiga-
ted” . xia?
Concentrated acetous acid, of a great degree of How to
ftrength, may alfo be obtained by diftilling terra folia- obtain it
ta tartari with vitriolic acid.; but Leonhardi obferves, Pure
that the acid thus obtained is always more or lefs con- iata
laminated with the volatile acid of fulphur. He ob¬
ferves alfo, that the method propofed of feparating
the fulphureous acid by a fedond diftillation from fait .
of tartar is not effectual, becaufe the fulphureous acid
has lefs attraction for alkalies than the acetous. Wef-
tendorff recommends the neutral fait formed by ace¬
tous acid and mineral alkali, inftead of the terra folia-,
ta tartari. Thus, in the firft place, we readily obtain
cryftals free from the inflammable matter of t,he vine- '
gar; and} in eonfequence of this, though we diftil it
afterwards with concentrated oil of vitriol, no fulphu¬
reous taint can be produced. Even fuppofing this to
be the cafe (he fays), it may be removed by a fecond
diftillation from fame mineral aikali. Mr Keir, how¬
ever, obferves, that “ probably all the acids diftilled
from acetous falts by means of the vitriolic, partake
of the property of that procured by diftilling cryftals
of verdegris ; and nope of them can compare with
that from which Mr Louitz obtained acetous ether
without addition, as a pure concentrated and unalter¬
ed vinegar.”
XIV. jicw of B -.MZOtffi
The properties of this acid have been inveftigated by jdch*
M. Lichtenftein, and are as follow. I. Expofed to tenftew's
the heat of a candle in a filver fpoon, it melts as clear account of
as water, without burning, though it is deftroyed by Profer''
contaCt of flame. 2. When thrown upon coals, it eva¬
porates, without refiduum, in a thick white fmoke.
3. It is not volatile without a cohfiderable degree of
heat. 4. By very flo\V cooling its aqueous folution
yields large cryftals, long, thin, and of a feathery
fhape. 5. It is foluble in the concentrated acids of
nitre and vitriol, but feparates from them, without de-
compoiition, on the addition of water. 6. By the
other acids it cannot be diffolved without heat, and
feparates from them alfo without any change, merely
by cooling. 7. It is copioufly diffolved by fpirit of
wine, and precipitated from it on the addition of wa¬
ter. 8. With alkalies it forms neutral falls, very fo¬
luble in water, and of a fliarp faline tafte. With ve¬
getable alkali it forms cryftals of a pointed feathery-
form ; with mineral alkali it yields larger cryftals*
which fall into powder on being expofed to the air;
atid with volatile alkali it is diflicultly cryflallizable in¬
to fmall, feathery, and deliquefeent cryftals. It is fe-
parable from alkalies by the mineral acids. 9. With '
calcareous earth it forms white, ftiinifg, and pointed
cryftals, not eafily foluble, and which have a fweetifh
tafte -without any. pungency. -i.O. With magnefia
Iffeits of
acid
«pon it.
Prac-Yice* C H E M
Acetous A- fmall feathery cryftalfr are formed, of a fharp faline
Cld' .tafte, and eafily foluble in water, u. An aitringenfc
fait is formed with earth of alum.
All thefe earthy frits are eafily decompofed by the
mineral acids as well as by alkalies. The acid of ben.
zoin itfelf reddens litmus, but has little effect upon fy-
rup of violets.
Meffrs. Hermbftadt and Lichtenftein have both tried
the effefts of nitrous* acid upon that of benzoin. In
this operation, however, a great obftacle arofe from
the volatility of the acid of benzoin, which prevent¬
ed it from bearing any confiderable heat without paf-
fing over into the receiver. By repeated dill illations,
however, the acid of benzoin, diminilhed in its vola¬
tility, affumed a darker colour, and acquired a bitter-
ifh tafte. A coal was alfo left at the bottom ; and, at
the end of the third operation, when the nitrous acid
had been all drawn off, >M. Hermbftadt obferved, that
fame brown drops came over which had the appear¬
ance of a dark-coloured tranfparent oil, foluble in di-
ftilled water, emitting acrid fumes, and having a very
cauftic tafte. On' diftilling this acid liquor a fecond
time, a yellow faline mafs was obtained, which, when
diffolved in diftilled water, formed a fluid acid, which
precipitated a folution of fugar of lead and lime-water.
On examining the charred refiduum left in the retort,
he obferved, that, after calcination, fame of the earth
had been vitrified, while another was of a foft cenfift-
qnce, and had acquired a cauftic tafte. From a mix¬
ture of the above-mentioned dark-brown acid and fpi-
rit of wine, he obtained an ether, which differed from
the nitrous in being much lefs volatile, and fmelling like
bitter almonds.
From this refiduum Mr Lichtenftein obtained a re-
finous fubftance, to which he afcribes the volatility of
the acid of benzoin, as well as the fmell of bitter al¬
monds already mentioned.
Scheele failed in his attempt to obtain ether from
flowers of benzoin and fpirit" of wine ; but, by adding
a little fpirit of fait, he obtained a kind of ether which
fell to the bottom. . On difiblvmg this in alkalized
fpirit of wine, and drawing off the latter by diftilla-
tion, he obtained from it a quantity of flowers of ben¬
zoin. From Peruvian balfam. alfo Lehman obtained a
quantity of the acid of benzoin. It may alfo be pro¬
cured from urino, either by precipitation, from the
mm r-eru faPODaceous extract (a), or by repeatedly diftilling
Vian balfam from it fpirit- of nitre, as in the preparation of acid
, of fugar. In the urine it is found combined with
volatile alkali, by which it becomes foluble in fpirit of
wine.
XV. Sebaceous Acid.
This is faid to have been firft difcovered by Mr
Gruitzmacker, who publilhed an account of it in
1748. It was afterwards more accurately treated of
by Mr RhadCs in 1753. Its properties were invefti-
gated by Meffrs Segner and'Knappe in 1754; and
afterwards more fully by Dr Crell, of whofe difeove-
ties an account is given in the Philofophical Tranf-
Vol. IV. Part II.
I S T U Y.
a&ions for 1780 and 1782. It is fotmd not only in Sebaceous
the fat of all animals, but in fpermaceti, the butter .
of cocoa, and probably in other vegetable oils. In fe-
veral refpedts it feems analogous to the marine acid; V33
but in others it is remarkably different, particularly aci^procu.
in precipitating a folution of corrofive fublimate. Itrable from
is probable, however, that its principles are the fame various
with thofe contained in all other vegetable and ani-fu*:>^anees*
mal acids; and this opinion is fupported by what hap¬
pens on treating tallow in the ufual manner for ob¬
taining acid of fugar ; for thus, not the Lbaceous, but *334
the faccharine acid is found to be produced. It has
very great ftrength of attraction, and by means of heat power 0f
decompounds even the vitriolic falts themfelves ; but inattradion.
the moift way is expelled by the three mineral acids,
though it expels all the vegetable ones, as well as
thofe of fluor and arfenic. Its moft remarkable pro- 1335
perty is its effedt on tin. The filings of this metal,
efpecially with the affiftance of heat, are corroded by tin. S
it into a yellow powder, and at the fame time give
out a very fetid fmell. The folution, though filtered,
ftill continues turbid, and depofits more yellow pow¬
der, acquiring at the'fame time a fine rofe-red co¬
lour. By adding water to this yellow powder, a
white deliquefeent fait may be obtained, and a fimi-
lar one obtained by diffolving a yeHow powder pre¬
cipitated by this acid from folution of tin in aqua
regin. _ 1536
It corrodes lead rather than diffolvesit; but diffolves^s effe<a*
a confiderable quantity of minium, and changes theonot*ler ,
reft to a white powder. This folution is fweetifti, andfuk^allce®'-<
is not precipitated by common fait. The meftd is
precipitated by febaceous acid from the nitrous, in
V'hile needle-like cryftals, eafily foluble in water. A
like precipitation takes place in folution of fugar of
lead; but the precipitate is ftill foluble in ftrong vine¬
gar, provided it be not adulterated with oil of vitriol.
In its eledtive attra&ions it agrees with the acids of
apples and of fluor, preferring magnefia to fixed al¬
kali.
XVI. Acid of Galls.
Though it has for a long time been known that
the infufion of galls has the property of reddening ve¬
getable juices, diffolving iron, and decompofing liver
of fulphur, thefe effedfs were generally aferibed to its
aftringency. Of late, however, it has been found,
that befides this aftringent principle a true acid exifts
in galls; and to this, rather than to the aftringent
principle, are we to aferibe the properties of galls in
ftriking a black with folution of vitriol, See. is37
To feparate the acid from the ocher matters con-^erho<j
tained in the galls, we muft add fixed alkali to a de-
codtion of them ; by which means the aftringent mat-
ter will he thrown* down, and the acid remain in the X
liquor joined to the alkali. The precipitate, waihed
with clean water, dried, and rediffolved, blackened a
folution of vitriol but faintly, and no more than what
may be fuppofed to proceed fromfome remaining acid,
which could not be abftradted, This is proved by di-
4 F {tilling
( a ) By this is meant urine evaporated to a thick confiftence, and deprived of moft of its falts by folution in
fpirit of wine.
C H E M I
ft Ming the aftringent matter in queftion, when an acid
liquor comes over, which has the property of blacken-
ing folution of vitriol. Scheele has obferved, that
when galls in fubftance are expofed to diftillation, an
acid liquor rifes of an agreeable fmell, without oil,
and afterwards a kind of volatile fait, which is the
■ true acid of the galls.' Hence he infers, that this fait
is contained ready formed in the galls themfelves ; but
fo much involved in fome gummy or other matter,
that it cannot be eafily obtained feparately.
The acid of galls is capable of being feparated by
cryftallization. " In an infufion made with cold water,
Scheele obferved a fediment which appeared to have a
cryftalline form, and which was acid to the tafte, and
had the property of blackening folution of vitriol.
By expofing the infufion for a long time to the air,
and removing from time to time the mouldy fern which
grew upon it, a large quantity of fediment was form¬
ed. On rediflblving this in warm water, filtering and
evaporating it very flowly, an acid fait was obtained
in fmall cryftais like fand, which had tlm following
properties: i. It tafted acid, effervefced with chalk,
5 and reddened litmus. 2. Three parts of boiling wa-
d- ter diffolved two of the fait; but 24 parts of cold
water were required to diffolve one. 3. It is likewife fo-
luble in fpirit of wine ; four parts of which are re¬
quired to diffolve one of the fait when cold, but only
an equal quantity when affifted by a boiling heat.
4. The fait is deftru&ible by an open fire, melts and
burns with a pleafant fmell, leaving behind a hard in-
foluble coal, which does not eafily burn to allies.
5. By diftillation an acid water is firll obtained with¬
out any oil; then a fublimate, which remains fluid
while the neck of the retort is hot, and then cryftal-
lizes. This fublimate has the tafte and fmell of flowers
of benzoin ; is foluble in water and in fpirit of wine ;
reddens litmus ; and precipitates metallic folutions of
the following colours, viz. gold of a dark brown ; fil-
ver of a grey colour ; copper of a brown ; iron of a
black ; lead of a white colour ; mercury of an orange;
bifmuth, lemon-coloured. The acid of molybdsena be¬
came yellow coloured, but no precipitate enfued. So¬
lutions of varipus kinds of earths were not altered;
but lime water afforded a copious grey-coloured pre¬
cipitate. 6. By treating this acid with that of nitre,
in the manner directed for producing acid of fugar, it
was changed into the latter.
XVII. Identity of the Vegetable. Acids.
On the proofs of the identity of the vegetable acids
with one another, Mr Keir makes the following re-
3 marks: “ The experiments and obfervations which
have been made, prove evidently a ftrong analogy be¬
tween the acetous acid, fpirit of wine, tartar, and acid
diisfubjefi. of fugar 5 and they feem to fhow the exiilence of a
common principle or bafis in all of them, modified
either by the addition of another principle not com¬
mon to all of them, or by different proportions of the
fame principle. None of the opinions on this fub-
jeCt, however, are quite fatisfaflory. The produftion
of the acetous acid by treating fpirit of wine with
other acids, does not prove that the acetous acid was
contained in the fpirit of wine, but only in concur¬
rence with them, that they contain fome common prin-
obje&ions
to the opi-
78
182
340
726.9402”
S T R Y. Pra&ice*
ciple. There is no faff adduced to fupport Morveau’s of
opinion, that fixed air is abforbed during the acetous tl'e Ve!re-
fermentation ; or that the prefence of this fixed air is A~
necefi’ary. The decompofition of all vegetable acid* . t .
by heat, and the production therefrom of fixed and
inflammable gafes, fliow that thefe acids contain fome
of the fame principles as thefe elaftic fluids, but do
not prove that the gafes exifted in the fluids. We
have good reafon to believe that acetous acid does not
contain any fixed air ready formed ; for it yields none
when vitriolic acid is added to it, or to foliated earth ;
neverthelefs, my opinion that vegetable and animal
acids are, by heat, in a great meafure convertible into
fixed air, feems to, be fufliciently proved by experi¬
ments. Thus Hales has fliown the great quantities of
this gas which tartar yields on diftillation. Berthollet Quantities
has obtained the fixed and inflammable gafes from fo- the diffe-
liated 'earth ; and Hr Higgins has verified this experi-
ment, and deduced the quantities. From 7680 grains ta;nej fronl
of foliated earth, the Doctor obtained foliated
Cauftic alkali - 3862.994 grains, earth.
Fixed air - 1473.564
Inflammable air - 1047.6018
-Oily matter retained in the re-
fiduum
Oil - - -
Water condenfed
Deficiency attributed chiefly to
water
As fixed and inflammable gafes may be obtained
from every vegetable fubftance by fire, nothing can be
inferred from thefe experiments to explain particularly
the nature of the acetous acid, excepting that it con¬
tains fome of the inflammable matter common to the
vegetable kingdom, and efpecially of the matter com¬
mon to vegetable acids; all which alfo, wdien analyfed,
furnilh large quantities of thefe two gafes.
“ Although we are far (adds our author) from the
knowledge requifite to give a complete theory of the
acetous fermentation, yet it may be ufeful to explain
the. ideas that appear molt probable. In all the in-
ftances that we know of the formation of acids, whe¬
ther effe&ed by combuftion, as the acids of fulphur and
phofphorus, or by repeated abrtraftions of nitrous acid,
as in the procefs for making acid of fugar, a very fen- 15-43
fible quantity of pure air is abforbed. In the cafe of Air ahfbrb-
combultion we know, from the weight acquired, that £^rj^a^en
there is a great abforption of air ; and in the latter 0£
cafe, of acids being produced by application of nitrous
acid, as this acid confifts of nitrous acid and pure air
and as in thefe operations a quantity of the nitrous gas
is expelled, there feems little doubt but that there alio
the pure air of the nitrous acid is united with the fub¬
ftance employed in the formation of the new acid.
Hence, from all that we know, the abforption of air takes
place in all acidifying proceffes. But it alfo actually
takes place in the acetous fermentation, as has been
obferved, particularly by the Abbe Rozier ; and it is
generally known, that air is neceffary to the forma¬
tion of vinegar. The next quettion is, What is the
bafis ? And from the experiments already related, of
forming the acetous acid by means of fpirit of wine,
it feems probable, either that this fpirit is the balls of.
the acetous acid, or that it contains this bafis: and
from the convertibility of the acids of tartar and of
fugar
Pra&ice* G H E M
Identity of fugar inta tKe acetous acid by the procefles above de-
the Vege- fcribed, it feems probable that thefe alfo contain the
rids6 " fame common bails; which, being united with a de-
■ ' y termined quantity of pure air, forms acid of tartar ;
with a larger quantity, acid of fugar; and with a Hill
1544 larger, the acetous acid.
Inflam- “ An inflammable fpirit is faid to appear at the end
in able fpi- Qf ^ diftillation of radical vinegar from verdigris.
cedPfrom Now, if the ardent fpirit were contained in the verdi-
radical vi- gris, as it is more volatile than the acid, it ought to
negar- come over firft; but as it appears only towards the
end of the diftillation, it feems to be formed during
the operation; and I imagine, that the metal, when
almoft deprived of its acid, attrafts fome of the air of
the remaining acid; and the part or bafis of the acid
thus deprived of its air becomes then an inflammable
fpirit, and in fome cafes an oil appears. But as the
quantity of acid thus decompofed is very fmall, and
little air of confequence remains united with the me¬
tallic part of the verdigris, the copper appears rather
in a metallic than calciform ftate after the operation.
But zinc, during its folution in concentrated vinegar,
decompofes the acid as it does tlie vitriolic and other
tS4S ftrong acids, and accordingly inflammable vapours are
Sulphure- produced ; and what is remarkable, thefe vapous have
ous inflam- a fulphureous fmell. Iron always, during its folution
mable va- ;n conceHtrated vinegar, produces an expulfxon of in¬
duced from flammable vapours; which, however, do not explode
it. like inflammable gas.
1546 “ We muft not imagine that we are yet able to ex-
ftituent"00* comPletely what paffes in the acetous fermenta-
parts of the ^i°n» or that the acetous acid is a compound of mere
acetous a- fpirit and pure air. Befides this combination ’of fpirit
c*d. and air, it is obferved, that a precipitation always takes
place before the fermentation is completed, of fome
mucilaginous matter, which difpofes the vinegar to
putrefy, and from which it therefore ought to be care¬
fully feparated. Stahl affirms, that without a depo-
fition of fuch fediment, vinegar cannot be made from
fugar, wine, or other juice. Befides the matter that
is depofited, probably as much remains in the liquor
as can be diflblved therein ; for, by diftillation, much
of a fimilar extractive matter is left in the retort.
What the nature of this matter is, and how it is form¬
ed, has not yet been examined. Though diftillation
frees the acid from much of this extractive fubftance,
yet we have no reafon to believe that we have ever ob¬
tained it entirely free from inflammable matter; as
it retains it even when combined with alkalies and
with metals. When fugar of lead and other acetous
falls are diftilled with a ftrong heat, the fubftances re¬
maining in the retort have been obferved to poffefs the
properties of a pyrophorus; and this will happen
whatever pains have been taken to purify the vinegar
employed. See the article Pyrophorus. This faCt
Ihows the exiftence of an inflammable matter in this
acid ; and which may perhaps be effential in its com-
pofition, and neceffary to its properties. Although
,*547 fermentation is the ufual mode of obtaining acetous
eVin vT1" ac^> yet >t appears from the inftances obferved by
rious the- ‘atter chemifts, that it is not effential to its formation,
mical pro- but that it is alfo formed in various chemical proceffes ;
cefles. and the acids obtained by diftillation from woods,
wax, See. are very analogous to vinegar. It appears
alfo on treatingthe acid of fugar with nitrous acid, as has
I S T R Y. 595
been obferved both by Weftrumb and Scheele. The Addition
latter further acquaints us, that he obtained it in ana-t0 *•
lyfing a tallow like oil, which remained undiffolved, 7°'^
upon digefting ftarch in nitrous acid. As acid of fu¬
gar alfo may be obtained from a variety of animal fub¬
ftances, and as this acid is convertible into the ace¬
tous, we have ©ne reafon more added to many others,
to prove that the matters of vegetable and animal fub¬
ftances are not capable of any chemical diftinCtion.”
XVIII. Addition to SeCt. I. §20. concerning the Volatility
of a Mixture of Marine and Nitrous Acids.
This is much lefs fenfible when the acids are weak
than when they are concentrated. On mixing the
two when moderately fmoking, and which had remain- How to de¬
ed for a long time feparate without occalioning any Priye a<!ua'
difturbance, a vaftly fmoking aqua-regia has been pro-
duced, which would either drive out the ftopple, or
burft the bottle in warm weather. On diftilling a
pretty ftrong nitrous acid from fal ammoniac, M.
Beaume obferved, that the vapours which came over
were fo exceedingly elaftic, that notwithftanding every
precaution which could be taken in fuch a cafe, the
diftillation could not be continued. By letting this
efcape, however, Mr Cornette obferved, that the
diftillation of thefe two fubftances may be carried on
to the end without any inconvenience, and the aqua-
regia will then be no longer troublefome.
XIX. Test for Acids and Alkalies.
The general method recommended for difeovering
a fmall quantity of acid or alkali in any liquid, is by
trying it with any vegetable blue, fuch as fyrup of
violets; when, if the acid prevails in the liquor, the
fyrup will acquire a red colour, more or lefs deep ac- 1549
cording to the quantity of acid ; or if the alkali pre- Inaccuracy
vail, it will change the fyrup green in like proportibn.
Since the late improvements in chemiftry, however, the
fyrup has been found deficient in accuracy, and the
infufion of turnfole, or of an artificial preparation
called litmus, have been fubftituted inftead of it.
The infufion of litmus is blue, and, like fyrup of vio¬
lets, becomes red with acids. It is fo fenfible that it
will difeover one grain of oil of vitriol though mixed
with 100,000 of water. Unfortunately, however, this
infufion does not change its colour on mixture with al¬
kalies ; it is therefore neceffary to mix it with juft as
much vinegar as will turn the infufion red, which will
then be reftored to its blue colour by being mixed with
any alkaline liquor. The blue infufion of litmus is al¬
fo a left of the prefence of fixed air in water, with
which it turns red, as it does with other acids.
The great fenfibility of this left would leave very
little reafon to fearch for any other, were it always an
exadt left of the point of faturation of acids and alka¬
lies ; but, from the following fa6t, this appears to Mr
Watt to be dubious. A mixture of phlogifticated ni¬
trous acid with an alkali will appear to be acid by the
teft of litmus, when other lefts, fuch as the infufion of
the petals of the fcarlet rofe, of the l#ue iris, of vio¬
lets, and of other flowers, will fhow the fame liquor to
be alkaline, by turning green fo evidently as to leave
no room to doubt.
When Mr Watt made this difeovery, the fcarlet ro-
4 F 2. fes.
155°
Red cab¬
bage an-
C H E M
- fes, and feveral other flowers, whofe petals change their
• colour by acids and alkalies, were in flower. Ha¬
ving ftained paper with their juices, he found that it
was not affedted by the.phlogifticated nitrous acid, ex¬
cepting in fo far as it afted the part of a neutralizing
acid ; but he found alfo, that paper ftained in this
manner was much lefs eafily effected than litmus was ;
and that, in a fhort time, it loll much of the fenfibi-
lity which it poflefled at firft; and having occafion in
winter to repeat fome experiments in which the phlo-
giflicated nitrous acid was concerned, be found his
flained paper almoft ufelefs. Searching, therefore, for
fome other vegetable which might ferve for ,a tell at
all feafohs of the year, he found the red cabbage to
anfwer his purpofe better than any other; having
both more fenlibility with regard to acids than litmus,
being naturally blue, and turning green with alkalies,
and red with acids; to all which is joined the advan¬
tage of its being no farther affedled by the phlogiflica-
ted acid of nitre than as it a6ls as a1 real acid.
To prepare this tell, Mr Watt recommends to take
the frefhefl leaves of the cabbage ; to' 'cut Out the
large Hems, and mince the thin parts of the leaves very-
fmall; then to digell the'ifi hi watfer at about' the heat
of 120 degrees for a few hours. When bhey'wil! yield a
blue liquor; which, if ufed immediately as a tell, will
be found to pofiefs great fenfibility : blit as in this
Hate it is very apt to turn putrid, fome of the follow¬
ing methods mull be ufed for preferving it.
X. After having, minced the leaves, Ipread them on
paper, and dry them in a gentle heat; when perfectly
dry, put them up in glafs bottles well corked ; arid,
when you want to ufe them, acidulate fome water
with vitriolic acid, and digeft or infufe the dry leaves
in it, until they give out their colour; then ftrain the
liquor through a cloth, and add to it a quantity of
hne whiting or chalk, ftirring it frequently; until it
becomes of a true blue colour, neither inclining to
green nor purple ; when you perceive that it has ac¬
quired this colour, filter it immediately ; otherwife it
will become greenilh by Handing longer on the whi¬
ting. This liquor will depofit a fmall quantity of
gypfum, and, by the addition of a little fpirit of wine,
will keep good for fome days ; but will then become
fomewhat putrid and red'difh. If too much fpii it is
added, it deftroys the colour. If the liquor is wanted
to keep longer, it may be neutralized by a fixed alka¬
li inflead of chalk.
2. As thus the liquor cannot be long preferved
without requiring to be neutralized afrefh juft before
it is ufed; and as the putrid fermentation which it
undergoes, and perhaps the alkalies or fpirit of wine
mixed with it, feem to leflen its fenfibility ; in order
to preferve its virtues while kept in a liquid ftate, fome
frefh leaves of the cabbage, minced as above diredled,
may be infufed in a mixture of vitriolic acid and wa¬
ter, of about the degree of acidity of vinegar; and it
maybe neutralized, as it is. wanted, either by means
of chalk, or of the fixed or volatile alkali. Jt mull
be obferved, however, that, if the liquor has an ex-
cefs of alkali, i. will foon lofe its colour, and become
yellow ; from which ftate it cannot be reftored ; care
ihould therefore be taken to bring it very exaftly to A
blue, and not to let it verge towards a green-
3. In this manner, Mr Watt prepared a rediufufion
I S T R Y. Practice,
of violets; which, on being neutralized, formed a very Volatile
fenfibie teft, though be did not know how long thefe Alkal1-
properties. would be, preferved ; but he is of opinion v~—
that the coloured infufions* -.<f other vegetables may be
preferved in the fame manner by the antifeptic power
of the vitriolic acid, in fuch a manner as to lofe little
of their original fenfibility. Paper freftr ftained with
thefe -tells,, in their neutral ftate, has fufficient fen¬
fibility for many experiments; but the alum and glue
which enter into-the preparation of-writing paper,
feem, in fome degree, to fix the colour ; and paper
which; is not, fized becomes fomewhat trapfparent
vrhen. wetted ; which renders fmall phanges of colour
imperceptible. Where accuracy is required, there¬
fore, the teft IhouM be uled in a liquid Hate.
4. Our author has found that the infufibn of red Various o-
cabbage, as well as of various flowers in water, a-thertefti.
cidulated by means of vitriolic acid, are apt to
fun mouldy in the i’umxner feafon, arid likewile that
the moulding is prevented by an addition of fpirit of
wine. He has not been ablee to afcertain the quan¬
tity of fpirit neceffaty for this purpofe, but adds it by
little and little at a time until the proctfs of mould¬
ing is Hopped.—Very fenfibie tells are afforded by
thp petals of the fcarlet rofe,, and of the pink coloured
lychnis treated in the above-mentioned manner.
XX. Volatu.v: sIlkali.
Mr Higgins claims the firfl difcovery of the con-
flituent parts of volatile alkali, or at lead of an expe- aj
riment leading to it. “About the latter end of^j; prepS2
March , xySp . (fays lie), I found that nitrous acid red from
poured on tiu. filings, and-immediately mixed; with nitrous a-
fixed vegetable alkali, generated volatile alkali c‘d and tin.
great abundance: fo fingular a fact did not fail of
deeply imprefiing my mind, though at the time I could
not account for, it. About a fortnight after, I men¬
tioned the circumllance to Dr Brocklefby, He told
me he was going to meet fome philofophical gentle¬
men at Sir Jofeph Banks’s, and defired I would ge¬
nerate fome alkali to exhibit before them: according¬
ly,! did; and had the pleafure of accompanying him
thither. The December following I mentioned the
fact to Dr Caulet, and likewife the copious genera¬
tion of volatile alkali from Pruffian blue, vegetable
alkali, and, water,; on which we agreed to make a fet
of experiments upon the fubjedt. At prefent I ihall
only give an account of the following, which drew
our particular attention. Into a glafs cylinder, made
for the purpofe, we charged three parts of alkaline XSSS
air, and to this added one part of dephlagifticated air ; Efftfts of
we palled the ele&rical fpark repeatedly in it, with- on "if
out apparently effecting the fmalldl change.. When
it had received about 100 ftrong ftioeks, a fmall quan¬
tity of moiHure appeared on the fides of the glafs,
and the brafs conductors feemed to be corroded:
when we had paffed 60 more fhocks in it, the quan¬
tity of moifture feemed to increafe, and acquire a
greenilh colour, though at this time the column of air
fuffered no diminution. On examining the air, it
burned with a languid greenilh flame,, from,which we
inferred that the dephlogifticated air was totally con-
denfed: it ftill retained an alkaline fmell; and.the alka¬
line part was not readily abfQibed by. water.
" “ From
Pratfice. C H E M
Pm' ■ “ From Mi Cavendifh’s famous dlfcovery r the
Blue~ ■ conftitutent parts of water we could readily account
v for the lofs of the dephlogifticated air in this experi¬
ment ; but the quantity of water was more than we
could expect from this: therefore water muft have
been precipitated from the decompofed alkali ; for
volatile alkali, from its great attraction to water,
rnuft keep fame in fclution, evemin its aeriform ftate.
From the above circumftances it might be expected,
that a contraction of the column of air fhould take
True com- place ; but it muft. be eonlidered, that the union took
pofition of place gradually in pro portion as the alkali was de-
volatile al- compofed ; and that, in this cafe, the expanfion muft
ca ’ equal the condenfation. During the fpring of 1786,
I had often an opportunity of mentioning different
facts to Dr Auftin relating to volatile alkali, who at
that time was too much engaged to pay attention
to the fubjeft. In the end of Auguft 1787, he
gave me an account of a fet of experiments which he
had made, and which actually proved, that volatile
alkali confifts.of light inflammable and phlogifticated
airs ; not knowing a* that time what Meffrs Houf-
man and Berthollet had dpne. Without depreciating
the merit of thefe two gentlemen, Dr Auftin has an
equal claim to the difcovery, laying afide priority ; as
his experiments are .as decifive as theirs. Dr Prieftley
made the firft ftep towards our knowledge of volatile
alkali.”
XXI. Prussian Blue.
The acid of this fubftance, as far as it contains an
acid, is fuppofed to be that of phofphorus. Mr Woulfe
propofed a teft of this kind for difcovering iron in mi¬
neral waters, which, he obferved, would not be affefted
by acids.; but the lixivium defcribed by "him had the
Woulfe’s bad property of letting fall the Pruffian blue itcon-
teft for mi-tains in a few weeks. The precipitate of copper,
tcrsf Wa" however, treated again with alkali, retained this pro¬
perty upwards of nine months. The volatile alkali,
he obferves, is diffolved by the Pruflian acid ; and the
cryftals depofited are rendered blue by the colouring
matter, though ^he colour at firft is loft by the union
of the alkali with the fubftance already made. The
metals were precipitated by this teft of the following
T^g colours : Gold of a brownifh yellow, the precipitate
Effect of it afterwards becoming of a full yellow: platinaof a deep
on various blue, but when quite pure, of a yellow colour, turning
^'Hightly &reen. Silver in the nitrous acid was preci¬
pitated of a whitifh colour ; copper from all the dif¬
ferent acids was precipitated of a deep brown colour,
the liquid remaining greenifh ; green vitriol let fall a
deep blue powder, leaving a colourlefs lixivium; fugar
of lead and muriated tin gave a white powder; nitra¬
ted mercury a white or yellowifh precipitate ; the
Ulfeld manganefe a brownifh, but that froi-i Devon-
fhire a blue, which firft became afh-coloured and
then reddifh. Nitrated bifmuth , afforded a. white
precipitate, and the lixivium was (lightly green : mu¬
riated antimony- yielded a white precipitate, with
a yellowifh lixivium : vitriolated zinc a whitiih : co¬
balt in aqua-regia a reddifh white powder : the pre¬
cipitate of arfenic and the different, earths was com¬
monly white.
rs T R'Y. 597
XXIII. New Chemical Nomenclatures. nil!’'
1. Of that propofed in 1787 hy Mejj'rs Merveau, Berlhd-
let, Fourcroy, and Lavoifier. i.,, ^  1
When this nomenclature was firft publifhed, M, La¬
voifier informs us, that fome blame was thrown upon
the authors for changing the language, which had re¬
ceived the famftion of their mafters, and been adopted 1559
by them. Inanfwer to this, however, he urges, that Meffrs ^^IlV
Bergman and Macquer had expreffed a wifti for fome re- j^orveau.
formation in the chemical language. Mr Bergman had this urn-
even written to M. Morveau on the fubjebt in the fob je6t.
lowing terms. “ Show no favour to any improper
denomination : Thofe who are already poffeffed of
knowledge, cannot be deprived of it by new terms ;
thofe who have' their knowledge to acquire, wid he
enabled by your improvement on the language ot the
fcience to acquire it fooner.”
The following is M. Lavoifier’s explanation of the
principles on which -his new language ,is compofed.
“ Acids confift of two fubftances, belonging to that
order which comprehends fuch as appear to us to beLavoj,;er>3
fimple fubftanfces. The one of thefe is the principle expljnitiore
of acidity, and common to all acids; from it therefore01 ,lle l,evf
fhould the name of the clafs and genus be borrowed : ”°r^enc
The other, which is peculiar to each acid, and dlftin-
guifhes them from one another, fhould fupply the fpe-
cific name. But in moft of the acids, the two coniti-
tuent principles, the acidifying and the acidified, may
exift in different proportion, forming different degrees
of equilibrium or faturation ; this is obferved of the
fulphuric and fidphureous acid. Thefe two dates of the
fame acid we have expreffed by varying the termina¬
tion of the fpecific name.
“ Metallic fubftances, after being expofed to the
compound ablion of air and fire, lofe their metallic,
luftre, gain an inereafe of weight, and affume an earthy
appearance. In this ftate they are, like acids, com¬
pound bodies, confifting ■ of one principle commou
to them all, and another peculiar £0 each of them.
We have therefore in like manner claffed them under
a generic name, derived from the principle which is
common to them all. The name which we have adopt¬
ed is Oxide: The peculiar names of the metals from
which they are formed, ferve to diftinguifh theie
compounds from one another.
“ Combuftible fubftances, which, in acids and me--
tallic oxides, exift as fpecifie and peculiar principles,
are capable of becoming, in. their turn, the common
principle of a great number of fubftances. Combina¬
tions of fulphur were long the only compounds of this
fort known: but of late the experiments of Meffrs
Vandermonde, Monge, and Berthollet, have (howp that
c'oal combines with iron, and perhaps with various o-
ther metals ; and that the refults of its combination
with iron are, according to the proportions, fteel, plum¬
bago, £sk. It is alfo known from the experiments of
M. Pelletier; that phofphorus combines with many
metallic fubftances. We have therefore arranged thefe.
different combinations together under generic names,
formed from the name of the common, fubftanee, with
a termination indicating this analogy ; and have dlf'-
tinguifhed them from each other by fpecific names de¬
rived from the names of the peculiar, i’ubftances.
«-Ifc
5
Mr Wieg-
C H E M I
It was found fomewhat more difficult to form a no¬
menclature for the compounds of thofe three ffimple
fubftances ; becaufe they' are fo very numerous, and
. ftill more, becaufe it is impoffible to exprefs the na¬
ture of their conftituent principles, without ufing more
compound names. In bodies belonging to this clafs,
fuch as neutral falts for inflance, we had to confider, 1.
the acidifying principle common to them all; 2. the
acidifiable principle which peculiarizes the acid; 3.
the faline, earthy, or metallic bafe, which determines
the particular fpecies of the fait. We have derived the
name of each clafs of falts from that of the acidifiable
principle, common to all the individuals of the clafs ;
and have then diftinguifhed each fpecies by the name
of the faUns, earthy, or metallic bafe peculiar to it.
“ As fait, confifting of any three principles, may,
without lofing any ofthefe principles, pafs through dif¬
ferent ftates by the variation of their proportions;
our nomenclature would have been defeftive without
expreffions for thefe different ftates. We have expref-
fed them chiefly by a change of termination, making
all names of falts in the fame ftate to end with the
fame termination.”
2. Nomenclature by M. Wieglel-.
In Wiegleb’s General Syftem of Chemiftry tranfla-
ted by Hopfon, we have another nomenclature formed
on different principles. In this he gives to fixed ve¬
getable alkali the name of Spodium, from the Greek
word a-yroS'®' (ajhes). The mineral alkali he calls natrum,
the name by which it was anciently diftinguiftied ; and
the volatile alkali ammonium, from fal ammoniac which
contains it in great quantity. The compound falts
may be diftinguiftied into double, triple, and quadru¬
ple ; though, in the fcheme given in the work, the firft
divifion is omitted, as tending only to create confufion.
The irregular falts, confifting of thofe which are triple
and quadruple, are admitted. Such as are imperfect
by re'afon of an excefs of acid, he fays, are beft deno¬
minated by converting the adjedtive, expreffive of the
bafe, into a participle ; a practice which, on many oc-
cafions, though countenanceoW the authority of a late
eminent writer, feems aukward’asd ftiff. The excefs
of acid is denominated by the word hyperoxys, and a
deleft of it by hypoxys. Hence his denominations are
formed in the following manner.
Salts with excefs of acid. Cream of tartar, or tarta-
rus fpodatus, or tartaroxys fpodicus. Acid vitriolated
tartar, or vitriolum fpodatum, vitrioloxys fpodicus.
The falts which are imperfeft from a defeft of acid
ST R Y. Practice-
have their denominations by mentioning the bafebefore Nfw ^lie"
the acid, and expreffing the former fubftantively, the
latter adjeftively. Thus, tures.
Salt of tartar, aerated vegetable C Oxyfpodium, ae- ;
alkali, fpodium aerocraticum, \ rocraticum.
Aerated volatile alkali, ammoni- C Oxyammonium
acum aerocraticum, \ aeiocraticum.
, . C Oxycalcitis aero-
Chalk, or caix aerocratica, | craticus.
m . . C Oxynatrum bora-
Borax, or natrum boracicum, < c;cum
With refpeft to other terms, Mr Wiegleb expreffes
the acid with which any bafe is combined, by the ter¬
mination c rati a, from the Greek xpar®- (roburj, added
to it; excepting only thofe-with the nitrous and mu¬
riatic acids; and thefe (for what reafon does not ap¬
pear). he calls Aponitra and Epimurice. His genera of
falts are as follow.
1. Vitriols (Sulphurocratia). 2. Nitres f Aponitra).
3.Murias (Epimurice). 4. Boraxes. 5. Fluoricrates.
ri. Arfenicrates. 7. Barylithicrates, (thofe with acid
of tungften). 8. Molybdaenocrates. 9. Photocrates,
(with acid ofphofphorus). lo.Eleftrocrates. n.Oxy-
crates, (with the acetous acid); or epoxy crates, (with the
aerated acid). 12.Tartars; or, with the acid changed by
fire, pyro-tarlars. 13. Oxalidicrates. 14.Cecidocrates
(with acid of galls). ry.Citriocrates. id.Melierates
(with the acid of apples). 17. Benzicrates. iS.Xylo-
crates. i9.Gummicrates. zo.Camphoricrates. 21. Aero-
crates. 22. Galafticrates. 23. Gala-melicrates (with
acid of fugar of milk). 24. Myrmecicrates. 25. Cy-
anocrates (with the colouring matter of Pruffian blue).
26. Steatocrates. 27. Bombycicrates. 28. Zoolitho-
crates, (with acid of calculus).
On the fubjeft of nomenclatures it is obvious to
remark, that whatever may be the defefts of the old
one, we are ready to be involved in much greater dif¬
ficulties by the introduftion of a new one. Or fup-
pofing a new language to be adopted, where would
be the fecurity for its permanence ? That which ap¬
pears molt fpecious at one period, may ftill be fu-
perfeded by the refinements of another; and colourable
pretenfions would never be wanting to fucceffive inno¬
vators. Hence a continual fluftuation, and an endlefs
vocabulary. As the nomenclature firft above mention¬
ed, however, has attrafted no fmall degree of attention,
we ftiall here fubjoin a fcheme of it, as well for the fa-
tisfaftion of our readers in general, as for the gratifi¬
cation of thofe in particular who may have imbibed the
doftrines of its •authors.
[Follows, the Whole fleet Talk.'}
[To face Page 558.
A T A
B L E,
PropoCed b
L A T U R E
ay 1787.
SUBSTANCES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN
.^et decomposed.
NAMES NEWf.Y ^
ted OR ADOfcT
* '
j Caloric,
j Oxigene.
N* ANCIENT NAMES.
L.dent heat, or matter
of beat-
fie baft of vital air.
THE SAME SU
INTO THE ST
ADDITIC
TED SUBSTANCES
BY THE ADDI-
BASES
Hydrogens.
fie b.fe of inflammable
'Azote, or the radical fit Lfe of phhgifltca-
principle of the ni- ted air, "iff “tmo-
tric acid. ff heric meflbtUs.
Carbone, or the radi- Pure coal.
cal principle of the
carbonic acid.
Sulphur, or the radical —.
Tin.
-Oxigeuousgas N
appears that light
tributes to the re
tion of oxigene ii
gazeous ft ate.
Hydrogenous gas.
Azotic.gas.
“Siliceous earth.
Aluminous earth.
* LMagnefia.
^Potafli.
j H ; '
1 I Ammoniac.
, s the fubftai
Vitriflable earth, quartre,
. life.
Clay, or earth if alum.
- Calcareous earth.
Vegetable flxe.l alkali of
tartar, iSTc.
- Mineral alkali, marine
alkali, natrum.
Fluor, or catflic volatile Ammoniaca
alkali.
n the lower pa't of this column cannot be
ANCIENT NAMES
Chalk.
Effervefcent alkalies.
Raft of iron, life.
Vitriolated tartar.
Glauber fait.
Glutinous matter,
Sugar.
Starch.
THE SAME PRIMARY SUBSTANCES
COMBINED WITH OTHER SUBSTAN¬
CES, BUT NOT ACIDIFIED.
IAMES NEWLY INVEN- ANCIENT NAMES.
T of iron. FaBitious iron pyrites.
Sulphure> of antimony. Antimony.
Alloy, &c.
Alloy, &c.
Alloy, &c.
Alloy, &c.
A lloy or amalgam of, —
&c.
Alloy, &c.
Alloy of platina & gold. -
Allov, &c.
•i~d fuhlHtuted ano-her, wh^cli exjTcfi'e.s the pecufer comhira
Denominations newly apf inations without being decompofed.
- • I r4 15
f ofpntafh.
I of guaia-
Sacc/jarine ' Amyliceotu
A.lcohol^ of fcam-
I moneutti
I ofmyrrh
 L&c-
Nitrous T
Gallic C alcohol
Muriatic J
ofguai,
Sulphuric")
Muriatic- ( ,
Acetic, rether-
Dulcified fpirit of
finBure of nut-
SMs.
Dulcified marine a-
Ether of Frobenius.
Marine ether.
ous ether, isfe.
Alkaline")
Aci?y {f('aPS-
Metallic)
Sa; onuln of turpen-
Alkaline, earthy, Cff.
Combinations of vola¬
tile oils nidfh bafes.
A T A B L E, EXHIBIT! N G
the CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE
Prepofed by Meffieurs De MORVEAU, LAVOISIER, BERTHOLLET, and De FOURCROY, in May ,787.
[To face Page 558.
[I.
| SUBSTANCES THAT HAVE NOT BEEN THE SAME SUBSTANCES REDUCED
‘ "" INTO THE STATE OF GaS BY THE
ADDITION OF CALORIC.
AST DECOMPOSED.
names newly inven¬
ted OR ADOPTED.
rLifht;
Caionc.
NAMES NEWLY INVEN¬
TED OR ADOPTED.
ANCIENT NAMES,
Oxigene.
Hydrogenc.
ANCIENT NAMES.
Latent heat, or matter
of heat.
Tie Life of vital air. |Oxigeuous gas N B. It Dephlogijlicatcdor vital
aj pears that light con- aiir.
tributes to the rcduc-
. tion of oxigene into a
gazeous Bate.
The hafe of infammihle I Hydrogenous gas. Jnfammuble gas.
* Azote, or the radical
principle of the ni¬
tric acid.
The hofe of phlogifica- S
ted air, or of atmo~
n
f[ heric mephitis.
Azotic gas.
•14
Carbone, or the radi- Pure coal.
cal principle of the
carbonic acid.
Sulphur, or the radical __
—~pfrhcipte~C)'f thefi;)-
phuric acid.
phlogiJUcated air, or at-
mojplseru mephitis.
Phofphore, or the ra¬
dical principle of the
phofphoric acid.
Radical principle of
•the .muriatic acid.
Radical principle of
the boracic acid.
Radical principle of
the fluoric acid.
Radical principle of
the fuccinic acid.
Radical principle (of
the acetic acid.
Radical principle of
the tartareous acid.
Radical^ "-rfr.ci; '!e of
the pyro-tartareous
acid.
Radical principle of
the oxalic acid.
Radical principle of —
the gallic acid.
i Radical principle** of —
the citric acid.
Radical principle of —
the malic acid.
Radical principle of —
the benzoic acid.
Radicalprincipleof the —
p.yi o-lignecus acid.
Radical principle of —
the pyro-muccus a-
cid.
I Radical principle of —-
1 the camphoric acid.
1 Radical principle of —
| the ladtic acid.
Radical principle cf the —
facclro-VdCVic acid.
Radical principle of —
the formic acid.
Radical principle of —
the Prufiic acid.
| Radical principle of —
j the febacic acid.
Radical principle of —
the lithic acid.
1 Radical principle of —
the bombic acid.
f Arfenic.
I Molybdena.
J Tungften.
i Manganefe.
Nickel.
Cobait.
Bifmuth.
Antimony.
Regulus of arfenic.
Regains of
manvanere.
Re-ulus of cobalt.
Regidus of antimony.
39
AO
41
42
-43
44
43
46]
47
48
Zinc.
Iron.
Tin.
I Lead. ^ -
| ..Copper.
'Mercury.
I Silver.
j Plat-na.
LGold.
fSiliceous earth.
49 I s j Aluminous earth.
itoS « t Barytes.
31 !w
S
I Lime.
LMaRnefia.
pPot'afli.
3 J 00c
j A"
< L
Soda.
Ammoniac.
Vitrifiable earth, quartz,
life.
Clay, or earth <f alum.
*2 erra punderofa.
Calcareous earth.
Vegetable fir el alkali of
tartar, &c.
Mineral alkali, marine
alkali, natrum.
Fluor, or catfiic volatile
alkali.
Ammoniacal
gas.
Alkaline
gut.
III.
THE SAME'SUBSTANCES COMBINED
WITH OXIGENE.
IV.
THE SAME SUBSTANCES IN AN OXI-
GENaTED GAZEuUS STALE.
NAMES NEWLY INVEN¬
TED OR ADOPTED.
A.NC1ENT NAMES.
Water.
TVater.
The bafeof nitrous gas. The bafe of nitrous gas,
Nitric acid - White nitrous acid.
With an txcefs of azote,
Nitrous acid
Carbonic acid.
Sulphuric acid.
With lefs oxigene.
Sulphureous acid.
Phofphoric acid.
With a fmallcr propor¬
tion op' oxigene,
Phofphorous acid.
Muriatic acid. ■
With an excefs of oxi-
aene.
Fuming nitrous acid.
Fixed air, or cretaceous
acid.
Vitriolic acid.
Sulphureous acid.
Phofphoric acid.
Fuming or volatile phof¬
phoric acid.
Marine acid.
Qxigenated muriatic Dephlogifiicated marine
ctd.J
Boracic acid.
Fluoric acid.
Succinic acid.
Acetous acid.
With more oxigene.
Acetic acid.
! Tartareous acid.
Pyro-tartareous acid.
Oxalic acid.
Gallic acid. •
Citric acid.
Malic acid.
Benzoic acid.
Pyro-ligneous acid.
Pyro-mucous acid.
Camphoric add.
LadHc acid.
Saccho-laftic acid.
Formic acid.
Pruffic acid.
Sebacic acid.
LLhic acid.
Bombic acid.
Oxide of arfenic.
Oxide of molybdena.
Molybdic acid,
side of mngften.
Tunftic acid.
White ., e
a k > OX)“e
^ maganefe.
acid.
Sedative fait.
NAMES NEWLY INVEN¬
TED OR ADOPTED.
ANCIENT NAMES.
THESE OXIGENATED SUBSTANCES
NEUTRALIZED BY THE ADD!
TION OF BASES
NAMES NEWLY INVEN¬
TED OR ADOPTED.
ANCIENT NAMES
Nitrous gas.
Nitrous acid gas.
Carbonic acid gas. Fixed air, mephitic air.
Sulphureous acid gas. Sulphureous acid gas.
VI.
THE SAME PRIMARY SUBSTANCES
COMBINED WITH OTHER SUBSTAN¬
CES, BUT NOT ACIDIFIED.
NAMES NEWLY INVEN¬
TED OR ADOPTED.
ANCIENT NAMES.
Nitrate of potafli.
of foda, &c.
Nitrite of potafh.
Garbo- <>ni”ie-
nate
Common nitre.
Cubic nitre. *
Chalk.
of potalb, &C Effcrvefccnt alkalies.
Acid of [par.
Volatile fait of amber.
Di/lilled vinegar.
Radical vinegar.
pLmpyreumatic tartare¬
ous acid, or Jpirit of
tartar.
Saccharine acid.
Muriatic acid gas.
Ox'genafed muriatic
acid gas.
Fluoric acid gas.
Marine acid
Rephlogifiicated marine
acid gas.
_ of iron, &C. Rfi of iron, ffc.
Cof potalh. Vitriolated tartar.
| cf foda. Glauber fait.
I of lime. Selenite.
Sulphate^ of aluminous Alum.
j earth.
I of bar) tes. Ponderous /par.
I of iron, &C. Vitriol of iron, &c.
Sulphite of potalh,Stahl'sfulphuieous fait.
Phofphate of foda. Pljofphoric fait with a
bafe of natrum.
Calcareous phofpfrite. Faith of bones.
Superfaturated phof- Haupt'sJ'alperlatum.
I phate of foda.
| Phofphiteofpotaflij&c.
Muriate of potafh. Febrifuge fait of Sylvius ■
Muriate of foda. Marine fait.
Calcareous muriate, &C. Calcareous marine fait.
Ammoniacal muriate. Sal ammoniac.
Oxigenatedmuriate of
foda, &c.
Borate luperfaturated Common borax.
with foda, or borax.
Carbure of iron.
Plumbago,
FqSiitious iron pyrites.
") of iron.
Sulphure V of antimony. Antimony.
3 of lead. Galena.
| Sulph. hydrogenousgas Hepatic gas.
Suiphure fodm1' \ Alkaline lk,ers °ff“lPhur-
Alkalinefulphureswith Metallic livers of ful-
metals fufpended in phur.
them.
A'kaline fulphure with Liver of fulphur -with
carbonaceous matters carbonaceous, matters
fufpended in it. fufpended in it.
Phofphor’fed hydro- Phofphoric gas.
genous gas.
Phofphure of iron. Syderite.
Spatbofe gas.
Bor ate of foda, &c._/pds
faturated zvith the acid.
Fluate of lime, &c.
Succinate of foda, &c.
Fluor fpar.
Acetite-*
Afi tin gent principle.
Lemon juice.
As id of apples.
Flowers of benzoin.
Spirit of wood.
Spirit of honey, fugar,
&C.
Acid of milk.
Acid of fugar of milk.
Acid of ants.
Colouring matter of Pruf¬
fian blue.
Acid of greafe.
Stone in the bladder.
Acid of the filk-worm.
if potafli. Terra foliata tartari.
of foda. Mineral terra foli :ta.
of lime. Calcareous acetous fait.
of ammoniac. Spirit of Mendcrerus.
of lead. Saccharum fiiturni.
of copper. Verdigris.
Acetiteof foda, &c.
Acidulous tartafi'e of Cream of tartar.
potafh.
Tartarite of potafh- Vegetable fait.
Tartarite of foda. Ac. Salt of Seignette.
P) ro-tartarite of lime. — —
Pyr6 tartarite of iron.
&c.
Acidulous oxalate of Salt of Sorrel.
potalh.
Oxalate of lime.
of foda, &c.
Gallafe of foda. — —
of magnolia,
of iron, &c.
Itrste of potafh 1
of-leady &c; man juice.
Malate of lime, &c. —
White arfenic, or calx
of arfbnic.
Calx of molybdena.
Yellow calx of tungfen,
Manganefe. v
OXIDES WITH VARIOUS BASES*.
treous
Oxide of nickel. *
•rey 7 oxide of
Vitreous 3 cobalt.
White
Ciux of nickel.
Calx of cobalt.
f oxide of
Yellow T bifmuth.
Vitreous 3
Oxide
of an-
umony
zipc.
Black 7
Red S
Magifery of bifmulh, or
white paint.
Yellow calx ofbifmuth.
Glafs of bifmuth.
by the nitrous Diaphoretic antimony.
acid,
by the muria- Powder of Algarotii.
tic acid.
fob-Hmated. - Flmnerr or fncwcf-an¬
timony.
vitreous . Glafs of regulus of an-
- timony.
Oxide of zinc. * Calx of zinc.
Sublimated oxide of Flowers of zinc, pom-
pholix, &c.
Martial cethiops.
Afringent jajfron of
Mars.
Calx or putty of tin.
Cerufe, or white lead.
Mafficot.
Minium.
Litharge.
Brown calx of copper.
Green calx of copper,
or verdigris.
Mountain blue.
JEthiops per fe.f
Turbith mineral.
Precipitate per fe.
Calx of fiver.
,r ,, C fulnhurated
Yellow \ L, r
„ , < oxide or
Red
Qrpiment.
Realgar.
arfenic.
Arfenicaloxide ofpotafh. Liver of arfenic.
Sulphure of molybdena. Molybdena.
Alkaline cobaltic
oxides.
Sulphurated oxide of
bilhiuth.
Precipitates of cobalt a-
gain difftiloed hy al¬
kalies.
Bifmuth precipitated by
liver of fulphur.
oxide of iron.
White oxide of tin.
White
Yellov
Red
Vitreous j
Red T
Green f
oxide of
C lead.
£r7 ■) Sulphurated Grey calx of antimony.
Red f ^ J\.€fines minefcil»
Orange { oxi e o Golden fulphur.
Vitreousj) miony. dafs and liver of anti-
■ - ■    
Alkaline oxide of an- Rottou s folvent.
timony.
Sulphurated oxide of Precipitate of zinc by
Zinc. liver of fulphur or
factitious blende.
Sulphurated oxide ,of — —
Iron.
Terra foli.ita with le-
Aluminpus benzoate. « •— —-
Benzoate of iron, Ac.
Pyro-lignite of lime. — * —
P) ro- lignite of zinc, Ac.
Pyro muciteof magnefia.  
\mmoniacal, Ac. pyro-
mucite.
Camphorate of foda, •— —
Ac.
radiate of lime, Ac. —
Saccho-ladlate of iron, — —
Ac.
Amnioniacal, Ac. for- Spirit of magnanimity.
miate.
Prufliate of potafh, Ac. Phlogificated alkali, or
Pruffian alkali.
Prufliate of iron, Ac. Prufiian blue,
Sebate of lime, Ac. — —
Lithiate of foda, Ac. —- —
Bombiate of iron, Ac. — —<
Arfeniate of potafli, Ac. Maequer s arfcnical neu¬
tral fait.
Arfeniate of copper.
Molybdate. — —
Calcareous tunftate. Swedifh tungfen.
oxide of cop¬
per.
Blue
Blackifli
Yellow
Red
Oxide of filver.
mercurial
oxide.
Oxide of platina.
Oxide of gold.
Calx of platina.
Calx of gold.
Yellow fulphurated
oxide of tin.
Sulphurated oxide of
lead.
Ammoniacal oxide of
copper.
Atrrum mvfifivum.
Black ^fidphuraed JEthiops mineral.
oxide of
* As the fubftcnce- m the lower part of this column cannot be reduced into a gazeous ff
Red
(. mercury.
Sulphurated oxide of
filver.
Cinnabar.
\ II
112
13
14
Alloy of arfenic and Arfenicaied tin.
tin.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy of manganefe
and iron.
Alloy of ruckle, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
17
18
19
20
21
22
^3
24
25
26
|27
[28
29
30
31
33
33
34
37
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac.
Alloy, Ac,
[Alloy, Ac.
A lloy or amalgam of, —
Ac.
Alloy, Ac. —
Alloy of platina A gold. —
Ali-or, Ac. —
38
ate, a
39
40
4r
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
5°
51
32
53
54
55
nd not poly tlwy, but frveral of thnfe in the upper p-ut ; we have therefore chanurri at thri place the tide of the column, and fubIHtuted another, which exorefies the peculiar combinations of the metals.
New Names.
Denominations newly appropriated to feveral Subftances, which are more compound in their Nature, yet enter into new Combinations without'being: decompofed
a 3 4 5 6 .78 9 10 ir ia 13 T4 16
Mucous Glutinous matter,
or gluten.
Ancient names.
Mucilage.
Glut inous matter.
Sugar.
Starch.
Saccharine
matter.
Amylaceous
matter.
Fixed oil.
Fat oil.
Volatile oil.
Fffential Oil.
Fhe aroma, or
arorr.atous
principle.
Refin.
Spiritus rector.
Refin.
Sxtradtive matter.
in which the
extradlive
matter pre
dominates
Extractive matter.
Refinoiis- ~) in which tin
extra dll vi
matter
: > refin' pre-
j dominates.
Fecult
Fee alum.
Alcohol or fpirii
of wine.
Spirit oj
f ofpotafh.
I of guaia-
cum.
Alcohol ^ of fcam-
| moneum.
| of myrrh,
  Ac.
Alkaline tinCiurc.
Tincture of guaiacum
 fcanimoni-
um.
Nifrous
Gall
Mur
DUS Y
•c ■ (
laticj
alcohol.
Dulcified Jpirit of
wine.,
TinCture of riut-
g.rlls.
Dulcified marine a-
folphuticT
Muriatic (
Acetic,
Ac.
1- ether.
foaps.
Alkaline'
Earth
Acid
M ■ tallic _
Saponula of turpen¬
tine, Ac.
Ether of Frobenius.
Marine ether.
‘Igetous ether, \T?c.
Alkaline, earthy, LTV.
fuaPs-
Combinations of-vola¬
tile oils veil'- bajes.
[ S99 1
TABLE, fhowing the Manner in which Natural Bodies, confidered in a Chemical View, may be
divided into Clafles; with their feveral Subdivifions j their Properties defined j and the Manner in
which they are obtained, pointed out.
NATURAL BODIES, confidered as the ObjeSls of Chemiflry, may be divided into the folloviing Clajfes, viz.
i. Salts. 2. Earths. 3. Metals. 4. Inflammables. 5. Waters. 6. Airs.
I. S A L T S.
These are foluble in water, fapid, and not inflammable. They are either Acids or Alkalies.
I. Acids are diftinguiflied by turning fyrup of violets red, or forming with alkalies neutral falts ; and are fuppofed to con-
fift of dephlogifticated air condenfed, as their acidifying principle. The different acids yet known are,
1. Vitriolic, fixed. The molt ponderous of all fluids next to mercury, the moil fixed in the fire, and the moft powerful as a
folvent of all the acids. Obtained chiefly from fulphur by inflammation.
2. Vitriolic,’volatile. Obtained alfo from fulphur by inflammation ; air being admitted during the procefs. It a£ts lefs pow¬
erfully as a folvent than when in its fixed fiate.
3. Nitrous, or Aquafortis ; a volatile fluid, generally met with of a reddifh colour, and emitting noxious fumes, when in its con¬
centrated date ; though this is found not to be eflential to it, but owing to a mixture of phlogifton. In its pure.fiate it is al-
moft as colourlefs as water, and fmokes very little. It is next in ftrength to the vitriolic, acid, and obtained chiefly from nitre.
It confifts of dephlogiflicated and phlogifiicated air condenfed, and may be obtained by taking the eledlric fpark for a long
time in a mixture of thefe. By uniting with fome metals it appears to be converted into volatile alkali.
4. Muriatic, or [pint of fea-falt. A volatile fluid, generally of a fine yellow colour; though this alfo is owing to the admix¬
ture of foreign fubftances, generally of iron. Inferior in power to the former, and obtained from fea-falt. Naturally this acid'
feems to. be in an aeriaLftate, but eafily contrafts an union with water. On mixture with manganefe, it is wholly converted into
a yellow, and almolt incondenfible vapour, called dephlogifticated fpirit of fait; but which, on mixture with inflammable air, tc-
compofes the marine acid.
5. Fluor acid. Obtained from a fpecies of fpar: has little acid power, but is remarkable for its property of corroding glafs.
6. Acid of borax, or fedative fait. Obtained from borax in the form of fcaly cryftals ; found alfo naturally in fome waters in Italy,
and in certain minerals in other countries.
7. Acetous acid. Obtained by allowing any fermentable liquor to proceed in the fermentation till pall the vinous Hate. It is
much lefs corrofive, and lefs powerful as a folvent, than the vitriolic, nitrous, or marine acids.
8. Acid of tartar. Procured from the hard fubftance called tartar, depofited on the fides of wine veffels.
9. Acid of fugar. Found naturally in the juice of forrel, and procured artificially by means of nitrous acid from fugar and a great
variety of other fubflances. Aflumes a dry form.
10. Acid of phofphorus. Obtained artificially from urine, and in large quantity from calcined bones 5 found naturally in fome kinds
of lead-ore ; and in vaft quantities in Spain united with calcareous earth. Aifumes a folid form, and melts into glafs.
11. Acid of ants. Procured from the animal from which it takes its name, by expreffion dr diftillation, in a fluid form.
12. Acid of amber. Obtained in a-folid form from amber.
13. Acid of arfenic. Obtained from that fubftance by means of nitrous acid. Is extremely fixed in the fire.
14. Acid of molybdana. Procured from that fubftance by means of nitrous acid. Refembles a fine white earth.
15. Acid of lapis ponder of us, tungfien, or wolfram. Obtained as an acid, per fe, from this fubftance by Mr Scheele ; but its real aci¬
dity is denied by other chemifts. Is.in the form of a yellow powder.
16: Acid of milk. Obtained in a fluid form from that liquor.
17. Acid of fugar of milk. Obtained in form of a white powder, by means of nitrous acid, from fugar of milk,
18. Lithifiac acid. . Obtained in a folid form from human calculus, by means of nitrous acid.
19. Acid of benzoin. Obtained in a folid form from that gum by fublimation or lixiviation with quicklime.
20. Acid of lemons. Obtained from the juice of that fruit by cryftallization.
21. Sebaceous acid, ov acid of fat. Obtained in a fluid ftate from fuet by diftillation,
22. Acid of citrons. Obtained in a fluid from the juice of that and other fruits.
23. Acid of apples. Obtained in a fluid ftate from the juice of apples and other fruits.
24. Acid of forrel. Obtained in a folid form from the juice of that plant; the fame with aeid of fugar.
I II. Alkalies. Thefe turn fyrup of violets green, and with acids form neutral falts. They are,
r. Fixed vegetable, or Pot-qfh. Always obtained from the aihes of burnt vegetables. A deliquefcent fait.
2. Fixedfojfile. A folid cryftalline fait, fome-times found native, as the natrum of Egypt'; and fometimes by burning fea-
I weed as kelp. \
\ 3. Volatile. Obtained from fal ammoniac, from the foot of burning bodies, and from the putrefactive fermentation. It is;
f naturally in the ftate of aa invifible and elaftic vapour, conftituting a fpecies of aerial fluid, and confifts of phlogifticated and
I inflammable air.
a Acids, By their union with other bodies, form
Neutrac. Salts.
Thefe are always compofed of
an acid and an alkali, and
are of many different kinds,
as may be feen in the fol¬
lowing table..
Earthy Salts.
Compofed of an acid joined to
an earthy bafis, as alum and
gypfum. See the folowing
liable.
/ Metallic Salts.
Formed of an acid and metal.
The principal of thefe are
vitriols; the others may be
feen. in the following table.
Essential Salts*
Obtained from vegetables,, and
contain an acid joined with
the juices of the plant in a
particular manner not to be
imitated by art. To thefe be¬
long fugar, manna, honey,,
and others of that fort.
II. EARTHS-
6oo
CHEMISTRY.
Tabic,
II. EARTHS.
These are folid bodies, not foluble in water, nor inflammable ; and if' fa fed in the fire-, never refume their earthy form again,
but take that of glafs. They are divided into abforhent, cryjlalline, and argillaceous.
I. Absorbent Earths are capable of being united with acids, and are either calcareous, or not calcareous.
a, The calcareous abforbent earths are,
1. Lmcftone, or marlle. This is of infinite variety as to colour and texture'. Marble is the hardeft and fineft. Thofe kinds of
limdione which feel unftuous to the touch, are generally impregnated with clay: thole that feel gritty, or where the lime
is hard and weighty, contain fand ; this is the beii for building ; the other for manure.
2. Chalk. A white, friable, foft fubftance. This is much more free of heterogeneous matters than any limeftone, and is eaiily
calcined into quicklime. It is probably nothing elfe than lirne-fione fuddenly concreted without being cryftallized.
3. SeaJhells, are likewife a calcareous earth, and yield a very fine quicklime. Thefe are ufed in medicine.
4. Terra ponde-rofa. A fine white earth fometimes found combined with fixed air, but more commonly with the vitriolic acid;
and forming with it a very heavy compound named fpathum ponderofum. It is found in .mines and veins of rocks.
I, The abforbent earths which cannot be reduced into quicklime are,
3. Magnejia alia. A white earth, ufually found combined with the vitriolic acid, and forming bitter purging fait. It is likewife
obtained from the mother-ley of nitre, the aflres of burnt vegetables, CsY.
2. Earth of alum. A particular kind of abforbent earth, found in many places mixed with fulphureous pyrites, as in Yorkfliire,
&c. Clay of any kind may by a particular procefs be converted into this earth.
3. Earth of animals. This is obtained by the calcination of animal fubftances, and by precipitation in the procefs for making
acid of milk. It can hardly be converted into glafs ; and is therefore ufed as a bafis for white enamels, &c. It is faid to con lilt
of the phofphoric acid united to calcareous earth.
II Crystalline or Vitrescent Earths, are hard, and ftrike fire with fteel; may be calcined in the fire; but are not foluble in acids.
Of this kind are,
1. Sand and Flint; found plentifully every where. With alkaline fubftances they are eaiily changed into glafs; and hence are
termed vitrefeent.
2. Precious Jlones of all kinds are likewife referable to this clafs ; but they are of a much greater degree of hardnefs and tranf-
parency than the others.
HI. Argillaceous Earths are diftinguiftied by acquiring a very hard confiftence when formed into a pafte with water, and expofed
to a confiderable degree of heat; not foluble in acids. They are,
1. Common clay. It is of many different colours; but chiefly red, yellow, or white. The pureft is that which burns white in
the fire.
2. Medical boles. Thefe are of different forts; but are only a purer kind of clay, fometimes mixed with a little iron or other matters.
3. Lapis nephritic'us, or Jleatite. Thefe are indurated clays, found in various parts. They are at firft foft, and readily cut ; but
turn extremely hard in the air. Many other varieties of thefe earths might be mentionedbut as they do not differ in their
chemical properties fo much as in their external appearance, and being all mixed with one another, they more properly be*
long to the natural hiftorian than the chemift.
III. METALLIC SUBSTANCES.
These are bodies of a hard and folid texture ; fufible in the fire, and r-efuming their proper form afterwards ; not mifcible with
water, nor inflammable. They are divided into Metals and Scmimetals.
I. Metals are malleable ; and the fpecies are,
1. Gold. The moft ponderous and fixed in the fire of all bodies except platina, and the moft duftile of any. It has a yellow
colour, and is more commonly found in its metallic ftate than any other metal. It has no proper ore ; but is found in
ores of filver, and almoft all fands contain fome of it.
2. Silver is next to gold in malleability and ductility; but lefs fixed in the fire than either it or platina. It is fometimes
found in its native ftate ; but moft commonly in that of an ore with fulphur, fometimes with arfenic, and affuming different
appearances.
3. Platina. A white metal of a greater fpecific gravity than gold, and altogether as fixed in the fire ; the moft difficult to be
melted of all known fubftances ; relifting the tefts which have ulually been applied for difeovering the purity of gold, fuppofed
from hence to be the fmiris of the ancients. Found in South America.
4. Copper. Of a reddiih colour ; hard andfonorous; admits of being extended greatly under the hammer, either hot or cold.
Is difficult of fufion. it is generally found in the ftate of an ore with fulphur. There are a great variety of ores of it, ex¬
tremely beautiful, blue, red, green, and yellow.
5. Iron. A grey-coloured metal, extremely duftile when hot; the lighteft of them all except tin. It is the only metal certainly
known to admit of being welded ; though platina is likewife faid to poffefs fome fliare of this property. It is likewife the
only one capable of being tempered by cooling. It is found almoft every where ; and its ores are infinitely various.
*6. Tin. A white foft metal, the light. I of the whole, and very dutftile. The ores of it are generally arfcnical, and affume a cry-
ftalline appearance ; their colour being moft ufually of a dark brown, and fometimes very beautiful.
N° 75.- 7. Lead.
Table. CHEMISTRY. 601
7. Lead. A metal of a dull bluxfh colour, exceedingly foft and malleable, and very weighty. Seldom found in its metallic {late, but
ufually in an ore with fulphur or arfenic ; but feldom with fulphur alone. The principal ores of it are the cubic, called galenat
and the glafly, called fpar.
8. Mercury or quickfther ; formerly accounted a femimetal, on account of its fluidity, but now reckoned among the molt perfect
metals. It is a white, opaque, metallic body ; fluid, except in a very intenfe degree of cold ; very heavy, and eafrly volatilized
by heat. Sometimes found in its fluid form, but ufually in a beautiful red ore with fulphur, called cinnabar.
II. Sbmimetals are brittle, and do not ftretch under the hammer. They are,
1. Zinc. A bluilh white fubftance of a fibrous texture, confiderably hard and fonorous, with a fmall degree of ductility 5 eafxly
fufed and volatilized. Its principal ore is lapis calaminaris.
2. Bifmuth, or tin-glafs. A xyhite, ponderous, hard, brittle, and fonorous body, of a plated texture ; eafxly fufed and vitrified. It
is only reduced to an ore by arfenic. Its appearance much the fame with regulus of antimony.
3. Antimony. A blackiflx fubftance, of a fibrous needle-like texture ; hai'd, brittle, and of a confiderable weight; not difficult of
fufion, and eafily convertible into glafs. Its only ore is with fulphur, which is the crude antimony.
4. Arfenic. A bright, fparkling, whitifh-coloured femimetal; of a plated texture ; very brittle, and extremely volatile. It is ge¬
nerally-found in the ores of other metals.
5. Cobalt. A brittle femimetal fufible in a modex-ate heat, and eafily convertible into a beautiful blue glafs called fmalt. It is
always obtained from an arfenical ore, likewife called cobalt.
6. Nickel. A reddiftx white fubftance, of a clofe texture, and very blight; eafily melted, but very difficult to vitrify.
IV. INFLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES,
Are thofe which continue to bum of themfelves when once fet on fire. They are divided into oils, fulphur or brimfone, alcohol
or ardent fpirits, and charcoal.
I. Oils are thickifti, vifeous fluids, not mifcible with water. Divided into animal, vegetable, and foffile.
a, b, The animal and vegetable oils are,
1. Expreffed. Thefe are of a mild and bland tafte, inodorous, and not foluble in alcohol. They are obtained by expreffion, as
oil of olives, rape-feed, almonds, &c. Animal fats are of the fame nature, as is alfo wax.
2. EJfentiaJ. Thefe are always obtained by diftillation, poffefs the tafte and flavour of the fubjeft from whence they are drawn,
and are foluble in alcohol. Of this kind are oil of cloves, fpike, &c. The oil of ants is an example in the animal kingdom.
3. Empyreumatic. Thefe are obtained by a confiderable degree of heat, and poffefs an acrid tafte and burnt-like flavour, as oil of
hartfhorn. They are foluble in fpirit of wine.
C, Fofile oils. Thefe are found in the earth in their native ftate ; and are called, when pure, naphtha; which is of an acrid tafte,
and extremely volatile, not mifcible with alcohol. A great many inflammable foffils contain this, as bitumens, pit-coal, &c.
II. Sulphur or Brimstone. This is a dry friable fubftance, not mifcible with water. It is found in many minex-al fubftanees,
metallic ores, &e. but is for the moft part met with in pyrites. Great quantities of it are found in the neighbourhood of volcanoes.
III. Alcohol or Ardent Spirits. This fs a fluid of an acrid and volatile nature, mifcible with water ; obtained from fex-mented
vegetable juices by diftillation ; as from the juice of the grape, malt-liquors, rice, &c. '
IV. Charcoal. The refiduum of moft inflammable matters after undergoing diftillation with a ftrong fire. A black fubftance,
a&ed upon with difficulty by acids ; foluble in hepar-fulphuris, and entirely diffipable into inflammable air by a very violent
heat. Of great ufe as fuel, and effentially neceffary in metallurgy and other aits.
V. WATER.
A colourlefs infipid fluid well known. It is either Jimple or mineral.
I. Simple, or pure rain-water, as it is called, though the moft homogeneous fluid of this kind with which we are acquainted, is not
perfeftly pure, but always contains a portion of mucilaginous matter, which can never be perfeftly feparated. It is fuppofed
to confift of dephlogifticated and inflammable air condenfed.
II. Mineral waters are thefe fpring-waters impregnated with faline fubftances ; the diverfity of which is exceeding great; but
they all agree in having an acid joined with them. The moft common forts are impregnated with iron and fulphur.
VI. A I R.
An invifible and permanently elaftic fluid, is of the following kinds : Dephlogifticated, phlogifticated, fixed or fixable, inflammable,
nitrous, vitriolic acid air, marine acid air, dephlogifticated marine acid, alkaline air, hepatic air, atmofpherical air.
K. Dephlogifticated. An elaftic fluid naturally extricated in the procefs of vegetation; artificially procured from nitre, minium,
raanganefe, water, &c. eminently capable of fupporting flame and animal life. One of the component parts of our atmofphere.
Vol. IV. Part II. 4 G 2. Phk-
602 CHEMISTRY. Table.
2. Phlogiflica'.ed. Produced in great quantities during the putrefa&ive fermentation ; obtained alfo in the calcination of metals and
other phlogiftic precedes. Deftroys animal life, and extinguifhes flame, but is Very friendly to vegetation. Is another of the.
component parts of our atmofphere.
3. Fixe cl, ox fixable. Has its name from the property of adhering to certain bodies, and fixing itfelf in them. Confills of de-
phlogillicated air united to charcoal. Is obtained by fermentation, and in all phlogiftic procelfes. Manifelts the properties of
an acid : extinguiflies flame, and deftroys animal life.
4. Inflammable. Confifts wholly of charcoal and a little water rarefied by heat ; is remarkable for being the lighteft of all gravi¬
tating fubftances. Is produced naturally in mines, and from putrid waters ; artificially procured from certain metallic folutions,,
by palling the fteam of water over red-hot iron ; by diftilling wood, pit-coal, See. with a ftrong heat; or by expofing charcoal
to the heat of a burning lens in vacuo. It extinguilhes flame unlefs it be mixed with a certain proportion of atmofpherical or
dephlogifticated air ; in which cafe it explodes violently, deftroys animal life, but is friendly to vegetation.
3. Nitrous. Procured artificially in diflblving metallic or other fubftances in the nitrous acid. On mixture with dephlogifticated.
air both the fluids lofe their elafticity, and a fmall quantity of nitrous acid is produced. It inftantly kills animals, and extinguilhes
flame. By union wkh fome metals is converted into volatde alkali. In fome cafes it may be made to fnpport flame, and evem
animal life. Its property of condenfing along with dephlogifticated air renders it a teft of the falubrity of the atmofphere.
6. Vitriolic acid air. The fame with volatile or fulphureous vitriolic acid.
7. Marine acid air. The fame with marine acid reduced into vapour, and deprived of moil of its water.
8. Dephlogiflicated marine acid. Suppofed by fome to be the marine acid deprived of its phlogifton ; by others, to be the fame
acid with an addition of pure air. It deftroys many kinds of colours; whitens linen, and with inflammable air regenerates
common marine acid.
9. Alkaline air. The fame with pure volatile alkali; is formed by an union of phlogifticated and inflammable air.
jo. Hepatic air. Produced from the decompofition of liver of fulphur by acids, or in the common atmofphere. It is inflammable,,
but does not burn with explofion.
ji. Atmofpherical air. Compofed of dephlogifticated and phlogifticated air ; and thus fupports both animal life and vegetation.
EARTHS.
But thefe mix-
"Ve GET ABLE.
TABLE, fhowing the feveral Combinations that the simple chemical elementary bodies
admit of with one another; the Compound refulting from that Mixture; and the Manner in
which the Union is effetted : With fome Account of the principal Ufes to which thefe are ap¬
plied in Arts or Manufa&ures.
N. B. This mark*, put above any word, denotes that there is fome difficulty in the procefs, or that
• the union is not very complete.
V IT R 10 L IC ACID may be combined with the following Subfiances, viz.
APT'n'? JNitrous Acid. A mixture which readily inflames-oils. By folution, generating heat.
’■ ^Muriatic, Vegetable, and all other Acids yet known. By folution, generating heat,
tures are applied to no particular ufe in medicine or arts.
'Vitriolated tartar. By folution and cryftallization, or double eledlive attraction from a great
variety of bodies.
Nitrum vitriolatum. A vitriolated tartar, obtained by diftilling from nitre with the vitriolic
acid.
Sal polychreflum. By deflagrating nitre with fulphur. There are many other kinds of vi¬
triolated tartar, known formerly by different names, and fuppofed to be pofiefied of parti¬
cular properties, but they are now neglected.
Eossile. Glauber’s fait. By folution artd cryftallization. Much ufed in medicine as a gentle purgative.
Volatile. Secret ammoniac. By folution. Formerly fuppofed a moft powerful menflruum for metals, &c.
but without any juft foundation.
"A corroded calx. By Ample corrofion. This when perfectly edulcorated with water is
found to be a true gypfum.
Selenites. By precipitation from a very dilute folution of chalk in the nitrous acid, by means
of the vitriolic acid.
Terra ponderofa. With this it unites in preference to alkalies, forming a very heavy and in-
foluble fubftance called fpathum ponderofum.
Gypfum or Paris-plafler. Often found in a native ftate. May be artificially formed by preci¬
pitating from a folutioii of chalk in a very concentrated nitrous acid,
ment; for taking impreflions from medals, &c.
Talc, ajbeflos, &c. A native production which cannot be perfectly imitated by art.
holding objeCts in rnicrofcopCs, making incombuftible cloth, &c.
Magnesia. F.pfom, or magmfla Glauber’s falt. By folution and cry ftalbzation. Mu
the fame purpofes as real Glauber’s fait.
2 EARTHS.
fCALCAREOUS
| Earths.
I
Ufed as a ce-
Ufed for
Much ufed in medicine for
Table.
EARTHS.
The fumes which
sr pure. It is arti-
METALS.
Iron.
| Mercury.
CHEMISTRY. 603
TEarth of Alum. Alum. By folution, Cryftallization, &c. Ufed by dyers as a preparatory for taking on
the colours, papermakers, goldfmiths. &c.
Earth of Animals, Osteocella, &c. By folution. The mixtures of thefe are not applied to any
. particular ufe.
* Clay* Alum. By digelling pure clay for fome time in this aeid, and expofing it for fome time to the air,
an alum is produced; and if the clay is precipitated from this aluminous concrete, it is found to be a pure
earth of alum, fpluble in all acids.
PFlint. A thick!(h cqagulum. By d'gefting the hquor filices in the vitriolic acid.
s6old*. Imperfectly. By a particular procefs after being feparated from aqua-regia.
Silver*. By folution, after it has been precipitated from the nitrous acid by alkalies,
arife in this folution are inflammable.
Copper. Blue •vitriol. This is fometimes a native production, but in this way it is nev
iicially prepared by folution in a very concentrated acid, and cryitallizing it.
Green vitriol or copperas. Obtained at large by particular procefs from pyrites ; or by folution, &c. in
a diluted acid. This is the bafis of all black dyes, ink, &c. as it ftrikes a black colour with
vegetable aftringents.
Salt of feel. By calcining the cryftals of green vitriol till they are converted into a white powder.
IColcothar of vitriol. By continuing the calcination till it aflumes a browh colour.
L^ad VSatufnus •vitriolicus. A folution in a boiling heat, but is again precipitated when cold.
I{EAD' t An indiffoluble concrete. By precipitation from the nitrous acid.
Tin. flupUer corrofivus. By a boiling heat in a concentrated acid.
Ignis Gehenne> or infernalis of Paracelfus. By a boiling heat, and repeated cpCIionS with frefit
acid when it is evaporated.
Turpeih mineral, or mercUiius precipitatus flavus. , By evaporating to drynefs, and then walhing
with water.
f Antimony*. A metallic fait. By ele&ive attraftion from butter of antimony.
Zinc. White vitriol. Often found in its native ftate. Artificially made by folution and cryftallization in a
«iT'TvrTM'P'TAT c; J diluted acid. Ufed by painters for drying.
IriLjyUMr,X . i Bismuth. A corroded calx. By folution in a concentrated acid.
I Arsenic ... By ditto.
ICobalt. A rofe-coloured mixture. By folution. If this is precipitated by a fixed alkali, and again dif.
folved, the liquor appears of a beautiful red.
fExpressed. A blackifh gummy-like mafs. By folution, generating a confiderable heat. Native gums are
fuppofed to owe their origin to a mixture of this kind.
! Essential. A dark-coloured refinous mafs. A great heat and violent effervefcence being produced by this
| mixture. Native refins fuppofed the fame.
EmEyrEumatic. Little known. By folution.
(_Fossile. A fubftance refembling amber. By folution.
SULPHUR*. Here there is no proper union of fubilances ; but if fulphur is boiled in this acid, it becomes lefs inflammable and
more fixed than any ordinary fulphur.
f Vitriolic ether. By careful folution and diftiHation, the ether being feparated by the addition of water.
I Spiritus vitrioli dulcis. By folution and diftillation.
j Oleum duke. By continuing the heat after the ether has arifen.
] Oleum anodynum minerale. By rediftilling the refiduum of the laft with alcohol. A medicine much cele-
I brated by Hoffman.
[.Sulphur. By pufhing the heat after the oil comes over. It is to be obferved that this is produced in every
combination of this acid with inflammables or metals.
WATER. An acidulated water. Sometimes, though feldom, found iffuing along with native fprings. Applied to no par¬
ticular ufe.
NITROUS A CIX) may he combined with the following Subfiances, viz.
Vitriolic, as above.
Muriatic. Aqua regia. By folution. This is the only proper menftruum for gold ; and it is a folution of
tin in this menftruum which is the bafis of the fcarlet dye.
Vegetable, and all others. By ditto. Thefe compounds have no particular names, nor are applied to any
particular ufes in medicine or arts.
SVegetable. Common nitre. A native production. Made artificially by folution and cryftallization. This
deflagrates, with oily or metallic bodies, and is the foundation of gun-powder.
Fossile. Cubic nitre. By folution.
o-latile. Nitrous ammoniac. By folution. This differs from all the other ammoniacal falts, by being
foluble in alcohol.
r, ^ CDeliquefcent cryflals. - By ditto and ctyftallization.
C ALCARI'OUS‘ t Baldwin’sphnfphorus. By ditto and evaporating to drynefs.
JEa ' ' - " • * " " •
OI^S.
ALCOHOL.
ACIDS.
ALKALIES.
>o;
( Vo
EARTHS.
« Earth of Alum, and all other abforbent earths. By folution. The compounds have no names nor any
J remarkable properties hitherto difcovered.
v .r ~ ".
^Crystalline Earths*
By folution after precipitation from the liquor filices.
4 G 3
<5o4
CHEMISTRY.
Table,
METALS,
SEMIMETALS.
ALCOHOL..
WATER,
alkalies.
earths.
Gold*. Slightly impregnated. By a boiling heat in clofe veffels, after the ordinary method of feparating filver
from gold by the nitrous acid. It fpontaneoufly fubfides in the air.
)Afluidfolution. By folution. This when diluted with water ftains hair and bones black j as alfo*
marble, agate, jafper, &c. of different colours.
Sal metallorum. By folution and cryftallization.
Catharticum lunare, lunar cauflic, or lapis inf emails. By infpiffating the fblution to drynefs..
Copper. A green-coloured folution. By folution..
Iron. A greenifh folution, if a diluted acid is employed ; if otherwife, it is of a yellowi-fh colour: evaporated
to drynefs, it deliquates in the air.
JA yellow folution. By diffolving in a. diluted acid. If much water is added, the metal is pre¬
cipitated.
Saturni fulminans. By infpifTating the folution. This explodes when put upon the fire with greater
force than nitre, and has been propofed to be ufed as an ingredient in gun-powder to augment its force.
Tin. A folution or corroded calx. By a careful folution without heat it remains fufpended ; if otherwife,
it falls down in form of a calx. This is commonly fuppofed to be the compofition ufed in dyeing fcarlet;
but by miflake : for it is a folution of tin in aqua-regia that communicates that fine colour to cochineah
The fame folution is the bafis of the powder which, tinges glafs of a ruby colour. It is the precipitate of
gold from aqua-regia by means of tin.
{A limpid folution,. intenfely corrofive. By folution.
Red precipitate. By evaporating the folution to drynefs, and then calcining till it becomes red.
Mercurius corroflvus fufus. By precipitating from the nitrous acid by fixed alkali.
White precipitate - By ditto with the volatile alkali.
C A greenifh folution. By ufing a concentrated acid. This might be applied in fome cafes in the
Bismuth. < art of dyeing ; but is not yet come into general ufe.
^ Magijlery of biftnuth. By precipitating from the folution by means of water. This has been em¬
ployed as a cofmetic, but is inefficacious and unfafe. If mixed with pomatum, this ftains
hair of a dark colour without injuring it.
Zinc. A corroded folution. By the ordinary means.
{A colourlefs calx. By fimple corrofion.
Bexoardic mineral. By diftilling from butter of antimony, after having added the nitrous acid.
Antimonium diaphorcticum. By adding nitre to crude antimony, and deflagrating.
Cerufa antimonii. By deflagrating regulus of antimony with nitre,
f A red liquor. By folution either in its calcined or metallic ftate.
Cobalt. \ Rofe-colouredcryftals. By adding muriatic acid, and allowing it to cryftallize.
C Green fympathetic ink. By diflblving thefe cryftals in water. The folution is red when cold, and
green when warm ; when wrote with, it difappears when dry; but when held to the fire it
becomes green, and again difappears when cold.
.Nickel. A green-coloured liquor. By folution.
'Expressed. A thick bituminous-like fubftance. Upon the mixture a confiderable degree of heat is gene¬
rated, and fbmetimes, though very feldom, a&ual flame is produced..
Essential. Ditto. A more violent heat is generated upon the mixture with thefe oils than any other, and
with many of them an a&ual flame is produced.
Empyreumatic.. This mixture has no name,.nor is it applied to any remarkable ufe in arts.
^Fossile. Ditto.
( Nitrous ether. By digefting ; the ether arifing to the furface.
I Spiritus nitri dulcis. By digefting a little, and then diftilling.
Acidulated water. By folution..
The MURIATIC ACID may he combined with the following Subflances, viz.
f Vitriolic, and Nitrous. As in the former part of this Table.
•< Vegetable, and all others yet known. By folution: but as none of thefe mixtures are applied to any particu.
{. lar purpofe, we take no notice of them,
j Vegetable. DigefUve falt., By fblution and cryftallization.
If Common fait. Commonly obtained by evaporating fea-water to drynefs; or artificially made by
I „ J mixing the acid and alkali, and cryftdlizing.
<j r os 51lE. gCrll' native foffile fait, found in mines in Poland, Spain, E3V. of the fame nature as com-
£ mon fait, but more pure.
Volatile, Common ammoniac. Obtained at large by a particular procefs from foot. Artificially made by
l mixing the acid and alkali, and cryftallizing.
( Liqjiidfhelh By folution. A fubftance whofe effects in medicine have been greatly extolled,
f Calcareous. J 01. colds per deliquium. By evaporating liquid (hell todrynefs. It naturally deliquefees.
J i Fixed ammoniac. By folution and cryftallization. This fometimes appears luminous in the
) dark when ftruck with a hammer.
LOsteocella, Magnesia; and other abforbents. By folution; but the properties or ufes of thefe are not
known.
METALS,
Table.
CHEMISTRY. 6oj
' Gold A yellow liquor. By boiling a calx of gold (in whatever way obtained) in this acid. It does not
aft upon it in its metallic ilate.
C AJluidfolution. By diffolving the ore of filver in this acid. It does not aft upon pure me-
Silver *. X tallic filver.
C Luna cornea. By eleftive attraftion from the nitrous acid.
Platixa*. A fluid folution. With difficulty effefted, after having been precipitated from aqua regia
by alkalies.
Copper. A green deliquefcent inflammable fait. By folution and infpiflating to drynefs.
Iron. TinStura martis aurea. By folution. The iron is in fome meafure rendered volatile by this
operation.
Lead 5 ^ limpid folution. By a boiling heat, and frequent cohobations with frefh acid.
\ Cornea Saturni. By precipitation from the nitrous-acid.
Tin * ^ corroc^ Powder. By fimple eorrofion.
IN * Butter of tin. By diftilling from corrofive fublimate.
f A colourlefs cryttalline mafs,. extremely acrid. By corrofion, employing the fumes of a very
I concentrated aid.
I Mercur. corrqfiv. albus. By precipitation from the nitrous acid.
Mercury*. <j Corrqfivefublimate. By fubliming from fal ammoniac, common fait, or many other bodies.
I Mercurius dulcis. By refubliming corrofive fublimate with more quickfilver.
I Mercurial panacea. By fubliming corr. fub. nine times, and digeft’ing for fome time in fpi-
(_ rit of wine.
SEMIMETALS.
By employing a very concentrated acid.
the arfenic uniting with the
a gentle heat.
f Bismuth*. A folution very (lightly impregnated,
i Zinc. A folution of a very flight yellow colour.
j Arsenic*. Butter of arfenic. By diftilling corrofive fubhmate with arfenic;
! acid, and leaving the mercury.
| Cobalt. A reddifli folution. By the ordinary means. It becomes green by
(^Nickel. A green folution. By the ordinary means.
OILS*. By folution. The union here is but imperfeft, nor have they any particular name.
ALCOHOL. Spiritus falis dulcis. By digeftion, and afterwards diftilling. The acid here is never totally dulcified.
WATER. Acidulated water. Generating heat by mixture.
VINE GAB may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS. Vitriolic, Nitrous, and Muriatic, as in the above table. It likewife unites with all other acids, gene*
rating heat; but the properties or ufes of thefe are not known,
f Vegetable. Regenerated tartar. By folution and cryftallization.
ALKALIES. < Fossile. Polychrejl of Rochelle. By ditto.
(.Volatile. Spiritus Mindereri. By folution.
j Calcareous Earths. Earthy falis. Not known in medicine or arts.
(Magnesia. Dr Black's purging fait. By folution. It unites with all the other abforbent earths; but the
properties of thefe mixts are unknown.
f Copper. Verdegris. By folution and cryftallization ; or at large, by ftratifying copper plates with the hulks
of the grape.
j Iron. Sal martis aperiens. By folution and cryftallization.
' p(EAI5 S Cerufe' By expofing, in certain circumftances, thin plates of lead to the fumes of vinegar.
2 Saccharum Saturni. By folution and cryftallization.
Tin*. This is not properly diflblved ; but the acid is evidently impregnated. By the ordinary means of
folution.
Mi* \ Afluidfolution. By employing a precipitate of mercury from the nitrous acid by alkalies,
t ( A red calx. By long digeftion with fluid mercury.
(Zinc. A colourlefs folution of a fweetilh tafte. By digefting for fome time.
| Antimony*. Vinum lenedidum. This is not a proper folution of the metal, but the acid is impregnated
SEMIMETALS. with an emetic quality.
j Arsenic. Vinum arfenicum. By ditto. A curious phofphoric liquor.
(.Bismuth. An auftere ftyptic liquor. By ftrong coftion.
OILS*. The union here is imperfeft, nor have any of them obtained particular names.
ALCOHOL. A mixture much ufed for anointing fprains, &c.
WATER. Acidulated water.
ACID o? 'TARTAR may be combined with the following Sul fiances, viz.
ALKALIES. Vegetable. { ?r.ea^ of tartar wJth excef* of ac;d' ^
t boluble tartar, when completely laturated.
Rochelle fait.
5 A fait very difficult of folution with excefs of acid'
C A beautiful and foluble fait when perfeftly faturated..
3
EARTHS.
METALS.
<!j
ALKALIES.
EARTH*
Tabic.
Co6 C H E M I S T II Y.
EARTH. Calcareous. An indiffoluble felenite.
^ at q | Copper. A fine green colour for painting.
' 1 ‘ t Iron. A green altringent liquid. Chaiybeated tartar.
SEMIMETAL. Regulus of Antimony. Emeticiartar.
ACID of URINE may b; combined avllh the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS of all kinds. The nature of thefe not known.
f Fixed Vegetable. A fait not eafily cryftallized, the nature of which is not known.
ALKAI I J Fossile. A fine cryftallized fak ufed in medicine.
j Volatile. A glafs-like faline fubftance called microcofmic fait. The acid is always found in this fiate by
I evaporating urine.
VITRESCENT EARTHS. Giafs of different forts. By fufion.
f I.ead. An inflammable malleable mafs. By calcining the dry fait with lead.
| Tin. A mafs refembling zinc ; and inflammable. By ditto,
j Iron ^ A me phofphorus. By ditto.
' C A bluifh folution. By employing a watery folution of the acid.
C«pper. A corroded powder, or green folution. By a boiling heat in a watery folution of the acid,
1 Mercury. A femi opaque mafs. By fufion with the acid in its fulid form.
r-   ~   
METALS.
! 'Zinc.
e A corroded powder, folubk in water. By folution in the acid in a watery fituation.
• A true phofpfmrm. By fufion with the dry acid.
| A C A folutidn in the ordinary way.
SEMIMETALS. <| ntimony. ^ ^ brilliant ftriated mafs. By fufion with the dry acid.
BismOth. A mixture but little changed in appearance from ordinary biimuth. By fufion.
I Arsenic. A whitiflr femitranfparent deiiquefcent mafs. By fufion.
b Cobalt. A. reddiih tindlure. By folution.
OILS. Baldwin's phofphorus. By diddling with fubftances that contain oils or inflammable matters.
METALS.
ALKALIES.
EARTHS.
METALS.
FLUOR ACID may Is combined with the following Sid fiances, viz.
' Fixed Vegetable. A gelatinous faline mafs which cannot be cryftallized. Great part of it is alfo diffi*
i by evaporation to drynefs.
A fubftance fimilar to the foregoing.
Lets fall a quantity of filiceous earth, and forms a cryftallizable ammoniacal fait.
SLime. 1
Magnesia. S A gelatinous matter.
~)Earth of Alum. J
^Siliceous Earth. After long ftanding, cryftals of quartz.
C Silver. £ The calces of thefe metals partially diffolved ; but the properties of the fblution un«
jQuicksilver. S known.
"^Copper, The calx eafdy foluble, and affording blue cryftals ; the metal only partially fo.
(_Iron. Diffolved with violence with the emiffion of inflammable vapours into an uncrvftallizable liquor.
ACID of S U GAR may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
!Fixed Vegetable. A fait fcarce capable of cryftallization when perfectly neutral.
Fossile. A fait difficultly fohlble in water.
Volatile. An ammoniacal fait ffiooting into quadrangular prifms.
f Lime. A kind of felenite from which the acid cannot be feparated but by a burning heat.
jTerra Ponderosa. A fait formed into angular cryftals, fcarce foluble in water.
"^Magnesia. A white powder infoluble without an excefs of acid.
^ Earth of Alum. A yellow pellucid mafs incapable of cryftallization, and liquefying in the air.
tGold.
J Silver. {
< Platina. (
j Quicksilver. J
The calces of all thefe metals diffolved, but the nature of the folutions unknown.
LIron. D1 Soiled in great quantity, and forming a yellow prifmatic fait eafily foluble in water.
SEMIMETAL. Cobalt. A yellow-coloured fait forming a fympathetic ink with fea-falt.
INFLAMMABLES. Alcohol. An ether which cannot eafily be fet on fire unlefs previoufly heated, and burning with a
blue flame.
ACID of BORAX, or SEDATIVE SALT, may he combined with the following Sulflances, viz.
{Fossile. Borax. A native fubftance, which may be imitated by art. It is of great ufe in promoting the
fufion of metals and earths.
Volatile. An ammoniacal fait (hooting into fmall cryftals, and melting by an intenfe heat into a greyifh-
coloured giafs.
f Magnesia. A fait cryftailizable ia vinegar and acid of ants. Decompofed by other acids and fpirit of wine.
n Earth of Alum. In certain proportions a fait difficult of folution } in others a hard mafs refembling pu-
mice-flone, yet partially foluble in water.
ALKALIES.
EARTHS.
METAL.
6oy
Table. C H E M 1 S T R Y.
METAIi. Iron. An ambcr-colourcd folution yielding cryftals of a yellow colour.
SEMIMETAL. Arsenic. A cryftallizable compound {hooting into pointed ramifications, or farming a greyifti, white, or
yellow powder.
A folution with a confiderable heat, which burns with a green flame.
ALCOHOL.
WATER.
A folution in a confiderable heat. The other mixtures with this acid not known.
alkalies.
EARTHS.
METALS.
s? C ID of A MB E R may le combined with the following Sulflances, viz.
f Fixed Vegetable. A tranfparent and cryftallizable fait, but deliquefcent.
•^Fossile. A cryftallizable fait not deliquefcent.
C Volatile. An ammoniacal fait {hooting into acicular cryftals.
SLime. A cryftallizable fait,, difficult of folution and not deliquefcent. Decompofed by common fal am*
moniac.
JMagnesia. A gummy deliquefcent faline mafs, not cryftallizable.
V. Earth of Alum. A prifmatic fait incapable of decompofition by alkalies.
("Silver. A fait (hooting into thin oblong cryftals obtained from the precipitate ; but no folution of the per*
[ feet metal.
i Copper. A cryftallizable fait of a green colour.
Iron. A cryftallizable fait of a brown colour.
Tin. A cvyftallizable fait from the precipitate, fcarce to be decompofed by alkalies.
LLead. A cryftallizable fait from the precipitate.
CZinc. A cryftallizable fait.
SEMIMETALS. < Bismuth. A cryftallizable fait from the precipitate,, not to be decompofed by alkalies.
( Regulus of Antimony. A folution of the precipitate.
ACID of ANTS may be combined with the following Subflances^ viz.
( Fixed Vegetable. A cryftallizable fait, deliquefcent in the air.
ALKALIES. < Fossij-e. A fait of a fimilar nature.
(] Volatile. An ammoniacal liquor, cryftallizable with difficulty.
TChalk or Coral. A cryftallizable fait which does not deliquate.
J Magnesia. A faline liquor fcarcely cryftallizable.
Terra Ponderosa. A. cryftallizable fait which does not deliquefee.
(_Earth of Alum. Unites with difficulty, and fcarcely to the point of faturation. The nature of the com*
pound not known.
f Silver *. By folution. The calx of filver precipitated from aquafortis by alkalies ; but does not a& upon
I it in its metallic ftate.
Copper. Beautifulgteen cryftals. By diflblvingand cryflallizing calcined copper. It a&s flowlyupon it in
^ its metallic ftate.
IIron. A cryftallizable fait. Xt diffolves this metal with great facility.
Lead *. A fait refembling faccharum faturni. By diffolving the red calx of lead. But it does not a& upon’
it in its metallic ftate.
SEMIMETAL. Zinc. Elegant cryftals. By the ordinary means..
The effeds of this acid upon ocher bodies, or the ufes to which thefe combinations might be applied, are not yet fufficiently
known.
ACID of ARSENIC may be combined with the following Sulflances ^ viz:
Fixed Vegetable. A ponderous fait {hooting into fine cryftals by fuperfaturation with acid.
sile. A fait cryftallizable when perfe&ly neutral.
latile. A peculiar kind of aaimoniacal fait parting with the alkali,, and decompofing fome of it in-a
ftrong fire.
TChalk. A cryftallizable fait fcarcely foluhle.
< Magnesia. A gelatinous mafs which cannot be cryftallized.
(.Terra Ponderosa. An infoluble white powder.
C Copper. A green-coloured folution.
jIron. A very thick gelatinous folution.
J Lead. A folution which cannot be cryftallized.
UX^in. A gelatinous folution in the moift way. A mixture taking fire in clofe vefTels in the dry way.
f Zinc. A folution in the moift way, and in the dry, a mixture taking fire in clofe veffels.
| Bismuth. A partial folution.
fEMIMETALS. Regulus cf Antimony. A partial folution.
| Cobalt. A partial folution of a red colour.
(_'Manganese. A partial folution in its natural ftate. When the manganefe is phlogifticated, a cryftallizabl4-
falt may be obtained.
Charcoal. A mixture taking fire and fubliming when heated in clofe veflels.
il of Turpentine, &c. A thick black fubftance after fome days digeftion.
Sulphur. A red fublimate.
EARTHS.
METALS.
Klkalies.
EARTHS.
PETALS.
INFLAMMA¬
BLES.
f Fixi
4 Fosi
(. VOL.
{Ch
On
Sui
ALKALIES
Table.
608
ALKALIES.
ALKALIES.
EARTHS.
METALS.
SEMIMETAL.
ALKALIES,
EARTHS.
ALKALIES.
EARTHS.
METAL.
CHEMISTRY.
ACID op MOL Y B D JE NA may It united with the following Subjlances, viz.
C Fixed Vegetable. A cryilailizable fait.
^Volatile. A neutral fait, the nature of which is unknown.
ACID of MILK may be combined ’with the following Subjlances, viz.
f Fixed Vegetable. A deliquefeent fait foluble in alcohol.
-JFossile. A fait of a fimilar nature.
(.Volatile. A deliquefeent fait parting with much of the alkali by heat.
5 Calcareous and Argillaceous. Deliquefeent falts.
£ Magnesia. A fait more eafily cryftallized, but deliquefeent.
rCoppER. A blue folution, which cannot be cryftallized.
-j Iron. A brown folution, with the emiflion of inflammable air, yielding no cryftals.
(.Lead. An aftringent fweetifh folution, which does not cryftallize.
Zinc. A cryftallizahle fait, with the emiffion of inflammable air during the folution.
ACID of SUGAR OF MILK may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
("Fixed Vegetable. A fait very difficult of folution.
aFossile. A fait more eafily foluble.
^Volatile. A peculiar kind of ammoniac.
Absorbent and Argillaceous. Infoluble falts.'
ACID of APPLES may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
Fixed Vegetable, Fossile, and Volatile. Deliquefeent falts.
TCalcareous. A fait difficult of folution unlefs the acid prevail.
aMagnesia. A deliquefeent fait.
(.Earth of Alum. A fait very difficult of folution.
Iron. A brown folution, which does not cryftallize.
SEMIMETAL. Zinc. A fine cryftallizable fait.
EARTHS.
ACID of FA 7* may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
C Fixed, Vegetable, and Fossile. Neutral falts of a particular nature.
\ Volatile. A concrete volatile fait.
C Calcareous. A cryftallizable fait of a brown colour.
-(Magnesia. ^ ^ A gummy mafs, which refufes to cryftallize.
C Earth of Alum
(•Silver. A folution of the calx.
I Platina. The calx copioufly diflblved, and even the perfect metal attacked by diftillation to drynef*.
I Copper. A green folution, which cannot be cryftallized.
tvIETALS. <! Iron. A cryftallizable fait, which does not deliquate.
j Lead. An aftringent folution of the red calx called minium.
I Tin. A folution in fmall quantity.
LMercury. A folution by being twice diftilled from the metal.
fZiNC. Diffolved in its metalline ftate.
orxTTX/TT-T'AT Q J Bismuth. A folution of the precipitate.
oJLJYliJYLJi.iilljO.Regulus of Antimony. A cryftallizable fait, which does not deliquate.
^Manganese. A perfect and clear folution.
ACID of BENZOIN may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
CFixed Vegetable. A fait (hooting into pointed feathery cryftals.
ALKALIES. < Fossile. A fait procurable in larger cryftais.
^Volatile. A deliquefeent fait fcarce cryftallizable.
( Calcareous. A cryftallizable fait not eafily foluble.
(.Magnesia. A cryftallizable fait eafily foluble.
EARTHS.
The FIXED ALKALI, whether Vegetable or Fossile, tan be united with the following Bodies ; but the Vegetable is bejl known,
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable; and acid of Urine, of Amber, of Ants, of Borax, &c. as in the former
part of this Table.
ALKALIES of all forts. The ufes of thefe mixtures are not known.
! Liquor filicum. By fufion with twice their weight of alkalies.
Glafs. By fufion with a much fmaller proportion of alkali. This is the compofition of
cryftal glafsi and all others commonly ufed.
(Absorbents. Argillaceous, and all kinds of earths; Glafs. By fufion ; differing in quality according toi,
the nature of the ingredients. Gla's is likewife produced with it in fufion with metals.
(Gold*. After having precipitated it from aqua-regia, it diffolves it if the alkali has been calcined with ani-i v
METALS. < mal fubftances. . . j
(Silver*. After having precipitated it from the nitrous acid, it diffolves it if the alkali has been calcined in(
contaft with the flame.
N° 76. METALS* 1
6og
t*
5EMIMETALS.
Antimony.
Table. G H E M I S T R Y.
TTin. A corroded powder. By the ordinary means of folution.
| Copper. By ditto.
METALS i Lead. A fluid folution. By ditto. This ftains hair black.
| Iron *. A blood-coloured folution. By dropping a folution of iron in the nitroiis acid, into an alkaline lixivium.
' Mercury*. A fluid folution. After precipitating it from acids; if the alkali is in too large proportions, it
then diffolves it, efpecially if the alkali has been calcined in contaft with the flame.
Zinc*. By folutjon, after having precipitated it from the nitrous acid.
Bismuth*. By 'folution, after having precipitated it from the nitrous acid.
’Kermes mineral. By diflblving antimony in an alkaline lixivium, filtering, and allowing it to
Hand in a cool place till it precipitates.
Golden fulphur of antimony. By diflblving a crude antimony in an alkaline lixivium, and precipi*
tating by an acid.
Hepar dntimonii. By deflagrating crude antimony with nitre.
Crocus metallorum. Is hepar antimonii pulverifed and edulcorated with water*
Diaphoretic antimony. By deflagrating regiilus of antimony with nitre.
Antimoniated nitre. By diflblving diaphoretic antimony in water, and allowing it to cryftallize.
Magi/lery of antimony. By precipitating a folucion of diaphoretic antimony by adding vinegar.
Regulus antimonii medicinalis. By fufing crude antimony with alkali. This is not properly a
compound of alkali and antimony, but of another kind. But as it is a term much ufed,
it was proper to explain it.
.Arsenic *. A metallic arfenical fait. By a particular eleblive attraction from regulus of antimony and nitre.
Expressed. Soap. The beft hard foap is made of olive-oil and foflile alkali. The ordinary white foap of
this country is made of tallow and potafh ; black foap with whale-oil and potafli.
Essential. Saponaceous mafs. Beft; made by pouring fpirit of wine upon cauftic alkali and then oil, digeft-
OILS. ing and fhaking.
EmpyreumaI ic. This mixture diflblves gold when precipitated from aqua regia ; and is the bafis of the fine
colour called Pruffian blue ; and has various other properties, as yet but little known.
Fossile. This has no name, nor are the properties well known ; but frbm fome obfervations that have been made
on native foapy waters, it is probable that it would keep linen much longer white than aby other kind of foap.
SULPHUR CHepar fulphuris. By inje&ing alkalies upon melted fulphur.
' X Lac fulphur is. By diflblving fulphur in an alkaline lixivium, and precipitating by an acid.
WATER. Alkalme lixivium^ when cauftic, or even the ordinary folution of mild alkali, is a fluid of great power in wafliingj,
blacking, &c.
AIR. Fixed. Mild alkali. This is the general ftate in wEich alkalies are found ; but if they are rendered cauftic by
means of quick-lime or otherwife, they again abforb it from the air, or from many other bodies, by elective
attraction. When perfectly mild, this hlkali ihay be made to affume a cryllalline form.
The VOLATILE ALKALI, or SPIRIT of SAL AMMONIAC, can be united uoilh thefe Bodies, viz.
ACIDS: Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable ; of Urine, of Amber, of Ants, &c.
ALKALIj as above.
Gold * (-durum fulminans. A powder obtained by precipitating it from aqua regia by volatile alkalies.
\ A liquid folution. By adding a large proportion of alkali after it has been precipitated from aqua
tegia. This depofites tile gold when long expofed to the air. The curious vegetation called
arbor Diana is formed by adding mercury to this folution. A violently fulminating powder ob¬
tained by digeftion.
Silver*. A folution. After it has been precipitated from the nitrous acid. A fulminating powder by digeftion.
Platen a *. By folution-, after having precipitated it from aqua regia.
fA blue-coloured folution. By the ordinary means* This when evaporated to drynefs, and mixed
with tallow, tiriges the flame green.
Corf eR. ■{ Sapphire-coloured cryftals. By cryftallizing the folutiori.
I Venus -fulminans. By evaporating the folution to drynefs.
\Aqua cerulea fapphirina. By mixing fal ammoniac* quicK-lime, and thin plates of Coppers with wa¬
ter, and allowing them to remain a night.
Iron. By ordinary folution.
Lead. By ditto.
LTin. The mix.ts that are produced by thefe metals are little known.
TBismuth *. By folution, after having precipitated it from the nitrous acid.
J Antimony.
1 Cobalt. A reddifh liquor* By folution.
^Nickel. A blue liquor. By ditto..
[Expressed. Has no name. Byfblution.
j Essential. Sal ’volatile oleofum. By ditto with feme difficulty, uhlefs the alkali is in a cauftic ftate.
^ Empyreumatic. A pungent oily fubftance, of great power in medicine. The principal one of this kind hi
j ufe is fpirit of hartfhorn.
[Fossile, A particular kind of fonpy fubftance.
VdL* IV. Part II. 4 H SULPHUR.
Metals.
semiMetals. •
‘OILS.
Table.
610
SULPHUR.
ALCOHOL*.
WATER.
AIR.
CHEMISTRY.
Smoking fpirit of fulphur. By diftilling fal ammoniac, quick-lime, and fulpliur.
By diitiiling alcohol from volatile alkalies, it acquires a cauftic fiery tafte ; but the union is not complete.
This folution might be of ufe in walking or bleaching ; but, unlefs in particular cafes, would be too expenlive.
It coagulates with alcohol.
Fixed. Mild volatile alkali. The nfual ftate in which it is found ; nor has any method yet been difcovered of
rendering it folid but in this ftate.
EXPRESSED OILS may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, of Urine, of Amber, as in the foregoing part of this Table.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
CALCAREOUS EARTHS.. A kind of plafter. By mixture when in a cauftic ftate.
f Tin*. Ditto. By folution when the tin is in the ftate of a calx.
METALS. ^Lead*. Ditto. By boiling the calx of lead in oils. This is ufed for cements in water-works. The com-
mon white paint is a mixture of this lefs perfedl.
SEMIMETALS. Zinc*. Ditto. By ditto.
OILS : Effential, Empyreumatie, and Foflile. By mixture ; but their ufes are not much known.
SULPHUR. Balfam of Sulphur. By folution in a boiling heat.
ALCOHOL. Alter exprdfed oils are freed from foap or plafters, they are foluble in alcohol; but not In their ordinary ftate.
ES SENT IAL OILS may be combined with the following Suljiancesy viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, &c. as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
METALS. J Copper. By folution.
(Lead. By ditto.
OILS of all kinds. By folution or mixture.
SULPHUR. A balfam of fulphur. By folution, imperfedtly ; better by adding eflential oils to the fblution made by expreffed
oils or hepar fulphuris.
A T rrYWriT 5 ImPerfe& mixture. By fblution.
(Aromatic waters. By diftillation.
WATER. Diftilled water of the fliops. By diftilling recent vegetable fubftances with water.
E MPTRE U fl'IXT IC OILS may be combined with the following Subjlances ^ viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic and Nitrous, as above.
ALKALIES: Fixed’and Volatile, as above.
OILS of all kinds. By mixture-
ALCOHOL. By folution. By repeated diftillatisns the oils are rendered much more fubtile.
F 0 S SIL E OILS may be combined with the following Subfiances y viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic and Nitrous, as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
OILS of all kinds. By mixture..
SULPHUR. With fame difficulty, by folution.
ALCOHOL. ... By ditto.
SULPHUR may he combined with the following Subfanees, viz.
ACID* : Vitriolic ; with the phenomena above defcribed;
ALKALIES: Fixed and Volatile, as above.
'Silver.. A mafs of a red-like colour. By adding fulphur to red-hot filver, and fufing ; found alfo with it
in the ftate of an ore.
Lead. A fparkling friable mafs, hardly fufible. By deflagrating fulphur with lead. This in a native ftate
forms the ore of lead called galena.
Copper. A black brittle mafs, eafily fufed. By adding fulphur to red-hot copper, or ftratifyrng with ful¬
phur and fufing. Naturally in fome yellow pyrites.
"A fpungy-like drofs, eafily fufible. By putting fulphur to red-hot iron. This is alfo found na¬
turally in the common yellow or brown pyrites.
A fulminating compound. By mixing filings of iron with fulphur, moiftening. them with water,
and preffing them hard, they in a few hours burft out into flame. This compofition has been
employed for imitating earthquakes..
Crocus martis. By deflagrating with iron.
Crocus martis aperiens. By calcining the crocus martis in the fire till it aflumes a red appearance.
Hrocus martis afringens. By pufhing the heat ftiU further.
A dark-coloured mafs,, refembling antimony. By fufion.
(Eth'wps mineral. By heating flowers of fulphur, and pouring the mercury upon it, and ftirring it
I well. Its natural ore is called a/zna&jr.
,, J FaSitious cinnabar.. By applying the mercury and fnlphur to each other in their pure ftate, and
' j fttbliming.
I Cinnabar of antimony. By fubliming corrofive fubliraate and crude antimony; or the refiduum,
L after diftilling butter of antimony,-.
METALS,
SEMIMETALS.
Table.
CHEMISTRY.
SEMIMETALS. <
6m
If in its ittetailine {late, the fulphur fe«-
METALS.
f Bismuth, A faint greyifli mafs, refembling antimony. By fufioa.
parates in the cold ; but not fo if the calx has been employed.
Antimony. Crude antimony. By fufion.
Zinc*, A very brittle, dark-coloured, {hining fubftance. With fome difficulty, by keeping it long in a
moderate fire, and covering it feveral times with fulphur, and keeping it conilantly ftirred.
Tellow arfenic. By fufing it with -,-6th its weight of fulphur.
Red arfenic. By ditto with j-th ks weight of fulphur.
Arsenic.- Ruby of fulphur, or arfenic, or golden fulphur. By fubliming when the proportions are eaual.
Qrpment. A natural produ&ion 5 not perfectly linkable by art; compofed of fulphur and arfenic..
Much ufed as a yellow paint.
^Nickel. Acompound; compadt and hard as lead; of a bright metallic appearance; internally yellow. By fufion.
OILS : ExprefTed, Effential, and Fofiile, as above.
WATER. Gas fylvejlre. By receiving the fumes of burning fulphur in water. This ought rather to be called a union of the
volatile vitriolic acid with water.
ALCOHOL may be combined <with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS: Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, and of Borax, as above.
ALKALI* : Volatile, as above.
METALLIC calces, in fome particular cafes.
OILS: Expreffed, Effential, Empyreumatic, and Foffile, as above.
WATER. By folution.
GOLD may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vktiolic*, Nitrous*, and Muriatic*. In the circumftances and with the phenomena above defcribed.
ALKALIES : Fixed*, and Volatile*, as above.
'Silver. By fufion. And the fame is to be underftood of all the combinations of metals, unlefs particular!)
fpecified.
Platina. Dudtile, and of a du/ky colour. This has been employed to debafe gold, as it is of the fame fpe-
cific gravity, and is not difcoverable by the ufual tefts for difcovering the purity of gold..
Lead. A very brittle mafs. Gold is rendered pale by the leaft admixture with this.
.Tin. A brittle mafs when the tin is added in confiderable quantity ; but the former accounts of this have
] been exaggerated.
Copper. Paler and harder than pure gold. This mixture is ufed in all our coins, the copper being called
I the alloy.
I Iron. Silver-coloured, hard and brittle; very eafily fufed.
Lm ercurv. Soft like a pafte called an amalgamwn. By folution ; it being in this cafe called amalgamation ;
and the fame is to be underftood of the folution of any other metal in quickfilver.
f Zinc. A bright and whitifti compound, admitting of a fine poliih, and not fubjeCt to tarnifh ; for which
1 qualities it has been propofed as proper for analyfing fpecula for telefcopes.
Arsenic. Brittle ; and the gold is thus rendered a little volatile.
SEMIMETALS. <j Antimony. A fine powder for ftaining glafs of a red colour. By calcination,
j Bismuth*. A brittle whitifti regulus ; volatile in the fire.
J Cobalt.
1_Nickel. White and brittle.
S IL VE R may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic*, Nitrous*, Muriatic*, Vegetable*, and Acid of Ants*, as above.
ALKALIES: Fixed* and Volatile*, as above.
CRYSTALLINE EARTHS and other vitreous matters. A fine yellow opaque glafs. The fineft yellow paint for porcelain i$
procured from a glafs mixed with filver.
'Gold, as above.
Platina. Pretty pure and malleable. Difficult ef fufion ; and in part feparates when cold.
Lead. 'Very'brittle.
Tin. Extremely brittle, as much fo as glafs.
Copper. Harder than filver alone. Ufed in fmall proportions as alloy in coins.
Iron. A hard whitifti compound.
Mercury* By amalgamation with filver-leaf, or calx of filver precipitated by copper, but not by faltfe
This is ufed for nlverizing on other metals, in the fame way as the amalgamum of gold.
fZiNC. Hard, fomewhat malleable, and of a white colour-,
j Antimony. A brittle mafs.
SEMIMETALS. <{ Bismuth. A white femi-maHeable body.
| Arsenic. Brittle; the filver being rendered in part volatile.
Cobalt.
SULPHUR, as above.
LEAD may be combined with the following Subjlanccs, vis?
ACIDS: Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, of Urine, of Ants, as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
4 H 2 CRYSTALLINE
METALS.
Table
METALS.
SEMI METALS. <[
612 CHEMISTRY.
CRYSTALLINE EARTHS. A thin glafs. By fufion in a moderate heat,
f Gold and Silver, as above.
I Platina. Of a leafy or fibrous texture, and purplifh or blue colour, when expofed to the air. If a large
I proportion of platina is ufed, it feparates in the cold.
Tin. A little harder than'either of the metals, and eafily fufed : hence it is ufed as a folder for lead ; and
! it forms the principal ingredients of pewter. If the fire is long continued, the tin floats on the furface.
. Copper*. Brittle and granulated, like tempered iron or fteel when broke. By throwing pieces of copper
into melted lead. The union here is very flight.
Iron*. An opaque brownifh glafs. By a great degree of heat if the iron has been previoufly reduced to
the ftate of a calx ; but never in its metallic ftate.
■ Mercury*. By amalgamation. Effected only in a melting heat, unlefs fome bifmuth has been previoufly
united with the mercury.
f Zinc. Hard and brittle. By pouring zinc on melted lead. If the zinc is firft melted, and the lead in>
jefted upon it, it then deflagrates.
I Antimony*.
| Bismuth. A grey-coloured femi-malleable body, eafily fufed; and thence ufed as a folder for lead or tin.
( A grey-coloured brittle mafs , eafily fufed, and extremely volatile.
Arsenic. hyacinth-coloured glafs. By fufion in a confiderable heat. This glafs is eafily fufed ; and Ta
C a much more powerful flux than pure glafs of lead.
Cobalt. The nature of this compound is not known.
.Nickel. A brittle metallic body. .
OILS : Expreffed* and Effential, as above.
SULPHUR, as above.
71N may le comllned with the following Suljlances, viz.
ACIDS: Vitriolic*, Nitrous*, Muriatic, Vegetable*, of Urine, as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
CRYSTALLINE EARTHS or other vitreous matters. An opaque white vitreous mafs, which forms the bafis of white enamels.
'Gold, Silver, and Lead, as above.
Platina. A coarfe hard metal which tarniflies in the air.
Copper. A brittle mafs. When the copper is in fmall proportions, it is firmer and harder than pure tin.
METALS. This, in right proportions with a little zinc, forms bell-metal.
Iron. A white brittle compound. By heating filings of iron red-hot, and pouring melted tin upon them.
A metal refembljng the fineft filver is made of iron, tin, and a certain proportion of arfenic.
Mercury. This amalgamum forms foils for mirrors ; and forms the yellow pigment called aurum mofaicum.
By being fublimed with fulphur and fal ammoniac.
('Zinc. Hard and brittle. When the zinc is in fmall proportions, it forms a very fine kind of pew^ter.
j Antimony* Regulus veneris. By elective attraction from copper and crude antimony..
[ Bismuth. Bright, bard, and fonorous, when a fmall proportion of bifmuth is ufed. This is very eafily
| fufed, and employed as a folder.
1 Arsenic. A fubllance in external appearance refembling zinc.
Cobalt. By fufion.
LNickel. A brittle metallic mafs.
OIL : Exprefied*, as above.
SULPHUR, as above.
COP PER may le combined with the following Sulfances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, of Urine, of Amber, of Ants, as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed, and Volatile, as above.
f Gold, Silver,. Lead*, and Tin, as above.
| Platina. A white and hard compound, which does not tarnilh fo foon as pure copper,.and admits of a fine
METALS., { polifh.
[. Iron. Harder and paler than copper. Eafily fufed,
^Mercury*. A curious amalgam. Soft at firlt, but afterwards brittle. By triturating mercury with ver¬
digris, common fait, vinegar, and W'ater.
f (Brafs. Commonly made by cementation with, calamine. The larger the proportion of zinc, the
| paler, harder, and more brittle is the brafs.
I Zing.<{ Prince's metal, pinchbeck, and other metals refembling gold. By employing zinc in fubftance in fmall
i| proportions. The belt pinchbeck about i-qth of zinc.
^ Spelter. A. native fubftance, found in Cornwall,, confifting of zinc and copper, and ufed as a folder.
SEMIMETALS. { Antimony. By fufion.
j Bismuth. A palifli brittle mafs. Somewhat refemblitig filver.
I Arsenic. White copper.. By pouring arfenic, fufed with nitre, upon copper in fufion. If too large a pro-
| portion of arfenic is ufed, it makes the compound black and apt to tarnilh.,
I Cobalt. White and brittle.
^Nickel. White and brittle, and apt to tarnifo.
©TL : EfTential, as above..
SULPHUR, as above.
SEMIMETALS. {
IRON-
Table.
C H E M I S
TRY. 613
IRON may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS: Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, of Urine, of Amber, of Ants, as above.
ALKALIES : Fixed *, and Volatile, as above.
VITRESCENT EARTHS. A tranfparent glafs. In general blackifh ; but fometimes yellow, green, or blue. The colour is
influenced by the degree of heat as well as nature of the ingredients.
METALS 5 Gold, Silver*, Lead*, Tin, and Copper, as above,
C Platina. With call iron it forms a compound remarkably hard, fomewhat ductile, and fufceptible of
a fine polifh. .
r Zinc. A white fubftance refembling filver.
Antimony. The magnetic quality of the iron is totally deftroyed in this compound.
Bismuth. In a ilrong heat, this emitteth flames.
SEMIMETALS. ^ Arsenic. A whitifh, hard, and brittle compound. By fufing with foap or tartar. A metal refembling’
fine fteel is made by fufing call iron with a little arfenic and glafs.
I Cobalt. A compound remarkably du&ile. By fufion in a moderate heat.
I Nicke l. A brittle mafs.
SULPHUR, as above.
MERC URY may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable*, of Urine, as above.
ALKALI: Fixed*, as above.
J Gold, Silver*, Lead*, Tin, and Copper, as above.
( Platina. The^compound refulting from this mixture is not known,
f Zinc. An amalgam. Soft or hard, according to the proportions employed.
| Antimony. By melting the regulus, and pouring it upon boiling mercury. By frequently drilling from
! this amalgam, the mercury is rendered much more pure, and is then called animated mercury.
Bismuth. A filverizing for iron. By putting this amalgam upon iron, and evaporating the mercury. It
1 has much the appearance of filver.
vCobalt. By mixing firil with nickel, and then adding mercury.
SULPHUR, as above.
ZINC may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, of Urine, of Amber, of Ants, as above.
f Gold, Silver, Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
METALS. ^ Platina. A hard fubftance.
£ Mercury, as above. , . /
f Antimony. This mixture is applied to no particular ufe.
SEMIMETALS. Arsenic. A black and friable mafs.
(^Cobalt. The particular nature and properties-of this mixt is not known.
OIL : Expreffed*, as above.
SULPHUR*, as above.
ANTIMONY may be combined with the following Siiljlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic*, Nitrous, Vegetable*, and Urinous. With the phenomena, and by the means above deferibed.
ALKALIES : Fixed and Volatile, as above.
VITREOUS EARTHS. A thin penetrating glafs; which is a powerful flux of metals.,
C Gold, Silver, Lead, Tin*, Copper, and Iron, as above,
e Platina. A hard mafs.
( Mercury, and Zinc, as above.
C Bismuth. A mafs refembling regulus of Antimony..
Arsenic. The nature and qualities of this mixt are not known..
Nature unknown.
Ditto..
METALS.
SEMIMETALS. <! T
METALS.
SEMIMETALS. -
(Cobalt.
^Nickel..
| SULPHUR, as above.
BISMUTH may be combined with the following Suljlances, viz.
( ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, Vegetable, and Urinous; with the phenomena, above deferibed.
1 ALKALIES : Fixed*, and Volatile*, as above.
VITREOUS MATTERS. A yellow glafs. The ore of Bifmuth affords with thefe a blue glafsbut this is probably owing to,-
! fome mixture of Cobalt with if.
f Gold, Silver, Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
METALS.. <P.latina. This mixture changes its colour much on being.expofed to the air.
C Mercury, as above.
s Antimony, as above,
x Arsenic. Nature not known.
'ISEMIMETALS. xCobalt*. By mixing firft with nickel or regulus of antimony, and then adding cobalt ybutit cannot-
/ united by itfelf.
Nickel.. This mixt is not known.
SULPHUR, as above.
ARSENIC may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic,.Muriatic*, Vegetable*, and Urinous; with the phenomena, (sk. above-mentioned.
4.
ALKALIES?
Table.
6I4 C H E M I *S T R Y.
ALKALIES : Fixed, and Volatile ; with the phenomena, and by the means mentioned above.
VITREOUS MATTERS. A glafs which greatly promotes the fufion of other fubftances. The arfeiuc mull firfl be prepared
by diffolving and precipitating from alkalies.
TiT-r-T' v r a C Gold, Silver, Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
ME 1 AES. £ Platina.
r Zinc, Antimony, and Bifmuth, as above.
SEMIMETALS. } Cobalt.
( Nickel. The phenomena attending thefe mixtures have not been as yet particularly pbferved.
SULPHUR, as above.
PLAT INA may be combined with the following Sul fiances, viz.
ACIDS : Muriatic*; with the phenomena, &c. mentioned above.
ALKALI: Volatile, as above.
METALS.: Gold, Silver, Mercury, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
("Zinc, Bifmuth, and Arfenic, as above.
. 4c
SEMIMETALS, -j Cobalt.
(.Nickel. The phenomena attending thefe mixtures not yet obferved.
COBALT may be combined with the following Subflances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, and Urinous; with the phenomena, &c. as above defcribed.
ALKALI : Volatile, as above.
^Saffre. By mixing calcined cobalt with calx of flint, and moiileniag them with water, ar«3
EARTHS. Calx of Flint.-] prefling them clofe ii
METALS :
SEMIMETALS.
[Smalt. By vitrifying thefe with the addition of a little potafh.
Gold, Silver, Platina, Mercury*,Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
CZinC, Antimony, Bifmuth*, and Arfenic, as above.
^Nickel. The properties of this compound not known.
NICKEL may be combined with the following Subjlancest viz.
ACIDS : Nitrous, and Muriatic; with the phenomena, (Ac. as mentioned above.
ALKALIt Volatile, as above.
METALS : Gold, Platina, Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
SEMIMETALS : Antimony, Bifmuth, Arfenic, and Cobalt, as above.
SULPHUR, as above.
AB SORB ENT EARTHS may lie combined with the following. Sulflances, viz.
ACIDS.: Vitriolic, Nitrous, Muriatic, and Vegetable ; with the phenomena, and by the affiflances above mentioned.
ALKALIES.: Fixed as above.
("Crystalline. By this mixture they are both much eafier melted into glafs than by themfelves, but not
EARTHS. •< without the addition of fome alkali.
(.Argillaceous. This mixture eafily rhns into a glafs without any addition.
‘WATER. Lime-water. By folution. It is fometimes found flowing out of the earth in fprings ; and as it always quits
the water when expofed to the air, it is there depofed on the banks of the ftreams, forming the itony
incruftations called pelrif cations : And filtering through the pores of the earth, and dropping through
the roofs of fiibterraneous caves, it forms the curious incruftations found hanging from the roof of fuch
places; fometimes affuming forms ftupcnduoufly magnificent.
AIR. Fixt. Limeflone. It is from the quality that quick-lime has of abforbing its air, and again with it refu-:
iriing its ftony confiftence, that it is fitted for a cement in building; and the great hardnefs of the
cements in old buildings is owing to the air being more perfecily united with thefe than in newer
-works.
CRTSTALLINE or VIT RES CENT EARTHS may be combined with the following Subjlances, viz.
ACIDS : Vitriolic*., and Nitrous* ; with the phenomena, lAc. as above mentioned.
ALKALI: Fixed, as above.
ABSORBENT EARTHS : as above.
ARGILLACEOUS EARTHS. A mafs running into glafs in a moderate heat.
.METALS : Lead, Tin, Copper, and Iron, as above.
WATER. Although this is not foluble in water by any operation that we are acquainted with ; yet, from its cryftalline form,
it is probable that it has been once fufpended; and certainly it is fo at this day in thofe petrifying fprings whole incruftation*. *
are of the cr.yftalline fort. 1
dSEMIMETALS : Antimony, Bifmuth, Arfenic, and Cobalt, as aEove.
4 R GIL LA CE OUS EAR T H may be combined with Abforbent and Cryftalline Earths, as above. Wish water it only unites int«
a pafte of a mechanical nature.
5 INDEX,
Index,
G H E M I S T R Y, 615
INDEX.
AaSOT-C-TI HfcAT, defined, n° 37-
Difference of the abfolute heat of
different fluids, 46.
[Abforpikn of heal the univerfal caufe
of fluidity, lip- Vapour formed
by the abforption of latent beat,
140.
,/tcanfion of Hotnberg’* pyrophorus
J explained, 1418.
\Mctous acid, its fpetific gravity, 400.
This acid and its combinations par¬
ticularly treated of, 867. Procu-
\ fed by a particular kind of fermen-
' . tation, ib. Of its combination
; i vrilhalkalies,868. With earths,87a
(1 Hhq. With me:c'iicfubft3nces,ib.
i! -Whether tin be foluble in it, 879.
Of its concentration, 881. May be
i f; tcryflallized in form of a fait, 882.
: May be reduced into an aerial
I I form, 883. It* combination with
( i inflammable bodies, 884. Produ¬
cts a greater quantity of ether than
the vitriolic acid, ib. Acid of
'' milk’ feems to be of the acetous
, ^ kind, 978. Whey may. be con-
i verted into an acetous acid, 979.
I j May be almoft entirely dettroyed
by fire, icoi. Requifites for
| bringing it nearer to the flats of
; tartar, 1001. Weftrumb’s unfuc-
J 5 eefsful attempt to do fo, 1003. Dr
j }; Gre'l’s opinion of the pofiibiiity of
this tranfmutation, 1004. Method
? recommended by him for trying
1 the experiment, 1005. His expe-
I , riments proving that all the vege-
> table acids may be reduced to the
i f acetous, ioe6, M Manga-
II nefe foluhle with difficulty in it,
'1 1369. Procurable from the refi-
,i ; duum of vitri, lie ether, ad 72*-
' • Beft prepared from fugar of lead
; and oil of vitriol, 88a. MrDoltuis’s
1 \ method of making the acetous
tt f ether readily, 884. How to prt>
., rare it from vinegar of wood, ib.
The acetous acid has an affinity
'' with that of ants, 15044 How to
l tryftalliae its combination with the
■volatile alkali, 15 15- Particular
:„! defeription of the falls formed by
1 ’. fombinihg it with calcareous earth,
: 1516. With magnefia, 1517. Its
'il ii phenomena with zinc, 1? ’ 8. Wnh
arfenic, 1519. Suppl ied to be an
lantidote againfr that potion, 1520.
Produces a curious pliofphoric !i-
ouor with it, ad 957, 1521. Its
Ieffedls cm filver, 1523. Gold,
1524. Inflammable fubftances,
1525. Diffolves gums, gum-refins,
! it)ve flefh and bones of animals, &c.
fib Various methods of concen-
,trating it, 1526 Of its cryftalli-
jjj ization, 1527- Difference between
^common acetous acid, and radical
;ivinegar, 152S. Mr Kei: s opi¬
nion concerning them,1529. How
t to obtain it from terra foiiata
tartari, ib.
■ bora' s method of making crucibles
from the calx of platina, 587.
yd: Phenomena attending the fo-
i ijutiotiof a metal in one, 180. The
ipiuous moft violent in its opera¬
tion, igx. Vitriolic acid next to
it, 182. The marine acid much
weaker than either, except when
dephlogiiueated, 183. The other
acids lull weaker, 184. Why the
nitrous acid precipitates a iolution
of tin or antimony, 200. Pure
vitriolic acid cannot be reduced in¬
to an aerial ftate but by combi-
nation with j.hiogiftpn, 202. The
nisroui acid fliil more remark¬
ably changed by fuch a combina¬
tion, 203. The marine acid ca¬
pable of afluming an aerial Hate
by reafon of the phlogitton it na¬
turally contains, 10s ■ Table of
the quantity of acid taken up by
various hafes, 268. The vitriolic
acid Contains more fire than the
nitrous or. marine, 278.- On the
expulfion i f the nitrous by the di¬
luted vitriolic acid, 280. By the
fame concentrated, 281. By a
fmall quantify of dilute vitriolic
acid, 282. On the expulfion of
the marine acid, by the concentra¬
ted vitriolic, 283. On the decom-
pofition of vitriolated tartar by ni¬
trous acid, 28 ;. This fait cannot
be decompofcd by dilute nitrous
acid, 287. Of its decompofition
by marine acid, 288. Requilites
for the fuccefs of the experiment,
289. Why the marine acid can-
net decompofe vitriolated tartar
previoufly diffolved in water,.290.
The decompofitions of vitriolic
ammoniac and Glauber’s fait by
this acid never complete, 291. Ni¬
trous falls decompofed by it, 292.
Marine falls decompofed by the
nitrous acid, 293. Selenite can¬
not be decompofed by marine acid,
and why, 294. Why the vitriolic
acid relume-, on evaporation, the
balls it bad left, 295. An excefs
of acid requifite to make metals
foluble in water, 297. Nitrous
acid at trails filver more (ban fixed
alkali, 301. Solution of lead in
nitrous acid decompofed by faks
containing the marine acid, 312.
Vitriol of mercury decompofed by
marine acid, 313. 1'recipitation
of corrolive fublimate by. con¬
centrated vitriolic acid explained,
315. Of the excefs of acid in
the folution. proper for ma¬
king experiments on metallic pre¬
cipitates, 334. Iron and zinc
the only fnetals diffolved by vitrio¬
lic acid; 337. Nitrous acid dif¬
folves all metals, though it has
lefs affinity with them than the
vitriolic or marine, 338.. Why
ircannofc diffolve them when very
concentrated, 339. In what cafes
marine acid can diffolve metalsj.
and when it cannot, 340. A triple
fait formed by marine acid, iron,
and regulus of antimony, .366. A-
tiother by the fame acid, reg-ulus
of ar timony, and copper, 367.
Bifmuth precipitates arfenic from-
thenirrous acid,369. Copper preci¬
pitates it from tbemarine add,370.
Method of finding the quantity ef
pure acid contained in fpirit of fait,
376. In other acid liquors, 378.
Quantities of acid, water, and alka¬
li, in digeftive fait, 379. Mr Kir-
vvan’s method of faturating an acid
exadtly with an alkali, 381. Quan¬
tity of miid and caultic vegetable
alkali faturated by a given quanti¬
ty of marine acid, 382. Pure ni¬
trous acid cannot be made to af-
fume an aerial ftate, 383. How
to determine the quantity of pure
acid in fpirit of nitre, 384. Pro¬
portion of acid in fpirit of nitre to
that in fpirit of fait, 385. To find
the fpecific gravity of the pure ni¬
trous acid, 386. To determine
its mathematical fpecilic gravity,
3S8. Of the quantity of real acid
contained in it, 389. Quantity of
acid, water, and alkali, in nitre,
391. Experiments on the fpecific
gravity, &c. of vitriolic acid, 39^.
Dilution of the concentrated acid
neceffary for thefe experiments,
396. How to find the fpecific
gravity of pure vitriolic acid, 397.
Quantity of acid, water, and alka¬
li, in vkriolated tai tar determined,
398. Specific gravity of the ace¬
tous acid, 400. Why the precipi¬
tates of alum and mercury contain
a part of the acid, 408. How to
determine the quantity of pure
acid in any fubftance, 4-10. Exact
computation of the quantity of-
pure acid taken up by miid vege¬
table alkali, 418. Of tile quanti¬
ties of acid and water in fpirit of
nitre, 426. Quantity of pure acid
taken up by various fubftances,
428. Quantity of vitriolic acid
neceffary to faturate numeral alka¬
li, 430. Of the fame alkali fa¬
turated by dephlogifticated nitrous
acid, 432. By marine acid,
433- Quantity of marine a-
cid faturated by calcareous earth,
438. Alum always contains an
excefs of acid, 448. Proportion
of the pure earth of alum taken up
by nitrous acid, 449. By marine
acid, 459. Quantity of iron taken
up by 1 he vitriolic acid,453. Why
vitriolic air is produced by diffoi-
ving iron in concentrated vitriolic-
acid. 4SS- Of the folution of the
calces of iron in vitriolic acid, 436.
Proportion of iron diflblved by the
nitrous acid, 458. Vitriolic acid
aids on iron in a much more di¬
lute ftate than the nitrous, 461.
Proportion of this metal taken up
by the marine acid, 462. Calces of
iron precipitated of a reddiflr colour,
from the marine acid, 463. Of the
quantity of copper diffolved in the
vitriolic-acid, 464. Inflammable
and vitriolic air obtained bydifibl--
ving copper in this acid, 465. Why
the dilute vitriolic acid will not
aid upon copper, 466. Quantity
of copper diffolved in nitrous aci 1,
468. In marine acid, 469. Ef-
fed of the vitriolic acid on tin,
470. Of the nitrous acid, of the
marine acid, of the vitriolic acid,
on lead, 474. Of the nitrous acid,
476. Scarce foluble in dilute vi¬
triolic acid, 475. Effeds of the
marine acid upon lead, 477. Of
the vitriolic acid on iilver, 478.
Of nitrous acid on the fame, 479,
Of the diffoiution of filver in ma¬
rine acid, 480. The nitrous acid
cannot, according to Mr Kirwan,
diffolve gold, 484.. Effeds.of the
vitriolic acid on mercury, 485.
Of the nitrous acid, 481S. Of the
marine acid, 2d 486. Of the vi¬
triolic acid on zinc, 487. Of ni¬
trous acid upon it, 488. Lefs of-
this femimetal difiblved by con¬
centrated than by dilute nitrous
acid, 489. Effects of the marine
acid on zinc, 490. Vitriolic acid
can fcarce diffolve bifmuth, 491.
Nitrous acid diffolves it readily,
492. Marine acid fcarce adls up- -
on it, 493. Effects of vitriolic a-
cid on nickel, ad 493. Of nitrous -
acid, 494. Of marine acid, 45.5.
Of the vitriolic acid on cobalt,
. 496. Of nitrous acid, 497. Of
the marine acid, 498. Of vitrio¬
lic acid on regulus of antimony,
499. Of nitrous acid, 500.' Of
the marine acid, jci. Of vitrio¬
lic acid oil regulus of arfenic, 502.
Of nitrous acid, 503. Of marine
arid, 504. Quantity of phligifton
contained in it, 509. Why the
marine arid aids fo weakly,
510. How to diftil arid fpirits,
575. Luting proper for them,
S77. Of the vitriolic arid and its
combinations, 612, etfeq. See Vi~
triolic. Miftake of Mr Morveau
concerning the excefs of acid con¬
tained in alum detected by Mr
Kirwan, 642. This excefs necef¬
fary to render alum foluble in wa¬
ter, 643. Too great an excefs
prevents the cryftaltizatkm of the -
fait,- 681. This excefs beft reme¬
died by the addition of pure clay
to the liquor, 682, rt/ry. The fu- -
perfluous acid might be advanu-
geoufly diftilied, 689. Nitrous a-
cid and its combinations, 7 22, etfeq.
See Nitrous. Experiment on the
tranfmutation of vitriolic into ni¬
trous acid, 721. Inconclufive, 722,
Marine arid and its combinations,
782, rtfiq. This acid may be de-
phlogiftlcated by fpijrit of nitre or
manganefe, 790. Mr Scheele's
mc-hod of doing, it by means of
manganefe, 791. Properties of
dephlogifticated marine arid, 792,
A miftake of Stahl concerning its
converfion into nitrous arid ac» ■
counted for ^793. Ste Marine. Fluor
arid difeovered by Mr Mergraaf,
Ac. 826, ctfcq. Marine acid pro¬
ved to be different from that of
floor, 835, And iikewife the vi¬
triolic, 83b. See Fluor. Of the a-
cid of borax and its combinations
858—86b. See Borax and Sal Sr-
dativus.- Of the acetous acid and
&i6
its combinations, ^6?—'884. SeS
Acetous. Of the acid of tartar,
885—895. See Tartar. Of the a-
tid of fugar, 896—903. Sed Sugar
and Saccharine. Of the phofpho-
ric acid, 904—907. See Phofphoric.
Of the acid of ants, 2d 907, 908.
See Ants. Of the acid of amber,
£09—915. Purified by marine a-
cid, 911. Effe&s of fpirit of nitre
en it, 912. Of oil of vitriol, 913.
Of the acid of arfenic, 916, et ferj.
Nitrous acid decompofes arfenic,
918. As does alfo dephlogifticared
marine acid, 919. See Arfenic. Of
the acid of molybdaena, 958, etfeq.
liffeefts of the arfenical acid on
molybdaena, 959.' Nitrous acid
a£is violently upon it, 960. See
Molybdeena. Of the acid of lapis
ponderofus, tungften or wolfram,
067, et feq. See Tunplien. Differ¬
ence between the acids rf mclyb-
dtena and tungften, 971. Why
Bergman fuppofed both thefe to
be metallic earths, 972, 973-
the acid of milk, 974, et fiq. Con¬
tains the acids of tartar arid fea-
falt, 97s ■ Of the acid of fugar of
milk, 9S0, 981. See Milk. Of the
acid of human calculus, 982. See
Calculus. Of the acid of bfenzoin,
984, et feq. See Flowers and Ben¬
zoin. Whetbbr the acid of fugar
or of tartar is the bafis of the ano¬
malous vegetable a.cids, 996. Dr
Crejl’s method of cfyftallizing the
geid of lemons, 907. The cryfial-
liztd fait cannot be converted into
acid of fugar, 999. Produift of the
acid of tartar by dry diftillatiob,
iooo. Acetous acid almoft: entirely
deftrudbible by fire; 1001.' Of the
tranfmutation of the vegetable a-
cids into the acetous acid, 1002—
1015. See Aeioi/r. Phenomena rc-
i'ulting from the mixture of acid
fpirits with one another, 1040.
•Solution of falls promoted by vi¬
triolic acid, 1048. Terra ponde-
rofa ufually found in a ftate of
•combination with this acid, 1049.
Effeds of marine acid on aerated
terra ponderofa, 1053. See ‘Terra
Pomlerofa. White matter contained
in the vitriolic acid Ihown to be
ypfum, 1039. Vitriolic acid ea-
ly difcoverable by folution of terra
ponderofa, 1058. Marmor metai-
licum foluble in very concentrated
vitriolic acid, 1063. Why the floor
acid will not difiblve flint dirc&ly,
1073. Why the liliceouseai th fome-
times cannot be precipitated by an
acid without the afliftance of heat,
1079. Earth of flints precipitated
by fluor acid, 1080. Neither the
nitrous nor marine acid neceflary
for the preparation of aurum ful-
minans, 1117. Vitriolic acid par¬
tially difibiVes arfenic, 1271. Ma¬
rine acid difiblves it totally, 01272.
Phlogifticatcd alkali precipitates
arfenic from its folution in marine
acid, and from that only, 1273.
Arfenic decompofed by dephlogi-
fticated marine acid, 1274. Pheno¬
mena of arfenic with nitrous acid,
1280. Butter of arfenic can fcarce
be made to unite with marine acid,
1282. Regulus of arfenic convert¬
ed by the vitriolic acid into white
tf0 yd.
C H E M I
arfenic, 1292. Phenomena of co¬
balt with vitriolic acid, 1300. With
nitrous acid, 1301. With marine
acid, 1302. With the acid of borax,
1303. Effedb of the nitrous acid
on nickel, 1313. Dephlogifticated
marine acid the only folvent of
phtina, 1319. Solution of that
metal in an aqua regia cbmpofed
of nitron? acid and fpirit of fait,
1323. In one compofed of marine
acid and nitre, 1324. Solution
of calx of platina in marine arid
lets fall a cryftalline ] owder On the
addition of vegetable alkali, 1325.
But not that in the nitrous acid,
1320. Phenomena of manganefe
With vitriolic acid, 1360. 1 Phlogi-
Aicated vifrioliri acid entirely dif-
foives it, 12,61. And likewife the
phlogifticated nitrous acid, 1353.
EffeSs of it on nia’ine acid, 1364.
Entirely diffolved by this acid
without addition, 1365. Fluor
acid can fcar eel y diffolve it, 1365.
Or phofpharic acid, 1367. Acid
Of tartar partly diffblves manga¬
nefe, 1368. Acetous acid effe&s
a folutirin with difficulty, 1369.
Acid of lemons' entirely diflblves
it, 1370. As does alfo water im¬
pregnated with aerial acid, I371-
No puid acid can diflblve mahga-
hefe after ft ha« loft its phlogifton,
I375- Vrhy the concentrated vi¬
triolic acid diffi Ives it without
addition, 1378. Why the volatile
fulphureouS acid diffetlves it, 1379.
Effedls of the nitrons acid on it
explained, 1380. Exiftcnce of
phlogiftori proved in the marine
acid, 1381. Explanation ©f (lie
Cffedts of acid of tartar and of le¬
mons, 13S2. And of flunr acid,
1383. kffe'As of ilig-efting maii-
ganefe and volatile alkali with ni¬
trous acid, 1393. An acid fuftpofdd
to occafion the tafte of effemial
oils, 1420. A new one difcovei ed
byMrHom! erg,2d825. See Acids.
See alfo Vitriolic, Nitrous, Marine,
Acetous, Tartar, Fluor, &c.
Acids, one of the principal claffes of
falls, t69. Divided into mineral,
vegetable, and animal, ib. Their
different a diion cotr.pared with
that of alkalies, r7l. Unite with
alkalies into neutral (alts, fome-
times with, and fometimes with¬
out, effervefeence, 172, Change
the blue colour of vegetables to
rcdji73. Different degrees of their
attradlion to alkalies, 174. The
vitriolic ftrongeft in a liquid ftatej
ib. Marine acid ftrongeft in a
ftate of vapour, ib. The fixed
acids ftrongeft when the fubjedls
are urged with a violent heat, ib.
Attyadlion of the different acids
for phlogifton, 175. The acids are
capable of forming an union with
metals or earths, 276. Will leave
a metal to unite with an earth,
176,1771 And an earth to unite
with a mild volatile alkali, ib.
Will leave a volatile, to unite wfth
a fixed alkali, ib. Some will leave
a fixed alkali to unite w ith phlo¬
gifton, 175, 178. Exceptions to
thefe rules, 179. Why precipi¬
tates are fometimes thrown down
by them.. *31. Explanation of the
S T R Y.
decomp!.fitions effected by acids a-
lone, 266. Quantities of the dif¬
ferent acids taken up by various
bafes, 268; - This quantity expref-
five of the quantity of attradtion
they have for each of thefe bafes,
269. Vitriolic falls decompound¬
ed by the nitrousand marine acids,
273. Acids unite with alkalies by
giving out fire, and quit them by re¬
ceiving it,286. TheattradtivepoW-
ers ofacids tri metals difficilt to be de¬
termined, 396. Proportions of the
different metallic fubftanccs taken
up by the different acids. 298. Me¬
tals have a greater affinity with a-
cids than alkalies, 299, 303. Ex¬
planation of the table of the affi¬
nities to the different metallic fub-
ftances, 3x6. An equal quantity
of all the mineral acids taken up
by vegetable fixed alkali, 402.
Quantity of this alkali requifite to
faturate the feveral acids, 403. A-
Cids can never totally ddphlogifti-
cate metallic earths, 407. Con¬
centrated acids phi igifticated by
alkalies, 409. Of the time re¬
quired by mixtures of the mineral
acids With water to attain thdir ut-
mt'ft denfity, 422. Of the altera¬
tions of tHeir denfities by various
degrees of heat, 423. Acids can¬
not diffidve calcined nlagriefia
without hcatj 442. Phenome¬
na of different acids with in¬
flammable fubftance-, 518. Me¬
tals foluble in acids, 520. Calci¬
nation and incteafe of their weight
by acids, 323. H w to diftil the
mineral acids,373. Vitriolic, phof-
phoric, and acetous, acids* found
in the refin extradited from the re-
llduurii of vitriolic ether, 2d 722.
Ni' rous, marine, and phofphoric
acidc, capable of expelling the fluor
acid, 2d 830, Acids of fal ammo¬
niac and nitre expelled by fait of
amber, 910. Of the anomalous ve¬
getable acids, and the refemblance
which vegetable acids in general
bear to one another, 984, i?r fef.
How the anomalous vegetable a-
cids are divided, 993. Of the ef-
fential acids, 994, Empyrtuma-
tic acid«, 99s. Whether the acid
of fugar or of tartar be the bafts.of
the vegetable acid‘ ,996. Dr Crell’s
proof, that all the vegetable acids
may be reduced to one, which is
contained in the pureft fpirit of
wine, xOo6. Phenomena attend¬
ing the diffolution of vitriolic falls
in nitrous or marine acid-, 2041.
Nitrous Or marine srcicts are not tpe-
ceffary for the preparation ef au¬
rum fulminans.M 117. Co; per un¬
dergoes a change by combination
with vegetable acids, 1131. Co¬
louring matter of Prufiiaii blue ex¬
pelled by acids, arid then taken up
by the atmofphere, 1177. Pheno¬
mena of arfenic with different a-
cids, 1273. Manganef* becomes in-
foluble in pure acids, by lofing its
phlogifton, 1375. See yields,Vittidr
lie. Marine, I egetable, Tr.
Acids -dcnA Alkalies: inaccuracy of the
common lefts for trying them,
1349. Mr Watt’s experiments on
this fubjedl, ib. His method of
preparing a teft front cabbage and
Index*
other plant's, 1356, it feq. Abforb
air during their formation, 1343.
Adopters, or Aludels, defcribed,379.
Aerated terra ponderofa, analized by
Dr Withering, 1037.
Aerial acid: the cotiVerfian of dephlo-
gtfticated air into it by means of
charcoal, a proof of the identity of
phlogifton and charcoal, 131. De-
feription of the terra ponderofa
combined with the aerial acid,
1031. Aerial acid an l phlogifton
fuppbfed to exift in the colouring
matter of Pruffian blue, H96. See
Fixed Air.
Affinities, quiefeent and divellent, de-
feribed, 26j. Table of the affini¬
ties of the three mineral acids to
the different metals, 298. Expla¬
nation of this table, 3161 Table of
the propoitional affinities of the
metallic calces to phlogifton, 33a.
Dr Black’s general table of affmt-
t>es, 353-
Affinity of the different metals to
phlogifton, how determined, 318.
Agents in chemiftry, how diftinguilh-
ed.from the objects of it, 22.
Air ftipplies inflammable bodies with
the heat they emit during combu-
ftion, 137: Too great a quantity
of air will diminifil the heat of a
fire, or even put it out entirely,
and why, 139; Only alhiail quan¬
tity of air can be obta ned from
metals when calcined, 191, Dif¬
ferent kinds of it prdduced during'
the diffoiution of metals, 201. Spec
cific gravity of the dift’arent kinds
of air according to Fontana, 3731.
Expofure of aluminous ores to the
air fometimes has the fame efFedl
with roafting them, 663. Vitriol
deprived of its phlogifton by expo¬
fure to the air, 687. Lixivium fan-
guiriis Ibfes its colouring matter
by expofttre to the air, 1172, This
colouring htatter taken up by th,e
air after it lias been expelled by.a-
cids, 1177. Absorbed during the
formation of acids, 1343.
Air-bubbles produced in water du¬
ring the adt of congelation, occa-
fioii its expa dion and prodigious
force, 109. They are extricated
by a part of the latent heat dif-
charged from the Water at that
time, no.
Alcbemi/h: their labours were offome
advantage to chemiftry, 13.
Alchemy firft mentioned by Julius
Fiimicus Maternus, a iwriter of
the 4rh renting,8. Suppofed lobe
firft derived from the Aiabians,
10 The pretenders to it very
numerous in the beginning of the.
16th edntuty, 12.
Alchorne s experiments on the efFedis
of mixing tin with gold, 1092,
etfeq.
Alembic, derivation of that word, 5.
Alembroth fal, made by Iribliriung e-
quai quantities of corroftve fubli-
mate and fal ammoniac," 1047.
Said to diflblve all the metals, ib.
Convertible by repeated diftilla-
tions into a fluid that cannot be
raifed into vapours by the ftrongeft j
Algaroth powder, prepared by pi eci-.
pitating butter of antimony with
water* 821. The moll proper tna-
tenilj
Indfx.
tcrial for the preparation- of etne-
tic tartar, 1459. Shown hy Mr
Schcele to he a regulns half caki-
tie<! by dephiogifticated tirarine a-
ci \ 1461. His receipt for prepa¬
ring it cheap, 1262.
Aiiali kfs attracted by nitrous acid
than fi ver, 301. Metallic earths
more flrmigly attradfed by acids
than volatile alkali, 303. Why the
metallic earths fcldom decompofe
thofe filts that have an alkah for
their hafis, 304. Quantity of alka¬
li, acid, and water, contained in
d geftive fait, 379. Mr Kirwan’s
method of faturating an alkali ex-
adflv with an acid, 381. Quantity
of mild and cauflic vegetable fix¬
ed alkali faturated by a given
Weight of marine acid, 384. Quan¬
tity of alkali, water, and acid, in
tiitre, 391- Of the fame ingre-
dicnis in vitriolated tartar, 398.
Vegetable fixed alkali takes up an
equal quantity of all the mineral
acids, 404. Specific gravity of the
vegetable alkali determined, 411.
Quantity of earth contained in
this alkali, 413. Of the quantity
of fixed air contained in oil of tar¬
tar and dry vegetable alkali, 414.
Quantities of fixed air contained
in impure vegetable alkali deter¬
mined by Mr Cavendifh, 417. Ex-
a<ft quantity of acid taken up by
n ild fixed alkali, 418. Mineral al¬
kali how prepared by Mr Kirwan
for his experiments, 429. Of the
quantity of vitriolic acid necef-
fary to fat urate too grains of it,
43°* Quantity of dephlogiilica-
ted nitrous acid taken up by it,
434. Of the marine acid, 433.
Proportion of pure alkali, water,
and fixed air, in cryflallized mine¬
ral alkali, 434. Excefs of acid in
aluminous liquor cannot be remo¬
ved by mineral alkali, though it
may be hy the vegetable and vo¬
latile lands, 680 Vitriolic acid
combined with fixed alkali, 648,
629. With volatile alkali, 633.
Nitrous acid combined with vege¬
table fixed alkali, 740. With fof-
file alkali, 741. With volatile al¬
kali, 745. Marine acid combired
with vegetable alkali, 794. With
mineral alkali, ib. Wiih volatile
alkali, 79J. Fluor acid combined
with fixeil alkali, 4th 850. With
volatile alkali, Syr. Glafs cor¬
roded hy ?he fait formed from the
union of fluor acid and volatile al¬
kali, 854. Sedative fait combined
with the vegetable alkali, 864,
With the mineral alkali, 863. A-
cetotts acid combined with vege¬
table alkali, 868. With mineial
alkali, 869. With volatile alkali,
870. Acid of tartar combined
with vegetable alkali, 889. With
foffil alkali, 891. With volatile
alkali, 892. Add of f gar with
vegetable alkali, 899. With foil'd
alkali, ib. Incredible quantity of
volatile alkali faturated by it, 900.
Phofphoric acid with fixed alkali,
906. With volatile alkali, 904.
Acid "of ants combined with fixed
and volatile alkali, 908. Acid of
.amber with fixed alkalies, oco,
Vol. IV. Part II.
C H E M I
With volatile alkali, ih. Acid of
arfenic with vegetable fixed alkali,
92c. With mineral alkali, 927.
With volatile alkali, 948. Vege¬
table alkali capable of being re¬
duced into cryflais bp means of fpi-
rit of wine, 1017. Without any
addition into deliq iefcent cryftals,
ib. Mineral al'tali always affumes
a cryflaliine form, ib. Change
on the vegetable alkali by being
ur ited with fpirit of fait, 1O18.
Difference betwixt the vegetable
and mineral alkali, 1019. The for¬
mer has a greater attraction for a-
cids, ib. Both of them compofed
of a caufiicfalt and fixed air, ro4o.
Of the volatile alkali, 1030, Of the
method of diftillingit, 1031. Of its
rectification, 103 2. Combmedwith
fixed air, 1033. Combined wi h
metals, IO34. With inflammable
fubftances, 1055. With expreffed
oils, ib. With effentlxl oils and
fpirit of wine, 1036,1037. With
fulphur, 1038. S dutions of Cal¬
careous earth decompofed by mild
volatile alkali, 1046. Caultic fix¬
ed alkali throws down an infoluhle
precipitate from folution of -terra
opderofa, 1056. Vegetable ?.!-
all precipitates marmor nietalli-
cuis unchanged from concentra¬
ted vitriolic acid, 1064. Volatile
uikali precipitates filiceous earth
more completely than any other,
1074. A triple fait formed by pre¬
cipitating this earth with fixed al¬
kali, 1073. Siliceous eartli diffol-
ved by boiling in folution of alka¬
li, 1076. A remarkable atrraClion
betwixt fixed alkali and filiceous
earth in the dry way, 1077.
The ufe of volatile alkali only
lately known in the prepara¬
tion of aurum fulminans, 1106.
This alkali the caufe of the
explofion, 1121. It exhibits a
fialh when thrown into a crucible
by itfclf, 1142. Ufed in the prepa¬
ration of fulminating lilver, 1139.
Phlogiftieated alkali lofes its pe¬
culiar properties, 1168. Colouring
matter of Prulfian blue unites With
volatile alkali, 1184. Formsakind
of ammoniacat fait with it, 1186.
Volatile alkali produced by diftil-
ling Pruflian blue, 1I97. Pheno¬
mena on diftilling metallic precipi¬
tates thrown down by Pruffian alka¬
li, 1198. Volatile alkali capable of
Uniting with fixed alkali and phlo-
gifton fo as to be capable of fuftain-
ing a great degree of heat, 1204.
Pliligifticated alkali cannot preci¬
pitate arfenic except from marine
acid, 1473. Effedts of volatile al¬
kali on nickel, 1314. Mineral
alkali capable of decompofing cry¬
ftals of platina, but not the vege¬
table alkali, 1344. Cr ftaJlinc
powder precipitated from folu¬
tion of calx of platina in marine
acid, by means of vegetable alka¬
li, 1325. But not from the foluri n
in nitrous acid, 1326. Whether
mineral alkali can decomprfe folu-
tkns of platina, 1328. fifty-fix
times as much of it required for
this purpofe as of vegetable alkali,
1329. Efiedis of the volatile alkah
S T R Y.
on folutlo-is of platina, 1330. Vo¬
latile alkali deftroyed by manga-
nefe at trading Us phiogiftoa, 1394.
See Audits. Wiegleb’s account
of the phenomena attending the
diffolution of copper in it, 1035.
Its effedts on dephlogifticated fpirit
of fait, J485. Higgins firft d fco-
vered its conftituent parts, 1553.
Procured i< from nitrous acid and
tin. ib. Effcft of ihe eledh icfpark
on a mixture of it and dephlogifti¬
cated air, 1535. True compofi-
tion of it, 1356.
AH.tics ;.one of the general ciaffesof
falls, 169. Divided into fixed and
volatile, 170. The firmer fubdi-
vided into vegetable and mineral,
ib. Difference between their adtion
andthat of acids,! •i. Neutral falts
form them by being united with
acids, 174. Vegetable blues chan¬
ged green by them, 173. Different
degrees of attraction betwixt them
and acids, 174. Phenomena at¬
tending the precipitation of me¬
tals by them, 220. Volatile alka¬
lies particularly apt to form triple
falts, 474. Why they precipitate
the metals, 300. Metals have a
greater affinity with acids than al¬
kalies, though the latter feparate
them from acids, 199. Why luna
co’-nca cannot he reduced without
lofs by alkaline falts, 314. A'ka-
lies phlogifticate concentrated a-
cids, 409. Proportions of the dif¬
ferent ingredients in volatile alka¬
lies, 436. Stone-ware veffels cor¬
roded by cauftic fixed alkalies, 393,
596. Advantages of ufing clay ra¬
ther than alkalies for abforbiug
the fuperfluous acH in aluminous
liquor, 683. Solution of filver dt-
compofed with difficulty by alka¬
lies, 736. How the alkalies are
procured, 1016. Differences be¬
tween the vegetable and mineral
alkalies, 1019. Combinations of
them with fulphur, xoai. With
expreffed oils, 1046. Wiih effen-
tial oils, 1047. With phlogifton,
1028. Differences between the
fixed alkalies obtained from diffe¬
rent vegetables, ib. Solution of
terra ponderofa in marine acid
precipitated by all the alkalies,
whether mild or cauftic, 1034.
Alkalies diffolve lead by boiling,
1416. EffcCts of arfenic on alkalies,
1490. Tell for them and acids,
J549. See Alkali, Acid, and Acids,
Alkaline falts. See Alkali and Alka¬
lies. Alkaline ley impropec for
ex-rafting the flowers of ben¬
zoin, 989.
A If on- Moor in Cumberland, a kind
of aerated terra ponderofa found
near that place, 1051.
Aludels, or Adopters, deferibed, 379.
Alum : cannot form Glauber’s fait
by being diff lved in water along
with common fair, 474. Miftake
of Dr Crell on this fubjeft cor¬
rected, ib. Nor blue vitriol by
boiling it with copper filings, 349.
Why its precipitate retain- part of
the acid, 408. Its earth contains
26 per cent, of fixed air, 446. Pro¬
portions of the.ingredients in it,
4<t7. The fait always contains an
4 l
-6l7
exccfs 6? acid, 448. Proportion of
the earth of alum taken up by ni¬
trous acid, 449. By marine add,
450. Alum of the ancients diffe¬
rent, from ours, 637. The name
of Rocb-alam derived from Roceo, a
city of Syria, 6.,8 Firft made in
Europe in the middle of the 13th
century, in Italy, 639. Made in
Spain in the 16th century, 640. In
England and Sweden in the 17th,
ib. bs compionent parts firft difeo-
vered by BoulJuc and Geoffrey,
641. Found to contain an excefs
of acid, ib. This denied by Mr
Morveau, 642. His miftake dif-
covered by Mr Kirwan, ib. Info-
lubie in water when deprived of
its fuperfluotis acid, 643. Eafdy
calcinable in the fire; after which it
is c'aV'h A burnt alum, ib. Bergman’s
method of finding the proportion
of the ingredients it contains, 644.
Difficulty of obtaining the earth
of alum in a pure ftate, 643. Mr
Bergman’s account of the propor¬
tion <f the ingredients, 646. Whe¬
ther earth of alum be a pure clay
or not, 647. Dr Lewis's experi¬
ment, tending to Ihow that clay
undergoes fume change by being
converred into earth of alum, 649.
Quantities of alum fohrble in
warm and in cold water, 630.
Bergman’s account of the Swedifh
ores of alum, 631. Component
parts of the aluminous fchift, 634.
How changed by roafting, 633.
Prefence of pyrites the only requi-
fite for the produftlon of alum,
634. Ores containing alum ready
formed only to be met with in
volcanic countries, 633. Ores of
alum at Solfatara in Italy, 636.
Analyfed by Mr Bergman, 637.
Heffian, Bohemian, and Scanian,
ores, 638. Alum, fulphur, and vi¬
triol, extrafted from the fame ore,
639. Alum flate found at York in
England, 660. Bergman’s direc¬
tions for the preparation of alum,
661. Ufes of roafting the ore, 662.
Expofure to the air fometimes has
.the fame effeft with roafting, 661.
Earthy ores unfit for either pur-
p fe, 664. Method of l oafting the
ore in Sweden, 665. How often
the r peration is to he repeated,
666. Danger of increafing the heat
too much, 667. Rinman’s method
< f roafting the ore at Garphyttan,
668. Method of burning the hard
ores at Tolfa in Italy, 669. Me¬
thod of elixating the burned ore at
Garphyttan, 670. Heat and cold
water ufed for this purpofe in dif¬
ferent places, ib. Different me¬
thods of elixation, 671. Singular
circumftance by which the alum is
faid to be deftrayed, 674. Of the
proper ftrength of the lixivium be¬
fore it is committed to evapora¬
tion, 673. Oonftruftion of the e-
vaporating veffel, 674. How far
the liquor ought to be evaporated,
673. Of the firft ciyitallization,
676. Depuration of the cryftals,
6-7. Bergman’s remarks on the
proper form of the coolers, 678.
They ought to be of a conical
fliape, ib. Aluminous ley contains
6i8
fo much aci^that k eannflt be cry-
ftallized without abftra£Hng part
of the excefs, 679. Which m'.y
be done by the addition of vege¬
table fixed a'kali, or volatile alka¬
li, but not by the mineral alkali,
680. Experiments in proof of the
excefs of acid preventing the c: y-
flallization of alum, 681. Another,
fitowing the utility of adding clay
tothe aluminousley, 68i. Advan¬
tage of ufing it in preference to
the alkalies, 683. Alum general¬
ly contaminated by dephlogiiti-
cated vitriol, 684. This defedre¬
medied by the addition of pure
clay, 685. Pe.fed! vitriol cannot
be deftroyed by clay, 686. How
the phlogifton of vitriol may be
diilipated, 687. Epfom fait fup-
pofed to be producible from the
mother liquor of alum, 688. Su¬
perfluous acid of this liquor might
be advantageoufly diftilled, 689.
Combination of arfenica! acid with
earth of alum,-938. How to make ,
it fhoot into cubical cryftals, 689.
AlumJlate. See Alum.
Alum works., when firft fet up in.I-
ta!y, 639. In Spain, England, and
Sweden, 640.
Aluminous ores. See Alum.
Amalgamation of filver : a difficulty
concerning it folved by Mr Berg¬
man, ary. Of copper with mer¬
cury,1152. Dr Lewis’s methods,
115 3. Amalgamation of mercury
with different metals, 1232,
Amber, acid of, 908. Mr Pott’s ex¬
periments on it, 909. Requires a
large quantity of water for its fo-
lution, ib. Rendered fbmewhat
purer by cryftallization, ib. Part¬
ly deftroyed by fublimation, ib.
Forms a neutral faline liquor with
fixed alkalies which does not cry-
ftallize, ib. Forms an oily fluid
■with volatile alkali, ib. Extri¬
cates the acids of fal ammoniac and
nitre, 910. Purified by marine a-
eid, 911. Does not contain any
mineral acid, ib. Converted al-
moft entirely into a liquid by di-
flillation with fpiiit of nit-e, 912.
Moft of it rife* in a folid form by
diftilling with oil of vitriol, 913.
Forms a folution of quicklime,
moftly refen-.bling the fame, in ve¬
getable acids, 914. Its effedls on
the metals, 915. Amber, by di-
flillation yields an acid fair and oil,
1444. Difference in the produdl
by certain additionsfometimes ufed
in the diftillation, ib. Addition
of fea-falt produces the greateft
yield of fait of amber, ib, Greateft
quantities of amber liiliiled in
Pruffia, 1445. Diffilledthere with¬
out any addition, ib The fait pu¬
rified by beiny kept on bibulous
paper to abforb the oil, ib. Cry-
ftals refembling it f irmed by the
union of marine acid with phlogi-
fiic matters, 1481. Methods of
purifying its fait, 1494- An acid
of another kind paffes over in di-
ftilling this fubftance,j[ 493. Com-
bination of the fait wkh alkalies,
earths, and metals, ib. Mr Keir’s
remarks on the nature of fait of
amber, 1495-
G H E M I
Amltrrreafe yields a product on di-
iHUation fmiilar to that of am¬
ber, 1446.
America: method of making nitre
there, 726.
Ammoniac, vitriolic, decompofed by
folution, of filver, 306. How to
prepare this kind of fal ammo¬
niac, 633. Erroneoufly faid to
have pov/trful effedts on the diffo-
lution of metals, ib. Mr Pott’s
experiments on if,ib. Ij£,trous am¬
moniac, how prepared^ 74s. Is fo-
luble iirfpirit of wine, ib. Defla¬
grates without any addition, ib.
The principal ingredient in Ward’s
white drop, 746. Common fal
ammoniac prepared from marine
acid and volatile alkali, 795. Dif-
folves refins according to Mr Gel-
lert, ib. Its volatility diminiffied
by repeated fublimations, ib. A
finall quantity producible by di-
ftiiling fea-falt with charcoal, &c.
ib. Originally prepared in E-
gypt, 796. A method of making
it deferibed, ib. Vegetable ammo¬
niac formed of the acetous acid and
volatile alkali, 870. Can fcarcehe
procured in a dry ftate, ib. Acid
of common fal ammoniac extrica¬
ted by acid of amber, 910. And
by the arfenical acid, 932. Vola¬
tile fal ammoniac, how prepared,
1033. Common fal ammoniac not
decompofed by regulus of cobalt,
1304. Effedls of it on nickel,
1312. Solution of it precipitates
a folution of platina, 13J2. The
precipitate fufible by a ftrong foi ge
heat, 1353. This fufion fuppofed
by Macquer not to be perfeiff,
1354. Effects of manganefe on
it, 1392.
Ammoniucal fait, formed by the union
of the colouring matter of Pruf-
fian alkali with volatile alkali, 1186.
Animal earth, very infoluble in acids,
and infufible in the fire, 515.
Earth of the foft parts more fo-
luble than that of the hard, ib.
This earth erroneoufly fuppofed to
contain phofphoric acid, ib. Ani¬
mal fats analyfed, 1428. Yield
a great quantity of oil by diftilla-
tion, ib. A particular kind of a-
cid produced from tallow, 1429.
How to rectify the empyreumatic
oil of animals, 1427. Of animal
and vegetable fubftances, 14J1.
Anomalous earths, 513. Anomalous
vegetable acids, how divided, 993.
Antimony : why nitrous acid precipi¬
tates a folution of it, 200. Preci¬
pitates of it by common and phlo
gifticated alkalies, 246. Of its pre¬
cipitates with other metals, 365.
A triple fait formed by regulus of
antimony, marine acid, and iron,
366. Another with the regulus,
marine acid, and copper, 367. Of
the folution of the regulus in vi¬
triolic acul, 499. Of its combina¬
tion with that acid, 709. Corrod-
ed-by the nitrous a«!d, 76<-(. Re¬
gulus of antimony combined with
marine acid, 821. Of the amal¬
gamation of it with mercury ,i 237.
Renders bifmuth capable of unit¬
ing with cobalt, 1251. The re¬
gulus particularly treated of, 1232,
S T R Y.
et feq. Has the appearance of a
ftar on its furface when well made,
1252. Sublimable into flowers,
1253. Different methods of pre¬
paring the regulus, 1234. Confi-
derable. diffefences in the regulus,
according to the different fubftan¬
ces ufed to abforb the fulphur,
1253. Of the r egulus made with
cawk, 1256. This femimetal ea-
ftly mifeibie with mercury, 1233.
Enters into the compofition of
fpeculumsand printing types, 1236.
Was the balls of many medicinal
~ preparations, now difufed on ac¬
count c f their uncertain operation,
ib. Glafs of antimony, how pre¬
pared, 1257. More violent in i s
<ffe6h than the regtilus itfelf, ib.
Preparation of emetic tartaPfrom
glafs of antimony and pulvis alga-
roth, 1238, et feq. See Tartar and
Algaroth. Preparation of golden
fulphur of antimony and kermes
mineral, 1263. Diaphoretic anti¬
mony, 1264. Crocus metallo-
rum, 1263. Butter of, Mr Doi-
fi.s’s method of preparing it, 821.
Antiphlogiftians : their abfurd way of
explaining the explofion of fulmi¬
nating filver, 1144.
Ants yield an acid by diftillatinn or
infufion in water, 2d 907. Its na¬
ture and properties, 908.
Ants, acid of, compofes an ammo-
niacal liquor with volatile alkali
which canhot be reduced to a dry
. fait, 908. Cryftallizes with fixed
alkalies, ib. And with coral chalk
or quicklime, ib. Diffolves cal¬
cined copper, and forms beautiful
cryflals with it, ib. Makes a pe¬
culiar kind of faccharum faturni
with minium, ib. Its effedls on
other metals, ib. Different me¬
thods of procuring their acid,
1302. Properties of the pure acid,
1303. Has an affinity with the
acetous, 1304. Its effecls on me¬
tals, 1503.
Apples, their acid treated of, 1306.
Its properties, 1309, 1311. How
procured in perfect purity, 1510.
Produced from fugar by means of
nitrous acid, 1312. Mr Keir’s opi¬
nion concerning its nature, 1314.
Aquafortis, procured by means of ar-
fenic of a blue colour, 739.
Aqua-regia, beft kind of it for diffol-
ving gold, 481. Quantity of gold
taken up by it, 482. How pre¬
pared from nitrous acid and com¬
mon fait, 788. Of the folution of
gold in aqua-regia, 1099. Solu¬
tion of platina in an aqua-regia
compofed of nitrous and marine a-
cids, 1323. In one made with
marine acid and nitre, 1324. Va¬
rious methods of preparing it,
1488. Differences between the li¬
quors prepared by thefe methods,
1489. How to deprive it of its
volatility, 1348.
Aquila alba, a name for mercurius dul-
cis, 814.
Arabians, the firft broachers ofalche-
Arbor Diana, how made, 734.
Ardent fpirits, diffolve camphor in
great quantity, 1425.
Argand's lamps, ufed for lamp-furna-
Index.
ces 6ir. Doubtful whether they
be preferable for this purpofe to
Lewis’s or not, ib.
Argentine flowers, formed of regulus
of antimony, 1233.
Argillaceous earth, in what it differs
from the calcareous, 312. Tobac¬
co-pipe clay the pureft earth of
this kind. ib. Abforb colours, ib.
Refift the uimoft violence of fiie
by themfelves, but melt by a mix¬
ture with chalk, ib. Combina¬
tion of the argillaceous earth with
vitriolic acid, 637, See. See Alum.
Argonauts, origin of the fable of
them, g.
Arfenic : Of its diffolution and preci¬
pitation. 243, 368. Ca’culation of
the quantity of phLgifton contain¬
ed in regulus of arfenic, 318. Pre¬
cipitated by bifmuth from the ni-
tn us acid, 369. And by copper
from the marine, 370. Quantity
of vitriolic acid taken up by regu¬
lus of arfenic, 301. Of nitrous
acid, 303. Of marine acid, 504.
Compounded of a particular kind
of acid and phlogifton, 348. U-
nites with fulphur, ib. Is foluble
in water, ib. Expels the acid of
nitre, ib. Reafon of thisdecom-
pofition, ib. Phenomena on di-
idllation with the vitriolic acid,
711. Deph logifticated by the ni¬
trous acid, 770. Of the adultera¬
tion of corrofive fublimate by ar¬
fenic, 818. Oil and butter of ar¬
fenic, 823. Formed by fubliming
arfenic with corrofive fublimate,
ib. Of the arienical acid, 916, et
fcq. See Arfenic, add of. A Angle
grain of regulus of arfenic deilrovs
the malleability of an ounce of
gold, 1093. Has a great affinity
with tin, 1219. Methods of fe-
parating arfenic from tin, 1220.
The crackling noife of tin in
bending fuppofed to arifs from ar¬
fenic, 1221. Arfenic found in
fome places of Germany in a me¬
tallic form, 1266. The regulus
eafily convertible into common
white arfenic by diffipating part of
its phlogifton, 1267. Why the ar¬
fenical calx may be mixed wiih
other metals which will unite with
it in its reguline ftate, 1268. Of
the folution of the calx in water,
1169. In fpirit of wine, 1270.
Forms a very infoluble and fixed
fait with vitriolic acid, 1271. Dif¬
folves in large quantity in the ma¬
rine acid, and forms a more vola¬
tile fait with it, though difficultly
foluble in water. 1272. Refem-
blance of this folution to butter of
arfenic, ib. Phlogifticated alkali
precipitates arfenic from marine a-
cid, and from that only, 1273. Ar¬
fenic decompofed by dephlogifti—
cated marine acid, 1274. Pheno¬
mena exhibited by it ..with other
acids, 1273. Liver of arfenic
formed by combining it with fix¬
ed alkali, 1276. A; feme unites
with Tome metals, and cryftallizes
with iron and zinc, 1277. Unites
readily with fulphur, 1278. Com-
P'lUiids thence refulting, ib 1279.
Phenomena exhibited by minera¬
lized aifenic with mtre, 12S0-.
Butter-
Index.
Butter of arfenic, ia8i. Thisfub-
ftauce can fcarce be made to unite
■with marine acid, izSz. Of the
oil of arfenic, 1283. Of the mine¬
ralization of arfenic by fulphur,
1284. How to prepare pure regu-
lus of arfenic, 1285. A native re-
gulus called mi/j>icieJ^ izS6. This
contains a large quantity of iron,
which will not obey the riiag-
net till the regulus is diffipated, ib.
Great volatility of the reguline ar¬
fenic, 1287. It deftroys the mal¬
leability of the metals with which
it unites, 1288. May be expelled
by heatfrom all of them except pla-
tiua, 1289. Volatilizes all of them
except platina,ih. Effe&s of arfenic
. upon alkaline falts and nitre, 1290.
Decompofes corrofive fublimate,
1291. The regulus converted in¬
to white arfenic by vitriolic acid,
1292. Effects of it on metallic fo-
lutions, 1293. Platina may be
melted by means of arfenic, 1349.
Effedls of it on manganefe in con-
jundtion Vrith nitre, 1391. Phe¬
nomena on diftiilation with man¬
ganefe, 1395.
Arfcnic, acid of, firft difcovered by
Mr Scheele, 916. Two methods
of procuring it, 917. By means
of nitAus acid, 918. By dephlo-
gifticated fpirit of fait, 919. fl’his
acid equally poifonous with the
white calx, 920. Eafily refumes
its phlogifton, 921. Takes fire
and fublimes inftantaneoufly into
’ regulus with charcoal, 922. Be¬
comes black and thick with oil of
turpentine, 923. With fulphur,
■924. Cryftallizes into a neutral
fait with vegetable alkali, 925.
This fait decompofed and forms a
regulus with charcoal, 926, Forms
a cryftallizabie fait when perfectly
faturated with mineral alkali, but
requires an excefs of acid to make
it cryftallize with the vegetable al¬
kali, 927. Forms likewife a cry¬
ftallizabie fait with the volatile
alkali, 928. Expels the vitriolic
acid from vitriolated tartar and
Glauber’s fait, 929. And likewife ,
thofe of nitre and common fait,
930, 931. Phenomena on diftilling
it with fal-ammoniac, 932. De-
cotnpofes fpathumponderofum and
gypfum: but cannot expel the fluor
acid, 339, 934. Precipitates lime-
water, 933. Forms a cryftalline
fait with chalk, 936. But refufes
to cryftallize with magnefia, 937.
Or with earth of alum, 938. Does
not diffolve white clay, 939. Dif-
■"Tdves terra ponderofa, 940. Has
no effedt on gold or platina, 941,
942. Diffolves filver in the dry
way by a violent heat, 943. Fixes
quickfiiver, 944. Produces cor¬
rofive fublimate by diftillation
with mecurius dulcis, 94J. No
butter of arfenic obtained by this
procefs,946. Diffolves copper,947.
Forms a very thick gelatinous ib-
lution of iron, 948. Diffolves lead
in the dry way, 949. And likewife
tin, 950. Diffolves zinc with effer-
vefcence, 941. But cannot diffolve
bifmuth, 952. Nor regulus of an¬
timony, 953. Diffolves cobalt par-
C H E M I
tially, 954. But not nickel, 935.
Diffolves a fmall quantity (ff man¬
ganefe, 936. Converts regulus of
arfenic into the white arfenical
calx, 937. Strange phenomena
from it and the acetous aeid,
„ ad 937, 1521. M. Pelletier’s me¬
thod" of procuring the acid of arfe¬
nic, 1496. Differences concern¬
ing the weight of the acid fo pro¬
cured, ib.
AJhes of different vegetables. Dr
Gmclin’s account of their colours,
&c. 1089.
Attrafiion: Fire detained in bodies
partly by it and partly by the
preffure of the furrounding fluid,
SS\- Of chemical attraction, 162.
This kind of attraction not e-
qually ftrong between all bodies,
ib. Different degrees of it betwixt
the different acids and alkalies,
174. Attraction of phlogifton fup-
pofed to be the caufe of caufticity,
219. Kirwan’s definition of che¬
mical attraction, 260. Difference
betwixt it and cohefion, 261.
Geoffroy’s rule for determining
the degrees of chemical attraction,
262. True method of afcertaining
the quantity of attraction each of
the acids has for the different ba¬
tes, 263. This quantity expreffed
by that of the bafes taken up by
the different acids, 269. Attrac¬
tion of metallic calces to phlogi¬
fton determined, 326.
AttraHive powers of different fubftan-
ces heft expreffed by numbers, 264.
Difficulties in determining the at¬
tractive powers of the different
acids to metallic fubftances, 296.
Aurum fulminant, its nature and pro¬
perties, 1103. Was known in the
13th century, 1104. The firft di¬
rections for its preparation given
by Bafil Valentine, 1103. The
ufe of volatile alkali for this pur-
pofe but lately known, 1106. Dif¬
ferent accounts of the increafe of
weight in the metal by being con¬
verted into aurum fulminans.ndy.
Explodes with incredible force,
1108. Twenty grains of it more
than equivalent to half a pound of
gun-powder, ib. Does not explode
in clofe veffels, 1109. The utmoft
caution neceffary in managing it
in the open air, ib. Dr Lewis’s ac¬
count of the heat neceffary to
make it explode, 1110. Explodes
by friClion fcarce fufficient to occa-
fiort any heat, nil. Terrible
accidents occafioned by it, m2.
The force of the explofion direCled
equally every way, 1113. Parti¬
culars relating to the explofion, ib.
Will not explode when moift,
1114. Quantity of elaftic vapour
produced during the exploflon,'ib.
Caufe of the explofion attributed
to a faline principle, 1115. This
opinion ft wn to be erroneous by
Mr Bergman, iri6. Why the ful¬
minating property is deftrcyed by
trituration with fixed alkali, ib.
The explofion rendered more vio¬
lent by boiling with fixed alkali,
ib. Why the fulminating proper¬
ty is deftroyed by boiling with too
ftrong a folution of alkali, or with
S T R Y.
concentrated vitriolic acid, ib.
Neither the prefence of nitrous or
marine acids neceffary for the pro¬
duction of fulminating gold, 1117.
The explofion is not occaiioned by
fixed air, 1118. How the fulmi¬
nating calx may he prepared, 1119.
The calx moft readily thrown
down by volatile.alkali, ib. A ful¬
minating calx produced from folu¬
tion of gold in dephloglfticated
fpirit of fait, ib. Mr Bergman’s
theory of the caufe of the explo¬
fion, 1120. Volatile alkali the
true caufe of it, 1121. Great
quantity of elaftic fluid generated
by the explofion of aurum fulmi-
nans, 1123. Why a flight calci¬
nation deftroys the fulminating
property,! 124. Why the calx will
not explode in clofe veffels, 1123.
Aurum Mofaicum, or Muftvum, how
prepared, 1224.
Bacon (Lord), his opinion of heat,
28, 29. See Verulam.
Baldwin’s pbofphorm prepared from
folution of calcareous earth in fpi¬
rit ef nitre, 749.
Balneum arena, or fand-bath, deferi-
bed, 378.
Balftms of fulphur, how prepared,
1401. Vegetable balfams whence
procured, 1432. May be confi-
dered as effential oils thickened by
the diffipation of fome of their
more volatile parts, ib. Analyfis
of them exemplified in turpen¬
tine, 1437.
Barofelenite, a name for the marntor
metallicum, or combination of
terra ponderofa with vitriolic a-
cid, 1030.
Bafil Valentine, the firft who gave di¬
rections for the preparation of au¬
rum fulminans, noj.
Beaume's obfervatious on gypfum,
636. His account of the forma¬
tion of fedative fait ill founded,
862. Vitrifies a calx of platina,
I3S*-
Beccaria’s obfervations on phofpho-
ri, 1083.
Bell-metal, compofed of copper and
tin, 1135. Its fpecificgravitygreat¬
er than that of either of the me -
tals fingly, 1136.
Bellows, when to be ufed in chemi¬
cal operations, 608.
Bells : Reaumur’s hint concerning an
improvement in their ftape, 1211.
Benzoin, yields a fragrant acid fait by
fublimation,984. The fame obtain¬
ed by lixiviation, 983. Quantity ob¬
tained by both theie methods,986.
Mr Scheele’s experiments in order
to procure alt the flowers benzoin
is capable of yielding, 987, &c.
B illing with chalk infufficient,
988. Or with alkaline ley, 989.
Boiling with lime the heft method,
990. Scheele’s receipt for prepa¬
ring the flowers of benzoin by this
method, 991, The flavour of
thefe flowers deftrbyed and repro¬
duced at pleafure, 992. The gum
analized, 1439. Acid of, invefti-
gated by Mr Lichtenftein, 1330.
EffeCts of nitrous acid upon it,
133!. Procurable from Peruvian
balfam and from urine, 1332.
Bergman s_ account of the taufe of
4 I 2
619
chemical fol«tion,i93. Differences
between him and Kirwan account¬
ed for, 435. His method of find¬
ing the. proportion of ingredients
in alum, 644. His account of the
quantity of thefe ingredients, 646.
His account of the Swediflr ores of
alum, .631. His analyfis of the
ores at Tolfa in Italy, 637. His
directions for the preparation of a-
lum, 66 r. His remarks on the
proper form of the coolers for a-
lum, 678. Confiders the lapis
ponderofus or tungften as a metal,
lie earth, 967. His opinion con¬
cerning the acids of tungften and.
tnolybdrena, 972. Denies the fo-
lubility I f filiceous earth in acid -.
1070. Forms cryftals of flint arti¬
ficially, 1072. Sho'.vs the error
of thofe who imagine the explo
lion of aurum fulminans to be oc¬
cafioned by a faline principle, x 116.
His theory of the explofion, 1120.
His opinion concerning the fulrni-
nation of other calces, 1126. His
opinion concerning the compofi-
tion of nickel, 1316. His experi¬
ments on platina, 1321. Letter
to Morveau on the fubjeft of a
new nomenclature. 1339.
Berkenhouf s opinion of heat, 36. His
divifion of it into fixed and vola ¬
tile, 37. See He A.
Berthollet difeovers fulminating fii-
ver, 1138. Procures the marine
acid in a folid ftate, 783. His new
falt refembling nitre, 2d 793. How
to procure this fait in quantity,
1487-
Befuchejf's tinClure of iron, 2d 808.
Miftakes of chemifts concerning it,
3d 808. True method of preparing
it, 4th 808. Suppbfed to abforlr
phlogifton from the fun’s rays,
5th 808.
Bile: fome of its properties affumed
by blood when mixed with the ni¬
trous acid, 1477.
Bifmuth : Of its precipitation f-om
acids, 241. Copper arid bifmuth.
precipitate one another alternately
from the nitrous acid, 357. Is
fcarcely foluble in vitriolic acid,
491. Increafes the fufibility of tin
and lead, 543. A compound of this
kind fufiblein boiling water, 544.
Diffolved in great quantities by ni¬
trous acid, 765. Volatile alkalies,
after precipitating the metal take
it up again, ib. The fame thing
happens with fixed alkalies calci
ned with inflammable matter, ib.
Magiftery of bifmuth prepared by
adding water to the nitrous folu¬
tion, 766. Neuman’s obfervations
concerning this preparation, ib.
Effedls of acid of arfenic upon it,
952. Is convertible into litharge
and glafs, 1250. Occupies kfs
fpace when in fufion than when in
a lolid ftate, 1250. Mifcible with
all the metallic fubftances except co¬
balt and zinc, 1251. Promotes the
lufion of all the metals with which
it is mixed, 1251, Platina may be
alloyed with it, but without any
advantage, 1348. <
Bittern, a kind of fait prepared from
it, frequently fuperledes the ufe of
the true Glauber’s fait, 632 How1
620
to procure the marine acid from it,
736.
Bitumens particularly tr. ated of, 1441.
Whether they are of a vegetable
or mineral origin, ib. Macque; ’s
opinion tlat they are only vege¬
table refms altered, ib. Dr Lewis’s
reafons for being of a contrary
opinion, ib.
Black, Dodtor, his theory of heat, 35.
Experiments by which he was led
to the difcovery of latent heat, 41.
His method of calculating the
quantity of heat produced hy the
condenfation of vapour, 44. Dif¬
ference betwixt his calculations
and thofe of Dr Crawford, jr.
Expanfive force of water in free¬
zing explained by Dr Black’s theo¬
ry of latent heat, to3. His expe¬
riments on the converfion of wa¬
ter into vapour, m. His ohfer-
vations on chemical veffels, 537.
His directims for performing the
operation of fulution, 365. De-
fcription of his portable furnace,
ad 602. How it is adapted to the
various operations of chemifbry,
603'. Of the luting proper for the
infiJe of this furnace, 604. Me¬
thod of applying the lute, 603.
His account of the preparation of
nitre, 724. His conclufions con¬
cerning the nature of that fait,
73a. His method of making ni¬
trous ether, 775. Shows a me¬
thod of making it without any
fpirit of wine, 777.
Black lead, a valuable material for
fome chemical velTels, 362.
Bleaching, haw performed by means
of dephlogifticated f, irit of fait,
1484.
B'imJ, flrangely altered in its pro¬
perties by mixture with nitrous
acid, 1477.
Boerbaavcs experiments to produce a
change on mercury hy keeping it
long in a gentle heat, and by re¬
peated diitillations, without fuc-
cefs, 1229, 1230.
Bobemia : Bergman’s account of the
aluminous ores in that country, 63 8.
Boiling-faint of water in vacuo de¬
termined by Mr Boyle, 122. And
by Mr Rubinfon of Glafgow, 123.
Bale: camphor converted into an effen •
tial oil by diSillation with 11,1423.
Bolognian Jlone, a kind of native phof-
phorus, 1081. How firft difeo-
vered, ib. Margraaf’s account
of the appearance of this ftone,
ib. How rendered luminous,
1082. Seems to be of a gypfeous
nature, lo8t, 1083. Analyfis of
it, and reafon of its fhining in the
Borax, compofed of a peculiar kind
of acid and mineral alkali, 863.
How prepared in the Eaft Indies,
ib. Of its ftate when firft im¬
ported from thence,- 864. How
refined, ib. Said to be adultera¬
ted during this operation, ib. This
denied by Dr Black, ib. Simple
diffolution and filtration all that is
neceffary, according to him, for the
purification, ib. Its purificatiou ac¬
cording to othets, 1490. Has a glu¬
tinous quality, hy which it gives a
gloft to filkSjib. Its proper.ics with
C H E M I
acids and various faltx, 863.
J?w8x,acid of,found in a kindof mine¬
ral in Germany, 83 8. Procured from
the fait either by feblimation or
eryftallizarion, 838. Is fixed in
the fire, and melts into a kind of
glafs by a violent heat, 860. Dif-
folves in fpbit of wine, ib. Makes
no change on the colour of vege-
tabl* juices, ib. Mr Bouxdelin’s
experiments on its nature, 86 f.
Mr Cadet’s experiments, 862. M.
Beaume’s opinion that it is produ¬
ced by rancid oils unfatisfadlory,
ib. Of its combination with al¬
kalies, ib. Forms an unknown fait
with vegetable alkali, ib. And
borax wit h the mineral alkali, 863.
Its effedls on cobalt, 1303. Beau¬
me’s obfervation* on the method
of preparing the fedative fait from
it, 1491. Properties of the fak,
149a. Its combinations with vo¬
latile alkali, earths, and metals,ib.
Experiments with a view to deter¬
mine the nature of the acid, 1493.
Boulduc, M. with Geoffioy, difeo.
vers the component parts of alum,
641.
Btullanger'i opinion that the floor
acid is no other than the marine
combined with an earthy fub-
ftance, 833. Shown to be erro¬
neous by Mr Scheele, 834.
Bour delin’& experiments on the nature
of the acid of borax, 861.
Boyle, Mr, improves the fcience of
chemiftry, 17. His opinion con¬
cerning the number and nature of
the elements, 24. Attempts to
prove that fire is not an element,
ib. That the folid fubftan.ee of bo¬
dies is converted into air, ib. That
water is converted into earth, ib.
His arguments inconclufive, ib.
His account of the production of
heat, 30. Determines the boiling
point of water in vacuo, 122. His
experiment ftiowing the deftrudti-
bility of gold, 1098. Curious kinds
of mercury prepared by him,1227.
Brafs, how prepared from copper
and calamine, 1134. May be re¬
duced to copper again by a long
continued and violent heat diftipa-
ting the zinc, ib. A compound of
brafs and platina a proper mate¬
rial for fpeculums, 1344.
Burning : phenomena of it, 516. A
great quantity of water produced
from oil by burning, ib. Part of
this probably from the atmo-
fphere, ib.
Butter of antimony compofed of re-
gulus of antimony and marine a-
cid, 821. Becomes fluid by recti¬
fication or expofure to the air, ib.
Lets fall the pulvis algaroth by the
direCt affufion of water, ib. For¬
merly ufed as a cauftic, ib. M.
Dollfufs’s method of preparing it,
ib.
Butter of arfenic, prepared from re-
gulus of arfenic and corrofive fub-
hmate, 823. Becomes fluid by re¬
peated rectifications, ib. Is not
obtained from white arfenic and
corrofive fublimed together, 946.
May be prepared alfo byfubliming
orpiment and corrofive fublimate,
1381. Can fcarcely be made to
S T R Y.
unite with marine acid, 1282.
Cabbage, an excellent teft for acids
or alkalies prepared from it, 1330,
Cadet's experiments on the nature
of the acid of borax, 862.
Calcareous earths. Decompofition of
vitriolated tartar by their fifiurinns
explained, 270. Mr Kirwan’s ex¬
periments on them, 437. Form
gypfum with vitriolic acid, 633.
Diffoive in the nitrous acid unto an
acrid liquor which cannot be cry-
ftallized, 747. Decompofes this
acid by frequent diftillatiojis, 784.
Are convertible by it into a kind-
of phofpho.rus, 749. Form like-
wile a phofphm us with the marine
acid, 797. Their effects on the
filiation of Elver, 736. Form a-
ftringeut compounds with the ace¬
tous acid, 8.71. Decompcfo cream
of tartar, 887. Have a great at-
tradion for faccharine acid, 900.
Compofe fluor fpar by being com¬
bined with its acid, 831, And
tungften with the acid extracted
from it, 971.
Calces of metals ; arguments againft
the exiftence of phlogifton from
the reduction of thofe of the per¬
fect metals without addition, 140.
RedudMon of metallic calces by in¬
flammable air, 149. Different co-
I urs exhibited by them, 192.
Thofe of fome metals, when pre¬
pared by nitrous arid, almoft to¬
tally infoluble ever afterwards, 196.
Why little or no elaftic fluid is
produced from them,213. Of their
attraction to phlogifton,326. How
to find the fpecific gravity of the
different metallic calces, 327.
Whence their various degrees of
affinity to phlogifton may be de¬
termined, 328. Calces of copper
precipitate dephlogifticated folu-
tions of iron,343. Solutionsof the
dephlogifticated calces of iron re-
fufes to cryftallize, 437. Calces
of iron precipitated of a re Idiih co¬
lour from fpirit of fait, 463. Cal¬
ces of gold foluble in the vitriolic
and nitrous acids, 483. Reafon of
the increafe of weight in metalline
calces, 324. Bergman’s opinion
concei uing the fulmination of me¬
tallic calces, 1126. Erroneous,ib.
Effedls of the colouring matter of
Pruffian blue on metallic cakes,
1192.
Calcination; quantity of phlogifton
loft by metals during that opera¬
tion, 332. Of the affinity of their
calces to the deficient part, 332.
Calcination of metals by fire de-
feribed, 322. Of their calcination
and increafe of weight by acids,
323. Reafon of this increafe,524.
Solubility of metals increafed by
calcination, 343. How to perform
the operation of calcination, 383.
Why a flight calcination deftroys
the explofive property of aurum
fuhninans, 1x24. Effedts of vio¬
lent calcination on nickel, 1307.
Calcined metals. See Calcination, Cal¬
ces, Calx, and Metal.
Calculus, human; Scheele’s experi¬
ments on it, 1453. His cobcIu-
fions concerning its eonippfitipn,
1436. Is found univerfajly in u-
Indejt.
rine, 1437-. Bergman’s experi¬
ments on it, 1460. Calcareous ,
earth contained in it feparated by i
means of the vitriolic acid, 1462. I
Red colour of the folution in ni- -j
trous acid accounted for, 1460. '
Mr Higgins’s experiments, 1463. i
His account of its component parts, ! -
1463,1468. Experiments on the ji
fuhHmate arifing from it on diftil- i
lation, 1465. Experiments with
nitrous acid, 1466. Cryftalliza- j
tion of the nitrous folution by ex- ,
pofu'e to th.e fun, 1467. Remarks 1
on the remedies proper for dffol- |
ving the ftone, 1469. Sublimate
of calculus met with in confump-
tive and gouty perfons, 1470. Dif- j
folution ought not to be attempted !
when the flone is large, ib.
Calculus: of the acid obt.iined from it, j
982. All the calculi produced in ^
the human body of the fame na- t
t'.ire, ib. Diffoived by concentra- j
ted vitriolic, and by the nitrous ,| (
acid, but not by the marine acid,
ib. The acid of calculus produces i
deep red fpots on the flein, 983. j I-
Affumes a blood-red colour by eva-
paration, ib.
Calomel, a nams given to mercuries ,
dulcis feveral times fublimed, 814.
Repeated fublimation noimprove- ;l
roenr on the medicine, ib.
Calx of the diffoived metal, with va¬
rious degrees of phlogifton, con-
tamed in metalline folutions, 214.
Reafons for believing that metals t
are reduced to a ca'x by folutioo, [
213. Increafe of attraction be¬
twixt the calx of iron and phlogi¬
fton demonftrated, 342. Calx of j
iron foluble in lixivium fanguinis, l.
1173. But not when highly de¬
phlogifticated, 1176.
Camphor, a volatile fubftance belong¬
ing to the clafs of effential oils,
1422. Converted into a true effen-
tial oil by repeatedly diftilling it C
with bole,'1423. Intoaijacidfak by
diftilling it feveral times with de-
phlogiftica'ed fpirit of nitre, I424.
Effedls of ihisfalt on alkalies and
metals, ib. How diftinguiffied from
acid of fugar, ib., Account of the
method of extradling it from the
trees which produce it, its ufes,
&c. ib.
Cantons phofphorus, how prepared, i1
1414. Becomes luminous by ex¬
pofure to the fun, or the light of
an eledlrical flaffi, ib.
Capacities of bodies for containing I
heat : that phrafe explained, 32.
How they are to be diftinguiffied ; .
ft oro the temperature and abfoiute I
heat of bodies, 33. The capacity
of a body for containing heat the ,
fame with the adlion of heat on
the body, 111. Nicholforr’s account j
of the capacities of bodies for con¬
taining heat, 1x3.
Caji-iran fcarcely decompofes the fo¬
lution of copper, 343.
Cava lie's method of purifying ether, ! j
2d 722. Shows that pyrophorus is j rl .
not injured by expefure to light,
1418.
Ca-vendijh, fuppofes heat not to be a
diftindl fubftance, 69. Hiscalcu- j ij.
lotion of the quantity of fixed air j j
con- j j
Index.
! contained in impure vegetable fix¬
ed alkalies, 417. Shows that ni¬
trous acid may be artificially pro¬
duced from a mixture of dephlo-
l giflicated and phlogifticatcd air, id
712. His opinion concerning the
nitrous acid, t474.
Caujiic alkali, how prepared by Mr
, Bergman for his experiments on
1 the precipitation of metals, 27 2.
j , Platina imperfe&ly precipitated by
E cauftic alkali, 234. Throws down
a brown precipitate from folution
of filver. 23?. Corrodes Hone-
ware, 59J [396]. Is beft: refilled
j by filver, ib. How to prepare lu-
. converted into vinegar and water
by repeated diftiliations with cau-
j ftic alkali, lotj. The common
j' fixed alkalies complied of a ca.uftic
j fait and fixed air, 1020. _ Throws
! down an infbluble precipitateifrom
1 folution of terra ponderofa, 1036.
[Caajlicity fuppofed to be occafioned
i by the aitradlion of phlogifton
! from thefubflance aiftedupon, 21 o.
Cawi, a kind of fj ar, the fame with
fpathum pi nderofum, forms a re-
gulus if amimony inftamaneoufiy,
1255. Dr Withering’s dffeription
' of a fubfiance of this kind found in
i Derbyfirire, 1068.
'fervfs, vl White-lead., how prepared,
j S75. Obfervatii-hs on the procefs
; for prepaiing it, 876. Its poifo-
[ tious qualities, ib.
'fhalk at fir ft Jiffolvedf and the folu-
1 tion afterwards coagulated, by acid
1 of arfenic, 936. Flowers of ber-
? zoin imperfcCt,y extracted by bt.il-
| ing with rhalh, 9S8.
\tbalybtJted tartar muds by boiling
1 cream of tartar with iron, 895.
'CbaiaSers, chemica!, explained, 5^1.
i Some curioufly marked on the in-
i fide of a phial by means of the light
> of the fn, 750.
| Charcoal proved to be the fame with
! phlogifton, 245. Dctifive proofs
[ of their identity fn m Dr Prieft-
| ley-’s experiments 146. Spirit of
; wine convertible into charcoal, 147.
Charcoal emiieiy diflipated into
inflammable air by the heat of a
’ burning lens in -vacuo, 148. De-
|i phlogitticated air converted into
' aerial acid by its union with char-
i coal, 151. Sulphur produced by
;! diftilling concentrated vitriolic a-
E cid with charcoal, 715. Or by
calcining vitrioiated tartar with
: the fame, 716. Arfenical acid
| takes fire and fublimes into regulus
with it, 922. Neutral arfenical
i fait decompofed by it, 926. Char-
‘ coal diffo ved by liver of fulj hur,
1023. Phenomena on diftillation
with manganefe, 1388. Moft in¬
flammable matters reduced tochar-
1 coal, 1450. Difference between
the coals «>f different fubftances, ib.
Some coals, particularly thofe of
• I animal fubftances, can fcarce be
i S reduced to afhes, ib. Bullock’s
b blood affords , a coal of this kind,
;ib. Concrete oiiy fubftances, or
: 1 foot, burn with equal difficulty,
i ib. Some of theje coals almoft re- ■
I ■ fift the aftion of 'nitre, ib. This
;■ iubftanceperfedly refraclory,i 431,
How fet on fire by the nitrous add,
1476.
Chemical attra flion particularly treated
of, 162, <?//;§. See Mtradlion. Berg¬
man’s account of the caufe of che¬
mical folution, 193. Kirwan’s
definition of chemical attradlien,
260. Differeace betwixt it and
cohefion, 2,61. Geoffrey’s rule for
deferraiuiBg the degrees of che¬
mical attradlion, 262. Chemical
dfconipofitions apparently fitrgle
are often double, 263. Invention
of chcurcal marks and characters,
551. New chemical language in¬
vented by the French chemifts,
552. Its ridiculous appearance in
an attempt to explain the fuimiiia-
tion . f the calx of filver, 1144. Of
tables of chemical affinities or at¬
tractions, 533. Dr Black’s gene¬
ra! table of attractions, ib. His
ebfervations on chemical veffels,
357. Good and bad qualities of
glafs as a ma'erial for thefe vef-
leis, 558. Of metals, 560. Of
earthen ware, 561. Of chemical
furnaces, 399. See Furnaces.
Clemijlry deferibed, 1. High anti¬
quity of the fcience, 2. Suppoftd
to he founded by Sifrhoas, an Egyp¬
tian, 3. Moles thought to liave
been well ve-fed in chemiftry, 4.
Democritus taught chemiftry by
the Egyptian priefts, ib. Chemi-
Itry introduced into medicine after
h s time, ib. Some advantages ac¬
crued to chemiftiy fiom the la¬
bours of the aJchemifts, 13. Hi-
ftoi y of chenjiftry from the time
of Paraeelfus, 15. The fcience
ftudied by Lord Verulam, 16.
Improved by Mr Boyle, 17. Che¬
miftry emerges f om its ohfeurity,
18. Receives confiderable advan¬
tages fiom the founding of the
Royal Society, aqd others of that
kind, 19. Great improvements
made by chemilis of various na¬
tions, 20. Peufetft theory of che¬
miftry defined, 21. Obyedls of
chemiftry how diftinguiffied from
the agents, 22. Claffification of
the objetSls, 163. How far water
Is an objedl of chemiftry, 549. Of
the different operations in chemi¬
ftry, 334, ctfcq.
ChePiifts, improvements liy thofe oh
different nations, 18, ip, 20. How
divided, 335.
Clio turpentine deferihed, .1433.
Cinnabar: of the diftillation of it from
manganefe, 1396. See Vermilion.
Clay: whether the earth of alum is
to be confidered as a pu.re clay or
not, 647. Margraaf demonftrates
all clay to be compounded of earth
of alum andfome other principle
mechanically mixed, 648. Expe¬
riment of Dr Lewis, which feeiRs
to Ihow that clay undergoes a
change by being converted into
earthT of alum, 649. Bergman’s
experiment to determine the utili¬
ty of adding clay to theley of alum
in order to abforb the fuperfluous
acid, 682. Advantages of ufing
clay rather than alkalies, 683, Be-
phlogifticsted vitriol decompofed
by clay, 684. But not the per-
fe£t kind, 683. Clay yfed in tic
S T R Y.
thepurification of wines, SSd. And
in that of tartar, ib. Combina¬
tion of arfenical acid with rlay,
939. Colouring matter of Pruf-
fian blue cannot diffolve clay,
1189. Method of diftilling fpirit
of la't by means of ft, 1480.
Cleghorn, Dr: great difference be¬
twixt his calculations and thofe of
Dr Crawford, 48. His opinion
concerning the ufe of thermome¬
ter*, 72. His hypothefis concern¬
ing fire, 74. His proof that fire
is an elementary fluid', 82.
Cloth-printing: iron liquor, how pre¬
pared for that purpofe, 873.
Clyjfu, of nitre, a liquor prepared by
deflagrating nitre and charcoal,
780.
Coating of glaffes: lute proper for that
purj ofe, 580.
Cobalt: of its diffolution in acids, and
precipitation from them, 244. Is
not compofed partly of iron, 236.
Is precipitated by iron, 362. Some
heterogeneous matter precipitated
fiom it by nickel, 363. Solutions
of cobalt let fall a white powder
on the addition of bifmuth or cop¬
per, 364. Of its folution in vitri¬
olic acid, 496, 710. In nitrous a-
cid, 497. In marine acid, 498.
Fo ms a red folution with the ni¬
trous acid, 769. Difcoverable in
ores by means of this acid, 770.
Forms a beautiful fympathetic ink
with marine acid, 822. Diffolved
by ihe acid of arfenic, 954. The
fernimetaj particularly deferibed.,
and its properties confidcred, 1293.
Its calx, called scaffre, deferibed,
1294. Redudlion of the calx ex¬
tremely difficult, 1296. Its pro-
pertieswhen expofed to heat, 1297.
Calcines fpontr.neoufly in the air,
1298. A beautiful blue glafs form¬
ed from its calx, 1299. Pheno¬
mena of it with vitriolic acid, 2300.
With nitrous acid, 1301. With
marine acid, 1302. With the
acid of borax, 1303. With nitre,
ili. With fal ammoniac, 1304.
Wi h fulphur, 1303. May be fe-
paratedfrom nickel by nitre, 1311,
Method of preparing a red fait
from it by means of the vitriolic
acid, y ip.
Cohefion: difference betwixt it and
chemical attraction, 261.
Cold: an exceffive degree of it at
G’afgow, 62. In Siberia and
Hudfon’s Bay, 63. Severity of
the cold in the northern regions
mitigated by the production of
ice, 87. Heat, light, cold, and
electricity, the effedts of an uni-
verfal fluid, 101. Particular fplu,-
tion of the phenomena of heat and
cold, 102. Inftances of bodies ex¬
panding by cold, 103. Cold fup¬
pofed to be a pofieive ftibftanre
from the prodigiousexpanfive force
of water in freezing, 107. Dr
Cullen’s experiments on cold pro¬
duced by evaporation, 124.
Colour of metallic folutions caufed by
phlogifton, 218. A beautiful
white one from lead, 703. A green
one from copper and cream of tar¬
tar, 894. How to reftore the co¬
lour of gold, 1130. Oflilver, 1137.
621
Colouring mailer of Pruffian blue in-
veftigared by Mr Scheele, 1171.
This matter Hie* off from the lixi¬
vium fanguinis when expolisd to
the air, 1172. This effedt fuppo-
pofed to be owing to fixed air in
the atmcfphere, 1173. The co¬
louring matter fixed by the addi¬
tion of fome green vitriol to the
lixivium, 1174. Calx of iron fo-
luble in the lixivium, 1173. But
not when highly dephlogifticated,
1176. The colouring matter ta¬
ken up by the air after it has beem
expelled by acids, H77. Effedls
of diftilling the lixivium with vi¬
triolic acid, 1178. Attempts to
procure the colouring matter by
itfelf, 1179. Neutral fait formed
by it for difeovering iron in mine¬
ral waters, 1x80. Effedls of di-
ftiding this fait with oil of vitriol,
1181. The colouring matter u-
nites with volatile alkali, 1182.
Flow to free it perfedliy from any
vitriolic taint, n 83. To prevent
its efcape through the lute during
diftillation, 1184. The colouring
matter neither acid nor alkaline,
xi 83. Forms a kind of ammoni-
acal fait with volatile alkali, n85.
Diffolves magnefia alba, 1187.
Very little terra ponderofa, 1188.
Diffolves lime, but not clay, 1189.
This folution moft proper for ma¬
king experiments on metals, 1190.
Precipitates the folutions of filver
and quickfilVer in nitrous acid, and
of iron in fixed air, 1191. Its ef¬
fects on the metallic calces, 1192..
On metallic folutions, 1193. Its
conftituent parts inveftigated by
experiment, 1194. Is of an in¬
flammable nature, 1193. Suppo-
fed to contain aerial acid and
phlogifton, n 96. Ingredients in
its compofition, 1199. Unfuc-
cefsful attempts to produce it by
volatile alkaiies in a liquid ftate,
1200. Succefsful method with
fal ammoniac, fait of tartar, and
charcoal, 1201. Its volatility de-
ftroyed by manganefe, 1204. Can
feparate only mercury and filver
from their folution in nitrous acid,
IZP5-
Colours o{ vegetables changed by a-
cidsaud alkalies, 173. Different
colours of metallic cakes, 192. .
Colours imparted to Various kinds
of (tones by foiutidn of filver, 753.
Colours of various kinds deftroyed
by dephlogifticated fpirit of fait,
1484.
Comparative heat, of bodies defined,
40.
Compojl, artificial, of Cramer for ma¬
king nitre, 728.
Compounds of two metals fometimes
heavier than either of the ingre¬
dients, 1156. More fufible than
either of them fingly, 542. Great
fufibiiity of thofe of tin and bif-
muth, 343- Fufibiiity . of thefe
augmented by the addition of lead,
ib. One fufible in the heat of
boiling water, 544. Platina unites
readily with compound metals.
CHEMISTRY.
■622
•trous acid difiolves lefs metal than
when diluted, 489. How to ob¬
tain a very concentrated acetous
acid, 881. Violent adlion of the
concentrated nitrous acid upon
molybdatna, 960. Marmor me-
tahicum foluble in concentrated
vitriolic acid, 1063. Precipitated
from it unchanged by vegetable
fixed alkali, 1064. Why the
concentrated vitriolic acid dif-
folvesmanganefe without addition,
Comknfation of vapour t produces a
great quantity of heat, 43, 125.
I)r Black’s method of calculating
it, 44.
Congealed ivater, the difficulty with
which it melts, a mean of pre¬
venting inundations in countries
where fnow and ice abounds,
88.
Copper: of its precipitate', 238. Why
it is diffolved by folutions of filver,
mercury, and iron, 336. Why
iron and copper precipitate one
another, 341. Dephlogifticated
folutions of iron precipitated by
calces of copper, 343. Dephlogi-
flicates the iron which precipitates
it, 344. Its folution fcarcely de-
compofed by caft iron, 343. _ Why
it fometimes cannot precipitate
lilver, 348. Precipitations of mer¬
cury by it, 353. Precipitations of
.copper by nickel, 360. Copper
throws down a white powder from
fulutions of cobalt, 364. Forms a
triple fait with regulus of antimo¬
ny and marine acid, 367. Preci¬
pitates regulus of arfenic from the
marine acid, 370. Proportion of
it diffolved by the vitriolic acid,
464. Inflammable and vitriolic
air produced from its folution in
this acid, 465. Quantity «f the
metal diffolved by nitrous acid,
468. By marine acid, 469. Forms
blue vitriol with the vitriolic acid,
693. Of its folution in nitrous a-
cid, 757. In the marine acid, 804.
forms a beautiful green fait with
acetous acid,' 872. And with
cream of tartar, 894. Combina¬
tion of arfenical acid with it, 947.
Forms a mod beautiful blue fait
with cailftic volatile alkali, 1035.
Does not greatly diminifh the duc¬
tility of gold though previoufly
alloyed with tin, 1094. Its nature
particularly confidered, x 146. Al¬
ways fofter than iron, 1147. Will
not finite fire with flint; and there¬
fore of ufe to make hoops, &c. for
gunpowder calks, ib. Its dudtiliry,
tenacity, and fpecific gravity, ib.
Explodes violently by the contact
of moifture when in fufion, 1148.
How granulated, ib. How calci¬
ned, 1149. The calx exceedingly
refractory, ib. Soluble by all acid
and other faline fubftances, and
even by water, 1150., More fo¬
luble in cold liquors than in hot,
ib. Undergoes fome change by
combination with vegetable acids,
1151. How amalgamated with
mercury, 1152. A curious amal¬
gam formed by mercury and ver¬
digris, 1152. Dr Lewis’s methods
of amalgamation, 11.53. Forms
brafs, prince’s metal, &c. by the
addition of calamine or zinc, 1154.
Crucibles in which thefe operations
are performed tinged of a deep
blue colour, ib. Forms bell-metal
with a mixture of tin, 1155.
Lewis’s cbfervqtions on the fpeci¬
fic gravity of this and other me¬
tallic compounds, 1136. White
copper made by fufion with an e-
q. al part of arfenic, 1157. A inie
gold-coloured metal formed by a
mixture of copper and platina,
1341. Phenomena attending the
diflb'utioH of it in volatile alkali,
1035.
Copperas. See Vitriol.
Corrofmejuilimate precipitated with¬
out any decompofn ion by oil of
vitriol, 315. May be decompofed
by filver in the dry, but not in the
moiit way, 356. Of its prepara¬
tion from quickfilver, 814, etfeq.
Differences of iis quality according
to the different methods by which
it is prepared, 816. Reafon of
thefe differences, ib. Method of
making it at Amfterdam,ib. Obfer-
vations on the different methods,
817. Of its adulteration with ar¬
fenic, 818. Yields no butter of
arfenic by.fublimation with that
fubftance, 945, 946. Its ufe in the
preparation of butter of antimony,
821. Of its fublimation with
manganefe, 1397.
Cramer s artificial compoft for ma¬
king nitre, 728.
Crawford, Dr, his explanation of Ir¬
vine’s theory of heat, 36. Dif¬
fers greatly in his calculations from
Dr Cleghorn, 48. His account of
fenfible heat, 49. Differs from
Dr Black, 51. His opinion con¬
cerning heat in the abftrad, 54.
His definition of fire, 59. His
method of determining the pro¬
portional quantities of heat in
bodies, 77. Infufficiency of his
method, 78. His folution of a
difficulty concerning the feeming
difappearance of heat, 86. Infuf-
ficient, 91.
Cream of tartar, how prepared, 886.
Analyfed by Mr Scheele, 887.
Regenerated, 890.
Crell, Dr, a miftake of his concern¬
ing the production of Glauber’s
fait from alum and common fait
corrected, 272. His method of
cryftaKizing the acid of lemons.
997. His attempts to bring vine¬
gar nearer to the ftate of tartar,
1004. His proof* that all vege¬
table acids are to be derived from
one origin, 1006. , '
Crocus metallorum, how prepared,
1265,.
Crtmjiedt difeovers the new femimetal
called nickel, 1306.
Crucibles: of the muff propermatcrials
for them, 585. Achard’s method
of making them from calx of pla¬
tina, 587. Mr Pott’s directions
for making them, 5S8. Dr Lewis’s
obfervations on their conltruCtion,
589. Porcelain probably the fitteft
material for veffels of this kind,
591. Of Reaumur’s porcelain as
a material for crucibles, 592.
Cruft produced by the fluor acid' on
the furface of water, 82S. Found
to be of the nature of filiceous
earth, 829. Scheele’s experiments
to determine the nature of this
earth, 830. The fame cruft pro¬
duced from artificial fluor, 831.
Scheele’s opinion that the earth is
formed by the union of the acid
and water, 832. Contested by
Meffrs Boullanger, Monnet, &c.
833. Their opinions Ihown to be
erroneous by Mr Scheeie, 834.
Wiegleb’s experimen; s on the ori¬
gin of it, 839. Found to proceed
from the corrofion of the glafs-
diftilling veffei, 840. How to
procure the acid free from it,
842. None formed by mixing
fund with a fait containing floor
acid, 844. But a great quantity
by adding powdered green glais,
845.
Cryjiulline powder thrown down from
'folution of calx of platina by ve¬
getable fixed alkali, 1325.
Cryfalhzation, in chemiftry : how
to perform that operation, 573.
Cryllallization of alum impeded
by vitriolic acid, 681.
Cryfials of one kind of fak contain
none of any other, 573. Fulmi¬
nating Cryftals, 1142. Cryftals of
platina decompofed by the mineral,
but not by the vegetable, fixed al¬
kali, 1322.
Cullen, Dr, his experiments on the
production of cold by evaporation,
124.
Cupellation: why lead is ufeful in that
operation, 331. Attempts to refine
platina by cupellation, 1355.
Cuprum ammoniacale, hoW prepared,
X034. ...
Decompositions, chemical, are
often double, though apparently
fingle, 263. Explanation of thoie
effected by acids alone, 266, De-
cornpofitions of vitriolic falls f q -
pofed to arife from compound for¬
ces, 276. Why decompofitions
are fometimes incomplete, 405,
Deflagration, an operation in. chemi¬
ftry, how performed, 582.
Democritus taught chemiflry by the
Egyptian priefts, 4. Said to be
able to imitate the precious Hones,
particularly the emerald, ib. Was
probably only acquainted with the
method of making green glafs,
ib.
Denjity of mixtures, its increafe ac¬
counted for, 374. How to deter¬
mine the accrued denfity of fpirit
of nitre mixed with water, 3S7.
Increafc of it iri compound fubilan-
ces, 404.
Dephlogiflicated air converted into a-
eriai acid by charcoal, 151. Ob¬
jection to the exiftence of phlogi-
fton from the total combuftion of it
in fomc cafes, 152. Little phlogi-
fton confirmed by the combuttion of
iron in this kind of air, 153. Ofthe
dephlogifticated marine acid, 206,
790, cr/cy. 1484. Dephlogifticated
green vitriol cannot precipitarefolu-
tion (>f gold, 2 2 6. Quantity of mine¬
ral alkali taken up oy dephlogifti¬
cated nitrous acid, 432. Solution
of dephlogiiticated calx of iron
Index. ;:
cannot be cryftallized, 457. De- > L,
phlogifticated green vitriol decorn- i 1
pofed by clay, 684. Dephlogifti- !
cated air a materiafifor the nitrous j t
acid, 2d 722. How to prepare the I l,
dephlogifticated fpirit of fak, 790, i
791. Can fcarcely be condeafed )
into a liquid, 792. Its other pro- ■
pei ties, ib. rvod^of arfenic pro- j-
cured by its means, 919, 1274. <
The only folvent of platina, 1319. ,.
Dephlogifticated fj irit of nitre de- j 1
compofes camphor, 1424.
Dephlogiflicated fpirit of filt: expedi- 1
tious method of bleachiiig linen by I
means of it, 1484. Effort of it on ! f
phlogiftic mattei s, 14.85. Effervef- | r
ces withcauftic volatile alkali,1485. j J
Forms marine ether with fpirit of 1
wine, i486. Diffolves phofpho- ‘
rus, ib. Method of procuring a ! ‘
detonating fait in quantity from it, ,
1487.
Dhbolus mctallorum, a name for tin, •
oti account of its bad effects on ! 1
other metals, 1222.
Diaphoretic antimony, how prepared, 1
1264.
Digefler, Papin’s, deferibed, 567. Ef- j i
ferts of it producible by long boil- i "
Digeflion, in chemiftry, how perform- 5 :
6(1,565.
Digejsmejalt: Quantity of ingredients I
in it, 379, 421. Prepared fiom i*
vegetable alkali and marine acid, : J,
794-
Dijfolution of metals: heat produced 7.
by that operation, 190.
Diflillation: how that operation was 1 } .
originally performed, 6. Mr [ ‘
Watt’s experiments on the diftii- ] J.
Jatiqn of water in vacuo, 43. Pro-
per method of performing the I
operation of diftiilatlon, 574. Phe- f
nomena oli diftillation of inflam- ‘
mable fubftances, 517. Boerhaave’s
experiments on the diftillation of f. •
mercury, 1230.
Diflillei verdigris, how prepared, ! "
872.
Divellent affinities explained, 267.
Dollfufs, Mr, his method of prepa¬
ring butter of antimony, 821. His
procefs for muriatic ether, 824. [
For acetous ether, 884.
Du Pay fuppofes all calcareous Hones j
to be phofphoric, 1084.
Dyeing: the-vitriol formed by preci- fl:
pirating copper with iron Id's pro- f
per for thispurpofe than that made i '
after the common method. 344. r
Earth: water fuppoled to be'.con- ^
vertiblc into it, 24. Has not the i
chararter of an element, 25. Solu- t
Lie in acids, ,176. Why the me¬
tallic earths feldom decompofe fait*' l1
w hofe bafis is a calcareous earth or -
alkaline fait, 304. Quantity of ' -
earth in vegetable alkali, 413.
Difficulty in obtaining the pure ir
earth of alum, 645. Lewis’s ex- T~
periment to fhow that clay under¬
goes feme change by being con- f
verted into this earth, 649. Siii- o
ceous earth found in the refin ^ •
produced from the refiduum of
vitriolic ether, 2d 722. Quan- 6
tity of filiceous earth carried
up by fluor acid, 847. Earth of ’’
alum combined with arfenkal acid, i11
938.
INDEX.
i 938. .Siliceous earth thoft com-
i pletely precipitated by volatile al-
I kali, 1074' forms a triple fait by
j precipitation with fixed alkali,
1 1075. Is diiTolved by boiling with
alkali, 1076. See Silktous. Ve-
b.getable earth fuppofed by Lewis
to be the fame with magnefia,
1:1088. Mr Gmelin’s expe: imeots
) on it, 1089.
tLr/At.kowdivided,6th510. Vitrin-
lie acid combined with different
, etfeq. Nitrous acid
-ith them, 746. Solution
of filver decompofed by calcareous
trths, 755.' Charadters curiouily
larked by the fun’s liohc on the
ecipitate, 756, Marine acid
>mbinedwith earths, 797. Ehror
:id with th.em, 83a. Acetous
acid, 871. Acid of tartar, 893.
Of phofphoric earths, 1081. Earths
do not attraift the colouring mat¬
ed Pruflian blue, 1169.
of i
wrthy-cruft. See Crufl.
'aft Indies: of the method of pre-
par:ng nitre there, 724.
iu de luce, how prepared, 1037.
\jfervefcencc attends the'foiution of
\dulcoration, a chemical operation,
jhow performed, 571.
tdinburgb: a kind of ponderous fpar,
! or niarmor metallicum, found near
.that city, 1061.
\lajlicjuids xtricated during the fo-
‘lution of metals, 189. Great
quantity of elaflic fluid generated
iby the explofion of aurum fulmi-
mans, 1123.
lajhcily occafioned by heat, and not
[phlogifton, 209.
tyttive attra&ions, in chemiftry, de¬
afened, 177. Precipitation of me-
Itals by one another owing to a
'Jdouble one, 229.
hark fluid, in winter, the fame
!,with the heat fent down from the
fun in fummer, 99.
efiric/park produces nitrous acid
fn a mixture of dephiogifticated
and phlogifticated air, 2d 722. Its
[effect on a mixture of alkaline and
feephlogifticated air, 1551.
firical heat, why fo much {Longer
than that of furnaces, 160. Ca¬
pable of vitrifying platina, 1335.
K:aricity: proofs of the identity of
its fluid with fire and light, 96.
Connexion betwixt it and fire or
heat, 97. Exceflive electricity of
the polar regions, 98. EleCtricity,
“ieat, light, and cold, are to be
naked upon as the effects of one
iniverfal fluid, Xoi. Explofion
if fulminating filver probably ow-
r to it, 1146.
°nts: the fuppofition of them the
irigin of alchemy, 23. Mr Boyle’s
(pinion of them, 24. Are in their
nature invifible, 26.
tartars: different degrees of
Ifheir flrength as commonly prepa-
tfcd, 1258- Pulvis algaroth the
toft proper material for their pre-
ipration, 1239.
tyreumatic acids produced by dry
ftillation of vegetables are all of
ipe nature, 993. An acid of this
C H E M
kind produced from the liquor in
which felenitex tartarous is boiled,
10:0.
Etnpyreumatic oils, how rectified,
1426.
England: alum-wo; ks when erected
there, 640.
Engraving on glafs, how pet formed
, by means of fluor acid, 2d 837.
Eolipile may fometimes be ufed for
blowing up fires, 609.
Epfom fait: proportion of ingredients
in the common kind, 443. In ni¬
trous Epfom, 444. Cannot be
found in marine Epfom, 443. The
true Epfom fait found in the ley
remaining after the cryftalliration
of alum, 688. Prepared from the
bittern of fea-falt, 690.
Equilibrium of heat defined, 732
EJfential faftof lemons, a kindof tartar
extracted from forrel, 888. Effen-
tia! acids produced from the juices
of vegetables, their properties, 994.
Phriphor us combined wrheffential
oils, 1412. Analyfis of effential oils,
1419. Their tafte fuppofed to he
owing to a difengaged acid, 1420.
Why theyiofe theirfoluhilityiufpi-
rit of wine by being frequently di-
ftided, 1421. Converted by ftrong
heat into empyreumatic oils, ib.
A c nftderable quantity yielded by
all the kinds of turpentine, 1437.
Ether, vitriolic, produced by a com¬
bination of vitriolic acid and fpirit-
of wine, 717. Mr Beaume’s me¬
thod of making it, 718. Is the
lighteft of all liquids, 719. Boils
in vacuo at 2o'- below o of Fahren¬
heit, ih. Produces a great degree
of cold by its evaporation, ib. Dif-
flives gold, ib. An inflammable
fait produced by Walierius by
combining- ether with fait of tar¬
tar, 720. This thought to be a
pi oof of the tranfmutatlon of vi¬
triolic into nitrous acid, ib. The
phenomenon otherwife accounted
for, 721, 72a. Mr Cavallo’s me¬
thod of purifying ether, 2d 722.
A refin producible from the refi-
duum of its d:ftillation, affording,
vitriolic, phofphoric, and acetous
acids, Glauber’s ialt, felenite, iron,
and earth of flint, ib. Nitrous
ether produced by combining that
acid with fpirit of wine, 773. Dr
Black’s method of making it, ib.
Mr Woulfe’s procefs for procuring
it in large quantity; 776. Inquiry
into the nature of ether, 777.
Made by Dr Black without any
fpirit, ib. Marine ether how pro¬
duced, 824. Acetous ether, 884.
Saccharine ether, 902. Vitriolic
ether cryftaliizes gold, 1129. Dol-
fUs’s method of preparing it with
marine acid, 824. With acetous,
acid, 884. Methods of Pelletier
and others for re&ifying vitriolic
ether, 1471.
Etberial foiution of gold, its properties,
1129.
Evaporating vejfel in alum-works de--
feribed, 674,
Evaporation: Dr Cullen’s experiments
on the production of cold by it,
124. Of the method of j erform-
ing that operation in chemiftry,
372. Lead veflels moft; proper
I S T R Y.
for evaporations in the large way,
ib.
Expanfon, one of the general effects
of heat, 63. That of mercury and
fol-nc other fluids proportional to
the degrees of heat, ib. Inftru-
ments for meafuring the expanfion
of bodies, 103. Inltances of bodies
being expanded by cold, 103. Ex¬
panlion of water in freezing oc¬
cafioned by the extrication of air-
bubbles, 109.
Expanfve force of water exceffive ill
the aft of freezing, 106. Ufed as
an argument for the pofltive exift-
ence of cold, 107. Explained by
Dr Black’s theory of latent heat,
I08.
Explofon of fulminating gold vaftly
luperior to that of gunpowder,
1108. A fmall degree of heat
fuflicient to make this fubftance,
explode, me. Inftances of its
mifehievous effetfls, 1112. Us
force is not entirely direCted
downwards, 1113. Of the explo¬
fion of moift aurum fu’minans,
1114. Not occafipned by a faiine
principle, 1113, 1116. Nor by
fixed air, ui8. Mr Bergman’s
theory of its caufe, 1110. Occa¬
fioned by volatile alkali, 1121.
Explofion by the vapours of mer¬
cury, 1231.
Explofons, violent, occafionedby heat
fucldenly applied, 722.
Fat, acid of; how procured from
fuet, ad 1013. Saits formed by
combining it with alkalies, 3d 1013.
With earths, ib. With metals,
4th 1013.
Fats of animals analyfed, 1428.
Fermentation: milk capable of a com¬
plete one, 979.
Filings of iron grow hot and take fire
fpontaneoufly with fulphur, 1207,
Firmicus Mat emus the firft writer on
alchemy, 8.
Filtering large quantities of water, a
fcheme for, 369.
Filtration: how to perfor m that
operation in chemifigy, 368.
Eire fuppofed by Mr Boyle not to
be an element per fe, 24. The
contrary opinion now generally
embraced, 32. Two general the¬
ories of it in efteem at prefent, 33.
In what they differ from the theo¬
ry of Boyle and Newton, 34. Fire
detained in bodies partly by attrac¬
tion and partly by the preffure of
the fnrroundiiig fluid,53. Berken-
hout’s divifion of fire into fixed and
volatile, 57. Pure or volatile fire
deferibed, 38. Dr Crawford’s de¬
finition of fire, 39, Mr Kirwan’s
opinion, 68. Mr Cavendifh’s
opinion- that it i* not a diftindt
fubftance, 69. Seems deftitute of
gravity and vis inertia, 93. Proofs
of its identity with light and elec¬
tricity, 96. Coniyjdlion betwixt
fire and eledlricity, 97. .Vitriolic
Scid contains more fire than the
nitrous or marine, 278. Acids
unite to alkalies by giving out fire,
and quit them by receiving if, 286,
289,
Fixed air: its fpecific gravity deter¬
mined, 411. Of the quantity of
it in vegetable alkali, 4x4, In
6-o
impure vegetable alkali, 417. Of
the quantity contained in mineral
alkali, 434. Earth of alum con¬
tains a great quantity, 446. Of
the quantity of phlogifton in fixed
air, 2d 505. Alkaline falts com-
pofed of a cauftic fait and fixed air,
1020. 'Is not the caufe of the ex-
plofu n of aurum fidminans, iix8.
Expels the colouring matter f om
lixivium fanguinis, 1173. Water
impregnated with it difiblves man-
ganefe, 1371.
Fixed alkali lefs attradled bv nitrous
acid than filver, 301. Vegetable
fixed alkali takes up an equal quan¬
tity of all the acids, 402. Exadfc
calculation of the quantity of acid
taken up by vegetable fixed alkali,
419. Stone ware corroded by the
cauftic fixed alkali, 595. Fixed
fal ammoniac the' fame with a
combination of the marine acid’
and calcareous earths, 797. Com¬
bination of fluor acid with fixed
aikali, 4th 850. Fixed alkaline
falts how procuied, 1016. ..Vege¬
table alkali cryftallized in various-
ways, -1017. Changed by combi¬
nation with marine acid, xoiSi
Combination of fixed alkalies with
fulphur, X021. With expreffed
oils, 1026.. With effential oils,
1027. With phlogifton, 1028.
Differences obferved betwixt thofe
obtained from different vegetables,.
1029. Precipitate folutions of
terra ponderofa, whether in their
mild or cauftic ftate, X054- The
cauftic fired alkalies throw down
an infoluble precipitate from thefe
folutions, 1056. Maimer metal¬
licum precipitated unchanged from
oil of vitriol by mild vegetable al¬
kali, 1064. A triple fait formed
by fixed alkalies, filiceous earth,
and fluor acid, X075. The mine¬
ral, but not the vegetable, fixed
alkali decompofes cryftals of pla-
tina; 1322.
Flints, earth of, fnppofed to undergo
a tranfmutation by being diffolved
in an alkaline liquor, 1069. This
change dented by Mr Bergman,
1070. The fuppofed tranfmuta¬
tion found to ai ife from an admix¬
ture of clay, 1071. Cryftals of
flint produced artificially by Mr
Bergman, 1072. Why the.fluor
acid will not diffolve flint diredlly,
1073. Earth of flints mud com¬
pletely precipitared by volatile al¬
kali, 1074. Forms a tnple fait
with fluor acid and fixed alkali,
1075. Diffolved by boiling in an
alkaline liquor, 1076. Has a re.
markable attradlion for alkaline
falts in the dry. way, 1077. Is
very rare and fpongy when preci¬
pitated, 1078. Why the alkaline
foiution fometimes cannot be pre¬
cipitated by an acid without heat,.
1079. Liquor of flinrs decompo¬
fed by! too great a quantity of wa¬
ter and by Apor acid, 1086. See
Siliceous earth.
Flores martiales, how prepared, 808.
Flowers of Benzoin, how prepared,
984, etfeq. See Benzoin. Flowers
of zinc prepared by the defla¬
gration of that femimetal, 1241.,
624
Dr Lewis’s metliod of reducing
them, 1142. An oil fuppofed
to he obtained from them by-
Mr Homberg, 1243. His mi-
ftake dete<£tcd by Neumann, ib.
Another oil by Mr Hellot, 1244.
Gold arid filver leaf diffolved by
this oil, ib. A great proportion
of nitre alkalized by the flowers of
zinc without any fenfible deflagra¬
tion, 1249.
Flowers: method of preparing tefts
for acids and alkalies from them,
’552-
■Fluid: Dr Cleg horn’s proof that heat
is occafioned by one, 82. Diffi¬
culties concerning the nature and
properties of this fluid, 83. Heat
moft probably the adtion of an
omniprefent fluid, 92. Senfihle
heat always produced by the con-
verfion of a fluid into a folid,.
116.
Fluidity occafioned by the abforption
of heat, 115, 119. A proof of this
from its being poflible to cool wa¬
ter below 3 20 without freezing,
Fluids differ in the degrees of ahfolute
heat they contain, 46. The thjn-
neft fluids contain the g-eateft
quantity of heat, 47. Mr Watt’s
experiments on the evaporation of
fluids in vacuo, 126. Fluids part
with more heat than folid bodies
Flmr acid: why it can be reduced
into air without any addition, 207.
Firft difcovered by Mr Margraaf,
S26. Prepared by diftilling fluor
fpar with oil of vitriol, 827. F01 ms
a white earthy cruft on the furface
of water put into the receiver,
828, ctfei- See Crujl. Fluor acid
proved to he diftindt from that of
fea-falt, 835. And from the acid
of vitriol, 836. Quicklime pro¬
ved to be the hafis of fluor fpar,
837. Miftake of M. Mofiner on
this fubjedt, 838. Wiegleb’s ex¬
periments on the earth contained
in this acid, 839, 840. Mayer’s
examination of the acid, 841. Ho w
to procure the acid free from fili-
ceous earthy 842. Experiments
for this purpofe with -an iron di¬
ftilling veflel, 843. A fait con¬
taining fluor add forms no -cruft
by being mixed with fund, 844.
But a great quantity with powder¬
ed glafs, 845. Of the quantity of
filiceous earth which fluor acid
carries along with it, 847. Vio¬
lent adlion of it upon glafs, 848.
Mr Wenzel’s experiments on the
fluor acid in a leaden retort, 850.
This acid procurable by means.of
the acids of nitre, fca-falt, and
phofphorus, ad830. Appearance
and properties of it, 3d 850. Of
its combination with fixed alkali,
4th 850. With volatile alkali,
851. With earths, 852. With
metals, 853. Glafs co.roded by
it and by the fait produced by its
combination with volatile alkali,
854. Great difficulty of preferving
this acid, 855. Golden velfels,
or a phial lined with oil and wax,
recommended for this purpofe,
856. Dr Piieftley’s method of
N° 76.
CHE M-
converting the fluor acid into air,
857. RerraOts bis opinion of its
being only the vitriolic acid alter¬
ed, ib. Fluor acid cannot be ex¬
pelled by that of arfenic, 934.
Why it cannot diflulve flint direifl:-
ly, 1073 Why it decompofes li¬
quor of flints, xoSo, Is fcarce ca¬
pable of diflblving manganefe,
1306. Explanation of its adtion
on manganefe, 1383.
Fluxes: platina and fome of its cal¬
ces fufible by their means, 1337.
Fontana s account of the fpecific gra¬
vity of different kinds of air, 373.
An experiment of his confirming
thofe of Mr Kirwan, 394.
Faflilc alkali. See Mineral.
Fourcroy denies that platina can he
amalgamated with mercury, 1330.
Incoiififtence in his account of its
hardoefs, 1351.
Fragility of glafs when not well an¬
nealed, 559.
France: of the method of making ni¬
tre there, 731.
Freezing: of the prodigious expanfive
power exerted by water during
that adf, 106.
FriStion makes au'rum fulminans ex¬
plode without any heat, mi.
Fulminating calx of filver made by
Kunckel, 756. Fulminating cop¬
per, 1035. Fulminating gold,
1103. See Aurum fulminans. Ful¬
minating filver made by M. Ber-
thollet, 1138. How prepared,
1139. See Silver. Fulminating
quickiilver, how prepared, 3d 905.
Fumes: nitrous and fulphureous ef-
fervefee with one another, 625.
Gold not rendered brittle by the
fumes of tin, 1093.
Furnace, a portable one deferibed,
600. Form of Boerhaave’s port¬
able furnace, ib. Another deferi¬
bed, ib. Dr Lewis's portable fur¬
naces, dot. Objection to their
life in fome cafes, 602. Dr Black’s
furnace, 2d 602. How adapted
to the various operations of che-
miftry, 603. Luting proper for it,
604. Method of applying the
lute, 605. Melting furnace, 2d
605. Mr Pott’s melting furnace,
606. Why its cavity is made of
a roundifh form, 607. Lewis's
lamp, 611. One conftru&ed on the
principles of Argand’s lamps, ib.
Furnaces neceffary for the operations
ofcheniiftry,399,ety«5r. Directions
for building them properly, 610.
Fufibility of metals increafed by mix¬
ture, 54.2- Great fufibility of
mixtures of tin and bifmuth, 543.
lucreafed by the addition of lead,
ib.
Fujion: how to perform that opera¬
tion in ehemiftry, 384. Difference
betwixt the watery and dry fufion,
ib. Of the crucibles neceffary for
the fufion of chemical fuhjedls,
383, etfeq. See Crucibles. Fulion
of all metals promoted by bifmuth,
GiRra-VTTAN, in Sweden: Rin-
m.ui’s method of burning the alu¬
minous ore there, 66S. Method
of lixiviating it, 670.
Galls, acid of, how feparated from
them, 1537. An acid liquor pro¬
I S T R Y.
cured from them by diftillation,
1338. Its properties, *539.
Gajlric juice of animals contains phof-
phoric acid, 904;
Geaffroyt, rule for determining the
degrees of chemical attraction,
262. His table of affinities, 353.
Inveftigates the conftituent parts
of alum, 641. His theory of Pruf-
fian blue, 1165.
Germany: method of making nitre
in fome par ts of it, 730.
Glafgo-w: a k:nd of fpathum ponde-
rofum found in its neighbourhood,
1060.
Glafs: method of eng- aving On it by
means of fluor acid, ad 837.
Glafs veffeh, w hen to be ufedby che-
mifts, 556. Dr Black’s remarks
on the properties of glafs, 538.
Affords the filiceous cruft obft-rved
On fluor acid, 840. Violent aftion
of that acid on glafs, 848. Cor¬
roded by it and by the ammoniacal
fait produced from it, ,854. Bif¬
muth convertible into glafs, 1250.
How to prepare glafs of antimony,
1257. A beautiful blue glafs pro¬
duced by the calx of regulus of
cobalt, 1299.
Glafs of lead: of the veffels moft ca¬
pable of refilling its aiftion, 389.
Glafs-making: Pliny’s account of the
origin of it, 7.
Glafes: of the materials proper for
coating them, 380.
Glauber's fal ammoniac prepared from
vitriolic acid and volatile alkali,
633. See Ammoniac.
Glauber's fait: Dr Creil’s miftake
concerning its preparation from
alum and common fait, 272. Its
decompofltion by marine acid
never complete, 291. Reafon of
this decompofition explained, 30b.
Quantity of ingredients in it, 431.
Prepared from vitriolic acid and
mineral alkali, 632., Dangerous
confequences of miftaking cryftals
of nitre for it, 743. Produced from
the refin extracted from the refi-
dtium of vitriolic ether, 2d 722.
Glauber's Jfrit of nitre, 734.
Gmelin, Dr, his experiments on the dif¬
ferences betwixt the alkaline falts
produced from different vegetables,
1029. On the allies of different
plants 1089. Method of making
dulcified fpirit of fait, 1481.
Gold: why its folution is precipitated
by green vitriol, 225. But not by
the dephlogiftieated kind, 226.
Why it is precipitated by foluti n
of tin, 227. Various precipitates
of it, 233. -Beftkind of aqua regia
for diffolving it, 481. Quantity of
it taken up by aqua regia, 482.
Its calces foluble in ihe vitriolic
and nitrous acids, 4S3. Kirwan’s
opinion that the metal cannot in
any quantity be diffolved in the
nitrous acid, 484. Dr Brandt’s
experiments Ihowing that it may
be fc> in clofe veffcls, 730. Lewis’s
obfervation on this experiment, ib.
Solution of its calces in fpirit of
fait, 799. Sublimes along with
the acid, ib. The fublimate faid
to be the material ufed for the
blood of St Januarius, 800. Is not
affected in any way by the arfeni-
Index.
fn' add, 94!. Its nature and pro¬
perties particularly treated of,
1089. Unites readily with all the
metals, 1090. Its colour debafed
by all the metals except copper, ib.
Said to lofe its malleability re¬
markably with tin, 1091. Dr
Lewis’s account of the bad effeCIs
of th s metal upon it, ib. Mr Al-
chorne’s experiments in opposition,
1092. Gold not rendered brittle I
by the fumes of tin, 1093. Nor by i
the addition of the metal itfelf in
final! quantities, ib. Nor with j
the addition of copper, 1094.
Malleability of gold entirely de-
ftroyed by a fmall quantity of re¬
gulus of arfenic, 1095. Surpri-
fing tenacity of its parts, 1096. Is
not liable to raft, 1097. Mr Boyle’s
experiment to fitow its deftrudtibi-
lity, 1098. Of its filution in aqua
regia, 1099. This folution of a ;
corrofive nature, 1100. May be
cryi'tallized, ib. Of the precipi- i
tation of the metal from it, 1101. :
Separated from other metals by i
green vitriol, 110a. Explodes
with j rodigious force in fome
cafes, 1103—it 20. See Aurum ful¬
minans. Solution of gold by hepar
fulphuris, 1127. Medical virtues
of gold entirely imaginary, 1128.
Solution in effential oils not per¬
manent, 112S. Diffolved perma¬
nently in ether, and cryftallizable
by its means, x 129. Revived from
its folution in aqua regia by mix¬
ing it with fpirit of wine, ib. A
method thus afforded of purifying-
it from other metals, ib. How
to reftore its colour when loft,
1130. Mercury fixed by amalga¬
mation with gold, 1234. Whe¬
ther i: be poffxble to adulterate
gold with platina, 1356. How to
deteift this fraud if it ihould be
pradifed, 1337.
Golden calf: its diffolution adduced
as an inftance of Mofes’s fkili ia
chemiftry, 4.
Gulden fulphur of antimony, how .pre¬
pared, 1263.
Golden vejfels recommended for keep¬
ing the fluor acid, 856.
Granulation of copper, how performed
1148. •;
Gravity: the element of fire feetm
to be deftitute of it, 93. Of find¬
ing the fpecific gravity of the dif-
fe/ent metallic calces, 327. How
to find the fpecific gravity of bo¬
dies, 371. Of the ipecific gravity
of fpirit of fait, 377. How to
find that of the ingredients in dil
geftive fait, 380. Of the pure ni-
trous acid, 380. Of its mathema¬
tical fpecific gravity, 388. How
to conftrud a table of the fpecifi
gravities of fpirits of nitre of dif
ferent ftrength, 390. How t<
find the fpecific: gravity of pun
vitriolic acid, 397. Of the ace
tous acid, 400. Of ftrong vinegar
401. Of fixed air, 411. Of lixei
vegetable alkali, 412. Mr Wat
foil’s account of the fpecific gra
vity of fait of tartar, 413. D
Lewis’s obfervations on the fpec
He gravity of bell-metal and oth<
metallic compounds, 1156.
Gra
Index,
Green colour produced from verdigris
and cream of tartar, 894.
Gun-powder: its expiofive f< rce vafldy
inferior to that of autum fulmi-
nans, 1108.
Gypfum: proportion ef ingredients in
the natural kind, 439. Formed
of the vitriolic acid and calcareous
earth, 635. Some differences be¬
twixt the natural and artificial
kinds, ib. Is folnble in fonie de¬
gree by acids, 636. Convertible
Into quicklime by a ftrong heat,
ib. Fufed by a very violent and
fudden heat, and likewife by the
addition of clay or calcareous
earth, ib. Becompofed by fixed
and mild volatile alkalies, ib. And
by the acid of arfenie, 933. Found
in the concentrated vitriolic acid,
rosp.
Hanover: method of making ni¬
tre there, 729.
HaJJla: of the aluminous ores found
in that country, 658.
Heat, two general theories of, 28.
Lord Bacon’s definition of it, 29.
Mr Boyle’s opinion, 30. Senti¬
ments of Sir Ifaac Newton on ti e
fubjefl, 31. Fire or heat general¬
ly allowed to be an element per fe,
32. Two other theories inftituted,
33. In what they differ from the
firmer, 34. Genera) account of
Dr Black’s and Dr Jrvine’s theory,
5. Dr Irvine’s theory explained
y Dr Crawford, 36. Abfolute
heat defined, 37. Great quantity
of heat produced by the condenfa-
tion of vapour, 43, 125. Differ¬
ence of the abfolute heat of differ¬
ent fluids, 46. Thinneft fluids
contain the greateft quantity of it,
47. Crawford’s account of fen-
fible heat, 49. Capacities for con¬
taining heat explained, 52. Craw¬
ford’s opinion concerning heat in
the abftrad), 54. Dr Berkenhout’s
opinion of its nature, 56. Heat
has a tendency to dtffufe itfelf e-
qually over bodies, 60. Is con¬
tained in confiderable quantities in
all bodies, 61. Its quantity limi¬
ted in all bodies, 64. Expanfion
an univerfal effeft of heat, 65.
Bodies of the fame kind and of
equal temperature contain quanti¬
ties of heat proportioned to their
quantities of matter, 67-. Equili¬
brium of heat defined, 75. Dr
Crawford’s method of determining
the proportional degrees of heat,
77. His method infufficient, 78.
Nicholfon’s account of the theories
of heat, *79. Advantages of the
do&rine that heat is caufed by vi¬
bration, 80. Anfwer to Mr Ni-
tholfon's argument, Si. Dr Cleg-
horn’s proof that heat is occafioned
by a fluid, 82. Difficulty* arifii-jg
from the fuppofition that heat dif-
fufes itfelf equally, 84. Another
from the feeming difoppearance of
heat, 85. Equal diftribution of
heat promoted by its -bfoiption
and evolution, 89. Heat of the
torrid zone thus mitigated, 90.
Heat moft probably the adlion of
an omniprefent fluid, 92. Diftri-
hution of heat occafioncd by the
«Qion of the fun, 94. How heat
Ton. IV. Part ih
C H E M
is produced by his rays,.93. Con-
neilion between heat and ele&ri-
city, 97. Heat in fummer becomes
eledtric fluid in winter, 99. Solu¬
tion of the phenomena of heat,
102. Mr Kirwan’s theorem for ,
finding the point of total privation
of hear, 114. Heat the caufe of
the foftnefs of bodies approaching
to fluidity, 118. Absorption of
heat the univerfal caufe of fluidity,
120. Heat p oduced in the burning
of inflammable bodies comes from
the air, 157. Too much phlogifton
Ei-events the heat of burning bodies
•om being intei.fe, 158. Why
the foiar heat and that of electri¬
city are fo mtenfe, 160. Table of
the various degrees of heat, 161.
Heat produced during the diffolu-
tion of metals, 190. Heat and
not phlogifton the caufe of elafti-
city, 209. Heat produced in fo-
lution moft probably proceeds from
the folvent liquor, 211. Argu¬
ment in favour of the weight of
precipitates being augmented by
the matter «f heat, 249. Experi¬
ments to determine the caufe of
feme chemical decomp jfitions from
the degrees of heat produced by
various mixtures, 277. Alteration
of the denfity of acids by various
degrees of heat, 423. Strong fpi-
rit of nitre more expanded by heat
than weak, and why, | _4. Dila¬
tation of fpirit of "fait by various
degrees of heat, 427 What me¬
tals are calcinable, and by what
degrees of heat. 530. Violent ex-
plofn ns from the fudden applica¬
tion of heat, 722. Effects of heat
on lapis ponderofus, 969. Mercu¬
ry unalterable by being kept 15
years in a gentle heat, 1229.
Hellot procures from flowers of zinc
an oil capable of diffolving gold
and filver leaf, 1244.
Hepar fulphuris formed by a combi¬
nation of fixed alkalies and fulphur,
1021. May be made either in the
moift or dry way, 1021. Partly
decompofed by fixed air, ib. En¬
tirely by acids, 1022. EffeCt-of
the inflammable vapour arifing
during its decompofition, ib. 1023.
Its phlogifton very much difpoi'ed
to fly off, 1024. Diffolves many
metals, and charcpal, 1025. Solu¬
tion of gold by its means, 1127.
Its effeCls of if upon nickel, 1309.
Hepatic air contains fuiphlir, 210.
Hermes Trifmegijlus, the fame with
Siphoas, an Egyptian, the founder
of chemiftry, 3’.
Higgins, Mr, his experiments on hu¬
man calculus, 1463, feq. His ob-
fervations on the nitrous ?.cid, 1472.
Method of obtaining it quite co-
lourlefs, 147J. Difcoversthe true
compofition of volatilealkali, x553.
Homierg’s exj eriments on fpecific
gravities compared with thofe of
Kirwan, 39a. Different refults of
them accounted for, 393, 399. An
oil obtained by Homberg fuppofed
to come from the flowers of zinc,
1243. The mi ake difeovered by
Neumann, 1243. How he difeo¬
vered his pyrophorus, 141^. Beft
me-hod of preparing it, 1416. Sea
I S T R Y.
Pyrophorus. Difcovers that ma-
- rine acid corrodes glafs, 1482.
Houfe-pdinting: a yellow colour for
that purpofe, 699.
Januakxus, St, afublimateof ma¬
rine acid and gold Ihown for his
blood, 800.
Ice: a quantity of heat loft in the
^melting of it, 42.
'Jelly, the mucilage of animal fubftan-
ces, 1454. All of them reducible
to this by long boiling, ib. is the
only true animal fubftance, ib.
Forms a very ftrong cement, ib.
Ignited bodies all equally hot, 128.
Ignition an univerfal effcCl of fire,
130. Difference betwixt ignition
and inflammation, 132.
Ilex aquifolium: the growth of that
plant a fign of aluminous ores in
the ground, 639.
Inflammable and -vitriolic [acid air ob¬
tained from folution of copper in
vitriolic acid, 465, 471. Inflam¬
mable fubftances, their nature and
properties, 5x6. Principles into
which they are refolved by burn¬
ing, ib. By diftillation, 517.
Their phenomena with different
acids, 518. Some fingular pro¬
ductions, 519. Vitriolic acid com-,
binedwith them,712,ef/ej. Nitrous
acid, n\,etfeq. Marine acid, 8214.
An inflammable fpirit extracted
from fugar of lead, 878. Inflam¬
mable vapour arifing from the de¬
compofition of hepar fulphuris,
1023. Volatile alkalies combined
with them, 1035. Of their divifion
and chemical properties, 1398,^7.
Inflammable air: metallic calces re¬
duced by it, 149. Revival of lead
from minium by it, 324. Quan¬
tity of inflammable air produced
from iron, 454. Why none is
produced from the nitrous folution
of iron, 460. Charcoal entirely
convertible into it, 1451.
Inflammable fpirit produced from ra¬
dical vinegar, 1344. Sulphure¬
ous inflammable vapours produced
from it, 1543.
Inflammation: difference betwixt it
and ignition, 132. Bodies decom¬
pounded but not deftroyed by in¬
flammation, 133.
Ink: a fine fympatheticone produced
from foh.tion of cobalt in fpirit of
1'alt, 822. Anotherby means of vo¬
latile tinClureof fulphur and facclia-
rumfaturni,lo39. Blue fyn pathe¬
tic ink prepared from cobalt, 822.
Infoluble precipitate thrown down by
cauftic fixed alkali from fulution of-
terra ponderfa, 1036.
Inundations prevented by the flownefs
with which congealed water melts,
88.
Iron: objeCliosiuto the exiftence of
phlogifton from the total confump-
tion of dephlogifticated air in burn¬
ing it, 132. Little phlogifton ex¬
pelled from it by this means, 133.
The objection inconclufive, 134.
This metal not reduced to a calx
by burning in dephlogifticated air,
I33. Water produced in the re¬
duction of it by inflammable air,
156 Of its precipitates by differ¬
ent fubftances, 239. Is not an ef-
femiai ingredient in platriia, 234.
625
Nor regulu* cf nickel, 233. Nor
cobalt or manganefe, 236. Why
fokttions of iron diffolve copper,
336. Iron and zinc the only me¬
tals diffolved by vitriolic acid, 337.
Why copper and iron precipitate
one another, 341. Increafe of the
attraction of calx of iron to phlo¬
gifton demonftrsted, 342. De-
phlogifticared folution»of iron pre¬
cipitated by calces of copper, 343.
Why a faturated folution of filver
can fcarce be precipitated by iron,
346. Of the precipitation of zinc
and iron by one another, 347,
Iron and nickel will fcarcely pre¬
cipitate one another, 339, Cobalt
precipitated by iron, 362. A triple
fait formed by iron, regulus of an¬
timony, and marine acid, 36^.
Proportion of iron taken up by
the vitriolic acid, 433. Why vi¬
triolic air is produced by diffolving
iron in concentrated vitriolic acid,
455. Solution of the calces of
iron in vitriolic acid, 456. That
of the dephlogifticated calces re-
fufes to cryftallize, 457. Propor¬
tion of iron diffolved in nitrous
acid, 458. In the marine acid,
462. Calces of iron a flu me a red
colour when precipitatedfrom their
folution in the marine acid, 463.
Produces green vitriol by combi¬
nation with Vitriolic acid, 696, $97,
Precipitates fpontaneoufly from
the vitriolic acid, 698. Iron con¬
tained in the refin produced from
the refiduUm of vitriolic ether,
ad 722. Cannot be diffolved by
concentrated, though it will by
diluted, nitrous acid, 759. Dif¬
folves and produces inflammable
air with marine acid, 805. Volatili¬
zed by this acid, 806. Its folution
ufed in medicine, 807. Combined
with acetous acid, 873. With acid
of tartar, 895. With the acid of
arfenic, 948. Its nature and pro¬
perties particularly treated of,
1157. Has great tenacity of parts,
1158. Is a combuftibie fubftance,
1159 Is the only metal capable
of being welded, 1160. Cortracls
in fufion, and expands again on
becoming cold, 1161. Is diffolved
by all metals except lead and mer¬
cury, 1162. Becomes brittle by
being immerfed for fome time in
that fluid, 1162. Can fcarce be
united to zinc, ib. Has a ftrong
attraction for arfenic, ib. Is the
bafi? of Pruflian blue, 1163, et feq.
See Pruflian blue. Calx of iron fa¬
llible in lixivium fanguinis, 1x75.
Neutral fait for difeovering it in
mineral waters, 1180. Precipita¬
ted by the colouring matter of
Pruffian blue from its folution by
aerial acid, 1191, Nitre alkalized
by it, 1206. Its filings take fire
fpontaneoufly with fulphur, 1207.
Unites with platina, 1347.
Iron liquor for printing doth, how
prepared, 873.
Irvine, Dr: general account of his
and Dr Black’s theory of heat, 35,
His theory explained by Dr Craw¬
ford, 36.
Italy: of the firft alum-works fet up
there, 639.
4k Sum
CHEM ISTRY.
626
’Juice, galtric, yields phofphoric acid,
904.
Keir, Mr, his sbjedtions to the doc¬
trines of Mr Kirwan, ad 510. His
jnethod of preparing an alkaline
flandai d, 4rh 510. Of finding the
fpecific gravity of different liquors,
jth 510. His objections to the
opinions concerning the identity
of the vegetable acids, 1540.
Kermes mineral, how prepared,
Ketley, in Shropfhlre: a kind of fpa-
thum ponderofum found there,
1060.
Kilpatrick-hills, near Glafgivw : fpa-
thum ponderofum found there,
1060. •
Kirnvan's opinion concerning fire,
6S. His theorem for finding the
point of total privation of heat,
114. His remarks on fome expe¬
riments of Dr Prieftley, 325. His
experiments compared with thofe
of Homberg, 39a. Different ic-
fults of their experiments account¬
ed for, 393, 399. Kirwan’s expe¬
riments confirmed by one of Fon¬
tana, 394. Differences with Mr
Bergman and Lavoifier accounted
for, 435. Is of opinion that gold
cannot be difiblved in nitrous acid,
484. Miftake of Morveau con¬
cerning a fuperabun .lance of acid in
alum accounted for, 642. Objec¬
tions to his deCfrine concerning
the fpecific gravity, &c. of differ¬
ent fubftancts, 2d 510, ef/cy. To
his calculation of the quantity of
phlogiflon in fulphur, 6th 510.
Kunckel prepares a fulminating calx
of filver, 756.
Lamp-furnace : Dr Lewis's de-
fcribed, 61 r. Is not capable of
giving a greater heat than 450° of
Fahrenheit, ib.
Language: fpecimen of a new chemi¬
cal one, 552. Its ftrange appear¬
ance in attempting to account for
the phenomenon of fulminating
■filver, 1144.
.Ltfis ponder ofu: confidered as a me¬
tallic earth by Mr Bergman, 967,
See Tu/tgjlen.
Latent heat: experiments by which
Dr Black was led to the difcovery
of it, 41. This heat cannot be
meafured, 73. Expanfion of wa¬
ter in freezing explained by the
theory of latent heat, 108. Air
hubbies in ice produced by part of
the latent heat of the water, no.
Vapour formed by the abforption
of heat into a latent flate, 120.
Levoijier denies the exiftente of
phlogifton, 137. His arguments
drawn from the increafed weight
cfmetals by calcination, 138. His
theory of inflammation, 139. His
arguments from the reduction of
the calces of perfeft metals with¬
out addition, 140. Difpute be¬
twixt him and Prieftley, 141. His
differences with Kirwan accounted
for, 435. Account of fome of
his experiments on the increafed
weight of metallic folutions. 525.
Conlequences deduced by him from
thefe experimesits, 526. Not well
founded, jay- Account of the
eonftituent parts of the nitrous
acid, 1473. His new nomencla¬
ture, 1560.
Lead: quickfilver produced from it
in certain cafes, 12, 76a. Water
may be made fufficiently hot to
melt lead, 131. Why the vitrio¬
lic acid cannot a<ft upon it with¬
out a boiling heat, 197. Pre¬
cipitates of lead, 237. Sea-falt
decompofed in various ways by
means of it, 302. In what cafes
folution of lead- is precipitated by
other metals, 309. The folution
in marine acid decompofed by vi¬
triolic falts, 310. Revival of lead
from minium by inflammable air,
324. Why it is ufeful in cupella-
tion, 331. Precipitation of it by
nickel, 360. Veffels capable of
relifting the glafs of lead, 589.
Lead veffels moft proper for the
preparation of oil of vitriol, 627.
Cannot be diffolved in the vitriolic
acid, 702. A beautiful white for
tainting in water prepared from
itharge, nitrous and vitriolic acids,
703. Diffolves and cryftallizes
with the nitious acid, 761. This
fait decrepitateswith great violence
in the fire, 762. Becomes fluid
like oil by repeated diffolutions in
aquafortis, 762. Combination of
lead with marine acid, 811. Plum¬
bum corneum, 812. Combined
with acetous acid, 874. White
lead the refult of this preparation,
875. Obfervations on the precefs
for making it, 876. Sugar of lead
prepared from acetous acid and
white lead, 877. Inflammable fpirit
procured by diftilling this fait, 878.
Combination of lead with the acid
of arfenic, 949. Great attra&ion
betwixt filver and lead, 1136. Can¬
not be united to iron, 1x62. The
metal particularly treated of, 1207.
etfeq. The leaft dudlile and tena¬
cious of all metals, 1208. Sheet-
lead, how caft, 1209. Milled lead
fcarce to be preferred to this kind,
1210. Rendered fonorous by be¬
ing caft into a certain fhape, 1211.
Of its calcination, 1212. Minium
or red-lead, how prepared, 1213.
Litharge, 1214. Phenomena with
other metals, 1215. Remarkable
way of uniting with copper and
feparating from it again, ib. So¬
luble in alkalies and oils, 1216.
Of its union with platina, 1348.
Lemons, effential fait of, a fpecies of
tartar extra<fted from forrel fold
under this name, 888. Dr Crell’s
method of cryftallizing the acid
of lemons, 997. This acid cannot
be converted into acid of fugar,
999. Entirely diffolvesmanganefe,
1370. Explanation of the atftion
of the acids of tartar and lemons
on manganefe, 1382.
Levigation, a chemical operation,
how performed, 3 99. Reaumur’s
porcelain recommended for leviga¬
ting utenfils, ib.
Lenuis, Dr, his obfervations on the
making of crucibles, 590. His
experiments on Reaumur’s porce¬
lain, 593, 594. Defeription of his
portable furnaces, 601. Objection
4
to their ufe in fome cafes, 602.
His lamp-furnace deferibed, 611.
His experiment to fliow that clay
undergoes fome change by being
convened into earth of alum, 649.
His dire&ions for making turbith
mineral, 706. Experiments on
the folubility of tin in the acetous
acid, 880. His opinion concern¬
ing the earth of vegetables, 1088.
His methods of amalgamating
mercury with copper, 1133. His
obfervatiiins on the fpecific gravity
of bell-metal and other compounds
of the metallic kind, 1156. His
obfervation on the crackiing noife
made by tin in bending, 1221.
His detection of an erroneous pro-
cefs in which mercury was fuppo-
fed to be converted into water,
X236. His method of reducing
the flowers of zinc, 1242. His
experiments on alloying platina
with other metals, 1338.
Ley, alkaline, why it is unfit for ex¬
trading the flowers of benzoin,
9S9.
Lilavius, fmoking liquor of, how
prepared, 810.
Lichtenjiein & experiments on the acid
of benzoin, 1530.
Light: proofs of its identity with fire
and ele&ricity, 96. The tiffed of
one univerfal fluid, lot. Charac¬
ters curioufly marked by the fun’s
light on a precipitate of filver by
calcarei us earth, 756.
Lime the moft proper matei ial for ex¬
trading the flowers of benzoin,
991. Cryftallization of the acid
of lemons prevented by the fmal-
left particle of lime, 998. Terra.
} onderofa convertible into a kind
of lime capable of dccompofing vi¬
triolic falts, iojj. ' Diffolved by
the colouring matter of Prufliaa
blue, 1189. How prevented fiom
flicking to the bottomsof diftilling
veffels," 1033.
Lime-water precipitated by the arfe-
nical acid, 935.
Liquidphofphorus, how prepared ,1410.
Litharge prepared in the refining of ■
filver with lead, 1214. Almoft
always contains feme lead m a
metallic ftate, ib. Bifmuth con¬
vertible into a fubftance of this
kind, 1250..
Lithijiac acid. See Calculus, acid of.
Lixivium fanguinis lofes its colouring,
matter by expofure to the air,
1172. Calx of iron foluble in it,
Liver of arfenic formed of alkali and
arfenic boiled together, ) 276.
Lubbock, Dr, his theory of heat, &c.
142.
Luna cornea, why it cannot be redu¬
ced wiihoiat lofs by alkaline falts,
314. May be decompofed by
mercury, 356. How prepared,
802. Us properties gave rife to
the notion of malleable glafs, 803.
How reduced, 1134.
Lunar cauJHc, bow prepared, 73 2.
Lute, proper for lining furnaces, 605.
Luting for acid fpirits, 577.
Maceration, in chemiftry : how
to perform that operation, 598.
Masquer's theory of Pruilian blue,
Index,
1167. Suppofes the fufion of calx
of platina by the methods recom¬
mended to be imperfedf, 1354.
Magne/m combined with vitriolic
acid, 690. With acid of arfenic,
937. Diffolved by the colouring
matter rf Pruflian blue, 1187.
Will not diffolve in acids after cal¬
cination without heat, 442. Its
preparation and properties, 314,
Combined with the nitrous acid,
749-
Megi/lery of bifmuth, 766.
Manganefe: how to dephlogiflicate
fpirit of fait by it for the decom-
pofition of arfenic, 919. Combi¬
ned with the arfemcal acid, 936.
Identity of vegetable acids proved
from the foiution of manganefe fay
the nitrous acid with the addition
of acid of fugar, 101 x From its fo- •
lution by.meansof vitrio.ic acidand
fpirit of wine, 1114. Keeps the
colouring matter of Pruflian blue
from riling, 1204. Anew femi-
metal afforded, 13.59. Common
Ximaganefe tieated with vitriolic
acid, 1360. Is entirely diffolved
by phlogifticated vitriolic acid,
1361. Precipitate and cry ftals ob¬
tained from the folution, 1362.
DiffolveJ by ph'ogiiticated nitrous-
acid, 1363. Effeiiis of it on f'pirif
of fak, 1364. See DepblogJJiicated
and Marine acid. Entirely dif¬
folved by marine acid, 1363,
Scarce foluble in flu or acid, 1366,
Or in that of phofphorus, 1367.
Partly diffolves in acid of tartar,
1368. With difficulty in the ace¬
tous, 1369. Entirely.diffolved by
acid of lemons, 1370. And by
water impiegnated w ith fixed air,
1371. Has a A rung .attraction for
phlogifton, 137?. Becomes white
by faiuration with it, 1373. Con¬
tains fome phlogifton naturally,
1374, Becomes infoluble in pure
acids by lofing its phlogifton, 1373.
Partial folutions of manganefe ex¬
plained on this principle, 1376.
It* ftrong attraction for phlogifton
when combined with acids, 1377.
Why it is diffolved by the concen¬
trated acid of vitriol without ad¬
dition, 1378. Why die volatile
fu'phureous acid difloives it, 1379.
Explanation of. the effedts of ni¬
trous acid upon it, 1380. Of thofe
of tartar and lemons, 1382. Of
fluor acid, 1383. Effedts of man¬
ganefe 011 nitre, 1384. Experi¬
ments of manganefe united with
phlogifton, 1383, et feq. By di-
. dil ation per fe, 1386. Boiled
with oil-olive, 1387. By diftilla-
tion with, charcoal, 1388. With
fulphur, 1389, By calcination
with nitre, 1390 With the ad¬
dition of arfenic, 1391. By di-
flillation.with fal ammoniac, 1392.
By digeftion with pure nitrous a-
cid, 1393. Deftioys volatile alka¬
li by attradling its phlogifton,
1394. Effeds of diUilling jt with
arfenic, 1395. With cinnabar,
1396. With corrofive fublimate,
1397. Ufed for the redlificatitn
of ether, 1471.
Margraaf's aiiul)fls of ;d! the diffe-
CHEMISTRY.
Index.
rent kinds of day, 648. His Ex¬
periments on the phofj horic acid,
906. His method of reducing
luna cornea, 1134. Hnprocefs for
makingphofphorus with plumbum
corneum, 1407. Experiments with
phofphorus on metals, 1413. Me¬
thod of procuring the acid of ants,
150a.
Marine acid, the weakeft of the three
mineral acids, except -w hen de-
phlogifticated, 183. Why it adts
on fome metals and not on others,
198. Phenomena exhibited by the
• marine acid on account of its na¬
turally containing phlogifton, 205.
Dep hlogifticated marine acid exa¬
mined, 206. Vitriolic falts de-
compofed by a marine acid, 27J.
Contains leis fire than the vitrio¬
lic acid, 278. On its expuliion by
the concentrated vitriolic acid, 283.
Receives fire from the vitriolic
acid during its expulfion, 284.
Decompofes vitriolated tartar,288.
Requifites for the fuCcefs of the
experiment, 289. Cannot decom-
pofe vitriolated tartar previoufly
diff;lived in water, and why, 290.
Decompofition of Glauber’s fait
and vitriolic ammoniac by marine
acid never complete, 291. Nitrous
falts decompofed by marine acid,
292. Cannot decompofe felenite,
294. Solution of filver conilantly
decompofed by falts containing
marine acid, 308, 3'2. Vitriol
of mercury decompofed in the
fame manner, 313. Nitrous acid
has lefs affinity with metals than
the marine, 338. In what cafes
marine acid can diffolve metals and
when it cannot, 340. Forms a
triple fait with iron and regulusof
antimony, 366. And with rega¬
ins of antimony and copper, 367.
Arfenic precipitated from marine
acid by copper, 370. Quantity
of marine in digeftive fair, 379.
Of mild and cauftic vegetable al¬
kali faturated by marine acid, 382.
Quantity of mineral alkali futura-
ted by it, 433. Of the quantity
of marine acid faturated by calca¬
reous earth, 438. Quantity of acid
in marine felenite, 441. Cannot
be calculated in marine Epfom,
443. Quantity of earth of alum
faturated by marine acid, 450.
Quantity of iron diffolved by it,
462. Calces of iron precipitated
from it of a reddiili colour, 463.
Quantity of copper diffolved by it,
469. Tin difio ved in marine acid,
473. Lead diffolved in it, 477.
Of the diffolution of fiiver in it,
4&0, 8ci. Solution of zinc in ma¬
rine acid, 490. Bifmuth fcarce
foluble in it, 493. Solution of
nickel init, 495. Regulus of an¬
timony feat ce foluble in marine a-
cid, 505. Why the marine acid,
adts fo weakly, 510. Its nature
and combination.- with other fub-
ftancts particularly created of, 782.
Moil commonly found combined
with the mineral alkali, ib. Why
it is thought by fome to be the
fame with the vitriolic, 783. An
experiment tending to make this
obfervation pnTable, 784. Dr
Frieflley’s obfervations on marine
acid, 78;. How procured by
means of the vitriolic, 786. Why
its diiiillation with copperas does
hot fucceed, 787. To j rocure ma-
. rine acid by means of the nitrous,
788. By diitilling common fait
per fe, 989. Marine acid dephlo-
gifticated by that of nitre, or by
manganefe, 790. Mr Scheele’s
method of dephlogifticating it by
manganefe, 791. -Properties <>f it
when dephlogifticated, 794. Ma¬
rine acid combined with alkaline
falts, 793. With vegetable fix¬
ed alkali, 794. With mineral
alkali, 795. Volatile alkali, 795,
796. Combined with earths,
797. With metallic fubftances,
799. Diffolves and volatilizes the
calx of gold, ib. With filver, 801.
Diffolves the red filver ore, ib.
Forms luna cornea with this me¬
tal, 802, 803._ With copper, 804-
With iron, 805. Volatilizes this
metal, 806. The folution of iron
in this acid ufed in medicine, 807.
Sublimate of iron, and fal ammo¬
niac named Jlores martiules, 808,
Solution of tin, 809. Of great ufe
in dyeing, ib. Volatilizes the me¬
tal, and firms with it the fmoking
liquor of Libavius, 810. With
lead, 811. Forms with it plum¬
bum corneum, 8x2. With quick-
fiiver, 813. Forms with it corro-
five fublimate, 814, it fcq. See
i'.orrofrue. Volatilizes zinc, 820.
With regulus of antimony, 821.
See Butter. Forms a fine fympa-
thetic ink with regulus of cobalt,
812. Combined with inflammable
fubftances, 824. Marine ether,
824. Of its attraction for phlogi¬
fton, 825. Is no; the fame with
fluor acid, 833. Expels the fluor
acid, 2d 850. Purifies fait of am¬
ber, 911. Phenomena on diffol-
ving vitriolic falts in marine acid,
1041. On mixing them with fo-
lutions of calcareous earth in ma¬
rine acid, 1042. Of the folution
of terra ponderofa in it, 1053. Is
not neceffary for • the preparation
of aurum fulminans, 1117. So¬
lution of cobalt in marine acid,
1302. EffeCts of manganefe upon
it, 1364. Exiftence of phlogillon
in it proved, 1381- Can fcarcely
unite with butter of arfenic, 1282.
Dephlogiflicatcd marine acid the
only folvent of platina, 1319. U-
fed for diftillation of fpirit of ni¬
tre, 737. Various methods of ma¬
king marine ether, 824. Method
of diitilling the acid with clay,
1480. EffeCt of it upon phlogiftic
matters, 1481. Glafs corroded
■ by it, 1482. Caufe of its yellow
colour, 1483. EffeCt of the de¬
phlogifticated acid upon phlogiftic
matters, 1485. How to make ma¬
rine ether from the dephlogiftka-
ted acid, i486.
Marks, chemical, treated of, 551.
Marmor metallicum. Withering’s ex¬
periments on it, 106c. Diffolves
in concentrated vitriolic acid, 1063.
Precipitated from it unchanged
by vegetable fixed alkali, 1064.
May be decompofed in the dry
way by fait of tartar, 1065. '
Martial ■vitriol, procured by precipi¬
tating copper with iron, lefs fit for
dyeing than the common, 344.
Marrouu analyfed, 1430.
Mathematical fpecific gravity ex¬
plained, 373. The mathematical
fpecific gravity of fpirit of nitre
determined, 388,
Mayer’s examination of the fluor a-
cid, 841, &c.
Melting furnace deferibed, 2d 605,
et feq. See Furnace.
Mtnftruum, a quantity of it retained
by fome precipitates, 251.
Menjlrmm fine frepitu, a liquor for
diffolving gold, 1119.
Mercurius dulcis, how prepared from
corrofive fublimate, 814, 819.
Preparation of it in the moift way,
1238-
Mercurius precipitatus per fe, how pre¬
pared, C228.
Mercurius Trifmegijlus, the fame with
Hermes or Siphoas, an Egyptian,
the founder of chemiftry, 3.
Mercury, of its precipitates, 436. Its
folution in nitrous acid decompo¬
fed by vitriolic falts, 3x1. Vitriol
of mercury decotn pofed by’ marine
acid, 313. Why corrofive mercury
is precipitated by oil of vitriol,
315. Examination of Dr Prieft-
ley’s experiment concerning the
revival of mercury,322. Why fo
much of the metal was revived in
the Dodtor’s experiments, 323.
Why copper is diffolved by ibiu-
tion of mercury, 336. Precipita-
dons of mercury by copjier, 35 j.
Why mercury and filver precipi¬
tate one another from the nitrous
acid, 353. Corrofive fublimate
cannot be decompoled by liiver,
though mercury can decompound
luna cornea, 336. Why precipi¬
tates of mercury and alum contain
part of the acid, 408. Of mercury
diffolved in vitriolic acid,485,704.
See Qjiiciftiver. Copper, how amal¬
gamated with mercury, 1152. Dr
Lewis’s methods, 1153. A cu¬
rious amalgam with verdigris, ib.
Cannot be united with iron, 1162.
May be feparated from its folution
in nitrous acid by the colouring
matter of Pruffian blue, 1203.
Ufes of the amalgam of mercury
and tin, 1223. The metal parti¬
cularly deferibed, 1223. Is fen-
fibly heavier in winter than in
fummer, ib. How purified, 1226.
Curious mercuries prepared by Mr
Boyle, 1227. Is calcined into a red
powder, by being expofed to a con-
fiderable degree of heat, and to the
air at the fame time, 1228. Is un¬
alterable by a gentle heat, or by
repeated diftillations, 1229, 1230.
Explofion by its vapours, 1231.
Amalgamated with different fub¬
ftances, 1232. Separation of the
amalgamated metal, 1233. Be¬
comes fixed by amalgamation with
gold, 1234- Suppofed to bq con¬
vertible into water, 1235. The
miftake detected by Dr Lewis,
1236. How to amalgamate it
with regulus of antimony, 1237.
Can fcarce be united with pla-
tiua, 1343. Will leave platina to
627
unite with gold, 1346.
Metallic calces, of their various co¬
lours, 192. Metallic folutions con¬
tain a calx of the metal with va¬
rious degrees of phiogifton, 214.
Phlogifton the caqfe of their co¬
lour,'2x8. Some metallic falts de¬
compofe others, 224. Advanta¬
ges to be derived from the exami¬
nation of metallic precipitates,233.
Metallic falts infoluble in water
without an exccfs of acid, 297. Of
the art rad): ion of metallic calces to
phlogifton, 326. Of finding their
fpecific gravity, 327. Table of the
proportional affinities of metallic
calces to phlogifton, 329. They
can never be totally dephlogiftica-
ted by acids, 407. Of their gene¬
ral properties,519. Are foluble in
acids, 520. Compofed of an earth
and phlogifton, 321. I heir calci¬
nation and revivication, 322. In-
cicafe of weight by acids, 523.
Reafon of the increafe of weight
in metallic calces, 324. Combi¬
nations of them with acids. See
Bcid and Metals. Lapis pondero-
fus fuppofed by Mr Bergman to be
a metallic earth, 967. Why he
fuppofed the acids of molybdaxna
and tungften to be metallic earths
973. Chemical propeVties of the
different metallic fubftances in-
veftigated, 1089, et feq. Effects
of the colouring matter of Pruffian
blue on metallic calces, 1192. Its
effedb on metallic folutions, 1193.
Metals may receive a vaft quantity
of heat more than is fufiicient to
bring them into a ftate of fufion,
129. The calces of the perfedt
ones reducible without addition, a
proof of the nonexiftence of phio¬
gifton, 140. Why they weigh lefs
in their metallic than in their cal¬
cined ftate, 130. „ Combine with
aculs, 176. Separate from them
again on the addition of earths or
alkaline falts, 177. Phenomena
attending their folution in acids,
180. Of their different degrees of
folubrlity, 183. Their folution
attended with effcrveicOnce, 188.
And heat, 190. Yield little air
after they have been calcined, 191.
Why marine acid adfs ou fome of
them and not on others,198. Why
fome metals are more foluble than
others, 199. Their folutions con¬
tain a calx of the diffolved metal,
214. Reafons for believing that
this calcination takes place, 215.
Why the calces of the perfedt me¬
tals may be reduced without addi¬
tion, 216. Phenomena attending
the precipitation of metals by al¬
kaline falts, 220. Their precipi¬
tation by one another owing to
a double eledlive attraction, 229.
Variations in the order in which
they precipitate one another, 230.
They contain different quantities
of phiogifton, 238. Difficulties in
determining the attractive powers
of the metals to acids, 296. Quan¬
tities of the different metals taken
up by acids, 298. Metals have a
greater affinity than alkalies with
. the acids, 299. Why alkalies pre¬
cipitate the metals, 300. Why
6i8
the metallic earths feldom decofn-
pofe falts having an earth or alkali
far their bafis, .•’,04. Explanation
of the table of affinities of the acids
to the different metals, 316. Of
the quantity of phlogifton contain¬
ed in the different metals, 317.
Quantity of it loft by metals du¬
ring calcination, 331. Why the
metals are more dephlogifticated
by mutual precipitation than by
diredt folution, 335. All of them
diffolved by nitrous acid, 338. In
what cafes the marine acid can
diffolve metals, and when it can¬
not, 340. Mr Kjrwan’s experi¬
ments on metals, 451. Bcft me¬
thod of diflblving them, 45a.
What metals are calcinable, and
with what degrees of heat, 330.
Of their rufting, 341. Their fu-
fibility increafed by mixture, 544.
Their folubility increafed by calci¬
nation, 343. Effedls of fulphur
on them, 346. Of their divifion
into metals and fcmimetals, 347.
Their good and' bad qualities as
materials for chemical veffels, 360.
Vitriolic fa! ammoniac erroneoufly
fuppofed to be a great folvent of
metals, 634. Effects of vitriolic
acid on metals, 691, Of the
nitrous acid, 730. Of the marine
acid, 799. Of the fluor acid, 853.
Of the acetous, 87a. Of the acid
of tartar, 894. Of the acid of fu-
gar, 901. Of the phofphoric acid,
906. Of the acid of amber, 913.
Acid of molybdtena has no fign of
any metal, 964. Metals diffolved
by hepar fulphuris, T025. Combi¬
nation of volatile alkali with me¬
tals, 1034. Their properties par¬
ticularly treated of, 109®. The
fufion of all metals promoted by
bifmuth, T23r. Of the effedls of
white arfenic on them, 1277. Ef-
fefts of regulus of arfenic on other
metals, 1288. Combination of
metals with fulphur, 1403, Effedls
of phofphorus on them, 1413.
JMicrocQfmic fait, how prepared from
aiiiie, 903. Mr Margraafs ex¬
periments on it, 606.
jklilk, of its acid, 974. Acquires its
greateft acidity by ftanding a fort¬
night, ib. Scheele’s method of
procuring the pure acid of milk.
976. Properties of this acid, 977,
It feems to be of the acetous kind,
978. Milk is capable of complete
fermentation, 979. How to pro¬
cure the acid of fugar ofmilk,98o.
Jdilled lead: the advantages of uflng
it in preference to flieet-lead pre¬
carious, 1270.
Mindereri fplritus i how to cryftal-
lize it, 1315.
Minium, of the revival of lead from
it by inflammable air, 324. How
to prepare it from the metal, 1213.
Mineral altali, why preferred as a
precipitant by Mr Bergman, 231.
Precipitates platina imperfectly,
234. An equal quantity of all the
mineral acids taken up by vege¬
table fixed alkali. See Acids. How
to prepare the mineral alkali for
experiments on the precipitation
of metah, 429. Quantity of it ta¬
ken up by the dephlogifticated ni*
C H E M I
trous acid,532. Excefs of acid in
aluminous ley cannot be removed
by mineral alkali, 630. Of its
combinations with the different a-
cids. See Acetous, Marine, Vi¬
triolic, &c. Difference between it
and the vegetable alkali, 1019.
Whether mineral alkali can fepa--
rate platina from its folvent, 1329.
Fifty-fix times as much of it re¬
quired to precipitate this metal a»
of vegetable alkali, 1329.
Mineral acids. See Acids.
Mineral •waters; Mr Wnulfe’s teft
for them, 1337. See Waters.
Miffs del, a natural regulus of arfe¬
nic, 1286.
Mixtures: the attractive powers of
acids determined by the various
degrees of heat excited by them,
277. Increafed denfity of mix¬
tures accounted for, 374. Time
required by mineral acids and wa¬
ter to acquire their utmoft denfity,
42a. Phenomena refulting from
mixtures of the different acids, al¬
kalies, and neutral falts, with ono
another, 1040, et- feq.
Molybdcena, acid of, examined, 957.
How to reduce the fubftance to
powder, 958. EffeChs of the acid
of arfenic upon it, 959. Violent
adtion of the concentrated nitrous
acid upon this fubftance, 960. A-
cid of mulybdtena procurable by
fire alone, 961. Its chemical pro¬
perties, 96a. Is capable of unit¬
ing with phlogifton, 963. Shows
no fign of containing any metal,
964. Properties of the acid ob¬
tained by nitre, 963. Molybdtc-
na recompofed by uniting its acid
with fulphur,'966. Differences be¬
twixt the acids of tungften and
molybdaena, 971. M. Pelletier’s
experiments on this acid, 1497.
Motet’s opinions concerning the fluor
acid, 833. Shown to be erroneous
by Mr Scheele, 834. Miftake of
Mr Monnet concerning the bafis
of fluor fpar, 838.
Morveau’s miftake concerning the
preparation of Glauber’s fait from
alum deteCled by Mr Kirwan, 042.
Mqfcs fuppofed to be well Ikilled in
chemistry, 4.
Mucilage of vegetables confidered,
1432. Of animals the fame with
jelly or glue, 1434.
Muriatic. See Marine.
Naphtha, a fine kind of mineral oil.
deferibed, 1442,
Neumann's obfervations on the pre¬
paration of the magiftery of bif¬
muth, 766.
Neutral falts compofed of.an acid and
alkali, 1 72. One for difeovering
iron in mineral waters, 1x80. Pla¬
tina may be partly precipitated by
fome neutral falts, 1331.
Newton, Sir Ifaac, his fentiments con¬
cerning heat, 31.
Nicbolfon’s account of the theories of
heat, 79. Anfwer to his argu¬
ment concerning vibration as .the
caufe of heat, 81. Hi* account of
the capacities of bodies for con¬
taining heat, &c. 113.
Nidel, a kind of femimetal, of its
folution and precipitation, 242. Is
precipitated by zinc* 338.. Iron
S T R Y.
and nickel will fcarcely precipitate
one another, 339. Nickel preci¬
pitates copper, lead, and bifmuth,
360. Throws down fonte hetero¬
geneous matter from cobalt, 363,
Of its folution in vitriolic acid,
493. In the nitrous acid, 770. Ef¬
fects of acid of arfenic upon it, 933.-
The femimetal particularly treat¬
ed of, 1306. Difcovered by Mr
Cronftedt, ib. Effects of calcina¬
tion with a violent heat upon it,
1307. Of fulphur and borax, 1308.
Of bepar fulphuris, 1309. Of nitre,
13x0. This fait feparates ail the
cobalt in the femimetal, 13x1.
EffeCts of fal ammoniac upon it,
1312. Of nitrous acid, 1313. Of
volatile alkali, 1314. Nickel can¬
not be obtained in a ftate of puri¬
ty, ijtj- Bergman’s opinion of
its compofition, 1316. Experi¬
ments to compofe it artificially,
I3I7-
Nitre: quantity of acid, water, and
alltali in it, determined, 391. Why
it is fo much lighter than vitrio-
lated tartar, 416. The ingre¬
dients of which it is compofcd,
420. Of the preparation of nitre,
724, et feq. Difcovered in fome
places in Podolia in Poland, 725.
In Spain and America, 726. Re-
quiiites for its formation, 727.
Cramer’s artificial compoft for ma¬
king it, 728. How prepared in
Hanover, 729. In other parts of
Germany, 730. In France, 731.
Dr Black’s cpnclufion concerning
its nature, 732. Suppofed to be
the laft effeCl of putrefaction, 733.
How to procure the fpirit of nitre
by means of vitriolic acid, 733..
Of its rectification, 736. Different
methods of diftilling, 737. Its
ufes, 738. Prepared from the ni¬
trous acid and vegetable fixed al¬
kali, 74a. Cubic nitre formed
from this add and mineral alkali,
741 - Enumeration of its proper-
ties and ufes, 742, 743. Danger
ol Iwallowxng large quantities of
it, ib. Is purified by throwing a
little fulphur on* its furface while •
melted, 744. Calcareous nitre,
747. How alkalized by charcoal,
779* Clyffus of nitre, 780. Its
acid expelled by that of phofpho¬
rus, 907. And by that of amber,
910. And by the acid of arfenic,
930. Properties of the acid of
molybdrena obtained by nitre, 963.
Alkalized by iron, 1206. And by
the flowers of zinc, 1249, EffeCls-
of regulus of arfenic on nitre,
1290. Effe&s of it on cohalt,
1303. Gn nickel, 1310. Is ca¬
pable of leparating all the cobalt
from nickel, 1311- EffeCls of
manganefe on nitre,,4384. Of
phlogifticated manganefe upon it,
1390. M. Bertholiet’s new fait
refembling it, 2d 793. Method,
of making it in quantity, 1487.
Generated in fome tales without-*
putrefadion, 1478.
Nitrous acid, the moll violent of any
in its operations, 181. Renders
the calces of metals almoft info-
luhle, 196. Why it precipitates a
fojution of tin or antimony, 4*00,
Index*
I« more obvimifly changed than
vitriolic by the addition of phlo¬
gifton, 203. Vitriolic falts decom-
ofed by it, 275. Contains lefs
re than the vitriolic acid, 278.
On the expulfion of it by the vitrio-
lie acid, 280. By a fmall quantity
of dilute vitriolic acid, 282. Re¬
ceives fire from the vitriolic during
its expulfion, 284. Of the decom-
pofition of vitriolated tartar by it,
283. Vitriolated tartar cannot be
decompofed by dilute nitrous acid,
287. Nitrous falls decompofed by
marine acid, 292. Marine falts
by. the nitrous acid, 293. Ni¬
trous acid attraCls filver more than
fixed alkali, 3QI. Nitrous folu-
tions of mercury decompofed by
vitriolic lalts, 3x1, Nitrous acid
diffolves all metals, though it has
lefs affinity with them than the
vitriolic or marine, 338. Why
mercury and filver precipitate one
another from the nitrous acid, 333,
Regulus of arfenic precipitated by
bifmuth from the nitrous acid, 369.
This acid, when pure, cannot be
made to txiil in an aerial form,
383. To find the fpecific gravity
of pure nitrous acid, 386. Quan¬
tity of mineral alkali taken up by
dephlogifticated nitrous acid, 432.
Quantity of ingredients in nitrous
feienite, 440, In nitrous Epfotti,
444. Of pure earth of alum taken
np by it, 449. Of iron diffolved
by h, 4.5 8’ Quantity of ^nitrous
air obtained from this folution,
459. Nitrous acid cannot ail up¬
on iron in fuch a dilute ftate as the
vitriolic, 461. Of copper diffol¬
ved by the nitrous acid, 468. Tin
diffoived by it, 47a. Of lead dif¬
folved in nitrous acid, 476. Sil¬
ver with nitrous acid, 479. Calces
of gold foluble by it, 483. Can¬
not diifoive gold according to Mr
Kirwan, 484. Zinc with nitrous
acid, 488. Lefs metal diffolved
by concentrated than by diluted,
nitrous acid, 489. Efledls of this
acid on nickel,' 494. On regulus
of antimony, 300. On regulus of
arfenic,303. Effervefcencebetweea
nitrous and fulphureous fumes,
626. Experiment relating to the
converfion of the vitriolic into the
nitrous acid, 720. Incondufive,
721. Of its origin, ad 722. At¬
traction fyr phlogifton, its diftin-
guilbing charaCleriftic, 734. How
to extradl it by means of the vi¬
triolic, 733. How to purify it
from any vitriolic taint, 736. Of
diftiiling it with different fubftanr
ces containing the vitriolic acid,
737. - Of its ufes, and the method
of diftiiling it in the large way,
738. Procured of a.blue colour by
means of arfenic, 739. Of its
combination with alkaline falts,.
740. Forms common nitre with
the vegetable alkali, ib. Cubic
nitre with the mineral, 741. Ni¬
trous ammoniac with volatile al-
kali, 743. Of its combination with
earths, 747. Forms calcareous nitre
with quicklime or chalk, 747. Is
decompofed by quicklime, 748.
Forms Baldwin’s phofphorus with
Index.
it, 749. Produtes aftringent Mfn*
I pounds with earth of alum, and
j purgative ones with magnefia,
tb. Of its combination with me-
I tals, 750. Is capable of dilfolving
: gold in fome cafes, 750. Diffolves
and cryftallizes with filver, 751.
Forms lunar cauftic with it, 75J.
Diflblvcsand cryflallizes with cop¬
per, 757. Corrodes, and adts vio-
J P lently upon iron, but fcarcely dif¬
folves it, 759. Diffolves tin in
I very fmail quantity, 760. Forms
,' a violently decrepitating fait with
lead, 761. Qilibives quicfefilver
in great quantity, 763. Purified
by diftillati n from this metal,
j. from vitriolic or marine acids,
nj 764. Readily diffolves bifmurh,
’; 765. And zinc, 767. Corrodes
1 regulus of antimony, 768. Dif-
! folves cobalt, nickel, and arfenic,
769, 770. Afibrds a method of
’ difcovering cobalt in ore,-, 770.
Thickens exprefled oils, 771,
Forms ether wrh fpirit of wine,
! 773, «; fey- Of its decompofition
1 by phlogifton, 778. Takes fire
with fomc eflential oils, ib. How
to procure marine acid by its
means, 788, Dephlogifiicates this
acid, 790. Fluor acid procured by
i its means, ad 830. Effedb of it
1 on £alt of amber, 912. Arfrnic
decompounded by it, 918. Vio-
' lent adHon of it on molybdasna,
1 960. Effedls of diffolving vitrio-
■ lie falls in it, 1040, 104a. Forms
fine cryftals with terra ponderofa,
i 1066. Is not necefiary for the
I preparation of aurum fulminans,
1117. Effedls of it an arfenic
i mineralized by fulphur, 1280. Re-
\ gulus of cobalt combined with it,
j 1301^ Its e£Fedls-on nickel, 1313.
| Explanation of its effedls on man-
I f ganefe, 1380. Of digefting phlo-
II giflicated manganefe with pure ni-
! trous acid, ’ 1393. Camphor de-
| compofed by it, 1-434. Procurable
i i by means of fpirit of fait,; 737.
|: How to procure the dephlogifti-
eated kind, 738,1475. Eavoifier’s
t account of the conftituent par ts of
; nitrous acid, 1473. Ivfr Caven-
i difh’s account, 1474. How to fet
: charcoal on fire by means of it,
11476. Remarkable effedls of it
| on blood, 1477. Mr Scheele’s ex-
i periments with it on various fiib-
flances, 1513. Volatile allcali pre-
; pared from nitrous acid and tin,
11 "«JJ3>
' Some late experiments of Dr
jPriefUey have fhown, that though
nitrous acid is produced from the de-
jcompofition of dephlogifticated- and
fihlogifticated air, by taking the elec¬
tric fpark in the mixture, it is like-
wife produced by the more rapid
jdecompofilion of combnftion, when
inflammable air is made ufe of in-
ftead of the phlogifticated kind. In
this cafe, though phlogiflicated air
'mould happen to exill in the mix¬
ture, it is not in the lead affedled by
■the procefs, but remains after the
icombuition of the others jufl as it
was; nay, the Dodtor obferves, that
Iby the addition of phlogifticated air,
the quantity of nitrous, acid produ-
C H E M
eed is fo far from being augmented,
that it i< much dimini died. The a-
cid in thefe proceffes always appears
to be extremely volatile, infomuch
that fome part of it conftantl v efcapes.
No liquor at all was condenfed when
the explofi >ns were made in quick
fucceflion, even though the veflel ne¬
ver became hotter than the hand. In
another procefs, the atmofpheric air
was perfectly excluded, while the
piurelt dephlogifticated air was pro¬
duced from ore of the materials em¬
ployed, viz. precipitate per fe. In
this experiment he found, that a con-
fiderable quantity of fixed air was
produced, and that the water be¬
came acid by the abforption of it.
He concludes, therefore, on the
whole, that a mixture of dephlogi¬
fticated and inflammable air always
produces an acid by combuftion ; but
that, when they are in their nafeent
ftate, the a (rial acid is generated;
when both are completely formed
previous to the experiment, the ni¬
trous acid appears.
Nitrous air: Why it does not unite
with water, aoq. Quantity of it
produced by f -iution of iron in ni¬
trous acid, 459. Quantity of phlo¬
gifton contained in it, 505.
Objects of chemiftry, how diftin-
guifhed from the agents, 11. How
elaffed, 163.
Oil of vitriol precipitates corroftve
fabHmate from water, and why,
315. Kirwan’s experiments on it,
395. Why the dilution of it is
neceffary in thefe experiments,
39<>. Quantity of fixed air in oil
of tartar, 414. Why oil of vitriol
and iron produce vitriolic air,455.
Combination of oil of vitriol with
common oil, 71a. Oil of arfenic,
how prepared, 813. EffecU of oil
of vitriol on fait of amber, 913.
Effects of mixing oil of turpentine
with arfenical acid, 933. Of oil
of vitriol by diftillation with the
fait compofed of alkali and the co¬
louring matter of Pruflian blue,
H91. Oil ftippofed by Homberg
to be obtained from flowers of
zinc, 1343. The miftake difeo-
vered by Neumann, ib. Another
capable of diffolving gold and Gi¬
ver leaf by Mr Hellot, 1344. Ef¬
fects of oil-olive on manganefe,
1387. Camphor foiuble in oii,
1433. Quantify of effential oil
obtained from turpentine, 1437.
This oil very difficult of folution,
1438.
Oils er.prejfrd, thickened by nitrous
acid, 771. Effential, fired by fpi¬
rit of nitre, 778. Fixed alkalies
combined with expreffedoils, 1036.
With effential oils, 1037. Lead
foiuble in oris, I3i6. Of the com¬
bination of phofphorns with effen¬
tial oils, 1413. Chemical proper¬
ties of oils treated of, 1419, etfiq.
Effential oils, ib. Empyreumatic
oils, 1436. How to purify ran¬
cid oils, 1431.
Operations in chemiftty deferibed,
with directions how to perform
them, 334, etfeq.
Ores: Bergman’s account of the a-
luminous ores in Sweden, 631.
I S T R Y.
Alum, fulphur, and vitriol, ex¬
tracted from the fame,639 How
to difeover cobalt in ores by means
of the nitrous acid, 770.
Orpiment formed of fulphur and ar¬
fenic, 1279.
OyJler-Jhells, of their phofphoric qua-
‘ lity, 1087.
Papin’s digefter deferibed, 367.
Paracelfus, account of him. 14. Hi-
ftory of chemiftry fince his time,
*5.
Peat analyfed, 1440.
Pelletier, M. his method of rectify¬
ing ether, 1471. His experiments
on molybdsena, 1497.
Pelican, an obfolete chemical veffel
deferibed, 366.
Pentland Hills, marmor metallicum
found near them, 1060.
P erf eft metals. See Metals.
Peruvian balf.im, yields acid of ben¬
zoin, 1332.
Petroleum, or rock oil, account of it,
H43-
Pbilojopbic fal ammoniac, compofed of
vitriolic acid and volatile alkali,
63 T
Pblog flic matters : effect of marine
acid upon them, 1481.
Pblogflicatcd alkali, quantity of pre¬
cipitate obtained from mar.ganefc
by if,257. Phlogifticated air an in-
gredientinthe nitrous acid,2<l 722.
How prepared, 1028. Lofes its
alkaline properties, 1168. Cannot
precipitate arfenic except from ma¬
rine acid, 1373 Phlogifticated ni- ■-
trous acid ddfolves manganefe,
1323.
Phlogijlon ; Of its exiftence, 37, 136
Denied by M. Lavoifier, 137.
Arguments again! t it from the
increafed weight of metals by cal¬
cination, 138. From the reduc¬
tion of the calces of perfeel metals
without addition, 140. The dis¬
putes on this fubjeeft muft foon be
entirely decided, 143. Objections
from its invifibility and fuppofed
wa nt of gravity, 144. Common char¬
coal and phlogifton the fame, 145.
Decifive proofs of its identity from
Prieftley’s experiments, 146. Too
much phlogifton prevents the heat
af a fire from being intenfe, 138,
Solution fometimes promoted by
abftraciling part of the phlogi¬
fton, 186. But totally prevented
by taking away too much, as ex¬
emplified in manganefe, 187.
Hindered by too great a quantity
of phlogifton, 194. Is the caufe
of colour in metallic folutions,
318. Attraction of phlogifton
luppofed to be the caufe of caufti-
city, 319. Metals contain diffe¬
rent quantities of it, 238. Of the
phlogifton contained in the diffe¬
rent metals, 317. Method of cal¬
culating this quantity exemplified
in regulus of arfenic, 318. Table
of the quantities of phlogifton in
different metals, 319. Of the at¬
traction of metallic calces to phlo¬
gifton, 326. Whence their va¬
rious degrees of affinity to phlogi¬
fton may be determined, 338.
Table of their proportional affini¬
ties to phlogifton, 339. Quantity
of.it loft by them during calcina-
62§
tio», 331. Their affinity to the
deficient part of their plilogifton,
332. Increafe of the attra&ion of
the calx of iron to phlogifton de-
monftrated, 343, Quantity of
phlogiftoo contained in nitrous
air, 305. In fixed, air, ad 303. In
vitriolic acid air, job. In fulphur,
307. Inmafine acid air, 309. Attrac¬
tion of marine acid for phlogifton,
823. Uuionof phlogifton with a-.
cid of molybdanm, 963. Is rt>
kably difpofed to fly off froiu
fulphuris, 1024, Combined
ith fixed alkalies, 1028. Suppo-
fed to exift in the colouring matteb
of Pruflian blue, 1196. Is ftrong-
ly attracted by manganefe, 1372,
Gives a white colour to manga-
nefe, 1373. Some phlogifton na¬
turally contained in this fubftance,
1374 Proof of its exiftence in the
muriatic acid, 1381. Sulphur dc-
compofed by a fuperabuudan,ce of
phlogifton, 1401.
Phofphoric acid, found in the refiduum-
of ether, 2d 723. Expels that of
fluor, 3d 830. This acid particu¬
larly treated of, 904, rryi-y. Ex¬
pels the acids of vitriolated tartar,
nitre, and fea-falt^o;. Can fcarce.
ly diffolve manganefe, 1367. Of
phofphoric earths, 1081, etfeq. Sur-
prifing phofphoric quality of oyfter-
fhells, 1087. By whom difeover--
ed, 904. Found in vaft quanti¬
ties in the mineral kingdom, ib.
In vegetables and the gailric juice
of animals, ib.
Phofpboric liquor, curious one from
arfenic and vinegar, 3d 937,1321.
Pbofpborua of Baldwin prepared front
nitrous acid and calcareous earth,.
749. Phofphorus fcintillans, of
marine acid and calcareous earth,
797. Bolognian phofphorus,1081.
How rendered luminous, 1082.
Analyfed, 1083. Phofphorus of
urine, 1406. Mr Margraaf’s pro¬
cefs for making it, 1407. Redti-
fication of this phofphorus, 1408.
The procefs for making it fome¬
times dangerous, 1409. Liquid,
phofphorus, how prepared, 1410.
Experiments with phofphorus oiv
f| h it of wine, I411. With effen¬
tial oilsand acids, 1412. Mr Mar-
graaf’s experiments with it on me¬
tals, 1413. Canton’s phofphorus,,
414. Hi mberg’s phofphorus, 1413,,
et feq. See Pyrophorus.
M. Pelletier has1 now difeovered as
method of uniting phofphorus, with¬
out any decompofition, with all the
metals, though he cautions againft
the danger with which the procefs is
attended. Gold is phofphorated by
mixing half an ounce of its oalx with
an ounceof pbofphorioglafsand about:
a grain of powdered charcoal; the
whole is then put into a crucible, the
compofitiou covered with a little
powdered charcoal, and a degree of
heat fufficient to fufe the gold ap¬
plied. A great many phofphoric va¬
pours arift, but part are detained,
and unite with the gold which is left
at the bottom of the crucible. The
metal by this operation lofes its co¬
lour, becomes whitifh, breaks under,
the hammer/ and has a cryftalline-
appear, _
63°
appearance. By continuing the tire
a long time the phofphorus would he
entirely diflipated. The quantity of
phofphoric glafs and charcoal juft
mentioned is 1'ufficient to phofphorate
a whole ounce of platina. By an
hour’s calcination in a crucible, the
metal is converted into a bkckilh
mafs refembling filver, weighing up¬
wards of an ounce, and of which
the lower part confifts of cubical cry-
ftals. Notwithftanding this change,
however, the quantity of phofpho¬
rus united with the platina is very
inconfiderable; for from 12 ounces
of the metal, and as much phofpho-
ric glafs, only 11 ounces and five
grains of the phofphorated metallic
• mafs was obtained. 1 It was very
brittle, but of confiderable hardnefs;
was not attracted by the magnet, and
by expofure to a ftrong fire parted
with the phofphorus it had been com¬
bined with. 'He obferver, that all
the metals lofe their malleability by
combination with'phofphorus, ex¬
cepting tin and lead; and the refi-
dunm of the matter which-has once
phofphorated,atnetal, will ferve again
for the fame purpofe.
The fait formed by a combination
of the phofphoric acid with mineral
alkali is found to be an ufeful purga¬
tive, and as fuch is now brought into
practice.
MelTrs Struve and Marquart are
■faid to have difeovered, that the ga-
ftric juice of animals is comp ded of
the phofphoric acid and volatile alka¬
li; and'Mr Struve has compofed a li¬
quid from thefe two ingredients
which arils in a fimilar manner on a-
pimentary matters.
jfcW analyfed, '1447.
&latino not partly compofed of iron,
254. An excellent material for
chemical veflels, 587. MrAchard’s
method of making crucibles of its
calx, 387. Effects uf acid of ar-
fenic upon it, 042. Is the heavieft
of all metals, 1318. Infoluble ex¬
cept by dej'hlogifticated marine
acid, 1319. Found in fmall grains,
1320. Bergman’s experiments on
■ it, 1321. Cryftals of it can be de-
compofed by the mineral, but not
the vegetable fired alkali, 1322.
Soluble in aqua regia made with
nitrous acid and fea-falt, 1323.
In one made of nitre and fpirit of
fait, 1324. Solution of the calx in
marine acid lets fall a cryftalline
powder on the addition of vege¬
table alkali, 1325. But not the
nitrous folution, 1326. This pre¬
cipitate a kind of triple fait, 1327.
Whether mineral alkali can fepa-
rate platina from itsfolvent, 1328.
Fifty-fix times as much mineral
alkali as of vegetable requifite for
the precipitation, 1329. Effedls
of the volatile alkali on the folu¬
tion, 1330. The metal partly
precipitable by neutral falts, 1331.
Triple falts formed by this metal,
1332. Platina the moft infufible
fubftance in the world, 1333. Firft-
melted by a burning mirror, 1334.
Maybe vitrified by elerftric fire,
1335. Its precipitate fuiibie in a
common forge, 1336. This pre-
C H E M I
cipitate, or even crude platina,
fufib'e by the ailiftance of fluxes,
.Alloyed by Dr Lewis with
other metals, 1338. With geld,
1339. With filver, I340. Cop¬
per confiderabiy improved by
union with it, 1341. It unites
♦ tnoft readily with zinc, 1342.
And with the compound metals,
1343. The compound of brafe
and platina a proper material for
fpeculums, 1344. ft can fcarce be
united with mercury, 1345. Is de¬
ferred by mercury when gold rs
added, 1346. May be united
with forged and caft iron, 2347.
And with tin, lead,'or bifmuth,
1348. May be melted by means
of arfenic, 1349. Fhe pofiibility
of uniting it with mercury denied
byFourcroy.^yo. Inc. nfiftenccin
his account of its hardnefs, 1351.
Precipitateof platina vitrified by M.
Beaume, 1352. The precipitate by
fal ammoniac fufible in a ftrong
forge heat, 1353. This fufion fup-
. pofed by Macqner not to beperfeCF,
1354. Attempts to purify platina
^by copellation, 1355. Of the pof-
fibility of adulterating gold with
it, 1356. Methods of detedting
this fraud if it ihouid be pradlifed,
r357- Platina moft eaiiiy difeo-
verable by its great fpecific gravi¬
ty, I3S8*
P/jAy’s account of the origin of glafs-
y making,-7.
Plumbum corneum formed of marine
• acid and lead, 812.
Poddia, in Poland: nitre found in
the earth in that country, 725.
Pdar regions : the exceflive cold of
win e.', how mitigated, 98.
Poland. See Podolia.
Ponderous fpsr formed of terra ponde-
rofa and vitriolic or aerial acid,
1631. See Terra ponderofa. Ana¬
lysis and properties of the aerated
kind, 1037.
portable furnaces, 600, et feq. See Fur-
Porcelain -ocjfels of ufe in chemiftty,
363, 391. Reaumur’s porcelain
recommended, 392. Dr Lewis’s
experiments upon it, 393.
Po«’s directions concerning crucibles,
388. His melting furnace deferi-
bed, 606. See Purnace. His ob-
fervations on the decompofition of
nitrous acid by quicklime, 748.
His experiments on the fait of am¬
ber, 909.
Precipitate, infoluble, thrown down
by cauftic alkali from folution of
terra ponderofa, 1036. Pheno¬
mena on diftilling metallic preci¬
pitates thrown down by Prulfian
alkali, 1198. Precipitate of plati¬
na vitrified by M. Beaume, 1332-
Precipitates, why fometimes thrown
down by acids, 221. By the per-
fc6t neuiral falts, 222. By a triple
combination, 223. Various pre¬
cipitates of gold, 233. Of the
caufe of fuch great variations in
the weights of precipitates, 248.
Arguments in favour of the weight
of precipitates being augmented
by the matter of heat, 249. A
quantity of the menrtruum retain¬
ed - by fome precipitates, 232.
S T R Y.
Table of different ones, 239. VVliy
thofe of mercury and alum con¬
tain part of the acid, .408.
Precipitation! phenomena attending
that of metals by -alkaline falts,
220. Their‘precipitation by one
•anotherowing to a doubleelcdhve
atlra&iort, 229. Ufe of the tables
and calculations for knowing a
priori the phenomena of precipita¬
tion, 333. Why mutual precipita¬
tion dephlogiftieates the metals
more than direift foluiioil, 335.
Preci, Stations by lead, 332. Of
mercury by copper, 333? Of nickel
by zinc, 338. Of copper, lead,
and bil'muthj by nickel, 360. Of
cobalt by iron, 3(12. Of fome
heterogeneous matter from co¬
balt by nickel, 363. Precipita¬
tions of, and by. 1 eg ulus of anti¬
mony, 363. Of and by aifenic,
368. Of regulus of arfenic by
bifmuth, 369. And by copper,
'370. The operation of precipita¬
tion defcribect, 370.
Preferva.tio. es of wood, 621.
Prejfure of the furrounding fuid a mean
of retaining fire in bodies. 3.3.
Priejlley: dilpute betwixt him and
Lavoifier, 141. Identity of phio-
I gifton and charcoal given by his
experiments, 146. Kirwaii’s ex¬
amination of his experiment con¬
cerning the revival of mercury,
322* Why fo much of the metal
was revived in his experiments,
323. Kir wan’s remarks on tliefe
experiments, 323. His method of
procuring the lulphureous vitrio¬
lic acid, 714. His obfei rations on
marine acid, 7M3. Experiments
on converting the fluor acid into a
kind of air, 837. His experiments
on the vegetable acid air, 883.
Privation of heat totally: Mr Kirwaii’s
theorem for finding the point of it,
114.
PruJJ'tqh blue a prepa’ ation of iron,
1163. Dr Woodward’s receipt
for making it, 1164. Mr Geof-
froy’s theory, n6S- Amufing
phenomenon in the preparation,
1166. Macquer’s theory, 1167.
Some blue produced by the com¬
mon alkalies, 1170. Mr Scheele’s
invefiigation of it, 1171, et jeq.
Pruflian blue yields volatile alkali
by diftillation, 1197. Appearances
on diftilling other precipitates
thrown down bythe Pruilian alka¬
li, 1x98. Appearances (.n dilliliing
Pruflian blue accounted for, 1203.
Set Colouring matter.
Pulvis Alg.irotb, the moft proper ma¬
terial for emetic tartar, 1239.
Objection to its ufe, 1260. The
objection removed by Mr Scheele,
1261,1262. SeeAlgaroth. Pulvis
fulminans, how prepared, 1403.
Purification of quickjilver. See Mercu¬
ry and Ipuiikfilver*
Putrefaction: nitre fuppofed to be the
laft effeCt of it, 733. Not always
heceflary for the production of ni¬
tre, i47(S.
Pyrites: how to extract green vi¬
triol from it, 619. Its prefence
the only r^quifite for the produc¬
tion of alum, 634.
Pyrometer^ an initrument for meafu-
Index.-I ;
ring the expanfion of bodies, 103, h i
Pyropborus of Homberg, 1413. Beft teit
formed of alum and fugar, 1416.1 In
Is not injured by expofui e to light, v
1417. Theory of its accenfion,! (»■:
1418.
Quadruple salts, how formed,:)1#.
*73-
Quantity of heat, difficulty of deter-’’Vi
mining it, 70. It cannot be uled |.pi:
in the common acceptation of the fc:
word with regard to fire, 71. It’lit
cannot i.e determined by Dr Cleg-
horn’s hypothefis, 76. Is impof-lW
libie be determined in any way, ;jr
Quicklime a calcareous earth deprived r -
of its fixed air, 311. Decompofes J|fe
fpirit of nitre, 748. Is the bails of*;
fiuof fpar, 837. EffeCts of it ouiji.
fait of amber, 947.
Quickftlver fometimes produced from ;$};
lead, i2, 76a. Its combination mp.
with acids. See Mercury. How ij.'
to obtain a perfectly laturated fo- Ji
lution of it in nitrous acid, 1293. ji ;•
Quickfilver, fulminating, 3d 903. 4..
Quiefccut affinities defined, 267. |,
Radical vinegar differs from
the common acetous acid, 1528. jLi-
Inflammable Ijpii it produced from fifr
it, 1344. Ap.
Rancid oils purified by churning with jji;
water, 1431,
Realgar, or red arfenic, prepared iljj
from arfenic and fulphur, 1279. 1;
Reaumur's porcelain prepared by ce-!|fey
mentation of green glafs, 392. Dr j
Lewis’s obfervations on the me- :
thod of making it, 393. An ex- j fe
cellent material for chemical vef- f
fels, ib. And for levigating planes, j
399. His method of rendering ji
lead Amorous, 1211. Hint for an I fo.
improvement of the ftiape of bells, : ^,.1
Red lead, how prepared, 1213. . f -
Red precipitate of mercury, how prepa- | ft
red, 764.
Redutiion of metallic calces, without . j .
addition, an argument againft the ii.
exiftence of phlogifton, 140. The ft.
phenomenon explained, 320. b
Regulus. See Antimony, Arfenic, and ft
Cohalt.
Reid, Dr, his obfervations on the ft,
temperatures of bodies, 30.
Relative beat explained, 38.
Rejius analyfed, 1432. Are only bal- »•
lams thickened by evaporation, i ft
ib.
Retort, a chemical veffel, deferibed, ft
J7°-
Revivification of metals, how accom- ft.
plilhed, 322.
Rinm in’s method of burning the ores if.,
of alum, 668.
Rotfiing aluminous ores, ufes of it, 662, j ft
et feq. See Alum.
Robinjm, Mr, of Glafgow, deter- ft
mines the boiling point of water ft.
in vacuo, 123.
Roch-.dum, whence that name is de- ft.
rived, 638.
Rochelle j.dt formed of cream of tartar
and mineral alkali, 891. Scheele’s ft
method of preparing it, 891. j 4
Royal Society, when founded, 19. ft
This and other focieties of the ft.
kind has been of great advantage 4;,
to fhemiftry, ib.
Rufiing j
INDEX.
lufiing of metals explained, 541. Tin
' lefs liable to this defedl than iron
Iile
'||' or copper, 1223.
IffAccHARiNE acib, how prepared,
ii 896. Saccharine ether, 902. Is
not eafily fet on fire, and burns
wirh a blue flame, ib.
Iitucharum faturni, its folution de-
firoys that of green vitriol, 1044,
'and folution of tin, 1045. How
; prepared from lead, 877. An in-
!!|1: flammable fpirit procurable from
I it by diftillation, 878. A parti-
1 cular kind of it obtainable by
l means of acid of ants, or fpirit of
iJ verdigris, 908
W alembroth, compofed of fal am-
if moniac and corrofive fublimate.
W See ttlembroth.
'■\\til ammoniac. See Ammoniac,
al digejlivus. See Digef ioje Salt,
al diureticus, how prepared from
11 acetous acid and vegetable fixed
alkali, 868.
it/prunella, prepared from nitre and
1 fulphur, 744. Why the nitre is
thus put ified, ib.
d rupellenfis. See Rochelle Salt,
si fedativus. See Borax, acid of.
\l volatile oleofum, a preparation of
volatile alkali, fpirit of wine, and
eflential oils, 1036.
ilinc mixture prefcribed in fevers, the
{fame with a folution of foluble tar-
,1 t:lr>
ill of vinegar, formed from fpirit of
[verdigris, 882. Effential fait of
> demons, a kind of tartar extradled
i [from forrel fold for it, 888. True
• fait of lemons cannot be converted
[■ into acid of fugar, 999. Neutral
• “fait for difeovering iron in mineral
; waters, 1180. Wat fern’s account
. of the fpecilic gravity of fait of
« tartar, 415.
(itpetre. See 'Nitre,
ifts: their general properties con¬
sidered, 164, etfeq. are either fu-
,■ fible or volatile, ib. Soluble in
water andcryftallizable, ib. Their
ill [folution attended with an emiffion
: i)f air-bubbles fometimes miftaken
it 'for an effervefeenee, 165. Gene-
irally foluble in greater quantity in
idi hot than in cold water, ib. Sea-
falt an exception to this rule. ib. Of
iti their mixture and feparation, 166.
Hypothefes concerning their fo-
lution, 167. Are deftiu&ible by
Repeated folution and exficcation,
}, 1168. Divided into acids and alka¬
lies, 169. See Acid and Alkali,
if Neutral falts formed by the com¬
bination ofthefe two, 172. Per-
1.1 fed! and imperfedt neutral falts de¬
fined, ib. Why the acids and.al-
•1 salies generally eftervefee on mix-
;ure, ib. Metallic folutions fome-
/, •imes difturbed by neutral falts,
122. Triple and quadruple falts,
f. yow formed, 473. Vitriolic falts
r lecompofed by the nitrous and
Marine acids, &c. See Vitriolic.
;. fJitn us falts decompofed by the
Marine acid, &c. See Nitrous.
1 Arhy the metallic calces feldom
i tecompofe the perfedt neutrals,
504. Anomalous lalts formed fiom
, he acetous acid and earths, 871.
. jjf fixed alkaline fait®, 1016. See
• i •Alkalies. Neutral falts partly p: e-
ijpitate platina, 1331.
CHEMISTRY.
Sand mixed with fhior acid, ]irodu-
• ces no earthy cruft by diftillation,
844.
Sand-pots, fills, &c. how to fet them
in furnaces, 6po.
Scania, of t he aluminous ores found in
that country, 658.
Schecle’s method of dephlogifticating
fpirir of fait, 791. Difcovers the
fluor acid, 826. His opinion that
the earthy cruft formed by this
acid proceeds from an union of it
with water, 832. Detedls the er¬
rors of Boullanger and Monr.eton
this fubjedt, 834. Explanation of
one of his experiments concerning
this cruft, 846. His. method of
analyfing cream of tartar and ex-
tradling its acid pure, 887. Dif¬
covers the acid of arfenic, 916.
His method of analyfing molyb-
dsena, 959. Tungften, 968. His
method of procuring the pure acid
of milk, 976. His receipt for pre¬
paring the flowers of benzoin, 991.
For preparing the pulvis algaroth,
1262. Difcovers the nature of the
colouring matter of Pruflian blue,
It7I Method of preparing Ro¬
chelle fait, 891.
Schiller’s method of preparing the a-
cid of tartar, 888.
Sekif, aluminous, component parts of
it, 632.
Sea-fa It, decompofed in various ways
with lead, 30a. Why the diftil¬
lation of it does not fucceed with
copperas, 787. Its acid not the
fame with that of fluor, 835. Its
acid expelled by that of phofpho-
rus, 907. And by acid of arfenic,
931. Whitens filver, 1137. Un-
fuccefsful attempts to decompofe
it, 1479. Method of diftiiling its
acid with' day, 1480. EfFedts of
the fpirit upon phlogiftic matters,
1481.
Sebaceous acid, procured from a va¬
riety of fubftances, 1533. Has a
remarkable force of attradlion,
IJ34. Its c-ffedls on 110,1535. On
other fubftances, 1536.
Secret fal ammoniac, Glauber’s. See
Glauber and Ammoniac.
Sedative fait. See Borax, acid of.
Seignette's fait. See. Rochelle fait.
Selenite. See Gypfum. Found in the
refiduum of vitriolic ether, 2d 722.
Why it cannot be decompofed by
marine acid, 294. Quantity of
ingredients in nitrous felenite, 440.
In marine felenile, 441.
Selenitic tartarcus, compofed of acid
of tartar and calcareous earth, S87,
893. The liquor from which it
has been extradled affords an em-
pyreumatic acid of tartar, 1010.
Semimetal, a new one procurable from
tungften, 1501.
Semimetals, one of the general claffes
of metallic fubftances, 547.
SenfMe heat, Crawford’s account of
it, 49.
Sheet-lead, how made, 1209. The
advantages of milled lead over it
very dubious, 1210.
Silcx, found in the refiduum of vi¬
triolic ether, 2d 722.
Siliceous earth, produces acruft on the
water into which fluor acid is di-
ftilled, 829. See Cruf. Of the
quantity of filiceoiu earth carried
along with this acid, 847. Moft
completely precipitated from its
foivents by volatile alkali, 1074.
Diff dved by boiling in fixed alka-
Silvcr: Why the vitriolic acid cannot
adt upon it without a boiling heat,
197. Difficulty concerning its a-
malgamation folved by Mr Berg¬
man, 217. Precipitates of it, 235.
Is attra&ed more than fixed alkali
by nitrous acid, 301. Explanation
of the decompofition of Vitriolated
tartar by folution of filver, 305.
Of other vitriolic falts, 306. Its
folution always decompofed by
marine falts, 308. Experiment
explaining the redudfion of its cal-
" ces per fe, 320. Why copper isdif-
folved by folution of filver, 336.
Why a faturated Elution of filver
can fcarce be precipitated by iron,.
346. Why copper fometimes can¬
not precipitate filver, 348. Can¬
not precipitate copper from vi¬
triolic acid, 354. Why it preci¬
pitates mercury from the nitrous
355. Cannot decompofe cor¬
rofive fublimate except in the dry>
way, 356. Of its folution in vi¬
triolic acid, 478. In marine acid,.
480, 801. Of its combination with
vitriolic acid, 691. Has a ftrong
attradlion for mercury in this
flate, ib. Combination with the-
nitrous acid, 751, Volatilized
by uniting with this acid, ib. Co¬
lours produced by this folution,
753. The folutii.n decompofed,
.755. Is not acted on by the arfe-
likal acid, 943. The metal par¬
ticularly treated of, 1131. Itsduc-
tility inferior to that of gold, ib.
Its colour and dudlility deftroyed
by fulphur, 1134.. Purified by cu-
pellation with lead, 1133. Redu¬
ced from its combination with ma¬
rine acid, 1134, 1135. Hasa great
attraction for lead, 1136. Whiten¬
ed externally by common fait and
cream of tartar, 1137. Fulmina¬
ting filver difeovered by .Kunckel,
756. By M. Berthollet, 1138.
How prepared, 1139. Fulminates
by the touch of any fubftance,
whether cold or hot, 1140. Dan¬
gerous to fulminate more than a
grain at a time, 1141. Cryftals
formed by evaporating, the liquor-
after the precipitation of the calx
explode violently by a touch,U42.
Cautions to be ufed in preparing
it, 1143. Abfurd theory by which
the antiphlogiftians attempt to ac¬
count for this phem menon, 1144.
Remarks on it and others, 1145.
Electricity probably the cuufe of
this phenomenon, 1146. Silver
precipitated from its folution in ni¬
trous acid by the colouring matter
of Pruffian blue, 1191.1205. Com¬
bination of it with platina, 1340.
Siphons, an Egyptian, the founder of
chemiftiy, 3.
Smalt produced from the calx of co¬
balt and flints, 1295,
Smoking liquor of Libavius prepared
from corrofive fublimate and tin,
810.
Soap, common, prepared by com¬
bining fixed alkalies with expreff-
ed oils, 1046. Starkey’s foap, by
631
combining them with effential oils,
1027. This combination difficult
to be effected, ib. M. Beaume’s
method by long trituration of the
ingredients, ib. Dr Lewis’s, by
■ heating the alkali red hot, and
mixing it with the oil in that
ftate, ib. This fftap naturally fub-
je6t to a decompofition by the ef-
Ilorefcenceof a fait, ib.
Softnefs, of bodies, approaching to
fluidity cauf'ed by heat, 118.
Solar heat, why fo much more in-
tenfe than that of common fires,
160.
Solfatara, aluminous ores found there
analyfed by Mr Bergman, 656.
Solid bodies do not part with fo much
heat as fluids, 412.
Solubility of different metals, various
degrees of it, 1S5. Their folubi-
lity increafed by calcination, 54%.
Soluble^ tartar, prepared by com¬
bining cream of tartar with vege¬
table fixed alkali, 889. The fame
with the faline mixture prefcribed
in fevers, ib.
Solution of falts in water, phenomena
attending it, 165. Hypothefis
concerning it, 167. Salts deftruc-
tible by repeated folutions, 168.
Phenomena attending the folution
of metals, 180. Sometimes pro¬
moted by abftradling a portion of
phlogifton, 186. Totally prevent¬
ed by taking away too much, 187.
Solution of metals attended with
effervefcence, 188. And the ex-
trication of various kinds of elaftic
fluids, 189, Bergman’s account of :
the caufe of chemical folution, .
193. Solution impeded by too
great a quantity of phlogifton,
194. Heat produced in folution
moft probably proceeds from the
folvent liquor, 411. Reafons for
believing that metals are calcined
by folution, 415. Why folution ’
oi gold is precipitated by folution
of tin, 447. Why Elution of cal¬
careous-earth decompofes vitrio-
lated tartar, 270. Decompofition
of vitriolated tartar by folution of
filver explained, 305. This folu¬
tion always decompofed by marina
falts, 308. As alfo foiution of.
lead, 309. Solution of. lead in
marine-acid decompefed by vitrio¬
lic faltr, 310. And nitrous folu-
tihn of mercury, 311. Solution i
of copper fcarcely decompi fed by,
caft iron,345, Why a .faturated fo¬
lution of filver can fcarce be pre¬
cipitated by iron, 346. Of the fo-
luuon of calces of iron in vitriolic
acifl, 456. That of the depiogifti-
cated cakes refufes to cryftaliize, .
457- Solution-of tin. in vitriolic
acid yields inflammable air, 471.
How to perforin the chemical ope¬
ration of folution, 564. . Solution :
of filver in nitrous acid, 751.
Shoots into a corrolive fait, ib. Its
cryftals farm lunar cauftic, 752.
Stairts hair, hones, &c. of a brown
or bla k colour, 753. Imparts va¬
rious colours to Hones, 753. Cu¬
rious vegetations produced from it,
754- Several curious-circumitances
attending its decompofition, 755, ,
756. Solution of calces of gold in
marine acid, 799. Of tin in aqua.
regi»..
$32
regia, 809. This folutica ufeful
in dyeing, ib. Is decompofed by
faccharum faturni, 1045. Calca¬
reous folntions by mild volatile al¬
kali, ib. Solution of falts promoted
by vitriolic acid, 1048. Solution
of terra pondcrofa a tell of the vi¬
triolic acid, 1058. Solution of
flint, 1069. Solution of alkali dif-
folvds filiccous earth, 1076. Solu¬
tion of gold in aqua regia, 1099.
et feq. In hepar fulphuris, 1147.
In vitriolic e her,- 1149. Solution
of lime by the colouring matter of
Pruffian blue, the moft proper for
making experiments on metals,
1190. EfFedts of this matter oft
metallic f lotions, 1193. Howto
attain a peifeftly faturated folu-
, tion of qtiickfilver, 1439. Of the
folution of arfenic in water, 1469.
Effedls of regulus of arfenic on me¬
tallic folutions, t»93.
Sorrely a kind of tartar extra died
from it fold for eflential fait of le¬
mons, 888. See Sugar.
Spain : when alum was firft made
there, 640. Nitre, how prepared
in that country, 746.
Spar, ponderous, account of Dr Wi¬
thering’^ experiments on it, 1057.
Specific gratfity- See Gravity.
Specula, materials proper for them :
propofcd by Mr Hellot from a
mixture of gold and zinc, 1446.
A mixture of brafs and piatina
propofed by others, 1344-
Spirit of nitre: how to determine the
quantity of pure acid contained in
it, 384. Proportion of it to that
in fpirit of fait, 385. How to de-
terimne the accrued denfity on
mixing fpirit of nitre with water,
387. Experiment to determine
the real quantity of acid in fpirit
of nitre, 389. How to conftrudt
a table of fpecific gravities for fpi-
xit of nitre, 390. Strong fpirit of
nitre more expanded by heat than
weak, and why, 444. Exadt
quantity of dilatation of fpirit of
nitre, 445. Solution of mercury
with fpirit of nitre, 446. Quan¬
tity of bifmuth diffolved by it, 494.
Of cobalt, 497. Of regulus of ar¬
fenic, 304. How to prepare this
fpirit by means of oil of vitriol,
733. By means of arfenic, 739.
Oils fired by it, 778. Effedls of
it on fait of amber, 914.
Spirit of fait: method of finding the
quantity of pure acid contained in
it, 376. Of finding its fpecific
gravity, 377. Proportion of acid
in fpirit of fait to that in fpirit of
nitre, 383. Dilatation of fpirit of
fait by various degrees of heat,
447. Effefts of it in the way of
folution in cobalt, 498. How pro¬
cured by means of vitriolic acid,
786. By nitrous acid, 788. By
•diftillation of common fait without
addition, 789. Difiolves and vo¬
latilizes the calces of gold, 799.
Arfenic decompdfed by dephlogi-
fticated fpirit of fait, 919.
Spirit of wine yields a great quantity
mf water by being burned, 134.
Convertible into charcoal, 147.
Ether produced by its combination
with vitriolic acid, 717. Its com¬
bination with nitrous acid produ-
N°76.
CHEMISTRY.
Cf s fpiritus nitri dulcis and ether,
773, &c. Ether with the marine
acid, 844. With the vegetable
a'-td, 884. And with the faccha-
rine acid, 904. Converted into
acetous acid by digeftinn with the
acid of tartar, 1013. Enables vi¬
triolic acid to diffoive manganefe,
1014. Yields a great quantity of
water by diftillation with cauftic
alkali, 1015. Diflblves a fmall
proportion of arfenic, 1470. How
it may be mad? to difiblve ful-
phur, 1404. Diffolves efiential
oils, 144 x.
Spirituslifintlereri: howto cryftallize
h, ISIS-
Spiritus nitri dulcis, how prepared,
774. Analyfisof itsrefiduumby Mr
Pott, 781. Affords acetous acid,
1007. And acid of tartar, '1009.
Spiritus volatilis fuccinatus. See Kau
de luce.
Stahl: a miftake of his concerning
the converfion of marine into ni¬
trous acid detedfed, 793.
Standardfiver: quantity of pure me¬
tal contained in it, 321.
Star formed on the furface of regulus
of antimony, 1454.
Steel, fait of, the fame with green
vitriol, 697. How prepared from
iron, 1207.
Stills, how to fet them, 610.
Stone ware corroded by cauftic alka¬
lies, S9S-
Stra/burg turpentine defetibed, 1435.
Sublimation, in chemiftry, how per¬
formed, 581.
Sublimate. See Corrofive.
Sugar, acid of, the fame with that
of forrel, ad 903. Acid of apples
procured f om' fugar by means of
the nitrous acid, 1512.
The acid procurable from this fub-
ftance by means of the nitrous, re-
fembles that of tartar, in being ca¬
pable of fuperfaturatiug the vege table
alkali, and forming with it an acid
fait refembling crude tartar. This
is found naturally exifting in forrel
and fome other plants. There is,
however, another acid obtained from
fugar along with an empyreumatic
oil by dry diftillation, which lias
beefi purified and examined by Mr
Schrikel. Eight ounc -s and four
fcruples of liquid were obtained in
this manner from 16 of fine fugar.
About fix drachms of water came
over firft ; after which the acid paf-
fed in white vapours, which conden-
fed in undfuous ftria; on the fides of
the receiver. It had a pungent and
agreeable fmell, and rafted empyreu-
matic. By repeated diftillations from
pure clay, its fmelj, became mild, and
it acquired an apparent increafe of
acidity. With vegetable alkali, it
formed a fait tafting like that of Syl¬
vius, and fhooting into needle-like
cryftals, foluble with difficulty in
cold water, but not at all in fpirit of
wine. It did not deliquate in the
air ; but decrepitated in the fire, and
did not melt 011 hot coals. With the
mineral alkali yellow cryftals were
formed refembling Rochelle fait in
tafte, eafily folubie in water, and not
rieliquating in the air. Volatile al¬
kali gave a fharp faline liquor, which
could not be cryllallized, but left a
3
faline mafs on evaporation; and a fimi-
lar.faline m?.fs was produced by uni¬
ting it with calcareous earth. Mag-
nefia and earth of alum formed gum¬
my compounds. When concentrated,
it diffolvcd the calx of gold, and even
gold-leaf; but had no effedl on fil-
ver, mercury, or their calces. With
minium it gave a yellow folution,
which Ihot into oblong white cryftals
of an aftringent tafte. A blood-red
folution, which fhot into green cry¬
ftals, was obtained from iron. Copper
was diff dved into a green liquid,
which did not cryftallize. Regulus of
antimony was alfo diffolved, and the
folution was of a greenilh colour.
Zinc was partly diffoired into a
green liquor, and partly corroded.
The precipitates were remarkable.
The cry Hal- of iron gave a green
precipitate with alkalies, a black or
dark blue one with Pruffian alkali,
and a white one with marine acid.
Solution of regulus let fall a yellow
precipitate with fixed alkali ; with
volatile alkali, a powder foluble again
in the precipitant; vitriolic and ma¬
rine acids, and an infufion of galls,
threw down a white powder, but no
precipitate enfued on adding nitrous
acid. Solution of zinc gave a white
precipitate with infufion of galls, al¬
kalies of all kinds whether fixed, vo¬
latile, or phlogifticated, as well as by
the vitnoiic acid. Tin was partially
diffolved, and the folution precipita¬
ted by alkalies, and an infufion of
galls, but not by any of the mineral
acids. Lead was precipitated of a
white colour by vitriolic and marine
acids, and of a grey colour by infu¬
fion of galls.
Sugar of lead. See Snub arum and
Saccharine. Whether the acid of
fugar or of tartar is the bafis of
vegetable acids, 996. Identity of
vegetable acids proved from the
decompofition of this acid, zoo8.
Nitrous acid enabled by the acid
of fugar to diffoive manganefe,
ion. Method of procuring the
acetous acid from it, 882.
Sugar of milk: how to procure its a-
cid, 980.
Sulphur dephlogifticated by nitrous
acid, 195. Exifts in hepatic air,
4io. Quantity of phlogifton in
it, 307. Proper method of burn¬
ing it, 308. Deftroys the malle¬
ability of metals, 546. How to
procure the vitriolic acid from it,
623. Quantity of the acid con¬
tained in fulphur, ib. Quantity
procurable from it, (144. Me¬
thods of obviating the difficulties
in the procefs, 625. Effervefcenca
betwixt the fumes of nitre and
fulphur, 626. Extracted from the
fame ore with alum and vitriol,
639. Prepared by combining the
vitriolic acid with phlogifton, 713,
716. Effeits of acid of arfenic up¬
on it, 924. Molybdaena recom-
pofed by uniting its acid with ful¬
phur, 966. Combined with fixed
alkalies, 1021, Its phlogifton dif-
pofed to fly off when fulphur is
combined with fixed alkalies 1024.
Its combination with volatile alka¬
lies, 1038. Effedls of it on filver,
113*. Takes fire, tyyjntaueouily
IndexJ
with iron-filings, uoy. Cannot'
be united with zinc, 1*48. How
. to feparate it from antimony, 1434.'
Eafily united with arfenic, 1278.
And mineralizes it, 1284. Effeifts
of it on regulus of cobalt, 1305,
Effedls of it on nickel, 1308. On1f
manganefe, 1389. Its nature anilj
properties particularly confidered,
1398, etfeq. May be cryftallized,
1400. Decompofed by fuperabun-!||
dance of phiegifton, 1401. Howl)
it m^y be diffolved in fpirit of
wine, 1404. Its union with men¬
tals, 1403.
Sulphureous fumes effervefee with!
thofe of fpirit of nitre, 646. V0-1
latile fulphureous acid deferibedj
713. How procured by Dr PriefWt
ley, 714. Why this acid difTolve#)
manganefe, 1379. SulphureouJ
inflammable vapoursprocured from,
radical vinegar, 1545.
Sun diftributes the heat on the earth,
94. How heat is produced by his
tars, 93. His light blackens the
precipitates of fo.ution of filver,
756.
Sunjlo'wer contains nitre, 733. j
Sweden: when alum was firft made
there, 640. Method of matting
the aluminous ores there, 663
M-
Sympathetic ini of a blue colour, 842.]
T.abi.£ of the different degrees oi
heat, 161. Of different precipi
tates, from Mr Bergman, 259,
Of the quantity of acid taken up
by different bafes, 468 Coinci”
deuce of this table with experience>
271. Of the quantities of the dif.
ferent metals taken up by acidsi
*98. Table of the affinities a.
the acids to the different metal)
explained, 316. Of the quantitie
of phlogifton in different metals
319. Of the proportional affinities
of metallic calces to phlogifton
349. Dr Black's table of affinities
J53-
Jallow analyfed, 1429.
Tartar: quantity of fixed air m-01
of tartar, 414. Its acid particu
laiiy treated of, 885, et feq. Crud
tartar deferibed, ib. Pui ified, an
then called cream of tartar, by’boil
ing with fome of the finer kind
of clay, 886. Scheele’s analyfj
of cream of tartar, and method 0
procuring the pure acid, 887. So
luble tartar formed bv uniting th
vegetable fixed alkali with crean
of tartar, 889. Cream of tartai
how regenerated, 890. Seignette!
or Rochelle fait formed by com
bit'.ing the mineral alkali w-lt1
cream of ta- tar, 891. Salt forme
by the union of cream of tart,
with volatile alkali, 89a. Comb
nation of the acid of tartar wil
earths, 893. With metallic ful
fiances. 894. Forms a fine grei
colour with copper, 894. Chal
heated tartar with iron, 89
Whether this acid or that of fug
is the bafts of vegetable acids. 99
Produdl of acid of tartar by di
diftillation, 1000. Requifites fi
bringing vinegar nearer the fta
of tartar, 1004. Weftrumb’s ui
fuccefsful attempt for this purpoj
1003. Dr Creli’s opinion of tl
pollil
Index.
poffibility of the trabfmvrtation,
JO04. Method recommended by
him for attempting the experi¬
ment, top5. Argument in favour
of the identity of vegetable acids
. ‘from the produdiion of an empy-
reumatic acid < f tartar from rlje
liquor in which tartareous feienite
4s boiled, xoio. From the folu-
tion of manganefe in a mixture of
vitriolic and tartareous acids, 1012.
Silver whitened by cream of tar¬
tar and common fait, 1137. Of
the preparation of emetic tartar,
1257, 1258, et fug. See Emetic.
Manganefe folubie in acid wf tar¬
tar, 1368. Explanation of its ac¬
tion upon manganefe, 1382. Schil¬
ler’s method of procuring its acid,
?S3.
Though the acid of tartar has been.
I commonly fuppofed a product of the
i vinous fermentation, yet late eipe-
i rimerts have ihown that this is not
? the cafe. If has been found not only
in the juice of the grape, but in that
* ' of tamarinds, the berries of the rhus
j coriaria, and tile leaves of the rumex
acetofa. In thefe it is generally com-
; "hired with the vegetable fixed alka¬
li, or with calcareous earth. Hermb-
f ftadt has found it combined with cal-
S careous earth in the juice of the roots
I -of the triticum repens \he livntcdon-tux-
i ar.'.cum, and China-bark. By the affift-
! ance of nitrous arid he obtained it
: alfo from the juice, of grapes, mul-
I berries, apples, pears, oranges, ftraw-
t berries, and plums; alfo irom hn-
[ ney, fugar, gum arable, manna,
I fpirit of wine, brech-wooj, and the
1 root of black hellebore. In th -fe
t tafes, where the nitrous acid is made
} life of, however, it may juftfy be
] fippofed tiiai the acid of taitar is
| partly at lead produced froth it. In
i| Scheele’s procefs for procuring the
| pure acid of tartar by mean- of cat-
' tareous earth, it is - advifab'e to
i make ufe of quicklime rather than
l chalk, as by this double the quantity
I of tartar will be decompofed. An
■ hundred parts of pure tartar coiitain
[ tabout,23 of vegetable alkali, 43 parts
I of acid employed to faturate that al-
: kali, and 34 of fuperabundant acid.
[ By ufing oyfter-fhelis well prepa-ed
t by boiling and powderitg, the cry-
/ ftals of tire acid may be obtained very
j white and pure. Some chcmifts have
= imagined tiiat the vegetable alkali
i 4oes not exhli ready firmed in tartar,
1 but that it is produced by lire or
m I mineral acids. In proof of this M.
Machi offers the following experi-
Ynents. On an ounce of cream of
tartar were poured 10 ounces of
boiling water, and the mixture al¬
lowed to remain in a jar covered
wirh paper and pat chment in \-. hich
i | a fmall hole was made 'with a pin,
:U \ At the end of three months it was
xj j confiderahiy diminifhed ; and con-
i* | tained a quantity of 'thick, 1ov:gh,
•*1 yellow, mucilaginous mtt'er, which
t neither effervefeed with aci-1* 1 tor,al¬
kalies, and, when burnt, the afhes
1 were found to contaiti only a very
I : fmall quantity of alkali. The ex-
,ij j peri merit was repeated by Mr Cor-
J i} vinus with fonte variation. He kept
Vot.IV. PattH.
C H E M
a folution of cream of tartar in a
heat between 10® and 30° of Reau-
niur’s fcale; removing the faline pel¬
licles which formed on the furihee
as faft as they appeared, and redif-
f dving them in water. ■ By conti¬
nuing the digeftion for feveral
months, the liquor became at laft
evidently alkaline; and he thus ob¬
tained 216 grains of a brown alkali
from two ounces of cream of tartar.
Mr Berthollet expofed for nine
months, to the heat of his laboratory,
a folution of two ounces of cream of
tartar in eight ounces of water ; ta¬
king care to replace the water which
evaporated, but without removing
the crufts which formed upon the
furface. At the end of this rime l.e
found that the liquor was no longer
acid, but began to turn the fy up of
violets green. In 18 months it be¬
came ftrongly alkaline; and left,
when evaporated, an oily reliduum
which effervefeed with acids, and (
weighed 468 grains. On treating-
in the fame manner a folution of
terra foliata tartari, the liquor began
to change the f) rup of violets green
in two month', and in four the de-
cumpofnion fi-emed to he complete.
At the end of a year he filtered
and evaporated the liquor to drynefs,
-by which prorefs he obtained 432
grains of fixed aiitalj, ’1 he fame
quantity of terra foliata tartari <!e»
compofed immediately by diftiflatitjn,
yielded only 36 grains more of alka'i.
Solution of fait of wood-forrelfuffered
no decompef tion .by a fimilar treat¬
ment for two years. The latter he
obferved to be a much more power¬
ful antifeptic than tartar; for which
reafoa it feems to refift decompofition
in a pi oportionabie degree. He fup-
pofes oil to be the principal caufe of
the deft met ion of thefe acids; and
the obvious deficiency of oil in the
face1: a: ine acid, in companion with
tartar, feems to be the caufe of the
want-of capacity in it t» undergo the
decompofi ion juft mentioned. A
remarkable circumitance attends this
fpontaiTcou.s decompofition, viz. that
no aiir Is either abforbed or emitted
during the whole procefs. It is alfb
worth notice, that in combining acid
of ta-tar witli fixed alkalier, the fait
fupeifaturated with acid or cream of
tartar is always formed in preference
to the other callfd/oM/r tartar. Thus,
if to ‘a faturated folution of alkali
with cream of tartar'we add another
of pure tartareousacidpawhiteipongy
mutter will be precipitate ! to the
b ttom ; which, on examination, is
found to be a true tartar. Any other
acid-added to the foiution of tartari-
fed tartar will in like manner pro¬
duce a precipitation of tartar, by en¬
gaging a part - f the alkali with
which it was combined; and if the
acid of tartar be added to a folution
of any neutral fait containing the
vegetable fixed alkali, as variolated
tartar, fait of Sylvius, and nitre, a
fimilar precipitation of tartar will
enfue. Hence the acid of tartar may
he employed as a teft to difeover the
prefence of the vegetable fixed alka¬
li, and to diftiiigiuib it from the mi-
S T R Y.
neral, which has not that efieel.
Bergman indeed obferves, that Ro¬
chelle fait will do the fame thing ;
but it muft be remembered, that this
is prepared with crude tartar, which
contains a portion of vegetable alka¬
li, and not with the pure acid.
Temperatures: Dr Reid’s obferVa-
tions concerning, 50.
Terra feliata i.irtari. See Sal diureti*
cm. How to preferve it in a bottle
without danger of its deliquating,
868.
Terra ponderofa combined with acid
ot arfenic, 940. Ufually found
united with vitriolic acid, 1049.
Dr Withering’s experiments upon
it, 1050. Its appearance when
combined with aerial acid, 1051.
Effects of fire upon it, 1052. Phe¬
nomena with marine acid, 1053.
Is prccipirabie from it by mild and
caulric fixed alkali, 1054. Con¬
vertible into lime capable of de-
compofing vitriolic frits, 1055.
Infotuble precipitate thrown down
by cauftic alkali, 1056. Analyfis
and properties of the aerated pon¬
derous fpar, 1057. Its fid nion a
teft: of the ; refence of vitriolic a-
cid, 105 8. Nitrous folution Ilioots
into fine cryftais, 1066.' A fmall
quantity diiti lived by the colouring
matter of Pruffian blue, 1188.
Tcjh for acids and alkalies: Inaccu¬
racy of thofe commonly in ufe,
1549. How to prepare one front
red cabbage and other vegetables,
1350—155V. Mr Wouife’s teft
for mineral waters, 1557.
Theory of ihsmijity defined, 21.
Thermometer: its life, 103. Wedge-
wood’s improvement, 104.
Thunder and lightning: why mofe
common in lurnmer than in win¬
ter, roo.
Tin: why nitrous acid precipitates
its folution, 200. Why foturion
of gold is precipitated by fohttion
of tin, 227. The precipitate con-
fifts partly, of tin, 228. Of its
recipkates, 240. Why it cannot
e precipitated in its metallic form,
350. A&iofi of the vitriolic acid
on tin, 470. Diffolved in nitrous
acid, 472. Great fufibility of the
com] ounds of tin and biftnuth,
543. One folubie in hot water,
544. Of the compound farmed
by it and vit ioiic acid, 701. Its
folution in marine acid ufeful in
dyeing, 809. Is volatilized by
this acid, and forms the fmoking
liquor of Libavius, 810. Of its
combination with the acetous acid,
879. Dr Lewis’s experiments on
this fuhjedl, 880. Effects of acid
of a-fenit upon it, 950. Solution
of tin di-ftroyed by fiiccharum far
turn!, 1045. Said to deftroy the
malleability of gold remarkably,
1091. Mr Akhome’s experi¬
ments to determine this point,
1092. Its fumes do nut render
gold brkrle, 1093. Nor the ad¬
dition of fimall quantities of tin
and copper, 1094. The metal
articularly treated of, 1216. May
e beat into thin leaves, 1217.
its calcination, 1218. Its affinity
with arfeme, 1219, Arfenic fe-
63J
parable fro*n<it,-li*o. Dr Lewis’s
olfervations on this affinity, 1221.
Other metals injured by tin, 1222.
Tin not liable to ruft, 1223. An
ingredient in aurum mofairum,
1224. Of its union with fulphur,
ib. Readily unites with pktina,
1348. Remarkable effedls of the
febaceous acid upon it, 1535. Vo¬
latile alkali prepared from a mix¬
ture of it with nitrous acid, 1553.
Tinltura mattis made from marine
acid and iron, 807.
Tobacco naturally contains nitre, 7.33.
Tolfa: method of burning the hard
ores of alum there, 669.
Torrid zone* heat of it how mitiga¬
ted, 90.
Tranfmutation of metals not to be cre¬
dded, it. A feeming tranfmma-
tion of vitriolic into marine acid,
784. Tranfmutation of earth of
flints into feme otiicr, 1069. The
miflake difeovered by Mr Berg¬
man, 1070, etfeq. See Flint.
Triple and quadruple falls, how form¬
ed, 273 Vo atile alkali particu¬
larly adapted for itheir formation,
•» 274. Metallic foiutions fome-
times decompofcd by a triple com-
binatien, 223. A triple fait form¬
ed by marine acid, iron, and re-
gulus of antimony, 366. Another
by marine acid, copper, and regu-
lus of antimony, 367. A triple
lalt formed by precipitating fiiice-
i w earth with fixed alkali^ 1075,
A kind of triple fait formed by
precipitating calx of platina fr na
tire marine acid, 1327. Oilier
triple faits formed by it, 1332.
Tubal- Cain: whether to be account*
ed a chemift or not, 2.
Tungjlen particularly examined, 967,
et feq. Confidered as a metallic
earth by Mr Bergman, 967,
Scheele’s method of anal) Aug it,
968. Effects of heat upon it, 969,
Its chemical properties, 970. Dif¬
ferences betwixt the acids 1 f tung*
fteii and molybdasna, 971. Berg¬
man’s opinion concerning them,
972. Why he fuppofed the acids.
to be metallic earths, 973. Its
properties according to M. Lu-
yart, 1498. Of the yellow matter
called its acid by Mr Schecle,
1499. No Ample acid procurable
from the mineral, 1501. A new
feniimetal made from it, 1501.
Turbilh mineral, how prepared, 705,
706-.
Turpentine .Appearance of oil of
turpentine with acid of arfenic,
923. Ohio turpentine deferibed
1433. Venice turpentine, 1434.
Strafburg, 1435. Common, 1436.
Analyfis of turpentine, 1437. Lf-
Tentiai oil difficult of folution,
1438-
Vatour formed by the abforptlon
of latent heat, 120. Dr Black’s
experiments on the canverfion of
water into vapour, 121. Heatex-
peiled in great quantity by its con-
denfation, 125.
Vegetable colours changed by acids
and alkalies, 173. Of vegetable
earths, 515, 1089. Suppofed by
Dr Lewis to be the fame with
magnefta, 1089. Dr Gmelin’s
experiments,
634
experiment's, i!>. Vegetable ammo¬
niac, 870. Vegetable ether, S84.
Vegetable acids produce a remark¬
able change on copper, 1151 Ve¬
getable fubftances in general confi-
ilered, 1451.
TVjt following h a lift of the Vegetable*
from which the inrhijlry of the modern
themfts has procured different acids,
with the names of the difeoverers.
I. Agave Americana. The juice
exfuding from the calyx of this plant
yields acid of tartar and apples.. Mr
Hoffman of Weimar.
3. Aloes. Acid of fugar and ap¬
ples. Mr Scheele.
5. Apples. A peculiar acid called
by the name of the fruit. By ni¬
trous acid that of tartar is procu¬
red.'" Mr Scheele and Mr Hermhftadt.
4. Barberry. Acid i f apples, and
of tartar. By treatment with ni- '
trous acid it yields acid of fugar.
Scheele and Hermbfadt.—Hoffman de¬
nies that it contains any native acid
of tartar. By treating it with fpirit
©f wine and manganeie he obtained
an ether.
5. Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus').
Equal parts of the acids of citrons and
apples. Scheele.
6. Bramble (Rubus chamamorus).
The fame with the foregoing. Scheele.
7. Camphor. A peculiar kind of
©ryfhllizable acid. M. Kofegarten.
8. Cherries. Equal parts of acids
of citrons and apples. Saccharine
acid by treatment with fpirit of
nitre. Scheele, Hermbftadt, and We-
ftrumbe—Hermbftadt fays that he
found acid of tartar alfo.
9. Citrons and lemons. A particular
kind of cryltallizable acid, Scheele.
10. Coffee. The infufion evapo¬
rated and treated with fpirit of
nitre. Acids of fugar and apples.
Scheele.
It. Carls. A yellow acid by re¬
peated abftradtioris of fpirit of nitre.
With feme of the alkalies and earths
this acid forms ctyftallizable falls
which do not deiiquate, though others
do. That w ith fixed vegetable alka¬
li forms needle-like cryftals, foluble
in water, vitrioKc, nitrous, or ma¬
rine acids, but not in vinegar or fpi-
xit of wine. Like the facchaiine a-
cid it has a flrong aflinity to calca¬
reous earth, 'which it feparates from
lime-water, and forms a greyifh fa-
line powder, foluble in marine acid,
©wn acid. It exhibits fome appear¬
ances with metals, which deferve far¬
ther examination. Brugnatelli.
] 3. Cranberry. (Vaccinium oxy-
Coccos ). Acid of citrons. Scbecle.
13. Currants, red and white. Acids
of citrous and apples. , Weflrumb.
Hermbftadt fays that they contain a-
ciil of tartar.
14. Elder berries. Acid of apples.
Scheele.
15. Galls. A peculiar kind of a-
cid. Scheele.—y\.r Keir obferves, that
from other aftringent matters, efpe-
cially thofe ufed in dyeing-, it is pro¬
bable that fimilar acids might he ob¬
tained. Mr Morveau has obtained
from galls a relin which he fuppofes
cq be their acidifiabk bafe; and
CHEMISTRY. Index.
which, along with pure air, forms
the acid of galls. When purified,
this acid is faid to make a fine and
durable ink.
16. Geranium acidum. Small acid
cryftals. Cartheufcr. Said by Hermb¬
ftadt to be the acid of fugar.
17. Gotfeberries. Acid of apples.
Scbeele.— Hermblladt fays that they
contain the acid of tartar alfo.
, 18. Grapes. Their juice well known
to contain the acid of tartar par¬
tially combined with fixed alkali.
19. Grafs-roots. Saline cryftals
from" the extraft of the juice after
three months {landing. Thefe were
foluble in water, and gave an earthy
precipitate on mixture with fixed al¬
kali. On abftradling the nitrous a-
cid from them, and adding a folu-
tion of ca!carenus earth in vinegar, a
precipitate fell, which was found to
conliil of acid of tartar faturated
with lime. Hermbftadt.
30. Gum Arabic. Acid of fugar
and apples. Scheele.
31. Gum tragacantb. Acids of fu¬
gar of milk, apples, and fugar.
23. Haw (Crnteegus aria). Equal
parts of acids of citrons and apples.
. 33. Honey. An acid liquor by di-
flillation; and with fpirit of nitre, the
acid of fugar. The diitilled acid has
been faid to difiblve gold.
24. Lemons. An acid the fame
with that of citrons.
25. Leontodon taraxacum. Acid of
tartar by treatment with fpirit of
nitre.
26. Manna. Acid of fugar by-
treatment with fpirit of nitre.
27. Mulberries. Acid of tartar.
Hermbftadt. A cryftailizable acid fait
by evaporating the juice. Angelas
Sala.
28. Oil of olives. A fait which
fublimed and cryftallized, by re¬
peated and copious abftradtions of the
nitrous acid. Weftrumb.
29. Peruvian bark. Acid of apples
and fugar, by treating the extrait
with nitrous acid. Scheele.
3Q. Primus fpinofa et dtmeftica. A-
cid of apples. Scheele.
31. Prunus padus. Acid of ci¬
trons. Scheele.
32. Poppy. Acids of fugar and
apples, by treating the juice with
nitrous acid. Scheele.
33. Rajpberries. Acids of apples
and citrons. Scheele. Acid qf tar¬
tar by faturating the juice with
chalk, and then feparating the earthy
bafts by means of vitriolic acid.
Hermbftadt.
34. Rhapontic. Acid of tartar by
cryftaliizing the juice ; of fugar by¬
treating it with nitrous acid. Bind-
heim.
35. Rhubarb. Acids of fugar and
apples by treating the infufion with
nitrous acid. If a pound bf Indian
rhubarb be infufed in hot water, a
powder fubfides, which by walhing
becomes white, weighing then about
nine drachms, and is found to con-
fift of calcareous earth united with
the acid of fugar. Scheele,
36. Ribes cynojbati. Acid of citrons
or lemons. Schcele.
37. Salep. Acids of fugar and
apples by treatment with nitrous a-
cid. Scheele.
38. Service fforbus aucuparia). A-
dd of apples. Scheele.
39 Solatium dulcamara. Acid of
citrons. - Scheele.
40. Sorrel {Rumex acetoki). Cryftals
of tartar by evaporating and o yftal-
iizing the juice; and pure acid of tar¬
tar by faturating the acid with chalk,
and then expellh g it by means of
the vitriolic. Hermbftadt. Other che-
mifts, however, have certainly found
it to contain the acid of fugar partly
neutralised with alkali, and which is
capable of being cryftallized. This
is generally known under the name
of fait of wood for rel, and is manufac¬
tured in confiderable quantities in
Thuringia, Suabia, Switzerland, and
the Hartz. It is prepared from this
plant as well as t\\e oxalis acetofella.
The plants are bruifed in ftone or
wooden mortars; the juice is fquee-
zed through linen; and when cleared
by fettling, is to be boiled to a pro¬
per conliftence, and clarified with the
whites of eggs, or with blood. It is
to be ftrained whilft hot, and then
kept in a cold cellar. In a few
weeks .cryftals will be formed, from
which the remaining liquor muft be
poured off, and by further evapora¬
tion will yield more fait. Savary
obtained only two ounces and a half
of fait from 23 pounds of the juice.
41. Strawberries. Equal parts of the
acids of apples and citrons. Scheele.
42. Sugar. See the article.
43. Sumach (Rbus cor/aria). Cry¬
ftals of tartar. Profeffor ‘Tromfdorf
and Son.
44. ‘Tamarinds. Acid of tartar,
tartar itfelf, with a mucilaginous and
fa-chai ine matter. Weftrumb.
4j. Vaccinium vitis ideea. Acid of
citrons. Scheele.
46. Wood and bark of the birch tree.
From 55 ounces of the wood were
obtained 17 ounces of redtified acid,
which when freed from an amber-
coloured oil was to the fpecific gra¬
vity of water as 49 to 48, and of
fuch ftrength that one ounce of it re¬
quired 33 of lime-wa|er for its fatu-
ration. Chemijls of Dijon.—By allow¬
ing the acid diftilled from the bark to
remain at reft for three months, much
of its oil was fepat ated; by fatura-
tion with fixed alkali a dark-coloured
neutral fait was obtained, which was
purified by fufion and fubfequent fil¬
tration and evaporation. On fub-
jedling the purified fait to did illa¬
tion, an acid arofe, which had no
longer an empyreuniatic fmell, but
rather a flavour of garlic. Goettling.
Vegetations, curious, produced from
folution of filver, 754.
Venice turpentine. See Turpentine.
Verdigris, how prepared, 872. Di¬
ftilled, ib. Verdigris diflilled, heft
method of making it, 872.
Verditer, a preparation of copper,
738. Method of making blue
verditer generally unknown, ib.
Vermilion made by fubliming fulphur
and mercury together, 1404. Dif¬
ficulty in adjufting the proportions
of the ingredients, ib. May be
made without fublimatiorl from
quick filver and. the volatile tinc¬
ture of fulphur, ib. Or with "the
fdution of fulphur by fixed alkali
or quicklime, ib. Is darker or
lighter according to the quantity
of fulphur, ib. •
Verulam. Lord, ftud:es and revives
(he feience of chemiftry, 16. His
opinions concerning heat, 39.
Vffels, chemical; of the proper ones
to be ufed, 33 7, ct feu. Dr Black’s
opinion, ib. Of glafs, 338. Of
metal, 360. See Chemical, Glafs,
Metal, Earthen ware, .and Porce-
Vibr.ition; Nicholfon’s account of the
advantages-attending the fuppofi-
tion that heat is occafioned by it,
80. Apfwered,-81.
Vinegar; fpecific giavityof it when
ftrongly concentrated, 101. Why
it may be reduced Into air without
addition, 208. Procurable from
the 1 efiduum of vitriolic ether, 2d
722. Lewis’s experiments on the
folubility of tin in this acid, 880,
Whey convertible into vinegar,
979. Requifites for bringing it
nearer the ftate of tartar, 1002.
Weftrumb’s attempts for this pur-
pole, 1003. Dr Crell’s opinion
of the poffibility of the tranfmu-
tation, 1004. Method recom¬
mended by him for attempting the
experiment, 1003. Suppofed to he
an antidote againft arfenic, 133a.
Difference between radical vinegar
and common acetous acid, 1328.
Vi* inertiee: fire feems to be deftitute
of it, 93.
Vitriol: why folution of gold is pre¬
cipitated by the green kind, 223.
But not by this fak when dephio-
gifticated, 226. That procured
by precipitation of copper with
iron lefs fit for dyeing than the
common, 344. Blue vitriol can¬
not be formed by boiling alum
and copper filings, 349. Propor¬
tion of ingredients in blue vitrjol,
467. How to ext rack green vi¬
triol from pyrites, and to diftil the
acid from it, 620, etfeq. Extrac¬
ted from the fame ore with ful¬
phur and alum, 639. Alum is
generally contaminated by dephlo-
gifticated vitriol, 684. Perfeck
reen vitriol cannot be deftroyed
y clay, 686. How to abfttadl;
the phlogifton from it, 687. How
to prepare blue vitriol, 693. Parts
with its acid with more difficulty
than the green kind, 694. Its
nfes, 693. White vitriol, how
prepared, 708. Why the diftilla-
tion of fea-falt with copperas does
not fucceed, 787. Green vitriol-
decompofed by faccharum faturni,
1044. Fixes the colouring matter
of Pruflian blue, 1174. How af-
fedted by dcphlogiftkated marine
gas, 1483.
Vitriol, acid of. See Vitriolic acid.
Vitriolic acid: why it cannot a<5t on
lead, filver, &c. without a boil¬
ing heat, 197. Cannot be redu¬
ced into an aerial form but by a
combination wiih phlogifton, 202.
On the expulfion of the nitrous
acid by the vitriolic diluted, 280.
By the fame in a concentrated
ftate,.
CHEMISTRY.
Index.
ftate, a8r. W!rh a ftnal! quan¬
tity of vitriolic acid diluted, 28a.
On the expulfion of the ma¬
rine acid by the concentrated vi¬
triolic, 283. Decpmpofitinn of
vitriolic ammoniac by marine acid
never complete, 2 91. Why the
vitriolic acid refumes on evapora¬
tion the bafes it had left, 285.
Decompofition of vitriolic ammo¬
niac by folution of filveri explained,
306. Of corrofive mercury by
concentrated vitriolic acid, 315'.
Can diffolve no other metals than
iron and zinc, 337. Kirwan’s ex¬
periments on the fpecific ,gravity
of oil of vitriol, 385. Why it
is neceflary to dilute the acid in
tbefe experiments, 396. To find
its fpecific gravity, 397. Quan¬
tity of acid neceffary to faturate
pure mineral alkali, 430. Why
vitriolic air is produced by difibl-
ving iron in concentrated vitriolic
acid, 455. Solution of the calces
of iron in vitriolic acid, 456. It
adds on iron in'a much more di¬
lute fiate than the nitrous, 461.
Proportion of copper difiblved by
vitriolic acid, 464. Vitriolic air
obtained from this folution, 467.
Why this metal cannot be aided
upon by diluted vitriolic acid, 466.
A&ion of the vitriolic acid on tin,
470. On lead, 474. On filver,
478. On mercury, 485. Zinc,
. 487. Bifmuth, 49T. Nickel,
ad 493. Cobalt, 496. Regulus
of antimony, 499. Reguhis of
arfenic, 302. Quantity- of phlo-
gifton in vitriolic air, 306, This
acid and its combinations parti¬
cularly treated of, 612, etfeq. Is
never found naturally pure, 612.
How re&ified, 613. Attradls
moifture from the air,.614. Pro¬
duces cold and heat according to
circumflances, 615. Quantity of
alkali faturated by it, 616. Its
effedls on the human body, 617.
Difficulty of procuring it by itfelf,
618. Diftillation of it from cop¬
peras, 620. Reddifitation of the
acid thus obtained, 622. To pro¬
cure it from fulphur, 623. Quan¬
tity of acid contained in it, 623.
Quantity produced from it, 624.
Methods of obviating the difficul¬
ties in this procefs, 625. Ought
to be made in lead veflels, 627.
Of its combination with fixed al¬
kali, 628. With calcareou1- earth,
635. With argillaceous earth,
637. With magnefia, 690. With
metals, 691. With inflammable
fubftances, 71a. Bergman’s ex¬
periments to (how that an excefs
of this acid impedes the cryftalli-
zation of alum, 681. Procured
1 from the refidmim of vitriolic
! ether, 2d 722. Of its tranfmuta-
' {ion into the nitrous acid, 720.
I How to mradl the nitrous acid
by its means, 734,. Whether the
marine acid he the fame with it;
783. - Experiment feeming to
prove the tranfmutation, 784.
Expelled by acid of fugar, 898.
Effedih of it on fait of amber, 913.
Diflblves manganefe in conjunc¬
tion with the acid of tartar, IOI2.
Or with fpirit of wine, 1014,
Expelled by the nitrous and ma¬
rine acids, 1041. Promotes the
foiubility of falts, 1048. Terra
ponderofa ufually found united
with the vitriolic acid, 1049.
Unites with this fubftance more
readily than with alkalies, 1055.
Its prefence readily difeovered by
terra ponderofa, loj8. The oil
of vitriol ufually fold contains
gypfum, 1059. EffeiSts of it on
arfenic, 1271. Converts thq re¬
gulus into white arfenie, 129a.
On regulus of cobalt, .1300.
Vitriolatvd tartar: its decpmpofltion
by calcareous earth explained, 270.
On its ilecompofition by nitrous
acid, 285. Cannot be decompo-
fed by diluted nitrous acid, 287.
Decompofed by marine acid, 288.
Requifites for the fuccefs of this
experiment, 289. Cannot be de¬
compofed in a ftate of folution by
this acid, 290, Explanation of its
decompofition by folution of fil¬
ver, 305. Why it is fo much
heavier than nitre, 416. Of the
quantity of ingredients in it, 419.
How prepared, 628. 629, Its
ufes, 631. Decompofed and ful¬
phur procured from it by calcina¬
tion with charcoal, 716. Its acid
expelled by that of phofphorus,
907. And by the arfenicai acid,
929-
Volatile alkali lefs ftfongly attraried
than metallic earths by acids, 303.
, May be ufed to remove the excefs
of acid in aluminous ley, 680.
Forms Glauber’s fal ammoniac
with vitriolic acid, 633. Nitrous
aramomac with the nitrous, 745.
Common fal ammoniac with the
marine, 795. Vegetable ammo¬
niac with the acetous, 870. A
fait forming into elegant cryftals
with the acid of tartar, 892.
Us combination with fluor acid,
851. Glafs corroded by this fait,
854. A great quantity of it fatu¬
rated by acid of fugar, 90b.
Forms microcofmic fait with the
phofphoric acid, 905. Combined
with acid of aifenic, 928. In its
mild ftate decompnfes calcareous
folutions, 1045. Precipitates fili-
ceous earth completely, 1074. Its
preparation particularly treated of,
101,0,etfeq. Obtained from various
fubftances, ib. Proper way of diftil-
lingit, 1031. How purified, 103a.
Volatile fal ammoniac, howprepa-
pared, 1033. Volatile alkali com¬
bined with metals, 1034. With
efiential oils and fpirit of wine,
103$, 1037. Withfulphur, 1038.
Volatile timSlure of fulphur, 1038.
Its ufe in the preparation of aurum
- fulminans but lately known, 1106.
The caufe of its explolion, 1121.
Unites with the colouring matter
of Pruflian blue, 1182. Obtained
by djftillation from Pruflian blue,
1197^ May be united with phio-
gifton and fixed alkali, fo as to fu-
ftain a great degree of heat, 1202.
Effedls of it on nickel, 1314. On
foiution of platina, 1330. Why
the volatile fulphureous acid dif-
f(jlves.manganefe, 1379. Volatile
alkali deftroyed by manganefe at¬
tracting, its phlogifton, 1394.
Volcanic countries only afford ‘ ores
containing alum ready made, 635.
Unguentum citrinum, how prepared,
772,
Urine, how the microcqfmic fait is
procured from it, 905, Always
contains a calculous matter, 1457.
Why frelh urine reddens lacmus,
1458. Different falts contained in
it, 1439. Affords the acid of ben¬
zoin, 1532.
Ward’s drop : Nitrous ammoniac
the principal ingredient in it, 746.
Water: Its flownefs in melting when
- congealed, a preventative of in-
, undations, 88. Prodigious force
exerted by it in freezing, 106.
Remains fometimes fluid though
coded below 32 degrees, 117.
Dr Black’s experiments on the
couverfion of water into fteam,
121. Its-boiling point in vacuo
determinedby Mr Boyle, 122. And
by Mr Robinfon of Glafgow, 123.
May be made fuffioientiy hot to
melt lead, 131. A great quanti¬
ty of water yielded by burning
fpirit of wine, 134. Produced
f om the deflagration of dephlo-
gifticated and inflammable air,
135. In the reduction of iron by
inflammable air, 156. Why it
does not unite with nitrous air,
204. Cannot diffolve metallic
falts without an excefs of acid, 2 97.
Quantity of it in digeftive fait,
379 In nitre, 39I. In vitriolated
tartar, 398. In fpirit of nitre,
426. How far it is an object of
chemiftry, 549. Scheme for fil¬
tering large quantities of it, 569.
Earthy cruft formed on it by fluor
, acid, 833. -See Cnfl. Neutral fait
for difeovering iron in mineral
waters, 1180. Mercury fuppofed
convertible into it, 1235. The
miftake difeovered by Lewis, 1236.
Waters, mineral, Mr Woulfe’s tell fur
them, 1557.
Watt's experiments on the diftrlla-
tion of water in vacuo, 45. On
the evaporation of fluids in vacuo,
126. His teft for adds and alhas¬
hes, 1549. ctfeq.
Wedge-wood’s improvement of the
635
thermometer, 104. His ftone-ware
an improvement in chemical vef-
ftls, 397.
Weight of metals increafed by calci¬
nation, 523, etfeq.
Wcnzel’s experiments on fluor acid,
- 850. Method of preparing cry¬
ftals of verdigris, 87a.
Weflrumb's analyfis of the refiduum of
vitriolic ether, 2d 722. His at-
. tempt to reduce vinegar nearer to
the ftate of tartar, 1003.
Whey: chemical properties of it, 970.
Convertible into vinegar, 979.
White: a beautiful white colour from
lead, 703. White drop of Ward,
746. White copper, how pre¬
pared, 1137.
Wiegleb’s experiments on fluor acid,
839. Account of the diftiilation
of nitrous acid by clay,, &c. 737.
His new chemical nomenclature,
2561.
Wilfon's experiments on phofphori,
1086.
Winch’s method of purifying ether,
2d 722. Wines,how purific*', 886.
Withering’s experiments on terra
ponderofa, 1050.
Wolfram. See 'Tungjlen.
Wood, prefervatives for, (>2r,"7oo.
Woodward’s receipt for making Pruf-
fian blue, 1164.
Woulfes method of procuring nitrous
ether in large quantity, 776. Teft
for mineral waters, 1357.
Yellow colour for houfe-painting,
699.
York, account of the aluminous ore
found near that place, 660.
Zaffre, a calx of cobalt, deferibed,
1294.
Zinc and iron, the only metals dif-
folved by vitriolic acid, 337. Of
their precipitation by one another,
347. Precipitates nickel, 338.
Cannot precipitate cobalt, 361.
Forms white vitriol with the vi¬
triolic acid, 707. Combined with
the nitrous acid, 767. With the
marine acid, 820. Volatilized by
it, ib. .With acid of arfenic, 951.
Cannot eafily be combined with
iron, 1162. Its combination with
copper, 1154. Th« metal parti¬
cularly treated of, 1240. Defla¬
grates violently in a ftrong heat,
ib. Sublimes into flowers, 1241.
Dr Lewis’s methoi of reducing
them, 124a. Oil fuppoftd to be
obtained from them by Homberg,
1243. The miftake difeovered by
Neumann,ib. Another oil by Mr
Hellot, capable of diffolving gold
and filver leaf, 1244. Combina¬
tion of zinc with other metals,
1245. lts combination with gold
a proper material for fpecula,
1246, Its deflagration with other
metals, 1247. Cannot be united
with fulpbur, 1248. Nitre alka-
lyfed by its flowers, 1249. Unites
readily with platina, 1342.
4L2
CHEMNITZ,
CHE [ 636 ] CUE
Che.mnita CHEMNITZ (Martin), a famous Lutheran divine,
Ch'lloio t^le difeiple of MelanCthon, was born at Britzen in
dinreu°" Brandenburg, in 1522.. He was employed in feveral
w important negociations by the princes of the fame
communion ; and died in 1589. His principal work
is the Examen of the Council of Trent, in Latin.
CHEMOSH. See Chamos.
CHEMOSIS,adifeafe of the eyes, proceeding from
an inflammation ; wherein the white of the eye fwells
above the black, and overtops it to fuch a degree,
that there appears a fort of gap between them. Others
define it to be an elevation of the membrane which
furrouhds the eye,, and is called the while ; being an
affeftion of the eye, like white-fleih.
CHENOPOD1UM, Goose-Foot, or Wild Orach:
A genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pen-
tandria clafs of plants; and in the natural method
ranking under the 12th order, Holoraccue. The calyx
is pentaphyllous and pentagonal; no corolla; one
feed lenticular, fuperior. There are 18 fpecies, 13 of
which are natives of Britain. The moft remarkable are
the following: 1. The bonus henricus, or common En¬
glish mercury, found growing naturally in fhady laces
in many places in Britain. It has large triangular, ar¬
row-pointed, entire leaves ; upright, thick, striated
ftalks, garnifhed with triangular leaves, and terminated
by clofe fpikes of apetalous yellowifh-green flowers
in June and July, which arc fucceeded by ripe feeds
in Auguft. 2. The fcoparia, belvedere, or annual
irtock-cyprtfs, which is of a beautiful pyramidal
form, refembling a young eyprefs-tree. 3. The bo-
Irys, or oak of Jerusalem. 4. The ambrofoides, or
oak of Cappadocia. All thefe are very eaiily pro¬
pagated from feeds; and will thrive belt in a rich
light earth. Moil of the fpecies have an aromatic
fmell. A fpecies which grows near the Mediter¬
ranean is ufed by the Egyptians in fallads, on ac¬
count of its faltifls aromatic taite. From the fame
plant kelp is made in other countries.—The firft fpe¬
cies, or English mercury, was formerly ufed as fpi-
nach ; but is, now difufed, as being greatly inferior
to that herb. As an article of the materia medtca, it
is ranked among the emollient herbs, but rarely made
ufe of in practice. The leaves are applied by the
common people for healing flight wounds, cleanfing
e!d Ulcers, and other like purpofes. The roots are
given to (beep that have a cough. Goats and flieep
are not fond of the heib; cows, hones, and fwine,
ref me it.—The fecond fpecies, or belvidere, is a plant
much efteemed in China. The following are the
properties attributed to it in. the Chinefe Herbal.
After having faid that it is about the end of March or
beginning of April that the belvidere. fprings up from
the earth ; that its fuckers or flioots riie,to the height
of eight or nine inches, in fliape of a child’s fill half
flint; that it afterwards extends itfelf, and fends forth
a number of branches loaded with leaves like thofe of
flax ; and that, as it grows, its branches arrange them-
felves naturally in the form of a beautiful pyramid ;
it adds, that its leaves, yet tender, abound with juice,
and have a very agreeable tafte ; that it may be eaten
as a fallad with vinegar, to which a little ginger has
been added ; that being prepared like other leguminous
plants, and baked with meat, it gives it an agreeable
and pleafmg flavour; that, when in its full beauty, its
leaves become hard and unfit for tke table ; but that Chepeli»
nourifiiment is then found in its root, which ferves as a 1*
refource in times of famine and fcarcity. When the emtirfir
belvidere has attained to its natural fize, the Chinefe
feparate its principal llalk from the reft, and put it
into a lye of afhes, which cleans and foftens it, and
frees it from all impurities of the bark. After this
bath, it is expofed to the fun ; and, when dry, it is
baked and feafoned. With regard to the root, which
has fomething of a violet-colour, they ftrip off the Ikin
by filaments, which may be boiled and eaten: but
what is particularly fought after, is the root itfelf; of
which, when reduced to powder, they colic ft only
what remains in the bottom of the vefl’el, and form it
into fmall loaves, that ai-e baked by being held over
the fleam of boiling water. People of a delicate tafte
will fcarcely be tempted to admit this difli at their
tables; but is it not ufeful to point out to the poor -
peafants, that, in cafes pf neceffity, they may always
have recourfe, without danger, to this ruftic food ? In
fuch cafes, they will be indebted to the Chinefe for
having made the firft trial, which, for the moft part, is
dangerous. Tile Chinefe Herbal cites the example of
four mountaineers, who having lived on nothing but
the leaves, roots, and ftalks, of the belvidere, with
which their country abounded, bad neverthelefs en¬
joyed perfeQ health to a very great age.
CHEPELIO, an ifland in the bayr of Panama anti
province of Darien, in South America, fituated about
three leagues from the city of Panama, which it lup-
plies with provifions. W. Long. 81. N. Lat. 9.
CHEPSTOW, a market town of Monmouthfhire
in England, feated on the river Wye near its mouth,,
in W. Long. 2.40. N. Lat. 51. 40.
CHEQ^or Cherif, the prince of Mecca, who is,
as it were, high priefl of the law, and fovereign pon¬
tiff of all the Mahometans of whatever fedl or country
they be. See Caliph.
The grand fignior, fophis, moguls, khans of Tartar
ry, &c. fend him yearly prefents, efpecially tapeftry to
cover Mahomet’s tomb withal, together with a fump
tuous tent for himfelf, and vaft fums of money to pro¬
vide for all the pilgrims during the 17 days of their
devotion.
CHERASCO, a ftrong and confiderable town of
Italy, in Piedmont, and capital of a territory of thq
fame name, with a ftrong citadel belonging to the
king of Sardinia, where he retired in 1706, during
the liege of Turin. It is feated at the confluence of
the rivers Sturia and Tanaro, upon a mountain. E-
Long. 7. 55. N. Lat. 44. 35.
CHERBURG, a fea-port town of France, in Nor¬
mandy, with a harbour and Auguftine abbey. It is
remarkable for the fea-fight between the Englilh and
French fleets in 1692, when the latter were beat, and ‘
upwards of twenty of their men of war burnt near
Cape la Hogue. The Britilh landed here in Augull
1758, and took the town, with the fhips in the bafon,
demoliflied the fortifications, and ruined the other
works which had been long carried on for enlarging
the harbour and rendering it more fafe and conveni¬
ent. Within thefe few years it has been attempted
again to improve the harbour, and rebuild the works;
but after confiderable pregrefs had been made, a great
part of them fuddenly gave way, and the enterprife it
5 is
CHE C 637 J CHE
Chcrem is thought will not be again refumed. E. Long. 1.38.
it N. Lat. 49. 38.
. *e™e3, CHEREM, among the Jews, is ufed to fignify a
fpecies of annihilation. See Annihilation.
The Hebrew word cherem, fignifies properly to de-
Jlroy, exterminate, devote, or anathematife.
Cherem is likewife fometimes taken for that which
is confecrated, vowed, or offered to the Lord* fo that
it may no longer be employed in common or profane
ufes. No devoted thing that a man lhall devote unto
the Lord, of all that he hath of man and beaft, and
of the field of his poifeffion, fhall be fold or redeemed ;
eveiy devoted thing is moil holy to the Lord : none
devoted, which ihall be devoted of men, fiiall be re¬
deemed, but fhall furely be put to death. There are
fome who aflert that the perfons thus devoted were
put to death ; whereof Jephtha’s daughter is a me¬
morable example. Judges xi. 29. &c.
Cherem is alfo ufed for a kind of excommunication
in ufe among the Jews. Sec Niddui.
CHERESCfUL, or Chahrzul, a town of Turkey
m Alia, capital of Curdiftan, and the feat of a begler-
beg. E. Long. 45. 15. N. Lat. 36. o.
CHERILUS, of Samos, a Greek poet, .flouriHied
479. years before Chrift. He fung the victory gained
by the Athenians over Xerxes, and was rewarded
with a piece of gold for every verfe. His poem had
afterwards the honour of being rehearfed yearly with
the works of Homer.
CHERLERIA, in botany: A genus of the tri-
gyniaordcr, belonging to the decandria clafs of plants;
and in the natural method ranking under the 22d or¬
der, Caryophylleat. The calyx is pentaphyllous; there
are five ne&aria, bifid, and petal-hke ; the anthene al¬
ternately barren ; the capfule is trilocular and three-
valved.
CHERLESQUIOR, in Turkifh affairs, denotes a
lieutenant general of the grand iignior’s armies.
Phte CHERMES, in zoology, a genus of infects belong-
exxxvm. Jng to the order of infefta hemiptera. The roftrum
is fituated on the breaft; the feelers are longer thar\ the
thorax ; the four wings are deflected; the thorax is
gibbous; and the feet are of the jumping kind. There
are 17 fpecies ; and the trivial names are taken from
the plants which they frequent, as the chermes gra-
minis, or grafs-bug; the chermes ulmi, or elm-bug,
&c. The chermes ficus, or fig-tree bug, one of the lar-
gell of the genus, is brown above and greenilh beneath.
Tfie antennae, likewife brown, are large, hairy, and
.one third longer than the thorax. The feet are yel-
lowilh ; the wings large, twice the length of the ab¬
domen. They are placed fo as to form together an
acute roof. The membrane of which they confifl is
thin and very tranfparent; but tjiey have brown veins,
ftrongly marked, efpecially towards the extremity.
The rollrum of this chermes is black, and takes its
rife from the lower part of the thorax, between the
firll and fecond pair of feet. It is an infedl to be
met with in great numbers upon the fig-tree. The
larva has fix feet. It is like the infedl, when pro¬
vided with wings. Its form is oblong, and its- mo¬
tion flow. The chryfalis differs from it by two flat
buds that fpring from the thorax and inclofe the wings,
afterwards feen in the perfect infedl. Thefe chryfa-
bds are frequently met with, on plants; and the two
plates of their thorax give them a broad uncouth ap- Chermes
pearance, and a heavy look. When the little chryfa- Qjjert
lids are going to be metamorphofed, they remain mo- ' j
tionlefs under fome leaves which they fix themfelves
upon. Their fkin then divides upon the head and
thorax, and the perfedl iniefl comes forth with his
wings, leaving the fpoil of his chryfalis open and rent
anteriorly upon the leaf. Thefe kind of flonghs are
often found beneath the leaves of the fig-tree. 'The
perfecl in feci is furnifhed with four wings, large in
proportion to its body, veined, and placed in the
form of a roof; and with them it flies. It has, more¬
over, the faculty of leaping pretty briskly, by means of
its hinder-legs, which play like a fpring. When it is
attempted to catch the chermes, it makes its efcape
rather by leaping than flying. Some of thofe infedls
have a manoeuvre worthy of notice. Several fpecies
are provided at the extremity of their body with a
fmall fliarp-pointed implement, but which lies con¬
cealed, and that they draw out in order to^lcpoiit
their eggs, by' making a puncltire in the plant that .
fuits them. By this method the fir-tree chermes pro¬
duces that enormous fcaly protuberance that is to be
found at the fummit of the branches of that tree, and
which is formed by the extravafation of the juices oc-
cafioned by the punclures. The young larvss flicker
themfelves in cells contained in the tumor.' The white
down, under which the larva of the pine-chermes is
found, feems to be produced much in the fame manner.
That of the box-tree chermes produces no tubercnl.v
like thofe ; but its puniStures make the leaves of that
tree bend and grow hollow in the fliape of a cap, which
kyr the union of thofe infledled leaves produces at the
extremity of the branches a kind of knobs, in which
the larvae of that infedl find flicker. The box-chermcs,
as well as fome others, has yet another peculiarity,
which is, that' the larva and its chryfalis ejeiil at the
anus a white fweet-tafted matter, that foftens under
the touch, and is not unlike manna. This fubftance is'
found in fmall white grains within the balls formed by-
the box-leaves, and a ftring of the fame matter is often
feen depending from the anus of the infetl.
Chermes Mineral. Sea Kermes.
CHERRY-island, an iflandin the northern ocean,
lying between. Norway and Greenland, in E. Long,
20. 5. N. Lat.. 75. o.
CnERRY-Tree, in botany. See Prunus.
CHERSO, an ifland in the gulph of Venice, with,
a town of the fame name near Croatia, belonging to
the Venetians. The air is good, but the foil llony ;
however, it abounds in wine, cattle, oil, and excel¬
lent honey. E. Long. 15^ 5. N. Lat. 45,. 8.
CHERSONESUS, among modern geographers,
the fame with a peninfula; or a continent almofl en-
compaffed rbqnd with the fea, only joining to-the main-
land by a narrow neck or illhmus. The word, is
Greek, stEpvovmr®-; o£ xw**** land, and '‘^s, ijland;
which fignifies the fame. In ancient geography,
it was applied to feveral peninfulas; as the Cherfo-
nefus Aurea, Cimbrica, Taurica, and Thracia, now
thought to be Malacca, Jutland, Crim Tartary, and
Romania.
CHERT, Petrosilex, Lapis Corneus, the Horn~
Jlein of the Germans; a ..fpecies of Hone claffed by
Cronftedt among thi filiceous eaitbs. It is of a coar-
kv
CHE [ 638 I CHE
Chert fer texture than the common flint,, as well as fofter ;
Cherub ^or reafons it is not capable of fuch a fine po-
J lilh. It is femitranfparent at the edges, or when bro¬
ken into very thin pieces. It is found of different
colours, viz, white, whitifh-yellow, flefh-colourcd, and
greenifh. According to Mr Kirwan, it runs in veins
through rocks, from whence its name is derived ; its
fpcciiic gravity being from 2590 to 2)00. In the fire
it whitens and decrepitates like filex, but is generally
fufible per fe. Mineral alkali does not totally diffolve
it in the dry way, but borax and microcofmic fait do
fo without effervefcence. Its appearance is duller, and
lefs tranfparent than common flint. The reddifh pe-
trofilex, ufed in the count de Lauragais’s porcelain
manufactory, and there called feld-fpat, contained 72
per cent, of filex, 22 of argill, and 6 ofrcalcareous earth.
Cronftedt obferves that there are not as yet any
certain characters known by which the cherts and
jafpers#nay be diftinguiflted from one another, though
they can eafily be fo by fight; the cherts appearing
of a fine fparkling texture when broken ; but the jaf-
pef being grained, dull, and opaque, and having the
appearance of a dry clay. The chert is alfo found
forming larger or fmaller veins, or in nodules like ker¬
nels in rocks ; whereas the jafper, on the contrary,
fometimes conftitutes the principal part of the high-
ejt and moft extended mountains. The chert is like-
wife found -plentifully in the neighbourhood of fcaly
limeftone, as flints are in the ftrata of chalk.
The connection between thefe bodies is not yet dif-
covered ; but it is impoffible to eftablifli any effential
difference between them, from the circumftance of
flints and agates being generally found in Angle, loofe,
and irregular nodules, and hardly in rocks like the
chert: for near Conllantinople the agate ftone runs in
a vein acrofs the rock, of the fame hardnefs, and as fine
and tranfparent, as thofe agates found in round nodules
at Deux Fonts.
CHERTZEY, a market town of Surrey in England,
about feven miles weft from Kingfton upon Thames.
W. Long. 30'. N. Lat. 51. 25.
CHERUB, (plural, Cherubim); a celeftial fpirit,
which in the hierarchy is placed next to the feraphim.
See Hierarchy.
The term cherub, in Hebrew, is fometimes taken for
a calf, or ox. Ezekiel fets down the face of a cherub
as fynonymous to the face of an ox. The word cherub,
in Syriac and Chaldee, fignifies to till or plow, which
is the proper work of oxen. Cherub alfo fignifies
Jlrong and powerful. Grotius fays, that the Cheru¬
bim were figures much like that of a calf. Bochart
thinks likewife, that the cherubim were more like to
the figure of an ox than to any thing befides ; and
Spencer is of the fame opinion. Laftly, St John, in
the Revelations, calls cherubim leafs. Jofephus fays
the cherubim were extraordinary creatures, of a figure
unknown to mankind. Clemens of Alexandria be¬
lieves, that the Egyptians imitated the cherubim of
the Hebrews in the reprefenlations of their fphinxes
and theit hieroglyphical animals. All the feveral de-
fcriptions which the fcripture gives us of cherubim
differ from one another; but all agree in reprefenting
them as a figure compofed of various creatures, as a
man, an ox, an eagle, and a lion. Such were the
pherubim defcribed by Ezekiel. Thofe which Ifaiah
faw, and are called feraphim by him, had the figure Chervil
of a man with fix wings; with two whereof they I1 -
covered their faces, with two more they covered their ,chefe^eto-.
feet, and with the two others they flew. Thofe *
which Solomon placed in the temple of Jerufalem are
fuppofed to have been nearly of the fame form. Thofe
which St John defcribes'in. the Revelations were all
eyes before and behisd, and had each fix wings. The
firft was in the form of a lion, the fecond in that of a
calf, the third of a man, and the fourth of an eagle.
The figure of the cherubim was not always uniform,
fince they are differently defcribed in the (hapes of men,
eagles, oxen, lions, and in a compofition of all thefe
figures put together. Mofes likewife calls thefe fym-
bolical or hieroglyphical reprefentations, which were
embroidered on the veils of the tabernacle, cherubim of
coftly work. Such were the fymbolical figures which
the Egyptians placed at the gates of their temples and
the images of the generality of their gods, which were
commonly nothing but ftatues compofed of men and
animals.
CHERVIL, in botany. See Chjerophyllum.
CHESAPEAK, in America, one of the largeft
bays in the known world. . Its entrance is between
Cape Charles and Cape Henry in Virginia, 12 miles
wide ; and it extends 270 miles to the northward,
dividing Virginia and Maryland. Through this ex¬
tent it is from 7 to 18 miles broad, and generally about
9 fathoms deep; affording many commodious har¬
bours, and a fafe and eafy navigation. It receives the
waters of the Sufquehannah, Patomak, Rappahan¬
nock, York, and James rivers, which are all large and
navigable.
CHESELDEN (William), an eminent anatomift
and furgeOn, was born at Burrow on the Hill, in the
county of Leicefter, defcended from an ancient family
in the county of Rutland, whofe arms and pedigree
are in Wright’s “ Hiftory of Rutland.” He received
the rudiments of his profefiional fkill at Leicefter;
and married Deborah Knight, a citizen’s daughter,
by whom he had one daughter, Williamina Deborah.
In 17 >3 he publifhed his Anatomy of the Human
Body, one volume 8vo ; and in 1723, A Treatife on
the High Operation for the Stone^ He was one of
the earlieft of his profelfion who contributed by his
writings to raife if to its prefent eminence. In the
beginning of 1736, he was thus honoprably mention¬
ed by Mr Pope : “ As foon as I had fent my laft
letter, I received a moft kind one from you, ex-
prefling great pain for my late illnefs at Mr Chefel-
den’s. I conclude you was eafed of that friendly apr
prfhenfion in a few days after you had difpatched
yours, for mine muft have reached you then. I won¬
dered a little at your quasre, Who Chefelden was ? It
Ihows that the trueft merit does not travel fo far any
way as on the wings of poetry: he is the moft noted
and moft deferving man in the whole profefiion of
chirurgery ; and has faved the lives of thoufands by
his manner of cutting for the ftone.” He appears to
have been on terms of the moft intimate friendihip •
with Mr Pope, who frequently, in his Letters to Mr
Richardfon, talks of ■ ining with Mr Chefelden, who
then lived in or near Queen Square. In February
1737, Mr Chefelden was appointed furgeon to Chel-
fea kofpital. As a governor of the Foundling Ho-
CHE [ 639 ] CHE
CHefhire fpital, he fent a benefaflion of 501, to that charity, CHESS, an ingenious game performed with diffe- Chefs.
i'1 May 7. 1751, inclofed in a paper with the following rent pieces of wood, on a board divided into 64 fquares J' v~"
e nut lines: or houfes : in which chance has fo fmall a fhare, that
’Tis what the happy to th’ unhappy owe;
For what man gives, the gods by him bellow. Pope.
He died at Bath, April 11. 1752, of a diforder arir
fing from drinking ale after eating hot buns. Finding
himfelf uneafy, he fent for a phyfician, who advifed'
vomiting immediately ; and if the advice' had been
taken, it was thought his life might have been faved.
By his dire&ion, he was busied at Chelfea.
CHESHIRE, a maritime county of England,
bounded by Lancafhire on the north ; Shropjhire and
part of Flintlhire, on the fouth ; Derbylhire and Staf-
fordlhire, on the eaft and fouth-eaft; and Denbigh-
fnire and part of Flintfliire on the well and north-well.
It extends in length about 44 miles, in breadth 25 ;
and is fuppofed to contain 125,600 inhabitants. Both
the air and foil in general are good. In many places
of the country are peat-moffes, in which are often
found trunks of fir-trees, fometimes feveral feet under
ground, that are ufed by the inhabitants both for fuel
and candles. Here alfo are many lakes and pools well
ftored with filh; befides the rivers Merfee, Weaver,
and Dee, which lall falls into a creek of the Jrilh fea
near Cheller. This county alfo abounds with wood :
but what it is chiefly remarkable for, is its cheefe,
which has a peculiar flavour, generally thought not to
be inferior to any jn Europe; (fee Cheese). The
principal towns are, Cheller the capital, Cholmondely,
Namptwitch, &c.
William the Conqueror erected this county Into a
palatinate, or county-palatine, in favour of his nephew
Hugh Lupus, to whom he granted the fame fovereign-
ty and jurifdiftion in it that he himfelf had in the reft
of the Hand. By virtue of this grant, the town of
Chefter enjoyed fovereign jurifdidtion within its own
precinfts ; and that in fo high a degree, that the earls
held parliaments, confifting of their barons and tenants,
which were not bound by the a£ts of the Englilh par¬
liament: but this exorbitant power of the palatinates
was at laft reduced by Henry VIII.; however, all
cafes and ciimes, except thofe of error, foreign-plea,
foreign-voucher, and high-treafon, are Hill heard and
determined within the {hire. The earls were ancient¬
ly fuperiors of the whole county, and all the land¬
holders were mediately or immediately their vaffals,
'and under the like fovereign allegiance to them as
they were to the kings of England ; but the earldom
was united to the crown by Edward III. fince which
time, the eldeft fans of kings of England have always
been earls of Cheller, as well as princes of Wales.
Chelhire fends four members to parliament; two for
the county, and two for the capital.
CHESNE (Andrewdu), ftyledthe father of French
hiftory, was born in 1584. He wrote, 1. A hiftory
of the popes. 2. An hiftory of England. 3. An in¬
quiry into the antiquities of the towns- of France. 4.
An hiftory of the cardinals. 5. A bibliotheca of the
authors wrho have written the hiftory and topogra¬
phy of France, &c. He was crulhed to death d>y a
cart, in going from Paris to his country-houfe at Ver-
viere, in 1640.
CHESNUT-tree. See FagIts.
it may be doubted whether a perfpn ever loft a game
but by his own fault.
Each gamefter has eight dignified pieces, mx. a
king, a queen, two bilhops, two knights, and two
rooks, alfo eight pawns : all which, for dillinfticn’s
fake, are painted of two different colours, as white
and black.
A s to their difpofition on the board, the white king'
is to be placed on the fourth black houfe from the
corner of the board, in the firft and lower rank ; and
the black king is to be placed on the fourth white houfe
on the oppofite, or adverfary’s, end of the board. The
queens are to be placed next to the kings, on houfes
of their own colour. Next to the king and queen,
on each hand, place the two bilhops ; next to them,
the two knights ; and laft of'all, on the corners of the
board, the two rooks. As to the pawns, they are
placed, without diilinclion, on the fecond rank of the
houfe, one before each of the- dignified pieces.
Having thus difpofed the men, the onfet is com¬
monly begun by the pawns, which march ftraight for¬
ward in their own file, one houfe at a time, except
the firft move, when it can advance two houfes, but
never moves backwards : the manner of their taking
the adverfary’s men is fide-ways, in the next houfe
forwards ; where having captivated the enemy, they
move forward as before. The rook goes forward or
crofs-w’ays through the whole file, and back again.
The knight flaps backward and forward to the next
houfe, fave one, of a different colour, with a fidling
march, or a Hope, and thus kills his enemies that fall
in his way, or guards his friends that may be expofed
on that fide. The bilhop walks always in the fame
colour of the field that he is placed in at firft, forward
and backward, aflope, or diagonally, as far as he lifts.
The queen’s walk is more univerfal, as Ihe takes all
the Heps of the before mentioned pieces, excepting
that of the knight; and as to the king’s motion, it is-
one houfe at a time, and that, either forward, back¬
ward, Hoping, or fide-ways.
As to the value of the different pieces, next to the
king is the queen, after her the rooks, then the bi¬
lhops, and laft of the dignified pieces comes the knight.
The difference of the worth of pawns, is not fo great
as that of noblemen; only, it mull be obferved, that
the king’s bilhop’s pawn is the bell in the field, and
therefore the ikilful gamefter wall be careful of him.
It ought alfo to be obferved, that whereas any man
may be taken, when he falls within the reach of any
of the adverfary’s pieces, it is otherwife with the king,
who, in fuck a cafe, is only to be fainted with the
word check, warning him of his danger, out of which
it is abfolutely neeeffary that he move; and, if it fa
happen that he cannot move without expofing himfelf
to the like inconveniency, it is check-mate, and the
game is-loft. The rules of the game are,
1. In order to begin the game, the pawns mull be-
moved before the pieces, and afterwards the pieces muff
be brought out to fupport them. The king’s, queen’s,,
and bilhop’s pawns, Ihould be moved firft, that the game
may be well opened ; the pieces mull not be played
out early in the game, becaufe the player may thereby
t loie:
CHE [ 640 ] C
ChoCi. Jofe his moves : but above all, the game Ihould be well
arranged before the queen is played out. Ufelefs
checks fhould alfo be avoided, unlefs fome advantage
is to be gained by them, becaufe the move may be loll,
if the adverfary can either take or drive the piece away.
2. If the game is crowded, the player will meet with
nhflntfb'ons in moving his pieces; for which reafon he
Ihould exchange pieces or pawns, and caftle (a) his1
king as foon as it is convenient, endeavouring at the
fame time to crowd the adverfary’s game, which may
be done by attacking his pieces with the pawns, if the
adverfary fhould move his pieces out too foon.
3. The men fhould be fo guarded by one another,
that if a man fhould be loft, the player may have it in
his power to take one of the adveriary’s iri return ; and
if he can take a fuperior piece in lieu of that which
he loft, it would be an advantage, and diftrefs the
adverfary.
4. The adverfary’s king ftiould never be attacked
without a force fufficient; and if the player’s king
ftiould be attacked without having it in his power to
attack the adverfary’s, he fhould offer to make an ex¬
change of pieces, which may caufe the adverfary tolofe
• a move.
5. The board fhould be looked over with attention,
and the men reconnoitred, fo as to be aware of any
Ptroke that the adverfary might attempt in confequence
of his laft move. If, by counting as many moves for¬
ward as poffible, the player has a profpect of fuccefs,
he fhould not fail doing it, and even facrifice a piece
or two to accomplifh his end.
6. No man fhould be played till the board is tho¬
roughly examined, that the player might defend him-
felf againft any move the adverfary has in view ; nei¬
ther fhould any attack be made till the confequences
of the adverfary’s next move are confidered ; and wrhen
an attack may with fafety be made, it fhould be pur-
fued without catching at any bait that might be thrown
out in order for the adverfary to gain a move, and
thereby caufe the defign to mifearry.
7. The queen fhould never Hand in fuch a manner
before the king, that the adverfary, by bringing a rook
or bifhop, could check the king if fhe were not there ;
as it might be the lofs of the queen.
8. The adverfary’s knight fhould never be fuffered to
check the king and queen, or king and rook, or queen
and rook, or the two rooks at the. fame time ; efpe-
cially if the knight is properly guarded: becaufe, in
the two lirft cafes, the king being forced to go out of
check, the queen or the rook mufl be loft; and in the
two laft cafes a rook muft be loft at leaft for a worfe
piece.
9. The player fhould take care that no guarded
pawn of the adverfary’s fork two of his pieces.
10. As foon as the kings have caftled on different
fides of the board, the pawms on that fide of the board
fhould be advanced upon the adverfary’s king, and the
pieces, efpecially the queen and rook, fhould be brought
N° 77.
to fupport them ; and the threv pawns belonging to Chef*,
the king that is caftled muft not be moved. ~—r~~
11. The more moves a player can have as it were in
ambufeade, the better; that is to fay, the queen, bifhop,
or rook, is to be placed behind a pawn or a piece, in
fuch a pofition as that upon playing that pawn or piece
a check is difeovered upon the adverfary’s king, by.
which means a piece or fome advantage is often
gained.
12. An inferior piece fhould never be guarded
with a fuperior, wrhen a pawn would anfwer the fame
purpofe; for this reafon, the fuperior piece may re¬
main out of play; neither fhould a pawn be guarded
with a piece when a pawn would do as well.
13. A well fupported pawn that is paffed often cofts
the adverfary a piece ; and when a pawn or any other
advantage is gained without endangering the lofs of
the move, the player fhonld make as frequent exchanges
of pieces as he can. The advantage of a paffed pawn,
is this: for example, if the player and his adverfary
have each three pawns upon the board, and no piece,
and the player has one of his pawns on one fide of the
board, and the other two on the other fide, and the
adverfary’s three pawns are oppofite to the player’s
two pawns, he fhould march with his king as foon as
he can, and take the adverfary’s pawns: If the ad¬
verfary goes with his king to fupport them, the play¬
er fhould go on to queen with his fingle pawns; and
then if the adverfary goes to hinder him, he fhould
take the adverfary’s pawns, and move the others to
queen (b).
14. When the game is near finifhed, each party
having only three or four pawns on each fide of the
board, the kings muft endeavour to gain the move in
order to win the game. For inftance, when the play¬
er brings his king oppofite to the adverfary’s with on¬
ly one fquare between, he will gain the move.
15. If the adverfary has his king and one pawn on
the board, and the player has only bis king, he cannot
lofe the game, provided he brings his king oppofite to
the adverfaiy’s, when the adverfary is dircdtly before
or on one fide of his pawn, and there is only one
fquare between the kings.
16. If the adverfary has a bifhop and one pawn on
the rook’s line, and this bifhop is not of the colour
that commands the corner fquare the pawn is going to,
and the player has only his king, if he can get into
that corner, he cannot lofe ; but, on the contrary,
may wun by a ftale (c).
17. If the player has greatly the difadvantage of the
game, having only his queen left in play, and his king
happens to be in a poficion to win, as above mention¬
ed, he fhould keep giving check to the adverfary’s
king, always taking care not to check him where he
can mterpofe any of his pieces that make the ftale ;
by fo doing he will at laft force the adverfary to take
his queen, and then he wall win the game by being in
a llale-mate.
18. The
(a) Cajlle his ling, is to cover the king with a caftle ; which is done by a certain move which each player
has a right to whenever he thinks proper.
(b) To queen, is to make a queen ; that is, to move a pawn into the adverfary’s back row, which is the
rule at this game when the original one is loft.
(c) When the king is blocked up fo as to have no move at alL
CHE r 641 ] C H E
18. The player (hould never cover a check with a
piece that a pawn pufhed upon it may take, for fear
of getting only the pawn in exchange for the piece.
19. A player fliould never crowd his adverfary up
with pieces, for fear of giving a ftale-mate inadver¬
tently, but always {hould leave room for his king to
move.
By way of corroborating what has been already faid
with refpeft to this game, it is neceffary to warn a
player againft playing a timid game. He {hould never
be too much afraid of lofmg a rook for an inferior
piece ; becaufe although a rook is a better piece than
any other except the queen, it feldom comes into play
to be of any great ufe tiil at the end of the game; for
which reafon it is often better to have an inferior piece
in play, than a fuperior one to Hand Hill, or moving to
no great purpofe. If a phce is moved, and is imme¬
diately drove away by a pawn, it may be reckoned a
bad move, becaufe the adverfary gains a double ad¬
vantage over the player, in advancing at the fame time
the other is made to retire; although the firft move
may not feem of confequence between equal players,
yet a move or two more loft after the firil makes the
game fcarcely to be recovered.
There never wants for variety at this game, pro¬
vided the pieces have been brought .out regular; but
if otherwife, it often happens that a player has fcarce
any thing to play.
Many indifferent players think nothing of the pawns,
whereas three pawns together are ftrong ; but four,
which conft itute a fquare, with the affiftance of othgr
pieces, well managed, make an invincible ftrength, and
in all probability may produce a queen when very much
wanted. It is true, that two pawns with a fpace be¬
tween are no better than one ; and if there {hould be
three over each other in a line, the game cannot be in
a worfe way. This fliows that the pawns are of great
eonfequence, provided they are kept clofe together.
Some middling players are very apt to rifle lofing
the game in order to recover apiece: this is a miftake;
for it is much better to give up a piece and attack the
enemy in another quarter; by fo doing, the player
has a chance of fnatching a pawn or two from, or
gaining fome advantage over, the adverfary, whilft his
attention is taken up in purfuing this piece.
If the queen and another piece are attacked at the
fame time, and that by removing the queen the piece
muff be loft ; provided two pieces can be gained in
exchange for the queen, the queen Ihould be given up,
it being the difference of three pieces, and confequently
more than the value of the queen By lofing the
queen, the game is not throv/n into that diforder which
it would otherwife have been : in this cafe it would
be judicious to give the queen for even a piece, or a
pawn or two; it being well known among good players,
that he who begins the attack, and cannot maintain it,
being obliged to retire, generally lofes the game.
A player {hould never be fond of changing without
reafon, becaufe the adverfary, if he is a good player,
will ruin his fituation, and gain a conffderable advan¬
tage over him. But rather than lofe a move, when a
player is ftronger than the adverfary, it is good play
to change, for he thereby increafes his ftrength.
When the game is almoft drawn to a conclufion,
the player {hould recoiled! that his king is a capital
Vol. IV. Part II.
piece, and confequefltly (hould keep him in motion ; C-!l
by fo doing he generally gets the move, and often the
game.
As the queen, rook, and biflrop, operate at a di-
ftance, it is not always neceffary in the attack to have
them near the adverfary’s king.
If a man can be taken with different pieces, the
player {hould take his time, and confider which of .
thoffe pieces is the beft to take it with.
If a piece can be taken almoft at any time, the
player {hould not be in a hurry about it, but try to
make a good move elfewhere before he takes it.
A player ihould be cautious how he takes his ad¬
verfary’s pawn with his king, as it often happens to be
a fafe-guard to it.
After all that has been faid, it is ftill neceffary for
us to advife thofe who would play well at this game,
to be very cool and attentive to the matter in queftion;
for it is impoffible that any perfon in the univerfe can
be capable of playing at chefs if their thoughts are
employed elfewhere. The laws at this game are,.
1. If a player touches his man, he muff play it, and
if he quits it, he cannot recal it.
2. If by miftake or otherwife a falfe move is played,
and the adverfary takes no notice of it till he hath
played his next move, it cannot be recalled by either
of the parties.
3. If a player mifplaces the men, and he plays two
moves, it is at the option of the adverfary to permit
him to begin the game or not.
4. If the adverfary plays or difeovers a check to a
player’s king, and gives no notice of it, tire player
may let him ftand ftill till he does.
5. After the king is moved, a player cannot caftle.
Sarafin has an exprefs treatife on the different opi¬
nions of the origin of the Latin fchaccbi, whence the
French ethecs, and our chefs, is formed. Menage is
alfo very full on the fame head. Leunclavius takes it
to come from Ufcaches, famous Turkifti robbers: P.
Sirmond, from the German fcachhe, “ theft;” and that
from calculus. He takes chefs to be the fame with the
Indus latruncularum of the Romans, but miftakenly.
This bpinion is countenanced by Voffius and Salma-
fius, who derive the word from calculus, as ufed for
latrunculus. G. Tolofanus derives it from the Hebrew,
fcach, vallavit et mat mortuus; whence check and check¬
mate. Fabricius fays, a celebrated Perfian aftronomer,
one Schatrenfcha, invented the game of chefs; and
gave it his own name, which it ftill bears in that
country. Nicod derives it from fchecque, or xeque, a
Moorifli word for lord, king, and prince. . Bochart
adds, that fcach is originally Perfian ; and that fcach-
mat, in that language, fignifies the king is dead.—The
opinion of Nicod and Bochart, which is likewife that
of Scriverius, appears the rnoft probable.
Mr Twifs mentions a fmall treatife on chefs, written,
as he fuppofes, about 400 years ago ; at the end of
which is a reprefentation of a round chefs-board, with
dire&ions for placing the men upon it. In this the
knight can cover the 64 fquares on the board at as
many moves. The board is divided into thefe 64 parts
by four concentric circles, having an empty fpace in
the middle; and each of thefe is divided into 16 parts.
Number 1 is placed in the outermoft circle ; number
2 in the third circle counting inwards, in the divifion to
4 M the
CHE [ 642 ] CHE
Ch-’fs the right hand of the former ; number 3 is placed in foner. It is alfo related of A1 Amin the khalif of Bag-
outermoft circle, in the divilion to the right hand dad, that he was engaged at chefs with his freedman
of 2 ; 4 in the third circle counting inwards to the Kuthar at the time when A1 Mamun’s forces were car-
right hand of three ; and thus alternately from the rying on the liege of that city with fo much vigour
firll to the third, and from the third to the firft circle, that it was on the point of being carried by alfault,
till the round is completed by 16 on the third circle to "
the left hand of 1. Number 17 is then placed on the
divifion of the innermoft circle to the right hand of 1 ;
18 on the fecond circle counting inwards, to the right
hand of 17 ; and thus alternately from the fourth to
the fecond, and from the fecond to the fourth circles,
until the round is completed by 32, direftly below
number 1. Number 33 then is placed on the third
circle direftly to the right hand of number 2 ; 34 on
the fourth circle, to the right hand of 4 ; and thus al¬
ternately between the third and fourth circles, until
the round is again completed by 48 on the fourth cir¬
cle, direcfly below number 33. The numbers are now
placed in a retrograde fafhion ; 50 on the outer circle
in that divifion immediately to the right hand of 1 t
51 on the third circle, to the left hand of 2, and di-
reclly below number 32 ; 52 is then placed on the
outer circle, immediately on the left hand of 1: 53
on the third circle direftly to the left hand of 16; and
thus alternately on the firfl: and third circles, until the
laft round is completed by 64 between the numbers 3
and 5. On this round chefs-board, fuppofing the black
king to be placed in number 48 on the fourth circle, the
queen Hands on number 17 at,-his left hand ; the bi-
fhops in 33 and 2; the knights 18 and 47 ; the caftles
in 3 and 50 ; the pawns on 19, 4, 49, 64, and 46, 51,
32, 1. The white king will then Hand in 25, oppofrte
to the black queen ; the white queen in 40 oppofrte to
the black king, and fo on. In playing on a board of
this kind, it will be found, that the power of the caftle is
doable to that in the common game, and that of the
bilhop only one half; the former having 16 fquares to
range in, and the laft only four. The king can caftle
only one way ; and it is very difficult to bring the game
to a conclufron.
Dr Hyde quotes an Arabic hiftory of the Saracens, :
which the khalif is faid to have cried out when warned
of his danger, Let me alone, for I fee checkmate againft.
Kuthar! We are told that Charles I. was at chefs
when news were brought of the final intention of the
Scots to fell him to the Englifh ; but fo little was he
difcompofed by this alarming intelligence, that he
continued his game with the utmoft compofurefo
that no perfon could have known that the letter he
received had given him information of any thing re¬
markable. King John was playing at chefs when the
deputies from Rouen came to acquaint him that their
city was hefieged by Philip Auguftus ; hut he would
not hear them until he had finiftied his game.
The following remarkable anecdote we have from
Dr Robertfon in his Hiftory of Charles V. John
Frederic, elector of Saxony, having been taken pri-
foner by Charles, was condemned to death. The
decree was intimated to him while at chefs with
Erneft of Brunfwic, his fellow-prifoner. After a
ftiort paufe, and making fome reflections on the
irregularity and injuftice of the emperor’s proceed¬
ings, he turned to his antagonift, whom he challen¬
ged to finifh. the game. He played with his ufual in¬
genuity and attention.; and having beat Erneft, expref-
fed all the fatisfaCtion that is commonly felt on gain¬
ing fuch victories. He was not, however, put to death,
but fet at liberty after five years confinement-
In the Chronicle of the Moorilh kings of Granada we
find it related, that in 1396, Mehemed Baiba feized up¬
on the crown, in prejudice of his elder brother, and
paffed his life in one continual round of difafters. His
wars with Caftile were invariably unfuccefsful; and his
death was occafioned by a poifoned veil. Finding his
cafe defperate, he difpatched an officer to the fort of
that
With regard to the origin of the game at chefs, we Salobrena to put his brother Juzaf to death, left tha
= much in the dark. Though it came to us from prince’s adherents ftiould form anyobftacleto his foil’
the Saracens, it is by no means probable that they fucceffion. The alcayde found the prince playing at
were the original inventors of it. According to fome, chefs with an alfaqui or prieft. Juzaf begged hard for
it was invented by the celebrated Grecian hero Dio- two hours refpite, which was denied him ; at laft with
medes. Others fay,that two Grecian brothers, Ledo and great reluclance the officer permitted him to finifti the
Tyrrhene, were the inventors; and that being much game ; but before it was finiftied a meffenger arrived
preffed with hunger, they fought to alleviate the pain by
this amufement. It is certain, however, that it is a game
of very ancient Handing, and in former ages has been
very fafhionable in every part of Europe ; though in
this country it is not now very common, probably on
account of the inte.nfe application of thought required
to play at it. It has long been a favourite of the
Icelanders and' other northern people. There is little
difference between their game and ours-
The game of chefs has been generally praftifed by
the greateft warriors and generals; and fome have even,
fuppofed that it was neceffary for a military man to be ations fince it was firft invented. We have it on good
well flailed in this game. It is a game which has fome- authority, that among the eaftern nations, the piece
thing in it peculiarly interefting. We read that Tamer- now called the queen was formerly called the vizir or
lane was a great chefs-player,and was engaged in a game king’s minifter, and that the powers of the queen her*
during the very time of the decifive battle with Bajazet felf were but very fmall. The chefs-boards ufed by
the Turkifti emperor, who was defeated and taken pri- Tameijane were larger, and. contained many more.
fquares,,
but before it was finiftied a
with the news of the death of Mehemed, and the un¬
animous election of Juzaf to the crown.
We have a curious anecdote of Ferrand count of
Flanders; who having been accuftomed to amufe him-
felf at chefs with his wife, and being conftantly beaten,
by her, a mutual hatred took place; which came to.
fuch an height, that when the count was taken pri-
foner at the battle of Bovines, file fuffered him to re¬
main a long time in prifon though file could eafily
have procured his releafe.
The game of chefs has undergone confiderable vari-
CHE t 643 ] CHE
Chefs, fquares, than thofe at prefent in nfe. Carrera invented
two new pieces to be added to the eight commonly in
““~v ufe. One of thefe, which he calls Campione, is placed
between the king’s knight and callle; the other, named
Centaur, between the queen’s knight and caftle, has
the move of the biihop and knight united. This in¬
vention, however, did not furvive its author. In an¬
other of this kind, the two additional pieces are called
the centurion and decurion; the former, fituated between
the king and his bifhop, in its move the fame with
that of the queen, but only for two fquares; the latter
moves as the bifhop, but only one fquare at a time.
This, like the former, died with its inventor. The
chefs-board of Tamerlane was a parallelogram, having
eleven fquares one way and twelve the other. In the
Memoirs of the late Marfhal Keith, we find it related,
that he invented an amufement fomething fimilar to
that of chefs, with which the king of Pruffia was
highly entertained. Several thoufand fmall ftatues
were caft by a founder ; and thefe were ranged oppo-
fite to each other as if they had been drawn up in an
army ; making the different movements with them as
in real fervice in the field.
A very complicated kind of game at chefs was in¬
vented by the late duke of Rutland. At this the
board has 14 fquares in breadth and 10 in height,
which make in all 140 houfes; and there are 14 pawns
on each fide, which may move either one, two, or three
fquares the firil time. The other pieces were the king,
queen, two bifhops, two knights, a crowned caftle
uniting the move of the king and caftle, and a com¬
mon caftle. On the other, fide of the king was a con¬
cubine, whofe move united that of the caftle and knight,
two bifhops, a Angle knight, a crowned caftle, and a
common one. In this game the pawns are of very
little ufe; and by the extent of the board, the knights
lofe much of their value, which confequently renders
the game more defective and lefs interefting than the
common one.
There is an amufing variety at the game of chefs,
in which the king with eight pawns engages the whole
fet, by being allowed to make two moves for every
one of his adverfary. In this he is almoft certain of
coming off victorious; as he can make his firft move
into check, and the fecond out of it. Thus he can
take the queen when fhe ftands immediately before her
king, and then retreat; for he cannot remain in
check. He cannot be check-mated unlefs his adver¬
fary has preferved his queen and both caftles.
CnEss-Trees, taqucts d’aniure^. two pieces of wood
bolted perpendicularly, one on the ftarboard, and an¬
other on the larboard, fide of the fhip. They are ufed
to confine the clue, or lower corners of the main-fail;
* for which purpofe there is a hole in the upper part*,
through which the rope paffes that ufually extends the
clue of the fail to windward. See Tack.
The chefs-trees are commonly placed as far before
the main-matt as the length of the main-beam.
CHEST, in commerce^ a kind of meafure, contain-
Ing an uncertain quantity of feveral commodities.
A cheft of fugar, v. g. contains from ten to fifteen
hundred weight; a cheft of glafs, from two hundred
to three hundred feet; of Caftile foap, from two and
an half to three hundred weight; of indigo, from one
and an half to two hundred weight, five fcore to the Cheft,
hundred. , Chefter-_
Chest, or Thorax. See Anatomy, Part IV.
CHESTER, commonly called Wejt-Chejler, to dif-
tinguifli it from many other Chefters in the kingdom ;
the capital of Chefhire, in England. It is a very an¬
cient city, fuppofed to have been founded by the Ro¬
mans; and plainly appears to have been a Roman fta-
tion by the many antiquities which have been and are
ftill difcovered in and about the town. It was among
the laft places the Romans quitted ; and here the Bri¬
tons maintained their liberty long after the Saxons had
got poffeffion of the reft of their country. At prefent
it is a large well-built wealthy city, and carries on a
confiderable trade. Mr Pennant calls it a city without
parallel, on account of the Angular ftru&ure of the
four principal ftreets. They are as if excavated out
of the earth, and funk many feet beneath the furface :
the carriages drive far beneath the level of the kitchens
on a line with ranges of fiiops. The houfes are moftly
of wood, with galleries, piazzas, and covered walls
before them ; by which not only the {hops, but thofe
who are walking about the town, are fo hid, that one
would imagine there were fcarce any inhabitants in it,
though it is very populous. But though by this con¬
trivance fuch as walk the ftreets are fereened from
rain, &c. yet the {hops are thereby rendered dark and
inconvenient. The back courts of all the houfes are
on a level with the ground ; but to go into any of the
four principal ftreets, it is neceffary to defeend a flight
of feveral fteps.
Chefter is a bifliop’s fee. It was anciently part
of the diocefe of Litchfield; one of whofe bifliops
removing the feat of his fee hither in the year
1075, occafioned his fucceffors to be frequently
ftyled bi/hops of Chejler. But it was not eredled in¬
to a diftinft bifhoprick until the general diffolution
of monafteries, when king Henry VIII. in the
year 1541, railed it to this dignity, and allotted the
church of the abbey of St Werburg for the cathedral,
ftyling it the cathedral church of Chrifl and the biffed
Virgin; adding the bifhoprick to the province of Can¬
terbury ; but foon after he disjoined it from Canter¬
bury, and added it to the province of York. When
this abbey was diffolved, its revenues were valued at
L. 1003 :5 : xi. This diocefe contains the entire
counties of Chefter and Lancafter, part of the counties
of Weftmoreland, Cumberland, and Yorkfliire, two
chapelries in Denbyfhire, and five parifhes in Flint-
fhire ; amounting in all to 256 pariflies, of which xox
are impropriations. This biftioprick is valued in the
king’s books at L.420 : 1 : 8, and is computed to be
worth annually L.2700; the clergy’s tenth amounting
to L.435 : 12 : o. To this cathedral belong a dean,
two archdeacons, a chancellor, a treafurer, fix pre¬
bendaries, and other inferior officers and fervants. W.
Long. 3. o. N. Lat. 53. 12.
Chf.steR-h-Street, the Cmeacejlre of the Saxons ; a
fmall thoroughfare town between Newcaftle and Dur¬
ham, with a good church and fine fpire. In the
Saxon times this place was greatly refpefted on ac¬
count of the relics of St Cuthbert, depofited here by
bifhop Eardulf, for fear of the Danes, who at that
time (about 884) ravaged the country. His ihrine
4 M 2 became
CHE [ 64.4 1 CHE
New-Chef- became afterwards an object of great devotion. King
t^.r Athelfton, on his expedition to Scotland, paid it a
Cheviot, to obtain, by interceffion of the faint, fuccefs on
» y  his arms; bellowed a multitude of gifts on the church;
and diredled, in cafe he died in his enterprize, that his
body Ihould be interred there. At the fame time that
this place was honoured with the remains of St Guth-
bert, the bilhoprick of Undesfarn was removed here,
and endowed with all the lands between the Tyne and
the Were, the prefent county of Durham. It was
llyled Si Cutblert’s patrimony. The inhabitants had
great privileges, and always thought themfelves exempt
from all military duty, except that of defending the
body of their faint. Chefter-le-Street may be con-
fidered as the parent of the fee of Durham ; for when
the relics were removed there, the fee in 995 followed
them. Tanner fays, that probably a chapter of monks,
or rather fecular canons, attended the body at this
place from its firll arrival: but bilhop Beke, in 1286,
in honour of the faint, made the church collegiate,
and eltablilhed here a dean and fuitable eccleliallics-;
and, among other privileges, gives the dean a right of
tilhing on the Were, and the tythe of filh.
New Chester, a town of Pennfylvania in America,
and capital of a county of that name. It is feated. on
the Delawar; and has a fine capacious harbour, ad¬
mitting velfels of any burden. W. Long. 74. 7.
N. Lat. 40. 15.
CHESTERFIELD, a market town of Derbylhire
in England, pleafantly fituated on a hill between two
fmall rivers. It has the title of an earldom; and a
eonfiderable market for corn, lead, and other country
commodities. The houfes are, for the moll part, built
of rough Hone, and covered with Hate. W. Long. 1.25.
N. Lat. 53. 20.
Chesterfield (Earl of). See. Stanhope.
CHEVAL de Frise, a large piece of timber pier¬
ced, and traverfed with wooden fpikes, armed or
pointed with iron, five or fix feet long. See Plate
exxxvi.
The term is French,, and properly fignifies a Frtef-
land horfe; as having been firll invented, in that coun¬
try.—It is alfo called a Turnpike or Turniquet.
Its ufe is to defend a palfage, Hop a breach, or make
a retrenchment to Hop the cavalry. It is fometimes
alfo mounted on wheels, with artificial fires, to roll
down in an affault. Errard obferves, that the prince
of Orange ufed to inclofe his camp with Chevaux de
Frife, placing therm one over another.
CHEVALER, in the manege, is faid of a horfe,
when, in paffaging upon a walk or trot, his off fore¬
leg croffes or overlaps the near fore-leg every fecond
motion.
CHEVALIER,a French term, ordinarily fignifying
a Knight. The word is formed of the French, che-
•val, “ horfe ;” and the barbarous Latin cavallus.
It is ufed, in heraldry, to fignify any cavalier, or
horfeman armed at all points; by the Romans called
cataphraBus eques : now out of ufe, and only to be feen
in coat-armour.
CHEVAUX de Frise. See Cheval de Frife.
CHEV IN, a name ufed in fome parts of England
for the Chub.
CHEVIOT (or Tiviot) hills, run from north to
fouth through Cumberland 4 and were formerly the
borders or boundaries between England and Scotland, Chevifa&ce
where many a bloody battle has been fought between. , H
the two nations ; one of which is recorded in the hai- cyne*.
lad of Chevy-chafe. Thefe hills are the firffc land dif-
covered by failors in coming from the call into Scot¬
land.
CHEVISANCE, in law, denotes an-agreement or
compofition, as an end or order fet down between a
creditor and his debtor, frfir. In the ftatutes, this
word is moll commonly ufed for an unlawful bargain
or contraft.
CHEVREAU (Urban), a learned writer, born at
Lundun in 1613. He dillinguifiied himfelf in his youth
by his knowledge of the belles lettres ; and became fe-
cretary of Hate to queen Chriilina of Sweden. Seve¬
ral German princes invited him to their courts; and.
Charles-Lewis, the elector palatine, retained him un¬
der the title of counfellor. After the dwth of that
prince, he returned to France, and became preceptor
to the duke of Maine.. At length retiring to Lundun,
he died there in 1701, aged 88’. He was the author
of feveral books ; and amongft others, of an Univerfal
Hiflory, which has been often, reprinted;
CHEVRON^ or Ch ever on, in heraldry. See
Heraldry.
CHEWING-balls, a kind of balls made of afafue-
tida, liver of antimony, bay-wood, juniper-wood, ancT
pellitory of Spain; which being dried in the fim, and
wrapped in a linen cloth, are tied to the bit of the
bridle for the horfe to chew ; they create an appetite
and it is Laid, that balls of Venice-treacle may be ufed.
in the fame manner with good fuccefs.
CHEYKS. See Bengal, n? \.p.
CHEYNE (Dr George), a phylician of great Earn¬
ing and abilities, born in Scotland in 1671, and edu¬
cated at Edinburgh under the great Dr Pitcairn. He
paffed his youth in clofe ftudy, and with great tem¬
perance : but coming to fettle at London, when about.
30, and finding the younger gentry and free-livers to-
be the moll eafy of accefs and moll fufceptible of
friendfhip, he changed on a fudden his former manner
of living in order to force a trade, having obferved
this method to fucceed with fome others. The con-
fequence was, that he grew daily in bulk, and in in¬
timacy with his gay acquaintance; fwelling to fuch an
enormous fize, that he exceeded 32 Hone weight; and-
he was forced to have the whole fide of his chariot
made open to receive him into it; he grew Ihort-
breathed, lethargic, nervous, and feorbutic; fo that
his life became an intolerable burden. In this deplo¬
rable condition, after having tried all the power of
medicine in vain, he refolved to try a milk and vege¬
table diet; the good effedls of which quickly appear¬
ed. His fize was reduced almoft a third; and he re- ’
covered his ftrength, adlivity, and cheetfulnefs, with
the perfedl ufe of all his faculties. In Ihort, by a re¬
gular adherence to this regimen, he lived to a mature
period, dying at Bath in 1742, aged'72. He wrote fe¬
veral treatifes. that were well received ;. particularly,
“ An Effay on Health and Long Life ;,r and “ The
Englifh Malady, or a Treatife of Nervous Difeafes ;”
both the refult of his own experience. In fhort, he
had great reputation in his own time, both as a prac¬
titioner and as a writer ; and moil of his pieces paffed
thro’ feveral editions. He is to be ranked among thofe
jahyficians
CHI [ 64.5 ] CHI
1 pliyficiatls who have accounted for the operations of town of SwifTerland, in the country of the Grifons.
ia medicines and the morbid alterations which take place It is a trading place, efpecially in wine and delicate
--j in the human body upon mechanical principles. A fruits. The governor’s palace and the churches are w
fpirit of piety and of benevolence, and an ardent zeal very magnificent, and the inhabitants are Roman Ca-
for the interefts of virtue, are predominant throughout tholics. It is featcd near the lake Como. E. Long,
his writings. An amiable candour and ingenuoufnefs 9. 29. N. Lat. 46. 15.
are alfo difcernible, and which led him to retradt with CHIAUSI, among the Turks, officers employed in
readinefs whatever appeared to him to be cenfurable in executing the vizirs, bafhaws, and other great men :
what he had formerly advanced. Some of the meta- the ordeis for doing this, the grand fignior fends
phyfieal notions which he «has introduced into his them wrapped up in a black cloth; on the reception
books, may, perhaps, juftly be thought fanciful and ill- of which, they immediately perform their office,
grounded; but there is an agreeable vivacity in his CHICANE, or Chicanery, in law, an abufe of
produdlions,. together with much opennefs and frank- judiciary proceeding, tending to delay the caufe, to
nefs, and in general great perfpicuity. puzzle the judge, or impofe upon the parties.
CHIABRERA (Gabriel), eiteemed the Pindar of Chicane, in the fchools, is applied to vain fo-
Italy, was born at Savona in 1552, and went to ftudy phifms, diftin&ions, and fubtleties, which protradt dif¬
at Rome. The Italian princes, and Urban VIII. gave putes, and obfcure the truth.
him public marks of their efteem. He wrote a great CHICHESTER, the capital city of the county of
number of poems ; but his lyric verfes are moft admi- Sufiex, was built by Cifia, the 2d king of the South
red. He died at Savona in 1638, aged 86. Saxons, and by him called Clffan Caejler. It is fur-
CHIAN earth, in pharmacy, one of the medici- rounded with a wall, which has four gates, anfwering
nal earths of the ancients, the name of which is pre- to the four cardinal points ; from which run two
ferved in the catalogues of the materia medica, but of ftreets, that crofs one another in the middle and form,
which nothing more than the name has been known a fquare, where the market is kept, and where there
for many ages in the (hops. is a fine ftone piazza built by bifhop Read. The fpace
It is a very denfe and compact earth ; and is fent between the weft and fouth gates is taken up v'ith the
hither in fmall flat pieces from the ifland of Chios, in cathedral church and the biffiop’s palace. It has five
which it is found in great plenty at this time. It pariffi-churches; and is feated on the little river La-
ftands recommended to us as an aftringent. They tell vant, which wafties it on all fides except the north.-
us, it is the greateft of all cofmetics; and that it gives a This city would have been in a much more flourifliing
whitenefs and fmoothnefs to the fitin, and prevents condition if it had been built by the fea-fide ; how-
wrinkles, beyond any of the other fubftances that have ever, the inhabitants have endeavoured to fupply this
been celebrated for the fame purpofes. defeft in fome meafure, by cutting a canal from the
CHIAOUS, a word in the original Turkifh, fignify- city down into the bay. The principal manufactures
ing “ envoys,” are officers to the number Of five or fix of the town are malt and needles. The market of Chi-
hundred in the grand fignior’s court, under the com- chefter is noted for fiffi, wheat, barley, malt, and oats
mand of a chiaous bafchi. They frequently meet in the fineft lobfters in England are bred in the Lavant
the grand vifir’s palace, that they may be in readi- and it is obfervable, that this river, unlike moft others,
nefs to execute his orders, and carry his difpatches in- is very low in winter, but in fummer often overflows
to all the provinces of the empire. The chiaous baf- its banks. Chichefter is a city and county of itfelf;
chi affifts at the divan, and introduces thofe who have it is governed by a mayor, recorder, aldermen, common-
bufinefs there. council without limitation, and four juftices of the
CHIAPA, the capital cf a provinee of the fame peace ehofen out of the aldermen; and it fends two
-name in Mexico, fituated about 300 miles eaft of A- members to parliament. It is a bifhop’s fee. The
capulco. W. Long. 98. o. N. Lat. 16. 30.
Chiapa el Real, a town of Mexico, in a province of
the fame name, with a bifliop’s fee. Its principal
- trade confifts in chocolate-nuts, cotton, and fugar. W.
Long. 98. 35. N. Lat. 16. 20.
Chiapas de los Indos, a large and rich town of
cathedral church was anciently dedicated to St Peter.
It was new built by Radulph, the twenty-fifth bi-
ftiop ; but being deltroyed by lire, it was again built
by Seffridus II the twenty-ninth bi/hop. This fee
hath yielded to the church two faints, and to the na¬
tion three lord chancellors, two almoners, and o*ne
North America, in Mexico, and in a province of chancellor to the univerfity of Oxford. Anciently
the fame name. The governor and moft of the in- the biftiops of Chichefter were confeffors to the queens
habitants are originally Americans. W. Long. 98. 5. of England. This diocefe contains the whole of the
N. Lat. 15. 6. county of Suffex (excepting 22 parifhes, peculiars of
CHIARI (Jofeph), a celebrated Italian painter, was the archbiftiop of Canterbury), wherein are 250 pa-
the difciple of Carlo Maratti; and adorned the churches rifhes, whereof 112 are impropriated. It hath two
and palaces of Rome with a great number of fine archdeacons, viz. of Chichefter and Lewes; is valued
paintings. He died of an apoplexy in 1727, aged 73. in the king’s books at L. 677 : 1 : 3-, and is computed
Chiari, a town of Italy, in the province of Brefcia, to be -worth annually L. 2600. The tenths of the
and territory of Venice, 7 miles weft of Brefcia, and whole clergy is L. 287 : 2 : o^. To the cathedral be-
27 eaft of Milan. Here the Imperialifts gained a vie- long a biftiop, a dean, two archdeacons, a treafurer, a-
tory over the French in 1701. E. Long. 1-8. 18.
N. Lat. 43. 30.
CHIARO-scuro. See CiARo-Obfcuro.
CHIAVENNA, a haudfome, populous, aird large
chancellor, thirty-two prebendaries, a chanter, twelve
vicars-coral, and other officers. W. Long. 50. N.
Lat. 50. 50.
CHICK,, or Chicken,, in zoology, denotes the
young;
CHI [ 646 ] CHI
Chick- young of the gallinaceous order of birds, efpecially the
common hen. See Phasianus.
Qligi' Chick-Weed, in botany. See Alsine.
■ Chicken-Pox. See (Index fubjoined to) yiE-ViiCiHE..
CHICKLING-pea, in botany, a name given to the
Lathyrus.
CHICUITOS, a province of South America, in the
government of Santo-Cruz de la Sierra. The chief
riches coniift of honey and wax ; and the original in¬
habitants are very voluptuous, yet very warlike. They
maintained bloody wars with the Spaniards till 1690 ;
fince which, fome of them have become Chriftians It
is bounded by la Plata on the N. E. and by Chili on
the W.
CHIDLEY, t>r Chimley, a market-town of De-
vonfhire, fituated in W. Long. 4. o. N. Lat. 51. o.
CHIEF, a term iignifying the head or principal part
of a thing or perfon. Thus wc fay, the chief of a
party, the chief of a family, £sV. The word is formed
of the French chef, “ head;” of the Greek xspaaii, ca¬
put, “ head 5” though Menage derives it from the Ita¬
lian capo, formed of the Latin caput.
Chief, in heraldry, is that which takes up all the
upper part of the efcutcheon from fide to fide, and re-
prefents a man’s head. In chief, imports fomething
borne in the chief part or top of the efcutcheon.
CHIEFTAIN, denotes the captain or chief of any
clafs, family, or body of men. Thus the chieftains or
chiefs bf the Highland clans, were the principal noble¬
men or gentlemen of their refpedtive clans. See Clans.
CHIELEFA, a ftrongtown of Turky in Europe,
in the Morea. It was taken by the Venetians in 1685;
but after that the Turks retook it, with all the Mo¬
rea. E. Long. 22. 2i. N. Lat. 26. 50.
CHIGI (Fabio), or Pope Alexander VII. was
born at Sienna in 1599. His family finding him a
hopeful youth, fent him early to Rome, where he foon
engaged in a friendfhip with the marquis Pallavicini,
who recommended him fo effectually to Pope Urban
VIII. that he procured him the poll of Inquifitor at
Malta. He was fent vice-legate to Ferrara, and af¬
terward nuncio into Germany : there he had an op¬
portunity of difplaying his intriguing genius; for he
was mediator at Munfter, in the long conference held
to conclude a peace with Spain. Cardinal Mazarin
had fome refentment againft Chigi, who was foon af¬
ter made a cardinal and fecretary of ftate by Inno¬
cent X. but his refentment was facrificed to political
views. In 1655, when a pope was to be chofen, Car¬
dinal Sacchetti, Mazarin’s great friend, finding it was
impoffible for him to be raifed into St Peter’s chair
becaufe of the powerful oppofition made by the Spa-
nifh faftion, defired Cardinal Mazarin to confent to
Chigi’s exaltation. His requeft was granted, and he
was eleCted pope by the votes of all the 64 cardinals
who were in the conclave: ^n unanimity of which
there are but few inflances in the election of popes.
He fhowed uncommon humility at his election, and at
fir ft forbade all his relations to come to Rome with¬
out his leave ; but he foon became more favourable to
his nephews, and loaded them with favours. It is af-
ferted that he had once a mind to turn Proteftant.
The news-papers in Holland beftowed great enco¬
miums upon him ; and acquainted the world, that he
did not approve of the cruel perfecutions of the Wal*
denfes in Piedmont. There is a volume of his poems
extant. He loved the Belles-Lettres, and the conver-
fation of learned men. He was extremely fond of
{lately buildings : the grand plan of the college Della
Sapienza, which he finifhed, and adorned with a fine
library, remains a proof of his tafte in architecture.
He died in 1667.
CHILBLAIN, (pernio), in medicine, a tumour
affeCting the feet and hands ; accompanied with an in¬
flammation, pains, and fometimes an ulcer or folution
of continuity: in which cafe it takes the denomina¬
tion of chaps on the hands, and of kibes on the heels.
Chilblain is compounded of chill and Main; q. d. a blain
or fore contracted by sold. Pernio is the Latin name
adopted by phyficians ; and is derived by Volfius from
perna “ a gammon of bacon,” on account of fome re-
femblance. Chap alludes to gape, both in found and
appearance. Kibes, in Welch kibnus, may be derived
from the German kerben, “ to cut;” the fldn, when
broke, appearing like a cut.
Chilblains are occafioned by exceffive cold flopping
the motion of the blood in the capillary arteries. See
the article Pernio.
CHILD, a term of relation to parent. See Parent
and Children.
Bartholine, Pare, Licetus, and many other writers,
give an account of a petrified child, which has feemed
wholly incredible to fome people. The child, how¬
ever, which they defcribe, is ftill in being; and is kept
as a great rarity in the king of Denmark’s mufeum
at Copenhagen. The woman who was big with this,
lived at Sens in Champaign in the year 1582 ; it was
cut out of her belly, and was univerfally fuppofed to
have lain there about 20 years. That it is a real hu¬
man foetus, and not artificial, is evident to the eyes of
any obferver; and the upper part of it, when exami¬
ned, is found to be of a fubftance refembling the gyp-
fum, or ftone whereof they make the plafter of Pa¬
ris: the lower part is much harder; the thighs and
buttocks being a perfeCl ftone of a reddifh colour, and
as hard as common quarry-ftone ; the grain and fnr-
face of this part appears exactly like that of the cal¬
culi, or ftones taken out of human bladders : and the
whole fubftance examined ever fo nearly, and felt
ever fo carefully, appears to be abfolute ftone. It
was carried from Sens to Paris, and there purchafed
by a goldfmith of Venice; and Frederic III. king of
Denmark, purchafed it of this man at Venice for a very
large fum, and added it to his colleftion of rarities.
Child-Wit, a power to take a fine of a bond-wo¬
man unlawfully gotten with child, that is> without
confent of her lord. Every reputed father of a bale
child got within the manor of Writtel in Effex, pays
to the lord a fine of 3 s. 4d.; where, it feems, child-
wit extends to free as well as bond women.
CHIXyDERMAS-PAY, or Innocent's Day, an an-
niverfary held by the church of England on the 28th
of December, in commemoration of the children of
Bethlehem maffacred by order of Herod.
CHILDREN, the plural of Child.
Mr Derham computes, that marriages, one with
another, produce four children, not only in England,
but in other parts alfo,
- In
Chllblai*
Children]
CHI [ <47 1 CHI
Iren. In the genealogical hillory of Tufcany, wrote by
'~~~J Gamarini, mention is made of a nobleman of Sienna,
named Pichi, who of three wives had 150 children;
and that, being fent ambalTador to the pope and the
emperor, he had 48 of his fons in his retinue. In a
monument in the church-yard of St Innocent, at Pa¬
ris, erefted to a woman who died at 88 years of age,
it is recorded, that fhe might have feen 288 children
directly iflued from her. This exceeds what Hake-
well relates of Mrs Honeywood, a gentlewoman of
Kent, born in the year 1527, and married at 16 to
her only hufband R. Honeywood, of Charing, Efq;
and died in her 93d year. She had 16 children of her
»wn body ; of which three died y@ung, and a fourth
had no ifl'ue: yet her grandchildren, in the feeond ge¬
neration, amounted to 114; in the third, to 228;
though in the fourth, they fell to 9. The whole num¬
ber ihe might have feen in her life-time, being 367.
164-1144-2284-9 = 367. So that fhe could fay the
fame as the diftich does of one of the Dalburg’s fa¬
mily at Bafil:
1 .2.3. 4
Mater ait nata die nata Jilia natam,
5 .6
Ut moneat, nata, plungerc,fdiolam.
L'Ltnrgement of Children. See Infant.
Overlaying of Children, is a misfortune that fre¬
quently happens; to prevent which, the Florentines
have contrived an inftrument called arcvccio. See Ar-
cuccio.
Children are, in law, a man’s iffue begotten on
his wife. As to illegitimate children, fee Bastard.
For the legal duties of parents to their children,
fee the articles Parent and Bastard.
As to the duties of children to their parents, they
arife from a principle of’ natural juflice and retribu¬
tion. For to thofe who gave us exiflence, we natu¬
rally owe fubjedlion and obedience during our mino¬
rity, and honour and reverence ever after: they who
protected the weaknefs of our infancy, are intitled to
our proteftion in the infirmity of their age; they
who by fuftenance and education have enabled then-
offspring to profper, ought, in return, to be fupported
by that offspring, in cafe they Hand in need of aflifl-
ance. Upon this principle proceed all the duties of
children to their parents, which are enjoined by pofi-
tive laws. And the Athenian laws carried this prin¬
ciple into pra&ice with a fcrupulous kind of nicety r
obliging all children to provide for their father when
fallen into poverty; with an exception to fpurious
children, to thofe whofe chaflity had been proflituted
with confent of their father, and to thofe whom he
had not put in any way of gaining a livelihood. The
legiflature, fays baron Montefquieu, confidered, that,
in the firft cafe, the father, being uncertain, had ren¬
dered the natural obligation precarious; that, in the
fecond cafe, he had fufiled the life he had given, and
dope his children the greateft of injuries, in depri¬
ving them of their reputation ; and that, in the third
cafe, he had rendered their life (fo far as in him lay)
an infupportable burden, by furnifhing them with no
means of fubfiftence.
Our laws agree with thofe of Athens, with regard
to the ilrff only of thefe particulars, the cafe of fpu-
rious iffue. In the other cafes, the law does not hold
the tie of nature to be diffolved by any mifbehaviour Chili,
of the parent; and therefore a child is equally jufti-
liable in defending the perfon, or maintaining the
caufe or fuit, of a bad parent as of a good one; and is
equally compellable, if of fufficient ability, to maintain
and provide for a wicked and unnatural progenitor,
as for one who has Ihown the greateft tendernefs aud
parental piety. See further the article Filial Affection.
CHILI, a province of South America, bounded by-
Peru on the north, by the province of La Plata on
the eaft, by Patagonia on the fouth, and by the Pacific
ocean on the weft, lying between 75 and 85 degrees
of weft longitude, and between 25 and 45 degrees of
fouth latitude ; though fome comprehend in this pro¬
vince Patagonia and Terra del Fuego.
The firlt attempt of the Spaniards upon this coun¬
try was made by Almagro in the year 1535, after he
and Pizaro had completed the conqueft of Peru. He
fet out on his expedition to Chili with a confiderable.
body of Spaniards and auxiliary Indiang. For 200
leagues he was well accommodated with every ne-
ceffary by the Indians, who had been fubjefts of the
emperors of Peru: but reaching the barren country
of Charcas, his troops became difeontented through
the hardfhips they fuffered; which determined Alma¬
gro to climb the mountains called Cordilleras, in order
to get the fooner into Chili; being ignorant of the in¬
valuable mines of Potofi, contained in the province of
Charcas where he then was. At that time the Cor¬
dilleras were covered with fnow, the depth of which
obliged him to dig his way through it. The cold
made fuch an impreffion on his naked Indians, that it
is computed no lefs than 10,00a of them periihed on
thefe dreadful mountains, 150 of the Spaniards iharing
the fame fate ; while many of the furvivors loft their
fingers and toes through the excefs of cold. At laft,.
after encountering incredible difficulties, Almagro
reached a fine, temperate, and fertile plain on the op-
pofite fide of the Cordilleras, where he was received
with the greateft kindnefs by the natives. Thefe poor
favages, taking the Spaniards for deputies of their god
Virachoca,. immediately collected for them an offering
of gold and filver worth 200,000 ducats : and fooa
after brought a prefent to Almagro worth 300,60a
more. Thefe offerings only determined him to con¬
quer the whole country as foon as poffible. The In¬
dians among whom he now was, had acknowledged
the authority of the Peruvian incas, or emperors, and
confequently gave Almagro no. trouble. He therefore
marched immediately againft thofe who had never
been conquered by the Peruvians, and inhabited the
fouthern parts of Chili. Thefe favages fought with
great refolution, and difputed every inch of ground:
but in five months time the Spaniards had made fuch
progrefs, that they muft infallibly have reduced the
whole province in a very little time, had not Almagro.
returned to Peru, in eonfequence of a commiffion fent
him from Spain.
In 1540, Pizaro having overcome and put Alma¬
gro to death, fent into Chili, Baldivia or Valdivia,
who had learned the rudiments of war in Italy, and
was reckoned one of the beft officers in the Spanifh
fervice. As he penetrated fouthwards, however, he
met with much oppofition ; the confederated caziques
frequently gave him battle, and difplayed great cou-
3.
CHI [ 64S ] CHI
rage and rd'blutlon ; but could not prevent him from
^penetrating to the valley of Mafiocho, which he found
incredibly fertile and populous. Here he founded the
city of St Jago ; and finding gold mines in the neigh¬
bourhood, forced the Indians to work in them ; at the
fame time building a caftle for the fafety and protec¬
tion of his new colony. The natives, exafperated at
this flavery, immediately took up arms ; attacked the
fort; and, though defeated and repulfed, fet fire to
the outworks, which contained all the provifions of the
Spaniards. Nor were they difcouraged by this and
many other defeats, but Hill continued to carry on the
war with vigour. At laft, Valdivia, having overcome
them in many battles, forced the inhabitants of the
vale to fubmit ; upon which he immediately fet them
to work in the mines of Quilotta. This indignity of¬
fered to their countrymen redoubled the fury of thofe
who remained at liberty. Their utmoft efforts, how¬
ever, were as yet unable to Hop Valdivia’s progrefs.
Having croffed the large rivers Maulle and Hata, he
traverfed a vaft tract of country, and founded the city
of La Conception on the South-fea-coaft. He eredted
fortreffes in feveral parts of the country, in order to
keep the natives in awe ; and built the city called Im¬
perial, about 40 leagues to the fouthward of Concep¬
tion. The Spanifh writers fay, that the neighbouring
valley contained 80,000 inhabitants of a peaceable dif-
pofition ; and who were even fo tame as to fuffer Val¬
divia to parcel out their lands among his followers,
while they themfelves remained in a ftate of ina&ivity.
About 16 leagues to the eaflward of Imperial, the Spa¬
nifh general laid the foundations of the city Villa Rica,
fo called on account of the rich gold mines he found
there. But his ambition and avarice had now involved
him in difficulties from which he could never be ex¬
tricated : He had extended his conquefts beyond what
his flrength was capable of maintaining. The Chile-
flans were ftill as defirous as ever of recovering their
liberties. The horfes, fire-arms, and armour of the
Spaniards, indeed, appeared dreadful to them ; but
thoughts of endlefs flavery were ftill more fo. In the
courfe of the war they had difeovered that the Spa¬
niards were vulnerable and mortal men like themfelves;
they hoped, tb-refore, 1 ■ \dint of their fuperiority in
numbers, to be' 'js> : e pel the tyrannical ufurpers.
Had all the natic, joined in this refolution, the Spa¬
niards had certaii.ly been exterminated-; but fome of
them were of a pacific and fearful difpofition, while
others confidered fervitude as the greateft of all pof-
fible calamities. Of this laft opinion were the Arac-
ceans, the moft intrepid people in Chili, and who had
given Valdivia the greateft trouble. They all rofe to a
man, and ctiofe Capaulican, a renowned hero among
them, for their leader. Valdivia, however, received
notice of their revolt fooner than they intended he
fhoiftd, and returned with all expedition to the vale of
Araccea ; but before he arrived, 14,000 of the Chi-
lefians were there affembled under the conduft of Ca¬
paulican. He attacked them with his cavalry, and
forced them to retreat into the woods; but could not
obtain a complete vidfory, as they kept continually
fallying out and haraffing his men. At laft Capauli-
can, having obferved that fighting with fuch a num¬
ber of undifciplinUd troops only ferved to contribute to
the defeat and confufion of the whole, divided his for-
N° 77*
ces into bodies of 1000 each. Thefe he dire&ed to CHlf,
attack the enemy by turns; and, though he did not 'e~mm
expedf that a Angle thoufand would put them to flight,
he dire&ed them to make as long a ftand as they could;
when they were to be relieved and fupported by ano¬
ther body ; and thus the Spaniards would be at laft
wearied out and overcome. The event fully anfwered
his expectations. The Chilefians maintained a fight
for feven or eight hours, until the Spaniards, grow¬
ing faint for want of refreftimCnt, retired precipitately.
Valdivia ordered them to pofiefs a pafs at fome diftance
from the field, to flop the purfuit; but this -defign be- .
ing difeovered to the Chilefians by the treachery of
his page, w ho whs a native of that country, the Spa¬
niards were furrounded on all fides, and cut in pieces
by the Indians. The general was taken and put to
death : fome fay with the tortures ufually inflicted by
thofe favages on their prifoners ; others, that he had
melted gold poured down his throat; but all agree,
that the Indians made flutes and other inftruments of
his bones, and preferved his fkull as a monument of
their victory, which they celebrated by an annual fei-
tival. After this victory the Chilefians had another
engagement with their enemies ; in which alfo they
proved victorious, defeating the Spaniards with the
lofs of near 3000 men ; and upon this they bent their
whole force againft the colonies. The city of Con¬
ception, being abandoned by the Spaniards, was taken
and deftroyed: but the Indians were forced to raife
the fiege of Imperial; and their progrefs was at laft
ftopped by Garcia de Mendoza, who' defeated Capau¬
lican, took him prifoner, and put him to death. No
defeats, however, could difpirit the Chilefians. They
continued the war for 50 years; and to this day they
remain unconquered, and give the Spaniards more
trouble than any other American nation. Their nfoft
irreconcileable enemies are the inhabitants of Araccea
and Tucapel, thofe to the fouth of the river Bobio,
or whofe country .extends towards the Cordilleras.—
The manners of thefe people greatly referable thofe of
Norih America, w hich we have already deferibed un¬
der the article America; but feem to have a more
warlike difpofition. It is a conftant rule with the Chi-
lefians never to fue for peace. The Spaniards are ob¬
liged not only to make the firft overtures, but to pur-
chafe it by prefents. They have at laft been obliged
to abandon all thoughts of extending their conquefts,
and reduced to cover their frontiers by eredling forts
at proper diftances.
The Spanifti colonies in Chili are difperfed on the
borders of the South-fea. They are parted from Peru
by a defert 80 leagues in breadth ; and bounded by
the ifland of Chiloe, at the extremity next the ftraits
of Magellan. There are no fettlements on the coaft
except thofe of Baldiyia, Conception ifland, Valparaifo,
and Coquimbo or La Serena, which are all fea-ports.
In the inland country is St Jago, the capital of the co- ]
lony. There is no culture nor habitation at any di¬
ftance from thefe towns. The buildings in the whole
province are low, made of unburnt brick, and moftly
thatched. This praftice is .obferved on account of
the frequent earthquakes; and is properly adapted to
the nature of the climate, as well as the indolence of
the inhabitants.
The climate of Chili is one of the moft wholefbme
2 in
C H I
[ 649 1
C H I
Chili in Uie whole world. The vicinity of the Cordilleras may be refolved into as many triangles as it has fides. Chiliarck*
il •  ^       ««  u — ,-1' ]> d...r... ^ 1 —-i.*. 4.u:- * li
gives it fuch a delightful temperature as could not
‘j otherwife be expe&ed in that latitude. Though gold
mines are found in it, their richnefs has been too much
extolled ; their produce never exceeds L. 218,750.
The foil is prodigioufly fertile. All the European
fruits have improved in that happy climate. The
vine would be excellent if nature were properly af-
filled by art: and the corn-harveft is reckoned a bad
one when it does not yield a hundred fold. With all
thefe advantages, Chili has no direft intercourfe with
the mother-country. Their trade is confined to Peru,
Paraguay, and the favages on their frontiers. With
thefe laft they exchange their lefs valuable commodi¬
ties, for oxen, horfes, and their own children, whom
they are ready to part with for the moft trifling things.
This province fupplies Peru with great plenty of hides,
dried fruit, copper, falt-meat, horfes, hemp, lard,
wheat, and gold. In exchange, it receives tobacco,
fugar, cocoa, earthen-ware, woollen cloth, linen, hats,
made at Quito, and every article of luxury brought
from Europe. The flaps fent from Callao on this
traffic were formerly bound to Conception Bay, but
• now come to Valparaifo. The commerce between this
province and Paraguay is carried on by land, though
it is a journey of 300 leagues, 40 of which lie through
the fnows and precipices of Cordilleras ; but if it was
carried on by fea, they mull either pafs the ftraits
of Magellan or double Cape'Horn, which the Spa¬
niards always avoid as much as poffible. To Para-
The author of l’Art de Penfer, p. 44. has brought this ‘ .
inltance to flrow the diftinction between imagination^
and conceivingi
CHILIARCHA, or Chii.iarchus, an officer in
the armies of the ancients, who had the command of
a thoufand men.
CHILIASTS, in church-hiltory. See Millena-
RIANS.
CHILLINGWORTH (William), an eminent di¬
vine of the church of England, was born at Oxford
in 1602, and bred there. He made early great pro¬
ficiency in his ftudies, being of a very quick genius.
He was an expert mathematician, as well as an able
divine, and a very good poet,. Study and converfa-
tion at the univerfity turning upon the controverfy
between the church of England and that of Rome, on
account of the king's marriage with Henrietta daugh¬
ter to Henry IV. king of France, Mr Chillingworth
forfook the church of England, and embraced the
Romilh religion. Dr Laud, then bifliop of London,
hearing of this, and being greatly Concerned at it,
wrote Mr Chillingworth; who expreffing a great deal
of candour and impartiality, that prelate continued to
correfpond with him. This fet Mr Chillingworth on
a new inquiry; and at laft determined him to return
to his former religion. In 1634 he wrote a confuta¬
tion of the arguments which had induced him to go
over to the church of Rome. He fpoke freely to his
friends of all the difficulties that occurred to him ;
guay are fent fome woollen Huffs called ponchos, which gave occafion to a groundlefs report, that he
which are ufed for cloaks 5 alfo wines, brandy, oil,
and chiefly gold. In return they receive wax, a
kind of tallow fit to make foap, European goods, and
negroes.
Chili is governed by a chief, who is abfolute in all
civil, political, and military affairs, and is alfo inde¬
pendent of the viceroy. The latter has no authority
except when a governor dies; in which cafe he may
appoint one in his room for a time, till the mother-
country names a fucceffor. If, on fome occafions, the
viceroy has interfered in the government of Chili, it
was when he has been either authorifed by a particu-
had turned Papift a fecond time, and then Proteftant
again. His return to the communion of the church
of England made a great noife, and engaged him in
feveral difputes with thofe of the Romifh perfuafion.
But in 1635 he engaged in a work which gave him a
far greater opportunity to confute the principles of the
church of Rome, and to vindicate the Proteftant re¬
ligion, under the title of “ The Religion of Prote
Hants a fafe Way to Salvation.’’ Sir Thomas Coven
try, lord keeper of the great feal, offering him pre
ferment, Mr Chillingworth refufed to accept it on ac¬
count of his fcruples with regard to the fubfeription of
lar trull repofed in him by the court, or by the defe- the 39 articles. However, he at laft furmounted thefe
rence paid to the eminence of his office ; or when he
lias been adluated by his own ambition to extend his
authority. In the whole province of Chili there are
not 20,000 white men, and not more than 60,000 ne¬
groes, or Indians, able to bear arms. The military
eftabliflimeut amounted formerly to 2000 men ; but
the maintaining of them being found too expenfive,
they w-ere reduced to 500 at the beginning of this
century.
CHILIAD, an affemblage of feveral things ranged
by thoufands. , The word is formed of the Greek
mrile, a thoufand.
CHILIAGON, in geometry, a regular plain figure
ef 100 fides and angles. Though the imagination
cannot form the idea of fuch a figure, yet we may
have a very clear notion of it in the mind,' and can
ealily demonftrate that the fum of all its angles is e-
qual to 1996 right ones: for the internal angles of
every plane figure are equal to twice as many right
ones as the figure hath fides, except thofe four which
are about the centre of the figure, from whence it
Vol. IV. Part II.
fcruples ; and being promoted to the chancellorfhip
of the church of Sarum, with the prebend of Brix-
worth in Northamptonfhire annexed to it, he com¬
plied with the ufual fubfeription. Mr Chillingworth
was zealoufly attached to the royal party; and, in
Auguft 1643, was prefent in king Charles I.’s army
at the fiege of Gloucefter, where he advifed and di-
re&ed the making certain engines for affaulting the
town. Soon after, having accompanied the Lord
Hopton, general of the king’s forces in the weft, to
Arundel caltle in Suffex, he was there taken prifoaer
by the parliamentary forces under the command of Sir
William Waller, who obliged the caftle to furrender.
But his illnefs increafing, he obtained leave to be
conveyed to Chichefter, where he was lodged at the bi-
ftiop’s palace ; and, after a ftiort ficknefs, died in 1644.
He hath left feveral excellent works behind him.
CHILMINAR. See Persepolis.
CHILO, one of the feven fages of Greece, and of
the ephori of Sparta the place of his birth, flouriflied
about 556 years before Chrift. He was accuftomed
4 N to
CHI [ 650 1 CHI
•Chiloe to fay, that there were three things very difficult :
OI_. ^ “ To keep a fecret; to know how beft to employ
Chiiruera. . r , / _ . . . . , r '
. o-ur time ; and to iuirer injunes without murmur¬
ing.” According to Pliny, it was he who caufed
the (hort fentence, Know thyfelf, to be written in let¬
ters of gold in the temple of Delphos. It is faid that
he died with joy, while embracing His fon, who had
been crowned at the Olympic games.
CHILOE, an ifland lying near the coaft of Chili,
in South America, under the 43d degree of fouth la¬
titude. It is the chief of an archipelago of 40 illands,
and its principal town is Caftro. It rains here almoit
all the year, infomuch that nothing but Indian corn,
or fome fuch grain, that requires but little heat to ri¬
pen it, can ever come to perfe&ion. They have ex¬
cellent ffiell-filh, very good wild-fowl, hogs, Iheep, and
beeves; as alfo a great deal of honey and wax. They
carry on a trade with Peru and Chili ; whither they
fend boards of cedar, of which they have vail forefts.
CHILTENHAM, a town in Gloucdterihire, fix
miles from Gloucefter ; noted for its purgative chaly-
beat fpring, which has rendered it of late years a place
of fafhionable refdrt. This water, which operates with
great eafe, is deemed excellent in fcorbutic complaints,
and has been ufed with fuccefs in the gravel.
CHILTERN, a chain of chalky hills forming the
fouthern part of Buckinghamlhire, the northern part
of the county being diftinguiflied by the name of the
Kale* The air on thefe heights is extremely health¬
ful : The foil, though ftoney, produces good crops of
wheat and barley ; and in many places it is covered
with thick woods, among which are great quantities
of beach.—Chiltern is alfo applied to the hilly parts
of Berkffiire, and it is believed has the fame meaning
in fome other counties. Hence the Hundreds lying
in thofe parts are called the Chiltern Hundreds.
Chiltern Hundreds (Stewards of.) Of the Hundreds
into which many of theEnglilh counties were divided by
King Alfred for the better government, the jurifdiftion
was originally veiled in peculiar courts; but came after¬
wards to be devolved to the county courts, and fo re¬
mains at prefent; excepting with regard to fome, as the
chi/terns, which have been by privilege annexed to the
crown. Thefe having Hill their own courts, a Steward
of thofe courts is appointed by the chancellor of the
exchequer, with a falary of 20 s. and all fees, &c. be¬
longing to the office : And this is deemed an appoint¬
ment of fuch profit, as to vacate a feat in parliament.
CHHVLERA, a port-town of Turkey in Europe,
fituated at the entrance of the gulphof Venice, in the
province of Epirus, about 32 miles north of the city
Corfu, near which are the mountains of Chimsera,
which divide Epirus from Theffaly. E. Long. 20. 40.
N. Lat. 40. 20.
Chimjera, in fabulous hiftory, a celebrated mon-
fter, fprung from Echidna and Typhon. It had three
heads ; that of a lion, a goat, and a dragon ; and con¬
tinually vomited flames. The foreparts of its body
were thofe of a lion, the middle was that of a goat,
and the hinder parts were thofe of a dragon. It ge¬
nerally lived in Lycia, about the reign of Jobates, by
whofe orders Bellerophon, mounted on the horfe Pe-
gafus, overcame it. This fabulous tradition is explain¬
ed by the recolkftion that there was a burning moun¬
tain in Lycia, whofe top was the refort of lions on
4
account of its defolate wildernefs ; the middle, which Chii
was fruitful, was covered with goats; and at the bot- 1 v
tom the marlhy ground abounded with ferpents. JBel-
lerophon is faid to have conquered the Chimaera, be-
caufe he deftroyed the wild beafts on that mountain,
and rendered it habitable. Plutarch fays that it was the
captain of fome pirates who adorned their {hip with
the images of a lion, a goat, and a dragon.
By a chimrra, among the philofophers, is under-
ftood a mere creature of the imagination, compofed-
of fuch contradidlions and ablurdities as cannot pof-
fibly any where exift but in thought.
CHIMES of a Clock, a kind of periodicsd mufic,
produced at equal intervals of time, by means of a
particular apparatus added to a clock.
In order to calculate numbers for the chimes, and
adapt the chime-barrel, it muft be obferved, that the
barrel muft turn round in the fame time that the tune
it is to play requires in finging. As for the chime;
barrel, it may be made up of certain bars that run
athwart it, with a convenient number of holes punch¬
ed in them to put in the pins that are to draw each
hammer : and thefe pins, in order to play the time of
the tune rightly, muft Hand upright, or hang down
from the bar, fome more, fome lefs. To place the
pins rightly, you may proceed by the way of changes
on bells, viz. 1, 2, 3, 4; or rather make ufe of the
mulical notes. Obferve what is the compafs of your
tune, and divide the barrel accordingly from end to end.
Thus, in the examples on Plate CXXXVII. each
,of the tunes is eight notes in compafs; and accor¬
dingly the barrel is divided into eight parts. Thefe
divilions are ftruck round the barrel; oppofite to
which are the hammer-tails.
We fpeak her^ as if there were only one hammer
to each bell, that it may be more clearly' apprehend¬
ed ; but when two notes of the fame found come to¬
gether in a tune, there muft be two hammers to the
bell to ftrike it: fo that if in all the tunes you intend
to chime of eight notes compafs, there fhould happen
to be fuch double notes on every bdl, inftead of eight
you muft have fixteen hammers ; and accordingly you
muft divide the barrel, and ftrike fixteen ftrokes round
it, oppofite to each hammer-tail: then you are to di¬
vide it round about into as many divifions as there
are mufical bars, femibreves, minims, &c. in the tune.
Thus the hundredth-pfalm tune has 20 femibreves,
and each divifion of it is a femibreve : the firft note
of it alfo is a femibreve ; and, therefore, on the chime-
barrel muft be a whole divifion, from five to five; as
you may underftand plainly, if you conceive the fur-
face of a chime-barrel to be reprefented by the above
figures, as if the cylindrical fuperficies of the barrel
were ftretched out at length, or extended on a plane :
and then fuch a table, fo divided, if it were to be
wrapped round the barrel, would fhow the places where
all the pins are to Hand in the barrel; for the dots
running about the table are the places of the pins that
play the tune.
Indeed, if the chimes are to be complete, you ought
to have a fet of bells to -the gamut notes; fo as that
each bell having the true found of ful, la, mi, fa, you
may play dny tune with its flats and fharps: nay, you.
may by this means play both the bafs and treble with
one barrel; and by, fetting the names of your bells at
the
CHI [ 651 ] CHI
Chimney, the head of any tune, that tune may eafily be tranf-
fertred to the chime-barrel, without any fkill in mufic :
but it muft be obferved, that each line in the mufic is
three notes, diftant; that is, there is a note between
each line, as well as upon it.
CHIMNEY, in archite&ure, a particular part of a
houfe, where the fire is made, having a tube or funnel
to carry off the fmoke. The word chimney comes
from the French chemnee; and that from the Latin
caminata, “ a chamber wherein is a ,chimneycaminaki^
again, comes from cnminus ; and that from the Greek
xapn®-, “ a chimney of uro “ 1 burn.”
Chimneys are ufually fuppofed a modern invention;
the ancients only making ufe of ftoves: but O&avio
Ferrari endeavours* to prove .chimneys in ufe among
the ancients. To this end, he cites the authority of
Virgil,
Et jam fumma procul villarum culmina fumant :
and that of Appian, who fays, “ That of thofe per-
fons profcribed by the triumvirate, fome hid them-
felves in wells and common fewers, and fome on
the tops of houfes and chimneys;” for fo he under-
Hands *5t;rvaJe<f virapxftxi,jiijnaria fub te£lopq/ita. Add,
that Ariftophanes, in one of his comedies, introduces
his old man, Polycleon, Ihut up in a chamber, whence
be endeavours to make his elcape by the chimney.
However, the few inftances remaining among the an¬
cients, together with the obfcunty of the rules-of Vi¬
truvius on this head, make, us rather conclude the ufe
of ftoves, whereof the ancients had erttire apartments,
induced them to negledf this part of building which
the coldnefs of our climates obliges us to have a prin¬
cipal regard to.
Method of Building Chimnf. i\9 that-, will not. fmoke.
■\Vorkraen have diflerent methods of drawing up the
funnels of chimneys, generally according to their own
fancies and judgments, and fometimes .according to the
cuftoms of places. They are feldom directed by found
and rational principles. It will be found for the moft
part, that the fmoking of chimneys is owing to their
being carried up narrower near the top than below, or
zig-zag, all in angles: in fome cafes, indeed, it is
owing to accidental caufes; but, for .the nioft part,
to'thofe two above mentioned. Where they are car¬
ried up in the pyramid or tapering form, efpecially if
the houfe be of a confiderable height, it is ten to one
but they fometimes fmoke. The air in the rooms,
being iarified, is forced into the funnel of the chim¬
ney, and receives from the fire an additional force to
carry up the fmoke. Now it is evident, that the fur¬
ther up. the fmoke flies, the lefs is the force that drives
it, the flower it muft move, and. confequently the
more room in proportion it fhould have to move in ;
whereas in the ufual way it has lefs, by the fides of
the chimney being gathered clofer and clofer toge¬
ther.
The method here propofed of carrying up chim¬
neys will be objected to by fome thus : The wider a
chimney is at the top, fay they, the more liberty has
the wind to blow down. Very true ; but is it not re¬
filled in going down, both by the form of the chim-
1 ney and other evident caufes, fo that it muft return
again ? In the other way, when the wind blows down,
the refiftance being lefs, the wind and fmoke are, if
we may ufe the expreffion, imprifened, and make the
fmoke puff out below. This method has proved ef- Chimney
foctual after aH others had failed ; and that in a houfe If
placed in the world fituation poffibly, namely, under a, china'
high mountain to the fouthward, from which ftrong v"
blafts blow down upon it. A vent was carried up
without angles, as perpendicular as pofiible ; and was
made about three or four inches wider at top than at
the bottom : the funnel was gathered in a throat di¬
rectly above the fire-place, and fo widening upwards.
Since that time the houfe has not only ceafed to fmoke*
but, when the doors ftand open, the draught is fo
ftrong that it will carry a piece of paper out at the
chimney-head. See more on this fubjcdl under the
article Smoke.
Chimney-Money, otherwife called Hearth-money, a
duty to the crown on houfes. By flat. 14. Char. II.
cap. 2. every fire-hearth, and Hove of every dwelling
or other houfe, within England and Wales (except
fuch as pay not to church and poor), was chargeable
with 2 s. per annum, payable at Michaelmas and Lady-
day to the king and his heirs and fucceffors, cUc.;
which payment was commonly called chimney-money.
This tax, being much complained of as burdenfome
to the people, has been fince taken off, and others
impofed in its Head; among which- that on win¬
dows has by fome been efteemed almoft equally grie-
CHIMPANZEE, in natural hiftory. See Simia. 1
CHINA, a country of Afia, fituated on the moft
eaftarly part of that continent. It is bounded on the ’
north by Tartary ; from which it is divided, partly by
a prodigious wall of 1500 miles in length, and partly
by high, craggy, and inacceffible mountains. On the
call, it is bounded by the ocean ; on the weft, by part
of the Mogul’s empire, and India beyond the Ganges,
from which it is parted by other ridges of high moun¬
tains and fandy deferts. On the fouth, it is bounded
partly by the kingdoms of Lao, Tonquin, Ava, and
Cochin-China, and partly by the fouthern or Indian
fea, which flows between it and the Philippine iHands.
There are feveral ways of computing its length and
breadth. According to fome of thefe, it is reckoned
1269, 1600, or 1800 miles in length, and as much in
breadth: however, by the heft and lateft accounts,
this vaft country is fomewhat of an oval form, the
breadth being lefs than the length by little more a
than a fourth-part. It contains. 15 provinces, exclu-Divlfion iri-
five of that of Lyau-tong, which is fituated without theto provin-
great wall, though under the fame dominion. Theirces*
names are, 1. Shenfi; 2. Shanfi; 3. Pecheli: which
are fituated on the north fide, along the wall. 4. Shan-
tong ; 5. Kyan-nang ; 6. Che-kyang; 7. Fo-kyen :
which are fituated along the eaftern oeean. 8. Quang-
tong; 9. Quangfi; 10. Yu-nan; 11. Se-chuen :
which ftretch themfelves towards the fouth and
fouth-weft. And, 12. Ho-nan ; 13. Hu-quand; 14.
Quey-chew; 15. Kyang-fi : which take up the middle
part. For a particular defeription of all thefe, fee
their proper articles.
The origin of all nations is involved in obfourity . 3
and fable ; but that of the Chinefe much more fo than ^“nfiori*
any other. _ Every nation is inclined to affume too toMti.jui-*
high an aniquity to itfelf, but the Chittefe carry theirs ty.
beyond all bounds. Indeed, though no people on
earth are more exaft in keeping records of every me-
4 N 2 morable
CHI [ 652 ] CHI
China.
4
Why their
hiitory is
fo uncer¬
tain.
Fabulous
hiftory of
Ciuna.
movable tranfaftion, yet fuch is the genius of the Chi-
nefe for fuperftition and fable, that the firft part of
their hiftory is defervedly contemned by every ratio¬
nal perfon. What contributes more to the uncertain¬
ty of the Chinefe hiftery is, that neither we, nor they
themfelves, have any thing but fragments of their an¬
cient hiftorical books •, for about 213 years before Chrift,
the reigning emperor of Si-whang-ti caufed all the
books in the empire to be burned, except thofe writ¬
ten by lawyers and phyficians. Nay, the more ef-
feftally to deftroy the memory of every thing con¬
tained in them, he commanded a great number of
learned men to be buried alive, left, from their me¬
mories, they (hould commit to writing fomething
of the true memoirs of the empire. The inaccuracy
of the Chinefe annals is complained of even by their
moft refpecled author, Confucius himfelf; who alfo
agirrns, that, befofe his time, many of the oldeit ma¬
terials for writing fuch annals had been deftroyed.
According to the Chinefe hiftories, the firft monarch
of the whole univerfe (that is, of China), was called
Puon-ku, or Puen-cu. This, according to fome, was
the firft man ; but according to Bayer and Menze-
lius, two of the greateft critics in Chinefe litera¬
ture that have hitherto appeared, the word fignifies
the higheji antiquity. Puon-ku was fucceeded by 'Tiene-
hoang, which fignifies the emperor of heaven. They call
him alfo the intelligent heaven, the fupreme king of
the middle heaven, According to fome of their
hiftorians, he was the inventor of letters, and of the Cy¬
clic characters by which they determine the place of the
year, &c. Tiene-hoang was fucceeded by Ti-hoang
(the emperor of the earth), who divided the day and
night, appointing 30 days to make one moon, and fix¬
ed the winter folftice to the uthmoon. Ti-hoang
was fucceeded by Gine-hoang (fovereign of men),
who with his nine brothers fhared the government a-
mong them. They built cities, and furrounded them
with walls ; made a diftinClion between the fovereign
and fubjefts; inftituted marriage, tsV.
The reigns of thefe four emperors make up one of
what the Chinefe called £«', “ ages,” or “ periods,” of
which there were nine before Fo-hi, whom their moil
ienfible people acknowledge as the founder of their
empire.
The hiftory of the fecond hi contradidls almoft eve¬
ry tiling faid of the firft ; for though we have but juft
now been told that Gine-hoang and his brethren built
cities furrounded with walls; yet, in the fucceeding
age, the people dwelt in caves, or perched upon trees
as it were in nefts. Of the third hi we hear nothing j
and in the fourth, it feems matters had been ftill worfe,
as we are told that men were then only taught to re¬
tire into the hollows of rocks. Of the fifth and fixth
we have no accounts. Thefe fix periods, according to
fome writers, contained 90,000 years; according to
others, 1,100,750.
In the feventh and eighth kiy they tell us over again
what they had faid of the firft ; namely, that men be¬
gan to leave their eaves and dwell ki houfes, and were
taught to prepare clothes, CsV. Tchine-fang, the firft
monarch of the eighth hi, taught his fubjefts to. take
off the hair from Ikins with rollers of wood, and co¬
ver themfelves with the Ikins fo prepared. He taught
them alfo to make a kind of web of their hair, to ferve China,
as a covering to their heads againft rain. They obeyed —
his orders with joy, and he called his fubjedls people
clothed withJhins. His reign lafted 350 years; that
of one of his fucceffors, alfo, named Yeou-tfao-chi,
lafted more than 360; and his family continued for
12 or 18,000 years. But what is very furprifing, all
thefe thoufands and millions of years had elapfed with¬
out mankind’s having any knowledge of fire. This
was not difcovered till towards the clofe of this period,,
by one Souigine. After fo ufeful a difcovery, he
taught the people to drefs their vidluals; whereas be¬
fore, they had devoured I he flefh of animals quite raw,
drank their blood, and fwallowed even their hair and'
feathers. He is alfo faid to have been the inventor of
fiihing, letters, &c.
In the ninth period we find the invention, or at
leaft the origin of letters, attributed to one Tfang-hie,
who received them from a divine tortoife that carried
them on his ihell, and delivered them into the hands
of Tfang-hie. During this period alfo, mufic, money,
carriages, merchandize, and commerce, &c. were in¬
vented. Thex-e are various calculations of the length
of thefe hi or periods. Some make the time from
Puan-ku to Confucius, who flouriihed about 479 years
before Chrift, to contain 279,000 years; others,
2,276,000; fome, 2,759,860 years; others, 3,2.76^000}
and fome no lefs than 96,961,740 years.
Thefe extravagant accounts are by fome thought Fabulous
to contain obfeure and imperfedl hints concerning the hji,;o|7 ez>*
cofmogony and creation of the world, £sV. Puon-ku, ^ anie
the firft emperor, they think, reprefents eternity pre¬
ceding the duration of the world. The fucceeding
ones, Tiene-hoang, Ti-hoang, and Gine-hoang, they
imagine, fignify the creation of the heavens-and earth,
and the formation of man. The ten hi, or ages. nine,
of which preceded Fo-hi, mean the ten generations
preceding Noah. This may very poflxbly be the cafe }
for about 300 years before Chrift, fome Jews travelled
into China, who might have made .the Mofaic writings
known there.
What we have now related, contains the fubftance
of that part of the Chinefe hiftory which is entirely
fabulous. After the nine hi or “ ages” already taken
notice of, the tenth commenced with Fo-hi; and the
hiftory, though Hill very dark, obfeure, and fabulous,
begins to grow fomewhat more confident and intel¬
ligible. Fo-hi was born in the province of Shenfi. Reign c|
His mother walking upon the bank of a lake in that Fo-hi*
province, faw a very large print of a man’s foot in
the fand there; and, being furrounded by an iris or
rainbow, became impregnated. The child was named-
Fo-hi; and, when he grew tip, was by his country¬
men eledled king on account of his fuperior merit,,
and ftyled Tyent-tfe, that is “ the fon of heaven.” He
invented the eight qua, or fymbols, con filling of three
lines each, which, differently combined, formed 64 cha¬
racters, that were made ufe of to exprefs every thing-
To give thefe the greater credit, he pretended that
liehad-feea them, inferibed on the back of a dragon-
horfe (an animal fliaped like a horfe,.witli the wings
and feales of a dragon), which, arofe from the bottom
of a lake. Having gained great reputation among his
countrymen by this prodigy, he is faid to have created
manda-
5
CHI
[ 653 ]
C H I
Chira. mandarins or officers, under the name of dragr.
Hence we may affign a reafon why the emperors of
China always carry a dragon in their banners. He alfo
inftituted marriage, invented mufic, CSV. Having efta-
blilhed a prime minilter, he divided the government
of his dominions among four mandarins, and died af-
g ter a reign of 115. years.
Miraculous After Fo-hi followed a fucceffion of emperors, of
folftice. whom nothing remarkable is recorded, except that in
the reign of Tau, the feventh after Fo-hi, the fun did
9 not fet for ten days, fo that the Chinefe were afraid of
Hypothefis a general conflagration. This event the compilers of
c?!K«r“1I?g theUniverfal Hiftorytake to be the fame with that men-
and tinned in the book of Jolhua, when the fun and moon
flood ftill for about the fpace of a day. Fo-hi, they
will have to be the fame with Noah. They imagine,
that after the deluge, this patriarch remained fometime
with his dependents; but on their wicked combina¬
tion to build the tower ©f Babel, he feparated himfelf
from them with as many as he could perfuade to go
along with him; and that, Hill travelling eailvvard,
he at laft entered the fertile country of China, and
laid the foundation of that vail empire.—But, lea¬
ving thefe fabulous and conjectural times, we flxall pro¬
ceed to give fome account of that part of the Chinefe
hiftory, which may be more certainly depended on.
As the Chinefe, contrary to the practice of al-
mofl. all nations, have never fought to conquer other
countries, but rather to improve and content them-
felves with their own, their hiftory for many ages
furnifhes. nothing remarkable. The whole of their
emperors, abftra&ing from thofe who are faid to
have reigned in the fabulous times, are comprehend¬
ed in. 22 dynafties, mentioned in the following table.
1. Hya, containing
2. Shang, or Ing,
3. Chenvy
4. rfmy
5. Han,
6. Henu-hatt}
r-Tf,n,
8. Song,
9 - Xfi*
10. Lyangy
11. Chin,
12. Snui,
13. Twang,
14. Henu-lyang,
15. Hew-tang,
16. Hew-t/m,
17. Hew-han,
18. Henv-chew,
I Q. Song,
2.0. liven,
ar. Mingy.
22. Tftng,
This table is formed according to the accounts of.
the Jefuit Du Halde, and is commonly reckoned to be
the fnoft authentic ; but according to the above men¬
tioned hypothefis of the compilers of the Univerfal
Hiftory, who make Tau cotemporary with Jpffiua, the
Emperor
17
28
35
4
25
15
3
9
16
Before Chrift.
2207.
1766.
1122.
248.
206.
After Chrift.
220.
46*-
220.
479^
502.
557-
618.
907.
923*
936.
947-
95 ^
960.
1280.
1368.
1645.
dynafty of Hya did not commence till the. year before China.
Chiift 1357 ; and to accommodate the hiftory to their “v——'
hypothefis, great alterations muft be made in the dura- 10
tion of the dynafties. .... of Pe l”*.
The moft interefting particulars of the Chinefe hi- tar3>'
ftory relate only to the incurfions of the Tartars, who
at laft conquered the whole empire, and who ftill con¬
tinue to hold the fovereignty ; though by transfer¬
ring the feat of the empire to Peking, and adopting '
the Chinefe language, manners, tsP. Tartary would
feem rather to have been conquered by China, than
China by Tartary. Thefe incurlions are faid to ha^ve
begun very early; even in the time of the emperor
Shun, fucceffor to Yau above mentioned, in whofe
reign the miraculous folftice happened. At this
time, the Tartars were repulfed, and obliged to re¬
tire into their own territories. From time to time,
howrever, they continued to threaten the empire with
invafions, and the northern provinces were often ac¬
tually ravaged, by the Tartars in- the neighbourhood.
About the year before Chrift 213., Shi-whang-ti, ha¬
ving fully fubdued.all the princes, ,or kings as they,
were called, of the different provinces, became em¬
peror of China with unlimited power. He divided the
whole empire into 36 provinces;, and finding the
northern part of his dominions much incommoded by
tlie invafions of the neighbouring barbarians, he fent
a formidable army againlT thetft, which drove them ,r
far beyond the boundaries of China. To prevent Great wall'
their return, he built the famous wall already men- built.-
tioned, which feparates- China from Tartary. After
this, being elated with his own exploits, .he-formed a
deftgn of making pofterity believe that he himfelf
had been the firft Chinefe emperor that ever fat on the
throne. For this purpofe, he ordered all the hifto-
rical writings to be burnt, and caufed many of
the learned to- be put to death, as already, men¬
tioned.
What effefl the great wall for fome time had in
preventing the invafions of the Tartars, we are not
told ; but in the tenth century of the Chriftian sera, J2
thofe of Kitan or Lyau got- a footing in. China. The.Kitan Tara
Kitan were a people of eaftern. Tartary, who dwelt to tars fettle-.,
the north and north-eall of the province of Pecheli inin Chum. -
China, particularly in that of Layu-tong lying without
the great wall. Thefe people having fubdued the
country between Korea and Kafiigar, became much-
more troublefome to the Chinefe than all the other-
Tartars. Their empire commenced about the year
916, in the fourth year of Mo-ti-kyan-ti, fecondempe-
ror of the 14th Chinefe dynafty called Hewdyang, In
946, Mingt-fong, fecond emperor of the 15th dyna¬
fty, being dead, Sheking-tang, his fon-in-law,,rebclled.
againft Mingt-fong, his fon and fucceffor, whom he de¬
prived of his crown and life. This he accomplifhcd
by means of an army of 50,000 men furnifiied by the*
Kitan. Fi-ti,. the.-fon of Mingt-fong, being unable to
refill the ufurper, fled to the city Ghey-chew ; where
{hutting himfelf up with his family and all his valuable
effe&s, he. fet fire to the palace, and was burnt to
alhes. On his death, Sheking-tang affumed the title
of emperor ; founded the 16th dynafty ; and changed
his name to that of Kaut-fu. But the Kitan general.
refilling to acknowledge him, he was obliged to pur-
chafc
CHI L 654 ] CHI
China, chafe a peace by yielding up to the Tartars 16 cities
‘jn the province of Pecheli, beftdes a yearly prefent of
300,000 pieces of filk.
This fubmiffion ferved only to inflame die avarice
and ambition of the Kitan. In 959, they broke the
treaty when lead expe&ed, and invaded the empire
afrefli. Tfi-vang, the emperor at that time, oppofed
them with a formidable army ; but through the treach¬
ery of his general Lyew-chi-ywen, the Tartars were
allowed to take him prifoner. On this, Tfi-vang was
glad to recover his liberty by accepting of a fmall
principality; while the traitor became emperor of all
China, and, changing his name to Kaut-fu, founded
the 17th dynafty. The Tartars, in the mean time,
ravaged all the northern provinces without oppofition,
and then marched into the fouthern. But being here
flopped by fome bodies of Chinefe troops, the gene¬
ral thought proper to retire with his booty into Tar¬
tary. 10962, Kaut-fu dying, was fucceeded by his
fon In-ti. The youth of this prince gave an opportu¬
nity to the eunuchs to raife commotions ; efpecially
as the army was employed at a diftance in repelling
the invafions of the Tartars. This army was com¬
manded by Ko-ghey, who defeated the enemy in fe-
veral battles, and thus reftored peace to the northern
provinces. In .the mean time, In-ti was flain by his
eunuchs, and the emprefs placed his brother on the
throne : but Ko-ghey, returning in triumph, was fa-
luted emperor by his vi&orious army, and the em¬
prefs being unable to fupport the rights of her fon, was
obliged to fubmit, while Ko-ghey, affuming the name
of Tay-tfu, founded the t8th dynafty. Nine years
after this, however, the grandees of the empire, fet-
ting afide Kong ti, the third in fucceflion from Tay-
ffu, on account of his non-age, proclaimed his guar¬
dian, named Chau-quang-yu, emperor; who, alfum-
ing the name of Kau-tfu, founded the 19th dynafty,
called Song, or Tfong.
Under this monarch the empire began to recover
itfelf; but the Kitan ftill continued their incurfions.
The fucceflbrs of Kau-tfu oppofed them with various
fuccefs; but at laft, in 978, the barbarians became fa
ftrong as to lay fiege to a confiderable city. Tay-
tfong, fucceflbr to Kau-tfu, detached 300 foldiers,
each carrying a light in his hand, againft them in the
night-time, with orders to approach as near as paf-
fible to the Tartar camp. The barbarians, imagining,
by the number of lights, that the whole Chinefe ar¬
my was at hand, immediately fled, and, falling into
the ambufcades laid for them by the Chinefe general,
were almoft all cut to pieces.
This check, however, did not long put a flop to
the ravages of the Kitan. In the year 999, they laid
fiege to a city in the province of Peche-li; but Ching-
tfong, fucceffor to Tay-tfong, came upon them with
his army fo fuddenly, that they betook themfelves to1
flight. The emperor was advifed to take advantage
of their confternation, and recover the country which
had been yielded to them ; but inftead of purluing his
vidlpry, he bought a peace, by confenting to pay an¬
nually 106,000 tael (about L.34,000), and 200,000
pieces of filk. The youth and pacific -difpofition of
Jin-tfong, fucceflbr to Ching-tfong, revived the cou¬
rage of the Kitan ; and, in 1035, war would have
been renewed, had not the emperor condefcended to China
as fhameful a treaty as that concluded by his father, *'
Two years after, the Tartars demanded reftitution of
ten cities in the province of Peche-li, which had been
taken by Ko-g-hey fbunder of the 18th dynafty ; upon
which Jin-tfong engaged to pay them an annual tri¬
bute of 200,000 taels of filver, and 300,000 pieces
of filk in lieu of thefe cities. 13
From this time, the Kitan remained in peaceableKltan
pofiefikm of their Chinefe dominions till the year 1117. ^ °aftern
Whey-tfong, at that time emperor, being able nei-Tartars,
ther to bear their ravages, nor by himfelf to put a
flop to them, refolved upon a remedy which at laft
proved worfe than the difeafe. This was to call in
the Nu-che, Nyu-che, or Eaftern Tartars, to deftroy
the kingdom of the Kitan. From this he was diffua-
ded by the king of Korea, and moft of his own mini-
iters; but, difregarding their falutary advice, he join¬
ed his forces to thofe of the Nu-che. The Kitan were
then every where defeated ; and at laft reduced to
fuch extremity, that thofe who remained were forced
to leave their country, and fly to the mountains of the
weft. 14
Thus the empire of the Kitan was totally deftroyed, Who af-
but nothing to the advantage of the Chineie 5 for the funie tlle
Tartar general, elated with his conqueft, gave the
name of Kin to his new dominion, aflumed the title of;nvade Chi-
emperor, and began to think of aggrandizing him- n»,
felf and enlarging his empire. For this purpofe, he
immediately broke the treaties concluded with the
Chinefe emperor ; -and, invading the provinces of Pe¬
che-li and Shell-ft, made himfelf mafter of the greater
part of them. Whey-tfong, finding himfelf in danger
of• lofi-ng his dominions, made feyeral advantageous
propofals to the Tartar; who, teeming to comply
wlth them, invited him to come and fettle matters by
a perfonal conference. The Chinefe monarch com¬
plied : but# on bis return, the terms agreed on feemed
intolerable to his minifters; fo that they told him the
treaty could riot fubfift^ and that the moft cruel war
was preferable to fuch an ignominious peace. The
Kin monarch,, being informed of all that paflbd, had
recau-rfe to arms, and took feveral cities. W'hey-
tfong was weak enbugh to go in perfon to hold a fe-
cond conference ; but, on his arrival, was immediate- ^
ly feized by the Tartar. He was kept prifoner un- They tafci
der a ftrong guard during the remaining part of his the empe-
life ; and ended his days in 1126, in the defert ofror rrifon“
Shamo, having nominated his eldeft: fon Kin-tfong to
fuccee^ him.
Kin-'tfong began his reign with putting to death fix
minifters of ftate, who had betrayed his father into
the hands of the Kin Tartars. The barbarians in
the mean time purfued their conquefts without oppo¬
fition. They croffed the Whang-ho, or Yellow River,
which an handful of troops might have prevented ; and l6
marching direftly towards the imperial city, took and imper;al cl*
plundered it. Then felzing the emperor and his con- ty and ano*
fort, they carried them away captives : but many ofther ®mPe'?
the principal lords, and feveral cf the minifters, prefer-ror ta CI>*
ring death to fuch an ignominious bondage, killed them¬
felves. The Kin being informed by the emprefs
Meng that (he had been divorced, they left her be¬
hind. This proved the means of faying the empire;
for
C H I
China, for by her wifdom and prudence fhe got the crown
' < placed on the head of Kau-tfong, ninth fon of the em¬
peror Whey-tfong by his divorced emprefs.
Kau-tfong fixed his court at Nanking the capital of
Kyang-nan ; but foon after'was obliged to remove it
to Kang-chew in Che-kyang. He made feveral ef¬
forts to recover fome of his provinces from the Kin,
but without effeft. Ili-tfong the Kin monarch, in the
mean time, endeavoured to gain the efteem of his
Chinefe fubjefts by paying a regard to their learning
and learned men, and honouring the memory of Con¬
fucius. Some time after, he advanced to Nanking,
from whence Kau-tfong had retired, and took it: but,
receiving advice that Yo-fi, general of the Song, or
fouthern Chinefe, was advancing by long marches to
the relief of that city, they fet fire to the palace, and
the Kin °f ret*re(^ northward. However, Yo-fi arrived time
checked. enough to fall upon their rear-guard, which fuffered
very much; and from this time the Kin never dared
to crofs the river Kyang. In a few years afterwards
the Chinefe emperor fubmitted to become tributary to
the Kin, and concluded a peace with them upon very
dilhonourable terms. This fubmiffion, however, was
of little avail: for, in 1163, the Tartars broke the
peace ; and, invading the fouthern province with a for¬
midable army, took the city of Yang-chew. The
king, having approached the river Kyang, near its
mouth, where it is wideft as well as irioft rapid, com¬
manded his troops to crofs it, threatening with his
drawn fword to kill thofe who refufed. On recei¬
ving fuch an unreafonable command, the whole ar¬
my mutinied ; snd the king being killed in the be¬
ginning of the tumult, the army immediately reti-
18 recl‘
Trey are From this time to the year 1210, nothing remark-
i Stacked by able occurs in the Chinefe hiilory ; but this year,
i pnghiz-^ Jenghiz-khan, chief of the weftern Tartars,. Moguls,
' i^'king ofor Mur/gls, quarrelled with Yong-tfi emperor of the
ya. Kin ; and at the fame time the king of Hya, difgufted
at being refufed afliflance againft Jenghiz-khan, threat¬
ened him with an invafion on the weft fide. Yong-tfi
prepared for his defence; but in 1211, receiving news
that Jenghiz-khan was advancing fouthward with his
whole army, he was feized with fear, and made pro-
: i<) pofals of peace, which were rejefted. In 1212, the
reat wall Mogul generals forced the great wall; or, according to
• iCee-by forne writers, had one of the gates treacheroufly open-
San.1Z" e<* to t^em> to t^ie north °f Shanfi ; and made incur-
fions as far as Peking the capital of the Kin empire.
At the Tame time the province of Lyau-tong was al-
moft totally reduced by feveral Kitan lords who had
joined Jenghiz-khan ; feveral ftrdng places were ta¬
ken, and an army of 300,000 Kin defeated by the Mo¬
guls. In autumn they laid fiege to the city of Tay-
! tong-fu; where, although the governor Hujaku fled,
yet Jenghiz-khan met with confiderable refiftanee.
\ Having loft a vaft number of men, and being himfelf
wounded by an arrow, he was obliged to raife the
’ I fiege and retire into Tartary ; after which the Kin re*
, took feveral cities. The next year, however, Jeng-
' hiz-khan re-entered China ; retook the cities which the
Kin had reduced the year before; and overthrew their
armies in two bloody battles, in one of which the
ground was ftrewed with dead bodies for upwards of
. four leagues..
C H I
The fame year Yong-tfi was flain by his general Chins,
Hujaku ; and Sun, a prince of the blood, advanced in '“"’“v
his room. After this the Moguls, attacking the empire
with four armies at once, laid wafte the provinces of
Shanfi, Honan, Pecheli, and Shantong. In 1214 Jeng¬
hiz-khan fat down before Peking ; but inftead of af-
faulting the fcity, offered terms of peace, which were
accepted, and the Moguls retired into Taitary. After
their departure, the emperor, leaving his fon at Pe¬
king, removed his court to Pyen-lyang near Kay-
fong-fu, the capital of Honan. At this Jenghiz-khan
being offended, immediately fent troops to btfiege Pe- .20
king. The city held out to the fifth month of the YearkenW^ ta‘‘
1215, and then furrendered. At the fame time the
Moguls finiflied the conqueft of Lyau-tong ; and the
Song refufed to pay the ufual tribute to the Kin.
In 12:6, Jenghiz-khan returned to purfue his con-
quefts in the weft of Afia, where he ftaid feven years;
during which time his general Muhuli made great
progrefs in China againft the Kin emperor. He was 21
greatly aflifted by the motions of Ning-tfong emperor ®”l!tliern
of the Song, or fouthern China; who, incenfed by the
frequent perfidies of the Kin, had declared war againft a?a;nft the:
them, and would hearken to ho terms of peace, though Kin.
very advantageous propofals were made. Notwith-
ftanding this, however, in 1220, the Kin, exerting
themfelves, raifed two-pgreat armies, one in Shenfi,
and the other in Shang-ton. The former baffled the
attempts of the Song and king of Hya, who had united
againft them; but the latter, though no fewer than
200,000, were entirely defeated by Muhuli. In’ 122 1,
that officer paffed the Whang-ho, and died after con¬
quering feveral cities, 22
In 1224, the Kin emperor died ; and was fucceeded Tenghiz-
by his fon Shew, who made peace with the king of than de-
Hya: but next year, that kingdom was entirely de- f.ro7?the e
ftroyed [by jenghiz-khan. In 1226, Oktay fon tO j^"f .°m0
Jetighiz-Khan marched into Honan, and befieged Kay-
Song-fu, capital of the Kin empire ; but was obliged to
withdraw into Shenfi, where he took feveral cities, and
cut in pieces an army of.30,000 men. In 1227 Jeng-
hiz-khan died, after having defired his fons to demand And dies.-
a paffage for their army through the dominions of the
Song, without which he faid they cduld.not eafily van-
quiflt the Kin.
After the death of that great conqueror, the war
was carried on with various fuccefs; but though the *
Moguls took above 60 important polls in the province
of Shenfi, they found it impoffible to force Tong-quan,.
which it behoved them to do in order to penetrate effec¬
tually into Honan. In April 1231 they took the capi¬
tal of Shenfi, and defeated the Kin army which came
to its relief. Plere one of the officers defired prince
Toley to demand a paffage from the Song through
the country of Han chong-fu. This propofal Toley
Communicated to his brother Oktay, who approved of
it as being conformable to the dying advice of Jeng-
hiz khan. Hereupon Toley, having afftmbled all his
forces, fent a meffenger to the Song generals to de-
mand a paffage through their territories. This, how- quarrel
ever, they not only refufed, but put the meffenger to with the
death ; which fo enraged Toley that he fwore td Son^'
fnake them repent of it, and was foon as good as his 25
word. He decamped in Auguft 1231; and having fw-v-,*!’10’**
ced.the paffages, put to the fword the inhabitants of10ie^'
Wha.«.
[ 655 ]
C H I
[ 656 ]
CHI
Wha«yang and Fong-chew, two titles in the diftrift
' of Han-chong-fu. Then having cut down rocks to
fill up deep abyffes, and made roads through places
which Toley had obftru&ed with trees, they were
attacked by that prince at a difadvantage, and, after *
a faint refiitance, defeated with great flaughter, and
almoll inacceflible, he came and befieged the city of. the lofs of both their generals^, one killed and the
26
.•Capital of
Seged.
Han-chong-fu itfelf. The miferable inhabitants fled
to the mountains on his approach, and more than
100,000 of them perifhed. After this, Tojey divided
his forces, confilling of 30,000 horfe, into two bodies.
One of there went weftward to Myen-chew : from
thence, after opening the paffages of the mountains,
they arrived at the river ICyaling, which runs into
the great Kyang. This they crofied on rafts made
xjf the wood of demoliflred houfes; and then, march¬
ing along its hanks, feized many important pods.
At laft, having deftroyed more thanY.40 cities, towns,
or fortreffes, they returned to the army. The fecond
. detachment feized an important poll in the mountains,
called Tautong, fix or feven leagues to the eaftward
,of Han-chong-fu. On the other fide Oktay advanced,
in Oftober, towards Pu-chew a city of Shan-fi ; which
being taken after a vigorous defence, he prepared to
pafs the Whang-ho. Toley, after furmounting incre¬
dible difficulties, arrived in December on the borders
of Honan, and made a -ffiew as if he deligned to at¬
tack the capital of the .Kin empire. On his firft ap¬
pearance in Honan through a paflage fo little fufpeft-
ed, every body was filled with terror and aftoniffi-
ment, fo that he proceeded for fome time without
oppofition. At laft the emperor ordered his generals,
Hota,' Ilapua, and others, to march againft the enemy.
Toley boldly attacked them ; but was obliged to retire,
which he did in good order. Hota was for purfuing
him, faying that the Mogul army did not exceed
30,000 men, and that they feemed not to have eaten
any thing for two or three days. Ilapua, however,
was of opinion that there was no eccafion for being
fo hafty, as the Moguls were inclofed between the
rivers Han and Whang-ho, fo that they could not
efcape. This negligence they foon hadoccafion to re¬
pent of: for Toley, by a ftratagem, made himfelf
matter of their heavy baggage; which accident ob¬
liged them to retire to Tang chew. From thence
they fent a meffenger to acquaint the emperor that
they had gained the battle, but concealed the lofs of
their baggage. This good news filled the court with
joy ; and the people who had retired into the capital
for its defence, left it again, and went into the coun¬
try : but, in a few days after, the vanguard of the Mo¬
guls, who had been fent by the emperor Oktay, appear¬
ed in the field, and .carried off a great number of thofe
that had quitted the,city.
Jn January 1.232, Oktay paffing the Whang-ho, en¬
camped in the diftrift of Kay-fong-fu, capital of the
Kin empire, and fent his general Suputay to befiege
the city. At that time the place was near 30 miles
in circumference;: but having only 40,000 foldiers to
defend it, as many more from the neighbouring cities,
and 20,000 peafantg, were ordered into it; while the
emperor publiftied an affe&ing declaration, animating
the people to defend it to the laft extremity. Oktay,
having heard with joy of Toley’s entrance into Ho¬
nan, ordered him to lend fuccours to Suputay. On the
.other hand, the Kin generals advanced with 150,000
^men to relieve the city; but being obliged to divide
•their forces in order to avoid in part the great road
other taken. The emperor now ordered the army at
Tong-quan and other fortified places to march to the
relief of Kay-fong-fu, They affembled accordingly,
to the number of 110,000 foot and 15,000 horfe;
and were followed by vaft numbers of people who
expe&ed by their means to be protected from the
enemy. But many of thefe tfoops having deferred,
and the reft being enfeebled by the fatigues of their
march, they difperfed on the approach of their pur-
fuers, who killed all they found in the highways. Af¬
ter this the Moguls took Tong-quan and fome other
confiderable pofts; but were obliged to raife the fieges
of Quey-te-fu and Loyang, by the bravery of the go¬
vernors. Kyang-fhin, governor of Loyang, had only
3 or 4000 foldiers under him, while his enemies were
30,000 ftrong. He placed his worft foldiers on the
walls, putting himfelf at the head of 400 brave men ;
whom he ordered to go naked, and whom he led to
all dangerous attacks. He invented engines to call
large ftones, which required but few hands to play
them, and aimed fo true as to hit at zoo paces dif-
tance. When their arrows failed, he cut thofe ffiot
by the enemy into four pieces; pointed them with
pieces of brafs coin; and difcharged them from wooden
tubes with as much force as bullets are from a mufleet.
Thus he harafled the Moguls for three months fo grie-
voufly, that they were obliged, notwithHanding their
numbers, to abandon the enterprize.
Oktay, at laft, notwithftanding his fucceftes, refol-Bravery of
ved to return to Tartary ; and offered the Kin empe-1116 befieg-
ror peace, provided he became tributary, and deli-ed'
vered up to him 27 families which he named. Thefe
offers were very agreeable to the emperor; but Suputay,
taking no notice of the treaty, pufhed on the fiege of
the capital with more vigour than ever. By the help
of the Chinefe Haves in his army, the Mogul general
foon filled the ditch; but all his efforts feemed only to
infpire the befieged with new vigour. The Moguls
at that time made ufe of artillery, but were unable to
make the leaft impreffion upon the city walls. They
raifed walls round thofe they befieged, which they
fortified with ditches, towers, and battlements. They
proceeded alfo to fap the walls of the city; but were
very much annoyed by the artillery of the befieged,
efpecially by their bombs, which finking into the gal¬
leries, and burffing under ground, made great havock
among the miners. For 16 days and nights the at¬
tacks continued without intermiffion ; during which
time an incredible number of men periflitd on both
fidesr at length, Suputay, finding .that he could 48
not take the city, withdrew his troops, under pretence Peace c<
of conferences being on foot. Soon after, the plague cluiied 5
began in Kay-fong-fu ; and raged with fuch violence,
that, in 50 days, 900,000 biers were carried out, be-
fides a vaft multitude of the poorer fort who could not
afford any. 49
In a ffiort time, two unlucky accidents occafioned a And bro-jj 1
renewal of the war ; which now put an end to theken’
empire of the Kin. Gan-yong, a young Mogul lord,
having affumed the government of fome cities in
Kyang-nan, and killed the officer fent to take poffef-
fioa
Ca, ital
-"again be-
ieged.
Siege of
Juning-fu.
Tnhappy
fate of the
emperor.
C H 1 L 657 ] CHI
fion of them, declared for the Kin. The emperor ed himfelf in the river Jit j as did alfo $OQ of his moil China,
unwarily took Gan-yong into, his fervice, and gave refolute foldiers. The fame day the new emperor, ^
him the title of Prince. Upon this Oktay fer.t an en- Cheng-lin, wasjlain in a tumult ; and thus an er d was D;ff(;|Uon
voy, attended by other perfons, to inquire into the put to the dominion of the Kin Tartars in China. 0f‘the K;n
affair ; but the Kin officers killed them aff, without The empire of China was now to be fhared betweeh empire,
being puniihed by the emperor. Suputay, having in- the Song, or fouthern Chinefe, and the Moguls. It
formed his mailer of all thefe proceedings, was or- had been agreed upon, that the province of Honan
dered to continue the war in Honan. Shew-fu now fhould be delivered up to the Song as foon as the War was
commanded his officers to unite their troops for the finiihed. But they, without waiting for the expira-
defence of the capital; but before his orders could be tion of the term, or giving Oktay notice of their pro-
obeyed, they were attacked and defeated, one after ceedings, introduced their troops into Kay-fong-fu, 3.7
another, by the Moguls. This obliged him to raife Lo-yang, and other confiderable cities.. On this theWar bc"
foldiers from among the peafants, for whofe fubfift- Mogul general refolved to attack them; and repaffiag ‘s'^and*
ence the people were taxed ^ of the rice they pof- the Whang-ho, cut in pieces part of the garrifon ofthe M j-
fefl’ed. The city began now to be diftrefled for want Lo-yang, while they were out in fearch ofprovifions. guls.
of provifions; and as it was but in a bad pofture of The garrifon of Kay-fong-fu likewife abandoned that
defence, the emperor marched with an army againft place ; and the Song emperor degraded the officers
the Moguls. His expedition proved unfortunate ; for, , who had been guilty of thofe irregularities, fending
fending part of his army to beliege a city called Why- ambaffadors to Oktay, at the fame time, to defire a
chew, it was totally cut in pieces, and Suputay a fe- continuance of the peace. What Oktay’s anfwer was
cond time fat down before the capital. we are not told, but the event (bowed that he was
On hearing this bad news, the emperor repafled not well pleafed; for, in 1235, he ordered his fecond
the Whang-ho, and retired to Quey-te-fu. Here he fon prince Kotovan, and his general Chahay, to attack
had not been long before the capital was delivered the Song in Se-chwen, tohile others marched towards
up by treachery, and Suputay put all the males of the the borders of Kyang-nan.
imperial race to death ; but, by the exprefs command In 1236, the Moguls made great progrefs in the
of Oktay, fpared the inhabitants, who are faid to have province of Huquang, where they took feveral cities,
amounted to 1,400,000 families. After this difafter and put vaft numbers to the fword. This year they
the unhappy monarch left his troops at Quey-te-fu, introduced paper or filk money, which had formerly
and retired to Juning-fu, a city in the fouthern part been ufed by Chang-tfong, fixth emperor of the Kin.
of Honan, attended only by 400 perfons. Here the Prince Kotovan forced the paflages into the diffrict of
diftance of the Moguls made him think of living at Hang-chong-fu in the province of Shenfi, which he 36
cafe ; but while he flattered himfelf with thefe vain entered with an army of 500,000 men. Here a ter- Dreadful
hopes, the enemy’s army arrived before the city and rible battle was fought between the vail army of the
xnvefted it. The garrifon were terrified at their ap- Moguls and the Chinefe troops, who had been driven
proach ; but were encouraged by the emperor, and his from the paffages they defended. The latter con-
brave general Hu-fye-hu, to hold out to the lad. As fifled only of 10,000 horfe and foot, who were almoft
there were not in the city a fufficient number of men, entirely cut off; and the Moguls loft fuch a number
the women, dreffed in mens clothes, were employed of men, that the blood is faid to have run for two
to carry wood, (tones, and other neceffary materials leagues together. After this viftory the Moguls en-
to the walls. All their efforts, however, were ineffec- tered Sechwen, which they almoft entirely reduced,
tual. They were reduced to fuch extremities, that committing fuch barbarities, that, in'one city, 40,000
for three months they fed on human flefn 5 killing the .people chofe rather to put an end to their own lives
old and feeble, as well as many prifoners, for food, than fubmit to fuch cruel conquerors.
This being known to the Moguls, they made a general In 1237, the Moguls received a confiderable check
affauit in January 1234. The attack continued from before the city of Gantong in Kyang-nan, the fiege of
morning till night; but at laft the aflailants were re- which they were obliged to raife with lofs. In 1238
pulled. In this a&ion, however, the Kin loft all their they befieged Lu-chew, another city in the fame pro-
beft officers ; upon which the emperor refigned the vince. They furrounded it with a rampart of earth
crown to Cheng-lin a prince of the. blood. Next morn- and a double ditch ; but the Chinefe general ordered
ing, while the ceremony of invefting the new em- their intrenchments to be filled with immenfe quan*
peror was performing, the enemy mounted the fouth tities of herbs deeped in oil, and then fet on fire,
walls, which were defended only by 200 men ; and while he (hot (tones upon them from a tower feven
the fouth gate being at the fame time abandoned, the (lories high. At the fame time a vigorous fally was
whole army broke in. They were oppofed, how- made; and the Mogul army being thrown into the
ever, by Hu-fye-huwho, with 100© foldiers, conti- utmoft diforder, were obliged finally to abandon the
nued to fight with amazing intrepidity. In the mean fiege, and retire northwards.
time Shew-fu, feeing every thing irreparably loft, In 1239, thefe barbarians were oppofed by a ge-
lodged the feal of the empire in a houfe j and then neral called Meng-kong, with great fuccefe; who, this
qaufing (heaves of draw to be fet round it, ordered it and the following year, gained great honour by his •
to be fet on fire as foon as he was dead. After giving exploits. While he lived, the Moguls were never
this order be hanged himfelf, and his commands were able to make any confiderable progrefs; but his death,
executed by his domeftics. Hu-fye-hu, who dill con- in 1246,. proved of the greateft detriment to the Chi- *
tinued fighting with great bravery, no fooner heard nefe affairs : and foon after, the Tartars renewed the
of the tragical death of the emperor, than he diowu- war with more vigour and fuccefs than ever. In
Vol. IV. Part II. 4O
38
CHI [ 658 ]
1255', they re-entered the province of Se-chwen ; but fail to produce
J ftill met with vigorous oppofition in this quarter, be- ~ ~ '
eaufe the Chinefe took care to have Se-chwen furnifh-
ed with good troops and generals. Though they
were always beaten, being greatly inferior in number
to their enemies, yet they generally retook the cities
the Moguls had reduced, as the latter were commonly
obliged to withdraw for want of provifxoris and fo¬
rage. In 1259 they undertook the fiege of Ho-chew,
a ftrong city to the weft of Peking, defended by Vang-
kyen, a very able officer, who commanded a nume¬
rous garrifon. The fiege continued from the month
of February till Auguft } during which time the Mo¬
guls loft an immenfe number of men. On the 10th
of Auguft they made a general affault in the night.
They mounted the walls before the governor had in¬
telligence ; but were foon attacked by him with the
utmoft fury. The Mogul emperor, Meng-ko, him-
felf came to the fcalade ; but his prefence was not
fufficient to overcome the valour of Vang-kyen. At
. new war.
Moguls de-the fame time the fcaling-ladders of the Moguls were
their e’rnpe- blown down by a ftorm ; upon which a terrible flaugh-
ror killed, ter enfued, and amongft the reft fell the emperor him-
felf. Upon this difafter the Mogul generals agreed
to raife the fiege, and retire towards Shen-fi,
On the death ofMeng-ko, Hupilay, or Kublay Khan,
who fucceeded him, laid fiege to Vu-chang-fu, a city
not far diftant from the capital of the Song empire.
At this the emperor being greatly alarmed, diftribu-
«*ted immenfefums among his troops; and, having railed a
formidable army, marched to the relief of Vu-chang-fu.
Unfortunately the command of this army was com¬
mitted to the care of Kya-tfe-tau, a man without
either courage or experience in war. He was befides
very vain and vindi&ive in his temper ; often ufing
the beft officers ill, and entirely overlooking their me¬
rit, which caufed many of them to go over to the
Moguls. The fiege of Vu-chang-fu was commenced,
and had continued a confiderahje time, when Kya-tfe-
tau, afraid of its being loft, and at the fame time not
daring to take any effectual ftep for its relief, made
propofals of peace. A treaty was accordingly con¬
cluded, by which Kya-tfe-tau engaged to pay an an¬
nual tribute of about L. 50,000 in filver, and as much
in filk; acknowledging likewife the fovereignty of the
Moguls over the Song empire. In confequence of
this treaty, the Moguls retreated after the boundaries
of the two empires had been fixed, and repaffed the
Kyang; but 170 of them having ftaid on the other
fide of the river, were put to death by Kya-tfe-tau.
Treachery This wicked minifter totally concealed from the
of a Chi- emperor his having made fuch a .ftiameful treaty with
nefe miiu- ^ Moguls; and the 170 foldiers maflacred by his
r" order, gave oCcafion to a report that the enemy had
been defeated ; fo that tjhe Song court believed that
they had been compelled to retreat by the fuperior
valour and wifdom of Kya-tfe-tau. This proved the
ruin of the empire; for, in 1260, the Mogul empe¬
ror fent Hauking to the Chinefe court to execute the
treaty according to the terms agreed on with Kya-
tfe-tau. The minifter, dreading the arrival of this
envoy, imprifoned him near Nanking ; and took all
poffible care that neither Hupilay, nor Li-tfong the
Chinefe emperor, ffiould ever hear any thing of him.
It was impoffible fuch unparalleled condudt could
H I
Hupilay’s courtiers in-i China,
ceffantly preffed him to revenge himfelf on the Song ——y——♦
for their treacherous behaviour ; and he foon publifh-
ed a manifefto againft them, which was followed by
a renewal of hoftilities in 1268. The Mogul army
amounted to 300,000 men; but notwithftanding their
numbers, little progrefs was made till the year 1271.
Syan-yang and Fan-ching, cities in the province of Se-
chew, had been befieged for a long time ineffectually 5
but this year an fgur lord advifed Hupilay to fend for
feveval of thofe engineers out of the weft, who knew
how to caft ftones of 150 pounds weight out of their
engines, which made holes of feven or eight feet wide
in the ftrongeft walls. Two of thefe engineers were
accordingly fent for ; and after giving a fpecimen of
their art before Hupilay, were fent to the army in
1272. Tn the beginning of 1273 they planted their
engines againft the city of Fan-ching, and prefently
made a breach in the walls. After a bloody conflict
the fuburbs were taken ; and foon after the Moguls
made themfelves matters of the walls and gates of the
city. Neverthelefs, a Chinefe officer, with only 100
foldiers, refolved to fight from ftreet to ftreet. This
he did for a long time with the greateft obftinacy, °
killing vaft numbers of the Moguls ; and both parties
are faid to have been fo much overcome with thirft,
that they drank human blood to quench it. The Chi¬
nefe fet fire to the houfes, that the great beams, fal¬
ling down, might embarrafs the way of their purfuers ;
but at laft being quite wearied out, and filled with de-
fpair, they put an end to their own lives. After the
taking of Fan-ching, all the materials which had fer-
ved at the fiege were tranfported to Seyen-yang.
The two engineers potted themfelves againft a wood¬
en retrenchment raifed on the ramparts. This they
quickly demolilhed; and the befieged were fo inti¬
midated by the noife and havock made by the ftones
caft from thefe terrible engines, that they immediate¬
ly furrendered.
In 1274, Pe-yen, an officer of great valour, and en¬
dowed with many other good qualities, was promoted
to the command' of the Mogul army. His firft ex¬
ploits were the taking of two ftrong cities; after
which he paffed the great river Ky-ang, defeated the
Song army, and laid fiege to Vmchang-fu. This city
was foon intimidated into a furrender; and Pe-yen, by
reftraining the barbarity of his foldiers, whom he
would not allow to hurt any body, foon gained the
hearts of the Chinefe fo much, that feveral cities fur-
rendered to him on the firft fummons. In the mean
time the treacherous Kya-tfe-tau, who was fent to op-
pofe Pe-yen, was not afliamed to propofe peace on
the terms he had formerly concluded with Hupilay;.
but thefe being rejetled, he was obliged at length to
come to an engagement. In this he was defeated,
and Pe-yen continued his conquefts with great rapi¬
dity. Having taken the city of Nanking, and fome
others, he marched towards Hang-chew-fu, the capi¬
tal of the Song empire. - Peace was now again pro- 4l
pofed, but rejected by the Mogul general; and at laft Chinefe
the emprefs was conftrained to put herfelf, with her hmpre*
fon, then an infant, into the hands of Pe-yen, who im-fubm‘ts*“
mediately fent them to Hupilay.
The fubmiffion of the emprefs did not yet put an
end to the war. Many of the chief officers fwore to.
do
C H I
[ 659 1
C H I
do their utmoft to refcue her from the hands of her
enemies. In confequence of this refolution they dif-
tributed their money among the foldiers, and foon
got together an army of 40,000 men. This army at¬
tacked the city where the young emperor Kong-
tfong was lodged, but without fuccefs ; after which,
they prefented to his majefty. The fame year a trea-
tife on aftronomy was publifhed by his order; and, in s
1282, he ordered the learned men to repair from all
parts of the empire to examine the ftate of literature,
and take meafures for its advancement.
At his firft acceffion to the crown he fixed his refi-
and feveral other vain attempts, they railed one of fidence at Tay-ywen-fu, the capital of Shen-fi; but
his brothers to the throne, who then took upon him thought proper afterwards to remove it to Peking,
the name of Twon-tfong. He was but nine years of Here, being informed that the barks which brought
age when he was railed to the imperial dignity, and
enjoyed it but a very fliort time. In 1277 he was in
great danger of perishing,«by reafon of the fhip on
board which he then was being caft away. The
to court the tribute of the fouthern provinces, or car¬
ried on the^trade of the empire, were obliged to come
by fea, and often fuffered fhipwreck, he caufed that
celebrated canal to be made, which is at prefent one
poor prince fell into the water, and was taken up half of the, wonders of the Chinefe empire, being 360
dead with the fright. A great part of his troops pe- leagues in length. By this canal above 9000 imperial
rifhed at that time, and he foon after made offers of barks tranfport with eafe, and at fmall expence, the tri-
fubmiflion to Hupilay. Thefe, however, were not bate of grain, rice, filks, £sV. which is annually paid
accepted; for, in 1278, the unhappy Twon-tfong was to the court. In the third year of his reign Shi-tfu
obliged to retire into a little defert ifiand on thecoaftof formed a defign of reducing the ifiands of Japan, and
42 Quang-tong, where he died in the nth year of his age. the kingdoms of Tonkquin and Cochin-china. Both
3>;ffolution Notwithttanding the progrefs of the Moguls, vail thefe enterprifes ended unfortunately, but the firit
of the Song territories Hill remained to be fubdued before they remarkably fo ; for of 100,000 perfons employed in
empire. could become mailers of all the Chinefe empire. On it, only four or five efcaped with the melancholy news
the death of Twon-tfong, therefore, the mandarins of the dellruction of the reft, who all perilhed by Ihip-
raifed to the throne his brother, named Te-ping, at wreck. Shi-tfu reigned 15 years, died in the 80th year
that time but eight years of age. His army confifted k:" ”"A "— r- L' jr rn’
of no fewer than 200,000 men ; but being utterly void
of difeipline, and entirely ignorant of the art of w
of his age, and was fucceeded by his grandfon. The Moguls dri-
throne continued in the Ywen family tiff the year 1367, ven ollt'
when Shun-ti, the laft of that dynafty, was driven out
they were defeated by 20,000 Mogul troops. Nor by a Chinefe named Chu. During this period the
was the fleet more fuccefsful; for being put in con- Tartars had become enervated by long profperity;
fufion by that of the Moguls, and the emperor in dan- and the Chmefe'had been roufed into valour by their
Reign of
Hupilay.
ger of falling into their hands, one of the officers ta¬
king him on his fhoulders, jumped with him into the
fea, where they were both drowned. Moll of the
mandarins followed this example, as did alfo the em-
prefs and minifter, all the ladies and maids of honour,
and multitudes of others, infomnch that 100,000 people
are thought to have perilhed on that day Thus end¬
ed the Chinefe race of emperors; and the Mogul dy-
nafty, known by the name of Ywen, commenced.
Though no race of men that ever exifted were
more remarkable for cruelty and barbarity than the .  ,  7
Moguls ; yet it doth not appear that the emperors of at the head of whom he took the city of U-chew, in
the Ywen dynafty were in any refpedl worfe than the call borders of Quang-fi ; and here, aflembling his
their predeceflbrs. On the contrary, Hupilay, by the generals, it was refolved neither to commit flaughters
07 • r j ~     rri,^ n. r i ,
fubjeclion. Shun-ti, the reigning prince, was quite
funk in floth and debauchery; and the empire, befides, ^
was opprefled by a wicked minifter named Ama. In Exploit
June 1355, Chu, a Chinefe of mean extraftion, andchu-
head of a fmall party, fet out from How-chew, palled
the Kyang, and took Tay-ping. He then aflbeiated
himfelf with fome other malcontents, at the head of
whom he reduced the town of Tu-chew, in Kyang-
nan. Soon after he made himfelf mafter of Nanking,
having defeated the Moguls who came to its relief. In
December 1356, he was able to raife 100,000 men,
Chinefe called Shi-tfu, found the way of reconciling
the people to his government, and even of endearing
himfelf to them fo rpuch, that the reign of his family
is to this day ftyled by the Chinefe the wife govern¬
ment. This he accomplilhed by keeping as clofe as
poffible to their ancient laws and cuftoms, by his mild
and juft government, and by his regard for their
learned men. He was indeed afhamed of the igno¬
rance and barbarity of his Mogul fubjefts, when com-
nor to plunder. The moll formidable enemy he had
to deal with was Chen-yew-lyang, ftyled “ emperor of
the Han.” This man being grieved at the progrefs
made by Chu, equipped a fleet, and railed a foyni-
dable army, in order to reduce Nan-chang-fu, a city
of Kyang-fi, which his antagonift had made himfelf
mafter of. The governor, however, found means
to inform Chu of his danger ; upon which that chief
caufed a fleet to be fitted out at Nanking, in which
pared with the Chinefe. The whole knowledge of he embarked 200,000 foldiers. As foon as Chen-yew-
the former was fummed up in their Ikill in managing lyang was informed of his enemy’s approach, he raifed
their arms and horfes, being perfedlly deftitute of the fiege of Nan-chang-fu, and gave orders for at-
every art or fcience, or even of the knowledge of tacking Chu’s naval force. An engagement enfued
letters. In 1269, he had caufed the Mogul charac- between a part of the fleets, in which Chu proved
ters to be contrived. In 1280, he caufed fome mathe- vitlorious ; and next day, all the fquadrons having
maticians fearch for the fource of the river Whang-ho, joined in order to come to a general engagement,
which at that time was unknown to the Chinefe them- Chu gained a fecond victory, and burnt 100 of the
felves. In four months time they arrived in the enemy’s vefiels. A third and fourth engagement hap-
countiy where it rifes, and.made a map of it, which pened, in both which Chu gained the vidlory ; and in
1 4 O & the
claimed
king of U.
47
Becomes
emperor of
China.
48
Moguls
yond the
defert.
49
China a-
gain con-
ijuered by
the Tai tars
CHI [ 660 ] CHI
the la ft, Chen-yew-lyang himfelf was killed, his fon
taken prifoner, and his generals obliged to furrender
themfelves, with all their forces and veflels.
In January 1364, Chit’s generals propofed to have
him proclaimed emperor ; but this he declined, and
at Jirft contented himfelf with the title of king of U.
In February he made himfelf mailer of Vu-chang-£u,
capital of Hu-quang ; where, with his ufual humanity,
he relieved thofe in dillrefs, encouraged the literati,
and would allow his troops neither to plunder nor de-
ftroy. This wife condudl procured him an eafy coiu
quell both of Kyang-fi and Hu-quang. The Chinefe
fubmitted to him in crowds, and profelfed the greatelt
veneration and refpedl for his perfon and governr
xnent.
All this time Shun-ti, with an unaccountable negli¬
gence, never thought of exciting himfelf againll Chu,,
but continued to employ his forces againlt the rebels
who had taken up arms in various parts of the empire
fo that Chu found himfelf in a condition to affiime the
title of emperor. This he chofe to do at Nanking on
the lirll day of the year 1368. After this his troops
entered the province of Honan, which they prefently
reduced. In the third month, Chu, who had now
taken the title of Hong-vu, or Tay tfu, reduced the
fortrefs of Tpng-quan ; after which his troops entered
Pechelt from Honan on the one fide, and Shan-tong
on the other. Here his generals defeated and killed
one of Shun-ti’s officers; after which they took the city
qf Tong-chew, and then prepared to attack the capi¬
tal, from which they were now but 12 miles dillant.
On their approach the emperor fled with all his family
beyond the great wall, and thus put an end to. the dy-
nafty of Ywen. In 1370 he died, and was fucceeded
by his fon, whom the fuceeflfor of Hong-vu drove be¬
yond the Kobi or Great Defert, which feparates China
from Tartary. They continued their incurfions, how¬
ever, for many years ; nor did they ceafe their at¬
tempts till 1583, when Vaft numbers of them were cut
in pieces by the Chinefe troops.
The 21 ft dynafty of Chinefe emperors, founded in
1368 by Chu, continued till the year 1644, when they
were again expelled by the Tartars. Thelaft Chinefe
1 emperor was named Whay-tfong, and afeended the
throne in 1628. He was a great lover of the fciences,
and a favourer of the Chriftians; though much
addicled to the {uperftitrons of the Bonzes. He found
himfelf engaged in a war with the Tartars, and a
number of rebels in different provinces! That he
might more effeftually fupprefs the latter, he refolved
to make peace with the former ; and for that end fent
one of his generals, named Twen, into Tartary, at
the head of an army, with full power to negotiate a
peace ; but thatjtraitor made one upon fuch ihameful
terms, that the emperor refufed to ratify it. Ywen,
in order to oblige his mafter to comply with the terms
made by himfelf, poifoned his beft and moll faithful
general, named Mau-wn-long; and then deflred the
Tartars to march direflly to Peking, by a road dif¬
ferent from that which he took with his army. This
they accordingly did, and laid fiege to the capital.
Ywen was ordered to come to its relief; but, on his
arrival, was put to the torture and ftrangled; of which
the. Tartars were no fooner informed, than they raifed
the fiege, and returned to their own country. In 1636,
the rebels above-mentioned compofed four great ar- China,
mies, commanded by as many generals; which, how- v 1 1 1
ever, were foon reduced to two, commanded by Li
and Chang.. Thefe agreed to divide the empire be¬
tween them ; Chang taking the weftem provinces,
and Li the eallern ones. The latter feized on part of
Shen-fi, and then of Plonan, whofe capital, named
Kay-fong-fu, he laid fiege to, but was repulfed with
lofs. Fie renewed it fix months after, but without
fuccefs; thebefieged choofing rather to feed on human
flefh than furrender. The Imperial forces coming
foon after to its affiftance, the general made no doubt
of being able to deftroy the rebels at once, by break¬
ing down the banks of the Yellow River ; but unfor¬
tunately the rebels efcaped to the mountains, while
the city was quite overflowed, and 300,000 of the in¬
habitants perilhed.
After this difaftar, Li marched into the provinces
of Shen-fi and Honan ; where he put to death all the
mandarins, exadted great fums from the officers in
place, and fliowed no favour to any but the populace,
whom he freed from all taxes: by this means he drew
fo many to his intereft, that he thought himfelf ftrong
enough to affume the title of emperor. He next ad¬
vanced towards the capital, which, though well gar-
rifoned, was divided into fadlions. Li had taken care
to introduce before-hand a number of his men in dif-
guife ; and by thefe the gates were opened to him the
third day after his arrival. Fie entered the city in Unhappy
triumph at the head of 300,000 men ; whilil the em-fate of the
peror kept himfelf (hut lip in his palace, bufied only emperor
with his fuperftitions. It was not long, however, be- lus
fore he found himfelf betrayed : and, under the great-
eft confternation, made an effort to get out of the pa¬
lace, attended by about 600 of his guards. He was
ftill more furprifed to fee himfelf treacheroufly aban¬
doned by them, and deprived of all hopes of efcaping
the infhlts of his fubjetts. Upon this, preferring death
to the difgrace of falling alive into their hands, he im¬
mediately retired with his emprefs, whom he tenderly
loved, and the princefs her daughter, into a private
part of the garden. His grief was fo great that he wras
not able to utter a word ; but flie foon underilood his
meaning, and, after a few filent embraces, hanged
herfelf on a tree in a filken ftring. Her huffiand ftaid
only to write thefe words on the border of his_veft :
“ I have been bafely deferted by my fubjedls; do
what you will with me, but fpare my people.” He
then cut off the young princefs’s head with one flroke
of his feymitar, and hanged himfelf on another tree,,
in the 17th year of his reign, and 36th of his age. His
prime minifter, queens, and eunuchs, followed his exam¬
ple ; and thus ended the Chinefe monarchy, to give
place to that of the Tartars, which hath continued ever
fince.
It was feme time before the body of the unfortu¬
nate monarch was found. At lail it was brought be¬
fore the rebel Li, and by him ufed with the utmoft
indignity ; after which he caufed two of Whey-tfong’s
fons, and all his minifters, to be beheaded; but his
eldeft fon happily efcaped by flight. The whole empire
fubmitted peaceably to the ufurper, except prince U-
fan-ghey, who commanded the imperial forces in the
province of Lyau-tong. This brave prince, finding
lumfelf. unable to cope with the ufurper, invited the
Tartars
-ferO"
!nd then
iciftcuted.
CHI [ 661 1 CHI
Tartars to his affiftance, and Tfong-tc their king im- The climate as well as the foil of this extendee em- China.
) mediately joined him with an army of 80,000 men. pire is very different in different parts; fevere cold be- ——* vf
Upon this the ufurper marched diredtly to Peking; but ing often felt in the northern provinces, while the in- c’Jrnate
not thinking himfelf fafe there, plundered and burnt habitants of the fouthern ones are fcarce able to bear f0i]i and
the palace, and then fled with the immenfe treafure the heat. In general, however, the air is accounted produce,
he had got. What became of him afterwards we are wholefome, and the inhabitants live to a great age.—
not told; but the young Tartar monarch was imme- The northern and weftern provinces have many
diately declared emperor of China, his father Tfong- mountains, which in the latter are cultivated, but
te having died almoft as foon as he fet his foot in that in the noith are barren, rocky, and incapable of im-
empire. provement. On the mountains of Chenfi, Honan, Can-
The new emperor, named Shim-chi, or Xm-chi, be- ton, and Fokien, are many forefts, abounding with tall,
gan his reign with rewarding U-faft-ghey, by con- ftraight trees, of different kinds, fit for building, and
ferring upon him the title of King ; and afligned him particularly adapted for mafts and fhip-timber. Thefe
the city of Si-gnan-fu, capital of Shen-fi, for his refi- are ufed by the emperor in his private buildings ; and
dence. This, however, did not hinder U-fan-ghey from thefe forefts enormous trunlcs are fometimes
from repenting of his error in calling in the Tartars, or, tranfported to the diftance of more than 300 leagues,
as he himfelf ufed tophrafe it, “ in fending for lions to Other mountains contain quickfilver, iron, tin, copper,
drive away dogs.” In 1674, he formed a very ftfong gold, and filver. Formerly thefe laft were not allowed
alliance againft them, and had probably prevailed if to be opened, left the people fhould thereby be in--
his allies had been faithful ; but they treacheroufly duced to negledt the natural riches of the foil; and
defected him one after another: which fo affected him, it is certain, that, in the 15th century, the emperor
that he died foon after. In 1681 Hong-wha, fon to caufed a mine of precious ftones to be Ihut, which had
U-fan-ghey, who continued his efforts againft the been opened by a private perfon. Of late, however,,
Tartars, was reduced to fuch ftraits that he put an the Chinefe are lefs fcrupulous, and a great trade in.
end to his own life. gold is carried on by them. Many extravagant fables are
During this fpace, there had been fome refiftance, told by the Chinefe of their mountains, particularly of
made to the Tartars in many of the provinces. Two one in Chenfi which throws out flames, and produces
princes of Chinefe extraftion had at different times violent tempefts, whenever any one beats a drum or
been proclaimed emperors ; but both of them were plays on a mufical inftrument near it.—In the province of
overcome and put to death. In 1682, the whole 15 Fokien is a mountain, the whole of which is an idol, or *
provinces were fo effectually fubdued, that the em- ftatue of the god Fo. This natural coloffus, for it
peror Kang-hi, fucceffor to Shun-chi, determined to appears not to have Been the work of art, is of fuch
vifit his native dominions of Tartary. He was ac- an enormous fize, that each of its eyes is feveral miles
companied by an army of 70,000 men, and continued in circumference, and its nofe extends fome leagues. ^
for fome months taking the diverfion of hunting. China has feveral large lakes; the principal one is Lakes and
This he continued to do for fome years ; and in his that named Poyang-hou, in the province of Kiang-fi. rivers*
journeys took father Verbeift along with him; by which It is formed by the Confluence of four large rivers, ex.-
means we have a better defcription of thefe countries ttinds near 100 leagues in length ; and, like the fea,
than could poffibly have been otherwife obtained, its waters are raifed into tempeftuous waves. The em-
Thrs prince was a great encourager of learning and pire is watered by an immenfe number of rivers of dif-
of the Chriftian religion ; in favour of which laft he ferent fizes, of which two are particularly celebrated,
publifhed a decree, dated in 1692. In 17 x 6, however, he vj/z. the Tang-tfe kiang, or fon vf the fea, and Hoang-ho,
revived fome obfolete laws againft the Chriftians; nor Or the yellow river. The former rifes in the province
could the Jefuits with all tlieir art preferve the footing of Yun-nan, and puffing through Hou-quang and
they had got in China. The caufes of this alteration Kiang-nan, falls into the eaftern ocean, after a courfe
in his refolution are, by the miftlonaries, faid to have of 1200 miles, oppofite to the ifland of Tfon-ming,
been the flanders of the mandarin^; but, from the which is formed by the fund accumulated at its mouth,
known character of the Jefuits, it will be readily be- This river is of immenfe fize, being half a league broad
lieved, that there was fomething more at bottom, at Nanking, which is near 100 miles from its mouth.
This emperor died in 1722, and was fucceeded by his The navigation is dangerous, fo that great num-
fon Yon-ching; who not only gave no encouragement hers of veffels are loft on it. It runs with a rapid;
to the miffionaries, but perfecuted all Chriftians of current, forming feveral iflands in its courfe, which
whatever denomination, not excepting even thofe of are again carried off and new ones formed in different
the imperial race. At the beginning of his reign he places, when the river is fwelled by the torrents from
banifhed all the Jefuits into the city of Canton, and in the mountains. Thefe iflands, while they remain,.
1732 they were banifhed from thence into Ma-kau, a are very ufeful ; producing great quantities of reeds
little ifland inhabited by the Portuguefe, but fubjeft ten or twelve feet high, which are ufed in all the
to China. He died in 1736; but though the Jefuits neighbouring countries for fuel. The Hoang-ho, or
entertained great hopes from his fucceffor, .we have yellow river, has its name from the yellow colour given
not heard that they have yfct met with any fuccefs. it by the clay and fand wafhed down in the time
Thus we have given an account of the moft memo- of rain. It rifes in the mountains which border the
table tranfaftions recorded in the Chinefe hiftory. It province of Te-tchuen on the weft, and after a courfe
now remains only to defcribe the prefent ftate of the of near 600 leagues, difcharges itfelf into the eaftern;
empire and its inhabitants, according to the beft and fea not far from the mouth of the Kiang. It is very
lateft accounts^ broad and rapid, but fo fhallow that it is fcarce navi¬
gable..
CHI [ 662 2 CHI
China* gable. It is very liable to inundations, often overflow-
v-—ing its banks, and deftroying whole villages. For this
reafon it has been found neceffary to confine it in fe-
veral places by long and ftrong dykes ; which yet do
not entirely anfwer the purpofe. The people of Ho¬
nan, therefore, whofe land is exceedingly low, have
furrounded -moft of their cities with ftrong ramparts of
earth faced with turf, at the diftange of three fur-
55 lon£s-
Canals. The Chinefe have been at great pains to turn their
lakes and rivers to the advantage of commerce, by pro-
motinganinlandnavigation. Oneof their principal works
for this purpofe, is the celebrated canal reaching from
Canton to Peking, and forming a communication be¬
tween the fouthern and northern provinces. This canal
extends through no lefs a fpace than 600 leagues; but
its navigation is interrupted in one place by a mountain,
where paffengers are obliged to travel 10 or 12 leagues
over land. A number of other canals are met with in this
and other provinces ; moft of which have been execu¬
ted by the induilry of the inhabitants of different cities
and towns, in order to promote their communication
with the various parts of the empire. M. Grofier re¬
marks, that, in thefe works, the Chinefe have “ fur-
mounted obftacles that perhaps would have difcouraged
any other people; fuch, for example, is part of a canal
... which conduits from Chao-klng to Ning-po.” Near
thefe cities there are two canals, the waters of which
do not communicate, and which differ ten or twelve feet
in their level. To render this place paffable for boats,
the Chinefe have conftrufted a double glacis of large
ftones, or rather two inclined planes, which unite in
an acute angle at their upper extremity, and extend
on each fide to'the furface of the water. If the bark
is in the lower canal, they pulh it up the plane of the
;firft glacis by means of feveral capftans, until it is
railed to the angle, when by its own weight it glides
down the fecond glacis, and precipitates itfelf into
the water of the higher canal with the velocity of an
arrow. It is aftonifhing that thefe barks, which are
generally very long and heavily loaden, never burft
afunder when they are balanced on this acute angle ;
however, we never hear of any accident of this kind
happening in the paffage. It is true, they take the
precaution of ufing for their keels a kind of wood
which is exceedingly hard, and proper for refilling
56 the violence of fuch an effort.
Remark- The following remarkable phenomenon in a Chinefe
ab'c "ver’ river is related by Father le Couteux, a French miffiona-
]y f,nks un-ry. “ Some leagues above the village Che-pai (fays
derground.he), the river becomes confiderably fmaller, although
none of its waters flow into any other channel; and,
eight or nine leagues below, it refumes its former
breadth, without receiving any additional fupply, ex¬
cepting what it gets from a few fmall rivulets, which
are almoft dry during the greater part of the year.
Oppofite to Che-pai it is fo much diminilhed, that,
excepting one channel, which is not very broad, I have
palled and repaffed it feveral times by the help of a com¬
mon pole. I was always furprifed to find this river fo
narrow and (hallow in that place; but I never thought of
inquiring into the caufe of it, until the lofs of a bark
belonging to a Chtiftian family afforded me an op¬
portunity. In that place where the river diminilhes
almoft of a fudden, it flows with great impetuofity .;
.and where it refumes its former breadth it is equally
rapid. At the fixth moon, when the water was high Chins. !]
and the wind ftrong, the bark I have mentioned ar- 1 "'-v *s u-
riving above Che-pai, was driven on a fand-bank; fot
between thefe two places the river is full of moveable
fands, which are continually Ihifting their fituation.
The mailer of the boat dropped his anchor until the
wind Ihould abate, and permit him to continue his
voyage ; but a violent vortex of moveable fand, which
was call up from the bottom of the river, laid the
bark on its fide ; a fecond vortex fucceeded ; then a
third; and afterwards a fourth, which lhattered the
bark to pieces. When I arrived at the place where this
bark had been loll, the weather was mild and ferene; I
perceived eddies in the current every where around ;
which abforbed, and carried to the bottom of the ri¬
ver whatever floated on the furface; and I obferved,
at the fame time, that the fand was thrown violently
up with a vortical motion. Above thefe eddies the
water was rapid, but without any fall; and in the
place below, where the river refumes its ufual courfe,
no eddies are to be feen, but the fand is thrown up iu
the fame violent manner; and in fome places there
are water-falls, and a kind of finall illands fcattered
at fome diftance from one another. Thefe illands
which appear above the furface of the water, are not
folid earth, but confift of branches of trees, roots, and
herbs collected together. I was told that thefe boughs
rofe up from the water, and that no one knew the
place from whence they came. I was informed, that
thefe maffes, which were 40 or 50 feet in extent on
that fide on which we paffed, were immoveable, and
fixed in the bottom of the river ; that it was dange¬
rous to approach them, becaufe the water formed
whirlpools every where around them ; that, however,
when the river was very low, the filhermen fometimes
ventured to colledt the bulhes that floated on its fur¬
face, and which they ufed for fuel. I am of opinion,
that, at the place of the river which is above Che-pai,
the water falls into deep pits, from whence it forces
up the fand with that vortical motion; and that it
flows under-ground to the other place, eight or nine
leagues below, where it carries with it all the boughs,
weeds, and roots, which it walhes down in its courfe,
and thus forms thofe illands which appear above its
furface. We know there are feme rivers that lofe
themfelves entirely, or in part, in the bowels of the
earth, and which afterwards arife in fome other place;
but I believe these never was one known to lofe part
of its water below its own channel, and again to re¬
cover it at the diftance of fome leagues.” ^
It has already been faid, that China is, in general, why China'
a fertile country; and indeed all travellers agree in this is fubjeft t«j 1
relpe<ft, and make encomiums on the extent and beauty hirnines, |
of its plains. So careful are the hulbandmen of this ;t« <
empire to lofe none of their ground, that neither in- fertility. •
clofure, hedge, nor ditch, nay, fcarce a Angle tree,
are ever to be met with. In feveral places the land
yields two crops a-year; and even in the interval be¬
tween the harvefts, the people fow feveral kinds of
pulfe and fmall grain. The plains of the northern
provinces yield wheat; thofe of the fouthern, rice,
becaufe the country is low and covered with water.
Notwithftanding all this fertility, however, the inha¬
bitants are much more frequently afflidled with famine
than thofe of the European nations, though the coun¬
tries of Europe produce much lefs than China. For
CHI f 663 ] CHI
tins two caufes are affigned. 1. The deftru&Ion of ever, that any method of this kind can prove effee-
" the rifing crops by drought, hail, inundations, lo-
cufts, izfc. in which cafe China cannot like the Eu¬
ropean-coutries be fupplied by importation. This is
evident by confidering how it is lituated with regard
to other nations. On the north are the Mogul Tar-
tual in fuppreffing thefe manufactories while the li- ~
quors themfelves are allowed to be fold publicly; and
againft this there is no law throughout the empire.
Our author, however, juftly obferves, that in cafe of
a prohibition of this kind, the grandees would be ob-
tars, a lazy and indolent race, who fubfift principally liged to deny themfelves the ufe of thefe luxuries,
on the flelh of their flocks ; flowing only a little mil- which would be too great a facrifice for the good of
let for their own ufe. The province of Leatong, the empire.
which lies to the north-eaft, is indeed extremely fer¬
tile, but too far diftant from the capital and centre
of the empire to fupply it with provifions; and be-
fides, all carriage is impracticable but in the winter,
when great quantities of game, and fifh, preferved in
ice, are fent thither. No corn is brought from Corea
to China; and, though the Japan iflands are only
J8
The population of China is fo great, in compari- ^mmcniy
fon with that of the European countries, that the ac. P0Pulatlona
counts of it have generally been treated as fabulous by
the weftern nations; but by an accurate inveftigation
of fome Chinefe records concerning the number of
perfons liable to taxation throughout the empire, M.
Grofrer has fhowed that it cannot be lefs than 200
three or four days failing from the Chinefe provinces millions. For this extraordinary population he afiigns
of Kiang-nan and Che-kyang, yet no attempt was the following caufes. J. The ftrict obfervance of fi-
ever made to obtain provilions from thence, whether Hal duty throughout the empire, and the prerogatives
it be, that the Japanefe have nothing to fpare, or on ~cc-^—-v u:~l 1 r -  “ 11 ’
account of the infults offered by thefe iflanders to
foreign merchants. Fdrmofa lies oppofite to the pro¬
vince of Fo-kien ; but fo far is that illand from being verfal cuftom by which the marriage of children be-
of fraternity, which make a fon the molt valuable pro¬
perty of a father. 2. The infamy attached to the me¬
mory of thofe who die without children. 3. The uni-
able to fupply any thing, that in a time of fcarcity it comes the principal concern of the parents. 4. The
requires a fupply from China itfelf. The province of honours beftowed by the ftate on thofe widows who
~    ' ' ' ‘ do not marry a fecond time. 5. Frequent adoptions,
which prevent families from becoming extindt. 6.
The return of wealth to its original flock by the dif-
inheriting of daughters. 7. The retirement of wives,-■
which renders them more complaifant to their huf-
bands, faves them from a number of accidents when
big with child, and conftrains them to employ them¬
felves in the care of their children. 8. The mar¬
riage of foldiers. 9. The fixed ftate of taxes; which-
being always laid upon lands, never fall but indiredtly
on the trader and mechanic. 10. The fmall number
of failors and travellers. 11. To thefe may be added.
Canton is alfo bounded by the fea, and has nothing
on the fout'h but iflands and remote countries. One
year, when rice was exceedingly fcarce there, the em¬
peror fent for F. Parranin, a Jefuit miflionary, and
afked him if the city of Macao could not furnilh
Canton with rice until the fupply he had ordered
from other provinces fhould arrive ; but was informed
that Macao had neither rice, corn, fruits, herbs, nor
flocks; and that it generally got from China what
was neceflary for its fubfiftence.—The only method,
therefore, the Chinefe can take to guard againft fa¬
mines arifing from thefe caufes, is to erect granaries
and public magazines in every province and moll of the great number of people who refide in China only
the principal cities of the empire. Tljis has at all . by intervals; the profound peace which the empire
times been a principal object of care to the public mi- enjoys ; the frugal and laborious manner in which the
nifters ; but though this mode of relief Hill takes great live; the little attention that is paid to the vain
place in theory, fo many ceremonies are to be gone and ridiculous prejudice of marrying below one’s rank;
through before any fupply can be drawn from thofe the ancient policy of giving diftindlion to men and not
public repofitories, that it feldom arrives feafonably to families ; by attaching nobility only to employ-
at the places where it is wanted; and thus numbers ments and talents, without fuffering it to become he-
of unhappy wretches perilh for want. 2. Another reditary. And, 12. laftly, A decency of public man-
caufe of the fcarcity of grain in this empire, is the ners, and a total ignorance of fcandalous intrigues and
prodigious confumpt of it in the compofition of wines, gallantry.
and a fpirituous liquor called rad. But though go¬
vernment is well apprized that this is one of the prin¬
cipal fources of famine throughout the empire, it ne-
r employed means fufficient to prevent it. Procla-
The government of China, according, to the Abbe ^nlimitcd-
Grofier, is purely patriarchah The emperor is more ■■lutllor‘ty
unlimited in his authority than any other potentate on " f ^
earth ; no fentence of death, pronounced by any of'
of the em» -
.peror.
mations indeed have frequently been ilfued, prohibi- the tribunals, can be executed without his confent,
ting the diftillation of rack; and the appointed offi- and every verdict in civil affairs is fubje^tto be revifed
cers will vifit the ftill-houfes and deftroy the furnaces by him ; nor can any determination be of force until
if nothing is given them; but on flipping fome money it has been confirmed by the emperorand, on the
into their hands, they {hut their eyes, and go fome- contrary, whatever fentence he pafles is executed with-
where elfe to receive another bribe. When the man- out delay ; his edicts are refpefted throughout the em-
darin himfelf goes about, however, thefe diftillers do pire as if they came from a divinity ; he alone has the
not efcape quite fo eafily, the workmen being whip- difpofal of all offices, nor is there any fuch thing as
ped and imprifoned, after which they are obliged to the purchafe of places in -China-; merit, real or fup.
^ carry a kind of collar called the Cangue*; the mailers are pofed, raifes to an office, and rank is attached to it on-
likewife obliged to change their habitations and con- ly. Even the fucceffion to the throne is not altoge-
ceal themfelves for a fhort time, after which they ge- ther hereditary. The emperor of China has a power
nerally refume their.operations. It is impoffible, how- of choofing his own fuccetfor. without confulting any
o£
Cfeina.
C II I
of his nobility; and can feledf one not only from a-
mong his own children, but even from the body of his
people; and there have been feveral xnftances of his
making ufe of this right : and he has even a power of
altering the fucceffion after it has once been fixed, in
cafe the perfon pitched upon does not behave towards
him with proper refpect. The emperor can alfo pre¬
vent the princes of the blood from exercifmg the title,
with which, according to the conftitution of the em¬
pire, they are invefted. They may indeed, notwith-
itanding this, poffefs their hereditary dignity ; in which
[ C64 1
C H I
government. In China it is a received opinion that
the emperor is the father of the whole empire ; that '
the governor of a province is the father of that pro¬
vince ; and that the mandarin who is governor of a
city is alfo the father pf that city. This idea is pro-
ductive of the higheil refpect and fubmiflkm, which is
not at all leffened by their great number; for though
the mandarins of letters amount to more than 14,000,
the fame refpedt is paid to every one of them.
The mandarins of arms are never indulged with any
fhare in the government of the ftate ; however, to at-
cafe they are allowed a revenue proportioned to their tain to this dignity, it is alfo neceflary to pafs through
high birth, as well as a palace, officers, and a court; the degrees of bachelor, licentiate, and doctor of arms.
but they have neither influence nor power, and theii
authority is lower than that of the meaneft manda-
60 rIn-
Mamiarins The mandarins are of two claffes, viz. thofe of let-
ef different ters, and the inferior fort, flyled mandarins of arms,
claffes. The latter by no means enjoy the fame confideration
with the former fort ; indeed in China the literati are
highly honoured, and to their influence M. Grofier
iuppofes that we may in a great meafure aferibe the
mildnefs and equity of the government; though he
thinks that the balance may incline rather too much
in their favour. Several degrees, anfwering to thofe
of bachelor, licentiate, and doftor, mu ft be palled
through before one can attain to the dignity of a man¬
darin of letters ; though fometimes, by the favour of
the emperor, it is conferred on thofe who have attain¬
ed only the two firft degrees: but even the perfons
who have gone through all the three, enjoy at firft
The accomplilhments neceflary for a mandarin of arms
are, ftrength of body, with ability and readinefs in per¬
forming the various military exercifes, and compre¬
hending the orders requifite for the profeffion of arms :
an examination on thefe fubje&s mull be undergone
before th£ candidate can attain the wilhed-for dig¬
nity. 6r
The mandarins of arms have tribunals, the members Tribunal
of which are fele&ed from among their chiefs ; and^1^1^1*'
among thefe they reckon princes, counts, and dukes ; ar^13i
for all thefe dignities, or fomething equivalent to them,
are .met with in China. The principal of thefe tribu>-
nals is held at Peking, and confifts of five clafies.
1. The mandarins of the rear-guard, called heou-fou.
2. Of the left wing, or tfa-fou. 3. Of the right wing,
or yeou-feou. 4. Of the advanced main-guard, or te-
hong-fmi. 5. Of the advanced guard, or tjien-fou. Thefe
five tribunals are fubordinate to one named long-tching-
only the government of a city of the fecond or third fou ; the prefident of which is one of the great lords of
clafs. When feveral vacancies happen in the govern¬
ment of cities, the emperor invites to court a corre-
fponding number of the literati, whofe names are
written down in a lift. The names of the vacant go¬
vernments are then put into a box, raifed fo high that
the candidates are able only to reach it with their
hands ; after which they draw in their turns, and each
is appointed governor of the city whofe name he has
drawn.
There are eight orders of thefe mandarins in China.
the empire, whofe authority extends over all the mili¬
tary men in the empire. By his high dignity he could
render himfelf formidable even to the emperor; but to
prevent this inconvenience, he has for his affefibr a
mandarin of letters, who enjoys the title and exercifes
the function of fuperintendant of arms. He muft al¬
fo take the advice of two infpeCfors who are named by
the emperor; and when thefe four have agreed upon
any meafure, their refolution muft ftill be fubmit-
ted to the revifal of an higher court named Ping-pou,
I. The calao, from whom are chofen the minifters of which is entirely of a civil nature. The chief of thefe
ftate, the prefidents of the fupreme courts, and all the
4'uperior officers among the militia. The chief of this
order prefides alfo in the emperor’s council, and en¬
joys a great ftiare of his confidence. 2. The te-hiofe,
or man of acknowledged ability, is a title beftowed
upon every mandarin of the fecond rank ; and from
thefe are feleCled the viceroys and prefidents of the
mandarins is a general of courfe, whofe powers are e-
quivalent to thofe of our commanders in chief; and
below him are other mandarins who aft as fubordinate
officers.
Thefe two claffes of mandarins compofe what i*
called the nobility of China ; but as we have already
hinted, their office is not hereditary; the emperor a-
fupreme council in the different provinces. 3. The lone continues or confers it. They have the privilege
tchong-tchuco, or fchool of mandarins, aft as fecretaries
to the emperor. 4. T-tchuen,-tao. Thefe keep in re¬
pair the harbours, royal lodging-'houfes, and barks,
which belong to tire emperor, unlefs particularly en¬
gaged in fome other office by his order. 5. The pirg-
pi-tao have the infpeft’on of the troops. 6. The tun-
tien~hao'\\7Vie the care of the high-ways. 7. The ho-
tao fuperintend the rivers. 8. U’he hai-tao infpeft the
fea-coafts.
Thus the whole adminiftration of the Chinefe em¬
pire is intrufted to the mandarins of letters ; and the
homage paid by the common people to every manda¬
rin in office, almoft equals that paid to the emperor
himfelf. This indeed flows from the nature of their
is™ 77. 2
of remonftrating to the emperor, either as individuals
or in a body, upon any part of his conduft which ap¬
pears contrary to the interefts of the empire. Thefe
remonftrances are feldom ill received, though the fove-
rcign complies with them only when he himfelf thinks
proper. The number of literary mandarins in China is
computed at upwards of 14,000; and thofe of arms at
18,000 ; the former, however, are confidered as the
principal body in the empire; and this preference is
thought to damp the military ardour of the nation in
general, and to be one caufe of that weaknefs in war
for which the Chinefe are remarkable. _ fix
The armies of this empire are proportioned to its Milr ary
vaft extent and population ; being computed in time force.
of
CHI [ 65$ 1 CHI
China. 0f peace at more than 700,000. Their pay amounts
y to about twopence half-penny and a meafure of rice
per day, though fome of them have double pay, and
the pay of a horfeman is double that of a foot-foldier;
the emperor furnifhes a horfe, and the horfeman re¬
ceives two' meafures of fmall beans for his daily fub-
fiftence ; the arrears of the army being pundlually paid
up every three months.
The arms of a horfeman are, A helmet, cuirafs, lance,
and fabre ; thofe of a foot-foldier are a pike and fabre;
fome have fufees, and others bows and arrows. All
thefe are carefully infpe&ed at every review ; and if
any of them are found in the leaft rufted, or otherwife
in bad condition, the poffeflbr is inftantly punilhed 5 if
a Chinefe, with 30 or 40 blows of a ftick; or, if a
Tartar, with as many ladies.
Ufe of fire- Though the ufe of gun-powder is certainly very
arms !oft ancient in China, it appears to have been afterwards
and revi- totally loft, at leaft fire-arms feem to have been almoft
entirely unknown fome centuries ago. Three or four
cannon were to be feen at that time about the gates of
Nanking ; but not a fingle perfon in China knew how
to make ufe of them ; fo that, in 1621, when the city
of Macao made a prefent of three pieces of artillery
to the emperor, it was found necefiary alfo to fend
three men to load them. The utility of thefe wea¬
pons was quickly perceived by the execution which the
three cannon did againft the Tartars, at that time ad¬
vanced as far as the great wall. When the invaders
threatened to return, the mandarins of arms gave it as
their opinion, that cannons were the beft arms they
could make ufe of againft them. They were then
taught the art of calling cannon by F. Adam Schaal
»nd Verbieft, two Jefuit miffionaries, and their artil¬
lery was increafed to the number of 320 pieces;
at the fame time that they were inftru&ed in the me¬
thod of fortifying towns, and conftrufting fortrefies
and other buildings according to the rules of modern
architefture.
The beft foldiers in China are procured from the
three northern provinces, the others being feldom
called forth, but allowed to remain at peace with their
families ; indeed there is not often occafion for exert¬
ing their military talents, unlefs it be in the quelling
of an infurredtion, when a mandarin or governor ufu-
ally accompanies them. They march in a very tu¬
multuous manner, but want neither fkill nor agility in
performing their different evolutions. They, in ge¬
neral, handle a fabre well, and fhoot very dexteroufly
with bows and arrows. There are in China more than
2000 places of arms; and through the different pro¬
vinces there are difperfed about 3000 towers or caftles,
all of them defended by garrifons. Soldiers continu¬
ally mount guard there ; and on the firft appearance
of tumult, the neareft centinel makes a fignal from
the top of the tower, by hoifting a flag in the day
time, or lighting a torch in the night; when the
neighbouring garrifons-immediately repair to the place
Account of w^ere t^'e'r prefence is necefiary.
the great The principal defence of the empire againft a fo-
wall, reign enemy is the great wall which feparates China
from Tartary, extending more than 1500 miles in
length, and of fuch thicknefs that fix horfemen may
eafily ride abreaft upon it. It is flanked with towers
two bow-fhots diftant from one another j and it is faid
VOL. IV. Part II.
that a third of the able bodied men in the empire China.
were employed in conftru&ing it. The workmen   
were ordered, under pain of death, to place the ma¬
terials fo clofely, that not the leaft entrance might be
afforded for any inftrument of iron ; and thus the
work was conftru&ed with fuch folidity, that it is ftill
almoft entire, though 2000 years have elapfed fince k
was conftrufted. This extraordinary work is carried
on not only through the low lands and valleys, but o-
ver hills and mountains ; the height df one of which
was computed by F. Verbieft at 1236 feet above the
level of the fpot where he ftood. According to F.
Martini it begins at the gulf of Lea-tong, and reaches
to the mountains near the city of Kin on the yellow
river ; between which places it meets with no interrup¬
tion except to the north of the city of Suen in the
province of Pecheli, where it is interrupted by a
ridge of hideous and inacceffible mountains, to which
it is clofely united. It is likewife interrupted by the
river Hoang-ho; but for others of an inferior fize,
arches have been conftru&ed, through which the wa¬
ter paffes freely. Mr Bell informs us, that it is car¬
ried acrofs rivers, and over the tops of the higheft hills,
without the leaft interruption, keeping nearly along
that circular range of barren rocks which inclofes the
country; and, after running about 1200 miles, ends
in impaffable mountains and fandy deferts. The foun¬
dation confifts of large blocks of ftone laid in mortar;
but all the reft is of brick. The whole is fo ftrong
and well built, that it fcarcely needs any repairs ; and,
in the dry climate in which it Hands, may remain in
the fame condition for many ages. When carried o-
ver fteep rocks, where no horfe can pafs, it is about 15
or 20 feet high ; but when running through a valley,
or croffing a river, it is about 30 feet high, with fquarfc
towers and embrafures at equal diftances. The top is
flat, and paved with cut ftone ; and where it rifes over
a rock or eminence, there is an afcent made by aa
eafy ftone-ftair. “ This wall (our author adds) was
begun and completely finiflied in the fliort fpace of five
years; and it is reported, that the labourers ftood fo
clofe for many miles, that they could hand the mate¬
rials from one to another. This feems the more pro¬
bable, as the rugged rocks among which it is built
muft have prevented all ufe of carriages ; and neither
clay for making bricks, nor any kind of cement, are
to be found among them.”
The whole civil government of China is managed c0urtf !>
by the following courts. 1. The emperor’s grand which the
council, compofed of all the minifters of ftate, prefi- civil go-
dents and affeffors of the fix fovereign courts, and ofyernment
three others, to be afterwards mentioned. This is ne-15 “ana_
ver affembled but on affairs of the greateft importance;
the emperor’s private council being fubftituted to it
in all cafes of fmaller moment. 2. The chief of the
other courts furnifhes mandarins for the different pro¬
vinces, watches over their condu&, and keeps a journal
of their tranfatlions, and informs the emperor of them,
who rewards or pufiifhes according to the report he
sets; . t
This fecond tribunal, which may be called a kind
of civil inquifition, is fubdivided into four others ; the
firft entrufted with the care of felefting thofe who, on
account of their learning or other good properties, are
capable nf filling the offices of government; the fecond
4 P appointed
CHI f 666 1 CHI
China, appointed to take cate of the condiidt of the mandarin s;
the third affixing the feals to the different public acts,
giving the feals to mandarins, and examining thofe of
the different difpatches ; while the fourth enquires in¬
to the merit of the grandees of the empire, not ex¬
cepting the princes of the imperial blood themfelves.
The principal fovereign court to which thefe four laft
are fubordinate is called Lii-pou.
* 2. Hou-pou, or the grand treafurer, fuperintends all
fhe finances of the ftate ; is the guardian and protec¬
tor of the treafures and dominions of the emperor,
keeping an account of his revenues, £sV. fuperintend-
ing the management and coining of money ; the pub¬
lic magazines, cuftam-houfes ; and, laiily, keeping an
exadf regifter of all the families in the empire. To
afiill this court, 14 others are appointed throughout
the different provinces of the empire.
3. Li-pou, or the court of ceremonies. “ It is an
undoubted fail (fays M. Grofier), that ceremonies
form, in part, the bafe of the Chinefe government.
This tribunal therefore takes care to fupport them,
and enforce their obfervance ; it infpedts alfo the arts
and fciences. It is confulted by the emperor when he
defigns to confer particular honours ; takes care of the
annual facrifices offered up by him, and even regu¬
lates the entertainments which he gives either to
Grangers or to his own fubjefts. It alfo receives and
entertains foreign ambaffadors, and preferves tranquil¬
lity among the different religious fefts in the empire.
It is affifted by four inferior tribunals.
4. Ping-poUf or the tribunal of arms, comprehends
in its jurifdidtion the whole militia of the empire; in-
fpecling alfo the fortreffes, magazines,; arfenals, and
ftore-houfes of every kind, as well as the manufafto-
ries of arms both offenfive and defenfive; examining
and appointing officers of every rank. It is compo-
fed entirely of mandarins of letters; and the four tri¬
bunals depending upon it confifl alfo of literati.”
5. The hong-pou is the criminal bench for the whole
empire, and is affifted by 14 fubordinate tribunals.
6. The cong-poUy or tribunal of public works, fur-
veys and keeps in repair the emperor’s palaces, as well
as thofe of the .princes and viceroys, and the buildings
where the.tribunals are held, with the temples, tombs
of the Sovereigns, and all public monuments. It has
befides the fuperintendence of the Greets, public high¬
ways, bridges, lakes, rivers, and every thing relating
either to internal or foreign.navigation. Four inferior
tribunals affift in the difeharge of thefe duties; the
firft drawing the plans of public works ; the fecond
dire&ing the work-fftops in the different citiesof the
empire ; the third furveying the caufeways, roads,
bridges, canals, Sec. ; and the fourth taking care of
the emperor’s palaces, gardens, and orchards, and re-
66 ceiving their produce.
Partiality All thefe tribunals are compofed, one half of Chi¬
ef govern- nefe, and the other of Tai tars ; and one of the pre-
warJsthe ^ents eac^ fuPeri°r tribunal is always a Tartar
Chir.efe. born. None of the courts abov^deferibed, however,
has abfolute authority even in its own jurifdiction ;
nor can its decifions be carried into execution without
the concurrence of another tribunal, and fometimes of
feveral others. The fourth tribunal, for inftance, has
indeed under its jurifdi&ion the whole troops of the
empire but the payment of them is entrusted with
the fecond, while the fixth has the care of the arms, Chins.
tents, chariots, barks, and ftores neceflary for military ' v—u
operations; fo that nothing relative to thefe can be
put in execution without the concurrence of all the
three, tribunals.
To prevent any unlawful combination among the Cenfors.
tribunals, each has its cenfor appointed. This is an
officer whofe duty is merely to watch over the pro¬
ceedings of the court, without deciding upon any
thing himfelf. tie affifts therefore at all affemblies,
revifes all their affs, and without acquainting the court
in the leaft with either his fentiments or intentions,
immediately informs- the emperor of what he jud¬
ges to be amifs. He hkewife gives information of the
behaviour of the mandarins, either in the public ad-
miniftration of affairs, or in their private conduct;
nay, fometimes he will not fcruple to reprimand the
emperor for what he fuppofes to be erroneous in his
conduct.
Thefe cenfora are never removed from their places
but in order to be promoted ; and thus, holding their
offices for life, they have the greater courage to fpeak
out when they obferve any impropriety or abufe.
Their accufation is fufficient to fet on foot an inquiry,
which generally leads to a proof; in which cale the
accufed is difeharged from his office, and never held
in any eftimation afterwards. The complaints of the
cenfors, however, are referred to the very tribunals a-
gainft whofe members they complain ; though, being
afraid of an accufation, themfelves, they very feldom
pafs fentence again!! the accufers.
Befides all this, the cenfors alfo form a tribunal of
their own, named tou-tche-yven. Its members have a
right of.remonftrating with the emperor, whenever his
own intereft or that of the public renders it neceffary..
They ijifpedl all lawyers and military men in public
employments. “ In !hort (fays M. Grofier), they
are, morally fpeaking, placed between the prince and
the mandarins ; between the mandarins and the peo¬
ple ; between the people and families ; between fami¬
lies and individuals; and they generally unite to the
importance of their office incorruptible probity and
invincible courage. The fovereign may, if he pro¬
ceeds to rigour, take away their fives ; but many of
them have patiently fuffered death, rather than betray
the caufe of truth, or wink at abufes. It is not fuf¬
ficient therefore to have got rid of one, they muft all be
treated in the fame manner; thelaft that might be fpared
would tread imthe fame fteps with no lefs refolution than
thofe who went before him. In the annals of no nation
do we find an example offuch a tribunal, yet it appears
to be neceffary in all, without exception. We muft
not, however, imagine, that the privileges of a cenfor
gave him a right to forget his duty to his fovereign,
or to communicate to the public thofe remarks which
he takes the liberty of making to him : were he only
to give the leaf! hint of them to his colleagues, he
would be puniffied with death ; and he would fhare
the fame fate did he, in any of his reprefentations,
fuffer a fingle word, inconfiftent with moderation or
refpeft, to efcape him.” 68
There are ftill two other courts in China, both, of Two coum
them peculiar to the empire, which deferve to be meu-P^"1*” t0'
tioned. The firft is that of princes ; and which, in . 1
conformity with its title, is compofed of princes only.
la
CHI [ 667 1 CHI
Of their
marriages.
China. I,, tjie regi'fters of this tribunal are infcribed the names
U*"~v ’ of all the children of the imperial family as foon as
they are born ; and to thefe are alfo configned the
dignities and titles which the emperor confers upon
them. This is the only tribunal where the princes
can be tried ; and here they are abfolved or punifhed
according to the pleafure of the judges..
The other tribunal is that of hiftory, called by the
Chinefe han-Un-y-Ban. It is compofed of the greateft
geniufes of the empire, and of men of the moft pro¬
found erudition. Thefe are entrufted with the edu¬
cation cf the heir apparent to the throne, and the
dompllation and arrangement of the general hiftory of
the empire ; which lal part of their office renders
them formidable even to the emperor himfolf. From
this body the mandarins of the find clafs, and thepre*
69 " fidents of the fupreme clafs, are generally chofen.
Filial piefy The bafis of all the civil laws of the Chinefe is fi-
piety. Every mandarin, who is a governor either
laws.^ a province or city, muft inftruct the people affem-
bkd round him twice a-month, and recommend to
them the obfervance of certain falutary rules, which
are fummed up in a few lhart fentences, and fuch as
no perfori can ever be fuppofed capable of forget¬
ting.
The Chinefe are allowed only to have one wife, whofe
rank and age muft be nearly equal to that of their huf-
bands; but they are allowed to have fevferal concubines,
whom they mayadmit into their houfes without any for¬
mality, after paying the parents a fum of money, and en¬
tering into a written engagement to ufe their daugh¬
ters well. Thefe concubines, however, are all in fub-
jedlion tS the lawful wife ; their children are confider-
ed as hers ; they addrefs her as mother, and can give
this title to her only. A perfon that has once been
married, whether man or woman, may lawfully marry
again, but it is then no longer neceffary to ftudy e-
quality of age or condition, A man may choofe his
fecond wife from among his concubines; and, in all
cafes, this new marriage requires very few formalities.
A widow is abfolute miftrefs of herfelf, and can nei¬
ther be compelled by her parents to marry again, nor
to continue in a ftate of widowhood, contrary to her
own inclination. Thofe of moderate rank, however,
who have no children, do not enjoy the fame privilege;
as the parents of the former hufband can difpofe of
her in marriage, not only without her confent, but
without her knowledge. The law authorifes the dif-
pofal of them in this manner, in order to indemnify
the relations of the deceafed hufband for* the money
they may have coft him. If the wife is left big
with child, this cannot take place, until fhe is de¬
livered ; nor can it be done at ail if fhe brings forth
a fon. There are likewife two exceptions ; 1. when
the parents of the widow affign her a proper mainte¬
nance j and, 2. if the widow embraces a religious life,
and becomes a bonzefie.
Divorces, Divorces are allowed in China in cafes of adultery,
.-unlawful mutual diflikc, incompatibility of tempers, jealqufy,
I'marriages, &c. No hufband, however, can put away or fell his
wife until a divorce is legally obtained ; and if thk re¬
gulation be not ftriftly obferved, the buyer and feller
become equally culpable. If a wife, lawfully married,
privately withdraws herfelf from her hufband, he may
3
immediately commence an action at law ; by the fen- China,
tence of which fhe becomes his flave, and he is at li. t—-"v1"
berty to felTher to whom he pleafes. On the other
hand, if an hufband leaves his wife for three years, fhe
is at liberty, after laying her cafe before the manda¬
rins, to take another hufband -r but if fhe were to an¬
ticipate their confent, fhe would be liable to a fevere
punifhment.
Marriage is deemed illegal in China in the follow¬
ing cafes. 1. If a young woman has been betrothed
to a young man, and prefents have been given and re-
ceived by the parents of the intended hufband and
wife. 2. If in the room of a beautiful young wo¬
man another be fubflituted of a difagreeable figure ;
or if the daughter of a free man marry his Have ; or
it any one give lus fiave to a free woman, pretending
to her parents that he is his fon or relation. In all
thefe cafes the marriage is null and void ; and all thofe
who have had any fliare in making up the match are
feverely punifhed.
3. Any,mandarin of letters is forbidden to form an
alliance with any family refiding in the province or city
of which he is. governor.
. 4- No Chinefe youth can enter into a ftate of mar¬
riage during the time of mourning for his father or
mother; and if promifes have been made before, they
ceafe immediately on that event taking place. After
the ufual time of mourning is expired, however, the
parents of the intended bride are obliged to write to
thofe of the young man, putting him in mind of his
engagement.
_ 5. Marriage is alfo fufpended when a family expe¬
riences any fevere misfortune, and'even if a near rela¬
tion were thrown into prifon ; though this may be let
slide, provided the unfortunate perfon give his confent.
6. Two brothers cannot marry two lifters ; nor is
a widower at liberty to marry his fo.n to the daughter
of a widow whom he choofes for his own wife. A
man is alfo forbidden to marry any of his own relations,
however diftaut the degree of confanguinity may be .
between them.
In China every father of a family is refponiible for
the conduft of his children, and even of his dome-
ftics; all thofe faults being imputed to him which it-
was his duty to have prevented. Every father has the.
power of felling his fon,.« provided (fays the law)
the fon’has a right of felling himfelf.” This cuftom,
however, is barely tolerated among the middling and
inferior ranks ; and all are - forbidden to fell them to
comedians, or people of infamoust character, or very
mean ftations.
In China a fon remains a minor during the whole
lifetime, and is even liable for the debts contracted by
his father, thofe from gaming only excepted. Adop¬
tion is authorifed by law, and the adopted child imme¬
diately enters into all the rights of a lawful fon ; only
the law. gives a right to the father of making a few
difpofitions in favour of his real childrens -The chil¬
dren, however, whether adopted or not, *cannot fuc-
ceed to the dignity Or titles of their father, though,
they may to his eftate. The'emperor alone can con¬
fer honours; and even then they muft be refigned
when the perfon attains the-age of 70; though this
refignation is confidered as an advice rather than a
4 P 2 law.
CHI [ 668 ] CHI
China, lav?. The will of a father cannot be fet afide in Chi¬
na on account of any informality ; nor can any mo¬
ther in this empire make a will.
Though the Chinefe laws authorife flavery, yet the
power of the matter extends only to thofe matters
which concern his own fervice ; and he would be pu-
nifhed with death for taking advantage of his power
to debauch the wife of his Have.
By the laws of China hufbandmen are exempt from
the payment of taxes after he has begun to till the
earth to the beginning of harveft.
In criminal matters every perfon accufed mutt be
examined before five or fix tribunals ; and vvhofe en¬
quiries are directed not only againft him, but againtt
his accufer, and the witneffes that appear in the caufe.
He is, however, obliged to remain in prifon during
the procefs: “ but (fays M. Grofier) the Chinefe
prifons are not horrible dungeons like thofe of fo ma¬
ny other nations; they are fpacious, and have even a
degree of convenience. One of the mandarins is ob¬
liged to infpeft them frequently ; and this he does
with the greater punctuality, as he mutt anfwer for
thofe who are fick. He is obliged to fee them pro¬
perly treated, to fend for phyficians, and to fupply
them with medicines at the emperor’s expence. If
any of them dies, he mutt inform the emperor, who
perhaps will order fome of the higher mandarins to
examine whether the formet has difcharged his duty
faithfully or not.
Method of Aighteft punifhment in China is the baftinado;
infliding and the number of blows is to be determined by the
the baft!? degree of the offender’s guilt. Twenty is the loweft
nado. number; and in this cafe the punifhment is confider-
ed as having nothing infamous in it, but being only a
Ample paternal correction. In this way the emperor
fometimes orders it to be inflicted oh his courtiers;
which does not prevent them from being afterwards
received into favour, and as much refpeCted as
before. Every mandarin may inflift the baftinado
when any one forgets to falute him, or when he fits
in judgment in public. The inftrument of correction
is called pan-tfa, and is a piece of bamboo a little flat¬
ted, broad at the bottom, and polilhed at the upper
extremity, in order to manage it more eafily wuth the
hand. When the punifhment is to be inflicted, the
magiftrate fits gravely behind a table, having on it a
bag filled with fmall flicks, while a number of petty
officers Hand around him, each furnifhed with thefe
pan-tfees, and waiting only for his fignal to make ufe of
them. The mandarin then takes out one of the little
flicks contained in the bag, and throws it into the hall
of audience. On this the culprit is fcized and ftretch-
ed out with his belly towards the ground ; his breech¬
es are pulled down to his heels, and an athletic do-
meftic applies five fmart blows with his pan-tfee. If
the judge draws another fmall flick from the bag, ano¬
ther officer fucceeds, and beftows five more blows ;
and fo on until the judge makes no more fignals.
When the puniftiment is over, the criminal muft throw
bimfelf on his knees, incline his body three times to
the earth,, and thank the judge for the care he takes
of his education.
For faults of a higher nature, the carrying of a
wooden collar, called by the Portuguefe the canguey is
Criminal
taws in
China.
infliCled. This machine is compofed of two pieces of Chios.
wood hollowed out in the middle, which, when put  /——»
together, leave fufficient room for the neck. Thefe 74
are laid upon the ffioulders of the criminal, and join- ^wooden’
ed together in fuch a manner, that he can neither fee collar,
his feet nor put his hands to his mouth ; fo that he is
incapable of eating without the affiftance of another.
This difagreeable burden he is obliged to carry day
and night; its weight is from 50 to 200 pounds,, ac¬
cording to the enormity of the crime, to which the
time of carrying it is alfo proportioned. For rob¬
bery, breaking the peace, or ditturbing a family, or
being a notorious gambler, it is generally carried three
months. During all this time the criminal is not al¬
lowed to take (belter in his own houfe, but is ftationed
for a certain fpace of time, either in.fome public fquare,
the gate of a city or temple, or perhaps even of the tri¬
bunal where he was condemned. On the expiration
of his term of punifhment, he is again brought be¬
fore the judge, who exhorts him in a friendly manner
to amend ; and after giving him 20 found blows dif-
charges him. ^
Baniftiment is inflicted for crimes of a nature inferior Banifh-
to homicide, and the duration is often-for life, if the rae[>t> &6'
criminals be fent into Tartary. Some culprits are
condemned to. drag the royal barks for three years,
or to be branded in the cheeks with a hot iron, indi¬
cating the nature of their tranfgrefiions. Robbery be¬
tween relations is more fevtrely punifticd than any
other; and that is accounted the moft atrocious where
younger brothers or nephews appropriate to themfclves.
beforehand any part of the fucceflion in which they
have a right to (hare with their elder br ibers or
nephews. ^
Information againft a father or mother, grandfather p .niih-
or grandmother, uncle or eldeft brother, even though ment of
the accufation be juft, is puniftied with 100 blows-of 1!'f“r”}ers
the pan-tfee, and three years baniftiment. If the ac- ^|"
cufation be falfe, it is puniftied with death. Defici-
ency in proper filial refpeeft to a father, mother, grand¬
father, or grandmother, is puniftied with 100 blows of
the pan-tfee;. abulive language to thefe relations is
death by (trangling; to (trike them is punilhed by
beheading ; and if any one prefumes to hurt or maim
them, his flelh is torn from his bones with red hot
pincers, and he is cut into 1000 pieces. Abufing an
elder brother is puniftied with 100 blows of the pan-
tlee ; ftriking him, with the puniftiment of exile. ^
Homicide, even though accidental, is puniftied with Capital pu-
death in China. A rope about fix or feveji feet in nilhments,
length, with-a running noofe, is thrown over the cri_ indie-
minal’shead ; and a couple of domeftics belonging to
the tribunal pull it ftrongly in different directions.
They then fuddenly quit it, and in a few moments
give a fecond pull; a third is feldom neceflary to fi-
nifti the bufinef's. Beheading, is accounted in China
the moft dilhonourabie of all punilhments, and is re-
ferved only for defperate affaffins, or thofe who com¬
mit fome crime equally atrocious, with murder. To be
qut in a thoufand pieces, is a puniftiment infli£ted only
uponftatecriminals orrebelliousfubjects. It is performed
by tying the criminal to a poft, fealping the (kin from
the head, and pulling it over the eyes. The execu-t
tioner. then tears the (kfli . from different parts of the
€ H I
China, unhappy wretch’s body ; and never quits this horrible
‘ v~— employment till mei-e fatigue obliges him to give over:
the remains of the body are then left to the barbarous
fpeftators, who finifh what he has begun. Though
this puniihment, however, has been infli&ed by fome
emperors with all the dreadful circumftances jult men¬
tioned, the law orders only the criminal’s belly to be
opened, his body to be cut into feveral pieces, and
then thrown into a ditch or river.
The torture, both ordinary and extraordinary, is
ufed in China. The former is applied to the hands
or feet: for the hands, fmall pieces of wood are ap¬
plied diagonally between the fingers of the criminal;
his fingers are then tied clofe with cords, and he is
left for fome time in that painful fituation. The tor¬
ture for the feet is ftill worfe. An inftrument, con¬
fining of three crofs pieces of wood,, is provided, that
in the middle being fixed, the others moveable. The
feet of the criminal are then put into this machine,
which fqueezes them fo clofe that the ancle bones be¬
come flat. The extraordinary torture conlifts in
maki ng_fmall gafties in the body, and then tearing off
the fie in like thongs. I*t is never applied but for
fome great crime, fuch as treafon, «r where the crimi¬
nal’s guilt has been clearly proved, and it is necefl'ary to
make him difcover his accomplices-
Notwithftanding thefe dreadful punifliments, M.
Grofier is at great pains to prove that the laws of the
Chiuefe, with regard to criminal matters, are extreme-
M. Gro- ly mild. “One law (fays he) will no doubt appear
aer’s gene- exceedingly fevere and. rigorous; it inflidfs thepunifti-
th1 rhW r ment death on thofe who ufe pearls. Thole who
lawF. ine eread the hiftory of China will be apt to fall into cer¬
tain miftakes refpe&ing the penal laws of that na¬
tion. Some of its fovereigns have indulged them-
felves in gratifying fanguinary caprices which were
not authorifed by the laws, and which have often been
confounded with them ; but thefe princes are even yet
ranked among the number of tyrants, and their names
are ttill abhorred and detefted throughout the whole
empire. The Chinefe, in their criminal procedure,
have a great advantage over all other nations: it is
almoit impeflible that an innocent man Ihould ever be¬
come a vittim to a falfe accufation : in fuch cafes the
accufer and witneffes are expofed to too much danger.
The flownefs of. the procefs, and the numberlefs re-
vifions it undergoes, are another fafeguard for the ac-
cufed. In fhort, no fcntence of death is ever carried
into execution until it has been approved and con¬
firmed by the emperor. A fair copy of the whole
procefs is laid before him ; a number of other copies
are alfo made out, both in. the Chinefe and Tartar
languages, which the emperor fubmks to the exami¬
nation of a like number of doctors, either Tartars or
Chinefe. When the crime, is of. great enormity, and
clearly proved, the emperor writes with his own. hand
at the bottom of the fentence, “ When you receive
this order, let it he executed, without delay.’*' In
cafes where the crime, though punilhable by death
according to law, is ranked only in the ordinary clafs,
the emperor writes at the bottom of the fentence,
“ Let the criminal be detained in prifon, and exe¬
cuted in autumn that being the feafon in which
they are generally executed, and all on the fame day.
The emperor, of China never figns an order for the-
[ 669 ]
C H I
execution of a criminal till he has prepared himfelf by China,
faffing. Like other monarchs he has the power of ^
giving pardons ; but in this refpeft is much more li- cafes^m
mited than any other. The only cafes in which the which
Chinefe monarch can remit the punifhment inflifted crimes may
by law are, i. To the fon of a widow who has not Par^on-
married again ; 2. To the heir of an ancient family ; e *
3. The defcendents of great men or citizens who have
deferved well of their country; and, 4. laffly. The fons
or grandfons of a mandarin, who has become illuftri-
ous, and diftinguifhed himfelf by faithfully difchar-
ging the duties of his office. Neither a child, nor a.
man of very advanced age, can be cited before a tribu¬
nal. The fon of a very aged father and mother is
pardoned, if private property or the public peace
be not hurt by giving him a pardon ; and if the fons
of fuch a father and mother be all guilty, or accom¬
plices in the fame crime, the youngeft is pardoned in
order to comfort his parents.
In'China the accufed are always treated with ten-
dernefs and lenity, being accounted innocent until,
their guilt be clearly proved; and even then, liberty
excepted, they are fcarce allowed to want for any thing.
A jailor is puniflied who behaves rigoroufly towards his
prifoners ; and the judges mult kkewife anfwer at their
peril for any additions to the feverity of the law ; de-
pofition being the flighteft punifhment inflicted upon
them.
Subftitution is fometimes allowed by the laws of
China; fo that the near relation of a guilty per-
fon may put himfelf in the criminal’s place, pro¬
vided, however, that the chaftifement be flight, and
the accufed his ancient friend. The fons, grand¬
fons, wife,, and brothers of a baniflied. Chinefe, are al¬
lowed to follow him into exile; and the relations of all
perfons are permitted to vilit them in prifon, and to
give them every affiffance in their power ;, to do which
good offices they are even encouraged, inffead of being
prevented. go
Every city in China is divided into different quar-Qf c;^
ters, each of which is fubjeiffed to the infpection of.ties and
a. certain, officer, who. is anfwerable for whatever pafles fhA go-
in the places under his jurifdiftion. Fathers of fami-venin’enti
lies, as we have already obferved, are anfwerable for
the conduT of their children and domeffics.. Neigh¬
bours are even obliged to anfwer for one another*,
and are bound to give every help and affiftance in
cafes of robbery, fire, or any accident, efpecially
in. the night-time. All the cities are furnifhed with
gates, which are barricaded on. the commencement-
of night- Centinels are alfo polled at certain di-
ftances throughout the ftreets, who ilop all who walk
in the night, and a number of horfemen go round
the ramparts for the fame purpofu; fo that it is almoit
impoffible to elude their vigilence by favour of the
darknefs- A ftritt watch is alfo kept during the day¬
time; and all thofe who give any Ijifpicion by their
looks, accent, or behaviour,.are immediatly carried be¬
fore a mandarin, and fometimes even detained until the
pleafure of the governor be known.
Private quarrels do not often happen in. China, and
it is rare that they are attended with a fatal iffue-
The champions fometimes decide the quarrel with
their fills, but molt frequently refer the cafe to a man¬
darin, who very often orders them both a.found drub-
CHI L 670 I CHI
China, blng. None but military people are permitted to
wear arms in public ; and this-privilege is extended
even to them only during the time of war, or when
they accompany a mandarin, mount guard, or attend
a review. Proftitutes are not allowed to remain within
the walls of a city, or to keep a houfe of their own
even in the fuburbs. They may, however, lodge in
the houfe of another; but that other is accountable
for every diiturbance which may happen on their ac-
81 count.
Borrowing Jn all the Chinefe cities, and even in fome of their
money, (yrdbiary towns, there is an office where money may be
borrowed upon pledge's at the common rate of the
-country; which, however, is no lefs than 30 per cent.
Every pledge is marked with a number when left at
the office, and mutt be produced when demanded ;
but it becomes the property of the office if left there
a Angle day longer than the term agreed upon for the
payment of the money. The whole tranfadlion re¬
mains an inviolable fecret; not even the name of
the perton who leaves the pledge being inquired
82 sftcr*
refe reads * Great attention is paid by the adminiftration of
0 * China to the c-onveniency of travellers. The roads
are generally very broad, all' of them paved in the
fouthern provinces, and fome in the northern ; but
neither horfes nor carriages are allowed to pafs along
thefe. In many places valleys have been filled up, and
rocks and mountains cut through, for the purpofe of
making commodious high ways, and to preferve them
as nearly as poffible on a level. They are generally
bordered with very lofty trees, and in fome places
with walls eight or ten feet high, to prevent travellers
from going into the fields; but openings are left in
proper places, which give a paffage into crofs roads
that lead to different villages. Covered feats are
ere&ed on all the great roads, where travellers may
fnelter themfelves from the inclemency of the wea¬
ther ; temples and pagods are alfi/ frequent, into
which travellers are admitted without feruple in the
day-time, but often meet with a refufal in the night.
In thefe the mandarins only have a .right to reft them¬
felves as long as they think proper. There is, how¬
ever, no want of inns on the great roads, or even the
crofs ones, in China ; but they are ill fupplied with
provifiona; and thofe who frequent them are even obli¬
ged to carry beds along with them to fleep on, or elfe
take up with a plain mat.
Towers are ere&ed on all the roads of this great
empire, with wateh-boxes on the top, with flag-ftaffs,
for the convenience of fignals in cafe of any alarm.
Thefe towers are fquare, and generally conftrmfted of
brick, but feldom exceed twelve feet in height. They
are built, however, in fight of one another, and are
guarded by foldiers, who run with great fpeed from
one to another, carrying letters which concern the
emperor. - Intelligence of any remarkable event is alfo
conveyed by fignals; and thus the court is informed
-with furprifing quicknefs of any important matter.
Thofe which are built on any of the roads conducting
to court, are furnilhed with battlements, and have alfo
very large bells of call iron. According to law thefe- Cfunv
to wets fhould be only five /j’J-, about half a French  
league, diftant from one another. g3 »
There is no public poft-office in China, though fe-Method of
veral private ones have been ettablifhed ; but the cou-convey-
riers and officers charged with difpatches for the em-ance*
pire have only a right to make ufe of them. This
inconvenience, however, excepted, travellers find con¬
veyance very eafy from one part of China to ano¬
ther. Great numbers of porters are employed in every
city, all of whom are affociated under the opnduCt of
a chief, who regulates all their engagements, fixes the
price of their labour, receives their hire, and is refpon-
fible for every thing they carry. When porters are
wanted, he furnifhes as many as may be neceffary, and
gives the fame number of tickets to the traveller; who
returns one to each porter when they have conveyed
their loads to an appointed place. Thefe tickets are'
carried back to the chief, who immediately pays them
from the money he received in advance. On all the
great roads in China there are feveral offices of this'
kind, which have a fettled correfpondence with others;
the travellers therefore have only to carry to one of
thefe offices a lift of fuch things as they wi:h to have1
tranfported: this is immediately written down in a
book ; and though there fhould be. occilfion for two,
three, or four hundred porters, they are inftantly fur-
nifhed. Every thing is weighed before the eyes of
their chief, and the hire is five pence per hundred
weight for one day’s carriage. An exact regifter of
every thing is kept in the office ; the traveller pays
the money in advance, after which he has no occafion
to give himfelf any farther trouble : on his arrival at
the city he defigns, his baggage is found at the cor- .
refponding office, and every thing is delivered to him
with the moft fcrupulous exattnefs.
The cuftom-houfes are here regulated by the gene-
rul police of the country ; and according to M. Gro- houfe».
fier's account, thefe cuftom-hdafe officers are the moft
civil in the world. They have no concern with any
clafs of people but the merchants, whom they take
care not to diftrefs by any rigorous exailions 5 nei¬
ther, though they have authority to do fo, do they
ftop travellers till their baggage is examined, nor do
they ever require the fmalleft fee from them. Duties
are paid either by the piece or the load; and in the
former cafe credit is given to the merchant4? book
without afking any queftiohs.' A mandarin is ap¬
pointed by the* viceroy of each provide© to infpeeft
the cuftom-houfes of the. whole diftriei ; and the man¬
darins have alfo the care of the poft offices. Sj
In former times the only money ufed in China was Money of
made of fmall fhells, but now both filver and copper ^ enlI’‘re*
coin are met with. The latter confifts of round
pieces about nine-tenths of an inch (a) in diameter,
with a final! fquare hole in the middle, inferibed with
two Chinefe words on one fide, and two Tartar ones
on the other. The filver pieces are valued only by
their weight. For the convenience of commerce the
metal is therefore caft into plates of different fizes;
and for want of fmall coin, a Chinefe’always carries
about
(a) The Chinefe foot longer by one hundredth part than the French, and the inch is divided Into ten parts.
CHI [ 671 ] e H I
CUina. about him his Xcales, weights, and a pair of fciffars £0
cut. the metal. This operation is performed by put¬
ting the filver between the fciflars, and then knocking
them 'againit a done till the pieces drop off. In gi¬
ving of change, however, people have no right to va¬
lue filver by the numerical value of copper, this be¬
ing entirely regulated by the intrinfic value of the me¬
tals. Thus, an ounce of filver will fometimes be
worth 1000 coppd.- pieces, and,fometimes only 800 }
and thus the copper money of China may frequently
be fold for more than it would pafs for in commerce.
The emperor would lofe much by this recoinage, were
he not the foie proprietor of all the copper mines in
China. It is, however, exprefsly forbidden to employ
copper coin in any manufacture where it might be
■employed as plain copper, and it is alfo forbidden to
be fold for the purpofe of melting : but, if the
price of the metal has not fallen, the infraction of this
law is not very feverely punifhed. On the other
hand, if the value of unwrought copper exceeds that of
the coin, a quantity of the latter is iffued out to r.e-
ftore the equilibrium.
To keep up a conftant circulation; of all the coin
in the empire, the Chinefe government are attentive
to preferve an equilibrium between the proportional
value of the gold and filver; that is, to regulate the
intrinfic value of each in fuck a maimer that the pof-
feffor of filver may not be afraid to exchange it for
copper, nor the poflefibr of copper for filver. The
method ufed for this purpofe is, when filver becomes
ffcarce, to make all the payments for fome time in filver;
but if copper, to make them all for fome time in that
^ metal.only.
Of the Chi- commerce °f China is under the infpeCtion of
nefe com- the tribunal of finances ; but on this fubjeCt the Chi-
aierce. nefe entertain an opinion quite different from that of
the European's. Commerce, according to them, is
only ufeful as far as it cafes the people of their fuper-
fluities, and procures them neceffaries. For this rea-
fon they confider even that which is carried on at
Canton as prejudicial to the mtereft of the empire.
“ They take from us (fay the Chinefe) our filks, teas,
and porcelain : the price of thefe articles is raifed
through all the provinces: fuch a trade therefore can¬
not be beneficial. The money brought us by Euro¬
peans, and the htgn-priced baubles that accompany it,
are mere fuperfluities to fuch a ftate as ours. We
have no occafion for more bullion than what may be
neceffary to anfwer the exigencies of government, and
to fupply the relative wants of individuals. It was
faid by Kouan-tfe, two thoiifand years ago, That the
money introduced does not enrich a kingdom in any
other way than as it is introduced by commerce. No
commerce can be advantageous long, but that which
confifts in a mutual exchange, of things neceffary or
ufeful.. That trade, whether carried on by barter or
money, which has for its objeft the importing of ar¬
ticles that tend to the gratification of pride, luxury,
©r curiofity, always fuppofes the exiftence of luxury :
but luxuryj which is an abundance of fuperfluities
among certain claffes of people, fuppofes the want of
neceflaries among a great many others. The more
horfes the rich put to their carriages, the greater will
be the number of thofg who are obliged to walk on
£hotthe larger and more magnificent their houfes
arc, fo much the more confined and wretched mufl. China,
thofe of the poor be ; and the more their tables are u*—■y—-■*
covered with a variety of diflies, the more mull the
number of thofe. increafe who are reduced to the ne-
ceffity of feeding upon plain rice. Men, united by
fociety in a large and populous kingdom, can employ
their induitry, talents, and economy, to no better pur¬
pofe than to provide neceffaries for all, and procure
convenience for fame.” '
The only commerce confidered by the Chinefe as Hiftory of
advantageous to their empire, is that with Ruin a and th.e tra‘e
Tartary ; by which they are fupplied with thofe furs wlthRu®**'
fo neceffary in the northern provinces. The difputes
concerning the limits of the refpedtiye empires of
Rufiia and China feem to have paved the way to this
commerce. Thefe difputes were fettled by treaty
on the 27th of Augufl: 1689, under the reign of Ivan
and Peter Alexiowitz. The chief of the embaffy on
the part of Rufiia was Golovin governor of Siberia ;
and two Jefuits we*re deputed on the part of the em¬
peror of China; and the conferences were held in
Latin, with a German in the Ruffian arnbaflador’s,
train, v£ho was acquainted with that language. By
this treaty the Ruffians obtained a regular and per¬
manent trade with China, which they had long de-
fired ; but in return they yielded up a large territory,
befides the navigation of the river Amour. The firft
intercourfe had taken place in the beginning of the
17th century ; at which time a final! quantity of Chi¬
nefe merchandize was procured by fome Ruffian mer¬
chants from the Kalmuck Tartars. The rapid and
profitable fale of thefe commodities encouraged cer¬
tain Siberian Wayvodes to attempt a diredt and open
communication with China. For this purpofe fe-
veral deputations were fent to the emperor; and though,
they failed of obtaining the grant of a regular com¬
merce, their attempts were attended with fome
confequences of importance. Thus the Ruffian
merchants were tempted to fend traders occafionally
to_ Peking ; by which means a faint conneftion was
preferved with that metropolis.. This commerce, how¬
ever, was at laft interrupted by the commencement of
haftilities on the river Amour ; but after the conclu-
fion of the treaty in 1689, was refumed v<ith uncom¬
mon alacrity on the part of the Ruffians: and the ad¬
vantages thence arifing were found to be fo confide-
rable, that a defign of enlarging it was formed by Pe-
"ter the Great. Ifbrand Ides, a native of the duchy of
Holffein, then in the Ruffian fervice, was therefore
difpatched to Peking in ifipz-; by whofe means the
liberty of trade, before confined to individuals, was
now extended to caravans. In the mean time, pri¬
vate merchants continued to trade as before, not
only with the Chinefe, but alfo at the head quar¬
ters of the Mogul Tartars. The camp of thefe ro¬
ving Tartars, which was generally ftationed near the
confluence of the Orhon and Toula rivers between the
fouthern frontiers of Siberia and the Mogul defert,-
th-us became the feat of an annual fair. Complaints,.
however, were foon made of the diforderly behaviour
of the Ruffians; on which the Chinefe monarch
threatened to expel them from his dominions entirely,
and to allow them neither to trade with the Chinefe
nor Moguls. This produced another embaffy to Pe¬
king in 17197 when matters were again adjufted to
88
Emperor’s
revenue.
CHI { 672 1 CHI
IKe fatisfa&ion of both parties. The reconciliation,
was of no long duration; for the Ruffians having
foon renewed their diforderly behaviour, an order for
their expulfion was iffued in 1722, and all intercourfe
between the two nationsforbidden. The differences were
once more made up in 1727, and a caravan allowed to
go to Peking once in three years, provided it con-
lifted of no more than 100 perfons ; and that during
their ftay their expences fhould not, as formerly, be
defrayed by the emperor of China. The Ruffians
at the fame time obtained permiffion to build a church
within the precin&s of the caravanfary; and that
four priefts were allowed to refide at Peking for the
celebration of divine fervice ; the fame indulgence
being granted to feme Ruffian fcholars, for the pur-
pofe of learning the Chinefe language, and qualify¬
ing themfelves for being interpreters between the two
nations. This intercourfe continued till the year
X 755 ; fince which time no more caravans have been
fent to China. It was firft interrupted by a mifun-
derftanding betwixt the two courts ; and though that
difference was afterwards made up, no caravans have
been fent ever fince. The emprefs of Ruffia, fenfible
that the monopoly of the fur trade (whieh was entire¬
ly confined to the caravans belonging to the crown,
and prohibited to individuals) was prejudicial to com¬
merce, gave it up in favour of her fubje&s in 1762;
and the centre of commerce betwixt the two nations
is now at Kiatka. Here the trade is entirely carried
on by barter. The Ruffians are prohibited from ex¬
porting their own coin ; finding it more advantageous
to take goods in exchange than to receive bullion at
the Chinefe ftandard. The principal exports from
Ruffia are furs of different kinds; the moft valuable
of which are thofe of fea-otters, beavers, wolves, foxes,
martins, fables, and -ermines; the greater part of
which are brought from Siberia and the newly difeo-
vered iflands ; but as they cannot fupply the demand,
there is a neceffity for importing foreign furs to Pe-
terlburg, which are afterwards fent to Kiatka. Vari¬
ous kinds of cloth are likewife fent to China, as well
as hardware, and live cattle, fuch as horfes, camels,
&c. The exports from China are, raw and manufac¬
tured filk, cotton, porcelain, rhubarb, mulk, &c. The
government of Ruffia likewife refeives to itfelf the
-exclufive privilege of purchafing rhubarb. It is
brought to Kiatka by fome Bukharian merchants, who
have entered into a contraft to fupply the crown with
it in exchange for furs: the exportation of the beft
-rhubarb is forbidden under fevere penalties, but yet is
procured in fufficient quantities, fometimes by clan-
deftinely mixing it with inferior roots, and fometimes
by fmuggling it dire&ly. Great part of Europe is
fupplied with rhubarb from Ruffia.
The revenue of the emperor of China amounts to
more than 41 millions fterling; and might eafily be
increafed, did the fovereign incline to burden his fub-
je&s with new impofitions. The annual expences of
government are indeed immenfe, but they are regulated
in fuch a manner as never to be augmented tut in
cafes of the utmoft neceffity ; it even happens very of¬
ten that adminiftration makes greater favings every
year. When this happens to be the cafe, the furplus
ferves to increak the general treafure of the empire,
.and prevents the nejeeffity of new impofitions in time
■N0 77-
of war, or other public calamities. The greater part C'lina.
of the taxes are paid in kind; thofe, for inftance,
who breed filk worms, pay their taxes in filk, the
hulbandmen in graip, the gardeners in fruits, &c.
This method, at the lame time that it is exceedingly
convenient for the fubjeCl, is no way detrimental to
the public intereft. There are numbers of people every
where in the fervice of government, w'ho are thus furnilh-
ed with food and clothing; fo that the commodities col-
lefted as taxes are almoft confumed in the province*
where they are levied; what remains is fold for the
behoof of the emperor, and the money depofited ia
the imperial treafury. The taxes paid in money arife
principally from the cuftoms and fale of fait (which
belongs entirely to the emperor), from the dutie*
paid by veffels entering any port, and from other im-
pofts on various branches of manufadlures. Excepting
thefe, the trader fcarcely contributes any thing to the
exigencies of the ftate, and the mechanic nothing at
all; the whole burden of taxation thus falling upon the
hulbandman. This burden is regulated in proportion
to the extent and fertility of his lands; and the great-
eft care has been taken to manage matters fo, that he
may neither be overcharged in the impofition nor
haraffed in the levying of the duties. “ The regiftering
of lands (fays M. Grofier),fo often and to no purpofe
projefted in France, has been long pra&ifed in this
empire, notwithftanding its prodigious extent.” g<j
The levying of taxes in China is as fimple as the Of the
nature of the thing will admit of. The duties levied ta*es in
from towns and villages are carried to cities of the L ina*
third clafs; then they are conduced to thofe of the
fecond ; then to thofe of the firft ; and at la ft to the
capital. The levying and impofition of taxes is fub-
mitted to the tribunal of finances; and matters are fo
managed, that befides the confumption in each diitridt
for difeharging the ordinary expences of government,
fomething is left by way of referve for anfwering ac¬
cidental demands, and to be ready in cafes of neceffity.
This fum becomes gradually lefs from the capital to
cities of the firft, fecond, and third clafs. A proper
ftatement of what is paid in the provinces, of what is
referved in the different cities, or contained in the dif¬
ferent treafuries of the empire, is fubje&ed to the ex¬
amination of the grand tribunal of finances. This re-
vifes the whole, and keeps an exaft account of
what is confumed, and of whatever furplus may be
lefL . . . . 90
Lending money upon intereft has been in ufe in Of lending}
China for about 2000 years. It has often been aboliffi- money, and
ed, and as often eftabliihed. The intereft, as has been
already hinted, is no lefe than 30 per cent, and the year
is only lunar. A tenth part of this intereft is paid
monthly ; and concerning negle&s of payment, the fol¬
lowing laws have been enacted. “ However much the
debt may have accumulated by months or years, the
principal and intereft ffiall remain always the fame.
Whoever infringes this law fhall receive 40 blows of a
pan-tfee; or an hundred, if he ufes any artifice to add
the principal and intereft together.” This law-is ex¬
plained by the following. “ Whoever ffiall be con-
victed before a mandarin of not having paid a month’s
intereiT, fhall receive ten blows; twenty for two
months, and thirty for three ; and in this manner as
far as fixty ; that is to fay, to the fixth month. The
4 debtor
CHI
F 673 ]
C H I
, Q»na. debtor is. then obliged to pay principal and intereft ;
v    but thofe who obtain payment by uling violence and’
force, are condemned to receive 24 blows.
Many Chinefe writers have endeavoured unfuccefs-
fully to fhow why government fhould allow fuch ex¬
orbitant intereft to be taken for money; but the moft
fatisfa&ory and rational account feems to be, that the
great intereft of money prevents the rich from pur-
chaiing much land ; as landed ettates would only em-
banafsSind impoverifh them, their px-oduce being So
much inferior to that of money. The patrimony of and even fome of the villages are not deftitute of this
a family in China is feldom divided ; and it never hap- advantage. The fons of the poor are there received
pens there, as in almoft every other country, that as readily as thofe of the rich; their duties and their
wealth and riches are engroffed by one part of the na- ftudies are the fame; the attention of the mafters is
tion, while the other poffeffes nothing. equally divided between them ; and from this obfcure
Agricul- Agriculture is by the Chinefe coniidered as the firft fource talents often fpring, which afterwards make a
ture great- and moft honourable of all profeffions ; fo that in this confpicuous figure on the grand ftage of life. No-
lyencou- ernpire the hulbandman enjoys many and great privi- '
raged. leges, while the merchant and mechanic are much lefs
efteemed. Part of the crop is allowed t© be ufed in
diftillation ; but if the harveft happens to be bad, this ^ 
Ceremony operation is prohibited. In China, the tillage of the and elevated to a fuperior fphere, might, by reviving
of the em- earth is not only encouraged by law, but alio by the the inftruftion he received in his youth, and efpecial-
perortilling example of the emperor, who annually tills the. earth ly if he be endowed with genius, find himfelf fully com-
WtlTh’11 w‘t*1 k'3 own hands. The beginning of fpring in petent for his new employment.” ^
«wn hands China is always reckoned to be in the month of Fe- . The Chinefe have been greatly reproached with the Gro&r’s
bruary; but it belongs to the tribunal of. mathematics inhuman pradice of murdering their children; but defence of
. 1 .  :f~ though our author cannot deny that they are guiltythe chinefe
of this practice, he excufes them by fayinar, that “ the
five kinds of feeds already mentioned: lafty, four China.
pieces of cotton-cloth, proper for making drefies, are 1 v~~—’
diftributed to each of the labourers, who aflift in yok¬
ing the oxen, and pieparing the feeds; and the fame
prefents are made to 40 other perfons who have only
been fpectators of the ceremony.
“ We muft not (fays M. Grofier) judge of theOfthepea-
Chinefe peafants from thofe of Europe, efpecially in
what relates to the lights acquired by education. Free
fchools are very numerous in every province of China’,
thing is more common in China than to fee the fon
of a peafant governor of that province in which his
father had long toiled in cultivating only a few
acres. The father himfelf, if taken from his plough.
to determine the precife day. The tribunal of ceremo¬
nies announces it to the emperor by a memorial; in
which every thing requifite to be done by him is men¬
tioned with the moft fcrupuleus exaftnefs. The for
vereign then names 12 of the moft illuftrious perfons in
his court to accompany him, and to hold the plough
s pra&ice, he excufes them by faying, that “ thechar e of
crime when committed in China is commonly owing murdering
fo the fanaticifm of idolatry ; a fanaticifm which pre- md expo-
vails only among the loweft of the people. It is either fin.g their
in obedience to the oracle of a bonze, to deliver them-chlldrei1*
after he has performed his part of the ceremony, felves from the power of magic fpells, or to difeharge
Among thefe there are always three princes of the avow, that thefe infatuated wretches precipitate their
blood, and nine prelidents of fupreme courts; and if children into tfie river: they imagine that, by doing
any of them are too old and infirm to undergo the fa- fo, they make an expiatory facrifice to the fpirit of
tigue, the fubftitutes muft be authorifed by the em-' the river. All nations of antiquity almoft have dif-
peror. The feftival is preceded by a facrifice, which graced themfelves by the like horrid pra&ices; but
the emperor offers up to Chang-ti (the fupreme God); the Chinefe are far from countenancing this barbarity
after which he and his attendants prepare themfelvcs on that account. Befides,^thefe criminal facrifices are
never praftifed but in certain cantons of China, where
the people, blinded by idolatry, ai-e the dupes of
prejudice, fanaticifm, and fuperftition.—It often hap¬
pens alfo, that the bodies of thofe children which are
feen floating on the water have not been thrown into
it till after their death ; and this is likewife the cafe
with thofe which are found in the ftreets, or lying
near the public roads. The poverty of'the. parents
fuggefts this difinal refource, becaufe their children
by three days fading and continence. Others are ap¬
pointed by the emperor, on the evening, before the
ceremony, to go and prdftrate themfelves at the fe-
pulchre of his anceftors, and to acquaint them, that,
on the day following, he intends to celebrate a grand
facrifice. This is offered up on a fmall mount a few
furlongs diftant from the city, which, by the indif-
penfable rules of the ceremony, muft be 50 feet in
height. The Chang-ti is invoked by the emperor,
who facrifices under the title of fovereign pontiff, and are then buried at the expence of the public. Ex-
prays for an abundant harveft in favour of his people, pofing of children in public places is a cuftom tole-
He then defeends, accompanied by the three princes rated in China ; and government employs as much vi-
nnd nine prefidents who are to put their hands to the gilance to have them carried away in the morning, as
plough along with him ; the fieldfet apart for tills puri it beftows care on their education. This Is certainly
pofe being at a fmall diftanee from the mount. Forty giving people intimation to expofe their children in
labourers are fele&ed to yoke the oxen, and to prepare the night-time, and no doubt encourages the practice;
•the feeds which the emperor is to fow ; and which are but the di&ates of humanity are here united to thofe
-of five different kinds, viz. wheat, rice, two kinds of of found policy. No law in China authorifes nxuti-
millet, and beans. They are biought to the fpot in lation: there are indeed eunuchs in the empire, but
-magnificent boxes, carried by perfons of the moft their number is much lefs than what it is generally
diftinguiftxed rank. The emperor then lays hold of fuppofed to be by Europeans. The greater part of
the plough, and turns up feveral furrows; rite princes of the eunuchs belonging to the emperor and empreffes
the blood do the fame, and then the prefidents; after have no higher employment than that of fweeping the
'which the emperor throws into the furrows the courts of juftice.”
Vol. IV. Part II. 4 L&e
CHI L 674 ] CHI
diina. Like the capital cities of European kingdoms, Pe-
^ king, the metropolis of the Chinefe empire, is furnifh-
Gazene of ^ with a gazette, which circulates into the remoteft
Peking. provinces, and which is even eonfidered by admini-
ilration as an effential part of the political conltitu-
tion. It is printed daily at Peking, and contains an
account of all thofe objects to which the attention of
adminiftration is dire&ed. In this gazette may be
jCeen the names of all thofe mandarins who are ftripped
of their employments, and the caufes of their difgrace;
it mentions alfo the names of all thofe delinquents who
are punifhed with death ; of the officers appointed to
fill the places of the difgraced mandarins ; the cala¬
mities which have afflidted any of the provinces ; the
relief given by government; and the expences incur*
red by adminiftration for the fubfiftence of the troops,
fupplying the wants of the people, repairing or eredf-
ing public works; and, laftly, the remonitrances made
to the fovereign by the fuperior tribunals, either with
regard to his public decifions or private condudt, and
fometimes even with regard to both. Nothing, how¬
ever, is contained in this gazette that has not imme¬
diately come from the emperor, or been fubmitted to
his infpeftion ; and immediate death would be the
confequence of inferting a falfehood in this minifterial
96 paper.
Seals of the No law or fentence, as has already been faid, is of
emperor, any force, until the emperor’s feal has been affixed to
£c ‘ * it. This is about 8 inches fquare, and is made of
finejafper, a kind of precious ftone much efteemed
in China; of which only the emperor is allowed to
have a feal. Thofe given to princes as marks of ho¬
nour are compofed of gold ; the feals of the viceroys
and great mandarins, of filver ; while thofe of inferior
mandarins and magiftrates are made only of lead or
copper. The ftze of thofe feals is greater Or fmaller
according to the rank their pofleffors hold in the tri¬
bunals or as mandarins ; and when any of them hap¬
pens to be worn out, intimation muft be fent to the
next fuperior tribunal; on which a new one is fent,
and the old one muft then be delivered up. The com-
miffion of every infpe&or fent into the provinces muft
alfo be confirmed by the emperor’s feal. The duty
of thefe officers is to examine into the condudf of
governors, magiftrates, and private individuals; and
inftances are recorded of emperors themfelves affuming
the office of infpeftors in fome of the provinces. Thefe
officers are not only fuperior to all the magiftrates,
but even to the viceroys of the provinces themfelves.
When a fuperior magiftrate behaves ill to an inferior
one, the former inftantly becomes the prifoner of the
infpedtor, and is fufpended from his office until he has
cleared himfelf from every imputation laid to his
charge. The viceroy, however, is allowed to enjoy
his office until the report of the infpe&or has been
tranfmitted to the emperor.
"Power of Thefe viceroys are diftinguifiied by the title of Tfong-
ti!C viceroysand are always mandarins of the firft clafs, pof-
of provin- feffing an almoft unlimited power within their di ft rifts.
««. They march abroad with all the pomp of royal mag¬
nificence, never quitting their palaces, on the moft
trifling occafion, without a guard of 100 men. A
viceroy is the receiver-general of all the taxes collefted
in the province, tranfmitting them to the capital, af-
•■'•e having referred what he judges neceflary for the
demands of his diftrift. AH law-fuits muft be brought
before his tribunal; and he has the power of palling
fentence of death, but it cannot be put in execution
without being firft carried to the emperor. Every
three years he fends to court a report of the conduft
of the mandarins fubordinate to him; and according
to the contents they are either continued or difgraced.
Thofe of whom he makes an unfavourable report are
puniflied in proportion to their delinquency ; while,
on the other hand, thofe who have the goockfortune
to be well reported, are rewarded in a fimilar propor¬
tion.
The principal mandarins are fometimes broke and Degrada-
difmifled from all their employments, while others aretlon .
only removed fome degrees lower. Thofe who have man *rins*
been degraded ten fteps, run a great rilk of never be¬
ing employed again. Thefe degraded mandarins are
kept in perpetual remembrance of their misfortune, by
being obliged to mention it in every public order they
ifiue forth in their inferior ftation ; thus, “ I, fuch a
mandarin, degraded one, two, three, fcsV. fteps, com¬
mand and order,” &c. Over thefe inferior mandarins
the infpeftor of the province has a very unlimited au¬
thority, and can, by his own power, deprive them of
their employments for a great offence; nor does he
confult the court, excepting where the immediate pu-
nilhment of the criminal is not neceffaiy. Every one
of the mandarins, of whatever rank or denomination, is
obliged, once in three years, to give in writing an
exaft account of the faults he has committed in the
execution of his office. If he is a mandarin belong¬
ing to any of the four firft claffes, this confeffion is ex¬
amined at court; but if it is made by any of the in¬
ferior ones, it muft be laid before the provincial tri¬
bunal of the governor. Government, however, is not fa-
tisfied even with this confeffion; inquiry is made into the
truth of it, and the conduft of the mandarin is feru-
tinized with the utmoft feverity, the informations be¬
ing fubjefted to the tribunal of mandarins; where they
are carefully examined, the merits and demerits of
thofe fubjefted to this political inquifition carefully
balanced, and their names afterwards divided into three
claffes. The firft confifts of thofe for whom rewards
and preferment are intended; the fecond, for whom
gentle reproof and admonition are thought neceffary ;
and the third, of thofe who are to be fufpended for
fome time, or removed altogether, from their offices.
Of thefe laft fome are allowed to continue ; but they
receive no falary, and are not only deprived of alt
their emoluments, but even of their honours. If they
have been guilty of any aftion. tending to opprefs the
people, or to occafion a famine or fearcity among the
lower ranks, their puniftiment is not confined to dif-
miffion from their offices, but they are alfo crimi¬
nally impeached. The family burying-place of every
Chinefe is accounted facred; none dares cut down the
trees with which it is overfliadowed until they become
decayed with age ; and even then, not until their con¬
dition has been attefted by a mandarin : but for cer¬
tain crimes againft government or the people, the bu-
rying-place of a mandarin is rafed to the foundation.
No kind of puniftiment, however, inflifted on a fa¬
ther, is fuppofed in the leaft to affeft the charafter of
his fon; and therefore, when the latter is allied by
the emperor concerning his family, he will perhaps
CHI t 675 1 CHI
China, coolly anfwer, “ My father was dlfgracetl for fitch a
^ ' v——' crime, my grandfather was beheaded for fuch ano¬
ther,” without the acknowledgment being in the
lead detrimental. On the contrary, by great and
important fervices,. it is poffible for him to wipe out
thefe ftains from the memory of his anceftors.
Though the empire of China is governed by Tartar
princes, the latter feem to bedow much more care
and attention on the Chinefe than their own natural
fubjefts. Should any difpute arife between a Chinefe
and Tartar, the former muft have greatly deviated
from the rules of juftice, if he is not acquitted even
by thofe tribunals which are compofed of half Chinefe
and half Tartars. The flighted fault committed by a
Tartar mandarin is always feverely punifhed ; but the
puniflunent of the greated is often mitigated if the
delinquent be a Chinefe; and the fame feverity is exer-
cifed towards thofe of the militax-y department. Thofe
faults, however, are punidied with the greated feveri¬
ty which hurt the intereds of the people ; for which
reafon they feldom fall a facrifice to that clafs of petty
tyrants who in other countries prey upon and devour
them. Every fuperior mandarin is obliged to inform
himfelf of the faults of his inferiors, and expofe them ;
nay, he would be puniflxed for them himfelf if he did
not‘
Privileges Very little regard, as we have already had occafion
©f princes, to oblerve, is paid to hereditary right in China. Even
&c. in Chi-the princes of the blood enjoy no other privilege by
na' birth but that of wearing a yellow girdle; and the
names of their children, with the exact time of their
birth, are infcribed in a yellow book appropriated to
that purpofe. Collateral princes are didinguiflxed by
an orange girdle, and their children are marked in a
book of a red colour. The furnames of the princes
of the reigning family are determined by the empe¬
ror alone; the red not being allowed to afiume any
name that too much refembles thofe of the Moguls or
Chinefe. The rank even of the emperor’s fons
diminifties one degree every generation; fo that, at
the feventh, only the elded branch has a title to
wrear the yellow girdle, the red being funk into the
rank of plain citizens. An hereditary fovereignty,
however, paffes from one elded fon to another; and
this title cannot be forfeited, unlefs the poffeffor be
guilty of fome crime. In this cafe the emperor ap¬
points to the fucceffion either one of his younger bro¬
thers or a couiin ; but thefe mud be always chofen from
the fame branch, as the lawful branch cannot be de¬
prived of its right without the condemnation of all
who compofe it. The only hereditary authority of
the other princes exifls among thofe troops called the
‘Tartar hands. There they enjoy, without oppofxtion,
that rank which they derive from their birth, but in
every thing elfe are on a level with others. They are
fubje&ed to a military examination at dated periods,
and are always promoted or degraded according to the
degree of fltill they exhibit. The fame trial is un¬
dergone by the heir apparent and his fons ; the onlv
indulgence ftxown them being, that fchools are ap-
fminted for their particular ufe. The princes are
ikewife indulged with a tribunal appropriated on pur¬
pofe for them, and before which alone they can be
tried. An infult offered to a prince decorated with
the yellow girdle is puniihed with death ; but if he
has omitted to put it on, the nggteifor efcapes with China,
a badinading. A prince may be put to death by the
emperor’s confent; but he efcapes every flighter cor¬
poral punifliment by paying a fine. Untitled princes
have very few privileges fuperior to tbofe of common
citizens; and are generally very poor, unlefs pof-
feffed of fome lucrative office. Thus they are fome-
times reduced to the neceffity of accepting the highed
pay of a common foldier in the Tartar bands. When
they, or any of their chikhen, however, enter into
the marriage date, the emperor ufually makes them a
pi'efent of iqo ounces of lilver. He will abb relieve
them on other occalions, affid their widows and or¬
phans, but in all this never departs from the mod
ex aft rules of economy; fo that the mandarins in this?
refpeft are much better than the relations of the fo-
vereign himfelf.
With regard to the ancient religion of China, F. A- p. Amiot’s
miot informs us, that, after making every poffible re- account of
fearch, comparing and reafoning upon his obferva-thc. a.ncic:’'t
tions, he at lad concluded, that “the Chinefe are aQjW™10
didinft people, who have dill preferved the charafteri-
dic max-ks of their fird origin; a people whofe primitive .
doftrine will be found, by thofe who take the trouble
of invedigating it thoroughly, to agree in its effential
parts with the doftrine of the chofen people, before
Mofes, by the command of God himfelf, had configned
the explanation of it to the facred records ; a people,
in a word, whofe traditional knowledge, when freed
from whatever the ignorance or fuperdition of later
ages has added to it, may be traced back from age to
age, and from epocha to epocha, without interruption,
for the fpace of 4000 years, even to the renewal of
the human race by tlxe grandfon of Noah.” The
/■z'ny, or canonical books of the Chinefe, every where
inculcate the belief of a Supreme Being, the author and
preferver of all things. Under him they mention the
names of Tien, or Heaven; Chang~tien, or Supreme Hea¬
ven ; Chang-ti, or Supreme Lord ; and of Hoang-chan-ti,
Sovereign and Supreme Lord : “ Names (fays M. Gra¬
der) correfponding to thofe which we ufe when we
fpeak of God, the Lord, the Almighty, the Mod
High.”
According to the Chinefe books, the Supreme Be¬
ing is the principle of every thing that exihs, and the
father of all living ; he is eternal, immoveable, and
independent; his power knows no bounds; his fighf
equally comprehends the pad, prefent, and the future,
penetrating even into the inmod receffes of the heart.
Heaven and earth are under his government; all events,
all revolutions, are the confequences of his will; he is
pure, holy, and impartial; wickednefs offends his
■fight; but he beholds with an eye of complacency the
virtuous aftiong of men. Severe, yetjud, he punifh-
es vice in a driking manner even on the throne, and
often precipitates from thence the guilty, to place upon ^
it the man who walks after his own heart, whom he hath
raifed from obfcurity. Good, merciful, and full of
pity, he relents on the repentance of the wicked :
public calamities, and the irregularities of the feafons,
are only falutary warnings, which his fatherly good-
nefs gives to men to induce them to reform and
amend.
The performance of religious worffiip at the pro¬
per and appointed times, has given occafion to the great
4 Qj: exaft-
CHI [ 676 ] CHI
China, exaflnefs with refpeQ; to the kalendar, which is re-
markable throughout the empire of China ; and all
the celebrated emperors have begun their reigns with
a reformation of it Our hiflorians, however, not
contented with difcovering in the Chinefe religion the
fundamental principles of the ancient patriarchal reli¬
gion, have alfo found in it evident fymptoms of a
knowledge- of the'Trinity as believed among Chrifti-
ans. “ Among- the ancient Chinefe chafadters (fays
M. Grofier), which have efcaped the ravages of time,
v'e find the following A. According to the diftifmary
of Kang-hi, this figflifies union; according to the
Choue-ouen (that book fo highly efteemed'in China) A
is three united in one ; it derives it from the charac¬
ters y’or/ (to enter or penetrate), and j£, onC; whence
it concludes, that A means three united, penetrated,
or incorporated into one. According to another book,
accounted a learned and accurate explanation of the
ancient characters, ‘ A fignifies flriCt union, harmony,
the chief good .of man, of heaven, and of earth.; it
is the union of the three tfai (powers, principles, or in¬
telligences) ; for, united, they direft, create, and nou-
rifii together. The image ~ (three united in one fi¬
gure) is not fo obfeure in itfelf; however it is difficult
to reafou upon it without being deceived : on this fub^
je6t it is difficult to fpeak.’
“ Father Amiot, fpite of all the objections which
the critics of Europe may make, feenis to conjeCture,
that the character A might have been, among the an¬
cient Chinefe, the fymbol of the molt holy Trinity ;
‘ and the more fo (he adds), as the ancient-books
furnilh a number of texts, which give us reafon to
fuppofe them to have been poffeffedof fome knowledge
of this fublime myftery.’ The book fays,‘The
emperor formerly offered up a folemn facrifice every
three years to the Spirit Trinity and Unity, Chin-fa.ri'-ye.*
The following celebrated text of Z,ao-//e has long been
known' in Europe. ‘ 7W is one by nature: the firft
begot the fecond ; two produced the third ; the three
created all things.’
“ F. Amiot quotes another paffage, which appears
to be no lefs Angular. ‘ He who is, as it were*, vi-
fible, and cannot be feen, is named Khi; he who may
be heard, yet fpeaketh not to the ears, is called Hi;
he whom, in a manner, we feel, yet cannot touch, is
named Oiiei. In vain do we interrogate our fenfes re-
fpecting thefe three : our reafon, which alone can give
us any fatisfaftion, will tell us that they make only
one. Above there is no light; below there is no dark-
nefs. He is eternal; there is no name which can be
given him. He refembles nothing that exifts ; he is
an image without figure ; a figure without matter:
his light is furrounded by darknefs. If we look up to
him above, we behold no beginning ; if we follow him,
we difeover no end. From what the Tao hath been
at all times, conclude what he is, viz. that he is eter¬
nal: he is the beginning of wifdom.* The com¬
mentaries which explain this paffage fpeak in fuch
ftrong and precife terms, that F. Amiot forbears to
quote them, left he might incur the cenfure of too
many incredulous readers.”
Sacrifices. The facrifices of the Chinefe were firft offered up in
the open fields, or on fome mountain, upon what they
call the Tan, which fignifies a quantity of ftones
thrown together in a round form, or fimply a round China,
heap of earth. A double fence, called Kiao, compo-
fed of turf and branches of trees, was raifed around
this ; and, in the fpace left between the two fences, two
leffer altars were erefted on the right and left; upon
which, immediately after tire facrifice offered up to the
Thn, they facrificed alfo to the Cheng, or good fpirits
of every rank, and to their , virtuous anceftors. The
fovereign alone had a right of facrificing upon this
Tan', and the cuftom of facrificing to inferior^fphits,
according to the Chinefe commentators, maybe traced
even to the days of Fo-hi himfelf. The fame writers
add, that, in addreffing themudves to the Chang-ti, they
confidered him as the fovereign lord of the univerfe, clo¬
thed with all that power which was neceffary to fatisfy
them with regard to the different objeftshf their requefts;
but that, in offering up their prayers to the inferior
objefts of worfttip, they only implored their protediion
and mediation with the Chang-ti.
While the empire was confined within narrow bounds,
one mountain was fufficient for the facrifices ; but in
procefs of time it became neceffary to confecrate four
others. Thefe* were fituated at the. extremities of the
empire, and were fuppofed to cbrrefpond with the
four quarters of the world ; and the prince went fuc-
ceffively every year to one of thefe mountains to offer
up facrifices ; taking occafion at the fame time to
(how himfelf to his people, and to inform himfelf of
their wants. This cuftom fubfifted for a long time ;
but at length it was found convenient to add a fifth
mountain in' the centre of the empire ; and ever fince
'thefe have been called the five To, or the five moun¬
tains of facrifice. This method of fubjedting the em¬
peror to regular annual jourhies could not but be at¬
tended with many inconveniences. It was found neceffa¬
ry on this account to confecrate fome fpot in the neigh*-
bourhood of his palace, which might be fubftituted for
the To upon all occafions when the emperor could not
repair to them. An edifice was therefore eredled, which
at once reprefented the Kiao, Tan, and the Hall of Atr-
cejlors. This lad was a neceffary part of the edifice ;
becaufe it was incumbent on thofe who offered up fa¬
crifices, firft to repair to this hall, and acquaint their
anceftors with what they were about to perform ; and
thither alfo they returned after facrificing, to thank
the fame anceftors for the protediion they had received
from the Chang-ti ; after which they offered up a
facrifice of thankfgiving in honour of them, and per¬
formed certain other ceremonies to (how their refpedi.
The building contained five feparate halls, appropri¬
ated to different purpofes : originally it had neither
paintings nor ornaments of any kind, and a ftair-cafe
of nine fteps condudted to the principal entrance. Af¬
terwards, however, it was much more richly orna¬
mented, each of the five halls being decorated with
columns, over which others were placed that fupported
a fecond roof. In fucceeding times it was (tripped of
all its ornaments, with a view to bring back religion
to its primitive fimplicity. Its four gates were covered
with fine mofs, reprefenting the branches of which
the double fence of the ancient Kiao were formed.
The ridge of the roof was covered with the fame, and
the whole was encompaffed by a canal filled with
water at the time of offering up the facrifices. To
this a fecond building was added, which they called
CHI [ 677 ] CHI
China, the temple of neatnefs, and which was ufed only for pu-
—* ' rifications and ceremonies, the former being entirely
confecrated to the worihip of the Chang-ti.
At prefent there are only two temples in Peking,
named the Tien-tan and the Ti-tan ; in the conftru&ion
of which all the elegance of Chinefe archite&ure is
difplayed. Thefe are both dedicated to the Chang-ti,
but under different titles; in the one he is adored as
the eternalfpirit; in the other, as the creator and pre-
ferver of^the world. The ceremonies of the modern
facrifices are greatly multiplied ; and nothing can ex¬
ceed the fplendor and magnificence with which thefe
folemnities are performed. Some time before the day
appointed for the grand ceremony, the monarch, the
grandees, of the court-, and all thofe whom their em¬
ployments qualify to affiil at the folemnity, prepare
themfelves by retirement, farting, and continence ; no
audience is given by the emperor, and the tribunals
are entirely fhut ; marriages, funerals, rejoicings, and
entertainments of every' kind, are then forbidden. At
fart, on the day appointed, the emperor appears at¬
tended by an innumerable multitude, and his perfon
furrounded by a vaft njamber of princes, lords, and of¬
ficers, while every part of the temple feems to corre-
fpond with the magnificence of the fovereign ; all the
vafes and utenfils employed in the iacrifices are of
gold, and cannot be applied to any other purpofe ;
even the inftruments of mufic are of enormous jnag-
nitude, and never ufed any where elfe. All this gran¬
deur, however, ferves only to difplay in a-more emi¬
nent manner the humility and abafement of the ^mo¬
narch during his devotion ; at which time he rolls in
the dull, and fpeaks of himfelf before the Chang-ti in
terms of the moft abjeft fubmifiion and humiliation.
, Secft nf The purity of the ancient Chinefe religion ha3}
rTao-ffe. however, been long contaminated by many idolatrous
and fanatical fe&s. Among thefe, one named Tao-fse
was founded by a philofopher called JLao-kiun or Lao-tfe,
who was born 603 B. C. He died in an advanced
age, leaving to his difciples a book intitled Tao-te, be¬
ing a collection of 50CO fentences. His morality has
a great refemblance to that of Epicurus. It confifts
principally in banifhing all vehement defires and paf-
fions capable of difturbing the peace and tranquillity
of the foul. According to him, the care of every wife
man ought to be only to endeavour to live free from
grief and pain, and to glide gently down the ftream
of life devoid of anxiety and care. To arrive at this
happy ftate, he advifes his followers to banirti all thoughts
of the part, and to abftain from every vain and ufelefs
inquiry concerning futurity, as well as all tormenting
thoughts of ambition, avarice, &c. It was found by
vthe difciples of this philofopher, however, that all
their endeavours to obtain a perfedl tranquillity of
mind were vain, as long as the thoughts of death in¬
tervened ; they therefore declared it poffible to difcover
a compofition from which drink might be made that
would render mankind immortal. Hence they were
led to the ftudy of chemiftry; and, like the weftern
alehemifts, wearied themfelves in fearch of the philofo-
pher’s ftone, until at laft they gave themfelves up to
all the extravagancies of magic.
The defire of avoiding death, together with the
credulity natural to .unenlightened minds, quickly pro¬
duced a number-of converts to the feet of Tao-fse.
Magical practices, the invocation of fpirits, and the Chinar
art of foretelling events by divination, quickly diffufed  
themfelves over the empire, and the imbecillity of the
emperors contributed to propagate the deception.
Temples confecrated to fpirits quickly reared their
heads in every corner of the empire ; and two of the
moft celebrated of the fe6t were authorifed to main¬
tain public worihip there after the form which had-
been preferibed by their mailer. At the fame time
they diftributed, and fold at a dear rate, images of the
imaginary fpirits with which they had peopled the-
heavens and the earth. Thefe were, by their com¬
mand, vvorlhipped as fo many deities independent of
the Supreme Being; and, in like manner, feveral of
the ancient emperors were invoked as gods.
Being patronifed by the emperors of feveral dy-
nafties, this fe£l became more and more poweiful.
At la 11 they had the impudence to affix, during the
night-time, to one of the gates of the imperial city,
a book filled with myftic characters and magical figures.
At break of day they informed the emperor of the-
fudden appearance of. this book, and-publicly declared
that it was fallen from heaven.- This trick ealily im-
pofed upon the weak prince. He immediately repain¬
ed, with a numerous train, to the fpot where the fa-
cred volume appeared ; and having taken it into his-
hands in a refpectful manner, carried it in triumph to
his palace, where he- Hint it up in a golden box. An¬
other emperor carried his reverence for the fed to fuch
an height of impiety and extravagance, as to order a
celebrated Tao-fse to be publicly wotlhipped under the
name of Chang-ti. The fed thus patronifed by the
princes, and accommodated to the credulity of the
vulgar, continued to gain ground in fpite of every op-
polkion from the wifer part of the people, and is Hill
very powerful in China. At prefent they offer up
three different vidims, a hog, a fowl, and a filh, to a
fpirit whom they invoke. Various ceremonies, fuch
as howling, drawing fantaftical figures upon paper, ma¬
king an hideous noife with kettles and drums, are ufed
in their incantations; and though it may readily be
believed that they are for the moft part unfuccefsful,
yet their credit is ftill kept up by thofe cafes in which
they fucceed by accident.
The chief of the Tao-fse is inverted by government
with the dignity of grand mandarin, which is enjoyed
by his fucceffors : he relides in a fumptuous palace in
a town of Kiang-fi ; and the fuperftitious confidence
of the people attrads an immenfe number thither from
all parts of the empire. Some arrive in order to be
cured of difeafes, others to get an infight into futu¬
rity. The impoftor diftributes to them fmall bits of
paper filled with magical charaders ; and the ignorant
wretches depart well fatisfied, without grudging the
expence of their journey, though ever fo long.
A ftill more pernicious and more widely diffufed fed I03
is that of the idol Fo, which came originally from In-
dia. The Tao-/}.? had promifed to the brother of onepQ1. PCrS
of the emperors of China to introduce him to a com¬
munication with fpirits. The credulous prince having
heard of a great fpirit named Fo, who refided in In¬
dia, prevailed on, his brother to fend an embaffy thi¬
ther. On the arrival of the ambaffadors, however,
they could find only two worfhippers of this deity,
both of whom they brought to China. Several images •
CHI [6;
China, of Fo wei*e alfo col!e£led at the fame time ; and thefe,
'■*—together with fome canonical books of the Indians,
were placed on a white horfe, and carried in jaroceflion
to the imperial city.
This fuperftition was introduced into China about
the 65th year of the Chriftian sera, and foon made
vaft progrefs. One of its principal do&rines is that
of the metempfyeholis, or tranfmigration of fouls, of
which M. Grofier thinks he was the inventor, and that
Pythagoras, who travelled into feveral parts of India,
had borrowed the doftrine from him. The account
given of him by the bonzes is, that finding himfelf,
at the age of 70, opprefled with infirmities, he called
his difciples together, and told them he was unwilling
to leave the world without communicating the fecret
and hidden myfteries of his dotlrine ; which were, in
Ihort, that all things had proceeded from a vacuum
and nothing, and to that they mult return. This doc¬
trine produced a correfponding mode of action, or ra¬
ther of inaftion, in thofe who believed it: for thus
the great happinefs of man was made to confift. in ab-
folute annihilation ; and therefore the nearer he could
bring himfelf to this ftate during life, the happier he
was fuppofed to be.
The common doftrine, however, which admits of a
diftinftion between good and evil, finds more profe-
lytes among the vulgar, whofe fituation in life will not
allow them to fpend their time in perpetual idlenefs.
According to this, the righteous will be rewarded and
the wicked punilhed after death. They fay alfo, that
the god Fo came to fave mankind, and to expiate their
fins; and that he alone can procure them a happy re¬
generation in the life to come. Five precepts aie like-
wife inculcated on thofe who adopt this doftrine :
1. Not to kill any living creature. 2. Not to take
away the goods of another. 3. Not to pollute them-
felves by uncleannefs. 4. Not to lie ; and, 5. Not to
drink wine. Above all, they recommend to them to
perform afts of mercy, to treat their bonzes well,
build temples, &c.
The doftrine of metempfyehofis has introduced in¬
to China an infinite number of idols, who are all wor-
fhipped on the fuppofition that the fpirit of To has
tranfmigrated into the animals they reprefent. Tbefe
idols, however, feem not to be worfiiipped with great
fincerity ; but, like the images of faints in the more
fuperftitious countries of Europe, are beaten and thrown
in the dirt when their votaries happen not to obtain
their defires, which they impute to the obftinacy or
weaknefs of the idol. Nay, M. Grofier gives an ac¬
count of one man, who having ineffeftually paid a fum
of money to the bonzes of a certain idol for the cure
of his daughter, brought a formal accufation againft
the idol itfelf; and in fpite of all that the bonzes could
fay in its behalf, got its worfhip fupprefled throughout
I0+ the province.
Bad cha- The bonzes of China are reprefented as a moft. ava-
ra&er of ricious and hypocritical race of men, ready to praftife
the bonzes. every k;n(3 0f vJHany, and even t0 fuljjea themfelves
to the moft intolerable tortures, in order to obtain mo¬
ney from the compaffion of the public when they can¬
not get it in any other way ; and an edift of one of
the emperors is cited by M. Grofier, by which great
numbers of their religious houfes were fupprdTed. In
8 ] CHI
order to perpetuate their feft, they purchafe young China,
children, \Vhom they take-care to inifruft in all the —
myfteries and tricks of their profeffion ; but except¬
ing this, they are in general very ignorant, and few
of them would be able to give any tolerable account
of the tenets of their own feft. They are not fubjeft
to a regular hierarchy, but acknowledge fuperiors a-
mong them whom they call grand bonzes, who have
the firft place in all religious aflemblies at which they
happen to be prefent ; and great profit is derived from
certain religious clubs, both of men and women, at
which the bonzes are always called to affift. Their
wealth is likewife augmented by pilgrimages to certain
places where there are temples more or Id's reverenced,
and where a multitude of abfurd ceremonies ate per¬
formed. Thefe bonzes, as may be ealily imagined, are
inveterate enemies-to the progrefs of Chriftianity, tell¬
ing the moft abfurd ftoiies concerning the miffionaries;
as that they pluck out the eyes of their converts to
conftruft telefcopes with, See. The literati, however,
and the more fenfible part of the nation, hold them in
the greateft contempt.
We fliall conclude this detail of the Chinefe reli-Rj(1[c°^ous
gion with giving an account of one other fuperftition fuperftition j
which feems peculiar to the nation. It is named fong- of the/o^. *
choui, which fignifies wind and water. By this they^<,w-
mean the lucky or unlucky fituation of a houfe, bury-
ing-place, &c. If any imprudent perfon has built a
houfe clofe to that of a Chinefe, in fuch a manner
that the angle formed by its roof flanks the wall or
roof of the former houfe, the proprietor ever after
livej in terror of utter ruin and deftruftion from the
malignant influence of that angle. An implacable
hatred inftantly commences betwixt the two families,
and often gives rife to a law-fuit, which furnifhes mat¬
ter of difeuffion for fome of the fuperior tribunals.
If no redrefs can be had at law, however, the Chinefe
is then reduced to the neceflity of erefting, on the top
of his houfe, an enormous image of a dragon, or fome
other monfter, with its mouth gaping towards the angle,
and, as it were, threatening to fwallow it up; after
which the apprehenfions of the proprietor begin to
fubfide, and tranquillity is reftored to the family. In
this manner the governor of Kien-tchang fecured him¬
felf from the influence of the church of the Jefuits,
which, being built on an eminence, overlooked hia pa¬
lace. Not depending, however, entirely on the good
offices of his tutelary dragon, he alfo took the wife
precaution of altering his principal apartments, and
raffing, at the diftance of 200 paces from the church,
a kind of large facade three flories high. But ua-
luckily the death of his fucceflbr was attributed to
this facade ; for the mandarin being attacked with a
diforder in his breaft, which made him fpit up a white
phlegm, this fymptom was thought to be owing to the
walls of the facade, which were very white, and which,
were forthwith painted black. The falutary precau¬
tion, however, happened to be taken too late ; for the
governor died notwithftanding the black colour of the
walls.
“ We ffiould never have done (fays M. Grofier),
were we to relate all the fuperftitious ideas of the Chi¬
nefe, refpefting the lucky and unlucky fituation of hou¬
fes, the quarter which doors ought to front, and the
plan
j 106
j|e\vs and
kahome-
hina.
es of
arriage.
J
CHI r 679 ] CHI
plan and day proper for conftru&ing the floves in which
' they cook their rice.” But the objeft on which they
employ their greateft care is the choice of the ground
and iituation for a burying-place. Some quacks fol¬
low no other profeffion than that of pointing out hilta
and mountains which have an afpedl favourable for
works of that kind. When a Chinefe is perfuaded
of the truth of fuch information, there is no fum
which he would not give to be in poffeffion of the for¬
tunate fpot. The greater part of the Chinefe are of
opinion that all the happinefs and misfortunes of life
depend upon the fong-choui.
A colony of Jews was eftablilhed in China about
the year 206 B. C. ; but they are now reduced to a
fmall number of families at Cai-fong, the capital of
the province of Honan. The Mahometans have mul¬
tiplied much more than the Jews. It is above 600
years fince they firfl entered the empire, where they
have formed different eftablifhments. At firft their
number was augmented only by marriages ; but for
fame time paft they have been more particularly at¬
tentive to the extending of their feft and propagating
their doftrine. The principal means employed for
this purpofe are, to purchafe a great number of -chil¬
dren brought up in idolatry, whom their poor parents
are glad to part with ; and thefe they circumcife, and
afterwards inftrudl; in the principles of their religion.
During the time of a famine which defolated the pro¬
vince of Chang-tofig, they purchafed more than 10,000
of thefe children ; for whom, when grown up, they
procured wives, built houfes, and even formed whole
villages of them. They are now become fo numerous,
that in the places where they refide they entirely ex¬
clude every inhabitant who does not believe in their
prophet, and frequent a mofque.
With regard to the manners of the Chinefe, they
bear so refemblance to thefe of any other nation ; and,
if we may believe their hillorians, they are the fame
at this day that they were 4000 years ago. The wo¬
men are condemned almoil to perpetual imprifonment
within the precin&s of their own houfes, and are ne¬
ver feen even by their intended hufbands before mar¬
riage. He knows nothing of her looks or perfon but
from the account of fome female relation or Confident,
who in fuch cafes afts the part of match-maker; though,
if impofed upon either with regard to her age or fi¬
gure, he can have recourfe to a divorce. The fame
matrons who negociate the marriage, alfo determine the
fum which the intended huftand mull pay to the pa¬
rents of the bride : for in China a father does not give
a dowry to his daughter ; it is the huiband who gives
a dowry to the wife. When the day appointed for
the marriage is arrived, the bride is placed in a chair
or clofe palanquin, the key of which is committed to
the care of a trufty domeitic, who muft; deliver it to
none but the hufband. The latter, richly drefied, waits
at his gate for the arrival of the proceffion. As foon
as it approaches, the key is put into fiis hands ; he
eagerly opens the chair, and for the firil time perceives
his good or bad fortune. If he is contented with his
new fpoufe, the bride defcends and enters the houfe,
where the marriage is concluded by feafting and mer¬
riment as in other countries ; but if the bridegroom
is very much difappointed, he fuddenly Ihuts the chair,
and fends the bride home to her relations. To get rid China,
of her in this manner, however, coils a fum equal to
what he originally gave in dowry to obtain her.
. The Chinefe women, even of the firft. rank, feldom
quit their apartment, which is fituatc > la the moil re¬
tired part of the houfe, and in which they are fecluded
from all fociety but that of their domeftics. The book
of ceremonies requires that there fhould be two apart¬
ments in every houle; the exterior one for the hulband,
the interior for the wife. They muft even be fepara-
ted by a wall or wooden partition, the door of which
is carefully guarded ; nor is the hujtband at liberty to
enter the wife’s apartment, or fhe to quit it, without
fufficient reafon. According to the fame book, the
prattling and loquacity of a woman are reckoned fuf¬
ficient grounds for a divorce. A woman, however^
cannot be divorced on any account, if fhe lofes her pa¬
rents after marriage, or if fhe has worn three years
mourning for the lofs of her hufband, father, or mo¬
ther.
A widow of any rank above the common, who has
children, feldom enters a fecond time into the marriage ‘
ftate, though thofe of the ordinary rank generally do.
The poorer fort are not at liberty to follow their own-
inclination; but are fold for the behoof of the parents
of the deceafed. As foon as the bargain is conclu¬
ded, a couple of porters bring a chair, which is guard¬
ed by a number of trufty people. In this the widow
is fhut up, and thus conduced to her new hufband.
“ Mafters (fays Mr Grofier), for the mo ft part, are
very defirous of promoting marriage among their
Haves, whatever Mr Paw may fay ; who, without anjr
foundation, has ventured boldly to affert the contrary.
They have even very ftrong motives to induce them to
encourage thefe marriages ; the children produced by
them are ftill their flaves ; and befides their becoming
new property to them, the fathers and mothers are
thus more ftrongly attached to their fervice.” ro8
Concubinage is tolerated in China, though not au- Concubi-
thorifed by any law. This privilege is granted only to tole*
the emperor, the princes of the blood, and mandarins;,ate
and none but the emperor is permitted to have more
than one. The common people generally avail them-
felves of the toleration granted them in this re-
fpeft, and will have two or three concubines if they
can afford it'."' They are, however, careful to excufe
themfelves as well as they can to their wives in this-
refpeift, pretending only a defire of having many
children, and a number of women to attend their
wives. Others, defirous of having a male child, which
perhaps their lawful wife cannot have, take a concu¬
bine, for this reafon only, and difmifs her as foon as
their wifhes are accompliflied; they then permit her
to many whom fhe pleafes, and frequently even pro¬
vide a hufband for her themfelVes. Thefe concubines-
are almoft all procured from two-cities named Tang-
tcheou and Sou-tcheou, where they are educated, and
taught finging, dancing, mafic, and every accomplifh-
ment fuitable to women of quality, or which can render
them agreeable and pleafing. The greater part of them
are purchafed in other places, to be again difpofed of;
and this is the principal branch of trade carried on by
thefe two cities. Unlawful intrigues are feldom heard
of in China. Whoever feduces the wife of another-
1 is-;
CHI [ 680 ] CHI
China. Is punlfhed with death ; and the fame punifliment is
generally inflifted on the perfon who debauches a
109 young woman.
Education From the accounts we have of the education of ehil-
■of children, jn China, one might be apt to conclude, that, in-
'ftead.of being the ignorant fuperllitious race already
defcribed, they ought to be the moll intelligent people
in the world. The book of ceremonies dire&s the edu¬
cation of a child to commence as foon as it is bom,
and defcribes exactly the qualities which its nurfe
ought to have. She muft fpeak little, adhere ftriftly
to truth, have a mild temper, behave with affability to
her equals, and with refpeft to her fuperiors. The child
is taught to ufe the right hand as foon as it can put its
hand to its mouth, and then it is weaned. At fix
■years of age, if a male, he is taught the numbers mioft
in ufe, and made acquainted with the names of the
principal parts of the world ; at feven, he is fepara-
'ted from his lifters, and no longer allowed to eat with
them, nor to fit down in their prefence ; at eight,-he
-is inftrufted in the rules of good breeding and polite-
-nefs; at nine, he ftudies the kalendar; at ten, he is fent
to a public fchool, where he learns to read, write, and
■call accounts ; from 13 to 15 he is taught mufic, and
every thing that he fings confifts of moral precepts. It
was formerly the cuftom, that all the lelfons defigned
for the Chinefe youth were in verfe; and it is to this
-day lamented, that the fame cuftom is not followed, as
their education has fince been rendered much more diffi¬
cult and laborious.
At the age of 15, the Chinefe boys are taught to
handle the bow and arrow, and to mount on horfeback;
at 20 they receive the firft cap, if they are thought to
-deferve it, and they are permitted to wear lilk drelfes
ornamented with furs ; but before that period they are
not allowed to wear any other thing than cotton.
Another method of initiating children into the
principles of knowledge in this empire is, by fele&ing
a number of charafters expreffive of the moft common
objedfs, engraving or painting them feparately on fome
kind of fubllance, and, under the thing reprefented,
putting the name, which points out to the children the
meaning of the word.
As the Chinefe have no proper alphabet, they re-
prefent almoft every thing by different charadfters. The
labour of their youth, therefore, is intolerable ; being
obliged to ftudy many thoufand charafters, each of
which has a diftindl and proper fignification. Some
idea of their difficulties may be obtained from what we
are told by F. Martini, who affures us, that he was un¬
der the neceffity of learning 60,000 different charac¬
ters before he could read the Chinefe authors with to¬
lerable eafe.
The book firft put intp the hands of the Chinefe
•children is an abridgment, which points out what a
child ought to learn, and the manner in which he
fthould be taught. This volume is a collection of fhort
-fentenees, confifting of three or four verfes each, all of
which rhyme ; and they are obliged to give an account
in the evening of what they have learned in the day.
After this elementary treatife, they put into iheir hands
the four books which contain the doCtrines of Confu¬
cius and Mencius. The fenfe and meaning of the
•work is never explained to them until they have got by
:heart all the characters, that is to fay, the words in the
book ; a method no doubt inconceivably difgufting,
and calculated utterly to deftroy the genius of a boy,
if he has any. While they are getting thefe charac¬
ters by heart, indeed, they are likewife employed in
learning to form them with a pencil. For this pur-
pofe they are furnifhed with large leaves of paper, on
which are written or printed with red ink very big
characters ; and all they are required to do is to cover
thofe red characters with black ink, and to follow ex¬
actly their fhape and figure; which infenfibly accuftoms
them to form the different ftrokes. After this they
are made to trace other characters, placed under the pa¬
per on which they write. Thefe are black, and much
fmaller than the other. It is a great advantage to the
Chinefe literati to be able to paint characters well \ and
on this account they' beftow great pains in forming the
hands of young people. This is of the utmoft confe-
quence to literary ftudents in the examinations which
they are obliged to undergo before they can be admit¬
ted to the firft degree. Du Halde gives a remarkable
inftance, wi*. that “ a candidate for degrees having,
contrary to order, made ufe of an abbreviation in wri¬
ting the character ma, which fignifies an horfe, had
the mortification of feeing his compofition, though in
other refpeCts excellent, rejected merely on that ac¬
count ; befides being feverely rallied by the mandarin,
who told him that a horfe could not walk unlefs he had
all his legs.”
After the fcholar has made himfelf mafter of the cha¬
racters, he is then allowed to compofe ; but the fub-
jeCt Of his compofition is pointed out to him only by
one word. Competitions are likewife eftabliffied in
China, but moft of them are of a private nature.
Twenty or thirty families, who are all of the fame
name, and who confequently have only one hall for the
names of their anceftors, agree among themfelves to
fend their children twice a month to this hall in order
to compofe. Each head of a family in turn gives the
fubjeCI of this literary conteft, and adjudges the prize ;
but this cofts him a dinner, which he muft caufe to be
carried to the hall of competition. A fine of about
ten pence is impofed on the parent of each fcholar who
abfents himfelf from this exercife.
Befides thefe private competitions, every Undent is
obliged to compete at leaft twice a-year under the in-
fpedftion of an inferior mandarin of letters, ftyled Hh-
kouan. It frequently happens alfo, that the mandarins
of letters order thefe ftudents to be brought before
them, to examine the progrefs they have made in their
ftudies, to excite a fpiritof emulation among them, and
make them give fuch application as may qualify them
for any employment in the ftate. Even the governors
of cities do not think it below their dignity to take
this care upon themfelves ; ordering all thofe ftudents
who refide near them to appear before their tribunal
once a month : the author of the beft compofition is
honoured with a prize, and the governor treats all the
candidates on the day of competition at his own ex¬
pence. In every city, town, and village in China,
there are fchoolmafters who teach fuch fciences as are
known in that country. Parents pofleffed of a certain
fortune provide mafters for their children, to attend
and inftrudl them, to form their minds to virtue, and
to initiate them in the rules of good breeding and the
accuftomed ceremonies, as well as to make them ac-
J quaiuted
CHI I 681 1 CHI
' quainted with the laws and hiftory, if their age will ad¬
mit. Thefe matters have for the moft part attained to
one or two degrees among the literati, and not unfre-
quently arrive at the firtt employments of the, ftate.
The education of the Chinefe women is confined to
giving them a tafte forfolitude, and accuftonting them-
to modefty and filence ; and, if their parents are rich,
they are likewife jnftru&ed in fuch accompliftiments- as
inay render them agreeable to the other fex.
There is little dittinftion in China between the or¬
dinary drefs of men and women. Rank and dignity
are diftinguifhed by certain accettary ornaments ; and
the perfon would be feverely chaftifed who fliould pre-
fume to affume them without being properly authori-
fed. The drefs in general confifts of a long veft which
reaches to the ground. One part of this veft, viz,.
that on the left fide, folds over the other, and is fatten¬
ed to the right by four or five fmall gold or filver but¬
tons, placed at a little diftance from one another'. The
fleeves are wide towards the fhoulder, growing narrow¬
er as they approach the wrift,' where they terminate in
the form of a horfe finoer, covering the hands entirely,
and leaving nothing but the ends of the fingers to be
feen. Round their middle they wear a large girdle of
filk, the ends of which hang down to their knees.
From this girdle is fufpended a Iheath, containing a
knife and two of thofe fmall {ticks vrhich they ufe as
forks. Below this robe they wear a pair of drawers,
in fummer made of linen, and in winter of fatin lined
with fur, fometimes of cotton, and in fome of the
Northern provinces of {kins. Thefe are fometimes co¬
vered with another pair of white taffety. Their Ihirts
are always very fticrt and wide, of different kinds of
cloth, according to the feafon. Under thefe they wear
a filk net to prevent it from adhering to the {kin. In
warm weather they have their necks always bare; when
it is cold, they wear a collar made of filk, fable, or
fox’s fkin, joined to their robe, which in winter is trim¬
med with fheep’s {kin, or quilted with filk and cotton.
That of people of quality is entirely lined with beau¬
tiful fable {kins brought from Tartary, or with the fi-
neft fox’s lkin, trimmed with fable ; and in the fpring
it is lined with ermine. Above their robe they wear
alfo a kind of fur-tout with wide fleeves, but very fhort,
which is lined in the fame manner. The emperor
and princes of. the blood only have aright to wear yel¬
low ; certain mandarins have liberty to wear fatin of
a red ground, but only upon days of ceremony ; in
general they are clothed in black, blue, or violet. The
common people are allowed to wear no other colours
but blue cr black ; and their drefs is always compofed
of plain cotton cloth.
Formerly the Chinefe were at great pains to pre-
• ferve their hair ; but the Tartars, who fubdued them,
•s compelled them to cut off the greater part of it, and to
alter the form of their clothes after the Tartar fafhion.
This revolution in drefs was not effected without blood-
fhed, though the conqueror at the fame time adopted
in other refpedis the laws, manners, and cuftoms of the
conquered people. Thus the Chinefe are painted as
if bald, but they are not fo naturally ; that fmall por¬
tion of hair which they preferve behind, or on the
tops of their heads, is all that is now allowed them.
This they wear very long, and plait like a tail. , In
fummer they wear a kind of cap fhaped like an invert-
Vol. IV. Part II.
ed cone, lined with fatin, and covered with ratan or
cane very prettily wrought. The top terminates in a
point, to w'hich they fix a tuft of red hair, whieft
fpreads over it, and covers it to the •brims. This hair
grows between' the legs of a kind of cow, and is ca¬
pable of taking any colour, efpecially a deep red. This
ornament is much ufed, and any perfon who chOofeS
may wear it.
The mandarins and literati wear a cap of the fame
form as the foregoing, only it is lined with red fatin,
and covered on the outfide with white. A large tuft
of the fineft red filk is fixed over it, which is'fuffered
to hang down or wave with the wind. People of di~
ftindtion generally ufe the common cap when they
mount on horfeback or during bad weather ; being
better calculated to keep off rain,' and (belter thofe
who wear it from the rays of the fun. For winter they
have another cap bordered with fable, ermine, or fox’s
ilcin, and ornamented with a tuft of filk like the former.
In thefe fur-trimmings they arc very .curioUs, fometimes
expending 40 or 50 ounces of filver upon them.
The Chinefe people of rank never go abroad with¬
out boots made of fatin or fome other filk, and fome¬
times of cotton, hut always dyed. They have neither
heel nor top, and are made to fit the foot with the
greateft exa&nefs. When they travel on horfeback,
however, they have others made of the {kin of a cow
or horfe made very pliable. Their boot.ftockings are
of filk ftuff, quilted and lined with cotton, reaching
above the top of their boot, and ornamented with a
border of velvet or cloth. In fummer they wear a
cooler kind, and in their houfes a fort of flippers made;
of filk ftuff. The common people are contented with
black flippers made of cotton cloth. The fan is alfo
a neceffary appendage of the Chinefe drefs, and is reck¬
oned equally neceffary with the boots.
The drefs of the women con fills of a long robe quite
clofe at top, and long enough to cover even their toes,
with fleeves fo long that they would hang down upon
the ground, did they not take care to tuck them up ;
but their hands are feldotn feen. The colour of their
dreffes is entirely arbitrary, .but black and violet are
generally chofen by thofe advanced in life. The young
ladies, like thofe of Europe, .make ufe of paint to
give a bloom to their compledtions ; but this, though
not the fame with the kind ufed in Europe, agrees
with it in the effect of foon wrinkling the (kin. Their
general head-drefs confifts in arranging their hair in
feveral curls, among which are interfperfed fmall tufts
of gold or iilver flowers. According to Du Halde,
fome of them ornament their heads with the image of
a fabulous bird, concerning which many ftories are told.
This is made of copper or filver gilt, its wings extend¬
ed and lying pretty clofe to the head-drefs, embra¬
cing the upper part of their temples, while the long
fpreading tail forms a kind of plume on the top of the
head. Its body is directly over the head, and the
neck and bill hang down, the former being joined to
the body by A concealed hinge, in order that it may
play freely, and move about on the leaft motion of
the head. The whole bird adheres to the head by
means of the claws, which are fixed in the hair.
Ladies of quality fometimes wear feveral of thefe
birds made up into a Angle ornament, the workmanfhip
of which is very expenfive. Young ladies wear alfo a
. 4 R crovrn
CHI [ 682 ] CHI
China, crown made of pafteboard, the fore-part of which
rifes in a point above the forehead, and is covered
with jewels. The reft of the head is decorated with
natural or artificial flowers, among' which fmall dia¬
mond pins are interfperfed. The head-drefs of the or¬
dinary clafe of women, efpecially when they are ad¬
vanced in years, confifts only of a piece of very fine
II4 filk wrapped round their heads.
Abf .rdcu- All authors agree, that an abfurd cuftom prevails
ft ini of pre-throughout China of confining the feet of female in*
venting thefants fn fycg a. manner that they are never allowed to
tna^in-6" grow to near their full fize. The fmallnefs of their
fants from feet is accounted fuch a valuable beauty,.that the Chi¬
growing.. nefe women never think they can pay too dear for iti
As foon therefore as a female infant is born, the
•nurfe wraps up its feet in very tight bandages; and
this torture muft be endured until their feet have
ceafed to grow. So prevalent is the force of cuftom,
however, that as the child grows up Ihe voluntarily
fubmits to new tortures in order to aecomplilh the
purpofe more effeftually. Thus the Chinefe women
are deprived almoft entirely of the ufe of their feet; and
are fcarce able to walk, in the moil aukward-hobbling
manner, for the fliorteft fpace. The Ihoe of a full grown
Chinefe woman will frequently not exceed fix inches..
The Chinefe- ufe white as the colour proper for
mourning; and though a fon cannot wear this while
his father and mother are alive, he can ufe no other
for three years after their death ; and ever afterwards
his clothes muft be of one colour. The law has for¬
bidden the ufe of filks.and furs to children ; and has
even preferibed the time when they are firft to wear a
cap. This is put upon their heads by the mafter of
ceremonies himfelf, who addrefles them in the fallow¬
ing manner: “ Confider that you now receive the
drefs of thofe who have attained to maturity, and that
you ceafe-to be children; renounce therefore all child-
iih thoughts and inclinations, affume a grave and ferious
deportment, apply with refolution to the ftudy of vir¬
tue and wifdom, and endeavour to merit a long and
happy life.” “ This, ceremony (fays M. Grofier),
which may appear trifling, is attended with the hap-
pieft effedts. The Chinefe give a kind of importance
to feyery thing which can infpire youth with a tafte
for morality and a love of good order. It might be
ufeful to mankind at every fixed epocha of their lives,
to remind them of thofe new duties impofed by each
fucceffive change;, but, by uniting the folemnity of a
public ceremony to this inftruftion, it will make a
deeper imprelfion, and remain much longer imprinted
on their memories.”
Sxceffive Nothing, can appear more irkfome to an European
ceremoni- than the multitude of ceremonies ufed on all occafions
theCh'°^ ^7 the Chinefe. An invitation to an entertainment is
* * not fuppofed to be given with fincerity lintil it has
been renewed three ot four times in writing. A card
is fent on the evening before the entertainment, an-;
other on the morning of the appointed day, and a third
when every thing is prepared and the. guefts ready to
fit down to the table. The mafter of the houfe al¬
ways introduces his guefts into the hall, where he fa-
lutes them one after another.' He then orders wine to
be brought him in a fmall cup made of filver, porce¬
lain, or precious wood, and placed upon a- fmall var-
nilhed falvcr. He lays hold of it with both his hands,
makes a bow to all the furrounding-guefts, and advan- China,
ces towards the fore-part of the hall, which generally
looks into a large court. He there raifes hig eyes and
the cup towards heaven ; after which he pours the wine-
on the ground. He afterwards pours fome wine into
a filver or porcelain cup, makes a bow to the moll con-
fiderable perfon in company, and then goes to place
the cup on the table before him ; for in China every
gueft has a table for himfelf; The perfon for whom
he intends this honour, however, generally faves him
the trouble of placing the cup ; calls for wine in his
turn, and offers to place the cup on the mailer’s table,
who endeavours to prevent him; with a thoufand apo¬
logies and compliments according to the rules of Chi¬
nefe politenefs. A fuperior domeftic condudls the
principal gueft to an elbow chair covered with rich
flowered filk, where the ftranger again begins his com¬
pliments, and begs to be excufed from fitting in fuch
an honourable feat, which neverthelefs he accepts of;
and all the reft of the guefts do the fame, otherwife
the ceremonial would be gone through with each of
them. The entertainment Hfconeluded by fome the¬
atrical reprefentations, accompanied with the mufic of
the country; which, however, would: give but little
pleafure to an European. Befides the guefts, a certain
number of people are admitted into the court in order
to behold thefe theatrical reprefentations; and even
the women are allowed to view them through a wicket,
contrived fo that they may behold them without being
feen themfelves.
The entertainments of the Chinefe are begun, not
by eating, but by drinking; and the liquor they drink
mull always be pure wine. The intendant, or tnahre
de hotel, falling down on one knee, firft invites* the
guefts to take a glafs; on which each of them lays
hold, with both hands, of that which is placed before
him, raifing it as high as his forehead, then bringing it
lower down than the table, and at laft putting it to
his mouth : they all drink together, and very flowly,
taking three or four draughts. While they are drink¬
ing, the diflies on each of the tables are removed, and
others brought in. Each of. the guefts has twenty-
four fet before him in fucceffion ; all of them fat, and
in the form of ragouts. They never ufe knives in their
repafts; and two fmall-pointed flicks, ornamented
with ivory or filver, ferve them inftead of forks. They
never begin to eat, however, until they are invited by
the malt re de hotel; and: the fame ceremony muft be
gone through every time they are going to take a cup
of wine or begin to a new difh. Towards the middle
of the entertainment the foup is brought in, accom¬
panied with fmall loaves or meat-pies. Thefe they
take up with their fmall flicks, fteep them in the
foup, and eat them without waiting for any fignal or
being obliged to keep time with the reft of the guefts.
The entertainment, however, continues in other re-
fpe&s with.the utmoft formality until tea is brought
in; after which they retire from table and amufe
themfelves in. another hall, or in the garden for a fhort
time, until the defert. be brought, in. This, like the
entertainment itfelf, confifts of 24 difhes, which are
made up of fweatmeats,. fruits differently prepared,
hams and falted ducks which; have been baked or dried
in the fun, with fhell and other kinds of fifh. The
fame ceremonies which, preceded, the repaft are now
renewed*
CHI [ 683 ] CHI
China, renewed, and every one fits down at the fame place he
t~“—v~“"J occupied before. Larger cups are then brought in, and
the mailer invites the guefts to drink more freely.
Thefe entertainments begin towards evening, and
never end till midnight. A fmall fum of money is
given to the domeftics ; when every one of the guefts
goes home in a chair preceded by feveral fervants, who
carry large lanthorns of oiled paper, on which are in-
feribed the quality, and fometimes the name, of the
matter. Without fuch an attendance they would be
taken up by the guard ; and the day following they
never fail to return a card of thanks to the officer.
Their method of drinking tea is not like that of
other nations. A fmall quantity of bohea, fufficient
to tinge the water and render it palatable (for they
drink no green), is taken in the morning, and thrown-
into a veffel adapted to the number in family. This
■Hands till milk warm; in which ftate it is kept the
whole day, and a cup drank now and then without
fugar or milk, in order to exhilerate the fpirits when
exhaufted by fatigue: and if a {hanger call by accident,
or a vifitor by appointment, the firft thing prefented,
after the ufual ceremonies of meeting, is a very fmall
pipe filled with tobacco of their own growth and a cup
of the tea already mentioned, or of feme frefh made
of better.'quality, together with fweetmeats, See. Tea
is the daily beverage in China, and is drank by all
ranks of people.
Some change has been made in the ceremonial of
the Chincfe by the Tartar conqueft, and fome new
ditties alfo introduced by the fame means; and here
M. Grofier obferves, that the, Tartars are much better
cooks than the Chinefe. All their ditties' are highly
feafoned; and by a variation in the proportions of
their fpiceries, they are able to form a variety of ditties
out of the fame materials. None of their viands,
however, are more efteemed than flags finews, and the
nefts of a particular fpecies of birds, which have the
property of giving a moft agreeable reliih to what¬
ever is mixed with them. Other diffies are introdu¬
ced at thefe repafts, which would be accounted very
difagreeable with us; fuch as the fieih of wild horfes,
the paws of a bear, and the feet of feveral wild ani-
mals. The greater part of thefe provifions are brought
preferred in fait from Siam, Camboya, and T. artary.
The wines of China have no refemblance to ours.
C ,nee either in tafte or quality, being procured from rice
and not from the vine. A particular kind of rice is
employed for making them, and the grain is fteeped
for 20 or 30 days in water, into which ingredients of
a different nature are fucceffively thrown : they after-
v/ruds boil it ; and as foon as it becomes diffolved by
tire heat, it immediately ferments, and throws up a vapo¬
rous feum not unlike new wine. A very pure liquor
te found under this feum, which is drawn off . and put
into veflels well glazed : From the remaining lyes an
inflammable fpirit is made, little inferior, and fometimes
even fuperior, to the European. Another kind of
wine is ufed by the Chinefe, or rather Tartars, called
lamb-wine. It is very ftrong, and has a difagreeable
finell; |pd the fame may be believed of a kind of fpi¬
rit diftilled from the flefh of fheep ; though this laft is
fometimes ufed by the emperors.
Thefe entertainments exceed the bounds of ordinary
repafts ; the Chinefe being naturally fober, and thofe
in eafy drcumftances living chiefly on pork, for which
reafon a great number of hogs are bred in the country. c
Their flefli is much eafier of digeftion, and more agree- —~v"—’
able to the tafte, than thofe of Europe. The Chinefe
hams are in high eftimation. The common people
live very poorly ; being fatisfied, in time of fcarcity,
with the flefli of dogs, horfes, cats, and rats, which
laft are fold publicly in the ftreets. ri^
There are feveral public feftivals annually celebrated Public f=f-
in China. One is that already mentioned, in whichtivals-
the emperor tills the ground with his own hands. This
is alfo celebrated on the fame day throughout the em¬
pire. In the morning the governor of every city comes
forth from his palace crowned with flowers, and enters
his chair amidft the noife of different inftruments
which precede it; a great number of people attend¬
ing, as is ufual on all fuch occafions. The chair is
furrounded by litters covered with filk carpets, on
which are reprefented either fome illuftrious perfons
who have fupported and encouraged agriculture, or
fome hiftorical painting on the fame fubject. The
ftreets are hung with carpets, triumphal arches are
erected at certain diftances, lanthorns every where dif-
played, and all the houfes illuminated. During the
ceremony a figure refembling a cow, made of baked
earth, with gilt horns, is carried in proceffion, and of
fuch enormous magnitude that 40 men are fcarce fuf¬
ficient to fupport it. A child follows with one foot
naked and the other (hod, who is called the fpirit of
labour and diligence, and keeps continually beating the
image with a rod to make it advance. Labourers,
with their implements of huftandry, march behind;
and the proceffion is clofed by a number of comedians
and people in malks. The governor advances towards
the eaftern gate, and returns in the fame manner. The
cow is then ftripped of its ornaments, a prodigious
number of earthen calves taken from its belly and di-
ftributed among the people ; after which the large fi¬
gure is broken in pieces and diftributed in the fame
manner. The ceremony is ended by an oration in
praife of agriculture, in which the governor endeavours
to excite his hearers to the praftice of that ufeful art.
Other two feftivals are celebrated in China with ftill
more magnificence than that above deferibed. One of
them is at the commencement of the year; the other is '
called the feqjl of lanthorns. During the celebration of
the former, all bufinefs, whether private or public, is
fufpended, the tribunals are /hut, the polls flopped,
prefents are given and received, and vifits paid. AH
the family aflemble in the evening, and partake of a
feaft to which no ftranger is admitted; though they
become a little more fociable on the following day.
The feaft of lanthorns ought to take place on the
15th day of the firft month, but ufuaily commences on
the evening of the 13th, and does not end till that of
the 16th. At that time every city and village, the
ftrores of the fea, and the banks of all the rivers, are
hung with lanthorns of various fhapes and fizes ; fome
of them being feen in the courts and windows of the
pooreft houfes. No expence is fpared on this occafion •
and fome of the rich people will lay out eight or nine
pounds fterling on one lanthorn. Some of thefe are
very large, compofed of fix wooden frames either neat¬
ly painted or gilt, and filled up with pieces of fine
tranlp;" : nt filk, uponwhich are painted flowers, ani¬
mals, and human figures; others are blue, and made of
a tranfparent kind of horn. Several lamps, and a
4 R 2 great
n6
Magnifi¬
cence <f
the vice¬
roys.
CHI [ 684 ] CHI
great number of wax-candles, are placed in the inilde :
to the corners of each are fixed ftreamers of filk and
fatin of different colours, with a curious piece of car-
•ved work on the top. Tlrty are likewife acquainted
v,ith our magic lanthorn, which they fometimes in¬
troduce in this feftival. Befides this, they have the
art of forming a fnake 60 or 80 feet in length, filled
with lights from one end to the other; which they
caufe twift itfclf into different forms, and move about
as if it was a real ferpent. During the fame feflival
all the varieties of the Chinefe fire-works, fo juftly ad¬
mired, and which, fome time ago at leaft, furpaffed
every thing of the kind that could be done in Europe,
are exhibited.
Every public ceremony in China is carefully ren¬
dered as ftriking as poffible. A viceroy never quits
his palace but with a royal train, dreffed in his robes
of ceremony, and carried in ai chair elegantly gilt,
which is borne upon the fhoulders of eight domeftics ;
two drummers marching before the guards, and beat¬
ing upon copper bafons to give notice of his approach.
Eight other attendants carry flandards of wood var-
nifhed, upon which are infcribed in large charafters alt
his titles of honour. After thefe come 14 flags with
the fymbols of his office ; fuch as the dragon, tyger,
phoenix, flying tortoife; &c. Six officers follow, each-
bearing a piece of board in fhape like a large fhovel,
on which are written in large golden characters the
qualities of the mandarin himfelf: two others car¬
ry, the one a large umbrella of yellow filk, and the
other the cover in which the umbrella us kept. The
firft guards are preceded by two archers on horfeback;
the latter are followed by others armed with a kind of
weapons compofed of hooked blades, fixed perpendicu¬
larly to long poles ornamented with four tufts of filk,
placed at a fmall diftance above one another. Behind
thefe are two other files of foldiers, fome of whom
carry large maces with long handles ; others iron
maces in the fhape of a fnake ; others are armed with
huge hammers; while thofe behind them carry long
battle-axes in the form of a crefcent: others follow, who
have battle-axes of another kind ; and behind thefe
are fome with the hooked weapons already deferibed.
Behind thefe come foldiers armed with triple-pointed
fpears, arrows, or battle-axes; having in front two
men who carry a kind of box containing the viceroy’s
feal. Then come tw'o other drummers to give notice
of his approach. Two officers follow, having on their
heads felt-hats, adorned with plumes of feathers, and
each armed with a cane to recommend regularity and
good order to the furrounding multitude. Two others
bear maces in the form of gilt dragons. Thefe again
are followed by a number of magiftrates and officers of
juftice ; fome of whom carry whips or fiat flicks,
while others have chains, hangers, ancj filk fcarfs.
Two ftandard-hearers and a eaptain command this
company, which immediately precedes the governor.
His chair is furrounded by pages and footmen, and an
officer attends him who carries a large fan in form of
a fcreen : he is followed by feveral guards differently
armed, together with enfigns and other officers, who
are alfo followed by a great number of domeftics all
on horfeback, carrying various neceffaries for the ufe
of the mandarin. If he marches in the night-time,
inftead of flambeaux, as are cuftomary in Europe, large
ianthorns, exceedingly pretty, arc carried before him;
2
on the tranfparent part of which are written, in very China,
confpicuoua characters, his quality, titles, and rank, ' v ' " *
as mandarin. Theie, are alfo intended to give notice
to the paffengers to flop, and to thofe who are fitting
to rife up with refpect; for whoever neglects either the
one or the other is fure to receive a levtre hallinading.
The emperor marches with ftill more magnificence,.
in proportion to his fuperior quality. The trumpets
ufed in his proceffion are about three feet long, eight
inches in diameter at the lower extremity, and pretty
much refemhling a bell in fhape : their found is pecu¬
liarly adapted to that of the drums. His cavalcade is
clofed by 200a mandarins of letters and as many oi
arms. Sometimes the great mandarins, as well as the
emperor, travel in barks. Their attendance is them
fomewhat different, but the magnificence almoft the.
fame. The honours paid to.a viceroy w'ho has governed,
a province with equity are exceedingly great on his
departure from it. He has fcarcely left the capital of
the province when he finds on the highway, for the-
fpace of two or three leagues, tallies ranged at certain;
diftances, each of which is furrounded with a long
piece of filk that hangs down to the earth. On thefe.
wax candles are placed even in the open day; perfumes
are burnt upon them ; and they are loaded with a pro-
fufion of victuals and various kinds of fruit, while tea.
and wine are prepared for him on others. The peo¬
ple throw themfelves on their knees as he paffes, and
bow their heads even to the earth ; fome filed tears, or
pretend to do fo ; fome prefent him wine a%d fweet-
meats ; others frequently pull off his boots and give
him new ones.' Thefe boots, which he has perhaps
ufed only for a moment, are confidered as a valuable
monument: thofe firft taken off are preferred in a
cage over the gate of the city; the reft are carefully
kept by his friends. r3r;r
Elitherto our author, M. Grofier, has feenaed in- Knavifii
clined to give a favourable idea of the Chinefe, and to difp. fioyi
caufe us look upon them as many 4egrees fuperior to *
ourfelvcs in the prattice of virtue and morality ; but
when he comes to give an account of their dealings in
trade, he is then obliged to confefs that they are as dif-
honeft and knavifti a race as any that exift. “ The moft
frequented fairs of Europe (fays he) afford but a faint
idea ot that immenfe number of buyers and fellers with
which the large cities of China are continually crowded.
We may almoft fay, that the one half are employed in.
over-reaching the other. It is, above all, againft ft ran¬
gers that the Chinefe merchants exercife, without any
fenfe of fhame, theirx infatiable rapacity. Of this
F. du Halde gives a ftriking example, which might be
fnpported by many others: ‘ The captain of an Englifti
veffel bargained with a Chinefe merchant at Canton
for feveral bales of filk, which the latter was to provide
againft a certain time. When they were ready, the
captain went with his interpreter to the houfe of the
Chinefe merchant to examine whether they were found
and in good condition. On opening the firft bale, he
found it according to his wifli, but all the reft, were
damaged and good for nothing. The captain on this
fell into a great paffion, and reproached the merchant in.
the fevereft terms for his diftionelly. The Chinefe, after
having heard him for fome time with great coolnefs,
replied, ‘ Blame, Sir, your knave of an interpreter:
he affured me that you would not infpedl the bales.’
“ The lower clafs of people are, above all, very dex,-
terous
CHI C 685 ] C H I
terousincounterfeitingandadidteratingeverythingthey gating from the laws, and 1'ubverting the con dilution China,
fell, Sometimes you think you have bought a capon, of the empire. «
and you receive nothing but fkin; all the reft has been The burying-places in China are always fituated at 'f^
fcooped out, and the place fo dngeiuoufly filled, that a fmall diftance from a city or town, and generally piacg^de-
the deception cannot be difcovered till the moment upon fame eminence, having pines or cypreffes ufuallyfcribed.
you begin to eat it. The counterfeit hams of China planted around them. The form of the tombs is va-
have been often mentioned. They are made of a piece rious, according to the different provinces, and the
of wood cut in the form of a ham, and coated over fituation of thole for whom tliey are intended. The
with a certain kind of earth vrhich is covered with coffins of the poor are placed under a (hade covered
hog’s ilan. The whole is fo curioufly painted and with thatch, or inelofed in a fmall building of brick
prepared, that a knife is neceffary to detedt the fraud, in the form of a tomb. The tombs of the rich are
Mr Ofbeck relates, that having one day obferved a fhaped like a horfe-fiioe, well whitened, and finilhed '
blind man carrying about for fale fame of thofe trees with great tafte ; but thofe of the mandarins and peo-
ealied by the Chinefe Fo-iei, he purchafed one, which pie of quality are much more fumptuous and elegant,
to appearance had fine double red'and white flowers ; A vault is-firft cowllrudted, in. which the coffin is fhut
but on clofen. examination, he found that the flowers up; over this vault is raifed a pyramid of earth well
were taken from another tree, and that one calyx was beat together, about 12 feet in height and 10 in
fo neatly fitted into the other, with nails made of' diameter. A layer of lime and "fand. laid over this-
bamboo, that he fhould fcarcely have difcovered the earth makes a kind of plafter, which renders the whole
deceit, had not the flowers begun to wither. The very durable and folid; various kinds of trees being
tree itfelf had Buds, but not one open flower. planted around it in regular order. Before it is placed
“ The robbers in China fignalize themfelves alfo by a large and long table of white marble, on the middle
their dexterity and ingenuity, which they difplay in of which are fet a cenfer accompanied with two vafes,,
their profellion. They feldom have recourfe to acts and the fame number of candlefticks of exquifite work-
of violence,, but introduce themfelves into a houfe manfliip. Befides this, a great number of figures, re-
either privately or by forming fome connection with prefenting officers, eunuchs, foldiers,, faddled horfes,;
the family. It is as difficult in China to avoid robbery camels, lions, tortoifes, &c. are ranged round the
as it is to apprehend the criminal in the faft. If we tombs in different rows ; which, F. du Halde affures
are defirous of finding among the Chinefe opennefs of us, produce a very linking effedl.
temper, benevolence, friendfhip, and, laftly, virtue, we When a Chinefe dies in a province in which he was
muft not feek for it in cities, but in the bofom of the not born, his children have a right, nay it is their in-
eountry, among that clafs of men who have devoted difpenfable duty, to tranfport the body to the burying
themfeives to labour and agriculture. A Chinefe ruftic place of their anceftors. A fon, who fhould be wanting
often difcovers moral qualities which would add a luftre in this refpedft, would be difgraced, and his name never
to the character of men of the moil exalted rank. It placed in the hall of his anceftors. This is a vaft build-
appears that rural life naturally infpires. fentiments of ing, confidered as common to all the branches of the
benevolence; by continually receiving the gifts of na- fame family, and to whick they all repair at a certain
ture, the mind is enlarged, and men are infenfibly accu- feafon of the year. Sometimes they amount to feven
ftomed to diffufe them to thofe around them.” or eight thouland perlons, whofe fortune, dignity, and
The internal commerce of China is much greater rank in fociety, are all very different ; but there no di-
tbap, that of all Europe ; but its foreign trade is by ftindion of rank is known ; age only gives prece- -
rto means equal to that of any of the grand European deuce, and the oklefl always takes place of all the reft,
powers. Its internal commerce is greatly facilitated though he fhould be the pooreft in the company..
iiy the vaff number of canals and rivers with which The diftinguifhing ornament of this hall is a long
the country is interfected. The Chinefe, however, table fet again ft the wall, upon which is generally feen
are.not at all fitted for maritime commerce: Few the image of one of their anceitors, who has filled:
of their veffels go beyond the ftraits of Sunda ; their fome office of diftimftion in the empire with honour*
longeft voyages to Malacca extend only as far as to himfelf, or who has been rendered illuftrious by his
Acheen, towards the ftraits of Batavia, and north- talents and abilities.- Sometimes it-'only .contains the '
ward to Japan. names of men, women, and children-belonging to .tliev
Their commerce with the laft mentioned ifland, con- family inferibed upon tablets, together with their age,-
ftdering the articles of exchange which they procure at the day of their death, and the dignities they enjoyed:
Camboya or Siam, produces them cent, per cent. Their at that time. Thefe tablets are ranged in two rows upon
trade with the Manillas brings only about 50per cent., fteps, arid are only about a foot high each,- In the
Their profit is more confiderable about. Batavia; and fpring, and fometimes in the autumn, the relations of
the Dutch fpare no pains to invite them to traffic at the deceafed repair to this hall, where the only privi-
their fettlements. The Chinefe traders go alfo, tho’ lege enjoyed by the rieheft is that of preparing an en¬
rol very frequently, to Acheen, Malacca, Thor, Patan, tertainment,' and treating the whole family at their
and Ligor, belonging to Siam and Cochin-china; from own expences; but they never allow themlelves to tafte'
whence they bring gold and tin, together with fome a bit of any thing until an offering has been firlt;
objects of luxury for the table. A great obftacle to made to their anceftors, I'his does not, however,-ex- ,
the foreign commerce of the Chinefe is their indiffe-- cufe them from vi fit ing the real tomb of their an-
rence about maritime affairs, and the bad conftruition ceftors once or. twice a year, generally in the month;
of- their vefftls. This they fhemfelves acknowledge ; of April. At this time they pluck the weeds and*
but fay, that any attempt to remove it would be deio- bufhes from around-the tomb,.renew their expreffions.
CHI f 686 1 CHI
China, of grief, and conclude by placing upon it wine and
•—-*v~—' provifions, which ferve to dine their affiftants.
I^9 The funeral ceremonies are confidered by the Chi-
jKiionies”'nefc; as the moil important of any. A few moments
-after a perfon has expired, he is dreffed out in his
richefl attire, and adorned with every badge of his dig¬
nity ; after which he is placed in the coffin. The
preparation of a coffin, in which his body may be in-
clofed after death, is one of the chief obje&s of at¬
tention to a Chinefe during his life, and great ex¬
pence is often thrown out upon it; infomuch that the
poor will give all they are worth, and the rich expend
a thoufand crowns, nay, a fon will fell himfelf for a
Have in order to purchafe a coffin for his father. Some¬
times the coffin, when purchafed with all this labour
and expence, will remain twenty years ufelefs in the
family, and is coniidered_.as the moil valuable piece of
furniture in his poffeffion.
The manner of interment is as follows : Firil they
fprinkle fome lime in the bottom of the coffin ; then
they lay the body in it, taking care to place the head
on a pillow, and to add a great deal of cotton, that it
may remain more fteady, and be prevented from fha-.
king. In this manner the body remains expofed feven
days ; but the time may be reduced to three, if any
•weighty reafon makes it neceffary; and, during this
interval, all the relations and friends, who are purpofe-
ly invited, come and pay their refpects to the decea-
fed, the neareft relations even remaining in the houfe.
The coffin is expofed in the hall of ceremony, which
is then hung with white, but fome pieces of black or
violet coloured filk are here and there interfperfed, as
well as fome other ornaments of mourning. Before
the coffin is placed a table, on which Hands the image
of the deceafed, or a carved ornament inferibed with
his name; and thefe are always accompanied with
flowers, perfumes, and lighted wax candles.
In the mean time thofe who enter the hall are ac-
cuftomed to falute the deceafed as if he were ftill in
life. They proftrate themfelves before the table, ,and
knock their foreheads feveral times again!! the earth ;
after which they place on the table fome perfumes and
wax candles provided for the purpofe. The faluta-
tion which they have made to the deceafed is return¬
ed by the eldefl fon accompanied by his brothers.
The latter come forth from behind a curtain, which
hangs on one fide of the coffin, creeping along the
ground until they reach the fpot where thofe Hand
whom they are .going to falute ■; after which, without
rifing up, they return to the place from whence they
came. The women are alfo concealed behind the
fame curtain, from whence they every now and then
fend forth difmal cries.
After a number of ceremonies and invitations, the
funeral proceffion at la!t commences. A troop of men
inarch in a file, carrying different figures made of
pafte-board, and repiefenting flaves, lions, tigers, hor-
fes, See. Others follow, marching in two files ; fome
of which carry ftandards, fome flags or cenfers filled
with perfumes ; while melancholy and plaintive airs
are played by others on different mufical inftruments.
Tkefe muficians immediately precede the coffin, which
is covered with a canopy, in form of a dome, of violet-
coloured filk: its four corners are ornamented with
tufts of white filk very neatly embroidered, and co¬
vered at the top with net-work. The coffin is placed Cfev
on the bottom of this machine, and is carried by 64.
men. The eldeft fon, clothed in a frock of canvas,
having his body bent and leaning on a ftaff, follows
near the coffin ; and behind him his brothers and ne¬
phews, but none of them clothed in canvas. Then
come the relations and friends, all clad in mourning,
and followed by a great number of chairs covered with
white fluff, which contain the wives and female flaves
of the deceafed. Thefe make great ffiow of forrow
by their doleful cries; but M. Grofier obferves, that,
in fpite of all they can do, the lamentations of the
Chinefe are fo methodical, that an European would be
apt to conclude that they were the effe&s of art ra¬
ther than the natural effufions of a mind agitated and
oppreffed with grief. When they arrive, at the bury¬
ing place, the coffin is depofited in a tomb appropria¬
ted for it, not far from which there are tables arran¬
ged in different halls, and on which the affiflants are
entertained with great fplendor. The entertainment
is fometimes followed by frefh marks of homage to the
corpfe ; but thefe are often changed into thanks to the
eldefl fon ; who, however, anfwers only by figns. But
if the deceafed was a grandee of the empire, a certain
number of his relations never leave the tomb for a
month or two. There they refide in apartments pur-
pofely provided for them, and every day renew their
marks of grief in company with the children of the de¬
ceafed. The magnificence of tbefe funeral ceremo¬
nies is proportioned to the wealth or dignity of the
deccafed. That of one of the brothers of the emperor
was attended by 16,000 people, each of whom had a
particular office affigned him relating to the ceremony. ,20
Mourning continues in China for three years ; and Mourning,
during all this time they are obliged to abftain from
the uf| of fldh and wine ; nor can they affift at any en¬
tertainment of ceremony, or attend any public affembly.
At firft they are not even permitted to go abroad ;
and when they do fo, they are carried in a chair co¬
vered with a white cloth. Sometimes the filial piety
of the Chinefe is carried to fuch a length, that they
preferve the bodies of their deceafed fathers in their
houfes for three or four years; and thofe-who do fo
impofe alfo upon themfelves a great number of other
duties, ufing no other feat during the day but a ftool
covered with white ferge, and no other bed but a plain
mat made of reeds, which is placed near the coffin. *21
According to M Grofier, the only diverfions of the Diverfiotfs
Chinefe are thofe of hunting and fifhing, dancing-not 0^^unt‘.n?
being pradlifed, and gaming forbidden by law. Fiffi- and
ing is confidered by them rather as an objefl of com¬
merce and indufiry than amufement. They catch fifh
by various methods ; ufing nets in their great fifher-
ies, but lines in the private. In certain provinces alfo
they ufe a certain kind of bird whole plumage greatly
refembles that of a raven, but with a much longer bill,
very fliarp and hooked. This method of fiffiing is
pra&ifed in boats, of which great numbers may be
feen on the river about fun-rifing, with the fifhing-
birds perched on their prows. Thefe birds are taught
to catch fi!h almofl in the fame manner that dogs pur-
fue game. The fifliermen, after making feveral turns
with their boats, beat the water ftrongly with one of
their oars. This ferves as a fignal to the birds, who in-
ftantly plunge into thewater,anddiving,fwallow as many
3 fmaU
CHI [ 687 ] CHI
China, fmall tifti as they can, repairing immediately afterwards
1 to the boat, and carrying a large one by the middle in
their bill. The fmall ones are prevented from palling
into the ftomach by a ring placed on purpofe to con¬
fine its gullet: and thus the filherman by Itroaking its
neck with the head downwards, makes the bird dif-
gorge all thofe fmall filh it has fwallowed.. When they
have done filhing, the rings are taken off, and the birds
allowed to feed. When the filh happens to be too
large for a fingle bird, the others have lagacity enough
to affill it; one taking it by the tail, another by the
head, See. and thus they tranfport it to their mailer.
Another method of filhing, pradlifed only in China,as
as follows: They nail a board, about two feet in breadth,
which 'is covered with a white Ihining kind of varnilh,
upon the edges of a long narrow boat,, from one end
to the other. This board is placed in fuch a manner
as to Hope almoft imperceptibly to the water. It is ufed
only in the night-time, and is always turned towards the
moon, that the refledion’ of light from the luminary
may increafe the fplendor of the varnilh. The filh, in
fporting, often miitaka this varnilhed board for water;
and endeavouring to throw themfelves into it,, fall into
the boat.
The fofdiers have a particular method of filhing
with a bow and an arrow ; the latter of which is fixed
to the bow by a firing, both to prevent it from being
loft, and to enable them to draw out the fifti- which
Ethe arrow has pierced : others make ufe of tridents to
catch large filh.which are fometimes found in the mud.
Befides- thefe diverfiona, the Chinefe have fome ftrol-
ling players, but no regular theatres ; they have like-
wife mufici’ans and fingers, but no operas,, or indeed
I any public fpedacle worthy of notice,
jg t>ne cfl|_ The language of the Ghinefe is not only very an-
Ufe lan- cient, but, in M. Grofier’s opinion, is ftill fpoken as in
page. the moft early ages without any variation. His reafons
for this opinion are, 1. We do not pv ceive in hifto-
ry, nor even in the moft fabulous traditions, a fingle
fad tending to occafion any doubt of the language
fpoken by the ancient Chinefe being different from
that ufed at prefent. 2. China has never changed its
inhabitants; and if revolutions have occafioned any
mixture of new languages, it appears that the ancient
language has always been predominant, and that the
new fettlers have learned and fpoken it, as the Mar-
| ^ chew Tartars after their conqueft. 3. The moft in¬
telligent and difeerning of the literati agree, that the
firft chapters of the Chou-hing were written under the
reign of Yao 2300 years before Chrift ; and in thefe,
feveral fpeeches of the fit ft emperors are related word
for word ; and it is not probable that the language of
thefe princes was different from that of the hiftorian.
4. A compliment paid to Yao by one of his fubjeds,
with the anfwef of that prince, are ftill preferved, as
well as two fongs compofcd under the fame reign.
5. The moft ancient inferiptions in China are all in
the language fpoken throughout the empire at this
day. 7. The Chinefe have borrowed nothing from
other nations ; and their attachment to their own cuf-
toms, and to antiquity, mull undoubtedly be very un¬
favourable to any innovation. The language fpoken
by the -vulgar, indeed, muft have undergone fome
changes ; but thefe may be accounted trivial, affeding
only the pronunciation ; which indqed appears to he
varied in feme few inftances. It is certain, however, China.
that the Chinefe players ad theatrical pieces which  v—
were written 1000 years ago, and that thefe are ftill
underftood throughout the empire.
The language of China has no alphabet; all the
words which compofe it confift of one fyliable only,
and are very few in number; ,Thefe always remain
the fame, and continue monofyllables even when two
are joined together,, being united in the fame manner
as the French words bon and jour are united to form
bon-jour. Thefe monofyllables never form but one
found. When written by an European, they begin
with the letters ch, tci>, f, or j, i, h, /, m, n, g, ngt.
p,f, ts, v, ou ; the final letters being a, e,j, o,_oi, ou,
u, !, n, gn. The middle of Chinefe words confifts of
vowels and confonants producing only one found, and
pronounced always as monofyllables. The whole pri¬
mary words, of the language are in number only about
330, though fome didionaries make them 484. The
fenie of thefe words, however, is varied by the accents
and changes of the voice in pronouncing them almoft.
ad mjimtum. Two principal accents are known iu
China ; the ping, that is even, without elevating or de-
prefling. the voice. This is divided into tjmg, clearv
and tcho, ohfeure ; or rather open and mute. The ac¬
cent tfe is fubdivided into tchang, (harp, kiu, grave, and
jau re-entering. The tone is chang when one raifes the
voice at the end of a word, as when the negative no is
pronounced with great emphafis and force ; it is kiu*
when one depreffes the voice with an air of timidity.
When the accent is y’ow, the voice is drawn back as it
were into the throat; and the afpiration which takes
place on certain words beginning with the letters r, k,
p, i, ftiil adds to thefe varieties.
By thefe differences in pronunciation the fignifica-
tion of the words is totally changed : thus the word
tchu pronounced by lengthening the u, and with a clear
tone of voice, fignifies mailer or lord : if it is pronoun¬
ced in an uniform tone by lengthening the u, it Signi¬
fies when pronounced lightly, and with rapidity,,
it fignifies kitchen; and when articulated with a ftrong
voice depreffed towards the end, it fignifies a pillar.
By the conjunction and modification of thefe dif¬
ferent monofyllables, a Chinefe can exprefs every thing
he has occafion for ; and it may be eafily feen what
variety muft refult from this art of multiplying words.
The Chinefe language therefore has words expreffive
of the fmalleft variation of circmuftauce, and which
cannot be expreffed in the European languages with¬
out a circumlocution. Thus, inftead of the five words; ,
calf, bull, ox, heifer, cow, every time that a cow has
a calf fire acquires a new name in the language of
this empire ; and ftill another when fire becomes bar¬
ren. An ox fed for facrifice has a particular name,
which is changed when he goes to the altar. In like
manner, a whole dictionary might be compofed of the
words that are employed to exprefs the different parts
of the emperor’s palace, and thofe that are in a manner
confecrated to it; others being employed when the
palaces of princes or mandarins are fpoken of. Thus
the number of their characters are augmented beyond
all bounds, fo that the greater part of their literati
fpend all their lives in ftudying them.
In the Chinefe there are four different languages..
1. The Kdu-Ouen, or claffical language. This is not
fpokeu
CHI [ 68S ] CHI
fpok«n at prefent, though it is generally believed to nefe language has rendered it neceflary to extend the po- China.
kave j3een iangUage 0f the early ages. It is Co la- etical licence to a great length in this refpeft. The Chi- —v—
conic, and the ideas are fo crowded, that it is very nel'e poets are allowed to employ a blank iteife in every
difficult to be underftood : however, the literati, who four. They are acquainted with molt kinds of poetry in
can read and underhand it, are much delighted with ufe among us. They have ftanizas, odes, elegies, idylls,
it. 2. The Ouen-tchang is the language ufed in com- eclogues, epigrams, fatires, and even bouts rimes. The
pofitions where a nob’* and elevated ilyle is requifite. common people have alfo ballads and fongs peculiar to
It is never fpoken, but certain fentences and compli- thtmfelves. Some of the moil diftinguuhed of the
mentary expreffions are fometimes borrowed from it. literati have even thought it of importance enough to
It approaches near to the laconic brevity and majeflic turn the moft celebrated maxims of morality, wbth the
fublimity of the-XciH-OT/efl, ancf is equally proper for every rules of civility, into verfe. Their poetry is feldom
kind of fubjedl, excepting only the ambiguities of difgraced by any kind of obfcenity ; and indeed any
metaphyfics,and the Formal rugged didlion ufed in treat- fuch thing wmuld be feverely punifhed by government,
ing of the abftra& fciences. That fevere attention whth which every thing tending
3. The Kou&n-ka is the language of the court, of to corrupt the morals is watched in China, prohibits
people in office, and of the literati. It admits of fy- not only poems of this kind, but likewife romances of
nonymous expreffions to moderate the brevity of mo- all forts. The police, however, permits fuch novels
nofyllables; of pronouns and relatives; prepofitions, as have an useful tendency, and in which nothing is
adverbs, and particles; to fupply the want of cafes, introduced prejudicial to found morality. Every au-
moods, tenfes, and numbers, which have place in other thor who writes againft government is punifhed with
languages. # death, as well as ^11 thofe who have had any hand in
4. Hiong-tan is a kind of corrupted language, or the printing or diftribution of his works.
provincial diahdl, fpoken by the lower claffes in China; The art of making paper and printing hav^ been Chintie pa-
and of which every province, city, and almoft every long known among the Chinefe. That kind of paper P«-
village, has' its own. Befides the fenfe of the words, now in ufe was firft manufactured about 105 years be-
which is changed in a great variety of places, they are fore the Chriftian tera. Before that period they ufed
To altered by divCrfity of pronunciation as to be almoft cloth, and various kinds of filk fluff, inftead of paper ;
unintelligible. and to this day they ftill preferve a cuftom of writing
Chirtfe There are five kinds of waiting mentioned by the the praifesof the dead upon large pieces of filk, which
writing. Chirtefe literati; the moft modern of which is a me- are fufpended on one fide of the coffin, and carried in
thod of tracing out the characters with a pencil. This funeral proceffions ; and of ornamenting their apart-
is difficult, and requires much experience; at any rate, ments with maxims and moral fentences written in the
it disfigures the characters greatly, and is therefore on- fame manner. In ages ftill more early, they wrote
ly ufed in the prefcriptions of phyficians, prefaces to with a kind of flyle upon pieces of bamboo, or even
books, and infcriptions of fancy. The tracing of upon plates of metal. The firft paper wfas invented by
character^ W'ith neatnefs and accuracy, however, as we a mandarin. He took the bark of trees, hemp, and
have already had occafion to obferve, is greatly admi- old pieces of fiik-ftuff, boiling them together until they
red in China. They are often preferred to the moft were reduced v i kind of pafte, of which he formed his
elegant pair.tiftg; and fome will give a moft exorbitant paper ; which by degrees was brought to perfection,
price for a page of an old book, if it happens to be and the art of whitening and giving it a luftre found
neatly Written. They pay particular attention to well* out. A great number of different fubftances are now
formed characters even in the mcft common books; ufed in this empire for making paper; fuch as the
and if any of the leaves happen to fall off, will replace bamboo reed, the cotton fhrub, the bark of the plant
them with the greateft attention. To apply them to called kou-chu, and off the mulberry tree; hemp, the
any vile purpofe, tread them under foot, fee. would be llraw.of wheat and rice, parchment, the cods of the
reckoned an unpardonable violation of decency and filk wwm, and feveral other fubftances unknown in
politenefs; hay, it often happens, that workmen, fuch Europe. In this manufacture the baik of trees and
as mafofis and joiners, dare not tear a printed leaf of fhrubs is ufed^ and the woody fubftance of the bamboo
paper fixed to the wall. and cotton tree, after it has been macerated and redu-
PuhCtuation was not formerly ufed in China, nor are ced to a thin pafte. Moft of the Chinefe paper, how-
114 points as yet employed in works of an elevated ftyle, ever, is attended with the difadvantage of being vpry
Of ihe'r ot fuch as are to be prefented to the emperor. Poe- fufceptible of moiiture, readily attrafts the dull, and
poetry. try is feldom any objeft of attention, thorigh the tafte worms infenfibly get into it: to prevent which incohve-
for it feems to be pretty general in China. Their ver- niences, it is neceffary to beat the books often, and ex-
fification has its rules, and is no Efs difficult than that pofe them to the fun- That ntade of cotton is the
of other nations. Only the moft harmonious, ener- prettieft, and moft ufed of any. All of them, however,
getic, and pifturefque words, are to be employed, and are much fofterand frr.oother than ours; which is abfo-
they muft always fce ufed in the fame fenfe in jyhich lutely treceffary for their method of writing with a pen-
they were irfed by the ancients. Each verfe can con- cil, in order that it may run with freedom, which it
tain only a certain number of words; all of which tnuft could not do upon-ours. It is formed into (beets.of an
be ranged according to the rules of quantity, and ter- enormous fi/.e; fo that it would be no difficult matter
tninate in rhyme. The number of verfes in a ftrophe to procure from the manufactories of this empire fheets
is not determined ; but they muft be uniform, and of paper 30 or 40 feet long. T
prefent the fame diftribution of rhymes. The fmall The Chinefe ink came originally from Corea; and it 1
number of poetical expreffions contained in the Chi- was not until the year 900, that they Kit upon the me-
N° 7 8. thod
[ 68g ] C II I
nefe books are not cut on the edges, but on the back. China.
They are generally bound in grey palleboard, which is  
very neat; and thofe who wilh to have them more ele¬
gantly done, get the pafteboard covered with fatin,
flowered taffety, and fometimes with gold and filver
brocade. Their books are neither gilt nor coloured on
the edges like ours. 128
_ _   _ T I . The art of manufaduring filk, according to the bell tluan'’
rubs it upon the fmooth part of the authorities, was communicated by the Chinefe to thetlty,of |lIlc
preffes move or lefs ftrongly, the li- Perfians, and from them to the Greeks. The art has1*0 UCe
C H I
thod of making it to perfeftion. The bell is made
‘ in Hoel-tcheou in the province of Kirngnanj but its
compoution is a fecret, which the workmen con¬
ceal not only from ftrangers, but from their fellow-
citizens. When a Chinefe has occafion to write,
he places upon his table a piece of polifhed marble,
having a cavity at one of its extremities to con¬
tain a little water. In this he dips the end of his
cake of ink, and rubs
marble ; and as he
quor acquires a deeper or lighter tinge of black, been known in this empire from the remoteft antiqui-
\\7Vi p n Has Hone u/rif incr. tHe flnne is rarefullv waOi- tv: and the hreedincr nf hlk-wnrma and maLrinrr /iiL-
When he has done writing, the ftone is carefully wafli
ed ; for it would be diflionoured by allowing the leaft
fpot to remain. The pencils ufed in writing are com¬
monly made of the fur of a tabbit, and confequently
very foft.
Their me ^ie Chinefe method of printing is exceedingly dif-
thod of ferent from ours ; and indeed it would be in a manner
priming, impefiible to have moveable types for fuch a num¬
ber of charafters as their language requires. The
whole work which they intend to print is therefore en¬
graved upon blocks of wood and their method of pro¬
ceeding is as follows. They fit ft employ an excellent
writer, who tranfcribes the whole upon very thin paper.
The engraver glues each of the leaves of the manufcript
upon a piece of plank made of any hard wood: he
then traces over with a graver the ftrokes of the wri¬
ting, carves out the characters in relief, and cuts down
the intermediate part of the wood. Thus each page
of a book requires a feparate plank 5 and the exceffive
multiplication of thefe is no doubt a very great incon¬
venience, one chamber being fcarce fufficient to pre-
ferve thofe employed for a lingle book. The advan¬
tages are, that the work is thus free from typographi¬
cal errors, and the author has no occafion to correft
the proofs. Thus alfo the bookfellers in China have a
decided advantage over thofe of Europe, as they
ty ; and the breeding of filk-worms and making of iiik
was one of the employments even of the emprelfes in
very early ages.
The moft beautiful filk in the whole empire is that
of Tche-hiang, which is wrought by the manufa&ories
of Nanking. From thefe are brought all the ftuffs
ufed by the emperor, and fuch as he diftributes in pre-
fents to his nobility. A great number of excellent
workmen are alfo drawn to the manufa&ories of Can¬
ton by the commerce with Europe and other parts of
Afia. Here are manufa&ured ribbons, ftockingS, and
buttons. A pair of filk ftockings here coft little moie
than 6s. fterling.
The quantity of filk produced in China feems to be
almoft inexhauftible ; tfie internal confumption alone
being incredibly great, befides that which is exported
in the commerce with Europe and the reft of Afia.
In this empire all who poffefs a moderate fortune wear
filk clothes ; none but the lower clafs of people wear¬
ing cotton ftuffs, which are commonly dyed blue. The
principal ftuffs manufaiftured by them are plain and
flowered gauzes, of which they make fummer dreffes,
dama/k of all colours ; ftriped and black fatins; nap¬
ped, flowered, ftriped, clouded, and pinked taffeties ;
crapes, brocades, plufh, different kinds of velvet, and a
multitude of other ftuffs unknown in Europe. They
able by this method of printing to throw off copies ac- make particular ufe of two kinds ; one named touan-
cording to their fale, without running the rifle of being
ruined by too large an edition. In this, method the
teauty of the work depends entirely upon the flrill of
the writer previoufiy employed. The engravers are
exceedingly dexterous, and imitate every ftroke fo ex¬
actly, .that it is fometimes difficult to diftinguiffi a
printed work from one that is only written.
tfe, a kind of fatin much ftronger, but which has lefs
luitre, than that of Europe ; the other a kind of taffe¬
ty, of which they make drawers and linings.. It is
woven exceedingly clofe, and is yet fo pliable that it
may be rumpled and rubbed between the hands with¬
out any creafe ; and even when wafhed like cotton-
cjoth, it lofes very little of its luftre. They manufac-
The method of printing in China is not by a prefs ture alfo a kind of gold brocades, but of fuch a flight
as in Europe, as neither their wooden planks nor their nature, that they cannot be worn in clothes : they are
foft paper could fuftain fo much preffure. They firft fabricated by wrapping fine flips of gilt paper round
place the plank level, and then fix it in that pofition. the threads of filk.
The printer is provided with two bruflies, and, with the
hardeft, daubs the plank with ink ; and one daubing
is fufficient for four or five leaves. After a leaf has been
adjufted upon the plank, the workman takes the fecond
brufti, which is fofter than the former, and of an ob¬
long figure, and drawsit gently over the paper, prefling
it down a little, that it may receive the ink. The degree
of preffure is to be regulated by the-quantity of ink upon
the plank: and in this manner one man is able to throw
Porcelain is another great branch of Chinefe manu- Porcelain,
fadlure, and employs a vaft number of workmen. The
fineft is made in a village called Kmg-te-ching in the pro¬
vince of Kiang-Ji. Manufactories have alfo been erec¬
ted in the provinces of Fo-kien and Canton, tut their
produce is not efteemed ; and one which the emperor
caufed to be eredted at Peking, in order to be under
his own infpedtion, mifearried entirely.
The Chinefe divide their porcelain into feveral claffes.,
off almoft 1 o.,ooo copies a-day. The ink ufed for according to its different degrees of finenefs and beauty,
printing is different from that formerly deferibed, and The whole of the firft is referved for the ufe of the em-
which is ufed in writing. The leaves, on account of peror, fo that none of it ever comes into the hands of
the thinnefs of the paper, are printed only upon one other perfons, unlefs it happen to be cracked or other-
fide ; on which account each leaf of a book is double, wife damaged in fuch a manner as to be unworthy of
fo that the fold ftands uppermoft, and the opening is being prefented to the fovereign. Among that fent
towards the back, where it is Hitched. Hence the Chi- to the emperor, however, there is fome porcelain of an
Vol. IV. Part II. 4 3 in-
CHI [ 690 ] CHI
Glafs of
little efli-
mation.
Method of
difcovering
If a man
lias died a
voluntary
death.
inferior quality, which he difpofes of in prefents. There
is fome doubt, therefore, whether any of the fineft
Chinefe porcelain was ever feen in Europe. Some
value, however, is now put upon the European porce¬
lain by the Chinefe themfelves.
The ufe of glafs is very ancient in China, though
it does not appear that great value was ever put upon
this kind of ware, the art of manufacturing it having
been frequently loll and revived again in this empire.
They greatly admire the workmanlhip of the Euro¬
pean cryltal, but prefer their own porcelain, which
Hands hot liquors, and is much lefs liable to be broken.
The little eftimation in which this fubltance was held,
is even mentioned by their own writers ia fpeaking of
the falfe pearls, mirrors, and other toys which were
made in former ages. The remembrance of a very
large glafs veffel, however, which was made in 627, is
ftill preferved ; and of which it was faid that a mule
could as eafily enter it as a gnac could enter a pitcher.
In order to tranfport this tnonftrous veffel from the
place where it was manufactured to the emperor’s pa¬
lace,* it was neceflary to inclofe it in a net, the lour
corners of which were fixed to four carriages. The
feme indifference with regard to glafs is Hill entertain¬
ed by the prefent emperors; however, a glafs-houfe is
cllablifhed at Peking, where a number of vafes and
other works are made ; and thefe are fo much the
more difficult in the execution, as none of them
are blown. This manufactory, as well as many o-
thers, is confidered only as an appendage of the court,
deftined for the purpofes of pomp and magnificence.
Molt of the Chinefe medicine is abfolute quackery
their fleill in anatomy is not only very limited, but
mixed with fuch a number of falfehoods, as render it
in a manner abfolutely ufelefs. Their materia medica
confilts moftly of herbs, of which tea is one. To this
they aferibe great and wonderful virtues, efpecially if
it has been gathered on any of the fummits of a moun¬
tain called Mong-chan. The only thing regarding
this fcience, which merits any attention, is the method
they are feid to polfefs of dilcovering whether a man
has hanged or drowned himfelf, or had that violence
committed upon him by others, In order to difcover
this, the body is firlt taken from the earth, and walh-
ed in vinegar. After this a large fire is kindled in a
pit dug on purpofe, fix feet long, three wide, and the
feme in depth. This fire is continually augmented,,
until the furrounding earth becomes as hot as an
oven ; the remaining fire is then taken out, a large
quantity of wine is poured into it, and it is covered
with a hurdle made of ofier twigs, upon which the body
is llretched out at full length. A cloth is thrown over
both in the form of an arch, in order that the fleam
of the wine may aCt upon it in every direction. At
the end of two hours the cloth is taken off; and if any
blows have been given, they then appear upon the
body in whatever Hate it may be. The Chinefe like-
wife affert, that if the blows given have been fo fevere
as to occafion death, this trial makes the marks ap¬
pear upon the bones, though none of them Ihould
be broken or apparently injured. The wine ufed in
thefe trials is only a kind of beer made from rice and
honey.
With regard to the mufic of the Chinefe, we have
the feme itories related as of the Greeks and Egyp¬
tians, viz. that in former ages the muficians could Chi-i*.
make brute animals leap at the found of their inltiu-' 
ments. Our author, M. Grofier, indeed, does not
quote any Chinefe author who afferts that the ancient
mufic could make trees dance, or (tones arrange them¬
felves into a city; but he quotes them, afferting, “ that
the muficians could call down fuperior fpirits of every
age from the etherial regions; raife up the manes of de¬
parted beings ; infpire men with a love of virtue ; and
lead them to the practice of their duty.” Effects
of this fupernatural kind are attributed to the fe-
cred mufic by the infpired writers ; as in the cafe of
Saul, out of whom an evil fpirit departed at the found
of David’s harp ; and of Elifha, who was infpired with
the fpirit of prophecy at the found of a mufical inllru-
ment. It is probable therefore, that the relations both
of the Greeks and Chinefe are founded upon faCts of
this kind: and we cannot from thence infer, that
the mufic of early ages was at all fuperior to that
which followed. According to thofe who have em¬
ployed much time in thele refearches, the ancient
Chinefe were acquainted with the divifion of the
octave into twelve femitones; and that before the
time of Pythagoras, or even Mercury himfelf: that the
lyre of Pythagoras, his invention of the diatonic te-
trachords, and the formation of his grand fyltem, were
merely borrowed from the ancient Chinefe. In Ihort,
it is maintained, that the Greeks, even Pythagoras
himfelf, did nothing but apply to firings that theory
which the Chinefe had before formed, and applied to
pipes.
At prefent the Chinefe are not acquainted with the
ufe of our mufical nohes; they have not that diverfity
of figns which diltinguilh the different tones, and the
gradual elevation or depreffion of the voice, nor any
thing to point out the various modifications of found
to produce harmony. They have only a few charac¬
ters to mark the principal notes ; and all the airs they
learn are repeated merely by rote. The emperor
Kang-hi was therefore greatly altonilhed at the facility
with which an European could catch and remember
an air the firlt time he heard it. In 1679 he lent for
Fathers Grimaldi and Pereira, to play fome tunes on
the harpfichord, of which they had before made him a
prefent. He was greatly entertained with their
mufic, but altogether aftonilhed when he found that
F. Pereira could take down a Chinefe air while the
muficians were playing it, and then repeat the whole,
without omitting a fingle note. Having made fe-
veral trials of this kind in order to fetisfy himfelf, he
bellowed the higheft encomiums upon the European
mufic, and the means furnilhed by it to facilitate and
leffen the labour of the memory. “ I mutt confefs.
(fays he) that the European mufic is incomparable,
and that the like of this F. Pereira is- not to be found
in my whole kingdom.” ,j4
The Chinefe have always diftinguilhed eight differ- Mufical in-
ent founds ; and they believe that nature, in order to ftruments.
produce thefe, formed eight different kinds of fono-
rous bodies. The order in which they dillribute thefe
founds, and the inftruments they have contrived to pro¬
duce them, are, I. The found of Ikin produced by
drums. 2. That of Hone produced by the king. 3. The
found of metal by bells. 4. That of baked earth by
the huien. 5. Of filk by the kin and che. 6. Of
wood
CHI [ 601 ] CHI
CSiina. wood by the yu, and tchou. 7. Of the bamboo by
^ tjie ancj different flutes. 8. That of a gourd
by the cheng.
The di-ums were originally compofed of a box made
of baked earth, and covered at the extremities with
the flcin of fome animal; but on account of the brit-
tlehefs of baked earth, wood was foon fubftituted in
its Head. Greater part of thefe inftruments are flraped
like our barrels, but fome are cylindric.
The inftruments formed of the fonorous ftones are
called king, diftinguifhed into tfe-king and pien-king.
The tfe-king confifts only ©f one ftone, and therefore
produces only one note. The pien-king confifts of 16
ftones fufpended together,. and thus forming an in-
ftrument capable of producing all the tones admitted
into the mufic of the ancient Chinefe. They are cut
into the form of a carpenter’s fquare; their tone is
flattened by diminiftring their thicknefs, and is made
(harper by abridging their length.
Bells of im- r^^ie b’dl® in China have always been made of a
menfefize. mixture of tin and copper. They are of different
(hapes, and thofe of the ancients were not round, but
flatted, and in the lower part refembling a crefcent.
An inftrument, correfponding to the king already
mentioned, is compofed of 16 bells of different fixes.
Some of their bells ufed on public oceafions are of
enormous magnitudes. One at Peking is deferibed as
J3x feet in diameter, I2x in height, and 42 in cir¬
cumference ; the weight being upwards of 120,000
pounds. It is ufed for announcing the hours or watches
of the night ; and its found, which is prodigioufly
loud and itrong, has a moft awful effedt in the night¬
time, by reverberating round the walls and the echo
of the furrounding country. There are feveral others
likewife of vaft fize in the fame city ; one of which
deferves greatly to be admired on account of the beau¬
tiful charafters with which it is covered ; and which
are as neat and perfedt as if traced out by the hand of
the fineft writer, or formed by means of a (lamp
upon wax. F. le Comte tells us, that in all the cities
of China there are bells for marking the hours and
watches of the night. They generally divide the
night into five watches, beginning at feven or eight in
the evening. On the commencement of the firit they
give one ftroke, which is repeated a moment after; and
thus they continue for two hours till the beginning
of the fecond : they then give two ftrokes, which
are repeated at equal intervals till the beginning of the
third watch ; and thus they proceed to the fourth and
fifth, always increafing the number of the ftrokes.
For the fame purpofe alfo they ufe enormous drums,
which they beat in a fimilar manner. Fi Magaillans
mentions one at Peking upwards of 40 feet in circum¬
ference.
The inftrument called huien, which is made of baked
earth, is highly efteemed by the Chinefe on account
of its antiquity. It is. diftinguiftied into two kinds,
the great and fmall; the former being of the fize of
a goofe’s egg; the latter 'of that of a hen’s. It has
fix holes for the notes, and a feventh for the mouth.
The kin and tche have been known from the re-
moteft antiquity. The kin has feven firings made of
filk, and is diltinguiflred into three kinds, differing
only in fize. The body is formed of a kind of wood
-varnifhed black, and its whole length about five feet
five inches. The che is about nine feet in length, has Chins.
25" firings, and is divided into 25 kinds. F. Amiot
affures us, that we have no inftrument in Europe which
deferves to be preferred to it.
The inftruments which emit the found of wood are
the tchou, the yu, and the tchoung-tou. The firft is
draped like a buftrel, and is beat on the infide with a
hammer; the fecond, which reprefents a tyger fquat-
ting, is made to found by feraping its back gently
with a rod ; the third is a colleftion of twelve pieces
of boards tied together, which are ufed for beating
time, by holding them in the right hand, and knock¬
ing them gently againft the palm of the left.
Many inftruments are conftrudled of the bamboo.
Thefe confift of pipes joined together, or feparate, and
pierced with more or fewer holes. The principal of
all thefe wind inftruments is the cheng, which emits the
found of a gourd. This is formed by cutting off the
neck of a gourd, and referving only the lower part.
To this a cover is fitted, having as many holes as are
equal to the number of founds required. In each of
thefe holes a pipe made of bamboo is fixed, and Ihorter
or longer according to the tone intended. The mouth
of the inftrument is formed of another pipe lhaped
like the neck of a goofe ; which is fixed to the gourd on
one fide, and ferves to convey the air to all the pipes
it contains. The ancient cheng varied in the number
of their pipes ; thofe ufed at prefent have only 13. ...
The painting of the Chinefe is undoubtedly inferior chinei'e
to that of the Europeans, though we are not by any means painting
to judge of the abilities of the painters of this empire
by the performances which are brought to Europe.
M. Grofier remarks, that the wmrks of the eminent
Chinefe painters are never brought to Canton, becaufe
they cannot find purchafers among the European mer¬
chants. The latter delight only in obfeene pictures,
which are not permitted by government, nor indeed
will any artift of character execute them, though they
prevail upon fome of the inferior daubers to gratify
them in this refpeft. It feems, however, to be univer-
faily agreed, that the Chinefe have no notion of cor-
redlnefs or perfpedtive, and little knowledge of the
proportions of the human body, though it cannot be
denied that they excel in painting flowers and animals.
In thefe they pride themfelves in a fcrupuloufly exadt
imitation of nature, infomuch that it is no uncommon
thing to hear a painter afle his pupil how many
feales there are between the head and tail of a
carp.
Painting was formerly much efteemed in China, but
has now fallen into difrepute on account of its politi¬
cal inutility. The cabinets and galleries of the em¬
peror, however, are filled with European paintings,
and the celebrated artifts Caitiglioni and Attiret were
both employed ; but their offer of ere&ing a fcheol of
painting was rejected, left they (hould by this means re¬
vive the tafte for that art which it had been formerly
thought prudent to fupprefs.
Painting in frefco was known in China long before
the Chriftian asra ; and, like the Grecians, the Chinefe
boaft much of their celebrated painters of antiquity.
Thus we are told of a door painted by Fan-hien, which
was fo perfedl an imitation, that the people who entered
the temple where it was attempted to go out by it,
unlefs prevented by thofe who had feen it before.
4 S 2 The
C H I
The prefent emperor lias in his park an European vil¬
lage painted in frefco, which produces the moll agree¬
able deception. The remaining part of the wall re-
prefents a landfcape and little hills, whieh are lb hap¬
pily blended with the did ant mountains, that nothing
can be conceived more agreeable. This was the pro-
[ 692 1
C H I
centuries, when the court refided in the fouthern pro- China
vinces; and the tafle for this kind of building was car- ‘“■“'V-
ried to fuch an height, that immenfe edifices were
ere&ed from 150 to 200 feet in^height, and the pa¬
vilions or towers at the extremities rofe upwards of
330 feet. This kind of building, however, at
dufiion of Chinefe painters, and executed from defigns length became difgufting ; though, either to pre-
fketched out for them.
Engraving. Engraving in three, four, or five colours, is very
ancient among the Chinefe, and was known in thisem-
pire long before it's difcovery in Europe.
Sculpture. Sculpture is very little known in this empire ; nor is
there a fingle llatue in any of the fquares or public
edifices of Peking, not even in the emperor's palace.
The only real Haines to be met with in the empire are
thofe which, for the fake of ceremonious diltinftion,
are ufed to ornament the avenues leading to the tombs
of princes and men of great rank t or thofe that
placed
ferve the remembrance of it, or for the fake of v
riety,~ there are Hill fome buildings to be feen feve-
ral ftories high in the palaces belonging to the em-
peror. .... . r4o
A multiplicity of bridges are rendered neceflary in Bridges.
China by the vaft number of canals and rivers which
interfeft the empire. Anciently, however, the Chinefe
bridges were much more ingenious as well as magnifi¬
cent than they are at prefent. Some of them were fo
contrived that they could be creeled in one day to
fupply the place of others which might happen to be
the emperor’s c. ffin, and that of broken down, or for other purpofes. At that time
his fons and daughters in the interior part of the vault,
where their remains are depofited.
The Chtnefe architedlure is entirely different from
that of the Greeks or Romans ; but neverthelefs has
certain proportions of its own, and a beauty peculiar
to itfelf. The habitations of the emperor are real pa¬
laces, and announce in a ftriking manner the majefty
and grandeur of the mafler who inhabits them. All
the mifiionaries who had accefs to the infide of the
emperor’s palace at Peking, agreed, that if each of its
parts, taken feparately, does not afford fo much delight
they had bridges which derived their name from their
figure ; as rejembling the rainbow ; draw-bridges, bridges
to move with pul lies, compajs-bridge, &c. with many
others entirely unknown at prefent. The building of
bridges indeed was once a luxurious folly of the em¬
perors; fo that they were multiplied from whim or ca¬
price, without any neceffity, and without ufe. Still,
however, many of them are extremely beautiful and
magnificent. The arches of fome are very lofty and
acute, with eafy Hairs on each fide, the Heps of which
are not quite three inches in thicknefs, for the greater
10 the eye as fome pieces of the grand architedlure of facility of afcending and defcending: others have r
Europe, the whole prefents a fight fuperior to any
thing they had ever feen before. In the Chinefe ar-
ehite&ure, when a pillar is two feet diameter at the
arches, but are compofed of large Hones, fometimes
*8 feet in length, placed tranfverfely upon piles like
planks. Some of thefe bridges are conitrudted of
bafe, its height muil be 14 feet; and by meafures Hone, marble, or brick; others of wood; and fome
of this kind the height of every building is deter¬
mined. t
AltnoH all the houfes and buildings in China are
eonltrudled of wood. One reafon of this may be the
dread of earthquakes; but, befides this, fuch buildings
are rendered eligible by the heat and dampnefs of the
fouthern provinces, and the exceflive cold in the nor¬
thern, which would render Hone houfes almoH unin¬
habitable. Even at Peking, where the fains are but
are formed of a certain number of barks joined toge¬
ther by very Hrong iron chains. Thefe are known
by the name of floating bridges, and feveral of
them are to be feen on the large rivers Kiang and
Id oang-ho. _ f4t
For ieveral centuries the Chinefe have made no pro- 3hipbufl«L,
grefs in fliip-building. Their veffels have neither mi- i>*g-
zen, bowfprit, nor top-mafl. They have only a main and
fore mafl, to which is fometimes added a finall top-gal-
of Hrort duration, it is found neceffary to cover the lant-mafl. The main-mad is placed almoH in the fame
final 1 marble flair-cafes belonging to the imperial pa- part of the deck as ours ; but the fore-mafl Hands
lace with pieces of felt: the humidity of the air much farther forward. The latter is to the former in
moiflens and foaks into every thing. During winter the proportion of two to three ; and the main-mafl is
the cold is fo exceedingly fevere, that no window can generally two-thirds of the length of the veffel. They
be opened to the north ; and water continues conflantly
frozen to the depth of a foot and a half for more than
ufe mats for fails, Hrengthening them with whole
bamboos equal in length to the breadth of the fail, and
three months. For the fame reafons a variety of extended acrcfs it at the diflance of a foot from one
fiories are not ufed in the Chinefe buildings;
their a fecond nor third Hory would be habitable du-
another. Two pieces of wood are fixed to the top and
bottom of the fail; the upper ferves as a fail yard ; and
ring the great heats of fummer or the rigorous cold of the lower, which is about five or fix inches in thick-
winter. Though Peking is fituated in the northern
part of the empire, the heat there, during the dog-
days, is fo intolerably fcorching, that the police obliges unfolded like a fereen. For caulking their veffels they
tradefmen and fliopkeepers to fleep in the open air in
the piazzas of their houfes, lefl they Ihould be ffifled
by retiring into their inner apartments. The habita¬
tions of people of rank, or of thofe in eafy circum-
ftances, generally confiff of five large courts, inelofed
with buildings on every fide. The method of building
with feveral ftories was, however, followed for feveral
nefs, keeps the fail ftretched when it is. neceffary to
hoift or lower it. This kind of fail may be folded or
do not ufe pitch, but a particular kind of gum mixed
with lime, which forms a compofition of fuch excel¬
lent quality, that one or two wells in the hold are fuf-
ficient • to keep the veffel dry. They have not yet
adopted the ufe of pumps, and therefore draw up ths
water with buckets. Their anchors are made of the
hard wood called iron-wood, which they fay is much
fuperior
CHI [ 693 ] CHI
China fuperior to the metal, becaufe the latter fometimes
cj|-o bend, but the former never do.
. ' ‘ , The Chinefe pretend to have been thefirft inventors
of the mariner’s compafs, but feem to have little in¬
clination to improve fucli an important machine : how¬
ever, they are well acquainted with the art of ma-
nceuvring a veflel, and make excellent coalting pilots,
though they are bad failors in an open fea.
CniNA-Root, in the materia medica, the root of a
fpecies of Smilax, brought both from the Eaft and
Weft Indies ; and thence diftinguifhed into oriental
and occidental. Both forts are longifh, full of joints,
of a pale-reddifh colour, with no fmt.ll, and very little
tafte. The oriental, which is the moft efteemed, is
confiderably harder and paler-coloured than the other.
Such fhould be chofen as is frefh, clofe, heavy, and
upon being chewed appears full of a fat unftuous.
juice. It is generally fuppofed to promote infenfible
perfpiration and the urinary difeharge, and by its
untftuous quality to obtund acrimonious juices. China-
root was firft brought into Europe in the year 1535,
and ufed as a fpecific againft venereal and cutaneous
difovders. With this view it was made ufe of for
feme time ; but has long fmee given place to more
powerful medicines.
Chin a-Ware. See Porcelain.
CHINCA, a fea-port town of Peru in South Ame¬
rica, fituated in an extenfive valley of the fame name,
in W. Long. 76. o. S. Lat. 13. o.
CHINCOUGH,a convulfive kind of cough to which
children are generally fubjedt. See Mkdicine-vWwc.
CHINESE, in general denotes any thing belonging
to China, or its inhabitants.
Chinese Sivanpan. See Swan pan.
CHINKAPIN. See Fagus.
CHINNOR, a mufical inftrument among the He¬
brews, confifting of 32 chords. Kircher has given a
figure of it, which is copied on Plate CXXXV.
CHINON, an ancient town of Tourain in France,
remarkable for the death of Henry II. king of Eng¬
land, and for the birth of the famous Rabelais. It is
feated on the river Vienne, in a fertile and pleafant
country, in E. Long. o. 18. N. Lat. 47. 2.
CHIO, or Chios, an Afiatic ifland lying near the
coaft of Natolia, oppofite to the peninfula of Ionia.
It was known to the ancients by the name of iEthalia,
Macris, Pithynfa, &c. as well as that of Chios. Ac¬
cording to Herodotus, the ifland of Chios was peopled
originally from Ionia. It was at firft governed by
kings; but afterwards the government aflumed a re¬
publican form, which by the dire&ion of Ifocrates
was modelled after that of Athens. They were,
however, foon enflaved by tyrants, and afterwards
conquered by Cyrus king of Perfia. They joined the
other Grecians in the Ionian revolt; but were fhame-
fully abandoned by the Samians, Lefbians, and others
of their allies ; fo that they were again reduced under
the yoke of the Perfians, wTho treated them with the
utmoft feverity. They continued fubjedt to them till
the battle of Mycale, when they were reftored to
their ancient liberty : this they enjoyed till the
downfal of the Perfian empire, when they became
fubjedl to the Macedonian princes. In the time of
the emperor Vefpafian tUe ifland was reduced to the
form of a Roman province; but the inhabitants were Chiococca
allowed to live according to their own laws under the H ^
fuperintendance of a prastor. It is now fubjedt to the hum'"
Turks, and is called Scio. See that article
CHIOCOCCA, in botany : A genus of the mono-
gynia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the 48th
order, Aggregates- The corolla is funnel-(haped and
equal; the berrv unilocular, difpermous, inferior.
CHIONANTHUS, the Snow drop or Fringe
tree : A genus of the monogynia order, belonging
to the diandria clafs of plants ; and in the natural
method ranking under the 44th order, Sepiarlx. The
corolla is quadrifid, with the fegments very long;
the fruit is a plum. There is but one fpecies parti¬
cularly deferibed by botanifts, viz. the Virginica. It is
common in Virginia and South Carolina, where it
grows by the fides of rivulets. It rifes to the height
of ten feet; the leaves are as large as thofe of the
laurel, but much thinner.. The flowers come out in
May, and are of a pure white ; from whence it has
the name of the fioiu-drop tree. They hang down in
large branches, and are cut into narrow fegments ;
from which it has got its other name of the fringe-tree^
After the flowers are fallen off, the fruit appears, which-
grows to the fize of a floe,: having a ftone in the mid¬
dle. The plants are propagated from feeds fown on a-
hot-bed, and kept in a ftove. Some have been raifoi
from layers; but this method is very precarious, and.
therefore the other is to be preferred. The feeds mutt
be procured from America, for they never come to-
perfe&ion in this.country.
CHIONE, in fabulous hiftory, was daughter of
Dtedalion, of whom Apollo and Mercury became,
enamoured. To enjoy her company, Mercury lulled!
her to fleep with his caduceus; and- Apollo, in the
night, under the form of an old woman, obtained the
fame favours as Mercury. From this embrace Chione
became mother of Philammon and Autolycus ; the for¬
mer of whom, as being fon of Apollo, became an ex¬
cellent mufician ; and the latter was equally notorious
for his robberies, of which his father Mercury was the
patron. Chione grew fo proud of her commerce with
the gods, that flxe even preferred her beauty to that
of Juno; for which impiety flic was killed by the
goddefs and changed into a hawk. Another of
the fame name was daughter of Boreas and Ori-
thyia, who had Eumolpus by Neptune, She threw
her fon into the fea ; but he was prefervtd by his fa¬
ther.
CHIOS. See Chio and Scio»
CHIOURLIC, an .ancient town of Turky in Eu¬
rope, and in Romania, with a fee of a Greek bifhop.
It is feated on a river of the fame name, in E. Long,
7. 47. N. Lat. 41. 1.8.
CHIOZZO, an ancient and handfbme town of Italy,,
iu the territory of Venice, and in a fmall ifland, near
the Lagunes, with a podefta* a bifliop’s fee, and a
harbour defended by a fort. E. Long. 12. 23. N.
Lat. 45. 17.
CHIPFENHAM, a town of Wiltfliire, feated on the
river Avon. It is a good thoroughfare town ; has a
handfome ftone-bridge over the river, confifting of
16 arches ; and fends two members to parliament-
These ^
e HI [ 694 ] CHI
Chipping. There is here a manufadture of the heft luperfine wool-
Jen cloth in England. W. Long. 2. 12. N. Lat. 51.
25.
CHIPPING, a phrafe ufed by the potters and
china-men to exprefs that common accident both of
our own ftone and earthen ware, and the porcelain of
China, the flying off of fmall pieces, or breaking nt
the edges. Our earthen wares are particularly fubjedl
to this, and are always fpoiled by it before any other,
flaw appears in them. Our Itone-wares efcape it bet¬
ter than thefe ; but not fo well as the porcelain of Chi¬
na, which is lefs fubjedf to it than any other manu-
fadture in the world. The method by which the
Chinefe defend their ware from this accident, is this :
They carefully burn fome fmall bamboo canes to a fort
of charcoal, which is very light, and very black ; this
they reduce to a fine powder, and then mix it into a
thin pafte,’ with fome of the varniih which they ufe
for their ware : they next take the veffels ;vhen dried,
and not yet baked, to the wheel ; and turning them
foftly round, they, with a pencil dipt in this pafte,
cover the whole circumference with a thin coat of it:
after this, the veffel is again dried ; and the border
made with this pafte appears of a pale greyifli colour
when it is thoroughly dry. They work on it after¬
wards in the common way, covering both this edge
and the reft of the veffel with the common varnifli.
When the whole is baked on, the colour given by the
afhes difappears, and the edges are as white as any
other part; only when the baking has. not been fuffi-
cient, or the edges have not been covered with the fe-
cond varnilhing, we fometimes find a dulky edge, as
in fome of the ordinary thick tea-cups. It may be
a great advantage to our Englifti manufactures to at¬
tempt fomething of this kind. The willow is known
to make a very light and black charcoal; but the el¬
der, though a thing feldom ufed, greatly exceeds it.
The young green (hoots of tins (hrub, which are al-
moft all pith, make the lighteft and the blackeft of all
charcoal; this readily mixes with any liquid, and might
be eafily ufed in the fame way that the Chinefe ufe
the charcoal of the bamboo cane, which is a light
hollow vegetable, more refembling the cider (hoots
than any other Englifti plant. It is no wonder that
the fixed fait and oil contained in this charcoal (hould
be able to penetrate the yet raw edges of the ware,
and to give them in the fubfcquent baking a fomewhat
different degree of vitrification from the other parts
of the veffel; which, though, if given to the whole,
it might take off from the true femivitrified ftate of
that ware, yet'at the edges is not to be regarded, and
■ only ierves to defend them from common accidents,
and keep them entire- The Chinefe ufe two cautions
in this application : the firft in the preparation; the
fecond in the laying it on. They prepare the bam¬
boo canes for burning into charcoal, by peeling off’the
rind. This might eafily be done with our elder (hoots,
which are fo fucculenf, that the bark drips oft with a
touch. The Chinefe fay, that if this is not done with
their bamboo, the edges touched with the pafte will
burft in the baking : this does not fecm indeed very
probable; but the charcoal will certainly be lighter
made from the peeled (licks, and this is a known ad¬
vantage. The other caution is, never to touch the
veffel with hands that have any greafy or fatty fub-
ftance about them; for if this Is done, they alwaysGhko^rrqTk
find the veffel crack in that place. Jl
CHIROGRAPH, was anciently a deed which, re- u^°n' ^
quiring a counterpart, was engroffed twice on the
fame piece of parchment, counferwife ; leaving a fpace
between, wherein was written CniROGRAfH ; through '
the middle whereof the parchment was cut, fome¬
times ftraight, fometimes indentedly ; and a moiety
given to each of the parties. This was afterwards
called dividcnda, and charts dmifa; and was the fame
with what we now call charter-party* See Charter-
Party. The firft ufe of thefe chirographs, with us,
was in the time of Henry III.
Chirograph was alfo anciently ufed for a fine :
and the manner of engrofSng the fines, and cutting
the parchment in two pieces, is dill retained in the
office called the chirographePs office.
CHIROGRAPHER of Fines, an officer in the
common pleas, who engroffes fines acknowledged in
that court into a perpetual record (afte- they have
been examined, and paffed by other officers), and
writes and delivers the indentures thereof to the par¬
ty. He makes two indentures ; one for the buyer,
the other for the feller; and a third indented piece,
containing the effefl of the fine, and called the foot of
the fine; and delivers it to the cufios brevium.—The
fame officer alfo, or his deputy, proclaims all fines in
court every term, and indorfts the proclamations on
the backfide of the foot; keeping, withal, the writ of
covenant, and the note of the fine.
CHIROMANCY, a fpecies of divination drawn
from the lines and lineaments of a perfon’s hand ; by
which means, it is pretended, the difpofitions may be
difcovered. See Divination, n° 9.
CHIRON, a famous perfonage of antiquity; ftyled
by Plutarch, in his dialogue on mufic, “ The wife Cen¬
taur.” Sir Ifaac Newton places his birth in the firft
age after Deucalion’s deluge, commonly called the
Golden Age; and adds, that he formed the conftella-
tions for the ufe of the Argonauts, when he was 88
years old ; for he was a pradlical aftronomer, as well
as his daughter Hippo : he may, therefore, be faid to
have flouriihed in the eailicft ages of Greece, as he
preceded the conquell of the Golden Fleece, and the
Trojan war. He is generally called the fon of Saturn
and Phillyra ; and is faid to have been born in Thef-
faly among the Centaurs, who were the firft Greeks
that had acquired the art of breaking and riding hor-
fes: whence the poets, painters, and fculptors, have
reprefented them as a compound of man and horfe;
and perhaps it was at firft imagined by the Greeks, as
well as the A mericans, when they firft faw cavalry,
that the horfe and the rider conilituted the fame ani¬
mal.
Chiron was reprefented by the ancients as one of Burney’*
the firft inventors uf medicine, botany, and chirttr- Hif. of
gery; a word which fome etymologifts have derived Mtfu:.
from his name. He inhabited a grotto or cave in the
foot of Mount Pelion, which, from his wifdom and
great knowledge of all kinds, became the mod famous
and frequented fchool throughout Greece. Almoft
all the heroes of his time were fond of receiving his
inftrudlions; and Xenophon, who enumerates them,
names the following iliuftrious perfonage,•; among his
difciples: Cephakis,iEieulapius,Melanion, Neftor, Am-
phiaraus,
CHI [ 695 ] CHI
phiaraus, Peleus, Telamon, Meleager, Thefeus, Hip-
politus, Palamedes, Ulyffes, Mneftheus, Diomedes, Ca-
ftor and Pollux, Machaon and Podaliriur, Antilochus,
JEneas, and Achilles. From this catalogue it appears,
that Chiron frequently inftru&ed both fathers and
fons; and Xenophon has given a Ihort eulogiwm on
each, which may be read in his works, and which re¬
dounds to the honour of the preceptor. The Greek
hiftofian, however, has omitted naming feveral of his
fcholars, fuch as Bacchus, Phoenix, Cocytus, Aryftaeus,
Jafon, and his fon Medeus, Ajax, and Protefdaus.
Of thefe we fhall only take notice of fuch as interefl
Chiron more particularly. It is pretended that the
Grecian Bacchus was the favourite fcholar of the Cen¬
taur ; and that he learned of this mailer the revels,
orgies, bacchanalia, and other ceremonies of his wor-
ihip. According to Plutarch, it was likewife at the
fchool of Chiron that Hercules iludied mufic, medi¬
cine, and juilice ; though Diodorus Siculus tells us, that
Linus was the mufrc-mafter of this hero. But among
all the heroes who have been difciplts of this Centaur,
no one reflected fo much honour upon him as Achilles,
whofe renown he in fome meafure ihared ; and to
whofe education he in a particular manner attended,
being his grandfather by the mother’s fide. Apollo-
dorus tells us, that the ftudy of mufic employed a con-
frderable part of the time which he beftowed upon his
young pupil, as an incitement to virtuous aftions, and
a bridle to the impetuofity of bis temper. One of
the beft remains of antique painting now exiiling, is
a picture upon this fubjeft, dug out of the ruins of
Herculaneum, in which Chiron is teaching the young
Achilles to play on the lyre. The death of this phi-
lofophic mufician was occafioned, at an extreme old
age, by an accidental wound in the knee with a poi-
foned arrow, Ihot by his fcholar Hercules at another.
He was placed after his death by Miifseus among the
conftellations, through refpedl for his virtues, and in
gratitude for the great fervices which he had render¬
ed the people of Greece; Sir Ifaac bTewton fays *,
in proof of the conftellations being formed by Chiron
and Mulseus for the. ufe and honour of the Argonauts,
that nothing later than the expedition was delineated
on the fphere ; according to the fame author, Chiron
lived till after the Argonautic expedition, in which he
had two grandfona. The ancients have not failed to
attribute to him feveral writings; among which, ac¬
cording to Suidas, are precepts, vroSmes, in verfe,
compofed for the ufe of Achilles ; and a medicinal
treatife on the difeafes incident to horfes and other qua¬
drupeds, 'nritx.T?ixo'‘\ the lexicographer even pretends,
that it is from this work the Centaur derived his name.
Fabricius gives a lift of the works attributed to Chi¬
ron, and difcuftes the claims which have been made
for others to the fame writings ; and in vol. xiii. he
gives him a diftinguiftied place in his catalogue of an¬
cient phyficians.
CHIRGNIA, in botany : A genus of the monogy-
nia order, belonging to the pentandria clafs of plants ;
and in the natural method ranking under the 20th
order, Roiacea. The corolla is wheel-fhaped; the
piftil declining downwards; the ftamina placed in
the tube of the corolla; the antherae in their laft
if age fpiral; the feed-cafe bilocular. There are eight
fpecies, of which the frutefcens is the moft remarkable. Chironomy
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The root -.JL
is fibrous, and fpreads near the furface of the ground., t C' *
The iialks are round, and inclining to "Ire ligneous,
but are of a very foft texture ; thefe rife from two to
three feet high, fending out feveral branches which
grow ered, and are garnifhed with fucculent leaves an
inch or more in length, and about an eighth of an inch
in breadth. At the end of each fhoot the flowers are
produced, which are tubulous, and fpread open at the
top ; they are of a bright red colour; and when there
are a large number of flowers open on the fame plant,
they make a fine appearance. The flowers are produced
from June to autumn ; and the feeds ripen in Oftdber.
The plants are propagated by feeds, which muft be
fown in pots filled with light fandy earthj and plunged
in a moderate hot-bed. In fummer they may be in¬
ured to the open air ; but muft always be fheltered in
winter.
CHIRONOMY', in antiquity, the art of reprefent-
ing any pail tranfa&ion by the geftures of the body,
more efpecially by the motions of the hands : this made
a part of liberal education ; it had the approbation of
Socrates, and was ranked by Plato among the poli¬
tical virtues..
CHI ROTONY, among ecclefiaftical writers, de¬
notes the impofition of hands ufed in conferring prieft-
ly orders. However, it is proper to remark, that
chirotony originally was a method of electing magi-
ftrates, by holding up the hands.
CHIRURGEON, or Surgeon. See Surgeon.
CHIRURGERY. See Surgery.
CHISLEY-land, in agriculture, a foil of a middle
nature between fandy and clayey land, with a large
admixture of pebbles.
CHISON, Kison, or Kisson, (Judgesiv. and v.),
a river of Galilee ; Paid to rife in mount Tabor, to run
by the town of Naim, and to fall into the Mediterra¬
nean between mount Carmel and Ptolemais, 1 Kings
xviii. 40.
CHISSEL, or Chisel, an inftrument much ufed in
fculpture, mafonry, joinery, carpentry, &c.
There are duffels of different kinds ; though their
chief difference lies in their different fize and ftrength,.
as being all macle of fteel well fharpened and tempered:
but they have different names, according to the differ¬
ent ufes to which they are applied.—The chiflels ufed
in carpentry and joinery are, i.The former; which
is ufed lirfl of all before the paring-chiffel, and juft:
after the work is feribed. 2. The paring-duffel;
which has a fine fmooth edge, and is ufed to pare off
or fmooth the irregularities which the former makes.
This is not flruok with a mallet as the former is, but •
is preffed with the fhoulder of the workman. 3. Skew-
former : this is ufed for cleanfing acute angles with the
point or comer of its narrow edge. 4. The mortife-
chiffd ; which is narrow, but very thick and ftrong,
to endure hard blows, audit is cut to a very broad ba-
fik Its ufe is to cut deep fquare holes in the wood
for mortifies. 5. The gouge, which is a chiffel with
a round edge ; one fide whereof ferves to prepare the
way for an augre, and the other to cut fuch wood as
is to be rounded, hollowed, &c. 6. Socket-duffels,
which are chiefly ufed by carpenters, &c. have their.'
4 fhank;
C H I
Chiton (Kank made with a hollow focket at top, to receive a
ll ftrong wooden fprig, fitted into it with a fhoulder.
. ilvary. ch.n'ds are diftinguilhed, according to the
‘ breadth of the blade, into half-inch chiffels, three
quarters of an inch chiffels, &c. 7. Ripping-chiffels;
which is a focket-chiffel of an inch broad, having a
blunt edge, with no bafil to it. Its ufe is to rip or
tear two pieces of wood afunder, by forcing in the
blunt edge between them.
CHITON, in zoology, a genus of the order of ver¬
mes teftaceae. The name chiton is from Lurk a,
a coat of mail. The (hell is plated, and confifts of
many parts lying upon each other tranfverfely: the
inhabitant is a fpccies of the doris. They are com¬
mon on the Ihores of Scarborough, Aberdeen, and
Lochbroom. See feveral fpecies reprefented of their
natural fize on Plate CXXXVIII.
CHITTIM (anc. geog.), according to Le Clerc,
Calmet, and others, was the fame with Macedonia,
peopled by Kittim the fon of Javan and grandfon of
Noah.
CHlTTRICK’s MEDICINE FOR THE STONE. This
medicine was fome years ago kept as a fecret, and had
great reputation as a lithontriptic, which indeed it
feems in many cafes to deferve. It was difcovered by
Dr Blackrie to be no other than foap-lye; and the
following receipt for ufing it was procured bj General
Dunbar: “ Take one tea-fpoonful of the ftrongeft
foap-lye, mixed in two table-fpoonfuls of fweet milk,
an hour before breakfaft and at going to bed. Be¬
fore you take the medicine, take a fup of pure milk,
and immediately after you have fwallowed the medi¬
cine take another. If you find this agrees with you
for . two-or three days, you may add half as much
j more to the dofe.”
definition. CHIVALRY, (from cheval, “ a horfe) an ab-
ftradl term, ufed to exprefs the peculiar privileges, ob¬
ligations, and turn of mind, with all the other diftin-
, guifiring charafteriftics of that order of men who fiou-
rhhed in Europe in the dark ages, during the vigour
of the feudal fyftems of government, under the name of
Knights, or Knights Errant.
Difficulty of To afcertain the period at which the order fprung
tracing the up, and the circumftances to which its origin was ow-
rrigin of jng, is no eafy talk. In the hiftory of fociety, fuch
chivalry. a mult;pl
icity of collateral fadfs appear interwoven
together, and caufes and effects run into each other
by a gradation fo imperceptible ; that it is exceedingly
difficult, even for the niceft eye, to difcern caufes
from their immediate effedts, or to diflinguiffi to
which among a number of collateral circumftances the
origin of any particular event is to be referred. The
m age to which we muft look for the origin of chivalry
was Angularly rude and illiterate. Even the principal
events of that period, emigrations, wars, and the efta-
blifirment of fyftems of laws and forms of government,
have been but imperfedtly, and in many inftances un¬
faithfully, recorded. But the tranfadlions which took
place in the ordinary courfe [of civil and domeftic life,
and which, though lefs ftriking, muft have always pre¬
pared the way for the more remarkable events, have
been generally thought unworthy of tranfmiffion to
yofterity, and have very feldom found an hiftorian.
Add to thefe difficulties which oppofe our refearches
©n this fubjedl, that the nations of Europe were in
N° yS. 5
C H I
that age a mixed multitude, confifting of the aborigi- Chivalry,
nal inhabitants, who, though either iubdued by the '' ' v1 *
Roman arms, or at lead compelled to retire to the
woods and mountains, ftill obftinately retained their
primitive manners and cuftoms j Roman colonies,
and fuch of the original inhabitants of the countries in
which thefe were eftabliftied, as had yielded not only
to the arms of the Romans, but alio to the influence
of their laws, art*, and manners ; and the barbarians,
who proceeding from the northern regions of Afiaand
Europe, the wilds of Scythia and Germany, diffolvtd
the fabric of the Roman empire, and made themfelvea
lords of Europe. Amid this confufion of nations,
inftitutions, and cuftoms, it becomes almoft impoffible
to trace any regular feries of caufes and effe&s.
Yet as the hiftory of that period is not entirely un¬
known to us, and the obfeure and imperfedf records
in which it is preferved, while they commemorate the
more remarkable events, throw a faint light on the ci -
ftoms, manners, and ordinary tranfadllons of the age ;
we can at leaft colled! fome circumftances, which, if
they did Hot cf themielves give rife to the inftitution
of chivalry, muft certainly have co-operated with o-
thers to that end. We may even be allowed, if we
proceed with due diffidence and caution, to deduce,
from a confideration of the effedl, fome inferences con¬
cerning the caufe ; from thofe particulars of its hiftory
which are known to‘us, we may venture to carry ima¬
gination backwards, under a proper reftraint, to thofe
which are hid under the darknefs of a rude and illite¬
rate age. 3
Diftindlion of ranks appears to be effentially necef- Diftin&ioa;
fary to the exiftence of civil order. Even in the fim- al^
pleft and rudeft focial eftabliih nents, we find not jiar[ 0f
merely the natural diftindiions of weak and ftrong, methanifm
young and old, parent and child, hufband and wife ; of fociety. |
thefe are always accompanied with others which owe
their inftitution to the invention of man, and the con-
fent, either tacit or formal, of the fociety among
whom they prevail. In peace and in war, fuch di¬
ftindiions are equally neceffary: they conftitute an ef-
fential and important part of the meehanifm of fo-
ciety-   4
One of the earlieft artificial diftindiions introducedThe early j
among mankind, is that which feparates the bold andPre'emi* ;j:
Ikilful warrior from thofe whofe feeblenefs of body and "he niiii-
mind renders them unable to excel in dexterity, ftra-tary charad:
tagem, or valour. Among rude nations, who are butter,
imperfedlly acquainted with the advantages of focial
order, this diftindlion is more remarkably eminent than
in any other , ftate of fociety. The ferocity of the
human charadler in fuch a period produces almoft con¬
tinual hollilities among neighbouring tribes: the ele¬
ments of nature, and the brute inhabitants of the fo-
reft, are not yet reduced to be fubfervient to the will of
man; and thefe, with other concomitant circumftan¬
ces, render the warrior, who is equally diftinguilhed by
cunning and volour, more ufeful and refpedtable than
any other charadler. 4
On the fame principles, as the boundaries of fociety Suhoidi-
are enlarged, and its form becomes more complex, the |1
claffes into which it is already diftinguifhed are again rJ£n J !
fubdivided. The invention of arts, and the acquifi- troduced 11
tion of property, are the chief caufes of thefe new di-intofociat i
ftindlions which now arile among the orders of fociety;
and
[ 696 ]
CHI r 697 ] CHI
Chivalry, and they extend their influence equally through the bliflied themfelves in the cultivated provinces of the Chivalry.
*-—V  whole fyftem. Difference of armour, and different Roman empire is, that their women, contrary to what v—"*J
modes of military difcipline, produce diftin&ionof or- we find among many other rude nations, were treated
ders among thole who pradtife the arts of war; while with an high degree of refpeft. They did not gene- 8
other circumftances, originating from the fame general rally vie with the men in deeds of valour, but they^
caufes, occafion fimilar changes to take place amid the animated them by their exhortations to diftinguifh WOiX n a_
, fcenes of peace. themfelves in the field ; and virgins efpecially were mong the
Thediftinc- None of the new diftinftions which are introduced confidered with a facred veneration, as endowed withGsrmans*
tien intro- among men, with refpedt to the difcipline and con- prophetic powers, capable to forefee events hid in the
duced into duft of war, in confequence of the acquifition of pro- womb of futurity, and even to influence the will of the
the military perty. and the invention of arts, is more remarkable deities. Hence, though domeftic duties were their
theufe of than that occafioned by the ufe of horfes in military peculiar province, yet they were not harlhly treated
cavalry, expeditions, and the training of them to the evolu- nor confined to a ftate of flavery. There appears in-
tions of the military art. Fire-arms, it is true, give deed a ftriking analogy between the condition of the
to thofe who are acquainted with them a greater fu- women among the rude foldiers of Sparta and the
periority over thofe to whom their ufe is unknown rank which they occupied among the warlike cantons
than what the horfeman pofTeffes over him who fights of Germany. Perhaps, indeed, the German were ftill
on foot. But the ufe of fire-arms is of fuch import- more honourable than the Spartan women ; as they
ance in war, and the expence attending it fo inconfi- were taught to wield the magic weapons of fuperflition,
derable, that wherever thefe have been introduced, whichvin Greece were appropriated to the priefts.
they have feldom been confined to one particular order It appears, therefore, that, in the forefts of Gcr-
in an army; and therefore they produce indeed a re- many at leaft, if not in the more northern regions of
markable, though tranfient, diftinftion among different Afia and Europe, the conquerors of the Roman em-
nations; but eflablifh no permanent diftin&ions in the ^pire, before they penetrated into its provinces, treated
armies of any one nation. But to maintain a horfe, their women with a degree of refpeft unknown to mofl
to equip him with coftly furniture, to manage him of the nations of antiquity; that the chara&ef of the
with dexterity and vigour, are circumftances which warrior was likewife highly honourable, being under-
have invariably produced a ftanding and confpicuous flood to unite all thofe qualities which were in the
diftinflion among the military order, wherever bodies higheft eftimation ; and that it was only at a particu-
of cavalry have been formed. The Roman equites, lar age, and with certain forms, that the youth were
who, though they became at length a body of ufurers admitted to bear arms. 9
and farmers- general, were originally the only body of When thofe nations fallied from their deferts and Changes in
cavalry employed by the ftate, occupied a refpetftable forefts, over-ran the Roman empire, and eftablilhed ners^Tthc
rank between the fenators and the plebeians; and the themfelves in its provinces, the change which took barbarians
elegance and humanity of their-manners were fuitable place on their circumftances was remarkable ; and by after they
to their rank. In ancient Greece, and in the cele- a natural influence, it could not but produce an equally fstt-e<fin
brated monarchies of Afia, the fame diftindlion prevail- remarkable change on their habits, cuftoms, and man-
ed at a fimilar period. ners. The great outlines might ftill remain ; but which gave
TVTiHtarvdi. Since the circumftances and principles on which they could not now fail to be filled up in a different rife to chi-
fUndtions a. this diftindlion depends are not fuch as muft be con- manner. Here, however, the records of hiftory are va'ry*
tnong the fined in their influence to one particular nation, or one peculiarly imperfect. We have no Csefar or Tacitus
ancient region of the globe, we may hope to trace their ef- to fupply fadts or diredl our reafonings; the Gothic
ermans. feg.s among faVage warriors of Scythia and Ger- nations had not yet learned to read and write ; and
many, as well as among the Greeks or Romans, the Romans were fo depreffed under the fenfe of their
From the valuable treatife of Tacitus de moribus Ger- own miferies, as to be negligent of the changes which
manorum, we .learn, that among the German warriors happened around them. But as foon as the light of
a diftindlion fomewhat of this nature did adlually fub- hiftory begins again to dawn, we find that the leading
fill ; not fo. much indeed a diftindlion between the features of the barbarian charadler were not effaced, but
warrior who fought on horfeback and thofe who fought only modified in a particular manner, in confequence of
on foot, as between thofe whom vigour of body and their mixing among a more poliihed people, becoming
energy of mind enabled to brave all the dangers of acquainted with the luxuries of life, and acquiring exten-
war, and fuch as, from the imbecility of youth, the five power and property.
Infirmities of age, or the natural inferiority of their Thofe who fought on horfeback now began to be
mental and bodily powers, were unequal to fcenes of diftinguifhed with peculiar honours. The manners of
hardftu’p and deeds of valour. The youth was not the warrior too were become more cultivate'd, and his
permitted to take arms and join his warlike country- fpirit more humane. Leifure and opulence, with the
men in their military expeditions whenever he himfelf influence of a polifhed people, even though in a ftate
thought proper. There was a certain age before which of flavery, taught thofe barbarians to afpire after more
he could not be invefted with armour. When he had refined pleafures and more fplendid amusements than
attained that period, if not found deficient in ftrength, thofe which they had been before fatisfied with. The
activity, or courage, he was formally honoured with influence of Chriftianity too, which, though grofsly cor-
the ftiield and the lance, called to the duties, and ad- rirpted, was ftill favourable to the focial happinefs of
mitted to all the privileges, of a warrior. mankind, concurred lo polilh their manners and exalt
Another fa£l worthy of notice refpefling the man- their charafler. Hence, in the end of the tenth
tiers of the barbarians of Germany before they efla- and in the beginning of the eleventh century, we fe»
Vol. IV. Part II. 4T knight-
CHI [ 698 ] CHI
Chivalry, knight-errantry, with that romantic gallantry, piety,
^ v and humanity, by which it was principally diltinguifh-
ed, make its appearance. At the court of every
, prince, count, or baron, joufts and tournaments became
the favourite amufements. At thofe entertainments,
/kill in arms, devotion to the fair, and generous cour-
tefy, were all at once-cultivated. About this period
began the crufades; and thefe, to which alone fome
have referred the origin of chivalry, though they could
not give rife to what was alreadyin exiftence,yet mould¬
ed the form and directed the fpirit of the inllitution
in fuch' a manner, as to raife it by a rapid progrefs
from irtfancy, as it were, to full vigour and maturity.
Its character, as it appeared when fully formed, is
well defcribed by an eloquent hiftorian in the follow¬
ing manner:
Gilhon, voh “ Between the age of Charlemagne and that of the
<vi. p. a6. crufades, a revolution had taken place among the Spa¬
niards, the Normans, and the Frerfch, which was gra¬
dually extended to the reft of Europe. The fervjce
of the infantry was,degraded to the plebeians; the ca¬
valry formed the ftrength of the armies, and the ho¬
nourable name of miles, or foldier, was confined to the
gentlemen who ferved on horfeback, and were invefted
with the character of knighthood. The dukes and
counts, who had ufurped the rights of fovereignty,
divided the provinces among their faithful barons:
the barons diftributed among their vaffals the fiefs or
benefices of their jurifdidtion ; and thefe military te¬
nants, the peers of each other and of their lord, com-
pofed the noble or equeftrian order, which difdained
to conceive the peafant or burgher as of the fame fpe-
ties with themfelves. The dignity of their birth was
preferved by pure and equal alliances; their fons alone
who could produce four quarters or lines of ahceftry,
without fpot or reproach, might legally pretend to
the honour of knighthood; but a valiant plebeian was
fometimes enriched and ennobled by the fword, and
became the father of a new race. A Angle knight
could impart, according to his judgment, the charafter
which he received ; and the warlike fovereigns of Eu¬
rope derived more glory from this perfonal dillindtion
than from the liiftre of their diadem. This ceremony
, was in its origin fimple and profane; the candidate,
after foroe previous trial, was invefted with his fword
and fpurs; and his cheek or (boulder were touched
with a flight blow, as an emblem of the laft affront
which it was lawful for him to endure. But fuper-
ftition mingled in every public and private aftion of
life: In the holy wars, it fan&ified the profeffion of
arms ; and the order of chivalry was affimdated in its
rights and privileges to the facred orders of priefthood.
The bath and white garment of the novice, were an
indecent copy of the regeneration of baptifm : his
fword, which he offered on the altar, was bleffed
by the minifters of religion ; his fblemn reception
was preceded by faffs and vigils ; and he was created
a knight in the name of God, of St George, and of St
Michael the archangel. He fwore to accomplifh
the duties of his profeffion ; aid education, example,
and the public opinion, were the inviolable guardians
of his oath. As the champion of God and the ladies,
he devoted himfelf to fpeak the truth ; to maintain
the right; to proteft the diftreffed ; to praftife cour-
U/j, .a virtue lefs familiar to the ancientsto purfue
the infidelsto deTpife the allurements of cafe and Chivalry,
fafety ; and to vindicate in every perilous adventure * J
the honour of his character. The abufe of the fame
fpirit provoked the illiterate knight to ditdain the arts
of induftry and peace; to efteem himfelf the foie judge
and avfenger of his own injuries ; and proudly to ne-
gledt the laws of civil fociety and military difcipline.
Yet the benefits-of thh inftitution, to refine the tem¬
per of Barbarians, and to infufe fome principles, of
faith, juftice, and humanity, were ftrongly felt, and
have been often obferved. The afperity of national
prejudice was foftened; and the community of re¬
ligion and arms fpread a fimilar colour and generous
emulation over the face of Chriffendotm Abroad, in.
enterprife and pilgrimage; at home, in martial exer-
cife,, the warriors of every country_ were perpetually
affociated ; and impartial tafte muff prefer a Gothic
tournament to the Olympic games of claffic antiquity.
Inftead of the naked fpeftacles which corrupted the
manners of the Greeks, and bani&ed from the ffadiutn
the virgins and matrons, the pompous decoration of
the lifts was crowned with the prefence of chaffe and
high-born beauty, from whofe hands the conqueror
received the prize of his dexterity and courage. The
Ikill and ftrength that were exerted in wreftling and
boxing, bear a diftant and doubtful relation to the
merit of a foldier; but the tournaments, as they were
invented in France, and eagerly adopted both in the
eaft and weft, prefented a lively image of the bufinefs
of the field. The Angle combats, the general fkirmift,
the defence of a pafs or caftle, were rehearfed as in
a&ual fervice ; and the contell, both in real and mi¬
mic war, was decided^by the fuperior management of
the horfe and lance. The lance was the proper and
peculiar weapon of 'the knight; his horfe was of a
large and heavy breed; but this charger, till he was
roufed by the approaching danger, was ufually led by
an attendant, and he quietly rode a pad or palfrey
of a more eafy pace. His helmet and fword, his.
greaves and buckler, it would be fuperfluous to de-
feribe ; but I may remark, that at the period of the
crufades, the armour was lefs ponderous than in later
times; and that,.inftead of a maffy cuirafs, his breaft
was defended by an hauberk or coat of mail. When
their long lances were fixed in the reft, the warriors
furioufly fpurred their horfes againft the foe ; and the
light cavalry of the Turks and Arabs could feldom
ftand againft the direft and impetuous weight of their
charge; Eich knight was attended to the field by
his faithful fquire, a youth of equal birth and fimilar
hopes; he was followed by his archers and men at
arms ; and four, or five, or fix ioldiers, were/.umputed
as the furniture of a complete lance. In the expeditions
to the neighbouring kingdoms or the Holy Lqnd, the
duties of the feudal tenure no longer fubfifted; the
voluntary fervice of the knights and their followers was
either prompted by zeal or attachment, or purchafed
with rewards and promifes ; and the numbers of each
fquadron were meafured by the power, the wealth, and
the fame of each independent chieftain. They were
diftinguifhed by his banner, his armorial coat, and his
cry of war; and the moft ancient families of Europe
muff feek in thefe atchievements the origin and proof
of their nobility.”
The re.fpe£table author of the fetters on Chivalry
and
CHI [ 699 1 CHI
Chivalry, and Romance, traces, with great ingenuity and era- venturers to undertake this work ; and, if they could Chivalry.
' v  dition, a ftrong refemblance between the manners of accomplifh it in no other way, to pay them in kind by 1—~v—^
the age of chivalry and thofe of the old heroic ages downright plunder and rapine ?
delineated "by Homer. * 5. Baftardy was in credit with both, - They were
Theorem- There is, fays he, a remarkablecorrefpondence between extremely watchful over the cliaftity of their own
blar.ce he- the manners of the old heroic times, as painted by their women ; but fuch as they could fcize upon in the ene-
tween he- great romancer Homer, and thofe which are repre- mies quarter, were lawful prize. Or if, at any time,
r lean 1 Co fented to us in the modern books of knight-errantry, they tranfgreffed in this fort at home, the fault was
tiers.man" ^ wkich no good account can be given, but by covered by an ingenious fidion. The offspring was
another not lefs certain; that the political Hates of reputed divine. Their greatelt heroes were the fruit
Greece, in the earlieft periods of its ftory, was fimilar of goddeffes approached by mortals; jull as we hear
in many refpeds to that of Europe, as broken by the of the doughtieft knights being born of fairies,
feudal fyftem into an infinite number of petty indepen- 6. With the greatefl fiercenefs and favagenefs of
dent governments. chara&er, the utmoft generofity, hofpitality, and cour-
Some obvious circumftancesofagreement between the tefy, were imputed to the heroic ages. Achilles was at
heroic and Gothic manners may be worth putting down, once the molt relentlefs, vindidive, implacable, and
1 The miiitary enthufiafm of the barons is but of the friendliell of men. We have the very fame re-
a piece with the fanaticifm of the heroes. Hence the prefentation in the Gothic romances. As in thofe law-
fame particularity of defeription in the accounts of lefs times, dangers and diftreffes of all kinds abound-
hattles, wounds, deaths, in the Greek poet as in the ed, there would be the fame demand for compaffion,
Gothic romancers. Hence that minute curiofity in the gentlenefs, and generous attachments to the unfortu-
difplay of their dreffes, arms, accoutrements The nate, thofe efpecially of their own clan, as of refent-
•minds of all men being occupied with warlike images ment, rage, and animoficy agamft their enemies.
and ideas, were much gratified by thofe details, which 7. Again, the martial games celebrated in ancient
appear cold and unaffedting to modern readers. Greece,, on great and' folemn occafions, had the fame
We hear much of knights-errant encountering giants ongin and the fame purpofe as the tournaments of the
and quelling favages in books of chivalry. Thefe Gothic warriors.
giants were oppreffive feudal lords ; and every lord 8. Laitly, the pafuons for adventures fo natural
was to be met with, like the giant, in his ftrong-hold in their fituation, would be as naturally attended with
or caftle. Their dependents of a lower form, who imi- the love of praile and glory. Hence the fame encou-
tated the violence of their fuperiors, and had not their ragement, in the old Gieek and Gothic times, to pa-
caftles but lurking places, were the favages of romance, negyrifis and poets. In the affairs of religion and gal-
The greater lord was called a giant for his power; the lao,try, indeed, the rtiemblance between the hero and
lefs, a favage for his brutality. ihe knight is not fo itriking. But the religious cha-
2. Another terror of the Gothic ages was monfters, rafter of the knight was an accident of the times, and
4ragons, and ferpents. Their ftories were received no proper effect of his civil condition. And that his
in thofe days for feveral reafons: I. From the vulgar devotion for the fair fex fho(lld fo far furpafs that of
belief of enchantments ; 2. From their being reported the hero, is a -confiimation of the fyftecn here advan-
on the faith of eaftern tradition, by adventurers from ced. For the confideration had of the females in the
the holy land : 3. In {till later times from the ftrange feudal conliitution, will of itfelf account for this defe-
things told and believed on the difeovery of the new rence. It made them capable of fueceeding to fiefsj
world. as well as the men. And does not one fee, on the
In all thefe refpefts, Greek antiquity refem’-les the mftant, what relpeft and dependence this privilege
Gothic. For what are Homer’s Lasftrigons and Cy- would draw upon them ?
. clops, but bands of lawlefs favages, with each of them It was of mighty coniequence who fhould obtain tha
a giant of enormous fize at their head ? And what are favour of a rich heirefs. And though, in the flrift
the Grecian Bacchus, Hercules, and Thefeus, but feudal times, fhe was luppoted to be in the power and
knights-erranr, the exaft counterparts of Sir Launce- at • the difpotal of her luperior lord, yet this rigid
lot and Amadis de Gaul ? ftate of things did not laft long. Hence we find fome
3. The opprefiions which it was the glory of the diitreffed damfel was the ipring and mover of every
knights to avenge, were frequently carried on,‘ as we knight’s adventure. She was to be refeutd by his
are told, by the charms and enchantments of •women, arms, or won by the fame and admiration of his prow-
Thefe charms, we may fuppofe, are often metapho- efs. The plain meaning of all which was this : That
rical; as exprefiing only the blandiihments of the ftx. .as, in thefe turbulent times; a proteftor was neceffary
Sometimes they are taken to be real, the ignorance to the weaknefs of the fex, fo the courteous and va-
of thofe ages acquiefcing in fuch conceits. And are lorous knight was to approve himfelf fully qualified for
not thele ftories matched by thofe of Calypfo and that purpofe.
Circe, the enchantreffes of the Greek poet? It may be obferved, that the two poems of Homer
4. Robbery and Piracy were honourable in both : were intended to expofe the mifehiefis and inconve-
fo far were they from reflefting any diferedit on the niences at if:ng from the political ftate of Old Greece t
ancient or modern redrefers of •wrongs. What ac- the Iliad, the diffentions that naturally fpring up
count can be given of tnis, but that, in the feudal among independent chiefs; and the Odgfliy, the info-
times, and in the early days of Greece, when govern- lence of their greater f bjefts, more etpecially when
mert was-weak, and unable to redrefs the iisjuries of unreftrained by the prefence of their fovereign. And
pet y fovereigns, it would be glorious for private ad- can any tiling more exaftly refemble the condition of
4 T 2 the
CHI [ 700 ] CHI
Chivalry, the feudal times, when, on occafion of any great en-
u~~*' ‘ terprife, as that of the crufades, the defionsof the con¬
federate Ghriitian ftates were perpetually fruftrated,
or interrupted at leaft, by the‘Siffentions of their lead¬
ers ; and their affairs at home, as perpetually diftref-
fedand difordered by the rebellious ufurpations of the ir
greater vaffals ? Jerufalem was to the European what
Troy had been to the Grecian princes. See the article
Knight.
Chivalry, in law, is ufed for a tenure of lands
by knight’s fervice ; whereby the knight was bound
to perform fervice in war unto the king, or the mefne
lord of whom-he held by that tenure And chivalry
was either general or fpecial: general, when it was
only in the feoffment that the tenant held per fermi-
tium militare, without any fpecification of fergeantry,
efeuage, &c.; fpecial, when it was declared particu¬
larly by what kind of knight fervice the land was held.
For the better underftanding of this tenure it hath
been obferved, that there is no law but is holden me¬
diately or immediately of the crown by fome fervice ;
and therefore all freeholds that are to us and our heirs,
are called feuda, or feoda, “ fees;” as proceeding from
the king for fome fmall yearly rent, and the perform¬
ance of fuch fervices as were originally laid upon the
land at the donation thereof. For as the king gave
to the great nobles, his immediate tenants, large pof-
feffions for ever, to hold of him for this or that fervice
or rent; fo they in time parcelled out to fuch others
as they liked the fame lands for rents and fervices as
they thought good: and thefe fervices were by Little¬
ton divided into two kinds, chivalry and focage; the
firft whereof was martial and military, the other rufti-
cal. Chivalry, therefore, was a tenure of ftrvice,
whereby the tenant was obliged to perform fome noble
or military office unto his lord; and it was of two
kinds ; either regal, that is, held only of the king ; or
common, w here held of a common perfon. That which
might be held only of the king was called fervitium, or
fergeantia; and was again divided into grand and petit
ferjeanty. The grand ferjeanty was where one held
lands of the king by fervice, which he ought to do in
his own perfon; as, to bear the king’s banner or fpear,
to lead his hoft, to find men at arms to fight, &c.
Petit ferjeanty was wdien a man held lands of the king,
to yield him annually fome fmall thing towards his
wars, as a fword, dagger, bow, &c. Chivalry that
might be holden of a common perfon was termed feu-
tagium. “ efeuage;” that is, fervice of the ffiield ; which
w’as either uncertain or certain.
Efeuage. uncertain, was likewife two-fold: firft,
where the tenant wras bound to follow his lord, going
in perfon to the king’s wars, either himfelf, or fend¬
ing a fufficient man in his place, there to be main¬
tained at his expence, fo long as was agreed upon be¬
tween the lord and his firft tenant at the granting of
the fee ; and the days of fuch fervice feem to have
been rated by the quantity of land fo holden : as if
it extended to a whole knight’s fee, then the tenant
was to follow his lord 40 days ; and if but to half a
knight’s fee, then 20 days; if a fourth part, then
10 days, &c. The other kind of this efeuage was cal¬
led cajlle-avard, where the tenant was obliged, by
himfelf or fome other, to defend a caftle as often as it
Ihould come to his turn. And thefe were called efeu¬
age uncertain; beeaufe it was uncertain how often a CKIvalrjy
man ftiould be called to follow his. lord to the wars,  v—^
or to defend a caftle, and what his charge would be
therein.
Efeuage certain, was where the. tenure was fet at a
certain fum of money to be paid in lieu of fuch fervice;
as that a man fhould pay yearly for every knight’s fee
20s. for half a knight’s fee 10s. or fome, like rate;
and this fervice, becaufe it is drawn to a certain rent,
groweth to be of a mixed nature, not merely focage,.
and yet focage in effeft, being now neither perfonal
fervice nor uncertain. The tenure called chivalry had
other conditions annexed to it: but there is a great
alteration made in thefe things by the ftat. 12. Car. z,
c. 24. whereby tenures by knight’s fervice of the king,
or any other perfon in capite, Sec. and the fruits and
confequences thereof, are taken away and difeharged ;
and all tenures are to be conftrued and adjudged to be
free and common focage, &c.
Court of Chivairt, a court formerly held before the
lord high conftable and earl marffial of England joint¬
ly, and having both civil and criminal jurifdidtion :
but fince the attainder of Stafford Duke of Bucking¬
ham under Henry VIII. and the confequent extin-
guifhment of the office of lord high conftable, it hath
ufually, with refpeft to civil matters, been heard be¬
fore the earl marfhal only. This court, by ftat. 13.
Rich. II. c. 2. hath cognizance of contra&s and other
matters touching deeds of arms and war, as well out of
the realm as in it. And from its fentences lies an im¬
mediate appeal to the king in perfon. This court was
in great reputation in the times of pure chivalry ; and
afterwards during the Englifh connections with the
continent, by the territories which their princes held
in France : but it is now grown almoft entirely out
of ufe, on account of the feeblenefs of its jurifdidtion,
and want of power to enforce its judgements ; as it
can neither fine nor imprifon, not being a court of
record.
1. The civil jurifdiCtion of this court of , chivalry
is principally in two points ; the redreffing injuries of
honour, and correcting encroachments in matters of
coat armour, precedency, and other diftinCtions of fa¬
milies. As a court of honour, it is to give fatisfac*
tion to all fuch as are aggrieved in that point; a
point of a nature fo nice and delicate; that its wrongs
and injuries efcape the notice of the common law,
and yet are fit to be redreffed fomewhere. Such, for
inftance, as calling a man a coward, or giving him the
lie; for which, as they are productive of no imme¬
diate damage to his perfon or property, no aCtion will
lie in the courts at Weftminfter: and yet they are
fuch injuries as will prompt every maa of fpirit to
demand fome honourable amends; which, by the an¬
cient law of the land, was given in the court of chi¬
valry. But modern refolutions have determined, that
how much foever a jurifdiCtion may be expedient, yet
no aCtion for words will at prefent lie therein. And
it hath always been moft clearly holden, that as this
court cannot meddle with any thing determinable by
common law, it therefore can give no pecuniary fa-
tisfaCtion or damages ; in as much as the quantity and
determination thereof is ever of common law cog¬
nizance. And therefore this court of chivalry can at
moft order reparation in point of honour; as, to
compel
CHI [ 701 ] C H O
compel the defendant mendachm Jilt tpfi mponere, or
to. take the lie that he has given upon himfelf, or
to make fuch'other fubmiffion as the laws of honour
may require. As to the other point of its civil juris¬
diction, the redreffing of ufurpations and encroach¬
ments in matters of heraldry and coat armour ; it is
the bufmefs of this covfFt, according to Sir Matthew
Hale, to adjuft the right and armorial enfigns, bear¬
ings, crefts, fupporters, pennons, &c.; and alfo rights
of places or precedence, where the king’s patent or
adt of parliament, which cannot be over-ruled by this
court, have not already determined it. The pro¬
ceedings of this court are by petition in a fummary
way : and the trial riot by a jury of twelve men, but
by witneffes, or by combat. But as it cannot impri-
fon, not being a court of record ; and as, by the refo-
lutions of the fuperior courts, it is now confined to fo
narrow and reltrained a jurifdidlion ; it has fallen into
contempt. The marfhalling of coat-armour, which
was formerly the pride and ftudy of all the belt fa¬
milies in the kingdom, is now greatly difregarded ;
and has fallen into the hands of certain officers and at¬
tendants upon this court, called heralds, who confider
it only as a matter of lucre, and not of juftice: where¬
by fuch falfity and confufion have crept into their re¬
cords (which ought to be the handing evidence of fami¬
lies, defcents, and coat armour), that though former¬
ly fome credit has been paid to their tdlimony, now,
even their common feal will not be received as evi¬
dence in any court of juftice in the kingdom. But
'their original vifitation books, compiled when pro-
greffes were folemnly and regularly made into every
part of the kingdom, to inquire into the ftate of fami¬
lies, and to regifter fuch marriages and defcents as
were verified to them upon oath, are allowed to be
good evidence of pedigrees.
2. As a criminal court, when held before the lord
hign conftable of England jointly with the earl Mar-
fhal, it had jurifdidtion over pleas of life and mem¬
ber, arifing in matters of arms and deeds of w'ar, as
well out of the realm as within it. But the criminal
as well as civil part of its authority is fallen into en¬
tire difufe: there having been no permanent high
conftable of England (but only pro hac vice, at coro¬
nations and the like), fince the attainder and execu¬
tion of Stafford Duke of Buckingham, in the 13th year
of Henry VIII. ; the authority and charge, both in
war and peace, being deemed too ample for a fubjedt;
fo ample, that when the chief juftice Fineux was a iked
by King Henry VIII. how far they extended i he de¬
clined anfwering ; and faid, the decifion of that que-
ftion belonged to the law of arms, and not to the law
of England.
CHIVES, in botany, are {lender thread-like fub-
ftances, generally placed within the bloffsm, and fur¬
rounding the Pointals. They are formed of the
woody fubftance of the plant.
CHIUM marmor, in the natural hiftory of the an¬
cients, the name of a black marble, called alfo the
lapis opfidianus. It is very hard, and of a fine black ;
and, belide the many ufes which the ancients put it to,
is well known-among our goldfmiths by the name of
the touchjlone; moft of them being furniihed with
nothing better for this purpofe than a piece of this;
though the bafaltes, which might be had plentifully
enough, is greatly preferable for thofe ufes; any black
marble, however, that is tolerably hard, will do.
There is a very fine and elegantly fmooth marble, of
a compaft texture, and fine gloffy black, but ihowing
no glittering particles when freih broken, as moft of
the black marbles dt>. It is extremely hard, and cuts
with difficulty, but is capable of the higheft polifh of
any marble. The ancients had it from Ethiopia and
the iiland of Chios ; we have it from Italy.
Chwm Vinum, Chian Wine, or wine of the growth
of the iiland of Chios, now Scio, is commended by
Diofcorides as affording good nouriihment, fit to drink,
lefs difpofed to intoxicate, endued with the virtue of
reftraining defluxions, and a proper ingredient in oph¬
thalmic medicines. Hence Scribonius Largus diredts
the dry ingredients in collyria for the eyes to be
1 made up with Chian wine/
CHIUN, or Chevan, in Hebrew antiquity. We
meet with this word in the prophet Amos, cited in the
Adis of the Apoftles. St Luke reads the paffage
thus : “ Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the
ftar of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to
worihip them.” The import of the Hebrew is as fol¬
lows : “ Ye have borne the tabernacle of your kings,
and the pedeilal (the chiun) of,your images, the ftar of
your gods, which ye made to yourfelves.” The Sep
tuagint in all probability read Repham or Revan, in-
ftead of Chiun or Chevan, and took the pedeftal for a
god.
.S.ome fay that the Septuagint, who made their tranf-
lation in Egypt, changed the word Chiun into that of
Remphan becaufe they had the fame Jignificatiom-
M. Bafnage, in his book intitled Jewifh Antiquities,
after having difcourfed a good deal upon Chion or Rem*
phan, concludes that Moloch was the fun, and Chion,
Chiun, or Remphan, the moon.
CHLAMYS, in antiquity, a military habit worn by
the ancients over the tunica. It belonged to the pa¬
tricians, and was the fame in the time of war that the
toga was in the time of peace. This fort of gown was
called pi3a, from the rich embroidery with figures in
Phrygian work ; and purpurea, becaufe the ground¬
work was purple. The chlamydes of the emperors
were all purple, adorned with a golden and embroider¬
ed border.
CHLOEIA, in antiquity, a feftival celebrated at
Athens in honour of Ceres, to whom, under the name
xaobj u e. Grafs, they facrificed a ram.
CHLORA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia
order, belonging to the odandria clafs of plants. The
calyx is octophyllous, the corolla monopetalous and
o&ofid; the capfule unilocular, bivalved, and poly-
fpermous.
CHLOROSIS, in medicine, a difeafe, commonly
caMtA the green ficknefs, incident to young girls. See
(the Index fubjoinedio) Medicine.
CHOCOLATE, in commerce, a kind of pafte or
cake prepared of certain ingredients, the bafis of which
is cacao. See Cacao*
The Indians, in their firft making of chocolate, ufed
to roaft the cacao in earthen pots; and having, after¬
wards cleared it of the hulks, and bruifed it between
two ftones, they made it into cakes with their hands.
The Spaniards improved this method: when the cacao,
is properly roafted and well cleaned, they pound it in
C H O
C 702 1
e h o
Chocolate a mortar, to reduce it into a coarfe mafs, which they ftorcd by cooling it in the tin pan as before. From Choco’ate
.'“■“'V—*' afterwards grind on a (lone till it be of the utmoll this experiment he conjeftutes, that there is a
finenefs: the pafte being fufficiently ground, is put finity between phloghton and the ele&ric fluid, it in-
quite hot into tin moulds, in which it congeals in a deed they be not the fame thing,
very little time. The form of thefe moulds is arbi- Chocol at E-Nut Tree. See Cacao.
trary : the cylindrical ones, holding two or three CHOENIX, an ancient dry meafure, con-
pounds, are the molt proper; becaufe the bigger the taining the 48th part of a fnedimnus, or fix bulhels,
cakes are, the longer they will keep. Obferve, that CHOERILUS, a tragic poet of Athens about the
thefe cakes are very liable to take any good or bad 64th olympiad. He wrote 150 tragedies, of which
fcent, and therefore they mufl be carefully wrapt' up in 13 had obtained the prize.—An hiftorian of Samos.—
paper, and kept in a dry place. Complaints are made, Two other poets, one of whom was very intimate
that the Spaniards mix with the cacao nuts too great with Herodotus. He wrote a poem on the victory
a quantity of cloves and cinnamon, befides other drugs which the Athenians had obtained over Xerxes; and on
without number, as mufk, ambergreafe, &c. The account of the excellence of the compofition he recei-
grocers of Paris ufe few or none of thefe ingredients : ' ved a piece of gold for each verfe from the Athenians,
they only choofe the befl: nuts, which are called carac- The other was one of Alexander’s flatterers and friends.
ea, from the place from whence they are brought; CHOERINjE, in antiquity, a kind of feafliells,
and with thefe they mix a very fmall quantity of cin- with which the ancient Greeks ufed to give their iuf*
namon, the frefheft vanilla, and the fineit fugar, but frage, or vote.
very feldom any cloves. In England, the chocolate CHOIR, that part of the church or cathedr:J where
is made of the fimple cacao, excepting that fometimes choirifters ling divine fervice; it is feparated from the
fugar and fometimes vanilla is added.- chancel where the communion is celebrated, and al-
Chocolate ready made, and cacao pafte, are prohi- fo from the nave of the church where the people
bited to be imported from any part beyond the feas. are placed : the patron is faid to be obliged to repair
If made and fold in Great Britain, it pays inland duty the choir of the church. It was in the time of Con-
is. 6d. per lb. avoirdupoife : it muft be inclofed in ftantine that the choir was feparated from the nave,
papers containing one pound each, and produced at In the twelfth century, they began to inclofe it with
the excife-office to be ftamped. Upon three days walls; but the ancient baluftrades have been fincc
notice given to the officer of excife, private families reftored, out of a view to the beauty of archite&ure.
may rfiake chocolate for their own ufe, provided no Choir, in nunneries, is a large hall adj* ining to
lefs than half an hundred weight of nuts be made at the body of the church, feparated by a grate, where
one time. the nuns ling the office.
The chocolate made in Portugal and Spain is not CHOISI (Francis Timoleon de), dean of the cathe-
near fo well prepared as the Englilh, depending per- dral of Bayuix, and one of the forty of the French
haps on the machine employed there, <vi% the double academy, was born at Paris in 1644. In 1685, he was
cylinder, which feems very well calculated for exa£l fent with the chevalier de Chaumont to the king of
triture. If perfeftly prepared, no oil appears on the Siam, and was ordained pried in the Indies by the a-
folution. London chocolate gives up no oil like the poftplical vicar. He wrote a -great number of works,
foreign; and it alfo may, in feme meafure, depend in a polite, florid, and eafy llyle ; the principal of
on the thicknefs of the preparation., The folution re- which are, 1. Four dialogues on the Immortality of
quires more care than is commonly imagined. It is the Soul, 2 Account of a voyage to Siam. 3. An
proper to break it down, and diflblve it thoroughly in Ecclefialtical Hiftory, in 11 vols, 410. 4. Fife of Da-
cold water by milling it with the chocolate flick If vid, with an interpretation of the Pfalms. 5. Life
heat is applied, it ftiould be done flowlyt for, if fud- of Solomon, &c. He died at Paris in 1724.
denly, the heat will not only coagulate it, but fepa- CHOLEDOCHUS, in anatomy, a term applied
rate the oil ; and therefore much boiling after it is to a canal, or dudt, called alfo ronrmvn/V ,* formed
diffolved, is hurtful. Chocolate is commonly required of the union of the porus bilarius and dudtus cyfticus.
by people' of weak ftomachs; but often rejefted for The word comes from choler; and / re-
want of proper preparation. When properly prepa- ce'me, or contain.
red, it is eafily diflblved ; and an excellent food where The choledochus duftus, palling obliquely to the
a liquid nutrient vegetable one is required, and is lefs lower-end of the duodenum, ferves to convey the bile
flatulent than any of the farinacea. from the liver to the inteftines. See Anat n° 97.
Mr Henly, an ingenious eleftrician, has lately dif- CHOLER See Bile.
covered that chocolate, frefh from the mill, as it.cools CHOLERA morbus, a fudden eruption or over¬
in the tin-pans into which it is received, becomes flowing of the bile or bilious matters both upwards and
ftrongly ele&ricai ; and that it retains this property downwards. See (the Index fubjoined to) Medicine.
for fome time after it has been turned out of the pans, CHOMER, of Omer. See Cgrus.
but foon lofes it by handling. The power may be once CHONDRILLA, in botany, a genus of the poly-
or twice renewed by melting it again in an iron ladle, ’ gamia equalis order, belonging to the fyngenefia clai's of
and pouring it into the tin pans as at firft ; but when plants ; and in the natural method ranking under the
it becomes dry and powdery, the power is not capable 49th order, Compofite. The receptacle is1 naked ; the
of being revived by fimple melting : but if a fmall quan- calyx calyculated; the pappu^ fimple and ftalked; the
tity of olive-oil be added, and well mixed with the cho- florets in a manifold feries.
colate in the ladle, its ek&ricity will be completely re- CHQNDROPTERYGII, in ichthyology, a term
for-
C H O [ 703 ] C H O
formerly applied to the order of flihes now called blage of all the confonances in one and the fame Chord.
amphibia nantes hy'LtmnttViS. See Amphibia. ryWv/; (See Consonance^) Moreover, the addition of
CHOP-church, or Church-chopper, a. name, the diflbnance (fee Discord), producing a fourth
or rather nick-name, given to parfons who make a found fuperadded to the perfeft chord, it becomes in-
praftice of exchanging benefices. See Permutation, difpenfably neceffary, if we would render the chord full.
Chap-church occurs in an ancient ftatute as a lawful that we fhould include a fourth part to exprSfs this
trade or occupation ; and fome of the judges fay it diflbnance. Thus, the feries of chords can neither
was a good addition. Brook holds that it was no occu- be complete nor connedfed but by means of four
pation, but a thing permifiible-by law. parts.
CHOPIN, or Chopine, a liquid meafure ufed both Chords are divided into perfedt and imperfedt. The
in Scotland and France, and equal to half their pint. pcrfeS chord is that which we have lately defcribed |
See Pint and ^Ieasure. which is compofed of the fundamental found below,
Chopin (Rene), a famous civilian born at Baiileul of its third, its fifth, and its qdtave : they are likewife
in Anjou in 1537- He was advocate in the parliament fubdivided into major., and minor, according as the
of Paris, where he pleaded for a long time with great thirds which enter into their compofition are flat or
reputation. He at laft (hut himfelf up in his clofet ; {harp: (See Interval.) Some authors likewife
and compofed many''works, which have been colledt- give the name of perfeS to all chords, even to diflb- '
ed together, and printed in 6 vols, folio. Fie died at nances, whofe fundamental founds are below. Im-
Paris in 1606. perfedl 'chords are thofe in which the fixth, inftead of
CHORAL, fignifles any perfon that, by virtue of the fifth, prevails, and in general all thofe whofe low-
any of the orders of the clergy, was in ahcient times eft are not their fundamental founds. Thefe deno-
admitted to fit and ferve G ;d in the choir. minations, which had been given before the fundamert-
Dugdale, in his hiftory of St Paul’s Church, fays, tal bafs was known, are now moft unhappily applied :.
that there were with the chorus formerly fix vicars thofe of chords ,^dire£i and reverfed, are much more
choral belonging to that church. fuitable in the fame fenfe.
CHORASSAN. or Khorassan, a province of Chords are once more divided into confonances and
diflbnance5. The chords denominated confonances*
are the perfect chord, and its derivatives: every
other chord is a diJJ’onance.
A table-of both, according to the fyftem of M. Ra-
Perfia adjoining to Ufbec Tartary. This was the an
cient Badfria, and the birth-place of Kculi Khan.
CHORAX. or Charax. See Characene.
CHORAZIM, or Chorazin, (Luke, Matthew),
a town of Galilee: whofe wretched incredulity Chrift meau, may be feen in Rouffeau’s Mufical Di&ionary,
deplores: now defolate, at two miles diftance from vol. I. p. 27.
Capernaum. - After the table to which our readers have been re-
CKO RD, or Cord, primarily denotes a {lender - mitted, Roufleau adds the following obfervations, which
- rope or cordage The word is formed of the Latin, are at the fame time fo juft and fo important, that we
chorda, and that from the Greek, ^op3«, a gut, whereof fhould be very forry if they efcape the reader’s atten-
ftrings may be made. tion.
Chord, in geometry, aright line drawn from one At-the words harrmny, fundamental lafs, compofi-
part of an arch of a circle to another. Hence, tion, &o. he promifes to treat concerning the manner
Chord of an Arch, is a right line joining the ex- of ufmg all the chords to fo/m regular harmony ; and
tremes of that arch. only adds, in this place, the fuhfequent refleftions.
Chord, in mufic,-the union of two or more founds 1. It is a capital error to imagine, that the methods
uttered at the fame time, and forming together an en- of inverting the fame chord are in all cafes equally
tire harmony. eligible for the harmony and for the exprefiion.
The natural harmony produced by the refonance of There is not one of thefe different arrangements but
a founding body, is compofed of three different founds, had its proper charabfcr. Everyone feels the ,con-
without reckoning their o&aves; which form among traft between the foftnefs of the falfe fifth, and the
themfelves the moft agreeable and perfeft chord grating found of the tritone, though the one of thefe
that can poffibly be heard: for which reafon they are intervals is produced by a method of inverting the
called, on account of their excellence, perfed chords', other. With the feventh diminifhed, and the fecond
Hence, in order to render that harmony com- redundant, the cafe is the fame with the interval of the
plete, it is neceflary that each chord fhould at leaft fecond in general ufe, and the feventh. Who does
confift of three founds. The trio is likewife found not feel how much more vocal and fonorous the fifth
by muficians to include the peffe&ion of . harmony ; appears when compared with the fourth i The chord
whether becaufe in this all the chords, and each in its of the great fixth, and that of the lefler fixth minor,
full perfe&ion, are ufed; or, becaufe upon fuch occa- are two forms of the fame fundamental chord; but
fions as render it improper to ufe them all, and each how much lefs is the one harmonious than the other ?
in its integrity, arts have been fuccefsfully pra&ifed On the contrary, the chord of the lefler fixth major is
to deceive the ear, and to give it contrary perfuafion, much more pleafing and cheerful than that of the falfe
by deluding it with the principal founds of each chord, fifth. And only to mention the moft Ample of all
in fuch a manner as- to render it forgetful of the other chords, reflect on the majtfty of the perfect chord,
founds neceflary to them completion. Yet the oftave the fweetnefs of that which is called the chord of the
of the principal found produces new relations, and fixth, and the infipidity of that which is compofed of
aew confonances, by the completion of the intervals : a fixth and a fourth ; all of them, however, compo-
they commonly add this offtave, to have the aflem- fed of the fame founds. In general, the redundant-
!
C H O [7o+l C H O
Cn rds intervals, the fharps in the higher part, are proper by
c, -r their feverity to exprefs violent emotions of mind,
' pus. fuch as anger and the rougher pafiions. On the con-
■ - t-- ' trary, flats in the higher parts, and diminilhed inter¬
vals, form a plaintive harmony, which melts the heart.
There are a multitude of fimilar obfervations, of
which when a mufleian knows how to avail himfelf,
he may command at will the affe&ions of thofe who
hear him.
2. Th6 choice of Ample intervals is fcarcely of lefs
importance than that of the chords, with regard to
the ftations in which they ought to be placed. It is,
for inftance, in the lower parts that the fifth and oc¬
tave fhould be ufed in preference; in the .upper parts,
the third and fixth are more proper. If you tranfpofe
this order, the harmony will be ruined even tho’ the
fame chords are preferved.
3. In a word, the chords are rendered flill more
harmonious, by being approximated and only divided
by the fmalleft pradlicable intervals, which are more
fuitable to the capacity of the ear than fuch as are re¬
mote. This is what we call contrasting the harmony,
an art which few compofers have Ikill and abilities
enough to put in praftice. The limits in the natural
compafs of voices, afford an additional reafon for lef-
fening the diftance of the intervals, which compofe
the harmony of the chorus, as much as poflible. We
may affirm, that a chorus is improperly compofed,
when the diftance between the chords increafes ; when
thofe who perform the different parts are obliged to
fcream ; when the voices rife above their natural ex¬
tent, and are fo remotely diftant one from the other
that the perception of harmonical relations between
them is loft.
We fay likewife, that an inftrument is in concord
when the intervals between its fixed founds are what
they ought to be; Vve fay in this fenfe, that the chords
of an inftmment are true or falfe, that it preferves or
does not preferve its chords. The fame form of fpeak-
ing is ufed for two voices which fing together, or for
two founds which are heard at the fame time, whether
in unifon or in parts.
Chords, or Cords, of Mufical Injlruments, are
firings, by the vibration of which the fenfation of found
is excited, and by the divifions of which the feveral de¬
grees of tone are determined.
CHORDEE, in medicine and furgery, a fympton
attending a gonorrhoea, confifting in a violent pain
under the frenum, and along the duft of the urethra,
during the ereftion of the penis, which is incurvated
downwards. Thefe ereftions are frequent and invo¬
luntary.
CHOREASancti Viti. See Virus's Dance.
CHOREPISCOPUS, an officer in the ancient
church, about whofe fundlion th^ learned are ex¬
tremely divided. The word comes from xaP°C’ a re¬
gion, or little country) and ixiar.om;, a bi/hop, or over-
feer.
The chorepifcopi were fuffragan or local biftrops,
holding a middle rank between biflrops and prelbyters,
and delegated to exercife epifcopal jurifdidlion within
certain diftri&s, when the boundaries of particular
churches, over which feparate biftiops prefided, were
confiderably enlarged. It is not certain when this of-
-fice was fir ft introduced: fome trace it to the clofe of
78,
the firft century; others tell us, that chorepifcopiChorepifco-
were not known in the call till the beginning of the Pus
fourth century ; and in the weft about the year 4?o, II
They ceafed both in the eaft and weft in the tenth C‘1“rUS‘ f
century. v
Chorefiscopus is alfo the name of a dignity ftill
fubfifting in fome cathedrals, particularly’ in Ger¬
many ; fignifying . the fame with chori epifeopus, or
“ biihop of the choir.” The word, in this fenfe, does
not come from xuPas. place, but x^s, choir, &c. In
the church of Cologne, &c. the firft chanter is called
chorepifcopus.
CHOREUS, a foot in the ancient poetry,
more commonly called trochteus. See Trochee.
CHORIAMBUS, in ancient poetry, a foot con¬
fifting of four fyllables, whereof the firft and laft are
long, and the two middle ones are fhort; or, which
is the fame thing, it is made up of a trochams and
iambus : fuch is the word nobilitas.
CHORION, in anatomy, the exterior membrane
which inverts the feetus in the uterus. See Foetus.
CHOROBATA, or Chorobates, a kind of wa¬
ter level among the ancients, of the figure of the let¬
ter T, according to Vitruvius’s defeription.
CHOROGRAPHY, the art of making a map of
fome country or province.
Chorography differs from geography, as the' de¬
feription of a particular country differs from that of
the' whole earth ; and from topography>.as the de¬
feription of a country is different from that of a town
or diftritft. See the articles Geography, Topogra¬
phy, and Map.
CHGROIDES, or Choroeides, in anatomy, a
term applied to feveral parts of the body; bearing fonje
refemblance to the chorion. The word is formed from
chorion, and Ukenefs.
Choroides is particularly ufed for the inner mem¬
brane which immediately in veils the brain ; fo called
as being intermingled with a great number of blood-
veffels, like the chorion; but more ufually denominated
the pia mater, or meninx tenuis.
Plexus or Lacis Choroides, is a knot of veins and
• arteries in the anterior ventricle of the brain, woven
out of the branches of the carotid.
Choroides is alfo applied to the inner and pofte-
rior tunic of the eye, immediately under the fcleroti-
ca. It is foft, thin, and black; and its inner or
concave furface is very fmooth and polilhed. It has
its name from its being interfperfed with veffels.
CHORUS, in dramatic poetry,'one or more per-
fons prefent on the ftage during the reprefentation,
and fuppofed to be by-ftanders without any (hare in
the a<ftion.
Tragedy in its origin was no more than a Angle
chorys, who trod the ftage alone, and without any
a£tors, finging dithyrambics or hymns in honour of
Bacchus. Thefpis, to relieve the chorus, added an
a£lor, who rehearfed the adventures of fome of their
heroes; and iEfchylus, finding a Angle perfomtoo dry
an entertainment, added a fecond, at the fame time
reducing the finging of the chorus, to make more
room for the recitation. But when once tragedy be¬
gan to be formed, the recitative, which at firft was in¬
tended only as an acceffory part to give the chorus a
breathing time, became a principal part of the trage-
1 dy.
C H O [ 705 ] C H R
Chorus. Jy. At length, however, the chorus became inferted
Chofloes an^ incorPorate^ *nto t^ie action : fcmetimes it was to
t-,—^  fpeak ; and then their chief, whom they called cory-
phaus, fpoke in behalf of the reft : the finging was
performed by the whole company; fo that when the
coryphaeus ftruck into a fong, the chorus immediately
joined him.
The chorus fometimes alfo joined the aftors in the
courfe of the reprefentation, with their plaints and la¬
mentations on account of any unhappy accidents that
befel them : but the proper function, and that for
which it feemed chiefly retained, was to ftiow the in¬
tervals of the afts : while the adlors were behind the
fcenes, the chorus engaged the fpeftators; their fongs
ufually turned on what was exhibited, and were not
to contain any thing but what was fuited to the fub-
jeft, and had a natural connexion with it; fo that the
chorus concurred with the aftors for advancing the ac¬
tion. In the modern tragedies the chorus is laid afide,
and the fiddles fupply its place. M. Dacier looks on
this retrenchment as of ill confequence, and thinks it
robs tragedy of a great part of its luftre ; he therefore
judges it neceffary to re-eftablifh it, not only on ac¬
count of the regularity of the piece, but alfo to cor-
re&, by prudent and virtuous refleftions, any extrava¬
gances that might fall from the mouths of the aftors
when under any violent pafiion.
M. Dacier obferved alfo, that there was a chorus,
or grex, in the ancient comedy : but this isfuppreffed
in the new comedy, becaufe it was ufed to reprove
vices by attacking particular perfons ; as the chorus of
the tragedy was laid afide to give the greater pro¬
bability to thofe kinds of intrigue which require fe-
crecy.
Chorus, in mufic, is when, at certain periods of
a fong, the whole company are to join the finger in
repeating certain couplets or verfes.
CHOSE, (Fr.) “ a thing ufed in the common
law with divers epithets ; as chafe local, chafe tranfitory,
and chafe in adion. Chofe local is fuch a thing as is
annexed to a place, as a mill and the like; chofe tran¬
fitory is that thing which is moveable, and may be ta¬
ken away, or carried from place to place; and chofe
iu a&ian is a thing incorporeal, and only aright, as an
obligation for debt, annuity, &c. And generally all
caufes of fuit for any debt, duty, or wrong, are to be
accounted cihofes in a&ion : and it feems, chofe in ac-
.tion may be alfo .called chafe in fufpence; htcmfe it
hath no real exiftence or being, nor can properly be
faid to be in our poffeffion.
CHOSROES I. the Great, king of Perfia, after
• his father Cabades, A. D. 532. He made peace wdth
the Romans ; but broke it the third year, and forced
Juftinian to a difadvantageous peace. Afterward, he
was fo fwelled with his vi&ories, as to bid the empe¬
ror’s ambalfador follow him for audience to Caefarea :
but Tiberius fent an army under Juftinian ; who made
himfelf mailer of the country, and put Chofroes to
death in 586.
Chosroes II. His fubjefts put his father Hormif-
das in prifon, and the fen upon the throne of Perfia.
He ufed his father tenderly at firft; but afterwards
caufed him to be put to death. This, together with
his killing feme of the nobility, obliged him to fiy: he
gave his horfe the bridle, which carried him into a
Von. IV. Part II.
town of the Romans, where Mauricius the emperor Choucfc
received him kindly, and fent an army under Narfes, Ch|enei
which fet him again upon the throne. He took Je- crufa6*
rufalem; after this he made himfelf mafter of Libya ——y——
and Egypt, and carried Carthage. Heraclius fued for
peace ; which was offered him on condition, That he
and his fuhjeBsJhould deny Jefus Chrijl : Hereupon He¬
raclius attacked him with fuccefs, and put him to
flight. His own foil purfued him, and he was ftarved
in prifon in 627.
CHOUGH, in ornithology, the trivial name of a
fpecies of Corvus.
CHOUS, in the eaftern military orders, the title
of the meffengers of the divan of Janifaries. There are
feveral degrees of honour in this poll. When aperfon
is firft advanced to it, he is called a cuchuk, or little
chous; after this he is advanced to be the alloy chous ;
that is, the meffenger of ceremonies; and from this,
having palled through the office of petelma, or procu¬
rator of the effects of the body, he is advanced to be
the has chous.
CHOWDER-beer, a provincial phrafe of Devon-
Ihire, denoting a cheap and eafily prepared drink,
highly commended for preventing the feurvy in long
voyages, or for the cure of it where it may have been
contracted. It is prepared in the following manner *
Take twelve gallons of water, in which put three
pounds and a half of black fpruce : boil it for three
hours, and having taken out the fir or fpruce, mix
with the liquor feven pounds of melaffes, and jult
boil it up ; llrain it through a fieve, and when milk
warm put to it about four fpoonfuls of yell to work
it. In two or three days ftop the bung of the calk ;
and in five or fix days, when fine, bottle it for drinking.
Two gallons of meiafles are fufficient for an hoglhead
of liquor ; but if meiaffes cannot be procured, treacle
or coarfe fugar will anfwer the purpofe.
CHREMNITZ, the principal of the nine-towns in
Upper Hungary, fituated about 68 miles north-eall
of Freiburg, and fubjecl to the houfe of Auftria. E.
Long. 19. N. Lat. 48. 45.
CHRENECRUDA, a term occurring in writers
of the middle age, and expreffing a cuftom of thofe
times; but its fignification is doubtful. It is men¬
tioned in Lege Salica, Tit. 61. which fays, he who kills
a man, and hath not wherewithal to fatisfy the law or
pay the fine, makes oath that he has delivered up every
thing he was poffeflTed of; the truth of which muft be
confirmed by the oaths of 12 other perfons. Then he
invites his next relations by the father’s fide to pay
off the remainder of the fine, Having firft made over
to them all his effeCls by the following ceremony. He
goes into his houfe, and taking in his hand a final!
quantity of dull from each of the four corners, he re¬
turns to the door, and with his face inwards throws
the dull with his left hand over his Ihoulders upon his
neareft of kin. Which done, he ftrips to his Ihirt;
and coming out with a pole in his hand, jumps over
the hedge. His relations, whether one or feveral, are
upon this obliged to pay off the compofition for the
murder. And if thefe (or any one of them) are not
able to pay, itcrum fuper ilium chrenecruda, qui pauperior
ejl, j act at, et ille totam legem componat. Whence it ap¬
pears, that chrenecruda jaciare, is the fame with throw¬
ing the duft, gathered from the four corners of the
4 U houfe.
C H R
GoTdaftus and Spelman tranflate it v'ir'idenr
[ 7°6 1
C H R
©hrifrai houfe,
. C}|';£ herb am, ** green grafs,” from the German gruet kraut,
i, or from the Dutch “ green,” and gruid, « grafs.”
Wendelinus is of a contrary opinion, who thinks that
by this word denotarl purificationis approbationem, from
chrein, “ pure, chafte, cleanand leuren, “ to prove
fo that it mult refer to the oaths of the twelve jurors.
Be this as it will, king Childehert reformed this law
by a decree, chap. I ?, both becaufe it favoured of
pagan ceremonies, and becaufe federal perfosjs were
thereby obliged to make over all their effects : De
chrenecrucla lex quam paganorum tempore obfervabant, de-
inceps nunquam valeat, quia per ipfanttxccidii multorum
potejlas.
CHRISM (from XP‘'J> I anoint), oil confecrated by
the bilhop, and ufed in the Romilh andGreek churches,
in the adminiftration of baptifm, confirmation, ordi¬
nation, and extreme undtion, which is prepared on
holy Thurfday with much ceremony. In Spain.it was
anciently the cuftom for the bilhop to take one third
of a fol for the chrifm diltributed to each church, on
account of the balfam that entered its compofition.
Du Cange obferves, that there are two kinds of
chrifm ; the one prepared of oil and balfam, ufed b
had their refidenre at fir ft at Caftromarin ; afterwards Ghrifii
they removed to the city of Thomar, as being nearer
to the Moors of Andalulia-, and Eftremadux-a. n;ry_ *
Crtfusr is alfo the-name of a military order in.Li v
vonia, inftituted in 1205 by Albert bifhop of Riga.
The end of this inftitution was to. defend the new
Chi'iftians, who were converted every day in Livonia, ^
but were perfecuted by the heathens. They wore on
their cloaks a fword with a crofs over it, whence they
were alfo denominated brothers of the fw&rd.
CmusT-Burgh, a town of Poland, near the lake
Drattfen, and about three Polilh miles from Marien-
burgh.
Chrut-Church, a borough-town of Hamplhire, 30
miles fouth-weft of Winehefter, near the fea-coaft. W.
Long. 2. N. Lat. 50. 40. It fends two members to
parliament.
CBRisr-Thorn, in botany. See Rhamnus.,
CHRISTIAN. See Christianxty and Chri--
STIANS. -
Mojl Christian King, one of the titles of the king,
of France.
The French antiquaries trace the origin of this ap¬
pellation up to Gregory the Great”, who, writing a.
baptifm, confirmation, and ordination ; the other of letter to Charles Martel, occafionally gave him that
oil alone, confecrated by the bilhop, ufed anciently
for the catechumens, and ft ill in extreme unftion. The
Maronites, before their reconciliation with Rome, be--
fides oil and balfam, ufed mulk, faffron, cinnamon,
rofes, white frankincenfe, and feveral other drugs men¬
tioned by Rynaldus, in 1541, with the dofes of each.
The Jefuit Dandini, who went to mount Libanus irr
quality of the pope’s nuncio, ordained, in a fynod held
there in 1596, that chrifm for the future ihould be
made only of two ingredients, oil and balfam ; the one
reprefenting the human nature of Jefus Chriit, the
other his divine nature. The adfion of impofing the
chrifm is called chrifmation : this the generality of the
Romilh divines hold to be the next matter of the fa-
erament of confirmation.
The chrifmation in baptifm is performed by the
prieft ; that in confirmation by the bilhop ; that in
ordination, &c. is more ufually ftyled motion.
Chrism Pence, Chrism.itis Denarii, or Chrismales
Denarii, a tribute anciently paid to-the bilhop by the
title, which his fucceffors have fince retained.
Christian Religion, that inftituted by Jefus Chrift.
See Christianity. r
CHRISTIANITY, the religion of Chriftians. The Origin of
word is. analogically derived, as other abftra&s from die word,
their concretes, from the adjedtive Chrfian. This
again is derived from the name Xp'ro-r, Chrijlus, from
the word 1 anoint. Chrift is called the anointed,,
from a cuftom which extenfively prevailed in anti¬
quity,, and was originally faid to be of divine inftitu¬
tion, of anointing perfons in the facerdotal or regal
charadter, as a public fignal of their confecration to
their important offices, and as a teftimony that hea¬
ven itfelf was the guarantee of that relation which
then commenced between the perfons thus confecra¬
ted and their fubordinates.
The difciples of Jefus, after the death of their teach-gy what
er, had for fome time been called Naxarenes, from name the
Nazareth in Galilee where he dwelt; which after-spoftles
wards became the defignation of a particular fedt.
parilh-clei-gy, for their chrifro, confecrated at Eafter They, who adopted the principles and profelfed the
for the enfuing year : this was afterwards condemned
as iimoniacal.
cfJrisom, Chrismale, was anciently the face¬
cloth or piece of linen laid over the child’s head when
it was baptized. Whence, in our bills of mortality,
children who die in the month are called chrifoms. The
time between the child’s birth and baptifm was alfo
called chrifomus.
CHRIST, an appellation fynonymous with Mejjiah,
ufually added to Jefus: and, together therewith, de¬
nominating the Saviour of tlie world.. See Christi¬
anity and Messiah.
The word fignifies anointed, from inungo,
“ I anoint.” Sometimes the word Chri/l is ufed fingly,
by way of antonomajis, to denote a perfon fent from
God, as an anointed prophet, king, or prieft:
religion which he taught, were firft diftinguifhed by
the name of Chriftians at Antioch. That profeffion,.
and thofe do&rines, we now proceed to delineate with
as much, perfpicuity as the limits of our plan will ad¬
mit, yet with the concifenefs which a work fo multi¬
form and extenfive requires. 3
When a Chriftian is interrogated concerning the Delineation
nature and foundation of. his faith and pra&ice, his ul- °( Chriitia-
timate reference, his laft appeal, is to the fails, themty'
doilrines, and the injun&ions, contained in the books
of the Old and New Teftament. From thefe, there¬
fore, and from thefe. alone, muft every fair account, or
the materials of which it is compofed, be extracted or
deduced. Other formularies, or confeffions of faith,
may, according to the Chriftian, deferve more or lefs
attention,, as they are more or lefs immediately, con-
Order of Christ, a military order, founded by Dio- tained or implied in the feriptnres. But whatever is
nyfiiis I. king of Portugal, to animate his nobles againft not actually expreffed in, or deduced by fair and ne-
the Moors.—The arms of this order are gules, patri- -ceffary confequenee from, thefe writings, muft be re-
archal crofs, charged.with another crofs argent: they ' gaided as merely human ; and can have no other title
to
c H R
■ Ch iS!a-
to oar affcat and obfcrvadon thaa wliat tliey derive
, !11’) ’ , from their conformity with the fcriptares, with the
didfates and feelings of a reformed and cultivated
mind, or with thofe meafures which are found expe¬
dient arid ufeful in human life. But as thofe books,
from whence the Chriftian inveftigates his principles of
belief and rules of eopduft, have been varkmfly inter¬
preted by different profeffors and commentators, thefe
diverfities havs given birth to a multiplicity of diffe¬
rent fedfs. It cannot, therefore, be expected, that
any one who undertakes to give an account of Chri-
ftianity, fhouM comprehend all the writings and epi-
idong which have been propagated and exhibited by
hiftorical, fyftematical, or polemical authors. Thefe,
if at all contained in fuch a work as this, fhouid be
ranged under their proper articles, whether fcientifical,
Cpntroverfiai, or biographical. It is our prefent bu-
finefs, if poffible, to confine ourfelves to a detail of fuch
faffs and doffrines as, in the ftritf and primitive fenfe
of the word, are catholic, or in other cxprefilons, to
fuch as uniformly have been, and ftiil are, recognifed
4 and admitted by the whole body of Chadians.
Account of \Ve have already faid that thefe, or at lead the
Chi'illiani- greate;^ Df them, appeal to the icr ip Cures of
tf.educibi",Ce {^e Old and New teftamcnt as the ultimate dandard,
the only infallible rule of faith and manners. If you
nfli them, by what authority thefe books claim an ab-
folute right to determine the conferences and under*
flarulings of men wiih regard to what they fhouid be*
lleve and what they fhouid do ? they*will anfwer you,
that, ail feripture, whether for dodtrine, correction, or
reproof, was given by immediate infpiratiou from
5 God.
The nature jf again you interrogate them how thofe books,
“* they call Scripture, are authenticated i they re¬
ply, that the evidences by which the Old and New
Teftament are proved to be the Word of God, are
either external or internal. The externa! may again
be divided into diredt or collateral. The direct, evi¬
dences are fuch as arife from the nature, confifteney,
and probability, of the fa£ts; and from the fimplieity,
Uniformity, competency, and fidelity, of the teftiroonies
by which they are fupported. The collateral events,
[ 707 1
C H R
{knees.
and preferving' the tenor of its annals entire. The ChrifH*,
fadts themfelves are either natural or fupernatural, Iutf:
By riatural fafts we mean fuch ©ccuiTertces as happen
or may happen from the various operations of mecha¬
nical powers, or from the interpofition of natural
agents without higher affiflants. Such are all the com¬
mon occurrences of hiftory, whether natural, biogra¬
phical, or civil. By fupernatural fadts, we mean fuch
as could not have been produced without the interpo¬
fition of Deity* or at lead of powers fuperior to the
laws of mtehanifm or the agency of embodied fpirits.
Among thefe may be reckoned the immediate change
of water into ^ine, the inftantaneous cure of difeafes
without the intervention of medicine, the refufeitation
of the dead, and others of the fame kind. In this or¬
der of occurrences may likewife be numbered the ex¬
ertions and exhibitions of prophetic power, where the
perforis by whom thefe extraordinary talents were
difplayed could neither by penetration nor conjecture
unravel the mazes of futurity, and trace the events of
which they fpoke from their primary caufes to their
remote completion's So that they mult have been
the paffive organs of fame fuperior Being, to whom
the whole concatenation of caufes and effects which
operate from the origin to the confummation of na¬
ture, was obvious at a glance of thought.
It has already been hinted, that the facts which we Natural
have called natural, not only agree with the analogy ^s> what,
of human events, and corroborate each other, but in ^d.^cive
a great many emergencies nobly illuftrate the hiftory t0 t£e elu-
of nature in general For this a Chriftian might offer delation of
one inftance,. of which philofophy will not perhaps be h‘^0i7*
able to produce any tolerable folution, without having
recourfe to the facts upon which Chriftianity is founded.
For if mankind were originally defeended from one
pair alone, how ihould it have happened that long be¬
fore the date of authentic hiftory every nation had
its own diftindf language ? Or if it be fuppofed, as
dome late philofophers have maintained, that man is
an indigenous animal in every country; or, that I16
was originally produced in, and created for, each par¬
ticular foil and climate which he inhabits; ftiil it may
be demanded, whence the prodigious multiplicity, the
are either the fame occurrences fupported by He a- immenfe diverftty, of languages ? Is the language of
then teftimonies, or others which concur with and every nation intuitive, or were they dictated by exi-
Corrohorate the hiftory of Chriftianity. Its interna/, gences, and eflablifhed by convention ? If the laft of'
evidences arife either from its exa& conformity with
the chara&er of God, from its aptitude to the frame
and circumftances of man, or from thofe fupernatural
eonvi&ions and afiiftances which are impreffed on the
mind by the immediate operation of the divine Spirit.
Thefe can only be mentioned in a eurfpry manner in
6 a detail fo eoncife as the prefent.
Itow Chri Such fads as are related in the hiftory of his reli-
?,an‘T >s gjon, the Chriftian afferts to be not only confiftent
r* trrith UffJf. Kvifr 1! k P w»Th r*ne \xnfli snnflipr.
ft-.,
♦y faefts
each with itfelf, but likewife one with another. Hence
it is, that, by a feries of antecedents and confequen-
ces, they corroborate each other, and form a chain
which cannot be broken but by an abfolute fubver-
fion of all hiftorical authenticity.^ Nor is this all; for,
-according to him, the faffs on which Chriftianity is
thefe luppofitions be true, what an immenfe period of
time muft have paffed ? How many revolutions of ma¬
terial and intellectual nature muft have happened?
What acceffions of knowledge, refinement, civiliza¬
tion, muft human intercourfe have gained before the
formation and eftablifhment even of the moft simple,
imperfeft, and barbarous language ? Why is a period
fo vaft, obliterated fo entirely as to efcape the retro-
fpeft of hiftory, of tradition, and even of fable itfelf?
Why was the acquifition' and improvement of other
arts fo infinitely diftant from that of language, that
the sera of the latter i-s entirely loft, whilft we can
trace the former from their origin through the vari- g
ous gradations of their progrefs. Thisobfeu*
Thefe difficulties, inextricable by all the lights ofntyii
but are likewife in fevfiral periods the heft refources nefs, is immediately diffipated by the Mofaic account
for fupplying the chafms in the hiftory of our nature, of the confufion of tongues; wifely intended to fepa- count.
. 4 U 2 rate
C H R [ 708 ] C H R
chriftla- rate the tribes of men one from another, td replenish
^y- the furface of the globe, and to give its multiplied iu-
habitants thofe opportunities of improvement which
might be derived from experiment and induftry, va-
rioufly exerted, according to the different fituations in
which they were placed, and the different employ-
ments'which thefe fituations dictated. Thus the. time
of nature’s exiflence is limited to a period within the
ken of human intellect. Thus whatever has happen¬
ed might have happened during the prefent mode of
things; whereas, if we deduce the origin and diverfity
of language from a period fo remotely diftant as to be
abfolutely loft, and entirely detached* from all the
known occurrences and viciffitudes of time, we muft
admit the prefent forms and arrangements of things
to have fubfifted perhaps for a much longer duration
than any mechanical philofopber will allow to be pof-
fible. Other inftances equally pregnant with convic¬
tion might be multiplied.; but, precluded by the limits
of our plan, we proceed to a tingle obfervation upon
9 the facts which have been termed fupernaturaL
Miracles,- Of thpfe changes which happen in fenfible objedts,
how con- fenfation alone can be judge. Reafon has nothing to
prove the ' do in the matter. She may draw conclufions from
truth of the teftimonies of fenfe, but can never refute them.
Chriitiaai- If, therefore, our fenfes inform us that fnow is white,
T- in vain would the moft learned and fubtile philofopher
endeavour to convince us that it was of a contrary
colour. He might confound us, but never could per-
fuade us. Such changes, therefore, as appear to hap¬
pen in fenfible objedts, muft either be real or fallaci¬
ous. If real, the miracle is admitted; if fallacious,
there muft be a caufe of deception equally unaccount¬
able from the powers of nature, and therefore equally
miraculous. If the veracity or competency of the
witneffes be queflioned, the Chriftian anfwers, that
they muft be competent, becaufe the facts which they
relate are not beyond their capacity to determine.
They muft likewife be faithful, becaufe they had no
fecular motives for maintaining, but many for fuppref-
ftng or difguifing, what they teftified. Now the Chri¬
ftian appeals to the. whole feries of hiftory and expe¬
rience, whether fuch a man is or can be found, as will
jo offer a voluntary, folemn, and deliberate facrifice of
Prophecy truth at- the (brine of caprice. But fuch fadts as after
fts* own na-3 continuance of time have been found exadtly
mre inde- agreeable to predidtions formerly emitted, muft fu-
pendent of perfede the fidelity of teftimony, and infallibly prove
its vehicles, that the event was known to the Being by whom it
was foretold. In vain has it been urged, that prophe¬
cies are ambiguous and equivocal. For though they
may prefigure fubordinate events, yet if the grand oc¬
currences to which they ultimately relate, can alone
fulfil them in their various-circumftances, and in their
utmoft extent, it is plain, that the Being by whom
they were revealed muft have been adtually prefcient
'of thofe events, and muft have had them in view when
the predidtions were uttered. For this fee a learned
and ingenious Differtation on the Credibility of Gof-
pel-hiftory, by Dr M‘Knight; where the evidences
urged by the Chriftian in defence of hia tenets, which
appear detached and fcattered through innumerable
volumes, are affembled and arranged in fuch a manner
as to derive ftrength and luftre from, the method in
wdiich they are difpofed, without diminifhing the
force of each in particular. See alfo the Works of Dr- ChriiKa-
Hurd: confult likewife thofe of Newton, Sherlock, mty~l
Chandler, &c. For the evidences of thofe preternatu- y
ral fadts which have been termed miracles, the reader
may perufe a fliort but elegant and conclufive ;defence.
of thefe aftonifhing phenomena, in anfwerto Mr Hume,
by the Rev. George Campbell, D. D. Ir
It muft be obvious to every refledting mind, that Properties
whether we attempt to form the idea of any religion coaimou to
a priori, or contemplate thofe which have been already a. reu*
exhibited, certain fadts, principles, or data, muft be !=l0ns’
pre-eftabli(hed, from whence will refult a particular
frame of mind and courfe of adtion fuitable to the
charadter and dignity of that Being by whom the re¬
ligion is enjoined, and adapted to the nature and fitu-
ation of thofe agents who are commanded to obferve
it. Hence Chrijlianity may be divided into credenda
or dodtrines, and agenda or precepts. I2
As the great. foundation of his religion, therefore, .Chriftian
the Chriftian believes the exiftence and government theology,
of on? eternal and infinite Effence, which for ever re¬
tains in itfelf the caufe of its own exiftence, and inhe¬
rently poiTeffes all thofe perfedtio'ns which are com¬
patible with its nature : fuch are, its almighty power,
omnifcient wifdom, infinite juftice, boundlefs good-
nefs, and univerfal prefence. In this indiviiible ef¬
fence the Chriftian reeognifes three diftinct fubfilt-
ences, yet diftinguiihed in fuch a manner as not to be
incompatible with effentxal unity or fimplicity of be¬
ing. Nor is their effential union incompatible with,
their perfonal diilindtion. Each of them poffeffes the
fame nature and properties to the fame extent. As,
therefore, they ai-e conftituent of one God, if we may
ufe the expreflxon, there is none of them fubordinate,
none fupreme. The only way by which the Chriltian
can difcriminate them is, by their various relations,,
properties, and offices. Thus the Father is faid eter¬
nally to beget the Son, the Son to be eternally begot¬
ten of the Father, and the Holy Ghoft eternally to
proceed from both.
This infinite Being, though abfolutely independent
Send for ever fufficient for his own beatitude, was gra-.
cioufiy pleafed to create an univeife replete with in¬
ferior intelligences, who might for ever contemplate
and enjoy his glory, participate his happinefs, and imt-
, tate his perfedtions. But as freedom of will is effen¬
tial to the nature of moral agents* that they may co-
operate with God in their own improvement and hap?
pinefs, fo their natures and powers are neceffarily li¬
mited, and by that conftitution rendered peccable.
This degeneracy firft took place in -a rank of intelli- -
gence fuperior to man. But guilt is never ftationary..
Impatient of itfelf, and curfed with its own feelings, it
pi'oceeds from bad to worfe, whilft the poignancy of
its tonnents increafes with the number of its perpe¬
trations. Such was the fituation of Satan and his apo-
ftate angds. They attempted to. transfer their tur¬
pitude] and mifery to manand were, alas! but too
fuccefsful. Hence the heterogeneous and in-econcile.-
able principles which operate in his nature. Hence
that inexplicable medley of wifdom and folly, of rec¬
titude and eri'or, of benevolence and malignity, of fin-
cerity and fraud, exhibited through his whole con-
dudft. Hence the darknefs of hia underftanding, the
depravity of his will, the pollution of his heart* the ir¬
regularity
C H R [
regularity of h's affections, and tlie abfolue fubverfion
of his whole internal economy. Thefe feeds of per¬
dition foon ripened into overt a6ts of guilt and horror.
All the hoftilities of nature were confronted, and the
whole fublunary creation became a theatre of diforder
apd mi (chief.
Here the Chridian once more appeals to fa6t and
experience. If thefe things are fo; if man is the
veffel of guilt and the vidtim of mifery ; he demands
how this conffitution of things can be accounted for?
how can it be fuppofed, that a being fo wicked and
unhappy fhould be the produdtion of an infinitely per-
feft Creator? He therefore infifts, that human nature
muff have been difarranged and contaminated by
fome violent fhock; and that, of confequence, without
the light diffufed over the face of things by Chriftianity,
all nature mull remain an infcrutable and inexplicable
myftery.
To redrefs thefe evils, to re-eftabliftr the empire of
virtue and happinefs, to reftore the nature of man
to its primitive reftitude, to fatisfy the remonftran-
ces of infinite juftice, to purify every original or con¬
tracted {lain, to expiate the guilt and deftroy the
power of vice, the eternal.Son of God, the fecond Per-
fon of the facred Trinity, the Logos or Divine Word,
the Redeemer or Saviour of the world, the Immanuel
or God with us, from whom Chriftxanity takes its
name, and to whom it owes its origin, defcended from
the bofom of his Father ; affumed the human nature
became the reprefentative of man; endured a fevere
probation in that charafter ; exhibited a pattern of
perfect righteoufnefs ; and at laft ratified his do&rine,
and fully accomplifhed all the ends of his miffion, by
a cruel, unmerited, and ignominious death. Before
he left this world, he delivered the do&rine of human
falvation, and the rules of human conduct, to his
apoflles, whom he empowered to inftrtift the world in
all that concerned their eternal felicity, and whom he
invefted with miraculous gifts to afcertain the reality
of what they taught.. To them he likewife promifed
another comforter, even the Divine" Spirit, who fhould
relume the darknefs, confole the woes, and purify the
{tains, of human nature. Having remained for a part
of three days under the power of death, he arofe
again from the grave, difcovered himfelf to his dif-
ciples, con'verfed with them for fome time, then re-
afcended to heaven ; from whence the Chriftian. ex¬
perts him, according to his promife, to appear as the
Sovereign Judge of the living and the dead, from
whofe awards there is no appeal, and by whofe fen-
tence the deftiny of the pious and the wicked {hall be
eternally; fixed.
Soon after his departure to the right hand of his
Father/ where, in his human nature, he fits fupreme
of all created beings, and invefted with the abfolute
adminiftration of heaven -and earth, the Spirit of grace
and confolation defcended on his apoftles with vifible
fignatures of divine power and prefence. Nor were
his falutary operations confined to them, but extend¬
ed to all the rational world, who did not by obftinate
guilt repel his influences, and provoke him to with¬
draw them. Thefe, indeed, were lefs confpicuous
than at the. glorious sera when they were vifibly exhi¬
bited in the perfons of the appftles. But though his
709 ] C H R
energy is lefs obfervable, it is by no means lefs effe&ual ChrUHa-
to all the purpofes of grace and mercy. nity' .
The Chriftian is convinced, that there is and {hall v
continue to be a fociety upon earth, who worihip God
as revealed in Jefus Chrift; who believe his doftrines ;
who obferve his precepts ; and who (hall be faved by
his death, and by the ufe of thefe external means of.
falvation which he hath appointed. , I3
Thefe are few and Ample. The facraments of
haptifm and the eucharift, the interpretation and ap-of Chriftia-
plication of ffcripture, the habitual exercife of public nity, what,
and private devotion, are obvioufly calculated to dif- and ho'y
fufe and promote therinterefts of truth and virtue, by ^0^”.t^ve
fuperinducing the falutary habits of faith, love,,and re-encj.
pen tan ce.
The Chriftian is firmly perfuaded, that at the con-
fummation of things, when the purpoies of providence
in the various revolutions of progreflive nature are
accoinpliftied, the whole human race {hall once more
iffue from their graves ; fome to immortal felicity,
from the a&ual perception and enjoyment of their
Creator’s prefence; others to everlafting ftiame and
mifery. _ ,4
The two grand principles of a&ion, according to Chriftian-
the Chriftian, are, The love of God, which is the fove- morality,
reign paffion in every perfeA mind; and the love of
man, which regulates our adlions according to the va¬
rious relations in which we ftand, whether to commu¬
nities or individuals. This facred connection can
never be totally extinguiftred by any temporary injury.
It ought to-fubfift in fome degree even amongft ene¬
mies. It requires that we ftiould pardon the offences- '
of others,, as we expedt pardon for our own ; and that
we ftiould no farther refill evil than is neceffary for the
prefervation of perfonal rights and focial happinefs.
It dictates every relative and reciprocal duty between
parents and children, matters and fervants, governors
and fubjects, friends and friends, men and men. Nor
does it merely enjoin the obfervation of equity, but
likewife infpires the moft fublime and extenfive charity,
a boundlefs and difinterefted effufion of tendernefs for
the fyhole fpecies, which feels their diftrefs and ope¬
rates for their relief and improvement. Thefe celeftial
difpofitions, and the different duties which are their
natural exertions, are the various gradations by which
the Ghriftian hopes to attain* the perfe&ion of his na¬
ture and the moft^exquifite happinefs of which it is fuf-
ceptible. ij
Such are the fpectilative, and fuch the pra&ical This fy-
principles of Chriftianity. From the former, i*3 vo'^ ft1
taries contend, that the origin, economy, and revolu- chriftian
tions of intelligept nature alone can be rationally ex-fuperior in
plained. From the' latter, they affert, that the na-the excel-
ture of man, whether confidered in its individual ornTture^ahcl
focial capacity, can alone be conduced to its higheft the ev;_
perfeftion and happinefs. With the determined A'dence of its
thrifts they fcarcely deign to expoftulate. For, ac-reulity, to
cording to them, philofophers who can deduce the ori-.a^ otllers*
gin and conftitution of things from cafual rencounters
or mechanical neceifity, are capable of deducing any
conclufion from any premifes. Nor can a more gla¬
ring inftance of abfurdity be produced, than the idea
of a contingent or felf originated univtrfe. Ween
Deiffs and other fedlarians upbraid them with myfte-
rieus
C H r' t 71
•ChriAift- itGue or incompatible principles, they without hefita-
1!i:y' tiou remit fuch cavillers to the creed of natural re-
ligion. They demand why any reafoner fncmld ve-
iftrf'e to believe three diftind. fubfrilences in one indivi-
lible efl’ence, who admits^that a being may be omni-
•prefent without extenfion ; or that he can imprefs
•motion upon other things, whilft he himfelf is necei-
buily immoveable. They a Ik the fage, why it fhould
vbe thought more extraordinary, that the Son of God
fhonld be feirt to this world, that he fitoaid unite the
human nature to his own, that he fhould fuffer and die
for the relief of his degenerate creatures, than that an
exiftence whofe felicity is eternal, inherent, and in¬
finite, fiiould have any motive for creating beings ex¬
terior to hirnfelf? Is it not, fays the Chriftian, equally
worthy of the divine interpofition to reftore order
and happinefs where they are loft, as to communicate
them where they never have been? Is not infinite
goodnefs equally confpieuous in relieving mifery as in
djfFufmg happinefs ? Is not the exiftence of what we
call evif in the world, under the tuition of an infinite¬
ly perfed Being, as infcrutable as the mean exhibited
by Chriftianity for its abolition ? Vicarious pnnifh-
ment, imputed guilt and righteoufnefs, merit or de¬
merit transferred, are certainly not lefs reconcileable
to human reafon, a priori, than the exiftence of vice
and pnnifhment in the produdions of infinite wifdom,
power, and goodnefs : particularly when it is confi-
dered, that the virtues exerted and difplayed by a
perfed Being in a ftate of humiliation and foffering,
muft be meritorious, and may therefore be rewarded
by the reftored felicity of inferior creatures, in pro¬
portion to their glory and excellence; and that iuch
merit may apply the bleffings which it has deferved,
in whatever manner, in whatever degree, and to
whomfoever it pleafes, without beiqg under any ne-
ceflity to violate the freedom of moral agents, in re¬
calling them to the paths of virtue and happinefs by a
16 mechanical and irrefittible force.
Miraculous jt w;p pe granted to philofophy by the Chriftian,
• ancl r- t^iat 38 no mechanical nature can be formed
hapJa^ne- without prefupp.ofing facred and eftabliflred laws from
ceffary, as which fhe ought rarely or never to deviate, fo in fad
catural e- tenaciouily purfues thefe general inftitutions, and
vans. from their conftant obfervance refult the order and
regularity of things. But he cannot admit, that the
important ends of moral and intelledual improvement
may be uniformly obtained by the fame means. He
•affirms, that if the hand of God ihould either remain
always entirely invifible, or at lead only perceptible
in the operation of fecond caufes, intelligent beings
would be apt in the courfe of time to refolve the inter-
* pofitions of Deity into the general 'laws of mechanifm;
-to forget his connedion with nature, and confequently
their dependence upon him. Hence, according to the
didates of common ienfe, and to the unanimous voice
of every religion in every age or clime, for the pur-
pofes of wifdom and benevolence, God may not only
Control, but has adually controlled, the common courfe
and general operations of nature. So that, as in the
material world the law of caufe 'and is gene¬
rally and fcrupuloufly obferved for the purpofes of na¬
tural fubfiftence and accommodation ; thus fufpenfes
aud changes of that univerfal law are equally neceffary
o 1 € H n
for the advancement of moral and intclkdual perfect CiwUHs*
tion. , mty.
But the difciple of Jefus not only contends, that no
fyftem of religion has ever yet been exhibited fo con- ghrdiam.
frilent with itfeif, fo congruous to philofophy and thety n t o::ly|
common fenfe of mankind, as Chriftianity 5 he like- expsain*
wife avers, that it is infinitely more produdive of realtlie l-beno*
and fenfible confolation than any other religious °r "onfejes thj
philofophical tenets, which have ever entered into the miferies
foul, or been applied to the heart of man. For what human na-
is death to that mind which confiders eternity as theture'
career of its exiftence ? What are the frowns of for¬
tune to him who claims an eternal world as his inhe¬
ritance ? What is the lofs of friends to that heart
which feels, with more than natural convidion, that
it fhall quickly rejoin them in a more tender, intimate,
and permanent intercourfe than any of which the pre-
fent life is fufceptible ? What are the ftuduations and
vieiffitudes of external things to a mind which ftrongly
and uniformly anticipates a ftate of endlefs and immu¬
table felicity ? What are mortifications, difappoint-
ments, and infults, to a fpirit which is confcioua of be¬
ing the original offspring and adopted child of God j
which knows that its omnipotent Father will, in pro¬
per time, effedually affert the dignity and privileges
of its nature ? In a word, as earth is but a fpeck of
creation, as time is not an inftant in proportion to
eternity, Cuch are the hopes and profpeds of the Chri¬
ftian in comparifyn of every lublunary misfortune of
difficulty. It is therefore, in his judgment, the eternal
wonder of angels, and indelible opprobrium of man,
that a religion fo worthy of Gcd, fo fuitable to the
frame and circumftances of our nature, fo confonant
to all the didtates of reafon, fo friendly to the dignity
and improvement of intelligent beings, pregnant with
genuine comfort and delight, Ihould be rejected and
defpifed. Were there a poffibility of fufpence or he-
fitation between this and any other religion extant, h<T
could freely truft the determination of a queftion fo
important to the candid decifion of real virtue and
impartial philofophy. ,g
Mr Gibbon* in his Hiftory of the Decline and Fall Mr Gib-
of the Roman Empire, mentions five fecondary caufes bon at"
to which he thinks the propagation of Chriftianity, prove*th;
and all the remarkable circumftances which attended the prop*,
it, may be with good reafon aferibed, He feems to iratioa of
infinuate, that Divine Providence did not adt in a fin-cbnilian‘'
gular or extraordinary manner in diffeminating the re- oy
ligion of Jefus through the world ; and'that, if every caufes froj
other argument which has been adduced to prove the die opera*
facred authority of this religion can be parried or re- ^ ]
futed, nothing can be deduced from this fource to pre- arguaienti
vent it from (haring the fame fate with other fyftems Can be dJ
of fuperftition. The caufes of its propagation were in duced in^
his opinion founded on the principles of human nature Pr00^ T
and the cxrcumftances of fbciety. If we aferibe not en l*
the propagation of Mahometifm, or of the dodtrines
of Zerduft, to an extraordinary interpofition of divine
providence, operating by an unpercerved influence on
the difpofttions of t*he human heart, and controuling
and confounding the ordinary laws of nature; nei¬
ther can we, upon any reafonable grounds, refer
the promulgation of Chriftianity to fuch an inter¬
pofition.
The
3
C H R [7
a- The feconclary caufes to which he afcribes thefe ef-
fecls are, t. The inflexible and intolerant zeal of the
Chriftians ; derived from the Jewilh religion, but pu-
j. rifled from the narrow and unfocial fpirit which, in-
ftead of anviting, deterred the Gentiles from embracing
the law of Mofes. 2. The doftrine of a future life
improved by every additional circumllance which could
give weight and efficacy to that important truth.
3. The miraculous, powers afcribed to the primitive
church. 4. The pure and auftere morals of the Chri¬
ftians. 5. The union and difcipline of the Chriftian
republic, which gradually, formed an independent and
increaftng ftate in the heart of the Roman empire.
[. In pointing out the connection between the f.rjl of
thefe caufes and the effects which he reprefents as ari-
flng from it, this learned and ingenious writer obferves,
that the religion of the Jews does n6t feem to have
been intended to be propagated among the Heathens,
and that the converflon of profelytes was rather acci¬
dental than confiftent with the purport and the general
fpirit of the inftitutions. of Judaifm. The Jews were,
of confequence, ftudious to preferve themfelves a pe¬
culiar people. Their zeal for their own religion was
intolerant, narrow, and unfocial.
In Chriftiauity, when it made its appearance in the
world, all the better part of the predominant fpiiit of
Judaifm was retained ; but whatever might have a
tendency to confine its influence within narrow limits
was laid afide. Chriftians were to maintain the doc¬
trines and adhere t@ the inftitutions of their religion
with facred fidelity. They were not to violate
their allegiance to Jefus by entertaining or profeffing
any reverence for Jupiter or any other of the Heathen
deities; it was not even neceflary for them to comply
with the pofitive and ceremonial inftitutions of the law
of Mofes,—although thefe were acknowledged to have
been of divine origin. The zeal, therefore, which
their religion inculcated, was inflexible. It was even
intolerant: for they were not to content themfelves
with profeffing Chriftianity and conforming to its laws;
they were to labour with unremitting affiduity, and
to expofe themfelves to every difficulty and every dan¬
ger, in converting others to the fame faith.
But the fame circumftances which rendered it thus
intolerant, communicated to it a more liberal and a lefs
unfocial fpirit than that of Judaifm. The religion of
the Jews was intended only for a few tribes : Chrifti¬
anity was to become a catholic religion ; its advanta¬
ges were to be offered to all mankind.
All the different fefts which arofe among the pri¬
mitive Chriftians uniformly maintained the fame zeal
for the propagation of their own religion, and the fame
abhorrence for every other. The Orthodox, the Ebion-
ites, the Gnoftics, were all equally animated with the
fame exclufive zeal, and the fame abhorrence of idolatry,
which had diftinguifhed the Jews from, other nations.
Such is the general purport of what Mr Gibbon advan-
n- ces concerning the influence of the firitof thofefecondary
caufes in the propagation of Chrillianity. It would be
uncandid to. deny, that his ftatement ofc fa<fts appears
to be, in this inftance, almoft fair, and his deduftions
tolerably logical. The firft Chriftians .were remarkable
for their deteftation of idolatry, and for the generous
difinterefted zeal with which they laboured to convert
dthers to the. fame faith. The firft of thefe principles,
TI ] C II It
no doubt, contributed to maintain the dignity and ChnlUu-
the purity of Chriftianity; and the “fecond to diffemi-
nate it through the world. But the facts which he ~ v
relates are fcarce confiftent throughout. He feems to
reprefent the zeal of the firft Chriftians as fo hat and
intolerant, that they could have no focial intercourfe
with thole who ft ill adhered to the worlhip of Heathen
deities. In this cafe, how could they propagate their
religion ? Nay, we may even a lie, How could they
live ? If they could not mingle with the Heathens in
the tranfaftions either of peace or war; nor witnefs the
marriage or the funeral of the deareft friend, if a Hea¬
then ; nor practife the elegant arts of mufic, .painting,,
eloquence, or poetry; nor venture to ufe freely in
eonverfation the language of Greece on of Rome;—
it is not eafy to fee what opportunities they could have
of diffeminating their religious fentiments. If, in fuch.
cireumftances, and obferving rigidly fuch a tenor of
conduct, they were yet able to propagate their religion
with fuch amazing fuceefs as they are faid to have
done; they muft furely either have praCtifed fome
wondrous arts unknown to us, or have been affifted
by the fupernatural operation of divine pow.er.
But all the hiftorical records of that period, whether
faered or profane, concur to prove, that the primitive
Chriftians in general did not retire with fuch religious
horror from all intercourfe with the Heathens. They
refilled not to ferve in the armies of the Roman em¬
pire : they appealed to Heathen magiftrates, and fub-
mitted refpedtfully to their decifions: the hufhand
was often a Heathen, and the wife a Chriftian ; or,
again, the hulhand a Chriftian, and the wife a Hea¬
then. Thefe are fa£ts fo univerfally known and belie1*
ved,that we need not quote authorities in proof of them.
This refpedtable writer appears therefore not to have
ftated the fails which he produces- under this head
with fufficient ingenuoufnefs ; and he has taken care to
exaggerate and improve thbfe which he thinks ufeful
to his purpofe with all the dazzling, delufive .colours of
eloquence. But had the zeal of the firft Chriftians
been fo intolerant as he reprefents it, it muft have been
highly unfavourable to the propagation of their reli¬
gion : all their wifhes to make converts would, in that
cafe, have been countera&ed by their unwillingnefs to
mix, in the ordinary intercourfe of life, with thofe
who were to be converted. Their zeal, and the libe¬
ral fpirit of their religion, were indeed fecondary caufes
which contributed to its propagation : but their zeal
was by no means fo ridiculoufly intolerant as this writer
would have us believe ; if it had, it muft. have produ¬
ced effects direbtly oppoiite to thofe which he afcribes
to it. 23
Iiv illuftrating the influence of the fecond of thefe fe- Caufelb
condary caufes to which he afcribes the propagation of
Chriftianity, Mr Gibbon difplays no lefs ingenuity than
in tracing the nature and the effefts of the firft. The
doftrine of a future life, improved by every additional
circumftance which can give weight and efficacy to that
important truth, makes a conlpicuous figure in the
Chriftian fyftem ; and it is a doblrine highly flattering
to the natural hopes and wiflies of the human heart.
Though the Heathen philbfophers were not unac¬
quainted with this dobtrine ; yet to^them the fpiritu-
ality of the human foul, its capacity of exiftence in a
feparate ftate from the body, its immortality, and its
pro-
C H R [ 71
-Chiiftia- prolpeft of lafting liappinefs in a future life, rather
n>ty. appeared things poffible^nd defirable, than truths fully
eltablilhed upon folid grounds. Thei'e doftrines, Mr
Gibbon would perfuade us, had no influence on the
moral fentiments and general condinft of the Heathens.
Even the philofophers, who amufed themfelves with
difplaying their eloquence and ingenuity on thoft fplen-
did themes, did not allow them to influence the tenor
of their lives. The great body of the people, who
were occupied in purfuits very different from the fpe-
culations of philofophy, and were unacquainted with
the queftions difeufled in the fchools, were fcarce ever
at pains to refledl whether they confided of a material
and a fpiritual part, or whether their exiftence was to
be prolonged beyond the term of the prefent life ; and
they could not regulate their lives by principles which
they did not know^
In the popular fuperftition of the Greeks and Ro¬
mans, the dodtrine of a future Hate was not omitted.
Mankind were not only flattered with the hopes of
continuing to exift beyond the term of the prefent life;
but different ^conditions of exiftence were promifed or
threatened, in which retributions for their conduft in
human life were to be enjoyed or fuffered. -Some were
exalted to heaven, and aflbeiated with the gods.; others
were rewarded with lefs illuftrious honours, and,a
•more moderate ftate of happinefs, in Elyfium; and
thofe, again, who by their conduit in life had not
merited rewards, but puniftiments, were configned to
Tartarus. Such were the ideas of a future ftate which
made a part of the popular fuperftition of the Greeks
■ and Romans. But they produced only a very faint
impreffion t on ’ the minds of thofe among whom they
.prevailed. They were not truths fupported by evi-
•dence ; theyr were not even plaufible ; they were a tif-
fue of abfurdities. They had not therefore a more
powerful influence on the morals, than the more refined
Speculations of the philofophers.
Even the Jews, whofe religion and legiflature were
communicated from heaven, were hi general, till with¬
in a very ftiort time before the propagation of the go-
fpel, as imperfeitly acquainted with the doftrine of
a future ftate as the Greeks and Romans. This doc¬
trine made no part of the law of Mofes. It is but
darkly and doubtfullyinfiuuated through the other parts
of the Old Teftament. Thofe among the Jews who
treated the facred feriptures with the higheft reverence,
always denied that fuch a doftrine could be deduced
from any thing which thefe taught; and maintained
that death is the final diffolution of man.
The rude tribes who inhabited ancient Gaul, and
fome other nations not more civilized than they, en-
ttrtained ideas of a future life, much clearer than
thofe of the Greeks, the Romans, or the Jews.
Chriftianity, however, explained and inculcated the
truth of this doclrinc in all its fplendor and all its
dignity. It exhibited an alluring, yet not abfurd, view
of the happinefs of a future life. It conferred new
-horrors on the place of punilhment, and added new
feverity to the tortures to be inflifted, in another world.
The authority on which it taught thefe doctrines, and
difplayed thefe views, was fuch as to lilence inquiry and
doubt, and to command implicit belief. What added to
the influence of the doctrine of a future ftate of exiftence,,
thus explained andinculcated, was, that the firft Chrifiians
N° 78. 4
2 ] C H R
confidently prophefied and fincerely believed that the Chriftu
end of the world, the confummation of all things, was nit^'
fall approaching, and that the generation then prefent v""*
ftiould live to witnefs that awful event. Another cir-
cumftance which contributed to render the famedoftrine
fo favourable to the propagation of Chriftianity was,
that the firft Chriftians dealt damnation without re-
morfe, and almoft without making any exceptions, on
all who died in the belief of the abfurdities of Heathen
fuperftition. Thus taught and improved with thefe
additional and heightening circumftances, this doc¬
trine, partly by prefenting alluring profpeCls and ex¬
citing pleafing hopes, partly by working upon the
fears of the human heart with reprefentations of ter¬
ror, operated in the moft powerful manner in extend¬
ing the influence of the Chriftian faith. «3
Here, too, fails are rather exaggerated, and the 9brer.va
inferences fcarce fairly deduced. It muft be confelfed,^^
that the fpeculations of the Heathen philofophers did
not fully and undeniably eftablifti the doctrine of the im¬
mortality of the human foul; nor can we prefume to af-
fertjin contradiction to Mr Gibbon, that their arguments
could imprefs fuch a conviction of this truth as might
influence in a very ftrong degree the moral fentiments
and conduit. They muft, however, have produced fome
influence on thefe. Some of the moft illuftrious among
the Heathen philofophers appear to have been fo
ftrongly impreffed with the belief of the foul’s immor¬
tality, and of a future ftate of retribution, that their
general conduit was conftantly and in a high degree
influenced by that belief. Plato and Socrates are eminent
and well known inftances. And if, in fuch inftances as
thefe, the belief of thefe truths produced fuch confpi-
cuous effects ; it mi gilt be fairly inferred, though we
had no farther evidence, that thofe charaiters were far
from being Angular in this refpeit. It is a truth ac¬
knowledged as unqueftionable in the hiftory of the
arts and kieoces, that wherever any one perfon has
cultivated thefe with extraordinary fuccefs, fome among
his contemporaries will always be found to have rivalled
his excellence, and a number of them to have been en¬
gaged in the fame purfuits. On this occafion we may
venture, without hefitation, to reafon upon the fame
principles. When the belief of the immortality of
the human foul produced fuch illuftrious patterns
of virtue as a Plato and a Socrates ; it muft certain¬
ly have influenced the moral fentimehts and con¬
duct of many others,— although in an inferior degree.
We {peculate, we doubt, concerning the truth of
many doctrines of Chriftianity; many who profefs that
they believe them, make this profeflion only becaufe
they have never confidered ferioufly whether they be
true or falfe. But, notwithftanding this, thefe truths
ftill exert a powerful influenee on the fentiments and
manners of fociety in general. Thus, alfo, it appears,
that the doctrines of ancient philofophy concerning a
future life, and even the notions concerning Olympus,
Elyfium, and Tartarus, which made a part of the po¬
pular fuperftition, did produce a certain influence on
tire fentiment# and manners of the Heathens in gene¬
ral. That influence was often indeed inconfiderable,
and not always happy ; but ftill it was fomewhat
greater than Mr Gibbon feems willing to allow. Chri¬
ftians have been fometimes at pains to exaggerate the
abfurdities of Pagan fuperftition, in order that the ad¬
vantages
C H R [7
1 Chriftiani- vantages of Chriftianity might acquire new value from
t)r- being concrafted with it. Here we find one who is
ratlfer difpofed to be the enemy of Chriftianity, dif-
playing, and even exaggerating, thofe abfurdities for .a
very different purpofe. But the truth may be fafely
admitted ; it is only when exaggerated that it can
ferve any purpofe inimical to the facred authority of
our holy religion. Mr Gibbon certainly reprefents
the religious dodtrine of the ancient Gauls, in refpedt
to the immortality of the human foul and a future
ftate, in too favourable a light. It is only becaufe the
whole fyftem of fuperftition which prevailed among
thofe barbarians is fo imperfedlly known, that it has
been imagined to confift of more fublime dodtrines than
thofe of the popular fuperftition of the Greeks and
Romans. The evidence which Mr Gibbon adduces in
proof of what he afferts concerning thefe opinions
of the ancient Gauls, is partial, and far from fatisfac-
tory. They did indeed affert and believe the foul to
be immortal; but this dodtrine was blended among a
number of abfurdities much groffer than thofe which
charadterife the popular religion of the Greeks and
Romans. The latter was the fuperftition of a civilized
people, among whom reafon was unfolded and impro¬
ved by cultivation, and whofe manners were polifhed
and liberal; the former was that of barbarians, among
whom reafon was, as it were, in its infancy, and who
were ftrangers to the improvements of civilization.
When hafty obfervers found that thofe barbarians were
not abfolutely ftrangers to the idea of immortality, they
were moved to undue admiration; their furprife at find¬
ing what they had not expedted,confounded their under-
ftanding, and led them to mifconceive and mifreprefent.
What we ought to afcribe to the favage ferocity of the
charadter of thofe rude tribes, has been attributedbymif-
take to the influence of their belief of a future ftate.
In the law of Mofes, it muft be allowed, that this
dodtrine is not particularly explained nor earneftly
•inculcated. The author of the Divine Legation
of Mofes,' &c. has founded upon this fadt an in¬
genious theory, which we lhall elfewhere have oc-
caiion to examine. The reafons why this dodlrine
was not more fully explained to the Jews, we cannot
pretend to affign,. at leaft in this place ; yet we can¬
not help thinking, that it was more generally known
among the Jews than Mr Gibbon and the author of
the Divine Legation are willing to allow. Though it
be not ftrongly inculcated in their code of laws, yet
there is fome reafon to think that it was known and
generally prevalent among them long before the Baby-
lonifhxaptivity ; even in different paflages in the wri¬
tings of Mofes, it is mentioned or alluded to in an
unequivocal manner. In the hiftory of the patriarchs,
it appears that this dodtrine was known to them'; it
appeal's to have had a ftrong influence on the mind of
Mofes himfejf. Was David, was Solomon, a ftranger
to this dodtrine ? We cannot here defcend to very mi¬
nute particulars ; but furely all the efforts of ingenuity
muff be infufficient to torture the facred fcriptures of
the Old Teftament, fo as to prove that they contain
nothing concerning the dodtrine of a future flate any
where but in the writings of the later prophets, and
that even in thefe it is only darkly infinuated. Were
the Jews, in the earlier part of their hiftory, fo totally
fecluded from all intercourfe with other nations, that a
' Vol. IV. Part II.
13 ] C H R
dodtrine of fo much importance, more or lefs known ChrifKani-
to all around, could not be communicated to them ?, ty~
The Pharifees did admit traditions, and fet upon them ^ ■
an undue value ; yet they appear to have been confi-
dered as the moft orthodox of the different fedts which
prevailed among the Jews : the Sadducees were rather
regarded as innovators.
But though we are of opinion, that this ingenious
writer allows to the dodlrine of the Greek and Roman
philofophers, concerning the/immortality of the human
foul, as well as to the notions concerning a future ftate,
which made.a part of the popular fuperftitions of thofe
nations, lefs influence on the moral -fentiments and
condudt of mankind than what they really exerted ;
though we cannot agree with him in allowing the ideas
of the immortality of the foul and of a future ftate,
which were entertained by the Gauls and fome other
rude nations, to have been much fuperior in their na¬
ture, or much happier in their influence, than thofe
of the Greeks and Romans ; and though, in confe-
quence of reading the Old Teftament, we are difpofed
to think that the Jews knew fomewhat more concern ing .
the immortality of the human foul, and concerning the
future ftate in which human beings are deftined to ex-
ift, than Mr Gibbon reprefents them to have known :
yet ftill we are very fenfible, and very well pleafed to
admit, that “ life and immortality were brought to
light through the gofpel.”
The dodtrine of a future life, as it was preached by
the firft Chriftians, was eftabliftied on a more folid ba-
fis than that on which it had been before maintained t
was freed from every abfurdity,; and was, in ftiort,
fo much improved, that its influence,' winch, as it
was explained by Heathen poets and philofophers, muft
be confeffed to have been in many inftances doubtful,
now became favourable only to the interefts of piety
and virtue, and to them in a very high degree. It
undoubtedly contributed to the fuccefsful propaga¬
tion of Chriftianity ; for it was calculated to attradl
and pleafe both the fpeculating philofopher and the
Ample unenlightened votary of the vulgar fuperftition.
The views which it exhibited were diftindt; and all
w'as plaufible and rational, and demonftrated by the
fiulleft evidence. But the happinefs which it. promifed
was of a lefs fenfual nature than the enjoyments which
the Heathens expedled on Olympus or in Elyfium ;
and would therefore appear Ids alluring to thofe who
were.not very capable of refined ideas, or preferred the
gratifications of the fenfes in the prefent life to every
other fpecies of good. If the firft Chriftians rejoiced
in the hope of beholding all the votaries of Pagan ido¬
latry afflidted with the torments of hell in a future
ftate, and boafted of thefe hopes with inhuman exul¬
tation, they would in all probability rather irritate
than alarm thofe whom they fought to convert from
that fuperftition; the Heathens would be moved to
regard with indignant fcorn the preacher who pretend¬
ed, that thofe whom they venerated as gods, heroes,
and wife men, were condemned to a ftate of unfpeak-
able and lafting torment. .Would not every feeling of
the heart revolt againft the idea, that a parent, a child,
a hufband, a wife, a friend, a lover, or a miftrefs, but
lately loft, and ftill lamented, was configned to eternal
torments for actions and opinions which they had deem¬
ed highly agreeable to fuperior powers?
4 X Wc
C H R L 714 J C H R
Cbriftiani- \Ve may conclude, then, with refpecl to the influ-
, fy- ence of this fecondary caufe in promoting the propa-
v " gation of Chriftianity, that the circumftances of the
Heathen world were lefs favourable to that influence
than Mr Gibbon pretends; that the means by which
he reprefents the primitive Chriftians, as improving its
efficacy, were fome of them not employed, and others
-rather likely to weaken than to ftrengthen it ; and that
therefore more is attributed to the operation of this,
caufe than it could poflibly produce.
Caufe III, The third caufe, tlie miraculous powers of the pri¬
mitive church, is with good reafon reprefented as ha¬
ving conduced very often to the conviction of infidels.
Mr Gibbon’s reafonings under this head are, That nu¬
merous miraculous works of the moft extraordinary
kind were oftentatioufly performed by the firft Chrifti¬
ans : that, however, from the difficulty of fixing the
period at which miraculous powers ceafed to be com¬
municated to the, Chriftian church, and from fome
other circumftances, there is reafon to fufpect them to
have been merely the pretences of impofture ; but this
(to ufe a phrafe of his own) is only darkly infinuated :
and, laftly, that the Heathens having been happily
prepared to receive them as real by the many wonders
nearly of a fimilar nature to which they were accu-
ftomed in their former fuperftition, the miracles which
the firft Chriftians employed to give a fanCtion to their
do&rines, contributed in the moft effedual manner to
the propagation of Chriftianity.
Obferva- In reply to what is here advanced, it may be fug-
rioasinre- gefted, that the miracles recorded in the New Tefta-
p!y.
ment, as having been performed by the firft Chriftians
when engaged in propagating their religion, as well
as a number of others recorded by the Fathers, are
eftablifhed as true, upon the moft indubitable evidence
which human teftimony can afford for any faft. An
'yixHume. ingenious Scotch writer*, who was too fond of em¬
ploying his ingenuity in undermining truths generally
received, has endeavoured to prove, that no human
teftimony, however ftrong and unexceptionable, can
afford fufficient evidence of the reality of a miracle.
But his reafonings on this head, which once excited
doubt and wonder, have been fince completely refuted;
and mankind ftill continue to acknowledge, that though
we are all liable to miftakes and capable of deceit, yet
human teftimony may afford the moft convincing evi¬
dence of the moft extraordinary and even fupernatural
fafts. The reader will not expeft us to enter, in this
place, into a particular examination of the miracles of
our Saviour, and his apoftles, and the primitive church.
An inquiry into thefe will be a capital objeft in ano¬
ther part of this work (Theology). We may here
confider it as an undeniable and a generally acknow¬
ledged fadt, that a certain part of thofe miracles were
real. Such as were real, undoubtedly contributed, in a ve¬
ry eminent manner, to the propagation of Chriftianity ;
but they are not to be ranked among the natural and
fecondary caufes.
It is difficult to diftinguilh at what period miracu¬
lous gifts ceafed to be conferred on the members of the
primitive church; yet we may diftinguilh, if we take
pains to inquire with minute attention, at what period
the evidence ceafes to be fatisfaftory. We can alfo, by
confidering the circumftances of the church through
the feveral ftages of its hiftory, form fome judgment
concerning the period during which the gifts of pro- Chriltiani-
phefying, and fpeaking with tongues, and working tyd
miracles, were moft neceffary to Chriftians to enable """"v *
them to affert the truth and dignity of their religion. -
The Heathens were no ftrangers to pretended miracles
and prophecies, and other feeming interpofitions of fu-
perior beings, difturbing the ordinary courfe of nature
and of human affairs : but the miracles to which they
were familiarifed had been fo often detedled to be tricks
of impdfture or pretences of mad enthufiafm, that, in-
ftead of being prepared to witnefs or to receive accounts
of new miracles with eafy credulity, they mult have been
in general difpofed to view them with jealoufy and fuf-
picion. Befides, the miracles t6 which they had
been accuftomed, and thofe performed by the apoftles
and the firft preachers of Chriftianity, were direftly con-
tradidlory; and therefore the one could receive no af-
fiftance from the other.
Yet we muft acknowledge, notwithftanding what
we have above advanced, that as difagreements with
refpeft to the principles and inftitutions of their
religion very early arofe among Chriftians; fo they
likewife fought to extend its influence, at a very early
period, by the ufe of giotts frauds. Pious frauds, too,
appear to have fometimes ferved the immediate pur-
pofes for which they were employed, though eventu¬
ally they have been highly injurious to the caufe of
Chriftianity.
We conclude, then, that Chriftianity was indebted
to the influence of miracles in a confiderable degree for
its propagation : but that the real miracles of our Sa¬
viour and his apoftles, &c. were not among the fecon¬
dary caufes of its fuccefs: that the Heathens who were
to be converted were not very happily prepared for re¬
ceiving the miracles of the gofpel with blind credulity:
that, as it is poffible to difcern between fufficient and
- infufficient evidence, fo it is not more difficult to diftin¬
guilh between true and falfe miracles : and, laftly, that
falfe miracles were foon employed by Chriftians as en¬
gines to fupport and propagate their religion, and per¬
haps not unfuccefsfully ; but were, upon the whole,
more injurious than ferviceable to the caufe which they
were called in to maintain.
The fourth of this feries of fecondary caufes, which this Caufe IV.
author thinks to have been adequate to the propagation
of Chriftianity, is the virtues of the primitive Chri¬
ftians. Thefe he is willing to attribute to other and
lefs generous motives, rather than to the pure influ¬
ence of the doftrines and precepts of their religion.
The firft converts to Chriftianity were moft of them
from among the loweft and moft worthlefs charafters.
The wife, the mighty, and thofe who were diftinguilh-
ed by fpecious virtues, were in general perfectly fatis-
fied with their prefent circumftances and future pro-
fpefts. People whofe minds were naturally weak, un¬
enlightened, or oppreffed with the fenfe of atrocious
guilt, and who were infamous or outcafts from fociety,
were eager to grafp at the hopes which the gofpel held
out to them.
When, after enlifting under the banner of Chriflr,
they began to eonfider themfelves as “ born again to
newnefs of life remorfe and fear, which eafily pre¬
vail over weak minds; felfifh hopes of regaining their
reputation, and attaining to the honours and happinefs-
of thofe manfions which Jefus was faid to have gone to
prepare. 2,
f ‘
I
C H R [ 715 1 - c H R
ChrilHani- prepare.; with a defire to raife the honour and extend
j „ ty- the influeiice of the fociety of which they were become
v" members; all together -operated fo powerfully as to
enable them to difplay both active and paffive virtue in
a very extraordinary degree. Their virtues did not
flow from the pureft and nobleft fource; yet they at¬
tracted the notice and moved the admiration of man¬
kind. Of thofe who admired, fome were eager to imi¬
tate ; and, in order to that, thought it neceflary to
adopt the fame principles of action.
Their virtues, too, were rather of that fpecies which
excite wonder, becaufe uncommon, and not of eflen*
tial utility in the ordinary intercourfe of fociety; than
of thofe which are indifpenfably -neceflary to the ex-
iftence of focial order, and contribute to the eafe and
convenience of life. Such virtues were well calculated
to engage the imitation of thofe who had failed egre-
gioufly in the pra&ice of the more focial virtues.
Thus they praCtifed extraordinary, but ufelefs and
unfocial, virtues, upon no very generous motives ; and
thofe virtues drew upon them the eyes of the world,
and induced numbers to embrace their faith.
(Obferva- We muft, however unwillingly, declare, that this
tions, in an- ;s plainly an uncandid account of the virtues of the
; cr" primitive Chriltians, and the motives from which they
originated. The focial virtues are ftrongly recom¬
mended through the gofpel. No degree of mortifica¬
tion or felf-denial, or feclufion from the ordinary bufi-
nefs and amufements of focial life, was required of the
early converts to Chriftianity; fave what was indifpen¬
fably neceflary to wean them from the irregular habits
in which they had before indulged, and which had ren¬
dered them nuifances in fociety, and to form them to
new habits equally neceflary to their happinefs and their
ufefulnefs in life. We allow that they praftifed vir¬
tues which in other circumftances would, however
fplendid, have been unneceflary. But in the difficult
circumftances in which the firft Chriftians were placed,
I _ the virtues which they praftifed were in the highefl.
degree focial. The moll prominent feature in their
character was, “their continuing to entertain fentiments
of generous benevolence, and to difcharge fcrupuloufly
all the focial duties,” towards thofe who exercifed nei¬
ther charity nor humanity, and frequently not even bare
integrity and juftice, in their conduct towards them.
It cannot be faid with truth, that fuch a proportion
of the primitive Chriftians were people whofe charac¬
ters had been infamous and their circumftances defpe-
rate, as that the character of the religion which they
embraced can fuffer from this circumftance. Nor
were they onfy the weak and illiterate whom the
apoftles and their immediate fuccefibrs converted by
their preaching. The criminal, to be fore, rejoiced to
hear that he might obtain abfolution of his crimes; the
mourner was willing to recei've comfort; minds of refined
ancfgenerous feelings were deeply affefted with that
goodnefs which had induced the Son of God to fobmit
to the punilhment due to finners : but the fimplicity,
the rationality, and the beauty of the Chriftian fyftem,
likewife prevailed in numerous inftances over the pride
if and prejudices of the great and the wife; in fo many
inftances, as are fufficient to vindicate the Chriftian
l church from the afperfion by which it has been repre-
fented, as being in the firft period of its exiftence
merely a body of criminals and idiots.
The principles,, too, from which the virtues of the Chrxftiani-
firft Chriftians originated, were not peculiarly mean and t>j
felfilh ; nay, they feem to have been uncommonly fu- "" 'l
blime and difinterefted. Remorfe in the guilty mind
is a natural and reafonable fentiment; the defire of
happinefs in every human breaft is equally fo. It is
uncandid to cavil againft the firft Chriftians for being,
like the reft of mankind, influenced by thefe fenti¬
ments : And when we behold them overlooking tem¬
porary pofleffions and enjoyments, extending their
views to futurity, and “ living by faithwhen wc
"fbferve them “ doing good to thofe who hated them,
blefling thofe who curled them, and praying for thofe
by whom they were defpitefully ufed can we deny
their virtues to have been of the moft generous and
difinterefted kind?
We allow, then, that the virtues of the firft Chri¬
ftians muft have contributed to the propagation of their
religion: but it is with pain that we obferve this re-
i'peclable writer ftudioufly labouring to mifreprefent
the principles from which thofe virtues arofe ; and not
only the principles from which they arofe, but alfo
their importance in fociety.
The fifth caufe was the mode of church government Caufe V.
adopted by the firft Chriftians, by which they were with obfer*
knit together in one fociety; who preferred the churchvat‘ons"
and its interefts to their country and civil concerns.
We wilh not to deny, that the mutual attachment of
the primitive Chriftians contributed to fpread the in¬
fluence of their religion; and the order which they
maintained, in confequenGe of being animated with this
fpirit of brotherly love, and with foch ardent zeal for
the glory of God, muft; no doubt have produced no
lefs happy effe&s among them than order and regula¬
rity produce on every other occafion on which they
are ftrictly obferved. But whether the form of church-
government, which was gradually eftablilhed in the
Chriftian church, was adlually the happieft that could
pofiibly have been adopted; or whether, by eftablifh-
ing a diftinft fociety, with feparate interefts, within
the Roman empire, it contributed to the diflblution of
that mighty fabric, we cannot here pretend to inquire.
Thefe are fobjects of difcuflion, with refpedt to which
we may with more propriety endeavour to fatisfy our
readers elfewhere.
From the whole of this review of what Mr Gibbon General
has fo fpecioufly advanced concerning the influence ofconclufion
thefe five fecondary caufes in the propagation of the^^^’S '
gofpel, we think ourfelves warranted to conclude,
That the zeal of the firft Chriftians was not, as he re- five caufes.
prefents it, intolerant: That the dodtrine of the im¬
mortality of the human foul was fomewhat better un-
derftood in the heathen world, particularly among the
Greeks and Romans and the Jews, than he reprefents
it to have been ; and had an influence fomewhat hap¬
pier than what he afcribes to it: That the additional
circumftances by which, he tells us, the firft preachers
■of Chriftianity improved the effects of this dodtrine,
were far from being calculated to allure converts ;
That the heathens, therefore, were not quite fo well
prepared for an eager reception of this dodlrine as he
would perfoade us they were ; and, of confequence,
could not be influenced by it in fo confiderable a de¬
gree, in their converfion: That real, unqueftionable mi¬
racles, performed by our Saviour, by his apollies, and
4X2 by
C H R [7:
Oiriftianl- their fuccefibrs, did contribute fignally to the pro-
.tyj pagation of Chriftianity; but are not to be ranked
t in among the fecondary caufes : That weaknefs and blind
zeal did at times employ pretended miracles for the
fame purpofe not altogether ineffedfually : That though
thefe defpicable and wicked means might be in fome
inftahces fuccefsful; yet they were, upon the whole,
much more injurious than beneficial: That the virtues
of the primitive Chriftians arofe froni the moft gene¬
rous and noble motives, and were in their nature and
tendency highly favourable to focial order, and to the
comfort of mankind in the focial ftate : And, lalUyy*
That the order and regularity of church-government,
which were gradually eftablifhed among the firft Chri-(
ftians, contributed greatly to maintain the dignity
and fpread the influence of their religion ; but do not
appear to have disjoined them from their fellow-fub-
je£ts or to have rendered* them inimical to the welfare
of the ftate of which they were members.
Upon the whole, then, we do not fee that thefe fe¬
condary caufes were equal to the effefts that have been
afcribed to them; and it feems undeniable, that others
of a fuperior kind co-operated with them. We earneft-
ly recommend to the perufal of the reader a valuable
performance of Lord Hailes’s, in which he enquires
into Mr Gibbon’s afteftions and reafonings, concerning
the influence of thefe five caufes, with the utmoft accu¬
racy of information, ftrength and clea'rnefs of reafoning,
and elegant fimplicity of ftyle, and without virulence or
paffion.
CHRISTIANS, thofe who profefs the religion of
Chrift: See Christianity and Messiah.—The name
Chrijlian was firft given at Antioch in the year 42 to
fuch as believed in Chrift, as we read in the Adis: till
that time they were called dijciphf.
The firft Chriftians diftinguifhed themfelves in the
moft remarkable manner by their conduit and their
virtues. The faithful, whom the preaching of St Pe¬
ter had converted, hearkened attentively to the exhor¬
tations of the Apoftles, who failed not carefully to in-
ilruit them, as perfons who were entering' upon an
entirely new life. They went every day to the temple
with one heart and one mind, and continued in prayers;
doing nothing different from the other Jews, becaufe
it was yet not time to feparate from them. But they
made a ftill greater progrefs in virtue; for they fold
all that they poffeffed, and diftributed their goods in
proportion to the wants of their brethren. They eat
their meat with gladnefs and Jingknefs of heart, praifing
God, and having favour with all the people. St Chry-
foftem, examining from what fource the eminent vir¬
tue of the firft Chriftians flowed, aferibes it principally
to their divefting themfelves of their poffeffions: “ For
“ (fays that father) perfons from whom all that they
** have is taken away, are not fubjeft to fin : whereas,
“ whoever has large poffeffions, wants not a devil or a
4< tempter to draw him into hell by a thoufand ways.”
The Jews were the firft and the moft inveterate
enemies the Chriftians had. They put them to death
as often as they had it in their power; and when
they revolted againft the Romans in the time of the
emperor Adrian, Barchochebas, the head of that re¬
volt, employed againft the Ctariftians the moft rigo¬
rous puniihments to compel them to blafpheme and
renounce Jefus Chrift. And we find that, even in
the third century, they endeavoured to get into their
i6 ] c H R
hands Chriftian women, in order to fcourge and ftone Chriftlansw
them in their fynagogues. They curfed the Chriftians 
folemnly three times a-day in their fynagogues, and
their rabbins would not fuffer them to converfe with
Chriftians upon any occafion. Nor were they content- i
ed to hate and deleft them ; but they difpatched emif-
faries all over the world to defame the Ch.riftians, and
fpread all forts of calumnies againft them. They ac¬
etified them, among other things, of werfhipping the
fun and the head of an afs. They reproached them |
with idlenefs, and being an ufelefs race of people.
“They charged them with treafon, and endeavouring
to ere& a new monarchy againft that of the Romans.
They affirmed, that, in celebrating their myfteries,
they ufed to kill a child and eat its flelh. They accu-
fed them of the moft (hocking incefts, and of intem¬
perance in ther feafts of charity. But the lives and be¬
haviour oj the firft Chriftians were fufficient to refute
all that was faid againft them, and evidently demonftra-
ted that thefe accufations were mere calumny and the
effeft of inveterate malice.
Pliny the younger, who was governor of Pontus and
Bithynia between the years 103 and 105, gives a
very particular account of the Chriftians in that pro¬
vince, in a letter which he wrote to the emperor Tra¬
jan, of which the following is an extraft: “ I take
“ the liberty, Sir, to give you an account of every
“ difficulty which arifes to me. I have never been
“ prefent at the examination of the Chriftians; for
“ which reafon I know not what queftions have been
“ put to them, nor in what manner they have been
“ punilhed. My behaviour towards thofe who have
“ been accufed to me has been this: I have interro-
t< gated them, in order to know whether they were
“ really Chriftians. When they have confeffed it, I
“ have repeated the fame queftion two or three
“ times, threatening them with death if they did
“ not renounce this religion. Thofe Who have per- i
“ lifted in their confeffion, have been, by my order,.
« led to punilhment. I have even met with fome
“ Roman citizens guilty of this phrenfy, whom, in
“ regard to their quality, I have fet apart from the
“ reft, in order to fend them to Rome. Thefe per-
“ fons declare, that their whole crime, if they are
“ guilty, confifts in this ; that, on certain days, they
“ affemble before fun-rife, to fing alternately the
“ praifes of Chrift, as of a God, and to oblige them-
“ felves, by the performance of their religious rites,
“ not to be guilty-of theft, or adultery, to obferve in-
“ viblably their word, and to be true to their truft.
“ This depofition has obliged me to endeavour to in»
“ form myfelf ftill farther of this matter, by putting
“ to the torture two of their women-fervants, whom
“ they call deaconeffes: but I could learn nothing
“ more from them, than that the fuperftition of thefe
“ people is as ridiculous as their attachment to it is
“ aftoniftiing.”
There is extant a juftification, or rather panegyric,
of the Chriftians, pronounced by the mouth of a Pa¬
gan prince. It is a letter of the emperor Antoninus,,
written in the year 152, in anfwer to the States, of.
Afia, who had accufed the Chriftians of being the
caufe of fome earthquakes which had happened in that
part of the world. The emperor advifes them to
“ take care, left, in torturing and punifhing thofe
whom they accufed of Atheifm (meaning the Chri¬
ftians),
C H R [ 7'7 1 C H R
Chriftians. ftians), they fhoufd render them more obftinate, inftead the fick by laying their hands on them, and reftore Chriftlaus.
' — y ' of prevailing upon them to change their opinion ; them to perfeiSi health : and we find fome who eveii 1 
fince their religion taught them to fuffer with plea- raife the dead. Ic :t! impofiible to reckon up the
fure for the fake of God.” As to the earthquakes gifts and graces which the church has received from
which had happened, he puts them in mind, “ that they God—what they have freely received they as freely
themfelves are always difcouraged, and fmk under bellow. They-obtain thefe A ifts by prayer alone, and
fuch misfortunes ; whereas the Chriftians never difco- invocation of the name of Jefus Chrift, without any
rered more cheerfulnefs and confidence in God than mixture of enchantment or fuperiiition.”
upon fuch occafions.” He tells them, that “ they pay We (hall here fubjoin the remarkable ftory, attefted
no regard to religion, and negledt the worlhip of the by Pagan authors themfelves, concerning the Ghrifliaii
Eternal; and, becaufe the Chriftians honour and adore Legion in the army of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Him, therefore they are jealous of them, and perfe- That prince having led his forces againft the Quadi,.
cute them even to death.” He concludes: “ Many of a people on the other fide of thb Danube, was fur-
the governors of provinces have formerly written to rounded and hemmed in by the enemy in a difadvan-
my father concerning them ; and his anfwer always tageous place, and where they could find no water,
was, that they ftiould not be molefted or difturbed, The Romans were greatly embarralfed, and, being
provided they quietly fubmitted to the authority of preffed by the enemy, were obliged to continue un-
the government. Many perfons have likewife con- der arms, expofed to the violent heat of the fun, and
fulted me upon this affair, and I have returned the almoft dead with thirft; when, on a fudden, the clouds
fame anfwer to them all; namely, that if any one gathered, and the rain fell in great abundance. The
accufes a Chriftian merely on account of his religion, foldiers received the water in their bucklers and hel-
the accufed perfon ftiall be acquitted, and the accufef mets, atad fatisfied both their own thiift and that of
himfelf punifhed.” This ordinance, according tq^ Eu- their horfes. The enemy, prefe-ntfy after, attacked
febius, was j^ubltcly fixed up at Ephefus in an afiem- them ; and fo great was the advantage they had over
bly of the ftates. them, that the Romans muft have been overthrown.
It is no difficult matter to difcover the caufes of the had not heaven again interpofed by a violent ftorm of
many perfecutions to which the Chriftians were ex- hail, mixed with lightning, which fell on the enemy,
pofed during the three firft centuries. The purity of and obliged them to retreat. It was found after-
the Chriftian morality, dire&ly oppofite to the corrup- wards, that one of the legions, which confifted of
tion of the Pagans, was doubtlefs one of the moft Chriftians, had by their prayers, which they offered
powerful motives of the public averfipn. To this up on their knees before the battle,, obtained this fa •
may be added, the many calumnies unjuftly fpread vour from heaven: and from this event that legipn
about concerning them by their enemies," particularly v/zs firnameA. The thundering Legion. See, however, the
the Jews. And this occafioned fo ftrong a prejudice criticifm of NLr-Moyle on this ftory in his Works, vol.iL
againft them, that the Pagans condemned them without p. 81—390. See alfo Mojheim’s Church Hiftory, vol. i.
inquiring into their doftrine, or permitting them to p. 124.
defend themfelves. Befides, their worihipping Jefus Such were the primitive Chriftians, whofe religion
Chrift, as God, was contrary to one of the moft an- has by degrees fpread itfelf over all parts of the world,
cient laws of the Roman empire, which exprefsly for- though not with equal purity in all. And though, by
bad the acknowledging of any God which had not the providence of God, Mahometans and Idolaters
been approved by the fenate. have been fuffered to poffefs themfelves of thofe places
But notwithftanding the violent oppofition made to in Greece, Afta, and Africa, where the Chriftian re-
the eftabliffiment of the Chriftian religion, it gained ligion formerly moft flouriftied; yet there are ftill fuch
ground daily, and very foon made a furprifing pro- temains of the Chriftian religion among them as to
grefs in the Roman empire. In the third century, there give them oppoitunity fufficient to be converted,
were Chriftians in the camp, in the fenate, in the pa- For, in the dominions of the Turk in Europe, the
lace ; in ffiort every where, but in the temples and Chriftians make two third parts at leaft of the inha-
the theatres: they filled the towns, the country, the bitants; and in Conftantinople itfelf there are above
iflands. Men and women, of all ages and conditions, twenty Chriftian churches, and above thirty in Thef-
and even thofe of the firft; dignities, embraced the falonica. Philadelphia, now called Ala-Jhahir, has no
feith ; infomuch that the Pagans complained that the fewer than twelve Chriftian churches. The whole
revenues of their temples were ruined. They were ifland of Chio is governed by Ghriftians; and fome
in fuch great numbers in the empire, that (as Tertul- ifiands of the Archipelago are inhabited by Chriftians
Han expreffes it) were they to have retired into another only. In Africa,, befides the Chriftians living in E~
country, they would have left the Romans only a gypt, and in the kingdom of Congo and Angola, the
frightful folitude. ifiands upon the weftern coafts are inhabited by Chri-
The primitive Chriftians were not only remarkable ftians; and the vaft kingdom of Abyffinia, fuppcfed
for the praftiee of every virtue ; they were alfo very to be as big as Germany, France, Spain, and Italy,
eminently diftinguiihed by the many miraculous gifts put together, is poffeffed by Chriftians. In Afia, moft.
and graces beftowed by God upon theni. “Some par t of the empire of Ruffia, tire countries of Circaffia
of the Chriftiarfs (fays Irenseus) drive out devils, not and Mingrelia, Georgia, and Mount-Libanus, are in.
in appearance only, but fo as that they never return ; habited only by Chriftians. In America, it is notori,
whence it often happens, that thofe who are difpof- ous that the Chriftians are very numerous, and fpread
feffed of evil fpirits embrace the faith and are received over moft parts of that vaft continent,
into the church. Others know what is to come, fee Christians of St John, afeftofChriftians verynu-
tfifions, and deliver oracles as prophets. Others heal merous in Balfara and the neiglibouring towns: they
5. formerly.
C H ft [71
Chriftians formerly inhabited along the river Jordan, where St
, Jl John baptized, and it was from thence they had their
, " ina‘. name. They hold an anniverfary feaft of five days ;
during which they all go to the bifhop, who baptizes
them with the baptifm of St John. Their baptifm is
alfo performed in rivers, and that only on Sundays :
they have no notion of the third Perfon in the Trinity;
nor have they any canonical book, but abundance full
of charms, &c. Their bifhoprlcs defcend by inheri¬
tance, as our eflates do, though they have the cere¬
mony of an eleftion.
Christians of St Thomas, a fort of Chriftians in a
peninfula of- India on this fide of the Gulf: they in¬
habit chiefly at Cranganor, and the neighbouring
country : thefe admit of no images; and receive only
the crofs, to which they pay a great veneration : they
affirm, that the fouls of the faints do not fee God till
after the day of judgment: they acknowledge but three
facraments, •m;. baptifm, orders, and the eucharift:
they make no ufe of holy oils in the adminiftration of
baptifm ; but, after the ceremony, anoint the infant
with an un&ion compofed of oil and walnuts, without
any benedi&ion. In the eucharift, they confecrate
with little cakes made of oil and fait, and inftead of
wine make ufe of water in which raifins have been in-
fufed.
CHRISTIANA, a town of Norway, in the pro¬
vince of Aggerhuys, fituated on a bay of the fea. E.
Long. 10. ly. N. Lat. 59. 30.
CHRISTIANOPLE, a port-town of Sweden, fitu-
ated on the Baltic Sea, in the territory of Blecking,
and province of South Gothland. E. Long. 15. 40.
N. Lat. 570.
CHRISTIANSTADT, a ftrong fortified town of
Sweden; fituated in the territory of Blecking and pro¬
vince of South Gothland. It was built in 1614 by
Chriftian IV. king of Denmark, when this province
belonged to the Danes ; and finally ceded to the Swedes
by the peace of Rofkild in 1658. The town is fmall
but neatly built, and is efteemed the ftrongeft fortrefs
in Sweden. The houfes are all of brick, and moftly
ftuccoed white. It ftands in a marihy plain clofe to
the river Helge-a, which flows into the Baltic at Ahus,
about the diftance of 20 miles, and is navigable only
for fmall craft of feven tons burden. Englilh vefiels
annually refort to this port for alum, pitch, and tar.
The inhabitants have manufaftures of cloth and filken
fluffs, and carry on a fmall degree of commerce. E.
Long. 14. 40. N. Lat. 56. 30.
CHRISTINA, daughter of Guftavus Adolphus
king of Sweden, was born in 1626 ; and fucceeded to
the crown in 1633, when only feven years of age. This
princefs difcovered even in her infancy, what fhe after¬
wards exprefled in her memoirs, an invincible antipa¬
thy for the employments and converfation of women ;
and (he had the natural aukwardnefs of a man with rc-
fpeft to all the little works which generally fall to their
fhare. She was, on the contrary, fond of violent ex-
ercifes, and fuch amufements as confift in feats of
flrength and activity. She had alfo both ability and
tafte for abftrafted fpeculations; and amufed herfelf
with language and the fciences, particularly that of
legiflature and government. She derived her knowledge
of ancient hiftory from its fource; and Polybius and
'’.Tfuicydides were her favourite authors. As ike was
8 ] C H R
the fovereign of a powerful kingdom, it is not ftrange Chiiflin
that almoft all the princes in Europe afpired to her bed. —
Among others, were the Prince of Denmark, the
Ele&or Palatine, the Ele&or of Brandenburg, the King
of Spain, the King of the Romans, Don John of Au-
ftria ; Sigifmund of Rockocci, count and general of
Caflbvia ; Staniflaus king of Poland ; John Caffimir his
brother ; and Charles Guftavus duke of Deuxs Fonts,
of the Bavarian Palatinate family, fon of her father the
great Guftavus’s filler, and confequently her firft coufin.
To this nobleman, as well as to all his competitors, ihe
conftantly refufed her hand; but ihe caufed him to be
appointed her fucceflbr by the ftates. Political Jnte-
refts, differences of religion, and contrariety of man¬
ners, furniffied Chriftina with pretences for reje<£ling all
her fuitorsbut her true motives were the love of in¬
dependence, and a ftrong averfion ihe had conceived,
even in her infancy, from the marriage yoke. “ Do
not force me to marry (faid (he to the ftates) ; for if I
ihould have a fon, it is not more probable that he ihould
be an Auguftus than a Nero.”
An accident happened in the beginning of her reign
which gave her a remarkable opportunity of difplaying
the ftrength and equanimity of her mind. As ihe was
at the chapel of the caftle of Stockholm, aflifting at
divine fervice with the principal lords of her court, a
poor wretch, who was difordered in his mind, came
to the place with a defign to affaffinate her. This man,
v/ho was preceptor of the college, and in the full vi¬
gour of his age, chofe, for the execution of his defign,
the moment in which the affembly was performing what
in the Swediih church is called an aQ of recollection; a
filent and feparate aft of devotion, performed by each
individual kneeling and hiding the face with the hand.
Taking this opportunity, he ruihed through the crowd,
and mounted a balluftrade Within which the queen was
upon her knees. The Baron Braki, chief juftice of
Sweden, was alarmed, and cried out; and the guards
croffed their partifans, to prevent his coming further:
but he ftruck them furioufly on one fide ; leaped over
the barrier; and, being then clofe to the queen, made
a blow at her with a.knife which he had concealed
without a (heath in his fleeve. The queen avoided the
blow, and puftied the captain of her guards, who in-
ftantly threw himfelf upon the affaffin, and feized him
by the hair. All this happened in lefs than a mo¬
ment of time. The man was known to be mad, and
therefore nobody fuppofed he had any accomplices ;
they therefore contented themfelves with locking him
up; and the queen returned to her devotion without the
leaft emotion that could be perceived by the people,
who were much more frightened than herfelf.
One of the great affairs that employed Chriftina
while ihe was upon the throne, was the peace of
Weftphalia, in which many claihing interefts were to
be reconciled, and many claims to be afeertained. It
was concluded in the month of Oftober 1648. The
fuccefs of the Swediih arms rendered Chriftina the ar-
bitrefs of this treaty ; at leaft as to the affairs-of Swe¬
den, to which this peace confirmed the poffefiion of
many important countries. No public event of im¬
portance took place during the reft of Chriftina’s
reign; for there were neither wars abroad, nor
troubles at home. This quiet might be the effeft of
chance ; but it might alfo be the effeft of a good ad-
miniftration,
c H R [ 7'9 1 C H R
miniftration, and the great reputation of the queen ;
and the love her people had for her ought to lead us
to this determination. Her reign was that of learn¬
ing and genius. She drew about her, wherever fhe
was, all the diiUnguifhed chara&ers of her time:
Grotius, Pafeal, Bochart, Defcartes, Gaffendi, Sau-
maife, Naude, Vofiius, Heinfius, Meibom, Scudery,
Menage, Lucas, Holftenius, Lambecius, Bayle, ma¬
dam Dacier, Filicaia, and many others. The arts
never fail to immortalize the prince who protedb
them ; and almoft all thefe illuftrious perfons have ce¬
lebrated Chriftina, either in poems, letters, or litera¬
ry produ&ions of fome other kind, the greater part
of which are now forgotten. They form, however,
a general cry of praife, and a mafs of teftimonials
which may be confidered as a folid bafis of reputa¬
tion. Chriftina, however, may be juftly reproached
with want of tafie, in not properly affigning the
rank of all thefe perfons, whole merits, though ac¬
knowledged, were yet unequal; particularly for not
having been fufftciently fenfible of the fuperiority of
Defcartes, whom fhe difgufted, and at laft wholly
negledled. The rapid fortune which the adventurer
Miehon, known by the name of Bourdelot, acquired
by her countenance and liberality, was alfo a great
fcandal to literature. He had no pretenfions to learn¬
ing ; and though fprightly, was yet indecent. He
was brought to court by the learned Saumaife ; and,
for a time, drove literary merit entirely out of it, ma¬
king learning the objeft of his ridicule, and exa&ing
from Chriftina an exorbitant tribute to the weaknefs
and inconftancy of her fex ; for even Chriftina, with
refpeft to this man, fhowed herfelf to be weak and
inconftant. At laft fhe was compelled, by the public
indignation, to banifh this unworthy minion ; and he
was no fooner gone, than her regard for him was at
an end. She was afhamed of the favour fhe had fhown
him ; and, in afhort time, thought of him with hatred
or contempt. This Bourdelot, daring his afeenden-
cy over the queen, had fupplanted count Magnus de la
Gardie, fon of the conftable of Sweden, who was a
relation, a favourite, and perhaps the lover of Chrif¬
tina. M. de Motteville, who had feen him ambaf-
fador in France, fays, in his memoirs, that he fpoke
of his queen in terms fo paflionate and refpeftful, that
every one concluded his attachment to her to be more
ardent and tender, than a mere fenfe of duty can
produce. This nobleman fell into difgrace becaufe he
fhowed an inclination to govern; while M. Bourdelot
feemed to aim at nothing more than to amufe; and
concealed, undur the unfufpe&ed chara&er of a droll,
the real afcendency which he exercifed over the queen’s
mind.
About this time, an accident happened to Chriftina
which brought her into ftill greater danger than that
which has been related already. Having given or¬
ders for fome fhips of war to be built at the port of
Stockholm, fhe went to fee them when they were
finifhed ; and as fhe was going on board of them, crofs
a narrow plank, with admiral Fleming, his foot flipping,
he fell, and drew the queen with him into the fea,
which in that place was near 90 feet deep. Anthony
Steinberg, the queen’s firft equerry, inftantly threw
himft lf into the water, laid hold of her robe, and, with
fuch affiftauce as was given him, got the queen afhore;
during this accident, her recolle£tion was fuch, that Chriftlnsu
the moment her lips were above water, fhe cried,v—
out, “ Take care of the Admiral.” When fhe was
got out of the water, fhe difeovered no emotion either
by her gefture or countenance ; and fhe dined the fame
day in public, where fhe gave a humorous account of
her adventure.
But, though at firft fhe was fond of the power and
fplendor of royalty, yet fhe began at length to feel that
it embarrafled her; and the fame love of indepen¬
dence and liberty which had determined her againft
marriage, at laft made her weary of her crown. As,
after her firft difguft, it grew more and more irkfome
to her, fhe refolved to abdicate ; and, in 1652, com¬
municated her refolution to the fenate. The fenate
zealoufly remonftrated againft it ; and was joined by
the people; and even by Charles Guftavus himfelf,
who was to fucceed her: fhe yielded to their impor¬
tunities, and continued to facrifice her own pleafure to
the will of the public till the year 1654, and then fhe
carried her defign into execution. It appears by one
of her letters to M. Canut, in whom fhe put great con¬
fidence, that fhe had meditated this projeft for more
than eight years ; and that fhe had communicated it to
him five years before it took place.
The ceremony of her abdication was a mournful fo-
lemnity, a mixture of pomp and fadnefs,. in whicB
fcarce any eyes but her own were dry. She conti¬
nued firm and compofed through the whole; and, as
foon as it was over, prepared to remove into a coun¬
try more favourable to fcience than Sweden was.
Concerning the merit of this aftion, the world has al¬
ways been divided in opinion ; it has been condemned
alike both by the ignorant and the learned, the trifler
and the fage. It was admired, however, by the
great Conde : “ How great was the magnanimity of
this princefs (faid he), who could fo eafily give
up that for which the reft of mankind are continually
deftroying each other, and which fo many through¬
out their whole lives purfue without attaining !” It
appears, by the works of St Evermond, that the abdi¬
cation of Chriftina was at that time the univerfal to¬
pic of fpeculation and debate in France. Chriftina,
befides abdicating her crown, abjured her religion;
but this a& was univerfally approved by one party
and cenfured by another; the Papifts triumphed, and
the Proteftants were offended. No prince, after a
long imprifonment, ever fhowed fo much joy upon
being reftored to his kingdom, as Chriftina did in
quitting hers. When fhe came to a little brook, which
feparates Sweden from Denmark, fhe got out of her
carriage; and leaping to the other fide, cried out in
a tranfport of joy, “ At laft I am free, and out of
Sweden, whither, I hope, I fhall never return.”
She difmiffed her women, and laid by the habit of
her fex: “ I would become a man (faid fhe) ; yet I
do not love men becaufe they are men, but becaufe
they are not women.” She made her abjuration at
Bruffels; where fhe faw the great Conde, who, after
his defedtion, made that city his afylum. “ Coufin
(faid fhe), who would have thought, ten years ago,,
that we fhould have met at this diftanee from our
countries ?”
The inconftancy of Chriftina’s temper appeared in.
her going continually from place to place : from BruO-
feis
C H R
C 720 ]
C H It
sChriflina. fels fhe went to Rome; from Rome to France, and Bayle was alfo threatened for having faid that the 1
i“ v~~" from France fhe returned to Rome again ; after this letter which Chriftina wrote, upon the revocation of (
Ihe went to Sweden, where fhe was not very well re- the edift of Nantes, was “ a remain of Proteftantifm
ceived; from Sweden fhe went to Hamburgh, where but he made his peace by apologies and fubmiflion. u
fhe continued a year, and then went again to Rome ; See the article Bayle.
Upon the whole, fhe appears to have been an un¬
common mixture of faults and great qualities; which,
however it might excite fear and refpedt, was J^y no
means amiable. She had wit, tafte, parts, and learn¬
ing : fhe was indefatigable upon the throne ; great in
\
from Rome fhe returned to Hamburgh ; and again to
Sweden, where fhe was ftill worfe received than be¬
fore ; npon which fhe went back to Hamburgh, and
from Hamburgh again to Rome. She intended an¬
other journey to Sweden ; but it did not take place,
any more than an expedition to England, where private life ; firm in misfortunes; impatient of contra-
Cromwell did not feem well difpofed to receive
her; and after many wanderings, and many pur-
diftion ; and, except in her love of letters, inconftant
in her inclinations. The moft remarkable inftance of
pofes of wander ing ftilL more, fhe at laft died at Rome this ficklenefs is, That after fhe had abdicated the
i1689.
crown of Sweden, fhe intrigued for that of Poland
It muft be acknowledged, that her journeys to She was, in every adlion and purfuit, violent and ar
Sweden had a motive of neceffity; for her appoint- dent in the higheft degree; impetuous in her defires
ments were very ill paid, though the ftates often con- dreadful in her refentment, and fickle in her conduft
firmed them after her abdication : but to other places
fhe was led merely by a roving difpofition ; and,
what is more to her difcredit, fhe always difturbed
She fays of herfelf, that “ fhe was miftruflful, ambi
tious, palfionate, haughty, impatient," contemptuous
fatyrical, incredulous, undevout, of an ardent and vio
the quiet of every place fhe came into, by exadling lent temper, and extremely amorous;” a difpofition,
greater deference to her rank as queen than fhe had however, to which, if fhe may be believed, her pride
a right to expeft, by her total non-conformity to and her virtue were always fuperior. In general, her
the cuftoms of the place, and by continually exciting failings were thofe of her fex, and her virtues the vir-
and fomenting intrigues of ftate. She was indeed al- tues of ours.
ways too bufy, even when fhe was upon the throne ;
for there was no event in Europe in which fhe was not
ambitious of afting a principal part. During thetrou-
Santa-CHRrsriNJ,-one of the Marquesas IJlands.
CHRISTMAS-day, a feflival of the Chriflian
church; obferved on the 25th of December, in me-
Bles in France , by the fa&ion called the Fronde, She mory of the nativity or birth of Jefns Chrift. As t
wrote with great eagernefs to all the interefted par- the antiquity of this feflival, the firft footfteps we find,
ties, officioufly offering her mediation to reconcile of it are in the fecond century, about the time of the
their interefts, and calm their paffions, the fecret emperor Commodus. The decretal epiftles indeed
fprings of which it was impoffible fhe fhould know, cany it up a little higher; and fay that Telefphorus,
This was firft thought a dangerous, and afterwards a who lived in the reign of Antonius Pius, ordered di-
ridiculous, behaviour. During her refidence in France vine fervice to be celebrated,, and an angelical hymn
fire gave uriiverfal difguft, not only by violating all the to be fung, the night before the nativity of our f^avi-
cnftoms of the country, but by pra&ifing others di-
However, that it was kept before the times of
re&ly oppofite. She treated the ladies of the court Conftantine we have a melancholy proof: for whilft
with the greateft rudenefs and contempt: when they the perfecution raged under Dioclefian, who then
came to embrace rSer, fhe, being in man’s habit, cried kept his court at Nicomedia, that prince, among other
out, “ What a ftrange eagernefs have thefe women to
kifs me ! is it becaufe I look like a man i”
But though fhe ridiculed the manners of the French
court, fhe was very folicitous to enter into its intrigues.
Louis XIV. then very young, was enamoured of Ma-
demoifelle de Mancini niece to cardinal Mazarine ;
Chriflina flattered their paffion, and offered her fer-
a&s of cruelty, finding multitudes of Chriftians affem-
bled tpgether to celebrate Chrift’s nativity, command¬
ed the church-doors where they were met to be fhut,
and fire to be put to it, which, in a fhort time, reduced
them and the church to afhes.
CHRISTOPHER’S, St. one of the Caribbee iflands,
in America, lying to the north-weft of Nevis, and
‘ I would fain be your confident-(faid fhe) ; if about 60 miles weft of Antigua. It was formerly in-
you love, you muft marry.”
The murder of Monaldefchi is, to this hour, an i
habited by the French and Englifh; but, in 1713, it
was ceded entirely to the latter. In 1782, it was
fcrutable myftery. It is, however, of a piece with the taken by the French, but reftored to Britain at the
expreffxons conftantly ufed by Chriftina in her letters, peace. It is about 20 miles in breadth, and feven
with refpedt to thofe with whom fire was offended ; in length ; and has high mountains in the middle,
for (he fcarce ever fignified her difpleafure without whence rivules run down. Between the mountains
threatening the life of the offender. “ If you fail in are dreadful rocks, horrid precipices, and thick woods;
your duty, (faid fhe to her fecretary, whom fhe fent to #and in the fouth-weft part of the ifland, hot fulphureous
Stockholm after her abdication), not all the power of fprings at the foot of them. The air is good ; the foil
the king of Sweden fhall fave your life, though you light, fandy, and fruitful; but the ifland is fubjedl to
fhould take (belter in his arms.” A mufician having hurricanes. The produce is chiefly fugar, cotton, gin-
quitted her fervice for that of the duke of Savoy,- fhe ger, indigo, and the tropical fruits. W. Long. 62. 32.
was fo tranfported with rage as to drfgrace herfelf by JSf. Lat. 17. 30.
thefe words, in a letter written with her own hand.: CHROASTACES, in natural hiftory, a genus of
a‘ H'.“ lives only for me ; and if he does not ling for pellucid gems, comprehending all thofe of variable co¬
me, he fhall not Hag long for any body;” lours, as viewed in different lights ; of which kinds
N°. 79. are
C H R [ 721 1 C H R
*@ifdmati£: are the opal and the ajleria or oculus call See Opal, The moft certain procedure of the fundamental bafs Chromatic
and Asteria.
CHROMATIC, a kind of mufic which proceeds
by feveral femitones in fucceffion. The word is de¬
rived from the Greek which fignifies colour.
For this denomination feveral caufes are affigned, of
which none appear certain, and all equally unfatisfac-
tory. Inftead, therefore, of fixing upon any, we fliall
offer a conjedture of our own ; which, however, we
do not impofe upon the reader as more worthy of his
attention than any of the former. may per¬
haps not only fignify a colour, but that (hade of a colour
by which it melts into another, or what the French
call nuance. If this interpretation be admitted, it will
be highly applicable to femitones ; which being the
fmalletl interval allowed in the diatonic fcale, will
moft eafily run one into another. To find the rea-
fons affigned by the ancients for this denomination,
and their various divifions of the chromatic fpecies,
the reader may have recourfe to the fame article in
Rouffeau’s Mufical Dictionary. At prefent, that fpe¬
cies confifts in giving fuch a procedure to the funda¬
mental bafs, that the parts in the harmony, or at lead
fome of them, may proceed by femitones, as well in
rifing as defcending ; which is moft frequently found-
in the minor mode, from the alterations to which the
fixth and feventh note are fubjedted, by the nature of
the mode itfelf.
The fucceffive femitones ufed in the chromatic fpe¬
cies are rarely of the fame kind ; but alternatively
major and minor, that is to fay, chromatic and diatonic',
for the interval of a minor tone contains a minor or
chromatic femitOne, and another which is major or
diatonic ; a meafure which temperament renders com¬
mon to all tones: fo that we cannot proceed by two
minor femitones which are co»jun£tive in fucceffion,
without entering into the enharmonic fpecies ; but
two major femitones twice follow each other in the
chromatic order of the fcale.
to generate the chromatic elements in afcent, is alter-v
nately to defcend by thirds, and rife by fourths, whilft
all the chords carry the third major. If the funda¬
mental bafs proceeds from dominant to dominant by
perfeft cadences avoided, it produces the chromatic in
defcending. To produce both at once, you inter-
weave the perfedl and broken cadences, but at the
fame time avoid them.
As at every note in the chromatic fpecies one muft
change the tone, that fucceffion ought to be regulated
and limited for fear of deviation. For this purpofe,
it will be proper to recollesft, that the fpace moft fuit-
able to chromatic movements, is between the extremes
of the dominant and the tonic in afcending, and be¬
tween the tonic and the dominant in defcending. In
the major mode, one may alfo chromatically defcend
from the dominant upon the fecond note. This tran-
.fition is very common in Italy; and, notwithftanding
its beauty, begins to be a little too common amongft us.
The chromatic fpecies is admirably fitted to exprefs
grief and afflidlion : thefe founds boldly (truck in aff
cending tear the foul. .Their power is no lefs magi¬
cal in defcending ; it is then that the ear feems to be
pierced with real groans. Attended with its proper
harmony, this fpecies appears proper to exprefs every
thing : but its completion, by concealing the melody,
facrifices a part of its expreffion ; and for this difad-
vantage, arifing from the fullnefs of the harmony, it
can only be compenfated by the nature and genius of
the movement. We may add, that in proportion to
the energy of this fpecies, the compofer ought to ufe
it with greater caution and parfimony. Like thofe
delicate viands, which when profufely adminiftered,
immediately furfeit us with their abundance : as much
as they delight us when enjoyed with temperance, fo
much do they difguft when devoured with prodiga¬
lity.
Chromatic, Enharmonic. See Enharmonic.
CHROMATICS;
THAT part of optics which explains the feveral
properties of the colours of light, and of natu¬
ral bodies.
Different Before the time of Sir Ifaac Newton, we find no
hypothefes hypothefis concerning colours of any confequence.
concerning The opinions of the old philofophers, however, we
colours. fliall briefly ipention, in order to gratify the curiofity
of our readers. The Pythagoreans called colour the
fuperficies of body. Plato faid that it was a flame if-
fuing from them. According to Zeno, it is the firft
configuration of matter ; and Ariftotle faid it was that
which moved bodies a finally tranfparent. Defcartes
afferted, that colour is a modification of light; but he
imagined, that the difference of colour proceeds from
the prevalence of the direfl or rotatory motion of the
particles of light. Father Grimaldi, Dechales, and
many others, thought the differences of colour depend¬
ed upon the quick or flow vibrations of a certain ela-
ftic medium filling the whole univerfe. Rohault ima¬
gined, that the different colours were made by the
rays of light entering the eye at different angles with
Vol. IV. Part II.
refpefl to the optic axis ; and from the phsenomenon
of the rainbow, he pretended to calculate the precife
quantity of the angle that conftituted each particular
colour. Laftly, Dr Hooke, the rival of Newton, ima¬
gined that colour is caufed by the fenfation of the
oblique or uneven pulfe of light; and this being ca¬
pable of no more than two varieties, he concluded there
could be no more than two primary colours.
In the year 1666, Sir Ifaac Newton began to invef-Thisfubjedl
tigate this fubjefl ; and finding the coloured image oftnveftigated.
the fun, formed by a glafs prifin, to be of an oblong,^sirIf?ac
and not of a circular form, as, according to the lawsNeWt°n'
of refraflion, it ought to be, he began to conjeflur'e
that light is not homogeneal; but that it confifts of rays,
fome of which are much more refrangible than others.
See this dffcovery fully explained and afcertained un¬
der the article Optics.
This method of accounting for the different colours
of bodies, from their refledling this or that kind of
rays moft copioufly, is fo eafy and natural, that Sir
Ifaac’s fyftem quickly overcame all objections, and to
4 Y this
722
CHRO MATICS.
this day continue# to be aimed univerfally believed.
It is now acknowledged, that the light of the fun,
which to us feems perfe&ly homogeneal and white, is
compofed' of no fewer than feven different colours,
nn%. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and
violet or indigo. A body which appears of a ltd co¬
lour, hath the property of reik&ing the red rays more
powerfully than any of the others ; and fo of the o-
rahge, yellow, green, &c. A body which is of a
black colour, initead of rdkdting, ahforbs all or the
greateft pait of the rays that fall upon it; and, on
the contrary, a body which appears white, refk&s the
greateft part of the rays indifcriminately, without he-
parating the one from the other.
The foundation of a rational theory of colours be¬
ing thus laid, it next became natural to inquire, by
what peculiar mechaniftn in the ftrucluie of each par¬
ticular body it was fitted to refleft one kind of rays
more than another? This Sir Ifaac Newton attributes to
the denfity of thefe bodies. Dr Hooke had remarked,
that thin tranfparent fubftances, particularly water and
foap blown into bubbles, exhibited various colours ac¬
cording to their thinnefs ; though, when they have a
confiderable degree of thicknefs, they appear colour-
lefs ; and Sir Ifaac himfelf had obferved, that as he
was ccmpreffing two prifms hard together, in order
to make their fides (which happened to be a little con¬
vex) to touch one another, in the place of contaA they
wye both perfectly tranfparent, as if they had been
Colours ap- but one continued piece of glafs. Round the point of
peanng he- conta(c^ where the glades were a little feparated from
glafs plates, each other, rings of different colours appeared. To
' obferve more nicely the order of the colours produced
in this manner, he took two objed-glaffes ; one of
them a plano-convex one belonging to a 14 feet re-
fra&ing telefcope, and the other a large double con¬
vex one for a telefcope of about 50 feet ; and laying
the former of them upon the latter, with its plain fide
downwards, he preffed them flowly together; by
which means the colours very foon emerged, and ap¬
peared diftinft to a confiderable diftance. Next to
the pellucid central fpot, made by the contact of the
glades, fucceeded blue, white, yellow, and red. The
blue was very little in quantity, nor could he difeern
any violet in it; but the yellow and red were very co¬
pious, extending about as far as the white, and four or
five times as far as the blue. The next circuit imme¬
diately furrounding thefe, confided of violet, blue,
green, yellow, and red: all tbefe were copious and
vivid, except the green, which was very little in quan¬
tity, and feemed more faint and dilute than the other
colours. Of the other four, the violet was the lead in
extent; and the blue lefs than the yellow or red. The
third circle of colours was purple, blue, green, yellow,
and red. In this the purple feemed more rcddiih than
the violet in the former circuit, and the green was
more confpicuous ; being as brifk and copious as any
of the other colours, except the yellow ; but the red
began to be a little faded, inclining much to purple.
The fourth circle confifted of green and red ; and of
thefe the green was very copious and lively, inclining
on the one fide to blue, and on the other to yellow ;
but in this fourth circle there Was neither violet, blue,
nor yellow, and the red was very imgerfeft and dirty.
All the fucceeding colours grew more and more im-
perfe£l and dilute, till after three or four revolutions
they ended in perfect whitenefs. ^
As the colours were thus iound to vary according gUpp0f,.j
to the different diftances of the glafs-plates from each ante from
other, nur author 'thought that they proceeded from denfity.
the different thicknefs of the plate of air intercepted
between the glaffes ; this plate of air being, by the
mere circumftance of thinnefs or thicknefs, difpofed
to refleft or tranfimit this or that particular colour.
From “this he concluded, as already obferved, that the
Colours of all natural bodies depended on their denfi¬
ty, or the bignefs of thtir component particles. He
alfo conftriufted a table, wherein the thicknefs of a
plate tieceffary to neffeS; any particular colour was
exprtffed in parts of an inch divided into 1)000,000
parts. 5
Sir Ifaac Newton, purfuing his difeoveries concern- Cclou s hy¬
ing the colours of thin fubftances, found that the fame1 efle<aioa.
were alfo produced by plates of a confiderable thick¬
nefs. There is no glafs or fpecuhim, he oblerves,
how well polifhed foever, but, bdidcs the light which
it refradts or;refk'61s regularly,' fcatter* every way ir¬
regularly a faint light ; by means of which the poiifli-
ed furface, when illuminated in a dark room by a
beam of the fun’s light, may eafily be feen in all pqii-
tions of the eye. It was with this feattered light that
the colours in the following experiments were produ-
ced.
The ftjn {Lining into his darkened chamber through
a hole in the-.{hutter one inch wide, he let the beam
of light fall perpendicularly upon a glafs fpeculum con¬
cave on one fide and convex on the other, ground to a
fphere of five feet eleven inches radius, and quickfilver-
ed Over on the convex fide. Then, holding a quire of
white paper at the centre of the fphere to which the
fpeculums were ground, in fuch a manner as that the
beam of light might pafs through a little hole made
in the middle of the paper, to the fpeculum, and thence
be reflefted back to the fame hole, he obferved on the
paper four or five concentric rings of colours, like
rainbows furrounding the hole,' very much like thofe
which appeared in the thin plates above mentioned,
but larger and fainter. Thefe rings, as they grew
larger and larger, became more dilute, fo that the fifth
was hardly viiible ; and yet fometimes, when the fun
{home very clear, there appeared faint traces of a lixth
and feventh. . g
We have already taken notice, that the thin plates Colour.hy
_made ufe of in the former experiments reflected fome ■ cfradHoa
kinds of rays in particular paits, and tranfmittedreftefi*
others in the fame parts. Hence the coloured rlngs nrerated'
appeared varioufiy difpofed, according as they were
viewed by tranfmitted or refk&ed light ; that is, ac¬
cording as the plates were held up between the light
and the eye, or not. For the better underftanding of
which we fuhjoin the following table,wherein on one
fide are mentioned the colours appearing on the plates
by reflefted light, and on the other thole which were
oppofite to them, and which became vilible when the
glaffes were held up between the eye and the window.
We have already obferved, that the centre, when the
glaffes were in full contaft, was perfe&ly tranfparent.
This fpot, therefore, when viewed by reflected light,,
appeared
'theory of
i colouis by
Sir ifaac
Newton.
C H R O M A T I C S.
appeared black, becaufe it tranfmitted all_ the rays ; changes of colours in opaque-and coloured bodies.
wed He endeavours to confirm it by a number of experi-
If the infufions of dowers of different colours;
723
and for the fame reafon it appeared white when v
by tranfmitted light.
Colours by ReflcEtcd
Li%ht.
Black
Blue
White
Yellow
Red
Violet
Blue
Green
•Yellow
Red
Purple
Blue
Green
Yellow ?
Red 3
Green
Red
Greenilh-blue
Red.
Colours by Tranfmlitcd
Light.
White
Ydlowifh-red
Black
Violet
Blue
White
Yellow
Red
Violet
Blue
Green
Yellow
Red
Bluiih-green
Red
Bluilh-green
Red.
but bis ftrongeft arguments feem to be thofe derived cc
from the different tinges given to glafs by metallic n
fubftances. Here he obferves, that each metal gives a
tinge according to its fpecific denfity ; the more denie
metals producing the lefs refrangible colours, and the
lighter ones thofe colours which are more eafily refran¬
gible. Gold, which is the denfeft of all metals, im-
, parts a red colour to glafs, whenever it can be divided
into particles fo minute, that it is capable of being
mixed with the materials of which glafs is made. It
feems indifferent by what means it is reduced to this
ftate, nor can it by any means be made to produce a-
nother colour. If it is mixed in large maffes without
being minutely divided, it imparts no colour to the
glafs, but remains in its metallic form. Lead, the me¬
tal whofe denfity is next in order to that of gold, af¬
fords a glafs of the colour of the hyacinth ; a gem
whofe diftinguifhing chara&erillic is, that it is red
with an admixture of yellowy the fame colour which is
ufually called orange. Glafs of lead is mentioned by
feveral authors as a compofition proper, without the
addition of any other ingredient, for imitating the hy*
The colours of the rings produced from reflection apnth. Silver, next in denfity to lead, can only be
by the thick plates, followed the order of thofe pro- made to communicate a yellow colour to glafs. If
duced by tranfmiffion through the thin ones ; and by tbe meta^ *s calcined with fuiphur, it readily commu-
the analogy of their phenomena with thofe produced nicates this colour. Leaf-filvtr laid upon red-hot glaft
from the thin plates, Sir Ifaac Newton concluded that hkewife tinges it yellowr. Vvrhen we meet with au-
they w>ere picduced in a fimilar manner. For he thors who mention a blue or greeniih colour commu-
found, that if the quiekfilver was rubbed off from the nrcated by filver, the caufe muff have been, that the
back of the fpeculum, the glafs alone would produce klver ufed in fuel; proceffes wras mixed with copper,
the fame rings, but much more faint than before ; fo Delaval affures us, from his own experience, that
that the phenomenon did not depend upon the quick- fdver purified by the teft retains fo much copper, that,
River, except in as far as, by increafing the reflection when melted feveral times with nitre and borax, it al-
at the back of the glafs, it increafed the light of the ways imparted a green colour at the firff and fecond
coloured rings. He alfo found that a fpeculum of me- melting; though afterwards no fuch colour was ob-
tal only, produced none of thofe rings ; which made tainable from it. The only colour produced by cop-
him conclude, that they did not arife from one fnrface Per is green. It is indifferent in wdiat manner the
only, but depended on the two furfaces of the plate copper is prepared in order to tinge the glafs, provided
of glafs of which the fpeculum was made, and upon it is expofed without any other ingredient to a fufS*
the thicknefs of the giafs between them. cient degree of heat. If a quantity of ialts are added
From thefe experiments and obfervaiions, it will be m the preparation, they will, by attenuating the mix-
eafy to underftand the Newtonian theory of colours, tyre, make the glafs incline, to blue, the colour next
Every fubfiance in nature feems to be tranfparent, in order: but this happens only when the fire is mo-
provided it is made fufiiciently thin. Gold, the moft derate ; for, in a greater degree of heat, the redun-
denfe fubftanee we know, when reduced into thin dant falts, even thofe of the moil fixed nature, are ex¬
leaves, tranfmks a bluiih-green light through it. If, pelled. It is true, that copper is mentioned by fome
therefore, we fuppofe any body, gold,' for inftance, to writers as an ingredient in red glafs and enamel: but
be divided into a vaft number of plates, fo thin a-s to the red, which is the colour of the metal not diffolved
be almoft perfeftly tranfparent, it is evident that all or mixed with the glafs, remains only while the com¬
er greateft part of the rays will p-afs through the up- pofition is expofed to fuch a degree of heat -as is too
per plates, and when they lofe their force will be re- Imall to melt and. incorporate it; for, if it be fuffered
flefted from the under ones. They will then have to remain in the furnace a few minutes after the cop-
the fame number of plates to pafs through which they per is added, the mars will turn out green inftead of*
had penetrated before!; and thus, according to the red. Iron, the metal next in denfity to copper, is apt
•number of thofe plates through which they are obli- to be calcined, or reduced to a ruddy crocus, fimilar
ged to pafs, the objeft appears of this or that colour, to that ruit which it contracts fpontaneoufly in the
juft as the rimes of colours appeared different in the air. In this Hate, it requires a eonfiderable degree of
•experiment of the two plates, according to their di- heat-to diffolve and incorporate it with "rlafs : till that
fiance from one another, or the thicknefs of the plate heat is applied, it retains its ruddy colour: by in-
of air between them. creafing the heat, i.t pafies through the intermediate
This theory is adopted by Edward Huffey Delaval, colours, till it arrives at its permanent one, which is
in his Experimental Inquiry into the caufe of the blue; this being efFefted in tire greateft degree of heat
4 Y 2 the
Mr Bela-
expe-
724 C H R O M
tlie glafs will bear, without lofing all colour whatever.
Iron vitrified per fe is convex-ted into a blue glafs. In
fhort, it is indubitable, that iron is the only metal
which will, without any addition, impart to the glafs
a blue colour : for copper will not communicate that
colour without the addition of a confiderable quantity
of falls, or fome other matter that attenuates it; and
the other metals cannot by any means be made to pro¬
duce it at all.
S\r Ifaac’s Thefe are the principal of Mr Delaval’s arguments
theory de- in favour of Sir Ifaac Newton’s theory of colours be-
fended by ing formed by denfity- Dr Prieftley too hath men-
Dr Prieft- t;oneci fome which deferve attention. “ It Was a
difcovery of Sir Ifaac Newton (fays he), that the co¬
lours of bodies depend upon the thicknefs of the fine
plates which compofe their furfaces. He hath fliown,
that a change of the thicknefs of thefe plates occafions
a change in the colour of the body; rays of a diffe¬
rent colour being thereby difpofed to be tranfmitted
through it; and confequently rays of a different co¬
lour refle&ed at the fame place, fo as to prefent an
image of a different colour to the eye. A variation
in the denfity occafions a variation in the colour ; but
Hill a medium of any denfity will exhibit all the co¬
lours, according to the thicknefs of it- Thefe obfer-
vations he confirmed by experiments on plates of air,
water, and glafs. He likewife mentions the colours
which arife on polifhed fteel by heating it, as likewife
on bell-metal, and fome other metalline fubftances,
when melted and poured on the ground, where they
may cool in the open air; and he afcribes them to
the fcorias or vitrified parts of the metal, which, he
fays, moft metals, when heated or melted, do continu¬
ally protrude and fend out to their furfaces, covering
them in the form of a thin glaffy fkin. This great
difcovery concerning the colours of bodies depending
on the thicknefs of the fine plates which compofe their
furfaces, of whatever denfity thefe plates may be, I
have been fo happy as to hit upon a method of illu-
ftrating and confirming by means of eleftrical explo-
His expe- fi°ns* A number of thefe being received on the fur-
riraents. face of any piece of metal, change the colour of it to
a confiderable diftance from the fpot on which they
were difcharged ; fo that the whole circular fpace is
divided into a number of concentric rings, each of
which confifts of all the prifmatic colours, and perhaps
as vivid as they can be produced in any method what-
IWr Can- ever. .Upon fhowing thefe coloured rings to .Mr
ton’s expe- Canton, I was agreeably furprifed to find, that he had
rimeiits. likewife produced all the prifmatic colours from all
the metals, but by a different operation. He ex¬
tended fine wires of all the different metals along the
furfaces of pieces of glafs, ivory, wood, &e. ; and
when the wire was exploded, he always found them
tinged with all the colours. They are not difpofed
in fo regular and beautiful a manner as in the rings 1
produced, but they equally demonftrate that none of
the metals thus exploded difeovers the leaf! preference
to one colour more than to another. In what manner
thefe colours are formed it ifiay not be eafy to conjec¬
ture. In Mr Canton’s method of producing them,
the metal, or the calcined and vitrified parts of it,
feem to be difperfed in all directions from the plate
of explofion, in the form of fpherts of a very great
variety of fizes, tinged with all the variety of colours,
A T I C S.
and fome of them fmaller than can he diltinttly feen.
by any magnifier. In my method of making thefe
colours, they feem to be produced in a manner fimi-
lar to the production of colours on fteel and other me¬
tals by heat; i. ,e. the furface is affeCted without the
parts of it being removed from their places, certain
plates or lamina; being formed of a thicknefs proper to .
exhibit the refpeCtive colours.” l2_
But, however well fupported this doCtrine: of the Newtonian
formation of colours, by denfity may he, we. find the then y im-
fame author (Dr Prieftley), whom we have, juft now
feen arguing for it in his hiftory of eleCtricity, arguing iey_ nc
againft it in hfs hiftory of vifion. “ There are (fays
he) no optical experiments with which Sir Ifaac New¬
ton feems to fiaye taken more pains than thofe. rela¬
ting to the rings of colotR-s which appear in thin plates;
and in all his obfervations and inveftigations concern^
ing them, he difeovers the greateft fagacity both as a
philofopher and mathematician; and yet. in no i'ubject
to which-he gave his attention, does he feem to have
overlooked more important circumftances in the ap¬
pearances he obferved, or to. have been more mifta-
ken with regard to their caufes. The former will be
evident from the obforvations of thofe who fucceeded
him in thefe enquiries, particularly thofe of the Abbe , ^
Mazeas. This gentleman, endeavouring to give a Curious ex- !
very high poliih to the flat fide of an objeCt-glafs, hap-pediments |
pened to be rubbing it againft another piece of flat jy^zeas^k8
and fmooth glafs; when he was furprifed to find, that
after this friction, they adhered very firmly together,
till at laft he could not move the one upon the other.
But he wps much more furprifed to obferve the fame
colours between thefe plane glaifes that Newton qb-
ferved between the convex objeCt-glafs of a telefcope
and another that was plane.. Thefe colours between
the plane glaffes, the Abbe obferves, were in propor¬
tion to their adhefion. The refemblance between
them and the colours produced by Newton, induced
him to give a very particular attention to them ; and
his obfervations and experiments are as follow:.
“ If the furfaces of the pieces of glafs are tranfpa-
rent, and well, polifhed, fuch as are ufed for mirrors,
and the preffure be as equal as pofiible on every part
of the two furfaces, a refiftance, he fays, willfoon be
perceived when one of them is made to Aide over the
other; fometimes towards the middle, and fometimes
towards the edges; but wherever the refiftance is felt,,
two or three very fine curve lines will.be perceived,
fome of a pale red, and others of a faint green. Con¬
tinuing the fri&ion, thefe red and green lines increafe.
in number at the place of contadf, the colours being
fometimes mixed without any order, and fometimes dif¬
pofed in a regular manner. In the laft cafe, the co¬
loured lines are generally concentric circles, or ellipfes,,
or rather ovals, more or lefs elongated as the furfaces
are more or lefs united. Thefe figures will not fail;
to appear, if the glaffes are. well wiped and wanned be¬
fore the fri&ion.
“ When the colburs are formed, the glaffes adhere
with confiderable force, and would always continue fo,
without any change in the colours. In the centre of.
all thofe ovals, the longer diameter of which generally
exceeds ten lines, there appears a fmall plate of the.
fame figure, exaAly like a plate of gold interpofed
between the glaffes; and in the centre of it there is
often
725
CHROMATICS.
often a dark fpot, which abforbs all the rays of light
except the violet; for this colour appears very vivid
through a prifm.
“ If the glafles are feparated fuddenly, either by
Hiding them horizontally over one another, or by the
a&ion of fire, as will be explained hereafter, the co¬
lours will appear immediately upon their being put to¬
gether again, without the leail fri&ion.
“ Beginning by the flightefl: touch, and increafing
the prefiure by infenfible degrees, there firft; appears
an oval plate of a faint red, and in the midft of it a
fpot of light green, which.enlarges by the preffure,
and becomes a green oval, with a red fpot in the
centre; and this, enlarging in its turn, difcovers a
green fpot in its centre. Thus the red and the. green
fucceed one another in turns, affuming different fhades,
and having-other colours mijeed with them, which will
be diftinguifhed prefently.
“ The greatefl difference between thefe colours ex¬
hibited between plane furfaces and thofe formed by
curve ones is, that in the former cafe preffure alone
will not produce them, except in the cafe above men¬
tioned. With whatever force he compreffed them, his
attempts to produce the colours were in vain without
previous fri&ion. But the reafon of this plainly was,
that without Hiding one of the glaffes over the other,
they could not be brought to approach near enough for
the purpofe.
“ Having made thefe obfervations with plates of
glafs whofe fides were neatly parallel, he got two
prifms with very fmall refradfing angles; and rubbing
them together, when they were fo joined as to form a
parallelepiped, the colours appeared with a furprifing
luftre at the places of contadf, owing, he did not
doubt, to the feparation of the rays of light by the
prifm. In this cafe, differently coloured ovals appear¬
ed, but the plate of gold in them was much whiter,
and only appeared yellow about its edges. This plate
having a black fpot in its centre, was bordered by a
deep purple. He could not perceive any violet by his
naked eye, but it might be perceived by the help of
a lens with a weak light. It appeared in a very fmall
quantity at the confines of the purple and the blue,
and feemed to him to be only a mixture of thefe two
colours. It was very vifible in each of the coloured
rings by inclining the glaffes to the light of the moon.
Next to the purple and violet appeared blue, orange,
red tinged with purple, light green, and faint purple.
The other rings appeared to the naked eye to con?
fift of nothing but faint reds and greens; and they
were fo ihaded that it was not eafy to mark their ter¬
minations. That the order of thefe may be compared
with Newton’s, he gives a view of both in the follow¬
ing table:
Order of the Colours in the
Plane Glajfes,
T Black fpot
j r yWhitifii oval
r er . < Yellow border
(_Deep purple
Order of the Colours in
Newt. Olject Glajfes.
Black
Blue
White
Yellow
Red
Violet
Blue
Green
Yellow.
Red
Order of the Colours in the
Plane Glajfes.
iGreenifh blue
Yellowifh green
Purpled red
OrderIV.
OrderVII. j Veryfamtgreen
£ Very faint red.)
Order of the Colours in
Newt. Object Glaffes.
Purple
Blue
Green
Yellow
Red
Green
Red
Greenifli blue
Red
Greenifli blue
Red
Greenifh blue
Pale red.
“ WRen thefe coloured glaffes were fufpended over
the flame of a candle, the colours difappeared fudden-
ly, though the glaffes ftill continued to adhere to one
another when they were parallel to the horizon. When
they were fuffered to cool, the colours returned by de¬
grees to their former places, in the order of the pre¬
ceding table,
“ After this the Abbe took two plates much thicker
than the former, in order to obferve at his leifure the
adfion of fire upon the matter which he fuppofed to
produce the colours; and obferved, that as they grew
warm, the colours retired to the edges of the glafies,
and there became narrower and narrower till they were
reduced to imperceptible lines. Withdrawing the
flame, they returned to their place. This experiment
he continued till the glaffes were bent by the violence
of the heat. It was pleafant, he fays, to obferve thele
colours glide over the furface of the glafs as they
were purified by the flame.
“ At the fir ft, our author had no doubt but that
thefe colours were owing to a thin plate of air be¬
tween the glaffes, to which Newton has aferibed them;
but the remarkable difference in the erreuinfiances at¬
tending thofe produced by the flat plates, and thofe
produced by the objedt-giaffes of Newton, convinced
him that the air was not the caufe of this appearance;
The colours of the flat plates vanifhed at the approach
of flame, but thofe of the ohjedt-glaffes did not. Pie
even heated the latter till that which was next the
flame was cracked by the heat; before he could ob¬
ferve the leaft dilatation of the coloured rings. This
difference was not owing to the plane glafRs being lefs
compreffed than the convex ones ; for though the for¬
mer were compreffed ever fo much by a pair of forceps,
it did not in the leaft hinder the effect of the flame.
“ Afterwards he put both the plane glaffes and the
convex ones into the receiver of an air-pump, fufpend-
ing the former by a thread, and keeping the latter-
eompreffed by two firings; but he obferved no change
in the colours of either of them in the moft perfedt va¬
cuum he could make.
w Notwithftanding thefe experiments feemed to be
conclufive againft the hypothefis of thefe colours be¬
ing formed by a plate of air, the Abbe frankly ac¬
knowledges, that the air may adhere fo obftinate-
ly to the furface of the glaffes as not to be fepa¬
rated from them by the force of the pump ; which,
indeed, is agreeable to other appearances : but the
following experiments of our author make it flill
more improbable that the air fhould be the caufe of
thefe. colours.
« Ta
-721S C H R O M A T I C S,
“ To try the titmofl efFe& of heat upon thefe co- ted light: for when he held the plates (which gave
loured plates, after warming them gradually, he laid the colours when the fuet was between them) over
them upon burning coals ; but though they were near- the flame of a fmall candle, the colours fled with great
ly red, yet when he rubbed them together by means precipitation, and returned to their place without his
of^hn iron rod, he obferved the fame coloured circles being able to perceive the leaft alteration in the fuet.
and ovals as before. When he ceafed to prefs upon them, “ He was confirmed in his conje&ures, by fre-
the colours feemed to vaniflibut when he repented queatly obferving, that when the glafles were fepara-
the fri&ion, they returned, and continued till the pie- ted, at the moment the colours difappeared, they
ces of glafs begau to be red-hot, and their furfaces to were covered with the fame greafy matter, and that
be united by fufion. it feemed to be in the very fame ftate as when they
“ When the outward furface of one of his plates were feparated without warming. Beiides, having
of glafs was quickfilvered, none of thofe colours were often repeated the fame experiment with different
vifible, though the glaffes continued to adhere with kinds of matter, lie found that th* degree oj^heat that
the fame force. This he aferibed to the ftronger difperfed the colours was not always fufHcient to melt
imprefiiqn made on the eye by the greater quantity of it; which difference was more fenflble in proportion
light reflected from the quickfilver. as the matter interpofed was made thinner.
“ Judging from the refemblance between his ex- “ Inffead of the iuet, he fometirpes made ufe of
periments and thofe of Sir Ifaac Newton, that the co- Spanifii wax,' refin, common wax, And the fediment
lours were owing to the thicknefs-of fome matter, of urine. He began with Spanifh wax, on account of
whatever . that was, xnterpofed between the glaffes, its remarkable tranfparency in Mr Hauklbee’s elcCtri-
the Abbe, in order to verify his hypothefis, tried the cal experiments ; but he had much difficulty in ma-
experiinent on thicker fubftances. He put between king it fufficiently thin by friftion, being often obliged
his glaffes a little ball of fuet, about a fourth of a line to warm his glaffes, to feize the moment of fufion,
in diameter, and preffed it between the two furfaces, which continued but a Ihort time, and to hazard the
warming them at the fame time, in order to difperfe burning of his fingers.
the fuet; but, though he rubbed them together as be- “ The experiment at length fucceeding, the Spa-
fore, and ufed other foft fubftances befides fuet, his nifli wax appeared with its opacity and natural colour
endeavours to produce the colours had no effedft. But, when it reneiled the light, but theyr both difappeared
rubbing them with more violence in a circular man- in the tranfmitted light. He obferved the fame rings
ner, he was furprifed, on looking at a candle through in it as in the fuet ; and indeed he could perceive but
them, to fee it furrounded with two or three concen- little difference between the colours of fuet, Spanifti
trie rings, very broad, and with very lively delicate wax, common wax, or refin; except that this laft fub-
colours ; namely, a red inclining to a yadlow, and a ftance did not make the colours fo vivid, on account
green inclining to that of an emerald. At that time of the too great tranfparency of its particles,
he obferved only thefe two colours; but continuing the “ The fediment of urine had fomething more par-
friftion, the rings affumed the colours of blue, yellow, ticular in its appearance, as its colours were more
and violet, efpecially when he looked through the lively. Holding it above the flame, its colours difap-
gkffes on bodies directly oppofed to the fun. If, after peered ; and, keeping it in that fituation, there were
having rubbed the glaffes, the thicknefs was confide- formed, upon its furface, ramifications, like thofe of
rably denin i'hcd, the colours grew weakerhy tranfmitted the hoar-froft, which difappeated as the glaffes grew
light, but they ihented to be much ftronger by reflection, cold. There were the fame ramifications both upon
I4 and to gain on one fide what they loft on the other, the fuet and the wax, but they were not fo confider-
Newtorian “ Our author was confirmed in his opinion, that able. The glaffes which had Spanifti wax and refill
tiypo'hetis there muft be fome error in Newton’s hypothefis, by between them adhered with fo much force, that they
oppofed. confidering, that, according to his meafures, the co- could not be feparated without the help of fire ; and
lours of the plates varied with the difference of a when they began to grow warm, they feparated with
millionth part of an inch; whereas he was fatisfied a noife like that of a glafs breaking in the fire, though
that there muft have been much greater differences the glafies were not broken, and the matter between
in the diftance between his glaffes, when the colours them was not melted.
remained unchanged. “ Separating the glaffes which he firft ufed very
“ If the colour depended upon the thicknefs only, fuddenly, he obferved upon their furface very thin
he thought that the matter interpofed between the vapours, which formed different colours, but prefent-
glaffes ought to have given the fame colour when it ly vaniftied altogether.
was reduced to a thin plate by fimple fufion as well as “ To try the effect of vapour, he breathed upon
by friction, and that; in rubbing two plates together, one of his plates of glafs, and obferved that the va-
warming them at different times, and corapreffing pours which adhered to the glaffes fometimes formed,
them with a conliderable force, other colours would before they were entirely difperfed, a furpriling va-
h.ive appeared Befides thofe above mentioned. riety of colours. This experiment, he obferves, does.
“ Thefe circumftanccs made him fufpeiSt, that the not always fucceed at the firft trial. The glafs muft
different thickneffes of the iubftance interpofed be* . be breathed upon feveral times, and care muft be ta-
tween the glaffcs ferved only to make them more or ken to wipe it every time with one’s hand, both to
lets tranfparent, which was an effential condition in. take off the moifture, and alfo to make upon the glafs
. the experiment; and he imagined that the friction a kind of furrows, which contribute very much to the
diffufed over the furface of the thin fubftance a kind variety of colours, by making inequalities in-the thick-
of matter on which the colours are formed by vtflec- neffes of the vapours. It is neceffary, alfo, that the
glaffes
727
CHROMATICS.
glaffes on which thefe experiments are made have no
qihckfilver upon them.
“ When the particles of water which formed this
vapour were too thick to exhibit thefe colours, he
ftruck them feveral times with his pencil, in order to
attenuate them ; and then he faw an infinity of fmall
coloured threads which fucceeded one another with
great rapidity.
“ Putting a drop of water between two pieces of
common glafs, he obferved that the compreffion - of
them produced no colour; but if, while they were
comprelfed, the water was made to pafs from one
place to another, it left behind it large fpots, red,
yellow, green, purple, fife, and the fpots affumed
different colours with a furpruing rapidity, and pre-
fented to the eye a moll beautiful variety of fhades.
“ In order ,to determine with greater certainty
whether they were vapours that caufed the colours in
his firft obfervations, he fir ft breathed upon one of his
plates of glafs, and then rubbed them againft one ano¬
ther, when the colours appeared in the fame order as
before, but darker, and difperfed in confulion in the
places occupied by the vapours ; but when he made
wfe of fire to difiipate the watery particles, the co¬
lours refumed their luftre. \
“ Newton, having introduced a drop of water be¬
tween his two objeft-glafies, obferved, that in pro-
portion as the water infinuated itfelf between the
glaffes, the colours grew fainter, and the rings were
contradfted ; and aferibing thefe colours to the thick-
nefs of the plate of water, as he aferibed the former
to that of the plate of air, Ire meafured the diameters
of the coloured rings made by the plate of water,
and concluded that the intervals between the glafl'es
at the timilar rings of there two mediums were nearly
as three to four ; 'and thence he inferred, that, in all
cafes, thefe intervals would be as the fines of the re-
fra&tons of thefe mediums. - •
“ The Abbe Mazeas, in order to allure himfelf
whether, agreeable to this rule, the coloured rings of
his glaffes depended upon the thicknefs of the water
only, dipped one of the edges of Ms coloured glaffes
in a veflel of water, having taken care to wipe and
warm.them well before he produced his colours by
friction. The water was a confiderable time in ri¬
ling as high as the gkffes ; and in preportion as it a-
feended, he perceived a very thin plate of water, which
fieemed to pafe over the matter which he thought
preduced the colours, without mixing with it ; for
Wy’ond this plate of water, he ftill perceived the co¬
lours in the fame place and order, but deeper and
darker; and holding the glaffes above the flame of a
candle, he faw the colours go and come feveral times
as he moved them nearer to or farther from the frame.
He then moiftened both the glaffes more than before;
and rubbing them as ufual, he always faw the fame
appearance ; and fcr/.ing the .moment when the co¬
lours had difepp'eared to feparatc the glaffes, he al¬
ways found that they were wet. On this account,
he thought that it could not be the water on which
the colour depended, hut fome fubftance much more
fenfible to heat. He alfo thought that thefe coloured
nngs could not be owing to the compreffion of the
glaffies; or that, if this circumilaBce did contribute any
2.
thing to them, it ferved rather to modify than to-ge¬
nerate them.
“ M. du Tour gave particular attention to the pre- m. du
ceding obfervations of the Abbe Mazeas. He repeat- Tour’s ob-
ed the experiments with fome variation of cireum-ferv&tioils*
fiances, particularly comparing them with thofe of
Sir Ifaac Newton. He is fo far from fuppofing a plate
of air to be neceffary to the formation of thefe co¬
loured rings, that he thinks the reafon of their not ap¬
pearing between the flat plates of glafs is the adher¬
ing of the air to their furfaces; and that mere pref-
fure is not fufficient to expel it; except, as the Abbe.
Mazeas obferved, the rings had before been made in
the fame place; in which cafe, limple appofition with¬
out friction is fufficient; the air, probably, not having
had time to apply itfelf fo clofely to the furface of the
glafs. The cent aft of fome other fubftances, M. du
Tour obferves, is not fo prejudicial in this experiment
as that of air; for he found, that, if he only gave the
plates a flight coating of any kind of greafe, the rings,
would appear without friction. Alfo dipping.them
{lightly, in water, or wiping them, with his finger, -
would anfwer the fame purpofe. He verified his.
conjeftures by means of the air-pump: for, dipping
two pieces of glafs in water, one of which had been
wiped, and the other not, the former appeared to have-
no bubbles adhering to it when the air was exhaufted,
whereas the other had. -
“ When one of the glaffes is convex, our author.ob-
ferves, that the particles of air may more, eafily make -1
their efcape by preffure only; whereas their retreat
is in a manner cut off when they are compreffed be¬
tween two flat furfaces. The air-pump, he found,
was not able to detach thefe particles of air from the
furfaces to which they adhere ; leaving thefe flat plates
for a confiderable time in an exhaufted receiver, was
not fufficient to prepare them fo well for the experi¬
ment, as wiping them.
“ Befides the obiervations on the colours of thin Experi-
platcs, it has been feen that Sir Ifaac • Newton ima- ments on
gined he could account fur the colours exhibited by colou^ ^
thick ones in fome cafes in a fimifer manner ; parti-r
cularly in thofe curious experiments in which he ad¬
mitted a beam of light through a hole iti a piece of
pafteboard, and obferved the rings, of colours refledted
back upon it by a concave glafs mirror of equal thick*
nefs in all places. Thefe experiments were refumed,,
and happily purfued, by the Duke- de Chaulnes, who .
aferibed thefe colours to the inflection of light*. Chance * See0
led the duke to obferve, that when the nearer furface tics. A
of the glafs mirror was clouded by breathing upon it,
fo. as lightly to tarnifh it, a white diffufed and vivid
light was feen upon the patteboard, and. all the co¬
lours of the /rings became much {Monger, and more,
diftiadt. Tliis-appearance he made conftant by moi-
ftening the furface of the mirror with a little milk and.
water, and fuft’ering it to dry upon it.
“ In all his experiments upon this fabjedt, he found,.
that when the rays fell converging on the furface of
the mirror, the ringswere hardly vifible; when they,
fell parallel upon it, as they muft -have done in- all the
experiments of Newton, they appeared fufficiently
diftindt; but when, by means of a convex lens placed,
in the hole of. the window, they were made to diverge.
fronii
28
CHROMATICS.
ffom tlie centre of the fphere to which the mirror was the form of his mirror being very true : hut the dm-
ground, fo that they fell perpendicularly on the fur- meter of the rings upon the pafteboard varied with the
face of the mirror, the colours were as vivid as he could diftance of the talc from the mirror; fo that they were
make them. In this cafe he could remove the reflec- very large when the talc was near the mirror, and very
ted image to a great diftance from the hole, without fmall when it was placed at the diltance of feven or
making the rings difappear; and he could plainly per- eight inches.
ceive them to arife from their central fpots, which “ Thefe experiments proved, that the rings were
changed their colours feveral times. formed by the firft furface, and reflected by the fe-
“ The effe& of tarniftiing the mirror convinced him, cond ; but it ftill remained to be determined in what
that thefe coloured rings depended on the firft fur- manner they were formed. He imagined, that the
face of the mirror; and that the fecond furface, or fmall pencils of rays that were tranfmitted through
that which reflected them after they had pafi'ed the the pores of the glafs, or any other tranfparent fub-
firft, only ferved to collect them and throw them up- ftance, might fuffer a kind of inflexion, which might
on the pafteboard in a quantity fufficient to make them change the cylinder which they formed into a trun-
vifible, and he was confirmed in his fuppofition by the cated cone, either by means of their different degrees
following experiments. of inflexibility, or by the different diftances at which
“ He took a plano-convex objedt-glafs, of fix feet they pafs by the edges of the fmall hole through which
focus, and placed it fix feet from the pafteboard with they are tranfmitted. Purfuing this idea, he thought
its convex fide towards it. By this means the rays of making ufe of fome body, the pores of which were
which fell upon that furface, after being refracted of a known and determined ftiape. Inftead, therefore,
there, were tranfmitted through the thicknefs of the of the piece of talc, he placed a piece of fine linen
glafs, parallel to one another, and fell perpendicularly in the above mentioned frame, ftretching it as even as
on the plane furface that reflected them, and, in their poflible, to make the pores formed by the threads
return, would be collected upon the pafteboard. In more exact and more permeable by the light; and he
thefe circumftances the rings appeared very diftindt foon found, with great pleafure, that his conjedture
after he had tarnifhed the convex furface, which in was verified: for, inftead of the circular rings which
this pofition was next to the light. he had before, they were now manifeftly fquare,
“ Turning the fame glafs the contrary way, fo that though their angles were a little rounded ; and they
the plane furface was towards the pafteboard, he could were coloured as the others, though the light was not
perceive none of the rings at the diftance of fix feet; very vivid, on account of the quantity that was flopped
but they were vifible at the diftance of three feet: by the muffin.
becaufe at that diftance the fecond furface refledted “ When, inftead of the muflin, he ftretched acrofs
the rays by its concavity diredtly towards the pafte- his frame fine filver wires exadtly parallel, at the di-
board. ftance of about three quarters of a line, or a whole
“ Thefe two experiments demonftrate the ufe of the line from one another, without any other wires acrofs
-fecond furface of the mirror, and fhow the manner of them; inftead of the rings which he had feen before,
placing it to moft advantage. Thofe that follow fiiow there was nothing upon the pafteboard but a gleam of
the ufe of the firft furface with refpedt to thefe rings; white light divided by many fmall ftreaks, coloured
and he was led to make them by the cafual obfervation in a very vivid manner, and in the fame manner as
above mentioned. the rings.” |
“ Newton, he obferves, had remarked, that when Thus we have another hypothefis of the formation Anot^r
he made ufe of a mirror of the fame focus with the firft of colours, namely, by the infledtion of light in its theory of
he had ufed, but of twice the thicknefs, he found the paffage out from between the folid and impenetrable colours,
diameter of the rings much fmaller than before. This particles of which bodies are compofed. It is, how-
obfervation the duke thought favourable to his own ever, very difficult, upon the hypothefis either of Sir
concluiions; for if thefe rings depend upon the firft Ifaac Newton, or that of the Duke de Chatlines, to
furfacc, the nearer it is to the fecond, which only re- give a reafon why bodies that are not entirely white,
fledts the ray tranfmitted from it, the larger they ought Ihould not appear varioufly coloured. For, it appears
to appear upon the pafteboard. - from Sir Ifaac Newton’s experiments, that plates of
“ To afeertain this fadf, he thought of making ufe different denfity are capable of exhibiting the fame
of two moveable furfaces ; and to make ufe of a mi- colours; and that where a plate is continually varying
crometef to meafure the diftance between them with in denfity, it will produce all the colours. .Now it is i
exadfnefs. For this purpofe he took a metallic mir- evident, that the plates of which we fuppofe all na-
ror belonging to a refledting telefcope, being part of tural bodies to be compofed, muft be fimilar to one
a fphere of ten feet radius; and he fixed it firm upon that is perpetually varying in its thicknefs; for fuppo-
a foot in which was a groove that carried a light frame, fing the plates of which any fubftance is compofed to
to which was faftened a thin piece of talc tarnifhed with be of any determinate thicknefs, 9 millionth parts of
milk and water. The frame that fupported the piece an inch for inftance ; fuch of the rays as are refledted
of talc could either be brought into contadt with the from this plate will be red. But if any of them pe- ||
mirror, or be removed to the diftance of eight or nine netrate to the depth of 1of thefe parts, they will
inches from it, and the micrometer ftiowed to the ut- be refledted of a violet colour, £sk. and thus muft al-
moft exadtnefs the leaft motion of the frame. loy and obfcuie the red; and fo of others. If we
“ Having placed this mirror ten feet from the pafte- fuppofe the colours to be produced by infledtion, it
board, that is, at the diftance of the radius of its own will be equally difficult to account for fome particular
fphere, he obferved the rings to appear very diftindt; rays being infledted and others not; feeing we ob-
N° 79. 3 ferve
e H R O M
ferve that all of them are capable of being inflefted
by every fubitance whatever, when they pafs very
near it. In fpme cafes too, colours are produced
when the light is neither refrafted nor inflected, as far
as we can judge; and this feems to obfcure the theory
of chromatics more than any thing we have yet men¬
tioned.
As the experiments we are now about to mention
are of the greateft importance, and in direcSt terms
contradift one of Sir Ifaac Newton’s, we (hall give a
full account of them, from'Prieftley’s hiftory of Vifion,
lg &e. with his remarks thereon.
One of Sir The experimenf in queftion is the eighth of New-
IfaacNew- ton’s fecond book of Optics: “ He (Sir Ifaac New¬
ton’s expe- ton j found, he fays, that when light goes out of air
found To through feveral contiguous refracting mediums, as
be errone- through water and glafs, and thence goes out again
cus. into air, whether the refra&ing furfaces be parallel or
inclined to one another, that light, as often as, by con¬
trary refractions, it is fo corrected, that it emerges in
lines parallel to thofe in which it was incident, con¬
tinues ever after to be white: but if the emergent
rays be inclined to the incident, the whitenefs of the
emerging light will, by degrees, in paffing on from
the place of emergence, become tinged at its edges
with colours. This he tried by refrafting light with
pnfms of glafs, placed within a prifmatic veil'd of wa¬
ter.
“ By theorems deduced from this experiment, he
infers, that the refraftion of the rays of every fort, -
made out of any medium into air, are known by ha¬
ving the refradtion of the rays of any one fort; and al-
fo, that the refraction out of one medium into another
is found as often as we have the refractions out of
them both into any third medium.
“ .On the contrary, a Swedifh philofopher (M. Klin-
« Swe£ genilierna) obferves, that, in this experiment, the
A&band. rays of light, after paffing through the water and the
vo!. 16. .gMfs, though they come out parallel to the incident
p. 300- rays, will be coloured ; but that the fmaller the glafs
prifm is, the nearer will the refult of it approach to
Newton’s defeription,
“ This paper of M. Klingenftierna, being commu-
nicatedto Mr Dollond by M. Mallet, made him enter¬
tain doubts, concerning Newton’s report of the refult
of his experiment; and determined him to have re-
courfe to experiments of his own.
“ He therefore cemented together two plates of
parallel glafs,. at their edges, fo as to form a prifmatic
veil'd when flopped at the ends or bafes; and the edge
being turned downwards, he placed in it a glafs prifm
with one of its edges upwards, and filled up the va¬
cancy with clear water; fo that the refradtion of the
prifm was contrived to be contrary to-tliat of the wa¬
ter, in Order that a ray of light, tranfmitted through
both thefe refradting mediums, might be affedted by
the difference only between the two refradtions. As
he found the water to refradt more or Ids than the
glafs prifm, he diminiilied or increafed the angle be¬
tween the glafs plates, till he found the two contrary
refradtions to be equal, which he difeovered by view¬
ing an objedt through this double pnfm. For when
it appeared neither raifed nor deprefi'ed, he was fa-
tisfied that the refradtions were equal, and that the
emergent rays were parallel to the incident.
Vol. IV. Part. II.
A T I C S. 729
“ Now, according to the prevailing opinion, he ob¬
ferves, that the objedt ffiould have appeared through
this double prifm in its natural colour; for if the dif¬
ference of refrangibility had been in all refpedts e-
qual, in the two equal refradtions, they would have J9
redtified each other. But thi-s experiment fully proved
the fallacy of the received opinion, by fliowing the without re.
divergency of the light by the glafs prifm to be al- fraiftion ur
molt double of that by the water; for the image of
the objedt, though not at all refradted, was yet as
much infedted with prifmatic colours, as though it had
been feen through a gkfs wedge only whofe angle
was near 30 degrees.
“ This experiment is the very fame with that of
Sir Ifaac Newton above mentioned, notwithftanding
the refult was fo remarkably different: but Mr Dol¬
lond affures us, that he ufed all poffible precaution and
care in his procefs; and he kept his apparatus by him,
that he might evince the truth of what he wrote,
whenever he fhould be properly required to do it.
“ He plainly faw, however, that if the refradting
angle of the water-veffel could have admitted of %
fufficient increafe, the divergency of the coloured rays
would have been greatly dimimfhed, or entirely rec¬
tified ; and that there would have been a very great
refradtion without colour, as he had already produced
a great difcolouring without refradtion : but the in-
conveniency of fo large an angle as that of the prif-
mat'ic veffel muft have been, to bring the light to an
equal divergency with that of the glafs prifm, whofe
angle was about 6o°, made it neceffary to try fome
experiments of the fame kind with fmaller angles.
“ Accordingly he got a wedge of plate-glafs, the
angle of Which was only nine degrees; and, ufing it
in the fame circumftances, he increafed the angle of
the water-wedge, in which it was placed, till the diver¬
gency of the light by the water was equal to that by
the glafs; that is, till the image of the objedt, though
confiderably refradted by the excefs of the refradtion
of the water, appeared neverthelefs quite free from
any colours proceeding from the different refrangibili¬
ty of the light. ao
“ Notwithftanding it evidently appeared, I may Defence* of
fay to almoft all philofophers, that Mr Dollond had I^aac'
made a real difeovery of fdmething not comprehended
in the O ptical principles of. Sir Ifaac Newton, it did
not appear to fo fenfible a man, and fo good a ma¬
thematician, as Mr Murdoch is univerfally acknow¬
ledged to be.^ Upon this occafion he interpofed in the
defence, as he imagined, of Sir Ifaac Newton; main¬
taining, that Mr Dollond’s pofitions, which he fays,
he knows not by what milhap have been deemed pa¬
radoxes in Sir Ifaac’s theory of light, are really the
neceffary confequences of it. He alfo endeavours to
flrow, that Sir Ifaac might not be miftaken in his ac¬
count of the experiment above mentioned. But ad¬
mitting all that he advances in this part of his defence,
Newton mutt have made ufe of a prifm with a much
fmaller refracting angle than, from his own account
of his experiments, we have any reafon to believe he
ever did make ufe of.
“ The fait probably was, that Sir Ifaac deceived
himfelf in this cafe, by attending to what he imagined
to be the clear confequences of his other experiments;
and though tire light he faw was certainly tinged with
4 Z colours.
73°
C H R O M
colours, and he mull have feen it to be fo, yet he might
imagine that this circumftance arofe from fome imper-
fe&ion in his prifms, or in the difpofition of them,
which he did not think it worth his while to exa¬
mine. It is alfo obfervable, that Sir Ifaac is not fo
particular in his defcription of his prifms, and other
parts of his apparatus, in his account of this experi¬
ment, as he generally is in other cafes, and therefore
probably wrote his account of it from his memory
only.
P. 804. “ Much has been faid on this experiment; and it is
thought very extraordinary that a man of Sir Ifaac’s
accurate attention fhould overlook a circumftance,
the effect of which now appears to be fo confiderable.
But it has happily occurred to Mr Michell, that, as Sir
Ifaac Newton obferves he ufed to put faccharum fa-
turni into his water to increafe its refraftive power,
the lead, even in this form, might increafe the diffi-
pative refraftion, as it does in the compofition of glafs;
and if fo, that this would account for Newton’s not
finding the diffipative power of water lefs than that
of his glafs prifms, which he otherwife ought to have
done, if he had tried the experiment as he faid he
did.
“ Accordingly he included a prifm of glafs in wa¬
ter, as highly impregnated with faccharum faturni
as it would bear, the proportion of faccharum to wa¬
ter being about as 5 to it. When the image, feen
through the water (fo impregnated) and a glafs prifm,
was in its natural place, it full was coloured, though
very little : he thought not more than a fourth part
as much as when feen through plain water, and the
prifm in its natural place ; fo that he had no doubt,
but that, if his prifm had had a little lefs of the dif-
perfing power, its errors would have been perfe&ly
correfted.”
Befides the experiments of Mr Delaval above
related, and which were made on the colours of
ii tranfparent bodies, he has lately publifhed an ac-
Mr Dela- count of fome made upon the permanent colours of
rhnentsPon °Pa(ltie ftft>ftances; the difcovery of which muft be of
the colour? Ae utmoft confequence in the arts of colour-making
of bpaque and dyeing. Thefe arts, he obferves, were in very
■bodies. remote ages carried to the utmoft height of perfection
in the countries of Phoenicia, Egypt, Paleftine, India,
&c. and that the inhabitants of thefe countries alfo ex¬
celled in the art of imitating gems, and tinging glafs
and enamel of various colours. The colours ufed in
very ancient paintings were as various as thofe now in
ufe, and greatly fuperior both in beauty and durabi¬
lity. The paints ufed by Apelles were fo bright, that
he was obliged to glaze his pictures with a dark-co¬
loured varnifh, left the eye (hould be offended by their
exceffive brightnefs; and even thefe were inferior to
what had been ufed among the ancient Egyptians.
Pliny complains that the art of painting was greatly
decayed in his time ; and the moderns were not fur-
nilhed with any means of retrieving the art until they
began to avail themfelves of experimental obferva-
tions.
A T I G S.
The changes of colour in permanently coloured bo- 2*
dies, our author obferves, are produced’by the fame
laws which take place in tranfparent colourlefs fob- c^'ef,
ftances ; and the experiments by which they can be |y on the
inveftigated confift chiefly of various methods of uni-divifion of
ting the colouring particles into larger, or dividing !he coll,ar"
them into fm?.ller maffes. Sir Ifaac Newton made his*j^spartl’
experiments chiefly on tranfparent fobftances ; and in
the few places where he treats of others, acknowledges
his deficiency of experiments. He makes the follow¬
ing remark, however, on thofe bodies which refled
one kind of light and tranfmit another, viz. that “ if
thefe glaffes or liquors were fo thict and maffy that no
light could get through them, he queftioned whether
they would not, like other opaque bodies, appear of
one and the fame colour in all pofitions of the eye ;
though he could not yet affirm it from experience.”
It was the opinion of this great philofopher, that all
coloured matter reflects the rays of light, fome re-
fle&ing the more refrangible and others the lefs re¬
frangible rays more copioufly ; and that this is not on¬
ly a true reafon of thefe colours, but likewife the only
reafon. He was likewife of opinion that opaque bo¬
dies reflect the light from their anterior furface by fome
power of the body evenly diffufcd over and external to
it. With regard to tranfparent coloured liquors, he
expreffes himfelf in the following manner : “ A tranf¬
parent body whigh looks of any colour by tranfmitted
light, may alfo 16ok of the fame colour by refle&ed
light; the light of that colour being reflected by the
farther furface of that body, or by the air beyond it:
and then the refle&ed colour will be diminifhed, and
perhaps ceafe, by making the body very thick, and-
pitching it on the back-fide to diminifh the refle&ion
of its farther furface, fo that the light reflefted from
the tinging particles may predominate. In foch cafes
the colour of the refledied light will be apt to vary
from that of the. light tranfmitted.”
To inveftigate the truth of thefe opinions Mr Dela¬
val entered upon a courfe of experiments with tranf¬
parent coloured liquors and glaffes, as well as with
opaque and femitranfparent bodies. From thefe he
difcovered feveral remarkable properties of the colour¬
ing matter ; particularly, that in tranfparent coloured
fobftances it does not refleft any light; and when, by
intercepting the light which was tranfmitted, it is hin¬
dered from paffing through foch fobftances, they do
not vary from their former colour to any other, but
become entirely black (a).
This incapacity of the colouring particles of tranf- lilht
parent bodies to refledt light, being deduced from very refledled
numerous experiments, may therefore be held as a ge- by the co-
neral law. It will appear the more extenfive, if we lour|nS
confider that, for the molt part, the tinging particlesFartlC
of liquors or other tranfparent fobftances are extradled
from opaque bodies ; that the opaque bodies owe their
colours to thofe particles, in like manner as the tranf¬
parent fobftances do ; and that by the lofs of them
they are deprived of their colours.
For making his experiments, Mr Delaval ufed fmall
vials
(a) Here our author obferves, that he makes ufe of the word so/our only to expref* thofe called primary;
fuch a mixture of them as does not compofe whitenefs, or any of the gradations between white and black,
foch as are called by Sir Ifaac Newton, grey, dun, or ruffet brown.
73*
H H R O M
14 vials of flint glafs, whofe form was a parallelepiped, and
for^ialdn* their height, exclufive of the neck, about two inches,
thefe expe- t^ie at*0111 an '"cl1 fquare, and the neck two inches
riments. in length. The bottom and three fides of each of
thefe vials was covered with a black varnifh ; the cy¬
lindrical neck, and the anterior fide, except at its
edges, being kft uncovered. He was careful to avoid
any crevices in the varnilh, that no light might be ad¬
mitted except through the neck or anterior fide of the
vials.
In thefe experiments it is of importance to have the
vials perfeftly clean ; and as many of the liquors are
apt to depofit a fediment, they ought to be put into
the vials only at the time the experiments are to be
made. The uncovered fide of the vials fhould not be
placed oppofite to the window through which the light
is admitted ; becaufe in that fituation the light would
be reflected from the farther fide of the vial; and our
author obferves that fmooth black fubftances refledl
light very powerfully. But as it is a principal objedt
in the experiment that no light be tranfmitted through
the liquor, this is bell accomplilhed by placing the
uncovered fide of the vial in fuch a fituation that it
may form a right angle with the window.
With thefe precautions our author viewed a great
number of folutions, both of coloured metallic falts
The colour- and of the tinging matter of vegetables; univerfally
ing matter obferving, that the colour by refle&ion was black,
irfelf b°WS w^atever it might be when viewed by tranfmitted light,
tranfmitted ^ liquors, however, are fpread thin upon any
light. white ground, they appear of the fame colour as when
viewed by tranfmitted light; but on a black ground
they afford no colour, unlefs the black body be polifh-
ed ; in which cafe the refle&ioo of the light through
it produces the fame efifedt as tranfmiffion.
The experiments with tinged glalfes were in many
refpedfs analogous to thofe with tranfparent coloured
liquors. For thefe he made fevetal parcels of colour-
lefs glafs, principally ufing one compofed of equal parts
of borax and white fand. The glafs was reduced to
powder, and afterwards ground, together with the in¬
gredients by which the colours were imparted. “ This
method (fays he) of incorporating the tinging particles
is greatly preferable to mixing them with the raw ma¬
terials ; and the glalfes thus compofed excel moft others
in hardnefs, being fcarcely inferior in luftre to real
gems.”
The refult of all the experiments made in this man¬
ner was, that when matter is of iuch thinnefs, and the
tinge fo dilute, that light can be tranfmitted through
it, the glaffes then appear vividly coloured ; but when
they are in larger mafles, and the tinging matter is
more denfely diffufed through them, they appear black;
for thefe, as well as the tranfparent coloured liquors,
fhow their colour only by tranfmiffion. The follow¬
ing experiments were made with a view to determine
the proportion of tinging matter which produces co¬
lour or blacknefs.
v ^ I. Glafs was tinged green by adding to it j-'^th of
mente'to weight of copper ; and that whether the latter was
determine ufed in its metallic or calcined ftate.
the pro- 2. A blue glafs was made by the addition of zaffre,
portion of a pU1.p[e one by nsanganefe, a red glafs by gold, and
matter. yellow glaffes by filver and calcined iron. A yellow
glafs refembling a topaz was likewife made by the ad-
A T I C S.
ditlon of a fmall quantity of charcoal in powder. The
fame colour was likewife procured by the addition of
wheat-flour, rofin, and feveral other inflammable mat¬
ters. Small pieces of each of thefe glafles being
ground by a lapidary, refembled gems of their diffe¬
rent colours.
3. Having formed pieces of fuch glafles about two
inches thick, he inclofed them in black cloth on all
fides except their farther and anterior furfaces. In
this fituation each of them fhowed a.vivid colour when
light was tranfmitted through them ; but when the
pollerior furface was likewife covered with the cloth
to prevent this tranfmiffion, no other colour than black
was exhibited by any of them.
.4. When plates of tranfparent coloured glafs, fome-
what thicker than common window-glafs, were made
ufe of, they always exhibited their colours by tranf¬
mitted light.
5. On intercepting the light tranfmitted through
thefe coloured plates, they as conftantly appeared black
when placed in fuch a diredlion as to form a right angle
with the window.
From thefe phenomena Mr Delaval deduced the
following obfervations : 1. That the colouring particles
do not refleft any light. 2. That a medium, fuch as
Sir Ifaac Newton has deferibed, is diffufed over both
the anterior and farther furfaces of the plates, where¬
by objefts are equally and regularly refledled as by a
mirror. Hence, when it is faid that light is reflefted
by the furface of any fubftance, it fhould be under-
flood from this expreffion, that the refle&ion is effeft-
ed by the medium diffufed over its furface.
6. When a lighted candle is placed near one of thofe On the re¬
coloured plates, the flame is refletted by the medium fle&ion of
which is diffufed over the anterior furface. The imagethe
thus refle&ed entirely refembles the flame in fize and loured ^
colour ; being fcarcely diminifhed, and not in the leall glaffes.
tinged by the coloured glafs.
7. If the plate be not fo intenfely coloured, or fo
mafly, as to hinder the tranfmiffion of the light of
the candle, there appears a fecondary image of the
flame, which is reflected by the medium contiguous to
the farther furface of the glafs; and as the light thus
reflected paffes through the coloured glafs, it is tinged
very vividly.
8. When the glafs ufed in this experiment is of a
green colour, the image of the flame is always of a
bright green ; and when glaffes of other colours are
ufed, that of the fecondary flame is always the fame
with that of the glafs.
9. The fecondary image is lefs than that refle&ed
from the anterior furface. This diminution is ecca-
fioned by the lofs of that part of the light which is
abforbed in palling through the coloured glafs. For
whenever any medium tranfmits one fort of rays more
copioufly than the reft, it flops a great part of the
differently coloured rays. Much more light alfo is loft
in paffing through coloured than tranfparent fubftan¬
ces. In making thefe obfervations, it is proper to
choofe coloured plates of glafs which are not in every
part of an equal thicknefs, that the fecondary image
may not coincide with that refledled from the anterior
furface, and be intercepted by it.
10. When the plates are fo thick, and fo copioufly
coloured, that the light cannot penetrate to their* far-
4 Z 2 ther
732 C II P. O M
ther furface, they appear intenfely black in whatever
direction they are viewed, and afford no fecondary
image, but only reflect, from their anterior furface,
the flame, or any other obje6ts that are oppofed to
them. Thefe objects are reprefented in their own
'proper colours, and are as free from tinge as thofe re¬
flected from quickfilvered glafs, or fpecula made of
white metals.
Hence again it is manifeft, that the colouring par¬
ticles do not poffefs any fhare of reflective power}
for if they had any (hare in this reflection, they
would certainly impart fome fliare of colour to the
light they reflected. Hence alfo it appears, that
tranfparent coloured bodies, in a folid ftate, poffefs no
28 fnore refleCtive power than thofe in a fluid ftate.
Expert- Our author next confiders the colouring particles
r^*nt®°n themfelves, pure, and unmixed with other media,
colouring or<^er to procure maffes made up of fuch particles,
particle*, feveral tranfparent coloured liquors were reduced to a
folid confiftence by. evaporation. By employing a
gentle heat, the colouring matter may thus remain
unimpaired ; and is capable of having its particles again
feparated by water or other liquids, and tinging them
as before.
In this ftate the colouring particles refleCf no light,
and therefore appear uniformly black, whatever fub-
ftance they have been extracted from. In the courfe
of his experiments, Mr Delaval made ufe of the in-
fufions of brazil wood, logwood, fuftic, turmeric,
red faunders, alkanet, fap-green, kermes, and all the
other tranfparent coloured liquors he had tried before,
among which were infufions of red and yellow flow¬
ers, without obferving the leaft variation in the refult.
Some liquors are apt to become totally opaque by
evaporation; the reafon of which may be the cryftal-
Jization of faline matters, or the coalefcence of the par¬
ticles into maffes, differing cortfiderably in denfity
from the menftrua in which they were diffolved.
When this opacity takes place, our author has con-
ftantly obferved, that they become incapable of enter¬
ing the pores of wool, lilk, or other matters of that
kind, or of adhering to their furface; and confe-
quently unfit for the purpofes of dyeing. This he
i'uppofes to arife from their increafed bulk; for the
attractive force by which the particles cohere together
is weakened in proportion as their bulk increafes ; fo
that the degree of magnitude of the colouring par¬
ticles, which is effential to the opacity of liquors, is
inconfiftejit with the minutenefs requifite for dyeing.
An inftance of this is given in an infufion of fuftic.
Having infufed fome of this wood in fuch a quantity
of water, that the latter was faturated with the co¬
louring particles, he evaporated the liquor to a folid
confiftence with an Uninterrupted^ but very gentle
heat. During every part of the procefs the liquor
continued tranfparent, and the folid extract yielded
by it tranfmitted a yellow colour when fpread thin,
but appeared black when thicker maffes were viewed.
Having prepared another pint of this liqour, he eva¬
porated half the water, and allowed the remainder to
become cold. In this ftate it became turbid and
opaque; on filtering, a tranfparent tinfture paffed
through, an opaque fecula remaining on the pa¬
per, This fecula did not adhere to the paper,
a r o e_
but was eafily feparable from it: on being dried, it
appeared white with a flight tinge of yellow ; but was-
neverthelefs foluble in water, and by folution gave a
liquid in all refpeifts fimilar to the original infulion.
“ From thefe circumftances (fays he) it appears that
a given proportion of water, or a fuflicient degree of
heat, is requifite to the folution of the colouring par¬
ticles of fuftic. And experience evinces, that thofe
particles which are too grofs to pafs through filtering
paper, are incapable of entering the pores or firmly
cohering to the furface of bodies. Many ingredients,
fuch as the colouring particles of logwood, kermes,
and various other matters, are foluble in water in
every proportion; and therefore their infufions are
not fubjeft to become opaque or turbid during their
evaporation. The folid exfradls obtained by evapo¬
ration refleft no colour, but are black.
Our author a’fo formed folid maffes by mixing a
fmall quantity of drying oil with pigments which con-
fift chiefly of colouring matter; as Pruffian blue, in¬
digo, and fap-green. Thefe paints likewife exhibit
their refpettive colours only by tranfmitted light; ap¬
pearing entirely black when viewed by refleclion. In-
ftanees of blacknefs arifing from this denfity of the
colouring matter may be obferved in feveral kinds of
fruits, as black currants, cherries, &c. fo£ the juices of
thefe appear red when fpread thin on a white ground,
or otherwife viewed by tranfmitted light.
Mr Delaval’s next attempt was to coniider the aftion
and properties of the colouring particles of opaque
bodies themfelves, and the means by which thefe co¬
lours are produced. Here our author endeavours
to prove, that thefe colours of opaque bodies appear
on the fame principles as thofe already mentioned,
which feem black when very denfe, but ftiow their
proper tinge when fpread thin upon a white ground..
On this fubjett the following experiments were
made.
1. Grafs, and other green leaves of plants, were di-
gefted in re&ified fpirit of wine ; by which means a
tranfparent green tindture was obtained. One of the
vials formerly mentioned being filled with this li¬
quid, it was obferved totranfmit a vivid green colour;
but the other part of the tincture, which was conti¬
guous to the uncovered fide of the vial, refit died n©
light, and therefore appeared black.
2. Having poured fome of the tindture into a China
cup, the bottom was thereby made to look green,
exadtly refembling the colour which had been extradt-
ed from the leaves.
3. After the colour had been totally abftradted by
the vinous fpirit, the leaves remained apparently un¬
altered, either as to figure or texture; but were en¬
tirely white, or had their whitenefs flightly tinged
with brown.
4. Red, purple, and blue flowers, were alfo digefted
in {pirit of wine ; all of which yielded their colouring
matter to the fpirit, and became white by being de¬
prived of it. From moft of thefe flowers, however, the
fpirit acquired either no tinge at all, or only a very
faint one ; but when acidulated, it became red, and
by the addition of an alkali appeared blue, purple, or
green, according to the quantity of alkali and the na¬
ture of the infufion. In thefe Hates, all of them, when
viewed
733
CHROMAT ICS.
viewed by tranfmitted. light, or poured upon a white
ground, (bowed their colours, but univerfaliy-appeared
black by refledlion,
5. Red, purple, and blue flowers, were digelted in
water (lightly acidulated with nitrous acid. Thus,
red infufions were obtained, which, by faturation with
fea-falt, might be preferved for many years.
6. The fame liquors were changed green, blue, or
purple, by the addition of an alkali: but here the
cafe was the fame as before ; all of them yielding vi¬
vid colours by tranfmiffion, but none by reflection.
In making this experiment, care muft be taken to add
the alkali very gradually ; for if too much is put in
at once to the red liquor, the intermediate colours be¬
tween the red and the green will be wanting. To
half an ounce of the red infufion it is proper to add,
at once, only the fmalleft quantity that can be taken
up on the point of a pen; repeating this addition (low¬
ly, until each of the colours be produced.
7. The flowers", after having been repeatedly mace¬
rated in acidulated water, loft their colouring matter,
and became white.
8. Yellow flowers alfo communicated their colours
to water and to fpirit of wine. The infufions and
tinctures of thefe (lowerswere fubjefted to the fame
experiments as had been employed in the examination
of the liquors already mentioned; and appeared yel¬
low by tranfmitted light, but did not reflect any co¬
lour.
9. White paper, linen, &c. may be tinged of any
of thefe colours, by dipping them in the infufions;
and the confideration of the manner in which the co¬
lours are imparted to the linen, affords much infight
into the manner in which natural colours are produ¬
ced. It has already been obferved, that, when the co¬
louring .matter of plants' is extracted from them, the
folid fibrous parts, thus divefted of their covering, dif-
play their natural whitenefs. White linen, paper,
&c. are formed of fuch fibrous vegetable matter;
which is bleached by diffolving and detaching the he¬
terogeneous colouring particles. When thefe are dyed
or painted with vegetable colours, it is evident that
they do not differ in their manner of acting on the
I rays of light from natural vegetable bodies ; both
yielding their colours by tranfmitting, through the
tranfparent coloured matter, the light which is re-
flefted from ihe white ground. This white matter
frequently exifts, without any confiderable mixture, in
plants, while they are in a' ftate of vegetation ; as cot¬
ton, white flowers, the pith, wood, ieeds, roots, and
other parts of feveral kinds of vegetables. When de¬
cayed trees, &c. have been long expofed to the atmo-
fphere, their coloured juices are fometimes fo perfect¬
ly extracted, that the fibres appear white. This white
matter is not diftinft from the vegetable earth to which
fSeede- plants are reduced by burning f. Mr Deleval has
tm/trv-In- ren^ere(j intenfely white, by carefully calcining
_9 them, and afterwards grinding with a fmall propor-
jHow afhes tion of nitre, and expofing them to fuch a degree of
v,.e heat as would eaufe the nitre deflagrate with the re*
”1‘ maining quantity of phlogifton. Laftly, the afheswere
. digefted with marine acid, in order tadiffolve the fer¬
ruginous matter diffufed through them, and repeat¬
edly waffling the remainder in water. Mixing allies
thus purified with borax, and applying a vitrifying
heat, an opaque enamel is obtained, remarkable for
its whitenefs. - t ^
Hence it appears, that the earth which forms the White
fubftance of plants is white, and feparable from that of
fubflance which gives to each its peculiar colour ; that P
whenever it is pure and unmixed, or diffufed through (lance in
colourlefs media, it (hows its native whitenefs; and is them that
the only vegetable matter endowed with a reflefttve r.efleil;s ths
power. It may be. difeovered, however, by other
means than that of burning : thus, rofes may be whiten¬
ed by expofing them to'the vapour of burning ful-
phur ; an efteft which cannot be attributed to the vi¬
triolic acid, but to the phlogifton contained in that va¬
pour. This was proved to be the cafe, by expofing
feveral kinds of red and purple flowers to the phlogi-
ftic. vapour iffuing from hepar fulphuris ; and by this
every one of them was whitened ; their colour being *
afterwards reftored by the addition of an, acid either
mineral or vegetable.
“ Thus {fays Mr Delaval) it appears, that the co- C ,louring'
louring matter of the'Howers is not difeharged or re- matter dS-
moved, but only diffolved by the phlogifton; andfois'e(lby
thereby divided into particles too minute to exhibit
any colour. In this date, together with the vege¬
table juice in which they are diffufed, they form a co¬
lourlefs tranfparent covering, through which the white
matter of the flowers is feen untinged. The colouring
particles of plants conlift principally of inflammable
matter ; and their folubility in phlogifton, and union
with it, are analogous to the atlion of other inflam¬
mable bodies upon each other. Thus, etheft, diffolvcs
all effential and expreffed oils, animal empyreumatic
oils, and refins. Sulphur, camphor, and almoft allfub-
ftances abounding in phlogifton, are foluble in oils, ar¬
dent fpirits, or other inflammable menftrua. The
manner in which the red colour of vegetable flowers
is reftored, appears to be explicable from known che¬
mical laws. When acids are applied to the whitened
flowers, they unite with the phlogifton which the ful-
phur had communicated, and difengage it from the co¬
louring particles; which, being thus extricated, re¬
fume their original magnitude and hue. A change of
the fame kind is alfo produced by fixed alkali, which,
like tire acids, has a ftrong attradlion for phlogifton,
always changes the whitened flowers to-a blue, purple,
or green colour. ^
“ lu like manner,The aeftion of the rays oflight ope- Colour, de¬
rates upon Coloured bodies. Thus, dyed filk, or other ftroyed by
fubftances of that kind, when expofed to the fun’s
light, are deprived of their colour in every part, on
which the rays are allowed to aft; whilft thofe preferve
their colour whidta are defended from the light by the
folds-of the cloth, or intervention of any opaque body.
The colours, thus impaired, may be reftored if acids
are applied while the injury is recent; but they are af¬
terwards apt to fly off, on account of that volatility
which is conffantly imparted by inflammable matter ter
any other with which it is united.’*
Our author now proceeds, at confiderafcle length, to
prove the identity of the folar light and phlogifton ::
but as. recent experiments have (hown that thefe two
are effentially diftinft, we omit his argumentation up¬
on this head. The error of his theory in this refpeft,
however, does not in the lead affeft the doftrine con¬
cerning colours above laid down ; on the contrary, the.
5 latdlt
734 C H R O M
lateft experiments have determined, that phlogifton, in
its groffeft form, viz. that of common charcoal, mani-
fefts a furprifing power of whitening various fubilan-
ces; which, according to Mr Delaval s tlieory, pro¬
ceeds from the power it has of diffolving the colouring
matter with which they are impregnated. This fol-
vent power, according to our author, is manifeft in many
other inftances befides thofe already mentioned. Silk
is whitened by the phlogiftic vapours of fulphur : and
this operation does not appear to differ from the change
effedted on flowers by the fame vapour. The light of
the fun is found to be a neceffary and eflential agent
in bleaching linen, wax, and various other fubftances ;
fome part of the colouring matter which impairs the
whitenefs of thefe bodies not yielding to any other
fplvent. Red flowers are whitened by the eledtric
Tpark, of whofe inflammable nature we cannot entertain
the leaft doubt; for the fpark itfelf is a bright flame,
and yields the fame fmell which all other phlogiftic
matters impart. The eleftric fpark, in like manner,
changes the blue infufion of turnfole to red (b). The
effedts which/it produces on the turnfole, and on red
flowers, do not differ from each other, except in de¬
gree only. For when vegetable matter is diffolved,
it is changed from blue to red; and, when farther dif¬
folved, it is divided into particles too minute to exhi¬
bit any colour.
•Howw di- Solutions effedted by means of phlogifton frequently
ftinguifh are wrongly attributed to the operation of fuppofed acid
the folutions menftrua, as feveral kinds of fubftances are capable of
made by
being diffolved indiferiminately both by acids and phlo-
from’thofe gift°n- For the purpofe of ftiftinguifhing, therefore,
made by a- in any cafe between the addon of the acid folvents and
cids. that of the inflammable menftrua, it is proper to exa¬
mine the nature of the matter by which either of thefe
principles are furnifhed. It appears from various che¬
mical proceffes, that alkalies are rendered mild, and
capable of cryftaliization, in proportion as they are
united to phlogifton. The phlogifticated alkaline lixi¬
vium, when faturated, is perfedtly mild; and by a
flight evaporation is reduced to a concrete cryftalline
mafs, which does not deliquefee or imbibe the leaft
moifture from the air, and no longer retains any alka¬
line property. M. Beaume, by an elegant and ingeni¬
ous experiment, has proved the prefence of phlogifton
in mild alkalies, and has (hown that their po wer of
cryftaUizing depends upon their union with that prin¬
ciple. He heated in a filver veffel a lixivium of mild
alkali, which imparted to the filver a covering or coat¬
ing of inflammable matter, by which its furface was
tarnilhed and became black.- The lixivium was feveral
times poured out of the filver veffel; and after the fur-
face of the metal had been freed from the tarniih, the
lixivium was replaced in it, and again heated, by which
the tarniih was renewed ; and this was repeated till the
lixivium no longer communicated any ftain to the fil¬
ver. The caufticity of the lixivium was increafed in
proportion as it imparted its phlogifton to the filver ;
and at the end of the procefs the alkali became per-
fe<ftly cauftic, and incapable of cryftallizing.
Our author now goes on to prove, that fixed air is
A T I C S.
not an acid, nor a compound of air and phlogifton, as
is now generally believed, but rather entirely of a phlo¬
giftic nature. For an account,of his arguments in fa¬
vour of this opinion, fee the article Fixed Air: here
we (hall only confider his farther experiments on co¬
lours.
“ From the preceding experiments (fays he) it ap¬
pears, that the colouring particles of flowers and leave*
are foluble in acid, alkaline, and phlogiftic menftrua.
The other parts of vegetables confift of materials fimi-
lar to thofe which are contained in their flowers and
leaves, and undergo the fame changes from the fame
caufes. Having extracted from logwood its colouring
particles by repeatedly boiling it in water, the wood
was thus deprived of its yellow colour, and affumed a
brown hue fimilar to that of oak-wood. Some pieces
of it thus deprived of its colour were then macerated
in aquafortis; and after they had undergone the adtion
of that acid, they were wafhed in a fufficient quantity
of water. The wood was thus reduced to white*-
nefs.” 34
Her? our author dbferves, that though moft authors Logwood
who treat of colouring fubftances deferibe logwood as affords onb
of a red colour, he was never able to procure any
other colour from ft but yellow. It imparts yellow vrithwa
and orange colours to diftilled water. Other waters ter.
extradl a red tinge from it by means of the alkali
which they contain. Thefe obfervations are alfo ap¬
plicable to the other dyeing woods, kermes, and va¬
rious other articles of the materia tinftoria. By a fi¬
milar treatment, fuftic wood alfo loft its colouring
matter, and became white.
The refults of all the experiments above related are,
that the colouring matter of plants does not exhibit
any colour by refledion, but by tranfmifiion only; that
their folid earthy fubftance is a white matter; and
that it is the only part of vegetables which is endowed
with a refle&ive power ; that the colours of Vegetables
are produced by the light refleded from this white
matter, and tranfmitted from thence through the co¬
loured coat or covering which is formed on its furface
by the colouring particles; that whenever the. colour¬
ing matter is either difeharged or divided by folution
into particles too minute to exhibit any colour, the
folid earthy fubftance is expofed to view, and difplays
that whitenefs which is its diftinguifhing charade*
riftic.
Mr Delaval next proceeds to examine the coloured Colouring
parts of animal fubftances, and finds them exadly fi-matter of
milar, with regard to the manner in which the colour animal fu
is produced, to the vegetable bodies already treated of. ftances‘
The tindures and infufions of cochineal and of kermes
yield their colours when light is tranfmitted through
them, but fhow none by refledion. On diluting frelh
ox-gall with water, and examining it in the phials al¬
ready mentioned, that part of it which was in the
neck of the phial, and viewed by tranfmitted light,
was yellow; but the anterior furface was black, and
refleded no colour. Fleih derives its colour entirely
from the blood, and when deprived of it the fibres and
veffels are perfedly wliite; as are likewife the mem¬
branes
(b) This efted of the eledric fpark- is now krfown to be produced, not by its phlogiftic nature, but by the
generation of an acid.
735
C H R O M
Wanes, finews, and bones, when freed from their aque¬
ous and volatile parts ; in which cafe they are a mere
earth, unalterable by fire, and capable of imparting
I an opaque whitenefs to glafs.
Of the co- examining blood diluted with water in one of
■lour of the phials formerly defcribed, it tranfmitted a red Co¬
blood. lour, and the anterior furface was almoft, but not en¬
tirely, black; for it received a flight hue of brown from
fome coagulated particles that were fufpended in the
liquor. In order to procure blood fufficiently diluted,
and at the fame time equably and perfedtly diffolved,
he mixed as much cruor with fpirit of fal ammoniac as
imparted a bright colour to it. The liquor being then
viewed in the phial, that part which wSS contained in
the neck, and tranfmitted the light, appeared of a fine
red ; but the anterior part reflecting no light, was in-
tenfely black. Hence it appears, that the florid red
colour of the flefh arifes from the light which is re-
fledted from the white fibrous fubftance, and tranfmit¬
ted back through the red tranfparent covering which
the blood forms on every part of it.
Blood, when recently drawn, does not aflume the
appearance common to tranfparent coloured liquors;
for thefe, when too mafly to tranfmit light from their
farther furfaces, always appear black ; but blood,- when
recently drawn, always fhows a fine red colour, in
whatever way it be viqwed. This is occafioned by a
white matter diffufed through the blood ; and which
is eafily feparated from the cruor, by dividing it after
coagulation into a number of thin pieces, and wafhing
in a fufficient quantity of pure water. Thus the water
acquires a red colour, and ought to be changed daily.
In a few days it will acquire no more tinge ; and the
remaining mafles of the cruor are no longer red, but
l 6 white.
‘ ©fthefliells In hke manner, the red colour of the fhells of lob-
|'»f lobfters. flers, after boiling, is no more than a mere fuperficial-
covering fpread over the white calcareous earth of
which the (hells are compofed, and may be eafily remo¬
ved from the furface by (craping or filing. Before the
application of heat, this fuperficial coveting is much
denfer; infomuch that, in fome parts of the (hell, it
appears quite black, being too thick to. admit the
paffage of the light to the (hell and back again ; but
where this tranfparent blue colour of the unboiled lob-
fter is thinner, it conftantly appears like a blue film.
In like manner, the colours of the eggs of certain
birds are entirely fuperficial, and may be fcraped off,
kaving the white calcareous earth expofed to view,
[feather' The cafe is the fame with feathers, which owe their
colours entirely to a very thin layer of fome tranfpa¬
rent matter upon a white ground. Our author afcer-
tained this by fcraping off the fuperficial colours from
certain feathers which were ftrong enough to bear the
operation; and thus feparated the coloured layers from
the white ground on which they had been naturally
fpread. The lateral fibres of the feathers cannot indeed
have their furfaces feparated in this manner; but their
texture, when viewed by a microfcope, feems to indi¬
cate, that the colours are produced on them by no
other means than thofe already related. In the exa¬
mination of fome animal fubjefts where the colouring
matter could not be feparated by chemical means, our
author had recourfe to mechanical divifion ; but this
can only be employed when the principal part of the
4,
A T I C S.
white fubftance is unmixed with the coloured coat or
covering which is fpread upon its furface. All of them,
however, by whatever means their colours could be fe¬
parated, (howed that they were produced in the fame
manner, namely, by the tranfmiflion ©f light from a
white ground through a tranfparent coloured medium. ,^o
The coloured fubitances of the mineral kingdom are Of the co¬
ve ry numerous,, and belong principally to two clafles, lours of mb
viz. earths and metals. The former, when pure, arc ”e;al fub-
all perfectly white, and their colours arife from phlo- ance3"
giftic or metallic mixtures. Calcareous earths, when
indurated, conftitute marble, and may be tinged with-
various colours by means of metallic folutions; all
which are fimilar in their nature to the dyes put upon
filk, cotton, or linen, and invariably proceed from the
fame caufe, viz. the tranfmifiion of light through a
very thin and tranfparent coloured medium; Flints
are formed from filiceous earths, and owe their colour
to phlogifton. When fuffieiently heated, they are ren¬
dered white by the lofs of the inflammable matter which
produced their colour. When impregnated with me¬
tals, they form agates, cornelians, jafper,.and coloured'
cryftals. The coloured gems alfo receive their differ¬
ent hues from metals ; and all of them may be imita¬
ted by glaffes tinged with fuch phlogiftic or metallic
matters as enter into the. compofition of the original
fubftances. ^
Thus our author concludes, that the coloured earths, Of metals,
gems, 8cc. exhibit their various tints in the fame
manner with other fubftances; viz. by the tranfmiffion
of light refle£led from a white ground. Our author,
however, proceeds farther; and afferts, that even the
colours of metals themfelves are produced in the fame
manner.
“ Gold (fays he) exhibits a white light, which is
tinged with yellow. I have ufed this expreflion, be-
caufe it appears from experiment that gold refle&s a
white light, and that its yellow colour is a tinge fuper-
added to its whitenefs. The experiment is thus fet
forth by Sir Ifaac Newton. Gold in this light (that
is, a beam of white light) appears of the fame yellow
colour as in day light; but by intercepting at the lens
a due quantity of the yellow-making rays, it will ap¬
pear white like filver, as I have tried; which (hows,.
that its yellownefs arifes from the excefs of the inter¬
cepted rays, tinging that whitenefs with their eolour
when they are let pafs.
“ I have already (hown, by numerous experiments,-
in what manner coloured tinges are produced ; and it
uniformly appears, from, all thefe experiments, that
colours do not arife from reflection, but from tranf¬
miflion only. A folution of filver is pellucid and co—
lourlefs. A folution of gold tranfmits yellow, but re¬
flects nu colour. . This metal alfo, when united with
glafs, yields no colour by reflection, but by tranfmif¬
fion only. All thefe circumflances feem to indicate,,
that the yellow colour of gold arifes from a yellow
tranfparent matter, which is a conftituent part of that
metal; that it is equally mixed with the white parti¬
cles of the gold, and tranfmits the light which is re¬
flected by them, in like manner as when filver is gikj.
or foils are made by covering white metals with tranf¬
parent colours. But thefe factitious coverings are
only fuperficial; whereas the yellow matter of gold is
diffufed throughout the whole fubftance of the metal,
and
C H R O M
and appears to envelope and cover each of the white
particles. In whatfoever manner the yellow matter
of gold is united to its white fubftance, it exifts in a
rare Hate ; for it bears only the fame proportion to
the white particles of the gold as that of the yellow-
making rays which were intercepted bears to all the
other rays comprifed in the white light of the fun.
“ Sir Ifaac Newton has fhown, that when fpaces or
Interftices of bodies are replenifhed with media of dif¬
ferent denfities, the bodies are opaque; that thofe fu-
pert'cies of tranfparent bodies reflect the greateft quan¬
tity of light which intercede media that differ moll in
their refractive denfities; and that the reflexions of very
thin tranfparent fubftances are confiderably ftronger
than thofe made by the fame fubftances of a greater
thicknefs. Hence the minute portions of air, or of
the rarer medium, which occupies fpace.s void of other
matter, refleX a vivid white light whenever their fur-
' faces are contiguous to media whofe denfities differ
confiderably from their own ; fo that every fmall mafs
of air, or of the rarer medium, which fills the pores or
interftices of denfe bodies, is a minute white fubftance.
This is man!fell in the whitenefs of froth, and of all
pellucid colourlefs bodies ; fuch as glafs, cryftal, or
falts, reduced to powder, or othcrwife flawed : for in
all thefe inftances a white light is refleXed from the
air or rarer medium which intercede the particles of
the denfer fubftances whofe interftices they occupy.”
From thefe principles our author takes occafron to
explain the reafon why the particles of metals which
yield no colour by incident light when fufpended in
their folvents, are difpofed to exhibit colours when
feparated from them. Hence alfo We fee why opaque
white fubftances are rendered pellucid by being redu¬
ced to uniform maffes whofe component parts are every
where nearly of the fame denfity; for as all pellucid
fubftances are rendered opaque and white by the ad¬
mixture of pellucid colourlefs media of confiderably
different denfities, they are again deprived of their
opacity by extricating thefe media which kept their
particles at a diftance from each other: thus froth or
fnow, when refolved into water, lofe their whitenefs,
and affume their former pellucid appearance. In like
manner, by proper fluxes, the opaque white earths are
reduced to pellucid colourltfs glaffes; becaufe all re-
fleXions are made at the furfaces of bodies differing
in denfity from the ambient medium, and in the con¬
fines of equally denfe media there is no refleXion.
As the calces of metals a’e enabled to refleX their
colours by the intervention of the particles of air; fo,
when mixed with oil in the making of paints, they al¬
ways affume a darker colour, becaufe the excefs of the
deniity of oil over that of air , forms a fenfible difference
when comparatively confidered with refpeX to the fpe-
cific gravity of the rarer metals. From this caufe
perceptibly lefs light is refleXed from the moleculae of
oil than from thofe of air, and confequenriy the mafs
appears darker. The cafe, however, is different with
fuch paints as are formed of the denfer metals.; as ver¬
milion, minium, £cc.: for though oil differs very con¬
fiderably from air in its fpecific deniity, yet it alfo
differs Very much in this refpeX from the denfer me¬
tallic powders; and the moleculse of oil which divide
their particles aX upon the light fo ftrongly, that the
refleXion occafioned by them cannot be diftinguiflied
W 79*
A T I G S.
from thofe which are caufed by rarer media. Hence,
though we mix vermilion or minium with oil, the co¬
lour is not fenfibly altered. - 4
This part of our author’s theory, however, feems ObjectiorM
liable to objeXidn : for though it be true that the cal- ^
ces offome metals are denfer than others, yet that is,c”
comparatively fpeaking, but in a very fmall proper-lours,
tion ; nor is even the difference of denfity between oil
and the calces of the heavier metals at all comparable
to that between the denfity of air, and oil. Thus,
tho’ the calx of iron may be 10 or 11 times more denfe
than oil; yet^ as the latter is between 500 and 600
times denfer than air, the fmall difference between the
oil and metallic calx ought to be imperceptible. In
this refpeX, indeed, there are confiderable differences
with regard to the oils dmployed, which cannot be fup-
pofed to arife from the mere circumftance of denfity.
Thus the colour of vermilion, when mixed with turpen¬
tine-varnifli, is much brighter than With linfeed-oil;
and yet the difference between the denfities of linfeed-
oil and turpentine-varnifli is very trifling. The mere
aXion of heat likewife has a furpriling effeX in this
cafe. Thus the red calx of iron, called fcarlet, oher,
by being only heated a certain degree, appears of a very
dark purple, refuming its red colour when cold ; and
this variation maybe induced as often as we pleafe by
only heatingrit over the fire in a fhoyel. In like man¬
ner, by gradually heating red lead, it may be made to
affume a moft beautiful crimfon colour; which grow-
ing gradually darker, becomes at laft almoft quite
black. On cooling, if the heat has not been raifed too
high, it gradually returns through the fame ftiades of
colour, until at laft it fixes in its original hue. Thefe
immenfe differences in colour cannot by any means be
attributed either to the expulfion of air or to an altera¬
tion in denfity. The fire indeed does certainly ex¬
pand thefe calces as well as other bodies; but as the
medium interfperfed between their particles is thus al¬
fo expanded, the colour ought at leaft to remain the
fame, if not to become lighter, on account of the fu-
perior expanfion of air to that of metal by the fame
degree of heat. It would feem, therefore, that the ac¬
tion of the element of fire itfelf has a caniiderable (hare
Im the produXion of colours ; and indeed its (hare in
the operations of nature is fo great, that we might
well think it ftrange if it ftiould be entirely excluded
from this. 4I
With regard to femipellucid fubftances, which ap-ofthe.
pear of one colour by incident and another by tranf- lours of fe|
mitted light, our author likewife endeavours to {how,I™Pf‘lac'<!
ihat no refleXion is made by the coloured matter, butlu
only by the white or colourlefs particles. They con-
fift of pellucid media, throughout which white or co-
lourlefs opaque particles are difperfed. The latter are
difpofed at fuch diftances from each other, that fome
of the incident rays of light are capable of paflxng
through the intervals which intercede them, and thus
are tranfmitted through the femipellucid mais. Some
forts of rays penetrate through fuch maffes, while
others which differ from them in their refrangibility
are refleXed by the white or colourlefs particles ; and
from thence are tranfmitted through the pellucid part
of the medium which intervenes between the refleXing
particles and the anterior furface of the mafs. On the
fame principle our author explains the blue colour of
the
737
C II R O M
tlie iky, tlie green colour of the fea, and other natu-
ral phenomena ; and from his numerous experiments
How co- on this fubjeft at lad: concludes, “ that the power by
lours are which the feveral rays of light are tranfmitted through
fl own .’’F different media is inherent in the particles thenifelves,
an<^ therefore is not conhned to the fui faces of fuch
0 * media. For if the tranfmiffive force was exerted at
the furface only, the thinner plates of coloured fub-
ftances would a£l upon the rays as powerfully as thick¬
er maffes. But it appears from experiment, that in
proportion as the rays pafs through different thicknef-
fes of coloured media, they exhibit colours differing
not only in degree, but frequently in fpecies alfo.
“ The fun’s light, by which bodies are illuminated,
confifts of all the rays by which a white light is
compounded. Thefe rays, in their entire -and undi¬
vided date, are incident upon the opaque particles of
femipellucid fubdances, and upon the colouring par¬
ticles of tranfparent-coloured fubdances, whenever
thefe media are expofed to the light. When the rays
accede to the opaque particles of femipellucid fubdan¬
ces, fome forts of them are refle&ed back from the
anterior furface of thofe particles : the other forts of
rays, which are not reflefted back, are diverted from
the dire&ion which is oppofite to the anterior furface
of the opaque particles, and paffing through the in¬
tervals between the particles, are tranfmitted through
the mafs.
“ When the rays are incident upon the particles pf
tranfparent-coloured bodies, none of them are-refle&ed
back ; beeaufe the colouring particles are not endowed
with any reflective power: but fome of the raysare either
ftopped at the anterior furface of the particles, or are
diverted into fuch directions as render them incapable
of paffing towards the farther fide of the mafs; and
confequently fuch rays cannot be tranfmitted. The
rays which are not thus intercepted or difperfed, are
tianfmitted in the fame manner as thofe which pafs
through femipellucid media. Thus k is evident, that*
the coloured rays which are tranfmitted through femi-
'pelludid fubdances are inJleStd'by th-e. opaque particles;
and thofe which are tranfnjkted through tranfparent-
coloured fubftance? are infleSed by the colouring par¬
ticles. From the preceding obfervations likewife it
appears, that the particles of coloured media infleft
the feveral forts of rays according to the feveral frzes
and denlkies of the particles ; alfo in proportion to
the inflammability of the media which owe their co¬
lour to them ; and ft is manifeft that the tranfmiffio.n
of coloured rays depends upon their inflexion. All
thefe dbfervations are conformable to Sir Ifaac New¬
ton’s doCtrine, that the rays of light are reflected, re-
fra.fted, and infle&ed, by one and the fame principle
afting varioufly in various cireumflances.”
The mod remarkable part of Mr Delaval’s dobtrine
is that concerning the metals; for the better under-
ftanding of which we {hall premife a fhort abftraft of
his general dodfrine concerning white bodies, and the
Of the manner in which light is reflected by them. “ All the
manner in earths (he obferves), which in their natural date are of
which light a pure white, conditute tranfparent colourlefs media
fromwhite w^ien v‘t''fied with proper fluxes, or. when diffolved
bodies. in eolourlefs mendrua ; and the feline maffe? obtain¬
able from their folutions -arc tranfparent and colourlefs
while they retain the water which is effential to their
Vol. IV. Part II.
A T I C S.
cryftallization, and are not flawed or reduced to pow¬
der ; but after their pores and interffices are opened
in fucb a manner as to admit the air, they become
then white and opaque by the entrance of that rare
medium. The earthy particles which form the folid
parts of bodies generally exceed the others in denfity ;
confequently thefe particles, when contiguous to the
rare media already mentioned, mud refleft the rays of
light with a force proportionate to their denfity. The
reflexive power of bodies does not depend merely up¬
on their excefs of denfity, but upon their difference
of denfity with refpe£t to the furrounding media.
Tranfparent colourlefs particles, whofe denfity is great¬
ly.inferior to that of the media they come between,
alfo powerfully refleft all forts of rays, and thereby be¬
come white. Of this kind are the air or other rare
fluids which occupy the interdices of liquors $ and in
general of dll denfer media into whofe interdices fuch
rare particles are admitted.
“ Hence we may conclude, that white opaque bo¬
dies are condituted by the union or contiguity of tw’O
or more tranfparent colourlefs media differing 'confi-
derably from each other in their refleftive powers.
Of thefe fubdances we have examples in froth, emul-
fions, or other imperfeft combinations of pellucid li¬
quors, milk, fnow, calcined or pulverized felts, glafs
or crydal reduced to powder, white earths, paper,
linen, and even thofe metals which are called white
by minerajogifts and chemids: for the metals juft men¬
tioned do not appear white unlefs their funfac.es he
rough ; as in that cafe only there are interftices oa
their furface fufficient to admit the air,- and thus make
a refle&ion of a white and vivid light.
“ But the polidied furfaces of metallic mirrors re-
fleft the incident rays equably and regularly, according
to their feveral angles of incidence; fo that the re-
fk&ed rays do not interfere with each other, but re¬
main feparate and unmixed, and therefore diftin&Iy
exhibit their feveral colours. Hence-it is evident,
that white furfaces cannot aft upon the light as mir¬
rors ; becaufe all the rays which are reflefted from
them are blended in n promifeuous and diforderly man¬
ner.
“The above-mentioned phenomena give much in-of the
fight into the nature and caufe of opacity; as they caufe of o*
clearly {how, that even the rareft tranfparent colour- Pacity*
iefs fubdanefs, when their furfaces are adjacent to me¬
dia differing greatly from them in refraftive power,
may thereby acquire a perfeft opacity, and may affume
a refplendency and hue fo fimilar to that of white me¬
tals, that the rarer pellucid fublances cannot by the
fight be dittinguiffied from the denfe opaque metals.
And this fimilarity to the furfaces of metals occurs
in the rare pellucid fubftances, not only when, from
the roughnefs of their furfaces, they refemble unpo-
lidied metals in whitenefs, but alfo when, from their
fmoothnefs, they refemble the polifhed furfaces of
metals.
“ Metals feem to coo fid entirely of tranfparent mat¬
ter, and to derive their apparent opacity and luftre
folely from the copious rtfleftion of light from their
fiirfaces. The analogy between the metals and.tranf-
parent media, as far as refpefts their optical proper¬
ties, will appear from the following confiderations.
“ i . All metals diffolved in their proper mendrua are
5 A tranf-
73*
C H R O M A T
tranfparent. 2- By the union of two or more trans¬
parent media, fubttances are conftituted which are fimi-
lar to metals in their opacity and luftre, as plumbago
and marcafites. 3. The tranfparent fubftances of me¬
tals, as well as thofe of minerals, by their union with
phlogifton, acquire their ftrong refleftive powers from
which tlreir luitre and opacity arife. 4. The furfaces
of pellucid media, fuch as glafs or water, affume a
metallic appearance, when by their fmoothnefs, diffe¬
rence of denlity with refpedt to the contiguous media,
or any other caufe, they are difpofed copioufly to re-
fleft the light.
“ From all thefe confiderations it is evident, that
opaque fubftances are conftituted by the union or con¬
tiguity of tranfparent colourlefs media, differing from
one another in their refledtive powers; and that, when
the common furface, which comes between fuch me¬
dia, is plane, equal, and fmooth, it refledts the inci¬
dent rays equally and regularly as a mirror; but when
the furface is rough and unequal, or divided into mi¬
nute particles, it reflects the incident rays irregularly
and promifcuoufly in different dire&ions, and confe¬
rs quently appears white.”
Theory of From all thefe experiments we can only conclude,
Uncertain^ that the theory of colours feems not yet to be deter¬
mined with certainty; and very formidable, perhaps
unanfwerable, objedtions, might be brought againft
every hypothefis on this fubjedl that hath been invent¬
ed. The difcoveries of Sir Ifaac Newton, however,,
are fufficient to juftify the following
APH ORISMS.
1. All the colours in nature proceed from the rays
of light.
2. There are feven primary colours; which are red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
3. Every ray of light may be feparated. into the
feven primary colours.
4. The rays of light in paffing through the fame
medium have different degrees of refrangibility.
j. The difference in the colours of light arifes from
its different refrangibility : that which is the leaft re¬
frangible producing red ; and that which is the mofl
refrangible vr-let.
6. By compounding any two of the primary colours,
as red and yellow, or yellow and blue, the intermediate
colour, as orange or green, may he produced.
7. The colours of bodies arife from their difpofitions
to refledf one fort of rays, and to abforb the other:
thofe that refledt the leaft refrangible rays appearing
red ; and thofe that refledt the moft refrangible, vio¬
let.
8. Such bodies as refledt two or more forts of rays
appear of various colours.
9. The whitenefs of bodies arifes from their difpo-
fition to refledt all the rays of light promifcuoufly.
10. The blacknefs of bodies proceeds from their in¬
capacity to refledt any of the rays of light (c).
(c) From hence it arifes, that black bodies, when
others.
Entertaining Experiments,/^^ on thepre«
ceding Principles.
I. Out of a Jingle colourleft ray of light to produce feven
other rays, which Jhall paint, on a white body, the feven
primary colours of nature.
Procure of an optician a large glafs prifm DEF, Plnte
well poliihed, two of w'hofe fides muft contain an angle CXXX^V
of about fixty-four degrees. Make a room quite dark, I*
and in the window fhutter AB, cut a round hole, about
one-third of an inch in diameter, at C, through which
a ray of light LI palling, falls on the prilm DEF: by
that it is refradted out of the diredtion IT, in which
it would have proceeded into another GH ; and, fall¬
ing on the paper MNSxTwill there form an oblong
fpedtrum PQ^whofe ends will be femicireular, and its
fides ftraight; and if the diftance of the prifm from the
paper be about eighteen feet, it will be ten inches
long, and two inches wide. This fpedlrum will ex¬
hibit all the primary colours : the rays between P and
V, which are the moft refracled, will paint a deep
violet; thofe between V and I, indigo ; thofe between.
I and B, blue g thofe between B and G, green ; thofe
between G and Y,.yellow; thofe between Y and O,.
orange ; and thofe between O and R, being the leaft
refracled, an intenfe red. The colours between thefe
fpaces will not be every where equally intenfe, but
will incline to the neighbouring colour : thus the part
of the orange next to R, will incline to a red; that
next to Y, to a yellow: and fo of the reft.
II. From two or more of the primary colours, to cotnpofe
others thatJhall, in appearance, refemble thofe of the for*-
mer.
By mixing the two homogeneal colours red and
yellow, an orange will be produced, fimilar in ap¬
pearance to that in the feries of primary colours ; but
the light of the one being homogeneal, and that of the
other heterogeneal, if the former be viewed through 3
prifm it will remain unaltered, but the other will be
refolved into its component colours red and yellow.
In like manner other contiguous homogeneal colours
may compound new colours; ashy mixing yellow and
green, a colour between them is formed ; and if blue
be added, there will appear a green that is the middle
colour of thofe three. For the yellow and blue, if
they are equal in quantity, will draw the intermediate
green equally toward them, and keep it, as ft were, in
equilibrio, that it verge not more to the one than to
the other. To this compound green there may be
added fome red and violet; and yet the green will not
immediately ceafe, but grow lefs vivid ; till by adding "
more red and violet it will become more diluted; and
at laft, by the prevalence of the acfcled colours, it*
will be overcome, and turned into fome anomalous
colour.
If the fun’s white, compofed of all kinds of rays, be
added
expofed to the fun, become fooner heated than all
®g.5U
lig.3.
C H R O M
added to any homogeneal colour, that colour will not
vanifh, nor change its fpecies, but be diluted ; and by
adding more white, it will become continually more
diluted. Laftly, if red and violet be mixed, there
will be generated, according to their various propor¬
tions, various purples, fuch as are not like, in appear¬
ance, to the colour of any homogeneal light; and of
thefe purples, mixed with blue and yellow, other new
colours may be compofed.
III. Out of three of the primary colours, red, yellow, and
blue, to produce all the other pr fmatic colours, and all
that are intermediate to them.
Provide three panes of glafs of about five inches
fquare ; and divide each of them, by parallel lines,
into five equal parts. Take three (beets of very thin
paper ; which you mull paint, lightly, one blue, ano¬
ther yellow, and the third red (d). Then pafte on
one of the glalfes five pieces of the red paper; one of
which mull cover the whole glafs, the fecond only the
four lower divifions, the third the three lower, the
fourth the two lowell, and the fifth the lall divifion
only. On the other two glaffes five pieces of the blue
and yellow papers mull be palled in like manner. You
mull alfo have a box pf about fix inches long, and the
fame depth and width as the glalfes ; it mull be black
on the infide : let one end be quite open, and in the op-
pofite end there mull be a hole large enough to fee the
glaffes completely. It mull alfo open at the top, that
the glaffes may be placed in it conveniently.
When you have put any one of thefe glaffes in the
box, and the open end is turned toward the fun, you
will fee five diftintl lhades of the colour it contains.
If you place the blue and yellow glaffes together, in a
fimilar direction, you will fee five lhades of green dif-
tinClly formed. When the blue and red glaffes are
placed, a bright violet will be produced ; and by the
red and yellow, the feveral lhades of orange.
If, inltead of placing thefe glaffes in a fimilar pofi-
tion, you place the fide AB of the yellow glafs againll
the fide BD of the blue, you will fee all the various
greens that are produced by nature (e); if the blue
and red glaffes be placed in that manner, you will have
all the pofiible varieties of purples, violets, &c. ; and,
lallly, if the red and orange glaffes be fo placed, there
A T I C S.
will be all the intermediate colours, as the marygold,
aurora, &c.
IV. By means of the three primary colours, red, yellow,
and blue, together with light and Jhade, to produce all
the gradations of the prifmatic colours.
On feven fquare panes of glafs, pafte papers that
are painted with the feven prifmatic colours, in the
fame manner as in the laft experiment. The colours
for the orange, green, indigo, and violet, may be made
by mixing the other three. Then with biftre (f),
well diluted, lhade a Iheet of very thin paper, by lay¬
ing it light on both its fides. With pieces of this pa¬
per-cover four-fifths of a glafs, of the fame fize with
the others, by laying one piece on the four loweft di¬
vifions, another on the three loweft, a third on the
two loweft, and the fourth on the lowell divifion onlv,
and leaving the top divifion quite uncovered. When
one of the coloured glaffes is placed in the box, toge¬
ther with the glafs of lhades, fo that the fide AB of
the one be applied to the fide BC of the other, as in
fig. 3. the feveral gradations of colours will appear
lhaded in the fame manner as a drapery judicioully
painted with that colour.
It is on this principle that certain French artifts
have proceeded in their endeavours to imitate, by
defigns printed in colours, paintings in oil: which
they do by four plates of the fame fize, on each of
which is engraved the fame defign. One of thefe
contains all the lhades that are to be reprefented, and
which are painted either black or with a dark grey.
One of the three other plates is coloured with blue,
another with red, and the third with yellow ; each of
them being engraved in thofe parts only which are to
reprefent that colour (g) ; and the engraving is either
ftronger or weaker, in proportion to the tone of co¬
lour that is to be reprefented (h).
Thefe four plates are then paffed alternately under
the prefs, and the mixture of their colours produces a
print that bears no fmall refemblance to a painting.
It mull beconfeffed, however, that what has been hi¬
therto done of this kind falls far Ihort of that degree
of perfedlion of which this art appears fufceptible. If
they who engrave the bell in the manner of the crayon
were to apply themfelves to this art, there is reafon to
5 A 2 expect
(d) Water-colours mull be ufed for this purpofe : the blue may be that of Prullia, and very bright; the
red, carmine ; and the yellow, gambooge, mixed with a little faffron. Thefe colours mull be laid very light
and even, on both fides of the paper.
(e) In the firft pofition of the glaffes, the quantity of blue and yellow being equal, the fame fort of green
was conftantly vifible : but by thus inverting the glaffes, the quantity of the colours being conilantly unequal,
a very pleafing variety of tints is produced.
(f) The bittre here ufed mull be made of foot, not that in Hone.
(g) When a red drapery is required, it is engraved on the plate affigned to that colour; and fo of yellow
and blue: but if one of the other colours be wanting, fuppofe violet, it mull be engraved on thofe that print
the red and blue : and fo of the reft. The plates of this kind have been hitherto engraved in the manner of
,mezzotinto ; but thefe, unlefs they are Ikilfully managed, foon become fmutty. Engravings in the manner of
the crayon will perhaps anfwer better.
(h) The principal difficulty in this fort of engraving arifes from a want of a lliilful management, in giving
each plate that precife degree of engraving which will produce the tone of colour required. If a bright green
is to be reprefented, there Ihould be an equal quantity of graving on the red and yellow plates : but if an olive
green, the yellow plate Ihould be engraved much deeper than the red.
739
740
CH ROMATICS.
expeft they would produce far more flnifhed pieces
.than we have hitherto feen.
V. To make Jigures appear of Afferent colours fuccef-
f'&b-
Fig, 4. Make a hole in the window-fhuttef of a dark room,
through which a broad beam of light may pafs, that is
to be refrafted by the large glafs prifm ABC, which'
may be made of pieces of mirrors cemented together,
and filled with water. Provide another prifm DEF,
tnade of three "pieces of wood; through the middle
of this there miift pafs an axis on which it is to revolve.
This prifm mult be covered with white paper; and
each of its fides Cut through in feveral places, fo as to
reprefent different figures, and thofe of each fide fliould
likewife be different. The infide of this prifm is to be"
hollow, and made quite black, that it may not reftedt
any of the light that paffes through the fides into it.
When this prifm is placed near to that of glafs, as in
the figure, with one of its fides EF perpendicular to
the ray of light, the figures on that fide will appear
perfedfly white : but when it comes into the portion
gh, the figures will appear yellow and red; and when
it is in the pofition kl-, they will appear blue and
violet. As the prifm: is turned round its axis, the
other fides will have a fimilar appearance. If inftead
of a prifin a four or five fided figure be here ufed, tire
appearances will be flill further diverfified.
This phenomenon arifes from the different refrangi-
bility of the rays of light. For when the fide EF is in
the pofition g h, it is more ftrongly illuminated by the
leaft refrangible rays; and wherever they are predo¬
minant, the objedl will appear red or yellow. But
when it is on the pofition k I, the more refrangible rays
being then predominant, it will appear tinged with
blue and violet.
VI. Thefotar magic lantern.
Procure a box, of about a foot high; and eighteen
inches wide, of fuch other fimilar dimenfions as you
fhall ihink fit; and about three inches deep. Two of
the oppofite fides of this box muft be quite open; and
in' each of the ether fides let there be a groove, wide
enough to pafs a ftiff paper or pafleboatd. This box
muft be faftened againft a window on which the fun’s
rays fall diredl. The reft of the window fhould be
clofed up, that no light may enter. Provide feveral
fheets of ftiff paper, which muft; be blacked bn one
fide. On thefe papers cut out fuch figures as you
fhall think proper : and placing them alternately in
the grooves of the box, with their blacked fides to¬
wards you, look at them through a large and clear
glafs prifm ; and if the light be ftrong,. they will ap¬
pear to be painted with the mbft lively colours in na¬
ture. If you cut on one of thefe papers the form of
the rainbow, about three.quarters of an inch wide,
you will have a lively reprefentation of that in the at-
mofphere.
This experiment may be further diverfified, by
pafting very thin papers, lightly painted with different
colours, over fome of the parts that are cut out ;
which will appear to change their colours when view¬
ed through the prifm, and to ftand out from the pa¬
per, at different diftances, according to the different
degrees of refrangibility of the colours with which
they are painted. For greater convenience, the prifm
may be placed in a ftand on a table, at the height of
your eye, and made to turn round on an axis, that
when you have got an agreeable profpebt, you may
fix it in that pofition.
VII. The prifmatic earner a ohfcUra.
Make two holes F, f, in the.- fhufcter of a dark Fig.
chamber, near to each other; and againft each hole
place a prifin. ABC, and ahc, 'm a perpendicular direc¬
tion, that their fpeftcums NM may be call on the
paper in a horizontal line, and coincide with each
other; the red and violet of the one being in thd
fame part with thefe of the'other. The paper fhould
be placed at fuch a diftanaefrom the prifms that the
fpebtrum may be fufficientljliclilated. Provide feveral
papers nearly of the fame dimenfions with the fpec-
trum, crofs thefe papers, and draw lines parallel to the
divifions of the colours. In thefe divifions, cut out
fuch figures as you fhall find will have an agreeable
effeft, as flowers, trees, animals, .See, When your have
placed one of thefe papers in itsi proper pofition, hang
a bldck, cloth or paper behind it, that none of the
rays that pafs through, may be reflected and confufe
the phenomenon. The figures cut on the' paper will,
then appear ftrongly illunHiiated with all the original
colours of nature. Tf while one of the"prifins remains
at reft, the other be revolved on its axis, the continual,
alteration, of the colours wilj afford a gleafing variety ;
which may be further incr’eafed by turning the prifm
round in different diredlions, , \ "
When the prifms are fo placed that the two fpec--
trums become coincident in an inverted order of their
colours, the red end: of one failing on the violet end of
the other.; if they be then viewed through a third
prifin DH, held parallel to their length, they will no.
longer appear coincident, but in the form of two di-
flindl fpeddrums, pt and nm (fig. 6.), crofling one an¬
other in the middle, like the letter X : the red of one
fpectrum and the violet of the other, which were co¬
incident at NM, being parted from each other by a
greater refraction of the violet to p and m, than that of.
the red to n and t.
This experiment may be further diverfified by ad¬
ding, two other prifms, that fnall form a fpedfrum in,
the fame line, and contiguous to the .other ; by which
not only the variety of figures, but the viciffitude of.
colours, will be confiderably augmented.
VITI. The diatonic fcale of colours.
The illuftrious Newton, in the courfe of his Jn-
veftigations of the properties of light, difeovered that
the length of the fpaces which the feven primary co¬
lours poffefs in die . fpedlrum, exatdy correfponds to
thofe cf chords that found the feven notes in the dia¬
tonic fcale of mufic. As is evident by the following
experiment.
On a'paper in a dark chamber, let a ray of light be
largely refracted into the fpeftrum AFTMGP, and
mark the precife boundaries of the feveral colours, as.
a, h, f, &c. Draw lines from thofe points perpendicu¬
lar to the oppofite, fide,, and you will find that the
fpaces M r/F, by which the red is bounded ; r g ef,
by which the orange is bounded ; q p e d, by which
the yellow is bounded, &c. will be in exadl proportion
z to
C H R O M
to the etivifions of a mufical chord for the notes of an
©ftave ; that is, as the intervals of thefe numbers i,
&> !> r> h T%-> T*
IX. Colorific muftc.
Father Castel, a Frenchman, in a curious book
he has publifhed on chromatics, fuppofes the note ui
to anfwer to blue in the prifmatic colours ; the note
re to yellow, and mi to red. The other tones he re¬
fers to the intermediate colours; from whence he con-
ft fuels the following gamut of colorific mufic :
Ut
Ut fharp
Re
Re (harp
Mi
Fa
Fa fharp
Sol
Sol {harp
La
La {harp
lit
Blue
Sea-green
Bright green
Olive green
Yellow
Aurora
Orange
Red
Crirnfon
Violet
Blue Violet
Sky blue
Blue
This gamut, according to his plan, is to be'conti¬
nued in the fame manner for the following oftave ;
except that the colours are to be more vivid.
He fuppofes that thefe colours, by ftriking the eye
in the fame fuccefiion as the founds (to which he
makes them analogous) do the' ear, and in the fame,
order of time, they will produce a correfpondent fen-
fation of pleafure in the mind. It is on thefe general
principles; which F. Cartel has dilucidated in his trea-
tife, that he has endeavoured, though with little fuc-
cefs, to eftablirti his ocular harpliehord.
The conftru'ftion of this inftrument, as here ex¬
plained, will {how that the effects produeed by colours
By no means anfwer thofe of founds, and that the
principal relation there is between them confifts in
the duration of the time that they refpeftively affedt
the fenfes.
Between two circles of pafteboard, of ten inches
diameter, AB and CD, inclofe a hollow parteboard
cylinder E, 18 inches long. Divide this cylinder
into {paces half an inch wide, by a fpiral line that
runs round it from top to bottom, and divide its
furfaee into fix equal parts by parallel lines drawn
between its cwo extremities ; as is exprefled in the
figure.
Let the circle AB, at top, be open ; and let that at
Bottom, CD, be doled, and fupported by an axis or
, CHRONIC, or chronical, among phyficians, an
• appellation given to difeafes that continue a long time;
in contradirtin&ion to thofe that foon terminate and
are called acute.
CHRONICLE, in matters of literature, a fpecies
or kind of hiftory difpofed according to the order of
time, and agreeing in moft refpedts with annals. See
Annals. '
Parian Chronicle. See Arundelia'n Marbles. Since
that article wasprinted, in which an abrtra& was given
A T I C S.
ferew, of half an inch diameter, which murt turn
freely in a nut placed at the bottom of a box we {hall
prefently deferihe. To the axis juft mentioned adjuit
a wooden wheel G, of two inches and a half in dia¬
meter, and that has 12 or 15 teeth, which take the
endlefs ferew H. , Let this cylinder be inclofed in a
box ILMN (fig. 9.) whofe bafe is fquare, and at
whole bottom there is a nut in which the axis F
turns. Obferve that the endlefs ferew H ftiould'
come out of the box, that it may receive the handle
O, by which the cylinder is to be turned.
This box being clofed all round, place over it a tin
covering A, which muft be perforated in different
parts ; from this cover there muff hang three or four
lights, fo placed that they may ftrongly illumine the
infide of the cylinder. In one fide of this box (Which
fliould be covered with pafteboard) cut eight aper¬
tures, <7, b, cy d, e, f, g, by of half an inch wide, and
of an inch high ; they muft be directly pver each
other, and the diftance between them muft be exactly
two inches. It is by thefe openings, which here
correfpond to the mufical notes, that the various co¬
lours analogous to them are to appear ; . and which
being placed on the pafteboard cylinder, as we have
ftiown, are refledled by means of the lights placed'
within it.
It is eafy to conceive, that when the handle O is
turned, the cylinder in confequence rifing half an
inch, if it be turned five times round, it will fuccef-
fiyely {how, at the openings made in the fide df thd
box, all thofe that' are in the cylinder itfdfj and which
are ranged according to the direction of the inclined
lines drawn on it. It is therefore according to the
duration of the notes which ate to be' exprefled, that
the apertures on the cylinder are to be cut. ObfeiW?* -
that the fpace between two of the parallel lines drawn
vertically pri the cylinder, is equal to one rrteafure of
time ; therefore, for every turn of the cylinder, there
are fix meafures, and thirty mea'fures for the air that
Is to be played by this inftrument.
The feveral apertures being made in the fide of the
cylinder, in conformity to the notes' of‘the tune that
is to be exprefted, they are to be covered with double'
pieces of very thin paper, painted on both lides with
the colours that are to reprefent the muiical notes.
This experiment might be executed'in a' different
manner, and with a much greater extent; but as the
entertainment would not equal the trouble and ex-
pence, we have thought it fulheient to give the above
piece, by which the reader will be enabled to judge
how far the analogy fuppofed by F. Cartel, really
exifts.
741-
of Mr Robertfon’s doubts and obfervations refpe&ing CKrowcte,
the authenticity of the Parian Chronicle, one or
publications have fince appeared in anfwer, but none
of them calculated to remove the objections or mate¬
rially to affedt the arguments that had been ftated with
fo much learning and ingenuity againft it. The fol¬
lowing ftrifitures, however, with which the Monthly
Reviewers have concluded their critique of Mr Robert¬
fon’s performance, feem to merit confideration.
On
C H R [ 742 ] C H R
Clironicle. On Obje&ion I. That the charaBers have no certain
’ v 1 ' or unequivocal marks of antiquity, the Reviewers remark,
Monthly feems rather to be an anfwerto a defender of
TaiTrjSo iwfct'pt*011* ^ban an objeftion. If a zealous parti-
7 ' zan of the marble Ihould appeal to its chara&ers and
orthography, as decifive proofs of its being genuine, it
would be proper enough to anfwer, that thefe circum-
ftances afford no certain criterion of authenticity. But
in this word certain fculks an unlucky ambiguity. If
it means demonftrative, it muft. be allowed that no in-
fcription can be proved to be certainly genuine from
thefe appearances ; but if it means no more than high¬
ly probable, many infcriptions poffefs fufficient inter¬
nal evidence to give their claims this degree of cer¬
tainty. The true queftion is, Has not the Parian
Chronicle every mark of antiquity that can be expeft-
cd in a monument claiming the age of 2000 years ?
The letters r7 and K are, by Mr R.’s own confefiioo,
fuch as occur in genuine infcriptions ; and to fay in an¬
fwer, that an impoftor might copy the forms of thefe
letters from other inferiptions, is already to fuppofe
the infeription forged, before it is rendered probable
by argument. The learned author of the Differtation
feems to betray fome doubt of his own conclufion ;
for he adds, p. 56. “ that the antiquity of an iriferip-
tion can never be proved by the mere form of the let¬
ters, becaufe the moft ancient charafters are as eafily
counterfeited as the modern.” But this obje&ion is
equally applicable to all other ancient infcriptions;
and is not to the purpofe, if the prefent infeription has
any peculiar marks of impofture in its chara&ers and or¬
thography. “ The chara&ers do hot refemble the Si-
gean, the Nemean, or the Delian infcriptions.” Mr R.
anfwers this obje&ion himfelf, by adding, “ which are
fuppofed to be of a more ancient date.” The oppofite
reafon to this will be a fufficient anfwer to the other
objeftion, “ that they do not refemble the Farnefian
pillars or the Alexandrian MS.” If “ they differ
in many refpefts from the Marmor Sandvicenfe,” they
may be prefumed to agree in many. “ They feem to
refemble, more than any other, the alphabet taken by
Montfaucon from the Marmor Cyzicenum.” Thus it
appears that the Parian Chronicle moft nearly refem-
bles the two infcriptions, to whofe age it moft nearly
approaches.
When Mr R. adds, that the letters “ are fuch as
an ordinary ftone-cutter would probably make, if he
were employed to engrave a Greek infeription, accord¬
ing to the alphabet now in ufe,” he muft be under-
ftood cum gram falis. The engraver of a fac fimile
generally omits ibme nice and minute touches in ta¬
king his copy ; but, even with this abatement, we dare
appeal to any adept in Greek calligraphy, whether the
fpecimen facing p. 56, will juftify our author’s obfer-
vation? “ The fmall letters (0, 0, n) intermixed
among the larger, have an air of affedtation and arti¬
fice.” Then has the greater part of ancient infcrip¬
tions an air of affedfation and artifice. For the o is
perpetually engraved in this diminutive fize; and ^
being of a kindred found, and © of a kindred fhape,
how can we wonder that aft three fhould be reprefent-
ed of the fame magnitude ? In the infeription which
immediately follows the marble in Dr Chandler’s edi¬
tion, N° xxiv. thefe very three letters are never fo
large as the reft, and- often much fmaller ; of which
there are inftances in the three firft lines. See alfq Chronicle;]
two medals in the fecond part of Dorville’s Sicula, .
Tab. xvi. Numb. 7. 9.
“ From the archaifms,fuchasfy livr.apuxc, ty Kv/fcxenc,
e^. napui, &c. &c. no conclufion can be drawn in fa¬
vour of the authenticity of the infeription.” Yet
furely every thing common to it with other infcrip¬
tions, confeffedly genuine, creates a reafonable pre-
fumption in its favour. “ But what reafon could there
be for thefe archaifms in the Parian Chronicle ? We
‘do not ufually find them in Greek writers of the fame
age, or even of a more early date.” The reafon is,
according to our opinion, that fuch archaifms were
then in ufe : this we know from other infcriptions, in
which fuch archaifms (or, as our author afterward
calls them, barbarifms) are frequent. Nothing can
be inferred from the Greek writers, unlefs we had
their autographs. The prefent fyftem of orthography in
Our printed Greek books is out of the queftion. A-
gain, “ The infeription fometimes adopts and fome-
times neglefts thefe archaifms, as in lines 4, 12, 27,
52, 63, 67.” This inconfiftency either is no valid
objeftion, or if it be valid, will demoliffi not only al-
moft every other infeription, but almoft every writing
whatfoever. For example, in the infeription juft
quoted, N° xxiv. We find ton 1. 20. and otuM,
my.*™, 24. A little farther, N® xxvi. 1. 31. we have
tr MuywMs,-73. 81. fK Maywiac, and 106. xo8.
tKr Maj-vurja?. The Corcyrean infeription (Montfau¬
con, Diar. Ital. p.420.) promifcuoufly ufes eKJavego^aj
and iTStur'iloycu. In Englifh, who is furprifed to find
has and hath, a hand and an hand, a ufeful and an ufe-
ful, in the works of the fame author ? We could pro¬
duce inftances of this inaccuracy from the fame page,
nay from the fame fentence.
“ The authenticity of thofe infcriptions, in which
thefe archaifms appear, muft be eftabliftied, before
they can be produced in oppofition to the prefent ar¬
gument.” This is, we cannot help thinking, rather
too fevere a reftri&ion. If no infeription may be
quoted before it be proved genuine, ihe learned author
of the Diflertation need not be afraid of being con¬
futed ; for nobody will engage with him on fuch con¬
ditions: Perhaps the reverfe of the rule will be thought
more equitable ; that every inferiptioh be allowed to
be genuine, till its authenticity be rendered doubtful
by probable arguments. We will conclude this head
with two ffiort obfervations. In Selden’s copy, 1. 26.
was written nonxm, which the later editors have al¬
tered to'nomxiN, but without reafon, the other be¬
ing the more ancient way of writing, common in MSS.
and fornetimes found on infcriptions. (See G. Koen’s
Notes on Gregorius de DialeBis, p. 30.) In 1. 83. the
marble ,has Kaxxiou, f0r which Palmer wilhed to
fubftitute Kaxxiou. Dr Taylor refutes him from the
Marmor Sandvicenfe, obferving at the fame time, that
this otthography occurs in no other place whatever
except in thefe two monuments. Is it likely that two
engravers fhould by chance coincide in the fame mif-
take, or that the forger of the Paiian Chronicle (if it
be forged) ffiould have feen the Marmor Sandvicenfe,
and taken notice of this peculiarity with the intention
of afterward employing it in the fabrication of an im¬
pofture ?
The
C H R
•> The Reviewers next proceed to confider, but mere
”■ briefly, the other objections.
II. It Is not probable that the Chronicle was engraved
for private ufe, i. Becaufe it was fuel: an expence, as few
learned Greeks were able to afford. If only a few were
able to afford it, feme one of thofe few might be wil¬
ling to incur it. But let Mr R. confider how likely
it is that a modern, and probably a needy Greek, (hould
be more able to afford it in the laft century, than a
learned Greek 2000 years ago! 2. A manufeript is
more readily circulated. Do men never prefer cumbrous
fplendor to cheapnefs and convenience ? And if this
compofition, inftead of being engraved on marble, had
been committed to parchment, would it have had a
better chance of coming down to the preient age ?
Such a flying fheet would foon, be loll; or, if a copy
had, by miracle, been preferved t© us, the objedlions
to its being geruine would be more plaufible than any
that have been urged againtl the infeription. What
Mr R. fays about the errors to which an infeription is
liable, &c. will only prove that chronological inferip-
tions ought not to be engraved ; but not that they ne¬
ver were. We allow that the common method of wri¬
ting in the reign of Ptolemy Phil^delphus was not on
stones. But it was common enough to occur to the
mind of any perfon who wifhed to leave behind him
a memorial at once of his learning and magnificence.
III. This objection, that the marble does not appear
to be engraved by public authority, we fhall readily ad¬
mit, though Bentley (Diff. on Phalaris, p. 251.) leans
to the contrary opinion. In explaining this objection,
the learned differtator obferves, that though the ex-
preffion,.*p;c,,VT®<' (v- would lead ustofuppofe that
the inscription related to Paros, not a Angle circum-
ftance in the biftory of that ifland is mentioned. But
this expre’ffi rm-only ftiows that the author was an in¬
habitant of Paros, and intended to give his readers a
clue, or parapegma, by the aid of which they might
1 743 ]
C H R
Chronicle does not agree with any ancient author. Chronicle.
For if the ancients contradict one another, how could
it follow more than one of them ? and why might not
the author, without any imputation of ignorance or
rafhnefs, fometimes depart from them all ? If'lndeed
he difagrees with them when they are unanimous, it
might furnilh matter for fufpicion ; though even this
would be far from a decifive argument, unlefs the an¬
cients were fo extremely unlike the moderns, as never
to be fond of lingular and paradoxical politions.
V. This Chronicle is not once mentioned by any writer
of antiquity. How many of thofe inferiptions, which
are preferved to the prefent day, are mentioned-by
claflical authors ? Verrius Flaccus compofed a Roman
kalendar, which, as a monument of his learning and
induftry, was engraved on marble, and fixed in the moll
public part of Prenelle. Fragments of this very ka¬
lendar were lately dug up at Prenelle, and have been
publilhed by a learned Italian. Now, if the paffaa-e
of Suetoaius, wdiich informs us of this circumllance,
had been loft, would the filence of the Latin writers
prove that the fragments were not genuine remains of
antiquity ? It may be faid that the cafes are not pa-,
rallel; for not a Angle author mentions the Parian
Chronicle, whereas Suetonius does mention Vemus’s
,Roman kalendar. To this we anfwer, It is dangerous
to deny the authenticity of any monument on the
flender probability of its being cafually mentioned by
a Angle author. We lhall alfo obferve, that this fail
of the Hemicyclium of Verrius will anfwer fome part of
.the Differtator’s fecond objection; “ The Parian Chro¬
nicle is not an infeription that might have been con¬
cealed in a private library.” Why not ? it is of no
extraordinary bulk ; and might formerly have been
concealed in a private library, or in a private room,
with as much eafe as many inferiptions are now con¬
cealed in very narrow fpaces. But unlefs this monu¬
ment were placed in fome confpicuous part of the
adjuft the general chronology of Greece to the dates Hand, and obtruded itfelf on the notice of every tra*
of their own hiftory. “ It is as abfurd as would be a
marble in Jamaica containing the revolutions of Eng¬
land.” We fee no abfurdity in fuppoAng a book to
be written in Jamaica containing the revolutions of
England. The natives of Paros were not uninterefted
‘1 events relating to the general hiftory of Greece,
veller, the wonder will in great meafure ceafe why it is
never quoted by the ancients. Of the nine authors
named in p. 109, had any one ever viftted Paros ? If
Paufanias had travelled thither, and publifhed his de-
feription of the place, we might perhaps expert to
And fome mention of this marble in fo curious and 11
particularly of Athens ; and how can we tell whether quifitive a writer. But though the infeription exilted,
the author were an inquilinus or a native of the iAand ; and were famous at Paros, there feems no neceffity for
whether he thought it a place beneath his care ; or any of the authors whofe works are Aill extant to have
whether he had devoted a feparate infeription to the known or recorded it. If there be, let this learned
chronology of Paros ? antagonift point out the place where this mention
IV. It has been frequently olferved, that the earlier ought to have been made. If any perfons were bound
periods of the Grecian hijlory are involved in darhnefs and by a ftronger obligation than others to fpeak of the
confufion. Granted. It follows then, that “ an author Parian infeription, they muft be the profeffed chrono-
who Aiould attempt to fettle the dates of the earlier pe- logers : but alas ! we have not the entire works of fo
riods would frequently contradift preceding, and be con- much as a Angle ancient chronologer : it is therefore
tradifted by fubfequent, writers: that he would natu- impoffible to determine whether this Chronicle were
rally fall into miftakes; and at heft could only hope to quoted by any ancient. And fuppoAng it had been-
adopt the mod probable fyftem. But the difficulty of feen by fome ancient, whofe writings ftill remain, why
the talk, or the impoffibility of fuccefs, are not fufficient ffiould he make particular mention of it ? Many au¬
to prove that no man has been raffi or mad enough to thors, as we know from their remains, very freely co¬
make the attempt.” On the contrary, we know that pied their predeceffors without naming them. Others,
many have made it. What a number of difeordant finding only a colledlion of bare events in the inferip-'
opinions has Mr R. himfelf given us from the ancients tion, without hiftorical proofs or reafons, might entire-
concerning the age of Homer ? This confiiieration will ly negleft it, as deferving no.credit. Mr R. feems to
in part obviate another objection,, that the Parian lay much Itrefs on the predfe, exadt, and particular
i. fp.e-
0 H R r 744 1 c H R
fpcclfication of the events, p, JC9. But he ought to
reflect, that thh abrupt and poflti-ve method of {peak¬
ing is not only ufual, but neeeifary, in fueh fhort fy-
items of chronology as the marble contains, where e-
vents only, and their dates, are fet down, unaccompa¬
nied 'by any examination of evidences for and againlt,
without {fating any computation of probabilities, or
deduction of reafons. When therefore a chronological
writer had undertaken to reduce the general biliary df
Greece into a regular and confiftent fyftem, admitting
that he was acquainted with this infeription, what
grounds liave we to believe that he would fay any
thing about it ? Either his fyftem coincided with the
Chronicle or not: if it coincided, he would very pro¬
bably difdain to prop his own opinions with the un-
fupported aflertions of another man, who, as far as he
knew; was not better informed than hhnfelf. On the
other hand, if he differed from the authority of the
mai'ble, he might think it a fuperfluous exertion of
complaifance, to refute, by. formal demonftration, a
writer who had chofen to give no reafons for his own
opinion. We {hall pafs hence to
.Objedtion VII. With refpect to the paraehronifms
that Mr R. produces, we (hall without hefitation-grant,
that the author of the infeription may have committed
fome miftakes in his chronology, as perhaps concern¬
ing Phidon, whom he feems to have confounded with
another of the fame name, &c* But thefe miftakes
•will not conclude againft the antiquity of the inferip-
tion, unlefs we at the fame time rejeft many of the
•principal Greek and Roman writers, who have been
•convicted of fimilar errors. We return therefore to
Objection V L Seme of the fads feem to have been taken
from authors of a later elate. We have endeavoured im¬
partially to examine and compare the paffages quoted
in proof of this objedtion ; but we are obliged to con-
•fefs, that we do not perceive the fainteft traces of theft
or imitation. One example only deferves to be ex¬
cepted ; -to which we fhail therefore pay particular at¬
tention.
“ The names of fix ; and, if the lacunae are proper¬
ly fupplied, tlie names of twelve cities, appear to have
been engraved on the marble, exadtly as we find them
•in jElian’s Various Hiftory. But there is not any
•imaginable reafon for this particular arrangement. It
•does’not correfpond with the time of their foundation,
with their fituation in Ionia, with their relative impor¬
tance, or with the order in which they are placed by
ether eminent htftorians.,,
The chance of fix names, fays Mr R. being placed
Isy two authors in the fame order, is as i to 720; of
12, as 1 to 479,001,^00. “It is therefore utterly
-improbable that thefe names would have been placed
in this order on the marble, if the author of the in¬
feription had not tranferibed them from the hifto-
rian.”
On this argument we {hall obferve, ?. That the
very contrary conclufion might poffibly be juft, that
the hiftorian tranferibed from the infeription. Yet we
•ftiaH grant that in the prefent cafe this is improbable,
efpecially if the author of the Various Hiftory be the
ftme iElian, who, aceording to Philoftratus, Vit. So-
pbift. II. 31. never quitted Italy in his life. But an
intermediate writer might have copied the marble, and
JElian might have been indebted to him. adly. We
N° 79..
fee do reafon to allow, that the lacuna are ‘properly
fupplied. Suppofe we (Tiould affert, -that the names
flood originally thus: Miletus, Epkefus, Erythr^e,
ClazGtnens, Lebedoa,Chios, Phocsea, Colophon* Myus,
Priene, Samos, Teas. In this arrangement, only four
names would be together in the fame order with
iElian •, and from thefe Miletus muft be excepted, be-
caufe there is an obvious reafon for mentioning that
city firft. Three only will then remain ; and furely
that is too flight a refemblance to be conftrued into an
imitation. For Paufanias and Paterculus, quoted by
our author, p. ryq, have both enumerated the fame
twelve cities, and both agree in placing the five laft in
the fame order; nay, the fix laft, if Voflius’s conjedture
that TEUM ought to be inferted in Paterculus after
Myum TEM be as truest it is plaufible. But who
imagines that Paufanias had either opportunity or in¬
clination to copy Paterculus ? jdly, Allowing that the
names were engraved on the marble exadtly in the or¬
der that iElian has chofen, is there no way of folving
the phenomenon but by fuppofing that one borrowed
from the other? Seven authors at leaft (Mr R. feems
to fay more, p. 154, 5.) mention the colonization of
the fame cities: how many authors now loft may we
reafonably conjedture to have done the fame? If there¬
fore the compofer of the Chronicle and iElian light¬
ed on the fame author, the former would probably
preferve-the fame arrangement that he found, becaufe
in tranferibing a lift of names, he could have no temp¬
tation to deviate ; and the latter would certainly ad¬
here faithfully to his original, becaufe he is a notori¬
ous and fervile plagiarift. „ Mr R. indeed thinks,
p. 158, that if a fucceeding writer had borrowed the
words of the infeription, he would not have fuppreffed
the name of the author. This opinion muft fall to the
ground, if it be ftiown that iElian was accuftomed to
iupprefs the names of the authors to whom he was
obliged. iEiian has given a lift of fourteen celebra¬
ted gluttons ; and, elfewhere, another of twenty-eight
drunkards (from which, by the way, it appears, that
people were apt to eat and drink rather too freely in
ancient as well as modern times) ; and .both thefe lifts
contain exadtly the fame names in the fame order
with Atheneiis. Now it is obfervable, that four¬
teen names may be tranfpofed 87,178,291,200 dif¬
ferent ways, and that twenty-eight names admit of
304,888,344,611,71.3,860,501,504,000,000 different
tranfpofitions, &c. &c. iElian therefore tranferibed
them from Atheneiis ? yet iElian never mentions
Atheneiis in his Various Hiftory. So that whether
iElian copied from the marble, or only drew from a
common fource, he might, and very probably would,
conceal his'authority.
VIII. The hifiory of the df covery of the Marbles is
olfeure and unfatisfaftory.
In p. 169, it is laid to be “ related with fufpicious
circumftances, and without any of thofe cleat and une¬
quivocal evidences which always diferiminate truth from
falfehood.” The queftion then rs finally decided. If the
infeription has not any of thofe evidences which truth
always poffeffes, and which falfehood always wants, it is
moft certainly forged. The learned differtator feems
for a moment to have forgotten the modeft character
of a doubter, and to perfonate the dogmatift. But
waving this, wc {hall add, that, as far as we can fee,
n»
C H R [ 745 1 C H R
Chronicle, rto appearance of fraud is difcoverable in any part of
the tranfaftion. The hiftory of many infcriptions is
related in a manner equally nnfatisfa&ory; and if it
could be clearly proved that the marble was dug up at
Paros, what would be eafier for a critic, who is deter¬
mined at any rate to object, thaw to fay,- that it was
buried there in order to be afterward dug up ? If the
- perfon who brought this treafure to light had been
charged on the fpot with forging it, or concurring in
the forgery, and had then refufed to produce the ex¬
ternal evidences of its authenticity, we fhould have a
right to queftion, or perhaps to deny, that it was ge¬
nuine. But no fuch objedtion having been made or
hinted, at the original time of its difcovery, it is un-
reafonable to require fuch teftirnony as it is now im-
poffible to obtain. “ There is nothing faid of it in
Sir T. Roe’s negotiations.” What is the inference ?
That Sir Thomas knew nothing of it,> or believed it to
be fpurious, or forged it, or was privy to the forgery ?
Surely nothing of this kind can be pretended. But let
our author account for the circumllance if he can.
To us it feems of no confequence on either fide.
“ Peirefc made no effort to recover this precious relic ;
and from his compcfure he feems to havb entertained
fome fecret fufpicions of its authenticity.” Pierefc
would have had no chance of recovering it after it was
in the poffeffion of Lord Arundel’s agents. He was
either a real or a pretended patron of letters ; and it be¬
came him to affedt to be pleafed that the infcription
had come into England, and was illuftrated by his
learned friend Selden. John F. Gronovius had, with
great labour and expence, collated Anna Comnena’s
Alexiades, and intended to publifh them. While he
was waiting for fome other collations, they were in¬
tercepted, and the work was publifhed by another. As
foon as Gronovius heard this unpleafant news, he an-
fwered, that learned men were engaged in a common
caufe ; that if one prevented another in any publica¬
tion, he ought rather to be thanked for lightening the
burden, than blamed for interfering. But who would
conclude from this anfwer, that Gronovius thought the
Alexiades fpurious, or not worthy of any regard ?
Mr R. calculates, that the venders of the marble re¬
ceived 200 pieces. But here again we are left in the
dark, unlefs we knew the precife value of thefe pieces.
Perhaps they might be equal to an hundred of our
pounds, perhaps only to fifty. Befidcs, as they at firft
bargained with Samfon, Pierefc’s fuppofed Jew agent,
for fifty pieces only, they could not have forged the
infcription with the clear profpeft of receiving piore;
neither does it appear that they were paid by Samfon.
It is fully as reafonable to fuppofe fraud on the one
fide as on the other ; and if Samfon, after having the
marble in his poffelfion, refufed or delayed to pay the
fum ftipulated, he might, in confequence of fuch refu-
fal or delay, be thrown into prifon, and might, in re¬
venge, damage the marble before the owners could re¬
cover it. We own this account of ours to be a ro¬
mance ; but it is lawful to combat romance with ro¬
mance.
IX. The world has been frequently impofed upon by fpu¬
rious looks and infcriptions ; and therefore weJhould be ex¬
tremely cautious with regard to what we receive under the
venerable name of antiquity.
V0,1.. IV. Part II.
Much truth is obfervable in this remark. But the Chronicle,
danger lies in applying fuch general apophthegms to
particular cafes. In the firft place, it muft. be obfer-
ved, that no forged books will exaftly fuit Mr R.’a
purpofe, but fuch as pretend to be the author’s own
hand-writing; nor any infcriptions, but fuch as are
ftill extant on the original materials, or fuch as were
known to be extant at the time of their pretended dif¬
covery. Let the argument be bounded by thefe IL
mits, and the number of forgeries will be very much
reduced. We are not in polfellion of Cyriacus Anco-
nitanus’s book ; but if we were governed by authority,
we ihould think that the teftimony of Reinefius in his
favour greatly overbalances all that Auguftinus has faid
to his prejudice. The opinion of Reinefius is of the
more weight, becaufe he fufpedts Urfinus of publilh-
ing counterfeit monuments. We likewife find the moft:
eminent critics of the prefent age quoting Cyriacus
without fufpicion (FIT/. Ruhnken. in Timasi Lex. Hat.
р. io. apud Koen, ad Gregor, p. 140.) The doftrine
advanced in the citation from Hardouin is exa£lly
conformable to that writer’s ufual paradoxes. He
wanted to deftroy the credit of all the Greek and La¬
tin writers. But infcriptions hung like a millftone
about the neck of his projeft. He therefore refolved
to make fure work, and to deny the genuinenefs of as
many as he faw convenient: to effect which purpofe,
he intrenches himfelf in a general accufation. If the
author of the differtation had quoted a few more pa¬
ragraphs from Hardouin, in which he endeavours, af¬
ter his manner, to ihow the forgery of fome infcrip¬
tions, he would at once have adminiftered the poifoa
and the antidote. But to the reveries of that learned
madman, refpe&ing Greek fuppofititious compofitionj-
of this nature, we fhall content ourfelves with oppofing
the fentiments of a modern critic, whofe judgment on
the fubjeft of fpurious infcriptions will not be difpu-
ted. Maffei, in the introdu6lion to the third book,
с. 1. p. 51. of his admirable, though unfinifhed, work
de Arte Critica Lapidaria, ufes thefe words : Infcriptio-
num Grace loquentium commontitias,f cum Latints compa-
remus, deprehendi paucas / neque enim ullum ormino ejl, in
tanta debacchantium falfariorum Ubidine, monumenii genus,
in quod ii f hi minus licere putaverint. Argumento ejl, pau-
cifimas ufque in hanc diem ab eruditis viris, et in hoc lilcra-
rum genere plurimum verfatis rejedas effe, fafique dam-
natas.
Books of Chronicles, a canonical writing of the
Old Teflament. It is uncertain which were written
firft, The Books of Kings, or The Chronicles, fince they
each refer to the other. However it be, the latter
is often more full and comprehenfive than the former.
Whence the Greek interpreters call thefe two books
Xl^c Arnro^Eva, Supplements, Additions, becaufe they con¬
tain fome circumftances which are omitted in the o-
ther hiftorical books. The Jews make but one book
of the Chronicles, under the title of Dibre-Haiatnim,
i. e. 'Journals or Annals. Ezra is generally believed
to be the author of thefe books. It is certain they
were written after the end of the Babylonifh capti¬
vity and the firft year of the reign of Cyrus, .of whom
mention is made in the laft chapter of the fecond
book.
The Chronicles, ,or Paraleipomsna, are an abridge-
5 B ment
C H R
C H R
logy.
[ 746 ]
Chronicles ment of all the facred hiftory, from the beginning of down the progrefs and end of the kingdom of Judah, Chron®,
loTOno'. 'the Jewifh nation to their firft return from the capti- to the very year of their return from the Babylonifh Jfanl»
1 ‘ vity, taken out of tl}ofe books of the Bible which we captivity.
dill have, and out of other annals which the author CHRONOGRAM, a fpecies of falfe wit, confift-
had then by him. The defign of the writer was to ing,in tins, that a certain date or epocha is expreffed
give the Jews a feries of their hiftory. The firft book by numeral letters of one or more verfes ; fuch is that
relates to the rife and propagation of the people of which makes the motto of a medal ftruck by Guila-
Ifrael from Adam, and gives a pun&ual and exa<ft ac- vus Adolphus in 1632 :
count of the reign of David. The fecond book fets ChrlftVs DVXergo trIVMphVs.
CHRONOLOGY,
f | ’Re ats of time, the method of meafuring its parts, •
and adapting thefe, when diftinguiftiedby proper
marks and characters, to paft tranfaftions, for the il-
luftration of hiftory. This fcience therefore confifts
How Ji- °f two parts. The firft treats of the proper meafure-
vided. ment of time, and the adjuftment of its feveral-divi-
fions ; the fecond, of fixing the dates of the various
events recorded in hiftory, and ranging them, accord¬
ing to the feveral divifions of time> in the order in
2 which they happened.
Clironolo- .Chronology, comparatively fpeaking, is but of mo-
gy un- dern date. The ancient poets appear to have been en-
the Tr't0 tirely unacquainted with it; and. Homer, .the moft ce-
ctentt1" lebrated of them all, mentions nothing like a formal
kalendar in any part of his writings. In the moft
early periods, the only meafurement of time was by
the feafons, the revolutions of the fun and moon ; and
many ages muft have elapfed before the mode of com¬
putation by dating events came into general ufe. Se¬
veral centuries intervened ^between the era of the Olym¬
pic games and the firft hiftorians; and feveral more
between thefe and the firft authors of chronology.
3 When time firft began to be reckoned, we find its
inaccurate meafures very indeterminate. The fucceffion of jutio’s
methods ©f priefteffes at. Argos ferved Hellanicus for the regula-
t'meatfPft t^on his .narrative ; while Ephorus reckoned his
n™ds utc * uiatters by generations. Even in the hiftories of He-
®f. rodotus and Thucydides, we find no regular dates for
the events recorded; nor was there any attempt to
eftablifti a fixed era, until the time of Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, who attempted it by comparing and correft-
ing the dates of the. olympiads, the kings of Sparta,
and the fucceflion of the priefteffes of Juno at Argos.
Eratofthenes and Apollodorus digefted the events re¬
corded by them according to the fucceffion of the
olympiads and of the Spartan kings*
The Uncertainty of the mea'fures of time in the moft
early periods renders the hiftories of thofe times equal¬
ly uncertain ; and even after the invention- of dates
and eras, we find the ancient hiftorians very inatten¬
tive to them, and inaccurate in their Computations.
Frequently their eras and years were reckoned dif¬
ferently without their being fenfible of it, or at leaft
without giving the reader any information concerning
It;,a circumftance which has rendered the fragments
of their works now remaining of very little rife to po-
fterity. The Chaldean and Egyptian writers are ge¬
nerally acknowledged to be fabulous; and Strabo ac¬
quaints us, that Diodorus Siculus, and the other early
hiftorians of Greece, were ill informed and credulous. Ancient hi*
Hence the difagreement among the ancient hiftorians, ft(>rians not
and the extreme confufion and contradiction we meet t'> be cte.
with on comparing their works. Hellariicus dnd dued.
Acufilaus difagreed about their genealogies; the lat¬
ter rejected the traditions of Hefiod. Timaeus ac-
cufed Ephorus of falfehaod, arid the reft of the world
accufed Timaeus. The moft fabulous legends were
impofed on the world by Herodotus ; and even Thu¬
cydides and Diodorus, generally'accounted able hifto¬
rians, have been conviCted of error. The chronology
of the Latins is ftill more uncertain. The records of
the Romans were deftroyed by the Gauls; and Fabius
PiCtor, the moft ancient of their hiftorians, was obliged
to borrow the greateft part of his information from the
Greeks. In other European nations the chronology is
ftill more imperfeCt and of a later date ; and even in mo¬
dern times, a cOnfiderable degree of confufion and- inac¬
curacy has arifen from want of attention in the hiftorians
to afeertain the dates and epochs with precifion. ^
From thefe obfervations it is obvious how necefiary a Utility of
proper fyftem of chronology muft be for the right under- chronology^
ftandingofhiftory,andlikewifehowverydifficult itmuft^ of <-hro-
be to eftablilh fuch a fyftem. In this, however, feveral I^,c0^ers’
learned men have excelled, particularly Julius Africa-
nus, Eufabius of Caefarea, George Cyricelle, John of
Antioch, Dennis, Petau, Cluviar, Calvilius,'Ulher;
Simfon Marlham, Blair, and Playfair. It is founded,
1. On aftronomical obfervations', particularly of the
eclipfes of the fun and moon, combined with the cal¬
culations of the eras and years of different nations.
2. The teftimonies of credible authors: 3. Thofe
epochs in hiftory which are fo well attefted and deter¬
mined, that they have never been controverted. 4. An¬
cient medals, coins, monuments, and inferiptions. None
of thefe, however, can be fufficiently intelligible with¬
out an explanation of the firft part, which, we-have
already oblerved, corifiders the divifions of time, and
of which therefore we ftiall treat in the firft place. 6
The nhoft obvious divilion of time is derived from Of the di- ,
the apparent revolutions of the celeftial bodies, parti- vjfi'm.
cularly of the fun, which by the viciflitudes of day andVlWeinW‘
night becomes evident to the moft barbarous 'and ig¬
norant nations. In ftrift propriety of fpeech the word
t/ay fignifies only that portion of time during which
the fun diffufes light on any part of the earth ; hut in
the moft comprehenfible fenfe, it includes the night al-
fo, and is called by chronologers a cm/ day ; by aftro-
nomers a natural,, and fometimea sxtartificial,. day.
By
747
C H R O N
7 By a civil day is meant the interval betwixt the
avl41-. fun’s departure from any given point in the heavens
defined.5* anc^ next return to the fame, with as much more as
anfwers to its diurnal motion eaftward, which is at the
‘rate of 59 minutes and 8 feconds of . a degree, or
3 minutes and 57 feconds of time. It is alfo call¬
ed a folar day, and is longer than a Jldereal one, info-
much that, if the former be divided into 24 equal parts
or hours, the latter will coniift only of. 23 hours 56
minutes. The apparent inequality of the fun’s mo¬
tion, lifcewife, ariling from the obliquity of the eclip¬
tic, produces another inequality in the length-of the
days: and.hence the difference betwixe real and ap¬
parent time,- fo that the apparent motion of the fun
cannot always be a true meafure of duration. Thofe
inequalities, however, are capable of being reduced to
a general ilandard, which furnilhes an exa£t meafure
throughout the year ; whence arifes the difference, be¬
tween mean and apparent time, as is explained under
S the article Astronomy.
Different • There have been very conlxderable differences among
ways of nations with regard to the beginning and ending of
theT^in. their da>’s*. The beginning of the day was counted
ning of ihe'from funrife by the Babylonians, Syrians, Perfians,
day. and Indians. The civil day of the Jews was begun from
funrife, and their facred one from funfet; the latter
mode' of computation being followed by the Athe¬
nians, Arabs, ancient Gauls, and other European na¬
tions. According to {bmg, the Egyptians began their
day at funfet, while others are ox opinion. that they
computed from noon or from .funrife ; and Pliny in¬
forms us that they computed their civil day from one
midnight to another. It is probable, however, that
they had different modes of computation in different
provinces or cities.’ The Aufonians, the moil ancient
- inhabitants of Italy,-computed the day from mid¬
night ; and the aftronomers of Cathay and Oighur in
the Eaft Indies reckoned in the fame manner. . This
mode of computation was ‘adopted by Hipparchus,
Copernicus* and other aftronomers, and is now in com¬
mon ufe among ourfelves. The qftronomical day, how-
. ever, as it is called, on account of its being ufed in
aftronomical calculations, commences at noon,, and
ends at. the fame time the following day. The
^ Mahometans reckon from one twilight to another. In
Strange Italy, the civil day commences at fome indeterminate
method of point after funfet; whence the time of noon varies with
computa- the feafon of the year. At the fummer folftice, the
t.nn ,n cjoc]c ffvihes 16 at noon, and 19 at the time of the
winter Tolftice. Thus alfo the length of each day dif-
fers by feveral minutes from that immediately preceding
or following it. This variation requires a confiderable
difficulty in adjufting their time by clocks. Itisaccom-
plifhed, however, by a fudden movement which cor-
refts the difference when it amounts to a quarter of an
« hour; and this; it does fometimes at the end of eight
days, fometimes at the end of 15, and fometimes at the
end of 40. Information of all this is given by a print¬
ed kalendar, which announces, that from the 16th of
February, for inftance, to the 24th, it will be noon at
a quarter paft 18 ; from the 24th of February to the
6th of March, it will be noon at 18 o’clock precifely ;
from the firft of June to the 13th of July, the hour of
noon will be at 16 o’clock; on the 13th of July it
Italy.
O L O G Y#
will be at half an hour after 16 ; and fo on throughout
the different months of the year. This abfurd method
of meafuring the day-continues,, notwithflanding feve¬
ral attempts to fupprefs it, throughout the whole of
Italy, a few provinces only excepted. IO
The fubdivifions of the day have not been lefs vari- Various
ous than the computations of the day itfelf. The moft
obvious divifxon, and which could at no time, nor in° a^‘
no age, be miftaken, was that of morning and evening.
In procefs of time the two‘intermediate points of noon
and midnight were determined; and this divifion in¬
to quarters was in ufe long before the invention of *
hours.
From this fubdivifion probably arofe the method
ufed by the Jews and Romans of dividing the day and
night into four vigils or watches. The firft began at
fun-rifing, or fix in the morning ; .the fecond at nine ;
the third at twelve ; and the fourth at three in the after¬
noon. In like manner the night was divided into four
parts; the firft beginning at fix in the evening, the
fecond at nine, the third at twelve, and the fourth at
three in the morning. The firft of. thefe divifions
was Called by the Jews the third hour of the day; the
fecond the fixth; the third the ninth; and the fourth
the twelfth, and fbmetimes the eleventh. Another di-
vifior. in ufe, not only among the nations above men¬
tioned, but the Greeks alfo, was that which reckon¬
ed the firft quarter from funfet to midnight; the fe¬
cond from midnight to funrife; the third* or morn-
ning watch, from morning to noon; and the fourth from
noon to funfet. ‘ It
It is uncertain at what time the more minute fub- Invencioa
divifion of the day into hours firft commenced. Itof h'urs
does not appear from the. writings of Mofes that he uncertaini
was acquainted with it, as he mentions only the morn¬
ing, mid-day, evening, and funfet. Hence we may
conclude, that the Egpytians. at that time knew no¬
thing of it, as Mofes was well /killed in their learning.
According to Herodotus, the Greeks received the
knowledge of the twelve hours of: the day from the
Babylonians. It is probable,-however, that the divi¬
fion was actually known and in ufe before the name
hour was applied to it; as Cenforimis informs us that
the term was not made ufe .of in Rome for 300 years
after its foundation; nor was it known at the time
the twelve tables were conftruCted.
The eaftern nations divide the day and night in a
very fingular manner; the origin of which is not eafily
difeovered.- The Chinefe have five watches in the night,
which are announced by a certain number of ftrokes
on a bell or drum. Theybegin by-giving one ftroke,
which is anfwered by -anotherand this is repeated, at
the diftanee of a minute or two, until the fecond watch
begin, which is announced by two ftrokes; and fo on
throughout the ■reft of the watches. By the ancient
Tartars, Indians, and Perfians, .the day was divided into
eight parts, each of which contained feven hours and r4 .
a half. The Indians on the coaft of Malabar divide Method of
the day into fix parts, called najila; each of thefe .fix computa-
parts is fubdivided into 60 others, called venaigas; the don °n the
venaiga. into 60 birpes; the birpe into 10 Lenilans; Malabar
the kenikan into four matures; the mattire into eight
kannimas or caignodes; which divifions, according to
our mode of computation, Hand as follows. '
5 B 2 Najika,
74*
C H R O N
Naiilti, Venafgs, Birpe, Kenikan, Mattire, Caignode.
24min. 24 fee. 4 fee. -ffec. ryfec. -y^fec.
The day of the Chinefe is begun at midnight, and
ends with the midnight following. It is divided into
twelve hours, each diitinguiihed by a particular name
and figure. They alfo divide the natural day into
100 parts, and each of thefe intp 100 minutes; fo
that the whole contains 10,000 minutes. In the nor¬
thern parts of Europe, where only two feafons are
reckoned in the year, the divifions of the day and night
are confiderably larger than with us. In Iceland the
24 hours are divided into eight parts; the firft of
which commences at three in the morning; the fe-
eond at five ; the third at half an hour after eight; the
fourth at eleven; the fifth at three in the afternoon; the
fixth at fix in the evening; the feventh at eight, and
the laft.at midnight. In the eaftern part of Turkeftan,
the day is divided into twelve equal parts, each of
which is difting'uiihed by the name of fome animal.
Thefe are fubdivided into eight keh; fo that the whole
24 hours contain 96 keh.
Divifions The modern divifions of the hour in ufe among us
of the hour are into minutes, feconds, thirds, fourths, &c. each
into ml- being a fixtieth part of the former fubdivifion. By
nutes, c. Chaldeans, Jews, and Arabians, the hour is di¬
vided into 1080 fcruples; fo that one hour contains
60 minutes, and one minute, 18 fcruples. The an¬
cient Perfians and Arabs were likewife acquainted
with this divifion; but the Jews are fo fond of it, that
they pretend to have received it in a fupernatural man¬
ner. “ Iffaehar (fay they) afeended into heaven, and
brought from thence 1080 parts for the benefit of the
nation.”
Methods of The divifion of the day being afeertained, it foon
announcing became an- objeft to indicate in a public manner the
the.hours. eXpiration of any particular hour or divifion ; as with¬
out fome general knowledge of this kind, it would be
in a great meafure impofiible to carry on bufinefs.
The methods of announcing this have been likewife
very different. Among the Egyptians it was cufto-
mary for the priefts to proclaim the hours like watch¬
men among us. The fame method was followed at
.Rome ; nor was there any other method of knowing
the hours until the year 293 B. C. when Papirius
Curfor firft fet up a fun-dial in the Capitol. A fimi-
lar method is praclifed among the Turks, whofeprietts
proclaim from the top of their mofques, the cock-
crowing,. day-break, mid-day, three o’clock in the af¬
ternoon, and twilight, being their appointed times of
15 worlhip.
In vention As this mode of proelaiming the hour could not but
raents for very inconvenient> as wel1 as imperfedt, the introduc-
tlfis'pur-1 tion of an inftrument which every one could have in
pofei his poffeffion, and which might anfwer the fame pur-
pofe, muff have been confidered as a Valuable acquifi-
tion. One of tbs firft of thefe was the clepfydra or
*See Clt/> water clock*. Various kinds of thefe were in ufe
among the Egyptians at a very early period. The in¬
vention. of' the inffirument is attributed to Thoth or
Mercury, and it was afterwards improved by Ctefibius
of Alexandria. It was a common meafure of time
among the Gteeks, Indians, and Chaldaeans, as well as
the Egyptians, but was not introduced into Rome till
the time of Scipio Nafica. The. Chinefe aftronomers
o l o G Y.
have long made ufe of it; and by its means divided
the zodiac into twelves parts’; but it is a very inac¬
curate meafure of time, varying, hot only according to
the quantity of water in the veffel, but according to
the ftate 0/ the atmofphere.
The clepfydra was fucceeded by the gnomon or
fun-dial.—This,, at firft:, was no more than a ftile e-
re&ed perpendicularly to the horizon; and it was a
long time before the principles of it came to be tho¬
roughly underftood. The invention is with, great
probability attributed to the Babylonians, from whom
the Jews received it before the time of Ahaz, when
we know that a ftm-dial was already erected at Jeru-
falem. The Chinefe and Egyptians alfo were ac¬
quainted with the ufe of the dial at a very early pe¬
riod, and it was confiderablyimproved by Anaximan¬
der or Anaximenes; one of whom is for that reafoa
looked upon to be the inventor. Various kinds of
dials, however, were invented and made ufe of in dif¬
ferent nations long before their introdu&ion at Rome.
The firft erefted in that city, as has been already men¬
tioned, was that by Papirius Curfor; and 30 years,
after, Valerius Miffala brought one from Sicily,
which was ufed in Rome for no lefs than ^9 years,
though conftrudted for a Sicilian latitude, and con-
fequently incapable of (bowing the hours exaclly in
any other place ; but at laft another was conftrudled
by L. Philippus, capable of meafuting time with great¬
er accuracy.
It was long after the invention of dials before man¬
kind began to form any idea of clocks ; nor is it well
known at what period they were firft invented. A
clock was fent by Pope Paul I. to Pepin king of
France, which at that time was fuppofed to be the
only one in the world. A very curious one was alfo
fent to Charles the Great from the khalif Harottn At-
rafehid, which the hiftoriansof the time fpeak of with,
furprife and admiration : but'the greateft improvement
was that of Mr Huygens,' who/ added the pendulum to.
it. Still, however, the inftruments for dividing time
were found to be inaccurate for nice purpofes. The
expanfion of the materials by heat, and their eou-
tradlion by cold, would caufe a very perceptible al¬
teration in the going of an inftrument in the fame
place at different times of the year, and much more
if carried from one climate to another. Various me¬
thods have been contrived to correft this; which in¬
deed can be done very effe&uaHy at land by. a certain*
conftru&ion of the.pendulum; but at fea, where a pen¬
dulum cannot be ufed, the inaccuracy is of confe-
quence much greater: nor was it thought pofiible to.
corredt the errors arifing from thefe caufes in any to¬
lerable degree, until the late invention of Mr Har-
rifon’s time-piece, which may be confidered as making
perhaps as near an approach to perfe&ion as pofftble.
Having thus given an account.of the more minute
divifions of time, with the. methods of meafuring
them, we muff now proceed to the larger; which more,
properly belong to chronology, and which mu ft be
kept -on record, as no inftrument can be made to ^
point them. out. Of thefe the divifion into weeks of of weeks,.
feven days is one of the moft ancient, and probably
took place from the creation of the world. Some,
indeed,, are of opinion, that the week was invented
fon: a.
749
C H R O N
fome time after for the more convenient notation of
time ; but whatever may be in this, we are certain
that it is of the higheft antiquity, and even the moft
rude and barbarous nations have made ufe of it. It is
Angular indeed that the Greeks, notwithftanding their
learning, fltould have been ignorant of this divifion ;
and M. Goguet informs us, that they were almoit the
only nation who were fo. By them the month of 30
days was divided into three times 10, and the days of
it named accordingly. Thus the 15th day 0/ the
month was called the fecond fifth, or fifth of the fe-
cond tenth; the 24th was called the third fourth, or
the fourth day of the third tenth. This method was
in ufe in the days of Hefiod, and it was not until fe-
veral ages had elapfed, that the ufe of weeks was re-
ceived into Greece from the Egyptians. The inha¬
bitants of Cathay, in the northern part of China, were
likewife unacquainted with the week of feven days,
but divided the year into fix parts of 60 days each.
They had alfo a cycle of 15 days, which they ufed
as a week. The week was likewife unknown to the
ancient Perfians and to the Mexicans; the former
having a different name for every day of the month,
J * and the latter making ufe of a cycle of 13 days. By
almoft all other nations the week of feven days was
i<S adopted.
gpfho.idays. It is remarkable, that one day in the week has al¬
ways been accounted as facred by every nation. Thus
Saturday was confecrated to pious purpofes among
the Jews, Friday by the Turks, Tuefday by the Afri¬
cans of Guinea, and Sunday by the Chriftians.
Hence alfo the origin of Feria or holidays, frequent¬
ly made ufe of in Syftems of Chronology ; and which
arofe from the following circumftance. In the church
of Rome the old ecclefiaftical year began with Eafter-
week; all the days of which were called Feria or Fe-
riati, that is, holy, or facred days; and in procefs of
time the days of other weeks came to be diftinguilh-
ed by the fame appellation, for the two following rea-
fons, 1. Becaufe every day ought to be holy in the
eftimation of a Chriftian. 2. Becaufe all days are holy
to ecclefiaffics, whofe time ought to be entirely de¬
voted to religious worfhip.—The term meek is fome-
times ufed to fignify. feven years, not only in the pro¬
phetical writings, but likewife by profane authors ;
thus Varro, in his book infcribed Hebdomades, informs
us, that he had then entered the 12th week of his
i7 years.
Sf months. The next divifion of time fuperior to weeks, is that
of months. This appears to have been, if not coeval
with the creation, at leaft in ufe before the flood. As
this divifion is naturally pointed out by the revolution
of the moon, the months of all nations were origi¬
nally lunar; until after fome confiderable advances
had been made in fcience, the revolutions of that lu¬
minary were compared with the fun, and thus the li¬
mits of the month fixed with greater accuracy. The
divifion of the year into 12 months, as being found¬
ed on the number of full revolutions of the moon in
that time, has alfo been very general; though Bir John
Chardin informs us, that the Perfians divided the year
into 24 months ; and the Mexicans into 18 months of
20 days each. The months generally contained 30
days, or 29 and 30 days alternately ; though this rule
was far from being without exception. The months'
O L O G Y.
of the Latins confifted of 16, 18, 22, or 36 days;
and Romulus gave his people a year of 10 months
and 304 days. The Kamtfchadales divide the year
into xo months; reckoning the time proper for la¬
bour to be nine months, and the winter feafon, when
they are obliged to. remain inaclive, only as one
month.
It has been a very ancient cuftom to give names to'
the different months of the year, though this appears*
to have been more modern than, the departure of the
Ifraelites out of Egypt, as they" would otherwife un¬
doubtedly have carried it witht them ; but for a cou-
fiderable time after their fettlement in Canaan, they
diftinguiflied the months only by the names of firit,.
fecond, &c. After their return- from the Babylo-
nifh captivity, they adopted the names given to the
months by the Chaldaeans. Other nations adopted-
various names, and arranged the months themfelves ac¬
cording to their fancy. From this laft; circumftance
arifes the variety in. the dates of the months; for as
the year has been reckoned from different figns in the
ecliptic, neither the number nor the quantity of months
have been the fame, and their fituation has like wife
been altered by the intercalations neceftary to be
made.
Thefe intercalations became neceffary on account
of the excefs of the folar above the lunar year ; and
the months compofed of intercalary days are like¬
wife called embolifmal. Thefe embolifmal months are
either natural or civil. By the former, the folar and
lunar years are adjufted to one another; and the lat¬
ter arifes from the defeft of the civil year itfelf. The
ador of the Jews, which always confifts of 30 days, is*
an example of the natural embolifmal month.
The Romans had a method of dividing their months
into kalends, nones, and ides. The firft was derived:
from an old word calo f-Xo call”; becaufe, at every new
moon, one of the lower, clafs of priefts affembled the
people, and called over, or announced, as many days as
intervened betwixt that and the nones, in order to no¬
tify the difference of times and the return of feftivals-
The 2d, 3d; 4th, yth, 6th, and 7th of March, May,
July, and October, were the nones of thefe months;
but in the other months were the 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th
days only. Thus the 5th of January was its nones;
the 4th .was pridie nonarum; the third, tert'ia nonarum,
&c. The ides contained eight days in every month,
and were nine days diftant from the nones. Thus the
15th day of the four months* already mentioned was
the ides of them ; but ia the qthers the 1.3th was ac¬
counted as fuch ; the 12th was pridie iduum, and the
nth tertio iduum. The ides were fucceeded by the
kalends; the 14th of January, for inftance, being the
19th kalend of February; the 15th was the 18th ka-
lend; and fo on till the 31ft of January, which was.
pridie kalendarum ;,and February ift was the kalends. rg-
Among the European nations the month is either Aftronomii
aftronomical or civil. The former are meafured byca^ a-J civil,
the motion of the heavenly bodies ; the civil confifts 0f rnon‘ 3s
a certain number of days fpecified by the laws, or by
the civil inftitutions of. any nation or fociety. The
aftronomical months, being for the moft part regulated
by the motions of the fun and moon; are thus divided
into folar and lunar, of which-the former is fometimes
alfo called cm/. The aftronomical folar manth is the
time
750
C H R 0 N
time winch the fun takes up iri paffing through a fign
of the ecliptic. The lunar month is periodical, fyno-
dical, ftdereal, and civil. The fynodical lunar month
is the time that paffes between any conjunftion of the
moon with the fun and the conjunction following. ] It
includes the motion of the fun eaftward during that
time ; fo that a mean lunation confrils'of 2gd. rah.
44 2" 8921. The. fidereal lunar month is the time
of the mean revolution of the moon with regard to the
fixed ftars. As the equinoflial points go backwards
about 4 ' in the fpace of a lunar month, the moon muft,
in confequence of this retroccffion, arrive at the equi¬
nox fooner than at any fixed ftar, and confequently
the mean fidereal revolution muft; be longer than the
mean periodical one. The latter confifts of 27ft. yh.
43'4" 6840. The civil lunar month is computed
from the moon, to anfwer the ordinary purpofesqfhfei
and as it would have been inconvenient, in the com-
put4tion of lunar months, to have reckoned odd parts
of days, they have been compofed of 30 days, or of
29 and 30 alternately, as the neareft round numbers.
When the month is reckoned from the firft appearance
of the moon after her conjunction, it is called the
month of illumination. The Arabs, Turks, and other
nations, who ufe the era of the Hegira, follow this
method of computation. As tw'elve lunar months,
however, are 11 days lefs than a folar year, Julius
Caefar ordained that the month ftiould be reckoned
from the courfe of the fun, and not of the moon; and
that they fhould confift of 30 and 31 days alternately,
February only excepted, which was to confift of 28
19 days commonly, and of 29 in leap-years.
Of years. The higheft natural divilion of time is into years.
At firft, however, it is probable that the courfe of the
fun through the ecliptic would not be obferved, but
that all nations would meafure their time by the revo¬
lutions of the moon. We are certain, at leaft, that the
Egyptian year confifted originally of a fingle lunation ;
though at length it included two or three months, and
was determined by the ftated returns; of the feafons.
As the eaftern nations, however, particularly the E-
gyptians, Chaldeans, and Indians, applied themfelves
in very early periods to aftronomy, they found, by
comparing the motions of the fun and moon together,
that one revolution of the former included nearly 12 of
the latter. Hence a year of 12 lunations was formed,
in every one of which were reckoned 30 days ; and
hence alfo the divifion of the ecliptic into 360 degrees.
The lunifolar year, confifting of 360 days, was in. ufe
long before any regular intercalations were made;
and hiftorians inform us, that the year of all ancient
nations was lunifolar. Herodotus, relates, that the
Egyptians firft divided the year into 12 parts by the
alfiftance of the ftars, and that every part confifted of
30 days. The Thebans correfted this year by adding
five intercalary days to it. The old Chaldean year
was alfo reformed by the Medes and Perfians ; and
fome of the Chinefe miffionaiies have informed us,
that the lunifolar year was alfo corrected in China;
and that the folar year was afeertained in that country
to very confiderable exaftnefs. The Latin year, before
Numa’s corre&ion of it, confifted of 360 days, of
which 304 were divided into ten months ; to which
were added two private months not mentioned in the
kalendar.
O L O G Y.
The imperfection of this method of computing
time is now very evident. The lunifolar year waa
about 5^ days fhorter than the true folar year, and as
much longer than the lunar. Hence the months could
not long correfpond with the feafons ; and even in fo
fhort a time as 34 years, the winter months would have 40 j
changed places with thofe of fummer. From this ra- Etplana- J
pid variation, Mr Playfair takes notice that a paflage tion of a
in Herodotus, by which the learned have been exceed- irl
ingly puzzled, may receive a fatisfactory folution, vi%. ero Jtua’!
that “ in the time of the ancient Egyptian kings,
the fun had twice arifen in the place where it had for¬
merly fet, and . twice fet where it had arifen.” By
this he fuppofes it is meant, “ that the beginning of
the year had twice gone,,through all. the figns of the
ecliptic; and that theTun had. rifen and fet twice in
every day and month of the year.” This, which fame
have taken for a proof of moil extravagant antiquity,
he further obferves, might have happened in 138 years
only ; as in that period there would be a difference of
nearly two years,between the folar and lunar year.
Such evident imperfections could not but produce a H
reformation .every where; and accordingly we find
that there was no nation which did not adopt the me-?
thod of adding a few intercalary days at certain inter¬
vals. We are ignorant, however, of the perfon who
was the firft inventor of this method. The Theban
priefts attributed the invention to Mercury or Thoth ;
and it is certain that they .were acquainted with' the
year of 365. days at a very early period. The length
of the folar year was reprefented by the celebrated '
golden circle of Ofymandyas, of 365 cubits circumfe¬
rence ; and on every cubit of which was inferibed a
day of the year, together with the heliacal rifings and
fettings of the ftars. The monarch, is fuppofed to
have reigned in the nth or 13th century before the
Chriftian era. . , 21 -
The Egyptian, folar year being almoft fix hours Great S-|
fnorter than the true one,, this inaccuracy, in procefsgyptian i
of time, produced another revolution ; fome circum-yea!’’ °r
ftances attending which ferve to fix the date of the dif-^j^ ;
. covery of the length of the year, and which from the 1
above defeription of .the golden circle, we may fuppofe j
to have been made during the reign of .Ofymandyas.
The inundation, of the Nile, was annually announced
by the heliacal rifing of Sirius, to which the reformers
of the kalendar adjufted the beginning of the year, fup-
pofing.that it would remain immoveable In a num- . • , i
her of years, however, it appeared that their, fuppofi- 1
tions in this were ill-founded. By reaftm of-the ine¬
quality above mentioned, the heliacal rifing of Sirius
gradually advanced nearly at the rate of one day in
four years ; fo that in 1461 years it completed a revo¬
lution, by arifing pn'eyery fucceeding day. of the year,
and returning to the point originally fixed for the be-
. ginning of the. year. , This period, equal to 1460
Julian years, was termed the great Egyptian year, or 21
canicular cycle. . From the accounts we have of the Of the. J
•time that the canicular cycle was renewed, the time of
its original commen'cement may be gathered with to-
lerable certainty. This happened, according to Cen-
forinus, in the 138th year of the Chriftian aera. Rec¬
koning backward therefore from this time for 1460
years, we come to the year B. C. 1322, when the fun
was in Cancer, about 14 or 15 days after the fummer
folftice, I
■Uncertain-
ty of the
mtime when
lithe true
, filar year
was difeo'
llvered.
iSTears of *
ihe Jews,
ptc.
*4
Reforma-
K* in of the
lendar
jlfcy Julius
■Cseiai and
li>pe Gre-
>ry.
C H R O N
folftice, which happened on July 5th. The Egyptians
«fed no intercalation till the time of Auguftus, when
the corredled Julian year was received at Alexandria
by his order ; but even this order-was obeyed only by
the Greeks and Romans who refided in that city; the
fuperftitious natives refufing'to make any addition to
the length of a year which had been fo long eftablifhed
among them.
We are not informed at what precife period the
true year was obferved to confift of nearly fix hours
more than the 365 days. Though the priefts of The¬
bes claim the merit of the difeovery, Herodotus makes
-no mention of it; neither did Thales, who introduced
the year of 365 days into Greece, ever life any inter¬
calation. Plato arid Eudoxus are (aid to.have obtain¬
ed it as a fecret from the Egyptians about 89 years
after Herodotus, and to have carried it into Greece ;
which fhowed, that the knowledge of this form of the
year was at that time recent, and only known to a few
learned men.
The year of the ancient Jews was lunifolar ; and
we are informed by tradition, that Abraham preferved
in his family, and tranfmitted to pollerity, the Chal¬
dean form of the year, confiding of 360 days ; which
remained the fame without any correction until the
date of the era of Nabonalfar. The folar year was
adopted among them after their return from the Ba-
bylonifh captivity ; but when fubjedled to the fuccef-
fors of Alexander in Syria, they were obliged to admit
the lunar year into their kalendar. In order to adjuft
this year to the courfe of the fun, they added at cer¬
tain periods a month to Adar, formerly mentioned,
and called it Ve Adar. They cbmpofed alfo a cycle
of 19 years, in feven of which they inferted the inter¬
calary month. This cdrre&ion was intended to regu¬
late the months in fuch a manner, as to bring the 15th
of Nifan to the equinoctial point; and likewife the
courfes of the feafons and feafts in fuch a manner, that-
the corn might be ripe at the paffover as the law re¬
quired.
We (hall riot take up the reader’s time with any
further -account of the years made ufe of by different na¬
tions, all of which are refolved at lait into the luni¬
folar ; it will be fufficient to mention the improve¬
ments in the kalendar made by the two great reformers
of it, Julius Caefar, and Pope. Gregory XIII. The
inftitution of the Roman year by Romulus has been
already taken notice of; but as this was evidently very
imperfeft, Numa, on his advancement to the throne,
undertook to reform it. With a defign to make a
complete lunar year of it, he added 50 days fo the
304 of Romulus ; and from every one of his months,
which confifted of 31 and 30 days, he borrowed one
day. Of thefe additional days he -cornpofed two
•months ; calling the one January, and the other Fe¬
bruary. Various other corrections and adjuftments
were made ; but when Julius Caefar obtained the fove-
reignty of Rome, he found that the months had con-
fiderably receded from the feafons to which Numa had
adjufted them. To bring them forward to their places,
he formed a year of 15 months, or 445 days; which,
on account of its length, and the defign with which it
was formed, has been called the year of confufion. It
'terminated on the firft of January 45 B. C: and
from, this period the civil year and months were re-
O L O G Y. 751
gulated by the courfe of the fun. The year of Nu¬
ma being ten days {horter than the folar year, two
days were added by Julius to every one of the months
of January, Auguft, and December ; and one to April,
June, September, and November. He ordained like¬
wife, that an intercalary day fliould be added every
fourth year to the month of February, by reckoning
the 24th day, or fixth of the kalends of March, twice
over. Hence- this year was ftyled b'fextile, and alfo
leap year, from its leaping a day more than a com- '
mon year.
The Julian year has been ufed by modern chronolo-
"gers, as being a meafure of time extremely fimple and
fufiiciently accurate. It is Hill, however, fomewhat
imperfect ; fpr as the true folar year confifta of 365d.
yh. 48' 45r'> it appears that in 131 years after the
Julian corre&ion, the fun muff have arrived one day
too foon at the equinoCIial point. During Casfar’s
reign the vernal equinox had been obferved by Sofige-
nes on the 25th of March; but by the time of the
Nicene council it had gone backward to the 21ft.
The caufe of the error was not then known; but in
1582, when the equinox happened on the 1 rth of
March, it was thought proper to give the kalendar its
la:l corre&ion. Pope Gregory XIII. having invited
to Rome a confiderable number of mathematicians and
aitroriomers, employed ten years in the examination of
their feveral formulae, and at laft gave the preference to-
that of Alofia and Antoninus Lelius, who were bro¬
thers. Ten days were now cut off in the month of
Oftober, and the 4th of that month was reckoned the
15th. To prevent the feafons from receding in time
,to come, he ordained that one day Ihould be added
every fourth or bifiextile year as before ; and that the
1600th year of the- Chriilian era, and every fourth
century thereafter, fhould be a biffextile or leap year.
One day therefore is, to be intercalated in the years
2000, 2aoo, 2800, &c. but in the other centuries, as
1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, &c. it is to be fuppreffed,
and thefe are to be reckoned as common years. Even
this correction, however, is not abfolutely exaCi; but
the error muff be very inconfiderable, and fcarce
amounting to a day and an half in 5000 years.
The commencement of the year has been deter-Qom.
mined by the date of fome memorable event or occur-mencement
rerice, fuch as the creation of the world, the univerfal the year,
deluge, a conjunction of planets, the incarnation of
our Saviour, &c. and of courfe has been referred to
different points in the ecliptic. The Chaldasan and
the Egyptian years were dated from the autumnal
equinox. The ecclefiaftical year of the Jews began in
the fpring ; but, in civil affairs, they retained the epoch
of the Egyptian year. The ancient Chinefe reckoned
from the new moon nearefl: to the middle of Aquarius;
but, according to fome recent accounts, the beginning
of their year was transferred (B. C. 174°) to the new
moon neareft to the winter folftice. This likewife is
the date of the Japanefe year. Diemfchid, or Gem«
fchid, king of Perfia, obferved, on the day of his pub¬
lic entry into Perfepolis, that the fun entered into
Aries. In commemoration of this fortunate event and
coincidence, he ordained the beginning of the year to
be removed from the autumnal to the vernal equinox.
This epoch was denominated Neuruz, viz. new-day j
and is ftill celebrated with great pomp and feftivity*
a cs*e
752
G H R O N
.{See Epochs). The ancientjSwedifh year commen¬
ced at the winter folftice, or rather at the time of the
fun’s appearance in the horizon, after an abfenc, of
about 40 days. The feaft of this epoch was fblemnifed
on the 20th day after the folftice. Some of the Gre¬
cian Hates computed from the vernal, fome from the
autumnal equinox, and others from the fummer tropic.
The year of Romulus commenced in March, and that
•of Numa in January. The Turks and Arabs date the
year from the 16th of July.; and the American In¬
dians reckon from the firft appearance of the new
-moon of the vernal equinox. The church of Rome
has fixed new-year’s-day on the Sunday that corre-
fponds with the full moon of the fame feafon. The
Venetians, Florentines, and Pifans in Italy, and the
•inhabitants of Treves in Germany, begin the year at
the vernal equinox. The ancient clergy reckoned
from the 25th of March ; and this method was Ob'
ferved in Britain, until the introduftion of the new
ftyle (A. D. 1752); after which our year commenced
on the ill day of January.
Of cycles. Befides thefe natural divifions of time arifing imme¬
diately from the revolutions of the heavenly bodies,
there are others formed from fome of the lefs obvious
confequences of thefe revolutions, which are called ry-
cles, from the Greek xuxaijv, a circle. The moll re¬
markable -of thefe are the following.
1. The cycle of the fun is a revolution of 28 years, in
which time the days of the months return again to the
fame days of the week; the fun’s place to the fame
figns and degrees of the ecliptic on the fame months
and days, fo as not to differ one degree in 100
years; and the leap-years begin the fame courfe
over again with refpedt to the days of the week
37 on which the days of the months fall. The cycle of
Golden the moon, commonly called the golden number, is a re¬
number. volution of 19years; in which time, the conjunctions,
(oppdfitiens, and other afpedls of the moon, are within
tan hour and half of being the fame as they were on the
fame days of the months 19 years before. The in-
diBion is a revolution of 15 years, ufed only by the
Romans for indicating the times of certain payments
made by the fubjefts to the republic : It was eftablilhed
by Conftantine, A. D. 312.
To find the year our Saviour’s birth, according to the
year of any vulgar era, was the 9th year of the folar Cycle, the
cycle. firft year of the lunar cycle; and the 312th year after
his birth was the firft year of the Roman indiftion.
Therefore, to find the year of the folar cycle, add 9 to
any given year of Chrift, and divide the fum by 28, the
quotient is the number of cycles elapfed fince his birth,
and the remainder is the cycle for the given year : If
nothing remains, the cycle is 28. To find the lunar
cycle, add one to the given year of Chrift, and divide
the fum by 19 ; the quotient is the number of cycles
elapfed in the interval, and the remainder is the cycle
for the given year: If nothing remains, the cycle is 19.
Laftly, fift)tra<5l 3J 2 from the given year of Chrift,
and divide tire remainder by 15; and what remains af¬
ter this divifion is the indiftion for the given year: If
nothing remains, the indi&ion is 15.
Variation of Although the above deficiency in the lunar circle of
the golden an hour and an half every 19 years be but fmall, yet in
Rumbers. 79. ‘ 4
O LOGY.
time it becomes fo fenfible as to make a whole natural
day in 310 years. So that, although this cycle be of
ufe, when the golden numbers are rightly placed againlt
the days of the months in the kalendar, as in the Com¬
mon Prayer Books, for finding the days of the mean
conjundtions or oppofitions of the fun and moon, and
confequently the time of Eafter ; it will only ferve for
310 years, old ftyle. For as the new and full moons
anticipate a day in that time, the golden numbers ought
to be placed one dayr earlier in the kalendar for the next
316 years to come. Thefe numbers were rightly placed
againft the days of new moon in the kalendar, by the > ill
council of Nice, A. D. 325 5 but the anticipation,
which has been neglected ever fiace, is now grown ahnoft
into 5 days: And therefore all the golden numbers
ought now to be placed.^ days higher in the kalendar
for the old ftyle than they were at the time of the faid
council; or 6 days lower for the new ftyle, becaufe at J
prefent it differs 11 days from the old. 30
In the firft of the following tables the golden numbers'1"0 find thsl
under the months Hand againft the days of new moon in j
the left-hand column, for the new ftyle ; adapted chieflyt Urr er’ j
to the fecond year after leap-year, as being the neareit ■ |
mean for all the four ; and will ferve till the year 1900.
Therefore, to find the day of new moon in any month
.of a given year till that time, look for the golden num¬
ber of that year under the defired month, and againft
it you have the day of new moon in the left hand co¬
lumn. Thus, fuppofe it were required to find the day
of new moon in September 1789; the golden number
for that year is 4, which I look for under December,
and fight againft it in the left-hand column you will
find 17, which is the day of new moon in that month.
N. B. If all the golden numbers, except ■ 17 and 6,
were fet one day lower in the table, it would ferve from
the beginning of the year 190O till the end of the year
2199. The table at the end of this fettion (hows die
golden number for 4000 years after the birth of Chrift,
by looking for the even hundreds of any given year at
the left-hand, and for the reft to make up that year at
the head of the table ; and where the Columns meet,
you have the golden number (which is the fame both
in old and new ftyle) for the given year. Thus, fup¬
pofe the golden number was wanted for the year 1789;
look for 1700 at the left-hand of the table, and for 89
at the top of it; then guiding your eye downward
from 89 to over-againft 1700, you will find 4, which is
the golden number for that year.
But becaufe the lunar cycle of 19 years fometimes
includes five leap-years, and at other times only four,
this table will fometimes vary a day front the truth in
leap-years after February. And it is impoffible to have
one more correft, unlefs we extend it to four times 19
or 76 years ; in which there are 19 leap-years without
a remainder. But even then to have it of perpetual ufe,
it muft be adpated to the old ftyle ; becaufe, in every
centurial year not divifible by 4, the regular courfe of
leap-years is interrupted in the new; as will be the
cafe in the year 1800. 31
2. The cycle of Eajler, alfo called the Dionyfianperiod, Dionylxan.i
is a revolution of 532 years, found by multiplying the l’er' ,J> or':
folar cycle 28 by the lunar cycle 19. If the new moons 9 ‘
did not anticipate upon this cycle, Eafter-day would
always
C H R O N
always be the Sunday next after the firft full moon
which follows the 21 ft of March. But, on account of
the above anticipation, to which no proper regard was
had before the late alteration of the ftyle, the ecelefia-
ftic Eafter has feveral times been a week different from
the true Eafter within this laft century : which incon¬
venience is now remedied by making the table, which
ufed to find Eafter for ever, in the Common Prayer
Book, of no longer ufe than the lunar difference from
the new ftyle will admit of.
The earlieft Eafter pofiible is the 22d of March, the
lateft the 25th of April. Within thefe limits are 35
days, and the number belonging to each of them is call¬
ed the number of direBion; becaufe thereby the time of
32 Eafter is found for any given year,
letter”^ The firft feven letters of the alphabet are commonly
placed in the annual almanacs, to ftiow on what days
of the week the days of the months fall throughout
the year. And becaufe one of thofe feven letters muft
neceffarily ftand againft Sunday, it is printed in a ca¬
pital form, and called the dominical letter; the other
fix being inferted in fmall charafters, to denote the
other fix days of the week. Now, fince a common Julian
year contains 365 .days, if this number he divided by 7
(the number of days in a week) there will remain one
day.- If there had been no remainder, it is plain the
year would conftantly begin on the fame day of the
week : but fince one remains, it is plain, that the year
muft begin and end on the fame day of the week ; and
therefore the next year will begin on the day following.
Hence, when January begins on Sunday, A is the do¬
minical or Sunday letter for that year: Then, becaufe
the next year begins on Monday, the Sunday will fall
on the feventh day, to which is annexed the feventh let¬
ter G, which therefore will be the dominical letter for
all that year: and as the third year will begin on Tuef-
day, the Sunday will fall on thejixth day; therefore F
will be the Sunday letter for that year. Whence it is
evident, that the Sunday letters will go annually in a
retrograde order thus, G, F, E, D, C, B, A. And,
in the courfe of feven years, if they were all common
ones, the fame days of the week and dominical letters
would return to the fame days of the months. But
becaufe there are 366 days in a leap-year, if this num¬
ber be divided by 7, there will remain two days over
and above the 52 weeks of which the year confifts.
And therefore, if the leap-year begins on Sunday, it
will end on Monday ; and the next year will begin on
Tuefday, the firft Sunday whereof muft fall on the fixth
of January, to which is annexed the letter F, and not
G, as in common years. By this means, the leap-year
o L o G Y.
returning every fourth year, the order of the dominical
letters is interrupted ; and the feries cannot return to
its firft ftate till after four times feven, or 28 years; and
then the fame days of the months return in order to the
fame days of the week as before.
TABLE I.
£ ^
6
5
5
3 J3
A"-'?
2; 10
18
4
4 12
Vox.. IV. Part IL
5 C T A B L E
753'
754
CHRONOLOGY,
TABLE II.
Table, Jljo'iving the Golden Number, (which is the fame both in the Old and Nfivj Stile), from
the Chriftian Era, to 4. D. 4000.
Years lefs than an hundred.
Hundreds
of
Years.
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
I9OOj3800
2000!39OO
2100 4OOO
2 200 &C.
23OO
2460
25OO
2600
2700
2800
29OO
2000
3 too
3200
3300
3400
3500
3600
3700
3 4
8 | 9
[3! I4
[8Y9
4| 5
41 5
23 I24
42
6
80
99
3
7'
'3
17 18
3 4
19
4 5
9)10
14 15
L9
Julian3 pe. From the multiplication of the folar cycle of 28
riod. * years into the lunar cycle of 19 years, and the Roman
indi&ion of 15 years, arifes the great Julian period,
confifting of 7980 years, which had its beginning 764
years before Strauchius’s fuppofed year of the creation
(for no later could all the three cycles begin together),
and it is not yet completed: And therefore it includes
all other cycles, periods, and eras. There is but one
year in the whole period that has the fame numbers for
the three cycles of which it is made up : And there¬
fore, if hiftorians had remarked in their writings the
cycles of each year, there had been no difpute about
34 the time of any aftion recorded by them.
To find the The Dionyfian or vulgar era of Chrift’s birth was
year of the about the end of the year of the Julian period 4713 ;
nod3" ^ an^ confequently the hr ft year of his age, acc'ording to
10 ' that account, was the 4714th year of the faid period.
Therefore, if to the current year of Chrift we add
4713, the fum will be the year of the Julian period.
So the year 1789 will be found to be the 6502d year
of that period. Or, to find the year of the Julian pe¬
riod anfwering to any given year before the firft year
of Chrift, fubtradf the number of that given year from
4714, and the remainder will be the year of the Julian
period. Thus, the year 585 before the firft year of
Chrift (which was the 584th before his birth) was the
4129th year of the faid period. Laftly, to find the
cycles of the fun, moon, and indi&ion for any given
year of this period, divide the given year by 28, 19,
and 15; the three remainders wfill be the cycles fought,
and the quotients the numbers of cycles run fince the
beginning of the period. So in the above 4714th year
of the Julian period, the cycle of the fun was 10, the
cycle of the moon 2, and the cycle of indiftion 4;
the folar cycle having run through 168 courfes, the
lunar 248, and the indi&ion 314.
The vulgar era of Chrift’s birth was never fettled Year3of
till the year 527, when Dionyfius Exiguus, a Roman Chrift’s
abbot, fixed it to the end of the 4713th year of the*3*'111 when
Julian period, which was four years too late ; for our
Saviour was born before the death of Herod, who
fought to kill him as foon as he heard of his birth. ‘
And, according to the teftimony of Jofephus (5. xvii.
~ch. 8.), there was an eclipfe of the moon in the time
of Herod’s laft ilinefs ; which eclipfe appears by our
aftronomical tables to have been in the year of the Ju¬
lian period 4710, March 13th, at 3 hours paft mid
night, at Jerufalem. Now, as our Saviour muft have
been born fome months before Herod’s death, liace in
the interval he was carried into Egypt, the lateft time
in which-we can fix the true sera of his birth is about
the end of the 4709th year of the Julian period. 36
As there are certain fixed points in the heavens from Eras or E-
which aftronomers begin their computations, fo there P01*-8--
1 are
1SS
C H R O N
arc ccrt&in points of time from which hiftorians begin
to reckon 5 and thefe points or roots of time are called
eras or epochs. The moft remarkable eras are? thofe
of the Creation, the Greek Olympiads, the building
of Rome, the era of Nabonaffar, the death of Alex¬
ander, the birth of Chrift, the Arabian Hegira, and
the Periian Jefdegird : All which, together with fe-
veral others of lefs note, have their beginnings fixed
by chronologers to the years of the Julian period,
to the age of the world at thofe times, and to the years
before and after the year of Chrift’s birth.
37 _
Hiftorie Having thus treated, as fully as our limits will ad-
chronology. m;t) 0f the various divifions of time, we muft now con-
fider the fecond part of chronology, vise,, that which
more immediately relates-to hiftory, and which has
already been obferved to have the four following foun¬
dations : 1. Aftronomical obfervations, particular¬
ly of eclipfes. 2. The teftimonies of credible au¬
thors. 3. Epochs in hiftory univerfally allowed to be
true. 4. Ancient medals, coins, monuments, and in-
fcriptions. We (hall conftder thefe four principal
parts in the order they here Hand.
Of eclipfes
of the fun
and moon.
I.
It is with great reafon that the eclipfes of the fun
and moon, and the afpedfs of the other planets, have
been called public and celeftial charadters of the times,
as their calculations afford chronologers infallible proofs
of the precife epochs in which a great number of the
moft fignal events in hiftory have occurred. So that
in chronological matters we cannot make any great
prog refs, if we are ignorant of the ufe of aftronomic
tables, and the calculation of eclipfes. The ancients
regarded the latter as prognoftics of the fall of em¬
pires, of the lofs of battles, of the death of monarchs,
£sV. And it is to this fuperftition, to this wretched
ignorance, that we happily owe the vaft labour that
hiftorians have taken to record fo great a number of
them. The moft able chronologers have collected
them with ftill greater labour. Calvifius, for example,
founds his chronology on 144 eclipfes of the fun, and
127 of the moon, that he fays he had calculated. The
grand conjundlion of the two fuperior planets, Saturn
and Jupiter, which, according to Kepler, occurs once
in 800 years in the fame point of the zodiac, and which
has happened only eight times fince the creation (the
laft time in the month of December 1603), may alfo
furnifti chronology with inconteftable proofs. The
fame may be faid of the tranfit of Venus over the fun,
which has been obferved in our days, and all the other
uncommon pofitions of the planets. But among thefe
celeftial and natural characters of times, there are alfo
fome that are named civil or artificial, and which,
neverthelefs, depend on aftronomic calculation.
Such are the folar and lunar cycles; the Roman
indidlion ; the feaft of Eafter; the biffextile year; the
jubilees ; the fabbatic years ; the combats and Olym¬
pic games of the Greeks; and hegira of the Maho¬
metans, £sV.- And to thefe may be added the periods-,
eras, epochs, and years of different nations, ancient
and modern. We fhall only remark on this occafion,
that the period or era of the Jews commences with
the creation of the world; that of the ancient Romans
0 L 0 G Y.
with the foundation of the city of Rome j that of the
Greeks at the eftabliftiment of the Olympic games;
that of Nebuchadnezzar, with the advancement of
the firft king of Babylon t6 the throne; the Yezde-
gerdic years, with the laft king of the Perfians of
that name; the hegira of the Turks with the flight
of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, &c. The year
of the birth of Chrift was the 4713th year of the
Julian period, according to the common method of
reckoning. Aftronomical chronology teaches us to
calculate the precife year of the Julian period in which
each of thefe epochs happened.
111
The teftimony of authors is the fecond principal
part of hiftoric chronology. Though no man what- authors,
ever has a right to pretend to infallibility, or to
be regarded as a facred oracle, it would, however,
be making a very unjuft judgment of mankind, to
treat them all as dupes or impoftors; and it would be
an injury offered to public integrity, were we to doubt
the veracity of authors univerfally efteemed, and of
fafts that are in themfeives right worthy of belief. It
would be even a kind of infatuation tp doubt that
there have been fuch cities as Athens, Sparta, Rome,
Carthage, &c. or that Xerxes reigned in Perfia, and
Auguftus in Rome: whether Hannibal ever was in Italy;
or that the emperor Conftantine built Conllantino-
ple, is’e. The unanimous teftimony of the moft re-
fpe&able hiftorians will not admit any doubt of thefe
matters. When an hiftorian is allowed to be com¬
pletely able to judge of an event, and to have no in¬
tent of deceiving by his relation, his teftimony is irre-
cufable. But to avoid the danger of adopting error
for truth, and to be fatisfied of a fait that appears
doubtful in hiftory, we may make ufe of the four fol¬
lowing rules, as they are founded in reafon.
1. We ought to pay a particular regard to the
teftimonies of thofe who wrote at the fame time the
events happened, and that have not been contradifted
by any cotemporary author of known authority . Who
can doubt, for example, of the truth of the faffs re¬
lated by admiral Anfon, in the hiftory of his voyage
round the world ? The admiral faw all the faffs there
mentioned with his own eyes, and publilhed his book
when two hundred companions of his voyage were
ftill living in London, and could have contradiffed
him immediately, if he had given any falfe or exag¬
gerated relations.
2. After the cotemporary authors, we fliould give
more credit to thofe who lived near the time the events
happened, than thofe who lived at a diftance.
3. Thofe doubtful hiftories, which are related by
authors that are but little known, can have no weight if
they are at variance with reafon, or eftablifhed tradition.
4. We muft diftruft the truth of a hiftory that is re¬
lated by modern authors, when they do not agree a-
mong themfeives in. feveral circumftarices, nor with
ancient hiftorians, who are to be regarded as original
fources. We fliould efpecially doubt the truth of thole
brilliant portraits, that are drawn at pleafure by fuch
as never knew the perfons they are intended for, and-
even made feveral centuries after their deceafe.
The moft pure and moft fruitful fource of ancient
5 C 2 hiftory
756
C H U O
hiflory is doubtkfs to be found in the Holy Bible. Let
us here for a moment ceafe to regard it as divine, and
let us prefume to conlider it as a common hiftory.
Now, when we regard the writers of the books of the
Old Teftament, and confider them fometimes as au¬
thors, fometimes as ocular witneffes, and fometimes
as refpedlable hiftorians; whether we "refledt ou the
fimplicity of the narration, and the air of truth that
is there canftantly vifible ; or, when we cOnfider the
care that the people, the governments, and the
learned men of all ages, have taken to preferve the
true text of the Bible ; or that we have regard to the
happy conformity of the chronology of the holy fcrip-
tures with that of profane hiftory: or, if we obferve
the admirable harmony that is between thefe books
ancl the moll refpe&able hiftorians, as Jofephus and
others : and laftly, when we conlider that the books
of the holy fcripture* furnilh ns alone with an accurate
hiftory of the world from the creation, through the
line of patriarchs, judges, kings, and princes of the
Hebrews ; and that we may, by its aid,- form an al-
moft entire feries of events down to the birth of
Chrift, or the time of Auguftus, which comprehends a
fpace of about 4000 years, fome fmall interruptions
excepted, and which are eafily fupplied by profane
hiftory : when all thefe reflections are jullly made,
we muft conftantly allow that the fcriptures form
a book which merits the firft rank among all the
fources of ancient hiftory. It has been objected, that
this book contains contradictions ; but the moft able
interpreters have reconciled thefe feeming contradic¬
tions. It has been faid, that the chronology of the
Hebrew text and the Vulgate do not agree with the
chronology of the veriion of the Septuagint; but the
foundeft critics have Ihown that they may be made to
agree. It has been obferved, moreover, that the
fcriptures abound with miracles and prodigies; but
they are miracles that have really happened : and
what ancient hiftory is there that is not filled with
miracles, and other marvellous events? And do we for
that reject their authority ? Cannot the true God be
fuppofed to have performed thofe miracles which
Pagan hiftorians have attributed to their falfe divini¬
ties ? Muft we pay no regard to the writings .of
Livy, becaufe his hiftory contains many fabulous re¬
lations ?
Epochs. The epochs form the third principal part of chro¬
nology. Thefe are thofe fixed points in hiftory that
have never been contefted, and of which there can,
in fadt, be no doubt. Chronologers fix on the events
that are to ferve as epochs, in a manner quite arbi¬
trary ; but this is of little confequence, provided the
dates of thefe epochs agree, and that there is no con-
tradidtion in the facts themfelves. When we come
to treat exprefsly on hiftory, we ftiall mention, in our
prqgrefs, all the principal epochs.
IV.
41
Medabj&c. Medals, monuments, and infcriptions, form the
fourth and laft principal part of chronology. It is
fcarce more than 150 years fince clofe application has
been made to the ftudy of thefe; and we owe to the
.celebrated Spanheim the great eft obligations, for the
N O L O G Y.
progrefs that is made in this method: his excel¬
lent work, De prajlantia et ufu numifmatum anti-
quorum, has ftiown the great advantages of it; and
it is evident that thefe monuments are the moft au¬
thentic witneffes that can be produced. It is by the
aid of medals that M. Vaillant has compofed his judi¬
cious hiftory of the kings of Syria, from the time of
Alexander the Great to that of Pompey: they have
been, moreover, of the greateft fervice in elucidating
all ancient hiftory, efpecially that of the Romans ; and
even fometimes that of the middle age. Their ufe is
more fully fpoken of in the article Medals. What
we here lay of medals, is to be underftood equally, in
its full force, of ancient infcriptions, and of all other
authentic monuments that have come down to us.
Every reader, endowedilSith a juft difcernment,
will readily allow that thefe four parts of chronology
afford clear lights, and are excellent guides to con-
du<ft us through the thick darknefs of antiquity. That
impartiality, however, which directs us to give a
faithful relation of that which is true and fait, of the
certainty and uncertainty of all the fciences, obliges
us here freely to confefs, that thefe guides are not in¬
fallible, nor the proofs that they afford mathematical
demonffrations. In fa<ft, with regard to hiffory in
general, and ancient hiftory in particular, fomethxng
muft be always left to eonjedure and hiiloric faith. It
would be an offence ag^inft common probity, were
we to fuffer ourfclves tq pafs over in lilence thofe
objections which authors of the greateft reputation
have made againft the certainty of chronology. We
fliall extraCt them from their own works; and we
hope that there is no magiftrate, theologian, or pub¬
lic profeffor in Europe, who would be mean enough
to accufe us of a crime, 'for not unworthily difguifing
the truth.
1. The prodigious difference there is between the
Septuagint Bible and the Vulgate, in point of chrono¬
logy, occafions an embarraffment, which is the more
difficult to avoid, as we cannot pofitively fay on which
fide the error lies. The Greek Bible counts, for ex¬
ample, from the creation of the world to the birth of
Abraham, 1500 years more than the liebrew and La¬
tin Bibles, is’c. 2. How difficult is it to aicertain the
years of the judges of the Jewifti nation, in the Bible ?
What darknefs is fpread over the fucceffion of the
kings of Judah and Ifrael ? The calculation of time is
there fo inaccurate, that the fcripture never marks if
they are current or complete years. For we cannot
fuppofe that a patriarch, judge, or king, lived ex¬
actly 60, 90, 100, or 969 years, without any odd
months or days. 3. The different names that the
Affyrians, Egyptians, Perfians, and Greeks, have gi¬
ven to the fame prince, have contributed not a little
to embarrafs all. ancient chronology. Three or four
princes have borne the name of Aliuerus, though they
had alfo other names. If we did not know that Na-
bucodonofor, Nabucodrofor, and Nabucolaflar, were
the fame name, or the name of the fame man, we
fhould fcarcely believe it. Sargon is Sennacherib ;
Ozias is Azarias; Sedecias is Mathanias ; Joachas is
alfo called .Sellum ; Afaraddon, which is pronounced
indifferently Efarhaddon and Afarhaddon, is called
Afenaphar by .the Cuthxans; and by an oddity of which
we do not know the origin, Sardanapalus is called
5 by
C H R O N
fey the Greeks Tenos Concoleros. 4. There remain
to us but few monuments of'the firft monarchs of the
world. Numberlefs books have been loft, and. thofe
which have come down to us are mutilated or altered
by tranferibers. The Greeks began to write very
late. Herodotus, their firft hiftorian, was of a credu¬
lous difpofition, and believed all the fables that were
related by the Egyptian priefts. The Greeks were
in general vain, partial, and held no nation in efteem
but their own. The Romans were .ftill more infatu¬
ated with notions of their own merit and grandeur:
their hiftorians were altogether as unjuft as was their
fenate, toward other nations that were frequently far
more refpectable. 5. The eras, the years, the periods
and epochs, were not the fame in each nation ; and
they, moreover, began at different feafons of the year.
All this has thrown fo much obfeurity over chronolo¬
gy, that it appears to be beyond all human capacity
totally to difperfe it.
Chriftianity itfelf had fubfifted near 1200 years,
before they knew precifely how many years had
paffed lince the birth of our Saviour. They faw
clearly that the vulgar era was defeftive, but it was
a long time before they could comprehend that it re¬
quired four whole years to make up the true period.
Abbe Denis the Little, who in the year 532 was
the firft among the Chriftians to form the era of that
grand epoch, and to count the years from that time,
in order to make their chronology altogether Chri-
ftian, erred in his calculation, and led all Europe into
his error. They count 132 contrary opinions .of diffe¬
rent authors concerning the year in which the Mefilah
appeared on the earth. M. Vallemont names 64 of
them, and all celebrated writers. Among all thefe
authors, however, there is none that reckon more
than 7000, nor lefs than 3700 years. But even this
difference is enormous. The moll moderate fix the
birth of Chrift in the 4000th year of the world. The
reafons, however, on which they found their opinion,
appear to he fufficiently arbitrary.
Be thefe matters, however, as they may, the
wildom of Providence has fo difpofed all things,
that there remain fufficient lights to enable us nearly
to connect the feries of events : for in the firft 3000
years of the world, where profane hiftory is defec¬
tive, we have the chronology of the Bible to direct
us ; and after that period, where we find more obfeu¬
rity in the chronology of the holy feriptures, we have,
on the other hand, greater lights from profane au¬
thors. It is at this period that begins the time which
Varro calls hijloric: as, lince the time of the Olym¬
piads, the truth of fuch events as have happened
Ihines clear in hittory. Chronology, therefore, draws
its principal lights from hiftory; and, in return, ferves
it as a.guide. Referring the reader, therefore, to
the article Histor-y, and the Chari thereto annexed,
we lhall conclude the prefent article with
^Chronological Table ofRcma rhahle Even ts,
Difcoveries, and Inventions, from the Creation to
the Tear 1783.
Bef. Chrift.
4008 The creation of the world, and Adam and Eve.
4007 The birth of Cain, the firil who was born of a
woman.
O L O G Y.
3017 Enoch, for his piety, is tranflated to heaven.
2352 The old world is deftroyed by a deluge which
continued 377 days.
2247 The tower of Babel is built about this time By
Noah’s pofterity, upon which God miraculoufly
confounds their language, and thus difperfes
them into different nations.
2207 About this time, Noah is, with great probability,
fuppofed to have parted from his rebellious
offspring, and to have led a colony of fome of
the more tradlable into the eaft, and there either
he or one of his fucceffors to have founded the
ancient Chinefe monarchy.
2234 The celeftial obfervations are begun at Babylon,
the city which firft gave birth to learning and
the fciences.
2188 Mifraim, the fon of Ham, founds the kingdom
of Egypt, which lafted 1663 years, dbwn to
the conqueft of Cambyfes, in 525 before Chrift.
2059 Ninus, the fon of Belus, founds the kingdom of
Affyria, which lafted above 1000 years, and
out of its ruins were formed the Affyrians of
Babylon, thofe of Nineveh, and the kingdom
of the Medes.
1985 The covenant of God made with Abram, when
he leaves Haran to go into Canaan, which be¬
gins the 430 years of fojourning.
1961 The cities of Sodom and Gomorraare deftroyed
for their wickednefs by fire from heaven.
1856 The kingdom of Argos, in Greece, begins un¬
der Inachus.
1822 Memnon, the Egyptian, invents the letters.
1715 Prometheus firft {truck fire from flints.
1633 Jofeph dies in Egypt.
1574 Aaron born in Egypt; 1490, appointed by God
firft high-prieft of the Ifraelites.
1571 Moles, brother to Aaron, born in Egypt, and
adopted by Phai'aoh’s daughter, who educates
him in all the learning of the Egyptians.
1556 Cecrops brings a colony of Suites from Egypt
into Attica, and begins the kingdom of Athens
in Greece.
1555 Mofes performs a numb'er of miracles in Egypt,
and departs from that kingdom, together with
600,000 Ifraelites, befides children, which com¬
pleted the 430 years of fojourning. They mi¬
raculoufly pafs through the Red Sea, and
come to the defart of Sinai, where Mofes re¬
ceives from God, and delivers to the people,
the Ten Commandments, and the other laws,
and fets up the tabernacle, and in it the ark of
the covenant.
1546 Scamander comes from Crete into Phrygia, and
begins the kingdom of Tray.
1515 The Ifraelites, after fojourning in the Wilder-
nefs forty years, are led under Joffiua into the
land of Canaan, where they fix themfelves,
after having fubdued .the natives; and the pe¬
riod of the fabbatical year commences.
t 503 The deluge of Deucalion.
1496 The council of Amphittyons eftabliflied at Ther¬
mopylae.
1493 Cadmus carried the Phenician letters into Greece,
and built the citadel of Thebes.
1490 Sparta built by Lacedemon.
148;
7i8 C H K O N O
Before i^.S^ The firft /hip that appeared in Greece was
brought from Egypt by Danaus, who arrived
at Rhodes, and brought with him his fifty
daughters.
1480 Troy built by Dardanus.
1452 The Pentateuch, or five firft books of Mofes,
are written in the land of Moab, where he died
the year following, aged no.
1406 Iron is found in Greece, from the accidental
burning of the woods.
1344 The kingdom of Mycenas begins.
1326 The Ifthmian games inllituted at Corinth.
1325 The Egyptian canicular year began July 20th.
1307 The Olympic games inftituted by Pelops.
1300 The Lupercalia inftituted.
1294 The firft colony came from Italy into Sicily.
1264 The fecond colony came from Italy into Sicily.
1252 The city of Tyre built.
1243 A colony of Arcadians conducted by Evander
into Italy.
1233 Carthage founded by the Tyrians.
1225 The Argonautic expedition.
1204 The rape of Helen by Parish which gave rife to
the Trojan war, ending with the deftrudtion of
the city in 1184.
1176 Salamis'in Cyprus built by Teucer.
1152 Afcanius builds Alba Longa.
1130 The kingdom of Sicyon ended.
n 24 Thebes built by the Boeotians.
1115 The mariner’s compafs known in China.
1104 The expedition of the Heraclidse into Pelopon-
nefus ; the migration of the Dorians thither;
and the end of the kingdom of Mycenae.
1102 The kingdom of Sparta commenced.
1070 The kingdom of Athens ended.
1051 David befieged and took Jerufalem.
1044 Migration of the Ionian colonies.
1008 The Temple is folemnly dedicated by Solomon.
996 Solomon prepared a fleet on the Red Sea to
fend to Ophir.
986 Samos and Utica in Africa built.
979 The kingdom of Ifrael divided.
974 Jerufalem taken and plundered by Shifhak king
of Egypt.
911 The prophet Elijah flouriftied.
894 Money firft made of gold and filver at Argos.
884 Olympic games reftored by Iphitus and Ly-
curgus.
873 The art of fculpture in marble found out.
869 Scales and meafures invented by Phidon^.
864 The city of Carthage, in Africa, enlarged by
queen Dido.
821 Nineveh taken by Arbaces.
814 The kingdom of Macedon begins.
801 The city of Capua in Campania built.
799 The kingdom of Lydia began.
786 The /hips called Triremes invented by the Co¬
rinthians. v
779 The race of kings in Corinth ended.
776 The era of the Olympiads began.
^60 The Ephori eftabli/hed at Sparta.
758 Syracufe built by Archias of Corinth.
754 The government of Athens changed.
753 Era of the building of Rome in Italy by Ro¬
mulus, firft king of the Romans.
LOGY.
747 The era of Nabonaflai* commenced on the 26th Before
of February ; the firft day of Thoth. , Chiilt.
746 The government of Corinth changed into a re- y
public.
743 The firft war between the Meflenians and Spar¬
tans.
724 Mycenae reduced by the Spartans.
723 A colony of the Mefienians fettled at Rhegium
in Italy.
720 Samaria taken, after three years fiege, and the
kingdom of Ifrael finiftied by Salmanazer king
of Aflyria, who carries the ten tribes into cap¬
tivity.
The firft eclipfe of the moon on record.
713 Gela in Sicily built.
703 Corcyra, now Corfa, founder of the Corin¬
thians.
702 Ecbatan in Media built by Deioces.
685 The fecond Meflenian war under Ariftomenes.
670 Byzantium (now Conftantinople) built by a co¬
lony of Athenians.
666 The city of Alba deftroyed.
648 Cyrene in Africa founded.
634 Cyaxares befieges Nineveh, but is obliged to-
raife the fiege by an incurfion of tbe Scythi¬
ans, who remained mafters of Alia for 28
years.
624 Draco publi/hed his inhuman laws at Athens.
610 Pharaoh Necho attempted to make a canal
from the Nile to the Red Sea, but was not
able to accompli/h it.
607 By order of the fame monarch, fome Phenicians
failed from the Red Sea round Africa, and re¬
turned by the Mediterranean..
606 The firft captivity of the Jews by Nebuchad¬
nezzar. Nineveh deftroyed by Cyaxares.
600 Thales, of Miletus, travels into Egypt, confults
the priefts of Memphis, acquires the knowledge
of. geometry, aftronomy, and philofophy; re¬
turns to Greece, calculates eclipfes, gives ge¬
neral notions of the univerfe, and maintains
that an only Supreme Intelligence regulates
all its motions.
Maps, globes, and the figns of the zodiac, in¬
vented by Anaximander, the fcholar of Thales.
598 Jehoiakin, king of Judah, is carried away cap¬
tive, by Nebuchadnezzar, to Babylon.
394 Solon made Archon at Athens.
591 The Pythian games inftituted in Greece, and
tragedy firft atled.
588 The firft irruption of the Gauls into Italy.
586 The city of Jerufalem taken, after a fiege of
18 months.
582 The laft captivity of the Jews by Nebuchad¬
nezzar.
581 The Ifthmian games reftored.
580 Money firft coined at Rome.
571 Tyre taken by Nebuchadnezzar after a fiege of
13 years.
566 The firft cenfus at Rome, when the number of
citizens was found to be 84,000
562 The firft comedy at Athens a<fted upon a move-
able fcaffbld.
559 Cyrus the firft king, of Perfia.
538 The kingdom of Babylon finilhed.j that.city be¬
ing
C H R O N
ing taken by Cyrus, who, in 536, gives an
t edift for the return of the Jews.
534 The foundation of the temple laid by the Jews.
526 Learning is greatly encouraged at Athens, and
a public library firft founded.
520 The fecond edict to rebuild Jerufalem.
515 The fecond temple at Jerufalem is finilhed un¬
der Darius.
510 Hippias banifhed from Athens.
509 Tarquin, the feventh and laft king of the Ro¬
mans, is expelled, and Rome is governed by
two confuls, and other republican magiftrates,
till the battle of Pharfaha, being a fpace of
461 years.
508 The firft alliance between the Romans and Car¬
thaginians.
507 The fecond cenfus at Rome, 130,000 citizens.
504 Sardis taken and burnt by the Athenians, which
gave occafion to the Perfian invafion of Greece.
498 The firft dictator appointed at Rome.
497 The Saturnalia inftituted at Rome.
The number of citizens 150,700.
493Tribunes created at Rome; or, in 488.
490 The battle of Marathon, September 28th.
486 iEfchylus, the Greek poet, firft gains the prize
of tragedy.
483 Queftors created at Rome.
481 Xerxes, king of Perfia, begins his expedition
againft Greece.
480 The defence of Thermopylae by Leonidas, and
the fea-fight at Salamis.
476 The number ef Roman citizens reduced to
103,000
469 The third Meflenian war.
466 The number of Roman citizens increafed to
124,214.
458 Ezra is fent from Babylon to Jerufalem, with
the captive Jews and the veflels of gold and
filver, &c. being feventy weeks of years, or
490 years before the crucifixion of our Saviour.
456 The Ludi Seculares firft celebrated at Rome.
454 The Romans fend to Athens for Solon’s laws.
451 The Decemvirs created at Rome, and the laws
of the twelve tables compiled and ratified.
449 The Decemvirs banilhed.
445 Military tribunes, with confular power, created
at Rome.
443 Cenfors created at Rome.
441 The battering ram invented by Artemones.
432 The Metonic cycle began July 15th.
431 The Peloponnefian war began, and lafted'27
years.
430 The hiftory of the Old Teftament finiflies about
this time.
A plague over the known world.
Malachi the laft of the prophets.
405 The Athenians entirely defeated by Lyfander,
which occafions the lofs of the city, and ruin
of the Athenian power.
401 The retreat of the 10,000 Greeks under Xeno¬
phon. The 30 tyrants expelled from Athens,
and democratic government reftored.
400 Socrates, the founder of moral philofophy among
the Greeks, believes the immortality of the
foul, a ftate of rewards and punilhments; for
O. L O G Y,
which, and other fublime do&rines, he is put
to death by the Athenians, who foon after re¬
pent, and eredl to his memory a ftatue of
brafs.
399 The feaft of Leftifternium inftituted. CatapuL-
tas invented by Dionyfius.
394 The Corinthian war begun.
390 Rome burnt by the Gauls.
387 The peace of Antalcidas between the Greeks
and Perfians.
The number of Roman citizens amounted to
152,583.
384 Dionyfius begins the Punic war.
379 The Boeotian war commences.
377 A general confpiracy of the Greek ftates againft
the Lacedemonians,
373 A great earthquake in Peloponnefus.
371 The Lacedemonians defeated by Epaminondas
at Leu&ra.
367 Prsetors eftablilhed in Rome. The Licinian law
paded.
363 Epaminondas killed at the battle of Mantinea.
359 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved to be 23°
49' 1 O'.
358 The Social war began.
357 Dionyfius expelled from Syracufe.
A tranlit of the moon over Mars obferved.
356 The facred war begun in Greece.
Birth of Alexander the Great.
343 Dionyfius II. expelled from Syracufe.
Commencement of the Syracuiian era.
338 Philip of Macedon gains the battle of Cliasronsea,
and thus attains to the fovereignty of Greece.
335 Thebes taken and rafed by Alexander the
Great.
334 The Perfians defeated at Granicus, May 2 2d.
333 They are again defeated at Ifliis in Cilicia,
Odlober.
332 Alexander takes Tyre and marches to Jerufalem.
33 x Alexandria built.
Darius entirely defeated at Arbela.
330 Alexander takes Babylon, and the principal cities
of the Perfian empire.
The Calippi period commences.
328 Alexander pafles Mount Caucafus, and marches
into India.
327 He defeats Porus, an Indian prince, and founds
feveral cities.
326 The famous fedition of Corcyra.
324 His family exterminated, and his dominions
parted by his officers.
323 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon.
315 Rhodes almoft deftroyed by an inundation.
311 The Appian way, aqueducts, &c. conftrucled
at Rome.
308 The cities of Greece recovered their liberties for
a ihort time.
307 Antioch, Seleucia, Laodicea, and other cities,
founded by Seleucus.
301 Antigonus defeated and killed at Ipfus.
299 The firft barbers came from Sicily to Rome.
294 The number of effective men in Rome amounts
to 270,000.
293 The firft fun-dial erected at Rome by Papirius
Curfor.
285
7^°
Before
Chrift.
CHRONOLOGY.
285 Dionyfius, of Alexandria, began his aftronomical
era on Monday June 26, being the firit who
found the ex aft folar year to confitt of 365
days 5 hours and 49 minutes.
The watch-tower of Pharos at Alexandria built.
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, employs
72 interpreters to tranflate the Old Teftament
into the Greek languages, which is called the
Septuagint.
284 The foundations of the Achaean republic laid.
283 The college and library founded at Alexan¬
dria.
282 The Tarentine war begins.
280 Pyrrhus invades Italy.
279 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
278,222.
269 The firft coining of filver at Rome.
265 The number of Roman ^citizens augmented to
292,224.
264 The firft Punic war begins, and continues 23
years. The chronology of the Arundelian
marbles compofed.
2-62 A traniit of Mercury over the Bull’s horn ; the
planet being in 230 of and the fun in 290
s&y.
260 Provincial queftors eftablifhed at Rome.
The Romans firft concern themfelves in naval
nfeirs, and defeat the Carthaginians at fea.
255 Regulus, the Roman conful, defeated and taken
prifoner by the Carthaginians under Xantip-
pus.
252 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
297,897.
247 Another cenfus. The number of citizens 251,212.
246 The records- of China deftroyed.
241 Conclufion of the firft Punic war.
240 Comedies firft afted at Rome.
237 Hamilcar, the Carthaginian, caufeshis fon Han¬
nibal, at nine yeats old, to fwear eternal en¬
mity to the Romans.
236 The Tartars expelled from China.
235 Rome at peace with other nations. The tem¬
ple of Janus fhut.
231 Corfica and Sardinia fubdued by:the Romans.
' The firft divorce at Rome.
230 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Era¬
to fthenes to be 230 51' 20''.
224 The Coloffus at Rhodes overturned by an
earthquake.
219 The art of furgery introduced at Rome.
218 Commencement of the fecond Punic wart
Hannibal paffes the Alps and invades Italy.
216 The Romans defeated at Cannas, May 21ft.
214 Syracufe befieged by Marcellus.
209 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
227,107.
208 Afdrubal invades Italy ; but is defeated and
killed.
206 Gold firft coined at Rome.
202 Hannibal defeated by Scipio at Zama.
201 Conclufion of the fecond Punic war.
194 Sparta and Hither Spain fubdued by the Ro-
- mans.
192 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
243>7°4*
80
191 Antiochus defeated by the Romans at Ther- Before
mopylae. Chrift.
190 The firft Roman army enters Afia, and from the 'r~~‘
fpoils of Antiochus brings the Afiatic luxury
firft to Rome.
188 The Spartans obliged to renounce the inftitu-
tions of Lycurgus.
179 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
273,244.
173 The Jewifir high-priefthood fold by Antiochus
Epiphanes.
170 Paper invented in China.
The temple ofjerufalem plundered by Antiochus.
169 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
212,805.
168 Macedon reduced to the form of a Roman pro¬
vince.
The firft library erefted at Rome.
165 The temple ofjerufalem purified by Judas Mac¬
cabeus.
164 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
327>°32*
162 Hipparchus began his aftroriomical obfervations
at Rhodes.
161 Philofophers and rhetoricians baniftied from
Rome.
150 The third Punic war commenced.
146 Corinth deftroyed.
Carthage, the rival to Rome, is rafed to the
ground by the Romans.
A remarkable comet appeared in Greece,
143 Hipparchus began his new cycle of the moon,
confifting of 1x1,035 days.
141 The Numantine war commenced.
135 The hiftory of the Apocrypha ends.
133 Numantia deftroyed by Scipio.
124 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
r 39°»736-.
105 The Cimbri and Teutones defeated the Romans.
102 The Teutones and Ambrones defeated by Ma¬
rius.
88 Rome befieged by the chiefs of the Marian fac¬
tion.
82 Sylla created perpetual diftator at Rome.
69 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
450,000.
66 Catiline’s confpiracy.
55 Julius Csefar makes his firft expedition into Bri-
Craffus defeated and killed by the Parthians.
51 Gaul reduced to a Roman province.
50 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
320,000.
48 The battle of Pharfalia, between Caefar and
Pompey, in which the latter is defeated.
The Alexandrian library, confifting of 400,000
valuable books, burnt by accident.
45 The war of Africa, in which Cato kills himfelf.
The folar year introduced by Csefar.
44 Caefar, the greateft of the Roman conquerors,
after having fought fifty pitched battles, and
flain 1,192,000 men, is killed in the fenate-
houfe by confpirators.
42 The republicans defeated at Philippi.
31 The battle of A6tium fought, in which Mark
Anthony
C H R O N
Before Anthony and Cleopatra are totally defeated by
Chrift. Odtavius, nephew to Julius Csefar.
v 30 Alexandria, in Egypt, is taken by Oftavius, upon
which Anthony and Cleopatra put themfelves
to death, and Egypt is reduced to a Roman
province.
29 A cenfus at Rome. The number pf citizens
4,101,017.
2 7 Oftavius, by a decree of the fenate, obtains the
title of Auguftus Csefar, and an abfolute ex¬
emption from the laws, and is properly the
firft Roman emperor.
The pantheon at Rome built.
19 Rome at the height of its glory.
The temple of Jerufalem rebuilt by Herod.
Agrippa conftrufted the magnificent aquedu&s
at Rome.
8 A cenfus at Rome. The number of citizens
4,233,000.
5 The temple of Janus is (hut by Auguftus, as an
emblem of univerfal peaOe, and
JESUS CHRIST is born, 'on Monday, De¬
cember 25.
i The. Vulgar Chriftian era commenced from Ja-
Chrift. nuary 1.; the Saviour of the, world being then
five years of age.
8 Jefus Chrift difputes with the doctors in the
temple.
14 A cenfus at Rome, 4,037,000 citizens.
16 Mathematicians and magicians expelled from
Rome.
17 Twelve cities in Alia deftroyed by an earth¬
quake.
27 Pilate made governor of Judaea.
29 Jefus baptifed in Jordan by John.
33 He is crucified at Jerufalem.
35 St Paul converted.
39 St Matthew writes his Gofpel.
Pontius Pilate kills himfelf.
A conjundtion oESaturn, Jupiter, and Mars.
40 The name of Chriftians firft given at Antioch
to the followers of Chrift.
43 Claudius Caefar’s expedition into Britain.
44 St Mark writes his Gofpel.1
50 London is founded by the Romans: 368, fur-
rounded by ditto with a wall, fome parts of
which are ftill obfervable.
51 Caradtacus, the Britilh king, is carried in chains
to Rome.
52 The council of the Apoftles at Jerufalem.
55 St Luke writes his gofpel.
56 Rotterdam built.
59 The emperor Nero puts his mother and brothers
to death.
•  Perfecutes the Druids in Britain.
60 Chriftianity introduced into Britain.
61 Boadicia, the Britilh queen, defeats the Romans;
but is conquered foon after by Suetonius, go¬
vernor ef Britain.
62 St Paul is fent in bonds to Rome-^writes his
epiftles between 51 and 66.
63 The Afts of the Apoftles written.
‘ A great earthquake in Alia.
64 Rome fet on fire, and burned for fix days: upon
Vol. IV. Fart II.
O L O G Y. j6i
vyhich began (under Nero) the firll perfecu- -After
tion again ft the Chriftians. .Chrift.
65 Many prodigies feen about Jerufalem. ' * J
66 St Peter and St Paul put to death.
70 While the factious Jews are deftroying ©ne ano¬
ther with mutual fury, Titus, the Roman ge¬
neral, takes Jerufalem-, which is rafed. to the •
ground, and the plough made te oafs over it.
73 The philofophers banifhed from Rome by Vef-
pafian.
79 The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum de¬
ftroyed by an eruption of Vefuvius.
80 The Capitol and Pantheon at Rome deftroyed
by fire.
83 The philofophers expelled Rome by Domitian.
85 Julius Agricola, governor of South-Britain, to
protect the civilized Britons from the incur-
iions of the Caledonians, builds a line of forts
between the rivers Forth and Clyde; defeats
the Caledonians under Galgacus on the Gram¬
pian hills ; and firft fails round Britain, which
he difeovers to be an illand. ,
86 The Capitoliue games inftituted by Domitian.
88 The fecular games celebrated at Rome.
93 The empire of the Huns in Tartary deftroyed
by the Chinefe.
The Evangelift John banifhed to Patmos.
94 The fecond perfecution of the Chriftians under
Domitian.
96 St John the Evangelift wrote his Revelation—
his Gofpel in 97.
103 Dacia reduced to a Roman province.
105 A great earthquake in Afia and Greece.
107 The third perfecution of the Chriftians undur
Trajan.
114 Armenia reduced to a Roman province.
A great earthquake in China,
j 15 Aflyria fubdued by Trajan.
An infurre&ion of the Jews, who murder
200,coo Greeks and Romans.
A violent earthquake at Antioch.
120 Necomedia and other cities fwallowed up by an
earthquake.
T2i The Caledonians reconquer from the Romans all
the fouthern parts of Scotland ; upon which .
the emperor Adrian builds a wall between
Newcaftle and Carlifle ; but this alfo proving
ineffeftual, Pollius Urbicus, the Roman gene¬
ral, about the year 134, repairs Agricola’s forts,
which he joins by a wall four yards thick.
130 Jerufalem rebuilt by Adrian.
132 The fecond Jewifh war commenced.
135 The fecond Jewifh war ends, when they were
all banifhed Judea.
139 Juftin writes his firft apology for the Chriftians.
141 A number of herefies appear about this time.
146 The worfhip of Serapis introduced at Rome.
152 The emperor Antoninus Pius flops the perfecu¬
tion againft the-Chriftians.
An inundation of the Tyber, and an earth¬
quake at Rhodes.
163 The fourth perfecution of the Chriftians, under
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
166 The Romans fent ambaffadors to China.
5 D 168
CHRONOLOGY.
16S A plague over the known world.
188 The Capitol at Rome deftroyed by lightning.
191 A great part of Rome dettroyed by fire.
203 The fifth perfecution of the Chriitians, under
Severus.
205 An earthquake in Wales.
209 Sevems’s wall in Britain built.
21b Two comets appeared at Rome. The courfe
of the moil remarkable from eaft to weft.
222 About this time the Roman empire begins to
decline. The Barbarians begin their irrup¬
tions, and the Goths have annual tribute not
to moleft the empire.
225 Mathematicians allowed to teach publicly at
Rome.
236 The fixth perfecution of the Chriftians, under
Maximin.
241 The Franks firft mentioned in hiftory.
250 The feventh perfecution, under Decius.
252 A dreadful peftilence broke ’ out in Ethiopia,
and fpread over the world.
The eight perfecution, under Gallus.
253 Europe ravaged by the Scythians and Goths.
258 The ninth perfecution, under Valerian.
260 Valerian is taken prifoner by Sapor, king of
Perfia, and flead alive.
The Scythians ravaged the Roman empire..
The temple of Diana at Ephefus burnt.
261 A great plague throughout the Roman empire.
262 Earthquakes in Europe, Afia,. and Africa, and
three days of darknefs.
273 The Romans took Palmyra.
274 Silk firft brought from India; the manufactory
of it introduced into Europe by fome monks,
551; firft worn by the clergy in England,
1534* „ , . „ . .
276 Wines firft made in Britain.
277 The Franks fettled in Gaul.
284 The Dioclefian era commenced Auguft 29th,
or September 17 th.
287 Caraufius proclaimed emperor of Britain.
289 A great comet vifible in Mefopotamia for 29
days.
291 Two emperors and two Csefars march to defend
the four quarters of the empire.
297 Alexandria deftroyed by Dioclefian.
303 The tenth perfecution, under Dioclefian.
306 Conftantine the Great begins his reign..
308 Cardinals firft began.
312 Peftilence all over the Eaft.
Cycle of induction began.
313 The tenth perfecution ends by an edidt of Con¬
ftantine, who favours the Chriftians, and gives
full liberty to their religion.
314 Three biftiops, or fathers, are fent from. Britain
to aflift at the council of Arles.
315 Crucifixion abolilhed.
321 Obfervation of Sunday enjoined.
323 The firft general council at Nice, when 318 fa¬
thers attended, againft Arius, the founder of
Arianifm, where was compofed the famous Ni-
cene Creed, which we attribute to them.
328 Conftantine removes the feat of empire from
Rome to Byzantium, which is thereafter cal¬
led Conflantinople.
2
330 A dreadful perfecution of the Chriftians in Per- After
fia, which lafts 40 years. Chrift.
3 31 Conftantine orders all the heathen temples to be  v~~
deftroyed.
334 300,000 Sarmatians revolted from their ma¬
ilers.
341 The gofpel propagated in. Ethiopia by Fou-
mentius.
344 Neocaefarea ruined by an earthquake.
351 The heathens firft called Pagans.
358 An hundred and fifty cities in Afia and Greece
overturned by an earthquake.
360 The firft monaiiery founded near Poidtiers in.
France, by Martin.
363 The Roman emperor Julian, furnamed the A-
poftate, endeavours in vain to rebuild the tem¬
ple of Jerufalem.
364 The Roman empire is divided into the eaftern.
(Conftantinople the capital) and weftern (of
which Rome continued to be the capital), each
being now under the government of different
emperors.
373 The Bible tranflated into the Gothic language.
376 The Goths fettled in Thrace.
379 The cycle of Theophilus commenced.
390 A fiery column feen in the air for 30 days.
400 Bells invented by biihop Pauliuus, of Campag-
nia.
401 Europe ever-run by the Goths under Alaric.
404 Another irruption of the Goths.
The kingdom of Caledonia or Scotland revives
under Fergus.
406 Third irruption of the Goths.
The Vandals, Alans, and Suevi, fpread into
France and Spain, by a concefEon of Honorius,
emperor of the Weft.
408 The Chriftian religion propagated in Perfia.
409 Rome taken and plundered by the Goths, Au
gull 24th.
412 The Vandals begin their kingdom in Spain.
413 The kingdom of Burgundy begun in Ali'ace.
414 The kingdom of Thouloufe founded by the Vi-
fagoths.
417 The Alans extirpated by the Goths.
419 Many cities in Paleftine deftroyed by au earth¬
quake.
420 The kingdom of France begins upon the Lower
Rhine, under Pharamond.
421 The Salique law promulgated-
426 The Romans, reduced to extremities at home,
withdraw their troops from Britain, and never
return ; advifing the Britons to arm in their
own defence, and truft t »> their own valour.
432 The gofpel preached in Ireland by St Patrick.
444 All Europe ravaged by the Huns.
446 The Britons now left to themfelves, are greatly
haraffed by the Scots and Pidts, upon which
they once more make their complaint to the
Romans (which they intitle, Ihe Groans of
the Britons), but receive no affiftance from that
quarter.
447 Attila (furnamed. the Scourge of God) with his
Huns ravage the Roman empire.
449 Vortigern, king of the Britons, invites the Sax-
ons into Bi'itain, againft the Scots and Piets.
453
C H R O N
452 The city of Venice founded.
455 The Saxous having repulfed the Scots and Piets,
invite over more of their countrymen, and be¬
gin to eilablifh themfdves in Kent, under
Hengift.
476 The well era empire is fmifhed, 523 years after
the battle of Pharfalia; upon the ruins of
which feveral new ftates arife in Italy and o-
ther parts, confifting of Goths, Vandals, Huns,
and other barbarians, under whom literature
is extinguilhed, and the works of the learned,
are deftroyed.
480 A great earthquake at Conftantinople, which
lafted 40 days.
493 Italy reduced by Theodofic king of the Goths.
. 496 Clovis, king of France, baptized, and Chriftia-
nity begins in that kingdom.
506 The Jewiih talmud publifhed.
508 Prince Arthur begins his reign over the Bri¬
tons.
510 Paris made the capital of the French dominions.
515 Conftantinople befieged by Vitalianus, whofe
fleet is burnt by a fpeculum of brafs made by
Proclus.
516 The computing of time by the Chriftian era is
introduced by Dionyfius the monk.
517 Five years drought and famine in Paleftinc.
519 A bearded comet appears.
529 The codex of juftinian, the eaftern emperor, is
publiftied.
534 The kingdom of the Vandals in Africa comes
to an end, after having continued toy years.
536 The manufacture of filk introduced at Conftan¬
tinople by two Indian monks.
540 Antioch deftroyed by the Perfians.
541 Bafilius the laft conful elected at Rome.
542 Antioch rebuilt.
543 An earthquake all over the world.
550 An earthquake in Paleftine and Syria.
The kingdom of Poland founded.
551 An earthquake in Greece, attended with a great
commotion in the fea.
553 The empire of the Goths in Italy deftroyed by
Narfes.
A great earthquake at Conftantinople.
557 Another violent earthquake at Conftantinople,
Rome, &c.
A terrible plague all over Europe, Afia, and
Africa, which continues near fifty years.
568 The Lombards founded a kingdom in Italy.
569 The Turks firft mentioned in hiftory.
The exarchate of Rayenna begins,
575 The firft monarchy founded in Bavaria.
580 Antioch deftroyed by an earthquake.
581 Latin ceafed to be fpoken about this time in
Italy.
584 The origin of fiefs in France.
588 The city of Paris deftroyed by fire.
589 Rome overflowed by the Tiber.
593 The Gafcons eftablifhed themfelves in the court-'
try called by their name.
596 John of Cenftantinople aflumes the title of uni-
verfal bifhop.
J97 Auguftin. the monk comes into England with
forty monks.
o L o G Y.
599 A dreadful peftilence in Africa.
604 St Paul’s church in London founded.
605 The ufe of bells introduced into churches.
606 Here begin's the power of the popes, by the
conceffions of Phocas, emperor of the Eaft.
622 Mahomec, the falfe prophet, flies from Mecca
to Medina, in Arabia, in the 44th year of his
age, and 1 oth of his miniftry, when he laid the
foundation of the Saracen empire, and from
whom the Mahometan princes to this day claim
their defeent. His followers compute their
time from this era, which in Arabic is called
hegira, i. e. “ the Flight.”
628 An academy founded at Canterbury.
632 The era of Jefdegird commenced June 16th.
637 Jerufalem is taken by the Saracens or followers
of Mahomet.
641 Alexandria in Egypt is taken by ditto, and the
grand library there burnt by order of Omar
their caliph or prince.
643 The temple of Jerufalem converted into a Ma¬
hometan mofque.
653 The Saracens now extend their conquefts on e-
very fide, and retaliate the barbarities of the
Goths and Vandals upon their pofterity.
They take Rhodes, and deltroy the famous Co-
loflus.
England invaded by the Danes.
660 Organs firft ufed in churches.
663 Glafs invented by a bifhop, and brought into
England by a Benedi&ine monk.
669 Sicily invaded, and Syracufe deftroyed by the
Saracens.
685 The Britons, after a brave ftruggle of near 150
years, are totally expelled by the Saxons, and
drove into Wales and Cornwall
698 The Saracens take Carthage, and expel the Ro¬
mans from Africa.
700 Cracow built, and the firft prince of Poland e-
lefted.
704 The fifft province given to the Pope.
713 The Saracens conquer Spain.
714 France governed by Charles Martel.
718 The kingdom of the Alturias in Spain founded
by Pelagio.
719 Chriftianity promulgated in Germany.
726 The controverfy about images begins, and oc-
cafions many infurre&ions in the eaftern em¬
pire.
727 Tax of Peter’s pence begun by Ina -king of
Weft-ex.
732 Charles Martel defeats the Saracens near Tours.
735 Inftitution of the office of Pope’s Nuncio.
746 Three years peftilence in Europe and Afia.
748 The computing of years from the birth of Chrift
began to be ufed ip hiftory.
749 The race of Abbas become caliphs of the Sara¬
cens, and encourage learning.
The empire of the Saracens divided into three.
752 The exarchate of Ravenna abolifhed by Aftol-
phus king of the Lombards.
755 Commencement of the Pope’s temporal domi¬
nion.
762 The city of Bagdad upon the Tigris, is made the
capital for the caliphs of the houfe of Abbas.
5 D 2 762
7<rt
After
Chrift.
764 C H R O N
After yga Burials, which formerly ufedto be in highways,
t Chnft. permitted in towns.
" ~v J 792 An academy founded in Paris.
794 The Huns extirpated by Charlemagne. x
797 Seventeen days of unufual darknefs.
800 Ctiarlemagne, king of France, begins the em¬
pire of Germany, afterwards called the Weil-
ern empire;; gives the prefent names to the
winds and months; endeavours to reftore learn¬
ing in Europe, but mankind are not yet difpo-
fed for it, being folely engroffed in military
enterprizes.
801 A great earthquake in France, Germany, and
Italy.
807 Jan. 31. Jupiter eclipfed by the moon. March
17. A large fpot feen on the fun for eight
days.
808 The firfl: defcent of the Normans on France.,
825 The obliqftity of the ecliptic obferved by Beni-
mula to be 23°,55'.
826 Harold, king of Denmark, dethroned by his
fubje&s, for being a Chriltian.
The kingdoms of Navarre and Arragon founded.
832 Painters banilhed out of the eaftern empire.
836 The Flemings trade to Scotland for filh.
840 The Scots and Pi£ts have a decifive battle, in
which the former prevail, and both kingdoms
* are united by Kenneth, which begins the fe-
cond period of the Scottilh hiftory.
842 Germany feparated from the empire of the
Franks.
856 An earthquake over the greatefl. part of the
known world.
861 Ruric the firft prince of Rufira began to reign.
864 The Danes begin their ravages in England.
867 Chriftianity propagated in Bulgaria.
' 868 Egypt becomes independent -on the caliphs of
Bagdad.
872 Bells and clocks fir ft ufed in Conftantinople.
873 France diftreffed by locufts and peftilence. '
874 Iceland peopled by the Norwegians.
Scotland invaded by the Danes.
875 A bearded comet appears in France.
878 Alfred the Great, after fubduing the Danifia in¬
vaders (againft whom he fought 56 battles by
fea and land), compofes his body of laws; di¬
vides England into counties, hundreds, ty-
things; in. 890 eredls. county-courts, having
founded the univerfity of Oxford in 886.
880 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Al-
bategni to be 230 35'.
889 The" Hungarians fettled near the Danube.
891 The firft land-tax in England.
895 The monaftery of Cluny founded.
905 A very remarkable comet appeared in China.
Rome taken by the Normans.
> 911 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by The-
bit to be 230 33' 30".
912 The Normans eftablilh themfelves in Normandy.
913 The Danes become mafters of England,
915 The univerfity of Cambridge founded.
923 Fiefs eftablifhed in France.
925 Sigefroi ele&ed firft marquis of Brandenburg.
<928 The marquifate of Mifnia eftablilhed.
3
O L O G Y.
937 The Saracen empire is divided by ufurpation After
into feven kingdoms. Chrilfc
941 Arithmetic brought into Europe. r
961 Candia recovered from the Saracens.
967 Antioch recovered from the Saracens.
969 The race of Abbas extiuguifhed in Egypt..
975 Pope Boniface VII. is depofed and banilhed for
his crimes..
977 Greece, Macedon, and Thrace, ravaged by the
Bulgarians for ten years.
The Bohemians fubdued by Otho.
979 Coronation oath firft ufed in England.
Juries firft ipflituted in ditto.
985 The Danes under Sueno invaded; England and
Scotland..
987 The Carlovingian racein France ended.
991 The figures in arithmetic are brought into Eu¬
rope by the Saracens from Arabia ; letters.of
the alphabet were hitherto ufed.
993 A great eruption of Mount Vefuvius.
995 England invaded by the Danes and Norwegians.
996 Otho III. makes the empire of Germany elective.
999 Boleflaus, the firft king of Poland.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by About
Wafi and Abu Hamed to be 230 35'.
1000 Paper made of cotton rags was in ufe ; that of
linen rags in 1170: the manufadtory-introdu-
ced into England at Deptford, 1588.
X002 The emperor Henry affumed the title of king
of the Romans.
1005 All the old churches are rebuilt about this time
in a new manner of architedfure.
i co6 A plague in Europe for three years.
1007 A great eruption of Vefuvius.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Alba-
trunius to be 23° $5'.
1014 Sueno the Dane becomes matter of England.
Sept. 28. Almoft all Flanders laid under water
by a ftorm.
1015 Children forbidden by law to be fold by their
parents in England.
1017 Rain of the colour of blood for three days in
Aquitain.
1022 A new fpecies of.mufic invented by Aretin.
1035 Togrul-Beg, or Tangrclipix, the Turkifii ful-
tan, eftablifhes’himfelf in Korafan.
The kingdoms of Caftile and Arragon began.
1040 The Danes, after feveral engagements with va¬
rious fuccefs, are about this time driven out of
Scotland, and never again return in a hoftile
manner.
Smyrna deftroyed by an earthquake,
1041 The Saxdn line reftored under Edward the
Confeflbr.
1043 The Turks become formidable and take poflef-
fion of Periia.
The Ruffians come from Scythia, and land in.
Thrace.
1054 Leo IX. the firft pope that kept up an army.
2055 The Turks take Bagdad, and overturn the em¬
pire of the Saracens.
1057 Malcolm III. king of Scotland, kills the tyrant
Macbeth at Dunfinnan, and marries the princefs,
Margaret, fitter to Edgar Atheling.
1061.
loyo
io7j
1076
ro86
1090
1096
1098
1099
1119
1132
>‘37
H43
1144
1154
1156
,ri6o
11.63
C H R O N
Surnames appointed to be taken in Scotland by
a parliament held in Forfar.
The Turks take Jerufalem from the Saracens.
The conqueft of England by William (furnamed
the B'aftard) duke of Normandy, in the battle
,of Haflings, where Harold is flain.
The feudal law introduced into England.
Henry IV. emperor of Germany, and the pope,
quarrel about the nomination of the German
bilhops. Henry, in penance, walks barefooted
to the pope towards the end of-January.
Jufticesof the peace firft appointed in England.
An earthquake in En'gland.
Alia Minor, having been two years under the
power of Solyman, is from this time called
Turky.
Doomfday-book began to be compiled by order
of William, from a furvey of all the ettates in
England, and finilhed in 1086.
The Tower of London built by ditto, to curb
his Englifh fubjedts; numbers of whbm fly to
Scotland, where they introduce the Saxon or
Engliflr language, are protected by Malcolm,
and have lands given therm
The order of Carthufians eftablifhed by Bruno.
The dynafty of Bathineens or Aflaflins begins
in Irak, and continues for 117 years.
The Saracens in Spain, being hard prefifed by
the Spaniards, call to their affiftance Jofeph
king of Morocco; by which the Moors get
pofleffion of all the Saracen dominions in
Spain.
The firfl: crufade to the Holy Land is begun un¬
der feveral Chriftian princes, to drive the in¬
fidels from Jerufalem.
The order of St Benedift inftituted.
Jerufalem taken by the crufaders ; Godfrey e-
ledted king of it; and the order of knights of
St John inftituted.
Edgar Atheling, the laft of the Saxon princes,
dies in England, where he had been permitted
to refide as a fubjeft.
Learning revived at Cambridge.
Writing on paper made of cotton common about
this time.
The order of the Knights Templars inftituted,
to defend the Sepulchre at Jerufalem, and to
protedl Chriftian ftrangers.
Bohemia eredted into a kingdom.
The kingdom of Portugal began.
The pandeft of J.uftinian found in the ruins of
Amalphi.
The fadtions of the Guelphs and Gibellines pre¬
vailed about this time.
The Koran tranflated into Latin.
The Peripatetic philofophy introduced into Ger¬
many.
The canon law cclledted by Gratian,, a monk
of Bologna.
Chriftianity introduced into Finland.
The city of 'Mofcow in Ruflia founded.
The order of the Carmelites inftituted.
London bridge, confifting of 19 fmall arches,
firft built of ftone.
o l o G Y.
1164. The Teutonic order of religious knights begins
in Germany.
J17 1 The dynafty of Fatemites ended in Egypt; the
foveteigns of this country henceforth called
Sultans.
1172 Henry II. king of England (and firft of the
Piantagenets), takes pofleftion of Ireland; which,
from that period, has been governed by an
Englifh viceroy, or lord lieutenant.
XI76 England is divided by Henry into fix circuits,
and juftice is difpenfed by itinerant judges.
1179 The univerfity of Padua founded.
1180 Glafs windows began to be ufed in private houfes
in England.
1181 The laws of England are digefted about this
time by Glanville.
1182 Pope Alexander III. compelled the kings of
England and France to hold the llirrups of his
faddle when he mounted his horfe.
1183 7000 Albigenfes maffacred by the inhabitants
of Berry.
1186 A conjun&ion of all the planets at funrife Sep¬
tember 16. The Sun in 30® ; Jupiter in
2° 3r ; Venus in 30 49'; Saturn in 8° 6';
Mercury in 40 10'; Mars, 90 8'; tail of the
Dragon, 180 23' am.
1187 Jerufalem taken by Saladin.
1192 The battle of Aicalon, in Judea, in which Ri¬
chard, king of England, defeats Saladin’s ar¬
my, confifting of 300,000 combatants.
1x94 EhVa et mon Droit, firft ufed as a motto by Ri¬
chard, on a victory over the French.
1195 Denmark and ‘Norway laid wafte by a dreadful
tempeft.
1 198 Inftitution of the order of the Holy Trinity.
1200 Chimnies were not known in England.
Surnames now began to be uied j find among
the nobility.
Univerfit'y of Salamanca in Spain founded.
1204 Conftantinople taken by the French and Vene¬
tians.
The Inquifition eftablilhed.
The empire of Trebizond eftablifhed. *
1208 London incorporated, and obtained their firft
charter for ele&ing their Lord Mayor and o-
ther magiftrates from king John.
The order of prat res Minores eftablifhed.
The pope excommunicates king John.
1209 The works of Ariftotle importea from Conftan¬
tinople into Europe.
The filk manufacture imported from Greece in-
to Venice.
1210 The works of Ariftotle condemned to be burnt
at Paris.
The emperor Qtho excommunicated by the
pope.
Violent perfecution of the Albigenfes.
1215 Magna Charta is figned by king John and the
barons of England.
Court of common pleas eftablifhed.
Orders of the Dominipans and Knights Hofpi-
tallers founded.
The doftrine of tranfubftantiation introduced.
12x6 King Alexander and the whole kingdom of
Scotland
765
766
CHRONOLOGY.
Scotland cxcommuaicated. by the pope’s le¬
gate.
1220 Aftrbnomy and geography brought into Europe
by the Moors.
1222 A great earthquake in Germany.
1223 A comet of extraordinary magnitude appeared
in Denmark.
1226 A league formed againft the Albigenfes by the
French king and many prelates and lords.
1227 The Tartars, under Gingis-Kan, emerge from
the northern parts of Afia, over-run all the
Saracen empire, and carry death and defola-
tion wherever they march.
1228 The univerfity of Thouloufe founded.
1230 The kingdom of Denmark diltreffed by pelli-
lence.
The kingdoms of Leon and Caftile united.
Pruffia fubdued by the Teutonic knights.
Univerfity of Naples founded.
1231 The Almageft of Ptolemy tranflated into Latin.
1233 The Inquilition,.begun in 1204., is now trufted
to the Dominicans.
The houfes of London, and other cities in Eng¬
land, France, and Germany, Hill thatched with
draw.
1238 The univerfity of Vienna founded.
1239' A writing of this year’s date on paper made of
rags ftill extant.
1241 The Hanfeatic league formed.
Tin mines difcovered in Germany.
1245 A clear red liar, like Mars, appears in Capricorn.
1250 Painting revived in Florence by Cimabue.
1251 Wales lubdued, and Magna Charta confirmed.
123-3 The famous altronomical tables are compofed
by Alonfo king of Caftile.
1256 The order of the Auguftines eftablifhed.
1238 The Tartars take Bagdad, which finilhes the
empire of the Saracens.
1260 The fedl of Flngellantes appeared in Italy.
1263 Acho king of Norway invades Scotland with
160 fail, and lands 20,000 men at the mouth
of the Clyde ; but they are cut to pieces by
Alexander III. who recovers^the weftern ifles.
1264 The commons of England firft fummoned to par¬
liament about this time.
1 268 The Tartars invade China.
1269 The Plamburgh company incorporated in Eng¬
land.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Cozah
Nafirodni to be 23° 30'.
1272 The academy of Florence founded.
1273 The empire of the prefent Auftrian family be¬
gins in Germany.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Cheou-
king in China to be 23° 33' 39''.
12 74 The firft commercial treaty betwixt England and
Flanders.
1279 King Edward renounced his right to Normandy.
The monmain aft palled in England.
1282 Lewdlyn, prince of Wales, defeated and killed
by Edward I. who unites that principality to
England.
A great peftilence in Denmark,
8000 French murdered at the Sicilian vefpers.
Academy de la Crufca founded.
1284 Edward II. born at Caernarvon, is the firft prince After
of Wales. Chrift.
1283 Alexander III. king of Scotland, dies, and that U
kingdom is difputed by twelve candidates, who
fubmit their claims to the arbitration of Ed¬
ward king of England ; which lays the foun¬
dation of a long and defolating war between
both nations.
1290 The univerfity of Lifbon founded.
1291 Ptolemais taken by the Turks. End of the
crufades.
1293 There is a regular fucceffion of Engliih parlia¬
ments from this year, being the 22d of Ed¬
ward I.
1294 Parliaments eftablilhqd in Paris.
1298 -The prefent Turkiflr empire begins in Bithynia
Hinder Ottoman.
Silver-hafted knives, fpoons, and cups, a great
luxury.
Tallow candles fo great a luxury, that Iplinters
of wood were ufed for lights.
Wine fold by apothecaries as a cordial.
The Scots defeated by the Englifti at Falkirk.
1299 An earthquake in Germany.
Speftacles invented by a monk of Pifa.
The year of jubilee inftituted by Boniface VIIL
1302 The mariner’s compats invented, or improved,
by Giovia, of Naples.
The univerfity of Avignon founded.
1307 The beginning of the Swifs cantons.
Coal firft ufed in England.
1308 The popes, remove to Avignon in France for
70 years.
1310 Lincoln’s inn fociety eftabliflied.
The knights of St John take pofiefiion of the
ifle of Rhodes.
13 14 The battle of Bannockburn, between Edward II.
and Robert Bruce, which eftablrlhes the latter
on the throne of Scotland.
The cardinals fet fire to the conclave and feparate.
A vacancy in the papal chair for two years.
1315 Germany afflifted with famine and peftilence.
1319 The univerlity of Dublin founded.
1320 Gold firft coined in Chriftendom ; 1344 ditto in
England.
An earthquake in England.
13 23 A great eruption of Mount A£tna.
1325 The firft treaty of commerce betwixt England
and Venice.
1330 Gunpowder invented by a monk of Cologne.
1332 The pope accufed of herefy.
1336 Two Brabant weavers fettle at York, which,
fays Edward III. may prove of great benefit
to us and our fubjefts.
1337 The firft comet whole courfe is deferibed with
an aftronomical exaftnefs.
Europe in felled by locufts.
1340 Heralds college inftituted in England.
Copper-money firft ufed in Scotland and Ireland.
1344 The firft creation to titles by patents ufed by
Edward III.
1345 Edward III, has four pieces of cannon, which
gained him the battle of Creffy.
1347 The battle of Durham, in which David, king
of Scots, is taken prifoner.
1349
C H R O N
1349 Ths order of the Garter inllituted in England
by Edward lit. altered in 1557, and confilts
of 26 knights.
13.52 The Turks firft enter Europe.
1353 Alia and Africa defolated by locuHs.
1354 The money in Scotland till now the fame as in
England.
1356 The battle of Poiftiers,' in which king John of
France and his fon are taken prifoners by Ed¬
ward the Black Prince.
1357 Coals hril brought to London.
1358 Arms of England and France firft quartered by
, Edward III.
Univerfity of Cologne founded.
Tamerlane began to reign in Perlla.
1362 The law pleadings in England changed from
. French to Engiilli as a favour of Edward III.
to his people.
The military order of Janizaries eflablilhed a-
mong the Turks.
1365 The univerfities of Vienna and Geneva founded.
1369 John. Wickliffe an Engliihman begins to call in
queftion the doctrines of the church of Rome
about this time, whofe followers are called
Lollards.
1370 The office of grand vizir eftablifhed.
1377 Inundation of the fea in Flanders.
1378 Greenland difcovered by a Venetian.
1381 'Bills of exchange firft ufed in England.
1384 The firft a£t of navigation in England ; no
goods to be exported ordmponed by Englilh-
men in foreign bottoms.
1386 A company of linen weavers from the Nether¬
lands eftabliftied in London.
» Windfor caftle built by Edward III.
1387 The fiift Lord High Admiral of England infti-
tuted.
1388 The battle of Otterburn between Hotfpur and
the earl of Douglas.
Bombs invented at Venloo.
1391 Cards invented in France for the king’s amtife-
ment.
1399 WeftminlL* abbey rebuilt and enlarged^—Weft-
minfter-hall ditto.
Order of the Bath inftituted at the coronation
of Henry IV. renewed in 1725 ; confifting of
38 knights.
1402 Tamerlane defeats and takes prifoner Bajazet
the Turkifh fultan.
1405 The Canary iflands difcovered by Bathencourt
a Norman.
1410 Guildhall, London, built.
Painting in oil-colours invented at Bruges by
John Van-eyck.
1411 The univerfity of St Andrew’s in Scotland
founded.
1412 Algebra brought from Arabia into Europe.
1415 The battle of Agincourt gained over the French
by Henry V. of England.
1420 The illand of Madeira difcovered by the Portu-
, guefe.
1421 The revenue of England amounted to L.55,754.
1428 The fiege of Orleans, the firft blow to the Eng-
lifh power in France.
1431 A great earthquake at Lilbon.
o L o G Y.
1432 Great inundations in Germany.
1437 obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Ulug
Beg to be 23J 30' 17".
1440 Printing invented by L. Kofter at Plaerlem in
Holland ; brought into England by W. Cax-
. ton, a mercer of London,
1446 The Vatican library founded at Rome.
The fea' breaks in at Dart in Holland, and
drowns 100,000 people.
x453 Conftantinople taken by the Turks, which ends
the eaftern empire, 1123 years from its dedi¬
cation by Conftantine the Great, and 2206
years from the foundation of Rome.
x454 The univerfity of Glafgow in Scotland founded.
1457 Glafs firft manufadtured in England.
1460 Engraving and etching on copper invented.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Pur-
bachius and Regiomontanus to be 23® 29'.
x473 The ftudy of the Greek language introduced
into France.
147 7 The univerfity of Aberdeen in Scotland founded.
1479 Union of the kingdoms of Arragon and Caftile.
1482 The coaft of Guinea difcovered by the Portu-
guefe.
A court of Inquifitibn ere&ed in Seville.
1483 Richard III. king of England, and laft of the
Piantagenets, is defeated and killed at the
battle of Bofworth, by Henry (Tudor) VII.
which puts an end to the civil wars between
the houfes of York and Lancafter, after a eon-
left of 30 years, and the lofs of 100,000 men.
i486 Henry eftablifhes fifty yeomen of the guards,
the firft Handing army.
1489 Maps and fea charts firft brought to England
by Barth. Columbus.
1490 William Groceyn introduces the ftudy of the
Greek language into England.
The Moors, hitherto a formidable enemy to the
native Spaniards, are entirely fubdued by Fer¬
dinand, and become fubjedfts to that prince on
certain conditions, which are ill obferved by
the Spaniards, whofe clergy ufe the Inquifition
in all its tortures; and in 1609, near one
million of the Moors are driven from Spain to
the oppofite coall of Africa, from whence they
originally came.
1492 America firft difcovered by Columbus, a Ge-
noefe, in the fervice of Spain.
The Moors expelled from Granada, which t bey-
had poffefled upwards of 800 years.
1495 The venereal difeafe introduced into Europe.
1496 The Jews and Moors baniffied out of Portugal.
1497 The Portuguefe firft fail to the Eaft Indies by
the Cape of Good Hope.
South America difcovered by Americas Vefpu-
fiusj.from whom it has its name.
1499 North America difcovered, for Henry VII. by
Cabot, a Venetian.
1500 Maximilian divides tjje empire of Germany in¬
to fix circles^ and adds four more in 1512.
Brazil difcovered by the Portuguefe. Florida
difcovered by John Cabot, an Englifhman.
Painting in chiaro obfcuro difcovered,
A great plague in England.
1505 Shillings firft coined in England,
n°7
769
After
Chrift.
CHRONOLOGY.
150"! The ifland of Madagafcar difcovered by the
Portuguefe.
1509 Gardening introduced into England from the
Netherlands,^ from whence vegetables were
imported hitherto.
1 jio The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Wer-
nenus to be 2 30 28' 30".
1513 The battle of Flowden, in which James IV.
king of Scotland is killed, with, the flower of
his nobility.
1514 Cannot bullets of ftone ftill in ufe.
1515 The firft Polyglot Bible printed at Alcala.
The kingdom of Navarre annexed to that of
Caftile by Ferdinand.
1516 The kingdom of Algiers feized by Barbarofla.
1517 Martin Luther began the Reformation.
Egypt is conquered by the Turks.
The kingdom of the Mamalukes in Egypt over¬
thrown by the Turks.
1518'Difcovery of New Spain, and the Straits of
Magellan.
1521 Henry VII. for his writings in favour of pope¬
ry, receives the title of Defender of the Faith
from his Holinefs.
1522 Rhodes taken by the Turks.
The firft voyage round the world perfohned by
a fliip of Magellan’s fquadron.
A526 The inquifition eftablilhed in Portugal.
Lutheranifm eftablifhed, in Germany.
1527 Rome taken and plundered by the Imperial
army.
1528 Pdpery abolifhed in Sweden.
1529 The name of Proteftant takes its rife from the
reformed protefting againft the church of
Rome, at the diet of Spires in Germany.
1530 Union of the Proteftants at Smallcalde, Decem¬
ber 22d.
Secretary of State’s office ellabliflied in Eng¬
land.
1531 A great earthquake at Lifbon.
1532 The Court of Seffion inftituted in Scotland.
1533 Infurreftion of the Anabaptifts in Weftphalia.
1534 The reformation takes place in England, under
Henry VIII.
Barbarofla feized on the kingdom of Tunis.
*535 The Reformation introduced into Ireland.
The fociety of Jefuits formed.
1539 The firft; Engliih edition of the Bible authori-
fed ; the prefent tranflation finiftied 161».
About this time cannon began to be ufed in
fhips.
Six hundred and forty-five religious houfes fup-
prefled in England and Wales.
1540 The variation of the compafs difcovered by Se-
baftian Cabot.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Coper¬
nicus to be 2 30 28' 8".
Society of the Jefuits eftablilhed, September 27.
1543 Silk ftockings firlt worn by the French king ;
firft worn in England by queen Eliz. 1561; the
fteel frame for weaving invented by the Ret.
Mr Lee, of St John’s College, Cambridge, 1589.
Pins firft ufed in England, before which time
the ladies ufed Ikewers.
Iron cannon and mortars made in England.
80.
1744 Good lands let in England at one Ihilling per acre.
1545 The famous council of Trent begins, and. conti¬
nues 18 years.
1547 Firft law in England eftablilhing the intereft o£
money at 10 per cent.
1548 The Reformation gained ground in Poland-
1549 Lords lieutenants of counties inftituted in Eng¬
land.
1550 Horfe guards inftituted in England.
The bank of Venice eftabliftied about this time.
1552 Books of geography and aftronomy deftroyed
in England, as being infefted with magic.
The book of Common Prayer eftablifned in
England by aft of Parliament.
1554 The kingdom of Aibacan conquered by the
Ruffians.
1555 The Ruffian company eftablilhed in England.
1558 Queen Elizabeth begins her reign.
1560 The reformation in Scotland completed by John
Knox.
1561 Livonia ceded to Poland.
1563 Knives firft made in England.
1565 Revolt of the Low Countries.
Malta attacked by the Turks.
1566 The 39 articles of the church of England elta-
bhlhed. ,
1568 Queen Mary imprifoned in England.
Liberty of exerciling the reformed religion
granted to the Low Countries.*
1569 Royal Exchange firft built.
1571 The ifland of Cyprus taken by the Turks.
They are defeated at Lepanto.
1572 The great maflacre of Proteftants at Paris:
A new ftar in Caffiopasia obferved by Cornelius
Gemma. It appeared in November, and dif-
appeared in March.
1576 Theexercife of the Proteftant religion authori-
fed in France. This toleration followed by a
civil war.
1578 The firft treaty of alliance betwixt England and
the States General, January 7th.
1579 The Dutch fliake off the Spanilh yoke, and the
republic of Holland begins.
Engliih Eaft-India company incorporated—efta-
bliftied 1600.
 Turky company incorporated.
1T80 Sir Franci? Drake returns from his voyage
round the world, being the firft Englilh cir¬
cumnavigator.
Parochial regifter firft appointed in England.
The kingdom of Portugal feized by Philip of
Spain.
1581 Cfepper money firft ufed in France.
1582 Pope Gregory introduces the New Stile in Ita¬
ly; the 5th of Oftober being counted 15.
1583 Tobacco firft brought from Virginia into Eng¬
land.
The firft propofal of fettling a colony in Ame-
1587 Mary queen of Scots is beheaded by order of
Elizabeth, after 18 years imprifonment.
1588 The Spanilh Armada deftroyed by Drake and
other Engliih admirals.
Henry IV. paffes the edift of Nantes, tolera¬
ting the Proteftants.
1588
C H R O N
158S Duelling v?ith fmall fwords introduced into
England.
1589 Coaches firft introduced into England ; hackney
aft 1693 ; increafed to 1000 in 1770.
1390 Band of penfioners inilituted in England.
Telefcopes invented by Janfen, a fpeftacle ma¬
ker in Germany.
1591 Trinity college, Dublin, founded.
1593 A great plague in London.
1594 The Jefuits expelled from France.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Byr-
gius to be 230 30'.
1595 The fame obferved by Tycho-Brache to be
230 29' 25".
1596 A great earthquake at Japan.
1597 Watches firft brought into England from Ger¬
many.
*598 The edift of Nantes by Henry IV. of France.
1602 Decimal arithmetic invented at Bruges.
1603 Queen Elizabeth (the lafl of the Tudors) dies,
and nominates James VI. of Scotland as her
fucceffor; which unites both kingdoms under
the name of Great Britain.
1605 The Gunpowder-plot difcovered at ^’eftmin-
fter; being a projeft to blow up the king and
both houfes of Parliament.
1606 Oaths of allegiance firft adminiftered in England.
1608 Colonies fent from England to Virginia.
1609 The independency of the United States ac¬
knowledged by Spain.
1610 Galileo, of Florence, firft difcovers the fatel-
lites about the planet Jupiter, by the telefcope,
lately invented in Germany.
Henry IV. is murdered st Paris by Ravaillac,
a pneft.
Thermometers invented by Diebel, a Dutchman.
1611 Baronets firft created in England by James I.
May 22.
An earthquake at Conftantinople; 200,000
perfons died there of the plague.
1612 1 he north-weft paffage to China attempted in
vain by the Englifh.
1614 Napier of Marchefton, in Scotland, invents the
logarithms.
Sir Hugh Middleton brings the new river to
London from Ware.
1616 The firft permanent fettlement in Virginia.
1619 W. Harvey, an Englifhman, confirms the doc¬
trine of the circulation of the blood, which
had been firft broached by Servetius, a French
phyfician, in 1553.
1620 The broad filk manufafture from raw filk, in¬
troduced into England.
Barbadqes difcovered by Sir William Courteen.
Navarre united to France.
Copper-money firft introduced in England.
*1621 New England planted by the Puritans.
The two parties of Whigs and Tories, formed in
England.
1622 The Palatinate reduced by the Imperialifts.
,1623 The knights of Nova Scotia inftituted.
1624 Maffacre of the Englifh at Amboyna.
1625 King James dies, and is fucceeded by his fon,
Charles I.
Vol. IV. Part II.
O L O G Y.
1625 The ifland of Barbadoes, the firft Engfifh fettk-
ment in the Weft Indies, is planted. ^
1631 The tranfit of Mercury over the fun’s difk, firft
obferved by Gaffendi.
A great eruption of Vefuvius.
1632 Ihe battle of Lutzen, in which Guftavus Adol¬
phus, king of Sweden, and head of the Pro-
teftants in Germany, is killed.
1633 Galileo condemned by the Inquifition at Rome.
Louifiana difeovered by the French.
1635 Province of Maryland planted by Lord-Balti¬
more.
Regular polls eftablilhed from London to Scot¬
land, Ireland, &c.
1636 A tranfit of Mercury over the fun’s dilk obfer¬
ved by Cafiine.
1639 A tranfit of Venus over the fun’s dilk, firft ob¬
ferved by Mr Horrox, November 24th. O. S.
3 h 15' P. M.
1640 King Charles difobliges hisScottilh fubjefts.; on
which their army, under general Lelley, en¬
ters England, and takes Newcaftle, being en¬
couraged by the malecontents in England.
The maffacre in Ireland, when 40,000 Englilh
-Proteftants were killed.
The independency) of Portugal recovered by
John duke of Braganza.
1642 King Charles impeaches five refraftory mem¬
bers, which begins the civil wars in England.
1643 Excife on beer, ale, &c. firft impofed by par¬
liament. J ■
Barometers invented by Torricelli.
1648 A new liar obferved in the tail of the Whale by
Fabricius.
1649 Charles I. beheaded by Cromwell at Whitehall^
January 30, aged 49.
Pendulums firft applied to clacks by Huygens.
1651 The fcCt called Quakers appeared in England.
1652 The Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope
eilabliihed.
1654 Cromwell affumes the prote&orfliip.
The air-pump invented by Otto Guericke of
Magdeburg.
1655 The Engliih, under Admiral Penn, take Jamaica
from the Spaniards.
One of Saturn’s fatellites obferved by Huygens.
1658 Cromwell dies, and is fucceeded in the protetfor-
Ihip by his fon Richard.
1660 King Charles II. is reftored by Monk, comman¬
der of the army, after an exile of twelve years
in France and Holland.
The people of Denmark, being oppreffed by the
nobles, furrender their privileges to Frederic III.
who becomes abfolute.
1661 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Heve-
lius to be 230 29' 7''.
1662 The Royal Society eftablifned at London by
Charles II.
1G63 Carolina planted: 1728, divided intotwofeparate
governments.
Pruffia declared independent of Poland.
1664 The New Netherlands in North America con¬
quered from the Swedes and Dutch by the
Englilh.
5E
:C<55 The
C H R O N
1665 The plague rages in London, and carries off
68,000 perfons.
The magic lantern invented by Kircher.
1666 The great fire of London began Sept. 2. and
continued three days, in which were deftroyed
13,000 houfes and 400 ftreets.
Tea firft ufed in England.
1667 The peace of Breda, which confirms to the Eng-
lifh the New Netherlands, now known by the
names of Pennfylvania, New York, and New
Jerfey.
1668  ditto, Aix la Chapelle.
St James’s Park planted, and made a thorough¬
fare for public ufe by Charles 11.
1669 The fill and of Candia taken by the Turks.
1670 The Englilh Hudfon’s Bay company incorpora¬
ted.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Men-
goli to be 230 28' 24'.
1672 Louis XIV. over-runs great part of Holland,
when the Dutch opened their fluices, being de¬
termined to drown their country and retire to
their fettlements in the Eaft Indies.
African company eftablilhed.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Richer
to be 230 28' 54".
1677 The micrometer invented by Kircher.
1678 The peace of Nimeguen.
The habeas corpus aft paffed.
A ftrange darknefsat noon-day, Jan. 12.
1.680 A great comet appeared, and from its nearnefs
to our earth alarmed the inhabitants. It con¬
tinued vifible from Nov. 3. to March 9.
William Penn, a Quaker, receives a charter for
planting Pennfylvania.
1683 India ftock fold from 360 to 500 per cent.
1685 Charles II. dies, aged 5:5, and is fucceeded by
his brother James II.
The Duke of Monmouth, natural fon to Charles 11.
raifes a rebellion, but is defeated at the battle
of Sedgmore and beheaded.
The edift of Nantes is revoked by Louis XIV.
and the Proteftants are greatly diftreffed.
1686 The Newtonian philofophy pubfilhed.
1687 The palace of Verfailles, near Paris, finilhed by
Louis XIV.
1688 The Revolution in Great Britain begins Nov. 5.
King James abdicates, and retires to France,
December 3.
King William and Queen Mary, daughter and
fon-in-law to James, are proclaimed Februa¬
ry 16.
Vifcount Dundee Hands out for James in Scotland,
but is killed by General Mackay at the battle
of Killycrankie; upon which the Highlanders,
wearied with repeated misfortunes, difperfe.
Smyrna deftroyed by an earthquake.
2689 The land-tax paffed in England.
The toleration-aft paffed in ditto.
Several bilhops are deprived for not taking the
oaths to. William.
William Fuller, who pretended to prove the
Prince of Wales fpurious, was voted by the
commons to be a notorious cheat, impoftor, and
Life accufer.
O L O G Y.
1689 Epifcopacy abolilhed in Scotland.
1690 The battle of the Boyne, gained by William a-
gainft James, in Ireland.
1691 The war in Ireland finilhed, by furrender of
Limerick to William.^
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Flam-
ftead to be 230 28 32".
1692 The Englilh and Dutch fleets, commanded by
Admiral Ruffel, defeat the French fleet off
La Hogue.
The malfacre of Glencoe in Scotland, Jan. 31.
O. S.
Earthquakes in England and Jamaica, Septem¬
ber 8.
Hanover made an eleftorate of the empire.
1693 Bayonets at the enduSf loaded mulkets firft ufed
by the French againft the confederates in the
battle of Turin.
Bank of England eftablilhed by King William.
The firft public lottery was drawn this year.
1694 Queen Mary dies at the age of 33, and William
reigns alone.
Stamp duties inftituted in England.
1696 The peace of Ryfwick.
1699 The Scots fettled a colony at the ifthmus of Da¬
rien in America, and called it Caledonia.
1700 Charles XII. of Sweden begins his reign.
King James II. dies at St Germains in the 68th
year of his age.
1701 Pruflia erefted into a kingdom.
Society for the propagation of the gofpel in fo¬
reign parts eftablilhed.
1702 King William dies, aged 50, and is fucceeded by
Queen Anne, daughter to James II. who, with-
the Emperor and States General, renews the
war againft France and Spain.
The French fent colonies to the Miffifippi.
1703 The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Bian-
chini to be 230 28' 25''.
1704 Gibraltar taken from the Spaniards by Admiral
Rooke.
The battle of Blenheim won by the Duke of
Marlborough and allies againft; the French.
The court of Exchequer inftituted in England,
1706 The treaty of Union betwixt England and Scot¬
land, figned July 22.
The battle of Ramillies won by Marlborough and.
the allies.
1707 The firft Britilh parliament.
The allies defeated at Almanza,
1708 Minorca taken from the Spaniards by General.
Stanhope.
The battle of Oudenarde won by Marlborough
and the allies.
.1709 Peter the Great, czar of Mofcovy,. defeats
Charles XII. at Poltowa, who flies to Turky.
The battle of Malplaquet won by Marlborough
and the allies.
1710 Queen Anne changes the Whig miniftry for
others more favourable to the intercft of her
brother the late Pretender.
The.cathedral church of St Paul, London, rebuilt
by Sir Chriftopher Wren. in 37 years, at ons
million expence, by a duty on coals.
The Engliih South-fea company began.
1712 Duke
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1718
1719
1720
1724
1727
I732
1733
1736
J-737
*738
*739
*743
C H R O N
Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun killed in a
duel in Hide-Park.
The peace of Utrecht, whereby Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia, New Britain, and Hudfon’s Bay,
in North America, were yielded to Great Bri¬
tain ; Gibraltar and Minorca, in Europe, were
alfo confirmed to the faid crown by this treaty.
Queen Anne dies, at the age of 50, and is fuc-
ceeded by George I.
Intereft reduced to five per cent.
Louis XIV. dies, and is fucceeded by his great-
grandfon Louis XV. the late king of France.
The rebellion in Scotland begins in September
under the Earl of Mar, in favour of the Preten¬
der. The attion of Sberiffmuir, and the fur-
render of Prefton, both in November, when the
rebels difperfe.
The obliquity of the ecliptic obferved by Lou-
ville to be 230 28' 24'.
The Pretender married the princefs Sobielka,
grand-daughter of John Sobielki, late king of
Poland.
An aft palled for feptennial parliaments.
Sardinia erefted into a kingdom, and given to
the duke of Savoy.
The Miilifippi fcheme at its height in France.
Lombe’s filk-throwing machine, containing
26,586 wheels, erefted at Derby: takes up
one-eighth of a mile; one water-wheel moves
the reft; and in 24 hours it works 318,504,960
yards of organzine filk thread.
The South-fea fcheme in England begun April 7.
was at its height at the end of June, and quite
funk about September 29.
A great earthquake in China.
An earthquak* in Denmark.
King George dies, in the 68th year of his age;
and is fucceeded by his only fon, George II.
Inoculation fir ft tried on criminals with fuccefs.
Ruffia, formerly a dukedom, is now eftablilhed
as an empire.
The aberration of the fixed liars difcovered and
accounted for by Dr Bradley.
Kouli Khan ufurps the Perlian throne, conquers
the Mogul empire, and returns with two hun¬
dred thirty-one millions Sterling,
Several public-fpirited gentleman begin the fet-
tlement of Georgia in North America.
The Jefuits expelled from Paraguay.
Capt. Porteous having ordered his foldiers to
fire upon the populace at an execution of a
fmuggler, is himfelf hanged by the mob at E*
dinburgh.
A tranfitof Mercury obferved by Caffini.
A dreadful hurricane at the mouth of the Gan¬
ges, Oft. 10.
Weftminfter-bridge, confifting of 15 arches, be¬
gun; finilhed in 1750, at the expence of
389,000!. defrayed by parliament.
The order of St Januarius, eftablilhed at Naples.
Letters of marque ilfued out in Britain againft
Spain July 21. and war declared, Oft. 23.
The empire of Indoftan ruined by Kouli Khan.
An intenfe froft in Britain.
The battle of Dettingen won by the Englilh and
allies in favour of the Queen of Hungary.
O L O G Y. 77
1743 A dreadful.plague in Sicily. After
1744 War declared againft France.—Commodore An-, Chrilt-
fon returns from his voyage round the world.
1745 The allies lofe the battle at Fontenoy.
The rebellion breaks out in Scotland, and the
Pretender’s army defeated by the Duke of
Cumberland at Culloden, April 16. 1746.
1746 Britilh Linen Company erefted.
Lima deft royed by an earthquake.
1747 Kouli Khan murdered.
1748 The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, by which a re-
ftitution of all places taken during the war was
to be made on all fides.
1749 The intereft on the Britilh funds reduced to
3 per cent.
Britilh herring-filhery incorporated.
The coldny of Nova Scotia founded.
1750 Earthquake in England.
1751 Frederic prince of Wales, father to his prefent
majefty, died.
Antiquarian fociety at London incorporated.
1752 The new ftile introduced into Great Britain; the
3d of September being counted the 14th.
*753 r^'^e Britilh mufeum erefted at Montague-houfe.
Society of arts, manufaftures, and commerce,
inftituted in London.
1754 A dreadful eruption of mount JEtna.
A great earthquake at Conftantinople, Cairo,
&c. Sept. 2d.
*755 Quito in Peru deftroyed by an earthquake,
April 28th.
Lilbon deftroyed by an earthquake, Nov. ift.
*756 146 Englilhmen are confined in the black hole
at Calcutta in the Eaft Indies by order of the
nabob, and 123 found dead next morning.
Marine fociety eftablilhed at London.
The King of Pruflia commenced hoftilities in the
month of Auguft in Saxony. Defeats the Au-
ftrians at Lo.
1757 Damien attempted to aflaflinate the French king.
The King of Pruffia invades Bohemia. Defeats
the Andrians at Reichenberg, April 21ft, and
at Prague, May 6th. Repulfed by Count Daun
at Kolin, June 18th.
The allies defeated by the French at Haftenbeck,
July 26th,
Convention of Clofter Seven, Sep. 8th.
The King of Prufiia defeats the French and Au-
ftrians at Rolbach, Nov. 5. The Pruffians de¬
feated near Breflaw, Nov. 22d. The Auftrians
defeated at Liffa, Dec. 5th.
1758 Senegal taken by the Britilh, May ift. They
take Louilbourg, July 27th.
The King of Pruffia defeats the Ruffians at
Zorndorf, Auguft 25th. Is defeated by Count
Daun at Hoch-kirchen, Oft. 14th.
Goree taken by Commodore Keppel, Dec. 29th,
Attempt to affaffinate the King of Portugal,
Dec. 3.
1759 General Wolfe is killed in the battle of Quebec,
which is gained by the Britilh.
The French defeated by Prince Ferdinand at
Bergen, April 13th.
Gaudaloupe taken by the Britilh, May ift.
King of Pruffia defeated by the Ruffians at Cu- ^
nerfdorf, Aug. 12th.
5 E .2
1759 The
CHRONOLOGY.
1759 The French fleet defeated by Admiral Hawke,
Nov. 20th.
Balbec and Tripoli deftroyed by an earthquake,
Dec. 5th.
1760 King George II. dies Oftober 25th, in the 77th
year of his age, and is fucceeded by his prefent
majelly, who, on the 22d of September 1761,
married the princefs Charlotte of Mecklenburgh
Strelitz.
Blackfriars-bridge, confifting of 9 arches, be¬
gun; finiftied 1770, at the expence of 152,840!.
to be difcharged by a toll.
A .tranfit of Venus over the fun June 6th.
Earthquakes in Syria Oft. 13th.
The King of Pruffia defeats the Auftrians at
Torgau Nov. 3d.
1761 Pondicherry taken by Col. Coote Jan. 15th.
Bellejfle furrendeted to the Britifli Feb. 4th.
1762 War declared againft Spain.
Peter III. emperor of Rufiia, is depofed, impri-
fontd, and murdered.
American philofophical fociety eftablifhed in Phi¬
ladelphia.
George Auguftus Frederic, prince of Wales,
born Aug. 12th.
Martinico furrendered to the Britifh Feb. 4th.
Havannah furrendered to ditto Aug. 12 th.
Manilla taken by ditto Oft. 6th.
13763 The definitive treaty of peace between Great
Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, conclu¬
ded at Paris February icth; which confirms to
Great Britain the extenfive provinces of Cana¬
da, Eaft and Weft Florida, and part of Loui-
fiana, in North America; alfo the iflands of
Granada, St Vincent, Dominica, and Tobago,
in the Weft Indies.
The Jefuits expelled from France.
1764 The parliament granted 10,0001. to Mr Har-
rifon for his difcovery of the longitude by his
time-piece.
Famine and peftilence in Italy.
An eaithquake at Lilbon.
1765 His majefty’s royal charter palled for incorpora¬
ting the fociety of artifts.
An aft palled annexing the fovereignty of the
ifland of Man to the crown of Great Britain,
i 766 April 21 ft, a fpot or macula of the fun, more than
thrice the bignefs of our earth, palled the fun’s
centre.
The American ftamp-aft repealed March 18th.
A great earthquake at Conftantinople.
The Jefuits expelled from Bohemia and Den¬
mark.
1767 The Jefuits expelled from Spain, Venice} and
Genoa, April 2d.
Martinico almoft deftroyed by an earthquake.
The Proteftants tolerated in Poland Nov. 2d.
1-768 Academy of painting eftablilhed in Eondon.
The.Turks imprifon the Ruffian ambaffador, and
declare war againft that empire.
The Jefuits expelled from Naples, Malta, and
Parma.
1769 .Paoli fled from Corfica June 13th. The ifland
then reduced by the French.
1770 An earthquake at St Domingo. lifter
1771 Dr Solander and Mr Banks, in his majefty’S Ihip Chrift.
the Endeavour, Lieut. Cook, return from a
voyage round the world, having made feveral
important difeoveries in the Southfeas.
An emigration of 500,000 Tourgouths from the
coafts of the Cafpian Sea to the frontiers of
China.
1772 The King of Sweden changes the conftitution
from ariltocracy to a limited monarchy.
The Pretender marries a princefs of Germany,
grand-daughter of Thomas late Earl of Aylef-
bury.
The Emperor of Germany, Emprtfs of Ruffia,
and the King of Pruffia, ftrip the King of Po¬
land of a great part his dominions, which
they divide among themfelves, in violation of
the molt folemn treaties.
1773 Captain Phipps is fent to explore the North
Pole; but having made 81 degrees, is in danger
of being locked up by the ice, and his attempt
to difeover a paffage in that quarter proves
fruitlefs.
The Englilh Eaft India company having, by con-
queft or treaty, acquired the extenfive pro¬
vinces of Bengal, Orixa, and Bahar, contain¬
ing 15 millions of inhabitants, great irregula¬
rities are committed by their fervants abroad ;
upon which government interferes, and fends-
out judges, &c. for the better adminiftration
of juftice.
The war between the Ruffians and the Turks
proves difgraceful to the latter, who lofe the
iilands in the Archipelago, and by the fea are
every where unfuccefsful.
The fociety of Jefuits fuppreffed by the Pope’s,
bull Auguft 25th.
1774 Peace is proclaimed between the Ruffians and -
the Turks.
The Britilh parliament having pafied an aft lay¬
ing a duty of 3d. per pound upon all teas im¬
ported into America, the colonifts, confidering
this as a grievance, deny the right of the Britilh
parliament to tax them.
The American colonies fend deputies to Phila¬
delphia, wrho aflume the title of ’The Gongrefs of
the Thirteen United Provinces^ and all the powers-
of government.
1775 The American war commences. Aftion at'
Bunker’s Hill June 7th.
The Spaniard’s land near Algiers and are de^
feated July 8th.
1776 The congrefs declare the United States of Ame¬
rica independent of the crown and parliament
of Great Britain.
The Americans receive a dreadful defeat at
Long-Ifland Auguft 2.7th.
1777 Philadelphia taken by the Britilh Oft. 3d.
General Burgoyne with his army furrender to
the Americans.
1779 A moft extraordinary eruption of Vefuvius Au¬
guft 8 th.
The fiege of Gibraltar begun by the Spaniards
July 8th.
1780
Chimes.
rjVvhj /tftf fatie.
Hate CXXXVE.
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C H R O N
After 1780 Jan. 141b, 6 h. A. M. the thermometer fufpend-
Chrift. ed in the open air at Giafgow, hood at 46° be-
 v—low o.
The .Spanifli fleet defeated by Admiral Rodney
Jan/ 16th.,
Charkfton furrendered to the Britifh May i'2th.
A dreadful infurredlion in London, and riots in
many other places, of tire kingdom.
A great number of Bn'tifli fhips taken by the
combined fleets of France and Spain.
Lord Cornwallis defeats the Americans at Cam¬
den.
A dreadful hurricane in the Leeward Blands
061. 9th.
An extraordinary ftorm of wind in England-
War declared againft the Dutch Dec. 2e^h.
1.781 A terrible engagement between the Dutch and
Britifh fleets near the Dogger Bank Aug. 5.
Lord Cornwallis with his army furrender to the
united forces of France and America Oft. 1 8th.
1782 Minorca furrendered to the Spaniards Februa¬
ry 4th.
The French fleet under De Grafle defeated
O L O G Y. 773
and almoft deftroyed by Admiral Rodney After
April 12th. Chnft.
The Spanifh floating batteries before Gibraltar
entirely deilroyed Sept. 12th.
1783 Pteliminaries of a general peace fsgned. Ame¬
rica declared independent Jan. 20th.
A dreadful earthquake, attended with many ex¬
traordinary circumftances,: in Italy and Sicily.
The fun obfcured by a kind of fog during the
wtioie fummer.
A volcanic eruption in Iceland furpafling any
thing recorded in biftory. The lava {pouted
up in three-places to the height of two miles
perpendicular, and continued thus for two
, months ; during which time it covered a traft
of 3.600 fquare miles of ground, in fome places
more than 100 feet deep.
A large meteor appears to the northward of
Shetland, and takes its direftion fouthward,.
with a velocity little inferior to that of the
earth in its annual cotufe round the fun. Ixs^
traft. obferved for more than loop miles.
Chronome- CHRONOMETER, in general, denotes any in¬
ter. ftrument or machine ufed in meafuring time ; fuch are
1 v  dials, clocks, watches, Cifr. See Dial, £sfr..
The term chronometer, however, is generally irffcd
in a more limited fenfe, for a kind of clock fo contri¬
ved as to meafure a fmaU portion of time with great
exaftnefs, even to the flxteenth part of a feoond : of
fuch a one there is a defcription: in Defagulier’s ex-
‘ perimental philofophy, invented by the late ingenious
Mr George Graham; which muft be allowed "to be
of great ufe for. meafuring fmall portions, of time in
sftronomical obfervations,, the time of the fall of bo¬
dies, the velocity of running waters, &c. But long
fpaces of time oannot be meafured by it with fuflicient
exaftnefs, unlefs its pendulum be made to vibrate in
a cycloid ; becaufe, otherwife it is liable to err confi-
derably, as all clocks are which have fhort pendulums
that fwing in large arches of a circle.
There, have been feveral machines contrived for
meafuring time, under the name of chronometers, up¬
on principles very different from thofe on- which clocks
and watches are conftrufted.
Plate CXXXVI. fig. 1. reprefents an air-chronome¬
ter, which is conftrufted in the following manner. Pro¬
vide aglafs tube^of about an inch in diameter, and three
or four feet long: the diameter of the infide of this tube
muft be precifely equal in every part: at the bottom
rauft be a fmall hole, clofely covered with a valve. In
the tube place a pifton E, fig. 2. which is made to fit
it exaftly, and muft be oiled, that it may move in the
tube with the greateft freedom: in this pifton there
is a cock that fhuts quite.clofe; and from the top of it
there goes a cord F, which paffes through the handle
G. The cock of the pifton being doled, it is to be
let down to the bottom of the tube, and being then
drawn up to the top, the air will then rufh in by the
valve at the bottom of the tube, and fupport the pif¬
ton. You are then to turn the cock, fo as to make a
very fmall vent; and the air palling flowly through
that vent, the piftbn will gradually defeend, and fhow Chronome*
the hour, either by lines cut in the tube with a dia- ter‘
mond, or marked with paint, or by fmall flips of pa- v'
per painted on the glafs. If this chronometer fhould
go too faft or too flow, it may be eafily regulated by
altering the poiition of the cock in the pifton, as it is
on that the whole depends.
If, inftead of marking the tube, you would have
the time fhown by a dial, it may be eafily effeftedby
placing an axis to which the hand of the dial is fixed,,
direftly over the tube, and winding the fixing to
which the pifton is joined round, that axis ; for then,.,
as the pifton defeends, the axis will gradually turn
the hand, and fhow the hour: but it mult be obferved,.
that as the defeent of. the pifton is not conftantly re¬
gular, on account of the decreafe of refiftance from
the quantity of the fubjacent air as the piftbn defeends,.
the axis therefore muft not be a regular cylinder, but
conical like the fufee of a watch, as in fig. 3. by which ,
means the motion of the hand of the dial will be con-
ftant and regular.
Fig. 4. reprefents a lamp-chronometer. It confifta
of a chamber lamp A, which is a cylindrical veflel a-
bout three inches high, and one inch diameter, placed
in the ftand B. The infide of this veffel muft be every
where exaftly of the fame diameter. To the ftand
B is fixed the handle C, which fupports- the frame
DEFG, about 12 inches high, and four wide. This
frame is to be covered with oiled paper, and divided
into twelve equal parts by horizontal lines ; at the
end of which are wrote the numbers for the hours,,
from 1 to 12, and between the horizontal lines are
diagonals that are divided into halves, quarters, GV.
On the handle B, and clofe to the glafs, is fixed the
ftyle or gnomon H. Now, as the diftance of the
ftyle from the flame of the lamp is only half an inch, .
if the diftance of the frame from the ftyle is only fix
inches, then, while the float that contains the light.
defeends, by the decreafe. of the- oil, one inch, the
lhadow
c H II [ 774 J C H R
Chronome- fiiadow of the ftyle on the frame will afcend twelve
t®r inches, that is, its whole length, and fhow by its pro-
Chryfa. greffion the regular increafe of the hours, with their
feveral divifions. It is abfolutely neceflary, however,
that the oil ufed in this lamp be always of the fame
fort and quite pure, and that the wick alfo be con-
ftantly of the fame frze and fubftance, as it is on thefe
circumftances, and the uniform figure of the vefiel,
that the regular-progrefs of the fhadow depends.
Chronometer, among muficians, an inftrument
invented by Loulie, a Prench mufician, for the pur-
pofe of meafuring time by' means of a pendulum. The
form of the inflrument, as defcribed by him, is that of
an Ionic pilafler, and is thus defcribed by Malcolm in
his Treatife of Mufic, p. 407.—“ The chronometer
confifts of a large ruler or board, fix feet or 72 inches
long, to be fet on end ; it is divided into its inches,
and the numbers fet fo as to count upwards; and at
every divifion there is a fmall round hole, through
whofe centre the line of divifion runs. At the top of
this ruler, about an inch above the divifion 72, and
perpendicular to the ruler, is inferted a fmall piece of
■ wood, in the upper fide of which there is a groove,
hollowed along from the end that Hands out to that
which is fixed in the ruler, and near each end of it a
hole is made : through thefe holes a pendulum cord is
drawn, which runs in the groove : at that end of the
cord which comes through the hole furthefl from the
ruler, the ball is hilng; and at the other end there is
a fmall woAden pin, which can be put in any of the
holes of the ruler : when the pin is in the upmoft. hole
at 72, then the pendulum from the top to the centre
of the ball muft be exaftly 72 inches ; and therefore,
whatever hole of the ruler it is put in, the pendulum
wall be juft fo many inches as that figure at the hole
denotes. The manner of ufing the machine is this :
The compofer lengthens or fhortens his pendulum, till
one vibration be equal to the defigned length of his
bar, and then, the pin Hands at a certain divifion,
which marks the length of the pendulum ; and this
number being fet with the cliff at the beginning of
the fong, is a dire&ion -for others how to ufe the
chronometer in meafuring the time according to the
compofer’s defign: for with the number is fet the
note, crotchet, or minim, whofe value he would have
the vibration to be ; which in brifk duple time is beft
a minim or half bar, or even a whole bar, when that
is but a minim; and in flow time a crotchet. In
triple time, it would do well to be the third part or
half, or fourth part of a bar; and in the Ample triples
that are allegro, let it be a whole bar. And if, in
every time that is allegro, the vibration is applied to
a whole or half bar, pra&ice -will teach us to fubdi-
vide it juftly and equally. • Obferve, that, to make
this machine of univerfal ufe, fome canonical meafure
of the divifions muft be agreed upon, that the figure
may give a certain direftion for the length of the
pendulum.
CHROSTASIMA, in natural hiftory, a genus of
pellucid gems, comprehending all thofe which appear
of one Ample and permanent colour in all lights; fuch
are the diamond, carbuncle, ruby, garnet, amethyft,
fapphire, beryl, emerald, and the topaz. See Dia¬
mond, Carbuncle,
CHRYSA, (anc. geog.), a town of My-fia, on the
fintis Adramyttenus; extindl in Pliny’s time: it had Chryfali*.
a temple of Apollo Smintheus (Homer, Strabo). The J
country of the fair Chryfeis, who gave firft rife to the
quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles.
CHRYSALIS, or Aurelia, in natural hiftory,'a
ftate of reft and feeming infenfibility, which butter¬
flies, moths, and feveral other kinds of infefts, muft
pafs through before they arrive at their winged or
moft perfeift ftate.
In this ftate, no creatures afford fo beautiful a va¬
riety as the butterfly kinds, and they all pafs through
this middle ftate without one exception. The figure
of the aurelia or chryfalis generally approaches to that
of a cone, or at leaft the hinder part of it is in this
fliape ; and the creature, while in this ftate, feems to
have neither legs nor wing^rnor has any power of
walking. It feems indeed to have hardly fo much as
life. It takes no nouriftiment in this ftate, nor has it any
organs for taking any ; and indeed its pofterior part is
all that feems animated, this having a power of giving
itfelf fome motions. The external covering of the
chryfalis is cartilaginous, and confiderably large, and
is ufually fmooth and gloffy but fome few of them
have a few hairs; fome are alfo as hairy as the cater¬
pillars from which they are produced; and others
are rough, and, as it were, ftiagreened all over.
In all of thefe there may be diftinguifhed two fides;
the one of which is the back, the other the belly of the
animal. On the anterior part of the latter, there
may always be diftinguifhed certain little elevations
running'in ridges, and refembling the fillets wound
about mummies : the part whence thefe have their
origin, is efteempd the head of the animal. The other
fide, or back, is fmooth, and of a rounded figure in
moft of the chryfalifes; but fome have ridges on the
anterior part, and fides ef this part; and thefe ufually
terminate in a point, and make an angular appearance
on the chryfalis.
From this difference is drawn the firft general dif-
tinftion of thefe bodies. They are by this divided into
two claffes ; the round and the angular kinds. The
firft are, by the French naturalifts, called feves; from
the common cuftom of calling the chryfalis of the filk-
worm, which is round, by this name.
There is fomething more regular in this diftindlion
than, might at firft be conceived ; for the divifion is
continued from the fly-ftate : the rounded chryfalifes
being almoft all produced by the phalena or moths ;
and the angular ones by the pnpUios, or day-flies.
There are feveral fubordinate diftinitions of thefe
kinds ; but, in general, they are lefs different from
one another than the caterpillars from whence they are
produced.
The head of thofe of the firft clafs ufually termi¬
nates itfelf by two angular parts, which Hand feparate
one from the other, and refemble a pair of horns.
On the back, eminences and marks are difeovered,
which imagination may form into eyes, nofe, chin,
and other parts of the human face.
There is a great variety and a great deal of beauty
in the figures and arrangement of the eminences and
fpots on the other part of the body of the chryfalifes of
different kinds. It is a general obfervation, that thofe
chryfalifes which are terminated by a fingde horn, af¬
ford day-butterflies of the kind of thofe which have
buttoned
C H R [ 775 1 C H R
Chry falls, buttoned antennas, and whofe wings, in a ftate of reft, kind in the chryfalis of the elegant cabbage-caterpillar. Chryfah's.
^—~J cover the under part of their body, and which ufe all The general colour of the chryfalis of the common 
their fix legs in walking, thofe of many other kinds butterflies, however, is brown.
ufing only four of them. Thofe chryfalifes which ;
terminated by two angular bodies, and which are co¬
vered with a great number of fpines, and have the fi¬
gure of a human face on their back in the greateft
Some are alfo of a fine deep black; and of thefe
many are fo fmooth and gloffy, that they are equal to
the fineft Indian japan. The common caterpillar of
the fig-tree gives an inftance of one of thefe moft
perfedtion, afford butterflies of the day-kind; and of beautiful gloffy ones; the caterpillar of the vine af-
that clafs the charadlers of which are, their walking fords another of thefe fine black chryfalifes.
on four legs, and ufing the other two, that is, the an¬
terior part, in the manner of arms or hands. The
chryfalifes which have two angular bodies on their
heads, but (horter than thofe of the preceding, and
whofe back ihows but a faint {ketch of th^ human face,
and which have fewer fpiues, and thofe lefs ftiarp,
always turn to that fort of butterfly the upper wings
of which are divided into fegments, one of which is
fo long as to reprefent a tail, and whofe under wings
are folded over the upper part of the back. A careful
obfervation will eftablifh many more rules of this kind,
The rounded chryfalifes do not afford any thing of
that variety of colouring fo remarkably beautiful in
the angular ones; they are ufually of a dufky yellow,
in different {hades, and are often varioufly fpotted
with black: but thefe, as well as all other chryfalifes,
before they arrive at their fixed colour, pafs through
feveral other temporary ones ; fome being of a-diffe¬
rent colour when firft produced from the caterpillar,
from what they are a few days afterwards; and fomej
varying fo greatly, though only in degree, as not to
be diftinguiftiable, even by the moft converfant eye.
which are not fo perfeft as to be free from all excep- from what they were when firft produced. The -
tions; yet are of great ufe, as they teach us in gene¬
ral what fort of fly we are to expeft from the chryfalis,
of which we-know not the caterpillar, and therefore
can only judge from appearances.
Thefe are the principal differences of the angular
chryfalifes ; the round ones alfo have their diflerent
marks not lefs regular than thofe.
green rough caterpillar of the cabbage has a chryfalis
which is green at firft ; and from that gradually goes
through all the {hades of green to a faint yellow,
which is its lafting colour ;■ and one of the oak cater<-
pillars yields a chryfalis beautifully fpotted with red at
its firft appearance; but thefe fpots change to brown
for their fixed colour: the third day from their for-
The greater number of the round chryfalifes have mation ufually fixes their lafting colours; and if they
the hinder part of their body of the figure of a cone ;
but the upper end, which ought to be its circular plane
bafe, is ufually bent and rounded into a fort of knee :
this is ufually called the head of the chryfalis; but
there are alfo fome of this kind, the head of which is
terminated by a nearly plane furface: fonie of the
creeping ten-legged caterpillars give chryfalifes of this
are obferved to turn black in any part after this time,
it is a fign that they are dead or dying, -
The feveral fpecies of infefts, as a fly, fpider, and
an ant, do not differ more, evidently from one ano¬
ther in regard to appearance, than do. a caterpillar, -
its chryfalis, and. a butterfly produced from it; yet it
is certain, that thefe are all the produft of the fame -
kind, which have each of them two eminences that individual egg; and nothing is more certain, than
feem to bring them towards the angular kind.
Among the angular chryfalifes there are fome whofe
that the creatfire which was for a while a caterpillar,
after a certain time, a chryfalis, and then a but-
colours feem as worthy our obfervation as the ftiapes terfly. Thefe great changes produced in fo fudden a
©f the others. Many of them appear fuperbly clothed manner, feem like the metamorphofes recorded in the
gold. Thefe elegant fpecies have obtained the
name of chryfalis and aurelia-, which are derived from
Greek and Latin words, fignifying gold ; and from
thefe all other bodies of the fame kind have been cal¬
led by the fame names, though lefs, or not at all, in-
titled to them. As fome kinds are thus gilded all
over, fo others are ornamented with this gay appear¬
ance in a more fparing manner, haying only a few
fpots of it in different places on their back and belly.
Thefe obvious marks, however, are not to be de¬
pended upon as certain charafters of diftinftion: for
accidents in the formation of the chryfalis may alter
fables of the anciepts; and indeed it is not improbable
that thofe fables firft took their origin from fuch
changes.
The parts being diftinguiftiable in the chryfalis, we
eafily find the difference of the fpecies of the fly that
is to proceed from it. The naked eye (hows whether
it be one of thofe that have, or of thofe that have not,
a trunk ; and the affiftance of a microfcope fliows the
antennse fo diftinftly, that we are able to difcern whe¬
ther it belongs to the.day or night clafs; and often to '
what genus, if not the very fpecies: nay, in the plu-
mofe horned, kinds,, we may fee, by the antennae,
them; and thofe which naturally would have been whether a male or female phalaena is to be produced
gilded all over, may be fometimes only fo in part ;
and either thefe or the others may, by accident, be fo
formed, as to {how nothing of this kind at all, but be
only of a dulky brown. Thofe, however, which have
neither fiiver nor gold to recommend them to your
eyes, do not want other colours* and thofe beautifully
variegated. Some of them are. all over of an elegant
green, as is the chryfalis of the fennel-caterpillar;
others of an elegant yellow ; and fome of a bright
from the chryfalis^; the horns of the female being in
this ftate evidently narrower, and appearing lefs ele¬
vated above the- common furfaee of the body, than
thofe of the male.'
All thefe parts of the chryfalis, however, though
feen very diftinftly, are laid clofe to one another, and-
feem to form only one mafs; each of them is covered :
with its own peculiar membrane in this ftate, and all-
are furrounded together by a common one ; and it is
greenifh tinge, variegated with fpots of a {hining - only through thefe that we fee them; or rather we
black : we have a. very beautiful inftance of this laft fee on thefe the figures of all the parts moulded within,,
c H R [ 775 ] C H R
4and therefore it requires attention to dittinguifh them, in all the former, theikin opening at the back, and Chryfa'
~ v The chryfalis is fof't when fo il produced, and is wet- the animal making its way out in this ihape. If a ca-  v—
ted on’the front with a vifeous liquor; its flein, though terprllar, when about to throw off this laft fkin, be
very tender at firft, dries and hardens by degrees: ibrown into fpirits of wine, and left there for a few
but tlm vifeous liquor, which furrounds the wings, -days, the membranes within will harden, and the
legs, hardens almoft immediately; and in conic- creature may be afterwards carefully opened, and the
quence fallens all thofe limbs, bk. into a mafs, which chryfalis taken out, in which the form of the tender
were before loofe from one another: this liquor, as butterfly may be traced in all its lineaments, and its
it hardens, lofes its tranfparence, and becomes brown; eyes, legs, b’r. evidently feen. It is not neceflarv,
fo that it is only while it is yet moifl that thefe parts however, to feize upon this exa& time for proving
are to be feen diflincl. - the exiftence of the chryfahs or butterfly in the cater-
It is evident from the whole, that the chryfalis is pillar: for if one of theie animals be thrown into fpi-
no other than a butterfly, the parts of which are hid rit of wine, or into vinegar, fome days‘before that
under certain membranes which faflen them together ; time, and left there for the flefh to harden, it may af-
and, when the limbs are arrived at their due ftrength, terwards be difledled, and aH the lineaments of the
they become able to break through thefe membranes, butterfly traced out in it; thewings, legs, «ntennje, iSc.
and then expand and arrange themfelves in their pro- being as evident here, and as large, as in the chry-
per order. falis.
The fir ft metamorphofis, therefore, differs nothing It is very plain from this, that the change of the
from the fecond, except that the butterfly comes from caterpillar into chryfalis is not-the work of a moment;
the body of the caterpillar in a weak ftjte, with limbs but is carrying on for a long time before, even from
unable to perform their offices, whereas it.comes from the very hatching of the creature from the egg. The
the chryfalis perfedl. parts of the butterfly, however, are not difpofed ex-
Hijloryof Reaumur has given us many curious obferva- adtly in the fame manner while in the body of the car
volV’ tions on the ftruflure and ufes of the feveral cover- terpillar, as when left naked in .the form of the chry-
p. a. 38. ings that attend the varieties of the caterpillar-kind in falis: for the wings are proportionally longer and
this ftate. narrower, being wound up into the form of a cord ;
The creatures in general remain wholly immove- and the antennae are rolled up on the head; the trunk
able in this ftate, and feem to have no bufmefs in it is alfo twilled up and laid upon the head; but this in
but a patient attendance on the time when they are a very different manner from what it is in the perfect
to become butterflies ; and this is a change that can animal, and very different from that ih which it lies
happen to them, only as their parts, before extremely within the chryfalis; fo that the firll formation of the
foft and weak, are capable of hardening and becoming butterfly in the caterpillar, by time arrives at a pro¬
firm by degrees, by the tranfpiration of that abundant per change of the difpofition of its parts, in order to
humidity which before kept them foft: and this i-s its being a chryfalis. The very eggs, hereafter to be
proved by an experiment of M. Reaumur, who, tndo- depolited by the butterfly, are alfo to be found not
ling fome chryfalifes in a glafs tube, found, after fome only in the chryfalis, but in the caterpillat itfelf, ar-
time, a fmall.quantity of water at the bottom of it ; ranged in their natural, regular order. They are in-
which could have come there no other way, but from deed in this ftate very fmall and tranfparent ; but af-
the body of the inclofed animal. This tranfpiration ter the change, into the chiyfalis, they have their pro-
depends greatly op. the temperature of the air; it is per colour.
increafed by beat, and diminiflied by Cold ; but it has As foon as the feveral parts of the butterfly, there-
alfo its peculiarities in regard to the feveral fpecies fore, are arrived at a ftate proper for being expofed
of butterfly to which the chryfalis belongs. to the more open air, they are thrown out from the
According to thefe obfervations, the time of the body of the caterpillar furrounded only with their
duration of the animal in the chryfalis ftate muft be, membranes; and as foon as they are arrived after
in different fpecies, very different; and there is in- this at a proper degree of ftrength and folidity, they
deed this wide difference in the extremes, that fome labour to break through thefe thinner coverings, and
fpecies remain only eight days in this ftate, and others to appear in their proper and natural form. The
.eight months. time of their duration in this ftate of-chryfalis is very
We know that the caterpillar changes its Ik in four uncertain, fome remaining in it only a few days,
or five times during its living in that ftate ; and that others feveral months, and fome almoll a year in ap-
all thefe Ikins are at firft produced with it from the pearance. But there is a fallacy in this that many are
egg, lying clofely over one another. It parts with, not aware of. It is natural to think, that as foon as
or throws off all thefe one by one, as the butterfly, the creature has inclofed itfelf in its (hell, be that of
which is the real animal, all this time within, grows what matter it will, it undergoes its change into the
more and more perfefl itj the feveral firft changes, ehryfalis ftate. And this is the cafe with the gene-
When it throws off one, it appears in another fkin ex- rality: yet there are fome which are eight or nine
aftly of the fame form ; but at its final change from months in the fhell before they become chryfalifes ; fo
-this appearance, that is, when it throws off the laft that their duration in the real chryfalis ftate is much
flein, as the creature within is now arrived at fuch a flmrter than it naturally appears to be. M. Reaumur
degree of perfect ion as to need no farther taking of carefully watched the aurieulated caterpillar of the
nourifhment, there is no farther need of teeth, or any oak in its feveral changes, and particularly from its
of the ether parts of a caterpillar. The creature, iu chryfalis, which is of this laft kind, into the fly ; and
this laft change, proceeds in the very fame manner as has given an account of the method of this as an in-
N° 80. 4 fiance
C H R [ 777 ] C H R
CJi?yfa!i’. ftance of the general courfe of nature in thefe opera-
tions.
The membranes which envelope the creature in
this chryfalis ftate are at firft tough and firm, and im¬
mediately touch the feveral parts of the inclofed ani¬
mal ; but by degrees, as thefe parts harden, they be¬
come covered, fome with hairs, and others with feales.
Thefe, as they continue to grow, by degrees fall oif
the feveral particular membranes which cover the
parts on which they are placed, to a greater difiance,
and by degrees loofen them from the limbs. This is
one reafon of thofe membranes drying and becoming
brittle.
The middle of the upper part of the corselet i§
ufually marked with a line which runs in a longitudi¬
nal diredfiion ; and this part is always more elevated
than the reft, even in the conic kinds, which are no
Otherwife angular. This line is in fome very bold and
plain; in others, it is fo faint as not to be diftinguiihable
without glaffes ; but it is always in the midft of that
line that the ftiell begins to open. The motion of the
head of the butterfly backwards firft occafions this
crack; and a few repetitions of the fame motion open
it the whole length of the line.
The clearing itfelf, however, entirely, is a work
of more time in this cafe, than is the palling of the
chryfalis out of the body of the caterpillar. In that
cafe there is a crack fufficiently large in the flein of the
back, and the whole chryfalis being loofe comes out
at once. But in this ca^c, every particular limb, and
part of the body, has its feparate cafe ; and thefe are
ahnoft inconceivably thin and tender, yet it is necef-
fary that every part be drawn out of them before it
appear naked to the open air. As foon as all this is
effected, and the animal is at full liberty, it either con¬
tinues fome time upon the remains of its covering, or
creeps a little way diftant from it, and there refts.
The wings are. what we principally admire in this crea¬
ture. Thefe are at this time fo extremely folded up,
and placed in fo narrow a compafs, that the creature
feems to have none at all: but they by degrees ex¬
pand and unfold themfelves; and finally, in a quarter
of an hour, or half an hour at the utmoft, they appear
at their full fize, and in all their beauty. The man¬
ner of this hidden unfolding of the wings is this : the
fmall figure they make when the creature firft comes
out of its membranes, does not prevent the obferving
that they are at that time confiderably thick. This is
owing to its being a large wing folded up in tju- niccft
manner, and with folds fo arranged as to be by no
means fenfible to the eye, for the wing is never feen
to unfold; but, when obferved in the moft accurate
manner, feems to grow under the eye to this extent.
When the creature is firft produced from the fhell, it
is every where moift and tender; even its wings have
no ftrength or ftiffnefs till they expand themfelves;
but they then dry by degrees, and, with the other-
parts, become rigid and firm. But if any accident
prevents the wings from expanding at their proper
time, that" is, as foon as the creature is out of its flrell,
they never afterwards are able to extend themfelves ;
but the creature continues to wear them in their con-,
trafted and wholly ufelefs ftate; and very often, when
the wings are in part extended before fuch an accident
happens, it flops them in a partial extenfion, and the
Vol. IV. Part II.
creature mufl be contented to pafs its whole life with Cliryfali*
them in that manner. , II
M. Reaumur has proved, that heat and cold make themum".
great differences in the time of hatching the butterfly ——J
from its chryfalis ftate : and this he particularly tried
with great accuracy and attention, by puttingithem in
veffels in warm rooms, and in ice-houfes; and it feem-
ed wholly owing to the haftening or retarding the eva¬
poration of the abundant humidity of the animal in the
chryfalis ftate, that it fooner or later appeared in the
butterfly form. He varniflred over fome chryfalifes,
in order to try what would be the effeft of thus wholly
preventing their tranfpiration; and the confequence
was, that the butterfly came forth from thefe two
months later than their natural time. Thus was the
duration of the animal in this ftate lengthened; that is,
its exiftence was lengthened : but without any advan¬
tage to the creature, fince it was in the time of its
ftate of inaftion, and probably of infenfibility.
Though this was of no confequence, Mr Reaumur
deduces a hint from it that feems to be of fome ufe.
He obferves, that hens eggs, of which we make fo
many ufes, and eat in fo many forms, are properly a
fort of chryfalis of the animal; their germ, after they
are impregnated by the cock, containing the young
animal alive, and waiting only a due degree of warmth
to be hatched, and appear in its proper form. Eggs
tranfpire notwithftanding the hardnefs of their ftiells ;
and when they have been long kept, there is a road
found near one of their ends, between the flrell and
the internal membrane ; this is a mark of their being
ftale, and is the effeft of an evaporation of part of
their humidity : and the fame varniftr which had been
ufed to the chryfalis, being tried on eggs, was found to
preferve them for two years, as frefb as if laid but the “
fame day, and fuch as the niceft palate could not di-
ftinguiflr from thofe that were fo. See Eggs. -
It is not yet known how much farther this ufeful
fpeculation might be carried, and whether it might
not be of great ufe even to human life, to invent fome-
thing that fliould aft in the manner of this varnifh, by
being rubbed over the body, as the athleU did of old,
and the favages of the Weil Indies do at this time,
without knowing why. But to return to the infefts
which are the fubjefts of this article ; their third ftate,
that in which they are winged, is always very flrort,
and feems deftined for no other action but the propa¬
gation of the fpecies. See Papilio.
CHRYSANTHEMUM, corn-marigold : A ge¬
nus of the polygamia fuperfiua order, belonging to the
fyngenefia clafs of plants; and in the natural method
ranking under the 49th order, Compcjlta. The re¬
ceptacle is naked; the pappus marginated, or confift-
ing only of a border ; the calyx hemifpherical and im¬
bricated, with the marginal feales membranaceous.
There are 19 fpecies, of which the fo:lowing are the
moft remarkable: i. The ferotinum is a native of
North America. The roots of this plant creep far
under the furface, and fend up firong ftalks more than
four feet high, garnifned with long fawed leaves end-
ing in points. Thefe ftalks divide upward into many
fmaller ; each being terminated by a large, white, ra¬
diated flower, which appears in the end of Auguft or
September. 2. The coronarium hath been long cul¬
tivated in the gardens on account of the beauty of its
5 F flowers.
C H R L 778 ] C H R
Cfiryfan- flowers. It grows to the height of three feet, with a
themum fmgle upright ilalk divided into numerous branches,
Chryfippus g^fniihed with pinnated leaves, and crowned with ele-
^' gant compound flowers of different colours and pro¬
perties. The varieties are, Angle and double flowers
of a cream colour; yellow; yellow and white ; brim-
ftone-coloured; fiftular, or quilled; or thofe with
finely jagged leaves, and flowers of all the above co.
lours and properties. All the varieties begin flower¬
ing in July : the flowers are exceedingly numerous,
and exhibit a conftant fucceffion of full bloom till No¬
vember; and both Angle and double are fucceeded by
abundance of feed. 3.. The putefcens is a native of
the Canary iflands. It rifes with a flirubby ftalk near
fwo feet high, dividing into many branches, which
are garniftied with pretty thick fucculent leaves, of a
greyifh colour, cut into many fegments. The flowers
come out from the wings of the leaves, growing upon
naked footftalks fingly, which greatly referable thofe
of chamomile. There is a fucceffion of flowers on the
fame plant for the greateft part of the year, for which
it is chiefly efteemed. This plant will perfect feeds in
Britain when the feafons are favourable.
Culture. The firlt kind multiplies very faff by its
creeping roots, and will thrive, in any foil or fituation.
The fecond may be raifed in abundance from feed, ei¬
ther in a hot-bed or warm border, in the fpring, for
tranfplanting; alfo by cuttings and flips of their
branches in autumn. The latter method is praftifed
only for the propagation of the fine doubles, for an
early bloom the following fummer; and the bell time
to perform it is in September, or early in O&ober.
Cut off at that time a quantity of the robuft fide
/hoots, from three to fix inches long, without flowers;
diveft them of the lower leaves, and plant many of
them together in large pots, within an inch or two of
their tops, and two or three inches apart, give fome
water, and place them in the /hade during the hot
weather: by the end of October they will be rooted,
when the pots are to be removed either into a green-
houfe or garden-frame, for the winter; but the latter
is the moft eligible, where they may enjoy the full air
in mild weather, and have occafional flicker from
froft. In April they may be tranfplanted fingly into
borders, and fome in pots. The plants thus raifed will
flower a month or fix weeks fooner the fucceeding
fummer than thofe raifed in the fpring from feed ; but
as they foon become barren, it is proper to have al¬
ways a quantity of plants raifed from the feed. The
third fort may be raifed either from feeds or cut¬
tings, but requires to be (heltered in the green-houfe
in winter.
CHRYSES, the priefts of Apollo, father of Afty-
nome, called from him Gbryfels. When Lyrneffus was
taken and the fpoils divided among the conquerors,
Chryfeis fell to the /hare of Agamemnon. Chryfes
upon this went to the Grecian camp to folicit his
daughter’s reftoration; and when his prayers were
fruitlefs, he implored the aid of Apollo, who vifited
the Greeks with a plague, and obliged them to reftore
Chryfeis.
CHRYSIPPUS, a Stoic philofopher, born at So¬
los in Cilicia, was difciple to Cleanthus, Zeno’s fuc-
eeffor. He wrote many books, feveral of which re¬
lated to logic. None of the philofophers fpoke in
ftronger terms of the fatal neceifity of every thing, Chryfl*
nor more pompoufly of the liberty of man, than the H
Stoics, Chryfippus in particular. He was fo confider- co^*
able among them, as to eftablifh it into a proverb, < - -
that if it had not been for Chryfippus, the porch had
never been. Yet the Stoics complained, as Cicero
relates, that he had collected fo many arguments in fa¬
vour of the fceptical hypothefis, that he could not an ■
fwer them himfelf; and thus had furniflied Carneades,
their antagonift, with weapons againff them. There is
an apophthegm of this philofopher preferved, which
does him honour. Being told that fome perfons fpoke
ill of him, “ It is no matter (faid he), I will live fo
that they lhall not be believed.”
CHRYSIS, or golden-flv. in natural hillory : A
genus of infedts belonging to the order of hymenop-
tera. The mouth is armed with jaws, but has no pro-
bofcis; the antennae are filiform, bent, and confitt of
12 articulations ; the abdomen is arched, with a fcale
on each fide; the anus is dentated, and armed with a
fling; the wings lie plain; and the body appears as if
gilt. There are feveral fpecies; but the ignita, or
flaming chryfis, is beautified with the moft refplendent
colours. The fore-part of its head is green and gold,
and the hinder of a lovely azure. The thorax is like-
wife azured over, with a mixture of green, and termi¬
nates at its extremity with /harp points on both
fides. The abdomen is green and gold before, and of
a coppery-red behind, imitating molten copper highly
poli/hed. The whole infe& is dotted on its upper part,
which gives it a great refplendency of colour. The
antennas are black, and legs green intermixed with
gold. This fpecies dwells in holes of walls between
the Hones, and in the mortar that cements them. It
is often feen iffuing from fuch holes, where it neftles
and performs its work. The larvae, which referable
thofe of the wafp, likewife inhabit the holes of de¬
cayed walls.
CHRYSITRIX, in botany: A genus of the dioe-
cia order, belonging to the polygamia clafs of plants.
In the hermaphrodite the glume is two-valved, the
corollae from chaff numerous and briftly ; many ftami-
na, one within each chaff; one piftillum. The male is
the hermaphrodite ; there is no piftillum.
CHRYSOBALANUS, cocoa plum : A genus
of the monogyttia order, belonging to the icofan-
dria clafs of plants; and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 36th order, Pomacea. The calyx is quin-
quefid, the petals five; plum-kernel five-furrowed
and five-valved. There is only one fpecies, the icaco,
which is a native of the Bahama iflands and many o-
ther parts of America, but commonly grows near the
fea. It rifes with a flirubby ftalk eight or nine feet
high, fending out feveral fide-branches, which are co¬
vered with a dark brown bark. The flowers are white,
and are fucceeded by plums like damfons; fome blue,.
fome red, and others yellow. The ftone is fhaped like
a pear, and has five longitudinal furrows. The plums
have a fweet lufcious tafte, and are brought to the
tables of the inhabitants, by whom they arc much e-
fteemed.
CHRYSOCOMA, goldy-locks : A genus of the
polygamia requalis order, belonging to the fyngenefia
clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking
under the 49th order, CompofiU. The receptacle is
na-
c h n [
Chryffffo- naked} the pappus Ample j the calyx hemITpherical
nu™ and imbricated j the ilyle hardly longer than the flo-
Ctnyfo. ret8. There are nine fpecies, the moft remarkable of
tnela. which are, the linofyria, the coma aurea, and the cor-
u—y——^ nua. Thefe are herbaceous flowering perennials, grow¬
ing from one to two feet high, ornamented with nar¬
row leaves, and compound flofcular flowers of a yellow
colour. They are eafily propagated by dividing the
roots or by cuttings ; but the two laft require to be
flickered in the green-houfe in winter.
CHRYSOGONUM, in botany : A genus of the
polygamia neceflaria order, belonging to the fyngene-
fia clafs of plants; and in the natural method ranking
under the 49th order, Compojita. The receptacle is
paleaceous ; the pappus monophyllous, and trident-
ed ; the calyx pentaphyllous; the feeds wrapped up
each in a tetraphyllons calyculus, or little cup.
CHRYSOLARUS (Emanuel), one of thofelearn¬
ed men in the 14th century who brought the Greek
literature into the weft. He was a man of rank ;
and defcended from an ancient family, laid to have
removed with Conftantine from Rome to Byzantium.
He was fent into Europe by the emperor of the call
to implore the affiftance of the Chriftian princes. He
afterwards taught at Florence, Venice, Pavia, and
Rome; anddied atConftantinople,in I4i5,aged47. He
wrote a Greek grammar, and fome other fmall pieces.
CHRYSOLITE, or yellowish-green topaz ;
a precious ftone of a grafs green colour, found in the
Eaft Indies, Brazil, Bohemia, Saxony, Spain, in Au¬
vergne and Bourbon in France, and in Derbyfhire in
England. Some are likewife found with volcanic la¬
vas, as in the Vevarais, where fome large lumps have
been feen of 20 or 30 pounds weight; but it is re¬
markable, that fome of thefe chryfolites are partly de-
compofed into an argillaceous fubftance. All chry¬
folites, however, are far from being of the fame kind.
The oriental is the fame with the peridot, and differs
only by its green hue from the fapphires, topazes, and
rubies of the fame denomination. This becomes elec¬
tric by being rubbed ; has a prifmatic form of fix, or
fometimes of five ftriated faces ; and does not lofe its
colour or tranfparency in the fire, which the common
chryfolite often does; becoming either opaque, or
melting entirely in a ftrong heat. The inftant it melts,
it emits a phofphoric light like the bafis of alum and
gypfeous fpar : with borax it produces a thin colour-
lefs glafs. Its fpecific gravity is between 3.600 and
3.700 ; according to Briffon it is 2.7821, or 2.6923 ;
and that of the Spaniih chryfolite 3.0989.
The fubftance of this precious ftone is lamellated in
the direftion of the axis of its primitive form: but the
chryfolite from Saxony is foliated in a perpendicular
dire&ion to the fame axis. The chryfolite of the an¬
cients was the fame gem which is now called topaz*, and
the name of itfelf indicates that it ought to be fo.
Pliny fays that the colour of the chryfolite is yellow
like gold.
Chrysolite-/5a kind of glafs made in imita¬
tion of natural chryfolite, by mixing two ounces of
•prepared cryftalwith ten ounces of red-lead, adding 12
grains of crocus martis made with vinegar; and then
baking the whole for 24 hours, or longer, in a well
luted cucurbit.
CHRYSOMELA, in zoolqgy, a genus of infe&s
779 1 C H R
belonging to the order of coleoptera. The antennse Chryfe-
are fliaped like bracelets, and thicker on the outfide ; Phy»um
and neither the bread nor the- elytra are marginated. chVyloprs*
There are no lefs than 122 fpecies enumerated by Lin- fu5;
nseus, principally diftinguiftied by differences in their —-yp—
colour. They are to be found almoft every where, in
woods, gardens, &c. Their progreffive motion is
flow'; and fome when caught emit an oily liquor of a
difagreeable fmell. The glittering colours with which
feveral fpecies of chryfomelse are adorned, and which
feem to exhibit the brilliancy of gold and copper, have
occafioned their bearing that pompous name. The
larvae of thefe infefts have in general an oval body, ra¬
ther oblong and foft; on the fore-part of which are fi-
tuated fix feet, which are fcaly, as is alfo the head.
They prey upon the fubftance of leaves, reje&ing the
fibrous part. Thofe of the leaping chryfomelae infeft
the cotyledons and tender leaves of plants. Of this
genus is that very pernicious infedt called by the coun¬
try people the turnipJly, which infefts turnips and
many crops in the garden, deftroying often whole
fields while in their feedling leaves. In very hot fum-
mers they abound to an amazing degree, and, as you
walk in a field or in a garden, make a pattering like
rain, by jumping on the leaves of the turnips or cab¬
bages. See Plate CXLIX.
CHRYSOPHYLLUM, or bully-tree: A ge¬
nus of the monogynia order, belonging to the pentan-
dria clafs of plants ; and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 43d order, viz. Dumofe. The corolla
is campanulated, decemfid, with the fegments alter¬
nately a little patent. The fruit is a ten-feeded ber¬
ry. There are two fpecies, the cainito and glabrum,
both natives of the Weft Indies. The firft rifes 30 or
40 feet high, with a large trunk covered with a brown
bark, and divides into many flexible flender branches,
which generally hang downward, garniflied with fpean-
ftiaped leaves, whofe under Tides are of a bright ruffet
colour. The flowers come out at the extremities of
the branches, difpofed in oblong bunches, which are
fucceeded by fruit of the fize of a golden pippin, that
are very rough to the palate, and aftringent; but when
kept fome time mellow, as is pradtifed here with med*-
lais, they have an agreeable flavour. The fecond fort
never rifes to the height of the firft, nor do the trunks
grow to half the fize ; but the branches are llender and
garniflied with leaves like thofe of the firft. The flow¬
ers come out in clufters from the fide of the branches,
which are fucceeded by oval fmooth fruit about the
fize of a bergamot pear. This contains a white clam¬
my juice when frefti; but after being kept a few days,
it becomes fweet, foft, and delicious. Inclofed are
four or five black feeds about the fize of thofe of a pom-
kin. Both thefe plants are frequently preferved in
gardens where there are large ftoves, and are propaga¬
ted by feeds, but the plants can never bear the open
air in this country.
CHRYSOPLENIUM, in botany : A genus of the
digynia order, belonging to the decandria clafs of
plants; and in the natural method ranking under the
12th order, Succulents. The calyx is quadrifid or
quinquefid, and coloured ; no corolla; the capfule bi-
roftrated, unilocular and polyfpermous.
CHRYSOPRASUS,or Chrysoprasius, the 10th
of the precious ftones mentioned in the Revelations, as
5 F 2 forming
C H R L ?So ] C H U
Ehryfopra- forming the foundation of the heavenly Jerufalem.
fus, "phe chryfoprafius is by mineralagifts reckoned to be a
variety of the chryfolite, and by Cronftedt called the
t - - - y - - yelh'wtfb green and cloudy topaz,. He conjectures that it
may perhaps be the fubftance which ferves as a matrix
to the chryfolite ; as thofe that he had feen were like
the clear veined quartz, called in Sweden milk cryjlat,
which is the firft degree of cryftallization.
The chryfoprafus, according to M. Magellan, is of
a green colour, deeper than the chryfolite, but with a
yellowilh tinge inclining to blue like the green leek.
M. Achard fays that it is never found cryflallized,
and that it is femitranfparent. By others it is rec¬
koned among the quartz, and its colour is fuppofed to
be owing to the mixture of cobalt, as it gives a fine
blue glafs when melted with borax, or with fixed al¬
kali. Mr Achard, however, found the glafs of a deep
yellow when the fufion was made with borax; and
that it really contains fome calx of copper inftead of
cobalt. Mr Dutens fays, that fome gold has been
found in this kind of ftone : but this laft belongs in all
probability, fays M. Magellan, to another clafs of
fubftances, viz. the vitreous fpars.
To the latter belongs moft probably the aventurine,
whofe colour is generally a yellow-brown red ; though
fometimes it inclines more to the yellow, or greeniih,
than to the red. Thefe Hones are not quite tranfpa-
rent: fome indeed flrine with fuch a brilliancy, as to
render them of confiderable value, but they are very
rare. The common aventurine is but an artificial glafs
of various colours, with which powder of gold has
been mixed; and thefe imitated aventurines fo fre¬
quently excel the native ones in fplendor, that the e-
fteem of the latter is now much lowered. With re¬
gard to the chryfoprafus, its name from rpao-oi, {hows
it to be of a greenifh-blue colour, like the leaves of a
leek ; it only differs from the chryfolite in its bluifl*
hue.
CHRYSOSTOM (St John), a celebrated pa¬
triarch of Conftantinople, and one of the moft admired
fathers of the Chriftian church, was born of a noble
family at Antioch, about the year 347. He ftudied
rhetoric under Libavius, and philofophy under Andra-
gathus: after which he fpent fome time in folitude in
the mountains near Antioch ; but the aullerities he en¬
dured having impaired his health, he returned to An¬
tioch, where he was ordained deacon by Meletius.
Flavian, Meletius’s fucceffor, raifed him to the office
of preftryter five years after ; when he diftinguifiied
himfelf fo greatly by his eloquence, that he obtained
the furname of Golden mouth. Nedtarius patriarch of
Conftantinople, dying in 397, St Chryfoftom, whofe
fame was fpread throughout the whole empire, was
chofen in his room by the unanimous confent of both
the clergy and the people. The emperor Arcadius
confirmed this ele&ion, and caufed him to leave An¬
tioch privately, where the people were very unwilling
to part with him. He was ordained bifhop on the
26th of February 398 ; when he obtained an order
from the emperor againft the Eunomians and Monta-
nifts ; reformed the abufes which fubfifted amongft his
clergy; retrenched a great part of the exper.ces in
which his predeceffors had lived, in order to enable
him to feed the poor and build hofpitals; and preached
with the utmoft zeal againft the pride, luxury, and
avarice of the great. But his pious liberty of fpeech Chryflsl1
procured him many powerful enemies. He differed ChjJ^
with Theophilus of Alexandria, who got him depofed ,
and banifhed ; but he was foon recalled. After this,
declaiming againft the dedication of a ftatue erefted to
the emprefs, (he banifhed him into Cucufus in Arme¬
nia, a moft barren unhofpitable place; afterwards, as.
they were removing him from. Petyus, the foldiera
treated him fo roughly, that he died by the way, A. IX
407. The beft edition of his works is that publiihed
at Paris in 1718, by Montfaucon.
CHRYSTAL. See Crystal.
CHUB, or Chubb, in ichthyology. See Cypri-
NUS.
The reforts of this fifh are_eafily found; for they
are generally holes overftiaded by trees, and this fifh
will be feen floating in fuch almoft on the furface of
the water in a hot day in great numbers. They are
but a poor fiftr for the table, and are very full of bones j
but they entertain the angler very much, and are of
the number of thofe that are eafily taken. The beft
manner of fifhing for him, is thus: prepare a very,
ftrong rod of a fufficient length ; fix to the hook a
grafshopper; place yourfelf fo as to be perfe&ly out
of fight of the fifh, and drop in-tlie bait about twa
feet from the place where a large chub lies ; if he does
not fee the angler he very feldom fails biting, and is
immediately taken ; but he is fo ftrong a fifh that he
ftiould be taken out,, carefully, after a great deal of
playing, otherwifethe tackle will be in danger; a beetle,
or any large fly, will anfwer the purpofe in the place
of a grafshopper ; and if none of them are to be had,
the method of fifhing muft be altered, and the line
be long enough for fifhing at the bottom. In March
and April this fifh is to be caught with large red
worms ; in June and July with flies,, fnails, and cher¬
riesbut in Auguft and September the proper bait is
good cheefe pounded in a mortar, with fome faffron,
and a little butter; fome make a pafte of cheefe and
Venice turpentine for the chub in winter; at which
feafon this.fifh is better than at any other ; the bones
are lefs troublefome in this feafon, and the flefh is more
firm and better tafted; the row is alfo well flavoured in
general. The angler muft keep his bait for this fifh at
the bottom in cold weather, and near the top in hot,
and the fifh will bite eagerly.
CHUBB (Thomas), a noted polemical writer,,
born at Eaft Harnham, a village near Salifbury, in
1679. He was put apprentice to a glover at Salifr
bury, and afterwards entered into partnerftiip with a
tallow-chandler. Being a man of ftrong natural parts,
he employed all his leifure in reading ; and though a
ftranger to the learned languages, became tolerably
verfed in geography, mathematics, and other branches
of fcience. His favourite iludy was divinity ; and he
formed a little fociety for the purpofe of debating up.-
on religious fubjefts, about the time that the Trini¬
tarian controverfy was fo warmly agitated between:
Clarke and Waterland. This fubjeft, therefore, fall¬
ing under the cognizance of Chubb’s theological af-
fembly, he at their requeft drew up and arranged his
fentiments on it, in a kind of differtation ; which was
afterward publifhed under the title of The Supremacy
of the Father ajferted, &c. In this piece Mr Chubb
{bowed great talents in reafoning; and acquired fo
much
C H U [ 781 ] C H U
Chudkigh much reputation, that the late Sir Jofeph Jekyl, ma-
li fter of the rolls, took him into his family to enjoy his
, ^rc ‘ converfation 1 but though he is faid to have been
tempted to remain with him by the offer of a genteel
allowance, he did not continue with him many years ;
but chofe to return to his friends at Salifbury. He pub-
liflred afterward a 410 volume of trafts, which Mr Pope
informs his friend Gay, he “ read through with admi¬
ration of the writer, though not always with appro¬
bation of his dodhine.” He died a Angle man in the
68th year of his age, and left behind him 2 vols. of
pofthumous tracts, in which he appears to have had
little or no belief in revelation. But however licen¬
tious his way of thinking may be deemed, nothing ir¬
regular or immoral has been fairly imputed to him in
his life and aHions.
CHUDLEIGH (Lady Mary), was born in 1656,
and married to Sir George Chudleigh, baronet, by
whom Ihe had feveral children : her poems and effays
have been much admired for delicacy of ftyle. She
died in 1710 ; and is faid to have written feveral dra¬
matic pieces, which, though not printed, are preferved
in the family.
CHUPMESSAHITES, a fe& among the Maho¬
metans, who believe that Jefus Chrift is God, and the
true Meffiah, the Redeemer of the world t but with¬
out rendering him any public or declared worfhip. The
word in the Turkiih language fignifies proteSor of the
Chrlflians. Ricaut fays, there are abundance of tbefe
Chupmeffahites among the people of faihion in Tur¬
key, and fome even in the feraglio.
CHURCH, has different ftgnifications, according
to the different fubjefts to which it is applied.
1. It is underftood of the colltftive body of Chri-
ftians, or all thofe over the face of the whole earth
who profefs to believe in Chrift, and acknowledge him
to be the Saviour of mankind. This is what the an¬
cient writers call the catholic or unhverfal church. Some¬
times the word church is confidered in a more exten-
five fenfe, and divided into feveral branches ; as the
church militant, is the affembly of the faithful ou
earth ; the church triumphant, that of the faithful al¬
ready in glory ; to which the Papifts add the church
patient; which, according to their doctrines, is that of
the faithful in purgatory.
2. Church is applied to any particular congregation
of Chriftians, who affociate together and concur in the
participation of all the inftitutions of Jefus Chrift, with
their proper paftors and minifters. Thus we read of the
church of Antioch, the church of Alexandria,, the
church of Theffalonica, and the like.
3. Church denotes a particular fe£t of Chriftians
diftinguifhed by particular do&rines and ceremonies.
In this fenfe, we fpeak of the Romifti church, the
Greek church, the Reformed church, the church of
England, &c.
The Latin or Weftern church, comprehends all the
churches of Italy, France, Spain, Africa, the north,
and all other countries whither the Romans carried
their language. Great Britain, part of the Nether¬
lands, of Germany, and of the North, have been fe
parated from hence ever fince the time of Hen. VIII. ;
and conftitute what we call the Reformed chuich, and
what the Romanifts call the weftern fchifm.
The Greek or Eaftern church, comprehends the
churches of all the countries anciently fubjeft to the
Greek or eaftern empire, and through which their lan¬
guage was carried ; that is, all the fpace extended from
Greece to Mefopotamia and Perfta, and thence into
Egypt. This church has been divided from the Ro¬
man, ever fince the time of the emperor Phocas.
The Gallican church, denotes the church of France,
under the government and diredtion of their refpeftive
bifhops and paftors. This church has always enjoyed
certain franchifes and immunities ; not as grants from
popes, but as derived to her from her firft original,
and which (he has taken care never to relinguifh.
Thefe liberties depend upon two maxims; the firft,
that the pope has no authority or right to command
or order any thing either in general or in particular,
in which the temporalities and civil rights of the king¬
dom are concerned ; the fecond, that notwithftanding
the pope’s fupremacy is owned in cafes purely fpiritual,
yet in France his power is limited and regulated by the
decrees and canons of ancient councils received in that
realm.
4. The word church is ufed to fignify the body of
ecclefiaftics, or the clergy, in contradiftindtion to the
laity. See Clergy.
5. Church, is ufed for the place where a particular
congregation or fociety of Chriftians affemble for the
celebration of divine fervice. In this fenfe churches
are varioufty denominated, according to the rank,
degree, difeipline, &c. as Metropolitan church, Pa¬
triarchal church. Cathedral church, Parochial church,,
Collegiate church, &c. See Metropolis, Patri¬
arch, &c.'
In ecciefiaftieal writers, we meet vixth. grand churchy
for the chief church of a place ; particularly in the
Greek liturgy, for the church of St Sophia at Con-
ftantinople, the fee of the patriarch, founded by Con-
ftantine, and confecrated under Juftinian. It was at
that time fo magnificent, that Juftinian is faid to have
cried out in tlie confecration thereof, a,
I have outdone thee, Solomon. The dome, which is faid
to have been the firft that was built, is 330 feet diame-
Church.
ter.
The firft church publicly built by the Chriftians,
fome authors maintain to be that of St Saviour at
Rome, founded by Cqnftantine \ others contend, that
feveral churches abroad, called by the name of St Peter
Vhius, were built in honour of that apollle during his.
life-time.
Church, with regard to architedtur.e, Daviler de¬
fines a large oblong edifice, in form of a fliip, with
nave, choir,, ifles, chapel, belfry,. &c. See each part
under its proper head.
Church, Simple, is that which has only a nave and
a choir.
Church with IJles, that which has a row of porti¬
cos, in form of vaulted galleries, with chapels in its
circumference.
Church in a Grech crofs, that where, the length of
the traverfe part is equal to that of the nave; fo called,
becaufe moft of the Greek churches are built in this
form.
Church in a Latin, crofs, that whofe nave is longer
than the crofs part, as in mo.ft of the Gothic churches.
Church in Rot undo, .that‘whofe plan is a perfedt.
circle, in imitation of the Pantheon.
For
C H U [78
For the form of the ancient Greek churches, when
J they h-id all their parta, it was as follows: ftrft waa a
porch, or portico, called the vaunt-nave, this
was adorned with columns on the outfide, and on the
infide furromnded with a wall; in the middle whereof
was a door, through which they paffed into a fecond
portico. The firft of thefe porticos was deftined for
the energumeni, and penitents in the firll ftage of
their repentance ; the fecond was much longer, ddti-
ned for penitents of the fecond clafs, and the catechu¬
mens, and hence called v«p8»c, ferula, becaufe thofe
placed in it began to be fubject to the difcipline of the
church. Thefe two porticos took up about one
third of the fpace of the church. From the fecond
portico, they paifed into the nave, va°r. which took up
near another third of the church. In the middle, or
at one fide of the nave, was the ambo, where the dea¬
cons and priefts read the gofpel, and preached. The
nave was deftined for the reception of the people, who
here affifted at prayers.
Near the entrance of this was the baptiftery or font.
Beyond the nave was the choir, fet with feats,
and round : the firft feat on the right, next the fanftu-
ary, being for the chan tor, or choragus.
From the choir they afcended by fteps to the fanc-
tuary, which was entered at three doors. The fanc-
tuary had three apfides in its length ; a great one in
•the middle, under which was the altar, crowned with
a baldachin, fupported by four columns. Under each
of the fmall apfides, was a kind of table or cupboard,
in manner of a beaufet.
Though, of the Greek churches now remaining, few
have all the parts above defcribed, moft of them having
teen reduced to ruins or converted into mofques.
High-Church was a denomination originally given
to thofe otherwife called Nonjurors, who refufed to ac¬
knowledge the title of William III.' to the crown of
Great Britain, under a notion that James II. though
excluded, was ftill their rightful fovereign. This ap¬
pellation was given them, becaufe they entertained
high notions of the dignity and power of the church,
and the extent of its prerogative andjurifdiftion. And
-thofe, on the contrary, were called low-fCLurch men,
who difapproved of the feceffion and obftinacy of the
nonjurors, diftinguiihed fhemfelves by their moderation
toward diffenters, and were lefs ardent in extending the
limits of church authority. The denomination of
high-church meen is now more generally applied to all
who form pompous and ambitious conceptions of the
authority and jurifdidtion of the church, and who
would raife it to an abfolute independence on all hu¬
man power.
CavRCH-Ale. ‘See WmrsvN-Ale.
CnuRCH-Reeves, the fame with Church- Wardens.
Church-ScoI, or Churchejfet, a payment or contri¬
bution, by the Latin writers frequently called pri-
mit'ue feminum ; being, at firft, a certain meafure of
wheat, paid to the prieft on .St Martin’s day, as the
firft fruits of harveft. This was enjoined by the laws
of king Malcolm IV. and Canute, e. 10. But after
this, Church-fcot came to fignify a referve,of corn-rent
paid to the fecular priefts, or to the religious; and
fometimes was taken in fo general a fenfe as to -include
poultry, or any other provifion that was paid in kind
to the religious. See Tithe.
2 ] C H u
Church-Wardens (ecclfta guardian!), ia tV Eng- ClniKhilh
lifh eecleiiattical polity, are the guardii^gr keepers -v——'
of the church, and reprefentatives of the body of the
parilh. They are fometimes appointed by* the mini-
fter, fometimes by the parifli, fometimes by both toge¬
ther, as cuftom directs. They are taken, in favour of
the church, to be, for fome purpofes, a kind of corpo¬
ration at the common law ; that is, they are enabled,
by that name, to have a property in goods and chat¬
tels, and to bring aftions for them, for the ufe and
profit of the parifh. Yet they may not wafte the
church goods, but may be removed by the parifh, and
then called to account by adrions at common law: but
there is no method of calling them to account but by
firft removing them ; for none can legally do it but
thofe who are put in their place. As to lands or other
real property, as the church, churchyard, &c. they
have no fort of intereft therein ; but if any damage is
done thereto, the perfon only or vicar fhall have the
adtion. Their office alfo is to repair the church, and
make rates and levies for that purpofe : but thefe are
recoverable only in the ecclefiaflical courts. They
are alfo joined with the overfeers in the care and
maintenance of the poor. They are to levy a fhilling
forfeiture on all fuch as do not repair to church on
fundays and holidays; and are empowered to keep
all perfons orderly while there; to which end it has
been held that a church-warden may juftify the pul¬
ling off a man’s hat, without being guilty of either an
affault or a trefpafs. There are alfo a multitude of
otlver-petty parochial powers committed to their charge
by divers afts of parliament.
CHURCHILL (Sir Winfton), the father of the
great duke of Marlborough, was defeended from an
ancient and honourable family in Dorfetfhire. He
was born at Wotton Gian vile in that county in 1610;
and educated at St John’s college at Oxford. He en¬
gaged in the caufe of his unfortunate fovereign Cha. I.
for which he fuffered feverely in his fortune ; and
having married, while young, Elizabeth, the daughter
of Sir John Drake of Affie in Devonffiire, (he was forced
to feek a refuge in her father’s houfe, when Mr Chur¬
chill’s misfortunes left him none that he could call his
own ; and there moft of his children were born. After
the reftoration, he was elected a burgefs to ferve in
parliament for the borough of Weymouth; and, in
1669, his majefty was pleafed to confer on him the
honour of knighthood. The next year he was made
one of the commiffioners of claims in Ireland ; and
upon his return from thence, was conftituted one of
the clerks comptrollers of the green-cloth : but wri¬
ting a kind of political effay upon the Hiftory of
England, which gave great offence to the parliament,
he was, in 1678, difmiffed from his poll. He was,
however, foon reftored to it again; and lived to fee
his eldeft furviving fon raifed to the peerage, and the
reft of his children in a fair way to promotion. He
died in 1688.
Churchill (John), Duke of Marlborough, and
prince of the holy Roman empire, a moft renowned
general and ftatefman, was born at Affie in Devon¬
ffiire in 1650. He was eldeft fon of Sir Winftoit
Churchill, who carried him to court while very young,
and where he was particularly favoured by James
duke of York, afterwards king James II. when only
1 twelve
C H U [ 783 ] C H U
Churchill twelve years of age. In 1666, he was made an enfign
of the guards during the firft Dutch war ; and after¬
wards improved himfeif greatly in the military art at
Tangier. In 1672, Mr Churchill attended the duke
of Monmouth who commanded a body of auxiliaries
in the French fervice, and was foon after made a cap¬
tain in the duke’s own regiment. At the liege of Nx-
meguen, which happened in that campaign, he diftin-
guilhed himfeif fo much that he was taken notice of
by the celebrated marlhal Turenne, who bellowed on
him the name of the handfome Englifhman.— In 1673,
he was at the fiege of Maeftricht, where he gained
fuch applaufe, that the king of France made him a
public acknowledgment of his fervice ; and the duke
of Monmouth, who had the direftion of the attack,
told king Charles II. that he owed his life to Mr
Churchill’s bravery. In 1681, he married Sarah daugh¬
ter and co-heirefs (with her filler the countefs of
Tyrconnel) of Richard Jennings Efq; of Sandrich, in
Hertfordlhire. The duke of York recommended him
in a very particular manner to the king; who, in
1682, created him baron of Eymouth in the county
of Berwick in Scotland, and made him colonel of the
third troop pf guards. A little after king James’s ac-
ceffion, he was created baron Churchill of Sandrich in
the county of Hertford, and made brigadier-general
of his majelly’s army in the well; where, when the
duke of Monmouth came to- furprife the king’s army,
while the earl of Feverlham and the majority of the
officers were in their beds, he kept the enemy in
play, till the king’s forces had formed themfelves, and
thereby faved the whole army. When James Ihowed
an intention of ellablifhing the catholic religion in
Britain, lord Churchill, notwithllanding the great ob¬
ligations he owed him, thought it his duty to abandon
The royal caufe; but even then did not leave him
without acquainting him by letter with the reafon of
his fo doing. Lord Churchill was gracioufly received
by the prince of Orange ; and was by him employed
firft to re-affemble the troop of guards at London,
and afterwards to reduce fome lately raifed regiments,
and to new-model the army: for which purpofe he
was invefted with the rank and title of lieutenant-ge¬
neral. In 1689, he was fworn one of the privy coun¬
cil, and one of the gentlemen of the king’s bed-cham¬
ber ; and on the 9th of April following, was raifed
to the dignity of earl of Malborough in the county of
Wilts. He affifted at the coronation of their majefties;
and was foon after made commander in chief of the
Engliffi forces fent over to Holland ; and here he firft
laid the foundation of that fame which was afterwards
fpread over all Europe. In 1690, he was made ge¬
neral of the forces fent to Ireland ; where he made
theftrong garrifons of Cork and Kinfale prifoners of
war. The year follow'ing, king William' fhowed the
good opinion he had of his: conduft, by fending him
fo Flanders to put all things in readinefs, and to draw
the army together againft his arrival. In 1692, he
was difmiffed from all his employments; and, not
long after, was xvith fome other peers committed to
the tower on an accufation of high treafon ; which,
however, was afterwards found to be a falfe and ma¬
licious report, the authors of which were puniftied.
Marlborough was foon reftored to favour, and in 1698
was appointed governor to the earl of Gloucefter ;
with this extraordinary compliment from king William, Churchill.
“ My lord, make him but what you are, and my ne- 1 -*
phew will be all I wiflx to fee him.” The fame day
he was again fworn one of the privy council; and in
July following was declared one of the lords juftices of
England, for the adminillration of the government, in
which great truft he was three times fucceffivelv in the
king’s abfence. In x 701 he was appointed general of
the foot, commander in chief of the Englilh forces,
and ambaffador extraordinary and plenipotentiary at
the Hague. Upon the acceffion of queen Anne to
the thron«, he was elefted into the order of the gar¬
ter, declared captain-general of all her majefty’s forces,
and fent ambaffador extraordinary and plenipotentiary
to Holland. After feveral conferences about a war,
he put himfeif at the head of the army, where all the
othTr generals had orders to obey him. His exploits
in the field have been taken notice of under the ar¬
ticle Britain, n° 349—370: we fhall therefore only
take notice in this place, of the rewards and honours
conferred upon him for thefe exploits. After his firft
campaign he was 'created marquis of Blandford and
duke of Marlborough, wuth a penfion of L. 5000 out
of the poll-office, to devolve for ever upon thofe en¬
joying the title of Duke of Marlborough. In 1703,
he met Charles III. late emperor, going to Spain, who
prefented him with a fword fet with diamonds. In
1704, having forced the enemy’s lines at Schellenberg,
he received a letter of thanks from the emperor Leo¬
pold, written with his own hand ; an honour feldom
done to any but fovereign princes. After the battle
of Blenheim, he received congratulatory letters from
moll of the potentates in Europe, particularly from the
States General, and from the emperor, who defired
him to accept of the dignity of a prince of the empire,
which with the queen’s leave was conferred upon him
by the title of Prince of Mildenheim in the province of
Swabia. After the campaign was ended, he vifited
the court of Pruffia, where he laid fuch fchemes as
fufpended the difputes with the Dutch about king
William’s eftate ; w'hich wife conduct caufed the whole
confederacy to acknowledge that he had done the
greateft fervice poffible to the common caufe. Upon
his return to England, the queen, to perpetuate his
memory, granted the intereft of the crown in the
honour and manor of Woodltock and hundred of
Wotton to him and his heirs for ever. In tyoy
he made a tour to Vienna, upon an invitation of the
emperor Jofeph ; who highly carefied him, and made
him a grant of the lordfliip of Mildenheim. After
the campaign of 1708, the fpeaker of the houfe of
commons was fent to Bruflels on purpofe to compli¬
ment him; and on his return to England he was again
complimented in the houfe of lords by. lord chancellor
Cowper. All his fervices,: however, and all the ho¬
nours conferred upon him, were not fiifficient to pre-
ferve him from being difgraced. After the change of *
the miniftry in 1710, his intereft daily declined ; and
in 1712, on the firft day of the new year, he was re¬
moved from all his places. Finding all arts ufed to
render him obnoxious in his native country, he vifited -
his principality of Mildenheim, and feveral towns in
Germany ; after which he returned to England, and
arrived there on the day of the queen’s death. After
being, welcomed by the nobility and foreign minifters,-.
he-
C H U 1 784 ] G H U
Chupcliin. he attended on king George I. in his public entry
W”V—through London, who appointed him captain-general,
colonel of the firft regiment of foot-guards, one of the
commiflioners for the government of Chelfea hofpital,
and mailer-general of the ordnance. Some years be¬
fore his death, he retired from public bulinefs. He
died at Windfor-lodge in 1722, aged 73 ; leaving be¬
hind him a very numerous pofterity, allied to the no-
bleft and greateft families in thefe kingdoms. Upon
his demife all parties united in doing honour or rather
juftice to his merit, and his corpfe was interred the
9th of Auguft following, with all the folemnity due
to a perfon who had deferred fo highly of his country,
in Weftminller-abbey. The noble pile near Wood-
itock, which bears the name of Blenheim-houfe, may
be juftly ftyled his monument: but without pretending
to the gift of prophecy, one may venture t6 foretel,
that his glory will long furvive that ftrufture ; and
that fo long as our hiltories remain, or indeed the
hiftories of Europe, his memory will live and be the
boaft of Britain, which by his labours was raifed to be
the firft of nations, as during the age in which he lived
he wras defervedly efteemed the firft of men. If he had
foibles, as thefe are infeparable from human nature,
they were fo hidden by the glare of his virtues as to be
fcarcely perceived or were willingly forgotten. A
certain parafite, who thought to pleafe Lord Boling-
broke by ridiculing the avarice of the Duke, was ftopt
fhort by his Lordfhip ; who faid, “ He was fo very
great a man, that I forget he had that vice.”
Out of a variety of anecdotes and teftimonies con¬
cerning this illuftrious perfonage, collefted in the new
edition of the Biographia Britannica, the following fe-
leftion may ferve to illuftrate more particularly his dif-
pofition and manners.
One of the firft things which he did, wftien very
young, was to purchafe a box to put his money in ;
an indication this of the economical, not to fay ava¬
ricious, temper that accompanied him through life.
Dr Jofeph Warton relates, that, on the evening of an
important battle, the duke was heard to chide his fer-
vant for having been fo extravagant as to light four
candles in his tent when Prince Eugene came to confer
with him. Mr Tyets, on the other hand, men¬
tioned a circumftance which, if well founded, re¬
dounds to his grace’s generofity ; though is a diffe¬
rent,refpedl it is much to his difcredit : It is, that
during the rebellion 1715 he fentL. 10,000 to the
earl of Mar. We eonlider the ftory as only a tradi¬
tional report, which has not in itfelf any great degree
of probability ; and therefore we are by no means con¬
vinced of its truth. The late Mr Richardfon junior,
the painter, hath recorded a pleafing inftance of the
duke’s calmnefs of difpofition ; for which, indeed, he
was always remarkable. “ The duke of Marlborough
(fays the writer), riding out once with Commiffary
Marriot, near the commiffary’s houfe in the country,
it began to rain, and the duke called for his cloak ;
Marriot having his put on by his fervant immediately.
The duke’s fervant not bringing the cloak, he called
for it again ; but the man was ftill puzzling about the
ilraps and buckles. At laft, it raining now very hard,
the duke called again, and afked him, ‘ what he was
about that he did not bring his cloak ?’ ‘ You muft
Hay (grumbles the fellow), if it rains cats and dogs,
N° 80.
till I can get at it.’ The duke only turned to Marriot, Churchill,
and faid, ‘ I would not be of that fellow’s temper.”
The duke of Marlborough (adds Mr Richardfon) did
by nature and conftitution, what Seneca judged by
philofophy ought to be done. Quid ejl quare ego Jervi
mei hilarius refponfum, et coniumaciorem vultum, Jlagellis
et compedibus expiem ?
Dr Swift, in one of his letters to Stella, relates the
following particulars concerning the duke of Marl¬
borough. “ I was early this morning with fecretary
St John, and gave him a memorial to get the queen’s
letter for the firft-fruits, who has promifed to do it in
a very few days. He told me he had been with the
duke of Marlborough, w'ho was lamenting his former
wrong fteps in joining with the Whigs, and faid he
was worn out with age, fatigue, and misfortunes.’ I
fwear it pitied me ; and I really think they will not do
well in too much mortifying that man, although in¬
deed it is his own fault. He is covetous as hell, and
ambitious as the prince of it : he would fain have been
general for life, and has broken all endeavours for
peace, to keep his greatnefs, and get money. He
told the queen ‘ he was neither covetous nor ambitious.’
She faid, ‘ if fire could have conveniently turned about,
fire would have laughed, and could hardly forbear it in
his face.’ He fell in with all the abominable meafures
of the late miniftry, becaufe they gratified him for
their own defigns. Yet he has been a fuccefsful gene¬
ral, and I hope he will continue his command.”
Various charadlers have been drawn of the duke of
Marlborough ; moft of which we ftiall omit, as either
already fufficiently known, or as not meriting particu¬
lar notice. That which is given of him by Dr Swift,
in his “ Hiftory of the four laft years of the queen,”
has all the malignity and meannefs of a party pamph¬
let. It is even fo foolifh as to infinuate, that the
duke’s military accompliftiments were problematical,
and that he was deftitute of perfonal courage. Mr
Macpherfon’s chara&er of his grace is very elaborate¬
ly compofed, and difplays no fmall degree of ability
and penetration ; though it is not, perhaps, entire¬
ly free from prejudice. The hiftorian confided it
as a fa£l, that lord Churchill, at the time of the
Revolution, had a defign of placing his unfortunate
mafter king James II. a prifoner in the hands of his
rival the prince of Orange. But this ftory muft be
regarded as wholly unworthy of credit. It is found¬
ed upon fuggeftions and informations fo groundlefs,
and even ridiculous, that it cannot deferve a formal
refutation. On the other hand, Mr Macpherfon has
done juftice to the duke of Marlborough’s profecution
of the war in Flanders, and hath fhown that he con-
dufted it upon the principles of found wifdom and good
policy.
There are two teftimonies to the honour of the
duke’s memory, by two celebrated noble writers, which
cannot be paffed over. One is by lord Bolingbroke,
in his letters on the Study and Ufe of Hiftory.
Speaking of the confternation railed among the allies
of the grand confederacy by the death of king Wil¬
liam, and of the joy which that event gave to the
French, his lordfhip obferves, that “ a fhort time
fhowed how vain .the fears of fome and the hopes of
others were. By his death, the duke of Marlborough
was raifed to the head of the army, and indeed of the
2 con-
C H U [ 785 ] C H U
Churchill confederacy : where he, a new, a private man, a fub-
■v—' je&, acquired, by merit and by management, a more
deciding influence than high birth, confirmed autho*
rity, and even the crown of Great Britain, had given
to king William. Not only all the parts of that vaft
machine, the grand alliance, were kept more compaft
and entire, but a more rapid and vigorous motion was
given to the whole : and, inftead of languifhing out
difaftrous campaigns, vve f&w every fcene of* the war
full of aftion. All thofe wherein he appeared^ and
many of thofe wherein he was not then an after, but
abettor however of their aftion, were crowned with
the mod triumphant fuccefs. I take, with pleafure,
this opportunity of doing juftice to that great man,
whofe faults l knew, whofe virtues I admired; and
whofe memory, as the greateft general, and as the
greateft minifter, that our country, or perhaps any
other, has produced, I honour.”
The other teftimony to the duke’s accompliflrments
is by the earl of Chefterfield, in his Letters to his Son.
“ Of all the men (fays his lordflrip) that ever I knew
in my life (and I knew-him extremely well), the late
duke of Marlborough pofiefled the graces in the high-
eft. degree, not to fay engroffed them: and indeed
he got the moft by them ; for I will venture (contrary
to the cuftom of profound hiftorians, who always af-
fign deep caufes for great events) to aferibe the better
half of the duke of Marlborough’s greatnefs and riches
» to thofe graces. He was eminently illiterate ; wrote
bad Engliih, and fpelled it ftill worfe. He had no
fhare of what is commonly called partr; that is, he
had no brightnefs, nothing Ihining in his gefiius. He
had, moft undoubtedly, an excellent good plain under-
ftanding, with found judgment. But thefe alone Would
probably have raifed him but fomething higher than
they found him ; which was page to king James II.’s
queen. There the ^graces protefted and promoted
him : for while he was an enfign of the guards, the du-
chefs of Cleveland, then favourite miftrefs to king
Charles II. .ftruck by thofe very graces, gave him
L.5000; with which he immediately bought an an¬
nuity for his life of L. 500 a-year, of my grandfather
Halifax ; which was the foundation of his fubfequent
Fortune. His figure was beautiful; hut his manner
was irrefiftible, by either man or woman. It was by
this engaging graceful manner that he was enabled,
during all his war, to conneft the various and jarring
powers of the grand alliance, and to carry them on to
the main objeft of the war, notwithftanding their pri¬
vate and feparate views, jealoufies, and wrongheaded-
neffes. Whatever court he went to (and he was often
obliged to go himfclf to fome tefty and refraftory ones),
he as conftantly prevailed, and brought them into his
meafures. The penfionary Heinfius, a venerable old
minifter, grown grey in bufinefs, and who had go¬
verned the republic of the United Provinces for more
than 40 years, was abfolutely governed by the duke
of Marlborough, as that republic feels to this day.
He was always cofel; and nobody ever obferved the
leaft variation in his countenance : he could refufe more
gracefully than other people could grant; and thofe
who went away from him the moft diffafisfied as to the
fubftance of their bufinefs, were yet perfonally charmed
with him, and in fome degree comforted by his man¬
ner. With all his gentlenefs and gracefulnefs, nomaa
Vol. IV. Part II,
living was more confcious of his fituation, nor main-' Churchill
tained his dignity better.” *—■—v—"
A perufal of the above paffage will convince us of
the frivolous turn of the earl of Chefterfield’s mind.
His lordlhip, in his zeal to exalt the duke of Marl¬
borough’s external accompli/hments, either forgets or
depreciates the far greater talents of which he was
pofft ifed. There is an obfervation upon the fubjeft. in
the Britifti Biography, with which we entirely concur.
“ That the duke of Marlborough (fays the writer)
was eminently diftinguifhed by the gracefulnefs of his
manners, cannot be queftioned : but the earl of Che¬
fterfield appears to have attributed too much to their
influence, when he aferibes—the better half of the
*duke of Marlborough’s greatnefs and riches to thofe
graces. That the uncommon gracefulnefs of his man¬
ners facilitated his advancement, and contributed to
the fuccefs of his negociations, may readily be admit¬
ted ; but furely it mutt have been to much higher qua¬
lities that he owed the efteem of king William and of
prince Eugene, his reputation throughout all Europe,
and his many viftories and conquefts. It was not by
a polite exterior that he obtained his laurels at Schel-
lenberg, at Oudenarde, at Ramillies, and at Blen¬
heim.”
How much the duke of Marlborough has Been ce¬
lebrated by our poets, is well known by Addifon’s
“ Campaign,” and Philips’s “ Blenheim.” Mr Ad-
difon, in his Rofamond, has properly affumed another
and voluntary occafion of paying a fine compliment to
his grace’s military exploits, and the glory by which
they would be followed. Upon the duke’s removal
from his places, an ode was inferibed to him by Mr
Somerville, animated with all the zeal of whiggifti en-
thufiafm, and containing fome paflages that are truly
poetical. Another ode, not much inferior in fpirit,
was addreffed to his grace, on occafion-of his embark¬
ing for Oftend in the year 1712.
The duke of Marlborough’s Scots title of Baron
Eymouth, being to heirs-male, died writh himfelf; but
his Englifh title going to his daughters and their heirs',
male, went into the Spencer family, who retain their
own furname of Spencer.
Churchill (Charles), a celebrated fatirift, the
fon of Mr Charles Churchill curate and lefturer of
St John’s, Weftminfter, was educated at Weftminfter
fchool, and received fome applaufe for his abilities from
his tutors in that famous feminaty. His capacity,
however, was greater than his application, fo that he
acquired the charafter of a boy that could do good if
he would. As the flighteft accounts of perfons fo
noted are agreeable, it may not be amifs to obferve,
that having one day got an exercife to make, and
from idlenefs or inattention having failed to bring it
at the time appointed, his mafter thought proper to
chaftife him with fome feverity, and even reproached
his ftupidity : what the fear of ftripes could not effpft,
the fear of ftiame foon produced, and he brought his
exercife the next day, finiflied in fuch a manner, that
he received the public thanks of all the mailers. Still,
however, bis progrefs in the learned languages was
bat flow; nor is it to be wondered at, if we confider
how difficult it was for a ftrong imagination, fuch a*
he was pofleffed of, to conform and walk tamely for¬
ward in the trammels of a fchool education : minds
5 G like
C H U [ 786 ] C H U
Churchill, like his are ever ftarting afide after new purfuits ; de-
'“’■■V"—”' firous of embracing a multiplicity of amuflng objefls ;
eager to come at the end, without the painful invefti-
gation of the means. In fhort, for want of proper
ikill in thefe languages, he was reje&ed from Oxford,
whither his father had fent him; and probably this
might have given occafion to the frequent inve&ives
we find in his works againll that moft refpeftable
univeriity. Upon his return from thence, he again ap¬
plied to his ftudies in Weftminfter fchool, vyhere, at 17
years of age, he contrafted an intimacy with a lady,
to whom he was married, and their mutual regard
for each other continued for feveral years. At the
ufiial age of going into orders, Mr Churchill was or¬
dained by the late bifhop of London, and obtained a
J mall curacy in Wales of L. 30 a-year. Thither he
carried his wife : they took a fmall houfe ; and he
pafied through the duties of his ftation with afiiduity
and cheerfulnefs. Happy had it been for him had
he continued there to enjoy the fruits of piety, peace,
and fimplicity of manners. He was beloved and e-
fteemed by his pariihioners ; and though his fercnons
were rather above the level of his audience, they were
commended and followed. But endeavouring to ad¬
vance his fortune, by keeping a cyder cellar, it in¬
volved him in difficulties which obliged him to leave
Wales and come to London. His father dying foon
after, he ftepped jnio the church in which- he had of¬
ficiated ; and, in order to improve his income, which
fcarcely produced L. 100 a-year,, he taught young la¬
dies to read and write Englifh at a boarding fchool,
kept by Mrs Dennis, where he behaved with that de¬
cency and decorum which became his profelfion. His
method of living, however, bearing no proportion to
his income, he contracted feveral debts in the city ;
which being unable to pay, a jail, the terror of indi¬
gent genius, feemed ready to complete his misfortunes:
but from this Hate of wretcliednefs he was relieved
by the benevolence of Mr Lloyd, father to the poet
of that name. Mean while, Mr Lloyd, the fon, wrote
a poetical epiille called the Attor; which being read
and approved by the public, gave the author a diftin-
guifhed place among the writers of his age. This
induced Mr Churchill to write the Rofciad It firft
came out without the author’s name ; but the juftnefs
of the remarks, and the feverity of the fatire, foon
excited public curiofity. Though he never difowned
bis having written this piece, and even openly gloried
in it; yet the public, unwilling to give fo much merit
to one alone, aferibed it to a combination of wits :
nor were Meffrs Lloyd, Thornton, or Colman, left
unnamed upon this occafion. This mifplaced praife
foon induced Mr Churchill to throw off the mafk, and
the fecond edition appeared with his name at full
length. As the Rofciad was the firft of this poet’s
performances, fo many are of opinion that it is the
heft. In it we find a very clofe and minute difeuffion
of the particular merit of each performer; their de-
fetts pointed out with candour, and their merits
praifed without adulation. This poem, however,
4eems to be one of thofe few works which are injured
by fucceeding editions: when he became popular,
bis judgment began to grow drunk with applaufe ;
and we find, in. the latter editions', men blamed whole
merit is inconteftable, and others praifed that were at Churchill,
that time in no degree of efteem with the judicious. Churching^
His next performance was his Apology to the Criti- _f
cal Reviewers. This work is not without its peculiar
merit; and as it was written againft a fet of critics
whom the world was willing enough to blame, the
public read it with their ufual indulgence. In this
performance he (bowed a particular happinefs of
throwing his thoughts, if we may fo exprefs it, into
poetical paragraphs; fo that the (entence fwells to the
break or conclulion, as we find in profe..
But while his writings amufed the town, his a&ions
difgufted it. He now quitted his wife, with whom
he had cohabited many years ; and refigning his gown
and all clerical functions, commenced a complete man
of the town, got drunk, frequented ftews ; and, giddy
with falfe praife, thought his talents a fufficient atone¬
ment for all his follies. Li fomc meafure to palliate
the abfurdities of his conduct, he now undertook a
poem called Night, written upon a general fubjedl in.
deed, but upon falfe principles; namely, that what¬
ever our follies are, we (hould never attempt to con¬
ceal them. This, and Mr Churchill’s other poems,
being (hown to Dr Johnfon, and his opinion being
aiked, he allowed them but little merit; which be¬
ing told to the author, he refolved to requite this
private opinion with a public one. In his next poem,
therefore, of the Ghojl, he has drawn this gentleman
under the chara&er of Pompofo; and thofe who
difliked Mr Johnfon allowed it to have merit. Mr
Johnfon’s only reply to Churchill’s abufe was, “ that
he thought him a (hallow fellow in the beginning,
and could fay nothing worfe of him ftill.” Tire
poems of Night and the Ghoft had not the rapid fale
the author expe&ed ; but his Prophecy of Famine
foon made ample amends for the late paroxyfm in his
fame. In this piece, written in the fpirit of the fa¬
mous North Briton, he exerted his virulent pen againft
the whole Scotch nation; adopting the prejudices of the
mob, and dignifying feurrility by the aid of a poetic
imagination. It had a rapid and extenfive fale, as
prophefied by Mr Wilkes; who faid, before its pub¬
lication, that he was fore it muft take, as it was at
once perfonal, poetical, and political. After its ap¬
pearance, it was even afferted by his admirers, that
Mr Churchill was a better poet than Pope. This
exaggerated adulation, as it had before corrupted his
morals, began now to impair his mind : feveral foc-
ceeding pieces were publiftred, which, being written-
without effort, are read without pleafore. His Go-,
tham, Independence, The Times, feem. merely to have been
written by a man whodefired to avail himfelf of the avi¬
dity of the public curiofity in his favour, and arc rather
aimed at the pockets than the hearts of his readers.—Mr
Churchill died in 1764, of a miliary fever, with which he
was feized at Boulogne in France, whither he had gone
on a vifit to Mr Wilkes. After his death his poems were
colledhed and printed together in two volumes 8vo.
CHURCHING of womeh after child-birth,
took its rife from the Jewifti rite of purification. In
the Greek church it was limited, to the fortieth day
after delivery but in the weftern parts of Europe no
certain time is obferved. There, is an office in the li¬
turgy for this purpofe.
CHURCH-
C H U [ 787 1 C H U
Churchprd CHURCHYARD, a piece of ground adjoining to a
M . church, fet apart for fnterment or burial of the dead.
^ Je’ —In the church of Rome they are bleffed or confe-
crated with great folemnity. If a churchyard, which
has been thus confecrated, Paall afterwards be polluted
by any indecent aftion, or profaned by the burial of an
infidel, an heretic, an excommunicated or unbaptized
perfon, it mutl be reconciled; and the ceremony of the
reconciliation is performed with the fame folemnity as
that of the bleffing or confecration.
Churchyard (Thomas), a poet who flourifhed in
the reigns of Henry VIIL Edward VI. queen Mary
and queen Elizabeth, was born at Shrewfbury ; and in¬
herited a fortune, which he foon exhaufled in afruitlefs
attendance on the court, by which he only gained the
favour of being retained a domellic in the family of
lord Surrey ; when, by his lordlhip’s encouragement,
he commenced poet. Upon his patron’s death, he be¬
took himfelf to arms; was in many engagements ; was
frequently wounded, and was twice made prifoner. He
publifhed 12 pieces, which he afterwads printed toge¬
ther in one volume, under the y tie of Churchyard’s Chips;
and alfo the tragedy of ^Thomas Moubray duke of Nor¬
folk. He died in 1570.
CHURLE, Ceorle, or Carl, in the Saxon times,
fignified a tenant at will, who held of the thanes on
condition of rent and fervice. They were of two forts:
one rented the eftate like our farmers: the other tilled
and manured the demefnes, and were called plough¬
men. See Ceorle.
CHURNING, in country affairs, the operation of
making butter by agitating milk in a well known vef-
fel called a churn. For accelerating this operation, a
correfpondent in the Bath Society Papers recommends
a little diftilled vinegar to be poured into the churn; and
the butter will be produced in an hour afterwards. He
acknowledges, however, that his experiments have not
as yet afcertained the exadf quantity of the acid which
is neceffary to the proper effedt, nor the precife time
of its being mixed with the cream. But he appre¬
hends a table fpoonful or two to a gallon of cream will
be fufficient; nor would he recommend it to be applied
till the cream has undergone fome confiderable agi¬
tation. His firft. trial was after the churning had been
going forward half a day : whether he obferved the
fame rule afterwards, he does not fay ; but all his trials
proved .fuccefsful, the butter being uniformly obtained
•tn about an hour after the mixture-
CHUS, or Chttfch, (Bible.) It is a tradition of an
ancient Handing, that the Chus of the Scriptures de¬
notes Ethiopia, and Chufchi an Ethiopian; the Septua-
gint and Vulgate conilantly tranfiate it fo; and in
•this they are followed by moft interpreters, and by Jo-
fephus and Jerome. And yet what Bochart urges to
the contrary is of no inconfiderable weight, from Eze¬
kiel xxix. 10. in which the two oppofite extremes of
Egypt are defigned; and therefore Chus, which is op¬
pofite to Syene, muff be Arabia: but this is more
ftrongly pointed out by Xenophon, by whom Ethiopia
is faid to be the fouth boundary of Cyrus’s empire;
and Herodotus diftinguifties between the Ethiopians of
Afia and Africa, conjoining the former with the Ara¬
bians.
CHYLE, in the animal economy, a milky fluid fe-
creted from the aliments by means of digeftion. See Chylifioa-
Anatomy, p. 734, 735. tl°n*
CHYLIFICAT1 ON, the formation of the chyle, or cil^er.
the aft whereby the food is changed into chyle. y—w
The chyle has by fome authors been thought to have
a great refemblance in its nature and chemical analyfis
to milk. The fubjeft, however, hath as yet been but
little inquired into. See the article Milk.
CHYME, or chymus, in the common fignification
of the word, denotes every kind of humour which is
incraffated by concoftion ; under which notion it com¬
prehends all the humours fit or unfit for preferving
and nourifliing the body, whether good or bad. It
frequently imports the fineft part of the chyle, when fe-
parated from the faeces, and contained in the lafteal
and thoracic duft.
CHYMISTRY. See Chemistry.
CHYMOLOGI, an appellation given to fuch natu-
ralifts as have employed their time in inveftigating the
properties of plants from their tafte and fmell.
GHYMOSIS, in medicine, the aft of making or
preparing chyme. The word comes from fuccus,
of x£"> fundo, “ I melt.” Chymofis, according to fome,
is the fecond of the concoftions made in the body; be¬
ing a repeated preparation of the moft impure and
grofs parts of the chyle, which being rejefted by the
lafteals, is imbibed by the meferaics, and thence car¬
ried to the liver, to be there elaborated, purified, and
fubtilized afrefii. It is'of this, according to Rogers,
that the animal fpirits are formed.
Chymosis is alfo a diftortion of the eye-lids, arifing
from an inflammation; alfo an inflammation of the
tunica cornea in the eye.
CHYTLA, in antiquity, a liquor made of wine and
oil, and fometimes ufed in divination.
CHYTRI, among the Athenians, a feftival in ho'
nour of Bacchus and Mercury, kept on the Jjth o*
the month Anthefterion.
CHYTRIUM (anc. geog-), a place in Ionia, in
which formerly ftood Clazomene ; the Clazomenlans,
through fear of the Perfians, removing from the conti¬
nent to an adjacent ifland (Paufanias). Alexander re¬
duced the ifland, by a mole or caufeway, to a penln-
fula.
CHYTRUS (anc. geog.), an inland towm of Cy¬
prus, to the north of Citium ; famous for its excellent
honey.
CIANUS Sinus, (anc. geog.), a bay of Bithynia,
named from the town and river Cius.
CIBALiE, or Cibalis, (anc. geog.), a town of
Pannonia Inferior, on an eminence, .near the lake Hi-
ulka, to the north-weft of Sirmium ; the country of
the emperor Gratian, where he was brought up to rope¬
making : a place rendered famous for the furprifal and
defeat of Licinius by Conftantine.
CIBBER (Colley), a celebrated comedian, drama¬
tic writer, and poet laureat to the king, was born at
London in 167.1. His father Caius Gabriel Cibber,
was a native of Holftein, and a Ikilful ftatuary, who
executed the baffo relievo on the pedeftal of the mo¬
nument, and the two admired figures of lunatics over
the piers of the gate to Bethlem Hofpital in Moor-
fields. Colley, who derived his Chriftian name from
the furname of his mother’s family, was intended for
5 G 2 the
c r b [ 788 ] c 1 c
CiTAer the church, but betook himfelf to the flage, for which er furface, frequent in Germany and England; and Ciboria
‘s he conceived an eaily inclination; and he was forae the feventh is the browniih-white friable cibdeloftra- r;
ftrada" t‘me before he acquired any degree of notice, or even cium, with a dufty furface, found in feveral parts of.
1 ^—, 1 a competent falary. His firft effay in writing, was Ireland, as well as Germany.
the comedy of Love’s laft Shift, a&ed in 1695, which CIBORIA, in antiquity, the large huik of Egyp-
met with fuccefs ; as did his own performance of the tian beans, which are faid to have been fo large as to
chara&er of the fop in it. From that time, as he ferve for drinking-cups; whence they had their name
fays himfelf, “ My inufe and my fpoufe were fo ciborium, fignifying a cup, in the Egyptian language,
equally prolific, that the one was feldom the mother CIBORIUM, in ecclefiaftical writers, the covering
of a child, but in the fame year the other made for the altar. This covering is fupported by four high
me the father of a play. I think we had a dozen of columns, and forms a kind of tent for the eucharift, in
each fort between us; of both which kinds fome died the Romifh churches. Some authors call it turris gejla-
in their infancy, and near an equal nnmber of each toria and others pyxis; but the pyxis is properly the
were alive when we quitted the theatre.” The box in which the eucharift is preferved.
Carelefs Hujband, afted in 1704, met with great ap- CIBUS ferialis, in antiquity,tan entertainment pe*
plaufe, and is reckoned his beft play ; but none was culiar to a funeral; for which purpofe, heaps, parfley,
of more importance to him than the Non-juror, a£ted lettuce, bread, eggs, lentils, and falls were in ufe.
in 1717, and levelled againft the Jacobites. This laid CICADA, the Frog-hopper or Flea-Locust,
the foundation of the mifunderftanding between him in zoology, a genus of infedfs belonging to the order
and Mr Pope, raifed him to be the hero of the Du'nciad, of hemiptera. The beak is infledfed ; the antennae are
and made him poet laureat in 1730. He then quitted fetaceous ; the four wings are membranaceous and de-
the ituge, except a few occafional performances; and fledted ; and the feet, in mott of the fpecies, are of the
died in 1757. Cibber neither fucceeded in adding nor in jumping kind. The fpecies are fifty-one. The larva;
writing tragedy; and his odes were not thought to par- of feveral of this genus evacuate great quantities of a
take of the genius or fpirit he (bowed in his comedies, frothy matter upon the branches and leaves of plants.
His fon Theophilus, alfo a comic adlor after him, was in the midft of which they conftantly refide, probably
born during a great dorm in 1703 ; and after paffing for (belter againfi. the fearch of other animals, to which
a life of extravagance, dittrefs, and perplexity, pe- it would become a prey. Nature has afforded this
rifhed in another ftorm in 1758, in the paffage be- kind of defence to infedfs whofe naked and foft bodies
tween Dublin and England. Theophilus married the might otherwife very eafily be injured; perhaps alfo
filler of Thomas Auguftin Arne, the famous mufical the moifture of this foam may ferve to fereen it from
compofer; who becatne a celebrated tragic adlrefs, the fultry beams of the fun. On removing the foam,
and whofe honour was facrificed to her hufband’s ex- you difeover the larva concealed underneath ; but it
travagan ce. does not long remain uncovered. It foon emits fre(h
CIBDELOPLACIA, in natural hiftory; a genus of foam, that hides it from the eye of obfervation. It is
fpars debafed by a very large admixture of earth: in the midft of this foamy fubftance the larva goes
they are opaque, formed of thin crufts, covering ve- through its metamorphofis into a chryfalis and perfedb
getables and other bodies, by way of incruftations. infect. Other larvae, whofe bodies are not fo foft, run
Of this genus we have the following fpecies: 1. A over plants without any manner of defence, and efcape
greyifli-white one, with a rough furface. 2. A v.hi- from infedts that might hurt them, by the nimblenefs
tifh-brown one : both thefe are friable. 3. A hard, of their running, but efpecially of their leaping,
pale-brown kind, which is the ofteocolla of the (hops. The chryfalids, and all the larvae that produce them,
4. The whitifh grey kind, with a frnooth furface : differ link from each other, only that the former have
this is the unicornu foffile and ceratites of authors, therudimentsofwings, akindofknobattheplacewhere
5. The whitifh-brown corralloide kind. the wings will afterwards be in the perfedf infeft. As
CIBjDELOSTRACIA, in natural hiftory, terrene to other refpedls, the chryfalids walk, leap, and run over
fpars, deftitute of all brightnefs and tranfparence, plants and trees; as do the larva and the frog-hopper,
formed into thin plates, and ufually found coating over which they are to produce. At length they throw off
the fides of fiffures, and other cavities of ftones, with their teguments of chryfalids, (lip their laft (lough, and
congeries of them of great extent, and of plain or then the infedt appears in its utmoft ftate of perfeftion».
botroyide furfaces. The male alone is then endowed with the faculty of fing-
Of thefe there are ufsally reckoned (even kinds: ,ing, which it exercifes not with its throat, but with an or-
the firft is the hard, brownifh-white cibdeloftracium, gan fituated under the abdomen. Behind the legs of
found in Germany : the fecond is the hard, whitifh the male are obferved two valvuke, which, raifed up,
cibdeloftracium, with thin crufts, and a fmoother fur- difeover feveral cavities, feparated by various mem-
face, found alfo in the Harts-forefts in Germany : the branes. The middle contains a fealy triangle. Two
third is the hard, pale-brown cibdeloftracium, with vigorous mufcles give motion to another membrane,,
numerous very thin crufts, found in fubterranean ca- which alternately becomes concave and convex. The
verns in many parts of England as well as Germany : air agitated by this membrane,, is modified within the
the fourth is the white, light, and friable cibdelo- othercavities; andbythehelpofthisfonorousinftru-
ftracium, found alfo in Germany, but very rarely in any ment, he amoroufty folicits his female. By pulling
part of England : the fifth is the light, hard, pale- the mufcles of a frog-hopper lately dead, it may be
brown cibdeloftracium, with a fmooth furface, found made to ling. This infeCt begins its fong early in the
in almoft allparts of the world : the fixth is the whi- morning, and continues it during the heat of the nooa-
- till), friable, cruftaceous cibdeloftracium, with a rough- tide fun. Its. lively and animated mufic is, to the.
5. country
C I C L 789 ] CIO
Cicatricula country people, a prefage of a fine fummer, a plenti-
Cieatri ^ ^arve^» an<^ t^ie ^ure return of fpring. The cicada:
zantT' fiave a head almoft triangular, an oblong body, their
i-i—Y—« wings faftigiated or in form of a roof, and fix legs with
which they walk and leap pretty brilkly. In the fe¬
males, at the extremity of the abdomen are feen two
large laminae, between which is inclofed, as in a fheath,
a fpine, or lamina, fomewhat ferrated, which ferves
them for the purpofe of depofiting their eggs, and
probably to fink them into the fubftance of thofe
plants which the young larvae are to feed upon.
CICATRICULA, among natural hiftorians, de¬
notes a fmall whitifh fpeck in the yolk of an egg, fuppo-
fcd to be the firft rudiments of the future chick.
CICATRIX, in furgery, a little feam or elevation
of callous flefli rifing on the flcin, and remaining there
after the healing of a wound or ulcer. It is commonly
called a fear.
CICATRIZANTS, in pharmacy, medicines which
affiil nature to form a cicatrix. Such are Armenian
bole, powder of tutty, &c.
Cicatrizants are otherwife called efcharotics, epuhtics, Cicca
incarnatives, agglutinants, &c. C'ce' ^
CICCA, in botany; a genus of the tetrandria or- . “~ei* .
der, belonging to the monoecia clafs of plants. The
male calyx is tetraphyllous; there is no corolla: the
female calyx triphyllous; no corolla ; four ftyles; the
capfule quadricoccous, or four berried.
CICELY, in botany, the Engliih name of a fpecies
of chserophyllum. See Ch^rophyllum
CICER, or Chick-Pea, in botany: A genus of
the decandria order, belonging to the diadelphia clafs
of plants ; and in the natural method ranking under
the Papilionacea, or 32d order. The calyx is quinque-
partite, as long as the corolla, with its four uppermoft
fegments incumbent on the vexillum : the legumen is
rhomboidal, turbid, and difpermous. There is but one
fpecies, which produces peafe ftiaped like the commoa
ones, but much fmaller. They ate much cultivated in
Spain, where they are natives, being one of the ingre¬
dients in their olios; as: alfo in France ; but are rarely
known in Britain.
END OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.
OMISSION.
By an accident the following Explanations were omitted at their proper place, viz. at the end of
Part I. of Chemistry, p. 455.
Plate CXXXIII. fig. 1. (hows the figure of the dill
recommended by Dr Black ; the bottom formed in fuch
a manner as to go into his furnace. A, the body;
B, the head; C C, the tube conveying the fteam into
the worm; D F, the figure of the worm; E, the worm-
tub.
Fig. 2. A head taller than the common, proper for
rectifying ardent fpirits.
Fig. 3. Another kind of dill for a common furnace*
having a concave bottom for receiving the flame. A,
the body ; B, the head.
Fig. 4. Papin’s digefter. See Chemistry. n° 56’}.
A, the body 5 B B, the crofs-bars ; C D, the fcrew ;
E, the lid.
Fig. 5. The outer cafe of Dr Black’s furnace withr
out the luting. A, the body ; B, the feet; I G, the
opening at top.
Fig. 6. C, the grate of the fame, with four projec¬
tions, having holes in them to fallen it by nails to the
infide of the furnace.
Fig. 7. A crooked funnel for putting matters into
a retort without touching the fides or neck.
Fig. 8. Dr Black’s furnace put together in readi-
nefs for chemical operations. A, the mouth; B, the
chimney; C, the door of the afti-hole. E, the regi-
llers for admitting air.
Fig. 9. A feftion of the fame, fhowing its infide
ftru&ure. F» the top-cover; G, the body, with part
of the grate ; D, the receptacle for the afhes ; C, its
door ; E, the regifters.
Fig. 10. An iron fupport for a crucible.
Fig. 11. The figure of a crucible.
Plate CXXXIV. fig. 1. Dr Boerbaave’s portable
furnace. See Chemistry, n° 600.
Fig. 2. Macquer’s melting-furnace. AA, the door of
the aih-pit; B, the fpace betwixt the top of the afl*
pit and fire-place 5 DC, the bars ; G H E F, the fire¬
place ; I, the funnel. Ibid. 2d n° 605.
Fig. 3. Dr Lewis’s portabl* furnace fitted with m
Hill. Ibid, n 601, 602.
Fig. 4. Shows the figure of retorts of different kinds.
A, the body; B, the neck.
Fig. 5. A matrafs and alembic head, with a cucur¬
bit and alembic head made of one piece. A, the body;
B, the long neck of the matrafs; C, the alembic head.
A, the body of the cucurbit; B, the head; C, an
opening in the head for putting in the matter to be
diftilled; D, a glafs Hopple fitted to the opening juft
mentioned ; E, the opening of the cucurbit mouth.
Fig. 6. The pelican and cucurbit, now in difufe. A,
the body of the pelican ; B, the head ; C, an opening
fitted with aftopple ; DD, the arms. A, the body of
the cucurbit; B, the head ; C, the neck; D, the
(pout.
Fig. 7. A row of adopters or aludels.
Fig. 8. Dr Lewis’s lamp-furnace. Ibid. n° 61X.
ERRATA.
Page 127. col. 1. line 10. Yorjlint jlones, readJlatJlones.
col. 2.1. 20. For Sloppo, read Hoppo.
In the Notes on Chemistry.
N° 55. For partly the prejfure, read partly by the prejfure.
109. For exjiccation, read extrication.
140. For the ncrw exijlence, read nonexijlence.
147. For coming, read derived.
223. It or continuation, read combination.
423. For attejlation of the denjity, read alteration of the denfity.
559. For frigidity, read fragility.
904. For phlogijlic acid, read phofphoric acid.
922. Yor fublimes charcoal, read fublimes with charcoal.
927. For continued with, read combined with.
1227. For curious mercurias, read curious mercuries.
1398. For general vifion, read general divifion.
Page 452. col. 1. 1. 20. from the top. For “ HH,” read “ CE.**
1. 23. from the top. For “ E,” read “ f).”
1. 25. For “ DD,” read “ E.”
eol. 2. 1. 31. from the top. For w fig. 7. and 8.” read “ fig. 8. and 9.”
On the margin of col. 1. under note 2d 602, infert “ Plate CXXXIII. fig. 5, 8, 9.”
Page 454, col. 2. on the margin. For “ fig. 8.” read “ Plate CXXXIV. fig. 8.”
*%* In the Syftem of Chemistry, though an Appendix is added containing the more recent difcoveries in
that Science ; yet as fome others occurred Hill later, it was found neceffary to infert them in the Index, where
4hey are to be found under the articles Nitre, Phofpkcrus, Sugar, Tartar, and Vegetabhs.
4
DIRECTIONS for placing the PLATES of VOL. IV.
Hate
CXII to face
CXIII
CXIV
CXV
CXVI
CXVII.
CXVIII.
CXIX.
CXX.
CXXI.
CXXII.
CXXIIL
CXXIV.
The whole-fheet Chemical Table
Page
[40
57
80
84
-96
100
141
144
148
149
Plate
cxxv.
CXXVI.
CXXVH.
CXXVIIL
CXXIX.
cxxx.
CXXXI.
CXXXH.
CXXXIIL
CXXXIV.
cxxxv.
cxxxvi.
CXXXVII.
Page
169
172
237
264
300
305
308
437
441
45*
740
773
59«
£Ia idl, 26 Plates, 1
/
.
-