Callimachus
ka-lim’a-kus, an Alexandrian critic, poet, and grammarian. He was born at Cyrene, Africa, during the third century B. C. Under Ptolemy Philadelphus, Callimachus became chief librarian of the Alexandrian Library. He left rian of the Alexandrian Library. He left six hymns to the goods and many epigrams. Of his elegiacs, however, which were his most famous writings, only fragments remain. Callimachus was one in whom “ingenious, elegant, and harmonious versification took the place of higher poetry.” He may be regarded as the first representative of the learned poetry of Alexandria. See Alexandria QUOTATIONS. A great book is a great evil. He but sleeps The holy sleep, say not that the good man dies. All Hail! Thrice hail! We pray thee to dispense Virtue and wealth to us, wealth varying For virtue’s naught, mere virtue’s no defense Then send us virtue hand in hand with competence. - Hymn to Jove. Callimachus takes up this part of earth, A man much famed for poesy and mirth. -Epitaph of Callimachus, written by himself.
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Callinus
of Ephesus, the earliest Greek elegiac poet, flourished about 730 b. c. Only a few fragments of his elegies are extant.
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Calliope
kal-li’O-pe, in Greek mythology, the muse of epic poetry. She was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of Memory, and the mother of Orpheus. Calliope presided over eloquence. She was represented wearing a crown of laurel, holding in one hand a trumpet, in the other an epic poem. The literal meaning of the name Calliope is beautiful voiced, whence the name of the musical instrument (commonly pronounced Kal li-op) beloved of the circus goer.
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Calliope
one of the Muses. She presided over eloquence and heroic poetry, and is said to have been the mother of Orpheus by Apollo.
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Calliope
an asteroid, the 22d found. It was discovered by Hind, on Nov. 16, 1852. Also a series of steam whistles, pitched to produce musical notes, grouped together and and operated by a keyboard. The instrument is much in use in traveling circuses of the United States.
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Callisthenes
a Greek philosopher, born in 365 B. c. He was a disciple and grandson of Aristotle, and accompanied Alexander the Great in his expedition to Asia. He refused to acknowledge the alleged divinity of this hero, and even had the misfortune to displease him by his railleries. He was afterward accused of conspiracy, and put to death 328 b. c.
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Callistratus
an Athenian orator, whose eloquence is said tion of the to have fired the imagination youthful Demosthenes. For his Spartan sympathies he was condemned to death by the Athenians in 361, and on his return from exile in Macedonia was actually executed.
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Callosity
any thickened or hardened part of the human skin caused by pressure and friction. Also the natural cutaneous thickenings on the buttocks of monkeys.
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Callot
JACQUES (kä-lō'), a French engraver; born about 1593; distinguished himself in Italy and France, and was patronized by the Grand Duke of Tuscany and by Louis XIII. He preferred etching, probably because his active and fertile genius could in that way express itself more rapidly. In the space of 20 years he designed and executed about 1,600 pieces, the characteristics of which are freedom, variety, and naïveté. He died in 1635.
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Calmar
a fortified seaport town of Sweden, on the W. side of a narrow strait of the Baltic, separating the island of Öland from the continent, 50 miles N. E. by E. of Carlskrona. The town, built of wood, stands on the small island of Quarnholm; its harbor is small but safe and commodious. Tar, alum, hemp, and timber are extensively exported. Here, in 1397, was concluded the famous treaty which united the kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway under the rigorous scepter of Queen Margaret. Here also, in 1520, Gustavus Vasa disembarked to deliver his country from the domination of foreigners and of a sanguinary tyrant. Pop. about 17,500. French
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Calmecacs
Training College of Aztec priests. (See Mexico and Central America .)
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Calmet, Dom Augustin
A Benedictine of the congregation of Saint-Vannes, and one of the most diligent and active of his order, who died in 1757 at his abbey of Sesones. He was the author of a Dictionnaire de la Bible and of many well-known commentaries on the scriptures. But he is chiefly famous among occultists for his Dissertation sur les apparitions des anges, des demons et des esprits, et sur les revenans et vampires de Hongrie, de Bohème, de Moravie et de Silésie. (Paris 1746, and 1751-the latter being the best edition). It was translated into English in 1759, and is alluded to in the article " Vampire ." The greatest faith in the supernatural (some might perhaps stigmatise it as credulity) marks the work. But he notices unfavourable theories equally with those which suit his hypotheses, and if he places too much credence in the classical authors, he is never dull. He became the butt of Voltaire, who wrote beneath his portrait in verse of questionable quality: "Des oracles sacrés que Dieu daigna nous rendre Son travail assidu perca l'obscurité Il fit plus, il les crut avec simplicité Et fut, par ses vertus, digne de les entendre."
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Calmette
GASTON, a journalist, born at Montpellier in 1858. He was the editor of the "Figaro," and was noted as a formidable fighter in the political arena, not fearing to attack his political enemies, and sometimes using methods for that purpose that went beyond the bounds of journalistic ethics. He was engaged in a bitter political contest with JOSEPH CAILLAUX (q. v.), Minister of Finance and at one time Premier, and in the course of the controversy secured some private correspondence of Mme. Caillaux, which he was threatening to publish. She learned of his purpose, called upon him, and shot him dead. The tragedy occurred March 16, 1914. The deed was followed by the resignation of Caillaux and by the sensational trial of Mme. Caillaux for murder, of which charge she was declared not guilty.
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Calmucks
or Kalmucks, a nomadic people of Mongolian stock, inhabiting parts of Russia, Siberia, and China. They are active and well proportioned, with short chin, high cheekbones, upturned nose, oblique eyes, and scanty beard. They raise cattle, sheep, and horses. They move from place to place with change of season. Their homes are conical felt houses, which they set up in rows when they encamp. The Calmucks appeared on the Volga in 1630. They plundered for a time, but succumbed to Russian authority. A century later, 1771, to be more exact, one of their chieftains became dissatisfied and organized an exodus at a given date. They were off,--120,000 men, women, and children,--with their horses and herds for China. The Cossacks hung on their rear and other tribes harassed them on the march. A wretched horde reached the banks of a Chinese river and were settled by the Chinese emperor. The story is told graphically in De Quincey's Flight of a Tartar Tribe. A considerable section of the Kalmucks was unable to cross the Volga in time to join the flight. Their descendants still dwell on the Volga. The Russian and Chinese Calmucks are estimated variously at from 70,000 to 200,000.
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