Comanche
ko-man'che, a tribe of American Indians belonging to the Shoshone or Snake family. When first known to the whites they were living in eastern Colorado, where they had already obtained horses of Spanish stock from the southwest, and had become expert and daring riders. They were driven southward by the Sioux into the region lying between Santa Fe and Mexico. They were armed with the bow and arrow . Later the Comanches obtained firearms from the whites. They lived largely on the chase of the buffalo, from the skin of which the squaws constructed their wigwams. There were at one time at least 20,000 of the tribe, perhaps more, as the number of warriors was estimated at 5,000. The Spaniards had a knack of making peace with most Indian tribes; but they were at constant enmity with the Comanches, who bore down upon their settlements along the Mexican borders in many a raid, killing the adults and carrying away the children for adoption. About 1816 smallpox played havoc with the tribe. When the railroads reached their country the Comanches became a perfect scourge and gave the United States troops much trouble. A small remnant, perhaps 1,500 in all, is now located on a reservation in Oklahoma. See Indian; Apache ; Miles
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Comanches
an aboriginal tribe of North American Indians, whose hunting grounds were the regions now known as Texas and northern Mexico. They were very numerous between 1700 and 1750, having a tribal organization under chiefs of their own selection. They hunted on horseback, and were estimated to number 400,000 when first encountered by the whites. They have dwindled to about 2,000 and now live on a reservation opened in 1901 in Oklahoma.
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Comayagua
a city of Honduras, Central America, situated in a fertile valley, 1,935 fect above the sea, on the Rio Humuya, 190 miles E. of Guatemala. Founded in 1540, it has a handsome cathedral and a college, and before 1880 was the capital of the republic. Pop. about 3,100.
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Combaconum
one of the oldest and most sacred cities of India, in the center of the fertile Kaveri delta, 193 miles S. W. of Madras, with Hindu temples, a government college, etc. Pop. about 64,000.
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Combined Hardening and Tempering
M. Caron, with a view to combining the two operations of hardening and tempering, suggested that the temperature of the water used for hardening, be heated to a predetermined degree. Thus the requisite temper may be given to gunlock springs by heating the water in which they are hardened to 55 deg. C., or 130 deg. F.
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Combing
. See Carding
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Combles
a town in the department of the Somme, France, 7 miles N. W. of Peronne, and 20 miles S. E. of Arras. The Germans took it during the second battle of the Somme in March, 1918, inflicting heavy losses on the British, mostly South Africans, under General Dawson, who was captured. Attempts at counter-attack were unavailing, till the arrival of American forces and the general retreat of the Germans. COMBRETACEÆ, in botany, Myrobalans, an order of exogens, alliance Myrtales. It consists of trees or shrubs with alternate or opposite entire dotless leaves, destitute of stipules. The flowers are on axillary or terminal spikes. The calyx is adherent, with a 4-5 lobed deciduous limb. The petals, where they exist, rise from the orifice of the calyx. The stamens are generally twice as many as the segments of the calyx; the ovary one-celled, 2-4 pendulous ovules, style 1, stigma simple. The order is divided into three tribes: terminaleæ, combreteæ, and gyrocarpeæ. The myrobalans are found within the tropics of Asia, Africa, and America.
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Combustion
the act of burning, the state of being burned. Spontaneous Combustion is Combustion occurring without any means taken on the part of man to produce it. A Combustion of the human body produced by occult internal causes is alleged to have occurred several times. Most chemists believe the Combustion of the human body in the way described an impossibility. COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE, the national subsidized theater of France, formed in 1680 by the fusion of the two bodies into which Molière's company of actors had split. It is at present managed by regulations made in 1812, modified by subsequent resolutions.
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Comedietta
a dramatic composition of the comedy class, but not so much elaborated as a regular comedy, and generally consisting of one or at most two acts.
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Comedones
a name applied to the little cylinders of sebaceous and epithelial substance which are apt to accumulate in the follicles of the skin and to appear on the surface as small round black spots. When squeezed out they have the appearance of minute maggots or grubs, with black heads, and thence have derived their name.
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Comedy of Errors, The
The, a comedy by William Shakespeare. It was one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, having been produced December 28, 1594, at Grey's Inn Hall. It was first published in 1623. The plot is based on the resemblance between twin brothers, both named Antipholus, and the resemblance between their two servants, also twin brothers, both named Dromio. These likenesses give rise to a series of laughable mistakes. The Comedy of Errors is the shortest of all Shakespeare's plays, containing only 1,770 lines. Robson and Crane, American actors, have presented the play with great success, appearing in the roles of the two Dromios. QUOTATIONS. Words are but wind. Every why hath a wherefore. Headstrong liberty is lashed with woe. Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast. He that commends me to my own content Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
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Comenius, Johann Amos
ko-me'ni-us, Johann Amos (1592-1671), a Moravian educator. Comenius was born in a Moravian village and died at Amsterdam. He became a teacher in his native country, but was driven out by war and religious persecution. He went to Poland and was made bishop of the Moravian Brethren. At one time he contemplated coming to the New World to accept a position in Harvard University . He is remembered chiefly for his Orbis Pictus , or the pictorial world, a primary reading book. It is the first in which pictures were employed to assist children in learning to read. Of course the cuts now seem very rude, but to children of the Old World villages at that time, these were wonderful books. The Orbis Pictus, published in 1657, marks a distinct step in education. To be accurate, it was an abbreviation of a larger and more pretentious work, published in 1631. For some idea of the general style of the contents of the Orbis Pictus, see article on NEW ENGLAND PRIMER .
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