The Meta-Encyclopedia

Single-source entries: C (96)

Each of these 13 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.

Comfort

WILL LEVINGTON, an American novelist, born in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1878. He was educated in the public schools of Detroit. During the Spanish-American War he served in the 5th United States Cavalry. He was war correspondent in the Philippines and China in 1889 and served in the same capacity during the Russo-Japanese War. His books, which acquired a wide circle of readers, include: "Routledge Rides Alone" (1910); "Down Among Men" (1913); "Child and Country" (1916); and "The Shielding Wing" (1918), etc.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Comfrey

the Symphytum officinale. The stem is 2-3 feet high, branched above. The flowers are in pairs, secund, and drooping. The corolla is large, yellowish-white, often purple. The plant is frequently found on the banks of rivers or in watery places generally. It flowers in May and June. It was formerly regarded as a vulnerary. The leaves gathered while substitute young may be used as a substitute for spinach. Comfrey stewed in sugar, with a small amount of paregoric added, makes a highly-prized domestic remedy for coughs and bronchial irritation.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Comitia

the ordinary and legal assemblies of the Roman citizens for the passing of laws, election of magistrates and officers, etc.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commander Islands

a group of four islands off the coast of Siberia, in the Bering Sea. The largest of them, Bering, has an area of 609 square miles, and the next largest, Mednj, 180 square miles, both of them having a small pop-. ulation. The chief industry is the breed ing of fur seals, protected by the Siberian Government. (kom-män-dēt), COMMANDITE a term used in France, a partnership en commandite being one in which a person advance capital without taking an may active part in the management of the business, and be exempt from responsibility for more than he put into it; much the same as limited liability. COMMELYNACEÆ, spiderworts, an order of endogens, alliance xyridales. They are herbaceous plants, with flat narrow leaves. The species are found in the East and West Indies, New Holland, Africa, etc.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commemoration Ode

a poem by James Russell Lowell written in 1865. The full title is Ode Recited at the Harvard Commemoration. The poem was written for, and read at, the memorial exercises at Cambridge, in commemoration of those members of Harvard College who had given their lives to their country. This is the finest and most famous ode in American literature . Dr. Burton says: "It should be read by all good Americans at least once a year." We quote: How could poet ever tower, If his passions, hopes, and fears,-- If his triumphs and his tears, Kept not measure with his people? Boom, cannon, boom to all the winds and waves! Clash out, glad bells, from every rocking steeple! Banners, advance with triumph, bend your staves! And from every mountain-peak Let beacon-fire to answering beacon speak, Katahdin tell Monadnock, Whiteface he, And so leap on in light from sea to sea, Till the glad news be sent Across a kindling continent, Making earth feel more firm and air breathe braver: "Be proud! for she is saved, and all have helped to save her."

Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia

Commendam

the administration or provisional management of a benefice during a vacancy. The person intrusted with the management was called commendator. The grant of ecclesiastical livings in this way gave rise to great abuses. In England the term was applied to a living retained by a bishop after he had ceased to be an incumbent. 6 and 7 William IV. the holding By of livings in commendam was, for the future, abolished.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commensal

messmate; applied in zoölogy to animals which live on or in other animals for part or the whole of their life, simply sharing the food of their host without being parasite on him; thus the pea-crabs live within the cavity of shell-fish, and find their food in the water introduced for the benefit of their host.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commensurable

an appellation given to such quantities or magnitudes as can be measured by one and the same common measure. Commensurable numbers are such as can be measured or divided by some other number without any remainder; such are 12 and 18, as being measured by 6 or 3.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commentary

a term used (1) in the same sense as memoirs, for a narrative of particular transactions or events, as the "Commentaries" of Cæsar. (2) A series or collection of comments or annotations. These may either be in the form of detached notes, or may be embodied in a series of remarks written and printed in a connected form. mutual exchange,

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commercial Law

the law which regulates commercial affairs among the merchants of different countries or among merchants generally. It is derived from the different maritime codes of mediæval Europe, the imperial code of Rome, international law, and the custom of merchants. Lord Mansfield (1704-1793) was the first great exponent of commercial law in Great Britain.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commination

the act of threatening or denouncing vengeance; a threat; also a solemn recital of God's commandments and a "Denouncing of God's anger and judgments against sinners," appointed to be used in the Church of England on Ash-Wednesday and such other times as the ordinary may direct. It was introduced at the Reformation as a substitute for the ceremony of sprinkling the head and making the sign of the cross with ashes on Ash-Wednesday.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commissary

an ecclesiastical term, an officer of a bishop who exercises spiritual jurisdiction in remote parts of a diocese, or one intrusted with the performance of the duties in the bishop's absence. Also, in the army, a term applied to officers charged with furnishing provisions, etc., for its use. In the United States the army commissary up to 1912 was under Department of Subsistence, but in that year was joined to the Quartermaster Corps. It now falls partly in the Army Service Corps, in which body alone there are commissary officers. -COMMISSION PLAN. See MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Commissure

an anatomical term applied to nervous connections between adjacent parts of the nervous system. Though it is not always used in quite the same way, the general signification of the term, and the physiological import of the structure, is that of a uniting bridge.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia