BUTYRINE

BYZANTINE HISTORIANS

Butyrone. An interesting chemical substance occurring among the products of the distillation of butyrate of lime. It is homologous with acetone and propione. Buxine. A bitter alkaloid contained in the tissues of the box-tree.

Buzzard. [FALCO.]

By-laws or Bye-laws (the first syllable from the Danish By, town or hamlet). Orders and constitutions of corporations, courts-leet and courts-baron, commoners, or inhabitants of vills, &c., of which the effect is to impose obligations not enforced by common or statute law. The validity of by-laws rests on the authority of the parties making them, established either by immemorial custom, or by their corporate character; for the power of making by-laws is inherent in a corporation. But the superior courts of law have the power of annulling a bylaw, if it be unreasonable, or in restraint of trade, or imposing a charge without any apparent benefit to the party, &c. By the Municipal Corporations Amendment Act (5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 76, s. 90) by-laws are to be made by the town council of the borough, and to be valid unless disallowed by the king in council within forty days.

Byard. A piece of leather crossing the breast, used by the men who drag the sledges in coal mines.

Byrrhus. A Linnæan genus of minute Clavicorn Coleopterous insects, now the type of a family, including those pests of museums which feed in the larva state on bird-skins, preserved insects, &c. The genera in this family are Byrrhus proper, Simplocaria, Oomorphus, Syncalypta, Nosodendron, Aspidiphorus, Trinodes, and Anthrenus. Of the latter genus there are six British species, of which the Anthrenus muscorum may be regarded as the type. Byssifers, Byssifera (Lat. byssus, and fero, I carry). A family of Lamellibranchiate Acephalous Molluscs, comprehending those species which are attached to foreign bodies by means of a byssus.

Byssolite (Gr. Búooos, flax, and Xíðos, stone). A blue variety of Actinolite. It occurs in cavities of crystalline rocks in several parts of the Alps.

Byssus (Lat.; Gr. Búraos). A fasciculus of shining semitransparent horny or silky filaments, secreted by a gland at the base of the foot in certain Lamellibranchiate Bivalves, and serving as an organ of adhesion to submarine rocks or other foreign bodies.

BYSSUS. A name formerly given to all those filamentous plants which inhabit cellars and other underground close places, and on which

vegetation of a similar kind when found growing in the air. It is now ascertained that a large number of these supposed plants are merely the young state of certain kinds of fungi, or other plants of a low organisation; and the genus is consequently exploded, the term Byssoid alone being retained to express a fringed structure in which the threads are of unequal lengths.

Bytownite. A mineral which is probably a mixture of different Felspars. It is found in large boulders near Ottawa (formerly called Bytown), in Canada West.

Byttneriaceae (Byttneria, one of the genera). A natural order of Hypogynous Exogens, allied to the Sterculiaceae, consisting of trees and shrubs, chiefly tropical or subtropical, with simple leaves, and monadelphous stamens. The order contains Theobroma Cacao, from the seeds of which chocolate and cocoa are prepared. The fibrous bark of many species is adapted for the manufacture of cordage.

Byzantine Art. In Ornament and Architecture, is that symbolic system which was developed by the early Greek artists out of the Christian symbolism. The great features are the circle and dome, the round arch, and all the various details of form which are derived from the lily, the cross, the vesica, the nimbus and other symbols. The great examples of this style are St. Sophia at Constantinople, and St. Mark at Venice. (Salzenberg's Altchristliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel, &c. folio, Berlin 1854; Kreutz, La Basilica di San Marco, &c. folio, Venice 1843; and Ruskin's Stones of Venice, 1851-3.)

Byzantine Historians. A series of Greek historical authors, who lived under the Eastern Empire between the sixth and the fifteenth centuries. They may be divided into three classes: 1. Historians whose works form a continuous history of the Byzantine Empire from the fourth century of the Christian era down to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople. They are nearly thirty in number, with various shades of literary merit; but their works constitute almost the only authentic source of the history of that eventful period. 2. General chroniclers or historians, whose works treat chiefly of the chronography of the world from the oldest times. 3. Authors who confined their attention to the politics, statistics, antiquities, manners &c. of the Romans. These two latter classes combined amount also to about thirty, and their writings give an excellent illustration of the times of which they treat. The works of the Byzantine historians &c. were collected and published by order of Louis XIV. in 36 vols. folio, Paris 1645-1711. Another edition was published at Venice in 1729 and the following years. A more complete edition was projected by Niebuhr, the historian of Rome (Corpus Scriptorum Historie Byzantine, editio emendatior et copiosior, 8vo. Bonnæ 1828). edition was superintended by him till his death; and it has since that time been carried on by Becker, Dindorf, and other eminent philologists.

This

CABIRI

notwithstanding the high importance of their position, they have no recognised legal character. The distinction between the king's cabinet ministers and the rest of his privy council seems not to have been established in public usage in England before the reign of William III.

Cabiri (Gr. Káßeipoi). Certain mystic deities, worshipped in Greece, Egypt, &c., and specially in Lemnos, Samothrace and Imbros. The vague and contradictory accounts given of them by various writers render it impossible to arrive at any certain conclusions as to their real character, and the nature of their worship, which was made a matter of the greatest mystery. By some they have been regarded as exclusively Pelasgic divinities; by others they have been identified with the Roman Penates and the Dioscuri. To account for their name, they were said to be children of Hephaestus (or Vulcan) and Cabeira the daughter of Proteus. They are mentioned by Herodotus (ii. 51, iii. 37); but his statements are not more definite than those of later writers. The subject is examined at length in Lobeck's Aglaophamus. Cable (Fr. câble; Span. cabre, cable; Port. calabre, cabre). The rope or chain by which the anchor of a ship is held. Cables in Europe, until within a recent period, were usually made of hemp, but of late years iron chains have come much into use. A hempen cable of 12 inches girth, and length 120 fathoms, weighs 3,075 lbs. Since the weights of two cables of equal lengths will be as their sections, or squares of the girths, it is easy to deduce the following rule. for the weight of any hempen cable: Multiply the square of the girth in inches by 21-3 (or 21 nearly enough); the product is the weight, in lbs. Since also as the breaking strain, or resistance against the force to part the cable, will be as the section, it will be as the weight, and will be found nearly by dividing the weight in lbs. by 100; the quotient is the breaking strain in tons. This rule is of course liable to great uncertainty from the quality or wear of the cable. Chain cables possess great advantages over hempen cables; they are not liable to be destroyed by chafing on rocky grounds, nor to become rotten and insecure from alternate exposure to the air and water; and by reason of their greater weight the strain is exerted on the cable rather than on the ship. In order that the ship may be enabled to let slip her cable in case of necessity, chain cables are furnished with bolts at distances from each other of a fathom or two, which can be readily withdrawn. A chain of which the section is 1 inch in diameter breaks with 16 tons; such a chain is equivalent to a 10-inch hemp cable nearly. And the dimensions of the chain cable corresponding to any hemp cable are therefore easily found by merely dividing the circumference of the hemp cable by 10. The strength of every part of the chain is proved before it leaves the manufactory, nor may any chain be used on shipboard until it has been tested and certified by an officer appointed by the Board

CACHOLONG

of Ordnance. The penalty for supplying a cable not so tested is 50l. The first patent for a chain cable was taken out in 1808 by Mr. Slater, a surgeon in the Royal Navy.

CABLE. In Architecture, the term cable is applied to a moulding that is ornamented in such a way as to resemble a cable; it is frequently applied to the lower part of a column, which is filled in with a decoration of this kind inserted in the flutes.

Cabled. In Architecture, the filling up the lower part of the flute of a column with a cylindrical piece like a cable.

Cabocle. The Brazilian name for a compact brick-red mineral, resembling red Jasper, which is found in the diamond-sand of the province of Bahia. It contains phosphoric acid, alumina, lime, baryta, protoxide of iron, and water.

Cabombaceae (Cabomba, one of the genera). A small order of Exogens belonging to the Nymphal alliance. The plants are aquatics, with floating shield-like leaves and three to four petaled flowers, and are found both in North and South America, as well as in New Holland. The distinguishing peculiarities of the group are their distinct carpels, the abundant albumen in the seeds, and the absence of a torus. The order has sometimes been called Hydropeltideæ, and bears the popular name of Watershields. The submersed leaves are capillary.

Cachalot. In Ichthyology, a name for the spermaceti or sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Linn.).

Cachet, Lettres de (Fr.). In France, under the ancient government, letters signed with the private seal (cachet) of the king. As warrants for the detention of private citizens, they appear to have been rarely employed before the seventeenth century. In the reign of Louis XIV. their use became frightfully common. But in other respects they had been not unfrequently made use of, even in earlier times, to interfere with the course of justice; as, by way of injunction to a party not to exercise certain authority or pursue certain legal steps, &c. Lettres de cachet were never so multiplied as under the administration of Cardinal Fleury: not less than 80,000 are said to have been issued, without any legal judgment, in the proceedings against the Jansenists. Fifty-nine are said to have been issued against the family Mirabeau in the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI., of which twenty-two were against the famous count himself. They were abolished Jan. 15, 1790.

Cachexia (Gr. κaxetía, from κaкós, bad, and is, a habit). A bad state or habit of body; whence the term cachexiæ, or cachectic disorders.

Cacholong. A milk-white variety of Opal, allied to Hydrophane. It is found in Ireland, in the trap rocks of Iceland, in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It was originally discovered on the banks of the river Cach in Bucharia, where it occurs in large loose masses: hence the origin of the name; the word Cholong, in the

CACHUNDE

language of the Calmucks, being said to signify

a stone.

Cachunde. A celebrated Chinese medicine, composed chiefly of aromatic stimulants.

Cacodæmon (Gr. kakodalμwv, an evil spirit). [DEMON.]

Cacodyle. [KAKODYLE.]

Cacophony (Gr. Kakopwvla, from Kaкós, bad, and pwvh, a sound). In Rhetoric, a harsh or disagreeable sound produced by the meeting of two or more letters or syllables, or by the too frequent repetition of the same letters or syllables: e.g.

And oft the ear the open vowels tire.-POPE. Cacotheline. A feeble alkaloid derived from brucine by the action of nitric acid.

Cacoxene. [KAKOXENE.] Cactaceae (Cactus, the old name of one of the genera). A small natural order of Exogens, remarkable for their gay and large flowers, and for the grotesque forms of some of the species, which are nearly all succulent. They are found wild in hot dry countries, in arid situations, where they are enabled to exist because of the thickness of their skin, which allows very little moisture to be lost through it. The principal features are the numerous undistinguishable sepals and petals, the scattered stamens, the confluent styles, and the exalbuminous seeds. Many of the species are like succulent Euphorbias, from which they are, however, known by their not giving a milky sap when wounded. All the species are harmless. Some have eatable fruit, as Opuntia vulgaris, the Prickly Pear; and one of them, the Nopal, Opuntia cochinillifera, is the favourite haunt of the cochineal insect.

Cacus. In Latin Mythology, the son of Vulcan, a robber of Italy, whose dwelling was in the Aventine wood. His exploits form the subject of an episode in the eighth book of the Eneid. He was represented as a frightful monster of enormous strength, who, after a long life of crime, was at length slain by Hercules, from whom he had stolen some oxen. To express his gratitude for his victory, Hercules erected the Ara Maxima; and Evander, with his infant colony of Arcadians, paid divine honours to Hercules as their benefactor. For the origin, history, and meaning of the myth, see Bréal, Hercule et Cacus (Paris, A. Durand, 1863).

Cadastral Survey (Fr. cadastre, from cadrer, to square with). A term of late years generally adopted on the Continent, and now used in England, to denote a survey on a large scale. A cadastral as opposed to a topographical map may be defined to be one on which the objects represented agree, as to their relative positions and dimensions, with the objects on the face of the country; while a topographical map, usually drawn on a small scale, exaggerates the dimensions of houses and the breadth of roads and streams, for the sake of distinctness, and is, owing to its smaller size, necessarily less correct than a

CADENCE

cadastral plan. The scale on which the national survey of the United Kingdom is in future to be drawn, is that which has been generally adopted throughout Europe, namely 0004, or 5 of the linear measure of the ground. This scale corresponds so nearly to twenty-five inches to one mile, that it is usually spoken of as the twenty-five inch scale. (Edinburgh Review, vol. cxviii. p. 378.)

Caddice-worms or Case-worms. The

larvæ or grubs of the Trichopterous insects are so called, on account of being enclosed in a sheath or case. This is always composed of extraneous substances glued together by a cement excreted from the skin of the grub; and different species of the caddice-worm protect themselves by means of different materials thus joined together. Some, which pass their larva state under water and creep along the bottom, combine bits of sticks or rushes with small pebbles or shells, to make their cases heavier than water; others, which float on the top and there gather their food, form a slight and slender tube of a narrow slip of grass, which is rolled round the body in a spiral direction, with the edges so nicely fitting as to seem but one piece. In every case the worm adheres by a pair of hooks at its hinder extremity to the bottom of the sheath, and only protrudes the head and two following segments, the skin of which is harder than that covering the rest of the body. Those which creep at the bottom drag themselves along by means of their mandibles. At the conclusion of their existence as grubs, they moor their case to some large stone or other fixed and submerged body, and close the outlet by a network of silken threads, which prevents the entry of any unfriendly intruder, but admits the water necessary for respiration. They then cast their outer skin, and for a while remain in the usual passive condition of a pupa; while the organising energy is vigorously effecting the wonderful changes which lead to the full perfection of the insect. But, as it would be obviously dangerous to the air-breathing imago to be excluded in its first feeble state under water, the pupa here exhibits a locomotive power which is without a parallel in other orders of the metamorphotic insects: being provided with a pair of small and sharp hooks at the head, it cuts the threads with which in a previous state it had confined itself, and creeping out of the water casts off its pupa. skin, and emerges a May-fly or Phryganea.

Cadence (Ital. cadenza, a falling). In Music, the conclusion of a song, or of some parts thereof, in certain places of the piece, dividing it as it were into so many numbers or periods. The cadence takes place when the parts fall or terminate on a note or chord. naturally expected by the ear, just as a period closes the sense in the paragraph of a discourse. A cadence is either perfect or imperfect. The former when it consists of two notes sung after each other, or by degrees conjoined in each of the two parts, the harmony of the fifth