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men; its influence being attributed to the fact, that it is the multiple of the two mystical numbers 7 and 9.

CLIMATE (from the Greek klima, a slope or inclination, afterwards applied to a tract of country, with reference to its supposed inclination to the pole, and the effect of the obliquity of the sun's rays upon the temperature), a term now employed as including not merely the conditions of a place or country with regard to temperature, but also its meteorological conditions generally, in so far as they exercise an influence on the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The effect of the sun's rays is greatest where they fall perpendicularly on the surface of the earth, and diminishes as their obliquity increases; the surface which receives any given amount of the sun's rays increasing with their increased obliquity; whilst at the same time the oblique rays being subjected to the influence of a greater number of particles of the atmosphere, a greater amount of their heat is absorbed before they reach the surface of the earth at all. The greater or smaller extent of surface receiving a certain amount of heat, also makes important differences to arise from exposure by slope towards the equator or towards the nearest pole. Elevation is a most important cause of differences of climate. As we ascend from the level of the sea to the greatest mountain altitudes, even at the equator, the temperature gradually diminishes, owing to the diminished density of the atmosphere, and we reach a region of perpetual snow, as in approaching the poles. The progressive diminution of the temperature is, however, affected by many other causes, so that the line of perpetual snow is far from being at the same elevation in all places of the same latitude. Thus, the snow-line on the southern side of the Himalayas is depressed by the moisture of the aerial currents from the Indian ocean; and that on the northern side is elevated by the radiation of heat in the vast dry table-lands of Central Asia, and the consequent ascending streams of warm dry air; so that the difference between the two is not less than 4,000 ft. in favor of the northern side of the mountain-ranges; and Humboldt says, "millions of men of Thibetian origin occupy populous towns in a country where fields and towns would, during the whole year, have been buried in snow, if these table-lands had been less continuous and less extensive." As the actual temperature of the atmosphere depends not so much upon the direct rays of the sun as upon the radiation from the heated surface of the earth, the diversities in the character of that surface are productive of great effects in modifying climate. A sandy desert, a tract of country clothed with luxuriant vegetation, and an expanse of water, absorb and radiate heat in very different degrees. A newly plowed field both absorbs and radiates heat much more rapidly than a field covered with grass. A sandy desert heats the atmosphere above it much more than either a fertile tract or a watery expanse, and a watery expanse still less than a fertile tract; but, on the other hand, the desert cools sooner by radiation; whilst the heat absorbed by the water being diffused through a larger mass-partly by reason of the motion continually taking place in the fluid substance-and affecting greater depths, the influence of the ocean, of seas, and of great lakes, is very powerful in maintaining a greater equality in the temperature of the atmosphere. Thus maritime places, and particularly islands and peninsulas, have a more equal temperature, with less diversity of the extremes of summer and winter, than more inland or continental places otherwise similarly situated. The effect of the sea is modified by many circumstances, and particularly by currents, of which the Gulf stream (q.v.) affords a notable instance, the heated water conveyed by it from the equatorial to the polar regions having a great influence on the C., particularly of the n. w. of Europe. The temperature of Europe is also in part dependent on the warm s. winds, which have absorbed heat from the great sandy deserts of Africa; and over the world generally, atmospheric currents must be regarded as exercising even a greater influence on C. than oceanic currents. The quantity of rain or snow that falls in the course of a year, and the times and manner of its falling, are circumstances which have a great effect on climate. These are circumstances much influenced by the distribution of land and water, and by the elevation and character of the surface of the land, which, doubtless, also influence electric and other meteorological conditions, less understood, but certainly not unimportant.

The relations of C. to vegetation are determined not merely by the mean annual temperature, but in a great measure also—and, with regard to many plants, entirely—by the duration and C. of summer. Thus, maize, which may be mentioned as an important example, succeeds well in climates of which the winter-cold is severe, the summer season alone being sufficient for its whole life; whilst, on the other hand, such plants as fuchsias, some kinds of laurel, and even the common hawthorn, which succeed well enough where maize would scarcely put forth an ear, would perish from the colder winters of countries where it is profitably cultivated. The polar limit of particular species of animals, except those which hibernate, is generally determined by the degree of winter-cold which they can bear without injury.

Bogs and marshes exercise an unfavorable influence on C., cooling the air and causing fogs, as clay-soils also to some extent do, through their retentiveness of moisture; whilst marshes of some kinds, and in some situations, abound in exhalations very unfavorable to health. Similar remarks apply to large tracts of forest. The clearing, drainage, and cultivation of land have generally favorable effects on C.; although plantations are often beneficial for shelter; and a too complete removal of natural forests may pre

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vent the deposition of moisture from the atmosphere to such a degree as to cause droughts, a result strikingly exemplified in some of the smaller West India islands, and the tendency to which is said to be manifested on the great scale in the castern part of the continent of North America.

The important and difficult subject of C. will be found further elucidated in some of the principal geographical articles, and in the articles AGRICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE, ATMOSPHERE, METEOROLOGY, MONSOONS, RAIN, SEASONS, STORMS, TRADE-WINDS, WIND.

CLIMAX, a Greek word signifying primarily a stair, and in rhetoric, that artifice which consists in placing before the mind of the reader or hearer a series of propositions or objects so arranged that the least forcible strikes it first, and the others rise by successive gradations in impressiveness.

CLIMBERS, Scansores, in ornithology, an order of birds generally characterized by having two toes before opposed by two toes behind, so as to adapt their feet in a remarkable degree for the purpose of grasping the branch of a tree or any similar object. Many have not two toes permanently directed backwards, but have the power of turning one of the front toes backwards at pleasure. Some have only three toes, but yet on other accounts are unhesitatingly ranked in this order. The families of the C., however, differ very much in many respects, although agreeing in the structure of their feet. To this order belong parrots, toucans, trogons, barbets, woodpeckers, and cuckoos. It has been objected to the name C., that although very descriptive of the habits of some birds of this order, as woodpeckers, it is not very applicable to others, as cuckoos, whilst there are birds of other orders, as creepers, which possess this habit in the greatest degree; and the name has been changed by some ornithologists into yoke-footed or zygo dactylous birds. It is generally the outer front toe which is directed backward in this order; but in the trogons, the first and second toes are opposed to the third and fourth.

CLIMBING FERN, Hygodium palmatum, a species of fern found, rarely, from Massachusetts to Virginia and Kentucky, remarkable for climbing or twining around weeds and shrubs. The leaves are broadly palmate, and the fertile frondlets form a panicle upon the upper portion of the stem. It is prized for interior decoration of houses.

CLIMBING PERCH, Anabas scandens, the only well-ascertained species of a genus of fishes, from which the family anabasidæ (q. v.) derives its name. It is a native of rivers and ponds in most parts of the East Indies. It is about 6 in. long. In general form, it somewhat resembles a perch, and the resemblance is increased by the large scales and the spiny dorsal fin. That this fish climbs trees, has been asserted by observers whose veracity and accuracy cannot easily be questioned; yet others, who have enjoyed ample opportunity of observation, express great doubt concerning this habit. In climbing, the fish is said to suspend itself by its spiny gill-covers, and by fixing its anal fin in cavities of the bark, urging its way upwards by distending and contracting its body. There is no doubt that it often leaves pools when they are in danger of being dried up, and travels in search of water. Though these fish are sometimes compelled in their distress to travel by day, and have been met in the glare of noon toiling along a dusty road, their migrations are generally performed at night or in early morning, whilst the grass is still wet with dew. Climbing perches are plentiful in the Ganges, and the boatmen have been known to keep them for five or six days in an earthen pot without water, using daily what they wanted, and finding them as lively as when just caught.

CLIMBING PLANTS, or CLIMBERS, are, in the most extensive and popular sense of the term, those plants which, having weak stems, seek support from other objects, chiefly from other plants, in order to ascend from the ground. This, however, is accomplished in very different ways. Some climb by means of small root-like processes growing from the stem, as the ivy; some by means of cirri or tendrils, which twine round branches of trees, etc. (see CIRRUS); some by adhering disks, of which a beautiful instance is to be seen in the well-known Virginian creeper; and many by the twining of their own stems around those to which they cling. Twining plants generally turn only in one direction, either from right to left, or from left to right. The scarlet-runner and passion-flower are examples of the former; the honeysuckle and hop of the latter. Twining plants are not always included under the designation climbing plants. The woody twining plants, which form one of the most remarkable features of tropical forests, are often called lianas (q.v.).

CLINCH, a co. in s.e. Georgia, on the Florida border, intersected by the Little Suwannee river and the Atlantic and Gulf railroad; 1000 sq.m.; pop. '70, 3,945-507 colored. It is a level and swampy region; chief productions, rice, corn, cotton, oats, Co. seat, Magnolia.

etc.

CLINCHER-BUILT, or, CLINKER-BUILT, is a name applied in ship-building, when the lower edges of the side-planks overlap the row next under them, like slates on the roof of a house. If the planks are all smooth, meeting edge to edge, the construction is called carvel-built. This construction requires that the seams should be very close, and calked with oakum. Boats are often diagonal-built; two layers of planking, rising in opposite directions from the keel at an angle of 45°. In iron ships, the clincher arrangement is called lap-jointed, and the carvel arrangement jump-jointed.

Clinton.

CLINCH RIVER, rising in s. w. Virginia, flows into Tennessee between Clinch and Powell mountains, joining with the Holston, and forming the Tennessee. Its length is about 200 miles.

CLINGMAN, THOMAS LANIER, b. N. C., 1812; graduated from the university of North Carolina in 1832; practiced law, and was elected a member of the state legislature and of congress. In 1858, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the U. S. senate. In the rebellion he sided with the confederacy, was expelled from the senate, and served as a col. in the confederate army.

CLINGMAN'S DOME, the highest peak of the Smoky mountains in North Carolina on the border of Tennessee. It is 6,600 ft. above the sea level; and is the second highest of the Appalachians.

CLINIC BAPTISM (Gr. kline, a bed), in the ancient church, baptism administered to a person on a sick bed or death-bed. The practice and the term alike indicate notions concerning baptism which have no foundation in Scripture, and which, although once extremely prevalent, have now almost entirely disappeared.

CLINIC MEDICINE is that department of the art which is occupied with the investigation of diseases at the bedside, or individually.

CLINKSTONE, or PHONOLITE, is a grayish green feldspathic rock, remarkable for its tendency to lamination, which is sometimes such that it affords tiles for rooting. It is a compact homogeneous rock, passing gradually into gray basalt. The slabs give a metallic ring or clink" when struck with a hammer, whence its name. It occurs in volcanic districts.

CLINOM ETER, an instrument for the purpose of taking the dip and strike of a stratum. It consists of a compass provided with a small spirit-level, and on the lidwhich can be fixed at right angles to the compass-box-there is a small graduated quadrant, and a plumb-line.

CLINTON, a co. in s. w. Illinois, on Kaskaskia river, intersected by the Ohio and Mississippi and the Illinois Central railroads; 420 sq.m.; pop. '70, 16,285. It consists of fertile prairies with tracts of forest land. Productions chiefly agricultural. Co. scat, Carlyle.

CLINTON, a co. in central Indiana, reached by the Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Lafayette railroad; 432 sq.m.; pop. '70, 17,330. Its surface is mostly of forest and prairie lands; chief business, agriculture. Co. seat, Frankfort.

CLINTON, a co. in c. Iowa, on the Mississippi river, intersected by the Chicago and North-western railroad; 696 sq.m.; pop. '70, 35,357. It has a surface of prairie and forest, with generally fertile soil, producing the usual agricultural crops. Co. seat, De Witt.

CLINTON, a co. in s. Kentucky, on the border of Tennessee, bounded n. by the Cumberland river; 350 sq.m.; pop. '70, 6.497-292 colored. The surface is hilly, and in some parts mountainous. Agriculture is the chief business. Co. scat, Albany.

CLINTON, a co. in central Michigan, on Grand, Maple, and Looking-glass rivers, reached by the Detroit, Lansing, and Lake Michigan, the Jackson, Lansing, and Saginaw, and the Detroit and Milwaukee railroads. The chief business of the people is agriculture. Co. seat, De Witt.

CLINTON, a co. in n. w. Missouri, reached by the Hannibal and St. Joseph, the Cameron and Kansas City, and a branch of the North Missouri railroads; 460 sq.m.; pop. '70, 14,063-683 colored. The surface is chiefly prairie, but there is plenty of woodland. Productions agricultural. Co. seat, Plattsburg.

CLINTON, a co. in n.e. New York, on the Canada border, bounded c. by lake Champlain, and s. by Ausable river, and traversed by the Vermont and Canada, the Montreal and Plattsburg, and the Whitehall and Plattsburg railroads; 952 sq.m.; pop. '75, 20.736. The soil is fertile, level near the lake, and hilly further inland. There is abundance of iron ore of the best quality. Chief productions, wheat, corn, oats, buckwheat, hay, butter, wool, and maple sugar. The Clinton state prison is at Dannemora, in this county. Co. scat, Plattsburg.

CLINTON, a co. in s.w. Ohio, traversed by the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley, and the Marietta and Cincinnati railroads; 467 sq.m.; pop. '70, 21,914. Surface undulating, and soil fertile. The chief business is agriculture. Co. seat, Wilmington.

CLINTON, a co. in central Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna river, traversed by the West Branch canal, the Philadelphia and Erie, and a division of the Pennsylvania Central railroads. Surface mountainous; chief occupations, agriculture and lumbering. Co. seat, Lock Haven.

CLINTON, a city in Clinton co., Iowa, on the Mississippi river, 42 m. above Davenport; pop. '70, 6,129. It is on the Chicago and North-western railroad, at the junction of several other railroads. The Mississippi is crossed at Clinton by a bridge 4,100 ft. long. In the city are the repair shops of the railroad, and a number of manufactories. It has a large and rapidly increasing trade.

Clinton.

CLINTON, the seat of justice of East Feliciana parish, La.; 85 m. n. w. of New Orleans; pop. '70, 930-207 colored. There is railroad communication with Port Hudson.

CLINTON, a t. in Worcester co., Mass., 32 m. w. of Boston, on the Nashua river; pop. '70, 5,429. The people are extensively engaged in manufacturing carpets, cotton and woolen goods, boots and shoes, etc. The Boston, Clinton, and Fitchburg, and the Worcester and Nashua railroads reach the village.

CLINTON, a t. in Hunterdon co., N. J., 31 m. n.w. of Trenton, on the s. branch of Raritan river, and the New Jersey Central railroad; pop. '70, 3,134; of the borough, 785. It is in the midst of a fine agricultural region, and has many important manufactories.

CLINTON, a village in Oneida co., N. Y., on Oriskany creek and the Chenango canal, and the Utica and Binghamton railroad; pop. '70, 1640. It is the seat of Hamil ton college, and a place of important manufacturing business.

CLINTON, a village in Huron _co.. province of Ontario, Canada, 13 m. from Goderich, on a branch of the Grand Trunk railroad; pop. about 2000. Near the place are valuable salt wells, and a deposit of rock-salt 20 ft. thick. There are various manufactories.

CLINTON, CHARLES, 1690-1773; a native of Ireland, and progenitor of the Clintons of New York, of whom his grandson De Witt was the most famous. The grandfather of Charles was an adherent of Charles I., and fled to the n. of Ireland on the fall of the king. After a voyage in which a number of the emigrants starved to death, C. landed at cape Cod in 1729, and in 1731 settled in Ulster co., N. Y., where he was a farmer, a land surveyor, and a judge of the local court. In 1756, with two of his sons, he served in the campaign against Fort Frontenac.

CLINTON, DE WITT, an American statesman of English origin, son of a maj.gen. in the U. S. army, and descended, on his mother's side, from the Dutch family of De Witt, was b. in 1769, at Little Britain, state of New York. Being admitted to the bar, he became private secretary to his uncle, gen. George Clinton, till the end of his administration in 1785. In 1797, he was elected a member of the New York legislature, and in 1801, chosen a senator of the United States. Subsequently, he was elected mayor of New York, from which office the violence of political parties occasioned his retirement in 1815. Between 1817 and his death in 1828, he was repeatedly governor of New York state. The formation of the great canal from lake Erie to the Hudson was mainly owing to his persevering endeavors. He was a member of most of the literary and scientific institutions of the United States, and of several of those of Great Britain and the continent of Europe. Besides various fugitive pieces, his productions consist of speeches, governor's messages, discourses before various institutions, addresses to the army, communications regarding Lake Erie canal, and judicial opinions.

CLINTON, DE WITT (ante), 1769-1828; b. N. Y., was the son of James Clinton and Mary De Witt, and grandson of Charles the immigrant from Ireland. His paternal ancestors, although long resident in Ireland, were of English origin, and his mother was of Dutch French blood. He was educated at Columbia college, graduating with high honors. Choosing the law for his vocation, he studied under Samuel Jones, afterwards chief justice of the United States superior court. Admitted to the bar in 1788, C. entered immediately into political life, becoming an ardent supporter of his uncle, George Clinton, who was governor of the state (from 1777 to 1795 and from 1801 to 1804), and the leader of the republican party. Young C. took an active interest in the adoption of the federal constitution, and reported for the press the proceedings of the convention held for that purpose; about the same time and afterwards acting as his uncle's private secretary. His first office was secretary of the board of regents of the university; and the next, secretary of the board of commissioners of state fortifications. He opposed the administration of John Adams, and also that of John Jay, governor of the state; but while opposing Adams's hostility to France, he raised and commanded an artillery company to resist the French in case war should come. In 1797, he was elected to the state assembly as a representative of New York city, where he made his residence, and the next year was chosen state senator for four years. By virtue of his senatorial office, C. became a member of the council of appointment, a body consisting of one senator from each district to whom the governor made nominations for state and local offices. Up to this time the governor had exercised the exclusive right to make nominations; but C. vigorously attacked the system, and succeeded in procuring an amendment to the constitution giving the members of the council of appointment equal rights of nomination with the governor. During this period C. found time to devote himself to scientific and social questions, studying natural history, and other sciences. The protection and improvement of the public health, and the enactment of laws in favor of agriculture, manufactures, and the arts, and especially the use of steam in navigation, engaged his restless mind. He labored also for the abolition of slavery, and of its kindred barbarism, imprisonment for debt. In 1799, when but 33 years of age, he was appointed a senator of the United States, where he greatly increased his popularity, particularly by his wise and moderate counsel in a high excitement then existing against Spain in con

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sequence of alleged violation of treaty stipulations affecting the Mississippi and its trade. Before his term in the senate expired, C. resigned to accept the office of mayor of New York, an appointment made by his uncle, the governor, and the council of appointment. He held the mayor's office four years; was removed; again appointed in 1809; again removed in 1810; finally appointed in 1811, again holding four years, through the period of the war with England. He was also a member of the state senate from 1805 to 1811; lieutenant-governor for the next two years, and for part of this time again a member of the council of appointment. In 1804, his uncle, the governor, was elected vice-president of the United States, and soon afterwards, by reason of age, retired from political life, leaving the partisan scepter of the Clintons in the hands of De Witt, who speedily became the leader of the republican party in New York, and their candidate for president, near the close of Madison's first term. Madison, backed by his war record, was easily nominated by the republican congressional caucus; but the New York section of the party insisted on running Clinton. The result was a disastrous defeat for the latter, he having but 89 electoral votes to 128 for Madison. This severe blow led C. to a temporary cessation of political work, and he turned his attention to less exciting subjects. His partisan opponents considered his political life at an end; but they were wrong. He took a leading part in establishing the free school system of New York city, and in the establishment and promotion of various institutions of science; in the improvement and modification of criminal laws; in the extension of agriculture and manufactures; in the relief of the poor, the improvement of morals, and the advancement of all worthy objects. For many years no important movement was made in these and kindred matters with which he was not identified, and oftener than otherwise as the master spirit. All these, however, were little in comparison with the great object on which his fame securely rests-the Erie canal. He was an early and energetic advocate of internal improvements, especially such as could connect the great lakes by navigable channels with the tide-water of Hudson river, and no man so eloquently or so prophetically set forth the great advantages that such works would bring to New York city. How these prophecies have been fulfilled the position of that city as the commercial center of the two Americas will attest. It would require many pages to record with what zeal, tireless energy, patience, and hope, he labored for this great object. "Clinton's folly" was the by-word of scoffers through dark years of discouragement, but he never despaired, never yielded an inch, until, a dozen years after his great political defeat, a line of cannon stationed at intervals along the much ridiculed “ditch," and starting their firing at Buffalo, awakened the people of the " Empire State" to the fact that the waters of lake Erie were pouring through the canal, bearing on their waves the message that the great lakes were on that day wedded to the ocean. In the mean time he was never entirely out of the political field. In 1816, the governor (Daniel D. Tompkins) was chosen vice-president, and resigned the governorship. C. was brought forward for the place, bearing not only the odium of advocating the "big ditch" and of the crushing defeat as a presidential candidate four years before, but the additional ignominy of having been but one year before removed from the oflice of mayor of New York by a council of appointment controlled by his own party. To run for governor seemed madness, yet the innate power and greatness of the man gave him an easy victory, and he was elected by a heavy majority. He was re-elected in 1820, in 1824, and in 1826. In 1822, he was out of the field, and his enemies once more celebrated his political funeral, adding, in the course of their two years' rule, the indignity of removing him from the office of commissioner of the canal then under way. This outrage was more than the people could bear, and C. was at once brought forward for governor, running against Samuel Young. The disgraced canal commissioner was elected by 17,000 majority. He died suddenly in his chair while engaged in official duty at Albany. Among his published works are Discourse before the New York Historical Society; Memoir on the Antiquities of Western New York; Letters on the Natural History and Internal Resources of New York; Speeches to the Legislature; and many historical and scientific addresses.

CLINTON, GEORGE, 1739-1812; b. N. Y.; youngest son of Charles Clinton. His first noteworthy adventure was connected with privateering in the French war of 1763. He was an officer in the expedition against fort Frontenac, and after the war went into the law and politics. He was chosen to the colonial assembly and to the continental congress, was made brig gen. in the revolutionary army, and in 1777 was elected first governor of the state of New York. He was re-elected, and occupied the executive chair in all for 18 successive years, and in 1800 was chosen for one more term, making 21 years as governor. In 1804, he was elected vice-president of the United States, holding the office until his death, or during all except 10 months of Madison's two administrations.

CLINTON, Sir HENRY, 1738-95; grandson of Francis, sixth earl of Lincoln. Sir Henry was a maj. gen. of the British army in the American revolution, was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and took possession of New York after the defeat of Washington's forces in the battle of Long Island, Aug. 26, 1776. In 1778, he succeeded sir William Howe as commander-in-chief. He returned to England in 1782, and in 1793 he was made governor of Gibraltar, where he died.