KER 



KNO 



of a papilionaceous corolla, which cohere 

 by their lower margins, so as to present 

 a keeled or boat-like form. 



KEEPER OF A MAGNET. A piece 

 of soft iron, which is placed in absolute 

 contact with the poles of a magnet when 

 not in use. The keeper tends, by 

 induction, to maintain, and even exalt, 

 the power of the magnet, whose poles are 

 thus employed in producing the opposite 

 magnetism in its respective ends. 



KE'LLOWAY ROCK. A term ap- 

 plied to beds of limestone occurring in 

 the lower part of the Oxford or Clunch 

 clay ; it is often composed of irregular 

 nodules, and is sometimes full of shells, 

 among which predominate ammonites 

 and large gryphaeae. 



KELP. Varec. The crude soda ob- 

 tained from the ashes of the Futi in 

 Holland and on the northern coast of 

 France. It is used in the composition of 

 soap, in the manufacture of alum, and in 

 the formation of crown and bottle glass. 

 See Barilla. 



KEPLER'S LAWS. The laws of 

 elliptic motion about the sun as a focus, 

 and of the equable description of areas 

 by lines joining the sun and planets, 

 were originally established by Kepler, 

 from a consideration of the observed mo- 

 tion of Mars, and were by him extended, 

 analogically, to all the other planets. 

 These laws are three : — 



L That every planet moves so that the 

 line drawn from it to the sun describes 

 about the sun areas proportional to the 

 times. 



2. That the planets all move in elliptic 

 orbits, of which the sun occupies one of 

 the foci. 



3. That the squares of the times of the 

 revolutions of the planets are as the 

 cubes of their mean distances from the 

 sun. 



KERATO'PHYTA (Kepar, Kepa-ro^, 

 horn, (pvTov, a plant). An old name for 

 those polyps which have a horny axis, as 

 distinguished from the lithophytes, or 

 strong polyps. 



KERMES ANIMAL. Coccus Ilicis. 

 A hemipterous insect, found upon the 

 quercus ilex, and formerly used for dye- 

 ing scarlet : cloth so dyed was called 

 coccinum, and persons wearing this cloth 

 were termed by the Romans coccinali. 

 The drug was termed grana kermes, from 

 the resemblance of the dried insects to 

 grains or seeds. 



KERMES MINERAL. Formerly, 

 Panacea Glauberiana ; a sulphuret of 

 188 



antimony; so named, from its resem- 

 blance, in colour, to the insect kermes. 



KEUPER. A German name for a 

 member of the Upper New Red Sand- 

 stone formation. Remains of reptiles 

 are said to have been found in it near 

 Warwick. 



KEY (in Music). The particular dia- 

 tonic scale, in which a composition begins 

 and ends, and which prevails more or 

 less in a given piece of music. There 

 are twelve major and twelve minor keys. 



KILLAS. The technical name ap- 

 plied by the Cornish miners to clay-slate, 

 or the grauwacke slate of other countries. 



KI'LLINITE. A mineral resembling 

 spodumene, discovered in granite veins 

 at Killiney, near Dublin. 



KI'MMERIDGE CLAY. A thick bed 

 of clay, constituting a member of the 

 Oolitic Group, and occurring well deve- 

 loped at Kimmeridge, in the isle of Pur- 

 beck, Dorsetshire. 



KING'S YELLOW. A paint, of which 

 the colouring principle is orpiment, or 

 the sesqui-sulphuret of arsenic. 



KINGDOM. A terra denoting any of 

 the principal divisions of nature ; thus 

 we have the organic kingdom, compre- 

 hending substances which organize, and 

 the inorganic kingdom, comprehending 

 substances which crystallize. 



KINIC ACID. Quinic acid. An acid 

 found in the Cinchona barks. It forms 

 salts called kinates. 



Kino'ile. A neutral substance pro- 

 duced by the calcination of a kinate by 

 a gentle heat. 



KITE, ELECTRICAL. An appara- 

 tus for proving the existence of sensible 

 electricity in the atmosphere. A wooden 

 rod, of several feet in length, fastened by 

 its lower end to a glass tube, and sur- 

 mounted at the other by a pointed brass 

 or copper wire, forms an insulated 

 conductor to attract the electricity. A 

 second wire, attached to the first, is con- 

 nected with a delicate electrometer, which 

 exhibits the electricity conducted to it 

 from the atmosphere. 



KNE'BELITE. A grey spotted mine- 

 ral, consisting of silica, iron, and manga- 

 nese. 



KNOWLEDGE. " Knowledge implies 

 three things ; 1st, firm belief; 2ndly, of 

 what is true ; 3rdly, on suflScient grounds. 

 If any one, e. g. is in douht respecting 

 one of Euclid's demonstrations, he cannot 

 be said to know the proposition proved by 

 it ; if, again, he is fully convinced of any 

 thing that is not true, he is mistaken in 



