CON 



CON 



4. Similar cones are in a triplicate ratio 

 of their homologous sides, and likewise 

 of their altitudes. 



5. Of the cones standing upon the 

 same base, and having the same altitude, 

 the superfices of that which is most 

 oblique is the greatest, and so the super- 

 fices of the right cone is the least ; but 

 the proportion of the superfices of an 

 oblique cone to that of a right one, or, 

 which is the same thing, the comparison 

 thereof to a circle, or the conic sections, 

 has not yet been determined. 



COXES of the higher kinds, those whose 

 bases, and sections parallel to the bases, 

 are circles of the higher kinds. They are 

 generated by supposing a right line fixed 

 in a point on high, but conceived to be 

 capable of being extended more or less 

 on occasion, and moved round the peri- 

 phery of a circle. 



CONFECTION. See PHARMACY. 

 CONFEDERACY, is when two ormore 

 confederate, to do any damage or injury 

 to another, or to commit any unlawful act. 

 And though a writ of confederacy do not 

 lie, if the party be not indicted, and in a 

 lawful manner acquitted, yet false confe- 

 deracy between divers persons shall be 

 punished, though nothing be put in exe- 

 cution. 



CONFERVA, in botany, river weed, a 

 genus of the Cryptogamia Algx. Essential 

 character: unequal tubercles, in very long 

 capillary filaments. Twenty-one species 

 are recited in Linnseus's system of vegeta- 

 bles. These are all inhabitants of the wa- 

 ter, some in fresh, but more in salt water. 

 A singular instance of irritability has been 

 observed in the Conferva corallina, upon 

 its being immersed into fresh water; after 

 it had been in a few minutes, several fibres 

 were observed to move in a horizontal di- 

 rection with a quick convulsive twitch, and 

 then to stop suddenly; this they continued 

 to do for some length of time, and the 

 same effect may be produced several 

 times, provided the plant be fresh. The 

 experimentcloesBotsucceed in salt water. 

 CONFESSION af an offence, is when 

 a prisoner is arraigned, and his indictment 

 being read,either he confessesthe offence, 

 or pleads not guilty. Confession is express 

 or implicit. Express, where one in open 

 court confesses the crime, is the most sa- 

 tisfactory ground of conviction. Implied.is 

 where the defendant, in a case not capital, 

 yields to the king's mercy, and desires to 

 submit to a small fine ; vhich the court 

 may accept without requiring a direct con- 

 fession. The presumption of guilt in this 

 case is so strong, that the defendant can- 



not afterwards in a civil action deny the 

 trespass. 



Confession, previous to trial, before a 

 justice, &c. may also be given in evidence 

 afterwards, as against the individual con- 

 fessing; but it must be voluntary, not upon 

 promise or threats, and must be taken in 

 time. After confession, the party may take 

 advantage of errors in the indictment in 

 arrest of judgment. Confession may also be 

 in a civil action, and is commonly on a war- 

 rant of attorney for that purpose, which, 

 being after accompanied with a bond, is 

 vulgarly called a bond and judgment. 



CONFIRMATION, is a conveyance of 

 an actual, not a reversionary, estate or 

 right, which one has to lands, &c. to ano- 

 ther having the possession of, or having 

 an estate in them, whereby that estate is 

 increased, the possession made perfect, or 

 if voidable, it is rendered secure. It does 

 not regularly create an estate, but may be 

 connected with words which create a fur- 

 ther estate. It is necessaiy that the one 

 party should have an estate in possession 

 by right or wrong, and the other an estate 

 on right from which the confirmation may 

 come, and the one estate must continue 

 till the other operates. 



CONFIRMATION, in rhetoric, the third 

 part of an oration, wherein the orator un- 

 dertakes to prove the truth of the propos> 

 tion advanced in his narration ; and is 

 either direct or indirect. Direct, confirms 

 what he has to urge for strengthening his 

 own cause. Indirect, properly called con- 

 futation, tends to refute the arguments of 

 his adversaries. 



CONFISCATE, from confiscate, and that 

 fmmfacvs, the emperor's treasure. Any 

 goods, whjchjbeingdisclaimed by another, 

 as a felon upon trial, comes to the king, 

 although they are the felon's own. Those 

 which he claims, as his own, are, upon 

 conviction, not confiscate, but forfeited to 

 the king. 



CONFLUENT, in natural history, run- 

 ning into each other ; joined. 



CONFUSION of tongues, a memorable 

 event which happened, according to the 

 Hebrew chronology, one hundred and one 

 years after the flood, at the overthrow of 

 Babel, and which was providentially 

 brought about to facilitate the dispersion 

 of mankind, and the population of the 

 earth. Hitherto there had been but one 

 common language, which formed a bond 

 of union that prevented the separation of 

 mankind into distinct nations ; and some 

 have imagined that the tower of Babel 

 was erected as a kind of fortress, by which 

 the people intended to defend themselves 



