CHARPIE 



4 harpir i- Lint (q.v. ) for medical purposes. 



< liarqui. See JKKKKD HKKF. 



4'liarr, or CHAR, a name applied to a number of 

 frc-h \\aier lishes in the salmon and trout genus 

 Sal mo. They are found almost exchisively in moun- 

 tainous lakes e.g. in Switzerland, Scandinavia, and 

 in the English Lake district. The presence of charr 

 ha- al-o leen recorded in Scotland (especially in 

 Loch Muni), Ireland, and Wales; but their British 

 headquarters are in Windermere and the adjacent 

 Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes. The charr 

 lill.Ms from the true salmon only in a few small 

 points, such as the restriction of the vomer teeth 

 to the head of that bone; and the distinctions 

 I* -tween the numerous recorded species of charr 

 seem rather local variations than of specific ini- 

 |K>rtance. The title S. snlvelinus is one of the 

 Commonest; S. alpinusia also applied to both Swiss 

 ;'nd English charrs ; S. itmbla is sometimes re- 

 stricted as the title of the ombre chevalier of the 

 lakes of Constance, Neufchatel, and Geneva; and 

 many other names indicate slight differences in 

 si/c, form, colour, &c. The common English and 

 Swiss charr is distinguished by the bright red and 

 orange colour of the abdomen during the breeding 

 'ii, but at all seasons the variable colours are 

 bright and pleasing. They thrive only in clear 

 water, frequent the deeper parts of the lake, and 

 feed on insects and small crustaceans. At the end 

 of autumn and beginning of winter they leave the 

 lake to find in the inflowing streams the stony 

 bottom necessary for the deposition of the ova. 

 The charr is as palatable as it is beautiful, and is 

 much valued as a dainty, both when fresh and 

 potted. It is to be regretted that the habit of 

 catching them by wholesale netting at the mouths 

 of -t reams at the beginning of the spawning season 

 has led to a great reduction of their numbers in 

 the English lakes. The American charr (S. fonti- 

 iHtlis^ is bred by the Fish Commission, and has 

 been introduced into Britain. 



< 'liarrou. PIERRE, a French moralist and theo- 

 logian, l>orn at Paris in 1541. He studied for the 

 law, but after being called to the Paris bar, entered 

 the church, and became a conspicuous member of 

 the politiques, or party of moderate Catholics. He 

 assailed the League in his Discoiirs Chretiens ( 1589), 

 vindicated Catholicism against Protestantism in his 

 treatise Les Trois Veritts (1594), and in his chief 

 work, the treatise De la Sagesse ( 1601 ), took ascepti- 

 cal attitude towards all forms of religion. He died 

 in 1603. He was a friend and disciple of Montaigne, 

 to whom he was, as a writer, immeasurably in- 

 ferior, and from whose essays he borrowed freely. 

 An edition of his principal work was published at 

 Paris in 1789. 



Chart, a marine or hydrographical map, exhibit- 

 ing a portion of a sea or other water, with the 

 islands, coasts of contiguous land, soundings, cur- 

 rents, &e. (see MAP). Chart-making has been 

 traced back to about the beginning of the 13th cen- 

 tury ; now most civilised countries have their sys- 

 tem of charts. In the English service, when coasts 

 have been surveyed by the Admiralty, charts are 

 engraved, and are sold at various prices, from 3s. 

 down to 6d. each. This price is below their cost, 

 the object being to encourage their general use 

 as much as possible. The navigating charts, show- 

 ing the dangers of coasts with sufficient clearness 

 to enable mariners to avoid them, are generally 

 on the scale of half an inch to a mile ; those of 

 larger si/e show all the intricacies of the coast. 

 The merchant-service is supplied with charts by 

 agents, who receive a stock from the Admiralty, 

 and keep them on sale. The preparation of charts 

 is part of the duty of the Hydrographical Depart- 

 ment at the Admiralty. In the financial year 



CHARTER 



125 



as represented in the national estimate*, a HUHI of 

 about 14,000 i provided for the branch that taken 

 charge of the engraving of the chart*, irre*|>ective 

 of the surveying, which always cot*tH a much larger 

 sum. The Admiralty sells annually Home 140,<joo 

 charts, besides supplying the navy gratis. Several 

 ships of the navy, besides colonial gunboat -, and 

 hired steamers, are usually engaged in examining 

 and charting seas and coasts. See the article* 

 GEOGRAPHY, SEA, SOUNDING, CHALLENGER EX- 

 PEDITION, &c. 



The United States coast jsurvey, a vast under- 

 taking, was begun in 1807, carried on intermit- 

 tently till 1845, and since then more systematically, 

 save during the civil war, under Professor Bacfie 

 and his successor, Professor Pierce. In the Ameri- 

 can service, the coasts of the United States are 

 surveyed and the charts produced by the coast and 

 geodetic survey attached to the Treasury Depart- 

 ment, and the unsurveyed foreign coasts are sur- 

 veyed by the Bureau of Navigation, the charts 

 being produced by the Hydrographic Office, Navy 

 Department. The coast and geodetic charts are 

 sold at from 10 cents to $1 each, being the cost of 

 printing and paper. Naval vessels are supplied 

 free. The charts are obtainable at coast and 

 geodetic survey agencies at all seaports of the 

 United States. 'They exhibit accurate and minute 

 topography as far inland as will supply landmarks 

 for the navigator, or serve for purposes of defence ; 

 the shore line at high-water and sanding to mean 

 low- water; soundings, contours, and material of 

 bottom at different depths ; bars, channels, sailing 

 ranges and directions ; true meridian and compass 

 variation, rocks, reefs, buoys, beacons, lights ; tide 

 establishment, detailed explanation of lighthouses 

 and signal stations. They are carefully corrected 

 for even 7 substantial change in any of those feat- 

 ures. They range in scale from ^VTJ (30 '401 inches 

 to the nautical mile) to i^innr (yfta of an inch to 

 the nautical mile), and comprise sailing charts, 

 general charts, coast charts, and harbour charts. 



The term chart is also given to a graphical repre- 

 sentation, by curves or otherwise, of the fluctua- 

 tions of any varying magnitude temperature, 

 barometric pressure, population, prices, &c. See 

 GRAPHIC METHODS, TEMPERATURE, STORMS, &c. 



Chart a. MAGNA. See MAGNA CHART A. 



4'liart *. a charter or system of constitutional 

 law, embodied in a single document. The first 

 such charter in France is known as the Grande 

 Charte, or the Charter of King John (in 1355). 

 But the constitution to which the term Charte is 

 most frequently applied is that in which Louis 

 XVIII. solemnly acknowledged the rights of the 

 nation on his restoration in 1814. This Charte has 

 ever since been considered the fundamental law of 

 constitutional monarchy when that form of govern- 

 ment has existed in France. A modification of it 

 was sworn to, 29th August 1830, by Louis- Philippe, 

 in which the sovereignty of the people is explicitly 

 recognised. This Charte in its turn became a 

 nullity by the revolution of February 1848. 



Charter (Lat. charta; Gr. chart?, 'paper,' or 

 ' anything written upon,' from charasso, 'I scratch* 

 or 'write ). In its most general signification, char- 

 ter is nearly synonymous with deed and instrument 

 (see DEED), and is applied to almost any formal 

 writing, in evidence of a grant, contract, or other 

 transaction bet ween man and man. In private law, 

 its most important use is in the alienation of real 

 estates, the writing given to the new proprietor by 

 the old, in proof of the transference title, being 

 usually called a charter. In public law, the name 

 is given to those formal deeds by which sovereigns 

 guarantee the rights and privileges of their subjects, 

 or by which a sovereign state guarantees those of a 



