224 



CHRIST'S HOSPITAL 



CHROMIUM 



tery, by Edward VI., June 26, 1553, as a hospital 

 for orphans. It is usually called the ' Blue Coat 

 School,' on account of the dress worn by the boys. 

 This consisted of a blue woollen gown or coat with 

 A narrow red-leather girdle round the waist, knee- 

 breeches, yellow petticoat and stockings, a clergy- 

 man's bands at the neck, and a small blue worsted 

 cap. The cap, however, was discontinued about 

 thirty years ago, and the petticoat in 1865, but 

 otherwise the dress remains unaltered. Such, with 

 slight variations, has been the costume of the boys 

 .^ince the foundation of the school in the reign of 

 Edward VI. ; the persistency in it through succes- 

 sive generations affording a curious instance of the 

 unchangeableness in some of the English usages. 

 Children are admitted between eight and ten years 

 of age, and discharged between fifteen and sixteen, 

 according to their school position, excepting the 

 ' Grecians ' ( i. e. the highest class of scholars in the 

 hospital), of whom five are sent annually on various 

 scholarships to the universities of Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge. Altogether, about 1100 boys and 90 girls 

 are now upon the foundation. The right of pre- 

 sentation is vested in the governors. These are the 

 lord mayor of London, the aldermen, and twelve 

 common councilmen, who are ex-officio governors. 

 Besides these, all noblemen and gentlemen who 

 benefit the hospital to the extent of 500 are 

 governors, or ' donation ' governors. Of these there 

 are at present 264. The governors are the patrons 

 of several churches, chiefly in Surrey and Essex. 

 In 1887 the net available income for the purposes 

 of the hospital, and for exhibitions and apprentice 

 fees, was about 58,000, wholly from legacies and 

 benefactions subsequent to the foundation. In 

 addition the governors administer large pension 

 charities, including the Rev. W. Hetherington's 

 Charity to the Aged Blind, which is distributed in 

 pensions of 10 a year to upwards of 700 blind 

 persons over sixty-one years of age, resident and 

 born in England. King Charles II. enriched it by 

 7000, with an additional annuity of 370, 10s. for 

 the purpose of educating yearly ten boys for the 

 sea-service. Most of the building perished in the 

 Great Fire of 1666; but, through the generosity 

 of the corporation of London and of wealthy 

 Englishmen, it was soon rebuilt, under the super- 

 intendence of Sir Christopher Wren. In the course 

 of time the new hospital fell into decay, and in 

 1825 a third structure was erected by Mr Shaw. 

 The great hall of the hospital is a magnificent room, 

 second only to that of Westminster. Christ's 

 hospital is essentially a classical institution, Latin 

 and Greek being the basis of education ; but, to 

 satisfy the wants arising from the changed condi- 

 tion of society, the modern languages, drawing, 

 science, &c. are also taught. In 1683 the governors 

 built a preparatory school at Hertford, where the 

 children are trained till they are advanced enough 

 to be transferred to the London school. The girls, 

 however, remain here until their discharge. It can 

 receive about 450 of both sexes. Many eminent 

 persons have been educated at Christ's Hospital, 

 such as Camden, Stillingfleet, Richardson, Cole- 

 ridge, Lamb, Leigh Hunt, Pugin, Sir Louis Cavag- 

 Tiari, Sir Henry S. Maine, Dr Gordon Hake, and 

 others. In 1885 a scheme of reform received the 

 sanction of the Education Department, according 

 to which the hospital is to be transferred to the 

 country (a site at Horsham was acquired in 1892, 

 the foundation of the new buildings laid by the 

 Prince of W T ales in 1897), and a larger number of 

 girls admitted. The boys' boarding-school will 

 have 700 pupils, the day-school 600 ; while a girls' 

 boarding-school will accommodate 350, and their 

 day-school 400. See Annals of Christ's Hospital, 

 by a 'Blue' (new ed. 1877). 

 Christ's Thorn. See JUJUBE, PALIUKUS. 



Chromatic, in Music (from the name of one 

 of the Greek tetrachords or scales), is applied to 

 notes in a melodic progression which are raised or 

 lowered by accidentals, without changing the key 

 of the passage, and also to chords in which such 

 notes occur. The chromatic scale is one proceeding 

 by semitones alone. Much irregularity prevails in 

 the method of writing such progressions. The 

 most strictly correct practice is to write only such 

 hromatic notes as could occur in chords belonging 

 to the key in which the passage is written. 



Chromatic, in Optics, is that part of the 

 science which deals with the colours of light and 

 of bodies. See ACHROMATISM, COLOUR. 



Chromatophores are pigment cells (see PlG- 

 MENTS) containing pigment granules of various 

 colours, which enable animals such as chamseleons 

 and cuttle-fishes to change colour rapidly. 



Chromatype is a photographic picture in 

 which the paper employed has been sensitized by 

 some of the salts of chromium. 



Chromium (sym. Cr, atom, weight, 52'5) is a 

 metal, so called (chroma, 'colour') from the many- 

 coloured compounds it produces. It was discovered 

 by Vauquelin in 1797, in the chromate of lead, 

 PbCrO 4 , one of its rarer ores. As chrome iron 

 ore, FeOCroO,, it is extensively distributed in 

 America, Sweden, Hungary, &c. 



The metal has been obtained in several modifi- 

 cations, one of which is so refractory as to be 

 infusible at a temperature sufficient to volatilise 

 platinum, while it may be heated to redness with- 

 out oxidation, and resists the action of most acids. 

 Another variety is a powder which burns brilliantly 

 when heated in air, and is readily dissolved by 

 acids. The metal itself has not been employed in 

 the arts, but many of the chromates are much used 

 in painting and colouring. It has of late years 

 been found useful for combining with the iron of 

 projectiles. Chromium forms four compounds with 

 oxygen, of which the chief are chromic oxide, 

 CrjOs, and chromic acid, CrOs. 



Chromic oxide (chrome green) possesses a bright- 

 green colour, and is the colouring ingredient in the 

 emerald. Owing to its indestructibility by heat, 

 it is used in porcelain-painting ; while, being non- 

 poisonous, it is now substituted for arsenical green 

 pigments in wall-papers. 



Chromic acid or anhydride, Cr0 3 , forms dark- 

 red crystals, containing no water. When strongly 

 heatecl it becomes incandescent, and is converted 

 into chromic oxide. It forms several classes of 

 salts : the Chromates, such as chromate of lead, 

 PbCrO 4 ; the Bichromates, of which bichromate of 

 potash, K 2 Cr 2 O 7 , or KoO2CrO 3 , is an example ; and 

 the trichromates and tetrachromates, which are 

 unimportant. 



Chromate of Lead, PbCr0 4 , is well known to 

 artists as ' chrome yellow. ' It is readily prepared 

 by mixing a solution of acetate of lead with one 

 of chromate of potash. When boiled with lime, 

 its bright-yellow colour disappears, and a scarlet 

 basic chromate is obtained, which is used in the 

 dveing of calico. 



Bichromate of Potash, K 2 Cr 2 7 , is prepared from 

 chrome ironstone, by calcination with chalk and 

 carbonate of potash, and subsequent treatment 

 with nitric acid. It forms large red crystals, and 

 has many uses in the arts. When added to a solu- 

 tion of gelatine and allowed to dry, it is found that 

 on exposure to light the gelatin becomes insoluble, 

 and a process based on this property has been used 

 to some extent in photography. As an oxidising 

 agent in galvanic batteries it is very effective, 

 while mixed with sulphuric acid it is used in the 

 bleaching of oils. 



Chromic acid and its salts are all more or lesa 



