COLLINS 



COLMAN 



a nuiiiln-r of pictures which are highly valued by 

 collectors. In 1HOO he married the younger 

 daughter of Charles Dickens, and having already 

 turned liis aitentiiiii to literature, produced The 

 'ifi'i-ss essays (1860), two novel*, and other 

 \\orks, all exhibiting high promise. 



4 ollins. \VII.I.IAM \\ ILKIE, novelist, elder son 

 of William Collins, K.A., was born in London, 8th 

 .lanuary 1824. He wan educated partly at High- 

 bury, hut during 1H.S6-39 was with his parents in 

 Italy. After his return he spent four years in busi- 

 ness, and then entered Lincoln's Inn ; but gradually 

 t..,,k to literature, the Life of his father ( 1848) being 

 his earliest production. To it succeeded Antonina, 

 or the Fall of Rome ( 1850) ; Basil ( 1852) ; Hide and 

 Seek ( 1854) ; The Dead Secret ( 1857 ) ; The Woman 

 in White ( 1 860 ) ; No Name ( 1 862 ) ; A rmadale ( 1 866 ) ; 

 The Moonstone ( 1868) ; The New Magdalen ( 1873), 

 &c. in all, fully a score of novels and collections 

 of novelettes. Several of them originally appeared 

 in Household Words, All the Year Jtound, the 

 Corn/till, and other periodicals. The best is The 

 Woman in White, wnose ' Count Fosco ' is really 

 a creation, and in which the author's almost invari- 

 able method of unfolding an intricate plot by 

 narratives of the chief dramatis personce had not 

 grown hackneyed. The Moonstone also is a strong 

 story. Died September 23, 1889. 



Collinson, PETER, botanist, was bora at Hugal 

 Hall, near Windennere, 14th January 1694, and 

 became a manufacturer of hosiery, having a large 

 business with the American colonies. He was 

 early distinguished as a naturalist, studied ento- 

 mology and botany, and in 1745 communicated to 

 Franklin his first intimation of the recent advance 

 of electrical science in Europe. But it was as a 

 botanist he was most distinguished. He intro- 

 duced the culture of numerous European plants 

 into the United States, and introduced American 

 trees into England. He died llth August 1768. 

 A genus of labiate plants was named Collinsonia 

 after him. 



Collisions. See RAILWAYS, WRECKS, RULE 

 OF THE ROAD. 



Collodion (Gr. kollao, 'I stick') is a solu- 

 tion of Gun-cotton (q.v. ) or pyroxylin. Cotton 

 itself is not soluble in alcohol or ether, but when 

 treated, either in the form of cotton-wool, rags, or 

 paper, with a mixture of five parts of strong nitric 

 acid, and six of sulphuric acid, it is found that it 

 can now be dissolved in ether, or in a mixture of 

 ether and alcohol. To this modification the name 

 pyroxylin is applied. There are many varieties of 

 collodion divisible into surgical or medicated collo- 

 (lioiis, and photographic collodions. When one 

 part of pyroxylin is dissolved in thirty -six parts of 

 ether and twelve parts of alcohol, a thickish liquid 

 is obtained, which evaporates rapidly, leaving a 

 thin film of pyroxylin. As an application to 

 wounds, where it is desired to keep the edges close 

 together, this form of collodion is of use, owing to 

 the contractility of the pyroxylin film which it 

 leaves, but for general purposes a flexile or flexible 

 collodion, as it is called, is desirable. This is pro- 

 duced by the addition of a little Canada balsam 

 and castor-oil to the ordinary variety. Flexile 

 collodion is largely used as a covering for abraded 

 surfaces, as a remedy for burns, for sore nipples, 

 &c., and it is also the basis for many medicated 

 collodions, such as styptic collodion, cantharidal 

 <>r blistering collodion, &c. Salicylated collodion 

 is well known as a popular corn cure, and it is 

 certainly most effectual in removing hard or soft 

 corns with but slight inconvenience. It contains, 

 in addition to salicylic acid, the active principle, 

 a little extract of Indian hemp, which prevents 

 the slight pain, which might otherwise prove 



troublesome. Collodion plays a very important 

 part in Photography (q.v.). 

 Colloid is a name applied by Graham to any 



soluble substance which, when exposed to dialyxiH 

 (nee OSMOSK), docs not pass through the (>orouH 

 membrane. Starch, gum, albumen, and gelatin are 

 examples of colloids ; and the name is used in con- 

 tradistinction to crystalloids. 



Collot d'Herbois, JEAN MARIE, a French 



revolutionist of infamous notoriety, WBB born in 

 Paris in 1750. Originally a j>rovincial actor, he was 

 attracted by the Revolution to Paris, where hi im- 

 pudence, his loud voice, and his Almanm-li <ln Ptre 

 Gerard, secured him the public ear and his election 

 for Paris to the National Convention. In 1793 he 

 became president of the Convention and a menil*er 

 of the murderous Committee of Public Safety. 

 s nt by Robespierre to Lyons in November of the 

 same year, he took bloody revenge by guillotine 

 and grapeshot on the inhabitants for having once 

 hissed him off the stage in the theatre. His popu- 

 larity at length exciting the envy of Robespierre, 

 Collot d'Herbois for his own safety joined in the 

 successful plot for the overthrow of Robespierre 

 and his party in July 1794; but the reaction that 

 followed this happv event proved fatal to him- 

 self. He was expelled from the Convention, and 

 sentenced to deportation to Cayenne, where he 

 died in misery that deep debauches could not 

 stupefy, January 8, 1796. 



Collusion* a deceitful agreement between two 

 or more persons to defraud or prejudice a 'third 

 person, or for some improper purpose. The most 

 common cases of collusion occur in arrangements 

 between bankrupts and their creditors, such as 

 payment by anticipation to a favoured creditor on 

 the approach of oankruptcy, arrangements for 

 granting preferences by circuitous transactions or 

 otherwise. Transactions in which there is evidence 

 of collusion are reducible at common law, and 

 many of the same nature are struck at by the 

 bankruptcy statutes. Collusion in judicial pro- 

 ceedings is an agreement between two persons that 

 one should institute a suit against tne other in 

 order to obtain a judicial decision for some sinister 

 purpose. The judgment so obtained is null. Col- 

 lusion between petitioner and respondent in a suit 

 for dissolution of marriage bars the suit. 



roily ri inn is a term for various kinds of eye- 

 salve or eye-wash. 



Col man. GEORGE, commonly called 'the Elder," 

 a dramatic author and theatrical manager, was 

 born at Florence in 1732. In 1760 his first 

 dramatic piece, entitled Polly Honeycomb, was 

 produced at Drury Lane with great success. 

 Next year he gave "to the world his comedy of The 

 Jealous Wife, and in conjunction with Carrick, 

 he wrote The Clandestine Marriage, which was 

 played at Drury Lane, 20th February 17G6. In 

 1767 he became one of the purchasers of Covent 

 Garden Theatre, and held the office of acting 

 manager for seven years, after which period he 

 sold his share. In 1777 he purchased the patent 

 of the theatre in the Hay market from Mr Foote. 

 In 1785 he was attacked by paralysis, which cau>ed 

 a gradual decay of his mental powers, and he died 

 in confinement on 14th August 1794. Colman was 

 an industrious author ; besides poetry and transla- 

 tions, he wrote and adapted upwards of thirty 

 dramatic pieces. 



< olinan. GEORGE, 'the Younger,' son of the 



S receding, was bora October 21, 17t>-. His bent 

 iv in the same direction as his father's, during 

 wiiose illness he acted as manager of the Hay- 

 market Theatre ; and on the death of the elder 

 Colman, George III. transferred the patent to his- 



