COMB 



position called xylonite (see CELLULOID). In 

 dealing with horn, which in the prindpd minli- 

 iiuiUin^ mat. -rial, tin- horns are cut into n-rt- 

 uii^iiliir pirrrs in a manner which involves the 



least possible Ins-,. These Moments ale dalll]H>d 



aii.l lieate.l till they Income soft, when they are 

 .ipene.l .mi iunl pressed quite Hat. The plates 

 next squared, smoothed, and trimmed pre- 

 paratory to the tooth -cutting, which formerly 

 was done with a staddtt, or doaUfl saw, having 

 two blades of steel set parallel to each other, 

 \\itli a space between them equal to the thickness 

 of tliu intended tooth. Tooth-cutting is now done 

 I iv small circular saws to which the plates are 

 automatically applied, the horn moving the space 

 of a tooth after each cut. In this way 70 or 80 

 teeth mav be cut in an inch of ivory for fine-toothed 

 combs. The teeth are then thinned, smoothed, 

 and finished by means of thin wedge-shaped files. 

 Saw-cutting is the only process available for bone, 

 ivory, and wooden combe, and it is used for the 

 finer kinds of horn combs also. 



A great economy of material and time, however, 

 is effected by making horn and tortoiseshell combs 

 by the method of ' twinning' or parting. By saw- 

 cutting, the material corresponding to the spaces 

 between the teeth is of course wasted ; by the 

 wrocess of parting, this is made available to form 



( O.MI'.K 



373 



c d 



Fig. 3. 



the teeth of a second comb. The annexed figure 

 will show how this may be effected. The pre- 

 pared horny plate is cut through by means of a 

 stamping-cutter, consisting of two thin chisels in- 

 clined to each other, as ac and bd, which represent 

 their edges ; between these, and connecting the 

 ends, c, d, is a small cross-chisel. When this 

 compound cutter descends with sufficient force 

 upon the plate, it will cut one of the teeth 

 shown in the figure. By simple machinery, the 

 table carrying the plate is made to advance a dis- 

 tance equal to the thickness of one tooth while the 

 cutter is rising, and thus the successive cuts are 

 made as represented. A slight pull is now sufficient 

 to part the plate into two combs, the teeth of which 

 only require filing and finishing. 



India-rubber combs, now so extensively used, are 

 manufactured by pressing the caoutchouc to the 

 required form in moulds, and ' vulcanising ' or 

 combining it with sulphur afterwards. Xylonite 

 combs are similarly made by moulding ; but comb 

 teeth of these materials are not so strong and 

 elastic as those of horn and ivory. 



Comb, a crest of skin, usually brightly coloured, 

 found on the crown of the head in many birds, 

 especially in the males. Like the analogous 

 wattles, combs probably owe the perfecting of 

 their development to Sexual Selection (q.v.). 



Coinbaconillll (Kumbhakonam), one of the 

 oldest and most sacred cities of India, in the centre 

 of the fertile Kaveri delta, 193 miles NE. of Madras, 

 with Hindu temples, a government college, &c. 

 Pop. (1881) 50,098; (1891) 54,307. 

 Combat, TRIAL BY. See BATTLE (WAGER OF). 

 Combatants, soldiers whose duty it is to fight 

 both in attack and defence, are either cavalry, 

 artillery, engineers, or infantry. Non-combatants, 

 on the other hand, perform administrative duties, 

 and fight only in self-defence, though soldiers and 



armed, an in the commUmariat, transport, ordnance 

 st. ii -, medical, pay, and veterinary' department*. 



\SCS-TI REL'RS. 



In the navy, all seamen are combatant**, but 

 engineers, doctors, paymasters, and chaplain* are 

 non-combatants. 



Combe, ANDREW, M.D., physician and physi- 

 ologist, was born in Edinburgh, October 27, 1797. 

 He studied medicine there and at Paris, and in 

 1823 commenced to practise in his native city. In 

 1836 he received the api>ointment of physician to 

 the king of the Belgians, but his health failing, 

 he returned to Scotland, where in 1838 he became 

 one of the physicians to Queen Victoria. Mild, 

 benevolent, and wise, Andrew Combe obtained 

 the esteem and admiration of all who could 

 appreciate purity and excellence of character. 

 By patient adherence to physiological principles 

 in the treatment of a delicate constitution, he 

 combated a serious pulmonary disease for nearly 

 thirty years at home and abroad. His death was 

 probably hastened by exposure to the poison- 

 ous air of an emigrant ship, in which he made 

 a voyage to America : he wrote to the Times on 

 the urgent necessity of a law regulating the sani- 

 tary arrangements in emigrant vessels, and in 1849 

 an 'act provided a remedy for the evil. He died 

 at Gprgie, near Edinburgh, August 9, 1847. His 

 principal works are : Observations on Mental De- 

 rangement (1831), Principles of .Physiology (1834; 

 15th ed. 1860), The Physiology of Digestion (1836; 

 10th ed. 1860), and The Management of Infancy 

 ( 1840 ; 10th ed. 1870). See his Life by his brother, 

 George Combe (1850). 



Combe, GEORGE, phrenologist and moral philo- 

 sopher, the son of a brewer, was born October 21, 

 1788, in Edinburgh. He became a Writer to the 

 Signet in 1812, and continued to practise until 

 1837, when he resolved to devote himself to 

 popularising his views on phrenology and educa- 

 tion. As early as 1816, he had made the ac- 

 quaintance of Spurzheim, and become a convert 

 to his system or phrenology. The result was his 

 Essays on Phrenology ( 1819), and his Elements of 

 Phrenology (1824), which reached a ninth edition 

 in 1862. But his most important production is 

 The Constitution of Man (1828; 9th ed. 1879), in 

 which he endeavours to demonstrate the essential 

 harmony of the nature of man with the surround- 

 ing world, and the necessity of studying the 

 laws of nature. Combe's doctrines were violently 

 opposed, being considered by many as inimical 

 to revealed religion. He numbered amongst his 

 friends Cobden, Robert Chambers, and Miss 

 Evans (George Eliot). Combe contributed largely 

 to the Phrenological Journal (20 vols. 1824-47) 

 and to Chambers's Journal and the Scotsman. He 

 travelled and lectured in the United Kingdom, 

 Germany, and America, and published Notes on 

 the United States (1841). He died 14th August 

 1858. Combe married, in 1833, Cecilia (1794- 

 1868), daughter of the celebrated Mrs Siddons. 

 Besides the works mentioned, he wrote Lectures 

 on Popular Education (1833), Moral Philosophy 

 (1840), Principles of Criminal Legislation (1854), 

 riirenology applied to Painting and Sculpture 

 (1855), The Currency Question (1855), The dela- 

 tion MIMM Science and Religion (1857). His 

 writings roused popular interest in the science of 

 healthy living, but the phrenological works are 

 ol)solete. Com lie's ideas on popular education were 

 put into experimental shape in a secular school 

 which he founded in Edinburgh in 1848, where 

 the sciences were taught, including physiology 

 and phrenology ; but it was too much in advance 

 of its time, and after a few years had to be aban- 

 doned. All his subjects, save phrenology, are now 



