COMPOSITION 



COMPRESSED-AIR MOTORS 395 



tin- in. 'an-- <f compounding and resolving forces. 

 Sc.- D\ N \Mirs, KIM.M \ I'irs, STATICS. 



Composition* i" Bankruptcy, a certain per 

 centuge which creditors agree to receive from a 

 bankrupt in 1 ifu of full payment of his debts, and 

 tin' acceptance of which operates as a discharge to 

 tin- l.aiikriipt. Si-.- I! \NKI:I I'TCY. 



Compos Mentis. See INSANITY. 



<'oill|Ust4'lhU See SANTIAGO DB COMPO- 



sl i l.l.\. 



Composts are a kind of Manure (q.v.), con- 

 sisting of mixtures of substances adapted to the 

 fertilisation of the soil, which l>eing allowed to 

 fi-niH-nt, and undergo chemical changes for a con- 

 siderable tiiin- in heaps, become more valuable 

 than the}- were at first, or ever could have been if 

 applied separately. Composts were formerly niade 

 ot farm yard manure, and earth or lime in audition. 

 Road -scrapings, peat-moss, leaves, and clearings of 

 ditches also formed materials for the purpose. By 

 allowing these to lie for six months in heaps of 

 from three to four feet in depth, food was prepared 

 for plants. The mass was usually applied to the 

 turnip-crop, and when artificial manures were 

 unknown, considerable benefit arose from such 

 dressings. The use of guano and other light 

 manures has superseded in a great measure the 

 necessity of this laborious process, and composts 

 for the turnips or barley-crops are now little used. 

 The wonder! ul effects that have resulted from the 

 application of small doses of artificial manures 

 have impressed farmers in general with the truth 

 that the most energetic elements bear a small pro- 

 portion in weight to the whole mass of farm -yard 

 dung or composts, and that the mixing of manures 

 in heaps with earth does not so much add to its 

 virtues as to repay the labour expended in the pro- 

 ( T~S. More care is now rightly bestowed in pre- 

 serving manure from washings by rain. Composts 

 formed of leaves, ditch-scourings, road-scrapings, or 

 any earthy substance containing a large percentage 

 of vegetable matter, with the addition of lime, 

 may still be used with benefit for pastures that 

 are deteriorating, or where the soil is stiff. Indeed 

 there should still be a compost-heap at every farm. 

 Wherever tidy and careful management prevails, 

 there is a good deal of road -scrapings, ditch-scour- 

 ings, and other rubbish to be disposed of, and the 

 compost-heap is a handy and useful receptacle for 

 all such matter. The value of well-made compost 

 for the top-dressing of pasture-laud is greater than 

 is generally understood or acknowledged, and it 

 can be carted out and spread at odd times when 

 there is a lull in the more urgent farm-work. 

 Where moss prevails, lime should enter largely as 

 a component. On the other hand, where the soil 

 is of a strong and clayey nature, earthy substances 

 containing vegetable matter in larger proportions 

 should be used. Vegetable matter has the effect 

 of imparting a softness to the surface that is par- 

 ticularly conducive to the free growth of pastures. 

 Compost made of turf, leaves, earth, and bone-dust 

 is used with great l>enefit by gardeners for vines 

 and fruit-trees which are injured by too concen 

 trated manures. 



Compound (corruption of Portuguese cam- 

 penha, 'yard or court') is the usual name in India 

 for the inclosure in which a house stands, witli its 

 outhouses, yard, and garden. 



Compound Animals. See COLONIAL ANI- 

 MALS. 



Compounding of Felony, in England, is 

 the offence of taking value for forbearing to prose- 

 cute a felony, and is punishable with fine and 

 imprisonment. The offence is also known as agree- 

 ment not to prosecute, and is equally committed 



where the agreement i only to show favour to the 

 Mjrwon accused. It practically amounts to mi- 

 iri-ion of felony. Compounding of information* 

 ip.m penal statutes, and compounding of miwde- 

 iieaiiours, without order or consent of the court, 

 are punishable in a lighter degree, and that whether 

 inv .tllence, has l>een committed or not. Hut in 

 Misdemeanours affecting some private righto, the 

 court will often permit the prosecutor to accept 

 pecuniary amends, and withdraw the prosecution. 

 Advertising a reward for stolen property, coupled 

 with words implying that no questions will l>e 

 asked, or that no prosecution will be instituted, 

 or that a pawnbroker returning the projierty will 

 be paid what he has advanced on it, is punishable 

 by a fine of 50 each on the advertiser, publisher, 

 and printer. And any one taking money or reward 

 For restoring a stolen "dog is liable to imprisonment 

 for eighteen months. 



Compound Interest. See INTEREST. 



Compressed-air Bath, a strong chamber of 

 riveted iron plates in which two or more persons 

 can sit, and into which air is driven by a steam- 

 engine to any required pressure, as notified by the 

 attached barometers. The inflow of fresh air and 

 the escape of the foul air are regulated by valves. 

 Patients remain in the bath from one to three 

 hours, and the pressure is generally increased to an 

 atmosphere and a half. Another appliance for 

 using either compressed or rarefied air consists of a 

 mask tightly covering mouth and nose, and con- 

 nected by a tube and suitable valves with some 

 form of air-cistern in which the pressure can be 

 varied as desired. By this appliance patients can 

 either inspire compressed or rarefied air, or can 

 breathe out into either of these. Practically only 

 the first and fourth of these possible methods are 

 used. Treatment by Aerotherapeutics has lone 

 been a favourite study, but the results have varied 

 much, and have lacked exactness. The general 

 effects of compressed air are to lessen the frequency 

 of the movements of the chest, and of the heart or 

 pulse beats, while allowing the absorption of more 

 oxygen, and increasing the blood-tension. Rare- 

 fied air produces the opposite effects. Many dis- 

 eased conditions therefore should benefit by this 

 treatment, especially asthma, chronic bronchitis, 

 and catarrh under compressed air, and emphysema 

 by rarefied air ; while in the treatment generally 

 we have a useful system of lung gymnastics, which 

 increase the power of the respiratory muscles and 

 the vital capacity of the lungs. 



Compressed-air Motors. One mode of 

 employing air as a motive power has been described 

 under AIR-ENGINE (q.v.). Another obvious way 

 is to compress the air and then apply it in the 

 manner of high-pressure steam. But the great 

 loss of power, due principally to the dissipation of 

 the heat which resulte from the high compression 

 of the air, will always render the employment of 

 such a motive power very wasteful. There are, 

 however, many conditions under which the use of 

 compressed air is convenient and advantageous. 

 The air-gun, although more a toy than a useful 

 weapon, is one of the oldest examples of a com- 

 pressed-air motor. Partly by compression and 

 partly by exhaustion of air, pneumatic tubes are 

 worked in connection with central post-offices for 

 the transmission of letters and messages to and 

 from various districts in large cities. In boring in 

 mines, and in blasting and tunnelling operations 

 compressed air is an exceedingly useful agent, the 

 power being easily carried by tubes into confined 

 areas where the air when liberated, after it performs 

 its primary dutv, is of great value for aiding the 

 ventilation of the spaces (see BORING). In the 

 application of automatic brakes to passenger trains, 



