CON1NGTON 



ro.vn KIV; 



421 



. iifonii.-i, with its allied species (see SKtjroiA >. 

 In addition to these we may mention al><> the 

 Japanese Cedar ( < 'ri/iifumfrm j<i/>i>ntrti, the Vir- 

 ginian llald Cypress ( '/'tu-odiiiin itixtic/itun). 



Among the Cuiiri" im-:i' wo have Jirnt the 

 c\ pre^e- pi.iper, which includes besides tin- well- 

 known genus ( 'u|irrs.siis (see C\ |'I:KSS) the closely 

 allied Retinoepora of Japan. Jnnipenu (M Ji M 

 .ilone forms another sub-familv ; while Thuja 

 ^ee Anii'H: N'ri'.i: i with its immediate allies Thu- 

 jup-is and Libocedrua constitute a third; and 

 Callitris with Actinostrobus and Fitzroya make 

 ii)> the fourth. 



Passing now to the sub-order of yews ( Taxoideae ) 

 we have again two main divisions, the yews proper 

 or Taxe;e, and the I'odocarpeie. Among the latter 

 we shall only mention the oriental genus Podo- 

 carpus, and the beautiful Dacrydium cupressimim 

 of New Zealand ; but the former are of much 

 greater variety and importance (see YEW). Besides 

 the species of Taxus, we have especially the Chinese 

 and Japanese Cephalotaxus, the curious Ginkgo 

 (Salisburia) adiantifolia of the same region, to- 

 gether with the Chinese and Californian species of 

 Torreya. 



In addition to the general article GYMNOSPERMS, 

 and to those devoted to particular genera or species 

 of conifers, the reader should especially consult 

 Engler's Pflanzenfamilien, both for a full summary 

 of our present knowledge and copious references. 

 For the purposes of the English horticulturist 

 Veitch's Manual of Coniferce is most exhaustive, 

 while Gordon's Pinetum, and Hemsley's Handbook 

 of Hardy Trees, <Sec. (Lond. 1877), will be found of 

 service to the amateur. 



Conington, JOHN, a great classical scholar, 

 was born at Boston, 10th August 1825. He was 

 educated at Beverley, and for hve years at Rugby, 

 obtained a demyship at Magdalen College, Oxford, 

 in 1843, and next year carried off, in the same term, 

 the Hertford and Ireland scholarships. In 1846 he 

 betook himself to University College, where he was 

 elected to a fellowship two years later. Other 

 distinctions he won were the chancellor's prize for 

 Latin verse, for an English essay, and for a Latin 

 essay. Determining not to take orders, he tried 

 the study of law, but soon abandoned it in disgust. 

 In 1854 he was appointed to the newly-founded 

 chair of Latin Language and Literature at Oxford, 

 which he tilled until his untimely death at his 

 native place, October 23, 1869. The impulse that 

 Conington 's lofty and contagious enthusiasm gave 

 to classical scholarship and real culture in England 

 was far more considerable than anything he was 

 able to effect in the way of performance. His 

 unique personality and the singular charm of his 

 simple but serious nature made a profound and 



K-i uiaiient impression upon his friends and pupils, 

 is greatest work is his edition of Virgil (3 vols. 

 1861-68), with its singularly subtle and suggestive 

 essays. His edition of the Ag<tm< mnnn( 1848) and 

 Ciutephori ( 1857) of /Eschylus are of less moment, 

 though indeed the latter is admirable. In his last 

 \cars he gave himself much to translation, the 

 results of which were his metrical version of the 

 0,1,'s ol Horace (1863); the JEmid (1866), in 

 Scott's ballad-metre; the Iliad (1868), in the 

 Spenserian stanza ; and the Satires and Epistles of 

 Horace (1869), in the couplet of Pope. Of these 

 the last is without doubt the most valuable. His 

 edition of Persius was published in 1872, and in the 

 same year his Miscellaneous Writings C2\o\$. ), with 

 a short Life by Professor H. J. S. Smith. 



Conirostres, a term often applied to a section 

 of Passerine birds, characterised by a strong conical 

 beak. It includes numerous families, and such 

 types as weaver- birds, finches, sparrows, and larks. 



The character referred to w too external and adap- 

 tive to l.e of mncli importance, and the term U too 

 wide in its application to be of much u*e. It w 

 better disused. 



Collision CiritM and Flaw*, * riei of ">>- 



ceons sandstones, grits, llagH, and conglomerate*, 

 belonging to the Silurian system of Cumberland, 

 &c. They take their name from ( 'oniston in Lanca- 

 shire, and attain a maximum thickness of probably 

 not less than 7000 feet. They are characterised 

 the liner grained iMjdn (flags) especially by the 

 presence or many species of graptolitH and other 

 fossils. They are believed to be on the same 

 geological horizon as the Denbighshire grits and 

 flags of Wales. See SILURIAN SYSTEM. 



Coniston Lake* in the English Lake District, 

 lies in North Lancashire, at the east foot of the 

 Coniston Fells, 9 miles W. of Bowness on Winder- 

 mere, and 10 by rail NNE. of Foxfield Junction. 

 It is 5 miles long, mile broad, 147 feet above the 

 sea, and its greatest depth is 260 feet. Its waters 

 abound with trout and perch. On the east shore 

 stand Ruskin's home, Brantwood, and Tent House, 

 once Tennyson's. The Old Man of Coniston, to the 

 north-west, is 2633 feet high. See LAKE DISTRICT. 



<o ii in m. See HEMLOCK. 



Conjeveram (Kanchivaram), 'the Benares of 

 South India,' 45 miles SW. of Madras by rail, with 

 three old pagodas, ancient tanks, and Free Church 

 missions. Here Hyder AH defeated the British in 

 1780. Pop. ( 1881 ) 37,275 ; ( 1891 ) 42,548. 



Conjugal Rights. See MARRIAGE. 



Conjugation of Cells, a mode of reproduc- 

 tion in which two apparently similar cells unite, as 

 in Amo3ba, Diatoms, Spirogyra, &c. See AI.C.K, 

 DESMIDS, DIATOMS, and REPRODUCTION. 



Conjunction, in Astronomy, is one of the 

 Aspects ( q. v. ) of the planets. Two heavenly bodies 

 are in conjunction when they have the same longi- 

 tude that is, when the same perpendicular to the 

 ecliptic passes through both. If they have, at the 

 same time, the same latitude that is, if they are 

 both equally far north or south of the ecliptic they 

 appear from the earth to be in the same spot of the 

 heavens, and to cover one another. The sun and 

 moon are in conjunction at the period of new moon. 

 In the case of the inferior planets Mercury and 

 Venus, there is an inferior conjunction when the 

 planet is between the earth and the sun, and a 

 superior when the sun is between the earth and the 

 planet. In general, a heavenly body is in conjunc- 

 tion with the sun when it is on the same side of the 

 earth, and hi a line with him ; and it is in opposi- 

 tion to the sun when it is on the opposite side of 

 the earth, the earth being in a line between it and 

 the sun. Planets are invisible when in conjunction 

 with the sun, except in rare cases when an inferior 

 planet passes over the sun's disc, and may be seen 

 as a speck on his surface. Conjunctions are either 

 geocentric or heliocentric, according as they are 

 actually witnessed from the earth, or as they would 

 be witnessed if observed from the sun. In observ- 

 ing a conjunction from the earth's surface it ia 

 usual to reduce the observation to what it would be 

 if made from the earth's centre : by this means 

 the exact times of conjunction are more accurately 

 fixed, and the observations of one astronomer made 

 available to every other, wherever he mav be on the 

 earth's surface. Urn ml conjunctions are those where 

 several stars or planets are found together. Chinese 

 history records one in the reign of the Emperor 

 Tehuen-hiu (2514-2436 B.C.), which astronomers 

 calculate to have actually taken place. 



Conjuring, as understood at the present dav, 

 signifies the production of effects apparently 

 miraculous by natural means. 



