877 



CHORUS. 



CHRIST'S HOSPITAL. 



878 



complete, although this is one of the affections which is peculiarly 

 subject to relapse. It is not at all uncommon for the patient, when 

 apparently cured, to be attacked several times in succession either 

 with the same disease or with some one of the affections into which it 

 has been stated to have so great a tendency to lapse. Still however 

 those relapses are curable by persevering in the proper treatment, and 

 it is remarkable that even when paralysis and idiotcy appear to be 

 fully established they yield far more readily to appropriate remedies 

 than when those affections have been induced by a primary affection 

 of the brain. 



Chorea arises in widely different states of the system, and is pro- 

 duced by different causes, and therefore in different cases requires a 

 different treatment. In many cases it arises from an accumulation of 

 irritating matter in the alimentary canal, which must be removed by 

 a course of purgative medicines. The choice of the purgative and the 

 duration of the course must depend on the state of the system in each 

 particular case ; but in general the purgative must be of an active 

 nature, and the course decided and long continued. At the same time 

 the strict regulation of the diet, both as to the quality and the quantity 

 of the food, is indispensable. As this malady almost invariably occurs 

 in an enfeebled state of the constitution, active exercise in fresh and 

 pure air, and the administration of the preparations of iron are to be 

 recommended. 



When this affection is connected, as it occasionally is, with organic 

 disease of the spinal cord or brain, it is of the last importance to the 

 proper treatment of the case that this organic lesion should be dis- 

 criminated, and that the remedies proper to it should be promptly 

 applied. From what has been stated it will appear that this is one of 

 the diseases which should engage the anxious attention of parents, 

 teachers, and all who have the charge of young persons of either sex. 

 Not only the health or disease of puberty and adolescence, but the 

 health or disease, physical and mental, of mature age, may depend on 

 their prompt attention to, or neglect of, the very first symptoms of 

 this malady. 



CHORUS, among the Greeks, was a number of persons, male or 

 female, who sang melodies accompanied with dancing. The chorus 

 appears to have been of Doric origin, and the Doric dialect continued 

 to be chiefly used, even in the choral songs of Attic tragedies. 

 (Muller, ' Dorians,' vol. ii , p. 381.) Originally the choral performance 

 was a separate exhibition, and was of a religious character: hymns 

 were chanted in honour of Dionysus and other gods. Afterwards an 

 actor was added by Thespis, who first introduced the dialogue ; other 

 changes were made by his successors, especially Phrynichus, till a 

 second actor was added by ^Eschylus, who embodied the chorus in the 

 constitution of the Greek drama, as a part and only a part of the 

 representation. Many explanations of the object of the chorus have 

 been offered by different writers. It would certainly give a very 

 imperfect idea of its office, to say that it was only retained in order to 

 give the other actors breathing-time, and to prevent a break in the 

 performance. The chorus may be regarded rather as the representation 

 of the aggregate body of spectators : the chorus generally gave utter- 

 ance to those emotions of pleasure or sorrow which the audience might 

 be supposed to feel. They sometimes took upon themselves to give 

 instruction or to administer reproof. 



The tragic chorus consisted at first of fifty, afterwards of fifteen 

 persons; the comic chorus consisted of twenty-four. According to 

 Julius Pollux (' Onomast.' iv. 15), the number of the tragic chorus was 

 abridged after the performance of the Eumenides of JEsehylus : the 

 alarm caused by fifty of these ladies was too great. The chorus entered 

 into the orchestra, and remained there performing their evolutions, and 

 observing the thymele or altar, which was in the middle of the 

 orchestra, as the centre of their movements. As they sang they 

 moved in a dance, suited to the subject of their song, and modulated 

 by the accompanying music ; sometimes the movements of the dance 

 were so appropriate as to convey to the spectators the full meaning of 

 the chorus, independently of the words of the song. The perfection 

 to which the Greeks carried their skill in affecting an audience by the 

 harmonious union of dancing and music forms one of the main differ- 

 ences between the ancient and modern theatre. The songs of the 

 chorus consisted of three parts, the strophe (or turning), the antistrophe 

 (opporite turniny), and the epode (after-song) : during the first they 

 turned from right to left, during the second from left to right, and 

 during the third they stood still in front of the spectators. When they 

 sang*, they all sang ; when they took part in the dialogue, one only, the 

 coryphjeus or leader of the chorus, spoke, from the top of the thymele ; 

 and hence in addresses to the chorus there is a constant change of 

 number thou and ye. (Schlegel, 'Theatre of the Greeks.') Frequently 

 they divided into two sets, who, by means of their two leaders, carried 

 on a separate dialogue, which generally revealed their sentiments on the 

 progress of the plot, their fears, anxieties, and hopes. They also 

 chanted hymns of supplication or thanksgiving to the gods. 



The choruses at Athens did not perform exclusively in the theatre, 

 but on many occasions when there was no scenic representation at all. 

 At the Panathensea and the Thargelia, and at the Gymnopsdia of 

 Sparta choruses of men and boys sang. All choruses at Athens 

 were provided, equipped, and instructed, by persons appointed by the 

 several tribes. [CHOBAGUS.] 



CHORUS, in music, a composition sometimes in two or three, bu 



generally in four parts, sung by many voices, accompanied by the 

 whole band when performed in" an orchestra or on the stage, but by 

 the organ alone when sung in a choir. The chorus of the oratorio and 

 opera has full instrumental accompaniments, but that of our cathedral 

 services and anthems is written with only an organ accompaniment. 



The term CHORDS is also applied in an aggregate sense to the whole 

 body of singers performing the chorus. 



A DOUBLE CHORDS is in eight vocal parts, and sung by two choirs. 

 Many of Handel's choruses in ' Israel in Egypt," in ' Solomon," and in 

 ' Deborah,' are of this kind. 



CHOSE IN ACTION is a technical term hi the law of England, 

 denoting that kind of property of which the owner is not in the actual 

 possession or occupation, though he has a legal right to obtain the 

 possession. As this right can only, in general, be enforced by action, 

 the property, whatever its nature, is termed a thing (res), or chose in 

 action, in contradistinction from a thing or property in possession. 

 Thus if I buy a quarter of wheat out of a large quantity, my interest 

 in the wheat is a property to which I have a right. If the seller, in 

 breach of his engagement, refuses to deliver it, I can only assert my 

 right through the medium of an action or suit. As long as I have 

 only the right of enforcing the delivery of the wheat, or recovering an 

 equivalent in damages, and do not obtain the actual possession, my 

 property in the wheat is a chose in action, being, as a property, a thing 

 rather in potentid than in ease. In like manner money due upon a 

 bond or a bill of exchange is a chose in action ; and also the right to 

 compensation for damage sustained by means of the breach of any 

 kind of contract. 



The policy of the English law, in discouraging all contracts tending 

 to promote litigation, introduced a rule that property in action merely, 

 and not in possession, could not be assigned or transferred to any third 

 person. This rule has in modern times received considerable modifica- 

 tion. In the familiar instance of bills of exchange, drafts on bankers 

 (which are in law bills of exchange), and promissory notes (all which 

 are strictly choses in action), an indorsement not only transfers to the 

 indorsee the absolute right to the sum to be recovered, but also enables 

 him to sue in the common law-courts upon the bill or note in his own 

 name. Courts of equity m other cases protect assignments of choses 

 in action ; but in these cases the assignee must sue in the name of the 

 original contractor, whom the law, regarding the assignment, which it 

 does not sanction, as a nullity, treats as the party still entitled, if the 

 assignee proceeds at law. (Blackstone's ' Comm., vol. i. pp, 403, 452.) 



CHRISM, sometimes written CRISOME, or CHRISTOM, in its 

 strict interpretation means " unction," from the Greek XP'O'M" (chrisma), 

 ointment ; but is more generally received as the name for oil conse- 

 crated by the bishop, and used in the Romish and Greek churches in 

 the administration of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and extreme 

 unction : and is, or used to be, prepared on Holy Thursday with much 

 ceremony. Duoange (' Glossar. ad Script. Med. et Infimse Latinitatis,' 

 edit. Francof. ad Mcen., 1681, torn, i., col. 973) says there are two kinds 

 of chrism, the one prepared of oil and balsam, used in baptism, con- 

 firmation, and ordination, the other of oil alone, consecrated by the 

 bishop, anciently used for the catechumens, and still used in extreme 

 unction. (See also Durand's ' Rationale Divinorum Officiorum,' lib. vi., 

 cap. 74, 84.) The word crisome is also found applied to the cloth 

 which was laid over a child's face when baptised, to prevent the unguent 

 from running off. (See the ' Liturgy ' compiled in the 2nd year of 

 Edward VI.) Children likewise who died in the first month were 

 called Chrisomes in the old bills of mortality ; and the white cloth was 

 used as a shroud. Mrs. Quickly says of Falstaff (' Henry V.' ii, 3), " A 

 made a finer end, and went away, an it had been any christom child." 



CHRIST'S HOSPITAL, London. The hospitals of Christ, Bride- 

 well, and Saint Thomas the Apostle, were founded by the same charter 

 of king Edward VI , dated 26th of June, 1553; for the support of 

 which he granted to the mayor and commonalty, and to the citizens of 

 London, numerous possessions within the city of London, and the 

 counties of Middlesex, Essex, Hertford, Buckingham, Cambridge, Kent, 

 Derby, and York. Christ's Hospital was established upon the site of 

 the house of Mendicants or Grey Friars, in Newgate Street, about five 

 years after the king's grant ; when about four hundred orphans were 

 admitted, and clothed in russet, which was soon afterwards changed 

 for the dress which they now wear, namely, a blue coat or tunic, 

 reaching to the feet, with yellow stockings, and a round bonnet or cap. 

 The institution has little or no income under the charter. It is appre- 

 hended that the estates which were given under it to the city of 

 London were afterwards apportioned to the royal hospitals as the 

 citizens thought fit. All its other estates can be traced to legacies and 

 donations of different periods. At the suggestion of Sir Robert Clay- 

 ton, then lord mayor, and a considerable benefactor, king Charles II , 

 in 1676, granted a second charter, allowing 1000?. a year, for seven 

 years, to establish a mathematical school for forty boys, and an annuity 

 of 370Z. 10s., payable at the Exchequer, for the especial purpose of 

 educating and placing out yearly ten boys in the sea-service. These 

 boys remain in the hospital until they are thus provided for. 



The greater part of this hospital was involved in the destructive fire 

 of London in 1666 ; but by the zeal and liberality of the corporation of 

 London, aided by donations, loans, and the operation of the revenues 

 of the hospital, it soon revived, and was rebuilt under the able direction 

 of Sir Christopher Wren. The buildings, however, having, to a certain 



