CIIALD^EA CHALMERS. 



1. The common chalcedony has a cloudy or milky 

 appearance when held between the eye and the light. 

 It is semi-transparent, or only translucent in various 

 degrees. Though sometimes nearly white, its more 

 common colour is grey, more or less sliaded with 

 blue, yellow, brown, green, &c. The surface is often 

 rough or uneven. Its fracture is usually even, 

 though seldom smooth. It is usually contained in 

 amygdaloid, porphyry, greenstone, or basalt, or in 

 the cavities of these rocks. It sometimes traverses 

 them in veins. Sometimes it occurs in metallic 

 veins, also in granite and gneiss. Oberstein, in the 

 palatinate of tin- Rhine, is one of the best localities. 

 Fine specimens are found in the islands of Faroe. 

 It is found, also, in Vicentino and Iceland, and in 

 Trevascus mine, in Cornwall, in New South Shet- 

 land, in Nova Scotia, and in many parts of the United 

 States. It receives a good polish, and is much used 

 for ring-stones, seals, &c. 



2. Another of the principal varieties is carnelian. 

 The prevailing colour of this variety is red ; some- 

 times it has a tinge of yellow or brown, or is nearly 

 white. Its colours, or their different shades, some- 

 times appear in spots or stripes, or gradually pass 

 into each other. It is commonly semi-transparent, 

 sometimes only translucent. Its geological situation 

 is similar to that of common chalcedony, which it 

 often accompanies. The finest specimens, sometimes 

 called Oriental carnelian, come from Cambay, Surat, 

 &c. in India. It is obtained, also, from Arabia, Si- 

 beria, Sardinia, and Surinam. It is found on lake Supe- 

 rior near Portage river, in Missouri, at Herculaneum, 

 &c., in Massachusetts at Deerfield. It receives a 

 good polish, and is much employed for seals, brace- 

 lets, &c. The ancients often engraved on carnelian. 



3. Sardonyx differs from carnelian in its colour 

 only, which is reddish-yellow, or nearly orange, some- 

 times with a tinge of brown. It often appears blood- 

 red by transmitted light. It is found in Massachu- 

 setts, at Deerfield, in greenstone. 



CHALD^E A, in ancient geography ; the southerly 

 part of Babylonia, towards Arabia and the Persian 

 gulf, lying west of the mouth of the Tigris and Eu- 

 phrates, formerly a fertile country, now barren. The 

 Chaldeans were a Semitic tribe, and one of the most 

 famous nations of Asia. They were the first people 

 who worked in metals, and were not destitute of as- 

 tronomical knowledge. They founded the Baby- 

 lonian and Assyrian empires. Their name remained 

 with the priesthood of the Babylonians, whose mem- 

 bers were employed in the worship of the gods, in 

 expounding their scriptures, prophesying, the prac- 

 tice of medicine, interpreting dreams, also in con- 

 jurations, magic, astrology, &c. They kept their 

 knowledge secret from the people. None of their 

 writings have been handed down to us. It is sup- 

 posed that the Chaldeans were originally called Ke- 

 phenians, and lived on the Caucasus, and that they 

 settled on the Persian gulf about 800 B. C. See 

 Babylonia. 



CHALDEAN CHRISTIANS. See Sects, Syri- 

 an Christians, and Christians o/St Thomas. 



CHALK. See Lime. 



CHALLENGE, to jurors, is an objection either to 

 the whole panel or array, that is, the 

 jurors returned, or to the polls, that is, to the jurors 

 individually ; and it is either peremptory, that is, 

 without assigning any reason, or for cause assigned. 

 A peremptory challenge is allowed to be made only 

 by the party accused, and not by the government, or 

 prosecuting officer, and only in capital cases ; and is 

 said to be permitted on the ground that a man is lia- 

 ble to conceive a prejudice against another from his 

 mere, looks and appearance, for which he can give 

 no reason ; and such may be the case of the accused ; 



whole body of J and poll 



and it is conceded in favour of life, that, in such case, 

 he may exclude the juror without assigning any rea- 

 son ; and also on the ground that, by questioning a 

 juror as to any objection to him, his prejudice may be 

 thereby excited against the prisoner, who, to save 

 Iiimself from the effect of such prejudice, is permitted 

 to liave him rejected. The ground on which peremp- 

 tory cliallenge is allowed, supposes the prisoner'-- life 

 to be in danger, and he is not entitled to it if he 

 pleads in bar or abatement; for the trial of tin --e 

 pleas does not decide on his life. He must, before 

 making such challenge, plead " not guilty," or some 

 plea, the trial of which decides on his life. Having 

 pleaded such a plea, the accused might, by the com- 

 mon law, peremptorily challenge thirty-five jurors ; 

 but the statute of Henry VIII., c. 14, limited the 

 number to twenty, in felony, and the limitation is 

 to this number in some of the United States. By the 

 act of congress of April 30, 1790, a peremptory clial- 

 lenge of thirty-five jurors is allowed in trials for trea- 

 son, and twenty in those cases of felony mentioned in 

 the statute. A challenge of the whole panel may be 

 made, because the jury is illegally drawn or summon- 

 ed, whereby it is not a legal jury ; and a challenge 

 of this description may be made by the government 

 as well as by the prisoner. Challenge to the polls 

 may be made both in civil and criminal suits for cause, 

 as that the juror is an alien, not from the proper dis- 

 trict, not duly qualified as a freeholder, not of suita- 

 ble age, &c., or is near akin to one of the parties, is 

 biased, has been guilty of felony, is interested, or is 

 subject to any other exception, according to the com- 

 mon principles of proceeding, or the provisions of any 

 statute on the subject. In court-martials, a prisoner 

 who objects to either of the judges must assign liis 

 reasons. In other words, peremptory challenges are 

 not allowed in these courts. The privilege of chal- 

 lenging here belongs equally to the prisoner and the 

 prosecutor. The right of challenging the members 

 of a court-martial prevails on the continent of Europe, 

 as well as in England and America. 



Challenge to fight a duel is punishable, in England, 

 with fine and imprisonment. In several of the United 

 States of America, this offence is subject to the addi- 

 tional punishment of ineligibility to any public office, 

 either for life or for a limited term. See Duel. 



CHALMERS, GEORGE, a Scottish antiquary and 

 miscellaneous writer, was born in 1742, at Fochabers, 

 in Banffshire. Having studied law at Edinburgh, he 

 removed to America, where he practised 'that profes- 

 sion for upwards of ten years, till the colonies declar- 

 ed themselves independent. Mr Chalmers being a 

 keen loyalist, returned to Britain, where liis suffer- 

 ings recommended him to the government, and he 

 was, in 1786, appointed to the respectable situation 

 of clerk to the Board of Trade. The duties of this 

 office he continued to execute, with diligence and 

 ability, for the remainder of his life, a period of 

 thirty-nine years. 



Previous to his appointment, he had distinguished 

 himself by various literary undertakings, particularly 

 a work entitled " Political Annals of the United Co- 

 lonies," which appeared in 1780 in 4to ; and mani- 

 fested a profound knowledge of colonial history, law, 

 and policy. He had also published, in 1782, an Es- 

 timate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain, 

 during the present, and four preceding reigns ; and, 

 in 1784, Opinions on Interesting Subjects of Public 

 Law and Commercial Policy, arising from American 

 Independence, the former work in quarto, the latter 

 in octavo. After his appointment, he transferred his 

 attention in a great measure from political science to 

 literature. In 1790, he published his life of Daniel 

 Defoe ; in 1794, his life of Thomas Ruddiman, (a very 

 curious book) ; and in the course of the few subse- 



