COMO COMPASS. 



369 



by M. de Vergennes, merely from political motives. 

 The fall of Constantinople was then supposed to be 

 at hand, and it was for the interest of France to se- 

 cure the claim of legitimate inheritance to a descen- 

 dant of that family in France. If the sceptre of the 

 grand seignior had then been broken, France would 

 have supported the claims of the French officer; for, 

 in the diploma of Louis XVI., he was recognised as 

 the lawful successor of the emperors of Trebisond. 

 Captain Demetrius Comnenus emigrated in the be- 

 ginning of the revolution, fought under the ban- 

 ners of the prince of Conde, returned, in 1802, to 

 France, and lived, till 1814, on a pension of 4000 

 francs, which Napoleon had assigned him. Louis 

 XVIII. confirmed this stipend, and made him mare- 

 chal de camp, and knight of St Louis. He died 

 September 8, 1821, and left a manuscript work, in 

 which he laboured to show that the Greeks had 

 risen from a state of barbarism even before the 

 time of Homer. A remarkable member of the 

 family was the princess Anna Comnena, daughter of 

 the emperor Alexius I., who flourished in the first 

 half of the twelfth century. In the history of her fa- 

 ther, whom she praises with all the affection shown 

 by madame de Stael towards her parents, she gives a 

 lively description of the manners of her age, and the 

 state of the court of Constantinople. See Gibbon's 

 Roman Empire, c. 48. 



COMO, LAKE (logo di Como ; anciently lactis 

 Larius) ; a lake in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 

 at the foot of the Alps. Towards the middle it is 

 divided into two branches, by the point called Bellag- 

 gio. The branch extending towards the S.W., to the 

 city of Como, goes under the same name : that which 

 turns to the S.E., to Lecco, takes the name of lake 

 Lecco. The length of the lake to Bellaggio is five 

 leagues ; that of the S. \V. branch, six leagues ; and 

 that of the S.E. branch, four leagues. The greatest 

 width is one league. More than sixty rivers and rivu- 

 lets empty into it. and the Adda passes through it. 

 It is about 700 feet above the level of the sea, and 

 191 feet above the territory of Milan. Lake Como, 

 the most delightful of all the lakes at the foot of the 

 Alps, is surrounded by mountains 8 or 9000 feet high, 

 which descend towards the lake, and terminate in 

 hills surrounding terraces. It is bordered by de- 

 lightful gardens and country seats. Many delicious 

 fish, particularly trouts, are taken in the lake. The 

 neighbouring country is rich in minerals, iron, cop- 

 per, and lead. 



COMO (anciently Comum) ; capital of the pro- 

 vince of Como, in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, 

 nine leagues N.N.W. of Milan, in a delightful val- 

 ley on lake Como (q.v.) ; lat. 45 48' 20" N. : Ion. 

 9 5' 12" E. It is a bishop's see. The number of 

 the inhabitants is about 7500, many of whom travel 

 about with little manufactures, such as mirrors, spec- 

 tacles, little pictures. Even in the time of the Ro- 

 man emperors, this taste for emigration manifested 

 itself. The inhabitants of Como were then to be 

 found in all parts of Italy, in the capacity of masons. 

 This city contains some antiquities, and twelve beau- 

 tiful churches ; also a cabinet of natural history and 

 natural philosophy. The eleventh and twelfth cen- 

 turies were the flourishing period of Como. It was 

 then at the head of the Ghibeline party, and the ri- 

 val of Milan. The province of Como, which consti- 

 tuted the department of Lario, in the kingdom of 

 Italy, includes 315,634 inhabitants, in 539 commu- 

 nities. 



COMORO, or COMMORRO, or GOMARA 

 ISLANDS; islands in the Indian ocean, between 

 the northern extremity of Madagascar and the con- 

 tinent of Africa. They are four in number An- 

 gareja (called also Comoro), Mohilla, Johanna, and 



Mayotta. The inhabitants are uncivilized, but harm- 

 less. Europeans have never formed settlements 

 there. These islands are extremely fertile, well 

 stocked with cattle, sheep, hogs, and birds of various 

 kinds. They produce, likewise, sweet and sour 

 oranges, citrons, bananas, honey, sugar-canes, rice, 

 ginger, cocoa-nuts, &c. They are situated between 

 lat. 11 20' and 13 5' S., and Ion. 43 10' and 45 

 30' E. The population, consisting of negroes and 

 Arabs, is estimated at 20,000. 



COMPANY, in military language ; a small body 

 of foot or artillery, the number of which varies, but, 

 in the British army, is generally from 50 to 120, 

 commanded by a captain, a lieutenant, and an en- 

 sign, and sometimes, by a first and second lieuten- 

 ant, as in the artillery and flank companies of the 

 line. In the Austrian and Prussian armies, compa- 

 nies are stronger. In France, the strength of a com- 

 pany has varied very much. In former times a com- 

 pany consisted of from 25, 30, 40, up to 200 men ; 

 in 1793, of 80 men ; in 1808, they had 137 men; in 

 1814, 72 men ; in 1823, 80 men. In 1820, a French 

 battalion was composed of eight companies, and a 

 regiment of three battalions. 



'COMPANIES, JOINT STOCK. See Joint Stock 

 Companies. 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY is the science 

 which investigates the anatomy of all animals with 

 the view to compare them, to explain one by means 

 of the others, and .to classify the various kinds, ac- 

 cording to their anatomical structure. As compari- 

 son, and the formation and extension of genera and 

 species, are the delight of the naturalist, comparative 

 anatomy is one of the most interesting sciences. The 

 want of an organ in certain classes of animals, or its 

 existence, under different modifications of form, struc- 

 ture, &c. , cannot fail to suggest interesting conclu- 

 sions concerning the office of the same part in the 

 human subject. Thus comparative anatomy is of the 

 highest importance to physiology. Haller observes, 

 very justly, " Physiology has been more illustrated 

 by comparative anatomy than by the dissection of the 

 human body." Without comparative anatomy, the 

 natural history of animals would always have re- 

 mained in a backward state, more so even than mi- 

 neralogy without the aid of chemistry. And it is to 

 comparative anatomy that we owe, in a great mea- 

 sure, that more liberal view of nature, which belongs 

 to modern times, and considers all nature, man in- 

 cluded, as one unbroken whole. Cuvier's Lemons 

 <T Anatomie compares (in 5 large Svo. volumes), is an 

 excellent work. Blumenbach's works on compara- 

 tive anatomy, also, are highly valuable. His Hand- 

 buch der vergleichenden Anatomie und Physiologic 

 (Gottingen, 1S04), has been translated by Mr Law- 

 rence, under the title of a Short System of Compara- 

 tive Anatomy (London, 1807 1808, Svo.) Gall has 

 rendered great service to science, by investigations 

 in comparative anatomy, though he has sometimes 

 fallen into extravagant conclusions in reference to 

 phrenology. 



COMPASS, THE MARINER'S. The ancients, whose 

 only guides on the trackless waters were the hea- 

 venly bodies, so often covered by clouds, could not 

 venture far from shore. It is the compass which 

 has enabled men -to steer boldly across the deep. 

 The inventor of this great instrument shares the fate 

 of the authors of many of the noblest inventions. He 

 cannot he precisely ascertained. Some call him 

 Flavio Gioja; others Gin, a native of Amain, in Na- 

 ples, at the beginning of the fourteenth century; but 

 there are proofs, that the use of the magnetic 

 needle, in pointing out the north, was known at an 

 earlier period in Europe, and that a contrivance si- 

 milar to a compass went under the name ofmarinette 

 2 A 



