692 



Till: STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



heads of belief, and the grounds on which they 

 rest, are explained. In the scheme "upon the 

 Church of Christ " are contained, in "an addi- 

 tional chapter," the celebrated declaration re- \ 

 ganling the infallibility of the pope. 



Under the generic name Roman Catholics are 

 comprised all those Christians who acknowledge 

 the supremacy of the Roman pontiff, even 

 though they be not of the Roman or Latin Rite. 

 Not a few individuals and churches of other 

 rites are included under this designation, Greeks. 

 Slavonians, Ruthenians, Syrians (including 

 Maronites), Copts, and Armenians; and these 

 communities are permitted to retain their own 

 national liturgy and language, and for the most 

 part their established discipline and usages, j 

 A* regards its organization for the purposes of 

 ecclesiastical government the normal territorial 

 distribution of the Roman Catholic Church of 

 the several rites in the various countries where 

 it exists is into provinces, which are subject to 

 archbishops, and are subdivided into bishoprics, 

 each governed by its own bishop. The following 

 summary shows the statistics of the Church in 

 the United States, for 1907 : 



Archbishops, 14; Bishops, 89; clergy, secular, 

 11.135; clergy, religious, 3,958; churches, 12,- 

 148; colleges for boys, 198; academies for girls, 

 678; parishes, with schools, 4,364; parish 

 school population, 1,096,842; orphan asylums, 

 255; orphans cared for, 40,588; charitable 

 institutions, 992; total Catholic population, 

 13,089,3.53. 



Celibacy. The state of being celibate or 

 unmarried; specially applied to the voluntary 

 life of abstinence from marriage followed by 

 many religious devotees and by some orders of 

 clergy, as those of the Roman Catholic Church. 

 The ancient Egyptian priests preserved a rigid 

 chastity; the priestesses of ancient Greece and 

 Rome were pledged to perpetual virginity; and 

 celibacy is the rule with the Buddhist priests 

 of the East. Among Christians the earliest 

 aspirants to the spiritual perfection supposed to 

 be attainable through celibacy were not ecclesias- 

 tics as such, but hermits and anchorites who , 

 aimed at superior sanctity. During the first j 

 three centuries the marriage of the clergy was 

 freely permitted, but by the Council of Elvira 

 (305) continence was enjoined on all who served 

 at the altar. For centuries this subject led to , 

 many struggles in the Church, but was finally 

 settled by Gregory VII. positively forbidding 

 the marriage of the clergy. The Council of Trent j 

 (1593) confirmed this rule. In the Greek Church 

 celibacy is not compulsory on the ordinary clergy. 

 Protestants hold that there is no moral superi- 

 ority in celibacy over marriage, and that the 

 Church has no right to impose such an obligation 

 on any class of her ministers. 



Chemistry. The science which is con- 

 cerned with the study of the properties of the 

 different forms of matter, and their mutual 

 reactions, just as Physics is concerned with the 

 study of force and energy. It has developed 

 from the alchemy of the Middle Ages. The 

 chemist finds by actual experiment that he is 

 able to divide all substances into two great 

 classes, viz., compounds, which can be split up 

 into two or more different substances of a sim- 



pler nature, and elements, which he cannot split 

 up into anything differing from themselves. All 

 the varied forms of matter which we see around 

 us are produced by the combinations of these 

 elementary substances. Combination between 

 different substances is due to the existence of 

 chemical attraction, or, as it is often called, 

 chemical affinity, between the atoms of which 

 they are composed. The exact nature of this 

 attraction is not understood. It differs from 

 heat, electricity, and other forms of energy, in 

 that it entirely changes the properties of the 

 substances between which it acts, and, more- 

 over, acts only between bodies which are in the 

 most intimate possible contact. Chemical action 

 consequently takes place most rapidly between 

 gases, somewhat less rapidly between liquids, 

 and much less rapidly between solids. Chemical 

 changes may conveniently be classed under 

 three heads: (1) Combination or synthesis, in 

 which two or more substances combine to form 

 a new compound of more complex composition; 

 (2) Decomposition or analysis, in which a com- 

 pound is split up into its constituent elements, 

 or into other compounds of simpler nature ; (3) 

 Double decomposition or metathesis, in which a 

 reaction takes place between two or more com- 

 pounds, accompanied by a mutual interchange 

 of elements, and ending in the formation of a 

 new series of compounds. The occurrence of 

 chemical change is generally rendered evident 

 by an alteration in the physical properties of 

 the bodies affected by the change. In many 

 cases there is development of heat, sometimes, 

 if the reaction is very energetic, accompanied 

 by the production of light. There may also be 

 production, destruction, or change of color, 

 conversion of solids or liquids into gases, or 

 condensation of gases into solids or liquids, 

 production of solids from liquids, or vice versa. 

 The occurrence or non-occurrence of chemical 

 change depends in the first place on the nature 

 of the substances brought into contact, and also 

 on certain physical conditions. In many cases 

 the reaction takes place at ordinary tempera- 

 tures, in others the substances have to be 

 heated before any change occurs. On the other 

 hand, substances which react on one another at 

 ordinary temperatures are without action at 

 very low temperatures. Further, many com- 

 pounds are decomposed or split up when heated, 

 and, indeed, heat is one of the main agents 

 which bring about decomposition. Generally 

 speaking, a moderately high temperature is 

 favorable to combination or double decompo- 

 sition, while a higher temperature tends to 

 produce decomposition. Oxygen and mercury, 

 for example, combine together directly only at 

 a temperature approaching the boiling-point of 

 the latter, but if the oxide of mercury thus 

 formed is still more strongly heated, it splits up 

 again into its constituent elements. If two or 

 more substances are brought together in a state 

 of solution, and by their mutual reaction can 

 produce a new substance insoluble in the partic- 

 ular liquid used, then, with very few exceptions, 

 this compound will be produced and will be pre- 

 cipitated, or thrown out of solution. The pro- 

 duction or non-production of chemical action is 

 affected also by the relative quantities or masses 



