CHINOOK 



1357 



CHITONS 



CHINOOK, a tribe of Indians of the Chinook- 

 an family, who formerly lived in the southwest 

 corner of the state of Washington, occupying 

 the territory from the mouth of the Columbia 

 River to Gray's Bay, a distance of about 

 fifteen miles, and northward along the sea- 

 coast as far as the northern part of Shoal- 

 water Bay. They first became known through 

 the expedition of Lewis and Clark, 1803-1806. 

 Their language formed the basis of what is 

 kntfwn as the Chinook jargon, consisting of a 

 mixture of Chinook, French, English and other 

 words, which was for many years used by 

 hunters and traders in dealing with the Indians 

 as far north as Alaska, and is still employed 

 to some extent. The Chinooks were tall, with 

 broad faces. All tribes of the family practiced 

 the custom of artificially flattening the head. 

 They were great traders, exchanging goods 

 with both native tribes and white men. 



CHIPMUNK, a small ground squirrel, very 

 common in North America. Its back is striped 

 black and white, and its tail is nearly as long 

 as its body. This cheery, friendly little animal 

 loves the sunshine and hot weather, but when 



CHIPMUNKS . 



the frost comes it goes to its tunnel-like bur- 

 row in the ground, and, living on the nuts and 

 grains it has stored, practically sleeps through 

 the long winter. 



The intelligence of the chipmunk is seen in 

 the construction of its ground home, hidden 

 from all but the keenest eyes. Chipmunks 

 rarely eat the eggs of birds, although it is 

 thought a common occurrence. They do, how- 

 ever, run off with newly-planted corn, berries, 

 apples, pears and tomatoes. They can be 

 tamed quite easily, and many boys imprison 

 them in cages as pets. 



CHIPPENDALE. See FUBNITURE. 



CHIP'PEWA, an Indian tribe. See OJIBWA. 



CHIROMANCY, ki'romansi. See PALMIS- 

 TRY. 



CHIRON, ki'ron, in Greek mythology the 

 famous learned centaur (half horse, half man) 

 who taught such renowned heroes as Achilles, 

 Hercules, Ulysses and Aeneas. Chiron was the 

 son of Kronos (Saturn) and Philyra, and be- 



came skilled in medicine, music, hunting and 

 the art of prophecy, under the instruction of 

 Apollo and Diana. He lived at the foot of 

 Mount Pelion, in Thessaly. One day the other 

 centaurs were driven into Chiron's home by 

 Hercules, and by accident a poisoned arrow 

 from the bow of his old pupil struck Chiron. 

 The poison caused him such torture that Zeus 

 mercifully ended Chiron's life on earth and 

 placed him among the stars, where he became 

 the constellation Sagittarius, or The Archer. 

 See CENTAUR; also map of the heavens, in arti- 

 cle ASTRONOMY. 



CHIROPRACTIC, kiroprak'tik, HEALING, 

 a method of treating disease by the adjustment 

 of displaced vertebrae, founded on the theory 

 that such displacement causes pressure upon 

 the nerves which pass through the openings 

 between vertebrae from the spinal cord to 

 different parts of the body. Though this 

 pressure is not sufficient to injure the nerve, it 

 may be great enough to obstruct the passage 

 of the nerve impulses to the various parts of 

 the body for which they are intended, and 

 may be the cause of disease. By certain 

 definite thrusts the chiropractor seeks to re- 

 move the pressure on the nerves by replacing 

 the displaced vertebrae, making possible a 

 return to normal conditions. This method of 

 healing was introduced into the United States 

 in 1895 by Dr. D. D. Palmer. He classified 

 the various kinds of possible displacements of 

 the vertebrae and devised thrusts for their 

 adjustment. There are now in the United 

 States 5,000 physicians who practice this form 

 of treatment, and it is taught in six large and 

 several smaller institutions. 



CHIROPTERA, kirop'tera (from the Greek 

 for hand and wing), an order of night-flying 

 animals the bats found in all parts of the 

 world. The fingers of the fore limbs are greatly 

 elongated and between these and the hind 

 limbs and tail is stretched a thin membrane 

 which forms the wings. The bones are slender 

 and filled with a light marrow, and this les- 

 sens the animal's weight. The ears are often 

 large in proportion to the size of the animal, 

 whose sense of hearing is remarkably acute. 

 See BAT; VAMPIRE BAT. 



CHITONS, ki'tonz, a large family of mod- 

 lusks with boat-shaped gray or brown shells. 

 The shell is composed of eight pieces, often in 

 contact with and overlapping one another, but 

 never truly joining. The animal always clings 

 to rocks or stones by means of a strong oval 

 foot which extends the whole length of its 



