CHIVALRY 



1358 



CHLORINE 



body. It also has the power of rolling itself 

 up so that nothing but the shell is seen. Small 

 chitons are found on the eastern Atlantic coast, 

 larger ones in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and those eight and ten inches long the giants 

 occur in California. West Indian negroes are 

 said to eat the large chitons, which are abun- 

 dant on their rocky coasts; they cut off and 

 swallow raw the fleshy foot, which they call 

 "beef." See MOLLUSKS. 



CHIVALRY, shiv'alri, a term which in the 

 Middle Ages indicated a military feudal or- 

 ganization the organization of knighthood. 

 The term as now employed refers merely to the 

 original spirit and aims of those knights 

 protection of the weak, gallantry toward 

 women, honesty in everything. 



The education of a knight in the days of 

 chivalry was as follows: When he was seven 

 years old he was sent to the court of some 

 baron or noble knight, where he was taught 

 the use of arms, how to ride and how to attend 

 the ladies. When qualified for war, he became 

 an esquire, or squire, and accompanied his lord 

 in battle. The third and highest rank of 

 chivalry was that of knighthood, which was 

 usually not conferred before the twenty-first 

 year. The person to be knighted prepared 

 himself by confessing, fasting and keeping vigil 

 all night over his arms. Religious rites were 

 performed, and then, after promising to be 

 faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never 

 to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony 

 with his equals and to protect the Church, he 

 received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck 

 with the flat of the sword from the person who 

 dubbed him a knight. This was often done 

 on the eve of battle, to encourage the new 

 knight to brave deeds, or after the combat, 

 to reward special bravery. 



As a system of education for the nobles, 

 chivalry taught them the best ideals, social 

 and moral, which the times could understand. 

 The spirit of chivalry led to the Crusades, and 

 the deeds of knights have been much sung, by 

 the "minstrels" in England and .the "minne- 

 singers" in Germany. Sir Walter Scott admired 

 chivalry, and Spenser's Faerie Queene and Ten- 

 nyson's Idylls of the King tell of knightly 

 deeds and courtesy. But Cervantes' Don 

 Quixote is a burlesque on chivalry and its 

 tendency to affectation and exaggerations of 

 sentiment. 



CHLORAL, klo'rahl, a bitter, colorless, oily 

 liquid with an irritating smell, the hydrate of 

 which, in the form of a white crystalline sub- 



stance, is extensively used in medicine. When 

 hydrate of chloral comes in contact with alka- 

 lies in the human system it separates into 

 chloroform and formic acid. The chloroform 

 acts on the heart and brain, and when the 

 hydrate is taken in prescribed doses it pro- 

 duces a refreshing sleep. It has been used 

 with success in cases of insomnia, delirium 

 tremens, Saint Vitus's dance, lockjaw, asthma 

 and whooping cough. Too large doses may 

 affect the mind seriously or cause death, and 

 hydrate of chloral should only be used under 

 expert medical advice. To treat poisoning by 

 chloral, the person should be kept awake, his 

 body warmed by friction or otherwise, hot 

 coffee taken, and artificial breathing resorted 

 to, if necessary. 



Chloral is the poisonous principle in the 

 "knock-out drops" employed by criminals to 

 induce unconsciousness in their victims. J.F.S. 



CHLORINE, klo'rin, a greenish-yellow gas 

 with a disagreeable odor. If a small quantity 

 of chloride of lime (bleaching powder) be 

 placed in a shallow dish and a little dilute acid 

 be added, chlorine will be set free and can be 

 detected by its odor. The quantity liberated, 

 however, will probably be so small that the 

 gas cannot be seen. Chlorine has a very irri- 

 tating effect on the nose and throat. Breathed 

 in small quantities, it produces symptoms re- 

 sembling those of a cold. One full breath of 

 pure chlorine will cause death. Chlorine gas 

 became a deadly weapon of warfare in the 

 War of the Nations. 



Chlorine is one of the elements of which 

 common salt is composed, and it is manufac- 

 tured on a large scale by separating salt into 

 its elements, by passing an electric current 

 through the liquefied or dissolved . salt. In 

 laboratories it is made for experimental pur- 

 poses by placing two parts of salt to one part 

 of manganese dioxide in a flask with dilute 

 sulphuric acid, and heating the mixture; the 

 chlorine is collected in vessels by running a 

 pipe from the flask to the bottom of the vessel. 

 The gas is heavier than air and pushes the air 

 upward as it flows in, the same as does water. 

 The name comes from the Greek word chloros, 

 meaning greenish-yellow. Chlorine gas is eas- 

 ily liquefied. 



Chlorine will not burn in air, but a number 

 of substances burn in it; for instance, iron 

 wire, when heated white hot and plunged into 

 the gas, burns with a brilliant light. A jet of 

 burning hydrogen placed in chlorine continues 

 to burn, producing hydrochloric acid. Among 



