KALEIDOSCOPE 



3200 



KAMERUN 



falls merrily on the ear, no other city has taken 

 it or any variation of it. Kalamazoo was in- 

 corporated as a village in 1843, and received 

 its city charter in 1884. 'O.B.T. 



KALEIDOSCOPE, ka li' doh skope, a name 

 derived from three Greek words, kalos, meaning 

 beautiful; eidos, jorm, and skopeo, I see. A 

 kaleidoscope is an instrument with which we 

 see objects in beautiful forms. It is an optical 

 toy, invented by David Brewster in 1817, con- 

 sisting of a tube within which are three glass 

 plates that serve as mirrors. These plates ex- 

 tend the whole length of the tube and make 

 an angle of 60 with one another. The tube is 

 closed at one end by a metal plate, with a 

 small hole in its center, and this is known as 

 an eyepiece. At the other end there are two 

 glass plates, one being of clear glass and the 

 other of ground glass, the one of clear glass 

 being closer to the eye. Fragments of col- 

 ored glass or beads lie between these plates, 

 which is called an object-box. When the tube 

 is slightly shaken and the eye is applied to the 

 aperture, symmetrical and beautiful figures 

 are produced by the mirrors. No two figures 

 are ever quite alike. Designers often make 

 use of this instrument to give them patterns for 

 carpets, wall paper, and designs for various 

 fabrics. 



KALMIA, kal'mia, a group of North Ameri- 

 can evergreen shrubs of the heath family, of 

 which the best known is the popular and 

 beautiful mountain laurel. This ornamental 

 plant ranges from New Brunswick to Louisiana, 

 but flourishes 

 most abundantly 

 in the Alleghany 

 Mountains. Its 

 dark, glossy 

 leaves, pointed at 

 the ends and ob- 

 long in shape, are 

 used in large 

 quantities in 

 making wreaths, 

 for they are 

 highly decorative 

 in effect. Moun- 

 tain laurel grows from three to thirty feet in 

 height, and is often found in thickets so dense 

 that one cannpt pass through them. The flow- 

 ers are bowl-shaped, with five short, broad 

 lobes, and are pink, white or purple in color. 

 Because of its beautiful blossoms and foliage, 

 the laurel is often found in parks, and is util- 

 ized in landscape gardening. 



KALMIA 



Another species of kalmia, which grows in 

 northern swamps, bears pale-lilac blossoms; 

 under the name of mountain laurel this is the 

 state flower of Connecticut. Sheep laurel, 

 ranging from Newfoundland to Georgia, is a 

 small species of kalmia whose leaves are poi- 

 sonous to sheep. 



KALMUCKS, or CALMUCKS, kal'muks, a 

 western branch of the Mongolian race, origi- 

 nally were inhabitants of Central Asia, but now 

 dwell not only in many parts of the Chinese 

 Empire but also in Western Siberia and South- 

 western Russia. They are a wandering people, 

 notwithstanding the numerous efforts of the 

 Russian government to develop them into 

 agriculturists. They are brave warriors and 

 daring horsemen, and many of them are mem- 

 bers of famous Cossack regiments in the Rus- 

 sian army. A full-blooded Kalmuck is short 

 of stature and broad-shouldered, with a large 

 head, straight black hair, and a flat, round face 

 with marked Mongolian characteristics. Witn 

 the exception of a small number of Christians 

 and Mohammedans, the Kalmucks are Bud- 

 dhists. 



KALSOMINE, a form of the word calcimine, 

 but lacking good authority. See CALCIMINE. 



KAMCHATKA, a large peninsula in the 

 northeastern part of Asia, which, together with 

 the Kurile Islands, almost completely separates 

 the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. 

 It is larger than the state of Colorado, having 

 an area of 104,433 

 square miles. A 

 range of volcanic 

 mountains ex- 

 tends from north 

 to south, and the 

 highest point on 

 the peninsula, 

 the extinct vol- 

 cano, Mount 

 Itchinskaya, is 

 16,920 feet above the sea. Petropavlovsk, the 

 capital, is situated on one of the finest natural 

 harbors in the world. The climate is severe, 

 winter extending over a period of nine months, 

 and frost being frequently felt even in summer. 

 Bear, sable, fox, beaver, otter, seal and salmon 

 abound and the dog is the only domestic ani- 

 mal. Hunting and fishing are the chief occu- 

 pations of the inhabitants, consisting principally 

 of Kamchadales and Russians. Population, 

 about 7,500. 



KAMERUN, or CAMEROON, kah maroon', 

 formerly a German possession in Africa, which 



LOCATION MAP 



