COL 



permit the operations to be carried 

 on. It is almost needless to remark 

 that the sides must be very strong 

 and well braced in the inside to re- 

 sist the pressure of the ambient wa- 

 ter. — {Hnttoii's Tracts, vol. i.) 



COFFIN BONE. The bone which 

 lies encircled within a horse's hoof. 



COHESION. The force which 

 binds together similar particles ; it 

 is supposed to be electrical. The 

 strain which any wood or metal bears 

 is a measure of its cohesion. 



" The following is a tabular view 

 of the absolute cohesion of the prin- 

 cipal kinds of timber employed in 

 building and carpentry, showing the 

 load which would rend a prism of an 

 inch square, and the length of the 

 prism which, if suspended, would be 

 torn asunder by its own weight : 



Teak 12,915 lbs. — 36,049 feet 



Oak 11,880 —32,900 



Sycamore . . . 9,630 — 35,6(10 



Beecb 12,225 — 38,940 



Ash 14,130 —42,080 



Elm 9,720 — 39,050 



Memel fir ... . 9,540 — 40,500 



Norway fir . . . 12,346 — 55,500 



Larch 12,240 — 42,160 



"The metals differ more widely from 

 each other in their cohesive strength 

 than the several species of wood or 

 vegetable fibres. According to the 

 experiments of Mr. George Rennie 

 in 1817, the cohesive power of a rod 

 an inch square of different metals, in 

 pounds avoirdupois, with the corre- 

 sponding length in feet, is as fol- 

 lows : 



Ca-st steel . . . 134,256 lbs. — 39,455 feet 

 Swedish malleable 



iron 72,064 — 19,740 



English ditto . . 55,872 — 19,740 

 Cast iron .... 19,096 — 6,110 

 Cast copper . . . 19,072 — 5,093 



Yellow brass . . 17,958 — 5,180 

 Cast tin .... 4,736 — 1,496 

 Cast lead. . . . 1,824 — 348"' 

 (Brandt's Encycl.) 



COKE. The cinder of bituminous 

 coals after being heated for gas. 



COLCHICUM. Colclncum offici- 

 nale. Meadow saffron, a bulbous plant, 

 growing freely in moist, sandy loams. 

 The bulb and seeds are of the high- 

 est value as a medicine in gout and 

 rheumatism. In large doses it is 

 poisonous. 



COM 



COLE. See Colza. 



COLEOPTERA (from koTieoc, a 

 sheath, and nrepov, a wing). Insects, 

 the outer wings of which are hard or 

 horny, the inner wings being large 

 and very delicate. Borers, lady-birds, 

 curculios, &c., belong to this race. 

 The hard outer wings are called ely- 

 tra. 



COLEWORT. See Cabbage. 



COLIC. In common parlance, an 

 irritation of the stomach or intes- 

 tines, causing pain, and readily alle- 

 viated by a slight purge or by lauda- 

 num. 



COLLAPSE. A loss of strength. 



COLLAR BLADE. The haims. 



COLLEY. The Scotch sheep 

 dog. 



COLLIQUATIVE. An excessive 

 evacuation, diminishing the strength. 



COLLUM. The point where the 

 roots diverge from the stem of plants. 



COLLYRIUM. An eye-wash. 



COLOCYNTH. The pulp of the 

 Cucumis colocynth, a plant similar to 

 the cucumber, bearing round fruit of 

 great bitterness and purgative pow- 

 er. The cultivation is similar to that 

 of melons. 



COLON. The large intestines. 



COLOPHONY. The dark resin 

 remaining after the distillation of the 

 spirit from rosin. 



COLT. A young horse, ass, &c. 



COLT'S FOOT. A vile perennial 

 weed. 



COLUMBARIUM. A pigeon- 

 house. 



COLZA. Two or more varieties 

 of plants of the open cabbage kind 

 {Brassica arvensis and campestns) are 

 cultivated under this name in Ger- 

 many and France. They are usually 

 sown in drills, but sometimes broad 

 cast for eating off in the fall. The 

 most common object in the cultiva- 

 tion of colza is the seed, which yields 

 a coarse oil like rape, and is obtained 

 by pressure. The cake is very simi- 

 lar to that from rape, and used like 

 it for fodder and manure. The treat- 

 ment is precisely similar to rape, 

 which see. 



CO.MA (from keu, to lie down). A 

 propensity to sleep, amounting to a 



171 



