CHE 



220 



CHI 



properties of elementary substances, and 

 of their mutual combinations ; it inquires 

 into the laws which affect, and Into the 

 powers which preside over their union ; 

 it examines the proportions in which 

 they combine, and the modes of separat- 

 ing them when combined ; and endea- 

 vours to apply such knowledge to the 

 explication of natural phenomena, and 

 to useful purposes in the arts. According 

 to Turner, its object is to examine the re- 

 lations which affinity establishes between 

 bodies, ascertain with precision the na- 

 ture and constitution of the compounds 

 it produces, and determine the laws by 

 which its actions are regulated. The ob- 

 jects to which the chemist's attention is 

 directed, comprehend arl material sul>. 

 ta-. *e It is, unquestionably, a Science. 



CHEQ'UERS, stones in the facings of 

 walls, of uniformly equal dimensions, so 

 arranged that no interruption occurs in 

 the joints, either horizontally or verti- 

 cally. 



CHE'QCY, Cheeky, or Chequered. In 

 neraldry, when a field is divided by 

 transverse lines into equal squares of dif- 

 ferent tinctures. 



CHER'RY, the well-known fruit of the 

 Prtinus cerasus. It was brought from 

 Cerasus in Pontus to Italy, by Lucullus, 

 A.H. 680, and was subsequently'introduced 

 into England by the Komans. There 

 are other fruits known popularly by the 

 name of cherries, which are produced by 

 other plants than the Prunus, as the 

 Barbadoes - cherry, Cornelian - cherry, 

 Dwarf-cherry, Hottentot-cherry, Winter- 

 cherry, &c. 



CHER'RY-LAUREI,, the Prunus lauro- 

 cerastts ; called also poison -laurel, bay- 

 laurel, Alexandrian-laurel, &c. The poi- 

 sonous quality of this laurel is prussic 

 acid. 



CHERT. In mineralogy, a sub-species of 

 rhomboidal quartz, called also hornstone, 

 petrosilex, and rock-Hint. It is coarser, 

 and less splintery than common flint, and 

 fusible. It occurs in large masses in 

 quarries of limestone. 



CHER'UBIM. See SERAPHIM. 



CHESS, Fr. tehees. A game performed 

 by two parties, with different pieces, 

 upon a checkered board : that is a board 

 divided into 64 squares called houses. 

 Each player has eight dignified pieces 

 a king, queen, two knights, two bishops, 

 and two rooks or castles, besides eight 

 pawns or foot-soldiers. These are all 

 moved according to certain rules, and the 

 success of the game depends entirely upon 

 skill. 



CHESS-TREE. In ships, a piece of wood 

 bolted perpendicularly on the side, to 

 confine the clews of the mainsail. 



CHEST- FOUNDERING, a disease in horsei, 

 like pleurisy in the human subject. 



CHF.T'WF.RT a measure of corn 

 = 5 94 "Win. I ushels. 



CHEV'AUX DE FRISE, Fr. the Friesland 

 horse. A piece of timber transversed 

 with wooden spikes, pointed with iron, 

 five or six feet long : used to defend a 

 passage, stop a breach, or make a re- 

 trenchment to stop cavalry. 



CHEV'ERII, leather made of kid-skin 



CHEV'RON, Fr. a rafter. Applied, in 

 heraldry, as the name of one of the 

 honourable ordinaries, representing two 

 rafters of a house joined together in 

 chief, such as carpenters set on the high- 

 est part of a house to support the roof. 

 2. An ornament in Gothic architec- 

 ture, to which the name of zigzag is also 

 given. 



CHEV'RONEL, an ordinary similar to 

 chevron, but only half the dimensions. 



CHEVRET'TE. In artillery, an engine for 

 raising guns and mortars into their car- 

 riages. 



CHIAJ* TURPENTINE, another name for 

 the Cyprus turpentine, obtained from the 

 Pistachios terebinthus. 



CHUS'OLITE, the Holspath of Werner, 

 and the Made of Hatty, found in clay 

 slate in Cumberland and Argyleshire. 

 The crystals of this mineral are arranged 

 in four-sided, nearly rectangular prisms. 

 Silica, 68-49; alumina, 30 17 ; magnesia, 

 4'12 ; oxide of iron, 2'7 ; water 27. Name 

 from^nuTOf and \tfof- 



CHICA. 1. A fermented liquor used by 

 the Peruvians, and obtained by them 

 from the Indian corn. 2. A red colour- 

 ing principle, made use of by many of the 

 Indian tribes to stain their skins. It is 

 extracted from the Bignonia, chica. 



CHICKEN-POX, an eruptive disease, called 

 also tcater-pox. See VARICELLA. 



CHicKi.iNG-vETCH,a vetch or pea of the 

 genus Xa*Ayrtu,used in Germany as food. 



CHIEF. In heraldry, the head or upper 

 part of the escutcheon, from side to side, 

 occupying the third part of the field. 

 Anything borne on this part is said to be 

 in chief. 



CHIL'DERMAS DVT, an anniversary ob- 

 served by the Church of England, on the 

 28th of December, in commemoration of 

 the children of Bethlehem, slain by 

 Herod. Called also Innocents' day. 



CHIL'IAD, %t\iot, a thousand. The pe- 

 riod of a thousand years. 



CHiL'iAoo.N,a plain geometrical figure 

 of a thousand equal angles. %t/.ia, a 

 thousand, and ycana., an \ngle. 



CHILIAHE'DROS, a figure of a thousand 

 equal sides. r<Ai, a thousand, and 

 SSja.abase. 



CHIL'I ARCH, a commander of a thousand 

 men. yt\ia, a thousand, and 

 a chief. 



