COL 



234 



COL 



Named from Colchis, a country in Asia, 

 where some of the species were plentiful. 



COI'COTHAR, the brown-red oxide of 

 iron which remains after the distillation 

 of the acid from sulphate of iron. It is 

 used for polishing glass, &c. 



COLBOPHTL'LEM, xoAta?, a sheath, and 

 piXXev,a leaf; applied to amonocotyledo- 

 nous structure, the young leaves being 

 evolved from within a sheath. 



COI.EORHIO'A, denoting the sheath 

 within which is inclosed the radicle of 

 monocotyledonous plants. 



CoLEop'TERA,from zoXios, a sheath, -and 

 xrteov, a wing; an order of insects fur- 

 nished with elytra or sheaths to their 

 wings. The inferior wings are merely 

 folded transversely and covered with 

 others which form cases or covers for them. 

 Of all insects the coleoptera are the best 

 known and the most numerous. They 

 have six legs and four wings, and expe- 

 rience a complete metamorphosis. The 

 elytra are horizontal and crustaceous. 



COLLAP'SE, Lat. collapsus, a falling to- 

 gether. This term is used in medicine 

 to denote an entire prostration of the 

 vital powers, such as occurs in adynamic 

 fever. 



COL'LAR. In heraldry, an ornament for 

 the neck, worn by knights, as the collar 

 of the order of the garter. 



COLLAR-BEAM, a beam above the lower 

 ends of the rafters of a roof. 



COI.H.RI'NO. In architectiire, an astragal. 



COLLA'TING, among printers, the exa- 

 mining the sheets of a book to ascertain 

 that they are gathered correctly. 



COLLA'TION. 1. In canon late, the pre- 

 sentation of a clergyman to a benefice by 



a bishop who has it in his gift. 2. In 



fOHimon law, comparison of a copy with 

 its original. 3 In Scots law the right 

 which an heir has of sharing the property 

 of the deceased equally with others of 

 the same degree of kindred. 3. A re- 

 past between full meals. 



COLLECTIVE NOCN. In grammar, a 

 noun which, though itself in the singular 

 number, denotes more than one, as as- 

 tembly. 



COLLECTA'.NEA, } a selection of passages 



Co i 



thors for purposes of instruction. 



COLLECTORS. In botany, dense hairs 

 covering the styles of some species of Com- 

 positae, &c. 



COL'I.EGE, Lat. collrgiwn, a collection; 

 from cot and lego, to send. This term 

 means an assemblage or society of men 

 invested with certain powers and rights, 

 and performing certain duties, or engaged 

 in some common pursuit, as the College of 

 Physicians, the College of Heralds. Such 

 colleges are usually established by the 

 supreme power of the state. In Russia 



the name college is given to the councils 

 of state ; and in Britain the term is used 

 to designate an edifice appropriated to 

 the use of students in the Universities. 



COL' LET (French), a collar ; a term used 

 by jewellers to designate the nori/out:.! 

 plane or face at the bottom of brilliants ; 

 a!so the part of a ring in which the stone 

 is set. 



CILLIMA'TIOX, collimo, I aim at. The 

 line of collimation in a telescope is the 

 line of siyht passing through the centre 

 of the object-glass, and the intersection 

 of the wires placed in its focus. 



COLLIMA'TOR, floating. An instrument 

 invented by Kater for finding the hori- 

 zontal point. 



COLO'BUS, Gr. zofofio;, mutilated; a ge- 

 nus of long-tailed quadrumanes or mon- 

 keys, so called because the fore-hands 

 want a thumb. 



COLOCA'SIA, the Pontic or Egyptian 

 Bean (Xymphaa nelumbo], a perennial 

 plant growing in marshy grounds in 



Egypt. 



CoLo'ciNTH,Lat. colocynthis (xoXoxvvBtf, 

 from xa)(.axu8et, a gourd), the Coloquin- 

 tida, Bitter Cucumber, or Bitter Apple of 

 the shops, the produce of an annual plant 

 ( Cticwnis colocynthtis} , which grows in Tur- 

 key, Nubia, India, and other places, 

 much resembling the cucumber in herb- 

 age. "When ripe, the fruit is peeled and 

 dried, and in this state is sent to England. 

 It is an exceedingly drastic cathartic. It 

 is a round berry or pepo of the size and 

 colour of a small orange. 



COLOCYN'THINE, a brittle orange- co- 

 loured substance obtained from colo- 

 cynth, and regarded as the active prin- 

 ciple of the drug. 



CO'LON. KAo. 1. The largest of the 

 intestines. It commences at the csecum 



and terminates in the rectum. 2. A 



mark [:] denoting a pause greater than 

 the semicolon, and less than the period. 



COLONEL-LIEUTENANT, the commander 

 of a regiment of guards of which the king, 

 prince, or other person of eminence is 

 colonel. 



COLONELS. In architecture, the posts of 

 a truss frame. 



COLONNA'DE, from Ital. colonna, a co- 

 lumn ; a row of columns. The colon- 

 nade is termed, according to the number 

 of columns which it contains, tctrastyle, 

 hexastyle, octastyle, &c. When in front of 

 a building they are termed porticoes; 

 when surrounding a building, a peristyle, 

 and when double or more, a polystyte. 



COLOPHO'NITE, a variety of garnet of a 

 brown or red colour, and resino-adaman- 

 tine lustre ; hence its name, from the 

 resin colophony. Its constituents arc 

 silica and alumina, coloured with the 

 oxides of iron and manganese. 



