CON 



240 



CON 



solid is called a right cone, otherwise it is 

 nn oblique or scalene cone. In optics, it in- 

 cludes all the rays which fall upon a given 

 surface from a given point. 



CONE'PATE, Coxr.pATL.an American ani- 

 mal of the weasel kind, resembling the 

 polecat in form and size, and in its fetid 

 stench. 



CONFZD'ERACY, from con and fcedvs, a 

 league; a term used in law to denote a 

 combination of two or more persons to 

 commit an unlawful act. 



CON'FERKSCE, a meeting of delegate 

 members from both houses of parliament 

 to discuss the provisions of a bill re- 

 specting which there may be a disagree- 

 ment between them. Also a meeting of 

 divines for ecclesiastical purposes. 



CONFER'VA, Lat. from coiifervec, to knit 

 together ; a genus of plants. Cryptoga- 

 mia A'gee. The trib3 of cryptogamic 

 plants comprising the jointed algae or 

 water weeds, are called Conferva. These 

 are chiefly fresh-water plants, but many 

 are marine. They are composed of capil- 

 lary jointed tubes, containing granules 

 "variously arranged ; but the plants grow 

 by the addition of one tube to the end of 

 another, and multiply by means of the 

 granules contained in the tubes. 



CONFESSION, AURICULAR. In the Church 

 of Rome a part of the sacrament of pe- 

 nance. It must be of every mortal sin, 

 and made to a priest, who is solemnly 

 obliged not to reveal it. 



CONFESSION OF FAITH, a formulary set- 

 ting forth the opinions of a body. 



CONFESSOB , one who has undergone per- 

 secution for Christianity only short of 

 death. 



CONFIRMATION, from con and firmo, to 

 make firm. In law, an assurance of title 

 by the conveyance of an estate or right 

 in esse from one man to another, by which 

 a voidable estate is made sure or un- 

 avoidable. In church affairs, (1). The rati- 

 fication of the election of a dignitary of 

 the church by the sovereign ; (2). The 

 ceremony of laying on of hands in the ad- 

 mission of baptised persons to the enjoy- 

 ment of Christian privileges. 



CON'FLUENT, flowing together (conflu- 

 ent), applied in physiology to eruptions, 

 especially that of small-pox, and in botany, 

 to leaves which run together at their base. 



CONFORMABLE. In geology, a term used 

 to express the parallelism of strata : thus, 

 when several horizontal strata are depo- 

 sited one upon another, they are said to 

 be conformable, but when horizontal are 

 placed over vertical strata, the strata are 

 said to be*unconformable. 



COXFORM'IST. In church matters, one 

 who conforms to, or complies with, the 

 worship of the Established Church. 



CON FU'RIA. In music, furiously; an 

 Italian term. 



CONGE' D'F.'LIRE (French), the sove- 

 reign's license or permission to a dean 

 and chapter to choose a bishop. 



CONGE'NER, Lat. from con and genus, a 

 thing of the same kind or nature : spe- 

 cies of the same genus. Also applied in 

 anatomy to muscles which concur in the 

 same action. 



CONOEN'ITAL, from ran and genittts, born, 

 j a term applied to that which pertains to 

 I an individual from his birth, as a conge- 

 nital disease. 



CON'GER, CON'GF.R EEL, a large species 

 of eel ( Sfureena Conger, Lin., Conger rul- 

 garis, Yarr.) found in the European seas, 

 sometimes weighing 100 Ibs. The name 

 is Latin, from zoyygof, quod polypi cirros 

 divoret? See MCRJENA. 



CONGESTION, from congero, to amass; a 

 preternatural accumulation of blood , bile, 

 or other fluids in their proper vessels. 

 Diseases arising from, this cause are called 

 congestive diseases. 



CON'GICS. In modern latinity, a gallon. 



CON'GI.OBATE, from con and globiis, a 

 ball ; formed or gathered into a ball, as a 

 conglobate flower. 



CONGLOM'F.RATF., from con and glomits, 

 a clew. 1. In anatomy . applied to a glnnd 

 which consists of a number of smaller 

 glomerate glands, the excretory ducts of 



which all unite in one common duct. 



2. In botany, applied to flowers which are 

 closely, compacted together on a foot- 

 stalk, to which they are irregularly, but 

 closely connected :' opposed to difftised. 



3. In geology, conu'.om orate has the 



same meaning as breccia (Mantell), and 

 pudding-stone (Lyell). According to 

 Bakewell, " conglomerate consists of 

 large fragments of stone, whether 

 rounded or angular, imbedded in clay 

 or sandstone." 



CONQREGVTIONAL'ISTS, Bno .VNISTS, or 

 INDEPENDENTS, a sect of l j r jtostant Dis- 

 senters who maintain that every congre- 

 gation for religious worship is independ- 

 ent of every other. 



CON'GRESS, Lat. congresses, from congrt- 

 dior, to come together [gradus, a step.) 

 1. An assembly of envoys, commission- 

 ers, deputies, &c., particularly a meeting 

 of the representatives of several courts, 

 to concert measures of mutual concern. 



2. An assembly of delegates of the 



several British colonies in America, which 

 met in 1774 to resist the claims of Great 

 Britain, and finally declared the colonies 

 independent. The name has since been 

 transferred to the assembly of deputies 

 from the different states of the union. 



CON'IC SECTIONS, a branch of mathema- 

 tical science which treats of the proper- 

 ties of certain curves that are formed by 

 the cutting of a cone in different direc- 

 tions. If a cone be cut bv a plane pa- 



