CON 



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CON 



express the area or quantity of matter or 

 space included within certain limits. 



CONTINENTAL SYSTEM, the celebrated 

 plan of Napoleon for excluding the mer- 

 chandise of England from all parts of the 

 Continent. 



CONTIN'UED PROPOR'TION, in arithmetic, 

 is where the consequent of the first ratio 

 is the same with the antecedent of the 

 second, as A : B : : B : C. 



CONTINUITY, LAW OF, may be thus 

 stated : nothing passes from one state to 

 another without passing through all the 

 intermediate states. 



CONTOKT'ED. 1. In botany, &c., twisted. 

 2. In architecture, wreathed. 



CON'TRABAND, from contra and ban (q.v.). 

 A term used in commerce, to designate, 1, 

 a commodity prohibited to be exported 



or imported, bought or sold. 2. That 



class of commodities which neutrals are 

 not allowed to carry during war to a 

 belligerent power. 



CONTRABAS'SO, the largest of the violin 

 species, usually called the double-bass. 



CONTRACTILITY, a property of the living 

 fibre, by which it contracts on the appli- 

 cation of a stimulus. 



CONTRACTION, from con, and traho, to 

 draw. The lessening of the dimensions 

 of a body, by causing the parts to approx- 

 imate more closely; the action arising 

 from excited contractility. 



CON'TRA-DANCE, ) Fr. contreclanse ; a 



COUN'TER-DANCE, } dance in which the 

 partners are arranged in opposite lines, 

 called vulgarly a country dance .' 



CONTRADICTORY PROPOSITIONS, in logic, 

 are those which having the same terms 

 differ in quantity and quality. 



CON'TRA-FIS'SUKE, a counter or opposite 

 fissure, applied in surgery to designate 

 a fracture at some distance from the 

 part whereon the blow was received. 



CON'TRA-HARMON'IC PROPOR'TION, in 

 arithmetic, is that relation of three terms 

 wherein the difference of the first and 

 second is to that of the second and third, 

 as the third is to the first. 



CON'TRA-IXDICA'TION, a counter or op- 

 posing indication, applied in medicine 

 to designate a symptom which forbids 

 the use of a remedy which might other- 

 wise be employed. 



CONTRAL'TO or CONTRA-TEN'ORE (It.) In 

 music, the part immediately below the 

 treble, called also the counter-tenor. 



CON'TRARIES, in logic, are propositions 

 which destroy each other, but of which 

 the falsehood of the one does not establish 

 the truth of the other. 



CON'TRAST. In fine aria, an opposition 

 of lines and colours to each other, so that 

 each increases the effect of the other. 



CON'TRA-TEN'OR. In music, a middle part 

 between the tenor and treble ; the Counttr. 

 In icatekiwk the 



wheel next to the crown, the teeth ani 

 hoop of which lie contrary to those 01 

 the other wheels, whence its name. 



CONTRAVALLA'TION, from contra and 

 vallo, to fortify. A line formed to defend 

 besiegers against the sallies of a garrison. 



CONTRAYER'VA-ROOT, the root of the 

 Dorstenia contrayerva, a perennial plant 

 of South America. The name is Sp. 

 contra, against, and yerba, an herb, being 

 used as an antidote against poisons. 



CON'TUMAC Y, from contumacia, stubborn- 

 ness ; a term of law for wilful contempt 

 and disobedience of any lawful summons 

 or order of court. 



CO'NUS, a genus of mollusks, named 

 from the conical shape of the shell. Class 

 Gasteropoda ; order Pectinibranchiata ; 

 family Buccinoida, The shells are highly 

 prized ; one, the cedo nulli, is valued at a 

 hundred guineas. Found on rocky shores 

 in tropical seas. 



CONVALT-A'RIA, a genus of plants. Hex- 

 andria Monogynia. May lily. Lily of 

 the valley. Solomon's Seal. Xame from 

 convallis, a valley, because some of the 

 species abound chiefly in valleys. 



CONVENTION, from con and cento, to 

 come. 1. A treaty, contract, or agree- 

 ment between two parties. 2. An ex- 

 traordinary meeting of parliament or 

 states of the realm held without writ of 



the sovereign. 3. A treaty between 



military commanders concerning terms 

 for a cessation of hostilities. 



CONVERGING LINES, those which tend 

 to a common point. 



CONVERGING RAYS, those which tend 

 to a common focus. 



CONVERGING SERIES, those whose terms 

 continually diminish. 



CON'VERSE, in mathematics, commonly 

 signifies the same as reverse, from vertor, 

 to be turned. 



CONVERSION (of proportion), is "when, 

 of four proportionals, it is inferred thai 

 the first is to its excess above the second , 

 as the third to its excess above the fourth. 



2. In logic, a proposition is said to be 



converted when the terms are so trans- 

 posed that the subject is made the predi- 

 cate, and vice versa. 



CONVERSION (centre of). In mechanics, 

 the centre of revolution. " If a stick be 

 laid on stagnant water and drawn by a 

 thread fastened to it, so that the thread 

 makes always the same angle with it, 

 the stick will be found to turn about a 

 certain point, which point is called the 

 centre of conversion." 



CONVEX'O-CON'CAVE, convex on the one 

 side and concave on the other. See LENS. 



CONVEX'O-CON'VEX, convex on both sides. 

 See LENS. 



CONVEYANCE, from con and veho, to 

 carry. The instrument or means of pass- 

 ing from one place or person to another . 

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