COM 



COM 



dred paces, and is caught by land or in 

 the water with extreme difficulty. By a 

 hooked line, however, baited with its 

 favourite fish, it has often been drawn up 

 from a considerable depth, and thus ex- 

 hibited to many observers a singular va- 

 riety from the' sportsman's usual prac- 

 tice. 



COMA, or COMA-VIGIL, a preternatu- 

 ral propensity to sleep, when nevertheless 

 the patient does not sleep, or, if he does, 

 awakes immediately without any relief. 

 See MKPICIXE. 



COMA, in botany, a collection of floral 

 leaves, which, in the crown imperial, la- 

 vender, sage, cow-wheat, and some other 

 plants, terminate the flower-stem, and 

 form an appearance like a tuft of hair. 



COMA JJerem'ces, Jferemce's hair, in as- 

 tronomy, a constellation of the Northern 

 hemisphere, composed of stars near the 

 Lion's tail. See ASTROXOMT. 



COM ARUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Icosandria Polygamia class and order. 

 Natural order of Senticosx. Rosaceae, 

 Jtissieu. Essential character : calyx ten- 

 cleft; petals five, smaller than the calyx; 

 receptacle of tke seeds ovate, spongy, 

 permanent. There is but one species; 

 viz. C. palustre, marsh-cinquefoil, a na- 

 tive of most parts of Europe, in boggy- 

 ground. 



COMB, an instrument made of horn, 

 ivory, tortoise-shell, box, or holly-wood, 

 &c. and useful for separating and adjust- 

 ing the hair, &c. 



CoyiR-maki?ig. Combs are not only 

 made for the purpose of cleansing the 

 hair, but for ornament : they are some- 

 times set with brilliant stones, pearls, and 

 even diamonds; some again are studded 

 with cut steel : these are of different 

 shapes, and are used to fasten up the hair 

 when ladies dress without caps. Combs 

 may, of course, be had of all prices, from 

 the value of a few pence to almost any 

 sum. They are generally made of the 

 horns of bullocks or of elephants, and 

 sea-horse's teeth, and some are made of 

 tortoise-shell and ivory, others of box or 

 holly-wood. The horns of bullocks are 

 thus prepared for this manufactory : the 

 lips are sawn ofF; they are then held 

 in the flame of a wood fire ; this is called 

 roasting, by which they become nearly 

 as soft as leather. While in that state 

 they are slit open on one side, and 

 pressed in a machine between two iron 

 plates; they are then plunged into a 

 trough of water, from which they come 

 out hard and flat ; they are then sawn into 

 lengths, according to the si/.e wanted. 



To cut the teeth, each piece is fixed into 

 a tool called a claw. The maker sits on a 

 triangular sort of a stool to his work, and 

 under him is placed the claw that holds 

 the horn, ivory, &c. that is to be formed 

 into a comb. The teeth are cut with a 

 fine saw, or rather a pair of saws, and 

 they are finished with a file. A coarser 

 file, called a rasp, is used to reduce the 

 horn, &c. to a proper thickness ; and 

 when they are completely made, they 

 are polished with charcoal and water, and 

 receive their last finish with powder of 

 rotten stone. The process used for mak- 

 ing ivory combs is nearly the same as 

 that already described, except that the 

 ivory is first sawed into thin slices. The 

 best ivory comes from the island of Cey- 

 lon, and Achen, in the East Indies ; as it 

 possesses the property of never turning 

 yellow, it is consequently much dearer 

 than any other kind. 



Tortoise-shell combs are much es- 

 teemed ; and there are methods of stain- 

 ing horn, so as to imitate it, of which the 

 following is one ; the horn to be dyed is 

 first to be pressed into a flat form, and 

 then done over with a paste, made of two 

 parts of quick-lime and one of litharge, 

 brought into a proper consistence with 

 soap-ley. This paste must be put over 

 all the parts of the horn, except such as 

 are proper to be left transparent, to give 

 it a nearer resemblance to tortoise-shell. 

 The horn must remain in this state till 

 the paste be quite dry, when it is to be 

 brushed oflT. It requires taste and judg- 

 ment, so to dispose the paste, as to 

 form a variety of transparent parts, of dif- 

 ferent magnitudes and figures, to look like 

 nature. Some parts should also be semi- 

 transparent, which may be effected by 

 mixing whiting with a part of the paste, 

 By this means spots of a reddish brown 

 will be produced, so as greatly to in- 

 crease the beauty of the work. Horn 

 thus dyed is manufactured into combs, 

 and these are frequently sold for real tor- 

 toise-shell. 



COMBAT, in law, or single combat, 

 denotes a form of trial between two cham- 

 pions of some doubtful cause or quarrel, 

 by the sword or batoons. This form of 

 proceeding 1 was anciently very frequent, 

 particularly among the barbarous nations 

 in their original settlements; and obtain- 

 ed, not only in criminal, but also in civil 

 causes; being- built on a presumption, 

 that God would never grant the victory 

 but to him who had the best right. It 

 was originally permitted, in order to de- 

 termine points respecting the reputation 



