CONIC SECTIONS. 



2 D' Sin. « Cos.* — 2E'Sin.**=0, __, _,, f . _ r* -» 



that is, BD'-E'|A-C-yB» + (A-C)»}=0; 



D' Sin. 2 a. — E' (1 — Cos. 2 «)=0; and this equation combined with the equation 

 this expression, by putting for Sin. 2* and Cos. 2* their 



167 



values, gives us 



Ao l + B0 6+Ca 2 +Do-f Ea-f-F=0 

 serves to determine the values of a and b. (|) 



Equations 



of the 



Conic 



Sections. 



CON 



CONISTON. See Lancashire. 



CONJUGATION (from the Lat. conjugate, « to 

 yoke together"), literally means a yoking or pairing to- 

 gether ; whence, among the old anatomists, it was ap- 

 plied to nerves proceeding together from the brain, and 

 serving the same operation, being used to denote what 

 we commonly express by the term pair of nerves. This 

 sense of the word, however, is now in a great measure 

 obsolete ; and the term conjugation is seldom employ- 

 ed, except in grammar. 



Conjugation, in grammar, has sometimes been used 

 to signify the orderly inflexion of verbs in all their dif- 

 ferent moods, tenses, and persons ; and, undoubtedly, 

 the term might, in just conformity to the original sense, 

 be so applied ; but, in fact, it is rarely employed in 

 this extended meaning. It is now most generally re- 

 stricted to denote « the mode of forming, in any par- 

 ticular language, the principal moods and tenses, or the 

 radical parts of the verb, from which the various in- 

 flexions of the several moods and tenses originate, and 

 by which their form is regulated." 



The number of conjugations, or modes of forming 

 the parts of the verbs, varies in different languages ; 

 in some there is but one, in others several. The origin 

 of these different conjugations subsisting in the same 

 language, probably was this : the inflexions of the verb 

 were at first formed by uniting, or amalgamating, as it 

 were, with the theme or radical part, certain pronouns, 

 nouns, or particles. Experience (the great arbiter of 

 language) soon indicated that certain of these themes 

 coalesced more readily, or perhaps more smoothly, with 

 the united words, either when certain vowels were in- 

 terjected, or when the terminating syllables were length- 

 ened, contracted, or otherwise modified. From conve- 

 nience and custom, therefore, particular modifications 

 in particular classes of verbs came to be generally 

 adopted ; and variations consequently taking place in 

 the mode of forming the principal inflexions, these were 

 distinguished by grammarians by the title of conjuga- 

 tions. 



The number of conjugations, we have said, varies in 

 different languages. This naturally arose from the dif- 

 ferent structure of the several languages, in Saxon;, 

 German, and many others, there is but one conjuga- 

 tion ; in English, also, there is properly only one. Some 

 English grammarians have indeed attempted to make 

 three, founded on the peculiar formation of the past 

 participle, as terminating in ed (or its contraction t), 

 ght and en ; but as, by this scheme, the number of 

 verba of the first conjugation would, beyond all pro- 

 portion, exceed those of both the others : and asj in fact 

 the peculiar formation of the participle in the second' 

 and third may easily be traced to the first, only admit- 

 ting a small variation for the sake of euphony ; the 

 best English grammarians have concurred in reckon- 

 ing only one conjugation, holding the other forms as 

 only irregular deviations from the first. In Latin there 

 are four conjugations, distinguished by the termination 

 rf the infinitive mood in are, ere, ere, and ire. In some 

 «1 the modern languages derived immediately from the 



CON 



Latin, a similar variety only blending the long and coninea- 

 short ere, occurs. Thus the Italian has three conjuga- tion 

 tions, in are, ere, ire ; the Spanish has also three, in 

 ar, er, and ir ; the French varying a little from these, 

 has four, in er, ir, oir, and re. In Greek, the older 

 grammarians made no less than thirteen conjugations ; 

 six, called Boryton's, in a, because the last syllable was 

 marked with a grave accent; four, called circumflex, in 

 «, because admitting a contraction, and then marked 

 with a circumflex accent ; and four in fit. Dr Busby 

 reduced these thirteen conjugations to four; but his dis- 

 tribution was very imperfect, classing similar forms un- 

 der different conjugations, and different forms under 

 the same. Messrs de Port Royal at last, with great 

 propriety, reduced the whole to two verbs, terminating 

 in the present of the indicative in a and in fit, the for- 

 mer by far the most numerous, comprehending all the 

 Barytone and circumflex conjugations of the old gram- 

 marians, the latter (probably merely the more ancient 

 form of the verb occasionally retained in a few, though 

 disused in the greater number) containing comparative- 

 ly few verbs, and admitting four subdivisions according 

 to the differences of the penult vowel. This arrange- 

 ment possessing the advantages of superior simplicity 

 and perspicuity, has long been universally adopted in 

 Scotland, though it appears, by the Westminster and 

 Eton grammars, that it is not yet generally received 

 among the Greek scholars in England. The Hebrew 

 grammarians, by improperly giving the names of con- 

 jugations to those forms of the verb which, in all other 

 languages, would be termed voices or moods; hence 

 they have formed no less than seven conjugations ; the 

 first five technically marked by the names, \. kal, the 

 active voice of the verb; 2. niphat, the passive; 3. hi- 

 phil, denoting the operating power ; 4. its converse, or 

 the being operated upon ; 5. reflected action, nearly si- 

 milar to the middle voice in Greek ; and, in addition 

 to these five, the Masoretic doctors, by the refinement 

 of their points, have added other two : 6. pihal, or the 

 performing a work diligently; and, 7. its passive puhal, 

 the being diligently performed. These are, by the He- 

 brew grammarians, termed conjugations, using the term 

 in a sense quite different from that in which it is em- 

 ployed in any other language. In Hebrew, there is, 

 in fact, but one conjugation ; the modification which it 

 undergoes may constitute voices and moods, but ought 

 not to be designated as different conjugations. Q) 



CONIUM, a genus of plants of the class Pentandria, 

 and order Digynia. See Botany, p. 164-. 



CONJUNCTIONS, See Grammar. 



CONNARUS, a genus of plants of the class Mona- 

 delphia, and order Decandiia. See Botany, p. iG'7. 



CONN AUGHT is the name of the western province 

 of Ireland, which contains the counties of Galway, 

 Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo. See these 

 articles, for a Statistical Account of the Province. 



CONNECTICUT, one of the United States of North 

 America, comprehended within that part of the conti- 

 nent formerly called New England, and denominated 

 by the ancient natives Quennehticut, is situated between 



