C H A 
C II A 
C H A 
time ; signifying the measure of two crotchets 
to be equal to two notes, of which four make a 
semibreve. 
C ^ characters that distinguish the move- 
ments of common time; the first implying slow, 
the second quick, and the third very quick, 
-§■> 'f-, ip 4> T6> characters of simple triple 
time, the measure of which is equal to three 
semibreves, or to three minims. 
4, or JL, or characters of mixed triple 
. 4 8 16 _ _ r 
tune, where the measure is equal to six crochets, 
or six quavers. 
4, or 3 l, or or 5 ., or £, characters of 
4’ f , ,16 i’ a’ 
compound triple time. 
, 12 . 1 A, or t 2 or L?, characters of 
[that species of triple time called the measure of 
[twelve times. See Triple. 
I Characters of the rests or pauses of time. 
•1 
i 
a±ffi= 
I > £ W M g QO M O g> u W- ja Q H -3 O 
■ — 2S a c-3 S 3 2 s o » » T 
! a \S 3 3 2 p 3 3r«) c 33 v S e> a> 3 
n 2 S <! 2 " a 5 3 !» O' 
Numeral Characters used to express num- 
bers, are either letters or figures. The Arabic 
character, called also the common one, because 
it is used almost throughout Europe in all sorts 
of calculations, consists of these ten digits, 1, 2, 
3 , 4 , 5 , 6, 7 , 8, 9 , 0. See Arithmetic. 
The Greeks had three ways of expressing 
numbers: first, every letter, according to its 
! place in the alphabet, denoted a number, from 
let, one, to u, twenty-four. 2. The alphabet was 
|divided into eight units, a one, 0 two, 7 three, 
&c. into eight tens, 1 ten, x twenty, A thirty, &c. 
|and eight hundreds, f one hundred, cr two’ hun- 
dred, r three hundred, &c. 3 . I stood for one, 
]Q (rosy 7t) five, A (5ex») ten, H (TIx<%7oy) a hun- 
dred, X (x<Ai«) a thousand, M (/u.vgi<x) ten thou- 
sand ; and when the letter H inclosed any of 
|these, except I, it shewed the inclosed letter to 
be five times its value; as fifty, j j_j | five hun- 
dred, jx| five thousand, jjvjl fifty thousand. 
The Hebrew numerals consisted of their al- 
phabet divided into nine units ; thus, ^ one, ^ 
two, &c. : nine tens; thus, 1 ten, 5 twenty, &c.: 
nine hundreds ; thus, ^ one hundred, -] two 
hundred, &c. and q five hundred, q six hun- 
dred, ^ seven hundred, {r| eight hundred, y nine 
hundred. They expressed thousands by the 
word with the other numerals prefixed to 
signify the number of thousands : thus, 
two thousand, three thousand, &c. 
CHARADRIUS, in ornithology, a genus 
belonging to the order of grallae. The beak 
is cylindrical and blunt ; the nostrils are li- 
near ; and the feet have each three toes. 
Among the species, of which there are 27 or 
28, are, 
1. The Alexandrines, or Alexandrian dot- 
jtrel, is of a brownish colour, with the fore- 
head, collar, and belly, white ; the prime tail- 
jfeathers on both sides are white ; and the 
I legs are black. It is about the size of a lark, 
|and lives upon insects. 
: 2. The [Egyptius has a black streak on the 
breast, white eye-brows, the prime tail-fea- 
| thers streaked with black at the points, and 
bluish legs. .It is found in the plains of 
Egypt, and feeds on insects. — 3. The mori- 
nellus has an iron-coloured breast, a small 
white streak on the breast and eye-brows, 
and black legs. It is found in Cambridge- 
shire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire. On 
Lincoln-heath, and on the moors of Derby- 
shire, they are migratory ; appearing there in 
small flocks of eight or ten only in the latter 
end of April, and staying there all May and 
part of June, during which time they are very 
fat, and much esteemed for their delicate fla- 
vour. In the months of April and September 
they are taken on the Wiltshire and Berk- 
shire downs. 
4. The pluvialis (see Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 
10(>.) is black above, with green spots, white 
underneath, and the feet are ash-coloured. It 
is the green plover of Bay, and is a native of 
Europe. They lay four eggs, sharply point- 
ed<at the lesser end, of a dirty white colour, 
and irregularly marked, especially at the 
thicker end, with blotches and spots. They 
make a shrill w histling noise ; and may be 
enticed within shot by a skilful imitator of 
their note. 
5. The cedicnemus, or stone curlew 7 of 
Ray, is of a grey colour, with two of the 
prime wing-feathers black, but white in the 
middle : it has a sharp bill, and ash-coloured 
feet ; and is about the size of a crow. In 
Hampshire, Norfolk, and on Lincoln-heath, 
it is called the curlew, from a similarity of 
colours to the curlew. It breeds in some 
places in rabbit-burrow's; also among stones 
on the bare ground, laying two eggs of a 
copper-colour spotted with a darker red. 
The younger run soon after they are hatched. 
These birds feed in the night on worms and 
caterpillars : they will also eat toads, and 
catch mice. They inhabit fallow lands and 
dowms ; and prefer dry places, being never 
seen in any waters. When they fly, they ex- 
tend their legs straight out behind ; are very 
shy birds ; run far before they take to wing ; 
and often squat : are generally seen single, 
and are esteemed very delicate food. 
CHARAG, the tribute which the Chris- 
tians and Jew's pay to the grand signior. It is 
generally a pistole a head, and sometimes 
four crowais. The Christians who come to 
travel in Turkey pay it at the first town they 
arrive at : others begin to pay it at nine or 
sixteen years old; but women, priests, rab- 
bis, and religious, are exempted. 
CHARCOAL, according to modern che- 
mistry, is an oxide of carbon. When charcoal, 
however, is prepared in the usual w r ay, by 
exposing w'ood in close vessels to a red heat, 
it always contains a portion of hydrogen; for 
if a quantity of this charcoal is exposed to 
a strong heat in a retort of porcelain, iron, or 
coated glass, a great quantity of gas is obtain- 
ed. The gas which comes over first is a mix- 
ture of carbonic acid and carbureted hy- 
drogen ; but the proportion of carbonic 
acid diminishes, and at last it ceases to come 
over at all ; yet the carbureted hydrogen con- 
tinues as copious as ever. 
The evolution of these gases was long 
ascribed by chemists to the water which 
charcoal usually contains, and which it is 
known to absorb from the atmosphere with 
considerable avidity. If that was the case, 
the proportion of carbureted hydrogen ought 
to diminish at the same rate with the carbonic 
327 
' add; the hydrogen of the one being equally 
derived from the decomposition of water 
with the oxygen of the other. But as the 
evolution of carbureted hydrogen continues 
after that of carbonic acid has ceased, it is 
scarcely possible to deny, that the hydrogen 
which thus 'escapes constituted a component 
part of the charcoal. 
If, therefore, we consider the experiments 
of Morveau on the combustion of the diamond 
as decisive, w r e must conclude, that common 
charcoal is composed of three ingredients, 
namely, carbon; hydrogen, and oxygen ; and 
it is of course a triple compound. 
CHARGE, in gunnery. The mode of 
charging is too well known to require descrip- 
tion.'’ it is only to be noted, that if the ball 
is red-hot, a tompion, or trencher of green 
w ood, is to be driven in before it. The weight 
of the powder necessary for a charge is com- 
monly one-half or one-third the weight of the 
bail, or still less ; and indeed, in most cases 
of service, the quantity of powder used is too 
great for the intended execution. In the Bri- 
tish navy, the allowance for 32-pounders is 
7-1 6ths of the weight of the ball. But it is pro- 
bable, that if the powder in all ship-guns was 
reduced to one-third of the weight of the ball, 
or even less, it would be a considerable advan- 
tage, not only by saving ammunition, but by 
keeping the guns cooler and quieter, and at 
the same time more effectually injuring the 
vessels of the enemy. With the present al- 
lowance of powder, the guns are heated, and 
their tackle and furniture strained, and all 
this only to render the ball less efficacious : 
for a ball which can but just pass through a 
piece of timber, and in the passage loses al- 
most all its motion, is found to rend and 
fracture it much more than when it passes 
through with a much greater velocity. See 
Robins’s Tracts, vol. i. Again, the same au- 
thor observes, that the charge is not to be 
determined by the greatest velocity that may 
be produced, but that it should be such a 
quantity of powder as will produce the least 
velocity necessary for the purpose in view ; 
and if the windage be moderate, no field- 
piece should ever be loaded with more than 
one-sixth, or at the utmost one-fifth, of the 
weight of its ball in powder ; nor should the 
charge of any battering-piece exceed one- 
third of the weight of its bullet. Ibid. Dif- 
ferent charges of powder, with the same 
weight of ball, produce different velocities in 
the ball, which are in the same subduplicate 
ratio of the weights of powder ; and when the- 
weight of powder is the same, and the ball 
varied, the velocity produced is in the reci- 
procal subduplicate ratio of the weight of the 
ball ; which is agreeable both to theory and 
practice. See Philos. Trans. 1778, and 
Hutton’s Tracts, vol. i. 
But this is on a supposition that the gun, is 
of an indefinite length ; whereas, on account, 
of the limited length of guns, there is some 
variation from this law in practice as well as 
in theory ; in consequence of which it ap- 
pears that the velocity of. the ball increases 
with the charge- only to a certain point, which 
is peculiar to each pun, where the velocity is 
the greatest; and that by farther increasing 
the charge, the velocity gradually diminishes, 
till, the bore is quite full of powder. By 
an. easy fluxionary process, calling the 
length of the bore of the gun b, the length of 
the charge producing the greatest velocity 
