CHE 
demanded. When given in payment they 
are considered as cash ; and it is said, may be 
declared upon as a bill ot exchange ; and the 
moment tins resemblance begins, they are 
governed by the same principles of law as bills 
of exchange. 
Checks payable on demand, or where no 
tune of payment is expressed, are payable on 
presentment without^, nv indulgence or days 
of grace; but the presentment should be made 
within a reasonable time aiter the receipt, 
otherwise the party upon whom the check 
is drawn, will not be responsible, and the 
person from whom the holder received it will 
be discharged. Therefore, where circum- 
stances will allow of it, it is advisable for the 
holder of a check to present it on the same 
day it is received. 
CHECKY, in heraldry, is when the shield, 
or a part thereof, as a bordure, &c. is che- 
quered, or divided into chequers or squares, 
in the manner of a chess-board. 
This is one of the most noble and most an- 
ticnt figures used in armoury. 
CHEEKS, among mechanics, are almost 
all those pieces of their machines and instru- 
ments, that are double, and perfectly alike ; 
as the cheeks oi a mortar, which are made of 
strong wooden planks, of a semicircular form, 
bound with thick plates of iron, and lixed to 
the bed with four bolts : these cheeks rise on 
each side of the mortar, and serve to keep it 
at what elevation is given it : the cheeks of a 
printing-press are its two principal pieces, 
placed perpendicular and parallel to each 
other, and serving to sustain the three sum- 
mers, &c. 
Cheeks, in ship-building, two pieces of 
timber, lilted on each side ot the mast, at the 
top, serving to strengthen the mast there 
and having holes in (hem, called hounds’ 
through which the ties run to hoist the 
yards. _ Also the uppermost rail, or piece of 
timber in the beak ot a ship, and those on 
each side of the trail-board, are called the up- 
per and lower cheek. 
The knees also which fasten the beak-head 
to trie hows of a ship, are called cheeks. 
CHLIRAN 1 IiUS, stock gilliflower, and 
w ab-llower : a genus ot the 39th natural order, 
siliquosa?, and belonging to the tetradynamia 
class of plants. The germen is marked with 
a gtandulous denticle on each side; the 
calyx is close, with two of its leaves gibbous 
nt tiie base ; tfie seeds plane. There are 
~~ species, of which the following are most 
worthy of notice. 
1 . Cheiranthus annuus, or ten weeks stock, 
with an upright, woody, smooth stalk, di- 
vided into a branchy head, twelve or fifteen 
inches high, with spear-shaped, blunt, hoary 
leaves, and all the branches terminated by 
long erect spikes of numerous flowers, of 
different colours in different varieties. 
2. Cneiianthus cheiri, or the common 
Wall-How er, the branches terminating in long 
erect spikes or numerous flowers, which in 
different varieties are yellow, bloody, white, 
3. Cheiranthus incanus, the hoary cheiran- 
thus, the top of (he stalk and all the branches 
t.eiminated by erect spikes or flowers from 
one to two or three feet long, of different co- 
' Jours in different varieties. The two last 
sorts are very hardy evergreen biennials or 
pei ennials ; but the first, being an annual 
plant, must be continued by seed sown every 
Vol. f. J 
CHE 
year ; and even the two last, notwithstanding 
their being perennial, degenerate so much in 
their flowers after the first year, that it will 
be proper also to raise an annual supply of 
t hem. The seeds are to be chosen from such 
flowers as have five, six, or more petals, or 
from such as grow near to the double ones. 
VI hen line doubles of the two last kinds are 
obtained, they may be multiplied by slips 
from the old plants. 
CHEKaO, a kind of paste, prepared by 
calcination and trituration from a hard stony 
substance, and afterwards washing the powder 
in large quantities otfair water. The Chinese 
use the. chekao in drawing the elegant figures 
we see in the wholly white china-ware, which 
they afterwards varnish in the common way. 
See the article Porcelain. 
CHELIDONIUM, celandine, horned or 
prickly poppy : a genus of the monogynia 
order, in the pentandria class of plants; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 27th 
order, rhasadeae. The corolla is tetrape- 
talous, the calyx diphyllous, the siliqua unilo- 
cular and linear. There are five species. 
One of them, viz. chelidonium majus,. is an 
article in the materia medica. It grows on 
old walls, ^ among rubbish, and in waste shady 
places. 1 he herb is ot a blueish green co- 
lour ; the root of a deep red ; and both con- 
tain a gold-coloured juice ; the smell is disa- 
greeable, the taste somewhat bitterish, very 
acrid, burning and biting the mouth ; the root 
is the most acrid. T he juice takes off warts ; 
c ures tetters, ring-worms, and the itch; and, 
diluted with milk, it consumes opaque white 
spots on the eye. Horses, cows, goats, and 
swine, refuse to eat the herb. 
CITELONE, in botany, a genus of the 
angiospermia order, in the didynamia class 
of plants ; and in the natural method ranking 
under the 40th order, personatae. The ca^ 
lvx is quinquepartite ; the rudiment of a 5th 
filament among the highest stamina; the 
capsule bilocular. There are live species, 
viz. r 
1. Chelone glabra, 2. chelone hirsuta, 3. 
CHE 
329 
chelone penstemon, 4. chelone obliqua, and 
nt , c ^ m P a , nu Hta. They are all natives of 
rsortli America ; and are herbaceous flowery 
perennials, with upright stalks two feet hfoh, 
decorated with spear-shaped leaves, and beau- 
tiiul spikes of monopetalous, ringent flowers, 
led, rose-coloured, blue, and purple. They 
flower from Sept, to Nov. and are sometimes 
succeeded by ripe seeds in this country. 
J hey are hardy, and may be propagated by 
seeds many soil; but the two first multiply 
so fast by their creeping roots that the seeds 
a, re seldom regarded. The last species is the 
most beautiful. 
CHEMISE, in fortification, the wall witf> 
yliich a bastion, or any other bulwark of earth, 
is lined for its greater support and strength • 
or it is tiie solidity of the wall from the talus 
to the stone-row. 
iure-C'HEMisE, a piece of linen-cloth, 
steeped in a composition of oil of petrol, 
camphor, and other combustible matters! 
used at sea, to set fire to an enemy’s ves- 
sel. 
CHEMIST RV is that branch of science, 
the object of which is to ascertain the simple 
substances or elements of bodies, the pro- 
perties of these, and their action on each 
other. The methods made use of to obtain 
this knowledge are analysis and srnthesk 
Tt 
Chemistfy comprehends almost all the 
, changes in natural objects, with which we 
are more immediately connected, and in 
whicli we have the greatest interest : it Is 
subservient to the various arts of life, and the 
several branches ol manufacture which are 
carried on in every civilized state. Dyeing, 
bleaching, tanning, glass-making, the work- 
ing and composition of metals, &c. are all 
processes in chemistry. In agriculture che- 
mistry investigates the nature of soils ; it ex* 
plains the phenomena of the growth and nou- 
rishment ot vegetables, and the nature and 
action ot manures. As a science it is con- 
nected with ail the phenomena of nature, the 
causes of rain, snow, hail, dew, wind, and 
earthquakes : it has been called in to the aid 
of the culinary arts ; and its high importance 
in medicine has been long and universally 
acknowledged. Chemistry therefore is highly 
worthy of our attention, becausebeyond every 
other branch of study it increases our know- 
ledge, extends the number of our resources, 
and is tints calculated to promote our enjoy- 
meats, and augment our power over the ma- 
terial world. Besides, no study can givens 
more exalted ideas of the wisdom and goodness 
of the great I 1 irst Cause than this, which ex- 
hibits the most astonishing effects frequently 
produced by r the most simple means ; anil 
displays to our view the great care which 
lias every where been taken to secure the 
comfort and happiness of every living creature. 
The history of chemistry . — T he word che- 
mistry is said to be of Egyptian origin, and 
equivalent to our phrase natural philosophy, 
comprehending all the knowledge of natural 
objects which tiie antients possessed. It 
afterwards acquired a more limited significa- 
tion, and was confined to the art of working 
metals, which was in the highest estimation 
among the antients. In the third century it 
was used in a still more limited sense, signi- 
T) ing (he ait of making gold and silver, lit 
this sense the science was eagerly cultivated 
by the Greeks ; from them it passed to the 
Arabians, and by these it was introduced into 
Europe. Those who professed it assumed 
the form of a sect, under the name of alchy- 
mists, who laid it down as a first principle 
unit all metals are composed of the same in- 
giedients, or that the substances which com- 
pose gold exist in all metals, and are capable 
of being brought into the pure state : hence 
the gieat object of their researches was to dis- 
cover the means of producing this change 
and of converting the baser metals into gold. 
1 lie substance which possessed this wonderful 
property was called “ the philosopher’s 
stone, the touch of which was to change 
every thing into gold. b 
From the eleventh to the fifteenth cen- 
tunes alchymy was in its most flourishing 
state. . 1 he writers who appeared during that 
period were numerous ; among the most ce- 
lebrated were Albertus Magnus, Roger Ba- 
con, Aruoldus de Villa Nova, Raymond Lully 
and the two Isaacs of Holland. Some of 
their books are altogether unintelligible - 
others display great acuteness, and an exten- 
sive acquaintance with natural objects. They 
often reason with great accuracy, though ge- 
nerally from mistaken principles. They all 
boast that they are in possession of the "phi- 
losopher’s stone, and profess to communicate 
the method of making it ; but the iy language 
is enigmatical, and evidently intended not 
