C O M 
CON 
* 417 
COM 
either simply historical or allegorical. See 
Painting. * / 
Composition, in commerce, a contract 
between an insolvent debtor and his credit- 
ors, by which the latter accept of a part of 
the debt in compensation tor the whole, and 
give a general acquittance accordingly. 
Composition, in printing, commonly 
termed composing, the arranging of several 
types, or letters, in the composing-stick, in 
order to form a line; and of several lines 
ranged in order in the galley, to make a 
page ; and of several pages to make a form. 
Generally the composing-stick is made of 
iron, sometimes of wood ; more or less in 
length or depth, according to the page to be 
composed, or the fancy of the compositor. 
It lias two sliding-pieces, fastened by means 
of a nut and screw, which are slipped forwards 
or backwards, according to the space which 
the lines, notes, &c. are to take up, or the 
compositor thinks proper. The composing- 
stick ordinarily contains seven or eight lines 
of a middle-sized letter: these lines, when 
set, are taken out by means of a thin slip of 
brass called a rule', and disposed in the gal- 
ley: then others are composed, until a page 
is formed, which being done, it is tied up and 
set by : the rest of the pages that make up a 
sheet, being prepared in the same manner, 
are carried to the imposing or correcting- 
stone, and being there ranged in order, they 
are disposed in an iron lrame, lifted with 
wooden furniture : then the quoins being 
stuck in, the chace, or frame, is put in the 
press, in order to their being printed. See 
Printing. 
Composition of motion, is an assemblage . 
of several directions of motion, resulting from 
several powers acting in different,, though 
not opposite, directions. Sqe Mechanics. 
Composition of'prof)dftton, is the com- 
paring the sum of the antecedent and conse- 
quent, with the consequent in two equal ra- 
tios ; as suppose, 4 : 8 : : 3 : 6, they say, 
by composition of proportion, 12 : 8 : : 9 : 6. 
r i he same holds of the sum of the antece- 
dent and consequent, compared with the an- 
tecedent : thus we likewise say 12 : 4 : : 9 : 6. . 
There is a great difference between compo- 
sition of proportion by addition and by mul- 
tiplication. See Proportion. 
COMPOST, in husbandry and gardening, 
several sor:s of soils, or earthy matters, mixed 
together, in order to make a manure, for 
assisting the natural earth in the work of ve- 
getation, by way of amendment or improve- 
ment. 
COMPOSTO, in music, means compound- 
ed or doubled, as a fifteenth is an octave 
doubled, or an octave is compounded of a 
fifth and a fourth. 
COMPOUN D flower, one consisting of 
several distinct lesser flowers, or corolluke, 
each furnished with a style, stamina, &c. The 
corolluke are of two kinds, viz. tubulated 
and ligulated : the tubulated are always fur- 
nished with a campanulated limb, divided 
into four or five segments; whereas the ligu- 
lated corolluke have only a fiat, linear limb, 
terminated by a single point, or by a broader 
■ extremity, divided into three or live seg- 
ments. The plants with compound flowers 
are extremely numerous, forming a class 
by themselves, called by Linnaeus syngenesia. 
• Compounds, primary, in chemistry. If 
■the science of chemistry had mad*: sufficient 
Vol. I. 
1 progress, this division would comprehend all 
the primary compounds which the simple 
combinable substances are capable of forming. 
These might all be classed under six hearts. 
r \ hree of these would consist of compounds 
which oxygen forms with the other simple 
substances; for all these compounds are 
either combustible oxyds, products, or sup- 
porters. The fourth class would consist of 
the compounds which the simple combusti- 
bles form with one another and with the me- 
tals; the fifth class, of the combinations of 
the metals with one another ; and the sixth 
would consist of the combinations of the simple 
incombustibles with the combustibles and 
the metals. But in the present imperfect 
state of the science, the advantages attending 
this arrangement would not compensate for 
the. violence of the changes, which it would 
introduce. It w r ould oblige us to classify sub- 
stances together which have always been con- 
sidered as distinct, and to separate many 
bodies which have hitherto been always 
grouped together. Besides, we should be 
forced to omit a number of substances which 
are still undecompounded, and which are 
not the less important because they cannot 
with propriety be introduced among the 
simple substances. For these reasons the 
primary compounds may be arranged under 
■the five following heads: 
1. Alkalies. 2. Earths. 3 Oxyds. 4. Acids. 
5. Compound combustibles. 
Compounds, secondary. Many of 
the primary compounds are susceptible of 
forming combinations with each other. Thus 
acids combine w ith alkalies, with earths, and 
with metallic oxyds, and form compounds 
Called salts ; the earths combine with the 
fixed alkalies, and form glass ; oils combine 
with alkalies, and form soaps. To these is 
given the name of secondary compounds, 
w hieh, as far as we are at present acquainted 
with them, may be arranged under the five 
following claases. 1 . Combinations of earths 
with each oilier, and with metallic oxyds, 
2. Combinations of earths with alkalies. 3. 
Combinations of acids with alkalies, earths, 
and metallic oxyds. 4. Combinations of 
sulphureted hydrogen with alkalies, earths, 
anil metallic oxyds. 5. Combinations of oils 
with alkalies, earths, and metallic oxyds. 
C O M PI1 E H EN SI O N, or S y n e c d o c h e , 
a trope or figure in rhetoric, which puts the 
name of the whole fora part, or of apart 
for the whole; a general for a particular of 
the same kind, or a particular for a general. 
By this trope a round and certain number is 
often set dow'n for an uncertain one. 
COMPRESS, in surgery, a bolster of soft 
linen cloth, folded in several doubles, fre- 
quently applied to cover a plaster, in order 
not only to preserve the part from the ex- 
ternal air, but also the better to retain the 
dressings, or medicines. See Surgery. 
COMPTON I A , a genus of the monoecia 
triandria class and order. The male cal. is 
an ament, two-leaved ; cor. none ; anthers 
two-parted. The female is also an ament, 
cal. six-leaved ; cor. none ; styles two ; nect. 
ovate. There is one species, a shrub of 
North America, named after bishop Comp- 
ton, eminent for his taste in botany. 
COMPULSOR, an officer under the Ro- 
man emperors, dispatched from court into 
the provinces, to compel the payment of 
taxes, &c. not paid within the time prescrib- 
3 G 
oil. These were charged .with, so many ex- 
actions, that I lonorius cashiered them, 
COMPUTATION, in law, is used with 
respect to the true account or construction of 
time : so understood, as that neither party 
to an agreement, &c. may do wrong to the 
other ; and that the determination of time lie 
not left at large, or taken otherwise than ac- 
cording to the judgment and intention of 
law. 
If a lease is ingrossed, bearing date January 
1, 1806, to have and to hold for three 
year from henceforth, and the lease is not 
executed till the 2d of January; in this case 
the words ‘from henceforth’ shall be account- 
ed from the delivery of the deed, and not by 
any computation from the date. And if the 
lease be delivered at four o’clock in the 
afternoon on the said second day, it shall 
end the first day of January, in the third 
year ; the law in such computations, reject- 
ing all fractions or divisions of the day. 
COMPUTO, in law, a writ to compel a 
bailift’, receiver, or accountant, &c. to deliver 
up his accounts. The same lies for execut- 
ors of executors, and against the guardian in 
socage for waste made, in the minority of the 
heir. 
CONCENTRATION, in general, signi- 
fies the bringing things nearer a centre. 
Hence the particles of salt in sea-water are 
said to be concentrated, that is, brought 
nearer each other, by evaporating the watery 
part: thus, also, wine is said to be concen- 
trated, when its watery parts are separated 
in the form of ice by frost. 
CONGENERIC, in mathematics, some- 
thing that has the same common centre with 
another: it stands in opposition to excen- 
tric. 
The method of Nonius for graduating in- 
struments consists in describing with the 
same quadrant 45 concentric arches, dividing 
tiie outermost into 90 equal parts, the next 
into 80, &c. 
CONCERT. A musical performance in 
which any number of practical musicians, 
either vocal or instrumental, or both, unite 
in the exercise of their respective talents. 
I he concerts of the antient Greeks were ex- 
ecuted only in the unison or octave. 
CONCERTO. (Ital.) A composition ex»- 
pressly written for the display of some par- 
ticular instrument, with accompaniments for 
the band. 
CONCERTANTE. (Ital.) A concerto for 
two or more instruments, with accompani- 
ments for a band. 
CON CERE INO. (Ital.) The principal in- 
strument in a concerto or concertante ; as 
oboe concertino, the principal hautboy. 
C ON CERT AT O intimates the piece of 
music is composed in such a manner, as that 
all the parts may have their recitative-, he it 
tor two, three, tour, or more voices or instrq,- 
ments. 
CONCESSION, in rhetoric, a figure, 
whereby something is freely allowed, that 
yet might bear dispute, to obtain something 
that one would have granted to him, and 
which lie thinks cannot fairly be denied ; as 
in the following concession of Dido, in 
Virgil : 
The nuptials he disclaims, T urge no more ; 
Let him pursue the promis’d Latian shore. 
A short delay is all 1 ask him now ; 
A pause of grief, an interval from wee 
