chamaecephallc 
chamsecephalic (kam"e-se-farik or kam-e- 
sof'a-lik), n. [< okamaetpkaiy + -ic.J Charac- 
terised l>y or exhibiting chamcecephaly. 
chamaecephaly (kam-e-scf a-li), M. [< Or. %a- 
iiui, cm the ground, low, + icccta/;}, head.] In 
i I/nidi., a formation or development of the skull 
the cephalic; index of which IB 70 or loss. See 
rrpltalir. 
Chamaecyparis (kain-e-sip'a-ris), . [ML., < 
( ir. ,v/' a '> on t' ue ground, + HVKup/aooc, cypress.] 
A genus of lar^e coniferous timber-tree.s, rep- 
resented in the eastern United States by the 
white cedar ( ' '. .t/ilin'riiiili'ii), on the Pacific coast 
by the yellow or Sitka cypress (C. \i(</.'f.<w) 
and the Port Orforcl cedar (C. Luirmiiiiinii), and 
by four or live species in Japan and eastern Asia. 
Tin- wood of most of the species is li^ht, hard, unil very 
durul'lc, with an agreeable resinous mlor, ami is u^-'\ 
for many purpose, Several of the species are frequently 
planted ]nr ornament. The genus is nearly related to 
Tit itfia and I'u/nvxsiix (in which the species are often in- 
cluded), differing from the former in its globose com- of 
peltate scales, anil from the latter in its tlattened two- 
rank. M I'lilianc ami in the thin scales of the cone and the 
smaller nnmlicr of seeds. 
chamaeform (kam'e-forra), . [< NL. cliama + 
L. ftirmii, shape.] 'Having the form of or re- 
lated to a chama; chamacean. 
Chamaeida 1 (ka-rae'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Clia- 
maia + -M<e.] A family established by Baird 
in 1864 for the reception of the genus Chamti'it. 
Also written Clitimmidae. 
Chamaeidse-' (ka-me'i-de), n. pi. See Chantidtr. 
chamseleo (ka-me'le-6), n. [NL. : see chamele- 
on.] 1. Same as chameleon. 2. [c/>.] Same 
as CltiiiiKrlcmi, 2. 
Also chamelvo. 
chamaeleon (ka-me'le-on), n. [L., a chame- 
leon: see chameleon.] "1. See chameleon. 2. 
[cap.'} [NL.] The typical genus of the family 
Chanueleontida; containingthe chameleons. See 
chameleon. 3. A name given by Theophrastus 
and other early writers to certain plants,because 
their leaves change color frequently. The black 
chanueleon is believedto have been Cardupatiunt corymbo- 
M',/r. u thistle-like plant of the Mediterranean region. The 
white chatmeleon was the Carlina jtummifera. The roots 
of I'i'th contain an acrid resin anil were used medicinally. 
Chamaeleonida (ka-me-le-on'i-dii), n.pl. [NL., 
< ChamiKltim + -ida.~] In Huxley's system of 
classification, one of the major divisions of the 
Laccrtilia, distinguished from all the Ciono- 
craniaby the absence of the columella and of an 
interorbital septum, and from all known lizards 
by the disunion of the pterygoid and quadrate 
bones : same as Rhiptoglossa. In several respects 
the Chatit&leiHiitlti may be contrasted with all other 
Lacertilia. There is but one family. Also Chameleonida. 
See Chanuxleontidte and Cham&leon, 2. 
Ghamaeleonidae(ka-me-le-on'i-de), n.pl. Same 
as Cliama'leontidte. 
chamaeleontid (ka-me-le-on'tid), . A lizard 
of the family ChamaileontUla: 
Chamaeleontidae (ka-me-lf-on'ti-de), n. nl. 
[NL., < Clianueleon(t-) + -fcto.] The family 
represented by the genus Chanueleon, having, 
besides the characters of the major group Cha- 
maleonida, numerous other cranial characters. 
The structure of the carpus, tarsus, and digits is very sin 
gulur ; the tail is prehensile ; there is no tympanum ; the 
skin is soft, tuherculated, and of changing hues ; the 
tongue is remarkable for Its extreme extensibility, and is 
sheathed at the base, club-shaped and viscose at the end. 
All but 3 of the 48 species are confined to Africa and 
Madagascar. They are generally referred to 3 genera, 
Chamcel&m, Brottlcesia, and Khantpholfon. Also Chamcf- 
Iconidfe, Chatiwleonidte. See chameleon. 
Chamaepelia (kam"e-pe-li'a), n. [NL. (Swain- 
son, 1827), < Gr. ^ci//oi, on the ground, + irifata, 
the wild pigeon, rock-pigeon, stock-dove, < irt- 
>.6f, dark, dusky, ash-colored.] A genus of very 
small ground-doves of the warmer parts of 
America ; the dwarf doves. The type is C. pause- 
rt'na, the common dwarf ground-dove of the southern 
United States ; there are several others. The genus is 
now often called Columbiyallina. See cut under ground- 
dove. 
Chamaerops (ka-me'rops), . [L., < Gr. x / 10 '- 
pu-^i (in Pliny), < x a /' al i on the ground, + pu^, 
a bush, shrub.] A genus of palms, consisting 
of dwarf trees with fan-shaped leaves borne on 
prickly petioles and bearing a small berry-like 
fruit with one seed. Only two species are known, 
natives of the Mediterranean region, C. humiliti being the 
only native European palm. 
Charnsesaura (kam-e-sa'ra), n. [NL., < Gr. ;ra- 
fial, on the ground, '+ aavpa, a lizard.] A ge- 
nus of South African lacertilians, of the fam- 
ily Zonitridie, containing the snake-lizard, C. 
inii/iiina, having only rudimentary limbs and 
little distinction between tail and body. 
Chamaesauridae (kam-e-sa'ri-de), n. /it. [NL., 
< Cliainwsaura + 440. J A family of leptoglos- 
915 
sato lizards, represented by the genus 
Klltirn. The species have rounded sides, with similar 
scales on back and steles, rudimentary limbs, and a ser- 
pentiform body, liy most modern herpctologists they are 
associated with the /.tntliridcc. 
chamar 1 (eha-nmr'), n. [Kepr. Hind, eliamdr, 
BBIIK- clidmdr, etc., < Skt. clinrmaktira, a worker 
in skins, < charman, a skin, pelt, + kdra, mak- 
ing, doing, < <!/ kar, make, do.] A worker in 
leather ; a shoemaker ; a cobbler. W. If. A'<- 
sell. Also cliumar. 
Chamar 2 (cha-mar'). . [E. lud. ; cf. Beng. and 
Marathi chamara, the tail of an ox used as a 
fly-flap.] 1. A fan of feathers or similar ma- 
terial used in the East Indies as one of the 
insignia of royalty, and also in temples. 2. A 
liy-flap. 
chamarre (sha-miir'), . [OF.] A loose outer 
garment for men, worn in Europe in the early 
part of the sixteenth century, and preceding 
the cassock. It is said by some to have been purely 
ornamental, not cut in solid cloth, lint made of strips or 
hands of velvet or silk held together by galoon. 
Chamarre, a loose and light gown (and less properly, a 
cloak), that may bo worn a awash or skarf*wiae ; also a 
studded garment. Cotyrave. 
chamaylet, . A Middle English form of camel. 
chamber (cham'ber), . [Early mod. E. also 
chaumber, Sc. chalmtr, etc.; < ME. chamber, 
//Kintbre, chaumbre, < OF. chambre, cambre, mod. 
P. cfaimbre = Pr. cambra = Sp. Pg. camara = 
It. camera = D. kamer = OHG. chamara, MHG. 
kamere, kamer, Q. kammcr = Dan. kammer = 
Sw. kammare, a chamber, room, < Ml/, cann /, 
a chamber, room, < L. camera, camara, a vault, 
an arched roof, an arch, < Gr. napiapa, anything 
with an arched cover, a covered carriage or 
boat, a vaulted chamber, a vault : see camera 
and camfeer 2 .] 1. A room of a dwelling-house; 
an apartment; specifically, a sleeping-apart- 
ment; a bedroom. 
And beside tho Welles, he had lete make fair,- Halle, 
and faire Chambre*, depeynted *lle with Uold and Azure. 
Mandcville, Travels, p. 278. 
The chamber where the good man meets his fate 
Is privileged beyond the common walk 
Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven. 
Ytiinii/, Night ThoughU, it. 633. 
High in her chamber up a tower to the east. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
2. pi. (a) A room or rooms where professional 
men, as lawyers, conduct their business ; espe- 
cially, any place out of court (usually a room 
set apart for this purpose) where a judge may 
dispose of questions or procedure of a class not 
sufficiently important to be heard and argued 
in court, or too urgent to await a term of 
court: distinctively called judges? chambers, 
(b) Furnished rooms hired for residence in 
the house of another; lodgings: as, ''a bach- 
elor life in chambers," Thackeray. 3. A place 
where an assembly meets: as, a legislative 
chamber, ecclesiastical chamber, privy chamber, 
etc. 4. The assembly itself ; sometimes, spe- 
cifically, one of the branches of a legislative 
assembly : as, the New York Chamber of Com- 
merce ; a meeting of the legislative chamber. 
That no brewer breke it, upon payne of xl. s., forfeit- 
able to the chambre of the Tonne. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. 8.), p. 425. 
In the Imperial chamber this vulgar answer is not ad- 
mitted. Ayli/e, Parergon. 
5. A compartment or inclosed space ; a hollow 
or cavity: as, the chambers of the eye (see be- 
low) ; the chamber of a furnace. 
The ckambrci In the bathes may be wrought 
A- cist erne is. 
Palladitu, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 41. 
And all the secret of the Spring 
Moved in the chambers of the blood. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxiii. 
Specifically (o) In hydraulic enyin. : (l)The space between 
the gates of a canal-lock. (2) The part of a pump in which 
the bucket of a plunger works, (b) Mi lit. : (1) That part 
of a barrel, at the breech of a firearm or piece of ord- 
nance, which is enlarged to receive the charge or car- 
tridge ; also, a receptacle for a cartridge in the cylinder of 
a revolver or of a breech-loading gun. (2) An underground 
cavity or mine for holding powder and bombs, where they 
may be safe and dry. Distinctively called powder-cham- 
tter and bomb-chamber, (c) The indentation in an axle-box, 
designed to hold the lubricant. ( / 1 That part of a mold con- 
taining the exterior part of a casting and covering the core 
in hollow castings, (e) In anal. : (1) A cavity representing 
the urogenital sinus of the embryo uiidifferentiated into a 
prostatic and bulbous urethra. (2) See chambers of the eye, 
below. (/) In conch. : (1) The interval between the septa 
of the camerated shell of a cephalopod, such as species of 
Nautilus or Ammonites, as well as the portion of the shell 
in which the animal rests. (2) A cavity separated from 
another or the main part of the interior of the shell by a 
septum, (y) In coal-mining, same as brtatt or room. See 
breast. [Pennsylvania.} 
chamberer 
6t. A short piece of ordnance without a car- 
riage and standing on its breech, formerly used 
chiefly for rejoicings and theatrical purposes. 
For tin- '!,,>, nf this their Imnourultle entertainment, a 
peal of i-/ut>" ' 
Mi'l'/l''l'i,i, Kntertainmerit at Opening of New River. 
A gallant peal of chamber* gave a IK-HOI! to the enter 
tainnieiit. tlinffH, l.onilinopolis, p. u. 
7. A bedroom utensil, usedforcontainingurine: 
a chamber-pot.- Branchial chamber. s<> bwwMol 
Chamber of Agriculture. n. Cham- 
ber of assurance. I") Ac pan v nival u/. ,1 m France for 
the Iinrpn-.- nt i a frying on the hll-ini H "I lh-iilanee. (6) A 
< l in the Netherlands where eases rebuilt tn ui^irain e 
are tried. Chamber of commerce, voluntary associa- 
tion of the merchants a ml trailer* nf a city or town for the 
protection and promotion of their commercial in! 
See board of tratle , umler tmdr. Chamber Of Deputies. 
SM ,i, !,ui,i. Chambers of Rhetoric, the Htennr gufldi 
that nourished in the Netherlands during tin- tifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries. They were meilieval in taste, 
middle-class in tone and ideas, and famous for their wealth 
and inlluence. The Amsterdam pnihl, Known as the "Eg- 
lantine," was the most celebrated. - Chambers of the 
eye, the space UctiMTii tin- cornea and anterior surface 
of the iris, called the anterior chamber, and the space be- 
tween the posterior surface of the iris and the r\-talline 
lens, callecf the posterior ctutmli-'r, hotli spaces licini; tilled 
with the aqueous humor. See cut under eye . Chambers 
Of the king*, the pnrts or havens of Knylalnl: so called 
In old records. K. I'liUU/a, 1700. Ciliated chambers. 
Sec ciliated.- Clerk of the chamber. See clerk. Dry- 
ing-chamber, a hot closet for drying printed stuffs. It 
has a series of rollers near the top and liottoin of the room, 
and over these the cloth passes, after which It goes to tin 
folil ing-room. - Judges' chambers. See 2 (), above. 
Star Chamber. Sec iterttemMr. To sit at cham- 
bers, to despatch summary business in chamliers : said 
of a Judge. 
chamber (cham'ber), r. [< chamber, .] I. 
intrans. 1. To reside in or occupy a chamber. 
2. To fit snugly, as layers of buckshot in the 
barrel of a gun or in a cartridge. See extract 
under II., 3. 
II. trans. 1. To shut up in or as in a chamber. 
The best blood chamber'd in his bosom. 
Shak., Elch. II., i. 1. 
Thy cold pale figure, 
Which we have commission but to chamber up 
In melancholy dust. Shirley, Witty Fair One, v. S. 
2. To furnish with a chamber, as the barrel of 
a breech-loading firearm. Guns are often cham- 
bered in order to enlarge the rear portion of the bore, so 
as to increase the powder-capacity behind the projectile. 
3. To fit into the barrel of a gun or into a car- 
tridge, as buckshot. 
One should he careful to chamber the buckshot at the 
choke of the gun, and to choose the size that most nearly 
chambers. Forest and Stream, XXII. 225. 
chamber-council (cham'ber-koun'sil), n. Pri- 
vate or secret council. 
I have trusted thee, C'amillo, 
With all the nearest things to my heart, as well 
My chamber-cou>icils. Shale., W. T., i. 2. 
chamber-counsel(cham'ber-koun*'sel), n. Same 
as chamber-counselor. 
chamber-counselor (cham'ber-koun"sel-or), H. 
A counselor or person learned in the law who 
gives opinions in private, and does not advo- 
cate causes in court. 
chamberdakint, chamberdekint, . | said to 
be a corruption of ML. camera degens, living in 
a chamber: camera, abl. of (L.) camera, cham- 
ber; degens, ppr. of L. degere, pass time, live, 
< de, of, + agere, drive : see act, n., camera, and 
chamber,] In the University of Oxford, a stu- 
dent not living in a scholars' hall, but rooming 
with others ; especially, one of certain riotous 
students banished by a statute of Henry V. 
A certain sort of scholars called chamberdekint, no oth- 
er, as it seems, than Irish beggars, who, in the habit of 
poor scholars, would often disturb the peace of the uni- 
versity, live under no government of principals, keep up 
for the most part in the day, and in the night-time go 
abroad to commit spoils and manslaughter, lurk about in 
taverns and houses of ill-report, commit burglaries and 
suchlike. Anthony A Wood. 
chambered (cham'berd), a. [< chamber, n., + 
-ed 2 .] 1. Divided into compartments by walls 
or partitions. 
And every chambered cell 
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell. 
O. W. Holmes, The Chambered Nautilus. 
Specifically, in bot., applied to compound ovaries in which 
the placentas project inward but do not meet in the ail>, 
as in the poppy. 
2. Provided with a chamber for gunpowder: 
said of cannon.- Chambered shells, a name invent- 
ed as a vernacular equivalent for the family Cnlyptrcridcr. 
Adams, 1854. 
Chamberert (cham'ber-er), H. [< ME. chambe- 
ri-ri; ehambrere, < OF. chambcrere, fern, chambe- 
riere, < chambre, chamber.] 1. One who fre- 
quents ladies' chambers ; especially, one who 
intrigues; a gallant. 
Haply, for I am black. 
And have not those soft parts of conversation 
That chamberer* have. Shall., Othello, 111. 3. 
