continuous 
2. Unintermitted, or constantly renewed; con- 
tinual. 3. In 50*.. not deviating from unifor- 
mity: the reverse of inlfi-rnjiled. Thus, a stem 
which lias no joints is said to be continuous. 
Continuous bearings, chains of timber laid under the 
rails of a railroad for their support, in place of stone or 
wooden sleepers fixed at certain intervals. The chains 
of timber, or longitudinal sleepers, are secured to cross- 
transoms tlxed to piles. Continuous brake, girder, 
Impost, etc. See the nouns. Continuous function, a 
function whose differential coefficient is nowhere infinite, 
so that an infinitesimal increment of the variable produces 
an infinitesimal increment in the value of the function. 
Continuous-service certificate, a certificate issued to 
enlisted men in the United States navy who reenlist at 
the expiration of their term of service. Continuous 
voyage. See continued voyage, under continued. =Syn. 
Continuous, Incessant, Continual, etc. See incessant. 
Continuously (kon-tin'u-us-li), adv. With con- 
tinuity or continuation; without interruption; 
unbrokenly. 
Species of animals are supposed to be separated from 
each other by well-marked lines of difference, and they 
have not the power of so intermixing with each other as 
to produce continuously fertile progeny. 
Damon, Nature and the Bible, p. 134. 
COntinUOUSnesS (kon-tin'u-us-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being continuous ; uninterrupted- 
ness. =Syn. Continuity, etc. See continuation. 
continuum (kqn-tin'u-um), n. ; pi. continua (-a). 
[L., neut. of continuus, continuous: see continu- 
ous.] A continuous spread or extension ; a con- 
tinuity ; a continuous quantity. See continuity. 
The animal world is a continuum of smells, sights, 
touches, tastes, pains, and pleasures. 
G. II. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, II. Hi. 12. 
It is interesting to note that all possible sensations of 
colour, of tone, and of temperature constitute as many 
groups of qualitative continua. By continuum is here 
meant a series of presentations changing gradually in qual- 
ity, 1. e., so that any two differ less the more they approx- 
imate in the series. J. Ward, Encyc. Brit., XX. 61. 
COnt-line (kont'lin or -lin), n. [For *cant-line, < 
can ft + line 2 .] 1. Naut., the space between the 
bilges of casks which are stowed alongside of one 
another. 2. The space between the strands 
on the outside of a rope, which in worming is 
filled up, so as to make the rope nearly cylin- 
drical. E. H. Knight. 
conto (kon'to), n. [Pg., a million, also a story, 
tale, lit. an account, a count, = E. count 1 , n.] 
A Portuguese money of account, in which large 
sums are calculated, equal to 1,000,000 reis, or 
$1,080. A conto of contos is a million contos. In Brazil, 
owing to the smaller value of the milreis, the conto is equal 
to only *546. 
Contopus (kon'to-pus), n. [NL., < MGr. novr6(, 
short, + Gr. Trorf (jro/i-) = E. foot.] A genus 
of small clamatorial birds, of the family Tyran- 
nidce, charac- 
terized, among 
the little tyrant 
flycatchers, by 
their extremely 
small feet. The 
common wood-pe- 
wee of North Amer- 
ica, C. virens, is the 
type. The genus 
also contains the 
northern flycatch- 
er (C. borealis), 
Coues's flycatcher 
(C. pertinax), and 
other species, 
chiefly of thewarm- 
er parts of Amer- 
ica. 
contorniate 
(kon-tor'ni-at), 
a. and n. [Also 
written contowrniatc, also, as It,., contorniato; = 
F. contorniate, < It. contorniato, contorniate, < 
contorno, circuit, circumference: see contour, 
n.] I. a. Having a furrowed circumference or 
circular furrow. 
II. n. A coin or medal having such a circum- 
ference : a term applied by numismatists to cer- 
tain Roman 
copper pieces, 
which are 
characterized 
by having on 
each side a 
circular fur- 
row. They bear 
onum- faceahead 
(of Nero, Trajan, 
etc.), and on the 
other a subject 
generally relating 
to the games in 
the circus or am- 
phitheater. They 
were doubtless is- 
sued at Kome in 
1230 
the fourth and 
fifth centuries A. 
I)., but their an- 
cient appellation 
is unknown, and 
the purpose for 
which they were 
employed is un- 
certain. It has 
been supposed 
that they were 
given as tickets or 
certificates to suc- 
cessful competi- 
tors in the games. 
contorsion, 
contorsion- 
ist. Old spell- 
ings of contor- 
tion, contor- 
tionist. 
Reverse. 
Contorniate with head of Trajan. British 
Museum. ( Size of the original. ) 
Wood-pewee (Contopus virfns). 
contort (kon-tort'), v. t. [< L. contortus, pp. of 
contorquefe (> It. contorcere), twist, < com-, toge- 
ther, + torquere, twist, turn round : see tort, tor- 
ture.] To twist, draw, bend, or wrench out of 
shape ; make crooked or deformed. 
The vertebral arteries are variously contorted. Hay. 
The olive-trees in Provence are ... neither so tall, so 
stout, nor so richly contorted as ... beyond the Alps. 
H. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 168. 
contorted (kon-tor'ted), p. a. [Pp. of contort, 
v.] Twisted; drawn awry; distorted; twisted 
on itself : in bot., usually the same as convolute, 
with reference to estivation. 
contortion (kon-tor' shpn), n. [= F. contorsion 
= Sp. contorsion = Pg" contorsSo = It. contor- 
sione, < L. contortio(n-), < contorquere, pp. con- 
tortits, twist: see contort.] 1. The act of twist- 
ing or wrenching, or the state of being twisted 
or wrenched ; specifically, the act of writhing, 
especially spasmodically ; a twist ; wry mo- 
tion ; distortion: as, the contortion of the mus- 
cles of the face. 
When Croft's ' ' Life of Dr. Young " was spoken of as a good 
imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, " No, no,"said he [Burke], 
" it is not a good imitation of Johnson ; it has all his pomp, 
without his force ; it has all the nodosities of the oak, 
without its strength ; it has all the contortions of the si- 
byl, without the inspiration." Sir J. Prior, Burke. 
His [M. Stahl's] attributing to the hyphte a faculty of 
contortion or spirally coiling themselves, which from their 
nature they do not and cannot possess, is calculated to in- 
validate all that he otherwise observed and depicted. 
Encyc. Brit., XIV. 555. 
2. In sitrg., a twisting or wresting of a limb or 
member of the body out of its natural situation ; 
partial dislocation. 
contortionist (kon-tor' shon-ist), n. [< contor- 
tion + -ist.] One who practises gymnastic feats 
requiring great suppleness of the joints and 
involving contorted or unnatural postures. 
COntortious (kon-tor'shus), a. [< contortion + 
-ous.] Affected by contortions; twisted. [Rare.] 
COntortiye (kon-tor'tiv), a. [< contort + -we. ] 
Pertaining or relating to contortion ; express- 
ing contortion. 
COntortuplicate (kon-t6r-tu'pli-kat), a. [< L. 
contortuplicatus, reg. contortiplicatus, < contor- 
tus, twisted (see contort), + plicatus, pp. of pli- 
care, fold : see plicate.] 1. In bot., twisted and 
plaited or folded. 2. In zool., crinkled, as the 
hair of a negro. 
contour (kon-tor' or kon'tor), n. [< F. contour 
(= Sp. Pg. It. contorno), circuit, circumference, 
outline, < contourner = Sp. contornar = Pg. con- 
tornear = It. eontornare, < ML. contornare, go 
round, turn round, < L. com- (intensive) + tor- 
ware, turn : see turn, and cf . tour.] The outline 
of a figure or body; the line that defines or 
bounds anything ; the periphery considered as 
distinct from the object : used chiefly in speak- 
ing of rounded or sinuous bodies. 
The magnetic action of a closed current is equal to that 
of a magnetic shell of the same contour. 
Atkinson, tr. of Mascart and Joubert, I. 429. 
All her contours and all her movements betrayed a fine 
muscular development. 
O. W. Holmes, A Mortal Antipathy, i. 
Specifically (a) In the /Tie arts, a line or lines represent- 
ing the outline of any figure. 
In the best polychromy great use is made of outlines or 
contours. 0. N. Jtooit, Modern chromatics, p. 311, 
(6) In .fort., the horizontal outline of works of defense. 
When the conformation of the ground or works is de- 
scribed by contours or horizontal sections, these sections 
are taken at some fixed vertical interval from each other 
suited to the scale of the drawing or the subject in hand ; 
and the distances of the surface, at each interval, above 
or below some assumed plane of comparison, are given in 
figures at the most convenient places on the plan, (c) In 
sitrv., a curve of equal elevation on a map ; a contour- 
line, (d) In math., a closed curve considered as inclos- 
ing an area.- Area Of a contour. See ana. =Syn. 1'ro- 
Jile, etc. See outline. 
contraband 
contour (kon-tor'), e. t. [< contour, n.] To 
make a contour or outline of ; mark with contours 
or contour-lines : as, contoured maps. 
contour-feather (kon-tor'feTH"er), re. In or- 
nith., one of the feathers which determine the 
details of contour of a bird ; pi. , the general plu- 
mage which appears upon the surface, as distin- 
guished from hidden down-feathers, etc. 
Contour-feathers, pennic or pluinte proper, have a per- 
fect stem composed of calamus and rhachis, with vanes of 
pennaceous structure, at least in part, usually plunmla- 
ceous toward the base. These form the great bulk of the 
surface plumage. Couts, Key to X. A. Birds, p. 85. 
contour-hair (kon-tfir'har), n. One of the hairs 
of the general superficial pelage of a quadruped, 
which to some extent determines the contour 
of the animal : distinguished from the hidden 
under-fur. The fur of the seal or beaver when dressed 
for use in garments, etc., is deprived of its contour-hairs. 
The various forms of hairs, whether woolly or contour- 
hairs, sette or spines, are merely modifications of one and 
the same early condition. 
Gegenbaur, Comp. Anat. (trans.), p. 420. 
contouring (kon-tor'ing), n. [Verbal n. of con- 
tour, t\] The act of forming or determining a 
contour or contour-line. See contour-line. 
In true contouring, regular horizontal lines, at fixed ver- 
tical intervals, are traced over a country, and plotted on 
to the maps. R. A. Proctor, Light Science, p. 280. 
contour-line (kon-tor'lln), . In surv., a line 
joining points of equal elevation on a surface ; 
a line or level carried along the surface of a 
country or district at a uniform height above 
the sea-level. \Vhen laid down or plotted on a map or 
plan, such lines show the elevations and depressions of the 
surface of the ground, the degree of accuracy depending 
on the number of lines or levels taken. In the maps of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey of the United States the con- 
tour-lines are generally given for every 20 feet of elevation. 
It is essential to the completeness of a contour-line that it 
should be carried on till it returns to the point whence it 
started, thus describing a closed curve. The littoral cor- 
don or outline of the sea forms a natural contour-line. 
The system of representing the form of the earth's surface 
by means of horizontal lines at equal vertical distances 
was probably invented by Philippe Buache in 1744. 
Contour-lines, eighty feet apart vertically, were run ; 
and intermediate forty-foot contours were interpolated by 
means of slope-measurements in the steeper parts, and by 
running curves in the more level portions. 
Science, III. 365. 
Contour-line map, a map in which the elevations are in- 
dicated by contour-lines, which may be drawn at any dis- 
tance apart, according to the scale adopted and the accu- 
racy with which the surveys have been made. Where the 
slope is steep the lines are more crowded together, and 
vice versa. This is, on the whole, the most advantageous 
method of representing topography where the scale adopt- 
ed is large. 
contourn6 (kon-tor-na'), . [F., pp. of con- 
tourner, turn round: see contour, n.] In Jier., 
turned toward the sinister : said of an animal 
used as a bearing. 
contourniate (koii-to'r'ni-at), a. and n. Same 
as contorniate. 
contr. An abbreviation of contracted and con- 
traction. 
contra (kon'tra), adv. and prep. [L. contra, < 
cum, Oil. com, with (see com-), + -tra, ablative 
fern, of a compar. suffix -terns = E. -ihcr in 
o-ther, ]ii-t!ier, etc., -tvr in af-ter, etc. Cf . L. in- 
trd, ex-trd, similarly formed. From L. contra, 
through F., comes E. counter-, counter, encoun- 
ter, and country, q. v.] A Latin adverb and 
preposition (and prefix), meaning 'against,' 
'over against,' 'opposite,' 'in front of,' orig. 
'in comparison with': used in the phrase per 
contra, and, abbreviated, in pro and con ; also 
in various legal phrases, as contra bonos mores; 
usually as a prefix in words taken from the 
Latin or Romance languages, or formed analo- 
gously in English. In introducing a legal cita- 
tion it means 'to the contrary.' See contra-. 
contra-. [L. contra-, prefix: see contra.] A pre- 
fix of Latin origin, meaning 'against,' 'over 
against,' 'opposite'; doublet of counter-. See 
contra and counter-. Specifically (n) In the com- 
pound names of musical instruments, a prefix signifying a 
large form or variety, yielding tones an octave lower than 
the typical form : as, contrabass, contrafagotto, etc. See 
double. (6) In her., contrary. 
contra-arithmetical (kon "tra - ar - ith -met ' i - 
kal), a. Used only in the following phrase: 
Contra-arithmetical proportion, the relation between 
the three quantities n, l>, ami c when a b : a c = c : b 
that is, when a = b c. The series of phyllotactic num- 
bers. 1, 1. 2, 3. 5. 8, 13, etc., are in continued contra-arith- 
metical proportion. 
contraband (kon'tra-band), a. and n. [= D. 
contrabande = G. contraband, contreband = Dan. 
kontraband = F. contrebande, < It. eontralrtuiitito 
= Sp. Pg. contrabando (ML. contrabannum), 
prop, contrary to proclamation, < L. contra, 
against, + ML. bandum, bannum, a proclama- 
