KAL 
KAM 
K 
K Ork, the tenth letter, and seventh 
’ consonant of our alphabet ; being 
formed by the voice, by a guttural expres- 
sion of tlie breath through the mouth, to- 
gether with a depression of the lower jaw, 
and opening of the teeth. 
Its sound is much the same with that of 
the iiard c, or ; and it is used, for the 
most part, only before e, i, and n, in the be- 
ginning of words ; as, ken, kill, know, &c. 
It used formerly to be always joined with 
c at the end of words, but is at present very 
properly omitted : tlius, for publkk, musick, 
&c. we say, public, music, &c. However, 
in monosyllables it is still retained, ns jack, 
block, mock, &c. 
The letter k is derived from the Greek 
kappa, K or K ; it being unknown to the Ro- 
mans, though we sometimes meet with ka- 
lendse instead of calendce. 
As a numeral K denotes 250 ; and with 
a line over it, K 250,000. 
KjEMPFERIA, in botany, so named 
from Engelbert Kcempfer, a celebrated 
traveller, a genus of the Monandria Mono- 
gvnia class and order. Natural order of 
Scitaminese. Cann®, Jussieu. Essential 
character ; corolla six-parted, three of the 
parts larger, spreading, one two-parted ; 
stigma two-plated. There are two species, 
tiz. K. galanga, galangale ; and K. rotun- 
da. As these arc both natives of the East 
Indies, they require a warm stove to pre- 
serve them through our winter. 
KALI. See Alkali and Potash. 
KALMIA, in botany, a genus of the De- 
candria Monogynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Bicornes. Rhododendra, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : calyx five-parted ; 
corolla salver form, with the border five- 
horned beneath ; capsule five-celled. There 
are four species, of the K. latifolia, broad- 
leaved kahnia, we shall give some little ac- 
count, taken from the fifth volume of the 
American Philosophical Transactions. The 
leaves of this shrub are feasted upon by the 
deer and the round horned elk, but are 
mortally poisonous to sheep, to horned cat- 
tle, to horses, and to man. The bee ex- 
tracts honey, without injury, from its nec- 
tary, but the man who partakes of that 
honey after it is deposited in the hive cells, 
falls a victim to his repast. 
Some very singular cases in proof of this 
assertion occurred at Philadelphia no longer 
ago than the year 1790, in the autumn and , 
winter of which an extensive mortality was 
produced amongst those who had partaken 
of the honey that had been collected in 
the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, or had 
feasted on the common American pheasant. 
The attention of the American government 
was excited by the general distress, a mi- 
nute examination into the cause of the mor- 
tality ensued, and it was satisfactorily as- 
certained, that the honey had been cfiiefly 
extracted from the flowers of kalmia lati- 
folia, and that the pheasants which had 
proved thus poisonous had fed harmlessly 
on its leaves: in consequence of which, a 
public proclamation was issued, prohibiting 
the use of the pheasant, as a food, for that 
season. See Good’s Oration before the 
Medical Society. 
KAMSIN, the name of a hot southerly 
wind, common in Egypt. The wind is said 
to prevail more or less for fifty days, hence 
it is called ‘‘ the wind of fifty days.” Tra- 
vellers who have experienced the effect of 
it have described it as a poisonous wind. 
When it begins to blow, the atmosphere 
assumes an alarming appearance. The sky, 
at other times so clear in this climate, be- 
comes dark and heavy ; the sun loses its 
splendour, and appears of a violet colour ; 
tiie air is not cloudy, but grey and thick, 
and is filled with a dust so subtile, that it 
penetrates every where. 
This wind, always light and rapid, is not 
at first remarkably hot, but it increases in 
heat in proportion as it continues. All ani- 
mated bodies soon discover it by the change 
it produces in them. The lungs, which a 
too rarefied air no longer expands, are con- 
tracted, and become painful. Respiration 
is short and difficult, the skin parched and 
dry, and the body consumed by an internal 
heat. In vain is recourse had to large 
draughts of water ; nothing can restore per- 
spiration. In vain is coolness sought for ; 
all bodies, in which it is usual to find it, de- 
ceive the hand that touches them. Marble, 
iron, water, notwithstanding the sun no 
