CHU 
«;ommon law and general custom of the 
realm, it was lawful for esirls, bai'ons, and 
others of the laity, to build churches; but 
they could not erect a spiritual body poli- 
tic to continue in succession, and capable 
of endowment, without the king’s license ; 
and, before the law shall take knowledge ot 
them as such, they must also have the bi- 
shop’s leave and consent, to be consecrated 
or dedicated by him. 
CHURCHWARDENS, the guardians 
or keepers of the church, are persons an- 
nually chosen in Easter week, by the joint 
consent of the minister and parishioners, or 
according to the custom of the respective 
places ; to look after the church and church- 
yard, and things thereunto belonging. They 
are entrusted with the care and manage- 
ment of the goods and personal property of 
the church, which they are to order for the 
best advantage of the parishioners ; but they 
have no interest in, or power over the free- 
hold of the church itself, OF of any land or 
other real property belonging to it ; these 
are the property of the parson or vicai, 
who alone is interested in their loss or pre- 
servation. The churchwardens therefore, 
may purchase goods and other articles for 
the use of the parish ; they may likewise, 
with the assent of the parishioners, sell or 
otherwise dispose of the goods of the 
church ; but without such consent, they are 
not authorised to alienate any of the pro- 
perty under their care. 
All peers of the realm, clergymen, coun- 
sellors, attorneys, clerks in court, physi- 
cians, surgeons, and apothecaries, are ex- 
empt from serving the office of churchwar- 
den, as is evei-y licenced dissenting teacher, 
pretending to holy orders. 
CHURN, an implement for agitating 
cream or milk, so as to separate the buty- 
rous particles from the serous, and to ef- 
fect the production of butter. Some churns 
are made upright, pf a tapering form, and 
are worked by means of a pole and cross : 
the former passing through a hole in the 
lid. These are pail or bell-churns. Many 
chums are in the form of a barrel ; in 
some of these beaters, or projecting bat- 
tens, are affixed witliin four or five of the 
staves, which strike the cream as the barrel 
is moved round by means of a winch ; in 
others, the barrels are at rest, while a cross 
fly, of four or more leaves, it turned with- 
in it : in either case, the barrel is support- 
ed on a frame. The Indian chum has an 
alternate motion, being worked by a ver- 
tical pole, which is turned much the same 
as a hand-lathe ; hating its lower part split, 
CHY 
the pole occasions great agitation in the 
cream. A great variety of churns are in 
use ; but, in general their formation evinces 
more ingenuity than practical knowledge. 
Those moved by pedals, and of which, as 
well as of the Indian churn, an accurate 
description is given in the Agricultural 
Magazine for October, 1807, merit particu- 
lar attention for their great simplicity and 
many good qualities. 
CHYLE. See Chyme, Assimilation, 
&c. 
CHYME, in animal economy : in the 
process of digestion, the food is subjected 
to a temperature usually above 90" of Fah- 
renheit ; it is mixed with the gastric juice, 
a liquor secreted by the glands of the sto- 
mach, and is made to undergo a moderate 
and alternate pressure, by the contraction 
of the stomach itself. It is thus converted 
into a soft uniform mass of a greyish colour, 
in which the previous texture, or na- 
ture of the aliment can be no longer distin- 
guished. 
The chyme, as this pulpy mass into 
which the food in the stomach is resolved 
is termed, passes by the pylorus into the 
intestinal canal, where it is mixed with the 
pancreatic juice and the bile, and is still 
exposed to the same temperature and alter- 
nating pressure, 'fhe thinner parts of it 
are absorbed by the slender tubes termed 
the lacteals. The liquor thus absorbed is 
of a white colour; it passes through the 
glands of the mesentery, and is at length 
conveyed by the thoracic duct into the 
blood. This part of the process is termed 
chylification, and the white liquor thus 
formed, chyle. It is an opaque milky fluid, 
mild to the taste. By standing for some 
time, one part of it coagulates; another 
portion is coagulated by heat. 
The chyle, after mixing with the lymph 
conveyed by the absorbent vessels, is re- 
ceived into the blood which has returned 
from the extreme vessels, and before it 
passes to the heart. All traces of it are 
very soon lost in the blood, as it mixes 
perfectly with that fluid. It is probable, 
however, that its nature is not immediately 
completely altered. The blood passing from 
the heart is conveyed to the lungs, where it 
circulates over a very extensive surface pre- 
sented to the atmospheric air, with the 
intervention of a very thin membrane, 
which does not prevent their mutual ac- 
tion. During this circulation, the blood 
loses a considerable quantity of carbon, 
part of which, it is probable, is derived 
from the imperfectly assimilated chyle 
