COL 
Columns are dilFerent in the different or- 
ders of architecture, and may be considered 
with regard to their matter, construction, 
form, disposition, and use. See Archi- 
tecture. 
COLUMNEA, in botany, a genus of the 
Didynainia Angiospermia class and order. 
Natural order of Personatae. Scrophula- 
ria>, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx 
five-parted ; corolla ringent ; upper-lip three- 
parted, the middle part vaulted, emargi- 
iiate ; gibbons above at the base ; anthers 
connected; capsule two-celled; seeds nest- 
ling. There are six species, all natives of 
hot countries, and most of them of the 
West Indies. 
COLUMNIFERiE, in botany, the name 
of the thirty-seventh order in Linnaeus’s 
“ Fragments of aNatural Method,” consisting 
of plants whose stamina and pistil have the 
appearance of a pillar in the centre of a 
flower : an instance of this order is the ge- 
nus Bixa, which see. 
COLURES, in astronomy and geogra- 
phy, two great circles supposed to intersect 
each other at right angles in the poles of 
the world, and to pass through the solstitial 
and equinoctial points of the ecliptic. That 
which passes through the two equinoctial 
points is called the equinoctial cohire, and 
determines the equinoxes ; arid the other 
which passes through the poles of the eclip- 
tic is called the solstitial colure, because it 
determines the solstices. 
COLUTEA, in botany, a genus of the 
Diadelphia Decandria class and order. Na- 
tural order of Papilionaceae or Legumino- 
S0E. Essential character: calyx five-cleft; 
legume inflated, gaping on the upper suture 
at the base. There are nine species. Most 
of the Coluteas are shrubs, with pinnate 
leaves, and stipules distinct from the pe- 
tiole ; peduncles sometimes two-flowered, 
but more frequently many-flowered in 
spikes, both axillary and terminating. They 
are easily distinguished by their membra- 
naceous, inflated pod ; natives of hot cli- 
mates. 
COLYMBUS, the diver, in natural his- 
tory, a genus of birds of the order Anseres. 
Generic character : bill toothless, subulate, 
straight, and pointed ; throat toothed ; nos- 
trils linear; legs fettered. The guillemot 
and the diver are included by Graelin under 
one genus, while Latham considers each as 
furnishing a genus by itself. We shall adopt 
the system of the former, and notice, in 
wliat follows the most importiuit species of 
these two classes, under one head. 
COM 
C. troile, or foolish guillemot. These 
birds are, in summer, surprisingly abundant 
on tlie coasts of England, and furnish to the 
sportsman au invaluable supply of expe- 
rience in the art of shooting flying. What- 
ever numbers may be destroyed, the rest 
only quit their stand to take a circular 
flight which brings them back to the spot 
whence the gun alarmed them, and which 
the death of their companions cannot in- 
duce them finally to leave. Their flesh is 
eaten by • the Kamsehatkans, though ex- 
tremely ill-flavoured, and tlieir skins are va- 
lued by those people as a highly ornamen- 
tal dress. The eggs are said to be ex- 
tremely delicate, and it is remarkable that 
no two are spotted or streaked alike. 
C. glacialis, or the Northern diver, is the 
largest of the genus, and weighs so much as 
sixteen pounds, measuring three feet six in- 
ches in length. This is found in various 
places in the North of Europe, but scarcely 
ever even so far south as England, unless in 
winters extremely rigorous. It is rarely 
seen on land, being almost perpetually on 
the ocean, where it dives with extreme vi- 
gour in pursuit of various fishes, and with 
such dexterity as rarely tails of success. It 
can fly with rapidity, and to a great dis- 
tance. In Iceland it is often found, and, 
while breeding, frequents the lakes and ri- 
vers of that island. The inhabitants of the 
banks of tlie Oby prepare the skin of this 
bird without injuring the feathers, and ren- 
der it convertible into compact, durable, 
and ornamental parts of dress, as caps or 
even mantles, which are proofs against mois- 
ture, and afford extraordinary warmth. 
C. immer, or the imber, resembles the 
last in habits and manners. It is found in 
the lakes of Canada, and in those of Swit- 
zerland, as well as in almost all the northern 
parts of Europe. It will swim under wa- 
ter to the distance of a hundred paces, and 
is caught by land or in the water with ex- 
treme difficulty. By a hooked line how- 
ever, baited with its favourite fish, it has 
often been drawn up from a considerable 
depth, and thus exhibited to many ob- 
servers a singular variety from the sports- 
man’s usual practice. ' 
COMA, or Coma-vigil, a preternatural 
propensity to sleep, when nevertheless the 
patient does not sleep, or if he does, awakes 
immediately without any relief. See Me- 
dicine. 
Coma, in botany, a collection of floral 
leaves, which, in tlie crown imperial, laven- 
der, sage,- cow- wheat, and some other 
