The district is famed for its superior breed of cattle. Among the principal towns are Las Piedras or Villa de la Paz, Villa de San Antonio, Opoteca, Espino, San Antonio del Norte, Goascoran, and Caridad. II. The capital of the department and of the state of Honduras, situated on the S. border of the plain of Comayagua, in lat. 14° 28′ N., lon. 87° 39′ W., on the Humuya river; pop. about 12,000. It is very nearly midway between the two oceans. Previous to 1827 it was a flourishing town, embellished with fountains and monuments, and having many fine buildings; but in that year it was taken and burned by the monarchical faction of Guatemala, and it has never since recovered. It is the seat of a bishopric, and has a large cathedral, a university, a hospital, and several churches and convents. Its trade is small on account of the difficulty of communication with the coast; but as it is on the route

Comayagua.

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of the interoceanic railway now building from | Puerto Cavallos to the bay of Fonseca, it will probably increase in importance. Comayagua was founded in 1540 by Alonso Cáceres, and originally called Valladolid. The country around it has many remarkable ruins, and bears evidences of having sustained in ancient times a large and flourishing population.

COMB (Sax. camb), an instrument of wood, horn, shell, ivory, or other material, cut on one or both sides into a series of teeth, serving to disentangle and adjust the hair, and often worn by women as an ornament to the head, or to retain the hair in place. Its invention belongs to the remotest antiquity. The combs of the ancient Egyptians were usually of wood, having on one side large, and on the other fine teeth, the central portion being sometimes inlaid or ornamented with carved work. When having but a single row of teeth, the opposite side was often surmounted by a figure of the ibex or some other animal. They were about four

inches long and six deep, the teeth on either side being over two inches in length. The Greeks, who dressed their hair with great care, used combs made of boxwood obtained from the shores of the Euxine. Golden combs were ascribed by the poets to the goddesses. Three combs, similar to modern small-tooth combs, are represented on the Amyclæan marbles. Roman combs, like the Greek, were made of boxwood, especially that obtained from the mountains of Cytorus, in Asia Minor, and remains of them have been found at Pompeii. Wood long continued the common material for combs, but during the later middle ages horn, ivory, and gold were sometimes employed, and pearls and precious and artificial stones were added for ornaments; and the comb was thus made an elegant part of the coiffure. Some modern sculptors, as Canova, have introduced it with fine effect as a part of feminine costume

in statuary.-Ornamental combs of gold or silver have often been in general use by women; but the material longest and most commonly employed for this purpose is tortoise shell. . The pieces of shell, as found in commerce, are never of suitable forms for combs. They are therefore softened with boiling water and put between iron or brass moulds of the desired shape until they cool. The place for the teeth is next marked. The interstices of the teeth were formerly cut with a thin steel saw, but a machine has been invented in which, by means of pressure, two combs are cut at the same time from the same strip of shell or ivory. The sides of the strip are to be the backs of the two combs, the teeth lying in the middle portion. The strip is fastened to a carriage, which is moved forward until it comes under the action of a ratchet wheel toothed upon a part of its circumference. The teeth of this wheel bring down a lever furnished with a chisel, which cuts out the two combs from the flat piece, the teeth of one lying between those of the other. This process is called parting, and is performed very rapidly and with great precision. So delicate are some of the saw machines, that from 80 to 100 teeth may be cut in an inch of ivory. Combs are now manufactured from vulcanized India rubber.

COMBACONUM, or Kumbakonam, a city of British India, in the Carnatic, 20 m. N. E. of Tanjore; pop. about 40,000. It is a place of great antiquity, is esteemed a holy city, and has several pagodas, gateways, and water tanks of

Great Gopura at Combaconum.

This water is held capable of purifying from sin and uncleanness every one who bathes in it, and thousands journey thither at the proper season to participate in its benefits. The great gopura or gate pyramid, at one of the entrances to the town, is referred to by Fergusson in his "Architecture" as one of the most imposing structures of its class. It has 12 stories, the lowest of granite, and the others of brick covered with the most elaborately ornamented stucco. A multitude of figures of men and animals cover it from top to bottom, forming a mass of peculiar ornamentation which greatly detracts from the imposing effect of the whole. COMBALOT, Théodore, abbé, a French priest and author, born at Châtenay (Isère), Aug. 21, 1798, died in Paris, March 15, 1873. He studied philosophy and theology, was ordained priest in 1821, and acquired celebrity as an eloquent ultramontane preacher. Pope Gregory XVI. appointed him apostolic vicar, and in the latter part of his life he was vicar general of Rouen, Arras, and Montpellier. In 1844 he was sentenced to a month's imprisonment in consequence of his violent Mémoire adressé aux évêques de France et aux pères de famille sur la guerre faite à la société par le monopole universitaire. His other writings include La

connaissance de Jésus-Christ, &c. (4th ed., 1852); Conférence sur les grandeurs de la Sainte Vierge (1845; new ed., 1854); and Nouvelles conférences préchées à Paris, à Lyons, en Belgique, &c., depuis le décret dogmatique de l'immaculée conception (2 vols., Lyons, 1864).

COMBE. Í. George, a Scottish phrenologist, born in Edinburgh, Oct. 21, 1788, died at Moor Park, England, Aug. 14, 1858. He studied law, and continued in practice till 1837, when he resolved to devote himself to science. On the visit of Spurzheim to Edinburgh in 1816 Combe became a convert to his system of phrenology, and advocated it in his lectures and writings. In 1819 he published "Essays on Phrenology, or an Inquiry into the System of Gall and Spurzheim, " which was subsequently developed into his "System of Phrenology" (2 vols. 8vo, 1824). His principal work, "The Constitution of Man considered in relation to External Objects" (1828), produced a wide and deep impression. It has passed through numerous editions and been translated into several languages. The object of this work was to show that the intellectual and moral procedure of man, as well as the physical procedure of the universe, is regulated by natural laws which must be studied in order to carry out successfully his physical, moral, and social improvement. In 1823, assisted by a few friends, George and Andrew Combe established the "Edinburgh Phrenological Journal, and for more than 23 years gratuitously contributed to its pages. In 1833 he married a daughter of Mrs. Siddons, the celebrated actress. In 1837 he visited Germany; and in 1838, accompanied by his wife, he visited the United States, delivered 158 lectures in various parts of the country, and returned home in June, 1840. In 1842 he revisited Germany, and in the summer of that year delivered in Heidelberg a series of lectures on phrenology, in the German language. He was the first to spread a knowledge in England of the new religious movement in Germany, of which Ronge was the chief leader, by writing "Notes on the Reformation in Germany" (London, 1845). Among his other works are: "Elements of Phrenology" (1824); "Lectures on Popular Education" (1833); "Moral Philosophy, or the Duties of Man, Individual, Domestic, and Social" (1840); "Notes on the United States of America" (3 vols., 1841); "Thoughts on Capital Punishment," and "Remarks on National Education" tional Education" (1847); "Principles of Criminal Legislation and Prison Discipline Investigated" (1854); "Phrenology applied to Painting and Sculpture " (1855); and "Relation between Science and Religion" (1857). II. Abraham, elder brother of the preceding, born Jan. 15, 1785, died Aug. 11, 1827. He was a disciple of Owen, and sacrificed his fortune in establishing "the cooperative society" in Edinburgh, in furtherance of his socialistic theories. Long after this had failed, he made

a new attempt in 1825, by forming a similar establishment on a large scale at Orbiston, near Glasgow, which however proved unsuccessful. He wrote "Sketches of the Old and New Systems," and "The Religious Creed of the New System." III. Andrew, a Scottish physician and author, brother of the preceding, born in Edinburgh, Oct. 27, 1797, died there, Aug. 9, 1847. He studied medicine in Edinburgh and Paris, and began practice in Edinburgh in 1823. In 1836 he was appointed physician to King Leopold of Belgium, and afterward physician in Scotland to Queen Victoria. He contributed largely to phrenological and medical journals. His principal works, all of which have passed through many editions, "Observations on Mental Derangement (1831); Principles of Physiology" (1834); "The Physiology of Digestion" (1836); and "The Management of Infancy" (1840). His death was hastened by exposure to the vitiated atmosphere of an emigrant ship in which he made a voyage to America; the knowledge which he gained on this voyage was embodied in a letter to the "Times," published a month after his death, which led to the passage of a law regulating the sanitary arrangements in emigrant vessels. His "Life and Correspondence" was published by his brother, George Combe (2 vols., Edinburgh, 1850).

are:

COMBERMERÉ, Stapleton Cotton, viscount, a British soldier, born in Denbighshire, Nov. 17, 1773, died at Clifton, Feb. 21, 1865. He entered the army at an early age, and served in India in the war against Tippoo Saib. In 1808 he was sent to the peninsula in command of a brigade of cavalry, and participated in nearly all the great actions, from Talavera to the close of the war. In 1810 he was appointed to the command of the whole allied cavalry under the duke of Wellington. He was repeatedly thanked by parliament for his services, and upon the conclusion of peace was elevated to the peerage. He was afterward governor of Barbadoes, and commanded the British forces in India from 1822 to 1826. He also distinguished himself at the capture of Bhurtpoor (1826), for which he was made a viscount. In 1834 he was made a privy councillor, and in 1852 succeeded the duke of Wellington as constable of the tower of London and lord lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets. In 1855 he became field marshal.

COMBES, Edmond, a French traveller, born June 8, 1812, died in 1872. He was vice consul at Scala Nova, Asia Minor, and at Rabat, Morocco; explored the coasts of the Red sea, a portion of Arabia, Abyssinia, and E. Africa, where he was the first to ascertain the altitude of the mountains of the Moon; and in 1841 he travelled in Nubia and Egypt. With his companion, M. Tamisier, he published Voyage en Abyssinie, dans les pays des Gallas, de Choa et d'Ifat, précédé d'une excursion dans l'Arabie Heureuse (4 vols., Paris, 1837-'8).

COMBINATIONS, Theory of, in mathematics, a statement of the laws which determine the

possible variations in the grouping of any number of given signs. The signs and groups are known as elements and forms. There are three processes of combination. The first, which is termed permutation, consists in changing the order of the given elements so that the same arrangement is never repeated. The second, which is specially termed combination, consists in arranging the elements into partial groups, so that, without regarding the arrangement, precisely the same elements are not repeated in any form. In permutation, all the elements are contained in each form. In combination, each form may consist of two, three, or any other number of elements less than the whole number given. The third process, termed variation, is a union of the other two. It consists in first making all the forms possible by combination, and then multiplying each of these forms by permutation. In permutation there is a change in the order; in combination, in the contents or matter; and in variation, in both. The complication and possible number of forms is greatly increased when the elements are repeated. The theory of combinations has application to ideas, sounds, colors, and even to food and other material compounds; but its principal use is in mathematical analysis and in the calculation of chances. The first important contribution to its development was by Buteo (1559), who represented all the throws possible with four dice. Pascal applied it to games, Mersenne to musical tones, and Guldin reckoned the number of words which could be formed from 23 letters. Leibnitz recognized its significance, and sought in vain to make use of it in discovering philosophical truths. Bernoulli and Euler labored upon it, but the first who gave it a scientific character was Hindenburg in 1778; and it was subsequently developed by Lagrange, Laplace, Poisson, Pfaff, Eschenbach, and Rothe. Among the treatises on the subject are the Lehrbuch der combinatorischen Analysis, by Weingärtner (Leipsic, 1800-1801), and Vollständiger Lehrbegriff der reinen Combinationslehre, by Spehr (Brunswick, 1824).

COMBUSTION, a chemical process, in which bodies combine to form a new compound, with the evolution of heat, and usually light. In ordinary cases of combustion, oxygen is one of the combining bodies, and the substance with which it unites disappears with it in a gaseous form. It was formerly regarded as an essential element in combustion, but the phenomena of light and heat, characteristic of rapid combustion, are observed when chlorine combines with phosphorus and with some metals when these are in a powdered state; also in the action of cyanogen and potassium, and of sulphur upon iron filings and copper leaf. Some bodies also burn in the vapors of iodine, bromine, and fluorine. As commonly witnessed, combustion is a process taking place in the presence of atmospheric air, which furnishes the oxygen to support it; and it is conducted, not, as most other chemical operations are, for the sake of its products, but

for the phenomena which attend it. The development of these depends upon the rapidity with which it goes on, and this distinguishes it from the other cases of oxidation, which are sometimes called slow combustion, as when metals rust, spirituous liquors turn to acetic acid, and the blood by respiration is oxidized. The views which prevailed respecting the nature of combustion before the discovery of oxygen gas by Priestley in 1774, and the development of its properties by, Lavoisier in the succeeding year, were necessarily incorrect. With the ancients, fire was an element that devoured other bodies and converted them into itself. Dr. Hooke in 1665, and Mayow soon after, advanced the opinion that there existed in the air a "nitrous spirit," which dissolved bodies susceptible to its influence when their temperature was suitably raised, and that the light and heat were the sensible effects of the rapid motions taking place. This theory, though close to the truth, was for a long time lost sight of in the general acceptance of the celebrated phlogistic theory, which was advanced soon afterward by Becher, professor at Mentz, and ably sustained by Stahl, professor at Halle. They considered that in combustion a certain element, which Stahl named phlogiston (from Gr. phoyišew, to burn), left the burning body, and the product was this body deprived of its phlogiston, by regaining which it was restored to its original character; as sulphur or phosphorus when consumed became sulphuric or phosphoric acid, and on regaining their phlogiston were again sulphur or phosphorus. was known that the earthy "calx," into which some of the metals were transformed by fire, gained rather than lost weight; but this was explained by attributing to phlogiston a principle of levity. Notwithstanding the defects of the theory, it was still an important step in the progress of chemical science, serving first to group correctly together the phenomena of combustion, acidification, and respiration. Its nomenclature was incorporated with the science, and when Priestley made his great discovery of the new kinds of air, he gave to nitrogen, which he supposed to be a combination of air with the phlogiston of the combustible, the name of phlogisticated air, and to oxygen or pure air that of dephlogisticated air. Lavoisier, by subjecting the products of combustion to the test of weighing, showed that the combustible gained weight by the process, and he proved, on restoring it to its former condition (as in the case of a metallic oxide), that the substance taken up and given out again was the pure air of Priestley, to which he gave the name of oxygen, from its acidifying property (ošus and yevváw). Thus was established the antiphlogistic theory, that in every case of combustion oxygen combines with the burning body. Dr. Black's theory of latent heat was adopted to account for the production of light and heat; the latter being evolved or rendered sensible when substances without change of

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form pass from a rarer into a denser state, also when a gas becomes liquid or solid, or a liquid solidifies. The oxygen of the air was supposed to contain heat and light in a latent state, which were evolved with its change into a more condensed form, and the products of combustion were supposed to have less combined or specific heat than the original substances. stances. But this application failed in the case of combustion of solid bodies by explosion, the gaseous compounds expanding in some instances to 2,000 times their original bulk, and yet producing intense heat instead of cold, as the theory would require; and the specific heat of the new compounds, in this as in the combustion of charcoal, it was shown by Dulong and Petit, was often quite equal to, and sometimes exceeded, that of the combining bodies, and this, moreover, bore no relation to that evolved in combustion. Davy considered that the burning body and the supporter of combustion were in opposite electrical conditions, and that the heat and light were evolved in the discharge of these electricities; which view was also held by Berzelius, though unsustained by any positive proof. Despretz ascertained the number of pounds of water which the burning of 1 lb. of different combustibles would heat from the temperature of 32° to 212° F. The following are some of his results:

Carbon and hydrogen are the two common elements, which by uniting with oxygen produce combustion. They are furnished in a variety of forms suitable to this application, the source of all which is traced to vegetable growth; and this ever continues to gather up the products of combustion, and, separating them by decomposition, places them again in condition to renew the process. In combination they assume a volatile form, and float upward with the air rarefied by the heat, thus allowing the admission of fresh supplies of oxygen to constantly reach the ignited body. Though the combustible bodies are enveloped in the atmospheric air, and are ever disposed to unite with its oxygen, the process cannot commence until the temperature of the combustible has been raised to a certain point, when it is said to catch fire; the process thus begins, and afterward evolves the heat necessary for its continuance.-The condition of the air as to temperature, density, and the presence of aqueous vapor, variously affects the process of combustion. Increase of density adds to the quantity of oxygen in a given volume, and consequently may be expected to increase the rate of combustion. The effect of