ocracy" (written from a German standpoint | obtained the office of secretary for Jamaica, and translated by Mrs. H. C. Conant); Clark's which raised his emoluments to £1,200. He "Congregational Churches of Massachusetts;" wished to forget that he was an author; and Felt's "Ecclesiastical History of New Eng- when Voltaire waited upon him while he was land;" Cumming's "Dictionary of Congrega- in London, and took occasion to compliment tional Usages and Principles;" Sawyer's "Or- his works, Congreve said that he would rather ganic Christianity of the Church of God;" be considered a private gentleman than an auColeman's "Primitive Church;" Wellman's thor. "If you had been merely a gentleman," "Church Polity of the Pilgrims;" and Dex- retorted Voltaire, I should not have come to ter's "Congregationalism." visit you." He was on intimate terms with the duchess of Marlborough, to whom he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune, amounting to about £10,000; and she dedicated a monument to him, and showed her regard for him in the most eccentric fashion. He was interred in Westminster abbey, the pall being borne by some of the most distinguished noblemen of England. Besides plays, his works comprise a romance and miscellaneous poems. A fine edition of his complete works, printed by Baskerville, appeared in Birmingham in 1761, and several others subsequently; the latest of these, edited by Leigh Hunt (London, 1849), gave occasion for Macaulay's essay on "The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration." His comedies have been translated into French and German. CONGRESS, in international politics, an assembly of the sovereigns or plenipotentiaries of several states to determine questions and concert measures of common interest. The term is of modern origin, the earliest important European congress having been that of Münster and Osnabrück, which assembled in 1644, and concluded the peace of Westphalia in 1648. The subsequent congresses or conferences of most general interest have been those of the Pyrenees (1659), of Nimeguen (1676-'79), of Ryswick (1697), of Utrecht (1712-'13), of Aixla-Chapelle (1748), of Teschen (1779), of Rastadt (1797-'99), of Erfurt (1808), of Châtillon (1814), of Vienna (1814-15), of Aix-laChapelle (1818), of Carlsbad (1819) and Troppan (1820), of Laybach (1821), of Verona (1822), and of Paris (1856).-The term congress is also sometimes given to literary and scientific associations. It is also the designation of the combined senate and house of representatives which make the legislative branch of the government of the United States and the Spanish American republics, and of the house of representatives in the Spanish cortes. CONGREVE, William, an English dramatist, born at Bardsey, near Leeds, in February, 1670, died in London, Jan. 19, 1729. He received his early education in Ireland, and proposed to study law, but applied himself to writing for the stage. His first comedy, "The Old Bachelor," was received with great favor at the Drury Lane theatre in 1693. In the following year appeared "The Double Dealer;" in 1695, "Love for Love;" and in 1697, his tragedy of "The Mourning Bride." The opening line of the latter, "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," has often been quoted; and Dr. Johnson considered the description of a cathedral which occurs in the play as the most poetical in the whole range of the English drama. His writings have been severely censured for their licentiousness; but his comedies abound in witty dialogue and lively incident; they secured for him a high reputation, and the admiration of Dryden and of Pope, the latter of whom dedicated to him his translation of the Iliad. Disappointed at the unfavorable reception of his last comedy, "The Way of the World" (1700), and worried by a contest with Jeremy Collier in regard to the morality of the English stage, he became disgusted and ceased to write plays. The munificence of Lord Halifax had placed him in easy circumstances. He had appointments in the public service worth £600 a year, and afterward he 66 CONGREVE, Sir William, an English engineer, born at Woolwich, May 20, 1772, died in Toulouse, May 15, 1828. In 1804, being then an artillery officer, he invented the rocket known by his name, which was used for the first time against Boulogne in 1806. He rose to the rank of general of artillery, succeeded his father as superintendent of the royal laboratory at Woolwich, and was member of parliament successively for Gatton and Plymouth. He wrote an "Elementary Treatise on the Mounting of Naval Ordnance" (1812), and a Description of the Hydro-pneumatic Lock" for sluices and canals (1815). He invented improved processes of manufacturing gunpowder, amalgamating metals, and printing bank notes, and gave some attention toward a new mode of propelling ships. It is said that, foreseeing a war in the East, he submitted to the British government two plans, the one to defend, the other to reduce Constantinople, according as England might side with or against the Turks. Having become implicated in some questionable financial operations, he retired to the continent, where he remained till his death. CONI, or Cuneo. I. A province of Italy, in Piedmont, bordering on France and the provinces of Turin, Alessandria, Genoa, and Porto Maurizio; area, 2,755 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 616,817. About one half of the surface is level and the rest hilly and mountainous. The Ligurian and Maritime, and in the west the Cottian Alps, extend down into the province. It is traversed by the southern affluents of the Po, the most important of which is the Tanaro. Among the chief products are wheat, maize, mulberries, hemp, rice, and silk. In the mountains considerable cattle breeding and mining are carried on. The province is divided into the districts of Alba, Coni, Mondovi, and Sa luzzo. II. A city, capital of the province, situated 1,500 ft. above the sea, near the junction of the Gesso and Stura torrents, 46 m. S. of Turin, with which it is connected by railway; pop. in 1872, 22,882. Coni was originally a city of refuge. About the year 1100 Boniface, marquis of Savoy, conquered the region and established there the marquisate of Susa, but was not able to repress the outrages of the neighboring barons. The people soon rose against them, razed their strongholds, and built a town upon the site of the present city, which they called the "new city of Cuneo." In the 16th century the place was strongly fortified, and afterward underwent many sieges. In 1800, after the battle of Marengo, the French dismantled the fortress, and converted its site into promenades, and the town is now defended only by a wall. The cathedral is the ancient sanctuary of the "Madonna del Bosco," but has otherwise little interest. The church of San Francisco, belonging to a Capuchin convent, dates from the 12th century. There is also a handsome town hall, and other public buildings, and a pleasant public walk at the junction of the Gesso and Stura. There are considerable manufactures of silk and cotton, and the city is an agricultural mart for the surrounding region. About 10 m. S. W., in the the Val di Gesso, are the mineral baths of Valdieri, a place of much resort. CONIC SECTIONS, the name given to the sections formed by cutting a right cone by a plane. The term is also constantly used to denote the curves formed by the intersection of the cutting plane with the surface of the cone. If the plane be parallel to the base of the cone, the section is a circle, or through the vertex a point. If the angle between the cutting plane and the plane of the base is less than the angle between the side of the cone and the base, the section is an ellipse, or through the vertex a point. If the angle between the cutting plane and the plane of the base is equal to that between the side of the cone and the base, the section is a parabola, or through the vertex a straight line. If the angle between the cutting plane and the plane of the base is greater than that between the side of the cone and the base, the section is a hyperbola, or through the vertex a triangle. If we suppose two similar cones to be so placed that they touch each other only at their vertices, and their axes form one straight line, then in the case of the hyperbola the cutting plane will cut both cones, giving two curves, which however are generally regarded as two branches of one curve. The properties of the conic sections were investigated with great thoroughness by the ancient Greek mathematicians of the school of Plato. Four books by Apollonius of Perga on conic sections have come down to us in the original Greek, and three more in Arabic translations. They are wonderfully full and accurate, and have left comparatively little for modern geometers to do in the investigation of the properties of these curves. Conic sections were in his day merely speculative theories; but after the lapse of 18 centuries it was discovered by Kepler that the orbits of the planets are ellipses, and from that time nearly all the most brilliant applications of mathematics to natural science and to the practical arts have been possible only through the use of conic sections. What was pure geometrical speculation among the Greeks, has proved of much practical advantage to us, the inheritors of their knowledge. The curves are now generally treated by the methods of analytical geometry. Every conic section may be represented by an equation of the second degree, and conversely every equation of the second degree may be represented by a conie section. One of the best purely geometrical treatises on the subject is the "Conic Sections" of Prof. Jackson of Union college; and the most elaborate and at the same time clear and practical analytical treatise is the "Conic Sections" of Prof. Salmon of Dublin. CONINGTON, John, an English author, born at Fishtoft, near Boston, Aug. 10, 1825, died there, Oct. 25, 1869. He knew his letters when he was fourteen months old, and could read for his own amusement at three and a half years. Before he was six years old he was well acquainted with the historical parts of the Bible, and at eight he could repeat a considerable portion of the Æneid. In 1836 he was sent to the Beverley grammar school. where he remained two years, and at the age of 13 he entered the school at Rugby under Dr. Arnold. He was here distinguished for his remarkable memory and excellent scholarship, and after a course of five years was matriculated at Oxford in 1843. In 1847 he became a fellow of the university, and devoted himself chiefly to the study of the classics. He left Oxford in the following year, and established himself in London as a student of law. But he could not transfer his interest in the ancient poets to jurisprudence, and the experiment proved a failure. After six months' trial he returned to Oxford, and resumed his favorite pursuits. During his stay in London he formed a connection with the "Morning Chronicle," and for a time became a regular contributor to that journal. In 1857 he published an edition of the "Choephora" of Eschylus, having previously edited the " Agamemnon," with a translation into English verse which he afterward suppressed. He had also collected the materials for an edition of the "Supplices," which he was prevented from compiling by the plan for editing Virgil in conjunction with Mr. Goldwin Smith, and his subsequent appointment to the chair of Latin. The first volume of the edition of Virgil, containing the Eclogues and Georgies, was published in 1858, Mr. Smith having retired from the joint editorship. In 1863 he published a translation of the Odes of Horace, which was followed by the Eneid in 1866, by the last 12 books of the Iliad in 1868, and by the satires, epistles, and Ars Poetica of Horace in 1869, the last appearing at the time of his death. In 1872 was published his edition of the satires of Persius, with a translation and commentary. The version of the Eneid is in the octosyllabic measure familiar to the readers of Scott and Byron, and has acquired considerable popularity. An edition of Conington's "Miscellaneous Writings," edited by J. A. Symonds, with a "Memoir" by H. G. S. Smith, has been published in two volumes (London, 1872). CONIUM, a genus of umbelliferous plants, of which C. maculatum, the poisonous hemlock, is the best known species. This is an erect, branching, biennial plant, from 2 to 5 ft. high, with a tap-shaped root, smooth hollow stem, fern-like leaves, greenish white flowers, and globular crenellated fruit. The leaves when bruised emit a peculiar and disagreeable odor. It is a native of Europe, and now grows wild Conium maculatum. in the United States. It was used in medicine in the time of Dioscorides, and in all probability was the poison with which Socrates was put to death. Its activity depends upon a volatile alkaloid, conia, which is a poison of extreme energy. This alkaloid is contained in the leaves and seeds. The most efficient preparations of the drug are a fluid extract from the immature seeds and the succus. The latter is expressed from the green leaves and preserved by the addition of alcohol. The extract and tincture from the dried leaves are inert or nearly so. In medicinal doses the root is quite inert, and is not poisonous even when taken in quantities like a vegetable at an ordinary meal. The symptoms observed after a full dose (3 to 5 drachms of the British succus for a healthy adult) are giddiness, indistinctness of vision, and a feeling of weakness and languor. When poisoning takes place, the weakness becomes actual paralysis, which may cause death, with or without convulsions, by involving the respiratory muscles, the intelligence and sensibility being unaffected. The symptoms resemble those produced by woorara, the South American arrow poison, and are probably due to a similar condition, a paralysis of the motor nerves, especially of their terminations, the nervous centres being unaffected. Conium may be used in diseases characterized by excessive or irregular motor activity, such as convulsions from teething, chorea, shaking paralysis, whooping cough, and general nervous irritability. It seems also in some cases to have a decided effect in relieving pain. It was at one time supposed to retard the progress of cancer, but more exact observation has shown this notion to be unfounded. The alkaloid, conia, is rarely used in medicine. The dose of the fluid extract is 8 or 10 drops three times a day, increased to half a teaspoonful or more, if necessary. The succus of the British Pharmacopoeia may be. given in similar doses. CONNAUGHT, the westernmost of the four provinces of Ireland, comprising the counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Sligo; area, 6,614 sq. m.; pop. in 1841, 1,418,859; in 1851, 1,012,006; in 1861, 913,135; in 1871,' 845,993, of whom 803,532 were Roman Catholics. It is extremely rugged and mountainous except in the central part, and abounds in magnificent scenery, but the soil is the most barren in Ireland. A great part of the land consists of bog. It is drained by the Shannon and its affluents, and by numerous rivers of less note, which mostly take their rise from lakes and flow into the ocean. The coast is broken by many bays and inlets. The population is almost entirely of Celtic race, and the Irish language is still extensively spoken. The moral and physical condition of the people is lower than in the other provinces; abject poverty prevails, and the population is steadily decreasing. Galway, Sligo, and Ballina, all seaports, are the chief towns.-Connaught was divided into counties by Queen Elizabeth in 1590. CONNEAUT, a village and township on Conneaut creek, Ashtabula co., Ohio, 2 m. from Lake Erie, and near the border of Pennsylvania; pop. of the township in 1870, 3,010; of the village, 1,163. It is memorable as the landing place of the first settlers of northern Ohio in 1796, whence it is sometimes called the Plymouth of the Western Reserve. It has a good harbor, with a lighthouse, contains a number of churches, schools, &c., and is the centre of an active commerce. The surrounding country is extremely productive. The Lake Shore railroad passes through the village. CONNECTICUT, one of the thirteen original states of the American Union, and the smallest of the present states in area except Rhode Island and Delaware. It derives its name from its chief river, the Connecticut, meaning in the original Indian language the Long river. It is bounded N. by Massachusetts, E. by Rhode Island, S. by Long Island sound, and W. by New York. The northern line, as originally run, measured 88 m., viz., 41 m. E. of Connecticut river, and 47 m. W.; the eastern line, 45 m.; the western line, 72 m. by the indirect course near the southern extremity, or 68 in a direct line. The average length of the state is 86 m., and the average breadth 55 m. Its area is 4,750 sq. m. It lies between lat. 41° and 42° 3' N., and lon. 71° 55' and 73° 50' W. The state contains 8 counties and 166 towns. Of the former, Hartford, New Haven, New London, and Fairfield were incorporated in 1666, Windham in 1726, Litchfield in 1751, Middlesex and Tolland in 1785. Four counties border on Massachusetts and four on Long Island sound. The cities are: New Haven, pop. in 1870, 50,840; Hartford, 37,180; Bridgeport, 18,969; Norwich, 16,653; Waterbury, 10,826; New London, 9,576; and Middletown, 6,923. Connecticut until 1873 had two capitals, Hartford and New Haven, the legislature meeting alternately at each; but in that year it was PUBLICE State Seal of Connecticut. Of the total population in 1870, 265,270 were males and 272,184 females; 423,815 were native born, of whom 344,254 were born in the state, and 113,639 foreign born. Of the foreigners, 10,861 were born in British America, 13,001 in England, 70,630 in Ireland, 3,238 in Scotland, 12,443 in Germany, and 820 in France. The density of population was 113-15 to a square mile. There were 114,981 families with an average of 4.67 persons to each, and 96,880 dwellings with an average of 5:55 persons to each. The increase of population from 1860 to 1870 was 16-8 per cent. The number of male citizens 21 years old and upward was 127,499. There were in the state 125,409 persons between the ages of 4 and 16 years; the total number attending school was 99,663; 19,680, 10 years old and upward, were unable to read, and 29,616 could not write. Of the latter 5,678 were of native and 23,938 of foreign birth; 12,374 were males and 17,244 females; 27,941 were white and 1,675 colored; 2,661 were from 10 to 15 years old, 2,923 from 15 to 21, and 24,004 were 21 and over, of whom 8,990 were white males, 13,683 white females, 627 colored males, and 704 colored females. There were 4 adults unable to write to every 100 inhabitants. The number of paupers supported during the year ending June 30, 1870, was 1,728, at a cost of $189,918. Of the total number (1,705) receiving support June 1, 1870, 1,237 were natives and 468 foreigners. The number of persons convicted of crime during the year was 450. Of the total number (430) in prison June 1, 1870, 278 were of native and 152 of foreign birth. The state contained 252 blind, 475 deaf and dumb, 772 insane, and 341 idiotic. Of the total population 10 years of age and over (425,896) there were engaged in all occupations 193,421 persons, of whom 159,460 were males and 33,961 females; in agriculture, 43,653, including 18,934 agricul tural laborers, 23,704 farmers and planters, and 865 gardeners and nurserymen; in professional and personal services, 38,704, of whom 908 were clergymen, 15,104 domestic servants, 13,017 laborers (not specified), 391 lawyers, 680 physicians and surgeons, and 2,711 teachers (not specified); in trade and transportation, 24,720; in manufactures, mechanical and mining industries, 86,344, including 2,698 blacksmiths, 2,540 shoemakers, 7,130 carpenters and joiners, 9,057 cotton-mill operatives, 3,148 machinists, 4,515 mill and factory operatives (not specified), 1,279 sewing-machine factory operatives, and 4,499 woollen-mill operatives. According to the report of the state librarian to the general assembly, there were registered during the year ending Jan. 1, 1871, 13,136 births, an increase of 655 over the number registered in any previous year; ratio of births to the population 1 in 40.9. There were 105 illegitimate, 1 to each 125-1 births, and 141 plurality births. The number of marriages was 4,871, an increase of 117 over the previous year, the ratio being 1 in every 55-2 of the after much discussion decided that Hartford should be the capital. Many of the boroughs and villages of the state are extensively engaged in manufactures and commerce. The chief of these are New Britain, Danbury, Willimantic, Clinton, Sharon, Meriden, Collinsville, Bristol, Salisbury, Naugatuck, Norfolk, Greenville, and Windsor Locks. Stamford, Norwalk, Guilford, and Stonington have considerable coasting trade. The population of Connecticut in 1679 was 12,535; in 1756, 131,805; in 1762, 145,666; in 1774, 197,856; in 1782, 208,870. At subsequent decennial periods the population and the comparative rank of the state in the Union have been as follows: population. The number of deaths was 8,895, or 1 to every 60-5 of population; ratio of males to females, 109.9 to 100. Of the total number of deaths, 2,012 resulted from zymotic diseases, 1,088 from diseases of the nervous organs, 1,913 of the respirative, 322 of the circulative, and 389 of the digestive.-The face of the country is diversified by hills and valleys, which intersect the state from N. to S. and present beautiful and constantly varying scenery. The surface is rugged; the several ranges of mountains, or rather hills, which traverse the state, are continuations of those found in the states lying northward. The most westerly of these ranges is the Housatonic, which is rather a succession of hills than a continuous range. The Green mountain range, extending from Vermont and Massachusetts, terminates 2 m. N. W. of New Haven. Between this range and the Connecticut river is the Mt. Tom range, terminating at East Rock, a short distance N. E. of New Haven. The Blue hills of Southington, a part of this range, are 1,000 ft. high, and are said to be the most elevated land in the state. A fourth range on the E. side of the Connecticut terminates at East Haven. Three extensive valleys extend N. and S. across the state, viz. the Housatonic in the west, the Connecticut in the centre, and the Quinebaug in the east, all of which contain much fine agricultural land. The valley of the Connecticut varies in width from 10 to 16 m.-Connecticut has about 100 m. of seacoast on Long Island sound, from the mouth of the Pawcatuck river on the southeast to the mouth of the Byram on the southwest. The sound is 140 m. long and 24 m. wide in its broadest part, and is navigable by the largest ships. The coast is indented by numerous bays which afford excelnt harbors, the chief of which are at New Lon-state, which with its main branch, the Naugadon, New Haven, Stonington, Bridgeport, and Saybrook. The first named, capacious, deep, and not liable to be frozen over in winter, is one of the finest harbors in the country. There are other convenient harbors at Mystic, Niantic, Clinton, Guilford, Sachem's Head, Branford, Milford, Black Rock, Southport, Saugatack, Norwalk, Stamford, and Greenwich.Most of the state is drained by three principal rivers, with their branches: the Connecticut in the central, the Housatonic in the western, and the Thames in the eastern part. Besides these, there are various small streams of limited extent, which flow into Long Island sound. Of these the Quinepiack, which rises between Farmington and New Britain and empties into New Haven harbor, is the largest, and the only one which extends half across the state. The Connecticut, the longest river in New England, has a southerly course as far as Middletown, where turning abruptly it flows S. E. to its mouth at Saybrook on Long Island sound. With its branches it drains the central part of the state, including all of Hartford co. except Southington and the S. E. part of Farmington, all of Middlesex co. except Killingworth, the western part of Tolland and the N. E. part of tuck, and their branches, waters all of Litch- There |