pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
CHIMAERA, in fabulous history, a celebrated monster, sprung from Echidna and Typhon. It had three heads, namely, that of a lion, that of a goat, and that of a dragon, and continually vomited forth flames. The fore parts of its body were those of a lion, the middle was that of a goat, and the hinder parts were those of a dragon. It generally lived in Lycia about the reign of Jobates, by whose orders Bellerophon, mounted on the horse Pegasus, overcame it. This fabulous tradition is explained by the recollection that there was in Lycia a burning mountain, whose top was the resort of lions, on account of its desolate wilderness; while the middle, which was fruitful, was covered with goats; and the marshy ground at the bottom abounded with serpents. Belleroplion is said to have conquered the chi-niaera, because he destroyed the wild beasts on that mountain, and rendered it habitable. Plutarch says, that it was the captain of some pirates who adorned their ships with the images of a lion, a goat, and a dragon.

By a chimoera, among the philosophers, is understood a mere creature of the imagination, composed of such contradictions and absurdities as cannot possibly anywhere exist except in the fancy.
CHIMBORAZO, a mountain of Columbia, in the province of Quito. It is the most elevated summit of the Andes, rising to the height of 20,100 feet above the level of the sea, and to about 2500 feet from the top downwards covered with perpetual snow. At certain seasons of the year it presents a magnificent spectacle when seen from the shores of the Pacific Ocean. After the long winter rains, the atmosphere becomes remarkably clear; and through this transparent medium its enormous snowy summit is seen projected upon the deep azure of the equatorial sky. The view is in the highest degree imposing and sublime. Humboldt and Bonpland ascended this mountain in 1802, to the height of 19,300 feet by barometrical measurement, a greater height than was ever before attained by man.
CHIMES of a clock, a kind of periodical music, produced at equal intervals of time, by means of a particular apparatus added to a clock.
CHINA- Root, in the Materia Medica, the root of a species of Smilax, brought both from the East and West Indies, and thence distinguished into oriental and occidental. Both sorts are longish, full of joints, of a palc-reddish colour, with no smell, and very little taste. The oriental, which is the most esteemed, is considerably harder and paler coloured than the other. Such should be chosen as is fresh, close, heavy, and upon being chewed appears full of a fat, unctuous juice. It is generally supposed to promote insensible perspiration and the urinary discharge, and by its unctuous quality to obtund acrimonious juices. China-root was first brought into Europe in the year 1535, and used as a specific against venereal and cutaneous disorders. With this view it was made use of for some time, but it has long since given place to more powerful medicines.

China- Ware. See Porcelain.
CHINABALABARAM, a town of Hindustan, in the territories of the rajah of Mysore. Between sixty and seventy years ago it belonged to an independent polygar chief, but was taken by Hyder Ali about the year 1759. During the wars in which Lord Cornwallis was engaged it was taken possession of by the British forces, and the authority restored to the Hindu family; in revenge for which the town was in a great part destroyed by Tippoo Sultan. From this calamity it is now fast recovering, and already contains from 400 to 500 houses, of which one fourth are occupied by Brahmins. The neighbouring country produces abundance of sugar, which is carried to the town, and there refined into sugar candy, equal to that of China, or into clayed sugar, which is very white and fine, and is held in great estimation all over the peninsula. Long. 77. 55. Ľ. Lat. 13. 26. N.
CHINAPATAM, a town of Hindustan, in the territories of the rajah of Mysore. It is an open town, large and handsome, containing about 1000 houses, with a handsome stone fort at a little distance. Not far from this place is Pattala Durg, one of the horrid prisons in which Tippoo was wont to immure those unfortunate wretches who incurred his displeasure, and where death soon terminated their sufferings. The town has a manufactory of glass, and another of steel wires for the strings of musical instruments, which are reckoned the best in India. A family at this place had the art of making very fine white sugar, which was kept for the sole use of the court at Seringapatam. It is forty miles north-east of Seringapatam. Long. 77. 24. E. Lat. 12. 39. N.
CHINCHILLA, a small city of Spain, in the province of Murcia, containing 4624 inhabitants. It is celebrated on account of a great fair held annually, in a large public building at Albacete, a village near to it. The plains of Almanza adjoin it, on which was fought the famous battle which established the Bourbons on the throne of Spain. A pyramid raised on the spot stands to commemorate this event. Lat. 38. 48. N.
CHINCHOOR, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Aurungabad, pleasantly situated on the left bank of the Moria, on the road from Bombay to Poonah. Its population is said to amount to 5000, including 300 Brahmin families. It has the appearance of a commercial, industrious town, containing many good houses and well supplied shops. It is indebted for its prosperity to its being the residence of Chintamun Deo, believed by a great proportion of the Mahratta nation to be an incarnation of their favourite deity Goonputty. The Deo’s palace is ah enormous pile of building, without the slightest pretensions to elegance, situated near the river. 14ere ∙is earned on all the disgusting worship of this supposed deity. The floors are spread over with sacred cow-dung, and the apartments crowded with well-fed Brahmins. (Lord Valentia’s Voyages and Travels ; Maria Graham’s Journal of α Residence in India, &c.)
CHINGLEPUT, the chief town and fortress of a district of the same name. The town is situated on the northeast bank of the Paiar river, thirty-nine miles southsouth-west from Madras, and was formerly the residence of the Hindu chief. In 1751 Chingleput was taken by the French, and was retaken in 1752 by Captain Clive. During the wars of the British with Hyder Ali, it was one of the few strongholds which withstood his power, and afforded a secure refuge to the natives. In 1780, after the defeat of Colonel Baillie, the army of Sir Heetor Munro sought protection under its walls. It is now the residence of the British civil establishment, namely, the judge, collector, &c. Long. 79. 55. E. Lat. 12. 56. N. The district of Chingleput, formerly denominated the Jaghire, now forms the collcctorship of Chingleput, situated on the seashore, between Madras and the Palar river. Till about the end of the seventeenth century this territory was governed by a Hindu chief. It was then conquered by the Mahommedans, and annexed to the government of Arcot. This tract of territory was obtained in 1750 and 1763, from the nabob of Arcot. In 1780 it came under the management[7:6:589] of the Madras presidency. It was twice invaded by Hyder Ali, in 1768 and in 1780, when he so ravaged it with fire and sword, that at the termination of the war in 1784 it presented a perfect desert. Famine succeeded to the ravages of war, and the country was nearly depopulated. In 1790 it was placed under the management of British collectors, and the country is said to be gradually recovering. The population in 1822 amounted to 363,129. Besides Madras, the principal towns are Chingleput and Conjeveram.
CHINIROPOORAM, a town of Hindustan, in the territories of the rajah of Mysore. It has no considerable trade, though it has a weekly fair. The town, fort, and suburbs contain above 900 houses, of which sixty are inhabited by Brahmins, and 200 by the garrison. The fort is well built, of stone and lime; and has a glacis ditch, and walls built of the same materials. It is thirty-nine miles north-west from Seringapatam. Long. 76.40. E. Lat. 12. 53. N.
CHINNACHIN, a town of Northern Hindustan, in the district of Jcmlah, of which it is the capital, and tributary to the rajah of Nepaul. It is situated in a valley bounded on the north side by the Himalaya mountains, between the Chinnachin and Kurnald rivers. This town is the frontier station of Nepaul, and is the best route for supplying the north-west part of Thibet with goods. It is a month’s journey for the caravan from Catmandoo. Long. 81. 35. E. Lat. 30. 29. N.
CHINNOR, a musical instrument among the Hebrews, consisting of thirty-two chords.
CHINON, an arrondissement of the department of the Indre and Loire, in France, extending over 1060 square miles. It is divided into eight cantons, and these into 119 communes, containing 90,314 inhabitants. The chief city, of the same name, is on the right bank of the Bienne, is fortified, and contains 840 houses, and 6016 inhabitants, employed in various trades, chiefly arising from the productions of the neighbourhood, such as silk, wine, liquorice, and similar products. Long. 0. 5. 40. E. Lat. 47. 11.4. N.
CHINSURA, the principal Dutch settlement in Bengal, situated on the western bank of the Bhagarutty or Hooghly river, twenty-four miles above Calcutta. The Dutch erected a factory here in 1656, on a clear and healthy spot of ground, much preferable to that on which Calcutta is situated, and soon attracted a considerable number of natives to settle in the vicinity. About thirty-five years after this they fell under the displeasure of one of the native potentates, who sequestrated their property and prohibited their traffic. In the year 1686 all their factories were re-established, and their trade continued to flourish for a long period. At the time when the English were contending for the sovereignty of Bengal, the Dutch withheld the duties on their commerce, on which account Chinsura was blockaded in the year 1769, by an army commanded by one of the Nawab’s officers, though the country was then in possession of the English. In the year 1795, when Holland became a province of France, the British offered to retain Chinsura for the stadtholder; but the governor having declined to surrender, the settlement was reduced by a detachment from the military stations at Barrackpore, and was occupied by a British garrison during the whole war, but restored to the Dutch at the general peace of 1814. The town, which extends for half a mile along the banks of the river, is neatly built, but with great solidity, of brick and mortar. The houses are plastered with fine lime, and have flat roofs and green Venetian windows. The Dutch maintain no military establishment here, the ascendency of the English being now so decided in India. They have factories at Patna, Dacca, and other places, which are dependent on Chinsura. Long. 88. 28. E. Lat. 22. 52. N.
CHINUUB, or Chunaub, the ancient Acesines, a river which has its source near the eastern hills of Cashmere, in the province of Lahore, near the sources of the Ravey, the Beyah, the Sutlege, and the Jumna. Its general course is to the south-west, and remarkably straight. After leaving Jummoo, it flows through a flat country, gradually approaching the Behut, with which it unites near Jehung-sect∙ The junction· is effected with great noise and violence; and this circumstance, Rennell remarks, being noted both by the historians of Alexander and Timur, fixes the identity of the spot. The space between the Chinuub and the Bchut is nowhere more than thirty geographical miles within the limits of the Punjab. About ninety miles from its source, and not far from the Cashmere Hills, it is seventy yards broad, and very rapid. The length of its course, including its windings, is estimated at four hundred and twenty miles.
CHIO, or Chios, an Asiatic island lying near the coast of Natolia, opposite to the peninsula of Ionia. See Scio.
CHIONE, in fabulous history, was daughter of Daedalion, of whom Apollo and Mercury both became enamoured. To enjoy her company, Mercury lulled her to sleep with his caduceus; but,- under the form of an old woman, Apollo, in the night, obtained the same favours as Mercury. From these embraces Chione became mother of Philammon and Autolycus; the former of whom, being son of Apollo, became an excellent musician; while the latter, no doubt from his paternity also, became equally notorious for those robberies of which his father Mercury was supposed to be the patron. Chione became so proud of her commerce with the gods, that she even preferred her beauty to that of Juno; for which impious arrogance she was killed by the queen goddess, and changed into a hawk. There is another personage of the same name, who was daughter of Boreas and Orithia, and had Eumolpus by Neptune. She threw her son into the sea, but he was preserved by his father.
CHIPPENHAM, a market and borough town in the hundred of the same name, in the county of Wilts. It is ninety-seven miles from London, in a beautiful district, watered by the river Avon. It is a place of considerable woollen trade. The market on Saturday is well supplied. It is an ancient corporation, endowed with considerable estates. The inhabitants amounted in 1811 to 3410, in 1821 to 3201, and in 1831 to 4333.
CHIPPING-NORTON, a market and borough town of the hundred of Chadlington, in Oxfordshire. It is governed by two bailiffs and twelve burgesses, and formerly sent two members to parliament. Near to it are the remains of a druidical temple. The church is a fine structure, remarkable for its windows, some brass monuments, and its lofty tower. It is seventy-three miles from London. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1812, in 1811 to 1975, and in 1821 to 2640.
CHIPPING-ONGAR, a market-town in the hundred of the same name in Essex, twenty-one miles from London. Here is a castle, built originally by the Romans, upon a mount. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 595, in 1811 to 678, and in 1821 to 763. The market is held on Saturday.
CHIPPING-SODBURY, a market-town in the hundred of Grumbald’s Ash, in the county of Gloucester, 113 miles from London, and ten from Bristol. It was formerly a borough, but its charter was revoked at the requisition of the inhabitants. The market is held on Saturday. The population amounted in 1801 to 1090, in 1811 to 1124, and in 1821 to 1168.
CHIQUITOS, a province of Bolivia, in the department of Santa Cruz. The country is mountainous and marshy; but some portions of it are fertile, and these produce a variety of fruits, of which the varilla, and a peculiar species of the cocoa-nut, are the most common.
CHIROGRAPH was anciently a deed which, requiring a counterpart, was engrossed twice on the same piece of parchment counterwise, leaving a space between, in which was written Chirograph, and through the middle of which the parchment was cut, sometimes straight, sometimes in-dentedly, and á moiety given to each of the parties. This was afterwards called dividenda and chartae divisa, and was the same with what we now call charter-party. The first use of these chirographs in England was in the time of Henry III.
CHIROMANCY, a species of divination drawn from the lines and lineaments of a person’s hand, by which means it is sometimes pretended that the dispositions may be discovered.
CHIRONOMY, in Antiquity, the art of representing any past transaction by the gestures of the body, more especially by the motions of the hands. This formed part of a liberal education; it received the approbation of Socrates, and was even ranked by Plato among the political virtues.
CHIROTONY, among ecclesiastical writers, denotes the imposition of hands used in conferring priestly orders. It is proper to remark, however, that originally chirotony was a method of electing magistrates, by holding up the hands.
CHISEL, an instrument much used in sculpture, masonry, joinery, carpentry, and other handicrafts.
CHISME, or Cisme, the ancient Cystus, a sea-port of Anatolia, in Asiatic Turkey, separated by a narrow strait from the island of Scio. It is distinguished by a victory gained by the Russian over the Turkish fleet in 1770, and in ancient times by that gained over Antiochus by the Persians, in the 191st year before the Christian era. It is forty miles north of Smyrna.
CHITLONG, a small town of Northern Hindustan, consisting of a few brick and tiled houses, two or three stories high. It is said to have been formerly more flourishing; and is the first place that has the appearance of a town to the traveller coming from the south. The climate, owing to the height of the ground, is cold; and ice and snow are frequently seen. Long. 85. 52. E. Lat. 27. 29. N.
CHITORE, or Chetore, a Rajpoot district of Hindustan, in the province of Ajmeer, situated to the south-west of Joudpoor, and bordering on Gujerat and Malwah. The country is subject to the ranah of Chitore or Odeypoor, whose family is the most ancient and honourable of all the Rajpoot chiefs, though they at present possess little power. In modern times, the town of Odeypoor has become the capital of the district. The territory of the Odeypoor ranah is bounded on the north by the Ajmeer district and the chiefship of Kishenagur, on the north-west and west by Joudpoor, on the south and south-east by the province of Malwah, on the south-west by Gujerat, and on the north-east by Kotah and Bundee. The present territories of the prince are estimated at about seventy miles in length by a hundred and ten in breadth. The country is in general mountainous; but valleys are interspersed of great fertility, which yield sugar, indigo, tobacco, wheat, rice, and barley. The country contains also iron and sulphur mines. The lands arc all held on feudal principles, every Rajpoot being a soldier, and holding his lands by the tenure of military service. The cultivators of the soil are all Hindus, of the tribes of Brahmin, Jaut, Bheel, and Rajpoot. Owing to the want of good pasturage, the cattle are smaller than in the neighbouring countries. They also breed a number of sheep and camels. The revenues of the district have been much diminished, owing to the frequent incursions of the Mahrattas.

Chitore, or Chetore, the capital of the above-mentioned district, and a celebrated fortress, was formerly the capital of the ranah of Odeypoor. It is situated on the top of a high and rugged mountain, and is considered as a place of great strength. In 1303 it was taken by theMa-hommedans, the ranah’s son-in-law defending it to the last extremity; and having put to death his women and children, he rushed out with his garrison, and fell in the midst of the enemy. The Mahommedans retained possession of it till the year 1345, when it was given over to the rajah of Jalore, from whom it came again into the possession of the former ranah’s family; and in 1567 it was taken by the armies of the emperor Acbar. The place was garrisoned by 8000 disciplined Rajpoots, who made an obstinate defence; and when at last driven to despair, they sacrificed their women and children, and were trampled to death by the war-elephants introduced into the place by the emperor. It was again taken by the Moguls in 1680, during the reign of Aμrungzebe, when sixty-three Hindu temples were destroyed, either in the, fort or town. In the succeeding reign the ranah again got possession, and retained it till the end of last century,, when it was again surprised by a rebellious chieftain. In 1790 it was taken by Mudajee Šcindia, and restored to^its lawful possessor on the payment of an annual stipend of a large sum of money.
CHITTAPET, a small town of Hindustan, in the Carnatic, seventy-five miles north-west from Madras, and fifty north-west from Pondicherry. It sustained several sieges during the wars in the Carnatic, and was finally taken by Colonel Coote after the battle of Wandiwash. Long. 79. 26. E. Lat. 12. 25. N.
CHITTLEDROOG, a town and celebrated fortress of Hindustan, and capital of a district belonging to the rajah of Mysore. The fort is situated on a rock which is surrounded by walls, and is considered as impregnable. Around it are low, rocky, bare hills. It was besieged without effect by Hyder Ali in 1776; but three years after, having bribed the Mahommedan part of the garrison, he got possession of the fortress on his own terms, at which time the town was very large. Ever since, however, it has been on the decline, though the fortress is one of the strongest in India.

The plain of Chittledroog is ten miles from north to south, and four from east to west. It consists of a black soil, called eray, which, say the natives, is always the sign of an unhealthy country. Water is scarce throughout the country; and it must be drawn from very deep wells, where it is of an indifferent quality. This may be in part attributed to the dirty practices of the Hindus, who wash their clothes, bodies, and cattle, in the very tanks or wells from which they take their own drink. At the conclusion of the last war with Tippoö in 1799, the Mysore country was in many districts laid desolate; Chittledroog in particular expèrienced the calamitous effects of the contest, and a great proportion of its inhabitants was in consequence obliged to fly. The travelling distance of the town from Seringapatam is 115 miles, and it is 335 miles from Madras. (Buchanan’s Journey from Madras, &c. ; Rennell’s Memoir of a Map of Hindustan; Wilks’ History of the South of India, &c.)
CHITTOR, a town and fortress of Hindustan, situated on the western frontier of the Carnatic, eighty miles east from Madras. It was, in 1721, the residence of the military commander of the district, Tahir Khan, and was situated among mountains, and well fortified. It was selected by the nabob Anwarraddeen Khan as a place of [7:6:592]refuge in times of danger. It was occupied by his younger son, with several females of the family, when it was assaulted and taken in 1780 by Hyder Ali. It was afterwards retaken by Sir Eyre Coote. In 1801 it was made over to the British; and the polygars, who were extremely turbulent and refractory, were reduced by a military force sent against them in 1804. Long. 79. 10. E. Lat. 13. 12. N.
CHITWAY, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Malabar. It is situated on an island twenty-seven miles long, and in some places five miles broad, and is separated from the continent by inlets of salt water, which form the northern point of an excellent inland navigation. The soil is in general poor; but it produces some rice, and a number of cocoa-nut trees, which grow on the shores. The whole is rented from the Company by the Cochin rajah for 30,000 rupees, but he is allowed no criminal jurisdiction over the inhabitants. Long. 76. 12. E. Lat. 10. 23. N.
CHIUSA, a town of Italy, in the province of Coni, in the kingdom of Sardinia. It stands on the river Pesia, near the ruins of the ancient castle of Mirabella. It contains 6100 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the spinning and weaving of silk.
CHIVA. See Khiva.
CHIVASSO, a city of Italy, in the province of Turin and kingdom of Sardinia, near to where the Oreo falls into the Po. It is surrounded with fortifications, and contains several churches and monasteries, with 5450 inhabitants, supported chiefly by trading in corn and cattle. Long. 7. 45. E∙ Lat. 45. 3. N.
CHIUN, or Ciievan, in Hebrew antiquity, a word which we meet with in the prophet Amos, cited in the Acts of the Apostles. St Luke reads the passage thus: “Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them.” The import of the Hebrew is, “Ye have borne the tabernacle of your kings, and the pedestal (chiun) of your images, the star of your gods, which ye made to yourselves.” The Septuagint in all probability read lie-pliam or Pevan, instead of Claun or Chexan, and took the pedestal for a god. Some say that the Septuagint, who made their translation in Egypt, changed the word Chiun into that of Pemphan, because they had the same signification. M. Basnage, in his book entitled Jeινish Antiquities, after having discoursed a good deal upon Chiun, or Ilemphan, concludes that Moloch was the sun, and Chion, Chiun, or Lłemphan, the moon.
CHLOEIA, in Antiquity, a festival celebrated at Athens in honour of Ceres, to whom, under the name Xλo>j, or grass, they sacrificed a ram.
CHLORINE. See Chemistry.