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LEFT COMPLEMENT 93 COMPRESSED AIE COMPLEMENT, of an angle, what it lacks to make up 90° ; of an arc, to make up a quadrant; and hence, in astronomy, the complement of a star is its zenith- distance. In music, two intervals, which together make up an octave, are called complementary. In arithmetic, if any number is subtracted from the next higher power of 10, the result is its complement. Thus 7 and 3 are comple- mentary; so are 63 and 37; 881 and 119; and 1.4384386 is the complement to 8.5615614. In chromatics, red is the complement of green, orange of blue, and yellow of violet. COMPLEXION, a word formerly ap- plied to the temperament, and natural disposition of the body. The human skin was supposed to con- sist of only two parts — the cuticle, or epidermis, and the cutis, or real skin; but Malpighi showed that between these two was a soft gelatinous cellular text- ure, which he distinguished by the title rete mucosum. On this discovery that anatomist offered a suggestion as to the color of negroes. The rete mucosum is of very different color in different na- tions; and the difference of its color corresponds so exactly with the differ- ence of their complexions, that there can be little doubt that it is the principal seat of the color of the human complexion. COMPLINE, the last of the daily canonical hours in the Roman Catholic breviary; the complement of the Vespers or evening office. COMPOSIT.ar, an order of plants, founded in 1751 by Linnasus, and adopted in 1763 by Adanson. It contains many plants separated from others by char- acters so obvious that it still stands with essentially the same limits as those as- signed it in the infancy of botany. Lindley altered the name of the order to AsteracesB. De Candolle, Lindley, etc., divided it thus — Sub-order 1, TnbuH- florae: Tribe (1) Vemoniacese, (2) Eupatoriacese, (8) Asterioidese, (4) Sen- ecioidese, (5) Cynarese. Sub-order 2, Labiatiflorae : ^ Tribe (1) Mutisiaceae, (2) Nassauviacese. Sub-order 3, Ligidi- florse: Tribe Cichoracese. The eight tribes now mentioned were first properly discriminated by Lessing, who showed that each had a different stigma. COMPOSITE ORDEB, a term denoting the last of the first orders of architec- ture. As its name implies, it is com- posed of two orders, the Corinthian, and the Ionic. In detail, the Composite is richer than the Corinthian, but it is less light and delicate in its proportions. Its architecture has only two facias, and the cornice varies from the Corinthian in having double modillions. The column is 10 diameters high. The principal an- cient examples of this order are the tem- ple of Bacchus at Rome, the arch of Septimius Severus, that of Titus, and the baths of Diocletian. COMPOSITION, an arrangement which a bankrupt or person in pecuniary diffi* culties makes with his creditors, and by which he arranges to pay them a certain proportion only of the debts due. COMPOSTS, in agriculture, are mix- tures of various fertilizing substances. COMPOUND ANIMAL, an animal which, originally simple, develops into a few or many others, which retain physi- cal connection with the parent instead of being sooner or later detached in the normal way. COMPOUND FRACTURE, a fracture in which the bone is broken and the sur- rounding integuments have been pierced, making a wound from the external sur- face to the seat of the fracture. COMPOUNDING OF FELONY, the ac- cepting of a consideration for forbear- ing to prosecute; or the agreeing to re- ceive one's goods again from a thief on condition of not prosecuting. This is an offense punishable by fine and im- prisonment. COMPOUND SPIRITS, rectified spirits to which has been added one or more flavoring ingredients. They are called also compounds. The chief compounds are gin, British rum, British brandy, and some grades of American whisky, cor- dials and liquors. COMPOUND STEAM-ENGINE, a form of steam-engine originally patented by Hornblower in 1781, in which steam at a relatively greater pressure was al- lowed CO expand in a small cylinder, and then escaping into a larger cylinder, to expand itself against a larger piston. Compound engines are of two classes, which may be called compound and in- dependent compound engines. The former are those in which the cylinders are near each other, and the pistons commence their respective strokes simul- taneously or nearly so, the steam ex- panding from one cylinder direct to the other through as small a passage as con- venient. To this class belong most land engines, and the compound marine with cranks at about 130°. COMPRESSED AIR. atmospheric air compressed by means of pumps, etc., and used in driving stationary and loco- motive engines and excavating machines ; as also in working pneumatic dispatch- 7— Vol. Ill— Cyc