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LEFT COLONEL 67 COLONNA claimed by the canal company. There is extensive harbor accommodation. The completion of the Panama canal made Colon an important commercial port. The United States Government has intro- duced modern systems of sanitation and sewers, which have made the city, for- merly very unhealthful, one of the healthiest places in the tropics. Pop. about 20,000. See Panama. COLONEL, the commander of a regi- ment, whether of cavalry, infantry, or artillery. Any rank above a Colonel con- stitutes the bearer of it a general officer. In the British service the rank of Colonel is honorary, except in the artillery and engineers, and is usually bestowed upon officers of superior rank and princes of the blood. In the United States army a Colonel is commander of troops below a Brigadier-General, and above a Lieuten- ant-Colonel. COLONIA, a department of Uruguay, on the Plata, below the Uruguay river. The uplands are barren, but in the fer- tile valleys and plains are numerous Eu- ropean colonies, engaged in agriculture and stock-raising. Area, 2,192 square miles; pop. (1917) 82,596. The capital, Colonia del Sacramento, on the Plata, about 100 miles above Montevideo, has a good harbor. COLONIAL ANIMALS, organisms which cannot be fairly regarded as uni- ties, but consist of numerous more or less similar individuals united in a common life. Among the usually single-celled simplest animals or protozoa, loose colo- nies not infrequently occur, and are of not a little importance as suggestions of the bridge between the single-celled and many-celled animals. Such colonies arise when the original cell, instead of repro- ducing discontinuously, retains its daugh- ter-cells in union with itself or with one another, just like the egg-cell of a higher animal. By sacrifice of individuality at the epoch of reproduction, a higher unity is formed. In the same way a simple cup-shaped sponge, by continuous bud- ding, forms a colony of similar forms, which may possess more or less distinct individuality. The common fresh-water Hydra, to mount a step higher, buds off daughter Hydrss, which remain for a while connected with the parent organ- ism and make it temporarily colonial. COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA, NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE, a women's patriotic organization, founded at Wilmington, Del., in 1892. Each of the original 13 colonies has a State soci- ety, as has also the District of Colum- bia. In many of the non-colonial States there are associated chapters. To be- come a member one must be especially invited, and must have one worthy an- cestor who was in the colonies by the year 1750. The object of the society is to preserve historical monuments and relics, erect memorials, and publish in- formation regarding American history. One of their important publications is "The Letters of William Pitt, Lord Chat- ham." COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA, SOCIETY OF, women's patriotic society founded at New York City in 1890, with the object of fostering a spirit of patri- otism, caring for the historical relics of colonial and Revolutionary times, and of celebrating the success of the American Revolution. To become a member one must have had an ancestor of distinction who resided in the colonies prior to the year in which the Declaration of Inde- pendence was issued. There are chap- ters of the society in New York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore, Paris, San Francisco, and Shreveport, La. COLONIAL WARS, SOCIETY OF, a! patriotic organization founded in New York City in 1892. There are many State societies with a general society made up of officers and delegates. Their object is to keep alive the memory of men and events of the colonial and Rev- olutionary times. They admit to mem- bership men who are descended from those who fought for or served in the establishment and preservation of the American colonies as a nation. In addi- tion to the collecting of many papers val- uable for throwing light upon colonial times they have erected valuable memo- rials to American heroes : one at Louis- burg on Cape Breton Island, one at Fort Oswego and Fort Ticonderoga, and a very striking monument at Lake George. COLONNA, a village in the former Papal states, which gave its name to one of the most powerful and celebrated aris- tocratic Roman families. The Colonna produced in the Middle Ages many dis- tinguished members, among whom, be- sides Pope Martin V., were: Colonna, Prospero, son of Antonio Colonna, prince of Salerno. He assisted Charles VIII. of France to conquer Na- ples, but subsequently aided in retaking it for the House of Aragon. He served under the great Gonsalvo, and was charged by him to conduct Cesare Borgia prisoner to Spain. In 1513 Prospero de- feated the Venetians near Vicenza, was captured by the French two years later, but won several victories over them _ in 1521 and the following years. He died in 1523.