Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/373

LEFT KALEVIPOEG 309 KALM site end chips of colored paper or glass are loosely held in compartments in which by reflection every time that the tube is revolved, and the relative position of the objects in the box altered, a different pattern is obsei'vable. The instrument, which was perfected by Sir David Brewster in 1817 (though first invented, under the name of the polyplatin, by Bap- tista Porta, in the 16th century) is occa- sionally used by designers of patterns for carpets, wall-papers, or calico and other dress materials. It is also useful as a scientific apparatus for illustrating the optical problem of the multiplication of images produced by reflection, when the object is placed between two plane mirrors inclined at different angles. It has likewise been a favorite toy from the year of its invention. Some varieties of the instrument are as follows : (1) Polyangular kaleidoscope: Here the reflecting mirrors are so arranged that their angle of inclination can be altered by screws attached to the outside of the tube at pleasure, and it is in this form that the instrument best illustrates the theory of reflection, and therefore is largely used for scientific instruction. (2) Polycentral kaleidoscope: Here more than two mirrors are employed; but not ordinarily more than four. They may be of trapezoidal shape, and form a hollow pyramid, or rectangular, forrning a hollow cube. By this means the images produced by reflection of the objects in the box are greatly multiplied and more complicated patterns formed. Dr. Roget was the inventor of this in- strument. (3) Telescopic kaleidoscope: Here the object box is removed and its place taken by a tube capable of being lengthened or shortened by an external screw, and fitted at its end with a double convex lens. The instrument can thus reflect any objects (trees, flowers, etc.) which are brought into its focus. It was in- vented by Sir David Brewster. KALEVIPOEG (ka-la've-pog) ("The Son of Kalev"), the national poem of the Esthonians, consisting of 20 cantos of popular songs collected into a continuous epic by Kreutzwald (1857-1859). KALGAN (kal-gan'), a Chinese town, 110 miles N. W. of Peking, built opposite the passage through the Great Wall; one of the chief emporiums of the Chi- nese tea trade with Mongolia and Si- beria, about 21,500,000 pounds being ex- ported from here annually. Textiles and smoked provisions are imported from Siberia and Russia. Pop. about 80,000. KALI (ka'li), in botany, the saltwort, Salsola kali. Also a name given by the Arabs to a plant, Salsola kali, which grew near the seashore, and from whose ashes they extracted a substance which they called alkali, for making soap. The term kali is used by German chemists to denote caustic potash. KALI. See Kalee. KALINJAR, a hill-fortress and hill- shrine in the northwestern provinces of India; on an isolated rock (1,230 feet high), the termination of a spur of the Vindhya Mountains, overlookiii^ the plains of Bundelkhand. The records of the place go back to a period of great antiquity, the name Kalinjar occurring in the "Mahabharata" as that of a city even at that time famous. The whole rock is thickly studded with ruins of ancient Hindu edifices and other works, including gateways, temples, tanks, caves, statues, inscriptions, etc., the most celebrated of all being the remains of the superb temple of Nil Kantha Mahadeo. KALISZ (kalish), the capital of a province (area 4,377 square miles; pop. about 1,400,000) of the same name in Poland; on the frontier river, the Prosna, 132 miles W. S. W. of Warsaw, with manufactures of cloth. The "Kalisia" of Ptolemy, it is one of the oldest towns in Poland. On Oct. 29, 1706, King Augustus of Poland here routed the Swedes, and on Feb. 13, 1813, the Rus- sians defeated the French and Saxons, Here, too, was signed, Feb. 28, 1813, the treaty of alliance between Prussia and Russia. Pop. about 55,000. It was cap- tured by German troops after a hard fight in 1914. KALIUM, another name for potas- sium, whence its symbol K is derived. KALIYTJGA (ka-le-yo'ga), in Hindu mythology, the last of the four Hindu periods contained in the great Yuga, and corresponding to the "iron age" of classi- cal mythology; it comprised a period of 432,000 solar-sidereal years. KALKI (kalld), in Hindu mythology, the 10th avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. Nine are believed to be past; this one is future, and many Hindus look forward to it as Christians do to the Second Ad- vent of our Lord. About 1845 a sect sprang up in the Nagpore country called Kalankis. They believed the 10th avatar to have come. They soon died away. KALM, PETER, a Swedish botanist; born in Finland, in 1715; was Professor of Botany in Abo, and wrote "A Journev to North America" (1753-1761), etc. He died in Abo, Finland, Nov. 16, 1779.