Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/404

LEFT KEBAMICS 336 KERENSKY (1917). KERAMICS. See POTTERY. KERATIN, a term applied to the sub- stance which forms the chief constituent of hair, feathers, nails, claws, horns, and the epidermis and epithelium of the higher animals. KERATITIS, inflammation of the cornea, with congestion of the conjunc- tiva and sclerotic coat of the eye, which may go on to infiltration by pus, and de- struction of the sight by ulceration. Three forms are found — viz., syphilitic, strumous or scrofulous ophthalmia, and pustular corneitis. Keratitis, when as- sociated with suppuration, as in small- pox, and other affections, is called onyx, from its resemblance to the lunula of the nail. KERATONYXIS, a term applied by the German surgeons to the operation of couching, performed by introducing a needle into the cornea or horny coat of the eye, and depressing or breaking the opaque lens. KERBELA, a town and holy place in Asiatic Turkey; 60 miles S. W. of Bag- dad. The pilgrims number at least 200,000 annually. The sanctity of Ker- bela arises from the fact that it is built on the site of the battlefield on which Hussein, son of Ali and Fatima, lost his life (680) in attempting to maintain his right of succession to the califate. Every Shiite Moslem throughout the world who can afford it seeks sepulture in the holy ground. KEREN, a Hebrew trumpet. The word is sometimes used in the Bible as synonymous with shophar, and to it is sometimes affixed johel, rendered in the English version ram's horns. KERENSKY, ALEXANDER, a Rus- sian statesman. Born at Simbirsk where his father sent him to school. La- ter he studied law at the University of Petrograd and became after his gradua- tion commissioner of oaths at Petrograd. In his practice of law in the Russian courts he championed the cause of those accused of violating the autocratic rules of the bureaucracy. This local popu- larity made him a member of the Fourth Duma of 1916. As a member of the Duma he associated with the small La- bor following and became their leader. When in March 1917 the Czar abdicated Prince Lvoff hoped to win the support of the Socialists for his new government by giving Kerensky the post of Min- ister of Justice. The extreme socialists continuing their attacks upon the new government and their propaganda being especially harmful in the Army, Keren- sky was appointed to the difficult and trying post of Minister of War. During May and June he worked with almost incredible energy, making speeches by the score appealing to the workers not to allow the Germans to conquer their coun- try. His efforts resulted in an _ offen- sive movement by the Russians in Ga- licia on July 1, 1917, which for a time promised to restore the broken morale of the Army. But the change was only •ALEXANDER KERENSKY passing and the former soldiers of the Czar broke into a disgraceful rout within a few weeks. This failure caused a new change in the government at Petro- grad; Kerensky, the compromise be- tween the extreme socialists and the "cadets," becoming Premier. In spite of his efforts to revive Russia's fighting spirit the Bolsheviki gained perceptibly in popular favor largely because they demanded immediate peace. The down- fall of the new government was hastened by the attempt of General Korniloff,^ a Russian of the Czar's regime, to seize the power. Although Kerensky was able to frustrate this aim of his he did it only
 * 'The Undergraduate and His College"