Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/89

LEFT TTMBALLAH 71 UMBRELLA BIBD hands wreathed into a covering round her loins — the only covering she has in the image constructed for the puja. The worship of Kali (the Black), to which the narrative (of her victory over Chanda and Munda) has given rise, is considered by the Hindus themselves as embodying the principle of "tamas," or darkness. She is represented as delight- ing in the slaughter of her foes, though capable of kindlier feeling to her friends. She is, however, styled the Black Goddess of Terror, frequenting cemeteries, and presiding over terrible sprites, fond of bloody sacrifices ; and her worship taking place in the darkest night of the month. TJMBALLAH, or AMBALA, the chief town of the district and the division of the same name, in Punjab, British India; 120 miles N. N. W. of Delhi. It is a walled town with brick houses, and is an important military station and the railway station for Simla. It was the scene of the great "durbar" of 1869, when Lord Mayo in much state received Shere Ali, the late Ameer of Afghanistan. Pop. about 85,000. The district of Umballah, which lies at the foot of the Himalayas between the Sutlej and Jumna rivers, has an area of 2,621 square miles. The crops are wheat, millets, rice, grain, Indian corn, and barley. UMBER, a well-known pigment of an olive-brown color in its raw state, but much redder when burnt. It consists of an ocherous earth containing manganese, is durable, has a good body, and is useful in oil and water-color painting. It occurs either naturally in veins or beds, or is prepared artificially from various admix- tures. That which is brought from Cy- prus, under the name of Turkish umber, is the best. It is of a brown citrine color, semi-opaque, has all the properties of good ocher, is perfectly durable both in water and oil, and one of the best drying colors we possess. It injures no other good pigment with which it may be mixed. Also, a variety of peat or brown coal occurring near Cologne, used as a pigment and for the adulteration of snuff. In mineralogy, a clay-like sub- stance of varying shades of a brown color, consisting essentially of a hydrated silicate of alumina mixed with varying proportions of iron and manganese ox- ides. Used as a pigment. UMBILICAL CORD, or NAVEL STRING, the bond of communication be- tween the foetus (which enters at the um- bilicus, or naval) and the placenta, which is attached to the inner surface of the maternal womb. It consists of the um- bilical vein lying in the center of the two umbilical arteries winding from left to right round the vein. Contrary to the usual course, the veins convey arterial blood to the foetus, and the arteries re- turn venous blood to the placenta. These vessels are embodied in a yellow gelatin- ous matter, known from its first descri- ber (in 1659) as Wharton's gelatine. Nervous filaments have been traced into the cord ; but the presence of lymphatics is doubtful. The whole is invested by a membrane (the amnion), and its ordi- nary length is about 20 inches. As soon as a child is born, and its respiration fairly established, the umbilical cord is tied, and divided near the navel, which spontaneously closes, the fragment of cord dying away. UMBILICAL HERNIA, a hernia which protrudes through the umbilical opening in the middle line at the umbili- cus. It is most commonly met with in infants and in women advanced in life, especially in obese subjects. UMBRELLA, a light frame covered with silk, cotton, alpaca, or other fabric, and held above the head as a protection against sun or rain. The use of the um- brella came to us from the East, where it has been in use from remote times, and where it is considered as a symbol of royalty or dignity. As a defense against rain it was not generally used in the Occident till the middle of the 18th cen- tury. In zoology, the bell-shaped swimming organ of the Lucet'Tiarida, akin to the nectocalyx of the Medusidas, but without a velum. In zoology and palaeontology, Chinese umbrella shell; a genus of Ple^^' rohranchidx, with six recent species, from the Canaries, Mediterranean, India, China, and the Sandwich Islands. Shell small, depressed, and limpet-like, marked by concentric lines of growth; inner sur- face with a central colored and striated disk, surrounded by a continuous irregu- lar muscular impression. Animal with a very large foot, deeply notched in front, gill forming a series of plumes beneath the shell in front and on the right side. Fossil species four, from the Oolite on- ward of the United States, Sicily, and Asia. UMBRELLA BIRD, in ornithology, the Cephalopterus ornatus, from Peru. It is about the size of a crow, with deep black plumage; the head is adorned with a large spreading crest, which arises from a contractile skin, and capable of being erected at will; the shafts of the crest-feathers are white, and the plumes glossy blue, hair-like and curved outward at the tips. "When the crest is laid back the shafts form a compact white mass, sloping up from the back of the head;