Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/59

 KER

ef yertftletn, which was the Kebleh of the Jews and Cbri- Jiiuns. In courfeof time, however, being willing to bring his own, off from any Communication in Matters of Reli- gion with the Jews and Chrjfihns, he appointed them* in the Alcoran, to turn themfelves, at Prayer, towards the Temple of Mecca, from which time they called thofe two Temples the Kebletan, or two Keblehs. Ricattt adds, that 'tis not the Temple of Mecca, properly {peaking, that the Turks call Kebleb, but rather the large fquare Tower in the middle of the Amphitheatre of the Mofque.

Kebleh is alfo ufed for an Altar, or rather a Niche, as Ricaut calls it, which the Mahometans have in all their Churches, and which is placed very exactly on that Side towards the Temple of Mecca. Hence the word Kebleh comes to be ufed metaphorically for the ObjecT: or End propofed, or the Intention a Man has in doing a thing. Thus the Kebleh of Kings is their Crown and Authority, that of Men of Bufinefs Money, that of Gluttons good Cheer, i£c.

KEBLEH-NOMA, the Name which the Turks and Terfans give to a little Pocket Compafs, which they al- ways carry with them, in order to place themfelves the more exactly when they go to Prayers.

KEDGING, a Sea-Term, ufed when a Veffel is brought up or down a narrow River by the Wind, tho the Tide be contrary to it. To do this the Seamen fet their Tore-fail, or Foretop-fail, and the Mizen, and let her drive with the Tide, that they may flat her about ; if me come too near the Shore, they have a little Anchor ready, called the Kedger, or Kcdge-Jnchor, with a Hawfer fatten- ed to it from the Ship : and this Anchor they drop in the midft of the Current, by which means they wind her Head about, and this done, take up the Anchor again.

KEEL, the Name of the loweft Piece of Timber in a Ship, in the Bottom of her Hull, one End whereof is at the Stern, the other at the Stem ; into this are all the Ground-Timbers and Hooks fattened and bolted fore and aft. When a Ship hath a deep Keel, {lie is faid to have a rank Keel, and this ferves to keep her from rolling.

KEEPER of the Foreft t otherwife called Chief Warden of the Foreft, is an Officer that hath the principal Govern- ment of all things belonging to a Royal Foreft, and the Check of all the other Officers. The Lord Chief Juftice k> Eyre of the Foreft, when he thinks fit to hold his Juftice-Seat, fends out his general Summons to the Ke\per forty Days before, to warn all Under- Officers to appear before him at a Day attignedin the Summons.

Keeper of the Great Seal is a Lord by his Office, and flilcd Lord Keeper if the Great Seal. He is one of the King's Privy Council, through whofe Hands pafs all Charters, Committions, and Grants of the King underthe Great Seal, without which Seal, all fuch Inttruments, by Law, are of no force ; for the King is, in the Interpreta- tion of the Law, a Corporation, and paffeth nothing firm- ly but under the faid Seal, which is, as the public Faith of the Kingdom, in the higheft Ettecm and Reputation. The Lord Keeper hath the fame Place, Authority, Pre- eminence, Jurifdiclion, Execution of Laws, and all other Cuttoms, Commodities, and Advantages as the Lord Chancellor of England hath for the time being. Both thefe Officers cannot properly fubfift at the fame time, iince the Statute of 5 Eliz.

Keeper of the Privy Seal is a Lord by his Office j thro' whofe Hands pafs all Charters, figned by the King, before they come to the Great Seal, and fome things which do not pafs the Great Seal at all. He is of the King's Privy Council, and was antiently called Clerk of the Privy Seal. KERAMIAN,- the Name of a Sea among the Mufful- men, fo called from Mobammud Ben Keram its Author. The Keramians maintain, that whatever the Alcoran fays of the Arms, Eyes, and Ears of God, is to be underttood literally ; fo that they admit the Targiaffum, that is, a kind of Corporeity in God ; which however they explain varioufly.

KERANA, a long Trumpet, in form of a Speaking- Trumpet, ufed by the Ferftans .- To the Sound of this they add a con fu fed Noife of Hautboys, Timbrels, Drums and other Inftruments every Evening at Sunfet, and two Hours after Midnight.

KERMES, a kind of Husk or ExcrefTence, as 'tis ge- nerally thought, about the Bignefs of a juniper-Berry, round, fmooth, and mining, of a beautiful Red, and full of a mucilaginous Juice of the fame Colour. It is found tticking to the Leaves and Bark of a kind of Ilex or Holm-Oak, in Spain, Languedoc, and other hot Countries. It has a vinous Smell, a bitter, tho agreeable Tafte, and its Liquor contains an infinite Number of little round or oval Eggs. The Origin of the Kermes is fuppofed owing to a little Worm, which pricking the Holm-Oak, to draw its Food from it, raifes a little Tumor or Veffel, which fills with Juice, and as it ripens becomes red. When the Kermes is dried, there conies out of it an infinite

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Number of little Infers and Flics, fo fmall tnat they afa fcarce fenfible; inibmuch that the whole inward Sub- ftance feems converted into them : For this reafon it is that they fomctimes call it Vermillion, (unlefs, perhaps, it be fo call'd from its beautiful Vermillion Colour.) To prevent that Inconvenience, they ufually tteep the Kermes in Vinegar before they dry it. They draw the Juice or Pulp from the Kermes, and make a Syrup of it, by ad- ding a fufficient Quantity of Sugar. Sometimes they dry the Pulp feparate from the Husk, which Pulp, thus dried, they call Paftel of Kermes. The Grain of Kermes is 'of great ufe in Phyfic. It is Cardiac, Deficcative, Aftrin- gent, fortifies the Stomach, and prevents Abortion j of this, is made that celebrated Confe&ion, call'd Mkermeu It is, however, of greater ufe in dying Scarlet;

The manner of preparing it for Dying, is as follows : The Grain being taken when ripe, they fpread it on Linnen 5 and at firft, while it abounds moft in Moiflure, turn it twice or thrice a day, to prevent its heating : till fuch time as there appears a red Powder among it ; then they feparate it, patting it thro a Searce, and then again they fpread abroad the Grain on the Linnen, till they perceive the fame Rednefs of Powder, when they repeat the fifting : and thus they proceed, till they difcover a. red Powder on the Surface of the Grain, which is ftill pafs'd thro the Searce till it yield no more. In the be- ginning, when the fmall red Grains are feen to move, as they will do, they are fprinkled over with flrong Vinegar, and rubb'd between the Hands. Were not this Precau- tion taken, out of every Grain would be formed a little Fly, which would skip and fly about for a day or two, and at laft changing its Colour, fall down dead. The Grain being quite emptied of its Pulp or red Powder, is wafh'd in Wine, and then cxpofed to the Sun 5 after this, 'tis put up in fmall Sacks, putting along with it, the Proportion of red Duft that the Grain had afforded.

According to M.JvlarfilU's Experiments made at Montpellier^ the Grain of Kermes has the Effect of Galls when mix'd wiih Vitriol, and makes a good Ink, Mix'd with Oil of Tartar or Lime-Watcr, its Colour turns from a Vermillion to a Crimfon Colour. In a Decoction of Tournfoil Flowers it retains its proper Colour. They have not been able to get a fix'd eflential Salt from it, but a volatile Salt it yields in abundance; which, in M. Marfilti's opinion, would have a better Etfecl in Medicine, if taken in a Liquid, than when inclofed in Conferves and Confections, which hinder its Action. Thofe who have obferved the Man- ner of producing the Kermes in the hot Countries tell us, that the little Grains gathef'd on the Ilex Cocc-gera change into a great number of little Mag- gots of a red Colour, which run backwards and forwards in the Tree where they were bred ; and wherever they ttay any time, leave the Semen of thofe Grains, which break out the Year following. Thefe the Greeks call Coccos, the Latins Vermi cuius, and thofe of the Country, Gram of Vermillion, becaufe of the Worms, Maggots, or Butterflies, into which the Grain changes.

KERNE, a Term in the antient Irijh Militia, fignify- ing a Foot-Soldier. Camden tells us, the Armies of Ire- land confifled of Cavalry, call'd Galloglaffes, and Infantry lightly armed) called Kernes. The Kernes bore Swords and Darts; to the latt were fitted Cords, by which they could recover them after they had been launched out. Kerne, in our Laws, fignifies.idle Perfons or Vagabonds.

KEY, a little Iron fnttrument for the opening of Locks, Its Ufe and Figure are too well known to need a. particu- lar Defcription. L. Molineus has written a Treatife of Keys, printed at UpfaL He derives the Latin Name Cla- ris from the Greek xa««, claado, I Jbut, or from the Ad- verb clam, privately ; and adds, that the Ufe of Keys is not known in fome Parts of Sweden. The firft Invention of Keys is owing to one Theodore of Samos, according to Pliny and Poly dor e Virgil ; but this mutt be a Miflake, the Ufe of Trey.? having been known before the Siege of Troy, and mention is even made of them in the 19th Chapter of Gene/is. Molineus is of Opinion, thtxt Keys t at firft, only ferved for the untying certain Knots, where- with they antiently fecured their Doors ; but the Laconic Keys, he maintains, were nearly a-kin in ufe to our own ; they confifled of three fingle Teeth, and made the Fi- gure of an E, of which Form there are fome ftill to be feen in the Cabinets of the Curious. There was another Key, called B<tAavuy&, made in the manner of a Male- Skrew, which had its correfponding Female in a Bolt af- fixed to the Door. Key, hence, becomes a general Name for feveral things that mat up, or clofe other things.

Key of an Arch or Vault is the laft Stone placed atop of a Vault, which being wider and fuller at the Top than Bottom, wedges, as it were, and binds in all thai reft. This Key is different in the different Orders ; iri the Tifcan and Dork 'tis a plain Stone, having a Pro- jecturej in the Ionic 'tis cut and waved in Veins, at-