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Rh Catamarca. Pop. (1895) 351,223; (1904, estimate) 465,464; area, 62,160 sq. m. The greater part of the province belongs to the pampas, though less fertile and grassy than the plains farther E. and S. It likewise includes large saline and swampy areas. The N.W. part of the province is traversed by an isolated mountain system made up of the Córdoba, Pocho and Ischilin sierras, which extend for a distance of some 200 m. in a N. and S. direction. These ranges intercept the moist winds from the Atlantic, and receive on their eastern slopes an abundant rainfall, which gives them a strikingly verdant appearance in comparison with the surrounding plains. West and N.W. of the sierras are extensive saline basins called Las Salinas Grandes, which extend into the neighbouring provinces and are absolutely barren. In the N.E. the land is low and swampy; here are the large saline lagoons of Mar Chiquita and Los Porongos. The principal rivers, which have their sources in the sierras and flow eastward, are the Primero and Segundo, which flow north-easterly into the lacustrine basin of Mar Chiquita; the Tercero and Quarto, which unite near the Santa Fé frontier to form the Carcaraña, a tributary of the Paraná; and the Quinto, which flows south-easterly into the swamps of the Laguna Amarga in the S. part of the province. Countless small streams also descend the eastern slopes of the sierras and are lost in the great plains. The eastern districts are moderately fertile, and are chiefly devoted to cattle-breeding, though cereals are also produced. In the valleys and well-watered foothills of the sierras, however, cereals, alfalfa and fruit are the principal products. The rainfall is limited throughout the province, and irrigation is employed in but few localities. The mineral resources include gold, silver, copper, lead and iron, but mining is carried on only to a very limited extent. Salt and marble are also produced. Córdoba is traversed by several railway lines—those running westward from Buenos Aires and Rosario to Mendoza and the Chilean frontier, those connecting the city of Córdoba with the same cities, and with Tucuman on the N. and Catamarca and Rioja on the N.W. The chief towns are Córdoba, the capital, Rio Quarto, Villa Maria, an important railway centre 82 m. S.E. of Córdoba, and Cruz del Eje on the W. slopes of the sierras, 110 m. N.W. of Córdoba.

 CÓRDOBA, a city in the central part of the Argentine Republic, capital of the above province, on the Rio Primero, 435 m. by rail N.W. of Buenos Aires by way of Rosario, 246 m. from the latter. Pop. (1895) 42,783—the suburbs having 11,679 more—(1905, estimate) 60,000. The city is connected by railway with Buenos Aires and Rosario, and with the capitals of all the surrounding provinces. Córdoba stands on a high eastward-sloping plain called the “Altos,” 1240 ft. above sea-level, and is built in a broad river bottom washed out by periodical inundations and the action of the rains on the alluvial banks. The inundations have been brought under control by the construction of barriers and dams, but the banks are constantly broken down. The city is regularly laid out, and contains many fine edifices and dwellings. Several suburban settlements surround the city, the more important of which are served by the urban tramway lines. The streets are lighted by gas and electricity, and an excellent telephone service is maintained. The noteworthy public buildings include the cathedral, a handsome edifice curiously oriental in appearance, a massive old Jesuit church with a ceiling of richly carved and gilded cedar, the old university, founded in 1613, which still occupies the halls built by the Jesuits around a large quadrangle, the fine old cabildo, or government house, of Moorish appearance, and the national observatory on the barranca overlooking the city. There are, also, two national normal schools, a national college, an episcopal seminary, an endowed Carmelite orphanage, a national meteorological station, a national academy of sciences, and a good public library. Among the attractive features of the city is an alameda of about six acres, within which is a square artificial lake of 4 acres, surrounded by shrubbery and shaded walks; the alameda dates from the time when the Jesuits ruled the city, and to them also are due the tiled baths, supplied with running water. A short avenue connects the alameda with the principal plaza, a pretty garden and promenade. The water supply of Córdoba is derived from the Rio Primero, 12 m. above the city, where an immense dam (Dique San Roque), one of the largest of its kind in South America, has been built across the river valley. This dam also serves to irrigate the valley below, and to furnish power for the electric plant which provides Córdoba with light and electric power. In and about the city there are several industrial establishments which have sprung into existence since the opening of the first railway in 1870. The surrounding country is irrigated and well cultivated, and produces an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

The city was founded in 1573 by Luis Geronimo de Cabrera and was for a long time distinguished for its learning and piety. It was the headquarters of the Jesuits in this part of South America for two centuries, and for a time the capital of the Spanish intendencia of Tucuman. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 proved to be a serious blow to the academic reputation of the city, from which it did not recover until 1870, when President Sarmiento engaged some eminent scientific men from Europe to teach modern science in the university.

 CÓRDOBA, a town of the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 55 m. W.S.W. of the port of Vera Cruz, in a highly fertile valley, near the volcano of Orizaba, and 2880 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1895) 7974. The surrounding district produces sugar, tobacco and coffee, Córdoba being one of the principal coffee-producing centres of Mexico. It also manufactures cotton and woollen fabrics. The town is regularly laid out and built of stone, and contains several handsome edifices, chief of which is the old cathedral. Córdoba was a town of considerable importance in colonial times, but fell into decay after the revolution. The railway from Vera Cruz to Mexico, which passes through it, and the development of coffee production, have helped the city to recover a part of its lost trade.

 CORDON (a French derivative of corde, cord), a word used in many applications of its meaning of “line” or “cord,” and particularly of a cord of gold or silver lace worn in military and other uniforms. The word is especially used of the sash or ribbon worn by members of an order of knighthood, crossing from one shoulder to the opposite hip. The cordon bleu, the sky-blue ribbon of the knight’s grand cross of the order of the Holy Spirit, the highest order of the Bourbon kings of France, was, like the “blue ribbon” of the English Garter, taken as a type of the highest reward or prize to which any one can attain (see also ). In heraldry, “cordons” are the ornamental cords which, with the hats to which they are attached, ensign the shields of arms of certain ecclesiastical dignitaries; they are interlaced to form a mesh or network and terminate in rows of tassels. A cardinal’s cordon is gules with five rows of fifteen tassels, an archbishop’s vert with four rows of ten, and a bishop’s also vert, with three rows of six. In architecture a “cordon” is a projecting band of stone along the outside of a building, a string-course. The word is frequently used in a transferred sense of a line of posts or stations to guard an enclosed area from unauthorized passage, e.g. a military or police cordon, and especially a sanitary cordon, a line of posts to prevent communication from or with an area infected with disease.

 CORDOVA (Span. Córdoba), an inland province of southern Spain, bounded on the N.E. by Ciudad Real, E. by Jaén, S.E. by Granada, S. by Málaga, S.W. and W. by Seville, and N.W. by Badajoz. Pop. (1900) 455,859; area, 5299 sq. m. The river Guadalquivir divides the province into two very dissimilar portions. On the right bank is the mountainous region of the Sierra Morena, less peopled and fertile than the left bank, with its great plains (La Campiña) and slightly undulating country towards the south and south-east, where the surface again becomes mountainous with the outlying ridges of the Sierra Nevada. The Guadalquivir, flowing from E.N.E. to W.S.W., waters the richest districts of Cordova, and has many tributaries, notably the Bembezar, Guadiato and Guadamellato, on the right, and the Genil and Guadajoz on the left. The northern districts (Los Pedroches) are drained by several small tributaries of the Guadiana. The climate is much varied. Snow is to be found