Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/40

Rh saccharina), knobbed wrack (Fucus nodosus), black wrack (F. serratus), and bladder wrack (F. vesiculosus). The Larninarias yield what is termed drift-weed kelp, obtain able only when cast up on the coasts by storms or other causes. The species of Fucus, on the other hand, growing within the tidal range, are cut from the rocks at low water, and are therefore known as cut-weeds. In the preparation of kelp, the weeds are first dried in the sun, and are then collected into shallow pits on the ground and burned till they form a fused mass, which while still hot is sprinkled with water in order to break it up into convenient pieces. A ton of kelp is obtained from 20 to 22 tons of wet sea-weed. The average com position may vary as follows : sulphate of potash, 10 to 12 per cent.; potassium chloride, 20 to 25 per cent; sodium carbonate, 5 per cent. ; other soda and magnesia salts, 15 to 20 per cent.; and insoluble ash from 40 to 50 per cent. The relative richness in iodine of different samples varies largely, good drift kelp yielding as much as 10 to 15 Bb per ton of 22| cwts., whilst cut-weed kelp will not give more than 3 to 4 Bb. The rude manner in which kelp is prepared causes much of the iodine to be vola tilized; but Mr E. C. C. Stanford has successfully in troduced a process for treating sea-weeds by destructive distillation, whereby the whole of that valuable body is saved. See IODINE.

Previous to the introduction of the Leblanc process for the manufacture of sodium carbonate, kelp was the principal source of that substance, as well as a source of potassium salts, and consequently was a raw material of much import ance in chemical industries. About the beginning of the 19th century the value of the kelp prepared on the coast and islands of the west of Scotland was not less than 400,000 per annum, representing 20,000 tons of kelp. With the gradual introduction and improvement of the Leblanc process, and the reduction of the duty on salt and other causes, the value of kelp decreased from 20 and upwards to about 2 a ton, a price altogether unremunerative. Towards the middle of the century, however, a new impetus was given to the trade by the rise of the manufacture of iodine, of which kelp was at first the only commercial source. The introduction of Chili saltpetre (caliche) as a source of iodine, and the de velopment of the Stassfurth salt-mines for the production of potash salts, have in their turn had a depressing influence on the kelp manufacture, and it is only by the most careful utilization of all the salts contained in the kelp, and the use of most approved methods of preparing the material, that the industry is continued as a remunerative undertak ing. The production of kelp in the British Islands varies greatly from year to year. It may be stated to average about 7000 tons, at a value of about 4 per ton. Two- thirds of this quantity is produced in Ireland, and the remainder on the Scottish coast and islands. The quantity produced in France is probably now somewhat less than the British yield. KELSO, a burgh of barony and market-town of Roxburghshire, Scotland, is situated on the north side of the Tweed near its junction with the Teviot, 45 miles south-east of Edinburgh and 23 south-Avest of Berwick by rail. The town is embosomed among woods in a pleasantly undulating and fine agricultural country. The principal streets branch out in four directions from the spacious square, where are the principal shops and hotels. From the bridge of fi.ve arches, designed by Rennie, a fine view is obtained of the course of the river. Near it stand the picturesque ruins of the ancient abbey church, founded by David I., but demolished by the English in 1545, one of the finest extant examples in Scotland of the Early Norman style. A mile west of Kelso, on the north bank of the river, is Floors Castle, the seat of the duke of Roxburghe, nearly opposite which, on the south bank, stand the ruins of the old fortress of Roxburgh Castle. Kelso possesses a town-hall, a corn exchange, an auction mart, and a collegiate school. About a mile north of the town there is a race course ; the fine cemetery and the spacious public park also deserve mention. The trade of the town is chiefly connected with agriculture. There are large nurseries, corn-mills, manure works, coach works, a foundry, and two engineering shops. Kelso was made a burgh of barony in 1634. It is now under the General Public Act. The population in 1881 was 4563. KEMBLE, CHARLES (1775-1854), a younger brother of John Philip Kemble noticed below, was bom at Brecknock, South Wales, 25th November 1775. Like his brother he was educated at Douai. After returning to England in 1792, he obtained a situation in the post-office, but this he soon resigned for the stage, making his debut at Sheffield as Orlando in As You Like It. During the early period of his career as an actor, chiefly on account of the great abilities of his sister and brother, he made his way only slowly to public favour. For a considerable time he played along with them, chiefly in secondary parts, and this with a grace and finish which received scant justice from the critics. Ultimately he won independent fame, especially in comedie larmoyante. His gifts had been disciplined to the utmost degree of perfection of which they were capable, by his liberal mental culture and by refined social inter course ; and such characters as Archer, Doricourt, Charles Surface, and Ranger he played with an airy grace and polished humour that have never been excelled ; while he had sufficient fire and energy to give adequate effect to romantic passion and pathos. In genteel comedy he was ably supported by his wife Miss De Camp, whom he married in 1806. His imposing person, classical countenance, and tuneful voice also enabled him to be highly successful in historical drama, some of his principal parts being Alcibiades, Antony, Henry V., and Orestes. The latter period of his career was clouded by money embarrassments in connexion with his joint proprietorship in Covent Garden Theatre. He formally retired from the stage in December 1836, but his final appearance was on April 10, 1840. For some time he held the office of examiner of plays. He died November 12, 1854. See Gentleman s Magazine, January 1855 ; and Records of a Girl hood, by his daughter Frances Ann Kemble, who has achieved distinction both as a tragedienne and an authoress. KEMBLE, JOHN MITCHELL (1807-1857), Anglo-Saxon scholar and historian, eldest son of Charles Kemble noticed above, was born in 1807. He received his education partly from Dr Richardson, author of the Dictionary of the English Language, and partly at the grammar school of Bury St Edmunds, where he obtained in 1826 an exhibition to Trinity College, Cambridge. At school he was distinguished for his miscellaneous knowledge, and at the university his essays on historical subjects gained him high reputation. The historical bent of his studies was confirmed and turned more especially towards the Anglo-Saxon period through the influence of the brothers Grimm, under whom he studied at Gottingen. His thorough knowledge of the Teutonic speeches was shown in his Beowulf ( 1833-37), Ueber die Stammtafel der West- sachsen (1836), Codex Diplomaticus ^Evi Saxonici (1839), and in many contributions to reviews ; while his History of the Saxons in England (1849) was the first attempt at a thorough examination of the original sources of the early period of English history. He was also for some time editor of the Foreign Quarterly Review, In 1857 he published State Papers and Correspondence illustrative of the Social and Political State of Europe from the Revolution