Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/399

 CHESTNUT CHEVALIER 391 Chestnut Tree of Mount Etna. Westminster abbey, and of the church at Great Yarmouth, erected in the reign of William Rufus; but the wood of both those buildings is more probably a species of oak. The fruit is eat- en either raw, boiled, or roasted, or is ground into meal, and puddings, cakes, and bread made from it. It abounds especially in France, on the banks of the Rhine, and on the slopes of the Jura, the Pyrenees, and the Alps; and of the numer- ous French varieties the most esteemed is the marron. The American chestnut has some- times been separated from the European as a distinct species, but upon insufficient grounds. Chinquapin (Castanea pumila). It has, however, smaller and sweeter nuts. It is found in rocky or hilly woods from Maine to Michigan and Kentucky, and its wood is chiefly in esteem for posts and rails to construct fences. It is also used for the commoner kind of cigar boxes. The European chestnut was introduced into Virginia by Jefferson in the latter part of the last century. There is a smaller American species, the chinquapin nut (castanea pumila, Michaux), found from Ohio to southern Penn- sylvania, growing from 6 to 20 ft. high, having its leaves whitened-downy underneath, and a solitary nut not half so large as the common chestnut, and very sweet and agreeable to eat. An infusion of the bark of the chestnut has been occasionally employed in medicine. Its action is that of a moderate astringent and tonic, but it has never been much used. CHET1H. ' See LEOPARD. CHEVALIER, Michel, a French political econ- omist, born in Limoges, Jan. 13, 1806. He studied at the polytechnic and the mining schools, and was appointed engineer in the de- partment of Le Nord. After the revolution of July, 1830, he joined the disciples of Saint Simon, and was intrusted with the editorship of their official organ, the Globe. He partici- pated in all the proceedings of the apostles of the new faith, and shared the penalties they in- curred, being sentenced to a year's imprison- ment ; but he was leniently dealt with by the government, and released at the expiration of six months. He was sent to the United States by M. Thiers, then minister of com- merce, to investigate the American system of railroads. He arrived in New York toward the end of 1832, travelled during two years over the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, and published the results of his observations in a series of letters in the Journal des Debate, which were in 1836 collected under the title of Lettres sur VAmerique du Nord. Another work, Des interets materiel* en France, which