Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/511

 CHLAMYS CHLORAL 499 under ground like the mole, feeding on worms and subterranean insects ; the eyes are very small. This curious animal resembles the mole in its form, subterranean habits, and fore limbs ; it comes near the sloths in the teeth, near the armadillo in its covering and the gen- eral characters of the skeleton, and near the monotremata and birds in the breast bone, ribs, and open pelvis. CHLAMYS (Gr. ^/la ( u{if, a scarf), an outer gar- ment of the ancient Geeks and of the oriental races. It somewhat resembled the paluda- mentum of the Romans, and in the reigns of some of the later emperors was adopted by them. It was a woollen garment, and differed from the blanket, l/tdnov, which was the usual dress of the male sex among the Hellenic races, in being much smaller, of a finer material, often variegated in brilliant colors, and otherwise richly ornamented. It was also, in its usual form, oblong instead of square, being twice as long as it was wide ; but it was sometimes in- creased in volume by the addition of two gores, or wings, in the shape of obtuse-angled tri- angles, sewn on the long sides with the apices upward. With this improvement it was known as the Macedonian or Thessalian chlamys. The usual mode of wearing the chlamys was to fasten the corners of the shortest side by means of a clasp (fibula, nep6vri) on the middle of the chest, when the garment fell down over the back to the knees, or on the right shoulder, when it hung over the left arm and side, much after the fashion of the short cloak of the Elizabethan costume in England, commonly, though improperly, supposed to be of Spanish origin. In the latter mode it was often worn over armor as an ornament or insignia of dig- nity, especially by generals and officers of su- perior rank. The chlamys worn by boys was ordinarily yellow, the military chlamys scarlet; and it was remarked afterward as of evil omen, that on the fatal day of Carrha0 Crassus wore a dark-colored chlamys or paludamentum. The chlamys of women had often a rich fringe or border, and was many-colored and richly em- broidered. It was not unusual to twist the chlamys about the arm, so as to serve as a shield ; as was done by Alcibiades, when he died fighting against his murderers. CHLOPICKI, Jozef, a Polish general and dic- tator, born in March, 1772, died at Krzeszowice, Sept. 30, 1854. At an early age he entered the military service, and distinguished himself in the war for independence under Kosciuszko. After the surrender of Warsaw to the Russians (1794) he retired, went to France, and enlisted in the service of the Cisalpine republic, under the command of Gen. Dombrowski. When in 1806 Dombrowski and Wybicki called the Po- lish nation to arms, under the protection of Napoleon, promising the return of Kosciuszko, Chlopicki, returned to his country, and served with distinction in the great battles of Eylau and Friedland (1807) in the East Prussian cam- paign. From 1808 to 1811 he fought in Spain, taking part in the siege of Saragossa, and in the protracted war in Aragon, Catalonia, and Va- lencia, where he defeated Palafox, Mina, and others. The campaign against Russia in 1812 promised the restoration of Poland, and he gained new distinction in the battles of Smo- lensk and on the Moskva, where he was wound- ed. He then followed the retreating French army, but not having received the promotion to which he considered himself entitled, he re- signed, and was living in retirement when the armies of the coalition entered Paris in 1814. On the invitation of Alexander of Russia, who assumed the title of king of Poland, and gave the new kingdom a constitution and a national government, he entered the ranks of the new Polish army as general of division ; but the wild and capricious temper of its chief commander, the grand duke Constantino, soon caused him to retire. After the night of Nov. 29-30, 1830, which expelled Constantine from Warsaw, Chlopicki was called upon by the general voice to put himself at the head of the nation ; but having no faith in the success of the insur- rection, he hesitatingly joined the provisional council of administration, and could hardly be persuaded to accept the dictatorship, which he assumed, however (Dec. 5), on the field of Mars, but with the declaration that he would resign his dignity to the national diet immediately after the meeting of that body. But the diet confirmed him in his office, one voice only op- posing. He maintained order and discipline ; but his temporizing movements, his fear of fail- ure, his strict observance of the narrow limits of the kingdom as created by the treaty of Vienna in 1815, and his negotiations with the emperor, proved to the patriots that they had fallen into error in the choice of a leader. On Jan. 23, 1831, Chlopicki laid down his office and his military command, and proved his pa- triotism after the declaration of independence by serving in the battles of Wawer and Gro- chow (Feb. 19 and 25), as a common soldier and adviser of the new commander-in-chief, Prince Radziwill. In the second battle of Gro- chow he led a regiment against the Russians ; three horses had already been shot under him, yet he was still advancing, when a double wound compelled him to retire, and checked the Polish advance. To restore his health he went to Cracow, where he remained after the fall of Poland, under surveillance, being but sel- dom allowed to leave the place. CHLORAL (synonymes, trichlonnethyl, hy- drocarbon oxide, trichloraldehyde, trichlorace- tyl, oxide hydrate), a chemical compound first obtained by Liebig in 1831 by the action of chlorine upon absolute alcohol. The name is composed of the first syllables of the words chlorine and alcohol. Although Liebig first pre- pared chloral, we are chiefly indebted to Dumas for a knowledge of its properties and constitu- tion. It is obtained by passing dry chlorine gas though absolute alcohol as long as it is absorb- ed, during many hours, keeping the vessel cool