Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/789

 COBUKG COBWEB 773 of the residences of the duke, built in 1549, has a picture gallery, valuable collections of engravings, coins, antiquities, and minerals, and a library of 27,000 volumes. The govern- ment house is a handsome structure in the Italian style. There are a town hall, arsenal, theatre, and riding school. On an eminence overhanging the town is an ancient castle of the dukes of Ooburg, now in part converted into a prison and house of correction ; but some of the chambers remain in their original con- dition, among them those occupied by Luther when concealed in the castle, where he com- Ducal Palace, Coburg. posed some of his best works, and in which are his bedstead and pulpit. During the thirty years' war the castle was unsuccessfully be- sieged by Wallenstein. Coburg has several dye works and breweries, and some manufac- tures of potash, glass, cotton and woollen goods, and toys. COBURG, a town of Northumberland co., On- tario, Canada, on Lake Ontario and the Grand Trunk railway, 63 m. E. N. E. of Toronto; pop. in 1871, 4,422. It is the capital of the united counties of Durham and Northumberland; is lighted with gas, has an artificial harbor, and a town hall, with county and town offices. Vic- toria college, having university powers, is situ- ated here, the faculty of law being at Montreal and that of medicine at Toronto. It is the ter- minus of the Coburg, Peterboro', and Marmora railway company, on which much iron ore is carried for shipment. In summer the lake steamers call here daily. The exports in 1871 amounted to $436,988; imports, $95,770. COBURG, or Saxe-Cobnrg, Josias, prince of, an Austrian field marshal, born Dec. 26, 1737, died Feb. 26, 1815. In 1788 he commanded the Austrian army against the Turks, and after the conquest of Khotin, and the victory at Fokshany, he entirely routed the Turks near Martinestie, and took possession of the larger part of Wallachia, including Bucharest. In the wars with France in 1793 and 1794 he took a successful part, defeating the French at Neer- winden and capturing Cond6 and Valenciennes, but eventually he was defeated at Maubeuge and Fleurus. COBURG FAMILY, a family of sovereign Ger- man dukes, originating in the 15th century, now celebrated for intermarriages with Euro- pean royal families. A sister of Duke Ernest I., who died in 1844, was the duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria ; and his brother Leopold, whose first wife was a daughter of George IV. of England, and his second wife a daughter of Louis Phi- lippe, "became the first king of the Belgians; while Albert, son of Duke Ernest I., and brother of the reigning duke of Coburg, Ernest II., was the consort of Queen Victoria. One of the nephews of Er- nest I., Ferdinand, was consort of the queen of Portugal, and after her death (1853) for some time regent of the king- dom ; and another, Au- gust, married Marie Cl- mentine, a daughter of Louis Philippe, while his niece, Victorie, be- came the wife of the duke de Nemours. COBWEB, the delicate silken thread woven by the spider, and applied to various uses by the different species. Some form of it webs in which to entangle their prey, others use it as a lining for their habitation, and others make with it a soft nest for their eggs. Each thread which we see with the naked eye is formed of thousands of minute strands, which, coming separately from the body of the spider, unite at a short distance from it, not by twisting, but by their glutinous nature. The webs of different species of spiders are of various construction, adapted to the nature and habits of the crea- ture. Some are very remarkable for their te- nacity, being sufficiently strong to catch small birds. Sir George Staunton, in his " Embassy to China," states that spiders' webs are met with in the forests of Java of so strong a tex- ture as to require to be cut through with a knife. In the " American Journal of Science," vol. xxvii., p. 307, is an account of a live striped snake suspended in a web by the tail, which was tied in a knot. Three spiders appeared to have accomplished this feat, having spun a cord of great size to connect the snake with the cen- tre of the web above ; they had also securely tied up the mouth of the reptile by a multitude of threads wound around it. Cobwebs have been applied to various uses. The delicate