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 810 KEEGUELEN-TREMAREC KEENER can and British stations for the observation of the transit of Venus. KERGIELEN-TREMAREC, Yves Joseph de, a French navigator, born in Brittany in 1745, died in March, 1797. He early entered the navy, became a lieutenant in 1767, and re- ceived command of a frigate sent to protect the fisheries on the coasts of Iceland. Going to Norway for provisions, he sailed N., cross- ing the parallel of 69 on Aug. 17. In 1769 he had a like commission, and on his return related his adventures to Louis XV. In 1771 he was sent on a southern exploring expedi- tion, and the following year discovered an antarctic territory which he called Kerguelen land. He revisited it in 1774, but was unable because of storms to explore it thoroughly, and on his return home he was accused of mis- conduct and imprisoned. He was soon re- leased, and afterward served against England. He published accounts of his voyages. KERMAN, or Kirman. I. A province of Per- sia, the ancient Oarmania, bounded N. by Khorasan, E. and S. E. by Afghanistan and Beloochistan, S. by the Persian gulf, and S. W. and W. by Laristan and Farsistan ; area, 75,730 sq. m. ; pop. about 300,000. It is in- tersected from E. to W. by a mountain chain called Jebel Abad. N. of this chain the coun- try, with the exception of the district of Nur- manshir, is a barren wilderness ; S. of it, gen- erally an alpine region of alternate hill and vale. The valleys and some of the plains are fertile, and yield crops of oats, maize, and bar- ley. The white rose is extensively cultivated for its attar, and the mulberry tree for the breeding of silkworms. The chief manufactures are woollen cloths, carpets, goats' and camels' hair shawls, coarse linens, and matchlocks. The most important minerals are iron, copper, and sulphur. The inhabitants of the coast are mostly engaged in fishing, but the pearl fishery, which once employed a considerable portion of them, is no longer prosecuted. II. A city, capital of the province, 345 m. S. E. of Ispa- han ; pop. about 30,000. It is surrounded by a wall of earth, and has a citadel in which the governor of the province resides. Its bazaars are large and well furnished. It was once the great centre of trade between the Persian gulf and the inland regions ; but since the rise of Bushire it has declined. In 1794 it was taken and pillaged by Asa Mohammed Khan, great numbers of its inhabitants being massacred, and 30,000 enslaved by the captors. KERMANSHAH, a town of Persia, capital of a district of the same name in the province of Irak-Ajemi, on the S. W. declivity of a moun- tain range, 80 m. W. S. W. of Ramadan ; pop. about 25,000. It is situated at the edge of a fine plain watered by three considerable streams, which on their junction further south take the name of Kerkha or Kara-su, and discharge into the Shat-el-Arab, N. of Bassorah. It is surrounded by an earthen wall nearly 3 m. in circumference, and is said to be a flourishing town. In the neighborhood are the rock in- scriptions of Behistun. (See CUNEIFORM IN- SCRIPTIONS.) The celebrated Persian carpets are manufactured here. KERMES INSECT. See COCHINEAL. KERMES MINERAL, a compound of the ter- sulphide with the teroxide of antimony. The secret of its preparation was purchased in 1720 by the French government and made public. It is prepared either in the dry or wet way by treating the tersulphuret of antimony with car- bonated soda or potash. The officinal process is to boil 1 oz. troy of the pulverized sulphuret of antimony with 23 oz. troy of carbonate of sodium in 16 pints of water for an hour, and after filtering to allow the liquor to cool slowly in an earthen vessel. The kermes subsides in 24 hours. It is then collected on a filter, washed with boiled water, and dried without heat. It is a purplish brown, tasteless powder. Kermes mineral, as containing more oxide, is a more active drug than the precipitated sulphuret. It has been used to produce the depressing ac- tion of antimony upon the heart, and has con- sequently been considered antiphlogistic. It is the active ingredient in what is known as James's powder, the pvhii antimonialis of the pharmacopoeia. Of late years it has been much less employed than formerly. KERN, a S. county of California ; area, 8,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,925, including 143 Chi- nese. It is mostly devoted to grazing. The agricultural and mineral resources are little developed. Some parts are very fertile, but the greater portion is dry and unproductive. It contains the S. terminus of the great valley of California, the junction of the Coast range and Sierra Nevada mountains, and a portion of the desert region E. of the latter. It is wa- tered by several streams, and Kern lake is in the W. part. The chief productions in 1870 were 13,700 bushels of wheat, 3,575 of Indian corn, 26,270 of barley, 6,050 of potatoes, 1,643 tons of hay, and 281,100 Ibs. of wool. There were 1,685 horses, 6,373 cattle, 90,200 sheep, and 753 swine ; 2 flour mills, 4 saw mills, and 3 quartz mills. Capital, Havilah. KERNER, Andreas Jnstinns, a German phy- sician, born in Ludwigsburg, Wurtemberg, Sept. 18, 1786, died at Weinsberg, Feb. 21, 1862. After completing his school education he served an apprenticeship in a cloth factory. In 1804 he went to the university of Tubingen, where he studied medicine and formed an inti- macy with the poet Uhland. After some years of preliminary practice he settled in 1818 in the little village of Weinsberg. Some of his lyrics, for which Schumann has written melo- dies, have attained a popularity scarcely infe- rior to those of Uhland. The first volumes of his poems were published in 1826 and 1 1848 ; another collection at Stuttgart in 1853, enti- tled Der letzte Bliithenstrauss ; and another in 1859, entitled WinterblutJien. He was a close investigator of the phenomena of animal magnetism and somnambulism, and among