Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/244

 24:0 CONGLETON CONGO and a disposition to inflammation ; they are generally of short duration, and vary in sever- ity from the apoplectic congestion of the brain to the simple swelling of a hsemorrhoidal tu- mor ; their seat is very frequently changed in many hysterical females. The liver is almost always more or less congested at the moment of death ; this condition may exist in its whole substance, the lobules presenting a nearly uni- form dark color throughout ; or the centres alone may be thus colored, the circumference being lighter ; in this, the first stage of hepatic venous congestion, in which the hepatic veins are full and the portal plexus empty, the ap- pearance is due to the continuance of capillary action after the general circulation has ceased ; in the second stage, the portal as well as the hepatic venous system is congested, and the obstructing cause may be either in the liver, in the heart, or in the general venous system; occasionally the portal system is congested, the marginal portions of the lobules being darkest colored. A common form of venous conges- tion depends on deficiency of tone in the veins, which preyents the normal ascent of the blood from the lower parts of the body, thereby dis- tending the vessels and causing an accumula- tion of blood ; in this condition the serous parts of this fluid are prone to escape, forming drop- sical effusions and anasarca. This inability of the blood to ascend against gravity is found in a great variety of chronic diseases, the con- sequences of improper food, unhealthy habita- tions, or even the natural results of old age ; the want of tone in the system is aggravated by nlcers, gangrene, and effusions of blood and other fluids into the cavities and tissues. CONGLETON, a market town and borough of Cheshire, England, 22 m. S. of Manchester ; pop. in 1871, 11,344. It is situated in a deep valley on the river Dane. The principal street, a mile in length, is paved and lighted with gas, and has many old houses of timber framing and plaster. There is an Episcopal church, a Cath- olic and several dissenting chapels, a town hall, public assembly rooms, and a number of chari- table institutions. Silk manufacture is the staple industry, but there are also manufac- tories of cotton and leather. Near it are lime quarries worked under a cliff 1,091 ft. high. CONGLETON, Henry Brooke Parnell, lord, a British statesman and author, born July 3, 1776, died June 8, 1842. His father was Sir John Parnell, chancellor of the Irish exchequer, who was second in descent from the poet Par- nell. He entered parliament at an early age, and for nearly 35 consecutive years represented the constituencies of Queens county, Ireland, and Dundee, Scotland, in the house of com- mons. In 1841 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Congleton. He belonged to the most liberal section of the whig party, and was a cabinet minister under the Grey and Melbourne administrations. He was one of the first to advocate the repeal of the corn laws. He is the author of treatises on " The Principles of Currency and Exchange," "The Penal Laws against the Irish Catholics," "Paper Money, Banking, and Overtrading," "Financial Re- form," &c. He suffered from alienation of mind in the latter part of his life, and died by his own hand. CONGLOMERATE, in geology, a rock composed of rounded pebbles, such as are seen frequently forming a beach rolled by the waves. These fragments of older rocks, cemented together by a calcareous, silicious, or argillaceous paste, constitute a conglomerate, or, as it is sometimes called, a puddingstone. The pebbles may be of any size larger than sand ; when composed of the latter, the rock is called a sandstone. Strata of this nature are found in all the geo- logical formations of sedimentary origin. The most interesting example, perhaps, is the great conglomerate bed which forms the floor of the coal formation, and is composed of white quartz pebbles of all sizes, up to that of a man's head. The rock is traced beneath the coal formation of the middle states, and a similar one occupies the same relative position in England, where it is known by the name of the millstone grit. CONGO, a country of Africa, extending from about lat. 4 30' to 8 30' S., bounded N. by the river Congo or Zaire, E. by a range of mountains parallel to the coast, S. by the river Dande, which separates it from Angola, and W. by the Atlantic ocean. Numerous rivers descend from the mountains on its frontier and flow through it to the sea. Of these, the Lilundo, Ambriz, and Onzo are the most considerable. The coast region of Congo is unhealthy because of its alluvial plains and forests, but the inland climate is comparatively salubrious. The soil produces in abundance an immense variety of tropical plants and fruits. Several species of grain unknown in Europe and America are raised on the banks of its rivers, the most valuable of which is the luTco or luno, which yields a white and deli- cious bread. The principal products are, how- ever, rice and maize, of which three crops are often raised annually. Of the forest trees, the most remarkable is the baobab. The oil palm is also common to this country with all the regions of western Africa. Prof. Smith, in the expedition of 1816 to Congo, brought home to Europe 620 species of plants and flowers, 250 of which are said to be altogether new. The elephant, lion, leopard, zebra, ga- zelle, and antelope are the principal animals. The rivers are frequented by hippopotami, turtles, and crocodiles, with excellent fish, one of which, the sparus, often weighs from 30 to 60 Ibs., and is of very delicious flavor. No domestic animals are employed as beasts of burden or in the performance of agricultural labor. Sheep and horned cattle are scarce, but goats, hogs, and poultry are plentiful. Among the reptiles are the boa, the chameleon, and the flying lizard or palm rat, which is deified by the natives. Ostriches, peacocks, and parrots are abundant. Some of the insect