Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/47

 COLCHESTER Eastern railway, 51 m. N. E. of London; pop. in 1871, 26,361. It is built on a hill close to the river, and has three bridges, one of which is of cast iron. Among the public buildings are eight churches, one built before the time of Edward II. and another mentioned in the Domesday Book, nine dissenting chapels, a COLCHICUM 43 Abbey Gate. library, and the ruins of an old castle, of a Benedictine abbey founded under Henry I., and of St. Botolph's priory, an interesting structure of the 12th century. There are many charitable and other schools, a mechan- ics' institute, a literary and scientific associa- tion with a museum, a botanical and horticul- tural society, several almshouses, hospitals, and other charities, and a theatre. The woollen St. Botolph's Priory. manufacture, formerly important, was subse- quently superseded by that of silk, which em- ploys 300 or 400 hands. Some velvet is also manufactured. The most important branch of industry is the oyster fishery, for which the town has long been noted. There are iron and brass founderies, machine shops, rope, sail, and carriage factories, breweries, vinegar works, &c. Colchester was made a bonding port in 1808, but the custom house and warehouses are at Hythe, one of its suburbs, situated a short dis- tance below, at the head of navigation on the Colne. The foreign commerce is inconsidera- ble, but a large coasting trade is carried on with London and the northern counties. Col- chester is supposed to be the Camulodunum of the Romans, and there is probably no town in England richer in remains of that people. Corns, vases, urns, lamps of bronze and pottery, rings, bracelets, tessellated pavements, and various other antiquities, have been found near it in great profusion. The Saxons, uniting the Latin castra with the name of the river on which it stands, called it Colne Ceaster. It was fortified by Edward the Elder, and at the time of the Domesday survey was a place of no small note. It was taken and occupied by the royalists in 1648 after a memorable siege, and was soon after blockaded by the parliamentarians, to whom the garrison surrendered after 11 weeks' resistance. COLCHESTER, a county of Nova Scotia, bounded N. by Northumberland strait, and S. and S. W. by Mines basin, Cobequid bay, and the Shubenacadie river; area, 1,300 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 23,331. It is intersected by numerous rivers, and traversed by the Cobequid range of hills. The soil is of variable fertility. Among the minerals are coal, gypsum, and limestone. The principal occupations are ag- riculture, lumbering, and ship building. The county was originally settled by the French, who on their expulsion were replaced by emi- grants from the north of Ireland and Massa- chusetts. Capital, Truro. COLCHESTER, Lord. See ABBOT, CHABLES. COLCHICUM (from Colchis, a country where it abounded), a common name of the colcMcum autumnale (Linn.), or meadow saffron, a peren- nial bulbous-rooted plant, growing naturally in the temperate climates of Europe, and culti- vated for its medicinal properties. It prefers wet meadows, which it often covers with its bright, purple, crocus-like blossoms. The bulb or corm resembles that of a tulip, and feeds the growing plant, being exhausted and re- placed every year. Colchicum closely resem- bles the autumn crocus, from which it is dis- tinguished by having six stamens instead of three, and three styles instead of one. The corm, seeds, and flowers all possess the medi- cinal properties of the plant, which depend upon the alkaloid, colchicia. From the corm and seeds are prepared wines, extracts, and tinctures. Colchicum is employed in the treat- ment of gout and rheumatism, and allied af- fections. The preparation for gout, celebrated under the name of eau medicinale cTHusson^ is said to be a vinous infusion of colchicum It materially lessens the duration of the parox- ysms of gout, but is apt when too freely used to depress the system and thereby induce a more speedy recurrence of the disease. It