Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/58

 COLIC COLIGNI tional convention at Philadelphia in 1872 he was a candidate for the nomination as vice president, and received 314 votes, 384 being given to Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, who was accordingly nominated on the first ballot and chosen in the subsequent presidential elec- tion. In 1873 Mr. Colfax was implicated in the charges of corruption brought against members of congress who had received shares of the credit mobilier of America, and was repeatedly examined before the congressional committee appointed to investigate the matter. A resolution directing the judiciary committee of the house of representatives to inquire if the evidence taken by the committee called for the impeachment of any officer of the gov- ernment, brought forth a report, on Feb. 24, 1873, declaring that there was no ground for the impeachment. of Mr. Colfax, inasmuch as the alleged offence of bribe-taking, if com- mitted at all, had been committed before he became vice president. This report was ac- cepted, and nothing more done with the matter. COLIC, in its strictest sense, a severe and moving pain in the colon, or large intestine ; but pains having their seat in the small intes- tines, and in any of the abdominal viscera, are now included under this term. Bilious colic is attributed to excessive secretion or acridity of the bile ; flatulent colic to the accumulation of intestinal gases ; painters' colic to the poi- sonous and paralyzing influences of lead ; hepa- tic colic to the passage of gall-stones along the biliary ducts. Besides these there are menstrual colic, preceding or accompanying the menstru- al discharge; nephritic colic, in inflammation of the kidney, or during the passage of cal- culi along the ureters; verminous colic, due to the irritation of worms in the intestines ; uterine colic, having its seat in the uterus ; ner- vous colic, arising from a spasmodic contraction of any part of the alimentary canal, from the stomach to the colon ; so that colic, or shifting abdominal pains, is a symptom of a great vari- ety of diseased conditions, both functional and organic. ^ The disease generally understood by colic has its seat in the small intestines, which seem to be variously rolled and twisted, ac- companied by very severe pain and constipa- tion. The treatment is as various as the causes, consisting of opiates to relieve pain, antispasmodics to arrest irregular nervous ac- tion, stimulating cathartics and enemata, hot external applications to the abdomen, carmina- tives to remove flatulence, the inhalation of ether during the passage of biliary and renal calculi, and antiphlogistic and demulcent rem- edies when accompanied by any inflammatory symptoms. Children are particularly subject to colic, but are easily relieved by familiar do- mestic remedies. Lead colic will require fur- ther mention in its proper place ; copper colic resembles it, except that it is generally accom- ].;uikd by diarrhrea, instead of the obstinate constipation which is so characteristic of the > produced by lead. COLIGNI, or Coligny, Gaspard de, leader of the French Huguenots, and principal victim of the St. Bartholomew massacre, born at Chatillon- sur-Loing, Feb. 16, 1517, murdered in Paris, Aug. 24, 1572. He was introduced in 1539 to Francis I. by his uncle, the great constable Anne de Montmorency, and was knighted for his ser- vices in the battle of Ceresole, and appointed to the command of an infantry regiment. He soon acquired the reputation of being one of the best officers in the army. His stern sense of duty and indomitable bravery contrasted in a striking manner with the gay and frivolous disposition of the young nobles of his time. On the accession of Henry II. he was pro- moted to the rank of colonel general of the French infantry. Owing to his skilful efforts the strictest discipline soon prevailed among soldiers who had heretofore been notorious for insubordination. The rules he established be- came the basis of the French military code, and he may be regarded as one of the founders of the French system of infantry. Soon after- ward he received the commission of admiral, which office, being more of a military than naval character, placed him in power next to the constable. His colonel-generalcy he re- signed to his brother Dandelot. He accompa- nied Henry II. in his conquest of the " three bishoprics," Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and sub- sequently contributed to the victory won at Ren- ty by the French over the army of Charles V. Appointed governor of Picardy, he displayed remarkable intrepidity in conducting the de- fence of St. Quentin against the Spanish troops. Although all hopes of holding the town were gone, Coligni refused to surrender, and was taken prisoner (1557) while fighting desperately at the head of a few soldiers, and sent to the castle of Sluis, where he was con- fined for several months, but finally recovered his liberty on paying a ransom of 50,000 crowns. With the genius of a warrior he combined the fervor of a religious reformer. He was a devoted Calvinist, having for years meditated upon the opinions promulgated by the great French reformer ; and although not yet openly avowing the new creed, he had proved an active supporter of the French Prot- estants. He now proposed to secure for them a place of refuge, and sent several expeditions to America, one of which, intrusted in 1562 to Jean Ribault of Dieppe, erected Fort Charles on the coast of Carolina, but soon abandoned it and returned to France; another in 1564, placed under the command of Laudonniere, settled near the mouth of St. John's river, Florida, but they were expelled and nearly exterminated by the Spaniards, who claimed the ownership of the country. After the death of Henry II. (1559), Coligni came bold- ly forward as the leader of the Huguenots, and his attempts to secure religious liberty for his followers having been defeated by the in- trigues of the duke of Guise and of Catharine de' Medici, he reluctantly took up arms in 1562.