Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/577

* CHAKACTEKISTIC. 497 CHAEALOIS. In the methoin<; to determine J.ow many j^eometric fi^rvires of given definition satisfy a certain nuniUer of conditions. A num- ber which expresses how many simple singulari- ties may replace a higher singularity of an alge- braic curve or surface is called a eharaeti-ristic number. The elementary right-angled triangle, whose hypotenuse is sensibly ecpial to the ele- ment of the are of a curve, was called by Pascal the characteristic triangle. In the application of determinants (q.v.) to the solution of equations the minors of a certain order in the resultant may not all vanish, while all minors of higher order becoiue zero, in which case the equations have a known number of solutions. The number expressin.c the highest order in which some minor docs not vanish is called the characteristic of the determinant. In the theorv of functions (q.v.), eertjiin rational integi-al functions are called characteristic functions. In the theory of dif- ferential equations, there are cert^iin algebraic equations every root of which detcnnines an in- tegral of the given dilTerential equations. (See C.vLCt'Lr.s. ) These are called characteristic equations. CHARADE, sha-rad' (Fr., Languedoc char- rade, idle talk, probably from Sp. chnnadn. si>eech or action of a cliarro. clom). A form of amusement which consists in dividing a word of one or more syllables into its component syl- lables, or into its component letters, something ]iredicated of each: and then, the whole being re- united, and something predicated of that also, the reader or listener is asked to guess the word. As a specimen of the charade depending upon syllables, we adduce the following: '"ily /ir.sf is plowed for various reasons, and grain is frequently buried in it to little pur- pose. Jly srroiid is neither riches nor honors, yet the former would generally be given for it, and the latter are often tasteless without it. My irholr applies equally to spring, summer, autumn, and winter: and both fish and flesh, praise and censure, mirth and melancholy, are the better for being in it. Answer: Reason." As a specimen of the second class of charades, we take the following example from the French: •' Quatre membr^s font tout mon bien, Mon dernier vaut mon tout, et mon tout ne Taut rien.** The word is :cro. It is composed of four letters, of which the last (viz. o) is equal to zero; the whole, zero itself, being equal to nothing. But, besides charades of this nature, there is jinother kind rather popular at evening parties — the acted charades — the character of which is entirely dramatic. Half a dozen or so of the company retire to a private apartment, and there agree to select a certain word as the subject of the charade. The next thing done is to take the first .syllable, and arrange a little scene and dialogue, each nieml)er taking a certain part. This being acconiplishcd, the amatmir actors re- turn to the drawing-room and connnence their perfonnance, the rest of the company constitut- ing the spectators. Care is taken to mention conspicnou'^ly, and yet not obtrusively, in the course of the dialogue, the syllable which is the subject of the scene. On its conclusion they again retire and devise a new series of incidents for the next syllable, and so on. Finally they retire to contrive the final scene, into which the w hole word must he dexterously introdiiced at an odd moment, when the spectators are thought to be off the scent. The companv are then asked to guess the wor, Chlorophijcew (q.v.). They are often called 'stoneworts,' because the, bodies are generally heavily incrustcd with lime, as in tlu' species of Chara.; but there are many sp<>cies of Xitella entirely free from min- eral deposit. The cells of Xitella are very in- teresting for the clearness with which they show the circulation of protoplasm. The vegetative body is complex for an alga. There is an axis or stalk from which arise whorls of lateral branches (leaves). The female organ consists of a veiy large cell (containing the egg), sur- rounded by spirally wound filament.s, making a structure (oogonium) of considerable bcautv. Charai.es: /, apex, showing apical celt («), the sut^ies- Bion of nodal (n) and int<'rno(lal {in) cells, and the .young leaves (/):.?, oogonium (above) and antheridiuni; i', the same enlarged and sliowing connections; 4, sperms. The male organ (anthcridium) is a spherical, nuilticejlular body situated near the oogonium. In the interior are numerous fdaments divided by partitions into disk-like cells, each of which produces a sperm. An antheridiimi may de- velop from 20,000 to 40,000 sperms, which escape into the water and swim to the oiigonium. The Xorth .merican genera and species of (Tliarales have been described by .llcn. The Chanicew of Xorth America (Xew York, 1S88) ; Uraun, Frag- mente einer Monor/raphie drr CItarnccen, edited by Xordstedt (Berlin, 1882); Filarskj-, Die Chariiniii (T.udapcst, 1S0.3). CHARAXOiS, siia'ni'lwil'. In Massinger and Field's Fatal Uoiiri/, the son of the Marshal of Burgimdy. By his own imprisonnicnt he red<'ems the hod.v of his father, who had died in prison, and « hose corpse had been seized for debt.