Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/114

* COATI. 86 U. S. National Museum (Washington, 1889). See Plate of JIinor Carnivores. COATICOOK, k6-:it'i-kuk. A town and port of entry in Stanstead County, Quebec, Canada, on the Coaticook River and the Grand Trunk Railway, 120 miles southwest of Quebec (Map: Quebec, E 5). It is a manufacturing and indus- trial centre and has a United States consulate. Population, in ISdl, 3086; in 1901, 2880. COAT OF ARMS, As imderstood in heraldry, at the present day, a relic of the ancient armo- rial insignia which were formerly embroidered upon a coat or vest worn over the armor, to render a knight conspicuous in battle. See HERAiDKV. COAT OF ARMS, National. The coats of arms whose use has obtained official sanction by modern national governments represent in most cases the family heraldic insignia of their sov- ereigns. As such their treatment falls most ap- propriately under Heraldrj'. See Heraldry. COAT OF MAIL. In the armor of the Middle Ages, a suit made of metal scales or rings, linked one within another. See Armor. COATZACOAIiCOS, k&-at'sa-k6-al'k6s. A port in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, on the Gulf of Campeche, at the mouth of the Coatza- coaleos River, 170 miles northeast of Oaxaca (Map: Mexico, JI 8). It is the residence of a United States consular agent. The exports con- sist chieflv of rubber and timber. Population, 3000. COATZACOALCOS. A river of Mexico rising in the Sierra Madre, flowing most of the distance across the Isthnuis of Tehuantepec, and empty- ing into the Gulf of Mexico (Map: Mexico, M 9). One of the possible routes for a trans-isth- mian canal is partly along its course. It has a length of ab<iut l.'jO miles and is navigable for a short distance from its mouth. COB, Oliver. A character in Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Eurnour, one of the water- carriers who distributed water in London before the city had its public water-supply. COBALT (Ger. Kobalt ; possibly the same as Kobold. goblin). A metallic element discovered by Brandt in 1735. The word cobalt is found in the works of Paracelsus and other early writers, and was used to designate minerals that suggest- ed the appearance of metallic ores, but when smelted failed to yield any metal ; hence, the name 'cobalt,' signifying sprite, was given to such minerals on account of the illusive character of their metallic constituents. It was also applied to certain blue pigments containing cobalt as far back as the times of the Greeks, but it was not until Brandt investigated the blue coloring of smalt that the elementary character of the metal was established. The element is found free only in meteorites, but it usually occurs in nature with arsenic or sulphur, and with nickel and other metals, as sinaltite. a cobalt diarsenide: as skitftcriidite, a cobalt triarsen- ide; as cohaltife, a cobalt sulpharsenide ; as asliolite, a wad containing oxide of cobalt; and as the earthy minerals nonmeite from New Cale- donia, and garnierite from Oregon. The metal itself may be prepared by igniting the oxalate, when the carbon and oxygen pass off, leaving the cobalt behind. Cobalt (symbol Co, atomic weight 59) is a COBB. steel-gray lustrous crystalline metal that is nearly white when polished, somewhat malleable, ductile at a red heat, and highly magnetic, with a specific gravity of 8..5 to 8.9. It melts at 1500° C. The metal has no uses by itself, although it forms alloys with copper, iron, and manganese, and it may be deposited on metals by electro- plating as a fine, lustrous coating, which is said to be harder, more tenacious, and of greater beauty than that obtained with nickel. Cobalt combines with oxygen to form a monoxide or cobaltous oxide, and a sesquioxide or cobaltie oxide. Its principal commercial salts are pig- ments. Of these the most important is the cobalto-cohaUic oxide, which is a mixture of both oxides, corresponding in character to the magnetic oxide of iron. This is obtained com- mercially from the ores of cobalt and from speiss in the separation of nickel ; in the latter case the speiss is fused with fluor-spar and chalk so as to yield a richer matt containing less iron; the matt is ground and oxidized by thorough roasting, which also serves to expel arsenic and sulphur; it is then dissolved in hydrochloric acid and diluted with water. From this solution cobalt oxide is precipitated by the addition of bleaching-powder. This oxide is used for the jireparation of various salts of cobalt and for making the smalt employed by enamelers and potters for the production of the finest blue glaze on porcelain. When heated with alumina it yields a fine blue pigment which is called vari- ously cohalt blue, cobalt iiltramnrine, and The- tiard's blue; and when heated with zinc oxide it yields the pigment called cobalt green or Rin- mann's green. Smalt is a permanent blue pig- ment consisting essentially of cobalt silicate and potash ; it is also called bleu d'azur and bleu de saxe. Zaffre is an impure oxide obtained by roasting cobalt ore and mixing with several parts of coarse sand. During 1899, 10,230 pounds of cobalt oxide were mined in the United States, having a value of $18,512. COBALTITE. A mineral cobalt sulpharsen- ide, whose composition is CoAsS. It crystallizes in the isometric system, has a metallic lustre, and is silver-white, tending to red, in color. It oc- curs in association with other metallic sulphides, especially those of lead and silver, and is found in Sweden, where excellent crystals are known; also in Norway, and at various localities in Silesia, but not in the United States to any ex- tent. It has occasionally been cut as a gem, and then resembles a flesh-colored pyrite. When pres- ent in sufficient quantities it is a valuable ore of cobalt. COBAN, ko-Biln'. The capital of the Depart- ment of Alia Verapaz, Guatemala, on the Rio Cojabon, about 90 miles north of the city of Guatemala (Map: Central America, B 3). It is picturesquely situated on the slopes of a hill, and is irregularly built. Its modern buildings are of some merit. The town has minor manu- factures, and is the centre of a fertile district producing cofi'ee, cacao, vanilla, and sugar-cane. Population, in 1900, 24,475, COBB, Henry IvE.s (1859 — ). An American architect. He was born in Brookline, Mass., and was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Harvard, where he graduated in 1880. He has been architect of numerous public buildings, notably in Chicago. Among