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* CONCEPTION OF OUR LADY. 248 CONCH. the direction of the Franciscans, and imposed on them the rule of Saint Clara. The Order subse- (juentlv .spread into Italy and France. The habit consists of a white gown, a blue mantle, and a scapular on which is worn the image of the Virgin. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immacu- late Conception in the United States have their mother house at Little Falls, ilinn., where they were established by sisters from Italy in 1891. They conduct three hospitals, and nmnbered, in U'OO. 48 professed sisters and 19 novices. CONCEP'TUALISM. A philosophical theory which is, in some sense, intermediate between realism and nominalism (qq.v.), and mainUiins that, while universals have no real existence in the e.ternal world, they do exist as ideas or con- cepts in the mind, and are thus something more 1 lian mere words. This was Abelard's view. See Abstraction; Berkeley; Logic; Ide.y. CON'CERTAN'TE. Itnl. pron. kon'cher-tiin'ta (It. p.p. of coiirritare, to perform a concert). An Italian word used to describe an orchestral com- position in which two or more instruments or solo voices are in turn given prominent solo ]iarts. See Coxcerto. CONCERTINA, kon'ser-te'na (from It. con- crrto. concert I. An hexagonally sha|)ed musical instrument, the sounds of which are produced by free, vibrating tongues of metal, as in the accor- dion. The scale of the concertina is very com- plete and extensive, beginning with the lowest note of the violin, G. and ascending chromatically for three and a half octaves to C. There are two tongues for every tone, so that any note can be jiroduced either by pulling the bellows open, or by pressing them together. Wheatstone. of London, invented the concertina in 1829. The instru- ment is capable of a great range of expression, and concertina playing by skilled performers comes rightly under the head of artistic music. CONCER'TO (Fr. concert, from It. concerto, concert, from It., Lat. concertare, to vie, from com-, together -|- cer*are, to contend; less prob- ably from conserere, to join together, from coih-, together + screre, to join). A musical compo- sition for a solo instrument, with orchestral ac- companiment, calculated to exploit the resources or possibilities of the instrument and thus to give the performer an opportunity to display the liighest technical skill (see Cadenza), as well as intellectual grasp and musical culture. The concerto belongs to the cyclical or sonata (q.v. ) group of musical compositions, and differs from a symphony or overture only tlirongh the special prominence given to the solo instrument. It consists, like the symphony or sonata, of three iir four movements, each of which, like the whole, requires a elei"'.r development and treatment of motives, and a strict adherence to the rules of form. The earliest concertos were written for two or more instruments, being thus really in concertante (q.v.) style. From the beginning of the eighteenth century the pianoforte and the violin have been the solo instruments mostly used for the concerto. Among the oldest violin concertos are those by Tartini and his pupils. The French and Germans aftenvhrds improved on these and fixed the forms, which all the great masters i>f iiiinlcrn times have adhered to. CONCERT PITCH. See Pitch. CONCH, konk (Lat. concha. Gk. Kdyxv, hon- clif. Skt. iunhli'i. shell). • The name of manv large univalve mollusks. Originally and proper- ly it belongs to the big carnivorous strombs, and especially to the great rose -lined stromb (Stromhus gigas) of the West Indies and Flori- da Reefs, more particularly designated 'queen- conch.' Sliiploads of these shells are sent to Europe and the I'nited States every year to be ground up for porcelain, burned into lime, cal- cined for medicinal purposes, or used as orna- ments; many are perforated at the apex and A coxcH (Sycotypus canaliculatus). The attitude is that of creeping toward the left. Be- neath the protruding siphou-tube, two tentacles show the place of the head, the lower one showing the blai.^k dot of the eye. On the rear of theexpanded foot is the operculum, sei-ve as dinner-honas on Southern plantations. Cameos of an inferior sort are cut in it ; and from it are derived, especially in the Bahamas, pink 'conch-pearls' of value. It is because many of them made an occasional industry of gather- ing these mollu-sks, and searching for pearls, that the poorer soi-t of people of southern Florida and neighboring islands are called 'C'onchs.' The Indians used the columella of this shell as ma- terial for fine beads: and their remains, as well as those of many other large mollusks, abound in the coastal shell-heaps. In the East Indies the term is applied often to other large spiral shells, especially those of the closely allied fam- ily Tritonidie. These are often perforated and fitted with mouthpiece and finger-holes, and so turned into sonorous musical instruments. This is the shell adopted by artists in representations of sea-myths — "Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea. Or hear old Triton blow his wreath&d horn." In the Northern States, 'conch' means either of two large, pear-shaped univalves of the Atlantic Coast, FuJfjur carica and Siicotupus canaUcuIatus, which frequent the sandy bottoms near shore and are cast up on beaches in great numbers. Both are carnivorous and do great damage to oyster-beds. The former, which luts a s]iiral row of short horns defining the whorls, is more common southward, while the latter, distin- guished by the squarish channels between the whorls, is nearly confined to the region between Cape Cod and New Jersey. Both are abundant about Long Island and on the southern Xcw England coast, where they are confused under the name 'periwinkle' or 'winkle.' The' 'sea- necklaces,' consisting of parchment-like hollow disks apparently strung upon a long cord, which attract attention on beaches in midstmimer, are the egg-cases of these mollusks, which have been toni from their attachment to some rook or sea- weed and floated ashore. It was from the coltunn of these shells that the Indians made their white wampum. (See Wampum.) Consult Ingersoll,