Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/30

* CLEMATIS. 18 CLEMENS. herbs or slirubs, gfiierally with climbing stems, niustly natives of temijerale eliniates, and much scattered over the world. They possess more or less active proijcrties. The long awns of some species give the ])lants a beautiful aj)i)earanee even in winter. The flowers of many species are also beautiful. Clematis vitalha, the common traveler's-joy, is the only native of Great Brit- ain, where it is common in the south, but be- comes rarer toward the north, and is scarcely found in Scotland. The stems are capable of being made into baskets. It rapidly covers walls or unsightly objects. Tlic fruit and leaves are acrid and vesicant; the leaves are ised as a nibefacient in rlieumatism, and those of other species are also employed in the same way. jibout twenty species are indigenous to North America, and of these Clematis Virginiana, or virgiu's-bower, is very widely distributed and is common along wooded river-banks and road- side walls, making a very show}' appearance Avith its graceful sprays of white flowers. Us fertile floers are succeeded by fruit with conspicuous feathery tails. Clematis iwrtirillaris, with pe- dimcles bearing large, single, bluish-jiurple, and drooping flowers, is a rare species, found in rocky woods, from Maine to western New Eng- land, and thence to Virginia, Wisconsin, and northwestward. Clematis viorna, popularly called leather-.flower, has very thick purplish sepals, ovate or oblong leaflets, fruit with very plumose tails, and grows in rich soils in the Mid- dle and Southern States. Clematis Pitcheri, a species found along the Mississippi from Illinois southward, has a bell-shaped calyx, dull, purplish sepals, and noticeably reticulated leaves. Clema- tis ochroleuea., a rare species, found in Long Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, has sim- ple and entire leaves, silky beneath, and fruit with very plumose tails. Among the many species seen in our gardens are Clematis %ntieella, with its solitary, bell-shaped blossoms, and Clematis florida and Clematis patens, with large blue and purple flowers, natives of Japan. One of the most pleasing, an evergreen, with large white flowers, is Clematis indivisa, a native of New Zealand. Some species, as Clematis flam- mtila, are found in southern Europe and in the mountainous parts of northern Africa. The colors of the blossoms in this genus vary from pure Axhite to yellow, deep purple, and ruby or scarlet. Some species are propagated by young cuttings, or by layers; others by grafting the year-old shoots in spring on the roots of common species, or they may be raised from seed in any light soil. Numerous hybrid and otherwise im- proved varieties are in cultivation. A serious disease affecting clematis is due to attacks of nematode worms on the roots. The disease seems worst in houses and along protected walls. Fresh soil, or soil in which the worms are killed by heat or cold, is about the only renu>dy. CLEMENCEATJ, kla'maN'sS', Geohges Ben- J.VMIN EuGKNE (1841 — ). A French politician, born at IMouilleron-en-Pareds. in the Depart- ment of Vendee, September 28, 1841. While .studying medicine in Paris, Clemenceau enr gaged in political intrigues, and his extreme republican views cost him his privileges as a sttident. He went abroad for some time, and paid a short visit to the T'nited States. On his return to France in 1809. he finished his medical course and began the practice of his profession. There lie acquired great political influence, and after the fall of the Empire was chosen mayor of the Eiglitcenth Arrondissemenl (Buttes- jlontmart re), ;ind memher of the Commission of Education. In 1871 he was elected to the Na- tional Assembly, where he voted throughout with the Extreme Left. During the storm}' period of the Commune, Clemenceau acted with mod- eration and good sense. After imavailing efforts to bring about a reconciliation between the Government and the Commune, he resigned his office of ina}or, and gave up his seat in the As- sembly. In July. 1871, he was elected to the jMunicipal Council, and rose to be president of that l)ody; in 187ti he became a member of the ('haml)er of Deputies, and soon acquired con- siderable prominence as the leader of the Ex- treme Left, and the opponent. suc<-essively, of Gambetta, Ferry, and the Boulangists. The Panama disclosures of 1892 had a damaging effect on Clemenceau's political reputation, and lie lost his seat in the Chamber. For the last ten years he h.as figured more as a journalist than as a politician, devoting himself mainly to the editing of the radical journal La Jus- tice, founded by him in 1880. He published Les massacres d'Armenie ( 1896) ; "L'iniquite," "Contre la justice," and "Vers' la reparation" (1899-1900), reprints of articles in L'Aurore on the Dreyfus Affair, championing Dreyfus; and also several works of fiction and one or two social studies. In 1902 he was elected a member of the Senate. Consult Pelletan, Celebritcs eontemporaiiies (2 vols., Paris, 1888). CLEMENS, klem'cnz, Jeremi.u (1814-6.5). An American lawyer and politician. He was born at Huntsville, Ala., and graduated at the University of Alabama in 18.33. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1834; served for several terms in the State Legislature, and distinguished himself in the Mexican War. He was United States Senator from 1849 to 1853; was Presi- dential Elector in 1856, and during the Civil War accepted office under the Confederacy, though he never favored secession. In 1864 he became a Unionist, and advocated the reelection of Lincoln. He was the author of several novels, including The Rieals: A Tale of the Times of Aaron Burr and Alexand-er Hamilton (1859); and Toliias ^yilson: A Tale of the Great Rehel- lion (1865). CLEMENS, S.A.MrEL Laxciiorne (183.5—). An American novelist and humorist, better known as '^Mark Twain' — a name derived from calls used in taking soundings on the Missis- sippi, and first employed by Mr. Clemens in newspaper work in 1863. It had previously been taken as a pen-name by Capt. Isaiah Sellers, in the New Orleans Picayune. Mr. Clemens was bom at Florida, Mo., November 30, 1835. He re- ceived the common-school education of a frontier town, entered a printing-ofiice in 1848, and, be- coming an expert compositor. "orked at this trade in Saint Loiiis, New York, and other cities. In 1851 he gave up printing, and became a steam- boat pilot on the Mississippi, accumulating a fund of experience that he was later to turn to tuiiquc literary account. The Civil War closed this livelihood to him. He joined a volunteer squad of Confederate sympatbizers, remaining with the command for a few weeks, but seeing no active service. Then he went to Nevada with his brother, who had been appointed Territorial