Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/323

* CONFUCIUS. 275 in others. The fomulation of all good is the ^■iI■tuo of individual ineu. Confucius also enun- ciated the Golden Ilule, although in negative teiTiiS, as follows: '"What ye would not that others should do unto you, do ye not unto them." Respite tiie negative form of this maxim, it is to all intents and i)urposes elosely parallel to the Golden IJule as given by Christ. Consult: Plath, Vuiifucitis mid seiner Schiilcr Lcbcii vnd Lcliren (Munich, 187-74) ; von der Gabelcntz, Confuciiif: mid seine Lehrc (Leii)zig, 1SS8) ; Haug, Confucius der M'eisc Chinas (Ber- lin, 1880) ; Dvorak, Chinas I'eligionen, Band i., Confucius iind seine Lehre (Miinster, 1895) ; Legge, Life and Teachings of Confucius (London, 1887); Douglass, Confucianism and Taoism (London, 1879). For the original sources, Legge's translations of the Lvn Yii, Ta Hsiieh, and Chung Yung in the first volume of his Chinese Classics (Hong Kong and London, ISOl) should be consulted as of the first importance. The same scholar's translations of the Texts of Con- fucianism (comprising the >S7ii( Ching, Hsiao Ching, I Ching, Li Ching, and portions of the ,^hih Ching), vols, iii., xvi., xxvii., xxviii. of the t^acred Books of the East (Oxford, 1879-85) are also of value. CONFUSION (Lat. confusio, a mixing to- gether, from confunderc, to mingle or mix to- gether, from cum-, together + funderc, to pour, pour out) OF Goods. The intermingling of the goods of two or more several owners so as to be indistinguishable. This may occur volun- taril}', or by agreement of all the parties con- cerned — as in the common case of the deposit of grain in a common storage elevator ; or ac- cidentally, as when, in ease of fire or shipwreck or innocent mistake, goods are inextricably mingled together; or the confusion may be malicious and willful, as when one person takes gold belonging to another and throws it into the melting-pot with his own. In the first two cases the law adjusts the rights of the parties bj' making them tenants in common of the mixture, in the proportion of their re- spective contributions thereto, and, where the portions confused are of unequal value, in the projjortion of their respective values. In the case rf a willful confusion, however, the common law originally adopted the stringent nile of giv- ing the etitire mass to the innocent part.v, and this principle would still be applied in some com- mon-law jurisdictions. The present tendency, however, in England as well as in the United States, is to adopt the milder rule of the Koman or civil law, either making the parties tenants in common of the mi.xture, as in the other cases referred to, or permitting the innocent party to recover the value of his share at the time of the confusion. Compare Accession. Consult Schou- ler, Trcatiie on the Law of Personal Properly (Boston, 1896). CONGAREE (kon'ga-re') RIVER. A river of South Carolina, formed by the junction of the Broad and the Saluda rivers, near Columbia. (Map: South Carolina. D 3). It flows southeast, and, joining the Wateree. forms the Santee. It is 00 miles long and navigable to Grandbv. two miles below Columbia. At this city it furnishes considerable water-power. CONGE D'ELIRE, koN'zhi' dS'lcr' (Norman- Freneh, Fr., permission to elect). The name CONGER. given in England to the King's warrant or per- mission to a dean and chapter of a cathedral to proceed to the election of a bishop to a vacant see. Since the passing of the statute 25 lien. 'lll. e. 20, with tlu' exception of sliort periods in the reigns of Edward VI. and IMary, the conge delire has always been accomjianied by a letter missive from the King, mentioning the person to lie elected by name, so that in reality it is an ap[)ointment by the Crown. If the dean and cluiptcr delay the election beytjud twelve days, th.c appoinluient is eifected by letter patent from the Crown: if they elect another tliau the person named, they incur the penalties of a prcEmunire, i.e. loss of civil rights, for- feiture of their goods, and imprisonment during the royal pleasure. The same penalties are im- posed upon any bishop or archbishop who neg- lects to assist in the conseeralion and invest- ment of a bishop so elected, within twenty days after the royal announcement of his election. Consult Stephen, Commentaries, vol. iii. (Lon- don, 1880). CONGENITAL DISEASE (Lat. congen itus, born with, from co)i-, together + gignere, to beget). A tenu used to denote any disease with which an infant enters the world. Con- genital diseases may be acquired from the mother during pregnancy or during the act of deliveiy. In the former class belong syphilis, and, according to some authorities, smallpox. The latter class is to be separated into two sub- divisions: (1) diseases obtained by infection from the parturient canal of the mother, as sy]3hilis, gonorrhoea, septic peritonitis, purulent ophthalmia, and pya;mia ; (2) conditions due to accidents occurring during" delivery of the in- fant, such as asphyxia, atelectasis (unexpanded lungs), and cephalhicmatoma (tiunor of the scalp containing bloody fluid). Infants may also develop an acute fatty degeneration as well as tumors of various kinds before birth. CONGER, kon'ger (Lat., from Gk. ySyypos, gongros, conger), or Conger Eel. A marine eel (Leptoccphalus conger) of the family Lepto- cephalidie, having the form of the typical eels, but no scales. The head is pointed and the mouth deeply cleft. The teeth in the outer series of either jaw are placed closely together so as to form a cutting edge. The dorsal fin commences much nearer the head than in the fresh-water eel and is confluent with the anal around the tail. The conger grows to a length of 8 feet and a weight of 25 or 30 pounds, and is almost cosmopolitan. "Congers feed chiefly by night and prey upon cnistaceans, cuttles, and various kinds of fish. . . . Their favorite resorts are either hollows or crevices in the rocks or sandy bot- toms, in which they can buiy themselves; and in such situations they are sometimes left by the ebbing tide. The flesh of these eels is of a highly gelatinous nature, and is said to be largely em- ployed in soups." American fishermen usually call them sea-eels. Several Oriental species are known; and the name is sometimes ap])lied, to other similar fishes, as those of the genus Synaphobranchus. The conger passes thro-.igh a* metamorphosis, "the young being loosely organ- ized, transparent, and band-shaped, with a very small head. The body grows smaller with age owing to the compacting of the tissues." This larval form was mistakenly described as a differ-