Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/386

* CONSTANTINOPLE. 3'26 CONSTANTS OF NATUKE. Constantinople, or new Koine, was, of right, next in rank to tlie Bishop of old Rome ; both of them being alike subject only to the Emperor. The second was the fifth eeumenical council of the Church, convened in .553 by Justinian I. to sustain his condemnation of tliree distinguished teachers of the Autiocliian school — viz. Theodore of Mopsuestia, Thooduvet, and Ibas of Edessa — whose opinions had been collected into 'three chapters.' (See Ciiai'tkhs, The Three.) There were Ui5 bishops, mostlv Eastern, in attendance. Tlicy condemned the 'three chapters' and renewed thc"coiulcnniation of the doctrines of Nestorius. Popa Vigilius, though not present, afterwards sanctioned the condenmations. The third was the sixth ecumenical council, held in 080-81, and consisting of 289 bishops. Through the influence of the Roman legates, the council con- demned the doctrine that "as there was only one Christ, so He had only one will," and recog- nized in Him, consistentlj' with the doctrine of two natures in one person, two wills made one by the moral subordination of the human to the divine. The fourth was the council held in 092, by command of Justinian TI. It if- recognized as ecumenical only by the Greeks, ahd is called 'quinisextmn,' because it supplemented the fifth and sixth. It passed more than one hundred canons concerning the morals of the clergy and Church discipline" The fifth was held in 7.54, and attended by 3.38 bishops. It is recognized only by the Greeks, and is called 'the Jlock Synod' by Hefele. It issued a decree against image- worship, which was revoked in 787 by the second ecumenical council of Nice. The sixth was held in 809-70. and is recognized only by the Latin Church. It was attended by upward of GO bish- ops. It de))osed the patriarch Photius, restored Ignatius, and enacted laws concerning Church discipline. The seveiitli was held in 879, and is called by the Greeks the eighth ecumenical. There w'ere 383 bishops present. It recalled Photius, repealed the action of the preceding council against him, and defined the position of the patriarch of Constantinople in relation to the Pope. The eighth was heid in 1341, and is called by the Greeks the ninth ecumenical. It condemned Barlaam, an educated monk, as heretical in opposing the Hesyehasts, a mystical sect among the monks of IWount Athos, who as- serted the possibility of attaining, while yet in the body, an intuition of the divine light and essence by a perfect cessation of corporeal life. CONSTANTIUS I., kon-stan'shi-us, Flavius Yalekius. a Konian Emperor (a.d. 305-06), commonly known as Chlortis. He was adopted as CfEsar in 202 by Maximian, and received the government of Gaul. When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated the throne. May I, 305, Con- stantius and Galerius became emperors re- spectively of the West and the East. Constan- tius died at Eboracnm (York), in Britain, .July, 306, and was succeeded by his son, Constantine the Great. He was distinguished alike for his intrepidity as a soldier and for his ability and humanity as a ruler. CONSTANTIUS II., Flavius Julius. A Eoman Emperor (a.d. 337-61). By Fausta, the second son of Constantine the Great, he was born at Sirmium (Illyricum), a.d. 317. Con- stantine made him Ciesar in 323. and in 335 ap- pointed him ruler in the East, where, after 337, he reigned as Emperor. Often involved with the Persians, he sutiered at their hands a galling defeat in 348. His brother Constans being mur- dered by ilagnentius, he met the latter in battle at ilursa, and punished him so grievously that he sul)seciuently perished by his own hand. Con- stantius now reigned alone over the whole Em- pire. He made his cousin, the apostate .Julian, (';esar in Gaul, and bestowed upon him the hand of his sister, Helena. When, however, .Julian achieved great glory, be became jealous, and de- manded the relinquishment of many troops. With this order Julian was disposed to comply, but his admiring soldiers refused to leave him. Constant ins then proceeded against him, hut died of fever before an engagement, whereupon .Julian, previously proclaimed, succeeded to the title. As a ruler Constantius was severe and oppressive. CONSTANTS OF NATUKE. A term ap- plied to various unchangeable quantities that are found to be characteristic of natur.al phe- nomena or relations. The propagation of light through space takes place invariably at the rate of 186,770 miles per second, and hence the velo- city of light may be referred to as a constant of nature. The period of rotation of the earth on its axis may be considered as another con- stant of nature, although, strictly speaking, it is subjact to slight variation. The atomic weights of chemistry — i.e. the smallest relative combining weights of the elements — furnish an- other example of important constants of nature — important because they permit of expressing the composition and reactions of all .substances in a simple and useful form. The electrolytic cqiiivalents — i.e. the weights of elements deposit- ed in the electrolysis of their compounds by a unit current in one second — are likewise con- stants characteristic of the several chemical ele- ments. In choosing the units of precise measurement, which form the basis of all calculations in pure .ind applied science, it is necessary to employ the constant quantities of nature. For example, the second, which is the unit of time generally lised at present, is defined in terms of the time of a complete revolution of the earth on its axis. As thus defined, however, the unit is not quite perfect: the time of a revolution of the earth on its axis is subject to slow variation, and hence the duration of the second, referred to that time, must likewise be slowly changing. With a view to establishing a more perfect vmit of time, scientists have proposed to adopt as its basal constant of nature the period of vibration of an atom emitting light of a given wave-length — an interval of time that is believed to be absolutely constant. The laws of science are generally expressed in tiie form of mathematical eqiiations whose num- bers and terms represent the constant as well as the variable factors of typical natural pheno- mena. Thus, the variation of volume under variable conditions of temperature and pressure, which is characteristic of all bodies, is in the case of perfect gases subject to laAvs that are usually expressed by the equation PY = RT, in which P stands for" pressure, Y for volume, and T for the absolute temperature. If. in experi- menting with difTerent gases, we should employ such quantities of them as would, under the same conditions of pressure and temperature,