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* COKDER. 408 CORDOBA. file rioyal Aciiilemy of Music, London, gained (he ilt-ndi'lssohn scholaisliip in 1875, and, after studying in Cologne under Ferdinand Hiller, returned to London, and in LS80 became conductor of the orchestra at the Brighton Aquarium. His works mclude .l/o)(f d'Arlliiii; opera (1877) ; In Ike Black /'ores/, suite for orchestra (1S7U) ; The Hrklul (if Tricnmiin, canlata (ISSti) ; Kumanian suite for orchestra (1887) ; The Miitslrcl's Curse, declamatory ballad, with orchestra (1888), and The tiii-urd of Ari/iinti/r, dramatic cantata ( 1889). With liis brother Henry, he translated the libretti of Wagner's music dramas into English. In 18!t(i he lectured on Wagner, Berlioz, and Liszt, before the Royal Academy. He published a valu- able theoretical work. The Orchestra and How to Write for It (London and New York, 189G). CORDE'RITJS, or COSDIER, kOr'dyf/, :Ma- THur.ix ( 1479-1.'">(J4). A French humanist, author of the CoUoquia. He was especially fond of teaching children, and taught in Paris, where he had as one of his scholars John Calvin, who dedi- cated to him the commentary on the First Epistle to the Thessaloiiiaiis. He subsequently taught in Geneva. He wrote a number of books for chil- dren, one of which. CoHoquiorum Seholasticorum lAhri Quattiwr ad Pueros ire Latine Sermone Exercendos (15G4), appeared in numerous later editions and was translated into English and French. CORD GRASS (Spartina). A genus of grasses having compound spikes, the species of which are found in wet places, many of them in salt or brackish tide marshes. The spikelets are arranged on one side, and have only one perfect floret and very tme(|ual glumes. The species' are perennial, rigid, from creeping rootstocks, and have long, tough leaves, hence the name cord grass. Spartina stricta, fotmd in muddy salt- marshes on the east and southeast coasts of England, and in America, although remarkable for its extreme stiffness and rigidity of habit, is used for making ropes, on account of the tough- ness of its fibre. Spartina cvnosuroides and Spar- tina patens are oonimcm in the L^nited States, the former along the ocean and lake shores from Maine to the Pacific: the latter species is common in salt-marshes, and this and Juncus Gerardi fur- nish the best of the marsh - hay. Spartina c-nosuroides has been successfully used in the manufacture of twine and paper. It is recom- mended as a binding grass for wet banl^s, ditches, etc. COR'DIA'NI. See Saxgallo. CORDIER, kor'dya', Henri (1840—). A French Orientalist, born in Xew Orleans. He studied in France and England, and in 1869 went to China, where he spent eleven years. He became professor of the Scliool of Political Science in Paris in 1886, and professor of his- tory, geography, aiid Eastern legislation at the School of Living Oriental Languages, His works include Bihliotheca iS'iretco, a bibliographi- cal dictionary of books about the Chinese Em- pire (1878-95): La Frniice en Chine (1882): Recueil de vojfanes et dc documents pour serrir o Vhisioire de la g^ographie depuis le XIII f^ sidcle jusqu'a, la fin du XVI e siecle (1882-85), and an Atlas sino-corfen (1896). CORDIERE, kor'dyar', La Belle (Fr.. the beautiful rope-maker). A nickname of the poetess Louise Labf, whose husband was Perrin, a rope-maker. CORDIERITE, kOr'di-er-it. See Iolite. CORDILO.ERA. A general term applied to the system of eleations that extends along or near the Pacific Coast of Xorth and South Amer- ica frcim northern Alaska to Cape Horn. The Cordillera of Xorth America includes the moun- tain ranges in ilexico, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Xevadas, the Coast and Cascade ranges in the United States, and the several ranges in British Columbia and Alaska. The whole west- ern part of the continent traversed by these ranges is commonly called the "Cordilleran re- gion,' In South America the term is sometimes used comprehensively as a synonym for the Andes, or the two may be united, i.e., Andean Cordillera, and it is also applied to definite por- tions of the Andes, as in Colombia, where the three mountain ranges are known as the Eastern, Central, and Western Cordilleras. The term, originally liorrowed from the Spanish, is being used more and more by geographers in a general sense to signify an extensive s3'stem of elevations. See America; Andes; etc. CORDITE (from cord, on account of the ap- jiearance of the grains). A form of smokeless gunpowder used in England. It is composed of nitroglycerin, 58 jjarts: nitrocellulose, 37 parts; vaseline, 5 parts. It is eolloided by dissolving the nitrocellulose in a solvent, incorporating the ingredients, and then evaporating the solvent. See ExpLcsivEs, C6rD0BA, kor'do-Ba, or COR'DOVA, The flourishing capital of the province of the same name in Argentina, on the Rio Primero, a tributary of the Parana (Map: Argentina, E 10). It is situated at an elevation of about 120* feet, and is regularly laid out and well built, except on the surrounding heights, which are in- habited mostly by the poorer classes. The city has a fine park, or promenade, and plazas, in the principal of which is situated the cathedral, an imposing structure of composite architecture with a fine cupola, dating from the seventeenth cen- tury. The Government palace is also worth men- tioning. An equestrian statue of General Paz stands in the plaza of that name. Among the educational institutions are the university — founded by the Jesuits in 1013, thus ranking in age next to that of Lima — a national college, two seminaries, and an observatory and meteorological station. Other features of Cordoba comprise a public library, a well-equipped general hospital, asylums for orphans and the poor, etc. The city is an episcopal see. Though the surrounding coun- try is rendered fertile only by irrigation, Cor- doba is an important commercial centre, owing to its geogra])hical position. Live stock, wool, and hides are the chief exports of the vicinity, and beds of calcite are worked. The city has some in- dustrial interests, principally manufactures of building material, lime, bricks, and flour. Popu- lation, in 1901, 50,000, CSrdoba was founded in 1.573, the neighborhood having been visited some thirty years before by an ofiicer of Pizarro, and, after becoming the capital of Tucuman, rose to prominence as an educational centre and as the headquarters of the .Tesviits in that region. It suf- fered to some extent in the revolutionary strug- gles. In 1871 Cordoba was the seat of the first national exposition of Argentina.