Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/508

* KERMES. 460 KEBNEB. KEBMES, kOr'niez (Ar., Pers. qirmiz, qirmizi, ciiiiisoii, from Skt. krmija, produced by a wcrin, from tf HI i, worm + jfta, to be born ), or Scarlet Grain. The dried bodies of female kermes in- sects (Lecaiiiiim ilicis, L. ), formerly much used as a dyestuir. Kermes has been largely sup- planted by cochineal (q.v.), but is still used in some parts of the south of Europe, and more ex- tensively in India and Persia. The keniies insect is abundant in these regions, attjiching itself to the leaves of the kermes oak (Qucrcus coccifcra) , a low, bushy slirub with evergreen, spinous leaves. In some parts of Spain the kermes oak grows in great profusion, as on the slopes of the Sierra Morena. The kermes insect attacks the young shoots of the shrub, the female affixing itself and remaining immovable till, after attaining its full size, about that of a pea, it deposits its eggs and dies. Kermes is gathered toward the end of May, before the eggs are hatched. It is thrown into vinegar, and afterwards dried in the sun or in an oven. It has been employed from time im- memorial to dye cloth a brownish dark red. KERMES MINEBAL (so called from the orange-red color), or Sulpiiureted Antimony. An amorphous, impure, reddish-white antimoni- ous sulphide (Sb^Sj) used in medicine. It is made by boiling 4 parts of potassium hydrate and 12 parts of water with 1 part of native antimony trisulphide out of contact with air for some time, then adding .50 part-s of boiling water, filtering quickly, and decomposing tlie solution with dilute sulphuric acid. The kermes mineral thus ob- tained contains small quantities of antimonious oxide, and is insoluble in water and in alcohol. On exposure to light. it,s color becomes somewhat lighter. It forms one of the ingredients of com- pound pills of antimony, its action being similar to that of tartar emetic (q.v.). It was <mce a famous remedy, especially in France and Italy, and was known as Carthusian ])0wder, or Poudre des Chart res. KERMESSE, k&r'nies. See Kirmess. KEBN. A name applied formerly to Irish aJid Gaelic infantrj* soldiers. KEBN, kern, Hendrik (1833—). A Dutch Orientalist. He was born on the island of .lava, was brought up in Holland, and was educated in I^eyden and Berlin. He taught Greek in the Athemeum at Maastricht (I858-fi2), and in 1805 became professor at Leyden. His writings were chiefly on Sanskrit literature and lexicography, and include: Hatidlculhirf hij hrt ondcnrijfs d<r XcderlandsrJie tanl (hist ed. 1S84) : Cnkunluhi. Indisih tooiicclspcl ran KAIidiixa (1862): Die Glossrti in der Lex Halica tnid die Sprache dcr salischen Franken (18fifl) ; Kaicistudien (1871) ; Arynhhalii/n : A MaiuiaJ of Astronom;/ (1874); Over de jnartelling der zuidelijl-e Biiddhixfen (1873) ; Gesehiedcnis lanhet liuddhiume in Indie (1881-83) : an edition of the text of the lirihiit- Sanhitn. in the liildinthreri Indiea (186.5) and an English translation of the same (1869) : De Fidji-tnnl verffeleKen mit hare vernxinten in Jndonesie en Poh/nenie (1SS6): The Jataka Mala, in "Harvard Oriental Series" (1892). KEBN, Hermann (1823-91). A German edu- cator of the Herbartian school. He was born at Jiiterbog. and was educated at Leipzig, where he studied mathematics and philosophy, and through the teaching of Drohisch and Hartenstein became a follower of Herbart. He taught successively at Halle, Coburg, Miilheim, and Berlin. He retired from school work only a short time before his death. From 1853 to 1856 he was editor of the I'iidagogische BUiitcr. Besides his contributions to the Zeilschrift fiir das (lymnasialiceDcn, and articles in Palmer and Wildcrmuth, EneyklojMi- dic des Erziehiuijis- uiid Unterrichtsiccsens (1870- 87), his works include: De Leibnitii ticientia Oenerali (1847) ; Ein Ueitrag xur Rechtferiigung dcr Uerhartschen Metaphysik (1849) ; Die philc- sophischc Propddeutik in Verbindimg mit dem mathcmatisehen und physikalischen Gymnasial- unterrieht ( 1801 ), and the very important (Jrund- riss dcr Piidagogik (5th ed. 1893). KEBN, .Johann KoNRAD (1808-88). A Swiss statesman. He was born at Berlingen, in the Canton of Thurgau, studied theology at Basel, and turning to law, attended the universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Paris. On his return to his native canton he became a member of the cantonal Legislature (1832). and later president of the Council of Public Instruction (1835), and of the Supreme Court ( 1837 ), displaying in these offices fine oratorical talent and great legal and administrative sagacity. In 1838, when the French Government demanded the expulsion from the country of Prince Louis Napoleon, Kern stirred up the Swiss to defiance. In 1847 he was instrumental in overthrowing the Sonderbund (q.v.), and in 1848 took an active part in the drawing up of the Federal Constitution. As president of the Council of Public Instruction he afterwards established the Polytechnic School of Zurich, one of the most admirable institutions of its kind in Europe. In 1857 he took part, as delegate of Switzerland, in the conference at Paris which settled the dispute with Prussia con- cerning Neuchatel. From 1857 to 1883 he was Swiss Minister to France, and negotiated many important treaties with that country. KEBNAHAN', ker'nil-an, Coulson (1858—). An English novelist, born at Ilfracombe, Devon- shire. He was a.ssociated with Locker-Lampson on a new edition of Lyra Elcgantiarum, a well- known anthology; has contributed to many pe- riodicals, written humorous verse, and gained wide popularity for his fiction, some of which has been translated into French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, and Chinese. Of these popular books- are: .4 Dead Man's Diary (1890); A Hook of Strange Sins (1893) ; The Child, the TVi.sc Man, and the Dent (1896) ; A Literary Gent. Captain Shannon, and Scoundrels and Co. (1899). Hi» wife has also written several novels. KEBNEB, ker'ner, Anton (1831-98). An Austrian botanist. He was born at Mautem, in Lower Austria. In 1858 he became professor of botany at the Polytechnic Institute at Buda, and in 1800 was elected to the same chair in the Uni- versity of Innsbruck, a post which he resigned in 1878 "to accept the directorship of the botanical garden of Vienna and the professorship of botany in the university there, where his labors continued until his death,' in 1898. He established his repu- tation by publishing a report of his botanical ex- ploration of Hungary, Pflanzenlehcn der Donau- Under (Innsbruck, 1863) ; and Vegetationsver- haltnis-te des miltlem und o.'itlichen Vngarn und Siebcnhiirgen (ib., 1875). In 1804 he published a book upon the culture of alpine plants (Die Kiiliur der Alpenflanzen) ; in 1867 finished the publication of the results of his studies with