Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/718

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706 CLODIUS PULCHER CLONMEL placed upon arbors which are made to revolve about a common centre, in the manner of a re- volving firearm. Many other labor-saving machines are in use whereby great accuracy is attained at a comparatively small cost. The polishing of the leaves of pinions and the teeth of wheels, and the grinding of the faces of the pallet stones to their proper angles, are pro- cesses that are performed with much greater facility and accuracy by the use of machinery than by hand. Most of the internal parts of clocks and watches, except the pinions and arbors, are usually made of brass, because of its ductility at ordinary temperatures. From its resemblance to gold it can be readily and cheaply covered with a frosting of gilt to pro- tect it against corrosion. An alloy of nickel is used instead of brass in many of the Swiss and American watches, which in being finished passes through a process called damaskeen- ing, by which wavy lines resembling those on Damascus swords are produced on the sur- face. Dials for watches, and also for clocks, are made by fusing enamel upon a thoroughly cleaned disk of copper, and then grinding down the surface evenly upon a stone, after which it is again subjected to enough heat to glaze it. The required circles are then inscribed upon it, and the proper divisions are made for the figures, which are painted on with a pencil in black porcelain paint and burned in. Geneva, Neufchatel, Chaux-de-Fonds, and Locle, in Switzerland, are the chief seats of watch manu- facture, particularly for exportation, in Europe ; but watches are made at several places in Ger- many and France. Liverpool has long been celebrated for timekeepers, and most of the Eng- lish watches for exportation are made there. CLODIIJS PULCHER, 1'nttlius. a Roman dema- gogue, killed in 52 13. C. He was by birth a Claudius, but changed his patrician name to Clodius in order to curry favor with the ple- beians. He served in Asia under Lucullus, in whose camp at Nisibis he acted the part of a mutineer, and was afterward taken captive by the pirates of Cilicia. On his release he joined the Syrians in their war against the Arabians. He led a scandalous life on his return to Rome, and was believed to have had an intrigue with the wife of Julius Crosar, into whose house, while it was occupied by the vestals and ma- trons in the performance of the mysteries of the Bona Dea, during the celebration of which all males were rigorously excluded, he gained admission in the disguise of a woman. Caesar, although he repudiated his wife on the ground that she must not even be suspected, gave evidence in favor of Clodius on his trial for the violation of the sacred mysteries. Cicero de- clined to defend him, and gave evidence against him. By bribing the judge, however, Clodius was acquitted. Supported by Caesar, Pom- pey, and Crassus, he was elected tribune in 59, and used his power to drive Cicero into exile for one year, after which he was recalled to Rome, in spite of the opposition of Clodius. He also managed to make Cato leave Rome, by sending him on a mission to Cyprus. Hav- ing degraded himself as a tool of the triumvirs, he aimed at the supreme power, rallied around him the worst characters of Rome, insulted Pompey, and after having taken every means to bring disgrace upon himself and upon Rome, he was finally murdered in an affray with his po- litical rival Milo, a circumstance which has ac- quired great celebrity from Cicero's oration in defence of the murderer. The mob was infuri- ated at the death of their favorite, and Pompey was appointed sole consul to restore order. The first wife of Clodius was a sister of Lucullus, and his second the notorious Fulvia. CIXELJA, a Roman maidea, who according to the legend was one of the hostages delivered to Porsena when he withdrew from the Jani- culum, terrified by the threats of C. Mucius Scsevola. The story is that she swam across the Tiber and effected her escape, but was sent back to Porsena by the Romans. Porsena in admiration of her courage presented her with a horse richly caparisoned, and allowed her to make a selection from the other hostages and return with them to Rome. She chose those who were of tender age and most likely to suffer from captivity. An equestrian statue which stood in the via sacra at Rome was sup- posed to have been erected in her honor. (MM. II Kit. a decayed episcopal town of Ire- land, in county Tyrone, situated on the Laung, a tributary of the Blackwater, 80 m. N. W. of Dublin ; pop. about 400. The see of the An- glican bishop has lately been united to that of Armagh ; the bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Clogher resides at Carrickmacross, in county Monaghan. St. Patrick is said to have been the first bishop of Clogher, in 444. CLOISTER. See MONASTERY. CLONFERT, one of the oldest Irish bishoprics, deriving its name from the convent of Clonfert or Clonefort, in the county and 42 m. E. of Galway, founded in the latter part of the 6th century by St. Brendan. The present residence of the Roman Catholic bishop is at Loughrea ; the Anglican diocese has been united to that of Killaloe. Clonfert, formerly called a city, contains an ancient episcopal palace and cathe- dral and a few huts. CLONMEL (Irish, vale of honey), a town and parliamentary borough of Ireland, in the coun- ties of Waterford and Tipperary, on the Suir, 90 m. S. W. of Dublin, and 25 m. N. W. of Waterford; pop. in 1871, 9,484. It is finely situated in a picturesque valley, nearly shut in by mountains. Most of the town is built on the N. or Tipperary side of the river, which is crossed by three stone bridges. The main streets are handsome and well paved. Gas is generally used, and the supply of water is abundant. The best houses are of limestone quarried in the vicinity. There is a handsome new court house, a county jail, barracks for in- fantry and artillery, a military hospital, a club house, a fine parish church, a well endowed