the damage is obviously past repair, the kidney should not be
removed without giving nature a chance. (J. R. B.; E. O.*)
KIDWELLY (Cydweli), a decayed market-town and municipal
borough of Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated (as its name
implies) near the junction of two streams, the Gwendraeth Fawr
and the Gwendraeth Fach, a short distance from the shores of
Carmarthen Bay. Pop. (1901), 2285. It has a station on the
Great Western railway. The chief attraction of Kidwelly is its
magnificent and well-preserved castle, one of the finest in South
Wales, dating chiefly from the 13th century and admirably
situated on a knoll above the Gwendraeth Fach. The parish
church of St Mary, of the 14th century, possesses a lofty tower
with a spire. The quiet little town has had a stirring history. It
was a place of some importance when William de Londres, a
companion of Fitz Hamon and his conquering knights, first
erected a castle here. In 1135 Kidwelly was furiously attacked
by Gwenllian, wife of Griffith ap Rhys, prince of South Wales,
and a battle, fought close to the town at a place still known as
Maes Gwenllian, ended in the total defeat and subsequent execution
of the Welsh princess. Later, the extensive lordship of
Kidwelly became the property through marriage of Henry, earl of
Lancaster, and to this circumstance is due the exclusive jurisdiction
of the town. Kidwelly received its first charter of
incorporation from Henry VI.; its present charter dating
from 1618. The decline of Kidwelly is due to the accumulation
of sand at the mouth of the river, and to the consequent
prosperity of the neighbouring Llanelly.
KIEF, Kef or Keif (a colloquial form of the Arabic kaif,
pleasure or enjoyment), the state of drowsy contentment produced
by the use of narcotics. To “do kef,” or to “make kef,”
is to pass the time in such a state. The word is used in northern
Africa, especially in Morocco, for the drug used for the purpose.
KIEL, the chief naval port of Germany on the Baltic, a town
of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. Pop. (1900),
107,938; (1905), 163,710, including the incorporated suburbs.
It is beautifully situated at the southern end on the Kieler
Busen (bay or harbour of Kiel), 70 m. by rail N. from Hamburg.
It consists of a somewhat cramped old town, lying between the
harbour and a sheet of water called Kleiner Kiel, and a better
built and more spacious new town, which has been increased
by the incorporation of the garden suburbs of Brunswick and
Düsternbrook. In the old town stands the palace, built in the
13th century, enlarged in the 18th and restored after a fire in
1838. It was once the seat of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp,
who resided here from 1721 to 1773, and became the residence
of Prince Henry of Prussia. Other buildings are the church of
St Nicholas (restored in 1877–1884), dating from 1240, with a
lofty steeple; the old town-hall on the market square; the church
of the Holy Ghost; three fine modern churches, those of St James,
and St Jürgen and of St Ansgar; and the theatre. Further to the
north and facing the bay is the university, founded in 1665 by
Christian Albert, duke of Schleswig, and named after him
“Christian Albertina.” The new buildings were erected in
1876, and connected with them are a library of 240,000 volumes,
a zoological museum, a hospital, a botanical garden and a school
of forestry. The university, which is celebrated as a medical
school, is attended by nearly 1000 students, and has a teaching
staff of over 100 professors and docents. Among other scientific
and educational institutions are the Schleswig-Holstein museum
of national antiquities in the old university buildings, the
Thaulow museum (rich in Schleswig-Holstein wood-carving of
the 16th and 17th centuries), the naval academy, the naval
school and the school for engineers.
The pride of Kiel is its magnificent harbour, which has a comparatively uniform depth of water, averaging 40 ft., and close to the shores 20 ft. Its length is 11 m. and its breadth varies from 14 m. at the southern end to 412 m. at the mouth. Its defences, which include two forts on the west and four on the east side, all situated about 5 m. from the head of the harbour at the place (Friedrichsort) where its shores approach one another, make it a place of great strategic strength. The imperial docks (five in all) and ship-building yards are on the east side facing the town, between Gaarden and Ellerbeck, and comprise basins capable of containing the largest war-ships afloat. The imperial yard employs 7000 hands, and another 7000 are employed in two large private ship-building works, the Germania (Krupp’s) and Howalds’. The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, commonly called the Kiel Canal, connecting the Baltic with the North Sea at Brunsbüttel, has its eastern entrance at Wik, 112 m. N. of Kiel (see Germany: Waterways). The town and adjacent villages, e.g. Wik, Heikendorf and Laboe, are resorted to for sea-bathing, and in June of each year a regatta, attended by yachts from all countries, is held. The Kieler Woche is one of the principal social events in Germany, and corresponds to the “Cowes week” in England. Kiel is connected by day and night services with Korsör in Denmark by express passenger boats. The harbour yields sprats which are in great repute. The principal industries are those connected with the imperial navy and ship-building, but embrace also flour-mills, oil-works, iron-foundries, printing-works, saw-mills, breweries, brick-works, soap-making and fish-curing. There is an important trade in coal, timber, cereals, fish, butter and cheese.
The name of Kiel appears as early as the 10th century in the form Kyl (probably from the Anglo-Saxon Kille = a safe place for ships). Kiel is mentioned as a city in the next century; in 1242 it received the Lübeck rights; in the 14th century it acquired various trading privileges, having in 1284 entered the Hanseatic League. In recent times Kiel has been associated with the peace concluded in January 1814 between Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden, by which Norway was ceded to Sweden. In 1773 Kiel became part of Denmark, and in 1866 it passed with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia. Since being made a great naval arsenal, Kiel has rapidly developed in prosperity and population.
See Prahl, Chronika der Stadt Kiel (Kiel, 1856); Erichsen, Topographie des Landkreises Kiel (Kiel, 1898); H. Eckardt, Alt-Kiel in Wort und Bild (Kiel, 1899); P. Hasse, Das Kieler Stadtbuch, 1264–1289 (Kiel, 1875); Das älteste Kieler Rentebuch 1300, 1487, edited by C. Reuter (Kiel, 1893); Das zweite Kieler Rentebuch 1487, 1586, edited by W. Stern (Kiel, 1904); and the Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Kieler Stadtgeschichte (Kiel, 1877, 1904).
KIELCE, a government in the south-west of Russian Poland,
surrounded by the governments of Piotrkow and Radom and by
Austrian Galicia. Area, 3896 sq. m. Its surface is an elevated
plateau 800 to 1000 ft. in altitude, intersected in the north-east
by a range of hills reaching 1350 ft. and deeply trenched in the
south. It is drained by the Vistula on its south-east border,
and by its tributaries, the Nida and the Pilica, which have a very
rapid fall and give rise to inundations. Silurian and Devonian
quartzites, dolomite, limestones and sandstones prevail in the
north, and contain rich iron ores, lead and copper ores. Carboniferous
deposits containing rich coal seams occur chiefly in the
south, and extend into the government of Piotrkow. Permian
limestones and sandstones exist in the south. The Triassic
deposits contain very rich zinc ores of considerable thickness
and lead. The Jurassic deposits consist of iron-clays and limestones,
containing large caves. The Cretaceous deposits yield
gypsum, chalk and sulphur. White and black marble are also
extracted. The soil is of great variety and fertile in parts, but
owing to the proximity of the Carpathians, the climate is more
severe than might be expected. Rye, wheat, oats, barley and
buckwheat are grown; modern intensive culture is spreading,
and land fetches high prices, the more so as the peasants’ allotments
were small at the outset and are steadily decreasing.
Out of a total of 2,193,300 acres suitable for cultivation 53.4%
are actually cultivated. Grain is exported. Gardening is a
thriving industry in the south; beet is grown for sugar in the
south-east. Industries are considerably developed: zinc ores
are extracted, as well as some iron and a little sulphur. Tiles,
metallic goods, leather, timber goods and flour are the chief
products of the manufactures. Pop. (1897), 765,212, for the
most part Poles, with 11% Jews; (1906, estimated), 910,900.
By religion 88% of the people are Roman Catholics. Kielce is
divided into seven districts, the chief towns of which, with
