Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/723

This page needs to be proofread.

CANNON CANON 713 iron from which the steel is made, and the great care with which all the operations are conduct- ed. The Gatling gun is a machine gun com- posed of ten barrels made to revolve around a central axis parallel to their bore by means of a hand crank. As each barrel comes opposite to a certain point a self-loaded metal-cased car- tridge falling from a hopper is pushed into the breech by a plunger, and held there till it is ex- ploded by a firing pin. This gun is capable of firing 400 shots per minute, with great range and precision. The mitrailleuse of the French is es- sentially the same machine. (See AETILLEEY.) CANNON, a central county of Tennessee, drained by Stone's river and the Caney fork of Cumberland river ; area, 220 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 10,502, of whom 927 were colored. The surface is uneven and the soil generally fer- tile. The chief productions in 1870 were 79,520 bushels of wheat, 564,330 of Indian corn, 26,- 870 of oats, 105,055 Ibs. of butter, 21,451 of wool, 30,750 of tobacco, 54 bales of cotton, and 160 hhds. of sugar. There were 3,360 horses, 1,202 mules and asses, 2,487 milch cows, 4,068 other cattle, 12,198 sheep, and 23,550 swine. Capital, Woodbury. CANNONSBURG, a post borough of Washing- ton co., Penn., 18 m. S. W. of Pittsburgh ; pop. in 1870, 641. It is the seat of Washington and Jefferson college, a Presbyterian institu- tion, which in 1871 had 10. instructors, 118 students, of whom 39 were in the preparatory department, and a library of 17,000 volumes. CA>0, Alnnso, surnained EL RACIONEBO, a Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect, born in Granada, March 19, 1601, died there, Oct. 5, 1665. He became so distinguished in each of these arts that his countrymen called him the Michel Angelo of Spain. His " Conception of the Virgin," in the church of San Diego at Granada, is considered his masterpiece. His works in sculpture and architecture are nu- merous. He was a contemporary of Velas- quez, and in 1038 was appointed court painter to Philip IV. His ungovernable temper on various occasions brought him in collision with the authorities, and he was once put to the rack on suspicion of having killed his wife in a fit of jealousy, but was subsequently absolved from the charge. On this occasion his right arm was exempted from torture, as being ex- cellent in arte. It is related that on his death- bed he refused to take the crucifix from the priest on account of its bad workmanship. (AX), Jaeobo. See CAM, Diooo. CAJfO, Joan Sebastian del, a Spanish navigator, born at Guetaria, died at sea, Aug. 4, 1526. He early became captain of a vessel sailing to the Levant and Africa, and subsequently joined Magalhaens's famous expedition in charge of one of its five vessels. Soon after the violent death of Magalhaens (April 27, 1521), he suc- ceeded Carabello as commander, and returned to Spain in 1522 by the Cape of Good Hope with only one vessel left of the original five, after having visited the Moluccas or Spice isl- ands and established friendly relations with one of the native sovereigns. He received a pension from Charles V., and was second in command of a new expedition of five vessels under Loaisa, which sailed on July 25, 1525, and met with many disasters. They passed the strait of Magellan May 26, 1526, but being again overtaken by storms in the Pacific, Loaisa died July 30, and Cano Aug. 4. CANON (Gr. navov, a straight rod, hence a measuring rod or rule). Collections of the old Greek authors, as furnishing the rule or stan- dard of excellence, were called nav6vec, models or classics. The Greek word is used in the New Testament (Gal. vi. 16, Phil. iii. 16, re- ceived text) and in the fathers to denote a rule or standard. In 2 Cor. x. 13, 15, 16, it is translated "rule" or "line," and denotes a limited part or district, as if measured off or assigned by rule. The " canonized books " or "canonical Scriptures," i. e., those admitted by the rule or furnishing the rule, were spoken of before Jerome, Augustine, and others ap- plied the word canon directly to the books of Scripture which are received as genuine and authoritative. Jerome styled these "the holy library," and we call them "the holy Bible," or simply "the Bible." (See BIBLE.) From the lack of contemporary documents much ob- scurity rests upon the history of the formation of the Old Testament canon. As the particu- lar books were avowedly written at different times during a period of more than 1,000 years, each has its own history and evidence of divine authority ; but a very steadfast tradition of the Jews ascribes to Ezra and " the great syna- gogue" the work of collecting and promulga- ting the Old Testament Scriptures. This tra- dition in its general features harmonizes with the contents of the books and the known his- tory of Judaism. The tradition appears, with various embellishments of detail, in the 2d (or 4th) book of Esdras (xiv. 21-48), in Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Irenseus, and other early fathers, and in several books of the Tal- mud. The mention, in 2 Mace. ii. 13, of Ne- hemiah's gathering together in a library " the acts of the kings, and the prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kings concern- ing the holy gifts," is consistent with the idea of a gradual collection and promulgation of the sacred writings, as they then existed, du- ring the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. All subsequent references to the Scriptures men- tion or presuppose the existence of the com- pleted canon of the Old Testament. The He- brew canon of 22 or 24 books contained all those which are now reckoned as 39. The threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures into the law, the prophets, and the hagiogra- pha or sacred writings (see BIBLE), is recog- nized in the prologue to Ecclesiasticns, in Philo, Josephus, the New Testament (Luke xxiv. 44), the Talmud, &c. Philo quotes from or refers to most of the books of the Old Tes- tament. Josephus, who says they are "justly