Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/444

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436 CHIMAPHILA CHIMBORAZO < HIM UMIILA (Gr. */*, winter, and #Aof, a friend), a drug consisting of the leaves of chi- maphila umbellata, a small evergreen plant called wintergreen or pipsissewa, belonging to the heath family, growing in the northern lat- itudes of both continents. The leaves contain a resin, a bitter principle, a volatile oil, and tannic acid, all of which contribute to its me- dicinal efficacy. It is used in affections of the kidneys and urinary passages, acting as a diu- retic and astringent. Decoctions and extracts are employed. C. maculata probably possesses similar virtues. The dose of the decoction is a pint in 24 hours ; of the fluid extract, half a dram to a dram. CHIMARA, R liimara, or ( himari. See CERATJ- NIAN MOUNTAINS. CHIMAY, the name of a little principality in the Belgian province of Hainaut, with a thri- ving capital of the same name on the river Blanche, in the arrondissement of Charleroi. In former times it belonged to the lords of Croy. In 1470 it was made a county by Charles the Bold of Burgundy, and in 1486 a principality by Maximilian of Hapsburg. After passing through various hands, it came by in- heritance in the beginning of this century to the French family Riquet de Caraman. CHIMAY, Jeanne Marie Innate Therese, princess of, born in Saragossa about 1775, died in Bel- gium, Jan. 15, 1835. She was the daughter of Count Cabarrus, minister of finance in Spain. Married at a very early age to M. de Fontenay, a councillor to the parliament of Bordeaux, from whom she was soon divorced, she became interested in the revolutionary movement, but gave umbrage to the government and was ar- rested. Tallien, on passing through Bordeaux, fell in love with her, procured her liberation, and finally married her. On her arrival in Paris, her beauty created a great sensation. She took a deep interest in politics, siding with the moderate republicans. She prevailed upon her husband to engage in a plot for the over- throw of Robespierre, and was thus the pro- moter of the revolution of Thermidor (July, 1794). From this period her house became the centre of the most brilliant society of Paris, and she was for years, but especially during the directory, the queen of fashion. She appear- ed in the Tuileries in a Greek or Roman cos- tume, remarkable for its transparency, and won admiration by the classical perfection of her person. Such triumphs were far from being agreeable to her husband, who had still more serious causes of complaint. He left France, first travelling in England, then accompanying Bonaparte to Egypt. On his return to Paris he was divorced from his wife by mutual con- sent. In 1805 she took as her third husband Count Caraman, Francois Joseph Philippe de Riquet (born Sept. 21, 1773, died March 2, 1843), who soon became prince of Chimay, and lived with him on good terms, residing in Paris, Nice, or at his castle of Chimay in Belgium. She kept for many years her rank among the beauties of France, but was never admitted to the court of Napoleon ; and although her hus- band had access to nearly all the courts of | Europe, she was excluded from them, even ! from that of Belgium, where the prince held I the office of first chamberlain to Leopold. Her revolutionary reputation had closed to her the doors of the monarchical world. She was not only a handsome, but a most generous, kind, amiable, and witty woman, always ready to serve even her enemies. A lady whom she had saved from death during the revolution said of her, " If you call Madame Bonaparte our lady of victory, you must call Madame Tallien our lady of good help." CHIMBORAZO, a mountain of Ecuador, South America, the most famous peak of the Andes, situated in lat. 1 30' 8., Ion. 79 W. It was Chlmborazo. for a long time supposed to be not only the highest point on the western continent, but the highest in the world. This distinction it has now lost, as it ranks only as the sixth among the loftiest peaks of the Andes, and falls far below some of the mountains in the Himalaya chain. Its elevation above the sea was ascertained by Humboldt to be 21,422 ft. It is surrounded by high table lands, above which it rises less than 12,000 ft., so that on a near approach it appears less gigantic than when viewed from a distance. The form of the mountain is that of a truncated cone, and its appearance from the coast of the Pacific is peculiarly grand. Nearly 200 m. distant, it