Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/51

CARTOUCHE CAETWRIG1IT 43 these disks are very large, detached from the vertebral bodies, and more or less ossified. In the diarthrodial joints, as in the sterno-clavicu- lar, temporo-inaxillary, and knee joints, there are fibrous laminae, free on both surfaces, called menisci; in these the circumference is fibro- cartilage, and the centre more cartilaginous. On the edges of the shoulder and hip joints is a rim of fibre-cartilage, giving depth to the articular cavities. In the grooves in bone for the lodgment of tendons we find another in- stance of the occurrence of fibro-cartilage. Fibro-cartilage is not so prone to ossification as the simple fibrous structures ; it is repaired by a new substance of similar texture ; in cases of false joint from the non-union of fractured bone, the broken ends are sometimes connect- ed by fibro-cartilage. The pubic bones at the symphysis are united by this tissue. Fibro- cartilage is less soluble in boiling water than true cartilage, and yields therefore less chon- drine. The uses of cartilage and fibro-carti- lage are entirely of a mechanical nature ; their structure is admirably adapted for the protec- tion of organs by their solidity, flexibility, and elasticity. CARTOUCHE, Louis Dominique, a French rob- ber, born in Paris about 1693, executed Nov. 28, 1721. He organized a band of desperadoes, whose robberies and murders spread terror among the Parisians. For years, notwith- standing a high price had been put on his head, he baffled the police, and was arrested by mere chance in a cabaret. His trial, which lasted for several months, created a deep sen- sation; and an immense crowd gathered to witness his execution. He was broken on the wheel alive ; but to the last moment the public and himself were under the impression that he would be rescued by his companions. CARTWRIGHT, Edmund, an English clergy- man, inventor of the power loom, born at Marnham, Nottinghamshire, April 24, 1743, died Oct. 30, 1823. He was educated at Ox- ford, was elected a fellow of Magdalen college, and was rector of Brampton, Derbyshire, and afterward of Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire. Ilis early life was passed in lettered ease, and was especially devoted to poetical composition. During the summer of 1784, happening to be at Matlock, he had a conversation with some gentlemen from Manchester on the subject of mechanical weaving. He had never till now, in his 40th year, taken any interest in me- chanics, but by April of the succeeding year he had his first power loom in running order. The invention was opposed equally by spinners and their workmen. The latter class saw in it a machine that would deprive them of bread ; the other feared it was a device that would diminish their profits. A mob set fire to the first factory and burned it with 500 spindles. Improvements were added to the original ma- chine, and it slowly made its way. For many years, however, Cartwright derived no pecu- niary benefit from his invention. He patented several other machines, of which the principal was one for wool combing. Numerous societies awarded him premiums, but he received no substantial benefits from any of his inventions till 1809, when, on the memorial of the prin- cipal cotton spinners, parliament voted him 10,000. This sum placed him in easy circum- stances, and he devoted his time to experiments in the adaptation of steam power to boats and carriages, but died without attaining any im- portant result. CARTWRIGHT, John, an English political re- former, elder brother of the preceding, born at Marnham in 1740, died Sept. 23, 1824. At the age of 18 he entered the navy, but at 35 was still a lieutenant. Meantime the struggle between Britain and her colonies enlisted his sympathies for the Americans. In 1774 he published his " Letters on American Indepen- dence," and at the same time requested to be placed on the retired list, rather than fight against the colonists. Lord Howe vainly at- tempted to shake his resolution in this respect. Having retired to Nottinghamshire, where he possessed some property, he received a com- mission as major in the militia. His appoint- ment gave great offence to the government, who signified their disapprobation so pointedly to the lord lieutenant that he refused Cart- wright the usual step of promotion to the lieu- tenant-colonelcy, although five successive va- cancies occurred in that office. He retired from the regiment in 1792, and about this time re- moved to Lincolnshire. His name now be- comes prominent in the history of parliament- ary reform. He contended for annual parlia- ments and universal suffrage. These he sup- ported with voice and pen, in cooperation with Dr. Jebb, Granville Sharpe, Home Tooke, Hardy, Thelwall, Cobbett, Hunt, and other liberals of the day. Mainly through his in- strumentality the citizens of Birmingham were induced to elect a delegate claiming a seat in parliament under the nante of their legislato- rial attorney, although that city, the third in the kingdom, had no representation in that body. For his share in this proceeding Cart- wright was tried in 1820 on a charge of se- dition, and fined 100. Again, when procur- ing signatures in Huddersfield to a mammoth petition, he was arrested on a charge of ex- citing a riot, but released. The English libe- rals placed much reliance in the integrity of his purposes. Sir William Jones declared that his declaration of the people's rights should be written in letters of gold. Fox, in his place in parliament, said that few men united so com- plete a knowledge of the people's constitution- al rights with such high intelligence and such conscientious views. His views on the Ameri- can revolution were summed up in this sen- tence : " The liberty of man is not derived from charters but from God, and is original in every man." He was one of the earliest who main- tained that the slave trade was piracy. In 1831 a bronze statue of him was erected in