Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/550

CHAMBOKD. 472 CHAMELEON. fected, but no attempts were made to carry out the arrangement. After the fall of Napoleon 111., in 1870, repeated attempts were again made to effect a coalition lietween the snijporters of the Bourbons and the Orleanist claims; but whatever chance there might have been for a royal restoration during the troubled days of the Third Republic before 1S80 were ruined by the Comte de Chambord's obstinate refusal to aban- don his extreme Legitimist views, which he aired more than once in 'royal' proclamations. He died at I'rohsdorf. in Lower Austria, which had been his residence for nianv years, August 24, 188:!. CHAMBRE ARDENTE, shiiN'briir'daxt' 1 fiery room). A tribunal established by Fran- cis I. in 1335 for the trial and execution of here- tics apprehended by the Inquisition. It derived its name from the manner of execution, which ".vas chiefly by burning. It flourished during the civil wars and the time of the Leag^ue. luit sank into abeyance under the early Bourbons. Louis XIV., Iiowever, employed it in the investigation of the numerous reports of poisonings that fol- lowed the apprehension of the ^larquise de Brin- villicrs (q.v. ). It was discovered that a certain I'ag named La Voisin, posing as a sorceress, had been driving a lively trade in poisons — 'succes- sion powders,' they were called — with such as ■were afflicted with superfluous husbands, fathers, or rival heirs, ifany persons of the highest Court circles, the JIarshal Luxembourg among them, were simimoncd before the tribunal, but the affair ended with the execution of the sor- ceress only, in lOSO. With this the Chambre Ardente ceased its activity. Consult Weiss, La chambre ardcntc (Paris, 1889). CHAMBRE DES DEPUTES, shiixbr' di dii'pi.i'tA'. The l>uilding in I'aris in which the sessions of the French Legislature are held. It is called also "Palais du Corps l^egislatif and "Palais liourbon,' and was built in 1722 for the Duchess of Bourbon, becoming national property in 1790. It fronts the Seine op|)osite the Pont de la Concorde. The style is lliat of a Greek temple, with twelve Corinthian columns. The steps and fagade are ornamented with statues and reliefs. CHAMBRE INTROUVABLE, shiiN'brax'- troo'va'hr. The name given to a packed assem- bly of deputies in France which sat from October, 1815. to April, 1810. The epithet (meaning "chamber whose like cannot be found") originat- ed with Louis XVI IL, by whom, after his resto- ration, this chamber had been summoned. Louis, no doubt, used the tenu ironically, for he realized the injury which was sustained by liis cause through the fanaticism of these deputies; but the.v, for the most jiart, accepted the name scri- ousl.v as a compliment. The former chamber, which had shown imuh moderation, had been dis- solved Tuider the influence of the Court partv, and the Jlinistry, led by Talleyrand, had exerted itself to procure the election of a submissive chamber. The ultraUoyalis.s were for a time in Ihe ascendent. The number of the deputies was arbitraril.v raised from 25!) to 3!I2. and many of the elections, especiall.v in the south, took place under the supervision of the partisans of reac- tion or of foreign troops. At the elections in Nimes more than 100 persons were killed by the Royalist bands. At last, on October 7. the King opened the chamber, on which he enjoined quiet and modei"ation; but when, in one of the first sittings, Boyer d'Argenson asked for the intervention of the chamber in behalf of the Protestants, who were being slaughtered in the south by the ultra-Royalist bands, the speaker was called to order, and the cliamljer from that time ceased to ob.ser*"e any bounds or modera- tion. The fanatical legislation that followed in- sjiired the ministers, the King, and especially llie Kmi)eror Alexander, with so much aversion and fear that the Chamber was dissolved on April 5, 181fi, an event which was received with uni- versal rejoicing. The electoral law of February 5, 1817, prevented the return of a sinnlar chamber, and it was hy the modified electoral law of 1S20 that ultraPvoyalism regained a predominating intbunce in the Parliament. See White Tekkok. CHAMBTJRU. A species of papaw (q.v.), naliv<' of I'.razil. CHAMECK, sh!i-m6k' (Brazil). The coaita. .See Sl'IDEK-.MOXKEY. CHAMELEON, l<a-me'l*-un (Lat. chamccteon, Gk. ;a/iai/.i(ji>, chfnnitileoii, from ;^«/i«/, chanmi, on the ground + '/ii^r. leiin, lion). An African lizard of the family Cham:eleontida of very pe- culiar form and structure, and placed at the head of the order Lacertilia. The body is nuich com- pressed, the dorsal line sharp, in some of the species rising into an elevated crest; the back of the head is also elevated into a sort of cone. The neck is ven^ short, and does not admit of the head being turned, for which, however, com- Iiensation is found in the renuirkable powers of motion possessed by the large, prominent eyes, which move independentlv of one another, and are covered with a membrane pierced only with a small hole for t)ie pupil to look through. There are no external ears. The skin is not covered with scales, but, like shagreen, is rough with granules. The legs raise the bod.v rather higher than in most of the saurians: the toes, both of the fore and hind feet, are divided into two sets, one directed forward and the other backward, so that each foot has the power of grasping like a hand. The tail is long and prehensile. The lungs are verv large, and are connected with air- cells that lie among the muscles and beneath the skin, so that the animal has a remarkable power of inflating itself with air. The tongue is re- markably extensile, and is the organ by which the animal .seizes the insects which constitute its food, being darted at them with unerring aim, while a viscous saliva causes them to ad- liere to it, and they are carried with it into the mouth. The chameleons are .slow in their movements, except those of the e.ves and the tongue, and remain long fixed in one spot, awaiting the ap- jiroach of insects, which the,v seize on their com- ing within reach. They all live among the branches of trees, but la.v their large eggs ( 10 or 12) under leaves on the giound. Their power of fasting is great, and, abmg with their gulping of air. gave rise to the fable, current among the ancients and until recent times, of their living on air, and led to other fables and to their ancient use in medicine. Their celebrated power of changing color is not equally fabulous, and may be used to render the animal less easy of ob- scn-ntion, by assimilating it to the color of sui> i