Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/769

CHITON. 671 CHITTENDEN. CHITON, ki'ton (Lat., from Gk. x'Tii', Ionic KiSiiv, kithOn. probably a loan-word from ITeb. Icrlonelh, coat K lu ancient Greece, a sort of shirt or undergarment, worn next the skin by both men and women. In Homeric times it was worn liy men alone, the prplo.t bein<: the women's underdress of this period. The Homeric chiton was a close-fitting garment of linen, which, being closed at the sides, was drawn on over the head, while the peplos was a long, loose wo(iU>ii gar- ment, open at one side and fastened with a brooch at the shoulder. In later times the chiton came into use for both sexes, and was of two general forms. That of the men resem- bled the earlier Homeric chiton, being a short, close-fitting garment, sewed at the sides and provided with short sleeves or mere armholes; while that of the women, the so-called Ionic chiton, was long and loose, and was sewed at the sides and provided with sleeves. The earlier jieplos. however, was still used, being especially favored by the Spartan women, whence it re- ceived the name of Dorian. Later still there came into use a sleeveless chiton for women. The chiton was sometimes worn girded and sometimes not, and it was of various colors and cuts. Consult .melung, in Pauly-Wissova, lieal- encykloptidie. CHITON. A group of mollusks, the mail- shells, constituting an order (Placophora) in the class Amnhineura. The shell is composed of eight narrow, transverse, calcareous pieces, overlapping each other in a row along the back, and strongly attached to the mantle, which is remarkably fleshy and fibrous. Chitons have the power of rolling themselves up into a ball like the armadillo (q.v. ), thus exposing nothing but the hard shell. The organ of locomotion is an oval foot, extending the whole length of the CHITON. OR MAII.-8HELL. 1, attitude in lite; 2, detail o( shell and integument, dor- sal view. animal, by means of which chitons cling to rocks so tenaciously that the heaviest surf does not disturb them. More than 200 species are known; they dwell in all climates, but are most abun- dant in the warmer seas. They occur at all depths, but prefer the rocks along the shore, where they sometimes are found in surprising numbers. All North .tlantic species are small, seldom an inch in length, but some of those found in the tropics, and on the coast of California, may be 8 or 10 inches long. Most of the chitons are gray or brown in color, but some species are very handsomely marked with red, orange, yel- low, green, and other colors. The upper surface may be comparatively rough, with papillae and spines. In most cases it is nearly covered by the shell plates, but in one or two genera the plates are very narrow, and cover only the mid- dorsal part of the animal, while in still others the plates are completely concealed within the thickened integument. "West Indian negroes" are said to "eat the large chitons, which are abundant on their rocky coast.s, cutting olT and swallowing raw the fleshy foot, which they call beef." Fossil Forms. The modern chitons are the survivors of a long line of ancestors that made their first appearance in the Ordovician or Lower Silurian rocks, attained some prominence during Carboniferous time, and, with a slight decline during the Tertiary period, have continued with only slight changes of scarcely more than ge- neric rank down to the: present era. The group thus alfords an excellent example of the per- sistence of a generalized primitive type. The fossil genera are classified according to the form of the articulating facets of the valves and the proportions of the shell and its .segments. See also rLACoriiuu.v. CHITRALI, che-tni'le. The natives of Chi- tral, a region on the borders of British India, lortheast of Kafiristan, on the southeastern slojie of the Hindu-Kush. They belong, with the Kafirs (Siahposh), physically to the wliite race and linguisticallv to the Arvan stock. Their number is estimated at between 150.000 and 200,000. In the last years of the Xineteenth Century they came into conllict with the English authorities, and their ruler, the Mehtar, is now a British vassal. An interesting account of this people and their neighbors is given in Sir George Rob- erston, Cliilrul (London, 1898). CHITTAGONGK (corrupted from Chatt/oan), or Isi..4.M.B.D (city of Islam). (The second name was conferred by Aurungzebe, who captured it toward the close of the .Seventeenth Century.) A city of eastern Bengal, India, capital of the district of the same name, situated on several small but steep hills on the Karnaphuli, 7 miles from its mouth, in latitude 22° 20' N. and longi- tude 91° .54' K. (Map: Burma, A 2). Its cli- mate is malarious. An important commercial centre under the Portuguese, it came into posses- sion of the British, with Bengal proper, in 1760- 65, But having originally formed part of Ara- kan, it was claimed, after a lapse of sixty years, by the Burmese Emperor, as a dependency of that territory — a claim which constituted one of the grounds of the War of 1824. It las shipbuild- ing industries, and a considerable export trade in rice, jute, gunny, and tea. The United States is represented by a consular agent. Pojjulation, 24,100. CHITTAGONG WOOD. The wood of Chick- rassid tithiil'irin, a tree of the order Cedrelacea;, a native of the mountainous countries to the east of Bengal. In some parts of India it is called cedar or bastard cedar; names, however, which are also given to other kinds of wood. Chittagong wood is much valued in India, and is used for all purposes for which mahogany is used in Great Britain. It makes beautiful and light furniture, but is apt to warp in very dry weather. Beautifully veined and mottled jjieces are occasicmally met with, and are highly valued. CHIT'TENDEN, RrssEL Hexry (1856—'), -An Aiueric.in chemist. He was born in New Haven, Conn., February 18, 1856; graduated at