Part 96

Con"for*ma`tor (?), n. [L., a framer.] An apparatus for taking the conformation of anything, as of the head for fitting a hat, or, in craniometry, finding the largest horizontal area of the head.

Con"go group. [From Congo red.] A group of artificial dyes with an affinity for vegetable fibers, so that no mordant is required. Most of them are azo compounds derived from benzidine or tolidine. Called also benzidine dyes.

Congo red. (Chem.) An artificial red dye from which the Congo group received its name. It is also widely used either in aqueous solution or as test paper (Congo paper) for the detection of free acid, which turns it blue.

Con"greve (?), n. [After Sir William Congreve, the inventor.] 1. Short for Cogreve rocket, a powerful form of rocket formerly used in war, either in the field or for bombardment. In the former case it was armed with shell, shrapnel, or other missiles; in the latter, with an inextinguishable explosive material, inclosed in a metallic case. It was guided by a long wooden stick.

2. Short for Congreve match, an early friction match, containing sulphur, potassium chlorate, and antimony sulphide.

Con"qui*an (?), n. (Card Playing) A game for two, played with 40 cards, in which each player tries to form three or four of a kind or sequences.

Con*sol" (?), n. A consolidated annuity (see Consols); -- chiefly in combination or attributively.

{ Con`so*la"tion game, match, pot, race, etc. } A game, match, etc., open only to losers in early stages of contests.

Con"stant, n. 1. (Astron.) A number whose value, when ascertained (as by observation) and substituted in a general mathematical formula expressing an astronomical law, completely determines that law and enables predictions to be made of its effect in particular cases.

2. (Physics) A number expressing some property or condition of a substance or of an instrument of precision; as, the dielectric constant of quartz; the collimation constant of a transit instrument.

Aberration constant, or Constant of aberration (Astron.), a number which by substitution in the general formula for aberration enables a prediction to be made of the effect of aberration on a star anywhere situated. Its value is 20″.47. -- Constant of integration (Math.), an undetermined constant added to every result of integration. -- Gravitation constant (Physics), the acceleration per unit of time produced by the attraction of a unit of mass at unit distance. When this is known the acceleration produced at any distance can be calculated. -- Solar constant (Astron.), the quantity of heat received by the earth from the sun in a unit of time. It is, on the C. G. S. system, 0.0417 small calories per square centimeter per second. Young.

Con*sum"er's goods (?). (Polit. Econ.) Economic goods that directly satisfy human wants or desires, such as food, clothes, pictures, etc.; -- called also consumption goods, or goods of the first order, and opposed to producer's goods.

Consumer's surplus. (Polit. econ.) The excess that a purchaser would be willing to pay for a commodity over that he does pay, rather than go without the commodity; -- called also consumer's rent.

The price which a person pays for a thing can never exceed, and seldom comes up to, that which he would be willing to pay rather than go without it. . . . The excess of the price which he would be willing to pay rather than go without it, over that which he actually does pay, is the economic measure of this surplus satisfaction. It has some analogies to a rent; but is perhaps best called simply consumer's surplus.

Alfred Marshall.

Con*ta"gious dis*ease". (Med.) A disease communicable by contact with a patient suffering from it, or with some secretion of, or object touched by, such a patient. Most such diseases have already been proved to be germ diseases, and their communicability depends on the transmission of the living germs. Many germ diseases are not contagious, some special method of transmission or inoculation of the germs being required.

||Conte (?), n.; pl. Contes (#). [F.] A short narrative or tale, esp. one dealing with surprising or marvelous events.

The conte (sic) is a tale something more than a sketch, it may be, and something less than a short story. . . . The "Canterbury Tales" are contes, most of them, if not all, and so are some of the "Tales of a Wayside Inn."

Brander Matthews.

Con`ti*nen"tal drive. (Automobiles) A transmission arrangement in which the longitudinal crank shaft drives the rear wheels through a clutch, change-speed gear, countershaft, and two parallel side chains, in order.

Continental glacier. A broad ice sheet resting on a plain or plateau and spreading outward from a central névé, or region of accumulation.

Continental pronunciation (of Latin and Greek.) A method of pronouncing Latin and Greek in which the vowels have their more familiar Continental values, as in German and Italian, the consonants being pronounced mostly as in English. The stricter form of this method of pronouncing Latin approaches the Roman, the modified form the English, pronunciation. The Continental method of Greek pronunciation is often called Erasmian.

Continental system. (Hist.) The system of commercial blockade aiming to exclude England from commerce with the Continent instituted by the Berlin decree, which Napoleon I. issued from Berlin Nov. 21, 1806, declaring the British Isles to be in a state of blockade, and British subjects, property, and merchandise subject to capture, and excluding British ships from all parts of Europe under French dominion. The retaliatory measures of England were followed by the Milan decree, issued by Napoleon from Milan Dec. 17, 1807, imposing further restrictions, and declaring every ship going to or from a port of England or her colonies to be lawful prize.

Con`tra*bass" (?), n. (Mus.) The lowest stringed instrument of the violin family.

Con"tract sys"tem. 1. The sweating system.

2. The system of employing convicts by selling their labor (to be performed inside the prison) at a fixed price per day to contractors who are allowed to have agents in the prison to superintend the work.

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Con"tract tablet. (Babylonian & Assyrian Antiq.) A clay tablet on which was inscribed a contract, for safe keeping. Such tablets were inclosed in an outer case (often called the envelope), on which was inscribed a duplicate of the inscription on the inclosed tablet.