authorized so to do by the express words of their commissions; and that their jurisdictions to hear and determine murder, manslaughter, and other felonies and trespasses, is by force of the express words in their commission. 1. But though justices of the peace by force of their commission have authority to hear and determine murder and manslaughter, yet they seldom exercise a jurisdiction herein, or in any other offences in which clergy is taken away, for two reasons: By reason of the monition and clause in their commission, viz. in cases of difficulty to expect the presence of the justices of assize. 2. By reason of the direction of the statute of 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, c. 13, which directs justices of the peace, in case of manslaughter and other felonies, to take the examination of the prisoner, and the information of the fact, and put the same in writing, and then to bail the prisoner if there be cause, and to certify the same with the bail, at the next general gaol delivery; and therefore in cases of great moment they bind over the prosecutors, and bail the party, if bailable, to the next general gaol delivery; but in smaller matters, as petty larceny, and in some other cases, they bind over to the sessions, but this is only in point of discretion and convenience, not be cause they have not jurisdiction of the crime. As to inferior offences, the jurisdiction herein given to justices of the peace by particular statutes, is so various, and extends to such a multiplicity of cases, that it would be endless to endeavour to enumerate them; also they have as justices of the peace a very ample jurisdiction in all matters concerning the peace. And therefore not only assaults and batteries, but libels, barratry, and common night-walking, and haunting bawdy-houses, and such like of fences, which have a direct tendency to cause breaches of the peace, are cognizable by justices of the peace, as trespasses within the proper and natural meaning of the word. sessious four times in the year, viz. the first week after Michaelmas, the Epiphany, Easter, and St. Thomas. They are justices of record, for none but justices of record can take a recognizance of the peace. Every justice of the peace has a separate power, and may do all acts concerning his office apart and by himself; and even may commit a fellow justice upon treason, felony, or breach of the peace. By several statutes, justices may act in many cases where their commission does not reach; the statutes themselves being a sufficient commission. Justices of the peace are authorized to do all things appertaining to their office, so far as they relate to the laws for the relief, maintenance, and settlement of the poor; for passing and punishing vagrants; for repair of the highways, or to any other laws concerning parochial taxes, levies, or rates; notwithstanding they are rated or charge. able with the rates, within any place affected by such their acts. Provided that this shall not empower any justice for any county at large, to act in the determination of any appeal to the quarter sessions of such county, from any order, matter, or thing, relating to any such parish, township, or place, where such justice is so charged or chargeable, 16 Geo. II. c. 18. The power of justices is ministerial, when they are commanded to do any thing by a superior authority, as the court of Banco Regis, &c. In all other cases they act as judges; but they must proceed according to their commission, &c. Where a statute requires au act to be done by two justices, it is an established rule, that if the act be of a judicial nature, or the result of discretion, the two justices must be present to concur and join in it, otherwise it will be void; as in the orders of removal and filiation, the appointment of overseers, and the allowance of the indenture of a parish apprentice; but where the act is merely ministerial, they may act separately, as in the allowance of a poorrate. This is the only act of two justices which has been construed to be ministerial; and the propriety of this construction has been justly questioned. On renewing the commission of the peace (which generally happens when any person is newly brought into it) a writ of dedimus protestatem is issued out of chan cery to take the oath of him who is newly inserted, which is usually in a schedule annexed, and to certify the same into that court at such a day as the writ commands. Unto which oath are usually annexed the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Justices of the peace are to hold their bound to take notice of the authority and Where a justice shall exceed his authority in granting a warrant, the officer must execute it, and he is indemnified for so doing; but if it be in a case wherein he has no jurisdiction, or in a matter whereof he has no cognizance, the officer ought not to execute such warrant; for the officer is jurisdiction of the justice. If a justice of the peace will not, on complaint to him made, execute his office, or if he shall misbehave in his office, the party grieved may move the Court of King's Bench for an information, and afterwards may apply to the Court of Chancery to put him out of the commission. But the most usual way of compelling justices to execute their office, in any case, is by writ of mandamus out of the Court of King's Bench. Where the plaintiff in an action against a justice shall obtain a verdict, and the judge shall in open court certify on the back of the record, that the injury for which such action was brought was wilfully and maliciously committed, the plaintiff shall have double costs. And if a justice of peace act improperly, knowingly, information shall be granted. No justice shall be liable to be punished both ways, that is, criminally and civilly; but before the court will grant an information, they will require the party to relinquish his civil action, if any such be commenced. And even in the case of an indictment, and though the indictment be actually found, the Attorney General, on application made to him, will grant a noli prosequi upon such indictment, if it appear to him that the prosecutor is determined to carry on a civil action at the same time. If any action shall be brought against a justice for any thing done by virtue of his office, he may plead the general issue, and give the special matter in evidence; and if he recover, he shall have double costs. Such action shall not be laid but in the county where the fact was committed. And no suit shall be commenced against a justice of the peace till after one month's notice. And unless it is proved upon the trial that such notice was given, the justice shall have a verdict and costs. And no action shall be brought against any constable or other of ficer, or any person acting by his order and in his aid, for any thing done in obedience to the warrant of a justice, till demand hath been made, or left at the usual place of his abode, by the party or by his attorney, in writing, signed by the party demanding the same, of the perusal and copy of such warrant, and the same has been refused or neglected for six days after such demand. And no IX O action shall be brought against any justice for any thing done in the execution of his office, unless commenced within six months after the act committed. JUSTICIA, in botany, so named from James Justice, a genus of the Diandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Personatæ. Acanthi, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla ringent; capsule twocelled, opening with an elastic claw; stamina with a single anther. There are eighty species, mostly natives of the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies. There are only two commonly known in our English gardens, viz. J. adhatodar, Malabar nut; and J. hyssopifolia, snap tree. JUSTICIES is a writ directed to the sheriff to do justice in a plea of trespass vi et armis, or of any sum above 40s. in the county court, of which he hath no cognizance by ordinary power. It is in the nature of a commission to the sheriff, and is not returnable. IXIA, in botany, a genus of the Triandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Ensatæ. Irides, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla one petalled, tubular; tube straight, filiform; border sixparted, bell-shaped, regular; stigmas three or six, simple. There are fifty-four species. Ixia differs from antholyza in having the seg. ments of the corolla nearly equal; from gladiolus, in the situation of the segments of the corolla, and in having the tube straight. Almost all the species are natives of the Cape of Good Hope. IXORA, in botany, a genus of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Stellatæ. Rubiacea, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla onepetalled, funnel-form, long, superior; stamina above the mouth; berry four-seeded. There are nine species, of which I. Americana, American ixora, has a shrubby stalk, four or five feet high, sending out slender opposite branches; leaves nearly six inches long, on short foot stalks. Flowers at the ends of the branches in a loose spike, they are white, and have a scent like jasmine, whence in Jamaica and other islands of the West Indies, where it is a native, it is called wild jasmine. K, Or k, the tenth letter, and seventh consonant of our alphabet; being formed by the voice, by a guttural expression of the breath through the mouth, together with a depression of the lower jaw, and opening of the teeth. Its sound is much the same with that of the hard c, or qu; and it is used, for the most part, only before e, i, and n, in the beginning of words; as, ken, kill, know, &c. It used formerly to be always joined with c at the end of words, but is at present very properly omitted: thus, for publick, musick, &c. we say, public, music, &c. However, in monosyllables it is still retained, as jack, block, mock, &c. The letter k is derived from the Greek kappa, K or x; it being unknown to the Romans, though we sometimes meet with kalendæ instead of calendæ. As a numera! K denotes 250; and with a line over it, K 250,000. KÆMPFERIA, in botany, so named from Engelbert Kæmpfer, a celebrated traveller, a genus of the Monandria Monogynia elass and order. Natural order of Scitamineæ. Cannæ, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla six-parted, three of the parts larger, spreading, one two-parted; stigma two-plated. There are two species, viz. K. galanga, galangale; and K. rotunda. As these are both natives of the East K. honey after it is deposited in the hive cells, falls a victim to his repast. Some very singular cases in proof of this assertion occurred at Philadelphia no longer ago than the year 1790, in the autumn and winter of which an extensive mortality was produced amongst those who had partaken of the honey that had been collected in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, or had feasted on the common American pheasant, The attention of the American government was excited by the general distress, a minute examination into the cause of the mortality ensued, and it was satisfactorily ascertained, that the honey had been chiefly extracted from the flowers of kalmia latifolia, and that the pheasants which had proved thus poisonous had fed harmlessly on its leaves: in consequence of which, a public proclamation was issued, prohibiting the use of the pheasant, as a food, for that season. See Good's Oration before the Medical Society. KAMSIN, the name of a hot southerly wind, common in Egypt. The wind is said to prevail more or less for fifty days, hence it is called" the wind of fifty days." Travellers who have experienced the effect of it have described it as a poisonous wind. When it begins to blow, the atmosphere assumes an alarming appearance. The sky, at other times so clear in this climate, becomes dark and heavy; the sun loses its Indies, they require a warm stove to pre- splendour, and appears of a violet colour; serve them through our winter. KALI. See ALKALI and POTASH. KALMIA, in botany, a genus of the Decandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Bicornes. Rhododendra, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx five-parted; corolla salver form, with the border fivehorned beneath; capsule five-celled. There are four species, of the K. latifolia, broadleaved kalmia, we shall give some little account, taken from the fifth volume of the American Philosophical Transactions. The leaves of this shrub are feasted upon by the deer and the round horned elk, but are mortally poisonous to sheep, to horned cattle, to horses, and to man. The bee extracts honey, without injury, from its nectary, but the man who partakes of that the air is not cloudy, but grey and thick, and is filled with a dust so subtile, that it penetrates every where. This wind, always light and rapid, is not at first remarkably hot, but it increases in heat in proportion as it continues. All animated bodies soon discover it by the change it produces in them. The lungs, which a too rarefied air no longer expands, are contracted, and become painful. Respiration is short and difficult, the skin parched and dry, and the body consumed by an internal heat. In vain is recourse had to large draughts of water; nothing can restore perspiration. In vain is coolness sought for ; all bodies, in which it is usual to find it, de. ceive the hand that touches them. Marble, iron, water, notwithstanding the sun no longer appears, are hot. The streets are deserted, and the dead silence of night The inhabitants of reigns every where. towns and villages shut themselves up in their houses, and those of the desert in their tents, or in wells dug in the earth, where they wait the termination of this destructive heat. It usually lasts three days, but if it exceeds that time it becomes insupportable. The danger is most imminent when it blows in squalls; for then the rapidity of the wind increases the heat to such a degree as to cause sudden death. This death is a real suffocation. The lungs being empty are convulsed, the circulation is disordered, and the whole mass of blood driven by the heat towards the head and breast; whence the hæmorrhage at the nose and mouth, which happens after death. This wind is especially destructive to persons of a plethoric habit, and those in whom fatigue has destroyed the tone of the muscles and the vessels. The corpse remains a long time warm, swells, turns blue, and soon becomes putrid. These accidents are to be avoided by stopping the nose and mouth with handkerchiefs. efficacious method, likewise, is that practised by the camels. On this occasion these animals bury their noses in the sand, and keep them there till the squall is over. Another quality of this wind is its extreme aridity; which is such, that water sprinkled on the floor evaporates in a few minutes. By the extreme dryness it withers and strips all the plants; and by exhaling too suddenly the emanations from animal bodies, crisps the skin, closes the pores, and causes that feverish heat which is the constant effect of suppressed perspiration. An KAOLIN, in the arts, the name of an earth used in the manufacture of oriental porcelain china. A specimen of this earth was brought from China, and examined by Reaumur, who found it to be infusible by fire. He thought it was a talcy earth; but Mr. Macquer says, it is more probably of an argillaceous nature, from its forming a tenacious paste, with the other ingredient called petunse, which has no tenacity. A French chemist, M. Bomaire, analized it, and found it was a compound earth consisting of clay, to which it owed its tenacity; of calcareous earth, which gave it a mealy appearance; of sparkling crystals of mica; and of small gravel, or particles of quartzcrystals. He found a similar earth upon a stratum of granite, and conjectures it may. be a decomposed granite. KEDGING, in the sea-language, is when a ship is brought up or down a narrow river by means of the tide, the wind being contrary. To do this, they use to set their fore-course, or fore-top-sail and mizen, that so they may flat her about; and if she happen to come too near the shore, they let fall a kedge-anchor, with a hawser fastened to it from the ship, in order to turn her head about; which work is called kedging. KEEL, the lowest piece of timber in a ship, running her whole length from the lower part of her stem to the lower part of her stern-post. Into it are all the lower futtocks fastened; and under part of it a false keel is often used. By comparing the carcass of a ship to the skeleton of a human body, the keel appears as the back bone, and the timbers as the ribs. Accordingly, the keel supports and unites the whole fabric, since the stem and stern-posts, which are elevated on its ends, are, in some measure, a continuation of the keel, and serve to connect and inclose the extremities of the sides by transoms, as the keel forms and unites the bot tom by timbers. The keel is generally composed of several thick pieces placed lengthways, which, after being scarfed together, are bolted and clinched upon the upper side. KEEL hauling, a punishment inflicted for various offences in the Dutch navy. It is performed by suspending the culprit by a rope from one yard-arm, with a weight of lead or iron upon his legs, and having another rope fastened to him, leading under the ship's bottom, and through a block at its opposite yard-arm; he is then repeatedly and suddenly let fall from the one yard-arm into the sea, where, passing under the ship's bottom, he is hoisted upon the opposite side of the vessel to the other. KEELERS, among seamen, are small tubs, which hold stuff for the caulking of ships. KEELSON, a principal timber in a ship, fayed within-side cross all the floor-timbers; and being adjusted to the keel with suitable scarfs, it serves to strengthen the bottom of the ship. consists of Sulphuretted bydrogen...... 20.30 Sulphur 4.15 Protoxide of antimony 72.76 Water, and loss.. .... 2.79 100.00 KEEPER of the great seal, is a lord by tity of water, and dried. The true kermes virtue of his office, and styled the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. He is one of the King's Privy Council, through whose hands pass all charters, commissions, and grants of the King under the great seal; without which, all such instruments by law are of no force, the King in this being a corporation, whose acts are evidenced by his seal. This Lord Keeper, by the statute of 5 Elizabeth, cap. 18, has the same place, anthority, pre-eminence, &c. as the Lord Chancellor of England for the time being. He is constituted by the delivery of the great seal to him, taking his oath. KEEPER of the privy seal, is a lord by virtue of his office, through whose hands pass all charters signed by the King before they come to the great seal. He is of the King's Privy Council, and was anciently called Clerk of the Privy Seal. KEEPING, in painting, signifies the representation of objects in the same manner that they appear to the eye at different distances from it, which is only to be done with accuracy by attending to the rules of perspective. KELP, an impure alkali, obtained in the north of Scotland, from different kinds of fuci, or sea-weed. The sea-weeds being dried, are put in pits dug in the sand, or on the surface, surrounded with loose stone, forming what is called a kiln; fresh quantities being added, and the whole being frequently stirred until it become semi-fluid, which, when cold, forms hard masses. KELP, a fixed salt, or particular species of a potash, procured by burning the weed called kali. KERMES, in natural history, a species of the Coccus, which see. KERMES mineral, in chemistry, an antimonial compound of great celebrity as a medicine about the beginning of the seventeenth century; in the new chemical arrangement it is denominated hydro-sulphuret of antimony. The substance is prepared in the following manner: sixteen parts of sulphuret of antimony, eight parts of potash, and one of sulphur, are triturated together in a mortar, melted in a crucible, and the mass poured into an iron vessel. When'cold it is pounded, and boiled in a sufficient quantity of water, and the solution is filtered while hot. On cooling, it deposits the kermes abundantly in the state of a yellow powder, which is edulcorated with a sufficient quan KETCH, a vessel equipped with two masts, viz. the main-mast and the mizenmast, and usually from 100 to 250 tons burthen. Ketches are principally used as yachts for conveying princes of the blood, ambassadors, or other great personages, from one place to another. Ketches are likewise used as bomb-vessels, and are therefore furnished with all the apparatus necessary for a vigorous bombardment. KETCHES, bomb, are built remarkably strong, as being fitted with a greater number of riders than any other vessel of war; and indeed this reinforcement is absolutely necessary to sustain the violent shock produced by the discharge of their mortars, which would otherwise in a very short time shatter them to pieces. KEY, a well known instrument for opening and shutting the locks of doors, chests, &c. See Lock. KEY, or key note, in music, a certain fundamental note or tone, to which the whole of a movement has a certain relation or bearing, to which all its modulations are referred and accommodated, and in which it both begins and ends. There are but two species of keys: one of the major, and one of the minor mode: all the keys in which we employ sharps or flats being deduced from the natural keys of C major and A minor; of which they are mere transpositions. KEYS of an organ, those moveable, projecting levers in the front of an organ, so placed as to conveniently receive the fingers of the performer, and which, by a connected movement with the valves or pallets, admit or exclude the wind from the pipes. When a single key of an organ is pressed down, as many sounds are heard as all the stops which are then out furnish to that key; in other words, all those pipes are heard which are permitted by those stops and that key to receive the wind. KEY stone of an arch, or vault, that placed at the top or vertex of an arch, to bind the two sweeps together. This, in the Tuscan and Doric orders, is only a plain stone, projecting a little; in the Ionic it is cut and waved somewhat like consoles ; and |