Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Kite-Flying" to "Kyshtym" Volume 15, Slice 8
Part 22
But neither zoology nor embryology furnished Kölliker's chief claim to fame. If he did much for these branches of science, he did still more for histology, the knowledge of the minute structure of the animal tissues. This he made emphatically his own. It may indeed be said that there is no fragment of the body of man and of the higher animals on which he did not leave his mark, and in more places than one his mark was a mark of fundamental importance. Among his earlier results may be mentioned the demonstration in 1847 that smooth or unstriated muscle is made up of distinct units, of nucleated muscle-cells. In this work he followed in the footsteps of his master Henle. A few years before this men were doubting whether arteries were muscular, and no solid histological basis as yet existed for those views as to the action of the nervous system on the circulation, which were soon to be put forward, and which had such a great influence on the progress of physiology. By the above discovery Kölliker completed that basis.
Even to enumerate, certainly to dwell on, all his contributions to histology would be impossible here: smooth muscle, striated muscle, skin, bone, teeth, blood-vessels and viscera were all investigated by him; and he touched none of them without striking out some new truths. The results at which he arrived were recorded partly in separate memoirs, partly in his great textbook on microscopical anatomy, which first saw the light in 1850, and by which he advanced histology no less than by his own researches. In the case of almost every tissue our present knowledge contains something great or small which we owe to Kölliker; but it is on the nervous system that his name is written in largest letters. So early as 1845, while still at Zürich, he supplied what was as yet still lacking, the clear proof that nerve-fibres are continuous with nerve-cells, and so furnished the absolutely necessary basis for all sound speculations as to the actions of the central nervous system. From that time onward he continually laboured, and always fruitfully, at the histology of the nervous system, and more especially at the difficult problems presented by the intricate patterns in which fibres and cells are woven together in the brain and spinal cord. In his old age, at a time when he had fully earned the right to fold his arms, and to rest and be thankful, he still enriched neurological science with results of the highest value. From his early days a master of method, he saw at a glance the value of the new Golgi method for the investigation of the central nervous system, and, to the great benefit of science, took up once more in his old age, with the aid of a new means, the studies for which he had done so much in his youth. It may truly be said that much of that exact knowledge of the inner structure of the brain, which is rendering possible new and faithful conceptions of its working, came from his hands.
Lastly, Kölliker was in his earlier years professor of physiology as well as of anatomy; and not only did his histological labours almost always carry physiological lessons, but he also enriched physiology with the results of direct researches of an experimental kind, notably those on curare and some other poisons. In fact, we have to go back to the science of centuries ago to find a man of science of so many-sided an activity as he. His life constituted in a certain sense a protest against that specialized differentiation which, however much it may under certain aspects be regretted, seems to be one of the necessities of modern development. In Johannes Müller's days no one thought of parting anatomy and physiology; nowadays no one thinks of joining them together. Kölliker did in his work join them together, and indeed said himself that he thought they ought never to be kept apart.
Naturally a man of so much accomplishment was not left without honours. Formerly known simply as Kölliker, the title "von" was added to his name. He was made a member of the learned societies of many countries; in England, which he visited more than once, and where he became well known, the Royal Society made him a fellow in 1860, and in 1897 gave him its highest token of esteem, the Copley medal. (M. F.)
KOLLONTAJ, HUGO (1750-1812), Polish politician and writer, was born in 1750 at Niecislawice in Sandomir, and educated at Pinczow and Cracow. After taking orders he went (1770) to Rome, where he obtained the degree of doctor of theology and common law, and devoted himself enthusiastically to the study of the fine arts, especially of architecture and painting. At Rome too he obtained a canonry attached to Cracow cathedral, and on his return to Poland in 1755 threw himself heart and soul into the question of educational reform. His efforts were impeded by the obstruction of the clergy of Cracow, who regarded him as an adventurer; but he succeeded in reforming the university after his own mind, and was its rector for three years (1782-1785). Kollontaj next turned his attention to politics. In 1786 he was appointed _referendarius_ of Lithuania, and during the Four Years' Diet (1788-1792) displayed an amazing and many-sided activity as one of the reformers of the constitution. He grouped around him all the leading writers, publicists and progressive young men of the day; declaimed against prejudices; stimulated the timid; inspired the lukewarm with enthusiasm; and never rested till the constitution of the 3rd of May 1791 had been carried through. In June 1791 Kollontaj was appointed vice-chancellor. On the triumph of the reactionaries and the fall of the national party, he secretly placed in the king's hands his adhesion to the triumphant Confederation of Targowica, a false step, much blamed at the time, but due not to personal ambition but to a desire to save something from the wreck of the constitution. He then emigrated to Dresden. On the outbreak of Kosciuszko's insurrection he returned to Poland, and as member of the national government and minister of finance took a leading part in affairs. But his radicalism had now become of a disruptive quality, and he quarrelled with and even thwarted Kosciuszko because the dictator would not admit that the Polish republic could only be saved by the methods of Jacobinism. On the other hand, the more conservative section of the Poles regarded Kollontaj as "a second Robespierre," and he is even suspected of complicity in the outrages of the 17th and 18th of June 1794, when the Warsaw mob massacred the political prisoners. On the collapse of the insurrection Kollontaj emigrated to Austria, where from 1795 to 1802 he was detained as a prisoner. He was finally released through the mediation of Prince Adam Czartoryski, and returned to Poland utterly discredited. The remainder of his life was a ceaseless struggle against privation and prejudice. He died at Warsaw on the 28th of February 1812.
Of his numerous works the most notable are: _Political Speeches as Vice-Chancellor_ (Pol.) (in 6 vols., Warsaw, 1791); _On the Erection and Fall of the Constitution of May_ (Pol.) (Leipzig, 1793; Paris, 1868); _Correspondence with T. Czacki_ (Pol.) (Cracow, 1854); _Letters written during Emigration, 1792-1794_ (Pol.) (Posen, 1872).
See Ignacz Badeni, _Necrology of Hugo Kollontaj_ (Pol.) (Cracow, 1819); Henryk Schmitt, _Review of the Life and Works of Kollontaj_ (Pol.) (Lemberg, 1860); Wojciek Grochowski, "Life of Kollontaj" (Pol.) in _Tygod Illus._ (Warsaw, 1861). (R. N. B.)
KOLOMEA (Polish, _Kolomyja_), a town of Austria, in Galicia, 122 m. S. of Lemberg by rail. Pop. (1900), 34,188, of which half were Jews. It is situated on the Pruth, and has an active trade in agricultural products. To the N.E. of Kolomea, near the Dniester, lies the village of Czernelica, with ruins of a strongly fortified castle, which served as the residence of John Sobieski during his campaigns against the Turks. Kolomea is a very old town and is mentioned already in 1240, but the assertion that it was a Roman settlement under the name of _Colonia_ is not proved. It was the principal town of the Polish province of Pokutia, and it suffered severely during the 15th and 16th centuries from the attacks of the Moldavians and the Tatars.
KOLOMNA, a town of Russia, in the government of Moscow, situated on the railway between Moscow and Ryazan, 72 m. S.E. of Moscow, at the confluence of the Moskva river with the Kolomenka. Pop. (1897), 20,970. It is an old town, mentioned in the annals in 1177, and until the 14th century was the capital of the Ryazan principality. It suffered greatly from the invasions of the Tatars in the 13th century, who destroyed it four times, as well as from the wars of the 17th century; but it always recovered and has never lost its commercial importance. During the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture of silks, cottons, ropes and leather. Here too are railway workshops, where locomotives and wagons are made. Kolomna carries on an active trade in grain, cattle, tallow, skins, salt and timber. It has several old churches of great archaeological interest, including two of the 14th century, one being the cathedral. One gate (restored in 1895) of the fortifications of the Kreml still survives.
KOLOZSVÁR (Ger. _Klausenburg_; Rum. _Cluj_), a town of Hungary, in Transylvania, the capital of the county of Kolozs, and formerly the capital of the whole of Transylvania, 248 m. E.S.E. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 46,670. It is situated in a picturesque valley on the banks of the Little Szamos, and comprises the inner town (formerly surrounded with walls) and five suburbs. The greater part of the town lies on the right bank of the river, while on the other side is the so-called Bridge Suburb and the citadel (erected in 1715). Upon the slopes of the citadel hill there is a gipsy quarter. With the exception of the old quarter, Kolozsvár is generally well laid out, and contains many broad and fine streets, several of which diverge at right angles from the principal square. In this square is situated the Gothic church of St Michael (1396-1432); in front is a bronze equestrian statue of King Matthias Corvinus by the Hungarian sculptor Fadrusz (1902). Other noteworthy buildings are the Reformed church, built by Matthias Corvinus in 1486 and ceded to the Calvinists by Bethlen Gabor in 1622; the house in which Matthias Corvinus was born (1443), which contains an ethnographical museum; the county and town halls, a museum, and the university buildings. A feature of Kolozsvár is the large number of handsome mansions belonging to the Transylvanian nobles, who reside here during the winter. It is the seat of a Unitarian bishop, and of the superintendent of the Calvinists for the Transylvanian circle. Kolozsvár is the literary and scientific centre of Transylvania, and is the seat of numerous literary and scientific associations. It contains a university (founded in 1872), with four faculties--theology, philosophy, law and medicine--frequented by about 1900 students in 1905; and amongst its other educational establishments are a seminary for Unitarian priests, an agricultural college, two training schools for teachers, a commercial academy, and several secondary schools for boys and girls. The industry comprises establishments for the manufacture of woollen and linen cloth, paper, sugar, candles, soap, earthenwares, as well as breweries and distilleries.
Kolozsvár is believed to occupy the site of a Roman settlement named _Napoca_. Colonized by Saxons in 1178, it then received its German name of _Klausenburg_, from the old word Klause, signifying a "mountain pass." Between the years 1545 and 1570 large numbers of the Saxon population left the town in consequence of the introduction of Unitarian doctrines. In 1798 the town was to a great extent destroyed by fire. As capital of Transylvania and the seat of the Transylvanian diets, Kolozsvár from 1830 to 1848 became the centre of the Hungarian national movement in the grand principality; and in December 1848 it was taken and garrisoned by the Hungarians under General Bem.
KOLPINO, one of the chief iron-works of the crown in Russia, in the government of St Petersburg, 16 m. S.E. of the city of St Petersburg, on the railway to Moscow, and on the Izhora river. Pop. (1897), 8076. A sacred image of St Nicholas in the Trinity church is visited by numerous pilgrims on the 22nd of May every year. Here is an iron-foundry of the Russian admiralty.
KOLS, a generic name applied by Hindus to the Munda, Ho and Oraon tribes of Bengal. The Mundas are an aboriginal tribe of Dravidian physical type, inhabiting the Chota Nagpur division, and numbering 438,000 in 1901. The majority of them are animists in religion, but Christianity is making rapid strides among them. The village community in its primitive form still exists among the Mundas; the discontent due to the oppression of their landlords led to the Munda rising of 1899, and to the remedy of the alleged grievances by a new settlement of the district. The Hos, who are closely akin to the Mundas, also inhabit the Chota Nagpur division; in 1901 they numbered 386,000. They were formerly a very pugnacious race, who successfully defended their territory against all comers until they were subdued by the British in the early part of the 19th century, being known as the Larka (or fighting) Kols. They are still great sportsmen, using the bow and arrow. Like the Mundas they are animists, but they show little inclination for Christianity. Both Mundas and Hos speak dialects of the obscure linguistic family known as Munda or Kol.
See _Imp. Gazetteer of India_, vols. xiii., xviii. (Oxford, 1908).
KOLYVAÑ. (1) A town of West Siberia, in the government of Tomsk, on the Chaus river, 5 m. from the Ob and 120 m. S.S.W. of the city of Tomsk. It is a wealthy town, the merchants carrying on a considerable export trade in cattle, hides, tallow, corn and fish. It was founded in 1713 under the name of Chausky Ostrog, and has grown rapidly. Pop. (1897), 11,703. (2) KOLYVAÑSKIY ZAVOD, another town of the same government, in the district of Biysk, Altai region, on the Byelaya river, 192 m. S.E. of Barnaul; altitude, 1290 ft. It is renowned for its stone-cutting factory, where marble, jasper, various porphyries and breccias are worked into vases, columns, &c. Pop., 5000. (3) Old name of Reval (q.v.).
KOMÁROM (Ger., _Komorn_), the capital of the county of Komárom, Hungary, 65 m. W.N.W. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 16,816. It is situated at the eastern extremity of the island Csallóköz or Grosse Schütt, at the confluence of the Waag with the Danube. Just below Komárom the two arms into which the Danube separates below Pressburg, forming the Grosse Schütt island, unite again. Since 1896 the market-town of Uj-Szöny, which lies on the opposite bank of the Danube, has been incorporated with Komárom. The town is celebrated chiefly for its fortifications, which form the centre of the inland fortifications of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. A brisk trade in cereals, timber, wine and fish is carried on. Komárom is one of the oldest towns of Hungary, having received its charter in 1265. The fortifications were begun by Matthias Corvinus, and were enlarged and strengthened during the Turkish wars (1526-64). New forts were constructed in 1663 and were greatly enlarged between 1805 and 1809. In 1543, 1594, 1598 and 1663 it was beleaguered by the Turks. It was raised to the dignity of a royal free town in 1751. During the revolutionary war of 1848-49 Komárom was a principal point of military operations, and was long unsuccessfully besieged by the Austrians, who on the 11th of July 1849 were defeated there by General Görgei, and on the 3rd of August by General Klapka. On the 27th of September the fortress capitulated to the Austrians upon honourable terms, and on the 3rd and 4th of October was evacuated by the Hungarian troops. The treasure of the Austrian national bank was removed here from Vienna in 1866, when that city was threatened by the Prussians.
KOMATI, a river of south-eastern Africa. It rises at an elevation of about 5000 ft. in the Ermelo district of the Transvaal, 11 m. W. of the source of the Vaal, and flowing in a general N. and E. direction reaches the Indian Ocean at Delagoa Bay, after a course of some 500 miles. In its upper valley near Steynsdorp are gold-fields, but the reefs are almost entirely of low grade ore. The river descends the Drakensberg by a pass 30 m. S. of Barberton, and at the eastern border of Swaziland is deflected northward, keeping a course parallel to the Lebombo mountains. Just W. of 32° E. and in 25° 25´ S. it is joined by one of the many rivers of South Africa named Crocodile. This tributary rises, as the Elands river, in the Bergendal (6437 ft.) near the upper waters of the Komati, and flows E. across the high veld, being turned northward as it reaches the Drakensberg escarpment. The fall to the low veld is over 2000 ft. in 30 m., and across the country between the Drakensberg and the Lebombo (100 m.) there is a further fall of 3000 ft. A mile below the junction of the Crocodile and Komati, the united stream, which from this point is also known as the Manhissa, passes to the coast plain through a cleft 626 ft. high in the Lebombo known as Komati Poort, where are some picturesque falls. At Komati Poort, which marks the frontier between British and Portuguese territory, the river is less than 60 m. from its mouth in a direct line, but in crossing the plain it makes a wide sweep of 200 m., first N. and then S., forming lagoon-like expanses and backwaters and receiving from the north several tributaries. In flood time there is a connexion northward through the swamps with the basin of the Limpopo. The Komati enters the sea 15 m. N. of Lourenço Marques. It is navigable from its mouth, where the water is from 12 to 18 ft. deep, to the foot of the Lebombo.
The railway from Lourenço Marques to Pretoria traverses the plain in a direct line, and at mile 45 reaches the Komati. It follows the south bank of the river and enters the high country at Komati Poort. At a small town with the same name, 2 m. W. of the Poort, on the 23rd of September 1900, during the war with England, 3000 Boers crossed the frontier and surrendered to the Portuguese authorities. From the Poort westward the railway skirts the south bank of the Crocodile river throughout its length.
KOMOTAU (Czech, _Chomútov_), a town of Bohemia, Austria 79 m. N.N.W. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900), 15,925, almost exclusively German. It has an old Gothic church, and its town-hall was formerly a commandery of the Teutonic knights. The industrial establishments comprise manufactories of woollen cloth, linen and paper, dyeing houses, breweries, distilleries, vinegar works and the central workshops of the Buschtehrad railway. Lignite is worked in the neighbourhood. Komotau was originally a Czech market-place, but in 1252 it came into the possession of the Teutonic Order and was completely Germanized. In 1396 it received a town charter; and in 1416 the knights sold both town and lordship to Wenceslaus IV. On the 16th of March 1421, the town was stormed by the Taborites, sacked and burned. After several changes of ownership, Komotau came in 1588 to Popel of Lobkovic, who established the Jesuits here, which led to trouble between the Protestant burghers and the over-lord. In 1594 the lordship fell to the crown, and in 1605 the town purchased its freedom and was created a royal city.
KOMURA, JUTARO, COUNT (1855- ), Japanese statesman, was born in Hiuga. He graduated at Harvard in 1877, and entered the foreign office in Tokyo in 1884. He served as chargé d'affaires in Peking, as Japanese minister in Seoul, in Washington, in St Petersburg, and in Peking (during the Boxer trouble), earning in every post a high reputation for diplomatic ability. In 1901 he received the portfolio of foreign affairs, and held it throughout the course of the negotiations with Russia and the subsequent war (1904-5), being finally appointed by his sovereign to meet the Russian plenipotentiaries at Portsmouth, and subsequently the Chinese representatives in Peking, on which occasions the Portsmouth treaty of September 1905 and the Peking treaty of November in the same year were concluded. For these services, and for negotiating the second Anglo-Japanese alliance, he received the Japanese title of count and was made a K.C.B. by King Edward VII. He resigned his portfolio in 1906 and became privy councillor, from which post he was transferred to the embassy in London, but he returned to Tokyo in 1908 and resumed the portfolio of foreign affairs in the second Katsura cabinet.
KONARAK or KANARAK, a ruined temple in India, in the Puri district of Orissa, which has been described as for its size "the most richly ornamented building--externally at least--in the whole world." It was erected in the middle of the 13th century, and was dedicated to the sun-god. It consisted of a tower, probably once over 180 ft. high, with a porch in front 140 ft. high, sculptured with figures of lions, elephants, horses, &c.
KONG, the name of a town, district and range of hills in the N.W. of the Ivory Coast colony, French West Africa. The hills are part of the band of high ground separating the inner plains of West Africa from the coast regions. In maps of the first half of the 19th century the range is shown as part of a great mountain chain supposed to run east and west across Africa, and is thus made to appear a continuation of the Mountains of the Moon, or the snow-clad heights of Ruwenzori. The culminating point of the Kong system is the Pic des Kommono, 4757 ft. high. In general the summits of the hills are below 2000 ft. and not more than 700 ft. above the level of the country. The "circle of Kong," one of the administrative divisions of the Ivory Coast colony, covers 46,000 sq. m. and has a population of some 400,000. The inhabitants are negroes, chiefly Bambara and Mandingo. About a fourth of the population profess Mahommedanism; the remainder are spirit worshippers. The town of Kong, situated in 9° N., 4° 20´ W., is not now of great importance. Probably René Caillié, who spent some time in the western part of the country in 1827, was the first European to visit Kong. In 1888 Captain L. G. Binger induced the native chiefs to place themselves under the protection of France, and in 1893 the protectorate was attached to the Ivory Coast colony. For a time Kong was overrun by the armies of Samory (see SENEGAL), but the capture of that chief in 1898 was followed by the peaceful development of the district by France (see IVORY COAST).
KONGSBERG, a mining town of Norway in Buskerud _amt_ (county), on the Laagen, 500 ft. above the sea, and 61 m. W.S.W. of Christiania by rail. Pop. (1900), 5585. With the exception of the church and the town-house, the buildings are mostly of wood. The origin and whole industry of the town are connected with the government silver-mines in the neighbourhood. Their first discovery was made by a peasant in 1623, since which time they have been worked with varying success. During the 18th century Kongsberg was more important than now, and contained double its present population. Within the town are situated the smelting-works, the mint, and a Government weapon factory. Three miles below the Laagen forms a fine fall of 140 ft. (Labrofos). The neighbouring Jonksnut (2950 ft.) commands extensive views of the Telemark. A driving-road from Kongsberg follows a favourite route for travellers through this district, connecting with routes to Sand and Odde on the west coast.