192
KYP
K U H
KOS, in Jewish antiquity, a measure of capacity, containingabout four cubic inches: this was the cup of blessing out of whichthey drank when they gave thanks after solemn meals, ’like that ofthe passover.
KOUANIX, in the Chinese theology, the tutelary deity' ofwomen. The Chinese make great numbers of the figures of thisdeity in white porcelain, and send them to all parts of the world,as well as keep them in their own houses. The figure representsa woman with a child in her arms.
KOU-CIIU, a Chinese shrub, which bears a great resemblanceto the fig-tree hotli in form of its branches and leaves. This treeyields a kind of milky juice, which the Chinese use for laying ongold-leaf in gilding.
KOULl-KHAN, Thamas, or Nadir Schah, was born inthe province of Khurasan, and his father was chief of a branch ofthe Afghans, which rank descended to Nadir when he was a mi-norphut his uncle usurped the government. On this Nadir en-tered into the service of the Beglerbeg, governor of Muschada, inKhurasan, who appointed him to command an arniv sent againstthe Tartars . Nadir gained a complete victory with an inferiorforce, and took, the Tartar general prisoner. The Beglerbeg atfirst treated Nadir with great distinction, bnt being jealous of hisaspiring spirit, lie refused him the rank of lieutenant-general whichhe had promised him ; and when Nadir complained of his breachof faith, he caused him to be bastinadoed. Exasperated at thisungrateful and dishonourable treatment, he joined a banditti otrobbers. With this troop, consisting of five hundred well-mount-ed men, he committed great ravages. The Afghans having madethemselves masters of Ispahan , and the Turks and Muscovites ra-vaging other parts of Persia , Schah Tliamas applied to Nadir forhis assistance. He accordingly entered into the service of theSchah, but one of his first actions was to murder his uncle who hadusurped his title. He distinguished himself against the Turks,whom he defeated in several actions, for which he was made ageneral, and the Schah conferred upon him the title of ThamasKouli, or the slave of Thamas; he was also ennobled with thetitle of Khan. Notwithstanding these distinctions, he deposedThamas, and placed a son of that prince on the throne, to whomhe became regent. In 1735 he gained the battle of Erivan , inwhich the Turks lost above 50,000 men. After this he assumedthe royal title, and was acknowledged by the grandees of the em-pire. The year following he took Camlahar, and in 1739 con-quered the Mogul empire, making himself master of Delhi , wherehe acquired immense riches. He then assumed the title of empe-ror of the Indies; but disgraced himself by ordering a massacreof the inhabitants of Delhi , in revenge for an insult offered tosome of his troops. The cruelties and tyranny of Kouli-Khan atlength excited general hatred, and a conspiracy being formedby some Persian officers, he was assassinated in 1747.—Wat-kins.
KRAMERIA, in botany, a genus of the tetrandria monogyniaclass and order. Calyx none ; corolla four-petaled ; nectary up-per three-parted, lower two-leaved ; berry dry, echinated, one-seeded. There is but one species, viz. K. ixina, a shrub withlanceolate leaves, found in South America .
KREMS, or CREMS, a town of Austria , 32 miles W. N.W.of Vienna .
KROUTE, CROUTE, or SOUR CROUTE, [Sauer Kraut,G<frm. i.e. sour herb,] a preparation of cabbage which has beenfound of sovereign efficacy as a preservative in long voyages fromtlie sea-scurvy. See Croutk.
KUARA, a province of Abyssinia, S. of Dembea, bordering•n that of the Shangalla, the Macrobii of the ancients.
KUIIN’IA, in botany, a genus of the syngenesia polygamiajequalis class and order; natural order, Composite Discoideai.
| Flowers (loscular; calyx imbricate, oblong, cylindrical; down‘plumose; receptacle naked; style deeply bifid; stigmas club-j shaped ; anthers distinct. It has but one species, viz. K. eupato-; roides, a native of Pennsylvania .
KUNCKEL, John, a celebrated Saxon chemist, born in Sles-wick, in 1(330. He became chemist to the elector of Saxony ,
| the elector of Brandenburg'n, and Charles XI. king of Sweden ,
| who gave him the title of counsellor of metals, and letters of nobi-lity, with the surname of Louwensteing. He employed fifty years; in chcmi»trv ; in which, by the help of the furnace of a glass-housewhich he had under his care, he made several excellent disco-I veries, particularlv of the phosphorus of urine. He died in Swe-den in 1702; and left several works, some in German, and othersin I^atin: among which, that entitled “Observationes Cliemica 1 ,”and the “ Art of making Glass,” printed at Paris in 1752, are themost esteemed.
KURIL, KURILE , orKURISKLI, Isi.r.s, a series of islands,extending from N. Lat. 45° to 51* and which possibly oncelengthened the peninsula of Kamtschatka before they were con-vulsed from it. Thev run S. from the low promontory Lopalka,j between which and S r oomska the most northerly L only the dis-tance of one league.
j KURTUS, in natural history, a genus ot fishes, order jugulare*.i Body carinated above and below, and broad ; back highly ele-I vated ; gill membrane, with two rays. There is only one species,
• which inhabits the seas of India . Its length is about ten inches,
| and its breadth four, lls colour, on the whole body, is that of! silver-foil, and its back is tinged with gold, and marked on its! ridge with several black spots.
KUSTRIN, or GUSTRIN, a strong town of Brandenburg,
1 48 miles E. of Berlin.
KUYNDER, a town, fort, and river of Batavia, in the depart-| ment of the Eems, and late province of Friesland , 23 miles S. of: Leeivarden.
I KYANTTE, or CYANITE, in mineralogy, a species of tliej talc genus: colour blue, sometimes white and grey: lustre ex-j ternally and internally shining, splendent, and completely pearly.
It occurs in wedge-shaped concretions, which are often very pro-: miscuous, and then pass into large and coarse-grained distinct con-| cretions. It feels greasy ; is easily frangible, and the specific gra-I vity is from 3.5 to 3.6. It is found in many parts of Europe .
: It is reckoned tlie link which connects talc with aclvnolite and■ trenolite.
j KYLLINGIA, in botany, a genus of the triandria monogyniaj class and order; natural order, Gramina. Anient ovate or ob-|| long, imbricate ; flowers with a bivalve calvx and corolla. Thereare seven species, natives of the East and West Indies .
KYPIIONISM, KYPIIONISMUS, or CYPIiONISMUS,an ancient punishment frequently undergone by the primitivej martyrs ; wherein the body of the person was anointed with ho-| ney, and so exposed to the sun, that the flies rwicl wasps might he| tempted to torment hint. This was performed in three ways ;
1 sometimes they tied the patient to a stake ; sometimes they hoist-! ed him up in the air, and suspended him in a basket; and some-times they stretched him out on the ground with his hands tiedbehind him. The word comes from xiqiwv, which signifies eitherthe stake to which the patient was tied, the collar lilted to hisneck, or an instrument wherewith they tormented him. Thei scholiast on Aristophanes says, it was a wooden lock cr cage;
' and that it was so called from xv*7iiv, to crook or bend, bemuseit kept the tortured in a crooked, bending posture ; others take itj for a log of wood laid over the criminul’ti head, to prevent bisj standing upright. Hesychius describes the xufuv as a piece ofi wood whereon criminals were stretched and tormented.
L, the