galleries running throughout the entire building. On the inside the open space in the center was covered with sand or sawdust, while the games were going on, and so was called the arena, from the Latin word for sand. Around the arena was a gallery where sat the emperor, senators and vestal virgins. Above were three other tiers of seats, corresponding with the three rows of columns on the outside. The Colosseum in the middle ages gave rise to the saying: “While stands the Colosseum Rome shall stand; while Rome shall stand, the world.”
Colossus (kṓ-lŏs′sŭs) of Rhodes, a huge statue of Helios (the sun), the chief god of the Rhodians. It is said to have been the work of Chares of Lindus, who spent 12 years on it, finishing it in 280 B. C. It was called one of the seven wonders of the world, though not a masterpiece of sculpture. Its height was from 90 to 120 feet. It stood near the harbor; but the story that it was placed astride the entrance is erroneous. In 224 B. C. it was overthrown by an earthquake, and lay an object of wonder until 653, when it was sold to a Jew for old metal.
Colt, Samuel. See Revolver.
Columbia. See District of Columbia.
Colum′bia or Oregon River is 1,400 miles long. Next to the Yukon, it is the largest river on the American Pacific coast. It rises in the Rockies of British Columbia, flows through Washington, separates that state from Oregon, and empties into the Pacific. Its mouth forms an inlet from three to seven miles wide and 35 miles in length. Its main branches are Snake River and Clarke's Fork. There are many falls and rapids, so that, though it is navigable for some 660 miles, freight has to be carried by railroads past the various breaks of the river. The salmon-fisheries are noted.
Columbia, Pa., a borough in Lancaster County, on the left bank of the Susquehanna River, 80 miles by rail west of Philadelphia. A railroad-bridge across the river connects the town with Wrightsville. The town was founded in 1726 by English Quakers. Its factories include rolling-mills, flouring-mills, foundries, tanneries, silk, lace and pipe mills, wagon, brush, stove, novelty, embroidery and shirt-works. It also has manufactories of railroad-iron. It has an active civic life, good schools and a public library. Population, 11,454.
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, is situated on the left bank of the Congaree River. The town is beautifully laid out with broad and well-shaded streets, all of which cross at right angles. Having been the capital of the state since 1790, it has many imposing public buildings, including the state-house, penitentiary, hospital for the insane, etc. Several well-known colleges and quite a number of fine cotton-mills are located in the city. When the city was evacuated by the Confederates at the approach of Gen. Sherman in the spring of 1865, large quantities of cotton piled in the streets caught or were set on fire, and all the business section and many private residences were consumed. The population in 1900 was 21,108; to-day it is 26,319.
Columbia University, located in New York city, was chartered in 1754 as King's College. During the Revolutionary War the work of the college was suspended, and the building was used as a hospital. College work was resumed in 1784, and the name of the institution changed to Columbia College. Under this name the college has had a long and prosperous career. The law department was established in 1858; the medical department in 1860; the school of mines in 1863; the school of political science in 1880; the school of philosophy in 1890; and the school of pure science in 1892. Barnard College for women, founded in 1889, became affiliated in 1890. In 1896 the name of the institution was changed to Columbia University. It is now an amply equipped and richly endowed institution. It has a library of 330,000 volumes, 646 officers of instruction and 5,057 students, exclusive of summer-school and extension students.
Columbine (kŏl′ŭm-bīn), a well-known and popular wild flower, which is widely diffused, and which has been suggested as the national flower of the United States. The leaflet is three-lobed and the flower, which passes from yellow to red, has five petals with long spurs, giving it a striking resemblance to the liberty-cap.
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Columbus, Christopher. In 1470 there arrived on the coast of Portugal, on a plank that was part of the wreckage of a privateer sunk in a sea-fight, an adventurous mariner. Born in Genoa, Italy, perhaps in 1436, perhaps in 1446, he was of the stature and coloring of Norse pirates. His eyes were as pale a blue as sea-ice, his red and white skin was bronzed by 20 years' exposure to wind and sun; his auburn hair, already pointed with silver, shone like a nimbus above a handsome, smooth-shaven, aquiline face. Besides being a skilled navigator, he was a man of learning, temperate habits and speech and as strict piety as if he were of some religious order. These qualities must have recommended him in Lisbon, for the Portuguese were among the most ardent Christians and the most daring voyagers in the world. Grad-
