sown the seed, leaving to others the harvest. Even the continent he had discovered was given the name of a later, lesser man. But for that he probably would have cared little. His personal name Christopher, he shrouded in a mystical, pietistic signature which symbolized the fact that he considered himself but a servant of Christ, Mary and Joseph. Above his title which made the descendants of a Genoese wool-comber grandees of Spain, he held his rank of admiral. He was the greatest mariner the world had seen, or was to see, undespairing, undismayed. By his will he directed that the head of his house, in every generation should describe himself as Duke of Veragua, The Admiral. The best known and most accessible life of Columbus is probably the one by Washington Irving. It needs to be supplemented by the writings of Adams, Fiske, Harrisse, Markham, Prescott, Thacher or Winsor.
Colum′bus, Georgia, a railroad center at the head of navigation on Chattahoochee River. It has wonderful waterpower, aggregating 136,000 horsepower at and above the city, 27,000 of which is already developed and in use. It is a large manufacturing center, having 16 cotton-factories, two large iron-mills, two flour-mills, clothing-factories, the largest show-case factory south of the Potomac and a variety of industrial establishments. It has the distinction of selling electric power more cheaply than it is sold anywhere else in the united States, surpassing even Niagara Falls. It has an excellent school-system, providing for all children from kindergarten to college. The latest addition to its school-system is the secondary industrial school which is an academic trade-school of high-school rank. According to the census of 1900, the population was 17,614. It has had a steady growth of recent years, and its population by latest census (1910) is 20,554.
Columbus, Ind., a city and county-seat of Bartholomew County, situated on a branch of White River. It has flour and starch-mills, and manufactures agricultural implements, furniture and cerealine. It has the service of the Big Four and Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis railroads. Population, 8,813.
Columbus, the capital of Ohio, is situated on the Scioto River, a little south of the center of the state. It is a city of broad streets and large parks. The fine capitol and the United States and board-of-trade buildings are among its main structures. It contains an insane hospital, state penitentiary and asylums for the blind and deaf and dumb. There are 38 public-school buildings, four of them high-schools, and they have more than 20,000 pupils. Among the higher institutions are Capital City University, Ohio State University and St. Mary’s Academy. Besides, there are three medical colleges, a dental college and five public hospitals. There are several parks and 40 or more churches. Natural gas is used for domestic purposes, and there is an unlimited supply of bituminous coal near the city. Columbus is an important manufacturing city, possessing steel-plants, blast-furnaces and malleable-iron works, and making cash-registers, agricultural implements, automobiles, all varieties of vehicles and shoes, gloves and clothing. Its public buildings in number and cost are not excelled by any city of the country, except Washington. Columbus was laid out in 1812 and incorporated in 1834. It has been the state capital since 1816. Eighteen railroads and its nearness to the Ohio coal- and iron-fields have done much to increase the growth of the place Population. 181,511.
Columel′la (in plants), an axis of sterile tissue which passes through the center of the spore-case of mosses. See Musci.
Coman′ches (kṓ-măn′ chĕz), a tribe of Indians of the Shoshone family. They do not live in villages, but, carrying their skin-lodges with them, roam over the country. When first found by the French in 1719, they hunted from the head-waters of the Brazos and Colorado to those of the Arkansas and Missouri. They are great hunters, riders and fighters, and are divided into eight bands. They had long and bloody wars with the Spaniards, were at one time on a reservation in Texas, and later some of them were in the Indian Territory. They have medicine-men, and worship as their god Niatpol (meaning “my father”). Years ago, they numbered 10,000 or 12,000, filling up their ranks with Mexican captives. They now number some 1,500, and are chiefly settled now in Oklahoma.
Com′edy. See Drama.
Com′ets, the name given to those large and more or less bright bodies which now and then enter the solar system, sweep around the sun, and again return to more distant regions of space where they become invisible as before. In general comets are composed of three parts. First, there is a luminous cloud, the coma, from which these bodies take their name. In its center is generally found a brighter nucleus, the part which the astronomer observes when he determines the orbit of the comet. Thirdly, there is the tail, which is a great streamer of light, following the comet as it approaches the sun and preceding the comet as it leaves the sun. Considered with respect to their brightness, comets may be divided into two classes: telescopic comets and naked-eye comets. By far the greater number belong to the first class and can be seen only by the aid of a telescope. Considered with reference to their orbits, comets may be divided into three
