When railways were being carried out in England some canal companies were alarmed for their future, and sold their canals to the railway companies, who in 1906 owned 1138 m. of canals out of a total length in the United Kingdom of 3901 m. As some of these canals are links in the chain of internal water communication complaints have frequently arisen on the question of through traffic and tolls. The great improvements carried out in America and on the continent of Europe by state aid enable manufacturers to get the raw material they use and goods they export to and from their ports at much cheaper rates than those charged on British canals. The association of chambers of commerce and other bodies having taken up the matter, a royal commission was appointed in 1906 to report on the canals and water-ways of the kingdom, with a view to considering how they could be more profitably used for national purposes. Its Report was published in December 1909.Authorities.—L.F. Vernon-Harcourt,Rivers and Canals(2nd ed., 1896); Chapman,Canal Navigation; Firisi,On Canals; R. Fulton,Canal Navigation; Tatham,Economy of Inland Navigation; Valancy,Treatise on Inland Navigation; D. Stevenson,Canal and River Engineering; John Phillips,History of Inland Navigation; J. Priestley,History of Navigable Rivers, Canals, &c. in Great Britain(1831); T. Telford,Life(1838); John Smeaton,Reports(1837);Reports of the International Congresses on Interior Navigation;Report and Evidence of the Royal Commission on Canals(Great Britain), 1906-9.
When railways were being carried out in England some canal companies were alarmed for their future, and sold their canals to the railway companies, who in 1906 owned 1138 m. of canals out of a total length in the United Kingdom of 3901 m. As some of these canals are links in the chain of internal water communication complaints have frequently arisen on the question of through traffic and tolls. The great improvements carried out in America and on the continent of Europe by state aid enable manufacturers to get the raw material they use and goods they export to and from their ports at much cheaper rates than those charged on British canals. The association of chambers of commerce and other bodies having taken up the matter, a royal commission was appointed in 1906 to report on the canals and water-ways of the kingdom, with a view to considering how they could be more profitably used for national purposes. Its Report was published in December 1909.
Authorities.—L.F. Vernon-Harcourt,Rivers and Canals(2nd ed., 1896); Chapman,Canal Navigation; Firisi,On Canals; R. Fulton,Canal Navigation; Tatham,Economy of Inland Navigation; Valancy,Treatise on Inland Navigation; D. Stevenson,Canal and River Engineering; John Phillips,History of Inland Navigation; J. Priestley,History of Navigable Rivers, Canals, &c. in Great Britain(1831); T. Telford,Life(1838); John Smeaton,Reports(1837);Reports of the International Congresses on Interior Navigation;Report and Evidence of the Royal Commission on Canals(Great Britain), 1906-9.
(E. L. W.)
CANAL DOVER,a city of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Tuscarawas river, about 70 m. S. by E. of Cleveland. Pop. (1890) 3470; (1900) 5422 (930 foreign-born); (1910) 6621. It is served by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railways, and by the Ohio canal, and is connected with Cleveland by an inter-urban electric line. It lies on a plateau about 880 ft. above sea-level and commands pleasant views of diversified scenery. Coal and iron ore abound in the vicinity, and the city manufactures iron, steel, tin plate, electrical and telephone supplies, shovels, boilers, leather, flour, brick and tile, salt, furniture and several kinds of vehicles. The municipality owns and operates its water-works. Canal Dover was laid out as a town in 1807, and was incorporated as a village in 1842, but its charter was soon allowed to lapse and was not revived until 1867. Canal Dover became a city under the Ohio municipal code of 1903.
CANALE(orCanaletto),ANTONIO(1697-1768), Venetian painter, born on the 18th of October 1697, was educated under his father Bernard, a scene-painter of Venice, and for some time followed his father’s line of art. In 1719 he went to Rome, where he employed himself chiefly in delineating ancient ruins, and particularly studied effects of light and shade, in which he became an adept. He was the first painter who made practical use of the camera lucida. On returning home he devoted his powers to views in his native city, which he painted with a clear and firm touch and the most facile mastery of colour in a deep tone, introducing groups of figures with much effect. In his latter days he resided some time in England. His pictures, in their particular range, still remain unrivalled for their magnificent perspective. The National Gallery, London, has five pictures by him, notably the “View on the Grand Canal, Venice,” andthe “Regatta on the Grand Canal.” He died on the 20th of August 1768. Bellotto (commonly named Bernardo), who is also sometimes calledCanaletto(1724-1780), was his nephew and pupil, and painted with deceptive resemblance to the style of the more celebrated master.
CANALIS(also “canal” and “channel”; from the Latin), in architecture, the sinking between the fillets of the volute of the Ionic capital: in the earliest examples, though sunk below the fillets, it is slightly convex in section.
CANANDAIGUA,a village and the county-seat of Ontario county, New York, U.S.A., 30 m. S.E. of Rochester. Pop. (1890) 5868; (1900) 6151; (1910) 7217. It is served by the New York Central and Hudson River, and the Northern Central (Pennsylvania system) railways, and is connected with Rochester by an inter-urban electric line. Among the manufactures are pressed bricks, tile, beer, ploughs, flour, agate and tin-ware. The village, picturesquely situated at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, a beautiful sheet of water about 15 m. long with a breadth varying from a mile to a mile and a half, is a summer resort. It has a county court house; the Canandaigua hospital of physicians and surgeons; the Frederick Ferris Thompson memorial hospital, with a bacteriological laboratory supported by the county; the Clark Manor House (a county home for the aged), given by Mrs Frederick Ferris Thompson in memory of her mother and of her father, Myron Holley Clark (1806-1892), president of the village of Canandaigua in 1850-1851 and governor of New York in 1855-1857; the Ontario Orphan Asylum; Canandaigua Academy; Granger Place school for girls; Brigham Hall (a private sanatorium for nervous and mental diseases); Young Men’s Christian Association building (1905); and two libraries, the Wood (public) library and the Union School library, founded in 1795. There is a public playground in the village with free instruction by a physical director; and a swimming school, endowed by Mrs F.F. Thompson, gives free lessons in swimming. The village owns its water-supply system. A village of the Seneca Indians, near the present Canandaigua, bearing the same name, which means “a settlement was formerly there” (not, as Lewis Morgan thought, “chosen spot”), was destroyed by Gen. John Sullivan in 1779. There are boulder memorials of Sullivan’s expedition and of the treaty signed here on the 11th of November 1794 by Timothy Pickering, on behalf of the United States with the Six Nations—a treaty never ratified by the Senate. Canandaigua was settled in 1789 and was first incorporated in 1812.
CANARD(the Fr. for “duck”), a sensational or extravagant story, a hoax or false report, especially one circulated by newspapers. This use of the word in France dates from the 17th century, and is supposed by Littré to have originated in the old expression, “vendre un canard à moitié” (to half-sell a duck); as it is impossible to “half-sell a duck,” the phrase came to signify to take in, or to cheat.
CANARY(Serinus canarius), a well-known species of passerine bird, belonging to the familyFringillidaeor finches (seeFinch). It is a native of the Canary Islands and Madeira, where it occurs abundantly in the wild state, and is of a greyish-brown colour, slightly varied with brighter hues, although never attaining the beautiful plumage of the domestic bird. It was first domesticated in Italy during the 16th century, and soon spread over Europe, where it is now the most common of cage-birds. During the years of its domestication, the canary has been the subject of careful artificial selection, the result being the production of a bird differing widely in the colour of its plumage, and in a few of its varieties even in size and form, from the original wild species. The prevailing colour of the most admired varieties of the canary is yellow, approaching in some cases to orange, and in others to white; while the most robust birds are those which, in the dusky green of the upper surface of their plumage, show a distinct approach to the wild forms. The least prized are those in which the plumage is irregularly spotted and speckled. In one of the most esteemed varieties, the wing and tail feathers are at first black—a peculiarity, however, which disappears after the first moulting. Size and form have also been modified by domestication, the wild canary being not more than 5½ in. in length, while a well-known Belgian variety usually measures 8 in. There are also hooped or bowed canaries, feather-footed forms and top-knots, the latter having a distinct crest on the head; but the offspring of two such top-knotted canaries, instead of showing an increased development of crest, as might be expected, are apt to be bald on the crown. Most of the varieties, however, of which no fewer than twenty-seven were recognized by French breeders so early as the beginning of the 18th century, differ merely in the colour and the markings of the plumage. Hybrids are also common, the canary breeding freely with the siskin, goldfinch, citril, greenfinch and linnet. The hybrids thus produced are almost invariably sterile. It is the female canary which is almost invariably employed in crossing, as it is difficult to get the females of the allied species to sit on the artificial nest used by breeders. In a state of nature canaries pair, but under domestication the male bird has been rendered polygamous, being often put with four or five females; still he is said to show a distinct preference for the female with which he was first mated. It is from the others, however, that the best birds are usually obtained. The canary is very prolific, producing eggs, not exceeding six in number, three or four times a year; and in a state of nature it is said to breed still oftener. The work of building the nest, and of incubation, falls chiefly on the female, while the duty of feeding the young rests mainly with the cock bird. The natural song of the canary is loud and clear; and in their native groves the males, especially during the pairing season, pour forth their song with such ardour as sometimes to burst the delicate vessels of the throat. The males appear to compete with each other in the brilliancy of their melody, in order to attract the females, which, according to the German naturalist Johann Matthaus Bechstein (1757-1822) always select the best singers for their mates. The canary readily imitates the notes of other birds, and in Germany and especially Tirol, where the breeding of canaries gives employment to a large number of people, they are usually placed for this purpose beside the nightingale.
(A. N.)
CANARY ISLANDS(Canarias), a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean; about 60 m. W. of the African coast, between 27° 40′ and 29° 30′ N., and between 13° 20′ and 18° 10′ W. Pop. (1900) 358,564; area 2807 sq. m. The Canary Islands resemble a roughly-drawn semicircle, with its convex side facing south-wards, and with the island of Hierro detached on the south-west. More precisely, they may be considered as two groups, one of which, including Teneriffe, Grand Canary, Palma, Hierro and Gomera, consists of mountain peaks, isolated and rising directly from an ocean of great depth; while the other, comprising Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and six uninhabited islets, is based on a single submarine plateau, of far less depth. Teneriffe and Gomera, the only members of the principal group which have a common base, may be regarded as the twin peaks of one great volcanic mass. Ever since the researches of Leopold von Buch the Canary Islands have been classical ground to the student of volcanic action. Buch considered them to be representative of his “craters of elevation.” In common with the other WestAfrican islands they are of volcanic origin. The lavas consist chiefly of trachytes and basalts.
Climate.—From April to October a north or north-east wind blows upon the islands, beginning about 10 A.M. and continuing until 5 or 6 P.M. In summer this wind produces a dense stratum of sea-cloud (cumuloni), 500 ft. thick, whose lower surface is about 2500 ft. above the sea at Teneriffe. This does not reach up to the mountains, which have on every side a stratum of their own, about 1000 ft. thick, the lower surface being about 3500 ft. above the level of the sea. Between these two distinct strata there is a gap, through which persons on a vessel near the island may obtain a glimpse of the peak. The sea-cloud conceals from view the other islands, except those whose mountains pierce through it. On the south-west coasts there is no regular sea or land breeze. In winter they are occasionally visited by a hot south-east wind from Africa, which is called theLevante, and produces various disagreeable consequences on the exposed parts of the person, besides injuring the vegetation, especially on the higher grounds. Locusts have sometimes been brought by this wind. In 1812 it is said that locusts covered some fields in Fuerteventura to the depth of 4 ft. Hurricanes, accompanied by waterspouts, sometimes cause much devastation; but, on the whole, the islands are singularly free from such visitations. The climate generally is mild, dry and healthy. On the lower grounds the temperature is equable, the daily range seldom exceeding 6° Fahr. At Santa Cruz the mean for the year is about 71°. The rainy season occurs at the same period as in southern Europe. The dry season is at the time of the trade-winds, which extend a few degrees farther north than this latitude.
Fauna.—The indigenous mammals of the Canary Islands are very few in number. The dog, swine, goat and sheep were alone found upon the island by the Spanish conquerors: The race of large dogs which is supposed to have given a name to the islands has been long extinct. A single skeleton has been found, which is deposited in one of the museums at Paris. The ferret, rabbit, cat, rat, mouse and two kinds of bat have become naturalized. The ornithology is more interesting, on account at once of the birds native to the islands, and the stragglers from the African coast, which are chiefly brought over in winter, when the wind has blown for some time from the east. Among the indigenous birds are some birds of prey, as the African vulture, the falcon, the buzzard, the sparrow-hawk and the kite. There are also two species of owl, three species of sea-mew, the stockdove, quail, raven, magpie, chaffinch, goldfinch, blackcap, canary, titmouse, blackbird, house-swallow, &c. As to the insects, mention may be made of a species of gnat or mosquito which is sometimes troublesome, especially to strangers. The list of reptiles is limited to three varieties of lizard and one species of frog. The only fresh-water fish is the eel. Marine fishes are not numerous, the reason perhaps being that the steepness of the coast does not allow seaweed to grow in sufficient quantity to support the lower forms of marine animal life. Whales and seals are occasionally seen. The cuttle-fish is abundant, and is sought for as an article of food.
Flora.—The position of mountainous islands like the Canaries, in the subtropical division of the temperate zone, is highly favourable to the development, within a small space, of plants characteristic of both warm and cold climates. Von Buch refers to five regions of vegetation in Teneriffe:—(1) From the sea to the height of 1300 ft. This he styles the African region. The climate in the hottest parts is similar to that of Egypt. Here grow, among the introduced plants, the coffee tree, the date-palm, the sugar-cane, the banana, the orange tree, the American agave and two species of cactus; and among indigenous plants, the dragon tree on the north-west of Teneriffe. A leafless and fantastic euphorbia,E. canariensis, and a shrubby composite plant,Cacalia kleinia, give a character to the landscape about Santa Cruz. (2) Between 1300 ft. and 2800 ft. This is the region of south European vegetation, the climate answering to that of southern France and central Italy. Here nourish vines and cereals. (3) The region of indigenous trees, including various species of laurel, anArdisia, Ilex, Rhamnus, Olea, Myrica, and other trees found wild also at Madeira. The clouds rest on this region during the day, and by their humidity support a vegetation amongst the trees, partly of shrubs, and partly of ferns. It extends to the height of 4000 ft. (4) The region of the beautifulPinus canariensis, extending to the height of 6400 ft.; here the broad-leaved trees have ceased to grow, but arborescent heaths are found throughout its whole extent, and specimens ofJuniperus oxycedrusmay be met with. (5) The region of Retama (Cytisus nubigenus), a species of white-flowering and sweet-scented broom, which is found as high as 11,000 ft. At the upper edge of this region a lilac-coloured violet clings to the soil, and above there is nothing but a little lichen. The number of wild flowering plants may be estimated at 900, upwards of 270 of which are peculiar to the Canaries. The forms of vegetation must in the main be considered North African. The character of the vegetation in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, islands composed of extensive plains and low hills, with few springs, is different from that of the other islands, which are more elevated and have many springs. The wood is less abundant, and the vegetation less luxuriant.
Inhabitants.—The Guanches (q.v.), who occupied the Canaries at the time of the Spanish invasion, no longer exist as a separate race, for the majority were exterminated, and the remainder intermarried with their conquerors. The present inhabitants are slightly darker than the people of Spain, but in other respects are scarcely distinguishable from them. The men are of middle height, well-made and strong; the women are not striking in respect of beauty, but they have good eyes and hair. Spanish is the only language in use. The birth-rate is uniformly high and the death-rate low; and, despite the emigration of many families to South America and the United States, the census of 1900 showed that the population had increased by over 75,000 since 1877. The excess of females over males, which in 1900 amounted to upwards of 22,000, is partly explained by the fact that few women emigrate. Fully 80% of the inhabitants could neither read nor write in 1900; but education progresses more rapidly than in many other Spanish provinces. Good schools are numerous, and the return of emigrants and their children who have been educated in the United States, tends to raise the standard of civilization. The sustenance of the poorer classes is chiefly composed of fish, potatoes andgofio, which is merely Indian corn or wheat roasted, ground and kneaded with water or milk. The land is, in great part, strictly entailed.
Government.—The archipelago forms one Spanish province, of which the capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the residence of the civil governor, who has under his command one of the two districts into which the archipelago is divided, this first district comprising Teneriffe, Palma, Gomera and Hierro. The other district includes Grand Canary, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and has at its head a sub-governor, residing in Las Palmas, on Grand Canary, who is independent of the governor except in regard to elections and municipal administration. The chief finance office is at Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The court of appeal, created in 1526, is in Las Palmas. The captain-general and second commandant of the archipelago reside in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and there is a brigadier-governor of Grand Canary, residing in Las Palmas, besides eight inferior military commandants. The province furnishes no men for the Spanish peninsular army, but its annual conscription provides men for the local territorial militia, composed of regiments of infantry, squadrons of mounted rifles and companies of garrison artillery—about 5000 men all told. The archipelago is divided into two naval districts, commanded by royal navy captains. Roman Catholicism is the official religion, and ecclesiastical law is the same as in other Spanish provinces. The convents have been suppressed, and in many cases converted to secular uses. Laguna and Las Palmas are episcopal sees, in the archbishopric of Seville.
Industry and Commerce.—Owing to the richness of the volcanic soil, agriculture in the Canaries is usually very profitable.Land varies in value according to the amount of water available, but as a rule commands an extraordinarily high price. In theTerrenos de secano, or non-irrigable districts, the average price of an acre ranges from £7 to £17; in theTerrenes de riego, or irrigable land, it ranges from £100 to £250. Until 1853 wine was the staple product, and although even the finest brand (known asVidonia) never equalled the best Madeira vintages, it was largely consumed abroad, especially in England. The annual value of the wine exported often exceeded £500,000. In 1853, however, the grape disease attacked the vineyards; and thenceforward the production of cochineal, which had been introduced in 1825, took the place of viticulture so completely that, twenty years later, the exports of cochineal were worth £556,000. France and England were the chief purchasers. This industry declined in the later years of the 19th century, and was supplanted by the cultivation of sugar-cane, and afterwards of bananas, tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Bananas are the most important crop. Other fruits grown in smaller quantities include oranges, figs, dates, pineapples, guavas, custard-apples and prickly pears. Tobacco-planting is encouraged by the Spanish government, and the sugar trade is maintained, despite severe competition. The grain harvest does not supply the needs of the islanders. Pigs and sheep of a small, coarse-woolled breed, are numerous; and large herds of goats wander in an almost wild state over the higher hills. Fishing is a very important industry, employing over 10,000 hands. The fleet of about 2200 boats operates along some 600 m. of the African coast, between Cape Cantin and the Arguin Bank. Shipbuilding is carried on at Las Palmas; and the minor industries include the manufacture of cloth, drawn-linen (calado) work, silk, baskets, hats, &c. A group of Indian merchants, who employ coolie labour, produce silken, jute and cotton goods, Oriental embroideries, wrought silver, brass-ware, porcelain, carved sandal-wood, &c. The United Kingdom heads the import trade in coal, textiles, hardware, iron, soap, candles and colonial products. Timber comes chiefly from North America and Scandinavia, alcohol from Cuba and the United States, wheat and flour from various British possessions, maize from Morocco and Argentina. Large quantities of miscellaneous imports are sent by Germany, Spain, France and Italy. Bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, sugar and wine are exported. The total value of the foreign trade fluctuates very greatly, and the difficulty of forming an estimate is enhanced in many years by the absence of official statistics; but imports and exports together probably amount in a normal year to about £1,000,000. The chief ports are Las Palmas and Santa Cruz, which annually accommodate about 7000 vessels of over 8,000,000 tons. In 1854 all the ports of the Canaries were practically declared free; but on the 1st of November 1904 a royal order prohibited foreign vessels from trading between one island and another. This decree deprived the outlying islands of their usual means of communication, and, in answer to a protest by the inhabitants, its operation was postponed.
History.—There is ground for supposing that the Phoenicians were not ignorant of the Canaries. The Romans learned of their existence through Juba, king of Mauretania, whose account of an expedition to the islands, made about 40b.c., was preserved by the elder Pliny. He mentions “Canaria, so called from the multitude of dogs of great size,” and “Nivaria, taking its name from perpetual snow, and covered with clouds,” doubtless Teneriffe. Canaria was said to abound in palms and pine trees. Both Plutarch and Ptolemy speak of the Fortunate Islands, but from their description it is not clear whether the Canaries or one of the other island groups in the western Atlantic are meant; seeIsles Of The Blest. In the 12th century the Canaries were visited by Arab navigators, and in 1334 they were rediscovered by a French vessel driven among them by a gale. A Portuguese expedition, undertaken about the same time, failed to find the archipelago, and want of means frustrated the project of conquest entertained by a grandson of Alphonso X. of Castile, named Juan de la Cerda, who had obtained a grant of the islands and had been crowned king of them at Avignon, by Pope Clement VI. Two or possibly more Spanish expeditions followed, and a monastic mission was established, but at the close of the 14th century the Guanches remained unconquered and unconverted. In 1402, however, Gadifer de la Salle and Jean de Béthencourt (q.v.) sailed with two vessels from Rochelle, and landed early in July on Lanzarote. The relations between these two leaders, and their respective shares in the work of conquest and exploration, have been the subject of much controversy. Between 1402 and 1404 La Salle conquered Lanzarote and part of Fuerteventura, besides exploring other islands; Béthencourt meanwhile sailed to Cadiz for reinforcements. He returned in 1404 with the title of king, which he had secured from Henry III. of Castile. La Salle, thus placed in a position of inferiority, left the islands and appealed unsuccessfully for redress at the court of Castile. In 1405 Béthencourt visited Normandy, and returned with fresh colonists who conquered Hierro. In December 1406 he left the Canaries, entrusting their government to his nephew Maciot de Béthencourt, and reserving for himself a share in any profits obtained, and the royal title. Eight years of misrule followed before Queen Catherine of Castile intervened. Maciot thereupon sold his office to her envoy, Pedro Barba de Campos; sailed to Lisbon and resold it to Prince Henry the Navigator; and a few years afterwards resold it once more to Enrique de Guzman, count of Niebla. Jean de Béthencourt, who died in 1422, bequeathed the islands to his brother Reynaud; Guzman sold them to another Spaniard named Paraza, who was forced to re-sell to Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile in 1476; and Prince Henry twice endeavoured to enforce his own claims. Meanwhile the Guanches remained unconquered throughout the greater part of the archipelago. In 1479 the sovereignty of Ferdinand and Isabella over the Canaries was established by the treaty of Alcaçova, between Portugal and Castile. After much bloodshed, and with reinforcements from the mother country, the Spaniards, under Pedro de Vera, became masters of Grand Canary in 1483. Palma was conquered in 1491, and Teneriffe in 1495, by Alonzo de Lugo. The archipelago was included for administrative purposes in the captaincy-general of Andalusia until 1833, when it was made a separate province. In 1902 a movement in favour of local autonomy was repressed by Spanish troops.
Bibliography.—For a general description of the islands, seeLes Îles Canaries, by J. Pitard and L. Proust (Paris, 1909);Madeira and the Canary Islands, by A. Samler Brown, a guide for travellers and invalids, with coloured maps and plates (London, 1901);A Guide to the Canary Islands, by J.H.T. Ellerbeck (London, 1892);The Canary Islands as a Winter Resort, by J. Whitford (London, 1890, with maps and illustrations);De la Tierra Canaria, by L. and A. Millares Cubas (Madrid, 1894); andPhysikalische Beschreibung der kanarischen Inseln, by L. von Buch (Berlin, 1825). Besides the interesting folio atlas of von Buch (Paris, 1836), good modern maps have been published by E. Stanford (London, 1891, 12½ English m. to 1 in.), and M. Perez y Rodriquez (Madrid, 1896-1898, 4 sheets). See alsoHistoire naturelle des îles Canaries, by P. Barker-Webb and S. Berthelot (Paris, 1835-1849); and “Les Îles Canaries et les parages de pêche canariens,” by Dr. A. Taquin, in theB.S.R. Beige G. 26(1902), and 27 (1903); and, for history and antiquities, theHistoria general de las islas Canarias, by A. Millares Cubas, in 10 vols. (Las Palmas, 1893-1895), andHistoria de la Inquisicion en las islas Canarias, by the same author (Las Palmas, 1874);Antiquités canariennes, by S. Berthelot (Paris, 1879).
Bibliography.—For a general description of the islands, seeLes Îles Canaries, by J. Pitard and L. Proust (Paris, 1909);Madeira and the Canary Islands, by A. Samler Brown, a guide for travellers and invalids, with coloured maps and plates (London, 1901);A Guide to the Canary Islands, by J.H.T. Ellerbeck (London, 1892);The Canary Islands as a Winter Resort, by J. Whitford (London, 1890, with maps and illustrations);De la Tierra Canaria, by L. and A. Millares Cubas (Madrid, 1894); andPhysikalische Beschreibung der kanarischen Inseln, by L. von Buch (Berlin, 1825). Besides the interesting folio atlas of von Buch (Paris, 1836), good modern maps have been published by E. Stanford (London, 1891, 12½ English m. to 1 in.), and M. Perez y Rodriquez (Madrid, 1896-1898, 4 sheets). See alsoHistoire naturelle des îles Canaries, by P. Barker-Webb and S. Berthelot (Paris, 1835-1849); and “Les Îles Canaries et les parages de pêche canariens,” by Dr. A. Taquin, in theB.S.R. Beige G. 26(1902), and 27 (1903); and, for history and antiquities, theHistoria general de las islas Canarias, by A. Millares Cubas, in 10 vols. (Las Palmas, 1893-1895), andHistoria de la Inquisicion en las islas Canarias, by the same author (Las Palmas, 1874);Antiquités canariennes, by S. Berthelot (Paris, 1879).
CANCALE,a fishing port of north-western France in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine on the Bay of Cancale, 9 m. E.N.E. of St Malo by road. Pop. (1906) town 3827, commune 7061. It exports oysters, which are found in its bay in large numbers and of excellent quality, and equips a fleet for the Newfoundland cod-fisheries. The harbour is protected by the rocks known as the Rochers de Cancale. In 1758 an English army under the duke of Marlborough landed here for the purpose of attacking St Malo and pillaged the town. It was again bombarded by the English in 1779.
CANCEL(from the Lat.cancelli, a plural diminutive ofcancer, a grating or lattice, from which are also derived “chancel” and “chancellor”), a word meaning to cross out, from thecrossed latticed lines drawn across a legal document to annul it, hence to delete or destroy.
CANCELLI(plural of Lat.cancellus, dim. ofcancer, a crossing bar), in architecture, the term given to barriers which correspond to the modern balustrade or railing, especially the screen dividing the body of a church from the part occupied by the ministers; hence “chancel” (q.v.). By the Romanscancelliwere similarly employed to divide off portions of the courts of law (cf. the English “bar”).
CANCER, LUIS(d. 1549), Spanish missionary to Central America, was born at Barbastro near Saragossa. After working for some time in Dominica and Haiti, he crossed to the mainland, where he had great success in pacifying the Indians whom more violent methods had failed to subdue. He upheld the cause of the natives at an ecclesiastical assembly held in Mexico in 1546, and three years later, on the 26th of June, met his death at their hands on the west coast of Florida.
CANCER(“The Crab”), in astronomy, the fourth sign of the zodiac, denoted by the symbol. Its name may be possibly derived from the fact that when the sun arrives at this part of the ecliptic it apparently retraces its path, resembling in some manner the sidelong motion of a crab. It is also a constellation, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th centuryb.c.) and Aratus (3rd centuryb.c.); Ptolemy catalogued 13 stars in it, Tycho Brahe 15 and Hevelius 29. Its most interesting objects are: a large loose cluster of stars, known asPraesepeor the Beehive, visible as a nebulous patch to the naked eye, and ζCancri, a remarkable multiple star, composed of two stars, of magnitudes 5 and 5.7, revolving about each other in 60 years, and a third star of magnitude 5.5 which revolves about these two in an opposite direction in a period of 17½ years; from irregularities in the motion of this star, it is supposed to be a satellite of an invisible body which itself revolves about the two stars previously mentioned, in a period of 600 to 700 years.
CANCER,orCarcinoma(from Lat.cancer, Gr.καρκίνωμα, an eating ulcer), the name given to a class of morbid growths or tumours which occur in man, and also in most or all vertebrate animals. The term “malignant disease” is commonly used as synonymous with “cancer.” For the general pathology, &c., of tumours seeTumour.
Cancer exists in various forms, which, although differing from each other in many points, have yet certain common characters to which they owe their special significance.
1. In structure such growths are composed of nucleated cells and free nuclei together with a milky fluid called cancer juice, all contained within a more or less dense fibrous stroma or framework.
2. They have no well-defined limits, and they involve all textures in their vicinity, while they also tend to spread by the lymphatics and veins, and to cause similar growths in distant parts or organs called “secondary cancerous growths.”
3. They are undergoing constant increase, and their progress is usually rapid.
4. Pain is a frequent symptom. When present it is generally of a severe and agonizing character, and together with the local effects of the disease and the resulting condition of ill health or “cachexia,” hastens the fatal termination to which all cancerous growths tend.
5. When such growths are removed by the surgeon they are apt to return either at the same or at some other part.
The chief varieties of cancer areScirrhusor hard cancer,Encephaloidor soft cancer andEpithelial cancer.
Scirrhus is remarkable for its hardness, which is due to the large amount of its fibrous, and relatively small proportion of its cell elements. It is of comparatively slow growth, but it tends to spread and to ulcerate. Its most common seat by far is the female breast, though it sometimes affects internal organs.
Encephaloid is in structure the reverse of the last, its softness depending on the preponderance of its cell over its fibrous elements. Its appearance and consistence resemble brain substance (hence its name), and it is of such rapid growth as to have given rise to its being occasionally termedacute cancer. Its most frequent seats are internal organs or the limbs. Ulceration and haemorrhage are common accompaniments of this form of cancer.
Epithelial cancer is largely composed of cells resembling the natural epithelium of the body. It occurs most frequently in those parts provided with epithelium, such as the skin and mucous membranes, or where those adjoin, as in the lips. This form of cancer does not spread so rapidly nor produce secondary growths in other organs to the same extent as the two other varieties, but it tends equally with them to involve the neighbouring lymphatic glands, and to recur after removal.
Cancer affects all parts of the body, but is much more frequent in some tissues than in others. According to recent statistics prepared by the registrar-general for England and Wales (sixty-seventh annual report) the most frequent seats are, in numerical order, as follows:—males—stomach, liver, rectum, intestines, aesophagus, tongue;females—uterus, breast, stomach, liver, intestines, rectum. Other statistics give similar, though not identical results. It may be said, broadly, that the most frequent seats are the female sexual organs and after them the digestive tract in both sexes. In children, in whom cancer is rare, the most frequent seats appear to be—under five, the kidneys and supra-renal bodies; five to ten, the brain; ten to twenty, the arm and leg bones.
Cancer tends to advance steadily to a fatal termination, but its duration varies in different cases according to the part affected and according to the variety of the disease. Soft cancer affecting important organs of the body often proves fatal in a few months, while, on the other hand, cases of hard or epithelial cancer may sometimes last for several years; but no precise limit can be assigned for any form of the disease. In some rare instances growths exhibiting all the signs of cancer may exist for a great length of time without making any progress, and may even dwindle and disappear altogether. This is called “spontaneous cure.”
Cancer has been the subject of observation from time immemorial, and of the most elaborate investigation by innumerable workers in recent years; but the problems of its origin and character have hitherto baffled inquiry.Cancer research.Modern scientific study of them may be said to have begun with J. Müller’s microscopic work in the structure of cancerous tissue early in the 19th century. A great impetus to this line of investigation was given by the cellular theory of R. Virchow and the pathological researches of Sir J. Paget, and general attention was directed to the microscopic examination of the cells of which cancer is composed. This led to a classification, on which much reliance was once placed, of different kinds of cancer, based on the character of the cells, and particularly to a distinction betweencarcinoma, in which the cells are of the epithelial type, andsarcoma, in which they are of the connective tissue type. The distinction, though still maintained, has proved barren; it never had any real significance, either clinical or pathological, and the tendency in recent research is to ignore it. The increased knowledge gained in numerous other branches of biological science has also been brought to bear on the problem of cancer and has led to a number of theories; and at the same time the apparently increasing prevalence of the disease recorded by the vital statistics of many countries has drawn more and more public attention to it. Two results have followed. One is the establishment of special endowed institutions devoted to cancer research; the other is the publication and discussion of innumerable theories and proposed methods of treatment. Popular interest has been constantly fanned by the announcement of some pretended discovery or cure, in which the public is invited to place its trust. Such announcements have no scientific value whatever. In the rare cases in which they are not pure quackery, they are always premature and based on inadequate data.
Organized cancer research stands on a different footing. It may be regarded as the revival at the end of the 19th century of what was unsuccessfully attempted at the beginning. As early as 1792, at the suggestion of Mr. John Howard, surgeon, a ward was opened at the Middlesex hospital in London forthe special benefit of persons suffering from cancer. It was fitted up and endowed anonymously by Mr. Samuel Whitbread, M.P. for Bedford, and according to the terms of the benefaction at least six patients were to be continually maintained in it until relieved by art or released by death. The purpose was both philanthropic and scientific, as Mr. Howard explained in bringing forward the suggestion. Two principal objects, he said, presented themselves to his mind, “namely, the relief of persons suffering under this disease and the investigation of a complaint which, although extremely common, is both with regard to its natural history and cure but imperfectly known.” This benefaction was the origin of one of the most complete institutions for the scientific study of cancer that exists to-day.
In 1804 a Society for Investigating the Nature of Cancer was formed by a number of medical men in London, Edinburgh and other towns at the instigation of John Hunter. The aim was collective investigation, and an attempt was made to carry it out by issuing forms of inquiry; but the imperfect means of communication then existing caused the scheme to be abandoned in a short time. Subsequent attempts at collective investigation also failed until recently. About 1900 a movement, which had been for some time gathering force, began to take visible shape simultaneously in different countries. The cancer ward at the Middlesex hospital had then developed into a cancer wing, and to it were added special laboratories for the investigation of cancer, which were opened on the 1st of March 1900. In this establishment the fully equipped means of clinical and laboratory research were united under one roof and manned by a staff of investigators under the direction of Dr W.S. Lazarus Barlow. In the same year theDeutsche Comité fur Krebsforschungwas organized in Berlin, receiving an annual subsidy of 5000 marks (£250) from the imperial exchequer. This body devoted its energies to making a census of cancer patients in Germany on a definite date. A special ward for cancer was also set apart at the Charité hospital in Berlin, with a state endowment of 53,000 marks (£2560) per annum, and a laboratory for cancer research was attached to the first medical clinique under Professor Ernst von Leyden at the same hospital. A third institution in Germany is a special cancer department at the Royal Prussian Institute for Experimental Therapeutics at Frankfort-on-Main, which has been supported, like the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in England, by private contributions on a generous scale. The fund just mentioned was initiated in October 1901, and its operations took definite shape a year later, when Dr. E.F. Bashford was appointed general superintendent of research. The patron of the foundation was King Edward VII., and the president was the prince of Wales. It had in 1908 a capital endowment of about £120,000, subscribed by private munificence and producing an income of about £7000 a year. The central laboratory is situated in the examination building of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons in London, and the work is conducted under the superintendence of an executive committee formed by representatives of those bodies. In the United States a cancer laboratory, which had been established in Buffalo in 1899 under Dr Roswell Park, was formally placed under the control of New York state in June 1901, and is supported by an annual grant of $15,000 (£3000). There are other provisions in the United States connected with Harvard and Cornell universities. At the former the “Caroline Brewer Croft Fund for Cancer Research” started special investigations in the surgical department of the Harvard Medical School in 1900 or the previous year, and in connexion with the Cornell University Medical School there is a small endowment called the “Huntingdon Cancer Research Fund.” There appear to be institutions of a similar character in other countries, in addition to innumerable investigators at universities and other ordinary seats of scientific research.
Some attempt has been made to co-ordinate the work thus carried on in different countries. An international cancer congress was held at Heidelberg and Frankfort in 1906, and a proposal was put forward by German representatives that a permanent international conference on cancer should be established, with headquarters in Berlin. The committee of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund did not fall in with the proposal, being of opinion that more was to be gained in the existing stage of knowledge by individual intercourse and exchange of material between actual laboratory workers.
In spite of the immense concentration of effort indicated by the simultaneous establishment of so many centres of endowed research, and in spite of the light thrown upon the problem from many sides by modern biologicalTheories of cancer.science, our knowledge of the origin of cancer is still in such a tentative state that a detailed account of the theories put forward is not called for; it will suffice to indicate their general drift. The actual pathological process of cancer is extremely simple. Certain cells, which are apparently of a normal character and have previously performed normal functions, begin to grow and multiply in an abnormal way in some part of the body. They continue this process so persistently that they first invade and then destroy the surrounding tissues; nothing can withstand their march. They are moreover carried to other parts of the body, where they establish themselves and grow in the same way. Their activity is carried on with relentless determination, though at a varying pace, until the patient dies, unless they are bodily removed. Hence the word “malignant.” The problem is—what are these cells, or why do they behave in this way? The principal answers put forward may be summarized:—(1) they are epithelial cells which grow without ceasing because the connective tissue has lost the capacity to hold their proliferative powers in check (H. Freund, following K. Thiersch and W. Waldeyer); (2) they are embryonic cells accidentally shut off (J.F. Cohnheim); (3) they are epithelial cells with a latent power of unlimited proliferation which becomes active on their being dislocated from the normal association (M.W.H. Ribbert and Borrmann); (4) they are stimulated to unlimited growth by the presence of a parasite (Plimmer, Sanfelice, Roncali and others); (5) they are fragments of reproductive tissue (G.T. Beatson); (6) they are cells which have lost their differentiated character and assumed elementary properties (von Hausemann, O. Hertwig). The very number and variety of hypotheses show that none is established. Most of them attempt to explain the growth but not the origin of the disease. The hypothesis of a parasitic origin, suggested by recent discoveries in relation to other diseases, has attracted much attention; but the observed phenomena of cancerous growths are not in keeping with those of all known parasitic diseases, and the theory is now somewhat discredited. A more recent theory that cancer is due to failure of the normal secretions of the pancreas has not met with much acceptance.
Some generalizations bearing on the problem have been drawn from the work done in the laboratories of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. They may be summarily stated thus. Cancer has been shown to be an identical process in all vertebrates (including fishes), and to develop at a time which conforms in a striking manner to the limits imposed by the long or short compass of life in different animals. Cancerous tissue can be artificially propagated in the short-lived mouse by actual transference to another individual, but only to one of the same species. Cancerous tissue thus propagated presents all the characteristic features of the malignant growth of sporadic tumours; it infiltrates and produces extensive secondary growths. Under suitable experimental conditions the aggregate growth of a cancer is undefined, of enormous and, so far as we can judge, of limitless amount. This extraordinary growth is due to the continued proliferation of cancerous cells when transplanted. The processes by which growing cancer cells are transferred to a new individual are easily distinguishable and fundamentally different from all known processes of infection. The artificial propagation of cancer causes no specific symptoms of illness in the animal in which it proceeds. Under artificial propagation cancer maintains all the characters of the original tumours of the primary hosts.Carcinomaandsarcomaagreein possessing all the pathological and cellular features of malignant new growths.
Simultaneously with the active pursuit of laboratory research much statistical work has been devoted to establishing the broadStatistics of cancer.facts of the prevalence and incidence of cancer on a firm basis. The point of most general interest is the apparently steady increase of the disease in all countries possessing fairly trustworthy records. It will be sufficient to give the figures for England and Wales as an example.
Annual Death-rates from Cancer to a Million Living.England and Wales.
In forty years the recorded rate had risen from 403 to 861. The question how far these and similar statistics represent a real increase cannot be satisfactorily resolved, because it is impossible to ascertain how much of the apparent increase is due to more accurate diagnosis and improved registration. Some of it is certainly due to those causes, so that the recorded figures cannot be taken to represent the facts as they stand. At the same time it is certain that some increase has taken place in consequence of the increased average length of life; a larger proportion of persons now reach the ages at which cancer is most frequent. Increase due to this fact, though it is a real increase, does not indicate that the cause of cancer is more rife or more potent; it only means that the condition of the population in regard to age is more favourable to its activity. On the whole it seems probable that, when allowance has been made for this factor and for errors due to improved registration, a real increase due to other causes has taken place, though it is not so great as the recorded statistics would indicate.
The long-established conclusions concerning the incidence of the disease in regard to age and sex have been confirmed and rendered more precise by modern statistics. Cancer is a disease of old age; the incidence at the ages of sixty-five to seventy-five is ten times greater than at the ages thirty-five to forty-five. This fact is the source of frequent fallacies when different countries or districts and different periods are compared with each other, unless account is taken of the differences in age and constitution. With regard to sex females are far more liable than males; the respective death-rates per million living for England and Wales in 1904 were—males 740; females 1006. But the two rates show a tendency to approximate; the increase shown over a series of years has been considerably more rapid among males than among females. One result of more careful examination of statistics has been to discredit, though perhaps somewhat hastily, certain observations regarding the prevalence of cancer in special districts and special houses. On the other hand the fuller statistics now available concerning the relative frequency of cancer in the several organs and parts of the body, of which some account is given above, go to confirm the old observation that cancer commonly begins at the seat of some local irritation. By far the most frequent seats of disease are the uterus and breast in women and the digestive tract in both sexes, and these are all particularly subject to such irritation. With regard to the influence of heredity the trend of modern research is to minimize or deny its importance in cancer, as in phthisis, and to explain family histories by other considerations. At most heredity is only thought to confer a predisposition.
The only “cure” for cancer remains removal by operation; but improved methods of diagnosis enable this to be done in many cases at an earlier stage of the disease than formerly; and modern methods of surgery permit notTreatment.only of operation in parts of the body formerly inaccessible, but also more complete removal of the affected tissues. Numerous forms of treatment by modern therapeutic means, both internal and external, have been advocated and tried; but they are all of an experimental nature and have failed to meet with general acceptance. One of the most recent is treatment by trypsin, a pancreatic ferment. This has been suggested by Dr John Beard of Edinburgh in conformity with the theory, mentioned above, that failure of the pancreatic secretions is the cause of cancer. It has been claimed that the drug exercises a favourable influence in conjunction with operation and even without it. The experience of different observers with regard to results is contradictory; but clinical investigations conducted at Middlesex hospital in a number of cases of undoubted cancer in strict accordance with Dr Beard’s directions, and summarized by Dr Walter Ball and Dr Fairfield Thomas in theSixth Report from the Cancer Research Laboratories(Archives of Middlesex Hospital, vol. ix.) in May 1907, resulted in the conclusion “that the course of cancer, considered both as a disease and as a morbid process, is unaltered by the administration of trypsin and amylopsin.” The same conclusion has been reached after similar trials at the cancer hospital. Another experimental method of treatment which has attracted much attention is application of the X-rays. The results vary in a capricious and inexplicable manner; in some cases marked benefit has followed, in others the disease has been as markedly aggravated. Until more is known both of cancer and of X-rays, their use must be considered not only experimental but risky.