CAMELOPARD 303 CAMERON- near akin to thea, which contains the tea plant ; indeed, some botanists combine the two genera into one. The native coun- tries of the camellias are the E. side of the Himalaya mountains, Cochin-China, China, Japan and the Eastern Islands. CAMELOPARD, a name given to the giraffe {Cavielopardalis giraffa) , orig- inally from the notion that it was a kind of hybrid between a camel and leopard. It constitutes the only species of its genus and family (Camelopardalidae or Devexa). CAMELOPARDALIS, one of the N. circumpolar constellations added by Hevelius in 1690. It is a large, irregu- larly shaped constellation, something like the animal, and is more than 40° in length, with its head close to the North Pole. It contains no stars brighter than the fourth magnitude. Camelopardalis borders upon Ursa Minor, Draco, Ursa Major, Lynx, Auriga, Perseus, Cassio- peia, and Cepheus. CAMELOT (kam'e-lot), a name ap- plied in the mediaeval romances to the splendid "City of Legions" which grew up out of the permanent quarters of the Second Augusta Legion at Caerleon- upon-Usk, but was built earlier by the mythical Belinus. The name is familiar to readers of Tennyson. CAMEL'S HUMP, one of the peaks of the Green Mountains, in Vermont, 17 miles W. of Montpelier. CAMEO, a term applied to gems of different colors sculptured in relief. The art of engraving on gems boasts of high antiquity, having been practiced with va- rious degrees of success by the Egyp- tians, Greeks, and Romans. It was re- vived in Italy in the 15th century, and is even at the present day cultivated with considerable success. The cameos of the ancients were usually confined to the agate, onyx, and sard, which, on account of the variety of their strata, were better suited to display the artist's talents; but they were also occasionally found exe- cuted on opal, beryl, or emerald, and even on a sort of factitious stone, the Vitnim obsidianum of Pliny, distinguished by the moderns as the antique paste. One of the most famous cameos is the onyx at present in Paris called the "Apotheosis of Augustus." It is 1 foot in height, and 10 inches in width. CAMERA OBSCITRA, an optical in- strument used to view or sketch objects at a short distance. It consists of a rec- tangular box, formed of two parts slid- ing in each other, like the joints of a telescope, so as *o adjust the focus to bodies more or less distant. A tube with a lens is fixed in one side of it, and is turned to the object to be represented. The rays entering fall on a mirror sloped at an angle of 45°, which reflect them upward to the observer's eye. It is con- venient that they may be made to pass through a horizontal plate of glass, on which tracing paper may be placed so ap to enable one to draw the figure if he be so disposed, but now this is generally done by photography. A lid to the box is of use in ridding the observer of super- fluous light. It is supposed to have been invented by Baptista Porta in the 16th century, although it is said that Roger Bacon wrote a description of it 300 years before. CAMERA, PHOTOGRAPHIC, a cam- era obscura, so constructed that sen- sitized plates or films may be placed at the back and receive the image. There are many styles of camera in use, those of the tripod variety being used for por- traits and landscapes, where a long ex- posure is required, and the hand camera used by tourists on account of its con- venient shape and size. See Photog- raphy. CAMERON, JOHN, a Scotch scholar; born in Glasgow about 1579, and edu- cated at the university of that city. In 1600 he went to the Continent, where his ability and erudition secured for him several appointments at Bergerac, Sedait, Saumur, and other seats of learning. Re- turning to Great Britain in 1620, he was two years later appointed principal of the University of Glasgow; but in less than a year he returned to Saumur, and thence to Montauban, where he received a divinity professorship. Here, as at Glasgow, his doctrine of passive obedi- ence made him many enemies, by one of whom he was stabbed in the street, and he died from the effects of the wound in 1625. CAMERON, SIMON, an American statesman; born in Maytown, Lancaster CO., Pa., March 8, 1799; began, when 9 years of age, to learn the trade of a printer. In 1820 he was editor of a paper in Doylestown, Pa., and in 1822 he held a similar post in Harrisburg. He then interested himself in banking and the building of railroads, and for a time served as Adjutant-General of Pennsyl- vania. From 1845 to 1849 he was United States Senator from Pennsylvania, elect- ed by the Democratic party. He became a member of the Republican party on its formation, and in 1856 he was again elected United States Senator. He was unsuccessfully supported for the offices of both President and Vice-President in the
