C H A
OP* )
C H A
for Amp ion- or rather Ch km? kin-Lands, are Lands nor ■ jocios'd ; or large Fields, Downs, or Places, without Woods or Hedges. See Downs.
CHAMOIS Leather, popularly call d Shammy, or Cn am- M y - a kind of Leather, either drefs'd in Oil, or tann'd ; much efteem'd for its foftnefs, pliancy, &c. See Leather. It is prepar'd from the Skin of the Chamois, a kind of Rupi-Capra, or wild Goat, called alfo Ifard ; inhabiting the Mountains of Dauphine, Savoy, ^Piemoni, and the c Py-
Befides the Softnefs and Warmnefs of the Leather, it has the Faculty of bearing Soap without damage, which tenders it very ufeful on many Accounts.
In France, &c. fome wear the Skin crude, without any Preparation : It is alfo us'd for the purifying of Mercury; which is done by palling it thro the Pores of this Skin, which are very clofe. See Mercury.
The true Chamoife Leather is counterfeited with com- mon Goat, Kid, and even Sheep Skin - 7 the Pra&ice of which mikes a particular Profeffion, call'd by the French Chamoifure The laft, tho the leatt efteem'd, is yet fo po- pular, and fuch valt Quantities prepar'd, efpecially about Orleans, Marfeilles, and "Tholoufe, that it m..y not be amifs to give the Method of Preparation.
The manner of Chamoising, or of preparing Sheep, Goaty or Kid-skins in Oil, in Imitation of Chamois.
The Skins being wafh'd, drain'd, and fmear'd over with Quick-lime on the flefhy fide, are folded in two, length- wife, the Wool outwards, and laid on Heaps, and fo left to ferment eight Days ; or, if they had been left to dry after fleaing, 15 Days.
Then they are wafh'd out, drain'd, and half-dry'd; laid on a wooden Leg, or Horfe, the Wool ftripp'd off with a round Staff for the Purpofe, and laid in a weak Pit, the Lrme whereof had been us'd before, and had loil the great- elt Part of its force.
After 24 Hours they are taken out, and left to drain 24 more ; then put in another ftrongcr Pit. This done, they are ta'ken out, drain'd, and put in again, by turns ; which begins to difpofe them to take Oil : And this Pta&ice they continue for 6 Weeks in Summer, or three Months in Win- ter - at the end whereof they are wafh'd out, laid on the wooden Leg, and the Surface of the Skin on the Wool fide peet'd off, to render them the fofter 5 then, made into Parcels, fleep'd a Night in the River, in Winter more ; itretch'd, fix or feven over one another, on the wooden Leg 5 and the Knife pafs'd flrongly on the FJefh fide, to take off any thing fuperfluous, and render the Skin fmooth.
Then they are ftretch'd, as before, in the River ; and the fame Operation repeated on the Wool fide ; then thrown into a Tub of Water with Bran in it, which is brew'd among the Skins till the greateft Part ftick to them ; and then Teparated into diftintt Tubs, till they fwell, and rife of themfeives above the Water.
By this means, the Remains of the Lime are clear'd out : They are then wrung out, hung up to dry on Ropes, and lent to the Mill, with the Quantity of Oil neceflary to full them : The befl Oil is that of Stock-Fifh.
Here, they are firit thrown in Bundles into the River for 12 Hours, then laid in the Mill-Trough and full'd with- out Oil till they be well foftned ; then oil'd with the hand, one by one, and thus fbrm'd into Parcels of four Skins each, which are mili'd and dry'd on Cords a fecond time, then a third ; then oil'd again and dry'd.
This Procefs is repeated as often as Neceffity requires : when done, if there be any Moiiture remaining, they are dry'd in a Stove, and made up into Parcels wrapp'd up in Wool : after fome time they are open'd to the Air, but wrapp'd up again as before, till fuch time as the Oil feems to have loft all its force, which it ordinarily does in 24 Hours.
The Skins are then return'd from the Mill to the Cha- moifer, to be fcour'd ; which is done by putting them in a Lixivium of Wood-Afhes, working and beating them in it with Poles, and leaving 'em to fteep till the Lye have had its Effect ; then wrung out, fteep'd in another Lixivium, wrung again, and this repeated till all the Greafe and Oil be purgM out. They are then half dry'd, and pafs'd over a fharp-edg'd lion Initrument, plac'd perpendicular in a Block, which opens, foftens, and makes them gentle: laftly, they are thoroughly dry'd, and pafs'd over the fame Initrument again, which finifhes the Pre- paration, and leaves em in form of Chamois.
Kid, and Goat-fkins are chamois' d in the fame manner as thole of Sheep ; excepting that the Hair is taken oft, without the ufe of any Lime $ and that when brought from the Mill, they undergo a particular Preparation, cah'd Ramalling; the moft delicate and difficult Qt all the others.
It confifts in this, that as foon as brought from the Mill, they are tteep'd in a fit Lixivium ; taken out, ftietch'd on a round wooden Leg, and the Hair fcrap'd off with the Knife 5 this makes them fmooth, and, in working, cafl a
kind of fine Nap. The Dirficulty is in fcraping tnerrt evenly.
CHANCE, a Term we apply to Events, to denote that they happen without any neceffary Caufe. See Cause.
Our Aim is, to afcribe thole Things to Chance, which are not neceflarily produe'd as the Natural Effects of any proper Caufe : but our Ignorance and Precipitancy lead us to attribute Effects to Chance, which have a neceffary and determinate Caufe.
When we fay a Thing happens hy Chance, we really mean no more, than that its Caufe is unknown to us : not, as fome vainly imagine, that Chance it lelf can be the Caufe of any Thing. From this Consideration, Dr. 'Bent- ley rakes occafion to expofe the Folly of that old Tenet, 'The World was made by Chance.
The Cafe of the Painter, who unable to exprefs the Foam at the Mouth of a Horfe he had painted, threw his Sponge in Delpair at the Piece, and, by Chance, did that which he could not before do by Defign, is an eminent Iniiance of the Force of Chance : Yet, 'tis obvious, all we here mean by Chance, is, that the Painter was not aware of the Effect ; or that he did not throw the Sponge with fuch a View : not but that he actually did every thing ne- ceffary to produce the Effect ; infomuch, chat confidering the Direction wherein he threw the Sponge, together with its Form, fpecifick Gravity, the Colours wherewith it was fmeer'd, and the Diitance of the Hand from the Piece, it was impoffible, on the prcfent Syftem of Things, the Erle£t fhould not follow.
Chance is frequently perfonify'd, and creftcd into a chi- merical Being, whom we conceive as acting arbitrarily, and producing all the Effects, whofe real Caules do not appear to us j in which S :nfe, the Word coincides with the wjgt, Fort una of the Antients. See Fortune.
Chance is alfo confounded with Fate, and Deftiny. See Fate, and Destiny j fee alio Nature, God, gjJc.
Chance is alfo us'd for the manner of deciding Things, the Conduit, or Direction whereof, is left at large, and not reducible to any determinate Rules or Meaiures j or where there is no ground for preference, as at Cards, Dice, Lot- teries, &c.
For the Laws c/Chance, or the 'Proportion of Hazard in Gaining ; fee Game.
The antient Sors, or Chance, M. 'Placette obferves, was inftituted by God himfelf ; and in the Old Teftamenr, we find feveral fianding Laws and exprefs Commands which prefcrib'd its ufe on certain Occafions : Hence, the Scrip- ture fays, 7*be Let, or Chance, fell on St. Matthias 5 when, it was in queftion who fhould fiil Judas\ Place in the Apo- ftolate.
Hence alfo arofe the fortes San&orvm ; or Method of determining Things among the antient ChriftUns., by open- ing fome of the Sacred Books, and pitching on the firft Vcrfe they call their Eye on, as a fiire Prognoftick of what was to befall them. The fo>tes Homeric,?, Virgilian£, e PrteneJlt?2#,&i.c. us'd by the Heathens, were with the fame View, and in the fame manner. See Sortes.
St. Aiig-'jltn feems to approve of this Method of deter- mining Things future, and owns that he had practis'd i t him- felf ; grounded on this Suppofition, that God prelides over Chance, and on Proverbs 16. v. 53.
Many among the modern Divines, hold Chance to be conducted in a particular manner by Providence, andetteem it an extraordinary Way which God u!es to declare his Will, and a kind of immediate Revelation. See Purga- tion, Judicium Tiei, Combat, Champion, t$c.
CHANCE-MEDLEY, in Law, the accidental killing of a Man, not altogether without the Killer's Fault, tho without any evil Intent.
Staumford calls it, Homicide by Mfadventure : Weft calls it Homicide mix'd ; and fays, it is when the Killer's Ignorance or Negligence is join'd with the Chance : as fup- pofing a Man lopping Trees by the Highway, and a Bough falling chance to kill a Paffenger 5 the Party here offends in not having given warning, whereby the Slain might have been indue'd to take more heed. See Homicide.
CHANCEL, part of the Choir of a Church, between the Altar, or Communion Tab'e, and the Baluitrade, or Rails that inclofe it 5 where the Minifter is plac'd at the Celebration of the Communion. See Church, Communi- on, Altar, $£c.
The Right of a Seat and a Sepulchre in the Chancel, is efteem'd very honourable. See Sepulchre.
The Word comes from the Latin Cancellvm, which in the lower Latin is us'd in the fame Senfe, from Cancelli Latices, or Crofs Bars, wherewith the Chancels were anti- ently incompafs'd, as they now are with Rails.
CHANCELLOR, an Officer, fuppoo'd originally to have been a Notary, or Scr:be, under the Emperors, and named Cancellarins, becaufe he fat behind a Lattice, call'd by the Latins Cancelli, to avoid being crouded by the People.
£*'# Notary, £j£fr.
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