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CHIMESYAN—CHIMNEYPIECE
165

The continental equivalent of the chimere is the zimarra or simarre, which is defined by foreign ecclesiologists (Moroni, Barbier de Montault) as a kind of soutane (cassock), from which it is distinguished by having a small cape and short, open arms (manches-fausses) reaching to the middle of the upper arm and decorated with buttons. In France and Germany it is fitted more or less to the figure; in Italy it is wider and falls down straight in front. Like the soutane, the zimarra is not proper to any particular rank of clergy, but in the case of bishops and prelates it is ornamented with red buttons and bindings. It never has a train (cauda). It is not universally worn, e.g. in Germany apparently only by prelates. G. Moroni identifies the zimarra with the epitogium which Domenico Magri, in his Hierolexicon (ed. 1677), calls the uppermost garment of the clergy, worn over the soutane (toga) instead of the mantellum (vestis suprema clericorum loco pallii), with a cross-reference to Tabardum, the “usual” upper garment (pallium usuale); and this definition is repeated in the 8th edition of the work (1732). From this it appears that so late as the middle of the 18th century the zimarra was still in common use as an out-of-doors overcoat. But, according to Moroni, by the latter half of the 19th century the zimarra, though still worn by certain civilians (e.g. notaries and students), had become in Italy chiefly the domestic garment of the clergy, notably of superiors, parish priests, rectors, certain regulars, priests of congregations, bishops, prelates and cardinals. It was worn also by the Roman senators, and is still worn by university professors. A black zimarra lined with white, and sometimes ornamented with a white binding and gold tassels, is worn by the pope.

More analogous to the Anglican chimere in shape, though not in significance, is the purple mantelletum worn over the rochet by bishops, and by others authorized to wear the episcopal insignia, in presence of the pope or his legates. This symbolizes the temporary suspension of the episcopal jurisdiction (symbolized by the rochet) so long as the pope or his representative is present. Thus at the Curia cardinals and prelates wear the mantelletum, while the pope wears the zimarra, and the first act of the cardinal camerlengo after the pope’s death is to expose his rochet by laying aside the mantelletum, the other cardinals following his example, as a symbol that during the vacancy of the papacy the pope’s jurisdiction is vested in the Sacred College. On the analogy of the mantelletum certain Anglican prelates, American and colonial, have from time to time appeared in purple chimeres; which, as the Rev. N. F. Robinson justly points out, is a most unhappy innovation, since it has no historical justification, and its symbolism is rather unfortunate.

Authorities.—See the Report of the sub-committee of Convocation on the ornaments of the church and its ministers, p. 31 (London, 1908); the Rev. N. F. Robinson, “The black chimere of Anglican Prelates: a plea for its retention and proper use,” in Transactions of the St Paul’s Ecclesiological Soc. vol. iv. pp. 181-220 (London, 1898); Herbert Druitt, Costume on Brasses (London, 1906); G. Moroni, Dizionario dell’ erudizione storico-ecclesiastica (Venice, 1861), vol. 103, s.v. “Zimarra”: X. Barbier de Montault, Traité pratique de la construction, &c., des églises, ii. 538 (Paris, 1878).  (W. A. P.) 

CHIMESYAN (Tsimshian), a tribe of North American Indians, now some 3000 in number, living around the mouth of the Skeena river, British Columbia, and on the islands near the coast. They are a powerfully built people, who tattoo and wear labrets and rings in noses and ears. They are skilful fishermen, and live in large communal houses. They are divided into clans and distinct social orders.


CHIMKENT, a town of Asiatic Russia, in the province of Syr-darya, 70 m. by rail N.N.E. of Tashkent. Pop. (1897) 10,756, mostly Sarts. It occupies a strategical position at the west end of the valley between the Alexander range and the Ala-tau (or Talas-tau), at the meeting of commercial routes from (1) Vyernyi and Siberia beyond, from the north-east, (2) the Aral Sea and Orenburg (connected with it by rail since 1905) to the north-west, and (3) Ferghana and Bokhara to the south. The citadel, which was stormed by the Russians in 1864, stands on high ground above the town, but is now in ruins. Chimkent is visited by consumptive patients who wish to try the koumiss cure. It has cotton mills and soap-works.


CHIMNEY (through the Fr. cheminée, from caminata, sc. camera, a Lat. derivative of caminus, an oven or furnace), in architecture, that portion of a building, rising above the roof, in which are the flues conveying the smoke to the outer air. Originally the term included the fireplace as well as the chimney shaft. At Rochester Castle (1130) and Heddington, Essex, there were no external chimney shafts, and the flue was carried through the wall at some height above the fireplace. In the early examples the chimney shaft was circular, with one flue only, and was terminated with a conical cap, the smoke issuing from openings in the side, which at Sherborne Abbey (A.D. 1300) were treated decoratively. It was not till the 15th century that the smoke issued at the top, and later in the century that more than one flue was carried up in the same shaft. There are a few examples of the clustered shaft in stone, but as a rule they are contemporaneous with the general use of brick. The brick chimney shafts, of which there are fine specimens at Hampton Court, were richly decorated with chevrons and other geometrical patterns. One of the best examples is that at Thornton Castle, Gloucestershire.

In the 15th and 16th centuries in France the chimney shaft was recognized as an important architectural feature, and was of considerable elevation in consequence of the great height of the roofs. In the château of Meillant (1503) the chimney shafts are decorated with angle buttresses, niches and canopies, in the late Flamboyant style; and at Chambord and Blois they are carved with pilasters and niches with panelling above, carved with the salamander and other armorial devices. In the Roman palaces they are sometimes masked by the balustrades, and (when shown) take the form of sepulchral urns, as if to disguise their real purpose. Though not of a very architectural character, the chimneys at Venice present perhaps the greatest variety of terminations, and as a rule the smoke comes out on the sides and not through the top.  (R. P. S.) 

Factory Chimneys.—Chimneys, besides removing the products of combustion, also serve to provide the fire with the air requisite for burning the fuel. The hot air in the shaft, being lighter than the cold air outside it, tends to rise, and as it does so air flows in at the bottom to take its place. An ascending current is thus established in the chimney, its velocity, other things being equal, varying as the square root of the height of the shaft above the grate. The velocity also increases with increase of temperature in the gas column, but since the weight of each cubic foot grows less as the gases expand, the amount of smoke discharged by a chimney does not increase indefinitely with the temperature; a maximum is reached when the difference in temperature between the gases in the shaft and the outside air is about 600° F., but the rate of increase is very slow after the difference has passed about 300° F. In designing a chimney the dimensions (height and sectional area) have to be so proportioned to the amount of fuel to be burnt in the various furnaces connected with it that at the temperature employed the products of combustion are effectively removed, due allowance being made for the frictional retardation of the current against the sides of the flues and shafts and in passing through the fire. The velocity of the current in actual chimneys varies widely, from 3 or 4 to 50 or 60 ft. a second. Increased velocity, obtainable by increasing the height of the shaft, gives increased delivering capacity, but a speed of 10 or 12 ft. a second is regarded as good practice. Ordinary factory chimneys do not in general exceed 180 or 200 ft. in height, but in some cases, especially when, as in chemical works, they are employed to get rid of objectionable vapours, they have been made double that height, or even more. In section they are round, octagonal or square. The circular form offers the least resistance to wind pressure, and for a given height and sectional area requires less material to secure stability than the octagonal and still less than the square; on the other hand, there is more liability to cracking. Brick is the material commonly used, but many chimneys are now made of iron or steel. Reinforced concrete is also employed.

CHIMNEYPIECE, the term given to the projecting hood which in medieval times was built over a fireplace to catch the smoke, and at a later date to the decorative framework, often carried up to the ceiling. “Chimneypiece” or “mantelpiece” is now the general term for the jambs, mantelshelf and external accessories of a fireplace. For many centuries the chimneypiece was the most ornamental and most artistic feature of a room, but as fireplaces have become smaller, and modern methods of heating have been introduced, its artistic as well as its practical significance has grown less.

Up to the 12th century rooms were warmed entirely by a hypocaust, or with braziers, or by fires on the hearth, the smoke finding its way up to a lantern in the roof. The earliest chimneypiece known is that in the King’s House at Southampton, with Norman shafts in the joints carrying a segmental arch, which is attributed to the first half of the 12th century. At a later date, in consequence of the greater width of the fireplace, flat or segmental arches were thrown across and constructed with voussoirs, sometimes joggled, the thrust of the arch being resisted by bars of iron at the back. In domestic work of the 14th century the chimneypiece was greatly increased in order to allow of the members of the family sitting on either side of the fire on the hearth, and in these cases great beams of timber were employed to carry the hood; in such cases the fireplace was so