48 K E R K E K
ethereal matter. It is a mistake to suppose that he regarded the stars as so many suns. He quotes indeed the opinion of Giordano Bruno to that effect, but with dissent. Among his happy conjectures may be mentioned that of the sun's axial rotation, postulated by him as the physical cause of the revolutions of the planets, and soon after confirmed by the discovery of sun-spots; the suggestion of a periodical variation in the obliquity of the ecliptic; and the explanation as an effect of a solar atmosphere of the radiance observed to surround the totally eclipsed sun.
It is impossible to consider without surprise the colossal amount of work accomplished by Kepler under numerous disadvantages. His health was uncertain, his powers of calculation indifferent, his interruptions numerous, his cares at times overwhelming. But his iron industry counted no obstacles, and secured for him the highest triumph of genius, that of having given to mankind the best that was in him. In private character he was amiable and affectionate; his generosity in recognizing the merits of others secured him against the worst shafts of envy; and a life marked by numerous disquietudes was cheered and ennobled by sentiments of sincere piety.
Kepler's extensive literary remains, purchased by the empress Catherine II. in 1724 from some Frankfort merchants, and long inaccessibly deposited in the observatory of Pulkowa, have at length been completely brought to light, under the able editorship of Dr Ch. Frisch, in the first complete edition of Kepler's works. This important publication (Joannis Kepleri opera omnia, Frankfort, 1858-71, 8 vols. 8vo) contains, besides the works already enumerated and several minor treatises, a posthumous scientific satire entitled Joh. Keppleri Somnium (first printed in 1634), and a vast mass of his correspondence. A careful biography is appended, founded mainly on his private notes and other authentic documents.
The reader may also usefully consult Reuschle, Kepler und die Astronomie,
Frankfort, 1871; Goebel, Ueber Kepler's astronomische Anschauungen, Halle, 1871; Apelt, Johann Kepler's astronomische Weltansicht, Leipsic, 1849; Breitschwert, Johann Kepler's Leben und Wirken, Stuttgart, 1831; W. Forster, Johann Kepler und die Harmonie der Sphären, Berlin, 1862; R. Wolf, Geschichte der Astronomie, Munich, 1877. (A. M. C.)
KERAK, a town of Syria, situated about 10 miles east
of the southern end of the Dead Sea, on the summit of a
rocky hill some 3000 feet above sea-level. It stands
upon a platform forming an irregular triangle with sides
of 800 to 1 000 yards in length, and separated by deep
ravines from the higher encircling ranges on all sides
except one, where a narrow neck connects it with a neigh
bouring hill. The whole place was formerly surrounded
by a wall with five towers, with only two entrances through
tunnels in the side of the cliff. The town is an irregular
mass of about six hundred flat mud-roofed houses. The
Christian quarter contains the Greak church of St George;
and the present mosque still bears marks of its Christian
origin. On the north-west is the tower or castle of Bibars
(see vol. vii. p. 755), with an inscription bearing his name.
The great castle at the southern angle was built as a crusad
ing fortress about 1131. Relics of the Roman occupation
of Kerak have been found. The inhabitants are estimated
at 8000, of whom about one-fourth are Greek Christians.
They are fierce and truculent; and, though they were for
merly renowned for hospitality, their rapacious treatment
of their European visitors has brought them into very bad
repute.
Kerak is the ancient Kir-Hareseth or Kir-Moab (2 Kings iii. 25; Isa. xv. 1, xvi. 7). The name Kerak (Syriac Karkâ, fortress) is as old as 2 Macc. xii. 17. In crusading times Kerak was a highly important point. In 1188 it was captured by Saladin (vol. vii. p. 753), and under his dynasty the town prospered. In the early part of the present century Kerak was governed by a powerful sheikh, paying nominal homage to the Wahhaby kingdom; it is now the residence of a Turkish official and garrison under the wály of Jerusalem, but the authority of the government is weak. A considerable trade is carried on by merchants from Hebron.
See Burckhardt's Syria, 1822, p. 377 sq.; Tristram's Land of Moab, 1873; Bädeker-Socin's Handbook; Le Quien, Or. Chr., iii. 730.
KERBELA, or Meshhed-Hosein, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in the vilayet of Baghdad, is situated in a fertile and well-cultivated district about 60 miles south-south-west of Baghdad, and about 20 miles west of the Euphrates, from which a very ancient canal extends to it. It is surrounded by a dilapidated brick wall 24 feet high, and contains a fine market-place, with one broad street leading to
the governor's residence. The other streets are narrow and dirty. Of the five mosques in the town the largest is the mosque of Hosein with a large gilded dome and minarets; it contains the tomb of Hosein, son of the caliph 'Aly (see ARABIA, vol. ii. p. 258), whose sanctity makes Kerbela in the eyes of Shiites less sacred only than Mecca. Some 200,000 pilgrims from all parts of Islam journey annually to Kerbela, many of them carrying the bones of their relatives to be buried in its sacred soil. The moullahs, who fix the burial fees, derive an enormous revenue from the faithful. At one time Kerbela was an inviolable sanctuary for criminals, but it has ceased to be so since 1 843, when the inhabitants revolted against the Turks, and were reduced with great slaughter. The enormous influx of pilgrims naturally creates brisk trade in Kerbela and the towns on the route thither, – a fact which makes the Turkish Govern ment anxious not to divert the stream elsewhere, as some years ago was partially done by sanitary and other regula tions. The population, necessarily fluctuating, was esti mated in 1878 at 60,000; Mr Clements Markham, writing in 1874, put it at 20,000.
KERGUELEN'S LAND, Kerguelen Island, or Desolation Island, an island in the Southern Ocean, to the south-east of the Cape of Good Hope and south-west of Australia, and nearly half-way between them. To the south is Heard Island, and west-north-west the Crozets and the Marion Group. Kerguelen lies between 48 39 and 49 44 S. lat., and 68 42 and 70 35 E. long. Its extreme length is about 85 miles, and its extreme breadth 79, but the area is only about 2050 square miles. The island is throughout mountainous, presenting from the sea in some directions the appearance of a series of jagged peaks. The various ridges and mountain masses are separated by steep- sided valleys, which run down to the sea, forming deep fjords, so that no part of the interior is more than 12 miles from the sea. The chief mountain peaks are Mount Ross (6120 feet), Mount Richards (4000), Mount Crozier, (3258), Mount Wyville Thomson (3160), Mount Hooker (2600), Mount Moseley (2400). The coast-line is extremely irregular, many of the fjords being bounded by long, steep rocky promontories. These, at least on the north, east, and south, form a series of well-sheltered harbours; as the prevailing winds are westerly, the safest anchoring ground is on the north-east. Christmas Harbour on the north and Royal Sound on the south are noble harbours, the latter with a labyrinth of islets interspersed over upwards of 20 miles of landlocked waters. The scenery is generally magnificent, and often singularly picturesque. A district of considerable extent in the centre of the island is occupied by snowfields, whence glaciers descend east and west to the sea. The whole island, exclusive of the snowfields, abounds in freshwater lakes and pools in the hills and lower ground. Hidden deep mudholes are frequent.
Kerguelen's Land is of undoubted volcanic origin, the prevailing rock being basalt, sometimes intersected by trap, and indeed an active volcano and hot springs are said to exist on the south-west of the island. Judging from the abundant fossil remains of trees, the island must at one time have been thickly clothed with woods and other vegetation, of which it has no doubt been denuded by volcanic action and submergence, and possibly by change of climate. It presents evidences of having at one time been subjected to powerful glaciation, and to subsequent immersion and immense denudation. The soundings made by the "Challenger" and "Gazelle," and the affinities which in certain respects exist between the islands, seem to point to the existence at one time of an extensive land in this quarter, of which Kerguelen, Prince Edward's Islands, the Crozets, St Paul, and Amsterdam are the remains. The Kerguelen plateau rises in many parts to within 1500 fathoms of the surface of the sea. Beds of coal and of red earth are found at some places. The summits of the flat-topped hills about Betsy Cove, in the south-east of the island, are formed of caps of basalt. Sir J. D. Hooker points out that the vegetation of Kerguelen's Land must be of great antiquity, and may have originally reached it from the American continent; it has no affinities with Africa. The present climate is not favourable
