rapidity of deposition in some areas than in others. Nothing could be more striking than the difference between the thicknesses in western and eastern Europe; in Brittany the deposits are over 24,000 ft. thick, in Wales at least 12,000 ft., in western England they are only 3000 ft., and in northern Scotland 2000 ft., while no farther east than Scandinavia the complete Cambrian succession is only about 400 ft. thick. Again, in North America, the greatest thicknesses are found along the mountainous regions on the west and on the east—reaching 12,000 ft. in the latter and probably nearly 40,000 ft. in the former (in British Columbia)—while over the interior of the continent it is seldom more than 1000 ft. thick.
Any attempt to picture the geographical conditions of the Cambrian period must of necessity be very imperfect. It was pointed out by Barrande that early in Palaeozoic Europe there appeared two marine provinces—a northern one extending from Russia to the British Isles through Scandinavia and northern Germany, and a southern one comprising France, Bohemia, the Iberian peninsula and Sardinia. It is assumed that some kind of land barrier separated these two provinces. Further, there is a marked likeness between the Cambrian of western Europe and eastern America; many fossils of this period are common to Britain, Sweden and eastern Canada; therefore it is likely that a north Atlantic basin existed. Prof. Kayser suggests that there was also a Pacific basin more extensive than at present; this is borne out by the similarity between the Cambrian faunas of China, Siberia and Argentina. The same author postulates an Arctic continent, bordering upon northern Europe, Greenland and North America; an African-Brazilian continent across the present south Atlantic, and a marine communication between Australia and India, where the faunas have much in common.
References.—The literature devoted to the Cambrian period is very voluminous, important contributions having been made by A. Sedgwick, Sir R. I. Murchison, H. Hicks, C. Lapworth, T. Groom, J. W. Salter, J. E. Marr, C. D. Walcott, G. F. Matthew, E. Emmons, E. Billings, J. Barrande, F. Schmidt, W. C. Brögger, S. A. Tullberg, S. L. Törngrist, G. Linnarsson and many others. A good general account of the period will be found in Sir A. Geikie’s Text-Book of Geology, vol. ii. 4th ed. 1903 (with references), and from an American point of view, in T. C. Chamberlin and R. D. Salisbury’s Geology, vol. ii., 1906 (references to American sources). See also J. E. Marr, The Classification of the Cambrian and Silurian Rocks, 1883 (with bibliography up to the year of publication); A. Geikie Q.J. Geol. Soc., 1891, xlvii., Ann. address, p. 90; F. Frech, “Die geographische Verbreitung und Entwickelung des Cambrium,” Compte Rendu. Congrès Géol. Internat. 1897, St-Pétersbourg (1899); Geological Literature added to the Geological Society’s Library, published annually since 1893. (J. A. H.)
CAMBRIC, a word derived from Kameryk or Kamerijk, the
Flemish name of Cambrai, a town in the department of Nord,
France, where the cloth of this name is said to have been first
made. It was originally made of fine linen. There is a record
of a privy purse expenditure in 1530 for cambric for Henry VIII.’s
shirts. Cambric has been used for many years in the manufacture
of handkerchiefs, collars, cuffs, and for fine underclothing; also
for the best shrouds, and for fine baby linen. The yarns for
this cloth are of very fine quality, and the number of threads
and picks often reaches and sometimes exceeds 120 per inch.
Embroidery cambric is a fine linen used for embroidery. Batiste,
said to be called after Baptiste, a linen-weaver of Cambrai, is a
kind of cambric frequently dyed or printed. All these fabrics are
largely copied in cheaper materials, mixtures of tow and cotton,
and in many cases cotton alone, taking the place of the original
flax line yarns.
CAMBRIDGE, EARLS AND DUKES OF. Under the Norman
and early Plantagenet kings of England the earldom of Cambridge
was united with that of Huntingdon, which was held
among others by David I., king of Scotland, as the husband of
earl Waltheof’s daughter, Matilda. As a separate dignity the
earldom dates from about 1340, when William V., count (afterwards
duke) of Juliers, was created earl of Cambridge by King
Edward III.; and in 1362 (the year after William’s death)
Edward created his own son, Edmund of Langley, earl of Cambridge,
the title being afterwards merged in that of duke of York,
which was bestowed upon Edmund in 1385. Edmund’s elder
son, Edward, earl of Rutland, who succeeded his father as duke
of York and earl of Cambridge in 1402, appears to have resigned
the latter dignity in or before 1414, as in this year his younger
brother, Richard, was made earl of Cambridge. In the following
year Richard was executed for plotting against King Henry V.,
and his title was forfeited, but it was restored to his son, Richard,
who in 1415 became duke of York in succession to his uncle
Edward. Subsidiary to the dukedom of York the title was held
by Richard, and after his death in 1460 by his son Edward,
afterwards King Edward IV., becoming extinct on the fall of the
Yorkist dynasty.
In 1619 King James I., anxious to bestow an English title upon James Hamilton, 2nd marquess of Hamilton (d. 1625), created him earl of Cambridge, a title which came to his son and successor James, 3rd marquess and first duke of Hamilton (d. 1649). In 1651 when William, 2nd duke of Hamilton, died, his English title became extinct.
Again bestowed upon a member of the royal house, the title of earl of Cambridge was granted in 1659 by Charles II. to his brother Henry, duke of Gloucester, only to become extinct on Henry’s death in the following year. In 1661 Charles, the infant son of James, duke of York, afterwards King James II., was designated as marquess and duke of Cambridge, but the child died before the necessary formalities were completed. However, two of James’s sons, James (d. 1667) and Edgar (d. 1671), were actually created in succession dukes of Cambridge, but both died in childhood. After the passing of the Act of Settlement in 1701 it was proposed to grant an English title to George Augustus, electoral prince of Hanover, who, after his grandmother, the electress Sophia, and his father, the elector George Louis, was heir to the throne of England; and to give effect to this proposal George Augustus was created marquess and duke of Cambridge in November 1706. The title lapsed when he became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1727, but it was revived in 1801 in favour of Adolphus Frederick, the seventh son of George III. He and his son are dealt with below.
Adolphus Frederick, duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), was born in London on the 24th of February 1774. Having studied at the university of Göttingen, Adolphus Frederick served in the Hanoverian and British armies, and, in November 1801, was created earl of Tipperary and duke of Cambridge, becoming a member of the privy council in the following year. The duke is chiefly known for his connexion with Hanover. In 1815, on the conclusion of the war, the electorate of Hanover was raised to the rank of a kingdom, and in the following year the duke was appointed viceroy. He held this position until the separation of Great Britain and Hanover in 1837, and displaying tact and moderation, appears to have ruled the country with great success during a difficult period. Returning to England the duke became very popular, and was active in supporting many learned and benevolent societies. He died in London on the 8th of July 1850. In 1818 he married Augusta (1797–1889), daughter of Frederick, landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. He left three children: his successor, George; Augusta Caroline (b. 1822), who married Frederick William, grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and Mary Adelaide (1833–1897), who married Francis, duke of Teck.
George William Frederick Charles, duke of Cambridge (1819–1904), was born at Hanover on the 26th of March 1819. He was thus about two months older than his cousin, Queen Victoria, and was for that period in the line of succession to the British throne. He was educated at Hanover by the Rev. J. R. Wood, a canon of Worcester. In November 1837, after he had served for a short time in the Hanoverian army, the rank of colonel in the British army was conferred upon him, and he was attached to the staff at Gibraltar from October 1838 to April 1839. After serving in Ireland with the 12th Royal Lancers, he was appointed in April 1842 colonel of the 17th Light Dragoons (now Lancers). From 1843 to 1845 he was colonel on the staff in the Ionian Islands, and was then promoted major-general. In October 1846 he took command of the Limerick district, and shortly afterwards of the Dublin district. In 1850 his father died, and he succeeded to the
