of acclamation than encouragement. The Japanese shout banzai became familiar during the Russo-Japanese War. In reports of parliamentary and other debates the insertion of “cheers” at any point in a speech indicates that approval was shown by members of the House by emphatic utterances of “hear hear.” Cheering may be tumultuous, or it may be conducted rhythmically by prearrangement, as in the case of the “Hip-hip-hip” by way of introduction to a simultaneous “hurrah.”
Rhythmical cheering has been developed to its greatest extent in America in the college yells, which may be regarded as a development of the primitive war-cry; this custom has no real analogue at English schools and universities, but the New Zealand football team in 1907 familiarized English crowds at their matches with a similar sort of war-cry adopted from the Maoris. In American schools and colleges there is usually one cheer for the institution as a whole and others for the different classes. The oldest and simplest are those of the New England colleges. The original yells of Harvard and Yale are identical in form, being composed of rah (abbreviation of hurrah) nine times repeated, shouted in unison with the name of the university at the end. The Yale cheer is given faster than that of Harvard. Many institutions have several different yells, a favourite variation being the name of the college shouted nine times in a slow and prolonged manner. The best known of these variants is the Yale cheer, partly taken from the Frogs of Aristophanes, which runs thus:
“Brekekekéx, ko-áx, ko-áx, |
The regular cheer of Princeton is:
“H’ray, h’ray, h’ray, tiger, |
This is expanded into the “triple cheer”:
“H’ray, h’ray, h’ray, |
The “railroad cheer” is like the foregoing, but begun very slowly and broadly, and gradually accelerated to the end, which is enunciated as fast as possible. Many cheers are formed like that of Toronto University:
“Varsitý, varsitý, |
Another variety of yell is illustrated by that of the School of Practical Science of Toronto University:
“Who are we? Can’t you guess? |
The cheer of the United States Naval Academy is an imitation of a nautical syren. The Amherst cheer is:
“Amherst! Amherst! Amherst! Rah! Rah! |
Besides the cheers of individual institutions there are some common to all, generally used to compliment some successful athlete or popular professor. One of the oldest examples of these personal cheers is:
“Who was George Washington? |
followed by a stamping on the floor in the same rhythm.
College yells are used particularly at athletic contests. In any large college there are several leaders, chosen by the students, who stand in front and call for the different songs and cheers, directing with their arms in the fashion of an orchestral conductor. This cheering and singing form one of the distinctive features of inter-collegiate and scholastic athletic contests in America.
CHEESE (Lat. caseus), a solidified preparation from milk, the essential constituent of which is the proteinous or nitrogenous substance casein. All cheese contains in addition some proportion of fatty matter or butter, and in the more valuable varieties the butter present is often greater in amount than the casein. Cheese being thus a compound substance of no definite composition is found in commerce of many different varieties and qualities; and such qualities are generally recognized by the names of the localities in which they are manufactured. The principal distinctions arise from differences in the composition and condition of the milk operated upon, from variations in the method of preparation and curing, and from the use of the milk of other animals besides the cow, as, for example, the goat and the ewe, from the milk of both of which cheese is manufactured on a commercial scale. For details about different cheeses and cheese-making, see Dairy. From the Urdu chiz (“thing”) comes the slang expression “the cheese,” meaning “the perfect thing,” apparently from Anglo-Indian usage.
A useful summary of the history and manufacture of all sorts of cheeses, under their different names, is given in Bulletin 105 of the Bureau of Animal Industry (United States Dep. of Agriculture), Varieties of Cheese, by C. F. Doane and H. W. Lawson (Washington, 1908).
CHEESE CLOTH, the name given to cloth, usually made from flax or tow yarns, of an open character, resembling a fine riddle or sieve, used for wrapping cheese. A finer quality and texture is made for women’s gowns. A similar cloth is used for inside linings in the upholstery trade, and for the ground of embroidery.
CHEETA (Chita), or Hunting-Leopard (Cynaelurus jubatus, formerly known as Gueparda jubata), a member of the family Felidae, distinguished by its claws being only partially retractile (see Carnivora). The cheeta attains a length of 3 to 4 ft.; it is of a pale fulvous colour, marked with numerous spots of black on the upper surface and sides, and is nearly white beneath. The fur is somewhat crisp, altogether lacking the sleekness which characterizes the fur of the typical cats, and the tail is long and somewhat bushy at the extremity. In confinement the cheeta soon becomes fond of those who are kind to it, and gives evidence of its attachment in an open, dog-like manner. The cheeta is found throughout Africa and southern Asia, and has been employed for centuries in India and Persia in hunting antelopes and other game. According to Sir W. Jones, this mode of hunting originated with Hushing, king of Persia, 865 B.C., and afterwards became so popular that certain of the Mongol emperors were in the habit of being accompanied in their sporting expeditions by a thousand hunting leopards. In prosecuting this sport at the present day the cheeta is conveyed to the field in a low car without sides, hooded and chained like hunting-birds in Europe in the days of falconry. When a herd of deer or antelopes is seen, the car, which bears a close resemblance to the ordinary vehicles used by the peasants, is usually brought within 200 yds. of the game before the latter takes alarm; the cheeta is then let loose and the hood removed from its eyes. No sooner does it see the herd, than dropping from the car on the side remote from its prey, it approaches stealthily, making use of whatever means of concealment the nature of the ground permits, until observed, when making a few gigantic bounds, it generally arrives in the midst of the herd and brings down its victim with a stroke of its paw. The sportsman then approaches, draws off a bowl of the victim’s blood, and puts it before the cheeta, which is again hooded and led back to the car. Should it not succeed in reaching the herd in the first few bounds, it makes no further effort to pursue, but retires seemingly dispirited to the car. In Africa the cheeta is only valued for its skin, which is worn by chiefs and other people of rank. It should be added that in India the name cheeta (chita) is applied also to the leopard.
CHEFFONIER, properly Chiffonier, a piece of furniture differentiated from the sideboard by its smaller size and by the
