C
Cis the third letter of the English alphabet, and of the other alphabets derived from the Latin. Its history has been singular. It was the same in form as the Greek 
, but inclined at a different angle, thus, 
(see under Alphabet), and by degrees it was rounded into 
. It occupied the same place in the alphabet, and had the same phonetic value,—that of the sonant guttural g, the corresponding surd being represented, as in Greek, by K. (See under B for the distinction between sonants and surds.) These two sounds became confused at Rome at an early time before 450 B.C., and perhaps much earlier. The k-sound was lost and the symbol C represented both the g-sound, as in macister, lecio, and the original k-sound, as in censor, consul. The symbol K, however, was not entirely lost; it is found irregularly in inscriptions of all dates down to the times of the empire, and regularly as an initial abbreviation of Kalendæ, Karthago, Kæso (the proper name). In the 3d century b.c., the distinction between the two sounds was revived; but the symbol K was not replaced in ordinary use. C remained as the representative of the surd, losing its original sonant value; while a modification of it (G) was introduced to represent the sonant. The symbol retained its old value only when as the initial letter it represented the names Gaius and Gnæus, which, in consequence, are often erroneously written and sounded Caius and Cnæus. With this changed value the symbol C passed into the languages which are represented by the Latin alphabet. In some of them it has undergone yet further change. Before e and i in Italian, though still written, it is sounded as ch. This change from the guttural to the palatal is the result of assimilation, due to the following vowels. There is no evidence to show that it was established before the 7th century a.d. In France (as commonly in England) c before e and i has the sound of s. This is only a further change in the same direction as the Italian; and before a in French an original c has the sound sh, and is spelt ch, as in champ (campus), chambre (camera). Exceptions to this rule are generally words incorporated into classical French (i.e., the descendant of the old dialect of the Isle de France) from other dialects, as those of Normandy or Picardy, or are introduced from the Italian, as cavalier, &c. Our English ch (pronounced tch) for original c (as in chin for Old English cin, child for cild) is due probably to Norman influence, but here, as often, it is difficult to differentiate the results of the many disturbing causes which have operated upon our language.
As a numeral, C (for centum) denotes 100. In music, placed after the clef, it indicates that the measure is of the value of four crotchets.
CABAGAN, a town of Luzon, one of the Philippine Islands, in the province of Cagayan, situated on the N.E. coast. It is the second largest city in the province, and has a population of 11,100.
CABANIS, Pierre Jean George (1757–1808), a distinguished French physiologist, was born at Cosnac in 1757. His father was a lawyer of eminence, and chief magistrate of a district in the Lower Limousin. His education was at first entrusted to the priests, but at the age of ten he was transferred to the College of Brives. He showed great aptitude for study, but his independence of spirit was so excessive that he was almost constantly in a state of rebellion against his teachers, and was finally dismissed from the school. After a year's residence at home he was taken to Paris by his father and left to carry on his studies at his own discretion. He attended classes at the university, and read with particular delight Locke's essay On the Human Understanding. Two years had been spent in close and assiduous study, when in 1773 he received the offer of the post of secretary to the prince-bishop of Wilna. He accepted it and passed two years at Warsaw, viewing with disgust and contempt the petty intrigues and jealousies that accompanied the first partition of Poland.
On his return to Paris he devoted himself mainly to poetry, for which he had always a strong inclination. He was intimate with the poet Roucher, and was introduced by Turgot to the society of Mme. Helvetius, where he met such men as Diderot, D'Alembert, D'Holbach, Condillac, Franklin, and Jefferson. About this time he ventured to send in to the Academy a translation of the passage from Homer proposed for their prize, and though his attempt passed without notice, he received so much encouragement from his friends that he contemplated translating the whole of the Iliad.
At the earnest desire of his father he relinquished these pleasant literary employments, and resolved to engage in some settled profession. After deliberation he fixed upon that of medicine, and began his studies under Dubreuil. In 1789 his Observations sur les Hôpitaux procured him an appointment as administrator of hospitals in Paris. From inclination and from weak health he never engaged much in practice as a physician. His interest lay entirely in the deeper problems of medical and physiological science, and these he investigated with unusual closeness and minuteness. Nor had he quite given up his fondness for literary society; his residence at Auteuil on the outskirts of the capital enabled him still to continue his intercourse with Diderot, Condillac, and others. He had even the pleasure of reading to Voltaire part of his translation of the Iliad, and of receiving warm commendation from the veteran critic. But he had long ceased to occupy himself with that work; and in his Serment d'un Médecin, which appeared in 1789, he bade a formal adieu to poetry.
In the great political struggle of the time Cabanis espoused with enthusiasm the cause of the Revolution, to which he was attached from principle, and of which the opening prospects were congenial to his active and ardent mind. During the two last years of Mirabeau's life he was intimately connected with that extraordinary man, who had the singular art of pressing into his service the pens of all his literary friends. Cabanis united himself with this disinterested association of labourers, and contributed the Travail sur l'Education Publique, a tract which was found among the papers of Mirabeau at his death, and was edited by the real author soon afterwards in 1791. During the illness which terminated his life, Mirabeau confided himself entirely to the professional skill of Cabanis. Of the progress of the malady, and the circumstances attending the death of Mirabeau, Cabanis drew up a very detailed narrative, which is not calculated, however, to impress us with any high idea of his skill in the treatment of an acute inflammatory disease. Condorcet was another distinguished character with whom Cabanis was intimate, and whom he endeavoured, though without success, to save from the destiny in which he afterwards became involved by the calamitous events of the Revolution. Shortly after this he married Charlotte Grouchy, sister to Madame Condorcet and to General Grouchy, a union which was a great source of happiness to him during the remainder of his life.
