COLOGNE. 156 COLOMBIA. Bishopric of Cologne, instituted in Roman times, was elevated to the ranl< of an arehiepiscopal see by Charles the Great in 785. At this time the city was a busy seat of eommeree. It entered the league of the Hansa towTis in the beginning of the thirteenth century, and contended with Liibeck for the first rank. The archbishops acquired considerable territory, and some of them distin- guished themselves as politicians and warriors. I'hey took their places among the great princes and electors of the Empire, but were involved in a protracted contest with the citizens of Cologne, who successfully asserted against them the in- dependence of the city. Within the city a bitter contest was carried on all through the Middle Ages between the small niuuber of merchant princes and the trade guilds. The Reformation n:ade little progress in Cologne, and the Prot- estants were treated with intolerance. With the sixteenth century began a process of steady decline, which remained unchecked till after the end of the Napoleonic wars, when a new period of industrial prosperity set in. In the course of the wars of the Revolution the city lost its inde- pendence, to become part of France, and on the downfall of Napoleon it was annexed to Prussia. The archbishopric was secularized in 1801-03, and the Congress of Vienna assigned all of its terri- tories to Prussia. A new arehiepiscopal see was created in 1824. Consult: Heldmann, Ber Koln- gau uml die Civitas Kiiln (Halle. 1900) ; Paget, "Cologne, the Rome of the Rhine," in 116: 235, Temple liar (London, 180!)). COLOGNE, Eaii »e. See Eau de Cologne. COLOGNE, Tjie Three ICixgs of. The three wise men, or magi, by name !Melchior, Kaspar, and Balthazar, who followed the star from the East to where it rested above the new-born Jesus. Their bones are said to have been placed in Co- logne Cathedral, and their skulls were exhibited there as late as the eighteenth century. Those who touched them were supposed to be healed of their diseases. The names of the three kings were also used as a charm.
- ' Ye three holy Iviugs,
Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, Pray for us now, and in the hour of death," w-as written on a paper found on the body of a dead murderer at Chichester, England, in 1749. COLOGNE YELLOW. A yellow pigment made by precipitating a mixture of lead and calcium nitrates with sodium sulphate and potas- si n chromate. It is essentially a chrome yellow in which the intensity of the color is les- sened by the calcium salt. COLOM'BA. A story of Corsica, by Prosper ^lerimee (1840). It is considered his master- piece. COLOMBAT DE L'ISERE, koToN'ba' de le'zar' (1798-18.51). A French physician, bom at Viemie, Dei)artment of Is6re. He devoted himself to the study of defects of speech and established iu Paris an institute for the correc- tion of stuttering, on the principle of rhythmic pronunciation. His best-known work, entitled. Tniite de tons les vices de la parole et en por- tieiiUer dii hefjaiement (1830), passed through several editions. In recognition of his fruitful services, the Academy of Sciences awarded him a prize of .50.000 francs. COLOMBES, ko'loxb'. A town in the Depart- ment of Seine. France, suburban to Paris, three miles northwest of the citj'-walls. It has manu- factures of starch, gelatin, and woolens; there are- also ])ctroleimi-relineries, etc. Population, in 1901, 23,001. COLOM'BIA (.so called in honor of Christo- pher Columbus). A republic in South America, occupying the northwest corner of the continent and Ixiundcd by the Caribbean Sea and Ven- ezuela on tlie north, Venezuela and Brazil on the east, Ecuador on the south, and the Pacific and Costa Rica on the west. It lies between latitudes 3° S. and 12° 30' N., and between longitudes 67° 30' and 83° W. The area is variouslj^ estimated at from 403,000 to 513,000 square miles. It is the only South American country bordering on both oceans. Topography. The bulk of Colombia may be divided into two physiographic regions, the An- dean Cordilleras, and the great plains or llanos of the east. The highlands of Panama and Darien are only indirectly connected with the Andes. Entering Colombia from Ecuador, the Cordilleras- are continued in a general northerly direction by three diverging ranges, which spread out over the entire western section of the coun- try. The Western Cordillera constitutes a long mountain ridge, with summits 10,000 to 11,000 feet in altitude, which is defined on the east by the valley of the Cauca River, In the northern part the chain is flanked on the west by the Cordillera del Choco. The Central Cordillera, the continuation of the Eastern Cordil- lera of Ecuador, contains the highest peaks in Colombia, including the volcanoes Huila, Puracg, and Tolinia, the last reaching an altitude of over 18,000 feet. The Eastern Cordillera, sepa- rated from the central range by the JIagdalena River, attains an extreme elevation of about 10,000 feet, and has great table- lands that are tlie most thickly populated regions in the Re- public. This ciiain divides at the north, the eastern range extending into Venezuela, and the western, knox'n as the Sierra de Perija, running northward and merging into the Sierra Nevada de Santa JIarta, near the coast. There are a number of high passes, amcngwhich is the famous Inca or Quindia Pass, across the Central Cordil- lera. 11, .500 feet. The llanos east of the Cordil- lei-as have a surface tilted toward the Atlantic. Here there are great stretches of nearly level gl-ound, covei-edwith luxuriant growths of grasses in the north and heavily forested in the south. Colombia has a coast line of over 3000 miles, of which more than 1000 miles are on the Pacific. The shores are very irregular and form a number of good harbors both on the west and north. Notwithstanding the mountainous sur- face, the region abounds in long navigable rivers. The Magdalena traverses the country northward through almost its entire length, and receives numerous tributaries, the Cauca being the most important. The Atrato also flows north not far from the west coast and enters the Gulf of Darien. The eastern plain belonging to the basins of the Orinoco (which forms part of the eastern boundary) and the Amazon is crossed by many long rivers. The chief affluents of the Orinoco' are the Guaviare and the IMeta : of the Amazon, the Uaupes, and the Japura (or Ca- queti'i ) . The climate is of extraordinary variety. In the Cordilleras it is moderate in the upper regions, but very hot in the valleys. Along the valley of
