COUGHING. 492 COUNCIL. even a drop of water or a crumb of bread — mak- ing tbeir way into the air-passages instead of into the cesopliagus, or by excessive or morbid secretion from the walls of the air-tubes, oc even by the entrance of cold air, when the lining membrane of the air-passages is abnormally ir- ritable. Cough is reflex and involuntary gener- ally, and is due to irritation of the terminal iibrcs of the i)neuniogastric nerves, which are distributed to the mucous membrane of the res- piratory tract. The object of coughing in the animal organism is unquestionably to guard against the danger of the entrance of mechanical and chemical irritants into the air-passages; and accordingly the nuicous membrane, especially of their upper part, is endowed with a most ex- quisite sensil)ility, which, when aroused by me- chanical irritation or by disease, provokes inces- sant coughing vmtil the cause of the irritation is removed. Cough is a common sj-mptom of all diseases of the organs of respiration, as well as of inflammatory ail'ections of the throat, tonsils, and nose. The treatment of cough depends upon the cause. See Pneumonia; Bronchitis; Pleu- Bi.sv: Tuberculosis. COUIY. A tree-porcupine. See Porcupine. COULANGES, koo'laNzh', Fustel de. See FUSTEL DE CoULANGES. COULANGES, Philippe Emmanuel, Mar- quis de (1031-1716). A French courtier, famous for his correspondence with his cousin, Mnie. de Sevigne (q.v. ). His writings include Recueil des chansons (169S); Iiettres (published with those of 1Ime. de Sevigne) ; and Mcmoires, edited by Monmerque (Paris, 1820). COULIN, kUo'lin. In Spenser's Faerie (Jiieene, a British giant killed by falling into a chasm when ])ursued by Debon. COULMIERS, kool'mya'. A village in the Department of Loiret, France, 13 miles north- west of Orleans ( Map : France, H 4 ) . Popula- tion, in 1901, 308. On November 9, 1870, the German and French forces, under Von der Tann and Aurelle de Paladines respectively, met here in .a seven hours' battle, the former suffer- ing a loss of 1308 and being compelled to retreat to Artenaj', the French losing 1.500. COULOMB, koo'loK' (named after the physi- cist Ciaitnmb). The practical unit of quantity of electricity, being the amount produced each second by an electric current of the strength of one ampere; therefore, if in the ordinary form of silver voltameter. ;» grams of silver are de- posited, m^ 0.001118 is the number of cou- lombs which have passed, assuming that an am- pere deposits 0.001118 gram of silver per second. See Ampere: Electrical Units. COULOMB, Charles Augu.stin (1730-1806). A Frencli physicist, celebrated for his researches particularly in electricity and magnetism. He was born at Angoulenie in 1736, and in early life became an oiTicer of engineers. In 1777 he gained a prize by an essay on the construction of magnetic needles dS'wr les air/uiUes ainxintees) . In 1779 his Thcorie des machines simples gained the prize offered by the Academy; and in 1^81 lie was a third time successful in an essay on the friction and resistance of cordage, etc., used in machines. In the same j'ear he was elected a member of the Academy, and his services were employed on all the most dilBcult problems in me- chanics. He is known as the inventor of the torsion balance (q.v.), by which the attraction of electricity and magnetism can be measured, while his memory has been perpetuated by the use of his name for the unit of electric quantity. Having offended certain influential persons by reporting unfavorably on a project for a navi- galile canal in liretagne. Coulomb was for some time imprisoned, but received from the States of Brittany a present of a handsome watch, as a reward of his firm opposition to an expensive and uni)ro(itabIe scheme. He lived in retirement dur- ing the Revolution, but took part in the investi- gations attending the introduction of the metric sj-stem by the new Government. COULOMMIERS, kniT'lo'mya'. The capital of an arrondisscmcnt and a garrison town in the Dejiartment of Seine-et-Marne, France, on the Grand-ilorin, 38 miles east of Paris. Its parish Church of S.aint Denis dates from the thirteenth century, and it has remains of a castle built in 1013. There is a monument to the heroic Beau- repaire, who killed himself in 1792 rather than siirrender the town of Verdun. It has woolen mills, manufactures of starch and cheese, and market-gardening is largely carried on. Jean de Boullonge or Valentin, the artist, was a native of Coulonuniers. Population, in 1901, 6505. COULTER, kol'ter, .John Merle (1851 — ). An American botanist and educator, born at Ningpo, China. He received his education at Han- over College, Indiana, and subsequently studied at Harvard. After serving for a year as botanist to the United States Geological Survey in the Hocky Mountains, he was made professor of nat- ural science at Hanover College, where he re- mained for five years. In 1879 he was appointed professor of biology at Wabash College; from 1891 to 1893 was president of the Indiana State University, and from 1893 to 1896 presided over Uake Forest University. In 1896 he became head of the department of botany in the University of Chicago. Dr. Coulter's published works include the following: Manual of Rocky mountain Bot- any (1885): Handbook . of Plant Dissection ( jointly with J, C. Arthur and C. R. Barnes, 1886) ; and Manual of Texan Botany (1892-93). He has also published a work on the morphology of g5^nnosperms, general works on plant relations and plant structures, and has edited the Botani- cal Ca-ette. COUMARIN, krro'ma-rin. ' See Cumakin. COUMOUNDUROS, koo-moon-du'ros, Alex- ANDROS. See KlMUNDUROS. COUNCIL (OF. eoucile, cuncilie, Lat. coneil- iuin, fnmi com-, together -(- calarc, Gk. KaXeiv, kalein, to call, OIIG. hulOn, Ger. holeu, AS. yeholian, Engl. hale, to summon). An assembly of ecclesiastical dignitaries held for the purpose of regulating the doctrine or discipline of the Church. As early as the second century Church councils were convened in which only one or two provinces took part, the bishops and presbyters binding themselves to carry oiit the decisions ar- rived at in their own connnunities. These assem- blies wei'e commonly held in the chief to'n or metropolis of the province, and tlie bishops of such capitals — who, after the third century, bore the title of metropolitan — were wont to preside over the meetings, and to consider questions of doctrine and discipline which had arisen within the territory. Over these metropolitan councils
