Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/401

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KAKAPO. 367 KALAMAZOO. fly its movements are more like those of a flying squirrel than of a bird. Consequently, the great pectoral muscles and the keel of the sternum and the fureula have atrophied and disappeared. Consult Duller, Birds of Xeic Zealand (2d ed., London, 1888). KAKAB, kii'kiir. The name in Hindustan, constantly used by Anglo-Indian sportsmen for the Indian muntjac (Cervulus muntjac) . See ilVXTJAC. KAKHYENS, kak-hl'enz, KHYEN, or KA- KAU, kli'kou'. The name applied b_y the Bur- mese to certain primitive tribes of the mountains of Arakan and Northern Burma as far as the frontiers of Assam and Tibet. Some English authorities apparently employ Kakhyen. Khyen, Kakau as synonymous with Katehin, Chin, Singh- po, etc., all names applied to various groups of these uncivilized peoples. See Chins. KAK'KE, kak'ka' (Sinico- Japanese, leg af- fection, from Chin. Kioh, leg + K'i, air, humor). A specific disease endemic in certain parts of Japan, and analogous to the beri-beri of India, the ifalay Peninsula and Archipelago, and Bra- zil. It was first described in 1715 by a Japanese pliysieian who found it endemic in Yedo and Kioto, but rare in other places. It has spread since then and is now found in many other places. It is most frequent during the summer months, never attacks children under fifteen, while adults above forty- five appear to be im- mune : men are more subject to it than women. It aft'ects the lower extremities, and is charac- terized by numbness of the skin of the legs, loss or impairment of motive power, the swelling of the legs, especially over the shin-bone, cramps in the calf of the leg, frequently dropsy, and in some eases it affects the heart, and may then prove rapidly fatal. The origin and causes of the disea.se are unknown). It is probably partly due to malaria and partly to unsanitary condi- tions. The legs are especially predisposed to attack through the national habit of squatting on the knees and then sitting on the backs of the lees and heels. No specific remedv has yet been dis- covered, but change to the hills, or even to a short distance, has been found beneficial. So common has the disease become that special hospitals are opened for its treatment from Jlay to Octo- ber. Consult: Chamberlain. Thiiu/n Japanese (London, 1891); and Anderson in The Trans- aetioHS of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi. (Yokohama. 1878). KAKONGO,. ka-kon'go. A small territory in Africa, situated on the Atlantic, in about 5° south latitude, north of the Congo estuary. It was for- merly an independent kingdom, but at the Congo Conference was divided between Angola and the Congo Free State. KALAFAT, kli'la-fiit'. A strongly fortified town of Rumania, situated on the left hank of the Daniibe. opposite the Bulgarian town of AViddin. 1.55 miles west-southwest of Bucharest (:Iap: Balkan Peninsula. D .3). It figured prominently during the Eusso-Turkish War of lS-2S-2n, when the Russians lost here in battle in.noo men. Population, in 1899, 7113. KALAHARI (ka'La-ha're) DESEKT. Avast region in South .frica. situated between Ger- man Southwest .Africa and the Transvaal Colonv, and extending from the northern boundary of Cape Colony to about the parallel of 21° south latitude ( Map : Cape Colony, G 2 ) . Its boundaries are necessarily only rouglily defined, and its area has not been determined, but its dimensions are, in round numbers, 400 miles from east to west and 600 miles from north to south. It consists of a large basin or depression of the great South Afri- can Plateau, and haS a general elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet. It has the character of a desert only along the borders. The copious rains which prevail there from August to April produce a considerable vegetation in the interior, which in places takes the form of extensive forests of thorny trees and shrubs. In the eastern part of the region there are a number of deep basins, which fill up with water during the rainy season. The desert is inhaljited only by stray bands of Bushmen and Bechuanas, of whom some are known as Bakala- liari. Of wild animals there are the giraffe, the lion, the leopard, and a few other animals of the tropical regions, found mostly in small num- bers. Among the plants of the region is the melon, which constitutes one of the chief food supplies of the natives, as well as of their cattle. KALAKAUA, kil'la-kou'a, David (1836-91). A King of the Hawaiian Islands (q.v. ). KALAMATA, ka'la-ma'ta. A seaport, archi- episcopal see. and capital of the Nomarchy of Jlessenia, Greece, on the Xedon, one mile from its mouth, near the head of the Gulf of Messenia, 17 miles southwest of Sparta by rail (Map: Greece, D 4). The town is surrounded by orange, fig, mulberry, and olive groves, the products of which it exports in large quantities. Silk is manufactured and exported : the prin- cipal imports are foodstuffs. The harbor, though it has been improved, is .still much ex- posed. The first national assembly of Greece was held here, in 1821. Population, in" 1896 — of town, 14,298 ; of commune. 20,309. KALAMAZOO'. A river of Michigan, rising in Hillsdale County, near the southern boundary of the State, and, after a generally west-north- west course of 200 miles, emptying into Lake Michigan. 29 miles south of Grand Haven (Map: Michigan, H 6). At its mouth, which is an excellent harbor for vessels of 100 tons, it is 350 feet wide and 10 to 15 feet deep, and it is navigable for 50-ton vessels 38 miles to Allegan. The forests along its banks supply excellent timber, and the river furnishes extensive water- power. The cities of Battle Creek and Kalama- zoo are situated on its banks. KALAMAZOO. A city and the county-seat of Kalamazoo County, Mich., 50 miles south of Cirand Rapids ; on the west bank of the Kala- mazoo River, which affords abundant water- power, and on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Michigan Central, the Chicago, Kalamazoo and Saginaw, the Grand Rapids and Indiana, and the Kalamazoo and South Haven railroads (ilap: ^Michigan, H 6). It is the seat of Kalamazoo College (Baptist), opened in 1855. and of the Michigan Remale Seminary (Presbyterian), founded in 1866. Among other noteworthy buildings are the Mich- igan Asylum for the Insane, the city hall, public library. .Academy of Music, post-office and Y. M. C. A. building. The principal industries are celery-srowing and the manufacture of paper, windmills, wagons and buggies, boilers and en- gines, sawmill machinery, caskets and coffins,