The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 269

was published in 1781, and it was followed by the "Kritic of Practical Reason" in 1788, and the "Kritic of Judgment" in 1790; his works inaugurate a new era in philosophic speculation, and by the adoption of a critical method dealt a death-blow to speculative dogmatism on the one hand and scepticism on the other; it was, he says, the scepticism of Hume that first broke his dogmatic slumber, so that had Hume not been, he had not been, and the whole course of modern thought different; Kant by his critical method did for philosophy what Copernicus did for astronomy; he centralised the intelligence in the reason or soul, as the latter did the planetary system in the sun; Kant was a lean, little man, of simple habits, and was never wedded (1724-1804).

KAOLIN, a fine white clay, a hydrous silicate of alumina, which does not colour when fired; used in making porcelain; called also China clay.

KAPELLMEISTER, director of an orchestra or choir, more particularly of the band of a German prince.

KAPILA, the founder of the Sankhya system of HINDU PHILOSOPHY (q. v.); was regarded as an incarnation of VISHNU (q. v.).

KARA, a gold-mining district in East Siberia, 300 m. from Chita, of which the mines are the private property of the Czar, and are worked by convicts, who are often disgracefully treated, many of them merely political offenders.

KARA SEA is a portion of the Arctic Sea, on the NE. corner of Russia, between Nova Zembla and the Yalmal; receives the rivers Obi and Yenisei, and is navigable from July to September.

KARAITES, a Jewish sect which originated in the 8th century; adhered to the letter of Scripture and repudiated all tradition; were strict Sabbatarians.

KARAKORUM, a range of the Himalayas, extending from the Hindu-Kush eastward into Thibet, and a pa.s.s in the centre of it 18,000 ft. high.

Also the name of the old capital of Mongolia.

KARAMSIN, a Russian historian; his first work was "Letters of a Russian Traveller," in 6 vols., published in 1797-1801, which gained him a high reputation, and it was followed by his "History of Russia," in 12 vols., published in 1816-1829, for the materials of which he had access, to the most authentic doc.u.ments as imperial historiographer, an office to which he was appointed in 1803, and the work is a work in the highest repute (1766-1826).

KARIKAL (93), a French possession in India, on the Coromandel coast, 150 m. S. of Madras; rears and exports rice in large quant.i.ties.

KARLI, a famous temple-cave in Bombay Presidency, on the Bombay-Poona road; dates from the 1st century B.C. at latest.

KARMA, the unbroken sequence, according to the Theosophists, of cause and effect, in which every effect is regarded the cause of the next.

KARMAN, the name given in the Brahminical philosophy and in Buddhism to that act of the soul by which, as is conceived, it determines its own destiny, a truly serious conception, and in itself soul affecting.

KARMATHIANS, originally a secret society of the Ismailis, developed into a religious and communistic sect, and waged a great peasants' war under successive leaders between A.D. 900 and 950; Mecca was captured 930; the movement of the Karmathians did much to overthrow the power of the Khalifate.

KARR, JEAN BAPTISTE ALPHONSE, French novelist, born at Paris; entered journalism, became editor of the _Figaro_ 1839, started _Les Guepes_ the same year, retired to Nice 1855, and there died; his chief novel is "Genevieve," and best known book, "Voyage autour de mon Jardin"

(1808-1890).

KARROO, the name of a barren tract of tableland in South Africa with a clay soil, which, however, bursts into gra.s.sy verdure and blossom after rain; the Great Karroo, which is 850 m. long and about 80 m. broad, is 3000 ft. above the sea-level, while the Little Karroo is 1000 ft. lower; large flocks of sheep are pastured on them, and the value of the land has immensely increased within late years.

KARS (9), an almost impregnable fortress on the Russo-Turkish frontier in Asia, 100 m. E. of the Caspian Sea; was successfully held by the Turks under General Williams in 1855, of which Laurence Oliphant wrote an account, but captured by Russia in 1877, and ceded to her by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878; it is a strong place, and a prize to any power that possesses it.

KARUN RIVER, rising in the Zarduh Koh Mountains W. of Ispahan; flows W. and S. past Shuster into the Persian Gulf; is the sole navigable waterway of Persia, and was thrown open to trade 1888.

KASCHAU (29), a beautiful town in Northern Hungary, on the Hernad River, 140 m. NW. of Budapest; has a royal tobacco factory, is noted for hams, has an agricultural school and a Jesuit university.

KASHGAR (120), political capital and second largest city of Chinese Turkestan, on the Kizil River; has cotton, silk, carpet, and saddlery industries, and trades with Russia; it is the centre of Mohammedanism in Eastern Turkestan, a pilgrim city; has been in Chinese hands since 1758, but is chiefly under Russian influence.

Ka.s.sALA (3), a fortified town in the Soudan, near the Abyssinian boundary, on the Chor-el-Gash, a tributary of the Atbara, is 260 m. S. of Suakim; suffered severely from the Madhist rising of 1883-1885.

KATAKAMA, the square style of writing of the j.a.panese.

KATER, HENRY, a physicist, born in Bristol; bred to the law, but entered the army, and went out to India, where, to the injury of his const.i.tution, he was for seven years engaged on the trigonometrical survey of the country; devoted the rest of his life to scientific research; he contributed to the _Philosophical Transactions_, determined the length of the seconds pendulum at the lat.i.tude of London, and invented the floating collimator (1777-1835).

KATKOFF, MICHAEL NIKIFOROVITCH, Russian journalist and publicist, born at Moscow, educated at Moscow, Konigsberg, and Berlin; became professor of Philosophy in Moscow and in 1801 editor of the _Moscow Gazette_; though at first an advocate of parliamentary government, he became a violent reactionary, made his paper the most influential in Russia, and had great influence in public affairs; he is said to have determined the reactionary policy of Alexander III. (1818-1887).

KATRINE, LOCH, a long narrow beautiful lake in the Trossachs, Scotland, about 30 m. N. of Glasgow, to which it affords an abundant water supply, is 8 m. long and broad; the splendid scenery of it is described in Scott's "Lady of the Lake."

KAUFFMANN, ANGELICA, painter, born in the Tyrol; gave early evidence of artistic talent; came to London, and became one of the first members of the Royal Academy; produced pictures on cla.s.sical and mythological subjects, as well as portraits of the royal family among others; her story forms the basis of a fiction by Miss Thackeray (1741-1807).

KAUFMANN, CONSTANTINO VON, Russian general, of German descent; did much to contribute to the establishment of the Russian power in Central Asia (1818-1882).

KAULBACH, WILHELM VON, German painter, head of the new German school, born in Waldeck; was a pupil of Cornelius, and a.s.sociated with him in painting the frescoes in the Glyptothek in Munich; among other works, which have made his name famous, he executed the splendid series of compositions that adorn the vestibule of the Berlin Museum; he ill.u.s.trated Goethe's "Faust" and his "Reinecke Fuchs" (1805-1874).

KAUNITZ, PRINCE VON, Austrian statesman, born at Vienna; under Charles VI. and Maria Theresa distinguished as a diplomatist at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, and sided with France in the Seven Years' War; was for nearly 40 years "the s.h.i.+ning star and guide of Austrian politics, and greatest of diplomatists in his day, supreme Jove in that extinct Olympus; regarded with sublime pity, not unalloyed to contempt, all other diplomatic beings"; he shared with Colonne the _sobriquet_ of the "European coach-driver"; he was sold body and soul to the interests of Austria (1711-1794).

KAVANAGH, JULIA, novelist, born in Tipperary, a very dainty little lady; wrote "Madeleine," "Woman in France," "Women of Letters," "Women of Christianity," &c.; spent most of her life in France (1824-1877).

KAWI, the old language of Java found in old doc.u.ments and inscriptions.

KAY, SIR, a rude and boastful Knight of the Round Table, foster-brother of King Arthur, who from his braggart ways often made himself the b.u.t.t of the whole court.

KAY, JOHN, a Scottish caricaturist, born near Dalkeith; began business in Edinburgh first as a barber and then as a print-seller; author of sketches of local celebrities, now collected in two volumes, and of much interest and value as a record of the Edinburgh of his time (1742-1826).