CARBON

occurs in a free state eithe the amorphous form of graphite, or b! lead, or in the rare crystalline form of diamond. In chemical combination, bh ever, it oocurs in every organic substa: and it & usually to bo obtained from tl by combustion. Common charcoal & artificial form of carbon obtained burning wood. The no! remains barnt meat, coals, loaves, of indeed of; charred form of plant or animal | represent the carbon contained in t composition. Wo ay look upon | element as the matorial base of orgs life. Tho diamond is tho groat mystery carbon. It is a pure crystal of ¢t substance, and yet wo have been una to effect the crystallization artificia Balzac’s great romance, ** La Recher de VAbsola,” deals with the fascinat quest of this gem.. CARSONARI (charcoal burners), political secret society that sprang i existence ia Italy carly in the 19th centr Its influcnce spread to all parts of t Sad and oxtended into Fras More than half a million persons, includ large numbers of tho clorgy and milits aro said to have joined its ranks in a sir month of 1820. ‘Tho society consistec a number of lodges known as Auts, Tt were several degrees. cach with its disti ritual. While the Carbonari somew resombled Freemasons in their organisat and ritual, they differed from them in objects. which were purely political, hay for their end and sim the overthrow a governments, [s. 91]