Comb, Combe, Coomb, Coombe

[A.S. comb; Gr. kumbos; W.cwm, a hollow, a deep valley. A valley; a hollow depre ion of land; a circular dell; as, Ilfra combe. -One of the cells in which bees lodge their honey; an a emblage of such cells; as, a honey-comb. Comb, ( kõm ,) n. [A.S.; Du. kam ; Ger. kamm ; O. Ger. kamp ; Icel. kambr . Probably from ancient Ger. kam , the hand; applied to things having incisions similar to the hand, such as a comb, the crest of a cock, .] An instrument with teeth, for separating and adjusting hair, wool, or flax; as, a hair- comb , a curry- comb . "By fair Ligea's golden comb." - Milton. -The red, fleshy crest of a cock, so called from its pectinated indentations. "High was his comb , and coral-red withal." - Dryden. -Any instrument resembling a comb. -In England, a dry measure containing four bushels. (Sometimes written CooMB.) -A high-crested wave rolling over and breaking into foam. See BEACH-COMBER. Com'bermere, STAP LET ON COTTON, VISCOUNT, an Eng- lish field-marshal, B. 1773. He served in India, and af- terwards in the Peninsular war, in which he commanded the British cavalry, participated in the great battles of Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor, and Salamanca (where he was severely wounded), the Pyrenees, Orthes, and Toulouse;) and attained great distinction for the brilliant courage, and skilful strategy he displayed throughout the cam- paign. Lord C. was raised to the peerage in 1814. In 1822, he was appointed commander-in-chief in India, and in that position captured the important and almost im- pregnable city of Bhurtpore. In 1852, Lord C. was ap- pointed Constable of the Tower of London, and in 1855 made a field-marshal. D. 1865. Combin, ( kom'ba ,) one of the culminating peaks.of the Pennine Alps, 9 m. from Marigny. Height, 14,124 feet. Combinʼable, a . That may be combined. Combinʼablene , n. State or quality of being com- binable. Combinant, n. ( Math .) According to Sylvester, a covariant (or invariant) of two or more quantics, which po e es the additional property of remaining unal- tered, a factor excepted, when the quantics are replaced by linear functions of themselves. Combina'tion, n. [Lat. combinatio .] State of being combined; union of two or more persons or things to accomplish some object; alliance; confederacy; a oci- ation; coalition; as, a combination of forces. (Chem.) Union of two or more substances in such a manner as to form a new compound. - For the laws of C., see ATOMIC THEORY. fire on inflammable substances, by which it smokes, flames, and is reduced to ashes. (Chem.) This term is generally applied to the phenomena exhibited by burning bodies, and which depend upon the rapid union of the combustible with the oxygen of the air. The evolution of heat and light which attends this proce announces intense chemical action; and we consequently find that C. is always attended by the production of new compounds. - See HEAT. Spontaneous human C., is a subject that has from time to time given rise to a considerable amount of discu ion among its believers and disbelievers. Numerous apparently well-authenticated cases are given of this phenomenon; but the difficulties of accounting for the chemical changes involved in such a case have caused many eminent persons to reject the whole matter, and contend that none of the cases have been sufficiently well authenticated. On a point where doctors differ so much, we may well refrain from giving an opinion. The cause to which it is usually traced is gro intemperance. The victim is almost invariably a woman, fat, and rarely under 60 years of age. The flame is described as of a bluish color, obscure in the light, and extinguished with difficulty by water. Sometimes the body is said to have been consumed so as to crumble to pieces when moved, without the clothes being burned; in other cases the ( has extended to neighboring objects. The ashes are always a fatty kind of soot; and a similar greasy matter, of fœtid odor, is deposited on objects around.