Clearing. by the different firms, and the immediate management of two paid inspectors. The arrangement of the establishment may be briefly described: From time to time during the day each firm transmits to the clearing-house checks and bills which are payable by other bankers for classification, taking account of the obligations coming against their firm, so that, at the close of the day, they are the better able to make up their private books. At 4 o'clock the accounts are closed; each bank has till 4.45 to decide whether it will honor the drafts upon it; and by half-past 5 the officials are able to learn that the several houses are agreed between themselves, who has to pay money and who has to receive, and how much, by making up an account of the form subjoined. It is made up as between the particular bank receiving it and the clearing-house representing every other bank with whom the former may have had any business on the day in question: The comparatively small balance thus exhibited, used to be settled by each bankinghouse which owed money sending down to the clearing-house the amount, and paying it, not to the officials there, but to any clerk whose house claimed a balance. But now, to avoid the risk of handling such a large amount of bank-notes, it is settled by means of a species of check on the bank of England appropriated to the purpose, and called transfer tickets, signed by each banking-house, and certified by an inspector of the clearing-house. A white one is used when the bank has to pay a balance to the clearinghouse, and a green one when it has to receive a balance from it. By this means, transactions to the amount of several millions daily are settled without the intervention of a bank-note; and the importance of the arrangement may be assumed from the fact, stated in evidence before the House of Commons, that before the connection of the London and Westminster bank with the clearing-house, they were obliged to keep in hand £150,000 in notes for negotiating their exchanges. *CLEARING-HOUSE, in banking. In New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, and other large cities of the United States, clearing-houses have been for several years in successful operation. Either a well-known bank or a special building is used for the purpose. The best equipped and most admirably arranged clearing-houses are those of New York and Philadelphia. The room for this business is provided with separate numbered desks for a representative of each bank, and a raised dais for the manager of the clearing-house. Each bank belonging to the system is represented by two clerks, one of whom takes his place at his special desk, and the other stands in front to act as messenger. Usually at 8.30 A.M., the clearing-house manager calls to order, and with the utmost regularity the business of the hour proceeds. The messenger receives from his clerk packages intended for other banks, and moving from left to right visits each desk, leaving with the entering clerk such matters as he may have for him, together with a complete list of his transactions. Should all be correct, the clerks then return to their respective banks with statements of debits or credits-which must be settled with the clearing-house on the same morning. Should any errors be discovered, the clerks are not allowed to leave the clearing-house until they have been rectified, and in some instances fines are imposed and collected from the banks represented by the offending clerk. Complete records of all business therein transacted are preserved at the clearing-house. Thus transactions which formerly required many hours, are completed in a few minutes at a great saving of expense. The amounts transferred in some of the clearing-houses represent many millions of dollars daily. The New York clearing association commenced its operations on Oct. 11, 1853, numbering as members 52 banks, representing a capital of $46,721,262.50. The number was soon reduced to 48 by the retirement and closing up of four, in consequence of their inability to meet its requirements, reducing the aggregate capital to $45,118,800. On the 1st of June, 1879, the association consisted of 59 Cleavage. members, including the assistant treasurer of the United States at New York. The aggregate capital of the banks of the city was $83,508,800, with a surplus of $27,264,100, a reduction of capital and surplus in less than six years of $36,934,000, caused, in the opinion of bankers, principally by unequal and excessive tax under both federal and state laws. The transactions of the first day, Oct. 11, 1853, amounted to $23,938,682.25. Total transactions since its organization to June 1, '79, amounted to $526,110,047,756.40, a daily average, during 25 years and 7 months, of $67,545,262.26. The highest daily average for any one year was for that ending Oct. 1, 1869, viz., $125,088,789.91. The total transactions for that year were $38,527,347,294.42. The total transactions for the year ending June 1, 1879, were $23,307,402,934.05, a daily average of $76,167.983.44. The largest amount for any one day during the year was $122,029,347, on Jan. 27, 1879, and for any one day since the organization of the association, $206,034,920.50, on Nov. 17, 1868. This was the day after the Black Friday famous for the collapse of the gigantic "corner in gold. The largest balance paid to the clearing-house by any bank was $4,774,039.59, on April 5, 1872. The system in use by the New York clearing-house is so perfect that, of the enormous transactions made through it, no error or difference of any kind exists in any of its records; neither has any bank belonging to the association sustained any loss in its connection by the failure of any bank or otherwise, while a member. It has proved of great service during financial emergencies, notably in aiding and sustaining the United States government at the breaking out of the civil war; and during financial panics, especially that of 1873, when, by combining the resources of its members through the machinery of the clearing-house, they were enabled to greatly modify the dangers which so seriously threatened the whole country. Its operations amount to over 65 per cent of the total exchanges of the 23 clearing-houses of the United States, and consequently it represents in a measure the magnitude of the daily business of the country; while the fluctuations in its daily, monthly, and yearly transactions, as shown by its records, are of great value both to the merchant and financier. The clearing-house occupies a building owned by the association, and arranged with special reference to its requirements.. See Supp., page 883. CLEARING-HOUSE, THE RAILWAY, is an association instituted to enable railway companies in England and Scotland, to carry on, without interruption, the through traffic in passengers, animals, minerals, and goods passing over different lines of railways, and to afford to the traffic the same facilities as if the different lines had belonged to one company. The arrangements are called "the clearing system," and are conducted by a committee appointed by the directors of the companies who are parties to it. The business is carried on in a building in Seymour street, London, adjoining the Euston station. The association is regulated by act of parliament, 13 and 14 Vict. 33 (25th June, 1850), called "The Railway Clearing Act, 1850." Any railway company may apply for admission to the system, and, on being accepted, becomes a party to it. The companies are each represented on the committee by a delegate. Ten delegates form a quorum. The committee holds stated meetings on the second Wednesday in Mar., June, Sept., and Dec. in every year, and at such other times as may be found necessary. The accounts of the clearing system, and the balances due to and from the several companies, are settled and adjusted by the secretary of the committee, with appeal to the committee, whose decision is final. The expenses are defrayed ratably by the companies. The clerks at stations of the various companies send abstracts of all traffic monthly. The collected passenger-tickets are also sent monthly. Number-men are employed by the clearinghouse, who attend at each railway junction, and watch the arrival and departure of every train passing the junction. They note the number of every carriage, horse-box, wagon, van, and sheet or wagon-cover on the train going beyond the parent line, and also all damaged stock, and make weekly returns. The destination of each wagon is also noted. The returns from the companies' stations, together with those of the number-men, enable the accounts to be made up at the clearing-house, and, after examination, the companies are debited and credited, as the case may be. A debtor and creditor account is sent from the clearing-house monthly to each company, showing, on the one side, what the company has to receive from others as their proportion of through passenger-fares, through goods rates and mileage of carriages, wagons, and sheets, and, on the other side, what the company has to pay to others out of moneys drawn by them. The balance is struck, and, if against the company, a remittance must be made. If the balance is on passenger traffic or stock, it is due five days after the date of the clearinghouse advice. The other balances must be paid within 23 days. Interest at the rate of 7 per cent per annum is charged on outstanding balances. The cost of maintaining the clearing-house, with its officers and numerous clerks and number-men, is appor tioned amongst the respective companies-(1.) In proportion to the number of entries at the credit of each in the mileage account; (2.) In the ratio of the number of vehicles and sheets recorded by the number-men; and (3.) According to the time occupied on the accounts. Regulations are published annually by the clearing-house in Jan., for the guidance of the different companies in connection with the system. These determine the principles of classification of goods, division of rates, terminal allowances, payment for loss or damage of goods, and other points. A committee of general managers is Cleavage. appointed, whose duty it is to arbitrate on claims for damages to rolling-stock. A committee of goods' managers adjudicate cases of disputed liability which relate to goods' traffic. A committee of coaching superintendents perform a similar duty with reference to coaching or passenger traffic. The mileage of carriages is also regulated, being threefarthings per m. first-class, and a half-penny for second. A varying rate for wagons and sheets is allowed according to distance, the charge for distances under 150 m. being about one half-penny for box-wagons, of a penny for open wagons, and of a penny for sheets. If carriages are detained beyond one clear day, demurrage is charged at the rate of 108. per day for first-class carriages, and 68. for second-class. If wagons are detained beyond two clear days, 3s. a day is charged Sheets, after two days, are charged 6d. for the first day, and 18. per day after. The terminal allowances are 88. 6d. per ton in London, and 48. in the country for carted goods; 18. 6d. per ton when not carted. The number of companies parties to the clearing-system was recently between 90 and 100, and the amount of business of an intricate kind which was involved may be judged of from the foregoing particulars. In short, the clearing-house system of Great Britain is a vast organization, adapted, in an extraordinary degree, to save trouble in accounting, as well as to prevent petty disputes, among the individual companies concerned. The very circumstance of the great bulk of the used passenger-tickets in the kingdom being transmitted to a common center for adjustment as to the claims of one company against another, affords, in itself, a remarkable instance of an ingenious system for elaborating simplicity out of what would almost appear a commercial chaos.-There is a similar railway clearing-house system in Ireland, with headquarters in Dublin. CLEARING-NUT, Strychnos potatorum, a small tree of the same genus with the nux vomica (q.v.), abundant in the forests of India, and of which the seeds are much used for clearing water. They are sold for this use in the bazaars, and travelers commonly carry some with them. These seeds being rubbed on the inside of a vessel, muddy water put into it quickly becomes clear, all impurities settling to the bottom. The tree has a deeply fissured; bark, ovate, smooth, and pointed leaves; and a shining, black, pulpy fruit, with only one seed. The wood is very hard, and is used for various purposes. CLEAR LAKE, a body of water in Lake co., Cal., 112 m. n. of San Francisco. It is about 25 m. long by 2 to 6 m. wide, and is in a picturesque region. CLEARNESS, a quality of art which is realized by a skillful arrangement of colors, tints, and tones. Where C. is to be obtained without sacrificing depth, a knowledge of chiaroscuro (q.v.) becomes indispensable. CLEAR-STORY, or CLERE-STORY. Originally this term was applied generally to the upper part of any building, which was lighted by several windows, or by a row of small windows or openings in the wall. Latterly, it came to be applied exclusively to the upper part of the central aisle of a church, in which windows were found above the roof of the side aisles. The object of the clear-story in churches appears to have been to increase the light in the nave, but the windows in our existing churches are generally so small as to effect this object very imperfectly. In many churches, the clear-story is a subsequent addition, and has often been added when the high-pitched roof, which included the side aisles in its span, gave place to a flat one covering the nave only. The walls over the arches of the nave were then raised so as to receive the clear-story windows. CLEATS, in ship-building, are pieces of wood fastened to various parts of the vessel, and having holes or recesses for fastening ropes. There are several kinds, applied to various purposes, and bearing the names of belaying, comb, mast, shroud, single, stop, thumb, etc., cleats. CLEAVAGE, or SLATY CLEAVAGE, is a condition of rocks in which they split easily into thin plates. The direction of these laminae may be in the plane of stratification, but it much more frequently differs from it. C. is the result of an operation which is subsequent to, and entirely independent of, the original stratification of the rocks. It is impossible to determine what is the producing cause of this phenomenon. By some it has been considered to be due to crystalline agency, while others maintain that it arises from the pressure of mechanical forces at right angles to the planes of C., and yet others seek an explanation in a combination of these two agencies. Prof. Sedgwick, who has carefully examined the phenomena of C., has arrived at the following general results: 1. That the strike of the C. planes, when they were well developed, and passed through well-defined mountain-ridges, was nearly coincident with the strike of the beds; 2. That the dip of these planes (whether in quantity or direction) was not regulated by the dip of the beds, inasmuch as the C. planes would often remain unchanged while they passed through beds that changed their prevailing dip, or were contorted; 3. That where the features of the country or the strike of the beds was ill defined, the state of the C. became also ill defined, so as sometimes to be inclined to the strike of the beds at a considerable angle: 4. Lastly, that in all cases where the C. planes were well developed among the finer slate-rocks, they had produced a new arrangement of the minutest particles of the beds through which they pass. C., though generally confined to clay-slate, yet occasionally occurs in lime and sand IV.-2a. Clemens. stone; but in proportion as the rocks are coarse, the C. planes become fainter and wider apart. In the fine-grained clay-slate, on the other hand, the lamina are thin, smooth, and parallel; and as C. is always accompanied with more or less induration in the rock where it exists, clay-slate, thus altered, is of great economic value for roofing. CLEAVELAND, a co. in s. w. North Carolina, on the South Carolina border, intersected by First Broad river, and a division of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford railroad; 660 sq.m.; pop. '80, 16,571-2,872 colored. The chief productions are agricultural. King's mountain is near the s.e. corner. Co. seat, Shelby. CLEAVELAND, PARKER, LL.D., 1780-1858; a native of Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard, in 1799. In 1805, he was chosen professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, and lecturer on chemistry and mineralogy in Bowdoin college, a position which he retained until his death, although many professorships in other colleges and the presidency of his own were offered to him. His attention was devoted chiefly to mineralogy, in the interests of which he explored particularly the White mountains, and corresponded with many scientific men abroad. In the 53 years of his connection with the college he kept a meteorological journal, making three entries every day. CLEAVERS, or GOOSE-GRASS, Galium aparine, a species of bedstraw (q.v.), a coarse annual, with whorls of 6 to 8 leaves, both stem and leaves rough with reflexed bristles, the fruit also hispid, and when ripe, very ready to adhere to any passenger who may brush against it; a very common weed in hedges and bushy places in Britain and most parts of Europe; but which has, from time to time, been brought into notice as possessing a remarkable specific power over some of the most formidable cutaneous diseases, including even lichen and leprosy, also over cancer. It is administered in the form of decoction or of extract. The whole subject of the properties of this herb seems to demand fuller examination. CLEBURNE, a co. in n.e. Alabama, on the Georgia border, watered by the Tallapoosa, and intersected by the Selma, Rome and Dalton railroad; 700 sq.m.; pop. '80, 10,976-668 colored Surface uneven; productions mainly agricultural. Iron and lead are found. Co. seat, Edwardsville. CLEBURNE: co., Ark. See page 883. CLEEF, JAN VAN, 1646-1716; a Flemish painter whose works are found in many churches of Flanders and Brabant. CLEF, a musical character placed on the staff, by which the names of the notes are fixed. There are three kinds of clefs-viz., the G, the C, and the F clef. The G clef is ; the C clef on the third line, placed on the second line, thus: thus: ; and the F clef on the fourth line, thus: C clef is a fifth below the G clef, and a fifth above the F clef, thus: 19: The The C clef is also placed on the fourth line for some instruments, and for the tenor part in vocal music, thus: the first line was used for the soprano. and in old vocal music, the C clef placed on CLEG, a name given to some insects of the dipterous family tabanide, the females of which are extremely troublesome to horses, cattle, and human beings in summer, piercing their skins by means of a curious apparatus of small lancets with which the mouth is furnished, and drinking their blood. The name C. is sometimes given in England to chrysops cæcutiens, a fly frequent in most parts of Europe, but rare in Scotland, and which not unfrequently inserts its proboscis through the sleeve, or some other part of the dress, and thus makes man himself the object of its attack. It is about one third of an inch in length, mostly black, with yellow markings on the abdomen, and very large eyes of the most beautiful green and golden colors. The insect always called C. in Scotland, is hæmatopota pluvialis-a rather smaller fly, mostly of a gray color, but also remarkable for its very large and beautiful eyes, which are greenish, with waved purpleish-brown bands. In England, it is sometimes called the stout. CLEMANGES, NICOLAS DE, 1360-94; one of the ablest Roman Catholic writers of the middle ages. He was educated in Paris, and studied theology under Pierre d'Ailly. He was chosen rector of the university of Paris in 1393, and esteemed the most eloquent member of that institution. Clemanges was an ardent advocate of reform in the church, Clemens. and labored with great pertinacity to heal the schism then existing, that of a double papacy, one at Rome and one at Avignon. His doctrines were much in advance of the age in many points. He placed the authority of general councils over that of the pope, and the authority of the Bible over that of general councils. He doubted whether at all former œcumenical councils the Holy Spirit really presided, as that Spirit would not assist men in pursuing secular aims. He wrote strongly against the immoral lives of the higher clergy, and recommended the teaching of the Bible as a remedy against wars and disturbances. In 1421, at Chartres, he defended the liberties of the Gallican church, and in 1425 he began to lecture on theology in the college of Navarre, continuing his duties as long as he lived. CLEM'ATIS (Gr. clema, the shoot of a vine), a genus of plants of the natural order ranunculacea, having four colored sepals, no corolla, and for fruit numerous one-seeded achania with long-generally feathery-awns. The species are pretty numerous, herbs or shrubs, generally with climbing stems, natives of very different climates, and much scattered over the world. They possess more or less active caustic properties. The long awns give the plants a beautiful appearance even in winter. The flowers of many species are also beautiful. C. vitalba, the common TRAVELLER'S JOY (fancifully so named because of its ornamental appearance by the wayside), is the only native of Britain. It is common in the s., but becomes rarer towards the n., and is scarcely found in Scotland. The twigs are capable of being made into baskets. It rapidly covers walls or unsightly objects. The fruit and leaves are acrid and vesicant, the leaves are used as a rubefacient in rheumatism; and those of other species are also employed in the same way. A number of species are commonly cultivated in our gardens. C. flammula, a native of the s. of Europe, and n. of Africa, with white flowers, which have a very strong honey-like smell, is the species known as sweet virgin's bower. CLEMENCEAU, BENJAMIN GEORGE EUGENE. See page 883. CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE, b. in Missouri, 1835. He is known more generally by his adopted name of "Mark Twain." He learned the trade of a printer, and worked at the case in several western cities, and in Philadelphia and New York. In 1855, he made a voyage down the Mississippi, took a fancy to steamboat life, and learned the business of pilot. His next venture was in mining in Nevada; and in 1862 he became the local editor of the Enterprise, in Virginia City, where he remained three years, and began to use the name by which he is so well known This name is said to be the cry of the lookout on a river steamer, when he throws the lead, and finds the depth of water just two fathoms; "mark twain" signifies "at the mark of two fathoms." From Nevada, Clemens went to San Francisco and was for a time a reporter, and afterwards worked in the gold-diggings in Calaveras. In 1866, he spent several months in the Sandwich islands, and on return made a commencement as a lecturer. In 1867, he went with a pleasure party up the Mediterranean to Egypt and Palestine, and on his return described the journey in a serio-comic volume, "The Innocents Abroad." After editing a paper in Buffalo, and much lecturing all over the country, he married and settled in Hartford, Conn. His principal books, most of which enjoy remarkable popularity, are The Jumping Frog, and Other Sketches; Roughing It; and The Innocents Abroad. CLEMENS, TITUS FLAVIUS, a celebrated father of the Christian church, was born probably at Athens, and resided during the greater part of his life in Alexandria, whence the epithet Alexandrinus. He flourished at the close of the 2d and the beginning of the 3d century. In his earlier years, he devoted himself with great zeal to the study of philosophy. His love of knowledge induced him to visit Greece, Italy, Syria, Palestine, and other countries. It is not known at what precise period he was converted from heathenism; but it is certain that after coming to Egypt, and listening to the prelections of Pantænus, he joined the Alexandrine church, and was made presbyter. Afterwards he became assistant to his master, who held the office of catechist. In 202 A.D., the persecution of the Christians under Severus compelled him to flee to Palestine. He is supposed to have returned to Alexandria about 206, and in 211 succeeded Pantænus. The year of his death is differently stated; some writers think it probable he died 213 A.D.; others as late as 220. His most distinguished pupil was Origen. C. was a very fertile writer. The chief productions of his which have survived are the Protrepticus, Pædagogus, and Stromata-which together form one large work. The first is an exhortation to the heathen to abandon idolatry; the second, an exposition of Christian ethics; and the third, a collection of treatises and brief observations on Greek and Christian literature. They show that C., when he became a Christian, did not cease to be a philosopher; instead of railing at science, he felt himself bound to make use of it, wherever it was helpful, in the elucidation of the higher questions of religion. Among the fathers, Biblical criticism, in the strict sense of the term, was unknown, and speculative philosophy was the only critical instrument in their possession. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if much that is fantastic and absurd is to be found in their writings. C. certainly displays no lack of uncritical errors; but it is equally certain that the introduction of philosophy into Christianity helped to preserve the church from lapsing into the narrowness and ceremonialism of Jewish worship. The impression which we gather from C.'s writings, is that he was a man of broad, earnest sympathies, sincere piety, and liberal views in regard to the purposes of God's providence. This catholicity of mind procured him the accusation of heresy, and lost him the title of |