Camden Town Group Group of English painters formed in 1911. The artists met weekly in the studio of Walter Sickert (1860-1942), the group’s prime inspiration, in a working-class area of London. The Camden Town artists utilized an Impressionist technique but were also open to the influ¬ ence of Post-Impressionism. Their subject matter was derived from the everyday life of an English industrial town. Despite a somewhat expres¬ sive use of colour, their paintings remained representational and realistic, reflecting an interpretation of a modem aesthetic different from the more formally daring developments emerging in Paris at the same time. The Camden Town Group was absorbed in 1913 by the London Group, a com¬ bination of several smaller groups of contemporary English artists.
camel Either of two species of large, hump-backed ruminants of the family Camelidae. Camels are used as draft and saddle animals in desert regions of Africa, Arabia, and Asia.
Adaptations to windblown deserts include double rows of eyelashes, the ability to close the nostrils, and wide-spreading soft feet. They also can tolerate dehydration and high body temperatures. They are thus able to go several days without drinking water. Though docile when properly trained, camels can be dan¬ gerous. The Bactrian camel ( Came- lus bactrianus) is about 7 ft (2 m) tall at the top of the two humps; the Ara¬ bian camel (C. dromedarius), or dromedary, has one hump and is 7 ft (2 m) high at the shoulder. When food is available, camels store fat in their humps to be used later for sus¬ tenance; water is produced as a by-product of fat metabolism. The feral camels of Australia were introduced to that continent in the 1800s.
camel racing Sport of running camels at speed, with a rider astride, over a predetermined course. The sport is generally limited to running the dromedary—whose name is derived from the Greek verb dramein, “to run”—rather than the Bactrian camel. Camel racing on the Arabian Pen¬ insula can be traced to at least the 7th century. Although traditionally overshadowed by horse racing in that region, the racing of camels was long a folk sport practiced at social gatherings and festivals. In the late 20th century it was organized into a formal sport, similar to Thorough¬ bred horse racing. The sport is popular in India, Australia, parts of East Africa, and especially the Arab countries of the Middle East. A race typi¬ cally has 25 to 30 entries and covers distances ranging from 2.5 to 6 mi (4 to 10 km).
camellia Nko-'mel-yoV Any of the East Asian evergreen shrubs and trees that make up the genus Camellia in the tea family (Theaceae), most notable for three ornamental flowering species and for C. sinensis (some¬ times called Thea sinensis ), the source of tea. The common camellia (C. japonica ) is the best-known, particularly for its double (many-petaled) cultivated varieties. The tea plant (C. sinensis ), reaching 30 ft (9 m) in the wild but in cultivation kept to a low, mounded shrub, bears fragrant white, yellow-centred flowers.
Camelot In Arthurian legend, the seat of King Arthur’s court. It has been variously identified with Caerleon in Wales, Queen Camel in Somerset, Camelford in Cornwall, Winchester in Hampshire, and Cadbury Castle in Somerset. Camelot has come to symbolize a short-lived golden era under a beloved leader.
cameo Hard or precious stone, glass, ceramic, or shell carved in relief above the surface. It is the opposite of intaglio. Surviving cameos date from the early Sumerian period (c.
3100 bc) to the decline of Roman civilization, and from the Renais¬ sance to the Neoclassical period of the 18th century. They were carved with mythological scenes and por¬ traits, and many commemorated spe¬ cific persons. In the 18th—19th century, cameos adorned diadems, belts, brooches, and bracelets.
cameo glass Glassware deco¬ rated with figures and forms in coloured glass carved in relief against a glass background of a con¬ trasting colour. It is produced by blowing two layers of glass together.
When the glass has cooled, an out¬ line of the design is drawn on the surface and covered with wax. The glass is then etched down to the inner layer, leaving the design outline in relief. Fine cameo glass was produced by the Romans in the 1st century ad. The art was revived by John Northwood in England and Emile Galle in France in the late 19th century.
camera Device for recording an image of an object on a light-sensitive surface (see photography). It is essentially a light-tight box with an open¬ ing (aperture) to admit light focused onto a sensitized film or plate. All cameras have included five crucial components: (1) the camera box, which holds and protects the sensitive film from all light except that entering through the lens; (2) film, on which the image is recorded; (3) the light control, consisting of an aperture or diaphragm and a shutter, both often adjustable; (4) the lens, which focuses the light rays from the subject onto the film, creating the image; and (5) the viewing system, which may be separate from the lens system (usually above it) or may operate through it by means of a mirror. The camera was inspired by the camera obscura—a dark enclosure with an aperture (usually provided with a lens) through which light enters to form an image of outside objects on the opposite surface—and was developed by Nicephore Niepce and L.-J.-M. Daguerre in the early 19th century. See also digital camera.
Camerarius \,kam-3-'rar-e-3s\, Rudolph (Jacob) German Rudolph Camerer (b. Feb. 17, 1665, Tubingen, Ger.—d. Sept. 11, 1721, Tubingen) German botanist. One of the first to perform experiments in heredity, he demonstrated sexuality in plants by identifying and defin¬ ing the male and female reproductive parts of the plant and by describ¬ ing their function in fertilization, showing that pollen is required for the process.
Cameron, Julia Margaret (b. June 11, 1815, Calcutta, India—d. Jan. 26, 1879, Kalutara, Ceylon) British portrait photographer. In 1864, after receiving a camera as a gift, she set up a studio and darkroom and began taking portraits. Her sitters were friends such as Alfred Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Charles Darwin. Her sensitive portraits of women, such as that of Ellen Terry, are especially noteworthy. Like many Victorian photographers, she made allegorical photographs in imi¬ tation of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings of the day. Her technical ability was criticized, but she was more interested in spiritual depth than in technical perfection; her portraits are considered exceptionally fine.
Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)
©GEORGE HOLTON-THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY COLLECTION/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
a
"The Rape of Europa," cameo in gold and enamel frame, 16th—17th century; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
COURTESY OF THE KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Cameron ► Campania i 319
Cameron, Simon (b. March 8, 1799, Maytown, Pa., U.S.—d. June 26, 1889, Donegal Springs, Pa.) U.S. politician. He was successful in sev¬ eral businesses before entering the U.S. Senate (1845-49, 1857-61, and 1867-77). As leader of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party, he helped secure the nomination of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Appointed secretary of war in 1861, he was soon dismissed for showing favouritism in awarding army contracts.
Cameroon officially Republic of Cameroon Country, West Africa. Area: 183,569 sq mi (475,442 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 16,988,000. Capitaclass="underline" Yaounde. The country has numerous ethnic groups, including the
Fang (one-fifth of the population), Bam- ileke (one-fifth), Duala, and Fulani. Pyg¬ mies (locally known as Baguielli and Babinga) live in the southern forests. Lan¬ guages: French, English (both official), Fula, Bamileke, Duala. Religions: Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic; also Protestant), traditional beliefs, Islam (mainly in the north). Currency: CFA franc. Cameroon has four geographic regions. The southern area consists of coastal plains and a densely forested plateau. The central region rises progressively to the north and includes the Adamawa Plateau. In the north a savanna plain slopes downward toward the Lake Chad basin. To the west and north along the Nigerian border the relief is mountain¬ ous and includes Mount Cameroon. Of the main rivers, the Sanaga drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Benue flows westward into the Niger River basin in Nigeria. Cameroon has a developing market economy based largely on agriculture but with a growing services sector. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government the prime minister. Long inhabited before European colo¬ nization, Cameroon was peopled by Bantu-language speakers coming from equatorial Africa to settle in the south. They were followed by Mus¬ lim Fulani from the Niger River basin, who settled in the north. Portu¬ guese explorers visited in the late 15th century, and the Dutch were also active there. In 1884 the Germans took control and extended their pro¬ tectorate over Cameroon. In World War I joint French-British action forced the Germans to retreat, and after the war the region was divided into French and British administrative zones. After World War II the two areas became UN trusteeships. In 1960 the French trust territory became an independent republic. In 1961 the southern part of the British trust ter¬ ritory voted for union with the new Republic of Cameroon, and the north¬ ern part voted for union with Nigeria. The independent country has faced chronic economic problems, which have produced unrest in the country.