CHIRURGEON, one whose profession it is to cure disease by operating with the hand. The word in its original form is now obsolete. It derives from the Mid. Eng. cirurgien or sirurgien, through the Fr. from the Gr. χειρουργός, one who operates with the hand (from χεἰρ, hand, ἔργον, work); from the early form is derived the modern word “surgeon.” “Chirurgeon” is a 16th century reversion to the Greek origin. (See [Surgery].)
CHISEL (from the O. Fr. cisel, modern ciseau, Late Lat. cisellum, a cutting tool, from caedere, to cut), a sharp-edged tool for cutting metal, wood or stone. There are numerous varieties of chisels used in different trades; the carpenter’s chisel is wooden-handled with a straight edge, transverse to the axis and bevelled on one side; stone masons’ chisels are bevelled on both sides, and others have oblique, concave or convex edges. A chisel with a semicircular blade is called a “gouge.” The tool is worked either by hand-pressure or by blows from a hammer or mallet. The “cold chisel” has a steel edge, highly tempered to cut unheated metal. (See [Tool].)
CHISLEHURST, an urban district in the Sevenoaks parliamentary division of Kent, England, 11-1/4 m. S.E. of London, by the South-Eastern & Chatham railway. Pop. (1901) 7429. It is situated 300 ft. above sea-level, on a common of furze and heather in the midst of picturesque country. The church of St Nicholas (Perpendicular with Early English portions, but much restored) has a tomb of the Walsingham family, who had a lease of the manor from Elizabeth; Sir Francis Walsingham, the statesman, being born here in 1536. Another statesman of the same age, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was born here in 1510. Near the church is an ancient cockpit. The mortuary chapel attached to the Roman Catholic church of St Mary was built to receive the body of Napoleon III., who died at Camden Place in 1873; and that of his son was brought hither in 1879. Both were afterwards removed to the memorial chapel at Farnborough in Hampshire. Camden Place was built by William Camden, the antiquary, in 1609, and in 1765 gave the title of Baron Camden to Lord Chancellor Pratt. The house was the residence not only of Napoleon III., but of the empress Eugénie and of the prince imperial, who is commemorated by a memorial cross on Chislehurst Common. The house and grounds are now occupied by a golf club. There are many villa residences in the neighbourhood of Chislehurst.
CHISWICK, an urban district in the Ealing parliamentary division of Middlesex, England, suburban to London, on the Thames, 7½ m. W. by S. of St Paul’s cathedral. Pop. (1901) 29,809. The locality is largely residential, but there are breweries, and the marine engineering works of Messrs Thornycroft on the river. Chiswick House, a seat of the duke of Devonshire, is surrounded by beautiful grounds; here died Fox (1806) and Canning (1827). The gardens near belonged till 1903 to the Royal Horticultural Society. The church of St Nicholas has ancient portions, and in the churchyard is the tomb of William Hogarth the painter, with commemorative lines by David Garrick. Hogarth’s house is close at hand. Chiswick Hall, no longer extant, was formerly a country seat for the masters and sanatorium for the scholars of Westminster school. Here in 1811 the Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham the elder, an eminent printer (d. 1840).
CHITA, a town of east Siberia, capital of Transbaikalia, on the Siberian railway, 500 m. E. of Irkutsk, on the Chita river, half a mile above its confluence with the Ingoda. Pop. (1883) 12,600; (1897) 11,480. The Imperial Russian Geographical Society has a museum here. Several of the palace revolutionaries, known as Decembrists, were banished to this place from St Petersburg in consequence of the conspiracy of December 1825. The inhabitants support themselves by agriculture and by trade in furs, cattle, hides and tallow bought from the Buriats, and in manufactured wares imported from Russia and west Siberia.