[1] Holyoake, _History of Co-operation_ (1906 edition), i. 34.
COOPERSTOWN, a village and the county-seat of Otsego county, New York,
U.S.A., where the Susquehanna river emerges from Otsego Lake; about 92
m. (by rail) W. of Albany. Pop. (1890) 2657; (1900) 2368; (1905) 2446;
(1910) 2484. It is served by the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley railway
(owned and controlled by the Delaware & Hudson), and is on the line of
the Oneonta & Mohawk Valley electric railway. The village lies in the
midst of a hop-growing and dairying region, and has cheese factories and
creameries. It has a public library, Thanksgiving hospital, a Y.M.C.A.
hall, and the Diocesan orphanage (Protestant Episcopal). Cooperstown is
a summer resort, Otsego Lake (9 m. long and with an average width of
about 1 m.), the "Glimmerglass" of Cooper's novels, being one of the
most picturesque of the New York lakes. Cooperstown occupies the site of
an old Indian town. In 1785 the site became the property of Judge
William Cooper, who in the following year founded there a village which
took his name and was incorporated in 1807. Judge Cooper himself settled
here with his family in 1790. His son, James Fenimore Cooper, who lived
here for many years and is buried in the Episcopal cemetery here, made
the region famous in his novels.
See J. Fenimore Cooper, _The Chronicles of Cooperstown_ (Cooperstown,
1838).
COOPER UNION, a unique educational and charitable institution "for the
advancement of science and art" in New York city. It is housed in a
brownstone building in Astor Place, between 3rd and 4th Avenues
immediately N. of the Bowery, and was founded in 1857-1859 by Peter
Cooper, and chartered in 1859. In a letter to the trustees accompanying
the trust-deed to the property, Cooper said that he wished the endowment
to be "for ever devoted to the advancement of science and art, in their
application to the varied and useful purposes of life"; provided for a
reading-room, a school of art for women, and an office in the Union,
"where persons may apply ... for the services of young men and women of
known character and qualifications to fill the various situations";
expressed the desire that students have monthly meetings held in due
form, "as I believe it to be a very important part of the education of an
American citizen to know how to preside with propriety over a
deliberative assembly"; urged lectures and debates exclusive of
theological and party questions; and required that no religious test
should ever be made for admission to the Union. Cooper's most efficient
assistant in the Union was Abram S. Hewitt. In 1900 Andrew Carnegie put
the finances of the Union on a sure footing by gifts aggregating
$600,000. For the year 1907 its revenue was $161,228 (including
extraordinary receipts of $25,565, from bequests, &c.), its expenditures
$161,390; at the same time its assets were $3,870,520, of which
$1,070,877 was general endowment, building and equipment, and $2,797,728
was special endowments ($205,000 being various endowments by Peter
Cooper; $340,000, the William Cooper Foundation; $600,000, the
Cooper-Hewitt Foundation; $391,656, the John Halstead Bequest; $217,820,
the Hewitt Memorial Endowment). The work has been very successful, the
instruction is excellent, and the interest of the pupils is eager. All
courses are free. The reading-room and library contain full files of
current journals and magazines; the library has the rare complete old and
new series of patent office reports, and in 1907 had 45,760 volumes; in
the same year there were 578,582 readers. There is an excellent museum
for the arts of decoration. Apart from valuable lecture courses, the
principal departments of the Union, with their attendance in 1907, were:
a night school of science--a five-year course in general science (667)
and in chemistry (154), a three-year course in electricity (114), and a
night school of art (1333); a day school of technical science--four years
in civil, mechanical or electrical engineering--(237); a woman's art
school (282); a school of stenography and typewriting for women (55); a
school of telegraphy for women (31); a class in elocution (96); and
classes in oratory and debate (146). During the year 2505 was the highest
number in attendance at any time, and then 3000 were on the waiting list.
In the great hall of the Union free lectures for the people are given
throughout the winter; one course, the Hewitt lectures, in co-operation
with Columbia University, "of a very high grade, corresponding more
nearly to those given by the Lowell Institute in Boston"; six (in 1907)
courses in co-operation with the Board of Education of New York city,
which, upon Mayor Hewitt's suggestion, made an appropriation for this
work in 1887-1888, and extended such lecture courses to different parts
of the city, all under the direction (after 1890) of Henry M. Leipziger
(b. 1854), and several courses dealing especially with social and
political subjects, and including, besides lectures and recitals, public
meetings for the discussion of current problems.
CO-OPTATION (from Lat. _co-optare_; less correctly "co-option"), the
election to vacancies on a legislative, administrative or other body by
the votes of the existing members of the body, instead of by an outside
constituency. Such bodies may be purely co-optative, as the Royal
Academy, or may be elective with power to add to the numbers by
co-optation, as municipal corporations in England.
COORG (an anglicized corruption of _Kodagu_, said to be derived from the
Kanarese _Kudu_, "steep," "hilly"), a province of India, administered by
a commissioner, subordinate to the governor-general through the resident
of Mysore, who is officially also chief commissioner of Coorg. It lies
in the south of the peninsula, on the plateau of the Western Ghats,
sloping inland towards Mysore. It is an attractive field of coffee
cultivation, though the greater part is still under forest, but the
prosperity of the industry has declined since 1891. The administrative
headquarters are at Mercara (pop. 6732). Coorg is the smallest province
in India, its area being only 1582 sq. m. Of this amount about 1000 sq.
m. consist of ghat, reserved and other forests. Coorg was constituted a
province not on account of its size, but on account of its isolation. It
lies at the top of the Western Ghats, and is cut off by them from easy
communication with the British districts of South Kanara and Malabar,
which form its western and southern boundaries, while on its other sides
it is surrounded by the native state of Mysore. It is a mountainous
district, presenting throughout a series of wooded hills and deep
valleys; the lowest elevations are 3000 ft. above sea-level. The
loftiest peak, Tadiandamol, has an altitude of 5729 ft.; Pushpagiri,
another peak, is 5626 ft. high. The principal river is the Cauvery,
which rises on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its
tributaries drains the greater part of Coorg. Besides these there are
several large streams that take their rise in Coorg. In the rainy
season, which lasts during the continuance of the southwest monsoon, or
from June to the end of September, the rivers flow with violence and
great rapidity. In July and August the rainfall is excessive, and the
month of November is often showery. The yearly rainfall may exceed 160
in.; in the dense jungle tract it reaches from 120 to 150; in the bamboo
district in the west from 60 to 100 in. The climate, though humid, is on
the whole healthy; it is believed to have been rendered hotter and drier
by the clearing of forest land. Coorg has an average temperature of
about 60 deg. F., the extremes being 52 deg. and 82 deg.. The hottest
season is in April and May. In the direction of Mysore the whole country
is thickly wooded; but to the westward the forests are more open. The
flora of the jungle includes _Michelia_ (Chumpak), _Mesua_ (Ironwood),
_Diospyros_ (Ebony and other species), _Cedrela toona_ (White cedar),
_Chickrassia tubularis_ (Red cedar), _Calophyllum angustifolium_ (Poon
spar), _Canarium strictum_ (Black Dammar tree), _Artocarpus_,
_Dipterocarpus_, _Garcinia_, _Euonymus_, _Cinnamomum iners_,
_Myristica_, _Vaccinium_, _Myrtaceae_, _Melastomaceae_, _Rubus_ (three
species), and a rose. In the undergrowth are found cardamom, areca,
plantain, canes, wild pepper, tree and other ferns, and arums. In the
forest of the less thickly-wooded bamboo country in the west of Coorg
the trees most common are the _Dalbergia latifolia_ (Black wood),
_Pterocarpus marsupium_ (Kino tree), _Terminalia coriacea_ (Mutti),
_Lagerstromia parviflora_ (Benteak), _Conocarpus lalifolius_ (Dindul),
_Bassia latifolia_, _Butea frondosa_, _Nauclea parviflora_, and several
acacias, with which, in the eastern part of the district, teak and
sandalwood occur. Among the fauna may be mentioned the elephant, tiger,
tiger-cat, cheetah or hunting leopard, wild dog, elk, bison, wild boar,
several species of deer, hares, monkeys, the buceros and various other
birds, the cobra di capello, and a few alligators. The most interesting
antiquities of Coorg are the earth redoubts or war-trenches
(_kadangas_), which are from 15 to 25 ft. high, and provided with a
ditch 10 ft. deep by 8 or 10 ft. wide. Their linear extent is reckoned
at between 500 and 600 m. They are mentioned in inscriptions of the 9th
and 10th centuries. The exports of Coorg are mainly rice, coffee and
cardamoms; and the only important manufacture is a kind of coarse
blanket. Fruits of many descriptions, especially oranges, are produced
in abundance, and are of excellent quality.
In 1901 the population was 180,607, showing an increase of 4.4% in the
decade. Of the various tribes inhabiting Coorg, the Coorgs proper, or
Kodagas, and the Yeravas, or Eravas, both special to the country, are
the most numerous. The Kodagas (36,091) are a light-coloured race of
unknown origin. They constitute a highland clan, free from the trammels
of caste, and they have the manly bearing and independent spirit natural
in men who have been from time immemorial the lords of the soil. Their
religion consists of ancestor- and demon-worship, with a certain
admixture of Brahman cults. The men are by tradition warriors and
hunters, and while they will plough the fields and reap the rice, they
leave all menial work to the women and servants. They speak Kodagu, a
dialect of Hala Kannada or old Kanarese, midway between that and
Malay[=a]lam. It has been asserted that the institution of polyandry was
prevalent among them, according to which the brothers of a family had
their wives in common. But if this institution ever existed it no longer
does so. The Yeravas (14,586) are a race of an altogether inferior type,
dark-skinned and thick-lipped, resembling the Australian aborigines who
possibly, according to one theory, may have sprung from the same
Dravidian stock (see AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINES). Though now nominally free,
they were, before the establishment of British rule, the hereditary
praedial slaves of the Kodagas. Some of them live a primitive life in
the jungle, but the majority earn a livelihood as coolies. They are
demon-worshippers, their favourite deity being Karingali (black Kali).
Their language, a dialect of Malay[=a]lam, is peculiar to them. Among
the other tribes or castes special to Coorg are the Heggades (1503 in
1901), cultivators from Malabar; the Ayiri (898), who constitute the
artisan caste; the Medas (584), who are basket-and mat-makers, and act
as drummers at feasts; the Binepatta (98), originally wandering
musicians from Malabar, now agriculturists; the Kavadi (49), cultivators
from Yeden[=a]lkn[=a]d; all these speak the Coorg language, wear the
Coorg dress, and conform, more or less, to Coorg customs. Other tribes
are not special to Coorg. Of these the Holeyas (27,000) are the most
numerous. They are divided into four sections: Badagas from Mysore,
Kembattis and M[=a]ringis from Malabar, Kukkas from S. Kanara. They were
formerly the slaves of the Kodagas and now act as their menials. The
Lingayats (8700) are rather a religious sect than a tribe. Of the Tulu
(farmer) class the Gaudas (11,900), who live principally along the
western boundary, are the most important; they speak Tulu and wear the
Coorg dress. Other castes and tribes are the Tiyas (1500) and Nayars
(1400), immigrants from Malay[=a]lam; the Vellala (1300), who are
Tamils; the Mahrattas (2400) and Brahmans (1100). Of the Mussulmans the
most numerous are the Moplahs (6700) and the Shaikhs (4400), both
chiefly traders. Of native Christians there are upwards of 3000. The
official language of Coorg, which is that spoken by 45% of the
population, is Kanarese (Kannada), the Coorg language (Kodagu) coming
next. The Coorg dress is very picturesque, its characteristics being a
long coat (Kupasa), of dark-coloured cloth, reaching below the knees,
folded across and confined at the waist by a red or blue girdle. The
sleeves are cut off below the elbow, showing the arms of a white shirt.
The head-dress is a red kerchief, or a peculiar large, flat turban,
covering the back of the neck. The Coorg also carries a short knife,
with an ivory or silver hilt, fastened with silver chains and stuck into
the girdle. A large, broad-bladed waist knife, akin to the _kukri_ of
the Gurkhas, worn at the back, point upwards, was formerly a formidable
weapon in hand-to-hand fighting, but is now used only for exhibitions of
strength and skill on festive occasions.
The chief crops are rice and coffee. Some abandoned coffee land has been
planted with tea as an experiment. The cultivation of cinchona has
proved unprofitable. There is no railway. There are no colleges, but
twenty-four scholarships are given to maintain Coorg students at
colleges in Madras and Mysore. There are secondary schools at Mercara
and Virarajendrapet.
The early accounts of Coorg are purely legendary, and it was not till
the 9th and 10th centuries that its history became the subject of
authentic record. At this period, according to inscriptions, the country
was ruled by the Gangas of Talak[=a]d, under whom the Changalvas, kings
of Changa-n[=a]d, styled later kings of Nanjarayapatna or
Nanjarajapatna, held the east and part of the north of Coorg, together
with the Hunsur _tal[=u]k_ in Mysore. After the overthrow, in the 11th
century, of the Ganga power by the Cholas, the Changalvas became
tributary to the latter. When the Cholas in their turn were driven from
the Mysore country by the Hoysalas, in the 12th century, the Changalvas
held out for independence; but after a severe struggle they were subdued
and became vassals of the Hoysala kings. In the 14th century, after the
fall of the Hoysala rule, they passed under the supremacy of the
Vijayanagar empire. During this period, at the beginning of the 16th
century, Nanja Raja founded the new Changalva capital Nanjarajapatna. In
1589 Piriya Raja or Rudragana rebuilt Singapatna and renamed it
Piriyapatna (Periapatam). The power of the Vijayanagar empire had,
however, been broken in 1565 by the Mahommedans; in 1610 the Vijayanagar
viceroy of Seringapatam was ousted by the raja of Mysore, who in 1644
captured Piriyapatna. Vira Raja, the last of the Changalva kings, fell
in the defence of his capital, after putting to death his wives and
children.
Coorg, however, was not absorbed in Mysore, which was hard pressed by
other enemies, and a prince of the Ikkeri or Bednur family (perhaps
related to the Changalvas) succeeded in bringing the whole country under
his sway, his descendants continuing to be rajas of Coorg till 1834. The
capital was removed in 1681 by Muddu Raja to Madikeri or Mercara. In
1770 a disputed succession led to the intervention of Hyder Ali of
Mysore in favour of Linga Raja, who had fled to him for help, and whom
he placed on the throne on his consenting to cede certain territories
and to pay tribute. On Linga Raja's death in 1780 Hyder Ali interned his
sons, who were minors, in a fort in Mysore, and, under pretence of
acting as their guardian, installed a Brahman governor at Mercara with a
Mussulman garrison. In 1782, however, the Coorgs rose in rebellion and
drove out the Mahommedans. Two years later Tippoo Sultan reduced the
country; but the Coorgs having again rebelled in 1785 he vowed their
destruction. Having secured some 70,000 of them by treachery, he drove
them to Seringapatam, where he had them circumcised by force. Coorg was
partitioned among Mussulman proprietors, and held down by garrisons in
four forts. In 1788, however, Vira Raja (or Vira Rajendra Wodeyar), with
his wife and his brothers Linga Raja and Appaji, succeeded in escaping
from his captivity, at Periapatam and, placing himself at the head of a
Coorg rebellion, succeeded in driving the forces of Tippoo out of the
country. The British, who were about to enter on the struggle with
Tippoo, now made a treaty with Vira Raja; and during the war that
followed the Coorgs proved invaluable allies. By the treaty of peace
Coorg, though not adjacent to the East India Company's territories, was
included in the cessions forced upon Tippoo. On the spot where he had
first met the British commander, General Abercromby, the raja founded
the city of Virarajendrapet.
Vira Raja, who, in consequence of his mind becoming unhinged, was guilty
towards the end of his reign of hideous atrocities, died in 1809 without
male heirs, leaving his favourite daughter Devamm[=a]ji as rani. His
brother Linga Raja, however, after acting as regent for his niece,
announced in 1811 his own assumption of the government. He died in 1820,
and was succeeded by his son Vira Raja, a youth of twenty, and a monster
of sensuality and cruelty. Among his victims were all the members of the
families of his predecessors, including Devamm[=a]ji. At last, in 1832,
evidence of treasonable designs on the raja's part led to inquiries on
the spot by the British resident at Mysore, as the result of which, and
of the raja's refusal to amend his ways, a British force marched into
Coorg in 1834. On the 11th of April the raja was deposed by Colonel
Fraser, the political agent with the force, and on the 7th of May the
state was formally annexed to the East India Company's territory. In
1852 the raja, who had been deported to Vellore, obtained leave to visit
England with his favourite daughter Gauramma, to whom he wished to give
a European education. On the 30th of June she was baptized, Queen
Victoria being one of her sponsors; she afterwards married a British
officer who, after her death in 1864, mysteriously disappeared together
with their child. Vira Raja himself died in 1863, and was buried in
Kensal Green cemetery.
The so-called Coorg rebellion of 1837 was really a rising of the Gaudas,
due to the grievance felt in having to pay taxes in money instead of in
kind. A man named Virappa, who pretended to have escaped from the
massacre of 1820, tried to take advantage of this to assert his claim to
be raja, but the Coorgs remained loyal to the British and the attempt
failed. In 1861, after the Mutiny, the loyalty of the Coorgs was
rewarded by their being exempted from the Disarmament Act.
See "The Coorgs and Yeravas," by T. H. Holland in the _Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. lxx. part iii. No. 2 (1901); Rev. G.
Richter, _Castes and Tribes found in the Province of Coorg_
(Bangalore, 1887); _Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, 1908), vol.
xi. s.v., where, besides an admirable account of the country and its
inhabitants, the history of Coorg is dealt with in some detail.
COORNHERT, DIRCK VOLCKERTSZOON (1522-1590), Dutch politician and
theologian, youngest son of Volckert Coornhert, cloth merchant, was born
at Amsterdam in 1522. As a child he spent some years in Spain and
Portugal. Returning home, he was disinherited by his father's will, for
his marriage with Cornelia (Neeltje) Simons, a portionless gentlewoman.
He took for a time the post of major-domo to Reginald (Reinoud), count
of Brederode. Soon he settled in Haarlem, as engraver on copper, and
produced works which retain high values. Learning Latin, he published
Dutch translations from Cicero, Seneca and Boetius. He was appointed
secretary to the city (1562) and secretary to the burgomasters (1564).
Throwing himself into the struggle with Spanish rule, he drew up the
manifesto of William of Orange (1566). Imprisoned at the Hague (1568),
he escaped to Cleves, where he maintained himself by his art. Recalled
in 1572, he was secretary of state for a short time; his aversion to
military violence led him to return to Cleves, where William continued
to employ his services and his pen. As a religious man, he wrote and
strove in favour of tolerance, being decidedly against capital
punishment for heretics. He had no party views; the Heidelberg
catechism, authoritative in Holland, he criticized. The great Arminius,
employed to refute him, was won over by his arguments. He died at Gouda
on the 29th of October 1590. His Dutch version of the New Testament,
following the Latin of Erasmus, was never completed. His works, in prose
and verse, were published in 1630, 3 vols.
See F. D. J. Moorrees, _Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert_ (1887); N.
Delvenne, _Biog. des Pays-Bas_ (1829); A. J. van der Aa, _Biog.
Woordenboek der Nederlanden_ (1855). (A. Go.*)
COOT, a well-known water-fowl, the _Fulica atra_ of Linnaeus, belonging
to the family _Rallidae_ or rails. The word coot, in some parts of
England pronounced cute, or scute, is of uncertain origin, but perhaps
cognate with scout and scoter--both names of aquatic birds--a
possibility which seems to be more likely since the name "macreuse," by
which the coot is known in the south of France, being in the north of
that country applied to the scoter (_Oedemia nigra_) shows that, though
belonging to very different families, there is in popular estimation
some connexion between the two birds.[1] The Latin _Fulica_ (in polite
French, _Foulque_) is probably allied to _fuligo_, and has reference to
the bird's dark colour.[2] The coot breeds abundantly in many of the
larger inland waters of the northern parts of the Old World, in winter
commonly resorting, and often in great numbers, to the mouth of rivers
or shallow bays of the sea, where it becomes a general object of pursuit
by gunners whether for sport or gain. At other times of the year it is
comparatively unmolested, and being very prolific its abundance is
easily understood. The nest is a large mass of flags, reeds or sedge,
piled together among rushes in the water or on the margin, and not
unfrequently contains as many as ten eggs. The young, when first
hatched, are beautiful little creatures, clothed in jet-black down, with
their heads of a bright orange-scarlet, varied with purplish-blue. This
brilliant colouring is soon lost, and they begin to assume the almost
uniform sooty-black plumage which is worn for the rest of their life;
but a characteristic of the adult is a bare patch or callosity on the
forehead, which being nearly white gives rise to the epithet "bald"
often prefixed to the bird's name. The coot is about 18 in. in length,
and will sometimes weigh over 2 lb. Though its wings appear to be short
in proportion to its size, and it seems to rise with difficulty from the
water, it is capable of long-sustained and rather rapid flight, which is
performed with the legs stretched out behind the stumpy tail. It swims
buoyantly, and looks a much larger bird in the water than it really is.
It dives with ease, and when wounded is said frequently to clutch the
weeds at the bottom with a grasp so firm as not even to be loosened by
death. It does not often come on dry land, but when there, marches
leisurely and not without a certain degree of grace. The feet of the
coot are very remarkable, the toes being fringed by a lobed membrane,
which must be of considerable assistance in swimming as well as in
walking over the ooze--acting as they do like mud-boards.
In England the sport of coot-shooting is pursued to some extent on the
broads and back-waters of the eastern counties--in Southampton Water and
Christchurch Bay--and is often conducted battue-fashion by a number of
guns. But even in these cases the numbers killed in a day seldom reach
more than a few hundreds, and come very short of those that fall in the
officially-organized _chasses_ of the lakes near the coast of Languedoc
and Provence, of which an excellent description is given by the Vicomte
Louis de Dax (_Nouveaux Souvenirs de chasse_, &c., pp. 53-65; Paris,
1860). The flesh of the coot is very variously regarded as food. To
prepare the bird for the table, the feathers should be stripped, and the
down, which is very close, thick and hard to pluck, be rubbed with
powdered resin; the body is then to be dipped in boiling water, which
dissolving the resin causes it to mix with the down, and then both can
be removed together with tolerable ease. After this the bird should be
left to soak for the night in cold spring-water, which will make it look
as white and delicate as a chicken. Without this process the skin after
roasting is found to be very oily, with a fishy flavour, and if the skin
be taken off the flesh becomes dry and good for nothing (Hawker's
_Instructions to Young Sportsmen_; Hele's _Notes about Aldeburgh_).
The coot is found throughout the Palaearctic region from Iceland to
Japan, and in most other parts of the world is represented by nearly
allied species, having almost the same habits. An African species (_F.
cristata_), easily distinguished by two red knobs on its forehead, is of
rare appearance in the south of Europe. The Australian and North
American species (_F. australis_ and _F. americana_) have very great
resemblance to the English bird; but in South America half-a-dozen or
more additional species are found which range to Patagonia, and vary
much in size, one (_F. gigantea_) being of considerable magnitude. The
remains of a very large species (_F. newtoni_) were discovered in
Mauritius, where it must have been a contemporary of the dodo, but like
that bird is now extinct. (A. N.)