Kalmia
(||Kal"mi*a) n. [NL. Named in honor of Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist.] (Bot.) A genus of
North American shrubs with poisonous evergreen foliage and corymbs of showy flowers. Called also
mountain laurel, ivy bush, lamb kill, calico bush, etc.
Kalmuck
(Kal"muck) n.
1. pl. (Ethnol.) See Calmucks.
2. A kind of shaggy cloth, resembling bearskin.
3. A coarse, dyed, cotton cloth, made in Prussia.
Kalong
(Ka*long") n. (Zoöl.) A fruit bat, esp. the Indian edible fruit bat (Pteropus edulis).
Kaloyer
(Ka*loy"er) n. See Caloyer.
Kalpa
(||Kal"pa) n. [Skr.] (Hind. Myth.) One of the Brahmanic eons, a period of 4,320,000,000 years.
At the end of each Kalpa the world is annihilated.
Kalsomine
(Kal"so*mine) n. & v. t. Same as Calcimine.
Kam
(Kam) a. [From Celtic; cf. Gael., Ir., & W. cam. Cf. Jamb, n.] Crooked; awry. [Obs.] "This is
clean kam." Shak.
Kama
(||Ka"ma) n. [Skr. kama love, the god of love.] The Hindoo Cupid. He is represented as a
beautiful youth, with a bow of sugar cane or flowers.
Kamala
(Ka*ma"la) n. (Bot.) The red dusty hairs of the capsules of an East Indian tree (Mallotus Philippinensis)
used for dyeing silk. It is violently emetic, and is used in the treatment of tapeworm. [Written also kameela.]
Kame
(Kame) n. A low ridge. [Scot.] See Eschar.
Kami
(||Ka"mi) n. pl. [Japanese.] A title given to the celestial gods of the first mythical dynasty of Japan
and extended to the demigods of the second dynasty, and then to the long line of spiritual princes still
represented by the mikado.
Kamichi
(Ka"mi*chi) n. (Zoöl.) A curious South American bird (Anhima, or Palamedea, cornuta), often
domesticated by the natives and kept with poultry, which it defends against birds of prey. It has a long,
slender, hornlike ornament on its head, and two sharp spurs on each wing. Although its beak, feet,
and legs resemble those of gallinaceous birds, it is related in anatomical characters to the ducks and
geese Called also horned screamer. The name is sometimes applied also to the chaja. See Chaja,
and Screamer.
Kamptulicon
(Kamp*tu"li*con) n. [Gr. to bend + material, fr. wood, matter.] A kind of elastic floor cloth,
made of India rubber, gutta-percha, linseed oil, and powdered cork.
Kampylite
(Kam"py*lite) n. [Gr. bent, curved, fr. to bend.] (Min.) A variety of mimetite or arseniate of
lead in hexagonal prisms of a fine orange yellow. [Written also campylite.]
Kamsin
(Kam*sin", Kham*sin") n. [Ar. khamsin, fr. khamsun, oblique case khamsin, fifty; — so called
because it blows for about fifty days, from April till June.] A hot southwesterly wind in Egypt, coming
from the Sahara. [Written also Khamseen.]
Kamtschadales
(Kam"tscha*dales) n. pl. (Ethnol.) An aboriginal tribe inhabiting the southern part of
Kamtschatka.
