an instrument for the opening of locks. Molinus, in his treatise of keys, De clavibus veterum, printed at Upsal, derives the Latin name clavis from the Greek κλαμος, clamo, I shut, or from the adverb clam, privately; and adds, that the use of keys is yet unknown in some parts of Sweden. The invention of keys is due to one Theodore of Samos, according to Pliny and Polydore Virgil; but this must be a mistake, as the use of keys was known before the siege of Troy, whilst mention is even made of them in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis. Molinus is of opinion that keys at first served only for untying certain knots wherewith they ancienly secured their doors; but the Laconic keys, he maintains, were nearly akin in use to our own, consisting of three single teeth, and made in the figure of an E; a form of which there are still some to be seen in the cabinets of the curious. There was another key called Bakawaya, made in the manner of a male screw, which had its corresponding female in a bolt affixed to the door. Key has hence become a general name for several things serving to shut up or close others.
Key-stone, of an Arch or Vault, is the last stone placed on the top thereof, which, being wider and fuller at the top than bottom, wedges, as it were, and binds together all the rest. The key is different in the different orders. In the Tuscan and Doric it is only a plain stone projecting; in the Ionic it is cut and waved, somewhat after the manner of consoles; in the Corinthian and Composite it is a console enriched with sculpture, foliages, and other ornaments.
Key is also used for ecclesiastical jurisdiction, particularly for the power of excommunicating and absolving. The Romanists say the pope has the power of the keys, and can open and shut paradise as he pleases, grounding their opinion on that expression of Jesus Christ to St Peter, "I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." In St Gregory we read that it was the custom for the popes to send a golden key to princes, in which they enclosed a little of the filings of St Peter's chains, kept with a world of devotion at Rome; and that these keys were worn in the bosom, as being supposed to contain some wonderful virtues.
Music, a certain fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece, be it in cantata, sonata, or concerto, is accommodated, and with which it usually begins, but always ends.
Quay, a long wharf, usually built of stone, by the side of a harbour or river, and having several storehouses for the convenience of lading and discharging merchant ships. It is accordingly furnished with posts and rings, by which the latter are secured; together with cranes, capstans, and other engines, to lift the goods into or out of the vessels which lie alongside. The verb cojare, in old writers, according to Scaliger, signifies to keep in or restrain; and hence came our term key or quay, the ground where they are made being bound in with planks and posts.
KEY'S ISLES, three islands in the Eastern Seas, of considerable extent, and named Key Watchs, Little and Great Key Islands, the first forty-five and the second sixty miles in circumference, and the third fifty miles in length and from five to twelve in breadth. They are situated about the 133rd degree of east longitude and between the 5th and 6th degrees of north latitude.