one of the Seven Sages of Greece, and one of the ephori of Sparta, the place of his birth, flourished B.C. 590. He was accustomed to say that three things were very difficult—to keep a secret, to know how best to employ time, and to suffer injuries without murmuring. According to Pliny, it was he who caused the short sentence "Know thyself" to be inscribed in letters of gold on the temple of Delphi. It is said that he died of joy while embracing his son, who had been crowned as victor at the Olympic games. The institution of the ephorate has by some been ascribed erroneously to this sage.

**CHILTERN Hundreds**, a hilly district extending through part of Buckingham and Oxford shires. To this district is attached a nominal office in the gift of the crown, and the person holding it is called the Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. In former times the steward of these hundreds was an officer appointed by the crown to keep the peace there. As a member of the House of Commons cannot, strictly speaking, resign his seat, he may accomplish that object indirectly by accepting a nominal office under the crown, such as the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds.

**CHIMERA**, in *Grecian Fable*, a celebrated three-headed monster, sprung from Echidna and Typhon. The fore part of its body was that of a lion, the middle that of a goat, and the hinder part that of a dragon. It is generally depicted as vomiting forth flames; hence Horace—

This monster inhabited Lycia in the reign of Iobates, by whose orders Bellerophon, mounted on the horse Pegasus, overcame it.

The origin of the fable is most probably connected with the volcano of this name in Lycia, the summit of which was a desolate wilderness and the resort of lions; the middle fruitful and covered with goats; while the marshy ground at the bottom abounded with serpents. Bellerophon is said to have conquered the chimera because he destroyed the wild beasts on that mountain, and rendered it habitable. Plutarch refers it to some pirates who adorned their ships with the images of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. From this fable is derived the term *chimera* applied figuratively to any wild or incongruous fancy arising in the mind.