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ogium Phoenix Triangulum australe *Centaurus *Hydra Pictor Vela *Cetus Hydrus (Equuleus Volans Chameleon Indus pictoris) (Piscis volans) Circinus Lepus Piscis australis (C. E.*) FOOTNOTE: [1] The historical development of star-catalogues in general, regarded as statistics of the co-ordinates, &c., of stars, is given in the historical section of the article Astronomy. See also E. B. Knobel, "Chronology of Star Catalogues," _Mem. R.A.S._ (1877). CONSTIPATION (from Lat. _constipare_, to press closely together, whence also the adjective "costive"), the condition of body when the faeces are unduly retained, or there is difficulty in evacuation, tightness of the bowels (see Digestive Organs; and Therapeutics). It may be due to constitutional peculiarities, sedentary or irregular habits, improper diet, &c. The treatment varies with individual cases, according to the cause at work, laxatives, dieting, massage, &c., being prescribed. CONSTITUENCY (from "constituent," that which forms a necessary part of a thing; Lat. _constituere_, to create), a political term for the body of electors who choose a representative for parliament or for any other public assembly, for the place or district possessing the right to elect a representative, and for the residents generally, apart from their voting powers, in such a locality. The term is also applied, in a transferred sense, to the readers of a particular newspaper, the customers of a business and the like. CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. The word constitution (_constitutio_) in the time of the Roman empire signified a collection of laws or ordinances made by the emperor. We find the word used in the same sense in the early history of English law, _e.g._ the Constitutions of Clarendon. In its modern use constitution has been restricted to those rules which concern the political structure of society. If we take the accepted definition of a law as a command imposed by a sovereign on the subject, the constitution would consist of the rules which point out where the sovereign is to be found, the form in which his powers are exercised, and the relations of the different members of the sovereign body to each other where it consists of more persons than
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