CRA 



CRI 



cotyledons in their seeds; mono-cotyle- 

 donous, or those which have only one; 

 and a-cotyledonous, or those which have 

 none. 



COUCH. The heap of moist barley, 

 about 16 inches deep, on the malt-floor. 



COU'MARIN. A neutral substance, 

 extracted from the tonka bean, the fruit 

 of the Coumarouna odorata, and the 

 flowers of the melitot. 



COU'NTERPOINT {contra punctum, 

 point against point). A term in Music, 

 synonymous with harmony, and derived 

 from the old method of placing the stem- 

 less points, or notes, against or over one 

 another, in compositions of two or more 

 parts. 



COURONNE DE TASSES. Lite- 

 rally, a crown or circle of cups. An ap- 

 paratus employed in voltaic electricity, 

 consisting of a circle of cups containing 

 salt water, and connected together by 

 compound metallic arcs of copper and 

 zinc. 



COU'ZERANITE. A mineral found 

 in limestone, in the deep defiles of Sa- 

 leix called des Couzerans. 



CRA'CID^ {crax, a curassow). The 

 Curassows ; a group of the Rasores, or 

 Scratching birds, the legs of which are 

 unarmed with spurs, and the hind toe 

 so much developed, as to give them con- 

 siderable power in perching. 



CRAG. A provincial term in Norfolk 

 and Suffolk for certain tertiary deposits 

 usually composed of sand with shells, 

 belonging to the older pliocene period. 



CRANIO'SCOPY (/cpavi'ov, the skull, 

 o-KOTreb), to investigate). An investiga- 

 tion of the skull. Dr. Prichard has cha- 

 racterized the primitive forms of the 

 skull according to the width of the 

 bregma, or space between the parietal 

 bones: hence — 



1. The steno-hregmate (orrei/o?, narrow), 

 or jEthiopian variety. 



2. The meso-bregmate {/jlco-o^, middle), 

 or Caucasian variety. 



3. The platy-bregmate {nXoM-ii?, broad), 

 or Mongolian variety. 



CRANK. A mechanical contrivance 

 for converting a revolving into an alter- 

 nate motion. 



CRASS ULA'CE^. The House-leek 

 tribe of Dicotyledonous plants, named 

 from the gertus crassula. Succulent herbs 

 or shrubs, with %hovry flowers usually in 

 cymes, sepals from 3 to 20, petals distinct 

 or cohering, stamens inserted with the 

 petals, fruit of several follicles, opening 

 on their face. 



CRATER {crater, a large cup or bowl). 

 The circular cavity at the summit of a 

 volcano, from which the volcanic matters 

 are ejected. Besides the craters of erup- 

 tion, more extensive craters are supposed 

 to have been formed by the elevation of 

 the ground previous to volcanic erup- 

 tions, and are therefore called craters of 

 elevation. 



CRATER (in Astronomy). The Cup, 

 a southern constellation consisting of 

 thirty-one stars. 



CREMOCA'RPIUM (Kpejuaw, to sus- 

 pend, Kapiro^, fruit). In Botany, a com- 

 pound fruit, 2-5-celled, inferior ; cells 

 1-seeded, indehiscent, dry, perfectly close 

 at all times ; when ripe, separating and 

 hanging from a common axis. Mirbel 

 restricts the term to the fruit of Um- 

 belliferae. See Polakenium. 



CRENA'TED {crena, a notch or slit). 

 A term applied to shells, which present 

 small indentations, generally of a sharp 

 and regular form, frequently observed on 

 the outer lip of spiral shells, particularly 

 on many of the typical mitres. A leaf is 

 said to be crenelled, when its margin has 

 rounded toothings or teeth. 



CRE'OSOTE (Kpeas, flesh, o-w^w. to 

 preserve). Kreasote. An oily, colour- 

 less, transparent liquid, discovered first 

 in pyroligneous acid, and subsequently 

 in the different kinds of tar. Its name 

 is derived from its preventing the putre- 

 faction of meat or fish, when dipped in it. 



CREPITATION {crepito, to crackle). 

 The crackling noise occasioned by press- 

 ing cellular membrane which contains 

 air ; also the sound emitted by certain 

 salts during calcination. 



CREPU'SCULARIA(crepM5CM/Mm, the 

 twilight). The twilight-moths, or Hawk- 

 moths ; a tribe of Lepidopterous insects, 

 corresponding with the Linnaean genus 

 Sphinx, and named from their general 

 habit of flying only in twilight. 



CRETA'CEOUS SYSTEM {creia, 

 chalk). A geological series of rocks, in 

 which calcareous matter forms the pre- 

 dominating mass, to which the flints and 

 other extraneous minerals are subordi- 

 nate. Part of it seems to have been de- 

 posited in a sea of considerable depth, 

 and all of it is marine. In a general sense, 

 it is distinguished into the Green Sand 

 and the Chalk Formations. 



CRI'CHTONITE. A mineral found 

 associated with anatase, and on rock 

 crystal, in Dauphiny. 



CRINOI'DEA {Kplvov, a lily, ei3or, 

 like). A term applied to a tribe of 



