CEDAR 



CEILING 



duced into Britain is not exactly known. The dis- 

 tinction of introducing it is ascribed with most 

 evidence of accuracy to Evelyn, who in his Sylva 

 (published 1664) mentions having 'received cones 

 and seeds from the mountains of Libanus,' while 

 describing the beauties of the tree and speaking of 

 its probable adaptability to the English climate. 

 Aiton in Hortus Kewensis makes 1683 the , date 

 of planting the celebrated Chelsea cedars, which 

 are assumed by some to have been the first trees 

 planted in England. There are many fine speci- 

 mens of the Lebanon cedar in different parts of 

 Britain, notably at Sion House, Goodwood, and 

 Enfield in England, and at Hopetoun, Dalkeith, 

 and Beaufort in Scotland. 



The Deodar, or Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus Deo- 

 dar a), a tree held in great veneration by the 

 Hindus, and of which the name is properly Deva- 

 dara ('divine tree'), is common in the Himalaya 

 mountains at elevations of 7000 to 12,000 feet, 

 forming magnificent forests, and attaining a great 

 size, a height sometimes of 150 feet, with a trunk 

 30 feet or more in circumference, an ample head, 

 and spreading branches. It and the cedar of 

 Algiers (C. Atlantica or Africana), found in the 

 mountainous regions of the north of Africa, are 

 but sub-species or varieties of the Cedrus Libani. 

 The wood of the deodar is resinous, fragrant, com- 

 pact, and very durable. It is susceptible of a 

 nigh polish, and in its polished state has been 

 compared to brown agate. Owing to the abundance 

 of resin, laths of it burn like candles. Its turpen- 

 tine is very fluid, and although coarse, is much 

 used in India for medical purposes ; and tar and 

 pitch are obtained from the trunk. The deodar 

 lias now become very common as an ornamental 

 tree in Britain, although few specimens have yet 

 attained a very considerable size. The name 

 cedar is often given to other coniferous trees 

 besides the true cedars. Thus, the Siberian Stone 

 Pine, or Cembra Pine, is called the Siberian Cedar 

 (see PINE), and a species of fir (Abies religiosa) is 

 the Red Cedar of California ( see FIR ). A species 

 of Cypress (q.v.) is known as White Cedar, and 

 another as the Cedar of Goa. Several of the trees 

 which bear the name cedar are species of Juniper 

 {q.v. ), among which are the Virginian Cedar, or 

 Red Cedar of Nortli America, and the Bermuda 

 Cedar which yield the cedar- wood used for pencils 

 the Spanish Cedar of the south of Europe, &c. 

 The name cedar is even given to trees which have 

 no resemblance to the true cedars except in the 

 resinous quality of the wood ; thus the Cedar- wood 

 of Guiana is produced by Idea altissima, a tree of 

 the natural order Amyridaceae (q.v.); the cedar of 

 the West Indies (see next article) belongs to the 

 natural order Cedrelaceae ; and the name Bastard 

 Cedar is given in India to a tree of the natural order 

 Byttneriaceae (q.v.). 



Cedar, BARBADOES, is strictly speaking Juni- 

 perus barbadensis ; but a more important tree is 

 that called Bastard Barbadoes Cedar ( Cedrela 

 odorata), a tree of the order Cedrelacese (q.v.). 

 Its wood has an agreeable fragrance, and being 

 soft and light, it is used for canoes and for shingles. 

 Havannah cigar-boxes are very generally made of 

 it, and in France it is used in making black-lead 

 pencils. 



Cedar-foergen, a mountain-range in Cape 

 Colony, stretches north and south on the east side 

 of Olifant River Valley, in Clanwilliam division, 

 and has plantations of Cape cedar ( Widdringtonia 

 juniperoides), which are now, however, being fast 

 destroyed. This is the only locality where this 

 species is found. Sneeuwkop (6335 feet) is the 

 highest point of the range. 



Cedar Bird. See WAXWING. 



Cedar Creek is a river of Virginia, U.S., 

 which gives name to a battle fought 19th October 

 1862, when the Federals under Sheridan defeated 

 the Confederates under Early. 



Cedar Rapids, a town of Linn county, Iowa, 

 on the Red Cedar River, 79 miles SW. of Dubuque. 

 It is an important railway centre, and has several 

 large flour-mills, carriage and machine works, and 

 breweries. Pop. (1860) 1830; (1890) 18,020. 



Cedilla (Sp., Fr. cedille, It. zediglia ; from 

 zeta, the Greek name for z, because it has taken 

 the place of z in such words as leczon, mod. leqon, 

 a mark placed under the letter c (g ), especially in 

 French, where it is desired to give c the sound of 

 s before the vowels a, o, u. 



Cedrate. See CITRON. 



Cedrelaceae, a sub-order of Meliacese (q.v.), 

 all tropical or subtropical trees or shrubs, with pin- 

 nate leaves, mostly valuable for their timber e.g. 

 mahogany, satin-wood, toon, Barbadoes cedar, the 

 yellow-wood of New South Wales, &c. The barks 

 of some species are febrifugal. See MAHOGANY, 

 CEDAR ( BARBADOES ), &c. 



Cefalil, a town of Sicily, on the north coast, 

 40 miles ESE. of Palermo. It is situated at the 

 foot of a lofty promontory (1235 feet), with old 

 Greek and Saracenic remains. It has a cathedral, 

 a port, and 12,714 inhabitants, chiefly engaged in 

 marble-quarrying and fishing. 



Ceglie, a town in Southern Italy, 21 miles NE. 

 of Taranto. It has a trade in grain, oil, and fruit. 

 Pop. 13,865. 



Ceiling ( Fr. del ; Lat. ccelum, ' heaven ' ). This 

 term seems to have been suggested by the use of 

 arched coverings for churches, and even for rooms, 

 which prevailed in the middle ages, and were 

 frequently painted blue and decorated with stars. 

 Arched ceilings among the Romans were known 

 by the name of camerce, and were formed by semi- 

 circular beams of wood, at small distances from 

 each other, over which was placed a coating of 

 lath and plaster. But the ceilings most commonly 

 in use amongst the Romans were flat, the beams, 

 as in modern times, having been at first visible, 

 and afterwards covered with planks and plaster. 

 Sometimes hollow spaces were left between the 

 beams, which were frequently covered with gold 

 and ivory, or paintings or ' paterge ' large flowers 

 such, for instance, as are used in the panels of 

 the vault of the Pantheon. The oldest flat 

 ceiling in existence is believed to be that of Peter- 

 borough Cathedral. Like that at St Albans Abbey, 

 it is made of wood. Ceilings of churches in the 

 middle ages were generally painted and gilded 

 in the most brilliant manner ; and many existing 

 ceilings still exhibit the traces of early decoration 

 of this kind. In French churches the ceilings are 

 generally vaulted, but in England they are more 

 usually of wood. The older ceilings generally 

 follow the line of the timbers of the roof, which, 

 in the Early English and Decorated, are often 

 arranged so as to give the shape of a barrel vault. 

 In ceilings of this description there seldom are 

 many ribs, often only a single one along the top. 

 In the Perpendicular style, the ceiling often con- 

 sists of a series of flat surfaces or cants, formed on 

 the timbers of the roof. Though sometimes alto- 

 gether destitute of ornament, they are more fre- 

 quently enriched with ribs, dividing them into 

 square panels, with bosses (see Boss) or flowers at 

 the intersections. Wooden ceilings are sometimes 

 formed in imitation of stone-groining, with ribs 

 and bosses, examples of which will be found at 

 York, Winchester, and Lincoln. In the Eliza- 

 bethan age ceilings were generally of plaster, but 

 they were ornamented with ribs having bosses or 



