158 



CHERIBON 



CHERT 



Revue des Deux Mondes as did also L'Art et la 

 Nature (1892) under the name of 'G. Valbert.' See 

 Saintsbury, Essays on French Novelists (1891). 



Cheriboil, a seaport of Java, on the north 

 coast, 125 miles ESE. of Batavia. It has a con- 

 siderable trade in coffee, indigo, and teak- wood, and 

 is the residence of a Dutch governor. Pop. 11,000. 



Cherimoya* or CHIRIMOYA (Anona cheri- 

 molia), the most esteemed fruit of Brazil and Peru, 

 now common, and even naturalised in some parts of 

 the East Indies, and other tropical countries of the 

 Old World. It is a fruit of most delicious flavour, 

 is sometimes described as the finest of all fruits, 

 and sometimes as inferior only to the mangosteen. 

 Both flowers and fruit emit a pleasant fragrance, 

 but when the tree is covered with blossom the 

 odour is almost overpowering. The fruit varies 

 from the size of an orange to 16 Ib. or upwards in 

 weight. See CUSTAED-APPLE. 



Cherkask. See TCHERKASK. 



Chernigov. See TCHERNIGOFF. 



Cherokees, one of the most civilised of the 

 American Indian tribes, of the Appalachian stock, 

 and formerly the owners of a wide tract of country 

 on either side of the southern Appalachian Moun- 

 tains. In 1838 the great majority of the tribe 

 were deported from Georgia to west of the Missis- 

 sippi, and now they occupy the north-east angle of 

 Indian Territory ( q. v. ; and for the Cherokee Outlet, 

 bought by government and thrown open to settle- 

 ment in 1893, see OKLAHOMA). The Cherokees 

 have a syllabic alphabet of eighty-five characters, 

 invented in 1826 by George Guess or Sequoyah, a 

 half-breed. They number about 17,000. 



Cheroots. See TOBACCO. 



Cherry (Cerasus), a sub-genus of Prunus (see 

 PLUM), of which the species and their cultivated va- 

 rieties (see CULTIVATED PLANTS) yield the familiar 

 stone-fruit of the same name. The most obvious 

 distinction between the cherries and the plums or 

 Prunus proper is that in the former the leaves 

 are conduphcate, in the latter convolute in bud. 



Common Cherry : 

 o, blossom. 



Two species are chiefly regarded as the parents of 

 the garden cherries usually cultivated, P. Avium 

 and P. Cerasus, the former attaining a height of 

 40 or 50 feet, and having its leaves and peduncles 

 drooping, with small austere fruit ; the latter 

 having erect smooth shining leaves and a more 

 juicy fruit, but being a much smaller tree. Both 

 have white flowers in clusters or nearly sessile 

 umbels, and both are generally regarded as natives 

 of middle and southern Europe, if not also of 

 Britain, where they are both at anyrate also 

 naturalised. According to the usual reading of 

 Pliny, P. Cerasus was, however, introduced by 



i; 



Lucullus from Cerasus in Pontus to grace his 

 triumph after his victory over Mithridates ; 

 Belon, however, plausibly identified this as his 

 own cherry-laurel (see LAUREL). In the wild 

 state, both are often called gean (Fr. guigne); 

 more accurately, however, this is P. Avium. The 

 latter is frequently planted, not only because it 

 is exceedingly ornamental when in flower, but 

 also on account of its value as a timber-tree, 

 being of rapid growth, with firm strong close- 

 grained wooa, suitable for the purposes of cabinet- 

 makers, turners, and musical instrument makers. 

 Double varieties of both species are also grown in 

 our shrubberies. The cultivated varieties of the 

 cherry are very numerous, and differ considerably 

 in size, colour, and flavour ; opinions hence differ 

 seriously as to their parentage. The fruit is largely 

 eaten fresh, and as an ingredient in preserves, &c. ; 

 the woodcutters and charcoal-burners in some 

 parts of France make it a principal ingredient in 

 soups. Besides its use for the dessert and for 

 preserves, the cherry is extensively used for 

 making liqueurs (see KIRSCHWASSER and MARA- 

 SCHINO). Cherry Brandy is a liqueur made 

 by steeping Morello cherries in brandy ; whereas 

 kirschwasser is a spirit distilled from cherries. In 

 some parts of Germany the roads are fringed by 

 avenues of cherry-trees ; and the cherry ripens in 

 Norway and East Bothnia as far north as 63 lat. 

 The other species of cheriy are numerous. Some 

 species are low or even prostrate shrubs, as- 

 P. chamcecerasus, the Ground Cherry of the south 

 of Europe and of Siberia ; and P. pumila, the 

 Sand Cherry of North America. The name 

 cherry is also shared by the closely allied Bird- 

 cherry (q.v.) and Choke Cherry (q.v. ), including 

 the American Wild Cherry, famous for its medicinal 

 bark; the Mahaleb (P. Mahaleb) of the south of 

 Europe, famous for the fragrance of its flowers, 

 and grown in pots to make symmetrical pipe- 

 stems ; the Capollim ( C. or P. capollim ) of Mexico 

 and Peru, famed for the fragrance of its fruit ; 

 and the Laurel-cherry (q.v.). The name cherry 

 is also vaguely and popularly applied in different 

 countries to plants of any kind which happen 

 to recall the true cherry, especially by the size, 

 colour, or taste of their fruit ; among these, 

 see BARBADOES CHERRY, WINTER CHERRY, &c. 

 Thus the ' Native Cherry ' of Australia is the fleshy 

 fruit-stalk of Exocarpus cupressiformis (Santa- 

 lacece), while the Hottentot Cherry is Ilex ( Cassine) 

 Maurocenia. The ' Beech Cherry ' or ' Brush 

 Cherry ' of Australia is Trochocarpa laurina. 

 (Epacridacece), and so on. 



Cherry-laurel. See LAUREL. 



Cherso, an island of Illyria, belonging to 

 Austria, in the Gulf of Quarnero, 13 miles SSW. of 

 Fiume. A bridge unites it with the adjoining isle 

 of Lussin. Area, 127 sq. in.; pop. (1880) 9550. 

 On its rugged hills sheep are fed ; there are 

 large forests, and on the coast, wine, olives, and 

 fruits are produced. Cherso, the chief town, on 

 the west side, has a spacious harbour. Pop. 4670. 



Cherson. See KHERSON. 



CherSOne'SUS, the ancient name of several 

 peninsulas and promontories in Europe, the most 

 important of which are the Crimea (q.v.), C. Tau- 

 rica; Gallipoli (q.v.), C. Thracica ; and Jutland 

 (q.v.), C. Cimbrica. When we speak of the Cher- 

 sonese, the Malay Peninsula is usually meant. 



Chert, or HORNSTONE, a variety of quartz, 

 always massive, not unlike flint, but more brittle, 

 breaking with a splintery fracture. It is common 

 in limestones of Palaeozoic age, but occurs also in 

 Mesozoic strata (Jurassic, Cretaceous), sometimes 

 forms rocks, and often contains petrifactions. It 

 passes into common quartz and chalcedony, also 



