CIPRIAM CIRCE. 



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ciphers, such as they are at present, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 

 7,8, 9, 0, did not attain their present character till a 

 pretty late period. We have them from the Arabians, 

 who, according to Abulpharagius (Dynast. 1, p. 16), 

 say that they received the invention from the Indians. ' 

 According to a recent discovery of professor Seyffarth 

 of Leipsic, in Turin, on a papyrus manuscript, it seems 

 probable that the Egyptians were acquainted with the 

 present system of ciphers, at least in its principles. 

 As early as the ninth century, ciphers were used, 

 though seldom, in France. Not until the eleventh 

 century did their use become, in any degree, common 

 in Europe. According to de Matthaeis, the Roman 

 ciphers are derived from the nails which the Etruscans, 

 and after them the Romans, annually drove into their 

 temples, hi order to express their divisions of time. 

 Probably the eldest trace of Roman ciphers is that in 

 the inscription upon the colonna rostrata. 



Cipher is also the name given to various methods 

 of writing in secret characters, chiefly used in the 

 correspondence of diplomatic agents with their courts. 

 (See Cryptography and Deciphering.) A kind of 

 monogram, in which the initial letters of the Christian 

 and family names of a person are entwined within 

 each other, has the same name. 



CIPRIANI, GIAMBATTISTA ; apainterandengraver, 

 born at Pistoia, in 1732, died at London in 1785. 

 His teacher is not known, but it is certain that Cor- 

 reggio was his model. At the age of eighteen, he 

 went to Rome, to perfect himself in his art. His 

 talents soon gained him reputation . Some English- 

 men, whe met him there, induced him to go to 

 London. He was one of the first fellows of the royal 

 academy, instituted in 1769. His drawing is correct, 

 his heads have grace and loveliness, Ms colouring is 

 harmonious, and the general impression of his com- 

 position charming. For Ariosto's Orlando Furioso 

 he executed a number of copperplate illustrations, in 

 which he displays all the beauty of his genius. Many 

 fine engravings of Bartolozzi are from the designs of 

 Cipriani. 



CIRC ASSIA ; a country of Asia on the north side 

 of the Caucasus, extending from the Black to the 

 Caspian sea. The inhabitants call themselves Adige ; 

 by the Turks and Tartars they are called Tcherkas 

 (i. e. highway robbers) ; by the Arabs, Memalik ; by 

 the Ossetes, likewise a nation dwelling on mount 

 Caucasus, they are called Kasachi. They inhabit 

 the districts, 1. Great Kabarda; 2. Little Kabarda; 

 3. Beslen, on the greater Laba, which flows into the 

 Kuban ; 4. Temirgoi on the Schagwascha ; 5. Abassia, 

 chiefly on the river Pschaha ; 6. Bseduch, in the lower 

 districts of the Rhuasch ; 7. Hadukai ; 8. Bschana. 

 This powerful and warlike nation might become ex- 

 iremely formidable, if, instead of being subject to 

 numerous little princes, it were united under one head. 

 The most important of the Circassian branches of the 

 Kuban are the Temirgoi : they inhabit more than forty 

 fortified villages, and can send 2000 men into the 

 field. The Schagacki, below the Russian fortress 

 Anapa, have a prince, who formerly maintained ves- 

 sels on the Black sea. The Kabarda Circassians, a 

 half-civilized nation, inhabit a fertile country on the 

 northern frontier of the Terek, and are distinguished 

 from all the other nations of the Caucasus by their 

 lieauty. The men are of lofty stature, regular fea- 

 tures, and unequalled in the use of the sabre. The 

 woman have delicate figures, light complexions, dark 

 hair, regular features, and full bosoms. They are 

 considered the principal ornaments of the Turkish 

 harams. The Circassian prince or nobleman, that is, 

 every one who does not serve, and possesses a horse, 

 is constantly armed with a dagger and pistols, and 

 seldom leaves his house without his sabre and quiver. 

 A helmet and a coat of mail cover his head and his 



breast. Kabarda furnishes 1500 noblemen, or uzdens, 

 and 10,000 peasants, or serving-men, capable of bear- 

 ing arms. But the princes of Kabarda destroy each 

 other by constant hostilities. The soil of Kabarda is 

 excellent for agriculture ; but the winter is severe, 

 and the warm season not of long duration. The in- 

 habitants neglect the gifts of nature, viz the mines, 

 from which they might extract the most useful 

 metals, such as iron and copper, for the manufacture ot 

 their weapons. A great part of their wealth con- 

 sists in goats, sheep, oxen, and horses. They sell 

 wool and wax. Their horses are distinguished for 

 beauty, strength, and fleetness. They bum a mark 

 on the colts of a good breed. Their feudal system is 

 worthy of notice. The subject is the property of the 

 prince : although he cannot be sold, he is compelled 

 to perform all personal services, but pays no taxes. 

 The nobleman maintains order among the people, and 

 serves the prince in war. The latter keeps an open 

 table, and all those who own herds contribute to it. 

 Marriages are concluded with reference to riches 

 and birth. Immediately after the birth of a princely 

 child, it is taken from the parental house, and its 

 education confided to a nobleman. The boys are in- 

 structed in hunting, plundering, and fighting ; the 

 girls in embroidering, sewing, and plaiting straw. 

 There is a law of hospitality among the Circassians, 

 called kunadi : the life of the host is responsible for 

 its observance to the stranger on whom it has been 

 conferred. If a murder is committed, the relations 

 of the deceased take the Me of the murderer : no 

 money can conciliate them. Formerly, these people 

 were Christians. At present, they are Mohamme- 

 dans, but by no means zealous observers of the pre- 

 cepts of the Koran. After the downfall of the 

 Chazaric empire, the Circassians appear to have 

 been subject to the Arabians, Tartars, and perhaps, 

 likewise, to the Georgians. Towards the end of the 

 sixteenth century, they became vassals to the Rus- 

 sians. The czar Iwan Wasiliewitch, in 1566, sent a 

 small army, under general Daschkow, to the aid of 

 Temruk, a Circassian prince ; but, after the death of 

 Iwan, the Russian court neglected these distant sub- 

 jects, and they became tributary to the khans of the 

 Crimea, until, tired of the ill-treatment of their offi- 

 cers, they took up arms, and overcame an army of 

 30,000 men. At present, Tcherkassia, (Circassia) 

 contain 31,785 square miles, and 550,000 inhabit- 

 ants- 



CIRCE ; a powerful sorceress ; according to some, 

 the daughter of Sol and Perseis, one of the Oceanides ; 

 according to others, of Hyperion and Asterope ; the 

 sister of Aetes and Pasiphae. She lived in a valley si- 

 tuated in an island on the western coast of Italy. Her 

 palace was built of shining stones, in an open place, 

 surrounded by tame lions and wolves. Her employ- 

 ment was weaving ; and, during her work, she 

 amused herself with singing : her servants were four 

 mountain and river nymphs. Ulysses, in his wander- 

 ings, landed on her island, and sent out Eurylochus 

 with a party to explore the country. They arrived 

 at the palace of Circe, who gave them food and wine, 

 and with her magic wand changed them into swine. 

 Eurylochus only, by cautiously abstaining from the 

 magical potion, escaped the transformation, and in- 

 formed Ulysses of the event. He immediately pro- 

 ceeded himself into the country to free his compa- 

 nions. On the way, Mercury met him, informed him 

 how to conduct himself before the sorceress, and gave 

 him the plant called moly, as a means of delivering 

 his companions. Thus armed, he appeared before 

 Circe, whose potion had no effect upon him. 'Fol- 

 lowing Mercury's advice, he then ran upon her with 

 his drawn sword threatening her with death, and 

 ; compelled her to bind herself by an oath to do 



