248 



CISPLATANA CITTA. 



CISPLATANA, with Monte-Video. See Para- 

 guay and Plata, liepublic of. 



CISRHENISH REPUBLIC. Several towns on 

 Uie Rliine, particularly Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelleand 

 Monii, at the time when so many republics were cre- 

 ated, declared themselves independent, under French 

 protection, and took the title of Cisrhenish republic, 

 in September, 1797. But at the peace of Campo- 

 Formio (Oct. 17, 1797), the left bank of the Rliine, 

 including the Cisrhenish republic, was ceded to 

 France, l>y a secret article, and the confederation 

 bearing this name is, in consequence, hanKy known. 



CISTERCIANS; a religious order, which takes 

 its name from its original convent, Cilcattx, not far 

 from Dijon, where the society was formed in 1099. 

 Through the exertions of St Bernard de Clairvai.x 

 (q. v.), it had increased so much, 100 years after its 

 origin, as to embrace 800 rich abbeys, in different 

 countries of Europe. The Cistercians dedicated 

 themselves to a contemplative life. Their rule was 

 >evere. They succeeded in fret-ing themselves from 

 the superintendence of the bishops, and formed a 

 kind of spiritual republic. A high council, consist- 

 ing of the abbot of Citeaux as superior, the abbots of 

 Clairvaux, La Ferte, Pontigni and Morimond, all in 

 France, and twenty other definitores, governed the 

 body, under the immediate superintendence of the 

 pope. In France, they called themselves -Bernar- 

 dines, in honour of St Bernard. Among the frater- 

 nities emanating from them, the most remarkable 

 are, the Barefooted monks, or Feuillans (q. v.), and 

 the nuns of Portroyal (q. v.), in France, the Recol- 

 lets, reformed Cistercians, in Spain, and the monks 

 of La Trappe (see Trappists). Riches and indolence 

 brought on the decline of this order. Many of their 

 convents ceased to exist before the Reformation, still 

 more afterwards, partly by gradual decay, partly by 

 falling into other hands. The general fate of the 

 religious orders, during the period of the French re- 

 volution, reduced the Cistercians to a few convents 

 in Spain, Poland, the Austrian dominions, and the 

 Saxon part of Upper Lusatia. They wear white 

 robes with black scapularies. 



CITADEL, or CITTADEL (a diminutive of the 

 Italian cittd, city ; signifying little city), in fortifica- 

 tion ; a kind of fort, consisting of four, five, or six 

 sides, with bastions, commonly joined to towns, and 

 sometimes erected on commanding eminences within 

 them. It is distinguished from a castle by having 

 bastions. 



CITRIC ACID (aci'lum citricum) exists, in vari- 

 able proportions, in the lemon, orange, and the red 

 acid fruits. This acid is white, crystallizes in rhom- 

 boidal prisms, unalterable hi the ah*, inodorous, of a 

 very acid taste. Specific gravity, 1.034. Accord- 

 ing to Messrs Gay-Lussac and The'nard, it is compos- 

 ed of carbon, 33-81, oxygen, 59-859, and hydrogen, 

 6.330. Heated, it is decomposed, and is partly 

 changed into a new acid, called pyro-citric. It is 

 very soluble in boiling water, and in three-fourths of 

 its weight of cold water. Alcohol dissolves a small- 

 er proportion. The aqueous solution, concentrated 

 in a small degree, is easily altered on exposure to 

 the air. It is obtained by saturating the lemon juice 

 with pulverized chalk, and treating the insoluble 

 citrate which is formed, by diluted sulphuric acid. It 

 is employed instead of lemon juice for making lemon- 

 ade, and it acts then like the other refrigerant medi- 

 cines. In large doses, and concentrated, it might 

 produce serious accidents, on account of its causiic 

 action. 



CITRON. The citron, lime, and lemoa are differ- 

 ent varieties of the fruit of a small evergreen shrub, the 

 original or parent stock of which (citrus medico) was 

 imported from Asia into the southern parts of Europe. 



The citron Is oblong, with a very thick rind; the 

 lemon is oblong, with a small lump or protuberance 

 at the end ; and the lime has no protuberance, lias 

 a very thin rind, and is about the size of a small egg. 

 These are the principal marks of difference betwixt 

 these fruits, but they are not quite con-taut. The 

 lemon shrub lias large and slightly-indented Alining 

 lca\ es, of somewliat oval shape, but pointed, anil on 

 the footstalks of tin- leaves there is no remarkable 

 appendage. The flowers are large and white, but 

 purplish on the outside of the petals. 



It is generally supposed that the citron-tree was 

 first introduced from Assyria and Media into Greece, 

 and thence into the southern parts of Europe, when: 

 it is now cultivated to considerable extent. It is also 

 raised in the islands of the West Indies. The fruit, 

 partaking of the same quality as the lemon, with the 

 exception of being somewhat less acid, is seldom 

 eaten raw, but preserved in sugar, as a sweetmeat, is 

 much used by confectioners and others. It is also 

 occasionally employed in medicine. The lemon is a 

 native of Upper Asia, from whence, like the citron, 

 it was brought into Greece, and afterwards trans- 

 planted into Italy. The juice, which is one of the 

 sliarpest and most agreeable of all acids, is used in 

 cookery, confectionary, medicine, and various other 

 ways. By calico-printers, it is very extensively em- 

 ployed, as a discharger of colour, to produce, with 

 more clearness and effect, the white-figured part of 

 coloured patterns dyed with colours formed from 

 iron. The juice is procured by simply squeezing the 

 fruit, and straining it through linen or any loos.- filter ; 

 and in Sicily and other parts of the Mediterranean, it 

 forms an important, article of commerce. Being one 

 of the most valuable remedies for the scurvy with 

 which we are acquainted, it generally constitutes 

 part of the sea-stores of ships that are destined for 

 long voyages. Several different modes have been 

 recommended for the preserving of lemon-juice. One 

 of these is, to put it into bottles with a small quantity 

 of oil, which, floating on the surface, prevents the 

 immediate contact ot the a ; r, and retards the decom- 

 position of the acid, though the original fresh taste 

 soon gives place to one which is less grateful. In 

 the East Indies, lemon-juice is sometimes evaporated, 

 by a gentle heat, to the consistence of a tluck ex- 

 tract. Sometimes it is crystalized into a white and 

 acid salt; but what is sold in the shops under the 

 name of essential salt of lemons, for taking out ink 

 stains and iron-mould spots from linen, is only a pre- 

 paration from the juice of sorrel. The external part 

 of the rind has a grateful aromatic and bitter taste, 

 which renders it useful in cookery. When dried, it 

 is considered a good stomachic, promotes the appe- 

 tite, and is otherwise serviceable as a medicine. It 

 is often candied and made into a sweetmeat, under 

 the name of lemon chips. In distillation, it yields a 

 light and almost colourless oil, which, in smell, is 

 nearly as agreeable as the fresh peel, and is frequent- 

 ly employed as a perfume. Lemons are sometimes 

 preserved in sirup. Small ones, with thick rinds, 

 are converted into a grateful pickle. Marmalade 

 and sirup are also made of them. For the purpose 

 of keeping the fruit, it is recommended that a fine 

 pack-thread, about a quarter of a yard long, should 

 be run through the protuberance at the end of the 

 lemon. The ends of the string are to be tied to- 

 gether, and suspended on a hooK, in an airy situation, 

 in such a manner that the lemon may hang perfectly 

 free and detached. The cultivation of the lime is 

 much attended to in several parts of America and the 

 West Indies. Its juice affords a more grateful acid 

 than that of the lemon. 



CITTA, in geography; the Italian word for 

 city, which is used in many proper names of ci- 



