414 



CORFE-CASTLE -COSMETICS. 



re not in possession of sufficient information, on 

 which to form a correct judgment. Matilda, or 

 Osnaburg island, is supposed to have been only a 

 reef of rocks, when the Matilda was wrecked there, 

 in I'D-; it is now an island, fourteen miles in 

 length, and covered on one side with tall trees, and 

 the lagoon in the centre is dotted with columns. 

 The coral, therefore, has, probahly made a rapid 

 growth since 1792, although Captain Beechey 

 found two anchors, of a ton weight each, and a 

 kedge anchor, which he supposes belonged to the 

 -Matilda, thrown upon the sunken reef of live coral, 

 and around these anchors, the coral had made no 

 progress in growing, while some large shell- fish, 

 adhering to the same rock, were so overgrown 

 with coral, as to have only space enough left to 

 open about an inch. It is probable, however, that 

 the oxide proceeding from the anchors may have 

 been prejudicial, as far as its effects extended, to 

 the coral insect, and thus have prevented its 

 growth. All navigators, who have visited these 

 seas, state that no charts or maps are of any ser- 

 vice after a few years, owing to the number of 

 fresh rocks and reefs which are continually rising 

 to the surface ; and it is perfectly accordant with 

 the instincts of animals, to continue working with- 

 out intermission, until their labours are consum- 

 mated, or their lives are extinct. 



CORFE-CASTLE; a borough in the isle of 

 Purbeck, on the coast of Dorsetshire, twenty-three 

 miles from Dorchester. The population is mostly 

 employed in the stone quarries and clay pits, for 

 which the place is celebrated : the stone is exported 

 to London, and the clay to the potteries in Staf- 

 fordshire. Previous to 1832, this place had re- 

 turned two members to parliament since the early 

 part of the reign of Elizabeth. But it was dis- 

 franchised under the reform act, and is now united 

 with Wareham in its elections. The constituency 

 consisted of about fourteen resident, and thirty 

 non-resident holders of burgage tenements, and the 

 mayor was the returning officer. It was an ancient 

 borough by prescription, and was incorporated by 

 queen Elizabeth. The government was vested in 

 the mayor and eight burgesses, who, after they had 

 passed the mayor's chair, were called " barons." 

 When the borough was visited under the commis- 

 sion of corporation inquiry, the corporate body re- 

 fused to give any information respecting their 

 charters and privileges; and from the nature and 

 constitution of this body, and the situation in life 

 of the inhabitants, no particulars on these points 

 could be obtained by the commissioner. In his re- 

 port it is stated that " the town of Corfe-Castle is 

 of mean appearance, and presents no indication of 

 present prosperity, or of progressive improvement. 

 The census of 1831 shows that although there 

 were at that time no uninhabited houses in the 

 borough, there were also none that were in a course 

 of building ; that the number of inhabited houses 

 was 156, the number of families occupying them 

 193, and the total population, 18-11, HMO. 



The castle is on the north side of the town, on a 

 steep eminence, and a bridge of four high and nar- 

 row arches, which is thrown across a deep moat, 

 now dry, connects it with the town. Edward 

 the martyr was stabbed at the gate of this castle, 

 by order of his mother-in-law, who, with her 

 son, then inhabited it. It has been a place of 

 considerable strength, and from its position on the 

 southern coast, was doubtless regarded as of great 

 importance to the protection of the kingdom. 



Tin- <MM ! was most probablv the precursor of the 

 town. 



CORK, (a.) The importation of cork in a manu- 

 factured state, into this country, is virtually prohi- 

 bited by a very high duty; and the import duty 

 upon it in a rough state is also considerable, being 

 eight shillings per cwt. The price of cork, includ- 

 ing the duty, varies according to its quality, from 

 20 to 70 per cwt. 



COS, now STANCO, (.) The island of Cos is 

 one of the most interesting and valuable in the 

 Grecian archipelago. Like Patmos, it is d 

 among the Sporades ; and its northern-most point 

 is scarcely four miles from the coast of Asia Minor. 

 It lies at the mouth of the great inlet in that con- 

 tinent, which in ancient times was railed the 

 Ceramic Gulf, and which now bears the appella- 

 tion of the Gulf of Boudroon. Its length is 

 about fi ve-and-twenty miles, and its breadth about 

 live. 



The surface of this island is of a diversified char- 

 acter, presenting an agreeable intermixture of the 

 most delightful plains with gentle hills, occasion- 

 ally swelling into mountainous elevations, more es- 

 pecially towards the eastern side. The fertility of 

 the soil has always been remarkable ; the Greek 

 geographer, Strabo, speaks of it as " very fruitful," 

 in the age of Augustus ; and the Venetian writers 

 of the seventeenth century, picture it as "abound- 

 ing in all things necessary to the human state." 

 There are now extensive orange and lemon planta- 

 tions close to the town of Cos ; and the very large 

 export of the fruits which they yield, to all parts 

 of the archipelago, is one of the chief branches 

 of the trade which the island still enjoys. Mr 

 Turner characterizes Cos as being in the most 

 wretched condition of all the islands which he had 

 seen in the Mediterranean, with the single excep- 

 tion, perhaps, of Cyprus. The number of its in- 

 habitants amounted formerly to 20,000 ; at the 

 close of the last century it was reduced to 10,000, 

 and twenty years ago it just exceeded 8,000, there 

 being then about 5,000 Turks, 3,000 Greeks, and 

 fifty Jews. We have few means of estimating the 

 population at the present day ; it has been stated 

 as low as 4,000 souls. The causes of the decrease 

 are to be found in the ravages of the plague, which 

 has often carried off a third of the inhabitants, in 

 the consumption of the many wars which the 

 Turks have waged within the last hundred years, 

 and in the loss occasioned by emigration. 



COSMETICS, (a.) the term usually applied to 

 those preparations which are employed to beautify 

 the skin. The two most important objects of cos- 

 metics are: 1st, to impart a red colour to the 

 cheeks ; and 2d, to whiten the other parts of the 

 skin of the face and neck. 



The substances which more or less resemble the 

 natural red of the face are red sandal wood, alkanet 

 root, Brazil wood, bastard saffron, and cochineal. 

 The common rouge used at the theatres is prepared 

 by pounding benzoin, red sandal wood, Brazil 

 wood, and alum, in brandy. This mixture is then 

 boiled until three-fourths of the liquid have eva- 

 porated : an intensely red paint remains, into which 

 a piece of soft cotton is dipped, with which it is 

 applied to the face. Vinegar is sometimes substi- 

 tuted for the brandy on the score of economy; but 

 as both these fluids injure the skin, it is not un- 

 common to extract the colouring matter from the 

 dye-woods, and form ointments therewith by means 

 of balm of Mecca, butter of cacao, or spermaceti. 



