CROSS CROUP. 



543 



OH the 14th of September. It is remarkable how 

 this holy relic became multiplied. Numberless 

 churches possessed some parts of it, the miraculous 

 power of which was said to have been proved by the 

 most astonisliing facts ; and many persons actually 

 believed that it could be infinitely divided without 

 decreasing. It was in vain that the Iconoclasts, who 

 condemned the worship of images, attempted to 

 overthrow the adoration of the cross. The crucifix 

 was considered as a principal object of worsliip, in 

 preference to the images of the saints, and, in com- 

 pliance with the teachings of John of Damascus, was 

 adored, during the seventh century, in all the churches 

 of the East. That the West also ascribed a myste- 

 rious power to this symbol, is evident from the use 

 which was made of it in the trials " by the judgment 

 of God," in the middle ages. 



There never has existed any sign, which has been 

 so often repeated in works of art as the cross. This 

 may be ascribed, in part, to its form being applicable 

 to many more purposes than those of other emblems ; 

 such for instance, as the crescent. The distinguish- 

 ing cipher of the Jesuits is IHS, which signifies In 



hac cruce salus, or Jesus, in Greek letters, and abbre- 

 viated. Crosses have been the badge of number- 

 less orders, military and civil. To make the sign 

 of' the cross, is thought by many people, in Catholic 

 countries, a defence against evil spirits, evil influ- 

 ences, &c. The Greeks make this sign constantly, 

 hardiy taking a glass of raky without signing the 

 cross over it. Catholic bishops, archbishops, abbots, 

 and abbesses, wear a small golden cross. The Ca- 

 tholic benediction is generally performed by making 

 the sign of the cross over the object. There are dif- 

 ferent kinds of crosses, as the common cross, f , St 

 Andrew's cross, x, &c. (See the article Adoration.') 

 Two sorts of crosses are used for the forms of 

 churches, the Greek and the Latin. The Greek cross 

 has its arms at right angles, and all of equal length ; 

 whereas the Latin cross has one of its limbs much 

 longer than the other three. Bramante originally de- 

 signed St Peter's for a Latin cross ; Michael Angelo 

 reduced it to the proportions of the Greek cross ; but 

 Carlo Maderno again elongated it to the original di- 

 mensions of Bramante. The cathedral of St Paul's, 

 London, is a Latin cross, with its base spread by a 

 sort of second transept, which increases the breadth 

 of the western front. See Crucifixion. 



Cross, in baptism. In the administration of the 

 ordinance of baptism, the practice of making the 

 sign of the cross on the forehead of the person bap- 

 tized, was adopted at an early period, though not en- 

 joined by any express command, or sanctioned by any 

 known example in scripture. The use of the cross, 

 indeed, was very frequent in the primitive ages of 

 Christianity. Such was the respect paid to it, that it 

 formed, in one mode or another, a distinguishing part 

 of the civil and religious ceremonies of those times. 

 The first Christian writer who mentions it in connex- 

 ion with baptism, is Tertullian, who wrote after the 

 middle of the 2d century. This writer says (De Cov. 

 Mil. c. 2), that " at every setting out, or entry upon 

 business, whenever we come in or go out from any 

 place, when we dress for a journey, when we go into 

 a bath, when we go to meat, when the candles are 

 brought in, when we lie down or sit down, and what- 

 ever business we have, we make on our foreheads the 

 sign of the cross ;" and, speaking of baptism, in his 

 treatise De Cam. Resur., he says, " the flesh is sign- 

 ed that the soul may be fortified." 



Cross-bearer (porte-croix , cruciger), in the Roman 

 Catholic church, the chaplain of an archbishop, or a 

 primate, who bears a cross before him on solemn oc- 

 casions. The pope has the cross borne before him 



everywhere ; a patriarch anywhere out of Rome ; 

 and primates, metropolitans, and those who have a 

 right to the pallium, throughout their respective ju- 

 risdictions. Gregory XI. forbade all patriarchs and 

 prelates to have it borne in the presence of cardinals. 

 A prelate bears a single cross, a patriarch a double 

 cross, and the pope a triple one on his arms. 



CROSS-BAR SHOT are shots with iron bars cross- 

 ing through them, sometimes standing out six or 

 eight inches at both sides. They are used at sea for 

 injuring the enemy's rigging, and in sieges, for des- 

 troying the palisades in the covert-way, ditches, &c. 



CROSS-BOW, or ARBALIST ; formerly a very 

 common weapon for shooting, but not long used in 

 war after the invention of fire-arms. It is a strong 

 wooden or steel bow, fixed to a stock, stretched by 

 the spanner, and shot off by the trigger fixed to the 

 stock. All kinds of weapons, in which the bow was 

 fastened to the stock, were called cross-bows, some of 

 which were attached to carriages, and drawn by 

 horses. There was a small kind, from which were 

 shot little balls. To the larger sort were attached 

 instruments for bending the bow. There are some 

 societies still existing in Germany, who exercise with 

 the cross-bow ; for instance, in Aix-la-Chapelle. See 

 Archery. 



CROSS EXAMINATION ; the examination of a 

 witness called by one party, by the opposite party or 

 his counsel. 



CROSS FIRE, in the art of war, is when the lines 

 of fire, from two or more parts of a work, cross one 

 another. It is frequently made use of to prevent an 

 enemy's passing through a defile. The flanks, as 

 well as the faces of two adjoining bastions, afford the 

 means of cross fire, as do also the faces of two ad- 

 joining redoubts. 



CROTONA, also CROTO, in ancient geography, 

 a Greek republic in Magna Graecia, or South Italy. 

 Livy gives the circumference of the city of Crotona 

 at 12,000 paces. This city was famous for produc- 

 ing the strongest atAletce. Milo, e. g., was born 

 here. Under the Romans, Crotona was infamous for 

 luxury and dissoluteness. The ruins ofthis place are 

 still to be seen above Capo della Colonna. 



CROTON OIL is expressed from the seeds of an 

 East Indian plant, the croton tiglium, and is one of the 

 most valuable of the late additions to the materia 

 medica. It is so strongly purgative, that one drop is 

 a full dose, and half a drop will sometimes produce a 

 powerful effect. It is also found to produce the same 

 effect when rubbed upon the tongue, or even upon 

 the skin. It is so active, that it should never be used 

 but under the direction of an experienced physician. 

 In the hands of such, it is of great value, as its small 

 bulk and insipid taste render it serviceable in cases in 

 which no common medicine can b& used, and its great 

 power makes it operate when other medicines fail. 

 It has been given to the extent of eight or ten drops, 

 hi a bad case of ileus, which is cured, without pro- 

 ducing any bad symptoms. It should, however, be 

 used with great caution. 



CROUP; a disease that mostly attacks infants, 

 who are suddenly seized with & difficulty of breathing 

 and a Grouping noise ; it is an inflammation of the 

 mucous membrane of the windpipe, inducing the se- 

 cretion of a very tenacious, coagulable lymph, which 

 lines the air passages and impedes respiration. The 

 croup does not appear to be contagious, whatever 

 some physicians may think to the contrary ; but it 

 sometimes prevails epidemically. It seems, however, 

 peculiar to some families ; and a child, having once 

 been attacked, is very liable to a return. It is con- 

 fined to young children, and has never been known to 

 attack a person arrived at the age of puberty. The 

 application of cold seems to be the general cause 



