CORONER 



1594 



CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 



turies. Round the stone, which legend says is 

 the one that was used as a pillow by Jacob, 

 appear these words, engraved upon it: 



If fates go right, where'er this stone Is found, 

 The Scots shall monarchs of that realm be 



crowned. 



The chair is kept in Westminster Abbey and 

 is covered with cloth-of-gold when moved out 

 before the altar as a seat for a sovereign of 

 England when he is crowned. 



COR 'ONER, an officer in each county of 

 every state or province, whose principal duty 

 it is to investigate the cause or manner of 

 death of persons who die suddenly or are slain, 

 or about whose death there appear to be un- 

 usual or suspicious circumstances. The law 

 requires that a physician who cannot certify 

 to a death from natural causes shall report the 

 case to the coroner's office for legal investiga- 

 tion. In some states the statutes give justices 

 of the peace local jurisdiction in the coroner's 

 absence. A jury of six men is impaneled by 

 the coroner or justice to make inquiry and as- 

 certain, if possible, the cause of death. If indi- 

 cations of foul play are discovered, the report 

 made contains the names of the persons pos- 

 sessing knowledge of the deed, if they are 

 known, and this forms the basis for issuance 

 of warrants for arrest. Coroners receive no 

 salary except in very large cities, their re- 

 muneration nearly always being fees for time 

 actually spent in the pursuance of their duties. 



COROT, koro', JEAN BAPTISTS CAMILLB 

 (1796-1875), a French artist, whose fame rests 

 chiefly on his unique landscape paintings, in 

 which the sweet and tender aspects of nature 

 are pictured in browns, pale greens and silvery 

 grays, producing 

 an effect of deli- 

 cate loveliness 

 that gives his 

 works the name 

 of "painted mu- 

 sic." Corot loved 

 to paint the mists 

 of dawn and the 

 shadows of eve- 

 ning, and his pic- 

 tures seem usually 

 to be enshrouded 

 in an atmosphere 

 of haze. Sev- 

 eral examples of COROT 

 his work -are permanently in the New York 

 Metropolitan Museum; one of them is the 

 lovely Vtile d' Avray, in which the soft and 



mellow color of dawn is relieved by a faint 

 touch of rose in the sky, and by gleams of 

 yellow and blue in the costumes of the women. 



Corot found inspiration for much of his 

 painting in the beautiful forest of Fontaine- 

 bleau ; near this forest lay the village of Barbi- 

 zon, which has given its name to the school 

 of landscape painting of which he was called the 

 "lyric poet." Among his best-known canvases 

 are Dance of the Nymphs, which is faithfully 

 reproduced in color on the opposite page; also 

 In the Woods, Rouen, Evening and Souvenir 

 d' Italie. The latter, one of the most valuable 

 of his paintings, was sold for d*bout $44,000. 

 He also painted religious pictures, among 

 which are Baptism of Christ and Flight into 

 Egypt. See BARBIZON PAINTERS. 



CORPORAL, kawr'poral, a title given to the 

 holder of the lowest non-commissioned rank 

 in all armies. A man may be promoted direct 

 from the ranks to what is commonly called 

 full corporal, or he may be placed on proba- 

 tion as a lance corporal. In all armies a cor- 

 poral's duties are the same. He takes charge 

 of guards and fatigue parties, and has his 

 definitely-appointed place in drills. The War 

 of the Nations which engulfed Europe in 1914 

 greatly added to the responsibility of corporals 

 and other non-commissioned officers, due to 

 the surprisingly-large losses of officers of com- 

 missioned rank. Promotions were necessarily 

 rapid. 



CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. In the school 

 days of our fathers, the ferule and the beech 

 rod were considered to be an essential part of 

 every teacher's equipment, for whipping was 

 common in all schools below college rank. 

 It was generally believed that whipping and 

 other means of inflicting bodily pain were nec- 

 essary to secure the obedience of children, both 

 in the home and the school. This idea has been 

 handed down from one century to another 

 since the days of Solomon, who said, "He that 

 spareth the rod, hateth his son: but he that 

 loveth him chasteneth him betimes." 



It is only since the middle of the nineteenth 

 century that the evils of corporal punishment 

 have received careful consideration. Since par- 

 ents and educators have learned more about 

 child nature, they have discovered that cor- 

 poral punishment almost invariably has an 

 injurious effect upon the child. It arouses his 

 antagonism, and at best secures only an out- 

 ward semblance of obedience. In most states 

 and provinces corporal punishment in the 

 public schools is now greatly restricted or 



