CURRANT 



1674 



CURRENT 



the ice, with large, smooth stones to which 

 handles are fixed. It might be called bowls on 

 ice, as the rules and methods of curling are 

 quite similar to those governing the game 

 of bowls. The stones weigh from thirty to 

 forty-five pounds. There are usually four play- 

 ers on a side, or team. Each player uses two 

 stones, which he slides along the ice towards 

 a mark forty-two yards distant. The object 

 is for a player to lay his stones closer to the 

 mark than those of his opponents. After all 

 players have "curled," or played, the side 

 having stones nearest the mark scores a point 

 for each stone so placed. In Canada and the 

 United States iron curlers are sometimes used 

 instead of stones. w.c. 



See Spalding's Guide to Curling, for complete 

 rules governing players. 



CURRANT, kur'ant, a small, smooth, tart 

 berry, cultivated in gardens in all temperate 

 regions except in Africa. The bush on which 

 it grows has slender branches bearing small, 

 broad leaves, which shield first the greenish 



THE CURRANT 

 Branch, fruit and cross section of fruit. 



flowers from the sun, then the grapelike 

 bunches of pea-sized globes of red, black or 

 white fruit. Red currants, although used as 

 dessert fruit, are most popular for jams, jellies 

 and pies. White currants, similarly used, are 

 a cultivated variety of the red. In the United 

 States the currant crops of commerce are pro- 

 duced chiefly in the Middle Atlantic and East 

 North Central states, the average annual crop 

 being about 11,000,000 quarts, valued at nearly 

 S800.000, New York state producing about one- 

 third of the crop. The province of Ontario 

 produces a good crop. 



Black currants have a stronger taste and 

 odor than the red and the white, and are 

 valued for wine making and for their supposed 

 medicinal qualities in throat troubles and as 

 a tonic. They are little grown in the United 

 States, but are very abundant in Canada and 

 Europe. 



A number of species of currant are valued 



for ornament. Most currant bushes are grown 

 from cuttings six to ten inches long. Strong, 

 moist loam in a cool location is the most 

 favorable, and although currants are hardy 

 and thrive even if neglected, frequent culti- 

 vation, enriching of the soil and pruning will 

 be rewarded by larger berries and greater quan- 

 tities. Various diseases to which currant bushes 

 are subject can be prevented by use of a fungi- 

 cide; the currant worm, one of the most 

 serious pests of the shrub, can be effectively 

 removed by sprinkling with a solution of one 

 teaspoonful of powdered hellebore to a gallon 

 of water. 



The name currant was derived from ancient 

 Corinth, in Greece, the city from which great 

 quantities of a seedless raisin called currant 

 were originally sent. See RAISINS. 



CURRENCY. This subject is treated in the 

 article MONEY. 



CURRENT, ELECTRIC, the flow of electric 

 energy from one body to another. The amount 

 of electric energy that a charged body contains 

 is its electric potential. When two bodies are 

 unevenly charged, one has a higher potential 

 than the other. If these bodies are connected 

 by a conductor the electric energy will flow 

 from the higher to the lower potential and this 

 flow will continue until the potentials of the 

 bodies are equalized. The force which causes 

 the flow is called the electromotive force 

 (which see), and it is likened to the pressure 

 which causes the flow of water through a pipe. 

 In order that the current may continue it is 

 necessary that the supply of electric energy 

 also be continuous. The simplest device for 

 producing an electric current is the voltaic cell 

 (see ELECTRIC BATTERY). In this cell the chem- 

 ical action at one plate is greater than that at 

 the other; hence the potential of one plate is 

 higher than that of the other. If these plates 

 are connected by a copper wire so as to com- 

 plete the circuit, a current will flow from one 

 to the other and the current will continue until 

 the chemical power in the cell is exhausted. 

 If the wires are separated the circuit is broken 

 and the current stops, unless it is strong enough 

 to leap over the gap. When this occurs a spark 

 is formed. 



Air, rubber, glass, mica, dry wood and other 

 substances will stop the current, and are known 

 as non-conductors or insulators. Both con- 

 ductors and insulators are necessary to the flow 

 of a current between the desired points, as 

 between the battery and the telegraph instru- 

 ment, for if the line wires were not supported 



